From 3ccc5290450ef27bfcb7121dbbd579d1e9f42e3f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sean Date: Sat, 4 Apr 2026 14:23:16 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Commit Latest --- Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-113.txt | 31 + Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-1265.txt | 20 + Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-303.txt | 19 + Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-501.txt | 72 + Books/Procedure/Florida Probate.txt | 96079 ++++++++++++++++ ...o Stick_ Why Some Ideas S - Chip Heath.txt | 4363 + ...plit the Difference_ Neg - Voss, Chris.txt | 5968 + Books/Procedure/Public administration.txt | 26632 +++++ ...nde) (z-library.sk, 1lib.sk, z-lib.sk).txt | 6295 + ...ble, English Standar - Crossway Bibles.txt | 83235 +++++++++++++ Chartwell.py | 37 +- 11 files changed, 222740 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-) create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-113.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-1265.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-303.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-501.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Florida Probate.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Made to Stick_ Why Some Ideas S - Chip Heath.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Never Split the Difference_ Neg - Voss, Chris.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/Public administration.txt create mode 100644 Books/Procedure/The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right (Atul Gawande) (z-library.sk, 1lib.sk, z-lib.sk).txt create mode 100644 Books/Religeon/The Holy Bible, English Standar - Crossway Bibles.txt diff --git a/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-113.txt b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-113.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..49b6a7d --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-113.txt @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +718.113 Maintenance; limitation upon improvement; display of flag; hurricane protection; display of religious decorations. +(1) Maintenance of the common elements is the responsibility of the association, except for any maintenance responsibility for limited common elements assigned to the unit owner by the declaration. The association shall provide for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the condominium property for which it bears responsibility pursuant to the declaration of condominium. After turnover of control of the association to the unit owners, the association must perform any required maintenance identified by the developer pursuant to s. 718.301(4)(p) and (q) until the association obtains new maintenance protocols from a licensed professional engineer or architect or a person certified as a reserve specialist or professional reserve analyst by the Community Associations Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts. The declaration may provide that certain limited common elements shall be maintained by those entitled to use the limited common elements or that the association shall provide the maintenance, either as a common expense or with the cost shared only by those entitled to use the limited common elements. If the maintenance is to be by the association at the expense of only those entitled to use the limited common elements, the declaration shall describe in detail the method of apportioning such costs among those entitled to use the limited common elements, and the association may use the provisions of s. 718.116 to enforce payment of the shares of such costs by the unit owners entitled to use the limited common elements. +(2)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, there shall be no material alteration or substantial additions to the common elements or to real property which is association property, except in a manner provided in the declaration as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein. If the declaration as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein does not specify the procedure for approval of material alterations or substantial additions, 75 percent of the total voting interests of the association must approve the alterations or additions before the material alterations or substantial additions are commenced. This paragraph is intended to clarify existing law and applies to associations existing on July 1, 2018. +(b) There shall not be any material alteration of, or substantial addition to, the common elements of any condominium operated by a multicondominium association unless approved in the manner provided in the declaration of the affected condominium or condominiums as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein. If a declaration as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein does not specify a procedure for approving such an alteration or addition, the approval of 75 percent of the total voting interests of each affected condominium is required before the material alterations or substantial additions are commenced. This subsection does not prohibit a provision in any declaration, articles of incorporation, or bylaws as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein requiring the approval of unit owners in any condominium operated by the same association or requiring board approval before a material alteration or substantial addition to the common elements is permitted. This paragraph is intended to clarify existing law and applies to associations existing on July 1, 2018. +(c) There shall not be any material alteration or substantial addition made to association real property operated by a multicondominium association, except as provided in the declaration, articles of incorporation, or bylaws as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein. If the declaration, articles of incorporation, or bylaws as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein do not specify the procedure for approving an alteration or addition to association real property, the approval of 75 percent of the total voting interests of the association is required before the material alterations or substantial additions are commenced. This paragraph is intended to clarify existing law and applies to associations existing on July 1, 2018. +(3) A unit owner shall not do anything within his or her unit or on the common elements which would adversely affect the safety or soundness of the common elements or any portion of the association property or condominium property which is to be maintained by the association. +(4) Any unit owner may display one portable, removable United States flag in a respectful way and, on Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Patriot Day, and Veterans Day, may display in a respectful way portable, removable official flags, not larger than 4 1/2 feet by 6 feet, that represent the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard, regardless of any declaration rules or requirements dealing with flags or decorations. +(5) To protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state and to ensure uniformity and consistency in the hurricane protections installed by condominium associations and unit owners, this subsection applies to all residential and mixed-use condominiums in the state, regardless of when the condominium is created pursuant to the declaration of condominium. Each board of administration of a residential condominium or mixed-use condominium must adopt hurricane protection specifications for each building within each condominium operated by the association which may include color, style, and other factors deemed relevant by the board. All specifications adopted by the board must comply with the applicable building code. The installation, maintenance, repair, replacement, and operation of hurricane protection in accordance with this subsection is not considered a material alteration or substantial addition to the common elements or association property within the meaning of this section. +(a) The board may, subject to s. 718.3026 and the approval of a majority of voting interests of the residential condominium or mixed-use condominium, install or require that unit owners install hurricane protection that complies with or exceeds the applicable building code. A vote of the unit owners to require the installation of hurricane protection must be set forth in a certificate attesting to such vote and include the date that the hurricane protection must be installed. The board must record the certificate in the public records of the county in which the condominium is located. Once the certificate is recorded, the board must mail or hand deliver a copy of the recorded certificate to the unit owners at the owners addresses, as reflected in the records of the association. The board may provide to unit owners who previously consented to receive notice by electronic transmission a copy of the recorded certificate by electronic transmission. The failure to record the certificate or send a copy of the recorded certificate to the unit owners does not affect the validity or enforceability of the vote of the unit owners. A vote of the unit owners under this paragraph is not required if the installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of the hurricane protection, or any exterior windows, doors, or other apertures protected by the hurricane protection, is the responsibility of the association pursuant to the declaration of condominium as originally recorded or as amended, or if the unit owners are required to install hurricane protection pursuant to the declaration of condominium as originally recorded or as amended. If hurricane protection that complies with or exceeds the current applicable building code has been previously installed, the board may not install the same type of hurricane protection or require that unit owners install the same type of hurricane protection unless the installed hurricane protection has reached the end of its useful life or unless it is necessary to prevent damage to the common elements or to a unit. +(b) The board may operate hurricane protection without permission of the unit owners only if such operation is necessary to preserve and protect the condominium property or association property. +(c) Notwithstanding any other provision in the residential condominium or mixed-use condominium documents, if approval is required by the documents, a board may not refuse to approve the installation or replacement of hurricane protection by a unit owner which conforms to the specifications adopted by the board. However, a board may require the unit owner to adhere to an existing unified building scheme regarding the external appearance of the condominium. +(d) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration as originally recorded, or as amended, a unit owner is not responsible for the cost of any removal or reinstallation of hurricane protection, including exterior windows, doors, or other apertures, if its removal is necessary for the maintenance, repair, or replacement of other condominium property or association property for which the association is responsible. The board shall determine if the removal or reinstallation of hurricane protection must be completed by the unit owner or the association if the declaration as originally recorded, or as amended, does not specify who is responsible for such costs. If such removal or reinstallation is completed by the association, the costs incurred by the association may not be charged to the unit owner. If such removal or reinstallation is completed by the unit owner, the association must reimburse the unit owner for the cost of the removal or reinstallation or the association must apply a credit toward future assessments in the amount of the unit owners cost to remove or reinstall the hurricane protection. +(6) An association may not refuse the request of a unit owner for a reasonable accommodation for the attachment on the mantel or frame of the door of the unit owner of a religious object not to exceed 3 inches wide, 6 inches high, and 1.5 inches deep. +(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or the governing documents of a condominium or a multicondominium association, the board of administration may, without any requirement for approval of the unit owners, install upon or within the common elements or association property solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy-efficient devices based on renewable resources for the benefit of the unit owners. +(8) The Legislature finds that the use of electric and natural gas fuel vehicles conserves and protects the states environmental resources, provides significant economic savings to drivers, and serves an important public interest. The participation of condominium associations is essential to the states efforts to conserve and protect the states environmental resources and provide economic savings to drivers. For purposes of this subsection, the term natural gas fuel has the same meaning as in s. 206.9951, and the term natural gas fuel vehicle means any motor vehicle, as defined in s. 320.01, that is powered by natural gas fuel. Therefore, the installation of an electric vehicle charging station or a natural gas fuel station shall be governed as follows: +(a) A declaration of condominium or restrictive covenant may not prohibit or be enforced so as to prohibit any unit owner from installing an electric vehicle charging station or a natural gas fuel station within the boundaries of the unit owners limited common element or exclusively designated parking area. The board of administration of a condominium association may not prohibit a unit owner from installing an electric vehicle charging station for an electric vehicle, as defined in s. 320.01, or a natural gas fuel station for a natural gas fuel vehicle within the boundaries of his or her limited common element or exclusively designated parking area. The installation of such charging or fuel stations is subject to the provisions of this subsection. +(b) The installation may not cause irreparable damage to the condominium property. +(c) The electricity for the electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station must be separately metered or metered by an embedded meter and payable by the unit owner installing such charging or fuel station or by his or her successor. +(d) The cost for supply and storage of the natural gas fuel must be paid by the unit owner installing the natural gas fuel station or by his or her successor. +(e) The unit owner who is installing an electric vehicle charging station or a natural gas fuel station is responsible for the costs of installation, operation, maintenance, and repair, including, but not limited to, hazard and liability insurance. The association may enforce payment of such costs under s. 718.116. +(f) If the unit owner or his or her successor decides there is no longer a need for the electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station, such person is responsible for the cost of removal of such charging or fuel station. The association may enforce payment of such costs under s. 718.116. +(g) The unit owner installing, maintaining, or removing the electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station is responsible for complying with all federal, state, or local laws and regulations applicable to such installation, maintenance, or removal. +(h) The association may require the unit owner to: +1. Comply with bona fide safety requirements, consistent with applicable building codes or recognized safety standards, for the protection of persons and property. +2. Comply with reasonable architectural standards adopted by the association that govern the dimensions, placement, or external appearance of the electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station, provided that such standards may not prohibit the installation of such charging or fuel station or substantially increase the cost thereof. +3. Engage the services of a licensed and registered firm familiar with the installation or removal and core requirements of an electric vehicle charging station or a natural gas fuel station. +4. Provide a certificate of insurance naming the association as an additional insured on the owners insurance policy for any claim related to the installation, maintenance, or use of the electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station within 14 days after receiving the associations approval to install such charging or fuel station or notice to provide such a certificate. +5. Reimburse the association for the actual cost of any increased insurance premium amount attributable to the electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station within 14 days after receiving the associations insurance premium invoice. +(i) The association provides an implied easement across the common elements of the condominium property to the unit owner for purposes of electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station installation, and the furnishing of electrical power or natural gas fuel supply, including any necessary equipment, to such charging or fuel station, subject to the requirements of this subsection. +(9) The board of administration of an association may make available, install, or operate an electric vehicle charging station or a natural gas fuel station upon the common elements or association property and establish the charges or the manner of payments for the unit owners, residents, or guests who use the electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station. For the purposes of this section, the installation, repair, or maintenance of an electric vehicle charging station or natural gas fuel station under this subsection does not constitute a material alteration or substantial addition to the common elements or association property. +History.s. 1, ch. 76-222; s. 1, ch. 89-161; s. 8, ch. 90-151; s. 6, ch. 91-103; s. 5, ch. 91-426; s. 4, ch. 92-49; s. 8, ch. 94-350; s. 43, ch. 95-274; s. 855, ch. 97-102; s. 54, ch. 2000-302; s. 10, ch. 2002-27; s. 1, ch. 2003-28; s. 9, ch. 2008-28; s. 26, ch. 2008-191; s. 89, ch. 2009-21; s. 59, ch. 2010-176; s. 4, ch. 2011-196; s. 4, ch. 2013-188; s. 2, ch. 2014-74; s. 3, ch. 2018-96; s. 5, ch. 2021-99; s. 18, ch. 2022-183; s. 1, ch. 2023-64; s. 8, ch. 2023-203; s. 10, ch. 2024-244; s. 9, ch. 2025-175. diff --git a/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-1265.txt b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-1265.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f05963d --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-1265.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +718.1265 Association emergency powers. +(1) To the extent allowed by law, unless specifically prohibited by the declaration of condominium, the articles, or the bylaws of an association, and consistent with s. 617.0830, the board of administration, in response to damage or injury caused by or anticipated in connection with an emergency, as defined in s. 252.34(4), for which a state of emergency is declared pursuant to s. 252.36 in the locale in which the condominium is located, may exercise the following powers: +(a) Conduct board meetings, committee meetings, elections, and membership meetings, in whole or in part, by telephone, real-time videoconferencing, or similar real-time electronic or video communication with notice given as is practicable. Such notice may be given in any practicable manner, including publication, radio, United States mail, the Internet, electronic transmission, public service announcements, and conspicuous posting on the condominium property or association property or any other means the board deems reasonable under the circumstances. Notice of decisions also may be communicated as provided in this paragraph. +(b) Cancel and reschedule any association meeting. +(c) Name as assistant officers persons who are not directors, which assistant officers shall have the same authority as the executive officers to whom they are assistants during the state of emergency to accommodate the incapacity or unavailability of any officer of the association. +(d) Relocate the associations principal office or designate alternative principal offices. +(e) Enter into agreements with local counties and municipalities to assist counties and municipalities with debris removal. +(f) Implement a disaster plan or an emergency plan before, during, or following the event for which a state of emergency is declared which may include, but is not limited to, shutting down or off elevators; electricity; water, sewer, or security systems; or air conditioners. +(g) Based upon advice of emergency management officials or public health officials, or upon the advice of licensed professionals retained by or otherwise available to the board, determine any portion of the condominium property or association property unavailable for entry or occupancy by unit owners, family members, tenants, guests, agents, or invitees to protect the health, safety, or welfare of such persons. +(h) Require the evacuation of the condominium property in the event of an evacuation order in the locale in which the condominium is located. If a unit owner or other occupant of a condominium fails or refuses to evacuate the condominium property or association property for which the board has required evacuation, the association is immune from liability or injury to persons or property arising from such failure or refusal. +(i) Based upon advice of emergency management officials or public health officials, or upon the advice of licensed professionals retained by or otherwise available to the board, determine whether the condominium property, association property, or any portion thereof can be safely inhabited, accessed, or occupied. However, such determination is not conclusive as to any determination of habitability pursuant to the declaration. +(j) Mitigate further damage, injury, or contagion, including taking action to contract for the removal of debris and to prevent or mitigate the spread of fungus or contagion, including, but not limited to, mold or mildew, by removing and disposing of wet drywall, insulation, carpet, cabinetry, or other fixtures on or within the condominium property, even if the unit owner is obligated by the declaration or law to insure or replace those fixtures and to remove personal property from a unit. +(k) Contract, on behalf of any unit owner or owners, for items or services for which the owners are otherwise individually responsible, but which are necessary to prevent further injury, contagion, or damage to the condominium property or association property. In such event, the unit owner or owners on whose behalf the board has contracted are responsible for reimbursing the association for the actual costs of the items or services, and the association may use its lien authority provided by s. 718.116 to enforce collection of the charges. Without limitation, such items or services may include the drying of units, the boarding of broken windows or doors, the replacement of damaged air conditioners or air handlers to provide climate control in the units or other portions of the property, and the sanitizing of the condominium property or association property, as applicable. +(l) Regardless of any provision to the contrary and even if such authority does not specifically appear in the declaration of condominium, articles, or bylaws of the association, levy special assessments without a vote of the owners. +(m) Without unit owners approval, borrow money and pledge association assets as collateral to fund emergency repairs and carry out the duties of the association when operating funds are insufficient. This paragraph does not limit the general authority of the association to borrow money, subject to such restrictions as are contained in the declaration of condominium, articles, or bylaws of the association. +(2) The special powers authorized under subsection (1) shall be limited to that time reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the association and the unit owners and the unit owners family members, tenants, guests, agents, or invitees and shall be reasonably necessary to mitigate further damage, injury, or contagion and make emergency repairs. +(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1)(f)-(i), during a state of emergency declared by executive order or proclamation of the Governor pursuant to s. 252.36, an association may not prohibit unit owners, tenants, guests, agents, or invitees of a unit owner from accessing the unit and the common elements and limited common elements appurtenant thereto for the purposes of ingress to and egress from the unit and when access is necessary in connection with: +(a) The sale, lease, or other transfer of title of a unit; or +(b) The habitability of the unit or for the health and safety of such person unless a governmental order or determination, or a public health directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been issued prohibiting such access to the unit. Any such access is subject to reasonable restrictions adopted by the association. +History.s. 15, ch. 2008-28; s. 9, ch. 2021-99; s. 10, ch. 2025-175. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-303.txt b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-303.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..863d141 --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-303.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +718.303 Obligations of owners and occupants; remedies. +(1) Each unit owner, tenant and other invitee, and association is governed by, and must comply with the provisions of, this chapter, the declaration, the documents creating the association, and the association bylaws which are expressly incorporated into any lease of a unit. Actions at law or in equity, or both, for failure to comply with these provisions may be brought by the association or by a unit owner against: +(a) The association. +(b) A unit owner. +(c) Directors designated by the developer, for actions taken by them before control of the association is assumed by unit owners other than the developer. +(d) Any director who willfully and knowingly fails to comply with these provisions. +(e) Any tenant leasing a unit, and any other invitee occupying a unit. + +The prevailing party in any such action or in any action in which the purchaser claims a right of voidability based upon contractual provisions as required in s. 718.503(1)(a) is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees. A unit owner prevailing in an action between the association and the unit owner under this subsection, in addition to recovering his or her reasonable attorney fees, may recover additional amounts as determined by the court to be necessary to reimburse the unit owner for his or her share of assessments levied by the association to fund its expenses of the litigation. This relief does not exclude other remedies provided by law. Actions arising under this subsection are not considered actions for specific performance. +(2) A provision of this chapter may not be waived if the waiver would adversely affect the rights of a unit owner or the purpose of the provision, except that unit owners or members of a board of administration may waive notice of specific meetings in writing if provided by the bylaws. Any instruction given in writing by a unit owner or purchaser to an escrow agent may be relied upon by an escrow agent, whether or not such instruction and the payment of funds thereunder might constitute a waiver of any provision of this chapter. +(3) The association may levy reasonable fines for the failure of the owner of the unit or its occupant, licensee, or invitee to comply with any provision of the declaration, the association bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association. A fine may not become a lien against a unit. A fine may be levied by the board on the basis of each day of a continuing violation, with a single notice and opportunity for hearing before a committee as provided in paragraph (b). However, the fine may not exceed $100 per violation, or $1,000 in the aggregate. +(a) An association may suspend, for a reasonable period of time, the right of a unit owner, or a unit owners tenant, guest, or invitee, to use the common elements, common facilities, or any other association property for failure to comply with any provision of the declaration, the association bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association. This paragraph does not apply to limited common elements intended to be used only by that unit, common elements needed to access the unit, utility services provided to the unit, parking spaces, or elevators. +(b) A fine or suspension levied by the board of administration may not be imposed unless the board first provides at least 14 days written notice to the unit owner and, if applicable, any tenant, licensee, or invitee of the unit owner sought to be fined or suspended, and an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of at least three members appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association, or the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, director, or employee. The role of the committee is limited to determining whether to confirm or reject the fine or suspension levied by the board. If the committee does not approve the proposed fine or suspension by majority vote, the fine or suspension may not be imposed. If the proposed fine or suspension is approved by the committee, the fine payment is due 5 days after notice of the approved fine is provided to the unit owner and, if applicable, to any tenant, licensee, or invitee of the unit owner. The association must provide written notice of such fine or suspension by mail or hand delivery to the unit owner and, if applicable, to any tenant, licensee, or invitee of the unit owner. +(4) If a unit owner is more than 90 days delinquent in paying a fee, fine, or other monetary obligation due to the association, the association may suspend the right of the unit owner or the units occupant, licensee, or invitee to use common elements, common facilities, or any other association property until the fee, fine, or other monetary obligation is paid in full. This subsection does not apply to limited common elements intended to be used only by that unit, common elements needed to access the unit, utility services provided to the unit, parking spaces, or elevators. The notice and hearing requirements under subsection (3) do not apply to suspensions imposed under this subsection. +(5) An association may suspend the voting rights of a unit owner or member due to nonpayment of any fee, fine, or other monetary obligation due to the association which is more than $1,000 and more than 90 days delinquent. Proof of such obligation must be provided to the unit owner or member 30 days before such suspension takes effect. At least 90 days before an election, an association must notify a unit owner or member that his or her voting rights may be suspended due to a nonpayment of a fee or other monetary obligation. A voting interest or consent right allocated to a unit owner or member which has been suspended by the association shall be subtracted from the total number of voting interests in the association, which shall be reduced by the number of suspended voting interests when calculating the total percentage or number of all voting interests available to take or approve any action, and the suspended voting interests shall not be considered for any purpose, including, but not limited to, the percentage or number of voting interests necessary to constitute a quorum, the percentage or number of voting interests required to conduct an election, or the percentage or number of voting interests required to approve an action under this chapter or pursuant to the declaration, articles of incorporation, or bylaws. The suspension ends upon full payment of all obligations currently due or overdue the association. The notice and hearing requirements under subsection (3) do not apply to a suspension imposed under this subsection. +(6) All suspensions imposed pursuant to subsection (4) or subsection (5) must be approved at a properly noticed board meeting. Upon approval, the association must notify the unit owner and, if applicable, the units occupant, licensee, or invitee by mail or hand delivery. +(7) The suspensions permitted by paragraph (3)(a) and subsections (4) and (5) apply to a member and, when appropriate, the members tenants, guests, or invitees, even if the delinquency or failure that resulted in the suspension arose from less than all of the multiple units owned by a member. +(8) A receiver may not exercise voting rights of any unit owner whose unit is placed in receivership for the benefit of the association pursuant to this chapter. +History.s. 1, ch. 76-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 12, ch. 84-368; s. 16, ch. 90-151; s. 14, ch. 91-103; s. 5, ch. 91-426; s. 11, ch. 92-49; s. 864, ch. 97-102; s. 14, ch. 2003-14; s. 20, ch. 2008-28; s. 16, ch. 2010-174; s. 8, ch. 2011-196; s. 6, ch. 2013-188; s. 10, ch. 2015-97; s. 7, ch. 2017-188; s. 7, ch. 2018-96; s. 11, ch. 2021-99; s. 19, ch. 2024-244. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-501.txt b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-501.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3dd87ed --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Procedure/Chapter 718-501.txt @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +718.501 Authority, responsibility, and duties of Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes. +(1) The division may enforce and ensure compliance with this chapter and rules relating to the development, construction, sale, lease, ownership, operation, and management of residential condominium units and complaints. In performing its duties, the division has complete jurisdiction to investigate complaints and enforce compliance with respect to associations that are still under developer control or the control of a bulk assignee or bulk buyer pursuant to part VII of this chapter and complaints against developers, bulk assignees, or bulk buyers involving improper turnover or failure to turnover, pursuant to s. 718.301. However, after turnover has occurred, the division has jurisdiction to review records and investigate complaints related only to: +(a)1. Procedural aspects and records relating to financial issues, including annual financial reporting under s. 718.111(13); assessments for common expenses, fines, and commingling of reserve and operating funds under s. 718.111(14); use of debit cards for unintended purposes under s. 718.111(15); the annual operating budget and the allocation of reserve funds under s. 718.112(2)(f); financial records under s. 718.111(12)(a)11.; and any other record necessary to determine the revenues and expenses of the association. +2. Elections, including election and voting requirements under s. 718.112(2)(b) and (d), recall of board members under s. 718.112(2)(l), electronic voting under s. 718.128, and elections that occur during an emergency under s. 718.1265(1)(a). +3. The maintenance of and unit owner access to association records under s. 718.111(12). +4. The procedural aspects of meetings, including unit owner meetings, quorums, voting requirements, proxies, board of administration meetings, and budget meetings under s. 718.112(2). +5. The disclosure of conflicts of interest under ss. 718.111(1)(a) and 718.3027, including limitations contained in s. 718.111(3)(f). +6. The removal of a board director or officer under ss. 718.111(1)(a) and (15) and 718.112(2)(p) and (q). +7. The procedural completion of structural integrity reserve studies under s. 718.112(2)(g) and the milestone inspections under s. 553.899. +8. Completion of repairs required by a milestone inspection under s. 553.899. +9. Any written inquiries by unit owners to the association relating to such matters, including written inquiries under s. 718.112(2)(a)2. +10. The requirement for associations to maintain an insurance policy or fidelity bonding for all persons who control or disperse funds of the association under s. 718.111(11)(h). +11. Board member education requirements under s. 718.112(2)(d)5.b. +12. Reporting requirements for structural integrity reserve studies under subsection (3) and under s. 718.112(2)(g)12. +(b)1. The division may make necessary public or private investigations within or outside this state to determine whether any person has violated this chapter or any rule or order hereunder, to aid in the enforcement of this chapter, or to aid in the adoption of rules or forms. +2. The division may submit any official written report, worksheet, or other related paper, or a duly certified copy thereof, compiled, prepared, drafted, or otherwise made by and duly authenticated by a financial examiner or analyst to be admitted as competent evidence in any hearing in which the financial examiner or analyst is available for cross-examination and attests under oath that such documents were prepared as a result of an examination or inspection conducted pursuant to this chapter. +(c) The division may require or permit any person to file a statement in writing, under oath or otherwise, as the division determines, as to the facts and circumstances concerning a matter to be investigated. +(d) For the purpose of any investigation under this chapter, the division director or any officer or employee designated by the division director may administer oaths or affirmations, subpoena witnesses and compel their attendance, take evidence, and require the production of any matter which is relevant to the investigation, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of relevant facts or any other matter reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of material evidence. Upon the failure by a person to obey a subpoena or to answer questions propounded by the investigating officer and upon reasonable notice to all affected persons, the division may apply to the circuit court for an order compelling compliance. +(e) Notwithstanding any remedies available to unit owners and associations, if the division has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of any provision of this chapter or related rule has occurred, the division may institute enforcement proceedings in its own name against any developer, bulk assignee, bulk buyer, association, officer, or member of the board of administration, or its assignees or agents, as follows: +1. The division may permit a person whose conduct or actions may be under investigation to waive formal proceedings and enter into a consent proceeding whereby orders, rules, or letters of censure or warning, whether formal or informal, may be entered against the person. +2. The division may issue an order requiring the developer, bulk assignee, bulk buyer, association, developer-designated officer, or developer-designated member of the board of administration, developer-designated assignees or agents, bulk assignee-designated assignees or agents, bulk buyer-designated assignees or agents, community association manager, or community association management firm to cease and desist from the unlawful practice and take such affirmative action as in the judgment of the division carry out the purposes of this chapter. If the division finds that a developer, bulk assignee, bulk buyer, association, officer, or member of the board of administration, or its assignees or agents, is violating or is about to violate any provision of this chapter, any rule adopted or order issued by the division, or any written agreement entered into with the division, and presents an immediate danger to the public requiring an immediate final order, it may issue an emergency cease and desist order reciting with particularity the facts underlying such findings. The emergency cease and desist order is effective for 90 days. If the division begins nonemergency cease and desist proceedings, the emergency cease and desist order remains effective until the conclusion of the proceedings under ss. 120.569 and 120.57. +3. If a developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer fails to pay any restitution determined by the division to be owed, plus any accrued interest at the highest rate permitted by law, within 30 days after expiration of any appellate time period of a final order requiring payment of restitution or the conclusion of any appeal thereof, whichever is later, the division must bring an action in circuit or county court on behalf of any association, class of unit owners, lessees, or purchasers for restitution, declaratory relief, injunctive relief, or any other available remedy. The division may also temporarily revoke its acceptance of the filing for the developer to which the restitution relates until payment of restitution is made. +4. The division may petition the court for appointment of a receiver or conservator. If appointed, the receiver or conservator may take action to implement the court order to ensure the performance of the order and to remedy any breach thereof. In addition to all other means provided by law for the enforcement of an injunction or temporary restraining order, the circuit court may impound or sequester the property of a party defendant, including books, papers, documents, and related records, and allow the examination and use of the property by the division and a court-appointed receiver or conservator. +5. The division may apply to the circuit court for an order of restitution whereby the defendant in an action brought under subparagraph 4. is ordered to make restitution of those sums shown by the division to have been obtained by the defendant in violation of this chapter. At the option of the court, such restitution is payable to the conservator or receiver appointed under subparagraph 4. or directly to the persons whose funds or assets were obtained in violation of this chapter. +6. The division may impose a civil penalty against a developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer, or association, or its assignee or agent, for any violation of this chapter or related rule. The division may impose a civil penalty individually against an officer or board member who willfully and knowingly violates this chapter, an adopted rule, or a final order of the division; may order the removal of such individual as an officer or from the board of administration or as an officer of the association; and may prohibit such individual from serving as an officer or on the board of a community association for a period of time. The term willfully and knowingly means that the division informed the officer or board member that his or her action or intended action violates this chapter, a rule adopted under this chapter, or a final order of the division and that the officer or board member refused to comply with the requirements of this chapter, a rule adopted under this chapter, or a final order of the division. The division, before initiating formal agency action under chapter 120, must afford the officer or board member an opportunity to voluntarily comply, and an officer or board member who complies within 10 days is not subject to a civil penalty. A penalty may be imposed on the basis of each day of continuing violation, but the penalty for any offense may not exceed $5,000. The division shall adopt by rule penalty guidelines applicable to possible violations or to categories of violations of this chapter or rules adopted by the division. The guidelines must specify a meaningful range of civil penalties for each such violation of the statute and rules and must be based upon the harm caused by the violation, upon the repetition of the violation, and upon such other factors deemed relevant by the division. For example, the division may consider whether the violations were committed by a developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer, or owner-controlled association, the size of the association, and other factors. The guidelines must designate the possible mitigating or aggravating circumstances that justify a departure from the range of penalties provided by the rules. It is the legislative intent that minor violations be distinguished from those which endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the condominium residents or other persons and that such guidelines provide reasonable and meaningful notice to the public of likely penalties that may be imposed for proscribed conduct. This subsection does not limit the ability of the division to informally dispose of administrative actions or complaints by stipulation, agreed settlement, or consent order. All amounts collected shall be deposited with the Chief Financial Officer to the credit of the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes Trust Fund. If a developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer fails to pay the civil penalty and the amount deemed to be owed to the association, the division shall issue an order directing that such developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer cease and desist from further operation until such time as the civil penalty is paid or may pursue enforcement of the penalty in a court of competent jurisdiction. If an association fails to pay the civil penalty, the division shall pursue enforcement in a court of competent jurisdiction, and the order imposing the civil penalty or the cease and desist order is not effective until 20 days after the date of such order. Any action commenced by the division shall be brought in the county in which the division has its executive offices or in the county in which the violation occurred. +7. If a unit owner presents the division with proof that the unit owner has requested access to official records in writing by certified mail, and that after 10 days the unit owner again made the same request for access to official records in writing by certified mail, and that more than 10 days has elapsed since the second request and the association has still failed or refused to provide access to official records as required by this chapter, the division shall issue a subpoena requiring production of the requested records at the location in which the records are kept pursuant to s. 718.112. Upon receipt of the records, the division must provide to the unit owner who was denied access to such records the produced official records without charge. +8. In addition to subparagraph 6., the division may seek the imposition of a civil penalty through the circuit court for any violation for which the division may issue a notice to show cause under paragraph (t). The civil penalty shall be at least $500 but no more than $5,000 for each violation. The court may also award to the prevailing party court costs and reasonable attorney fees and, if the division prevails, may also award reasonable costs of investigation. +9. The division may issue citations and promulgate rules to provide for citation bases and citation procedures in accordance with this paragraph. +(f) The division may prepare and disseminate a prospectus and other information to assist prospective owners, purchasers, lessees, and developers of residential condominiums in assessing the rights, privileges, and duties pertaining thereto. +(g) The division may adopt rules to administer and enforce this chapter. +(h) The division shall establish procedures for providing notice to an association and the developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer during the period in which the developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer controls the association if the division is considering the issuance of a declaratory statement with respect to the declaration of condominium or any related document governing such condominium community. +(i) The division shall furnish each association that pays the fees required by paragraph (2)(a) a copy of this chapter, as amended, and the rules adopted thereto on an annual basis. +(j) The division shall annually provide each association with a summary of declaratory statements and formal legal opinions relating to the operations of condominiums which were rendered by the division during the previous year. +(k) The division shall provide training and educational programs for condominium association board members and unit owners. The training may, in the divisions discretion, include web-based electronic media and live training and seminars in various locations throughout the state. The division may review and approve education and training programs for board members and unit owners offered by providers and shall maintain a current list of approved programs and providers and make such list available to board members and unit owners in a reasonable and cost-effective manner. The division shall provide the division-approved provider with the template certificate for issuance directly to the associations board of directors who have satisfactorily completed the requirements under s. 718.112(2)(d). The division shall adopt rules to implement this section. +(l) The division shall maintain a toll-free telephone number accessible to condominium unit owners. +(m) The division shall develop a program to certify both volunteer and paid mediators to provide mediation of condominium disputes. The division shall provide, upon request, a list of such mediators to any association, unit owner, or other participant in alternative dispute resolution proceedings under s. 718.1255 requesting a copy of the list. The division shall include on the list of volunteer mediators only the names of persons who have received at least 20 hours of training in mediation techniques or who have mediated at least 20 disputes. In order to become initially certified by the division, paid mediators must be certified by the Supreme Court to mediate court cases in county or circuit courts. However, the division may adopt by rule additional factors for the certification of paid mediators, which must be related to experience, education, or background. Any person initially certified as a paid mediator by the division must, in order to continue to be certified, comply with the factors or requirements adopted by rule. +(n) If a complaint is made, the division must conduct its inquiry with due regard for the interests of the affected parties. Within 30 days after receipt of a complaint, the division shall acknowledge the complaint in writing and notify the complainant whether the complaint is within the jurisdiction of the division and whether additional information is needed by the division from the complainant. The division shall conduct its investigation and, within 90 days after receipt of the original complaint or of timely requested additional information, take action upon the complaint. However, the failure to complete the investigation within 90 days does not prevent the division from continuing the investigation, accepting or considering evidence obtained or received after 90 days, or taking administrative action if reasonable cause exists to believe that a violation of this chapter or a rule has occurred. If an investigation is not completed within the time limits established in this paragraph, the division shall, on a monthly basis, notify the complainant in writing of the status of the investigation. When reporting its action to the complainant, the division shall inform the complainant of any right to a hearing under ss. 120.569 and 120.57. The division may adopt rules regarding the submission of a complaint against an association. +(o) Condominium association directors, officers, and employees; condominium developers; bulk assignees, bulk buyers, and community association managers; and community association management firms have an ongoing duty to reasonably cooperate with the division in any investigation under this section. The division shall refer to local law enforcement authorities any person whom the division believes has altered, destroyed, concealed, or removed any record, document, or thing required to be kept or maintained by this chapter with the purpose to impair its verity or availability in the departments investigation. The division shall refer to local law enforcement authorities any person whom the division believes has engaged in fraud, theft, embezzlement, or other criminal activity or when the division has cause to believe that fraud, theft, embezzlement, or other criminal activity has occurred. +(p) The division director or any officer or employee of the division and the condominium ombudsman or any employee of the Office of the Condominium Ombudsman may attend and observe any meeting of the board of administration or any unit owner meeting, including any meeting of a subcommittee or special committee, which is open to members of the association for the purpose of performing the duties of the division or the Office of the Condominium Ombudsman under this chapter. +(q) The division may: +1. Contract with agencies in this state or other jurisdictions to perform investigative functions; or +2. Accept grants-in-aid from any source. +(r) The division shall cooperate with similar agencies in other jurisdictions to establish uniform filing procedures and forms, public offering statements, advertising standards, and rules and common administrative practices. +(s) The division shall consider notice to a developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer to be complete when it is delivered to the address of the developer, bulk assignee, or bulk buyer currently on file with the division. +(t) In addition to its enforcement authority, the division may issue a notice to show cause, which must provide for a hearing, upon written request, in accordance with chapter 120. +(u) If the division receives a complaint regarding access to official records on the associations website or through an application that can be downloaded on a mobile device under s. 718.111(12)(g), the division may request access to the associations website or application and investigate. The division may adopt rules to carry out this paragraph. +(v) The division shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairs of the legislative appropriations committees an annual report that includes, but need not be limited to, the number of training programs provided for condominium association board members and unit owners, the number of complaints received by type, the number and percent of complaints acknowledged in writing within 30 days and the number and percent of investigations acted upon within 90 days in accordance with paragraph (n), and the number of investigations exceeding the 90-day requirement. The annual report must also include an evaluation of the divisions core business processes and make recommendations for improvements, including statutory changes. After December 31, 2024, the division must include a list of the associations that have completed the structural integrity reserve study required under s. 718.112(2)(g). The report shall be submitted by September 30 following the end of the fiscal year. +(2)(a) Each condominium association that operates more than two units shall pay to the division an annual fee in the amount of $4 for each residential unit in condominiums operated by the association. If the fee is not paid by March 1, the association shall be assessed a penalty of 10 percent of the amount due, and the association will not have standing to maintain or defend any action in the courts of this state until the amount due, plus any penalty, is paid. +(b) All fees shall be deposited in the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes Trust Fund as provided by law. +(c) On the certification form provided by the division, the directors of the association shall certify that each director of the association has completed the written certification and educational certificate requirements in 1s. 718.112(2)(d)4.b. This certification requirement does not apply to the directors of an association governing a timeshare condominium. +(d) Each condominium association must create and maintain an online account with the division, as required in subsection (3). +(3) On or before October 1, 2025, all condominium associations must create and maintain an online account with the division and provide information requested by the division in an electronic format determined by the division. The division shall adopt rules to implement this subsection. The division may require condominium associations to provide such information no more than once per year, except that the division may require condominium associations to update the contact information in paragraph (a) within 30 days after any change. The division shall provide a condominium association at least a 45-day notice of any requirement to provide any information after the condominium association initially creates an online account. The information that the division may require from condominium associations is limited to: +(a) Contact information for the association that includes: +1. Name of the association. +2. The physical address of the condominium property. +3. Mailing address and county of the association. +4. E-mail address and telephone number for the association. +5. Name and board title for each member of the associations board. +6. Name and contact information of the associations community association manager or community association management firm, if applicable. +7. The hyperlink or website address of the associations website, if applicable. +(b) Total number of buildings and for each building in the association: +1. Total number of stories, including both habitable and uninhabitable stories. +2. Total number of units. +3. Age of each building based on the certificate of occupancy. +4. Any construction commenced within the common elements within the calendar year. +(c) The associations assessments, including the: +1. Amount of assessment or special assessment by unit type, including reserves. +2. Purpose of the assessment or special assessment. +3. Name of the financial institution or institutions with which the association maintains accounts. +(d) A copy of any structural integrity reserve study and any associated materials requested by the department within 5 business days after such request, in a manner prescribed by the department. +History.s. 1, ch. 76-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 2, ch. 77-221; s. 4, ch. 78-323; ss. 4, 12, ch. 78-340; s. 32, ch. 79-4; s. 15, ch. 79-314; s. 1, ch. 81-28; ss. 1, 2, 3, ch. 81-54; s. 4, ch. 81-172; s. 6, ch. 81-185; s. 477, ch. 81-259; ss. 1, 4, ch. 82-46; s. 2, ch. 82-113; ss. 5, 7, ch. 82-199; s. 154, ch. 83-216; s. 16, ch. 84-368; s. 5, ch. 85-60; s. 8, ch. 86-175; s. 18, ch. 87-102; s. 16, ch. 91-103; s. 5, ch. 91-426; s. 12, ch. 92-49; s. 233, ch. 94-218; s. 299, ch. 96-410; s. 1774, ch. 97-102; s. 3, ch. 97-301; s. 221, ch. 98-200; s. 62, ch. 2000-302; s. 1891, ch. 2003-261; s. 21, ch. 2008-28; s. 4, ch. 2008-134; s. 48, ch. 2008-240; s. 90, ch. 2009-21; s. 17, ch. 2010-174; s. 13, ch. 2021-99; s. 22, ch. 2021-135; s. 10, ch. 2022-269; s. 119, ch. 2023-8; s. 22, ch. 2023-203; s. 21, ch. 2024-244; s. 16, ch. 2025-175. +1Note.Redesignated as s. 718.112(2)(d)5.b. by s. 8, ch. 2025-175. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/Books/Procedure/Florida Probate.txt b/Books/Procedure/Florida Probate.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a358300 --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Procedure/Florida Probate.txt @@ -0,0 +1,96079 @@ +FLORIDA PROBATE RULES +AND STATUTES + +FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL +PROCEDURE + +FLORIDA RULES OF GENERAL +PRACTICE + +AND JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION + + + +2023 EDITION + + + + +THE FLORIDA BAR + +Distributed by LexisNexis + +230 Park Ave, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10169 +800/833-9844 Fax: 800/543-6862 + + + +www.lexisnexis.com + + + +The Florida Bar and LexisNexis + +working together for Floridas Lawyers + +Through a joint publishing relationship, The Florida Bar and LexisNexis have +combined their expertise to best serve the information needs of those +practicing law in Florida. The Legal Publications staff writes and edits the +publications; LexisNexis provides printing, distribution, and customer service +support. +If you have any questions: + + +Contact The Florida Bar Contact LexisNexis +For questions regarding content, For questions regarding billing, +authors, member benefits, and other subscriptions, purchases, or other +Bar matters. Florida Bar products. + + +The Florida Bar LexisNexis +651 East Jefferson Street 230 Park Ave, 7th Floor, +Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300 New York, NY 10169 +Phone: 850/561-5600 Phone: 800/833-9844 +Fax: 850/561-5826 Fax: 800/543-6862 +www.floridabar.org www.lexisnexis.com/flabar + customer.support@lexisnexis.com + + + + + + +International Standard Book Number: 978-1-66335-772-4 (print) +International Standard Book Number: 978-1-66335-773-1 (eBook) + +The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300 + 2023 by The Florida Bar. All rights reserved +Published 2023 +Printed in the United States of America + +(Pub No. 22736) + + + +Terms of Use + +________ + +Your use of this electronic publication (eBook) from LexisNexis, a division +of RELX Inc., a Massachusetts corporation, or its affiliates, is subject to the +following terms and conditions. This eBook is for your personal use only. All +access to and use of this eBook is subject to U.S. and international copyright +law. All intellectual property rights are reserved to the copyright holder. +Redistribution or duplication of this eBook to any other electronic media or a +third party is strictly prohibited. Under no circumstances may you redistribute +this eBook commercially or post this eBook on an intranet, internet or +SharePoint site. Finally, use of this eBook is further subject to the terms and +conditions of use which were accepted at the time you completed your +purchase of this eBook from the point of purchase. + + + + + + +CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS STAFF +Terry L. Hill, Director, Programs Division + +Chelsea Chick, Associate Editor +Jamie Spargo, Associate Editor + + + +PREFACE +This pamphlet is another in a continuing series of publications designed to + +aid Florida lawyers to practice more efficiently and effectively. +This manual will be updated annually to reflect statutory and rules of + +procedure revisions. + Terry L. Hill, Director + Programs Division + January 2023 + + + +USE OF LEXIS + +The Florida Bar acknowledges the use of LEXIS computerized legal +research service to assist in the legal editing of its manuals and supplements. +Members of The Florida Bar can obtain membership group subscription +information for LEXIS services by calling the LEXIS Membership Group +at 800/356-6548. + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS +__________ + +FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE +CITATIONS TO OPINIONS ............................... CIV-3 +TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................... CIV-7 +TEXT ............................... CIV-13 +SUBJECT INDEX TO RULES ............................... CIV-147 + +FLORIDA RULES OF GENERAL PRACTICE AND JUDICIAL +ADMINISTRATION + +CITATIONS TO OPINIONS ............................... JUD-3 +TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................... JUD-7 +TEXT ............................... JUD-11 +SUBJECT INDEX TO RULES ............................... JUD-117 + +FLORIDA PROBATE RULES AND STATUTES +CITATIONS TO OPINIONS ............................... PROB-3 +TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................... PROB-7 +TEXT ............................... PROB-11 +FLORIDA STATUTES + +CHAPTER 69 (Selected Section) ............................... PROB-181 +CHAPTER 86 (Selected Section) ............................... PROB-183 +CHAPTER 198 ............................... PROB-185 +CHAPTER 222 ............................... PROB-195 +CHAPTER 393 (Selected Sections) ............................... PROB-205 +CHAPTER 409 (Selected Sections) ............................... PROB-211 + + + +CHAPTER 518 ............................... PROB-219 +CHAPTER 655 (Selected Sections) ............................... PROB-229 +CHAPTER 689 ............................... PROB-241 +CHAPTER 695 ............................... PROB-261 +CHAPTER 709 ............................... PROB-271 +CHAPTER 710 ............................... PROB-283 +CHAPTER 711 ............................... PROB-291 +CHAPTER 716 ............................... PROB-295 +CHAPTER 717 ............................... PROB-297 +CHAPTER 731 ............................... PROB-325 +CHAPTER 732 ............................... PROB-331 +CHAPTER 733 ............................... PROB-363 +CHAPTER 734 ............................... PROB-401 +CHAPTER 735 ............................... PROB-403 +CHAPTER 736 ............................... PROB-409 +CHAPTER 738 ............................... PROB-467 +CHAPTER 739 ............................... PROB-485 +CHAPTER 740 ............................... PROB-491 +CHAPTER 744 ............................... PROB-497 +CHAPTER 747 ............................... PROB-559 +CHAPTER 765 ............................... PROB-563 +CHAPTER 825 (Selected Section) ............................... PROB-587 + +FLORIDA CONSTITUTION +ARTICLE X, Section 4 ............................... PROB-595 + +SUBJECT INDEX TO RULES AND STATUTES ............................... +PROB-597 + + + +Licensed to Otis K Pitts, Otis K Pitts + +FLORIDA RULES +OF + +CIVIL PROCEDURE + +2023 Edition + +Rules reflect all changes through 346 So.3d 1157. Subsequent amendments, +if any, can be found at www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/rules.shtml. +The Florida Bar also updates the rules on its website at www.FloridaBar.org +(on the homepage click Rules Updates). + + + + + + + + + +CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS +THE FLORIDA BAR + +TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2300 + + + +CITATIONS TO OPINIONS ADOPTING OR AMENDING +RULES + +ORIGINAL ADOPTION, effective 1-1-67: 187 So.2d 598. +OTHER +OPINIONS: +Effective 1-1-68: 211 So.2d 206. Amended 1.010, 1.020(d)(2), (d)(3), + +1.100(c), 1.250, 1.340, 1.370, +1.410(a), 1.420(b), (e), 1.440, +1.500(e), 1.530(b), (f), 1.550(a); +added 1.481; deleted 1.650, 1.670, +1.690, 1.700, 1.710, 1.720. + +Effective 10-1- 211 So.2d 174. Added forms 1.900-1.991. +68: +Effective 9-1-70: 237 So.2d 151. Amended 1.370(a)-(b), 1.640(a), + +form 1.918. +Effective 12-31- 253 So.2d 404. Amended 1.035, 1.070, 1.080, +71: 1.100, 1.110, 1.200, 1.431, 1.450(d), + +1.490, 1.943; added 1.611, 1.627, +1.950, 1.975, 1.983-1.984, 1.989, +1.995-1.996. + +Effective 11-29- 269 So.2d 359. Amended 1.020, 1.035, 1.500. +72: +Effective 1-1-73: 265 So.2d 21. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.035, 1.070, 1.080, 1.100, 1.140, +1.170, 1.200, 1.250, 1.280, 1.310, +1.320, 1.330, 1.340, 1.350, 1.360, +1.370, 1.380, 1.390, 1.410, 1.430, +1.440, 1.442, 1.500, 1.560, 1.627, +forms 1.915-1.916, 1.949, 1.951. + +Effective 10-1- 281 So.2d 204. Amended 1.431(b), 1.611(b). +73: +Effective 1-1-77: 339 So.2d 626. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.020(f)-(g), 1.030, 1.080(a), (h), + + + +1.310(b)(4), 1.340(e), 1.410(c), +1.420(e), 1.431(e), (f)(1)-(f)(2), (g), +1.440(c), 1.510(c), form 1.917; +deleted 1.630. + +Effective 6-13- 347 So.2d 599. Amended 1.220. +77: +Effective 9-1-77: 348 So.2d 325. Amended 1.330(a)(6), 1.340(f). +Effective 7-1-79: 372 So.2d 449. Amended 1.030(a), 1.310(b)(4); + +deleted 1.020, 1.025, 1.030(b)-(e), +1.035. + +Effective 7-2-79: 368 So.2d 1293. Amended 1.450(d); added 1.450(f). +Effective 1-1-80: 377 So.2d 971. Amended 1.080(h)(1). +Effective 1-1-81: 391 So.2d 165. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.010, 1.060(b), 1.070(i), 1.090(e), +1.170(f), 1.190(a), 1.340(c), (e), +1.350(b), 1.400, 1.410(c), 1.420(e), +1.431(g), 1.440(b), 1.442, 1.460, +1.490(d), 1.570, 1.580, 1.610, forms +1.901-1.917, 1.919-1.920, 1.931, +1.934, 1.938, 1.940-1.946, 1.948, +1.971-1.972, 1.980, 1.990, 1.995- +1.996; renumbered 1.221; added +1.220, 1.351, 1.432, 1.625, forms +1.921, 1.922, 1.988; deleted +1.210(c), (d), 1.290(d), 1.627, 1.640, +1.660, 1.680, form 1.950. + +Effective 1-1-82: 403 So.2d 926. Amended 1.310(e), (f)(1), (f)(3), +1.320(b), 1.330(d)(4), 1.340(e); +added 1.350(d); deleted 1.320(c), +1.450(d); Effective date delayed +1.450(f). + +Effective 1-1-82: 407 So.2d 197. Amended 1.340(e). +Effective 6-1-84: 450 So.2d 810. Amended 1.611(c), forms 1.943-1, + +1.943-2, 1.995-1. +Effective 6-1-84: 450 So.2d 817. Amended 1.611(c), forms 1.943(b)- + + + +(e), 1.995(b). +Effective 1-1-85: 458 So.2d 245. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.080(e), 1.180(a), 1.200, 1.280(a), +1.290(a)(4), 1.310, 1.340, 1.380(c), +1.420, 1.440; added 1.060(c), 1.630; +deleted 1.450(d)-(e); transferred +1.450(f) to Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.075. + +Effective 7-1-86: 488 So.2d 57. Amended 1.100(c); added forms +1.997-1.998. + +Effective 1-1-88: 518 So.2d 908. Added 1.700, 1.710, 1.720, 1.730, +1.740, 1.750, 1.760, 1.770, 1.780, +1.800, 1.810, 1.820, 1.830. + +Effective 3-1-88: 521 So.2d 118. Added 1.491. +Effective 9-22- 541 So.2d 1121. Added 1.222. +88: +Effective 10-17- 532 So.2d 1058. Added 1.612. +88: +Effective 11-23- 534 So.2d 1150. Amended 1.700(b), (c). +88: +Effective 12-30- 536 So.2d 193. Added 1.650. +88: +Effective 1-1-89: *536 So.2d 974. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.140(a), 1.170(g), 1.190(a), +1.280(b)(3)(A) (renumbered (b)(4) +(A)), 1.310(b)(4), (c), 1.340(a), +1.360, 1.380, 1.390(c), 1.440(c), +1.470(b), forms 1.948, 1.975; added +1.070(j), 1.200(a)(5), 1.280(b)(2) +(renumbering the remaining +subdivisions), (b)(4)(D), 1.431(f), +forms 1.902(b), 1.932. + +Effective 1-11- 536 So.2d 198. Added 1.612 (revised opinion). +89: +Effective 7-6-89: 545 So.2d 866. Amended 1.280. +Effective 1-1-90: 550 So.2d 442. Amended 1.442. + + + +Effective 7-1-90: 563 So.2d 85. Amended 1.700, 1.710, 1.720, +1.730, 1.740, 1.750, 1.760; deleted +1.770, 1.780. + +Effective 7-6-90: 563 So.2d 1079. Amended form 1.943(c). +Effective 10-25- 568 So.2d 1273. Amended 1.650(d)(2). +90: +Effective 4-4-91: 577 So.2d 580. Amended 1.976. +Effective 5-28- 604 So.2d 764. Amended 1.720(f); transferred 1.760 +92: to Florida Rules for Certified and + +Court-Appointed Mediators as +10.010. + +Effective 7-9-92: 608 So.2d 1. Repealed 1.442. +Effective 1-1-93: 604 So.2d 1110. Four-year-cycle revision. + +Substantively amended 1.070, +1.080(b), (f), 1.100(b), 1.200, +1.310(b)(4)(D), 1.420(f), 1.431(g) +(2), 1.510(c), 1.530(e), 1.540(b), +1.611, forms 1.902(b), 1.907(b), +1.960, 1.988(b), standard +interrogatories form 7; added new +1.442 directing compliance with +statute; deleted 1.070(d) +(renumbering the remaining +subdivisions), 1.400, 1.612, 1.931. + +Effective 1-1-93: 609 So.2d 465. Deleted 1.432. +Effective 11-22- 627 So.2d 481. Amended 1.650(d)(3). +93: +Effective 6-16- 639 So.2d 22. Corrected 1.630(c). +94: +Effective 7-1-94: 641 So.2d 343. Amended 1.700-1.720, 1.750, + +1.800-1.830. +Effective 1-1-96: 663 So.2d 1049. Amended 1.010, 1.360, 1.540, forms + +1.918-1.919, 1.982; deleted 1.491, +1.611, 1.740, forms 1.943, 1.975, +1.995, standard interrogatories form + + + +7 (because of adoption of Florida +Family Law Rules of Procedure). + +Effective 1-25- 674 So.2d 86. Added 1.061. +96: +Effective 1-1-97: 682 So.2d 105. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.061, 1.110, 1.280(b)(4), 1.310(c)- +(d), (h), 1.351(b)-(c), 1.380, 1.442, +1.480(b), 1.710(b)(4), 1.730(b)-(c), +1.750(b), 1.800, forms 1.908, 1.916, +1.921-1.923, 1.997; added 1.070(i) +and renumbered (j), added 1.280(b) +(5), added 1.351 (d) and renumbered +(e), (f), added 1.410 (a) and +renumbered (a)-(f), added forms +1.902(c), 1.910(b), 1.911(b), +1.912(b), 1.913(b), 1.922(c)-(d); +deleted 1.450(a) and renumbered +(b)-(c); added committee note to +1.907. + +Effective 10-1- 718 So.2d 795. Amended 1.140(b) and 1.330(a). +98: +Effective 10-15- 723 So.2d 180. Added form 1.995. +98: +Effective 3-4-99: 746 So.2d 1084. Amended 1.070(j). +Effective 3-11- 745 So.2d 946. Amended 1.650(d)(3). +99: +Effective 7-1-99: 756 So.2d 27. Added rule 1.840 and form 1.999. +Effective 2-17- 754 So.2d 671. Amended 1.070(j). +00: +Effective 1-1-01: 773 So.2d 1098. Four-year-cycle revision. + +Substantively amended 1.061, +1.442(b), (f)-(g), 1.560, 1.650(d), +forms 1.988, 1.990-1.996; added +1.525, form 1.977. + +Effective 10-23- 858 So.2d 1013. Repealed 1.840, form 1.999. + + + +03: +Effective 1-1-04: 858 So.2d 1013. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.070(j), 1.190, 1.210(a), 1.370, +1.380, 1.525, 1.540, 1.650, 1.750, +1.810, 1.820, forms 1.902, 1.906, +1.977, 1.988; added 1.981; repealed +1.840, form 1.999. + +Effective 10-1- 887 So.2d 1090. Amended 1.200, 1.490. +04: +Effective 1-1-06: 915 So.2d 145. Amended 1.720(f). +Effective 1-1-06: 915 So.2d 612. Revised Statewide Uniform + +Guidelines for Taxation of Costs in +Civil Actions. + +Effective 1-1-06: 917 So.2d 176. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended +1.380, 1.420(e), 1.431, 1.510, 1.525, +forms 1.989, 1.997. + +Effective 11-15- 969 So.2d 1003. Amended 1.720(f)(2). +07: +Effective 1-1-08: 966 So.2d 943. Three-year-cycle revision. Amended + +1.120, 1.140, 1.210, 1.221, 1.280, +1.310, 1.351, 1.360, 1.410, 1.650, +1.820, forms 1.902, 1.910-1.913, +1.922, 1.982. + +Effective 1-1-08: 967 So.2d 178. Amended 1.200 and 1.470; adopted +1.452 and 1.455. + +Effective 5-28- 15 So.3d 558. Amended 1.100, 1.200, 1.440; +09: added 1.201, form 1.999. +Effective 10-1- 20 So.3d 376. Amended form 1.985. +09: +Effective 10-1- 15 So.3d 558. Amended form 1.918. +09: +Effective 10-15- 30 So.3d 477. Amended form 1.998. +09: +Effective 1-1-10: 30 So.3d 477. Amended form 1.997. +Effective 2-11- 44 So.3d 555. Amended 1.110, added forms 1.924; + + + +10: 1.996(a)-(b) +Effective 1-1-11: 52 So.3d 579. Amended rules 1.080, 1.100, 1.310, + +1.340, 1.351, 1.360, 1.410, 1.420, +1.442, 1.470, 1.480, 1.510, 1.525, +forms 1.901, 1.923, 1.986; added +rules 1.071, 1.285, form 1.975; +deleted form 1.985. + +Effective 10-1- 80 So.3d 317. Amended rules 1.280, 1.310, 1.340, +11: 1.350, forms 1.988, 1.990, 1.991, + +1.993, 1.994, and 1.995(a)-(d). +Effective 1-1-12: 75 So.3d 264. Amended rule 1.720. +Effective 9-1-12: 102 So.3d 505. Amended rules 1.080, 1.170, 1.351, + +1.410, 1.440, 1.442, 1.510, 1.630. +Effective 9-1-12: 95 So.3d 76. Amended rules 1.200, 1.201, 1.280, + +1.340, 1.350, 1.380, 1.410. +Effective 10-1- 95 So.3d 96. Amended rule 1.090. +12: +Effective 4-1-13: 102 So.3d 451. Amended rules 1.030, 1.080. +Effective 4-11- 112 So.3d 1209. Amended rule 1.442. +13: +Effective 5-9-13: 113 So.3d 777. Amended rule 1.490. +Effective 1-1-14: 131 So.3d 643. Amended rules 1.380, 1.431, 1.442, + +1.480, 1.490, 1.530, 1.560, 1.630; +added 1.020, 1.451. + +Effective 2-20- 133 So.3d 928. Amended rule 1.470. +14: +Effective 3-13- 141 So.3d 179. Amended rule 1.490. Adopted rule +14: 1.491. +Effective 10-1- 141 So.3d 1172. Amended rule 1.720. +14: +Effective 12-11- 153 So.3d 258. Amended rules 1.110, 1.994, 1.996. +14: Adopted rule 1.115. +Effective 3-5-15: 159 So.3d 858. Amended rules 1.490, 1.491. +Effective 1-14- 153 So.3d 258. Amended rule 1.115, forms + + + +16: 1.944(a), 1.944(b), 1.944(c) +1.944(d), 1.996(b). + +Effective 1-1-17: 199 So.3d 867. Three-year-cycle rule and form +amendments. Amended rules 1.020, +1.071, 1.100, 1.130, 1.140, 1.170, +1.200, 1.310, 1.320, 1.340, 1.410, +1.431, 1.500, 1.510, 1.625, 1.630, +forms 1.900, 1.910, 1.911, 1.912, +1.913, 1.918, 1.921, 1.922, 14.975, +1.980, 1.997; adopted rule 1.545. + +Effective 2-23- 211 So.3d 985. Amended form 1.983. +17: +Effective 7-1-18: 244 So.3d 1009. Amended rule 1.570; renumbered + +form 1.914; adopted forms 1.914(b), +1.914(c). + +Effective 1-1-19: 257 So.3d 66. Amended rules 1.170, 1.260, 1.351, +1.410, 1.440, 1.442, 1.510. + +Effective 1-1-20: 283 So.3d 802. Amended forms 1.997, 1.998. +Effective 1-1-20: 292 So.3d 660. Amended rules 1.090, 1.350, 1.380, + +1.510, 1.540, 1.610, 1.650, 1.730, +1.830, 1.902, 1.923, 1.984, 1.996(a), +1.996(b), Appendix I Form 1, Form +2; adopted rule 1.535. + +Effective 4-1-20: 45 FLW S88. Amended rule 1.470. +Effective 8-13- 302 So.3d 811. Amended form 1.997. +20: +Effective 12-31- 309 So.3d 192. Amended rule 1.510. +20: +Effective 1-28- 312 So.3d 445. Amended rule 1.470. +21: +Effective 4-8-21: 318 So.3d 1240. Amended rule 1.080. +Effective 4-8-21: 315 So.3d 633. Amended rule 1.650. +Effective 4-8-21: 315 So.3d 635. Amended rule 1.260. +Effective 4-29- 317 So.3d 72. Amended rule 1.810. + + + +21: +Effective 5-21- 317 So.3d 1090. Amended rule 1.720. +21: + +Effective 8-26- 324 So.3d 459. Amended rule 1.280. +21: +Effective 10-7- 345 So.3d 697. Amended rules 1.280, 1.340. +21: +Effective 10-28- 344 So.3d 940. Amended rules 1.020, 1.090, 1.170, +21: 1.310, 1.350, 1.351, 1.440, 1.442, + +1.470, Form 1.983, 1.997, 1.999. +Effective 12-16- 334 So.3d 587. Amended form 1.997. +21: +Effective 5-26- 345 So.3d 845. Amended rule 1.442. +22: +Effective 7-14- 346 So.3d 1105. Amended rules 1.310, 1.320, 1.410, +22: 1.430, 1.440, 1.700, 1.720, 1.730, + +1.750, 1.830; repealed rule 1.451. +Effective 10-1- 346 So.3d 1157 Amended rule 1.530; deleted rule +22: 1.535. +NOTE TO USERS: Rules in this pamphlet are current through 346 So.3d +1157. Subsequent amendments, if any, can be found at +www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/rules.shtml. The Florida Bar also +updates the rules on its website at www.FloridaBar.org (on the homepage +click Rules Updates). + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS +__________ + +TRACING TABLE +1.010. SCOPE AND TITLE OF RULES +1.020. PRIVACY AND COURT RECORDS +1.030. NONVERIFICATION OF PLEADINGS +1.040. ONE FORM OF ACTION +1.050. WHEN ACTION COMMENCED +1.060. TRANSFERS OF ACTIONS +1.061. CHOICE OF FORUM +1.070. PROCESS +1.071. CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE TO STATE STATUTE OR + +COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CHARTER, ORDINANCE, OR +FRANCHISE; NOTICE BY PARTY + +1.080. SERVICE AND FILING OF PLEADINGS, ORDERS, AND +DOCUMENTS + +1.090. TIME +1.100. PLEADINGS AND MOTIONS +1.110. GENERAL RULES OF PLEADING +1.115. PLEADING MORTGAGE FORECLOSURES +1.120. PLEADING SPECIAL MATTERS +1.130. ATTACHING COPY OF CAUSE OF ACTION AND EXHIBITS +1.140. DEFENSES +1.150. SHAM PLEADINGS +1.160. MOTIONS + + + +1.170. COUNTERCLAIMS AND CROSSCLAIMS +1.180. THIRD-PARTY PRACTICE +1.190. AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTAL PLEADINGS +1.200. PRETRIAL PROCEDURE +1.201. COMPLEX LITIGATION +1.210. PARTIES +1.220. CLASS ACTIONS +1.221. HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS AND CONDOMINIUM + +ASSOCIATIONS +1.222. MOBILE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS +1.230. INTERVENTIONS +1.240. INTERPLEADER +1.250. MISJOINDER AND NONJOINDER OF PARTIES +1.260. SURVIVOR; SUBSTITUTION OF PARTIES +1.270. CONSOLIDATION; SEPARATE TRIALS +1.280. GENERAL PROVISIONS GOVERNING DISCOVERY +1.285. INADVERTENT DISCLOSURE OF PRIVILEGED MATERIALS +1.290. DEPOSITIONS BEFORE ACTION OR PENDING APPEAL +1.300. PERSONS BEFORE WHOM DEPOSITIONS MAY BE TAKEN +1.310. DEPOSITIONS UPON ORAL EXAMINATION +1.320. DEPOSITIONS UPON WRITTEN QUESTIONS +1.330. USE OF DEPOSITIONS IN COURT PROCEEDINGS +1.340. INTERROGATORIES TO PARTIES +1.350. PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND THINGS AND ENTRY + +UPON LAND FOR INSPECTION AND OTHER PURPOSES +1.351. PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND THINGS WITHOUT + +DEPOSITION + + + +1.360. EXAMINATION OF PERSONS +1.370. REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION +1.380. FAILURE TO MAKE DISCOVERY; SANCTIONS +1.390. DEPOSITIONS OF EXPERT WITNESSES +1.410. SUBPOENA +1.420. DISMISSAL OF ACTIONS +1.430. DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL; WAIVER +1.431. TRIAL JURY +1.440. SETTING ACTION FOR TRIAL +1.442. PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT +1.450. EVIDENCE +1.452. QUESTIONS BY JURORS +1.455. JUROR NOTEBOOKS +1.460. CONTINUANCES +1.470. EXCEPTIONS UNNECESSARY; JURY INSTRUCTIONS +1.480. MOTION FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT +1.481. VERDICTS +1.490. MAGISTRATES +1.491. GENERAL MAGISTRATES FOR RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE + +FORECLOSURE MATTERS +1.500. DEFAULTS AND FINAL JUDGMENTS THEREON +1.510. SUMMARY JUDGMENT +1.520. VIEW +1.525. MOTIONS FOR COSTS AND ATTORNEYS FEES +1.530. MOTIONS FOR NEW TRIAL AND REHEARING; + +AMENDMENTS OF JUDGMENTS; REMITTITUR OR ADDITUR +1.540. RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT, DECREES, OR ORDERS + + + +1.545. FINAL DISPOSITION FORM +1.550. EXECUTIONS AND FINAL PROCESS +1.560. DISCOVERY IN AID OF EXECUTION +1.570. ENFORCEMENT OF FINAL JUDGMENTS +1.580. WRIT OF POSSESSION +1.590. PROCESS IN BEHALF OF AND AGAINST PERSONS NOT + +PARTIES +1.600. DEPOSITS IN COURT +1.610. INJUNCTIONS +1.620. RECEIVERS +1.625. PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SURETY ON JUDICIAL BONDS +1.630. EXTRAORDINARY REMEDIES +1.650. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PRESUIT SCREENING RULE +1.700. RULES COMMON TO MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION +1.710. MEDIATION RULES +1.720. MEDIATION PROCEDURES +1.730. COMPLETION OF MEDIATION +1.750. COUNTY COURT ACTIONS +1.800. EXCLUSIONS FROM ARBITRATION +1.810. SELECTION AND COMPENSATION OF ARBITRATORS +1.820. HEARING PROCEDURES FOR NON-BINDING ARBITRATION +1.830. VOLUNTARY BINDING ARBITRATION +1.900. FORMS +1.901. CAPTION +1.902. SUMMONS +1.903. CROSSCLAIM SUMMONS + + + +1.904. THIRD-PARTY SUMMONS +1.905. ATTACHMENT +1.906. ATTACHMENT FORECLOSURE +1.907. GARNISHMENT +1.908. WRIT OF REPLEVIN +1.909. DISTRESS +1.910. SUBPOENA FOR TRIAL +1.911. SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM FOR TRIAL +1.912. SUBPOENA FOR DEPOSITION +1.913. SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM FOR DEPOSITION +1.914(a). EXECUTION +1.914(b). NOTICE TO APPEAR +1.914(c). AFFIDAVIT OF CLAIMANT IN RESPONSE TO NOTICE TO + +APPEAR +1.915. WRIT OF POSSESSION +1.916. REPLEVIN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE +1.917. NE EXEAT +1.918. LIS PENDENS +1.919. NOTICE OF ACTION; CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE NO + +PROPERTY +1.920. NOTICE OF ACTION; CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE PROPERTY +1.921. NOTICE OF PRODUCTION FROM NONPARTY +1.922. SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM WITHOUT DEPOSITION +1.923. EVICTION SUMMONS/RESIDENTIAL +1.924. AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH AND INQUIRY +1.932. OPEN ACCOUNT +1.933. ACCOUNT STATED + + + +1.934. PROMISSORY NOTE +1.935. GOODS SOLD +1.936. MONEY LENT +1.937. REPLEVIN +1.938. FORCIBLE ENTRY AND DETENTION +1.939. CONVERSION +1.940. EJECTMENT +1.941. SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE +1.942. CHECK +1.944(a). MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE +1.944(b). MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE +1.944(c). MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE +1.944(d). ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE +1.945. MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE +1.946. MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE WHEN PLAINTIFF IS + +UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE +1.947. TENANT EVICTION +1.948. THIRD-PARTY COMPLAINT. GENERAL FORM +1.949. IMPLIED WARRANTY +1.951. FALL-DOWN NEGLIGENCE COMPLAINT +1.960. BOND. GENERAL FORM +1.961. VARIOUS BOND CONDITIONS +1.965. DEFENSE. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS +1.966. DEFENSE. PAYMENT +1.967. DEFENSE. ACCORD AND SATISFACTION +1.968. DEFENSE. FAILURE OF CONSIDERATION + + + +1.969. DEFENSE. STATUTE OF FRAUDS +1.970. DEFENSE. RELEASE +1.971. DEFENSE. MOTOR VEHICLE CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE +1.972. DEFENSE. ASSUMPTION OF RISK +1.975. NOTICE OF COMPLIANCE WHEN CONSTITUTIONAL + +CHALLENGE IS BROUGHT +1.976. STANDARD INTERROGATORIES +1.977. FACT INFORMATION SHEET +1.980. DEFAULT +1.981. SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT +1.982. CONTEMPT NOTICE +1.983. PROSPECTIVE JUROR QUESTIONNAIRE +1.984. JUROR VOIR DIRE QUESTIONNAIRE +1.986. VERDICTS +1.988. JUDGMENT AFTER DEFAULT +1.989. ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR LACK OF PROSECUTION +1.990. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF. JURY ACTION FOR + +DAMAGES +1.991. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANT. JURY ACTION FOR + +DAMAGES +1.993. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF. GENERAL FORM. NON- + +JURY +1.994. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANT. GENERAL FORM. NON- + +JURY +1.995. FINAL JUDGMENT OF REPLEVIN +1.996(a). FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE +1.996(b). FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE FOR + +REESTABLISHMENT OF LOST NOTE + + + +1.996(c). MOTION TO CANCEL AND RESCHEDULE FORECLOSURE +SALE + +1.997. CIVIL COVER SHEET +1.998. FINAL DISPOSITION FORM +1.999. ORDER DESIGNATING A CASE COMPLEX +APPENDIX I. STANDARD INTERROGATORIES FORMS +APPENDIX II. STATEWIDE UNIFORM GUIDELINES FOR TAXATION +OF COSTS IN CIVIL ACTIONS +SUBJECT INDEX + + + + + + +FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE +______ + + Rule 1.010. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.010 + +RULE 1.010. SCOPE AND TITLE OF RULES. +These rules apply to all actions of a civil nature and all special statutory + +proceedings in the circuit courts and county courts except those to which the +Florida Probate Rules, the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, or the +Small Claims Rules apply. The form, content, procedure, and time for +pleading in all special statutory proceedings shall be as prescribed by the +statutes governing the proceeding unless these rules specifically provide to +the contrary. These rules shall be construed to secure the just, speedy, and +inexpensive determination of every action. These rules shall be known as the +Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and abbreviated as Fla. R. Civ. P. + + + + Rule 1.020. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.020 + +RULE 1.020. PRIVACY AND COURT RECORDS. +Every pleading or other document filed with the court must comply with + +Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420, Public +Access to and Protection of Judicial Branch Records and 2.425, Minimization +of the Filing of Sensitive Information. + + + + Rule 1.030. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.030 + +RULE 1.030. NONVERIFICATION OF PLEADINGS. +Except when otherwise specifically provided by these rules or an + +applicable statute, every pleading or other document of a party represented by +an attorney need not be verified or accompanied by an affidavit. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1976 Amendment. Subdivisions (a)-(b) have been amended to require the +addition of the filing partys telephone number on all pleadings and papers +filed. + + + + Rule 1.040. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.040 + +RULE 1.040. ONE FORM OF ACTION. +There shall be one form of action to be known as civil action. + + + + Rule 1.050. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.050 + +RULE 1.050. WHEN ACTION COMMENCED. +Every action of a civil nature shall be deemed commenced when the + +complaint or petition is filed except that ancillary proceedings shall be +deemed commenced when the writ is issued or the pleading setting forth the +claim of the party initiating the action is filed. + + + + Rule 1.060. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.060 + +RULE 1.060. TRANSFERS OF ACTIONS. +(a) Transfers of Courts. If it should appear at any time that an action is + +pending in the wrong court of any county, it may be transferred to the proper +court within said county by the same method as provided in rule 1.170(j). + +(b) Wrong Venue. When any action is filed laying venue in the wrong +county, the court may transfer the action in the manner provided in rule +1.170(j) to the proper court in any county where it might have been brought +in accordance with the venue statutes. When the venue might have been laid +in 2 or more counties, the person bringing the action may select the county to +which the action is transferred, but if no such selection is made, the matter +shall be determined by the court. + +(c) Method. The service charge of the clerk of the court to which an action +is transferred under this rule shall be paid by the party who commenced the +action within 30 days from the date the order of transfer is entered, subject to +taxation as provided by law when the action is determined. If the service +charge is not paid within the 30 days, the action shall be dismissed without +prejudice by the court that entered the order of transfer. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Because of confusion in some circuits, subdivision (c) +is added: + +(a) to specify who is to pay the clerks service charge on transfer; +(b) to provide for the circumstance in which the service charge is not paid; + +and +(c) to require the dismissal to be by the court which entered the order of + +transfer. + + + + Rule 1.061. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.061 + +RULE 1.061. CHOICE OF FORUM. +(a) Grounds for Dismissal. An action may be dismissed on the ground + +that a satisfactory remedy may be more conveniently sought in a jurisdiction +other than Florida when: + +(1) the trial court finds that an adequate alternate forum exists which +possesses jurisdiction over the whole case, including all of the parties; + +(2) the trial court finds that all relevant factors of private interest favor +the alternate forum, weighing in the balance a strong presumption against +disturbing plaintiffs initial forum choice; + +(3) if the balance of private interests is at or near equipoise, the court +further finds that factors of public interest tip the balance in favor of trial in +the alternate forum; and + +(4) the trial judge ensures that plaintiffs can reinstate their suit in the +alternate forum without undue inconvenience or prejudice. +The decision to grant or deny the motion for dismissal rests in the sound +discretion of the trial court, subject to review for abuse of discretion. +(b) Stipulations in General. The parties to any action for which a + +satisfactory remedy may be more conveniently sought in a jurisdiction other +than Florida may stipulate to conditions upon which a forum-non-conveniens +dismissal shall be based, subject to approval by the trial court. The decision +to accept or reject the stipulation rests in the sound discretion of the trial +court, subject to review for abuse of discretion. + +A forum-non-conveniens dismissal shall not be granted unless all +defendants agree to the stipulations required by subdivision (c) and any +additional stipulations required by the court. +(c) Statutes of Limitation. In moving for forum-non-conveniens + +dismissal, defendants shall be deemed to automatically stipulate that the +action will be treated in the new forum as though it had been filed in that +forum on the date it was filed in Florida, with service of process accepted as +of that date. + + + +(d) Failure to Refile Promptly. When an action is dismissed in Florida for +forum non conveniens, plaintiffs shall automatically be deemed to stipulate +that they will lose the benefit of all stipulations made by the defendant, +including the stipulation provided in subdivision (c) of this rule, if plaintiffs +fail to file the action in the new forum within 120 days after the date the +Florida dismissal becomes final. + +(e) Waiver of Automatic Stipulations. Upon unanimous agreement, the +parties may waive the conditions provided in subdivision (c) or (d), or both, +only when they demonstrate and the trial court finds a compelling reason for +the waiver. The decision to accept or reject the waiver shall not be disturbed +on review if supported by competent, substantial evidence. + +(f) Reduction to Writing. The parties shall reduce their stipulation to a +writing signed by them, which shall include all stipulations provided by this +rule and which shall be deemed incorporated by reference in any subsequent +order of dismissal. + +(g) Time for Moving for Dismissal. A motion to dismiss based on forum +non conveniens shall be served not later than 60 days after service of process +on the moving party. + +(h) Retention of Jurisdiction. The court shall retain jurisdiction after the +dismissal to enforce its order of dismissal and any conditions and stipulations +in the order. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2000 Amendment. Subdivision (a)(1) is amended to clarify that the +alternative forum other than Florida must have jurisdiction over all of the +parties for the trial court to grant a dismissal based on forum non conveniens. + +Subdivision (b) is amended to clarify that all of the defendants, not just the +moving defendant, must agree to the stipulations required by subdivision (c) +as well as any additional stipulations required by the trial court before an +action may be dismissed based on forum non conveniens. + +Subdivision (g) is added to require that a motion to dismiss based on forum +non conveniens be served not later than 60 days after service of process on +the moving party. + + + +Subdivision (h) is added to require the court to retain jurisdiction over the +action after the dismissal for purposes of enforcing its order of dismissal and +any conditions and stipulations contained in the order. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +This section was added to elaborate on Floridas adoption of the federal +doctrine of forum non conveniens in Kinney System, Inc. v. Continental +Insurance Co, 674 So.2d 86 (Fla. 1996), and it should be interpreted in light +of that opinion. + +Subdivision (a) codifies the federal standard for reviewing motions filed +under the forum-non-conveniens doctrine. Orders granting or denying +dismissal for forum non conveniens are subject to appellate review under an +abuse-of-discretion standard. + +As stated in Kinney, the phrase private interests means adequate access +to evidence and relevant sites, adequate access to witnesses, adequate +enforcement of judgments, and the practicalities and expenses associated with +the litigation. Private interests do not involve consideration of the availability +or unavailability of advantageous legal theories, a history of generous or +stingy damage awards, or procedural nuances that may affect outcomes but +that do not effectively deprive the plaintiff of any remedy. + +Equipoise means that the advantages and disadvantages of the alternative +forum will not significantly undermine or favor the private interests of any +particular party, as compared with the forum in which suit was filed. + +Public interests are the ability of courts to protect their dockets from +causes that lack significant connection to the jurisdiction; the ability of courts +to encourage trial of controversies in the localities in which they arise; and +the ability of courts to consider their familiarity with governing law when +deciding whether to retain jurisdiction over a case. Even when the private +conveniences of the litigants are nearly in balance, a trial court has discretion +to grant a forum-non-conveniens dismissal upon finding that retention of +jurisdiction would be unduly burdensome to the community, that there is +little or no public interest in the dispute, or that foreign law will predominate +if jurisdiction is retained. + +Subdivision (b) provides that the parties can stipulate to conditions of a + + + +forum-non-conveniens dismissal, subject to the trial courts approval. The +trial courts acceptance or rejection of the stipulation is subject to appellate +review under an abuse-of-discretion standard. + +Subdivisions (c) and (d) provide automatic conditions that shall be deemed +included in every forum-non-conveniens dismissal. The purpose underlying +subdivision (c) is to ensure that any statute of limitation in the new forum is +applied as though the action had been filed in that forum on the date it was +filed in Florida. The purpose underlying subdivision (d) is to ensure that the +action is promptly refiled in the new forum. Both of these stipulations are +deemed to be a part of every stipulation that does not expressly state +otherwise, subject to the qualification provided in subdivision (e). + +Subdivision (e) recognizes that there may be extraordinary conditions +associated with the new forum that would require the waiver of the +conditions provided in subdivisions (c) and (d). Waivers should be granted +sparingly. Thus, the parties by unanimous consent may stipulate to waive +those conditions only upon showing a compelling reason to the trial court. +The trial courts acceptance or rejection of the waiver may not be reversed on +appeal where supported by competent, substantial evidence. + +Subdivision (f) requires the parties to reduce their stipulation to written +form, which the parties must sign. When and if the trial court accepts the +stipulation, the parties agreement then is treated as though it were +incorporated by reference in the trial courts order of dismissal. To avoid +confusion, the parties shall include the automatic stipulations provided by +subdivisions (c) and (d) of this rule, unless the latter are properly waived +under subdivision (e). However, the failure to include these automatic +conditions in the stipulation does not waive them unless the dismissing court +has expressly so ruled. + + + + Rule 1.070. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.070 + +RULE 1.070. PROCESS. +(a) Summons; Issuance. Upon the commencement of the action, + +summons or other process authorized by law shall be issued forthwith by the +clerk or judge under the clerks or the judges signature and the seal of the +court and delivered for service without praecipe. + +(b) Service; By Whom Made. Service of process may be made by an +officer authorized by law to serve process, but the court may appoint any +competent person not interested in the action to serve the process. When so +appointed, the person serving process shall make proof of service by affidavit +promptly and in any event within the time during which the person served +must respond to the process. Failure to make proof of service shall not affect +the validity of the service. When any process is returned not executed or +returned improperly executed for any defendant, the party causing its +issuance shall be entitled to such additional process against the unserved +party as is required to effect service. + +(c) Service; Numerous Defendants. If there is more than 1 defendant, the +clerk or judge shall issue as many writs of process against the several +defendants as may be directed by the plaintiff or the plaintiffs attorney. + +(d) Service by Publication. Service of process by publication may be +made as provided by statute. + +(e) Copies of Initial Pleading for Persons Served. At the time of personal +service of process a copy of the initial pleading shall be delivered to the party +upon whom service is made. The date and hour of service shall be endorsed +on the original process and all copies of it by the person making the service. +The party seeking to effect personal service shall furnish the person making +service with the necessary copies. When the service is made by publication, +copies of the initial pleadings shall be furnished to the clerk and mailed by +the clerk with the notice of action to all parties whose addresses are stated in +the initial pleading or sworn statement. + +(f) Service of Orders. If personal service of a court order is to be made, +the original order shall be filed with the clerk, who shall certify or verify a +copy of it without charge. The person making service shall use the certified + + + +copy instead of the original order in the same manner as original process in +making service. + +(g) Fees; Service of Pleadings. The statutory compensation for making +service shall not be increased by the simultaneous delivery or mailing of the +copy of the initial pleading in conformity with this rule. + +(h) Pleading Basis. When service of process is to be made under statutes +authorizing service on nonresidents of Florida, it is sufficient to plead the +basis for service in the language of the statute without pleading the facts +supporting service. + +(i) Service of Process by Mail. A defendant may accept service of process +by mail. + +(1) Acceptance of service of a complaint by mail does not thereby waive +any objection to the venue or to the jurisdiction of the court over the +person of the defendant. + +(2) A plaintiff may notify any defendant of the commencement of the +action and request that the defendant waive service of a summons. The +notice and request shall: + +(A) be in writing and be addressed directly to the defendant, if an +individual, or to an officer or managing or general agent of the +defendant or other agent authorized by appointment or law to receive +service of process; + +(B) be dispatched by certified mail, return receipt requested; +(C) be accompanied by a copy of the complaint and shall identify the + +court in which it has been filed; +(D) inform the defendant of the consequences of compliance and of + +failure to comply with the request; +(E) state the date on which the request is sent; +(F) allow the defendant 20 days from the date on which the request is + +received to return the waiver, or, if the address of the defendant is +outside of the United States, 30 days from the date on which it is +received to return the waiver; and + +(G) provide the defendant with an extra copy of the notice and + + + +request, including the waiver, as well as a prepaid means of compliance +in writing. +(3) If a defendant fails to comply with a request for waiver within the + +time provided herein, the court shall impose the costs subsequently +incurred in effecting service on the defendant unless good cause for the +failure is shown. + +(4) A defendant who, before being served with process, timely returns a +waiver so requested is not required to respond to the complaint until 60 +days after the date the defendant received the request for waiver of service. +For purposes of computing any time prescribed or allowed by these rules, +service of process shall be deemed effected 20 days before the time +required to respond to the complaint. + +(5) When the plaintiff files a waiver of service with the court, the action +shall proceed, except as provided in subdivision (4) above, as if a +summons and complaint had been served at the time of filing the waiver, +and no further proof of service shall be required. +(j) Summons; Time Limit. If service of the initial process and initial + +pleading is not made upon a defendant within 120 days after filing of the +initial pleading directed to that defendant the court, on its own initiative after +notice or on motion, shall direct that service be effected within a specified +time or shall dismiss the action without prejudice or drop that defendant as a +party; provided that if the plaintiff shows good cause or excusable neglect for +the failure, the court shall extend the time for service for an appropriate +period. When a motion for leave to amend with the attached proposed +amended complaint is filed, the 120-day period for service of amended +complaints on the new party or parties shall begin upon the entry of an order +granting leave to amend. A dismissal under this subdivision shall not be +considered a voluntary dismissal or operate as an adjudication on the merits +under rule 1.420(a)(1). + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1971 Amendment. Subdivisions (f), (g), and (h) of the existing rule are +combined because they deal with the same subject matter. The notice of +suit is changed to notice of action to comply with the statutory change in +1967. Subdivision (g) is new and provides for substitution of a certified or + + + +verified copy of a court order that must be served. The original is to be filed +with the clerk and not removed. Subdivision (i) is relettered to (h). + +1972 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to require the officer +issuing the process to sign it and place the court seal on it. This was required +by former section 47.04, Florida Statutes, and is essential to the validity of +process. When the statute was repealed these procedural requirements were +omitted and inadvertently not included in the rule. Subdivision (b) is changed +to eliminate the predicate for court appointment of a person to make service +of process. This makes the rule more flexible and permits the court to appoint +someone to make service at any appropriate time. + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (i) is added to eliminate pleading +evidentiary facts for long arm service of process. It is based on the long +standing principle in service by publication that pleading the basis for service +is sufficient if it is done in the language of the statute. See McDaniel v. +McElvy, 91 Fla. 770, 108 So. 820 (1926). Confusion has been generated in +the decisions under the long arm statute. See Wm. E. Strasser Construction +Corp. v. Linn, 97 So. 2d 458 (Fla. 1957); Hartman Agency, Inc. v. Indiana +Farmers Mutual Insurance Co., 353 So. 2d 665 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978); and +Drake v. Scharlau, 353 So. 2d 961 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978). The amendment is +not intended to change the distinction between pleading and proof as +enunciated in Elmex Corp. v. Atlantic Federal Savings & Loan Association of +Fort Lauderdale, 325 So. 2d 58 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). It is intended to +eliminate the necessity of pleading evidentiary facts as well as those of +pecuniary benefit that were used in the Elmex case. The amendment is +limited to pleading. If the statutory allegations are attacked by motion, the +pleader must then prove the evidentiary facts to support the statutory +requirements. If denied in a pleading, the allegations must be proved at trial. +Otherwise, the allegations will be admitted under rule 1.110(e). + +1988 Amendment. Subdivision (j) has been added to require plaintiffs to +cause service of original summons within 120 days of filing the complaint +absent good cause of further delay. + +1992 Amendment. Subdivision (d) is repealed because the reason for the +rule ceased when process was permitted to run beyond county boundaries. +The amendment to subdivision (j) (redesignated as (i)) is intended to clarify +that a dismissal under this subdivision is not to be considered as an + + + +adjudication on the merits under rule 1.420(a)(1) of these rules. +1996 Amendment. Subdivision (i) is added to provide some formality to + +the practice of requesting waiver of service of process by a sheriff or person +appointed to serve papers or by publication. The committee intends that only +the manner of service will be waived by this procedure. By accepting service +pursuant to this rule, the defendant will not waive any objection to venue or +jurisdiction over the person or admit to the sufficiency of the pleadings or to +allegations with regard to long-arm or personal jurisdiction. For example, +service of process would be void should a motion to dismiss be granted +because the complaint did not allege the basis for long-arm jurisdiction over a +nonresident defendant. City Contract Bus Service, Inc. v. H.E. Woody, 515 +So. 2d 1354 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). Under such circumstances, the defendant +must be served pursuant to law or again waive service pursuant to this rule. +Subdivision (i)(2)(F) allows the defendant twenty days from receipt (or thirty +days if the defendant is outside of the United States) to return the waiver. +Accordingly, the committee intends that the waiver be received by the +plaintiff or the plaintiffs attorney by the twentieth day (or the thirtieth day if +the defendant is outside of the United States). The former subdivision (i) has +been redesignated as subdivision (j). Form 1.902 may be used to give notice +of an action and request waiver of process pursuant to this rule. + +2003 Amendment. Subdivision (j) is amended in accordance with Totura +& Co., Inc. v. Williams, 754 So. 2d 671 (Fla. 2000). See the amendment to +rule 1.190(a). + + + + Rule 1.071. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.071 + +RULE 1.071. CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE TO STATE +STATUTE OR COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL CHARTER, +ORDINANCE, OR FRANCHISE; NOTICE BY PARTY. + +A party that files a pleading, written motion, or other document drawing +into question the constitutionality of a state statute or a county or municipal +charter, ordinance, or franchise must promptly + +(a) file a notice of constitutional question stating the question and +identifying the document that raises it; and + +(b) serve the notice and the pleading, written motion, or other document +drawing into question the constitutionality of a state statute or a county or +municipal charter, ordinance, or franchise on the Attorney General or the +state attorney of the judicial circuit in which the action is pending, by either +certified or registered mail. + +Service of the notice and pleading, written motion, or other document does +not require joinder of the Attorney General or the state attorney as a party +to the action. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2010 Adoption. This rule clarifies that, with respect to challenges to a +state statute or municipal charter, ordinance, or franchise, service of the +notice does not require joinder of the Attorney General or the state attorney +as a party to the action; however, consistent with section 86.091, Florida +Statutes, the Florida Attorney General or applicable state attorney has the +discretion to participate and be heard on matters affecting the +constitutionality of a statute. See, e.g., Mayo v. National Truck Brokers, Inc., +220 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 1969); State ex rel. Shevin v. Kerwin, 279 So. 2d 836 +(Fla. 1973) (Attorney General may choose to participate in appeal even +though he was not required to be a party at the trial court). The rule imposes a +new requirement that the party challenging the statute, charter, ordinance, or +franchise file verification with the court of compliance with section 86.091, +Florida Statutes. See form 1.975. + + + + Rule 1.080. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.080 + +RULE 1.080. SERVICE AND FILING OF PLEADINGS, ORDERS, +AND DOCUMENTS. + +(a) Service. Every pleading subsequent to the initial pleading, all orders, +and every other document filed or required by statute or rule to be served in +the action must be served in conformity with the requirements of Florida +Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516. + +(b) Filing. All documents shall be filed in conformity with the +requirements of Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.525. + +(c) Writing and written defined. Writing or written means a document +containing information, an application, or a stipulation. + + + + Rule 1.090. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.090 + +RULE 1.090. TIME. +(a) Computation. Computation of time shall be governed by Florida Rule + +of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.514. +(b) Enlargement. + +(1) In General. When an act is required or allowed to be done at or +within a specified time by order of court, by these rules, or by notice given +thereunder, for cause shown the court at any time in its discretion: + +(A) with or without notice, may order the period enlarged if request +therefor is made before the expiration of the period originally prescribed +or as extended by a previous order, or + +(B) upon motion made and notice after the expiration of the specified +period, may permit the act to be done when failure to act was the result +of excusable neglect. +(2) Exceptions. The court may not extend the time for making a motion + +for new trial, for rehearing, or to alter or amend a judgment; making a +motion for relief from a judgment under rule 1.540(b); taking an appeal or +filing a petition for certiorari; or making a motion for a directed verdict. +(c) Unaffected by Expiration of Term. The period of time provided for + +the doing of any act or the taking of any proceeding shall not be affected or +limited by the continued existence or expiration of a term of court. The +continued existence or expiration of a term of court in no way affects the +power of a court to do any act or take any proceeding in any action which is +or has been pending before it. + +(d) For Motions. A copy of any written motion which may not be heard ex +parte and a copy of the notice of the hearing thereof shall be served a +reasonable time before the time specified for the hearing. + + + + Rule 1.100. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.100 + +RULE 1.100. PLEADINGS AND MOTIONS. +(a) Pleadings. There must be a complaint or, when so designated by a + +statute or rule, a petition, and an answer to it; an answer to a counterclaim +denominated as such; an answer to a crossclaim if the answer contains a +crossclaim; a third-party complaint if a person who was not an original party +is summoned as a third-party defendant; and a third-party answer if a third- +party complaint is served. If an answer or third-party answer contains an +affirmative defense and the opposing party seeks to avoid it, the opposing +party must file a reply containing the avoidance. No other pleadings will be +allowed. + +(b) Motions. An application to the court for an order must be by motion +which must be made in writing unless made during a hearing or trial, must +state with particularity the grounds for it, and must set forth the relief or order +sought. The requirement of writing is fulfilled if the motion is stated in a +written notice of the hearing of the motion. All notices of hearing must +specify each motion or other matter to be heard. + +(c) Caption. +(1) Every pleading must have a caption containing the name of all of the + +parties, the name of the court, the file number, and a designation +identifying the party filing it. + +(2) Every motion, order, judgment, or other document must have a +caption containing the name of the court, the case number, the name of the +first party on each side with an appropriate indication of other parties, and +a designation identifying the party filing it and its nature or the nature of +the order, as the case may be. + +(3) In any in rem proceeding, every pleading, motion, order, judgment, +or other document must have a caption containing the name of the court, +the case number, the style In re (followed by the name or general +description of the property), and a designation of the person or entity filing +it and its nature or the nature of the order, as the case may be. + +(4) In an in rem forfeiture proceeding, the style must be In re forfeiture + + + +of (followed by the name or general description of the property). +(5) All documents filed in the action must be styled in such a manner as + +to indicate clearly the subject matter of the document and the party +requesting or obtaining relief. +(d) Civil Cover Sheet. A civil cover sheet (form 1.997) must be completed + +and filed with the clerk at the time an initial complaint or petition is filed by +the party initiating the action. If the cover sheet is not filed, the clerk must +accept the complaint or petition for filing; but all proceedings in the action +must be abated until a properly executed cover sheet is completed and filed. +The clerk must complete the civil cover sheet for a party appearing pro se. + +(e) Motion in Lieu of Scire Facias. Any relief available by scire facias +may be granted on motion after notice without the issuance of a writ of scire +facias. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1971 Amendment. The change requires a more complete designation of +the document that is filed so that it may be more rapidly identified. It also +specifies the applicability of the subdivision to all of the various documents +that can be filed. For example, a motion to dismiss should now be entitled +defendants motion to dismiss the complaint rather than merely motion +or motion to dismiss. + +1972 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to make a reply mandatory +when a party seeks to avoid an affirmative defense in an answer or third-party +answer. It is intended to eliminate thereby the problems exemplified by +Tuggle v. Maddox, 60 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 1952), and Dickerson v. Orange State +Oil Co., 123 So. 2d 562 (Fla. 2d DCA 1960). + +1992 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to require all notices of +hearing to specify the motions or other matters to be heard. + +2010 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to address separately the +caption for in rem proceedings, including in rem forfeiture proceedings. + +2016 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to address the naming of +parties in pleadings and amended pleadings similarly to Federal Rule of Civil +Procedure 10(a). Subdivision (c)(2) on Civil Cover Sheets is moved to + + + +subdivision (d), and subdivision (c)(3) on Final Disposition Forms is moved +to new rule 1.545. + + + + Rule 1.110. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110 + +RULE 1.110. GENERAL RULES OF PLEADING. +(a) Forms of Pleadings. Forms of action and technical forms for seeking + +relief and of pleas, pleadings, or motions are abolished. +(b) Claims for Relief. A pleading which sets forth a claim for relief, + +whether an original claim, counterclaim, crossclaim, or third-party claim, +must state a cause of action and shall contain (1) a short and plain statement +of the grounds upon which the courts jurisdiction depends, unless the court +already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new grounds of jurisdiction to +support it, (2) a short and plain statement of the ultimate facts showing that +the pleader is entitled to relief, and (3) a demand for judgment for the relief to +which the pleader deems himself or herself entitled. Relief in the alternative +or of several different types may be demanded. Every complaint shall be +considered to demand general relief. + +(c) The Answer. In the answer a pleader shall state in short and plain +terms the pleaders defenses to each claim asserted and shall admit or deny +the averments on which the adverse party relies. If the defendant is without +knowledge, the defendant shall so state and such statement shall operate as a +denial. Denial shall fairly meet the substance of the averments denied. When +a pleader intends in good faith to deny only a part of an averment, the pleader +shall specify so much of it as is true and shall deny the remainder. Unless the +pleader intends in good faith to controvert all of the averments of the +preceding pleading, the pleader may make denials as specific denials of +designated averments or may generally deny all of the averments except such +designated averments as the pleader expressly admits, but when the pleader +does so intend to controvert all of its averments, including averments of the +grounds upon which the courts jurisdiction depends, the pleader may do so +by general denial. + +(d) Affirmative Defenses. In pleading to a preceding pleading a party +shall set forth affirmatively accord and satisfaction, arbitration and award, +assumption of risk, contributory negligence, discharge in bankruptcy, duress, +estoppel, failure of consideration, fraud, illegality, injury by fellow servant, +laches, license, payment, release, res judicata, statute of frauds, statute of + + + +limitations, waiver, and any other matter constituting an avoidance or +affirmative defense. When a party has mistakenly designated a defense as a +counterclaim or a counterclaim as a defense, the court, on terms if justice so +requires, shall treat the pleading as if there had been a proper designation. +Affirmative defenses appearing on the face of a prior pleading may be +asserted as grounds for a motion or defense under rule 1.140(b); provided this +shall not limit amendments under rule 1.190 even if such ground is sustained. + +(e) Effect of Failure to Deny. Averments in a pleading to which a +responsive pleading is required, other than those as to the amount of +damages, are admitted when not denied in the responsive pleading. +Averments in a pleading to which no responsive pleading is required or +permitted shall be taken as denied or avoided. + +(f) Separate Statements. All averments of claim or defense shall be made +in consecutively numbered paragraphs, the contents of each of which shall be +limited as far as practicable to a statement of a single set of circumstances, +and a paragraph may be referred to by number in all subsequent pleadings. +Each claim founded upon a separate transaction or occurrence and each +defense other than denials shall be stated in a separate count or defense when +a separation facilitates the clear presentation of the matter set forth. + +(g) Joinder of Causes of Action; Consistency. A pleader may set up in +the same action as many claims or causes of action or defenses in the same +right as the pleader has, and claims for relief may be stated in the alternative +if separate items make up the cause of action, or if 2 or more causes of action +are joined. A party may also set forth 2 or more statements of a claim or +defense alternatively, either in 1 count or defense or in separate counts or +defenses. When 2 or more statements are made in the alternative and 1 of +them, if made independently, would be sufficient, the pleading is not made +insufficient by the insufficiency of 1 or more of the alternative statements. A +party may also state as many separate claims or defenses as that party has, +regardless of consistency and whether based on legal or equitable grounds or +both. All pleadings shall be construed so as to do substantial justice. + +(h) Subsequent Pleadings. When the nature of an action permits pleadings +subsequent to final judgment and the jurisdiction of the court over the parties +has not terminated, the initial pleading subsequent to final judgment shall be +designated a supplemental complaint or petition. The action shall then + + + +proceed in the same manner and time as though the supplemental complaint +or petition were the initial pleading in the action, including the issuance of +any needed process. This subdivision shall not apply to proceedings that may +be initiated by motion under these rules. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1971 Amendment. Subdivision (h) is added to cover a situation usually +arising in divorce judgment modifications, supplemental declaratory relief +actions, or trust supervision. When any subsequent proceeding results in a +pleading in the strict technical sense under rule 1.100(a), response by +opposing parties will follow the same course as though the new pleading +were the initial pleading in the action. The time for answering and authority +for defenses under rule 1.140 will apply. The last sentence exempts post +judgment motions under rules 1.480(c), 1.530, and 1.540, and similar +proceedings from its purview. + +2014 Amendment. The last two paragraphs of rule 1.110(b) regarding +pleading requirements for certain mortgage foreclosure actions were deleted +and incorporated in new rule 1.115. + + + + Rule 1.115. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.115 + +RULE 1.115. PLEADING MORTGAGE FORECLOSURES. +(a) Claim for Relief. A claim for relief that seeks to foreclose a mortgage + +or other lien which secures a promissory note on residential real property, +including individual units of condominiums and cooperatives designed +principally for occupation by one to four families, must: (1) contain +affirmative allegations expressly made by the claimant at the time the +proceeding is commenced that the claimant is the holder of the original note +secured by the mortgage; or (2) allege with specificity the factual basis by +which the claimant is a person entitled to enforce the note under section +673.3011, Florida Statutes. + +(b) Delegated Claim for Relief. If a claimant has been delegated the +authority to institute a mortgage foreclosure action on behalf of the person +entitled to enforce the note, the claim for relief shall describe the authority of +the claimant and identify with specificity the document that grants the +claimant the authority to act on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the +note. The term original note or original promissory note means the +signed or executed promissory note rather than a copy of it. The term +includes any renewal, replacement, consolidation, or amended and restated +note or instrument given in renewal, replacement, or substitution for a +previous promissory note. The term also includes a transferrable record, as +defined by the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act in section 668.50(16), +Florida Statutes. + +(c) Possession of Original Promissory Note. If the claimant is in +possession of the original promissory note, the claimant must file under +penalty of perjury a certification contemporaneously with the filing of the +claim for relief for foreclosure that the claimant is in possession of the +original promissory note. The certification must set forth the location of the +note, the name and title of the individual giving the certification, the name of +the person who personally verified such possession, and the time and date on +which the possession was verified. Correct copies of the note and all allonges +to the note must be attached to the certification. The original note and the +allonges must be filed with the court before the entry of any judgment of +foreclosure or judgment on the note. + + + +(d) Lost, Destroyed, or Stolen Instrument. If the claimant seeks to +enforce a lost, destroyed, or stolen instrument, an affidavit executed under +penalty of perjury must be attached to the claim for relief. The affidavit must: +(1) detail a clear chain of all endorsements, transfers, or assignments of the +promissory note that is the subject of the action; (2) set forth facts showing +that the claimant is entitled to enforce a lost, destroyed, or stolen instrument +pursuant to section 673.3091, Florida Statutes; and (3) include as exhibits to +the affidavit such copies of the note and the allonges to the note, audit reports +showing receipt of the original note, or other evidence of the acquisition, +ownership, and possession of the note as may be available to the claimant. +Adequate protection as required and identified under sections 673.3091(2) +and 702.11(1), Florida Statutes, shall be provided before the entry of final +judgment. + +(e) Verification. When filing an action for foreclosure on a mortgage for +residential real property the claim for relief shall be verified by the claimant +seeking to foreclose the mortgage. When verification of a document is +required, the document filed shall include an oath, affirmation, or the +following statement: + +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing, and +the facts alleged therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and +belief. + + + + Rule 1.120. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.120 + +RULE 1.120. PLEADING SPECIAL MATTERS. +(a) Capacity. It is not necessary to aver the capacity of a party to sue or be + +sued, the authority of a party to sue or be sued in a representative capacity, or +the legal existence of an organized association of persons that is made a +party, except to the extent required to show the jurisdiction of the court. The +initial pleading served on behalf of a minor party shall specifically aver the +age of the minor party. When a party desires to raise an issue as to the legal +existence of any party, the capacity of any party to sue or be sued, or the +authority of a party to sue or be sued in a representative capacity, that party +shall do so by specific negative averment which shall include such supporting +particulars as are peculiarly within the pleaders knowledge. + +(b) Fraud, Mistake, Condition of the Mind. In all averments of fraud or +mistake, the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be stated with +such particularity as the circumstances may permit. Malice, intent, +knowledge, mental attitude, and other condition of mind of a person may be +averred generally. + +(c) Conditions Precedent. In pleading the performance or occurrence of +conditions precedent, it is sufficient to aver generally that all conditions +precedent have been performed or have occurred. A denial of performance or +occurrence shall be made specifically and with particularity. + +(d) Official Document or Act. In pleading an official document or official +act it is sufficient to aver that the document was issued or the act done in +compliance with law. + +(e) Judgment or Decree. In pleading a judgment or decree of a domestic +or foreign court, a judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal, or a board or officer, it is +sufficient to aver the judgment or decree without setting forth matter showing +jurisdiction to render it. + +(f) Time and Place. For the purpose of testing the sufficiency of a +pleading, averments of time and place are material and shall be considered +like all other averments of material matter. + +(g) Special Damage. When items of special damage are claimed, they + + + +shall be specifically stated. + + + + Rule 1.130. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.130 + +RULE 1.130. ATTACHING COPY OF CAUSE OF ACTION AND +EXHIBITS. + +(a) Instruments Attached. All bonds, notes, bills of exchange, contracts, +accounts, or documents on which action may be brought or defense made, or +a copy thereof or a copy of the portions thereof material to the pleadings, +must be incorporated in or attached to the pleading. No documents shall be +unnecessarily annexed as exhibits. The pleadings must contain no +unnecessary recitals of deeds, documents, contracts, or other instruments. + +(b) Part for All Purposes. Any exhibit attached to a pleading must be +considered a part thereof for all purposes. Statements in a pleading may be +adopted by reference in a different part of the same pleading, in another +pleading, or in any motion. + + + + Rule 1.140. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.140 + +RULE 1.140. DEFENSES. +(a) When Presented. + +(1) Unless a different time is prescribed in a statute of Florida, a +defendant must serve an answer within 20 days after service of original +process and the initial pleading on the defendant, or not later than the date +fixed in a notice by publication. A party served with a pleading stating a +crossclaim against that party must serve an answer to it within 20 days +after service on that party. The plaintiff must serve an answer to a +counterclaim within 20 days after service of the counterclaim. If a reply is +required, the reply must be served within 20 days after service of the +answer. +(2)(A) Except when sued pursuant to section 768.28, Florida Statutes, the +state of Florida, an agency of the state, or an officer or employee of the +state sued in an official capacity must serve an answer to the complaint or +crossclaim, or a reply to a counterclaim, within 40 days after service. + +(B) When sued pursuant to section 768.28, Florida Statutes, the +Department of Financial Services or the defendant state agency has 30 +days from the date of service within which to serve an answer to the +complaint or crossclaim or a reply to a counterclaim. +(3) The service of a motion under this rule, except a motion for + +judgment on the pleadings or a motion to strike under subdivision (f), +alters these periods of time so that if the court denies the motion or +postpones its disposition until the trial on the merits, the responsive +pleadings must be served within 10 days after the filing of the courts order +or, if the court grants a motion for a more definite statement, the +responsive pleadings must be served within 10 days after service of the +more definite statement unless a different time is fixed by the court in +either case. + +(4) If the court permits or requires an amended or responsive pleading or +a more definite statement, the pleading or statement must be served within +10 days after the filing of the courts order unless a different time is fixed +by the court. Responses to the pleadings or statements must be served + + + +within 10 days of service of the pleadings or statements. +(b) How Presented. Every defense in law or fact to a claim for relief in a + +pleading must be asserted in the responsive pleading, if one is required, but +the following defenses may be made by motion at the option of the pleader: +(1) lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, (2) lack of jurisdiction over +the person, (3) improper venue, (4) insufficiency of process, (5) insufficiency +of service of process, (6) failure to state a cause of action, and (7) failure to +join indispensable parties. A motion making any of these defenses must be +made before pleading if a further pleading is permitted. The grounds on +which any of the enumerated defenses are based and the substantial matters +of law intended to be argued must be stated specifically and with particularity +in the responsive pleading or motion. Any ground not stated must be deemed +to be waived except any ground showing that the court lacks jurisdiction of +the subject matter may be made at any time. No defense or objection is +waived by being joined with other defenses or objections in a responsive +pleading or motion. If a pleading sets forth a claim for relief to which the +adverse party is not required to serve a responsive pleading, the adverse party +may assert any defense in law or fact to that claim for relief at the trial, +except that the objection of failure to state a legal defense in an answer or +reply must be asserted by motion to strike the defense within 20 days after +service of the answer or reply. + +(c) Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. After the pleadings are +closed, but within such time as not to delay the trial, any party may move for +judgment on the pleadings. + +(d) Preliminary Hearings. The defenses 1 to 7 in subdivision (b) of this +rule, whether made in a pleading or by motion, and the motion for judgment +in subdivision (c) of this rule must be heard and determined before trial on +application of any party unless the court orders that the hearing and +determination must be deferred until the trial. + +(e) Motion for More Definite Statement. If a pleading to which a +responsive pleading is permitted is so vague or ambiguous that a party cannot +reasonably be required to frame a responsive pleading, that party may move +for a more definite statement before interposing a responsive pleading. The +motion must point out the defects complained of and the details desired. If +the motion is granted and the order of the court is not obeyed within 10 days + + + +after the filing of the order or such other time as the court may fix, the court +may strike the pleading to which the motion was directed or make such order +as it deems just. + +(f) Motion to Strike. A party may move to strike or the court may strike +redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter from any pleading +at any time. + +(g) Consolidation of Defenses. A party who makes a motion under this +rule may join with it the other motions herein provided for and then available +to that party. If a party makes a motion under this rule but omits from it any +defenses or objections then available to that party that this rule permits to be +raised by motion, that party shall not thereafter make a motion based on any +of the defenses or objections omitted, except as provided in subdivision (h) +(2) of this rule. + +(h) Waiver of Defenses. +(1) A party waives all defenses and objections that the party does not + +present either by motion under subdivisions (b), (e), or (f) of this rule or, if +the party has made no motion, in a responsive pleading except as provided +in subdivision (h)(2). + +(2) The defenses of failure to state a cause of action or a legal defense or +to join an indispensable party may be raised by motion for judgment on the +pleadings or at the trial on the merits in addition to being raised either in a +motion under subdivision (b) or in the answer or reply. The defense of lack +of jurisdiction of the subject matter may be raised at any time. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to eliminate the +unnecessary statement of the return date when service is made by publication, +and to accommodate the change proposed in rule 1.100(a) making a reply +mandatory under certain circumstances. Motions to strike under subdivision +(f) are divided into 2 categories, so subdivision (a) is also amended to +accommodate this change by eliminating motions to strike under the new +subdivision (f) as motions that toll the running of time. A motion to strike an +insufficient legal defense will now be available under subdivision (b) and +continue to toll the time for responsive pleading. Subdivision (b) is amended + + + +to include the defense of failure to state a sufficient legal defense. The proper +method of attack for failure to state a legal defense remains a motion to +strike. Subdivision (f) is changed to accommodate the 2 types of motions to +strike. The motion to strike an insufficient legal defense is now in subdivision +(b). The motion to strike under subdivision (f) does not toll the time for +responsive pleading and can be made at any time, and the matter can be +stricken by the court on its initiative at any time. Subdivision (g) follows the +terminology of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(g). Much difficulty has +been experienced in the application of this and the succeeding subdivision +with the result that the same defenses are being raised several times in an +action. The intent of the rule is to permit the defenses to be raised one time, +either by motion or by the responsive pleading, and thereafter only by motion +for judgment on the pleadings or at the trial. Subdivision (h) also reflects this +philosophy. It is based on federal rule 12(h) but more clearly states the +purpose of the rule. + +1988 Amendment. The amendment to subdivision (a) is to fix a time +within which amended pleadings, responsive pleadings, or more definite +statements required by the court and responses to those pleadings or +statements must be served when no time limit is fixed by the court in its +order. The courts authority to alter these time periods is contained in rule +1.090(b). + +2007 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to conform rule 1.140 to +the statutory requirements of sections 48.111, 48.121, and 768.28, Florida +Statutes. The rule is similar to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a). + + + + Rule 1.150. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.150 + +RULE 1.150. SHAM PLEADINGS. +(a) Motion to Strike. If a party deems any pleading or part thereof filed by + +another party to be a sham, that party may move to strike the pleading or part +thereof before the cause is set for trial and the court shall hear the motion, +taking evidence of the respective parties, and if the motion is sustained, the +pleading to which the motion is directed shall be stricken. Default and +summary judgment on the merits may be entered in the discretion of the court +or the court may permit additional pleadings to be filed for good cause +shown. + +(b) Contents of Motion. The motion to strike shall be verified and shall +set forth fully the facts on which the movant relies and may be supported by +affidavit. No traverse of the motion shall be required. + + + + Rule 1.160. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.160 + +RULE 1.160. MOTIONS. +All motions and applications in the clerks office for the issuance of mesne + +process and final process to enforce and execute judgments, for entering +defaults, and for such other proceedings in the clerks office as do not require +an order of court shall be deemed motions and applications grantable as of +course by the clerk. The clerks action may be suspended or altered or +rescinded by the court upon cause shown. + + + + Rule 1.170. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.170 + +RULE 1.170. COUNTERCLAIMS AND CROSSCLAIMS. +(a) Compulsory Counterclaims. A pleading must state as a counterclaim + +any claim which at the time of serving the pleading the pleader has against +any opposing party, provided it arises out of the transaction or occurrence +that is the subject matter of the opposing partys claim and does not require +for its adjudication the presence of third parties over whom the court cannot +acquire jurisdiction. But the pleader need not state a claim if (1) at the time +the action was commenced the claim was the subject of another pending +action, or (2) the opposing party brought suit on that partys claim by +attachment or other process by which the court did not acquire jurisdiction to +render a personal judgment on the claim and the pleader is not stating a +counterclaim under this rule. + +(b) Permissive Counterclaim. A pleading may state as a counterclaim any +claim against an opposing party not arising out of the transaction or +occurrence that is the subject matter of the opposing partys claim. + +(c) Counterclaim Exceeding Opposing Claim. A counterclaim may or +may not diminish or defeat the recovery sought by the opposing party. It may +claim relief exceeding in amount or different in kind from that sought in the +pleading of the opposing party. + +(d) Counterclaim against the State. These rules shall not be construed to +enlarge beyond the limits established by law the right to assert counterclaims +or to claim credits against the state or any of its subdivisions or other +governmental organizations thereof subject to suit or against a municipal +corporation or against an officer, agency, or administrative board of the state. + +(e) Counterclaim Maturing or Acquired after Pleading. A claim which +matured or was acquired by the pleader after serving the pleading may be +presented as a counterclaim by supplemental pleading with the permission of +the court. + +(f) Omitted Counterclaim or Crossclaim. When a pleader fails to set up +a counterclaim or crossclaim through oversight, inadvertence, or excusable +neglect, or when justice requires, the pleader may set up the counterclaim or +crossclaim by amendment with leave of the court. + + + +(g) Crossclaim against Co-Party. A pleading may state as a crossclaim +any claim by one party against a co-party arising out of the transaction or +occurrence that is the subject matter of either the original action or a +counterclaim therein, or relating to any property that is the subject matter of +the original action. The crossclaim may include a claim that the party against +whom it is asserted is or may be liable to the crossclaimant for all or part of a +claim asserted in the action against the crossclaimant. Service of a crossclaim +on a party who has appeared in the action must be made under Florida Rule +of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516. Service of a +crossclaim against a party who has not appeared in the action must be made +in the manner provided for service of summons. + +(h) Additional Parties May Be Brought In. When the presence of parties +other than those to the original action is required to grant complete relief in +the determination of a counterclaim or crossclaim, they must be named in the +counterclaim or crossclaim and be served with process and must be parties to +the action thereafter if jurisdiction of them can be obtained and their joinder +will not deprive the court of jurisdiction of the action. Rules 1.250(b) and (c) +apply to parties brought in under this subdivision. + +(i) Separate Trials; Separate Judgment. If the court orders separate trials +as provided in rule 1.270(b), judgment on a counterclaim or crossclaim may +be rendered when the court has jurisdiction to do so even if a claim of the +opposing party has been dismissed or otherwise disposed of. + +(j) Demand Exceeding Jurisdiction; Transfer of Action. If the demand +of any counterclaim or crossclaim exceeds the jurisdiction of the court in +which the action is pending, the action must be transferred immediately to the +court of the same county having jurisdiction of the demand in the +counterclaim or crossclaim with only such alterations in the pleadings as are +essential. The court must order the transfer of the action and the transmittal of +all documents in it to the proper court if the party asserting the demand +exceeding the jurisdiction deposits with the court having jurisdiction a sum +sufficient to pay the clerks service charge in the court to which the action is +transferred at the time of filing the counterclaim or crossclaim. Thereupon the +original documents and deposit must be transmitted and filed with a certified +copy of the order. The court to which the action is transferred shall have full +power and jurisdiction over the demands of all parties. Failure to make the +service charge deposit at the time the counterclaim or crossclaim is filed, or + + + +within such further time as the court may allow, will reduce a claim for +damages to an amount within the jurisdiction of the court where the action is +pending and waive the claim in other cases. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Subdivision (h) is amended to conform with the +philosophy of the 1968 amendment to rule 1.250(c). No justification exists to +require more restrictive joinder provisions for counterclaims and crossclaims +than is required for the initial pleading. The only safeguard required is that +joinder does not deprive the court of jurisdiction. Subdivision (j) is amended +to require deposit of the service charge for transfer when a counterclaim or +crossclaim exceeding the jurisdiction of the court in which the action is +pending is filed. This cures a practical problem when the defendant files a +counterclaim or crossclaim exceeding the jurisdiction but neglects to pay the +service charge to the court to which the action is transferred. The matter then +remains in limbo and causes procedural difficulties in progressing the action. + +1988 Amendment. The last 2 sentences were added to subdivision (g) to +counter the construction of these rules and section 48.031(1), Florida +Statutes, by an appellate court in Fundaro v. Canadiana Corp., 409 So. 2d +1099 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), to require service of all crossclaims with +summons pursuant to rule 1.070. The purpose of this amendment is to make it +clear that crossclaims must be served as initial pleadings only against a party +who has not previously entered an appearance in the action. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (g) is amended to reflect the relocation of +the service rule from rule 1.080 to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. + + + + Rule 1.180. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.180 + +RULE 1.180. THIRD-PARTY PRACTICE. +(a) When Available. At any time after commencement of the action a + +defendant may have a summons and complaint served on a person not a party +to the action who is or may be liable to the defendant for all or part of the +plaintiffs claim against the defendant, and may also assert any other claim +that arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the +plaintiffs claim. The defendant need not obtain leave of court if the +defendant files the third-party complaint not later than 20 days after the +defendant serves the original answer. Otherwise, the defendant must obtain +leave on motion and notice to all parties to the action. The person served with +the summons and third-party complaint, herein called the third-party +defendant, shall make defenses to the defendants claim as provided in rules +1.110 and 1.140 and counterclaims against the defendant and crossclaims +against other third-party defendants as provided in rule 1.170. The third-party +defendant may assert against the plaintiff any defenses that the defendant has +to the plaintiffs claim. The third-party defendant may also assert any claim +against the plaintiff arising out of the transaction or occurrence that is the +subject matter of the plaintiffs claim against the defendant. The plaintiff may +assert any claim against the third-party defendant arising out of the +transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the plaintiffs claim +against the defendant, and the third-party defendant thereupon shall assert a +defense as provided in rules 1.110 and 1.140 and counterclaims and +crossclaims as provided in rule 1.170. Any party may move to strike the +third-party claim or for its severance or separate trial. A third party defendant +may proceed under this rule against any person not a party to the action who +is or may be liable to the third-party defendant for all or part of the claim +made in the action against the third-party defendant. + +(b) When Plaintiff May Bring in Third Party. When a counterclaim is +asserted against the plaintiff, the plaintiff may bring in a third party under +circumstances which would entitle a defendant to do so under this rule. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to permit the defendant to + + + +have the same right to assert claims arising out of the transaction or +occurrence that all of the other parties to the action have. It overrules the +decisions in Miramar Construction, Inc. v. El Conquistador Condominium, +303 So. 2d 81 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), and Richards Paint Mfg. Co. v. Onyx +Paints, Inc., 363 So. 2d 596 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978), to that extent. The term +defendant is used throughout instead of third-party plaintiff for clarity and +brevity reasons and refers to the defendant serving the summons and third- +party complaint on a third-party defendant or, when applicable, to the similar +summons and fourth party. + + + + Rule 1.190. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.190 + +RULE 1.190. AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTAL PLEADINGS. +(a) Amendments. A party may amend a pleading once as a matter of + +course at any time before responsive pleading is served or, if the pleading is +one to which no responsive pleading is permitted and the action has not been +placed on the trial calendar, may so amend it at any time within 20 days after +it is served. Otherwise a party may amend a pleading only by leave of court +or by written consent of the adverse party. If a party files a motion to amend a +pleading, the party shall attach the proposed amended pleading to the motion. +Leave of court shall be given freely when justice so requires. A party shall +plead in response to an amended pleading within 10 days after service of the +amended pleading unless the court otherwise orders. + +(b) Amendments to Conform with the Evidence. When issues not raised +by the pleadings are tried by express or implied consent of the parties, they +shall be treated in all respects as if they had been raised in the pleadings. +Such amendment of the pleadings as may be necessary to cause them to +conform to the evidence and to raise these issues may be made upon motion +of any party at any time, even after judgment, but failure so to amend shall +not affect the result of the trial of these issues. If the evidence is objected to at +the trial on the ground that it is not within the issues made by the pleadings, +the court may allow the pleadings to be amended to conform with the +evidence and shall do so freely when the merits of the cause are more +effectually presented thereby and the objecting party fails to satisfy the court +that the admission of such evidence will prejudice the objecting party in +maintaining an action or defense upon the merits. + +(c) Relation Back of Amendments. When the claim or defense asserted in +the amended pleading arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set +forth or attempted to be set forth in the original pleading, the amendment +shall relate back to the date of the original pleading. + +(d) Supplemental Pleadings. Upon motion of a party the court may +permit that party, upon reasonable notice and upon such terms as are just, to +serve a supplemental pleading setting forth transactions or occurrences or +events which have happened since the date of the pleading sought to be + + + +supplemented. If the court deems it advisable that the adverse party plead +thereto, it shall so order, specifying the time therefor. + +(e) Amendments Generally. At any time in furtherance of justice, upon +such terms as may be just, the court may permit any process, proceeding, +pleading, or record to be amended or material supplemental matter to be set +forth in an amended or supplemental pleading. At every stage of the action +the court must disregard any error or defect in the proceedings which does +not affect the substantial rights of the parties. + +(f) Claims for Punitive Damages. A motion for leave to amend a pleading +to assert a claim for punitive damages shall make a reasonable showing, by +evidence in the record or evidence to be proffered by the claimant, that +provides a reasonable basis for recovery of such damages. The motion to +amend can be filed separately and before the supporting evidence or proffer, +but each shall be served on all parties at least 20 days before the hearing. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The last clause of subdivision (a) is deleted to restore +the decision in Scarfone v. Denby, 156 So. 2d 694 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963). The +adoption of rule 1.500 requiring notice of an application for default after +filing or serving of any paper eliminates the need for the clause. This will +permit reinstatement of the procedure in federal practice and earlier Florida +practice requiring a response to each amended pleading, thus simplifying the +court file under the doctrine of Dee v. Southern Brewing Co., 146 Fla. 588, 1 +So. 2d 562 (1941). + +2003 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended in accordance with Totura +& Co., Inc. v. Williams, 754 So. 2d 671 (Fla. 2000). See the amendment to +rule 1.070(j). Subdivision (f) is added to state the requirements for a party +moving for leave of court to amend a pleading to assert a claim for punitive +damages. See Beverly Health & Rehabilitation Services, Inc. v. Meeks, 778 +So. 2d 322 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). + + + + Rule 1.200. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.200 + +RULE 1.200. PRETRIAL PROCEDURE. +(a) Case Management Conference. At any time after responsive + +pleadings or motions are due, the court may order, or a party, by serving a +notice may convene, a case management conference. The matter to be +considered must be specified in the order or notice setting the conference. At +such a conference the court may: + +(1) schedule or reschedule the service of motions, pleadings, and other +documents; + +(2) set or reset the time of trials, subject to rule 1.440(c); +(3) coordinate the progress of the action if the complex litigation factors + +contained in rule 1.201(a)(2)(A)(a)(2)(H) are present; +(4) limit, schedule, order, or expedite discovery; +(5) consider the possibility of obtaining admissions of fact and voluntary + +exchange of documents and electronically stored information, and +stipulations regarding authenticity of documents and electronically stored +information; + +(6) consider the need for advance rulings from the court on the +admissibility of documents and electronically stored information; + +(7) discuss as to electronically stored information, the possibility of +agreements from the parties regarding the extent to which such evidence +should be preserved, the form in which such evidence should be produced, +and whether discovery of such information should be conducted in phases +or limited to particular individuals, time periods, or sources; + +(8) schedule disclosure of expert witnesses and the discovery of facts +known and opinions held by such experts; + +(9) schedule or hear motions in limine; +(10) pursue the possibilities of settlement; +(11) require filing of preliminary stipulations if issues can be narrowed; +(12) consider referring issues to a magistrate for findings of fact; and + + + +(13) schedule other conferences or determine other matters that may aid +in the disposition of the action. +(b) Pretrial Conference. After the action is at issue the court itself may or + +shall on the timely motion of any party require the parties to appear for a +conference to consider and determine: + +(1) the simplification of the issues; +(2) the necessity or desirability of amendments to the pleadings; +(3) the possibility of obtaining admissions of fact and of documents that + +will avoid unnecessary proof; +(4) the limitation of the number of expert witnesses; +(5) the potential use of juror notebooks; and +(6) any matters permitted under subdivision (a) of this rule. + +(c) Notice. Reasonable notice must be given for a case management +conference, and 20 days notice must be given for a pretrial conference. On +failure of a party to attend a conference, the court may dismiss the action, +strike the pleadings, limit proof or witnesses, or take any other appropriate +action. Any documents that the court requires for any conference must be +specified in the order. Orders setting pretrial conferences must be uniform +throughout the territorial jurisdiction of the court. + +(d) Pretrial Order. The court must make an order reciting the action taken +at a conference and any stipulations made. The order controls the subsequent +course of the action unless modified to prevent injustice. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1971 Amendment. The 3 paragraphs of the rule are lettered and given +subtitles. The present last paragraph is placed second as subdivision (b) +because the proceeding required under it is taken before that in the present +second paragraph. The time for implementation is changed from settling the +issues because the language is erroneous, the purpose of the conference being +to settle some and prepare for the trial of other issues. The last 2 sentences of +subdivision (b) are added to require uniformity by all judges of the court and +to require specification of the documentary requirements for the conference. + + + +The last sentence of subdivision (c) is deleted since it is covered by the local +rule provisions of rule 1.020(d). The reference to the parties in substitution +for attorneys and counsel is one of style because the rules generally impose +obligations on the parties except when the attorneys are specifically intended. +It should be understood that those parties represented by attorneys will have +the attorneys perform for them in the usual manner. + +1972 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to require the motion for a +pretrial by a party to be timely. This is done to avoid motions for pretrial +conferences made a short time before trial and requests for a continuance of +the trial as a result of the pretrial conference order. The subdivision is also +amended to require the clerk to send to the judge a copy of the motion by a +party for the pretrial conference. + +1988 Amendment. The purpose of adding subdivision (a)(5) is to spell out +clearly for the bench and bar that case management conferences may be used +for scheduling the disclosure of expert witnesses and the discovery of the +opinion and factual information held by those experts. Subdivision (5) is not +intended to expand discovery. + +1992 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to allow a party to set a +case management conference in the same manner as a party may set a hearing +on a motion. Subdivision (c) is amended to remove the mandatory language +and make the notice requirement for a case management conference the same +as that for a hearing on a motion; i.e., reasonable notice. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivisions (a)(5) to (a)(7) are added to address +issues involving electronically stored information. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. This is a substantial rewording of rule 1.200. +Subdivision (a) is added to authorize case management conferences in an +effort to give the court more control over the progress of the action. All of the +matters that the court can do under the case management conference can be +done at the present time under other rules or because of the courts authority +otherwise. The new subdivision merely emphasizes the courts authority and +arranges an orderly method for the exercise of that authority. Subdivisions +(a), (b), and (c) of the existing rule are relettered accordingly. Subdivision (a) +of the existing rule is also amended to delete the reference to requiring the + + + +attorneys to appear at a pretrial conference by referring to the parties for that +purpose. This is consistent with the language used throughout the rules and +does not contemplate a change in present procedure. Subdivisions (a)(5) and +(a)(6) of the existing rule are deleted since they are now covered adequately +under the new subdivision (a). Subdivisions (b) and (c) of the existing rule +are amended to accommodate the 2 types of conferences that are now +authorized by the rules. + + + + Rule 1.201. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.201 + +RULE 1.201. COMPLEX LITIGATION. +(a) Complex Litigation Defined. At any time after all defendants have + +been served, and an appearance has been entered in response to the complaint +by each party or a default entered, any party, or the court on its own motion, +may move to declare an action complex. However, any party may move to +designate an action complex before all defendants have been served subject +to a showing to the court why service has not been made on all defendants. +The court shall convene a hearing to determine whether the action requires +the use of complex litigation procedures and enter an order within 10 days of +the conclusion of the hearing. + +(1) A complex action is one that is likely to involve complicated legal +or case management issues and that may require extensive judicial +management to expedite the action, keep costs reasonable, or promote +judicial efficiency. + +(2) In deciding whether an action is complex, the court must consider +whether the action is likely to involve: + +(A) numerous pretrial motions raising difficult or novel legal issues or +legal issues that are inextricably intertwined that will be time-consuming +to resolve; + +(B) management of a large number of separately represented parties; +(C) coordination with related actions pending in one or more courts in + +other counties, states, or countries, or in a federal court; +(D) pretrial management of a large number of witnesses or a + +substantial amount of documentary evidence; +(E) substantial time required to complete the trial; +(F) management at trial of a large number of experts, witnesses, + +attorneys, or exhibits; +(G) substantial post-judgment judicial supervision; and +(H) any other analytical factors identified by the court or a party that + + + +tend to complicate comparable actions and which are likely to arise in +the context of the instant action. +(3) If all of the parties, pro se or through counsel, sign and file with the + +clerk of the court a written stipulation to the fact that an action is complex +and identifying the factors in (2)(A) through (2)(H) above that apply, the +court shall enter an order designating the action as complex without a +hearing. +(b) Initial Case Management Report and Conference. The court shall + +hold an initial case management conference within 60 days from the date of +the order declaring the action complex. + +(1) At least 20 days prior to the date of the initial case management +conference, attorneys for the parties as well as any parties appearing pro se +shall confer and prepare a joint statement, which shall be filed with the +clerk of the court no later than 14 days before the conference, outlining a +discovery plan and stating: + +(A) a brief factual statement of the action, which includes the claims +and defenses; + +(B) a brief statement on the theory of damages by any party seeking +affirmative relief; + +(C) the likelihood of settlement; +(D) the likelihood of appearance in the action of additional parties and + +identification of any non-parties to whom any of the parties will seek to +allocate fault; + +(E) the proposed limits on the time: (i) to join other parties and to +amend the pleadings, (ii) to file and hear motions, (iii) to identify any +non-parties whose identity is known, or otherwise describe as +specifically as practicable any non-parties whose identity is not known, +(iv) to disclose expert witnesses, and (v) to complete discovery; + +(F) the names of the attorneys responsible for handling the action; +(G) the necessity for a protective order to facilitate discovery; +(H) proposals for the formulation and simplification of issues, + +including the elimination of frivolous claims or defenses, and the + + + +number and timing of motions for summary judgment or partial +summary judgment; + +(I) the possibility of obtaining admissions of fact and voluntary +exchange of documents and electronically stored information, +stipulations regarding authenticity of documents, electronically stored +information, and the need for advance rulings from the court on +admissibility of evidence; + +(J) the possibility of obtaining agreements among the parties +regarding the extent to which such electronically stored information +should be preserved, the form in which such information should be +produced, and whether discovery of such information should be +conducted in phases or limited to particular individuals, time periods, or +sources; + +(K) suggestions on the advisability and timing of referring matters to +a magistrate, master, other neutral, or mediation; + +(L) a preliminary estimate of the time required for trial; +(M) requested date or dates for conferences before trial, a final pretrial + +conference, and trial; +(N) a description of pertinent documents and a list of fact witnesses + +the parties believe to be relevant; +(O) number of experts and fields of expertise; and +(P) any other information that might be helpful to the court in setting + +further conferences and the trial date. +(2) Lead trial counsel and a client representative shall attend the initial + +case management conference. +(3) Notwithstanding rule 1.440, at the initial case management + +conference, the court will set the trial date or dates no sooner than 6 +months and no later than 24 months from the date of the conference unless +good cause is shown for an earlier or later setting. The trial date or dates +shall be on a docket having sufficient time within which to try the action +and, when feasible, for a date or dates certain. The trial date shall be set +after consultation with counsel and in the presence of all clients or +authorized client representatives. The court shall, no later than 2 months + + + +prior to the date scheduled for jury selection, arrange for a sufficient +number of available jurors. Continuance of the trial of a complex action +should rarely be granted and then only upon good cause shown. +(c) The Case Management Order. The case management order shall + +address each matter set forth under rule 1.200(a) and set the action for a +pretrial conference and trial. The case management order also shall specify +the following: + +(1) Dates by which all parties shall name their expert witnesses and +provide the expert information required by rule 1.280(b)(5). If a party has +named an expert witness in a field in which any other parties have not +identified experts, the other parties may name experts in that field within +30 days thereafter. No additional experts may be named unless good cause +is shown. + +(2) Not more than 10 days after the date set for naming experts, the +parties shall meet and schedule dates for deposition of experts and all other +witnesses not yet deposed. At the time of the meeting each party is +responsible for having secured three confirmed dates for its expert +witnesses. In the event the parties cannot agree on a discovery deposition +schedule, the court, upon motion, shall set the schedule. Any party may file +the completed discovery deposition schedule agreed upon or entered by the +court. Once filed, the deposition dates in the schedule shall not be altered +without consent of all parties or upon order of the court. Failure to comply +with the discovery schedule may result in sanctions in accordance with rule +1.380. + +(3) Dates by which all parties are to complete all other discovery. +(4) The court shall schedule periodic case management conferences and + +hearings on lengthy motions at reasonable intervals based on the particular +needs of the action. The attorneys for the parties as well as any parties +appearing pro se shall confer no later than 15 days prior to each case +management conference or hearing. They shall notify the court at least 10 +days prior to any case management conference or hearing if the parties +stipulate that a case management conference or hearing time is +unnecessary. Failure to timely notify the court that a case management +conference or hearing time is unnecessary may result in sanctions. + + + +(5) The case management order may include a briefing schedule setting +forth a time period within which to file briefs or memoranda, responses, +and reply briefs or memoranda, prior to the court considering such matters. + +(6) A deadline for conducting alternative dispute resolution. +(d) Final Case Management Conference. The court shall schedule a final + +case management conference not less than 90 days prior to the date the case +is set for trial. At least 10 days prior to the final case management conference +the parties shall confer to prepare a case status report, which shall be filed +with the clerk of the court either prior to or at the time of the final case +management conference. The status report shall contain in separately +numbered paragraphs: + +(1) A list of all pending motions requiring action by the court and the +date those motions are set for hearing. + +(2) Any change regarding the estimated trial time. +(3) The names of the attorneys who will try the case. +(4) A list of the names and addresses of all nonexpert witnesses + +(including impeachment and rebuttal witnesses) intended to be called at +trial. However, impeachment or rebuttal witnesses not identified in the case +status report may be allowed to testify if the need for their testimony could +not have been reasonably foreseen at the time the case status report was +prepared. + +(5) A list of all exhibits intended to be offered at trial. +(6) Certification that copies of witness and exhibit lists will be filed with + +the clerk of the court at least 48 hours prior to the date and time of the final +case management conference. + +(7) A deadline for the filing of amended lists of witnesses and exhibits, +which amendments shall be allowed only upon motion and for good cause +shown. + +(8) Any other matters which could impact the timely and effective trial +of the action. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (b)(1)(J) is added to address issues +involving electronically stored information. + + + + Rule 1.210. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.210 + +RULE 1.210. PARTIES. +(a) Parties Generally. Every action may be prosecuted in the name of the + +real party in interest, but a personal representative, administrator, guardian, +trustee of an express trust, a party with whom or in whose name a contract +has been made for the benefit of another, or a party expressly authorized by +statute may sue in that persons own name without joining the party for +whose benefit the action is brought. All persons having an interest in the +subject of the action and in obtaining the relief demanded may join as +plaintiffs and any person may be made a defendant who has or claims an +interest adverse to the plaintiff. Any person may at any time be made a party +if that persons presence is necessary or proper to a complete determination +of the cause. Persons having a united interest may be joined on the same side +as plaintiffs or defendants, and anyone who refuses to join may for such +reason be made a defendant. + +(b) Minors or Incompetent Persons. When a minor or incompetent +person has a representative, such as a guardian or other like fiduciary, the +representative may sue or defend on behalf of the minor or incompetent +person. A minor or incompetent person who does not have a duly appointed +representative may sue by next friend or by a guardian ad litem. The court +shall appoint a guardian ad litem for a minor or incompetent person not +otherwise represented in an action or shall make such other order as it deems +proper for the protection of the minor or incompetent person. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Subdivisions (c) and (d) are deleted. Both are obsolete. +They were continued in effect earlier because the committee was uncertain +about the need for them at the time. Subdivision (c) has been supplanted by +section 737.402(2)(z), Florida Statutes (1979), that gives trustees the power +to prosecute and defend actions, regardless of the conditions specified in the +subdivision. The adoption of section 733.212, Florida Statutes (1979), +eliminates the need for subdivision (d) because it provides an easier and less +expensive method of eliminating the interests of an heir at law who is not a +beneficiary under the will. To the extent that an heir at law is an + + + +indispensable party to a proceeding concerning a testamentary trust, due +process requires notice and an opportunity to defend, so the rule would be +unconstitutionally applied. + +2003 Amendment. In subdivision (a), an executor is changed to a +personal representative to conform to statutory language. See 731.201(25), +Fla. Stat. (2002). + + + + Rule 1.220. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.220 + +RULE 1.220. CLASS ACTIONS. +(a) Prerequisites to Class Representation. Before any claim or defense + +may be maintained on behalf of a class by one party or more suing or being +sued as the representative of all the members of a class, the court shall first +conclude that (1) the members of the class are so numerous that separate +joinder of each member is impracticable, (2) the claim or defense of the +representative party raises questions of law or fact common to the questions +of law or fact raised by the claim or defense of each member of the class, (3) +the claim or defense of the representative party is typical of the claim or +defense of each member of the class, and (4) the representative party can +fairly and adequately protect and represent the interests of each member of +the class. + +(b) Claims and Defenses Maintainable. A claim or defense may be +maintained on behalf of a class if the court concludes that the prerequisites of +subdivision (a) are satisfied, and that: + +(1) the prosecution of separate claims or defenses by or against +individual members of the class would create a risk of either: + +(A) inconsistent or varying adjudications concerning individual +members of the class which would establish incompatible standards of +conduct for the party opposing the class; or + +(B) adjudications concerning individual members of the class which +would, as a practical matter, be dispositive of the interests of other +members of the class who are not parties to the adjudications, or +substantially impair or impede the ability of other members of the class +who are not parties to the adjudications to protect their interests; or +(2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds + +generally applicable to all the members of the class, thereby making final +injunctive relief or declaratory relief concerning the class as a whole +appropriate; or + +(3) the claim or defense is not maintainable under either subdivision (b) +(1) or (b)(2), but the questions of law or fact common to the claim or + + + +defense of the representative party and the claim or defense of each +member of the class predominate over any question of law or fact affecting +only individual members of the class, and class representation is superior +to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the +controversy. The conclusions shall be derived from consideration of all +relevant facts and circumstances, including (A) the respective interests of +each member of the class in individually controlling the prosecution of +separate claims or defenses, (B) the nature and extent of any pending +litigation to which any member of the class is a party and in which any +question of law or fact controverted in the subject action is to be +adjudicated, (C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the +litigation in the forum where the subject action is instituted, and (D) the +difficulties likely to be encountered in the management of the claim or +defense on behalf of a class. +(c) Pleading Requirements. Any pleading, counterclaim, or crossclaim + +alleging the existence of a class shall contain the following: +(1) Next to its caption the designation: Class Representation. +(2) Under a separate heading, designated as Class Representation + +Allegations, specific recitation of: +(A) the particular provision of subdivision (b) under which it is + +claimed that the claim or defense is maintainable on behalf of a class; +(B) the questions of law or fact that are common to the claim or + +defense of the representative party and the claim or defense of each +member of the class; + +(C) the particular facts and circumstances that show the claim or +defense advanced by the representative party is typical of the claim or +defense of each member of the class; + +(D) (i) the approximate number of class members, (ii) a definition of +the alleged class, and (iii) the particular facts and circumstances that +show the representative party will fairly and adequately protect and +represent the interests of each member of the class; and + +(E) the particular facts and circumstances that support the conclusions +required of the court in determining that the action may be maintained as +a class action pursuant to the particular provision of subdivision (b) + + + +under which it is claimed that the claim or defense is maintainable on +behalf of a class. + +(d) Determination of Class Representation; Notice; Judgment: Claim +or Defense Maintained Partly on Behalf of a Class. + +(1) As soon as practicable after service of any pleading alleging the +existence of a class under this rule and before service of an order for +pretrial conference or a notice for trial, after hearing the court shall enter an +order determining whether the claim or defense is maintainable on behalf +of a class on the application of any party or on the courts initiative. +Irrespective of whether the court determines that the claim or defense is +maintainable on behalf of a class, the order shall separately state the +findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which the determination is +based. In making the determination the court (A) may allow the claim or +defense to be so maintained, and, if so, shall state under which subsection +of subdivision (b) the claim or defense is to be maintained, (B) may +disallow the class representation and strike the class representation +allegations, or (C) may order postponement of the determination pending +the completion of discovery concerning whether the claim or defense is +maintainable on behalf of a class. If the court rules that the claim or +defense shall be maintained on behalf of a class under subdivision (b)(3), +the order shall also provide for the notice required by subdivision (d)(2). If +the court rules that the claim or defense shall be maintained on behalf of a +class under subdivision (b)(1) or subdivision (b)(2), the order shall also +provide for the notice required by subdivision (d)(2), except when a +showing is made that the notice is not required, the court may provide for +another kind of notice to the class as is appropriate. When the court orders +postponement of its determination, the court shall also establish a date, if +possible, for further consideration and final disposition of the motion. An +order under this subsection may be conditional and may be altered or +amended before entry of a judgment on the merits of the action. + +(2) As soon as is practicable after the court determines that a claim or +defense is maintainable on behalf of a class, notice of the pendency of the +claim or defense shall be given by the party asserting the existence of the +class to all the members of the class. The notice shall be given to each +member of the class who can be identified and located through reasonable +effort and shall be given to the other members of the class in the manner + + + +determined by the court to be most practicable under the circumstances. +Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the party asserting the existence of +the class shall initially pay for the cost of giving notice. The notice shall +inform each member of the class that (A) any member of the class who +files a statement with the court by the date specified in the notice asking to +be excluded shall be excluded from the class, (B) the judgment, whether +favorable or not, will include all members who do not request exclusion, +and (C) any member who does not request exclusion may make a separate +appearance within the time specified in the notice. + +(3) The judgment determining a claim or defense maintained on behalf +of a class under subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(2), whether or not favorable to +the class, shall include and describe those persons whom the court finds to +be members of the class. The judgment determining a claim or defense +maintained on behalf of a class under subdivision (b)(3), whether or not +favorable to the class, shall include and identify those to whom the notice +provided in subdivision (d)(2) was directed, who have not requested +exclusion and whom the court finds to be members of the class. + +(4) When appropriate, (A) a claim or defense may be brought or +maintained on behalf of a class concerning particular issues, or (B) class +representation may be divided into subclasses, and each subclass may be +treated as a separate and distinct class and the provisions of this rule shall +be applied accordingly. +(e) Dismissal or Compromise. After a claim or defense is determined to + +be maintainable on behalf of a class under subdivision (d), the claim or +defense shall not be voluntarily withdrawn, dismissed, or compromised +without approval of the court after notice and hearing. Notice of any +proposed voluntary withdrawal, dismissal, or compromise shall be given to +all members of the class as the court directs. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The class action rule has been completely revised to +bring it in line with modern practice. The rule is based on Federal Rule of +Civil Procedure 23, but a number of changes have been made to eliminate +problems in the federal rule through court decisions. Generally, the rule +provides for the prerequisites to class representation, an early determination + + + +about whether the claim or defense is maintainable on behalf of a class, +notice to all members of the class, provisions for the members of the class to +exclude themselves, the form of judgment, and the procedure governing +dismissal or compromise of a claim or defense maintained on behalf of a +class. The prerequisites of subdivision (a) are changed from those in federal +rule 23 only to the extent necessary to incorporate the criteria enunciated in +Port Royal v. Conboy, 154 So. 2d 734 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963). The notice +requirements have been made more explicit and stringent than those in the +federal rule. + + + + Rule 1.221. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.221 + +RULE 1.221. HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS AND +CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATIONS. + +A homeowners or condominium association, after control of such +association is obtained by homeowners or unit owners other than the +developer, may institute, maintain, settle, or appeal actions or hearings in its +name on behalf of all association members concerning matters of common +interest to the members, including, but not limited to: (1) the common +property, area, or elements; (2) the roof or structural components of a +building, or other improvements (in the case of homeowners associations, +being specifically limited to those improvements for which the association is +responsible); (3) mechanical, electrical, or plumbing elements serving a +property or an improvement or building (in the case of homeowners +associations, being specifically limited to those improvements for which the +association is responsible); (4) representations of the developer pertaining to +any existing or proposed commonly used facility; (5) protests of ad valorem +taxes on commonly used facilities; and, in the case of homeowners +associations, (6) defense of actions in eminent domain or prosecution of +inverse condemnation actions. If an association has the authority to maintain +a class action under this rule, the association may be joined in an action as +representative of that class with reference to litigation and disputes involving +the matters for which the association could bring a class action under this +rule. Nothing herein limits any statutory or common law right of any +individual homeowner or unit owner, or class of such owners, to bring any +action that may otherwise be available. An action under this rule shall not be +subject to the requirements of rule 1.220. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Adoption. The present rule relating to condominium associations +[1.220(b)] is left intact but renumbered as rule 1.221. + +2007 Amendment. Consistent with amendments to section 720.303(1), +Florida Statutes, homeowners associations have been added to the rule. + + + + Rule 1.222. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.222 + +RULE 1.222. MOBILE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS. +A mobile homeowners association may institute, maintain, settle, or + +appeal actions or hearings in its name on behalf of all homeowners +concerning matters of common interest, including, but not limited to: the +common property; structural components of a building or other +improvements; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing elements serving the +park property; and protests of ad valorem taxes on commonly used facilities. +If the association has the authority to maintain a class action under this rule, +the association may be joined in an action as representative of that class with +reference to litigation and disputes involving the matters for which the +association could bring a class action under this rule. Nothing herein limits +any statutory or common law right of any individual homeowner or class of +homeowners to bring any action which may otherwise be available. An action +under this rule shall not be subject to the requirements of rule 1.220. + + + + Rule 1.230. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.230 + +RULE 1.230. INTERVENTIONS. +Anyone claiming an interest in pending litigation may at any time be + +permitted to assert a right by intervention, but the intervention shall be in +subordination to, and in recognition of, the propriety of the main proceeding, +unless otherwise ordered by the court in its discretion. + + + + Rule 1.240. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.240 + +RULE 1.240. INTERPLEADER. +Persons having claims against the plaintiff may be joined as defendants + +and required to interplead when their claims are such that the plaintiff is or +may be exposed to double or multiple liability. It is not ground for objection +to the joinder that the claim of the several claimants or the titles on which +their claims depend do not have a common origin or are not identical but are +adverse to and independent of one another, or that the plaintiff avers that the +plaintiff is not liable in whole or in part to any or all of the claimants. A +defendant exposed to similar liability may obtain such interpleader by way of +crossclaim or counterclaim. The provisions of this rule supplement and do +not in any way limit the joinder of parties otherwise permitted. + + + + Rule 1.250. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.250 + +RULE 1.250. MISJOINDER AND NONJOINDER OF PARTIES. +(a) Misjoinder. Misjoinder of parties is not a ground for dismissal of an + +action. Any claim against a party may be severed and proceeded with +separately. + +(b) Dropping Parties. Parties may be dropped by an adverse party in the +manner provided for voluntary dismissal in rule 1.420(a)(1) subject to the +exception stated in that rule. If notice of lis pendens has been filed in the +action against a party so dropped, the notice of dismissal shall be recorded +and cancels the notice of lis pendens without the necessity of a court order. +Parties may be dropped by order of court on its own initiative or the motion +of any party at any stage of the action on such terms as are just. + +(c) Adding Parties. Parties may be added once as a matter of course +within the same time that pleadings can be so amended under rule 1.190(a). If +amendment by leave of court or stipulation of the parties is permitted, parties +may be added in the amended pleading without further order of court. Parties +may be added by order of court on its own initiative or on motion of any +party at any stage of the action and on such terms as are just. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to permit the addition of +parties when the pleadings are amended by stipulation. This conforms the +subdivision to all of the permissive types of amendment under rule 1.190(a). +It was an inadvertent omission by the committee when the rule in its present +form was adopted in 1968 as can be seen by reference to the 1968 committee +note. + + + + Rule 1.260. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.260 + +RULE 1.260. SURVIVOR; SUBSTITUTION OF PARTIES. +(a) Death. + +(1) If a party dies and the claim is not thereby extinguished, the court +may order substitution of the proper parties. The motion for substitution +may be made by any party or by the successors or representatives of the +deceased party and, together with the notice of hearing, shall be filed and +served on all parties as provided in Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.516 and upon persons not parties in the manner +provided for the service of a summons. Unless the motion for substitution +is made within 90 days after a statement noting the death is filed and +served on all parties as provided in Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.516, the action shall be dismissed as to the deceased +party. + +(2) In the event of the death of one or more of the plaintiffs or of one or +more of the defendants in an action in which the right sought to be +enforced survives only to the surviving plaintiffs or only against the +surviving defendants, the action shall not abate. A statement noting the +death shall be filed and served on all parties as provided in Rule of General +Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516 and the action shall proceed in +favor of or against the surviving parties. +(b) Incompetency. If a party becomes incompetent, the court, upon motion + +filed and served as provided in subdivision (a) of this rule, may allow the +action to be continued by or against that persons representative. + +(c) Transfer of Interest. In case of any transfer of interest, the action may +be continued by or against the original party, unless the court upon motion +directs the person to whom the interest is transferred to be substituted in the +action or joined with the original party. Service of the motion shall be made +as provided in subdivision (a) of this rule. + +(d) Public Officers; Death or Separation from Office. +(1) When a public officer is a party to an action in an official capacity + +and during its pendency dies, resigns, or otherwise ceases to hold office, + + + +the action does not abate and the officers successor is automatically +substituted as a party. Proceedings following the substitution shall be in the +name of the substituted party, but any misnomer not affecting the +substantial rights of the parties shall be disregarded. An order of +substitution may be entered at any time, but the omission to enter such an +order shall not affect the substitution. + +(2) When a public officer sues or is sued in an official capacity, the +officer may be described as a party by the official title rather than by name +but the court may require the officers name to be added. + + + + Rule 1.270. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.270 + +RULE 1.270. CONSOLIDATION; SEPARATE TRIALS. +(a) Consolidation. When actions involving a common question of law or + +fact are pending before the court, it may order a joint hearing or trial of any +or all the matters in issue in the actions; it may order all the actions +consolidated; and it may make such orders concerning proceedings therein as +may tend to avoid unnecessary costs or delay. + +(b) Separate Trials. The court in furtherance of convenience or to avoid +prejudice may order a separate trial of any claim, crossclaim, counterclaim, or +third-party claim or of any separate issue or of any number of claims, +crossclaims, counterclaims, third-party claims, or issues. + + + + Rule 1.280. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280 + +RULE 1.280. GENERAL PROVISIONS GOVERNING DISCOVERY. +(a) Discovery Methods. Parties may obtain discovery by one or more of + +the following methods: depositions upon oral examination or written +questions; written interrogatories; production of documents or things or +permission to enter upon land or other property for inspection and other +purposes; physical and mental examinations; and requests for admission. +Unless the court orders otherwise and under subdivision (c) of this rule, the +frequency of use of these methods is not limited, except as provided in rules +1.200, 1.340, and 1.370. + +(b) Scope of Discovery. Unless otherwise limited by order of the court in +accordance with these rules, the scope of discovery is as follows: + +(1) In General. Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not +privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter of the pending action, +whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or +the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, +description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, +documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons +having knowledge of any discoverable matter. It is not ground for +objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the +information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery +of admissible evidence. + +(2) Indemnity Agreements. A party may obtain discovery of the +existence and contents of any agreement under which any person may be +liable to satisfy part or all of a judgment that may be entered in the action +or to indemnify or to reimburse a party for payments made to satisfy the +judgment. Information concerning the agreement is not admissible in +evidence at trial by reason of disclosure. + +(3) Electronically Stored Information. A party may obtain discovery +of electronically stored information in accordance with these rules. + +(4) Trial Preparation: Materials. Subject to the provisions of +subdivision (b)(5) of this rule, a party may obtain discovery of documents +and tangible things otherwise discoverable under subdivision (b)(1) of this + + + +rule and prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another +party or by or for that partys representative, including that partys +attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, or agent, only upon a +showing that the party seeking discovery has need of the materials in the +preparation of the case and is unable without undue hardship to obtain the +substantial equivalent of the materials by other means. In ordering +discovery of the materials when the required showing has been made, the +court shall protect against disclosure of the mental impressions, +conclusions, opinions, or legal theories of an attorney or other +representative of a party concerning the litigation. Without the required +showing a party may obtain a copy of a statement concerning the action or +its subject matter previously made by that party. Upon request without the +required showing a person not a party may obtain a copy of a statement +concerning the action or its subject matter previously made by that person. +If the request is refused, the person may move for an order to obtain a +copy. The provisions of rule 1.380(a)(4) apply to the award of expenses +incurred as a result of making the motion. For purposes of this paragraph, a +statement previously made is a written statement signed or otherwise +adopted or approved by the person making it, or a stenographic, +mechanical, electrical, or other recording or transcription of it that is a +substantially verbatim recital of an oral statement by the person making it +and contemporaneously recorded. + +(5) Trial Preparation: Experts. Discovery of facts known and opinions +held by experts, otherwise discoverable under the provisions of subdivision +(b)(1) of this rule and acquired or developed in anticipation of litigation or +for trial, may be obtained only as follows: +(A)(i) By interrogatories a party may require any other party to identify +each person whom the other party expects to call as an expert witness at +trial and to state the subject matter on which the expert is expected to +testify, and to state the substance of the facts and opinions to which the +expert is expected to testify and a summary of the grounds for each +opinion. + +(ii) Any person disclosed by interrogatories or otherwise as a +person expected to be called as an expert witness at trial may be +deposed in accordance with rule 1.390 without motion or order of +court. + + + +(iii) A party may obtain the following discovery regarding any +person disclosed by interrogatories or otherwise as a person expected +to be called as an expert witness at trial: + +1. The scope of employment in the pending case and the compensation for +such service. + +2. The experts general litigation experience, including the percentage of +work performed for plaintiffs and defendants. + +3. The identity of other cases, within a reasonable time period, in which the +expert has testified by deposition or at trial. + +4. An approximation of the portion of the experts involvement as an +expert witness, which may be based on the number of hours, percentage of +hours, or percentage of earned income derived from serving as an expert +witness; however, the expert shall not be required to disclose his or her +earnings as an expert witness or income derived from other services. + +An expert may be required to produce financial and business records only +under the most unusual or compelling circumstances and may not be +compelled to compile or produce nonexistent documents. Upon motion, the +court may order further discovery by other means, subject to such restrictions +as to scope and other provisions pursuant to subdivision (b)(5)(C) of this rule +concerning fees and expenses as the court may deem appropriate. + +(B) A party may discover facts known or opinions held by an expert +who has been retained or specially employed by another party in +anticipation of litigation or preparation for trial and who is not expected +to be called as a witness at trial, only as provided in rule 1.360(b) or +upon a showing of exceptional circumstances under which it is +impracticable for the party seeking discovery to obtain facts or opinions +on the same subject by other means. + +(C) Unless manifest injustice would result, the court shall require that +the party seeking discovery pay the expert a reasonable fee for time +spent in responding to discovery under subdivisions (b)(5)(A) and (b)(5) +(B) of this rule; and concerning discovery from an expert obtained under +subdivision (b)(5)(A) of this rule the court may require, and concerning +discovery obtained under subdivision (b)(5)(B) of this rule shall require, +the party seeking discovery to pay the other party a fair part of the fees + + + +and expenses reasonably incurred by the latter party in obtaining facts +and opinions from the expert. + +(D) As used in these rules an expert shall be an expert witness as +defined in rule 1.390(a). +(6) Claims of Privilege or Protection of Trial Preparation Materials. + +When a party withholds information otherwise discoverable under these +rules by claiming that it is privileged or subject to protection as trial +preparation material, the party shall make the claim expressly and shall +describe the nature of the documents, communications, or things not +produced or disclosed in a manner that, without revealing information +itself privileged or protected, will enable other parties to assess the +applicability of the privilege or protection. +(c) Protective Orders. Upon motion by a party or by the person from + +whom discovery is sought, and for good cause shown, the court in which the +action is pending may make any order to protect a party or person from +annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense that +justice requires, including one or more of the following: + +(1) that the discovery not be had; +(2) that the discovery may be had only on specified terms and + +conditions, including a designation of the time or place; +(3) that the discovery may be had only by a method of discovery other + +than that selected by the party seeking discovery; +(4) that certain matters not be inquired into, or that the scope of the + +discovery be limited to certain matters; +(5) that discovery be conducted with no one present except persons + +designated by the court; +(6) that a deposition after being sealed be opened only by order of the + +court; +(7) that a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or + +commercial information not be disclosed or be disclosed only in a +designated way; and + +(8) that the parties simultaneously file specified documents or + + + +information enclosed in sealed envelopes to be opened as directed by the +court. If the motion for a protective order is denied in whole or in part, the +court may, on such terms and conditions as are just, order that any party or +person provide or permit discovery. The provisions of rule 1.380(a)(4) +apply to the award of expenses incurred in relation to the motion. +(d) Limitations on Discovery of Electronically Stored Information. + +(1) A person may object to discovery of electronically stored +information from sources that the person identifies as not reasonably +accessible because of burden or cost. On motion to compel discovery or for +a protective order, the person from whom discovery is sought must show +that the information sought or the format requested is not reasonably +accessible because of undue burden or cost. If that showing is made, the +court may nonetheless order the discovery from such sources or in such +formats if the requesting party shows good cause. The court may specify +conditions of the discovery, including ordering that some or all of the +expenses incurred by the person from whom discovery is sought be paid by +the party seeking the discovery. + +(2) In determining any motion involving discovery of electronically +stored information, the court must limit the frequency or extent of +discovery otherwise allowed by these rules if it determines that (i) the +discovery sought is unreasonably cumulative or duplicative, or can be +obtained from another source or in another manner that is more +convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive; or (ii) the burden or +expense of the discovery outweighs its likely benefit, considering the needs +of the case, the amount in controversy, the parties resources, the +importance of the issues at stake in the action, and the importance of the +discovery in resolving the issues. +(e) Sequence and Timing of Discovery. Except as provided in subdivision + +(b)(5) or unless the court upon motion for the convenience of parties and +witnesses and in the interest of justice orders otherwise, methods of discovery +may be used in any sequence, and the fact that a party is conducting +discovery, whether by deposition or otherwise, shall not delay any other +partys discovery. + +(f) Supplementing of Responses. A party who has responded to a request +for discovery with a response that was complete when made is under no duty + + + +to supplement the response to include information thereafter acquired. +(g) Court Filing of Documents and Discovery. Information obtained + +during discovery shall not be filed with the court until such time as it is filed +for good cause. The requirement of good cause is satisfied only where the +filing of the information is allowed or required by another applicable rule of +procedure or by court order. All filings of discovery documents shall comply +with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425. The +court shall have authority to impose sanctions for violation of this rule. + +(h) Apex Doctrine. A current or former high-level government or +corporate officer may seek an order preventing the officer from being subject +to a deposition. The motion, whether by a party or by the person of whom the +deposition is sought, must be accompanied by an affidavit or declaration of +the officer explaining that the officer lacks unique, personal knowledge of the +issues being litigated. If the officer meets this burden of production, the court +shall issue an order preventing the deposition, unless the party seeking the +deposition demonstrates that it has exhausted other discovery, that such +discovery is inadequate, and that the officer has unique, personal knowledge +of discoverable information. The court may vacate or modify the order if, +after additional discovery, the party seeking the deposition can meet its +burden of persuasion under this rule. The burden to persuade the court that +the officer is high-level for purposes of this rule lies with the person or party +opposing the deposition. + +(i) Form of Responses to Written Discovery Requests. When responding +to requests for production served pursuant to rule 1.310(b)(5), written +deposition questions served pursuant to rule 1.320, interrogatories served +pursuant to rule 1.340, requests for production or inspection served pursuant +to rule 1.350, requests for production of documents or things without +deposition served pursuant to rule 1.351, requests for admissions served +pursuant to rule 1.370, or requests for the production of documentary +evidence served pursuant to rule 1.410(c), the responding party shall state +each deposition question, interrogatory, or discovery request in full as +numbered, followed by the answer, objection, or other response. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. The rule is derived from Federal Rule of Civil + + + +Procedure 26 as amended in 1970. Subdivisions (a), (b)(2), and (b)(3) are +new. Subdivision (c) contains material from former rule 1.310(b). +Subdivisions (d) and (e) are new, but the latter is similar to former rule +1.340(d). Significant changes are made in discovery from experts. The +general rearrangement of the discovery rule is more logical and is the result +of 35 years of experience under the federal rules. + +1988 Amendment. Subdivision (b)(2) has been added to enable discovery +of the existence and contents of indemnity agreements and is the result of the +enactment of sections 627.7262 and 627.7264, Florida Statutes, proscribing +the joinder of insurers but providing for disclosure. This rule is derived from +Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(2). Subdivisions (b)(2) and (b)(3) have +been redesignated as (b)(3) and (b)(4) respectively. + +The purpose of the amendment to subdivision (b)(3)(A) (renumbered (b) +(4)(A)) is to allow, without leave of court, the depositions of experts who +have been disclosed as expected to be used at trial. The purpose of +subdivision (b)(4)(D) is to define the term expert as used in these rules. + +1996 Amendment. The amendments to subdivision (b)(4)(A) are derived +from the Supreme Courts decision in Elkins v. Syken, 672 So. 2d 517 (Fla. +1996). They are intended to avoid annoyance, embarrassment, and undue +expense while still permitting the adverse party to obtain relevant information +regarding the potential bias or interest of the expert witness. + +Subdivision (b)(5) is added and is derived from Federal Rule of Civil +Procedure 26(b)(5) (1993). + +2011 Amendment. Subdivision (f) is added to ensure that information +obtained during discovery is not filed with the court unless there is good +cause for the documents to be filed, and that information obtained during +discovery that includes certain private information shall not be filed with the +court unless the private information is redacted as required by Florida Rule of +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivisions (b)(3) and (d) are added to address +discovery of electronically stored information. + +The parties should consider conferring with one another at the earliest +practical opportunity to discuss the reasonable scope of preservation and +production of electronically stored information. These issues may also be + + + +addressed by means of a rule 1.200 or rule 1.201 case management +conference. + +Under the good cause test in subdivision (d)(1), the court should balance +the costs and burden of the requested discovery, including the potential for +disruption of operations or corruption of the electronic devices or systems +from which discovery is sought, against the relevance of the information and +the requesting partys need for that information. Under the proportionality +and reasonableness factors set out in subdivision (d)(2), the court must limit +the frequency or extent of discovery if it determines that the discovery sought +is excessive in relation to the factors listed. + +In evaluating the good cause or proportionality tests, the court may find its +task complicated if the parties know little about what information the sources +at issue contain, whether the information sought is relevant, or how valuable +it may be to the litigation. If appropriate, the court may direct the parties to +develop the record further by engaging in focused discovery, including +sampling of the sources, to learn more about what electronically stored +information may be contained in those sources, what costs and burdens are +involved in retrieving, reviewing, and producing the information, and how +valuable the information sought may be to the litigation in light of the +availability of information from other sources or methods of discovery, and +in light of the parties resources and the issues at stake in the litigation. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +2000 Amendment. Allstate Insurance Co. v. Boecher, 733 So. 2d 993, 999 +(Fla. 1999), clarifies that subdivision (b)(4)(A)(iii) is not intended to place a +blanket bar on discovery from parties about information they have in their +possession about an expert, including the partys financial relationship with +the expert. + + + + Rule 1.285. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.285 + +RULE 1.285. INADVERTENT DISCLOSURE OF PRIVILEGED +MATERIALS. + +(a) Assertion of Privilege as to Inadvertently Disclosed Materials. Any +party, person, or entity, after inadvertent disclosure of any materials pursuant +to these rules, may thereafter assert any privilege recognized by law as to +those materials. This right exists without regard to whether the disclosure was +made pursuant to formal demand or informal request. In order to assert the +privilege, the party, person, or entity, shall, within 10 days of actually +discovering the inadvertent disclosure, serve written notice of the assertion of +privilege on the party to whom the materials were disclosed. The notice shall +specify with particularity the materials as to which the privilege is asserted, +the nature of the privilege asserted, and the date on which the inadvertent +disclosure was actually discovered. + +(b) Duty of the Party Receiving Notice of an Assertion of Privilege. A +party receiving notice of an assertion of privilege under subdivision (a) shall +promptly return, sequester, or destroy the materials specified in the notice, as +well as any copies of the material. The party receiving the notice shall also +promptly notify any other party, person, or entity to whom it has disclosed +the materials of the fact that the notice has been served and of the effect of +this rule. That party shall also take reasonable steps to retrieve the materials +disclosed. Nothing herein affects any obligation pursuant to R. Regulating +Fla. Bar 4-4.4(b). + +(c) Right to Challenge Assertion of Privilege. Any party receiving a +notice made under subdivision (a) has the right to challenge the assertion of +privilege. The grounds for the challenge may include, but are not limited to, +the following: + +(1) The materials in question are not privileged. +(2) The disclosing party, person, or entity lacks standing to assert the + +privilege. +(3) The disclosing party, person, or entity has failed to serve timely + +notice under this rule. + + + +(4) The circumstances surrounding the production or disclosure of the +materials warrant a finding that the disclosing party, person, or entity has +waived its assertion that the material is protected by a privilege. +Any party seeking to challenge the assertion of privilege shall do so by +serving notice of its challenge on the party, person, or entity asserting the +privilege. Notice of the challenge shall be served within 20 days of service +of the original notice given by the disclosing party, person, or entity. The +notice of the recipients challenge shall specify the grounds for the +challenge. Failure to serve timely notice of challenge is a waiver of the +right to challenge. +(d) Effect of Determination that Privilege Applies. When an order is + +entered determining that materials are privileged or that the right to challenge +the privilege has been waived, the court shall direct what shall be done with +the materials and any copies so as to preserve all rights of appellate review. +The recipient of the materials shall also give prompt notice of the courts +determination to any other party, person, or entity to whom it had disclosed +the materials. + + + + Rule 1.290. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.290 + +RULE 1.290. DEPOSITIONS BEFORE ACTION OR PENDING +APPEAL. + +(a) Before Action. +(1) Petition. A person who desires to perpetuate that persons own + +testimony or that of another person regarding any matter that may be +cognizable in any court of this state may file a verified petition in the +circuit court in the county of the residence of any expected adverse party. +The petition shall be entitled in the name of the petitioner and shall show: +(1) that the petitioner expects to be a party to an action cognizable in a +court of Florida, but is presently unable to bring it or cause it to be brought, +(2) the subject matter of the expected action and the petitioners interest +therein, (3) the facts which the petitioner desires to establish by the +proposed testimony and the petitioners reasons for desiring to perpetuate +it, (4) the names or a description of the persons the petitioner expects will +be adverse parties and their addresses so far as known, and (5) the names +and addresses of the persons to be examined and the substance of the +testimony which the petitioner expects to elicit from each; and shall ask for +an order authorizing the petitioner to take the deposition of the persons to +be examined named in the petition for the purpose of perpetuating their +testimony. + +(2) Notice and Service. The petitioner shall thereafter serve a notice +upon each person named in the petition as an expected adverse party, +together with a copy of the petition, stating that the petitioner will apply to +the court at a time and place named therein for an order described in the +petition. At least 20 days before the date of hearing the notice shall be +served either within or without the county in the manner provided by law +for service of summons, but if such service cannot with due diligence be +made upon any expected adverse party named in the petition, the court +may make an order for service by publication or otherwise, and shall +appoint an attorney for persons not served in the manner provided by law +for service of summons who shall represent them, and if they are not +otherwise represented, shall cross-examine the deponent. + + + +(3) Order and Examination. If the court is satisfied that the +perpetuation of the testimony may prevent a failure or delay of justice, it +shall make an order designating or describing the persons whose +depositions may be taken and specifying the subject matter of the +examination and whether the deposition shall be taken upon oral +examination or written interrogatories. The deposition may then be taken +in accordance with these rules and the court may make orders in +accordance with the requirements of these rules. For the purpose of +applying these rules to depositions for perpetuating testimony, each +reference therein to the court in which the action is pending shall be +deemed to refer to the court in which the petition for such deposition was +filed. + +(4) Use of Deposition. A deposition taken under this rule may be used +in any action involving the same subject matter subsequently brought in +any court in accordance with rule 1.330. +(b) Pending Appeal. If an appeal has been taken from a judgment of any + +court or before the taking of an appeal if the time therefor has not expired, the +court in which the judgment was rendered may allow the taking of the +depositions of witnesses to perpetuate their testimony for use in the event of +further proceedings in the court. In such case the party who desires to +perpetuate the testimony may make a motion for leave to take the deposition +upon the same notice and service as if the action was pending in the court. +The motion shall show (1) the names and addresses of persons to be +examined and the substance of the testimony which the movant expects to +elicit from each, and (2) the reason for perpetuating their testimony. If the +court finds that the perpetuation of the testimony is proper to avoid a failure +or delay in justice, it may make an order allowing the deposition to be taken +and may make orders of the character provided for by these rules, and +thereupon the deposition may be taken and used in the same manner and +under the same conditions as are prescribed in these rules for depositions +taken in actions pending in the court. + +(c) Perpetuation by Action. This rule does not limit the power of a court +to entertain an action to perpetuate testimony. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (d) is repealed because depositions de +bene esse are obsolete. Rules 1.280 and 1.310 with the remainder of this rule +cover all needed deposition circumstances and do so better. Subdivision (d) +was taken from former chapter 63, Florida Statutes, and is not a complete +procedure without reference to the parts of the statute not carried forward in +the rule. + + + + Rule 1.300. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.300 + +RULE 1.300. PERSONS BEFORE WHOM DEPOSITIONS MAY BE +TAKEN. + +(a) Persons Authorized. Depositions may be taken before any notary +public or judicial officer or before any officer authorized by the statutes of +Florida to take acknowledgments or proof of executions of deeds or by any +person appointed by the court in which the action is pending. + +(b) In Foreign Countries. In a foreign country depositions may be taken +(1) on notice before a person authorized to administer oaths in the place in +which the examination is held, either by the law thereof or by the law of +Florida or of the United States, (2) before a person commissioned by the +court, and a person so commissioned shall have the power by virtue of the +commission to administer any necessary oath and take testimony, or (3) +pursuant to a letter rogatory. A commission or a letter rogatory shall be +issued on application and notice and on terms that are just and appropriate. It +is not requisite to the issuance of a commission or a letter rogatory that the +taking of the deposition in any other manner is impracticable or inconvenient, +and both a commission and a letter rogatory may be issued in proper cases. A +notice or commission may designate the person before whom the deposition +is to be taken either by name or descriptive title. A letter rogatory may be +addressed To the Appropriate Authority in _________ (name of country) +_________. Evidence obtained in response to a letter rogatory need not be +excluded merely for the reason that it is not a verbatim transcript or that the +testimony was not taken under oath or any similar departure from the +requirements for depositions taken within Florida under these rules. + +(c) Selection by Stipulation. If the parties so stipulate in writing, +depositions may be taken before any person at any time or place upon any +notice and in any manner and when so taken may be used like other +depositions. + +(d) Persons Disqualified. Unless so stipulated by the parties, no +deposition shall be taken before a person who is a relative, employee, +attorney, or counsel of any of the parties, is a relative or employee of any of +the parties attorney or counsel, or is financially interested in the action. + + + + Rule 1.310. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.310 + +RULE 1.310. DEPOSITIONS UPON ORAL EXAMINATION. +(a) When Depositions May Be Taken. After commencement of the action + +any party may take the testimony of any person, including a party, by +deposition upon oral examination. Leave of court, granted with or without +notice, must be obtained only if the plaintiff seeks to take a deposition within +30 days after service of the process and initial pleading on any defendant, +except that leave is not required (1) if a defendant has served a notice of +taking deposition or otherwise sought discovery, or (2) if special notice is +given as provided in subdivision (b)(2) of this rule. The attendance of +witnesses may be compelled by subpoena as provided in rule 1.410. The +deposition of a person confined in prison may be taken only by leave of court +on such terms as the court prescribes. + +(b) Notice; Method of Taking; Production at Deposition. +(1) A party desiring to take the deposition of any person on oral + +examination must give reasonable notice in writing to every other party to +the action. The notice must state the time and place for taking the +deposition and the name and address of each person to be examined, if +known, and, if the name is not known, a general description sufficient to +identify the person or the particular class or group to which the person +belongs. If a subpoena duces tecum is to be served on the person to be +examined, the designation of the materials to be produced under the +subpoena must be attached to or included in the notice. + +(2) Leave of court is not required for the taking of a deposition by +plaintiff if the notice states that the person to be examined is about to go +out of the state and will be unavailable for examination unless a deposition +is taken before expiration of the 30-day period under subdivision (a). If a +party shows that when served with notice under this subdivision that party +was unable through the exercise of diligence to obtain counsel to represent +the party at the taking of the deposition, the deposition may not be used +against that party. + +(3) For cause shown the court may enlarge or shorten the time for taking +the deposition. + + + +(4) Any deposition may be audiovisually recorded without leave of the +court or stipulation of the parties, provided the deposition is taken in +accordance with this subdivision. + +(A) Notice. In addition to the requirements in subdivision (b)(1), a +party intending to audiovisually record a deposition must: + +i. state that the deposition is to be audiovisually recorded in the title of the +notice; and + +ii. identify the method for audiovisually recording the deposition and, if +applicable, provide the name and address of the operator of the audiovisual +recording equipment in the body of the notice. + +(B) Stenographer. Audiovisually recorded depositions must also be +recorded stenographically, unless all parties agree otherwise. + +(C) Procedure. At the beginning of the deposition, the officer before +whom it is taken must, on camera: (i) identify the style of the action, (ii) +state the date, and (iii) put the witness under oath as provided in +subdivision (c)(1). + +(D) Responsibility for Recordings and Copies. The attorney for the +party or the pro se party requesting the audiovisual recording of the +deposition is responsible for safeguarding the recording, must permit the +viewing of it by the opposing party, and, if requested, must provide +access to a copy of the recording at the expense of the party requesting +the copy. + +(E) Cost of Audiovisually Recorded Depositions. The party +requesting the audiovisual recording must bear the initial cost of the +recording. +(5) The notice to a party deponent may be accompanied by a request + +made in compliance with rule 1.350 for the production of documents and +tangible things at the taking of the deposition. The procedure of rule 1.350 +applies to the request. Rule 1.351 provides the exclusive procedure for +obtaining documents or things by subpoena from nonparties without +deposing the custodian or other person in possession of the documents. + +(6) In the notice a party may name as the deponent a public or private +corporation, a partnership or association, or a governmental agency, and + + + +designate with reasonable particularity the matters on which examination is +requested. The organization so named must designate one or more officers, +directors, or managing agents, or other persons who consent to do so, to +testify on its behalf and may state the matters on which each person +designated will testify. The persons so designated must testify about +matters known or reasonably available to the organization. This +subdivision does not preclude taking a deposition by any other procedure +authorized in these rules. + +(7) A deposition may be taken by communication technology, as that +term is defined in Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.530, if stipulated by the parties or if ordered by the court +on its own motion or on motion of a party. The order may prescribe the +manner in which the deposition will be taken. In addition to the +requirements of subdivision (b)(1), a party intending to take a deposition +by communication technology must: + +(A) state that the deposition is to be taken using communication +technology in the title of the notice; and + +(B) identify the specific form of communication technology to be +used and provide instructions for access to the communication +technology in the body of the notice. +(8) Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be + +accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times during the taking of +testimony notwithstanding the invocation of the rule of sequestration of +section 90.616, Florida Statutes, except on a showing that the presence of a +parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact on the +credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of the +parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of +the minor. +(c) Examination and Cross-Examination; Record of Examination; Oath; + +Objections; Transcription. (1) Examination and cross-examination of +witnesses may proceed as permitted at the trial. The officer before whom the +deposition is to be taken must put the witness under oath and must +personally, or by someone acting under the officers direction and in the +officers presence, record the testimony of the witness, except that when a +deposition is being taken by communication technology under subdivision (b) + + + +(7), the witness must be put under oath as provided in Florida Rule of +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.530(b)(2)(B). The testimony +must be taken stenographically or audiovisually recorded under subdivision +(b)(4). All objections made at the time of the examination to the +qualifications of the officer taking the deposition, the manner of taking it, the +evidence presented, or the conduct of any party, and any other objection to +the proceedings must be noted by the officer on the deposition. Any objection +during a deposition must be stated concisely and in a nonargumentative and +nonsuggestive manner. A party may instruct a deponent not to answer only +when necessary to preserve a privilege, to enforce a limitation on evidence +directed by the court, or to present a motion under subdivision (d). Otherwise, +evidence objected to must be taken subject to the objections. Instead of +participating in the oral examination, parties may serve written questions in a +sealed envelope on the party taking the deposition and that party must +transmit them to the officer, who must propound them to the witness and +record the answers verbatim. + +(2) If requested by a party, the testimony must be transcribed at the +initial cost of the requesting party and prompt notice of the request must be +given to all other parties. A party who intends to use an audio or +audiovisual recording of testimony at a hearing or trial must have the +testimony transcribed and must file a copy of the transcript with the court. +(d) Motion to Terminate or Limit Examination. At any time during the + +taking of the deposition, on motion of a party or of the deponent and on a +showing that the examination is being conducted in bad faith or in such +manner as unreasonably to annoy, embarrass, or oppress the deponent or +party, or that objection and instruction to a deponent not to answer are being +made in violation of rule 1.310(c), the court in which the action is pending or +the circuit court where the deposition is being taken may order the officer +conducting the examination to cease immediately from taking the deposition +or may limit the scope and manner of the taking of the deposition under rule +1.280(c). If the order terminates the examination, it shall be resumed +thereafter only on the order of the court in which the action is pending. Upon +demand of any party or the deponent, the taking of the deposition must be +suspended for the time necessary to make a motion for an order. The +provisions of rule 1.380(a) apply to the award of expenses incurred in relation +to the motion. + + + +(e) Witness Review. If the testimony is transcribed, the transcript must be +furnished to the witness for examination and must be read to or by the +witness unless the examination and reading are waived by the witness and by +the parties. Any changes in form or substance that the witness wants to make +must be listed in writing by the officer with a statement of the reasons given +by the witness for making the changes. The changes must be attached to the +transcript. It must then be signed by the witness unless the parties waived the +signing or the witness is ill, cannot be found, or refuses to sign. If the +transcript is not signed by the witness within a reasonable time after it is +furnished to the witness, the officer must sign the transcript and state on the +transcript the waiver, illness, absence of the witness, or refusal to sign with +any reasons given therefor. The deposition may then be used as fully as +though signed unless the court holds that the reasons given for the refusal to +sign require rejection of the deposition wholly or partly, on motion under rule +1.330(d)(4). + +(f) Filing; Exhibits. +(1) If the deposition is transcribed, the officer must certify on each copy + +of the deposition that the witness was duly sworn by the officer and that +the deposition is a true record of the testimony given by the witness. +Documents and things produced for inspection during the examination of +the witness must be marked for identification and annexed to and returned +with the deposition on the request of a party, and may be inspected and +copied by any party, except that the person producing the materials may +substitute copies to be marked for identification if that person affords to all +parties fair opportunity to verify the copies by comparison with the +originals. If the person producing the materials requests their return, the +officer must mark them, give each party an opportunity to inspect and copy +them, and return them to the person producing them and the materials may +then be used in the same manner as if annexed to and returned with the +deposition. + +(2) Upon payment of reasonable charges therefor the officer must +furnish a copy of the deposition to any party or to the deponent. + +(3) A copy of a deposition may be filed only under the following +circumstances: + +(A) It may be filed in compliance with Florida Rule of General + + + +Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425 and rule 1.280(g) by a party +or the witness when the contents of the deposition must be considered +by the court on any matter pending before the court. Prompt notice of +the filing of the deposition must be given to all parties unless notice is +waived. A party filing the deposition must furnish a copy of the +deposition or the part being filed to other parties unless the party already +has a copy. + +(B) If the court determines that a deposition previously taken is +necessary for the decision of a matter pending before the court, the court +may order that a copy be filed by any party at the initial cost of the +party, and the filing party must comply with rules 2.425 and 1.280(g). + +(g) Obtaining Copies. A party or witness who does not have a copy of the +deposition may obtain it from the officer taking the deposition unless the +court orders otherwise. If the deposition is obtained from a person other than +the officer, the reasonable cost of reproducing the copies must be paid to the +person by the requesting party or witness. + +(h) Failure to Attend or to Serve Subpoena; Expenses. +(1) If the party giving the notice of the taking of a deposition fails to + +attend and proceed therewith and another party attends in person or by +attorney pursuant to the notice, the court may order the party giving the +notice to pay to the other party the reasonable expenses incurred by the +other party and the other partys attorney in attending, including reasonable +attorneys fees. + +(2) If the party giving the notice of the taking of a deposition of a +witness fails to serve a subpoena on the witness and the witness because of +the failure does not attend and if another party attends in person or by +attorney because that other party expects the deposition of that witness to +be taken, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to the other +party the reasonable expenses incurred by that other party and that other +partys attorney in attending, including reasonable attorneys fees. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30 as +amended in 1970. Subdivision (a) is derived from rule 1.280(a); subdivision + + + +(b) from rule 1.310(a) with additional matter added; the first sentence of +subdivision (c) has been added and clarifying language added throughout the +remainder of the rule. + +1976 Amendment. Subdivision (b)(4) has been amended to allow the +taking of a videotaped deposition as a matter of right. Provisions for the +taxation of costs and the entry of a standard order are included as well. This +new amendment allows the contemporaneous stenographic transcription of a +videotaped deposition. + +1988 Amendment. The amendments to subdivision (b)(4) are to provide +for depositions by videotape as a matter of right. + +The notice provision is to ensure that specific notice is given that the +deposition will be videotaped and to disclose the identity of the operator. It +was decided not to make special provision for a number of days notice. + +The requirement that a stenographer be present (who is also the person +likely to be swearing the deponent) is to ensure the availability of a transcript +(although not required). The transcript would be a tool to ensure the accuracy +of the videotape and thus eliminate the need to establish other procedures +aimed at the same objective (like time clocks in the picture and the like). This +does not mean that a transcript must be made. As at ordinary depositions, this +would be up to the litigants. + +Technical videotaping procedures were not included. It is anticipated that +technical problems may be addressed by the court on motions to quash or +motions for protective orders. + +Subdivision (c) has been amended to accommodate the taking of +depositions by telephone. The amendment requires the deponent to be sworn +by a person authorized to administer oaths in the deponents location and +who is present with the deponent. + +1992 Amendment. Subdivision (b)(4)(D) is amended to clarify an +ambiguity in whether the cost of the videotape copy is to be borne by the +party requesting the videotaping or by the party requesting the copy. The +amendment requires the party requesting the copy to bear the cost of the +copy. + +1996 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to state the existing law, +which authorizes attorneys to instruct deponents not to answer questions only + + + +in specific situations. This amendment is derived from Federal Rule of Civil +Procedure 30(d) as amended in 1993. + +2010 Amendment. Subdivision (b)(5) is amended to clarify that the +procedure set forth in rule 1.351 must be followed when requesting or +receiving documents or things without testimony, from nonparties pursuant to +a subpoena. The amendment is intended to prevent the use of rules 1.310 and +1.410 to request documents from nonparties pursuant to a subpoena without +giving the opposing party the opportunity to object to the subpoena before it +is served on the nonparty as required by rule 1.351. + +2011 Amendment. A reference to Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.425 and rule 1.280(f) is added to require persons +filing discovery materials with the court to make sure that good cause exists +prior to filing discovery materials and that certain specific personal +information is redacted. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Subdivision (b)(7) is added to authorize deposition by +telephone, with provision for any party to have a stenographic transcription at +that partys own initial expense. + +Subdivision (d) is changed to permit any party to terminate the deposition, +not just the objecting party. + +Subdivision (e) is changed to eliminate the confusing requirement that a +transcript be submitted to the witness. The term has been construed as +requiring the court reporter to travel, if necessary, to the witness, and creates +a problem when a witness is deposed in Florida and thereafter leaves the state +before signing. The change is intended to permit the parties and the court +reporter to handle such situations on an ad hoc basis as is most appropriate. + +Subdivision (f) is the committees action in response to the petition seeking +amendment to rule 1.310(f) filed in the Supreme Court Case No. 62,699. +Subdivision (f) is changed to clarify the need for furnishing copies when a +deposition, or part of it, is properly filed, to authorize the court to require a +deposition to be both transcribed and filed, and to specify that a party who +does not obtain a copy of the deposition may get it from the court reporter +unless ordered otherwise by the court. This eliminates the present + + + +requirement of furnishing a copy of the deposition, or material part of it, to a +person who already has a copy in subdivision (f)(3)(A). + +Subdivision (f)(3)(B) broadens the authority of the court to require the +filing of a deposition that has been taken, but not transcribed. + +Subdivision (g) requires a party to obtain a copy of the deposition from the +court reporter unless the court orders otherwise. Generally, the court should +not order a party who has a copy of the deposition to furnish it to someone +who has neglected to obtain it when the deposition was transcribed. The +person should obtain it from the court reporter unless there is a good reason +why it cannot be obtained from the reporter. + + + + Rule 1.320. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.320 + +RULE 1.320. DEPOSITIONS UPON WRITTEN QUESTIONS. +(a) Serving Questions; Notice. After commencement of the action any + +party may take the testimony of any person, including a party, by deposition +upon written questions. The attendance of witnesses may be compelled by the +use of subpoena as provided in rule 1.410. The deposition of a person +confined in prison may be taken only by leave of court on such terms as the +court prescribes. A party desiring to take a deposition upon written questions +must serve them with a notice stating (1) the name and address of the person +who is to answer them, if known, and, if the name is not known, a general +description sufficient to identify the person or the particular class or group to +which that person belongs, and (2) the name or descriptive title and address +of the officer before whom the deposition is to be taken. A deposition upon +written questions may be taken of a public or private corporation, a +partnership or association, or a governmental agency in accordance with rule +1.310(b)(6). Within 30 days after the notice and written questions are served, +a party may serve cross questions on all other parties. Within 10 days after +being served with cross questions, a party may serve redirect questions on all +other parties. Within 10 days after being served with redirect questions, a +party may serve recross questions on all other parties. Notwithstanding any +contrary provision of rule 1.310(c), objections to the form of written +questions are waived unless served in writing on the party propounding them +within the time allowed for serving the succeeding cross or other questions +and within 10 days after service of the last questions authorized. The court +may for cause shown enlarge or shorten the time. + +(b) Officer to Take Responses and Prepare Record. A copy of the +notice and copies of all questions served must be delivered by the party +taking the depositions to the officer designated in the notice, who must +proceed promptly to take the testimony of the witness in the manner provided +by rules 1.310(c), (e), and (f) in response to the questions and to prepare the +deposition, attaching the copy of the notice and the questions received by the +officer. The questions must not be filed separately from the deposition unless +a party seeks to have the court consider the questions before the questions are +submitted to the witness. Any deposition may be audiovisually recorded + + + +without leave of the court or stipulation of the parties, provided the +deposition is taken in accordance with rule 1.310(b)(4). + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 31 as +amended in 1970. The name of interrogatories has been changed to questions +to avoid confusion with interrogatories to parties under rule 1.340. Language +changes resulting from the rearrangement of the discovery rules have been +inserted and subdivision (d) deleted. + + + + Rule 1.330. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.330 + +RULE 1.330. USE OF DEPOSITIONS IN COURT PROCEEDINGS. +(a) Use of Depositions. At the trial or upon the hearing of a motion or an + +interlocutory proceeding, any part or all of a deposition may be used against +any party who was present or represented at the taking of the deposition or +who had reasonable notice of it so far as admissible under the rules of +evidence applied as though the witness were then present and testifying in +accordance with any of the following provisions: + +(1) Any deposition may be used by any party for the purpose of +contradicting or impeaching the testimony of the deponent as a witness or +for any purpose permitted by the Florida Evidence Code. + +(2) The deposition of a party or of anyone who at the time of taking the +deposition was an officer, director, or managing agent or a person +designated under rule 1.310(b)(6) or 1.320(a) to testify on behalf of a +public or private corporation, a partnership or association, or a +governmental agency that is a party may be used by an adverse party for +any purpose. + +(3) The deposition of a witness, whether or not a party, may be used by +any party for any purpose if the court finds: (A) that the witness is dead; +(B) that the witness is at a greater distance than 100 miles from the place of +trial or hearing, or is out of the state, unless it appears that the absence of +the witness was procured by the party offering the deposition; (C) that the +witness is unable to attend or testify because of age, illness, infirmity, or +imprisonment; (D) that the party offering the deposition has been unable to +procure the attendance of the witness by subpoena; (E) upon application +and notice, that such exceptional circumstances exist as to make it +desirable, in the interest of justice and with due regard to the importance of +presenting the testimony of witnesses orally in open court, to allow the +deposition to be used; or (F) the witness is an expert or skilled witness. + +(4) If only part of a deposition is offered in evidence by a party, an +adverse party may require the party to introduce any other part that in +fairness ought to be considered with the part introduced, and any party may +introduce any other parts. + + + +(5) Substitution of parties pursuant to rule 1.260 does not affect the right +to use depositions previously taken and, when an action in any court of the +United States or of any state has been dismissed and another action +involving the same subject matter is afterward brought between the same +parties or their representatives or successors in interest, all depositions +lawfully taken and duly filed in the former action may be used in the latter +as if originally taken for it. + +(6) If a civil action is afterward brought, all depositions lawfully taken in +a medical liability mediation proceeding may be used in the civil action as +if originally taken for it. +(b) Objections to Admissibility. Subject to the provisions of rule 1.300(b) + +and subdivision (d)(3) of this rule, objection may be made at the trial or +hearing to receiving in evidence any deposition or part of it for any reason +that would require the exclusion of the evidence if the witness were then +present and testifying. + +(c) Effect of Taking or Using Depositions. A party does not make a +person the partys own witness for any purpose by taking the persons +deposition. The introduction in evidence of the deposition or any part of it for +any purpose other than that of contradicting or impeaching the deponent +makes the deponent the witness of the party introducing the deposition, but +this shall not apply to the use by an adverse party of a deposition under +subdivision (a)(2) of this rule. At the trial or hearing any party may rebut any +relevant evidence contained in a deposition whether introduced by that party +or by any other party. + +(d) Effect of Errors and Irregularities. +(1) As to Notice. All errors and irregularities in the notice for taking a + +deposition are waived unless written objection is promptly served upon the +party giving the notice. + +(2) As to Disqualification of Officer. Objection to taking a deposition +because of disqualification of the officer before whom it is to be taken is +waived unless made before the taking of the deposition begins or as soon +thereafter as the disqualification becomes known or could be discovered +with reasonable diligence. + +(3) As to Taking of Deposition. + + + +(A) Objections to the competency of a witness or to the competency, +relevancy, or materiality of testimony are not waived by failure to make +them before or during the taking of the deposition unless the ground of +the objection is one that might have been obviated or removed if +presented at that time. + +(B) Errors and irregularities occurring at the oral examination in the +manner of taking the deposition, in the form of the questions or answers, +in the oath or affirmation, or in the conduct of parties and errors of any +kind that might be obviated, removed, or cured if promptly presented are +waived unless timely objection to them is made at the taking of the +deposition. + +(C) Objections to the form of written questions submitted under rule +1.320 are waived unless served in writing upon the party propounding +them within the time allowed for serving the succeeding cross or other +questions and within 10 days after service of the last questions +authorized. +(4) As to Completion and Return. Errors and irregularities in the + +manner in which the testimony is transcribed or the deposition is prepared, +signed, certified, or otherwise dealt with by the officer under rules 1.310 +and 1.320 are waived unless a motion to suppress the deposition or some +part of it is made with reasonable promptness after the defect is, or with +due diligence might have been, discovered. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 32 as +amended in 1970. Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) are former rules 1.280(d), (f), +and (g) respectively. Subdivision (d) is derived from the entire former rule +1.330. + +1998 Amendment. Subdivision (a)(1) was amended to clarify that, in +addition to the uses of depositions prescribed by these rules, depositions may +be used for any purpose permitted by the Florida Evidence Code (chapter 90, +Fla. Stat.). This amendment is consistent with the 1980 amendment to Rule +32 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. + + + + Rule 1.340. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340 + +RULE 1.340. INTERROGATORIES TO PARTIES. +(a) Procedure for Use. Without leave of court, any party may serve on + +any other party written interrogatories to be answered (1) by the party to +whom the interrogatories are directed, or (2) if that party is a public or private +corporation or partnership or association or governmental agency, by any +officer or agent, who must furnish the information available to that party. +Interrogatories may be served on the plaintiff after commencement of the +action and on any other party with or after service of the process and initial +pleading on that party. The interrogatories must not exceed 30, including all +subparts, unless the court permits a larger number on motion and notice and +for good cause. If the supreme court has approved a form of interrogatories +for the type of action, the initial interrogatories on a subject included within +must be from the form approved by the court. A party may serve fewer than +all of the approved interrogatories within a form. Other interrogatories may +be added to the approved forms without leave of court, so long as the total of +approved and additional interrogatories does not exceed 30. Each +interrogatory must be answered separately and fully in writing under oath +unless it is objected to, in which event the grounds for objection must be +stated and signed by the attorney making it. The party to whom the +interrogatories are directed must serve the answers and any objections within +30 days after the service of the interrogatories, except that a defendant may +serve answers or objections within 45 days after service of the process and +initial pleading on that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer +time. The party submitting the interrogatories may move for an order under +rule 1.380(a) on any objection to or other failure to answer an interrogatory. + +(b) Scope; Use at Trial. Interrogatories may relate to any matters that can +be inquired into under rule 1.280(b), and the answers may be used to the +extent permitted by the rules of evidence except as otherwise provided in this +subdivision. An interrogatory otherwise proper is not objectionable merely +because an answer to the interrogatory involves an opinion or contention that +relates to fact or calls for a conclusion or asks for information not within the +personal knowledge of the party. A party must respond to such an +interrogatory by giving the information the party has and the source on which + + + +the information is based. Such a qualified answer may not be used as direct +evidence for or impeachment against the party giving the answer unless the +court finds it otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence. If a party +introduces an answer to an interrogatory, any other party may require that +party to introduce any other interrogatory and answer that in fairness ought to +be considered with it. + +(c) Option to Produce Records. When the answer to an interrogatory may +be derived or ascertained from the records (including electronically stored +information) of the party to whom the interrogatory is directed or from an +examination, audit, or inspection of the records or from a compilation, +abstract, or summary based on the records and the burden of deriving or +ascertaining the answer is substantially the same for the party serving the +interrogatory as for the party to whom it is directed, an answer to the +interrogatory specifying the records from which the answer may be derived +or ascertained and offering to give the party serving the interrogatory a +reasonable opportunity to examine, audit, or inspect the records and to make +copies, compilations, abstracts, or summaries is a sufficient answer. An +answer must be in sufficient detail to permit the interrogating party to locate +and to identify, as readily as can the party interrogated, the records from +which the answer may be derived or ascertained, or must identify a person or +persons representing the interrogated party who will be available to assist the +interrogating party in locating and identifying the records at the time they are +produced. If the records to be produced consist of electronically stored +information, the records must be produced in a form or forms in which they +are ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form or forms. + +(d) Effect on Co-Party. Answers made by a party shall not be binding on +a co-party. + +(e) Service and Filing. Interrogatories must be served on the party to +whom the interrogatories are directed and copies must be served on all other +parties. A certificate of service of the interrogatories must be filed, giving the +date of service and the name of the party to whom they were directed. The +answers to the interrogatories must be served on the party originally +propounding the interrogatories and a copy must be served on all other +parties by the answering party. The original or any copy of the answers to +interrogatories may be filed in compliance with Florida Rule of General +Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425 and rule 1.280(g) by any party + + + +when the court should consider the answers to interrogatories in determining +any matter pending before the court. The court may order a copy of the +answers to interrogatories filed at any time when the court determines that +examination of the answers to interrogatories is necessary to determine any +matter pending before the court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) are derived from Federal +Rule of Civil Procedure 33 as amended in 1970. Changes from the existing +rule expand the time for answering, permit interrogatories to be served with +the initial pleading or at any time thereafter, and eliminate the requirement of +a hearing on objections. If objections are made, the interrogating party has +the responsibility of setting a hearing if that party wants an answer. If the +interrogatories are not sufficiently important, the interrogating party may let +the matter drop. Subdivision (b) covers the same matter as the present rule +1.340(b) except those parts that have been transferred to rule 1.280. It also +eliminates the confusion between facts and opinions or contentions by +requiring that all be given. Subdivision (c) gives the interrogated party an +option to produce business records from which the interrogating party can +derive the answers to questions. Subdivision (d) is former subdivision (c) +without change. Former subdivision (d) is repealed because it is covered in +rule 1.280(e). Subdivision (e) is derived from the New Jersey rules and is +intended to place both the interrogatories and the answers to them in a +convenient place in the court file so that they can be referred to with less +confusion. + +The requirement for filing a copy before the answers are received is +necessary in the event of a dispute concerning what was done or the +appropriate times involved. + +1988 Amendment. The word initial in the 1984 amendment to +subdivision (a) resulted in some confusion, so it has been deleted. Also the +total number of interrogatories which may be propounded without leave of +court is enlarged to 30 from 25. Form interrogatories which have been +approved by the supreme court must be used; and those so used, with their +subparts, are included in the total number permitted. The amendments are not +intended to change any other requirement of the rule. + + + +2011 Amendment. A reference to Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.425 and rule 1.280(f) is added to require persons +filing discovery materials with the court to make sure that good cause exists +prior to filing discovery materials and that certain specific personal +information is redacted. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to provide for the +production of electronically stored information in answer to interrogatories +and to set out a procedure for determining the form in which to produce +electronically stored information. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended by adding the reference to +approved forms of interrogatories. The intent is to eliminate the burden of +unnecessary interrogatories. + +Subdivision (c) is amended to add the requirement of detail in identifying +records when they are produced as an alternative to answering the +interrogatory or to designate the persons who will locate the records. + +Subdivision (e) is changed to eliminate the requirement of serving an +original and a copy of the interrogatories and of the answers in light of the +1981 amendment that no longer permits filing except in special +circumstances. + +Subdivision (f) is deleted since the Medical Liability Mediation +Proceedings have been eliminated. + +1988 Amendment. A reference to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration +2.425 and rule 1.280(f) is added to require persons filing discovery materials +with the cour t to make sure that good cause exists prior to filing discovery +materials and that certain specific personal information is redacted. + + + + Rule 1.350. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.350 + +RULE 1.350. PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND THINGS AND +ENTRY UPON LAND FOR INSPECTION AND OTHER +PURPOSES. + +(a) Request; Scope. Any party may request any other party (1) to produce +and permit the party making the request, or someone acting in the requesting +partys behalf, to inspect and copy any designated documents, including +electronically stored information, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, +photographs, audio, visual, and audiovisual recordings, and other data +compilations from which information can be obtained, translated, if +necessary, by the party to whom the request is directed through detection +devices into reasonably usable form, that constitute or contain matters within +the scope of rule 1.280(b) and that are in the possession, custody, or control +of the party to whom the request is directed; (2) to inspect and copy, test, or +sample any tangible things that constitute or contain matters within the scope +of rule 1.280(b) and that are in the possession, custody, or control of the party +to whom the request is directed; or (3) to permit entry upon designated land +or other property in the possession or control of the party upon whom the +request is served for the purpose of inspection and measuring, surveying, +photographing, testing, or sampling the property or any designated object or +operation on it within the scope of rule 1.280(b). + +(b) Procedure. Without leave of court the request may be served on the +plaintiff after commencement of the action and on any other party with or +after service of the process and initial pleading on that party. The request +shall set forth the items to be inspected, either by individual item or category, +and describe each item and category with reasonable particularity. The +request shall specify a reasonable time, place, and manner of making the +inspection or performing the related acts. The party to whom the request is +directed shall serve a written response within 30 days after service of the +request, except that a defendant may serve a response within 45 days after +service of the process and initial pleading on that defendant. The court may +allow a shorter or longer time. For each item or category the response shall +state that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested +unless the request is objected to, in which event the reasons for the objection + + + +shall be stated. If an objection is made to part of an item or category, the part +shall be specified. When producing documents, the producing party shall +either produce them as they are kept in the usual course of business or shall +identify them to correspond with the categories in the request. A request for +electronically stored information may specify the form or forms in which +electronically stored information is to be produced. If the responding party +objects to a requested form, or if no form is specified in the request, the +responding party must state the form or forms it intends to use. If a request +for electronically stored information does not specify the form of production, +the producing party must produce the information in a form or forms in +which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form or forms. The +party submitting the request may move for an order under rule 1.380 +concerning any objection, failure to respond to the request, or any part of it, +or failure to permit inspection as requested. + +(c) Persons Not Parties. This rule does not preclude an independent action +against a person not a party for production of documents and things and +permission to enter upon land. + +(d) Filing of Documents. Unless required by the court, a party shall not +file any of the documents or things produced with the response. Documents +or things may be filed in compliance with Florida Rule of General Practice +and Judicial Administration 2.425 and rule 1.280(g) when they should be +considered by the court in determining a matter pending before the court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 as +amended in 1970. The new rule eliminates the good cause requirement of the +former rule, changes the time for making the request and responding to it, and +changes the procedure for the response. If no objection to the discovery is +made, inspection is had without a court order. While the good cause +requirement has been eliminated, the change is not intended to overrule cases +limiting discovery under this rule to the scope of ordinary discovery, nor is it +intended to overrule cases limiting unreasonable requests such as those +reviewed in Van Devere v. Holmes, 156 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963); IBM +v. Elder, 187 So. 2d 82 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966); and Miami v. Florida Public +Service Commission, 226 So. 2d 217 (Fla. 1969). It is intended that the court + + + +review each objection and weigh the need for discovery and the likely results +of it against the right of privacy of the party or witness or custodian. + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to require production of +documents as they are kept in the usual course of business or in accordance +with the categories in the request. + +2011 Amendment. A reference to Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.425 and rule 1.280(f) is added to require persons +filing discovery materials with the court to make sure that good cause exists +prior to filing discovery materials and that certain specific personal +information is redacted. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to address the production +of electronically stored information. Subdivision (b) is amended to set out a +procedure for determining the form to be used in producing electronically +stored information. + + + + Rule 1.351. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.351 + +RULE 1.351. PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND THINGS +WITHOUT DEPOSITION. + +(a) Request; Scope. A party may seek inspection and copying of any +documents or things within the scope of rule 1.350(a) from a person who is +not a party by issuance of a subpoena directing the production of the +documents or things when the requesting party does not seek to depose the +custodian or other person in possession of the documents or things. This rule +provides the exclusive procedure for obtaining documents or things by +subpoena from nonparties without deposing the custodian or other person in +possession of the documents or things pursuant to rule 1.310. + +(b) Procedure. A party desiring production under this rule shall serve +notice as provided in Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.516 on every other party of the intent to serve a subpoena +under this rule at least 10 days before the subpoena is issued if service is by +delivery or e-mail and 15 days before the subpoena is issued if the service is +by mail. The proposed subpoena shall be attached to the notice and shall state +the time, place, and method for production of the documents or things, and +the name and address of the person who is to produce the documents or +things, if known, and if not known, a general description sufficient to identify +the person or the particular class or group to which the person belongs; shall +include a designation of the items to be produced; and shall state that the +person who will be asked to produce the documents or things has the right to +object to the production under this rule and that the person will not be +required to surrender the documents or things. A copy of the notice and +proposed subpoena shall not be furnished to the person upon whom the +subpoena is to be served. If any party serves an objection to production under +this rule within 10 days of service of the notice, the documents or things shall +not be produced pending resolution of the objection in accordance with +subdivision (d). + +(c) Subpoena. If no objection is made by a party under subdivision (b), an +attorney of record in the action may issue a subpoena or the party desiring +production shall deliver to the clerk for issuance a subpoena together with a +certificate of counsel or pro se party that no timely objection has been + + + +received from any party, and the clerk shall issue the subpoena and deliver it +to the party desiring production. Service within the state of Florida of a +nonparty subpoena shall be deemed sufficient if it complies with rule +1.410(d) or if (1) service is accomplished by mail or hand delivery by a +commercial delivery service, and (2) written confirmation of delivery, with +the date of service and the name and signature of the person accepting the +subpoena, is obtained and filed by the party seeking production. The +subpoena shall be identical to the copy attached to the notice and shall +specify that no testimony may be taken and shall require only pro-duction of +the documents or things specified in it. The subpoena may give the recipient +an option to deliver or mail legible copies of the documents or things to the +party serving the subpoena. The person upon whom the subpoena is served +may condition the preparation of copies on the payment in advance of the +reasonable costs of preparing the copies. The subpoena shall require +production only in the county of the residence of the custodian or other +person in possession of the documents or things or in the county where the +documents or things are located or where the custodian or person in +possession usually conducts business. If the person upon whom the subpoena +is served objects at any time before the production of the documents or +things, the documents or things shall not be produced under this rule, and +relief may be obtained pursuant to rule 1.310. + +(d) Ruling on Objection. If an objection is made by a party under +subdivision (b), the party desiring production may file a motion with the +court seeking a ruling on the objection or may proceed pursuant to rule 1.310. + +(e) Copies Furnished. If the subpoena is complied with by delivery or +mailing of copies as provided in subdivision (c), the party receiving the +copies shall furnish a legible copy of each item furnished to any other party +who requests it upon the payment of the reasonable cost of preparing the +copies. + +(f) Independent Action. This rule does not affect the right of any party to +bring an independent action for production of documents and things or +permission to enter upon land. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Adoption. This rule is designed to eliminate the need of taking a + + + +deposition of a records custodian when the person seeking discovery wants +copies of the records only. It authorizes objections by any other party as well +as the custodian of the records. If any person objects, recourse must be had to +rule 1.310. + +1996 Amendment. This rule was amended to avoid premature production +of documents by nonparties, to clarify the clerks role in the process, and to +further clarify that any objection to the use of this rule does not contemplate a +hearing before the court but directs the party to rule 1.310 to obtain the +desired production. This amendment is not intended to preclude all +communication between parties and nonparties. It is intended only to prohibit +a party from prematurely sending to a nonparty a copy of the required notice +or the proposed subpoena. This rule was also amended along with rule 1.410 +to allow attorneys to issue subpoenas. See Committee Note for rule 1.410. + +2007 Amendment. Subdivisions (b) and (d) were amended to permit a +party seeking nonparty discovery to have other parties objections resolved +by the court. + +2010 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to clarify that the +procedure set forth in rule 1.351, not rule 1.310, shall be followed when +requesting or receiving documents or things, without testimony, from +nonparties pursuant to a subpoena. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to include e-mail service as +provided in Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. + + + + Rule 1.360. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.360 + +RULE 1.360. EXAMINATION OF PERSONS. +(a) Request; Scope. + +(1) Any party may request any other party to submit to, or to produce a +person in that other partys custody or legal control for, examination by a +qualified expert when the condition which is the subject of the requested +examination is in controversy. + +(A) When the physical condition of a party or other person under +subdivision (a)(1) is in controversy, the request may be served on the +plaintiff without leave of court after commencement of the action, and +on any other person with or after service of the process and initial +pleading on that party. The request shall specify a reasonable time, +place, manner, conditions, and scope of the examination and the person +or persons by whom the examination is to be made. The party to whom +the request is directed shall serve a response within 30 days after service +of the request, except that a defendant need not serve a response until 45 +days after service of the process and initial pleading on that defendant. +The court may allow a shorter or longer time. The response shall state +that the examination will be permitted as requested unless the request is +objected to, in which event the reasons for the objection shall be stated. +If the examination is to be recorded or observed by others, the request or +response shall also include the number of people attending, their role, +and the method or methods of recording. + +(B) In cases where the condition in controversy is not physical, a +party may move for an examination by a qualified expert as in +subdivision (a)(1). The order for examination shall be made only after +notice to the person to be examined and to all parties, and shall specify +the time, place, manner, conditions, and scope of the examination and +the person or persons by whom it is to be made. + +(C) Any minor required to submit to examination pursuant to this rule +shall have the right to be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all +times during the examination, except upon a showing that the presence +of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact on + + + +the minors examination. +(2) An examination under this rule is authorized only when the party + +submitting the request has good cause for the examination. At any hearing +the party submitting the request shall have the burden of showing good +cause. + +(3) Upon request of either the party requesting the examination, or the +party or person to be examined, the court may establish protective rules +governing such examination. +(b) Report of Examiner. + +(1) If requested by the party to whom a request for examination or +against whom an order is made under subdivision (a)(1)(A) or (a)(1)(B) or +by the person examined, the party requesting the examination to be made +shall deliver to the other party a copy of a detailed written report of the +examiner setting out the examiners findings, including results of all tests +made, diagnosis, and conclusions, with similar reports of all earlier +examinations of the same condition. After delivery of the detailed written +report, the party requesting the examination to be made shall be entitled +upon request to receive from the party to whom the request for +examination or against whom the order is made a similar report of any +examination of the same condition previously or thereafter made, unless in +the case of a report of examination of a person not a party the party shows +the inability to obtain it. On motion, the court may order delivery of a +report on such terms as are just; and if an examiner fails or refuses to make +a report, the court may exclude the examiners testimony if offered at the +trial. + +(2) By requesting and obtaining a report of the examination so ordered +or requested or by taking the deposition of the examiner, the party +examined waives any privilege that party may have in that action or any +other involving the same controversy regarding the testimony of every +other person who has examined or may thereafter examine that party +concerning the same condition. + +(3) This subdivision applies to examinations made by agreement of the +parties unless the agreement provides otherwise. This subdivision does not +preclude discovery of a report of an examiner or taking the deposition of + + + +the examiner in accordance with any other rule. +(c) Examiner as Witness. The examiner may be called as a witness by any + +party to the action, but shall not be identified as appointed by the court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 35 as +amended in 1970. The good cause requirement under this rule has been +retained so that the requirements of Schlagenhauf v. Holder, 379 U.S. 104, 85 +S. Ct. 234, 13 L. Ed. 2d 152 (1964), have not been affected. Subdivision (b) +is changed to make it clear that reports can be obtained whether an order for +the examination has been entered or not and that all earlier reports of the +same condition can also be obtained. + +1988 Amendment. This amendment to subdivision (a) is intended to +broaden the scope of rule 1.360 to accommodate the examination of a person +by experts other than physicians. + + + + Rule 1.370. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.370 + +RULE 1.370. REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION. +(a) Request for Admission. A party may serve upon any other party a + +written request for the admission of the truth of any matters within the scope +of rule 1.280(b) set forth in the request that relate to statements or opinions of +fact or of the application of law to fact, including the genuineness of any +documents described in the request. Copies of documents shall be served +with the request unless they have been or are otherwise furnished or made +available for inspection and copying. Without leave of court the request may +be served upon the plaintiff after commencement of the action and upon any +other party with or after service of the process and initial pleading upon that +party. The request for admission shall not exceed 30 requests, including all +subparts, unless the court permits a larger number on motion and notice and +for good cause, or the parties propounding and responding to the requests +stipulate to a larger number. Each matter of which an admission is requested +shall be separately set forth. The matter is admitted unless the party to whom +the request is directed serves upon the party requesting the admission a +written answer or objection addressed to the matter within 30 days after +service of the request or such shorter or longer time as the court may allow +but, unless the court shortens the time, a defendant shall not be required to +serve answers or objections before the expiration of 45 days after service of +the process and initial pleading upon the defendant. If objection is made, the +reasons shall be stated. The answer shall specifically deny the matter or set +forth in detail the reasons why the answering party cannot truthfully admit or +deny the matter. A denial shall fairly meet the substance of the requested +admission, and when good faith requires that a party qualify an answer or +deny only a part of the matter of which an admission is requested, the party +shall specify so much of it as is true and qualify or deny the remainder. An +answering party may not give lack of information or knowledge as a reason +for failure to admit or deny unless that party states that that party has made +reasonable inquiry and that the information known or readily obtainable by +that party is insufficient to enable that party to admit or deny. A party who +considers that a matter of which an admission has been requested presents a +genuine issue for trial may not object to the request on that ground alone; the +party may deny the matter or set forth reasons why the party cannot admit or + + + +deny it, subject to rule 1.380(c). The party who has requested the admissions +may move to determine the sufficiency of the answers or objections. Unless +the court determines that an objection is justified, it shall order that an answer +be served. If the court determines that an answer does not comply with the +requirements of this rule, it may order either that the matter is admitted or +that an amended answer be served. Instead of these orders the court may +determine that final disposition of the request be made at a pretrial conference +or at a designated time before trial. The provisions of Rule 1.380(a)(4) apply +to the award of expenses incurred in relation to the motion. + +(b) Effect of Admission. Any matter admitted under this rule is +conclusively established unless the court on motion permits withdrawal or +amendment of the admission. Subject to rule 1.200 governing amendment of +a pretrial order, the court may permit withdrawal or amendment when the +presentation of the merits of the action will be subserved by it and the party +who obtained the admission fails to satisfy the court that withdrawal or +amendment will prejudice that party in maintaining an action or defense on +the merits. Any admission made by a party under this rule is for the purpose +of the pending action only and is not an admission for any other purpose nor +may it be used against that party in any other proceeding. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36 as +amended in 1970. The rule is changed to eliminate distinctions between +questions of opinion, fact, and mixed questions. The time sequences are +changed in accordance with the other discovery rules, and case law is +incorporated by providing for amendment and withdrawal of the answers and +for judicial scrutiny to determine the sufficiency of the answers. + +2003 Amendment. The total number of requests for admission that may be +served without leave of court is limited to 30, including all subparts. + + + + Rule 1.380. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.380 + +RULE 1.380. FAILURE TO MAKE DISCOVERY; SANCTIONS. +(a) Motion for Order Compelling Discovery. Upon reasonable notice to + +other parties and all persons affected, a party may apply for an order +compelling discovery as follows: + +(1) Appropriate Court. An application for an order to a party may be +made to the court in which the action is pending or in accordance with rule +1.310(d). An application for an order to a deponent who is not a party shall +be made to the circuit court where the deposition is being taken. + +(2) Motion. If a deponent fails to answer a question propounded or +submitted under rule 1.310 or 1.320, or a corporation or other entity fails to +make a designation under rule 1.310(b)(6) or 1.320(a), or a party fails to +answer an interrogatory submitted under rule 1.340, or if a party in +response to a request for inspection submitted under rule 1.350 fails to +respond that inspection will be permitted as requested or fails to permit +inspection as requested, or if a party in response to a request for +examination of a person submitted under rule 1.360(a) objects to the +examination, fails to respond that the examination will be permitted as +requested, or fails to submit to or to produce a person in that partys +custody or legal control for examination, the discovering party may move +for an order compelling an answer, or a designation or an order compelling +inspection, or an order compelling an examination in accordance with the +request. The motion must include a certification that the movant, in good +faith, has conferred or attempted to confer with the person or party failing +to make the discovery in an effort to secure the information or material +without court action. When taking a deposition on oral examination, the +proponent of the question may complete or adjourn the examination before +applying for an order. If the court denies the motion in whole or in part, it +may make such protective order as it would have been empowered to make +on a motion made pursuant to rule 1.280(c). + +(3) Evasive or Incomplete Answer. For purposes of this subdivision an +evasive or incomplete answer shall be treated as a failure to answer. + +(4) Award of Expenses of Motion. If the motion is granted and after + + + +opportunity for hearing, the court shall require the party or deponent whose +conduct necessitated the motion or the party or counsel advising the +conduct to pay to the moving party the reasonable expenses incurred in +obtaining the order that may include attorneys fees, unless the court finds +that the movant failed to certify in the motion that a good faith effort was +made to obtain the discovery without court action, that the opposition to +the motion was substantially justified, or that other circumstances make an +award of expenses unjust. If the motion is denied and after opportunity for +hearing, the court shall require the moving party to pay to the party or +deponent who opposed the motion the reasonable expenses incurred in +opposing the motion that may include attorneys fees, unless the court +finds that the making of the motion was substantially justified or that other +circumstances make an award of expenses unjust. If the motion is granted +in part and denied in part, the court may apportion the reasonable expenses +incurred as a result of making the motion among the parties and persons. +(b) Failure to Comply with Order. + +(1) If, after being ordered to do so by the court, a deponent fails to be +sworn or to answer a question or produce documents, the failure may be +considered a contempt of the court. + +(2) If a party or an officer, director, or managing agent of a party or a +person designated under rule 1.310(b)(6) or 1.320(a) to testify on behalf of +a party fails to obey an order to provide or permit discovery, including an +order made under subdivision (a) of this rule or rule 1.360, the court in +which the action is pending may make any of the following orders: + +(A) An order that the matters regarding which the questions were +asked or any other designated facts shall be taken to be established for +the purposes of the action in accordance with the claim of the party +obtaining the order. + +(B) An order refusing to allow the disobedient party to support or +oppose designated claims or defenses, or prohibiting that party from +introducing designated matters in evidence. + +(C) An order striking out pleadings or parts of them or staying further +proceedings until the order is obeyed, or dismissing the action or +proceeding or any part of it, or rendering a judgment by default against + + + +the disobedient party. +(D) Instead of any of the foregoing orders or in addition to them, an + +order treating as a contempt of court the failure to obey any orders +except an order to submit to an examination made pursuant to rule +1.360(a)(1)(B) or subdivision (a)(2) of this rule. + +(E) When a party has failed to comply with an order under rule +1.360(a)(1)(B) requiring that party to produce another for examination, +the orders listed in paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this subdivision, +unless the party failing to comply shows the inability to produce the +person for examination. + +Instead of any of the foregoing orders or in addition to them, the court shall +require the party failing to obey the order to pay the reasonable expenses +caused by the failure, which may include attorneys fees, unless the court +finds that the failure was substantially justified or that other circumstances +make an award of expenses unjust. +(c) Expenses on Failure to Admit. If a party fails to admit the + +genuineness of any document or the truth of any matter as requested under +rule 1.370 and if the party requesting the admissions thereafter proves the +genuineness of the document or the truth of the matter, the requesting party +may file a motion for an order requiring the other party to pay the requesting +party the reasonable expenses incurred in making that proof, which may +include attorneys fees. The court shall issue such an order at the time a party +requesting the admissions proves the genuineness of the document or the +truth of the matter, upon motion by the requesting party, unless it finds that +(1) the request was held objectionable pursuant to rule 1.370(a), (2) the +admission sought was of no substantial importance, or (3) there was other +good reason for the failure to admit. + +(d) Failure of Party to Attend at Own Deposition or Serve Answers to +Interrogatories or Respond to Request for Inspection. If a party or an +officer, director, or managing agent of a party or a person designated under +rule 1.310(b)(6) or 1.320(a) to testify on behalf of a party fails (1) to appear +before the officer who is to take the deposition after being served with a +proper notice, (2) to serve answers or objections to interrogatories submitted +under rule 1.340 after proper service of the interrogatories, or (3) to serve a +written response to a request for inspection submitted under rule 1.350 after + + + +proper service of the request, the court in which the action is pending may +take any action authorized under paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of subdivision +(b)(2) of this rule. Any motion specifying a failure under clause (2) or (3) of +this subdivision shall include a certification that the movant, in good faith, +has conferred or attempted to confer with the party failing to answer or +respond in an effort to obtain such answer or response without court action. +Instead of any order or in addition to it, the court shall require the party +failing to act to pay the reasonable expenses caused by the failure, which may +include attorneys fees, unless the court finds that the failure was +substantially justified or that other circumstances make an award of expenses +unjust. The failure to act described in this subdivision may not be excused on +the ground that the discovery sought is objectionable unless the party failing +to act has applied for a protective order as provided by rule 1.280(c). + +(e) Failure to Preserve Electronically Stored Information. If +electronically stored information that should have been preserved in the +anticipation or conduct of litigation is lost because a party failed to take +reasonable steps to preserve it, and it cannot be restored or replaced through +additional discovery, the court: + +(1) upon finding prejudice to another party from loss of the information, +may order measures no greater than necessary to cure the prejudice; or + +(2) only upon finding that the party acted with the intent to deprive +another party of the informations use in the litigation may: + +(A) presume that the lost information was unfavorable to the party; +(B) instruct the jury that it may or must presume the information was + +unfavorable to the party; or +(C) dismiss the action or enter a default judgment. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 as +amended in 1970. Subdivision (a)(3) is new and makes it clear that an +evasive or incomplete answer is a failure to answer under the rule. Other +clarifying changes have been made within the general scope of the rule to +ensure that complete coverage of all discovery failures is afforded. + + + +2003 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to require a court to make a +ruling on a request for reimbursement at the time of the hearing on the +requesting partys motion for entitlement to such relief. The court may, in its +discretion, defer ruling on the amount of the costs or fees in order to hold an +evidentiary hearing whenever convenient to the court and counsel. + +2005 Amendment. Following the example of Federal Rule of Civil +Procedure 37 as amended in 1993, language is included in subdivision (a)(2) +that requires litigants to seek to resolve discovery disputes by informal means +before filing a motion with the court. This requirement is based on successful +experience with the federal rule as well as similar local rules of state trial +courts. Subdivision (a)(4) is revised to provide that a party should not be +awarded its expenses for filing a motion that might have been avoided by +conferring with opposing counsel. Subdivision (d) is revised to require that, +where a party failed to file any response to a rule 1.340 interrogatory or a rule +1.350 request, the discovering party should attempt to obtain such responses +before filing a motion for sanctions. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (e) is added to make clear that a party +should not be sanctioned for the loss of electronic evidence due to the good- +faith operation of an electronic information system; the language mirrors that +of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e). Nevertheless, the good-faith +requirement contained in subdivision (e) should prevent a party from +exploiting the routine operation of an information system to thwart discovery +obligations by allowing that operation to destroy information that party is +required to preserve or produce. In determining good faith, the court may +consider any steps taken by the party to comply with court orders, party +agreements, or requests to preserve such information. + +2013 Amendment. This rule was amended to add substantially before +justified in subdivisions (a)(4), (b)(2), and (d), to make the rule internally +consistent and to make it more consistent with Federal Rule of Civil +Procedure 37, from which it was derived. + +2019 Amendment. Subdivision (e) of this rule was amended to make it +consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e). + + + + Rule 1.390. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.390 + +RULE 1.390. DEPOSITIONS OF EXPERT WITNESSES. +(a) Definition. The term expert witness as used herein applies + +exclusively to a person duly and regularly engaged in the practice of a +profession who holds a professional degree from a university or college and +has had special professional training and experience, or one possessed of +special knowledge or skill about the subject upon which called to testify. + +(b) Procedure. The testimony of an expert or skilled witness may be taken +at any time before the trial in accordance with the rules for taking depositions +and may be used at trial, regardless of the place of residence of the witness or +whether the witness is within the distance prescribed by rule 1.330(a)(3). No +special form of notice need be given that the deposition will be used for trial. + +(c) Fee. An expert or skilled witness whose deposition is taken shall be +allowed a witness fee in such reasonable amount as the court may determine. +The court shall also determine a reasonable time within which payment must +be made, if the deponent and party can not agree. All parties and the +deponent shall be served with notice of any hearing to determine the fee. Any +reasonable fee paid to an expert or skilled witness may be taxed as costs. + +(d) Applicability. Nothing in this rule shall prevent the taking of any +deposition as otherwise provided by law. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. This rule has caused more difficulty in recent years +than any other discovery rule. It was enacted as a statute originally to make +the presentation of expert testimony less expensive and less onerous to the +expert and to admit the experts deposition at trial regardless of the experts +residence. In spite of its intent, courts seem determined to misconstrue the +plain language of the rule and cause complications that the committee and the +legislature did not envisage. See Owca v. Zemzicki, 137 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 2d +DCA 1962); Cook v. Lichtblau, 176 So. 2d 523 (Fla. 2d DCA 1965); and +Bondy v. West, 219 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969). The committee hopes the +amendment to subdivision (b) will show that the intent of the rule is to permit +a deposition taken of an expert in conformity with any rule for the taking of a + + + +deposition to be admitted, if otherwise admissible under the rules of +evidence, regardless of the residence of the expert. In short, the rule +eliminates the necessity of any of the requirements of rule 1.330(a)(3) when +the deposition offered is that of an expert. + +1988 Amendment. Subdivision (c) has been amended to clarify the +procedure to be used in paying an expert witness for his or her appearance at +a deposition. + + + + Rule 1.410. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.410 + +RULE 1.410. SUBPOENA. +(a) Subpoena Generally. Subpoenas for testimony before the court, + +subpoenas for production of tangible evidence, and subpoenas for taking +depositions may be issued by the clerk of court or by any attorney of record +in an action. + +(b) Subpoena for Testimony Before the Court. +(1) Every subpoena for testimony before the court must be issued by an + +attorney of record in an action or by the clerk under the seal of the court +and must state the name of the court and the title of the action and must +command each person to whom it is directed to attend and give testimony +at a time and place specified in it. + +(2) On oral request of an attorney or party and without praecipe, the +clerk must issue a subpoena for testimony before the court or a subpoena +for the production of documentary evidence before the court signed and +sealed but otherwise in blank, both as to the title of the action and the name +of the person to whom it is directed, and the subpoena must be filled in +before service by the attorney or party. +(c) For Production of Documentary Evidence. A subpoena may also + +command the person to whom it is directed to produce the books, documents +(including electronically stored information), or tangible things designated +therein, but the court, on motion made promptly and in any event at or before +the time specified in the subpoena for compliance therewith, may (1) quash +or modify the subpoena if it is unreasonable and oppressive, or (2) condition +denial of the motion on the advancement by the person in whose behalf the +subpoena is issued of the reasonable cost of producing the books, documents, +or tangible things. If a subpoena does not specify a form for producing +electronically stored information, the person responding must produce it in a +form or forms in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable +form or forms. A person responding to a subpoena may object to discovery of +electronically stored information from sources that the person identifies as +not reasonably accessible because of undue costs or burden. On motion to +compel discovery or to quash, the person from whom discovery is sought + + + +must show that the information sought or the form requested is not +reasonably accessible because of undue costs or burden. If that showing is +made, the court may nonetheless order discovery from such sources or in +such forms if the requesting party shows good cause, considering the +limitations set out in rule 1.280(d)(2). The court may specify conditions of +the discovery, including ordering that some or all of the expenses of the +discovery be paid by the party seeking the discovery. A party seeking +production of evidence at trial which would be subject to a subpoena may +compel such production by serving a notice to produce such evidence on an +adverse party as provided in rule 1.080. Such notice shall have the same +effect and be subject to the same limitations as a subpoena served on the +party. + +(d) Service. A subpoena may be served by any person authorized by law to +serve process or by any other person who is not a party and who is not less +than 18 years of age. Service of a subpoena on a person named within must +be made as provided by law. Proof of such service must be made by affidavit +of the person making service except as applicable under rule 1.351(c) for the +production of documents and things by a nonparty without deposition, if not +served by an officer authorized by law to do so. + +(e) Subpoena for Taking Depositions. +(1) Filing a notice to take a deposition as provided in rule 1.310(b) or + +1.320(a) with a certificate of service on it showing service on all parties to +the action constitutes an authorization for the issuance of subpoenas for the +persons named or described in the notice by the clerk of the court in which +the action is pending or by an attorney of record in the action. The +subpoena must state the method for recording the testimony. A party +intending to audiovisually record a deposition must state in the subpoena +that the deposition is to be audiovisually recorded and identify the method +for audiovisually recording the deposition, including, if applicable, the +name and address of the operator of the audiovisual recording equipment. +If a party intends to take a deposition by communication technology, the +subpoena must state the deposition is to be taken using communication +technology, identify the specific form of communication technology to be +used, and provide instructions for access to the communication technology. +The subpoena may command the person to whom it is directed to produce +designated books, documents, or tangible things that constitute or contain + + + +evidence relating to any of the matters within the scope of the examination +permitted by rule 1.280(b), but in that event the subpoena will be subject to +the provisions of rule 1.280(c) and subdivision (c) of this rule. Within 10 +days after its service, or on or before the time specified in the subpoena for +compliance if the time is less than 10 days after service, the person to +whom the subpoena is directed may serve written objection to inspection +or copying of any of the designated materials. If objection is made, the +party serving the subpoena shall not be entitled to inspect and copy the +materials except pursuant to an order of the court from which the subpoena +was issued. If objection has been made, the party serving the subpoena +may move for an order at any time before or during the taking of the +deposition on notice to the deponent. + +(2) A person may be required to attend an examination only in the +county wherein the person resides or is employed or transacts business in +person or at such other convenient place as may be fixed by an order of +court. +(f) Contempt. Failure by any person without adequate excuse to obey a + +subpoena served on that person may be deemed a contempt of the court from +which the subpoena issued. + +(g) Depositions Before Commissioners Appointed in This State by +Courts of Other States; Subpoena Powers; etc. When any person +authorized by the laws of Florida to administer oaths is appointed by a court +of record of any other state, jurisdiction, or government as commissioner to +take the testimony of any named witness within this state, that witness may +be compelled to attend and testify before that commissioner by witness +subpoena issued by the clerk of any circuit court at the instance of that +commissioner or by other process or proceedings in the same manner as if +that commissioner had been appointed by a court of this state; provided that +no document shall be compulsorily annexed as an exhibit to such deposition +or otherwise permanently removed from the possession of the witness +producing it, but in lieu thereof a photostatic copy may be annexed to and +transmitted with such executed commission to the court of issuance. + +(h) Subpoena of Minor. Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the +right to be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times during the taking +of testimony notwithstanding the invocation of the rule of sequestration of + + + +section 90.616, Florida Statutes, except on a showing that the presence of a +parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact on the +credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of the +parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of the +minor. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. Subdivisions (a) and (d) are amended to show the +intent of the rule that subpoenas for deposition may not be issued in blank by +the clerk, but only for trial. The reason for the distinction is valid. A +subpoena for appearance before the court is not subject to abuse because the +court can correct any attempt to abuse the use of blank subpoenas. Since a +judge is not present at a deposition, additional protection for the parties and +the deponent is required and subpoenas should not be issued in blank. +Subdivision (d) is also modified to conform with the revised federal rule on +subpoenas for depositions to permit an objection by the deponent to the +production of material required by a subpoena to be produced. + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is revised to conform with section +48.031, Florida Statutes (1979). + +1996 Amendment. This rule is amended to allow an attorney (as referred +to in Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.060(a)B(b)), as an officer of the court, and the +clerk to issue subpoenas in the name of the court. This amendment is not +intended to change any other requirement or precedent for the issuance or use +of subpoenas. For example, a notice of taking the deposition must be filed +and served before a subpoena for deposition may be issued. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to reflect the relocation of +the service rule from rule 1.080 to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. + +Subdivision (c) is amended to address the production of electronically +stored information pursuant to a subpoena. The procedures for dealing with +disputes concerning the accessibility of the information sought or the form +for its production are intended to correspond to those set out in Rule 1.280(d). + + + + Rule 1.420. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.420 + +RULE 1.420. DISMISSAL OF ACTIONS. +(a) Voluntary Dismissal. + +(1) By Parties. Except in actions in which property has been seized or is +in the custody of the court, an action, a claim, or any part of an action or +claim may be dismissed by plaintiff without order of court (A) before trial +by serving, or during trial by stating on the record, a notice of dismissal at +any time before a hearing on motion for summary judgment, or if none is +served or if the motion is denied, before retirement of the jury in a case +tried before a jury or before submission of a nonjury case to the court for +decision, or (B) by filing a stipulation of dismissal signed by all current +parties to the action. Unless otherwise stated in the notice or stipulation, +the dismissal is without prejudice, except that a notice of dismissal +operates as an adjudication on the merits when served by a plaintiff who +has once dismissed in any court an action based on or including the same +claim. + +(2) By Order of Court; If Counterclaim. Except as provided in +subdivision (a)(1) of this rule, an action shall not be dismissed at a partys +instance except on order of the court and upon such terms and conditions +as the court deems proper. If a counterclaim has been served by a +defendant prior to the service upon the defendant of the plaintiffs notice of +dismissal, the action shall not be dismissed against defendants objections +unless the counterclaim can remain pending for independent adjudication +by the court. Unless otherwise specified in the order, a dismissal under this +paragraph is without prejudice. +(b) Involuntary Dismissal. Any party may move for dismissal of an + +action or of any claim against that party for failure of an adverse party to +comply with these rules or any order of court. Notice of hearing on the +motion shall be served as required under rule 1.090(d). After a party seeking +affirmative relief in an action tried by the court without a jury has completed +the presentation of evidence, any other party may move for a dismissal on the +ground that on the facts and the law the party seeking affirmative relief has +shown no right to relief, without waiving the right to offer evidence if the + + + +motion is not granted. The court as trier of the facts may then determine them +and render judgment against the party seeking affirmative relief or may +decline to render judgment until the close of all the evidence. Unless the court +in its order for dismissal otherwise specifies, a dismissal under this +subdivision and any dismissal not provided for in this rule, other than a +dismissal for lack of jurisdiction or for improper venue or for lack of an +indispensable party, operates as an adjudication on the merits. + +(c) Dismissal of Counterclaim, Crossclaim, or Third-Party Claim. The +provisions of this rule apply to the dismissal of any counterclaim, crossclaim, +or third-party claim. + +(d) Costs. Costs in any action dismissed under this rule shall be assessed +and judgment for costs entered in that action, once the action is concluded as +to the party seeking taxation of costs. When one or more other claims remain +pending following dismissal of any claim under this rule, taxable costs +attributable solely to the dismissed claim may be assessed and judgment for +costs in that claim entered in the action, but only when all claims are resolved +at the trial court level as to the party seeking taxation of costs. If a party who +has once dismissed a claim in any court of this state commences an action +based upon or including the same claim against the same adverse party, the +court shall make such order for the payment of costs of the claim previously +dismissed as it may deem proper and shall stay the proceedings in the action +until the party seeking affirmative relief has complied with the order. + +(e) Failure to Prosecute. In all actions in which it appears on the face of +the record that no activity by filing of pleadings, order of court, or otherwise +has occurred for a period of 10 months, and no order staying the action has +been issued nor stipulation for stay approved by the court, any interested +person, whether a party to the action or not, the court, or the clerk of the court +may serve notice to all parties that no such activity has occurred. If no such +record activity has occurred within the 10 months immediately preceding the +service of such notice, and no record activity occurs within the 60 days +immediately following the service of such notice, and if no stay was issued or +approved prior to the expiration of such 60-day period, the action shall be +dismissed by the court on its own motion or on the motion of any interested +person, whether a party to the action or not, after reasonable notice to the +parties, unless a party shows good cause in writing at least 5 days before the +hearing on the motion why the action should remain pending. Mere inaction + + + +for a period of less than 1 year shall not be sufficient cause for dismissal for +failure to prosecute. + +(f) Effect on Lis Pendens. If a notice of lis pendens has been filed in +connection with a claim for affirmative relief that is dismissed under this rule, +the notice of lis pendens connected with the dismissed claim is automatically +dissolved at the same time. The notice, stipulation, or order shall be recorded. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1976 Amendment. Subdivision (e) has been amended to prevent the +dismissal of an action for inactivity alone unless 1 year has elapsed since the +occurrence of activity of record. Nonrecord activity will not toll the 1-year +time period. + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (e) has been amended to except from the +requirement of record activity a stay that is ordered or approved by the court. + +1992 Amendment. Subdivision (f) is amended to provide for automatic +dissolution of lis pendens on claims that are settled even though the entire +action may not have been dismissed. + +2005 Amendment. Subdivision (e) has been amended to provide that an +action may not be dismissed for lack of prosecution without prior notice to +the claimant and adequate opportunity for the claimant to re-commence +prosecution of the action to avert dismissal. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. A perennial real property title problem occurs because +of the failure to properly dispose of notices of lis pendens in the order of +dismissal. Accordingly, the reference in subdivision (a)(1) to disposition of +notices of lis pendens has been deleted and a separate subdivision created to +automatically dissolve notices of lis pendens whenever an action is dismissed +under this rule. + + + + Rule 1.430. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.430 + +RULE 1.430. DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL; WAIVER. +(a) Right Preserved. The right of trial by jury as declared by the + +Constitution or by statute shall be preserved to the parties inviolate. +(b) Demand. Any party may demand a trial by jury of any issue triable of + +right by a jury by serving upon the other party a demand therefor in writing at +any time after commencement of the action and not later than 10 days after +the service of the last pleading directed to such issue. The demand may be +indorsed upon a pleading of the party. + +(c) Specification of Issues. In the demand a party may specify the issues +that the party wishes so tried; otherwise, the party is deemed to demand trial +by jury for all issues so triable. If a party has demanded trial by jury for only +some of the issues, any other party may serve a demand for trial by jury of +any other or all of the issues triable by jury 10 days after service of the +demand or such lesser time as the court may order. + +(d) Juror Participation Through Audio-Video Communication +Technology. Prospective jurors may participate in voir dire or empaneled +jurors may participate in the jury trial through audio-video communication +technology, as described in Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.530(c), if stipulated by the parties in writing and authorized +by the court. The written stipulation and a written motion requesting +authorization must be filed with the court within 60 days after service of a +demand under subdivision (b) or within such other period as may be directed +by the court. + +(e) Waiver. A party who fails to serve a demand as required by this rule +waives trial by jury. If waived, a jury trial may not be granted without the +consent of the parties, but the court may allow an amendment in the +proceedings to demand a trial by jury or order a trial by jury on its own +motion. A demand for trial by jury may not be withdrawn without the consent +of the parties. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +1972 Amendment. Subdivision (d) is amended to conform to the decisions +construing it. See Wood v. Warriner, 62 So. 2d 728 (Fla. 1953); Bittner v. +Walsh, 132 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1st DCA 1961); and Shores v. Murphy, 88 So. 2d +294 (Fla. 1956). It is not intended to overrule Wertman v. Tipping, 166 So. 2d +666 (Fla. 1st DCA 1964), that requires a moving party to show justice +requires a jury. + + + + Rule 1.431. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.431 + +RULE 1.431. TRIAL JURY. +(a) Questionnaire. + +(1) The circuit court may direct the authority charged by law with the +selection of prospective jurors to furnish each prospective juror with a +questionnaire in the form approved by the supreme court from time to time +to assist the authority in selecting prospective jurors. The questionnaire +must be used after the names of jurors have been selected as provided by +law but before certification and the placing of the names of prospective +jurors in the jury box. The questionnaire must be used to determine those +who are not qualified to serve as jurors under any statutory ground of +disqualification. + +(2) To assist in voir dire examination at trial, any court may direct the +clerk to furnish prospective jurors selected for service with a questionnaire +in the form approved by the supreme court from time to time. The +prospective jurors must be asked to complete and return the forms. +Completed forms may be inspected in the clerks office and copies must be +available in court during the voir dire examination for use by parties and +the court. +(b) Examination by Parties. The parties have the right to examine jurors + +orally on their voir dire. The order in which the parties may examine each +juror must be determined by the court. The court may ask such questions of +the jurors as it deems necessary, but the right of the parties to conduct a +reasonable examination of each juror orally must be preserved. + +(c) Challenge for Cause. +(1) On motion of any party, the court must examine any prospective + +juror on oath to determine whether that person is related, within the third +degree, to (i) any party, (ii) the attorney of any party, or (iii) any other +person or entity against whom liability or blame is alleged in the pleadings, +or is related to any person alleged to have been wronged or injured by the +commission of the wrong for the trial of which the juror is called, or has +any interest in the action, or has formed or expressed any opinion, or is +sensible of any bias or prejudice concerning it, or is an employee or has + + + +been an employee of any party or any other person or entity against whom +liability or blame is alleged in the pleadings, within 30 days before the +trial. A party objecting to the juror may introduce any other competent +evidence to support the objection. If it appears that the juror does not stand +indifferent to the action or any of the foregoing grounds of objection exists +or that the juror is otherwise incompetent, another must be called in that +jurors place. + +(2) The fact that any person selected for jury duty from bystanders or the +body of the county and not from a jury list lawfully selected has served as +a juror in the court in which that person is called at any other time within 1 +year is a ground of challenge for cause. + +(3) When the nature of any civil action requires a knowledge of reading, +writing, and arithmetic, or any of them, to enable a juror to understand the +evidence to be offered, the fact that any prospective juror does not possess +the qualifications is a ground of challenge for cause. +(d) Peremptory Challenges. Each party is entitled to 3 peremptory + +challenges of jurors, but when the number of parties on opposite sides is +unequal, the opposing parties are entitled to the same aggregate number of +peremptory challenges to be determined on the basis of 3 peremptory +challenges to each party on the side with the greater number of parties. The +additional peremptory challenges accruing to multiple parties on the opposing +side must be divided equally among them. Any additional peremptory +challenges not capable of equal division must be exercised separately or +jointly as determined by the court. + +(e) Exercise of Challenges. All challenges must be addressed to the court +outside the hearing of the jury in a manner selected by the court so that the +jury panel is not aware of the nature of the challenge, the party making the +challenge, or the basis of the courts ruling on the challenge, if for cause. + +(f) Swearing of Jurors. No one shall be sworn as a juror until the jury has +been accepted by the parties or until all challenges have been exhausted. + +(g) Alternate Jurors. +(1) The court may direct that 1 or more jurors be impaneled to sit as + +alternate jurors in addition to the regular panel. Alternate jurors in the +order in which they are called must replace jurors who have become + + + +unable or disqualified to perform their duties before the jury retires to +consider its verdict. Alternate jurors must be drawn in the same manner, +have the same qualifications, be subject to the same examination, take the +same oath, and have the same functions, powers, facilities, and privileges +as principal jurors. An alternate juror who does not replace a principal +juror must be discharged when the jury retires to consider the verdict. + +(2) If alternate jurors are called, each party is entitled to one peremptory +challenge in the selection of the alternate juror or jurors, but when the +number of parties on opposite sides is unequal, the opposing parties are +entitled to the same aggregate number of peremptory challenges to be +determined on the basis of 1 peremptory challenge to each party on the +side with the greater number of parties. The additional peremptory +challenges allowed pursuant to this subdivision may be used only against +the alternate jurors. The peremptory challenges allowed pursuant to +subdivision (d) of this rule must not be used against the alternate jurors. +(h) Interview of a Juror. A party who believes that grounds for legal + +challenge to a verdict exist may move for an order permitting an interview of +a juror or jurors to determine whether the verdict is subject to the challenge. +The motion must be served within 15 days after rendition of the verdict +unless good cause is shown for the failure to make the motion within that +time. The motion must state the name and address of each juror to be +interviewed and the grounds for challenge that the party believes may exist. +After notice and hearing, the trial judge must enter an order denying the +motion or permitting the interview. If the interview is permitted, the court +may prescribe the place, manner, conditions, and scope of the interview. + +(i) Communication with the Jury. This rule governs all communication +between the judge or courtroom personnel and jurors. + +(1) Communication to be on the Record. The court must notify the +parties of any communication from the jury pertaining to the action as +promptly as practicable and in any event before responding to the +communication. Except as set forth below, all communications between +the court or courtroom personnel and the jury must be on the record in +open court or must be in writing and filed in the action. The court or +courtroom personnel must note on any written communication to or from +the jury the date and time it was delivered. + + + +(2) Exception for Certain Routine Communication. The court must, +by pretrial order or by statement on the record with opportunity for +objection, set forth the scope of routine ex parte communication to be +permitted and the limits imposed by the court with regard to such +communication. + +(A) Routine ex parte communication between the bailiff or other +courtroom personnel and the jurors, limited to juror comfort and safety, +may occur off the record. + +(B) In no event shall ex parte communication between courtroom +personnel and jurors extend to matters that may affect the outcome of +the trial, including statements containing any fact or opinion concerning +a party, attorney, or procedural matter or relating to any legal issue or +lawsuit. +(3) Instructions to Jury. During voir dire, the court must instruct the + +jurors and courtroom personnel regarding the limitations on +communication between the court or courtroom personnel and jurors. On +empanelling the jury, the court must instruct the jurors that their questions +are to be submitted in writing to the court, which will review them with the +parties and counsel before responding. + +(4) Notification of Jury Communication. Courtroom personnel must +immediately notify the court of any communication to or from a juror or +among jurors in contravention of the courts orders or instructions, +including all communication contrary to the requirements of this rule. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1971 Adoption. Subdivision (a) is new. It is intended to replace section +40.101, Florida Statutes, declared unconstitutional in Smith v. Portante, 212 +So. 2d 298 (Fla. 1968), after supplying the deficiencies in the statute. It is +intended to simplify the task of selecting prospective jurors, both for the +venire and for the panel for trial in a particular action. The forms referred to +in subdivision (a) are forms 1.983 and 1.984. Subdivisions (b)-(e) are +sections 53.031, 53.021, 53.011, and 53.051, Florida Statutes, without +substantial change. + +1976 Amendment. Subdivision (e) has been added to establish a + + + +procedure for challenging jurors without members of the panel knowing the +source of the challenge, to avoid prejudice. Subdivision (f) is a renumbering +of the previously enacted rule regarding alternate jurors. + +Subdivision (g) has been added to establish a procedure for interviewing +jurors. See also Canons of Professional Responsibility DR 7-108. + +1988 Amendment. Subdivision (f) has been added to ensure the right to +back-strike prospective jurors until the entire panel has been accepted in +civil cases. This right to back-strike until the jurors have been sworn has been +long recognized in Florida. Florida Rock Industries, Inc. v. United Building +Systems, Inc., 408 So. 2d 630 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). However, in the recent +case of Valdes v. State, 443 So. 2d 223 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984), the court held +that it was not error for a court to swear jurors one at a time as they were +accepted and thereby prevent retrospective peremptory challenges. The +purpose of this subdivision is to prevent the use of individual swearing of +jurors in civil cases. Former subdivisions (f) and (g) have been redesignated +as (g) and (h) respectively. + +1992 Amendment. Subdivision (g)(2) is amended to minimize the +inequity in numbers of peremptory challenges allowed in selecting alternate +jurors in actions with multiple parties. + +2005 Amendment. Subdivision (c)(1) is amended to ensure that +prospective jurors may be challenged for cause based on bias in favor of or +against nonparties against whom liability or blame may be alleged in +accordance with the decisions in Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. +1993), or Nash v. Wells Fargo Guard Services, Inc., 678 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. +1996). + +2013 Amendment. Subdivision (i) governs the responsibility of the court +for ensuring that parties and their counsel are aware of all contact with the +jury that could affect the outcome of the case. Trial judges may have differing +views on what constitutes harmless or routine ex parte communication with +jurors. Reasonable variations are therefore permitted, provided the judge +adequately advises counsel, before the trial begins, of the specific +circumstances under which the court has determined that jury +communications will not be reported to the parties. The rule does not prevent +the bailiff or other courtroom personnel from discussing such routine matters +as juror parking, location of break areas, how and when to assemble for duty, + + + +dress, and which items of a jurors personal property may be brought into the +courthouse or jury room. However, for example, questions or remarks from a +juror about such matters as the length of a witnesss testimony, when court +will adjourn on a given day, or how long the trial may take to complete +should be reported to the judge, as these matters may be of interest to the +parties. Any doubt as to whether a communication may or may not be of +interest to the parties should be resolved in favor of promptly informing the +court, the parties, and counsel, even if it is after the fact. This will best ensure +that the parties have the opportunity to object to any improper +communication and give the court an opportunity to cure any prejudice, if an +objection is made. + + + + Rule 1.440. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.440 + +RULE 1.440. SETTING ACTION FOR TRIAL. +(a) When at Issue. An action is at issue after any motions directed to the + +last pleading served have been disposed of or, if no such motions are served, +20 days after service of the last pleading. The party entitled to serve motions +directed to the last pleading may waive the right to do so by filing a notice for +trial at any time after the last pleading is served. The existence of crossclaims +among the parties shall not prevent the court from setting the action for trial +on the issues raised by the complaint, answer, and any answer to a +counterclaim. + +(b) Notice for Trial. Thereafter any party may file and serve a notice that +the action is at issue and ready to be set for trial. The notice must include an +estimate of the time required, indicate whether the trial is to be by a jury or +not and whether the trial is on the original action or a subsequent proceeding, +and, if applicable, indicate that the court has authorized the participation of +prospective jurors or empaneled jurors through audio-video communication +technology under rule 1.430(d). The clerk must then submit the notice and +the case file to the court. + +(c) Setting for Trial. If the court finds the action ready to be set for trial, it +shall enter an order fixing a date for trial. Trial shall be set not less than 30 +days from the service of the notice for trial. By giving the same notice the +court may set an action for trial. In actions in which the damages are not +liquidated, the order setting an action for trial shall be served on parties who +are in default in accordance with Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.516. + +(d) Applicability. This rule does not apply to actions to which chapter 51, +Florida Statutes (1967), applies or to cases designated as complex pursuant to +rule 1.201. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. All references to the pretrial conference are deleted +because these are covered in rule 1.200. + + + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to specify whether the trial +will be on the original pleadings or subsequent pleadings under rule 1.110(h). + +1988 Amendment. Subdivision (c) was amended to clarify a confusion +regarding the notice for trial which resulted from a 1968 amendment. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to reflect the relocation of +the service rule from rule 1.080 to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended by adding a sentence to +emphasize the authority given in rule 1.270(b) for the severing of issues for +trial. + +Subdivision (c) is amended to delete the reference to law actions so that the +rule will apply to all actions in which unliquidated damages are sought. + + + + Rule 1.442. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.442 + +RULE 1.442. PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT. +(a) Applicability. This rule applies to all proposals for settlement + +authorized by Florida law, regardless of the terms used to refer to such offers, +demands, or proposals, and supersedes all other provisions of the rules and +statutes that may be inconsistent with this rule. + +(b) Service of Proposal. A proposal to a defendant shall be served no +earlier than 90 days after service of process on that defendant; a proposal to a +plaintiff shall be served no earlier than 90 days after the action has been +commenced. No proposal shall be served later than 45 days before the date +set for trial or the first day of the docket on which the case is set for trial, +whichever is earlier. + +(c) Form and Content of Proposal for Settlement. +(1) A proposal shall be in writing and shall identify the applicable + +Florida law under which it is being made. +(2) A proposal shall: + +(A) name the party or parties making the proposal and the party or +parties to whom the proposal is being made; + +(B) state that the proposal resolves all damages that would otherwise +be awarded in a final judgment in the action in which the proposal is +served, subject to subdivision (F); + +(C) exclude nonmonetary terms, with the exceptions of a voluntary +dismissal of all claims with prejudice and any other nonmonetary terms +permitted by statute; + +(D) state the total amount of the proposal; +(E) state with particularity the amount proposed to settle a claim for + +punitive damages, if any; +(F) state whether the proposal includes attorneys fees and whether + +attorneys fee are part of the legal claim; and +(G) include a certificate of service in the form required by Florida + + + +Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516. +(3) A proposal may be made by or to any party or parties and by or to + +any combination of parties properly identified in the proposal. A joint +proposal shall state the amount and terms attributable to each party. + +(4) Notwithstanding subdivision (c)(3), when a party is alleged to be +solely vicariously, constructively, derivatively, or technically liable, +whether by operation of law or by contract, a joint proposal made by or +served on such a party need not state the apportionment or contribution as +to that party. Acceptance by any party shall be without prejudice to rights +of contribution or indemnity. +(d) Service and Filing. A proposal shall be served on the party or parties + +to whom it is made but shall not be filed unless necessary to enforce the +provisions of this rule. + +(e) Withdrawal. A proposal may be withdrawn in writing provided the +written withdrawal is delivered before a written acceptance is delivered. Once +withdrawn, a proposal is void. + +(f) Acceptance and Rejection. +(1) A proposal shall be deemed rejected unless accepted by delivery of a + +written notice of acceptance within 30 days after service of the proposal. +The provisions of Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.514(b) do not apply to this subdivision. No oral +communications shall constitute an acceptance, rejection, or counteroffer +under the provisions of this rule. + +(2) In any case in which the existence of a class is alleged, the time for +acceptance of a proposal for settlement is extended to 30 days after the +date the order granting or denying certification is filed. +(g) Sanctions. Any party seeking sanctions pursuant to applicable Florida + +law, based on the failure of the proposals recipient to accept a proposal, shall +do so by serving a motion in accordance with rule 1.525. + +(h) Costs and Fees. +(1) If a party is entitled to costs and fees pursuant to applicable Florida + +law, the court may, in its discretion, determine that a proposal was not +made in good faith. In such case, the court may disallow an award of costs + + + +and attorneys fees. +(2) When determining the reasonableness of the amount of an award of + +attorneys fees pursuant to this section, the court shall consider, along with +all other relevant criteria, the following factors: + +(A) The then-apparent merit or lack of merit in the claim. +(B) The number and nature of proposals made by the parties. +(C) The closeness of questions of fact and law at issue. +(D) Whether the party making the proposal had unreasonably refused + +to furnish information necessary to evaluate the reasonableness of the +proposal. + +(E) Whether the suit was in the nature of a test case presenting +questions of far-reaching importance affecting nonparties. + +(F) The amount of the additional delay cost and expense that the party +making the proposal reasonably would be expected to incur if the +litigation were to be prolonged. + +(i) Evidence of Proposal. Evidence of a proposal or acceptance thereof is +admissible only in proceedings to enforce an accepted proposal or to +determine the imposition of sanctions. + +(j) Effect of Mediation. Mediation shall have no effect on the dates during +which parties are permitted to make or accept a proposal for settlement under +the terms of the rule. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. This rule was amended to reconcile, where possible, +sections 44.102(6) (formerly 44.102(5)(b)), 45.061, 73.032, and 768.79, +Florida Statutes, and the decisions of the Florida Supreme Court in Knealing +v. Puleo, 675 So. 2d 593 (Fla. 1996), TGI Fridays, Inc. v. Dvorak, 663 So. +2d 606 (Fla. 1995), and Timmons v. Combs, 608 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1992). This +rule replaces former rule 1.442, which was repealed by the Timmons +decision, and supersedes those sections of the Florida Statutes and the prior +decisions of the court, where reconciliation is impossible, in order to provide +a workable structure for proposing settlements in civil actions. The provision + + + +which requires that a joint proposal state the amount and terms attributable to +each party is in order to conform with Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. +1993). + +2000 Amendment. Subdivision (f)(2) was added to establish the time for +acceptance of proposals for settlement in class actions. Filing is defined in +rule 1.080(e). Subdivision (g) is amended to conform with new rule 1.525. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (c)(2)(G) is amended to reflect the +relocation of the service rule from rule 1.080 to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. + +2013 Amendment. Subdivision (f)(1) was amended to reflect the +relocation of the rule regarding additional time after service by mail or e-mail +from rule 1.090(e) to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.514(b). + +2013 Amendment. Subdivision (c)(2)(B) is amended to clarify that a +proposal for settlement must resolve all claims between the proponent and the +party to whom the proposal is made except claims for attorneys fees, which +may or may not be resolved in the proposal. + + + + Rule 1.450. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.450 + +RULE 1.450. EVIDENCE. +(a) Record of Excluded Evidence. In an action tried by a jury if an + +objection to a question propounded to a witness is sustained by the court, the +examining attorney may make a specific offer of what the attorney expects to +prove by the answer of the witness. The court may require the offer to be +made out of the hearing of the jury. The court may add such other or further +statement as clearly shows the character of the evidence, the form in which it +was offered, the objection made, and the ruling thereon. In actions tried +without a jury the same procedure may be followed except that the court +upon request shall take and report the evidence in full unless it clearly +appears that the evidence is not admissible on any ground or that the witness +is privileged. + +(b) Filing. When documentary evidence is introduced in an action, the +clerk or the judge shall endorse an identifying number or symbol on it and +when proffered or admitted in evidence, it shall be filed by the clerk or judge +and considered in the custody of the court and not withdrawn except with +written leave of court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1971 Amendment. Subdivision (d) is amended to eliminate the necessity +of a court order for disposal of exhibits. The clerk must retain the exhibits for +1 year unless the court permits removal earlier. If removal is not effected +within the year, the clerk may destroy or dispose of the exhibits after giving +the specified notice. + +1996 Amendment. Former subdivision (a) entitled Adverse Witness is +deleted because it is no longer needed or appropriate because the matters with +which it deals are treated in the Florida Evidence Code. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Subdivision (d) was repealed by the supreme court; see +403 So. 2d 926. + + + +Subdivision (e): This rule was originally promulgated by the supreme +court in Carter v. Sparkman, 335 So. 2d 802, 806 (Fla. 1976). + +In The Florida Bar, in re Rules of Civil Procedure, 391 So. 2d 165 (Fla. +1980), the court requested the committee to consider the continued +appropriateness of rule 1.450(e). In response, the committee recommended its +deletion. After oral argument in The Florida Bar: In re Rules of Civil +Procedure, 429 So. 2d 311, the court specifically declined to abolish the rule +or to adopt a similar rule for other types of actions. + +The committee again considered rule 1.450(e) in depth and at length and +again recommends its deletion for the reason that no exception should be +made in the rule to a particular type of action. + +Subdivision (f): The Wests Desk Copy Florida Rules of Court, at page 62, +points out: + +The per curiam opinion of the Florida Supreme Court of June 21, 1979 +(403 So.2d 926) provides: On March 8, 1979, the Court proposed new Rule +1.450 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure which would provide for the +disposal of exhibits and depositions in civil matters. Absent further action by +the Court, the proposed rule was to become effective July 2, 1979. The Court +has carefully considered the responses received regarding proposed Rule +1.450(f) and now feels that the July 2, 1979, effective date does not allow +sufficient time for full reflection on matters raised in these responses. +Therefore, the effective date for Rule 1.450(f) is, by this order, delayed until +further order of the Court. + +The retention of court records is the subject of Florida Rule of Judicial +Administration 2.075. + + + + Rule 1.452. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.452 + +RULE 1.452. QUESTIONS BY JURORS. +(a) Questions Permitted. The court shall permit jurors to submit to the + +court written questions directed to witnesses or to the court. Such questions +will be submitted after all counsel have concluded their questioning of a +witness. + +(b) Procedure. Any juror who has a question directed to the witness or the +court shall prepare an unsigned, written question and give the question to the +bailiff, who will give the question to the judge. + +(c) Objections. Out of the presence of the jury, the judge will read the +question to all counsel, allow counsel to see the written question, and give +counsel an opportunity to object to the question. + + + + Rule 1.455. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.455 + +RULE 1.455. JUROR NOTEBOOKS. +In its discretion, the court may authorize documents and exhibits to be + +included in notebooks for use by the jurors during trial to aid them in +performing their duties. + + + + Rule 1.460. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.460 + +RULE 1.460. CONTINUANCES. +A motion for continuance shall be in writing unless made at a trial and, + +except for good cause shown, shall be signed by the party requesting the +continuance. The motion shall state all of the facts that the movant contends +entitle the movant to a continuance. If a continuance is sought on the ground +of nonavailability of a witness, the motion must show when it is believed the +witness will be available. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (a), deleted by amendment, was initially +adopted when trials were set at a docket sounding prescribed by statute. Even +then, the rule was honored more in the breach than the observance. Trials are +no longer uniformly set in that manner, and continuances are granted +generally without reference to the rule. Under the revised rule, motions for +continuance can be filed at any time that the need arises and need not be in +writing if the parties are before the court. + +1988 Amendment. The supreme court, by adopting Florida Rule of +Judicial Administration 2.085(c), effective July 1, 1986, required all motions +for continuance to be signed by the litigant requesting the continuance. The +amendment conforms rule 1.460 to rule 2.085(c); but, by including an +exception for good cause, it recognizes that circumstances justifying a +continuance may excuse the signature of the party. + + + + Rule 1.470. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.470 + +RULE 1.470. EXCEPTIONS UNNECESSARY; JURY +INSTRUCTIONS. + +(a) Adverse Ruling. For appellate purposes no exception shall be +necessary to any adverse ruling, order, instruction, or thing whatsoever said +or done at the trial or prior thereto or after verdict, which was said or done +after objection made and considered by the trial court and which affected the +substantial rights of the party complaining and which is assigned as error. + +(b) Instructions to Jury. The Florida Standard Jury Instructions appearing +on The Florida Bars website may be used, as provided in Florida Rule of +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.570, by the trial judges in +instructing the jury in civil actions. Not later than at the close of the evidence, +the parties shall file written requests that the court instruct the jury on the law +set forth in such requests. The court shall then require counsel to appear +before it to settle the instructions to be given. At such conference, all +objections shall be made and ruled upon and the court shall inform counsel of +such instructions as it will give. No party may assign as error the giving of +any instruction unless that party objects thereto at such time, or the failure to +give any instruction unless that party requested the same. The court shall +orally instruct the jury before or after the arguments of counsel and may +provide appropriate instructions during the trial. If the instructions are given +prior to final argument, the presiding judge shall give the jury final +procedural instructions after final arguments are concluded and prior to +deliberations. The court shall provide each juror with a written set of the +instructions for his or her use in deliberations. The court shall file a copy of +such instructions. + +(c) Orders on New Trial, Directed Verdicts, etc. It shall not be necessary +to object or except to any order granting or denying motions for new trials, +directed verdicts, or judgments non obstante veredicto or in arrest of +judgment to entitle the party against whom such ruling is made to have the +same reviewed by an appellate court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +1988 Amendment. The word general in the third sentence of +subdivision (b) was deleted to require the court to specifically inform counsel +of the charges it intends to give. The last sentence of that subdivision was +amended to encourage judges to furnish written copies of their charges to +juries. + +2010 Amendment. Portions of form 1.985 were modified and moved to +subdivision (b) of rule 1.470 to require the court to use published standard +instructions where applicable and necessary, to permit the judge to vary from +the published standard jury instructions and notes only when necessary to +accurately and sufficiently instruct the jury, and to require the parties to +object to preserve error in variance from published standard jury instructions +and notes. + +2014 Amendment. Florida Standard Jury Instructions include the Florida +Standard Jury InstructionsContract and Business Cases. + + + + Rule 1.480. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.480 + +RULE 1.480. MOTION FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT. +(a) Effect. A party who moves for a directed verdict at the close of the + +evidence offered by the adverse party may offer evidence in the event the +motion is denied without having reserved the right to do so and to the same +extent as if the motion had not been made. The denial of a motion for a +directed verdict shall not operate to discharge the jury. A motion for a +directed verdict shall state the specific grounds therefor. The order directing a +verdict is effective without any assent of the jury. + +(b) Reservation of Decision on Motion. When a motion for a directed +verdict is denied or for any reason is not granted, the court is deemed to have +submitted the action to the jury subject to a later determination of the legal +questions raised by the motion. Within 15 days after the return of a verdict, a +party who has timely moved for a directed verdict may serve a motion to set +aside the verdict and any judgment entered thereon and to enter judgment in +accordance with the motion for a directed verdict. If a verdict was not +returned, a party who has timely moved for a directed verdict may serve a +motion for judgment in accordance with the motion for a directed verdict +within 15 days after discharge of the jury. + +(c) Joined with Motion for New Trial. A motion for a new trial may be +joined with this motion or a new trial may be requested in the alternative. If a +verdict was returned, the court may allow the judgment to stand or may +reopen the judgment and either order a new trial or direct the entry of +judgment as if the requested verdict had been directed. If no verdict was +returned, the court may direct the entry of judgment as if the requested +verdict had been directed or may order a new trial. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to clarify that the time +limitations in this rule are based on service. + +2010 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to conform to 2006 +changes to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b) eliminating the requirement +for renewing at the close of all the evidence a motion for directed verdict + + + +already made at the close of an adverse partys evidence. +2013 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to change the time for + +service of a motion from 10 to 15 days after the specified event. + + + + Rule 1.481. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.481 + +RULE 1.481. VERDICTS. +In all actions when punitive damages are sought, the verdict shall state the + +amount of punitive damages separately from the amounts of other damages +awarded. + + + + Rule 1.490. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.490 + +RULE 1.490. MAGISTRATES. +(a) General Magistrates. Judges of the circuit court may appoint as many + +general magistrates from among the members of the Bar in the circuit as the +judges find necessary, and the general magistrates shall continue in office +until removed by the court. The order making an appointment shall be +recorded. Every person appointed as a general magistrate shall take the oath +required of officers by the Constitution and the oath shall be recorded before +the magistrate discharges any duties of that office. + +(b) Special Magistrates. The court may appoint members of The Florida +Bar as special magistrates for any particular service required by the court, and +they shall be governed by all the provisions of law and rules relating to +magistrates except they shall not be required to make oath or give bond +unless specifically required by the order appointing them. Upon a showing +that the appointment is advisable, a person other than a member of the Bar +may be appointed. + +(c) Reference. No reference shall be to a magistrate, either general or +special, without the consent of the parties. When a reference is made to a +magistrate, either party may set the action for hearing before the magistrate. + +(d) General Powers and Duties. Every magistrate shall perform all of the +duties that pertain to the office according to the practice in chancery and +under the direction of the court. Process issued by a magistrate shall be +directed as provided by law. Hearings before any magistrate, examiner, or +commissioner shall be held in the county where the action is pending, but +hearings may be held at any place by order of court within or without the +state to meet the convenience of the witnesses or the parties. All grounds of +disqualification of a judge shall apply to magistrates. Magistrates shall not +practice law of the same case type in the court in any county or circuit the +magistrate is appointed to served. + +(e) Bond. When not otherwise provided by law, the court may require +magistrates who are appointed to dispose of real or personal property to give +bond and surety conditioned for the proper payment of all moneys that may +come into their hands and for the due performance of their duties as the court + + + +may direct. The bond shall be made payable to the State of Florida and shall +be for the benefit of all persons aggrieved by any act of the magistrate. + +(f) Notice of Hearings. The magistrate shall assign a time and place for +proceedings as soon as reasonably possible after the reference is made and +give notice to each of the parties. The notice or order setting a matter for +hearing before the magistrate must state if electronic recording or a court +reporter will be used to create a record of the proceedings. If electronic +recording is to be used, the notice must state that any party may have a court +reporter transcribe the record of the proceedings at that partys expense. If +any party fails to appear, the magistrate may proceed ex parte or may adjourn +the proceeding to a future day, giving notice to the absent party of the +adjournment. + +(g) Hearings. The magistrate shall proceed with reasonable diligence in +every reference and with the least practicable delay. Any party may apply to +the court for an order to the magistrate to speed the proceedings and to make +the report and to certify to the court the reason for any delay. The evidence +shall be taken by the magistrate or by some other person under the +magistrates authority in the magistrates presence and shall be filed with the +magistrates report. The magistrate shall have authority to examine on oath +the parties and all witnesses produced by the parties on all matters contained +in the reference and to require production of all books, papers, writings, +vouchers, and other documents applicable to the referenced matters. The +magistrate shall admit evidence by deposition or that is otherwise admissible +in court. The magistrate may take all actions concerning evidence that can be +taken by the court and in the same manner. All parties accounting before a +magistrate shall bring in their accounts in the form of accounts payable and +receivable, and any other parties who are not satisfied with the account may +examine the accounting party orally or by interrogatories or deposition as the +magistrate directs. All depositions and documents that have been taken or +used previously in the action may be used before the magistrate. + +(h) Magistrates Report. The magistrate must file the report on the +referenced matters and served copies on all parties, and include the name and +address of any court reporter who transcribed the proceedings. The +magistrates report must contain the following language in bold type: + +IF YOU WISH TO SEEK REVIEW OF THE REPORT AND + + + +RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE MAGISTRATE, YOU MUST +FILE EXCEPTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH FLORIDA RULE OF +CIVIL PROCEDURE 1.490(i). YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE +THE COURT WITH A RECORD SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT YOUR +EXCEPTIONS OR YOUR EXCEPTIONS WILL BE DENIED. A RECORD +ORDINARILY INCLUDES A WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT OF ALL +RELEVANT PROCEEDINGS. THE PERSON SEEKING REVIEW MUST +HAVE THE TRANSCRIPT PREPARED IF NECESSARY FOR THE +COURTS REVIEW. + +(i) Filing Report; Notice; Exceptions. The parties may file exceptions to +the report within 10 days after it is served. Any party may file cross- +exceptions within 5 days from the service of the exceptions. If no exceptions +are timely filed, the court shall take appropriate action on the report. If +exceptions are timely filed, the court shall resolve the exceptions at a hearing +on reasonable notice. The filing of cross-exceptions shall not delay a hearing +on the exceptions and cross-exceptions unless good cause is shown. + +(j) Record. A party filing exceptions to the magistrates report must +provide the court in advance of the hearing a record sufficient to support that +partys exceptions. + +(1) The record shall include the court file, designated portions of the +transcript of proceedings before the magistrate, and all depositions and +evidence presented to the magistrate. The designated transcript portions +must be delivered to the court and all other parties at least 48 hours before +the hearing. + +(2) If the party filing exceptions has the court reporter prepare less than +a full transcript of proceedings before the magistrate, that party must +promptly file a notice designating the portions of the transcript that have +been ordered. The other parties must be given reasonable time after service +of the notice to arrange for the preparation and designation of other +portions of the transcript for the court to consider at the hearing. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1971 Amendment. The entire rule has been revised. Obsolete language +has been omitted and changes made to meet objections shown by the use of +local rules in many circuits. Subdivisions (a) and (b) are not substantially + + + +changed. Subdivision (c) is shortened and eliminates the useless priority for +setting the matter for hearing to permit either party to go forward. +Subdivision (d) eliminates the right of the parties to stipulate to the place of +hearing. Subdivision (e) is not substantially changed. Subdivisions (f), (g), +(h), and (i) are combined. The right to use affidavits is eliminated because of +the unavailability of cross-examination and possible constitutional questions. +The vague general authority of the magistrate under subdivision (g) is made +specific by limiting it to actions that the court could take. Subdivision (j) is +repealed because it is covered in the new subdivision (f). Subdivision (g) is +the same as former subdivision (k) after eliminating the reference to +affidavits. Subdivision (h) is the same as former subdivision (l). + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (d) is amended to delete the specific +reference to the direction of process so that process issued by the master will +be governed by the law applicable to process generally. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. The consent of all parties is required for any reference +to a special master. Special masters may be used as provided by statute even +with the rule change. See Slatcoff v. Dezen, 74 So. 2d 59 (Fla. 1954). + + + + Rule 1.491. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.491 + +RULE 1.491. GENERAL MAGISTRATES FOR RESIDENTIAL +MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE MATTERS. + +(a) General Magistrates for Residential Mortgage Foreclosure. The +chief judge of each judicial circuit shall appoint such number of general +magistrates to handle only residential mortgage foreclosures from among the +members of the Bar in the circuit as are necessary to expeditiously preside +over all actions and suits for the foreclosure of a mortgage on residential real +property; and any other matter concerning the foreclosure of a mortgage on +residential real property as allowed by the administrative order of the chief +judge. Such general magistrates shall continue in office until removed by the +court. The order making an appointment shall be recorded. Every person +appointed as a general magistrate shall take the oath required of officers by +the Constitution and the oath shall be recorded before the magistrate +discharges any duties of that office. General magistrates appointed to handle +residential mortgage foreclosure matters only shall not be required to give +bond or surety. + +(b) Reference. +(1) Consent to a magistrate for residential mortgage foreclosure actions + +and suits may be express or may be implied in accordance with the +requirements of this rule. + +(A) A written objection to the referral to a magistrate handling +residential mortgage foreclosures must be filed within 10 days of the +service of the order of referral or within the time to respond to the initial +pleading, whichever is later. + +(B) If the time set for the hearing is less than 10 days after service of +the order of referral, the objection must be filed before commencement +of the hearing. + +(C) Failure to file a written objection to a referral to the magistrate +handling residential mortgage foreclosures within the applicable time +period is deemed to be consent to the order of referral. +(2) The order of referral to a magistrate handling residential mortgage + + + +foreclosures shall be in substantial conformity with this rule and shall +contain the following language in bold type: +A REFERRAL TO A MAGISTRATE FOR A RESIDENTIAL + +MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE MATTER REQUIRES THE CONSENT OF +ALL PARTIES. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO HAVE THIS MATTER +HEARD BEFORE A JUDGE. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HAVE THIS +MATTER HEARD BEFORE A MAGISTRATE, YOU MUST FILE A +WRITTEN OBJECTION TO THE REFERRAL WITHIN 10 DAYS OF THE +TIME OF SERVICE OF THIS ORDER OR WITHIN THE TIME TO +RESPOND TO THE INITIAL PLEADING, WHICHEVER IS LATER. IF +THE TIME SET FOR THE HEARING IS LESS THAN 10 DAYS AFTER +THE SERVICE OF THIS ORDER, THE OBJECTION MUST BE MADE +BEFORE THE HEARING. FAILURE TO FILE A WRITTEN OBJECTION +WITHIN THE APPLICABLE TIME PERIOD IS DEEMED TO BE +CONSENT TO THE REFERRAL. REVIEW OF THE REPORT AND +RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE MAGISTRATE SHALL BE BY +EXCEPTIONS AS PROVIDED IN THIS RULE. A RECORD, WHICH +INCLUDES A TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS, MAY BE REQUIRED +TO SUPPORT THE EXCEPTIONS. + +When a reference is made to a magistrate, either party may set the action +for hearing before the magistrate. +(c) General Powers and Duties. The provisions for the general powers + +and duties of a magistrate in rule 1.490(d) shall apply to proceedings under +this rule. + +(d) Notice of Hearings; Hearings. The provisions for notice of hearings +and hearings in rules 1.490(f)-(g) shall apply to proceedings under this rule. + +(e) Magistrates Report. The provisions for the requirement of the +magistrates report in rule 1.490(h) shall apply to proceedings under this rule. + +(f) Filing Report; Notice; Exceptions; Record. The provisions for filing +the report, notice, exceptions to the report, and requirements for a record in +rule 1.490(i)(j) shall apply to proceedings under this rule. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2014 Adoption. This rule is the result of an emergency petition by the + + + +Trial Court Budget Commission and is intended to alleviate the backlog of +residential mortgage foreclosure cases that Florida courts are currently facing. + +2015 Amendment. The changes are intended to adopt certain procedural +changes made to rule 1.490 by In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Civil +Procedure, 131 So. 3d 643 (Fla. 2013). + + + + Rule 1.500. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.500 + +RULE 1.500. DEFAULTS AND FINAL JUDGMENTS THEREON. +(a) By the Clerk. When a party against whom affirmative relief is sought + +has failed to file or serve any document in the action, the party seeking relief +may have the clerk enter a default against the party failing to serve or file +such document. + +(b) By the Court. When a party against whom affirmative relief is sought +has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by these rules or any +applicable statute or any order of court, the court may enter a default against +such party; provided that if such party has filed or served any document in +the action, that party must be served with notice of the application for default. + +(c) Right to Plead. A party may plead or otherwise defend at any time +before default is entered. If a party in default files any document after the +default is entered, the clerk must notify the party of the entry of the default. +The clerk must make an entry on the progress docket showing the +notification. + +(d) Setting aside Default. The court may set aside a default, and if a final +judgment consequent thereon has been entered, the court may set it aside in +accordance with rule 1.540(b). + +(e) Final Judgment. Final judgments after default may be entered by the +court at any time, but no judgment may be entered against an infant or +incompetent person unless represented in the action by a general guardian, +committee, conservator, or other representative who has appeared in it or +unless the court has made an order under rule 1.210(b) providing that no +representative is necessary for the infant or incompetent. If it is necessary to +take an account or to determine the amount of damages or to establish the +truth of any averment by evidence or to make an investigation of any other +matter to enable the court to enter judgment or to effectuate it, the court may +receive affidavits, make references, or conduct hearings as it deems necessary +and must accord a right of trial by jury to the parties when required by the +Constitution or any statute. + +COURT COMMENTARY + + + +1984 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to change the method by +which the clerk handles papers filed after a default is entered. Instead of +returning the papers to the party in default, the clerk will now be required to +file them and merely notify the party that a default has been entered. The +party can then take whatever action the party believes is appropriate. + +This is to enable the court to judge the effect, if any, of the filing of any +paper upon the default and the propriety of entering final judgment without +notice to the party against whom the default was entered. + + + + Rule 1.510. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510 + +RULE 1.510. SUMMARY JUDGMENT. +(a) Motion for Summary Judgment or Partial Summary Judgment. A + +party may move for summary judgment, identifying each claim or defense +or the part of each claim or defenseon which summary judgment is sought. +The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no +genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment +as a matter of law. The court shall state on the record the reasons for granting +or denying the motion. The summary judgment standard provided for in this +rule shall be construed and applied in accordance with the federal summary +judgment standard. + +(b) Time to File a Motion. A party may move for summary judgment at +any time after the expiration of 20 days from the commencement of the +action or after service of a motion for summary judgment by the adverse +party. The movant must serve the motion for summary judgment at least 40 +days before the time fixed for the hearing. + +(c) Procedures. (1) Supporting Factual Positions. A party asserting that a +fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must support the assertion by: + +(A) citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including +depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or +declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the +motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials; or + +(B) showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or +presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce +admissible evidence to support the fact. +(2) Objection That a Fact Is Not Supported by Admissible Evidence. A + +party may object that the material cited to support or dispute a fact cannot +be presented in a form that would be admissible in evidence. + +(3) Materials Not Cited. The court need consider only the cited +materials, but it may consider other materials in the record. + +(4) Affidavits or Declarations. An affidavit or declaration used to +support or oppose a motion must be made on personal knowledge, set out + + + +facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant or +declarant is competent to testify on the matters stated. + +(5) Timing for Supporting Factual Positions. At the time of filing a +motion for summary judgment, the movant must also serve the movants +supporting factual position as provided in subdivision (1) above. At least +20 days before the time fixed for the hearing, the nonmovant must serve a +response that includes the nonmovants supporting factual position as +provided in subdivision (1) above. +(d) When Facts Are Unavailable to the Nonmovant. If a nonmovant + +shows by affidavit or declaration that, for specified reasons, it cannot present +facts essential to justify its opposition, the court may: + +(1) defer considering the motion or deny it; +(2) allow time to obtain affidavits or declarations or to take discovery; or +(3) issue any other appropriate order. + +(e) Failing to Properly Support or Address a Fact. If a party fails to +properly support an assertion of fact or fails to properly address another +partys assertion of fact as required by rule 1.510(c), the court may: + +(1) give an opportunity to properly support or address the fact; +(2) consider the fact undisputed for purposes of the motion; +(3) grant summary judgment if the motion and supporting materials + +including the facts considered undisputedshow that the movant is +entitled to it; or + +(4) issue any other appropriate order. +(f) Judgment Independent of the Motion. After giving notice and a + +reasonable time to respond, the court may: +(1) grant summary judgment for a nonmovant; +(2) grant the motion on grounds not raised by a party; or +(3) consider summary judgment on its own after identifying for the + +parties material facts that may not be genuinely in dispute. +(g) Failing to Grant All the Requested Relief. If the court does not grant + +all the relief requested by the motion, it may enter an order stating any + + + +material factincluding an item of damages or other reliefthat is not +genuinely in dispute and treating the fact as established in the case. + +(h) Affidavit or Declaration Submitted in Bad Faith. If satisfied that an +affidavit or declaration under this rule is submitted in bad faith or solely for +delay, the courtafter notice and a reasonable time to respondmay order +the submitting party to pay the other party the reasonable expenses, including +attorneys fees, it incurred as a result. An offending party or attorney may +also be held in contempt or subjected to other appropriate sanctions. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1976 Amendment. Subdivision (c) has been amended to require a movant +to state with particularity the grounds and legal authority which the movant +will rely upon in seeking summary judgment. This amendment will eliminate +surprise and bring the summary judgment rule into conformity with the +identical provision in rule 1.140(b) with respect to motions to dismiss. + +1992 Amendment. The amendment to subdivision (c) will require timely +service of opposing affidavits, whether by mail or by delivery, prior to the +day of the hearing on a motion for summary judgment. + +2005 Amendment. Subdivision (c) has been amended to ensure that the +moving party and the adverse party are each given advance notice of and, +where appropriate, copies of the evidentiary material on which the other party +relies in connection with a summary judgment motion. + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (c) is amended to reflect the relocation of +the service rule from rule 1.080 to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. + +2021 Amendment. The rule is amended to adopt almost all the text of +Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The federal summary judgment +standard refers to the principles announced in Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 +U.S. 317 (1986), Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986), and +Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574 +(1986), and more generally to case law interpreting Federal Rule of Civil +Procedure 56. + + + + Rule 1.520. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.520 + +RULE 1.520. VIEW. +Upon motion of either party the jury may be taken to view the premises or + +place in question or any property, matter, or thing relating to the controversy +between the parties when it appears that view is necessary to a just decision; +but the party making the motion shall advance a sum sufficient to defray the +expenses of the jury and the officer who attends them in taking the view, +which expense shall be taxed as costs if the party who advanced it prevails. + + + + Rule 1.525. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.525 + +RULE 1.525. MOTIONS FOR COSTS AND ATTORNEYS FEES. +Any party seeking a judgment taxing costs, attorneys fees, or both shall + +serve a motion no later than 30 days after filing of the judgment, including a +judgment of dismissal, or the service of a notice of voluntary dismissal, +which judgment or notice concludes the action as to that party. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2000 Adoption. This rule is intended to establish a time requirement to +serve motions for costs and attorneys fees. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +2000 Adoption. This rule only establishes time requirements for serving +motions for costs, attorneys fees, or both, and in no way affects or overrules +the pleading requirements outlined by this Court in Stockman v. Downs, 573 +So. 2d 835 (Fla. 1991). + + + + Rule 1.530. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.530 + +RULE 1.530. MOTIONS FOR NEW TRIAL AND REHEARING; +AMENDMENTS OF JUDGMENTS; REMITTITUR OR ADDITUR. + +(a) Jury and Non-Jury Actions. A new trial may be granted to all or any +of the parties and on all or a part of the issues. To preserve for appeal a +challenge to the sufficiency of a trial courts findings in the final judgment, a +party must raise that issue in a motion for rehearing under this rule. On a +motion for a rehearing of matters heard without a jury, including summary +judgments, the court may open the judgment if one has been entered, take +additional testimony, and enter a new judgment. + +(b) Time for Motion. A motion for new trial or for rehearing must be +served not later than 15 days after the return of the verdict in a jury action or +the date of filing of the judgment in a non-jury action. A timely motion may +be amended to state new grounds in the discretion of the court at any time +before the motion is determined. + +(c) Time for Serving Affidavits. When a motion for a new trial is based +on affidavits, the affidavits must be served with the motion. The opposing +party has 10 days after such service within which to serve opposing +affidavits, which period may be extended for an additional period not +exceeding 20 days either by the court for good cause shown or by the parties +by written stipulation. The court may permit reply affidavits. + +(d) On Initiative of Court. Not later than 15 days after the date of filing +of the judgment or within the time of ruling on a timely motion for a +rehearing or a new trial made by a party, the court of its own initiative may +order a rehearing or a new trial for any reason for which it might have +granted a rehearing or a new trial on motion of a party. + +(e) When Motion Is Unnecessary; Non-Jury Action. In a non-jury +action, the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment may be raised +on appeal whether or not the party raising the question has made any +objection thereto in the trial court or made a motion for rehearing, for new +trial, or to alter or amend the judgment. + +(f) Order Granting to Specify Grounds. All orders granting a new trial +must state the specific grounds therefor. If such an order is appealed and does + + + +not state the specific grounds, the appellate court shall relinquish its +jurisdiction to the trial court for entry of an order specifying the grounds for +granting the new trial. + +(g) Motion to Alter or Amend a Judgment. A motion to alter or amend +the judgment shall be served not later than 15 days after the date of filing of +the judgment, except that this rule does not affect the remedies in rule +1.540(b). + +(h) Motion for Remittitur or Additur. (1) Not later than 15 days after the +return of the verdict in a jury action or the date of filing of the judgment in a +non-jury action, any party may serve a motion for remittitur or additur. The +motion must state the applicable Florida law under which it is being made, +the amount the movant contends the verdict should be, and the specific +evidence that supports the amount stated or a statement of the improper +elements of damages included in the damages award. + +(2) If a remittitur or additur is granted, the court must state the specific +statutory criteria relied on. + +(3) Any party adversely affected by the order granting remittitur or +additur may reject the award and elect a new trial on the issue of damages +only by filing a written election within 15 days after the order granting +remittitur or additur is filed. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1992 Amendment. In subdivision (e), the reference to assignments of +error is eliminated to conform to amendments to the Florida Rules of +Appellate Procedure. + +2013 Amendment. Subdivisions (b) and (g) are amended to change the +deadlines for service of certain motions from 10 to 15 days after the specified +event. Subdivision (d) is amended to change the deadline for a court to act of +its own initiative. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Subdivision (b): This clarifies the time in which a +motion for rehearing may be served. It specifies that the date of filing as + + + +shown on the face of the judgment in a non-jury action is the date from which +the time for serving a motion for rehearing is calculated. + +There is no change in the time for serving a motion for new trial in a jury +action, except the motion may be served before the rendition of the judgment. + +2022 Amendments. The amendment to subdivision (a) does not address or +affect, by negative implication, any other instance in which a motion for +rehearing is or might be necessary to preserve an issue for appellate review. + + + + Rule 1.540. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540 + +RULE 1.540. RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT, DECREES, OR ORDERS. +(a) Clerical Mistakes. Clerical mistakes in judgments, decrees, or other + +parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may +be corrected by the court at any time on its own initiative or on the motion of +any party and after such notice, if any, as the court orders. During the +pendency of an appeal such mistakes may be so corrected before the record +on appeal is docketed in the appellate court, and thereafter while the appeal is +pending may be so corrected with leave of the appellate court. + +(b) Mistakes; Inadvertence; Excusable Neglect; Newly Discovered +Evidence; Fraud; etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court +may relieve a party or a partys legal representative from a final judgment, +decree, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: + +(1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; +(2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have + +been discovered in time to move for a new trial or rehearing; +(3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), + +misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; +(4) that the judgment, decree, or order is void; or +(5) that the judgment, decree, or order has been satisfied, released, or + +discharged, or a prior judgment, decree, or order upon which it is based has +been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the +judgment, decree, or order should have prospective application. +The motion shall be filed within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), + +and (3) not more than 1 year after the judgment, decree, order, or proceeding +was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision does not affect the +finality of a judgment, decree, or order or suspend its operation. This rule +does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action to +relieve a party from a judgment, decree, order, or proceeding or to set aside a +judgment or decree for fraud upon the court. + +Writs of coram nobis, coram vobis, audita querela, and bills of review and + + + +bills in the nature of a bill of review are abolished, and the procedure for +obtaining any relief from a judgment or decree shall be by motion as +prescribed in these rules or by an independent action. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1992 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to remove the 1-year +limitation for a motion under this rule based on fraudulent financial affidavits +in marital cases. + +2003 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to clarify that motions +must be filed. + + + + Rule 1.545. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.545 + +RULE 1.545. FINAL DISPOSITION FORM. +A final disposition form (form 1.998) must be filed with the clerk by the + +prevailing party at the time of the filing of the order or judgment which +disposes of the action. If the action is settled without a court order or +judgment being entered, or dismissed by the parties, the plaintiff or petitioner +immediately must file a final disposition form (form 1.998) with the clerk. +The clerk must complete the final disposition form for a party appearing pro +se, or when the action is dismissed by court order for lack of prosecution +pursuant to rule 1.420(e). + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2016 Amendment. This rule is identical to former rule 1.100(c)(3). + + + + Rule 1.550. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.550 + +RULE 1.550. EXECUTIONS AND FINAL PROCESS. +(a) Issuance. Executions on judgments shall issue during the life of the + +judgment on the oral request of the party entitled to it or that partys attorney +without praecipe. No execution or other final process shall issue until the +judgment on which it is based has been recorded nor within the time for +serving a motion for new trial or rehearing, and if a motion for new trial or +rehearing is timely served, until it is determined; provided execution or other +final process may be issued on special order of the court at any time after +judgment. + +(b) Stay. The court before which an execution or other process based on a +final judgment is returnable may stay such execution or other process and +suspend proceedings thereon for good cause on motion and notice to all +adverse parties. + + + + Rule 1.560. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.560 + +RULE 1.560. DISCOVERY IN AID OF EXECUTION. +(a) In General. In aid of a judgment, decree, or execution the judgment + +creditor or the successor in interest, when that interest appears of record, may +obtain discovery from any person, including the judgment debtor, in the +manner provided in these rules. + +(b) Fact Information Sheet. In addition to any other discovery available +to a judgment creditor under this rule, the court, at the request of the +judgment creditor, shall order the judgment debtor or debtors to complete +form 1.977, including all required attachments, within 45 days of the order or +such other reasonable time as determined by the court. Failure to obey the +order may be considered contempt of court. + +(c) Final Judgment Enforcement Paragraph. In any final judgment, the +judge shall include the following enforcement paragraph if requested by the +prevailing party or attorney: + +It is further ordered and adjudged that the judgment debtor(s) shall +complete under oath Florida Rule of Civil Procedure Form 1.977 (Fact +Information Sheet), including all required attachments, and serve it on the +judgment creditors attorney, or the judgment creditor if the judgment +creditor is not represented by an attorney, within 45 days from the date of this +final judgment, unless the final judgment is satisfied or post-judgment +discovery is stayed. + +Jurisdiction of this case is retained to enter further orders that are proper to +compel the judgment debtor(s) to complete form 1.977, including all required +attachments, and serve it on the judgment creditors attorney, or the judgment +creditor if the judgment creditor is not represented by an attorney. + +(d) Information Regarding Assets of Judgment Debtors Spouse. In +any final judgment, if requested by the judgment creditor, the court shall +include the additional Spouse Related Portion of the fact information sheet +upon a showing that a proper predicate exists for discovery of separate +income and assets of the judgment debtors spouse. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +1972 Amendment. The rule is expanded to permit discovery in any +manner permitted by the rules and conforms to the 1970 change in Federal +Rule of Civil Procedure 69(a). + +2000 Amendment. Subdivisions (b)-(e) were added and patterned after +Florida Small Claims Rule 7.221(a) and Form 7.343. Although the judgment +creditor is entitled to broad discovery into the judgment debtors finances, +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(b); Jim Appleys Tru-Arc, Inc. v. Liquid Extraction +Systems, 526 So. 2d 177, 179 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988), inquiry into the individual +assets of the judgment debtors spouse may be limited until a proper +predicate has been shown. Tru-Arc, Inc. 526 So. 2d at 179; Rose Printing Co. +v. DAmato, 338 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976). + +Failure to complete form 1.977 as ordered may be considered contempt of +court. + +2013 Amendment. Subdivision (e) was deleted because the filing of a +notice of compliance is unnecessary for the judgment creditor to seek relief +from the court for noncompliance with this rule, and because the Fact +Information Sheet itself should not be filed with the clerk of the court. + + + + Rule 1.570. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.570 + +RULE 1.570. ENFORCEMENT OF FINAL JUDGMENTS. +(a) Money Judgments. Final process to enforce a judgment solely for the + +payment of money shall be by execution, writ of garnishment, or other +appropriate process or proceedings. + +(b) Property Recovery. Final process to enforce a judgment for the +recovery of property shall be by a writ of possession for real property and by +a writ of replevin, distress writ, writ of garnishment, or other appropriate +process or proceedings for other property. + +(c) Performance of an Act. If judgment is for the performance of a +specific act or contract: + +(1) the judgment shall specify the time within which the act shall be +performed. If the act is not performed within the time specified, the party +seeking enforcement of the judgment shall make an affidavit that the +judgment has not been complied with within the prescribed time and the +clerk shall issue a writ of attachment against the delinquent party. The +delinquent party shall not be released from the writ of attachment until that +party has complied with the judgment and paid all costs accruing because +of the failure to perform the act. If the delinquent party cannot be found, +the party seeking enforcement of the judgment shall file an affidavit to this +effect and the court shall issue a writ of sequestration against the +delinquent partys property. The writ of sequestration shall not be +dissolved until the delinquent party complies with the judgment; + +(2) the court may hold the disobedient party in contempt; or +(3) the court may appoint some person, not a party to the action, to + +perform the act insofar as practicable. The performance of the act by the +person appointed shall have the same effect as if performed by the party +against whom the judgment was entered. +(d) Vesting Title. If the judgment is for a conveyance, transfer, release, or + +acquittance of real or personal property, the judgment shall have the effect of +a duly executed conveyance, transfer, release, or acquittance that is recorded +in the county where the judgment is recorded. A judgment under this + + + +subdivision shall be effective notwithstanding any disability of a party. +(e) Proceedings Supplementary. Proceedings supplementary to execution + +and related discovery shall proceed as provided by chapter 56, Florida +Statutes. Notices to Appear, as defined by law, and supplemental complaints +in proceedings supplementary must be served as provided by the law and +rules of procedure for service of process. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. This rule has been subdivided and amended to make it +more easily understood. No change in the substance of the rule is intended. +Subdivision (d) is partly derived from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 70. + +2018 Amendment. Subdivision (e) has been added to address legislative +amendments to chapter 56, Florida Statutes (2016). + + + + Rule 1.580. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.580 + +RULE 1.580. WRIT OF POSSESSION. +(a) Issuance. When a judgment or order is for the delivery of possession of + +real property, the judgment or order shall direct the clerk to issue a writ of +possession. The clerk shall issue the writ forthwith and deliver it to the sheriff +for execution. + +(b) Third-Party Claims. If a person other than the party against whom the +writ of possession is issued is in possession of the property, that person may +retain possession of the property by filing with the sheriff an affidavit that the +person is entitled to possession of the property, specifying the nature of the +claim. Thereupon the sheriff shall desist from enforcing the writ and shall +serve a copy of the affidavit on the party causing issuance of the writ of +possession. The party causing issuance of the writ may apply to the court for +an order directing the sheriff to complete execution of the writ. The court +shall determine the right of possession in the property and shall order the +sheriff to continue to execute the writ or shall stay execution of the writ, if +appropriate. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. There was inadvertently continued the difference +between writs of assistance and writs of possession when law and chancery +procedure was consolidated. The amendment eliminates the distinction. Writs +of assistance are combined with writs of possession. The amendment +provides for issuance and the determination of third-party claims. The only +change is to shift the burden of the affidavit from the person causing the writ +to be executed to the third person who contends that its execution is +inappropriate. + + + + Rule 1.590. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.590 + +RULE 1.590. PROCESS IN BEHALF OF AND AGAINST PERSONS +NOT PARTIES. + +Every person who is not a party to the action who has obtained an order, or +in whose favor an order has been made, may enforce obedience to such order +by the same process as if that person were a party, and every person, not a +party, against whom obedience to any order may be enforced shall be liable +to the same process for enforcing obedience to such orders as if that person +were a party. + + + + Rule 1.600. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.600 + +RULE 1.600. DEPOSITS IN COURT. +In an action in which any part of the relief sought is a judgment for a sum + +of money or the disposition of a sum of money or the disposition of any other +thing capable of delivery, a party may deposit all or any part of such sum or +thing with the court upon notice to every other party and by leave of court. +Money paid into court under this rule shall be deposited and withdrawn by +order of court. + + + + Rule 1.610. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.610 + +RULE 1.610. INJUNCTIONS. +(a) Temporary Injunction. + +(1) A temporary injunction may be granted without written or oral notice +to the adverse party only if: + +(A) it appears from the specific facts shown by affidavit or verified +pleading that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will +result to the movant before the adverse party can be heard in opposition; +and + +(B) the movants attorney certifies in writing any efforts that have +been made to give notice and the reasons why notice should not be +required. +(2) No evidence other than the affidavit or verified pleading shall be + +used to support the application for a temporary injunction unless the +adverse party appears at the hearing or has received reasonable notice of +the hearing. Every temporary injunction granted without notice shall be +endorsed with the date and hour of entry and shall be filed forthwith in the +clerks office and shall define the injury, state findings by the court why +the injury may be irreparable, and give the reasons why the order was +granted without notice if notice was not given. The temporary injunction +shall remain in effect until the further order of the court. +(b) Bond. No temporary injunction shall be entered unless a bond is given + +by the movant in an amount the court deems proper, conditioned for the +payment of costs and damages sustained by the adverse party if the adverse +party is wrongfully enjoined. Unless otherwise specified by the court, the +bond shall be posted within 5 days of entry of the order setting the bond. +When any injunction is issued on the pleading of a municipality or the state +or any officer, agency, or political subdivision thereof, the court may require +or dispense with a bond, with or without surety, and conditioned in the same +manner, having due regard for the public interest. No bond shall be required +for issuance of a temporary injunction issued solely to prevent physical injury +or abuse of a natural person. + + + +(c) Form and Scope. Every injunction shall specify the reasons for entry, +shall describe in reasonable detail the act or acts restrained without reference +to a pleading or another document, and shall be binding on the parties to the +action, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys and on those +persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice +of the injunction. + +(d) Motion to Dissolve. A party against whom a temporary injunction has +been granted may move to dissolve or modify it at any time. If a party moves +to dissolve or modify, the motion shall be heard within 5 days after the +movant applies for a hearing on the motion. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. This rule has been extensively amended so that it is +similar to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65. The requirement that an +injunction not be issued until a complaint was filed has been deleted as +unnecessary. A pleading seeking an injunction or temporary restraining order +must still be filed before either can be entered. The rule now provides for a +temporary restraining order without notice that will expire automatically +unless a hearing on a preliminary injunction is held and a preliminary +injunction granted. The contents of an injunctive order are specified. The +binding effect of an injunctive order is specified, but does not change existing +law. Motions to dissolve may be made and heard at any time. The trial on the +merits can be consolidated with a hearing on issuance of a preliminary +injunction, and the trial can be advanced to accommodate this. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Considerable dissatisfaction arose on the adoption of +the 1980 rule, particularly because of the creation of the temporary +restraining order with its inflexible time limits. See Sun Tech Inc. of South +Florida v. Fortune Personnel Agency of Fort Lauderdale, 412 So. 2d 962 +(Fla. 4th DCA 1982). The attempt to balance the rights of the parties in 1980 +failed because of court congestion and the inability in the existing +circumstances to accommodate the inflexible time limits. These changes will +restore injunction procedure to substantially the same as that existing before +the 1980 change. The temporary restraining order terminology and procedure + + + +is abolished. The former procedure of temporary and permanent injunctions +is restored. The requirement of findings and reasons and other details in an +injunctive order are retained. + +Subdivision (b) eliminates the need for a bond on a temporary injunction +issued to prevent physical injury or abuse of a natural person. + +Subdivision (e) institutes a requirement that a motion to dissolve an +injunction shall be heard within 5 days after the movant applies for it. This +provision emphasizes the importance of a prompt determination of the +propriety of injunctive relief granted without notice or, if the circumstances +have changed since the issuance of the injunctive order, the need for speedy +relief as a result of the changes. Former subdivisions (a), (b)(3), and (b)(4) +have been repealed because the new procedure makes them superfluous. The +right of the court to consolidate the hearing on a temporary injunction with +the trial of the action is not affected because that can still be accomplished +under rule 1.270(a). + + + + Rule 1.620. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.620 + +RULE 1.620. RECEIVERS. +(a) Notice. The provisions of rule 1.610 as to notice shall apply to + +applications for the appointment of receivers. +(b) Report. Every receiver shall file in the clerks office a true and + +complete inventory under oath of the property coming under the receivers +control or possession under the receivers appointment within 20 days after +appointment. Every 3 months unless the court otherwise orders, the receiver +shall file in the same office an inventory and account under oath of any +additional property or effects which the receiver has discovered or which +shall have come to the receivers hands since appointment, and of the amount +remaining in the hands of or invested by the receiver, and of the manner in +which the same is secured or invested, stating the balance due from or to the +receiver at the time of rendering the last account and the receipts and +expenditures since that time. When a receiver neglects to file the inventory +and account, the court shall enter an order requiring the receiver to file such +inventory and account and to pay out of the receivers own funds the +expenses of the order and the proceedings thereon within not more than 20 +days after being served with a copy of such order. + +(c) Bond. The court may grant leave to put the bond of the receiver in suit +against the sureties without notice to the sureties of the application for such +leave. + + + + Rule 1.625. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.625 + +RULE 1.625. PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SURETY ON JUDICIAL +BONDS. + +When any rule or statute requires or permits giving of bond by a party in a +judicial proceeding, the surety on the bond submits to the jurisdiction of the +court when the bond is approved. The surety must furnish the address for the +service of documents affecting the suretys liability on the bond to the officer +to whom the bond is given at that time. The liability of the surety may be +enforced on motion without the necessity of an independent action. The +motion must be served on the surety at the address furnished to the officer. +The surety must serve a response to the motion within 20 days after service +of the motion, asserting any defenses in law or in fact. If the surety fails to +serve a response within the time allowed, a default may be taken. If the surety +serves a response, the issues raised must be decided by the court on +reasonable notice to the parties. The right to jury trial shall not be abridged in +any such proceedings. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1990 Adoption. This rule is intended to avoid the necessity of an +independent action against a surety on judicial bonds. It does not abolish an +independent action if the obligee prefers to file one. + + + + Rule 1.630. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.630 + +RULE 1.630. EXTRAORDINARY REMEDIES. +(a) Applicability. This rule applies to actions for the issuance of writs of + +mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto, and habeas corpus. +(b) Initial Pleading. The initial pleading must be a complaint. It must + +contain: +(1) the facts on which the plaintiff relies for relief; +(2) a request for the relief sought; and +(3) if desired, argument in support of the complaint with citations of + +authority. +The caption must show the action filed in the name of the plaintiff in all + +cases and not on the relation of the state. When the complaint seeks a writ +directed to a lower court or to a governmental or administrative agency, a +copy of as much of the record as is necessary to support the plaintiffs +complaint must be attached. + +(c) Time. A complaint must be filed within the time provided by law. +(d) Process. If the complaint shows a prima facie case for relief, the court + +must issue: +(1) an order nisi in prohibition; +(2) an alternative writ in mandamus that may incorporate the complaint + +by reference only; +(3) a writ of quo warranto; or +(4) a writ of habeas corpus. + +The writ must be served in the manner prescribed by law. +(e) Response. Defendant must respond to the writ as provided in rule + +1.140, but the answer in quo warranto must show better title to the office +when the writ seeks an adjudication of the right to an office held by the +defendant. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2012 Amendment. Subdivision (d)(5) is amended to reflect the relocation +of the service rule from rule 1.080 to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.516. + +2013 Amendment. Rule 1.630 has been amended to remove any reference +to certiorari proceedings, which instead are governed by the Florida Rules of +Appellate Procedure. The Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure apply when +the circuit courts exercise their appellate jurisdiction. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1984 Amendment. Rule 1.630 replaces rules and statutes used before +1980 when the present Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure were adopted. +Experience has shown that rule 9.100 is not designed for use in trial court. +The times for proceeding, the methods of proceeding, and the general nature +of the procedure is appellate and presumes that the proceeding is basically an +appellate proceeding. When the extraordinary remedies are sought in the trial +court, these items do not usually exist and thus the rule is difficult to apply. +The uniform procedure concept of rule 9.100 has been retained with changes +making the procedure fit trial court procedure. The requirement of attaching a +copy of the record in subdivision (b) may not be possible within the time +allowed for the initial pleading because of the unavailability of the record. In +that event the plaintiff should file a motion to extend the time to allow the +preparation of the record and supply it when prepared. The filing of a motion +to extend the time should be sufficient to extend it until the motion can be +decided by the court. + + + + Rule 1.650. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.650 + +RULE 1.650. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PRESUIT SCREENING +RULE. + +(a) Scope of Rule. This rule applies only to the procedures prescribed by +section 766.106, Florida Statutes, for presuit screening of claims for medical +malpractice. + +(b) Notice. +(1) Notice of intent to initiate litigation sent by certified mail to and + +received by any prospective defendant shall operate as notice to the person +and any other prospective defendant who bears a legal relationship to the +prospective defendant receiving the notice. The notice shall make the +recipient a party to the proceeding under this rule. + +(2) The notice shall include the names and addresses of all other parties +and shall be sent to each party. + +(3) The court shall decide the issue of receipt of notice when raised in a +motion to dismiss or to abate an action for medical malpractice. +(c) Discovery. + +(1) Types. Upon receipt by a prospective defendant of a notice of intent +to initiate litigation, the parties may obtain presuit screening discovery by +one or more of the following methods: unsworn statements upon oral +examination; production of documents or things; physical examinations; +written questions; and unsworn statements of treating health care +providers. Unless otherwise provided in this rule, the parties shall make +discoverable information available without formal discovery. Evidence of +failure to comply with this rule may be grounds for dismissal of claims or +defenses ultimately asserted. + +(2) Procedures for Conducting. +(A) Unsworn Statements. Any party may require other parties to appear + +for the taking of an unsworn statement. The statements shall only be used for +the purpose of presuit screening and are not discoverable or admissible in any +civil action for any purpose by any party. A party desiring to take the + + + +unsworn statement of any party shall give reasonable notice in writing to all +parties. The notice shall state the time and place for taking the statement and +the name and address of the party to be examined. Unless otherwise +impractical, the examination of any party shall be done at the same time by +all other parties. Any party may be represented by an attorney at the taking of +an unsworn statement. Statements may be transcribed or electronically +recorded, or audiovisually recorded. The taking of unsworn statements of +minors is subject to the provisions of rule 1.310(b)(8). The taking of unsworn +statements is subject to the provisions of rule 1.310(d) and may be terminated +for abuses. If abuses occur, the abuses shall be evidence of failure of that +party to comply with the good faith requirements of section 766.106, Florida +Statutes. + +(B) Documents or Things. At any time after receipt by a party of a notice +of intent to initiate litigation, a party may request discoverable documents or +things. The documents or things shall be produced at the expense of the +requesting party within 20 days of the date of receipt of the request. A party +is required to produce discoverable documents or things within that partys +possession or control. Copies of documents produced in response to the +request of any party shall be served on all other parties. The party serving the +documents shall list the name and address of the parties upon whom the +documents were served, the date of service, the manner of service, and the +identity of the document served in the certificate of service. Failure of a party +to comply with the above time limits shall not relieve that party of its +obligation under the statute but shall be evidence of failure of that party to +comply with the good faith requirements of section 766.106, Florida Statutes. + +(C) Physical Examinations. Upon receipt by a party of a notice of intent +to initiate litigation and within the presuit screening period, a party may +require a claimant to submit to a physical examination. The party shall give +reasonable notice in writing to all parties of the time and place of the +examination. Unless otherwise impractical, a claimant shall be required to +submit to only one examination on behalf of all parties. The practicality of a +single examination shall be determined by the nature of the claimants +condition as it relates to the potential liability of each party. The report of +examination shall be made available to all parties upon payment of the +reasonable cost of reproduction. The report shall not be provided to any +person not a party at any time. The report shall only be used for the purpose + + + +of presuit screening and the examining physician may not testify concerning +the examination in any subsequent civil action. All requests for physical +examinations or notices of unsworn statements shall be in writing and a copy +served upon all parties. The requests or notices shall bear a certificate of +service identifying the name and address of the person upon whom the +request or notice is served, the date of the request or notice, and the manner +of service. Any minor required to submit to examination pursuant to this rule +shall have the right to be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times +during the examination, except upon a showing that the presence of a parent +or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact on the minors +examination. + +(D) Written Questions. Any party may request answers to written +questions, the number of which may not exceed 30, including subparts. The +party to whom the written questions are directed shall respond within 20 days +of receipt of the questions. Copies of the answers to the written questions +shall be served on all other parties. The party serving the answer to the +written questions shall list the name and address of the parties upon whom +the answers to the written questions were served, the date of service, and the +manner of service in the certificate of service. Failure of a party to comply +with the above time limits shall not relieve that party of its obligation under +the statute, but shall be evidence of failure of that party to comply with the +good faith requirements of section 766.106, Florida Statutes. + +(E) Unsworn Statements of Treating Healthcare Providers. A +prospective defendant or his or her legal representative may also take +unsworn statements of the claimants treating healthcare providers. The +statements must be limited to those areas that are potentially relevant to the +claim of personal injury or wrongful death. Subject to the procedural +requirements of paragraph (2)(A), a prospective defendant may take unsworn +statements from claimants treating health care providers. The statements +shall only be used for the purpose of presuit screening and are not +discoverable or admissible in any civil action for any purpose by any party. A +party desiring to take the unsworn statement of treating healthcare providers +shall give reasonable notice in writing to all parties. The notice shall state the +time and place for taking the statement and the name and address of the +treating healthcare provider to be examined. Unless otherwise impractical, +the examination of any treating healthcare provider shall be done at the same + + + +time by all other parties. Any party may be represented by an attorney at the +taking of an unsworn statement of treating healthcare providers. Statements +may be transcribed or electronically recorded, or audiovisually recorded. The +taking of unsworn statements of a treating healthcare provider is subject to +the provisions of rule 1.310(d) and may be terminated for abuses. If abuses +occur, the abuses shall be evidence of failure of that party to comply with the +good faith requirements of section 766.106, Florida Statutes. + +(3) Work Product. Work product generated by the presuit screening +process that is subject to exclusion in a subsequent proceeding is limited to +verbal or written communications that originate pursuant to the presuit +screening process. +(d) Time Requirements. + +(1) The notice of intent to initiate litigation shall be served by certified +mail, return receipt requested, prior to the expiration of any applicable +statute of limitations or statute of repose. If an extension has been granted +under section 766.104(2), Florida Statutes, or by agreement of the parties, +the notice shall be served within the extended period. + +(2) The action may not be filed against any defendant until 90 days after +the notice of intent to initiate litigation was mailed to that party. The action +may be filed against any party at any time after the notice of intent to +initiate litigation has been mailed after the claimant has received a written +rejection of the claim from that party. + +(3) To avoid being barred by the applicable statute of limitations, an +action must be filed within 60 days or within the remainder of the time of +the statute of limitations after the notice of intent to initiate litigation was +received, whichever is longer, after the earliest of the following: + +(A) The expiration of 90 days after the date of receipt of the notice of +intent to initiate litigation. + +(B) The expiration of 180 days after mailing of the notice of intent to +initiate litigation if the claim is controlled by section 768.28(6)(a), +Florida Statutes. + +(C) Receipt by claimant of a written rejection of the claim. +(D) The expiration of any extension of the 90-day presuit screening + + + +period stipulated to by the parties in accordance with section 766.106(4), +Florida Statutes. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2000 Amendment. The reference to the statute of repose was added to +subdivision (d)(1) pursuant to Musculoskeletal Institute Chartered v. +Parham, 745 So.2d 946 (Fla. 1999). + + + + Rule 1.700. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.700 + +RULE 1.700. RULES COMMON TO MEDIATION AND +ARBITRATION. + +(a) Referral by Presiding Judge or by Stipulation. Except as hereinafter +provided or as otherwise prohibited by law, the presiding judge may enter an +order referring all or any part of a contested civil matter to mediation or +arbitration. The parties to any contested civil matter may file a written +stipulation to mediate or arbitrate any issue between them at any time. The +order of referral or written stipulation may provide for mediation or +arbitration to be conducted in person, through the use of communication +technology as that term is defined in Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.530, or by a combination thereof. Absent direction +in the order of referral, mediation or arbitration must be conducted in person, +unless the parties stipulate or the court, on its own motion or on motion by a +party, otherwise orders that the proceeding be conducted by communication +technology or by a combination of communication technology and in-person +participation. + +(1) Conference or Hearing Date. Unless otherwise ordered by the +court, the first mediation conference or arbitration hearing must be held +within 60 days of the order of referral. + +(2) Notice. Within 15 days after the designation of the mediator or the +arbitrator, the court or its designee, who may be the mediator or the chief +arbitrator, must notify the parties in writing of the date, the time, and, as +applicable, the place of the conference or hearing and the instructions for +access to communication technology that will be used for the conference or +hearing, unless the order of referral, other order of the court, or written +stipulation specifies this information. +(b) Motion to Dispense with Mediation and Arbitration. A party may + +move, within 15 days after the order of referral, to dispense with mediation or +arbitration, if: + +(1) the issue to be considered has been previously mediated or arbitrated +between the same parties pursuant to Florida law; + +(2) the issue presents a question of law only; + + + +(3) the order violates rule 1.710(b) or rule 1.800; or +(4) other good cause is shown. + +(c) Motion to Defer Mediation or Arbitration. Within 15 days of the +order of referral, any party may file a motion with the court to defer the +proceeding. The movant shall set the motion to defer for hearing prior to the +scheduled date for mediation or arbitration. Notice of the hearing shall be +provided to all interested parties, including any mediator or arbitrator who +has been appointed. The motion shall set forth, in detail, the facts and +circumstances supporting the motion. Mediation or arbitration shall be tolled +until disposition of the motion. + +(d) Disqualification of a Mediator or Arbitrator. Any party may move +to enter an order disqualifying a mediator or an arbitrator for good cause. If +the court rules that a mediator or arbitrator is disqualified from hearing a +case, an order shall be entered setting forth the name of a qualified +replacement. Nothing in this provision shall preclude mediators or arbitrators +from disqualifying themselves or refusing any assignment. The time for +mediation or arbitration shall be tolled during any periods in which a motion +to disqualify is pending. + + + + Rule 1.710. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.710 + +RULE 1.710. MEDIATION RULES. +(a) Completion of Mediation. Mediation shall be completed within 45 + +days of the first mediation conference unless extended by order of the court +or by stipulation of the parties. + +(b) Exclusions From Mediation. A civil action shall be ordered to +mediation or mediation in conjunction with arbitration upon stipulation of the +parties. A civil action may be ordered to mediation or mediation in +conjunction with arbitration upon motion of any party or by the court, if the +judge determines the action to be of such a nature that mediation could be of +benefit to the litigants or the court. Under no circumstances may the +following categories of actions be referred to mediation: + +(1) Bond estreatures. +(2) Habeas corpus and extraordinary writs. +(3) Bond validations. +(4) Civil or criminal contempt. +(5) Other matters as may be specified by administrative order of the + +chief judge in the circuit. +(c) Discovery. Unless stipulated by the parties or ordered by the court, the + +mediation process shall not suspend discovery. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1994 Amendment. The Supreme Court Committee on Mediation and +Arbitration Rules encourages crafting a combination of dispute resolution +processes without creating an unreasonable barrier to the traditional court +system. + + + + Rule 1.720. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.720 + +RULE 1.720. MEDIATION PROCEDURES. +(a) Interim or Emergency Relief. A party may apply to the court for + +interim or emergency relief at any time. Mediation shall continue while such +a motion is pending absent a contrary order of the court, or a decision of the +mediator to adjourn pending disposition of the motion. Time for completing +mediation shall be tolled during any periods when mediation is interrupted +pending resolution of such a motion. + +(b) Appearance at Mediation. A party is deemed to appear at a mediation +conference if the following persons are physically present or, if authorized +under rule 1.700(a), participating through the use of communication +technology: + +(1) The party or a party representative having full authority to settle +without further consultation; and + +(2) The partys counsel of record, if any; and +(3) A representative of the insurance carrier for any insured party who is + +not such carriers outside counsel and who has full authority to settle in an +amount up to the amount of the plaintiffs last demand or policy limits, +whichever is less, without further consultation. +(c) Party Representative Having Full Authority to Settle. A party + +representative having full authority to settle shall mean the final decision +maker with respect to all issues presented by the case who has the legal +capacity to execute a binding settlement agreement on behalf of the party. +Nothing herein shall be deemed to require any party or party representative +who appears at a mediation conference in compliance with this rule to enter +into a settlement agreement. + +(d) Appearance by Public Entity. If a party to mediation is a public entity +required to operate in compliance with chapter 286, Florida Statutes, that +party is deemed to appear at a mediation conference by the presence of a +representative with full authority to negotiate on behalf of the entity and to +recommend settlement to the appropriate decision-making body of the entity. +Such representative may be physically present or, if authorized under rule + + + +1.700(a), may participate through the use of communication technology. +(e) Certification of Authority. Unless otherwise stipulated by the parties, + +each party, 10 days prior to appearing at a mediation conference, must file +with the court and serve all parties a written notice identifying the person or +persons who will appear at the mediation conference as a party representative +or as an insurance carrier representative, and confirming that those persons +have the authority required by subdivision (b). + +(f) Sanctions for Failure to Appear. If a party fails to appear at a duly +noticed mediation conference without good cause, the court, upon motion, +shall impose sanctions, including award of mediation fees, attorneys fees, +and costs, against the party failing to appear. The failure to file a +confirmation of authority required under subdivision (e) above, or failure of +the persons actually identified in the confirmation to appear at the mediation +conference, shall create a rebuttable presumption of a failure to appear. + +(g) Adjournments. The mediator may adjourn the mediation conference at +any time and may set times for reconvening the adjourned conference +notwithstanding rule 1.710(a). No further notification is required for parties +present at the adjourned conference. + +(h) Counsel. The mediator shall at all times be in control of the mediation +and the procedures to be followed in the mediation. Counsel shall be +permitted to communicate privately with their clients. In the discretion of the +mediator and with the agreement of the parties, mediation may proceed in the +absence of counsel unless otherwise ordered by the court. + +(i) Communication with Parties or Counsel. The mediator may meet and +consult privately with any party or parties or their counsel. + +(j) Appointment of the Mediator. +(1) Within 10 days of the order of referral, the parties may agree upon a + +stipulation with the court designating: +(A) a certified mediator, other than a senior judge presiding over civil + +cases as a judge in that circuit; or +(B) a mediator, other than a senior judge, who is not certified as a + +mediator but who, in the opinion of the parties and upon review by the +presiding judge, is otherwise qualified by training or experience to + + + +mediate all or some of the issues in the particular case. +(2) If the parties cannot agree upon a mediator within 10 days of the + +order of referral, the plaintiff or petitioner shall so notify the court within +10 days of the expiration of the period to agree on a mediator, and the +court shall appoint a certified mediator selected by rotation or by such +other procedures as may be adopted by administrative order of the chief +judge in the circuit in which the action is pending. At the request of either +party, the court shall appoint a certified circuit court mediator who is a +member of The Florida Bar. + +(3) If a mediator agreed upon by the parties or appointed by a court +cannot serve, a substitute mediator can be agreed upon or appointed in the +same manner as the original mediator. A mediator shall not mediate a case +assigned to another mediator without the agreement of the parties or +approval of the court. A substitute mediator shall have the same +qualifications as the original mediator. +(k) Compensation of the Mediator. The mediator may be compensated or + +uncompensated. When the mediator is compensated in whole or part by the +parties, the presiding judge may determine the reasonableness of the fees +charged by the mediator. In the absence of a written agreement providing for +the mediators compensation, the mediator shall be compensated at the hourly +rate set by the presiding judge in the referral order. Where appropriate, each +party shall pay a proportionate share of the total charges of the mediator. +Parties may object to the rate of the mediators compensation within 15 days +of the order of referral by serving an objection on all other parties and the +mediator. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2011 Amendment. Mediated settlement conferences pursuant to this rule +are meant to be conducted when the participants actually engaged in the +settlement negotiations have full authority to settle the case without further +consultation. New language in subdivision (c) now defines a party +representative with full authority to settle in two parts. First, the party +representative must be the final decision maker with respect to all issues +presented by the case in question. Second, the party representative must have +the legal capacity to execute a binding agreement on behalf of the settling + + + +party. These are objective standards. Whether or not these standards have +been met can be determined without reference to any confidential mediation +communications. A decision by a party representative not to settle does not, +in and of itself, signify the absence of full authority to settle. A party may +delegate full authority to settle to more than one person, each of whom can +serve as the final decision maker. A party may also designate multiple +persons to serve together as the final decision maker, all of whom must +appear at mediation. + +New subdivision (e) provides a process for parties to identify party +representative and representatives of insurance carriers who will be attending +the mediation conference on behalf of parties and insurance carriers and to +confirm their respective settlement authority by means of a direct +representation to the court. If necessary, any verification of this +representation would be upon motion by a party or inquiry by the court +without involvement of the mediator and would not require disclosure of +confidential mediation communications. Nothing in this rule shall be deemed +to impose any duty or obligation on the mediator selected by the parties or +appointed by the court to ensure compliance. + +The concept of self determination in mediation also contemplates the +parties free choice in structuring and organizing their mediation sessions, +including those who are to participate. Accordingly, elements of this rule are +subject to revision or qualification with the mutual consent of the parties. + + + + Rule 1.730. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.730 + +RULE 1.730. COMPLETION OF MEDIATION. +(a) No Agreement. If the parties do not reach an agreement as to any + +matter as a result of mediation, the mediator shall report the lack of an +agreement to the court without comment or recommendation. With the +consent of the parties, the mediators report may also identify any pending +motions or outstanding legal issues, discovery process, or other action by any +party which, if resolved or completed, would facilitate the possibility of a +settlement. + +(b) Agreement. If a partial or final agreement is reached, it must be +reduced to writing and signed by the parties and their counsel, if any. +Signatures may be original, electronic, or facsimile and may be in +counterparts. The agreement must be filed when required by law or with the +parties consent. A report of the agreement must be submitted to the court or +a stipulation of dismissal will be filed. By stipulation of the parties, the +agreement may be transcribed or electronically recorded. In such event, the +transcript may be filed with the court. The mediator must report the existence +of the signed or transcribed agreement to the court without comment within +10 days thereof. No partial or final agreement under this rule may be reported +to the court except as provided herein. + +(c) Enforceability. The parties may not object to the enforceability of an +agreement on the ground that communication technology was used for +participation in the mediation conference if such use was authorized under +rule 1.700(a). + +(d) Imposition of Sanctions. In the event of any breach or failure to +perform under the agreement, the court upon motion may impose sanctions, +including costs, attorneys fees, or other appropriate remedies including entry +of judgment on the agreement. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to provide for partial +settlements, to clarify the procedure for concluding mediation by report or +stipulation of dismissal, and to specify the procedure for reporting mediated + + + +agreements to the court. The reporting requirements are intended to ensure +the confidentiality provided for in section 44.102(3), Florida Statutes, and to +prevent premature notification to the court. + + + + Rule 1.750. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.750 + +RULE 1.750. COUNTY COURT ACTIONS. +(a) Applicability. This rule applies to the mediation of county court + +matters and issues only and controls over conflicting provisions in rules +1.700, 1.710, 1.720, and 1.730. + +(b) Limitation on Referral to Mediation. When a mediation program +utilizing volunteer mediators is unavailable or otherwise inappropriate, +county court matters may be referred to a mediator or mediation program +which charges a fee. Such order of referral shall advise the parties that they +may object to mediation on grounds of financial hardship or on any ground +set forth in Rule 1.700(b). If a party objects, mediation shall not be conducted +until the court rules on the objection. The court may consider the amount in +controversy, the objecting partys ability to pay, and any other pertinent +information in determining the propriety of the referral. When appropriate, +the court shall apportion mediation fees between the parties. + +(c) Scheduling. In small claims actions, the mediator shall be appointed +and the mediation conference held during or immediately after the pretrial +conference unless otherwise ordered by the court. In no event shall the +mediation conference be held more than 14 days after the pretrial conference. + +(d) Appointment of the Mediator. In county court actions not subject to +the Florida Small Claims Rules, rule 1.720(f) shall apply unless the case is +sent to a mediation program provided at no cost to the parties. + +(e) Appearance at Mediation. In small claims actions, an attorney may +appear on behalf of a party at mediation provided that the attorney has full +authority to settle without further consultation. Unless otherwise ordered by +the court, a nonlawyer representative may appear on behalf of a party to a +small claims mediation if the representative has the partys signed written +authority to appear and has full authority to settle without further +consultation. In either event, the party need not appear in person. In any other +county court action, a party will be deemed to appear if the persons set forth +in rule 1.720(b) are physically present or, if authorized under rule 1.700(a), +participating through the use of communication technology. + +(f) Agreement. Any agreements reached as a result of small claims + + + +mediation must be written in the form of a stipulation. The stipulation may be +entered as an order of the court. Signatures for the stipulation may be +original, electronic, or facsimile and may be in counterparts. + + + + Rule 1.800. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.800 + +RULE 1.800. EXCLUSIONS FROM ARBITRATION. +A civil action shall be ordered to arbitration or arbitration in conjunction + +with mediation upon stipulation of the parties. A civil action may be ordered +to arbitration or arbitration in conjunction with mediation upon motion of any +party or by the court, if the judge determines the action to be of such a nature +that arbitration could be of benefit to the litigants or the court. Under no +circumstances may the following categories of actions be referred to +arbitration: + +(1) Bond estreatures. +(2) Habeas corpus or other extraordinary writs. +(3) Bond validations. +(4) Civil or criminal contempt. +(5) Such other matters as may be specified by order of the chief judge in + +the circuit. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1994 Amendment. The Supreme Court Committee on Mediation and +Arbitration Rules encourages crafting a combination of dispute resolution +processes without creating an unreasonable barrier to the traditional court +system. + + + + Rule 1.810. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.810 + +RULE 1.810. SELECTION AND COMPENSATION OF +ARBITRATORS. + +(a) Selection. The chief judge of the circuit or a designee shall maintain a +list of qualified persons who have agreed to serve as arbitrators. Cases +assigned to arbitration shall be assigned to an arbitrator or to a panel of 3 +arbitrators. The court shall determine the number of arbitrators and designate +them within 15 days after service of the order of referral in the absence of an +agreement by the parties. In the case of a panel, one of the arbitrators shall be +appointed as the chief arbitrator. Where there is only one arbitrator, that +person shall be the chief arbitrator. + +(b) Compensation. The chief judge of each judicial circuit shall establish +the compensation of arbitrators subject to the limitations in section 44.103(3), +Florida Statutes. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2003 Amendment. The statutory reference in subdivision (b) is changed to +reflect changes in the statutory numbering. + + + + Rule 1.820. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.820 + +RULE 1.820. HEARING PROCEDURES FOR NON-BINDING +ARBITRATION. + +(a) Authority of the Chief Arbitrator. The chief arbitrator shall have +authority to commence and adjourn the arbitration hearing and carry out other +such duties as are prescribed by section 44.103, Florida Statutes. The chief +arbitrator shall not have authority to hold any person in contempt or to in any +way impose sanctions against any person. + +(b) Conduct of the Arbitration Hearing. +(1) The chief judge of each judicial circuit shall set procedures for + +determining the time and place of the arbitration hearing and may establish +other procedures for the expeditious and orderly operation of the +arbitration hearing to the extent such procedures are not in conflict with +any rules of court. + +(2) Hearing procedures shall be included in the notice of arbitration +hearing sent to the parties and arbitration panel. + +(3) Individual parties or authorized representatives of corporate parties +shall attend the arbitration hearing unless excused in advance by the chief +arbitrator for good cause shown. +(c) Rules of Evidence. The hearing shall be conducted informally. + +Presentation of testimony shall be kept to a minimum, and matters shall be +presented to the arbitrator(s) primarily through the statements and arguments +of counsel. + +(d) Orders. The chief arbitrator may issue instructions as are necessary for +the expeditious and orderly conduct of the hearing. The chief arbitrators +instructions are not appealable. Upon notice to all parties the chief arbitrator +may apply to the presiding judge for orders directing compliance with such +instructions. Instructions enforced by a court order are appealable as are other +orders of the court. + +(e) Default of a Party. When a party fails to appear at a hearing, the chief +arbitrator may proceed with the hearing and the arbitration panel shall render +a decision based upon the facts and circumstances as presented by the parties + + + +present. +(f) Record and Transcript. Any party may have a record and transcript + +made of the arbitration hearing at that partys expense. +(g) Completion of the Arbitration Process. + +(1) Arbitration shall be completed within 30 days of the first arbitration +hearing unless extended by order of the court on motion of the chief +arbitrator or of a party. No extension of time shall be for a period +exceeding 60 days from the date of the first arbitration hearing. + +(2) Upon the completion of the arbitration process, the arbitrator(s) shall +render a decision. In the case of a panel, a decision shall be final upon a +majority vote of the panel. + +(3) Within 10 days of the final adjournment of the arbitration hearing, +the arbitrator(s) shall notify the parties, in writing, of their decision. The +arbitration decision may set forth the issues in controversy and the +arbitrator(s)(s) conclusions and findings of fact and law. The arbitrator( +s)(s) decision and the originals of any transcripts shall be sealed and filed +with the clerk at the time the parties are notified of the decision. +(h) Time for Filing Motion for Trial. Any party may file a motion for + +trial. If a motion for trial is filed by any party, any party having a third-party +claim at issue at the time of arbitration may file a motion for trial within 10 +days of service of the first motion for trial. If a motion for trial is not made +within 20 days of service on the parties of the decision, the decision shall be +referred to the presiding judge, who shall enter such orders and judgments as +may be required to carry out the terms of the decision as provided by section +44.103(5), Florida Statutes. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1988 Adoption. Arbitration proceedings should be informal and +expeditious. The court should take into account the nature of the proceedings +when determining whether to award costs and attorneys fees after a trial de +novo. Counsel are free to file exceptions to an arbitration decision or award at +the time it is to be considered by the court. The court should consider such +exceptions when determining whether to award costs and attorneys fees. The +court should consider rule 1.442 concerning offers of judgment and section + + + +45.061, Florida Statutes (1985), concerning offers of settlement, as +statements of public policy in deciding whether fees should be awarded. + +1994 Amendment. The Supreme Court Committee on Mediation and +Arbitration Rules recommends that a copy of the local arbitration procedures +be disseminated to the local bar. + +2003 Amendment. The statutory reference in subdivision (h) is changed to +reflect changes in the statutory numbering. + +2007 Amendment. Subdivision (h) is amended to avoid the unintended +consequences for defendants with third-party claims who prevailed at +arbitration but could not pursue those claims in a circuit court action because +no motion for trial was filed despite a plaintiff or plaintiffs having filed a +motion for trial that covered those claims. See State Dept. of Transportation +v. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., 859 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 4th DCA +2003). + + + + Rule 1.830. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.830 + +RULE 1.830. VOLUNTARY BINDING ARBITRATION. +(a) Absence of Party Agreement. + +(1) Compensation. In the absence of an agreement by the parties as to +compensation of the arbitrator(s), the court shall determine the amount of +compensation subject to the provisions of section 44.104(3), Florida +Statutes. + +(2) Hearing Procedures. Subject to these rules and section 44.104, +Florida Statutes, the parties may, by written agreement before the hearing, +establish the hearing procedures for voluntary binding arbitration, +including the use of communication technology as that term is defined in +Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.530. In the +absence of such agreement, the court shall establish the hearing +procedures. +(b) Record and Transcript. A record and transcript may be made of the + +arbitration hearing if requested by any party or at the direction of the chief +arbitrator. The record and transcript may be used in subsequent legal +proceedings subject to the Florida Rules of Evidence. + +(c) Arbitration Decision and Appeal. +(1) The arbitrator(s) shall serve the parties with notice of the decision + +and file the decision with the court within 10 days of the final adjournment +of the arbitration hearing. + +(2) A voluntary binding arbitration decision may be appealed within 30 +days after service of the decision on the parties. Appeal is limited to the +grounds specified in section 44.104(10), Florida Statutes. + +(3) If no appeal is filed within the time period set out in subdivision (2) +of this rule, the decision shall be referred to the presiding judge who shall +enter such orders and judgments as required to carry out the terms of the +decision as provided under section 44.104, Florida Statutes. + + + +FORMS + FORM 1.900. + +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.900 + +FORM 1.900. FORMS. +(a) Process. The following forms of process, notice of lis pendens, and + +notice of action are sufficient. Variations from the forms do not void process +or notices that are otherwise sufficient. + +(b) Other Forms. The other forms are sufficient for the matters that are +covered by them. So long as the substance is expressed without prolixity, the +forms may be varied to meet the facts of a particular case. + +(c) Formal Matters. Captions, except for the designation of the document, +are omitted from the forms. A general form of caption is the first form. +Signatures are omitted from pleadings and motions. + + + + FORM 1.901. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.901 + +FORM 1.901. CAPTION. +(a) General Form. + +(name of court) + +(b) Petition. + +(c) In rem proceedings. + +(d) Forfeiture proceedings. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is added to show the form of caption + + + +for a petition. +2010 Amendment. Subdivision (c) and (d) are added to show the form of + +caption for in rem proceedings, including in rem forfeiture proceedings. + + + + FORM 1.902. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.902 + +FORM 1.902. SUMMONS. +(a) General Form. + +SUMMONS +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: + +YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve this summons and a copy +of the complaint or petition in this action on defendant +__________________ + +Each defendant is required to serve written defenses to the +complaint or petition on _________, plaintiffs attorney, whose +address is _________, within 20 days1after service of this +summons on that defendant, exclusive of the day of service, and +to file the original of the defenses with the clerk of this court +either before service on plaintiff s attorney or immediately +thereafter. If a defendant fails to do so, a default will be entered +against that defendant for the relief demanded in the complaint +or petition. + +DATED on _________ + +(b) Form for Personal Service on Natural Person. +SUMMONS + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: + + + +YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve this summons and a copy +of the complaint in this lawsuit on defendant +__________________ + +DATED on __________________ +(CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT) + +(SEAL) + +IMPORTANT +A lawsuit has been filed against you. You have 20 calendar + +days after this summons is served on you to file a written +response to the attached complaint with the clerk of this court. A +phone call will not protect you. Your written response, including +the case number given above and the names of the parties, must +be filed if you want the court to hear your side of the case. If you +do not file your response on time, you may lose the case, and +your wages, money, and property may thereafter be taken +without further warning from the court. There are other legal +requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If +you do not know an attorney, you may call an attorney referral +service or a legal aid office (listed in the phone book). + +If you choose to file a written response yourself, at the same +time you file your written response to the court you must also +mail or take a copy of your written response to the +Plaintiff/Plaintiffs Attorney named below. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any +accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, you are +entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. + + + +Please contact [identify applicable court personnel by name, +address, and telephone number] at least 7 days before your +scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving this +notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less +than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +IMPORTANTE +Usted ha sido demandado legalmente. Tiene 20 das, contados + +a partir del recibo de esta notificacin, para contestar la demanda +adjunta, por escrito, y presentarla ante este tribunal. Una llamada +telefnica no lo proteger. Si usted desea que el tribunal +considere su defensa, debe presentar su respuesta por escrito, +incluyendo el numero del caso y los nombres de las partes +interesadas. Si usted no contesta la demanda a tiempo, pudiese +perder el caso y podra ser despojado de sus ingresos y +propiedades, o privado de sus derechos, sin previo aviso del +tribunal. Existen otros requisitos legales. Si lo desea, puede usted +consultar a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un +abogado, puede llamar a una de las oficinas de asistencia legal +que aparecen en la gua telefnica. + +Si desea responder a la demanda por su cuenta, al mismo +tiempo en que presenta su respuesta ante el tribunal, debera usted +enviar por correo o entregar una copia de su respuesta a la +persona denominada abajo como Plaintiff/Plaintiffs Attorney +(Demandante o Abogado del Demandante). + +Si usted es una persona minusvlida que necesita algn +acomodamiento para poder participar en este procedimiento, +usted tiene derecho, sin tener gastos propios, a que se le provea +cierta ayuda. Tenga la amabilidad de ponerse en contacto con +[identify applicable court personnel by name, address, and +telephone number], por lo menos 7 das antes de la cita fijada + + + +para su comparecencia en los tribunales, o inmediatamente +despus de recibir esta notificacin si el tiempo antes de la +comparecencia que se ha programado es menos de 7 das; si +usted tiene discapacitacin del odo o de la voz, llame al 711. + +IMPORTANT +Des poursuites judiciares ont ete entreprises contre vous. Vous + +avez 20 jours consecutifs a partir de la date de lassignation de +cette citation pour deposer une reponse ecrite a la plainte ci- +jointe aupres de ce tribunal. Un simple coup de telephone est +insuffisant pour vous proteger. Vous etes obliges de deposer +votre reponse ecrite, avec mention du numero de dossier ci- +dessus et du nom des parties nommees ici, si vous souhaitez que +le tribunal entende votre cause. Si vous ne deposez pas votre +reponse ecrite dans le relai requis, vous risquez de perdre la +cause ainsi que votre salaire, votre argent, et vos biens peuvent +etre saisis par la suite, sans aucun preavis ulterieur du tribunal. Il +y a dautres obligations juridiques et vous pouvez requerir les +services immediats dun avocat. Si vous ne connaissez pas +davocat, vous pourriez telephoner a un service de reference +davocats ou a un bureau dassistance juridique (figurant a +lannuaire de telephones). + +Si vous choisissez de deposer vous-meme une reponse ecrite, +il vous faudra egalement, en meme temps que cette formalite, +faire parvenir ou expedier une copie de votre reponse ecrite au +Plaintiff/Plaintiffs Attorney (Plaignant ou a son avocat) +nomme ci-dessous. + +Si vous tes une personne handicape qui a besoin de mesures +dadaptation pour participer cette procdure, vous avez droit, +sans frais pour vous, une certaine assistance. Veuillez contacter +[identify applicable court personnel by name, address, and + + + +telephone number]au moins 7 jours avant votre comparution +prvue au tribunal, ou immdiatement aprs avoir recu cette +notification si le dlai avant la comparution prvue est infrieur +7 jours; si vous tes malentendant ou avez un trouble de la +parole, appelez le 711. + +Enptan +Pwosedi legal yo te pran kont ou. Ou gen 20 jou konsekitif ki + +soti nan dat konklizyon sa a pou ou ranpli yon repons alekri pou +plent sa a nan tribinal sa a. Yon apel telefon ki senp se pa ase +pou pwoteje ou. Ou oblije ranpli repons alekri ou a, ak nimewo a +dosye pi wo a ak non pati yo ki te nonmen isit la, si ou vle +tribinal la tande ka w la. Si ou pa ranpli repons alekri ou nan rele +egzije a, ou riske pedi koz la ak sale ou, lajan ou, ak pwopriyete +ou yo ka mete men sou pita, san okenn lot avi nan tribinal la. +Gen lot obligasyon legal epi ou ka mande sevis imedya yon +avoka. Si ou pa konnen yon avoka, ou ka rele yon svis referans +avoka oswa yon biwo ed legal (ki nan lis nan anye telefon). + +Si ou chwazi pou ou soumet yon repons alekri tet ou, ou pral +bezwen tou voye oswa voye yon kopi repons ekri ou nan fm sa +a an menm tan an tankou fomalite sa a Avoka Pleyan/Pwokire +a (Pleyan oswa avoka li) non anba a. + +Si ou se yon moun ki enfim ki bezwen akomodasyon pou w +kab patisipe nan pwosedi sa a, ou gen dwa, san ou pa bezwen +peye okenn lajan, pou w jwenn yon sten d. Tanpri kontakte +[identify applicable court personnel by name], f Kdonatris +pwogram Lwa Ameriken pou Moun ki Enfim yo nan [identify +court personnels address and telephone number], f sa omwen +7 jou anvan dat ou gen randevou pou part nan Tribinal la, oswa +f sa imedyatman apre ou fin resevwa konvokasyon an si dat ou +gen pou w part nan tribinal la mwens pase 7 jou; si ou gen + + + +pwoblm pou w tande byen oswa pou w pale kl, rele 711. +_____________________ +Plaintiff/Plaintiffs Attorney +______________________ +______________________ +Address +Florida Bar No. _________ + +(c) Forms for Service by Mail. +(1) Notice of Lawsuit and Request for Waiver of Service of Process + +NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION +TO: (Name of defendant or defendants representative) +A lawsuit has been commenced against you (or the entity on + +whose behalf you are addressed). A copy of the complaint is +attached to this notice. The complaint has been filed in the +(Circuit or County) Court for the _________ and has been +assigned case no.: _________ + +This is not a formal summons or notification from the court, +but is rather my request that you sign the enclosed waiver of +service of process form in order to save the cost of serving you +with a judicial summons and an additional copy of the +complaint. The cost of service will be avoided if I receive a +signed copy of the waiver within 20 days (30 days if you do not +reside in the United States) after the date you receive this notice +and request for waiver. I have enclosed a stamped self-addressed +envelope for your use. An extra copy of the notice and request, +including the waiver, is also attached for your records. + +If you comply with this request and return the signed waiver, + + + +it will be filed with the court and no summons will be served on +you. The lawsuit will then proceed as if you had been served on +the date the waiver is filed, except that you will not be obligated +to respond to the complaint until 60 days after the date on which +you received the notice and request for waiver. + +If I do not receive the signed waiver within 20 days from the +date you received the notice and the waiver of service of process +form, formal service of process may be initiated in a manner +authorized by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. You (or the +party on whose behalf you are addressed) will be required to pay +the full cost of such service unless good cause is shown for the +failure to return the waiver of service. + +I hereby certify that this notice of lawsuit and request for +waiver of service of process has been sent to you on behalf of the +plaintiff on ....(date).... + +(2) Waiver of Service of Process. +WAIVER OF SERVICE OF PROCESS + +TO: (Name of plaintiffs attorney or unrepresented plaintiff) +I acknowledge receipt of your request that I waive service of + +process in the lawsuit of _________ v. _________ in the +_________ Court in _________ I have also received a copy of +the complaint, two copies of this waiver, and a means by which I +can return the signed waiver to you without cost to me. + +I agree to save the cost of service of process and an additional +copy of the complaint in this lawsuit by not requiring that I (or +the entity on whose behalf I am acting) be served with judicial +process in the manner provided by Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.070. + + + +If I am not the defendant to whom the notice of lawsuit and +waiver of service of process was sent, I declare that my +relationship to the entity or person to whom the notice was sent +and my authority to accept service on behalf of such person or +entity is as follows: + +(describe relationship to person or entity and authority to +accept service) + +I (or the entity on whose behalf I am acting) will retain all +defenses or objections to the lawsuit or to the jurisdiction or +venue of the court except for any objections based on a defect in +the summons or in the service of the summons. + +I understand that a judgment may be entered against me (or +the party on whose behalf I am acting) if a written response is +not served upon you within 60 days from the date I received the +notice of lawsuit and request for waiver of service of process. + +DATED on _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1988 Amendment. Two forms are now provided: 1 for personal service on +natural persons and 1 for other service by summons. The new form for +personal service on natural persons is included to ensure awareness by +defendants or respondents of their obligations to respond. + +The summons form for personal service on natural persons is to be used for +service on natural persons under the following provisions: sections 48.031 +(service of process generally), 48.041 (service on minors), 48.042 (service on +incompetents), 48.051 (service on state prisoners), 48.183 (service of process +in action for possession of residential premises), and 48.194 (personal service +outside the state), Florida Statutes. + +The former, general summons form is to be used for all other service by + + + +summons, including service under sections 48.061 (service on partnership), +48.071 (service on agents of nonresidents doing business in the state), 48.081 +(service on corporation), 48.101 (service on dissolved corporations), 48.111 +(service on public agencies or officers), 48.121 (service on the state), 48.131 +(service on alien property custodian), 48.141 (service on labor unions), +48.151 (service on statutory agents for certain purposes), Florida Statutes, +and all statutes providing for substituted service on the secretary of state. + +The form for personal service on natural persons contains Spanish and +French versions of the English text to ensure effective notice on all +Floridians. In the event of space problems in the summons form, the +committee recommends that the non-English portions be placed on the +reverse side of the summons. + +1992 Amendment. (b): The title is amended to eliminate confusion by the +sheriffs in effecting service. + +1996 Amendment. Form 1.902(c) was added for use with rule 1.070(i). +2007 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to conform form 1.902 to + +the statutory requirements of sections 48.111, 48.121, and 768.28, Florida +Statutes. The form is similar to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Form 1. + + + + FORM 1.903. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.903 + +FORM 1.903. CROSSCLAIM SUMMONS. +CROSSCLAIM SUMMONS + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve this summons and a copy + +of the crossclaim in this action on defendant +__________________ + +Each crossclaim defendant is required to serve written +defenses to the crossclaim on _________, defendants attorney, +whose address is _________, and on _________, plaintiffs +attorney, whose address is _________, within 20 days after +service of this summons on that defendant, exclusive of the day +of service, and to file the original of the defenses with the clerk +of this court either before service on the attorneys or +immediately thereafter. If a crossclaim defendant fails to do so, a +default will be entered against that defendant for the relief +demanded in the crossclaim. + +DATED on _________ + + + + FORM 1.904. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.904 + +FORM 1.904. THIRD-PARTY SUMMONS. +THIRD-PARTY SUMMONS + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve this summons and a copy + +of the third-party complaint or petition in this action on third- +party defendant, _________ + +Each third-party defendant is required to serve written +defenses to the third-party complaint or petition on _________, +plaintiffs attorney, whose address is _________, and +on_________, defendants attorney, whose address is +_________, within 20 days after service of this summons on that +defendant, exclusive of the date of service, and to file the +original of the defenses with the clerk of this court either before +service on the attorneys or immediately thereafter. If a third- +party defendant fails to do so, a default will be entered against +that defendant for the relief demanded in the third-party +complaint or petition. + +DATED on _________ + + + + FORM 1.905. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.905 + +FORM 1.905. ATTACHMENT. +WRIT OF ATTACHMENT + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to attach and take into custody so + +much of the lands, tenements, goods, and chattels of defendant, +_________, as is sufficient to satisfy the sum of $_________ and +costs. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on ____(date)____ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The direction is modernized and the combination with +the summons deleted. A writ of attachment must now be issued by a judge +under section 76.03, Florida Statutes (1979). + + + + FORM 1.906. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.906 + +FORM 1.906. ATTACHMENT FORECLOSURE. +WRIT OF ATTACHMENT + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to take and hold the following + +described property: +(describe property) + +or so much of it as can be found sufficient to satisfy the debt to be foreclosed. +ORDERED at _____________________, Florida, on + +_________ (date) _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The direction is modernized and the combination with +the summons deleted. A writ of attachment must now be issued by a judge +under section 76.03, Florida Statutes (1979). + + + + FORM 1.907. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.907 + +FORM 1.907. GARNISHMENT. +(a) Writ of Garnishment. + +WRIT OF GARNISHMENT +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to summon the garnishee, + +_________, to serve an answer to this writ on _________, +plaintiffs attorney, whose address is _________, within 20 days +after service on the garnishee, exclusive of the day of service, +and to file the original with the clerk of this court either before +service on the attorney or immediately thereafter, stating whether +the garnishee is indebted to defendant, _________, at the time of +the answer or was indebted at the time of service of the writ, or +at any time between such times, and in what sum and what +tangible and intangible personal property of the defendant the +garnishee is in possession or control of at the time of the answer +or had at the time of service of this writ, or at any time between +such times, and whether the garnishee knows of any other person +indebted to the defendant or who may be in possession or control +of any of the property of the defendant. The amount set in +plaintiffs motion is $ _________ + +DATED on _________ + +(b) Continuing Writ of Garnishment against Salary or Wages. +CONTINUING WRIT OF GARNISHMENT + + + +AGAINST SALARY OR WAGES +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to summon the garnishee, + +_________, whose address is _________, who is required to +serve an answer to this writ on _________, plaintiffs attorney, +whose address is _________, within 20 days after service of this +writ, exclusive of the day of service, and to file the original with +the clerk of court either before service on the attorney or +immediately thereafter. The answer shall state whether the +garnishee is the employer of the defendant _________ and +whether the garnishee is indebted to the defendant by reason of +salary or wages. The garnishees answer shall specify the periods +of payment (for example, weekly, biweekly, or monthly) and +amount of salary or wages and be based on the defendants +earnings for the pay period during which this writ is served on +the garnishee. + +During each pay period, a portion of the defendants salary or +wages as it becomes due shall be held and not disposed of or +transferred until further order of this court. The amount of salary +or wages to be withheld for each pay period shall be made in +accordance with the following paragraph. This writ shall +continue until the plaintiffs judgment is paid in full or until +otherwise provided by court order. + +Federal law (15 U.S.C. 1671-1673) limits the amount to be +withheld from salary or wages to no more than 25% of any +individual defendants disposable earnings (the part of earnings +remaining after the deduction of any amounts required by law to +be deducted) for any pay period or to no more than the amount +by which the individuals disposable earnings for the pay period + + + +exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is +less. + +For administrative costs, the garnishee may collect $ +_________ against the salary or wages of the defendant for the +first deduction and $ _________ for each deduction thereafter. + +The total amount of the final judgment outstanding as set out +in the plaintiffs motion is $ _________ + +FAILURE TO FILE AN ANSWER WITHIN THE TIME +REQUIRED MAY RESULT IN THE ENTRY OF JUDGMENT +AGAINST THE GARNISHEE FOR THE ABOVE TOTAL +AMOUNT OF $ _________. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1992 Amendment. This form is to be used to effectuate section 77.0305, +Florida Statutes. + +1996 Amendment. The following was adopted as a committee note, with +no changes to the text of the forms: Both forms 1.907(a) and (b) are for use +after judgment has been entered against a defendant. If a plaintiff seeks a writ +of garnishment before judgment is entered, notice to the defendant of the +right to an immediate hearing under sections 73.031 and 77.07, Florida +Statutes, must be included in the writ and served on the defendant. + + + + FORM 1.908. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.908 + +FORM 1.908. WRIT OF REPLEVIN. +WRIT OF REPLEVIN + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to replevy the goods and chattels + +in possession of the defendant, _________, described as follows: +(describe property) + +and to dispose of it according to law. +DATED on _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The form is amended in accordance with the statutory +changes as a result of Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S. Ct. 1983, 32 L. +Ed. 2d 556 (1972). The sheriff is commanded to dispose of the property +according to law because of the conflict between sections 78.068(4) and +78.13, Florida Statutes (1979). The former apparently contemplates that the +sheriff will hold the property for 5 days within which the bond can be posted, +while the latter retains the old 3-day time period. + +1996 Amendment. This amendment only changes the name of the form. + + + + FORM 1.909. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.909 + +FORM 1.909. DISTRESS. +DISTRESS WRIT + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To the Sheriff of _________ County, Florida: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve this writ and a copy of + +the complaint on defendant _________. +This distress writ subjects all property liable to distress for + +rent on the following property in _________ County, Florida: +(describe property) + +Each defendant is enjoined from damaging, disposing of, +secreting, or removing any property liable to be distrained from +the rented real property after the time of service of this writ until +the sheriff levies on the property or this writ is vacated or the +court otherwise orders. If a defendant does not move for +dissolution of the writ, the court may order the sheriff to levy on +the property liable to distress forthwith after 20 days from the +time the complaint in this action is served. The amount claimed +in the complaint is the sum of $ _________ with interest and +costs. + +DATED on _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. This form is substantially revised to comply with the +statutory changes in section 83.12, Florida Statutes, as amended in 1980 to +overcome the unconstitutionality of distress proceedings. See Phillips v. Guin + + + +& Hunt, Inc., 344 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 1977). Because the revision is substantial, +no struck-through or underscored type is indicated. + + + + FORM 1.910. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.910 + +FORM 1.910. SUBPOENA FOR TRIAL. +(a) For Issuance by Clerk. + +SUBPOENA +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before the Honorable + +_________, Judge of the Court, at the _________ County +Courthouse in _________, Florida, on _________, at +_________(a.m/p.m.), to testify in this action. If you fail to +appear, you may be in contempt of court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of +the minor. + + + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify applicable +court personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least 7 days +before your scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving +this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 +days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +(b) For Issuance by Attorney of Record. +SUBPOENA + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO __________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before the Honorable + +_________, Judge of the Court, at the _________ County +Courthouse in _________, Florida, on ____ (date) ____, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), to testify in this action. If you fail to +appear, you may be in contempt of court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of +the minor. + + + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify applicable +court personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least 7 days +before your scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving +this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 +days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. Form (b) was added to comply with amendments to +rule 1.410. + +2013 Amendment. The notice to persons with disabilities was amended to +comply with amendments to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.540. + + + + FORM 1.911. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.911 + +FORM 1.911. SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM FOR TRIAL. +(a) For Issuance by Clerk + +SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before the Honorable + +_________, Judge of the Court, at the _________ County +Courthouse in _________, Florida, on ____ (date) ____, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), to testify in this action and to have with +you at that time and place the following: _________. If you fail +to appear, you may be in contempt of court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of + + + +the minor. +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in + +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify applicable +court personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least 7 days +before your scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving +this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 +days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +(b) For Issuance by Attorney of Record. +SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before the Honorable + +_________, Judge of the Court, at the _________ County +Courthouse in _________, Florida, on ____ (date) ____, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), to testify in this action and to have with +you at that time and place the following: _________. If you fail +to appear, you may be in contempt of court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding + + + +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of +the minor. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify applicable +court personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least 7 days +before your scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving +this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 +days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. Form (b) was added to comply with amendments to +rule 1.410. + +2013 Amendment. The notice to persons with disabilities was amended to +comply with amendments to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.540. + + + + FORM 1.912. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.912 + +FORM 1.912. SUBPOENA FOR DEPOSITION. +(a) For Issuance by Clerk. + +SUBPOENA FOR DEPOSITION +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before a person + +authorized by law to take depositions at _________ in +_________, Florida, on __________________ (date) +__________________, at _________(a.m./p.m.), for the taking +of your deposition in this action. If you fail to appear, you may +be in contempt of court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of + + + +the minor. +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in + +order to participate in this deposition, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify attorney or +party taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone number] at +least 7 days before your scheduled deposition, or immediately upon +receiving this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is +less than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +(b) For Issuance by Attorney of Record. +SUBPOENA FOR DEPOSITION + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before a person + +authorized by law to take depositions at _________ in +_________, Florida, on ____ (date) ____, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), for the taking of your deposition in this +action. If you fail to appear, you may be in contempt of court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _____________________. + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact + + + +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of +the minor. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this deposition, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify attorney or +party taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone number] at +least 7 days before your scheduled deposition, or immediately upon +receiving this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is +less than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. Form (b) was added to comply with amendments to +rule 1.410. + +2013 Amendment. The notice to persons with disabilities was amended to +make the procedure for obtaining accommodation consistent with the +procedure required in court proceedings. + + + + FORM 1.913. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.913 + +FORM 1.913. SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM FOR DEPOSITION. +(a) For Issuance by Clerk. + +SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM FOR DEPOSITION +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO __________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before a person + +authorized by law to take depositions at _________ in +_________, Florida, on ___________ (date) ___________, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), for the taking of your deposition in this +action and to have with you at that time and place the following: +_________. If you fail to appear, you may be in contempt of +court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of + + + +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of +the minor. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this deposition you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify attorney or +party taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone number] at +least 7 days before your scheduled deposition, or immediately upon +receiving this notification if the time before the scheduled deposition is +less than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +(b) For Issuance by Attorney of Record. +SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM FOR DEPOSITION + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO __________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear before a person + +authorized by law to take depositions at _________ in +_________, Florida, on ___________ (date) ___________, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), for the taking of your deposition in this +action and to have with you at that time and place the following: +_________. If you fail to appear, you may be in contempt of +court. + +You are subpoenaed to appear by the following attorney, and +unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or the court, +you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + + + +Any minor subpoenaed for testimony has the right to be accompanied by a +parent or guardian at all times during the taking of testimony notwithstanding +the invocation of the rule of sequestration of, except on a showing that the +presence of a parent or guardian is likely to have a material, negative impact +on the credibility or accuracy of the minors testimony, or that the interests of +the parent or guardian are in actual or potential conflict with the interests of +the minor. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this deposition, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify attorney or +party taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone number] at +least 7 days before your scheduled deposition, or immediately upon +receiving this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is +less than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. Form (b) was added to comply with amendments to +rule 1.410. + +2013 Amendment. The notice to persons with disabilities was amended to +make the procedure for obtaining accommodation consistent with the +procedure required in court proceedings. + + + + FORM 1.914(A). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.914(a) + +FORM 1.914(A). EXECUTION. +EXECUTION + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to levy on the property subject to + +execution of _________ in the sum of $ _________ with interest +at _________% a year from _________ (date) _________, until +paid and to have this writ before the court when satisfied. + +DATED on _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The description of the property to be levied on has +been made general so it encompasses all property subject to execution under +section 56.061, Florida Statutes (1979). + + + + FORM 1.914(B). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.914(b) + +FORM 1.914(B). NOTICE TO APPEAR. +NOTICE TO APPEAR + +TO ....(name of third party).... +YOU ARE NOTIFIED that, pursuant to section 56.29, Florida + +Statutes proceedings supplementary to satisfy a judgment by +application of the following:.....(identify the property, debt, or +other obligation due to the judgment debtor)..... in .....County, +Florida have been initiated against you by....(name of judgment +creditor).... You are required to serve an affidavit ....date.... +stating that the [property] [debt] [other obligation] belongs to +you. The affidavit must include any fact or legal defense +opposing the application of the [property] [debt] [other +obligation] toward the satisfaction of the judgment on ....(name +of the judgment creditor, or its attorney, and his/her/its +address)....You must file the original affidavit with the clerk of +this court either before service on the judgment creditor or +immediately thereafter. Legal defenses need not be filed under +oath but must be served contemporaneously with the affidavit. + +If any of your property has been levied on and you choose to +oppose the application of the property to be applied toward the +satisfaction of the judgment, then you must furnish a bond with +surety to be approved by the officer in favor of the judgment +creditor. The amount of the bond must be double the value of the +goods claimed as the value is fixed by the officer and +conditioned to deliver said property on demand of said officer if +it is adjudged to be the property of the judgment debtor and to +pay the judgment creditor all damages found against you if it +appears that the claim was interposed for the purpose of delay. + + + +YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY TO +DETERMINE THE RIGHT TO THE [PROPERTY, DEBT +OR OTHER OBLIGATION DUE TO THE JUDGMENT +DEBTOR]. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO DISCOVERY +UNDER THE FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE. +IF THE COURT OR JURY DETERMINES THAT THE +[PROPERTY] [DEBT] [OTHER OBLIGATION] +BELONGS TO THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR AND IS +SUBJECT TO APPLICATION TOWARD THE +SATISFACTION OF ITS JUDGMENT, THEN YOU MAY +BE ORDERED TO ....(PAY DAMAGES TO THE +JUDGMENT CREDITOR OR SURRENDER THE +PROPERTY OR OTHER OBLIGATION DUE TO THE +JUDGMENT DEBTOR TO THE JUDGMENT +CREDITOR).... + +ORDERED at ...., Florida, on .... (date) .... + + + + FORM 1.914(C). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.914(c) + +FORM 1.914(C). AFFIDAVIT OF CLAIMANT IN RESPONSE TO +NOTICE TO APPEAR. + +AFFIDAVIT OF CLAIMANT IN RESPONSE TO NOTICE TO APPEAR +BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, appeared....(name of + +claimant or claimants agent)...., who, after being first duly +sworn, deposes and states, under penalty of perjury: +1. I am the ....(claimant, or identify relationship to claimant).... +2. I (or claimant) was served with a Notice to Appear on....(date).... +3. I (or claimant) own(s) and ams entitled to possession of....(describe the + +property, debt, or other obligation due to the judgment debtor identified in the +Notice to Appear).... + +4. This property should not be applied to satisfy the judgment because.... +(state all reasons why the property, debt, or other obligation due to the +judgment debtor identified in the Notice to Appear should not be applied to +satisfy the judgment).... + +5. (Select a or b) +a. I (or claimant) request(s) a trial by jury on all issues so triable. +b. I (or claimant) request(s) a non-jury trial on all issues. + +FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT. +Dated: ____________________ +_____________________________ +Signature of Affiant +Printed Name: _____________________ +STATE OF _____________________ +COUNTY OF _____________________ + + + +Sworn to or affirmed and signed before me on this +___________ day of ___________, 20 ___________ by (name +of affiant) ___________, who is personally known to me or who +has produced ___________, as identification and who did take +an oath. + +_____________________________ +NOTARY PUBLIC, STATE OF +....(Print, Type or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary + +Public) .... +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The description of the property to be levied on has to +be made general so it encompasses all property subject to execution under +section 56.061, Florida Statutes (1979). + +2018 Adoption. Form 1.914(c) is used by a claimant to respond to a +Notice to Appear under section 56.29(2), Florida Statutes. Legal defenses +need not be filed under oath, but must be served contemporaneously with the +affidavit. If the claimants property has already been levied upon, he or she +may obtain possession of the property by filing with the officer having the +execution a copy of this affidavit and by furnishing the officer a bond with +surety, as set forth in section 56.16, Florida Statutes. + + + + FORM 1.915. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.915 + +FORM 1.915. WRIT OF POSSESSION. +WRIT OF POSSESSION + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To the Sheriff of _________ County, Florida: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to remove all persons from the + +following described property in _________ County, Florida: +(describe property) + +and to put _________ in possession of it. +DATED on _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1973 Amendment. The form is changed to make the direction conform to +the statutory requirement in section 48.011, Florida Statutes. + +1980 Amendment. The direction on this form is changed to the sheriff of +the county where the property is located, and the conclusion is modernized. + + + + FORM 1.916. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.916 + +FORM 1.916. REPLEVIN ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE. +ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to serve this order on defendant, + +_________, by personal service as provided by law, if possible, +or, if you are unable to personally serve defendant within the +time specified, by placing a copy of this order with a copy of the +summons on the claimed property located at _________, Florida, +at least 5 days before the hearing scheduled below, excluding the +day of service and intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal +holidays. Nonpersonal service as provided in this order shall be +effective to afford notice to defendant of this order, but for no +other purpose. + +Defendant shall show cause before the Honorable _________, +on _________ (date) _________, at _________m. in the +_________ County Courthouse in _________, Florida, why the +property claimed by plaintiff in the complaint filed in this action +should not be taken from the possession of defendant and +delivered to plaintiff. + +Defendant may file affidavits, appear personally or with an +attorney and present testimony at the time of the hearing, or, on a +finding by the court pursuant to section 78.067(2), Florida +Statutes (1979), that plaintiff is entitled to possession of the +property described in the complaint pending final adjudication of +the claims of the parties, file with the court a written undertaking +executed by a surety approved by the court in an amount equal to + + + +the value of the property to stay an order authorizing the delivery +of the property to plaintiff. + +If defendant fails to appear as ordered, defendant shall be +deemed to have waived the right to a hearing. The court may +thereupon order the clerk to issue a writ of replevin. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Adoption. Former form 1.916 is repealed because of the +consolidation of writs of assistance with writs of possession. The new form is +the replevin order to show cause prescribed by section 78.065, Florida +Statutes (1979). + +1996 Amendment. This form is amended to provide for service at least 5 +days before the show cause hearing, rather than by a specified date. + + + + FORM 1.917. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.917 + +FORM 1.917. NE EXEAT. +WRIT OF NE EXEAT + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to detain the defendant, + +_________, and to require the defendant to give bond in the sum +of $ _________ payable to the Governor of Florida and the +Governors successors in office conditioned that the defendant +will answer plaintiffs pleading in this action and will not depart +from the state without leave of court and will comply with the +lawful orders of this court, with sureties to be approved by the +clerk of this court. If the defendant does not give the bond, the +defendant shall be taken into custody and be confined in the +_________ County jail until the defendant gives the bond or +until further order of this court. If the defendant does not give the +bond, the defendant shall be brought before a judge of this court +within 24 hours of confinement. + +DATED on _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1976 Amendment. See 1976 Op. Atty Gen. Fla. 076-13 (Jan. 23, 1976). + + + + FORM 1.918. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.918 + +FORM 1.918. LIS PENDENS. +NOTICE OF LIS PENDENS + +TO DEFENDANT(S) _________, AND ALL OTHERS WHOM IT MAY +CONCERN: + +YOU ARE NOTIFIED OF THE FOLLOWING: +(a) The plaintiff has instituted this action against you seeking (to + +foreclose a mortgage or to partition or to quiet title or other type of +action) with respect to the property described below; + +(b) The plaintiff(s) in this action is/are: +(1) __________________ +(2) __________________ + +(c) The date of the institution of this action is __________________ +OR: the date on the clerks electronic receipt for the actions filing is +__________________ +OR: the case number of the action is as shown in the caption. +OR: the case number of the action is as shown in the caption. + +(d) The property that is the subject matter of this action is in +__________________ County, Florida, and is described as follows: + +(legal description of property) +DATED ON _________. + +NOTE: This form is not to be recorded without the clerks case number. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2009 Amendment. This form was substantially rewritten due to the +amendments to section 48.23, Florida Statutes (2009). Section 48.23 provides +that the notice must contain the names of all of the parties, the name of the +court in which the action is instituted, a description of the property involved +or affected, a description of the relief sought as to the property, and one of the +following: the date of the institution of the action, the date of the clerks +electronic receipt, or the case number. If the case number is used to satisfy +the requirements of section 48.23, it should be inserted in the case caption of +the notice. + + + + FORM 1.919. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.919 + +FORM 1.919. NOTICE OF ACTION; CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE +NO PROPERTY. + +NOTICE OF ACTION +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for (construction of a will or re- +establishment of a lost deed or other type of action) has been filed against +you and you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to it +on _________, the plaintiffs attorney, whose address is _________, on or +before _________ (date) _________, and file the original with the clerk of +this court either before service on the plaintiffs attorney or immediately +thereafter; otherwise a default will be entered against you for the relief +demanded in the complaint or petition. + +DATED on _________ + +NOTE: This form must be modified to name the other defendants when +there are multiple defendants and all are not served under the same notice. +See section 49.08(1), Florida Statutes (1979). + + + + FORM 1.920. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.920 + +FORM 1.920. NOTICE OF ACTION; CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE +PROPERTY. + +NOTICE OF ACTION +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action to (enforce a lien on + +or foreclose a mortgage on or quiet title to or partition or +other type of action) the following property in _________ +County, Florida: + +(describe property) +has been filed against you and you are required to serve a copy of your +written defenses, if any, to it on _________, the plaintiffs attorney, whose +address is _________, on or before _________ (date) _________, and file the +original with the clerk of this court either before service on the plaintiffs +attorney or immediately thereafter; otherwise a default will be entered against +you for the relief demanded in the complaint or petition. + +DATED on _________ + +NOTE: This form must be modified to name the other defendants when +there are multiple defendants and all are not served under the same notice. +See section 49.08(1), Florida Statutes (1979). + + + + FORM 1.921. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.921 + +FORM 1.921. NOTICE OF PRODUCTION FROM NONPARTY. +NOTICE OF PRODUCTION + +To ____________________: +YOU ARE NOTIFIED that after 10 days from the date of service of this + +notice, if service is by delivery, or 15 days from the date of service, if service +is by mail, and if no objection is received from any party, the undersigned +will issue or apply to the clerk of this court for issuance of the attached +subpoena directed to ____, who is not a party and whose address is ____, to +produce the items listed at the time and place specified in the subpoena. + +DATED on _______ + +NOTE: This form of notice is for use with rule 1.351. A copy of the +subpoena must be attached to this form for it to comply with the rule. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Adoption. This form is new. +1996 Amendment. This form was amended to comply with amendments + +to rules 1.351 and 1.410. + + + + FORM 1.922. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.922 + +FORM 1.922. SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM WITHOUT DEPOSITION. +(a) When Witness Has Option to Furnish Records Instead of + +Attending Deposition; Issuance by Clerk. +SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear at _________ in + +_________, Florida, on ___________ (date) ___________, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), and to have with you at that time and +place the following: _________. + +These items will be inspected and may be copied at that time. +You will not be required to surrender the original items. You +may comply with this subpoena by providing legible copies of +the items to be produced to the attorney whose name appears on +this subpoena on or before the scheduled date of production. You +may condition the preparation of the copies upon the payment in +advance of the reasonable cost of preparation. You may mail or +deliver the copies to the attorney whose name appears on this +subpoena and thereby eliminate your appearance at the time and +place specified above. You have the right to object to the +production pursuant to this subpoena at any time before +production by giving written notice to the attorney whose name +appears on this subpoena. THIS WILL NOT BE A +DEPOSITION. NO TESTIMONY WILL BE TAKEN. + +If you fail to: +(1) appear as specified; or + + + +(2) furnish the records instead of appearing as provided above; or +(3) object to this subpoena, + +you may be in contempt of court. You are subpoenaed to appear by the +following attorney, and unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or +the court, you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [applicable court +personnel taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone +number] at least 7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time before the +scheduled court appearance is less than 7 days; if you are hearing or +voice impaired, call 711. + +(b) When Witness Must Appear and Produce the Records; Issuance by +Clerk. + +SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO: _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear at _________ in + +_________, Florida, on _________ (date) _________, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), and to have with you at that time and +place the following: _________. + + + +These items will be inspected and may be copied at that time. +You will not be required to surrender the original items. You +have the right to object to the production pursuant to this +subpoena at any time before production by giving written notice +to the attorney whose name appears on this subpoena. THIS +WILL NOT BE A DEPOSITION. NO TESTIMONY WILL BE +TAKEN. + +If you fail to: +(1) appear or furnish the records at the time and place specified instead of + +appearing; or +(2) object to this subpoena, + +you may be in contempt of court. You are subpoenaed by the attorney whose +name appears on this subpoena, and unless excused from this subpoena by +the attorney or the court, you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [applicable court +personnel taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone +number] at least 7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time before the +scheduled court appearance is less than 7 days; if you are hearing or +voice impaired, call 711. + +(c) When Witness Has Option to Furnish Records Instead of +Attending Deposition; Issuance by Attorney of Record. + + + +SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear at _________ in + +_________, Florida, on _________ (date) _________, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), and to have with you at that time and +place the following: _________. + +These items will be inspected and may be copied at that time. +You will not be required to surrender the original items. You +may comply with this subpoena by providing legible copies of +the items to be produced to the attorney whose name appears on +this subpoena on or before the scheduled date of production. You +may condition the preparation of the copies upon the payment in +advance of the reasonable cost of preparation. You may mail or +deliver the copies to the attorney whose name appears on this +subpoena and thereby eliminate your appearance at the time and +place specified above. You have the right to object to the +production pursuant to this subpoena at any time before +production by giving written notice to the attorney whose name +appears on this subpoena. THIS WILL NOT BE A +DEPOSITION. NO TESTIMONY WILL BE TAKEN. + +If you fail to: +(1) appear as specified; or +(2) furnish the records instead of appearing as provided above; or +(3) object to this subpoena, + +you may be in contempt of court. You are subpoenaed to appear by the +following attorney, and unless excused from this subpoena by this attorney or +the court, you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + + + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [applicable court +personnel taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone +number] at least 7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time before the +scheduled court appearance is less than 7 days; if you are hearing or +voice impaired, call 711. + +(d) When Witness Must Appear and Produce the Records; Issuance by +Attorney of Record. + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +TO _____________________: +YOU ARE COMMANDED to appear at _________ in + +_________, Florida, on _________ (date) _________, at +_________(a.m./p.m.), and to have with you at that time and +place the following: _________. + +These items will be inspected and may be copied at that time. +You will not be required to surrender the original items. You +have the right to object to the production pursuant to this +subpoena at any time before production by giving written notice +to the attorney whose name appears on this subpoena. THIS +WILL NOT BE A DEPOSITION. NO TESTIMONY WILL BE +TAKEN. + +If you fail to: + + + +(1) appear or furnish the records at the time and place specified instead of +appearing; or + +(2) object to this subpoena, +you may be in contempt of court. You are subpoenaed by the attorney whose +name appears on this subpoena, and unless excused from this subpoena by +the attorney or the court, you must respond to this subpoena as directed. + +DATED on _________. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, +to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [applicable court +personnel taking the deposition by name, address, and telephone +number] at least 7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time before the +scheduled court appearance is less than 7 days; if you are hearing or +voice impaired, call 711. + +NOTE: These forms are to be used for production of documents under rule +1.351. Form (a) is used when the person having the records may furnish +copies to the attorney requesting the subpoena instead of appearing at the +time and place specified in the subpoena and the subpoena is to be issued by +the clerk. Form (b) is used when the records must be produced at the time and +place specified in the subpoena and the subpoena is to be issued by the clerk. +Form (c) is used when the person having the records may furnish copies to +the attorney requesting the subpoena instead of appearing at the time and +place specified in the subpoena and the subpoena is to be issued by an +attorney of record. Form (d) is used when the records must be produced at the +time and place specified in the subpoena and the subpoena is to be issued by +an attorney of record. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Adoption. This form is new. +1996 Amendment. Forms (a) and (b) were amended and forms (c) and (d) + +were added to comply with amendments to rules 1.351 and 1.410. +2013 Amendment. The notice to persons with disabilities was amended to + +make the procedure for obtaining accommodation consistent with the +procedure required in court proceedings. + + + + FORM 1.923. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.923 + +FORM 1.923. EVICTION SUMMONS/RESIDENTIAL. +EVICTION SUMMONS/RESIDENTIAL + +TO: ____________________ +Defendant(s) +_____________________ +_____________________ + +PLEASE READ CAREFULLY +You are being sued by _________ to require you to move out + +of the place where you are living for the reasons given in the +attached complaint. + +You are entitled to a trial to determine whether you can be +required to move, but you MUST do ALL of the things listed +below. You must do them within 5 days (not including Saturday, +Sunday, or any legal holiday) after the date these papers were +given to you or to a person who lives with you or were posted at +your home. + +THE THINGS YOU MUST DO ARE AS FOLLOWS: +(1) Write down the reason(s) why you think you should not be forced to + +move. The written reason(s) must be given to the clerk of the court at +_________ County Courthouse + +_____________________ +____________________, Florida + +(2) Mail or give a copy of your written reason(s) to: +______________________ + + + +Plaintiff/Plaintiffs Attorney +______________________ +______________________ +Address + +(3) Pay to the clerk of the court the amount of rent that the attached +complaint claims to be due and any rent that becomes due until the lawsuit is +over. If you believe that the amount claimed in the complaint is incorrect, you +should file with the clerk of the court a motion to have the court determine +the amount to be paid. If you file a motion, you must attach to the motion any +documents supporting your position and mail or give a copy of the motion to +the plaintiff/plaintiffs attorney. + +(4) If you file a motion to have the court determine the amount of rent to +be paid to the clerk of the court, you must immediately contact the office of +the judge to whom the case is assigned to schedule a hearing to decide what +amount should be paid to the clerk of the court while the lawsuit is pending. +_____________________________ + +IF YOU DO NOT DO ALL OF THE THINGS SPECIFIED +ABOVE WITHIN 5 WORKING DAYS AFTER THE DATE +THAT THESE PAPERS WERE GIVEN TO YOU OR TO A +PERSON WHO LIVES WITH YOU OR WERE POSTED AT +YOUR HOME, YOU MAY BE EVICTED WITHOUT A +HEARING OR FURTHER NOTICE + +_____________________________ +(5) If the attached complaint also contains a claim for money damages + +(such as unpaid rent), you must respond to that claim separately. You must +write down the reasons why you believe that you do not owe the money +claimed. The written reasons must be given to the clerk of the court at the +address specified in paragraph (1) above, and you must mail or give a copy of +your written reasons to the plaintiff/plaintiffs attorney at the address +specified in paragraph (2) above. This must be done within 20 days after the +date these papers were given to you or to a person who lives with you. This + + + +obligation is separate from the requirement of answering the claim for +eviction within 5 working days after these papers were given to you or to a +person who lives with you or were posted at your home. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any +accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, you are +entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. +Please contact [identify applicable court personnel by name, +address, and telephone number] at least 7 days before your +scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving this +notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less +than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +THE STATE OF FLORIDA: +To Each Sheriff of the State: YOU ARE COMMANDED to + +serve this summons and a copy of the complaint in this lawsuit +on the above-named defendant. + +DATED on _________ + +NOTIFICACION DE DESALOJO/RESIDENCIAL +A: _________ +Demandado(s) +__________________ +__________________ + +SIRVASE LEER CON CUIDADO +Usted esta siendo demandado por _________ para exigirle que + +desaloje el lugar donde reside por los motivos que se expresan en +la demanda adjunta. + + + +Usted tiene derecho a ser sometido a juicio para determinar si +se le puede exigir que se mude, pero ES NECESARIO que haga +TODO lo que se le pide a continuacion en un plazo de 5 dias (no +incluidos los sabados, domingos, ni dias feriados) a partir de la +fecha en que estos documentos se le entregaron a usted o a una +persona que vive con usted, o se colocaron en su casa. + +USTED DEBERA HACER LO SIGUIENTE: +(1) Escribir el (los) motivo(s) por el (los) cual(es) cree que no se le debe + +obligar a mudarse. El (Los) motivo(s) debera(n) entregarse por escrito al +secretario del tribunal en el _________ County Courthouse + +______________________ +____________________, FLORIDA + +(2) Enviar por correo o darle su(s) motivo(s) por escrito a: +___________________________ +Demandante/Abogrado del Demandante +_____________________ +_____________________ + +(3) Pagarle al secretario del tribunal el monto del alquiler que la demanda +adjunta reclama como adeudado, asi como cualquier alquiler pagadero hasta +que concluya el litigio. Si usted considera que el monto reclamado en la +demanda es incorrecto, deber presentarle al secretario del tribunal una +mocin para que el tribunal determine el monto que deba pagarse. Si usted +presenta una mocin, debera adjuntarle a esta cualesquiera documentos que +respalden su posicin, y enviar por correo o entregar una copia de la misma al +demandante/abogado del demandante. + +(4) Si usted presenta una mocin para que el tribunal determine el monto +del alquiler que deba pagarse al secretario del tribunal, debera comunicarse +de inmediato con la oficina del juez al que se le haya asignado el caso para +que programe una audiencia con el fin de determinar el monto que deba + + + +pagarse al secretario del tribunal mientras el litigio est pendiente. +_____________________________ + +SI USTED NO LLEVA A CABO LAS ACCIONES QUE SE +ESPECIFICAN ANTERIORMENTE EN UN PLAZO DE 5 +DIAS LABORABLES A PARTIR DE LA FECHA EN QUE +ESTOS DOCUMENTOS SE LE ENTREGARON A USTED O +A UNA PERSONA QUE VIVE CON USTED, O SE +COLOQUEN EN SU CASA, SE LE PODRA DESALOJAR SIN +NECESIDAD DE CELEBRAR UNA AUDIENCIA NI +CURSARSELE OTRO AVISO + +_____________________________ +(5) Si la demanda adjunta tambin incluye una reclamacin por daos y + +perjuicios pecunarios (tales como el incumplimiento de pago del alquiler), +usted deber responder a dicha reclamacin por separado. Deber exponer +por escrito los motivos por los cuales considera que usted no debe la suma +reclamada, y entregarlos al secretario del tribunal en la direccin que se +especifica en el parrafo (1) anterior, asi como enviar por correo o entregar +una copia de los mismos al demandante/abogado del demandante en la +direccin que se especifica en el parrafo (2) anterior. Esto deber llevarse a +cabo en un plazo de 20 dias a partir de la fecha en que estos documentos se le +entregaron a usted o a una persona que vive con usted. Esta obligacin es +aparte del requisito de responder a la demanda de desalojo en un plazo de 5 +dias a partir de la fecha en que estos documentos se le entregaron a usted o a +una persona que vive con usted, o se coloquen en su casa. + +Si usted es una persona minusvlida que necesita algn +acomodamiento para poder participar en este procedimiento, +usted tiene derecho, sin tener gastos propios, a que se le provea +cierta ayuda. Tenga la amabilidad de ponerse en contacto con +[identify applicable court personnel by name, address, and +telephone number], por lo menos 7 dias antes de la cita fijada +para su comparecencia en los tribunales, o inmediatamente +despus de recibir esta notificacin si el tiempo antes de la + + + +comparecencia que se ha programado es menos de 7 dias; si +usted tiene discapacitacin del odo o de la voz, llame al 711. + +CITATION DEVICTION/RESIDENTIELLE +A: ____________________ +Defendeur(s) +_____________________ +_____________________ + +LISEZ ATTENTIVEMENT +Vous etes poursuivi par _________ pour exiger que vous + +evacuez les lieux de votre residence pour les raisons enumerees +dans la plainte ci-dessous. + +Vous avez droit a un proces pour determiner si vous devez +deme-nager, mais vous devez, au prealable, suivre les +instructions enumerees ci-dessous, pendant les 5 jours (non +compris le samedi, le dimanche, ou un jour ferie) a partir de la +date ou ces documents ont ete donnes a vous ou a la personne +vivant avec vous, ou ont ete affiches a votre residence. + +LISTE DES INSTRUCTIONS A SUIVRE: +(1) Enumerer par ecrit les raisons pour lesquelles vous pensez ne pas avoir + +a demenager. Elles doivent etre remises au clerc du tribunal a _________ +County Courthouse + +_____________________ +__________________, Florida + +(2) Envoyer ou donner une copie au: +___________________________ +Plaignnant/Avocat du Plaignant + + + +______________________ +______________________ + +(3) Payer au clerc du tribunal le montant des loyers dus comme etabli dans +la plainte et le montant des loyers dus jusqua la fin du proces. Si vous pensez +que le montant etabli dans la plainte est incorrect, vous devez presenter au +clerc du tribunal une demande en justice pour determiner la somme a payer. +Pour cela vous devez attacher a la demande tous les documents soutenant +votre position et faire parvenir une copie de la demande au plaignant/avocat +du plaignant. + +(4) Si vous faites une demande en justice pour determiner la somme a +payer au clerc du tribunal, vous devrez immediatement prevenir le bureau de +juge qui presidera au proces pour fixer la date de laudience qui decidera +quelle somme doit etre payee au clerc du tribunal pendant que le proces est en +cours. +_____________________________ + +SI VOUS NE SUIVEZ PAS CES INSTRUCTIONS A LA +LETTRE DANS LES 5 JOURS QUE SUIVENT LA DATE OU +CES DOCUMENTS ONT ETE REMIS A VOUS OU A LA +PERSONNE HABITANT AVEC VOUS, OU ONT ETE +AFFICHES A VOTRE RESIDENCE, VOUS POUVEZ ETRE +EXPULSES SANS AUDIENCE OU SANS AVIS +PREALABLE + +_____________________________ +(5) Si la plainte ci-dessus contient une demande pour dommages + +pecuniaires, tels des loyers arrieres, vous devez y repondre separement. Vous +devez enumerer par ecrit les raisons pour lesquelles vous estimez ne pas +devoir le montant demande. Ces raisons ecrites doivent etre donnees au clerc +du tribunal a ladresse specifiee dans le paragraphe (1) et une copie de ces +raisons donnee ou envoyee au plaignant/avocat du plaignant a ladresse +specifiee dans le paragraphe (2). Cela doit etre fait dans les 20 jours suivant +la date ou ces documents ont ete presentes a vous ou a la personne habitant +avec vous. Cette obligation ne fait pas partie des instructions a suivre en + + + +reponse au proces deviction dans les 5 jours suivant la date ou ces +documents ont ete presentes a vous ou a la personne habitant avec vous, ou +affiches a votre residence. + +Si ou se yon moun ki enfim ki bezwen akomodasyon pou w kab patisipe +nan pwosedi sa a, ou gen dwa, san ou pa bezwen peye okenn lajan, pou w +jwenn yon sten d. Tanpri kontakte [identify applicable court personnel by +name], Kdonatris pwogram Lwa Ameriken pou Moun ki Enfim yo nan +[identify court personnels address and telephone number], f sa omwen 7 +jou anvan dat ou gen randevou pou part nan Tribinal la, oswa f sa +imedyatman apre ou fin resevwa konvokasyon an si dat ou gen pou w part +nan tribinal la mwens pase 7 jou; si ou gen pwoblm pou w tande byen oswa +pou w pale kl, rele 711. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1988 Adoption. This form was added to inform those sought to be evicted +of the procedure they must follow to resist eviction. + +1996 Amendment. This is a substantial revision of form 1.923 to comply +with the requirements of section 83.60, Florida Statutes, as amended in 1993. + + + + FORM 1.924. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.924 + +FORM 1.924. AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH AND INQUIRY. + + + + + + + FORM 1.932. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.932 + +FORM 1.932. OPEN ACCOUNT. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due with interest since + +_________ (date) _________, according to the attached account. +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages + +against defendant. +NOTE: A copy of the account showing items, time of accrual of each, and + +amount of each must be attached. + + + + FORM 1.933. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.933 + +FORM 1.933. ACCOUNT STATED. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. Before the institution of this action plaintiff and defendant had business + +transactions between them and on _________ (date) _________, they agreed +to the resulting balance. + +3. Plaintiff rendered a statement of it to defendant, a copy being attached, +and defendant did not object to the statement. + +4. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due with interest since +_________ (date) _________, on the account. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages +against defendant. + +NOTE: A copy of the account showing items, time of accrual +of each, and amount of each must be attached. + + + + FORM 1.934. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.934 + +FORM 1.934. PROMISSORY NOTE. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. On _________ (date) _________, defendant executed and delivered a + +promissory note, a copy being attached, to plaintiff in _________ County, +Florida. + +3. Plaintiff owns and holds the note. +4. Defendant failed to pay (use a or b) +a. the note when due. +b. the installment payment due on the note on ____(date)____ and plaintiff + +elected to accelerate payment of the balance. +5. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due with interest since + +_________(date)_________, on the note. +6. Plaintiff is obligated to pay his/her attorneys a reasonable fee for their + +services. +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages + +against defendant. +NOTE: A copy of the note must be attached. Use paragraph + +4a. or b. as applicable and paragraph 6 if appropriate. +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Paragraph 3 is added to show ownership of the note, +and paragraph 4 is clarified to show that either 4a or 4b is used, but not both. + + + + FORM 1.935. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.935 + +FORM 1.935. GOODS SOLD. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due with interest since + +_________ (date) _________, for the following goods sold and delivered by +plaintiff to defendant between _________ (date) _________, and _________ +(date) _________: + +(list goods and prices) +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages + +against defendant. + + + + FORM 1.936. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.936 + +FORM 1.936. MONEY LENT. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due with interest since + +_________ (date) _________, for money lent by plaintiff to defendant on +_________ (date) _________ + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages +against defendant. + + + + FORM 1.937. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.937 + +FORM 1.937. REPLEVIN. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action to recover possession of personal property in + +_________ County, Florida. +2. The description of the property is: + +(list property) +To the best of plaintiffs knowledge, information, and belief, + +the value of the property is $ _________ +3. Plaintiff is entitled to the possession of the property under a security + +agreement dated _________, a copy of the agreement being attached. +4. To plaintiffs best knowledge, information, and belief, the property is + +located at _________ +5. The property is wrongfully detained by defendant. Defendant came into + +possession of the property by (method of possession). To plaintiffs best +knowledge, information, and belief, defendant detains the property because +(give reasons). + +6. The property has not been taken for any tax, assessment, or fine +pursuant to law. + +7. The property has not been taken under an execution or attachment +against plaintiffs property. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for possession of +the property. + +NOTE: Paragraph 3 must be modified if the right to +possession arose in another manner. Allegations and a demand +for damages, if appropriate, can be added to the form. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The form is amended to comply with the amendments +to the replevin statutes pursuant to Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S. Ct. +1983, 32 L. Ed. 2d 556 (1972). + + + + FORM 1.938. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.938 + +FORM 1.938. FORCIBLE ENTRY AND DETENTION. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A.B., sues defendant, C.D., and alleges: +1. This is an action to recover possession of real property unlawfully + +(forcibly) detained in _________ County, Florida. +2. Plaintiff is entitled to possession of the following real property in said + +county: +(insert description of property) + +3. Defendant has unlawfully (forcibly) turned plaintiff out of and withholds +possession of the property from plaintiff. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for possession of +the property and damages against defendant. + +NOTE: Substitute forcibly for unlawfully or add it as an +alternative when applicable. This form cannot be used for +residential tenancies. + + + + FORM 1.939. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.939 + +FORM 1.939. CONVERSION. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. On or about _________ (date) _________, defendant converted to + +his/her own use (insert description of property converted) that was then the +property of plaintiff of the value of $ _________ + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages +against defendant. + + + + FORM 1.940. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.940 + +FORM 1.940. EJECTMENT. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A.B., sues defendant, C.D., and alleges: +1. This is an action to recover possession of real property in _________ + +County, Florida. +2. Defendant is in possession of the following real property in the county: + +(describe property) +to which plaintiff claims title as shown by the attached statement of plaintiffs +chain of title. + +3. Defendant refuses to deliver possession of the property to plaintiff or +pay plaintiff the profits from it. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for possession of +the property and damages against defendant. + +NOTE: A statement of plaintiffs chain of title must be +attached. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The words possession of are inserted in paragraph 1 +for clarification. + + + + FORM 1.941. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.941 + +FORM 1.941. SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sued defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for specific performance of a contract to convey real + +property in _________ County, Florida. +2. On _________ (date) _________, plaintiff and defendant entered into a + +written contract, a copy being attached. +3. Plaintiff tendered the purchase price to defendant and requested a + +conveyance of the real property described in the contract. +4. Defendant refused to accept the tender or to make the conveyance. +5. Plaintiff offers to pay the purchase price. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment that defendant be +required to perform the contract for damages. + +NOTE: A copy of the sales contract must be attached. +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Paragraph 3 is divided into 2 paragraphs to properly +accord with rule 1.110(f). + + + + FORM 1.942. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.942 + +FORM 1.942. CHECK. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. On _________ (date) _________, defendant executed a written order for + +the payment of $ _________, commonly called a check, a copy being +attached, payable to the order of plaintiff and delivered it to plaintiff. + +3. The check was presented for payment to the drawee bank but payment +was refused. + +4. Plaintiff holds the check and it has not been paid. +5. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due with interest from + +_________ (date) _________, on the check. +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages + +against defendant. +NOTE: A copy of the check must be attached. Allegations + +about endorsements are omitted from this form and must be +added when proper. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Paragraph 4 is divided into 2 paragraphs to properly +accord with rule 1.110(f). + + + + FORM 1.944(A). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.944(a) + +FORM 1.944(A). MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE. +(When location of original note known) + +COMPLAINT +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action to foreclose a mortgage on real property in _________ + +County, Florida. +2. On (date) , defendant executed and delivered a promissory note and a + +mortgage securing payment of the note to _________ (plaintiff or plaintiffs +predecessor) _________. The mortgage was recorded on (date) , in Official +Records Book _________ at page _________ of the public records of +_________ County, Florida, and mortgaged the property described in the +mortgage then owned by and in possession of the mortgagor, a copy of the +mortgage and the note being attached. + +3. (Select a, b, c, or d) +(a) Plaintiff is the holder of the original note secured by the mortgage. +(b) Plaintiff is a person entitled to enforce the note under applicable law + +because (allege specific facts) . +(c) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage + +foreclosure action on behalf of _________ (name of holder) _________, the +holder of the original note. The document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the +authority to act on behalf of the holder of the original note is/are as follows +_____________________. + +(d) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage +foreclosure action on behalf of _________ (name of non-holder)_________, +who is not the holder but is entitled to enforce the note under section +673.3011(2), Florida Statutes, because _________ (allege specific +facts)_________. The document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the authority to act +on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note is/are as follows +_____________________. + + + +4. The property is now owned by defendant who holds possession. +5. Defendant has defaulted under the note and mortgage by failing to pay + +the payment due (date) and all subsequent payments (allege other +defaults as applicable) . + +6. Plaintiff declares the full amount payable under the note and mortgage +to be due. + +7. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due on principal on the +note and mortgage, interest from (date) , and title search expense for +ascertaining necessary parties to this action. + +8. Plaintiff is obligated to pay plaintiffs attorneys a reasonable fee for their +services. Plaintiff is entitled to recover its attorneys fees under (allege +statutory and/or contractual bases, as applicable) . + +WHEREFORE, plaintiff demands judgment foreclosing the +mortgage, for costs (and, when applicable, for attorneys fees), +and, if the proceeds of the sale are insufficient to pay plaintiffs +claim, a deficiency judgment. +NOTE: An action for foreclosure of a mortgage on residential real + +property must contain an oath, affirmation, or the following statement as +required by rule 1.115(e). + +VERIFICATION +Under penalty of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing, and the + +facts alleged therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and +belief. +________________________ + +CERTIFICATION OF POSSESSION OF ORIGINAL NOTE +The undersigned hereby certifies: + +1. That plaintiff is in possession of the original promissory note upon + + + +which this action is brought. +2. The location of the original promissory note is: (location) . +3. The name and title of the person giving the certification is: (name and + +title) . +4. The name of the person who personally verified such possession is: + + (name) . +5. The time and date on which possession was verified were: (time and + +date) . +6. Correct copies of the note (and, if applicable, all endorsements, + +transfers, allonges, or assignments of the note) are attached to this +certification. + +7. I give this statement based on my personal knowledge. +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the + +foregoing Certification of Possession of Original Note and that +the facts stated in it are true. + +NOTE: This form is for installment payments with +acceleration. It omits allegations about junior encumbrances, +unpaid taxes, unpaid insurance premiums, other nonmonetary +defaults, and for a receiver. They must be added when +appropriate. A copy of the note and mortgage must be attached. +This form may require modification. This form is designed to +incorporate the pleading requirements of section 702.015, +Florida Statutes (2013) and rule 1.115. It is also designed to +conform to section 673.3011, Florida Statutes (2013), except that +part of section 673.3011, Florida Statutes, which defines a +person entitled to enforce an instrument under section 673.3091, +Florida Statutes. See form 1.944(b). Pursuant to section 702.015, + + + +Florida Statutes (2013), a certification of possession of the +original promissory note must be filed contemporaneously with +the Complaint (form 1.944(a)) or, in the event that the plaintiff +seeks to enforce a lost, destroyed, or stolen instrument, an +affidavit setting forth the facts required by law must be attached +to the complaint (form 1.944(b)). + + + + FORM 1.944(B). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.944(b) + +FORM 1.944(B). MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE. +(When location of original note unknown) + +COMPLAINT +Plaintiff, ABC, sues defendant, XYZ, and states: +1. This is an action to foreclose a mortgage on real property in _________ + +County, Florida. +2. On (date) , defendant executed and delivered a promissory note and a + +mortgage securing the payment of said note to (plaintiff or plaintiffs +predecessor) . The mortgage was recorded on (date) , in Official Records +Book _________ at page _________ of the public records of +__________________ County, Florida, and mortgaged the property +described therein which was then owned by and in possession of the +mortgagor. A copy of the mortgage and note are attached to the affidavit +which is attached hereto as Composite Exhibit 1; the contents of the +affidavit are specifically incorporated by reference. + +3. Plaintiff is not in possession of the note but is entitled to enforce it. +4. (select a, b, c, or d) Plaintiff cannot reasonably obtain possession of the + +note because +(a) the note was destroyed. +(b) the note is lost. +(c) the note is in the wrongful possession of an unknown person. +(d) the note is in the wrongful possession of a person that cannot be found + +or is not amenable to service of process. +5. (select a, b, c, d, e, or f) +(a) When loss of possession occurred, plaintiff was the holder of the + +original note secured by the mortgage. +(b) When loss of possession occurred, plaintiff was a person entitled to + +enforce the note under applicable law because (allege specific facts) . + + + +(c) Plaintiff has directly or indirectly acquired ownership of the note from a +person entitled to enforce the note when loss of possession occurred as +follows: (allege facts as to transfer of ownership) . + +(d) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage +foreclosure action on behalf of the holder of the original note who lost +possession of the note. The document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the authority to +act on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note is/are as follows +_____________________ (attach documents if not already attached). + +(e) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage +foreclosure action on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note when +loss of possession occurred because _________ (allege specific +facts)_________. The document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the authority to act +on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note is/are as follows +_________ (attach documents if not already attached). + +(f) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage +foreclosure action on behalf of the person or entity who directly or indirectly +acquired ownership of the note from a person entitled to enforce the note +when loss of possession occurred, as follows:_________ (allege specific +facts) _________ the document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the authority to act +on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note is/are as follows +_________ (attach documents if not already attached). + +6. Plaintiff did not transfer the note or lose possession of it as the result of +a lawful seizure. + +7. The property is now owned by defendant who holds possession. +8. Defendant has defaulted under the note and mortgage by failing to pay + +the payment(s) due (date(s)) , and all subsequent payments (identify other +defaults as applicable) . + +9. Plaintiff declares the full amount payable under the note and mortgage +to be due. + +10. Defendant owes plaintiff $ _________ that is due on principal on the +note and mortgage, interest from (date) , and title search expense for +ascertaining necessary parties to this action. + +11. Plaintiff is obligated to pay its attorneys a reasonable fee for their + + + +services. Plaintiff is entitled to recover its attorneys fees for prosecuting this +claim pursuant to (identify statutory and/or contractual bases, as applicable) + . + +WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment re-establishing +the promissory note, determining the amount and nature of +adequate protection to be required by sections 673.3091(2) and +702.11, Florida Statutes, foreclosing the mortgage, for costs +(and, where applicable, for attorneys fees), and if the proceeds +of the sale are insufficient to pay plaintiffs claim, a deficiency +judgment. + +NOTE: An action for foreclosure of a mortgage on residential +real property must contain an oath, affirmation, or the following +statement as required by rule 1.115(e). + +VERIFICATION +Under penalty of perjury, I declare that I have read the + +foregoing, and the facts alleged therein are true and correct to the +best of my knowledge and belief. + +AFFIDAVIT OF COMPLIANCE +STATE OF FLORIDA +COUNTY OF ____________________ + +BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared + (name) , who, after being first duly sworn, deposes and states, +under penalty of perjury: +1. I am the plaintiff (or plaintiffs ____________________) (identify + +relationship to plaintiff). +I am executing this affidavit in support of plaintiffs + + + +Complaint against defendant and I have personal knowledge of +the matters set forth herein. +2. On (date) , the public records reflect that defendant executed and + +delivered a mortgage securing the payment of the note to + (plaintiff/plaintiffs predecessor) . The mortgage was recorded on (date) + , in Official Records Book _________ at page _________ of the public +records of _________ County, Florida, and mortgaged the property described +therein, which was then owned by and in possession of the mortgagor, a copy +of the mortgage and the note being attached. + +3. Plaintiff is not in possession of the note but is entitled to enforce it. +4. (select a, b, c, or d) Plaintiff cannot reasonably obtain possession of the + +note because +(a) the note was destroyed. +(b) the note is lost. +(c) the note is in the wrongful possession of an unknown person. +(d) the note is in the wrongful possession of a person who cannot be found + +or is not amenable to service of process. +5. (select a, b, c, d, e, or f) +(a) When loss of possession occurred, plaintiff was the holder of the + +original note secured by the mortgage. +(b) When loss of possession occurred, plaintiff was a person entitled to + +enforce the note under applicable law because (allege specific facts) . +(c) Plaintiff has directly or indirectly acquired ownership of the note from a + +person entitled to enforce the note when loss of possession occurred as +follows: (allege facts regarding transfer of ownership) . + +(d) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage +foreclosure action on behalf of the holder of the original note who lost +possession of the note. The document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the authority to +act on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note is/are as follows +_____________________ (attach copy of document(s) or relevant portion(s) +of the document(s)). + + + +(e) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage +foreclosure action on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the original note +when loss of possession occurred, because _________ (allege specific facts) +_________. The document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the authority to act on +behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note is/are as follows _________ +(attach documents if not already attached). + +(f) Plaintiff has been delegated the authority to institute a mortgage +foreclosure action on behalf of the person or entity who directly or indirectly +acquired ownership of the note from a person entitled to enforce the original +note when loss of possession occurred, as follows _________ (allege specific +facts) _________. The document(s) that grant(s) plaintiff the authority to act +on behalf of the person entitled to enforce the note is/are as follows +_________ (attach documents if not already attached). + +6. Below is the clear chain of the endorsements, transfers, allonges or +assignments of the note and all documents that evidence same as are available +to Plaintiff: (identify in chronological order all endorsements, transfers, +assignments of, allonges to, the note or other evidence of the acquisition, +ownership and possession of the note) . Correct copies of the foregoing +documents are attached to this affidavit. + +7. Plaintiff did not transfer the note or lose possession of it as the result of +a lawful seizure. +FURTHER, AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT. + +STATE OF FLORIDA +COUNTY OF ____________________ + +BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority appeared (name of +affiant) , who _________ is personally known to me or +_________ produced identification _________ and +acknowledged that he/she executed the foregoing instrument for +the purposes expressed therein and who did take an oath. + + + +WITNESS my hand and seal in the State and County +aforesaid, this (date) . + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2014 Adoption. This form is for installment payments with acceleration. It +omits allegations about junior encumbrances, unpaid taxes, unpaid insurance +premiums, other nonmonetary defaults, and for a receiver. Allegations must +be added when appropriate. This form may require modification. This form is +designed to incorporate the pleading requirements of section 702.015, Florida +Statutes (2013), and rule 1.115. It is also designed to comply with section +673.3091, Florida Statutes (2013). Adequate protection as required by +sections 702.11 (2013) and 673.3091(2), Florida Statutes (2013), must be +provided before the entry of final judgment. + + + + FORM 1.944(C). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.944(c) + +FORM 1.944(C). MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE. +PLAINTIFFS MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE + +FOR ENTRY OF FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE +1. Plaintiff is a lienholder of real property located at (address) or is a + + Condominium Association/Cooperative Association/Homeowners +Association . + +2. The plaintiff has filed a verified complaint in conformity with applicable +law, which is attached. + +3. The plaintiff requests this court issue an order requiring defendant(s) to +appear before the court to show cause why a final judgment of foreclosure +should not be entered against defendant(s). + +4. The date of the hearing may not occur sooner than the later of 20 days +after service of the order to show cause or 45 days after service of the initial +complaint. + +OR +COMMENT: Use the following when service is by publication: + +4. When service is obtained by publication, the date for the hearing may +not be set sooner than 30 days after the first publication. + +5. The accompanying proposed order to show cause affords defendant(s) +all the rights and obligations as contemplated by applicable law. + +6. Upon the entry of the order to show cause, plaintiff shall serve a copy of +the executed order to show cause for entry of final judgment as required by +law. + +Plaintiff requests the court review this complaint and grant this +motion for order to show cause for entry of final judgment of +foreclosure, and grant such further relief as may be awarded at +law or in equity. + + + +Certificate of Service + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2014 Adoption. This form is designed to comply with section 702.10, +Florida Statutes (2013). + + + + FORM 1.944(D). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.944(d) + +FORM 1.944(D). ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE. +ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE + +THIS CAUSE has come before the court on _________ +plaintiffs/lien holders _________ motion for order to show +cause for entry of final judgment of mortgage foreclosure and the +court having reviewed the motion and the verified complaint, +and being otherwise fully advised in the circumstances, finds and +it is + +ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that: +1. The defendant(s) shall appear at a hearing on foreclosure on (date) at + + (time) before the undersigned judge, in the (county) Courthouse at + (address) , to show cause why the attached final judgment of foreclosure +should not be entered against the defendant(s) in this cause. This hearing +referred to in this order is a show cause hearing. + +2. This ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE shall be served on the defendant(s) in +accordance with the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and applicable law as +follows: + +a. If the defendant(s) has/have been served under Chapter 48, Florida +Statutes, with the verified complaint and original process has already been +effectuated, service of this order may be made in the manner provided in the +Florida Rules of Civil Procedure; or, if the other party is the plaintiff in the +action, service of the order to show cause on that party may be made in the +manner provided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. + +b. If the defendant(s) has/have not been served under Chapter 48, Florida +Statutes, with the verified complaint and original process, the order to show +cause, together with the summons and a copy of the verified complaint, shall +be served on the party in the same manner as provided by law for original +process. + +3. The filing of defenses by a motion or verified answer at or before the + + + +show cause hearing constitutes cause for which the court may not enter the +attached final judgment. + +4. Defendant(s) has/have the right to file affidavits or other papers at the +time of the show cause hearing and may appear at the hearing personally or +by an attorney. + +5. If defendant(s) file(s) motions, they may be considered at the time of the +show cause hearing. + +6. Defendant(s) failure to appear either in person or by an attorney at the +show cause hearing or to file defenses by motion or by a verified or sworn +answer, affidavits, or other papers which raise a genuine issue of material fact +which would preclude entry of summary judgment or which would otherwise +constitute a legal defense to foreclosure, after being served as provided by +law with the order to show cause, will be deemed presumptively a waiver of +the right to a hearing. In such case, the court may enter a final judgment of +foreclosure ordering the clerk of the court to conduct a foreclosure sale. An +order requiring defendant(s) to vacate the premises may also be entered. + +7. If the mortgage provides for reasonable attorneys fees and the requested +fee does not exceed 3% of the principal amount owed at the time the +complaint is filed, the court may not need to hold a hearing to adjudge the +requested fee to be reasonable. + +8. Any final judgment of foreclosure entered under section 702.10(1) +Florida Statutes, shall be only for in rem relief; however, entry of such final +judgment of foreclosure shall not preclude entry of an in personam money +damages judgment or deficiency judgment where otherwise allowed by law. + +9. A copy of the proposed final judgment is attached and will be +entered by the court if defendant(s) waive(s) the right to be heard at the +show cause hearing. + +DONE AND ORDERED at (county) , Florida (date) . + +Copies to: +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +2014 Adoption. This form is designed to comply with section 702.10(1), +Florida Statutes (2013). + + + + FORM 1.945. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.945 + +FORM 1.945. MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendants, C. D., and E. F., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. (Use a or b) a. On or about _________ (date) _________, defendant, C. + +D., owned a motor vehicle that was operated with his/her consent by +defendant, E. F., at _________ in _________, Florida. + +b. On or about _________ (date) _________, defendant owned and +operated a motor vehicle at _________ in _________, Florida. + +3. At that time and place defendants negligently operated or maintained the +motor vehicle so that it collided with plaintiffs motor vehicle. + +4. As a result plaintiff suffered bodily injury and resulting pain and +suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the +enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and +treatment, loss of earnings, loss of ability to earn money, and aggravation of a +previously existing condition. The losses are either permanent or continuing +and plaintiff will suffer the losses in the future. Plaintiffs automobile was +damaged and he/she lost the use of it during the period required for its repair +or replacement. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages +against defendants. + +NOTE: This form, except for paragraph 2b, is for use when +owner and driver are different persons. Use paragraph 2b when +they are the same. If paragraph 2b is used, defendantsmust be +changed to defendant wherever it appears. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. This form was changed to show that one of the + + + +alternatives in paragraph 2 is used, but not both, and paragraph 4 has been +changed to paraphrase Standard Jury Instruction 6.2. + + + + FORM 1.946. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.946 + +FORM 1.946. MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE WHEN PLAINTIFF +IS UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE. + +COMPLAINT +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendants, C. D., and E. F., and alleges: + +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. On or about _________ (date) _________, defendant, C. D., or + +defendant, E. F., or both defendants, owned and operated motor vehicles at +_________ in _________, Florida. + +3. At that time and place defendants, or one of them, negligently operated +or maintained their motor vehicles so that one or both of them collided with +plaintiffs motor vehicle. + +4. As a result plaintiff suffered bodily injury and resulting pain and +suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the +enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and +treatment, loss of earnings, loss of ability to earn money, and aggravation of a +previously existing condition. The losses are either permanent or continuing +and plaintiff will suffer the losses in the future. Plaintiffs automobile was +damaged and he/she lost the use of it during the period required for its repair +or replacement. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages +against defendants. + +NOTE: Allegations when owner and driver are different +persons are omitted from this form and must be added when +proper. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Paragraph 4 is changed to paraphrase Standard Jury +Instruction 6.2. + + + + FORM 1.947. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.947 + +FORM 1.947. TENANT EVICTION. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action to evict a tenant from real property in _________ + +County, Florida. +2. Plaintiff owns the following described real property in said county: + +(describe property) +3. Defendant has possession of the property under (oral, written) + +agreement to pay rent of $ _________ payable _________ +4. Defendant failed to pay rent due _________ (date) _________ +5. Plaintiff served defendant with a notice on _________ (date) _________ + +to pay the rent or deliver possession but defendant refuses to do either. +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for possession of + +the property against defendant. +NOTE: Paragraph 3 must specify whether the rental + +agreement is written or oral and if written, a copy must be +attached. + + + + FORM 1.948. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.948 + +FORM 1.948. THIRD-PARTY COMPLAINT. GENERAL FORM. +THIRD-PARTY COMPLAINT + +Defendant, C.D., sues third-party defendant, E.F., and alleges: +1. Plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant, C.D., a copy being + +attached. +2. (State the cause of action that C.D. has against E.F. for all or part of + +what A.B. may recover from C.D. as in an original complaint.) +WHEREFORE defendant, C.D., demands judgment against + +the third-party defendant, E.F., for all damages that are adjudged +against defendant, C.D., in favor of plaintiff. + +NOTE: A copy of the complaint from which the third-party +complaint is derived must be attached. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1988 Amendment. The first sentence was changed to eliminate the words +and third party plaintiff. + + + + FORM 1.949. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.949 + +FORM 1.949. IMPLIED WARRANTY. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. Defendant manufactured a product known and described as (describe + +product). +3. Defendant warranted that the product was reasonably fit for its intended + +use as (describe intended use). +4. On _________ (date) _________, at _________ in _________ County, + +Florida, the product (describe the occurrence and defect that resulted in +injury) while being used for its intended purpose, causing injuries to plaintiff +who was then a user of the product. + +5. As a result plaintiff was injured in and about his/her body and +extremities, suffered pain therefrom, incurred medical expense in the +treatment of the injuries, and suffered physical handicap, and his/her working +ability was impaired; the injuries are either permanent or continuing in their +nature and plaintiff will suffer the losses and impairment in the future. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages +against defendant. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1972 Amendment. This form is changed to require an allegation of the +defect in paragraph 4. Contentions were made in trial courts that the form as +presently authorized eliminated the substantive requirement that the plaintiff +prove a defect except under those circumstances when substantive law +eliminates the necessity of such proof. Paragraph 4 is amended to show that +no substantive law change was intended. + + + + FORM 1.951. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.951 + +FORM 1.951. FALL-DOWN NEGLIGENCE COMPLAINT. +COMPLAINT + +Plaintiff, A. B., sues defendant, C. D., and alleges: +1. This is an action for damages that (insert jurisdictional amount). +2. On _________ (date) _________, defendant was the owner and in + +possession of a building at _________ in _________, Florida, that was used +as a (describe use). + +3. At that time and place plaintiff went on the property to (state purpose). +4. Defendant negligently maintained (describe item) on the property by + +(describe negligence or dangerous condition) so that plaintiff fell on the +property. + +5. The negligent condition was known to defendant or had existed for a +sufficient length of time so that defendant should have known of it. + +6. As a result plaintiff was injured in and about his/her body and +extremities, suffered pain therefrom, incurred medical expense in the +treatment of the injuries, and suffered physical handicap, and his/her working +ability was impaired; the injuries are either permanent or continuing in nature +and plaintiff will suffer the losses and impairment in the future. + +WHEREFORE plaintiff demands judgment for damages +against defendant. + + + + FORM 1.960. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.960 + +FORM 1.960. BOND. GENERAL FORM. +(TYPE OF BOND) + +WE, (plaintiffs name), as principal and (suretys name), as +Surety, are bound to (defendants name) in the sum of $ +_________ for the payment of which we bind ourselves, our +heirs, personal representatives, successors, and assigns, jointly +and severally. + +THE CONDITION OF THIS BOND is that if plaintiff shall +(insert condition), then this bond is void; otherwise it remains in +force. + +SIGNED AND SEALED on _________ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1992 Amendment. The Approved on [_________ (date) _________] +line is moved to a location immediately above the clerks name. + + + + FORM 1.961. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.961 + +FORM 1.961. VARIOUS BOND CONDITIONS. +The following conditions are to be inserted in the second paragraph of + +form 1.960 in the blank provided for the condition of the bond. Other proper +conditions must be inserted for other types of bonds. + +(a) Attachment, Garnishment, and Distress. +_________ pay all costs and damages that defendant sustains + +in consequence of plaintiff improperly suing out (type of writ) in +this action _________ + +NOTE: The condition of an attachment bond in aid of +foreclosure when the holder of the property is unknown is +different from the foregoing condition. See section 76.12, +Florida Statutes. +(b) Costs. + +_________ pay all costs and charges that are adjudged against +plaintiff in this action _________ +(c) Replevin. + +_________ prosecute this action to effect and without delay, +and if defendant recovers judgment against plaintiff in this +action, plaintiff shall return the property replevied if return of it +is adjudged, and shall pay defendant all money recovered against +plaintiff by defendant in this action _________. + + + + FORM 1.965. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.965 + +FORM 1.965. DEFENSE. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. +Each cause of action, claim, and item of damages did not accrue within the + +time prescribed by law for them before this action was brought. + + + + FORM 1.966. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.966 + +FORM 1.966. DEFENSE. PAYMENT. +Before commencement of this action defendant discharged plaintiffs claim + +and each item of it by payment. + + + + FORM 1.967. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.967 + +FORM 1.967. DEFENSE. ACCORD AND SATISFACTION. +On _________ (date) _________, defendant delivered to plaintiff and + +plaintiff accepted from defendant (specify consideration) in full satisfaction +of plaintiffs claim. + + + + FORM 1.968. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.968 + +FORM 1.968. DEFENSE. FAILURE OF CONSIDERATION. +The sole consideration for the execution and delivery of the promissory + +note described in paragraph _________ of the complaint was plaintiffs +promise to lend defendant $1,000; plaintiff failed to lend the sum to +defendant. + +NOTE: This form is for failure to complete the loan evidenced by a +promissory note. The contract, consideration, and default of the plaintiff must +be varied to meet the facts of each case. + + + + FORM 1.969. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.969 + +FORM 1.969. DEFENSE. STATUTE OF FRAUDS. +The agreement alleged in the complaint was not in writing and signed by + +defendant or by some other person authorized by defendant and was to +answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another person. + +NOTE: This form is for one of the cases covered by the Statute of Frauds. +It must be varied to meet the facts of other cases falling within the statute. + + + + FORM 1.970. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.970 + +FORM 1.970. DEFENSE. RELEASE. +On _________ (date) _________, and after plaintiffs claim in this action + +accrued, plaintiff released defendant from it, a copy of the release being +attached. + +NOTE: This form is for the usual case of a written release. If the release is +not in writing, the last clause must be omitted and the word orally inserted +before released. + + + + FORM 1.971. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.971 + +FORM 1.971. DEFENSE. MOTOR VEHICLE CONTRIBUTORY +NEGLIGENCE. + +Plaintiffs negligence contributed to the accident and his/her injury and +damages because he/she negligently operated or maintained the motor vehicle +in which he/she was riding so that it collided with defendants motor vehicle. + + + + FORM 1.972. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.972 + +FORM 1.972. DEFENSE. ASSUMPTION OF RISK. +Plaintiff knew of the existence of the danger complained of in the + +complaint, realized and appreciated the possibility of injury as a result of the +danger, and, having a reasonable opportunity to avoid it, voluntarily exposed +himself/herself to the danger. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. This form is amended to show the substantive changes +caused by the substitution of the doctrine of comparative negligence for +contributory negligence. The form is paraphrased from Standard Jury +Instruction 3.8. + + + + FORM 1.975. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.975 + +FORM 1.975. NOTICE OF COMPLIANCE WHEN +CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE IS BROUGHT. + +NOTICE OF COMPLIANCE WITH +SECTION 86.091, FLORIDA STATUTES + +The undersigned hereby gives notice of compliance with Fla. +R. Civ. P. 1.071, with respect to the constitutional challenge +brought pursuant to (Florida statute, charter, ordinance, or +franchise challenged). The undersigned complied by serving the +(Attorney General for the state of Florida or State Attorney for +the .... Judicial Circuit) with a copy of the pleading or motion +challenging (Florida statute, charter, ordinance, or franchise +challenged), by (certified or registered mail) on (date). + +....(Name of Attorney).... +Attorney for .... (Name of Client) .... +....(Address).... +....(Telephone No.).... +....(E-mail Address(es)).... +Florida Bar No. .... + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2010 Adoption. This form is to be used to provide notice of a +constitutional challenge as required by section 86.091, Florida Statutes. See +rule 1.071. This form is to be used when the Attorney General or the State +Attorney is not a named party to the action, but must be served solely in order +to comply with the notice requirements set forth in section 86.091. + + + + FORM 1.976. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.976 + +FORM 1.976. STANDARD INTERROGATORIES. +The forms of Florida standard interrogatories approved by the supreme + +court shall be used in the actions to which they apply, subject to the +requirements of rule 1.340. + + + + FORM 1.977. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.977 + +FORM 1.977. FACT INFORMATION SHEET. +(a) For Individuals. +(CAPTION) + +FACT INFORMATION SHEET +Full Legal Name: _____________________________ +Nicknames or Aliases: _____________________________ +Residence Address: _____________________________ +Mailing Address (if different): _____________________________ +Telephone Numbers: (Home) _____________________________ (Business) +_____________________________ +Name of Employer: _____________________________ +Address of Employer: _____________________________ +Position or Job Description: _____________________________ +Rate of Pay: $ _____________________________ per +_____________________________. Average Paycheck: +$_____________________________ per +_____________________________ +Average Commissions or Bonuses: $ _________ per _________. +Commissions or bonuses are based on _____________________________ +Other Personal Income: $ _________ from +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +(Explain details on the back of this sheet or an additional sheet if necessary.) +Social Security Number: ___________ Birthdate: ___________ +Drivers License Number: _____________________________ +Marital Status: _____________________________ Spouses Name: + + + +_____________________________ +**************************************** + +Spouse Related Portion + +Spouses Address (if different): _____________________________ +Spouses Social Security Number: ___________ Birthdate: ___________ +Spouses Employer: _____________________________ +Spouses Average Paycheck or Income: $ _________ +per_____________________________ +Other Family Income: $ _________ per _____________________________ +(Explain details on back of this sheet or an additional sheet if necessary.) +Describe all other accounts or investments you may have, including stocks, +mutual funds, savings bonds, or annuities, on the back of this sheet or on an +additional sheet if necessary. + +**************************************** +Names and Ages of All Your Children (and addresses if not living with you): +_____________________________ +Child Support or Alimony Paid: $ _________ per +_____________________________ +Names of Others You Live With: _____________________________ +Who is Head of Your Household? _________ You _________ Spouse +_________ Other Person +Checking Account at: _____________________________ Account # +_____________________________ +Savings Account at: _____________________________ Account # +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +For Real Estate (land) You Own or Are Buying: +Address: _____________________________ + + + +All Names on Title: _____________________________ +Mortgage Owed to: _____________________________ +Balance Owed: _____________________________ +Monthly Payment: $ _____________________________ +(Attach a copy of the deed or mortgage, or list the legal description of the +property on the back of this sheet or an additional sheet if necessary. Also +provide the same information on any other property you own or are buying.) +For All Motor Vehicles You Own or Are Buying: +Year/Make/Model: _____________________________ Color: +_____________________________ +Vehicle ID No.: _________ Tag No: _________ Mileage: +_____________________________ +Names on Title: _____________________________ +Present Value: $ _____________________________ +Loan Owed to: _____________________________ +Balance on Loan: $ _____________________________ +Monthly Payment: $ _____________________________ +(List all other automobiles, as well as other vehicles, such as boats, +motorcycles, bicycles, or aircraft, on the back of this sheet or an additional +sheet if necessary.) +Have you given, sold, loaned, or transferred any real or personal property +worth more than $100 to any person in the last year? If your answer is +yes, describe the property, market value, and sale price, and give the name +and address of the person who received the property. +Does anyone owe you money? Amount Owed: $ +_____________________________ +Name and Address of Person Owing Money: +_____________________________ +Reason money is owed: _____________________________ + + + +Please attach copies of the following: +a. Your last pay stub. +b. Your last 3 statements for each bank, savings, credit union, + +or other financial account. +c. Your motor vehicle registrations and titles. +d. Any deeds or titles to any real or personal property you own + +or are buying, or leases to property you are renting. +e. Your financial statements, loan applications, or lists of + +assets and liabilities submitted to any person or entity within the +last 3 years. + +f. Your last 2 income tax returns filed. +UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I SWEAR OR AFFIRM THAT THE +FOREGOING ANSWERS ARE TRUE AND COMPLETE. + +Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me this _________ day of +_________ (year), by (name of person making statement) + +YOU MUST MAIL OR DELIVER THIS COMPLETED FORM, WITH +ALL ATTACHMENTS, TO THE JUDGMENT CREDITOR OR THE +JUDGMENT CREDITORS ATTORNEY, BUT DO NOT FILE THIS +FORM WITH THE CLERK OF THE COURT. + +(b) For Corporations and Other Business Entities. +(CAPTION) + + + +FACT INFORMATION SHEET + +Name of entity: _____________________________ +Name and title of person filling out this form: +_____________________________ +Telephone number: _____________________________ +Place of business: _____________________________ +Mailing address (if different): _____________________________ +Gross/taxable income reported for federal income tax purposes last three + +Taxpayer identification number:_____________________________ +Is this entity an S corporation for federal income tax purposes? _________ +Yes +_________No +Average number of employees per month _________ +Name of each shareholder, member, or partner owning 5% or more of the +entitys common stock, preferred stock, or other equity interest: +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +Names of officers, directors, members, or partners: +_____________________________ +Checking account at: _____________________________ Account # +_____________________________ +Savings account at: _____________________________ Account # +_____________________________ +Does the entity own any vehicles? _________ Yes _________ No +For each vehicle please state: + + + +Year/Make/Model: _____________________________ Color: +_____________________________ + + Vehicle ID No: _________Tag No: +_________Mileage:_________ + + Names on Title: __________________ Present Value: $ +__________________ + + Loan Owed to: _____________________________ + Balance on Loan: $ _____________________________ + Monthly Payment: $ _____________________________ + +Does the entity own any real property? _________ Yes _________ No + If yes, please state the address(es): + +_____________________________ + _____________________________ + +Please check if the entity owns the following: +_________ Boat +_________ Camper +_________ Stocks/bonds +_________ Other real property +_________ Other personal property +Please attach copies of the following: + +1. Copies of state and federal income tax returns for the past 3 +years. + +2. All bank, savings and loan, and other account books and +statements for accounts in institutions in which the entity had +any legal or equitable interest for the past 3 years. + +3. All canceled checks for the 12 months immediately + + + +preceding the service date of this Fact Information Sheet for +accounts in which the entity held any legal or equitable interest. + +4. All deeds, leases, mortgages, or other written instruments +evidencing any interest in or ownership of real property at any +time within the 12 months immediately preceding the date this +lawsuit was filed. + +5. Bills of sale or other written evidence of the gift, sale, +purchase, or other transfer of any personal or real property to or +from the entity within the 12 months immediately preceding the +date this lawsuit was filed. + +6. Motor vehicle or vessel documents, including titles and +registrations relating to any motor vehicles or vessels owned by +the entity alone or with others. + +7. Financial statements as to the entitys assets, liabilities, and +owners equity prepared within the 12 months immediately +preceding the service date of this Fact Information Sheet. + +8. Minutes of all meetings of the entitys members, partners, +shareholders, or board of directors held within 2 years of the +service date of this Fact Information Sheet. + +9. Resolutions of the entitys members, partners, shareholders, +or board of directors passed within 2 years of the service date of +this Fact Information Sheet. + +UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I SWEAR OR AFFIRM THAT THE +FOREGOING ANSWERS ARE TRUE AND COMPLETE. + +Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me this _________ day of + + + +_________ (year), by (name of person making statement) + +Type of identification produced ______________ +YOU MUST MAIL OR DELIVER THIS COMPLETED FORM, WITH +ALL ATTACHMENTS, TO THE PLAINTIFFS JUDGMENT +CREDITOR OR THE PLAINTIFFS JUDGMENT CREDITORS +ATTORNEY, BUT DO NOT FILE THIS FORM WITH THE CLERK +OF THE COURT. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2000 Adoption. This form is added to comply with amendments to rule +1.560. + +2013 Amendment. This amendment clarifies that the judgment debtor +should mail or deliver the Fact Information Sheet only to the judgment +creditor or the judgment creditors attorney, and should not file the Fact +Information Sheet with the clerk of the court. + + + + FORM 1.980. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.980 + +FORM 1.980. DEFAULT. +MOTION FOR DEFAULT + +Plaintiff moves for entry of a default by the clerk against +defendant ____ for failure to serve any document on the +undersigned or file any document as required by law. + + + +DEFAULT +A default is entered in this action against the defendant named + +in the foregoing motion for failure to serve or file any document +as required by law. + + + + FORM 1.981. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.981 + +FORM 1.981. SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT. +SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT + +The undersigned, owner and holder of a final judgment +rendered in the above-captioned civil action, dated _________, +recorded in _________ County, Official Records Book +_________ beginning at Page _________, acknowledges that all +sums due under it have been fully paid and that final judgment is +hereby canceled and satisfied of record. + +DATED on _________ + +STATE OF FLORIDA +COUNTY OF _________ +The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me this + +_________ day of _________, 20 _________, by (name of +person acknowledging). + +(NOTARY SEAL) + +Personally Known _________ OR Produced Identification +_________ + +Type of Identification Produced ____________________ +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2003 Amendment. This satisfaction of judgment is a general form. It is a +new form. To ensure identity of the signer, notarization is prudent but not + + + +required. If a certified copy of the judgment is recorded, it may be prudent to +include that recording information. + +2013 Amendment. This form has been changed to remove unnecessary +language and to include the acknowledgment required by sections 695.03 and +701.04, Florida Statutes. + + + + FORM 1.982. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.982 + +FORM 1.982. CONTEMPT NOTICE. +MOTION AND NOTICE OF HEARING + +TO: (name of attorney for party, or party if not represented) +YOU ARE NOTIFIED that plaintiff will apply to the + +Honorable _________, Circuit Judge, on _________ (date) +_________ at _________m., in the _________ County +Courthouse at _________, Florida, for an order adjudging +(defendants name) in contempt of court for violation of the +terms of the order or judgment entered by this court on +_________ (date) _________ by failing to _________, and I +certify that a copy hereof has been furnished to _________ by +mail on _________ (date) _________ + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any +accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, +you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain +assistance. Please contact [identify applicable court +personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least +7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time +before your scheduled appearance is less than 7 days; if you +are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. + +NOTE: The particular violation must be inserted in the +motion and notice. A separate motion is unnecessary. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2013 Amendment. The notice to persons with disabilities was amended to +make the procedure for obtaining accommodation consistent with the +procedure required in court proceedings. + + + + FORM 1.983. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.983 + +FORM 1.983. PROSPECTIVE JUROR QUESTIONNAIRE. +DIRECTIONS TO ATTORNEYS AND PRO SE LITIGANTS: Before + +you file a copy of this form, redact the month and date of the prospective +jurors birth in question #3, but retain the year of birth. Fla. R. Jud. +Admin. 2.425(a)(2). + +QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROSPECTIVE JURORS +1. Name (print) _____________________________ + + (first) (middle) (last) +2. Residence address _____________________________ + + (street and number) (city) (zip) +3. Date of birth ____________________ + + Sex _________ Occupation _________ +4. Do you understand the English language? + +____ ____ +(yes) (no) + +5. Do you read and write the English language? +____ ____ +(yes) (no) + +6. Have you ever been convicted of a crime and not restored to your civil +rights? + +____ ____ +(yes) (no) +If yes, state the nature of the crime(s), the date of the + +conviction(s), and the name of the court(s) in which you were + + + +convicted: +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + +7. Are there any criminal charges pending against you of which you are +aware? + +____ ____ +(yes) (no) +If yes, state the nature of the charge(s) and the name of the + +court(s) in which the case(s) is pending: +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + +8. FULL-TIME LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND LAW +ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATIVE PERSONNEL ONLY. Section +40.013(2)(b), Florida Statutes, provides that [a]ny full-time federal, state, or +local law enforcement officer or such entities investigative personnel shall +be excused from jury service unless such persons choose to serve. Do you +choose to serve? + +____ ____ +(yes) (no) + +9. List any official executive office you now hold with the federal, state, or +county government: +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + +(The court may require a medical certificate.) + + + +11. Do you have any physical or mental disability that would interfere with +your service as a juror? + +____ ____ +(yes) (no) +If yes, state nature: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + +(The court may require a medical certificate.) +12. Do you know of any reason(s) why you cannot serve as a juror? + +____ ____ +(yes) (no) +If yes, state the reason(s): + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + +13. EXPECTANT MOTHERS AND PARENTS ONLY: Section +40.013(4), Florida Statutes, provides that [a]ny expectant mother and any +parent who is not employed full time and who has custody of a child under 6 +years of age, upon request, shall be excused from jury service. Do you want +to be excused under this provision? + +____ ____ +(yes) (no) +If yes, what are the ages of your children? + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + + + +This is not a summons for jury duty. If your name is later +drawn for jury service, you will be summoned by the clerk of +court by mail. + +NOTE: This form does not use a caption as shown in form +1.901. It may be headed with the designation of the authority +charged by law with the selection of prospective jurors. + + + + FORM 1.984. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.984 + +FORM 1.984. JUROR VOIR DIRE QUESTIONNAIRE. +JURY QUESTIONNAIRE + +Instructions to Jurors +You have been selected as a prospective juror. It will aid the + +court and help shorten the trial of cases if you will answer the +questions on this form and return it in the enclosed self- +addressed stamped envelope within the next 2 days. Please +complete the form in blue or black ink and write as dark and +legibly as you can. +1. Name (print)_____________________________ + +2. Residence address _____________________________ +3. Years of residence: In Florida _________ + +In this county _________ + +4. Former residence _____________________________ +5. Marital status: (married, single, divorced, widow, or widower) + +_____________________________ +6. State the highest level of education you completed + + _______ Less than high school _______ Some college + _______ High school _______ Associate degree + _______ Vocational/Technical school _______ College degree + _______ Post graduate degree + +7. Your occupation and employer _____________________________ +8. If you are not now employed, give your last occupation and employer + +_____________________________ + + + +9. If married, name and occupation of husband or wife +_____________________________ + +10. Have you served as a juror before? _________ +11. Have you or any member of your immediate family been a party to any + +lawsuit? _________ If so, when and in what court? +_____________________________ + +12. Are you either a close friend of or related to any law enforcement +officer? _________ + +13. Has a claim for personal injuries ever been made against you or any +member of your family? _________ + +14. Have you or any member of your family ever made any claim for +personal injuries? _________ + + + + FORM 1.986. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.986 + +FORM 1.986. VERDICTS. +In all civil actions tried to a jury, the parties should refer to the model + +verdict forms contained in the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Civil +Cases, as applicable. + + + + FORM 1.988. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.988 + +FORM 1.988. JUDGMENT AFTER DEFAULT. +(a) General Form. This form is the general form for a judgment after + +default, not including recovery for prejudgment interest and attorneys fees: +FINAL JUDGMENT + +This action was heard after entry of default against defendant +and + +IT IS ADJUDGED that plaintiff, _________ (name and +address) _________, recover from defendant, _________ (name +and address, and last 4 digits of social security number if known) +_________, the sum of $ _________ with costs in the sum of $ +_________, that shall bear interest at the rate of _________ % a +year, for which let execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +(b) This form is for judgment after default including prejudgment interest +and attorneys fees recovered: + +FINAL JUDGMENT +This action was heard after entry of default against defendant + +and +IT IS ADJUDGED that plaintiff, _________ (name and + +address) _________, recover from defendant, _________ (name +and address, and last 4 digits of social security number if known) +_________, the sum of $ _________ on principal, $ _________ +for attorneys fees with costs in the sum of $ _________, and +prejudgment interest in the sum of $ _________, making a total + + + +of $ _________ that shall bear interest at the rate of _________ +% a year, for which let execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: The address of the person who claims a lien as a +result of the judgment must be included in the judgment in order +for the judgment to become a lien on real estate when a certified +copy of the judgment is recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with +this information may be simultaneously recorded. For the +specific requirements, see section 55.10(1), Florida Statutes; +Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, 721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th DCA +1998). The address and social security number (if known) of +each person against whom the judgment is rendered must be +included in the judgment, pursuant to section 55.01(2), Florida +Statutes. However, for privacy reasons, only the last 4 digits of +the social security number should be shown. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Adoption. This form is new. +2003 Amendment. Subdivision (b) is amended to include prejudgment + +interest in the total judgment pursuant to Quality Engineered Installation, +Inc. v. Higley South, Inc., 670 So. 2d 929 (Fla. 1996). + + + + FORM 1.989. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.989 + +FORM 1.989. ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR LACK OF +PROSECUTION. + +(a) Notice of Lack of Prosecution. +NOTICE OF LACK OF PROSECUTION + +PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that it appears on the face of the +record that no activity by filing of pleadings, order of court, or +otherwise has occurred for a period of 10 months immediately +preceding service of this notice, and no stay has been issued or +approved by the court. Pursuant to rule 1.420(e), if no such +record activity occurs within 60 days following the service of +this notice, and if no stay is issued or approved during such 60- +day period, this action may be dismissed by the court on its own +motion or on the motion of any interested person, whether a +party to the action or not, after reasonable notice to the parties, +unless a party shows good cause in writing at least 5 days before +the hearing on the motion why the action should remain pending. +(b) Order Dismissing Case for Lack of Prosecution. + +ORDER OF DISMISSAL +This action was heard on the + +.....respondents/courts/interested partys..... motion to dismiss +for lack of prosecution served on .....(date)...... The court finds +that (1) notice prescribed by rule 1.420(e) was served on ..... +(date).....; (2) there was no record activity during the 10 months +immediately preceding service of the foregoing notice; (3) there +was no record activity during the 60 days immediately following +service of the foregoing notice; (4) no stay has been issued or +approved by the court; and (5) no party has shown good cause +why this action should remain pending. Accordingly, + + + +IT IS ORDERED that this action is dismissed for lack of +prosecution. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + + + + FORM 1.990. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.990 + +FORM 1.990. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF. JURY ACTION +FOR DAMAGES. + +FINAL JUDGMENT +Pursuant to the verdict rendered in this action +IT IS ADJUDGED that plaintiff, _________ (name and + +address) _________, recover from defendant, _________ (name +and address, and last 4 digits of social security number if known) +_________, the sum of $ _________ with costs in the sum of $ +_________, making a total of $ _________, that shall bear +interest at the rate of _________% a year, for which let +execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: The address of the person who claims a lien as a +result of the judgment must be included in the judgment in order +for the judgment to become a lien on real estate when a certified +copy of the judgment is recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with +this information may be simultaneously recorded. For the +specific requirements, see section 55.10(1), Florida Statutes; +Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, 721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th DCA +1998). The address and social security number (if known) of +each person against whom the judgment is rendered must be +included in the judgment, pursuant to section 55.01(2), Florida +Statutes. However, for privacy reasons, only the last 4 digits of +the social security number should be shown. + + + + FORM 1.991. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.991 + +FORM 1.991. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANT. JURY +ACTION FOR DAMAGES. + +FINAL JUDGMENT +Pursuant to the verdict rendered in this action +IT IS ADJUDGED that plaintiff, _________ (name and + +address, and last 4 digits of social security number if known) +_________, take nothing by this action and that defendant, +_________ (name and address) _________, shall go hence +without day and recover costs from plaintiff in the sum of $ +_________ that shall bear interest at the rate of _________% a +year, for which let execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: The address of the person who claims a lien as a +result of the judgment must be included in the judgment in order +for the judgment to become a lien on real estate when a certified +copy of the judgment is recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with +this information may be simultaneously recorded. For the +specific requirements, see section 55.10(1), Florida Statutes; +Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, 721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th DCA +1998). The address and social security number (if known) of +each person against whom the judgment is rendered must be +included in the judgment, pursuant to section 55.01(2), Florida +Statutes. However, for privacy reasons, only the last 4 digits of +the social security number should be shown. + + + + FORM 1.993. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.993 + +FORM 1.993. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF. GENERAL +FORM. NON-JURY. + +FINAL JUDGMENT +This action was tried before the court. On the evidence + +presented +IT IS ADJUDGED that: + +1. (list adjudications in numbered paragraphs) +2. _____________________ + +(See note below on name, address, +and social security number requirements.) + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: Findings of fact can be inserted after presented if +desired. The address of the person who claims a lien as a result +of the judgment must be included in the judgment in order for +the judgment to become a lien on real estate when a certified +copy of the judgment is recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with +this information may be simultaneously recorded. For the +specific requirements, see section 55.10(1), Florida Statutes; +Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, 721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th DCA +1998). The address and social security number (if known) of +each person against whom the judgment is rendered must be +included in the judgment, pursuant to section 55.01(2), Florida +Statutes. However, for privacy reasons, only the last 4 digits of +the social security number should be shown. + + + + FORM 1.994. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.994 + +FORM 1.994. FINAL JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANT. GENERAL +FORM. NON-JURY. + +FINAL JUDGMENT +This action was tried before the court. On the evidence + +presented +IT IS ADJUDGED that plaintiff, _________ (name and + +address, and last 4 digits of social security number if known) +_________, take nothing by this action and that defendant, +_________ (name and address) _________, shall go hence +without day and recover costs from plaintiff in the sum of $ +_________ that shall bear interest at the rate of _________% a +year, for which let execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: Findings of fact can be inserted after presented if +desired. The address of the person who claims a lien as a result +of the judgment must be included in the judgment in order for +the judgment to become a lien on real estate when a certified +copy of the judgment is recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with +this information may be simultaneously recorded. For the +specific requirements, see section 55.10(1), Florida Statutes; +Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, 721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th DCA +1998). The address and social security number (if known) of +each person against whom the judgment is rendered must be +included in the judgment, pursuant to section 55.01(2), Florida +Statutes. However, for privacy reasons, only the last 4 digits of + + + +the social security number should be shown. + + + + FORM 1.995. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.995 + +FORM 1.995. FINAL JUDGMENT OF REPLEVIN. +NOTE APPLICABLE TO FORMS (a)(d): The address + +of the person who claims a lien as a result of the judgment must +be included in the judgment in order for the judgment to become +a lien on real estate when a certified copy of the judgment is +recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with this information may +be simultaneously recorded. For the specific requirements, see +section 55.10(1), Florida Statutes; Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, +721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). The address and social +security number (if known) of each person against whom the +judgment is rendered must be included in the judgment, pursuant +to section 55.01(2), Florida Statutes. However, for privacy +reasons, only the last 4 digits of the social security number +should be shown. +(a) Judgment in Favor of Plaintiff when Plaintiff Has Possession. + +FINAL JUDGMENT OF REPLEVIN +This matter was heard on plaintiffs complaint. On the + +evidence presented +IT IS ADJUDGED that: + +1. Plaintiff, _________ (name and address) _________, has the right +against defendant, _________ (name and address, and last 4 digits of social +security number if known) _________, to retain possession of the following +described property: + +(list the property and include a value for each item) +2. Plaintiff shall recover from defendant the sum of $ _________ as + +damages for the detention of the property and the sum of $ _________ as +costs, making a total of $ _________, which shall bear interest at the rate of +_________% per year, for which let execution issue. + + + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: This form applies when the plaintiff has recovered +possession under a writ of replevin and prevailed on the merits. +Pursuant to section 78.18, Florida Statutes (1995), paragraph 2 of +the form provides that the plaintiff can also recover damages for +the wrongful taking and detention of the property, together with +costs. Generally these damages are awarded in the form of +interest unless loss of use can be proven. Ocala Foundry & +Machine Works v. Lester, 49 Fla. 199, 38 So. 51 (1905). + +If the defendant has possession of part of the property, see +form 1.995(b). +(b) Judgment in Favor of Plaintiff when Defendant Has Possession. + +FINAL JUDGMENT OF REPLEVIN +This matter was heard on plaintiffs complaint. On the + +evidence presented +IT IS ADJUDGED that: + +1. Plaintiff, _________ (name and address) _________, has the right +against defendant, _________ (name and address, and last 4 digits of social +security number if known) _________, to possession of the following +described property: + +(list the property and include a value for each item) +for which the clerk of the court shall issue a writ of possession; or + +2. Plaintiff shall recover from defendant [if applicable add and surety on +the forthcoming bond] the sum of $ _________ for the value of the property, +which shall bear interest at the rate of _________% per year, for which let +execution issue. + +3. Plaintiff shall recover from defendant the sum of $ _________ as + + + +damages for the detention of the property and the sum of $ _________ as +costs, making a total of $ _________, which shall bear interest at the rate of +_________% per year, for which let execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: This form applies when the plaintiff prevails on the +merits and the defendant retains possession of the property. +Section 78.19, Florida Statutes (1995), allows the plaintiff to +recover the property or its value or the value of the plaintiffs +lien or special interest. The value for purposes of paragraph 2 is +either the value of the property or the value of the plaintiffs lien +or special interest. + +Paragraph 3 of the form provides for damages for detention +only against the defendant because the defendants surety +obligates itself only to ensure forthcoming of the property, not +damages for its detention. + +Pursuant to section 78.19(2), Florida Statutes, paragraphs 1 +and 2 of the form provide the plaintiff the option of obtaining +either a writ of possession or execution against the defendant and +defendants surety on a money judgment for property not +recovered. Demetree v. Stramondo, 621 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 5th +DCA 1993). If the plaintiff elects the writ of possession for the +property and the sheriff is unable to find it or part of it, the +plaintiff may immediately have execution against the defendant +for the whole amount recovered or the amount less the value of +the property found by the sheriff. If the plaintiff elects execution +for the whole amount, the officer shall release all property taken +under the writ. + + + +If the plaintiff has possession of part of the property, see form +1.995(a). +(c) Judgment in Favor of Defendant when Defendant Has Possession + +under Forthcoming Bond. +FINAL JUDGMENT OF REPLEVIN + +This matter was heard on plaintiffs complaint. On the +evidence presented + +IT IS ADJUDGED that: +1. Defendant, _________ (name and address) _________, has the right + +against plaintiff, _________ (name and address, and last 4 digits of social +security number if known) _________, to possession of the following +described property: + +(list the property and include a value for each item) +2. Defendant retook possession of all or part of the property under a + +forthcoming bond, and defendants attorney has reasonably expended +_________ hours in representing defendant in this action and $ _________ is +a reasonable hourly rate for the services. + +3. Defendant shall recover from plaintiff the sum of $ _________ for the +wrongful taking of the property, costs in the sum of $ _________, and +attorneys fees in the sum of $ _________, making a total of $ _________, +which shall bear interest at the rate of _________% per year, for which let +execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: This form applies when the defendant prevails and the +property was retained by or redelivered to the defendant. Section +78.20, Florida Statutes (1995), provides for an award of +attorneys fees. The prevailing defendant may be awarded +possession, damages, if any, for the taking of the property, costs, + + + +and attorneys fees. +If the plaintiff has possession of part of the property, see form + +1.995(d). +(d) Judgment in Favor of Defendant when Plaintiff Has Possession. + +FINAL JUDGMENT OF REPLEVIN +This matter was heard on plaintiffs complaint. On the + +evidence presented +IT IS ADJUDGED that: + +1. Defendant, _________ (name and address) _________, has the right +against plaintiff, _________ (name and address, and last four digits of social +security number if known) _________, to recover possession of the following +described property: + +(list the property and include a value for each item) +for which the clerk of the court shall issue a writ of + +possession; or +2. Defendant shall recover from plaintiff [if applicable add and surety on + +plaintiffs bond] the sum of $ _________ for the value of the property, +which shall bear interest at the rate of _________% per year, for which let +execution issue. + +3. Defendant shall recover from plaintiff the sum of $ _________ as +damages for detention of the property and the sum of $ _________ as costs, +making a total of $ _________, which shall bear interest at the rate of +_________% per year, for which let execution issue. + +ORDERED at _________, Florida, on _________ (date) +_________ + +NOTE: This form should be used when the defendant prevails +but the plaintiff has possession of the property. Section 78.21, + + + +Florida Statutes (1995), does not provide for an award of +attorneys fees when the defendant prevails and possession had +been temporarily retaken by the plaintiff. Sections 78.21 and +78.19 allow the defendant to recover the property or its value or +the value of the defendants special interest. + +Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the form provide to the defendant the +option of obtaining either a writ of possession or execution +against the plaintiff and plaintiffs surety on a money judgment +for property not recovered and costs. Demetree v. Stramondo, +621 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). If the defendant elects the +writ of possession for the property and the sheriff is unable to +find it or part of it, the defendant may immediately have +execution against the plaintiff and surety for the whole amount +recovered or the amount less the value of the property found by +the sheriff. If the defendant elects execution for the whole +amount, the officer shall release all property taken under the +writ. + +If the defendant has possession of part of the property, see +form 1.995(c). + + + + FORM 1.996(A). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.996(a) + +FORM 1.996(A). FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE. +FINAL JUDGMENT + +IT IS ADJUDGED that: +1. Amounts Due. Plaintiff, ... (name and address) ..., is due + +That shall bear interest at a rate of 7% per year. +2. Lien on Property. Plaintiff holds a lien for the total sum superior to + +all claims or estates of defendant(s), on the following described property in +........ County, Florida: + +(describe property) +3. Sale of Property. If the total sum with interest at the rate described in + +paragraph 1 and all costs accrued subsequent to this judgment are not paid, +the clerk of this court shall sell the property at public sale on ........ (date) +........, to the highest bidder for cash, except as prescribed in paragraph 4, at +the courthouse located at ... (street address of courthouse) ... in ........ +County in ... (name of city) ..., Florida, in accordance with section 45.031, +Florida Statutes, using the following method (CHECK ONE): +... At ...(location of sale at courthouse; e.g., north door) ..., beginning at ... + +(time of sale) ... on the prescribed date. +... By electronic sale beginning at ...(time of sale)... on the prescribed date + +at ...(website)... + + + +4. Costs. Plaintiff shall advance all subsequent costs of this action and +shall be reimbursed for them by the clerk if plaintiff is not the purchaser of +the property for sale, provided, however, that the purchaser of the property +for sale shall be responsible for the documentary stamps payable on the +certificate of title. If plaintiff is the purchaser, the clerk shall credit +plaintiffs bid with the total sum with interest and costs accruing +subsequent to this judgment, or such part of it as is necessary to pay the bid +in full. + +5. Distribution of Proceeds. On filing the certificate of title the clerk +shall distribute the proceeds of the sale, so far as they are sufficient, by +paying: first, all of plaintiffs costs; second, documentary stamps affixed to +the certificate; third, plaintiffs attorneys fees; fourth, the total sum due to +plaintiff, less the items paid, plus interest at the rate prescribed in +paragraph 1 from this date to the date of the sale; and by retaining any +remaining amount pending further order of this court. + +6. Right of Redemption/Right of Possession. On filing the certificate +of sale, defendant(s) and all persons claiming under or against defendant(s) +since the filing of the notice of lis pendens shall be foreclosed of all estate +or claim in the property and defendants right of redemption as prescribed +by section 45.0315, Florida Statutes shall be terminated, except as to +claims or rights under chapter 718 or chapter 720, Florida Statutes, if any. +Upon the filing of the certificate of title, the person named on the +certificate of title shall be let into possession of the property, subject to the +rights of a tenant occupying residential premises pursuant to section +83.561, Florida Statutes. + +7. Attorneys Fees. +[If a default judgment has been entered against the mortgagor] +Because a default judgment has been entered against the mortgagor and + +because the fees requested do not exceed 3% of the principal amount owed at +the time the complaint was filed, it is not necessary for the court to hold a +hearing or adjudge the requested attorneys fees to be reasonable. + +[If no default judgment has been entered against the mortgagor] +The court finds, based upon the affidavits estimony presented and upon + +inquiry of counsel for the plaintiff that ... hours were reasonably expended by + + + +plaintiffs counsel and that an hourly rate of $... is appropriate. Plaintiffs +counsel represents that the attorneys fees awarded does not exceed its +contract fee with the plaintiff. The court finds that there is/are no reduction or +enhancement factors for consideration by the court pursuant to Florida +Patients Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985). (If the +court has found that there are reduction or enhancement factors to be applied, +then such factors must be identified and explained herein). + +[If the fees to be awarded are a flat fee] +The requested attorneys fees are a flat rate fee that the firms client has + +agreed to pay in this matter. Given the amount of the fee requested and the +labor expended, the court finds that a lodestar analysis is not necessary and +that the flat fee is reasonable. + +8. Jurisdiction Retained. Jurisdiction of this action is retained to enter +further orders that are proper including, without limitation, a deficiency +judgment. +IF THIS PROPERTY IS SOLD AT PUBLIC AUCTION, THERE + +MAY BE ADDITIONAL MONEY FROM THE SALE AFTER +PAYMENT OF PERSONS WHO ARE ENTITLED TO BE PAID +FROM THE SALE PROCEEDS PURSUANT TO THE FINAL +JUDGMENT. + +IF YOU ARE A SUBORDINATE LIENHOLDER CLAIMING A +RIGHT TO FUNDS REMAINING AFTER THE SALE, YOU MUST +FILE A CLAIM WITH THE CLERK NO LATER THAN 60 DAYS +AFTER THE SALE. IF YOU FAIL TO FILE A CLAIM, YOU WILL +NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY REMAINING FUNDS. + +[If the property being foreclosed on has qualified for the homestead tax +exemption in the most recent approved tax roll, the final judgment shall +additionally contain the following statement in conspicuous type:] + +IF YOU ARE THE PROPERTY OWNER, YOU MAY CLAIM +THESE FUNDS YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE +A LAWYER OR ANY OTHER REPRESENTATION AND YOU DO +NOT HAVE TO ASSIGN YOUR RIGHTS TO ANYONE ELSE IN +ORDER FOR YOU TO CLAIM ANY MONEY TO WHICH YOU ARE +ENTITLED. PLEASE CONTACT THE CLERK OF THE COURT, + + + +(INSERT INFORMATION FOR APPLICABLE COURT) WITHIN 10 +DAYS AFTER THE SALE TO SEE IF THERE IS ADDITIONAL +MONEY FROM THE FORECLOSURE SALE THAT THE CLERK +HAS IN THE REGISTRY OF THE COURT. + +IF YOU DECIDE TO SELL YOUR HOME OR HIRE SOMEONE +TO HELP YOU CLAIM THE ADDITIONAL MONEY, YOU SHOULD +READ VERY CAREFULLY ALL PAPERS YOU ARE REQUIRED TO +SIGN, ASK SOMEONE ELSE, PREFERABLY AN ATTORNEY WHO +IS NOT RELATED TO THE PERSON OFFERING TO HELP YOU, +TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE +SIGNING AND THAT YOU ARE NOT TRANSFERRING YOUR +PROPERTY OR THE EQUITY IN YOUR PROPERTY WITHOUT +THE PROPER INFORMATION. IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY +AN ATTORNEY, YOU MAY CONTACT (INSERT LOCAL OR +NEAREST LEGAL AID OFFICE AND TELEPHONE NUMBER) TO SEE +IF YOU QUALIFY FINANCIALLY FOR THEIR SERVICES. IF +THEY CANNOT ASSIST YOU, THEY MAY BE ABLE TO REFER +YOU TO A LOCAL BAR REFERRAL AGENCY OR SUGGEST +OTHER OPTIONS. IF YOU CHOOSE TO CONTACT (NAME OF +LOCAL OR NEAREST LEGAL AID OFFICE AND TELEPHONE +NUMBER) FOR ASSISTANCE, YOU SHOULD DO SO AS SOON AS +POSSIBLE AFTER RECEIPT OF THIS NOTICE. + +ORDERED at ........, Florida, on ...(date).... + +NOTE: Paragraph 1 must be varied in accordance with the items unpaid, +claimed, and proven. The form does not provide for an adjudication of junior +lienors claims nor for redemption by the United States of America if it is a +defendant. The address of the person who claims a lien as a result of the +judgment must be included in the judgment in order for the judgment to +become a lien on real estate when a certified copy of the judgment is +recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with this information may be +simultaneously recorded. For the specific requirements, see section 55.10(1), +Florida Statutes; Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, 721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th +DCA 1998). + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. The reference to writs of assistance in paragraph 7 is +changed to writs of possession to comply with the consolidation of the 2 +writs. + +2010 Amendment. Mandatory statements of the mortgagee/property +owners rights are included as required by the 2006 amendment to section +45.031, Florida Statutes. Changes are also made based on 2008 amendments +to section 45.031, Florida Statutes, permitting courts to order sale by +electronic means. + +Additional changes were made to bring the form into compliance with +chapters 718 and 720 and section 45.0315, Florida Statutes, and to better +align the form with existing practices of clerks and practitioners. The +breakdown of the amounts due is now set out in column format to simplify +calculations. The requirement that the form include the address and social +security number of all defendants was eliminated to protect the privacy +interests of those defendants and in recognition of the fact that this form of +judgment does not create a personal final money judgment against the +defendant borrower, but rather an in rem judgment against the property. The +address and social security number of the defendant borrower should be +included in any deficiency judgment later obtained against the defendant +borrower. + +2014 Amendment. These amendments added titles, updated statutory +reference to time for right of redemption, and added a paragraph on +attorneys fees. + +2019 Amendment. An amendment to paragraph 6 is intended to notify all +involved in mortgage foreclosure proceedings of section 83.561, Florida +Statute (2015), Termination of Rental Agreement upon Foreclosure, by +adding language from the statute. + + + + FORM 1.996(B). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.996(b) + +FORM 1.996(B). FINAL JUDGMENT OF FORECLOSURE FOR +REESTABLISHMENT OF LOST NOTE. + +FINAL JUDGMENT +This action was tried before the court. On the evidence presented +IT IS ADJUDGED that: + +1. Amounts Due. Plaintiff, ...(name and address)..., is due + +2. Lien on Property. Plaintiff holds a lien for the total sum superior to +all claims or estates of defendant(s), on the following described property +........ County, Florida: + +(describe property) +3. Sale of Property. If the total sum with interest at the rate described in + +paragraph 1 and all costs accrued subsequent to this judgment are not paid, +the clerk of this court shall sell the property at public sale on ........ (date) +........, to the highest bidder for cash, except as prescribed in paragraph 4, at +the courthouse located at ...(street address of courthouse)... in ........ County +in ...(name of city)..., Florida, in accordance with section 45.031, Florida +Statutes, using the following method (CHECK ONE): +... At ...(location of sale at courthouse; e.g., north door)..., beginning at ... + +(time of sale)... on the prescribed date. +...By electronic sale beginning at ...(time of sale)... on the prescribed date + +at ...(website)... + + + +4. Costs. Plaintiff shall advance all subsequent costs of this action and +shall be reimbursed for them by the clerk if plaintiff is not the purchaser of +the property for sale, provided, however, that the purchaser of the property +for sale shall be responsible for the documentary stamps payable on the +certificate of title. If plaintiff is the purchaser, the clerk shall credit +plaintiffs bid with the total sum with interest and costs accruing +subsequent to this judgment, or such part of it as is necessary to pay the bid +in full. + +5. Distribution of Proceeds. On filing the certificate of title the clerk +shall distribute the proceeds of the sale, so far as they are sufficient, by +paying: first, all of plaintiffs costs; second, documentary stamps affixed to +the certificate; third, plaintiffs attorneys fees; fourth, the total sum due to +plaintiff, less the items paid, plus interest at the rate prescribed in +paragraph 1 from this date to the date of the sale; and by retaining any +remaining amount pending further order of this court. + +6. Right of Redemption/Right of Possession. On filing the certificate +of sale, defendant(s) and all persons claiming under or against defendant(s) +since the filing of the notice of lis pendens shall be foreclosed of all estate +or claim in the property and defendants right of redemption as prescribed +by section 45.0315, Florida Statutes shall be terminated, except as to +claims or rights under chapter 718 or chapter 720, Florida Statutes, if any. +Upon the filing of the certificate of title, the person named on the +certificate of title shall be let into possession of the property, subject to the +rights of a tenant occupying residential premises pursuant to section +83.561, Florida Statutes. + +7. Attorneys Fees. +[If a default judgment has been entered against the mortgagor] +Because a default judgment has been entered against the mortgagor and + +because the fees requested do not exceed 3 percent of the principal amount +owed at the time the complaint was filed, it is not necessary for the Court to +hold a hearing or adjudge the requested attorneys fees to be reasonable. + +[If no default judgment has been entered against the mortgagor] +The Court finds, based upon the affidavits estimony presented and upon + +inquiry of counsel for the Plaintiff that ... hours were reasonably expended by + + + +Plaintiffs counsel and that an hourly rate of $.... is appropriate. Plaintiffs +counsel represents that the attorney fee awarded does not exceed its contract +fee with the plaintiff. The Court finds that there are no reduction or +enhancement factors for consideration by the court pursuant to Florida +Patients Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985). (If the +Court has found that there are reduction or enhancement factors to be applied, +then such factors must be identified and explained herein). + +[If the fees to be awarded are a flat fee] +The requested attorneys fees are a flat rate fee that the firms client has + +agreed to pay in this matter. Given the amount of the fee requested and the +labor expended, the Court finds that a lodestar analysis is not necessary and +that the flat fee is reasonable. + +8. Re-establishment of Lost Note. The court finds that the plaintiff has +re-established the terms of the lost note and established its right to enforce +the instrument as required by law. Plaintiff shall hold the defendant(s) +maker of the note harmless and shall indemnify defendant(s) for any loss +Defendant(s) may incur by reason of a claim by any other person to +enforce the lost note. Adequate protection has been provided as required +by law by the following means: ...(Identify means of security per +applicable law: a written indemnification agreement, a surety bond, include +specific detail).... +Judgment is hereby entered in favor of the plaintiff as to its request to + +enforce the lost note. +9. Jurisdiction Retained. Jurisdiction of this action is retained to + +enforce the adequate protection ordered and to enter further orders that are +proper including, without limitation, a deficiency judgment. +IF THIS PROPERTY IS SOLD AT PUBLIC AUCTION, THERE + +MAY BE ADDITIONAL MONEY FROM THE SALE AFTER +PAYMENT OF PERSONS WHO ARE ENTITLED TO BE PAID +FROM THE SALE PROCEEDS PURSUANT TO THE FINAL +JUDGMENT. + +IF YOU ARE A SUBORDINATE LIENHOLDER CLAIMING A +RIGHT TO FUNDS REMAINING AFTER THE SALE, YOU MUST +FILE A CLAIM WITH THE CLERK NO LATER THAN 60 DAYS + + + +AFTER THE SALE. IF YOU FAIL TO FILE A CLAIM, YOU WILL +NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY REMAINING FUNDS. + +[If the property being foreclosed on has qualified for the homestead tax +exemption in the most recent approved tax roll, the final judgment shall +additionally contain the following statement in conspicuous type:] + +IF YOU ARE THE PROPERTY OWNER, YOU MAY CLAIM +THESE FUNDS YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE +A LAWYER OR ANY OTHER REPRESENTATION AND YOU DO +NOT HAVE TO ASSIGN YOUR RIGHTS TO ANYONE ELSE IN +ORDER FOR YOU TO CLAIM ANY MONEY TO WHICH YOU ARE +ENTITLED. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE CLERK OF THE COURT, +(INSERT INFORMATION FOR APPLICABLE COURT) WITHIN 10 +DAYS AFTER THE SALE TO SEE IF THERE IS ADDITIONAL +MONEY FROM THE FORECLOSURE SALE THAT THE CLERK +HAS IN THE REGISTRY OF THE COURT. + +IF YOU DECIDE TO SELL YOUR HOME OR HIRE SOMEONE +TO HELP YOU CLAIM THE ADDITIONAL MONEY, YOU SHOULD +READ VERY CAREFULLY ALL PAPERS YOU ARE REQUIRED TO +SIGN, ASK SOMEONE ELSE, PREFERABLY AN ATTORNEY WHO +IS NOT RELATED TO THE PERSON OFFERING TO HELP YOU, +TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE +SIGNING AND THAT YOU ARE NOT TRANSFERRING YOUR +PROPERTY OR THE EQUITY IN YOUR PROPERTY WITHOUT +THE PROPER INFORMATION. IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY +AN ATTORNEY, YOU MAY CONTACT (INSERT LOCAL OR +NEAREST LEGAL AID OFFICE AND TELEPHONE NUMBER) TO SEE +IF YOU QUALIFY FINANCIALLY FOR THEIR SERVICES. IF +THEY CANNOT ASSIST YOU, THEY MAY BE ABLE TO REFER +YOU TO A LOCAL BAR REFERRAL AGENCY OR SUGGEST +OTHER OPTIONS. IF YOU CHOOSE TO CONTACT (NAME OF +LOCAL OR NEAREST LEGAL AID OFFICE AND TELEPHONE +NUMBER) FOR ASSISTANCE, YOU SHOULD DO SO AS SOON AS +POSSIBLE AFTER RECEIPT OF THIS NOTICE. + +ORDERED at ........, Florida, on ...(date).... + + + +NOTE: Paragraph 1 must be varied in accordance with the items unpaid, +claimed, and proven. The form does not provide for an adjudication of junior +lienors claims or for redemption by the United States of America if it is a +defendant. The address of the person who claims a lien as a result of the +judgment must be included in the judgment in order for the judgment to +become a lien on real estate when a certified copy of the judgment is +recorded. Alternatively, an affidavit with this information may be +simultaneously recorded. For the specific requirements, see section 55.10(1), +Florida Statutes; Hott Interiors, Inc. v. Fostock, 721 So. 2d 1236 (Fla. 4th +DCA 1998). + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2014 Amendment. This new form is to be used when the foreclosure +judgment re-establishes a lost note. + +2019 Amendment. The amendment to paragraph 6 is intended to notify all +involved in mortgage foreclosure proceedings of section 83.561, Florida +Statutes (2015), Termination of Rental Agreement upon Foreclosure, by +adding language from the statute. + + + + FORM 1.996(C). +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.996(c) + +FORM 1.996(C). MOTION TO CANCEL AND RESCHEDULE +FORECLOSURE SALE. + +Plaintiff moves to cancel and reschedule the mortgage foreclosure sale +because: + +1. On ...(date)... this court entered a Final Judgment of Foreclosure +pursuant to which a foreclosure sale was scheduled for ...(date).... + +2. The sale needs to be canceled for the following reason(s): +a. ... Plaintiff and defendant are continuing to be involved in loss + +mitigation; +b. ... Defendant is negotiating for the sale of the property that is the subject + +of this matter and plaintiff wants to allow the defendant an opportunity to sell +the property and pay off the debt that is due and owing to plaintiff. + +c. ... Defendant has entered into a contract to sell the property that is the +subject of this matter and plaintiff wants to give the defendant an opportunity +to consummate the sale and pay off the debt that is due and owing to plaintiff. + +d. ... Defendant has filed a Chapter .... Petition under the Federal +Bankruptcy Code; + +e. ... Plaintiff has ordered but has not received a statement of +value/appraisal for the property; + +f. ... Plaintiff and defendant have entered into a Forbearance Agreement; +g. Other +..................................... +..................................... +..................................... +3. If this Court cancels the foreclosure sale, plaintiff moves that it be + +rescheduled. +I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing motion has been furnished by + +...(method of service)... to ...(name(s))... on ...(date).... + + + +NOTE. This form is used to move the court to cancel and reschedule a +foreclosure sale. + + + + FORM 1.997. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.997 + +FORM 1.997. CIVIL COVER SHEET. +The civil cover sheet and the information contained in it neither replace nor +supplement the filing and service of pleadings or other documents as +required by law. This form must be filed by the plaintiff or petitioner with +the Clerk of Court for the purpose of reporting uniform data pursuant to +section 25.075, Florida Statutes. (See instructions for completion.) + +I. CASE STYLE + +II. AMOUNT OF CLAIM Please indicate the estimated amount of the +claim, rounded to the nearest dollar. The estimated amount of the claim is +requested for data collection and clerical processing purposes only. The +amount of the claim shall not be used for any other purpose. +. $8,000 or less +. $8,001 - $30,000 +. $30,001- $50,000 +. $50,001- $75,000 +. $75,001 - $100,000 +. over $100,000.00 +III. TYPE OF CASE (If the case fits more than one type of case, select +the most definitive category.) If the most descriptive label is a +subcategory (is indented under a broader category), place an x on both +the main category and subcategory lines. + +CIRCUIT CIVIL + + + +CIRCUIT CIVIL + + + +IX. DOES THIS CASE INVOLVE ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL +ABUSE? + +. yes + +. no +I CERTIFY that the information I have provided in this cover sheet is +accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that I have read and will +comply with the requirements of Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.425. + +Form 1.997. Instructions for Attorneys Completing Civil +Cover Sheet + + + +Plaintiff must file this cover sheet with the first document filed +in the action or proceeding (except small claims cases, probate, +or family cases). Domestic and juvenile cases should be +accompanied by a completed Florida Family Law Rules of +Procedure Form 12.928, Cover Sheet for Family Court Cases. +Failure to file a civil cover sheet in any civil case other than +those excepted above may result in sanctions. + +I. Case Style. Enter the name of the court, the appropriate +case number assigned at the time of filing of the original +complaint or petition, the name of the judge assigned (if +applicable), and the name (last, first, middle initial) of plaintiff(s) +and defendant(s). + +II. Amount of Claim. Enter the estimated amount of the +claim, rounded to the nearest dollar. The estimated amount of the +claim is requested for data collection and clerical processing +purposes only. The amount of the claim shall not be used for any +other purpose. + +III. Type of Case. Place an X on the appropriate line. If the +cause fits more than one type of case, select the most definitive. +If the most definitive label is a subcategory (indented under a +broader category label), place an X on the category and +subcategory lines. Definitions of the cases are provided below in +the order they appear on the form. + +Circuit Civil +(A) Condominium all civil lawsuits pursuant to Chapter 718, Florida + +Statutes, in which a condominium association is a party. +(B) Contracts and indebtedness all contract actions relating to + +promissory notes and other debts, including those arising from the sale of +goods, but excluding contract disputes involving condominium associations. + +(C) Eminent domain all matters relating to the taking of private property + + + +for public use, including inverse condemnation by state agencies, political +subdivisions, or public service corporations. + +(D) Auto negligence all matters arising out of a partys allegedly +negligent operation of a motor vehicle. + +(E) Negligence other all actions sounding in negligence, including +statutory claims for relief on account of death or injury, that are not included +in other main categories. + +(F) Business governance all matters relating to the management, +administration, or control of a company. + +(G) Business torts all matters relating to liability for economic loss +allegedly caused by interference with economic or business relationships. + +(H) Environmental/Toxic tort all matters relating to claims that +violations of environmental regulatory provisions or exposure to a chemical +caused injury or disease. + +(I) Third party indemnification all matters relating to liability +transferred to a third party in a financial relationship. + +(J) Construction defect all civil lawsuits in which damage or injury was +allegedly caused by defects in the construction of a structure. + +(K) Mass tort all matters relating to a civil action involving numerous +plaintiffs against one or more defendants. + +(L) Negligent security all matters involving injury to a person or +property allegedly resulting from insufficient security. + +(M) Nursing home negligence all matters involving injury to a nursing +home resident resulting from negligence of nursing home staff or facilities. + +(N) Premises liability commercial all matters involving injury to a +person or property allegedly resulting from a defect on the premises of a +commercial property. + +(O) Premises liability residential all matters involving injury to a +person or property allegedly resulting from a defect on the premises of a +residential property. + +(P) Products liability all matters involving injury to a person or property + + + +allegedly resulting from the manufacture or sale of a defective product or +from a failure to warn. + +(Q) Real property/Mortgage foreclosure all matters relating to the +possession, title, or boundaries of real property. All matters involving +foreclosures or sales of real property, including foreclosures associated with +condominium associations or condominium units. + +(R) Commercial foreclosure all matters relating to the termination of a +business owners interest in commercial property by a lender to gain title or +force a sale to satisfy the unpaid debt secured by the property. + +(S) Homestead residential foreclosure all matters relating to the +termination of a residential property owners interest by a lender to gain title +or force a sale to satisfy the unpaid debt secured by the property where the +property has been granted a homestead exemption. + +(T) Nonhomestead residential foreclosure all matters relating to the +termination of a residential property owners interest by a lender to gain title +or force a sale to satisfy the unpaid debt secured by the property where the +property has not been granted a homestead exemption. + +(U) Other real property actions all matters relating to land, land +improvements, or property rights not involving commercial or residential +foreclosure. + +(V) Professional malpractice all professional malpractice lawsuits. +(W) Malpractice business all matters relating to a businesss or + +business persons failure to exercise the degree of care and skill that someone +in the same line of work would use under similar circumstances. + +(X) Malpractice medical all matters relating to a doctors failure to +exercise the degree of care and skill that a physician or surgeon of the same +medical specialty would use under similar circumstances. + +(Y) Malpractice other professional all matters relating to negligence +of those other than medical or business professionals. + +(Z) Other all civil matters not included in other categories. +(AA) Antitrust/Trade regulation all matters relating to unfair methods of + +competition or unfair or deceptive business acts or practices. + + + +(AB) Business transactions all matters relating to actions that affect +financial or economic interests. + +(AC) Constitutional challenge statute or ordinance a challenge to a +statute or ordinance, citing a violation of the Florida Constitution. + +(AD) Constitutional challenge proposed amendment a challenge to a +legislatively initiated proposed constitutional amendment, but excluding +challenges to a citizen-initiated proposed constitutional amendment because +the Florida Supreme Court has direct jurisdiction of such challenges. + +(AE) Corporate trusts all matters relating to the business activities of +financial services companies or banks acting in a fiduciary capacity for +investors. + +(AF) Discrimination employment or other all matters relating to +discrimination, including employment, sex, race, age, handicap, harassment, +retaliation, or wages. + +(AG) Insurance claims all matters relating to claims filed with an +insurance company. + +(AH) Intellectual property all matters relating to intangible rights +protecting commercially valuable products of the human intellect. + +(AI) Libel/Slander all matters relating to written, visual, oral, or aural +defamation of character. + +(AJ) Shareholder derivative action all matters relating to actions by a +corporations shareholders to protect and benefit all shareholders against +corporate management for improper management. + +(AK) Securities litigation all matters relating to the financial interest or +instruments of a company or corporation. + +(AL) Trade secrets all matters relating to a formula, process, device, or +other business information that is kept confidential to maintain an advantage +over competitors. + +(AM) Trust litigation all civil matters involving guardianships, estates, +or trusts and not appropriately filed in probate proceedings. + +County Civil + + + +(AN) Civil all matters involving claims ranging from $8,001 through +$30,000 in damages, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorney fees. + +(AO) Real property/Mortgage foreclosureall matters involving claims up +to $30,000 relating to the possession, title, or boundaries of real property. All +matters involving foreclosures or sales of real property up to $30,000, +including foreclosures associated with condominium associations or +condominium units. + +(AP) Replevinsall lawsuits pursuant to Chapter 78, Florida Statutes, +involving claims up to $30,000. + +(AQ) Evictionsall matters involving the recovery of possession of leased +land or rental property by process of law. + +(AR) Other civil (non-monetary)includes all other non-monetary county +civil matters that were not described in other county civil categories. + +IV. Remedies Sought. Place an X on the appropriate line. If +more than one remedy is sought in the complaint or petition, +check all that apply. + +V. Number of Causes of Action. If the complaint or petition +alleges more than one cause of action, note the number and the +name of the cause of action. + +VI. Class Action. Place an X on the appropriate line. +VII. Related Cases. Place an X on the appropriate line. +VIII. Is Jury Trial Demanded In Complaint? Check the + +appropriate line to indicate whether a jury trial is being +demanded in the complaint + +IX. Sexual Abuse. Place an X on the appropriate line. + +ATTORNEY OR PARTY SIGNATURE. Sign the civil cover sheet. Print +legibly the name of the person signing the civil cover sheet. Attorneys must +include a Florida Bar number. Insert the date the civil cover sheet is signed. + + + +Signature is a certification that the filer has provided accurate information on +the civil cover sheet, and has read and complied with the requirements of +Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425. + + + + FORM 1.998. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.998 + +FORM 1.998. FINAL DISPOSITION FORM. +This form shall be filed by the prevailing party with the Clerk of Court for + +the purpose of reporting uniform case data pursuant to Florida Statutes +section 25.075. (See instructions on the reverse of the form.) +I. CASE STYLE + +II. AMOUNT OF FINAL JUDGMENT Please indicate the amount of the +final judgment, rounded to the nearest dollar. $___________ +III. MEANS OF FINAL DISPOSITION (Place an x in one box for +major category and one subcategory, if applicable, only) + + Dismissed Before Hearing + Dismissed Pursuant to Settlement Before Hearing + Dismissed Pursuant to Mediated Settlement Before Hearing + Other Before Hearing + Dismissed After Hearing + Dismissed Pursuant to Settlement After Hearing + Dismissed Pursuant to Mediated Settlement After Hearing + Other After Hearing After Hearing + Disposed by Default + Disposed by Judge + Disposed by Non-jury Trial + Disposed by Jury Trial + Other + + + +_____________________ +DATE +_____________________ +SIGNATURE OF ATTORNEY FOR PREVAILING PARTY + +INSTRUCTIONS FOR ATTORNEYS COMPLETING FINAL +DISPOSITION FORM +I. Case Style. Enter the name of the court, the appropriate case number +assigned at the time of filing of the original complaint or petition, the name of +the judge assigned to the case and the names (last, first, middle initial) of +plaintiff(s) and defendant(s). +II. Amount of Final Judgment. Enter the amount as recorded in the final +judgment. +III. Means of Final Disposition. Place an x in the appropriate major +category box and in the appropriate subcategory box, if applicable. The +following are the definitions of the disposition categories. +(A) Dismissed Before Hearingthe case is settled, voluntarily dismissed, or +otherwise disposed of before a hearing is held; +(B) Dismissed Pursuant to Settlement Before Hearingthe case is +voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff after a settlement is reached without +mediation before a hearing is held; +(C) Dismissal Pursuant to Mediated Settlement Before Hearingthe case +is voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff after a settlement is reached with +mediation before a hearing is held; +(D) Other Before Hearingthe case is dismissed before hearing in an +action that does not fall into one of the other disposition categories listed on +this form; +(E) Dismissed After Hearingthe case is dismissed by a judge, voluntarily +dismissed, or settled after a hearing is held; +(F) Dismissal Pursuant to SettlementAfter Hearingthe case is voluntarily +dismissed by the plaintiff after a settlement is reach without mediation after a +hearing is held; + + + +(G) Dismissal Pursuant to Mediated SettlementAfter Hearingthe case is +voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff after a settlement is reach with +mediation after a hearing is held; +(H) OtherAfter Hearingthe case is dismissed after hearing in an action +that does not fall into one of the other disposition categories listed on this +form; +(I) Disposed by Defaulta defendant chooses not to or fails to contest the +plaintiffs allegations and a judgment against the defendant is entered by the +court; +(J) Disposed by Judgea judgment or disposition is reached by the judge in +a case that is not dismissed and in which no trial has been held. Includes +stipulations by the parties, conditional judgments, summary judgment after +hearing and any matter in which a judgment is entered excluding cases +disposed of by default as in category (I) above; +(K) Disposed by Non-Jury Trialthe case is disposed as a result of a +contested trial in which there is no jury and in which the judge determines +both the issues of fact and law in the case; +(L) Disposed by Jury Trialthe case is disposed as a result of a jury trial +(consider the beginning of a jury trial to be when the jurors and alternates are +selected and sworn); +(M) Otherthe case is consolidated, submitted to arbitration or mediation, +transferred, or otherwise disposed of by other means not listed in categories +(A) through (L). + +DATE AND ATTORNEY SIGNATURE. Date and sign the final +disposition form. + + + + FORM 1.999. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.999 + +FORM 1.999. ORDER DESIGNATING A CASE COMPLEX. + + + + Appx I. +Fla. R. Civ. P., Appx. I + +APPENDIX I. STANDARD INTERROGATORIES FORMS + Appx I. , FORM 1. + +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1 + +FORM 1. GENERAL PERSONAL INJURY NEGLIGENCE +INTERROGATORIES TO PLAINTIFF. + +(If answering for another person or entity, answer with respect to that +person or entity, unless otherwise stated.) + +1. What is the name and address of the person answering these +interrogatories, and, if applicable, the persons official position or +relationship with the party to whom the interrogatories are directed? + +2. List the names, business addresses, dates of employment, and rates of +pay regarding all employers, including self-employment, for whom you have +worked in the past 10 years. + +3. List all former names and when you were known by those names. State +all addresses where you have lived for the past 10 years, the dates you lived +at each address, your Social Security number, your date of birth, and, if you +are or have ever been married, the name of your spouse or spouses. + +4. Do you wear glasses, contact lenses, or hearing aids? If so, who +prescribed them, when were they prescribed, when were your eyes or ears +last examined, and what is the name and address of the examiner? + +5. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, other than any juvenile +adjudication, which under the law under which you were convicted was +punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of 1 year, or that involved +dishonesty or a false statement regardless of the punishment? If so, state as to +each conviction the specific crime and the date and place of conviction. + +6. Were you suffering from physical infirmity, disability, or sickness at the +time of the incident described in the complaint? If so, what was the nature of +the infirmity, disability, or sickness? + +7. Did you consume any alcoholic beverages or take any drugs or +medications within 12 hours before the time of the incident described in the + + + +complaint? If so, state the type and amount of alcoholic beverages, drugs, or +medication which were consumed, and when and where you consumed them. + +8. Describe in detail how the incident described in the complaint happened, +including all actions taken by you to prevent the incident. + +9. Describe in detail each act or omission on the part of any party to this +lawsuit that you contend constituted negligence that was a contributing legal +cause of the incident in question. + +10. Were you charged with any violation of law (including any regulations +or ordinances) arising out of the incident described in the complaint? If so, +what was the nature of the charge; what plea or answer, if any, did you enter +to the charge; what court or agency heard the charge; was any written report +prepared by anyone regarding this charge, and, if so, what is the name and +address of the person or entity that prepared the report; do you have a copy of +the report; and was the testimony at any trial, hearing, or other proceeding on +the charge recorded in any manner, and, if so, what is the name and address +of the person who recorded the testimony? + +11. Describe each injury for which you are claiming damages in this case, +specifying the part of your body that was injured, the nature of the injury, +and, as to any injuries you contend are permanent, the effects on you that you +claim are permanent. + +12. List each item of expense or damage, other than loss of income or +earning capacity, that you claim to have incurred as a result of the incident +described in the complaint, giving for each item the date incurred, the name +and business address of the person or entity to whom each was paid or is +owed, and the goods or services for which each was incurred. + +13. Do you contend that you have lost any income, benefits, or earning +capacity in the past or future as a result of the incident described in the +complaint? If so, state the nature of the income, benefits, or earning capacity, +and the amount and the method that you used in computing the amount. + +14. Has anything been paid or is anything payable from any third party for +the damages listed in your answers to these interrogatories? If so, state the +amounts paid or payable, the name and business address of the person or +entity who paid or owes said amounts, and which of those third parties have +or claim a right of subrogation. + + + +15. List the names and business addresses of each physician who has +treated or examined you, and each medical facility where you have received +any treatment or examination for the injuries for which you seek damages in +this case; and state as to each the date of treatment or examination and the +injury or condition for which you were examined or treated. + +16. List the names and business addresses of all other physicians, medical +facilities, or other health care providers by whom or at which you have been +examined or treated in the past 10 years; and state as to each the dates of +examination or treatment and the condition or injury for which you were +examined or treated. + +17. List the names and addresses of all persons who are believed or known +by you, your agents, or your attorneys to have any knowledge concerning any +of the issues in this lawsuit; and specify the subject matter about which the +witness has knowledge. + +18. Have you heard or do you know about any statement or remark made +by or on behalf of any party to this lawsuit, other than yourself, concerning +any issue in this lawsuit? If so, state the name and address of each person +who made the statement or statements, the name and address of each person +who heard it, and the date, time, place, and substance of each statement. + +19. State the name and address of every person known to you, your agents, +or your attorneys, who has knowledge about, or possession, custody, or +control of, any model, plat, map, drawing, audio recording, visual recording, +audiovisual recording, or photograph pertaining to any fact or issue involved +in this controversy; and describe as to each, what item such person has, the +name and address of the person who took or prepared it, and the date it was +taken or prepared. + +20. Do you intend to call any expert witnesses at the trial of this case? If +so, state as to each such witness the name and business address of the +witness, the witnesss qualifications as an expert, the subject matter upon +which the witness is expected to testify, the substance of the facts and +opinions to which the witness is expected to testify, and a summary of the +grounds for each opinion. + +21. Have you made an agreement with anyone that would limit that partys +liability to anyone for any of the damages sued upon in this case? If so, state + + + +the terms of the agreement and the parties to it. +22. Please state if you have ever been a party, either plaintiff or defendant, + +in a lawsuit other than the present matter, and, if so, state whether you were +plaintiff or defendant, the nature of the action, and the date and court in +which such suit was filed. + + + + Appx I. , FORM 2. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 2 + +FORM 2. GENERAL PERSONAL INJURY NEGLIGENCE +INTERROGATORIES TO DEFENDANT. + +(If answering for another person or entity, answer with respect to that +person or entity, unless otherwise stated.) + +1. What is the name and address of the person answering these +interrogatories, and, if applicable, the persons official position or +relationship with the party to whom the interrogatories are directed? + +2. List all former names and when you were known by those names. State +all addresses where you have lived for the past 10 years, the dates you lived +at each address, your Social Security number, and your date of birth. + +3. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, other than any juvenile +adjudication, which under the law under which you were convicted was +punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of 1 year, or that involved +dishonesty or a false statement regardless of the punishment? If so, state as to +each conviction the specific crime and the date and place of conviction. + +4. Describe any and all policies of insurance which you contend cover or +may cover you for the allegations set forth in plaintiffs complaint, detailing +as to such policies the name of the insurer, the number of the policy, the +effective dates of the policy, the available limits of liability, and the name and +address of the custodian of the policy. + +5. Describe in detail how the incident described in the complaint happened, +including all actions taken by you to prevent the incident. + +6. Describe in detail each act or omission on the part of any party to this +lawsuit that you contend constituted negligence that was a contributing legal +cause of the incident in question. + +7. State the facts upon which you rely for each affirmative defense in your +answer. + +8. Do you contend any person or entity other than you is, or may be, liable +in whole or part for the claims asserted against you in this lawsuit? If so, state +the full name and address of each such person or entity, the legal basis for +your contention, the facts or evidence upon which your contention is based, + + + +and whether or not you have notified each such person or entity of your +contention. + +9. Were you charged with any violation of law (including any regulations +or ordinances) arising out of the incident described in the complaint? If so, +what was the nature of the charge; what plea or answer, if any, did you enter +to the charge; what court or agency heard the charge; was any written report +prepared by anyone regarding the charge, and, if so, what is the name and +address of the person or entity who prepared the report; do you have a copy +of the report; and was the testimony at any trial, hearing, or other proceeding +on the charge recorded in any manner, and, if so, what is the name and +address of the person who recorded the testimony? + +10. List the names and addresses of all persons who are believed or known +by you, your agents, or your attorneys to have any knowledge concerning any +of the issues in this lawsuit; and specify the subject matter about which the +witness has knowledge. + +11. Have you heard or do you know about any statement or remark made +by or on behalf of any party to this lawsuit, other than yourself, concerning +any issue in this lawsuit? If so, state the name and address of each person +who made the statement or statements, the name and address of each person +who heard it, and the date, time, place, and substance of each statement. + +12. State the name and address of every person known to you, your agents, +or your attorneys who has knowledge about, or possession, custody, or +control of, any model, plat, map, drawing, audio recording, visual recording, +audiovisual recording, or photograph pertaining to any fact or issue involved +in this controversy; and describe as to each, what item such person has, the +name and address of the person who took or prepared it, and the date it was +taken or prepared. + +13. Do you intend to call any expert witnesses at the trial of this case? If +so, state as to each such witness the name and business address of the +witness, the witnesss qualifications as an expert, the subject matter upon +which the witness is expected to testify, the substance of the facts and +opinions to which the witness is expected to testify, and a summary of the +grounds for each opinion. + +14. Have you made an agreement with anyone that would limit that partys + + + +liability to anyone for any of the damages sued upon in this case? If so, state +the terms of the agreement and the parties to it. + +15. Please state if you have ever been a party, either plaintiff or defendant, +in a lawsuit other than the present matter, and, if so, state whether you were +plaintiff or defendant, the nature of the action, and the date and court in +which such suit was filed. + + + + Appx I. , FORM 3. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 3 + +FORM 3. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INTERROGATORIES TO +PLAINTIFF. + +(These interrogatories should be used in conjunction with the General +Personal Injury Negligence Interrogatories to Plaintiff.) + +23. Do you contend that you have experienced any injury or illness as a +result of any negligence of this defendant? If so, state the date that each such +injury occurred, a description of how the injury was caused, and the exact +nature of each such injury. + +24. What condition, symptom, or illness caused you to obtain medical care +and treatment from this defendant? + +25. Do you claim this defendant neglected to inform or instruct or warn +you of any risk relating to your condition, care, or treatment? If so, state of +what, in your opinion, the defendant failed to inform, instruct, or warn you. + +26. If you contend that you were not properly informed by this defendant +regarding the risk of the treatment or the procedure performed, state what +alternative treatment or procedure, if any, you would have undergone had you +been properly informed. + +27. State the date and place and a description of each complaint for which +you contend the defendant refused to attend or treat you. + +28. State the date you became aware of the injuries sued on in this action, +and describe in detail the circumstances under which you became aware of +each such injury; state the date you became aware that the injuries sued on in +this action were caused or may have been caused by medical negligence; and +describe in detail the circumstances under which you became aware of the +cause of said injuries. + +29. State the name and address of every person or organization to whom +you have given notice of the occurrence sued on in this case because you, +your agents, or your attorneys believe that person or organization may be +liable in whole or in part to you. + + + + Appx I. , FORM 4. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 4 + +FORM 4. MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INTERROGATORIES TO +DEFENDANT. + +(These interrogatories should be used in conjunction with the General +Personal Injury Negligence Interrogatories to Defendant.) + +NOTE: When the word Plaintiff is mentioned, these interrogatories are +directed to be answered regarding (name of plaintiff/patient). + +16. Please give us your entire educational background, starting with your +college education and chronologically indicating by date and place each +school, college, course of study, title of seminars, length of study, and honors +received by you up to the present time, including internships, residencies, +degrees received, licenses earned or revoked, medical specialty training, +board memberships, authorship of any books, articles, or texts, including the +names of those writings and their location in medical journals, awards or +honors received, and continuing medical education. + +17. Please give us your entire professional background up to the present +time, including dates of employment or association, the names of all +physicians with whom you have practiced, the form of employment or +business relationship such as whether by partnership, corporation, or sole +proprietorship, and the dates of the relationships, including hospital staff +privileges and positions, and teaching experience. + +18. With respect to your office library or usual place of work, give us the +name, author, name of publisher, and date of publication of every medical +book or article, journal, or medical text to which you had access, which deals +with the overall subject matter described in paragraph [whatever paragraph +number that concerns negligence] of the complaint. (In lieu of answering this +interrogatory you may allow plaintiffs counsel to inspect your library at a +reasonable time.) + +19. If you believe there was any risk to the treatment you rendered to the +plaintiff, state the nature of all risks, including whether the risks were +communicated to the plaintiff; when, where, and in what manner they were +communicated; and whether any of the risks in fact occurred. + +20. Tell us your experience in giving the kind of treatment or examination + + + +that you rendered to the plaintiff before it was given to the plaintiff, giving us +such information as the approximate number of times you have given similar +treatment or examinations, where the prior treatment or examinations took +place, and the successful or unsuccessful nature of the outcome of that +treatment or those examinations. + +21. Please identify, with sufficient particularity to formulate the basis of a +request to produce, all medical records of any kind of which you are aware +which deal with the medical treatment or examinations furnished to the +plaintiff at any time, whether by you or another person or persons. + +22. Please state whether any claim for medical malpractice has ever been +made against you alleging facts relating to the same or similar subject matter +as this lawsuit, and, if so, state as to each such claim the names of the parties, +the claim number, the date of the alleged incident, the ultimate disposition of +the claim, and the name of your attorney, if any. + + + + Appx I. , FORM 5. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 5 + +FORM 5. AUTOMOBILE NEGLIGENCE INTERROGATORIES +TO PLAINTIFF. + +(These interrogatories should be used in conjunction with the General +Personal Injury Negligence Interrogatories to Plaintiff.) + +23. At the time of the incident described in the complaint, were you +wearing a seat belt? If not, please state why not; where you were seated in the +vehicle; and whether the vehicle was equipped with a seat belt that was +operational and available for your use. + +24. Did any mechanical defect in the motor vehicle in which you were +riding at the time of the incident described in the complaint contribute to the +incident? If so, describe the nature of the defect and how it contributed to the +incident. + + + + Appx I. , FORM 6. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 6 + +FORM 6. AUTOMOBILE NEGLIGENCE INTERROGATORIES +TO DEFENDANT. + +(These interrogatories should be used in conjunction with the General +Personal Injury Negligence Interrogatories to Defendant.) + +16. Do you wear glasses, contact lenses, or hearing aids? If so, who +prescribed them, when were they prescribed, when were your eyes or ears +last examined, and what is the name and address of the examiner? + +17. Were you suffering from physical infirmity, disability, or sickness at +the time of the incident described in the complaint? If so, what was the nature +of the infirmity, disability, or sickness? + +18. Did you consume any alcoholic beverages or take any drugs or +medications within 12 hours before the time of the incident described in the +complaint? If so, state the type and amount of alcoholic beverages, drugs, or +medication which were consumed, and when and where you consumed them. + +19. Did any mechanical defect in the motor vehicle in which you were +riding at the time of the incident described in the complaint contribute to the +incident? If so, describe the nature of the defect and how it contributed to the +incident. + +20. List the name and address of all persons, corporations, or entities who +were registered title owners or who had ownership interest in, or right to +control, the motor vehicle that the defendant driver was driving at the time of +the incident described in the complaint; and describe both the nature of the +ownership interest or right to control the vehicle, and the vehicle itself, +including the make, model, year, and vehicle identification number + +21. At the time of the incident described in the complaint, did the driver of +the vehicle described in your answer to the preceding interrogatory have +permission to drive the vehicle? If so, state the names and addresses of all +persons who have such permission. + +22. At the time of the incident described in the complaint, was the +defendant driver engaged in any mission or activity for any other person or +entity, including any employer? If so, state the name and address of that + + + +person or entity and the nature of the mission or activity. +23. Was the motor vehicle that the defendant driver was driving at the time + +of the incident described in the complaint damaged in the incident, and, if so, +what was the cost to repair the damage? + + + + Appx II. +Fla. R. Civ. P., Appx. II + +APPENDIX II. STATEWIDE UNIFORM GUIDELINES FOR +TAXATION OF COSTS IN CIVIL ACTIONS + +Purpose and Application. These guidelines are advisory only. The taxation +of costs in any particular proceeding is within the broad discretion of the trial +court. The trial court should exercise that discretion in a manner that is +consistent with the policy of reducing the overall costs of litigation and of +keeping such costs as low as justice will permit. With this goal in mind, the +trial court should consider and reward utilization of innovative technologies +by a party which subsequently minimizes costs and reduce the award when +use of innovative technologies that were not used would have resulted in +lowering costs. In addition, these guidelines are not intended to (1) limit the +amount of costs recoverable under a contract or statute, or (2) prejudice the +rights of any litigant objecting to an assessment of costs on the basis that the +assessment is contrary to applicable substantive law. + +Burden of Proof. Under these guidelines, it is the burden of the moving +party to show that all requested costs were reasonably necessary either to +defend or prosecute the case at the time the activity precipitating the cost was +undertaken. + +I. Litigation Costs That Should Be Taxed. A. Depositions. 1. The original +and one copy of the deposition and court reporters per diem for all +depositions. + +2. The original and/or one copy of the electronic deposition, including +audiovisually recorded depositions, and the cost of the services of a +technician for electronic depositions used at trial. + +3. Telephone toll and electronic conferencing charges for the conduct of +telephone and electronic depositions. + +B. Documents and Exhibits. 1. The costs of copies of documents filed (in +lieu of actually cited) with the court, which are reasonably necessary to +assist the court in reaching a conclusion. + +2. The costs of copies obtained in discovery, even if the copies were not +used at trial. + + + +C. Expert Witnesses. 1. A reasonable fee for deposition and/or court +testimony, and the costs of preparation of any court ordered report. + +D. Witnesses. 1. Costs of subpoena, witness fee, and service of witnesses +for deposition and/or trial. + +E. Court Reporting Costs Other than for Depositions. 1. Reasonable court +reporters per diem for the reporting of evidentiary hearings, trial and post- +trial hearings. + +F. Reasonable Charges Incurred for Requiring Special Magistrates, +Guardians Ad Litem, and Attorneys Ad Litem. + +G. Filing Fees and Service of Process Fees. +II. Litigation Costs That May Be Taxed as Costs. +A. Mediation/Nonbinding Arbitration Fees and Expenses. 1. Costs of + +mediation, including mediator fees. +2. Costs of court-ordered nonbinding arbitration, including arbitrator fees. +B. Reasonable Travel Expenses. 1. Reasonable travel expenses of expert + +when traveling in excess of 100 miles from the experts principal place of +business (not to include the experts time). + +2. Reasonable travel expenses of witnesses. +C. Electronic Discovery Expenses. 1. The cost of producing copies of + +relevant electronic media in response to a discovery request. +2. The cost of converting electronically stored information to a reasonably + +usable format in response to a discovery request that seeks production in such +format. + +D. Testifying Expert Witnesses. 1. A reasonable fee for conducting +examinations, investigations, tests, and research and preparing reports. + +2. A reasonable fee for testimony at court-ordered nonbinding arbitration. +3. A reasonable fee for preparing for deposition, court-ordered nonbinding + +arbitration, and/or court testimony. +III. Litigation Costs That Should Not Be Taxed as Costs. +A. The Cost of Long Distance Telephone Calls with Witnesses, both + + + +Expert and Non-Expert (including conferences concerning scheduling of +depositions or requesting witnesses to attend trial). + +B. Any Expenses Relating to Consulting But Non-Testifying Experts. +C. Cost Incurred in Connection with Any Matter Which Was Not + +Reasonably Calculated to Lead to the Discovery of Admissible Evidence. +D. Travel Time. 1. Travel time of attorney(s). +2. Travel time of expert(s). +E. Travel Expenses of Attorney(s). + + + +INDEX TO FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE +________ + +A + +ACCORD AND SATISFACTION DEFENSE, FORM FOR, 1.967. +ACCOUNT. +Account stated, complaint form for, 1.933. +Open account, complaint form for, 1.932. +ACTIONS. +Class, 1.2201.222. +Consolidation of, 1.270(a). +Dismissal, 1.420. +Failure to state cause of, 1.140(b). +Forms of action abolished, 1.110(a). +Instrument on which brought attached to pleadings, 1.130(a). +One form, 1.040. +Separate trials, 1.170(i), 1.270(b). +Setting for trial, 1.440(c). +Testimony perpetuated by, 1.290(c). +Transfer, 1.060. +When at issue, 1.440(a). +When commenced, 1.050. +ADA NOTICE, 1.9101.913, 1.922, 1.982. +ADDITIONAL PARTIES, 1.170(h). +ADDITUR. +Motions for remittitur and additur, 1.530(h). +ADMISSIONS. + + + +See REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION. +ADVERSE RULING, EXCEPTION UNNECESSARY TO APPEAL, + +1.470(a). +AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES, 1.110(d). +AGE. +Final judgment against infant, 1.500(e). +Minor parties, 1.210(b). +Subpoena, person serving, 1.410(d). +ALTER JUDGMENT, MOTION TO, 1.530(g). +ALTERNATE JURORS, 1.431(g). +ALTERNATIVE CAUSES OF ACTION OR DEFENSES, 1.110(g). +AMENDMENTS. +Complaint, 1.070(j). +Judgments, 1.530(g). +Pleadings, 1.190. +ANCILLARY PROCEEDINGS, COMMENCEMENT OF, 1.050. +ANSWER. +See PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. +APPEAL. +Deposition pending, 1.290(b). +Exceptions not required for, 1.470. +APPLICABILITY TO CIVIL ACTIONS, 1.010. +ARBITRATION. +Arbitration and award as affirmative defense, 1.110(d). +Arbitrators, selection and compensation of, 1.810. +Exclusions from, 1.800. +Generally, 1.700. +Hearing procedure for non-binding, 1.820. + + + +Motion for trial after, 1.820(h). +Voluntary binding, 1.830. +ARREST OF JUDGMENT, EXCEPTION UNNECESSARY TO + +APPEAL, 1.470(c). +ASSUMPTION OF RISK. +Affirmative defense, 1.110(d). +Defense form, 1.972. +ATTACHMENT. +Foreclosure form, 1.906. +Writ form, 1.905. +ATTENDANCE AT DEPOSITION UPON ORAL EXAMINATION, + +1.310(h)(1), 1.380(d). +ATTORNEYS FEES, 1.525. +Mortgage foreclosure. + +Judgment, 1.996(a). +Lost note, reestablishment, 1.996(b). + +AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS. +Depositions, 1.310(b)(4). + +Subpoenas for taking depositions, 1.410(e). +AUDITA QUERELA ABOLISHED, 1.540(b). +AUTOMOBILE. +See NEGLIGENCE. + + + +B + +BILLS OF REVIEW ABOLISHED, 1.540(b). +BOND. +Conditions, 1.961. +General form, 1.960. +Judicial, proceedings against surety on, 1.625. +Magistrates, 1.490(e). +Receivers, 1.620(c). +Temporary injunctions, 1.610(b). +BUSINESS RECORDS, OPTION TO PRODUCE, 1.340(c). + + + +C + +CAPACITY. +See PARTIES. +CAPTION. +Contents, 1.100(c). +Form, 1.901. +CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, 1.200(a), 1.201. +CAUSE OF ACTION. +See ACTIONS. +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE. +Interrogatories, 1.340(e). +CHALLENGE FOR CAUSE. +See JURY. +CHECKS, COMPLAINT FORM FOR, 1.942. +CHOICE OF FORUM, 1.061. +CIVIL ACTION AS SOLE FORM OF ACTION, 1.040. +CIVIL COVER SHEET, 1.100(d), 1.997. +CLAIMS. +Counterclaims. + +See COUNTERCLAIMS. +Crossclaims. + +See CROSSCLAIMS. +For relief, 1.110(b). +Separate trials, 1.270(b). +CLASS ACTIONS. +Condominium associations, 1.221. + + + +Generally, 1.220. +Homeowners association, 1.221. +Mobile homeowners associations, 1.222. +CLERICAL ERRORS, 1.540(a). +COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION, 1.050. +COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY. +Depositions upon oral examination taken by, 1.310(b)(7). + +Oath, witness under, 1.310(c). +Subpoena for taking depositions, 1.410(e). + +Jury. +Participation of juror by communication technology, 1.430(d). + +Notice for trial, contents, 1.440(b). +Mediation. + +County court actions, 1.750. +Procedures, 1.720. + +COMPLAINT. +Claims, 1.110(b). +Commencement of action, 1.050. +Demand for general relief, 1.110(b). +Eviction, 1.947. +Generally, 1.100(a). +Judgments, enforcement. + +Supplementary proceedings to enforce final judgments, 1.570(e). +Notice to appear. + +Affidavit of claimant in response to notice, form, 1.914(C). +Form, 1.914(B). + +Pleadings. +See PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. + +Service. + + + +See SERVICE OF PROCESS. +COMPLEX LITIGATION CASES. +Case management conference, 1.200(a)(3), 1.201(b). +Generally, 1.201. +Order designating, 1.999. +COMPULSORY COUNTERCLAIMS, 1.170(a). +COMPUTATION OF TIME, 1.090(a). +CONDITIONS OF BONDS, 1.961. +CONDITIONS PRECEDENT, AVERMENTS IN PLEADINGS OF, + +1.120(c). +CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATIONS, ACTIONS BY, 1.221. +CONSIDERATION, FAILURE OF. +Affirmative defense, 1.110(d). +Defense form, 1.968. +CONSISTENCY OF CAUSES OF ACTION AND DEFENSES, 1.110(g). +CONSOLIDATION OF ACTIONS, 1.270(a). +CONSTRUCTIVE SERVICE OF NOTICE OF ACTION. +No property, form when, 1.919. +Property, form when, 1.920. +CONTEMPT. +Discovery, failure to comply with order for, 1.380(b). +Failure to obey subpoena, 1.410(f). +Motion and notice of hearing, form for, 1.982. +CONTINUANCES, 1.460. +CONTINUING WRIT OF GARNISHMENT, 1.907(b). +CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE, MOTOR VEHICLE. +Affirmative defense, 1.110(d). +Defense form, 1.971. + + + +CONVERSION COMPLAINT FORM, 1.939. +CORAM NOBIS ABOLISHED, 1.540(b). +CORAM VOBIS ABOLISHED, 1.540(b). +CORPORATIONS. +Depositions, 1.310(b)(6), 1.320(a). + +Apex doctrine. +High-level government or corporate officers, depositions, 1.280(h). + +Interrogatories, 1.340(a). +COSTS. +Discovery, 1.310(h), 1.380(a)(4). +Dismissed actions, 1.420(c). +Proposals for settlement, 1.442(h). +Protective orders, 1.280(c), 1.380(a)(4). +Statewide Uniform Guidelines for Taxation of, Appendix. +Transfer for improper venue, 1.060(b). +COUNTERCLAIMS. +Additional parties, 1.170(h). +Answer to, 1.140(a)(1). +Compulsory, 1.170(a). +Dismissal, 1.420(c). +Exceeding opposing claim, 1.170(c). +Generally, 1.100(a). +Government entities, against, 1.170(d). +Omitted, 1.170(f). +Permissive, 1.170(b). +Pleading requirements, 1.110(b). +Separate trials and judgment, 1.170(i), 1.270(b). +Supplemental pleading, 1.170(e). +Third-party practice, 1.180. + + + +Transfer when jurisdiction exceeded, 1.170(j). +COUNTY CHARTER. +Constitutional challenge. + +Notice of compliance, 1.975. +Notice to parties, 1.071. + +COURTS, TRANSFER OF, 1.060(a), 1.170(j). +CROSSCLAIMS. +Adding parties, 1.170(h). +Answer to, 1.140(a)(1). +Content, 1.170(g). +Co-party, against, 1.170(g). +Dismissal, 1.420(c). +Generally, 1.100(a). +Omitted, 1.170(f). +Pleading requirements, 1.110(b). +Separate trial and judgment, 1.170(i), 1.270(b). +Service, 1.170(g). +Summons form, 1.903. +Third-party practice, 1.180(a). +Transfer when jurisdiction exceeded, 1.170(j). + + + +D + +DAMAGES. +Pleading special damages, 1.120(g). +DEATH OF PARTY, 1.260(a), 1.260(d). +DEFAULT. +Application for, service of, 1.500(b). +Entered by clerk, 1.500(a). +Entered by court, 1.500(b). +Final judgments, 1.500(e). +Judgment. + +Following motion to strike, 1.150(a). +Form, 1.988. + +Motion and entry, form for, 1.980. +Pleading rights, 1.500(c). +Setting aside, 1.500(d). +DEFENSES. +Accord and satisfaction form, 1.967. +Affirmative, 1.110(d). +Alternative, 1.110(g). +Answer, 1.110(c), 1.110(g). +Asserted in responsive pleadings, 1.140(b). +Assumption of risk form, 1.972. +Consistency, 1.110(g). +Consolidation, 1.140(g). +Contributory negligence, 1.971. +Failure of consideration form, 1.968. +Failure to state, 1.140(b). +Instruments cause of action attached to pleadings, 1.130(a). + + + +Joinder of, 1.110(g). +Motions. + +See MOTIONS. +Motor vehicle contributory negligence form, 1.971. +Payment form, 1.966. +Preliminary hearings, 1.140(d). +Release form, 1.970. +Responsive pleadings, asserted in, 1.140(b). +Service, 1.140(a). +Statute of frauds form, 1.969. +Statute of limitations form, 1.965. +Time for serving, 1.140(a)(b). +Waiver, 1.140(h). +DEPOSITIONS. +Apex doctrine. + +High-level government or corporate officers, 1.280(h). +Audiovisual recording, 1.310(b)(4). + +Subpoenas for taking depositions, 1.410(e). +Before action, 1.290(a). +Commissioners, before, 1.410(g). +Communication technology. + +Depositions upon oral examination taken by, 1.310(b)(7). +Subpoena for taking depositions, 1.410(e). + +Oath, witness under, 1.310(c). +Copies, obtaining, 1.310(g). +Effect of taking or using, 1.330(c). +Errors and irregularities in taking, notice, or return, 1.330(d). +Examiner, 1.360(b)(3). +Exhibits, 1.310(f). + + + +Expert witnesses, 1.390(b). +Failure to attend, 1.310(h), 1.380(d). +Filing, 1.310(f). +In other states, 1.410(g). +Magistrates, use before, 1.490(g). +Minors, 1.310(b)(8). +Motion to terminate or limit, 1.310(d). +Notice of taking, 1.310(b). +Objections, 1.310(c), 1.330(d). +Oral examination, upon, 1.280(a), 1.310. +Pending appeal, 1.290(b). +Persons authorized to take, 1.300. +Subpoena. + +Contempt, 1.410(f). +Failure to serve, 1.310(h). +Generally, 1.410(e). +In other states, 1.410(f). + +Transcript, 1.310. +Use in court, 1.290(a)(4), 1.330. +Videotaped, 1.310(b)(4). +Witness review, 1.310(e). +Written questions, upon. + +Corporations, 1.310(b)(6), 1.320(a). +Failure to make discovery or comply with order, 1.380. +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). +Generally, 1.310(c), 1.320. +Notice, 1.320(a). +Objections to form, 1.320(a). +Prisoners, 1.320(a). +Subpoena, 1.320(a), 1.410. + + + +DEPOSITS IN COURT, 1.600. +DIRECTED VERDICT. +Motion for, 1.480(a). +Objections not necessary for appeal, 1.470(c). +DISABILITIES, PERSONS WITH. +Summons. + +Form. +Eviction, residential. + +Accommodation of disability, 1.923. +Personal service on natural person. + +Accommodation of disability, 1.902(b). +DISCOVERY. +Apex doctrine. + +High-level government or corporate officers, depositions, 1.280(h). +Costs of recording testimony, 1.310(b)(4). +Court, filing documents and discovery with, 1.280(g). + +Depositions, 1.310(f). +Entry upon land, 1.350(d). +Interrogatories, 1.340(e). +Production of documents and things, 1.350(d). + +Depositions. +See DEPOSITIONS. + +Electronically stored information (ESI). +Limits on discovery of ESI, 1.280(d). +Production of documents and things, 1.350(b). +Sanctions, 1.380(e). +Scope of discovery, 1.280(b). + +Entry upon land. +See ENTRY UPON LAND. + + + +Examination. +See EXAMINATION. + +Examiner, 1.360(b)(c). +Execution, in aid of, 1.560, 1.977. +Expert witnesses, 1.280(b)(5), 1.390(a). +Failure to make, sanctions for. + +Attorneys fees, 1.380(d). +Court, 1.380(a)(1). +Evasive or incomplete answer, 1.380(a)(3). +Expenses, 1.380(b)(2), 1.380(c), 1.380(d). +Motion, 1.380(a)(2). +Order compelling discovery, 1.380(a)(2), 1.380(b). + +Financial information about experts, 1.280(b)(5). +Frequency of methods, 1.280(a). +Inadmissible evidence, 1.280(b)(1). +Indemnity agreements, 1.280(b)(2). +Interrogatories. + +See INTERROGATORIES TO PARTIES. +Judgments. + +Enforcement. +Supplementary proceedings to enforce final judgments, 1.570(e). + +Notice to appear. +Affidavit of claimant in response to notice, form, 1.914(C). +Form, 1.914(B). + +Limiting at case management conference, 1.200(a)(4). +Mediation, during, 1.710(c). +Medical malpractice claims, 1.650(c). +Methods, 1.280(a). +Order to compel. + +Case management conference, 1.200(a)(4). + + + +Contempt, 1.380(b). +Failure to comply, 1.380(b). + +Privileged materials, inadvertent disclosure, 1.285. +Production of documents and things. + +See PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND THINGS. +Protective orders, 1.280(c), 1.380(a)(4). +Sanctions for failure to preserve electronically stored information, + +1.380(e). +Scope, 1.280(b). +Sequence, 1.280(e). +Statement previously made, 1.280(b)(4). +Subpoenas. + +See SUBPOENAS. +Supplementing responses, 1.280(f). +Timing, 1.280(e). +Trade secrets, 1.280(c). +Trial preparation, materials for, 1.280(b)(3), 1.280(b)(5). +Unsworn statements. + +Medical malpractice claims, 1.650(c). +Work product, 1.280(b)(3). +Written questions. + +Medical malpractice claims, 1.650(c). +DISMISSAL OF ACTIONS. +Costs, 1.420(d). +Counterclaims, 1.420(c). +Crossclaims, 1.420(c). +Failure to prosecute, 1.420. +Failure to timely serve, 1.070(i). +Involuntary, 1.420(b). + + + +Lis pendens, effect on, 1.420(f). +Third-party claims, 1.420(c). +Voluntary, 1.420(a). +DISTRESS WRIT FORM, 1.909. +DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE, 1.450, 1.490(g). +DUCES TECUM, SUBPOENAS. +See SUBPOENAS. + + + +E + +EJECTMENT COMPLAINT FORM, 1.940. +ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION (ESI). +Discovery. + +Interrogatories, 1.340(c). +Limits on discovery of ESI, 1.280(d). +Production of documents and things, 1.350(b). +Sanctions, 1.380(e). +Scope of discovery, 1.280(b)(3). + +Pretrial procedure. +Case management conference, 1.200(a)(5)-(7). +Form of for production, 1.410(c). + +Subpoena for production of documentary evidence, 1.410(c). +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). + +ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS, 1.570. +ENLARGEMENT OF TIME. +Depositions upon oral examination, 1.310(b)(3). +Generally, 1.090(b). +ENTRY UPON LAND. +Failure to make discovery, 1.380(a). +Failure to respond to request, 1.380(d). +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). +Persons not parties, 1.350(c). +Procedure, 1.350(b). +Scope of request, 1.350(a). +ERRORS AND MISTAKES. +Averments in pleading, 1.120(b). + + + +Clerical, 1.540(a). +Depositions, 1.330(d). +Pleadings, 1.190(e). +Relief from in judgments, decrees, or orders based on, 1.540(a). +EVICTION. +Complaint form, 1.947. +Summons form, 1.923. +EVIDENCE. +Documentary, filing, 1.450(b). +Excluded, record of, 1.450(a). +Inadmissible, use in discovery of, 1.280(b)(1). +Magistrates, use before, 1.490(g). +Newly discovered, 1.540(b). +EXAMINATION. +Examiner as witness, 1.360(c). +Failure to comply with order, 1.380(b). +Medical malpractice actions, 1.650(c)(2)(C). +Minors, 1.360(a)(1)(C). +Notice, 1.360(a). +Oral. + +See DEPOSITIONS. +Order for examination, 1.360(a). +Report of examiner, 1.360(b). +Request, 1.360(a). +Waiver of confidentiality privilege, 1.360(b)(2). +EXAMINER, REPORT OF, 1.360(b). +EXCEPTIONS UNNECESSARY, 1.470. +EXCLUDED EVIDENCE, 1.450(b). +EXECUTION. + + + +Discovery in aid of, 1.560. +Form, 1.914(A). +Issuance of, 1.550(a). +Stay of, 1.550(b). +Supplementary proceedings to enforce final judgments, 1.570(e). + +Notice to appear. +Affidavit of claimant in response to notice, form, 1.914(C). +Form, 1.914(B). + +EXHIBITS. +Attached to pleadings, 1.130. +EXPERT WITNESSES, 1.280(b)(5), 1.390(a). +EXTRAORDINARY REMEDIES, 1.630. + + + +F + +FACT INFORMATION SHEET, 1.560, 1.977. +FACTS, ADMISSION OF. +Discovery generally. + +See DISCOVERY. +Requests for admission. + +See REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION. +FACTS, STATEMENT IN PLEADINGS OF, 1.110(b). +FAILURE OF CONSIDERATION. +Affirmative defense, 1.110(d). +Defense, form for, 1.968. +FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DISCOVERY ORDER, 1.380(b). +FAILURE TO MAKE DISCOVERY, 1.380. +FAILURE TO PROSECUTE. +Form motion, notice, and order of dismissal, 1.989. +Generally, 1.420(e). +FAILURE TO STATE CAUSE OF ACTION, 1.140(b). +FALL-DOWN NEGLIGENCE COMPLAINT FORM, 1.951. +FEES. +Service of process, 1.070(g). +FINAL DISPOSITION FORM. +Form, 1.998. +Required, 1.545. +FINAL JUDGMENT. +Amendments, 1.530(g). +Default, after, 1.500(e). +Enforcement of, 1.570. + + + +Forms. +See FORMS. + +New trial, 1.530. +Rehearing, 1.530. +Relief from, 1.540. +FINAL PROCESS, 1.550. +FORCIBLE ENTRY AND DETENTION COMPLAINT FORM, 1.938. +FORECLOSURE. +Attachment form, 1.906. +Final judgment of foreclosure form, 1.944(c), 1.996(a). + +Lost note, reestablishment, 1.996(b). +Motion for order to show cause for entry of final judgment, 1.944(c). +Order to show cause, 1.944(d). + +Magistrates for residential foreclosure matters. +Appointment of magistrate to handle only residential mortgage + +foreclosures, 1.490(a). +Filing, notice and exceptions to report, 1.491(f). +General magistrates, 1.491(a). +Hearings. + +Provisions applicable to conduct and notice, 1.491(d). +Notice of hearings, 1.491(d). +Objection to referral, 1.490(c). +Powers and duties, 1.491(c). +Record required to accompany exceptions to report, 1.491(f). +Referral to magistrate, 1.491(b). +Report required, 1.491(e). + +Mortgage complaint form. +Original note location known, 1.944(a). +Original note location not known, 1.944(b). + + + +Motion to cancel and reschedule foreclosure sale form, 1.996(b), 1.996(c). +Pleading mortgage foreclosures, 1.115. +FORMS. +Accord and satisfaction defense, 1.967. +Account stated complaint, 1.933. +Affidavit of diligent search and inquiry, 1.924. +Assumption of risk defense, 1.972. +Attachment writ, 1.9051.906. +Bond, general, 1.960. +Bond conditions, 1.961. +Caption, 1.901. +Check complaint, 1.942. +Civil cover sheet, 1.997. +Complex case, order designating, 1.999. +Contempt motion and notice of hearing for, 1.982. +Contributory negligence defense, 1.971. +Conversion complaint, 1.939. +Crossclaim summons, 1.903. +Default. + +Judgment, 1.988. +Motion, 1.980. + +Defenses. +Accord and satisfaction, 1.967. +Assumption of risk, 1.972. +Failure of consideration, 1.968. +Payment, 1.966. +Release, 1.970. +Statute of frauds, 1.969. +Statute of limitations, 1.965. + + + +Distress writ, 1.909. +Ejectment complaint, 1.940. +Eviction. + +Complaint, 1.947. +Summons, 1.923. + +Execution, 1.914(A). +Fact information sheet. + +Business entities, 1.977(b). +Individual, 1.977(a). + +Failure of consideration as defense, 1.968. +Final disposition, 1.998. +Final judgment. + +For defendant. +Jury, 1.991. +Nonjury, 1.994. + +Foreclosure, 1.996(a). +Lost note, reestablishment, 1.996(b). + +For plaintiff. +Jury, 1.990. +Nonjury, 1.993. + +Forcible entry and detention complaint, 1.938. +Foreclosure. + +Complaint. +Original note location known, 1.944(a). +Original note location not known, 1.944(b). + +Final judgment, 1.996(a). +Lost note, reestablishment, 1.996(b). + +Motion to cancel and reschedule foreclosure sale, 1.996(b), 1.996(c). +Writ, 1.906. + +Garnishment writ, 1.907. + + + +Generally, 1.900. +Goods sold, complaint for, 1.935. +Implied warranty complaint, 1.949. +Interrogatories, 1.976, Appendix. +Judgment. + +Action for damages. +Jury verdict for defendant, 1.991. +Jury verdict for plaintiff, 1.990. + +After default, 1.988. +Nonjury for defendant, 1.994. +Nonjury for plaintiff, 1.993. +Satisfaction of, 1.981. + +Juror questionnaires, 1.9831.984. +Lack of prosecution, notice and order of dismissal for, 1.989. +Lis pendens notice, 1.918. +Money lent, complaint for, 1.936. +Mortgage foreclosure complaint. + +Original note location known, 1.944(a). +Original note location not known, 1.944(b). + +Ne exeat writ, 1.917. +Negligence complaints, 1.9451.946, 1.951. +Notice of action, constructive service. + +No property, 1.919. +Property, 1.920. + +Notice of lack of prosecution, 1.989. +Notice of production from nonparty, 1.921. +Notice to appear, 1.914(B). + +Affidavit of claimant in response to notice, 1.914(C). +Open account, complaint, 1.932. + + + +Order of dismissal for lack of prosecution, 1.989. +Payment as defense, 1.966. +Promissory note complaint, 1.934. +Prosecution, notice and order of dismissal for lack of, 1.989. +Release as defense, 1.970. +Replevin. + +Complaint, 1.937. +Final judgment, 1.995. +Order to show cause, 1.916. +Writ, 1.908. + +Satisfaction of judgment, 1.981. +Specific performance complaint, 1.941. +Standard interrogatories, Appendix. +Statute of frauds defense, 1.969. +Statute of limitations defense, 1.965. +Subpoena. + +For deposition, 1.912. +For trial, 1.910. + +Subpoena duces tecum. +For deposition, 1.913. +For trial, 1.911. +Without deposition, 1.922. + +Summons. +General form, 1.902(a). +Mail, service by, 1.902(c). +Personal service on natural person, 1.902(b). +Tenant eviction, 1.923. +Waiver, request for, 1.902(c). + +Tenant eviction. +Complaint, 1.947. + + + +Summons, 1.923. +Third-party complaint, 1.948. +Third-party summons, 1.904. +Verdicts, 1.986. +Voir dire questionnaire, 1.984. +Writ of possession, 1.915. +FORUM NON CONVENIENS, 1.061. +FRANCHISE. +Constitutional challenge. + +Notice of compliance, 1.975. +Notice to parties, 1.071. + +FRAUD. +Averment in pleadings, 1.120(b). +Relief from judgment, 1.540(b). + + + +G + +GARNISHMENT WRIT FORM, 1.907. +GOODS SOLD, COMPLAINT FORM FOR, 1.935. +GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS, COUNTERCLAIMS AGAINST, + +1.170(d). +GUARDIAN AND WARD AS PARTIES, 1.210(b). + + + +H + +HABEAS CORPUS, 1.630. +HEARINGS. +Arbitration, non-binding, 1.820. +Magistrates, 1.490(g). +Notice of, 1.100(b). +Preliminary on defenses, 1.140(d). +HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS, ACTIONS BY, 1.221. + + + +I + +IMPLIED WARRANTY COMPLAINT FORM, 1.949. +IMPROPER VENUE. +See VENUE. +INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE, DISCOVERY OF, 1.280(b)(1). +INADVERTENCE, RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT FOR, 1.540(b). +INCOMPETENCY, 1.210(b), 1.260(b). +INCORPORATION OF ATTACHED INSTRUMENTS IN PLEADING, + +1.130(a). +INDEMNITY AGREEMENTS, DISCOVERY OF, 1.280(b)(2). +INDISPENSABLE PARTIES, FAILURE TO JOIN, 1.140(b). +INFANTS, 1.120(a), 1.210(b), 1.310(b)(8), 1.360(a)(1)(C), 1.410(h), + +1.650(c)(2)(A). +INJUNCTIONS. +Bond, 1.610(b). +Evidence, 1.610(a)(2). +Form of, 1.610(c). +Issuance, 1.610(a). +Motion to dissolve, 1.610(d). +Notice not required, when, 1.610(a)(1). +Scope, 1.610(c). +Temporary, 1.610(a). +INSPECTION. +See PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND THINGS. +INSTRUCTIONS TO JURIES. +Generally, 1.470. +INSTRUMENTS ATTACHED TO PLEADINGS, 1.130. + + + +INSUFFICIENCY OF SERVICE OF PROCESS, 1.140(b). +INTENT AVERRED GENERALLY, 1.120(b). +INTEREST, TRANSFER OF DURING ACTION, 1.260(c). +INTERPLEADER, 1.240. +INTERROGATORIES TO PARTIES. +Answers, 1.340(a), 1.340(c), 1.340(e). +Availability, 1.340(a). +Certificate of service, 1.340(e). +Co-party, effect on, 1.340(d). +Corporations, 1.340(a). +Electronically stored information (ESI), 1.340(c). +Failure to make discovery, 1.380(a), 1.380(d). +Filing, 1.340(e). +Form, 1.340(e), 1.976, Appendix. +Medical malpractice, Appendix forms 34. +Negligence, Appendix forms 12, Appendix forms 56. +Notice of service, 1.340(e). +Number of, 1.340(a). +Objections, 1.340(a). +Option to produce records, 1.340(c). +Organizations, 1.340(a). +Procedure for use, 1.340(a). +Response. + +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). +Scope, 1.340(b). +Service, 1.340(a). +Standard forms, 1.976, Appendix. +Time, 1.340(a). +Use at trial, 1.340(b). + + + +Witnesss failure to answer or object, 1.380(d). +INTERVENTION, 1.230. +INTERVIEW OF JUROR, 1.431(h). +INVOLUNTARY DISMISSAL, 1.420(b). +ISSUE, ACTION AT, 1.440(a). + + + +J + +JOINDER. +Additional parties, 1.170(h). +Causes of action and defenses, 1.110(g). +Misjoinder, 1.250. +Nonjoinder, 1.250. +JUDGMENTS. +Amendment of, 1.530(g). +Averments in pleadings, 1.120(e). +Default, 1.500(e). +Demand in pleadings, 1.110(b). +Enforcement of, 1.570. + +Notice to appear. +Affidavit of claimant in response to notice. + +Form, 1.914(C). +Form, 1.914(B). + +Errors in, 1.540(a). +Execution, 1.550(a). +Final. + +See FINAL JUDGMENT. +Foreclosure. + +Final judgment of foreclosure form, 1.996(a). +Lost note, reestablishment, 1.996(b). + +Motion for order to show cause for entry of final judgment, 1.944(c). +Order to show cause, 1.944(d). + +Forms. +See FORMS. + +Non obstante veredicto, objection to not necessary for appeal, 1.470(c). + + + +Offers of judgment. +See PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT. + +On the pleadings, motion for, 1.140(c). +Pleading, 1.120(e). +Relief from for mistakes, neglect, new evidence, fraud, etc., 1.540(b). +Stay of execution, 1.550(b). +Summary, 1.510. + +New trial and rehearing, motions, 1.530(a). +JURISDICTION. +Demand exceeding, transfer of action when, 1.170(j). +Lack of, 1.140(b). +Motion for lack of, 1.140(b). +Statement in pleadings, 1.110(b). +JURY. +Alternate jurors, 1.431(g). +Cause, challenge for, 1.431(c). +Challenges, 1.431(c)(e). +Communication technology. + +Participation of juror by communication technology, 1.430(d). +Notice for trial, contents, 1.440(b). + +Communication with jury. +Exception for routine communication, 1.431(i)(2). +Instructions to jury to limit communication, 1.431(i)(3). +Notice of jury communication, 1.431(i)(4). +On the record, 1.431(i)(1). + +Demand for trial by, 1.430(b). +Examination by parties, 1.431(b). +Instructions, 1.470. +Interview of juror, 1.431(h). + + + +Notebooks, 1.200(b)(5), 1.455. +Peremptory challenges, 1.431(d), 1.431(g)(2). +Questionnaire. + +Generally, 1.431(a). +Prospective juror, 1.983. +Voir dire, 1.984. + +Questions by, 1.452. +Right to trial by, 1.430(a). +Specification of issues, 1.430(c). +Swearing of, 1.431(f). +Verdict. + +Form judgment for defendant, 1.991. +Form judgment for plaintiff, 1.990. + +View, 1.520. +Waiver of right to trial by, 1.430(e). + + + +K + +KNOWLEDGE AVERRED GENERALLY, 1.120(b). + + + +L + +LACK OF JURISDICTION OVER PERSON OR SUBJECT MATTER. +Asserted by motion, 1.140(b). +LANDLORD AND TENANT. +Eviction complaint form, 1.947. +Eviction summons form, 1.923. +LEAVE OF COURT, WHEN NECESSARY FOR DEPOSITION UPON + +ORAL EXAMINATION, 1.310(a), 1.310(b)(2). +LETTERS ROGATORY, 1.300(b). +LIS PENDENS. +Dissolved by dismissal of action, 1.420(f). +Notice form, 1.918. + + + +M + +MAGISTRATES. +Accounts, form of, 1.490(g). +Bond, 1.490(e). +Case management conference, referral at, 1.200(a). +Consent of parties to reference to, 1.490(c). +Documents, 1.490(g). +Duties, 1.490(d). +Exceptions to report, 1.490(i)(j). +General, 1.490(a). +Hearings, 1.490(g). +Interrogatories, 1.490(g). +Mortgage foreclosure cases before magistrates. + +Appointment of magistrate to handle only residential mortgage +foreclosures, 1.490(a). + +General magistrates for residential foreclosure matters, 1.491. +Referral to magistrate, objection to, 1.490(c). + +Notice of hearing, 1.490(f). +Powers, 1.490(d). +Procedure, 1.490(g). +Record to support exceptions to report, 1.490(j). +Reference to, 1.490(c). +Report, 1.490(h)(i). +Special, 1.490(b). +MALICE AVERRED GENERALLY, 1.120(b). +MANDAMUS, 1.630. +MEDIATION. +Completion of, 1.730. + + + +County court actions, 1.750. +Effect on proposals for settlement, 1.442(j). +Generally, 1.700, 1.710. +Procedures, 1.720. +Small claims, 1.750(c). +MEDICAL MALPRACTICE. +Interrogatories, Appendix forms 34. +Presuit screening rules, 1.650. +MENTAL ATTITUDE AVERRED GENERALLY, 1.120(b). +MENTAL EXAMINATION. +See EXAMINATION. +MINIMIZATION OF FILING OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION, 1.020. +MINORS, 1.120(a), 1.210(b), 1.310(b)(8), 1.360(a)(1)(C), 1.410(h), 1.650(c) + +(2)(A). +MISJOINDER, 1.250. +MISTAKES. +See ERRORS AND MISTAKES. +MOBILE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS, ACTIONS BY, 1.222. +MONEY LENT, COMPLAINT FORM FOR, 1.936. +MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE CASES BEFORE MAGISTRATES. +Appointment of magistrate to handle only residential mortgage + +foreclosures, 1.490(a). +General magistrates for residential foreclosure matters, 1.491. +Pleading mortgage foreclosures, 1.115. +Referral to magistrate, objection to, 1.490(c). +MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE FORMS. +Attachment, 1.906. +Complaint. + + + +Original note location known, 1.944(a). +Original note location not known, 1.944(b). + +Final judgment, 1.996(a). +Lost note, reestablishment, 1.996(b). + +Motion to cancel and reschedule foreclosure sale, 1.996(b), 1.996(c). +MOTIONS. +Additur. + +Motions for remittitur and additur, 1.530(h). +Alter or amend judgment, 1.530(g). +Attorneys fees, 1.525. +Contempt form, 1.982. +Continuances, 1.460. +Default form, 1.980. +Defenses made by, 1.140(b). +Directed verdict, 1.480. +Enlargement of time, 1.090(b). +Failure to state cause of action, defense of, 1.140(b). +Granted by clerk, 1.160. +Improper venue, defense of, 1.140(b). +Indispensable parties, defense of failure to join, 1.140(b). +Injunction, to dissolve, 1.610(d). +Insufficiency of service of process, defense of, 1.140(b). +Judgment on the pleadings, 1.140(c). +Lack of jurisdiction, defense of, 1.140(b). +Limitation or termination of oral examination, 1.310(d). +More definite statement, for, 1.140(c). +Mortgage foreclosure. + +Judgment. +Show cause for entry of final judgment, 1.944(c). + + + +New trial. +Arbitration, trial de novo after, 1.800. +Courts discretion, 1.530(d). +Joined with motion for directed verdict, 1.480(c). +Nonjury action, 1.530(e). +Objection to denial not required for appeal, 1.470(c). +Order, contents of, 1.530(f). +Service of affidavits, 1.530(c). +Time to serve, 1.530(b). +When granted, 1.530(a). + +Notice of hearing, 1.100(b). +Order compelling discovery, 1.380(a)(2). +Rehearing, 1.530(a)(e). +Relief from judgment, decrees, or orders, 1.540. +Remittitur. + +Motions for remittitur and additur, 1.530(h). +Service, 1.090(d). +Strike, to. + +Contents, 1.150(b). +Effect of, 1.140(b), 1.140(f), 1.150(a)(b). +Time, 1.140(b), 1.140(f). + +Summary judgment, 1.510. +Temporary injunction, to dissolve, 1.610(d). +Time for service, 1.090(d). +Written or oral, 1.100(b). +MOTOR VEHICLES. +Defenses. + +See DEFENSES. +Negligence. + + + +See NEGLIGENCE. +MUNICIPAL CHARTER. +Constitutional challenge. + +Notice of compliance, 1.975. +Notice to parties, 1.071. + + + +N + +NE EXEAT WRIT FORM, 1.917. +NEGLECT. +Relief from judgment based on, 1.540(b). +NEGLIGENCE. +Fall-down, complaint form for, 1.951. +Interrogatories, Appendix forms 12. +Motor vehicles. + +Complaint form, 1.945. +Contributory, form for defense of, 1.971. +Interrogatories to defendant, Appendix form 6. +Interrogatories to plaintiff, Appendix form 5. + +Plaintiff unable to determine which defendant is responsible, complaint +form when, 1.946. + +NEW TRIAL. +Motions. + +See MOTIONS. +NONJOINDER, 1.250. +NONPARTIES, 1.590, 1.921. +NONVERIFICATION OF PLEADINGS, 1.030. +NOTE, COMPLAINT FORM FOR PROMISSORY, 1.934. +NOTICE. +Action at issue, 1.440(b). +Application for default, 1.500(b). +Case management conference, 1.200(c). +Constructive service. + +No property at issue, form when, 1.919. + + + +Property at issue, form when, 1.920. +Contempt form, 1.982. +Defaulting parties, on, 1.500(b). +Deposition. + +Before action or pending appeal, 1.290(a)(2). +Filing, 1.320. +Upon oral examination, 1.310(b). + +Hearings, 1.100(b). +Lis pendens form, 1.918. +Magistrates, notice of hearing before, 1.490(f). +Mediation, referral to, 1.700(a)(2). +Medical malpractice actions, 1.650(b). +Pretrial procedure, 1.200(c). +Production from nonparty, 1.921. +Trial, 1.440(b). + + + +O + +OBJECTIONS. +Depositions. + +Admissibility, 1.330(b). +Disqualification of officer, 1.330(d)(2). +Notice, 1.330(d)(1). +Taking, 1.330(d)(3). +Waiver, 1.330(d). + +Interrogatories, 1.340. +When unnecessary, 1.470(c). +OFFERS OF JUDGMENT. +See PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT. +OMITTED COUNTERCLAIM OR CROSSCLAIM, 1.170(f). +OPEN ACCOUNT, COMPLAINT FORM FOR, 1.932. +ORAL EXAMINATION. +See DEPOSITIONS. +ORDERS. +Case management, 1.200(d), 1.201(c). +Compelling discovery, 1.380. +Complex case, designating, 1.999. +Depositions before actions or pending appeal, 1.290(a)(3). +Exceptions unnecessary, when, 1.470(c). +Foreclosure. + +Order to show cause, 1.944(d). +New trial, 1.530(f). +Relief from for mistakes, neglect, new evidence, fraud, etc, 1.540(b). +Service of, 1.070(f). + + + +Show cause in replevin action, 1.916. +ORDINANCES. +Constitutional challenge. + +Notice of compliance, 1.975. +Notice to parties, 1.071. + +ORGANIZATIONS. +Depositions of, 1.310(b)(6), 1.320(a). +Interrogatories, 1.340(a). + + + +P + +PAPERS. +See PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. +PARTIES. +Adding, 1.250(c). +Affidavit of diligent search and inquiry, 1.924. +Capacity to sue and be sued, 1.120(a). +Death, 1.260(a). +Dropping, 1.250(b). +Failure to make discovery, 1.380(d). +Generally, 1.210(a). +Guardian ad litem, 1.210(b). +Incompetency, 1.210(b), 1.260(b). +Indispensable, failure to join, 1.140(b), 1.140(h)(2). +Infants, 1.210(b). +Joinder, 1.170(h). +Mediation. + +Party representatives having authority to settle, 1.720. +Misjoinder, 1.250. +Nonjoinder, 1.250. +Nonparties, process for or on, 1.590. +Protective orders regarding discovery, 1.280(c). +Public officials, 1.260(d)(2). +Substitution, motion for, 1.260(a)(1). +Substitution of public officials, 1.260(d). +Survivorship, 1.260(a)(2). +Third-party practice, 1.180. +Transfer of interest, 1.260(c). + + + +PAYMENT AS DEFENSE, FORM FOR, 1.966. +PEREMPTORY CHALLENGES, 1.431(d), 1.431(g)(2). +PERMISSIVE COUNTERCLAIMS, 1.170(b). +PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES AS PARTIES, 1.210(a). +PETITION. +Caption form, 1.901(b). +Depositions before action or pending appeal, 1.290(a)(1). +PHYSICAL EXAMINATION. +See EXAMINATION. +PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. +Affirmative defenses, 1.110(d). +Allowable, 1.100(a). +Amendments. + +Conformity with evidence required, 1.190(b). +Generally, 1.190(a). +Relation back, 1.190(c). +Responses to, 1.140(a)(3). +Supplemental pleadings, 1.190(d). +Time, 1.190(e). + +Answer. +Requirements of, 1.110(c). +Service, 1.140(a). + +Capacity of party, 1.120(a). +Caption, 1.100(c). +Cause of action attached, 1.130(a). +Civil cover sheet, 1.100(d), 1.997. +Claims for relief, 1.110(b). +Complaint, 1.050. +Condition of mind, 1.120(b). + + + +Conditions precedent, 1.120(c). +Damage, special, 1.120(g). +Default, application for, 1.500(b). +Defenses. + +See DEFENSES. +Defined, 1.100(a). +Demand for judgment, 1.110(b). +Document or act, averment of in pleading, 1.120(d). +Exhibits, 1.130. +Failure to deny allegations, 1.110(e). +Filing, 1.080(b). +Final disposition form, 1.545, 1.998. +Forms. + +See FORMS. +Forms of action abolished, 1.110(a). +Fraud, 1.120(b). +General rules, 1.100, 1.110. +Instruments attached, 1.130(a). +Interpleader, 1.240. +Intervention, 1.230. +Joinder, 1.110(g), 1.170(h). +Judgment or decree, 1.120(e). +Jurisdictional statement, 1.110(b). +Mistake, 1.120(b). +Mortgage foreclosures, 1.115. + +Claims for relief, 1.115(a). +Delegated claims for relief, 1.115(b). + +Lost, destroyed or stolen instruments, 1.115(d). +Possession of original promissory note, 1.115(c). +Verification, 1.115(e). + + + +Official document or act, 1.120(d). +Responsive, defense presented, 1.140(b). +Scire facias, relief by, 1.100(e). +Separate statements of claim or defense required, 1.110(f). +Service. + +By mail, 1.070(f). +Conformity with statute, 1.080(a). +Defenses, 1.140(a). +Fees, 1.070(g). +Notice of taking deposition upon written questions, 1.320(a). +Orders, 1.070(f). +Personal, 1.070(e). +Scheduling at case management conference, 1.200(a)(1). + +Sham, 1.150. +Special damages, 1.120(g). +Special matters, 1.120. +Statement of facts, 1.110(b). +Statements adopted by reference, 1.130(b). +Subsequent pleadings, 1.110(h). +Supplemental, 1.170(e), 1.190(d)(e). +Time, computation of, 1.090. +Time and place, averments of, 1.120(f). +Types of, 1.100(a). +Writing, definition, 1.080(c). +POSSESSION, WRIT OF. +Form, 1.915. +Rule, 1.580. +PRELIMINARY HEARINGS ON DEFENSES, 1.140(d). +PRETRIAL PROCEDURE. + + + +Case management conference. +Generally, 1.200(a). + +Notice, 1.200(c). +Order, 1.200(d). +Pretrial conference, 1.200(b). +PRISONERS, DEPOSITIONS OF, 1.310(a), 1.320(a). +PRIVACY AND COURT RECORDS, 1.020. +PRIVILEGED MATERIALS. +Inadvertent disclosure, 1.285. +PROCESS. +See SERVICE OF PROCESS. +PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND THINGS. +Copies furnished to other parties, 1.351(e). +Electronically stored information (ESI), 1.350(a). +Failure to make discovery, 1.380(a). +Failure to serve written response, 1.380(d). +Filing, 1.350(d). +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). +From nonparties, 1.350(c), 1.351, 1.921. +Generally, 1.280(a), 1.280(b)(3). +Independent action, 1.351(f). +Inspection, 1.350(a). +Notice to nonparty, form for, 1.921. +Objection, 1.351(b), 1.351(d). +Procedure, 1.350(b). +Recordings, visual and audiovisual, 1.350(a). +Relief, 1.310, 1.351(c)(d). +Request, 1.310(b)(5), 1.350(a), 1.351. +Scope, 1.350(a). + + + +Subpoena for, 1.351(c), 1.410(c). +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). + +Without deposition, 1.351. +PROHIBITION, WRIT OF, 1.630. +PROMISSORY NOTE COMPLAINT FORM, 1.934. +PROPERTY, RECOVERY OF, 1.570(b), 1.570(d), 1.939. +PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT. +Acceptance, 1.442(f). +Contents, 1.442(c)(2). +Costs and fees, 1.442(h). +Evidence of, 1.442(i). +Generally, 1.442(a). +Mediation, effect on, 1.442(j). +Rejection, 1.442(f). +Sanctions, 1.442(g). +Service and filing, 1.442(d). +Time requirements, 1.442(b). +Withdrawal, 1.442(e). +Writing, requirement that proposal be in, 1.442(c)(1). +PROSECUTION, LACK OF. +Form motion, notice, and judgment of dismissal, 1.989. +Generally, 1.420(e). +PROTECTIVE ORDERS REGARDING DISCOVERY, 1.280(c). +PUBLIC OFFICIALS, 1.260(d). +Depositions. + +Apex doctrine. +High-level government or corporate officers, depositions, 1.280(h). + +PUNITIVE DAMAGES. + + + +Amended complaint, 1.190(f). +Verdicts, 1.481. + + + +Q + +QUO WARRANTO, WRIT OF, 1.630. + + + +R + +REAL PROPERTY, RECOVERY OF, 1.570(b), 1.570(d), 1.580, 1.938, +1.940. + +RECEIVERS. +Bond, 1.620(c). +Notice of appointment, 1.620(a). +Report, 1.620(b). +RECORD. +Deposition, 1.320(b). +Excluded evidence, of, 1.450(a). +RECORDINGS, VISUAL AND AUDIOVISUAL. +Production of documents and things, 1.350(a). +RECORDING TESTIMONY, COSTS OF, 1.310(b)(4)(D). +REHEARING, MOTION FOR, 1.530(a), 1.530(e). +RELEASE AS DEFENSE, FORM FOR, 1.970. +REMITTITUR. +Motions for remittitur and additur, 1.530(h). +REPLEVIN. +Complaint form, 1.937. +Final judgment form, 1.995. +Order to show cause, form, 1.916. +Writ form, 1.908. +REQUEST FOR INSPECTION, 1.380(d). +REQUESTS FOR ADMISSION. +Amendment of admissions, 1.370(b). +Documents, genuineness of, 1.370(a). +Effect of admission, 1.370(b). + + + +Expenses, 1.370(a), 1.380(a)(4), 1.380(c). +Failure to admit or deny, 1.370(a), 1.380(c). +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). +Limit on number, 1.370(a). +Motion to determine sufficiency of answers and objections, 1.370(a). +Objections, 1.370(a). +Service, 1.370(a). +Time, 1.370(a). +Withdrawal of admission, 1.370(b). + + + +S + +SATISFACTION DEFENSE, FORM FOR, 1.967. +SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT, FORM FOR, 1.981. +SCIRE FACIAS, MOTION IN LIEU OF, 1.100(e). +SEPARATE TRIALS, 1.170(i), 1.270(b). +SERVICE OF PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. +Generally. + +See PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. +SERVICE OF PLEADINGS OTHER THAN STATEMENT OF + +CLAIM. +Affidavit of diligent search and inquiry, 1.924. +SERVICE OF PROCESS. +Constructive, 1.070(d)(e). +Fees, 1.070(g). +Long arm, 1.070(h). +Mail, 1.070(i). +Motion based on insufficiency of, 1.140(b). +Multiple defendants, 1.070(c). +Nonparties, 1.590. +Nonresidents, 1.070(h). +Orders, 1.070(f). +Personal, 1.070(e). +Persons authorized to serve, 1.070(b). +Pleadings, service of, 1.070(e). +Proof of service, 1.070(b). +Publication, 1.070(d)(e). +Subpoenas. + + + +Age of process server, 1.410(d). +Deposition, 1.310(h)(2). +Generally, 1.351(c), 1.410(d). +Proof of service, 1.410(d). +Service as provided by law, 1.410(c). + +Summons, issuance of, 1.070(a). +Time limit on service, 1.070(j). +Who may serve, 1.410(d). +SETTLEMENT, PROPOSALS FOR. +See PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT. +SHAM PLEADINGS, 1.150. +SPECIAL DAMAGE, PLEADING, 1.120(g). +SPECIAL MATTERS, PLEADING, 1.120. +SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE, COMPLAINT FORM FOR, 1.941. +STANDARD INTERROGATORIES, Appendix. +STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS. +Use, 1.470(b). +STATE, COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST, 1.170(d). +STATEMENT OF CLAIM. +Constitutional challenge. + +Notice of compliance, 1.975. +State statute, charter, ordinance, or franchise, 1.071. + +STATEWIDE UNIFORM GUIDELINES FOR TAXATION OF COSTS +IN CIVIL ACTIONS, Appendix. + +STATUTE OF FRAUDS AS DEFENSE, FORM FOR, 1.969. +STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, 1.650(d), 1.965. +STATUTE OF REPOSE, 1.650(d). +STATUTORY PROCEEDINGS, APPLICABILITY OF RULES TO, + + + +1.010. +STAY OF EXECUTION, 1.550(b). +STIPULATIONS. +Case management conference, 1.200(a)(11). +Depositions, 1.300(c). +SUBPOENAS. +Attendance of witness, 1.410(b). +Contempt for failure to obey, 1.410(f). +Deposition. + +Failure to serve for, 1.310(h)(2). +Foreign state, authorized by, 1.410(g). +Form, 1.912. +Generally, 1.320(a), 1.410(e). + +Duces tecum. +For deposition, form, 1.913. +For trial, form, 1.911. +Generally, 1.310(b)(1), 1.410(e). +Without deposition, form, 1.922. + +Failure to serve for deposition, 1.310(h)(2). +Generally, 1.410(a). +Minors, 1.410(h). +Production of documentary evidence, 1.410(c). + +Form of responses to written discovery requests, 1.280(i). +Service. + +See SERVICE OF PROCESS. +Trial, form for, 1.910. +SUBSTITUTION. +Parties, 1.260. +SUMMARY JUDGMENT, 1.510. + + + +New trial and rehearing, motion, 1.530(a). +SUMMONS. +Crossclaim form, 1.903. +Eviction form, 1.923. +General form, 1.902(a). +Issued when action commenced, 1.070(a). +Mail, service by, 1.902(c). +Notice of lawsuit and request for waiver of service, 1.902(c). +Personal service on natural person, 1.902(b). +Third-party form, 1.904. +Time limit, 1.070(j). +Waiver, request for, 1.902(c). +SUPPLEMENTAL PLEADINGS. +Counterclaim, 1.170(e). +Generally, 1.190(d). +Time, 1.190(e). +SUPPLEMENTARY RESPONSES TO DISCOVERY REQUESTS, + +1.280(f). +SURETY. +Proceedings against, 1.625. +SURVIVORSHIP OF PARTIES, 1.260(a)(2). + + + +T + +TAXATION OF COSTS IN CIVIL ACTIONS, GUIDELINES FOR, +Appendix. + +TEMPORARY INJUNCTIONS. +See INJUNCTIONS. +TENANT. +Eviction complaint form, 1.947. +Eviction summons form, 1.923. +TESTIMONY, PERPETUATION OF, 1.290(c). +THIRD-PARTY PRACTICE. +Claim to property, 1.580. +Complaint. + +Form, 1.948. +Generally, 1.100(a), 1.180. + +Dismissal, 1.420(c). +Pleading claim, 1.110(b). +Separate trials, 1.270(b). +Summons form, 1.904. +TIME. +Court term, effect of expiration of, 1.090(c). +Defenses, service of, 1.140(a). +Depositions, 1.310(a), 1.310(b)(3), 1.320(a). +Motions and notices of hearing, service of, 1.090(d). +Service by mail, 1.070(i). +Summons, limit on service of, 1.070(j). +TRACING TABLE WITH FEDERAL RULES, Page CIV-13. +TRADE SECRETS, PROTECTIVE ORDERS REGARDING, 1.280(c). + + + +TRANSCRIPT OF DEPOSITION, 1.310(e)(g). +TRANSFER OF ACTIONS. +Counterclaim or crossclaim, when demand in exceeds court jurisdiction, + +1.170(j). +Interest, 1.260(c). +Method, 1.060(c). +Wrong court, 1.060(a), 1.140(b)(3). +Wrong venue, 1.060(b), 1.061. +TRIAL. +Action at issue, 1.440(a). +Consolidation of actions, 1.270(a). +Notice of trial, 1.440(b). +Notice that action is at issue, 1.440(b). +Separate trial ordered, 1.170(i), 1.270(b). +Setting action for, 1.200(a)(2), 1.440(c). +TRIAL PREPARATION. +See DISCOVERY. + + + +V + +VENUE. +Choice of venue, 1.061. +Improper, defense based on, 1.140(b). +Transfer of action when improper, 1.060(b)(c). +VERDICTS. +Forms, 1.986. +Punitive damages, 1.481. +VERIFICATION OF PLEADINGS NOT REQUIRED, 1.030. +Mortgage foreclosures, verification, 1.115(e). +VIEW BY JURY, 1.520. +VOIR DIRE QUESTIONNAIRE, 1.984. +VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL, 1.420(a). + + + +W + +WAIVER. +Defenses not presented, 1.140(h). +Jury trial, 1.430(e). +Objections as to depositions, 1.330(d). +WARRANTY, IMPLIED, 1.949. +WITNESSES. +Competency, 1.330(d)(3)(A). +Expert, 1.280(b)(5), 1.390(a). +Failure to make discovery, 1.380(d). +Refusal to be sworn, 1.380(b)(1). +Subpoenas, 1.410. +Testimony perpetuated by action, 1.290(c). +Without counsel at deposition, 1.310(b)(2). +WORK PRODUCT. +Generally, 1.280(b)(2), 1.280(b)(5). +Medical malpractice actions, 1.650(c)(3). +WRITS. +Attachment forms, 1.9051.906. +Audita querela abolished, 1.540(b). +Bills of review abolished, 1.540(b). +Distress, 1.909. +Extraordinary remedies, 1.630. +Garnishment, 1.907. +Possession, 1.580. +Replevin, 1.908. + + + +Licensed to Otis K Pitts, Otis K Pitts + +FLORIDA RULES +OF + +GENERAL PRACTICE +AND + +JUDICIAL +ADMINISTRATION + +2023 Edition + +Rules reflect all changes through 47 FLW S283. Subsequent amendments, if +any, can be found at www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/rules.shtml. The +Florida Bar also updates the rules on its website at www.FloridaBar.org (on +the homepage click Rules Updates). + + + + + +THE FLORIDA BAR +TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2300 + + + +CITATIONS TO OPINIONS ADOPTING OR AMENDING +RULES + +ORIGINAL ADOPTION, effective 7-1-78: 360 So.2d 1076. +OTHER +OPINIONS: +Effective 1-1-79: 364 So.2d 466. Amended 2.070(f). +Effective 7-1-79: 372 So.2d 449. Amended 2.010-2.130. +Effective 2-21- 380 So.2d 1027. Amended 2.060(b). +80: +Effective 1-1-81: 389 So.2d 202. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +2.050(e), 2.130. +Effective 1-1-81: 391 So.2d 214. Amended 2.040(b)(3), 2.050(c). +Effective 1-1-82: 403 So.2d 926. Added 2.075. +Effective 12-1- 442 So.2d 198. Added 2.035. +83: +Effective 2-23- 446 So.2d 87. Amended 2.035. +84: +Effective 1-1-85: 458 So.2d 1110. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +2.140(b)(2); added 2.130(b)(5); +renumbered 2.130(b)(6). + +Effective 1-1-85: 462 So.2d 444. Added 2.071. +Effective 3-1-85: 465 So.2d 1217. Added 2.125. +Effective 7-1-86: 493 So.2d 423. Added 2.085. +Effective 2-1-87: 500 So.2d 524. Amended 2.040(a)(2), 2.050(c). +Effective 7-1-87: 507 So.2d 1390. Amended 2.050(d), 2.070(e). +Effective 7-1-87: 509 So.2d 276. Amended 2.130(f). +Effective 1-1-88: 518 So.2d 258. Added 2.150. +Effective 1-1-89: 532 So.2d 667. See revised opinion at 536 So.2d + +195. + + + +Effective 1-1-89: 536 So.2d 195. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended +2.050(c), 2.060(d), (h)-(j), 2.070(h), +2.085(a), (c). + +Effective 6-1-89: 543 So.2d 1244. Added 2.125(b)(1)(I), (b)(1)(J). +Effective 11-9- 552 So.2d 194. Added 2.125(b)(1)(K). +89: +Effective 1-11- 555 So.2d 848. Added 2.125(b)(1)(L). +90: +Effective 1-18- 550 So.2d 457. Added 2.055. +90: +Effective 6-15- 560 So.2d 786. Added 2.030(a)(3)(D). +90: +Effective 10-22- 607 So.2d 39. Amended 2.130(b)(3). +92: +Effective 10-29- 608 So.2d 472. Added 2.051. +92: +Effective 1-1-93: 609 So.2d 465. Four-year-cycle revision. + +Substantively amended 2.040(b)(5), +2.055, 2.060, 2.071, 2.085, 2.130; +added 2.160, 2.170. + +Effective 12-23- 634 So.2d 604. Amended 2.110(b). +93: +Effective 2-9-95: 650 So.2d 30. Amended 2.170. +Effective 2-23- 650 So.2d 38. Amended 2.070. +95: +Effective 3-23- 651 So.2d 1185. Amended 2.051. +95: +Effective 3-30- 652 So.2d 811. Amended 2.125. +95: +Effective 5-9-95: 654 So.2d 917. Amended 2.070(d)(2). +Effective 6-15- 656 So.2d 926. Amended 2.125. +95: +Effective 1-1-96: 661 So.2d 806. Amended 2.070(b). +Effective 1-1-96: 665 So.2d 218. Amended 2.035. + + + +Effective 4-11- 672 So.2d 523. Amended 2.050(b)(4), 2.050(b)(7); +96: added 2.050(h). +Effective 6-27- 675 So.2d 1376. Added 2.072. +96: +Effective 8-29- 678 So.2d 1285. Added court commentary to 2.050. +96: +Effective 1-1-97: 681 So.2d 698. Added 2.060(f), renumbered + +2.060(f)-(l); amended 2.075, 2.090. +Effective 1-1-97: 682 So.2d 89. Four-year-cycle revision. Added + +2.030(a)(2)(B)(iv), 2.052, 2.065, +2.135, 2.180; amended 2.050(c), (e) +(1)(F), (e)(3), (h), 2.055(c), 2.125 +(for style); deleted 2.055(e). + +Effective 2-7-97: 688 So.2d 320. Added 2.050(b)(10). +Effective 7-17- 697 So.2d 144. Partially suspended application of +97: 2.055(c) until January 1, 1999. +Effective 1-1-98: 701 So.2d 1164. Amended 2.060(f), 2.090(c). +Effective 11-20- 701 So.2d 864. Amended 2.050(b)(10). +97: +Effective 1-1-99: 711 So.2d 29. Amended 2.055(c), added a new (d), + +and redesignated former (d) as (e). +Effective 2-1-99: 746 So.2d 1073. Amended 2.051(c)(7). +Effective 5-25- 766 So.2d 999. Added 2.071(f). +00: +Effective 7-14- 772 So.2d 532. Added 2.070(i). +00: +Effective 12-1- 774 So.2d 625. Added 2.053. +00: +Effective 1-1-01: 780 So.2d 819. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +2.020, 2.053(b)(1)(A), 2.060, 2.070, +2.071(d), 2.130(a), (c), (e)-(g); +added 2.061, 2.140(c). + +Effective 7-1-01: 796 So.2d 477. Added 2.054. +Effective 10-1- 797 So.2d 1213. Amended 2.050(b). + + + +01: +Effective 1-1-02: 812 So.2d 401. Amended 2.054(e). +Effective 3-7-02: 825 So.2d 889. Amended 2.030, 2.040, 2.051, + +2.075; added 2.076 and Judicial +Branch Retention Schedule for +Administrative Records. + +Effective 10-1- 826 So.2d 233. Amended 2.050, 2.052, 2.085. +02: +Effective 9-19- 828 So.2d 994. Amended 2.130. +02: +Effective 7-10- 851 So.2d 698. Amended 2.050, 2.053, 2.130. +03: +Effective 1-1-04: 851 So.2d 698. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended + +2.060, 2.070, 2.085, 2.160, 2.170. +Effective 1-1-04: 860 So.2d 394. Amended 2.060. +Effective 10-14- 888 So.2d 614. Amended 2.035. +04: +Effective 1-1-05: 885 So.2d 870. Amended 2.160. +Effective 1-1-05: 889 So.2d 68. Amended 2.085. +Effective 5-12- 907 So.2d 1138. Amended 2.061. +05: +Effective 11-3- 915 So.2d 157. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended +05: 2.130. +Effective 1-1-06: 915 So.2d 157. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended + +2.050, 2.051, 2.060, 2.071, 2.085. +Effective 1-1-06: 915 So.2d 145. Amended 2.030. +Effective 2-16- 921 So.2d 615. Adopted 2.036. +06: +Effective 3-2-06: 923 So.2d 1160. Amended 2.050. +Effective 7-1-06: 933 So.2d 504. Adopted 2.073(a)-(d), (f). +Effective 7-6-06: 933 So.2d 1136. Amended 2.035. +Effective 9-21- 939 So.2d 966. Reorganization of rules. Adopted +06: 2.140(g). +Effective 9-28- 939 So.2d 1051. Amended 2.235. + + + +06: +Effective 4-5-07: 954 So.2d 16. Amended 2.420. +Effective 5-17- 957 So.2d 1168. Adopted 2.244. +07: +Effective 11-3- 915 So.2d 145. Amended 2.150(b)(3) [2.320(b)(3)]. +07: +Effective 1-1-08: 967 So.2d 178. Adopted 2.256, 2.430(l) +Effective 1-17- 973 So.2d 437. Amended 2.430. +08: +Effective 1-31- 974 So.2d 1066. Amended 2.240. +08: +Effective 4-1-08: 978 So.2d 805. Amended 2.215. +Effective 7-1-08: 933 So.2d 504. Adopted 2.073(e) [2.560(e)]. +Effective 10-1- 992 So.2d 237. Amended 2.215. +08: +Effective 1-1-09: 986 So.2d 560. Three-year-cycle revision. Amended + +2.130, 2.140, 2.215, 2.330. +Effective 1-1-09: 991 So.2d 842. Amended 2.510. +Effective 7-16- 13 So.3d 1044. Amended 2.535. +09: +Effective 3-18- 31 So.3d 756. Amended 2.420. +10: +Effective 5-20- 41 So.3d 881. Amended 2.540. +10: +Effective 7-1-10: 41 So.3d 128. Adopted 2.236. +Effective 10-1- 31 So.3d 756. Amended 2.420(d). +10: +Effective 12-9- 51 So.3d 1151. Amended 2.320(a)(2). +10: +Effective 2-24- 75 So.3d 1241. Amended 2.215(b)(10)(C). +11: +Effective 7-7-11: 68 So.3d 228. Amended 2.420(d)(1)(B)(xx). +Effective 10-1- 80 So.3d 317. Adopted 2.425. + + + +11: +Effective 10-6- 75 So.3d 203. Amended 2.545(d)(2). +11: +Effective 1-1-12: 73 So.3d 210. Three-year-cycle revision. Amended + +2.505(f)(1), 2.510(a), (b)(2), +2.525(g), 2.530(d)(1); adopted +2.526. + +Effective 2-9-12: 121 So.3d 1. Amended 2.205, 2.210, 2.215, +2.220, 2.225, 2.230, 2.235, 2.244. + +Effective 7-12- 95 So.3d 115. Amended 2.425. +12: +Effective 9-1-12 102 So.3d 505. Amended 2.515, Adopted 2.516. +Effective 10-01- 95 So.3d 96. Adopted 2.514. +12: +Effective 6-21- 102 So.3d 451. Amended 2.430, 2.510, 2.516, +12: 2.520, 2.525, 2.535. +Effective 12-20- 119 So3d 1211. Amended 2.205, 2.220. +12: +Effective 2-7-13: 124 So.3d 807. Amended 2.140. +Effective 4-4-13 112 So.3d 1173. Amended 2.516. +Effective 5-1-13: 124 So.3d 819. Amended 2.420. +Effective 10-1- 118 So.3d 193. Adopted 2.451. +13: +Effective 10-31- 125 So.3d 754. Amended 2.220. +13: +Effective 11-14- 126 So.3d 222. Amended 2.515, 2.516, 2.525. +13: +Effective 11-14- 129 So.3d 358. Amended 2.240, 2.241. +13: +Effective 1-1-14: 125 So.3d 743. Amended 2.205, 2.210. +Effective 4-1-14: 132 So.3d 1114. Amended 2.545. +Effective 1-15- 148 So.3d 1171. Amended 2.215, 2.535. +15: +Effective 1-15- 150 So.3d 787. Amended 2.430, 2.510. + + + +15: +Effective 1-1-15: 39 FLW S718. Amended 2.520. (Opinion + +withdrawn; see below.) +Effective 1-22- 156 So.3d 499. Amended 2.420. +15: +Effective 4-2-15: 161 So.3d 1254. Amended 2.520. +Effective 9-10- 174 So.3d 991. Adopted 2.340. +15: +Effective 10-1- 176 So.3d 267. Amended 2.560, Adopted 2.565. +15: +Effective 2-4-16: 198 So.3d 592. Amended 2.425. +Effective 3-24- 190 So.3d 1053. Amended 2.535. +16: +Effective 4-16- 189 So.3d 141. Amended 2.516 and 2.525. +16: +Effective 4-21- 190 So.3d 1080. Amended 2.240. +16: +Effective 12-8- 206 So.3d 1. Amended 2.560 and 2.565. +16: +Effective 4-6-17: 214 So.3d 623. Amended 2.205. +Effective 1-1-18: 226 So.3d 223. Amended 2.140, 2.510, 2.516. +Effective 1-18- 233 So.3d 1022. Amended 2.420. +18: +Effective 7-1-18: 244 So.3d 1005. Amended 2.560 and 2.565. +Effective 7-6-18: 248 So.3d 1083. Amended 2.205. +Effective 1-1-19: 257 So.3d 66. Amended 2.514, 2.516. +Effective 7-1-19: 285 So.3d 870. Amended 2.420. +Effective 7-11- 276 So.3d 257. Amended 2.230. +19: +Effective 10-3- 280 So.3d 452. Amended 2.420. +19: +Effective 11-7- 284 So.3d 964. Amended 2.420. +19: + + + +Effective 1-1-20: 285 So.3d 931. Amended 2.240. +Effective 1-1-20: 288 So.3d 512. Adopted 2.570. + +Effective 3-13- 291 So.3d 899. Amended 2.205. +20: +Effective 4-1-20: 45 FLW S88. Adopted 2.270 and 2.580. +Effective 6-1-20: 289 So.3d 1264. Amended 2.140. +Effective 7-2-20: 302 So.3d 746. Amended 2.420. +Effective 9-10- 302 So.3d 315. Amended 2.220. +20: +Effective 1-21- 320 So.3d 626. Amended 2.420. +21: +Effective 1-21- 310 So.3d 374. Amended 2.110, 2.265, 2.330, +21: 2.505, 2.510. +Effective 1-28- 312 So.3d 445. Amended 2.270, 2.580. +21: +Effective 9-2-21: 327 So.3d 1198. Amended 2.244. +Effective 10-28- 344 So.3d 940. Amended 2.140, 2.215, 2.240, +21: 2.241, 2.420, 2.451, 2.514, 2.545. +Effective 11-18- 334 So.3d 292. Adopted 2.423. +21: +Effective 5-12- 346 So.3d 1097 Amended 2.215. +22: +Effective 7-14- 346 So.3d 1105 Amended 2.256, 2.451, 2.515, +22: 2.516, 2.530; Adopted 2.601-2603. +Effective 9-1-22: 347 So.3d 310 Amended 2.240. +Effective 11-17- 47 FLW S283 Amended 2.420. +22: +NOTE TO USERS: Rules reflect all changes through 47 FLW S283. +Subsequent amendments, if any, can be found at +www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/rules.shtml. The Florida Bar also +updates the rules on its website at www.FloridaBar.org (on the homepage +click Rules Updates). + + + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + +__________ + +PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS + +RULE +2.110. SCOPE AND PURPOSE +2.120. DEFINITIONS +2.130. PRIORITY OF FLORIDA RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE +2.140. AMENDING RULES OF COURT + +PART II. STATE COURT ADMINISTRATION + +2.205. THE SUPREME COURT +2.210. DISTRICT COURTS OF APPEAL +2.215. TRIAL COURT ADMINISTRATION +2.220. CONFERENCES OF JUDGES +2.225. JUDICIAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL +2.230. TRIAL COURT BUDGET COMMISSION +2.235. DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL BUDGET COMMISSION +2.236. FLORIDA COURTS TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION +2.240. DETERMINATION OF NEED FOR ADDITIONAL JUDGES +2.241. DETERMINATION OF THE NECESSITY TO INCREASE, + +DECREASE, OR REDEFINE JUDICIAL CIRCUITS AND +APPELLATE DISTRICTS + +2.244. UNIFIED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIAL COMPENSATION. +2.245. CASE REPORTING SYSTEM FOR TRIAL COURTS +2.250. TIME STANDARDS FOR TRIAL AND APPELLATE COURTS + + + +AND REPORTING +REQUIREMENTS + +2.255. STATEWIDE GRAND JURY +2.256. JUROR TIME MANAGEMENT +2.260. CHANGE OF VENUE +2.265. MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE VIOLATIONS +2.270. SUPREME COURT COMMITTEES ON STANDARD JURY + +INSTRUCTIONS + +PART III. JUDICIAL OFFICERS + +2.310. JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE, REMOVAL, RETIREMENT, AND +SUSPENSION + +2.320. CONTINUING JUDICIAL EDUCATION +2.330. DISQUALIFICATION OF TRIAL JUDGES +2.340. JUDICIAL ATTIRE + +PART IV. JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS AND RECORDS + +2.410. POSSESSION OF COURT RECORDS +2.420. PUBLIC ACCESS TO AND PROTECTION OF JUDICIAL + +BRANCH RECORDS +2.423. MARSYS LAW CRIME VICTIM INFORMATION WITHIN + +COURT FILING +2.425. MINIMIZATION OF THE FILING OF SENSITIVE + +INFORMATION +2.430. RETENTION OF COURT RECORDS +2.440. RETENTION OF JUDICIAL BRANCH ADMINISTRATIVE + +RECORDS +2.450. TECHNOLOGICAL COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS +2.451. USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES + + + +PART V. PRACTICE OF LAW + +A. ATTORNEYS + +2.505. ATTORNEYS +2.510. FOREIGN ATTORNEYS + +B. PRACTICE AND LITIGATION PROCEDURES + +2.514. COMPUTING AND EXTENDING TIME +2.515. SIGNATURE AND CERTIFICATES OF ATTORNEYS AND + +PARTIES +2.516. SERVICE OF PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS +2.520. DOCUMENTS +2.525. ELECTRONIC FILING +2.526. ACCESSIBILITY OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY +2.530. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY +2.535. COURT REPORTING +2.540. REQUESTS FOR ACCOMMODATIONS BY PERSONS WITH + +DISABILITIES +2.545. CASE MANAGEMENT +2.550. CALENDAR CONFLICTS +2.555. INITIATION OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS +2.560. APPOINTMENT OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT + +INTERPRETERS FOR NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING AND LIMITED- +ENGLISH-PROFICIENT PERSONS + +2.565. RETENTION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT INTERPRETERS +FOR NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING AND LIMITED-ENGLISH- +PROFICIENT PERSONS BY ATTORNEYS OR SELF- +REPRESENTED LITIGANTS + +2.570. PARENTAL-LEAVE CONTINUANCE + + + +2.580. STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS +2.601. REQUEST TO BE EXCUSED FROM E-MAIL SERVICE BY A + +PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY +2.602. DESIGNATION OF E-MAIL ADDRESS BY A PARTY NOT + +REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY +2.603. CHANGE OF MAILING ADDRESS OR DESIGNATED E-MAIL + +ADDRESS +JUDICIAL BRANCH RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE FOR + +ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS +SUBJECT INDEX + + + +FLORIDA RULES OF GENERAL PRACTICE & JUDICIAL +ADMINISTRATION + +________ + Pt. I. + +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. I + + + +PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS + Pt. I. , Rule 2.110. + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.110 + +RULE 2.110. SCOPE AND PURPOSE. +These rules, cited as Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial + +Administration and abbreviated as Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin., have +been in effect since 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 1979. They shall apply to +administrative matters in all courts to which the rules are applicable by their +terms. The rules shall be construed to secure the speedy and inexpensive +determination of every proceeding to which they are applicable. These rules +shall supersede all conflicting rules and statutes. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 2.120. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.120 + +RULE 2.120. DEFINITIONS. +The following terms have the meanings shown as used in these rules: +(a) Court Rule: A rule of practice or procedure adopted to facilitate the + +uniform conduct of litigation applicable to all proceedings, all parties, and all +attorneys. + +(b) Local Court Rule: +(1) A rule of practice or procedure for circuit or county application only + +that, because of local conditions, supplies an omission in or facilitates +application of a rule of statewide application and does not conflict +therewith. + +(2) A rule that addresses other matters that are required by the Florida +Constitution, general law, rules of court, or a supreme court opinion to be +adopted by or in a local rule. +(c) Administrative Order: A directive necessary to administer properly + +the courts affairs but not inconsistent with the constitution or with court +rules and administrative orders entered by the supreme court. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 2.130. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.130 + +RULE 2.130. PRIORITY OF FLORIDA RULES OF APPELLATE +PROCEDURE. + +The Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure shall control all proceedings in +the supreme court and the district courts, and all proceedings in which the +circuit courts exercise their appellate jurisdiction, notwithstanding any +conflicting rules of procedure. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 2.140. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.140 + +RULE 2.140. AMENDING RULES OF COURT. +(a) Amendments Generally. The following procedure shall be followed + +for consideration of rule amendments generally other than those adopted +under subdivisions (d), (e), (f), and (g): + +(1) Suggestions for court rules, amendments to them, or abrogation of +them may be made by any person. + +(2) Rules suggestions shall be submitted to the clerk of the supreme +court, the committee chair(s) of a Florida Bar committee listed in +subdivision (a)(3), or the Bar staff liaison of The Florida Bar in writing and +shall include a general description of the proposed rule change or a +specified proposed change in content. The clerk of the supreme court shall +refer proposals to the appropriate committee under subdivision (a)(3). + +(3) The Florida Bar shall appoint the following committees to consider +rule proposals: Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Criminal Procedure +Rules Committee, Small Claims Rules Committee, Traffic Court Rules +Committee, Appellate Court Rules Committee, Juvenile Court Rules +Committee, Code and Rules of Evidence Committee, Rules of General +Practice and Judicial Administration Committee, Probate Rules +Committee, and Family Law Rules Committee. + +(4) Each committee shall be composed of attorneys and judges with +extensive experience and training in the committees area of concentration. +Members of the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration +Committee shall also have previous rules committee experience or +substantial experience in the administration of the Florida court system. +The chair of each rules committee shall appoint one of its members to the +Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee to serve +as a regular member of the Rules of General Practice and Judicial +Administration Committee to facilitate and implement routine periodic +reporting by and to the Rules of General Practice and Judicial +Administration Committee on the development and progress of rule +proposals under consideration and their potential impact on other existing +or proposed rules. The members of each rules committee shall serve for 3- + + + +year staggered terms, except members appointed by a rules committee +chair to the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration +Committee who shall serve at the pleasure of the respective rules +committee chairs. The president-elect of The Florida Bar shall appoint +sitting members of each rules committee to serve as chair(s) and vice +chair(s) for each successive year. + +(5) The rules committees may originate proposals and shall regularly +review and reevaluate the rules to advance orderly and inexpensive +procedures for the administration of justice. The committees shall consider +and vote on each proposal. The rules committees may accept or reject +proposed amendments or may amend proposals. The rules committees +shall prepare meeting agendas and minutes reflecting the status of rules +proposals under consideration and actions taken. Copies of the minutes +shall be furnished to the clerk of the supreme court, to the board of +governors of The Florida Bar, and to the proponent of any proposal +considered at the meeting. Each rules committee shall furnish promptly +and timely to every other rules committee all meeting agendas and all +minutes or other record of action taken. + +(6) The Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration +Committee shall serve as the central rules coordinating committee. All +committees shall provide a copy of any proposed rules changes to the +Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee within +30 days of a committees affirmative vote to recommend the proposed +change to the supreme court. The Rules of General Practice and Judicial +Administration Committee shall then refer all proposed rules changes to +those rules committees that might be affected by the proposed change. + +(7) Whenever the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration +Committee receives a request to coordinate the submission of a single +comprehensive report of proposed rule amendments on behalf of multiple +rules committees, the general procedure shall be as follows: + +(A) The subcommittee chairs handling the matter for each committee +will constitute an ad hoc committee to discuss the various committees +recommendations and to formulate time frames for the joint response. +The chair of the ad hoc committee will be the assigned Rules of General +Practice and Judicial Administration Committee subcommittee chair. + + + +(B) At the conclusion of the work of the ad hoc committee, a +proposed joint response will be prepared by the ad hoc committee and +distributed to the committee chairs for each committees review and +final comments. + +(C) The Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration +Committee shall be responsible for filing the comprehensive final report. + +(b) Rules Proposals. +(1) Each rules committee may report proposed rule changes to the + +supreme court whenever the committee determines rule changes are +needed. + +(2) Before filing a report of proposed rule changes with the supreme +court, the committee report shall be furnished to the Speaker of the Florida +House of Representatives, the President of the Florida Senate, and the +chairs of the House and Senate committees as designated by the Speaker +and the President, and published on the website of The Florida Bar, and in +The Florida Bar News. Any person desiring to comment upon proposed +rule changes shall submit written comments to the appropriate committee +chair(s) as provided in the notice. The committee shall consider any +comments submitted. Any changes made shall be furnished to the Speaker +of the Florida House of Representatives, the President of the Florida +Senate, and the chairs of the House and Senate committees as designated +by the Speaker and the President, and published on the website of The +Florida Bar and in The Florida Bar News. Any person desiring to comment +thereafter shall submit written comments to the supreme court in +accordance with subdivision (b)(6). + +(3) After review of comments received and prior to the filing of a report +by a committee, the board of governors shall consider the proposals and +shall vote on each proposal to recommend acceptance, rejection, or +amendment. + +(4) The committee and the executive director of The Florida Bar shall +file the report of the proposed rule changes with the supreme court. The +committee may amend its recommendations to coincide with the +recommendations of the board of governors or may decline to do so or may +amend its recommendations in another manner. Any such amendments + + + +also shall be reported to the supreme court. The report and proposed rule +changes must conform to the Guidelines for Rules Submissions approved +by administrative order and posted on the websites of the supreme court +and The Florida Bar. Consistent with the requirements that are fully set +forth in the Guidelines, the report shall include: + +(A) a list of the proposed changes, together with a detailed +explanation of each proposal that includes a narrative description of how +each amendment changes the language of the rule and a thorough +discussion of the reason for each change; + +(B) the final numerical voting record of the proposals in the +committee; + +(C) the name and address of the proponent of each change, if other +than a member of the rules committee; + +(D) a report of the action taken by the committee on comments +submitted in accordance with subdivision (b)(2); + +(E) a report of the action and voting record of the board of governors; +(F) any dissenting views of the committee and, if available, of the + +board; and +(G) an appendix containing all comments submitted to the committee, + +all relevant background documents, the proposed amendments in +legislative format, and a two-column chart setting forth the proposed +changes in legislative format in the left column and a brief summary of +the explanation of each change given in the report in the right column. + +The report and the proposed rule changes shall be filed with the supreme +court in an electronic format approved by the supreme court. + +(5) If oral argument is deemed necessary, the supreme court shall +establish a date for oral argument on the proposals. Notice of the oral +argument on the proposals and a copy of the proposals shall be furnished to +the affected committee chair(s) and vice chair(s), the executive director +and staff liaison of The Florida Bar, all members of the Judicial +Management Council, the clerk and chief judge of each district court of +appeal, the clerk and chief judge of each judicial circuit, the Speaker of the +Florida House of Representatives, the President of the Florida Senate, the + + + +chairs of the House and Senate committees as designated by the Speaker +and the President, and any person who has asked in writing filed with the +clerk of the supreme court for a copy of the notice. The clerk may provide +the notice electronically. The recommendations or a resume of them shall +be published on the websites of the supreme court and The Florida Bar and +in The Florida Bar News before the oral argument or consideration of the +proposals without oral argument. Notice of the oral argument, if scheduled, +shall also be published on the website of the supreme court. + +(6) Within the time allowed for comments set by the supreme court, any +person may file comments concerning the proposals. All comments and +other submissions by interested persons shall be filed with the clerk of the +supreme court and served on the chair(s) of the appropriate rules +committee, the Bar staff liaison, and on the proponent of the rule change if +other than a member of the rules committee. The chair(s) of the rules +committee and the executive director of The Florida Bar shall file a +response to all comments within the time period set by the court. All +comments and other submissions regarding the rule change proposals shall +be filed in an approved electronic format with the supreme court. As soon +as practicable after the date of filing, the clerk of the supreme court shall +publish on the website of the supreme court all comments and the +responses of the chair(s) of the rules committee that have been filed +concerning the proposals. All requests or submissions by a rules committee +made in connection with a pending rule change proposal shall be filed with +the clerk of the supreme court and thereafter published by the clerk of the +supreme court on the websites of the supreme court and The Florida Bar. + +(7) Rules changes adopted by the court shall be made effective either +July 1 of the year of their adoption or January 1 of the year following their +adoption or on such other date as may be requested by the committee or set +by the court. The supreme court may permit motions for rehearing to be +filed on behalf of any person who filed a comment, The Florida Bar, any +bar association, and the affected committee. +(c) Rejected Proposals. If a committee rejects a proposal, the proponent + +may submit the proposed rule to the board of governors and shall notify the +chair(s) and vice chair(s) of the affected committee of the submission of the +proposed rule to the board of governors. Minority reports of committees are +allowed and may be submitted to both the board of governors and the + + + +supreme court. +(d) Amendments by Court. The supreme court, with or without notice, + +may change court rules, on its own motion, at any time without reference to a +rules committee for recommendations. The rule changes must conform to the +Rules Style Guide contained in the Guidelines for Rules Submissions +approved by administrative order and posted on the websites of the supreme +court and The Florida Bar. The change may become effective immediately or +at a future time. In either event, the court shall give notice of and fix a date +for further consideration of the change. Any person may file comments +concerning the change, seeking its abrogation or a delay in the effective date, +in accordance with the procedures set forth in subdivision (b)(6). The court +may allow oral argument on the proposal or change. Notice of the oral +argument, if scheduled, on the change and a copy of the change shall be +furnished to the affected committee chair(s) and vice chair(s), the executive +director and staff liaison of The Florida Bar, all members of the Judicial +Management Council, the clerk and chief judge of each district court of +appeal, the clerk and chief judge of each judicial circuit, the Speaker of the +Florida House of Representatives, the President of the Florida Senate, the +chairs of the House and Senate committees as designated by the Speaker and +the President, and any person who has asked in writing filed with the clerk of +the supreme court for a copy of the notice. The clerk may provide the notice +electronically. Notice of the change shall be published on the websites of the +supreme court and The Florida Bar, and in The Florida Bar News either +before or after the change is adopted. Notice of the oral argument, if +scheduled, shall also be published on the website of the supreme court. + +(e) Expedited Proposals and Proposals in Response to Legislative +Changes by Rules Committees. If, in the opinion of a committee, a proposal +warrants expedited consideration or a rule amendment is necessary due to +changes in legislation, and the board of governors concurs, proposals may be +made to the supreme court using the committees fast-track procedures. The +report and proposed rule changes may be filed without prior publication for +comment and must conform to the Guidelines for Rules Submissions +approved by administrative order and posted on the websites of the supreme +court and The Florida Bar. The rules committees fast-track procedures shall +be used to address legislative changes to ensure that ordinarily any resulting +proposed rule amendments can be adopted by the court before the effective + + + +date of the legislation. If the court agrees that a proposal warrants expedited +consideration or a rule change is necessary due to a legislative change, the +court may publish the rule amendment for comment after adopting it or may +set a time for oral argument or for consideration of the proposal without oral +argument. Notice of the oral argument on the proposals, if scheduled before +or after adoption, and a copy of the proposals shall be furnished to the +affected committee chair(s) and vice chair(s), the executive director and the +staff liaison of The Florida Bar, all members of the Judicial Management +Council, the clerk and chief judge of each district court of appeal, the clerk +and chief judge of each judicial circuit, the Speaker of the Florida House of +Representatives, the President of the Florida Senate, the chairs of the House +and Senate committees as designated by the Speaker and the President, and +any person who has asked in writing filed with the clerk of the supreme court +for a copy of the notice. The clerk may provide the notice electronically. +Prior to or after their adoption, the recommendations or a resume of them +shall be published on the websites of the supreme court and The Florida Bar, +and in The Florida Bar News. Any person may file comments concerning the +changes, in accordance with the procedures set forth in subdivision (b)(6). +Notice of the oral argument, if scheduled, shall also be published on the +website of the supreme court. + +(f) Request by Court. The supreme court may refer a specific rules +proposal or issue to a rules committee for consideration and may require the +committee to report its recommendation with the recommendations of the +board of governors. All requests or submissions by a rules committee made in +connection with a request under this subdivision shall be filed with or +submitted to the clerk of the supreme court as provided in this subdivision. + +(1) Recommended Rule Changes. A rule change recommended in +response to a request under this subdivision shall be reported to the +supreme court in accordance with subdivision (b), unless the court directs +or the committee determines and the board of governors agrees that a +proposed rule change warrants expedited consideration. If a recommended +change warrants expedited consideration, the subdivision (e) procedures +shall apply. A report filed under this subdivision shall state that it is filed in +response to a request by the court under this subdivision. + +(2) No Action Recommendations. If the court refers a matter to a rules +committee for consideration only and does not direct the committee to + + + +propose a rule change, and after considering the matter referred the +committee determines that no rule change is warranted, the committee +shall submit a no action report to the court explaining its +recommendation that no rule change is needed. A no action +recommendation should not be included in a report proposing rule changes +filed under any other subdivision of this rule. After the court considers the +recommendation, the clerk shall notify the rules committee chair(s) and the +executive director and the staff liaison of The Florida Bar whether any +further action is required of the committee. +(g) Amendments to the Rules of General Practice and Judicial + +Administration. +(1) Amendments Without Referral to Rules Committee. Changes to + +the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration contained in Part +II, State Court Administration, of these rules, and rules 2.310, and 2.320, +contained in Part III, Judicial Officers, generally will be considered and +adopted by the supreme court without reference to or proposal from the +Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee. The +supreme court may amend rules under this subdivision at any time, with or +without notice. If a change is made without notice, the court shall fix a date +for future consideration of the change and the change shall be published on +the websites of the supreme court and The Florida Bar, and in The Florida +Bar News. Any person may file comments concerning the change, in +accordance with the procedures set forth in subdivision (b)(6). The court +may hear oral argument on the change. Notice of the oral argument on the +change, if scheduled, and a copy of the change shall be provided in +accordance with subdivision (d). + +(2) Other Amendments. Amendments to all other Rules of General +Practice and Judicial Administration shall be referred to or proposed by the +Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee and +adopted by the supreme court as provided in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), +(e), and (f). +(h) Local Rules Proposed by Trial Courts. The foregoing procedure + +shall not apply to local rules proposed by a majority of circuit and county +judges in the circuit. The chief justice of the supreme court may appoint a +Local Rule Advisory Committee to consider and make recommendations to + + + +the court concerning local rules and administrative orders submitted pursuant +to rule 2.215(e). + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1980 Amendment. Rule 2.130 [renumbered as 2.140 in 2006] is entirely +rewritten to codify the procedures for changes to all Florida rules of +procedure as set forth by this court in In re Rules of Court: Procedure for +Consideration of Proposals Concerning Practice and Procedure, 276 So.2d +467 (Fla.1972), and to update those procedures based on current practice. The +Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee has been abolished, and the Local +Rules Advisory Committee has been established. + + + + Pt. II. +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. II + + + +PART II. STATE COURT ADMINISTRATION + Pt. II. , Rule 2.205. + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.205 + +RULE 2.205. THE SUPREME COURT. +(a) Internal Government. + +(1) Exercise of Powers and Jurisdiction. +(A) The supreme court shall exercise its powers, including + +establishing policy for the judicial branch, and jurisdiction en banc. Five +justices shall constitute a quorum and the concurrence of 4 shall be +necessary to a decision. In cases requiring only a panel of 5, if 4 of the 5 +justices who consider the case do not concur, it shall be submitted to the +other 2 justices. + +(B) Consistent with the authority of the supreme court to establish +policy, including recommending state budget and compensation +priorities for the judicial branch, no judge, supreme court created +committee, commission, task force, or similar group, and no conference +(Conference of District Court of Appeal Judges, Conference of Circuit +Court Judges, Conference of County Court Judges) is permitted to +recommend to any legislative or executive branch entity state budget +priorities, including compensation and benefits that have not been +approved by the supreme court, or any policy inconsistent with a policy +position adopted by the supreme court. This subdivision is not intended +to apply to judges expressing their personal views who affirmatively +state that they are not speaking on behalf of the judicial branch. No +resources of any judicial branch entity may be used to facilitate or +support the expression of such personal views. + +(C) Newly created judicial branch commissions, committees, task +forces, work groups, and similar study or advisory groups must be +established by the supreme court, not solely by the chief justice. Such +study or advisory groups may be created and charged by rule adopted by +the court, or by administrative order issued by the chief justice in +accordance with court action. Members of such groups shall be +appointed by administrative order of the chief justice, after consultation + + + +with the court. When practicable, ad hoc committees and other ad hoc +study or advisory groups, which should be used to address specific +problems, shall be established under the umbrella of an existing +committee or commission, which should be used to address long-term +problems. +(2) Chief Justice. + +(A) The chief justice shall be chosen by majority vote of the justices +for a term of 2 years commencing on July 1, 2012. The selection of the +chief justice should be based on managerial, administrative, and +leadership abilities, without regard to seniority only. A chief justice may +serve successive terms limited to a total of 8 years. The chief justice may +be removed by a vote of 4 justices. If a vacancy occurs, a successor shall +be chosen promptly to serve the balance of the unexpired term. + +(B) The chief justice shall be the administrative officer of the judicial +branch and of the supreme court and shall be responsible for the +dispatch of the business of the branch and of the court and direct the +implementation of policies and priorities as determined by the supreme +court for the operation of the branch and of the court. The administrative +powers and duties of the chief justice shall include, but not be limited to: + +(i) the responsibility to serve as the primary spokesperson for the +judicial branch regarding policies and practices that have statewide +impact including, but not limited to, the judicial branchs +management, operation, strategic plan, legislative agenda and budget +priorities; + +(ii) the power to act on requests for stays during the pendency of +proceedings, to order the consolidation of cases, to determine all +procedural motions and petitions relating to the time for filing and +size of briefs and other papers provided for under the rules of this +court, to advance or continue cases, and to rule on other procedural +matters relating to any proceeding or process in the court; + +(iii) the power to assign active or retired county, circuit, or +appellate judges or justices to judicial service in this state, in +accordance with subdivisions (a)(3) and (a)(4) of this rule; + +(iv) the power, upon request of the chief judge of any circuit or + + + +district, or sua sponte, in the event of natural disaster, civil +disobedience, or other emergency situation requiring the closure of +courts or other circumstances inhibiting the ability of litigants to +comply with deadlines imposed by rules of procedure applicable in +the courts of this state, to enter such order or orders as may be +appropriate to suspend, toll, or otherwise grant relief from time +deadlines imposed by otherwise applicable statutes and rules of +procedure for such period as may be appropriate, including, without +limitation, those affecting speedy trial procedures in criminal and +juvenile proceedings, all civil process and proceedings, and all +appellate time limitations; + +(v) the power, upon request of the chief judge of any circuit or +district, or sua sponte, in the event of a public health emergency that +requires mitigation of the effects of the emergency on the courts and +court participants, to enter such order or orders as may be appropriate: +to suspend, extend, toll, or otherwise change time deadlines or +standards, including, without limitation, those affecting speedy trial +procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings; suspend the +application of or modify other requirements or limitations imposed by +rules of procedure, court orders, and opinions, including, without +limitation, those governing the use of communication equipment and +proceedings conducted by remote electronic means; and authorize +temporary implementation of procedures and other measures, +including, without limitation, the suspension or continuation of civil +and criminal jury trials and grand jury proceedings, which procedures +or measures may be inconsistent with applicable requirements, to +address the emergency situation or public necessity. + +(vi) the authority to directly inform all judges on a regular basis by +any means, including, but not limited to, email on the state of the +judiciary, the state of the budget, issues of importance, priorities and +other matters of statewide interest; furthermore, the chief justice shall +routinely communicate with the chief judges and leaders of the +district courts, circuit and county court conferences by the appropriate +means; + +(vii) the responsibility to exercise reasonable efforts to promote and +encourage diversity in the administration of justice; and + + + +(viii) the power to perform such other administrative duties as may +be required and which are not otherwise provided for by law or rule. +(C) The chief justice shall be notified by all justices of any + +contemplated absences from the court and the reasons therefor. When +the chief justice is to be temporarily absent, the chief justice shall select +the justice longest in continuous service as acting chief justice. + +(D) If the chief justice dies, retires, or is unable to perform the duties +of the office, the justice longest in continuous service shall perform the +duties during the period of incapacity or until a successor chief justice is +elected. + +(E) The chief justice shall meet on a regular basis with the chief +judges of the district courts and the chief judges of the circuit courts to +discuss and provide feedback for implementation of policies and +practices that have statewide impact including, but not limited to, the +judicial branchs management, operation, strategic plan, legislative +agenda and budget priorities. Such meetings shall, if practicable, occur +at least quarterly and be conducted in-person. At the discretion of the +chief justice, any of these meetings may be combined with other judicial +branch and leadership meetings and, where practicable include the +justices of the supreme court. +(3) Administration. + +(A) The chief justice may, either upon request or when otherwise +necessary for the prompt dispatch of business in the courts of this state, +temporarily assign justices of the supreme court, judges of district courts +of appeal, circuit judges, and judges of county courts to any court for +which they are qualified to serve. Any consenting retired justice or judge +may be assigned to judicial service and receive compensation as +provided by law. + +(B) For the purpose of judicial administration, a retired judge is +defined as a judge not engaged in the practice of law who has been a +judicial officer of this state. A retired judge shall comply with all +requirements that the supreme court deems necessary relating to the +recall of retired judges. + +(C) When a judge who is eligible to draw retirement compensation + + + +has entered the private practice of law, the judge may be eligible for +recall to judicial service upon cessation of the private practice of law and +approval of the judges application to the court. The application shall +state the period of time the judge has not engaged in the practice of law, +and must be approved by the court before the judge shall be eligible for +recall to judicial service. + +(D) A senior judge is a retired judge who is eligible to serve on +assignment to temporary judicial duty. +(4) Assignments of Justices and Judges. + +(A) When a justice of the supreme court is unable to perform the +duties of office, or when necessary for the prompt dispatch of the +business of the court, the chief justice may assign to the court any judge +who is qualified to serve, for such time as the chief justice may direct. +However, no retired justice who is eligible to serve on assignment to +temporary judicial duty or other judge who is qualified to serve may be +assigned to the supreme court, or continue in such assignment, after 7 +sitting duly sworn justices are available and able to perform the duties of +office. + +(B) When a judge of any district court of appeal is unable to perform +the duties of office, or when necessary for the prompt dispatch of the +business of the court, the chief judge shall advise the chief justice and +the chief justice may assign to the court any judge who is qualified to +serve, for such time or such proceedings as the chief justice may direct. + +(C) When any circuit or county judge is unable to perform the duties +of office, or when necessary for the prompt dispatch of the business of +the court, the chief judge of the circuit may assign any judge in the +circuit to temporary service for which the judge is qualified, in +accordance with rule 2.215. If the chief judge deems it necessary, the +chief judge may request the chief justice to assign a judge to the court +for such time or such proceedings as the chief justice may direct. + +(b) Clerk. +(1) Appointment. The supreme court shall appoint a clerk who shall + +hold office at the pleasure of the court and perform such duties as the court +directs. The clerks compensation shall be fixed by law. The clerks office + + + +shall be in the supreme court building. The clerk shall devote full time to +the duties of the office and shall not engage in the practice of law while in +office. + +(2) Custody of Records, Files, and Seal. All court records and the seal +of the court shall be kept in the office and the custody of the clerk. The +clerk shall not allow any court record to be taken from the clerks office or +the courtroom, except by a justice of the court or upon the order of the +court. + +(3) Records of Proceedings. The clerk shall keep such records as the +court may from time to time order or direct. The clerk shall keep a docket +or equivalent electronic record of all cases that are brought for review to, +or that originate in, the court. Each case shall be numbered in the order in +which the notice, petition, or other initial pleading originating the cause is +filed in the court. + +(4) Filing Fee. In all cases filed in the court, the clerk shall require the +payment of a fee as provided by law when the notice, petition, or other +initial pleading is filed. The payment shall not be exacted in advance in +appeals in which a party has been adjudicated insolvent for the purpose of +an appeal or in appeals in which the state is the real party in interest as the +moving party. The payment of the fee shall not be required in habeas +corpus proceedings, or appeals therefrom, arising out of or in connection +with criminal actions. + +(5) Issuance and Recall of Mandate; Recordation and Notification. +The clerk shall issue such mandates or process as may be directed by the +court. If, within 120 days after a mandate has been issued, the court directs +that a mandate be recalled, then the clerk shall recall the mandate. Upon +the issuance or recall of any mandate, the clerk shall record the issuance or +recall in a book or equivalent electronic record kept for that purpose, in +which the date of issuance or date of recall and the manner of transmittal of +the process shall be noted. In proceedings in which no mandate is issued, +upon final adjudication of the pending cause the clerk shall transmit to the +party affected thereby a copy of the courts order or judgment. The clerk +shall notify the attorneys of record of the issuance of any mandate, the +recall of any mandate, or the rendition of any final judgment. The clerk +shall furnish without charge to all attorneys of record in any cause a copy + + + +of any order or written opinion rendered in such action. +(6) Return of Original Papers. Upon the conclusion of any proceeding + +in the supreme court, the clerk shall return to the clerk of the lower court +the original papers or files transmitted to the court for use in the cause. +(c) Librarian. + +(1) Appointment. The supreme court shall appoint a librarian of the +supreme court and such assistants as may be necessary. The supreme court +library shall be in the custody of the librarian, but under the exclusive +control of the court. The library shall be open to members of the bar of the +supreme court, to members of the legislature, to law officers of the +executive or other departments of the state, and to such other persons as +may be allowed to use the library by special permission of the court. + +(2) Library Hours. The library shall be open during such times as the +reasonable needs of the bar require and shall be governed by regulations +made by the librarian with the approval of the court. + +(3) Books. Books shall not be removed from the library except for use +by, or upon order of, any justice. +(d) Marshal. + +(1) Appointment. The supreme court shall appoint a marshal who shall +hold office at the pleasure of the court and perform such duties as the court +directs. The marshals compensation shall be fixed by law. + +(2) Duties. The marshal shall have power to execute process of the court +throughout the state and such other powers as may be conferred by law. +The marshal may deputize the sheriff or a deputy sheriff in any county to +execute process of the court and shall perform such clerical or ministerial +duties as the court may direct or as required by law. Subject to the +direction of the court, the marshal shall be custodian of the supreme court +building and grounds. +(e) State Courts Administrator. + +(1) Appointment. The supreme court shall appoint a state courts +administrator who shall serve at the pleasure of the court and perform such +duties as the court directs. The state courts administrators compensation +shall be fixed by law. + + + +(2) Duties. The state courts administrator shall supervise the +administrative office of the Florida courts, which shall be maintained at +such place as directed by the supreme court; shall employ such other +personnel as the court deems necessary to aid in the administration of the +state courts system; shall represent the state courts system before the +legislature and other bodies with respect to matters affecting the state +courts system and functions related to and serving the system; shall +supervise the preparation and submission to the supreme court, for review +and approval, of a tentative budget request for the state courts system and +shall appear before the legislature in accordance with the courts directions +in support of the final budget request on behalf of the system; shall inform +the judiciary of the state courts systems final budget request and any +proposed substantive law changes approved by the supreme court; shall +assist in the preparation of educational and training materials for the state +courts system and related personnel, and shall coordinate or assist in the +conduct of educational and training sessions for such personnel; shall assist +all courts in the development of improvements in the system, and submit to +the chief justice and the court appropriate recommendations to improve the +state courts system; and shall collect and compile uniform financial and +other statistical data or information reflective of the cost, workloads, +business, and other functions related to the state courts system. The state +courts administrator is the custodian of all records in the administrators +office. +(f) Open Sessions. All sessions of the court shall be open to the public, + +except proceedings designated as confidential by the court and conference +sessions held for the discussion and consideration of pending cases, for the +formulation of opinions by the court, and for the discussion or resolution of +other matters related to the administration of the state courts system. + +(g) Designation of Assigned Judges. When any judge of another court is +assigned for temporary service on the supreme court, that judge shall be +designated, as author or participant, by name and initials followed by the +words Associate Justice. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.210. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.210 + +RULE 2.210. DISTRICT COURTS OF APPEAL. +(a) Internal Government. + +(1) Exercise of Powers and Jurisdiction. Three judges shall constitute +a panel for and shall consider each case, and the concurrence of a majority +of the panel shall be necessary to a decision. + +(2) Chief Judge. +(A) The selection of a chief judge should be based on managerial, + +administrative, and leadership abilities, without regard to seniority only. +(B) The chief judge shall be the administrative officer of the court, + +and shall, consistent with branch-wide policies, direct the formation and +implementation of policies and priorities for the operation of the court. +The chief judge shall exercise administrative supervision over all judges +and court personnel. The chief judge shall be responsible to the chief +justice of the supreme court. The chief judge may enter and sign +administrative orders. The administrative powers and duties of the chief +judge include, but are not limited to, the power to order consolidation of +cases, and to assign cases to the judges for the preparation of opinions, +orders, or judgments. The chief judge shall have the authority to require +all judges of the court, court officers and court personnel, to comply +with all court and judicial branch policies, administrative orders, +procedures, and administrative plans. + +(C) The chief judge shall maintain liaison in all judicial administrative +matters with the chief justice of the supreme court, and shall, +considering available resources, ensure the efficient and proper +administration of the court. The chief judge shall develop an +administrative plan that shall include an administrative organization +capable of effecting the prompt disposition of cases, the assignment of +judges, other court officers, and court personnel, and the control of +dockets. The administrative plan shall include a consideration of the +statistical data developed by the case reporting system. + +(D) All judges shall inform the chief judge of any contemplated + + + +absences that will affect the progress of the courts business. If a judge +is temporarily absent, is disqualified in an action, or is unable to perform +the duties of the office, the chief judge or the chief judges designee may +assign a matter pending before the judge to any other judge or any +additional assigned judge of the same court. If it appears to the chief +judge that the speedy, efficient, and proper administration of justice so +requires, the chief judge shall request the chief justice of the supreme +court to assign temporarily an additional judge or judges from outside +the court to duty in the court requiring assistance, and shall advise the +chief justice whether or not the approval of the chief judge of the court +from which the assignment is to be made has been obtained. The +assigned judges shall be subject to administrative supervision of the +chief judge for all purposes of this rule. Nothing in this rule shall restrict +the constitutional powers of the chief justice of the supreme court to +make such assignments as the chief justice shall deem appropriate. + +(E) The chief judge shall regulate the use of all court facilities, +regularly examine the dockets of the courts under the chief judges +administrative supervision, and require a report on the status of the +matters on the docket. The chief judge may take such action as may be +necessary to cause the docket to be made current. + +(F) The chief judge shall be chosen by a majority of the active judges +of the court for a term commencing on July 1 of each odd-numbered +year, and shall serve for a term of 2 years. A chief judge may serve for +successive terms but in no event shall the total term as chief judge +exceed 8 years. In the event of a vacancy, a successor shall be chosen +promptly to serve the balance of the unexpired term. If the chief judge is +unable to discharge these duties, the judge longest in continuous service +or, as between judges with equal continuous service, the one having the +longest unexpired term and able to do so, shall perform the duties of +chief judge pending the chief judges return to duty. Judges shall notify +the chief judge of any contemplated absence from the court and the +reasons therefor. A chief judge may be removed as chief judge by the +supreme court, acting as the administrative supervisory body of all +courts, or by a two-thirds vote of the active judges. + +(G) The failure of any judge to comply with an order or directive of +the chief judge shall be considered neglect of duty and may be reported + + + +by the chief judge to the chief justice of the supreme court who shall +have the authority to take such corrective action as may be appropriate. +The chief judge may report the neglect of duty by a judge to the Judicial +Qualifications Commission or other appropriate person or body, or take +such other corrective action as may be appropriate. + +(H) At the call of the chief justice, the chief judges of the circuit court +and district courts of appeal shall meet on a regular basis and with each +other and with the chief justice to discuss and provide feedback for +implementation of policies and practices that have statewide impact +including, but not limited to, the judicial branchs management, +operation, strategic plan, legislative agenda and budget priorities. Such +meetings shall, if practicable, occur at least quarterly and be conducted +in person. At the discretion of the chief justice, any of these meetings +may be combined with other judicial branch and leadership meetings. + +(I) The chief judge shall have the responsibility to exercise reasonable +efforts to promote and encourage diversity in the administration of +justice. + +(b) Clerk. +(1) Appointment. The court shall appoint a clerk who shall hold office + +at the pleasure of the court and perform such duties as the court directs. +The clerks compensation shall be fixed by law. The clerks office shall be +in the headquarters of the court. The clerks time shall be devoted to the +duties of the office and the clerk shall not engage in the private practice of +law while serving as clerk. All court records and the seal of the court shall +be kept in the office and the custody of the clerk. The clerk shall not allow +any court record to be taken from the clerks office or the courtroom, +except by a judge of the court or upon order of the court. + +(2) Records of Proceedings. The clerk shall keep such records as the +court may from time to time order or direct. The clerk shall keep a docket +or equivalent electronic record of all cases that are brought for review to, +or that originate in, the court. Each case shall be numbered in the order that +the notice, petition, other initial pleading originating the proceeding is filed +in the court. + +(3) Filing Fee. In all cases filed in the court, the clerk shall require the + + + +payment of a fee as provided by law at the time the notice, petition, or +other initial pleading is filed. The payment shall not be exacted in advance +in appeals in which a party has been adjudicated insolvent for the purpose +of an appeal or in appeals in which the state is the real party in interest as +the moving party. The payment of the fee shall not be required in habeas +corpus proceedings or appeals therefrom. + +(4) Issuance and Recall of Mandate; Recordation and Notification. +The clerk shall issue such mandates or process as may be directed by the +court. If, within 120 days after a mandate has been issued, the court directs +that a mandate be recalled, then the clerk shall recall the mandate. If the +court directs that a mandate record shall be maintained, then upon the +issuance or recall of any mandate the clerk shall record the issuance or +recall in a book or equivalent electronic record kept for that purpose, in +which shall be noted the date of issuance or the date of recall and the +manner of transmittal of the process. In proceedings in which no mandate +is issued, upon final adjudication of the pending cause the clerk shall +transmit to the party affected thereby a copy of the courts order or +judgment. The clerk shall notify the attorneys of record of the issuance of +any mandate, the recall of any mandate, or the rendition of any final +judgment. The clerk shall furnish without charge to all attorneys of record +in any cause a copy of any order or written opinion rendered in such +action. + +(5) Return of Original Papers. The clerk shall retain all original +papers, files, and exhibits transmitted to the court for a period of not less +than 30 days after rendition of the opinion or order denying any motion +pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.330, whichever is later. +If no discretionary review proceeding or appeal has been timely +commenced in the supreme court to review the courts decision within 30 +days, the clerk shall transmit to the clerk of the trial court the original +papers, files, and exhibits. If a discretionary review proceeding or appeal +has been timely commenced in the supreme court to review the courts +decision, the original papers, files, and exhibits shall be retained by the +clerk until transmitted to the supreme court or, if not so transmitted, until +final disposition by the supreme court and final disposition by the court +pursuant to the mandate issued by the supreme court. +(c) Marshal. + + + +(1) Appointment. The court shall appoint a marshal who shall hold +office at the pleasure of the court and perform such duties as the court +directs. The marshals compensation shall be fixed by law. + +(2) Duties. The marshal shall have power to execute process of the court +throughout the district, and in any county therein may deputize the sheriff +or a deputy sheriff for such purpose. The marshal shall perform such +clerical or ministerial duties as the court may direct or as are required by +law. The marshal shall be custodian of the headquarters occupied by the +court, whether the headquarters is an entire building or a part of a building. +(d) Open Sessions. All sessions of the court shall be open to the public, + +except conference sessions held for the discussion and consideration of +pending cases, for the formulation of opinions by the court, and for the +discussion or resolution of other matters related to the administration of the +court. + +(e) Designation of Assigned Judges. When any justice or judge of another +court is assigned for temporary service on a district court of appeal, that +justice or judge shall be designated, as author or participant, by name and +initials followed by the words Associate Judge. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.215. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.215 + +RULE 2.215. TRIAL COURT ADMINISTRATION. +(a) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to fix administrative responsibility + +in the chief judges of the circuit courts and the other judges that the chief +judges may designate. When these rules refer to the court, they shall be +construed to apply to a judge of the court when the context requires or +permits. + +(b) Chief Judge. +(1) The chief judge shall be a circuit judge who possesses managerial, + +administrative, and leadership abilities, and shall be selected without +regard to seniority only. + +(2) The chief judge shall be the administrative officer of the courts +within the circuit and shall, consistent with branch-wide policies, direct the +formation and implementation of policies and priorities for the operation of +all courts and officers within the circuit. The chief judge shall exercise +administrative supervision over all judges and court personnel within the +judicial circuit. The chief judge shall be responsible to the chief justice of +the supreme court. The chief judge may enter and sign administrative +orders, except as otherwise provided by this rule. The chief judge shall +have the authority to require that all judges of the court, other court +officers, and court personnel comply with all court and judicial branch +policies, administrative orders, procedures and administrative plans. + +(3) The chief judge shall maintain liaison in all judicial administrative +matters with the chief justice of the supreme court, and shall, considering +available resources, ensure the efficient and proper administration of all +courts within that circuit. The chief judge shall develop an administrative +plan that shall be filed with the supreme court and shall include an +administrative organization capable of effecting the prompt disposition of +cases; assignment of judges, other court officers, and all other court +personnel; control of dockets; regulation and use of courtrooms; and +mandatory periodic review of the status of the inmates of the county jail. +The plan shall be compatible with the development of the capabilities of +the judges in such a manner that each judge will be qualified to serve in + + + +any division, thereby creating a judicial pool from which judges may be +assigned to various courts throughout the state. The administrative plan +shall include a consideration of the statistical data developed by the case +reporting system. Questions concerning the administration or management +of the courts of the circuit shall be directed to the chief justice of the +supreme court through the state courts administrator. + +(4) The chief judge shall assign judges to the courts and divisions, and +shall determine the length of each assignment. The chief judge is +authorized to order consolidation of cases, and to assign cases to a judge or +judges for the preparation of opinions, orders, or judgments. All judges +shall inform the chief judge of any contemplated absences that will affect +the progress of the courts business. If a judge is temporarily absent, is +disqualified in an action, or is unable to perform the duties of the office, +the chief judge or the chief judges designee may assign a proceeding +pending before the judge to any other judge or any additional assigned +judge of the same court. The chief judge may assign any judge to +temporary service for which the judge is qualified in any court in the same +circuit. If it appears to the chief judge that the speedy, efficient, and proper +administration of justice so requires, the chief judge shall request the chief +justice of the supreme court to assign temporarily an additional judge or +judges from outside the circuit to duty in the court requiring assistance. +The assigned judges shall be subject to administrative supervision of the +chief judge for all purposes of this rule. When assigning a judge to hear +any type of postconviction or collateral relief proceeding brought by a +defendant who has been sentenced to death, the chief judge shall assign to +such cases a judge qualified to conduct such proceedings under subdivision +(b)(10) of this rule. Nothing in this rule shall restrict the constitutional +powers of the chief justice of the supreme court to make such assignments +as the chief justice shall deem appropriate. + +(5) The chief judge may designate a judge in any court or court division +of circuit or county courts as administrative judge of any court or +division to assist with the administrative supervision of the court or +division. To the extent practical, the chief judge shall assign only one +administrative judge to supervise the family court. The designee shall be +responsible to the chief judge, shall have the power and duty to carry out +the responsibilities assigned by the chief judge, and shall serve at the + + + +pleasure of the chief judge. +(6) The chief judge may require the attendance of prosecutors, public + +defenders, clerks, bailiffs, and other officers of the courts, and may require +from the clerks of the courts, sheriffs, or other officers of the courts +periodic reports that the chief judge deems necessary. + +(7) The chief judge shall regulate the use of all court facilities, regularly +examine the dockets of the courts under the chief judges administrative +supervision, and require a report on the status of the matters on the +dockets. The chief judge may take such action as may be necessary to +cause the dockets to be made current. The chief judge shall monitor the +status of all postconviction or collateral relief proceedings for defendants +who have been sentenced to death from the time that the mandate affirming +the death sentence has been issued by the supreme court and shall take the +necessary actions to assure that such cases proceed without undue delay. +On the first day of every January, April, July, and October, the chief judge +shall inform the chief justice of the supreme court of the status of all such +cases. + +(8) The chief judge or the chief judges designee shall regularly examine +the status of every inmate of the county jail. + +(9) The chief judge may authorize the clerks of the courts to maintain +branch county court facilities. When so authorized, clerks of court shall be +permitted to retain in such branch court facilities all county court +permanent records of pending cases, and may retain and destroy these +records in the manner provided by law. +(10)(A) The chief judge shall not assign a judge to preside over a capital +case in which the state is seeking the death penalty, or collateral +proceedings brought by a death row inmate, until that judge has become +qualified to do so by: + +(i) presiding a minimum of 6 months in a felony criminal division +or in a division that includes felony criminal cases, and + +(ii) successfully attending the Handling Capital Cases course +offered through the Florida Court Education Council. A judge whose +caseload includes felony criminal cases must attend the Handling +Capital Cases course as soon as practicable, or upon the direction of + + + +the chief judge. +(B) The chief justice may waive these requirements in exceptional + +circumstances at the request of the chief judge. +(C) Following attendance at the Handling Capital Cases course, a + +judge shall remain qualified to preside over a capital case by attending a +Capital Case Refresher course once during each of the subsequent +continuing judicial education (CJE) reporting periods. A judge who has +attended the Handling Capital Cases course and who has not taken the +Capital Case Refresher course within any subsequent continuing +judicial education reporting period must requalify to preside over a +capital case by attending the refresher course. + +(D) The refresher course shall be at least a 6-hour course and must be +approved by the Florida Court Education Council. The course must +contain instruction on the following topics: penalty phase, jury selection, +and proceedings brought pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure +3.851. +(11) The failure of any judge to comply with an order or directive of the + +chief judge shall be considered neglect of duty and may be reported by the +chief judge to the chief justice of the supreme court who shall have the +authority to take any corrective action as may be appropriate. The chief +judge may report the neglect of duty by a judge to the Judicial +Qualifications Commission or other appropriate person or body, or take +such other corrective action as may be appropriate. + +(12) At the call of the chief justice, the chief judges of the circuit court +and district courts of appeal shall meet on a regular basis and with each +other and with the chief justice to discuss and provide feedback for +implementation of policies and practices that have statewide impact +including, but not limited to, the judicial branchs management, operation, +strategic plan, legislative agenda and budget priorities. Such meetings +shall, if practicable, occur at least quarterly and be conducted in person. At +the discretion of the chief justice, any of these meetings may be combined +with other judicial branch and leadership meetings. + +(13) The chief judge shall have the responsibility to exercise reasonable +efforts to promote and encourage diversity in the administration of justice. + + + +(c) Selection. The chief judge shall be chosen by a majority of the active +circuit and county court judges within the circuit for a term of 2 years +commencing on July 1 of each odd-numbered year, or if there is no majority, +by the chief justice, for a term of 2 years. The election for chief judge shall be +held no sooner than February 1 of the year during which the chief judges +term commences beginning July 1. All elections for chief judge shall be +conducted as follows: + +(1) All ballots shall be secret. +(2) Any circuit or county judge may nominate a candidate for chief + +judge. +(3) Proxy voting shall not be permitted. +(4) Any judge who will be absent from the election may vote by secret + +absentee ballot obtained from and returned to the Trial Court +Administrator. +A chief judge may be removed as chief judge by the supreme court, acting +as the administrative supervisory body of all courts, or may be removed by +a two-thirds vote of the active judges. The purpose of this rule is to fix a 2- +year cycle for the selection of the chief judge in each circuit. A chief judge +may serve for successive terms but in no event shall the total term as chief +judge exceed 8 years. A chief judge who is to be temporarily absent shall +select an acting chief judge from among the circuit judges. If a chief judge +dies, retires, fails to appoint an acting chief judge during an absence, or is +unable to perform the duties of the office, the chief justice of the supreme +court shall appoint a circuit judge to act as chief judge during the absence +or disability, or until a successor chief judge is elected to serve the +unexpired term. When the office of chief judge is temporarily vacant +pending action within the scope of this paragraph, the duties of court +administration shall be performed by the circuit judge having the longest +continuous service as a judge or by another circuit judge designated by that +judge. +(d) Circuit Court Administrator. Each circuit court administrator shall + +be selected or terminated by the chief judge subject to concurrence by a +majority vote of the circuit and county judges of the respective circuits. + +(e) Local Rules and Administrative Orders. + + + +(1) Local court rules as defined in rule 2.120 may be proposed by a +majority of the circuit and county judges in the circuit. The judges shall +notify the local bar within the circuit of the proposal, after which they shall +permit a representative of the local bar, and may permit any other +interested person, to be heard orally or in writing on the proposal before +submitting it to the supreme court for approval. When a proposed local rule +is submitted to the supreme court for approval, the following procedure +shall apply: + +(A) Local court rule proposals shall be submitted to the supreme court +in January of each year. The supreme court may accept emergency +proposals submitted at other times. + +(B) Not later than February 15 of each year, the clerk of the supreme +court shall submit all local court rule proposals to the Supreme Court +Local Rules Advisory Committee created by rule 2.140. At the same +time, the clerk of the supreme court shall send copies of the proposed +rules to the appropriate committees of The Florida Bar. The Florida Bar +committees, any interested local bar associations, and any other +interested person shall submit any comments or responses that they wish +to make to the Supreme Court Local Rules Advisory Committee on or +before March 15 of the year. + +(C) The Supreme Court Local Rules Advisory Committee shall meet +on or before April 15 to consider the proposals and any comments +submitted by interested parties. The committee shall transmit its +recommendations to the supreme court concerning each proposal, with +the reasons for its recommendations, within 15 days after its meeting. + +(D) The supreme court shall consider the recommendations of the +committee and may resubmit the proposals with modifications to the +committee for editorial comment only. The supreme court may set a +hearing on any proposals, or consider them on the recommendations and +comments as submitted. If a hearing is set, notice shall be given to the +chief judge of the circuit from which the proposals originated, the +executive director of The Florida Bar, the chair of the Rules of General +Practice and Judicial Administration Committee of The Florida Bar, any +local bar associations, and any interested persons who made comments +on the specific proposals to be considered. The supreme court shall act + + + +on the proposals promptly after the recommendations are received or +heard. + +(E) If a local court rule is approved by the supreme court, it shall +become effective on the date set by that court. + +(F) A copy of all local court rules approved by the supreme court shall +be indexed and recorded by the clerk of the circuit court in each county +of the circuit where the rules are effective. A set of the recorded copies +shall be readily available for inspection as a public record, and copies +shall be provided to any requesting party for the cost of duplication. The +chief judge of the circuit may provide for the publication of the rules. +The clerk of the supreme court shall furnish copies of each approved +local court rule to the executive director of The Florida Bar. +(2) Any judge or member of The Florida Bar who believes that an + +administrative order promulgated under subdivision (b)(2) of this rule is a +court rule or a local rule as defined in rule 2.120, rather than an +administrative order, may apply to the Supreme Court Local Rules +Advisory Committee for a decision on the question. The decisions of the +committee concerning the determination of the question shall be reported +to the supreme court, and the court shall follow the procedure set forth in +subdivision (D) above in considering the recommendation of the +committee. + +(3) All administrative orders of a general and continuing nature, and all +others designated by the chief judge, shall be indexed and recorded by the +clerk of the circuit court in each county where the orders are effective. A +set of the recorded copies shall be readily available for inspection as a +public record, and copies shall be provided to any requesting party for the +cost of duplication. The chief judge shall, on an annual basis, direct a +review of all local administrative orders to ensure that the set of copies +maintained by the clerk remains current and does not conflict with supreme +court or local rules. + +(4) All local court rules entered pursuant to this section shall be +numbered sequentially for each respective judicial circuit. +(f) Duty to Rule within a Reasonable Time. Every judge has a duty to + +rule upon and announce an order or judgment on every matter submitted to + + + +that judge within a reasonable time. Each judge shall maintain a log of cases +under advisement and inform the chief judge of the circuit at the end of each +calendar month of each case that has been held under advisement for more +than 60 days. + +(g) Duty to Expedite Priority Cases. Every judge has a duty to expedite +priority cases to the extent reasonably possible. Priority cases are those cases +that have been assigned a priority status or assigned an expedited disposition +schedule by statute, rule of procedure, case law, or otherwise. Particular +attention shall be given to all juvenile dependency and termination of parental +rights cases, cases involving families and children in need of services, +challenges involving elections and proposed constitutional amendments, and +capital postconviction cases. As part of an effort to make capital +postconviction cases a priority, the chief judge shall have the discretion to +create a postconviction division to handle capital postconviction, as well as +non-capital postconviction cases, and may assign one or more judges to that +division. + +(h) Neglect of Duty. The failure of any judge, clerk, prosecutor, public +defender, attorney, court reporter, or other officer of the court to comply with +an order or directive of the chief judge shall be considered neglect of duty +and shall be reported by the chief judge to the chief justice of the supreme +court. The chief justice may report the neglect of duty by a judge to the +Judicial Qualifications Commission, and neglect of duty by other officials to +the governor of Florida or other appropriate person or body. + +(i) Status Conference After Compilation of Record in Death Case. In +any proceeding in which a defendant has been sentenced to death, the circuit +judge assigned to the case shall take such action as may be necessary to +ensure that a complete record on appeal has been properly prepared. To that +end, the judge shall convene a status conference with all counsel of record as +soon as possible after the record has been prepared pursuant to rule of +appellate procedure 9.200(d) but before the record has been transmitted. The +purpose of the status conference shall be to ensure that the record is +complete. + +Criminal Court Steering Committee Notes +2014 Amendment. Capital postconviction cases were added to the list of + + + +priority cases. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Amendment. Rule 2.050(h) [renumbered as 2.215(h) in 2006] +should be read in conjunction with Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure +9.140(b)(4)(A). + +1997 Amendment. [Rule 2.050(b)(10), renumbered as 2.215(b)(10) in +2006]. The refresher course may be a six-hour block during any Florida Court +Education Council approved course offering sponsored by any approved +Florida judicial education provider, including the Florida College of +Advanced Judicial Studies or the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges. The +block must contain instruction on the following topics: penalty phase, jury +selection, and rule 3.850 proceedings. + +Failure to complete the refresher course during the three-year judicial +education reporting period will necessitate completion of the original +Handling Capital Cases course. + +2002 Amendment. Recognizing the inherent differences in trial and +appellate court dockets, the last sentence of subdivision (g) is intended to +conform to the extent practicable with appellate rule 9.146(g), which requires +appellate courts to give priority to appeals in juvenile dependency and +termination of parental rights cases, and in cases involving families and +children in need of services. + +2008 Amendment. The provisions in subdivision (g) of this rule should be +read in conjunction with the provisions of rule 2.545(c) governing priority +cases. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.220. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.220 + +RULE 2.220. CONFERENCES OF JUDGES. +(a) Conference of County Court Judges. + +(1) Creation. There shall be a Conference of County Court Judges of +Florida, consisting of the active and senior county court judges of the +State of Florida. + +(2) Purpose. The purpose of the conference shall be: +(A) the betterment of the judicial system of the state; +(B) the improvement of procedure and practice in the several courts; +(C) to conduct conferences and institutes for continuing judicial + +education and to provide forums in which the county court judges of +Florida may meet and discuss mutual problems and solutions; and + +(D) to provide input to the Unified Committee on Judicial +Compensation on judicial compensation and benefit issues, and to assist +the judicial branch in soliciting support and resources on these issues. +(3) Officers. Management of the conference shall be vested in the + +officers of the conference, an executive committee, and a board of +directors. + +(A) The officers of the conference shall be: +(i) the president, president-elect, immediate past president, + +secretary, and treasurer, who shall be elected at large; and +(ii) one vice-president elected from each appellate court district. + +(B) The executive committee shall consist of the officers of the +conference and an executive secretary. + +(C) The board of directors shall consist of the executive committee +and a member elected from each judicial circuit. + +(D) There shall be an annual meeting of the conference. +(E) Between annual meetings of the conference, the affairs of the + +conference shall be managed by the executive committee. + + + +(4) Authority. The conference may adopt governance documents, the +provisions of which shall not be inconsistent with this rule. +(b) Conference of Circuit Court Judges. + +(1) Organization. There shall be a Conference of Circuit Court Judges +of Florida, consisting of the active and retired circuit judges of the several +judicial circuits of the state, excluding retired judges practicing law. + +(2) Purpose. The purpose of the conference shall be: +(A) the betterment of the judicial system of the state; +(B) the improvement of procedure and practice in the several courts; +(C) to conduct conferences and institutes for continuing judicial + +education and to provide forums in which the circuit court judges of +Florida may meet and discuss mutual problems and solutions; + +(D) to provide input to the Unified Committee on Judicial +Compensation on judicial compensation and benefit issues, and to assist +the judicial branch in soliciting support and resources on these issues; + +(E) to report to the Florida Supreme Court recommendations as the +conference may have concerning the improvement of procedure and +practice in the several courts; + +(F) to confer with the Florida Supreme Court regarding concerns the +conference may have concerning the laws of this state affecting the +administration of justice; and + +(G) to provide to the Florida Legislature recommendations as the +conference may have concerning laws of this state affecting the +administration of justice. +(3) Officers. Management of the conference shall be vested in the + +officers of the conference, an executive committee, and a board of +directors. + +(A) The officers of the conference shall be the chair, chair-elect, +secretary, and treasurer. + +(B) The executive committee shall consist of the officers of the +conference and such other members as the conference shall determine. + + + +(C) The board of directors shall consist of the executive committee +and membership in one shall be identical to membership of the other. + +(D) There shall be an annual meeting of the conference. +(E) Between annual meetings of the conference, the affairs of the + +conference shall be managed by the executive committee. +(4) Authority. The conference may adopt governance documents, the + +provisions of which shall not be inconsistent with this rule. +(c) Conference of District Court of Appeal Judges. + +(1) Creation. There shall be a Florida Conference of District Court of +Appeal Judges, consisting of the active and senior district court of appeal +judges of the State of Florida. + +(2) Purpose. The purpose of the conference shall be: +(A) the betterment of the judicial system of the state; +(B) the improvement of procedure and practice in the several courts; +(C) to conduct conferences and institutes for continuing judicial + +education and to provide forums in which the district court of appeal +judges of Florida may meet and discuss mutual problems and solutions; +and + +(D) to provide input to the Unified Committee on Judicial +Compensation on judicial compensation and benefit issues, and to assist +the judicial branch in soliciting support and resources on these issues. +(3) Officers. Management of the conference shall be vested in the + +officers of the conference and an executive committee. +(A) The officers of the conference shall be the president, president- + +elect, and secretary-treasurer. +(B) The executive committee shall consist of the president and + +president-elect of the conference and the chief judge of each district +court of appeal. + +(C) There shall be an annual meeting of the conference. +(D) Between annual meetings of the conference, the affairs of the + +conference shall be managed by the executive committee. + + + +(4) Authority. The conference may adopt governance documents, the +provisions of which shall not be inconsistent with this rule. +(d) Cooperation and Coordination. The conferences of judges shall + +cooperate and coordinate with each other and the state courts administrator +on all matters that have implications for the branch as a whole, consistent +with their purpose of the betterment of the judicial system of the state and +subject to the direction of the chief justice as the chief administrative officer +of the judicial branch. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.225. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.225 + +RULE 2.225. JUDICIAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL. +(a) Creation and Responsibilities. There is hereby created the Judicial + +Management Council of Florida, which shall meet at least quarterly, and be +charged with the following responsibilities: + +(1) identifying potential crisis situations affecting the judicial branch and +developing strategy to timely and effectively address them; + +(2) identifying and evaluating information that would assist in +improving the performance and effectiveness of the judicial branch (for +example, information including, but not limited to, internal operations for +cash flow and budget performance, and statistical information by court and +type of cases for (i) number of cases filed, (ii) aged inventory of cases +the number and age of cases pending, (iii) time to disposition the +percentage of cases disposed or otherwise resolved within established time +frames, and (iv) clearance rates the number of outgoing cases as a +percentage of the number of incoming cases); + +(3) developing and monitoring progress relating to long-range planning +for the judicial branch; + +(4) reviewing the charges of the various court and Florida Bar +commissions and committees, recommending consolidation or revision of +the commissions and committees, and recommending a method for the +coordination of the work of those bodies based on the proposed revisions; +and + +(5) addressing issues brought to the council by the supreme court. +(b) Referrals. The chief justice and the supreme court shall consider + +referring significant new issues or problems with implications for judicial +branch policy to the Judicial Management Council prior to the creation of any +new committees. + +(c) Supreme Court Action on Recommendations by the Judicial +Management Council. The supreme court may take any or all of the +following actions on recommendations made by the Judicial Management +Council: + + + +(1) adopt the recommendation of the council in whole or in part, with or +without conditions, including but not limited to: + +(A) directing that action be taken to influence or change +administrative policy, management practices, rules, or programs that are +the subject of the recommendations; + +(B) including the recommendation in the judicial branchs legislative +agenda or budget requests; +(2) refer specific issues or questions back to the council for further study + +or alternative recommendations; +(3) reject the recommendation or decision in whole or in part; +(4) refer the recommendation to other entities, such as the Florida + +Legislature, the governor, the cabinet, executive branch agencies, or The +Florida Bar, as the supreme court deems appropriate; or + +(5) take alternative action. +(d) Membership. + +(1) The council shall consist of 15 voting members, including the chief +justice, who shall chair the council, an additional justice of the supreme +court, representatives from each level of court, and public members. + +(2) All voting members shall be appointed by the supreme court. Each +member, other than the chief justice, will initially be appointed for a 2- or +4- year term, with the terms staggered to ensure continuity and experience +on the council and for 4-year terms thereafter. + +(3) The state courts administrator shall be a nonvoting member. The +council may request other nonvoting persons to participate on an as-needed +temporary basis to gain expertise and experience in certain issues on +review. +(e) Staff Support and Funding. The Office of the State Courts + +Administrator shall provide primary staff support to the Judicial Management +Council. Adequate staffing and other resources shall be made available to the +Office of the State Courts Administrator to ensure the effective and efficient +completion of tasks assigned to the Judicial Management Council. Sufficient +resources shall also be provided for meetings of the Judicial Management + + + +Council and its committees or subcommittees, and other expenses necessary +to the satisfactory completion of its work. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.230. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.230 + +RULE 2.230. TRIAL COURT BUDGET COMMISSION. +(a) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to establish a Trial Court Budget + +Commission that will have the responsibility for developing and overseeing +the administration of trial court budgets in a manner which ensures equity +and fairness in state funding among the 20 judicial circuits. + +(b) Responsibilities. The Trial Court Budget Commission is charged with +specific responsibility to: + +(1) establish budgeting and funding policies and procedures consistent +with judicial branch plans and policies, directions from the supreme court, +and in consideration of input from the Commission on Trial Court +Performance and Accountability and other supreme court committees and +from the Florida Conference of Circuit Court Judges and the Florida +Conference of County Court Judges; + +(2) make recommendations to the supreme court on the trial court +component of the annual judicial branch budget request; + +(3) advocate for the trial court component of the annual judicial branch +budget request and associated statutory changes; + +(4) make recommendations to the supreme court on funding allocation +formulas and budget implementation and criteria as well as associated +accountability mechanisms based on actual legislative appropriations; + +(5) monitor trial court expenditure trends and revenue collections to +identify unanticipated budget problems and to ensure the efficient use of +resources; + +(6) recommend statutory and rule changes related to trial court budgets; +(7) develop recommended responses to findings on financial audits and + +reports from the Supreme Court Inspector General, Auditor General, +Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, and +other governmental entities charged with auditing responsibilities +regarding trial court budgeting when appropriate; + +(8) recommend to the supreme court trial court budget reductions + + + +required by the legislature; +(9) identify potential additional sources of revenue for the trial courts; +(10) recommend to the supreme court legislative pay plan issues for trial + +court personnel, except the commission shall not make recommendations +as to pay or benefits for judges; and + +(11) request input from the Commission on Trial Court Performance and +Accountability on recommendations from that commission that may +impact the trial court budget or require funding. +(c) Operational Procedures. The Trial Court Budget Commission will + +establish operating procedures necessary to carry out its responsibilities as +outlined in subdivision (b), subject to final approval by the supreme court. +These procedures shall include: + +(1) a method for ensuring input from interested constituencies, including +the chief judges and trial court administrators of the trial courts, other +members of the trial court judiciary, the Judicial Management Council, the +Commission on Trial Court Performance and Accountability, and other +judicial branch committees and commissions; and + +(2) a method for appeal of the decisions of the Trial Court Budget +Commission. Appeals may be made only by a chief judge on behalf of a +circuit. Appeals may be heard only by the Trial Court Budget Commission +unless the appeal is based on the failure of the commission to adhere to its +operating procedures, in which case the appeal may be made to the +supreme court. +(d) Action by Supreme Court or Chief Justice on Recommendations of + +Trial Court Budget Commission. The supreme court or chief justice, as +appropriate, may take any or all of the following actions on recommendations +made by the Trial Court Budget Commission: + +(1) The adoption of the recommendations of the commission made in +accordance with the discharge of its responsibilities listed in subdivision +(b) in whole. + +(2) The adoption of the recommendations in part and referral of specific +issues or questions back to the commission for further study or alternative +recommendations. + + + +(e) Membership and Organization. The Trial Court Budget Commission +will be composed of 21 voting members appointed by the chief justice who +will be trial court judges and trial court administrators and who will represent +the interests of the trial courts generally rather than the individual interests of +a particular circuit, level of court, or division. The respective presidents of the +Conference of Circuit Court Judges and the Conference of County Court +Judges and the chair of the Commission on Trial Court Performance and +Accountability shall serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the +commission. The chief justice will make appointments to ensure that the +broad interests of the trial courts are represented by including members who +are from different levels of court (circuit or county), who have experience in +different divisions, who have expertise in court operations or administrative +matters, and who offer geographic, racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. + +(1) The membership must include a minimum of 12 trial court judges +and a minimum of 5 trial court administrators. + +(2) The chief justice will appoint 1 member to serve as chair and 1 +member to serve as vice chair, each for a 2-year term. + +(3) A supreme court justice will be appointed by the chief justice to +serve as supreme court liaison. + +(4) No circuit will have more than 2 members on the commission. +(5) Voting members will each be appointed for a 6-year term and may + +serve no more than two full terms. Notwithstanding that limitation, the +chief justice may appoint a member for additional terms if the supreme +court determines it is in the best interests of the trial courts. In the event of +a vacancy, the chief justice will appoint a new member to serve for the +remainder of the departing members term, which service shall not count +toward the limitation on the number of terms. + +(6) The commission may establish subcommittees as necessary to +satisfactorily carry out its responsibilities. Subcommittees may make +recommendations only to the commission as a whole. The chair of the +commission may appoint a non-commission member to serve on a +subcommittee. +(f) Staff Support and Funding. The Office of the State Courts + +Administrator will provide primary staff support to the commission. + + + +Adequate staffing and resources will be made available to the Office of the +State Courts Administrator to ensure the commission is able to fulfill its +responsibilities as outlined in the rule. Sufficient resources will also be +provided for the commission and its subcommittees to meet and otherwise +complete its work. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.235. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.235 + +RULE 2.235. DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL BUDGET +COMMISSION. + +(a) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to establish a District Court of +Appeal Budget Commission with responsibility for developing and +overseeing the administration of district court budgets in a manner which +ensures equity and fairness in state funding among the 5 districts. + +(b) Responsibilities. The District Court of Appeal Budget Commission is +charged with specific responsibility to: + +(1) establish budgeting and funding policies and procedures consistent +with judicial branch plans and policies, directions from the supreme court, +and in consideration of input from the Commission on District Court of +Appeal Performance and Accountability, and other supreme court +committees; + +(2) make recommendations to the supreme court on a unitary district +court component of the annual judicial branch budget request; + +(3) advocate for the district court component of the annual judicial +branch budget request; + +(4) make recommendations to the supreme court on funding allocation +formulas and/or criteria as well as associated accountability mechanisms +based on actual legislative appropriations; + +(5) monitor district court expenditure trends and revenue collections to +identify unanticipated budget problems and to ensure the efficient use of +resources; + +(6) recommend statutory and rule changes related to district court +budgets; + +(7) develop recommended responses to findings on financial audits and +reports from the Supreme Court Inspector General, Auditor General, +Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, and +other governmental entities charged with auditing responsibilities +regarding district court budgeting when appropriate; + + + +(8) recommend to the supreme court district court budget reductions +required by the legislature; + +(9) identify potential additional sources of revenue for the district courts; +(10) recommend to the supreme court legislative pay plan issues for + +district court personnel, except the commission shall not make +recommendations as to pay or benefits for judges; and + +(11) request input from the Commission on District Court of Appeal +Performance and Accountability on recommendations from that +commission that may impact the district court budget or require funding. +(c) Operational Procedures. The District Court of Appeal Budget + +Commission will establish operating procedures necessary to carry out its +responsibilities as outlined in subdivision (b), subject to final approval by the +supreme court. These procedures shall include: + +(1) a method for ensuring input from interested constituencies, including +the chief judges, marshals, and clerks of the district courts, other members +of the district court judiciary, the Judicial Management Council, the +Commission on District Court of Appeal Performance and Accountability, +and other judicial branch committees and commissions; and + +(2) a method for appeal of the decisions of the District Court of Appeal +Budget Commission. Appeals may be made only by a chief judge on +behalf of the district. Appeals may be heard only by the District Court of +Appeal Budget Commission unless the appeal is based on the failure of the +commission to adhere to its operating procedures, in which case the appeal +may be made to the supreme court. +(d) Action by Supreme Court or Chief Justice on Recommendations of + +the District Court of Appeal Budget Commission. The supreme court or +chief justice, as appropriate, may take any or all of the following actions on +recommendations made by the District Court of Appeal Budget Commission: + +(1) The adoption of the recommendations of the commission made in +accordance with the discharge of its responsibilities listed in subdivision +(b) in whole. + +(2) The adoption of the recommendations in part and referral of specific +issues or questions back to the commission for further study or alternative + + + +recommendations. +(e) Membership and Organization. The District Court of Appeal Budget + +Commission will be composed of 10 voting members appointed by the chief +justice who will represent the interests of the district courts generally rather +than the individual interests of a particular district. + +(1) The membership shall include the chief judge of each district court +of appeal, who shall serve for his or her term as chief judge. The +membership shall also include one additional judge from each district court +of appeal, appointed by the chief justice, with advice from each chief +judge. The marshal of each district court of appeal shall serve as a +nonvoting member. Ex officio nonvoting members shall also include the +chairs of the District Court of Appeal Performance and Accountability +Commission and the Appellate Court Technology Committee, and the +president of the District Court of Appeal Judges Conference. + +(2) The chief justice will appoint 1 member to serve as chair and 1 +member to serve as vice chair, each for a four-year term, or until the +members term on the commission expires. + +(3) The commission may establish subcommittees as necessary to +satisfactorily carry out its responsibilities. Subcommittees may make +recommendations only to the commission as a whole. The chair of the +commission may appoint a non-commission member to serve on a +subcommittee. + +(4) Effective July 1, 2013, the commission shall be reconstituted with +staggered terms for voting members, as follows: (A) The chief judge of +each district will be appointed for his or her term as chief judge. (B) The +additional judge from each odd-numbered district will be appointed for a +four-year term. (C) The additional judge from each even-numbered district +will be appointed for a two-year term, and thereafter to four-year terms. +(D) Each nonvoting member will serve so long as he or she continues to +hold the office which entitles him or her to membership on the +commission. +(f) Staff Support and Funding. The Office of the State Courts + +Administrator will provide primary staff support to the commission. +Adequate staffing and resources will be made available to the Office of the + + + +State Courts Administrator to ensure the commission is able to fulfill its +responsibilities as outlined in this rule. Sufficient resources will also be +provided for the commission and its subcommittees to meet and otherwise +complete its work. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.236. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.236 + +RULE 2.236. FLORIDA COURTS TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION. +(a) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to establish a Florida Courts + +Technology Commission with responsibility for overseeing, managing, and +directing the development and use of technology within the judicial branch +under the direction of the supreme court as specified in this rule. For the +purpose of this rule, the term judicial branch does not include The Florida +Bar, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, or the Judicial Qualifications +Commission. + +(b) Responsibilities. The Florida Courts Technology Commission is +charged with specific responsibility to: + +(1) make recommendations to the supreme court on all matters of +technology policy impacting the judicial branch to allow the supreme court +to establish technology policy in the branch; + +(2) make recommendations to the supreme court regarding policies for +public access to electronic court records; + +(3) make recommendations to the supreme court about the relative +priorities of various technology projects within the judicial branch so that +the supreme court can establish priorities. The commission should +coordinate with the Trial Court Budget Commission and District Court of +Appeal Budget Commission to secure funds for allocation of those +priorities; + +(4) direct and establish priorities for the work of all technology +committees in the judicial branch, including the Appellate Court +Technology Committee, and review and approve recommendations made +by any court committee concerning technology matters or otherwise +implicating court technology policy; + +(5) establish, periodically review, and update technical standards for +technology used and to be used in the judicial branch to receive, manage, +maintain, use, secure, and distribute court records by electronic means, +consistent with the technology policies established by the supreme court. +These standards shall be coordinated with the strategic plans of the judicial + + + +branch, rules of procedure, applicable law, and directions from the +supreme court, and shall incorporate input from the public, clerks of court, +supreme court committees and commissions, and other groups involved in +the application of current technology to the judicial branch; + +(6) create procedures whereby courts and clerks and other applicable +entities can apply for approval of new systems, or modifications to existing +systems, that involve the application of technology to the receipt, +management, maintenance, use, securing, and distribution of court records +within the judicial branch, and between the public and the judicial branch; + +(7) evaluate all such applications to determine whether they comply with +the technology policies established by the supreme court and the +procedures and standards created pursuant to this rule, and approve those +applications deemed to be effective and found to be in compliance; + +(8) develop and maintain security policies that must be utilized to ensure +the integrity and availability of court technology systems and related data; + +(9) ensure principles of accessibility are met for all court technology +projects, with consideration and application of the requirements of the +Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and any other applicable state or +federal disability laws; + +(10) ensure that the technology utilized in the judicial branch is capable +of required integration; + +(11) periodically review and evaluate all approved technology in the +judicial branch to determine its adherence to current supreme court +technology policies and standards; + +(12) review annual and periodic reports on the status of court technology +systems and proposals for technology improvements and innovation +throughout the judicial branch; + +(13) recommend statutory and rule changes or additions relating to court +technology and the receipt, maintenance, management, use, securing, and +distribution of court records by electronic means; + +(14) identify technology issues that require attention in the judicial +branch upon: + +(A) referral from the chief justice; + + + +(B) referral from the supreme court; or +(C) identification by the Florida Courts Technology Commission on + +its own initiative based on recommendations of the public, commission +members, judges, justice system partners, The Florida Bar, clerks of +court, the Florida Legislature (either informally or through the passage +of legislation), the Governor, the cabinet, or executive branch agencies; +and +(15) coordinate proposed amendments to rules of court procedure and + +judicial administration necessary to effectuate the commissions charge +with appropriate Florida Bar rules committees. +If a program, system, or application is found not to comply with the +policies established by the supreme court or the standards and procedures +established by the commission, the commission may require that it be +terminated or modified or subject to such conditions as the commission +deems appropriate. +(c) Operational Procedures. The Florida Courts Technology Commission + +shall establish operating procedures necessary to carry out its responsibilities +as outlined in subdivision (b), subject to final approval by the supreme court. +These procedures shall include: + +(1) a method for ensuring input from all interested constituencies in the +state of Florida; + +(2) a method for monitoring the development of new court technology +projects, reviewing reports on new technology projects, and reviewing the +annual reports; + +(3) a method whereby courts and clerks and other applicable entities can +apply for approval of new technology systems or applications, or +modifications to existing systems or applications, that affect the receipt, +management, maintenance, use, securing, and distribution of court records; + +(4) a system to evaluate all applications for new or modified technology +systems to determine whether they comply with the policies and technical +standards established by the supreme court and the procedures created +pursuant to this rule, and are otherwise appropriate to implement in the +judicial branch; + + + +(5) a process for making decisions on all applications for new or +modified technology systems and communicating those decisions to +interested parties. If an application is found to comply with technology +policies and standards, the commission may approve the application and its +written approval shall authorize the applicant to proceed. For all +applications that are not approved, the commission shall assist the +applicant in remedying any deficiencies that the commission identifies; + +(6) a method to monitor all technology programs, systems, and +applications used in the judicial branch to ensure that such programs, +systems, and applications are operating in accordance with the technology +policies established by the supreme court and technical standards +established by the commission. The commission may ask any operator of a +program, system, or application to appear before it for examination into +whether the program, system, or application complies with technology +policies and standards; + +(7) a process to conduct the limited, short-term work of the commission +through work groups that it may constitute from time to time. Work groups +may make recommendations to the commission as a whole. The chair of +the commission may appoint non-commission members to serve on any +work group; and + +(8) a process to conduct substantial work of the commission requiring +long-term commitment through subcommittees. Subcommittees may make +recommendations to the commission as a whole. The chair of the +commission may appoint non-commission members to serve on any +subcommittee. +(d) Action by Supreme Court or Chief Justice on Recommendations of + +or Decisions by Florida Courts Technology Commission. The supreme +court or chief justice, as appropriate, may take any of the following actions +on recommendations or decisions made by the Florida Courts Technology +Commission: + +(1) Adopt the recommendation or decision of the commission in whole +or in part, with or without conditions. + +(2) Refer specific issues or questions back to the commission for further +study or alternative recommendations. + + + +(3) Reject the recommendation or decision in whole or in part. +(4) Take alternative action. + +(e) Membership and Organization. +(1) The Florida Courts Technology Commission shall be composed of + +25 voting members appointed by the chief justice after consultation with +the court. All members shall represent the interests of the public and of +Florida courts generally rather than the separate interests of any particular +district, circuit, county, division, or other organization. The membership +shall include members who have experience in different divisions of +courts, in court operations, and in using technology in court for case +processing, management, and administrative purposes, and shall provide +geographic, racial, ethnic, gender, and other diversity. + +(2) The membership shall include 2 district court judges, 5 circuit court +judges (1 of whom must be a chief judge), 2 county court judges, 3 court +administrators, 3 court technology officers, 4 clerks of court (1 of whom +must be a clerk of an appellate court), 4 members of The Florida Bar (1 of +whom must be a member of the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar), +and 2 members of the public at large. + +(3) The members of the commission who are judicial officers, court +technology officers, and court administrators must constitute a majority of +the commission and must constitute a majority of any quorum at all +meetings of the commission. + +(4) A supreme court justice shall be appointed by the chief justice to +serve as supreme court liaison to the commission. + +(5) Each member will be initially appointed for a 1-, 2-, or 3-year term, +with the terms staggered to ensure continuity and experience on the +commission and for three year terms thereafter. Retention and +reappointment of each member will be at the discretion of the chief justice. + +(6) The chief justice shall appoint 1 member to serve as chair for a two- +year term. +(f) Schedule of Reports. The Florida Courts Technology Commission + +shall prepare an annual report of its activities, which shall include its +recommendations for changes or additions to the technology policies or + + + +standards of Florida courts, its recommendations for setting or changing +priorities among the programs within the responsibility of the commission to +assist with budget resources available, its recommendations for changes to +rules, statutes, or regulations that affect technology in Florida courts and the +work of the commission. The report also shall include recommendations of +the Appellate Court Technology Committee that implicate court technology +policy and the action taken on those recommendations by the commission. +This report shall be submitted to the supreme court on April 1 of each year. + +(g) Appellate Court Technology Committee. +(1) Purpose. The purpose of this subdivision is to establish the + +Appellate Court Technology Committee as a standing committee of the +Florida Courts Technology Commission responsible for providing +technical guidance and consultation to the commission regarding +information systems development and operational policies and procedures +relating to automation in the district courts of appeal. + +(2) Responsibilities. The Appellate Court Technology Committee is +charged with specific responsibility to: + +(A) coordinate with and provide advice to the Florida Courts +Technology Commission regarding the development of standards and +policies for implementing new technologies, system security, public +access to district court information, and system support; + +(B) develop, recommend, and implement policy and procedures +consistent with the overall policy of the supreme court relating to +technology issues affecting the district courts of appeal; + +(C) recommend and coordinate the purchase and upgrade of hardware +and software in relation to the district courts office automation systems +and networks; + +(D) oversee and direct expenditures of designated state court system +trust funds for technology needs in the district courts; + +(E) promote orientation and education programs on technology and its +effective utilization in the district court environment; + +(F) ensure principles of accessibility are met for all court technology +projects, with consideration and application of the requirements of the + + + +Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and any other applicable state +or federal disability laws; + +(G) propose amendments to rules of court procedure and judicial +administration necessary to effectuate the committees charge, after +coordination with appropriate Florida Bar rules committees; and + +(H) identify budget issues and funding sources and coordinate with +the District Court of Appeal Budget Commission on recommendations +requiring additional funding or resources for implementation in the +district courts of appeal. +(3) Membership and Terms. + +(A) The chief justice will select the chair of the committee from +among the judges of the district courts, with input from the chief judges. + +(B) The chief judges of the remaining district courts will designate a +representative from each of their courts to serve as member of the +committee. + +(C) The chair and members will serve 3-year terms. Retention and +reappointment of the chair will be at the discretion of the chief justice. +Retention and reappointment of the representative from each district +court will be at the discretion of the district court chief judge. +(4) Commission Approval and Reporting of Policy + +Recommendations. Committee recommendations that implicate court +technology policy must be reviewed and approved by the commission. The +commission will report the committees policy recommendations and the +action taken on them by the commission to the supreme court. The +committee may submit to the court a companion report on its +recommendations, supporting or opposing the action taken by the +commission. +(h) Staff Support and Funding. The Office of the State Courts + +Administrator shall provide primary staff support to the Florida Courts +Technology Commission and the Appellate Court Technology Committee. +Adequate staffing and resources shall be made available by the Office of the +State Courts Administrator to ensure that the commission and committee are +able to fulfill their responsibilities under this rule. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.240. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.240 + +RULE 2.240. DETERMINATION OF NEED FOR ADDITIONAL +JUDGES. + +(a) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to set forth uniform criteria used +by the supreme court in determining the need for additional judges, except +supreme court justices, and the necessity for decreasing the number of judges, +pursuant to article V, section 9, Florida Constitution. These criteria form the +primary basis for the supreme courts determination of need for additional +judges. Unforeseen developments, however, may have an impact upon the +judiciary resulting in needs which cannot be foreseen or predicted by +statistical projections. The supreme court, therefore, may also consider any +additional information found by it to be relevant to the process. In +establishing criteria for the need for additional appellate court judges, +substantial reliance has been placed on the findings and recommendations of +the Commission on District Court of Appeal Performance and +Accountability. See In re Report of the Commn on Dist. Court of Appeal +Performance and AccountabilityRule of Judicial Admin. 2.035, 933 So.2d +1136 (Fla. 2006). + +(b) Criteria. +(1) Trial Courts. + +(A) Assessment of judicial need at the trial court level is based +primarily upon the application of case weights to circuit and county +court caseload statistics supplied to the Office of the State Courts +Administrator by the clerks of the circuit courts, pursuant to rule 2.245, +Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration. Such +case weights provide a quantified measure of judicial time spent on +case-related activity, translating judicial caseloads into judicial workload +by factoring in the relative complexity by case type in the following +manner: + +(i) The circuit court case weights are applied to forecasted case +filings, which include circuit criminal (includes felony, drug court, +and worthless check cases), circuit civil (includes matters involving +claims of $15,000.01 and above), family (includes domestic relations, + + + +juvenile dependency, and juvenile delinquency cases), and probate +(includes guardianship, mental health, and trust cases). + +(ii) The county court case weights are applied to forecasted filings, +which include county criminal (includes misdemeanor, violations of +county and municipal ordinance, worthless check, driving under the +influence, and other criminal traffic cases), and county civil (includes +small claims, matters involving claims ranging from $5,000.01 to +$15,000, landlord-tenant, and civil traffic infraction cases). +(B) Other factors may be utilized in the determination of the need for + +one or more additional judges. These factors include, but are not limited +to, the following: + +(i) The availability and use of county court judges in circuit court. +(ii) The availability and use of senior judges to serve on a particular + +court. +(iii) The availability and use of magistrates and hearing officers. +(iv) The extent of use of alternative dispute resolution. +(v) The number of jury trials. +(vi) Foreign language interpretations. +(vii) The geographic size and composition of a circuit, including + +travel times between courthouses in a particular jurisdiction and the +presence of community facilities such as correctional facilities, +medical facilities, and universities. + +(viii) Prosecutorial practices and law enforcement activities in the +courts jurisdiction, including any substantial commitment of +additional resources for state attorneys, public defenders, and local +law enforcement. + +(ix) The availability and use of case-related support staff and case +management policies and practices. + +(x) Caseload trends. +(C) The Commission on Trial Court Performance and Accountability + +shall review the trial court workload trends and case weights and + + + +consider adjustments no less than every five years. +(2) District Courts of Appeal. + +(A) The criteria for determining the need to certify the need for +increasing or decreasing the number of judges on a district court of +appeal shall include the following factors: + +(i) workload factors to be considered include: trends in case filings; +trends in changes in case mix; trends in the backlog of cases ready for +assignment and disposition; trends in the relative weight of cases +disposed on the merits per judge; and changes in statutes, rules of +court, and case law that directly or indirectly impact judicial +workload. + +(ii) efficiency factors to be considered include: a courts ability to +stay current with its caseload, as indicated by measurements such as +trend in clearance rate; trends in a courts percentage of cases +disposed within the time standards set forth in the Rules of General +Practice and Judicial Administration and explanation/justification for +cases not resolved within the time standards; and a courts utilization +of resources, case management techniques and technologies to +maximize the efficient adjudication of cases, research of legal issues, +and preparation and distribution of decisions. + +(iii) effectiveness factors to be considered include the extent to +which each judge has adequate time to: thoroughly research legal +issues, review briefs and memoranda of law, participate in court +conferences on pending cases, hear and dispose of motions, and +prepare correspondence, orders, judgments and opinions; expedite +appropriate cases; prepare written opinions when warranted; develop, +clarify, and maintain consistency in the law within that district; +review all decisions rendered by the court; perform administrative +duties relating to the court; and participate in the administration of the +justice system through work in statewide committees. + +(iv) professionalism factors to be considered include: the extent to +which judges report that they have time to participate, including +teaching, in education programs designed to increase the competency +and efficiency of the judiciary and justice system as well as the + + + +competency of lawyers; provide guidance and instruction for the +professional development of court support staff; and participate in +appropriate activities of the legal profession at both the state and local +levels to improve the relationship between the bench and bar, to +enhance lawyer professionalism, and to improve the administration of +justice. +(B) The court will presume that there is a need for an additional + +appellate court judgeship in any district for which a request is made and +where the relative weight of cases disposed on the merits per judge +would have exceeded the weighted case disposition threshold after +application of the proposed additional judge(s). + +(i) The relative weight of cases disposed on the merits shall be +determined based upon case disposition statistics supplied to the state +courts administrator by the clerks of the district courts of appeal, +multiplied by the relative case weights established pursuant to +subdivision (b)(2)(B)(ii), and divided by 100. + +(ii) The Commission on District Court of Appeal Performance and +Accountability shall review the workload trends of the district courts +of appeal and consider adjustments in the relative case weights and +the weighted case disposition threshold every four years. Any such +recommended adjustment shall be subject to the approval of the +supreme court. + +(c) Additional Trial Court Workload Factors. Because summary +statistics reflective of the above criteria do not fully measure judicial +workload, the supreme court will receive and consider, among other things, +information about the time to perform and volume of the following activities, +which also comprise the judicial workload of a particular jurisdiction: + +(1) review appellate court decisions; +(2) research legal issues; +(3) review briefs and memoranda of law; +(4) participate in court conferences on pending cases; +(5) hear and dispose of motions; +(6) prepare correspondence, orders, judgments, and decisional opinions; + + + +(7) review presentence investigative reports and predispositional reports +in delinquency and dependency cases; + +(8) review petitions and motions for post-conviction relief; +(9) perform administrative duties relating to the court; +(10) participate in meetings with those involved in the justice system; +(11) participate in educational programs designed to increase the + +competency and efficiency of the judiciary; +(12) preside over problem-solving courts; +(13) use, as well as participate in the development of and training on, + +technology systems; and +(14) participate in election canvassing boards. + +(d) Certification Process. The process by which certification of the need +to increase or decrease the number of judges shall include: + +(1) The state courts administrator will distribute a compilation of +summary statistics and projections to each chief judge at a time designated +by the chief justice. + +(2) Each chief judge shall submit to the chief justice a request for any +increase or decrease in the number of judges in accordance with the +following: + +(A) Trial Courts. Each chief judge will then consider these criteria, +additional workload factors, and summary statistics, and submit to the +chief justice a request for any increases or decreases under article V, +section 9, of the Florida Constitution that the chief judge feels are +required. + +(B) District Courts. Each chief judge will then consider the criteria of +this rule and the summary statistics; if a new judge is requested, the +chief judge shall prepare a report showing the need for a new judge +based upon the application of the criteria in this rule. + +(i) Any request for a new district court judge shall be submitted to +the District Court of Appeal Budget Commission for review and +approval. + + + +(ii) The chief judge of a district court of appeal shall submit the +report showing the need together with the approval of the District +Court of Appeal Budget Commission to the chief justice. + +(3) The chief justice and the state courts administrator may then confer +with the chief judge and other representatives of the court submitting the +request as well as representatives of The Florida Bar and the public to +gather additional information and clarification about the need in the +particular jurisdiction. + +(4) The chief justice will submit recommendations to the supreme court, +which will thereafter certify to the legislature its findings and +recommendations concerning such need. + +(5) The supreme court, in conjunction with the certification process +under this rule, shall also consider the necessity for increasing, decreasing, +or redefining appellate districts and judicial circuits as required by article +V, section 9, of the Florida Constitution and as set forth in Florida Rule of +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.241. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1983 Adoption. Article V, section 9, of the Florida Constitution authorizes +the establishment, by rule, of uniform criteria for the determination of the +need for additional judges, except supreme court justices, the necessity for +decreasing the number of judges and for increasing, decreasing, or redefining +appellate districts and judicial circuits. Each year since the adoption of article +V in 1972, this court, pursuant to section 9, has certified its determination of +need to the legislature based upon factors and criteria set forth in our +certification decisions. This rule is intended to set forth criteria and workload +factors previously developed, adopted, and used in this certification process, +as summarized and specifically set forth in In re Certificate of Judicial +Manpower, 428 So. 2d 229 (Fla. 1983); In re Certificate of Judicial +Manpower, 396 So. 2d 172 (Fla. 1981); and In re Certification, 370 So. 2d +365 (Fla. 1979). + +2004 Amendment. Subdivision (b)(2) was amended to provide more +specific criteria and workload factors to be used in determining the need for +increasing or decreasing the number of judges on the District Courts of +Appeal. In addition, the caseload level at which the court will presume that + + + +there is a need for an additional appellate judge has been increased from 250 +to 350 filings per judge. + +2006 Amendment. Subdivision (a) is amended to be consistent with the +2006 adoption of rule 2.036 relating to the criteria for determining the +necessity and for increasing, decreasing, or redefining appellate districts and +judicial circuits, pursuant to article V, section 9, Florida Constitution. The +Court adopts the Commission on District Court of Appeal Performance and +Accountabilitys conclusion that a single case filing threshold is insufficient +to capture the intricacies that make up judicial workload in the district courts. +The Commissions alternative to the 350-filings-per-judge threshold is a +weighted case dispositions per judge, which the Commission determined to +be a meaningful measure of judicial workload. + +The relative weighted caseload is determined by surveying a representative +sample of judges on the relative degree of judicial effort put into each +category of cases based upon an agreed typical case having a value of 100. +Each category was assigned a relative weight number based upon the +statewide average of the weight calculated through the survey. These weights +were then applied to each courts dispositions on the merits to determine the +weighted caseload value and divided by 100. + +This approach accommodates the important distinction between the +number of cases filed and the judicial effort required to dispose of those +cases. While the number of cases continues to increase, trends in the types of +cases filed have dramatically changed the nature of the work that the district +court judges handle. The weighted caseload approach not only accommodates +the differences in types of cases by measuring their relative workload +demands for judges, but it also accommodates the work performed by legal +support staff. + +Subdivision (b)(2)(B) establishes a presumption that the relative weight of +cases disposed on the merits should fall below 280 per judge. Chief judges +must consider the impact that the addition of a judge would have on this +measure when applied to their courts dispositions on the merits for the +previous year. + +Every four years the Commission will measure the relative judicial effort +associated with the cases disposed on the merits for the year immediately +preceding. This will be accomplished by asking a representative sample of + + + +judges to approximate the relative weight of cases in relation to a mid-ranked +case. The resulting weights will then be applied to each courts dispositions +on the merits to determine the weighted caseload value per judge. + +Subdivision (d)(5) was added to ensure the certification process under rule +2.240(d) is conducted in conjunction with the related process for +determinations regarding increases, decreases, or redefinition of appellate +districts and judicial circuits under Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.241. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.241. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.241 + +RULE 2.241. DETERMINATION OF THE NECESSITY TO +INCREASE, DECREASE, OR REDEFINE JUDICIAL CIRCUITS +AND APPELLATE DISTRICTS. + +(a) Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to establish uniform criteria for the +supreme courts determination of the necessity for increasing, decreasing, or +redefining judicial circuits and appellate districts as required by article V, +section 9, of the Florida Constitution. This rule also provides for an +assessment committee and a certification process to assist the court in +certifying to the legislature its findings and recommendations concerning +such need. + +(b) Certification Process. A certification process shall be completed in +conjunction with the supreme courts annual determination regarding the +need for judges under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.240(d) and in accordance with the following: + +(1) The supreme court shall certify a necessity to increase, decrease, or +redefine judicial circuits and appellate districts when it determines that the +judicial process is adversely affected by circumstances that present a +compelling need for the certified change. + +(2) The supreme court may certify a necessity to increase, decrease, or +redefine judicial circuits and appellate districts when it determines that the +judicial process would be improved significantly by the certified change. + +(3) The state courts administrator will distribute a compilation of +summary statistics and projections to each chief judge at a time designated +by the chief justice. + +(4) Each chief judge shall consider criteria as may apply under rules +2.241(c) and 2.241(d), as well as any other relevant factors, and shall +inform the chief justice of any perceived need to increase, decrease, or +redefine the states judicial circuits or appellate districts. + +(5) Having been advised in these matters by the chief justice and taking +into consideration other relevant factors, the supreme court, finding cause +for further inquiry, may appoint an assessment committee to consider the + + + +capacity of the courts to effectively fulfill their constitutional and statutory +responsibilities as well as any attendant need to increase, decrease, or +redefine appellate districts and judicial circuits. + +(6) If an assessment committee is appointed, the committee shall confer +with the chief judges and other representatives of appellate districts and +judicial circuits, district court of appeal and/or trial court budget +commissions, The Florida Bar, and the public for purposes of gathering +additional information regarding matters within its charge and shall submit +written recommendations to the supreme court. + +(7) The supreme court shall consider the assessment committees +recommendations within a time frame it deems appropriate. + +(8) Whether or not an assessment committee is appointed, the supreme +court shall balance the potential impact and disruption caused by changes +in judicial circuits and appellate districts against the need to address +circumstances that limit the quality and efficiency of, and public +confidence in, the judicial process. Given the impact and disruption that +can arise from any alteration in judicial structure, prior to recommending a +change in judicial circuits or appellate districts, the supreme court shall +consider less disruptive adjustments including, but not limited to, the +addition of judges, the creation of branch locations, geographic or subject- +matter divisions within judicial circuits or appellate districts, deployment +of new technologies, and increased ratios of support staff per judge. +(c) Criteria for Judicial Circuits. The following criteria shall be + +considered when determining the necessity for increasing, decreasing, or +redefining judicial circuits as required by article V, section 9, of the Florida +Constitution: + +(1) Effectiveness. Factors to be considered for this criterion include the +extent to which each court: + +(A) expedites appropriate cases; +(B) handles its workload in a manner permitting its judges to prepare + +written decisions when warranted; +(C) is capable of accommodating changes in statutes or case law + +impacting workload or court operations; and + + + +(D) handles its workload in a manner permitting its judges to serve on +committees for the judicial system. +(2) Efficiency. Factors to be considered for this criterion are the extent + +to which each court: +(A) stays current with its caseload, as indicated by measurements such + +as the clearance rate; +(B) adjudicates a high percentage of its cases within the time + +standards set forth in the Rules of General Practice and Judicial +Administration and has adequate procedures to ensure efficient, timely +disposition of its cases; and + +(C) uses its resources, case management techniques, and technologies +to improve the efficient adjudication of cases, research of legal issues, +and issuance of decisions. +(3) Access to Courts. Factors to be considered for this criterion are the + +extent to which: +(A) litigants, including self-represented litigants, have meaningful + +access consistent with due process; and +(B) decisions of a court are available in a timely and efficient manner. + +(4) Professionalism. Factors to be considered for this criterion are the +extent to which each court: + +(A) handles workload issues in a manner permitting its judges +adequate time and resources to participate in continuing judicial +education and to stay abreast of the law in order to maintain a qualified +judiciary; + +(B) is capable of recruiting and retaining qualified staff; and +(C) affords staff adequate time to participate in continuing education + +and specialized training. +(5) Public Trust and Confidence. Factors to be considered for this + +criterion are the extent to which each court: +(A) handles workload in a manner permitting its judges adequate time + +for community involvement; + + + +(B) affords access to open court and other public proceedings for the +general public; + +(C) fosters public trust and confidence given its geography and +demographic composition; and + +(D) attracts a diverse group of well-qualified applicants for judicial +vacancies, including applicants from all counties within the circuit. +(6) Additional criteria. Such other factors as are regularly considered + +when making a determination with respect to the need for additional judges +under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration +2.240(b)(1) and (c). +(d) Criteria for District Courts. The following criteria shall be + +considered when determining the necessity for increasing, decreasing, or +redefine/ng appellate districts as required by article V, section 9, of the +Florida Constitution: + +(1) Effectiveness. Factors to be considered for this criterion are the +extent to which each court: + +(A) expedites appropriate cases; +(B) handles workload in a manner permitting its judges to prepare + +written opinions when warranted; +(C) functions in a collegial manner; +(D) handles workload in a manner permitting its judges to develop, + +clarify, and maintain consistency in the law within that district, +including consistency between written opinions and per curiam +affirmances without written opinions; + +(E) handles its workload in a manner permitting its judges to +harmonize decisions of their court with those of other district courts or +to certify conflict when appropriate; + +(F) handles its workload in a manner permitting its judges to have +adequate time to review all decisions rendered by the court; + +(G) is capable of accommodating changes in statutes or case law +impacting workload or court operations; and + + + +(H) handles its workload in a manner permitting its judges to serve on +committees for the judicial system. +(2) Efficiency. Factors to be considered for this criterion are the extent + +to which each court: +(A) stays current with its caseload, as indicated by measurements such + +as the clearance rate; +(B) adjudicates a high percentage of its cases within the time + +standards set forth in the Rules of General Practice and Judicial +Administration and has adequate procedures to ensure efficient, timely +disposition of its cases; and + +(C) uses its resources, case management techniques, and other +technologies to improve the efficient adjudication of cases, research of +legal issues, and preparation and distribution of decisions. +(3) Access to Appellate Review. Factors to be considered for this + +criterion are the extent to which: +(A) litigants, including self-represented litigants, have meaningful + +access to a district court for mandatory and discretionary review of +cases, consistent with due process; + +(B) litigants are afforded efficient access to the court for the filing of +pleadings and for oral argument when appropriate; and + +(C) orders and opinions of a court are available in a timely and +efficient manner. +(4) Professionalism. Factors to be considered for this criterion are the + +extent to which each court: +(A) handles its workload in a manner permitting its judges adequate + +time and resources to participate in continuing judicial education +opportunities and to stay abreast of the law in order to maintain a +qualified judiciary; + +(B) is capable of recruiting and retaining qualified staff; and +(C) affords staff adequate time to participate in continuing education + +and specialized training + + + +(5) Public Trust and Confidence. Factors to be considered for this +criterion are the extent to which each court: + +(A) handles its workload in a manner permitting its judges adequate +time for community involvement; + +(B) provides adequate access to oral arguments and other public +proceedings for the general public within its district; + +(C) fosters public trust and confidence given its geography and +demographic composition and; + +(D) attracts diverse group of well-qualified applicants for judicial +vacancies, including applicants from all circuits within the district. + +(e) Results of determination. Only upon the supreme courts finding that +a need exists for increasing, decreasing, or redefining appellate districts and +judicial circuits, shall the court, acting prior to the next regular session of the +legislature, certify to the legislature its findings and recommendations +concerning such need. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +District Court of Appeal Workload and Jurisdiction Committee Notes +2006 Adoption. Article V, section 9 of the Florida constitution states that: + +The supreme court shall establish by rule uniform criteria for the +determination of the need for additional judges except supreme court justices, +the necessity for decreasing the number of judges and for increasing, +decreasing or redefining appellate districts. If the supreme court finds that a +need exists for . . . increasing, decreasing or redefining appellate districts . . ., +it shall, prior to the next regular session of the legislature, certify to the +legislature its findings and recommen dations concerning such need. + +(Emphasis added.) Thus, the constitution uses only need when +describing the uniform criteria for certifying additional judges, but uses both +necessity and need when describing the uniform criteria for increasing, +decreasing, or redefining appellate districts. The supreme court has never +determined whether this language compels differing tests for the two +certifications. Subdivision (c) of this rule uses the phrase certify a +necessity. The Committee on District Court of Appeal Workload and + + + +Jurisdiction determined that the two standards set forth in that subdivision +recognize the supreme courts obligation to recommend a change to the +structure of the district courts when circumstances reach the level of necessity +that compels a change, but also recognize the courts discretion to +recommend a change to the structure of the district courts when +improvements are needed. + +The criteria set forth in this rule are based on studies of the workload, +jurisdiction, and performance of the appellate courts, and the work of the +Committee on District Court of Appeal Workload and Jurisdiction in 2005. In +establishing these criteria, substantial reliance was placed on empirical +research conducted by judicial branch committees and on other statistical data +concerning cases, caseloads, timeliness of case processing, and manner for +disposition of cases, collected by the Office of the State Courts Administrator +Office as required by section 25.075, Florida Statutes (2004), and Florida +Rule of Judicial Administration 2.030(e)(2). + +The workload and jurisdiction committee considered the impact of +computer technology on appellate districts. It is clear that, at this time or in +the future, technology can be deployed to allow litigants efficient access to a +court for filing of pleadings and for participation in oral argument, and that it +can expand the general publics access to the courts. It is possible that +technology will substantially alter the appellate review process in the future +and that appellate courts may find that technology permits or even requires +different districting techniques. This rule was designed to allow these issues +to be addressed by the assessment committee and the supreme court without +mandating any specific approach. + +The five basic criteria in subdivision (d) are not listed in any order of +priority. Thus, for example, the workload and jurisdiction committee did not +intend efficiency to be a more important criterion than engendering public +trust and confidence. + +Subdivision (d)(2)(A) recognizes that the court currently provides the +legislature with an annual measurement of the appellate courts clearance +rate, which is the ratio between the number of cases that are resolved during +a fiscal year and the new cases that are filed during the same period. Thus, a +clearance rate of one hundred percent reflects a court that is disposing of +pending cases at approximately the same rate that new cases arrive. Given + + + +that other measurements may be selected in the future, the rule does not +mandate sole reliance on this measurement. + +Subdivision (d)(5)(E) recognizes that a district courts geographic territory +may be so large that it limits or discourages applicants for judicial vacancies +from throughout the district and creates the perception that a courts judges +do not reflect the makeup of the territory. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +2013 Amendment. The rule has been amended so the supreme courts +annual certification process will include an analysis of the need to increase, +decrease, or redefine judicial circuits. The requirement for an assessment +committee to analyze, once every eight years, the capacity of the district +courts to fulfill their duties has been deleted. Instead, the chief judges of the +trial and appellate courts will review annual statistics provided by the state +courts administrator, along with the criteria set forth in the rule and any other +relevant factors, and inform the chief justice of any perceived need. Taking +these and other concerns into consideration, the supreme court may appoint +an assessment committee to make further inquiry. If an assessment committee +is appointed, the supreme court will consider the committees +recommendations and will certify to the legislature its own findings and +recommendations concerning such need. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.244. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.244 + +RULE 2.244. UNIFIED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIAL +COMPENSATION. + +(a) Creation. There shall be created a Unified Committee on Judicial +Compensation to address judicial pay and benefits issues. + +(b) Purpose. The purpose of the Unified Committee on Judicial +Compensation shall be to: + +(1) develop and recommend to the supreme court judicial pay and +benefits priorities; and + +(2) advocate for judicial pay and benefits issues approved by the +supreme court for inclusion in the annual judicial branch budget request. +(c) Membership. The membership shall include the chief justice of the + +supreme court, the presidents and presidents-elect of the Conference of +District Court of Appeal Judges, the Conference of Circuit Court Judges, and +the Conference of County Court Judges, and the chairs and vice-chairs of the +District Court Budget Commission and the Trial Court Budget Commission. + +(d) Staffing. The Office of the State Courts Administrator will provide +primary staff support to the committee. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.245. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.245 + +RULE 2.245. CASE REPORTING SYSTEM FOR TRIAL COURTS. +(a) Reporting. The clerk of the circuit court shall report the activity of all + +cases before all courts within the clerks jurisdiction to the supreme court in +the manner and on the forms established by the office of the state courts +administrator and approved by order of the court. In those jurisdictions where +separate offices of the clerk of the circuit court and clerk of the county court +have been established by law, the clerk of the circuit court shall report the +activity of all cases before the circuit court, and the clerk of the county court +shall report the activity of all cases before the county court. + +(b) Uniform Case Numbering System. +(1) The clerk of the circuit court and the clerk of the county court, where + +that separate office exists, shall use the Uniform Case Numbering System. +The uniform case number shall appear upon the case file, the docket and +minute books (or their electronic equivalent), and the complaint. + +(2) The office of the state courts administrator shall distribute to the +respective clerks of the circuit and county courts appropriate instructions +regarding the nature and use of the Uniform Case Numbering System. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.250. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.250 + +RULE 2.250. TIME STANDARDS FOR TRIAL AND APPELLATE +COURTS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. + +(a) Time Standards. The following time standards are hereby established +as a presumptively reasonable time period for the completion of cases in the +trial and appellate courts of this state. It is recognized that there are cases that, +because of their complexity, present problems that cause reasonable delays. +However, most cases should be completed within the following time periods: + +(1) Trial Court Time Standards. +(A) Criminal. + +Felony180 days (arrest to final disposition) +Misdemeanor90 days (arrest to final disposition) + +(B) Civil. +Jury cases18 months (filing to final disposition) +Non-jury cases12 months (filing to final disposition) +Small Claims95 days (filing to final disposition) + +(C) Domestic Relations. +Uncontested90 days (filing to final disposition) +Contested180 days filing to final disposition) + +(D) Probate. +Uncontested, no federal estate tax return12 months (from issuance of + +letters of administration to final discharge) +Uncontested, with federal estate tax return12 months (from the returns + +due date to final discharge) +Contested24 months (from filing to final discharge) + +(E) Juvenile Delinquency. +Disposition hearing120 days (filing of petition or child being taken into + + + +custody to hearing) +Disposition hearing (child detained)36 days (date of detention to + +hearing) +(F) Juvenile Dependency. + +Disposition hearing (child sheltered)88 days (shelter hearing to +disposition) + +Disposition hearing (child not sheltered)120 days (filing of petition for +dependency to hearing) + +(G) Permanency Proceedings. +Permanency hearing12 months (date child is sheltered to hearing) + +(2) Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal Time Standards. +Rendering a decision within 180 days of either oral argument or the +submission of the case to the court panel for a decision without oral +argument, except in juvenile dependency or termination of parental rights +cases, in which a decision should be rendered within 60 days of either oral +argument or submission of the case to the court panel for a decision +without oral argument. + +(3) Florida Bar Referee Time Standards: Report of refereewithin +180 days of being assigned to hear the case + +(4) Circuit Court Acting as Appellate Court: +Ninety days from submission of the case to the judge for review +(b) Reporting of Cases. The time standards require that the following + +monitoring procedures be implemented: +All pending cases in circuit and district courts of appeal exceeding the time + +standards shall be listed separately on a report submitted quarterly to the chief +justice. The report shall include for each case listed the case number, type of +case, case status (active or inactive for civil cases and contested or +uncontested for domestic relations and probate cases), the date of arrest in +criminal cases, and the original filing date in civil cases. The Office of the +State Courts Administrator will provide the necessary forms for submission +of this data. The report will be due on the 15th day of the month following +the last day of the quarter. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.255. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.255 + +RULE 2.255. STATEWIDE GRAND JURY. +(a) Procedure. The chief judge of each judicial circuit shall cause a list of + +those persons whose names have been drawn and certified for jury duty in +each of the counties within that circuit to be compiled. The lists shall be taken +from the male and female population over the age of 18 years and having the +other constitutional and statutory qualifications for jury duty in this state not +later than the last day of the first week of December of each year. From the +lists so compiled, the chief judge shall cause to be selected, by lot and at +random, and by any authorized method including mechanical, electronic, or +electrical device, a list of prospective grand jurors from each county whose +number shall be determined on the basis of 3 jurors for each 3,000 residents +or a fraction thereof in each county. The lists from which the names are +drawn may be, but are not required to be, the same lists from which petit and +grand juries are drawn in each county and circuit. After compilation, the +statewide grand jury lists shall be submitted to the state courts administrator +not later than February 15 of each year. + +(b) Population. For the purposes of this rule, the population of each +county shall be in accordance with the latest United States Decennial Census +as set forth in the Florida Statutes. + +(c) Excuses. +(1) The judge appointed to preside over the statewide grand jury may + +issue an order appointing the chief judge of the judicial circuit where a +prospective grand juror resides to determine whether service on the +statewide grand jury will result in an unreasonable personal or financial +hardship because of the location or projected length of the grand jury +investigation. + +(2) The chief judge of the circuit shall determine whether a prospective +grand juror fails to meet the qualifications of a juror in the county where +the person resides. The determination shall be made only for those +prospective grand jurors who contact the chief judge and request +disqualification. + +(3) The chief judge of the circuit shall excuse any prospective grand + + + +juror who requests and is qualified for exemption from grand jury service +pursuant to general law, or from service as a juror in the county where the +person resides. The chief judge shall inform the judge appointed to preside +over the statewide grand jury without delay of any determination. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.256. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.256 + +RULE 2.256. JUROR TIME MANAGEMENT. +(a) Optimum Use. The services of prospective jurors should be employed + +so as to achieve optimum use with a minimum of inconvenience to jurors. +(b) Minimum Number. A minimally sufficient number of jurors needed + +to accommodate trial activity should be determined. This information and +appropriate management techniques should be used to adjust both the number +of individuals summoned for jury duty and the number assigned to jury +panels, consistent with any administrative orders issued by the Chief Justice. + +(c) Assignment. Each prospective juror who has reported for jury duty +should be assigned for voir dire before any prospective juror is assigned a +second time. + +(d) Calendar Coordination. Jury management and calendar management +should be coordinated to make effective use of jurors. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.260. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.260 + +RULE 2.260. CHANGE OF VENUE. +(a) Preliminary Procedures. Prior to entering an order to change venue to + +a particular circuit in a criminal case or in any other case in which change of +venue will likely create an unusual burden for the transferee circuit, the chief +judge in the circuit in which the case originated shall contact the chief judge +in the circuit to which the case is intended to be moved to determine the +receiving countys ability to accommodate the change of venue. It is the +intent of this rule that the county identified to receive the case shall do so +unless the physical facilities or other resources in that county are such that +moving the case to that county would either create an unsafe situation or +adversely affect the operations of that court. Any conflict between the circuits +regarding a potential change of venue shall be referred to the chief justice of +the Florida Supreme Court for resolution. + +(b) Presiding Judge. The presiding judge from the originating court shall +accompany the change of venue case, unless the originating and receiving +courts agree otherwise. + +(c) Reimbursement of Costs. As a general policy the county in which an +action originated shall reimburse the county receiving the change of venue +case for any ordinary expenditure and any extraordinary but reasonable and +necessary expenditure that would not otherwise have been incurred by the +receiving county. For purposes of this section, ordinary expenditure, +extraordinary expenditure, and nonreimbursable expenditure are defined as +follows: + +(1) Ordinary expenditures include: +(A) juror expenses not reimbursed by the State of Florida; +(B) court reporter expenses, including appearances by either official + +or freelance reporters, transcripts, and other expenses associated with the +creation of a court record; + +(C) court interpreters; +(D) maintenance of evidence, including the cost of handling, storing, + +or maintaining the evidence beyond the expenses normally incurred by + + + +the receiving county; +(E) services and supplies purchased as a result of the change of venue; +(F) overtime expenditures for regular court and clerk staff attributable + +to the change of venue; and +(G) trial-related expenses, including conflict attorney fees; all expert, + +law enforcement, or ordinary witness costs and expenses; and +investigator expenses. +(2) Extraordinary but reasonable and necessary expenses include: + +(A) security-related expenditures, including overtime for security +personnel; + +(B) facility remodeling or renovation; and +(C) leasing or renting of space or equipment. + +Except in emergencies or unless it is impracticable to do so, a receiving +county should give notice to the chief judge and clerk of the county in +which the action originated before incurring any extraordinary +expenditures. + +(3) Nonreimbursable expenses include: +(A) normal operating expenses, including the overhead of the + +receiving county; and +(B) equipment that is purchased and kept by the receiving county that + +can be used for other purposes or cases. +(d) Documentation of Costs. No expenses shall be submitted for + +reimbursement without supporting documentation, such as a claim, invoice, +bill, statement, or time sheet. Any required court order or approval of costs +shall also be sent to the originating court. + +(e) Timing of Reimbursement. Unless both counties agree to other terms, +reimbursement of all expenses by the originating county shall be paid or +disputed in writing on or before the sixtieth day after the receipt of the claim +for reimbursement. Payment of a disputed amount shall be made on or before +the sixtieth day after the resolution of this dispute. Any amount subject to +dispute shall be expeditiously resolved by authorized representatives of the + + + +court administrators office of the originating and receiving counties. +(f) Media Relations. Procedures to accommodate the media shall be + +developed by the receiving county immediately upon notice of the change of +venue when the change of venue is reasonably expected to generate an +unusual amount of publicity. These procedures must be approved by the chief +judge of the receiving circuit and implemented pursuant to administrative +order by the presiding judge. The presiding judge shall obtain the +concurrence of the chief judge before entering any orders that vary from or +conflict with existing administrative orders of the receiving circuit. + +(g) Case File. The clerk of the circuit court in the originating county shall +forward the original case file to the clerk in the receiving county. The +receiving clerk shall maintain the file and keep it secure until the trial has +been concluded. During the trial, any documents or exhibits that have been +added shall be properly marked and added to the file in a manner consistent +with the policy and procedures of the receiving county. After the conclusion +of the trial, the file shall be returned to the clerk in the county of origin. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.265. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.265 + +RULE 2.265. MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE VIOLATIONS. +(a) References to Abolished Municipal Courts. All references to a + +municipal court or municipal judge in rules promulgated by the supreme +court, in the Florida Statutes, and in any municipal ordinance shall be deemed +to refer, respectively, to the county court or county court judge. + +(b) Costs in County Courts. The chief judge of a circuit shall by +administrative order establish a schedule of costs, in conformity with any +provisions of law, to be assessed against a defendant in the county court and +paid to the county for violations of municipal ordinances which are +prosecuted in county court. The costs shall be assessed as a set dollar amount +per conviction, not to exceed $50 excluding any other statutory costs. + +(c) Collection of Outstanding Fines. All cases for which outstanding +fines, civil penalties, and costs are being collected by a municipality shall be +retained by the municipality until collected or until the offender defaults on +payment. If a default occurs, the municipality may institute summary claims +proceedings to collect the outstanding fines. + +(d) Style of Municipal Ordinance Cases. All prosecutions for violations +of municipal ordinances in county court shall have the following style: City +of _________ v. _________. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 2.270. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.270 + +RULE 2.270. SUPREME COURT COMMITTEES ON STANDARD +JURY INSTRUCTIONS. + +(a) Creation and Authority. The supreme court created the Supreme +Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases, the Supreme +Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases (with +responsibility for the standard jury instructions in criminal and in involuntary +civil commitment of sexually violent predator cases and for the grand jury +instructions), and the Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury +Instructions in Contract and Business Cases to serve as standing committees +responsible for preparing standard jury instructions for use in their respective +case types. See In re Standard Jury Instructions, 198 So. 2d 319, 320 (Fla. +1967); In re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, 240 So. 2d 472, +474 (Fla. 1970); In re Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury +Instruction-Contract and Business Cases, Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC06- +47 (Sept. 15, 2006). This rule authorizes those committees to develop and +approve new and amended standard jury instructions to be published for use +in the committees respective case types. Standard jury instructions approved +for publication and use under this rule are not approved or otherwise +specifically authorized for use by the supreme court and their approval under +this rule shall not be construed as an adjudicative determination on the legal +correctness of the instructions, which must await an actual case and +controversy. + +(b) Responsibilities. The standing supreme court committees on standard +jury instructions are charged with the following responsibilities: + +(1) Developing and approving for publication and use, in the +committees respective case types, new and amended standard jury +instructions in response to statutory changes, judicial decisions, or other +events that affect the presentation of those case types to juries. + +(2) Continuously reviewing the standard jury instructions, in the +committees respective case types, for errors or inaccuracies and amending +the instructions as necessary to correct any errors or inaccuracies found. + +(3) Addressing specific requests from the supreme court concerning the + + + +need for new or amended standard jury instructions. +(4) Considering modified instructions given by a trial court sent to a + +committee as required by rule 2.580 to determine whether amendments to +the standard jury instructions are warranted. + +(5) Considering changes to the standard jury instructions suggested to +the committee by judges, members of the Bar, and other interested persons. +(c) Procedures. Each committee on standard jury instructions shall adopt + +operating procedures necessary to carry out its responsibilities. The operating +procedures must comply with the following requirements, which shall govern +the development and approval of standard jury instructions under this rule: + +(1) All new and amended standard jury instructions being considered by +a committee must be published for comment on the jury instructions page +of The Florida Bars website and in The Florida Bar News. The committee +must consider all comments received before taking a final vote on the +changes. + +(2) If the committee makes substantial revisions to a new or amended +instruction that was published for comment, the revisions also must be +published for comment in accordance with subdivision (c)(1) of this rule. +Minor revisions to a published instruction change may be made without +republication. + +(3) A two-thirds committee vote in favor of a new or amended standard +instruction is required before an instruction may be considered approved +for publication and use. + +(4) The committees may establish subcommittees as necessary to carry +out their responsibilities. However, new or amended standard instructions +recommended by a subcommittee must be voted on by the committee +before they are considered approved for publication and use. +(d) Membership and Organization. + +(1) Each supreme court committee on standard jury instructions shall be +composed of up to 36 members appointed by the chief justice, for +staggered three-year terms, as follows: + +(A) The membership of each committee shall include at least one- +third current or former district, circuit, or county court judges. The + + + +remainder of the members shall be attorneys who are in good standing +with The Florida Bar, with a balance in the various practice areas +addressed by the committee to which the attorney members are being +appointed. + +(B) a committee member may serve no more than two consecutive +three-year terms, unless: + +(i) a committee determines that it is in the best interest of the +committee for a member to serve an additional term; or + +(ii) additional slots remain open due to lack of applications to the +committee. +(C) The chief justice shall appoint 1 member of each committee to + +serve as chair and 1 member to serve as vice-chair, each for a one-year +term subject to reappointment. + +(e) Staff Support. +(1) The Florida Bar. The Florida Bar will provide staff support for the + +Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases +and the Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in +Contract and Business Cases. + +(2) The Office of the State Courts Administrator. The Office of the +State Courts Administrator will provide staff support for the Supreme +Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases. +(f) Publication of Approved Instructions. All standard jury instructions + +approved for publication and use under this rule shall be published on the +jury instructions page of The Florida Bars website. + + + + Pt. III. +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. III + + + +PART III. JUDICIAL OFFICERS + Pt. III. , Rule 2.310. + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.310 + +RULE 2.310. JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE, REMOVAL, RETIREMENT, +AND SUSPENSION. + +(a) Filing. Any recommendations to the supreme court from the Judicial +Qualifications Commission pursuant to article V, section 12, of the Florida +Constitution shall be in writing. The original and 7 copies shall be filed with +the clerk of the court, and a copy shall be served expeditiously on the justice +or judge against whom action is sought. + +(b) Procedure. +(1) Promptly upon the filing of a recommendation from the commission, + +the court shall determine whether the commissions recommendation +complies with all requirements of the constitution and the commissions +rules. Upon determining that the recommendation so complies, and unless +the court otherwise directs, an order shall issue directing the justice or +judge to show cause in writing why the recommended action should not be +taken. + +(2) The justice or judge may file a response in writing within the time +set by the court in its order to show cause, and the commission may serve a +reply within 20 days from service of the response. + +(3) If requested by the commission, or by a justice or judge at the time +of filing a response, the court may allow oral argument on the +commissions recommendation. +(c) Costs. The supreme court may award reasonable and necessary costs, + +including costs of investigation and prosecution, to the prevailing party. +Neither attorneys fees nor travel expenses of commission personnel shall be +included in an award of costs. Taxable costs may include: + +(1) court reporters fees, including per diem fees, deposition costs, and +costs associated with the preparation of the transcript and record; and + +(2) witness expenses, including travel and out-of-pocket expenses. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 2.320. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.320 + +RULE 2.320. CONTINUING JUDICIAL EDUCATION. +(a) Purpose. This rule sets forth the continuing education requirement for + +all judges in the state judicial system. +(b) Education Requirements. + +(1) Applicability. All Florida county, circuit, and appellate judges and +Florida supreme court justices shall comply with these judicial education +requirements. Retired judges who have been approved by the supreme +court to be assigned to temporary active duty as authorized by section +25.073, Florida Statutes (1991), shall also comply with the judicial +education requirements. + +(2) Minimum Requirements. Each judge and justice shall complete a +minimum of 30 credit hours of approved judicial education programs every +3 years. Beginning January 1, 2012, 4 hours must be in the area of judicial +ethics; prior to that date, 2 hours in the area of judicial ethics are required. +Approved courses in fairness and diversity also can be used to fulfill the +judicial ethics requirement. In addition to the 30-hour requirement, every +judge new to a level of trial court must complete the Florida Judicial +College program in that judges first year of judicial service following +selection to that level of court; every new appellate court judge or justice +must, within 2 years following selection to that level of court, complete an +approved appellate-judge program. Every new appellate judge who has +never been a trial judge or who has never attended Phase I of the Florida +Judicial College as a magistrate must also attend Phase I of the Florida +Judicial College in that judges first year of judicial service following the +judges appointment. Credit for teaching a course for which mandatory +judicial education credit is available will be allowed on the basis of 21/2 +hours credit for each instructional hour taught, up to a maximum of 5 +hours per year. + +(3) Mediation Training. Prior to conducting any mediation, a senior +judge shall have completed a minimum of one judicial education course +offered by the Florida Court Education Council. The course shall +specifically focus on the areas where the Code of Judicial Conduct or the + + + +Florida Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators could be +violated. +(c) Course Approval. The Florida Court Education Council, in + +consultation with the judicial conferences, shall develop approved courses for +each state court jurisdiction. Courses offered by other judicial and legal +education entities must be approved by the council before they may be +submitted for credit. + +(d) Waiver. The Florida Court Education Council is responsible for +establishing a procedure for considering and acting upon waiver and +extension requests on an individual basis. + +(e) Reporting Requirements and Sanctions. The Florida Court Education +Council shall establish a procedure for reporting annually to the chief justice +on compliance with this rule. Each judge shall submit to the Court Education +Division of the Office of the State Courts Administrator an annual report +showing the judges attendance at approved courses. Failure to comply with +the requirements of this rule will be reported to the chief justice of the Florida +supreme court for such administrative action as deemed necessary. The chief +justice may consider a judges or justices failure to comply as neglect of +duty and report the matter to the Judicial Qualifications Commission. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 2.330. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.330 + +RULE 2.330. DISQUALIFICATION OF TRIAL JUDGES. +(a) Application. This rule applies only to county and circuit judges in all + +matters in all divisions of court when acting alone as the sole judicial officer +in a trial or appellate proceeding. It does not apply to justices, appellate-level +judges, or county and circuit judges sitting on a multi-judge appellate panel. + +(b) Parties. Any party, including the state, may move to disqualify the +judge assigned to the case on grounds provided by rule, statute, the Code of +Conduct, or general law, and in accordance with the procedural provisions of +this rule. + +(c) Motion. A motion to disqualify shall: +(1) be in writing; +(2) allege specifically the facts and reasons upon which the movant + +relies as the grounds for disqualification, and identify the precise date +when the facts constituting the grounds for the motion were discovered by +the party or the partys counsel, whichever is earlier; + +(3) be sworn to or affirmed by the party by signing the motion or by +attaching a separate affidavit; + +(4) include the dates of all previously granted motions to disqualify filed +under this rule in the case and the dates of the orders granting those +motions; and + +(5) include a separate certification by the attorney for the party, if any, +that the motion and the clients statements are made in good faith. +(d) Service. In addition to filing with the clerk, the movant shall promptly + +serve a copy of the motion on the subject judge as set forth in rule 2.516. +(e) Grounds. A motion to disqualify shall set forth all specific and + +material facts upon which the judges impartiality might reasonably be +questioned, including but not limited to the following circumstances: + +(1) the party reasonably fears that he or she will not receive a fair trial or +hearing because of specifically described prejudice or bias of the judge; or + + + +(2) the judge, the judges spouse or domestic partner, or a person within +the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse or domestic +partner of such a person: + +(A) has more than a de minimis economic interest in the subject +matter in controversy or is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, +director, or trustee of a party; + +(B) is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding; +(C) has more than a de minimis interest that could be substantially + +affected by the proceeding; or +(D) is likely to be a material witness or expert in the proceeding. + +(3) The judge served as a lawyer or was the lower court judge in the +matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom the judge previously +practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the +matter; or + +(4) The judge has prior personal knowledge of or bias regarding +disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding. +(f) Prohibition Against Creation of Grounds for Disqualification Based + +Upon Appearance of Substitute or Additional Counsel. Upon the addition +of new substitute counsel or additional counsel in a case, the party +represented by such newly appearing counsel is prohibited from filing a +motion for disqualification of the judge based upon the new attorneys +involvement in the case. This subdivision shall not apply, however, to a +motion to disqualify a successor judge who was not the presiding judge at the +time of the new attorneys first appearance in the case. + +(g) Time. A motion to disqualify shall be filed within a reasonable time +not to exceed 20 days after discovery by the party or partys counsel, +whichever is earlier, of the facts constituting the grounds for the motion. The +motion shall be promptly served on the subject judge as set forth in +subdivision (d). Any motion for disqualification made during a hearing or +trial must be based on facts discovered during the hearing or trial and may be +stated on the record, provided that it is also promptly reduced to writing in +compliance with subdivision (c)(1) and promptly filed. A motion made +during hearing or trial shall be ruled on immediately. + + + +(h) Determination Initial Motion. The judge against whom an initial +motion to disqualify under subdivision (e) is directed may determine only the +legal sufficiency of the motion and shall not pass on the truth of the facts +alleged. If any motion is legally insufficient, an order denying the motion +shall immediately be entered. No other reason for denial shall be stated, and +an order of denial shall not take issue with the motion. If the motion is legally +sufficient, the judge shall immediately enter an order granting disqualification +and proceed no further in the action. Such an order does not constitute +acknowledgement that the allegations are true. + +(i) Determination Successive Motions. If a judge has been previously +disqualified on motion for alleged prejudice or partiality under subdivision +(e), a successor judge cannot be disqualified based on a successive motion by +the same party unless the successor judge rules that he or she is in fact not +fair or impartial in the case. Such a successor judge may rule on the truth of +the facts alleged in support of the motion. + +(j) Prior Rulings. Prior factual or legal rulings by a disqualified judge may +be reconsidered and vacated or amended by a successor judge based upon a +motion for reconsideration, which must be filed within 30 days of the order +of disqualification, unless good cause is shown for a delay in moving for +reconsideration or other grounds for reconsideration exist. + +(k) Recusal Upon Judges Initiative. Nothing in this rule limits the +judges authority to enter an order of recusal. + +(l) Time for Determination. The judge against whom the motion for +disqualification has been filed shall take action on the motion immediately, +but no later than 30 days after the service of the motion as set forth in +subdivision (d). If the motion is not denied within 30 days of service, the +motion is deemed granted and the moving party may seek an order from the +court directing the clerk to reassign the case. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 2.340. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.340 + +RULE 2.340. JUDICIAL ATTIRE. +During any judicial proceeding, robes worn by a judge must be solid black + +with no embellishment. + + + + Pt. IV. +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. IV + + + +PART IV. JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS AND RECORDS + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.410. + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.410 + +RULE 2.410. POSSESSION OF COURT RECORDS. +No person other than judges and authorized court employees shall remove + +court records as defined in rule 2.430 from the clerks office except by order +of the chief judge or chief justice upon a showing of good cause. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1996 Adoption. This rule was written as a result of the problems being +encountered in the removal of files from clerks offices. While the purpose of +the rule is to discourage the removal of court files, it is not intended to +prohibit chief judges or the chief justice from issuing for good cause a +general order providing that attorneys or authorized individuals may be +allowed to check out files on a routine basis to assist in the administrative +efficiency of a court. We note that section 28.13, Florida Statutes (1995), +similarly prohibits the removal of files from clerks offices. + + + + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.420. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.420 + +RULE 2.420. PUBLIC ACCESS TO AND PROTECTION OF +JUDICIAL BRANCH RECORDS. + +(a) Scope and Purpose. Subject to the rulemaking power of the Florida +Supreme Court provided by article V, section 2, Florida Constitution, the +following rule shall govern public access to and the protection of the records +of the judicial branch of government. The public shall have access to all +records of the judicial branch of government, except as provided below. +Access to all electronic and other court records shall be governed by the +Standards for Access to Electronic Court Records and Access Security +Matrix, as adopted by the supreme court in Administrative Order AOSC14- +19 or the then-current Standards for Access. Remote access to electronic +court records shall be permitted in counties where the supreme courts +conditions for release of such records are met. + +(b) Definitions. +(1) Records of the judicial branch are all records, regardless of + +physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received +in connection with the transaction of official business by any judicial +branch entity and consist of: + +(A) court records, which are the contents of the court file, including +the progress docket and other similar records generated to document +activity in a case, transcripts filed with the clerk, documentary exhibits +in the custody of the clerk, and electronic records, videotapes, or +stenographic tapes of depositions or other proceedings filed with the +clerk, and electronic records, videotapes, or stenographic tapes of court +proceedings; and + +(B) administrative records, which are all other records made or +received pursuant to court rule, law, or ordinance, or in connection with +the transaction of official business by any judicial branch entity. +(2) Judicial branch means the judicial branch of government, which + +includes the state courts system, the clerk of court when acting as an arm +of the court, The Florida Bar, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, the +Judicial Qualifications Commission, and all other entities established by or + + + +operating under the authority of the supreme court or the chief justice. +(3) Custodian. The custodian of all administrative records of any court + +is the chief justice or chief judge of that court, except that each justice or +judge is the custodian of all records that are solely within the possession of +that justice or judge. At the conclusion of service on a court, each justice or +judge shall deliver to the courts chief justice or chief judge any records of +the judicial branch in the possession of the departing justice or judge. As to +all other records, the custodian is the official charged with the +responsibility for the care, safekeeping, and supervision of such records. +All references to custodian mean the custodian or the custodians +designee. + +(4) Confidential, as applied to information contained within a record +of the judicial branch, means that such information is exempt from the +public right of access under article I, section 24(a) of the Florida +Constitution and may be released only to the persons or organizations +designated by law, statute, or court order. As applied to information +contained within a court record, the term exempt means that such +information is confidential. Confidential information includes information +that is confidential under this rule or under a court order entered pursuant +to this rule. To the extent reasonably practicable, restriction of access to +confidential information shall be implemented in a manner that does not +restrict access to any portion of the record that is not confidential. + +(5) Affected non-party means any non-party identified by name in a +court record that contains confidential information pertaining to that non- +party. + +(6) Filer means any person who files a document in court records, +except filer does not include the clerk of court or designee of the clerk, a +judge, magistrate, hearing officer, or designee of a judge, magistrate, or +hearing officer. +(c) Confidential and Exempt Records. The following records of the + +judicial branch shall be confidential: +(1) Trial and appellate court memoranda, drafts of opinions and orders, + +court conference records, notes, and other written materials of a similar +nature prepared by judges or court staff acting on behalf of or at the + + + +direction of the court as part of the courts judicial decision-making +process utilized in disposing of cases and controversies before Florida +courts unless filed as a part of the court record; + +(2) Memoranda or advisory opinions that relate to the administration of +the court and that require confidentiality to protect a compelling +governmental interest, including, but not limited to, maintaining court +security, facilitating a criminal investigation, or protecting public safety, +which cannot be adequately protected by less restrictive measures. The +degree, duration, and manner of confidentiality imposed shall be no +broader than necessary to protect the compelling governmental interest +involved, and a finding shall be made that no less restrictive measures are +available to protect this interest. The decision that confidentiality is +required with respect to such administrative memorandum or written +advisory opinion shall be made by the chief judge; +(3)(A) Complaints alleging misconduct against judges until probable cause +is established; + +(B) Complaints alleging misconduct against other entities or +individuals licensed or regulated by the courts, until a finding of +probable cause or no probable cause is established, unless otherwise +provided. Such finding should be made within the time limit set by law +or rule. If no time limit is set, the finding should be made within a +reasonable period of time; +(4) Periodic evaluations implemented solely to assist judges in + +improving their performance, all information gathered to form the bases +for the evaluations, and the results generated therefrom; + +(5) Only the names and qualifications of persons applying to serve or +serving as unpaid volunteers to assist the court, at the courts request and +direction, shall be accessible to the public. All other information contained +in the applications by and evaluations of persons applying to serve or +serving as unpaid volunteers shall be confidential unless made public by +court order based upon a showing of materiality in a pending court +proceeding or upon a showing of good cause; + +(6) Copies of arrest and search warrants and supporting affidavits +retained by judges, clerks, or other court personnel until execution of said + + + +warrants or until a determination is made by law enforcement authorities +that execution cannot be made; + +(7) All records made confidential under the Florida and United States +Constitutions and Florida and federal law; + +(8) All records presently deemed to be confidential by court rule, +including the Rules for Admission to the Bar, by Florida Statutes, by prior +case law of the State of Florida, and by the rules of the Judicial +Qualifications Commission; + +(9) Any court record determined to be confidential in case decision or +court rule on the grounds that: + +(A) confidentiality is required to: +(i) prevent a serious and imminent threat to the fair, impartial, and + +orderly administration of justice; +(ii) protect trade secrets; +(iii) protect a compelling governmental interest; +(iv) obtain evidence to determine legal issues in a case; +(v) avoid substantial injury to innocent third parties; +(vi) avoid substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters + +protected by a common law or privacy right not generally inherent in +the specific type of proceeding sought to be closed; + +(vii) comply with established public policy set forth in the Florida +or United States Constitution or statutes or Florida rules or case law; +(B) the degree, duration, and manner of confidentiality ordered by the + +court shall be no broader than necessary to protect the interests set forth +in subdivision (c)(9)(A); and + +(C) no less restrictive measures are available to protect the interests +set forth in subdivision (c)(9)(A). +(10) The names and any identifying information of judges mentioned in + +an advisory opinion of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee. +(d) Procedures for Determining Confidentiality of Court Records. + + + +(1) Except as provided in subdivision (d)(1)(C), the clerk of the court +shall designate and maintain the confidentiality of any information +contained within a court record that is described in subdivision (d)(1)(A) or +(d)(1)(B) of this rule. + +(A) The clerk of the court shall maintain as confidential information +described by any of subdivisions (c)(1) through (c)(6) of this rule; + +(B) Except as provided by court order, the clerk of the court shall +maintain as confidential information subject to subdivision (c)(7) or (c) +(8) of this rule that is currently confidential or exempt from section +119.07, Florida Statutes, and article I, section 24(a) of the Florida +Constitution as specifically stated in any of the following statutes or as +they may be amended or renumbered: + +(i) Chapter 39 records relating to dependency matters, termination +of parental rights, guardians ad litem, child abuse, neglect, and +abandonment. 39.0132(3), 39.0132(4)(a), 39.202, Fla. Stat. + +(ii) Adoption records. 63.162, Fla. Stat. +(iii) Social Security, bank account, charge, debit, and credit card + +numbers. 119.0714(1)(i)-(j), (2)(a)-(e), Fla. Stat. (Unless redaction +is requested pursuant to 119.0714(2), Fla. Stat., this information is +exempt only as of January 1, 2012.) + +(iv) HIV test results and the identity of any person upon whom an +HIV test has been performed. 381.004(2)(e), Fla. Stat. + +(v) Records, including test results, held by the Department of +Health or its authorized representatives relating to sexually +transmissible diseases. 384.29, Fla. Stat. + +(vi) Birth records and portions of death and fetal death records. +382.008(6), 382.025(1), Fla. Stat. + +(vii) Information that can be used to identify a minor petitioning for +a waiver of parental or guardian notice or consent when seeking to +terminate pregnancy. 390.01116, 390.01118, Fla. Stat. + +(viii) Clinical records under the Baker Act, 394.4615(7), Fla. +Stat., and all petitions, court orders, and related records under the +Baker Act, including all personal identifying information of a person + + + +subject to the Act, 394.464, Fla. Stat. +(ix) Records of substance abuse service providers which pertain to + +the identity, diagnosis, and prognosis of and service provision to +individuals, 397.501(7), Fla. Stat., and all petitions, court orders, +and related records for involuntary assessment and stabilization of an +individual, 397.6760, Fla. Stat. + +(x) Clinical records of criminal defendants found incompetent to +proceed or acquitted by reason of insanity. 916.107(8), Fla. Stat. + +(xi) Estate inventories and accountings. 733.604(1), Fla. Stat. +(xii) The victims address in a domestic violence action on + +petitioners request. 741.30(3)(b), Fla. Stat. +(xiii) Protected information regarding victims of child abuse or + +sexual offenses. 119.071(2)(h), 119.0714(1)(h), Fla. Stat. +(xiv) Gestational surrogacy records. 742.16(9), Fla. Stat. +(xv) Guardianship reports, orders appointing court monitors, and + +orders relating to findings of no probable cause in guardianship cases. + 744.1076, 744.3701, Fla. Stat. + +(xvi) Grand jury records. 905.17, 905.28(1), Fla. Stat. +(xvii) Records acquired by courts and law enforcement regarding + +family services for children. 984.06(3)-(4), Fla. Stat. +(xviii) Juvenile delinquency records. 985.04(1), 985.045(2), Fla. + +Stat. +(xix) Records disclosing the identity of persons subject to + +tuberculosis proceedings and records held by the Department of +Health or its authorized representatives relating to known or suspected +cases of tuberculosis or exposure to tuberculosis. 392.545, 392.65, +Fla. Stat. + +(xx) Complete presentence investigation reports. Fla. R. Crim. P. +3.712. + +(xxi) Forensic behavioral health evaluations under Chapter 916. +916.1065, Fla. Stat. + + + +(xxii) Eligibility screening, substance abuse screening, behavioral +health evaluations, and treatment status reports for defendants referred +to or considered for referral to a drug court program. 397.334(10) +(a), Fla. Stat. + +(xxiii) Information that can be used to identify a petitioner or +respondent in a petition for an injunction against domestic violence, +repeat violence, dating violence, sexual violence, stalking, or cyber +stalking, and any affidavits, notice of hearing, and temporary +injunction until the respondent has been personally served with a copy +of the petition for injunction, affidavits, notice of hearing, and +temporary injunction. 119.0714(1)(k)3., Fla. Stat. +(C) In civil cases, the clerk of the court shall not be required to + +designate and maintain information as confidential unless the filer +follows the notice procedures set forth in subdivision (d)(2), the filer +files a Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court Records as set forth +in subdivision (d)(3), the filing is deemed confidential by court order, or +the case itself is confidential by law. Civil cases as used in this rule +includes only civil case types in the circuit, county, or small claims +courts (identified by the Court Type Designator CA, CC, and SC in the +uniform case numbering system), except those case types listed as +Viewable on Request (VOR) in the Standards for Access to Electronic +Court Records and Access Security Matrix, as adopted by the supreme +court in Administrative Order AOSC14-19 or the then-current standards +for access. +(2) The filer of any document containing confidential information + +described in subdivision (d)(1)(B) shall, at the time of filing, file with the +clerk a Notice of Confidential Information within Court Filing in order +to indicate that confidential information described in subdivision (d)(1)(B) +of this rule is included within the document being filed and also indicate +that either the entire document is confidential or identify the precise +location of the confidential information within the document being filed. If +an entire court file is maintained as confidential, the filer of a document in +such a file is not required to file the notice form. A form Notice of +Confidential Information within Court Filing accompanies this rule. + +(A) If any document in a court file contains confidential information + + + +as described in subdivision (d)(1)(B), the filer, a party, or any affected +non-party may file the Notice of Confidential Information within Court +Filing if the document was not initially filed with a Notice of +Confidential Information within Court Filing and the confidential +information is not maintained as confidential by the clerk. The Notice of +Confidential Information within Court Filing filed pursuant to this +subdivision must also state the title and type of document, date of filing +(if known), date of document, docket entry number, indicate that either +the entire document is confidential or identify the precise location of the +confidential information within the document, and provide any other +information the clerk may require to locate the confidential information. + +(B) The clerk of court shall review filings identified as containing +confidential information to determine whether the purported confidential +information is facially subject to confidentiality under subdivision (d)(1) +(B). If the clerk determines that filed information is not subject to +confidentiality under subdivision (d)(1)(B), the clerk shall notify the +filer of the Notice of Confidential Information within Court Filing in +writing within 5 days of filing the notice and thereafter shall maintain +the information as confidential for 10 days from the date such +notification by the clerk is served. The information shall not be held as +confidential for more than that 10-day period, unless a motion has been +filed pursuant to subdivision (d)(3). +(3) The filer of a document with the court shall ascertain whether any + +information contained within the document may be confidential under +subdivision (c) of this rule notwithstanding that such information is not +itemized at subdivision (d)(1) of this rule. If the filer believes in good faith +that information is confidential but is not described in subdivision (d)(1) of +this rule, the filer shall request that the information be maintained as +confidential by filing a Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court +Records under the procedures set forth in subdivision (e), (f), or (g), +unless: + +(A) the filer is the only individual whose confidential information is +included in the document to be filed or is the attorney representing all +such individuals; and + +(B) a knowing waiver of the confidential status of that information is + + + +intended by the filer. Any interested person may request that information +within a court file be maintained as confidential by filing a motion as +provided in subdivision (e), (f), or (g). +(4) If a notice of confidential information is filed pursuant to subdivision + +(d)(2), or a motion is filed pursuant to subdivision (e)(1) or (g)(1) seeking +to determine that information contained in court records is confidential, or +pursuant to subdivision (e)(5) or (g)(5) seeking to vacate an order that has +determined that information in a court record is confidential or seeking to +unseal information designated as confidential by the clerk of court, then +the person filing the notice or motion shall give notice of such filing to any +affected non-party. Notice pursuant to this provision must: + +(A) be filed with the court; +(B) identify the case by docket number; +(C) describe the confidential information with as much specificity as + +possible without revealing the confidential information, including +specifying the precise location of the information within the court +record; and + +(D) include: +(i) in the case of a motion to determine confidentiality of court + +records, a statement that if the motion is denied then the subject +material will not be treated as confidential by the clerk; and + +(ii) in the case of a motion to unseal confidential records or a +motion to vacate an order deeming records confidential, a statement +that if the motion is granted, the subject material will no longer be +treated as confidential by the clerk. + +Any notice described herein must be served pursuant to subdivision (k), if +applicable, together with the motion that gave rise to the notice in +accordance with subdivision (e)(5) or (g)(5). + +(5) Except when the entire court file is maintained as confidential, if a +judge, magistrate, or hearing officer files any document containing +confidential information, the confidential information within the document +must be identified as confidential and the title of the document must +include the word confidential. The clerk must maintain the + + + +confidentiality of the identified confidential information. A copy of the +document edited to omit the confidential information shall be provided to +the clerk for filing and recording purposes. +(e) Request to Determine Confidentiality of Trial Court Records in + +Noncriminal Cases. +(1) A request to determine the confidentiality of trial court records in + +noncriminal cases under subdivision (c) must be made in the form of a +written motion captioned Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court +Records. A motion made under this subdivision must: + +(A) identify the particular court records or a portion of a record that +the movant seeks to have determined as confidential with as much +specificity as possible without revealing the information subject to the +confidentiality determination; + +(B) specify the bases for determining that such court records are +confidential without revealing confidential information; and + +(C) set forth the specific legal authority and any applicable legal +standards for determining such court records to be confidential without +revealing confidential information. + +Any written motion made under this subdivision must include a signed +certification by the party or the attorney for the party making the request +that the motion is made in good faith and is supported by a sound factual +and legal basis. Information that is subject to such a motion must be treated +as confidential by the clerk pending the courts ruling on the motion. A +response to a written motion filed under this subdivision may be served +within 10 days of service of the motion. Notwithstanding any of the +foregoing, the court may not determine that the case number, docket +number, or other number used by the clerks office to identify the case file +is confidential. + +(2) Except when a motion filed under subdivision (e)(1) represents that +all parties agree to all of the relief requested, the court must, as soon as +practicable but no later than 30 days after the filing of a motion under this +subdivision, hold a hearing before ruling on the motion. Whether or not +any motion filed under subdivision (e)(1) is agreed to by the parties, the +court may in its discretion hold a hearing on such motion. Any hearing + + + +held under this subdivision must be an open proceeding, except that any +person may request that the court conduct all or part of the hearing in +camera to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c). Any person may +request expedited consideration of and ruling on the motion. The movant +shall be responsible for ensuring that a complete record of any hearing held +pursuant to this subdivision is created, either by use of a court reporter or +by any recording device that is provided as a matter of right by the court. +The court may in its discretion require prior public notice of the hearing on +such a motion in accordance with the procedure for providing public notice +of court orders set forth in subdivision (e)(4) or by providing such other +public notice as the court deems appropriate. The court must issue a ruling +on the motion within 30 days of the hearing. + +(3) Any order granting in whole or in part a motion filed under +subdivision (e) must state the following with as much specificity as +possible without revealing the confidential information: + +(A) the type of case in which the order is being entered; +(B) the particular grounds under subdivision (c) for determining the + +information is confidential; +(C) whether any partys name is determined to be confidential and, if + +so, the particular pseudonym or other term to be substituted for the +partys name; + +(D) whether the progress docket or similar records generated to +document activity in the case are determined to be confidential; + +(E) the particular information that is determined to be confidential; +(F) identification of persons who are permitted to view the + +confidential information; +(G) that the court finds that: (i) the degree, duration, and manner of + +confidentiality ordered by the court are no broader than necessary to +protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c); and (ii) no less +restrictive measures are available to protect the interests set forth in +subdivision (c); and + +(H) that the clerk of the court is directed to publish the order in +accordance with subdivision (e)(4). + + + +(4) Except as provided by law or court rule, notice must be given of any +written order granting in whole or in part a motion made under subdivision +(e)(1) as follows: + +(A) within 10 days following the entry of the order, the clerk of court +must post a copy of the order on the clerks website and in a prominent +public location in the courthouse; and + +(B) the order must remain posted in both locations for no less than 30 +days. This subdivision shall not apply to orders determining that court +records are confidential under subdivision (c)(7) or (c)(8). +(5) If a nonparty requests that the court vacate all or part of an order + +issued under subdivision (e) or requests that the court order the unsealing +of records designated as confidential under subdivision (d), the request +must be made by a written motion, filed in that court, that states with as +much specificity as possible the bases for the motion. The motion must set +forth the specific legal authority and any applicable legal standards +supporting the motion. The movant must serve all parties and all affected +non-parties with a copy of the motion. Except when a motion filed under +this subdivision represents that all parties and affected non-parties agree to +all of the relief requested, the court must, as soon as practicable but no later +than 30 days after the filing of a motion under this subdivision, hold a +hearing on the motion. Regardless of whether any motion filed under this +subdivision is agreed to by the parties and affected non-parties, the court +may in its discretion hold a hearing on such motion. Any person may +request expedited consideration of and ruling on the motion. Any hearing +held under this subdivision must be an open proceeding, except that any +person may request that the court conduct all or part of the hearing in +camera to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c). The court must +issue a ruling on the motion within 30 days of the hearing. The movant +shall be responsible for ensuring that a complete record of any hearing held +under this subdivision be created, either by use of a court reporter or by +any recording device that is provided as a matter of right by the court. This +subdivision shall not apply to orders determining that court records are +confidential under subdivision (c)(7) or (c)(8). +(f) Request to Determine Confidentiality of Court Records in Criminal + +Cases. + + + +(1) Subdivisions (e) and (h) shall apply to any motion by the state, a +defendant, or an affected non-party to determine the confidentiality of trial +court records in criminal cases under subdivision (c), except as provided in +subdivision (f)(3). As to any motion filed in the trial court under +subdivision (f)(3), the following procedure shall apply: + +(A) Unless the motion represents that the state, defendant(s), and all +affected non-parties subject to the motion agree to all of the relief +requested, the court must hold a hearing on the motion filed under this +subdivision within 15 days of the filing of the motion. Any hearing held +under this subdivision must be an open proceeding, except that any +person may request that the court conduct all or part of the hearing in +camera to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c)(9)(A). + +(B) The court shall issue a written ruling on a motion filed under this +subdivision within 10 days of the hearing on a contested motion or +within 10 days of the filing of an agreed motion. +(2) Subdivision (g) shall apply to any motion to determine the + +confidentiality of appellate court records under subdivision (c), except as +provided in subdivision (f)(3). As to any motion filed in the appellate court +under subdivision (f)(3), the following procedure shall apply: + +(A) The motion may be made with respect to a record that was +presented or presentable to a lower tribunal, but no determination +concerning confidentiality was made by the lower tribunal, or a record +presented to an appellate court in an original proceeding. + +(B) A response to a motion filed under this subdivision may be served +within 10 days of service of the motion. + +(C) The court shall issue a written ruling on a motion filed under this +subdivision within 10 days of the filing of a response on a contested +motion or within 10 days of the filing of an uncontested motion. +(3) Any motion to determine whether a court record that pertains to a + +plea agreement, substantial assistance agreement, or other court record that +reveals the identity of a confidential informant or active criminal +investigative information is confidential under subdivision (c)(9)(A)(i), (c) +(9)(A)(iii), (c)(9)(A)(v), or (c)(9)(A)(vii) of this rule may be made in the +form of a written motion captioned Motion to Determine Confidentiality + + + +of Court Records. Any motion made pursuant to this subdivision must be +treated as confidential and indicated on the docket by generic title only, +pending a ruling on the motion or further order of the court. As to any +motion made under this subdivision, the following procedure shall apply: + +(A) Information that is the subject of such motion must be treated as +confidential by the clerk pending the courts ruling on the motion. +Filings containing the information must be indicated on the docket in a +manner that does not reveal the confidential nature of the information. + +(B) The provisions of subdivisions (e)(3)(A)-(G), (g)(7), (h), and (j), +shall apply to motions made under this subdivision. The provisions of +subdivisions (e)(1), (e)(2), (e)(3)(H), (e)(4), and (e)(5) shall not apply to +motions made under this subdivision. + +(C) No order entered under this subdivision may authorize or approve +the sealing of court records for any period longer than is necessary to +achieve the objective of the motion, and in no event longer than 120 +days. Extensions of an order issued hereunder may be granted for 60- +day periods, but each such extension may be ordered only upon the +filing of another motion in accordance with the procedures set forth +under this subdivision. In the event of an appeal or review of a matter in +which an order is entered under this subdivision, the lower tribunal shall +retain jurisdiction to consider motions to extend orders issued hereunder +during the course of the appeal or review proceeding. + +(D) The clerk of the court shall not publish any order of the court +issued hereunder in accordance with subdivision (e)(4) or (g)(4) unless +directed by the court. The docket shall indicate only the entry of the +order. +(4) This subdivision does not authorize the falsification of court records + +or progress dockets. +(g) Request to Determine Confidentiality of Appellate Court Records + +in Noncriminal Cases. +(1) Subdivision (e)(1) shall apply to any motion filed in the appellate + +court to determine the confidentiality of appellate court records in +noncriminal cases under subdivision (c). Such a motion may be made with +respect to a record that was presented or presentable to a lower tribunal, + + + +but no determination concerning confidentiality was made by the lower +tribunal, or a record presented to an appellate court in an original +proceeding. + +(2) A response to a motion filed under subdivision (g)(1) may be served +within 10 days of service of the motion. The court shall issue a written +ruling on a written motion filed under this subdivision within 30 days of +the filing of a response on a contested motion or within 30 days of the +filing of an uncontested written motion. + +(3) Any order granting in whole or in part a motion filed under +subdivision (g)(1) must be in compliance with the guidelines set forth in +subdivisions (e)(3)(A)(e)(3)(H). Any order requiring the sealing of an +appellate court record operates to also make those same records +confidential in the lower tribunal during the pendency of the appellate +proceeding. + +(4) Except as provided by law, within 10 days following the entry of an +order granting a motion under subdivision (g)(1), the clerk of the appellate +court must post a copy of the order on the clerks website and must provide +a copy of the order to the clerk of the lower tribunal, with directions that +the clerk is of the lower tribunal shall seal the records identified in the +order. The order must remain posted by the clerk of the appellate court for +no less than 30 days. + +(5) If a nonparty requests that the court vacate all or part of an order +issued under subdivision (g)(3), or requests that the court order the +unsealing of records designated as confidential under subdivision (d), the +request must be made by a written motion, filed in that court, that states +with as much specificity as possible the bases for the request. The motion +must set forth the specific legal authority and any applicable legal +standards supporting the motion. The movant must serve all parties and all +affected non-parties with a copy of the motion. A response to a motion +may be served within 10 days of service of the motion. + +(6) The party seeking to have an appellate record sealed under this +subdivision has the responsibility to ensure that the clerk of the lower +tribunal is alerted to the issuance of the order sealing the records and to +ensure that the clerk takes appropriate steps to seal the records in the lower +tribunal. + + + +(7) Upon conclusion of the appellate proceeding, the lower tribunal may, +upon appropriate motion showing changed circumstances, revisit the +appellate courts order directing that the records be sealed. + +(8) Records of a lower tribunal determined to be confidential by that +tribunal must be treated as confidential during any review proceedings. In +any case where information has been determined to be confidential under +this rule, the clerk of the lower tribunal shall so indicate in the index +transmitted to the appellate court. If the information was determined to be +confidential in an order, the clerks index must identify such order by date +or docket number. This subdivision does not preclude review by an +appellate court, under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100(d), or +affect the standard of review by an appellate court, of an order by a lower +tribunal determining that a court record is confidential. +(h) Oral Motions to Determine Confidentiality of Trial Court Records. + +(1) Notwithstanding the written notice requirements of subdivision (d) +(2) and written motion requirements of subdivisions (d)(3), (e)(1), and (f), +the movant may make an oral motion to determine the confidentiality of +trial court records under subdivision (c), provided: + +(A) except for oral motions under subdivision (f)(3), the oral motion +otherwise complies with subdivision (e)(1); + +(B) all parties and affected non-parties are present or properly noticed +or the movant otherwise demonstrates reasonable efforts made to obtain +the attendance of any absent party or affected non-party; + +(C) the movant shows good cause why the movant was unable to +timely comply with the written notice requirements as set forth in +subdivision (d)(2) or the written motion requirement as set forth in +subdivision (d)(3), (e)(1), or (f), as applicable; + +(D) the oral motion is reduced to written form in compliance with +subdivision (d), (e)(1), or (f), as applicable, and is filed within 5 days +following the date of making the oral motion; + +(E) except for oral motions under subdivision (f)(3), the provisions of +subdivision (e)(2) shall apply to the oral motion, procedure and hearing; + +(F) the provisions of subdivision (f)(1)(A) and (f)(1)(B) and (f)(3) + + + +shall apply to any oral motion under subdivision (f)(3); and +(G) oral motions are not applicable to subdivision (f)(2) or (g) or + +extensions of orders under subdivision (f)(3)(C). +(2) The court may deny any oral motion made pursuant to subdivision + +(h)(1) if the court finds that the movant had the ability to timely comply +with the written notice requirements in subdivision (d) or the written +motion requirements of (d)(3), (e)(1), or (f), as applicable, or the movant +failed to provide adequate notice to the parties and affected non-parties of +the confidentiality issues to be presented to the court. + +(3) Until the court renders a decision regarding the confidentiality issues +raised in any oral motion, all references to purported confidential +information as set forth in the oral motion shall occur in a manner that does +not allow public access to such information. + +(4) If the court grants in whole or in part any oral motion to determine +confidentiality, the court shall issue a written order that does not reveal the +confidential information and complies with the applicable subdivision of +this rule as follows: + +(A) For any oral motion under subdivision (e) or (f)(1), except +subdivisions (f)(1)(A) and (f)(1)(B), the written order must be issued +within 30 days of the hearing and must comply with subdivision (e)(3). + +(B) For any oral motion under subdivision (f)(3), the written order +must be issued within 10 days of the hearing on a contested motion or +filing of an agreed motion and must comply with subdivision (f)(3). + +(i) Sanctions. After notice and an opportunity to respond, and upon +determining that a motion, filing, or other activity described below was not +made in good faith and was not supported by a sound legal or factual basis, +the court may impose sanctions against any party or non-party and/or their +attorney, if that party or non-party and/or their attorney, in violation of the +applicable provisions of this rule: + +(1) seeks confidential status for non-confidential information by filing a +notice under subdivision (d)(2); + +(2) seeks confidential status for non-confidential information by making +any oral or written motion under subdivision (d)(3), (e), (f), (g), or (h); + + + +(3) seeks access to confidential information under subdivision (j) or +otherwise; + +(4) fails to file a Notice of Confidential Information within Court Filing +in compliance with subdivision (d)(2); + +(5) makes public or attempts to make public by motion or otherwise +information that should be maintained as confidential under subdivision +(c), (d), (e), (f), (g), or (h); or + +(6) otherwise makes or attempts to make confidential information part of +a non-confidential court record. +Nothing in this subdivision is intended to limit the authority of a court to +enforce any court order entered pursuant to this rule. +(j) Procedure for Obtaining Access to Confidential Court Records. + +(1) The clerk of the court must allow access to confidential court records +to persons authorized by law, or any person authorized by court order. + +(2) A court order allowing access to confidential court records may be +obtained by filing a written motion which must: + +(A) identify the particular court record(s) or a portion of the court +record(s) to which the movant seeks to obtain access with as much +specificity as possible without revealing the confidential information; + +(B) specify the bases for obtaining access to such court records; +(C) set forth the specific legal authority for obtaining access to such + +court records; and +(D) contain a certification that the motion is made in good faith and is + +supported by a sound factual and legal basis. +(3) The movant must serve a copy of the written motion to obtain access + +to confidential court records on all parties and reasonably ascertainable +affected non-parties and the court must hold a hearing on the written +motion within a reasonable period of time. + +(4) Any order granting access to confidential court records must: +(A) describe the confidential information with as much specificity as + +possible without revealing the confidential information, including + + + +specifying the precise location of the information within the court +records; + +(B) identify the persons who are permitted to view the confidential +information in the court records; + +(C) identify any person who is permitted to obtain copies of the +confidential court records; and + +(D) state the time limits imposed on such access, if any, and any other +applicable terms or limitations to such access. +(5) The filer of confidential court records, that filers attorney of record, + +or that filers agent as authorized by that filer in writing may obtain access +to such confidential records pursuant to this subdivision. + +(6) Unless otherwise provided, an order granting access to confidential +court records under this subdivision shall not alter the confidential status of +the record. +(k) Procedure for Service on Victims and Affected Non-parties and + +When Addresses Are Confidential. +(1) In criminal cases, when the defendant is required to serve any notice + +or motion described in this rule on an alleged victim of a crime, service +shall be on the state attorney, who shall send or forward the notice or +motion to the alleged victim. + +(2) Except as set forth in subdivision (k)(1), when serving any notice or +motion described in this rule on any affected non-party whose name or +address is not confidential, the filer or movant shall use reasonable efforts +to locate the affected non-party and may serve such affected non-party by +any method set forth in Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.516. + +(3) Except as set forth in subdivision (k)(1), when serving any notice or +motion described in this rule and the name or address of any party or +affected non-party is confidential, the filer or movant must state +prominently in the caption of the notice or motion Confidential Party or +Confidential Affected Non-Party Court Service Requested. When a +notice or motion so designated is filed, the court shall be responsible for +providing a copy of the notice or motion to the party or affected non-party, + + + +by any method permitted in Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.516, in such a way as to not reveal the confidential +information. +(l) Denial of Access Request for Administrative Records. Expedited review + +of denials of access to administrative records of the judicial branch shall be +provided through an action for mandamus or other appropriate relief, in the +following manner: + +(1) When a judge who has denied a request for access to records is the +custodian, the action shall be filed in the court having appellate jurisdiction +to review the decisions of the judge denying access. Upon order issued by +the appellate court, the judge denying access to records shall file a sealed +copy of the requested records with the appellate court. + +(2) All other actions under this rule shall be filed in the circuit court of +the circuit in which such denial of access occurs. +(m) Procedure for Public Access to Judicial Branch Records. Requests + +and responses to requests for access to records under this rule shall be made +in a reasonable manner. + +(1) Requests for access to judicial branch records shall be in writing and +shall be directed to the custodian. The request shall provide sufficient +specificity to enable the custodian to identify the requested records. The +reason for the request is not required to be disclosed. + +(2) The custodian shall be solely responsible for providing access to the +records of the custodians entity. The custodian shall determine whether +the requested record is subject to this rule and, if so, whether the record or +portions of the record are exempt from disclosure. The custodian shall +determine the form in which the record is provided. If the request is +denied, the custodian shall state in writing the basis for the denial. + +(3) Fees for copies of records in all entities in the judicial branch of +government, except for copies of court records, shall be the same as those +provided in section 119.07, Florida Statutes. + +COMMENT +Note: + + + +The clerk of court shall review filings identified as containing confidential +information to determine whether the information is facially subject to +confidentiality under subdivision (d)(1)(B). The clerk shall notify the filer in +writing within 5 days if the clerk determines that the information is NOT +subject to confidentiality, and the records shall not be held as confidential for +more than 10 days, unless a motion is filed pursuant to subdivision (d)(3) of +the Rule. Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.420(d)(2). + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1995 Amendment. This rule was adopted to conform to the 1992 addition +of article I, section 24, to the Florida Constitution. Amendments to this rule +were adopted in response to the 1994 recommendations of the Study +Committee on Confidentiality of Records of the Judicial Branch. + +Subdivision (b) has been added by amendment and provides a definition of +judicial records that is consistent with the definition of court records +contained in rule 2.075(a)(1) [renumbered as 2.430(a)(1) in 2006] and the +definition of public records contained in chapter 119, Florida Statutes. The +word exhibits used in this definition of judicial records is intended to refer +only to documentary evidence and does not refer to tangible items of +evidence such as firearms, narcotics, etc. Judicial records within this +definition include all judicial records and data regardless of the form in which +they are kept. Reformatting of information may be necessary to protect +copyrighted material. Seigle v. Barry, 422 So. 2d 63 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), +review denied, 431 So. 2d 988 (Fla. 1983). + +The definition of judicial records also includes official business +information transmitted via an electronic mail (e-mail) system. The judicial +branch is presently experimenting with this new technology. For example, e- +mail is currently being used by the judicial branch to transmit between judges +and staff multiple matters in the courts including direct communications +between judges and staff and other judges, proposed drafts of opinions and +orders, memoranda concerning pending cases, proposed jury instructions, and +even votes on proposed opinions. All of this type of information is exempt +from public disclosure under rules 2.051(c)(1) and (c)(2) [renumbered as +2.420(c)(1) and (c)(2) in 2006]. With few exceptions, these examples of e- +mail transmissions are sent and received between judicial officials and + + + +employees within a particular courts jurisdiction. This type of e-mail is by its +very nature almost always exempt from public record disclosure pursuant to +rule 2.051(c). In addition, official business e-mail transmissions sent to or +received by judicial officials or employees using dial-in equipment, as well as +the use of on-line outside research facilities such as Westlaw, would also be +exempt email under rule 2.051(c). On the other hand, we recognize that not +all e-mail sent and received within a particular courts jurisdiction will fall +into an exception under rule 2.051(c). The fact that a non-exempt e-mail +message made or received in connection with official court business is +transmitted intra-court does not relieve judicial officials or employees from +the obligation of properly having a record made of such messages so they +will be available to the public similar to any other written communications. It +appears that official business e-mail that is sent or received by persons +outside a particular courts jurisdiction is largely non-exempt and is subject to +recording in some form as a public record. Each court should develop a +means to properly make a record of non-exempt official business e-mail by +either electronically storing the mail or by making a hard copy. It is important +to note that, although official business communicated by e-mail transmissions +is a matter of public record under the rule, the exemptions provided in rule +2.051(c) exempt many of these judge/ staff transmissions from the public +record. E-mail may also include transmissions that are clearly not official +business and are, consequently, not required to be recorded as a public +record. Each court should also publish an e-mail address for public access. +The individual e-mail addresses of judicial officials and staff are exempt +under rule 2.051(c)(2) to protect the compelling interests of maintaining the +uninterrupted use of the computer for research, word-processing, preparation +of opinions, and communication during trials, and to ensure computer +security. + +Subdivision (c)(3) was amended by creating subparts (a) and (b) to +distinguish between the provisions governing the confidentiality of +complaints against judges and complaints against other individuals or entities +licensed or regulated by the Supreme Court. + +Subdivision (c)(5) was amended to make public the qualifications of +persons applying to serve or serving the court as unpaid volunteers such as +guardians ad litem, mediators, and arbitrators and to make public the +applications and evaluations of such persons upon a showing of materiality in + + + +a pending court proceeding or upon a showing of good cause. +Subdivision (c)(9) has also been amended. Subdivision (c)(9) was adopted + +to incorporate the holdings of judicial decisions establishing that +confidentiality may be required to protect the rights of defendants, litigants, +or third parties; to further the administration of justice; or to otherwise +promote a compelling governmental interest. Barron v. Florida Freedom +Newspapers, Inc., 531 So.2d 113 (Fla.1988); Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. +Lewis, 426 So.2d 1 (Fla.1982). Such confidentiality may be implemented by +court rule, as well as by judicial decision, where necessary for the effective +administration of justice. See, e.g., Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.470, (Sealed Verdict); +Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.712, (Presentence Investigation Reports); Fla.R.Civ.P. +1.280(c), (Protective Orders). + +Subdivision (c)(9)(D) requires that, except where otherwise provided by +law or rule of court, reasonable notice shall be given to the public of any +order closing a court record. This subdivision is not applicable to court +proceedings. Unlike the closure of court proceedings, which has been held to +require notice and hearing prior to closure, see Miami Herald Publishing Co. +v. Lewis, 426 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1982), the closure of court records has not +required prior notice. Requiring prior notice of closure of a court record may +be impractical and burdensome in emergency circumstances or when closure +of a court record requiring confidentiality is requested during a judicial +proceeding. Providing reasonable notice to the public of the entry of a closure +order and an opportunity to be heard on the closure issue adequately protects +the competing interests of confidentiality and public access to judicial +records. See Florida Freedom Newspapers, Inc. v. Sirmons, 508 So.2d 462 +(Fla. 1st DCA 1987), approved, Barron v. Florida Freedom Newspapers, +Inc., 531 So.2d 113 (Fla.1988); State ex rel. Tallahassee Democrat v. +Cooksey, 371 So.2d 207 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). Subdivision (c)(9)(D), +however, does not preclude the giving of prior notice of closure of a court +record, and the court may elect to give prior notice in appropriate cases. + +2007 Committee Commentary. Subdivision (d)(2) is intended to permit a +party to make use of any court-provided recording device or system that is +available generally for litigants use, but is not intended to require the court +system to make such devices available where they are not already in use and +is not intended to eliminate any cost for use of such system that is generally +borne by a party requesting use of such system. + + + +COURT COMMENTARY + +2002 Court Commentary. The custodian is required to provide access to +or copies of records but is not required either to provide information from +records or to create new records in response to a request. Op. Atty. Gen. Fla. +80-57 (1980); Wootton v. Cook, 590 So.2d 1039 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Seigle +v. Barry, 422 So.2d 63 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). + +The writing requirement is not intended to disadvantage any person who +may have difficulty writing a request; if any difficulty exists, the custodian +should aid the requestor in reducing the request to writing. + +It is anticipated that each judicial branch entity will have policies and +procedures for responding to public records requests. + +The 1995 commentary notes that the definition of judicial records added +at that time is consistent with the definition of court records contained in +rule 2.075(a)(1) [renumbered as 2.430(a)(1) in 2006] and the definition of +public records contained in chapter 119, Florida Statutes. Despite the +commentary, these definitions are not the same. The definitions added in +2002 are intended to clarify that records of the judicial branch include court +records as defined in rule 2.075(a)(1) and administrative records. The +definition of records of the judicial branch is consistent with the definition of +public records in chapter 119, Florida Statutes. + +2005 Court Commentary. Under courts inherent authority, appellate +courts may appoint a special magistrate to serve as commissioner for the +court to make findings of fact and oversee discovery in review proceedings +under subdivision (d) of this rule. Cf. State ex rel. Davis v. City of Avon Park, +158 So. 159 (Fla. 1934) (recognizing appellate courts inherent authority to +do all things reasonably necessary for administration of justice within the +scope of courts jurisdiction, including the appointment of a commissioner to +make findings of fact); Wessells v. State, 737 So. 2d 1103 (Fla. 1st DCA +1998) (relinquishing jurisdiction to circuit court for appointment of a special +master to serve as commissioner for court to make findings of fact). + +2007 Court Commentary. New subdivision (d) applies only to motions +that seek to make court records in noncriminal cases confidential in +accordance with subdivision (c)(9). + + + +NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION WITHIN COURT +FILING + +Pursuant to Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.420(d)(2), I hereby certify: + +( ) (1) I am filing herewith a document containing confidential +information as described in Rule 2.420(d)(1)(B) and that: + +(a) The title/type of document is: _____________________, +and: + +(b) ( ) the entire document is confidential, or +( ) the confidential information within the document is + +precisely located at: ______________________________. +OR +( ) (2) A document was previously filed in this case that + +contains confidential information as described in Rule 2.420(d) +(1)(B), but a Notice of Confidential Information within Court +Filing was not filed with the document and the confidential +information was not maintained as confidential by the clerk of +the court. I hereby notify the clerk that this confidential +information is located as follows: + +(a) Title/type of document: + + + +_____________________________; +(b) Date of filing (if known): + +_____________________________; +(c) Date of document: _____________________________; +(d) Docket entry number: + +_____________________________; +(e) ( ) Entire document is confidential, or + ( ) Precise location of confidential information in document: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________. + +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE +I HEREBY CERTIFY that a copy of the foregoing was + +furnished by (e-mail) (delivery) (mail) (fax) on: (All Parties and +Affected Non-Parties. Note: If the name or address of a Party or +Affected Non-Party is confidential DO NOT include such +information in this Certificate of Service. Instead, serve the State +Attorney or request Court Service. See Rule 2.420(k)) +________________________, on _____________________, 20 +____. + + + + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.423. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.423 + +RULE 2.423. MARSYS LAW CRIME VICTIM INFORMATION +WITHIN COURT FILING. + +(a) Scope and Purpose. As provided by article I, section 16 of the Florida +Constitution, known as Marsys Law, the following rule shall govern +public access to and the protection of the records of the judicial branch of +government in criminal and juvenile justice cases as it pertains to confidential +crime victim information. This rule shall be interpreted to be consistent with +the scope and purpose of rule 2.420. + +(b) Definitions. +(1) Confidential crime victim information means any information + +contained within a court record that could be used to locate or harass the +victim or the victims family, or which could disclose confidential or +privileged information of the victim. + +(2) Crime and criminal include delinquent acts and conduct. +(3) A victim is a person who suffers direct or threatened physical, + +psychological, or financial harm as a result of the commission or attempted +commission of a crime or delinquent act or against whom the crime or +delinquent act is committed. The term victim includes the victims +lawful representative, the parent or guardian of a minor victim, or the next +of kin of a homicide victim, except upon a showing that the interest of such +individual would be in actual or potential conflict with the interests of the +victim. The term victim does not include the accused. +(c) Confidential and Exempt Records. In accordance with rule 2.420(c) + +(9), confidential crime victim information is determined to be confidential on +the grounds that confidentiality is required to comply with the Florida +Constitution. + +(d) Procedure for Identifying Confidential Crime Victim Information +in Criminal and Juvenile Court Records. + +(1) The filer of an initial charging document shall prominently indicate +the existence of confidential crime victim information pursuant to article I, +section 16 of the Florida Constitution. If the filer indicates the existence of + + + +confidential crime victim information, the clerk of the court shall designate +and maintain the confidentiality of any such information contained within +the initial charging document. + +(2) Except as provided under subdivision (d)(1), the filer of any +document with the court under subdivision (d) shall ascertain whether it +contains any confidential crime victim information. If the filer believes in +good faith that information is confidential, the filer shall request that the +information be maintained as confidential by contemporaneously filing a +Notice of Confidential Crime Victim Information within Court Filing. + +(3) A crime victim, the filer, a party, or any affected nonparty may file a +Notice of Confidential Crime Victim Information within Court Filing at +any time. + +(4) Filers of subsequent court filings shall limit the presence of crime +victim identifying information in accordance with rule 2.425(a)(3) or file a +Notice of Crime Victim Information within Court Filing with each +subsequent court filing that contains confidential crime victim information. + +(5) A Notice of Confidential Crime Victim Information within Court +Filing: + +(A) Shall identify the precise location of the confidential information +within the document being filed. + +(B) Shall be confidential to the extent it contains crime victim +information pursuant to article I, section 16. + +(C) Shall not be required when an entire case file is maintained as +confidential. + +(D) A form shall accompany this rule. +(6) If a Notice of Crime Victim Information within Court Filing is filed, + +the clerk of court shall review the filing identified as containing +confidential crime victim information to determine whether the purported +confidential information is facially subject to confidentiality under article I, +section 16(b)(5) of the Florida Constitution. + +(A) The clerk of the court shall designate and maintain the +confidentiality of any such information contained within a court record. + + + +(B) If the clerk determines that the information is not confidential, the +clerk shall notify the filer in writing within 5 days of filing the notice +and thereafter shall maintain the information as confidential for 10 days +from the date such notification by the clerk is served. The information +shall not be held as confidential for more than that 10-day period, unless +a motion has been filed pursuant to rule 2.420(d)(3). + + + + Pt. IV. , Appx A. +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. IV, Appx. to R. 2.423 + +APPENDIX A. Notice Of Confidential Crime Victim Information Within +Court Filing + +Pursuant to Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration +2.423, I hereby certify: + +( ) (1) I am filing a document containing confidential crime victim +information as described in rule 2.423(b)(1) and that: + +(a) The title/type of the document is _________________, and; +(b) ( ) the entire document is confidential, or +( ) the confidential information within the document is precisely located + +at: ________________________________. +( ) (2) A document was previously filed in this case that contains + +confidential crime victim information as described in rule 2.423(b)(1), but a +Notice of Confidential Crime Victim Information within Court Filing was not +filed with the document and the confidential information was not maintained +as confidential by the clerk of the court. I hereby notify the clerk that this +information is located as follows: + +(a) Title/type of document: ___________________________; +(b) Date of filing (if known): __________________________; +(c) Date of document: ________________________________; +(d) Docket entry number: ____________________________; and either: +( ) Entire document is confidential, or +( ) The precise location of the confidential crime victim information is: + +___________________________________________________. + ______________________________. + Filers Signature + +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE +I certify that the foregoing document has been furnished to + + + +(here insert names or names, addresses used for service, and +mailing addresses) by (portal) (e-mail) (delivery) (mail) on . +(date). [See Note 1]. + +Name: ______________________________ +Address: ______________________________ + +Phone: ______________________________ +Florida Bar No. (if applicable): ______________________________ + +E-mail address: ______________________________ +Note 1: If the name or address of a Party or Affected Nonparty is + +confidential DO NOT include such information in the Certificate of Service. +Instead, serve the State Attorney or request Court Service as described under +rule 2.420(k). + +Note 2: The clerk of the court shall review filings identified as containing +confidential crime victim information to determine whether the information is +facially subject to confidentiality under rule 2.423(d)(6). As provided under +rule 2.423(d)(6)(B), the clerk shall notify the filer in writing within 5 days if +the clerk determines that the information is not subject to confidentiality, and +the records shall not be held as confidential for more than 10 days, unless a +motion is filed pursuant to rule 2.420(d)(3). + + + + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.425. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 + +RULE 2.425. MINIMIZATION OF THE FILING OF SENSITIVE +INFORMATION. + +(a) Limitation for Court Filings. Unless authorized by subdivision (b), +statute, another rule of court, or the court orders otherwise, designated +sensitive information filed with the court must be limited to the following +format: + +(1) The initials of a person known to be a minor; +(2) The year of birth of a persons birth date; +(3) No portion of any + +(A) social security number, +(B) bank account number, +(C) credit card account number, +(D) charge account number, or +(E) debit account number; + +(4) The last four digits of any +(A) taxpayer identification number (TIN), +(B) employee identification number, +(C) drivers license number, +(D) passport number, +(E) telephone number, +(F) financial account number, except as set forth in subdivision (a)(3), +(G) brokerage account number, +(H) insurance policy account number, +(I) loan account number, +(J) customer account number, or + + + +(K) patient or health care number; +(5) A truncated version of any + +(A) email address, +(B) computer user name, +(C) password, or +(D) personal identification number (PIN); and + +(6) A truncated version of any other sensitive information as provided +by court order. +(b) Exceptions. Subdivision (a) does not apply to the following: + +(1) An account number which identifies the property alleged to be the +subject of a proceeding; + +(2) The record of an administrative or agency proceeding; +(3) The record in appellate or review proceedings; +(4) The birth date of a minor whenever the birth date is necessary for the + +court to establish or maintain subject matter jurisdiction; +(5) The name of a minor in any order relating to parental responsibility, + +time-sharing, or child support; +(6) The name of a minor in any document or order affecting the minors + +ownership of real property; +(7) The birth date of a party in a writ of attachment or notice to payor; +(8) In traffic and criminal proceedings + +(A) a pro se filing; +(B) a court filing that is related to a criminal matter or investigation + +and that is prepared before the filing of a criminal charge or is not filed +as part of any docketed criminal case; + +(C) an arrest or search warrant or any information in support thereof; +(D) a charging document and an affidavit or other documents filed in + +support of any charging document, including any driving records; + + + +(E) a statement of particulars; +(F) discovery material introduced into evidence or otherwise filed + +with the court; +(G) all information necessary for the proper issuance and execution of + +a subpoena duces tecum; +(H) information needed to contact witnesses who will support the + +defendants claim of newly discovered evidence under Florida Rule of +Criminal Procedure 3.851; and + +(I) information needed to complete a sentencing scoresheet; +(9) Information used by the clerk for case maintenance purposes or the + +courts for case management purposes; and +(10) Information which is relevant and material to an issue before the + +court. +(c) Remedies. Upon motion by a party or interested person or sua sponte + +by the court, the court may order remedies, sanctions or both for a violation +of subdivision (a). Following notice and an opportunity to respond, the court +may impose sanctions if such filing was not made in good faith. + +(d) Motions Not Restricted. This rule does not restrict a partys right to +move for protective order, to move to file documents under seal, or to request +a determination of the confidentiality of records. + +(e) Application. This rule does not affect the application of constitutional +provisions, statutes, or rules of court regarding confidential information or +access to public information. + + + + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.430. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.430 + +RULE 2.430. RETENTION OF COURT RECORDS. +(a) Definitions. The following definitions apply to this rule: + +(1) Court records mean the contents of the court file, including the +progress docket and other similar records generated to document activity in +a case, transcripts filed with the clerk, documentary exhibits in the custody +of the clerk, and electronic records, video tapes, or stenographic tapes of +depositions or other proceedings filed with the clerk, and electronic +records, videotapes or stenographic tapes of court proceedings. + +(2) After a judgment has become final means: +(A) when a final order, final judgment, final docket entry, final + +dismissal, or nolle prosequi has been entered as to all parties, no appeal +has been taken, and the time for appeal has expired; or + +(B) when a final order, final judgment, or final docket entry has been +entered, an appeal has been taken, the appeal has been disposed of, and +the time for any further appellate proceedings has expired. +(3) Permanently recorded means that a document has been + +microfilmed, optically imaged, or recorded onto an electronic record +keeping system in accordance with standards adopted by the Supreme +Court of Florida. +(b) Permanently Recorded Records. + +(1) Court records, except exhibits, that have been permanently recorded +may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the clerk at any time after a +judgment has become final. + +(2) Any physical media submitted to the clerk for the purpose of filing +information contained in the media may be destroyed, retained, or +otherwise disposed of by the clerk once the contents of the media have +been made a part of the court record. +(c) Records Not Permanently Recorded. No court records under this + +subdivision shall be destroyed or disposed of until the final order, final +docket entry, or final judgment is permanently recorded for, or recorded in, + + + +the public records. The time periods shall not apply to any action in which the +court orders the court records to be kept until the court orders otherwise. +When an order is entered to that effect, the progress docket and the court file +shall be marked by the clerk with a legend showing that the court records are +not to be destroyed or disposed of without a further order of court. Any +person may apply for an order suspending or prohibiting destruction or +disposition of court records in any proceeding. Court records, except exhibits, +that are not permanently recorded may be destroyed or disposed of by the +clerk after a judgment has become final in accordance with the following +schedule: + +(1) For trial courts +(A) 60 days Parking tickets and noncriminal traffic infractions + +after required audits have been completed. +(B) 2 years Proceedings under the Small Claims Rules, Medical + +Mediation Proceedings. +(C) 5 years Noncriminal ordinance violations, civil litigation + +proceedings in county court other than those under the Small Claims +Rules, and civil proceedings in circuit court except marriage dissolutions +and adoptions. + +(D) 10 years Probate, guardianship, and mental health proceedings. +(E) 10 years Felony and misdemeanor cases in which no + +information or indictment was filed or in which all charges were +dismissed, or in which the state announced a nolle prosequi, or in which +the defendant was adjudicated not guilty. + +(F) 75 years Juvenile proceedings containing an order permanently +depriving a parent of custody of a child, and adoptions, and all felony +and misdemeanor cases not previously destroyed. + +(G) Juvenile proceedings not otherwise provided for in this +subdivision shall be kept for 5 years after the last entry or until the child +reaches the age of majority, whichever is later. + +(H) Marriage dissolutions 10 years from the last record activity. +The court may authorize destruction of court records not involving +alimony, support, or custody of children 5 years from the last record + + + +activity. +(2) For district courts of appeal + +(A) 2 years noncriminal court records. +(B) 5 years Criminal court records. + +(3) For the Supreme Court +(A) 5 years All cases disposed of by order not otherwise provided + +for in this rule. +(B) 10 years Cases disposed of by order involving individuals + +licensed or regulated by the court and noncriminal court records +involving the unauthorized practice of law. + +(d) Records to Be Retained Permanently. The following court records +shall be permanently recorded or permanently retained: + +(1) progress dockets, and other similar records generated to document +activity in a case, and + +(2) court records of the supreme court in which the case was disposed of +by opinion. +(e) Court Reporters Notes. Court reporters or persons acting as court + +reporters for judicial or discovery proceedings shall retain the original notes +or electronic records of the proceedings or depositions until the times +specified below: + +(1) 2 years from the date of preparing the transcript Judicial +proceedings, arbitration hearings, and discovery proceedings when an +original transcript has been prepared. + +(2) 10 years Judicial proceedings in felony cases when a transcript +has not been prepared. + +(3) 5 years All other judicial proceedings, arbitration hearings, and +discovery proceedings when a transcript has not been prepared. +When an agreement has been made between the reporter and any other +person and the person has paid the reasonable charges for storage and +retention of the notes, the notes or records shall be kept for any longer time +agreed on. All reporters notes shall be retained in a secure place in + + + +Florida. +(f) Exhibits. + +(1) Exhibits in criminal proceedings shall be disposed of as provided by +law. + +(2) All other exhibits shall be retained by the clerk until 90 days after a +judgment has become final. If an exhibit is not withdrawn pursuant to +subdivision (i) within 90 days, the clerk may destroy or dispose of the +exhibits after giving the parties or their attorneys of record 30 days notice +of the clerks intention to do so. Exhibits shall be delivered to any party or +attorney of record calling for them during the 30-day time period. +(g) Disposition Other Than Destruction. Before destruction or + +disposition of court records under this rule, any person may apply to the court +for an order requiring the clerk to deliver to the applicant the court records +that are to be destroyed or disposed of. All parties shall be given notice of the +application. The court shall dispose of that court record as appropriate. + +(h) Release of Court Records. This rule does not limit the power of the +court to release exhibits or other parts of court records that are the property of +the person or party initially placing the items in the court records. The court +may require copies to be substituted as a condition to releasing the court +records under this subdivision. + +(i) Right to Expunge Records. Nothing in this rule shall affect the power +of the court to order records expunged. + +(j) Sealed Records. No record which has been sealed from public +examination by order of court shall be destroyed without hearing after such +notice as the court shall require. + +(k) Destruction of Jury Notes. At the conclusion of the trial and promptly +following discharge of the jury, the court shall collect all juror notes and +immediately destroy the juror notes. + + + + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.440. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.440 + +RULE 2.440. RETENTION OF JUDICIAL BRANCH +ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS. + +(a) Definitions. +(1) Judicial branch means the judicial branch of government, which + +includes the state courts system, the clerk of court when acting as an arm +of the court, The Florida Bar, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, the +Judicial Qualifications Commission, and all other entities established by or +operating under the authority of the supreme court or the chief justice. + +(2) Records of the judicial branch means all records, regardless of +physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received +in connection with the transaction of official business by any judicial +branch entity and consists of: + +(A) court records, which means the contents of the court file, +including the progress docket and other similar records generated to +document activity in a case, transcripts filed with the clerk, documentary +exhibits in the custody of the clerk, and electronic records, videotapes, +or stenographic tapes of depositions or other proceedings filed with the +clerk, and electronic records, videotapes, or stenographic tapes of court +proceedings; and + +(B) administrative records, which means all other records made or +received pursuant to court rule, law, or ordinance, or in connection with +the transaction of official business by any judicial branch entity. + +(b) Retention requirements. Administrative records in the judicial branch +shall be retained in accordance with the Judicial Branch Records Retention +Schedule approved by the supreme court. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +2002 Commentary. This rule does not apply to court records and files that +are governed by rule 2.075 [renumbered as 2.430 in 2006]. This rule applies +to administrative records. + + + +To provide a consistent schedule for retention of administrative records in +the judicial branch, the Supreme Court Workgroup on Public Records +recommended that the Court adopt the Judicial Branch Records Retention +Schedule. This schedule uses the legislatively authorized Department of State +retention schedules, as appropriate, and includes a schedule for other records +that are unique to the judicial branch. [This schedule is set forth at the end of +these rules.] + + + + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.450. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.450 + +RULE 2.450. TECHNOLOGICAL COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL +PROCEEDINGS. + +(a) Electronic and Still Photography Allowed. +Subject at all times to the authority of the presiding judge to: (i) control the + +conduct of proceedings before the court; (ii) ensure decorum and prevent +distractions; and (iii) ensure the fair administration of justice in the pending +cause, electronic media and still photography coverage of public judicial +proceedings in the appellate and trial courts of this state shall be allowed in +accordance with the following standards of conduct and technology +promulgated by the Supreme Court of Florida. + +(b) Equipment and Personnel. +(1) At least 1 portable television camera, operated by not more than 1 + +camera person, shall be permitted in any trial or appellate court +proceeding. The number of permitted cameras shall be within the sound +discretion and authority of the presiding judge. + +(2) Not more than 1 still photographer, using not more than 2 still +cameras, shall be permitted in any proceeding in a trial or appellate court. + +(3) Not more than 1 audio system for radio broadcast purposes shall be +permitted in any proceeding in a trial or appellate court. Audio pickup for +all media purposes shall be accomplished from existing audio systems +present in the court facility. If no technically suitable audio system exists +in the court facility, microphones and related wiring essential for media +purposes shall be unobtrusive and shall be located in places designated in +advance of any proceeding by the chief judge of the judicial circuit or +district in which the court facility is located. + +(4) Any pooling arrangements among the media required by these +limitations on equipment and personnel shall be the sole responsibility of +the media without calling upon the presiding judge to mediate any dispute +as to the appropriate media representative or equipment authorized to cover +a particular proceeding. In the absence of advance media agreement on +disputed equipment or personnel issues, the presiding judge shall exclude + + + +all contesting media personnel from a proceeding. +(c) Sound and Light Criteria. + +(1) Only television photographic and audio equipment that does not +produce distracting sound or light shall be used to cover judicial +proceedings. No artificial lighting device of any kind shall be used in +connection with the television camera. + +(2) Only still camera equipment that does not produce distracting sound +or light shall be used to cover judicial proceedings. No artificial lighting +device of any kind shall be used in connection with a still camera. + +(3) It shall be the affirmative duty of media personnel to demonstrate to +the presiding judge adequately in advance of any proceeding that the +equipment sought to be used meets the sound and light criteria enunciated +in this rule. A failure to obtain advance judicial approval for equipment +shall preclude its use in any proceeding. +(d) Location of Equipment Personnel. + +(1) Television camera equipment shall be positioned in such location in +the court facility as shall be designated by the chief judge of the judicial +circuit or district in which such facility is situated. The area designated +shall provide reasonable access to coverage. If and when areas remote from +the court facility that permit reasonable access to coverage are provided, all +television camera and audio equipment shall be positioned only in such +area. Videotape recording equipment that is not a component part of a +television camera shall be located in an area remove from the court facility. + +(2) A still camera photographer shall position himself or herself in such +location in the court facility as shall be designated by the chief judge of the +judicial circuit or district in which such facility is situated. The area +designated shall provide reasonable access to coverage. Still camera +photographers shall assume a fixed position within the designated area and, +once established in a shooting position, shall act so as not to call attention +to themselves through further movement. Still camera photographers shall +not be permitted to move about in order to obtain photographs of court +proceedings. + +(3) Broadcast media representatives shall not move about the court +facility while proceedings are in session, and microphones or taping + + + +equipment once positioned as required by subdivision (b)(3) shall not be +moved during the pendency of the proceeding. +(e) Movement During Proceedings. News media photographic or audio + +equipment shall not be placed in or removed from the court facility except +before commencement or after adjournment of proceedings each day, or +during a recess. Neither television film magazines nor still camera film or +lenses shall be changed within a court facility except during a recess in the +proceeding. + +(f) Courtroom Light Sources. With the concurrence of the chief judge of +a judicial circuit or district in which a court facility is situated, modifications +and additions may be made in light sources existing in the facility, provided +such modifications or additions are installed and maintained without public +expense. + +(g) Conferences of Counsel. To protect the attorney-client privilege and +the effective right to counsel, there shall be no audio pickup or broadcast of +conferences that occur in a court facility between attorneys and their clients, +between co-counsel of a client, or between counsel and the presiding judge +held at the bench. + +(h) Impermissible Use of Media Material. None of the film, videotape, +still photographs, or audio reproductions developed during or by virtue of +coverage of a judicial proceeding shall be admissible as evidence in the +proceeding out of which it arose, in any proceeding subsequent or collateral +thereto, or upon retrial or appeal of such proceedings. + +(i) Appellate Review. Review of an order excluding the electronic media +from access to any proceeding, excluding coverage of a particular participant, +or upon any other matters arising under these standards shall be pursuant to +Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100(d). + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1994 Amendment. This rule was copied from Canon 3A(7) of the Code of +Judicial Conduct. Canon 3A(7) represented a departure from former Canon +3A(7) [ABA Canon 35]. The former canon generally proscribed electronic +media and still photography coverage of judicial proceedings from within and +in areas immediately adjacent to the courtroom, with three categories of + + + +exceptions - (a) use for judicial administration, (b) coverage of investitive, +ceremonial, and naturalization proceedings, and (c) use for instructional +purposes in educational institutions. Subject to the limitations and +promulgation of standards as mentioned therein, the revised canon +constituted a general authorization for electronic media and still photography +coverage for all purposes, including the purposes expressed as exceptions in +the former canon. Limited only by the authority of the presiding judge in the +exercise of sound discretion to prohibit filming or photographing of particular +participants, consent of participants to coverage is not required. The text of +the rule refers to public judicial proceedings. This is in recognition of the +authority reposing in the presiding judge, upon the exercise of sound +discretion, to hold certain judicial proceedings or portions thereof in camera, +and in recognition of the fact that certain proceedings or portions thereof are +made confidential by statute. The term presiding judge includes the chief +judge of an appellate tribunal. + + + + Pt. IV. , Rule 2.451. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.451 + +RULE 2.451. USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES. +(a) Electronic Devices Defined. An electronic device is any device + +capable of making or transmitting still or moving photographs, video +recordings, or images of any kind; any device capable of creating, +transmitting, or receiving text or data; and any device capable of receiving, +transmitting, or recording sound. Electronic devices include, without +limitation, film cameras, digital cameras, video cameras, any other type of +camera, cellular telephones, tape recorders, digital voice recorders, any other +type of audio recorders, laptop computers, personal digital assistants, or other +similar technological devices with the ability to make or transmit video +recordings, audio recordings, images, text, or data. + +(b) Use of Electronic Devices by Jurors During Proceedings Conducted +In Person. If jurors participate in a court proceeding in person, the following +provisions govern: + +(1) Electronic devices may be removed as directed by the presiding +judge from all members of a jury panel at any time before deliberations, +but such electronic devices must be removed from all members of a jury +panel before jury deliberations begin. The electronic devices will be +removed and appropriately secured by the bailiff or other person +designated by the chief judge. + +(2) Any electronic devices removed from members of a jury panel may +be returned to the members of the jury panel during recesses in the trial. +When jurors are sequestered, the presiding judge may determine whether +the electronic devices will be removed from jurors during any portion of +sequestration. + +(3) From the time a person reports for jury service until the person is +discharged from jury service, that person is prohibited from using +electronic devices for any of the following purposes: + +(A) making or transmitting still or moving photographs, audio +recordings, video recordings, or images of any kind of the court +proceedings; + + + +(B) transmitting or accessing text or data during the court +proceedings; + +(C) transmitting or accessing text or data about the case on which the +juror is serving; + +(D) researching, transmitting, or accessing information about the case +on which the juror is serving; + +(E) otherwise communicating about the case on which the juror is +serving; or + +(F) otherwise communicating about the jury deliberations. +(4) Nothing in this rule is to be construed to limit or impair the authority + +of a chief judge or presiding judge to grant permission to a juror to retain +his or her electronic device during trial proceedings. + +(5) The jury summons mailed to prospective jurors should contain a +notice that electronic devices will be removed from all members of a jury +panel before jury deliberations begin and as directed by the presiding +judge, may be removed at other stages of a trial. At the beginning of the +trial, the presiding judge should advise the jury panel about the removal of +electronic devices. +(c) Use of Electronic Devices by Jurors During Proceedings Conducted + +by Audio-Video Communication Technology. When prospective jurors +participate in voir dire or empaneled jurors participate in a trial through +audio-video communication technology as described in rule 2.530(c) and +authorized by another rule of procedure, the following provisions govern: + +(1) Presiding judges should ensure that the prospective and empaneled +jurors have the technical ability and means necessary to connect to and +participate in the court proceeding. + +(2) Prospective and empaneled jurors may not use an electronic device +during a court proceeding, except for the sole purpose of participating in +the court proceeding, unless otherwise authorized by the presiding judge. +When empaneled jurors are sequestered, the presiding judge may +determine whether any electronic devices may be used by those jurors +during any portion of sequestration. + +(3) Prospective and empaneled jurors are subject to the prohibitions + + + +specified in subdivision (b)(3). +(4) Nothing in this rule is to be construed to limit or impair the authority + +of a chief judge or presiding judge to grant permission to a prospective or +an empaneled juror to use his or her electronic device during a court +proceeding. + +(5) The jury summons mailed to prospective jurors who may participate +in voir dire or trial through audio-video communication technology should +contain a notice indicating that electronic devices may not be used during +those court proceedings except for the sole purpose of participating in the +court proceeding, unless otherwise authorized by the presiding judge. The +summons should also indicate that the use of electronic devices may be +prohibited by a presiding judge during a period of sequestration. At the +beginning of voir dire and trial, the presiding judge should advise the +prospective and empaneled jurors about the prohibition against using +electronic devices during the court proceeding for any purpose other than +participating in the court proceeding. +(d) Use of Electronic Devices by Others. + +(1) The use of electronic devices in a courtroom is subject at all times to +the authority of the presiding judge or quasi-judicial officer to + +(A) control the conduct of proceedings before the court; +(B) ensure decorum and prevent distractions; and +(C) ensure the fair administration of justice in the pending cause. + +(2) The use of electronic devices in a courthouse or court facility is +subject at all times to the authority of the chief judge to + +(A) ensure decorum and prevent distractions; +(B) ensure the fair administration of justice; and +(C) preserve court security. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +2013 Adoption. Subdivision (c), Use of Electronic Devices by Others, +parallels Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.450(a) regarding the use +of electronic devices by the media. + + + + Pt. V. +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. V + + + +PART V. PRACTICE OF LAW + Pt. A. + +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. V, Pt. A + + + +PART A. ATTORNEYS + Pt. A. , Rule 2.505. + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.505 + +RULE 2.505. ATTORNEYS. +(a) Scope and Purpose. All persons in good standing as members of The + +Florida Bar shall be permitted to practice in Florida. Attorneys of other states +who are not members of the Florida Bar in good standing shall not engage in +the practice of law in Florida except to the extent permitted by rule 2.510. + +(b) Persons Employed by the Court. Except as provided in this +subdivision, no full-time employee of the court shall practice as an attorney +in any court or before any agency of government while continuing in that +position. Any attorney designated by the chief justice or chief judge may +represent the court, any court employee in the employees official capacity, +or any judge in the judges official capacity, in any proceeding in which the +court, employee, or judge is an interested party. An attorney formerly +employed by a court shall not represent anyone in connection with a matter in +which the attorney participated personally and substantially while employed +by the court, unless all parties to the proceeding consent after disclosure. + +(c) Attorney Not to Be Surety. No attorneys or other officers of court +shall enter themselves or be taken as bail or surety in any proceeding in court. + +(d) Stipulations. No private agreement or consent between parties or their +attorneys concerning the practice or procedure in an action shall be of any +force unless the evidence of it is in writing, subscribed by the party or the +partys attorney against whom it is alleged. Parol agreements may be made +before the court if promptly made a part of the record or incorporated in the +stenographic notes of the proceedings, and agreements made at depositions +that are incorporated in the transcript need not be signed when signing of the +deposition is waived. This rule shall not apply to settlements or other +substantive agreements. + +(e) Appearance of Attorney. An attorney may appear for a party in an +action or proceeding in any of the following ways: + +(1) First Pleading or Document. Signing the first pleading or other + + + +document filed on behalf of a party. +(2) Notice of Appearance. Filing a notice of appearance on behalf of a + +party. +(3) Order on Substitution of Counsel. Filing of a written order by the + +court, that reflects written consent of the client. The court may condition +substitution of counsel upon payment of or grant of security for the +substituted attorneys fees and expenses or upon such other terms as may +be just. + +(4) Notice of Substitution of Counsel. Filing a notice of substitution of +counsel when the substituting attorney is from the same law firm, +company, or governmental agency as the replaced attorney. + +(5) Notice of Limited Appearance. Filing a notice of limited +appearance as permitted by another rule of court. + +(6) Appearance as Stand-In Counsel. Appearing as stand-in counsel +pursuant to subdivision (g). +(f) Termination of Appearance of Attorney. An appearance of an + +attorney for a party in an action or proceeding shall terminate only upon: +(1) Withdrawal of Attorney. A written order of the court after hearing + +upon a motion setting forth reasons for withdrawal and the clients last +known address, telephone number, and e-mail address. + +(2) Substitution of Attorney. Substitution of counsel pursuant to +subdivision (e)(3) or (e)(4). + +(3) Termination of Proceeding. Termination of an action or proceeding +and expiration of any applicable time for appeal when no appeal is taken, +without any further action of the court unless otherwise required by +another rule of court. + +(4) Termination of Post-Judgment Appearance. +(A) In non-criminal matters in which an attorney has appeared after + +entry of judgment, filing of a notice of termination of appearance. +(B) In matters governed by the rules of criminal or juvenile procedure + +in which an attorney has appeared after entry of a judgment, entry of a +written order of the court after hearing upon a motion setting forth the + + + +reasons for withdrawal. +(5) Termination of Limited Appearance. Filing a notice of termination + +of limited appearance in an action or proceeding in which an attorney has +filed a notice of limited appearance pursuant to subdivision (e)(5). + +(6) Termination of Hearing. Conclusion of a hearing or proceeding in +which an attorney has appeared as stand-in counsel pursuant to subdivision +(g). +(g) Stand-In Counsel. An attorney may stand in for another attorney to + +cover a proceeding or hearing only if a notice of stand-in counsel is filed or +the appearance of stand-in counsel is reflected on a record maintained by the +court or by the clerk of court. A stand-in attorney from the same law firm, +company, or governmental agency as an attorney of record is not required to +file a notice of stand-in counsel. + +(h) Attorney as Agent of Client. An attorney appearing in an action or +proceeding pursuant to subdivisions (e)(1)-(e)(6) is the agent authorized to +bind the client for purposes of the action, hearing, or proceeding. + +(i) Attorney of Record. An attorney appearing in an action or proceeding +pursuant to subdivisions (e)(1)-(e)(5) is an attorney of record for the party for +the matters specified. + +(j) Law Student and Certified Legal Intern Participation. Eligible law +students shall be permitted to participate as provided under the conditions of +chapter 11 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar as amended from time to +time. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1997 Amendment. Originally, the rule provided that the followup filing +had to occur within ten days. In the 1997 amendment to the rule, that +requirement was modified to provide that the follow-up filing must occur +immediately after a document is electronically filed. The immediately +thereafter language is consistent with language used in the rules of +procedure where, in a somewhat analogous situation, the filing of a document +may occur after service. See, e.g., Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.080(d) +(All original papers shall be filed with the court either before service or +immediately thereafter.) (emphasis added). Immediately thereafter has + + + +been interpreted to mean filed with reasonable promptness. Miami Transit +Co. v. Ford, 155 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 1963). + +The use of the words other person in this rule is not meant to allow a +nonlawyer to sign and file pleadings or other papers on behalf of another. +Such conduct would constitute the unauthorized practice of law. + +2003 Amendment. Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 4-1.12(c), which +addresses the imputed disqualification of a law firm, should be looked to in +conjunction with the rule 2.060(b) [renumbered as 2.505(b) in 2006] +restriction on representation by a former judicial staff attorney or law clerk. + + + + Pt. A. , Rule 2.510. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.510 + +RULE 2.510. FOREIGN ATTORNEYS. +(a) Eligibility. Upon filing a verified motion with the court, an attorney + +who is an active member in good standing of the bar of another state and +currently eligible to practice law in a state other than Florida may be +permitted to appear in particular cases in a Florida court upon such conditions +as the court may deem appropriate, provided that a member of The Florida +Bar in good standing is associated as an attorney of record. The foreign +attorney must make application in each court in which a case is filed even if a +lower tribunal granted a motion to appear in the same case. In determining +whether to permit a foreign attorney to appear pursuant to this rule, the court +may consider, among other things, information provided under subdivision +(b)(3) concerning discipline in other jurisdictions. No attorney is authorized +to appear pursuant to this rule if the attorney (1) is a Florida resident, unless +the attorney has an application pending for admission to The Florida Bar and +has not previously been denied admission to The Florida Bar; (2) is a member +of The Florida Bar but is ineligible to practice law; (3) has previously been +disciplined or held in contempt by reason of misconduct committed while +engaged in representation permitted pursuant to this rule provided, however, +the contempt is final and has not been reversed or abated; (4) has failed to +provide notice to The Florida Bar or pay the fees described in the Rules +Regulating The Florida Bar concerning non-Florida lawyers appearances in +a Florida court; or (5) is engaged in a general practice before Florida +courts. For purposes of this rule, more than 3 appearances within a 365-day +period in separate cases shall be presumed to be a general practice. +Appearances at different levels of the court system in the same case shall be +deemed 1 appearance for the purposes of determining whether a foreign +attorney has made more than 3 appearances within a 365-day period. In cases +involving indigent or pro bono clients, the court may waive the fees for good +cause shown. This rule shall not affect the eligibility of a foreign attorney to +appear in a Florida court when authorized by federal law. + +(b) Contents of Verified Motion. A form verified motion accompanies +this rule and must be utilized by the foreign attorney. Within 10 days of +discovering any information which is different than the representations made + + + +in the verified motion, the foreign attorney must supplement the motion with +the new information. The supplemental information must be filed with the +court and The Florida Bar. The obligation to supplement the motion exists +until the motion is denied or the foreign attorney is no longer counsel in the +case. The verified motion required by subdivision (a) must include: + +(1) a statement identifying all jurisdictions in which the attorney is an +active member in good standing and currently eligible to practice law, +including all assigned bar numbers and attorney numbers, for which a +certificate of good standing is not required; + +(2) a statement identifying by date, case name, and case number all other +matters in Florida state courts in which pro hac vice admission has been +sought in the preceding 5 years, including any lower tribunals for the case +in which the motion is filed, and whether such admission was granted or +denied; + +(3) a statement identifying all jurisdictions in which a judicial officer or +the entity responsible for attorney regulation: + +(A) initiated disciplinary, suspension, disbarment, or contempt +proceedings against the attorney in the preceding 5 years including the +date on which the proceeding was initiated, the nature of the alleged +violation, and the result of the proceeding including any sanction, or + +(B) disciplined, suspended, disbarred, or held in contempt the attorney +in the preceding 5 years including the date on which the sanction was +entered and the nature of the violation; +(4) a statement identifying the date on which the legal representation at + +issue commenced, and the party or parties represented; +(5) a statement that all applicable provisions of these rules and the rules + +regulating the Florida bar have been read, and that the verified motion +complies with those rules; + +(6) the name, record bar address, and membership status of the Florida +bar member or members associated for purposes of the representation; + +(7) a certificate indicating service of the verified motion upon The +Florida Bar and all counsel of record in the matter in which leave to appear +pro hac vice is sought and payment of the fees described in the Rules + + + +Regulating The Florida Bar concerning non-Florida lawyer appearances in +a Florida court or notice that the movant has requested a judicial waiver of +said fees; and + +(8) a verification by the attorney seeking to appear pursuant to this rule +and the signature of the Florida bar member or members associated for +purposes of the representation. + +IN THE __________________ COURT OF THE __________________ +JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, __________________ IN AND FOR + +_____________________, COUNTY, FLORIDA +______________________ +Plaintiff +Case No. _____________________________ +vs. +Division _____________________________ +______________________ +Defendant + +VERIFIED MOTION FOR ADMISSION TO APPEAR PRO HAC VICE +PURSUANT TO FLORIDA RULE OF GENERAL PRACTICE AND + +JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION 2.510 +Comes now ______________________________, Movant herein, and + +respectfully represents the following: +1. [ ] Movant resides in (City) , (State) . Movant. +is not a resident of the State of Florida. +[ ] Movant is a resident of the State of Florida and has an application + +pending for admission to The Florida Bar and has not previously been denied +admission to The Florida Bar. + +2. Movant is an attorney and a member of the law firm of (or practices law +under the name of) ___________________________, with offices at + (Street Address) , (City) , (County) , (State) , (Zip Code) , + (Telephone) . + + + +3. Movant has been retained personally or as a member of the above- +named law firm on (Date Representation Commenced) by (Name of Party +or Parties) to provide legal representation in connection with the above- +styled matter now pending before the above-named court of the State of +Florida. + +4. Movant is an active member in good standing and currently eligible to +practice law in the following jurisdiction(s): Include attorney or bar +number(s). (Attach an additional sheet if necessary.) + +JURISDICTION ATTORNEY/BAR NUMBER +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +5. A judicial officer or the entity responsible for attorney regulation has + +neither initiated disciplinary, suspension, disbarment or contempt +proceedings or disciplined, suspended, disbarred or held Movant in contempt +in the preceding 5 years, except as provided below (give jurisdiction of +proceeding, date upon which proceeding was initiated, nature of alleged +violation, statement of whether the proceeding has concluded or is still +pending, and sanction, if any, imposed): (Attach an additional sheet if +necessary.) + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +6. Movant, either by resignation, withdrawal, or otherwise, never has + +terminated or attempted to terminate Movants office as an attorney in order +to avoid administrative, disciplinary, disbarment, or suspension proceedings. + +7. Movant is not an inactive member of The Florida Bar. + + + +8. Movant is not now a member of The Florida Bar. +9. Movant is not a suspended member of The Florida Bar. +10. Movant is not a disbarred member of The Florida Bar nor has Movant + +received a disciplinary resignation or disciplinary revocation from The +Florida Bar. + +11. Movant has not previously been disciplined or held in contempt by +reason of misconduct committed while engaged in representation pursuant to +Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.510, except as +provided below (give date of disciplinary action or contempt, reasons +therefor, and court imposing contempt): (Attach an additional sheet if +necessary.) + +(Attach an additional sheet if necessary.) +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +12. Movant has filed motion(s) to appear as counsel in Florida state courts + +during the past five (5) years in the following matters: (Attach an additional +sheet if necessary) + +Date of Motion Case Name Case Number Court Date Motion +Granted/Denied + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +13. Local counsel of record associated with Movant in this matter is (Name + +and Florida Bar Number) who is an active member in good standing of The +Florida Bar and has offices at (Street Address) , (City) , (County) , + + + + (State) , (Zip Code) (Telephone with area code) . +(If local counsel is not an active member of The Florida Bar in good + +standing, please provide information as to local counsels membership status. +____________________) + +14. Movant has read the applicable provisions of Florida Rule of General +Practice and Judicial Administration 2.510 and Rule 1-3.10 of the Rules +Regulating The Florida Bar and certifies that this verified motion complies +with those rules. + +15. Movant agrees to comply with the provisions of the Florida Rules of +Professional Conduct and consents to the jurisdiction of the courts and the +Bar of the State of Florida. + +WHEREFORE, Movant respectfully requests permission to appear in this +court for this cause only. + +DATED this _________ day of ____________________, 20____ . +_____________________________ +Movant +_____________________________ +Address +_____________________________ +Address +_____________________________ +City, State, Zip Code +_____________________________ +Telephone Number +_____________________________ +E-mail Address +STATE OF _____________________ +COUNTY OF _____________________ + + + +I, __________________, do hereby swear or affirm under penalty of +perjury that I am the Movant in the above-styled matter; that I have read the +foregoing Motion and know the contents thereof, and the contents are true of +my own knowledge and belief. + +_____________________________ + Movant +I hereby consent to be associated as local counsel of record in this cause + +pursuant to Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration +2.510. + +DATED this _________ day of ____________________, 20____. +_____________________________ +Local Counsel of Record +_____________________________ +Address +_____________________________ +Address +_____________________________ +City, State, Zip Code +_____________________________ +Telephone Number +_____________________________ +Florida Bar Number +_____________________________ +E-mail Address + +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE +I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing motion + +was served by mail to PHV Admissions, The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson +Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2333 and by (e-mail) (delivery) (mail) + + + +(fax) to (name of attorney or party if not represented) , and that the +movant has paid the fees described in the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar +concerning non-Florida lawyer appearances in a Florida court or has notified +The Florida Bar of movants request for a judicial waiver of said fees. + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +this __________________ day of __________________, 20 _________ . +_____________________________ +Movant + + + + Pt. B. +Florida Rules of General Practice & Judicial Admin, Pt. V, Pt. B + + + +PART B. PRACTICE AND LITIGATION PROCEDURES + Pt. B. , Rule 2.514. + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.514 + +RULE 2.514. COMPUTING AND EXTENDING TIME. +(a) Computing Time. The following rules apply in computing time + +periods specified in any rule of procedure, local rule, court order, or statute +that does not specify a method of computing time. + +(1) Period Stated in Days or a Longer Unit. When the period is stated +in days or a longer unit of time: + +(A) begin counting from the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, +or legal holiday; + +(B) count every day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and +legal holidays; and + +(C) include the last day of the period, but if the last day is a Saturday, +Sunday, or legal holiday, or falls within any period of time extended +through an order of the chief justice under Florida Rule of General +Practice and Judicial Administration 2.205(a)(2)(B)(iv), the period +continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, +Sunday, or legal holiday and does not fall within any period of time +extended through an order of the chief justice. +(2) Period Stated in Hours. When the period is stated in hours + +(A) begin counting immediately on the occurrence of the event that +triggers the period; + +(B) count every hour, including hours during intermediate Saturdays, +Sundays, and legal holidays; and + +(C) if the period would end on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, +or during any period of time extended through an order of the chief +justice under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.205(a)(2)(B)(iv), the period continues to run until the +same time on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal +holiday and does not fall within any period of time extended through an + + + +order of the chief justice. +(3) Period Stated in Days Less Than Seven Days. When the period + +stated in days is less than 7 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and +legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation. + +(4) Last Day Defined. Unless a different time is set by a statute, local +rule, or court order, the last day ends + +(A) for electronic filing or for service by any means, at midnight; and +(B) for filing by other means, when the clerks office is scheduled to + +close. +(5) Next Day Defined. The next day is determined by continuing to + +count forward when the period is measured after an event and backward +when measured before an event. + +(6) Legal Holiday Defined. Legal holiday means +(A) the day set aside by section 110.117, Florida Statutes, for + +observing New Years Day, Martin Luther King, Jr.s Birthday, +Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, +Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas +Day, and + +(B) any day observed as a holiday by the clerks office or as +designated by the chief judge. + +(b) Additional Time after Service by Mail. When a party may or must +act within a specified time after service and service is made by mail, 5 days +are added after the period that would otherwise expire under subdivision (a). + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.515. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.515 + +RULE 2.515. SIGNATURE AND CERTIFICATES OF ATTORNEYS +AND PARTIES. + +(a) Attorneys Signature and Certificates. Every document of a party +represented by an attorney must be signed by at least 1 attorney of record in +that attorneys individual name whose current record Florida Bar address, +telephone number, including area code, primary e-mail address and +secondary e-mail addresses, if any, and Florida Bar number must be stated, +and who must be duly licensed to practice law in Florida or who must have +received permission to appear in the particular case as provided in rule 2.510. +The attorney may be required by the court to give the address and primary e- +mail address and secondary e-mail addresses, if any, of, and to vouch for the +attorneys authority to represent, the party. Except when otherwise +specifically provided by an applicable rule or statute, documents need not be +verified or accompanied by affidavit. The signature of an attorney shall +constitute a certificate by the attorney that: + +(1) the attorney has read the document; +(2) to the best of the attorneys knowledge, information, and belief there + +is good ground to support the document; +(3) the document is not interposed for delay; and +(4) the document contains no confidential or sensitive information, or + +that any such confidential or sensitive information has been properly +protected by complying with the provisions of rules 2.420 and 2.425. If a +document is not signed or is signed with intent to defeat the purpose of this +rule, it may be stricken and the action may proceed as though the +document had not been served. +(b) Pro Se Litigant Signature. A party who is not represented by an + +attorney must sign any document and state the partys address; primary e- +mail address and secondary e-mail addresses, if any; and telephone number, +including area code. + +(c) Form of Signature. +(1) The signatures required on documents by subdivisions (a) and (b) of + + + +this rule may be: +(A) original signatures; +(B) original signatures that have been reproduced by electronic + +means, such as on electronically transmitted documents or photocopied +documents; + +(C) an electronic signature indicator using the /s/, s/, or /s +[name] formats authorized by the person signing a document +electronically served or filed; or + +(D) any other signature format authorized by general law, so long as +the clerk where the proceeding is pending has the capability of receiving +and has obtained approval from the Supreme Court of Florida to accept +pleadings and documents with that signature format. +(2) By serving a document, or by filing a document by electronic + +transmission using an attorneys assigned electronic filing credentials: +(A) that attorney certifies compliance with subdivision (a)(1) through + +(a)(4) and accepts responsibility for the document for all purposes under +this rule; + +(B) that attorney certifies compliance with all rules of procedure +regarding service of the document on attorneys and parties; + +(C) that attorney certifies that every person identified as a signer in +the document as described in subdivision (c)(1)(C) has authorized such +signature; and + +(D) every signing attorney is as responsible for the document as if that +document had been served by such signing attorney or filed using the +assigned electronic filing credentials of such signing attorney. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.516. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 + +RULE 2.516. SERVICE OF PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. +(a) Service; When Required. Unless the court otherwise orders, or a + +statute or supreme court administrative order specifies a different means of +service, every pleading subsequent to the initial pleading and every other +document filed in any court proceeding, except applications for witness +subpoenas and documents served by formal notice or required to be served in +the manner provided for service of formal notice, must be served in +accordance with this rule on each party. No service need be made on parties +against whom a default has been entered, except that pleadings asserting new +or additional claims against them must be served in the manner provided for +service of summons. + +(b) Service; How Made. When service is required or permitted to be made +upon a party represented by an attorney, service must be made upon the +attorney unless service upon the party is ordered by the court. + +(1) Service by Electronic Mail (e-mail). All documents required or +permitted to be served on another party must be served by e-mail, unless +the parties otherwise stipulate or this rule otherwise provides. A filer of an +electronic document has complied with this subdivision if the Florida +Courts e-filing Portal (Portal) or other authorized electronic filing system +with a supreme court approved electronic service system (e-Service +system) served the document by e-mail or provided a link by e-mail to the +document on a website maintained by a clerk (e-Service). The filer of an +electronic document must verify that the Portal or other e-Service system +uses the names and e-mail addresses provided by the parties pursuant to +subdivision (b)(1)(A). + +(A) Service on Attorneys. Unless excused pursuant to subdivision (b) +(1)(B), upon appearing in a proceeding an attorney must designate a +primary e-mail address and may designate no more than two secondary +e-mail addresses and is responsible for the accuracy of and changes to +that attorneys own e-mail addresses maintained by the Portal or other e- +Service system. Thereafter, service must be directed to all designated e- +mail addresses in that proceeding. Every document filed or served by an + + + +attorney thereafter must include the primary e-mail address of that +attorney and any secondary e-mail addresses. If an attorney does not +designate any e-mail address for service, documents may be served on +that attorney at the e-mail address on record with The Florida Bar. + +(B) Exception to E-mail Service on Attorneys. Upon motion by an +attorney demonstrating that the attorney has no e-mail account and lacks +access to the Internet at the attorneys office, the court may excuse the +attorney from the requirements of e-mail service. Service on and by an +attorney excused by the court from e-mail service must be by the means +provided in subdivision (b)(2). + +(C) Service on and by Parties Not Represented by an Attorney. Unless +excused pursuant to subdivision (b)(1)(D), any party not represented by +an attorney must serve a designation of a primary e-mail address and +also may designate no more than two secondary e-mail addresses to +which service must be directed in that proceeding by the means provided +in subdivision (b)(1) of this rule. + +(D) Exceptions to E-mail Service on and by Parties Not Represented +by an Attorney. + +(i) A party who is in custody and who is not represented by an +attorney is excused from the requirements of e-mail service. + +(ii) The clerk of court must excuse a party who is not represented +by an attorney from the requirements of e-mail service if the party +declares on Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration Form 2.601, under penalties of perjury, that the party +does not have an e-mail account or does not have regular access to the +Internet. The clerks of court shall make this form available to the +public at their offices and on their websites. + +If a party not represented by an attorney is excused from e-mail service, +service on and by that party must be by the means provided in subdivision +(b)(2). + +(E) Time of Service. Service by e-mail is complete on the date it is +sent. + +(i) If, however, the e-mail is sent by the Portal or other e-Service +system, service is complete on the date the served document is + + + +electronically filed. +(ii) If the person required to serve a document learns that the e-mail + +was not received by an intended recipient, the person must +immediately resend the document to that intended recipient by e-mail, +or by a means authorized by subdivision (b)(2) of this rule. +(F) Format of E-mail for Service. Service of a document by e-mail is + +made by an e-mail sent to all addresses designated by the attorney or +party not represented by an attorney with either (a) a copy of the +document in PDF format attached or (b) a link to the document on a +website maintained by a clerk. + +(i) All documents served by e-mail must be sent by an e-mail +message containing a subject line beginning with the words +SERVICE OF COURT DOCUMENT in all capital letters, followed +by the case number and case style of the proceeding in which the +documents are being served. + +(ii) The body of the e-mail must identify the court in which the +proceeding is pending, the case number, the name of the initial party +on each side, the title of each document served with that e-mail, and +the name and telephone number of the person required to serve the +document. + +(iii) Any document served by e-mail may be signed by any of the +/s/, /s, or s/ formats. + +(iv) Any e-mail which, together with its attached documents, +exceeds the appropriate size limitations specified in the Florida +Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access to the Court, must be +divided and sent as separate e-mails, no one of which may exceed the +appropriate size limitations specified in the Florida Supreme Court +Standards for Electronic Access to the Court and each of which must +be sequentially numbered in the subject line. + +(2) Service by Other Means. In addition to, and not in lieu of, service by +e-mail, service may also be made upon attorneys and parties not +represented by an attorney by any of the means specified in this +subdivision. If a document is served by more than one method of service, +the computation of time for any response to the served document must be + + + +based on the method of service that provides the shortest response time. +Service on and by all parties who are not represented by an attorney and +who are excused from e-mail service, and on and by all attorneys excused +from e-mail service, must be made by delivering a copy of the document or +by mailing it to the party or attorney at their last known address or, if no +address is known, by noting the non-service in the certificate of service, +and stating in the certificate of service that a copy of the served document +may be obtained, on request, from the clerk of the court or from the party +serving the document. Service by mail is complete upon mailing. Delivery +of a copy within this rule is complete upon: + +(A) handing it to the attorney or to the party, +(B) leaving it at the attorneys or partys office with a clerk or other + +person in charge thereof, +(C) if there is no one in charge, leaving it in a conspicuous place + +therein, +(D) if the office is closed or the person to be served has no office, + +leaving it at the persons usual place of abode with some person of his or +her family above 15 years of age and informing such person of the +contents, or + +(E) transmitting it by facsimile to the attorneys or partys office with +a cover sheet containing the senders name, firm, address, telephone +number, and facsimile number, and the number of pages transmitted. +When service is made by facsimile, a copy must also be served by any +other method permitted by this rule. Facsimile service occurs when +transmission is complete. + +(F) Service by delivery is deemed complete on the date of the +delivery. + +(c) Service; Numerous Defendants. In actions when the parties are +unusually numerous, the court may regulate the service contemplated by +these rules on motion or on its own initiative in such manner as may be found +to be just and reasonable. + +(d) Filing. All documents must be filed with the court either before service +or immediately thereafter, unless otherwise provided for by general law or +other rules. If the original of any bond or other document required to be an + + + +original is not placed in the court file or deposited with the clerk, a certified +copy must be so placed by the clerk. + +(e) Filing Defined. The filing of documents with the court as required by +these rules must be made by filing them with the clerk in accordance with +Rule 2.525, except that the judge may permit documents to be filed with the +judge, in which event the judge must note the filing date before him or her on +the documents and transmit them to the clerk. The date of filing is that shown +on the face of the document by the judges notation or the clerks time stamp, +whichever is earlier. + +(f) Certificate of Service. When any attorney certifies in substance: +I certify that the foregoing document has been furnished to (here insert +name or names, addresses used for service, and mailing addresses) by (e- +mail) (delivery) (mail) (fax) on __________________ (date) + ____________________ + Attorney +the certificate is taken as prima facie proof of such service in compliance +with this rule. +(g) Service by Clerk. When the clerk is required to serve notices and other + +documents, the clerk may do so by e-mail as provided in subdivision (b)(1) or +by any other method permitted under subdivision (b)(2). Service by a clerk is +not required to be by e-mail. + +(h) Service of Orders. +(1) A copy of all orders or judgments must be transmitted by the court or + +under its direction to all parties at the time of entry of the order or +judgment. No service need be made on parties against whom a default has +been entered except orders setting an action for trial and final judgments +that must be prepared and served as provided in subdivision (h)(2). The +court may require that orders or judgments be prepared by a party, may +require the party to furnish the court with stamped, addressed envelopes +for service of the order or judgment, and may require that proposed orders +and judgments be furnished to all parties before entry by the court of the +order or judgment. The court may serve any order or judgment by e-mail to +all attorneys and parties not represented by an attorney who have not been + + + +excused from e-mail service. +(2) When a final judgment is entered against a party in default, the court + +must mail a conformed copy of it to the party. The party in whose favor the +judgment is entered must furnish the court with a copy of the judgment, +unless it is prepared by the court, with the address of the party to be served. +If the address is unknown, the copy need not be furnished. + +(3) This subdivision is directory and a failure to comply with it does not +affect the order or judgment, its finality, or any proceedings arising in the +action. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.520. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.520 + +RULE 2.520. DOCUMENTS. +(a) Electronic Filing Mandatory. All documents filed in any court shall + +be filed by electronic transmission in accordance with rule 2.525. +Documents means pleadings, motions, petitions, memoranda, briefs, +notices, exhibits, declarations, affidavits, orders, judgments, decrees, writs, +opinions, and any paper or writing submitted to a court. + +(b) Type and Size. Documents subject to the exceptions set forth in rule +2.525(d) shall be legibly typewritten or printed, on only one side of letter +sized (81/2 by 11 inch) white recycled paper with one inch margins and +consecutively numbered pages. For purposes of this rule, paper is recycled if +it contains a minimum content of 50 percent waste paper. Reduction of legal- +size (81/2 by 14 inches) documents to letter size (81/2 by 11 inches) is +prohibited. All documents filed by electronic transmission shall comply with +rule 2.526 and be filed in a format capable of being electronically searched +and printed in a format consistent with the provisions of this rule. + +(c) Exhibits. Any exhibit or attachment to any document may be filed in +its original size. + +(d) Recording Space and Space for Date and Time Stamps. +(1) On all documents prepared and filed by the court or by any party to a + +proceeding which are to be recorded in the public records of any county, +including but not limited to final money judgments and notices of lis +pendens, a 3-inch by 3-inch space at the top right-hand corner on the first +page and a 1-inch by 3-inch space at the top right-hand corner on each +subsequent page shall be left blank and reserved for use by the clerk of +court. + +(2) On all documents filed with the court, a 1-inch margin on all sides +must be left blank for date and time stamps. +(A) Format. Date and time stamp formats must include a single line + +detailing the name of the court or Portal and shall not include clerk seals. +Date stamps must be 8 numerical digits separated by slashes with 2 digits for +the month, 2 digits for the day, and 4 digits for the year. Time stamps must be + + + +formatted in 12 hour time frames with a.m. or p.m. included. The font size +and type must meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. + +(B) Location. The Portal stamp shall be on the top left of the document. +The Florida Supreme Court and district courts of appeal stamps shall be on +the left margin horizontally. Any administrative agency stamp shall be on the +right margin horizontally. The clerks stamp for circuit and county courts +shall be on the bottom of the document. + +(C) Paper Filings. When a document is filed in paper as authorized by +rule, the clerk may stamp the paper document in ink with the date and time of +filing instead of, or in addition to, placing the electronic stamp as described in +subdivision (B). The ink stamp on a paper document must be legible on the +electronic version of the document, and must neither obscure the content or +other date stamp, nor occupy space otherwise reserved by subdivision (B). + +(e) Exceptions to Recording Space. Any documents created by persons or +entities over which the filing party has no control, including but not limited to +wills, codicils, trusts, or other testamentary documents; documents prepared +or executed by any public officer; documents prepared, executed, +acknowledged, or proved outside of the State of Florida; or documents +created by State or Federal government agencies, may be filed without the +space required by this rule. + +(f) Noncompliance. No clerk of court shall refuse to file any document +because of noncompliance with this rule. However, upon request of the clerk +of court, noncomplying documents shall be resubmitted in accordance with +this rule. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1989 Adoption. Rule 2.055 [renumbered as 2.520 in 2006] is new. This +rule aligns Floridas court system with the federal court system and the court +systems of the majority of our sister states by requiring in subdivision (a) that +all pleadings, motions, petitions, briefs, notices, orders, judgments, decrees, +opinions, or other papers filed with any Florida court be submitted on paper +measuring 8 by 11 inches. Subdivision (e) provides a 1-year transition +period from the effective date of January 1, 1990, to January 1, 1991, during +which time filings that traditionally have been accepted on legal-size paper +will be accepted on either legal- or letter-size paper. The 1-year transition + + + +period was provided to allow for the depletion of inventories of legal-size +paper and forms. The 1-year transition period was not intended to affect +compliance with Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.210(a)(1), which +requires that typewritten appellate briefs be filed on paper measuring 8 by +11 inches. Nor was it intended that the requirement of Florida Rule of +Appellate Procedure 9.210(a)(1) that printed briefs measure 6 by 9 inches be +affected by the requirements of subdivision (a). + +Subdivision (b), which recognizes an exception for exhibits or attachments, +is intended to apply to documents such as wills and traffic citations which +traditionally have not been generated on lettersize paper. + +Subdivision (c) was adopted to ensure that a 1 inch square at the top +right-hand corner of all filings is reserved for use by the clerk of court. +Subdivision (d) was adopted to ensure that all papers and documents +submitted for filing will be considered filed on the date of submission +regardless of paper size. Subdivision (d) also ensures that after the 1-year +transition period of subdivision (e), filings that are not in compliance with the +rule are resubmitted on paper measuring 8 by 11 inches. + +This rule is not intended to apply to those instruments and documents +presented to the clerk of the circuit court for recording in the Official Records +under section 28.222, Florida Statutes (1987). It is also not intended to apply +to matters submitted to the clerk of the circuit court in the capacity as ex +officio clerk of the board of county commissioners pursuant to article VIII, +section (1)(d), Florida Constitution. + +1996 Amendment. Subdivision (c) was amended to make the blank space +requirements for use by the clerk of the court consistent with section 695.26, +Florida Statutes (1995). Subdivision (e) was eliminated because the transition +period for letter-size and recycled paper was no longer necessary. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.525. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.525 + +RULE 2.525. ELECTRONIC FILING. +(a) Definition. Electronic transmission of documents means the sending + +of information by electronic signals to, by or from a court or clerk which +when received can be transformed and stored or transmitted on paper, +microfilm, magnetic storage device, optical imaging system, CD-ROM, flash +drive, other electronic data storage system, server, case maintenance system +(CM), electronic court filing (ECF) system, statewide or local electronic +portal (e-portal), or other electronic record keeping system authorized by +the supreme court in a format sufficient to communicate the information on +the original document in a readable format. Electronic transmission of +documents includes electronic mail (e-mail) and any internet-based +transmission procedure, and may include procedures allowing for documents +to be signed or verified by electronic means. + +(b) Application. Only the electronic filing credentials of an attorney who +has signed a document may be used to file that document by electronic +transmission. Any court or clerk may accept the electronic transmission of +documents for filing and may send documents by electronic transmission +after the clerk, together with input from the chief judge of the circuit, has +obtained approval of the procedures, programs, and standards for electronic +filing from the supreme court (ECF Procedures). All ECF Procedures must +comply with the then-current e-filing standards, as promulgated by the +supreme court in Administrative Order No. AOSC09-30, or subsequent +administrative order. + +(c) Documents Affected. +(1) All documents that are court records, as defined in rule 2.430(a)(1), + +must be filed by electronic transmission provided that: +(A) the clerk has the ability to accept and retain such documents; +(B) the clerk or the chief judge of the circuit has requested permission + +to accept documents filed by electronic transmission; and +(C) the supreme court has entered an order granting permission to the + +clerk to accept documents filed by electronic transmission. + + + +(2) The official court file is a set of electronic documents stored in a +computer system maintained by the clerk, together with any supplemental +non-electronic documents and materials authorized by this rule. It consists +of: + +(A) documents filed by electronic transmission under this rule; +(B) documents filed in paper form under subdivision (d) that have + +been converted to electronic form by the clerk; +(C) documents filed in paper form before the effective date of this rule + +that have been converted to electronic form by the clerk; +(D) documents filed in paper form before the effective date of this + +rule or under subdivision (d), unless such documents are converted into +electronic form by the clerk; + +(E) electronic documents filed pursuant to subdivision (d)(5); and +(F) materials and documents filed pursuant to any rule, statute or + +court order that either cannot be converted into electronic form or are +required to be maintained in paper form. +(3) The documents in the official court file are deemed originals for all + +purposes except as otherwise provided by statute or rule. +(4) Any document in paper form submitted under subdivision (d) is filed + +when it is received by the clerk or court and the clerk shall immediately +thereafter convert any filed paper document to an electronic document. +Convert to an electronic document means optically capturing an image +of a paper document and using character recognition software to recover as +much of the documents text as practicable and then indexing and storing +the document in the official court file. + +(5) Any storage medium submitted under subdivision (d)(5) is filed +when received by the clerk or court and the clerk shall immediately +thereafter transfer the electronic documents from the storage device to the +official court file. + +(6) If the filer of any paper document authorized under subdivision (d) +provides a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope for return of the paper +document after it is converted to electronic form by the clerk, the clerk +shall place the paper document in the envelope and deposit it in the mail. + + + +Except when a paper document is required to be maintained, the clerk may +recycle any filed paper document that is not to be returned to the filer. + +(7) The clerk may convert any paper document filed before the effective +date of this rule to an electronic document. Unless the clerk is required to +maintain the paper document, if the paper document has been converted to +an electronic document by the clerk, the paper document is no longer part +of the official court file and may be removed and recycled. +(d) Exceptions. Paper documents and other submissions may be manually + +submitted to the clerk or court: +(1) when the clerk does not have the ability to accept and retain + +documents by electronic filing or has not had ECF Procedures approved by +the supreme court; + +(2) for filing by any self-represented party or any self-represented +nonparty unless specific ECF Procedures provide a means to file +documents electronically. However, any self-represented nonparty that is a +governmental or public agency and any other agency, partnership, +corporation, or business entity acting on behalf of any governmental or +public agency may file documents by electronic transmission if such entity +has the capability of filing documents electronically; + +(3) for filing by attorneys excused from e-mail service in accordance +with rule 2.516(b); + +(4) when submitting evidentiary exhibits or filing non-documentary +materials; + +(5) when the filing involves documents in excess of the appropriate size +limitations specified in the Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic +Access to the Court. For such filings, documents may be transmitted using +an electronic storage medium that the clerk has the ability to accept, which +may include a CD-ROM, flash drive, or similar storage medium; + +(6) when filed in open court, as permitted by the court; +(7) when paper filing is permitted by any approved statewide or local + +ECF procedures; and +(8) if any court determines that justice so requires. + + + +(e) Service. +(1) Electronic transmission may be used by a court or clerk for the + +service of all orders of whatever nature, pursuant to rule 2.516(h), and for +the service of any documents pursuant to any ECF Procedures, provided +the clerk, together with input from the chief judge of the circuit, has +obtained approval from the supreme court of ECF Procedures containing +the specific procedures and program to be used in transmitting the orders +and documents. All other requirements for the service of such orders must +be met. + +(2) Any document electronically transmitted to a court or clerk must also +be served on all parties and interested persons in accordance with the +applicable rules of court. +(f) Administration. + +(1) Any clerk who, after obtaining supreme court approval, accepts for +filing documents that have been electronically transmitted must: + +(A) provide electronic or telephonic access to its equipment, whether +through an e-portal or otherwise, during regular business hours, and all +other times as practically feasible; + +(B) accept electronic transmission of the appropriate size limitations +specified in the Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access +to the Court; and + +(C) accept filings in excess of the appropriate size limitations +specified in the Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access +to the Court by electronic storage device or system, which may include a +CD-ROM, flash drive, or similar storage system. +(2) All attorneys, parties, or other persons using this rule to file + +documents are required to make arrangements with the court or clerk for +the payment of any charges authorized by general law or the supreme court +before filing any document by electronic transmission. + +(3) The filing date for an electronically transmitted document is the date +and time that such filing is acknowledged by an electronic stamp or +otherwise, pursuant to any procedure set forth in any ECF Procedures +approved by the supreme court, or the date the last page of such filing is + + + +received by the court or clerk. +(4) Any court or clerk may extend the hours of access or increase the + +page or size limitations set forth in this subdivision. +(g) Accessibility. All documents transmitted in any electronic form under + +this rule must comply with the accessibility requirements of Florida Rule of +Judicial Administration 2.526. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +1997 Amendment. Originally, the rule provided that the follow-up filing +had to occur within ten days. In the 1997 amendment to the rule, that +requirement was modified to provide that the follow-up filing must occur +immediately after a document is electronically filed. The immediately +thereafter language is consistent with language used in the rules of +procedure where, in a somewhat analogous situation, the filing of a document +may occur after service. See, e.g., Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.080(d) +(All original papers shall be filed with the court either before service or +immediately thereafter.) (emphasis added). Immediately thereafter has +been interpreted to mean filed with reasonable promptness. Miami Transit +Co. v. Ford, 155 So.2d 360 (Fla.1963). + +The use of the words other person in this rule is not meant to allow a +nonlawyer to sign and file pleadings or other papers on behalf of another. +Such conduct would constitute the unauthorized practice of law. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.526. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.526 + +RULE 2.526. ACCESSIBILITY OF INFORMATION AND +TECHNOLOGY. + +Any document that is or will become a judicial branch record, as defined in +rule 2.420(b)(1), and that is transmitted in an electronic form, as defined in +rule 2.525, must be formatted in a manner that complies with all state and +federal laws requiring that electronic judicial records be accessible to persons +with disabilities, including without limitation the Americans with Disabilities +Act and Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as incorporated +into Florida law by section 282.603(1), Florida Statutes (2010), and any +related federal or state regulations or administrative rules. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.530. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.530 + +RULE 2.530. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY. +(a) Definitions. The following definitions apply to this rule: + +(1) Audio communication technology means electronic devices, +systems, applications, or platforms that permit all participants to hear and +speak to all other participants in real time. + +(2) Audio-video communication technology means electronic devices, +systems, applications, or platforms that permit all participants to hear, see, +and speak to all other participants in real time. + +(3) Communication technology means audio communication +technology or audio-video communication technology. + +(4) Court official means a county or circuit court judge, general +magistrate, special magistrate, or hearing officer. +(b) Generally. Unless governed by another rule of procedure or general + +law and with the exception of civil proceedings for involuntary commitment +pursuant to section 394.467, Florida Statutes, communication technology +may be used for all proceedings before a court official, as provided by this +rule. Subject to subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(2), if applicable, a court official may +authorize the use of communication technology for the presentation of +testimony or for other participation in a proceeding upon the written motion +of a party or at the discretion of the court official. Reasonable advance notice +of the specific form of communication technology to be used and directions +for access to the communication technology must be provided in the written +motion or in a written notice from the court official exercising discretion. The +motion or notice must be served on all who are entitled to notice of the +proceeding. A party may file an objection in writing to the use of +communication technology within 10 days after service of the motion or +notice or within such other period as may be directed by the court official. A +party waives objections to the use of communication technology by failing to +timely object to the motion or notice unless, before the date of the +proceeding, the party establishes good cause for the failure to timely object. +A courtesy copy of the written motion or objection must be provided to the +court official in an electronic or a paper format as directed by the court + + + +official. The court official must consider any objection before authorizing the +use of communication technology. The decision to authorize the use of +communication technology over objection shall be in the discretion of the +court official. + +(1) Non-Evidentiary Proceedings. A court official must grant a motion +to use communication technology for a non-evidentiary proceeding +scheduled for 30 minutes or less unless the court official determines that +good cause exists to deny the motion. + +(2) Testimony. +(A) Procedure. A written motion by a party to present testimony + +through communication technology must set forth good cause why the +testimony should be allowed in the specific form requested and must +specify whether each party consents to the form requested. In +determining whether good cause exists, the court official may consider, +without limitation, the technological capabilities of the courtroom, how +the presentation of testimony through communication technology +advances the proceeding or case to resolution, the consent of the parties, +the time-sensitivity of the matter, the nature of the relief sought and the +amount in controversy in the case, the resources of the parties, the +anticipated duration of the testimony, the need and ability to review and +identify documents during testimony, the probative value of the +testimony, the geographic location of the witness, the cost and +inconvenience in requiring the physical presence of the witness, the need +to observe the demeanor of the witness, the potential for unfair surprise, +and any other matter relevant to the request. + +(B) Administration of the Oath. Before testimony may be presented +through communication technology, the oath must be administered to +the witness as provided in this subdivision. + +(i) Person Administering the Oath is Physically Present with the +Witness. An oath may be administered to a witness testifying through +communication technology by a person who is physically present with +the witness if the person is authorized to administer oaths in the +witnesss jurisdiction and the oath is administered consistent with the +laws of that jurisdiction. + + + +(ii) Person Administering the Oath is not Physically Present with +the Witness. An oath may be administered to a witness testifying +through audio-video communication technology by a person who is +not physically present with the witness if the person is authorized to +administer oaths in the State of Florida and the oath is administered +through audio-video communication technology in a manner +consistent with the general laws of the State of Florida. If the witness +is not located in the State of Florida, the witness must consent to be +bound by an oath administered under the general laws of the State of +Florida. +(C) Limitation on the Form of Communication Technology Used. If + +the use of communication technology is authorized under this rule for a +proceeding in which the mental capacity or competency of a person is at +issue, only audio-video communication technology may be used for the +presentation of testimony by that person. + +(c) Use by Jurors. At the discretion of a chief judge, an administrative +judge, or a county or circuit court judge, prospective jurors may participate, +prior to the beginning of voir dire, through communication technology in a +court proceeding to determine whether the prospective jurors will be +disqualified, be excused, or have their jury duty postponed. If authorized by +another rule of procedure, prospective jurors may participate in voir dire and +empaneled jurors may participate in a trial through audio-video +communication technology. + +(d) Burden of Expense. Unless otherwise directed by the court, the cost +for the use of audio-video communication technology is the responsibility of +the requesting party, subject to allocation or taxation as costs. + +(e) Override of Family Violence Indicator. Communications technology +may be used for a hearing on a petition to override a family violence indicator +under Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.650. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.535. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.535 + +RULE 2.535. COURT REPORTING. +(a) Definitions. + +(1) Approved court reporter means a court employee or contractor +who performs court reporting services, including transcription, at public +expense and who meets the courts certification, training, and other +qualifications for court reporting. + +(2) Approved transcriptionist means a court employee, contractor, or +other individual who performs transcription services at public expense and +who meets the courts certification, training, and other qualifications for +transcribing proceedings. + +(3) Civil court reporter means a court reporter who performs court +reporting services in civil proceedings not required to be reported at public +expense, and who meets the courts certification, training, and other +qualifications for court reporting. + +(4) Court reporting means the act of making a verbatim record of the +spoken word, whether by the use of written symbols, stenomask +equipment, stenographic equipment, or electronic devices, in any +proceedings pending in any of the courts of this state, including all +discovery proceedings conducted in connection therewith, any proceedings +reported for the courts own use, and all proceedings required by statute to +be reported by a certified or officialan approved court reporter or civil +court reporter. It does not mean the act of taking witness statements not +intended for use in court as substantive evidence. + +(5) Electronic record means the audio, analog, digital, or video record +of a court proceeding. + +(6) Official record means the transcript, which is the written or +electronically stored record of court proceedings and depositions prepared +in accordance with the requirements of subdivision (f). +(b) When Court Reporting Required. Any proceeding shall be reported + +on the request of any party. The party so requesting shall pay the reporting +fees, but this requirement shall not preclude the taxation of costs as + + + +authorized by law. +(c) Record. When trial proceedings are being reported, no part of the + +proceedings shall be omitted unless all of the parties agree to do so and the +court approves the agreement. When a deposition is being reported, no part of +the proceedings shall be omitted unless all of the parties and the witness so +agree. When a party or a witness seeks to terminate or suspend the taking of a +deposition for the time necessary to seek a court order, the court reporter shall +discontinue reporting the testimony of the witness. + +(d) Ownership of Records. The chief judge of the circuit in which a +proceeding is pending, in his or her official capacity, is the owner of all +records and electronic records made by an official court reporter or quasi- +judicial officer in proceedings required to be reported at public expense and +proceedings reported for the courts own use. + +(e) Fees. The chief judge shall have the discretion to adopt an +administrative order establishing maximum fees for court reporting services. +Any such order must make a specific factual finding that the setting of such +maximum fees is necessary to ensure access to the courts. Such finding shall +include consideration of the number of court reporters in the county or +circuit, any past history of fee schedules, and any other relevant factors. + +(f) Transcripts. Transcripts of all judicial proceedings, including +depositions, shall be uniform in and for all courts throughout the state and +shall be stored in an electronic format sufficient to communicate the +information contained in proceedings in a readable format, and capable of +being transmitted electronically as set forth in rule 2.525. Any transcripts +stored in electronic form must be capable of being printed in accordance with +this rule. The form, size, spacing, and method of printing transcripts are as +follows: + +(1) All proceedings shall be printed on paper 8 inches by 11 inches in +size and bound on the left. + +(2) There shall be no fewer than 25 printed lines per page with all lines +numbered 1 through 25, respectively, and with no more than a double +space between lines. + +(3) Font size or print shall be 9 or 10 pica, 12-point courier, or 12-point +Times New Roman print with no less than 56 characters per line on + + + +questions and answers unless the text of the speaker ends short of marginal +requirements. + +(4) Colloquy material shall begin on the same line following the +identification of the speaker, with no more than 2 spaces between the +identification of the speaker and the commencement of the colloquy. The +identification of the speaker in colloquy shall begin no more than 10 +spaces from the left margin, and carry-over colloquy shall be indented no +more than 5 spaces from the left margin. + +(5) Each question and answer shall begin on a separate line no more than +5 spaces from the left margin with no more than 5 spaces from the Q or +A to the text. Carry-over question and answer lines shall be brought to +the left margin. + +(6) Quoted material shall begin no more than 10 spaces from the left +margin with carry-over lines beginning no more than 10 spaces from the +left margin. + +(7) Indentations of no more than 10 spaces may be used for paragraphs, +and all spaces on a line as herein provided shall be used unless the text of +the speaker ends short of marginal requirements. + +(8) One-line parentheticals may begin at any indentation. Parentheticals +exceeding 1 line shall begin no more than 10 spaces from the left margin, +with carry-over lines being returned to the left margin. + +(9) Individual volumes of a transcript, including depositions, shall be no +more than 200 pages in length, inclusive of the index. + +(10) Deviation from these standards shall not constitute grounds for +limiting use of transcripts in the trial or appellate courts. +(g) Officers of the Court. Approved court reporters, civil court reporters, + +and approved transcriptionists are officers of the court for all purposes while +acting as court reporters in judicial proceedings or discovery proceedings or +as transcriptionists. Approved court reporters, civil court reporters, and +approved transcriptionists shall comply with all rules and statutes governing +the proceeding that are applicable to court reporters and approved +transcriptionists. + +(h) Court Reporting Services at Public Expense. + + + +(1) When Reporting Is Required. All proceedings required by law, +court rule, or administrative order to be reported shall be reported at public +expense. + +(2) When Reporting May Be Required. Proceedings reported for the +courts own use may be reported at public expense. + +(3) Circuit Plan. The chief judge, after consultation with the circuit +court and county court judges in the circuit, shall enter an administrative +order developing and implementing a circuit-wide plan for the court +reporting of all proceedings required to be reported at public expense using +either full or part time court employees or independent contractors. The +plan shall ensure that all court reporting services are provided by approved +court reporters or approved transcriptionists. This plan may provide for +multiple service delivery strategies if they are necessary to ensure the +efficient provision of court reporting services. Each circuits plan for court +reporting services shall be developed after consideration of guidelines +issued by the Office of the State Courts Administrator. + +(4) Electronic Recording and Transcription of Proceedings Without +Court Reporters. A chief judge may enter a circuit-wide administrative +order, which shall be recorded, authorizing the electronic recording and +subsequent transcription by approved court reporters or approved +transcriptionists, of any judicial proceedings, including depositions, that +are otherwise required to be reported by a court reporter. Appropriate +procedures shall be prescribed in the order which shall: + +(A) set forth responsibilities for the courts support personnel to +ensure a reliable record of the proceedings; + +(B) provide a means to have the recording transcribed by approved +court reporters or approved transcriptionists, either in whole or in part, +when necessary for an appeal or for further use in the trial court; and + +(C) provide for the safekeeping of such recordings. +(5) Safeguarding Confidential Communications When Electronic + +Recording Equipment Is Used in the Courtroom. +(A) Court personnel shall provide notice to participants in a + +courtroom proceeding that electronic recording equipment is in use and +that they should safeguard information they do not want recorded. + + + +(B) Attorneys shall take all reasonable and available precautions to +protect disclosure of confidential communications in the courtroom. +Such precautions may include muting microphones or going to a +designated location that is inaccessible to the recording equipment. + +(C) Participants have a duty to protect confidential information. +(6) Grand Jury Proceedings. Testimony in grand jury proceedings + +shall be reported by an approved court reporter, but shall not be transcribed +unless required by order of court. Other parts of grand jury proceedings, +including deliberations and voting, shall not be reported. The approved +court reporters work product, including stenographic notes, electronic +recordings, and transcripts, shall be filed with the clerk of the court under +seal. +(i) Court Reporting Services in Capital Cases. The chief judge, after + +consultation with the circuit court judges in the circuit, shall enter an +administrative order developing and implementing a circuit-wide plan for +court reporting in all trials in which the state seeks the death penalty and in +capital postconviction proceedings. The plan shall prohibit the use of digital +court reporting as the court reporting system and shall require the use of all +measures necessary to expedite the preparation of the transcript, including but +not limited to: + +(1) where available, the use of an approved court reporter who has the +capacity to provide real-time transcription of the proceedings; + +(2) if real-time transcription services are not available, the use of a +computer-aided transcription qualified court reporter; + +(3) the use of scopists, text editors, alternating court reporters, or other +means to expedite the finalization of the certified transcript; and + +(4) the imposition of reasonable restrictions on work assignments by +employee or contract approved court reporters to ensure that transcript +production in capital cases is given a priority. +(j) Juvenile Dependency and Termination of Parental Rights Cases. + +Transcription of hearings for appeals of orders in juvenile dependency and +termination of parental rights cases shall be given priority, consistent with +rule 2.215(g), over transcription of all other proceedings, unless otherwise +ordered by the court based upon a demonstrated exigency. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The definitions of electronic record in subdivision (a)(5) and of official +record in subdivision (a)(6) are intended to clarify that when a court +proceeding is electronically recorded by means of audio, analog, digital, or +video equipment, and is also recorded via a written transcript prepared by a +court reporter, the written transcript shall be the official record of the +proceeding to the exclusion of all electronic records. While the term record +is used within Rule 2.535 and within Fla. R. App. P. 9.200, it has a different +meaning within the unique context of each rule. Accordingly, the meaning of +the term record as defined for purposes of this rule does not in any way +alter, amend, change, or conflict with the meaning of the term record as +defined for appellate purposes in Fla. R. App. P. 9.200(a). + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.540. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.540 + +RULE 2.540. REQUESTS FOR ACCOMMODATIONS BY PERSONS +WITH DISABILITIES. + +(a) Duties of Court. Qualified individuals with a disability will be +provided, at the courts expense, with accommodations, reasonable +modifications to rules, policies, or practices, or the provision of auxiliary aids +and services, in order to participate in programs or activities provided by the +courts of this state. The court may deny a request only in accordance with +subdivision (e). + +(b) Definitions. The definitions encompassed in the Americans with +Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12101, et seq., are incorporated into this +rule. + +(c) Notice Requirement. +(1) All notices of court proceedings to be held in a public facility, and all + +process compelling appearance at such proceedings, shall include the +following statement in bold face, 14-point Times New Roman or Courier +font: +If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in + +order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, to +the provision of certain assistance. Please contact [identify applicable court +personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least 7 days before +your scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving this +notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 days; if +you are hearing or voice impaired, call 771. + +(2) Each trial and appellate court shall post on its respective website and +in each court facility the procedures for obtaining an accommodation as +well as the grievance procedure adopted by that court. +(d) Process for Requesting Accommodations. The process for requesting + +accommodations is as follows: +(1) Requests for accommodations under this rule may be presented on a + +form approved or substantially similar to one approved by the Office of the +State Courts Administrator, in another written format, or orally. Requests + + + +must be forwarded to the ADA coordinator, or designee, within the time +frame provided in subdivision (d)(3). + +(2) Requests for accommodations must include a description of the +accommodation sought, along with a statement of the impairment that +necessitates the accommodation and the duration that the accommodation +is to be provided. The court, in its discretion, may require the individual +with a disability to provide additional information about the impairment. +Requests for accommodation shall not include any information regarding +the merits of the case. + +(3) Requests for accommodations must be made at least 7 days before +the scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving notification +if the time before the scheduled court appearance is less than 7 days. The +court may, in its discretion, waive this requirement. +(e) Response to Accommodation Request. The court must respond to a + +request for accommodation as follows: +(1) The court must consider, but is not limited by, the provisions of the + +Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in determining whether to provide +an accommodation or an appropriate alternative accommodation. + +(2) The court must inform the individual with a disability of the +following: + +(A) That the request for accommodation is granted or denied, in +whole or in part, and if the request for accommodation is denied, the +reason therefor; or that an alternative accommodation is granted; + +(B) The nature of the accommodation to be provided, if any; and +(C) The duration of the accommodation to be provided. + +If the request for accommodation is granted in its entirety, the court shall +respond to the individual with a disability by any appropriate method. If the +request is denied or granted only in part, or if an alternative accommodation +is granted, the court must respond to the individual with a disability in +writing, as may be appropriate, and if applicable, in an alternative format. + +(3) If the court determines that a person is a qualified person with a +disability and an accommodation is needed, a request for accommodation +may be denied only when the court determines that the requested + + + +accommodation would create an undue financial or administrative burden +on the court or would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, +program, or activity. +(f) Grievance Procedure. + +(1) Each judicial circuit and appellate court shall establish and publish +grievance procedures that allow for the resolution of complaints. Those +procedures may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging +discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, +activities, programs, or benefits by the Florida State Courts System. + +(2) If such grievance involves a matter that may affect the orderly +administration of justice, it is within the discretion of the presiding judge to +stay the proceeding and seek expedited resolution of the grievance. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.545. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.545 + +RULE 2.545. CASE MANAGEMENT. +(a) Purpose. Judges and lawyers have a professional obligation to + +conclude litigation as soon as it is reasonably and justly possible to do so. +However parties and counsel shall be afforded a reasonable time to prepare +and present their case. + +(b) Case Control. The trial judge shall take charge of all cases at an early +stage in the litigation and shall control the progress of the case thereafter until +the case is determined. The trial judge shall take specific steps to monitor and +control the pace of litigation, including the following: + +(1) assuming early and continuous control of the court calendar; +(2) identifying priority cases as assigned by statute, rule of procedure, + +case law, or otherwise; +(3) implementing such docket control policies as may be necessary to + +advance priority cases to ensure prompt resolution; +(4) identifying cases subject to alternative dispute resolution processes; +(5) developing rational and effective trial setting policies; and +(6) advancing the trial setting of priority cases, older cases, and cases of + +greater urgency. +(c) Priority Cases. + +(1) In all noncriminal cases assigned a priority status by statute, rule of +procedure, case law, or otherwise, any party may file a notice of priority +status explaining the nature of the case, the source of the priority status, +any deadlines imposed by law on any aspect of the case, and any unusual +factors that may bear on meeting the imposed deadlines. + +(2) If, in any noncriminal case assigned a priority status by statute, rule +of procedure, case law, or otherwise, a party is of the good faith opinion +that the case has not been appropriately advanced on the docket or has not +received priority in scheduling consistent with its priority case status, that +party may seek review of such action by motion for review to the chief + + + +judge or to the chief judges designee. The filing of such a motion for +review will not toll the time for seeking such other relief as may be +afforded by the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. +(d) Related Cases. + +(1) The petitioner in a family case as defined in this rule shall file with +the court a notice of related cases in conformity with family law form +12.900(h), if related cases are known or reasonably ascertainable. A case is +related when: + +(A) it involves any of the same parties, children, or issues and it is +pending at the time the party files a family case; or + +(B) it affects the courts jurisdiction to proceed; or +(C) an order in the related case may conflict with an order on the + +same issues in the new case; or +(D) an order in the new case may conflict with an order in the earlier + +litigation. +(2) Family cases include dissolution of marriage, annulment, support + +unconnected with dissolution of marriage, paternity, child support, UIFSA, +custodial care of and access to children, proceedings for temporary or +concurrent custody of minor children by extended family, adoption, name +change, declaratory judgment actions related to premarital, martial, or +postmarital agreements, civil domestic, repeat violence, dating violence, +stalking, and sexual violence injunctions, juvenile dependency, termination +of parental rights, juvenile delinquency, emancipation of a minor, +CINS/FINS, truancy, and modification and enforcement of orders entered +in these cases. + +(3) The notice of related cases shall identify the caption and case number +of the related case, contain a brief statement of the relationship of the +actions, and contain a statement addressing whether assignment to one +judge or another method of coordination will conserve judicial resources +and promote an efficient determination of the actions. + +(4) The notice of related cases shall be filed with the initial pleading by +the filing attorney or self-represented petitioner. The notice shall be filed in +each of the related cases that are currently open and pending with the court + + + +and served on all other parties in each of the related cases, and as may be +directed by the chief judge or designee. Parties may file joint notices. A +notice of related cases filed pursuant to this rule is not an appearance. If +any related case is confidential and exempt from public access by law, then +a Notice of Confidential Information Within Court Filing as required by +Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420 shall +accompany the notice. Parties shall file supplemental notices as related +cases become known or reasonably ascertainable. + +(5) Each party has a continuing duty to inform the court of any +proceedings in this or any other state that could affect the current +proceeding. + +(6) Whenever it appears to a party that two or more pending cases +present common issues of fact and that assignment to one judge or another +method of coordination will significantly promote the efficient +administration of justice, conserve judicial resources, avoid inconsistent +results, or prevent multiple court appearances by the same parties on the +same issues, the party may file a notice of related cases requesting +coordination of the litigation. +(e) Continuances. All judges shall apply a firm continuance policy. + +Continuances should be few, good cause should be required, and all requests +should be heard and resolved by a judge. All motions for continuance shall be +in writing unless made at a trial and, except for good cause shown, shall be +signed by the party requesting the continuance. All motions for continuance +in priority cases shall clearly identify such priority status and explain what +effect the motion will have on the progress of the case. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The provisions in subdivision (c) of this rule governing priority cases +should be read in conjunction with the provisions of rule 2.215(g), governing +the duty to expedite priority cases. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.550. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.550 + +RULE 2.550. CALENDAR CONFLICTS. +(a) Guidelines. In resolving calendar conflicts between the state courts of + +Florida or between a state court and a federal court in Florida, the following +guidelines must be considered: + +(1) Any case priority status established by statute, rule of procedure, +case law, or otherwise shall be evaluated to determine the effect that +resolving a calendar conflict might have on the priority case or cases. + +(2) Juvenile dependency and termination of parental rights cases are +generally to be given preference over other cases, except for speedy trial +and capital cases. + +(3) Criminal cases are generally to be given preference over civil cases. +(4) Jury trials are generally to be given preference over non-jury trials. +(5) Appellate arguments, hearings, and conferences are generally to be + +given preference over trial court proceedings. +(6) The case in which the trial date has been first set should generally + +take precedence. +(b) Additional Circumstances. Factors such as cost, numbers of witnesses + +and attorneys involved, travel, length of trial, age of case, and other relevant +matters may warrant deviation from these case guidelines. + +(c) Notice and Agreement; Resolution by Judges. When an attorney is +scheduled to appear in 2 courts at the same time and cannot arrange for other +counsel to represent the clients interests, the attorney shall give prompt +written notice of the conflict to opposing counsel, the clerk of each court, and +the presiding judge of each case, if known. If the presiding judge of the case +cannot be identified, written notice of the conflict shall be given to the chief +judge of the court having jurisdiction over the case, or to the chief judges +designee. The judges or their designees shall confer and undertake to avoid +the conflict by agreement among themselves. Absent agreement, conflicts +should be promptly resolved by the judges or their designees in accordance +with the above case guidelines. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +1996 Adoption. The adoption of this rule was prompted by the Resolution +of the Florida State-Federal Judicial Council Regarding Calendar Conflicts +Between State and Federal Courts, which states as follows: + +WHEREAS, the great volume of cases filed in the state and federal courts +of Florida creates calendar conflicts between the state and federal courts of +Florida which should be resolved in a fair, efficient and orderly manner to +allow for judicial efficiency and economy; and + +WHEREAS, the Florida State-Federal Judicial Council which represents +the Bench and Bar of the State of Florida believes that it would be beneficial +to formally agree upon and publish recommended procedures and priorities +for resolving calendar conflicts between the state and federal courts of +Florida; + +NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED +In resolving calendar conflicts between the state and federal courts of + +Florida, the following case priorities should be considered: +1. Criminal cases should prevail over civil cases. +2. Jury trials should prevail over non-jury trials. +3. Appellate arguments, hearings, and conferences should prevail over + +trials. +4. The case in which the trial date has been first set should take + +precedence. +5. Circumstances such as cost, numbers of witnesses and attorneys + +involved, travel, length of trial, age of case and other relevant matters may +warrant deviation from this policy. Such matters are encouraged to be +resolved through communication between the courts involved. + +Where an attorney is scheduled to appear in two courts - trial or appellate, +state or federal - at the same time and cannot arrange for other counsel in his +or her firm or in the case to represent his or her clients interest, the attorney +shall give prompt written notice to opposing counsel, the clerk of each court, +and the presiding judge of each case, if known, of the conflict. If the +presiding judge of a case cannot be identified, written notice of the conflict + + + +shall be given to the chief judge of the court having jurisdiction over the case, +or to his or her designee. The judges or their designees shall confer and +undertake to avoid the conflict by agreement among themselves. Absent +agreement, conflicts should be promptly resolved by the judges or their +designees in accordance with the above case priorities. + +In jurisdictions where calendar conflicts arise with frequency, it is +recommended that each court involved consider appointing a calendar +conflict coordinator to assist the judges in resolving calendar conflicts by +obtaining information regarding the conflicts and performing such other +ministerial duties as directed by the judges. + +REVISED AND READOPTED at Miami, Florida, this 13th day of +January, 1995. + +COURT COMMENTARY + +2002 Court Commentary. As provided in subdivision (c), when a +scheduling conflict involves different courts, the presiding judges should +confer and undertake to agree on a resolution, using the guidelines provided +in this rule. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.555. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.555 + +RULE 2.555. INITIATION OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS. +(a) Major Statutory Offense. Law enforcement officers, at the time of the + +filing of a complaint with the clerk of court, shall designate whether the most +serious charge on the complaint is a felony or a misdemeanor. The state +attorney or the state attorneys designee, at the time of the filing of an +original information or an original indictment with the clerk of court, shall +designate whether the most serious offense on the information or the +indictment is a felony or misdemeanor. Complaints, original informations, +and original indictments on which the most serious charge is a felony shall be +filed with the clerk of the circuit court. + +(b) Ordinance Violations. In cases when the state attorney has the +responsibility for the prosecution of county or municipal ordinance +violations, where such ordinances have state statutory equivalents, the state +attorney or the state attorneys designee shall set forth at the top of the face of +the accusatory instrument the exact statute number of the single most serious +offense charged. + +(c) Information or Indictment after County Court Proceedings Begun. +When action in a criminal case has been initiated in county court, and +subsequently the state attorney files a direct information or the grand jury +indicts the defendant, the state attorney or the state attorneys designee shall +notify the clerk without delay. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.560. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.560 + +RULE 2.560. APPOINTMENT OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT +INTERPRETERS FOR NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING AND +LIMITED-ENGLISH-PROFICIENT PERSONS. + +(a) Criminal or Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings. In any criminal or +juvenile delinquency proceeding in which the accused, the parent or legal +guardian of the accused juvenile, the victim, or the alleged victim cannot +understand or has limited understanding of English, or cannot express himself +or herself in English sufficiently to be understood, an interpreter shall be +appointed. + +(b) Other Proceedings. In all other proceedings in which a non-English- +speaking or limited-English-proficient person is a litigant, an interpreter for +the non-English-speaking or limited-English-proficient litigant shall be +appointed if the court determines that the litigants inability to comprehend +English deprives the litigant of an understanding of the court proceedings, +that a fundamental interest is at stake (such as in a civil commitment, +termination of parental rights, paternity, or dependency proceeding), and that +no alternative to the appointment of an interpreter exists. + +(c) Witnesses. In any proceeding in which a non-English-speaking or +limited-English-proficient person is a witness, the appointment of an +interpreter shall be governed by the applicable provisions of the Florida +Evidence Code. + +(d) Compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In making +determinations regarding the appointment of an interpreter, the court should +ensure compliance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act +of 1964. + +(e) Qualifications of Interpreter. +(1) Appointment of Interpreters when Certified or Other Duly + +Qualified Interpreters Are Available. Whenever possible, a certified or +other duly qualified interpreter, as defined in the Rules for Certification +and Regulation of Spoken Language Court Interpreters, shall be appointed. +Preference shall be given to appointment of certified and language skilled +interpreters, then to persons holding a provisionally approved designation. + + + +(2) Appointment of Interpreters when Certified or Other Duly +Qualified Interpreters Are Unavailable. If, after diligent search, a +certified, language skilled, or provisionally approved interpreter is not +available, the presiding judge, magistrate, or hearing officer, finding good +cause, may appoint an interpreter who is otherwise registered with the +Office of the State Courts Administrator in accordance with the Rules for +Certification and Regulation of Spoken Language Court Interpreters. No +appointment shall be made under this subdivision unless the presiding +judge, magistrate, or hearing officer makes a determination, on the record, +the proposed interpreter is competent to interpret in the proceedings. + +(3) Appointment in Exceptional Circumstances. If after diligent +search no interpreter qualifying under subdivision (e)(1) or (e)(2) of this +rule is available at the time interpreter services are needed, the presiding +judge, magistrate, or hearing officer, finding good cause exists for the +appointment of an interpreter not qualifying under subdivision (e)(1) or (e) +(2), such as the prevention of burdensome delay, the request or consent of +the non-English-speaking or limited-English-proficient person, or other +unusual circumstance, may appoint an interpreter who is not certified, +language skilled, provisionally approved, or otherwise registered with the +Office of the State Courts Administrator. No appointment, including +appointment of interpreters available via remote technology, shall be made +under this subdivision unless the presiding judge, magistrate, or hearing +officer finds the proposed interpreter is competent to interpret in the +proceedings. This finding must be made on the record based, not only on +the unavailability of an interpreter otherwise qualified in a particular +language, but also on specific exigent circumstances given the demands of +the case and the interpreters sworn assertion he or she is able, either in +direct or relay/intermediary interpretation, to communicate effectively in +the languages in which interpreter services are required. An appointment +under this subdivision shall excuse an interpreter so appointed from the +registration requirements under the Rules for Certification and Regulation +of Spoken Language Court Interpreters, but only for the delivery of the +specific services for which the interpreter is appointed. + +(4) On-the-Record Objections or Waivers in Criminal and Juvenile +Delinquency Proceedings. In any criminal or juvenile delinquency +proceeding in which the interpreter is not appointed under subdivision (e) + + + +(1) of this rule, the court shall advise the accused, on the record, that the +proposed interpreter is not certified, language skilled, or provisionally +approved pursuant to the Rules for Certification and Regulation of Spoken +Language Court Interpreters. The accuseds objection to the appointment +of a proposed interpreter, or the accuseds waiver of the appointment of a +certified, language skilled, or provisionally approved interpreter, shall also +be on the record. + +(5) Additional on-the-Record Findings, Objections, and Waivers +Required at Subsequent Proceedings. The appointment of an interpreter +who is not certified, language skilled, or provisionally approved in +accordance with the Rules for Certification and Regulation of Spoken +Language Court Interpreters shall be limited to a specific proceeding and +shall not be extended to subsequent proceedings in a case without +additional findings of good cause and qualification as required by +subdivisions (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this rule, and additional compliance with +the procedures for on-the-record objections or waivers provided for in +subdivision (e)(4) of this rule. +(f) Privileged Communications. Whenever a person communicates + +through an interpreter to any person under circumstances that would render +the communication privileged and such person could not be compelled to +testify as to the communication, the privilege shall also apply to the +interpreter. + +(g) Definitions. When used in this rule, the following terms shall have the +meanings set forth below: + +(1) Limited-English-Proficient Person. A person who is unable to +communicate effectively in English because the individuals primary +language is not English and he or she has not developed fluency in the +English language. A person with limited English proficiency may have +difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding English. + +(2) Proceeding. Any hearing or trial, excluding an administrative +hearing or trial, presided over by a judge, general magistrate, special +magistrate, or hearing officer within the state courts. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.565. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.565 + +RULE 2.565. RETENTION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT +INTERPRETERS FOR NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING AND +LIMITED-ENGLISH-PROFICIENT PERSONS BY ATTORNEYS +OR SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS. + +(a) Retention of Interpreters when Certified or Other Duly Qualified +Interpreters Are Available. When an attorney or self-represented litigant +retains the services of an interpreter to assist a non-English-speaking or +limited-English-proficient litigant or witness in a court proceeding or court- +related proceeding as defined in the Rules for Certification and Regulation of +Spoken Language Court Interpreters, the attorney or self-represented litigant +shall, whenever possible, retain a certified, language skilled or provisionally +approved interpreter, as defined in the Rules for Certification and Regulation +of Spoken Language Court Interpreters. Preference shall be given to retention +of certified and language skilled interpreters, then to persons holding a +provisionally approved designation. + +(b) Retention of Interpreters when Certified or Other Duly Qualified +Interpreters Are Unavailable. If, after diligent search, a certified, language +skilled, or provisionally approved interpreter is not available, an attorney or +self-represented litigant may retain an interpreter who is otherwise registered +with the Office of the State Courts Administrator in accordance with the +Rules for Certification and Regulation of Spoken Language Court +Interpreters. + +(c) Retention in Exceptional Circumstances. If, after diligent search, no +interpreter qualifying under subdivision (a) or (b) of this rule is available, an +attorney or self-represented litigant, for good cause, may retain an interpreter +who is not certified, language skilled, provisionally approved, or otherwise +registered with the Office of the State Courts Administrator. + +(d) Written Declaration Substantiating Good Cause. No interpreter +shall be retained under subdivision (c) unless the attorney or a self- +represented litigant states under oath or affirms in a verified writing that: + +(1) a diligent search has been conducted; +(2) neither a certified, language skilled, provisionally approved + + + +interpreter nor an interpreter otherwise registered with the Office of the +State Courts Administrator is available to interpret in person or via remote +technology; and + +(3) to the best of the attorney or self-represented litigants information +and belief, the proposed interpreter is competent to interpret. In addition, +the written declaration shall include the full name, mailing address, and +telephone number of the proposed interpreter; the non-English language +interpreted; the date of the interpreted event; and nature of the interpreted +event. +(e) Filing and Retention of Written Declaration. An attorney or self- + +represented litigant substantiating good cause under subdivision (d) shall +submit via e-mail, a copy of the verified written declaration with the Court +Interpreter Program Office in the Office of the State Courts Administrator. A +prescribed form and dedicated e-mail address appear on the Courts website. +The filer shall thereafter furnish a copy to the proposed interpreter, and shall: + +(1) file the original declaration in any pending court action or +administrative action and serve a copy thereof on all other parties; or + +(2) if no action is pending at the time interpreter services are provided, +retain the original declaration and serve a copy thereof on the non-English- +speaking or limited-English-proficient person at the time interpreter +services are provided. The declaration shall be made available to all other +parties and to any state court or administrative judge, magistrate, or +hearing officer upon request in any action later filed to which the +interpreted event is relevant. The filing with the Office of the State Courts +Administrator of a written declaration in substantial conformity with this +subdivision shall excuse the proposed interpreter from the registration +requirements under the Rules for Certification and Regulation of Spoken +Language Interpreters for the delivery of the specific interpreter services +for which certification is made. +(f) Time for Preparation, Submission, Filing, and Service. Verified + +written declarations required by this rule shall be prepared, submitted to the +Office of State Courts Administrator, filed with the Clerk of Court, when +required, and served on all parties in advance of the proceedings to which +they are relevant. When compliance with this subdivision is impossible or +impracticable due to the existence of emergency or other extraordinary + + + +circumstances, the attorney or self-represented litigant shall: +(1) comply with the preparation, submission, filing, and service + +requirements of this rule as soon as is practicable following the conclusion +of the proceeding; and + +(2) include in the verified written declaration a brief statement +describing the emergency or other extraordinary circumstances justifying +post-proceeding compliance. + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.570. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.570 + +RULE 2.570. PARENTAL-LEAVE CONTINUANCE. +(a) Generally. Absent one or more of the findings listed in subdivision (e) + +of this rule, a court shall grant a timely motion for continuance based on the +parental leave of the movants lead attorney in the case, due to the birth or +adoption of a child, if the motion is made within a reasonable time after the +later of: + +(1) the movants lead attorney learning of the basis for the continuance; +or + +(2) the setting of the specific proceeding(s) or the scheduling of the +matter(s) for which the continuance is sought. +(b) Contents of Motion. A motion filed under this rule shall be in writing + +and signed by the requesting party. The motion must state all of the +following: + +(1) The attorney who is the subject of the motion is the movants lead +attorney. + +(2) The facts necessary to establish that the motion is timely. +(3) The scope and length of the continuance requested. +(4) Whether another party objects to the motion. +(5) Any other information that the movant considers relevant to the + +courts consideration of the motion. +(c) Presumptive Length. Three months is the presumptive maximum + +length of a parental-leave continuance absent a showing of good cause that a +longer time is appropriate. + +(d) Burden of Proof. If the motion is challenged by another party that +makes a prima facie demonstration of substantial prejudice, the burden shall +shift to the movant to demonstrate that the prejudice to the requesting party +caused by the denial of the motion exceeds the prejudice that would be +caused to the objecting party if the requested continuance were granted. + +(e) Courts Discretion; Order. It is within the courts sound discretion to + + + +deny the motion or to grant a continuance different in scope or duration than +requested, if the court finds that: + +(1) another party would be substantially prejudiced by the requested +continuance; or + +(2) the requested continuance would unreasonably delay an emergency +or time-sensitive proceeding or matter. +The court shall enter a written order setting forth its ruling on the motion + +and the specific grounds for the ruling. +(f) Criminal, Juvenile, and Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sexually + +Violent Predators Cases. In a case governed by the Florida Rules of +Criminal Procedure, by the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, or by the +Florida Rules of Civil Procedure for Involuntary Commitment of Sexually +Violent Predators, a motion for continuance based on the parental leave of the +lead attorney is governed by rule 2.545(e) and by any applicable Florida Rule +of Criminal Procedure, Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure, or Florida Rule of +Civil Procedure for Involuntary Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators, +rather than by this rule, except that in a case governed by Part III of the +Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, a motion for continuance based on the +parental leave of the lead attorney is governed by Florida Rule of Juvenile +Procedure 8.240(d). + + + + Pt. B. , Rule 2.580. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.580 + +RULE 2.580. STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS. +(a) Use; Modification. The standard jury instructions appearing on The + +Florida Bars website may be used by trial judges in instructing the jury in +every trial to the extent that the instructions are applicable, unless the trial +judge determines that an applicable standard jury instruction is erroneous or +inadequate, in which event the judge shall modify the standard instruction or +give such other instruction as the trial judge determines to be necessary to +instruct the jury accurately and sufficiently on the circumstances of the case. +If the trial judge modifies a standard jury instruction or gives another +instruction, upon timely objection to the instruction, the trial judge shall state +on the record or in a separate order the respect in which the judge finds the +standard instruction erroneous or inadequate or confusing and the legal basis +for varying from the standard instruction. Similarly, in all circumstances in +which the comments or notes on use accompanying the standard jury +instructions contain a recommendation that a certain type of instruction not +be given, the trial judge may follow the recommendation unless the judge +determines that the giving of such an instruction is necessary to instruct the +jury accurately and sufficiently, in which event the judge shall give such +instruction as the judge deems appropriate and necessary. If the trial judge +does not follow such a recommendation, upon timely objection to the +instruction, the trial judge shall state on the record or in a separate order the +legal basis of the determination that the instruction is necessary. + +(b) Referral to Committee. The party requesting and receiving a modified +instruction shall send a copy of the modified instruction to the appropriate +committee on standard jury instructions under rule 2.270, unless the +modification is only technical or nonsubstantive in nature, so that the +committee can consider the modification to determine whether the standard +instruction should be amended. + +(c) No Supreme Court Approval or Presumption of Correctness. The +standard jury instructions approved for publication and use under rule 2.270 +are not approved or otherwise specifically authorized for use by the supreme +court. The approval of a standard jury instruction under that rule shall not be +construed as an adjudicative determination on the legal correctness of the + + + +instruction. Standard instructions authorized for use by the supreme court +prior to the adoption of rule 2.270 shall be treated the same as and given no +more deference than instructions approved for use under that rule. + + + + Pt. B. , FORM 2.601. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. Form 2.601 + +FORM 2.601. REQUEST TO BE EXCUSED FROM E-MAIL SERVICE +BY A PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY. + +(CAPTION) + + +REQUEST TO BE EXCUSED FROM E-MAIL SERVICE FOR A PARTY +NOT REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY + +. . . . .(name). . . . . requests to be excused pursuant to Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & +Jud. Admin. 2.516(b)(1)(D) from the requirements of e-mail service because +I am not represented by an attorney and: + + I do not have an e-mail account. + I do not have regular access to the internet. + +By choosing not to receive documents by e-mail service, I understand that +I will receive all copies of notices, orders, judgments, motions, pleadings, or +other written communications by delivery or mail at the following address: . . +. . .(address). . . . . . + +I understand that I must keep the clerks office and the opposing party or +parties notified of my current mailing address. + +Pursuant to section 92.525, Florida Statutes, under penalties of perjury, I +declare that I have read the foregoing request and that the facts stated in it are +true. + +CLERKS DETERMINATION + +Based on the information provided in this request, I have determined that +the applicant is excused or not excused from the e-mail service +requirements of Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516(b)(1)(C). + + + +Dated: . . . . . . . . . . +Signature of the Clerk of Court: + +___________________________________ + +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE + +I certify that a copy hereof has been furnished to the clerk of court for . . . . +. . County and . . . . .(insert name(s) and address(es) of parties used for +service). . . . . by . . . . .(delivery) (mail). . . . . on . . . . .(date). . . . . . + +A PERSON WHO IS NOT EXCUSED MAY SEEK REVIEW BY A +JUDGE BY REQUESTING A HEARING TIME. +Sign here if you want the Judge to review the clerks determination that + +you are not excused from the e-mail service requirements. You do not waive +or give up any right to judicial review of the clerks determination by not +signing this part of the form: + +Dated: . . . . . . . . . . +Signature: _____________________________ +Print Name: _____________________________ + + + + Pt. B. , FORM 2.602. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. Form 2.602 + +FORM 2.602. DESIGNATION OF E-MAIL ADDRESS BY A PARTY +NOT REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY. + +(CAPTION) + + +DESIGNATION OF E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR A PARTY NOT +REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY + +Pursuant to Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516(b)(1)(C), I, . . . . . . +(name). . . . ., designate the e-mail address(es) below for electronic service of +all documents related to this case. + +By completing this form, I am authorizing the court, clerk of court, and all +parties to send copies of notices, orders, judgments, motions, pleadings, or +other written communications to me by e-mail or through the Florida Courts +E-filing Portal. + +I understand that I must keep the clerks office and the opposing party or +parties notified of my current e-mail address(es) and that all copies of notices, +orders, judgments, motions, pleadings, or other written communications in +this case will be served at the e-mail address(es) on record at the clerks +office. + +. . . . .(designated e-mail address). . . . + +. . . . .(secondary designated e-mail address(es) (if any)). . . . . + + +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE + +I certify that a copy hereof has been furnished to the clerk of court for . . . . +. . County and . . . . .(insert name(s) and address(es) of parties used for +service). . . . . by . . . . .(e-mail) (delivery) (mail). . . . . on . . . . .(date). . . . . . + + + + + + + Pt. B. , FORM 2.603. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. Form 2.603 + +FORM 2.603. CHANGE OF MAILING ADDRESS OR DESIGNATED +E-MAIL ADDRESS. + +(CAPTION) + + +NOTICE OF CHANGE OF MAILING ADDRESS OR DESIGNATED E- +MAIL ADDRESS + +I, __________________ certify that my . . . . .(mailing address or +designated +e-mail address). . . . . has changed to _____________________________ +_____________________________. + +I understand that I must keep the clerks office and any opposing party or +parties notified of my current mailing address or e-mail address. I will file a +written notice with the clerk if my mailing address or e-mail address changes +again. + + + +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE + +I certify that a copy hereof has been furnished to the clerk of court for . . . . +. . County and . . . . .(insert name(s) and address(es) of parties used for +service). . . . . by . . . . .(e-mail) (delivery) (mail). . . . . on . . . . .(date). . . . . . + + + +APPENDIX +STATE OF FLORIDA +JUDICIAL BRANCH + +RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE +FOR ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS. + +GENERAL APPLICATION. +This record retention schedule does not impose a duty to create + +records contained in the schedule. The purpose of the schedule is to +authorize destruction of records after the retention period has elapsed. +The records custodian may retain records longer than required by the +schedule. This schedule authorizes destruction of records unless +otherwise provided by court rule. + +The retention period should be calculated from the time that the +record is completed. For purposes of calculating the retention period, +fiscal records should be considered completed at the end of a fiscal year. +All retention periods are subject to the caveat provided that applicable +audits have been released. + +The records custodian of the judicial branch entity that creates a +record creates the record copy and is responsible for its retention in +accordance with this schedule. The records custodian of the judicial +branch entity that properly receives a record from outside the judicial +branch has the record copy and is responsible for its retention in +accordance with this schedule. Duplicates are only required to be +retained until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is lost. + +Record Series means a group of related documents arranged under +a single filing arrangement or kept together as a unit because they +consist of the same form, relate to the same subject, result from the same +activity, or have certain common characteristics. + +ACQUISITION RECORDS: LIBRARY. This record series consists of +information on the acquisition of library materials including: books, +periodicals, filmstrips, software, compact discs, video/audio tapes, and other +non-print media. This information may include the accession date and +method, the publisher and cost, the date entered into the collection, dates + + + +removed from collection, and method of final disposal. +RETENTION: Retain for life of material. + +ADMINISTRATIVE CONVENIENCE RECORDS. This record series +consists of a subject file, generally filed alphabetically, which is located away +from the official files, such as in the Directors and other supervisory offices. +The file contains DUPLICATES of correspondence, reports, publications, +memoranda, etc., and is used as a working file or reference file on subjects +which are currently significant or which may become significant in the near +future. The material filed in this series is NOT the official file or record copy +but is maintained for the convenience of the officials in carrying out their +elected or appointed duties. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS: PUBLIC OFFICIALS/COURT +ADMINISTRATORS. This record series consists of office files documenting +the substantive actions of elected or appointed officials and the court +administrator. These records constitute the official record of a judicial branch +entitys performance of its functions and formulation of policy and program +initiative. This series will include various types of records such as +correspondence; memoranda; statements prepared for delivery at meetings, +conventions or other public functions that are designed to advertise and +promote programs, activities and policies of the judicial branch entity; +interviews; and reports concerning development and implementation of +activities of the judicial branch entity. These records may have archival +value. + +RETENTION: 10 years. + +ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT RECORDS. This record series consists of +records accumulated relative to internal administrative activities rather than +the functions for which the office exists. Normally, these records document +procedures; the expenditure of funds, including budget material; day-to-day +management of office personnel including training and travel; supplies, office +services and equipment requests and receipts and other recorded experiences +that do not serve as official documentation of the programs of the office. + + + +However, because the content of these records vary so greatly in content and +value (containing some duplicates and record copies), a relatively large +proportion of them are of continuing value and may be subject to the audit +process. Note: Reference a more applicable records series first if one exists. +These records may have archival value. + +RETENTION: 2 years. + +ADVERTISEMENTS: LEGAL. This record series consists of advertisements +which have appeared in newspapers or in the Administrative Weekly on +matters pertaining to the judicial branch entity and other legal ads which may +or may not indirectly affect the judicial branch entity; i.e., bid invitations for +construction jobs, public hearings or notices, public sales. See also BID +RECORDS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT SUCCESSFUL BID, BID +RECORDS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT UNSUCCESSFUL BIDS and +BID RECORDS: NON-CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +AFFIRMATIVE ACTION RECORDS. This record series consists of copies +of reports submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission +(EEOC) per their requirements for the judicial branch entitys affirmative +action plan. It may also include discrimination complaints, correspondence +and investigative papers pertaining to the judicial branch entitys affirmative +action plan. See also EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY +COMPLIANCE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 2 years. + +APPLICATIONS: GUARDIAN AD LITEM, MEDIATION, OTHERS. This +record series consists of applications, supporting documents, correspondence +and reports relating to the application of a person to be certified as a +mediator, a program to be approved to offer training for mediators, a +volunteer to be approved by the Guardian ad Litem Program, or other persons +or programs regulated in the judicial branch. + +RETENTION: 5 years after the person or program is no longer regulated +by the judicial branch. + +APPLICATIONS: LIBRARY CARDS. This record series consists of library + + + +card applications which must be renewed on an annual, bi-annual, or other +basis. The application may include the patrons name, address, telephone +number, date of birth, as well as a statement of liability for the care and +timely return of all materials checked out or utilized by the patron. + +RETENTION: Retain for 30 days after expiration. + +APPRAISALS: LAND PURCHASES (NOT PURCHASED). This record +series consists of documents pertaining to land not purchased by a judicial +branch entity and all supporting documents. See also APPRAISALS: LAND +PURCHASES (PURCHASED). + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +APPRAISALS: LAND PURCHASES (PURCHASED). This record series +consists of documents pertaining to land purchased by a judicial branch entity +and all supporting documents. See also APPRAISALS: LAND +PURCHASES (NOT PURCHASED). + +RETENTION: Retain as long as judicial branch entity retains property. + +ARCHITECTURAL PLANS/SPECIFICATIONS: PRELIMINARY +DRAWINGS. This record series consists of those graphic and engineering +preliminary drawing records that depict conceptual as well as precise +measured information essential for the planning and construction of facilities. + +RETENTION: Retain until completion and acceptance. + +ATTENDANCE AND LEAVE RECORDS. This record series consists of +requests or applications for vacation, sick, family medical leave (FMLA) and +other types of leave including leave of absences, timesheets or timecards +along with any required documentation (medical statements or excuses from +a physician, jury duty summons, or military orders, etc.) submitted by an +employee to document authorized absences. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +AUDITS: INDEPENDENT. This record series consists of a report issued by +an independent auditor to establish the position of the judicial branch entity +being audited against its standard of performance. See also, AUDITS: +INTERNAL, AUDITS: STATE/FEDERAL and AUDITS: + + + +SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. +RETENTION: 10 years. + +AUDITS: INTERNAL. This record series consists of a report issued by an +internal auditor to establish the position of a judicial branch entity being +audited against its standard of performance. See also, AUDITS: +INDEPENDENT, AUDITS: STATE/FEDERAL and AUDITS: +SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +AUDITS: STATE/FEDERAL. This record series consists of a report issued +by a federal or state auditor to establish the position of a judicial branch entity +being audited against its standard of performance. See also, AUDITS: +INDEPENDENT, AUDITS: INTERNAL and AUDITS: SUPPORTING +DOCUMENTS. These records may have archival value. + +RETENTION: 10 years. + +AUDITS: SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. This record series consists of the +documentation and supporting documents used to develop the audit report +with all bills, accounts, records and transactions. See also AUDITS: +INDEPENDENT, AUDITS: INTERNAL and AUDITS: +STATE/FEDERAL. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +BACKGROUND/Security Checks. This record series consists of +background/security checks for potential new hires and promotions. These +checks may include a background and drivers license screening, reference +check, and verification of academic standing. The files might include notices +of not being hired based on the outcome of a security check and a opportunity +for rebuttal. Supporting documentation consists of fingerprint cards, copy of +the drivers license, copy of the transcript release form, returned form +reference letters, and other necessary information. + +RETENTION: 4 anniversary years. + +BANK ACCOUNT AUTHORIZATION RECORDS. This record series +consists of an authorization to maintain a bank account and who is authorized + + + +to sign off on the account. +RETENTION: 1 year after superseded by new authorization. + +BAR APPLICANTS: ADMITTED. This record series consists of bar +applications, supporting documents, all investigative materials, of +administrative value, correspondence, reports, and similar materials +accumulated during the bar admissions process regarding bar applicants who +were subsequently admitted to The Florida Bar. + +RETENTION: Bar application and fingerprint card, 5 years; + all other materials, 1 year. + +BAR APPLICANTS: NOT ADMITTED (WITH NO +RECOMMENDATION). This record series consists of bar applications, +supporting documents, all investigative materials of administrative value, +correspondence, reports, and similar materials accumulated during the bar +admissions process regarding bar applicants who have not been admitted to +The Florida Bar and who have not received an unfavorable recommendation +by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. + +RETENTION: 20 years or the death of the applicant, whichever is earlier. + +BAR APPLICANTS: NOT ADMITTED (WITH UNFAVORABLE +RECOMMENDATION). This record series consists of bar applications, +supporting documents, all investigative materials of administrative value, +correspondence, reports, and similar materials accumulated during the bar +admissions process regarding bar applicants who have not been admitted to +The Florida Bar and who have received an unfavorable recommendation by +the Florida Board of Bar Examiners by either a negotiated consent judgment +or the issuance of findings of fact and conclusions of law. + +RETENTION: 40 years or the death of the applicant, whichever is earlier. + +BAR EXAMINATION/ANSWERS. This record series consists of answers to +essay questions and answer sheets to machine-scored questions submitted by +bar applicants during the bar examination administered by the Florida Board +of Bar Examiners. + +RETENTION: Until the conclusion of the administration of the next + + + +successive general bar examination. + +BAR EXAMINATION/FLORIDA PREPARED PORTION. This record +series consists of the portion of the bar examination prepared by the Florida +Board of Bar Examiners. + +RETENTION: 10 years from the date of the administration of the +examination. + +BID RECORDS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT SUCCESSFUL BIDS. This +record series consists of information relative to the processing and letting of +capital improvement successful bids including legal advertisements, +Requests for Proposal, technical specifications, correspondence, +Invitations to Bid, bid tabulations and bid responses. Capital +Improvements shall mean enhancement to buildings, fixtures and all other +improvements to land. See also BID RECORDS: CAPITAL +IMPROVEMENT UNSUCCESSFUL BIDS and BID RECORDS: NON- +CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. + +RETENTION: 10 years. + +BID RECORDS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT UNSUCCESSFUL BIDS. +This record series consists of information relative to the processing and +letting of capital improvement unsuccessful bids including legal +advertisements, Requests for Proposal, technical specifications, +correspondence, Invitations to Bid, bid tabulations and bid responses. +Capital Improvements shall mean enhancement to buildings, fixtures and +all other improvements to land. See also BID RECORDS: CAPITAL +IMPROVEMENT SUCCESSFUL BIDS and BID RECORDS: NON- +CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +BID RECORDS: NON-CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. This record series +consists of information relative to the processing and letting of successful and +unsuccessful noncapital improvement bids including legal advertisements, +Requests for Proposal, technical specifications, correspondence, +Invitations to Bid, bid tabulations and bid responses. See also BID +RECORDS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT SUCCESSFUL BIDS and BID + + + +RECORDS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT UNSUCCESSFUL BIDS. +RETENTION: 5 years. + +BIOGRAPHICAL FILES. This record series consists of vitas, biographies, +photographs and newspaper clippings of employees. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +BUDGET RECORDS: APPROVED ANNUAL BUDGET. This record series +consists of the approved annual budget and its amendments. See also +BUDGET RECORDS: SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS These records +may have archival value. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +BUDGET RECORDS: SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. This record series +consists of any supporting documentation supporting budget matters and is +filed chronologically. See also BUDGET RECORDS: APPROVED +ANNUAL BUDGET. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +BUILDING PLANS. This record series consists of graphic and engineering +records that depict conceptual as well as precise measured information +essential for the planning and construction of buildings. See also +ARCHITECTURAL PLANS/SPECIFICATIONS: PRELIMINARY +DRAWINGS. + +RETENTION: Retain for life of structure. + +CALENDARS. This record series consists of a calendar showing official +daily appointments and meetings. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +CASE RELATED RECORDS NOT IN THE CUSTODY OF THE CLERK +AND /OR NOT IN CASE FILE. This record series includes records that are +related to a trial court records as defined in Rule 2.420, Florida Rules of +Judicial Administration, because they are not filed with the clerk of court and + + + +are not included in the court file. These records include, but are not limited +to, drug court evaluation and progress reports, mediation reports, deferred +prosecution and diversion records, and arbitration reports. Case-related trial +court documents may be destroyed or disposed of after a judgment has +become final in record accordance with the following schedule: + +RETENTION: +(A) 60 days- Parking tickets and noncriminal traffic infractions after + +required audits have been completed. +(B) 2 years- Proceedings under the Small Claims Rules, Medical + +Mediation Proceedings. +(C) 5 years- Misdemeanor actions, criminal traffic violations, + +ordinance violations, civil litigation proceedings in county court other +than those under the Small Claims Rules, and civil proceedings in circuit +court except marriage dissolutions and adoptions. + +(D) 10 years- Probate, guardianship, and mental health proceedings. +(E) 10 years- Felony cases in which no information or indictment was + +filed or in which all charges were dismissed, or in which the state +announced a nolle prosequi, or in which the defendant was adjudicated +not guilty. + +(F) 75 years- juvenile proceedings containing an order permanently +depriving a parent of custody of a child, and adoptions and all felony +cases not previously destroyed. + +(G) Juvenile proceedings not otherwise provided for in this +subdivision shall be kept for 5 years after the last entry or until the child +reaches the age of majority, whichever is later. + +(H) Marriage dissolutions- 10 years from the last record activity. The +court may authorize destruction of court records not involving alimony, +support, or custody of children 5 years from the last record activity. + +CERTIFICATION FORWARD DOCUMENTS. This record series consists +of lists of encumbrances to be applied against certified forward money which +is money brought forward from the previous fiscal year for goods and +services which were not received until the current fiscal year. See also + + + +ENCUMBRANCE RECORDS. +RETENTION: 3 years. + +CHILD SUPPORT/ALIMONY DISBURSEMENT RECORDS: DETAIL. +This series consists of records documenting disbursement of child support or +alimony. The series includes, but is not limited to, check registers, check +stubs, cancelled checks, cancelled warrants, disbursement ledgers, transaction +journals, vendor invoice, refund records and other accounts payable related +documentation. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + +CHILD SUPPORT/ALIMONY DISBURSEMENT RECORDS: +SUMMARY. This series consists of records providing summary or aggregate +documentation of expenditures or transfers moneys for child support or +alimony. The series may include, but is not limited to, trail balance reports, +check logs and registers, summary reports, summary journal transactions and +other accounts payable summary related documentation. + +RETENTION: 10 fiscal years. + +CHILD SUPPORT/ALIMONY RECEIPT/REVENUE RECORDS: DETAIL. +This series consists of records documenting specific receipts/revenues +collected for child support or alimony. The series may include, but is not +limited to, cash receipts, receipt books, deposit receipts, bank validated +deposit slips, depository ledger reports filed with Clerk of Court, transaction +journals, refund records, bad check records and other accounts receivable +related documentation. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + +CHILD SUPPORT/ALIMONY RECEIPT/REVENUE RECORDS: +SUMMARY. This series consists of records providing summary or aggregate +documentation of receipts/revenues collected for child support or alimony. +The series may include, but is not limited to, monthly statements of bank +accounts, trial balance reports, bank statements, credit and debit card reports, +collection balance sheets and other receivable summary related +documentation. + + + +RETENTION: 10 fiscal years. + +COMPLAINTS: CITIZENS/CONSUMERS/EMPLOYEES. This record +series consists of individual complaints received from citizens, consumers or +employees. This file may include the name, address, date of complaint, +telephone number, the complaint to whom referred and date, action taken and +signature of person taking the action. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +CONTINUING EDUCATION RECORDS. This record series consists of +continuing education records, including records of judicial education. + +RETENTION: 2 years. + +CONTRACTS/LEASES/AGREEMENTS: CAPITAL +IMPROVEMENT/REAL PROPERTY. This record series consists of legal +documents, correspondence, reports, etc., relating to the negotiation, +fulfillment and termination of capital improvement or real property contracts, +leases or agreements to which the agency is a party, including contracts, +leases or agreements with architects, engineers, builders, and construction +companies. Capital Improvements shall mean improvements to real +property (land, buildings, including appurtenances, fixtures and fixed +equipment, structures, etc.), that add to the value and extend the useful life of +the property, including construction of new structures, replacement or +rehabilitation of existing structures (e.g., major repairs such as roof +replacement), or removal of closed structures. Real Property means land, +buildings, and fixtures. The terms land, real estate, realty and real +property may be used interchangeably. See also CONTRACTS/ LEASES/ +AGREEMENTS: NON-CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. + +RETENTION: 10 fiscal years after completion or termination of +contract/lease/agreement. + +CONTRACTS/LEASES/AGREEMENTS: NON-CAPITAL +IMPROVEMENT. This record series consists of legal documents, +correspondence, reports, etc., relating to the negotiation, fulfillment and +termination of non-capital improvement contracts, leases or agreements to +which the agency is a party. In addition, it includes the various contracts, + + + +leases or agreements entered into for the purchase of goods and services such +as the purchase of gas, fuel oil and annual purchases of inventory-maintained +items. See also CONTRACTS/LEASES/AGREEMENTS: CAPITAL +IMPROVEMENT/REAL PROPERTY. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years after completion or termination of +contract/lease/agreement. + +CORRESPONDENCE & MEMORANDA: ADMINISTRATIVE. This +record series consists of routine correspondence and memoranda of a general +nature that is associated with administrative practices but that does not create +policy or procedure, document the business of a particular program, or act as +a receipt. See also INFORMATION REQUEST RECORDS. These +records may have archival value. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +CORRESPONDENCE & MEMORANDA: PROGRAM AND POLICY +DEVELOPMENT. This record series consists of correspondence and +memoranda of any nature that is associated with a specific program or the +development of policy and procedure. These records may have archival +value. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +COURT REGISTRY. This record series consists of records, ledgers and +journals showing amounts paid into the Court Registry, held by the Court, +and paid out by the Court. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +COURT REPORTS. This record series consists of court reports, including +SRS, jury management, witness management, uniform case reporting system +records, and other statistical court reports. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +DEEDS: PROPERTY. This record series consists of property deeds. Series +may include appraisals, surveys, and other supporting documents. + +RETENTION: Retain as long as property is retained. + + + +DELAYED BIRTH (APPLICATION/CERTIFICATE/AFFIDAVITS, ETC.) +This record series consists of an application signed by a judge for a birth +(other than in a hospital usually). This record is filed with the County Court +pursuant to Section 382.0195(4)(a), Florida Statutes. Once signed, the +application becomes an order. The record copy is sent to Vital Statistics. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +DIRECTIVES/POLICIES/PROCEDURES. This record series consists of the +official management statements of policy for the organization, supporting +documents, and the operating procedures which outline the methods for +accomplishing the functions and activities assigned to the judicial branch +entity. It includes all memoranda and correspondence generated relating to +the policies and procedures which are to be followed by employees. See also +CORRESPONDENCE & MEMORANDA: PROGRAM AND POLICY +DEVELOPMENT. These records may have archival value. + +RETENTION: 2 years. + +DISASTER PREPAREDNESS DRILLS. This record series consists of the +results of disaster preparedness exercises and the supporting documents +including scenarios, location of safety related drills, time tables, response +times, probable outcomes, areas of difficulties, descriptions of how +difficulties were resolved, and areas for improvement. Types of drills include: +fire, tornado, safety, hurricane and SARA chemical spills. See also +DIRECTIVES/POLICIES/PROCEDURES and DISASTER +PREPAREDNESS PLANS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLANS. This record series consists of +disaster preparedness and recovery plans adopted by a judicial branch entity. +See also DIRECTIVE/POLICIES/PROCEDURES. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +DISBURSEMENT RECORDS: DETAIL. This series consists of records +documenting specific expenditures or transfers of agency moneys for the +procurement of commodities and services and other purposes. The series may + + + +include, but is not limited to, procurement records such as requisitions, +requisition logs, purchase orders, contracts, purchasing card (p-card) receipts, +vendor invoices, receiving reports, acceptances of contract deliverables, +approvals, and related documentation; and expenditure records for +disbursements made through checks, warrants, electronic fund transfers +(EFT), purchasing cards, or other methods, such as payment vouchers, +approvals, check registers, cancelled checks, check stubs, cancelled warrants, +disbursement ledgers, journal transactions, expenditure detail reports, refund +records and other accounts payable and related documentation. Retention is +based on s. 95.11(2), F.S., Statute of Limitations on contracts, obligations, or +liabilities. See also DISBURSEMENT RECORDS: SUMMARY, +PURCHASING RECORDS, and TRAVEL RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + +DISBURSEMENT RECORDS: SUMMARY. This series consists of records +providing summary or aggregate documentation of expenditures or transfers +of agency moneys for the procurement of commodities and services and other +purposes. The series may include, but is not limited to, summary records such +as trial balance reports, check logs and registers, summary expenditure +reports, federal grant final closeout reports, summary journal transactions, +and other accounts payable summary and related documentation. See also +DISBURSEMENT RECORDS: DETAIL. + +RETENTION: 10 fiscal years. + +DISCIPLINARY CASE FILES. This record series consists of both sustained +formal or informal disciplinary cases investigated that allege employee +misconduct or violations of department regulations and orders, and +state/federal statutes. It includes statements by the employee, witnesses, and +the person filing the complaint. Formal discipline is defined as disciplinary +action involving demotion, removal from office, suspension, or other similar +action. Informal discipline is defined as any disciplinary action involving +written and verbal reprimands, memoranda, or other similar action. This +record series also can consist of formal and informal disciplinary cases that +were determined as not sustained, unfounded, or exonerated charges. See also +PERSONNEL RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + + + +DRAFTS AND WORKING PAPERS. This record series consists of +documents, correspondence, reports, memos, and other materials in +preliminary or developmental form before their iteration as a final product. +Drafts may include copies of materials circulated for review for grammar, +spelling, and content. Working papers may include notes and miscellaneous +documents and materials used in compiling and assembling the final product. +Note that some draft documents and working papers may have long-term +value; such documents may even have archival or historical value. Such +records might be better placed under the record series Administrator +Records: Public Officials/Court Administrators. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +DRUG TEST RECORDS. This record series consists of the positive or +negative results of a drug test under the Drug Free Workplace Act or as +required for CDL or other drivers under US DOT regulations as well as +records related to canceled tests. This series might include documents +generated in decisions to administer reasonable suspicion or post-accident +testing, or in verifying the existence of a medical explanation of the inability +of the driver to provide adequate breath or to provide a urine specimen for +testing. In addition, the case file could include: the employers copy of an +alcohol test form, including the results of the test; a copy of the controlled +substances test chain of custody control form; documents sent by the Medical +Review Officer (MRO) to the employer; notice to report for testing; affidavit +signed by the employee stating any prescription drugs or over the counter +medication currently taken; and final clearance to resume working. This +record series can also consist of documentation, including memorandum and +correspondence, related to an employees refusal to take or submit samples +for an alcohol and/or controlled substances test(s). + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER RECORDS. This record series consists +of documentation necessary to establish and maintain the electronic transfer +of funds from one financial institution to another. The documentation may +include, but is not limited to: an agreement between the two parties; a form +which lists both institutions names, their routing numbers, the name of the + + + +account holder, and the accounts authorizing signature; a canceled deposit +slip or check; and the paperwork for the termination of service or transfer of +service to a new institution. This series does not include the paperwork on a +specific individual deposit or payment. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + +ELECTRONIC RECORDS SOFTWARE. This record series consists of +proprietary and non-proprietary software as well as related documentation +that provides information about the content, structure and technical +specifications of computer systems necessary for retrieving information +retained in machine-readable format. These records may be necessary to an +audit process. + +RETENTION: Retain as long as there are software dependent records. + +EMPLOYEE PRE-COUNSELING RECORDS. This record series consists of +material and supporting documentation which provide documentation of +initial contact with an employee regarding incidents which may or may not +lead to disciplinary action. This series is not considered in and of itself a part +of the employee discipline record. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +EMPLOYMENT EXAMINATION RECORDS. This record series consists +of test plans, announcements, grades, grading scales, keyed exams, test +monitors list of candidates, any research toward the development of the tests, +and any other selection or screening criteria. See PERSONNEL RECORDS +and RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PACKAGES. + +RETENTION: 4 anniversary years. + +ENCUMBRANCE RECORDS. This record series consists of documents and +reports which document funds that have been encumbered. See also +CERTIFICATION FORWARD DOCUMENTS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +ENDOWMENTS, BEQUESTS AND TRUST FUND RECORDS. This +record series consists of creating, establishing or contributing to endowments, +bequests and trust fund records. These records may have archival value. + + + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION RECORDS. This record series +consists of permits, reviews, supporting documents and correspondence +resulting from environmental regulation requirements. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMPLIANCE RECORDS. +This record series consists of EEO-5 and supporting documents, reviews, +background papers and correspondence relating to employment papers and +correspondence relating to employment statistics (race, sex, age, etc.). See +also AFFIRMATIVE ACTION RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 4 anniversary years after final action. + +EQUIPMENT/VEHICLE MAINTENANCE RECORDS. This record series +documents service, maintenance, and repairs to agency equipment and +vehicles, including program changes to electronic equipment. The series may +include, but is not limited to, work orders and documentation of dates/history +of repairs, locations, cost of parts, hours worked, etc. Records for all agency +vehicles, including ground, air, and water vehicles, are covered by this series. +See also VEHICLE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 1 fiscal year after disposition of equipment. + +EQUIPMENT/VEHICLE USAGE RECORDS. This record series documents +use of agency equipment and vehicles, including, but not limited to, vehicle +logs indicating driver, destination, fuel/service stops, and odometer readings +and/or total trip mileage; equipment usage logs and/or reports; and other +usage documentation. See also VEHICLE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: +a) Record copy. 1 calendar year. +b) Duplicates. Retain until obsolete, superseded, or administrative value is + +lost. + +EXPENDITURE PLANS: CAPITAL. This record series consists of capital +improvement expenditure plans. + + + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +FACILITY RESERVATION/Rental records. This record series consists of +forms generated in the process of renting or scheduling a public meeting hall +or room, conference site, to a citizen or family, private organization, or other +public agency. These forms include, but are not limited to, name of renter, +renters address and telephone number, method of payment, acknowledgment +of rules, liability, damage waivers, and the date and time of the rental as well +as what facility or portion of a facility is to be reserved. These forms may +contain a check number, corresponding receipt number, an amount as well as +deposit information. There may also be a floor plan denoting the desired +arrangement of tables or chairs as requested by the renter. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + +FEASIBILITY STUDY RECORDS. This record series consists of working +papers, correspondence, consulting firm reports and management committee +reports investigating various projects of the judicial branch entity. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +FEDERAL AND STATE TAX FORMS/REPORTS. This record series +consists of W-2 Forms, W-4 Forms, W-9 Forms, 940 Forms, 941-E Forms, +1099 Forms, 1099 Reports and UTC-6 Forms. The retention period +mentioned below for the record (master) copy was established pursuant to +Section 26 CFR 31.6001-1(2). + +RETENTION: 4 calendar years. + +GENERAL LEDGERS: ANNUAL SUMMARY. This record series consists +of ledgers containing accounts to which debits and credits are posted from +supporting documents of original entry. It includes all permanent ledger +entries. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +GRAND JURY NOTES. This record series consists of stenographic records, +notes, and transcriptions made by the court reporter or stenographer during +the grand jury session. These records are normally kept in a sealed container +and are not subject to public inspection pursuant to Section 905.17(1), Florida + + + +Statutes. A Court order must be obtained for disposition. +RETENTION: 10 years from closing of session. + +GRAND JURY RECORDS. This record series consists of jury summons, +requests for recusal, juror payments, information to jurors employers, lists of +jurors, juror questionnaires, and other records related to a grand jury. This +record series includes records related to a grand jury and the statewide grand +jury. + +RETENTION: 2 years. + +GRANT FILES. This record series consists of financial, management and +any other related material which is generated subsequent to application for or +expenditure of grant funds. These files include all applications, supporting +documentation, contracts, agreements, and routine reports. Check with +applicable grant agency for any additional requirements. Project completion +has not occurred until all reporting requirements are satisfied and final +payments have been received. See also PROJECT FILES: FEDERAL, and +PROJECT FILES: NONCAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. These records +may have archival value. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years after completion of project. + +GRIEVANCE FILES (EMPLOYMENT). This record series consists of +records of all proceedings in the settlement of disputes between employer and +employee. See also PERSONNEL RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +HEALTH RECORDS: BLOOD BORNE +PATHOGEN/ASBESTOS/EXPOSURE. This record series consists of +medical records of employees who may have or did come into contact with +blood or other potentially hazardous materials. These confidential records +include the employees name, social security number, hepatitis B vaccination +status including the dates of testing, results of examinations, medical testing, +and follow up procedures, a copy of the healthcare professionals written +opinion, a list of complaints which may be related to the exposure, and a +copy of information provided to the healthcare professional. This record +series can also consist of documents which record the exposure or possible + + + +exposure of an employee to a blood borne pathogen, contagion, radiation and +chemicals above the acceptable limits or dosage. These documents may +include statistical analyses, incident reports, material safety data sheets, +copies of medical records or reports, risk management assessments, and other +necessary data to support the possibility of exposure. Please refer to 20 CFR +1910.1030. + +RETENTION: 30 years after termination, retirement, or separation from +employment. + +INCIDENT REPORTS. This record series consists of reports of incidents +which occur at a public facility or on publicly owned property. It may include +alarm malfunctions, suspicious persons, maintenance problems, or any other +circumstance that should be noted for future reference or follow up. + +RETENTION: 4 years. + +INFORMATION REQUEST RECORDS. This record series consists of +correspondence accumulated in answering inquiries from the public. See also +CORRESPONDENCE & MEMORANDA: ADMINISTRATIVE. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +INSPECTION RECORDS: FIRE/SECURITY/SAFETY. This record series +consists of inspection reports for fire, security, and safety. + +RETENTION: 4 years. + +INSPECTION REPORTS: FIRE EXTINGUISHER (ANNUAL). This +records series consists of annual fire extinguisher inspection reports. + +RETENTION: 1 anniversary year or life of equipment, whichever is +sooner. + +INSURANCE RECORDS. This record series consists of all policies, claim +filing information, correspondence and claims applications made by an +agency, premium payment records which includes fire, theft, liability, +medical, life, etc. on agencys property or employees. The record series also +consists of a list of any insurance carriers and the premium payment amounts +paid to them. + + + +RETENTION: 5 years after final disposition of claim or expiration of +policy. + +INVENTORY RECORDS: PHYSICAL. This record series consists of all +information regarding the physical inventory of all Operating Capital Outlay +(O.C.O.) items which require an identification number and tag. Included in +these reports are items sold through the auctions process as well as the Fixed +Inventory Report showing all property owned by the judicial branch entity. +See also SUPPLY RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +JQC JUDICIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS. This record +consists of all financial disclosure forms filed by the judiciary with the +Judicial Qualifications Commission. + +RETENTION: 10 years. + +JQC JUDICIAL COMPLAINTS. This record consists of individual +complaints received from citizens, judges, or lawyers against members of the +judiciary. + +RETENTION: 3 years if complaint summarily dismissed. For the lifetime +of the judge against whom the complaint has been filed in all other cases. + +JUROR NOTES. Juror notes shall consist of any written notes taken by jurors +during civil or criminal trials. + +RETENTION: Immediate destruction upon issuance of a verdict or if the +trial ends prematurely as a result of a mistrial, plea, or settlement. + +JURY RECORDS. This record series consists of jury summons, requests for +recusal, juror payments, information to jurors employers, lists of jurors, juror +questionnaires, and other records related to the jury pool. This record series +includes records related to petit juries. + +RETENTION: 2 years. + +KEY AND BADGE ISSUANCE RECORDS. This record series consists of +the key control system which includes receipts for keys and security or +identification badges issued by employees. See also VISITOR LOGS. + + + +RETENTION: Retain as long as employee is employed. + +LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE SERVICE RECORDS. +This record series consists of all materials in connection with consultations or +advice given in the course of office management assistance services provided +to an attorney, legal office, or law firm. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +LEAVE TRANSACTION REPORTS. This record series consists of the +printed record generated through COPES of the total hours used and the +accrual earned during a pay period. It also consists of the leave balances of +vacation, sick and compensatory leave for all employees in the agency. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +LEGISLATION RECORDS. This record series consists of proposed +legislation for the Florida Legislature and all supporting documentation, +analysis or tracking information. These records may have archival value. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +LIBRARY CIRCULATION RECORDS. This record series consists of the +transactions devised to make library materials and equipment available to the +entire library clientele. Also, includes delinquent records and charges, copies +of incoming and outgoing interlibrary loan requests for books, magazine +articles, microfilms, renewals and subject searches. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +LITIGATION CASE FILES. This record series consists of legal documents, +notes, reports, background material, etc. created in the preparation of +handling legal disputes involving a judicial branch entity. See also, +OPINIONS: LEGAL (ATTORNEY), and OPINIONS: LEGAL +(SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS). + +RETENTION: 5 years after case closed or appeal process expired. + +MAIL: UNDELIVERABLE FIRST CLASS. This record series consists of + + + +mail from any judicial branch entity, returned due to an incorrect address or +postage. See also MAILING LISTS and POSTAGE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +MAILING LISTS. This record series consists of mailing lists. See also +MAIL: UNDELIVERABLE FIRST CLASS and POSTAGE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +MANAGEMENT SURVEYS/STUDIES: INTERNAL. This record series +consists of the raw data and work papers for any survey conducted to study +management issues such as client/patron/employee satisfaction and service +improvement. This data may include survey response cards, the results of +telephone polls, tally sheets, opinion cards for suggestion boxes, and other +records related to the study of internal operations. This does not include a +consultant report. The final computation of the data is produced as a survey +report and may be scheduled either as part of a feasibility study, project case +file, or an operational/statistical report - depending on the nature and depth of +the survey/study. + +RETENTION: 1 year after final data or report released. + +MATERIALS SAFETY RECORDS. This record series consists of a list of +toxic substances to which an employee is, has been or may be exposed to +during the course of their employment with an employer who manufacturers, +produces, uses, applies or stores toxic substances in the work place. + +RETENTION: 30 years. + +MEMORANDA - LEGAL: Courts decision-making. This record series +consists of memoranda, drafts or other documents involved in a courts +judicial decision-making process. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +MINUTES: OFFICIAL MEETINGS. This record series consists of the +minutes of meetings convened to establish policy or precedent and includes +meetings of the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar and The Florida + + + +Board of Bar Examiners, and court administrative conferences. See also +MINUTES: OTHER MEETINGS and MINUTES: OFFICIAL +MEETINGS (AUDIO/VISUAL RECORDINGS). These records may +have archival value. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +MINUTES: OFFICIAL MEETINGS (AUDIO/VISUAL RECORDINGS). +This record series consists of official audio and video recordings of meetings. +See also, MINUTES: OTHER MEETINGS. + +RETENTION: Until minutes are prepared. + +MINUTES: OFFICIAL MEETINGS (SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS). This +record series consists of the agenda and supporting documents for official +meetings. See also MINUTES: OTHER MEETINGS and MINUTES: +OFFICIAL MEETINGS (AUDIO/VISUAL RECORDINGS). + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +MINUTES: OTHER MEETINGS. This record series consists of minutes +from all meetings which are not included in MINUTES: OFFICIAL +MEETINGS. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION OF FINES. This record series consists of +monthly reports, prepared by the clerk, of all fines imposed under the penal +laws of the state and the proceeds of all forfeited bail bonds or recognizance +which are paid into the fine and forfeiture fund. The report contains the +amount of fines imposed by the court and of bonds forfeited and judgments +rendered on said forfeited bonds, and into whose hands they had been paid or +placed for collection, the date of conviction in each case, the term of +imprisonment, and the name of the officer to whom commitment was +delivered. + +RETENTION: 3 fiscal years. + +NEWS RELEASES. This record series consists of news releases distributed +by the judicial branch entity and news releases received from other offices for +informational purposes. See also PUBLIC INFORMATION CASE FILES, + + + +and PRE-PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA ITEM RECORDS. These +records may have archival value. + +RETENTION: 90 days. + +OPERATIONAL AND STATISTICAL REPORT RECORDS: OFFICE. This +record series consists of daily, weekly, monthly, biannual, and annual +narrative and statistical reports of office operations made within and between +judicial branch entities. Also included in this series are activity reports +demonstrating the productivity of an employee or the work tasks completed +for a period of time (hourly/daily/weekly). + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +OPINIONS: ETHICS. This record series consists of advisory ethical opinions +issued by the appropriate committee in response to an inquiry from a +regulated person or entity. These records may have archival value. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +OPINIONS: ETHICS (SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS). This record series +consists of supporting documents relating to advisory ethical opinions. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +OPINIONS: LEGAL (ATTORNEY). This record series consists of written +opinions of lasting significance establishing policy or precedent answering +legal questions involving questions of interpretation of Florida or federal law. +This does not include memoranda, drafts or other documents involved in a +courts judicial decision-making process. See also CORRESPONDENCE & +MEMORANDA: PROGRAM AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT, +LITIGATION CASE FILES, MEMORANDA LEGAL and +OPINIONS: LEGAL (SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS). These records +may have archival value. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +OPINIONS: LEGAL (SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS). This record series +consists of the supporting documentation to the opinions that answer legal +questions involving questions of interpretation of Florida or Federal law. See + + + +also LITIGATION CASE FILES and OPINIONS: LEGAL +(ATTORNEY). + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +ORDERS: ADMINISTRATIVE. This record series consists of administrative +orders as defined in Rule of Judicial Administration 2.020(c). + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +ORGANIZATION CHARTS. This record series consists of organizational +charts that show lines of authority and responsibility within and between +judicial branch entities. See also +DIRECTIVES/POLICIES/PROCEDURES. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +OTHERWISE UNCATEGORIZED RECORDS. This record series consists +of all records which are not otherwise specified in this schedule. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +PARKING DECAL/PERMIT RECORDS. This record series consists of +parking applications for automobile and motor bike decals for employees. +See also VEHICLE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 2 years. + +PAYROLL RECORDS. This record series consists of the following: a form +used by staff to rectify errors in payroll processing including: wrong name, +incorrect deductions or salary, inaccurate tax information, or other problems; +forms authorizing direct deductions for insurance, union dues, credit unions, +savings bonds, charitable contributions, deferred compensation, day care, +etc.; any payroll record posted to the employees applicable retirement plan, +in any format (plus indices, if applicable), which are used to document +payment for retirement or other purposes during an employees duration of +employment and also lists each rate(s) of pay changes. + +RETENTION: 4 years. + + + +PAYROLL RECORDS: REGISTERS (POSTED). This record series consists +of records posted to the employees retirement plan, in any format (plus +indexes, if applicable), which are used to document payment for retirement or +other purposes during an employees duration of employment and also lists +each rate of pay. Please note that the information in this record series should +be posted to an applicable retirement plan. See also other PAYROLL +RECORDS and SOCIAL SECURITY CONTROLLED SUMMARY +RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 4 years. + +PERSONNEL RECORDS. This record series consists of an application for +employment, resume, personnel action reports, directly related +correspondence, oath of loyalty, fingerprints, medical examination reports, +performance evaluation reports, workers compensation reports, and other +related materials. See also EMPLOYMENT EXAMINATION RECORDS, +DISCIPLINARY CASE FILES, and other PERSONNEL RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 25 years after separation or termination of employment. + +PERSONNEL RECORDS: LOCATOR. This record series consists of a log +or card of where to locate personnel including name of individual, location to +be found, date, address, emergency contact and other general information. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +PERSONNEL RECORDS: OPS/TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT. This +record series consists of all information relating to each O.P.S. or temporary +employee within each judicial branch entity. Also, records may include an +employment application, resume, personnel action forms and any +correspondence relating to that individual. Temporary employment may +include personnel from a local employment agency. See also +EMPLOYMENT EXAMINATION RECORDS, DISCIPLINARY CASE +FILES, and other PERSONNEL RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +PETTY CASH DOCUMENTATION RECORDS. This record series consists +of receipts, bills and monthly balances indicating amount needed for + + + +replenishing this revolving account. +RETENTION: 3 years. + +POSITION DESCRIPTION RECORDS. This record series consists of +specifically assigned duties and responsibilities for a particular position, +including percentage breakdown of duties. + +RETENTION: 2 years after superseded. + +POSTAGE RECORDS. This record series consists of a detailed listing +showing the amount of postage used, date, unused balance and purpose. See +also MAILING LISTS and MAIL: UNDELIVERABLE FIRST CLASS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +PRE-PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA ITEM RECORDS. This record series +consists of records used to generate publications such as catalogs, pamphlets +and leaflets and other media items including rough, blue lined, and final +copies. See also NEWS RELEASES and PUBLIC INFORMATION +CASE FILES. + +RETENTION: Retain until receipt of final copy. + +PROCLAMATIONS/RESOLUTIONS. This record series consists of an +expression of a governing body or public official concerning administrative +matters, an expression of a temporary character or a provision for the +disposition of a particular item of the administrative business of a governing +body or judicial branch entity. See also, +DIRECTIVES/POLICIES/PROCEDURES. These records may have +archival value. + +RETENTION: Permanent. + +PROCLAMATIONS/RESOLUTIONS: SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS. This +record series consists of documents that were used to prepare a proclamation +or resolution. See also PROCLAMATIONS/RESOLUTIONS and +DIRECTIVES/POLICIES/PROCEDURES. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + + + +PROGRAM/SUBJECT/REFERENCE FILES. This record series may contain +correspondence, reports, memoranda, studies, articles, etc. regarding topics of +interest to or addressed by a judicial branch entity. See also, +ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS: PUBLIC OFFICIALS/COURT +ADMINISTRATORS. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded, or administrative value +is lost. + +PROJECT FILES: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. This record series consists +of correspondence or memoranda, drawings, resolutions, narratives, budget +revisions, survey information, change orders, computer runs and reports all +pertaining to capital improvement projects, construction and contract +specifications for various proposed projects sent out for bid. See also +PROJECT FILES: FEDERAL, and PROJECT FILES: NON-CAPITAL +IMPROVEMENT. + +RETENTION: 10 years. + +PROJECT FILES: FEDERAL. This record series consists of original +approved project contracts, agreements, awards, and line-item budgets, +budget amendments, cash requests, correspondence and audit reports. See +also GRANT FILES and PROJECT FILES: CAPITAL +IMPROVEMENT. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +PROJECT FILES: NON-CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. This record series +consists of correspondence or memoranda, drawings, resolutions, narratives, +budget revisions, survey information, change orders, computer runs and +reports all pertaining to projects in progress, construction and contract +specifications for various proposed projects sent out for bid. See also +GRANT FILES, PROJECT FILES: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT, and +PROJECT FILES: FEDERAL. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +PROPERTY TRANSFER FORMS. This record series consists of all capital +and non-capital property transfer forms to declare surplus or transfer to +another unit of local or state government. This series does not include real + + + +property transfers. +RETENTION: 1 year. + +PUBLIC INFORMATION CASE FILES. This record series consists of +speeches and drafts, contact prints, negatives, enlargements from negatives +and transparencies created as illustrations in publications or as visual displays +of activities of the judicial branch entity. See also NEWS RELEASES, and +PRE-PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA ITEM RECORDS. These records +may have archival value. + +RETENTION: 90 days. + +PUBLIC PROGRAM/EVENT RECORDS: CONTRACTED. This record +series consists of case files of events or programs which are available to the +public or segments of the public. Files may include copies of contracts or +agreements, participant or performer information, program details and +arrangements, photo or video tapes. See also PUBLIC PROGRAM/EVENT +RECORDS: NON-CONTRACTED. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + +PUBLIC PROGRAM/EVENT RECORDS: NON-CONTRACTED. This +record series consists of case files of events or programs which are available +to the public or segments of the public. Files may include, copies of contracts +or agreements, participant or performer information, program details and +arrangements, photo or video tapes. See also PUBLIC PROGRAM/EVENT +RECORDS: CONTRACTED. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +PURCHASING RECORDS. This record series consists of a copy of the +purchase order which is retained by the originating office while another is +sent by the purchasing office to the appropriate vendor for action. The series +may include, but is not limited to, copies of requisitions sent by the +originating office to supply, purchasing, graphics, duplicating, or other +sections for action; copies of receiving reports; and a log of outstanding and +paid requisitions and purchase orders used for cross-referencing purposes. +See also DISBURSEMENT RECORDS: DETAIL. + + + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + +RECEIPT/REVENUE RECORDS: DETAIL. This series consists of records +documenting specific receipts/revenues collected by an agency through cash, +checks, electronic fund transfers (EFT), credit and debit cards, or other +methods. The series may include, but is not limited to, records such as cash +collection records and reports, cash receipt books, cash register tapes, +deposit/transfer slips, EFT notices, credit and debit card records, receipt +ledgers, receipt journal transactions and vouchers, refund records, bad check +records, and other accounts receivable and related documentation. Retention +is based on s. 95.11(2), F.S., Statute of Limitations on contracts, obligations, +or liabilities. See also RECEIPT/REVENUE RECORDS: SUMMARY. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years provided applicable audits have been +released. + +RECEIPT/REVENUE RECORDS: SUMMARY. This series consists of +records providing summary or aggregate documentation of receipts/revenues +collected by an agency. The series may include, but is not limited to, records +such as trial balance reports, bank statements, credit and debit card reports, +revenue reconciliations, collection balance sheets, and other accounts +receivable summary and related documentation. See also +RECEIPT/REVENUE RECORDS: DETAIL. + +RETENTION: 10 fiscal years provided applicable audits have been +released. + +RECEIPTS: REGISTERED AND CERTIFIED MAIL. This record series +consists of receipts for registered and certified mail sent out or received by a +particular judicial branch entity. See also MAIL: UNDELIVERABLE +FIRST CLASS, and POSTAGE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PACKAGES. This record series consists +of all records which document the selection process and justify the selection +process and justify the selection decision including: details of the job analysis +and identification of the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform +the job; application forms and/or resumes for employment including + + + +demographic data of applicants including but not limited to race, sex, age and +veteran status; list of all applicants name and ratings or rankings (if +applicable) for each selection technique; description of the selection process; +selection techniques used, including samples, supplemental applications, etc.; +the current position description; the names and titles of all persons +administering the selection process or participating in making selection +decisions; the job opportunity announcement and any other recruitment +efforts; and other information that affects the selection decisions. See also +EMPLOYMENT EXAMINATION RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 4 anniversary years after personnel action and any +litigation is resolved. + +SALARY COMPARISON REPORTS. This record series consists of a report +which is distributed and provided for reference purposes only. This data is +compiled from records located in the Personnel Office. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +SALARY SCHEDULES. This record series consists of a pay grade +comparison chart or log indicating the salary classification for each position. + +RETENTION: 10 years. + +SEARCH COMMITTEE RECORDS. This record series consists of minutes, +reports, vitas, resumes, interview score sheets, interview results, list of +priority hires, a personnel requisition, references of applicants and the +affirmative action compliance report. + +RETENTION: 180 days. + +SEARCH WARRANTS SERVED: NO ARREST/NO CASE FILED. This +record series consists of the original affidavit for search warrant, search +warrant and return of the search warrant. Series may also include property +inventory and receipt, if any property was obtained. After execution of the +warrant it is filed with the Clerk of Court as served with no arrest having +been made. Since no court case is generated, these are kept as a separate +record series. + +RETENTION: 1 year after date of return. + + + +SOCIAL SECURITY CONTROLLED SUMMARY RECORDS. This record +series consists of a judicial branch entitys copy of the States FICA report +mailed to the Division of Retirement. Report lists the total taxable wages plus +the amount withheld from employee wages plus employers contribution. See +also PAYROLL RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 4 calendar years after due date of tax. + +STATE AUTOMATED MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM +(SAMAS) REPORTS. This record series consists of reports of all updated +transactions entered into the system and a financial statement for each month +for all divisions of judicial branch entities. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +STATE AWARDS AND RECOGNITION FILES. This record series consists +of data relating to the State Meritorious Service Awards Program. File +contains employee suggestion forms (Form DMS/EPE.AWP01), evaluations, +adoption forms and payment records. It also contains Superior +Accomplishment nomination forms and payment records. Summary +information submitted to the Department of Management Services for Annual +Workforce Report (Form DMS/EPE.AWP02) is also contained in this record +series. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +SUPPLY RECORDS. This record series consists of documentation of a +perpetual inventory of expendable supplies located in a central supply office +for use by judicial branch entity employees. Included in this series is a listing +of all available supplies which is distributed periodically or upon request. See +also INVENTORY RECORDS: PHYSICAL. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +SURVEILLANCE VIDEO TAPES. This record series consists of +surveillance video tapes created to monitor activities occurring both within +and outside of public buildings. This tape may play an integral part in +prosecution or disciplinary actions. + +RETENTION: 30 days, then erase and reuse provided any necessary + + + +images are saved. + +TELEPHONE CALL RECORDS: LONG DISTANCE. This record series +consists of documentation and logs of separately billed long distance +telephone service. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +TRAINING MATERIAL RECORDS. This record series consists of materials +used in training, such as films, slides, commentaries, manuals, workbooks +and other related items. This records series does not include individual +training records. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +TRAINING RECORDS: EMPLOYEE. This record series consists of a record +for each employee which may include all educational and training records of +the employee. See also PERSONNEL RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +TRANSITORY MESSAGES. This record series consists of those records +that are created primarily for the communication of information, as opposed +to communications designed for the perpetuation of knowledge. Transitory +messages do not set policy, establish guidelines or procedures, certify a +transaction, or become a receipt. The informal tone of transitory messages +might be compared to the communication that might take place during a +telephone conversation or a conversation in an office hallway. Transitory +messages would include, but would not be limited to: E-mail messages with +short-lived, or no administrative value, voice mail, self-sticking notes, and +telephone messages. + +RETENTION: Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is +lost. + +TRAVEL RECORDS. This record series consists of records required to +support reimbursement of expenses incurred during official travel. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + + + +UNCLAIMED PROPERTY RECORDS. This record series consists of forms +required by the State Comptrollers Office for the registration of abandoned +tangible or intangible property. These forms are required under Chapter 717 +of the Florida Statutes. The judicial branch entity holding the unclaimed +property is to maintain a list of the specific type of property, amount, name, +and last known address of the owner. + +RETENTION: 5 years after the property becomes reportable. + +UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION RECORDS. This record series +consists of reports submitted to the State on a quarterly basis stating the name +of each employee, employee number, amount of wages paid during quarter +subject to unemployment benefits, social security number, number of weeks +covered and other pertinent information which is retained by the State for +determination of unemployment benefits due to applicants for same. Also +includes, receipts and statements of charges. + +RETENTION: 5 fiscal years. + +VEHICLE ACCIDENT REPORTS. This record series consists of reports of +employees that are involved in accidents in a judicial branch entity vehicle or +in their own vehicle during the course of official business. See also +VEHICLE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 4 anniversary years. + +VEHICLE RECORDS. This record series consists of all pertinent records +pertaining to each vehicle owned by the judicial branch entity. The records +usually consist of the vehicle registration papers, copy of the title, inspection +information, maintenance agreements, credit card information, confidential +tag issuance information and any other information relating to the vehicle. +See also VEHICLE ACCIDENT REPORTS. + +RETENTION: 1 year after disposition of vehicle. + +VENDOR FILES. This record series consists of vendor invoices for items +purchased or leased, received and paid for. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +VISITOR LOGS. This record series consists of records documenting + + + +employees and visitors entrance into a judicial branch entitys building +during and after office hours. See also KEY AND BADGE ISSUANCE +RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 30 days. + +WIRE AND ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: APPLICATIONS, ORDERS +AND AUDIO RECORDINGS. This record series consists of applications for +an order authorizing the interception of a wire or oral communications and +orders granted pursuant to Chapter 934, Florida Statutes. Also included are +original recordings of the contents of any wire or oral communication made +pursuant to Section 934.09, Florida Statutes. They shall not be destroyed +except upon an order of the issuing or denying judge, or that judges +successor in office, and in any event shall be kept for ten (10) years. + +RETENTION: 10 years (upon permission of the Court). + +WITNESS SUBPOENAS/LISTS. This record series consists of subpoena +lists that may be used to establish witness payments. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +WORK ORDERS. This record series consists of information reflecting the +individual history of major or minor maintenance or services requiring a +work order request. Work order includes dates, locations, cost of labor, hours +worked, equipment cost per hour, material used and cost, and other pertinent +details. This item does not include equipment maintenance records. See also +EQUIPMENT/VEHICLE MAINTENANCE RECORDS. + +RETENTION: 3 years. + +WORK SCHEDULES. This record series consists of any scheduling +documentation for shift or part time employees. These records may include +hours scheduled to work, the switching of hours with another employee, the +location or route of work assignment, and anticipated starting and ending +times. + +RETENTION: 1 year. + +WORKERS COMPENSATION RECORDS. This record series consists of +the first report of injury and the employers supplemental reports including, if + + + +used, OSHA Form No. 200 as well as its predecessor forms No. 100 and 102 +and OSHA Form No. 101. These records are created pursuant to Florida +Statutes Section 440.09 and OSHA standards 1904.2, 1904.4, and 1904.5. + +RETENTION: 5 years. + + + +Index to Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial +Administration + +________ + +A + +ACCESSIBILITY OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY, 2.526. +Electronically filed documents, 2.525(g). +ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE, 2.215(b)(5). +ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS. +Advisory Committee, 2.140(h). +Chief trial judge to enter, 2.215(b)(2). +Costs for municipal ordinance violations, schedule, 2.265(b). +Court reporters fee, setting, 2.535(e). +Court reporting, 2.535(h)(3). +Defined, 2.120(c). +Electronic reporting, for use, 2.535(h)(4). +Indexed and recorded by clerk, 2.215(e)(3). +Local court rule, construed as, 2.215(e)(2). +Recordation, 2.215(e)(3). +Venue, change of, procedures governing media, 2.260(f). +ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, RETENTION. +Definitions, 2.440(a). +Requirements, 2.440(b). +Schedule for retention of administrative records, Appx. +AFFIDAVITS. +Electronic filing of court documents, 2.520(a). +ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION, CASES SUBJECT TO, + + + +2.545(b)(4). +AMENDMENTS TO RULES, PROCEDURE FOR. +Committees. + +Appointment, 2.140(a)(3). +Coordination of rules, 2.140(a)(7). +Duties, 2.140(a)(5). +Members, 2.140(a)(4). +Report of proposed changes, 2.140(b)(4). +Rules coordinating committee, 2.140(a)(6). + +Effective date of amendments, 2.140(b)(7). +Expedited proposals, 2.140(e). +Generally, 2.140(a). +Local rules, not applicable to, 2.140(h). +Notice. + +Amendments, 2.140(b)(2), 2.140(d)(g). +Rejected proposals, 2.140(c). + +Oral argument on proposals, 2.140(b)(5). +Own motion of court, 2.140(d). +Proposals. + +Report of proposed changes as needed, 2.140(b). +Public comment on proposals, 2.140(a)(6), 2.140(b)(2), 2.140(b)(6). +Referral to Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration + +Committee, 2.140(a)(5), 2.140(g)(2). +Rejected proposals, 2.140(c). +Suggestions. + +Submission, 2.140(a)(2). +Who may make, 2.140(a)(1). + +Supreme Court. +Adoption without referral or proposal from rules committees, 2.140(g)(1). +Request by, 2.140(f). + + + +No action recommendation, 2.140(f)(2). +Recommended rule changes, 2.140(f)(1). + +Voting by board of governors to accept or reject amendments, 2.140(b) +(3). + +APPELLATE RULES, PRIORITY OF, 2.130. +ATTIRE. +Judges robes. + +Restrictions, 2.340. +ATTORNEYS. +Agent of client, as, 2.505(h). +Appearance, 2.505(e). +Attorney of record, 2.505(i). +Certificate of attorney. + +Effect of filing or serving by electronic transmission, 2.515(c)(2). +Signature constituting, 2.515(a)(4). + +Certified legal interns. +Participation, 2.505(j). + +Electronic filing. +Administrative duties, 2.525(f)(2). +Attorney credentials used to file document, 2.525(b). +Certificate of attorney, 2.515. +Exceptions to requirement for attorneys excused from e-mail service, + +2.525(d)(3). +Generally. + +See ELECTRONIC FILING OF DOCUMENTS. +Employee of court, practice by, 2.505(b). +Foreign. + +Eligibility, 2.510(a). +Generally, 2.505(a). +Verified motion. + + + +Contents, 2.510(b). +Filing, 2.510(a). + +Generally, 2.505(a). +Interns. + +Certified legal interns. +Participation, 2.505(j). + +Interpreters, retention, 2.565. +Judges office staff not to practice, 2.505(b). +Law student participation, 2.505(j). +Limited appearance. + +Notice of limited appearance, 2.505(e)(5). +Termination, 2.505(f)(5). + +Neglect of duty, 2.215(h). +Parties not represented by, 2.515(b), 2.515(c). +Pleadings. + +See PLEADINGS. +Post-judgment appearance. + +Termination, 2.505(f)(4). +Practice by attorney employed by court, 2.505(b). +Record, attorney of, 2.505(i). +Service on attorneys. + +E-mail service. +Exceptions, 2.516(b)(1)(B), 2.525(d)(3). +Generally, 2.516(b)(1). + +Method other than e-mail, 2.516(b)(2). +Signature, 2.515(a), 2.515(c). +Stand-in counsel, 2.505(g). + +Appearance as stand-in counsel, 2.505(e)(6). +Stipulations, 2.505(d). + + + +Substitution, 2.505(e)(3), 2.505(e)(4), 2.505(f)(2). +Judges, disqualification. + +Appearance of substitute or additional counsel to create grounds for +disqualification, 2.330. + +Surety, not allowed to be, 2.505(c). +Television coverage of conferences with client, co-counsel, or judge + +prohibited, 2.450(g). +Termination of appearance, 2.505(f). +Withdrawal, 2.505(f)(1). + + + +B + +BRIEFS. +Electronic filing. + +Required, 2.520(a). + + + +C + +CALENDAR CONFLICTS, 2.550. +CAPITAL CASES. +Assignment of judge in, 2.215(b)(4), 2.215(b)(10). +Court reporting services in, 2.535(i). +Minimum qualifications for judge presiding over, 2.215(b)(10). +Monitoring by chief judge, 2.215(b)(7). +Priority, 2.550(a)(2). +Status conferences, 2.215(i). +CASE MANAGEMENT, 2.545. +CERTIFIED LEGAL INTERNS. +Participation, 2.505(j). +CHANGE OF ADDRESS. +Email address. + +Change of designated address, 2.603. +Mailing address, 2.603. +CHIEF JUDGE. +District courts. + +See DISTRICT COURTS OF APPEAL. +Judges generally. + +See JUDGES. +CHIEF JUSTICE. +See SUPREME COURT. +CHRISTMAS. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +CIRCUIT COURT. + + + +Administration, 2.215. +Chief judge. + +See JUDGES. +Clerk. + +See CLERK. +Redefining judicial circuits as part of determining need for additional + +judges, 2.240, 2.241. +Rules. + +See LOCAL COURT RULES. +Trial courts generally. + +See TRIAL COURT. +CITATION OF RULES, 2.110. +CLERK. +District courts of appeal. + +Appointment, 2.210(b)(1). +Duties, 2.210(b)(2)(b)(5). + +Neglect of duty, 2.215(h). +Reports to Supreme Court by, 2.245(a). +Service of process, pleadings, etc, 2.516(g). +Supreme court. + +Appointment, 2.205(b)(1). +Duties, 2.205(b)(2)(b)(5), 2.215(e)(1)(F). +Office, 2.205(b)(1). + +COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, USE, 2.530. +COMPENSATION, JUDICIAL, 2.244. +CONFERENCE OF JUDGES. +Circuit court judges, 2.220(b). +Cooperation and coordination with each other and with state courts + +administrator, 2.220(d). + + + +County court judges, 2.220(a). +District court of appeal judges, 2.220(c). +CONFIDENTIALITY. +Court reporting. + +Safeguarding confidential communications when electronic recording +equipment used in courtroom, 2.535(h)(5). + +Public access to judicial branch records. +Definition of confidential, 2.420(b). +Determining confidentiality. + +Criminal cases, trial court records, 2.420(f). +Noncriminal cases, appellate court records, 2.420(g). +Noncriminal cases, trial court records, 2.420(e). +Oral motions to determine, 2.420(h). +Procedures of clerk and filer, 2.420(d). +Victims of crime. + +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423. +Notice of confidential crime victim information within court filing, + +2.423 Appx A. +List of confidential and exempt records, 2.420(c). +Procedure to obtain access to confidential records, 2.420(j). +Sanctions for violation of rule, 2.420(i). +Service on victims and affected non-parties with confidential addresses, + +2.420(k). +Victims of crime. + +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423. +Notice of confidential crime victim information within court filing, + +2.423 Appx A. +Supreme court. + +Certain proceedings confidential, 2.205(f). +CONTINUANCES, 2.545(e). + + + +Parental leave continuances, 2.570. +CONTINUING JUDICIAL EDUCATION. +Capital cases, 2.215(b)(10). +General requirements, 2.320. +COSTS AND FEES. +Change of venue proceedings, 2.260(c)(e). +County courts, in, 2.265(b). +Court reporters fees, 2.535(b), 2.535(e). +Filing fees. + +District courts of appeal, in, 2.210(b)(3). +Electronic transmission, 2.525(f)(2). +Supreme court, in, 2.205(b)(4). + +Judicial disciplinary proceedings, 2.310(c). +Reporter, 2.535(e). +Substituted attorneys fee, 2.505(e)(3). +COUNTY COURT. +Clerks generally. + +See CLERK. +Costs and fees. + +See COSTS AND FEES. +COURT RECORDS. +Electronic filing of documents. + +See ELECTRONIC FILING OF DOCUMENTS. +Minimization of filing sensitive information, 2.425. +Possession, 2.410. +Removal, 2.410. +Retention. + +Court reporters notes, 2.430(e). +Definitions, 2.420(b)(1), 2.430(a), 2.440(a)(2)(A). + + + +Disposition other than destruction, 2.430(g). +Exhibits, 2.430(f). +Expunction, 2.430(i). +Jury notes, 2.430(k). +Permanently recorded records, 2.430(b), 2.430(d). +Records not permanently recorded, 2.430(c). +Release of records, 2.430(h). +Sealed records, 2.430(j). + +Victims of crime. +Confidentiality. + +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423. +Notice of confidential crime victim information within court filing, + +2.423 Appx A. +COURT REPORTERS. +Definitions, 2.535(a). +Fees, 2.535(b), 2.535(e). +Neglect of duty, 2.215(h). +Officer of court, as, 2.535(g). +Record, omissions from, 2.535(c). +Retention of notes, 2.430(e). +When required, 2.535(b). +COURT REPORTING. +Administrative order for, 2.535(h)(3). +Approved transcriptionist defined, 2.535(a)(1). +Capital cases, 2.535(i). +Court reporter defined, 2.535(a)(1), 2.535(a)(3). +Defined, 2.535(a)(4). +Depositions, 2.535. +Electronic, 2.535. + + + +Fees for reporting services, 2.535(b), 2.535(e). +Grand jury proceedings, 2.535(h)(6). +Non-stenographic, 2.535(h)(3). +Ownership of records, 2.535(d). +Public expense, proceedings reported at, 2.535(h). +Safeguarding confidential communications in proceedings, 2.535(h)(5). +Transcripts, requirements, 2.535(f). +COURT RULES. +Amendment to. + +See AMENDMENTS TO RULES, PROCEDURE FOR. +Defined, 2.120(a). +Local. + +See LOCAL COURT RULES. +CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS. +Death penalty cases. + +See CAPITAL CASES. +Exhibits, retention, 2.430(f)(1). +Initiation, 2.555. +Interpreter, appointment, 2.560(a). +Parental leave continuances. + +Applicability of rules of criminal procedure, 2.570(f). +Priority over civil cases, 2.550(a)(3). +Time standards, trial court, 2.250(a)(1). + + + +D + +DAYS. +Computation of time. + +Definitions. +Last day, 2.514(a)(4). +Legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +Next day, 2.514(a)(5). + +Period stated in days less than 7 days, 2.514(a)(3). +Period stated in days or longer unit of time, 2.514(a)(1). + +DEATH PENALTY CASES. +See CAPITAL CASES. +DEFINITIONS. +Administrative order, 2.120(c). +Administrative records, 2.420(b)(1), 2.440(a). +Affected non-party, 2.420(b). +Audio communication technology, 2.530(a). +Audio-video communication technology, 2.530(a). +Communication technology, 2.530(a). +Confidential, 2.420(b). +Confidential crime victim information. + +Public access to court records. +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423(b). + +Court official, 2.530(a). +Court records, 2.420(b). +Court reporting, 2.535(a). +Court rule, 2.120(a). +Crime. + +Public access to court records. + + + +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423(b). +Criminal. + +Public access to court records. +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423(b). + +Custodian, 2.420(b). +Electronic transmission of documents, 2.525(a). +Filer, 2.420(b). +Judicial records, 2.430(a), 2.440(a). +Last day, 2.514(a)(4). +Legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +Limited-English-proficient person. + +Interpreters, appointment, 2.560(g)(1). +Local court rule, 2.120(b). +Next day, 2.514(a)(5). +Proceedings. + +Interpreters, appointment, 2.560(g)(2). +Records of the judicial branch, 2.420(b). +Retired judge, 2.205(a)(3)(B). +Victims. + +Public access to court records. +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423(b). + +DELINQUENCY PROCEEDINGS. +Interpreters, appointment of, 2.560(a). +DEPOSITIONS, 2.535. +DISABILITIES, NOTICE TO PERSONS WITH, 2.540. +DISQUALIFICATION OF TRIAL JUDGES, 2.330. +DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL BUDGET COMMISSION. +Funding, 2.235(f). +Membership, 2.235(e). + + + +Operating procedures, 2.235(c). +Organization, 2.235(e). +Purpose of rule, 2.235(a). +Recommendations by, action on, 2.235(d). +Responsibilities, 2.235(a), 2.235(b). +DISTRICT COURTS OF APPEAL. +Assigned judges, 2.210(e). +Budget commission, 2.235. +Chief judge, 2.210(a)(2). +Clerk, 2.210(b). +Composition, 2.210(a)(1). +Exercise of powers and jurisdiction, 2.210(a)(1). +Increase or decrease in number of appellate districts, criteria for + +determining need for, 2.240, 2.241. +Mandates, issuance, 2.210(b)(4). +Marshal, 2.210(c). +Open sessions, 2.210(d). +Panels, 2.210(a)(1). +Redefinition of appellate districts, criteria for determining need for, + +2.240, 2.241. +Time standards, 2.250(a)(2). +DOCUMENTS. +Conversion to electronic form, 2.525(c)(4), 2.525(c)(7). +Court records. + +See COURT RECORDS. +Date stamps, 2.520(d). +Electronic filing. + +See ELECTRONIC FILING OF DOCUMENTS. +Electronic filing mandatory, 2.520(a). +Exceptions to electronic filing. + + + +Type and size, 2.520. +Exhibits, 2.520(c). +Noncompliance with, 2.520(f). +Recording space on documents, 2.520(d), 2.520(e). +Return of paper to filer, self-addressed and postage-paid envelope + +required, 2.525(c)(6). +Service. + +E-mail service. +See E-MAIL SERVICE. + +Generally. +See SERVICE OF NOTICE, PROCESS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS. + +Size, 2.520(b). +Time stamps, 2.520(d). +Type, 2.520(b). + + + +E + +ELECTRONIC COURT REPORTING, 2.535. +ELECTRONIC DEVICES. +Defined, 2.451(a). +Juror use. + +In-person proceedings, use during, 2.451(b). +Remote proceedings, use during, 2.451(c). + +Use in courtroom by others than jurors, 2.451(d). +ELECTRONIC FILING OF DOCUMENTS. +Accessibility requirements, 2.525(g). +Administrative duties. + +Attorneys and parties, 2.525(f)(2). +Clerk, 2.525(f)(1). + +Applicability of rule to courts, 2.525(b). +Attorney certificate. + +Effect of filing or serving by electronic transmission, 2.515(c)(2). +Signature constituting, 2.515(a)(4). + +Attorney credentials used to file document, 2.525(b). +Court records, 2.525(c)(1). +Date of filing, 2.520(d), 2.525(f)(3). +Definition of electronic transmission, 2.525(a). +Exceptions to requirement. + +Attorneys excused from e-mail service, 2.525(d)(3). +Clerk not able to accept, 2.525(d)(1). +Court determination, 2.525(d)(8). +Exhibits and other non-documentary materials, 2.525(d)(4). +Large-size documents, 2.525(d)(5). +Open court filings, 2.525(d)(6). + + + +Paper filing permitted, 2.525(d)(7). +Self-represented parties, 2.525(d)(2). + +Extension of access or page and size limitations, 2.525(f)(4). +Mandatory, 2.520(a). +Official court file, 2.525(c)(2)(3). +Paper documents. + +Conversion to electronic form, 2.525(c)(4), 2.525(c)(7). +Return to filer, self-addressed and postage-paid envelope required, + +2.525(c)(6). +Service by electronic transmission, 2.525(e). +Storage devices, 2.525(c)(5). +ELECTRONIC MEDIA COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS, + +2.450. +E-MAIL SERVICE. +Additional time after service by email or methods other than hand + +delivery, 2.514. +Attorneys. + +E-mail addresses designated by attorney, 2.516(b)(1)(A). +Exceptions from requirement, 2.516(b)(1)(B), 2.525(d)(3). + +Compliance with requirement, 2.516(b)(1). +E-mail service required, 2.516(b)(1). +Format, PDF documents, 2.516(b)(1)(F). +Parties not represented by attorney, 2.516(b)(1)(C). + +Address. +Designation, 2.602. + +Change of designated address, 2.603. +Exceptions from requirement, 2.516(b)(1)(D). + +Request for excuse, 2.601. +Size limitations, 2.516(b)(1)(F). +Time of service, 2.516(b)(1)(E). + + + +EMERGENCY REQUIRING CLOSURE OF COURTS, 2.205(a)(2)(B) +(iv). + +ENGLISH LANGUAGE. +Litigants who are non-English-speaking or limited-English-proficient. + +Interpreters, appointment, 2.560. +Interpreters, retention by attorney or self-represented litigant, 2.565. + +EXHIBITS. +Retention, 2.430(f). +Size, 2.520(c). + + + +F + +FAMILY VIOLENCE INDICATOR OVERRIDE. +Remote proceedings. + +Communication technology, use, 2.530(e). +FEES. +See COSTS AND FEES. +FLORIDA BAR REFEREE, TIME STANDARDS FOR REPORT OF, + +2.250(a)(3). +FLORIDA COURTS TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION, 2.236. +FOREIGN ATTORNEYS. +See ATTORNEYS. +FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKERS. +See INTERPRETERS, APPOINTMENT OF. + + + +G + +GRAND JURY, STATEWIDE. +Composition, 2.255(a). +Excusing prospective jurors, 2.255(c). +Population of county, determination, 2.255(b). + + + +H + +HOLIDAYS. +Computation of time. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +Period stated in days less than 7 days, 2.514(a)(3). +Period stated in days or longer unit of time, 2.514(a)(1). +Period stated in hours, 2.514(a)(2). + +HOURS. +Computation of time. + +Period stated in hours, 2.514(a)(2). + + + +I + +INDEPENDENCE DAY. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +INDICTMENT, 2.555(a), 2.555(c). +INFORMATION, 2.555(a), 2.555(c). +INTERNS. +Certified legal interns. + +Participation, 2.505(j). +INTERPRETERS, APPOINTMENT OF. +Civil proceedings, 2.560(b). +Civil Rights Act of 1964, compliance with, 2.560(d). +Criminal proceedings, 2.560(a). +Definitions, 2.560(g). +Delinquency proceedings, 2.560(a). +Noncriminal proceedings, 2.560(b). +Privileged communications, 2.560(f). +Qualifications of interpreter, 2.560(e). +Witnesses, for, 2.560(c). +INTERPRETERS, RETENTION, 2.565. +Certified or other qualified interpreters available, 2.565(a). +Certified or other qualified interpreters not available, 2.565(b). +Exceptional circumstances, 2.565(c). + +Good cause, written declaration, 2.565(d). +Filing and retention of written declaration, 2.565(e). +Time for preparation, submission, filing and service of verified written + +declaration, 2.565(f). + + + +INVOLUNTARY CIVIL COMMITMENT OF SEXUALLY VIOLENT +PREDATORS. + +Parental leave continuances. +Applicability of rules of civil procedure for involuntary commitment of + +sexually violent predators, 2.570(f). + + + +J + +JAILS, EXAMINATION OF STATUS OF INMATES IN, 2.215(b)(8). +JUDGES. +Additional, determination of need for, 2.240. +Administrative, 2.215(b)(5). +Assignment, 2.205(a)(2)(B)(iii), 2.205(a)(3)(A), 2.205(a)(4), 2.210(e). +Associate, 2.210(e). +Capital cases, 2.215(b)(4), 2.215(b)(10), 2.215(i). +Certification process as part of determining need for additional judges, + +scope to include redefining appellate districts or judicial circuits, +2.240, 2.241. + +Chief of circuit court. +Administrative orders, 2.215(b)(2). +Administrative planning, 2.215(b)(3). +Administrator, selection, 2.215(d). +Assignment of judges, 2.215(b)(4). +Dockets, examination, 2.215(b)(7). +Duration of service, 2.215(c). +Grand jury selection, 2.255. +Jail inmates, review of status, 2.215(b)(8). +Powers, 2.215(b). +Qualifications, 2.215(b)(1). +Selection, 2.215(c). + +Chief of district courts of appeal, 2.210(a)(2). +Compensation, 2.244. +Conference of judges. + +Circuit court judges, 2.220(b). +Cooperation and coordination with each other and with state courts + +administrator, 2.220(d). + + + +County court judges, 2.220(a). +District court of appeal judges, 2.220(c). + +Continuing education requirement, 2.320. +Control of cases, 2.545(b). +Discipline, 2.310. +Disqualification, 2.330. +District courts of appeal. + +See DISTRICT COURTS OF APPEAL. +Duty to rule within a reasonable time, 2.215(f). +Need for additional, determination, 2.240. +Neglect of duty, 2.215(h), 2.320(e). +Priority cases, duty to expedite, 2.215(g). +Recusal, 2.330. +Redefining appellate districts or judicial circuits as part of determining + +need for additional judges, 2.240, 2.241. +Retired, 2.205(a)(2)(B)(iii), 2.205(a)(3), 2.320(b)(1). +Robes. + +Restrictions, 2.340. +Supreme court. + +See SUPREME COURT. +Supreme court, temporary assignment to, 2.205(g). +JUDICIAL CIRCUITS. +Certification process as part of determining need for additional judges, + +scope to include redefining judicial circuits, 2.240, 2.241. +JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE, REMOVAL, RETIREMENT, AND + +SUSPENSION, 2.310. +JUDICIAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL, 2.225. +JUDICIAL QUALIFICATIONS COMMISSION, 2.310. +JUDICIAL RECORDS. + + + +See RECORDS. +Access to records. + +See PUBLIC ACCESS TO RECORDS. +Administrative records, retention. + +Definitions, 2.440(a). +Requirements, 2.440(b). + +Court records generally. +See COURT RECORDS. + +Court reporters generally. +See COURT REPORTERS. + +JURISDICTION, EXERCISE OF. +District courts of appeal, 2.210(a)(1). +Supreme court, 2.205(a)(1). +JUROR USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES. +In-person proceedings, use during, 2.451(b). +Remote proceedings, use during, 2.451(c). +JURY. +Grand jury. + +See GRAND JURY, STATEWIDE. +Juror notes, destruction, 2.430(k). +Remote proceedings. + +Communication technology, use by jurors, 2.530(c). +Time management, juror, 2.256. +JURY INSTRUCTIONS. +Standard jury instructions. + +Modification, 2.580(a). +Referral of modified instruction to appropriate committee, 2.580(b). + +No supreme court approval or authorization, 2.580(c). +Presumption of correctness. + + + +No supreme court approval or authorization, 2.580(c). +Supreme court committees on standard jury instructions. + +Composition, 2.270(d). +Duties, 2.270(b). +Established, 2.270(a). +Operating procedures, 2.270(c). +Publication of approved instructions, 2.270(f). +Purpose, 2.270(a). +Staff support, 2.270(e). + +Use by trial judges, 2.580(a). +JUVENILE CASES. +Parental leave continuances. + +Applicability of rules of juvenile procedure, 2.570(f). + + + +L + +LABOR DAY. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +LAW STUDENTS. +Participation, 2.505(j). +LEGAL HOLIDAYS. +Computation of time. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +Period stated in days less than 7 days, 2.514(a)(3). +Period stated in days or longer unit of time, 2.514(a)(1). +Period stated in hours, 2.514(a)(2). + +LIMITED-ENGLISH PROFICIENT LITIGANTS. +Interpreters. + +Appointment for litigants who are non-English-speaking or limited- +English-proficient, 2.560. + +Retention by attorney or self-represented person to assist litigants who are +non-English-speaking or limited-English-proficient, 2.565. + +LOCAL COURT RULES. +Advisory committee. + +See SUPREME COURT. +Approval by supreme court, 2.215(e)(1)(E). +Defined, 2.120(b). +Effective date, 2.215(e)(1)(E). +Indexing, 2.215(e)(1)(F). +Numbering, 2.215(e)(4). +Procedure for promulgation, 2.140(h), 2.215(e). +Recordation, 2.215(e)(1)(F). + + + +M + +MANDATES. +District courts of appeal, 2.210(b)(4). +Recall, 2.205(b)(5), 2.210(b)(4). +Supreme court, 2.205(b)(5). +MARSHAL. +District courts of appeal, 2.210(c). +Supreme court, 2.205(d). +MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.S BIRTHDAY. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +MEDIA COVERAGE OF PROCEEDINGS, 2.450. +MEMORIAL DAY. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +MUNICIPAL COURTS, ABOLITION OF, 2.265(a). +MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE VIOLATIONS, 2.265, 2.555(b). + + + +N + +NEGLECT OF DUTY, 2.215(h), 2.320(e). +NEW YEARS DAY. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING LITIGANTS. +Interpreters. + +Appointment for litigants who are non-English-speaking or limited- +English-proficient, 2.560. + +Retention by attorney or self-represented person to assist litigants who are +non-English-speaking or limited-English-proficient, 2.565. + +NOTICE OF RELATED CASES, 2.545(d). +NOTICES TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, 2.540. + + + +O + +OPEN SESSIONS OF COURT, 2.205(f), 2.210(d). +ORDINANCE VIOLATIONS, 2.265, 2.555(b). + + + +P + +PARENTAL LEAVE CONTINUANCES, 2.570. +PAROL AGREEMENTS, 2.505(d). +PLEADINGS. +Attorneys certificate. + +Effect of filing or serving by electronic transmission, 2.515(c)(2). +Signature constituting, 2.515(a)(4). + +Attorneys Florida Bar number, 2.515(a). +Attorneys signature, 2.515(a), 2.515(c). +Electronic filing, 2.515(c)(1)(B), 2.525(c). + +Required, 2.520(a). +Filing persons signature, 2.515(c). +Partys signature, 2.515(b), 2.515(c). +PRIORITY CASES. +Calendar conflicts, 2.550. +Judges duty to expedite, 2.215(g). +Notice of priority status, 2.545(c). +PRO SE REPRESENTATION. +E-mail service on parties not represented by attorney. + +Exceptions from requirement, 2.516(b)(1)(D). +Request for excuse, 2.601. + +Interpreters, retention, 2.565. +Service on and by parties not represented by attorney, 2.516(b). +PUBLIC ACCESS TO RECORDS. +Definitions, 2.420(b). +Denial of request for access to administrative records, 2.420(l). +Determining confidentiality. + + + +Criminal cases, trial court records, 2.420(f). +Noncriminal cases, appellate court records, 2.420(g). +Noncriminal cases, trial court records, 2.420(e). +Oral motions to determine, 2.420(h). +Procedures of clerk and filer, 2.420(d). +Victims of crime. + +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423. +Notice of confidential crime victim information within court filing, + +2.423 Appx A. +Exemptions, 2.420(c). +Generally, 2.420(a). +Obtaining access. + +Denial of request, 2.420(l). +Judicial branch records, 2.420(m). +Procedures, 2.420(j). + +Protection of judicial branch records, 2.420. +Sanctions for violations, 2.420(i). +Service on victims and affected non-parties with confidential addresses, + +2.420(k). +PURPOSE OF RULES, 2.110. + + + +R + +RECORDS. +Access to records. + +See PUBLIC ACCESS TO RECORDS. +Administrative records, retention. + +Definitions, 2.440(a). +Requirements, 2.440(b). +Schedule for retention of administrative records, Appx. + +Court records. +See COURT RECORDS. + +Court reporters. +See COURT REPORTERS. + +RECUSAL OF TRIAL JUDGES, 2.330. +RELATED CASES, NOTICE OF, 2.545(d). +REMOTE PROCEEDINGS. +Communication technology, use, 2.530. + +Authority for use, 2.530(b). +Burden of expense, 2.530(d). +Definitions, 2.530(a). +Family violence. + +Override of family violence indicator, 2.530(e). +Juror use, 2.530(c). +Non-evidentiary proceedings, 2.530(b)(1). +Testimony, 2.530(b)(2). + +Juror use of electronic devices. +Use during remote proceedings, 2.451(c). + +REPORTERS. + + + +See COURT REPORTERS. +REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. +Court reporting. + +See COURT REPORTING. +Pending cases, status, 2.245(b). +System, case, 2.245(a). +RETENTION OF RECORDS. +Administrative records. + +See ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, RETENTION. +Court records. + +See COURT RECORDS. +RULES ADVISORY COMMITTEE. +See SUPREME COURT. +RULES COORDINATING COMMITTEE, 2.140(a)(5). +RULES OF COURT. +Amendments. + +See AMENDMENTS TO RULES, PROCEDURE FOR. +Generally. + +See COURT RULES. +Local. + +See LOCAL COURT RULES. + + + +S + +SCHEDULE FOR RULE PROPOSALS. +Expedited proposals, 2.140(e). +Legislative changes, proposals responding to, 2.140(e). +SCOPE OF RULES, 2.110. +SERVICE OF NOTICE, PROCESS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS. +Attorneys, service on. + +E-mail. +Exceptions, 2.516(b)(1)(B), 2.525(d)(3). +Generally, 2.516(b)(1). + +Method other than e-mail, 2.516(b)(2). +Certificate of service, 2.516(f). +Clerk, service by, 2.516(g). +Confidential addresses, victims and affected non-parties with, 2.420(k). +Delivery of copy with party, attorney or clerk of court, 2.516(b)(2). +Electronic transmission of documents, 2.525(e). + +Certificate of attorney. +Effect of filing or serving by electronic transmission, 2.515(c)(2). +Signature constituting, 2.515(a)(4). + +E-mail. +Additional time after service by mail or e-mail, 2.514(b). +Attorneys. + +E-mail addresses designated by attorney, 2.516(b)(1)(A). +Exceptions from requirement, 2.516(b)(1)(B). + +Compliance with requirement, 2.516(b)(1). +E-mail service required, 2.516(b)(1). +Format, PDF documents, 2.516(b)(1)(F). +Parties not represented by attorney, 2.516(b)(1)(C). + + + +Address. +Designation, 2.602. + +Change of designated address, 2.603. +Exceptions, 2.516(b)(1)(D). + +Request for excuse, 2.601. +Size limitations, 2.516(b)(1)(F). +Time of service, 2.516(b)(1)(E). + +E-mail service. +Additional time after service by mail or email, 2.514(b). + +Filing of original documents, 2.516(d). +Definition of filing, 2.516(e). + +Judges. +Disqualification, motions, 2.330. + +Mail, service by, 2.516(b)(2). +Manner of service, 2.516(b). +Numerous defendants, 2.516(c). +Orders, service of, 2.516(h). +Pro se representation. + +E-mail service. +Exceptions, 2.516(b)(1)(D). + +Request for excuse, 2.601. +Time, computation. + +Additional time after service by mail or email, 2.514(b). +E-mail service, 2.516(b)(1)(E). + +When required, 2.516(a). +SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS. +Involuntary civil commitment. + +Parental leave continuances. +Applicability of rules of civil procedure for involuntary commitment of + +sexually violent predators, 2.570(f). + + + +STATE COURTS ADMINISTRATOR, 2.205(e), 2.225(e), 2.230(f), +2.235(f), 2.241(b)(3). + +STIPULATIONS, 2.505(d). +SUPREME COURT. +Chief justice. + +Death, 2.205(a)(2)(D). +Duties, 2.205(a)(2)(B). +Generally, 2.205(a)(2). +Incapacity, 2.205(a)(2)(D). +Judges and justices, assignment, 2.205(a)(2)(B)(iii), 2.205(a)(3)(A), + +2.205(a)(4), 2.210(e). +Powers, 2.205(a)(2)(B), 2.205(a)(3)(A). +Public health emergencies, powers, 2.205(a)(2)(B)(v). +Retirement, 2.205(a)(2)(D). +Selection, 2.205(a)(2)(A). + +Clerk. +See CLERK. + +Confidentiality of proceedings, 2.205(f). +Exercise of powers and jurisdiction, 2.205(a)(1). +Jury instructions. + +Standard jury instructions. +Supreme court committees on standard jury instructions. + +Composition, 2.270(d). +Duties, 2.270(b). +Established, 2.270(a). +Operating procedures, 2.270(c). +Publication of approved instructions, 2.270(f). +Purpose, 2.270(a). +Staff support, 2.270(e). + +Justices. + + + +Absence, 2.205(a)(2)(C). +Assignment, 2.205(a)(3)(A), 2.205(a)(4). +Associate, 2.205(g). +Temporary, 2.205(g). +Temporary service as chief justice, 2.205(a)(2)(D). + +Librarian, 2.205(c). +Local rules advisory committee, 2.140(h), 2.215(e). +Mandates, 2.205(b)(5). +Marshal, 2.205(d). +Powers, 2.205(a)(1). +Quorum, 2.205(a)(1). + + + +T + +TECHNOLOGICAL COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS, +2.450. + +TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION, FLORIDA COURTS, 2.236. +TELEVISION COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS, 2.450. +THANKSGIVING. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +TIME STANDARDS. +Additional time after service by mail or email, 2.514(b). +Circuit court, 2.250(a)(4). +Computation of time, 2.514(a). +Definitions. + +Last day, 2.514(a)(4). +Legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +Next day, 2.514(a)(5). + +District courts, 2.250(a)(2). +Electronic filing of documents. + +Date of filing, 2.525(f)(3). +Florida Bar referees, 2.250(a)(3). +Period stated in days less than 7 days, 2.514(a)(3). +Period stated in days or longer unit of time, 2.514(a)(1). +Period stated in hours, 2.514(a)(2). +Reporting of cases, 2.250(b). +Service of process and papers. + +Additional time after service by mail or email, 2.514(b). +E-mail service, 2.516(b)(1)(E). + +Supreme court, 2.250(a)(2). + + + +Trial court, 2.250(a)(1). +TRANSCRIPTS. +See COURT REPORTING. +TRIAL COURT. +Administration, 2.215. +Budget commission, 2.230. +Case numbering system, uniform, 2.245(b). +Case reporting system, 2.245(a). +Chief judge. + +See JUDGES. +Circuit court. + +See CIRCUIT COURT. +Designation of most serious charge in complaint, 2.555(a). +Disqualification of judges, 2.330. +Indictment, 2.555(a), 2.555(c). +Information, 2.555(a), 2.555(c). +Ordinance violations, 2.555(b). +Uniform case numbering system, 2.245(b). +TRIAL COURT BUDGET COMMISSION. +Funding, 2.230(f). +Membership, 2.230(e). +Operating procedures, 2.230(c). +Organization, 2.230(e). +Purpose of rule, 2.230(a). +Recommendations by, action on, 2.230(d). +Responsibilities, 2.230(a), 2.230(b). + + + +U + +UNIFIED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIAL COMPENSATION, 2.244. +UNIFORM CASE NUMBERING SYSTEM, 2.245(b). +UNIFORM COMPUTATION OF TIME. +Additional time after service by mail or email, 2.514(b). +Computation of time, 2.514(a). +Definitions. + +Last day, 2.514(a)(4). +Legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +Next day, 2.514(a)(5). + +Period stated in days less than 7 days, 2.514(a)(3). +Period stated in days or longer unit of time, 2.514(a)(1). +Period stated in hours, 2.514(a)(2). +Service of process and papers. + +Additional time after service by mail or email, 2.514(b). + + + +V + +VENUE, CHANGE OF. +Case file, 2.260(g). +Costs, reimbursement, 2.260(c)(e). +Media relations, 2.260(f). +Preliminary procedures, 2.260(a). +Presiding judge, 2.260(b). +VETERANS DAY. +Time computation. + +Definition of legal holiday, 2.514(a)(6). +VICTIMS OF CRIME. +Public access to judicial branch records. + +Confidentiality, determination. +Marsys Law crime information within court filing, 2.423. + +Notice of confidential crime victim information within court filing, +2.423 Appx A. + +VIDEOTAPE COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS, 2.450. + + + +Licensed to Otis K Pitts, Otis K Pitts + +FLORIDA PROBATE RULES +2023 Edition + +(Includes probate and guardianship rules, Florida Probate Code, Florida +Guardianship Law, and related rules, statutes, and constitutional + +provisions) +Rules reflect all changes through 346 So.3d 1105. Subsequent amendments, +if any, can be found at www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/rules.shtml. +The Florida Bar also updates the rules on its website at www.FloridaBar.org +(on the homepage click Rules Updates). Statutes are current through the +2022 Legislative Session. + + + + +CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS + +THE FLORIDA BAR +TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32399-2300 + + + +CITATIONS TO OPINIONS ADOPTING OR AMENDING +RULES + +ORIGINAL ADOPTION, effective 1-1-68: 201 So.2d 409. +OTHER +OPINIONS: +Effective 1-1-76: 324 So.2d 38. Complete revision (temporary + +rules). +Effective 7-1-77: 344 So.2d 828. Complete revision. +Effective 1-1-81: 387 So.2d 949. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +5.020, 5.040, 5.340, 5.345, 5.400, +5.440, 5.520, 5.540, 5.550, 5.560, +5.570, 5.630, 5.660, 5.690; added +5.205. + +Effective 1-1-85: 458 So.2d 1079. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended +5.020-5.040, 5.080, 5.110, 5.150, +5.170, 5.180, 5.210, 5.230, 5.240- +5.270, 5.340-5.420, 5.440, 5.460- +5.490, 5.510-5.560, 5.600, 5.620, +5.660, 5.670; deleted 5.280, 5.290, +5.410, 5.450, 5.500, 5.570; added +5.041, 5.042, 5.065, 5.395, 5.401, +5.405, 5.406. + +Effective 1-1-85: 460 So.2d 906. Amended 5.340. +Effective 12-23- 517 So.2d 675. Amended 5.540, 5.560; added +87: 5.710. +Effective 1-1-89: 531 So.2d 1261. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended + +5.015, 5.025, 5.042, 5.050, 5.080, +5.110, 5.160, 5.180, 5.205-5.240, +5.270, 5.340, 5.360, 5.400, 5.405- +5.420, 5.440, 5.490, 5.510, 5.620, +5.630, 5.650-5.670, 5.690; deleted + + + +5.190, 5.390, 5.540, 5.590; added +5.122, 5.171, 5.201, 5.235, 5.275, +5.346, 5.355, 5.385, 5.386, 5.475, +5.495. + +Effective 10-1- 551 So.2d 452. Amended 5.015, 5.550, 5.560, +89: 5.610-5.660, 5.680-5.700; added + +5.590, 5.800. +Effective 10-1- 584 So.2d 964. Amended 5.010, 5.040, 5.050, +91: 5.240, 5.550, 5.560, 5.590-5.630, + +5.650-5.680, 5.700-5.800; amended +and renumbered 5.690 to 5.695; +deleted 5.495; added 5.540, 5.541, +5.555, 5.635, 5.690, 5.696, 5.697, +5.705, 5.900. + +Effective 1-1-93: 607 So.2d 1306. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended +5.025, 5.120, 5.200, 5.240, 5.260, +5.310, 5.346, 5.400, 5.470, 5.690, +5.695, 5.900; added 5.496, 5.636. + +Effective 1-1-97: 683 So.2d 78. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended +5.040, 5.041, 5.080, 5.100, 5.180, +5.210, 5.235, 5.240, 5.346, 5.370, +5.400, 5.401, 5.405, 5.406, 5.470, +5.560, 5.590, 5.680. + +Effective 1-1-01: 778 So.2d 272. Four-year-cycle revision. Amended +5.015, 5.040, 5.041, 5.065, 5.100, +5.110, 5.555, 5.560, 5.705. + +Effective 10-11- 807 So.2d 622. +01: + 816 So.2d 1095. Amended 5.025, 5.340, 5.360; + +added 5.365. +Effective 5-2-02, +applicable to +decedents dying +after +December 31, 824 So.2d 849. Amended 5.080, 5.200, 5.205, + + + +2001: 5.210, 5.240, 5.310, 5.340, 5.345, +5.346, 5.385, 5.405, 5.440, 5.510, +5.530; deleted 5.070, 5.520; added +5.215, 5.216, 5.241, 5.341, 5.404. + +Effective 6-19- +03, applicable to +decedents dying +after +December 31, 848 So.2d 1069. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended +2001: 5.122, 5.205, 5.240, 5.385, 5.430, + +5.496; added 5.342. +Effective 1-1-04: 848 So.2d 1069. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended + +5.555, 5.680; added 5.407, 5.552. +Effective 10-1- 887 So.2d 1090. Amended 5.697. +04: +Effective 1-1-06: 912 So.2d 1178. Two-year-cycle revision. Amended + +5.040, 5.041, 5.042, 5.240, 5.241, +5.270, 5.345, 5.346, 5.360, 5.400, +5.404, 5.475, 5.496, 5.530, 5.620; +added 5.402, 5.403, 5.498, 5.499, +5.625. + +Effective 2-1-07: 948 So.2d 735. Amended 5.180, 5.550, 5.552, +5.555, 5.560, 5.625, 5.630, 5.636, +5.660, 5.680, 5.695; added 5.646, +5.647, 5.685, 5.720, 5.725. + +Effective 7-12- 964 So.2d 140. Amended 5.015, 5.240, 5.241; +07: added 5.648. +Effective 1-1-08: 959 So.2d 1170. Three-year-cycle revision. Amended + +5.040, 5.041, 5.200, 5.210, 5.241, +5.490, 5.496, 5.498, 5.499, 5.530, +5.650, 5.670, 5.697, 5.710; added +5.095, 5.645. + +Effective 7-10- 986 So.2d 576. Amended 5.015, 5.030, 5.040, +08: 5.050, 5.120, 5.540, 5.541, 5.620, + +5.625, 5.640, 5.650, 5.660, 5.680, + + + +5.720; added 5.649, 5.681. +Effective 1-11- 50 So.3d 578. Three-year cycle review. Amended +11: 5.020, 5.030, 5.040, 5.041, 5.060, + +5.110, 5.200, 5.205, 5.210, 5.235, +5.260, 5.330, 5.340, 5.346, 5.360, +5.405, 5.406, 5.440, 5.470, 5.496, +5.696, 5.710, and 5.725. + +Effective 1-1-11: 51 So.3d 1146. Amended 5.201, 5.260, 5.360 and +created 5.3425. + +Effective 7-7-11: 67 So.3d 1035. Amended 5.260. +Effective 9-28- 73 So.3d 205. Amended 5.025, 5.240. +11: +Effective 10-1- 78 So.3d 1045. Amended 5.200, 5.210, 5.530. +11: +Effective 9-1-12: 102 So.3d 505. Amended 5.030, 5.040, 5.041, + +5.060, 5.120. 5.200, 5.340, 5.342, +5.350, 5.355, 5.360, 5.370, 5.380, +5.385, 5.386, 5.400, 5.401, 5.402, +5.403, 5.405, 5.406, 5.407, 5.430, +5.440, 5.460, 5.470, 5.475. 5.496, +5.498, 5.499, 5.510, 5.530, 5.620, +5.630, 5.650, 5.660, 5.670, 5.680, +5.690. 5.695, 5.696, 5.700 + +Effective 10-1- 95 So.3d 96. Amended 5.042. +12: +Effective 4-1-13: 102 So.3d 451. Adopted 5.043. +Effective 11-27- 131 So.3d 717. Amended 5.240 and 5.260. +13: +Effective 1-1-14: 123 So.3d 31. Amended 5.060, 5.110, 5.230, + +5.395, 5.400, 5.404, 5.530, 5.649, +5.660, 5.681, 5.696; added 5.2405. + +Effective 4-22- 139 So.3d 875. Amended 5.120, 5.200, 5.210, +14: 5.385, 5.405, 5.406, 5.407, 5.530, + +5.550, 5.555, 5.560, 5.590, 5.636, + + + +5.646. +Effective 11-6- 150 So.3d 1100. Amended 5.590. +14: +Effective 12-17- 181 So.3d 480. Amended 5.240, 5.310, 5.648, +15: 5.695, 5.705. +Effective 9-15- 200 So.3d 761. Amended 5.050; 5.560; 5.646; +16: 5.648; 5.670, 5.710. +Effective 1-1-17: 199 So.3d 835. Amended 5.040; 5.041; 5.042; + +5.080; 5.345; 5.346; 5.550; 5.560; +5.620; 5.690; 5.696. + +Effective 9-7-17: 226 So.3d 245. Amended 5.550 and 5.695. +Effective 9-27- 253 So.3d 983. Amended 5.025. +18: +Effective 1-1-20: 287 So.3d 492. Amended 5.020, 5.040, 5.200, + +5.240, 5.241, 5.240, 5.275, 5.320, +5.360, 5.407, 5.470, 5.490, 5.636, +5.649, 5.681, 5.695, 5.900. + +Effective 1-16- 288 So.3d 565. Amended 5.015, 5.043, 5.120, +20: 5.200, 5.210, 5.215, 5.230. +Effective 9-3-20: 301 So.3d 859. Amended 5.550, 5.560, 5.649; + +renumbered 5.850; adopted 5.901, +5.902, 5.903, 5.904, 5.905, 5.906, +5.910. + +Effective 9-24- 45 FLW S255. Adopted 5.920. +20: +Effective 12-31- 309 So.3d 196. Amended 5.040, 5.065, 5.240; +20: Added 5.425; Amended 5.550, + +5.555, 5.560, 5.630; Renumbered +5.900. + +Effective 2-18- 309 So.3d 196. Amended 5.550, 5.555, 5.560, +21: 5.590. +Effective 10-28- 344 So.3d 940. Amended 5.030, 5.040, 5.041, +21: 5.042, 5.043, 5.060, 5.080, 5.120, + +5.340, 5.342, 5.350, 5.355, 5.360, + + + +5.370, 5.380, 5.385, 5.386, 5.400, +5.401, 5.402, 5.403, 5.404, 5.405, +5.406, 5.407, 5.430, 5.440, 5.460, +5.470, 5.475, 5.490, 5.496, 5.498, +5.499, 5.510, 5.530, 5.550, 5.555, +5.560, 5.590, 5.620, 5.630, 5.636, +5.646, 5.650, 5.660, 5.670, 5.680, +5.690, 5.695, 5.696, 5.700. + +Effective 11-4- 334 So.3d 562. Amended 5.020, 5.200, 5.320, +21: 5.340, 5.402, 5.403, 5.404, 5.405, + +5.555. +Effective 10-1- 346 So.3d 1105 Amended 5.080. +22: +NOTE TO USERS: Rules in this pamphlet are current through 346 So.3d +1105. Subsequent amendments, if any, can be found at +www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/rules.shtml. The Florida Bar also +updates the rules on its website at www.FloridaBar.org (on the homepage +click Rules Updates). + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + +__________ + +PART I. GENERAL + +5.010. SCOPE +5.015. GENERAL DEFINITIONS +5.020. PLEADINGS; VERIFICATION; MOTIONS +5.025. ADVERSARY PROCEEDINGS +5.030. ATTORNEYS +5.040. NOTICE +5.041. SERVICE OF PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS +5.042. TIME +5.043. DEPOSIT OF WILLS AND CODICILS +5.050. TRANSFER OF PROCEEDINGS +5.060. REQUEST FOR NOTICES AND COPIES OF PLEADINGS +5.065. NOTICE OF CIVIL ACTION OR ANCILLARY + +ADMINISTRATION +5.080. DISCOVERY AND SUBPOENA +5.095. GENERAL AND SPECIAL MAGISTRATES +5.100. RIGHT OF APPEAL +5.110. ADDRESS DESIGNATION FOR PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE + +OR GUARDIAN; DESIGNATION OF RESIDENT AGENT AND +ACCEPTANCE + +5.120. ADMINISTRATOR AD LITEM AND GUARDIAN AD LITEM +5.122. CURATORS +5.150. ORDER REQUIRING ACCOUNTING + + + +5.160. PRODUCTION OF ASSETS +5.170. EVIDENCE +5.171. EVIDENCE OF DEATH +5.180. WAIVER AND CONSENT + +PART II. PROBATE + +5.200. PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATION +5.201. NOTICE OF PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATION +5.205. FILING EVIDENCE OF DEATH +5.210. PROBATE OF WILLS WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION +5.215. AUTHENTICATED COPY OF WILL +5.216. WILL WRITTEN IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE +5.230. COMMISSION TO PROVE WILL +5.235. ISSUANCE OF LETTERS, BOND +5.240. NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION +5.2405. SERVICE OF NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION ON PERSONAL + +REPRESENTATIVE +5.241. NOTICE TO CREDITORS +5.260. CAVEAT; PROCEEDINGS +5.270. REVOCATION OF PROBATE +5.275. BURDEN OF PROOF IN WILL CONTESTS +5.310. DISQUALIFICATION OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE; + +NOTIFICATION +5.320. OATH OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE +5.330. EXECUTION BY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE +5.340. INVENTORY +5.341. ESTATE INFORMATION + + + +5.342. INVENTORY OF SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX +5.3425. SEARCH OF SAFE DEPOSIT BOX +5.345. ACCOUNTINGS OTHER THAN PERSONAL + +REPRESENTATIVES FINAL ACCOUNTINGS +5.346. FIDUCIARY ACCOUNTING +APPENDIX A +APPENDIX B +5.350. CONTINUANCE OF UNINCORPORATED BUSINESS OR + +VENTURE +5.355. PROCEEDINGS FOR REVIEW OF EMPLOYMENT OF AGENTS + +AND COMPENSATION OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND +ESTATE EMPLOYEES + +5.360. ELECTIVE SHARE +5.365. PETITION FOR DOWER +5.370. SALES OF REAL PROPERTY WHERE NO POWER CONFERRED +5.380. COMPULSORY PAYMENT OF DEVISES OR DISTRIBUTIVE + +INTERESTS +5.385. DETERMINATION OF BENEFICIARIES AND SHARES +5.386. ESCHEAT +5.395. NOTICE OF FEDERAL ESTATE TAX RETURN +5.400. DISTRIBUTION AND DISCHARGE +5.401. OBJECTIONS TO PETITION FOR DISCHARGE OR FINAL + +ACCOUNTING +5.402. NOTICE OF LIEN ON PROTECTED HOMESTEAD +5.403. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE AMOUNT OF LIEN ON + +PROTECTED HOMESTEAD +5.404. NOTICE OF TAKING POSSESSION OF PROTECTED + +HOMESTEAD + + + +5.405. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE PROTECTED HOMESTEAD +REAL PROPERTY + +5.406. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE EXEMPT PROPERTY +5.407. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE FAMILY ALLOWANCE +5.420. DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY WITHOUT + +ADMINISTRATION +5.425. DISPOSITION WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION OF INTESTATE + +PERSONAL PROPERTY IN SMALL ESTATES. +5.430. RESIGNATION OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE +5.440. PROCEEDINGS FOR REMOVAL OF PERSONAL + +REPRESENTATIVE +5.460. SUBSEQUENT ADMINISTRATION +5.470. ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION +5.475. ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION, SHORT FORM +5.490. FORM AND MANNER OF PRESENTING CLAIM +5.496. FORM AND MANNER OF OBJECTING TO CLAIM +5.498. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES PROOF OF CLAIM +5.499. FORM AND MANNER OF OBJECTING TO PERSONAL + +REPRESENTATIVES PROOF OF CLAIM +5.510. ESTABLISHMENT AND PROBATE OF LOST OR DESTROYED + +WILL +5.530. SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION + +PART III. GUARDIANSHIP + +5.540. HEARINGS +5.541. RECORDING OF HEARINGS +5.550. PETITION TO DETERMINE INCAPACITY +5.552. VOLUNTARY GUARDIANSHIP OF PROPERTY + + + +5.555. GUARDIANSHIPS OF MINORS +5.560. PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN OF AN + +INCAPACITATED PERSON +5.590. APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT AS GUARDIAN; + +DISCLOSURE STATEMENT; FILING +5.600. OATH +5.610. EXECUTION BY GUARDIAN +5.620. INVENTORY +5.625. NOTICE OF COMPLETION OF GUARDIAN EDUCATION + +REQUIREMENTS +5.630. PETITION FOR APPROVAL OF ACTS +5.635. PETITION FOR EXTRAORDINARY AUTHORITY +5.636. SETTLEMENT OF MINORS CLAIMS +5.640. CONTINUANCE OF UNINCORPORATED BUSINESS OR + +VENTURE OF WARD +5.645. MANAGEMENT OF PROPERTY OF NONRESIDENT WARD BY + +FOREIGN GUARDIAN +5.646. STANDBY GUARDIANS +5.647. SURROGATE GUARDIAN +5.648. EMERGENCY TEMPORARY GUARDIAN +5.649. GUARDIAN ADVOCATE +5.650. RESIGNATION OR DISQUALIFICATION OF GUARDIAN; + +APPOINTMENT OF SUCCESSOR +5.660. PROCEEDINGS FOR REMOVAL OF GUARDIAN +5.670. TERMINATION OF GUARDIANSHIP ON CHANGE OF + +DOMICILE OF RESIDENT WARD +5.680. TERMINATION OF GUARDIANSHIP +5.681. RESTORATION OF RIGHTS OF PERSON WITH + + + +DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY +5.685. DETERMINATION REGARDING ALTERNATIVES TO + +GUARDIANSHIP +5.690. INITIAL GUARDIANSHIP REPORT +5.695. ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP REPORT +5.696. GUARDIAN ACCOUNTING +5.696. APPENDIX A +5.696. APPENDIX B +5.697. MAGISTRATES REVIEW OF GUARDIANSHIP INVENTORIES, + +ACCOUNTINGS, AND PLANS +5.700. OBJECTION TO GUARDIANSHIP REPORTS +5.705. PETITION FOR INTERIM JUDICIAL REVIEW +5.710. REPORTS OF PUBLIC GUARDIAN +5.720. COURT MONITOR +5.725. EMERGENCY COURT MONITOR +5.800. APPLICATION OF REVISED CHAPTER 744 TO EXISTING + +GUARDIANSHIPS +5.850. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL INTERVENTION CONCERNING + +MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES [RENUMBERED]. + +PART IV. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL INTERVENTION CONCERNING +MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES + +5.900. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL INTERVENTION CONCERNING +MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES. + +PART V. FORMS + +5.901. FORM FOR PETITION TO DETERMINE INCAPACITY +5.902. FORM FOR PETITION AND ORDER OF GUARDIAN +5.903. LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP + + + +5.904. FORMS FOR INITIAL AND ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP PLANS +5.905. FORM FOR PETITION, NOTICE, AND ORDER FOR + +APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN ADVOCATE OF THE PERSON +5.906. LETTERS OF GUARDIAN ADVOCACY +5.910. INVENTORY +5.920. FORMS RELATED TO INJUNCTION FOR PROTECTION + +AGAINST EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE ADULT + + + +FLORIDA PROBATE RULES + +________ + Pt. I. + +Fla. Prob. R., Pt. I + + + +PART I. GENERAL + Pt. I. , Rule 5.010. + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.010 + +RULE 5.010. SCOPE. +These rules govern the procedure in all probate and guardianship + +proceedings and shall be known as the Florida Probate Rules and may be +cited as Fla. Prob. R. Part I applies to all proceedings. Part II applies to +probate alone, Part III applies to guardianship alone, and Part IV applies to +expedited judicial intervention concerning medical treatment procedures. The +Florida Rules of Civil Procedure apply only as provided herein. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: These rules shall govern the procedures to be followed in + +all matters pending on or commenced after January 1, 1976, including +procedures for the enforcement of substantive rights that have vested before +that date. See section 731.011, Florida Statutes. + +1977 Revision: The changes in these rules shall take effect on July 1, 1977. +1988 Revision: In the opinion reported at 460 So. 2d 906, the Florida + +Supreme Court directed the Probate and Guardianship Rules Committee to +study the statutes and attempt to identify those portions of the Florida Probate +Code, the Florida Guardianship Law, and other statutes that contained +procedural provisions. When those procedural provisions were identified, the +committee was charged to promulgate rules incorporating those procedures. + +The committee has reviewed the statutes and has found a substantial +measure of procedure that was contained only in the statutes for which there +were no corresponding rules. The committee also determined that much of +the procedure in the statutes already had a rule counterpart. + +New rules added, or prior rules amended, in 1988 to add procedural +matters previously found only in the statutes are rules 5.050, 5.122, 5.171, +5.180, 5.201, 5.235, 5.270, 5.275, 5.355, 5.360, 5.385, 5.386, 5.400, 5.440, + + + +5.475, 5.490, and 5.510. With only one exception (see rule 5.050), the only +portion of the statutes that has been reviewed in detail, and for which rules +have been created, is the Florida Probate Code. Other portions of the statutes +mentioned in the opinion cited above remain for the next cycle of this +committee to review. + +As the committee wrote rules to transfer the statutory procedure into these +rules, an attempt was made to write the rule without changing the meaning of +the statute. It was not possible or advisable to use the exact wording of the +statute in some instances, and in those instances the committee rewrote the +statutory language in the format used in the rules generally. Even under those +circumstances, the committee attempted to transfer the entire procedural +portion of the statute without changing its meaning. Where it was specifically +intended in a few instances to add to existing statutory procedure, that fact is +noted in the relevant committee note. The committee felt strongly that it +would be detrimental to the orderly process of estate probate and related +procedures if a rule specified a different procedure than was specified in the +related statute, even though the statute must, under the Florida Constitution, +yield to the rule when there is a conflict. + +The committee, through the proper channels in the Florida Bar (initially, +the Probate Law Committee of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law +Section), intends to ask the legislature to repeal those portions of the statutes +that are procedural when there are similar rules already in place, or when +similar new rules are added by this opinion. It is the opinion of the committee +that continuing to maintain procedure in the statutes when there is a rule +specifying that procedure is detrimental to the orderly process of the court +and the public that it serves, especially when, over time, the statute and the +rule may diverge. + +Although the supreme court has adopted these recommended rules, it has +not specifically determined that all of the provisions of the statutes that were +procedural have now been adopted as a rule. This is a continuing project for +the committee and although these new rules and changes represent a +substantial transition of procedure into the rules, the committee does not +suggest that the transition is complete. The court is not precluded from +examining any particular statute or rule in the context of a particular actual +dispute. + + + +1991 Revision: Rule revised to reflect addition of new Part IV dealing with +expedited judicial intervention concerning medical treatment procedures. + +1992 Revision: In 1989, the Florida Legislature enacted a comprehensive +revision to Floridas guardianship law. In response, the Florida Supreme +Court appointed an ad hoc committee to recommend temporary rules of +procedure for the new law. In an opinion at 551 So. 2d 452 (Fla. 1989), the +court adopted the temporary rules recommended by the ad hoc committee, to +replace Part III of the then-existing Florida Probate Rules, effective October +1, 1989. In its opinion, the court also directed the Florida Probate Rules +Committee to review the new laws and, on a priority basis, to recommend +permanent rules of procedure. + +The committee reviewed the Florida Guardianship Law enacted in 1989, as +well as revisions to the law enacted in 1990, and presented its rule +recommendations to the court in 1991. The court, in an opinion at 584 So. 2d +964, adopted the recommendations with minor exceptions, to be effective +October 1, 1991. + +In 1990, the court also rendered its opinion in In re Guardianship of +Browning, 568 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 1990), regarding a persons right to refuse +lifeprolonging medical procedures. In that decision, the court directed the +committee to recommend a response, the committee created a new Part IV of +these rules and recommended rule 5.900, which was adopted by the court, +with minor changes, in its opinion at 584 So. 2d 964, effective October 1, +1991. + +The committee continued its efforts to review the Florida Probate Code +and to promulgate or amend rules regarding any procedural portions of those +statutes. As a result of those efforts, as well as the efforts described above, +the committee recommended amendments to rules 5.010, 5.025, 5.040, 5.050, +5.200, 5.240, 5.310, 5.346, 5.400, 5.470, 5.550, 5.560, 5.590, 5.600, 5.610, +5.620, 5.630, 5.640, 5.650, 5.660, 5.670, 5.680, 5.695, 5.700, 5.710, and +5.800; creation of new rules 5.496, 5.540, 5.541, 5.555, 5.635, 5.636, 5.690, +5.696, 5.697, 5.705, and 5.900; and deletion of rule 5.495. In addition, the +committee recommended editorial changes in virtually all the rules so that +they would conform stylistically to one another and to all other rules +promulgated by the supreme court. + +2003 Revision: The committee has promulgated numerous changes in the + + + +rules and in the committee notes to many of the rules, in response to +legislative amendments that deleted procedural aspects of a number of +statutes in the Florida Probate Code, including deletion and re-titling of some +statutes. See Ch. 2001-226, Laws of Fla. + +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040(a)(3)(B) Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.050 Transfer of proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.080 Discovery and subpoena. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.230(e) Commission to prove will. +Fla. R. App. P. 9.800 Uniform citation system. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.015. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.015 + +RULE 5.015. GENERAL DEFINITIONS. +(a) General. The definitions and rules of construction stated or referred to + +in sections 1.01 and 393.12, Florida Statutes, and chapters 731, 732, 733, +734, 735, 736, 738, 739, and 744, Florida Statutes, as amended from time to +time, shall apply to these rules, unless otherwise defined in these rules. + +(b) Specific Definitions. When used in these rules +(1) certified copy means a copy of a document signed and verified as a + +true copy by the officer to whose custody the original, whether in paper or +electronic form, is entrusted; + +(2) formal notice means notice under rule 5.040(a); +(3) informal notice means notice under rule 5.040(b); +(4) judge means a judge of the circuit court, including any judge + +elected, appointed, substituted, or assigned to serve as judge of the court; +(5) guardian advocate means a person appointed for a person with a + +developmental disability pursuant to section 393.12, Florida Statutes; +(6) guardian means a person appointed pursuant to chapter 744, + +Florida Statutes, or a guardian advocate unless a rule indicates otherwise; +(7) ward means an individual for whom a guardian is appointed. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Correction of typographical error in + +committee note. +This is intended to simplify drafting of these rules and should be liberally + +construed. See Fla. Prob. R. 5.190 and 5.540 and also 731.201 and +744.102, Fla. Stat. + +1988 Revision: Rule was expanded due to deletion of rule 5.190. +Committee notes expanded. Citation form changes in rule and committee + + + +notes. +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in rule and committee notes. +2000 Revision: Subdivision (b)(2) amended to delete outdated reference to + +rule 5.550(c). +2007 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to add reference to chapter 736, + +Florida Statutes, which was added to the statutes effective July 1, 2007, and +which replaces deleted chapter 737, and to add reference to chapter 739, +Florida Statutes, which was added effective July 1, 2005. Committee notes +revised. + +2008 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to add reference to section +393.12, Florida Statutes, which governs guardian advocates for persons with +developmental disabilities, As provided by section 744.102(11), the term +guardian advocate as used in the Florida Guardianship Law and these rules +does not include a guardian advocate appointed for a person determined to +lack capacity to consent to treatment under section 394,4598, Florida +Statutes. Subdivisions (b)(5) through (b)(7) added to reflect 2008 +amendments to section 393.12, Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. + +2020: Revision: Subdivision (b)(1) amended to reference electronic +original documents consistent with section 732.526, Florida Statutes. +Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 1.01, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 393.063, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 731.201, Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 732.526, Fla. Stat. Probate. + 736.0103, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 738.102, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 739.102, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 744.102, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.020. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 + +RULE 5.020. PLEADINGS; VERIFICATION; MOTIONS. +(a) Forms of Pleading. Pleadings shall be signed by the attorney of + +record, and by the pleader when required by these rules. All technical forms +of pleadings are abolished. No defect of form impairs substantial rights, and +no defect in the statement of jurisdictional facts actually existing renders any +proceeding void. + +(b) Petition. A petition shall contain a short and plain statement of the +relief sought, the grounds therefor, and the jurisdiction of the court where the +jurisdiction has not already been shown. + +(c) Motions. Any other application to the court for an order shall be by +written motion, unless made orally during a hearing or trial. The motion shall +state with particularity the grounds therefor and shall set forth the relief or +order sought. + +(d) Rehearing. A motion for rehearing of any order or judgment shall be +served not later than 15 days after the date of filing the order or judgment +with the clerk as shown on the face of the order or judgment. + +(e) Verification. When verification of a document is required, the +document filed shall include an oath, affirmation, or the following statement: + +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing, and +the facts alleged are true, to the best of my knowledge and belief. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The time for determining when a motion for rehearing must be served has +been clarified in view of Casto v. Casto, 404 So. 2d 1046 (Fla. 1981). + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Editorial change (rule) and expansion of committee note. + +Subdivisions (a), (b), and (d) substantially the same as subdivisions (a), (b), +and (f) of prior rule 5.030. Subdivision (c) taken from section 731.104, +Florida Statutes. For adversary proceedings see new rule 5.025. Notice of +administration is not a pleading within the meaning of this rule. + + + +1980 Revision: Subdivisions (c) and (d) have been redesignated as (e) and +(f). New subdivisions (c) and (d) are added to provide for the use of motions +in probate proceedings other then adversary proceedings and to specifically +authorize a procedure for rehearing. + +1984 Revision: Minor editorial changes. Subdivision (f) of prior rule has +been deleted as it is now covered under the adversary rules. + +1988 Revision: Editorial change in caption of (a). Committee notes +revised. Citation form change in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in rule and committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Subdivision (d) amended to change the deadline for service + +of a motion for rehearing from 10 to 15 days after the specified event to +conform to 2013 amendments to the Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.530. +Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 731.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 731.201, Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 733.202, Fla. Stat. Petition. + 733.604(1), Fla. Stat. Inventories and accountings; public records + +exemptions. + 733.901, Fla. Stat. Final discharge. + 735.203, Fla. Stat. Petition for summary administration. + 744.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.3201, Fla. Stat. Petition to determine incapacity. + + + + 744.331, Fla. Stat. Procedures to determine incapacity. + 744.334, Fla. Stat. Petition for appointment of guardian or professional + +guardian; contents. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 Petition for administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(b) Filing evidence of death. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.320 Oath of personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.330 Execution by personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.350 Continuance of unincorporated business or venture. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.370(a) Sales of real property where no power conferred. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.405(b) Proceedings to determine homestead status of real + +property. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.530 Summary administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.550 Petition to determine incapacity. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.560 Petition for appointment of guardian of an + +incapacitated person. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.600 Oath. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.530 Motions for new trial and rehearing; amendments of + +judgment. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.025. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 + +RULE 5.025. ADVERSARY PROCEEDINGS. +(a) Specific Adversary Proceedings. The following are adversary + +proceedings unless otherwise ordered by the court: proceedings to remove a +personal representative, surcharge a personal representative, remove a +guardian, surcharge a guardian, obtain an injunction or temporary injunction +pursuant to section 825.1035, Florida Statutes, probate a lost or destroyed +will or later-discovered will, determine beneficiaries, construe a will, reform +a will, modify a will, cancel a devise, partition property for the purposes of +distribution, determine pretermitted status, determine pretermitted share, +determine amount of elective share and contribution, and for revocation of +probate of a will. + +(b) Declared Adversary Proceedings. Other proceedings may be declared +adversary by service on interested persons of a separate declaration that the +proceeding is adversary. + +(1) If served by the petitioner, the declaration must be served with the +petition to which it relates. + +(2) If served by the respondent, the declaration and a written response to +the petition must be served at the earlier of: + +(A) within 20 days after service of the petition, or +(B) prior to the hearing date on the petition. + +(3) When the declaration is served by a respondent, the petitioner must +promptly serve formal notice on all other interested persons. +(c) Adversary Status by Order. The court may determine any proceeding + +to be an adversary proceeding at any time. +(d) Notice and Procedure in Adversary Proceedings. + +(1) Petitioner must serve formal notice, except as provided in +proceedings pursuant to section 825.1035, Florida Statutes. + +(2) After service of formal notice, the proceedings, as nearly as +practicable, must be conducted similar to suits of a civil nature, including + + + +entry of defaults. The Florida Rules of Civil Procedure govern, except for +rule 1.525. + +(3) The court on its motion or on motion of any interested person may +enter orders to avoid undue delay in the main administration. + +(4) If a proceeding is already commenced when an order is entered +determining the proceeding to be adversary, it must thereafter be +conducted as an adversary proceeding. The order must require interested +persons to serve written defenses, if any, within 20 days from the date of +the order. It is not necessary to re-serve the petition except as ordered by +the court. + +(5) When the proceedings are adversary, the caption of subsequent +pleadings, as an extension of the probate caption, must include the name of +the first petitioner and the name of the first respondent. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The court on its initiative or on motion of any party may order any +proceeding to be adversary or nonadversary or enter any order that will avoid +undue delay. The personal representative would be an interested person in all +adversary proceedings. A prescribed form for the caption is provided that will +facilitate the clerks and the courts ability to segregate such adversary +proceeding from other adversary proceedings and from the main probate file: + +Court +Case # + +Rule History +1975 Revision: New rule. 324 So. 2d 38. +1977 Revision: Editorial changes to (a)(1). +1984 Revision: Extensive changes, committee notes revised and expanded. + + + +1988 Revision: Changes in (a) add proceedings to remove a guardian and +to surcharge a guardian to the list of specific adversary proceedings and +delete proceedings to determine and award the elective share from the list. +Change in (b)(4) clarifies on whom the petitioner must serve formal notice. +Editorial change in (d)(2) and (d)(5). Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Deletion of (b)(3) as unnecessary. Former (b)(4) +renumbered as new (b)(3). Committee notes revised. Citation form changes +in committee notes. + +2001 Revision: Change in (a) to add determination of amount of elective +share and contribution as specific adversary proceedings. Committee notes +revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2011 Revision: Subdivision (a) revised to add reform a will, modify a + +will and determine pretermitted status. Subdivision (d)(2) modified to +insure that an award of attorneys fees in a probate or guardianship +proceeding follows the law and procedures established for such proceedings, +rather than the law and procedures for civil proceedings. See Amendments to +the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure (Rule 12.525), 897 So. 2d 467 +(Fla. 2005). Editorial changes to conform to the courts guidelines for rules +submissions as set forth in Administrative Order AOSC06-14. Committee +notes revised. + +2018 Revision: Subdivisions (a) and (d)(1) amended to reference section +825.1035, Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 732.201-732.2155, Fla. Stat. Elective share of surviving spouse. + 732.301, Fla. Stat. Pretermitted spouse. + 732.302, Fla. Stat. Pretermitted children. + 732.507, Fla. Stat. Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or + +dissolution of marriage. + + + + 732.6005-732.611, Fla. Stat. Rules of construction. + 732.615, Fla. Stat. Reformation to correct mistakes. + 732.616, Fla. Stat. Modification to achieve testators tax objectives. + 733.105, Fla. Stat. Determination of beneficiaries. + 733.107, Fla. Stat. Burden of proof in contests; presumption of undue + +influence. + 733.109, Fla. Stat. Revocation of probate. + 733.207, Fla. Stat. Establishment and probate of lost or destroyed will. + 733.208, Fla. Stat. Discovery of later will. + 733.504, Fla. Stat. Removal of personal representative; causes for + +removal. + 733.505, Fla. Stat. Jurisdiction in removal proceedings. + 733.506, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal. + 733.5061, Fla. Stat. Appointment of successor upon removal. + 733.603, Fla. Stat. Personal representative to proceed without court + +order. + 733.609, Fla. Stat. Improper exercise of power; breach of fiduciary duty. + 733.619(2), (4), Fla. Stat. Individual liability of personal representative. + 733.814, Fla. Stat. Partition for purpose of distribution. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.474, Fla. Stat. Reasons for removal of guardian. + 744.477, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal of a guardian. + 825.1035, Fla. Stat. Injunction for protection against exploitation of a + +vulnerable adult. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.270 Revocation of probate. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.360 Elective share. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.365 Petition for dower. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 Proceedings for removal. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.660 Proceedings for removal of guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.140 Defenses. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.160 Motions. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.200 Pretrial procedure. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280 General provisions governing discovery. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.290 Depositions before action or pending appeal. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.310 Depositions upon oral examination. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.340 Interrogatories to parties. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.380 Failure to make discovery; sanctions. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.030. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 + +RULE 5.030. ATTORNEYS. +(a) Required; Exception. Every guardian and every personal + +representative, unless the personal representative remains the sole interested +person, shall be represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida. A +guardian or personal representative who is an attorney admitted to practice in +Florida may represent himself or herself as guardian or personal +representative. A guardian advocate is not required to be represented by an +attorney unless otherwise required by law or the court. + +(b) Limited Appearance without Court Order. An attorney of record for +an interested person in a proceeding governed by these rules shall be the +attorney of record in all other proceedings in the administration of the same +estate or guardianship, except service of process in an independent action on +a claim, unless at the time of appearance the attorney files a notice +specifically limiting the attorneys appearance only to the particular +proceeding or matter in which the attorney appears. At the conclusion of that +proceeding or matter, the attorneys role terminates upon the attorney filing +notice of completion of limited appearance and serving a copy on the client +and other interested persons. + +(c) Withdrawal or Limited Appearance with Court Order. An attorney +of record may withdraw or limit the attorneys appearance with approval of +the court after filing a motion setting forth the reasons and serving a copy on +the client and other interested persons. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The appearance of an attorney in an estate is a general appearance unless +(i) specifically limited at the time of such appearance or (ii) the court orders +otherwise. This rule does not affect the right of a party to employ additional +attorneys who, if members of The Florida Bar, may appear at any time. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Subdivision (a) is same as prior rule 5.040 with added + +provision for withdrawal of attorney similar to Florida Rule of Appellate + + + +Procedure 2.3(d)(2). Subdivision (b) reflects ruling in case of State ex rel. +Falkner v. Blanton, 297 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 1974). + +1977 Revision: Editorial change requiring filing of petition for withdrawal +and service of copy upon interested persons. Editorial change in citation +forms in rule and committee note. + +1984 Revision: Minor editorial changes and addition of subdivision (c). +Committee notes expanded. + +1988 Revision: Editorial changes and order of subdivisions rearranged. +Committee notes expanded. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2006 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to reflect that a guardian advocate + +may not be required to be represented by an attorney in some instances. +Committee notes revised. + +2010 Revision: Subdivisions (b) and (c) amended to clarify the procedure +for termination of an attorneys representation of an interested person either +with or without court order. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.106, Fla. Stat. Costs and attorney fees. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.6175, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for review of employment of agents and + +compensation of personal representatives and employees of estate. + 744.108, Fla. Stat. Guardians and attorneys fees and expenses. + + + + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.110(b), (c) Resident agent. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.505 Attorneys. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. App. P. 9.440 Attorneys. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.040. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 + +RULE 5.040. NOTICE. +(a) Formal Notice. + +(1) Procedure for Formal Notice. When formal notice is given, a copy of +the pleading or motion shall be served on interested persons, together with +a notice requiring the person served to serve written defenses on the person +giving notice within 20 days after service of the notice, exclusive of the +day of service, and to file the original of the written defenses with the clerk +of the court either before service or immediately thereafter, and notifying +the person served that failure to serve written defenses as required may +result in a judgment or order for the relief demanded in the pleading or +motion, without further notice. + +(2) Effect of Service of Formal Notice. After service of formal notice, +informal notice of any hearing on the pleading or motion shall be served on +interested persons, provided that if no written defense is served within 20 +days after service of formal notice on an interested person, the pleading or +motion may be considered ex parte as to that person, unless the court +orders otherwise. + +(3) Manner of Service of Formal Notice. Formal notice shall be served +in the following manner: + +(A) by sending a copy by any commercial delivery service requiring a +signed receipt or by any form of mail requiring a signed receipt; + +(B) as provided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure for service of +process; + +(C) as otherwise provided by Florida law for service of process; or +(D) by first-class mail when only in rem or quasi in rem relief is + +sought against a person if: +(i) registered or certified mail service to the addressee requiring a + +signed receipt is unavailable and if delivery by commercial delivery +service requiring a signed receipt is also unavailable; + +(ii) delivery pursuant to subdivision (a)(3)(A) is attempted and is + + + +refused by the addressee; or +(iii) delivery pursuant to subdivision (a)(3)(A) is attempted and is + +unclaimed after notice to the addressee by the delivering entity. +(4) Persons to be Served. Service of formal notice under (a)(3)(A) and + +(a)(3)(D) shall be made on the following: +(A) service on an interested person represented by an attorney shall be + +made by delivery to the attorney at his or her regular place of business; +(B) service on an interested person who has filed a request for notice + +shall be made by delivery to such interested person at the address given +in the request for notice; + +(C) service on an incapacitated person or a person with a +developmental disability shall be made by delivery: + +(i) to such person at his or her usual place of abode; and +(ii) to such persons legal guardian at the legal guardians usual + +place of abode or regular place of business or, if such person does not +have a legal guardian, to the person having care or custody of such +person at his or her usual place of abode or regular place of business; +(D) service on a minor whose disabilities of nonage are not removed + +shall be made by delivery to the persons designated to accept service of +process on a minor under chapter 48, Florida Statutes, at their usual +place of abode or regular place of business; + +(E) service on any other individual shall be made by delivery to such +individual at his or her usual place of abode or to any person authorized +to receive service of a summons on behalf of the individual as provided +in chapter 48, Florida Statutes; or + +(F) service on a corporation or other business entity shall be made by +delivery to such corporation or other business entity as provided in +chapter 48, Florida Statutes. +(5) Completion of Service. Service of formal notice pursuant to + +subdivision (a)(3)(A) shall be complete upon receipt by the person to +whom delivery is made. Service of formal notice pursuant to subdivision +(a)(3)(B) shall be complete as provided in the Florida Rules of Civil + + + +Procedure for service of process. Service of formal notice pursuant to +subdivision (a)(3)(C) shall be complete as provided by Florida law for +service of process. Service of formal notice pursuant to subdivision (a)(3) +(D) shall be complete upon mailing. + +(6) Proof of Service. Proof of service shall be by verified statement of +the person serving formal notice and there shall be attached to the verified +statement the receipt signed by the person to whom delivery was made or +other evidence satisfactory to the court that delivery was made. +Alternatively, if service is obtained pursuant to subdivision (a)(3)(D), the +verified statement must state the basis for service by first-class mail, the +date of mailing, and the address to which the first-class mail was sent. +Proof of service pursuant to subdivisions (a)(3)(B) or (a)(3)(C) shall be +made as provided by Florida law for service of process. +(b) Informal Notice. When informal notice of a petition or other + +proceeding is required or permitted, it shall be served as provided in rule +5.041. + +(c) Notice Defined. In these rules, the Florida Probate Code, and the +Florida Guardianship Law notice shall mean informal notice unless formal +notice is specified. + +(d) Formal Notice Optional. Formal notice may be given in lieu of +informal notice at the option of the person giving notice unless the court +orders otherwise. When formal notice is given in lieu of informal notice, +formal notice shall be given to all interested persons entitled to notice. When +formal notice is given in lieu of informal notice, that notice does not modify +any time period otherwise specified by statute or these rules. + +(e) In the Manner Provided for Service of Formal Notice. If a document +is served in the manner provided for service of formal notice, service is +completed on receipt of the document, and proof of service shall be in the +manner set forth in subdivision (a)(4)(6). + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Formal notice is the method of service used in probate proceedings and the +method of service of process for obtaining in rem jurisdiction over the +persons interest in the estate property. The court does not acquire personal + + + +jurisdiction over a person by service of formal notice. The manner provided +for service of formal notice is as provided in rule 5.040(a)(3). + +Informal notice is the method of service of notice given to interested +persons entitled to notice when formal notice is not given or required. + +Reference in this rule to the terms mail or mailing refers to use of the +United States Postal Service. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Implements section 731.301, Florida Statutes. +1977 Revision: Reference to elisor. +1980 Revision: Editorial changes. Clarification of time for filing defenses + +after formal notice. Authorizes court to give relief to delinquent respondent +from ex parte status; relief from service on numerous persons; allows +optional use of formal notice. + +1984 Revision: Editorial changes. Eliminates deadline for filing as +opposed to serving defenses after formal notice; defines procedure +subsequent to service of defenses after formal notice; new requirements for +service of formal notice on incompetents and corporations; defines when +service of formal notice is deemed complete; provisions relating to method of +service of informal notice transferred to new rules 5.041 and 5.042; +eliminates waiver of notice by will. + +1988 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1991 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to define informal notice more +clearly. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to permit service of formal notice +by commercial delivery service to conform to 1993 amendment to section +731.301(1), Florida Statutes. Editorial changes. + +2001 Revision: Editorial changes in subdivision (a)(3)(A) to clarify +requirements for service of formal notice. + + + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Subdivision (a)(3)(A) amended to delete requirement of + +court approval of commercial delivery service. +2006 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: New subdivision (a)(3)(A)(iv) inserted in response to + +Cason ex rel. Saferight v. Hammock, 908 So.2d 512 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005), +and subsequent subdivisions renumbered accordingly. Committee notes +revised. + +2008 Revision: Subdivision (a)(3)(A)(iii) revised to include person with a +developmental disability. Committee notes revised. + +2010 Revision: Subdivision (d) amended to clarify that the optional use of +formal notice when only informal notice is required does not modify any time +period otherwise specified by statute or rule. Committee notes revised. + +2012 Revision: Subdivision (b) revised to reflect amendment to rule 5.041. +2016 Revision: Subdivision (e) created to specify when service in the + +manner provided for service of formal notice is completed. Committee notes +revised. + +2019 Revision: Subdivision (a) reformatted for easier reading and +corrected syntax. Subdivision (a)(3)(D) amended to provide for service by +first-class mail when only in rem or quasi in rem relief is sought under certain +circumstances. Committee notes revised. + +2020 Revision: Committee notes amended. +Statutory References + 1.01(3), Fla. Stat. Definitions. +ch. 48, Fla. Stat. Process and service of process. +ch. 49, Fla. Stat. Constructive service of process. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 731.105, Fla. Stat. In rem proceeding. + 731.201(18), (22), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + + + + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 731.302, Fla. Stat. Waiver and consent by interested person. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2123, Fla. Stat. Adjudication before issuance of letters. + 733.502, Fla. Stat. Resignation of personal representative. + 733.613, Fla. Stat. Personal representatives right to sell real property. + 733.6175, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for review of employment of agents and + +compensation of personal representatives and employees of estate. + 733.901, Fla. Stat. Final discharge. +ch 743, Fla. Stat. Disability of nonage of minors removed. + 744.106, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 744.301, Fla. Stat. Natural guardians. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.3201, Fla. Stat. Petition to determine incapacity. + 744.331, Fla. Stat. Procedures to determine incapacity. + 744.3371, Fla. Stat. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian and + +hearing. + 744.441, Fla. Stat. Powers of guardian upon court approval. + 744.447, Fla. Stat. Petition for authorization to act. + 744.477, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal of a guardian. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 Attorneys. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.560 Petition for appointment of a guardian of an +incapacitated person. + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.505 Attorneys. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.070 Process. +Fla. R. Civ. P. Form 1.902 Summons. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.041. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 + +RULE 5.041. SERVICE OF PLEADINGS AND DOCUMENTS. +Unless the court orders otherwise, every petition or motion for an order + +determining rights of an interested person, and every other pleading or +document filed in the particular proceeding which is the subject matter of +such petition or motion, except applications for witness subpoenas, shall be +served on interested persons as set forth in Florida Rule of General Practice +and Judicial Administration 2.516 unless these rules, the Florida Probate +Code, or the Florida Guardianship Law provides otherwise. No service need +be made on interested persons against whom a default has been entered, or +against whom the matter may otherwise proceed ex parte, unless a new or +additional right or demand is asserted. For purposes of this rule an interested +person shall be deemed a party under rule 2.516. + +If the interested person is a minor whose disabilities of nonage are not +removed, and who is not represented by an attorney, then service shall be on +the persons designated to accept service of process on a minor under chapter +48, Florida Statutes. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Derived from Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.080. Regulates the service +of pleadings and documents in proceedings on petitions or motions for +determination of rights. It is not applicable to every pleading and document +served or filed in the administration of a guardianship or decedents estate. + +Rule History +1984 Revision: New rule. Subdivision (c) is same as former rule 5.040(d). +1988 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +1996 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to allow service to be made by + +facsimile. Committee notes revised. + + + +2000 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to clarify requirements for +service of pleadings and papers. Subdivision (e) amended to clarify date of +filing. Editorial changes in subdivision (f). + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Changes in subdivisions (b) and (f) to clarify service + +requirements, and editorial changes in (e). +2006 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Provisions regarding service on a minor added in + +subdivision (b) in response to Cason ex rel. Saferight v. Hammock, 908 So. +2d 512 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). Committee notes revised. + +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Portions of subdivision (b) and all of subdivisions (d), (e), + +(f), and (g) deleted in response to creation of Rule 2.516 of the Rules of +General Practice and Judicial Administration. Committee notes revised. + +2016 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References +ch. 39, Fla. Stat. Proceedings relating to children. +ch. 48, Fla. Stat. Process and service of process. +ch. 61, Fla. Stat. Dissolution of marriage; support; time-sharing. +ch. 63, Fla. Stat. Adoption. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 731.201, Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2123, Fla. Stat. Adjudication before issuance of letters. + 733.705(2), (4), Fla. Stat. Payment of and objection to claims. +ch. 743, Fla. Stat. Disability of nonage of minors removed. + + + + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.3201, Fla. Stat. Petition to determine incapacity. + 744.331, Fla. Stat. Procedures to determine incapacity. + 744.3371, Fla. Stat. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian and + +hearing. + 744.447, Fla. Stat. Petition for authorization to act. +ch. 751, Fla. Stat. Temporary custody of minor children by extended + +family. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.030 Attorneys. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.150(c) Order requiring accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240(a) Notice of administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340(d) Inventory. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.550 Petition to determine incapacity. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.560 Petition for appointment of a guardian of an + +incapacitated person. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.080 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.505 Attorneys. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.042. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 + +RULE 5.042. TIME. +(a) Computation. Computation of time shall be governed by Florida Rule + +of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.514. +(b) Enlargement. When an act is required or allowed to be done at or + +within a specified time by these rules, by order of court, or by notice given +thereunder, for cause shown the court at any time in its discretion + +(1) with or without notice, may order the period enlarged if request +therefor is made before the expiration of the period originally prescribed or +as extended by a previous order; or + +(2) on motion made and notice, after the expiration of the specified +period, may permit the act to be done when failure to act was the result of +excusable neglect. The court under this rule may not extend the time for +serving a motion for rehearing or enlarge any period of time governed by +the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. +(c) Service for Hearings. A copy of any written petition or motion which + +may not be heard ex parte and a copy of the notice of the hearing thereon +shall be served a reasonable time before the time specified for the hearing. + +(d) Additional Time after Service by Mail or E-mail. Florida Rule of +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.514(b) shall apply to the +computation of time following service, except for documents served by +formal notice or in the manner provided for service of formal notice. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule is derived from Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.090. +Rule History +1984 Revision: New rule. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes in (a) and (b). Subdivision (a) enlarged to + +include closing of the clerks office as a legal holiday. In Clara P. Diamond, +Inc. v. Tam-Bay Realty, Inc., 462 So. 2d 1168 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), the +Second District Court of Appeal suggested that Florida Rule of Civil + + + +Procedure 1.090(b) be clarified to leave no question that the court may not +extend the time for rehearing, appeal, or petition for certiorari regardless of +whether a request to enlarge the time therefor was made before the expiration +of the time allowed. Because the format of rule 5.042(b) was substantially the +same as the format of rule 1.090(b), subdivision (b) is amended to conform +for the sake of clarity. Committee notes revised. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Subdivision (d) amended to clarify exception to mailing + +rule for service of formal notice and service in the manner provided for +service of formal notice. Committee notes revised. + +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Subdivision (a) revised to refer to Rule 2.514 and delete + +duplicative provisions. Subdivision (d) revised to incorporate service by e- +mail and the filing and service of documents, rather than papers. Committee +notes revised. + +2016 Revision: Subdivision (d) revised to clarify that Florida Rule of +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.514(b) does not apply if a +document is served by formal notice or in the manner provided for service of +formal notice. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 683.01, Fla. Stat. Legal holidays. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 732.107, Fla. Stat. Escheat. + 732.2135, Fla. Stat. Time of election; extensions; withdrawal. + 732.402, Fla. Stat. Exempt property. + 732.901, Fla. Stat. Production of wills. + 733.104, Fla. Stat. Suspension of statutes of limitation in favor of the + +personal representative. + + + + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2121, Fla. Stat. Notice to creditors; filing of claims. + 733.701, Fla. Stat. Notifying creditors. + 733.702, Fla. Stat. Limitations on presentation of claims. + 733.705, Fla. Stat. Payment of and objection to claims. + 733.710, Fla. Stat. Limitations on claims against estates. + 733.816, Fla. Stat. Disposition of unclaimed property held by personal + +representatives. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040(a)(1) Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.150 Order requiring accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240 Notice of administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.241 Notice to creditors. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340(a)-(b) Inventory. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.345 Accountings other than personal representatives final + +accountings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.395 Notice of federal estate tax return. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 Distribution and discharge. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.700 Objections to guardianship reports. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.090 Time. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.514 Computing and extending time. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.043. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.043 + +RULE 5.043. DEPOSIT OF WILLS AND CODICILS. +Notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, and unless the court orders + +otherwise, any original executed will or codicil, including but not limited to +an electronic will, deposited with the court must be retained by the clerk in its +original form and must not be destroyed or disposed of by the clerk for 20 +years after submission regardless of whether the will or codicil has been +permanently recorded as defined by Florida Rule of General Practice and +Judicial Administration 2.430. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +2012 Adoption. Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial +Administration 2.525 requires that all documents be filed with the court +electronically. Although the Florida Statutes direct the deposit of a will, +rather than the filing of the will, the committee believes that original wills +and codicils should be retained in their original form longer than other +documents filed with the court due to the unique evidentiary aspects of the +actual document. These unique aspects could be lost forever if the original +document were converted to electronic form and the original destroyed. + +Rule History +2012 Revision: New Rule. +2020 Revision: Added reference to deposit of electronic wills consistent + +with section 732.526, Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.201(16), (40), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 732.526, Fla. Stat. Probate. + 732.901, Fla. Stat. Production of wills. +Rule References +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.430 Retention of court records. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.525 Electronic filing. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.050. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.050 + +RULE 5.050. TRANSFER OF PROCEEDINGS. +(a) Incorrect Venue. When any proceeding is filed laying venue in the + +wrong county, the court may transfer the proceeding in the same manner as +provided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Any action taken by the +court or the parties before the transfer is not affected because of the improper +venue. + +(b) Change of Residence of Ward. When the residence of a ward is +changed to another county, the guardian of the person or the guardian +advocate shall have the venue of the guardianship changed to the county of +the acquired residence. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Subdivision (b) of this rule represents a rule implementation of the +procedure found in section 744.1097(3), Florida Statutes. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Same as section 733.101(3), Florida Statutes. +1977 Revision: Title changed to indicate that the rule is one dealing with + +transfer. +1988 Revision: Prior rule renumbered as (a). New (b) is rule + +implementation of procedure in section 744.202(2), Florida Statutes. Editorial +changes. Committee notes expanded. Citation form changes in rule and +committee notes. + +1991 Revision: Editorial changes. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Change in (b) to add reference to guardian advocate. + +Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Committee notes revised to reflect renumbering of section + + + +744.202(3) to section 744.1097(3), Florida Statutes. Updated statutory +references. + +Statutory References +ch. 47, Fla. Stat. Venue. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 733.101, Fla. Stat. Venue of probate proceedings. + 744.106, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 744.1096, Fla. Stat. Domicile of ward. + 744.1097, Fla. Stat. Venue. + 744.1098, Fla. Stat. Change of wards residence. + 744.306, Fla. Stat. Foreign guardians. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.3201, Fla. Stat. Petition to determine incapacity. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200(d) Petition for administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240(b)(3), (d) Notice of administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.060 Transfers of actions. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.060. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 + +RULE 5.060. REQUEST FOR NOTICES AND COPIES OF +PLEADINGS. + +(a) Request. Any interested person who desires notice of proceedings in +the estate of a decedent or ward may file a separate written request for notice +of further proceedings, designating therein such persons residence and post +office address. When such persons residence or post office address changes, +a new designation of such change shall be filed in the proceedings. A person +filing such request, or address change, must serve a copy on the attorney for +the personal representative or guardian and include a certificate of service. + +(b) Notice and Copies. A party filing a request shall be served thereafter +by the moving party with notice of further proceedings and with copies of +subsequent pleadings and documents as long as the party is an interested +person. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: This rule substantially incorporates the provisions of prior + +rule 5.060 except that now a copy of the request shall be mailed by the clerk +only to the attorney for the personal representative or guardian. Even though +arequest under this rule has not been made, informal notice as provided in +rule 5.040(b)(3) may still be required. + +1977 Revision: Editorial and citation form change in committee note. +1980 Revision: Caveat, the personal representative may want to give notice + +to parties even though not required, for example, where an independent +action has been filed on an objected claim. + +1988 Revision: Captions added to subdivisions. Committee notes +expanded. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. + + + +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2013 Revision: Subdivisions (a) and (b) revised to reflect service of + +documents, rather than papers. Subdivision (a) revised to shift responsibility +for service of the request from the clerk to the interested person making the +request for notice and copies. Editorial changes to conform to the courts +guidelines for rule submissions as set forth in AOSC06-14. + +Statutory References + 731.201, Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 733.604, Fla. Stat. Inventories and accountings; public records + +exemptions. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 Inventory. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.341 Estate information. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.065. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.065 + +RULE 5.065. NOTICE OF CIVIL ACTION OR ANCILLARY +ADMINISTRATION. + +(a) Civil Action. A personal representative and a guardian shall file a +notice when a civil action has been instituted by or against the personal +representative or the guardian. The notice shall contain: + +(1) the names of the parties; +(2) the style of the court and the case number; +(3) the county and state where the proceeding is pending; +(4) the date of commencement of the proceeding; and +(5) a brief statement of the nature of the proceeding. + +(b) Ancillary Administration. The domiciliary personal representative +shall file a notice when an ancillary administration has commenced, which +notice shall contain: + +(1) the name and residence address of the ancillary personal +representative; and + +(2) the information required in subdivisions (a)(2), (3), and (4) above. +(c) Copies Exhibited. A copy of the initial pleading may be attached to the + +notice. To the extent an attached initial pleading states the required +information, the notice need not restate it. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule reflects a procedural requirement not founded on a statute or rule. +Rule History +1984 Revision: New rule. +1988 Revision: Committee notes expanded. +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Citation form changes in committee + +notes. + + + +2000 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to eliminate requirement to set +forth nature and value of ancillary assets. + +2020 Revision: Statutory references amended. +Statutory References + 733.612(20), Fla. Stat. Transactions authorized for the personal + +representative; exceptions. + 744.441(1)(k), Fla. Stat. Powers of guardian upon court approval. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.080. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.080 + +RULE 5.080. DISCOVERY AND SUBPOENA. +(a) Adoption of Civil Rules. The following Florida Rules of Civil + +Procedure shall apply in all probate and guardianship proceedings: +(1) Rule 1.280, general provisions governing discovery. +(2) Rule 1.290, depositions before action or pending appeal. +(3) Rule 1.300, persons before whom depositions may be taken. +(4) Rule 1.310, depositions upon oral examination. +(5) Rule 1.320, depositions upon written questions. +(6) Rule 1.330, use of depositions in court proceedings. +(7) Rule 1.340, interrogatories to parties. +(8) Rule 1.350, production of documents and things and entry upon land + +for inspection and other purposes. +(9) Rule 1.351, production of documents and things without deposition. +(10) Rule 1.360, examination of persons. +(11) Rule 1.370, requests for admission. +(12) Rule 1.380, failure to make discovery; sanctions. +(13) Rule 1.390, depositions of expert witnesses. +(14) Rule 1.410, subpoena. + +(b) Limitations and Costs. In order to conserve the assets of the estate, +the court has broad discretion to limit the scope and the place and manner of +the discovery and to assess the costs, including attorneys fees, of the +discovery against the party making it or against 1 or more of the beneficiaries +of the estate or against the ward in such proportions as the court determines, +considering, among other factors, the benefit derived therefrom. + +(c) Application. It is not necessary to have an adversary proceeding under +rule 5.025 to utilize the rules adopted in subdivision (a) above. Any interested +person may utilize the rules adopted in subdivision (a). + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Subdivision (b) is not intended to result in the assessment of costs, +including attorneys fees, in every instance in which discovery is sought. +Subdivision (c) is not intended to overrule the holdings in In re Estate of +Shaw, 340 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), and In re Estate of Posner, 492 +So. 2d 1093 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). + +Rule History +1975 Revision: This rule is the same as prior rule 5.080, broadened to + +include guardianships and intended to clearly permit the use of discovery +practices in nonadversary probate and guardianship matters. + +1977 Revision: Editorial change in citation form in committee note. +1984 Revision: Florida Rules of Civil Procedure 1.290, 1.300, 1.351, and + +1.410 have been added. +1988 Revision: Subdivision (a)(15) deleted as duplicative of rule 5.070 + +Subpoena. Editorial change in (b). Citation form change in committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +1996 Revision: Reference to rule 1.400 eliminated because of deletion of + +that rule from the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Editorial change. +2002 Revision: Reference to rule 1.410 transferred to subdivision (a) from + +former rule 5.070. Subdivision (b) amended to give court discretion to assess +attorneys fees. Subdivision (c) added. Committee notes revised. + +2006 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.451 has been added to + +subdivision (a). Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 733.106, Fla. Stat. Costs and attorneys fees. + 744.105, Fla. Stat. Costs. + + + + 744.108, Fla. Stat. Guardians and attorneys fees and expenses. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.535 Court reporting. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.095. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.095 + +RULE 5.095. GENERAL AND SPECIAL MAGISTRATES. +(a) General Magistrates. The court may appoint general magistrates as + +the court finds necessary. General magistrates shall be members of The +Florida Bar and shall continue in office until removed by the court. The order +making an appointment shall be recorded. Each general magistrate shall take +the oath required of officers by the Florida Constitution. The oath shall be +recorded before the magistrate begins to act. + +(b) Special Magistrates. The court may appoint members of The Florida +Bar as special magistrates for any particular service required by the court. +Special magistrates shall be governed by all laws and rules relating to general +magistrates, except special magistrates shall not be required to make oath +unless specifically required by the court. For good cause shown, the court +may appoint a person other than a member of The Florida Bar as a special +magistrate. + +(c) Reference. No referral shall be made to a magistrate without the +consent of the parties. When a referral is made to a magistrate, either party +may set the action for hearing before the magistrate. + +(d) General Powers and Duties. Every magistrate shall act under the +direction of the court. Process issued by a magistrate shall be directed as +provided by law. All grounds for disqualification of a judge shall apply to +magistrates. + +(e) Bond. When not otherwise provided by law, the court may require +magistrates who are appointed to dispose of real or personal property to give +bond and surety conditioned for the proper payment of all money that may +come into their hands and for the due performance of their duties. The bond +shall be made payable to the State of Florida and shall be for the benefit of all +persons aggrieved by any act of the magistrate. + +(f) Hearings. Hearings before any magistrate may be held in the county +where the action is pending or at any other place by order of the court for the +convenience of the witnesses or the parties. The magistrate shall assign a time +and place for proceedings as soon as reasonably possible after a referral is +made and give notice to all parties. If any party fails to appear, the magistrate + + + +may proceed ex parte or may continue the hearing to a future day, with notice +to the absent party. The magistrate shall proceed with reasonable diligence +and the least practicable delay. Any party may apply to the court for an order +directing the magistrate to accelerate the proceedings and to make a report +promptly. Evidence shall be taken in writing or by electronic recording by the +magistrate or by some other person under the magistrates authority in the +magistrates presence and shall be filed with the magistrates report. The +magistrate may examine and take testimony from the parties and their +witnesses under oath on all matters contained in the referral and may require +production of all books, papers, writings, vouchers, and other documents +applicable to those matters. The magistrate shall admit only evidence that +would be admissible in court. The magistrate may take all actions concerning +evidence that may be taken by the court. All parties accounting before a +magistrate shall bring in their accounts in the form of accounts payable and +receivable, and any other parties who are not satisfied with the account may +examine the accounting party orally or by interrogatories or deposition as the +magistrate directs. All depositions and documents that have been taken or +used previously in the action may be used before the magistrate. + +(g) Magistrates Report. The magistrates report shall contain a +description of the matters considered and the magistrates conclusion and any +recommendations. No part of any statement of facts, account, charge, +deposition, examination, or answer used before the magistrate shall be +recited. + +(h) Filing Report; Notice; Exceptions. The magistrate shall file the report +and serve copies on the parties. The parties may serve exceptions to the +report within 10 days from the time it is served on them. If no exceptions are +filed within that period, the court shall take appropriate action on the report. +All timely filed exceptions shall be heard on reasonable notice by either +party. + +(i) Application of Rule. This rule shall not apply to the appointment of +magistrates for the specific purpose of reviewing guardianship inventories, +accountings, and plans as otherwise governed by law and these rules. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History + + + +2007 Revision: This rule, patterned after Florida Rule of Civil Procedure +1.490, is created to implement the use of magistrates in probate and +guardianship proceedings other than those specifically addressed in rule +5.697. + +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.697 Magistrates review of guardianship inventories, + +accountings, and plans. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.490 Magistrates. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.100. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.100 + +RULE 5.100. RIGHT OF APPEAL. +Appeal of final orders and discretionary appellate review of non-final + +orders are governed by the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +For purposes of appellate review, the service of a motion for rehearing +postpones rendition of final orders only. A motion for rehearing of a non- +final order does not toll the running of the time to seek review of that order. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Same as prior rule 5.100 with editorial changes. +1977 Revision: Citation form change in committee note. +1988 Revision: Committee notes expanded. Citation form changes in rule + +and committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Citation form changes in committee + +notes. +1996 Revision: Superseded by Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure + +9.110(a)(2). +2000 Revision: Rewritten because former rule was superseded. Revisions + +to committee notes to amend text and to include cross-references to other +rules. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020(d) Pleadings; verifications; motions. +Fla. R. App. P. 9.020(h) Definitions. +Fla. R. App. P. 9.110(a)(2), (b) Appeal proceedings to review final orders + +of lower tribunals and orders granting new trial in jury and non-jury cases. +Fla. R. App. P. 9.130(b) Proceedings to review non-final orders and + + + +specified final orders. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.110. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.110 + +RULE 5.110. ADDRESS DESIGNATION FOR PERSONAL +REPRESENTATIVE OR GUARDIAN; DESIGNATION OF +RESIDENT AGENT AND ACCEPTANCE. + +(a) Address Designation of Personal Representative or Guardian. +Before letters are issued, the personal representative or guardian must file a +designation of street address, and mailing address. If the personal +representative or guardian is an individual, the designation must also include +the individuals residence address. The personal representative or guardian +must notify the court of any change in its residence address, street address, or +mailing address within 20 days of the change. + +(b) Designation of Resident Agent. Before letters are issued, a personal +representative or guardian must file a designation of resident agent for service +of process or notice, and the acceptance by the resident agent. A designation +of resident agent is not required if a personal representative or guardian is (1) +a corporate fiduciary having an office in Florida, or (2) a Florida Bar member +who is a resident of and has an office in Florida. The designation must +contain the name, street address, and mailing address of the resident agent. If +the resident agent is an individual who is not an attorney, the designation +must also include the individuals residence address. + +(c) Residency Requirement. A resident agent, other than a member of +The Florida Bar who is a resident of Florida, must be a resident of the county +where the proceedings are pending. + +(d) Acceptance by Resident Agent. The resident agent must sign a +written acceptance of designation. + +(e) Incorporation in Other Pleadings. The designation of the address of +the personal representative or guardian, the designation of resident agent, or +acceptance may be incorporated in the petition for administration, the petition +for appointment of guardian, or the personal representatives or guardians +oath. + +(f) Effect of Designation and Acceptance. The designation of and +acceptance by the resident agent shall constitute consent to service of process +or notice on the agent and shall be sufficient to bind the personal + + + +representative or guardian: +(1) in its representative capacity in any action; and +(2) in its personal capacity only in those actions in which the personal + +representative or guardian is sued personally for claims arising from the +administration of the estate or guardianship. +(g) Successor Agent. If the resident agent dies, resigns, or is unable to act + +for any other reason, the personal representative or guardian must appoint a +successor agent within 10 days after receiving notice that such event has +occurred. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Change in committee note to conform to statutory + +renumbering. +Substantially the same as prior rule 5.210, except that under prior rule, + +designation was required to be filed within 10 days after letters issued. +1984 Revision: Captions added to subdivisions. New subdivision (b) + +added. Requires filing acceptance at the same time as filing designation. +Committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Change in (c) to clarify that the personal representative, if a +member of The Florida Bar, may not also serve as resident agent for service +of process or notice. Citation form change in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2000 Revision: Extensive editorial changes to rule. Rule reformatted for +clarity and revised to permit an attorney serving as resident agent to designate +a business address in lieu of a residence address. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to require the personal + +representative or guardian to notify the court of any change of address to + + + +facilitate timely communication with the personal representative or guardian. +2013 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to limit to individuals the + +requirement that the guardian or personal representative provide a +designation of residence address, excluding corporate fiduciaries. Editorial +changes to conform to the courts guidelines for rules submissions as set forth +in AOSC06-14. + +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 Petition for administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.320 Oath of personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.560 Petition for appointment of guardian of an + +incapacitated person. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.120. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.120 + +RULE 5.120. ADMINISTRATOR AD LITEM AND GUARDIAN AD +LITEM. + +(a) Appointment. When it is necessary that the estate of a decedent or a +ward be represented in any probate or guardianship proceeding and there is +no personal representative of the estate or guardian of the ward, or the +personal representative or guardian is or may be interested adversely to the +estate or ward, or is enforcing the personal representatives or guardians own +debt or claim against the estate or ward, or the necessity arises otherwise, the +court may appoint an administrator ad litem or a guardian ad litem, as the +case may be, without bond or notice for that particular proceeding. At any +point in a proceeding, a court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent +the interests of an incapacitated person, an unborn or unascertained person, a +minor or any other person otherwise under a legal disability, a person with a +developmental disability, or a person whose identity or address is unknown, +if the court determines that representation of the interest otherwise would be +inadequate. If not precluded by conflict of interest, a guardian ad litem may +be appointed to represent several persons or interests. The administrator ad +litem or guardian ad litem shall file an oath to discharge all duties faithfully +and upon the filing shall be qualified to act. No process need be served upon +the administrator ad litem or guardian ad litem, but such person shall appear +and defend as directed by the court. + +(b) Petition. The petition for appointment of a guardian ad litem shall state +to the best of petitioners information and belief: + +(1) the initials and residence address of each minor, person with a +developmental disability, or incapacitated person and year of birth of each +minor who has an interest in the proceedings; + +(2) the name and address of any guardian appointed for each minor, +person with a developmental disability, or incapacitated person; + +(3) the name and residence address of any living natural guardians or +living natural guardian having legal custody of each minor, person with a +developmental disability, or incapacitated person; + +(4) a description of the interest in the proceedings of each minor, person + + + +with a developmental disability, or incapacitated person; and +(5) the facts showing the necessity for the appointment of a guardian ad + +litem. +(c) Notice. Within 10 days after appointment, the petitioner shall serve + +conformed copies of the petition for appointment of a guardian ad litem and +order to any guardian, or if there is no guardian, to the living natural +guardians or the living natural guardian having legal custody of the minor, +person with a developmental disability, or incapacitated person. + +(d) Report. The guardian ad litem shall serve conformed copies of any +written report or finding of the guardian ad litems investigation and answer +filed in the proceedings, petition for compensation and discharge, and the +notice of hearing on the petition to any guardian, or in the event that there is +no guardian, to the living natural guardians or the living natural guardian +having legal custody of the minor, person with a developmental disability, or +incapacitated person. + +(e) Service of Petition and Order. Within 10 days after appointment, the +petitioner for an administrator ad litem shall serve conformed copies of the +petition for appointment and order to the attorney of record of each +beneficiary and to each known beneficiary not represented by an attorney of +record. + +(f) Enforcement of Judgments. When an administrator ad litem or +guardian ad litem recovers any judgment or other relief, it shall be enforced +as other judgments. Execution shall issue in favor of the administrator ad +litem or guardian ad litem for the use of the estate or ward and the money +collected shall be paid to the personal representative or guardian, or as +otherwise ordered by the court. + +(g) Claim of Personal Representative. The fact that the personal +representative is seeking reimbursement for claims against the decedent paid +by the personal representative does not require appointment of an +administrator ad litem. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History + + + +1977 Revision: Editorial change in (a) limiting application of rule to +probate and guardianship proceedings. In (b) the petition for appointment of a +guardian need not be verified. Deletion of (g) as being substantive rather than +procedural and changing former (h) to new (g). Change in committee note to +conform to statutory renumbering. + +This rule implements sections 731.303(5), 733.308, and 744.391, Florida +Statutes, and includes some of the provisions of prior rule 5.230. + +1988 Revision: Editorial changes; captions added to paragraphs. Citation +form changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Addition of phrase in subdivision (a) to conform to 1992 +amendment to section 731.303(5), Florida Statutes. Editorial changes. +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2006 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (d) amended to include + +persons with a developmental disability. Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: The phrase deliver or mail in subdivisions (c), (d), and + +(e) has been replaced with the word serve to comply with other rules +relating to service of pleadings and documents. Committee notes revised. + +2014 Revision: Amends subdivision (b)(1) to conform to Florida Rule of +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425. Committee notes revised. + +2020 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 731.303, Fla. Stat. Representation. + 733.308, Fla. Stat. Administrator ad litem. + 733.708, Fla. Stat. Compromise. + 744.3025, Fla. Stat. Claims of minors. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + + + + 744.387, Fla. Stat. Settlement of claims. + 744.391, Fla. Stat. Actions by and against guardian or ward. + 744.446, Fla. Stat. Conflicts of interest; prohibited activities; court + +approval; breach of fiduciary duty. + 985.43, Fla. Stat. Predisposition reports; other evaluations. + 985.441, Fla. Stat. Commitment. + 985.455, Fla. Stat. Other dispositional issues. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.122. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.122 + +RULE 5.122. CURATORS. +(a) Petition for Appointment. The petition for appointment of a curator + +shall be verified and shall contain: +(1) the petitioners name, address, and interest, if any, in the estate; +(2) the decedents name, address, date and place of death, and state and + +county of domicile; +(3) the names and addresses of the persons apparently entitled to letters + +of administration and any known beneficiaries; +(4) the nature and approximate value of the assets; +(5) a statement showing venue; +(6) a statement as to why a curator should be appointed; and +(7) the name and address of any proposed curator. + +The court may appoint a curator sua sponte. +(b) Appointment. Before letters of curatorship are issued, the curator shall + +file a designation of resident agent and acceptance, and an oath, as is required +for personal representatives under these rules. The court shall issue letters of +curatorship that shall entitle the curator to possess or control the decedents +property, which the court may enforce through contempt proceedings. + +(c) Notice. Formal notice shall be given to the person apparently entitled to +letters, if any. If it is likely that the decedents property will be wasted, +destroyed, or removed beyond the jurisdiction of the court and if the +appointment of a curator would be delayed by giving notice, the court may +appoint a curator without notice. + +(d) Powers. By order, the court may authorize the curator to perform any +duty or function of a personal representative, including publication and +service of notice to creditors, or if a will has been admitted, service of notice +of administration. + +(e) Inventory and Accounting. The curator shall file an inventory within +30 days after issuance of letters of curatorship. When the personal + + + +representative is appointed, the curator shall account for and deliver all estate +assets in the curators possession to the personal representative within 30 +days after issuance of letters of administration. + +(f) Petition to Reconsider. If a curator has been appointed without notice, +any interested party who did not receive notice may, at any time, petition to +reconsider the appointment. + +(g) Subject to Other Provisions. Curators shall be subject to the +provisions of these rules and other applicable law concerning personal +representatives. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule implements the procedure found in section 733.501, Florida +Statutes, as amended in 1997 and 2001. The rule has been modified, in part, +to reflect the addition of new rule 5.241 regarding notice to creditors. +Because the fundamental concern of curatorship is protection of estate +property, the procedure facilitates speed and flexibility while recognizing due +process concerns. It is not intended that this rule change the effect of the +statute from which it has been derived, but the rule has been reformatted to +conform to the structure of these rules. Furthermore, the Committee does not +intend to create a new procedure, except that subdivision (d) specifies certain +acts that the court may authorize the curator to perform. This specificity of +example, while not included in the statute, is not intended to limit the +authorized acts to those specified in the rule. The appointment of a curator +without notice is tantamount to a temporary injunction. Thus, due process +considerations suggest an expedited hearing to reconsider the appointment of +a curator by any interested party who did not receive notice. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Citation form changes in committee + +notes. +2003 Revision: Extensive changes to rule to clarify procedure for + +appointment of curator. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + + + + 733.402, Fla. Stat. Bond of fiduciary; when required; form. + 733.501, Fla. Stat. Curators. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.150. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.150 + +RULE 5.150. ORDER REQUIRING ACCOUNTING. +(a) Accountings Required by Statute. When any personal representative + +or guardian fails to file an accounting or return required by statute or rule, the +court on its own motion or on the petition of an interested person shall order +the personal representative or guardian to file the accounting or return within +15 days from the service on the personal representative or guardian of the +order, or show cause why he or she should not be compelled to do so. + +(b) Accountings Not Required by Statute. On the petition of an +interested person, or on its own motion, the court may require the personal +representative or guardian to file an accounting or return not otherwise +required by statute or rule. The order requiring an accounting or return shall +order the personal representative or guardian to file the accounting or return +within a specified time from service on the personal representative or +guardian of the order, or show cause why he or she should not be compelled +to do so. + +(c) Service. A copy of the order shall be served on the personal +representative or guardian and the personal representatives or guardians +attorney. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The court on its motion or on petition of an interested person may require a +personal representative or guardian to file an accounting or return not +otherwise required by statute. + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Change in committee notes. +1984 Revision: Extensive editorial changes. Committee notes revised and + +expanded. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. + + + +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 38.22, Fla. Stat. Power to punish contempts. + 38.23, Fla. Stat. Contempts defined. + 393.12(2)(h), Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 733.5036, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge following resignation. + 733.508, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge of removed personal + +representatives upon removal. + 783.901, Fla. Stat. Final discharge. +ch. 738, Fla. Stat. Principal and income. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. + 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. + 744.3685, Fla. Stat. Order requiring guardianship report; contempt. + 744.369, Fla. Stat. Judicial review of guardianship reports. + 744.467, Fla. Stat. Resignation of guardian. + 744.511, Fla. Stat. Accounting upon removal. + 744.517, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for contempt. + 744.521, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship. + 744.524, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship on change of domicile of + +resident ward. + 744.527, Fla. Stat. Final reports and applications for discharge; hearing. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.650 Resignation or disqualification of guardian; + +appointment of successor. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.660 Proceedings for removal of guardian. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.670 Termination of guardianship on change of domicile of +resident ward. + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.680 Termination of guardianship. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.695 Annual guardianship report. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.696 Annual accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.697 Magistrates review of guardianship accountings and + +plans. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.160. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.160 + +RULE 5.160. PRODUCTION OF ASSETS. +On the petition of an interested person, or on its own motion, the court may + +require any personal representative or guardian to produce satisfactory +evidence that the assets of the estate are in the possession or under the control +of the personal representative or guardian and may order production of the +assets in the manner and for the purposes directed by the court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Change in committee notes. +1984 Revision: Minor editorial changes. Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes Committee notes revised. +Statutory Reference + 744.373, Fla. Stat. Production of property. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.170. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.170 + +RULE 5.170. EVIDENCE. +In proceedings under the Florida Probate Code and the Florida + +Guardianship Law the rules of evidence in civil actions are applicable unless +specifically changed by the Florida Probate Code, the Florida Guardianship +Law, or these rules. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History. +1977 Revision: New rule. +1984 Revision: To further clarify the intent of the rule to incorporate the + +provisions of the Florida Evidence Code (chapter 90, Florida Statutes) when +not in conflict with the Florida Probate Code or Florida Guardianship Law, or +rules applicable to these particular proceedings. + +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References. +ch. 90, Fla. Stat. Florida Evidence Code. + 733.107, Fla. Stat. Burden of proof in contests; presumption of undue + +influence. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.171. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.171 + +RULE 5.171. EVIDENCE OF DEATH. +In a proceeding under these rules, the following shall apply: +(a) Death certificate. An authenticated copy of a death certificate issued + +by an official or agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred or +by an official or agency of the United States is prima facie proof of the fact, +place, date, and time of death and the identity of the decedent. + +(b) Other records. A copy of any record or report of a governmental +agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is dead, alive, missing, detained, +or, from the facts related, presumed dead is prima facie evidence of the status, +dates, circumstances, and places disclosed by the record or report. + +(c) Extended absence. A person who is absent from the place of that +persons last known domicile for a continuous period of 5 years and whose +absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search and inquiry is +presumed dead. The persons death is presumed to have occurred at the end +of the period unless there is evidence establishing that death occurred earlier. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure found in +section 731.103, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of the +statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform with +the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure or +modify an existing procedure, except that additional language has been added +which was not in the statute, to permit issuance of a death certificate by an +official or agency of the United States. An example would be such a +certificate issued by the Department of State or the Department of Defense. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +Statutory References + + + + 731.103, Fla. Stat. Evidence as to death or status. + 744.521, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205 Filing evidence of death. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.680 Termination of guardianship. + + + + Pt. I. , Rule 5.180. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 + +RULE 5.180. WAIVER AND CONSENT. +(a) Manner of Execution. A waiver or consent as authorized by law shall + +be in writing and signed by the person executing the waiver or consent. +(b) Contents. The waiver or consent shall state: + +(1) the persons interest in the subject of the waiver or consent; +(2) if the person is signing in a fiduciary or representative capacity, the + +nature of the capacity; +(3) expressly what is being waived or consented to; and +(4) if the waiver pertains to compensation, language declaring that the + +waiving party has actual knowledge of the amount and manner of +determining the compensation and, in addition, either: + +(A) that the party has agreed to the amount and manner of +determining that compensation and waives any objection to payment; or + +(B) that the party has the right to petition the court to determine the +compensation and waives that right. + +(c) Filing. The waiver or consent shall be filed. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +One person who serves in two fiduciary capacities may not waive or +consent to the persons acts without the approval of those whom the person +represents. This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure found +in section 731.302, Florida Statutes. + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Extends right of waiver to natural guardian; clarifies right + +to waive service of notice of administration. +1984 Revision: Extends waiver to disclosure of compensation and + +distribution of assets. Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Procedure from section 731.302, Florida Statutes, inserted + + + +as new (1)(f), and a new requirement that the waiver be in writing has been +added. Editorial changes. Committee notes expanded. Citation form changes +in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Addition of specific fee waiver disclosure requirements +found in 733.6171(9), Florida Statutes, and expanded to cover all fees. +Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2006 Revision: Rule extensively amended to remove references to + +interested persons right to waive or consent, which is governed by section +731.302, Florida Statutes, and to address manner of execution and contents of +waiver. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 731.302, Fla. Stat. Waiver and consent by interested person. + 731.303, Fla. Stat. Representation. + 733.6171, Fla. Stat. Compensation of attorney for the personal + +representative. + + + + Pt. II. +Fla. Prob. R., Pt. II + + + +PART II. PROBATE + Pt. II. , Rule 5.200. + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 + +RULE 5.200. PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATION. +The petition for administration shall be verified by the petitioner and shall + +contain: +(a) a statement of the interest of the petitioner, the petitioners name and + +address, and the name and office address of the petitioners attorney; +(b) the name and last known address of the decedent, last 4 digits of the + +decedents social security number, date and place of death of the decedent, +and state and county of the decedents domicile; + +(c) so far as is known, the names and addresses of the surviving spouse, if +any, the beneficiaries and their relationship to the decedent and the year of +birth of any beneficiaries who are minors; + +(d) a statement showing venue; +(e) the priority, under section 733.301, Florida Statutes, of the person + +whose appointment as the personal representative is sought, whether or not +any other person has equal or higher preference, and if so, their name and +whether they will be served with formal notice, and a statement that the +person is qualified to serve under the laws of Florida; + +(f) a statement whether domiciliary or principal proceedings are pending in +another state or country, if known, and the name and address of the foreign +personal representative and the court issuing letters; + +(g) a statement of the approximate value and nature of the assets; +(h) in an intestate estate, a statement that after the exercise of reasonable + +diligence the petitioner is unaware of any unrevoked wills or codicils, or if +the petitioner is aware of any unrevoked wills or codicils, a statement why +the wills or codicils are not being probated; + +(i) in a testate estate, a statement identifying all unrevoked wills +and codicils being presented for probate, and a statement that the + + + +petitioner is unaware of any other unrevoked wills or codicils or, if +the petitioner is aware of any other unrevoked wills or codicils, a +statement why the other wills or codicils are not being probated; + +(j) in a testate estate, a statement that the original of the decedents last will +is in the possession of the court or accompanies the petition, or that an +authenticated copy of a will deposited with or probated in another jurisdiction +or that an authenticated copy of a notarial will, the original of which is in the +possession of a foreign notary, accompanies the petition; and + +(k) a statement that the personal representative seeking appointment is +qualified to serve under the laws of Florida as a business entity under section +733.305, Florida Statutes, or, if an individual, that the person is qualified to +serve under the laws of Florida, including: + +(1) whether the person has been convicted of a felony; +(2) whether the person has been convicted in any state or foreign + +jurisdiction of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly person or a +disabled adult, as those terms are defined in section 825.101, Florida +Statutes; + +(3) that the person is mentally and physically able to perform the duties +of a personal representative; + +(4) that the person is 18 years of age or older; and +(5) whether the person is a resident of Florida and, if not a resident, a + +statement of the persons relationship to the decedent in accordance with +section 733.304, Florida Statutes. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Addition to (b)(5) to require an affirmative statement that + +the person sought to be appointed as personal representative is qualified to +serve. Committee note expanded to include additional statutory references. + +Substantially the same as section 733.202, Florida Statutes, and +implementing sections 733.301 through 733.305, Florida Statutes. + +1988 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. + + + +1992 Revision: Addition of phrase in subdivision (b) to conform to 1992 +amendment to section 733.202(2)(b), Florida Statutes. Reference to clerk +ascertaining the amount of the filing fee deleted in subdivision (g) because of +repeal of sliding scale of filing fees. The remaining language was deemed +unnecessary. Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2002 Revision: Addition of phrases in subdivision (j) to add references to +wills probated in Florida where the original is in the possession of a foreign +official. Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Editorial changes in (h) and (i). +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Editorial change in (e) to clarify reference to Florida + +Probate Code. +2011 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to limit listing of decedents + +social security number to last four digits. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2014 Revision: Subdivision (c) amended to conform to Florida Rule of + +General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425. Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Subdivision (e) amended to require a statement identifying + +any other person who has equal or higher preference than the petitioner for +the appointment of a personal representative under section 733.301, Florida +Statutes. Subdivision (k) adopted to require a statement of the specific facts +that show the petitioners qualifications to serve as personal representative +under sections 733.303 and 733.304, Florida Statutes. + +2020 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +2021 Revision: Subdivision (k) amended to require a statement as to +whether the personal representative seeking appointment has been convicted +of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult. + +Statutory References + + + + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 732.522, Fla. Stat. Method and place of execution. + 732.526, Fla. Stat. Probate. + 733.202, Fla. Stat. Petition. + 733.301, Fla. Stat. Preference in appointment of personal representative. + 733.302, Fla. Stat. Who may be appointed personal representative. + 733.303, Fla. Stat. Persons not qualified. + 733.304, Fla. Stat. Nonresidents. + 733.305, Fla. Stat. Trust companies and other corporations and + +associations. + 825.101, Fla. Stat. Definitions. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.201 Notice of petition for administration. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.201. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.201 + +RULE 5.201. NOTICE OF PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATION. +(a) Petitioner Entitled to Preference of Appointment. Except as may + +otherwise be required by these rules or the Florida Probate Code, no notice +need be given of the petition for administration or the issuance of letters +when it appears that the petitioner is entitled to preference of appointment as +personal representative. + +(b) Petitioner Not Entitled to Preference. Before letters shall be issued to +any person who is not entitled to preference, formal notice must be served on +all known persons qualified to act as personal representative and entitled to +preference equal to or greater than the applicant, unless those entitled to +preference waive it in writing. + +(c) Service of Petition by Formal Notice. If the petitioner elects or is +required to serve formal notice of the petition for administration prior to the +issuance of letters, a copy of the will offered for probate must be attached to +the notice. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History. +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure formerly found + +in section 733.203(2), Florida Statutes, which was repealed as procedural in +2001. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Subdivision (c) added to require service of a copy of the + +will offered for probate. This requirement was included in section 733.2123, +Florida Statutes, but was removed in 2010 because it was deemed to be a +procedural requirement. Committee notes revised. Editorial changes. + + + +Statutory References + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2123, Fla. Stat. Adjudication before issuance of letters. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 Petition for administration. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.205. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205 + +RULE 5.205. FILING EVIDENCE OF DEATH. +(a) Requirements for Filing. A copy of an official record of the death of a + +decedent shall be filed by the personal representative, if any, or the petitioner +in each of the following proceedings and at the times specified: + +(1) Administration of decedents estate: not later than 3 months +following the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors. + +(2) Ancillary proceedings: not later than 3 months following the date of +first publication of notice to creditors. + +(3) Summary administration: at any time prior to entry of the order of +summary administration. + +(4) Disposition without administration: at the time of filing the +application for disposition without administration. + +(5) Determination of beneficiaries: at any time prior to entry of the final +judgment determining beneficiaries. + +(6) Determination of protected homestead: at any time prior to entry of +the final judgment determining protected homestead status of real property. + +(7) Probate of will without administration: at any time prior to entry of +the order admitting will to probate. +(b) Waiver. On verified petition by the personal representative, if any, or + +the petitioner the court may enter an order dispensing with this rule, without +notice or hearing. + +(c) Authority to Require Filing. The court may, without notice or +hearing, enter an order requiring the personal representative, if any, or the +petitioner to file a copy of an official record of death at any time during the +proceedings. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +A short form certificate of death, which does not disclose the cause of +death, should be filed. + + + +Rule History +1980 Revision: This rule is intended to provide a uniform procedure for + +filing an official record of death in any judicial or statutory proceeding upon +the death of a decedent. The court may, upon ex parte application, waive +compliance with this rule or require filing at any stage in the proceedings. + +1984 Revision: Captions and minor editorial changes. Committee notes +revised. + +1988 Revision: Editorial and substantive changes. Adds (a)(8) to require +filing when will is admitted to probate without administration of the estate or +an order disposing of property. Committee notes revised. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2002 Revision: Replaces homestead with protected homestead in (a) +(7) to conform to addition of term in section 731.201(29), Florida Statutes. +Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Revises subdivision (a)(1) to change notice of +administration to notice to creditors. Deletes subdivision (a)(3) referring to +family administration, and renumbers subsequent subdivisions. Committee +notes revised. + +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 28.222(3)(g), Fla. Stat. Clerk to be county recorder. + 382.008(6), Fla. Stat. Death and fetal death registration. + 731.103, Fla. Stat. Evidence as to death or status. + 733.2121, Fla. Stat. Notice to creditors; filing of claims. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042(a) Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.171 Evidence of death. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.241 Notice to creditors. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.210. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.210 + +RULE 5.210. PROBATE OF WILLS WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION. +(a) Petition and Contents. A petition to admit a decedents will to probate + +without administration shall be verified by the petitioner and shall contain: +(1) a statement of the interest of the petitioner, the petitioners name and + +address, and the name and office address of the petitioners attorney; +(2) the name and last known address of the decedent, last 4 digits of the + +decedents social security number, date and place of death of the decedent, +and state and county of the decedents domicile; + +(3) so far as is known, the names and addresses of the surviving spouse, +if any, the beneficiaries and their relationships to the decedent, and the +name and year of birth of any who are minors; + +(4) a statement showing venue; +(5) a statement whether domiciliary or principal proceedings are pending + +in another state or country, if known, and the name and address of the +foreign personal representative and the court issuing letters; + +(6) a statement that there are no assets subject to administration in +Florida; + +(7) a statement identifying all unrevoked wills and codicils being +presented for probate and a statement that the petitioner is unaware of any +other unrevoked wills or codicils or, if the petitioner is aware of any other +unrevoked wills or codicils, a statement why the other wills or codicils are +not being probated; and + +(8) a statement that the original of the decedents last will is in the +possession of the court or accompanies the petition, or that an +authenticated copy of a will deposited with or probated in another +jurisdiction or that an authenticated copy of a notarial will, the original of +which is in the possession of a foreign notary, accompanies the petition. +(b) Service. The petitioner shall serve a copy of the petition on those + +persons who would be entitled to service under rule 5.240. + + + +(c) Objections. Objections to the validity of the will shall follow the form +and procedure set forth in these rules pertaining to revocation of probate. +Objections to the venue or jurisdiction of the court shall follow the form and +procedure set forth in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. + +(d) Order. An order admitting the will to probate shall include a finding +that the will has been executed as required by law. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Examples illustrating when a will might be admitted to probate are when +an instrument (such as a will or trust agreement) gives the decedent a power +exercisable by will, such as the power to appoint a successor trustee or a +testamentary power of appointment. In each instance, the will of the person +holding the power has no legal significance until admitted to probate. There +may be no assets, creditors issues, or other need for a probate beyond +admitting the will to establish the exercise or non-exercise of such powers. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Proof of will may be taken by any Florida circuit judge or + +clerk without issuance of commission. +1984 Revision: This rule has been completely revised to set forth the + +procedure for proving all wills except lost or destroyed wills and the title +changed. The rule requires an oath attesting to the statutory requirements for +execution of wills and the will must be proved before an order can be entered +admitting it to probate. Former rules 5.280, 5.290, and 5.500 are included in +this rule. Committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Editorial and substantive changes. Change in (a)(3) to +clarify which law determines validity of a notarial will; change in (a)(4) to +clarify requirement that will of a Florida resident must comply with Florida +law; adds new subdivision (b) to set forth required contents of petition for +probate of will; moves former (b) to (c). Committee notes expanded; citation +form change in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Subdivision (a)(4) changed to allow authenticated copies of + + + +wills to be admitted to probate if the original is filed or deposited in another +jurisdiction. + +2002 Revision: Substantial revision to the rule setting forth the +requirements of a petition to admit a will to probate when administration is +not required. Self proof of wills is governed by the Florida Statutes. Former +subdivision (a)(4) amended and transferred to new rule 5.215. Former +subdivision (a)(5) amended and transferred to new rule 5.216. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Existing text redesignated as subdivision (a) and editorial + +change made in (a)(7). New subdivisions (b) and (c) added to provide for +service of the petition and the procedure for objections consistent with the +procedures for probate of a will with administration. Committee notes +revised. + +2010 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to reflect that service of the +petition to admit a decedents will to probate without administration shall be +served on the persons who would be entitled to service of the notice of +administration in a formal administration as set forth in rule 5.240. New +subdivision (d) added to provide that any order admitting the decedents will +to probate without administration contain a finding that the will was executed +as required by law. Committee notes revised. + +2011 Revision: Subdivision (a)(2) amended to limit listing of decedents +social security number to last four digits. + +2014 Revision: Subdivision (a)(3) amended to conform to Fla. R. Gen. +Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425. Committee notes revised.. Committee notes +revised. + +2020 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +Statutory References + 731.201, Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 732.502, Fla. Stat. Execution of wills. + 732.503, Fla. Stat. Self-proof of will. + + + + 732.523, Fla. Stat. Self-proof of electronic will. + 732.526, Fla. Stat. Probate. + 733.103, Fla. Stat. Effect of probate. + 733.201, Fla. Stat. Proof of wills. + 733.202, Fla. Stat. Petition. + 733.204, Fla. Stat. Probate of a will written in a foreign language. + 733.205, Fla. Stat. Probate of notarial will. + 733.206, Fla. Stat. Probate of will of resident after foreign probate. + 733.207, Fla. Stat. Establishment and probate of lost or destroyed will. + 734.104, Fla. Stat. Foreign wills; admission to record; effect on title. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.015 General definitions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings, verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(7) Filing evidence of death. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.215 Authenticated copy of will. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.216 Will written in foreign language. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.230 Commission to prove will. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240 Notice of administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.270 Revocation of probate. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.215. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.215 + +RULE 5.215. AUTHENTICATED COPY OF WILL. +An authenticated copy of a will may be admitted to probate if the original + +could be admitted to probate in Florida. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2002 Revision: New rule, derived from former rule 5.210(a)(4). +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2020 Revision. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 732.523, Fla. Stat. Self-proof of electronic will. + 732.526, Fla. Stat. Probate. + 733.205, Fla. Stat. Probate of notarial will. + 733.206, Fla. Stat. Probate of will of resident after foreign probate. + 734.102, Fla. Stat. Ancillary administration. + 734.1025, Fla. Stat. Nonresident decedents testate estate with property + +not exceeding $50,000 in this state; determination of claims. + 734.104, Fla. Stat. Foreign wills; admission to record; effect on title. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 Petition for administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.210 Probate of wills without administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.470 Ancillary administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.475 Ancillary administration, short form. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.216. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.216 + +RULE 5.216. WILL WRITTEN IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE. +A will written in a foreign language being offered for probate shall be + +accompanied by a true and complete English translation. In the order +admitting the foreign language will to probate, the court shall establish the +correct English translation. At any time during administration, any interested +person may have the correctness of the translation redetermined after formal +notice to all other interested persons. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2002 Revision: New rule, derived from former rule 5.210(a)(5) and section + +733.204(2), Florida Statutes. +Statutory Reference + 733.204, Fla. Stat. Probate of a will written in a foreign language. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.230. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.230 + +RULE 5.230. COMMISSION TO PROVE WILL. +(a) Petition. On petition the court may appoint a commissioner to take the + +oath of any person qualified to prove the will under Florida law. The petition +must set forth the date of the will and the place where it was executed, if +known; the names of the witnesses and address of the witness whose oath is +to be taken; and the name, title, and address of the proposed commissioner. + +(b) Commission. The commission must be directed to a person who is +authorized to administer an oath by the laws of Florida, the United States of +America, or the state or country where the witness may be found, and it shall +empower the commissioner to take the oath of the witness to prove the will +and shall direct the commissioner to certify the oath and file the executed +commission, copy of the will, oath of the witness, and certificate of +commissioner. An oath of the commissioner is not required. + +(c) Mailing or Delivery. The petitioner or the petitioners attorney must +cause the commission, together with a copy of the will, the oath, and the +certificate of commissioner, to be mailed or delivered to the commissioner. + +(d) Filing. The executed commission, copy of the will, oath of the witness, +and certificate of commissioner must be filed. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Substantially the same as prior rule 5.130(a) and (b) and + +carries forward prior procedures as to a matter upon which Florida Probate +Code is silent. + +1984 Revision: This rule has been completely changed to set forth the +procedure for the issuance and return of a commission. The rule has been +broadened to allow anyone authorized by Florida Statutes or by the U.S. +Code to be a commissioner as well as those authorized by the state or country +where the witness resides. + +The rule now provides that the petitioner or his attorney shall forward the + + + +commission to the commissioner. The rule also contemplates that a Florida +notary may be appointed as commissioner to take the proof of a witness +outside the State of Florida. Committee notes revised and expanded. + +1988 Revision. Editorial and substantive changes. Change in (a) to provide +that commissioner may take the oath of not only the attesting witness to the +will but also the oath of any other person qualified to prove the will; change +in (c) to permit copies other than photographic copies to be furnished to the +commissioner, and to permit delivery of documents in a manner other than by +mailing; change in (d) to require the filing of documents with the court. +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in rule and committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2013 Revision: Subdivision (e) deleted because it duplicates subdivision + +(d) in Rule 5.240. Committee notes revised. Editorial changes to conform to +the courts guidelines for rules submissions as set forth in AOSC06-14. + +2020 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 92.50, Fla. Stat. Oaths, affidavits, and acknowledgments; who may take + +or administer; requirements. + 117.215, Fla. Stat. Relation to other laws. + 733.101, Fla. Stat. Venue of probate proceedings. + 732.522, Fla. Stat. Method and place of execution. + 732.523, Fla. Stat. Self-proof of electronic will. + 733.201, Fla. Stat. Proof of wills. +22 U.S.C. 4215 Notarial acts, oaths, affirmations, affidavits, and + +depositions; fees. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.050 Transfer of proceedings. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.060 Transfers of actions. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.235. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.235 + +RULE 5.235. ISSUANCE OF LETTERS, BOND. +(a) Appointment of Personal Representative. After the petition for + +administration is filed and the will, if any, is admitted to probate: +(1) the court shall appoint the person entitled and qualified to be + +personal representative; +(2) the court shall determine the amount of any bond required. The clerk + +may approve the bond in the amount determined by the court; and +(3) any required oath or designation of, and acceptance by, a resident + +agent shall be filed. +(b) Issuance of Letters. Upon compliance with all of the foregoing, letters + +shall be issued to the personal representative. +(c) Bond. On petition by any interested person or on the courts own + +motion, the court may waive the requirement of filing a bond, require a +personal representative or curator to give bond, increase or decrease the bond, +or require additional surety. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure formerly found +in sections 733.401 and 733.403(2), Florida Statutes, both of which were +repealed in 2001. It is not intended to change the effect of the statutes from +which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform with the structure +of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure or modify an +existing procedure. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +1996 Revision: Mandate in subdivision (a)(2) prohibiting charge of service + +fee by clerk deleted. Statutory references added. + + + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 28.24(19), Fla. Stat. Service charges by clerk of the circuit court. + 28.2401, Fla. Stat. Service charges in probate matters. + 733.402, Fla. Stat. Bond of fiduciary; when required; form. + 733.403, Fla. Stat. Amount of bond. + 733.405, Fla. Stat. Release of surety. + 733.501, Fla. Stat. Curators. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.110 Address designation for personal representative or + +guardian; designation of resident agent and acceptance. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.122 Curators. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.320 Oath of personal representative. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.240. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240 + +RULE 5.240. NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION. +(a) Service. The personal representative shall promptly serve a copy of the + +notice of administration on the following persons who are known to the +personal representative and who were not previously served under section +733.2123, Florida Statutes: + +(1) the decedents surviving spouse; +(2) all beneficiaries; +(3) a trustee of any trust described in section 733.707(3), Florida + +Statutes, and each qualified beneficiary of the trust as defined in section +736.0103(16), Florida Statutes, if each trustee is also a personal +representative of the estate; and + +(4) persons who may be entitled to exempt property +in the manner provided for service of formal notice. The personal +representative may similarly serve a copy of the notice on any devisee +under another will or heirs or others who claim or may claim an interest in +the estate. +(b) Contents. The notice shall state: + +(1) the name of the decedent, the file number of the estate, the +designation and address of the court in which the proceedings are pending, +whether the estate is testate or intestate, and, if testate, the date of the will +and any codicils; + +(2) the name and address of the personal representative and the name +and address of the personal representatives attorney, and that the fiduciary +lawyer-client privilege in section 90.5021, Florida Statutes, applies with +respect to the personal representative and any attorney employed by the +personal representative; + +(3) that any interested person on whom a copy of the notice of +administration is served must file, on or before the date that is 3 months +after the date of service of a copy of the notice of administration on that +person any objection that challenges the validity of the will, the venue, or + + + +the jurisdiction of the court. The 3-month time period may only be +extended for estoppel based upon a misstatement by the personal +representative regarding the time period within which an objection must be +filed. The time period may not be extended for any other reason, including +affirmative representation, failure to disclose information, or misconduct +by the personal representative or any other person. Unless sooner barred by +section 733.212(3), Florida Statutes, all objections to the validity of a will, +venue, or the jurisdiction of the court must be filed no later than the earlier +of the entry of an order of final discharge of the personal representative, or +1 year after service of the notice of administration; + +(4) the persons who may be entitled to exempt property under section +732.402, Florida Statutes, will be deemed to have waived their rights to +claim that property as exempt property unless a petition for determination +of exempt property is filed by such persons or on their behalf on or before +the later of the date that is 4 months after the date of service of a copy of +the notice of administration on such persons or the date that is 40 days +after the date of termination of any proceedings involving the construction, +admission to probate, or validity of the will or involving any other matter +affecting any part of the exempt property; + +(5) that an election to take an elective share must be filed on or before +the earlier of the date that is 6 months after the date of service of a copy of +the notice of administration on the surviving spouse, an agent under +chapter 709, Florida Statutes, or a guardian of the property of the surviving +spouse; or the date that is 2 years after the date of the decedents death; and + +(6) that, under certain circumstances and by failing to contest the will, +the recipient of the notice of administration may be waiving his or her right +to contest the validity of a trust or other writing incorporated by reference +into a will. +(c) Copy of Will. Unless the court directs otherwise, the personal + +representative of a testate estate must, upon written request, furnish a copy of +the will and all codicils admitted to probate to any person on whom the notice +of administration was served. + +(d) Objections. Objections to the validity of the will shall follow the form +and procedure set forth in these rules pertaining to revocation of probate. +Objections to the venue or jurisdiction of the court shall follow the form and + + + +procedure set forth in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. +(e) Waiver of Service. For the purpose of determining deadlines + +established by reference to the date of service of a copy of the notice of +administration in cases in which service has been waived, service on a person +who has waived notice is deemed to occur on the date the waiver is filed. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Former subdivision (c) is deleted as being substantive + +rather than procedural. +1984 Revision: Editorial changes; new requirement to file proof of + +publication; new requirements as to form of objections to will and +qualifications of personal representative. Committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: The obligation to mail notice of administration to all +known or reasonably ascertainable creditors has been added to comply with +the dictates of Tulsa Professional Collection Services, Inc. v. Pope, 485 U.S. +478, 108 S. Ct. 1340, 99 L. Ed. 2d 565 (1988). + +This rule does not require sending notice of administration to creditors in +estates where the time for filing claims has expired before the effective date +of this rule. However, no opinion is offered whether such claims are barred +by the provisions of section 733.702, Florida Statutes. + +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. +1991 Revision: Subdivision (a) modified to make it consistent with recent + +changes to sections 733.212 and 733.702, Florida Statutes. Those statutes +were amended to comply with the dictates of Tulsa Professional Collection +Services, Inc. v. Pope, 485 U.S. 478, 108 S. Ct. 1340, 99 L. Ed. 2d 565 +(1988). For the same reason, subdivision (e) was eliminated. + +1992 Revision: Former subdivision (e) revised and reinstated to emphasize +need for personal representative to determine all known or reasonably +ascertainable creditors. Editorial changes; committee notes revised; citation +form changes in committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to require service of notice of + + + +administration on trustees of certain revocable trusts as defined by Florida +statute. Editorial changes. + +2002 Revision: Procedures for notifying creditors are now governed by +new rule 5.241. Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Change in title of (a) to reflect elimination of publication +of notice. Committee notes revised. + +2005 Revision: Subdivision (a)(3) amended to make it consistent with +2003 change to section 733.212(1)(c), Florida Statutes, regarding when +service on trust beneficiaries is required, and clarifying editorial change made +in (a). New subdivision (b)(5) added regarding notice to file election to take +elective share. Committee notes revised. + +2007 Revision: Subdivision (a)(3) amended to replace reference to +beneficiary with qualified beneficiary and to change reference from +former section 737.303(4)(b) to new section 736.0103(14), which defines that +term. Subdivision (b)(5) amended to delete the reference to the surviving +spouse filing the election as another person can file the election on behalf of +the surviving spouse. New subdivision (e) added to provide a deadline for +objection by a person who waives service. Committee notes revised. + +2011 Revision: Subdivision (b)(2) amended to conform to amendment to +section 732.212, Florida Statutes, relating to attorney-client privilege for +fiduciaries and their attorneys. Editorial changes to conform to the courts +guidelines for rules submissions as set forth in Administrative Order +AOSC06-14. Statutory reference to section 732.402, Florida Statutes, added. +Committee notes revised. + +2013 Revision: Updated statutory reference in subdivision (a)(3). +Committee notes revised. + +2015 Revision: Subdivisions (b)(3) and (d) amended to conform to +amendments to section 733.212, Florida Statutes, relating to the removal of +the requirement to object to the qualifications of a personal representative +within this statutory framework due to other statutory amendments. The 2011 +Revision contains a scriveners error and it should reference section 733.212, +Florida Statutes, as opposed to section 732.212, Florida Statutes. + +2019 Revision: For clarity purposes, subdivisions (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), and +(b)(5) amended for consistency with section 733.212, Florida Statutes, + + + +relating to the contents of a notice of administration. Subdivision (b)(5) +amended to replace the term attorney-in-fact with agent to reflect 2011 +enactment of section 709.2102(1), Florida Statutes. + +2020 Revision: Subdivision (b)(6) was created to conform to an +amendment to section 733.212, Florida Statutes, that requires the Notice of +Administration include a notice of a potential waiver of rights by failing to +contest the will. + +Statutory References + 709.2102(1), Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 731.302, Fla. Stat. Waiver and consent by interested person. + 732.2135, Fla. Stat. Time of election; extensions; withdrawal. + 732.402, Fla. Stat. Exempt property. + 732.5165, Fla. Stat. Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue + +influence. + 733.101, Fla. Stat. Venue of probate proceedings. + 733.109, Fla. Stat. Revocation of probate. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2123, Fla. Stat. Adjudication before issuance of letters. + 733.302, Fla. Stat. Who may be appointed personal representative. + 733.303, Fla. Stat. Persons not qualified. + 733.305, Fla. Stat. Trust companies and other corporations and + +associations. + 733.504, Fla. Stat. Removal of personal representative; causes for + +removal. + 733.506, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal. +Rule References + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.050 Transfer of proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.270 Revocation of probate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 Proceedings for removal. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.060 Transfers of actions. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.2405. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.2405 + +RULE 5.2405. SERVICE OF NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION ON +PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. + +(a) Date Notice of Administration is Considered Served on Person who +is Personal Representative. Unless service of the notice of administration is +waived pursuant to Rule 5.240(e), when a person who is entitled to service of +the notice of administration pursuant to Rule 5.240(a) is also a personal +representative, the notice of administration shall be deemed served upon the +person on the earliest of the following dates: + +(1) the date on which the person acknowledges in writing receipt of the +notice of administration; + +(2) the date on which the notice of administration is first served on any +other person entitled to service of the notice of administration (or the first +among multiple persons entitled to service); or + +(3) the date that is 30 days after the date letters of administration are +issued. +(b) Date Other Notices are Considered Served on Person who is + +Personal Representative. When a person who is entitled to service of notice +under these rules or the Florida Probate Code (other than the notice of +administration) is also a personal representative, any notice shall be deemed +as having been served on the personal representative on the earliest of the +following dates: + +(1) the date on which the person acknowledges in writing receipt of the +notice; + +(2) the date on which the notice is required to be served by the personal +representative under these rules or the Florida Probate Code; or, + +(3) the date on which the notice is first served by the personal +representative on any other person entitled to service of the same notice. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule is intended to address situations in which the personal + + + +representative is also an interested person in an estate, but claims that he or +she has not received the notice of administration, despite the personal +representative being required to serve the notice. The receipt of the notice of +administration can trigger time limits for the person receiving the notice with +regard to certain rights, such as the right to claim an elective share. + +Rule History +2013 Revision: New rule. +Statutory References + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 731.302, Fla. Stat. Waiver and consent by interested person. + 732.2135, Fla. Stat. Time of election; extensions; withdrawal. + 732.5165, Fla. Stat. Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue + +influence. + 733.101, Fla. Stat. Venue of probate proceedings. + 733.109, Fla. Stat. Revocation of probate. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2123, Fla. Stat. Adjudication before issuance of letters. + 733.302, Fla. Stat. Who may be appointed personal representative. + 733.303, Fla. Stat. Persons not qualified. + 733.305, Fla. Stat. Trust companies and other corporations and + +associations. + 733.504, Fla. Stat. Removal of personal representative; causes for + +removal. + 733.506, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.050 Transfer of proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.270 Revocation of probate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 Proceedings for removal of personal representative. +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.060 Transfers of actions. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.241. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.241 + +RULE 5.241. NOTICE TO CREDITORS. +(a) Publication and Service. Unless creditors claims are otherwise barred + +by law, the personal representative shall promptly publish a notice to +creditors and serve a copy of the notice on all creditors of the decedent who +are reasonably ascertainable and, if required by law, on the Agency for +Health Care Administration. Service of the notice shall be either by informal +notice, or in the manner provided for service of formal notice at the option of +the personal representative. Service on one creditor by a chosen method shall +not preclude service on another creditor by another method. + +(b) Contents. The notice to creditors shall contain the name of the +decedent, the file number of the estate, the designation and address of the +court, the name and address of the personal representative and of the personal +representatives attorney, and the date of first publication of the notice to +creditors. The notice shall require all creditors to file all claims against the +estate with the court, within the time provided by law. + +(c) Method of Publication and Proof. Publication shall be made as +required by law. The personal representative shall file proof of publication +with the court within 45 days after the date of first publication of the notice to +creditors. + +(d) Statement Regarding Creditors. Within 4 months after the date of the +first publication of notice to creditors, the personal representative shall file a +verified statement that diligent search has been made to ascertain the name +and address of each person having a claim against the estate. The statement +shall indicate the name and address of each person at that time known to the +personal representative who has or may have a claim against the estate and +whether such person was served with the notice to creditors or otherwise +received actual notice of the information contained in the notice to creditors; +provided that the statement need not include persons who have filed a timely +claim or who were included in the personal representatives proof of claim. + +(e) Service of Death Certificate. If service of the notice on the Agency for +Health Care Administration is required, it shall be accompanied by a copy of +the death certificate. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +It is the committees opinion that the failure to timely file the proof of +publication of the notice to creditors shall not affect time limitations for filing +claims or objections. + +On April 19, 1988, the United States Supreme Court decided Tulsa +Professional Collection Services, Inc. v. Pope, 485 U.S. 478, 108 S. Ct. 1340, +99 L. Ed. 2d 565. This case substantially impacted the method for handling +(and barring) creditors claims. This case stands for the proposition that a +creditor may not be barred by the usual publication if that creditor was +actually known to or reasonably ascertainable by the personal representative, +and the personal representative failed to give notice to the creditor by mail or +other means as certain to ensure actual notice. Less than actual notice in these +circumstances would deprive the creditor of due process rights under the 14th +Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Probably actual notice of the death (as +in the case of a hospital where the decedent died as a patient) without notice +of the institution of probate proceedings is not sufficient. + +An elementary and fundamental requirement of due process in any +proceeding which is to be accorded finality is notice reasonably calculated, +under all the circumstances, to apprise interested persons of the pendency of +the proceeding and afford them an opportunity to present their claims. + +The steps to be taken by a personal representative in conducting a diligent +search for creditors depends, in large measure, on how familiar the personal +representative is with the decedents affairs. Therefore, the committee +believes it is inappropriate to list particular steps to be taken in each estate, +since the circumstances will vary from case to case. + +The statement required by this rule is not intended to be jurisdictional but +rather to provide evidence of satisfaction (or lack thereof) of the due process +requirements. + +Rule History +2002 Revision: New rule to implement procedures consistent with new + +section 733.2121, Florida Statutes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to clarify approved methods of + + + +service on creditors. Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Editorial change in (a). +2007 Revision: New subdivision (e) added to require service of a copy of + +the decedents death certificate on the Agency for Health Care +Administration, as is now required by section 733.2121(3)(d), Florida +Statutes. + +2019 Revision: Subdivision (e) amended to clarify that a copy of a death +certificate suffices. + +Statutory References +ch. 50, Fla. Stat. Legal and official advertisements. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.2121, Fla. Stat. Notice to creditors; filing of claims. + 733.702, Fla. Stat. Limitations on presentation of claims. + 733.703, Fla. Stat. Form and manner of presenting claim. + 733.704, Fla. Stat. Amendment of claims. + 733.705, Fla. Stat. Payment of and objection to claims. + 733.708, Fla. Stat. Compromise. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.490 Form and manner of presenting claim. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.260. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.260 + +RULE 5.260. CAVEAT; PROCEEDINGS. +(a) Filing. Any creditor or interested person other than a creditor may file a + +caveat with the court. The caveat of an interested person, other than a +creditor, may be filed before or after the death of the person for whom the +estate will be, or is being, administered. The caveat of a creditor may be filed +only after the persons death. + +(b) Contents. The caveat shall contain the name of the person for whom +the estate will be, or is being, administered, the last 4 digits of the persons +social security number or year of birth, if known, a statement of the interest +of the caveator in the estate, and the name and specific mailing address of the +caveator. + +(c) Resident Agent of Caveator; Service. If the caveator is not a resident +of Florida, the caveator must file a designation of the name and specific +mailing address and residence address of a resident in the county where the +caveat is filed, as the caveators agent for service of notice. The written +acceptance by the person appointed as resident agent must be filed with the +designation or included in the caveat. The designation and acceptance shall +constitute the consent of the caveator that service of notice upon the +designated resident agent shall bind the caveator. If the caveator is +represented by an attorney admitted to practice in Florida who signs the +caveat, it shall not be necessary to designate a resident agent under this rule. + +(d) Filing after Commencement. If at the time of the filing of any caveat +the decedents will has been admitted to probate or letters of administration +have been issued, the clerk must promptly notify the caveator in writing of +the date of issuance of letters and the names and addresses of the personal +representative and the personal representatives attorney. + +(e) Creditor. When letters of administration issue after the filing of a +caveat by a creditor, the clerk must promptly notify the caveator, in writing, +advising the caveator of the date of issuance of letters and the names and +addresses of the personal representative and the personal representatives +attorney, unless notice has previously been served on the caveator. A copy of +any notice given by the clerk, together with a certificate of the mailing of the + + + +original notice, must be filed in the estates proceedings. +(f) Other Interested Persons; Before Commencement. After the filing of + +a caveat by an interested person other than a creditor, the court must not +admit a will of the decedent to probate or appoint a personal representative +without service of formal notice on the caveator or the caveators designated +agent. A caveator is not required to be served with formal notice of its own +petition for administration. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Caveat proceedings permit a decedents creditor or other interested person +to be notified when letters of administration are issued. Thereafter, the +caveator must take appropriate action to protect the caveators interests. + +This rule treats the creditor caveator different from other caveators. +An attorney admitted to practice in Florida who represents the caveator + +may sign the caveat on behalf of the client. +Rule History +1977 Revision: Carried forward prior rule 5.150. +1984 Revision: Changes in (a), (b), and (d) are editorial. Change in (c) + +eliminates resident agent requirement for Florida residents and for +nonresidents represented by a Florida attorney. Service on the attorney binds +caveator. Former (e) is now subdivisions (e) and (f) and treats creditor +caveator differently from other interested persons. Change in (f) requires +formal notice. Committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Addition of language in subdivision (b) to implement 1992 +amendment to section 731.110(2), Florida Statutes. Editorial changes. +Citation form changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Cycle Report Revision: Subdivision (c) amended to clarify that a + +state agency filing a caveat need not designate an agent for service of process, +and to provide that a caveator who is not a resident of the county where the + + + +caveat is filed must designate either a resident of that county or an attorney +licensed and residing in Florida as the caveators agent. Editorial changes in +(d) and (e). Committee notes revised. + +2010 Out-of-Cycle Report Revision: Subdivisions (a) and (b) amended to +conform with statutory changes. Subdivision (c) amended to read as it existed +prior to SC10-171 (35 FLW S482) due to a subsequent legislative +amendment (Chapter 2010-132, 3, Laws of Fla.). Editorial changes in (d), +(e), and (f). Committee notes revised. + +2011 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to replace language removed in +2010 out-of-cycle revision, to replace term decedent with person for +whom the estate will be, or is being, administered, and to limit listing of a +social security number to the last four digits and a date of birth to the year of +birth. + +2013 Revision: Subdivision (f) is updated to provide that a caveator is not +required to be served with formal notice of its own petition for +administration. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 731.110, Fla. Stat. Caveat; proceedings. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040(a) Notice. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.270. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.270 + +RULE 5.270. REVOCATION OF PROBATE. +(a) Petition and Contents. A petition for revocation of probate shall state + +the interest of the petitioner in the estate and the facts constituting the +grounds on which revocation is demanded. + +(b) Continued administration. Pending the determination of any issue for +revocation of probate, the personal representative shall proceed with the +administration of the estate as if no revocation proceeding had been +commenced, except that no distribution may be made to beneficiaries in +contravention of the rights of those who, but for the will, would be entitled to +the property disposed of. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure found in +section 733.109(2), Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of +the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform +with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure +or modify an existing procedure. The committee believes that subsections (1) +and (3) of the statute are substantive, and have therefore not been included. +Further, this rule revises subdivision (b) of the prior similar rule to track the +language in the statute from which it was derived. + +Rule History +1984 Revision: Extensive changes. Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Language of subdivision (b) of the rule rewritten to track + +the statute more closely. Committee notes expanded. Citation form change in +committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Beneficiaries substituted for devisees in subdivision + +(b) to conform language to section 733.109(2), Florida Statutes. + + + +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 732.5165, Fla. Stat. Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue + +influence. + 733.109, Fla. Stat. Revocation of probate. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2123, Fla. Stat. Adjudication before issuance of letters. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240 Notice of administration. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.275. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.275 + +RULE 5.275. BURDEN OF PROOF IN WILL CONTESTS. +(a) In all proceedings contesting the validity of a will, the burden shall be + +upon the proponent of the will to establish prima facie its formal execution +and attestation. Thereafter, the contestant shall have the burden of +establishing the grounds on which the probate of the will is opposed or +revocation sought. + +(b) In any transaction or event to which the presumption of undue +influence applies, the presumption shifts the burden of proof under sections +90.301-90.304, Florida Statutes. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule implements the procedure found in section 733.107, Florida +Statutes, and the public policy against abuse of fiduciary or confidential +relationships. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Adopts subdivision (b) and revises the committee note to + +reflect that change. +Statutory References + 90.301, Fla. Stat. Presumption defined; inferences. + 90.302, Fla. Stat. Classification of rebuttable presumptions. + 90.303, Fla. Stat. Presumption affecting the burden of producing + +evidence defined. + 90.304, Fla. Stat. Presumption affecting the burden of proof defined. + 733.107, Fla. Stat. Burden of proof in contests; presumption of undue + +influence. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.310. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.310 + +RULE 5.310. DISQUALIFICATION OF PERSONAL +REPRESENTATIVE; NOTIFICATION. + +Any time a personal representative, who was qualified to act at the time of +appointment, knows that he or she would not be qualified for appointment if +application for appointment were then made, the personal representative shall +promptly file and serve on all interested persons a notice stating: + +(a) the reason(s) the personal representative would not be qualified for +appointment if application for appointment were then made and the date on +which the disqualifying event occurred; and + +(b) that any interested person may file a petition to remove the personal +representative within 30 days after the date on which such notice is served. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Notification under this rule or section 733.3101(2), Florida Statutes, does +not automatically affect the authority of the personal representative to act. +The personal representative may resign or interested persons or the court +must act to remove the personal representative. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: This is same as old rule 5.220 and old section 732.47(3), + +Florida Statutes. The rule sets forth the imperative need for timely action and +the inherent responsibility of a fiduciary to effect orderly succession. It +further implies the inherent jurisdiction of the court to control by judicial +overview the succession. + +1977 Revision: Citation form change in committee note. +1988 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes to clarify rule. Committee notes revised. + +Citation form changes in committee notes. +2002 Revision: Rule amended to implement procedures found in section + +733.3101, Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. + + + +2015 Revision: Rule amended to conform to amendment to section +733.3101, Florida Statutes, which modifies the substance and procedure for +the disqualification of a personal representative. Citation revised in +committee notes. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.302, Fla. Stat. Who may be appointed personal representative. + 733.303, Fla. Stat. Persons not qualified. + 733.3101, Fla. Stat. Personal representative not qualified. + 733.502, Fla. Stat. Resignation of personal representative. + 733.504, Fla. Stat. Removal of personal representative; causes for + +removal. + 733.505, Fla. Stat. Jurisdiction in removal proceedings. + 733.506, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.430 Resignation of personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 Proceedings for removal. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.320. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.320 + +RULE 5.320. OATH OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +Before the granting of letters of administration, the personal representative + +shall file an oath to faithfully administer the estate of the decedent. The oath +shall also contain a statement that the personal representative has reviewed +the statutes relating to the requirements for appointment as personal +representative, that the personal representative is qualified to serve, and that +the personal representative has a continuing duty to file and serve a notice +upon the occurrence of an event that would disqualify the personal +representative. If the petition is verified by the prospective personal +representative individually, the oath may be incorporated in the petition or in +the designation of resident agent. The oath shall substantially comply with +the following form: + +[CAPTION] +OATH OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE + +STATE OF ____________________ +COUNTY OF ____________________ +I, ____________________, (Affiant), state under oath that: +1. I am qualified within the provisions of sections 733.302, + +733.303, and 733.304, Florida Statutes, to serve as personal +representative of the estate of ____________________, +deceased. I have reviewed the statutes and understand the +qualifications. Under penalties of perjury, I certify that the +following statements are true: + +a. I am 18 years of age or older. +b. I have never been convicted of a felony. +c. I have never been convicted in any state or foreign + +jurisdiction of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly person + + + +or a disabled adult, as those terms are defined in section 825.101, +Florida Statutes. + +d. I am mentally and physically able to perform the duties of +personal representative. + +e. I am a resident of the State of Florida, or, if I am not a +resident of the State of Florida, I am: + +____ a legally adopted child or adoptive parent of the +decedent; + +related by lineal consanguinity to the decedent; a spouse or a +brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the decedent, or +someone related by lineal consanguinity to any such person; or + +____ the spouse of a person otherwise qualified under one of +the provisions above. + +2. I will faithfully administer the estate of the decedent +according to law. + +3. My place of residence is ____________________, and my +post office address is ____________________. + +4. I will promptly file and serve a notice on all interested +persons at any time I know that I would not be qualified for +appointment and will include the reason I would not then be +qualified and the date on which the disqualifying event occurred. + +5. I will file and serve a notice within 20 days on all interested +persons, in the event there is a change in my residence address, +street address, or mailing address. + +Affiant +Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me by means of + +____________________ physical presence or + + + +____________________ online notarization, this ____ day of +____, 20 ____, by ____ (name of person making statement). + +Signature of Notary PublicState of Florida (Print, Type, or +Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public) + +Personally Known ____ or Produced ____ Identification Type +of Identification Produced ____ + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +It is contemplated the oath may be signed concurrently with the petition for +administration and will be valid even if it predates the order appointing the +personal representative. + +Rule History +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Change in committee note to conform to + +statutory renumbering. +This rule establishes the uniform requirement for an oath of faithful + +performance of fiduciary duties within the permissiveness of section +733.401(1)(d), Florida Statutes. Should be taken together with new rule +5.110, Resident Agent. + +1988 Revision: Committee notes expanded. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Amended the rule to conform the oath to statutory changes + +and to provide a proposed form for the oath of personal representative. The +oath is expanded to address the qualifications and continuing duties of the +personal representative. + +2021 Revision: Form Oath amended to require a statement that the +personal representative has never been convicted of abuse, neglect, or +exploitation of an elderly or disabled adult and to revise notary block for +compliance with revised section 117.05, Florida Statutes. + + + +Statutory References +733.302, Fla. Stat. Who may be appointed personal representative +733.303, Fla. Stat. Persons not qualified +733.304, Fla. Stat. Nonresidents +733.3101, Fla. Stat. Personal representative not qualified +825.101, Fla. Stat. Definitions +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.110 Address designation for personal representative or + +guardian; designation of resident agent and acceptance. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.235 Issuance of letters, bond. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.330. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.330 + +RULE 5.330. EXECUTION BY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +Notwithstanding any other provisions of these rules, the personal + +representative shall sign the: +(a) inventory; +(b) accountings; +(c) petition for sale or confirmation of sale or encumbrance of real or + +personal property; +(d) petition to continue business of decedent; +(e) petition to compromise or settle claim; +(f) petition to purchase on credit; +(g) petition for distribution and discharge; and +(h) resignation of personal representative. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Where the jurisdiction of the court is invoked voluntarily + +pursuant to section 733.603, Florida Statutes, or otherwise, the rule requires +that the personal representative have actual knowledge of the more important +steps and acts of administration. + +1977 Revision: Citation form change in committee note. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes. Citation form changes in committee + +notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + + + + 733.502, Fla. Stat. Resignation of personal representative. + 733.604, Fla. Stat. Inventories and accountings; public records + +exemptions. + 733.612(5), (22), (24), Fla. Stat. Transactions authorized for the personal + +representative; exceptions. + 733.613, Fla. Stat. Personal representatives right to sell real property. + 733.708, Fla. Stat. Compromise. + 733.901, Fla. Stat. Final discharge. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 Inventory. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.345 Accountings other than personal representatives final + +accountings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 Fiduciary accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.350 Continuance of unincorporated business or venture. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.370 Sales of real property where no power conferred. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 Distribution and discharge. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.430 Resignation of personal representative. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.340. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 + +RULE 5.340. INVENTORY. +(a) Contents and Filing. Unless an inventory has been previously filed, + +the personal representative shall file an inventory of the estate within 60 days +after issuance of letters. The inventory shall contain notice of the +beneficiaries rights under subdivision (e), list the estate with reasonable +detail, and include for each listed item (excluding real property appearing to +be protected homestead property) its estimated fair market value at the date of +the decedents death. Real property appearing to be protected homestead +property shall be listed and so designated. + +(b) Extension. On petition the time for filing the inventory may be +extended by the court for cause shown without notice, except that the +personal representative shall serve copies of the petition and order on the +persons described in subdivision (d). + +(c) Amendments. A supplementary or amended inventory containing the +information required by subdivision (a) as to each affected item shall be filed +and served by the personal representative if: + +(1) the personal representative learns of property not included in the +original inventory; or + +(2) the personal representative learns that the estimated value or +description indicated in the original inventory for any item is erroneous or +misleading; or + +(3) the personal representative determines the estimated fair market +value of an item whose value was described as unknown in the original +inventory. +(d) Service. The personal representative shall serve a copy of the inventory + +and all supplemental and amended inventories on the surviving spouse, each +heir at law in an intestate estate, each residuary beneficiary in a testate estate, +and any other interested person who may request it in writing. + +(e) Information. On request in writing, the personal representative shall +provide the following: + + + +(1) To the requesting residuary beneficiary or heir in an intestate estate, +a written explanation of how the inventory value for an asset was +determined or, if an appraisal was obtained, a copy of the appraisal. + +(2) To any other requesting beneficiary, a written explanation of how the +inventory value for each asset distributed or proposed to be distributed to +that beneficiary was determined or, if an appraisal of that asset was +obtained, a copy of the appraisal. +(f) Notice to Nonresiduary Beneficiaries. The personal representative + +shall provide to each nonresiduary beneficiary written notice of that +beneficiarys right to receive a written explanation of how the inventory +value for each asset distributed or proposed to be distributed to that +beneficiary was determined or a copy of an appraisal, if any, of the asset. + +(g) Elective Share Proceedings. Upon entry of an order determining the +surviving spouses entitlement to the elective share, the personal +representative shall file an inventory of the property entering into the elective +estate which shall identify the direct recipient, if any, of that property. The +personal representative shall serve the inventory of the elective estate as +provided in rule 5.360. On request in writing, the personal representative +shall provide an interested person with a written explanation of how the +inventory value for an asset was determined and shall permit an interested +person to examine appraisals on which the inventory values are based. + +(h) Verification. All inventories shall be verified by the personal +representative. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Inventories of the elective estate under subdivision (f) shall be afforded the +same confidentiality as probate inventories. 733.604(1) and (2), Fla. Stat. + +Inventories are still required to be filed. Once filed, however, they are +subject to the confidentiality provisions found in sections 733.604(1) and (2), +Florida Statutes. + +Constitutional protected homestead real property is not necessarily a +probatable asset. Disclosure on the inventory of real property appearing to be +constitutional protected homestead property informs interested persons of the +homestead issue. + + + +Interested persons are entitled to reasonable information about estate +proceedings on proper request, including a copy of the inventory, an +opportunity to examine appraisals, and other information pertinent to their +interests in the estate. The rights of beneficiaries to information contained in +estate inventories is limited by section 733.604(3), Florida Statutes. +Inventories of the elective estate under subdivision (f) affects a broader class +of interested persons who may obtain information regarding the assets +disclosed therein subject to control by the court and the confidentiality +afforded such inventories under section 733.604(1) and (2). + +Rule History +1980 Revision: Eliminated the time limit in requesting a copy of the + +inventory by an interested person or in furnishing it by the personal +representative. + +1984 (First) Revision: Extensive changes. Committee notes revised. +1984 (Second) Revision: Subdivision (a) modified to clarify or re-insert + +continued filing requirement for inventory. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes in (b) and (d). Committee notes revised. + +Citation form changes in committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +2001 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to conform to statutory changes. + +Subdivision (d) amended to add requirement of filing of proof of service. +Subdivision (e) amended to clarify personal representatives duty to furnish +explanation of how inventory values were determined. Subdivision (f) added +to require personal representative to file inventory of property entering into +elective share. Subdivision (g) added to require verification of inventories. +Committee notes revised. + +2002 Revision: Subdivision (e) amended to conform to section 733.604(3), +Florida Statutes. Subdivision (f) amended to establish procedures for +interested persons to obtain information about assets and values listed in the +inventory of the elective estate. Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Subdivisions (d) and (g) (former (f)) amended to delete the + + + +requirement to serve a copy of the inventory on the Department of Revenue. +Subdivision (e) amended, and new (f) created, to limit the kind of +information available to nonresiduary beneficiaries, and subsequent +subdivisions relettered. Editorial changes in (a), (e), and (g). Committee notes +revised. + +2012 Revision: The last sentence of subdivision (d) is deleted to remove +duplicative requirement of filing a proof of service for a document which +includes a certificate of service as provided in Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. +Admin. 2.516. If service of the inventory is by service in the manner +provided for service of formal notice, then proof of service should be filed as +provided in rule 5.040(a)(5). Committee notes revised. + +Constitutional Reference +Art. X, 4, Fla. Const. +Statutory References + 732.401, Fla. Stat. Descent of homestead. + 732.4015, Fla. Stat. Devise of homestead. + 733.604, Fla. Stat. Inventories and accountings; public records + +exemptions. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 Execution by personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.360 Elective share. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.405 Proceedings to determine homestead status of real + +property. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.341. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.341 + +RULE 5.341. ESTATE INFORMATION. +On reasonable request in writing, the personal representative shall provide + +an interested person with information about the estate and its administration. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule is not intended to overrule the holdings in In re Estate of Shaw, +340 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), and In re Estate of Posner, 492 So. 2d +1093 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). + +Rule History +2002 Revision: New rule. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.342. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.342 + +RULE 5.342. INVENTORY OF SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX. +(a) Filing. The personal representative shall file an inventory of the + +contents of the decedents safe-deposit box within 10 days of the initial +opening of the box by the personal representative or the personal +representatives attorney of record. The inventory shall include a copy of the +financial institutions entry record for the box from a date that is six months +prior to the decedents date of death to the date of the initial opening by the +personal representative or the personal representatives attorney of record. + +(b) Verification. Each person who was present at the initial opening must +verify the contents of the box by signing a copy of the inventory under +penalties of perjury. + +(c) Service. The personal representative shall serve a copy of the inventory +on the surviving spouse, each heir at law in an intestate estate, each residuary +beneficiary in a testate estate, and any other interested person who may +request it in writing. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Inventories and entry records, once filed, shall be afforded the same +confidentiality as probate inventories. + +If a safe-deposit box is opened pursuant to section 655.935 of the Florida +Statutes, no written inventory of the box need be prepared or filed. + +Rule History +2003 Revision: New rule. +2012 Revision: The last sentence of subdivision (c) is deleted to remove + +duplicative requirement of filing a proof of service for a document which +includes a certificate of service as provided in Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. +Admin. 2.516. In service of the inventory is by service in the manner +provided for service of formal notice, then proof of service should be filed as +provided in rule 5.040(a)(5). Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + + + + 655.935, Fla. Stat. Search procedure on death of lessee. + 655.936, Fla. Stat. Delivery of safe-deposit box contents or property held + +in safekeeping to personal representative. + 733.6065, Fla. Stat. Opening safe-deposit box. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 Inventory. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.3425. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.3425 + +RULE 5.3425. SEARCH OF SAFE DEPOSIT BOX. +(a) Petition for Order Authorizing Search. The petition for an order + +authorizing the search of a safe deposit box leased or co-leased by a decedent +must be verified and must contain: + +(1) The petitioners name, address, and interest, if any, in the estate; +(2) The decedents name, address, date and place of death, and state and + +county of domicile; +(3) A description of the safe deposit box leased by the decedent and, if + +known, the name of any co-lessee; +(4) The name and address of the institution where the safe deposit box is + +located; and +(5) A statement that the petitioner believes that the decedent may have + +left in the safe deposit box one or more of the following: +(A) A will or codicil of the decedent, or a writing described in section + +732.515 of the Code; +(B) A deed to a burial plot; +(C) A writing giving burial instructions; or +(D) Insurance policies on the life of the decedent. + +(b) Order. If the Court determines that the petitioner is entitled to an order +authorizing a search of the decedents safe deposit box, it must enter an order + +(1) authorizing the petitioner to open the safe deposit box in the +presence of an officer of the lessor and, if requested by the petitioner, to +remove and deliver + +(A) to the court having probate jurisdiction in the county where the +lessor is located any writing purporting to be a will or codicil of the +decedent and any writing purporting to identify devises of tangible +property; + +(B) to the petitioner, any writing purporting to be a deed to a burial + + + +plot to give burial instructions; and +(C) to the beneficiary named therein, any document purporting to be + +an insurance policy on the life of the decedent. +(2) directing the officer of the lessor to make a complete copy of any + +document removed and delivered pursuant to the court order, together with +a memorandum of delivery identifying the name of the officer, the person +to whom the document was delivered, and the date of delivery, to be +placed in the safe deposit box leased or co-leased by the decedent. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The search of the safe deposit box is not considered an initial opening and +is not subject to the inventory requirements of rule 5.342. + +Rule History +2010 Revision: New rule. +Statutory References + 655.935, Fla. Stat. Search procedure on death of lessee. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.345. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.345 + +RULE 5.345. ACCOUNTINGS OTHER THAN PERSONAL +REPRESENTATIVES FINAL ACCOUNTINGS. + +(a) Applicability and Accounting Periods. This rule applies to the +interim accounting of any fiduciary of a probate estate, the accounting of a +personal representative who has resigned or been removed, and the +accounting of a curator upon the appointment of a successor fiduciary. The +fiduciary may elect to file an interim accounting at any time, or the court may +require an interim or supplemental accounting. The ending date of the +accounting period for any accounting to which this rule applies shall be as +follows: + +(1) For an interim accounting, any date selected by the fiduciary, +including a fiscal or calendar year, or as may be determined by the court. + +(2) For the accounting of a personal representative who has resigned or +has been removed, the date the personal representatives letters are +revoked. + +(3) For a curator who has been replaced by a successor fiduciary, the +date of appointment of the successor fiduciary. +(b) Notice of Filing. Notice of filing and a copy of any accounting to + +which this rule applies shall be served on all interested persons. The notice +shall state that objections to the accounting must be filed within 30 days from +the date of service of notice. + +(c) Objection. Any interested person may file an objection to any +accounting to which this rule applies within 30 days from the date of service +of notice on that person. Any objection not filed within 30 days from the date +of service shall be deemed abandoned. An objection shall be in writing and +shall state with particularity the item or items to which the objection is +directed and the grounds upon which the objection is based. + +(d) Service of Objections. The objecting party shall serve a copy of the +objection on the fiduciary filing the accounting and other interested persons. + +(e) Disposition of Objections and Approval of Accountings. The court +shall sustain or overrule any objection filed as provided in this rule. If no + + + +objection is filed, any accounting to which this rule applies shall be deemed +approved 30 days from the date of service of the accounting on interested +persons. + +(f) Substantiating Documents. On reasonable written request, the +fiduciary shall permit an interested person to examine documents +substantiating items in any accounting to which this rule applies. + +(g) Supplemental Accountings. The court, on its own motion or on that of +any interested person, may require a fiduciary who has been replaced by a +successor fiduciary to file a supplemental accounting, the beginning date of +which shall be the ending date of the accounting as specified in subdivision +(a) of this rule and the ending date of which is the date of delivery of all of +the estates property to the successor fiduciary, or such other date as the court +may order. + +(h) Verification. All accountings shall be verified by the fiduciary filing +the accounting. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The personal representative is required to file a final accounting when +administration is complete, unless filing is waived by interested persons. +Additionally, a fiduciary of a probate estate may elect, but is not required, to +file interim accountings at any time. An accounting is required for resigning +or removed fiduciaries. The filing, notice, objection, and approval procedure +is similar to that for final accounts. + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Change in (a) to authorize selection of fiscal year. +1980 Revision: Change in (d) of prior rule to require the notice to state that + +the basis for an objection is necessary. Change in (e) of prior rule to require +any person filing an objection to set forth the basis of such objection. + +1984 Revision: Extensive changes. Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Citation form change in committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. + + + +2002 Revision: Implements procedures for interim accountings and +accountings by resigning or removed fiduciaries. Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Verification requirement added as new (h). Committee + +notes revised. +2016 Revision: Subdivision (f) revised to substitute documents for + +papers. +Statutory References + 733.3101, Fla. Stat. Personal representative not qualified. + 733.501, Fla. Stat. Curators. + 733.5035, Fla. Stat. Surrender of assets after resignation. + 733.5036, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge following resignation. + 733.508, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge of removed personal + +representatives upon removal. + 733.509, Fla. Stat. Surrender of assets upon removal. +Ch. 738, Fla. Stat. Principal and income. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.122 Curators. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.150 Order requiring accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.330 Execution by personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 Fiduciary accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.430 Resignation of personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 Proceedings for removal. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.346. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 + +RULE 5.346. FIDUCIARY ACCOUNTING. +(a) Contents. A fiduciary accounting, other than a guardian accounting, + +shall include: +(1) all cash and property transactions since the date of the last + +accounting or, if none, from the commencement of administration, and +(2) a schedule of assests at the end of the accounting period. + +(b) Accounting Standards. The following standards are required for the +accounting of all transactions occurring on or after January 1, 1994: + +(1) Accountings shall be stated in a manner that is understandable to +persons who are not familiar with practices and terminology peculiar to the +administration of estates and trusts. + +(2) The accounting shall begin with a concise summary of its purpose +and content. + +(3) The accounting shall contain sufficient information to put interested +persons on notice as to all significant transactions affecting administration +during the accounting period. + +(4) The accounting shall contain 2 values in the schedule of assets at the +end of the accounting period, the asset acquisition value or carrying value, +and estimated current value. + +(5) Gains and losses incurred during the accounting period shall be +shown separately in the same schedule. + +(6) The accounting shall show significant transactions that do not affect +the amount for which the fiduciary is accountable. +(c) Accounting Format. A model format for an accounting is attached to + +these rules as Appendix A. +(d) Verification. All accountings shall be verified by the fiduciary filing + +the accounting. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +This rule substantially adopts the Uniform Fiduciary Accounting Principles +and Model Formats adopted by the Committee on National Fiduciary +Accounting Standards of the American Bar Association: Section of Real +Property, Probate and Trust Law, the American College of Probate Counsel, +the American Bankers Association: Trust Division, and other organizations. + +Accountings shall also comply with the Florida principal and income law, +chapter 738, Florida Statutes. + +Attached as Appendix B to this rule are an explanation and commentary +for each of the foregoing standards, which shall be considered as a +Committee Note to this rule. + +Accountings that substantially conform to the model formats are +acceptable. The model accounting format included in Appendix A is only a +suggested form. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes throughout. Rule changed to require + +compliance with the Uniform Fiduciary Accounting Principles and Model +Formats for accounting of all transactions occurring on or after January 1, +1994. Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Committee notes revised. +1999 Revision: Committee notes revised to correct rule reference and to + +reflect formatting changes in accounting formats. +2002 Revision: Subdivisions (a) and (b) amended to clarify contents of + +accounting. Comittee notes revised. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Verification requirement added as new (d). Committee + +notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to clarify that this rule does not + +apply to guardian accounting. Committee notes revised. + + + +Statutory References + 733.501, Fla. Stat. Curators. + 733.5036, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge following resignation. + 733.508, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge of removed personal + +representatives upon removal. + 733.602(1), Fla. Stat. General duties. + 733.612(18), Fla. Stat. Transactions authorized for the personal + +representative; exceptions. +ch. 738, Fla. Stat. Principal and income. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.122 Curators. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.330 Execution by personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.345 Accountings other than personal representatives final + +accountings +Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 Distribution and discharge. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.430 Resignation of personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 Proceedings for removal. + + + + Pt. II. , Appx A +Fla. Prob. R., Pt. II, Appx A + +APPENDIX A + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Pt. II. , Appx B +Fla. Prob. R., Pt. II, Appx B + +APPENDIX B + +APPENDIX B +UNIFORM FIDUCIARY ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES + +I. ACCOUNTS SHOULD BE STATED IN A MANNER THAT IS +UNDERSTANDABLE BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH +PRACTICES AND TERMINOLOGY PECULIAR TO THE +ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES AND TRUSTS. + +Commentary: In order for an account to fulfill its basic function of +communication, it is essential that it be stated in a manner that recognizes that +the interested parties are not usually familiar with fiduciary accounts. It is +neither practical nor desirable to require that accounts be tailored to meet +individual disabilities of particular parties but any account should be capable +of being understood by a person of average intelligence, literate in English, +and familiar with basic financial terms who has read it with care and +attention. + +Problems arising from terminology or style are usually a reflection of the +fact that people who become versed in a particular form of practice tend to +forget that terms which are familiar and useful to them may convey nothing +to someone else or may even be affirmatively misleading. For example, the +terms debit and credit are generally incomprehensible to people with no +knowledge of bookkeeping and many people who are familiar with them in +other contexts would assume that in the context of fiduciary accounting, the +receipt of an item is a credit to the fund rather than a debit to the +fiduciary. + +While the need for concise presentation makes a certain amount of +abbreviation both acceptable and necessary, uncommon abbreviation of +matters essential to an understanding of the account should be avoided or +explained. + +No position is taken for or against the use of direct print-outs from +machine accounting systems. The quality of the accounts produced by these +systems varies widely in the extent to which they can be understood by + + + +persons who are not familiar with them. To endorse or object to a direct print- +out because it is produced by machine from previously stored data would +miss the essential point by focusing attention upon the manner of preparation +rather than the product. + +II. A FIDUCIARY ACCOUNT SHALL BEGIN WITH A CONCISE +SUMMARY OF ITS PURPOSE AND CONTENT. + +Commentary: Very few people can be expected to pay much attention to a +document unless they have some understanding of its general purpose and its +significance to them. Even with such an understanding, impressions derived +from the first page or two will often determine whether the rest is read. The +use that is made of these pages is therefore of particular significance. + +The cover page should disclose the nature and function of the account. +While a complete explanation of the significance of the account and the effect +of its presentation upon the rights of the parties is obviously impractical for +inclusion at this point, there should be at least a brief statement identifying +the fiduciary and the subject matter, noting the importance of examining the +account and giving an address where more information can be obtained. + +It is assumed that the parties would also have enough information from +other sources to understand the nature of their relationship to the fund (e.g., +residuary legatee, life tenant, remainderman), the function of the account, and +the obligation of the fiduciary to supply further relevant information upon +request. It is also assumed that notice will be given of any significant +procedural considerations such as limitation on the time within which +objections must be presented. This would normally be provided by prior or +contemporaneous memoranda, correspondence, or discussions. + +A summary of the account shall also be presented at the outset. This +summary, organized as a table of contents, shall indicate the order of the +details presented in the account and shall show separate totals for the +aggregate of the assets on hand at the beginning of the accounting period; +transactions during the period; and the assets remaining on hand at the end of +the period. Each entry in the summary shall be supported by a schedule in the +account that provides the details on which the summary is based. + +III. A FIDUCIARY ACCOUNT SHALL CONTAIN SUFFICIENT +INFORMATION TO PUT THE INTERESTED PARTIES ON NOTICE AS + + + +TO ALL SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTIONS AFFECTING +ADMINISTRATION DURING THE ACCOUNTING PERIOD. + +Commentary: The presentation of the information account shall allow an +interested party to follow the progress of the fiduciarys administration of +assets during the accounting period. + +An account is not complete if it does not itemize, or make reference to, +assets on hand at the beginning of the accounting period. + +Illustration: +3.1 The first account for a decedents estate or a trust may detail the items + +received by the fiduciary and for which the fiduciary is responsible. It may +refer to the total amount of an inventory filed elsewhere or assets described in +a schedule attached to a trust agreement. + +Instead of retyping the complete list of assets in the opening balance, the +preparer may prefer to attach as an exhibit a copy of the inventory, closing +balance from the last account, etc., as appropriate, or may refer to them if +previously provided to the interested parties who will receive it. + +Transactions shall be described in sufficient detail to give interested parties +notice of their purpose and effect. It should be recognized that too much +detail may be counterproductive to making the account understandable. In +accounts covering long periods or dealing with extensive assets, it is usually +desirable to consolidate information. For instance, where income from a +number of securities is being accounted for over a long period of time, a +statement of the total dividends received on each security with appropriate +indication of changes in the number of shares held will be more readily +understandable and easier to check for completeness than a chronological +listing of all dividends received. + +Although detail should generally be avoided for routine transactions, it will +often be necessary to proper understanding of an event that is somewhat out +of the ordinary. + +Illustrations: +3.2 Extraordinary appraisal costs should be shown separately and + +explained. +3.3 Interest and penalties in connection with late filing of tax returns + + + +should be shown separately and explained. +3.4 An extraordinary allocation between principal and income such as + +apportionment of proceeds of property acquired on foreclosure should be +separately stated and explained. + +3.5 Computation of a formula marital deduction gift involving non-probate +assets should be explained. + +IV. A FIDUCIARY ACCOUNT SHALL CONTAIN TWO VALUES, +THE ASSET ACQUISITION VALUE OR CARRYING VALUE, AND +CURRENT VALUE. + +Commentary: In order for transactions to be reported on a consistent basis, +an appropriate carrying value for assets must be chosen and employed +consistently. + +The carrying value of an asset should reflect its value at the time it is +acquired by the fiduciary (or a predecessor fiduciary). When such a value is +not precisely determinable, the figure used should reflect a thoughtful +decision by the fiduciary. For assets owned by a decedent, inventory values +or estate tax values generally reflective of date of death would be +appropriate. Assets received in kind by a trustee from a settlor of an +intervivos trust should be carried at their value at the time of receipt. For +assets purchased during the administration of the fund, cost would normally +be used. Use of Federal income tax basis for carrying value is acceptable +when basis is reasonably representative of real values at the time of +acquisition. Use of tax basis as a carrying value under other circumstances +could be affirmatively misleading to beneficiaries and therefore is not +appropriate. + +In the Model Account, carrying value is referred to as fiduciary +acquisition value. The Model Account establishes the initial carrying value +of assets as their value at date of death for inventoried assets, date of receipt +for subsequent receipts, and cost for investments. + +Carrying value would not normally be adjusted for depreciation. +Except for adjustments that occur normally under the accounting system in + +use, carrying values should generally be continued unchanged through +successive accounts and assets should not be arbitrarily written up or +written down. In some circumstances, however, with proper disclosure and + + + +explanation, carrying value may be adjusted. +Illustrations: +4.1 Carrying values based on date of death may be adjusted to reflect + +changes on audit of estate or inheritance tax returns. +4.2 Where appropriate under applicable local law, a successor fiduciary + +may adjust the carrying value of assets to reflect values at the start of that +fiduciarys administration. + +4.3 Assets received in kind in satisfaction of a pecuniary legacy should be +carried at the value used for purposes of distribution. + +Though essential for accounting purposes, carrying values are commonly +misunderstood by laypersons as being a representation of actual values. To +avoid this, the account should include both current values and carrying +values. + +The value of assets at the beginning and ending of each accounting period +is necessary information for the evaluation of investment performance. +Therefore, the account should show, or make reference to, current values at +the start of the period for all assets whose carrying values were established in +a prior accounting period. + +Illustrations: +4.4 The opening balance of the first account of a testamentary trustee will + +usually contain assets received in kind from the executor. Unless the carrying +value was written up at the time of distribution (e.g., 4.2 or 4.3 supra) these +assets will be carried at a value established during the executors +administration. The current value at the beginning of the accounting period +should also be shown. + +4.5 An executors first account will normally carry assets at inventory +(date of death) values or costs. No separate listing of current values at the +beginning of the accounting period is necessary. + +Current values should also be shown for all assets on hand at the close of +the accounting period. The date on which current values are determined shall +be stated and shall be the last day of the accounting period, or a date as close +thereto as reasonably possible. + + + +Current values should be shown in a column parallel to the column of +carrying values. Both columns should be totalled. + +In determining current values for assets for which there is no readily +ascertainable current value, the source of the value stated in the account shall +be explained. The fiduciary shall make a good faith effort to determine +realistic values but should not be expected to incur expenses for appraisals or +similar costs when there is no reason to expect that the resulting information +will be of practical consequence to the administration of the estate or the +protection of the interests of the parties. + +Illustrations: +4.6 When an asset is held under circumstances that make it clear that it will + +not be sold (e.g., a residence held for use of a beneficiary) the fiduciarys +estimate of value would be acceptable in lieu of an appraisal. + +4.7 Considerations such as a pending tax audit or offer of the property for +sale may indicate the advisability of not publishing the fiduciarys best +estimate of value. In such circumstances, a statement that value was fixed by +some method such as per company books, formula under buy-sell +agreement, or 300% of assessed value would be acceptable, but the +fiduciary would be expected to provide further information to interested +parties upon request. + +V. GAINS AND LOSSES INCURRED DURING THE ACCOUNTING +PERIOD SHALL BE SHOWN SEPARATELY IN THE SAME +SCHEDULE. + +Commentary: Each transaction involving the sale or other disposition of +securities during the accounting period shall be shown as a separate item in +one combined schedule of the account indicating the transaction, date, +explanation, and any gain or loss. + +Although gains and losses from the sale of securities can be shown +separately in accounts, the preferred method of presentation is to present this +information in a single schedule. Such a presentation provides the most +meaningful description of investment performance and will tend to clarify +relationships between gains and losses that are deliberately realized at the +same time. + +VI. THE ACCOUNT SHALL SHOW SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTIONS + + + +THAT DO NOT AFFECT THE AMOUNT FOR WHICH THE FIDUCIARY +IS ACCOUNTABLE. + +Commentary: Transactions such as the purchase of an investment, receipt +of a stock split, or change of a corporate name do not alter the total fund for +which a fiduciary is accountable but must be shown in order to permit +analysis and an understanding of the administration of the fund. These can be +best shown in information schedules. + +One schedule should list all investments made during the accounting +period. It should include those subsequently sold as well as those still on +hand. Frequently the same money will be used for a series of investments. +Therefore, the schedule should not be totalled in order to avoid giving an +exaggerated idea of the size of the fund. + +A second schedule (entitled Changes in Investment Holdings in the +Model Account) should show all transactions affecting a particular security +holding, such as purchase of additional shares, partial sales, stocksplits, +change of corporate name, divestment distributions, etc. This schedule, +similar to a ledger account for each holding, will reconcile opening and +closing entries for particular holdings, explain changes in carrying value, and +avoid extensive searches through the account for information scattered +among other schedules. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.350. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.350 + +RULE 5.350. CONTINUANCE OF UNINCORPORATED BUSINESS +OR VENTURE. + +(a) Separate Accounts and Reports. In the conduct of an unincorporated +business or venture, the personal representative shall keep separate, full, and +accurate accounts of all receipts and expenditures and make reports as the +court may require. + +(b) Petition. If the personal representative determines it to be in the best +interest of the estate to continue an unincorporated business or venture +beyond the time authorized by statute or will, the personal representative +shall file a verified petition which shall include: + +(1) a statement of the nature of that business or venture; +(2) a schedule of specific assets and liabilities; +(3) the reasons for continuation; +(4) the proposed form and times of accounting for that business or + +venture; +(5) the period for which the continuation is requested; and +(6) any other information pertinent to the petition. + +(c) Order. If the continuation is authorized, the order shall state: +(1) the period for which that business or venture is to continue; +(2) the particular powers of the personal representative in the + +continuation of that business or venture; and +(3) the form and frequency of accounting by that business or venture. + +(d) Petition by Interested Person. Any interested person, at any time, +may petition the court for an order regarding the operation of, accounting for, +or termination of an unincorporated business or venture, and the court shall +enter an order thereon. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +Rule History +1975 Revision: New rule. 733.612. +1984 Revision: Extensive changes in rule and title. Clarifies procedural + +steps to be taken by a personal representative who determines it to be in the +best interest of an estate to continue any unincorporated business beyond the +time authorized by statute. Information required to be filed in a verified +petition is specified, and normal information to be included in a court order is +listed. Other pertinent information under (b)(6) may include provisions for +insurance of business or venture, proposed professionals to be used in +connection with such activities, how the business or venture shall be +managed, the person or persons proposed for managerial positions, a list of +all other employees, agents, or independent contractors employed by or +affiliated with the business or venture, and proposed compensation for all +such management personnel, agents, employees, and independent contractors. +Committee notes revised and expanded. + +1988 Revision: Editorial change in caption of (b). Committee notes +revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References +F.S. 733.612(22), Fla. Stat. Transactions authorized for the personal + +representative; exceptions. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.380 Execution by personal representative. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.355. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.355 + +RULE 5.355. PROCEEDINGS FOR REVIEW OF EMPLOYMENT OF +AGENTS AND COMPENSATION OF PERSONAL +REPRESENTATIVES AND ESTATE EMPLOYEES. + +After notice to all interested persons and upon petition of an interested +person bearing all or a part of the impact of the payment of compensation to +the personal representative or any person employed by the personal +representative, the propriety of the employment and the reasonableness of the +compensation or payment may be reviewed by the court. The petition shall +state the grounds on which it is based. The burden of proving the propriety of +the employment and the reasonableness of the compensation shall be upon +the personal representative and the person employed by the personal +representative. Any person who is determined to have received excessive +compensation from an estate may be ordered to make appropriate refunds. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure formerly found +in section 733.6175, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of +the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform +with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure +or modify an existing procedure. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +1996 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + + + + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.612(19), Fla. Stat. Transactions authorized for the personal + +representative; exceptions. + 733.617, Fla. Stat. Compensation of personal representative. + 733.6171, Fla. Stat. Compensation of attorney for the personal + +representative. + 733.6175, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for review of employment of agents and + +compensation of personal representatives and employees of estate. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.360. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.360 + +RULE 5.360. ELECTIVE SHARE. +(a) Election. An election to take the elective share may be filed by the + +surviving spouse, or on behalf of the surviving spouse by an agent or +guardian of the property of the surviving spouse. + +(1) Election by Surviving Spouse. An electing surviving spouse must +file the election within the time required by law and promptly serve a copy +of the election on the personal representative in the manner provided for +service of formal notice. + +(2) Election by Agent or Guardian of the Property of Surviving +Spouse. +(A) Petition for Approval. Before filing the election, the agent or + +guardian of the property of the surviving spouse must petition the court +having jurisdiction of the probate proceeding for approval to make the +election. The petition for approval must allege the authority to act on behalf +of the surviving spouse and facts supporting the election. + +(B) Notice of Petition. Upon receipt of the petition, the personal +representative must promptly serve a copy of the petition by formal notice on +all interested persons. + +(C) Order Authorizing Election. If the election is approved, the order +must include a finding that the election is in the best interests of the surviving +spouse during the spouses probable lifetime. + +(D) Filing the Election. Upon entry of an order authorizing the filing of an +election, the agent or guardian of the property must file the election within +the later of the time provided by law or 30 days from service of the order and +promptly serve a copy of the election on the personal representative in the +manner provided for service of formal notice. + +(b) Procedure for Election. +(1) Extension. Within the period provided by law to make the election, + +the surviving spouse or an agent or guardian of the property of the +surviving spouse may petition the court for an extension of time for + + + +making an election or for approval to make the election. After notice and +hearing the court for good cause shown may extend the time for election. If +the court grants the petition for an extension, the election must be filed +within the time allowed by the extension. + +(2) Withdrawal of Election. The surviving spouse, an agent, a guardian +of the property of the surviving spouse, or the personal representative of +the surviving spouses estate may withdraw the election within the time +provided by law. + +(3) Service of Notice. Upon receipt of an election the personal +representative must serve a notice of election within 20 days following +service of the election, together with a copy of the election, on all +interested persons in the manner provided for service of formal notice. The +notice of election must indicate the names and addresses of the attorneys +for the surviving spouse and the personal representative and must state +that: + +(A) persons receiving a notice of election may be required to +contribute toward the satisfaction of the elective share; + +(B) objections to the election must be served within 20 days after +service of the copy of the notice of election; and + +(C) if no objection to the election is timely served, an order +determining the surviving spouses entitlement to the elective share may +be granted without further notice. +(4) Objection to Election. Within 20 days after service of the notice of + +election, an interested person may serve an objection to the election which +must state with particularity the grounds on which the objection is based. +The objecting party must serve copies of the objection on the surviving +spouse and the personal representative. If an objection is served, the +personal representative must promptly serve a copy of the objection on all +other interested persons who have not previously been served with a copy +of the objection. +(c) Determination of Entitlement. + +(1) No Objection Served. If no objection to the election is timely +served, the court must enter an order determining the spouses entitlement +to the elective share. + + + +(2) Objection Served. If an objection to the election is timely served, +the court must determine the surviving spouses entitlement to the elective +share after notice and hearing. +(d) Procedure to Determine Amount of Elective Share and + +Contribution. +(1) Petition by Personal Representative. After entry of the order + +determining the surviving spouses entitlement to the elective share, the +personal representative must file and serve a petition to determine the +amount of the elective share. The petition must: + +(A) give the name and address of each direct recipient known to the +personal representative; + +(B) describe the proposed distribution of assets to satisfy the elective +share, and the time and manner of distribution; and + +(C) identify those direct recipients, if any, from whom a specified +contribution will be required and state the amount of contribution sought +from each. +(2) Service of Inventory. The inventory of the elective estate required + +by rule 5.340, together with the petition, must be served within 60 days +after entry of the order determining entitlement to the elective share on all +interested persons in the manner provided for service of formal notice. + +(3) Petition by Spouse. If the personal representative does not file the +petition to determine the amount of the elective share within 90 days from +rendition of the order of entitlement, the electing spouse or the agent or the +guardian of the property or personal representative of the electing spouse +may file the petition specifying as particularly as is known the value of the +elective share. + +(4) Objection to Amount of Elective Share. Within 20 days after +service of the petition to determine the amount of the elective share, an +interested person may serve an objection to the amount of or distribution of +assets to satisfy the elective share. The objection must state with +particularity the grounds on which the objection is based. The objecting +party must serve copies of the objection on the surviving spouse and the +personal representative. If an objection is served, the personal +representative must promptly serve a copy of the objection on all interested + + + +persons who have not previously been served. +(5) Determination of Amount of Elective Share and Contribution. + +(A) No Objection Served. If no objection is timely served to the petition +to determine the amount of the elective share, the court must enter an order +on the petition. + +(B) Objection Served. If an objection is timely served to the petition to +determine the amount of the elective share, the court must determine the +amount of the elective share and contribution after notice and hearing. + +(6) Order Determining Amount of Elective Share and Contribution. +The order must: + +(A) set forth the amount of the elective share; +(B) identify the assets to be distributed to the surviving spouse in + +satisfaction of the elective share; and +(C) if contribution is necessary, specify the amount of contribution for + +which each direct recipient is liable. +(e) Relief from Duty to Enforce Contribution. A petition to relieve the + +personal representative from the duty to enforce contribution must state the +grounds on which it is based and notice must be served on interested persons. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The extensive rewrite of this rule in 2001 is intended to conform it with +and provide procedures to accommodate amendments to Floridas elective +share statutes. Sections 732.201 et seq., Florida Statues. Proceedings to +determine entitlement to elective share are not specific adversary proceedings +under rule 5.025(a), but may be declared adversary at the option of the party. +Proceedings to determine the amount of elective share and contribution are +specific adversary proceedings under rule 5.025(a). Requirements for service +are intended to be consistent with the requirements for formal notice. Rule +5.040. Service of process may be required to obtain personal jurisdiction over +direct recipients who are not otherwise interested persons and who have not +voluntarily submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of the court. Rule +5.040(a)(3)(C); chapter 48, Florida Statues, Process and Service of Process; +chapter 49, Florida Statues, Constructive Service of Process. An inventory of + + + +the elective estate should be afforded the same confidentiality as other estate +inventories. Section 733.604(1) and (2), Florida Statues. In fulfilling his or +her obligations under this rule, a personal representative is not required to +make impractical or extended searches for property entering into the elective +estate and the identities of direct recipients. Pre-existing rights to dower and +curtesy formerly addressed in subdivision (e) of this rule are now governed +by new rule 5.365. + +Counsels attention is directed to Florida Ethics Opinion 76-16, dated April +4, 1977, for guidance regarding the duties of an attorney with respect to +spousal rights. + +Rule History +1984 Revision: Extensive changes. Clarifies information to be included in + +a petition for elective share filed by a personal representative and specifies +information to be included in an order determining elective share. Committee +notes revised and expanded. + +1988 Revision: Extensive changes. A new procedure has been added +providing for optional service of a notice of election together with a copy of +the election and a procedure to expose objections to and determine right to +entitlement, separate from the pre-existing procedure of determination of +amount and setting aside. Subdivisions (c) and (d) represent rule +implementation of procedure in statute. Committee notes revised and +expanded. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2001 Revision: Entire rule rewritten. Committee notes revised. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to require service in the manner + +of formal notice of the notice of election. Subdivision (b)(3) amended to +provide time period for personal representative to service notice of election +on interested persons, and title revised. Subdivision (d)(2) amended to +provide time limit and service requirement for elective estate inventory and +petition for determination of amount of elective share. Committee notes +revised. + + + +2010 Cycle Report Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Out-of-Cycle Report Revision: Subdivision (a)(2) amended to + +conform to an amendment to section 732.2125, Florida Statutes. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Subdivisions (a), (a)(2), (a)(2)(A), (a)(2)(D), (b)(1), (b)(2), + +and (d)(3) amended to change attorney-in-fact to agent to be consistent +with chapter 709, Florida Statutes. Committee note revised. + +Statutory References + 732.201, Fla. Stat. Right to elective share. + 732.2025, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 732.2035, Fla. Stat. Property entering into elective estate. + 732.2045, Fla. Stat. Exclusions and overlapping application. + 732.2055, Fla. Stat. Valuation of the elective estate. + 732.2065, Fla. Stat. Amount of the elective share. + 732.2075, Fla. Stat. Sources from which elective share payable; + +abatement. + 732.2085, Fla. Stat. Liability of direct recipients and beneficiaries. + 732.2095, Fla. Stat. Valuation of property used to satisfy elective share. + 732.2125, Fla. Stat. Right of election; by whom exercisable. + 732.2135, Fla. Stat. Time of election; extensions; withdrawal. + 732.2145, Fla. Stat. Order of contribution; personal representatives duty + +to collect contribution. + 733.604, Fla. Stat. Inventories and accountings; public records + +exemptions. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 Inventory. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. App. P. 9.020(h)[i] Definitions. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.365. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.365 + +RULE 5.365. PETITION FOR DOWER. +A widow may file an extraordinary petition for assignment of dower. The + +petition shall be filed in the court of each county where the widows husband +had conveyed land in which the widow had not relinquished her right of +dower before October 1, 1973. Formal notice shall be served on persons +adversely affected. The proceedings shall be as similar as possible to those +formerly existing for the ordinary assignment of dower. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2001 Revision: Derived from former rule 5.360(e). +Statutory Reference + 732.111, Fla. Stat. Dower and curtesy abolished. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.370. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.370 + +RULE 5.370. SALES OF REAL PROPERTY WHERE NO POWER +CONFERRED. + +(a) Petition. When authorization or confirmation of the sale of real +property is required, the personal representative shall file a verified petition +setting forth the reasons for the sale, a description of the real property sold or +proposed to be sold, and the price and terms of the sale. + +(b) Order. If the sale is authorized or confirmed, the order shall describe +the real property. An order authorizing a sale may provide for the public or +private sale of the real property described therein, in parcels or as a whole. +An order authorizing a private sale shall specify the price and terms of the +sale. An order authorizing a public sale shall specify the type of notice of sale +to be given by the personal representative. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Petitions under the rule are governed by section 733.610, Florida Statutes, +under which sales are voidable by interested persons if there was a conflict of +interest without full disclosure and consent, unless the will or contract +entered into by the decedent authorized the transaction or it was approved by +the court after notice to all interested persons, and by section 733.609, Florida +Statutes, involving bad faith actions by the personal representative. Note +provisions for attorneys fees. + +Rule History +1984 Revision: Extensive changes. Notice of hearing on any petition + +concerning sale of real property is required by statute unless waived. The +requirement to record a certified copy of the order approving sale of real +estate in each county where the real property or any part thereof is situated +has been deleted. Committee notes revised and expanded. + +1988 Revision: Committee notes expanded. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + + + +1996 Revision: Editorial changes. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 733.609, Fla. Stat. Improper exercise of power; breach of fiduciary duty. + 733.610, Fla. Stat. Sale, encumbrance or transaction involving conflict of + +interest. + 733.613(1), Fla. Stat. Personal representatives right to sell real property. + 733.810, Fla. Stat. Distribution in kind; valuation. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.380. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.380 + +RULE 5.380. COMPULSORY PAYMENT OF DEVISES OR +DISTRIBUTIVE INTERESTS. + +(a) Petition. A beneficiary may file a petition setting forth the facts that +entitle the beneficiary to compel payment of devises or distributive interests +stating that the property will not be required for the payment of debts, family +allowance, spouses elective share, estate and inheritance taxes, claims, +charges, and expenses of administration, or for providing funds for +contribution or enforcing equalization in case of advancements. + +(b) Order. If the court finds that the property will not be required for the +purposes set forth in subdivision (a), it may enter an order describing the +property to be surrendered or delivered and compelling the personal +representative, prior to the final settlement of the personal representatives +accounts, to do one or more of the following: + +(1) Pay all or any part of a devise in money. +(2) Deliver specific personal property within the personal + +representatives custody and control. +(3) Pay all or any part of a distributive interest in the personal estate of a + +decedent. +(4) Surrender real property. + +(c) Bond. Before the entry of an order of partial distribution, the court may +require the person entitled to distribution to give a bond with sureties as +prescribed by law. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1984 Revision: Extensive changes. Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Editorial change in caption of (a). Citation form change in + +committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + + + +changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.802, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for compulsory payment of devises or + +distributive interest. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings verification: motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.385. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.385 + +RULE 5.385. DETERMINATION OF BENEFICIARIES AND +SHARES. + +(a) Beneficiaries and Shares. If a personal representative or other +interested person is in doubt or is unable to determine with certainty +beneficiaries entitled to an estate or the shares of any beneficiary of an estate, +or a beneficiary entitled to any asset or interest in an estate, the personal +representative or other interested person may petition the court to determine +beneficiaries. + +(b) Petition. The petition shall include: +(1) the names, residences, and post office addresses of all persons who + +may have an interest, except creditors of the decedent, known to the +petitioner or ascertainable by diligent search and inquiry; + +(2) a statement of the nature of the interest of each person; +(3) designation of any person believed to be a minor or incapacitated, + +and whether any person so designated is under legal guardianship in this +state; + +(4) a statement as to whether petitioner believes that there are, or may +be, persons whose names are not known to petitioner who have claims +against, or interest in, the estate as beneficiaries. +(c) Order. After formal notice and hearing, the court shall enter an order + +determining the beneficiaries or the shares and amounts they are entitled to +receive, or both. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure formerly found +in section 733.105, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of +the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform +with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure +or modify an existing procedure. + +Rule History + + + +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +2002 Revision: Subdivision (c) added to implement procedure formerly + +found in section 733.105(2), Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. +2003 Revision: Change in subdivision (c) to replace heirs or devisees + +with beneficiaries to incorporate term used in section 733.105, Florida +Statutes. Committee notes revised. + +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2014 Revision: Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425(b)(6) provides an + +exception for the full name of any minor in any document or order affecting +minors ownership of real property. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References +ch. 49, Fla. Stat. Constructive service of process. + 731.201(2), (23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.301, Fla. Stat. Notice. + 733.105, Fla. Stat. Determination of beneficiaries. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.120 Administrator ad litem and guardian ad litem. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(5) Filing evidence of death. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.386. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.386 + +RULE 5.386. ESCHEAT. +(a) Escheat proceeding. If it appears to the personal representative that an + +estate may escheat or there is doubt about the existence of any person entitled +to the estate, the personal representative shall institute a proceeding to +determine beneficiaries within 1 year after letters have been issued to the +personal representative, and notice shall be served on the Department of +Legal Affairs. If the personal representative fails to institute the proceeding +within the time fixed, it may be instituted by the Department of Legal Affairs. + +(b) Courts Report. On or before January 15 of each year, each court shall +furnish to the Department of Legal Affairs a list of all estates being +administered in which no person appears to be entitled to the property and the +personal representative has not instituted a proceeding for the determination +of beneficiaries. + +(c) Administration. Except as herein provided, escheated estates shall be +administered as other estates. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure formerly found +in section 732.107, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of +the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform +with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure +or modify an existing procedure. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + + + + 732.107, Fla. Stat. Escheat. + 732.401, Fla. Stat. Descent of homestead. + 733.105, Fla. Stat. Determination of beneficiaries. + 733.816, Fla. Stat. Disposition of unclaimed property held by personal + +representatives. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.385 Determination of beneficiaries and shares. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.395. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.395 + +RULE 5.395. NOTICE OF FEDERAL ESTATE TAX RETURN. +When a federal estate tax return is filed, required to be filed, or will be + +filed, the personal representative shall file a notice stating the due date of the +return. The notice shall be filed within 12 months from the date letters are +issued and copies of the notice shall be served on interested persons. +Whenever the due date is subsequently extended, similar notice shall be filed +and served. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The purpose of the rule is to require notification to the court and all +interested persons that the time for closing the estate is extended when a +federal estate tax return is required. + +Rule History +1984 Revision: New rule. +1988 Revision: Citation form change in committee notes. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2013 Revision: Clarifies the available option to file a federal tax return + +even if one is not required by state or federal rule or law. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 Distribution and discharge. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.400. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 + +RULE 5.400. DISTRIBUTION AND DISCHARGE. +(a) Petition for Discharge; Final Accounting. A personal representative + +who has completed administration except for distribution shall file a final +accounting and a petition for discharge including a plan of distribution. + +(b) Contents. The petition for discharge shall contain a statement: +(1) that the personal representative has fully administered the estate; +(2) that all claims which were presented have been paid, settled, or + +otherwise disposed of; +(3) that the personal representative has paid or made provision for taxes + +and expenses of administration; +(4) showing the amount of compensation paid or to be paid to the + +personal representative, attorneys, accountants, appraisers, or other agents +employed by the personal representative and the manner of determining +that compensation; + +(5) showing a plan of distribution which shall include: +(A) a schedule of all prior distributions; +(B) the property remaining in the hands of the personal representative + +for distribution; +(C) a schedule describing the proposed distribution of the remaining + +assets; and +(D) the amount of funds retained by the personal representative to pay + +expenses that are incurred in the distribution of the remaining assets and +termination of the estate administration; +(6) that any objections to the accounting, the compensation paid or + +proposed to be paid, or the proposed distribution of assets must be filed +within 30 days from the date of service of the last of the petition for +discharge or final accounting; and also that within 90 days after filing of +the objection, a notice of hearing thereon must be served or the objection is +abandoned; and + + + +(7) that objections, if any, shall be in writing and shall state with +particularity the item or items to which the objection is directed and the +grounds on which the objection is based. +(c) Closing Estate; Extension. The final accounting and petition for + +discharge shall be filed and served on interested persons within 12 months +after issuance of letters for an estate not filing a federal estate tax return, +otherwise within 12 months from the date the return is due, unless the time is +extended by the court for cause shown after notice to interested persons. The +petition to extend time shall state the status of the estate and the reason for +the extension. + +(d) Distribution. The personal representative shall promptly distribute the +estate property in accordance with the plan of distribution, unless objections +are filed as provided in these rules. + +(e) Discharge. On receipt of evidence that the estate has been fully +administered and properly distributed, the court shall enter an order +discharging the personal representative and releasing the surety on any bond. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The rule establishes a procedure for giving notice and serving the final +accounting, petition for discharge, and plan of distribution to all interested +persons prior to distribution and discharge. No distinction is made in plans of +distribution which distribute estate property in kind among multiple residual +beneficiaries proportionate to their respective interests and those which +include equalizing adjustments in cash or property and which do not make +prorated distribution. If disclosure of the compensation or disclosure of the +manner of determining the compensation, in the petition for discharge is to be +waived, the form of waiver must conform to rule 5.180(b). + +Rule History +1980 Revision: Change in prior (a)(6) to require that an objection set forth + +the basis on which it is being made. +1984 Revision: This rule has been substantially revised. Portions of the + +prior rule are now incorporated in rules 5.400 and 5.401. The committee has +included the procedure for filing and serving of objections to the final +accounting, petition for discharge, plan of distribution, or compensation in + + + +rule 5.401. +1988 Revision: Subdivision (b)(1) is deleted to avoid duplication with rule + +5.346. Subdivision (c) is amended to add the 12-month time specification of +section 733.901(1), Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Subdivision (b)(5)(D) is added. Editorial changes. +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Addition in (a)(4) of specific attorney fee compensation +disclosure requirements found in 733.6171(9), Florida Statutes, and expanded +to cover all compensation. Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Subdivision (f) deleted to avoid duplication with rule + +5.180. +2006 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2013 Revision: Clarifies the available option to file a federal tax return + +even if one is not required by state or federal rule or law. +Statutory References + 731.201(12), (23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 731.302, Fla. Stat. Waiver and consent by interested persons. + 733.809, Fla. Stat. Right of retainer. + 733.810, Fla. Stat. Distribution in kind; valuation, + 733.811, Fla. Stat. Distribution; right or title of distributee. + 733.812, Fla. Stat. Improper distribution or payment; liability of + +distributee or payee. + 733.901, Fla. Stat. Final discharge. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.330 Execution by personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 Fiduciary accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.401 Objections to petition for discharge or final accounting. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.250(a)(1)(D) Time standards for trial + +and appellate courts and reporting requirements. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.401. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.401 + +RULE 5.401. OBJECTIONS TO PETITION FOR DISCHARGE OR +FINAL ACCOUNTING. + +(a) Objections. An interested person may object to the petition for +discharge or final accounting within 30 days after the service of the later of +the petition or final accounting on that interested person. + +(b) Contents. Written objections to the petition for discharge or final +accounting must state with particularity the items to which the objections are +directed and must state the grounds on which the objections are based. + +(c) Service. Copies of the objections shall be served by the objector on the +personal representative and interested persons not later than 30 days after the +last date on which the petition for discharge or final accounting was served +on the objector. + +(d) Hearing on Objections. Any interested person may set a hearing on +the objections. Notice of the hearing shall be given to all interested persons. +If a notice of hearing on the objections is not served within 90 days of filing +of the objections, the objections shall be deemed abandoned and the personal +representative may make distribution as set forth in the plan of distribution. + +(e) Order on Objections. The court shall sustain or overrule any +objections to the petition for discharge and final accounting and shall +determine a plan of distribution. + +(f) Discharge. On receipt of evidence that the estate has been distributed +according to the plan determined by the court and the claims of creditors have +been paid or otherwise disposed of, the court shall enter an order discharging +the personal representative and releasing the surety on any bond. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1984 Revision: New rule. Objections to the petition for discharge or final + +accounting were formerly under prior rule 5.400. Clarifies procedure for +objections. + + + +1988 Revision: Editorial changes in (a). Committee notes revised. Citation +form changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Subdivision (d) amended to clarify that 90-day period +pertains to service of hearing notice, not the actual hearing date. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.201(12), (23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 733.6175, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for review of employment of agents and + +compensation of personal representatives and employees of estate. + 733.901, Fla. Stat. Final discharge. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.400 Distribution and discharge. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.402. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.402 + +RULE 5.402. NOTICE OF LIEN ON PROTECTED HOMESTEAD. +(a) Filing. If the personal representative has recorded a notice of lien on + +protected homestead, the personal representative shall file a copy of the +recorded notice in the probate proceeding. + +(b) Contents. The notice of lien shall contain: +(1) the name and address of the personal representative and the personal + +representatives attorney; +(2) the legal description of the real property; +(3) to the extent known, the name and address of each person appearing + +to have an interest in the property; and +(4) a statement that the personal representative has expended or is + +obligated to expend funds to preserve, maintain, insure, or protect the +property and that the lien stands as security for recovery of those +expenditures and obligations incurred, including fees and costs. +(c) Service. A copy of the recorded notice of lien shall be served on + +interested persons in the manner provided for service of formal notice. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2005 Revision: New rule. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 733.608, Fla. Stat. General power of the personal representative. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.403 Proceedings to determine amount of lien on protected + + + +homestead. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.404 Notice of taking possession of protected homestead. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.405 Proceedings to determine protected homestead status of + +real property. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.403. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.403 + +RULE 5.403. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE AMOUNT OF LIEN +ON PROTECTED HOMESTEAD. + +(a) Petition. A personal representative or interested person may file a +petition to determine the amount of any lien on protected homestead. + +(b) Contents. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and shall +state: + +(1) the name and address of the personal representative and the personal +representatives attorney; + +(2) the interest of the petitioner; +(3) the legal description of the real property; +(4) to the extent known, the name and address of each person appearing + +to have an interest in the property; and +(5) to the extent known, the amounts paid or obligated to be paid by the + +personal representative to preserve, maintain, insure, or protect the +protected homestead, including fees and costs. +(c) Service. The petition shall be served on interested persons by formal + +notice. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2005 Revision: New rule. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 733.608, Fla. Stat. General power of the personal representative. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.402 Notice of lien on protected homestead. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.404 Notice of taking possession of protected homestead. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.405 Proceedings to determine protected homestead status of + +real property. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.404. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.404 + +RULE 5.404. NOTICE OF TAKING POSSESSION OF PROTECTED +HOMESTEAD. + +(a) Filing of Notice. If a personal representative takes possession of what +appears reasonably to be protected homestead pending a determination of its +homestead status, the personal representative shall file a notice of that act. + +(b) Contents of Notice. The notice shall contain: +(1) a legal description of the property; +(2) a statement of the limited purpose for preserving, insuring, and + +protecting it for the heirs or devisees pending a determination of the +homestead status; + +(3) the name and address of the personal representative and the personal +representatives attorney; + +(4) if the personal representative is in possession when the notice is +filed, the date the personal representative took possession. +(c) Service of Notice. The notice shall be served in the manner provided + +for service of formal notice on interested persons and on any person in actual +possession of the property. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2002 Revision: New rule. +2005 Revision: Term devisees substituted for beneficiaries in + +subdivision (b)(2) to clarify the status of persons interested in protected +homestead. Committee notes revised. + +2013 Revision: Deletes subdivision (b)(4) because the required +information is not appropriate for a Notice of Taking possession, nor does it +comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. + +Statutory References + + + + 732.401, Fla. Stat. Descent of homestead. + 732.4015, Fla. Stat. Devise of homestead. + 733.608(2), Fla. Stat. General power of the personal representative. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.402 Notice of lien on protected homestead. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.403 Proceedings to determine amount of lien on protected + +homestead. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.405 Proceedings to determine protected homestead status of + +real property. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.405. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.405 + +RULE 5.405. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE PROTECTED +HOMESTEAD REAL PROPERTY. + +(a) Petition. An interested person may file a petition to determine the +protected homestead status of real property owned by the decedent or owned +by the trustee of a trust described in section 733.707(3), Florida Statutes, of +which the deceased settlor was treated as the owner of the real property +pursuant to section 732.4015, Florida Statutes. + +(b) Contents. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and shall +state: + +(1) the date of the decedents death; +(2) the county of the decedents domicile at the time of death; +(3) the name of the decedents surviving spouse and the names of + +surviving descendants, and a statement as to whether the decedent had any +minor children as of the date of death. If so, they should be identified with +name and year of birth; + +(4) a legal description of the property owned by the decedent on which +the decedent resided; and + +(5) how the real property was owned at the time of the decedents death; +and + +(6) any other facts in support of the petition. +(c) Order. The courts order on the petition shall describe the real property + +and determine whether any of the real property constituted the protected +homestead of the decedent. If the court determines that any of the real +property was the protected homestead of the decedent, the order shall identify +by name the person or persons entitled to the protected homestead real +property and define the interest of each. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule establishes the procedure by which the personal representative or +any interested person may petition the court for a determination that certain + + + +real property constituted the decedents homestead property, in accordance +with article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution. The jurisdiction of the +court to determine constitutional homestead property was established by In re +Nobles Estate, 73 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 1954). + +Rule History +1984 Revision: New rule. +1988 Revision: Editorial change in (a). Subdivision (b)(4) amended to + +conform to constitutional change. Committee notes revised. Citation form +change in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Subdivision (c) amended to require description of real +property that is the subject of the petition, description of any homestead +property, and definition of specific interests of persons entitled to homestead +real property. + +2002 Revision: Replaces homestead with protected homestead +throughout to conform to addition of term in section 731.201(29), Florida +Statutes. Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2014 Revision: Amends subdivisions (b)(3) and (c) to conform to Fla. R. + +Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425. Committee notes revised. +2021 Revision: Amends subdivisions (a) and (b)(5) to include real property + +owned by a trust. Committee notes revised. +Constitutional Reference +Art. X, 4, Fla. Const. +Statutory References + 731.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + + + + 731.201 (33), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 732.401, Fla. Stat. Descent of homestead. + 732.4015, Fla. Stat. Devise of homestead. + 733.607, Fla. Stat. Possession of estate. + 733.608, Fla. Stat. General power of the personal representative. + 733.707(3), Fla. Stat. Order of payment of expenses and obligations. + 736.0201(7), Fla. Stat. Role of court in trust proceedings. + 736.1109, Fla. Stat. Testamentary and revocable trusts; homestead + +protections. + 736.151, Fla. Stat. Homestead property. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(6) Filing evidence of death. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.340 Inventory. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.404 Notice of taking possession of protected homestead. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.406. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.406 + +RULE 5.406. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE EXEMPT +PROPERTY. + +(a) Petition. An interested person may file a petition to determine exempt +property within the time allowed by law. + +(b) Contents. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and shall: +(1) describe the property and the basis on which it is claimed as exempt + +property; and +(2) state the name and address of the decedents surviving spouse or, if + +none, the names and addresses of decedents children entitled by law to the +exempt property and the year of birth of those who are minors. +(c) Order. The court shall determine each item of exempt property and its + +value, if necessary to determine its exempt status, and order the surrender of +that property to the persons entitled to it. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule establishes the procedure by which the personal representative or +any interested person may petition the court for determination of exempt +property in accordance with article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution +and section 732.402, Florida Statutes. + +Section 732.402, Florida Statutes, specifies the time within which the +petition to determine exempt property must be filed within 4 months after the +date of service of the notice of administration, unless extended as provided in +the statute. + +Rule History +1984 Revision: New rule. +1988 Revision: Subdivision (a) revised to reflect editorial changes and to + +require verification. Subdivision (b)(1) revised to require the basis for +asserting exempt property status. Subdivision (b)(2) added the requirement of +stating addresses of those entitled to exempt property. Subdivision (c) revised +to reflect editorial changes and to require determination of the value of each + + + +item of exempt property. Committee notes revised. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. +1996 Revision: Editorial changes in rule to conform to similar language in + +rule 5.405. Committee notes revised. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Subdivision (c) amended to limit the instances in which the + +value of the property claimed as exempt needs to be stated in the order. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2014 Revision: Subdivision (b)(2) amended to conform to Fla. R. Gen. + +Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 and provide the year of birth of a minor. +Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 731.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 732.402, Fla. Stat. Exempt property. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.420 Disposition of personal property without + +administration. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.407. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.407 + +RULE 5.407. PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE FAMILY +ALLOWANCE. + +(a) Petition. An interested person may file a petition to determine family +allowance. + +(b) Contents. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and shall: +(1) state the names and addresses of the decedents surviving spouse and + +the decedents adult lineal heirs and the initials, address, and year of birth +of the decedents lineal heirs who are minors and who were being +supported by the decedent or who were entitled to be supported by the +decedent at the time of the decedents death; and + +(2) for each person for whom an allowance is sought, state the adult +persons name, or minor childs initials, and relationship to the decedent, +the basis on which the allowance is claimed, and the amount sought. +(c) Order. The order shall identify each adult persons name and each + +minor childs initials entitled to the allowance, the amount to which each is +entitled, the method of payment, and to whom payment should be made. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2003 Revision: New rule. +2012 Revision: Editorial change in (b)(1) for gender neutrality. Committee + +notes revised. +2014 Revision: Subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(2) are amended to conform to + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425. Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Subdivision (c) is revised to conform to Fla. R. Gen. Prac. + +& Jud. Admin. 2.425. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + + + + 732.403, Fla. Stat. Family allowance. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.420. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.420 + +RULE 5.420. DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY WITHOUT +ADMINISTRATION. + +(a) Application. An interested person may request a disposition of the +decedents personal property without administration. An application signed +by the applicant shall set forth: + +(1) the description and value of the exempt property; +(2) the description and value of the other assets of the decedent; +(3) the amount of preferred funeral expenses and reasonable and + +necessary medical and hospital expenses for the last 60 days of the last +illness together with accompanying statements or payment receipts; and + +(4) each requested payment or distribution of personal property. +(b) Exempt Property. If the decedents personal property includes exempt + +property, or property that can be determined to be exempt property, the +application must also be signed by all persons entitled to the exempt property +or by their representative. + +(c) Preparation. On request, the clerk shall assist the applicant in the +preparation of the required writing. + +(d) Disposition. If the court is satisfied that disposition without +administration is appropriate, the court may, without hearing, by letter or +other writing authorize the payment, transfer, or disposition of the decedents +personal property to those persons entitled to it. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Section 732.402, Florida Statutes, requires persons entitled to exempt +property, which excludes property specifically or demonstratively devised, to +file timely a petition to determine exempt property. Accordingly, disposition +of personal property under this rule should not be granted if decedents +personal property includes exempt property without all persons entitled +thereto agreeing to such disposition. + +Rule History + + + +1977 Revision: Permits the clerk to perform limited ministerial acts in the +completion of the application. + +1984 Revision: Editorial changes. Delineates the required contents of the +application. Committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Subparagraph (a)(3) changed to require applicant to attach +accompanying statements or payment receipts regarding priority expenses. +Subdivision (b) added to require persons entitled to exempt property to agree +to the proposed disposition. Committee notes expanded. + +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 732.402, Fla. Stat. Exempt property. + 735.301, Fla. Stat. Disposition without administration. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(4) Filing evidence of death. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.425. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.425 + +RULE 5.425. DISPOSITION WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION OF +INTESTATE PERSONAL PROPERTY IN SMALL ESTATES. + +(a) Administration Not Required. No administration shall be required or +formal proceedings instituted upon the estate of a decedent who: + +(1) died intestate; +(2) leaves only: + +(A) personal property exempt under the provisions of section 732.402, +Florida Statutes, + +(B) personal property exempt from the claims of creditors under the +Florida Constitution, and + +(C) non-exempt personal property the value of which does not exceed +the sum of $10,000 and the amount of preferred funeral expenses and +reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 +days of the last illness; +(3) has been deceased for more than 1 year; and +(4) no administration of the decedents estate is pending in this state. + +(b) Affidavit. Any heir at law of the decedent entitled to a share of the +intestate estate pursuant to section 732.102 or section 732.103, Florida +Statutes, may by affidavit request distribution of assets of the decedent by +affidavit. The affidavit must be signed and verified by the surviving spouse, +if any, and any heirs at law, except that joinder in the affidavit is not required +of an heir at law who will receive a full intestate share under the proposed +distribution of the personal property. The affidavit shall contain: + +(1) a statement that the decedent died intestate, and that after the +exercise of reasonable diligence, the person signing the affidavit is +unaware of any unrevoked wills or codicils; + +(2) a statement that the decedent has been deceased for more than 1 +year; + +(3) a statement that the decedent died leaving only personal property + + + +exempt under the provisions of section 732.402, Florida Statutes, personal +property exempt from the claims of creditors under the Florida +Constitution, and non-exempt personal property the value of which does +not exceed the sum of $10,000; + +(4) a description of all assets subject to distribution without +administration and their values; + +(5) a statement setting forth the amount of preferred funeral expenses +and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 +days of the last illness; + +(6) a statement that no administration of the decedents estate is pending +in this state; + +(7) a statement of the relationship of each person signing the affidavit to +the decedent, and each persons name and address; + +(8) the name and last known address of the decedent, last 4 digits of the +decedents social security number, date and place of death of the decedent, +and state and county of decedents domicile; + +(9) so far as is known, the names and addresses of the surviving spouse, +if any, and the heirs of the decedent, and their relationship to the decedent +and the year of birth of any who are minors; + +(10) a statement either: +(A) that all claims against the decedents estate are barred; or +(B) that a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for any known or + +reasonably ascertainable creditors has been made and one of the +following: + +(i) a statement that the estate is not indebted; +(ii) the name and address of each creditor, the nature of the debt, + +the amount of the debt and whether the amount is estimated or exact, +and when the debt is due. If provision for payment has been made +other than for full payment in the proposed distribution schedule, the +following information must be shown: + +(a) the name of the person who will pay the debt, + + + +(b) the creditors written consent for substitution or assumption of the debt +by another person, + +(c) the amount to be paid if the debt has been compromised, and +(d) the terms for payment and any limitations on the liability of the person + +paying the debt; and +(11) a schedule of proposed distribution of all intestate personal + +property. +(c) Service. The affidavit must be served in the manner of formal notice + +upon +(1) all heirs at law who have not joined in the affidavit; +(2) all known or reasonably ascertainable creditors of the decedent; and +(3) if at the time of death the decedent was over the age of 55 years, + +upon the Agency for Health Care Administration. +(d) Writing Under Seal of Court. If the court determines that section + +735.304(1) is applicable and the affidavit filed by the heir at law meets the +requirements of section 735.304(2), the court, by letter or other writing under +the seal of the court, must authorize the payment, transfer, disposition, +delivery, or assignment of the tangible or intangible personal property to +those persons entitled. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Section 732.402, Florida Statutes, requires persons entitled to exempt +property, which excludes property specifically or demonstratively devised, to +file timely a petition to determine exempt property. Accordingly, disposition +of personal property under this rule should not be granted if decedents +personal property includes exempt property without all persons entitled +thereto agreeing to such disposition. + +Rule History +2020 Adoption: New rule based upon Chapter 2020-110, Laws of Florida. +Statutory References + 735.304, Fla. Stat. Disposition without administration of intestate + + + +property in small estates. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.430. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.430 + +RULE 5.430. RESIGNATION OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +(a) Resignation. A personal representative may resign with court approval. +(b) Petition for Resignation. The personal representative seeking to + +resign shall file a petition for resignation. The petition shall be verified and +shall state: + +(1) the personal representative desires to resign and be relieved of all +powers, duties, and obligations as personal representative; + +(2) the status of the estate administration and that the interests of the +estate will not be jeopardized if the resignation is accepted; + +(3) whether a proceeding for accounting, surcharge, or indemnification +or other proceeding against the resigning personal representative is +pending; and + +(4) whether the appointment of a successor fiduciary is necessary. If the +petition nominates a successor fiduciary, it shall state the nominees +priority under the Florida Probate Code, if any, and that the nominee is +qualified to serve under the laws of Florida. +(c) Service. The petition shall be served by formal notice on all interested + +persons and the personal representatives surety, if any. +(d) Appointment of Successor. Before accepting the resignation, the court + +shall determine the necessity for appointment of a successor fiduciary. If +there is no joint personal representative serving, the court shall appoint a +successor fiduciary. + +(e) Acceptance of Resignation. The court may accept the resignation and +revoke the letters of the resigning personal representative if the interests of +the estate are not jeopardized. Acceptance of the resignation shall not +exonerate the resigning personal representative or the resigning personal +representatives surety from liability. + +(f) Delivery of Records and Property. The resigning personal +representative shall immediately upon acceptance of the resignation by the +court deliver to the remaining personal representative or the successor + + + +fiduciary all of the records of the estate and all property of the estate, unless +otherwise directed by the court. + +(g) Petition for Discharge; Accounting. The resigning personal +representative shall file an accounting and a petition for discharge within 30 +days after the date that the letters of the resigning personal representative are +revoked by the court. The petition for discharge shall be verified and shall +state: + +(1) that the letters of the resigning personal representative have been +revoked; + +(2) that the resigning personal representative has surrendered all +undistributed estate assets, records, documents, papers, and other property +of or concerning the estate to the remaining personal representative or the +successor fiduciary; and + +(3) the amount of compensation paid or to be paid the resigning personal +representative and the attorney and other persons employed by the +resigning personal representative. +(h) Notice, Filing, and Objections to Accounting. Notice of, filing of, + +and objections to the accounting of the resigning personal representative shall +be as provided in rule 5.345. + +(i) Notice of Filing and Objections to Petition for Discharge. +(1) Notice of filing and a copy of the petition for discharge shall be + +served on all interested persons. The notice shall state that objections to the +petition for discharge must be filed within 30 days after the later of service +of the petition or service of the accounting on that interested person. + +(2) Any interested person may file an objection to the petition for +discharge within 30 days after the later of service of the petition or service +of the accounting on that interested person. Any objection not filed within +such time shall be deemed abandoned. An objection shall be in writing and +shall state with particularity the item or items to which the objection is +directed and the grounds on which the objection is based. + +(3) The objecting party shall serve a copy of the objection on the +resigning personal representative and other interested persons. + +(4) Any interested person may set a hearing on the objections. Notice of + + + +the hearing shall be given to the resigning personal representative and +other interested persons. +(j) Failure to File Accounting or Deliver Records or Property. The + +resigning personal representative shall be subject to contempt proceedings if +the resigning personal representative fails to file an accounting or fails to +deliver all property of the estate and all estate records under the control of the +resigning personal representative to the remaining personal representative or +the successor fiduciary within the time prescribed by this rule or by court +order. + +(k) Discharge. The court shall enter an order discharging the resigning +personal representative and releasing the surety on any bond after the court is +satisfied that the resigning personal representative has delivered all records +and property of the estate to the remaining personal representative or the +successor fiduciary; that all objections, if any, to the accounting of the +resigning personal representative have been withdrawn, abandoned, or +judicially resolved; and that the liability of the resigning personal +representative has been determined and satisfied. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +In the event of resignation of a personal representative, if a joint personal +representative is not serving, the successor fiduciary must file an oath and +designation of a successor resident agent. + +This rule was revised to implement the revisions to the probate code that +govern resignation of personal representative. The committee intended to +separate the procedure with respect to resignation from removal because +these proceedings may differ in practice. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: The rule provides for the orderly succession of personal + +representatives in the event a personal representative resigns or is removed. +1977 Revision: Editorial change in committee note. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes; captions added to subdivisions. + +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + + + +changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Rule completely revised to comply with statutory changes. + +Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 733.101, Fla. Stat. Venue of probate proceedings. + 733.502, Fla. Stat. Resignation of personal representative. + 733.503, Fla. Stat. Appointment of successor upon resignation. + 733.5035, Fla. Stat. Surrender of assets after resignation. + 733.5036, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge following resignation. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla.Prob.R. 5.310 Disqualification of personal representative; notification. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.330 Execution by personal representative. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.345 Accountings other than personal representatives final + +accountings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 Fiduciary accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.401 Objections to petition for discharge or final accounting. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.440. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.440 + +RULE 5.440. PROCEEDINGS FOR REMOVAL OF PERSONAL +REPRESENTATIVE. + +(a) Commencement of Proceeding. The court on its own motion may +remove, or any interested person by petition may commence a proceeding to +remove, a personal representative. A petition for removal shall state the facts +constituting the grounds upon which removal is sought, and shall be filed in +the court having jurisdiction over the administration of the estate. + +(b) Accounting. A removed personal representative shall file an +accounting within 30 days after removal. + +(c) Delivery of Records and Property. A removed personal representative +shall, immediately after removal or within such time prescribed by court +order, deliver to the remaining personal representative or to the successor +fiduciary all of the records of the estate and all of the property of the estate. + +(d) Failure to File Accounting or Deliver Records and Property. If a +removed personal representative fails to file an accounting or fails to deliver +all property of the estate and all estate records under the control of the +removed personal representative to the remaining personal representative or +to the successor fiduciary within the time prescribed by this rule or by court +order, the removed personal representative shall be subject to contempt +proceedings. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The revision of subdivision (a) of this rule by the addition of its final +phrase represents a rule implementation of the procedure found in section +733.505, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of the statute +from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform with the +structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure or modify +an existing procedure. + +Rule History +1980 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to require formal notice to + +interested persons and to delete requirement that court give directions as to + + + +mode of notice. Surety authorized to petition for removal. +1984 Revision: Editorial changes. Provisions in prior rule for contempt + +have been deleted since the court has the inherent power to punish for +contempt. Committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Last phrase of (a) added to implement the procedure found +in section 733.505, Florida Statutes. Subdivision (b) amended to parallel +interim accounting rules. Deletes ability to extend time to file and adds +reference to court power to punish for contempt. Committee notes expanded. +Editorial changes. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2002 Revision: Entire rule amended. Contents of accountings by removed +fiduciaries are now governed by rule 5.346. Editorial changes in (a), (c), and +(d). Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Editorial change in title to clarify scope of rule. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.201(23), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 733.504, Fla. Stat. Removal of personal representative; causes of + +removal. + 733.505, Fla. Stat. Jurisdiction in removal proceedings. + 733.506, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal. + 733.5061, Fla. Stat. Appointment of successor upon removal. + 733.508, Fla. Stat. Accounting and discharge of removed personal + +representative upon removal. + 733.509, Fla. Stat. Surrender of assets upon removal. +Rule References + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.150 Order requiring accounting. +Fla.Prob.R. 5.310 Disqualification of personal representative; notification. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.345 Accounting other than personal representatives final + +accountings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 Fiduciary accounting. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.460. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.460 + +RULE 5.460. SUBSEQUENT ADMINISTRATION. +(a) Petition. If, after an estate is closed, additional property of the decedent + +is discovered or if further administration of the estate is required for any other +reason, any interested person may file a petition for further administration of +the estate. The petition shall be filed in the same probate file as the original +administration. + +(b) Contents. The petition shall state: +(1) the name, address, and interest of the petitioner in the estate; +(2) the reason for further administration of the estate; +(3) the description, approximate value, and location of any asset not + +included among the assets of the prior administration; and +(4) a statement of the relief sought. + +(c) Order. The court shall enter such orders as appropriate. Unless +required, the court need not revoke the order of discharge, reissue letters, or +require bond. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule establishes a procedure for further administration after estate is +closed, which maybe summary in nature. + +Rule History +1984 Revision: Extensive changes. Committee notes revised. +1992 Revision; Citation form change in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory Reference + 733.903, Fla. Stat. Subsequent administration. +Rule References + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.470. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.470 + +RULE 5.470. ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION. +(a) Petition. The contents of the petition for ancillary letters shall be as + +provided in rule 5.200. The petition shall be verified and shall include: +(1) for a testate estate, an authenticated copy of so much of the + +domiciliary proceedings as will show the will, petition for probate, order +admitting the will to probate, and authority of the personal representative; + +(2) for an intestate estate, an authenticated copy of so much of the +domiciliary proceedings as will show the petition for administration, and +authority of the personal representative to act; or + +(3) if appointment of someone other than the domiciliary personal +representative is requested, a statement of the facts constituting grounds on +which appointment is sought. +(b) Notice. Before ancillary letters shall be issued to any person, formal + +notice shall be given to: +(1) all known persons qualified to act as ancillary personal + +representative and whose entitlement to preference of appointment is equal +to or greater than petitioners and who have not waived notice or joined in +the petition; and + +(2) all domiciliary personal representatives who have not waived notice +or joined in the petition. +(c) Probate of Will. On filing the authenticated copy of a will, the court + +shall determine whether the will complies with Florida law to entitle it to +probate. If it does comply, the court shall admit the will to probate. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: The rule sets out the procedural requirements for issuance + +of ancillary letters. +1984 Revision: Editorial changes with addition of notice requirement in + + + +(b). Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Committee notes revised. +1992 Revision: Changed rule to require that notice be given to persons + +qualified to act as ancillary personal representative whose entitlement to +preference of appointment is equal to or greater than petitioners and to all +domiciliary personal representatives prior to entry of an order admitting the +will to probate. Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee +notes. + +1996 Revision: The requirement that a filing of an authenticated copy of a +will be a probated will is removed from subdivision (c). There may be +circumstances in which a will is on deposit or file in a foreign jurisdiction but +is not being offered for probate. That should not preclude an ancillary +administration in Florida of that estate. This change is not intended to allow +an authenticated copy of any document other than an original instrument to +be filed under this rule and considered for probate. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to clarify the contents of a + +petition for ancillary letters. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 731.201(1), Fla Stat. General definitions. + 733.212, Fla. Stat. Notice of administration; filing of objections. + 733.2121, Fla. Stat. Notice to creditors; filing of claims. + 734.102, Fla. Stat. Ancillary administration. + 734.1025, Fla. Stat. Nonresident decedents testate estate with property + +not exceeding $50,000 in this state; determination of claims. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.065(b) Notice of civil action or ancillary administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 Petition for Administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(2) Filing evidence of death. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.215 Authenticated copy of will. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240 Notice of administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.241 Notice to creditors. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.475 Ancillary administration, short form. +Fed. R. Civ. P. 44(a) Proving an official record. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.475. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.475 + +RULE 5.475. ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION, SHORT FORM. +(a) Filing Requirements. The foreign personal representative of a testate + +estate that meets the requirements of section 734.1025, Florida Statutes, may +file with the clerk in the county where any property is located an +authenticated copy of so much of the transcript of the foreign proceedings as +will show: + +(1) the probated will and all probated codicils of the decedent; +(2) the order admitting them to probate; +(3) the letters or their equivalent; and +(4) the part of the record showing the names of the beneficiaries of the + +estate or an affidavit of the foreign personal representative reciting that the +names are not shown or not fully disclosed by the foreign record and +specifying the names. +On presentation of the foregoing, the court shall admit the will and any + +codicils to probate if they comply with section 732.502(1) or section +732.502(2), Florida Statutes. + +(b) Notice to Creditors. After complying with the foregoing requirements, +the foreign personal representative may cause a notice to creditors to be +published as required by these rules. + +(c) Claims Procedure. The procedure for filing or barring claims and +objecting to them and for suing on them shall be the same as for other estates, +except as provided in this rule. + +(d) Order. If no claims are filed against the estate within the time allowed, +the court shall enter an order adjudging that notice to creditors has been duly +published and proof thereof filed and that no claims have been filed against +the estate or that all claims have been satisfied. + +(e) Notification of Claims Filed. If any claim is filed against the estate +within the time allowed, the clerk shall send to the foreign personal +representative a copy of the claim and a notice setting a date for a hearing to +appoint an ancillary personal representative. At the hearing, the court shall + + + +appoint an ancillary personal representative according to the preferences as +provided by law. + +(f) Objections to Claims. If an ancillary personal representative is +appointed pursuant to this rule, the procedure for filing, objecting to, and +suing on claims shall be the same as for other estates, except that the ancillary +personal representative appointed shall have not less than 30 days from the +date of appointment within which to object to any claim filed. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure found in +section 734.1025, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of +the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform +with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure +or modify an existing procedure. + +Rule History +1988 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +changes in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Deletion of reference to intestate estates in subdivision (a) + +to conform to 2001 amendments to section 734.1025, Florida Statutes. +Editorial changes throughout. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 733.2121, Fla. Stat. Notice to creditors; filing of claims. + 734.102, Fla. Stat. Ancillary administration. + 734.1025, Fla. Stat. Nonresident decedents testate estate with property + +not exceeding $50,000 in this state; determination of claims. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings verification; motions. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.065(b) Notice of civil action or ancillary administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(2) Filing evidence of death. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.215 Authenticated copy of will. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.240 Notice of administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.470 Ancillary administration. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.490. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.490 + +RULE 5.490. FORM AND MANNER OF PRESENTING CLAIM. +(a) Form. A creditors statement of claim shall be verified and filed with + +the clerk and shall state: +(1) the basis for the claim; +(2) the amount claimed; +(3) the name and address of the creditor; +(4) the security for the claim, if any; and +(5) whether the claim is currently due or involves an uncertainty and, if + +not due, then the due date and, if contingent or unliquidated, the nature of +the uncertainty. +(b) Service. The clerk shall serve a copy of the claim as set forth in rule + +5.041, to the attorney for the personal representative unless all personal +representatives file a notice directing that claims be served on a designated +personal representative or designated attorney of record. Absent designation, +a copy of claim shall be served on the attorney for the personal representative +named first in the letters of administration. The clerk shall note the fact and +date of service on the statement of claim pursuant to this rule. + +(c) Validity of Claim. Failure to deliver or receive a copy of the claim +shall not affect the validity of the claim. + +(d) Amending Claims. If a claim as filed is sufficient to notify interested +persons of its substance but is otherwise defective as to form, the court may +permit the claim to be amended at any time. + +(e) Service by Personal Representative. If the personal representative +files a claim individually, or in any other capacity creating a conflict of +interest between the personal representative and any interested person, then at +the time the claim is filed, the personal representative shall serve all +interested persons with a copy of the claim and notice of the right to object to +the claim. The notice shall state that an interested person may object to a +claim as provided by law and rule 5.496. Service shall be either by informal +notice or in the manner provided for service of formal notice. Service on one + + + +interested person by a chosen method shall not preclude service on another +interested person by another method. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Subdivision (d) of this rule represents a rule implementation of the +procedure found in section 733.704, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to +change the effect of the statute from which it was derived but has been +reformatted to conform with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to +create a new procedure or modify an existing procedure. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Sets forth the claims procedure to be followed and clarifies + +the matter of delivery of copies where there are multiple personal +representatives or where the attorney of record desires to accept such +delivery. + +1984 Revision: Extensive editorial changes and requires furnishing of copy +of claim to the attorney for the personal representative. Committee notes +revised. + +1988 Revision: Clarifies the matter of delivery of copies and directs the +clerk to mail the same to the attorney for the personal representative unless +designations are filed by all personal representatives to the contrary. +Subdivision (e) added to implement the procedure found in section 733.704, +Florida Statutes. Editorial changes. Committee notes expanded. Citation form +change in committee notes. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +1999 Revision: Reference to repealed rule deleted from committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2007 Revision: Editorial change in (a). New (f) added, providing + +procedure for notice when personal representative files a claim individually +or otherwise has a conflict of interest with any interested person regarding a +claim. + +2019 Revisions. Deletes subdivision (b) to conform to the electronic filing + + + +rule. Subdivision (c) is renumbered to (b) and is amended to address the +electronic service rules. Subdivisions (c)-(e) are renumbered accordingly. +Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 731.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 733.2121, Fla. Stat. Notice to creditors; filing of claims. + 733.702, Fla. Stat. Limitations on presentation of claims. + 733.703, Fla. Stat. Form and Manner of presenting claim. + 733.704, Fla. Stat. Amendment of claims. + 733.708, Fla. Stat. Compromise. + 733.710, Fla. Stat. Limitations on claims against estates. + 733.102, Fla. Stat. Ancillary administration. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.241 Notice to creditors. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.470 Ancillary administration. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.475 Ancillary administration, short form. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.530 Summary administration. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of Pleadings and + +Documents +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.520 Documents +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.525 Electronic Filing + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.496. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.496 + +RULE 5.496. FORM AND MANNER OF OBJECTING TO CLAIM. +(a) Filing. An objection to a claim, other than a personal representatives + +proof of claim, shall be in writing and filed on or before the expiration of 4 +months from the first publication of notice to creditors or within 30 days from +the timely filing or amendment of the claim, whichever occurs later. + +(b) Service. A personal representative or other interested person who files +an objection to the claim shall serve a copy of the objection on the claimant. +If the objection is filed by an interested person other than the personal +representative, a copy of the objection shall also be served on the personal +representative. Any objection shall include a certificate of service. + +(c) Notice to Claimant. An objection shall contain a statement that the +claimant is limited to a period of 30 days from the date of service of an +objection within which to bring an action as provided by law. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents an implementation of the procedure found in section +733.705, Florida Statutes, and adds a requirement to furnish notice of the +time limitation in which an independent action or declaratory action must be +filed after objection to a claim. + +Rule History +1992 Revision: New rule. +2003 Revision: Reference in (a) to notice of administration changed to + +notice to creditors. Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Removed provision for objections to personal + +representatives proof of claim, now addressed in rule 5.498, and subsequent +subdivisions relettered. Reference to service on the claimants attorney +removed because service on the attorney is required by rule 5.041(b). +Committee notes revised. + +2007 Revision: Editorial change in (a). Second sentence of (b) added to +specify that the objection must include a certificate of service. + + + +2010 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to delete the requirement to serve +a copy of an objection to a claim within 10 days, and to clarify the +requirement to include a certificate of service. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory Reference + 731.201(4), Fla. Stat. General definitions. + 733.705, Fla. Stat. Payment of and objection to claims. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.498 Personal representatives proof of claim. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.499 Form and manner of objecting to personal + +representatives proof of claim. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.498. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.498 + +RULE 5.498. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES PROOF OF CLAIM. +(a) Contents. A personal representatives proof of claim shall state: + +(1) the basis for each claim; +(2) the amount claimed; +(3) the name and address of the claimant; +(4) the security for the claim, if any; +(5) whether the claim is matured, unmatured, contingent, or + +unliquidated; +(6) whether the claim has been paid or is to be paid; and +(7) that any objection to a claim listed as to be paid shall be filed no later + +than 4 months from first publication of the notice to creditors or 30 days +from the date of the filing of the proof of claim, whichever occurs later. +(b) Service. The proof of claim shall be served at the time of filing or + +promptly thereafter on all interested persons. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents an implementation of the procedure found in section +733.703(2), Florida Statutes, with respect to a proof of claim filed by the +personal representative. + +Rule History +2005 Revision: New rule. +2007 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to eliminate the need to serve + +claimants listed as paid on the proof of claim, and clarifying editorial change. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 733.703(2), Fla. Stat. Form and manner of presenting claim. + 733.705, Fla. Stat. Payment of and objection to claims. + + + +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.499 Form and manner of objecting to personal + +representatives proof of claim. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.499. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.499 + +RULE 5.499. FORM AND MANNER OF OBJECTING TO PERSONAL +REPRESENTATIVES PROOF OF CLAIM. + +(a) Filing. An objection to a personal representatives proof of claim shall +be in writing and filed on or before the expiration of 4 months from the first +publication of notice to creditors or within 30 days from the timely filing of +the proof of claim, whichever occurs later. + +(b) Contents. The objection shall identify the particular item or items to +which objection is made. An objection to an item listed on the proof of claim +as to be paid shall also contain a statement that the claimant is limited to a +period of 30 days from the date of service of an objection within which to +bring an independent action as provided by law. + +(c) Items Listed as Paid. If an objection is filed to an item listed on the +proof of claim as paid, it shall not be necessary for the claimant to file an +independent action as to that item. Liability as between estate and the +personal representative individually for claims listed on the proof of claim as +paid, or for claims treated as if they were listed on the proof of claim as paid, +shall be determined in the estate administration, in a proceeding for +accounting or surcharge, or in another appropriate proceeding, whether or not +an objection has been filed. + +(d) Items Paid Before Objection. If an item listed as to be paid is paid by +the personal representative prior to the filing of an objection as to that item, +the item shall be treated as if it were listed on the proof of claim as paid. + +(e) Service. The objector shall serve a copy of the objection on the +personal representative and, in the case of any objection to an item listed as to +be paid, shall also serve a copy on that claimant within 10 days after the +filing of the objection. In the case of an objection to an item listed as to be +paid, the objection shall include a certificate of service. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents an implementation of the procedure found in section +733.705, Florida Statutes, with respect to a proof of claim filed by the + + + +personal representative. The rule recognizes the different treatment between +items listed on a proof of claim as having been paid versus items listed as to +be paid. An objection to an item listed as to be paid is treated in the same +manner as a creditors claim and there is a requirement to furnish notice of +the time limitation in which an independent action or declaratory action must +be filed after objection to a claim. + +Rule History +2005 Revision: New rule. +2007 Revision: Editorial change in (a). Extensive revisions to rest of rule + +to clarify the differences in procedure between items listed as paid and items +listed as to be paid. Committee notes revised. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory Reference + 733.705, Fla. Stat. Payment of and objection to claims. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.496 Form and manner of objecting to claim. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.498 Personal representatives proof of claim. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.510. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.510 + +RULE 5.510. ESTABLISHMENT AND PROBATE OF LOST OR +DESTROYED WILL. + +(a) Proceeding. The establishment and probate of a lost or destroyed will +shall be in one proceeding. + +(b) Petition. The petition, in addition to reciting information required +under these rules for petition for administration, shall include a statement of +the facts constituting grounds on which relief is sought, and a statement of +the contents of the will or, if available, a copy of the will. + +(c) Testimony. The testimony of each witness in the proceeding shall be +reduced to writing and filed and may be used as evidence in any contest of +the will if the witness has died or moved from the state. + +(d) Notice. No lost or destroyed will shall be admitted to probate unless +formal notice has been given to those who, but for the will, would be entitled +to the property thereby devised. + +(e) Order. The order admitting the will to probate shall state in full its +terms and provisions. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure formerly found +in section 733.207, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change the effect of +the statute from which it was derived but has been reformatted to conform +with the structure of these rules. It is not intended to create a new procedure +or modify and existing procedure. + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Editorial change in subdivision (c) of prior rule. +1984 Revision: Extensive changes. Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Rule rewritten to conform to statute. Committee notes + +expanded. Citation form change in committee notes. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + + + +committee notes. +2002 Revision: Subdivision (d) added to implement procedure formerly + +found in section 733.207(3), Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory Reference + 733.207, Fla. Stat. Establishment and probate of lost or destroyed will. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Notice of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.200 Petition for administration. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. II. , Rule 5.530. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.530 + +RULE 5.530. SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION. +(a) Petition. The petition must be verified as required by law and must + +contain: +(1) a statement of the interest of each petitioner, each petitioners name + +and address, and the name and office address of each petitioners attorney; +(2) the name and last known address of the decedent, last 4 digits of the + +decedents social security number, date and place of death of the decedent, +and state and county of the decedents domicile; + +(3) so far as is known, the names and addresses of the surviving spouse, +if any, and the beneficiaries and their relationship to the decedent and the +year of birth of any who are minors; + +(4) a statement showing venue; +(5) a statement whether domiciliary or principal proceedings are pending + +in another state or country, if known, and the name and address of the +foreign personal representative and the court issuing letters; + +(6) a statement that the decedents will, if any, does not direct +administration as required by chapter 733, Florida Statutes; + +(7) a statement that the value of the entire estate subject to +administration in this state, less the value of property exempt from the +claims of creditors, does not exceed $75,000 or that the decedent has been +dead for more than 2 years; + +(8) a description of all assets in the estate and the estimated value of +each, and a separate description of any protected homestead and exempt +property; + +(9) a statement either: +(A) that all creditors claims are barred or +(B) that a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for any known or + +reasonably ascertainable creditors has been made and one of the +following: + + + +(i) A statement that the estate is not indebted. +(ii) The name and address of each creditor, the nature of the debt, + +the amount of the debt and whether the amount is estimated or exact, +and when the debt is due. If provision for payment of the debt has +been made other than for full payment in the proposed order of +distribution, the following information must be shown: + +(a) The name of the person who will pay the debt. +(b) The creditors written consent for substitution or assumption of the debt + +by another person. +(c) The amount to be paid if the debt has been compromised. +(d) The terms for payment and any limitations on the liability of the person + +paying the debt. +(10) in an intestate estate, a statement that after the exercise of + +reasonable diligence each petitioner is unaware of any unrevoked wills or +codicils; + +(11) in a testate estate, a statement identifying all unrevoked wills and +codicils being presented for probate, and a statement that each petitioner is +unaware of any other unrevoked will or codicil; and + +(12) a schedule of proposed distribution of all probate assets and the +person to whom each asset is to be distributed. +(b) Service. The joinder in, or consent to, a petition for summary + +administration is not required of a beneficiary who will receive full +distributive share under the proposed distribution. Any beneficiary and any +known or reasonably ascertainable creditor not joining or consenting must +receive formal notice of the petition. + +(c) Testate Estate. In a testate estate, on the filing of the petition for +summary administration, the decedents will must be proved and admitted to +probate. + +(d) Order. If the court determines that the decedents estate qualifies for +summary administration, it must enter an order distributing the probate assets +and specifically designating the person to whom each asset is to be +distributed. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Verification and service of a petition for summary administration are +governed by rules 5.020, 5.040, and 5.041. Section 735.206(2), Florida +Statutes, relating to diligent search for, and service of the petition for +summary administration on, reasonably ascertainable creditors is substantive. +Nothing in this rule is intended to change the effect of the statutory +amendments. + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Changes to conform to 1975 statutory revision. Established + +the requirements of a petition for summary administration and provided for +the hearing thereon and the entry of the order of distribution of the assets. + +1984 Revision: Extensive revisions and editorial changes. Committee notes +revised. + +1988 Revision: Editorial change in caption of (a). Committee notes +revised. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +2002 Revision: Replaces homestead with protected homestead in (a) +(2) to conform to addition of term in section 731.201(29), Florida Statutes. +Committee notes revised. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2005 Revision: Subdivision (a)(3) amended to include requirements of + +section 735.206(2), Florida Statutes. +2007 Revision: Rule substantially rewritten to require petition to include + +essentially the same information required to be stated in a petition for +administration and to require the petitioners to specify facts showing they are +entitled to summary administration. New subdivision (b) added to provide for +formal notice of the petition, and subsequent subdivisions relettered. + +2011 Revision: Subdivision (a)(2) amended to limit listing of decedents +social security number to last four digits. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. + + + +2013 Revision: Subdivision (a)(9) reorganized to avoid the misconception +that a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for known or reasonably +ascertainable creditors is required when creditor claims are barred. +Committee notes revised. Editorial changes to conform to the courts +guidelines for rules submissions as set forth in AOSC06-14. + +2014 Revision: Subdivision (a)(3) amended to provide only the year of +birth of a minor to conform to Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425. +Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 731.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 735.201-735.2063, Fla. Stat. Summary administration. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.205(a)(3) Filing evidence of death. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.420 Public access to judicial branch + +records. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the filing of + +sensitive information. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. +Fla. Prob. R., Pt. III + + + +PART III. GUARDIANSHIP + Pt. III. , Rule 5.540. + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.540 + +RULE 5.540. HEARINGS. +(a) Application. All hearings under chapter 744 and under section 393.12, + +Florida Statutes, shall be open unless the alleged incapacitated person, +adjudicated ward, or person alleged to have a developmental disability elects +to have the hearing closed. + +(b) Election. An election to close a hearing may be made before the +hearing by filing a written notice. Subject to the courts approval, an election +to close or reopen a hearing may be made at any time during the hearing by +oral or written motion. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule permits an alleged incapacitated person, adjudicated ward, or +person alleged to have a developmental disability to elect to have all hearings +open or closed at any time by oral or written election. + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to include persons with a + +developmental disability. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.1095, Fla. Stat. Hearings. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.541 Recording of hearings. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.541. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.541 + +RULE 5.541. RECORDING OF HEARINGS. +Electronic or stenographic recordings shall be made of all hearings on the: +(a) adjudication of incapacity; +(b) appointment of a guardian; +(c) modification, termination, or revocation of the adjudication of + +incapacity; +(d) restoration of capacity; or +(e) restoration of rights. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule represents a rule implementation of the procedure found in +sections 744.109 and 744.3031, Florida Statutes. It is not intended to change +the effect of the statutes from which it is derived, or to create a new +procedure or modify an existing procedure. + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +change in committee notes. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: New subdivision (e) added for proceedings involving + +guardian advocates. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.109, Fla. Stat. Records. + 744.3031, Fla. Stat. Emergency temporary guardianship. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + + + + 744.3371, Fla. Stat. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian and +hearing. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.550. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.550 + +RULE 5.550. PETITION TO DETERMINE INCAPACITY. +(a) Contents. The petition to determine incapacity shall be verified by the + +petitioner, and shall state: +(1) the name, age, and present address of the petitioner and the + +petitioners relationship to the alleged incapacitated person; +(2) the name, age, county of residence, and present address of the + +alleged incapacitated person, and specify the primary language spoken by +the alleged incapacitated person, if known; + +(3) that the petitioner believes the alleged incapacitated person to be +incapacitated, the facts on which such belief is based, and the names and +addresses of all persons known to the petitioner who have knowledge of +such facts through personal observation; + +(4) the name and address of the alleged incapacitated persons attending +or family physician, if known; + +(5) which rights the alleged incapacitated person is incapable of +exercising to the best of the petitioners knowledge; and, if the petitioner +has insufficient experience to make that judgment, the petitioner shall so +indicate; + +(6) whether plenary or limited guardianship is sought for the alleged +incapacitated person; + +(7) the names, relationships, and addresses of the next of kin of the +alleged incapacitated person, specifying the year of birth of any who are +minors, to the extent known to the petitioner; and + +(8) whether there are possible alternatives to guardianship known to the +petitioner, including, but not limited to, trust agreements, powers of +attorney, designations of health care surrogates, or other advance +directives, and if the petitioner is seeking a guardianship, an explanation as +to why the alternatives are insufficient to meet the needs of the alleged +incapacitated person. +(b) Notice. + + + +(1) Contents. The notice of filing the petition to determine incapacity +shall state: + +(A) the time and place of the hearing to inquire into the capacity of +the alleged incapacitated person; + +(B) that an attorney has been appointed to represent such person; and +(C) that if the court determines that such person is incapable of + +exercising any of the rights enumerated in the petition a guardian may +be appointed. +(2) Service on Alleged Incapacitated Person. The notice and a copy of + +the petition to determine incapacity shall be personally served by an elisor +appointed by the court, who may be the court appointed counsel for the +alleged incapacitated person. The elisor shall read the notice to the alleged +incapacitated person, but need not read the petition. A return of service +shall be filed by the elisor certifying that the notice and petition have been +served on and the notice read to the alleged incapacitated person. No +responsive pleading is required and no default may be entered for failure to +file a responsive pleading. The allegations of the petition are deemed +denied. + +(3) Service on Others. A copy of the petition and the notice shall also +be served on counsel for the alleged incapacitated person, and on all next +of kin. +(c) Verified Statement. An interested person may file a verified statement + +that shall state: +(1) that he or she has a good faith belief that the alleged incapacitated + +persons trust, trust amendment, or durable power of attorney is invalid; +and + +(2) facts constituting a reasonable basis for that belief. +(d) Order. When an order determines that a person is incapable of + +exercising delegable rights, it shall specify whether there is an alternative to +guardianship that will sufficiently address the problems of the incapacitated +person. + +(e) Reports. + + + +(1) Filing. Each member of the examining committee must file his or +her report with the clerk of the court within 15 days after appointment. + +(2) Service. Within 3 days after receipt of each examining committee +members report, the clerk shall serve the report on the petitioner and the +attorney for the alleged incapacitated person by electronic mail delivery or +United States mail, and, upon service, shall file a certificate of service in +the incapacity proceeding. The petitioner and the attorney for the alleged +incapacitated person must be served with all reports at least 10 days before +the hearing on the petition, unless the reports are not complete, in which +case the petitioner and attorney for the alleged incapacitated person may +waive the 10-day requirement and consent to the consideration of the +report by the court at the adjudicatory hearing. If such service is not timely +effectuated, the petitioner or the alleged incapacitated person may move +for a continuance of the hearing. + +(3) Objections. The petitioner and the alleged incapacitated person may +object to the introduction into evidence of all or any portion of the +examining committee members reports by filing and serving a written +objection on the other party no later than 5 days before the adjudicatory +hearing. The objection must state the basis upon which the challenge to +admissibility is made. If an objection is timely filed and served, the court +shall apply the rules of evidence in determining the reports admissibility. +For good cause shown, the court may extend the time to file and serve the +written objection. +(f) Adjudicatory Hearing. Upon appointment of the examining + +committee, the court shall set the date upon which the petition will be heard. +The adjudicatory hearing must be conducted within at least 10 days, which +time period may be waived, but no more than 30 days after the filing of the +last filed report of the examining committee members, unless good cause is +shown. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1980 Revision: Implements 1979 amendments to section 744.331, Florida + +Statutes. + + + +1984 Revision: Change in title of rule. Editorial changes and adds a +provision for service of petition. Committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +1989 Revision by Ad Hoc Committee: The committee realized that formal +notice as defined in rule 5.040(a)(1) requires the recipient of notice to file a +responsive pleading within 20 days after the service of the notice. The +committee believed that to impose such a requirement on the alleged +incapacitated person would contravene the legislative intent of the 1989 +revisions to chapter 744, Florida Statutes. The committee observed that the +time required for appointment of mandatory appointed counsel might render +a responsive pleading within 20 days impossible for the alleged incapacitated +person. The committee concluded that, procedurally, notice upon the alleged +incapacitated person should occur in the same manner as formal notice in rule +5.040, but the required response under that rule should not be imposed upon +the alleged incapacitated person. + +1991 Revision: Implements 1989 amendments to sections 744.3201 and +744.331, Florida Statutes, and 1990 technical amendments. + +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2006 Revision: Subdivisions (c) and (d) added to incorporate 2006 + +amendment to section 744.441 and creation of section 744.462, Florida +Statutes. Committee notes revised. + +2014 Revision: Amends subdivision (a)(7) to conform with Fla. R. Gen. +Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425. Committee notes revised. + +2016 Revision: Subdivision (a)(8) added to require the disclosure of +whether there are possible alternatives to guardianship known to the +petitioner. Committee notes revised. + +2017 Revision: Adopts new subdivisions (e)(1)(e)(3) to address +statutory changes in sections 744.331(3)(e), (3)(h), and (3)(i), Florida +Statutes, regarding filing, service, and objections to examining committee +members reports. Adopts new subdivision (f) to address statutory changes +regarding the timing of the adjudicatory hearing in section 744.331(5)(a), +Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. + + + +2020 Revision: Amends subdivision (a)(8) to address the Judicial +Management Council Guardianship Workgroup Final Report dated June 15, +2018, Focus Area 1, Recommendation 3, by requiring an explanation if there +are less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, but they are not sufficient to +meet the needs of the alleged incapacitated person. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory references amended. +Statutory References + 709.2104, Fla. Stat. Durable power of attorney. + 709.2109, Fla. Stat. Termination or suspension of power of attorney or + +agents authority. + 744.1012, Fla. Stat. Legislative intent. + 744.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 744.3045, Fla. Stat. Preneed guardian. + 744.3115, Fla. Stat. Advance directives for health care. + 744.3201, Fla. Stat. Petition to determine incapacity. + 744.331, Fla. Stat. Procedures to determine incapacity. + 744.3371, Fla. Stat. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian and + +hearing. + 744.441(1)(k), Fla. Stat. Powers of guardian upon court approval. + 744.462, Fla. Stat. Determination regarding alternatives to guardianship. + 765.102, Fla. Stat. Legislative intent and findings. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5 040(a)(3) Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5 800(a) Application of revised chapter 744 to existing + +guardianships. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.552. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.552 + +RULE 5.552. VOLUNTARY GUARDIANSHIP OF PROPERTY. +(a) Petition for Appointment of Guardian. The petition for voluntary + +guardianship shall be verified by the petitioner and shall state: +(1) the facts to establish venue; +(2) the petitioners residence and post office address; +(3) that the petitioner although mentally competent is incapable of the + +care, custody, and management of the petitioners estate by reason of age +or physical infirmity, and is voluntarily petitioning to have a guardian of +the petitioners property appointed; + +(4) whether the guardianship shall apply to all of the petitioners +property or less than all of the petitioners property; and if less than all of +the petitioners property, the specific property to which the guardianship is +to apply; + +(5) the name and residence and post office address of any proposed +guardian; + +(6) that the proposed guardian is qualified to serve or that a willing and +qualified proposed guardian has not been located; and + +(7) the names and post office addresses of persons to whom the +petitioner requests that notice of the hearing for the appointment of the +guardian, and any petition for authority to act, be given. +(b) Certificate of Licensed Physician. The petition shall be accompanied + +by a certificate of a licensed physician as required by law. +(c) Notice of Hearing. Notice of hearing on the petition for appointment, + +and any petition for authority to act, shall be given to the ward and any +person to whom the ward requests notice be given, which request can be +made in the petition for appointment or a subsequent written request for +notice signed by the ward. + +(d) Annual Report. The annual report shall be accompanied by a +certificate from a licensed physician as required by law. + + + +(e) Termination. The ward may terminate a voluntary guardianship by +filing a notice of termination. Copies of the notice shall be served on all +interested persons. The guardian shall file a petition for discharge in +accordance with these rules. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2003 Revision: New rule. +2006 Revision: New (d) added to incorporate 2006 amendment to section + +744.341, Florida Statutes, requiring inclusion of physicians certificate in +annual report, and subsequent subdivision relettered. Committee notes +revised. + +Statutory References + 744.341, Fla. Stat. Voluntary guardianship. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.680 Termination of guardianship. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.695 Annual guardianship report. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.555. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.555 + +RULE 5.555. GUARDIANSHIPS OF MINORS. +(a) Application. This rule shall apply to any guardianship for a minor. +(b) Petition to Determine Incapacity. No petition to determine incapacity + +need be filed. +(c) Petition for Appointment of Guardian. The petition shall be verified + +by the petitioner and shall state: +(1) the facts to establish venue; +(2) the petitioners residence and post office address; +(3) the name, age, and residence and post office address of the minor; +(4) the names and addresses of the parents of the minor and if none, the + +next of kin known to the petitioner; +(5) the name and residence and post office address of the proposed + +guardian, and that the proposed guardian is qualified to serve; or, that a +willing and qualified guardian has not been located; + +(6) the proposed guardians relationship to and any previous association +with the minor, including listing any activities designated in section +744.446(3), Florida Statutes; + +(7) the reasons why the proposed guardian should be appointed; +(8) the nature and value of the property subject to the guardianship; and +(9) whether there are possible alternatives to guardianship known to the + +petitioner, including but not limited to, trust agreements, powers of +attorney, surrogates, guardian advocate under section 744.3085, Florida +Statutes, or advance directives and why those possible alternatives are +insufficient to meet the needs of the minor. +(d) Notice. Formal notice of the petition for appointment of guardian shall + +be served on any parent who is not a petitioner or, if there is no parent, on the +persons with whom the minor resides and on such other persons as the court +may direct. + + + +(e) Initial and Annual Guardianship Reports. +(1) The initial guardianship report shall consist only of the verified + +inventory. The annual guardianship report shall consist only of the annual +accounting. + +(2) The guardian shall file an initial and annual guardianship plan as +required by law. + +(3) Unless otherwise ordered by the court or required by law, the +guardian need not serve a copy of the initial guardianship report and the +annual guardianship reports on the ward. +(f) Inspection of Inventory or Accounting. Unless otherwise ordered by + +the court for good cause shown, any inventory, amended or supplementary +inventory, or accounting is subject to inspection only by the clerk, the ward +or the wards attorney, and the guardian or the guardians attorney. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The provisions of chapter 744, Florida Statutes, and the guardianship rules +enacted in 1989 leave some uncertainty with respect to the procedural +requirements in guardianships for minors who are not incapacitated persons. +This rule is intended to address only certain procedures with respect to the +establishment and administration of guardianships over minors. The +committee believes that certain provisions of the guardianship law and rules +apply to both guardianships of minors as well as guardianships of +incapacitated persons and no change has been suggested with respect to such +rules. Because no adjudication of a minor is required by statute, it is +contemplated that appointment of a guardian for a minor may be +accomplished without a hearing. Initial and annual guardianship reports for +minors have been simplified where all assets are on deposit with a designated +financial institution under applicable Florida law. + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule adopted to apply to guardianship over minors + +who are not incapacitated persons. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. + + + +1996 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2000 Revision: Deletes requirement in subdivision (c) to report social + +security number of proposed guardian. +2003 Revision: Deletes requirement in subdivision (c) to report social + +security number of minor. Committee notes revised. +2006 Revision: Subdivision (e)(2) amended to conform to requirement in + +sections 744.362(1) and 744.3675, Florida Statutes, to file initial and annual +guardianship plans. Subdivision (e)(3) amended to eliminate requirement of +service on ward unless ordered by court or required by statute. + +2014 Revision: Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425(b)(4)-(5) provides +exceptions for using the birth date of any minor whenever the birth date is +necessary for the court to establish or maintain subject matter jurisdiction, as +well as using the full name in situations in which the name of the minor in +any order relating to parental responsibility, time-sharing, or child support. +Committee notes revised. + +2020 Revision: Subdivision (c)(6) amended to include reference to section +744.446, Florida Statutes, and subdivision (c)(9) amended to conform to +section 744.334, Florida Statutes, and the list of alternatives to guardianships. + +2021 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 69.031, Fla. Stat. Designated financial institutions for property in hands + +of guardians, curators, administrators, trustees, receivers, or other officers. + 744.3021, Fla. Stat. Guardians of minors. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.334, Fla. Stat. Petition for appointment of guardian or professional + +guardian; contents. + 744.3371(2), Fla. Stat. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian + +and hearing. + 744.342, Fla. Stat. Minors; guardianship. + 744.362, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship report. + 744.363, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship plan. + + + + 744.365, Fla. Stat. Verified inventory. + 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. + 744.3675, Fla. Stat. Annual guardianship plan. + 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. + 744.3679, Fla. Stat. Simplified accounting procedures in certain cases. + 744.446, Fla. Stat. Conflicts of interest; prohibited activities; court + +approval; breach of fiduciary duty. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.541 Recording of hearings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.560 Petition for appointment of a guardian of an + +incapacitated person. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.620 Inventory. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.636 Settlement of minors claims. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.690 Initial guardianship report. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.560. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.560 + +RULE 5.560. PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN OF +AN INCAPACITATED PERSON. + +(a) Contents. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and shall +state: + +(1) the facts to establish venue; +(2) the petitioners residence and post office address; +(3) the name, age, residence and post office address of the alleged + +incapacitated person; +(4) the nature of the incapacity, the extent of guardianship, either limited + +or plenary, requested for the alleged incapacitated person, and the nature +and value of property subject to the guardianship; + +(5) the names and addresses of the next of kin of the alleged +incapacitated person known to the petitioner; + +(6) the name and residence and post office address of the proposed +guardian, and that the proposed guardian is qualified to serve, or that a +willing and qualified guardian has not been located; + +(7) the proposed guardians relationship to and any previous association +with the alleged incapacitated person, including listing any activities +designated in section 744.446(3), Florida Statutes; + +(8) the reasons why the proposed guardian should be appointed; +(9) whether the petitioner has knowledge, information, or belief that + +there are possible alternatives to guardianship known to the petitioner, +including, but not limited to, trust agreements, powers of attorney, +designations of health care surrogates, guardian advocate under section +744.3085, Florida Statutes, or other advance directives, and if there are +possible alternatives to guardianship, an explanation as to why the +alternatives are insufficient to meet the needs of the alleged incapacitated +person; + +(10) whether the petitioner has knowledge, information, or belief that + + + +the alleged incapacitated person has a preneed guardian designation; and +(11) if the proposed guardian is a professional guardian, a statement that + +the proposed guardian has complied with the registration requirements of +section 744.2002, Florida Statutes. +(b) Notice. Notice of filing the petition for appointment of guardian may + +be served as a part of the notice of filing the petition to determine incapacity, +but shall be served a reasonable time before the hearing on the petition or +other pleading seeking appointment of a guardian. + +(c) Service on Public Guardian. If the petitioner requests appointment of +the public guardian, a copy of the petition and the notice shall be served on +the public guardian. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Substantially the same as section 744.334, Florida Statutes, + +expanded to include provisions of section 744.302, Florida Statutes, and +section 744.312, Florida Statutes, by reference. + +1977 Revision: Change in committee notes to conform to statutory +renumbering. + +1980 Revision: Implements 1979 amendment to section 744.334, Florida +Statutes. + +1984 Revision: Combines rule 5.560 and part of prior rule 5.570. Editorial +changes and committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in committee notes. + +1989 Revision by Ad Hoc Committee: Subsection (a)(4) of the former rule +has been deleted altogether because the date and court of adjudication will +probably not be known at the time of filing the petition for the appointment +since petition for appointment will henceforth be filed contemporaneously +with the petition to determine incapacity. + +1991 Revision: Implements 1989 amendments to sections 744.334 and +744.331(1), Florida Statutes, and 1990 technical amendments. Subdivision + + + +(c)(1) deleted because rule 5.555(d) addresses service on parents. +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +1996 Revision: Deletes requirement in subdivision (a) to report social + +security number of alleged incapacitated person. Adds provision to +subdivision (b) for notice before hearing when petition is not served +simultaneously with petition to determine incapacity. + +2000 Revision: Deletes requirement in subdivision (a) to report social +security number of proposed guardian. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2006 Revision: New (a)(9) added to incorporate 2006 passage of section + +744.462, Florida Statutes. Subdivision (a)(10) added to implement section +744.1083, Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. + +2014 Revision: Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425(b)(4)-(5) provides +exceptions for using the birth date of any minor whenever the birth date is +necessary for the court to establish or maintain subject matter jurisdiction, as +well as using the full name in situations in which the name of the minor in +any order relating to parental responsibility, time-sharing, or child support. +Committee notes revised. + +2016 Revision: Subdivision (a)(9) revised to require the disclosure of +whether there are possible alternatives to guardianship known to the +petitioner. Committee notes revised. + +2016 Revision: Subdivision (a)(10) amended to reflect the renumbering of +the statute from section 744.1083 to section 744.2002, Florida Statutes. +Committee notes revised to update statutory references. + +2020 Revision: Amends subdivision (a)(9) to address the Judicial +Management Council Guardianship Workgroup Final Report dated June 15, +2018, Focus Area 1, Recommendation 3, by requiring an explanation if there +are less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, but they are not sufficient to +meet the needs of the alleged incapacitated person. Adds a new subdivision +(a)(10) to address the Judicial Management Council Guardianship +Workgroup Final Report dated June 15, 2018, Focus Area 1, +Recommendation 4, by requiring a statement of the petitioners knowledge of +any preneed guardian designation. Committee notes revised. + + + +Subdivision (a)(7) amended to include reference to section 744.446, +Florida Statutes, and subdivision (a)(9) amended to conform to section +744.334, Florida Statutes, and the list of alternatives to guardianships. + +Statutory References + 709.2104, Fla. Stat. Durable power of attorney. + 709.2109, Fla. Stat. Termination or suspension of power of attorney or + +agents authority. + 744.2002, Fla. Stat. Professional guardian registration. + 744.2005, Fla. Stat. Order of appointment. + 744.2006, Fla. Stat. Office of public guardian; appointment, notification. + 744.3045, Fla. Stat. Preneed guardian. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.309, Fla. Stat. Who may be appointed guardian of a resident ward. + 744.3115, Fla. Stat. Advance directives for health care. + 744.312, Fla. Stat. Considerations in appointment of guardian. + 744.3201, Fla. Stat. Petition to determine incapacity. + 744.331, Fla. Stat. Procedures to determine incapacity. + 744.334, Fla. Stat. Petition for appointment of guardian or professional + +guardian; contents. + 744.3371(1), Fla. Stat. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian + +and hearing. + 744.341, Fla. Stat. Voluntary guardianship. + 744.446, Fla. Stat. Conflicts of interest; prohibited activities; court + +approval; breach of fiduciary duty. + 744.462, Fla. Stat. Determination regarding alternatives to guardianship. + 765.102, Fla. Stat. Legislative intent and findings. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.550 Petition to determine incapacity. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.590. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.590 + +RULE 5.590. APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT AS GUARDIAN; +DISCLOSURE STATEMENT; FILING. + +(a) Individual Applicants. +(1) The application for appointment shall contain: + +(A) the applicants qualifications to serve as a guardian, including a +statement indicating whether the applicant has ever been (i) arrested or +(ii) convicted of a felony, even if the record of such arrest or conviction +has been expunged, unless the expunction was ordered pursuant to +section 943.0583, Florida Statutes; and + +(B) the names of all wards who are adults and the initials of any ward +who is a minor for whom the applicant is then acting as guardian, the +court file number and circuit court in which each case is pending, and a +statement as to whether the applicant is acting as a limited or plenary +guardian of the person or property, or both, of each ward. +(2) The application for appointment shall be filed and served a + +reasonable time before the hearing on the appointment of a guardian. +(b) Nonprofit Corporate Guardians. + +(1) No application for appointment shall be required of a nonprofit +corporate guardian. + +(2) A disclosure statement shall contain: +(A) the corporations qualifications to serve as a guardian; and +(B) the names of all wards who are adults and the initials of any ward + +who is a minor for whom the corporation is then acting as guardian, the +court file number and circuit court in which each case is pending, and a +statement as to whether the corporation is acting as a limited or plenary +guardian of the person or property, or both, of each ward. +(3) The disclosure statement of a nonprofit corporate guardian shall be + +filed quarterly with the clerk of the court for each circuit in which the +corporation has been appointed, or is seeking appointment, as guardian. + + + +(c) For Profit Corporations and Associations. No application for +appointment or disclosure statement shall be required of any for profit +corporation or association authorized to exercise fiduciary powers under +Florida law. + +(d) Public Guardians. No application for appointment or disclosure +statement shall be required of a public guardian. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1988 Revision: Prior rule deleted; text of rule moved to rule 5.650. +1989 Revision: Rule reactivated with different title and text. +1991 Revision: Implements 1989 and 1990 amendments to section + +744.3125, Florida Statutes. +1992 Revision: Citation form change in committee notes. +1996 Revision: Adds filing and service provisions consistent with rule + +5.560. Corrects reference to corporations qualified to exercise fiduciary +powers. Editorial changes. Adds statutory references. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2006 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2014 Revision: Amends subdivisions (a)(1)(B) and (b)(1)(B) to conform to + +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425. Creates a rule reference. Committee +notes revised. + +Statutory References + 393.063(17), Fla Stat. Definitions. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.102(4), (9), (11), (14), (22) Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.309, Fla. Stat. Who may be appointed guardian of a resident ward. + + + + 744.3125, Fla. Stat. Application for appointment. + 744.331(1), Fla. Stat. Procedures to determine incapacity. + 744.3371, Fla. Stat. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian and + +hearing. + 943.0583, Fla. Stat. Human trafficking victim expunction. + 943.0585, Fla. Stat. Court-ordered expunction of criminal history + +records. +Rule References +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.600. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.600 + +RULE 5.600. OATH. +Every guardian or emergency temporary guardian shall take an oath to + +perform faithfully the duties of guardian or emergency temporary guardian +before exercising such authority. The oath may be incorporated in the petition +for appointment of guardian, or petition for appointment of emergency +temporary guardian, if verified by the prospective guardian. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Change in committee notes to conform to statutory + +renumbering. Rule permits oath of guardian to be incorporated in petition for +appointment and in designation of resident agent. + +1984 Revision: Editorial change and deletes genders. +1989 Revision: Prior rule adopted as temporary emergency rule. +1991 Revision: Permits oath to be incorporated in application for + +appointment of guardian, adds reference to temporary emergency guardian, +and makes editorial change. + +1992 Revision: Editorial changes. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.347, Fla. Stat. Oath of guardian. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.610. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 + +RULE 5.610. EXECUTION BY GUARDIAN. +The guardian shall sign the: +(a) initial guardianship plan; +(b) inventory, amended inventory, or supplemental inventory; +(c) annual guardianship plan; +(d) annual accounting; +(e) guardians petition for court approval required by law; +(f) petition for discharge; +(g) final report; and +(h) resignation of guardian. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Rule lists what guardian shall sign and includes any + +petition for court approval required by F.S. 744.441. The rule requires that +the guardian have actual knowledge of the more important steps and acts of +administration. + +1977 Revision: Change in statutory reference in rule and in committee note +to conform to statutory renumbering. + +1988 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form +changes in rule and committee notes. + +1989 Revision: Follows statutory requirements. See 549 So. 2d 665, 668 +(effective October 1, 1989). + +1991 Revision: Changes to conform to 1989 and 1990 revisions to +guardianship law. Adds additional documents to be signed by the guardian. +Statutory references added. + +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. + + + +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.362, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship report. + 744.363, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship plan. + 744.365, Fla. Stat. Verified inventory. + 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. + 744.3675, Fla. Stat. Annual guardianship plan. + 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. + 744.387, Fla. Stat. Settlement of claims. + 744.441, Fla. Stat. Powers of guardian upon court approval. + 744.446, Fla. Stat. Conflicts of interest; prohibited activities; court + +approval; breach of fiduciary duty. + 744.447, Fla. Stat. Petition for authorization to act. + 744.451, Fla. Stat. Order. + 744.467, Fla. Stat. Resignation of guardian. + 744.511, Fla. Stat. Accounting upon removal. + 744.521, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship. + 744.524, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship on change of domicile of + +resident ward. + 744.527(1), Fla. Stat. Final reports and application for discharge; + +hearing. + 744.534, Fla. Stat. Disposition of unclaimed funds held by guardian. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.620. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.620 + +RULE 5.620. INVENTORY. +(a) Inventory. Within 60 days after issuance of letters, the guardian of the + +property shall file a verified inventory as required by law. All property not in +the guardians possession as of the date the inventory is filed shall be so +identified. + +(b) Amended or Supplemental Inventory. If the guardian of the property +learns of any property not included in the inventory, or learns that the +description in the inventory is inaccurate, the guardian shall, within 30 days +of this discovery, file a verified amended or supplemental inventory showing +the change. + +(c) Substantiating Documents. Unless ordered by the court, the guardian +need not file the documents substantiating the inventory. Upon reasonable +written request, the guardian of the property shall make the substantiating +documents available for examination to those persons entitled to receive or +inspect the inventory. + +(d) Safe-Deposit Box Inventory. If the ward has a safe-deposit box, a +copy of the safe-deposit box inventory shall be filed as part of the verified +inventory. + +(e) Guardian Advocates. This rule shall apply to a guardian advocate to +the extent that the guardian advocate was granted authority over the property +of the person with a developmental disability. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Change in committee notes to conform to statutory + +renumbering. +1984 Revision: Change to require inventory to be filed within 60 days after + +issuance of letters, rather than after appointment. Committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes. Committee notes revised. Citation form + +change in committee notes. + + + +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency +rule. + +1991 Revision: Former rule 5.620(b) has been deleted as partly substantive +and addressed in section 744.381, Florida Statutes, and the procedural part is +unnecessary. + +The committee recognizes the conflict between this rule and section +744.362, Florida Statutes, which requires the filing of the initial guardianship +report (which includes the inventory) within 60 days after appointment. The +committee believes this provision, which attempts to regulate when a paper +must be filed with the court, is procedural and that a guardian may not +receive letters of guardianship empowering the guardian to act +contemporaneously with the appointment. Therefore, the issuance of letters is +a more practical time from which to measure the beginning of the time period +for the accomplishment of this act. + +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2005 Revision: Editorial changes in (d). +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Adds reference to guardian advocate in new (e). + +Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Subdivision (c) revised to substitute documents for + +papers. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.362, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship report. + 744.365, Fla. Stat. Verified inventory. + 744.3701, Fla. Stat. Inspection of report. + 744.381, Fla. Stat. Appraisals. + 744.384, Fla. Stat. Subsequently discovered or acquired property. +Rule References + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.690 Initial guardianship report. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.700 Objection to guardianship reports. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.625. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.625 + +RULE 5.625. NOTICE OF COMPLETION OF GUARDIAN +EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS. + +(a) Filing. Unless the guardian education requirement is waived by the +court, each guardian, other than a professional guardian, shall file with the +court within 4 months after the issuance of letters of guardianship or letters of +guardian advocacy a notice of completion of guardian education +requirements. + +(b) Content. The notice shall state: +(1) that the guardian has completed the required number of hours of + +course instruction and training covering the legal duties and +responsibilities of a guardian, the rights of a ward, the availability of local +resources to aid a ward, and the preparation of habilitation plans and +annual guardianship reports, including accountings; + +(2) the date the course was completed; +(3) the name of the course completed; and +(4) the name of the entity or instructor that taught the course. + +(c) Verification. The notice shall be verified by the guardian. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History. +2005 Revision: New rule. +2006 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to conform to 2006 amendment + +to section 744.3145(4), Florida Statutes. +2008 Revision: Adds reference in (a) to guardian advocacy. Committee + +notes revised. +Statutory References. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.3145, Fla. Stat. Guardian education requirements. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.630. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.630 + +RULE 5.630. PETITION FOR APPROVAL OF ACTS. +(a) Contents. + +(1) When authorization or confirmation of any act of the guardian is +required under section 744.441(1), Florida Statutes, application shall be +made by verified petition stating the facts showing: + +(A) the expediency or necessity for the action; +(B) a description of any property involved; +(C) the price and terms of any sale, mortgage, or other contract; +(D) whether the ward has been adjudicated incapacitated to act with + +respect to the rights to be exercised; +(E) whether the action requested conforms to the guardianship plan; + +and +(F) the basis for the relief sought. + +(2) When authorization or confirmation of any act of the guardian is +required under section 744.441(2), Florida Statutes, application shall be +made by verified petition attaching any affidavits and supporting +documentation, including any living will, and stating the facts showing: + +(A) the name and location of the ward; +(B) the names, relationship to the ward, and addresses if known to the + +guardian, of: +(i) the wards spouse and adult children, +(ii) the wards parents, +(iii) the wards next of kin, +(iv) any guardian and any court-appointed health care decision- + +maker, +(v) any person designated by the ward in a living will or other + +document to exercise the wards health care decision in the event of + + + +the wards incapacity, +(vi) the administrator of the hospital, nursing home, or other facility + +where the ward is located, +(vii) the wards principal treating physician and other physicians + +known to have provided any medical opinion or advice about any +condition of the ward relevant to this petition, and + +(viii) all other persons the guardian believes may have information +concerning the expressed wishes of the ward; and +(C) facts sufficient to establish the need for the relief requested. + +(b) Notice. No notice of a petition to authorize sale of perishable personal +property or of property rapidly deteriorating shall be required. Notice of a +petition to perform any other act requiring a court order shall be given to the +ward, to the next of kin, if any, and to those persons who have filed requests +for notices and copies of pleadings. + +(c) Order. +(1) If the act is authorized or confirmed, the order shall describe the + +permitted act and authorize the guardian to perform it or confirm its +performance. + +(2) If a sale or mortgage is authorized or confirmed, the order shall +describe the property. If a sale is to be private, the order shall specify the +price and the terms of the sale. If a sale is to be public, the order shall state +that the sale shall be made to the highest bidder and that the court reserves +the right to reject all bids. + +(3) If the guardian is authorized to bring an action to contest the validity +of all or part of a revocable trust, the order shall contain a finding that the +action appears to be in the wards best interests during the wards probable +lifetime. If the guardian is not authorized to bring such an action, the order +shall contain a finding concerning the continued need for a guardian and +the extent of the need for delegation of the wards rights. +(d) Hearings. A preliminary hearing on any petition filed under section + +744.441(2), Florida Statutes, shall be held within 72 hours after the filing of +the petition. At that time, the court shall review the petition and supporting +documentation. In its discretion, the court shall either: + + + +(1) rule on the relief requested immediately after the preliminary +hearing; or + +(2) conduct an evidentiary hearing not later than 4 days after the +preliminary hearing and rule on the relief requested immediately after the +evidentiary hearing. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Substantially the same as sections 744.503, 744.447, and + +744.451, Florida Statutes, with editorial changes. +1977 Revision: Change in statutory reference in rule and in committee note + +to conform to statutory renumbering. +1980 Revision: Implements 1979 Amendments to section 744.447(2), + +Florida Statutes. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes; captions added to subdivisions. + +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in rule and committee notes. +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency + +rule. +1991 Revision: Changes to conform to 1989 revised guardianship law. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in + +committee notes. +2006 Revision: New (a)(6) added to incorporate 2006 amendment to + +section 744.441, Florida Statutes. New (c)(3) added to reflect passage of +2006 amendment to section 737.2065, Florida Statutes. Committee notes +revised. + +2007 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2020 Revision: Subdivision (a)(2) is created to address section 744.441(2), + +Florida Statutes, and the contents of a petition for court approval for a +guardian to sign an order not to resuscitate. Subdivision (d) is created to + + + +include the procedure for a hearing pursuant to section 744.441(2), Florida +Statutes. + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 736.0207, Fla. Stat. Trust contests. + 744.3215, Fla. Stat. Rights of persons determined incapacitated. + 744.441, Fla. Stat. Powers of guardian upon court approval. + 744.447, Fla. Stat. Petition for authorization to act. + 744.451, Fla. Stat. Order. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.636 Settlement of minors claims. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.635. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.635 + +RULE 5.635. PETITION FOR EXTRAORDINARY AUTHORITY. +(a) Contents. When authorization for extraordinary authority is sought as + +permitted by law, application shall be made by verified petition stating: +(1) the petitioners interest in the proceeding; +(2) the specific authority requested; and +(3) the facts constituting the basis for the relief sought and that the + +authority being requested is in the best interest of the ward. +(b) Notice. + +(1) The petition shall be served by formal notice. For good cause shown, +the court may shorten the time for response to the formal notice and may +set an expedited hearing. + +(2) The petition shall be served on the guardian of the person, if the +guardian is not the petitioner, the ward, the next of kin, if any, those +interested persons who have filed requests for notices and copies of +pleadings, and such other persons as the court may direct. +(c) Hearing. The hearing shall be at a time and place that will enable the + +ward to express the wards views to the court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.3215(4), Fla. Stat. Rights of persons determined incapacitated. + 744.3725, Fla. Stat. Procedure for extraordinary authority. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.636. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.636 + +RULE 5.636. SETTLEMENT OF MINORS CLAIMS. +(a) Time of Settlement. Claims on behalf of minors may be settled either + +before or after an action is filed. +(b) Petition. The petition for approval of a settlement shall contain: + +(1) the initials, residence address, and the year of birth of the minor; +(2) the name and address of any guardian appointed for the minor; +(3) the name and residence address of the natural guardians or other + +persons having legal custody of the minor; +(4) a statement disclosing the interests of any natural or court-appointed + +guardian whose interest may be in conflict with that of the minor; +(5) a description of the cause of action in which the minors interest + +arises; +(6) a summary of the terms of the proposed settlement; and +(7) copies of all agreements, releases, or other documents to be executed + +on behalf of the minor. +(c) Notice. Notice of the petition shall be given to the court-appointed + +guardians for the minor, to the natural guardians or other persons with legal +custody of the minor, to the minor if age 14 or older, and to the minors next +of kin if required by the court. + +(d) Guardian Ad Litem. The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem on +behalf of a minor, without bond or notice, with respect to any proposed +settlement that equals or exceeds $50,000 and affects the interests of the +minor, if: + +(1) there is no court-appointed guardian of the minor; +(2) the court-appointed guardian may have an interest adverse to the + +minor; or +(3) the court determines that representation of the minors interest is + +otherwise inadequate. + + + +(e) Valuation of Proposed Settlement. A proposed settlement is deemed +to equal or exceed $50,000 if the gross amount payable equals or exceeds +$50,000, without reduction to reflect present value or fees and costs. + +(f) Report. A guardian ad litem appointed with respect to a proposed +settlement affecting the interests of a minor shall, not later than 5 days prior +to the hearing on a petition for order authorizing settlement, file and serve a +report indicating the guardian ad litems determination regarding whether the +proposed settlement will be in the best interest of the minor. The report shall +include: + +(1) a statement of the facts of the minors claim and the terms of the +proposed settlement, including any benefits to any persons or parties with +related claims; + +(2) a list of the persons interviewed and documents reviewed by the +guardian ad litem in evaluating the minors claim and proposed settlement; +and + +(3) the guardian ad litems analysis of whether the proposed settlement +will be in the best interest of the minor. +A copy of the report shall be served on those persons on whom service is + +required in subdivision (c) of this rule. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +When a civil action is pending, the petition for approval of settlement +should be filed in that civil action. In all other circumstances, the petition for +approval of settlement should be filed in the same court and assigned to a +judge who would preside over a petition for appointment of guardian of a +minor. + +The total settlement to be considered under subdivisions (d) and (e) is not +limited to the amounts received only by the minor, but includes all settlement +payments or proceeds received by all parties to the claim or action. For +example, the proposed settlement may have a gross value of $60,000, with +$30,000 payable to the minor and $30,000 payable to another party. In that +instance the total proposed settlement exceeds $50,000. Further, the gross +amount payable under subdivision (e) is the total sum payable, without +reducing the settlement amount by fees and costs that might be paid from the + + + +proceeds of the settlement. For example, if the proposed settlement is +$60,000 but $20,000 of that sum will be paid to the attorneys representing the +minors interest in the action, the gross amount payable still exceeds +$50,000. Likewise, the gross amount payable cannot be reduced to reflect +the present value of the proposed settlement on behalf of the minor. + +Rule History +1992 Revision: New Rule. +2003 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2006 Revision: Amended to reflect 2006 passage of new section 744.3025, + +Claims of Minors, increasing dollar figure from $25,000 to $50,000 as +threshold amount requiring appointment of guardian ad litem if interests of +minor are not otherwise adequately represented. Committee notes revised. + +2014 Revision: Amends subdivision (b)(1) to conform to Fla. R. Gen. Prac. +& Jud. Admin. 2.425. Committee notes revised. + +2019 Revision: Amends subdivisions (d) and (e) to eliminate inconsistency +with section 744.3025, Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 744.3025, Fla. Stat. Claims of minors. + 744.387, Fla. Stat. Settlement of claims. + 744.391, Fla. Stat. Actions by and against guardian or ward. + 744.441, Fla. Stat. Powers of guardian upon court approval. + 744.446, Fla. Stat. Conflicts of interest; prohibited activities; court + +approval; breach of fiduciary duty. + 744.447, Fla. Stat. Petition for authorization to act. + 744.23, Fla. Stat. Protection of minors and incompetents. + 768.25, Fla. Stat. Court approval of settlements. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.042 Time. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.120 Administrator ad litem and guardian ad litem. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.630 Petition for approval of acts. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.640. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.640 + +RULE 5.640. CONTINUANCE OF UNINCORPORATED BUSINESS +OR VENTURE OF WARD. + +(a) Continuance of Business. When the ward is adjudicated incapacitated +while engaged in any unincorporated business or venture, or the court finds +that a person with a developmental disability lacks capacity to manage an +unincorporated business or venture, the court may authorize the guardian to +continue the business or venture for a reasonable time under the supervision +of the court. + +(b) Petition. Before an order is made under subdivision (a), the guardian +shall file a verified petition, alleging sufficient facts to make it appear that it +is in the best interest of the wards estate to continue the business or venture. + +(c) Order. The order authorizing the continuance of the business or +venture may empower the guardian to make contracts necessary to conduct +the business or venture and to incur debts and pay out money in the proper +conduct of the business or venture. The net profits only of the business or +venture are to be added to the assets of the wards estate. + +(d) Accounts and Reports. In the conduct of the business or venture, the +guardian shall keep full and accurate accounts of all receipts and expenditures +and make reports as the court requires. + +(e) Discontinuance of business. Any person interested in the wards estate +may at any time petition the court for an order requiring the guardian to +discontinue and to wind up the business or venture, and the court, after notice +to the guardian, shall enter such order thereon as is in the best interest of the +wards estate. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Implements section 744.441(16), Florida Statutes. The rule + +is patterned after rule 5.350 pertaining to the continuance of a business of a +decedent by a personal representative. + + + +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Change in committee note to conform to +statutory renumbering. + +1988 Revision: Change in title of rule; captions added to subdivisions. +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency +rule. + +1991 Revision: Editorial changes in (a), (b), and (e). +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2008 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to include persons with a + +developmental disability. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.441(13), Fla. Stat. Powers of guardian upon court approval. + 744.447, Fla. Stat. Petition for authorization to act. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.350 Continuance of unincorporated business or venture. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.645. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.645 + +RULE 5.645. MANAGEMENT OF PROPERTY OF NONRESIDENT +WARD BY FOREIGN GUARDIAN. + +(a) Petition. A guardian of the property of a nonresident ward, duly +appointed by a court of another state, territory, or country, who desires to +manage any part or all of the property of the ward located in this state, may +file a verified petition for authority to manage the property. The petition shall +state: + +(1) the circumstances of the guardians appointment; +(2) a description of the property and its estimated value; and +(3) the indebtedness, if any, existing against the ward in this state. + +(b) Designation of Resident Agent. The guardian shall designate a +resident agent as required by these rules. + +(c) Oath. The guardian shall file an oath as required by these rules. +(d) Filing of Authenticated Copies. The guardian shall file authenticated + +copies of: +(1) letters of guardianship or other authority to act as guardian; and +(2) bond or other security, if any. + +(e) Order. The court shall determine if the foreign bond or other security is +sufficient to guarantee the faithful management of the wards property in this +state. The court may require a new guardians bond in this state in an amount +it deems necessary. The order shall authorize the guardian to manage the +property and shall specifically describe the property. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2007 Revision: New rule. +Statutory References + 744.306, Fla. Stat. Foreign guardians. + + + + 744.307, Fla. Stat. Foreign guardian may manage the property of +nonresident ward. + +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.110 Address designation for personal representative or + +guardian; designation of resident agent and acceptance. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.600 Oath. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.646. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.646 + +RULE 5.646. STANDBY GUARDIANS. +(a) Petition for Appointment of Standby Guardian for Minor. + +(1) Contents. A minors guardian or the natural guardians of a minor +may petition for the appointment of a standby guardian of the person or +property of the minor. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and +shall state: + +(A) the facts to establish venue; +(B) the petitioners residence and post office address; +(C) the name, age, and residence and post office address of the minor; +(D) the names and addresses of the parents of the minor and, if none, + +the next of kin known to the petitioner; +(E) the name and residence and post office address of the proposed + +standby guardian, and that the proposed standby guardian is qualified to +serve; + +(F) the proposed standby guardians relationship to and any previous +association with the minor; + +(G) the reasons why the proposed standby guardian should be +appointed; and + +(H) the nature and value of the property subject to the guardianship. +(2) Notice and Waiver of Notice. Notice of the hearing on the petition + +must be served on the parents, natural or adoptive, of the minor and on any +guardian for the minor. Notice may be waived by those required to receive +notice or by the court for good cause. +(b) Petition for Appointment of Standby Guardian for Incapacitated + +Person. +(1) Contents. A currently serving guardian may petition for the + +appointment of a standby guardian of the person or property of an +incapacitated person. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and +shall state: + + + +(A) the petitioners residence and post office address; +(B) the name, age, and residence and post office address of the + +incapacitated person; +(C) the nature of the incapacity, the extent of guardianship, either + +limited or plenary, and the nature and value of property subject to the +guardianship; + +(D) the names and addresses of the next of kin of the incapacitated +person known to the petitioner; + +(E) the name and residence and post office address of the proposed +standby guardian, and that the proposed standby guardian is qualified to +serve; + +(F) the proposed standby guardians relationship to and any previous +association with the incapacitated person; and + +(G) the reasons why the proposed standby guardian should be +appointed. +(2) Notice. Notice of the hearing on the petition must be served on the + +incapacitated persons next of kin. +(c) Petition for Confirmation. + +(1) Contents. A standby guardian, not later than 20 days after the +assumption of duties as guardian, shall petition for confirmation of +appointment. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner and shall state: + +(A) the petitioners residence and post office address; +(B) the name, age, and residence and post office address of the adult + +incapacitated person or initials, year of birth, and residence address of +minor; + +(C) the nature of the incapacity, the extent of guardianship, either +limited or plenary, and the nature and value of property subject to the +guardianship; + +(D) the names and addresses of the next of kin of the incapacitated +person or minor known to the petitioner; + +(E) the name and residence and post office address of the proposed + + + +guardian, and that the proposed guardian is qualified to serve; +(F) the proposed guardians relationship to and any previous + +association with the incapacitated person or minor; +(G) the reasons why appointment of the proposed guardian should be + +confirmed; and +(H) if the proposed guardian is a professional guardian, a statement + +that the proposed guardian has complied with the educational +requirements of section 744.2002, Florida Statutes. +(2) Service. The petition for confirmation and notice of hearing shall be + +served on the incapacitated persons next of kin a reasonable time before +the hearing on the petition or other pleading seeking confirmation of the +guardian. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The standby guardian must file an oath pursuant to rule 5.600 before +commencing the exercise of authority as guardian. Prior to appointment, the +standby guardian must file an application pursuant to rule 5.590. + +Section 393.12(10), Florida Statutes, provides that a guardian advocate +shall have all of the duties, responsibilities, and powers of a guardian under +Chapter 744, Florida Statutes. However, section 744.304 authorizes the +appointment of a standby guardian only for a minor or incapacitated person. + +Rule History +2006 Revision: New rule. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2014 Revision: Subdivision (c)(1)(B) amended to conform to Fla. R. Gen. + +Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425. Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Subdivision (c)(1)(H) amended to reflect the renumbering + +of section 744.1083 to section 744.2002, Florida Statutes. Committee notes +revised. + +Statutory Reference + 744.304, Fla. Stat. Standby guardianship. + + + +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.590 Application for appointment as guardian; disclosure + +statement; filing. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.600 Oath. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.425 Minimization of the Filing of + +Sensitive Information. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.647. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.647 + +RULE 5.647. SURROGATE GUARDIAN. +(a) Petition for Designation of Surrogate Guardian. A guardian may file + +a petition to designate a surrogate guardian to exercise the powers of the +guardian if the guardian is unavailable to act. The surrogate must be a +professional guardian. The petition shall state: + +(1) the name and business address of the surrogate guardian; +(2) the requested duration of the appointment; and +(3) the powers to be exercised by the surrogate guardian. + +(b) Service. The petition for appointment of a surrogate guardian shall be +served on all interested persons and the ward, unless the ward is a minor. + +(c) Oath. The surrogate guardian must file with the court an oath swearing +or affirming that the surrogate guardian will faithfully perform the duties +delegated. + +(d) Termination. Prior to the expiration of the period granted by court +order, the guardian may terminate the authority of the surrogate guardian by +filing a written notice of the termination with the court and serving it on the +surrogate guardian. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2006 Revision: New rule. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.442, Fla. Stat. Delegation of authority. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.648. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.648 + +RULE 5.648. EMERGENCY TEMPORARY GUARDIAN. +(a) Petition for Appointment of Emergency Temporary Guardian. + +Prior to appointment of a guardian but after a petition for determination of +incapacity has been filed, the alleged incapacitated person or any adult +interested in the welfare of that person may petition for the appointment of an +emergency temporary guardian of the person or property. The petition shall +be verified and shall state: + +(1) the petitioners residence and post office address; +(2) the name, age, and residence and post office address of the alleged + +incapacitated person; +(3) that there appears to be imminent danger that the physical or mental + +health or safety of the alleged incapacitated person will be seriously +impaired or that the alleged incapacitated persons property is in danger of +being wasted, misappropriated, or lost unless immediate action is taken; + +(4) the nature of the emergency and the reason immediate action must be +taken; + +(5) the extent of the emergency temporary guardianship, either limited +or plenary, requested for the alleged incapacitated person, and, if known, +the nature and value of the property to be subject to the emergency +temporary guardianship; + +(6) the names and addresses of the next of kin of the alleged +incapacitated person known to the petitioner; + +(7) the name and residence and post office address of the proposed +emergency temporary guardian, and that the proposed emergency +temporary guardian is qualified to serve, or that a willing and qualified +emergency temporary guardian has not been located, and; + +(8) the proposed emergency temporary guardians relationship to or any +previous association with the alleged incapacitated person. +(b) Notice. Notice of filing of the petition for appointment of an + +emergency temporary guardian and hearing on the petition must be served on + + + +the alleged incapacitated person and on the alleged incapacitated persons +attorney at least 24 hours before the hearing on the petition is commenced, +unless the petitioner demonstrates that substantial harm to the alleged +incapacitated person would occur if the 24-hour notice is given. + +(c) Service on Public Guardian. If the petitioner requests appointment of +the public guardian as emergency temporary guardian, a copy of the petition +and notice shall be served on the public guardian. + +(d) Order. The order appointing the emergency temporary guardian shall +specify the powers and duties of the emergency temporary guardian. + +(e) Extension of Authority. Prior to the expiration of the authority of the +emergency temporary guardian, any interested person may file a verified +petition for extension of authority of the emergency temporary guardian. The +petition must show that the conditions that warranted the initial appointment +of the emergency temporary guardian still exist. The petition shall be served +on the wards attorney and on the emergency guardian. + +(f) Final Report. An emergency temporary guardian shall file a final +report no later than 30 days after the expiration of the emergency temporary +guardianship. A copy of the final report shall be served on the successor +guardian, if any, the ward, and the wards attorney. With approval of the +court, service on the ward may be accomplished by serving the attorney for +the ward. + +(1) If the emergency temporary guardian is a guardian of the property, +the final report shall consist of a verified inventory of the wards property +as of the date letters of emergency temporary guardianship were issued, a +final accounting that gives a full and correct account of the receipts and +disbursements of all the wards property over which the guardian had +control, and a statement of the property on hand at the end of the +emergency temporary guardianship. + +(2) If the emergency temporary guardian is a guardian of the person, the +final report shall summarize the activities of the guardian with regard to +residential placement, medical condition, mental health and rehabilitative +services, and the social condition of the ward to the extent of the authority +granted to the emergency temporary guardian. + +(3) If the emergency temporary guardian becomes the successor + + + +guardian of the property or person of the ward, the final report must satisfy +the requirements of, and shall serve as, the initial report of the guardian of +the property or person of the ward, as the case may be, as set forth in rule +5.690. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2007 Revision: New rule. +2015 Revision: Amended subdivision (b) to conform to statutory changes + +in section 744.3031(2), Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Committee notes revised to reflect renumbering of section + +744.344(4) to section 744.2005, Florida Statutes. Updated statutory +references. + +Statutory References + 744.3031, Fla. Stat. Emergency temporary guardianship. + 744.2005, Fla. Stat. Order of appointment. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.600 Oath. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.690 Initial Guardianship Report. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.649. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 + +RULE 5.649. GUARDIAN ADVOCATE. +(a) Petition for Appointment of Guardian Advocate. A petition to + +appoint a guardian advocate for a person with a developmental disability may +be executed by an adult person who is a resident of this state. The petition +must be verified by the petitioner and must state: + +(1) the name, age, and present address of the petitioner and the +petitioners relationship to the person with a developmental disability; + +(2) the name, age, county of residence, and present address of the person +with a developmental disability; + +(3) that the petitioner believes that the person needs a guardian advocate +and the factual information on which such belief is based; + +(4) the exact areas in which the person lacks the ability to make +informed decisions about the persons care and treatment services or to +meet the essential requirements for the persons physical health or safety; + +(5) the legal disabilities to which the person is subject; +(6) if authority is sought over any property of the person, a description + +of that property and the reason why management or control of that +property should be placed with a guardian advocate; + +(7) the name of the proposed guardian advocate, the relationship of the +proposed guardian advocate to the person with a developmental disability, +the relationship of the proposed guardian advocate with the providers of +health care services, residential services, or other services to the person +with developmental disabilities, and the reason why the proposed guardian +advocate should be appointed. If a willing and qualified guardian advocate +cannot be located, the petition must so state; + +(8) whether the petitioner has knowledge, information, or belief that the +person with a developmental disability has executed a designation of +health care surrogate or other advance directive under chapter 765, Florida +Statutes, or a durable power of attorney under chapter 709, Florida +Statutes, and if the person with a developmental disability has executed + + + +any of the foregoing documents, an explanation as to why the documents +are insufficient to meet the needs of the individual; and + +(9) whether the petitioner has knowledge, information, or belief that the +person with a developmental disability has a preneed guardian designation. +(b) Notice. + +(1) Notice of the filing of the petition must be given to the person with a +developmental disability, both verbally and in writing, in the language of +the person and in English. Notice must also be given to the person with a +developmental disabilitys next of kin, any designated health care +surrogate, an agent designated in a durable power of attorney, and such +other persons as the court may direct. A copy of the petition to appoint a +guardian advocate must be served with the notice. + +(2) The notice must state that a hearing will be held to inquire into the +capacity of the person with a developmental disability to exercise the rights +enumerated in the petition. The notice must also state the date of the +hearing on the petition. + +(3) The notice must state that the person with a developmental disability +has the right to be represented by counsel of the persons own choice and +the court must initially appoint counsel. +(c) Counsel. Within 3 days after a petition has been filed, the court must + +appoint an attorney to represent a person with a developmental disability who +is the subject of a petition to appoint a guardian advocate. The person with a +developmental disability may substitute his or her own attorney for the +attorney appointed by the court. + +(d) Order. If the court finds the person with a developmental disability +requires the appointment of a guardian advocate, the order appointing the +guardian advocate must contain findings of facts and conclusions of law, +including: + +(1) the nature and scope of the persons inability to make decisions; +(2) the exact areas in which the person lacks ability to make informed + +decisions about care and treatment services or to meet the essential +requirements for the individuals physical health and safety; + +(3) if any property of the person is to be placed under the management + + + +or control of the guardian advocate, a description of that property, any +limitations as to the extent of such management or control, and the reason +why management or control by the guardian advocate of that property is in +the best interest of the person; + +(4) if the person has executed a designation of health care surrogate, +other advance directive, or durable power of attorney, a determination as to +whether the documents sufficiently address the needs of the person and a +finding that the advance directive or durable power of attorney does not +provide an alternative to the appointment of a guardian advocate that +sufficiently addresses the needs of the person with a developmental +disability; + +(5) if a durable power of attorney exists, the powers of the agent, if any, +that are suspended and granted to the guardian advocate; + +(6) if an advance directive exists and the court determines that the +appointment of a guardian advocate is necessary, the authority, if any, the +guardian advocate exercises over the health care surrogate; + +(7) the specific legal disabilities to which the person with a +developmental disability is subject; + +(8) the name of the person selected as guardian advocate; and +(9) the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the guardian advocate, + +including bonding of the guardian advocate as provided by law. +(e) Issuance of Letters. Upon compliance with all of the foregoing, letters + +of guardian advocacy must be issued to the guardian advocate. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2008 Revision: New rule. +2013 Revision: New subdivisions (a)(6) and (d)(3) added to address + +situations in which the guardian advocate will have authority over the +property of the person with a developmental disability. New subdivision (e) +added to provide for the issuance of letters of guardian advocacy. Editorial +changes to subdivisions (a)(7) and (b)(3). Editorial changes to conform to the + + + +courts guidelines for rules submissions as set forth in AOSC06-14. +2019 Revision: Subdivisions (b)(1) and (d)(5) amended to change + +attorney-in-fact to agent to be consistent with chapter 709, Florida +Statutes. Committee notes updated to reflect the legislative amendments to +chapter 709, Florida Statutes. + +2020 Revision: Amends subdivision (a)(8) to address the Judicial +Management Council Guardianship Workgroup Final Report dated June 15, +2018, Focus Area 1, Recommendation 3, by requiring an explanation if there +are less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, but they are not sufficient to +meet the needs of the person with a developmental disability. Adds a new +subdivision (a)(9) to address the Judicial Management Council Guardianship +Workgroup Final Report dated June 15, 2018, Focus Area 1, +Recommendation 4, by requiring a statement of the petitioners knowledge of +any preneed guardian designation. Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 393.063(9), Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 709.2101-709.2402, Fla. Stat. Florida Power of Attorney Act. + 709.2019, Fla. Stat. Termination or suspension of power of attorney or + +agents authority. + 744.3045, Fla. Stat. Preneed guardian. + 765.101, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 765.104, Fla. Stat. Amendment or revocation. + 765.202, Fla. Stat. Designation of a health care surrogate. + 765.204, Fla. Stat. Capacity of principal; procedure. + 765.205(3), Fla. Stat. Responsibility of the surrogate. + 765.302, Fla. Stat. Procedure for making a living will; notice to + +physician. + 765.401, Fla. Stat. The proxy. +Rule References + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.540 Hearings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.650. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.650 + +RULE 5.650. RESIGNATION OR DISQUALIFICATION OF +GUARDIAN; APPOINTMENT OF SUCCESSOR. + +(a) Resignation and Petition for Discharge. A guardian seeking to resign +shall file a resignation and petition for discharge. + +(b) Contents. The resignation and petition for discharge shall state: +(1) that the guardian wishes to resign and be relieved of all duties as + +guardian; +(2) the amount of compensation to be paid to the guardian and to the + +attorneys, accountants, or other agents employed by the guardian; and +(3) the names and addresses of the successor guardian and the successor + +guardians attorney, or that a successor guardian has not yet been +appointed or duly qualified. +(c) Final Report. A resigning guardian of the property shall file a final + +report showing receipts, disbursements, amounts reserved for unpaid and +anticipated costs and fees, and other relevant financial information from the +date of the previous annual accounting, and a list of assets to be turned over +to the successor guardian. + +(d) Notice. A notice shall be served stating that: +(1) any objection shall be in writing and shall state with particularity + +each item to which the objection is directed and the grounds on which the +objection is based; + +(2) any objection to the resignation, petition for discharge, or final report +shall be filed within 30 days from the date of service of the petition for +discharge; and + +(3) within 90 days after filing of the objection, a notice of hearing +thereon shall be served or the objection is abandoned. +(e) Service. A copy of the resignation, petition for discharge, final report, + +and notice of resignation and petition for discharge shall be served on the +ward, any surety on the guardians bond, any successor guardian, and such + + + +other persons as the court may direct. +(f) Objections. Objections shall be in the form and be filed within the time + +set forth in the notice of resignation and petition for discharge. A copy of the +objections shall be served by the objector on the ward, all guardians, any +surety on the guardians bond, and any successor guardian. + +(g) Disposition of Objections. Any interested person may set a hearing on +the objections. Notice of the hearing shall be served on the guardian, the +successor guardian, if any, and any other interested persons. If a notice of +hearing on the objections is not served within 90 days of filing of the +objections, the objections will be deemed abandoned. + +(h) Discharge. The guardians resignation shall not be accepted and the +guardian shall not be discharged until all objections have been withdrawn, +abandoned, or judicially resolved and a successor guardian has been +appointed and duly qualified. After all objections have been withdrawn, +abandoned, or judicially resolved, if the court is satisfied that the resigning +guardian has faithfully discharged the duties of the guardianship and the +interests of the ward are protected, and the resigning guardian of the property +has delivered the assets of the ward, all guardianship records, and all money +due to the ward from the guardian to the remaining or successor guardian, the +court shall enter an order accepting resignation of guardian and granting +discharge. + +(i) Disqualification. Any guardian who is improperly appointed, or who +becomes disqualified to act after appointment, shall immediately file a +resignation and petition for discharge and proceed in accordance with this +rule. + +(j) Nonresident Guardians. Nonresident guardians appointed before +October 1, 1989, shall not be automatically disqualified to serve and shall not +be required to resign and initiate their own removal. + +(k) Guardian Advocates. This rule shall apply to guardian advocates, +except that a final report shall be required of a guardian advocate only if the +guardian advocates authority included the management of the property of the +person with a developmental disability. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Substantially the same as sections 744.467 and 744.471, + +Florida Statutes, with editorial changes. +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Change in committee note to conform to + +statutory renumbering. +1988 Revision: Editorial changes in (a). Text of rule 5.590 inserted in (b). + +Editorial change in (c). Captions added to subdivisions. Committee notes +revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency +rule. + +1991 Revision: Substantial revision of entire rule to harmonize with +procedure for termination of guardianship under rules 5.670 and 5.680. +Subdivision (k) transferred from temporary emergency rule 5.800. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +2007 Revision: Subdivision (i) deleted because right of waiver is +substantive. Subsequent subdivisions relettered. + +2008 Revision: Subdivision (k) added to include guardian advocates. +Committee notes revised. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.102(11), Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.467, Fla. Stat. Resignation of guardian. + 744.471, Fla. Stat. Appointment of successor. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.660. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.660 + +RULE 5.660. PROCEEDINGS FOR REMOVAL OF GUARDIAN. +(a) Notice. Proceedings for removal of a guardian may be instituted by a + +court, by any surety or other interested person, or by the ward, and formal +notice of the petition for removal of a guardian must be served on all +guardians, other interested persons, next of kin, and the ward. The pleading +must state with particularity the reasons why the guardian should be +removed. + +(b) Accounting. A removed guardian must file with the court an +accounting for the guardianship within 20 days after the guardians removal. +A copy of the accounting must be served on the successor guardian and the +ward, unless the ward is a minor or has been determined to be totally +incapacitated. + +(c) Transfer of Property and Records. The removed guardian (or the +guardians heirs, personal representative, or surety) must turn over all the +property of the ward in the removed guardians control and all guardianship +records to the duly qualified successor. The successor guardian must, or the +ward may, demand of the removed guardian (or the guardians heirs, personal +representative, or surety) all of those items. + +(d) Failure to Comply. If a removed guardian fails to file a true, complete, +and final accounting for the guardianship or to turn over to the successor all +property of the ward in the removed guardians control and all guardianship +records, the court must issue a show-cause order. + +(e) Guardian Advocates. Subdivisions (b) through (d) of this rule apply to +guardian advocates only to the extent that the guardian advocate was granted +authority over the property of the person with a developmental disability. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Change in committee notes to conform + +to statutory renumbering. + + + +1980 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to specifically authorize any +guardian or next of kin to file the petition and to require formal notice in +conformity with rule 5.630(b). + +1984 Revision: Subdivision (b) amended to conform to statute. Editorial +changes and committee notes revised. + +1988 Revision: Subdivision (a) rewritten for clarity. Language in (b) +deleted as surplusage. Editorial change in caption of (c). Committee notes +revised. Citation form change in committee notes. + +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency +rule. + +1991 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to require that the petition allege +specific reasons why the guardian should be removed and to require service +of the petition on the ward. Otherwise, editorial changes in all subdivisions. + +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2006 Revision: Requirement in (b) to serve minors deleted to conform to + +2006 amendment to section 744.511, Florida Statutes. +2008 Revision: Subdivision (e) added to include guardian advocates. + +Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2013 Revision: Subdivision (b) revised to conform to section 744.511, + +Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. Editorial changes to conform to +the courts guidelines for rules submissions as set forth in AOSC06-14. + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.3085, Fla. Stat. Guardian advocates. + 744.474, Fla. Stat. Reasons for removal of guardian. + 744.477, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for removal of a guardian. + 744.511, Fla. Stat. Accounting upon removal. + 744.514, Fla. Stat. Surrender of assets upon removal. + 744.517, Fla. Stat. Proceedings for contempt. + + + +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.025 Adversary proceedings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.649 Guardian advocate. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.420 Public access to judicial branch + +records. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.670. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.670 + +RULE 5.670. TERMINATION OF GUARDIANSHIP ON CHANGE OF +DOMICILE OF RESIDENT WARD. + +(a) Petition for Discharge. The Florida guardian may file a petition for +discharge when the domicile of a resident ward has changed to a foreign +jurisdiction, the foreign court having jurisdiction over the ward at the wards +new domicile has appointed a foreign guardian, and the foreign guardian has +qualified and posted a bond in the amount required by the foreign court. + +(b) Contents of Petition. The petition for discharge shall state: +(1) that the grounds set forth in subdivision (a) have occurred; +(2) that the guardian has fully administered the Florida guardianship; + +and +(3) the amount of compensation to be paid to the guardian and to the + +attorneys, accountants, or other agents employed by the guardian. +(c) Final Report. The Florida guardian of the property shall file a final + +report showing receipts, disbursements, amounts reserved for unpaid and +anticipated costs and fees, and other relevant financial information from the +date of the previous annual accounting, and a list of the assets to be turned +over to the foreign guardian. + +(d) Notice. The Florida guardian of the property shall publish a notice as +required by law, which shall state: + +(1) the name of the ward; +(2) the file number of the guardianship; +(3) the designation and address of the court; +(4) the name and address of the guardian and the guardians attorney; +(5) the name and address of the foreign guardian and the foreign + +guardians attorney, if any; +(6) the date of first publication; +(7) that a petition for discharge has been filed upon the grounds of + + + +change of domicile of the ward; +(8) the date the guardian will apply for discharge; +(9) that the jurisdiction of the ward will be transferred to the foreign + +jurisdiction; +(10) that any objection shall be in writing and shall state with + +particularity each item to which the objection is directed and the grounds +on which the objection is based; + +(11) that any objection to the final report or the petition for discharge +shall be filed within the later of 30 days from the date of service of the +petition for discharge or the date of first publication of the notice; and + +(12) that within 90 days after filing of the objection, a notice of hearing +thereon shall be served or the objection is abandoned. +(e) Service. A copy of the petition for discharge and of the notice of + +petition for discharge shall be served on the foreign guardian and such other +persons as the court may direct. + +(f) Objections. Objections shall be in the form and be filed within the time +set forth in the notice of petition for discharge. A copy of the objections shall +be served by the objector on the Florida guardian and the foreign guardian. + +(g) Disposition of Objections. Any interested person may set a hearing on +the objections. Notice of the hearing shall be served on the Florida guardian, +the foreign guardian, and any other interested persons. If a notice of hearing +on the objections is not served within 90 days of filing of the objections, the +objections will be deemed abandoned. + +(h) Discharge. The Florida guardian may not be discharged until all +objections have been withdrawn, abandoned, or judicially resolved. After all +objections have been withdrawn, abandoned, or judicially resolved, if the +court is satisfied that the Florida guardian has faithfully discharged the duties +of the guardianship and the interests of the ward are protected, and the +Florida guardian of the property has delivered the assets of the ward to the +foreign guardian, the court shall enter an order of discharge. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + + + +Rule History +1977 Revision: Change in committee notes to conform to statutory + +renumbering. +1984 Revision: Adds 30-day requirement for filing objections. Editorial + +changes and committee notes revised. +1988 Revision: Editorial change in (c). First and last sentences of (d) + +deleted and clarifying word added. +1989 Revision: Prior rule adopted as temporary emergency rule. +1991 Revision: Substantial revision of entire rule to harmonize with + +procedure for discharge of guardian under rule 5.680 and to conform to +section 744.524, Florida Statutes. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +2007 Revision: Subdivision (i) deleted because right of waiver is +substantive. Committee notes revised. + +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Updated statutory references. Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.102(8), (9), Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 744.1096, Fla. Stat. Domicile of ward. + 744.1097, Fla. Stat. Venue. + 744.1098, Fla. Stat. Change of wards residence. + 744.524, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship on change of domicile of + +resident ward. + 744.531, Fla. Stat. Order of discharge. +Rule References + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.680 Termination of guardianship. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.680. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.680 + +RULE 5.680. TERMINATION OF GUARDIANSHIP. +(a) Petition for Discharge. When the ward has become sui juris, has + +terminated a voluntary guardianship, has been restored to capacity, has had +all rights restored, or has died, or when the guardian has been unable to locate +the ward after diligent search, or, for a guardian of the property, when the +property subject to the guardianship has been exhausted, the guardian shall +file a petition for discharge. A guardian of the person is discharged without +further proceeding upon filing a certified copy of the wards death certificate. + +(b) Contents of Petition. The petition for discharge shall state: +(1) the reason for termination of the guardianship; +(2) that the guardian has fully administered the guardianship; and +(3) the amount of unpaid and anticipated costs and fees to be paid to the + +guardian and to the attorneys, accountants, or other agents employed by the +guardian. +(c) Final Report. The guardian of the property shall promptly file a final + +report. If the ward has died, the guardian must file the report no later than 45 +days after he or she has been served with letters of administration, letters of +curatorship, or an order of summary administration. The report shall show +receipts, disbursements, amounts reserved for unpaid and anticipated +disbursements, costs, and fees, including the amounts set forth in subdivision +(b)(3), and other relevant financial information from the date of the previous +annual accounting, and a list of the assets to be turned over to the person +entitled to them. + +(d) Notice. A notice shall be served stating: +(1) that any objection shall be in writing and shall state with particularity + +each item to which the objection is directed and the grounds on which the +objection is based; + +(2) that any objection to the final report or the petition for discharge +shall be filed within 30 days from the date of service of the petition for +discharge; and + + + +(3) that within 90 days after filing of the objection, a notice of hearing +thereon shall be served or the objection is abandoned. +(e) Service. The guardian applying for discharge shall serve a copy of the + +petition for discharge and final report on the ward, on the personal +representative of a deceased ward, or if there are no assets justifying +qualification of a personal representative for the estate of a deceased ward, on +the known next of kin of the deceased ward, or such other persons as the +court may direct; provided, however, that a guardian of the property who is +subsequently appointed personal representative shall serve a copy of the +petition for discharge and final report on all beneficiaries of the wards estate. + +(f) Objections. All persons served shall have 30 days to file objections to +the petition for discharge and final report. The objections shall state with +particularity the items to which the objections are directed and shall state the +grounds on which the objections are based. Copies of the objections shall be +served by the objector on the guardian. Any interested person may set a +hearing on the objections. Notice of the hearing shall be served on the +guardian and any other interested persons. If a notice of hearing on the +objections is not served within 90 days of filing of the objections, the +objections will be deemed abandoned. The guardian may not be discharged +until all objections have been withdrawn, abandoned, or judicially resolved, +and the petition for discharge of the guardian is granted by the court. + +(g) Discharge. The guardian may not be discharged until all objections are +withdrawn, abandoned, or judicially resolved. After all objections are +withdrawn, abandoned, or judicially resolved, and if it appears that the +guardian has paid all amounts reserved to the persons entitled to them and has +made full and complete distribution of the wards assets to the persons +entitled to them and has otherwise faithfully discharged the duties of the +guardian, the court shall grant the petition for discharge and enter an order of +discharge. If objections are filed and are not withdrawn, abandoned, or +judicially resolved, the court shall conduct a hearing in the same manner as +for a hearing on objections to annual guardianship plans. After hearing, if the +court is satisfied that the guardian has faithfully discharged the duties of the +guardianship and the interests of the ward are protected, and the guardian has +rendered a complete and accurate final report and has delivered the assets of +the ward to the person entitled to them, the court shall enter an order of +discharge. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Implements sections 744.527 and 744.531, Florida + +Statutes, and also requires the guardian applying for discharge to do so by +filing a petition for discharge and provides the procedure pertaining thereto. + +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Change in committee note to conform to +statutory renumbering. + +1988 Revision: Captions added to subdivisions. Committee notes revised. +Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency +rule. + +1991 Revision: Substantial revision of entire rule to harmonize with +procedure for discharge of personal representatives under rules 5.400 and +5.401. + +1992 Revision: Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +1996 Revision: Editorial changes to clarify that all anticipated costs and +fees should be shown on final report and thereafter paid prior to transfer of +assets and discharge of guardian. + +2003 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to reflect addition of rule 5.552 +dealing with voluntary guardianship of property. Committee notes revised. + +2006 Revision: Subdivision (c) amended to conform to 2006 amendments +to section 744.527, Florida Statutes. Subdivision (h) deleted as unnecessary +because substantive right of waiver is provided by section 731.302, Florida +Statutes. + +2008 Revision: Reference to restoration of rights added in subdivision (a). +Committee notes revised. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + + + + 744.521, Fla. Stat. Termination of guardianship. + 744.527, Fla. Stat. Final reports and application for discharge; hearing. + 744.528, Fla. Stat. Discharge of guardian named as personal + +representative. + 744.531, Fla. Stat. Order of discharge. + 744.534, Fla. Stat. Disposition of unclaimed funds held by guardian. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.552 Voluntary guardianship of property. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 Restoration of rights of person with developmental + +disability. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.681. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.681 + +RULE 5.681. RESTORATION OF RIGHTS OF PERSON WITH +DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY. + +(a) Suggestion of Restoration of Rights. A suggestion of restoration of +rights of a person with a developmental disability may be executed by any +interested person, including the person with a developmental disability. The +suggestion must contain: + +(1) a statement that the person with a developmental disability is capable +of exercising some or all of the rights that were granted to the guardian +advocate; + +(2) evidentiary support for the filing as provided by law; and +(3) the name and address of the attorney representing the person with a + +developmental disability, if any, known to the petitioner. +(b) Counsel. Within 3 days after the suggestion has been filed, the court + +must appoint an attorney to represent a person with a developmental +disability who is not then represented by counsel as stated in the suggestion. + +(c) Notice. Upon filing of the suggestion, if the name and address of the +attorney representing the person with a developmental disability is listed in +the suggestion, or upon the appointment of counsel, if no name and address +of an attorney are listed in the suggestion, the clerk must immediately send +notice of the filing of the suggestion, together with a copy of the suggestion, +to the person with a developmental disability, the persons guardian advocate, +the persons attorney, the attorney for the guardian advocate, if any, and any +other interested person as directed by the court. The notice must contain a +statement that all objections to the suggestion must be filed within 20 days +after service of the notice. Formal notice must be served on the guardian +advocate. Informal notice may be served on the other persons. Notice need +not be served on the petitioner. The clerk must file proof of service. + +(d) Objections. Any objection must be in writing and must state with +particularity each item to which the objection is directed and the grounds on +which the objection is based. The objector must serve notice of hearing on +the objection and a copy of the objection on the person with the + + + +developmental disability, the persons attorney, the persons guardian +advocate, the attorney for the guardian advocate, if any, the next of kin of the +person with a developmental disability, and any other interested persons as +directed by the court. + +(e) Order. The court must enter an order denying the suggestion or +restoring all or some of the rights that were granted to the guardian advocate. +If only some rights are restored to the person with a developmental disability, +the order must state which rights are restored and amend the letters of +guardian advocacy accordingly. The court need not hold a hearing prior to +entering an order restoring rights if no objections are filed and the court is +satisfied with the evidentiary support for restoration supplied by the +petitioner. + +(f) Additional Requirements. If personal rights are restored, the guardian +advocate must file an amended plan within 60 days after the order restoring +rights. If all property rights are restored, a guardian advocate previously +granted management or control over property must file a final accounting +within 60 days after the order restoring rights. A copy of any amended plan +and accounting must be promptly served on the person with a developmental +disability and the persons attorney. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2008 Revision: New rule. +2013 Revision: Substantial revisions to reflect the designation of the + +pleading as a Suggestion of Restoration of Rights; the requirement for a +statement of evidentiary support, the identification and address of the +attorney for the person with a developmental disability; procedures for +service of objections; clarification of requirements following a restoration of +rights; and editorial changes. Editorial changes to conform to the courts +guidelines for rule submissions as set forth in AOSC06-14. + +2019 Revision: Committee notes updated to reflect the legislative +amendments to chapter 709, Florida Statutes. + +Statutory References + + + + 393.063(9), Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 709.2101-709.2402, Fla. Stat. Florida Power of Attorney Act. + 765.101, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 765.104, Fla. Stat. Amendment or revocation. + 765.202, Fla. Stat. Designation of a health care surrogate. + 765.204, Fla. Stat. Capacity of principal; procedure. + 765.205(3), Fla. Stat. Responsibility of the surrogate. + 765.302, Fla. Stat. Procedure for making a living will; notice to + +physician. + 765.401, Fla. Stat. The proxy. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.540 Hearings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.541 Recording of hearings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.680 Termination of guardianship. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.685. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.685 + +RULE 5.685. DETERMINATION REGARDING ALTERNATIVES TO +GUARDIANSHIP. + +(a) Reporting by Guardian. The guardian shall promptly file a report +attaching a copy of a final order or judgment that determines the validity of a +wards durable power of attorney, trust, or trust amendment. + +(b) Petition. At any time after the appointment of a guardian, the guardian, +the ward, the wards attorney, if any, or any other interested person may file a +verified petition stating that there is an alternative to guardianship that will +sufficiently address the problems of the ward. + +(c) Contents of Petition. The petition to determine alternatives to +guardianship shall state: + +(1) the petitioners interest in the proceeding; and +(2) the facts constituting the basis for the relief sought and that the + +proposed alternative to guardianship will sufficiently address the problems +of the ward and is in the wards best interest. +(d) Service. The petition shall be served on the guardian, the ward, the + +wards attorney, if any, those interested persons who have filed requests for +notices and copies of pleadings, and such other persons as the court may +direct. + +(e) Order. The order shall specify whether there is an alternative to +guardianship that will sufficiently address the problems of the ward, the +continued need for a guardian, and the extent of the need for delegation of the +wards rights. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2006 Revision: New rule. +Statutory References + 744.331, Fla. Stat. Procedures to determine incapacity. + + + + 744.462, Fla. Stat. Determination regarding alternatives to guardianship. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.690. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.690 + +RULE 5.690. INITIAL GUARDIANSHIP REPORT. +(a) Contents and Filing. An initial guardianship report shall be filed + +within 60 days after the issuance of letters of guardianship. The guardian of +the property shall file the initial guardianship report consisting of the verified +inventory. The guardian of the person shall file the initial guardianship report +consisting of the guardianship plan. + +(b) Service. Copies of the initial guardianship report shall be served on the +ward, unless the ward is a minor under the age of 14 years or is totally +incapacitated, and the attorney for the ward, if any. With approval of the +court, service on the ward may be accomplished by serving the attorney for +the ward. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The committee recognizes the conflict between this rule and section +744.362, Florida Statutes, which requires the filing of the initial guardianship +report (which includes the inventory) within 60 days after appointment. The +committee believes this provision, which attempts to regulate when a +document must be filed with the court, is procedural and that a guardian may +not receive letters of guardianship empowering the guardian to act +contemporaneously with the appointment. Therefore, the issuance of letters is +a more practical time from which to measure the beginning of the time period +for the accomplishment of this act. + +In the event the guardian of the property and the guardian of the person are +not the same entity or person, they shall make a good faith effort to jointly +file the initial guardianship report. + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Addition of phrase in subdivision (b) to conform to 1992 + +amendment to section 744.362(1), Florida Statutes. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + + + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2016 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 744.362, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship report. + 744.363, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship plan. + 744.365, Fla. Stat. Verified inventory. + 744.3701, Fla. Stat. Inspection of report. + 744.384, Fla. Stat. Subsequently discovered or acquired property. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.620 Inventory. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.700 Objection to guardianship reports. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.695. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.695 + +RULE 5.695. ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP REPORT. +(a) Contents and Filing. + +(1) Guardian of the Person. Unless the court requires reporting on a +calendar-year basis, the guardian of the person shall file an annual +guardianship plan within 90 days after the last day of the anniversary +month in which the letters of guardianship were signed. The plan shall +include the mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address of the +guardian, and: + +(A) the residence address of an individual guardian; or +(B) the office address of a corporate or public guardian. + +The plan must cover the coming fiscal year ending on the last day of such +anniversary month. If the court requires calendar-year reporting, the +guardianship plan for the forthcoming year must be filed on or before April +1 of each year. + +(2) Guardian of the Property. Unless the court requires or authorizes +reporting on a fiscal year basis, the guardian of the property shall file an +annual accounting on or before April 1 of each year. The plan shall include +the mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address of the guardian, +and: + +(A) the residence address of an individual guardian; or +(B) the office address of a corporate or public guardian. + +The annual accounting shall cover the preceding annual accounting period. +If the court requires or authorizes reporting on a fiscal year basis, the +annual accounting shall be filed on or before the first day of the fourth +month after the end of the fiscal year. +(b) Service. Copies of the annual plan and accounting shall be served on + +the ward, unless the ward is a minor or is totally incapacitated, and the +attorney for the ward, if any. With the approval of the court, service on the +ward may be accomplished by serving the attorney for the ward. The +guardian shall serve copies on such other persons as the court may direct. + + + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The annual guardianship report consists of the annual plan for the guardian +of the person and the annual accounting for the guardian of the property. + +For annual guardianship reports regarding minors, see rule 5.555. +With approval of the court, service on the ward may be accomplished by + +service on the attorney for the ward, if any. The committee was concerned +that actual service on a ward of the accounting or guardianship plan may give +uninterested persons access to financial or personal information to the +detriment of the ward. The committee believes that under such circumstances, +the guardian of the property could seek an order under section 744.371(5), +Florida Statutes, even if the wards circumstances were set out in detail in a +pleading other than the annual guardianship report. Such court order may be +sought in appropriate circumstances at the time of the initial hearing to +determine incapacity. + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Substantially the same as section 744.427(1), (2), and (4), + +Florida Statutes, and section 744.437, Florida Statutes, with editorial changes +and providing for the waiving, by a ward who has become sui juris or by the +personal representative of a deceased ward, of the filing of an annual +accounting. The rule requires the guardian of the property of a ward to appear +before the court at the time he files his annual accounting or at such time the +court shall determine in order that the court may inquire as to any matter +relating to the physical and financial well-being of the ward. This appears to +be in conflict with section 744.437, Florida Statutes, which refers to every +guardian but in the same sentence it refers to at the time the guardian files +his annual return and only the guardian of the property is required to file an +annual accounting. + +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Change in committee note to conform to +statutory renumbering. + +1980 Revision: Subdivision (e) amended to avoid conflict with statutory +changes in section 744.437, Florida Statutes (1979). + +1988 Revision: Matter in (b) deleted; covered in sections 744.427(2) and +744.434, Florida Statutes. Subdivision (c) deleted; covered in section + + + +744.427(4), Florida Statutes. Captions added to subdivisions. Committee +notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency +rule. + +1991 Revision: Substantial changes and rule renumbered. +1992 Revision: Addition of language in subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2) to + +implement 1992 amendments to sections 744.367(1) and (2), Florida Statutes. +Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in committee notes. + +2006 Revision: Requirement in (b) to serve minors age 14 and above +deleted to conform to amendment to section 744.367(3), Florida Statutes. +Committee notes revised. + +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2015 Revision: Subdivision (a)(1) amended to conform to statutory + +changes in section 744.367(1), Florida Statutes. Committee notes revised. +2017 Revision: Subdivision (a)(1) amended to conform to statutory + +changes regarding reporting deadline in section 744.367(1), Florida Statutes. +Committee notes revised. + +2019 Revision: Subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2) amended to require +guardians contact information. + +Statutory References + 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. + 744.3675, Fla. Stat. Annual guardianship plan. + 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. + 744.3685, Fla. Stat. Order requiring guardianship report; contempt. + 744.3701, Fla. Stat. Inspection of report. + 744.371, Fla. Stat. Relief to be granted. + 744.3735, Fla. Stat. Annual appearance of the guardian. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. + + + +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.552 Voluntary guardianship of property. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.555 Guardianships of minors. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.700 Objection to guardianship reports. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.800(b) Application of revised chapter 744 to existing + +guardianships. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.696. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.696 + +RULE 5.696. GUARDIAN ACCOUNTING. +(a) Applicability. This rule applies to all guardian accountings required + +under Chapter 744, Florida Statutes, other than a simplified accounting +permitted under section 744.3679, Florida Statutes. + +(b) Contents. A guardian accounting shall include: +(1) a statement of the starting balance of assets on hand at the beginning + +of the accounting period which shall be the ending balance of the +preceding accounting, or if none, the value of assets on the inventory; + +(2) a full and correct account of the receipts and disbursements of all of +the wards property over which the guardian has control since the date of +the last accounting or, if none, from the date of issuance of letters of +guardianship; + +(3) a schedule of assets at the end of the accounting period; and +(4) in the case of annual accountings, a copy of the annual or year-end + +statement of all of the wards cash accounts from each of the institutions +where the cash is deposited. +(c) Accounting Standards. The following standards are required for the + +accounting of all transactions occurring on or after January 1, 2017: +(1) Accountings shall be stated in a manner that is understandable to + +persons who are not familiar with practices and terminology peculiar to the +administration of guardianships. + +(2) The accounting shall begin with a concise summary of its purpose +and content. + +(3) The accounting shall contain sufficient information disclosing all +significant transactions affecting administration during the accounting +period. + +(4) The accounting shall contain 2 values in the schedule of assets at the +end of the accounting period, the asset acquisition value or carrying value, +and estimated current value. + + + +(5) Gains and losses incurred during the accounting period shall be +shown separately in the same schedule. +(d) Accounting Format. A model format for an accounting is attached to + +this rule as Appendix A. +(e) Verification. All accountings shall be verified by the guardian filing + +the accounting. +(f) Substantiating Documents. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the + +guardian need not file the documents substantiating the guardian accounting. +Upon reasonable written request, the guardian of the property shall make the +substantiating documents available for examination to persons entitled to +receive or inspect the guardian accounting. + +(g) Interim Inspection of Records. Upon reasonable written request and +notice, the guardian of the property shall make all material financial records +pertaining to the guardianship available for inspections to those persons +entitled to receive or inspect the guardian accounting. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +The purpose of this substantial revision is for guardian accountings to +conform to rule 5.346 and the Fiduciary Accounting Principles and Model +Formats and commentaries incorporated into rule 5.346. As set forth in +subdivision (b)(1), the starting balance shall be the ending balance of the +preceding accounting, or if none, the value of assets on the inventory. + +Attached, as Appendix A, is a model accounting format which is only a +suggested form. + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2010 Revision: Editorial change in (b) to delete redundant language. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2013 Revision: Subdivision (b) revised to substitute documents for + +papers. Committee notes revised. Editorial changes to conform to the +courts guidelines for rule submissions as set forth in AOSC06-14. + + + +2016 Revision: Substantial rule revision. Committee notes revised. +Appendix A adopted. + +Statutory References + 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. + 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. + 744.3701, Fla. Stat. Inspection of report. + 744.3735, Fla. Stat. Annual appearance of the guardian. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.346 Fiduciary Accounting. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.695 Annual guardianship report. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.700 Objection to guardianship reports. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.696. +Fla. Prob. R. Fla. Prob. R., Pt. III, 5.696 + +RULE 5.696. APPENDIX A +IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR _________ COUNTY, FLORIDA + +IN RE: GUARDIANSHIP OF + +The purpose of this accounting is to report the assets on hand +at the beginning of the accounting period, all transactions that +have occurred during the period covered by the accounting, and +the assets that remain on hand at the end of the accounting +period. It consists of a SUMMARY sheet and Schedule A +showing all Receipts, Schedule B showing all Disbursements, +Schedule C showing all Capital Transactions and Adjustments +(the effect of which are also reflected in other schedules, if +appropriate), and Schedule D showing assets on hand at the end +of the accounting period. + +Under penalties of perjury, the undersigned guardian(s) +declare(s) that I (we) have read and examined this accounting +and that the facts and figures set forth in the Summary and the +attached Schedules are true, to the best of my (our) knowledge +and belief, and that it is a complete report of all cash and +property transactions and of all receipts and disbursements by +me (us) as guardian(s) of _____________________, the ward, +from, ______________________ through +___________________, _________. + +Signed on _____________________, _________. + + + +IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR _________ COUNTY, FLORIDA +IN RE: GUARDIANSHIP OF + +NOTE: Refer to Fla. Prob. R. 5.696. +Entries on Summary are to be taken from totals on Schedules + +A, B, C and D. + + + +The Summary and Schedules A, B, C and D are to constitute +the full accounting. Every transaction occurring during the +accounting period should be reflected on the Schedules. + +All purchases and sales, all adjustments to the asset +acquisition or carrying value of any asset, and any other +significant transactions that affect the property (such as stock +splits) should be described on Schedule C. + +__________________ ACCOUNTING OF GUARDIAN(S), + +NOTE: Schedule A should reflect only those items received +during administration during the accounting period. + +Entries involving the sale of assets or other adjustments to the +asset acquisition or carrying values of assets are to be shown on +Schedule C, and not on Schedule A. + +__________________ ACCOUNTING OF GUARDIAN(S), +GUARDIANSHIP OF _____________________________ + + + +NOTE: Schedule B should reflect only those items paid out +during the accounting period. + +Entries involving the purchase of assets or adjustments to the +asset acquisition or carrying values of assets are to be shown on +Schedule C, and not on Schedule B. + +__________________ ACCOUNTING OF GUARDIAN(S), +GUARDIANSHIP OF _____________________________ + + + +NOTE: Schedule C should reflect all purchases and sales of +assets and any adjustments to the asset acquisition or carrying +values of any assets. + +Entries reflecting sales should show the asset acquisition or +adjusted carrying values, the costs and expenses of the sale, and +the net proceeds received. The net gain or loss should be +extended in the appropriate column on the right side of Schedule +C. + +Entries reflecting purchases should reflect the purchase price, +any expenses of purchase or other adjustments to the purchase +price, and the total amount paid. Presumably no gain or loss +would be shown for purchases. + +Entries reflecting adjustments in capital assets should explain +the change (such as a stock split) and the net gain or loss should +be shown in the appropriate column on the right side of Schedule +C. + + + +The NET gain or loss should be entered in the carrying value +column of the Summary. + +__________________ ACCOUNTING OF GUARDIAN(S), +GUARDIANSHIP OF _____________________________ + +NOTE: Schedule D should be a complete list of all assets on +hand reflecting asset acquisition or carrying values for each item, +adjusted in accordance with any appropriate entries on Schedule +C, and estimated current values for each item. + +Current market values for any assets that are known to be +different from the asset acquisition or carrying values as of the + + + +close of the accounting period should be shown in the column +marked Estimate Current Value. The total adjusted carrying +value (not Current Value) must agree with the Total for Item V +on Summary. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.696. +Fla. Prob. R. Fla. Prob. R., Pt. III, 5.696 + +RULE 5.696. APPENDIX B +GUARDIAN ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES + +I. ACCOUNTS SHOULD BE STATED IN A MANNER THAT IS +UNDERSTANDABLE BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH +PRACTICES AND TERMINOLOGY PECULIAR TO THE +ADMINISTRATION OF GUARDIANSHIPS. + +Commentary: In order for an account to fulfill its basic function of +communication, it is essential that it be stated in a manner that recognizes that +the interested parties are not usually familiar with guardian accounts. It is +neither practical nor desirable to require that accounts be tailored to meet +individual disabilities of particular parties but any account should be capable +of being understood by a person of average intelligence, literate in English, +and familiar with basic financial terms who has read it with care and +attention. + +Problems arising from terminology or style are usually a reflection of the +fact that people who become versed in a particular form of practice tend to +forget that terms which are familiar and useful to them may convey nothing +to someone else or may even be affirmatively misleading. For example, the +terms debit and credit are generally incomprehensible to people with no +knowledge of bookkeeping and many people who are familiar with them in +other contexts would assume that in the context of guardian accounting, the +receipt of an item is a credit to the fund rather than a debit to the +guardian. + +While the need for concise presentation makes a certain amount of +abbreviation both acceptable and necessary, uncommon abbreviation of +matters essential to an understanding of the account should be avoided or +explained. + +Print-outs from electronic accounting systems or account statements can be +used as attachments to the schedules in the accounting form or to clarify the +accounting. The quality of the accounts produced by these systems and +account statements varies widely in the extent to which they can be +understood by persons who are not familiar with them. + + + +II. A GUARDIAN ACCOUNT SHALL BEGIN WITH A CONCISE +SUMMARY OF ITS PURPOSE AND CONTENT. + +Commentary: Very few people can be expected to pay much attention to a +document unless they have some understanding of its general purpose and its +significance to them. Even with such an understanding, impressions derived +from the first page or two will often determine whether the rest is read. The +use that is made of these pages is therefore of particular significance. + +The cover page should disclose the nature and function of the account. +While a complete explanation of the significance of the account and the effect +of its presentation upon the rights of the parties is obviously impractical for +inclusion at this point, there should be at least a brief statement identifying +the guardian and the subject matter, noting the importance of examining the +account and giving an address where more information can be obtained. + +A summary of the account shall also be presented at the outset. This +summary, organized as a table of contents, shall indicate the order of the +details presented in the account and shall show separate totals for the +aggregate of the assets on hand at the beginning of the accounting period; +transactions during the period; and the assets remaining on hand at the end of +the period. Each entry in the summary shall be supported by a schedule in the +account that provides the details on which the summary is based. + +III. A GUARDIAN ACCOUNT SHALL CONTAIN SUFFICIENT +INFORMATION TO PUT THE INTERESTED PARTIES ON NOTICE AS +TO ALL SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTIONS AFFECTING +ADMINISTRATION DURING THE ACCOUNTING PERIOD. + +Commentary: The presentation of the information account shall allow an +interested party to follow the progress of the guardians administration of +assets during the accounting period. + +An account is not complete if it does not itemize, or make reference to, +assets on hand at the beginning of the accounting period. + +Illustration: +3.1 The first account for a guardianship may detail the items received by + +the guardian and for which the guardian is responsible. It must begin with the +total amount on the inventory. + + + +Transactions shall be described in sufficient detail to give the court and +interested parties notice of their purpose and effect. It should be recognized +that too much detail may be counterproductive to making the account +understandable. In accounts dealing with extensive assets, it is usually +desirable to consolidate information with attachments that show detail. For +instance, where income from a number of securities is being accounted for, a +statement of the total dividends received on each security with appropriate +indication of changes in the number of shares held will be more readily +understandable and easier to check for completeness than a chronological +listing of all dividends received. + +Illustrations: +3.2 Extraordinary appraisal costs should be shown separately and + +explained. +3.3 Interest and penalties in connection with late filing of tax returns + +should be shown separately and explained. +3.4 Receipts and disbursements shall be shown on separate schedules in + +chronological order. The separate schedules may include totals by account, +with separate ledgers for each account, such as securities or financial +accounts. + +3.5 Changes in asset values due to market fluctuations are not transactions +and shall not be reflected as a loss or gain, but the estimated current value +and carrying value shall be shown on the schedule listing assets held at the +end of the accounting period. + +IV. A GUARDIAN ACCOUNT SHALL CONTAIN TWO VALUES, +THE ASSET ACQUISITION VALUE OR CARRYING VALUE, AND +CURRENT VALUE. + +Commentary: In order for transactions to be reported on a consistent basis, +an appropriate carrying value for assets must be chosen and employed +consistently. + +The carrying value of an asset should reflect its value at the time it is +acquired by the guardian. When such a value is not precisely determinable, +the figure used should reflect a thoughtful decision by the guardian. Assets +received in kind should be carried at their value at the time of receipt. For +assets purchased during the administration of the guardianship, acquisition + + + +cost would normally be used. Use of Federal income tax basis for carrying +value is acceptable when basis is reasonably representative of real values at +the time of acquisition. + +In the Model Account, carrying value is referred to as guardian +acquisition value. The Model Account establishes the initial carrying value +of assets as their value at inception of the guardianship for inventoried assets, +date of receipt for subsequent receipts, and cost for investments. + +Carrying value would not normally be adjusted for depreciation. +Except for adjustments that occur normally under the accounting system in + +use, carrying values should generally be continued unchanged through +successive accounts and assets should not be arbitrarily written up or +written down. In some circumstances, however, with proper disclosure and +explanation, carrying value may be adjusted. + +Illustrations: +4.1 Assets received in kind in satisfaction of a pecuniary legacy should be + +carried at the value used for purposes of distribution. +Illustrations: +4.2 When an asset is held under circumstances that make it clear that it will + +not be sold (e.g., a residence used by the ward) the guardians estimate of +value would be acceptable in lieu of an appraisal. + +4.3 Considerations such as a pending tax audit or offer of the property for +sale may indicate the advisability of not publishing the guardians estimate of +value. In such circumstances, a statement that value was fixed by some +method such as per company books, formula under buy-sell agreement, +or 300% of assessed value would be acceptable, but the guardian would be +expected to provide further information to interested parties upon request. + +V. GAINS AND LOSSES INCURRED DURING THE ACCOUNTING +PERIOD SHALL BE SHOWN SEPARATELY IN THE SAME +SCHEDULE. + +Commentary: Each transaction involving the sale or other disposition of +securities during the accounting period shall be shown as a separate item in +one combined schedule of the account indicating the transaction, date, +explanation, and any gain or loss. + + + +Although gains and losses from the sale of securities can be shown +separately in accounts, the preferred method of presentation is to present this +information in a single schedule. Such a presentation provides the most +meaningful description of investment performance and will tend to clarify +relationships between gains and losses that are deliberately realized at the +same time. + +Increases and decreases in value not related to a sale or other disposition +are unrealized gains or losses and should not be shown as such on this +schedule. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.697. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.697 + +RULE 5.697. MAGISTRATES REVIEW OF GUARDIANSHIP +INVENTORIES, ACCOUNTINGS, AND PLANS. + +(a) General Magistrates. The court may appoint general magistrates to +review guardianship inventories, accountings, and plans. General magistrates +shall be members of The Florida Bar and shall continue in office until +removed by the court. The order appointing a general magistrate shall be +recorded. Each general magistrate shall take the oath required of officers of +the court by the Florida Constitution. The oath shall be recorded before the +magistrate begins to act. + +(b) Special Magistrates. In connection with the courts review of +guardianship inventories, accountings, and plans, the court may appoint +members of The Florida Bar as special magistrates for any particular service +required by the court. Special magistrates shall be governed by all laws and +rules relating to general magistrates except special magistrates shall not be +required to take an oath unless specifically required by the court. For good +cause shown, the court may appoint a person other than a member of The +Florida Bar as a special magistrate. + +(c) General Powers and Duties. Every magistrate shall act under the +direction of the court. Process issued by a magistrate shall be directed as +provided by law. All grounds for disqualification of a judge shall apply to +magistrates. + +(d) Hearings. Hearings before any magistrate may be held in the county +where the action is pending, or at any other place by order of the court for the +convenience of the witnesses or the parties. A magistrate shall give notice of +hearings to all parties. If any party fails to appear, the magistrate may proceed +ex parte or may continue the hearing to a future day, with notice to the absent +party. The magistrate shall proceed with reasonable diligence and the least +practicable delay. Any party may apply to the court for an order directing the +magistrate to accelerate the proceedings and to make a report promptly. +Evidence shall be taken in writing or by electronic recording by the +magistrate or by some other person under the magistrates authority in the +magistrates presence and shall be filed with the magistrates report. The + + + +magistrate may examine and take testimony from the parties and their +witnesses under oath, on all matters authorized by the court for review by the +magistrate and may require production of all books, papers, writings, +vouchers, and other documents applicable to those matters. The magistrate +shall admit only evidence that would be admissible in court. The magistrate +may take all actions concerning evidence that may be taken by the court. + +(e) Magistrates Report. The magistrates report shall contain a +description of the matters considered and the magistrates conclusions and +any recommendations. No part of any statement of facts, account, charge, +deposition, examination, or answer used before the magistrate shall be +recited. The magistrate shall be required to file a report only if a hearing is +held pursuant to subdivision (d) of this rule or if specifically directed to do so +by the court. + +(f) Filing Report; Service; Exceptions. The magistrate shall file a report +with the court and serve copies on the parties. The parties may serve +exceptions to the report within 10 days from the date the report is served on +them. If no exceptions are timely filed, the court shall take appropriate action +on the report. All timely filed exceptions shall be heard by the court on +reasonable notice by any party. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1991 Revision: This is a new rule, patterned after Florida Rule of Civil + +Procedure 1.490. +1992 Revision: Editorial change. Citation form change in committee notes. +2007 Revision: Title of rule and subdivisions (a) and (b) amended to + +include inventories. Shall substituted for may in last sentence of +subdivision (f). Committee notes revised. + +Statutory Reference + 744.369(2), Fla. Stat. Judicial review of guardianship reports. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.095 General and special magistrates. + + + +Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.490 Magistrates. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.700. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.700 + +RULE 5.700. OBJECTION TO GUARDIANSHIP REPORTS. +(a) Objections. The ward, or any other interested person, may file an + +objection to any part of a guardianship report within the time provided by +law. + +(b) Contents. Any objection shall be in writing and shall state with +particularity each item to which the objection is directed and the grounds on +which the objection is based. + +(c) Service. The objector shall serve a copy of the objection on each +guardian and on any other person as directed by the court. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1975 Revision: Substantially the same as section 744.427(3), (5), and (6), + +Florida Statutes, with editorial changes. +1977 Revision: No change in rule. Change in committee note to conform to + +statutory renumbering. +1988 Revision: Captions added to subdivisions. Committee notes revised. + +Citation form change in committee notes. +1989 Revision: Prior rule deleted and replaced by temporary emergency + +rule. +1991 Revision: Revised to conform with new statutory requirements. +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2012 Revision: Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.362, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship report. + + + + 744.363, Fla. Stat. Initial guardianship plan. + 744.365, Fla. Stat. Verified inventory. + 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. + 744.3675, Fla. Stat. Annual guardianship plan. + 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.041 Service of pleadings and documents. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.060 Request for notices and copies of pleadings. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.180 Waiver and consent. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.610 Execution by guardian. +Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.516 Service of pleadings and + +documents. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.705. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.705 + +RULE 5.705. PETITION FOR INTERIM JUDICIAL REVIEW. +(a) Contents. A petition for interim judicial review shall be verified, state + +the petitioners interest in the proceeding, state with particularity the manner +in which the guardians action or proposed action does not comply with or +exceeds the guardians authority under the guardian plan, or state that the +guardian is acting in a manner contrary to section 744.361, Florida Statutes, +and state why the action, proposed action, or conduct of the guardian is not in +the best interest of the ward. + +(b) Service. The petition shall be served by formal notice. +(c) Hearing. The petitioner or any interested person may set the matter for + +hearing. +(d) Expedited Proceedings. For good cause shown, the court may shorten + +the time for response to the formal notice and may set an expedited hearing. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule. +2000 Revision: Subdivision (d) added to permit expedited proceedings. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2015 Revision: Subdivision (a) amended to conform to changes in sections + +744.361 and 744.3715, Florida Statutes. Citation revised in committee notes. +Committee notes revised. + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.361, Fla. Stat. Powers and duties of guardian. + 744.3715, Petition for interim judicial review. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.710. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.710 + +RULE 5.710. REPORTS OF PUBLIC GUARDIAN. +The public guardian, as the guardian of a ward, shall file: +(a) an initial report as required by law; +(b) annual guardianship reports, which shall include the dates of quarterly + +visits to the ward, as required by law; +(c) a report within 6 months of his or her appointment as guardian of a + +ward, which shall also be filed with the executive director of the Office of +Public and Professional Guardians, stating: + +(1) the public guardians efforts to locate a family member or friend, +other person, bank, or corporation to act as guardian of the ward; and + +(2) the wards potential to be restored to capacity; +(d) an annual report, filed with the Office of Public and Professional + +Guardians, by September 1 for the preceding fiscal year, on the operations of +the office of public guardian; and + +(e) a report of an independent audit by a qualified certified public +accountant, to be filed with the Office of Public and Professional Guardians +every 2 years. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1987 Revision: This is a new rule and was promulgated to establish + +procedures to accommodate the Public Guardian Act. See 744.701, et seq., +Fla. Stat. See also Fla. Prob. R. 5.560. + +1989 Revision: Prior rule adopted as temporary emergency rule. +1991 Revision: Editorial changes. +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +2007 Revision: Rule extensively amended to specify reports a public + +guardian is required to file. + + + +2010 Revision: Editorial change in (e). +2016 Revision: Subdivisions (c), (d), and (e) amended to reflect the name + +change of the agency to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. +Committee notes revised to reflect the repeal of Part IX of Chapter 744, +Florida Statutes. + +Statutory Reference + 744.2001-744.2109, Fla. Stat. Public Guardianship Act. +Rule Reference +Fla. Prob. R. 5.560 Petition for appointment of guardian of an + +incapacitated person. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.720. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.720 + +RULE 5.720. COURT MONITOR. +(a) Appointment. Upon motion or inquiry by any interested person or + +upon its own motion, the court may appoint a court monitor in any +proceeding over which it has jurisdiction. + +(b) Order of Appointment. The order of appointment shall state the +name, address, and phone number of the monitor and shall set forth the +matters to be investigated. The order may authorize the monitor to +investigate, seek information, examine documents, or interview the ward. The +order of appointment shall be served upon the guardian, the ward, and such +other persons as the court may determine. + +(c) Report. The monitor shall file a verified written report with the court +setting forth the monitors findings. The report shall be served on the +guardian, the ward, and such other persons as the court may determine. + +(d) Protection of Ward. If it appears from the monitors report that further +action by the court to protect the interests of the ward is necessary, the court +shall, after a hearing with notice, enter any order necessary to protect the +ward or the wards property, including amending the plan, requiring an +accounting, ordering production of assets, or initiating proceedings to remove +a guardian. Notice of the hearing shall be served on the guardian, the ward, +and such other persons as the court may determine. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule applies to the non-emergency appointment of court monitors. +Rule History +2006 Revision: New rule. +2008 Revision: Editorial change in (d). Committee notes revised. +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.107, Fla. Stat. Court monitors. + + + + 744.3701, Fla. Stat. Inspection of report. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.725. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.725 + +RULE 5.725. EMERGENCY COURT MONITOR. +(a) Appointment. Upon motion or inquiry by any interested person or + +upon its own motion, the court may appoint a court monitor on an emergency +basis without notice in any proceeding over which it has jurisdiction. + +(b) Order of Appointment. The order of appointment shall specifically +find that there appears to be imminent danger that the physical or mental +health or safety of the ward will be seriously impaired or that the wards +property is in danger of being wasted, misappropriated, or lost unless +immediate action is taken. The scope of the matters to be investigated and the +powers and duties of the monitor must be specifically enumerated in the +order. + +(c) Duration of Authority. The authority of a monitor expires 60 days +after the date of appointment or upon a finding of no probable cause, +whichever occurs first. The court may enter an order extending the authority +of the monitor for an additional 30 days upon a showing that an emergency +condition still exists. + +(d) Report. Within 15 days after the entry of an order of appointment, the +monitor shall file a verified written report setting forth the monitors findings +and recommendations. The report may be supported by documents or other +evidence. The time for filing the report may be extended by the court for +good cause. + +(e) Review. Upon review of the report, the court shall enter an order +determining whether there is probable cause to take further action to protect +the person or property of the ward. + +(1) If the court finds no probable cause, the court shall enter an order +finding no probable cause and discharging the monitor. + +(2) If the court finds probable cause, the court shall enter an order +directed to the respondent stating the essential facts constituting the +conduct charged and requiring the respondent to appear before the court to +show cause why the court should not take further action. The order shall +specify the time and place of the hearing with a reasonable time to allow + + + +for the preparation of a defense after service of the order. A copy of the +order to show cause together with the order of appointment and report of +the monitor shall be served upon the guardian, the ward, the wards +attorney, if any, and the respondent. +(f) Protecting Ward. If at any time prior to the hearing on the order to + +show cause the court enters a temporary injunction, a restraining order, an +order freezing assets, an order suspending the guardian or appointing a +guardian ad litem, or any other order to protect the physical or mental health, +safety, or property of the ward, the order or injunction shall be served on the +guardian, the ward, the wards attorney, if any, and such other persons as the +court may determine. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +2006 Revision: New rule. +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2010 Revision: Editorial change in (c). +Statutory references + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 744.1075, Fla. Stat. Emergency court monitor. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.800. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.800 + +RULE 5.800. APPLICATION OF REVISED CHAPTER 744 TO +EXISTING GUARDIANSHIPS. + +(a) Prior Adjudication of Incompetency. When an adjudication of +incompetency has taken place under chapter 744, Florida Statutes, before +October 1, 1989, no readjudication of incapacity shall be required. + +(b) Annual Guardianship Reports. Guardians appointed before October +1, 1989, shall file annual guardianship reports as required by law. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +Rule History +1989 Revision by Ad Hoc Committee: The committee adopted a position + +that guardians appointed before the effective date of the 1989 revisions to +chapter 744, Florida Statutes, should comply with all sections of the law that +apply to future acts of the guardian. For example, all guardians will in the +future file annual reports and will be responsible for the continuing well- +being of their wards. The committee recognized a distinction between those +actions that will necessarily occur on a continuing basis throughout the +guardianship and those actions that happen at a particular moment in time but +are not necessarily ongoing duties. There are two and only two specific +examples to which the statutory reforms would not apply retrospectively if +the above distinction is adopted. First, the initial adjudication of incapacity +occurs only once in any guardianship. Although guardianships are +reevaluated annually, the statute does not contemplate a complete +readjudication procedure every year. Therefore, the committee concluded that +the initial adjudicatory hearing need not be repeated for wards adjudicated +incompetent before October 1, 1989. Second, as concerns nonresident +guardians appointed before October 1, 1989, normally, a guardian is +appointed only once at the beginning of the guardianship. While these +nonresident guardians would be expected to obey all provisions of the law +prospectively, they would not be required to initiate their own removal. + +1991 Revision: Editorial changes in first sentence of (a), and rest of +subdivision deleted as unnecessary. Subdivision (b) has been transferred to + + + +rule 5.650. Date reference no longer required in (c), and modified to make +filing requirement of preexisting guardianships consistent with the current +statutory provisions. + +1992 Revision: Citation form changes in committee notes. +Statutory References + 744.367, Fla. Stat. Duty to file annual guardianship report. + 744.3675, Fla. Stat. Annual guardianship plan. + 744.3678, Fla. Stat. Annual accounting. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.695 Annual guardianship report. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.696 Annual accounting. + + + + Pt. III. , Rule 5.850. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.850 + +RULE 5.850. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL INTERVENTION +CONCERNING MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES +[RENUMBERED]. + + Pt. IV. +Fla. Prob. R., Pt. IV + + + +PART IV. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL INTERVENTION +CONCERNING MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES + + Pt. IV. , Rule 5.900. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.900 + +RULE 5.900. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL INTERVENTION +CONCERNING MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES. + +(a) Petition. Any proceeding for expedited judicial intervention +concerning medical treatment procedures may be brought by any interested +adult person and shall be commenced by the filing of a verified petition +which states: + +(1) the name and address of the petitioner; +(2) the name and location of the person who is the subject of the petition + +(hereinafter referred to as the patient); +(3) the relationship of the petitioner to the patient; +(4) the names, relationship to the patient, and addresses if known to the + +petitioner, of: +(A) the patients spouse and adult children; +(B) the patients parents (if the patient is a minor); +(C) if none of the above, the patients next of kin; +(D) any guardian and any court-appointed health care decision-maker; +(E) any person designated by the patient in a living will or other + +document to exercise the patients health care decision in the event of +the patients incapacity; + +(F) the administrator of the hospital, nursing home, or other facility +where the patient is located; + +(G) the patients principal treating physician and other physicians +known to have provided any medical opinion or advice about any +condition of the patient relevant to this petition; and + +(H) all other persons the petitioner believes may have information + + + +concerning the expressed wishes of the patient; and +(5) facts sufficient to establish the need for the relief requested, + +including, but not limited to, facts to support the allegation that the patient +lacks the capacity to make the requisite medical treatment decision. +(b) Supporting Documentation. Any affidavits and supporting + +documentation, including any living will or designation of health care +decision-maker, shall be attached to the petition. + +(c) Notice. Unless waived by the court, notice of the petition and the +preliminary hearing shall be served on the following persons who have not +joined in the petition or otherwise consented to the proceedings: + +(1) the patient; +(2) the patients spouse and the patients parents, if the patient is a + +minor; +(3) the patients adult children; +(4) any guardian and any court-appointed health care decision-maker; +(5) any person designated by the patient in a living will or other + +document to exercise the patients health care decision in the event of the +patients incapacity; + +(6) the administrator of the hospital, nursing home, or other facility +where the patient is located; + +(7) the patients principal treating physician and other physicians +believed to have provided any medical opinion or advice about any +condition of the patient relevant to this petition; + +(8) all other persons the petitioner believes may have information +concerning the expressed wishes of the patient; and + +(9) such other persons as the court may direct. +(d) Hearing. A preliminary hearing on the petition shall be held within 72 + +hours after the filing of the petition. At that time the court shall review the +petition and supporting documentation. In its discretion the court shall either: + +(1) rule on the relief requested immediately after the preliminary +hearing; or + + + +(2) conduct an evidentiary hearing not later than 4 days after the +preliminary hearing and rule on the relief requested immediately after the +evidentiary hearing. + +COMMITTEE NOTES + +This rule was submitted by the committee in response to the request +contained in footnote 17 of In re Guardianship of Browning, 568 So.2d 4 +(Fla. 1990). See also Cruzan by Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of +Health, U.S., 110 S. Ct. 2841, 111 L. Ed. 2d 224 (1990). + +The promulgation of this rule is not intended to imply that judicial +intervention is required to terminate life-prolonging procedures. + +Practitioners should note that the criteria and standards of proof contained +in Browning differ from the criteria and standards of proof presently existing +in chapter 765, Florida Statutes. + +Rule History +1991 Revision: New rule. +1992 Revision: This rule was created on an emergency basis and on further + +review, the committee decided it needed to clarify that the petition should +include an allegation that the patient lacks capacity to make the requisite +medical treatment decision, and that the patient should receive notice of the +petition and hearing. Committee notes revised. Citation form changes in +committee notes. + +2008 Revision: Committee notes revised. +2019 Revision: Committee notes updated to reflect the legislative + +amendments to chapter 709, Florida Statutes. +2020 Revision, September 3, 2020: Rule was renumbered from 5.900 to + +5.850 to allow forms to follow the rules set. Committee notes revised. +2020 Revision, December 31, 2020: Rule was renumbered from 5.850 to + +5.900 to conform with statutory references. Committee notes revised. +Constitutional Reference. +Art. I, 23, Fla. Const. + + + +Statutory References + 393.12, Fla. Stat. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + 709.2101-709.2402, Fla. Stat. Florida Power of Attorney Act. + 709.2109, Fla. Stat. Termination or suspension of power of attorney or + +agents authority. + 731.302, Fla. Stat. Waiver and consent by interested person. + 744.102, Fla. Stat. Definitions. + 744.104, Fla. Stat. Verification of documents. + 744.3115, Fla. Stat. Advanced directives for health care. +ch. 765, Fla. Stat. Health care advance directives. +Rule References +Fla. Prob. R. 5.020 Pleadings; verification; motions. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.040 Notice. + + + + Pt. V. +Fla. Prob. R., Pt. V + + + +PART V. FORMS + +The following forms are sufficient for the matters that are covered by +them. So long as the substance is expressed without prolixity, the forms may +be varied to meet the facts of a particular case. The forms are not intended to +be part of the rules and are provided for convenience only. + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.901. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.901 + +RULE 5.901. FORM FOR PETITION TO DETERMINE +INCAPACITY. + +MODEL FORM FOR USE IN PETITION TO DETERMINE +INCAPACITY PURSUANT TO FLORIDA PROBATE RULE 5.550 + +In the Circuit Court of the +__________________ Judicial Circuit, +in and for _____________________________ +County, Florida +Probate Division +Case No. _____________________________ +In Re: Guardianship of +_____________________ +Respondents Name +An Alleged Incapacitated Person +_____________________ + +PETITION TO DETERMINE INCAPACITY +Petitioner, .....(name of petitioner)....., files this petition + +seeking a determination of incapacity of the respondent and +states: + +1. Petitioners name: ____________________ Petitioners +age: _________ + +Petitioners home address and mailing address: +_____________________________ + + + +_____________________________ +Petitioners relationship to the respondent: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +2. Respondents name: ____________________ + +Respondents age: _________ +Respondents home address, mailing address, county of + +residence: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +Primary language of the respondent: + +_____________________________ +3. The factual basis for alleging incapacity: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +4. List all persons, with their name and address, known to + +have information relating to the basis for alleging incapacity: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +5. Which rights are being sought to be removed under section + +744.3215, Florida Statutes? Indicate which rights that the +petitioner requests be removed from the respondent, but not + + + +delegated to a guardian: + ( ) a. to marry. If the right to enter into a contract has been + +removed, the right to marry is subject to court approval; + ( ) b. to vote; + ( ) c. to personally apply for government benefits; + ( ) d. to have a driver license; + ( ) e. to travel; and + ( ) f. to seek or retain employment. +Indicate which rights that the petitioner requests be removed + +from the respondent, but may be delegated to the guardian: + ( ) a. to contract; + ( ) b. to sue and defend lawsuits; + ( ) c. to apply for government benefits; + ( ) d. to manage property or to make any gift or disposition + +of property; + ( ) e. to determine his or her residence; + ( ) f. to consent to medical and mental health treatment; and + ( ) g. to make decisions about his or her social environment + +or other social aspects of his or her life. +If all of the above are checked a determination of plenary + +incapacity is requested. If only some of the above are checked a +determination of limited incapacity is requested. + +6. Is a guardianship being sought? ___________ Yes +___________ No + + + +Check any possible alternatives to guardianship: + ( ) a. trust agreements; + ( ) b. powers of attorney; + ( ) c. designations of health care surrogates; + ( ) d. other advance directives; or + ( ) e. other _____________________________ +If a guardianship is being sought, explain why the checked + +possible alternatives to guardianship are insufficient to meet the +needs of the respondent: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +7. List the names, addresses, phone numbers, and + +relationships of the living next of kin of the respondent, +including date of birth if the person is a minor. If married, this +includes the spouse and all of his or her children: + +Name Address Relationship +__________________ __________________ + +____________________ +__________________ __________________ + +____________________ +8. Name, address, and phone number of family physician, if + +known: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +WHEREFORE, this court is respectfully requested to + +determine incapacity of the respondent, award attorneys fees + + + +and costs pursuant to Chapter 744, Florida Statutes, and grant +such other relief as the court deems just and proper. + +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the +foregoing, and the facts alleged are true, to the best of my +knowledge and belief. + +Signed on.....(date)...... +_____________________________ +Petitioners Signature +Petitioners Printed Name: + +_____________________________ +Petitioners Address: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +Petitioners Phone Number: + +_____________________________ +Petitioners E-mail Address: + +_____________________________ + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.902. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.902 + +RULE 5.902. FORM FOR PETITION AND ORDER OF GUARDIAN. +(a) Petition. + +In the Circuit Court of the +__________________ Judicial Circuit, +in and for _____________________________ +County, Florida +Probate Division +Case No. _____________________________ +In Re: Guardianship of +_____________________ +Respondents Name +_____________________ + +PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN +Petitioner, ___________________________________, files + +this petition pursuant to section 744.1097, Florida Statutes, and +alleges that: + +1. The petitioner, proposed guardian .....(name)....., who is +__________________ years of age, whose residential address is +______________________ and post office address is +______________________. The relationship of the petitioner to +the respondent is ______________________. + +2. Venue is proper in .....(county)....., pursuant to section +744.1097(2), Florida Statutes, (choose one): + + + + ( ) a. the incapacitated person resides in .....(county)....., +Florida; + + ( ) b. the incapacitated person is not a Florida resident but +owns property in .....(county)....., Florida; or + + ( ) c. a debtor of the incapacitated person resides in ..... +(county)...., Florida and the incapacitated person is not a Florida +resident and does not own property in Florida. + +3. The nature of the incapacity of the respondent: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +4. The extent of the guardianship requested for the + +respondent: + ( ) a. plenary; or + ( ) b. limited. +5. The guardianship requested for the respondent is (choose + +one): + ( ) a. of the person; + ( ) b. of the property; or + ( ) c. of the person and property. +6. The nature and value of the property subject to + +guardianship: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +7. The names and addresses of the living next of kin of the + + + +respondent are: +Name Address Relationship +__________________ __________________ + +____________________ +__________________ __________________ + +____________________ +__________________ __________________ + +____________________ +8. Choose one: _____________________________ + ( ) a. the petitioner proposes that .....(name)..... be appointed + +as guardian and that .....(name)..... is qualified to serve; + ( ) b. a willing and qualified guardian has not been located; + +or + ( ) c. the proposed guardian is a professional guardian and + +has complied with the registration requirements of section +744.2002, Florida Statutes. + +9. The proposed guardian should be appointed because: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +10. There ___________ are or ___________ are not + +alternatives to the appointment of a guardian, such as trust +agreements, powers of attorney, designation of health care +surrogate, or other advanced directive, known to petitioner. + +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the +foregoing, and the facts alleged are true, to the best of my + + + +knowledge and belief. +Signed on .....(date)...... +Signature: _____________________________ +Petitioner +Name: _____________________________ +Address: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +Phone Number: _____________________________ +E-mail Address: _____________________________ + +(b) Order. +In the Circuit Court of the +__________________ Judicial Circuit, +in and for _____________________________ +County, Florida +Probate Division +Case No. _____________________________ +In Re: Guardianship of +_____________________ +Respondents Name +_____________________ + +ORDER FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN +1. By order of this court on .....(date)....., the respondent ..... + +(name)..... was adjudicated incapacitated and is now a ward as + + + +defined in section 744.102(22), Florida Statutes. The extent of +the incapacity is .....(plenary or limited)...... The ward retains the +rights listed in section 744.3215(a), Florida Statutes. + +2. No alternative to guardianship exists that sufficiently +addresses the respondents needs. + +3. A .....(plenary or limited)..... guardianship of the: + ( ) a. person; + ( ) b. property; or + ( ) c. person and property +is consistent with the respondents welfare and safety, is the + +least restrictive alternative, and reserves to the respondent the +right to make decisions in all matters commensurate with the +wards ability to do so. + +4. .....(Name of guardian)..... is qualified to serve as ..... +(plenary or limited)..... guardian of the: + + ( ) a. person; + ( ) b. property; or + ( ) c. person and property of the ward +5. ( ) a. .....(Name of guardian)..... is the standby guardian or + +preneed guardian; + ( ) b. there is no standby guardian or preneed guardian; + ( ) c. there is a standby guardian or preneed guardian, but + +such person is not qualified to serve pursuant to section 744.309, +Florida Statutes; or + + ( ) d. there is a standby guardian or preneed guardian, but +appointment of such person is contrary to the best interests of the + + + +ward because: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +6. Any additional facts that support the selection of guardian: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +7. ( ) a. No advance directive exists; + ( ) b. the following advance directive exists and is entitled + +.....(name of advance directive)..... and is dated .....(date of +advance directive).....; + + ( ) c. the advance directive is being revoked or modified and +the surrogate under the advance directive entitled .....(name of +advance directive)..... and is dated .....(date of advance +directive)..... was given notice of this proceeding and any motion +to revoke or modify the advance directive; or + + ( ) d. if the advance directive is being revoked or modified +the facts supporting the revocation or modification: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +ORDERED and ADJUDGED as follows: +8. The court hereby appoints .....(name of guardian)..... as + +the.....(plenary or limited)..... guardian of the: + ( ) a. person; + + + + ( ) b. property; or + ( ) c. person and property of the ward +9. The guardian may exercise only those delegable rights that + +have been removed from the ward and specifically delegated to +the guardian, which are: + + ( ) a. to contract; + ( ) b. to sue and defend lawsuits; + ( ) c. to apply for government benefits; + ( ) d. to manage property or to make any gift or disposition + +of property; + ( ) e. to determine the wards residence; + ( ) f. to consent to medical and mental health treatment; and + ( ) g. to make decisions about the wards social environment + +or other social aspects of the wards life. +10. The guardian may not exercise the following rights, even + +if such rights were removed from the ward: + a. to marry; + b. to vote; + c. to personally apply for government benefits; + d. to have a driver license; + e. to travel; and + f. to seek or retain employment. +11. The amount of the bond to be given by the guardian is: + +_____________________________ + + + +12. The guardian: + ( ) a. must; or + ( ) b. is not required to +place all, or part, of the property of the ward in a restricted + +account in a financial institution designated pursuant to section +69.031, Florida Statutes. + +13. ( ) a. No known advance directive exists; + ( ) b. the advance directive entitled .....(name of advance + +directive)..... and is dated .....(date of advance directive)..... is +being modified or revoked as follows: + + ( ) i. the surrogate shall not continue to exercise any +authority over the ward with regard to health care decisions; + + ( ) ii. the surrogate shall continue to exercise authority over +the respondent with regard to health care decisions; + + ( ) iii. the surrogate shall exercise the following authority +over the ward with regard to: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________; or + ( ) iv. The guardian shall exercise the following authority + +over the ward with regard to health care decisions: +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +14. The respondent .....(may or may not)..... have a license to + +carry a firearm or possess a weapon or firearm. + + + +ORDERED this .....(date)...... + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.903. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.903 + +RULE 5.903. LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP. +(a) Letters of Guardianship of the Person. + +FORM LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP OF THE PERSON + +LETTERS OF .....(PLENARY OR LIMITED)..... GUARDIANSHIP OF +THE PERSON TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: + +WHEREAS, .....(guardians name)..... has been appointed ..... +(plenary or limited)..... guardian of the person of .....(the +ward)..... and has taken the prescribed oath and performed all +other acts prerequisite to issuance of .....(plenary or limited)..... +letters of guardianship of the person of the ward. + +NOW THEREFORE, I, the undersigned judge, declare ..... +(guardians name)..... duly qualified under the laws of the State +of Florida to act as .....(plenary or limited)..... guardian of the +person of .....(wards name)..... with full power to exercise all +power or the following powers and duties pertaining to the +wards person: + + ( ) 1. to determine his or her residence; + ( ) 2. to consent to medical and mental health treatment; and + ( ) 3. to make decisions about his or her social environment + + + +or other social aspects of his or her life; +except the guardian shall not exercise any rights enumerated + +under section 744.3215(1), Florida Statutes. +The guardian _______ shall _______ not execute any power + +over any health care surrogate appointed by any valid advance +directive executed by the ward, pursuant to section 744.345, +Florida Statutes, except upon order of this court. + +ORDERED this .....(date)...... + +(b) Letters of Guardianship of the Property. +FORM LETTERS OF GUARDIANSHIP OF THE PROPERTY + +LETTERS OF .....(PLENARY OR LIMITED)..... GUARDIANSHIP OF +THE PROPERTY TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: + +WHEREAS, .....(guardians name)..... has been appointed ..... +(plenary or limited)..... guardian of the property of .....(the +ward)..... and has taken the prescribed oath and performed all +other acts prerequisite to issuance of .....(plenary or limited)..... +letters of guardianship of the property of the ward. + +NOW THEREFORE, I, the undersigned judge, declare ..... +(guardians name)..... duly qualified under the laws of the State +of Florida to act as .....(plenary or limited)..... guardian of the + + + +property of .....(wards name)..... with full power to exercise all +delegable legal rights and powers of the ward, (or these listed): + + ( ) 1. to contract; + ( ) 2. to sue and defend lawsuits; + ( ) 3. to apply for government benefits; and + ( ) 4. to manage property or to make any gift or disposition + +of property; except the guardian shall not exercise any rights +enumerated under section 744.3215(1), Florida Statutes. + +ORDERED this .....(date)...... + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.904. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.904 + +RULE 5.904. FORMS FOR INITIAL AND ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP +PLANS. + +(a) Initial Guardianship Plan for Minor. + +In Re: Guardianship of +_____________________ +Minor Ward +_____________________ + +INITIAL GUARDIANSHIP PLAN FOR MINOR +.....(Guardians name)....., the guardian of the person of ..... + +(wards name)....., submits the following annual plan for the +period beginning on .....(beginning date)..... and ending on ..... +(ending date)....., for the benefit of the ward. + +1. The wards address at the time of filing this plan is: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +2. The medical, dental, mental, or personal care services for + +the welfare of the ward that will be provided during the +upcoming year are: + + + +3. The social and personal services to be provided for the +welfare of the ward during the upcoming year are: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +4. The place and kind of residential setting best suited for the + +needs of the ward is: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +5. The physical and/or mental examinations necessary to + +determine the wards medical, dental, and mental health +treatment needs are: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +6. Education of the ward: +Name and address of the school the ward will attend: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +Grade level of ward: _____________________________ +Description of classes the ward will attend: + +_____________________________ + + + +7. Consulting with ward (Check one): + ( ) a. The ward is under age 14; + OR + ( ) b. The guardian attests that the guardian has consulted + +with the ward (if ward is 14 years of age or older) and, to the +extent reasonable, honored the wards wishes consistent with the +rights retained by the ward under the plan, and to the maximum +extent reasonable, the plan is in accordance with the wishes of +the ward. + +8. This initial plan does not restrict the physical liberty of the +ward more than is reasonably necessary to protect the ward from +serious physical injury, illness, or disease and provides the ward +with medical care and mental health treatment for the wards +physical and mental health. + +(Please use additional sheets if necessary) + Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have + +completed and read the foregoing, and the facts set forth are +true, to the best of my knowledge and belief. + +Signed on .....(date)...... +[A certificate of service is required if ward is 14 years of age + +or older.] +[I certify that the foregoing document has been furnished to + +.....(name, address used for service, mailing address, and e-mail +address)..... by (e-mail) (delivery) (mail) (fax) on .....(date)......] + + + +If the guardian is represented by counsel, the attorney must +comply with Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.515. +(b) Annual Guardianship Plan for Minor. + +In Re: Guardianship of +_____________________ +Minor Ward +_____________________ + +ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP PLAN FOR MINOR +.....(Guardians name)....., the guardian of the person of ..... + +(wards name)....., submits the following annual plan for the +period beginning on .....(beginning date)..... and ending on ..... +(ending date)...... + +1. The wards address at the time of filing this plan is: +_____________________________ + + _________ During the prior 12 months, the ward resided at +(include dates, names, addresses, and length of stay at each +location): + +2. List any professional treatment (medical or dental) given +to the ward during the prior 12 months: + + + +3. A report from the physician who examined the ward no +more than 180 days before the beginning of the applicable +reporting period that contains an evaluation of the wards +physical and mental conditions has been filed with this plan. [See +subdivision (e) of this rule for a format for a physicians report.] + +4. The plan for providing medical or dental services in the +coming year: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +5. A summary of the wards school progress report: +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +6. A description of the wards social development, including + +how well the ward communicates and maintains interpersonal +relationships: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +7. The social needs of the ward are: +_____________________________ + + + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +8. Consulting with ward (Check one): + ( ) a. The ward is under age 14; +OR + ( ) b. The guardian attests that the guardian has consulted + +with the ward (if ward is 14 years of age or older) and, to the +extent reasonable, honored the wards wishes consistent with the +rights retained by the ward under the plan, and to the maximum +extent reasonable, the plan is in accordance with the wishes of +the ward. + +(Please use additional sheets if necessary) +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have completed + +and read the foregoing, and the facts set forth are true, to the +best of my knowledge and belief. + +Signed on .....(date)...... +[A certificate of service is required if ward is 14 years of age + +or older.] +[I certify that the foregoing document has been furnished to + +.....(name, address used for service, mailing address, and e-mail +address)..... by .....(e-mail) (delivery) (mail) (fax)..... on ..... +(date)......] + +(c) Initial Guardianship Plan for Adult. + + + +INITIAL GUARDIANSHIP PLAN +(Initial Report of Guardian/Guardian Advocate) + +.....(Guardians name)....., the guardian of the person/guardian +advocate of .....(wards name)....., the ward, submits the +following initial plan: + +During the period beginning .....(beginning date)....., and +ending on .....(ending date)......, the guardian proposes the +following plan for the benefit of the ward. + +1. The medical, mental, or personal care services for the +welfare of the ward that will be provided during the upcoming +year are: + +2. The social and personal services to be provided for the +welfare of the ward during the upcoming year are: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + + + +3. The place and kind of residential setting best suited for +the needs of the ward is: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +4. Describe the health and accident insurance and any other + +private or governmental benefits to which the ward may be +entitled to meet any part of the costs of medical, mental health, +or related services provided to the ward: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +5. The physical and/or mental examinations necessary to + +determine the wards medical, and mental health treatment needs +are: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +6. The guardian/guardian advocate hereby attests that the + +guardian/guardian advocate has consulted with the ward and, to +the extent reasonable, honored the wards wishes consistent with +the rights retained by the ward under the plan, and to the +maximum extent reasonable, the plan is in accordance with the +wishes of the ward. + +7. This initial plan does not restrict the physical liberty of the +ward more than is reasonably necessary to protect the ward from +serious physical injury, illness, or disease and provides the ward +with medical care and mental health treatment for the wards +physical and mental health. + + + +(Please use additional sheets if necessary) +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have completed + +and read the foregoing, and the facts set forth are true, to the +best of my knowledge and belief. + +Signed on .....(date)...... +[A certificate of service is required unless ward has been + +declared totally incapacitated.] +[I certify that the foregoing document has been furnished to + +.....(name, address used for service, mailing address, and e-mail +address)..... by .....(e-mail) (delivery) (mail) (fax)..... on ..... +(date)......] + +(d) Annual Guardianship Plan for Adult. + +ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP PLAN OF GUARDIAN/ +GUARDIAN ADVOCATE OF THE PERSON + +.....(Guardians name)....., the guardian of the person/guardian +advocate of .....(wards name)....., the ward, submits the +following annual plan for the period beginning .....(beginning + + + +date)..... ending .....(ending date)...... +1. The wards address at the time of filing this plan is: + +_____________________________ +2. During the prior 12 months, the ward resided or was + +maintained at (include dates, names, addresses, and length of +stay at each location): + +3. The residential setting best suited for the current needs of +the ward is (Check one): + + ( ) a. group home; + ( ) b. assisted living; + ( ) c. nursing home; + ( ) d. live with parents; + ( ) e. at wards private residence; or + ( ) f. other: _____________________________ +4. Plans for ensuring that the ward is in the best residential + +setting to meet the wards needs during the coming year are as +follows: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +5. The following is a list of any medical treatment given to + +the ward during the preceding year: + + + +6. Attached is a report of a physician who examined the +ward no more than 90 days before the end of the report period, +including that physicians evaluation of the wards condition and +a statement of the current level of capacity of the ward. + +7. The plan for provision of medical, dental, mental health, +and rehabilitative services (for example, occupational therapy, +physical therapy, speech therapy, applied behavioral analysis) in +the coming year is: + +8. The following information is submitted concerning the +social condition of the ward: + +a. The ward is currently using the following social and +personal services (include name, services rendered, and address +of each provider), including any groups the ward is participating +in: + +b. The following is a statement of the social skills of the +ward, including how well the ward maintains interpersonal +relationships with others: _____________________________ + + + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +c. The following is a description of the social needs of the + +ward, if any: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +9. The following is a summary of activities during the + +preceding year designed to increase the capacity of the ward, +including involvement in groups or group activities: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +10. Is the ward now capable of having some or all of the + +wards rights restored? + ( ) If yes, identify the rights that should be restored: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +11. Do you plan to seek the restoration of any rights to the + +ward? + ( ) If yes, identify the rights that you are seeking to be + +restored: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +12. This _______ plan has or _______ has not been + +reviewed with the ward. +(Please use additional sheets where necessary) + + + +Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have completed +and read the foregoing, and the facts set forth are true, to the +best of my knowledge and belief. + +Signed on .....(date)...... +[A certificate of service is required unless ward has been + +declared totally incapacitated.] +[I certify that the foregoing document has been furnished to + +.....(name, address used for service, mailing address, and e-mail +address)..... by .....(e-mail) (delivery) (mail) (fax)..... on ..... +(date)......] + +If the guardian is represented by counsel, the attorney must +comply with Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.515 +(every document of a party represented by an attorney shall be +signed by at least one attorney of record). +(e) Physicians Report. + +PHYSICIANS REPORT +(Required by section 744.3675, Florida Statutes) + + + +1. Name of Physician: _____________________________ + Address: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +2. Name of ward: _____________________________ +3. Date of examination: _____________________________ +4. Purpose of examination: + +_____________________________ + a. Regular checkup: _____________________________ + b. Treatment for: _____________________________ +5. Evaluation of wards condition: (Specify mental and + +physical condition at time of examination) +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +6. Description of wards capacity to live independently: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +7. The ward _______ does _______ does not continue to + +need assistance of a guardian. +8. Is the ward capable of being restored to capacity at this + +time? _______ Yes _______ No Are there any rights that can be +restored at this time? Check any rights that can be restored: + + ( ) a. to marry; + + + + ( ) b. to vote; + ( ) c. to personally apply for government benefits; + ( ) d. to have a driver license; + ( ) e. to travel; + ( ) f. to seek or retain employment; + ( ) g. to contract; + ( ) h. to sue and defend lawsuits; + ( ) i. to apply for government benefits; + ( ) j. to manage property or to make any gift or disposition + +of property; + ( ) k. to determine his or her residence; + ( ) l. to consent to medical and mental health treatment; or + ( ) m. to make decisions about his or her social environment + +or other social aspects of his or her life. +9. Date of this report: _____________________________ +10. Signature of physician completing this report: + +_____________________________ +APPENDIX A + +INSTRUCTIONS TO GUARDIANS AND GUARDIAN ADVOCATES +FOR FILING ANNUAL PLANS ANNUAL PLANS + +1. Fill in the name of the County where the case is filed on the +second blank line at the top where it reads IN AND FOR +_________ COUNTY. + +2. Print the name of the ward on the line just below the In +Re: Guardianship of caption. + + + +3. Put the case number in the space marked CASE NO. in +the upper right-hand corner (same as court file number). + +4. On the first blank line after the title of the document +(Annual Plan), print the guardians name. + +5. On the next blank line, print the wards name. +6. Write in the dates for the period of time of the plan. This + +period should end on the last day of the month of the month you +were appointed and begin a full year before that. If you do not +know your plan period, please see the chart below. Please call +the Clerks Office or the appropriate Court Staff in the county +where you are filing, if you cannot determine the plan period +after reviewing the chart. + +7. Type or print answers to all of the questions on the plan. If +the question does not apply to your wards circumstances, write +in the phrase not applicable. Fill in all the blanks. If your ward +has a habilitation plan (produced by the social worker or the +Florida Department of Children and Families) and it has +changed, please provide a copy of the habilitation as an +attachment to the plan. If the habilitation plan has not changed +then do not file a copy. + +8. In paragraph 9, if your ward participates in groups, include +that information in this paragraph. + +9. Sign your name, and print your name, address, e-mail +address, and phone number where indicated. If there are co- +guardian advocates, both must sign the plan. + +10. Make a copy of the plan for your records in the event +there is a problem and work from it for next years plan. Make a +copy of any attachments to the plan, as well. + + + +11. Mail or hand deliver the original plan to the Clerk of +Court of your county where the case is filed. You MUST also +send a copy of the plan to your attorney, if you have an attorney, +so that the attorney will know that you have filed the plan and +will have a copy of the plan in case there is a problem. + +APPENDIX B +ANNUAL ACCOUNTING AND PLAN DATES + +(IF FISCAL YEAR REPORT PERIOD) + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.905. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.905 + +RULE 5.905. FORM FOR PETITION, NOTICE, AND ORDER FOR +APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN ADVOCATE OF THE PERSON. + +(a) Petition. +FORM FOR USE IN PETITION FOR + +APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN ADVOCATE OF THE PERSON +PURSUANT TO FLORIDA PROBATE RULE 5.649 + +In Re: Guardianship Advocacy of +_____________________ +Respondents Name +Person with Developmental Disability +_____________________ + +PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF +GUARDIAN ADVOCATE OF THE PERSON + +Petitioner, ______________________________, files this +petition pursuant to section 393.12, Florida Statutes, and Florida +Probate Rule 5.649 and alleges that: + +1. The petitioner, proposed guardian advocate .....(name)....., +is _________ years of age, whose residential address is +_____________________ and post office address is +_____________________. The relationship of the petitioner to +the respondent is _____________________________ + + + +2. .....(Respondents name)..... is a person with a +developmental disability who was born on ___________ and +who is _______ years of age, who resides in _________ County, +Florida. The residential address of the respondent is +______________________________ and the post office address +is _____________________________ + +3. The petitioner believes that respondent needs a guardian +advocate: + + a. due to the following developmental disability: + ( ) i. intellectual disability; + ( ) ii. cerebral palsy; + ( ) iii. autism; + ( ) iv. spina bifida; + ( ) v. Down syndrome; + ( ) vi. Phelan-McDermid syndrome; or + ( ) vii. Prader-Willi syndrome, +which manifested prior to the age of 18. + b. The developmental disability has resulted in the + +following substantial handicaps: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +4. The exact areas in which the person with the + +developmental disability lacks the ability to make informed +decisions about his/her care and treatment services or to meet the +essential requirements for his/her physical health or safety are as +follows: + + + + ( ) a. to apply for government benefits; + ( ) b. to determine residency; + ( ) c. to consent to medical and mental health treatment; + ( ) d. to make decisions about social environment/social + +aspects of life; and + ( ) e. to make decisions regarding education. +5. There are no alternatives to guardian advocacy, such as + +trust agreements, powers of attorney, designation of health care +surrogate, or other advanced directive, known to petitioner that +would sufficiently address the problems of the respondent in +whole or in part. Thus, it is necessary that a guardian advocate be +appointed to exercise some but not all of the rights of +respondent. + +6. The names and addresses of the next of kin of the +respondent are: + +7. The proposed guardian advocate .....(name)....., whose +residence address is ___________________________ and +whose post office address is ___________________________; +is over the age of 18 and otherwise qualified under the laws of +the State of Florida to act as guardian advocate of the person of +respondent. The proposed guardian advocate is not a +professional guardian. The relationship of the proposed guardian +advocate with the providers of health care services, residential +services, or other services to the respondent is (if none, indicate: +NONE): _____________________________ + + + +_____________________________ +____________________ +8. The petitioner(s) allege(s) that to their knowledge, + +information, and belief, respondent _________ has or +_________ has NOT executed an advance directive under +chapter 765, Florida Statutes, (designated health case surrogate +or other advance directive) or a durable power of attorney under +chapter 709, Florida Statutes. + +9. (If a Co-Guardian Advocate sought, complete this +paragraph.) Petitioner requests that +___________________________ be appointed co-guardian +advocate of the person of respondent. The proposed co-guardian +advocate .....(name)....., who is _________ years of age, whose +residence is __________________; whose post office address is +___________________________; is over the age of 18 and +otherwise qualified under the laws of the State of Florida to act +as guardian advocate of the person of respondent. The proposed +co-guardian advocate is not a professional guardian. The +relationship of the proposed co-guardian advocate with the +providers of health care services, residential services, or other +services to the respondent is (if none, indicate: NONE): +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +____________________ +The relationship and previous association of the proposed co- + +guardian advocate to the respondent is ____________________ . +The proposed co-guardian advocate should be appointed +because: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ + + + +_____________________________ + +(b) Notice. +The notice of the filing of the petition for the appointment of guardian + +advocate of the person and notice of hearing must be served with the petition +for appointment of guardian advocate of the person pursuant to subdivision +(a) of this rule. + +FORM FOR NOTICE OF FILING OF A PETITION FOR +APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN ADVOCATE OF THE PERSON + +PURSUANT TO SECTION 393.12(4), FLORIDA STATUTES, +AND NOTICE OF HEARING + +In Re: Guardianship Advocacy of +_____________________ +Respondents Name +Person with Developmental Disability +_____________________ + + + +NOTICE OF FILING OF A PETITION FOR +APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN ADVOCATE + +AND NOTICE OF HEARING +TO: .....(Respondent)....., .....(attorney for respondent)....., ..... + +(next of kin)....., .....(healthcare surrogate)....., and .....(agent +under durable power of attorney)..... + +YOU ARE NOTIFIED that a petition for appointment of +guardian advocate of the person has been filed. A copy of the +petition for appointment of guardian advocate of the person is +attached to this notice. There will be a hearing on the petition as +follows: + +You are to appear before the Honorable ...................., Judge, +at .....(time)....., on .....(date)....., at the county courthouse of +.................... County, in ...................., Florida for the hearing of +this petition. + +The reason for this hearing is to inquire into the capacity of +the respondent, the person with a developmental disability, to +exercise the rights enumerated in the petition. (See +744.102(12)(b), Fla. Stat.) + +The respondent has the right to be represented by counsel of +his or her own choice and the court has initially appointed the +following attorney to represent the respondent: + +Attorney for the respondent: .....(name)....., .....(address)......, +.....(phone)....., .....(e-mail)...... + +Respondent has the right to substitute an attorney of his or her +own choice in place of the attorney appointed by the court. + + + +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE +I CERTIFY that a copy of the foregoing notice of filing + +petition to appoint guardian advocate and notice of hearing and a +copy of the petition for appointment of guardian advocate of the +person was served on all persons indicated above, including on +the attorney for the respondent, on .....(date)...... + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any +accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, +you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain +assistance. Please contact [identify applicable court +personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least +7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time +before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 days; if you +are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. +(c) Order. + + + +ORDER APPOINTING GUARDIAN ADVOCATE +Upon consideration of the petition for the appointment of + +guardian advocate of the person, the court finds that ..... +(respondents name)..... has a developmental disability of a +nature that requires the appointment of guardian advocate of the +person based upon the following findings of fact and conclusions +of law: + +1. The nature and scope of the persons lack of decision- +making ability are: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +2. The exact areas in which the person lacks decision-making + +ability to make informed decisions about care and treatment +services or to meet the essential requirements for his/her health +and safety are specified in number 4. + +3. The specific legal disabilities to which the person with a +developmental disability is subject to are: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ + + + +_____________________________ +4. The powers and duties delegated to the guardian advocate + +are: + ( ) a. to apply for government benefits; + ( ) b. to determine residency; + ( ) c. to consent to medical and mental health treatment; + ( ) d. to make decisions about social environment/social + +aspects of life; and + ( ) e. to make decisions regarding education. +5. There are no alternatives to guardian advocacy, such as + +trust agreements, powers of attorney, designation of health care +surrogate, or other advanced directive, known to petitioner that +would sufficiently address the problems of the respondent in +whole or in part. Thus, it is necessary that a guardian advocate be +appointed to exercise some but not all of the rights of +respondent. + +6. Without first obtaining specific authority from the court, as +stated in section 744.3725, Florida Statutes, the guardian +advocate may not exercise any authority over any health care +surrogate appointed by any valid advance directive executed by +the disabled person, pursuant to Chapter 765, Florida Statutes, +except upon further order of this Court. + +ORDERED AND ADJUDGED: +1. .....(Name)..... is qualified to serve as guardian advocate and + +is hereby appointed as guardian advocate of the person of ..... +(respondents name)...... + +2. The guardian advocate shall exercise only the rights that + + + +the court has found the disabled person incapable of exercising +on his or her own behalf, as outlined herein above. Said rights +are specifically delegated to the guardian advocate. + +ORDERED this .....(date)...... + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.906. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.906 + +RULE 5.906. LETTERS OF GUARDIAN ADVOCACY. +FORM LETTERS OF GUARDIAN ADVOCACY + +In Re: Guardianship Advocacy of +_____________________ +Respondents Name +Person with Developmental Disability +_____________________ + +LETTERS OF GUARDIAN ADVOCATE (CO-GUARDIAN +ADVOCATES) OF THE PERSON + +TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: +WHEREAS, .....(guardian advocates name(s))..... has/have + +been appointed guardian advocate(s) of the person of .....(the +ward)....., a person with a developmental disability who lacks the +decision-making capacity to do some of the tasks necessary to +take care of his/her person; and + +NOW, THEREFORE, I, the undersigned, declare that ..... +(guardian advocates name(s))..... is/are duly qualified under the +laws of the State of Florida to act as guardian advocate of the +person of .....(the ward)...., with full power to exercise the +following powers and duties on behalf of the person with a +developmental disability: + + + +( ) 1. to apply for government benefits; +( ) 2. to determine residency; +( ) 3. to consent to medical and mental health treatment; and +( ) 4. to make decisions about social environment and social aspects +of life; and +( ) 5. to make decisions regarding education. + +Without first obtaining specific authority from the court, +pursuant to sections 744.3215(4) and 744.3725, Florida Statutes, +the guardian advocate (co-guardian advocates) may not: +a. commit the respondent to a facility, institution, or licensed service +provider without formal placement proceedings pursuant to Chapter 393, + +Florida Statutes; +b. consent to the participation of the respondent in any experimen- +tal biomedical or behavior procedure, exam, study, or research; +c. consent to the performance of sterilization or abortion procedure +on the respondent; +d. consent to termination of life support systems provided for the +respondent; +e. initiate a petition for dissolution of marriage for the ward; or +f. exercise any authority over any health care surrogate appoint- +ment by a valid advance directive executed by the disabled person, + +pursuant to Chapter 765, Florida Statutes, except upon further order of this +court. + +The respondent shall retain all legal rights except those that +are specifically granted to the guardian advocate (co-guardian +advocates) pursuant to court order. + +ORDERED this .....(date)...... + + + + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.910. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.910 + +RULE 5.910. INVENTORY. + + + + + + + + + + + + + Pt. V. , Rule 5.920. +Fla. Prob. R. 5.920 + +RULE 5.920. FORMS RELATED TO INJUNCTION FOR +PROTECTION AGAINST EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE +ADULT. + +(a) Petition for Injunction. Petitioners should take steps to protect +confidential information within the petition for injunction pursuant to Florida +Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 and minimize sensitive information +within the petition for injunction pursuant to Florida Rule of Judicial +Administration 2.425. + +IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ___________ JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, +IN AND FOR ___________ COUNTY, FLORIDA + +PETITION FOR INJUNCTION FOR PROTECTION +AGAINST EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE ADULT + +UNDER SECTION 825.1035, FLORIDA STATUTES +Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared + +petitioner __________________ who has been sworn and says +that the following statements are true: + +1. The vulnerable adult, ___________, whose age is +___________, who resides at (address): +_____________________________ + +2. Section 825.101(14), Florida Statutes, provides that a +vulnerable adult is a person whose ability to perform the normal +activities of daily living or to provide for his or her own care or + + + +protection is impaired due to a mental, emotional, sensory, long- +term physical, or developmental disability or dysfunction, or +brain damage, or the infirmities of aging. Please describe the +vulnerable adults inability to perform the normal activities of +daily living. _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +3. The petitioners relationship to the vulnerable adult is: + +_______, and the petitioner has the right to bring the petition +because: _____________________________ + +4. The respondent, _______, resides at (last known address): +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +5. The respondents last known place of employment is: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +6. The physical description of the respondent is: + +7. Aliases of the respondent are: +_____________________________ + +8. The respondent is associated with the vulnerable adult as +follows: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +9. The following describes other causes of action: + + + + (a) _______ there is/are 1 or more cause(s) of action +currently pending between the petitioner and the respondent, +and/or a proceeding under the Florida Guardianship Code, +chapter 744, Florida Statutes, concerning the vulnerable adult. +Describe causes of action here: +_____________________________ + + (b) Related case numbers and county where filed, if +available: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ + (c) _______ there are previous or pending attempts by the + +petitioner to obtain an injunction for protection against +exploitation of the vulnerable adult in this or any other circuit. +Describe attempts here: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ + (d) The results of any such attempts: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +10. The following describes the petitioners knowledge of: + (a) Any reports made to a government agency, such as the + +Department of Elder Affairs or the Department of Children and +Families: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + (b) Any investigations performed by a government agency + +relating to abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the vulnerable adult: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ + + + +and + (c) The results of any such reports or investigations: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +11. The petitioner knows or has reasonable cause to believe + +the vulnerable adult is either a victim of exploitation or is in +imminent danger of becoming a victim of exploitation, because +the respondent (include a description of any incidents or threats +of exploitation by the respondent here): +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +12. The following describes: + (a) The petitioners knowledge of the vulnerable adults + +dependence on the respondent for care: +_____________________________ + + (b) Alternative provisions for the vulnerable adults care in +the absence of the respondent, if necessary: +_____________________________ + + (c) Available resources the vulnerable adult has for such + + + +alternative provisions: _____________________________ + (d) The vulnerable adults willingness to use such + +alternative provisions: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +13. The petitioner knows the vulnerable adult maintains + +assets, accounts, or lines of credit at the following institutions: + +14. If petitioner is seeking to freeze assets of the vulnerable +adult, petitioner believes that the vulnerable adults assets to be +frozen are (check one): + + _______ Worth less than $1,500 + _______ Worth from $1,500 to $5,000 + _______ Worth more than $5,000 +15. The petitioner genuinely fears imminent exploitation of + +the vulnerable adult by the respondent. +16. The petitioner seeks an injunction for the protection of the + +vulnerable adult, including (mark appropriate section or +sections): + + + + _______ Prohibiting the respondent from having any direct +or indirect contact with the vulnerable adult. + + _______ Immediately restraining the respondent from +committing any acts of exploitation against the vulnerable adult. + + _______ Freezing the below assets, accounts, and/or lines +of credit of the vulnerable adult, listed below even if titled jointly +with the respondent, or in the respondents name only, in the +courts discretion. + + _______ Providing any terms the court deems necessary for +the protection of the vulnerable adult or his or her assets, +including any injunctions or directives to law enforcement +agencies, including: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +17. If the court enters an injunction freezing assets, accounts, + +and credit lines: + (a) the petitioner believes that the critical expenses of the + +vulnerable adult will be paid for or provided by the following +persons or entities: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + + + +OR + (b) The petitioner requests that the following expenses be + +paid notwithstanding the freezing of assets, accounts, or lines of +credit from the following institution(s): +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PURSUANT TO SECTION + +415.1034, FLORIDA STATUTES, ANY PERSON WHO +KNOWS, OR HAS REASONABLE CAUSE TO SUSPECT, +THAT A VULNERABLE ADULT HAS BEEN OR IS BEING +ABUSED, NEGLECTED, OR EXPLOITED HAS A DUTY TO +IMMEDIATELY REPORT SUCH KNOWLEDGE OR +SUSPICION TO THE CENTRAL ABUSE HOTLINE. I HAVE +REPORTED THE ALLEGATIONS IN THIS PETITION TO +THE CENTRAL ABUSE HOTLINE. + +I HAVE READ EACH STATEMENT MADE IN THIS +PETITION AND EACH SUCH STATEMENT IS TRUE AND +CORRECT. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE STATEMENTS +MADE IN THIS PETITION ARE BEING MADE UNDER +PENALTY OF PERJURY PUNISHABLE AS PROVIDED IN +SECTION 837.02, FLORIDA STATUTES. + +STATE OF FLORIDA + + + +COUNTY OF ___________ +Sworn to or affirmed and signed before me on .....(date)...... + +_______ Personally known or _______ Produced +identification + +Type of identification produced: +_____________________________ +(b) Temporary Protective Injunction Against Exploitation of a Vulnerable + +Adult. +IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ___________ JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, + +IN AND FOR ___________ COUNTY, FLORIDA + +TEMPORARY PROTECTIVE INJUNCTION AGAINST +EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE ADULT AND NOTICE OF + +HEARING +This cause came before the court, which has jurisdiction over + +the parties and subject matter under state law. The court having +reviewed the petition and affidavits and considered argument of +counsel, finds as follows: + +1. _______ Reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard +was given to the respondent in a manner sufficient to protect his +or her due process rights. Date of service +_____________________________ + + + +OR +2. _______ The court conducted its review ex parte. +3. An immediate and present danger of exploitation of the + +vulnerable adult exists. +4. There is a likelihood of irreparable harm and unavailability + +of an adequate legal remedy. +5. There is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. +6. The threatened injury to the vulnerable adult outweighs + +possible harm to the respondent. +7. Granting a temporary injunction will not disserve the + +public interest. +8. This injunction provides for the vulnerable adults physical + +or financial safety. +9. These findings were based on the following facts: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +Accordingly, it is hereby ADJUDGED that: +The petitioners request for a temporary protective injunction + +is GRANTED. This injunction is valid for 15 days from the date +of this order or _______. The full hearing is set for .....(date)....., +at .....(time)...... The hearing will be held before the Honorable +_______ at _______, Florida. + +It is further ordered that: + + + +_______ The respondent shall not commit any act of +exploitation against the vulnerable adult. + +_______ The respondent will have no contact with +vulnerable adult. + +_______ The vulnerable adult is awarded temporarily +exclusive use and possession of any dwelling he or she shares +with the respondent. + +_______ The respondent is barred from entering the +residence of the vulnerable adult. + +_______ The vulnerable adults assets, accounts, and/or +credit lines are hereby frozen until further court order except: +_____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_______ Institution(s) served on .....(date)...... +_______ The following institution(s) _______ holding the + +vulnerable adults assets shall use his or her unencumbered +assets to pay the clerk of court the following filing fee: + +_______ $75.00 (if assets are between $1,500-$5,000) +OR +_______ $200.00 (if assets are more than $5,000). +If the court enters an injunction, these fees will be taxed as + +costs against the respondent. +Law enforcement is hereby directed to: + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + + + +Other relief: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +This injunction is valid and enforceable in all Florida counties, + +does not affect title to real property, and law enforcement may +use their section 901.15(6), Florida Statutes, arrest powers to +enforce its terms. + +DONE and ORDERED on .....(date)..... at .....(time)...... + +CC: All parties and counsel of record +COPIES TO: (Check those that apply) +Petitioner: +_______ by U. S. Mail +_______ by hand delivery in open court (Petitioner must + +acknowledge receipt in writing on the original ordersee +below.) + +Vulnerable Adult (if not petitioner) +_______ by U. S. Mail +_______ by hand delivery in open court +Respondent: +_______ forwarded to Sheriff for service +_______ by U. S. Mail +_______ by hand delivery in open court (Respondent must + +acknowledge receipt in writing on the original ordersee + + + +below.) +_______ by certified mail (May only be used when + +respondent is present at the hearing and Respondent fails or +refuses to acknowledge the receipt of a certified copy of this +injunction.) + +_______ Other: _____________________________ +Petitioners Attorney: _______ by e-mail +Respondents Attorney: _______ by e-mail +I CERTIFY the foregoing is a true copy of the original as it + +appears on file in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of +___________ County, Florida, and that I have furnished copies +of this order as indicated above on .....(date)...... + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any +accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, +you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain +assistance. Please contact [identify applicable court +personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least +7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time +before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 days; if you +are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. +(c) Order Denying Injunction and Notice of Hearing. + +IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ___________ JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, +IN AND FOR ___________ COUNTY, FLORIDA + + + +ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY INJUNCTION +AND SETTING HEARING ON PETITION FOR INJUNCTION FOR +PROTECTION AGAINST EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE + +ADULT +A petition for injunction for protection against exploitation of + +a vulnerable adult has been reviewed. This court has jurisdiction +over the parties and of the subject matter. Based upon the facts +stated in the petition, the court finds: + +The facts supporting the denial of the request for an ex parte +injunction are: _____________________________ + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +The court finds that based upon the facts, as stated in the + +petition alone and without a hearing in the matter, there is no +appearance of an immediate and present danger of exploitation +of a vulnerable adult. + +IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED: +The request for a temporary injunction for protection against + + + +exploitation of a vulnerable adult is denied. A hearing is +scheduled on the petition for injunction for protection against +exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The petitioner has the right to +promptly amend any petition consistent with court rules. + +NOTICE OF HEARING +A hearing is scheduled regarding this matter on .....(date)....., + +at .....(time)....., when the court will fully hear the allegations in +the petition for injunction for protection against exploitation of a +vulnerable adult. The hearing will be before The Honorable ..... +(name)....., at the following .....(address)....., Florida. All +witnesses and evidence, if any, must be presented at this time. + +IF EITHER PETITIONER OR RESPONDENT DO NOT +APPEAR AT THE FINAL HEARING, HE OR SHE WILL +BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF ANY INJUNCTION OR +ORDER ISSUED IN THIS MATTER. + +Nothing in this order limits petitioners rights to dismiss the +petition. + +DONE AND ORDERED in, ___________ Florida, on ..... +(date)...... + +COPIES TO: +Sheriff of _________ County +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE: +Petitioner: _______ by U. S. Mail _______ by e-mail to + +designated e-mail address(es) +Respondent will be served by sheriff. +Vulnerable Adult will be served by sheriff. + + + +The financial institution will be served by sheriff. (If any +assets, accounts, or lines of credit are requested to be frozen, +insert names of the financial institutions.) + +I CERTIFY the foregoing is a true copy of the original as it +appears on file in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of +_________ County, Florida, and that I have furnished copies of +this order as indicated above. + +If you are a person with a disability who needs any +accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, +you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain +assistance. Please contact [identify applicable court +personnel by name, address, and telephone number] at least +7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or +immediately upon receiving this notification if the time +before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 days; if you +are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. +(d) Final Protective Injunction. + +IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ___________ JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, +IN AND FOR ___________ COUNTY, FLORIDA + +PERMANENT INJUNCTION FOR PROTECTION AGAINST +EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE ADULT + + + +This cause came before the court, which has jurisdiction over +the parties and subject matter under state law. The court having +reviewed the petition and affidavits and considered the testimony +presented and argument of counsel, finds as follows: + +1. Reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard was given to +the respondent in a manner sufficient to protect his or her due +process rights. Respondent was served with the petition for +injunction, notice of hearing, and temporary protective +injunction, if issued. + +2. A hearing was held on .....(date)...... +3. The vulnerable adult is a victim of exploitation or in + +imminent danger of becoming an exploitation victim. +4. There is a likelihood of irreparable harm and unavailability + +of an adequate legal remedy. +5. The threatened injury to the vulnerable adult outweighs + +possible harm to the respondent. +6. With regard to freezing the respondents assets, accounts, + +and/or lines of credit that were the proceeds of exploitation, there +is probable cause that exploitation has occurred and a substantial +likelihood that such assets, accounts, and/or lines of credit will +be returned to the vulnerable adult. + +7. This injunction provides for the vulnerable adults physical +or financial safety. + +8. These findings were based on the following facts: +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ + + + +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +Accordingly, it is hereby ADJUDGED that: +The petitioners request for a protective injunction is + +GRANTED. This injunction remains in effect until it has been +modified or dissolved, and it is further ordered that: + +_______ The respondent shall not commit any acts of +exploitation against, or have any direct or indirect contact with, +the vulnerable adult. + +_______ The vulnerable adult is awarded exclusive use and +possession of any dwelling he or she shares with the respondent. + +_______ The respondent is excluded from the residence of +the vulnerable adult. + +_______ The respondent shall, at his or her own expense, +participate in all relevant treatment, intervention, or counseling +services to be paid for by the respondent. + +_______ Unless ownership is unclear, any temporarily frozen +assets, accounts, and credit lines of the vulnerable adult are to be +returned to the vulnerable adult. + +If not already paid pursuant to the order granting temporary +protective injunction against exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a +final cost judgment is hereby entered against respondent and in +favor of the clerk of courts in the amount of (check one): + +_______ $75.00 (if assets are between $1,500-$5,000) +OR +_______ $200.00 (if assets are more than $5,000). + + + +All for which let execution issue forthwith. +If the amount set forth above has already been paid to the + +clerk of courts, a final cost judgment is hereby entered against +respondent and in favor of the vulnerable adult in the amount set +forth above, all for which let execution issue forthwith. + +Any other costs associated with this judgment, including filing +fees and service charges, are to be paid by the respondent. + +Other: _____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +_____________________________ +This injunction is valid and enforceable in all Florida counties, + +does not affect title to real property, and law enforcement may +use section 901.15(6), Florida Statutes, arrest powers to enforce +its terms. + +DONE and ORDERED on .....(date)...... + +CC: All parties and counsel of record +COPIES TO: (Check those that apply) +Petitioner: + + + +_______ by U. S. Mail +_______ by hand delivery in open court +Respondent: +_______ forwarded to Sheriff for service +_______ by U. S. Mail +_______ by hand delivery in open court (Respondent must + +acknowledge receipt in writing on the original ordersee +below.) + +_______ by certified mail (May only be used when +respondent is present at the hearing and respondent fails or +refuses to acknowledge the receipt of a certified copy of this +injunction.) + +_______ Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services +_______ Other: _____________________________ +Petitioners Attorney _______ by e-mail +Respondents Attorney _______ by e-mail +I CERTIFY the foregoing is a true copy of the original as it + +appears on file in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of +_______ County, Florida, and that I have furnished copies of this +order as indicated above on .....(date)...... + + + +Licensed to Otis K Pitts, Otis K Pitts + +FLORIDA STATUTES + +__________ + +TITLE VI +CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE. + +CHAPTER 69 +MISCELLANEOUS PROCEDURAL MATTERS. + +69.031 Designated financial institutions for assets in hands of guardians, +curators, administrators, trustees, receivers, or other officers. + +CHAPTER 86 +DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS. + +86.041 Actions by executors, administrators, trustees, etc. +TITLE XIV + +TAXATION AND FINANCE +CHAPTER 198 + +ESTATE TAXES. +198.01 Definitions. +198.015 Domicile of decedent. +198.02 Tax upon estates of resident decedents. +198.021 Tax upon generation-skipping transfers of residents. +198.03 Tax upon estates of nonresident decedents. +198.031 Tax upon generation-skipping transfers of nonresidents. +198.04 Tax upon estates of alien decedents. +198.05 Administration of law by Department of Revenue. +198.06 Examination of books, papers, records, or memoranda by the + +department. + + + +198.07 Appointment of agents by department; bonds of agents; may +administer oaths; credentials. + +198.08 Rules. +198.11 Appointment of special appraisers. +198.13 Tax return to be made in certain cases; certificate of nonliability. +198.14 Failure to make return; extension of time for filing. +198.15 When tax due; extension; interest; penalty. +198.155 Payment of tax on generation-skipping transfers. +198.16 Notice of determination of deficiency in federal tax to be filed with + +department. +198.17 Deficiency; hearing by department. +198.18 Failure to pay tax; penalties; delinquent or deficient taxes, interest. +198.19 Receipts for taxes. +198.20 Failure to pay tax when due, departments warrant, etc. +198.21 Tax due payable from entire estate; third persons. +198.22 Lien for unpaid taxes. +198.23 Personal liability of personal representative. +198.24 Sale of real estate by personal representative to pay tax. +198.25 Actions to enforce payment of tax. +198.26 No discharge of personal representative until tax is paid. +198.28 Time for assessment of tax. +198.29 Refunds of excess tax paid. +198.30 Circuit judge to report names of decedents, etc. +198.31 Duties and powers of corporate personal representatives of + +nonresident decedents. +198.32 Prima facie liability for tax. +198.33 Discharge of estate, notice of lien, limitation on lien, etc. + + + +198.34 Disposition of proceeds from taxes. +198.35 Interpretation and construction. +198.36 Failure to produce records; penalty. +198.37 Failure to make return; penalty. +198.38 False return; penalty. +198.39 False statement in return; penalty. +198.40 Failure to pay tax, evasion of tax, etc.; penalty. +198.41 Effectiveness of this chapter, etc. +198.42 Short title. +198.44 Certain exemptions from inheritance and estate taxes. + +TITLE XV +HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTIONS. + +CHAPTER 222 +METHOD OF SETTING APART HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTIONS. + +222.01 Designation of homestead by owner before levy. +222.02 Designation of homestead after levy. +222.03 Survey at instance of dissatisfied creditor. +222.04 Sale after survey. +222.05 Setting apart leasehold. +222.061 Method of exempting personal property; inventory. +222.07 Defendants rights of selection. +222.08 Jurisdiction to set apart homestead and exemption. +222.09 Injunction to prevent sale. +222.10 Jurisdiction to subject property claimed to be exempt. +222.11 Exemption of wages from garnishment. +222.12 Proceedings for exemption. [Repealed] +222.13 Life insurance policies; disposition of proceeds. + + + +222.14 Exemption of cash surrender value of life insurance policies and +annuity contracts from legal process. + +222.15 Wages or reemployment assistance or unemployment compensation +payments due deceased employee may be paid spouse or certain relatives. + +222.16 Wages or reemployment assistance or unemployment compensation +payments so paid not subject to administration. + +222.17 Manifesting and evidencing domicile in Florida. +222.18 Exempting disability income benefits from legal processes. +222.20 Nonavailability of federal bankruptcy exemptions. +222.201 Availability of federal bankruptcy exemptions. +222.21 Exemption of pension money and certain tax-exempt funds or + +accounts from legal processes. +222.22 Exemption of assets in qualified tuition programs, medical savings + +accounts, Coverdell education savings accounts, and hurricane savings +accounts from legal process. + +222.25 Other individual property of natural persons exempt from legal +process. + +222.29 No exemption for fraudulent transfers. +222.30 Fraudulent asset conversions. + +TITLE XXIX +PUBLIC HEALTH. + +CHAPTER 393 +DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES. + +393.063 Definitions. +393.12 Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. + +TITLE XXX +SOCIAL WELFARE. + +CHAPTER 409 +SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE. + + + +409.910 Responsibility for payments on behalf of Medicaid-eligible persons +when other parties are liable. + +409.9101 Recovery for payments made on behalf of Medicaid-eligible +persons. + +TITLE XXXIII +REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND + +SOLICITATIONS. +CHAPTER 518 + +INVESTMENT OF FIDUCIARY FUNDS. +518.01 Investments of funds received from United States Department of + +Veterans Affairs. +518.06 Investment of fiduciary funds in loans insured by Federal Housing + +Administrator. +518.07 Investment of fiduciary funds in bonds, etc., issued by Federal + +Housing Administrator. +518.08 Applicability of laws requiring security, etc. +518.09 Housing bonds legal investments and security. +518.10 Fiduciary defined as used in ss. 518.11-518.14. +518.11 Investments by fiduciaries; prudent investor rule. +518.112 Delegation of investment functions. +518.115 Power of fiduciary or custodian to deposit securities in a central + +depository. +518.116 Power of certain fiduciaries and custodians to deposit United States + +Government and agency securities with a Federal Reserve bank. +518.117 Permissible investments of fiduciary funds. +518.12 Instrument creating or defining powers, duties of fiduciary not + +affected. +518.13 Authority of court to permit deviation from terms of instrument + +creating trust not affected. +518.14 Scope of ss. 518.10-518.13. + + + +518.15 Bonds or motor vehicle tax anticipation certificates, legal investments +and security. + +518.151 Higher education bonds or certificates, legal investments and +security. + +518.152 Puerto Rican bonds or obligations, legal investments and securities. +518.16 Chapter cumulative. + +TITLE XXXVIII +BANKS AND BANKING. + +CHAPTER 655 +FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS GENERALLY. + +655.769 Definitions of terms used in ss. 655.77-655.91. +655.77 Deposits by minors. +655.78 Deposit accounts in two or more names. +655.79 Deposits and accounts in two or more names; presumption as to + +vesting on death. +655.80 Convenience accounts. +655.82 Pay-on-death accounts. +655.825 Deposits in trust; applicability of s. 655.82 in place of former s. + +655.81. +655.83 Adverse claim to a deposit or fiduciary account. +655.84 Limitations; statements as correct. +655.85 Settlement of checks. +655.851 Unclaimed credit balances. +655.86 Issuance of postdated checks. +655.89 Legal holidays; business days; business and transactions. +655.90 Closing during emergencies and other special days. +655.91 Records of institutions and copies thereof; retention and destruction. +655.921 Transaction of business by out-of-state financial institutions; exempt + + + +transactions. +655.922 Banking business by unauthorized persons; use of name. +655.93 Definitions for ss. 655.93-655.94. +655.931 Authority to engage in safe-deposit business. +655.932 Lease to minor. +655.933 Access by fiduciaries. +655.934 Effect of lessees death or incapacity. +655.935 Search procedure on death of lessee. +655.936 Delivery of safe-deposit box contents or property held in + +safekeeping to personal representative. +655.937 Access to safe-deposit boxes leased in two or more names. +655.938 Adverse claims to contents of safe-deposit box. +655.939 Limiting right of access for failure to comply with security + +procedures. +655.94 Special remedies for nonpayment of rent. + +TITLE XL +REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. + +CHAPTER 689 +CONVEYANCES OF LAND AND DECLARATIONS OF TRUST. + +689.01 How real estate conveyed. +689.02 Form of warranty deed prescribed. +689.03 Effect of such deed. +689.04 How executed. +689.041 Curative procedure for scriveners errors in deeds. +689.045 Conveyances to or by partnership. +689.05 How declarations of trust proved. +689.06 How trust estate conveyed. + + + +689.07 Trustee or as trustee added to name of grantee, transferee, +assignee, or mortgagee transfers interest or creates lien as if additional +word or words not used. + +689.071 Florida Land Trust Act. +689.072 Real estate interests transferred to or by a custodian or trustee of an + +individual retirement account or qualified plan. +689.073 Powers conferred on trustee in recorded instrument. +689.075 Inter vivos trusts; powers retained by settlor. +689.08 Fines and common recoveries. +689.09 Deeds under statute of uses. +689.10 Words of limitation and the words fee simple dispensed with. +689.11 Conveyances between husband and wife direct; homestead. +689.111 Conveyances of homestead; power of attorney. +689.115 Estate by the entirety in mortgage made or assigned to husband and + +wife. +689.12 How state lands conveyed for educational purposes. +689.13 Rule against perpetuities not applicable to dispositions of property for + +private cemeteries, etc. +689.14 Entailed estates. +689.15 Estates by survivorship. +689.17 Rule in Shelleys Case abolished. +689.175 Worthier title doctrine abolished. +689.18 Reverter or forfeiture provisions, limitations; exceptions. +689.19 Variances of names in recorded instruments. +689.20 Limitation on use of word minerals. +689.21 Disclaimer of interests in property passing under certain + +nontestamentary instruments or under certain powers of appointment. +[Repealed] + + + +689.225 Statutory rule against perpetuities. +689.25 Failure to disclose homicide, suicide, deaths, or diagnosis of HIV or + +AIDS infection in an occupant of real property. +689.26 Prospective purchasers subject to association membership + +requirement; disclosure required; covenants; assessments; contract +voidability. [Transferred] + +689.261 Sale of residential property; disclosure of ad valorem taxes to +prospective purchaser. + +689.262 Sale of residential property; disclosure of windstorm mitigation +rating. [Repealed] + +689.265 Financial report. [Transferred] +689.27 Termination by servicemember of agreement to purchase real + +property. +689.28 Prohibition against transfer fee covenants. +689.29 Disclosure of subsurface rights to prospective purchaser. +689.301 Disclosure of known defects in sanitary sewer laterals to prospective + +purchaser. +CHAPTER 695 + +RECORD OF CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE. +695.01 Conveyances and liens to be recorded. +695.015 Conveyances by law between governmental agencies, recording. +695.02 Blank or master form of instruments may be recorded. +695.03 Acknowledgment and proof; validation of certain acknowledgments; + +legalization or authentication before foreign officials. +695.031 Affidavits and acknowledgments by members of armed forces and + +their spouses. +695.032 Provisions not applicable to transactions under chapter 679, Uniform + +Commercial Code. +695.04 Requirements of certificate. + + + +695.05 Certain defects cured as to acknowledgments and witnesses. +695.06 Certain irregularities as to venue validated. +695.07 Use of scrawl as seal. +695.08 Prior use of scrawl as seal. +695.09 Identity of grantor. +695.10 Proof by others. +695.11 Instruments deemed to be recorded from time of filing. +695.12 Imperfect record. +695.13 Want of certificate of record. +695.14 Unsigned certificate of record. +695.15 Recording conveyances lost by fire. +695.16 When mortgage or lien is destroyed. +695.17 United States deeds and patents may be recorded. +695.18 Indorsement by clerk. +695.19 Certified copies of recorded instruments may be recorded. +695.20 Unperformed contracts of record. +695.22 Daily schedule of deeds and conveyances filed for record to be + +furnished property appraiser. +695.25 Short form of acknowledgment. +695.26 Requirements for recording instruments affecting real property. +695.27 Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act. +695.28 Validity of recorded electronic documents. + +CHAPTER 709 +POWERS OF ATTORNEY AND SIMILAR INSTRUMENTS. + +PART I. POWERS OF APPOINTMENT. + +709.01 Power of attorney; authority of nominee when principal dead. + + + +[Repealed] +709.015 Power of attorney; authority of agent when principal listed as + +missing. [Repealed] +709.02 Power of appointment; method of release. +709.03 Power of appointment; property held in trust. +709.04 Power of appointment; effect of release. +709.05 Powers of appointment; validation of prior releases. +709.06 Powers of appointment included in law. +709.07 Power of appointment; effect of release on title to property. +709.08 Durable power of attorney. [Repealed] +709.11 Deployment-contingent power of attorney. [Repealed] + +PART II. POWERS OF ATTORNEY. + +709.2101 Short title. +709.2102 Definitions. +709.2103 Applicability. +709.2104 Durable power of attorney. +709.2105 Qualifications of agent; execution of power of attorney. +709.2106 Validity of power of attorney. +709.2107 Meaning and effectiveness of power of attorney. +709.2108 When power of attorney is effective. +709.2109 Termination or suspension of power of attorney or agents + +authority. +709.2110 Revocation of power of attorney. +709.2111 Co-agents and successor agents. +709.2112 Reimbursement and compensation of agent. +709.2113 Agents acceptance of appointment. + + + +709.2114 Agents duties. +709.2115 Exoneration of agent. +709.2116 Judicial relief; conflicts of interests. +709.2117 Agents liability. +709.2118 Agents resignation. +709.2119 Acceptance of and reliance upon power of attorney. +709.2120 Rejecting power of attorney. +709.2121 Notice. +709.2201 Authority of agent. +709.2202 Authority that requires separate signed enumeration. +709.2208 Banks and other financial institutions. +709.2301 Principles of law and equity. +709.2302 Laws applicable to financial institutions and entities. +709.2303 Remedies under other law. +709.2401 Relation to electronic signatures in federal law. +709.2402 Effect on existing powers of attorney. + +CHAPTER 710 +TRANSFERS TO MINORS. + +710.101 Short title. +710.102 Definitions. +710.103 Scope and jurisdiction. +710.104 Nomination of custodian. +710.105 Transfer by gift or exercise of power of appointment. +710.106 Transfer authorized by will or trust. +710.107 Other transfer by fiduciary. +710.108 Transfer by obligor. + + + +710.109 Receipt for custodial property. +710.111 Manner of creating custodial property and effecting transfer; + +designation of initial custodian; control. +710.112 Single custodianship. +710.113 Validity and effect of transfer. +710.114 Care of custodial property. +710.115 Powers of custodian. +710.116 Use of custodial property. +710.117 Custodians expenses, compensation, and bond. +710.118 Exemption of third person from liability. +710.119 Liability to third persons. +710.121 Renunciation, resignation, death, or removal of custodian; + +designation of successor custodian. +710.122 Accounting by and determination of liability of custodian. +710.123 Termination of custodianship. +710.124 Applicability. +710.125 Effect on existing custodianships. +710.126 Uniformity of application and construction. + +CHAPTER 711 +FLORIDA UNIFORM TRANSFER-ON-DEATH SECURITY + +REGISTRATION ACT. +711.50 Short title. +711.501 Definitions. +711.502 Registration in beneficiary form; sole or joint tenancy ownership. +711.503 Registration in beneficiary form; applicable law. +711.504 Origination of registration in beneficiary form. +711.505 Form of registration in beneficiary form. + + + +711.506 Effect of registration in beneficiary form. +711.507 Ownership on death of owner. +711.508 Protection of registering entity. +711.509 Nontestamentary transfer on death. +711.51 Terms, conditions, and forms for registration. +711.511 Rules of construction. +711.512 Application of ss. 711.50-711.512. + +CHAPTER 716 +ESCHEATS. + +716.01 Declaration of policy. +716.02 Escheat of funds in the possession of federal agencies. +716.03 Department to institute proceedings to recover escheated property. +716.04 Jurisdiction. +716.05 Money recovered to be paid into State Treasury. +716.06 Public records. +716.07 Recovery of escheated property by claimant. + +CHAPTER 717 +DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. + +717.001 Short title. +717.101 Definitions. +717.102 Property presumed unclaimed; general rule. +717.103 General rules for taking custody of intangible unclaimed property. +717.1035 Property originated or issued by this state, any political subdivision + +of this state, or any entity incorporated, organized, created, or otherwise +located in the state. + +717.104 Travelers checks and money orders. +717.1045 Gift certificates and similar credit items. + + + +717.105 Checks, drafts, and similar instruments issued or certified by +banking and financial organizations. + +717.106 Bank deposits and funds in financial organizations. +717.107 Funds owing under life insurance policies, annuity contracts, and + +retained asset accounts; fines, penalties, and interest; United States Social +Security Administration Death Master File. + +717.1071 Lost owners of unclaimed demutualization, rehabilitation, or +related reorganization proceeds. + +717.108 Deposits held by utilities. +717.109 Refunds held by business associations. +717.1101 Unclaimed equity and debt of business associations. +717.111 Property of business associations held in course of dissolution. +717.112 Property held by agents and fiduciaries. +717.1125 Property held by fiduciaries under trust instruments. +717.113 Property held by courts and public agencies. +717.115 Wages. +717.116 Contents of safe-deposit box or other safekeeping repository. +717.117 Report of unclaimed property. +717.118 Notification of apparent owners of unclaimed property. +717.119 Payment or delivery of unclaimed property. +717.1201 Custody by state; holder relieved from liability; reimbursement of + +holder paying claim; reclaiming for owner; defense of holder; payment of +safe-deposit box or repository charges. + +717.121 Crediting of dividends, interest, or increments to owners account. +717.122 Public sale of unclaimed property. +717.123 Deposit of funds. +717.1235 Dormant campaign accounts; report of unclaimed property. +717.124 Unclaimed property claims. + + + +717.12403 Unclaimed demand, savings, or checking account in a financial +institution held in the name of more than one person. + +717.12404 Claims on behalf of a business entity or trust. +717.12405 Claims by estates. +717.12406 Joint ownership of unclaimed securities or dividends. +717.1241 Conflicting claims. +717.1242 Restatement of jurisdiction of the circuit court sitting in probate + +and the department. +717.1243 Small estate accounts. +717.1244 Determinations of unclaimed property claims. +717.1245 Garnishment of unclaimed property. +717.125 Claim of another state to recover property; procedure. +717.126 Administrative hearing; burden of proof; proof of entitlement; + +venue. +717.1261 Death certificates. +717.1262 Court documents. +717.127 Election to take payment or delivery. +717.128 Destruction or disposition of property having insubstantial + +commercial value; immunity from liability. +717.129 Periods of limitation. +717.1301 Investigations; examinations; subpoenas. +717.1311 Retention of records. +717.1315 Retention of records by claimants representatives and buyers of + +unclaimed property. +717.132 Enforcement; cease and desist orders; fines. +717.1322 Administrative and civil enforcement. +717.1323 Prohibited practice. +717.133 Interstate agreements and cooperation; joint and reciprocal actions + + + +with other states. +717.1331 Actions against holders. +717.1333 Evidence; estimations; audit reports, examiners worksheets, + +investigative reports, other related documents. +717.134 Penalties and interest. +717.1341 Invalid claims, recovery of property, interest and penalties. +717.135 Recovery agreements and purchase agreements for claims filed by a + +claimants representative; fees and costs. +717.1351 Acquisition of unclaimed property. [Repealed] +717.1355 Theme park and entertainment complex tickets. +717.136 Foreign transactions. +717.138 Rulemaking authority. +717.1381 Void unclaimed property powers of attorney and purchase + +agreements. [Repealed] +717.1382 United States savings bond; unclaimed property; escheatment; + +procedure. +717.1383 United States savings bond; claim for bond. +717.139 Uniformity of application and construction. +717.1400 Registration. +717.1401 Repeal. + +TITLE XLII +ESTATES AND TRUSTS. + +CHAPTER 731 +PROBATE CODE: GENERAL PROVISIONS. + +PART I. SHORT TITLE; CONSTRUCTION. + +731.005 Short title. +731.011 Determination of substantive rights; procedures. + + + +731.102 Construction against implied repeal. +731.103 Evidence as to death or status. +731.1035 Applicable rules of evidence. +731.104 Verification of documents. +731.105 In rem proceeding. +731.1055 Disposition of real property. +731.106 Assets of nondomiciliaries. +731.1065 Precious metals. +731.109 Seal of the court. +731.110 Caveat; proceedings. +731.155 Applicability. + +PART II. DEFINITIONS. + +731.201 General definitions. + +PART III. NOTICE AND REPRESENTATION. + +731.301 Notice. +731.302 Waiver and consent by interested person. +731.303 Representation. +731.401 Arbitration of disputes. + +CHAPTER 732 +PROBATE CODE: INTESTATE SUCCESSION AND WILLS. + +PART I. INTESTATE SUCCESSION. + +732.101 Intestate estate. +732.102 Spouses share of intestate estate. +732.103 Share of other heirs. + + + +732.104 Inheritance per stirpes. +732.105 Half blood. +732.106 Afterborn heirs. +732.107 Escheat. +732.108 Adopted persons and persons born out of wedlock. +732.1081 Termination of parental rights. +732.109 Debts to decedent. +732.1101 Aliens. +732.111 Dower and curtesy abolished. + +PART II. ELECTIVE SHARE OF SURVIVING SPOUSE; RIGHTS IN +COMMUNITY PROPERTY. + +732.201 Right to elective share. +732.2025 Definitions. +732.2035 Property entering into elective estate. +732.2045 Exclusions and overlapping application. +732.2055 Valuation of the elective estate. +732.2065 Amount of the elective share. +732.2075 Sources from which elective share payable; abatement. +732.2085 Liability of direct recipients and beneficiaries. +732.2095 Valuation of property used to satisfy elective share. +732.2105 Effect of election on other interests. +732.2115 Protection of payors and other third parties. +732.2125 Right of election; by whom exercisable. +732.2135 Time of election; extensions; withdrawal. +732.2145 Order of contribution; personal representatives duty to collect + +contribution. + + + +732.2151 Award of fees and costs in elective share proceedings. +732.2155 Effective date; effect of prior waivers; transition rules. +732.216 Short title. +732.217 Application. +732.218 Rebuttable presumptions. +732.219 Disposition upon death. +732.221 Perfection of title of personal representative or beneficiary. +732.222 Purchaser for value or lender. +732.223 Perfection of title of surviving spouse. +732.224 Creditors rights. +732.225 Acts of married persons. +732.226 Limitations on testamentary disposition. +732.227 Homestead defined. +732.228 Uniformity of application and construction. + +PART III. PRETERMITTED SPOUSE AND CHILDREN. + +732.301 Pretermitted spouse. +732.302 Pretermitted children. + +PART IV. EXEMPT PROPERTY AND ALLOWANCES. + +732.401 Descent of homestead. +732.4015 Devise of homestead. +732.4017 Inter vivos transfer of homestead property. +732.402 Exempt property. +732.403 Family allowance. + +PART V. WILLS. + + + +732.501 Who may make a will. +732.502 Execution of wills. +732.503 Self-proof of will. +732.504 Who may witness. +732.505 Revocation by writing. +732.506 Revocation by act. +732.507 Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or dissolution of + +marriage. +732.508 Revival by revocation. +732.509 Revocation of codicil. +732.5105 Republication of wills by codicil. +732.511 Republication of wills by reexecution. +732.512 Incorporation by reference. +732.513 Devises to trustee. +732.514 Vesting of devises. +732.515 Separate writing identifying devises of tangible property. +732.5165 Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue influence. +732.517 Penalty clause for contest. +732.518 Will contests. +732.521 Definitions. +732.522 Method and place of execution. +732.523 Self-proof of electronic will. +732.524 Qualified custodians. +732.525 Liability coverage; receivership of qualified custodians. +732.526 Probate. + +PART VI. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. + + + +732.6005 Rules of construction and intention. +732.601 Simultaneous Death Law. +732.603 Antilapse; deceased devisee; class gifts. +732.604 Failure of testamentary provision. +732.605 Change in securities; accessions; nonademption. +732.606 Nonademption of specific devises in certain cases; sale by guardian + +of the property; unpaid proceeds of sale, condemnation, or insurance. +732.607 Exercise of power of appointment. +732.608 Construction of terms. +732.609 Ademption by satisfaction. +732.611 Devises to multigeneration classes to be per stirpes. +732.615 Reformation to correct mistakes. +732.616 Modification to achieve testators tax objectives. + +PART VII. CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS RELATING TO +DEATH. + +732.701 Agreements concerning succession. +732.702 Waiver of spousal rights. +732.7025 Waiver of homestead rights through deed. +732.703 Effect of divorce, dissolution, or invalidity of marriage on + +disposition of certain assets at death. + +PART VIII. GENERAL PROVISIONS. + +732.801 Disclaimer of interests in property passing by will or intestate +succession or under certain powers of appointment. [Repealed] + +732.802 Killer not entitled to receive property or other benefits by reason of +victims death. + +732.8031 Forfeiture for abuse, neglect, exploitation, or aggravated +manslaughter of an elderly person or a disabled adult. + + + +732.804 Provisions relating to disposition of the body. +732.805 Spousal rights procured by fraud, duress, or undue influence. +732.806 Gifts to lawyers and other disqualified persons. + +PART IX. PRODUCTION OF WILLS. + +732.901 Production of wills. +CHAPTER 733 + +PROBATE CODE: ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES. + +PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS. + +733.101 Venue of probate proceedings. +733.103 Effect of probate. +733.104 Suspension of statutes of limitation in favor of the personal + +representative. +733.105 Determination of beneficiaries. +733.1051 Limited judicial construction of will with federal tax provisions. +733.106 Costs and attorneys fees. +733.1061 Fees and costs; will reformation and modification. +733.107 Burden of proof in contests; presumption of undue influence. +733.109 Revocation of probate. + +PART II. COMMENCING ADMINISTRATION. + +733.201 Proof of wills. +733.202 Petition. +733.204 Probate of a will written in a foreign language. +733.205 Probate of notarial will. +733.206 Probate of will of resident after foreign probate. +733.207 Establishment and probate of lost or destroyed will. + + + +733.208 Discovery of later will. +733.209 Estates of missing persons. +733.212 Notice of administration; filing of objections. +733.2121 Notice to creditors; filing of claims. +733.2123 Adjudication before issuance of letters. +733.213 Probate as prerequisite to judicial construction of will. + +PART III. PREFERENCE IN APPOINTMENT AND QUALIFICATIONS +OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. + +733.301 Preference in appointment of personal representative. +733.302 Who may be appointed personal representative. +733.303 Persons not qualified. +733.304 Nonresidents. +733.305 Trust companies and other corporations and associations. +733.306 Effect of appointment of debtor. +733.307 Succession of administration. +733.308 Administrator ad litem. +733.309 Executor de son tort. +733.3101 Personal representative not qualified. + +PART IV. FIDUCIARY BONDS. + +733.402 Bond of fiduciary; when required; form. +733.403 Amount of bond. +733.404 Liability of surety. +733.405 Release of surety. +733.406 Bond premium allowable as expense of administration. + +PART V. CURATORS; RESIGNATION AND REMOVAL OF PERSONAL + + + +REPRESENTATIVES. + +733.501 Curators. +733.502 Resignation of personal representative. +733.503 Appointment of successor upon resignation. +733.5035 Surrender of assets after resignation. +733.5036 Accounting and discharge following resignation. +733.504 Removal of personal representative; causes for removal. +733.505 Jurisdiction in removal proceedings. +733.506 Proceedings for removal. +733.5061 Appointment of successor upon removal. +733.508 Accounting and discharge of removed personal representatives upon + +removal. +733.509 Surrender of assets upon removal. + +PART VI. DUTIES AND POWERS OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. + +733.601 Time of accrual of duties and powers. +733.602 General duties. +733.603 Personal representative to proceed without court order. +733.604 Inventories and accountings; public records exemptions. +733.6065 Opening safe-deposit box. +733.607 Possession of estate. +733.608 General power of the personal representative. +733.609 Improper exercise of power; breach of fiduciary duty. +733.610 Sale, encumbrance, or transaction involving conflict of interest. +733.611 Persons dealing with the personal representative; protection. +733.612 Transactions authorized for the personal representative; exceptions. + + + +733.6121 Personal representative; powers as to environmental issues relating +to property subject to administration; liability. + +733.613 Personal representatives right to sell real property. +733.614 Powers and duties of successor personal representative. +733.615 Joint personal representatives; when joint action required. +733.616 Powers of surviving personal representatives. +733.617 Compensation of personal representative. +733.6171 Compensation of attorney for the personal representative. +733.6175 Proceedings for review of employment of agents and compensation + +of personal representatives and employees of estate. +733.619 Individual liability of personal representative. +733.620 Exculpation of personal representative. + +PART VII. CREDITORS CLAIMS. + +733.701 Notifying creditors. +733.702 Limitations on presentation of claims. +733.703 Form and manner of presenting claim. +733.704 Amendment of claims. +733.705 Payment of and objection to claims. +733.706 Executions and levies. +733.707 Order of payment of expenses and obligations. +733.708 Compromise. +733.710 Limitations on claims against estates. + +PART VIII. SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION. + +733.801 Delivery of devises and distributive shares. +733.802 Proceedings for compulsory payment of devises or distributive + +interest. + + + +733.803 Encumbered property; liability for payment. +733.805 Order in which assets abate. +733.806 Advancement. +733.808 Death benefits; disposition of proceeds. +733.809 Right of retainer. +733.810 Distribution in kind; valuation. +733.811 Distribution; right or title of distributee. +733.812 Improper distribution or payment; liability of distributee or payee. +733.813 Purchasers from distributees protected. +733.814 Partition for purpose of distribution. +733.815 Private contracts among interested persons. +733.816 Disposition of unclaimed property held by personal representatives. +733.817 Apportionment of estate taxes. + +PART IX. CLOSING ESTATES. + +733.901 Final discharge. +733.903 Subsequent administration. + +CHAPTER 734 +PROBATE CODE: FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES; + +ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION + +PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS. + +734.101 Foreign personal representative. +734.102 Ancillary administration. +734.1025 Nonresident decedents testate estate with property not exceeding + +$50,000 in this state; determination of claims. +734.104 Foreign wills; admission to record; effect on title. + + + +PART II. JURISDICTION OVER FOREIGN PERSONAL +REPRESENTATIVES. + +734.201 Jurisdiction by act of foreign personal representative. +734.202 Jurisdiction by act of decedent. + +CHAPTER 735 +PROBATE CODE: SMALL ESTATES + +PART I. SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION. + +735.201 Summary administration; nature of proceedings. +735.202 May be administered in the same manner as other estates. +735.203 Petition for summary administration. +735.2055 Filing of petition. +735.206 Summary administration distribution. +735.2063 Notice to creditors. + +PART II. DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY WITHOUT +ADMINISTRATION. + +735.301 Disposition without administration. +735.302 Income tax refunds in certain cases. +735.303 Payment to successor without court proceedings. +735.304 Disposition without administration of intestate property in small + +estate. +CHAPTER 736 + +FLORIDA TRUST CODE + +PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS. + +736.0101 Short title. +736.0102 Scope. + + + +736.0103 Definitions. +736.0104 Knowledge. +736.0105 Default and mandatory rules. +736.0106 Common law of trusts; principles of equity. +736.0107 Governing law. +736.0108 Principal place of administration. +736.0109 Methods and waiver of notice. +736.0110 Others treated as qualified beneficiaries. +736.0111 Nonjudicial settlement agreements. +736.0112 Qualification of foreign trustee. + +PART II. JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS. + +736.0201 Role of court in trust proceedings. +736.0202 Jurisdiction over trustee and beneficiary. +736.02025 Service of process. +736.0203 Subject matter jurisdiction. +736.0204 Venue. +736.0205 Trust proceedings; dismissal of matters relating to foreign trusts. + +[Repealed] +736.0206 Proceedings for review of employment of agents and review of + +compensation of trustee and employees of trust. +736.0207 Trust contests. + +PART III. REPRESENTATION. + +736.0301 Representation; basic effect. +736.0302 Representation by holder of power of appointment. +736.0303 Representation by fiduciaries and parents. + + + +736.0304 Representation by person having substantially identical interest. +736.0305 Appointment of representative. +736.0306 Designated representative. + +PART IV. CREATION, VALIDITY, MODIFICATION, AND +TERMINATION. + +736.0401 Methods of creating trust. +736.0402 Requirements for creation. +736.0403 Trusts created in other jurisdictions; formalities required for + +revocable trusts. +736.0404 Trust purposes. +736.0405 Charitable purposes; enforcement. +736.0406 Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence. +736.0407 Evidence of oral trust. +736.0408 Trust for care of an animal. +736.0409 Noncharitable trust without ascertainable beneficiary. +736.0410 Modification or termination of trust; proceedings for disapproval of + +nonjudicial acts. +736.04113 Judicial modification of irrevocable trust when modification is not + +inconsistent with settlors purpose. +736.04114 Limited judicial construction of irrevocable trust with federal tax + +provisions. +736.04115 Judicial modification of irrevocable trust when modification is in + +best interests of beneficiaries. +736.04117 Trustees power to invade principal in trust. +736.0412 Nonjudicial modification of irrevocable trust. +736.0413 Cy pres. +736.0414 Modification or termination of uneconomic trust. + + + +736.0415 Reformation to correct mistakes. +736.0416 Modification to achieve settlors tax objectives. +736.0417 Combination and division of trusts. + +PART V. CREDITORS CLAIMS; SPENDTHRIFT AND +DISCRETIONARY TRUSTS. + +736.0501 Rights of beneficiarys creditor or assignee. +736.0502 Spendthrift provision. +736.0503 Exceptions to spendthrift provision. +736.0504 Discretionary trusts; effect of standard. +736.0505 Creditors claims against settlor. +736.05053 Trustees duty to pay expenses and obligations of settlors estate. +736.05055 Notice of trust. +736.0506 Overdue distribution. +736.0507 Personal obligations of trustee. + +PART VI. REVOCABLE TRUSTS. + +736.0601 Capacity of settlor of revocable trust. +736.0602 Revocation or amendment of revocable trust. +736.0603 Settlors powers; powers of withdrawal. +736.0604 Limitation on action contesting validity of revocable trust. + +PART VII. OFFICE OF TRUSTEE. + +736.0701 Accepting or declining trusteeship. +736.0702 Trustees bond. +736.0703 Cotrustees. +736.0704 Vacancy in trusteeship; appointment of successor. + + + +736.0705 Resignation of trustee. +736.0706 Removal of trustee. +736.0707 Delivery of property by former trustee. +736.0708 Compensation of trustee. +736.0709 Reimbursement of expenses. + +PART VIII. DUTIES AND POWERS OF TRUSTEE. + +736.0801 Duty to administer trust. +736.0802 Duty of loyalty. +736.0803 Impartiality. +736.0804 Prudent administration. +736.0805 Expenses of administration. +736.0806 Trustees skills. +736.0807 Delegation by trustee. +736.0808 Powers to direct. [Repealed] +736.0809 Control and protection of trust property. +736.0810 Recordkeeping and identification of trust property. +736.08105 Duty to ascertain marketable title of trust real property. +736.0811 Enforcement and defense of claims. +736.0812 Collecting trust property. +736.08125 Protection of successor trustees. +736.0813 Duty to inform and account. +736.08135 Trust accountings. +736.0814 Discretionary powers; tax savings. +736.08145 Grantor trust reimbursement. +736.08147 Duty to distribute trust income. + + + +736.0815 General powers of trustee. +736.0816 Specific powers of trustee. +736.08163 Powers of trustees relating to environmental or human health laws + +or to trust property contaminated with hazardous or toxic substances; +liability. + +736.08165 Administration pending outcome of contest or other proceeding. +736.0817 Distribution on termination. + +PART IX. TRUST INVESTMENTS + +736.0901 Applicability of chapter 518. +736.0902 Nonapplication of prudent investor rule. + +PART X. LIABILITY OF TRUSTEE AND RIGHTS OF PERSONS +DEALING WITH TRUSTEE. + +736.1001 Remedies for breach of trust. +736.1002 Damages for breach of trust. +736.1003 Damages in absence of breach. +736.1004 Attorneys fees and costs. +736.1005 Attorneys fees for services to the trust. +736.1006 Costs in trust proceedings. +736.1007 Trustees attorneys fees. +736.1008 Limitations on proceedings against trustees. +736.1009 Reliance on trust instrument. +736.1010 Event affecting administration or distribution. +736.1011 Exculpation of trustee. +736.1012 Beneficiarys consent, release, or ratification. +736.1013 Limitation on personal liability of trustee. +736.1014 Limitations on actions against certain trusts. + + + +736.1015 Interest as general partner. +736.1016 Protection of person dealing with trustee. +736.1017 Certification of trust. +736.1018 Improper distribution or payment; liability of distributee. + +PART XI. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. + +736.1101 Rules of construction; general provisions. +736.1102 Construction of terms. +736.1103 Gifts to multigeneration classes to be per stirpes. +736.1104 Person not entitled to receive property or other benefits by reason + +of victims death. +736.1105 Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or dissolution of + +marriage. +736.1106 Antilapse; survivorship with respect to future interests under terms + +of inter vivos and testamentary trusts; substitute takers. +736.1107 Change in securities; accessions; nonademption. +736.1108 Penalty clause for contest. +736.1109 Testamentary and revocable trusts; homestead protections. + +PART XII. CHARITABLE TRUSTS. + +736.1201 Definitions. +736.1202 Application of this part. +736.1203 Trustee of a private foundation trust or a split interest trust. +736.1204 Powers and duties of trustee of a private foundation trust or a split + +interest trust. +736.1205 Notice that this part does not apply. +736.1206 Power to amend trust instrument. +736.1207 Power of court to permit deviation. + + + +736.1208 Release; property and persons affected; manner of effecting. +736.1209 Election to come under this part. +736.1210 Interpretation. +736.1211 Protections afforded to certain charitable trusts and organizations. + +PART XIII. MISCELLANEOUS. + +736.1301 Electronic records and signatures. +736.1302 Severability clause. +736.1303 Application to existing relationships. + +Part XLII. Florida Uniform Directed Trust Act. + +736.1401 Short title. +736.1403 Application; principal place of administration. +736.1405 Exclusions. +736.1406 Power of trust director. +736.1407 Limitations on trust director. +736.1408 Duty and liability of trust director. +736.1409 Duty and liability of directed trustee. +736.141 Duty to provide information. +736.1411 No duty to monitor, inform, or advise. +736.1412 Application to cotrustee. +736.1413 Limitation of action against trust director. +736.1414 Defenses in action against trust director. +736.1415 Jurisdiction over trust director. +736.1416 Office of trust director. + +Part XV. Community Property Trust Act. + + + +736.1501 Short title. +736.1502 Definitions. +736.1503 Requirements for community property trust. +736.1504 Agreement establishing community property trust; amendments + +and revocation. +736.1505 Classification of property as community property; enforcement; + +duration; management and control; effect of distributions. +736.1506 Satisfaction of obligations. +736.1507 Death of a spouse. +736.1508 Dissolution of marriage. +736.1509 Right of child to support. +736.151 Homestead property. +736.1511 Application of Internal Revenue Code; community property + +classified by another jurisdiction. +736.1512 Unenforceable trusts. + +CHAPTER 737 +TRUST ADMINISTRATION + +[NOTE: CHAPTER 737 WAS REPEALED EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2008] +CHAPTER 738 + +PRINCIPAL AND INCOME +738.101 Short title. +738.102 Definitions. +738.103 Fiduciary duties; general principles. +738.104 Trustees power to adjust. +738.1041 Total return unitrust. +738.105 Judicial control of discretionary powers. +738.201 Determination and distribution of net income. +738.202 Distribution to residuary and remainder beneficiaries. + + + +738.301 When right to income begins and ends. +738.302 Apportionment of receipts and disbursements when decedent dies or + +income interest begins. +738.303 Apportionment when income interest ends. +738.401 Character of receipts. +738.402 Distribution from trust or estate. +738.403 Business and other activities conducted by fiduciary. +738.501 Principal receipts. +738.502 Rental property. +738.503 Obligation to pay money. +738.504 Insurance policies and similar contracts. +738.601 Insubstantial allocations not required. +738.602 Payments from deferred compensation plans, annuities, and + +retirement plans or accounts. +738.603 Liquidating asset. +738.604 Minerals, water, and other natural resources. +738.605 Timber. +738.606 Property not productive of income. +738.607 Derivatives and options. +738.608 Asset-backed securities. +738.701 Disbursements from income. +738.702 Disbursements from principal. +738.703 Transfers from income to principal for depreciation. +738.704 Transfers from income to reimburse principal. +738.705 Income taxes. +738.706 Adjustments between principal and income because of taxes. +738.801 Apportionment of expenses; improvements. + + + +738.802 Uniformity of application and construction. +738.803 Severability. +738.804 Application. + +CHAPTER 739 +FLORIDA UNIFORM DISCLAIMER OF PROPERTY INTERESTS ACT + +739.101 Short title. +739.102 Definitions. +739.103 Scope. +739.104 Power to disclaim; general requirements; when irrevocable. +739.201 Disclaimer of interest in property. +739.202 Disclaimer of rights of survivorship in jointly held property. +739.203 Disclaimer of property held as tenancy by the entirety. +739.204 Disclaimer of interest by trustee. +739.205 Disclaimer of power of appointment or other power not held in a + +fiduciary capacity. +739.206 Disclaimer by appointee, object, or taker in default of exercise of + +power of appointment. +739.207 Disclaimer of power held in fiduciary capacity. +739.301 Delivery or filing. +739.401 When disclaimer is permitted. +739.402 When disclaimer is barred or limited. +739.501 Tax-qualified disclaimer. +739.601 Recording of disclaimer relating to real estate. +739.701 Application to existing relationships. + +CHAPTER 740 +FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS + +740.001 Short title. + + + +740.002 Definitions. +740.003 User direction for disclosure of digital assets. +740.004 Terms-of-service agreement preserved. +740.005 Procedure for disclosing digital assets. +740.006 Disclosure of content of electronic communications of deceased + +user. +740.007 Disclosure of other digital assets of deceased user. +740.008 Disclosure of content of electronic communications of principal. +740.009 Disclosure of other digital assets of principal. +740.01 Disclosure of digital assets held in trust when trustee is the original + +user. +740.02 Disclosure of content of electronic communications held in trust when + +trustee is not the original user. +740.03 Disclosure of other digital assets held in trust when trustee is not the + +original user. +740.04 Disclosure of digital assets to guardian of ward. +740.05 Fiduciary duty and authority. +740.06 Custodian compliance and immunity. +740.07 Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce + +Act. +740.08 Applicability. +740.09 Severability. +740.11 Relation to wills. + +TITLE XLIII +DOMESTIC RELATIONS. + +CHAPTER 744 +GUARDIANSHIP + +PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS. + + + +744.101 Short title. +744.1012 Legislative intent. +744.102 Definitions. +744.1025 Additional definitions. +744.103 Guardians of incapacitated world war veterans. [Repealed] +744.104 Verification of documents. +744.105 Costs. +744.106 Notice. +744.107 Court monitors. +744.1075 Emergency court monitor. +744.1076 Court orders appointing court monitors and emergency court + +monitors; reports of court monitors; orders finding no probable cause; +public records exemptions. + +744.108 Guardians and attorneys fees and expenses. +744.1083 Professional guardian registration. [Transferred] +744.1085 Regulation of professional guardians; application; bond required; + +educational requirements. [Transferred] +744.109 Records. +744.1095 Hearings. +744.1096 Domicile of ward. +744.1097 Venue. +744.1098 Change of wards residence. + +PART II. PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL GUARDIANS. + +744.2001 Office of Public and Professional Guardians. +744.2002 Professional guardian registration. +744.2003 Regulation of professional guardians; application; bond required; + +educational requirements. + + + +744.2004 Complaints; disciplinary proceedings; penalties; enforcement. +744.20041 Grounds for discipline; penalties; enforcement. +744.2005 Order of appointment. +744.2006 Office of Public and Professional Guardians; appointment, + +notification. +744.2007 Powers and duties. +744.2008 Costs of public guardian. +744.2009 Preparation of budget. +744.201 Domicile of ward. [Transferred] +744.202 Venue. [Transferred] +744.2025 Change of wards residence. [Transferred] +744.2101 Procedures and rules. +744.2102 Surety bond. +744.2103 Reports and standards. +744.21031 Public reports exemption. [Effective until October 2, 2023] +744.2104 Access to records by the Office of Public and Professional + +Guardians; confidentiality. +744.2105 Direct-support organization; definition; use of property; board of + +directors; audit; dissolution. +744.2106 Joining Forces for Public Guardianship grant program; purpose. +744.2107 Program administration; duties of the Office of Public and + +Professional Guardians. +744.2108 Eligibility. +744.2109 Grant application requirements; review criteria; awards process. +744.2111 Confidentiality. +744.2112 Guardianship information and transparency. + +PART III. TYPES OF GUARDIANSHIP. + + + +744.301 Natural guardians. +744.3021 Guardians of minors. +744.3025 Claims of minors. +744.3031 Emergency temporary guardianship. +744.304 Standby guardianship. +744.3045 Preneed guardian. +744.3046 Preneed guardian for minor. +744.306 Foreign guardians. +744.307 Foreign guardian may manage the property of nonresident ward. +744.308 Resident guardian of the property of nonresident ward. +744.3085 Guardian advocates. + +PART IV. GUARDIANS. + +744.309 Who may be appointed guardian of a resident ward. +744.3115 Advance directives for health care. +744.312 Considerations in appointment of guardian. +744.3125 Application for appointment. +744.3135 Credit and criminal investigation. +744.3145 Guardian education requirements. + +PART V. ADJUDICATION OF INCAPACITY AND APPOINTMENT OF +GUARDIANS. + +744.3201 Petition to determine incapacity. +744.3203 Suspension of power of attorney before incapacity determination. +744.3215 Rights of persons determined incapacitated. +744.331 Procedures to determine incapacity. +744.334 Petition for appointment of guardian or professional guardian; + + + +contents. +744.3371 Notice of petition for appointment of guardian and hearing. +744.341 Voluntary guardianship. +744.342 Minors; guardianship. +744.344 Order of appointment. [Transferred] +744.345 Letters of guardianship. +744.347 Oath of guardian. +744.351 Bond of guardian. +744.354 Validity of bond. +744.357 Liability of surety. +744.358 Liability of a guardian. +744.359 Abuse, neglect, or exploitation by a guardian. + +PART VI. POWERS AND DUTIES. + +744.361 Powers and duties of guardian. +744.362 Initial guardianship report. +744.363 Initial guardianship plan. +744.365 Verified inventory. +744.367 Duty to file annual guardianship report. +744.3675 Annual guardianship plan. +744.3678 Annual accounting. +744.3679 Simplified accounting procedures in certain cases. +744.368 Responsibilities of the clerk of the circuit court. +744.3685 Order requiring guardianship report; contempt. +744.369 Judicial review of guardianship reports. +744.3701 Confidentiality. + + + +744.371 Relief to be granted. +744.3715 Petition for interim judicial review. +744.372 Judicial review of guardianships. +744.3725 Procedure for extraordinary authority. +744.373 Production of property. +744.3735 Annual appearance of the guardian. +744.374 Payments to guardian. +744.381 Appraisals. +744.384 Subsequently discovered or acquired property. +744.387 Settlement of claims. +744.391 Actions by and against guardian or ward. +744.394 Suspension of statutes of limitations in favor of guardian. +744.397 Application of income of property of ward. +744.421 Petition for support of wards dependents. +744.441 Powers of guardian upon court approval. +744.442 Delegation of authority. +744.444 Power of guardian without court approval. +744.446 Conflicts of interest; prohibited activities; court approval; breach of + +fiduciary duty. +744.447 Petition for authorization to act. +744.451 Order. +744.454 Guardian forbidden to borrow or purchase; exceptions. +744.457 Conveyance of various property rights by guardians of the property. +744.461 Purchasers and lenders protected. +744.462 Determination regarding alternatives to guardianship. + +PART VII. TERMINATION + + + +744.464 Restoration to capacity. +744.467 Resignation of guardian. +744.471 Appointment of successor. +744.474 Reasons for removal of guardian. +744.477 Proceedings for removal of a guardian. +744.511 Accounting upon removal. +744.514 Surrender of property upon removal. +744.517 Proceedings for contempt. +744.521 Termination of guardianship. +744.524 Termination of guardianship on change of domicile of resident ward. +744.527 Final reports and application for discharge; hearing. +744.528 Discharge of guardian named as personal representative. +744.531 Order of discharge. +744.534 Disposition of unclaimed funds held by guardian. + +PART VIII. VETERANS GUARDIANSHIP. + +744.602 Short title; scope of part. +744.604 Definitions. +744.607 Secretary of Veterans Affairs as party in interest. +744.609 Procedure for commitment of veteran to United States Department + +of Veterans Affairs hospital. +744.613 Appointment of guardian for ward authorized. +744.616 Petition for appointment of guardian. +744.617 Notice by court of petition filed for appointment of guardian. +744.618 Persons who may be appointed guardian. +744.619 Bond of guardian. +744.621 Inventory of wards property; guardians failure to file inventory; + + + +discharge; forfeiture of commissions. +744.622 Guardian empowered to receive moneys due ward from the United + +States Government. +744.624 Guardians application of estate funds for support and maintenance + +of person other than ward. +744.625 Petition for support, or support and education, of wards dependents; + +payments of apportioned benefits prohibit contempt action against +veteran. + +744.626 Exemption of benefits from claims of creditors. +744.627 Investment of funds of estate by guardian. +744.631 Guardians petition for authority to sell wards real estate; notice by + +publication; penalties. +744.634 Guardians accounts, filing with court and certification to United + +States Department of Veterans Affairs; notice and hearing on accounts; +failure to account. + +744.637 Certified copies of public records made available. +744.638 Clerk of the circuit court; fees; duties. +744.639 Attorneys fee. +744.641 Guardians compensation; bond premiums. +744.643 Discharge of guardian of minor or incompetent ward. +744.646 Final settlement of guardianship; notice required; guardian ad litem + +fee; papers required by United States Department of Veterans Affairs. +744.649 Notice of appointment of general guardian; closing of veterans + +guardianship; transfer of responsibilities and penalties to general +guardian. + +744.652 Construction and application of part. +744.653 Annual guardianship report. + +PART IX. PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP. + + + +744.701 Short title. [Repealed] +744.702 Legislative intent. [Repealed] +744.7021 Statewide Public Guardianship Office. [Transferred] +744.703 Office of public guardian; appointment, notification. [Transferred] +744.704 Powers and duties. [Transferred] +744.705 Costs of public guardian. [Transferred] +744.706 Preparation of budget. [Transferred] +744.707 Procedures and rules. [Transferred] +744.708 Reports and standards. [Transferred] +744.7081 Access to records by Statewide Public Guardianship Office; + +confidentiality. [Transferred] +744.7082 Direct-support organization; definition; use of property; board of + +directors; audit; dissolution. [Transferred] +744.709 Surety bond. [Transferred] +744.7101 Short title. [Repealed] +744.711 Legislative findings and intent. [Repealed] +744.712 Joining Forces for Public Guardianship grant program; purpose. + +[Transferred] +744.713 Program administration; duties of the Statewide Public Guardianship + +Office. [Transferred] +744.714 Eligibility. [Transferred] +744.715 Grant application requirements; review criteria; awards process. + +[Transferred] +CHAPTER 747 + +CONSERVATORSHIP +747.01 Who are absentees under this law. +747.011 Absentee incompetent for certain purposes. +747.02 Jurisdiction. + + + +747.03 Petition. +747.031 Notice; hearing. +747.032 Order of appointment. +747.033 Oath. +747.034 Bond. +747.035 Rights, powers, and duties of conservator. +747.036 Resignation or removal of conservator. +747.04 Termination of conservatorship. +747.051 Summary procedure. +747.052 Procedure for order authorizing action by spouse or next + +TITLE XLIV +CIVIL RIGHTS. +CHAPTER 765 + +HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES + +PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS. + +765.101 Definitions. +765.102 Legislative findings and intent. +765.103 Existing advance directives. +765.104 Amendment or revocation. +765.105 Review of surrogate or proxys decision. +765.106 Preservation of existing rights. +765.107 Construction. +765.108 Effect with respect to insurance. +765.109 Immunity from liability; weight of proof; presumption. +765.110 Health care facilities and providers; discipline. +765.1103 Pain management and palliative care. + + + +765.1105 Transfer of a patient. +765.1115 Falsification, forgery, or willful concealment, cancellation, or + +destruction of directive or revocation or amendment; penalties. +765.112 Recognition of advance directive executed in another state. +765.113 Restrictions on providing consent. + +PART II. HEALTH CARE SURROGATE + +765.201 Short title. +765.202 Designation of a health care surrogate. +765.203 Suggested form of designation. +765.2035 Designation of a health care surrogate for a minor. +765.2038 Designation of health care surrogate for a minor; suggested form. +765.204 Capacity of principal; procedure. +765.205 Responsibility of the surrogate. + +PART III. LIFE-PROLONGING PROCEDURES + +765.301 Short title. +765.302 Procedure for making a living will; notice to physician. +765.303 Suggested form of a living will. +765.304 Procedure for living will. +765.305 Procedure in absence of a living will. +765.306 Determination of patient condition. +765.309 Mercy killing or euthanasia not authorized; suicide distinguished. + +PART IV. ABSENCE OF ADVANCE DIRECTIVE. + +765.401 The proxy. +765.404 Persistent vegetative state. + + + +PART V. ANATOMICAL GIFTS. + +765.510 Legislative declaration. +765.511 Definitions. +765.512 Persons who may make an anatomical gift. +765.513 Donees; purposes for which anatomical gifts may be made. +765.514 Manner of making anatomical gifts. +765.515 Delivery of donor document. +765.5155 Donor registry; education program. +765.51551 Donor registry; public records exemption. +765.516 Donor amendment or revocation of anatomical gift. +765.517 Rights and duties at death. +765.518 Eye banks. +765.5185 Corneal removal by medical examiners. +765.519 Enucleation of eyes by licensed funeral directors. +765.521 Donations as part of driver license or identification card process. +765.5215 Education program relating to annatomical gifts. [Repealed] +765.52155 Florida Organ and Tissue Donor Education and Procurement + +Trust Fund. [Repealed] +765.5216 Organ and tissue education panel. [Repealed] +765.522 Duty of hospital administrators; liability of hospital administrators + +and procurement organizations. +765.523 Discrimination in access to anatomical gifts and organ transplants + +prohibited. +765.53 Organ Transplant Advisory Council; membership; responsibilities. + +[Repealed] +765.541 Certification of procurement organizations; agency responsibilities. +765.542 Requirements to engage in organ, tissue, or eye procurement. + + + +765.543 Organ and Tissue Procurement and Transplantation Advisory Board; +creation; duties. + +765.544 Fees; organ and tissue donor education and procurement. +765.545 Physician supervision of cadaveric organ and tissue procurement + +coordinators. +765.546 Procurement of cadaveric organs for transplant by out-of-state + +physicians. +765.547 Cooperation between medical examiner and procurement + +organization. +TITLE XLVI + +CRIMES. +CHAPTER 825 + +ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION OF ELDERLY PERSONS +AND DISABLED ADULTS. + +825.1035 Injunction for protection against exploitation of vulnerable adult. +__________ + +Constitution of the State of Florida +__________ + +ARTICLE X +MISCELLANEOUS. + +Section 4 Homestead; exemptions. + + + + Title VI. +Fla. Stat. Title VI + +TITLE VI. +CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE. + +________ + Title VI. , Ch. 69. + +Fla. Stat. Title VI, Ch. 69 + + + +CHAPTER 69. +MISCELLANEOUS PROCEDURAL MATTERS. + + Title VI. , Ch. 69. , 69.031. +Fla. Stat. 69.031 + + 69.031. Designated financial institutions for property in hands of +guardians, curators, administrators, trustees, receivers, or other +officers. +(1) When it is expedient in the judgment of any court having jurisdiction + +of any estate in process of administration by any guardian, curator, +executor, administrator, trustee, receiver, or other officer, because the size +of the bond required of the officer is burdensome or for other cause, the +court may order part or all of the personal property of the estate placed +with a bank, trust company, or savings and loan association designated by +the court, consideration being given to any bank, trust company or savings +and loan association proposed by the officer. Notwithstanding the +foregoing, in probate proceedings and in accordance with s. 733.402, the +court shall allow the officer at any time to elect to post and maintain bond +for the value of the personal property, or such other reasonable amount +determined by the court, whereupon the court shall vacate or terminate any +order establishing the depository. When the property is placed with the +designated financial institution, it shall file a receipt therefor in the name of +the estate and give the officer a copy. Such receipt shall acknowledge the +property received by the financial institution. All interest, dividends, +principal and other debts collected by the financial institution on account +thereof shall be held by the financial institution in safekeeping, subject to +the instructions of the officer authorized by order of the court directed to +the financial institution. + +(2) Accountings shall be made to the officer at reasonably frequent +intervals. After the receipt for the original property has been filed by the +financial institution, the court shall waive the bond given or to be given or +reduce it so that it shall apply only to the estate remaining in the hands of +the officer, whichever the court deems proper. + +(3) When the court has ordered any property of an estate to be placed + + + +with a designated financial institution, any person or corporation having +possession or control of any of the property, or owing interest, dividends, +principal or other debts on account thereof, shall pay and deliver such +property, interest, dividends, principal and other debts to the financial +institution on its demand whether the officer has duly qualified or not, and +the receipt of the financial institution relieves the person or corporation +from further responsibility therefor. + +(4) Any bank, trust company, or savings and loan association which is +designated under this section, may accept or reject the designation in any +instance, and shall file its acceptance or rejection with the court making the +designation within 15 days after actual knowledge of the designation +comes to the attention of the financial institution, and if the financial +institution accepts, it shall be allowed a reasonable amount for its services +and expenses which the court may allow as a charge against the property +placed with the financial institution. + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, 3, ch. 21980, 1943; s. 1, ch. 57-198; s. 23, ch. 67-254; s. 1, ch. + +2021-183, effective June 29, 2021; s. 1, ch. 2021-239, effective July 1, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 69.15. + + + + Title VI. , Ch. 86. +Fla. Stat. Title VI, Ch. 86 + + + +CHAPTER 86. +DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS. + + Title VI. , Ch. 86. , 86.041. +Fla. Stat. 86.041 + + 86.041. Actions by executors, administrators, trustees, etc. +Any person interested as or through an executor, administrator, trustee, + +guardian, or other fiduciary, creditor, devisee, legatee, heir, next of kin, or +cestui que trust, in the administration of a trust, a guardianship, or the estate +of a decedent, an infant, a mental incompetent, or insolvent may have a +declaration of rights or equitable or legal relations to: + +(1) Ascertain any class of creditors, devisees, legatees, heirs, next of kin, +or others; + +(2) Direct the executor, administrator, or trustee to refrain from doing +any particular act in his or her fiduciary capacity; or + +(3) Determine any question relating to the administration of the +guardianship, estate, or trust, including questions of construction of wills +and other writings. +For the purpose of this section, a mental incompetent is one who, +because of mental illness, intellectual disability, senility, excessive use of +drugs or alcohol, or other mental incapacity, is incapable of managing his +or her property or caring for himself or herself or both. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 21820, 1943; s. 38, ch. 67-254; s. 1, ch. 88-33; s. 459, ch. 95-147; + +s. 3, ch. 2013-162, eff. July 1, 2013. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 87.04. + + + + Title XIV. +Fla. Stat. Title XIV + +TITLE XIV. +TAXATION AND FINANCE. + +________ + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. + +Fla. Stat. Title XIV, Ch. 198 + + + +CHAPTER 198. +ESTATE TAXES. + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.01. +Fla. Stat. 198.01 + + 198.01. Definitions. +When used in this chapter the term, phrase or word: + +(1) Department means the Department of Revenue. +(2) Personal representative means the executor, administrator, or + +curator of the decedent, or, if there is no executor, administrator, or curator +appointed, qualified, and acting, then any person who is in the actual or +constructive possession of any property included in the gross estate of the +decedent or any other person who is required to file a return or pay the +taxes due under any provision of this chapter. + +(3) Person means persons, corporations, associations, joint stock +companies, and business trusts. + +(4) Transfer shall be taken to include the passing of property or any +interest therein, in possession or enjoyment, present or future, by +inheritance, descent, devise, succession, bequest, grant, deed, bargain, sale, +gift, or appointment in the manner herein described. + +(5) Decedent shall include the testator, intestate, grantor, bargainor, +vendor, or donor. + +(6) Resident means a natural person domiciled in the state. +(7) Nonresident means a natural person domiciled without the state. +(8) Gross estate means the gross estate as determined under the + +provisions of the applicable federal revenue act. +(9) Net estate means the net estate as determined under the provisions + +of the applicable federal revenue act. +(10) Tangible personal property means corporeal personal property, + +including money. + + + +(11) Intangible personal property means incorporeal personal property +including deposits in banks, negotiable instruments, mortgages, debts, +receivables, shares of stock, bonds, notes, credits, evidences of an interest +in property, evidences of debt and choses in action generally. + +(12) United States when used in a geographical sense includes only +the 50 states and the District of Columbia. + +(13) Generation-skipping transfer means every transfer subject to the +federal generation-skipping transfer tax in which transfer the original +transferor is a resident of this state at the date of original transfer or the +property transferred is real or personal property in this state. + +(14) Original transferor means any grantor, donor, trustor, or testator +who by grant, gift, trust, or will makes a transfer of real or personal +property that results in a federal generation-skipping transfer tax. + +(15) Federal generation-skipping transfer tax means the tax imposed +by chapter 13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(81); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. + +44, ch. 71-377; s. 1, ch. 80-153; s. 3, ch. 89-356. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.015. +Fla. Stat. 198.015 + + 198.015. Domicile of decedent. +(1) For the purposes of this chapter, every person shall be presumed to + +have died a resident and not a nonresident of the state: +(a) If such person has dwelt or lodged in the state during and for the greater + +part of any period of 12 consecutive months in the 24 months next preceding +death, notwithstanding the fact that from time to time during such 24 months +such person may have sojourned outside of this state, and without regard to +whether or not such person may have voted, may have been entitled to vote, +or may have been assessed for taxes in this state; or + +(b) If such person has been a resident of Florida, sojourning outside of this +state. + +(2) The burden of proof in an estate tax proceeding shall be upon any +person claiming exemption by reason of alleged nonresidency. Domicile +shall be determined exclusively in the proceedings provided in this chapter, +and orders relating to domicile previously entered in the probate +proceedings shall not be conclusive for the purposes of this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 77-411; s. 1031, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.02. +Fla. Stat. 198.02 + + 198.02. Tax upon estates of resident decedents. +A tax is imposed upon the transfer of the estate of every person who, at the + +time of death, was a resident of this state, the amount of which shall be a sum +equal to the amount by which the credit allowable under the applicable +federal revenue act for estate, inheritance, legacy, and succession taxes +actually paid to the several states exceeds the aggregate amount of all +constitutionally valid estate, inheritance, legacy, and succession taxes +actually paid to the several states of the United States (other than this state) in +respect of any property owned by such decedent or subject to such taxes as a +part of or in connection with his or her estate. All values shall be as finally +determined for federal estate tax purposes. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(83); s. 1, ch. 71-202; s. 3, ch. + +82-38; s. 1032, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.021. +Fla. Stat. 198.021 + + 198.021. Tax upon generation-skipping transfers of residents. +A tax is hereby imposed upon every generation-skipping transfer in which + +the original transferor is a resident of this state at the date of original transfer, +in an amount equal to the amount allowable as a credit for state legacy taxes +under s. 2604 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, to the +extent such credit exceeds the aggregate amount of all constitutionally valid +taxes on the same transfer actually paid to the several states of the United +States other than this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 80-153; s. 4, ch. 89-356. + +Editors notes. +Section 2604 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in this + +section, is codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 2604. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.03. +Fla. Stat. 198.03 + + 198.03. Tax upon estates of nonresident decedents. +A tax is imposed upon the transfer of real property situate in this state, + +upon tangible personal property having an actual situs in this state, upon +intangible personal property having a business situs in this state and upon +stocks, bonds, debentures, notes, and other securities or obligations of +corporations organized under the laws of this state, of every person who at +the time of death was not a resident of this state but was a resident of the +United States, the amount of which shall be a sum equal to such proportion of +the amount of the credit allowable under the applicable federal revenue act +for estate, inheritance, legacy, and succession taxes actually paid to the +several states, as the value of the property taxable in this state bears to the +value of the entire gross estate wherever situate. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(84); s. 1, ch. 28031, 1953. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.031. +Fla. Stat. 198.031 + + 198.031. Tax upon generation-skipping transfers of nonresidents. +A tax is hereby imposed upon every generation-skipping transfer in which + +the original transferor is not a resident of this state at the date of the original +transfer but in which the property transferred includes real or personal +property in this state, in an amount equal to the amount allowable as a credit +for state legacy taxes under s. 2604 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended, reduced by an amount which bears the same ratio to the total state +tax credit allowable for federal generation-skipping transfer tax purposes as +the value of the transferred property taxable by all other states bears to the +value of the gross generation-skipping transfer for federal generation- +skipping transfer tax purposes. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 80-153; s. 5, ch. 89-356. + +Editors notes. +Section 2604 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in this + +section, is codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 2604. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.04. +Fla. Stat. 198.04 + + 198.04. Tax upon estates of alien decedents. +A tax is imposed upon the transfer of real property situate and tangible + +personal property having an actual situs in this state and upon intangible +personal property physically present within this state of every person who at +the time of death was not a resident of the United States, the amount of which +shall be a sum equal to such proportion of the credit allowable under the +applicable federal revenue act for estate, inheritance, legacy, and succession +taxes actually paid to the several states, as the value of the property taxable in +this state bears to the value of the estate taxable by the United States +wherever situate. For the purpose of this section, stock in a corporation +organized under the laws of this state shall be deemed physically present +within this state. The amount receivable as insurance upon the life of a +decedent who at the time of death was not a resident of the United States, and +any moneys deposited with any person carrying on the banking business by +or for such decedent who was not engaged in business in the United States at +the time of death, shall not, for the purpose of this section, be deemed to be +physically present in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(85); s. 1033, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.05. +Fla. Stat. 198.05 + + 198.05. Administration of law by Department of Revenue. +The Department of Revenue shall, except as otherwise provided, have + +jurisdiction and be charged with the administration and enforcement of the +provisions of this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(86); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.06. +Fla. Stat. 198.06 + + 198.06. Examination of books, papers, records, or memoranda by the +department. +(1) The department, for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of + +any return, or for the purpose of making a return where none has been +made, may examine any books, papers, records, or memoranda, bearing +upon the matter required to be included in the return; may require the +attendance of persons rendering return or of any officer or employee of +such persons, or of any person having knowledge in the premises, at any +convenient place in the county in which such person resides, and may take +his or her testimony with reference to the matter required by law to be +included in such return, and may administer oaths to such persons. + +(2) If any person summoned to appear under this chapter to testify, or to +produce books, papers, or other data, shall refuse to do so, the circuit court +for the county in which such person resides shall have jurisdiction by +appropriate process to compel such attendance, testimony, or production of +books, papers, or other data. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(86); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. + +1034, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.07. +Fla. Stat. 198.07 + + 198.07. Appointment of agents by department; bonds of agents; may +administer oaths; credentials. +(1) The department may appoint and remove such examiners, appraisers, + +attorneys and employees as it may deem necessary, such persons to have +such duties and powers as the department may from time to time prescribe. +The salaries of all examiners, appraisers, attorneys and employees +employed by the department shall be such as it may prescribe, and such +examiners, appraisers, attorneys and employees shall be reimbursed for +travel expenses as provided in s. 112.061. + +(2) The department may require such of the examiners, appraisers, +attorneys and employees as it may designate to give bond payable to the +state for the faithful performance of their duties in such form and with such +sureties as it may determine, and all premiums on such bonds shall be paid +by the state. + +(3) All officers empowered by law to administer oaths and the +examiners, appraisers and attorneys appointed by the department may +administer an oath to all persons giving any testimony before them or to +take the acknowledgment of any person in respect to any return or report +required under this chapter. + +(4) All examiners, appraisers and attorneys appointed by the department +shall have for identification purpose proper credentials issued by the +department and exhibit the same upon demand. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(86); s. 19, ch. 63-400; ss. 21, + +35, ch. 69-106. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.08. +Fla. Stat. 198.08 + + 198.08. Rules. +The department has authority to adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and + +120.54 to enforce the provisions of this chapter and may adopt, as rules, such +rules and regulations as are promulgated with respect to the estate tax or +generation-skipping transfer tax provisions of the Revenue Act of the United +States insofar as they are applicable hereto. The department may from time to +time prescribe such forms as it shall deem proper for the administration of +this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(86); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. + +4, ch. 80-153; s. 14, ch. 98-200. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.11. +Fla. Stat. 198.11 + + 198.11. Appointment of special appraisers. +The department may employ special appraisers for the purpose of + +determining the value of any property which is, or is believed by the +department to be, subject to the tax imposed by this chapter, and such special +appraisers shall be paid such compensation as said department shall deem +proper. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(86); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.13. +Fla. Stat. 198.13 + + 198.13. Tax return to be made in certain cases; certificate of +nonliability. +(1) The personal representative of every estate required by the laws of + +the United States to file a federal estate tax return shall file with the +department, on or before the last day prescribed by law for filing the initial +federal estate tax return for such estate, a return consisting of an executed +copy of the federal estate tax return and shall file with such return all +supplemental data, if any, as may be necessary to determine and establish +the correct tax under this chapter. Such return shall be made in the case of +every decedent who at the time of death was not a resident of the United +States and whose gross estate includes any real property situate in the state, +tangible personal property having an actual situs in the state, and intangible +personal property physically present within the state. + +(2) Whenever it is made to appear to the department that an estate that +has filed a return owes no taxes under this chapter, the department shall +issue to the personal representative a certificate in writing to that effect, +which certificate shall have the same force and effect as a receipt showing +payment. The certificate shall be subject to record and admissible in +evidence in like manner as a receipt showing payment of taxes. A fee of $5 +shall be paid to the department for each certificate so issued. + +(3) Every person required to file a return reporting a generation-skipping +transfer under applicable federal statutes and regulations shall file with the +Department of Revenue, on or before the last day prescribed for filing the +federal return, a return consisting of a duplicate copy of the federal return. + +(4) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section and applicable +to the estate of a decedent who dies after December 31, 2004, if, upon the +death of the decedent, a state death tax credit or a generation-skipping +transfer credit is not allowable pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of +1986, as amended: +(a) The personal representative of the estate is not required to file a return + +under subsection (1) in connection with the estate. +(b) The person who would otherwise be required to file a return reporting a + + + +generation-skipping transfer under subsection (3) is not required to file such a +return in connection with the estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(87); s. 2, ch. 28031, 1953; s. + +2, ch. 29718, 1955; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 71-202; s. 7, ch. 80-153; s. +1, ch. 84-325; s. 38, ch. 85-342; s. 1035, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 99-208; s. 7, ch. +2007-106, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 35, ch. 2008-4, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 1, ch. +2011-86, eff. May 31, 2011; s. 1, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + +Editors notes. +The introductory language of ch. 2011-86, s. 1 states that the amendment + +of subsection (4) is retroactive to January 1, 2011. +Section 1, ch. 2013-172, provides: Subsection (4) of section 198.13 is + +amended retroactively to January 1, 2013. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.14. +Fla. Stat. 198.14 + + 198.14. Failure to make return; extension of time for filing. +To obtain an extension for filing a Florida return, the personal + +representative shall file with the department a copy of the federal extension +request within 30 days after filing such request with the federal taxing +authorities. If the federal taxing authorities grant an extension of time for +filing a return, the department shall allow a like extension of time for filing if +the personal representative files a copy of such federal extension with the +department within 30 days after receiving an approved federal extension. An +extension of time for filing a return shall not operate to extend the time for +payment of the tax. If any person fails to file a return at the time prescribed +by law or files, willfully or otherwise, a false or fraudulent return, the +department shall make the return from its own knowledge and from such +information as it can obtain through testimony or otherwise. Any such return +so made by the department shall be prima facie good and sufficient for all +legal purposes. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(87); s. 3, ch. 29718, 1955; ss. + +21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 87-102. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.15. +Fla. Stat. 198.15 + + 198.15. When tax due; extension; interest; penalty. +(1) The tax imposed by this chapter is due and payable on or before the + +last day prescribed by law for paying the federal estate tax pursuant to the +initial estate tax return and shall be paid by the personal representative to +the department. The department shall extend the time for payment of the +tax or any part of the tax if the time for paying the federal estate tax is +extended, provided the personal representative files with the department a +copy of the approved federal extension notice within 30 days after +receiving such notice. No extension shall be for more than 1 year, and the +aggregate of extensions with respect to any estate shall not exceed 10 years +from the due date. In such case, the amount in respect of which the +extension is granted shall be paid on or before the date of the expiration of +the period of the extension, unless a further extension is granted. If the +time for the payment is thus extended, there shall be collected, as part of +such amount, interest thereon at the rate of 1 percent per month of the +amount due from the due date of the tax to the date the same is paid. + +(2) For any tax that is due on or after July 1, 1991, and that is not paid +by the due date or by the due date of any extension granted by the +department, in addition to any other penalties, a specific penalty shall be +added to the tax in the amount of 10 percent of any unpaid tax if the failure +is for not more than 30 days, or 20 percent of the aggregate of any unpaid +tax if the failure is for more than 30 days. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(88); s. 3, ch. 28031, 1953; ss. + +21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 3, ch. 71-202; s. 1, ch. 76-261; s. 2, ch. 77-411; s. 1, ch. +80-24; s. 8, ch. 80-153; s. 2, ch. 84-325; s. 39, ch. 85-342; s. 3, ch. 87-102; s. +8, ch. 91-112; s. 3, ch. 92-320. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.155. +Fla. Stat. 198.155 + + 198.155. Payment of tax on generation-skipping transfers. +(1) The person liable for payment of the federal generation-skipping + +transfer tax shall be liable for the tax imposed by ss. 198.021 and 198.031. +(2) The tax imposed by ss. 198.021 and 198.031 is due upon a taxable + +distribution or taxable termination as determined under applicable +provisions of the federal generation-skipping transfer tax. + +(3) The tax becomes delinquent the day after the last day allowed for +filing a return for the generation-skipping transfer. + +(4) The tax shall be paid to the Department of Revenue. +(5) If the tax, or any portion thereof, is not paid before it becomes + +delinquent, it shall bear interest at the rate of 1 percent per month for each +month or fraction thereof that it is delinquent. + +HISTORY: +S. 21, ch. 80-153. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.16. +Fla. Stat. 198.16 + + 198.16. Notice of determination of deficiency in federal tax to be filed +with department. +(1) It shall be the duty of the personal representative to file with the + +department within 60 days after a final determination of any deficiency in +federal estate tax has been made, written notice thereof. + +(2) If, after a duplicate federal return of a generation-skipping transfer +has been filed with the Department of Revenue, the federal authorities +increase or decrease the amount of the federal generation-skipping transfer +tax, an amended return shall be filed with the department showing all +changes made in the original return and the amount of increase or decrease +in the federal generation-skipping transfer tax. + +(3) If, based upon any deficiency and the ground therefor, it shall appear +that the amount of tax previously paid is less than the amount of tax owing, +the difference, together with interest at the rate of 1 percent per month +from the due date of the tax, shall be paid upon notice and demand by the +department. In the event the personal representative or person required to +return and pay such tax shall fail to give the notice required by this section, +any additional tax which shall be owing may be assessed, or a proceeding +in court for the collection of such tax may be begun without assessment at +any time prior to the filing of such notice or within 30 days after the +delinquent filing of such notice, notwithstanding the provisions of s. +198.28. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(89); s. 4, ch. 28031, 1953; s. + +4, ch. 29718, 1955; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 3, ch. 77-411; s. 9, ch. 80-153. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.17. +Fla. Stat. 198.17 + + 198.17. Deficiency; hearing by department. +If upon examination of any return a tax or a deficiency in tax is disclosed, + +the department shall proceed to determine all questions involving such tax or +deficiency. Such tax or deficiency in tax shall be assessed and paid together +with the penalty and interest, if any, applicable thereto, within 60 days after +such demand as may be included in the departments order. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(90); s. 5, ch. 29718, 1955; + +s. 19, ch. 63-559; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 54, ch. 78-95. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.18. +Fla. Stat. 198.18 + + 198.18. Failure to pay tax; penalties; delinquent or deficient taxes, +interest. +(1) If any part of a deficiency in tax due under the provisions of this + +chapter is due to negligence or intentional disregard of the provisions of +this chapter or the rules and regulations issued pursuant hereto, with +knowledge thereof but without intent to defraud, there shall be added as a +penalty 10 percent per month of the total amount of the deficiency in tax to +a maximum of 50 percent of the tax due; and, if any part of such deficiency +is willfully made with intent to defraud, there shall be added as a penalty +100 percent of the total amount of such deficiency, which penalty shall +become due and payable upon notice and demand by the department. The +personal representative shall be liable to the state personally and on his or +her official bond, if any, for any loss to the state accruing under the +provisions of this section through the personal representatives negligence +or willful neglect. No interest shall be collected upon the amount of any +penalty. The department may settle or compromise such penalties pursuant +to s. 213.21. + +(2) Any deficiency in tax or any tax payment not received by the +department on or before the due date as provided in s. 198.15, in addition +to any other penalties, shall bear interest at the rate of 1 percent per month +of the amount due from the due date until paid. The department may settle +or compromise such interest pursuant to s. 213.21. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(91); s. 6, ch. 29718, 1955; + +ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 76-261; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 10, ch. 80-153; s. +2, ch. 81-178; s. 50, ch. 87-6; s. 30, ch. 87-101; s. 4, ch. 92-320; s. 1036, ch. +95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.19. +Fla. Stat. 198.19 + + 198.19. Receipts for taxes. +The department shall issue to the personal representative, upon payment of + +the tax imposed by this chapter, receipts in triplicate, any of which shall be +sufficient evidence of such payment and shall entitle the personal +representative to be credited and allowed the amount thereof by any court +having jurisdiction to audit or settle his or her accounts. If the personal +representative files a complete return and makes written application to the +department for determination of the amount of the tax and discharge from +personal liability therefor, the department as soon as possible, and in any +event within 1 year after receipt of such application, shall notify the personal +representative of the amount of the tax; and upon payment thereof the +personal representative shall be discharged from personal liability for any +additional tax thereafter found to be due and shall be entitled to receive from +the department a receipt in writing showing such discharge; however, such +discharge shall not operate to release the gross estate of the lien of any +additional tax that may thereafter be found to be due, while the title to the +gross estate remains in the personal representative or in the heirs, devisees, or +distributees thereof; but after such discharge is given, no part of the gross +estate shall be subject to such lien or to any claim or demand for any such tax +after the title thereto has passed to a bona fide purchaser for value. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(92); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; + +s. 11, ch. 80-153; s. 1037, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.20. +Fla. Stat. 198.20 + + 198.20. Failure to pay tax when due, departments warrant, etc. +If any tax imposed by this chapter or any portion of such tax be unpaid + +within 90 days after the same becomes due, and the time for payment be not +extended, the department shall issue a warrant directed to the sheriff of any +county of the state in which the estate or any part thereof may be situated, +commanding the sheriff to levy upon and sell the real and personal property +of such estate found within his or her county, for the payment of the amount +thereof, with such interest and penalties, if any, as may have accrued thereon +or been assessed against the same, together with the cost of executing the +warrant, and to return such warrant, to the department and pay to it the +money collected by virtue thereof, by a time to be therein specified, not less +than 60 days from the date of the warrant. The sheriff thereupon shall +proceed upon the same in all respects, with like effect, and in the same +manner prescribed by law in respect to executions issued against property +upon judgments of a court of record, and shall be entitled to the same fees for +services in executing the warrant as are now allowed by law for like services +to be collected in the same manner as now provided by law. Alias and pluries +warrants may issue from time to time as said department may deem proper +until the entire amount of the tax, deficiency, interest, penalties, and costs +have been recovered. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(93); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; + +s. 1038, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.21. +Fla. Stat. 198.21 + + 198.21. Tax due payable from entire estate; third persons. +If the tax or any part thereof is paid or collected out of that part of the + +estate passing to or in possession of any person other than the personal +representative in his or her capacity as such, such person shall be entitled to a +reimbursement out of any part of the estate still undistributed or by a just and +equitable contribution by the person whose interest in the estate of the +decedent would have been reduced if the tax had been paid before the +distribution of the estate or whose interest in the estate is subject to an equal +or prior liability for the payment of tax, debts, or other charges against the +estate, it being the purpose and intent of this section that, so far as is practical +and unless otherwise directed by the will of the decedent, the tax shall be paid +out of the estate before its distribution; but the department shall not be +charged with enforcing contribution from any person. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(94); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; + +s. 12, ch. 80-153; s. 1039, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.22. +Fla. Stat. 198.22 + + 198.22. Lien for unpaid taxes. +Unless the tax is sooner paid in full, it shall be a lien for 12 years upon the + +gross estate of the decedent, except that such part of the gross estate as is +used for the payment of charges against the estate and expenses of its +administration, allowed by any court having jurisdiction thereof, shall be +divested of such lien, and except that such part of the gross estate of a +resident decedent as is transferred to a bona fide purchaser, mortgagee, or +pledgee, for an adequate and full consideration in money or moneys worth +shall be divested of such lien and such lien shall then attach to the +consideration received for such property from such purchaser, mortgagee, or +pledgee. If the department is satisfied that no tax liability exists or that the tax +liability of an estate has been fully discharged or provided for, it may issue a +waiver releasing any or all property of such estate from the lien herein +imposed. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(95); s. 1, ch. 57-108; s. 13, + +ch. 59-1; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 4, ch. 77-411. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.23. +Fla. Stat. 198.23 + + 198.23. Personal liability of personal representative. +If any personal representative shall make distribution either in whole or in + +part of any of the property of an estate to the heirs, next of kin, distributees, +legatees, or devisees without having paid or secured the tax due the state +under this chapter, or having obtained the release of such property from the +lien of such tax either by the department or pursuant to s. 198.32(2), he or she +shall become personally liable for the tax so due the state, or so much thereof +as may remain due and unpaid, to the full extent of the full value of any +property belonging to such person or estate which may come into the +personal representatives hands, custody, or control. + +HISTORY: +S. 16, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(96); s. 13, ch. 80-153; s. + +1040, ch. 95-147; s. 5, ch. 99-208. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.24. +Fla. Stat. 198.24 + + 198.24. Sale of real estate by personal representative to pay tax. +Every personal representative shall have the same right and power to take + +possession of or sell, convey, and dispose of real estate, as assets of the +estate, for the payment of the tax imposed by this chapter as he or she may +have for the payment of the debts of the decedent. + +HISTORY: +S. 17, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(97); s. 14, ch. 80-153; s. + +1041, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.25. +Fla. Stat. 198.25 + + 198.25. Actions to enforce payment of tax. +Actions may be brought within the time or times herein specified by the + +department to recover the amount of any taxes, penalties and interest due +under this chapter. Every such action shall be brought in the county where the +estate is being or has been administered, or if no administration be had in this +state, then in any county where any of the property of the estate shall be +situate. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(98); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.26. +Fla. Stat. 198.26 + + 198.26. No discharge of personal representative until tax is paid. +No final account of a personal representative shall be allowed by any court + +unless and until such account shows, and the judge of said court finds, that +the tax imposed by the provisions of this chapter upon the personal +representative, which has become payable, has been paid. The certificate of +the department of nonliability for the tax or its receipt for the amount of tax +therein certified shall be conclusive in such proceedings as to the liability or +the payment of the tax to the extent of said certificate. In the case of a +nontaxable estate, the court may consider the affidavit prepared pursuant to s. +198.32(2) as evidence of the nonliability for tax. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(99); s. 7, ch. 29718, 1955; + +ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 15, ch. 80-153; s. 6, ch. 99-208. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.28. +Fla. Stat. 198.28 + + 198.28. Time for assessment of tax. +The amount of estate tax due under this chapter shall be determined and + +assessed within 4 years from the date the return was filed, or within a period +expiring 90 days after the last day on which the assessment of a deficiency in +federal estate tax may lawfully be made under applicable provisions of the +Internal Revenue Laws of the United States, whichever date last occurs, and +no suit or other proceedings for the collection of any tax due under this +chapter shall be begun after such date; provided, however, that in the case of +a false or fraudulent return or of a failure to file a return, the tax may be +assessed, or a proceeding in court for the collection of such tax may be begun +without assessment, at any time. + +HISTORY: +S. 21, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(101); s. 5, ch. 28031, 1953; + +s. 8, ch. 29718, 1955. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.29. +Fla. Stat. 198.29 + + 198.29. Refunds of excess tax paid. +(1) Whenever it appears, upon the examination of any return made under + +this chapter or upon proof submitted to the department by the personal +representative, that an amount of estate tax has been paid in excess of the +tax legally due under this chapter, the amount of such overpayment, +together with any overpayment of interest thereon shall be refunded to the +personal representative and paid by the Chief Financial Officer; such +refund shall be made by the department as a matter of course regardless of +whether or not the personal representative has filed a written claim +therefor, except that upon request of the department, the personal +representative shall file with the department a conformed copy of any +written claim for refund of federal estate tax which has theretofore been +filed with the United States. + +(2) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, no refund of estate tax +shall be made nor shall any personal representative be entitled to bring any +action for refund of estate tax after the expiration of 4 years from the date +of payment of the tax to be refunded, unless there shall have been filed +with the department written notice of any administrative or judicial +determination of the federal estate tax liability of the estate, whichever +shall last occur, and such notice shall have been so filed not later than 60 +days after the determination shall have become final. + +(3) For the purpose of this section, an administrative determination shall +be deemed to have become final on the date of receipt by the personal +representative or other interested party of the final payment to be made +refunding federal estate tax or upon the last date on which the personal +representative or any other interested party shall receive notice from the +United States that an overpayment of federal estate tax has been credited +by the United States against any liability other than federal estate tax of +said estate. A final judicial determination shall be deemed to have occurred +on the date on which any judgment entered by a court of competent +jurisdiction and determining that there has been an overpayment of federal +estate tax becomes final. + + + +(4) Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent a personal +representative from bringing or maintaining an action in any court of +competent jurisdiction, within any period otherwise prescribed by law, to +determine any question bearing upon the taxable situs of property, the +domicile of a decedent, or otherwise affecting the jurisdiction of the state +to impose an inheritance or estate tax with respect to a particular item or +items of property. + +(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, estate tax may +not be refunded pursuant to any allegation that the decedent was a resident +of another state unless this state is a party to any compromise agreement +between the decedents estate and the other state or unless this state is +allowed to intervene as a party in any action in the other state in which the +residency of the decedent is at issue. + +HISTORY: +S. 22, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(102); s. 8-A, ch. 29718, + +1955; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 17, ch. 80-153; s. 2, ch. 89-356; s. 176, ch. +2003-261. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.30. +Fla. Stat. 198.30 + + 198.30. Circuit judge to report names of decedents, etc. +Each circuit judge of this state shall, on or before the 10th day of every + +month, notify the Agency for Health Care Administration of the names of all +decedents; the names and addresses of the respective personal +representatives, administrators, or curators appointed; the amount of the +bonds, if any, required by the court; and the probable value of the estates, in +all estates of decedents whose wills have been probated or propounded for +probate before the circuit judge or upon which letters testamentary or upon +whose estates letters of administration or curatorship have been sought or +granted, during the preceding month; and such report shall contain any other +information that the circuit judge may have concerning the estates of such +decedents. A circuit judge shall also furnish forthwith such further +information, from the records and files of the circuit court in regard to such +estates, as the department may from time to time require. + +HISTORY: +S. 23, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(103); s. 9, ch. 29718, 1955; + +ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 20, ch. 73-334; s. 18, ch. 80-153; s. 1042, ch. 95- +147; s. 14, ch. 98-191; s. 8, ch. 2017-36, effective May 25, 2017. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.31. +Fla. Stat. 198.31 + + 198.31. Duties and powers of corporate personal representatives of +nonresident decedents. + +If the personal representative of the estate of a nonresident is a corporation +duly authorized, qualified, and acting as personal representative in the +jurisdiction of the domicile of the decedent, it shall be under the duties and +obligations as to the giving of notices and filing of returns required by this +chapter, and may bring and defend actions and suits as may be authorized or +permitted by this chapter, to the same extent as an individual personal +representative, notwithstanding that such corporation may be prohibited from +exercising, in this state, any powers as personal representative; but nothing +herein contained shall be taken or construed as authorizing a corporation not +authorized to do business in this state to qualify or act as a personal +representative, an administrator, or in any other fiduciary capacity, if +otherwise prohibited by the laws of this state, except to the extent herein +expressly provided. + +HISTORY: +S. 24, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(104); s. 19, ch. 80-153. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.32. +Fla. Stat. 198.32 + + 198.32. Prima facie liability for tax. +(1) The estate of each decedent whose property is subject to the laws of + +the state shall be deemed prima facie liable for estate taxes under this +chapter and shall be subject to a lien therefor in such amount as may be +later determined to be due and payable on the estate as provided in this +chapter. This presumption of liability shall begin on the date of the death +of the decedent and shall continue until the full settlement of all taxes +which may be found to be due under this chapter, the settlement to be +shown by receipts for all taxes due to be issued by the department as +provided for in this chapter. + +(2) Whenever an estate is not subject to tax under this chapter and is not +required to file a return, the personal representative may execute an +affidavit attesting that the estate is not taxable. The form of the affidavit +shall be prescribed by the department, and shall include, but not be limited +to, statements regarding the decedents domicile and whether a federal +estate tax return will be filed, and acknowledgment of the personal +representatives personal liability under s. 198.23. This affidavit shall be +subject to record and admissible in evidence to show nonliability for tax. +This subsection applies to all estates, regardless of the date of death of the +decedent. + +HISTORY: +S. 25, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(105); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; + +s. 4, ch. 71-202; s. 20, ch. 80-153; s. 7, ch. 99-208; s. 2, ch. 2005-280. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.33. +Fla. Stat. 198.33 + + 198.33. Discharge of estate, notice of lien, limitation on lien, etc. +(1) Where no receipt for the payment of taxes, or no affidavit or + +certificate of nonliability for taxes has been issued or recorded as provided +for in this chapter, the property constituting the estate of the decedent in +this state shall be deemed fully acquitted and discharged of all liability for +estate and inheritance taxes under this chapter after a lapse of 10 years +from the date of the filing with the department of an estate tax return, +unless the department shall make out and file and have recorded in the +public records of the county wherein any part of the estate of the decedent +may be situated in this state, a notice of lien against the property of the +estate, specifying the amount or approximate amount of taxes claimed to +be due to the state under this chapter, which notice of lien shall continue +said lien in force for an additional period of 5 years or until payment is +made. Such notice of lien shall be filed and recorded in the book of deeds +in the office of the clerk of the circuit court; provided, where no receipt for +the payment of taxes, or no affidavit or certificate of nonliability for taxes, +has been issued or recorded as provided for in this chapter, the property +constituting the estate of the decedent in this state, if said decedent was a +resident of this state at the time of death, shall be deemed fully acquitted +and discharged of all liability for tax under this chapter after a lapse of 10 +years from the date of the death of the decedent, unless the department +shall make out and file and have recorded notice of lien as herein provided, +which notice shall continue said lien in force against such property of the +estate as is situate in the county wherein said notice of lien was recorded +for an additional period of 5 years or until payment is made. + +(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section or this +chapter, no lien for estate and inheritance taxes under this chapter shall +continue for more than 20 years from the date of death of the decedent, +whether the decedent be a resident or nonresident of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 26, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(106); s. 6, ch. 28031, 1953; + +s. 10, ch. 29718, 1955; s. 2, ch. 57-108; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1043, ch. + + + +95-147; s. 8, ch. 99-208. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.34. +Fla. Stat. 198.34 + + 198.34. Disposition of proceeds from taxes. +All taxes and fees levied and collected under this chapter shall be paid into + +the Treasury of the state to the credit of the General Revenue Fund. + +HISTORY: +S. 28, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(108); s. 10, ch. 26869, + +1951. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.35. +Fla. Stat. 198.35 + + 198.35. Interpretation and construction. +When not otherwise provided for in this chapter, the rules of interpretation + +and construction applicable to the estate and inheritance tax laws of the +United States shall apply to and be followed in the interpretation of this +chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 32, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(111); s. 5, ch. 77-411; s. 1, + +ch. 79-34; s. 1, ch. 80-16; s. 1, ch. 82-38. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.36. +Fla. Stat. 198.36 + + 198.36. Failure to produce records; penalty. +Whoever fails to comply with any duty imposed upon him or her by this + +law, or having in his or her possession or control any record, file, or paper, +containing or supposed to contain any information concerning the estate of +the decedent, or, having in his or her possession or control any property +comprised in the gross estate of the decedent, fails to exhibit the same upon +request to the department or any examiner, appraiser, or attorney appointed +pursuant to this chapter, who desires to examine the same in the performance +of his or her duties under this chapter, shall be liable to a penalty of not +exceeding $500 to be recovered, with costs of suit, in a civil action in the +name of the state. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(107); ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; + +s. 1044, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.37. +Fla. Stat. 198.37 + + 198.37. Failure to make return; penalty. +Any person required under this chapter to pay any tax, or required by law + +or regulations made under authority thereof to make a return, keep any +records, or supply any information for the purposes of the computation, +assessment, or collection of any tax imposed by this chapter, who willfully +fails to pay such tax, make such return, keep such records, or supply such +information, at the time or times required by law or regulations, is, in +addition to other penalties provided by law, guilty of a misdemeanor of the +first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 7473(3-a); s. 97, ch. 71-136; s. + +62, ch. 87-6; s. 36, ch. 87-101; s. 11, ch. 91-224. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.38. +Fla. Stat. 198.38 + + 198.38. False return; penalty. +Any person who willfully aids or assists in, or procures, counsels, or + +advises, the preparation or presentation under, or in connection with any +matter arising under, this chapter of a false or fraudulent return, affidavit, +claim, or document shall (whether or not such falsity or fraud is with the +knowledge or consent of the person authorized or required to present such +return, affidavit, claim or document) be guilty of a felony of the third degree, +punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 7473(3-a); s. 98, ch. 71-136. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.39. +Fla. Stat. 198.39 + + 198.39. False statement in return; penalty. +Whoever knowingly makes any false statement in any notice, affidavit, or + +return required to be filed or made under this chapter is guilty of a +misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. +775.083. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 7473(3-a); s. 99, ch. 71-136; s. + +63, ch. 87-6; s. 37, ch. 87-101; s. 12, ch. 91-224; s. 9, ch. 99-208. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.40. +Fla. Stat. 198.40 + + 198.40. Failure to pay tax, evasion of tax, etc.; penalty. +Any person required under this chapter to collect, account for, and pay + +over any tax imposed by this chapter who willfully fails to collect or +truthfully account for and pay over such tax, and any person who willfully +attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this chapter or +the payment thereof, shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be +guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. +775.083, or s. 775.084. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 7473(3-a); s. 100, ch. 71-136. + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.41. +Fla. Stat. 198.41 + + 198.41. Effectiveness of this chapter, etc. +This chapter shall remain in force and effect so long as the Government of + +the United States retains in full force and effect as a part of the Revenue +Laws of the United States a Federal Estate Tax, and this chapter shall cease to +be operative as and when the Government of the United States ceases to +impose any Estate Tax of the United States. + +HISTORY: +S. 29, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(109). + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.42. +Fla. Stat. 198.42 + + 198.42. Short title. +This chapter may be cited as the Estate Tax Law of Florida. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 16015, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(80). + + + + Title XIV. , Ch. 198. , 198.44. +Fla. Stat. 198.44 + + 198.44. Certain exemptions from inheritance and estate taxes. +The tax imposed under the inheritance and estate tax laws of this state in + +respect to personal property (except tangible property having an actual situs +in this state) shall not be payable: + +(1) If the transferor at the time of death was a resident of a state or +territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, which at the time +of death did not impose a death tax of any character in respect to property +of residents of this state (except tangible personal property having an +actual situs in such state, territory, or district); or + +(2) If the laws of the state, territory, or district of the residence of the +transferor at the time of death contained a reciprocal exemption provision +under which nonresidents were exempted from said death taxes of every +character in respect to personal property (except tangible personal property +having an actual situs therein), and provided that the state, territory, or +district of the residence of such nonresident decedent allowed a similar +exemption to residents of the state, territory, or district of residence of such +decedent. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 15747, 1931; CGL 1936 Supp. 1342(70); s. 1045, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. +Fla. Stat. Title XV + +TITLE XV. +HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTIONS. + +________ + Title XV. , Ch. 222. + +Fla. Stat. Title XV, Ch. 222 + + + +CHAPTER 222. +METHOD OF SETTING APART HOMESTEAD AND + +EXEMPTIONS. + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.01. + +Fla. Stat. 222.01 + + 222.01. Designation of homestead by owner before levy. +(1) Whenever any natural person residing in this state desires to avail + +himself or herself of the benefit of the provisions of the constitution and +laws exempting property as a homestead from forced sale under any +process of law, he or she may make a statement, in writing, containing a +description of the real property, mobile home, or modular home claimed to +be exempt and declaring that the real property, mobile home, or modular +home is the homestead of the party in whose behalf such claim is being +made. Such statement shall be signed by the person making it and shall be +recorded in the circuit court. + +(2) When a certified copy of a judgment has been filed in the public +records of a county pursuant to chapter 55, a person who is entitled to the +benefit of the provisions of the State Constitution exempting real property +as homestead and who has a contract to sell or a commitment from a lender +for a mortgage on the homestead may file a notice of homestead in the +public records of the county in which the homestead property is located in +substantially the following form: +NOTICE OF HOMESTEAD +To: (Name and address of judgment creditor as shown on recorded + +judgment and name and address of any other person shown in the recorded +judgment to receive a copy of the Notice of Homestead). + +You are notified that the undersigned claims as homestead exempt from +levy and execution under Section 4, Article X of the State Constitution, the +following described property: + +(Legal description) +The undersigned certifies, under oath, that he or she has applied for and + + + +received the homestead tax exemption as to the above-described property, +that ___________ is the tax identification parcel number of this property, and +that the undersigned has resided on this property continuously and +uninterruptedly from (date) to the date of this Notice of Homestead. Further, +the undersigned will either convey or mortgage the above-described property +pursuant to the following: + +(Describe the contract of sale or loan commitment by date, names of +parties, date of anticipated closing, and amount. The name, address, and +telephone number of the person conducting the anticipated closing must be +set forth.) + +The undersigned also certifies, under oath, that the judgment lien filed by +you on (date) and recorded in Official Records Book ___________, Page +___________, of the Public Records of ___________ County, Florida, does +not constitute a valid lien on the described property. + +YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED, PURSUANT TO SECTION 222.01 +ET SEQ., FLORIDA STATUTES, THAT WITHIN 45 DAYS AFTER THE +MAILING OF THIS NOTICE YOU MUST FILE AN ACTION IN THE +CIRCUIT COURT OF ___________ COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOR A +DECLARATORY JUDGMENT TO DETERMINE THE +CONSTITUTIONAL HOMESTEAD STATUS OF THE SUBJECT +PROPERTY OR TO FORECLOSE YOUR JUDGMENT LIEN ON THE +PROPERTY AND RECORD A LIS PENDENS IN THE PUBLIC +RECORDS OF THE COUNTY WHERE THE HOMESTEAD IS +LOCATED. YOUR FAILURE TO SO ACT WILL RESULT IN ANY +BUYER OR LENDER, OR HIS OR HER SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, +UNDER THE ABOVE-DESCRIBED CONTRACT OF SALE OR LOAN +COMMITMENT TO TAKE FREE AND CLEAR OF ANY JUDGMENT +LIEN YOU MAY HAVE ON THE PROPERTY. + +This ___________ day of ___________, 2___________. +_____________________________ + +(Signature of Owner) +_____________________________ + +(Printed Name of Owner) + + + +_____________________________ +(Owners Address) + +Sworn to and subscribed before me by ___________ who is personally +known to me or produced ___________ as identification, this ___________ +day of ___________, 2___________. + +_____________________________ +Notary Public + +(3) The clerk shall mail a copy of the notice of homestead to the +judgment lienor, by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address +shown in the most recent recorded judgment or accompanying affidavit, +and to any other person designated in the most recent recorded judgment or +accompanying affidavit to receive the notice of homestead, and shall +certify to such service on the face of such notice and record the notice. +Notwithstanding the use of certified mail, return receipt requested, service +shall be deemed complete upon mailing. + +(4) A lien pursuant to chapter 55 of any lienor upon whom such notice is +served, who fails to institute an action for a declaratory judgment to +determine the constitutional homestead status of the property described in +the notice of homestead or to file an action to foreclose the judgment lien, +together with the filing of a lis pendens in the public records of the county +in which the homestead is located, within 45 days after service of such +notice shall be deemed as not attaching to the property by virtue of its +status as homestead property as to the interest of any buyer or lender, or his +or her successors or assigns, who takes under the contract of sale or loan +commitment described above within 180 days after the filing in the public +records of the notice of homestead. This subsection shall not act to prohibit +a lien from attaching to the real property described in the notice of +homestead at such time as the property loses its homestead status. + +(5) As provided in s. 4, Art. X of the State Constitution, this subsection +shall not apply to: +(a) Liens and judgments for the payment of taxes and assessments on real + +property. +(b) Liens and judgments for obligations contracted for the purchase of real + + + +property. +(c) Liens and judgments for labor, services, or materials furnished to repair + +or improve real property. +(d) Liens and judgments for other obligations contracted for house, field, + +or other labor performed on real property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 1715, 1869; RS 1998; GS 2520; RGS 3875; CGL 5782; s. 20, ch. + +73-334; s. 2, ch. 77-299; s. 1, ch. 83-40; s. 1195, ch. 95-147; s. 25, ch. 2000- +258; s. 17, ch. 2005-241. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.02. +Fla. Stat. 222.02 + + 222.02. Designation of homestead after levy. +Whenever a levy is made upon the lands, tenements, mobile home, or + +modular home of such person whose homestead has not been set apart and +selected, such person, or the persons agent or attorney, may in writing notify +the officer making such levy, by notice under oath made before any officer of +this state duly authorized to administer oaths, at any time before the day +appointed for the sale thereof, of what such person regards as his or her +homestead, with a description thereof; and the remainder only shall be +subject to sale under such levy. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 1715, 1869; RS 1999; GS 2521; RGS 3876; CGL 5783; s. 3, ch. + +77-299; s. 2, ch. 83-40; s. 1196, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.03. +Fla. Stat. 222.03 + + 222.03. Survey at instance of dissatisfied creditor. +If the creditor in any execution or process sought to be levied is dissatisfied + +with the quantity of land selected and set apart, and shall himself or herself, +or by his or her agent or attorney, notify the officer levying, the officer shall +at the creditors request cause the same to be surveyed, and when the +homestead is not within the corporate limits of any town or city, the person +claiming said exemption shall have the right to set apart that portion of land +belonging to him or her which includes the residence, or not, at the persons +option, and if the first tract or parcel does not contain 160 acres, the said +officer shall set apart the remainder from any other tract or tracts claimed by +the debtor, but in every case taking all the land lying contiguous until the +whole quantity of 160 acres is made up. The person claiming the exemption +shall not be forced to take as his or her homestead any tract or portion of a +tract, if any defect exists in the title, except at the persons option. The +expense of such survey shall be chargeable on the execution as costs; but if it +shall appear that the person claiming such exemption does not own more than +160 acres in the state, the expenses of said survey shall be paid by the person +directing the same to be made. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 1715, 1869; s. 1, ch. 1944, 1873; RS 2000; GS 2522; RGS 3877; + +CGL 5784; s. 1197, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.04. +Fla. Stat. 222.04 + + 222.04. Sale after survey. +After such survey has been made, the officer making the levy may sell the + +property levied upon not included in such property set off in such manner. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 1715, 1869; RS 2001; GS 2523; RGS 3878; CGL 5785. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.05. +Fla. Stat. 222.05 + + 222.05. Setting apart leasehold. +Any person owning and occupying any dwelling house, including a mobile + +home used as a residence, or modular home, on land not his or her own which +he or she may lawfully possess, by lease or otherwise, and claiming such +house, mobile home, or modular home as his or her homestead, shall be +entitled to the exemption of such house, mobile home, or modular home from +levy and sale as aforesaid. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 1715, 1869; RS 2002; GS 2524; RGS 3879; CGL 5786; s. 1, ch. + +77-299; s. 1198, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.061. +Fla. Stat. 222.061 + + 222.061. Method of exempting personal property; inventory. +(1) When a levy is made by writ of execution, writ of attachment, or writ + +of garnishment upon personal property which is allowed by law or by the +State Constitution to be exempt from levy and sale, the debtor may claim +such personal property to be exempt from sale by making, within 15 days +after the date of the levy, an inventory of his or her personal property. The +inventory shall show the fair market valuation of the property listed and +shall have an affidavit attached certifying that the inventory contains a +correct list of all personal property owned by the debtor in this state and +that the value shown is the fair market value of the property. The debtor +shall designate the property listed in the schedule which he or she claims to +be exempt from levy and sale. + +(2) The original inventory and affidavit shall be filed with the court +which issued the writ. The debtor, by mail or hand delivery, shall promptly +serve one copy on the judgment creditor and furnish one copy to the sheriff +who executed the writ. If the creditor desires to object to the inventory, he +or she shall file an objection with the court which issued the writ within 5 +days after service of the inventory, or he or she shall be deemed to admit +the inventory as true. If the creditor does not file an objection, the clerk of +the court shall immediately send the case file to the court issuing the writ, +and the court shall promptly issue an order exempting the items claimed. +Such order shall be sent by the court to the sheriff directing him or her to +promptly redeliver to the debtor any exempt property under the levy and to +sell any nonexempt property under the levy according to law. + +(3) If the creditor files an objection, he or she shall promptly serve, by +mail or hand delivery, one copy on the debtor and furnish one copy to the +sheriff who executed the writ. Upon the filing of an objection, the clerk +shall immediately send the case file to the court issuing the writ, and the +court shall automatically schedule a prompt evidentiary hearing to +determine the validity of the objection and shall enter its order therein +describing the exempt and nonexempt property. Upon its issuance, the +order shall be sent by the court to the sheriff directing him or her to +promptly redeliver to the debtor any exempt property under the levy and to + + + +sell the nonexempt property under the levy according to law. +(4) The court shall appoint a disinterested appraiser to assist in its + +evidentiary hearing unless the debtor and creditor mutually waive the +appointment of such appraiser. The appraiser shall take and file an oath +that he or she will faithfully appraise the property at its fair market value +and that he or she will file a signed and sworn appraisal with the court as +required by law. Notice of the time and place of the inspection of the +property for the purpose of its appraisal shall be given by the appraiser to +the debtor, creditor, and sheriff, at least 24 hours before the inspection is +made. The appraiser shall be entitled to a reasonable fee as determined by +the court for his or her services. The appraisers fee shall be taxed as costs, +but no costs shall be assessed against the debtor for the proceedings under +this section if the debtor prevails on his or her claim of exemption. The +court may require the creditor to deposit a cash bond, a surety bond, or +other security, conditioned on the creditors obligation to pay reasonable +appraisal expenses, not to exceed $100. + +(5) During the pendency of proceedings under this section, the sheriff +shall safeguard the property seized under the writ, and the creditor shall +deposit sufficient moneys with the sheriff to pay the cost of such +safeguarding until the property is sold or redelivered to the debtor. When +the sheriff receives a copy of a court order identifying which property has +been declared exempt and which property has been declared not exempt +and ordering the sale of the property not exempt from levy, he or she shall +sell the property. + +(6) The party who successfully maintains his or her claim at the time of +the evidentiary hearing may be entitled to reasonable attorneys fees and +shall be entitled to costs. The costs shall include, but not be limited to, +appraisal fees, storage fees, and such other costs incurred as a result of the +levy. + +(7) No inventory or schedule to exempt personal property from sale shall +be accepted prior to a levy on the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 85-272; s. 61, ch. 87-224; s. 1199, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.07. +Fla. Stat. 222.07 + + 222.07. Defendants rights of selection. +Upon the completion of the inventory the person entitled to the exemption, + +or the persons agent or attorney, may select from such an inventory an +amount of property not exceeding, according to such appraisal, the amount of +value exempted; but if the person so entitled, or the persons agent or +attorney, does not appear and make such selection, the officer shall make the +selection for him or her, and the property not so selected as exempt may be +sold. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 1715, 1869; RS 2004; GS 2526; RGS 3881; CGL 5788; s. 1200, + +ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.08. +Fla. Stat. 222.08 + + 222.08. Jurisdiction to set apart homestead and exemption. +The circuit courts have equity jurisdiction to order and decree the setting + +apart of homesteads and of exemptions of personal property from forced +sales. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 3246, 1881; RS 2005; GS 2527; RGS 3882; CGL 5789. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.09. +Fla. Stat. 222.09 + + 222.09. Injunction to prevent sale. +The circuit courts have equity jurisdiction to enjoin the sale of all property, + +real and personal, that is exempt from forced sale. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 3246, 1881; RS 2006; GS 2528; RGS 3883; CGL 5790. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.10. +Fla. Stat. 222.10 + + 222.10. Jurisdiction to subject property claimed to be exempt. +The circuit courts have equity jurisdiction upon bill filed by a creditor or + +other person interested in enforcing any unsatisfied judgment or decree, to +determine whether any property, real or personal, claimed to be exempt, is so +exempt, and in case it be not exempt, the court shall, by its decree subject it, +or so much thereof as may be necessary, to the satisfaction of said judgment +or decree and may enjoin the sheriff or other officer from setting apart as +exempt property, real or personal, which is not exempt, and may annul all +exemptions made and set apart by the sheriff or other officer. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 3246, 1881; RS 2007; GS 2529; RGS 3884; CGL 5791. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.11. +Fla. Stat. 222.11 + + 222.11. Exemption of wages from garnishment. +(1) As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Earnings includes compensation paid or payable, in money of a sum +certain, for personal services or labor whether denominated as wages, salary, +commission, or bonus. + +(b) Disposable earnings means that part of the earnings of any head of +family remaining after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts +required by law to be withheld. + +(c) Head of family includes any natural person who is providing more +than one-half of the support for a child or other dependent. + +(2)(a) All of the disposable earnings of a head of family whose disposable +earnings are less than or equal to $750 a week are exempt from attachment +or garnishment. +(b) Disposable earnings of a head of a family, which are greater than $750 + +a week, may not be attached or garnished unless such person has agreed +otherwise in writing. The agreement to waive the protection provided by this +paragraph must: + +1. Be written in the same language as the contract or agreement to which +the waiver relates; + +2. Be contained in a separate document attached to the contract or +agreement; and + +3. Be in substantially the following form in at least 14-point type: +IF YOU PROVIDE MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF THE SUPPORT FOR + +A CHILD OR OTHER DEPENDENT, ALL OR PART OF YOUR INCOME +IS EXEMPT FROM GARNISHMENT UNDER FLORIDA LAW. YOU +CAN WAIVE THIS PROTECTION ONLY BY SIGNING THIS +DOCUMENT. BY SIGNING BELOW, YOU AGREE TO WAIVE THE +PROTECTION FROM GARNISHMENT. + +(Consumers Signature) (Date Signed) + + + +I have fully explained this document to the consumer. +(Consumers Signature) (Date Signed) +The amount attached or garnished may not exceed the amount allowed + +under the Consumer Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 1673. +(c) Disposable earnings of a person other than a head of family may not be + +attached or garnished in excess of the amount allowed under the Consumer +Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 1673. + +(3) Earnings that are exempt under subsection (2) and are credited or +deposited in any financial institution are exempt from attachment or +garnishment for 6 months after the earnings are received by the financial +institution if the funds can be traced and properly identified as earnings. +Commingling of earnings with other funds does not by itself defeat the +ability of a head of family to trace earnings. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2065, 1875; RS 2008; GS 2530; RGS 3885; CGL 5792; s. 1, ch. + +81-301; s. 6, ch. 85-272; s. 2, ch. 93-256; s. 1, ch. 2010-97, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.12. +Fla. Stat. 222.12 + + 222.12. Proceedings for exemption. [Repealed] +Repealed by s. 3, ch. 2013-233, effective July 1, 2013. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2065, 1875; RS 2009; GS 2531; RGS 3886; CGL 5793; s. 1201, + +ch. 95-147; s. 26, ch. 2000-258. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.13. +Fla. Stat. 222.13 + + 222.13. Life insurance policies; disposition of proceeds. +(1) Whenever any person residing in the state shall die leaving insurance + +on his or her life, the said insurance shall inure exclusively to the benefit of +the person for whose use and benefit such insurance is designated in the +policy, and the proceeds thereof shall be exempt from the claims of +creditors of the insured unless the insurance policy or a valid assignment +thereof provides otherwise. Notwithstanding the foregoing, whenever the +insurance, by designation or otherwise, is payable to the insured or to the +insureds estate or to his or her executors, administrators, or assigns, the +insurance proceeds shall become a part of the insureds estate for all +purposes and shall be administered by the personal representative of the +estate of the insured in accordance with the probate laws of the state in like +manner as other assets of the insureds estate. + +(2) Payments as herein directed shall, in every such case, discharge the +insurer from any further liability under the policy, and the insurer shall in +no event be responsible for, or be required to see to, the application of such +payments. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 1864, 1872; RS 2347; s. 1, ch. 4555, 1897; s. 1, ch. 5165, 1903; + +GS 3154; RGS 4977; CGL 7065; s. 1, ch. 29861, 1955; s. 1, ch. 59-333; s. 1, +ch. 63-230; s. 1, ch. 70-376; s. 51, ch. 71-355; s. 1202, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.14. +Fla. Stat. 222.14 + + 222.14. Exemption of cash surrender value of life insurance policies +and annuity contracts from legal process. + +The cash surrender values of life insurance policies issued upon the lives +of citizens or residents of the state and the proceeds of annuity contracts +issued to citizens or residents of the state, upon whatever form, shall not in +any case be liable to attachment, garnishment or legal process in favor of any +creditor of the person whose life is so insured or of any creditor of the person +who is the beneficiary of such annuity contract, unless the insurance policy or +annuity contract was effected for the benefit of such creditor. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 10154, 1925; CGL 7066; s. 1, ch. 78-76. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.15. +Fla. Stat. 222.15 + + 222.15. Wages or reemployment assistance or unemployment +compensation payments due deceased employee may be paid spouse +or certain relatives. +(1) It is lawful for any employer, in case of the death of an employee, to + +pay to the wife or husband, and in case there is no wife or husband, then to +the child or children, provided the child or children are over the age of 18 +years, and in case there is no child or children, then to the father or mother, +any wages or travel expenses that may be due such employee at the time of +his or her death. + +(2) It is also lawful for the Department of Economic Opportunity, in +case of death of any unemployed individual, to pay to those persons +referred to in subsection (1) any reemployment assistance or +unemployment compensation payments that may be due to the individual +at the time of his or her death. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 7366, 1917; RGS 4979; CGL 7068; s. 1, ch. 20407, 1941; s. 1, ch. + +63-165; ss. 17, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 73-283; s. 10, ch. 79-7; s. 5, ch. 83- +174; s. 1203, ch. 95-147; s. 7, ch. 2003-36; s. 96, ch. 2011-142, eff. July 1, +2011; s. 52, ch. 2012-30, eff. July 1, 2012. + +Editors notes. +Section 93, ch. 2012-30, provides: If any provision of this act or its + +application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does +not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect +without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of +the act are severable. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.16. +Fla. Stat. 222.16 + + 222.16. Wages or reemployment assistance or unemployment +compensation payments so paid not subject to administration. + +Any wages, travel expenses, or reemployment assistance or unemployment +compensation payments so paid under the authority of s. 222.15 shall not be +considered as assets of the estate and subject to administration; provided, +however, that the travel expenses so exempted from administration shall not +exceed the sum of $300. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 7366, 1917; RGS 4980; CGL 7069; s. 2, ch. 20407, 1941; s. 2, ch. + +63-165; s. 53, ch. 2012-30, eff. July 1, 2012. + +Editors notes. +Section 93, ch. 2012-30, provides: If any provision of this act or its + +application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does +not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect +without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of +the act are severable. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.17. +Fla. Stat. 222.17 + + 222.17. Manifesting and evidencing domicile in Florida. +(1) Any person who shall have established a domicile in this state may + +manifest and evidence the same by filing in the office of the clerk of the +circuit court for the county in which the said person shall reside, a sworn +statement showing that he or she resides in and maintains a place of abode +in that county which he or she recognizes and intends to maintain as his or +her permanent home. + +(2) Any person who shall have established a domicile in the State of +Florida, but who shall maintain another place or places of abode in some +other state or states, may manifest and evidence his or her domicile in this +state by filing in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for the county in +which he or she resides, a sworn statement that his or her place of abode in +Florida constitutes his or her predominant and principal home, and that he +or she intends to continue it permanently as such. + +(3) Such sworn statement shall contain, in addition to the foregoing, a +declaration that the person making the same is, at the time of making such +statement, a bona fide resident of the state, and shall set forth therein his or +her place of residence within the state, the city, county and state wherein +he or she formerly resided, and the place or places, if any, where he or she +maintains another or other place or places of abode. + +(4) Any person who shall have been or who shall be domiciled in a state +other than the State of Florida, and who has or who may have a place of +abode within the State of Florida, or who has or may do or perform other +acts within the State of Florida, which independently of the actual intention +of such person respecting his or her domicile might be taken to indicate +that such person is or may intend to be or become domiciled in the State of +Florida, and if such person desires to maintain or continue his or her +domicile in such state other than the State of Florida, the person may +manifest and evidence his or her permanent domicile and intention to +permanently maintain and continue his or her domicile in such state other +than the State of Florida, by filing in the office of the clerk of the circuit +court in any county in the State of Florida in which the person may have a + + + +place of abode or in which the person may have done or performed such +acts which independently may indicate that he or she is or may intend to be +or become domiciled in the State of Florida, a sworn statement that the +persons domicile is in such state other than the State of Florida, as the +case may be, naming such state where he or she is domiciled and stating +that he or she intends to permanently continue and maintain his or her +domicile in such other state so named in said sworn statement. Such sworn +statement shall also contain a declaration that the person making the same +is at the time of the making of such statement a bona fide resident of such +state other than the State of Florida, and shall set forth therein his or her +place of abode within the State of Florida, if any. Such sworn statement +may contain such other and further facts with reference to any acts done or +performed by such person which such person desires or intends not to be +construed as evidencing any intention to establish his or her domicile +within the State of Florida. + +(5) The sworn statement permitted by this section shall be signed under +oath before an official authorized to take affidavits. Upon the filing of such +declaration with the clerk of the circuit court, it shall be the duty of the +clerk in whose office such declaration is filed to record the same in a book +to be provided for that purpose. For the performance of the duties herein +prescribed, the clerk of the circuit court shall collect a service charge for +each declaration as provided in s. 28.24. + +(6) It shall be the duty of the Department of Legal Affairs to prescribe a +form for the declaration herein provided for, and to furnish the same to the +several clerks of the circuit courts of the state. + +(7) Nothing herein shall be construed to repeal or abrogate other existing +methods of proving and evidencing domicile except as herein specifically +provided. + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ch. 20412, 1941; s. 1, ch. 26896, 1951; ss. 11, 35, ch. + +69-106; s. 15, ch. 70-134; s. 1204, ch. 95-147. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.18. +Fla. Stat. 222.18 + + 222.18. Exempting disability income benefits from legal processes. +Disability income benefits under any policy or contract of life, health, + +accident, or other insurance of whatever form, shall not in any case be liable +to attachment, garnishment, or legal process in the state, in favor of any +creditor or creditors of the recipient of such disability income benefits, unless +such policy or contract of insurance was effected for the benefit of such +creditor or creditors. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 20741, 1941. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.20. +Fla. Stat. 222.20 + + 222.20. Nonavailability of federal bankruptcy exemptions. +In accordance with the provision of s. 522(b) of the Bankruptcy Code of + +1978 (11 U.S.C. s. 522(b)), residents of this state shall not be entitled to the +federal exemptions provided in s. 522(d) of the Bankruptcy Code of 1978 (11 +U.S.C. s. 522(d)). Nothing herein shall affect the exemptions given to +residents of this state by the State Constitution and the Florida Statutes. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 79-363. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.201. +Fla. Stat. 222.201 + + 222.201. Availability of federal bankruptcy exemptions. +(1) Notwithstanding s. 222.20, an individual debtor under the federal + +Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 may exempt, in addition to any other +exemptions allowed under state law, any property listed in subsection (d) +(10) of s. 522 of that act. + +(2) The provisions of this section apply to any bankruptcy action that is +filed on or after October 1, 1987. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 87-375. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.21. +Fla. Stat. 222.21 + + 222.21. Exemption of pension money and certain tax-exempt funds or +accounts from legal processes. +(1) Money received by any debtor as pensioner of the United States + +within 3 months next preceding the issuing of an execution, attachment, or +garnishment process may not be applied to the payment of the debts of the +pensioner when it is made to appear by the affidavit of the debtor or +otherwise that the pension money is necessary for the maintenance of the +debtors support or a family supported wholly or in part by the pension +money. The filing of the affidavit by the debtor, or the making of such +proof by the debtor, is prima facie evidence; and it is the duty of the court +in which the proceeding is pending to release all pension moneys held by +such attachment or garnishment process, immediately, upon the filing of +such affidavit or the making of such proof. +(2)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d), any money or other assets +payable to an owner, a participant, or a beneficiary from, or any interest of +any owner, participant, or beneficiary in, a fund or account is exempt from +all claims of creditors of the owner, beneficiary, or participant if the fund +or account is: +1. Maintained in accordance with a master plan, volume submitter plan, + +prototype plan, or any other plan or governing instrument that has been +preapproved by the Internal Revenue Service as exempt from taxation under +s. 401(a), s. 403(a), s. 403(b), s. 408, s. 408A, s. 409, s. 414, s. 457(b), or s. +501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, unless it has been +subsequently determined that the plan or governing instrument is not exempt +from taxation in a proceeding that has become final and nonappealable; + +2. Maintained in accordance with a plan or governing instrument that has +been determined by the Internal Revenue Service to be exempt from taxation +under s. 401(a), s. 403(a), s. 403(b), s. 408, s. 408A, s. 409, s. 414, s. 457(b), +or s. 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, unless it has +been subsequently determined that the plan or governing instrument is not +exempt from taxation in a proceeding that has become final and +nonappealable; or + + + +3. Not maintained in accordance with a plan or governing instrument +described in subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2. if the person claiming +exemption under this paragraph proves by a preponderance of the evidence +that the fund or account is maintained in accordance with a plan or governing +instrument that: + +a. Is in substantial compliance with the applicable requirements for tax +exemption under s. 401(a), s. 403(a), s. 403(b), s. 408, s. 408A, s. 409, s. 414, +s. 457(b), or s. 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; or + +b. Would have been in substantial compliance with the applicable +requirements for tax exemption under s. 401(a), s. 403(a), s. 403(b), s. 408, s. +408A, s. 409, s. 414, s. 457(b), or s. 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of +1986, as amended, but for the negligent or wrongful conduct of a person or +persons other than the person who is claiming the exemption under this +section. + +(b) It is not necessary that a fund or account that is described in paragraph +(a) be maintained in accordance with a plan or governing instrument that is +covered by any part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act for +money or assets payable from or any interest in that fund or account to be +exempt from claims of creditors under that paragraph. + +(c) Any money or other assets or any interest in any fund or account that is +exempt from claims of creditors of the owner, beneficiary, or participant +under paragraph (a) does not cease to be exempt after the owners death by +reason of a direct transfer or eligible rollover that is excluded from gross +income under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, including, but not limited +to, a direct transfer or eligible rollover to an inherited individual retirement +account as defined in s. 408(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended. An interest in any fund or account awarded or received in a transfer +incident to divorce described in s. 408(d)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of +1986, as amended, is exempt upon the interest being awarded or received and +continues to be exempt thereafter. This paragraph is intended to clarify +existing law, is remedial in nature, and shall have retroactive application to +all inherited individual retirement accounts and to each transfer incident to +divorce without regard to the date an account was created or the transfer was +made. + +(d) Any fund or account described in paragraph (a) is not exempt from the + + + +claims of an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order or +from the claims of a surviving spouse pursuant to an order determining the +amount of elective share and contribution as provided in part II of chapter +732. However, the interest of any alternate payee under a qualified domestic +relations order is exempt from all claims of any creditor, other than the +Department of Revenue, of the alternate payee. As used in this paragraph, the +terms alternate payee and qualified domestic relations order have the +meanings ascribed to them in s. 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. + +(e) This subsection applies to any proceeding that is filed on or after the +effective date of this act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 87-375; s. 1, ch. 98-159; s. 25, ch. 99-8; s. 5, ch. 2005-82; s. 1, ch. + +2005-101; s. 1, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 1, ch. 2011-84, eff. May 31, +2011; s. 1, ch. 2022-167, effective June 3, 2022. + +Editors notes. +Sections 401(a), 402(c), 403(a), 403(b), 408, 408A, 409, 414, 457(b), and + +501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in this section, are +codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 401(a), 402(c), 403(a), 403(b), 408, 408A, 409, +414, 457(b), and 501(a). + +The introductory language of ch. 2011-84 provided in part: WHEREAS, +many residents of this state have individual retirement accounts, relying upon +the Legislatures intent that individual retirement accounts be exempt from +claims of creditors, and WHEREAS, the Legislature clearly intended in s. +222.21(2)(c), Florida Statutes, that inherited individual retirement accounts +included in s. 402(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, be +exempt from claims of creditors of the owner, beneficiary, or participant of +the inherited individual retirement account, and WHEREAS, in Robertson v. +Deeb, 16 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) the appellate court, contrary to the +Legislatures intent, held that an inherited individual retirement account was +not exempt from the beneficiaries creditors because such an account was not +included in property described in s. 222.21, Florida Statutes, a decision that +was followed in the Bankruptcy Court of the Middle District of Florida, In re: +Ard, 435 B.R. 719 (Bkrtcy. M.D. Fla. 2010). + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.22. +Fla. Stat. 222.22 + + 222.22. Exemption of assets in qualified tuition programs, medical +savings accounts, Coverdell education savings accounts, and +hurricane savings accounts from legal process. +(1) Moneys paid into or out of, the assets of, and the income of any + +validly existing qualified tuition program authorized by s. 529 of the +Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including, but not limited to, +the Florida Prepaid College Trust Fund advance payment contracts under s. +1009.98 and Florida Prepaid College Trust Fund participation agreements +under s. 1009.981, are not liable to attachment, levy, garnishment, or legal +process in the state in favor of any creditor of or claimant against any +program participant, purchaser, owner or contributor, or program +beneficiary. + +(2) Moneys paid into or out of, the assets of, and the income of a health +savings account or medical savings account authorized under ss. 220 and +223 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, are not liable to +attachment, levy, garnishment, or legal process in this state in favor of any +creditor of or claimant against any account participant, purchaser, owner or +contributor, or account beneficiary. + +(3) Moneys paid into or out of, the assets of, and the income of any +Coverdell education savings account, also known as an educational IRA, +established or existing in accordance with s. 530 of the Internal Revenue +Code of 1986, as amended, are not liable to attachment, levy, garnishment, +or legal process in this state in favor of any creditor of or claimant against +any account participant, purchaser, owner or contributor, or account +beneficiary. +(4)(a) Moneys paid into or out of, the assets of, and the income of any +hurricane savings account established by an insurance policyholder for +residential property in this state equal to twice the deductible sum of such +insurance to cover an insurance deductible or other uninsured portion of +the risks of loss from a hurricane, rising flood waters, or other catastrophic +windstorm event are not liable to attachment, levy, garnishment, or legal +process in this state in favor of any creditor of or claimant against any + + + +account participant, purchaser, owner or contributor, or account +beneficiary. +(b) As used in this subsection, the term hurricane savings account means + +an account established by the owner of residential real estate in this state, +which meets the requirements of homestead exemption under s. 4, Art. X of +the State Constitution, who specifies that the purpose of the account is to +cover the amount of insurance deductibles and other uninsured portions of +risks of loss from hurricanes, rising flood waters, or other catastrophic +windstorm events. + +(c) This subsection shall take effect only when the federal government +provides tax-exempt or tax-deferred status to a hurricane savings account, +disaster savings account, or other similar account created to cover an +insurance deductible or other uninsured portion of the risks of loss from a +hurricane, rising flood waters, or other catastrophic windstorm event. + +(5) Except as provided in s. 1009.986(7), as it relates to any validly +existing qualified ABLE program authorized by s. 529A of the Internal +Revenue Code, including, but not limited to, the Florida ABLE program +participation agreements under s. 1009.986, moneys paid into or out of +such a program, and the income and assets of such a program, are not +liable to attachment, levy, garnishment, or legal process in this state in +favor of any creditor of or claimant against any designated beneficiary or +other program participant. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 88-313; s. 2, ch. 89-296; s. 5, ch. 91-429; s. 2, ch. 98-159; s. 50, + +ch. 98-421; s. 2, ch. 99-220; s. 926, ch. 2002-387; s. 2, ch. 2005-101; s. 3, ch. +2015-56, effective May 21, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Sections 529, 220, 223, and 530 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, + +referred to in this section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 529, 220, 223, and +530, respectively. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.25. +Fla. Stat. 222.25 + + 222.25. Other individual property of natural persons exempt from legal +process. + +The following property is exempt from attachment, garnishment, or other +legal process: + +(1) A debtors interest, not to exceed $1,000 in value, in a single motor +vehicle as defined in s. 320.01. + +(2) A debtors interest in any professionally prescribed health aids for +the debtor or a dependent of the debtor. + +(3) A debtors interest in a refund or a credit received or to be received, +or the traceable deposits in a financial institution of a debtors interest in a +refund or credit, pursuant to s. 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended. This exemption does not apply to a debt owed for child support +or spousal support. + +(4) A debtors interest in personal property, not to exceed $4,000, if the +debtor does not claim or receive the benefits of a homestead exemption +under s. 4, Art. X of the State Constitution. This exemption does not apply +to a debt owed for child support or spousal support. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 93-256; s. 1, ch. 2001-129; s. 1, ch. 2007-185, eff. July 1, 2007; s. + +43, ch. 2008-4, eff. July 1, 2008. + +Editors notes. +Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in this + +section, is codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 32. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.29. +Fla. Stat. 222.29 + + 222.29. No exemption for fraudulent transfers. +An exemption from attachment, garnishment, or legal process provided by + +this chapter is not effective if it results from a fraudulent transfer or +conveyance as provided in chapter 726. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 93-256. + + + + Title XV. , Ch. 222. , 222.30. +Fla. Stat. 222.30 + + 222.30. Fraudulent asset conversions. +(1) As used in this section, conversion means every mode, direct or + +indirect, absolute or conditional, of changing or disposing of an asset, such +that the products or proceeds of the asset become immune or exempt by +law from claims of creditors of the debtor and the products or proceeds of +the asset remain property of the debtor. The definitions of chapter 726 +apply to this section unless the application of a definition would be +unreasonable. + +(2) Any conversion by a debtor of an asset that results in the proceeds of +the asset becoming exempt by law from the claims of a creditor of the +debtor is a fraudulent asset conversion as to the creditor, whether the +creditors claim to the asset arose before or after the conversion of the +asset, if the debtor made the conversion with the intent to hinder, delay, or +defraud the creditor. + +(3) In an action for relief against a fraudulent asset conversion, a creditor +may obtain: +(a) Avoidance of the fraudulent asset conversion to the extent necessary to + +satisfy the creditors claim. +(b) An attachment or other provisional remedy against the asset converted + +in accordance with applicable law. +(c) Subject to applicable principles of equity and in accordance with + +applicable rules of civil procedure: +1. An injunction against further conversion by the debtor of the asset or of + +other property. +2. Any other relief the circumstances may require. + +(4) If a creditor has obtained a judgment on a claim against the debtor, +the creditor, if the court so orders, may levy execution on the asset +converted or its proceeds. + +(5) A cause of action with respect to a fraudulent asset conversion is +extinguished unless an action is brought within 4 years after the fraudulent + + + +asset conversion was made. +(6) If an asset is converted and the converted asset is subsequently + +transferred to a third party, the provisions of chapter 726 apply to the +transfer to the third party. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 93-256. + + + + Title XXIX. +Fla. Stat. Title XXIX + +TITLE XXIX. +PUBLIC HEALTH + +________ + Title XXIX. , Ch. 393. + +Fla. Stat. Title XXIX, Ch. 393 + + + +CHAPTER 393. +DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES + + Title XXIX. , Ch. 393. , 393.063. +Fla. Stat. 393.063 + + 393.063. Definitions. +For the purposes of this chapter, the term: + +(1) Adult day training means training services that take place in a +nonresidential setting, separate from the home or facility in which the +client resides, and are intended to support the participation of clients in +daily, meaningful, and valued routines of the community. Such training +may be provided in work-like settings that do not meet the definition of +supported employment. + +(2) Agency means the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. +(3) Algorithm means the mathematical formula used by the agency to + +calculate budget amounts for clients which uses variables that have +statistically validated relationships to clients needs for services provided +by the home and community-based services Medicaid waiver program. + +(4) Allocation methodology is the process used to determine a clients +iBudget by summing the amount generated by the algorithm, and, if +applicable, any funding authorized by the agency for the client pursuant to +s. 393.0662(1)(b). + +(5) Autism means a pervasive, neurologically based developmental +disability of extended duration which causes severe learning, +communication, and behavior disorders with age of onset during infancy or +childhood. Individuals with autism exhibit impairment in reciprocal social +interaction, impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication and +imaginative ability, and a markedly restricted repertoire of activities and +interests. + +(6) Cerebral palsy means a group of disabling symptoms of extended +duration which results from damage to the developing brain that may occur +before, during, or after birth and that results in the loss or impairment of + + + +control over voluntary muscles. For the purposes of this definition, +cerebral palsy does not include those symptoms or impairments resulting +solely from a stroke. + +(7) Client means any person determined eligible by the agency for +services under this chapter. + +(8) Client advocate means a friend or relative of the client, or of the +clients immediate family, who advocates for the best interests of the client +in any proceedings under this chapter in which the client or his or her +family has the right or duty to participate. + +(9) Comprehensive assessment means the process used to determine +eligibility for services under this chapter. + +(10) Comprehensive transitional education program means the +program established in s. 393.18. + +(11) Developmental disabilities center means a state-owned and state- +operated facility, formerly known as a Sunland Center, providing for the +care, habilitation, and rehabilitation of clients with developmental +disabilities. + +(12) Developmental disability means a disorder or syndrome that is +attributable to intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, autism, spina bifida, +Down syndrome, Phelan-McDermid syndrome, or Prader-Willi syndrome; +that manifests before the age of 18; and that constitutes a substantial +handicap that can reasonably be expected to continue indefinitely. + +(13) Direct service provider means a person 18 years of age or older +who has direct face-to-face contact with a client while providing services +to the client or has access to a clients living areas or to a clients funds or +personal property. + +(14) Domicile means the place where a client legally resides and +which is his or her permanent home. Domicile may be established as +provided in s. 222.17. Domicile may not be established in Florida by a +minor who has no parent domiciled in Florida, or by a minor who has no +legal guardian domiciled in Florida, or by any alien not classified as a +resident alien. + +(15) Down syndrome means a disorder caused by the presence of an + + + +extra chromosome 21. +(16) Express and informed consent means consent voluntarily given in + +writing with sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the subject matter +to enable the person giving consent to make a knowing decision without +any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, or other form of constraint or +coercion. + +(17) Family care program means the program established in s. +393.068. + +(18) Foster care facility means a residential facility licensed under this +chapter which provides a family living environment including supervision +and care necessary to meet the physical, emotional, and social needs of its +residents. The capacity of such a facility may not be more than three +residents. + +(19) Group home facility means a residential facility licensed under +this chapter which provides a family living environment including +supervision and care necessary to meet the physical, emotional, and social +needs of its residents. The capacity of such a facility shall be at least 4 but +not more than 15 residents. + +(20) Guardian has the same meaning as in s. 744.102. +(21) Guardian advocate means a person appointed by a written order + +of the court to represent a person with developmental disabilities under s. +393.12. + +(22) Habilitation means the process by which a client is assisted in +acquiring and maintaining those life skills that enable the client to cope +more effectively with the demands of his or her condition and environment +and to raise the level of his or her physical, mental, and social efficiency. It +includes, but is not limited to, programs of formal structured education and +treatment. + +(23) High-risk child means, for the purposes of this chapter, a child +from 3 to 5 years of age with one or more of the following characteristics: +(a) A developmental delay in cognition, language, or physical + +development. +(b) A child surviving a catastrophic infectious or traumatic illness known + + + +to be associated with developmental delay, when funds are specifically +appropriated. + +(c) A child with a parent or guardian with developmental disabilities who +requires assistance in meeting the childs developmental needs. + +(d) A child who has a physical or genetic anomaly associated with +developmental disability. + +(24) Intellectual disability means significantly subaverage general +intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive +behavior which manifests before the age of 18 and can reasonably be +expected to continue indefinitely. For the purposes of this definition, the +term: +(a) Adaptive behavior means the effectiveness or degree with which an + +individual meets the standards of personal independence and social +responsibility expected of his or her age, cultural group, and community. + +(b) Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning means +performance that is two or more standard deviations from the mean score on +a standardized intelligence test specified in the rules of the agency. + +For purposes of the application of the criminal laws and procedural rules of +this state to matters relating to pretrial, trial, sentencing, and any matters +relating to the imposition and execution of the death penalty, the terms +intellectual disability or intellectually disabled are interchangeable with +and have the same meaning as the terms mental retardation or retardation +and mentally retarded as defined in this section before July 1, 2013. + +(25) Intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled means +a residential facility licensed and certified under part VIII of chapter 400. + +(26) Medical/dental services means medically necessary services that +are provided or ordered for a client by a person licensed under chapter 458, +chapter 459, or chapter 466. Such services may include, but are not limited +to, prescription drugs, specialized therapies, nursing supervision, +hospitalization, dietary services, prosthetic devices, surgery, specialized +equipment and supplies, adaptive equipment, and other services as required +to prevent or alleviate a medical or dental condition. + +(27) Personal care services means individual assistance with or + + + +supervision of essential activities of daily living for self-care, including +ambulation, bathing, dressing, eating, grooming, and toileting, and other +similar services that are incidental to the care furnished and essential to the +health, safety, and welfare of the client if no one else is available to +perform those services. + +(28) Phelan-McDermid syndrome means a disorder caused by the loss +of the terminal segment of the long arm of chromosome 22, which occurs +near the end of the chromosome at a location designated q13.3, typically +leading to developmental delay, intellectual disability, dolicocephaly, +hypotonia, or absent or delayed speech. + +(29) Prader-Willi syndrome means an inherited condition typified by +neonatal hypotonia with failure to thrive, hyperphagia or an excessive +drive to eat which leads to obesity usually at 18 to 36 months of age, mild +to moderate intellectual disability, hypogonadism, short stature, mild facial +dysmorphism, and a characteristic neurobehavior. + +(30) Relative means an individual who is connected by affinity or +consanguinity to the client and who is 18 years of age or older. + +(31) Resident means a person who has a developmental disability and +resides at a residential facility, whether or not such person is a client of the +agency. + +(32) Residential facility means a facility providing room and board +and personal care for persons who have developmental disabilities. + +(33) Residential habilitation means supervision and training with the +acquisition, retention, or improvement in skills related to activities of daily +living, such as personal hygiene skills, homemaking skills, and the social +and adaptive skills necessary to enable the individual to reside in the +community. + +(34) Residential habilitation center means a community residential +facility licensed under this chapter which provides habilitation services. +The capacity of such a facility may not be fewer than nine residents. After +October 1, 1989, new residential habilitation centers may not be licensed +and the licensed capacity for any existing residential habilitation center +may not be increased. + +(35) Respite service means appropriate, short-term, temporary care + + + +that is provided to a person who has a developmental disability in order to +meet the planned or emergency needs of the person or the family or other +direct service provider. + +(36) Restraint means a physical device, method, or drug used to +control dangerous behavior. +(a) A physical restraint is any manual method or physical or mechanical + +device, material, or equipment attached or adjacent to an individuals body so +that he or she cannot easily remove the restraint and which restricts freedom +of movement or normal access to ones body. + +(b) A drug used as a restraint is a medication used to control the persons +behavior or to restrict his or her freedom of movement and is not a standard +treatment for the persons medical or psychiatric condition. Physically +holding a person during a procedure to forcibly administer psychotropic +medication is a physical restraint. + +(c) Restraint does not include physical devices, such as orthopedically +prescribed appliances, surgical dressings and bandages, supportive body +bands, or other physical holding necessary for routine physical examinations +and tests; for purposes of orthopedic, surgical, or other similar medical +treatment; to provide support for the achievement of functional body position +or proper balance; or to protect a person from falling out of bed. + +(37) Seclusion means the involuntary isolation of a person in a room +or area from which the person is prevented from leaving. The prevention +may be by physical barrier or by a staff member who is acting in a manner, +or who is physically situated, so as to prevent the person from leaving the +room or area. For the purposes of this chapter, the term does not mean +isolation due to the medical condition or symptoms of the person. + +(38) Self-determination means an individuals freedom to exercise the +same rights as all other citizens, authority to exercise control over funds +needed for ones own support, including prioritizing these funds when +necessary, responsibility for the wise use of public funds, and self- +advocacy to speak and advocate for oneself in order to gain independence +and ensure that individuals with a developmental disability are treated +equally. + +(39) Significant additional need means an additional need for + + + +medically necessary services which would place the health and safety of +the client, the clients caregiver, or the public in serious jeopardy if it is not +met. The term does not exclude services for an additional need that the +client requires in order to remain in the least restrictive setting, including, +but not limited to, employment services and transportation services. The +agency may provide additional funding only after the determination of a +clients initial allocation amount and after the qualified organization has +documented the availability of nonwaiver resources. + +(40) Specialized therapies means those treatments or activities +prescribed by and provided by an appropriately trained, licensed, or +certified professional or staff person and may include, but are not limited +to, physical therapy, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, occupational +therapy, behavior therapy, physical management services, and related +specialized equipment and supplies. + +(41) Spina bifida means a medical diagnosis of spina bifida cystica or +myelomeningocele. + +(42) Support coordinator means an employee of a qualified +organization as provided in s. 393.0663 designated by the agency to assist +individuals and families in identifying their capacities, needs, and +resources, as well as finding and gaining access to necessary supports and +services; coordinating the delivery of supports and services; advocating on +behalf of the individual and family; maintaining relevant records; and +monitoring and evaluating the delivery of supports and services to +determine the extent to which they meet the needs and expectations +identified by the individual, family, and others who participated in the +development of the support plan. + +(43) Supported employment means employment located or provided +in an integrated work setting, with earnings paid on a commensurate wage +basis, and for which continued support is needed for job maintenance. + +(44) Supported living means a category of individually determined +services designed and coordinated in such a manner as to provide +assistance to adult clients who require ongoing supports to live as +independently as possible in their own homes, to be integrated into the +community, and to participate in community life to the fullest extent +possible. + + + +(45) Training means a planned approach to assisting a client to attain +or maintain his or her maximum potential and includes services ranging +from sensory stimulation to instruction in skills for independent living and +employment. + +(46) Treatment means the prevention, amelioration, or cure of a +clients physical and mental disabilities or illnesses. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 77-335; s. 1, ch. 79-148; s. 153, ch. 79-400; s. 3, ch. 81-23; s. 4, + +ch. 85-54; s. 1, ch. 85-147; s. 5, ch. 87-238; s. 5, ch. 88-398; s. 7, ch. 89-308; +ss. 2, 4, ch. 89-339; s. 27, ch. 90-306; s. 1, ch. 90-333; s. 17, ch. 91-158; s. 3, +ch. 94-154; s. 1045, ch. 95-148; s. 53, ch. 95-228; s. 1, ch. 95-293; s. 13, ch. +96-417; s. 23, ch. 98-171; s. 140, ch. 98-403; s. 80, ch. 99-8; s. 203, ch. 99- +13; s. 3, ch. 2000-338; s. 35, ch. 2002-400; s. 7, ch. 2004-260; s. 71, ch. +2004-267; s. 15, ch. 2006-197, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 10, ch. 2006-227, eff. July +1, 2006; s. 2, ch. 2008-244, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 2, ch. 2011-135, eff. July 1, +2011; s. 9, ch. 2013-162, eff. July 1, 2013; s. 1, ch. 2016-140, effective July +1, 2016; s. 6, ch. 2016-3, effective July 1, 2016; s. 38, ch. 2016-62, effective +July 1, 2016; ss. 11, 12, ch. 2016-65, eff. July 1, 2016; s. 58, ch. 2019-3, +effective July 3, 2019; s. 1, ch. 2020-71, effective July 1, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Section 36, ch. 2011-135 provides: If any provision of this act or its + +application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does +not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect +without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of +this act are severable. + +Section 39, ch. 2016-62, provides: The amendment made by this act to s. +393.063, Florida Statutes, expires July 1, 2017, and the text of that subsection +shall revert to that in existence on June 30, 2016, except that any amendments +to such text enacted other than by this act shall be preserved and continue to +operate to the extent that such amendments are not dependent upon the +portions of text which expire pursuant to this section. + + + + Title XXIX. , Ch. 393. , 393.12. +Fla. Stat. 393.12 + + 393.12. Capacity; appointment of guardian advocate. +(1) Capacity. + +(a) A person with a developmental disability may not be presumed +incapacitated solely by reason of his or her acceptance in nonresidential +services or admission to residential care and may not be denied the full +exercise of all legal rights guaranteed to citizens of this state and of the +United States. + +(b) The determination of incapacity of a person with a developmental +disability and the appointment of a guardian must be conducted in a separate +proceeding according to the procedures and requirements of chapter 744 and +the Florida Probate Rules. + +(2) Appointment of a guardian advocate. +(a) A circuit court may appoint a guardian advocate, without an + +adjudication of incapacity, for a person with developmental disabilities, if the +person lacks the decisionmaking ability to do some, but not all, of the +decisionmaking tasks necessary to care for his or her person or property or if +the person has voluntarily petitioned for the appointment of a guardian +advocate. Except as otherwise specified, the proceeding shall be governed by +the Florida Rules of Probate Procedure. + +(b) A person who is being considered for appointment or is appointed as a +guardian advocate need not be represented by an attorney unless required by +the court or if the guardian advocate is delegated any rights regarding +property other than the right to be the representative payee for government +benefits. This paragraph applies only to proceedings relating to the +appointment of a guardian advocate and the courts supervision of a guardian +advocate and is not an exercise of the Legislatures authority pursuant to s. +2(a), Art. V of the State Constitution. + +(c) If a petition is filed pursuant to this section requesting appointment of a +guardian advocate for a minor who is the subject of any proceeding under +chapter 39, the court division with jurisdiction over guardianship matters has +jurisdiction over the proceedings pursuant to this section when the minor + + + +reaches the age of 17 years and 6 months or anytime thereafter. The minor +shall be provided all the due process rights conferred upon an alleged +developmentally disabled adult pursuant to this chapter. The order of +appointment of a guardian advocate under this section shall issue upon the +minors 18th birthday or as soon thereafter as possible. Any proceeding +pursuant to this paragraph shall be conducted separately from any other +proceeding. + +(3) Petition. A petition to appoint a guardian advocate for a person with +a developmental disability may be executed by an adult person who is a +resident of this state. The petition must be verified and must: +(a) State the name, age, and present address of the petitioner and his or her + +relationship to the person with a developmental disability; +(b) State the name, age, county of residence, and present address of the + +person with a developmental disability; +(c) Allege that the petitioner believes that the person needs a guardian + +advocate and specify the factual information on which such belief is based; +(d) Specify the exact areas in which the person lacks the decisionmaking + +ability to make informed decisions about his or her care and treatment +services or to meet the essential requirements for his or her physical health or +safety; + +(e) Specify the legal disabilities to which the person is subject; and +(f) State the name of the proposed guardian advocate, the relationship of + +that person to the person with a developmental disability; the relationship that +the proposed guardian advocate had or has with a provider of health care +services, residential services, or other services to the person with a +developmental disability; and the reason why this person should be +appointed. If a willing and qualified guardian advocate cannot be located, the +petition shall so state. + +(4) Notice. +(a) Notice of the filing of the petition must be given to the person with a + +developmental disability, verbally and in writing in the language of the +person and in English. Notice must also be given to the next of kin of the +person with a developmental disability as defined in chapter 744, a health + + + +care surrogate designated pursuant to an advance directive under chapter 765, +an agent under a durable power of attorney, and such other persons as the +court may direct. A copy of the petition to appoint a guardian advocate must +be served with the notice. + +(b) The notice must state that a hearing will be held to inquire into the +capacity of the person with a developmental disability to exercise the rights +enumerated in the petition. The notice must also state the date of the hearing +on the petition. + +(c) The notice shall state that the person with a developmental disability +has the right to be represented by counsel of his or her own choice and the +court shall initially appoint counsel. + +(5) Counsel. Within 3 days after a petition has been filed, the court shall +appoint an attorney to represent a person with a developmental disability +who is the subject of a petition to appoint a guardian advocate. The person +with a developmental disability may substitute his or her own attorney for +the attorney appointed by the court. +(a) The court shall initially appoint a private attorney who shall be selected + +from the attorney registry compiled pursuant to s. 27.40. Such attorney must +have completed a minimum of 8 hours of education in guardianship. The +court may waive this requirement for an attorney who has served as a court- +appointed attorney in guardian advocate proceedings or as an attorney of +record for guardian advocates for at least 3 years. This education requirement +does not apply to a court-appointed attorney who is employed by an office of +criminal conflict and civil regional counsel. + +(b) An attorney representing a person with a developmental disability may +not also serve as the guardian advocate of the person, as counsel for the +guardian advocate, or as counsel for the person petitioning for the +appointment of a guardian advocate. + +(6) Hearing. +(a) Upon the filing of the petition to appoint a guardian advocate, the court + +shall set a date for holding a hearing on the petition. The hearing must be +held as soon as practicable after the petition is filed, but reasonable delay for +the purpose of investigation, discovery, or procuring counsel or witnesses +may be granted. + + + +(b) The hearing must be held at the time and place specified in the notice +of hearing and must be conducted in a manner consistent with due process. + +(c) The person with a developmental disability has the right to be present at +the hearing and shall be present unless good cause to exclude the individual +can be shown. The person has the right to remain silent, to present evidence, +to call and cross-examine witnesses, and to have the hearing open or closed, +as the person may choose. + +(d) At the hearing, the court shall receive and consider all reports relevant +to the persons disability, including, but not limited to, the persons current +individual family or individual support plan, the individual education plan, +and other professional reports documenting the condition and needs of the +person. + +(e) The Florida Evidence Code, chapter 90, applies at the hearing. The +burden of proof must be by clear and convincing evidence. + +(7) Advance directives for health care and durable power of +attorney. In each proceeding in which a guardian advocate is appointed +under this section, the court shall determine whether the person with a +developmental disability has executed any valid advance directive under +chapter 765 or a durable power of attorney under chapter 709. +(a) If the person with a developmental disability has executed an advance + +directive or durable power of attorney, the court must consider and find +whether the documents will sufficiently address the needs of the person with +a developmental disability for whom the guardian advocate is sought. A +guardian advocate may not be appointed if the court finds that the advance +directive or durable power of attorney provides an alternative to the +appointment of a guardian advocate which will sufficiently address the needs +of the person with a developmental disability. + +(b) If an interested person seeks to contest an advance directive or durable +power of attorney executed by a person with a developmental disability, the +interested person shall file a verified statement. The verified statement shall +include the factual basis for the belief that the advance directive or durable +power of attorney is invalid or does not sufficiently address the needs of the +person for whom a guardian advocate is sought or that the person with +authority under the advance directive or durable power of attorney is abusing + + + +his or her power. +(c) If an advance directive exists, the court shall specify in its order and + +letters of guardian advocacy what authority, if any, the guardian advocate +shall exercise over the persons health care surrogate. Pursuant to the grounds +listed in s. 765.105, the court, upon its own motion, may, with notice to the +health care surrogate and any other appropriate parties, modify or revoke the +authority of the health care surrogate to make health care decisions for the +person with a developmental disability. For purposes of this section, the term +health care decision has the same meaning as in s. 765.101. + +(d) If any durable power of attorney exists, the court shall specify in its +order and letters of guardian advocacy what powers of the agent, if any, are +suspended and granted to the guardian advocate. The court, however, may +not suspend any powers of the agent unless the court determines the durable +power of attorney is invalid or there is an abuse by the agent of the powers +granted. + +(8) Court order. If the court finds the person with a developmental +disability requires the appointment of a guardian advocate, the court shall +enter a written order appointing the guardian advocate and containing the +findings of facts and conclusions of law on which the court made its +decision, including: +(a) The nature and scope of the persons lack of decisionmaking ability; +(b) The exact areas in which the individual lacks decisionmaking ability to + +make informed decisions about care and treatment services or to meet the +essential requirements for his or her physical health and safety; + +(c) The specific legal disabilities to which the person with a developmental +disability is subject; + +(d) The name of the person selected as guardian advocate and the reasons +for the courts selection; and + +(e) The powers, duties, and responsibilities of the guardian advocate, +including bonding of the guardian advocate, as provided in s. 744.351. + +(9) Legal rights. A person with a developmental disability for whom a +guardian advocate has been appointed retains all legal rights except those +that have been specifically granted to the guardian advocate. + + + +(10) Powers and duties of guardian advocate. A guardian advocate for +a person with a developmental disability shall be a person or corporation +qualified to act as guardian, with the same powers, duties, and +responsibilities required of a guardian under chapter 744 or those defined +by court order under this section. However, a guardian advocate may not +be required to file an annual accounting under s. 744.3678 if the court +determines that the person with a developmental disability receives income +only from Social Security benefits and the guardian advocate is the +persons representative payee for the benefits. + +(11) Court costs. In all proceedings under this section, court costs may +not be charged against the agency. + +(12) Suggestion of restoration of rights. Any interested person, +including the person with a developmental disability, may file a suggestion +of restoration of rights with the court in which the guardian advocacy is +pending. The suggestion must state that the person with a developmental +disability is currently capable of exercising some or all of the rights that +were delegated to the guardian advocate and provide evidentiary support +for the filing of the suggestion. Evidentiary support includes, but is not +limited to, a signed statement from a medical, psychological, or psychiatric +practitioner by whom the person with a developmental disability was +evaluated and which supports the suggestion for the restoration. If the +petitioner is unable to provide evidentiary support due to the lack of access +to such information or reports, the petitioner may state a good faith basis +for the suggestion for the restoration of rights without attaching evidentiary +support. The court shall immediately set a hearing if no evidentiary support +is attached to inquire of the petitioner and guardian advocate as to the +reason and enter such orders as are appropriate to secure the required +documents. The person with a disability and the persons attorney shall be +provided notice of the hearing. +(a) Within 3 days after the filing of the suggestion, counsel shall be + +appointed for the person with a developmental disability as set forth in +subsection (5). + +(b) The clerk of the court shall immediately send notice of the filing of the +suggestion to the person with a developmental disability, the guardian +advocate, the attorney for the person with a developmental disability, the + + + +attorney for the guardian advocate, if any, and any other interested person +designated by the court. Formal notice shall be served on the guardian +advocate. Informal notice may be served on other persons. Notice need not be +served on the person who filed the suggestion. + +(c) Any objections to the suggestion must be filed within 20 days after +service of the notice. If an objection is timely filed, or if the evidentiary +support suggests that restoration of rights is not appropriate, the court shall +set the matter for hearing. The hearing shall be conducted as set forth in s. +744.1095. The court, at the hearing, shall consider all reports and testimony +relevant to the persons decisionmaking abilities at the hearing, including, but +not limited to, the persons current individual family plan or individual +support plan, the individual education plan, and other professional reports +that document the condition and needs of the person. + +(d) Notice of the hearing and copies of the objections shall be served upon +the person with a developmental disability, the attorney for the person with a +developmental disability, the guardian advocate, the attorney for the guardian +advocate, the next of kin of the person with a developmental disability, and +any other interested person as directed by the court. + +(e) If no objections are filed and the court is satisfied with the evidentiary +support for restoration, the court shall enter an order of restoration of rights +which were delegated to a guardian advocate and which the person with a +developmental disability may now exercise. + +(f) At the conclusion of a hearing, the court shall enter an order denying +the suggestion or restoring all or some of the rights that were delegated to the +guardian advocate. If only some rights are restored to the person with a +developmental disability, the court shall enter amended letters of guardian +advocacy. + +(g) If only some rights are restored to the person with a developmental +disability, the order must state which rights are restored and amended letters +of guardian advocacy shall be issued by the court. The guardian advocate +shall amend the current plan as required under chapter 744 if personal rights +are restored to the person with a developmental disability. The guardian +advocate shall file a final accounting as required under chapter 744 if all +property rights are restored to the person with a developmental disability. The +guardian advocate must file the amended plan or final accounting within 60 + + + +days after the order restoring rights and amended letters of guardian advocacy +are issued. A copy of the reports shall be served upon the person with a +developmental disability and the attorney for the person with a +developmental disability. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 29853, 1955; s. 1, ch. 61-426; s. 26, ch. 63-559; s. 1, ch. 70-343; + +s. 5, ch. 73-308; s. 25, ch. 73-334; s. 4, ch. 77-335; s. 2, ch. 80-171; s. 10, ch. +88-398; s. 109, ch. 89-96; s. 15, ch. 94-154; s. 96, ch. 95-143; s. 1049, ch. 95- +148; s. 8, ch. 2004-260; s. 108, ch. 2004-267; s. 1, ch. 2008-124, eff. July 1, +2008; s. 4, ch. 2015-112, effective July 1, 2015; s. 9, ch. 2022-195, effective +July 1, 2022. + +Editors Notes. +Section 1, ch. 2015-112, provides: This act may be cited as The Regis + +Little Act to Protect Children with Special Needs. + + + + Title XXX. +Fla. Stat. Title XXX + +TITLE XXX. +SOCIAL WELFARE. + +________ + Title XXX. , Ch. 409. + +Fla. Stat. Title XXX, Ch. 409 + + + +CHAPTER 409. +SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE. + + Title XXX. , Ch. 409. , Pt. III. +Fla. Stat. Title XXX, Ch. 409, Pt. III + + + +PART III. +Medicaid. + + Title XXX. , Ch. 409. , Pt. III. , 409.910. +Fla. Stat. 409.910 + + 409.910. Responsibility for payments on behalf of Medicaid-eligible +persons when other parties are liable. +(1) It is the intent of the Legislature that Medicaid be the payor of last + +resort for medically necessary goods and services furnished to Medicaid +recipients. All other sources of payment for medical care are primary to +medical assistance provided by Medicaid. If benefits of a liable third party +are discovered or become available after medical assistance has been +provided by Medicaid, it is the intent of the Legislature that Medicaid be +repaid in full and prior to any other person, program, or entity. Medicaid is +to be repaid in full from, and to the extent of, any third-party benefits, +regardless of whether a recipient is made whole or other creditors paid. +Principles of common law and equity as to assignment, lien, and +subrogation are abrogated to the extent necessary to ensure full recovery +by Medicaid from third-party resources. It is intended that if the resources +of a liable third party become available at any time, the public treasury +should not bear the burden of medical assistance to the extent of such +resources. + +(2) This section may be cited as the Medicaid Third-Party Liability +Act. + +(3) Third-party benefits for medical services shall be primary to medical +assistance provided by Medicaid. + +(4) After the agency has provided medical assistance under the Medicaid +program, it shall seek reimbursement from third-party benefits to the limit +of legal liability and for the full amount of third-party benefits, but not in +excess of the amount of medical assistance paid by Medicaid, as to: +(a) Claims for which the agency has a waiver pursuant to federal law; or +(b) Situations in which the agency learns of the existence of a liable third + +party or in which third-party benefits are discovered or become available + + + +after medical assistance has been provided by Medicaid. +(5) An applicant, recipient, or legal representative shall inform the + +agency of any rights the applicant or recipient has to third-party benefits +and shall inform the agency of the name and address of any person that is +or may be liable to provide third-party benefits. When the agency provides, +pays for, or becomes liable for medical services provided by a hospital, the +recipient receiving such medical services or his or her legal representative +shall also provide the information as to third-party benefits, as defined in +this section, to the hospital, which shall provide notice thereof to the +agency in a manner specified by the agency. + +(6) When the agency provides, pays for, or becomes liable for medical +care under the Medicaid program, it has the following rights, as to which +the agency may assert independent principles of law, which shall +nevertheless be construed together to provide the greatest recovery from +third-party benefits: +(a) The agency is automatically subrogated to any rights that an applicant, + +recipient, or legal representative has to any third-party benefit for the full +amount of medical assistance provided by Medicaid. Recovery pursuant to +the subrogation rights created hereby shall not be reduced, prorated, or +applied to only a portion of a judgment, award, or settlement, but is to +provide full recovery by the agency from any and all third-party benefits. +Equities of a recipient, his or her legal representative, a recipients creditors, +or health care providers shall not defeat, reduce, or prorate recovery by the +agency as to its subrogation rights granted under this paragraph. + +(b) By applying for or accepting medical assistance, an applicant, recipient, +or legal representative automatically assigns to the agency any right, title, and +interest such person has to any third-party benefit, excluding any Medicare +benefit to the extent required to be excluded by federal law. + +1. The assignment granted under this paragraph is absolute, and vests legal +and equitable title to any such right in the agency, but not in excess of the +amount of medical assistance provided by the agency. + +2. The agency is a bona fide assignee for value in the assigned right, title, +or interest, and takes vested legal and equitable title free and clear of latent +equities in a third person. Equities of a recipient, the recipients legal + + + +representative, his or her creditors, or health care providers shall not defeat or +reduce recovery by the agency as to the assignment granted under this +paragraph. + +3. By accepting medical assistance, the recipient grants to the agency the +limited power of attorney to act in his or her name, place, and stead to +perform specific acts with regard to third-party benefits, the recipients assent +being deemed to have been given, including: + +a. Endorsing any draft, check, money order, or other negotiable instrument +representing third-party benefits that are received on behalf of the recipient as +a third-party benefit. + +b. Compromising claims to the extent of the rights assigned, provided that +the recipient is not otherwise represented by an attorney as to the claim. + +(c) The agency is entitled to, and has, an automatic lien for the full amount +of medical assistance provided by Medicaid to or on behalf of the recipient +for medical care furnished as a result of any covered injury or illness for +which a third party is or may be liable, upon the collateral, as defined in s. +409.901. + +1. The lien attaches automatically when a recipient first receives treatment +for which the agency may be obligated to provide medical assistance under +the Medicaid program. The lien is perfected automatically at the time of +attachment. + +2. The agency is authorized to file a verified claim of lien. The claim of +lien shall be signed by an authorized employee of the agency, and shall be +verified as to the employees knowledge and belief. The claim of lien may be +filed and recorded with the clerk of the circuit court in the recipients last +known county of residence or in any county deemed appropriate by the +agency. The claim of lien, to the extent known by the agency, shall contain: + +a. The name and last known address of the person to whom medical care +was furnished. + +b. The date of injury. +c. The period for which medical assistance was provided. +d. The amount of medical assistance provided or paid, or for which + +Medicaid is otherwise liable. + + + +e. The names and addresses of all persons claimed by the recipient to be +liable for the covered injuries or illness. + +3. The filing of the claim of lien pursuant to this section shall be notice +thereof to all persons. + +4. If the claim of lien is filed within 3 years after the later of the date when +the last item of medical care relative to a specific covered injury or illness +was paid, or the date of discovery by the agency of the liability of any third +party, or the date of discovery of a cause of action against a third party +brought by a recipient or his or her legal representative, record notice shall +relate back to the time of attachment of the lien. + +5. If the claim of lien is filed after 3 years after the later of the events +specified in subparagraph 4., notice shall be effective as of the date of filing. + +6. Only one claim of lien need be filed to provide notice as set forth in this +paragraph and shall provide sufficient notice as to any additional or after-paid +amount of medical assistance provided by Medicaid for any specific covered +injury or illness. The agency may, in its discretion, file additional, amended, +or substitute claims of lien at any time after the initial filing, until the agency +has been repaid the full amount of medical assistance provided by Medicaid +or otherwise has released the liable parties and recipient. + +7. No release or satisfaction of any cause of action, suit, claim, +counterclaim, demand, judgment, settlement, or settlement agreement shall be +valid or effectual as against a lien created under this paragraph, unless the +agency joins in the release or satisfaction or executes a release of the lien. An +acceptance of a release or satisfaction of any cause of action, suit, claim, +counterclaim, demand, or judgment and any settlement of any of the +foregoing in the absence of a release or satisfaction of a lien created under +this paragraph shall prima facie constitute an impairment of the lien, and the +agency is entitled to recover damages on account of such impairment. In an +action on account of impairment of a lien, the agency may recover from the +person accepting the release or satisfaction or making the settlement the full +amount of medical assistance provided by Medicaid. Nothing in this section +shall be construed as creating a lien or other obligation on the part of an +insurer which in good faith has paid a claim pursuant to its contract without +knowledge or actual notice that the agency has provided medical assistance +for the recipient related to a particular covered injury or illness. However, + + + +notice or knowledge that an insured is, or has been a Medicaid recipient +within 1 year from the date of service for which a claim is being paid creates +a duty to inquire on the part of the insurer as to any injury or illness for which +the insurer intends or is otherwise required to pay benefits. + +8. The lack of a properly filed claim of lien shall not affect the agencys +assignment or subrogation rights provided in this subsection, nor shall it +affect the existence of the lien, but only the effective date of notice as +provided in subparagraph 5. + +9. The lien created by this paragraph is a first lien and superior to the liens +and charges of any provider, and shall exist for a period of 7 years, if +recorded, after the date of recording; and shall exist for a period of 7 years +after the date of attachment, if not recorded. If recorded, the lien may be +extended for one additional period of 7 years by rerecording the claim of lien +within the 90-day period preceding the expiration of the lien. + +10. The clerk of the circuit court for each county in the state shall endorse +on a claim of lien filed under this paragraph the date and hour of filing and +shall record the claim of lien in the official records of the county as for other +records received for filing. The clerk shall receive as his or her fee for filing +and recording any claim of lien or release of lien under this paragraph the +total sum of $2. Any fee required to be paid by the agency shall not be +required to be paid in advance of filing and recording, but may be billed to +the agency after filing and recording of the claim of lien or release of lien. + +11. After satisfaction of any lien recorded under this paragraph, the agency +shall, within 60 days after satisfaction, either file with the appropriate clerk of +the circuit court or mail to any appropriate party, or counsel representing such +party, if represented, a satisfaction of lien in a form acceptable for filing in +Florida. + +(7) The agency shall recover the full amount of all medical assistance +provided by Medicaid on behalf of the recipient to the full extent of third- +party benefits. +(a) Recovery of such benefits shall be collected directly from: +1. Any third party; +2. The recipient or legal representative, if he or she has received third-party + +benefits; + + + +3. The provider of a recipients medical services if third-party benefits +have been recovered by the provider; notwithstanding any provision of this +section, to the contrary, however, no provider shall be required to refund or +pay to the agency any amount in excess of the actual third-party benefits +received by the provider from a third-party payor for medical services +provided to the recipient; or + +4. Any person who has received the third-party benefits. +(b) Upon receipt of any recovery or other collection pursuant to this + +section, the agency shall distribute the amount collected as follows: +1. To itself, an amount equal to the state Medicaid expenditures for the + +recipient plus any incentive payment made in accordance with paragraph (14) +(a). + +2. To the Federal Government, the federal share of the state Medicaid +expenditures minus any incentive payment made in accordance with +paragraph (14)(a) and federal law, and minus any other amount permitted by +federal law to be deducted. + +3. To the recipient, after deducting any known amounts owed to the agency +for any related medical assistance or to health care providers, any remaining +amount. This amount shall be treated as income or resources in determining +eligibility for Medicaid. + +The provisions of this subsection do not apply to any proceeds received by +the state, or any agency thereof, pursuant to a final order, judgment, or +settlement agreement, in any matter in which the state asserts claims +brought on its own behalf, and not as a subrogee of a recipient, or under +other theories of liability. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to +any proceeds received by the state, or an agency thereof, pursuant to a final +order, judgment, or settlement agreement, in any matter in which the state +asserted both claims as a subrogee and additional claims, except as to those +sums specifically identified in the final order, judgment, or settlement +agreement as reimbursements to the recipient as expenditures for the +named recipient on the subrogation claim. + +(8) The agency shall require an applicant or recipient, or the legal +representative thereof, to cooperate in the recovery by the agency of third- +party benefits of a recipient and in establishing paternity and support of a + + + +recipient child born out of wedlock. As a minimal standard of cooperation, +the recipient or person able to legally assign a recipients rights shall: +(a) Appear at an office designated by the agency to provide relevant + +information or evidence. +(b) Appear as a witness at a court or other proceeding. +(c) Provide information, or attest to lack of information, under penalty of + +perjury. +(d) Pay to the agency any third-party benefit received. +(e) Take any additional steps to assist in establishing paternity or securing + +third-party benefits, or both. +(f) Paragraphs (a)-(e) notwithstanding, the agency shall have the discretion + +to waive, in writing, the requirement of cooperation for good cause shown +and as required by federal law. + +(9) The department shall deny or terminate eligibility for any applicant +or recipient who refuses to cooperate as required in subsection (8), unless +cooperation has been waived in writing by the department as provided in +paragraph (8)(f). However, any denial or termination of eligibility shall not +reduce medical assistance otherwise payable by the department to a +provider for medical care provided to a recipient prior to denial or +termination of eligibility. + +(10) An applicant or recipient shall be deemed to have provided to the +agency the authority to obtain and release medical information and other +records with respect to such medical care, for the sole purpose of obtaining +reimbursement for medical assistance provided by Medicaid. + +(11) The agency may, as a matter of right, in order to enforce its rights +under this section, institute, intervene in, or join any legal or administrative +proceeding in its own name in one or more of the following capacities: +individually, as subrogee of the recipient, as assignee of the recipient, or as +lienholder of the collateral. +(a) If either the recipient, or his or her legal representative, or the agency + +brings an action against a third party, the recipient, or the recipients legal +representative, or the agency, or their attorneys, shall, within 30 days after +filing the action, provide to the other written notice, by personal delivery or + + + +registered mail, of the action, the name of the court in which the case is +brought, the case number of such action, and a copy of the pleadings. If an +action is brought by either the agency, or the recipient or the recipients legal +representative, the other may, at any time before trial on the merits, become a +party to, or shall consolidate his or her action with the other if brought +independently. Unless waived by the other, the recipient, or his or her legal +representative, or the agency shall provide notice to the other of the intent to +dismiss at least 21 days prior to voluntary dismissal of an action against a +third party. Notice to the agency shall be sent to an address set forth by rule. +Notice to the recipient or his or her legal representative, if represented by an +attorney, shall be sent to the attorney, and, if not represented, then to the last +known address of the recipient or his or her legal representative. + +(b) An action by the agency to recover damages in tort under this +subsection, which action is derivative of the rights of the recipient or his or +her legal representative, shall not constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity +pursuant to s. 768.14. + +(c) In the event of judgment, award, or settlement in a claim or action +against a third party, the court shall order the segregation of an amount +sufficient to repay the agencys expenditures for medical assistance, plus any +other amounts permitted under this section, and shall order such amounts +paid directly to the agency. + +(d) No judgment, award, or settlement in any action by a recipient or his or +her legal representative to recover damages for injuries or other third-party +benefits, when the agency has an interest, shall be satisfied without first +giving the agency notice and a reasonable opportunity to file and satisfy its +lien, and satisfy its assignment and subrogation rights or proceed with any +action as permitted in this section. + +(e) Except as otherwise provided in this section, notwithstanding any other +provision of law, the entire amount of any settlement of the recipients action +or claim involving third-party benefits, with or without suit, is subject to the +agencys claims for reimbursement of the amount of medical assistance +provided and any lien pursuant thereto. + +(f) Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, in the +event of an action in tort against a third party in which the recipient or his or +her legal representative is a party which results in a judgment, award, or + + + +settlement from a third party, the amount recovered shall be distributed as +follows: + +1. After attorneys fees and taxable costs as defined by the Florida Rules of +Civil Procedure, one-half of the remaining recovery shall be paid to the +agency up to the total amount of medical assistance provided by Medicaid. + +2. The remaining amount of the recovery shall be paid to the recipient. +3. For purposes of calculating the agencys recovery of medical assistance + +benefits paid, the fee for services of an attorney retained by the recipient or +his or her legal representative shall be calculated at 25 percent of the +judgment, award, or settlement. + +4. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the agency +shall be entitled to all medical coverage benefits up to the total amount of +medical assistance provided by Medicaid. For purposes of this paragraph, +medical coverage means any benefits under health insurance, a health +maintenance organization, a preferred provider arrangement, or a prepaid +health clinic, and the portion of benefits designated for medical payments +under coverage for workers compensation, personal injury protection, and +casualty. + +(g) In the event that the recipient, his or her legal representative, or the +recipients estate brings an action against a third party, notice of institution of +legal proceedings, notice of settlement, and all other notices required by this +section or by rule shall be given to the agency, in Tallahassee, in a manner set +forth by rule. All such notices shall be given by the attorney retained to assert +the recipients or legal representatives claim, or, if no attorney is retained, by +the recipient, the recipients legal representative, or his or her estate. + +(h) Except as otherwise provided in this section, actions to enforce the +rights of the agency under this section shall be commenced within 6 years +after the date a cause of action accrues, with the period running from the later +of the date of discovery by the agency of a case filed by a recipient or his or +her legal representative, or of discovery of any judgment, award, or +settlement contemplated in this section, or of discovery of facts giving rise to +a cause of action under this section. Nothing in this paragraph affects or +prevents a proceeding to enforce a lien during the existence of the lien as set +forth in subparagraph (6)(c)9. + + + +(i) Upon the death of a recipient, and within the time prescribed by +ss. 733.702 and 733.710, the agency, in addition to any other +available remedy, may file a claim against the estate of the recipient +for the total amount of medical assistance provided by Medicaid for +the benefit of the recipient. Claims so filed shall take priority as class +3 claims as provided by s. 733.707(1)(c). The filing of a claim +pursuant to this paragraph shall neither reduce nor diminish the +general claims of the agency under s. 414.28, except that the agency +may not receive double recovery for the same expenditure. Claims +under this paragraph shall be superior to those under s. 414.28. The +death of the recipient shall neither extinguish nor diminish any right +of the agency to recover third-party benefits from a third party or +provider. Nothing in this paragraph affects or prevents a proceeding to +enforce a lien created pursuant to this section or a proceeding to set +aside a fraudulent conveyance as defined in subsection (16). + +(12) No action taken by the agency shall operate to deny the recipients +recovery of that portion of benefits not assigned or subrogated to the +agency, or not secured by the agencys lien. The agencys rights of +recovery created by this section, however, shall not be limited to some +portion of recovery from a judgment, award, or settlement. Only the +following benefits are not subject to the rights of the agency: benefits not +related in any way to a covered injury or illness; proceeds of life insurance +coverage on the recipient; proceeds of insurance coverage, such as +coverage for property damage, which by its terms and provisions cannot be +construed to cover personal injury, death, or a covered injury or illness; +proceeds of disability coverage for lost income; and recovery in excess of +the amount of medical benefits provided by Medicaid after repayment in +full to the agency. + +(13) No action of the recipient shall prejudice the rights of the agency +under this section. No settlement, agreement, consent decree, trust +agreement, annuity contract, pledge, security arrangement, or any other +device, hereafter collectively referred to in this subsection as a settlement +agreement, entered into or consented to by the recipient or his or her legal +representative shall impair the agencys rights. However, in a structured +settlement, no settlement agreement by the parties shall be effective or +binding against the agency for benefits accrued without the express written + + + +consent of the agency or an appropriate order of a court having personal +jurisdiction over the agency. + +(14) The agency is authorized to enter into agreements to enforce or +collect medical support and other third-party benefits. +(a) If a cooperative agreement is entered into with any agency, program, or + +subdivision of the state, or any agency, program, or legal entity of or operated +by a subdivision of the state, or with any other state, the agency is authorized +to make an incentive payment of up to 15 percent of the amount actually +collected and reimbursed to the agency, to the extent of medical assistance +paid by Medicaid. Such incentive payment is to be deducted from the federal +share of that amount, to the extent authorized by federal law. The agency may +pay such person an additional percentage of the amount actually collected +and reimbursed to the agency as a result of the efforts of the person, but no +more than a maximum percentage established by the agency. In no case shall +the percentage exceed the lesser of a percentage determined to be +commercially reasonable or 15 percent, in addition to the 15-percent +incentive payment, of the amount actually collected and reimbursed to the +agency as a result of the efforts of the person under contract. + +(b) If an agreement to enforce or collect third-party benefits is entered into +by the agency with any person other than those described in paragraph (a), +including any attorney retained by the agency who is not an employee or +agent of any person named in paragraph (a), then the agency may pay such +person a percentage of the amount actually collected and reimbursed to the +agency as a result of the efforts of the person, to the extent of medical +assistance paid by Medicaid. In no case shall the percentage exceed a +maximum established by the agency, which shall not exceed the lesser of a +percentage determined to be commercially reasonable or 30 percent of the +amount actually collected and reimbursed to the agency as a result of the +efforts of the person under contract. + +(c) An agreement pursuant to this subsection may permit reasonable +litigation costs or expenses to be paid from the agencys recovery to a person +under contract with the agency. + +(d) Contingency fees and costs incurred in recovery pursuant to an +agreement under this subsection may, for purposes of determining state and +federal share, be deemed to be administrative expenses of the state. To the + + + +extent permitted by federal law, such administrative expenses shall be shared +with, or fully paid by, the Federal Government. + +(15) Insurance and other third-party benefits may not contain any term +or provision which purports to limit or exclude payment or provisions of +benefits for an individual if the individual is eligible for, or a recipient of, +medical assistance from Medicaid, and any such term or provision shall be +void as against public policy. + +(16) Any transfer or encumbrance of any right, title, or interest to which +the agency has a right pursuant to this section, with the intent, likelihood, +or practical effect of defeating, hindering, or reducing reimbursement to +the agency for medical assistance provided by Medicaid, shall be deemed +to be a fraudulent conveyance, and such transfer or encumbrance shall be +void and of no effect against the claim of the agency, unless the transfer +was for adequate consideration and the proceeds of the transfer are +reimbursed in full to the agency, but not in excess of the amount of +medical assistance provided by Medicaid. +(17)(a) A recipient or his or her legal representative or any person +representing, or acting as agent for, a recipient or the recipients legal +representative, who has notice, excluding notice charged solely by reason +of the recording of the lien pursuant to paragraph (6)(c), or who has actual +knowledge of the agencys rights to third-party benefits under this section, +who receives any third-party benefit or proceeds for a covered illness or +injury, must, within 60 days after receipt of settlement proceeds, pay the +agency the full amount of the third-party benefits, but not more than the +total medical assistance provided by Medicaid, or place the full amount of +the third-party benefits in an interest-bearing trust account for the benefit +of the agency pending an administrative determination of the agencys +right to the benefits under this subsection. Proof that such person had +notice or knowledge that the recipient had received medical assistance +from Medicaid, and that third-party benefits or proceeds were in any way +related to a covered illness or injury for which Medicaid had provided +medical assistance, and that such person knowingly obtained possession or +control of, or used, third-party benefits or proceeds and failed to pay the +agency the full amount required by this section or to hold the full amount +of third-party benefits or proceeds in an interest-bearing trust account +pending an administrative determination, unless adequately explained, + + + +gives rise to an inference that such person knowingly failed to credit the +state or its agent for payments received from social security, insurance, or +other sources, pursuant to s. 414.39(4)(b), and acted with the intent set +forth in s. 812.014(1). +(b) If federal law limits the agency to reimbursement from the recovered + +medical expense damages, a recipient, or his or her legal representative, may +contest the amount designated as recovered medical expense damages +payable to the agency pursuant to the formula specified in paragraph (11)(f) +by filing a petition under chapter 120 within 21 days after the date of +payment of funds to the agency or after the date of placing the full amount of +the third-party benefits in the trust account for the benefit of the agency +pursuant to paragraph (a). The petition shall be filed with the Division of +Administrative Hearings. For purposes of chapter 120, the payment of funds +to the agency or the placement of the full amount of the third-party benefits in +the trust account for the benefit of the agency constitutes final agency action +and notice thereof. Final order authority for the proceedings specified in this +subsection rests with the Division of Administrative Hearings. This +procedure is the exclusive method for challenging the amount of third-party +benefits payable to the agency. In order to successfully challenge the amount +designated as recovered medical expenses, the recipient must prove, by clear +and convincing evidence, that the portion of the total recovery which should +be allocated as past and future medical expenses is less than the amount +calculated by the agency pursuant to the formula set forth in paragraph (11) +(f). Alternatively, the recipient must prove by clear and convincing evidence +that Medicaid provided a lesser amount of medical assistance than that +asserted by the agency. + +(c) The agencys provider processing system reports are admissible as +prima facie evidence in substantiating the agencys claim. + +(d) Venue for all administrative proceedings pursuant to this subsection +lies in Leon County, at the discretion of the agency. Venue for all appellate +proceedings arising from the administrative proceeding outlined in this +subsection lies at the First District Court of Appeal in Leon County, at the +discretion of the agency. + +(e) Each party shall bear its own attorney fees and costs for any +administrative proceeding conducted pursuant to paragraphs (b)-(e). + + + +(f) In cases of suspected criminal violations or fraudulent activity, the +agency may take any civil action permitted at law or equity to recover the +greatest possible amount, including, without limitation, treble damages under +ss. 772.11 and 812.035(7). + +(g) The agency may investigate and request appropriate officers or +agencies of the state to investigate suspected criminal violations or fraudulent +activity related to third-party benefits, including, without limitation, ss. +414.39 and 812.014. Such requests may be directed, without limitation, to the +Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General or to any +state attorney. Pursuant to s. 409.913, the Attorney General has primary +responsibility to investigate and control Medicaid fraud. + +(h) In carrying out duties and responsibilities related to Medicaid fraud +control, the agency may subpoena witnesses or materials within or outside +the state and, through any duly designated employee, administer oaths and +affirmations and collect evidence for possible use in either civil or criminal +judicial proceedings. + +(i) All information obtained and documents prepared pursuant to an +investigation of a Medicaid recipient, the recipients legal +representative, or any other person relating to an allegation of +recipient fraud or theft is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1): + +1. Until such time as the agency takes final agency action; +2. Until such time as the Department of Legal Affairs refers the case for + +criminal prosecution; +3. Until such time as an indictment or criminal information is filed by a + +state attorney in a criminal case; or +4. At all times if otherwise protected by law. + +(18) In recovering any payments in accordance with this section, the +agency is authorized to make appropriate settlements. + +(19) Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, the +agency shall not be required to seek reimbursement from a liable third +party on claims for which the agency determines that the amount it +reasonably expects to recover will be less than the cost of recovery, or that +recovery efforts will otherwise not be cost-effective. + + + +(20)(a) Entities providing health insurance as defined in s. 624.603, health +maintenance organizations and prepaid health clinics as defined in chapter +641, and, on behalf of their clients, third-party administrators, pharmacy +benefits managers, and any other third parties, as defined in s. 409.901(27), +which are legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item +or service as a condition of doing business in the state or providing +coverage to residents of this state, shall provide such records and +information as are necessary to accomplish the purpose of this section, +unless such requirement results in an unreasonable burden. +(b) An entity must respond to a request for payment with payment on the + +claim, a written request for additional information with which to process the +claim, or a written reason for denial of the claim within 90 working days after +receipt of written proof of loss or claim for payment for a health care item or +service provided to a Medicaid recipient who is covered by the entity. Failure +to pay or deny a claim within 140 days after receipt of the claim creates an +uncontestable obligation to pay the claim. + +(21) Entities providing health insurance as defined in s. 624.603, and +health maintenance organizations as defined in chapter 641, requiring tape +or electronic billing formats from the agency shall accept Medicaid billings +that are prepared using the current Medicare standard billing format. If the +insurance entity or health maintenance organization is unable to use the +agency format, the entity shall accept paper claims from the agency in lieu +of tape or electronic billing, provided that these claims are prepared using +current Medicare standard billing formats. + +(22) The agency is authorized to adopt rules to implement the provisions +of this section and federal requirements. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 90-232; s. 33, ch. 90-295; s. 38, ch. 91-282; s. 4, ch. 92-79; s. 4, + +ch. 94-251; s. 98, ch. 96-175; s. 3, ch. 96-331; s. 259, ch. 96-406; s. 1023, ch. +97-103; s. 32, ch. 98-191; s. 1, ch. 98-411; s. 184, ch. 99-8; s. 1, ch. 99-231; +s. 1, ch. 99-323; s. 8, ch. 99-356; s. 9, ch. 99-393; s. 67, ch. 99-397; s. 58, ch. +2000-153; s. 449, ch. 2003-261; s. 3, ch. 2005-140; s. 13, ch. 2008-246, eff. +July 1, 2008; s. 13, ch. 2010-187, eff. June 3, 2010; s. 6, ch. 2013-48, eff. +July 1, 2013; s. 2, ch. 2013-150, eff. July 1, 2013; s. 19, ch. 2017-129, + + + +effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XXX. , Ch. 409. , Pt. III. , 409.9101. +Fla. Stat. 409.9101 + + 409.9101. Recovery for payments made on behalf of Medicaid-eligible +persons. +(1) This section may be cited as the Medicaid Estate Recovery Act. +(2) It is the intent of the Legislature by this section to supplement + +Medicaid funds that are used to provide medical services to eligible +persons. Medicaid estate recovery shall be accomplished by the agency +filing a statement of claim against the estate of a deceased Medicaid +recipient as provided in part VII of chapter 733. Recovery shall be made +pursuant to federal authority in s. 13612 of the Omnibus Budget +Reconciliation Act of 1993, which amends s. 1917(b)(1) of the Social +Security Act, 42 U.S.C. s. 1396p(b)(1). + +(3) The acceptance of public medical assistance, as defined by Title XIX +(Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, including mandatory and optional +supplemental payments under the Social Security Act, shall create a debt to +the agency in the total amount paid to or for the benefit of the recipient for +medical assistance after the recipient reached 55 years of age. Payment of +benefits to a person under the age of 55 years does not create a debt. Upon +filing of a statement of claim in the probate proceeding, the agency shall be +an interested person as defined in s. 731.201 to the same extent as other +estate claimants. + +(4) The agency may amend the claim as a matter of right up to 1 year +after the last date medical services were rendered to the decedent. + +(5) The agencys provider processing system reports shall be admissible +as prima facie evidence in substantiating the agencys claim. + +(6) The debt created under this section shall not be enforced if the +recipient is survived by: +(a) A spouse; +(b) A child or children under 21 years of age; or +(c) A child or children who are blind or permanently and totally disabled + +pursuant to the eligibility requirements of Title XIX of the Social Security + + + +Act. +(7) No debt under this section shall be enforced against any property that + +is determined to be exempt from the claims of creditors under the +constitution or laws of this state. + +(8) The agency shall not recover from an estate if doing so would cause +undue hardship for the qualified heirs, as defined in s. 731.201. The +personal representative of an estate and any heir may request that the +agency waive recovery of any or all of the debt when recovery would +create a hardship. A hardship does not exist solely because recovery will +prevent any heirs from receiving an anticipated inheritance. The following +criteria shall be considered by the agency in reviewing a hardship request: +(a) The heir: +1. Currently resides in the residence of the decedent; +2. Resided there at the time of the death of the decedent; +3. Has made the residence his or her primary residence for the 12 months + +immediately preceding the death of the decedent; and +4. Owns no other residence; +(b) The heir would be deprived of food, clothing, shelter, or medical care + +necessary for the maintenance of life or health; +(c) The heir can document that he or she provided full-time care to the + +recipient which delayed the recipients entry into a nursing home. The heir +must be either the decedents sibling or the son or daughter of the decedent +and must have resided with the recipient for at least 1 year prior to the +recipients death; or + +(d) The cost involved in the sale of the property would be equal to or +greater than the value of the property. + +(9) Instances arise in Medicaid estate-recovery cases where the assets +include a settlement of a claim against a liable third party. The agencys +claim under s. 409.910 must be satisfied prior to including the settlement +proceeds as estate assets. The remaining settlement proceeds shall be +included in the estate and be available to satisfy the Medicaid estate- +recovery claim. The Medicaid estate-recovery share shall be one-half of + + + +the settlement proceeds included in the estate. Nothing in this subsection is +intended to limit the agencys rights against other assets in the estate not +related to the settlement. However, in no circumstances shall the agencys +recovery exceed the total amount of Medicaid medical assistance provided +to the recipient. + +(10) In instances where there are no liquid assets to satisfy the Medicaid +estate-recovery claim, if there is nonexempt personal property or real +property which is not protected homestead and the costs of sale will not +exceed the proceeds, the property shall be sold to satisfy the Medicaid +estate-recovery claim. Real property shall not be transferred to the agency +in any instance. + +HISTORY: +S. 68, ch. 99-397; s. 2, ch. 2001-226; s. 59, ch. 2013-18, eff. July 2, 2013. + + + + Title XXXIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XXXIII + +TITLE XXXIII. +REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, + +AND SOLICITATIONS. + +________ + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. + +Fla. Stat. Title XXXIII, Ch. 518 + + + +CHAPTER 518. +INVESTMENT OF FIDUCIARY FUNDS. + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.01. +Fla. Stat. 518.01 + + 518.01. Investments of funds received from United States Department +of Veterans Affairs. + +Subject to the conditions herein contained, and except as otherwise +authorized by law, guardians holding funds received from, or currently in +receipt of funds from, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, to +the extent of those funds alone, may invest such funds only in the following: + +(1) United States government obligations. In bonds or other +obligations, either bearing interest or sold on a discount basis, of the +United States, or the United States Treasury, or those for the payment of +the principal and interest of which the faith and credit of the United States +is pledged, including such bonds or obligations of the District of Columbia. + +(2) Bonds and obligations of states and territories. In bonds or +other interest-bearing obligations of any state of the United States, or the +Territory of Puerto Rico; provided such state or territory has not, within 10 +years previous to the date of making such investment, defaulted for more +than 90 days in the payment of any part of the principal or interest of any +of its bonded indebtedness. + +(3) Bonds and other obligations of political subdivisions within the +state of Florida. In bonds or other interest-bearing obligations of any +incorporated county, city, town, school district, or road and bridge district +located within the state and which has according to the federal census next +preceding the date of making the investment, a population of not less than +2,000 inhabitants and for which the full faith and credit of such political +subdivision has been pledged; provided, that such political subdivision or +its successor through merger, consolidation, or otherwise, has not within 5 +years previous to the making of such investment, defaulted for more than 6 +months in the payment of any part of the principal or interest of its bonded +indebtedness. + + + +(4) Bonds and obligations of political subdivisions located outside +the state of Florida. In bonds or other interest-bearing obligations of +any incorporated county, city, or town located outside of the state, but +within another state of the United States, which county, city, or town has, +according to the federal census next preceding the date of making the +investment a population of not less than 40,000 inhabitants and the +indebtedness of which does not exceed 7 percent of the last preceding +valuation of property for the purposes of taxation; provided, that the full +faith and credit of such political subdivision shall have been pledged for +the payment of the principal and interest of such bonds or obligations, and +provided further, that such political subdivision or its successor, through +merger, consolidation, or otherwise, has not within 15 years previous to the +making of such investment, defaulted for more than 90 days in the +payment of any part of the principal or interest of its bonded indebtedness. + +(5) Bonds or obligations of federal land banks and farm credit +institutions. In the bonds or other interest-bearing obligations of any +federal land bank organized under any Act of Congress enacted prior to +June 14, 1937, provided such bank is not in default in the payment of +principal or interest on any of its obligations at the time of making the +investment; and on any notes, bonds, debentures, or other similar +obligations, consolidated or otherwise, issued by farm credit institutions +pursuant to the Farm Credit Act of 1971, Pub. L. No. 92-181. + +(6) Bonds of railroad companies. +(a) Bonds bearing a fixed rate of interest secured by first mortgage, general + +mortgage, refunding mortgage, or consolidated mortgage which is a lien on +real estate, rights or interest therein, leaseholds, right-of-way, trackage, or +other fixed assets; provided, that such bonds have been issued or assumed by +a qualified railroad company or guaranteed as to principal and interest by +indorsement by a qualified railroad company or guaranteed as to principal +and interest by indorsement, which guaranty has been assumed by a qualified +railroad company. + +(b) In bonds secured by first mortgage upon terminal, depot, or tunnel +property, including buildings and appurtenances used in the service or +transportation by one or more qualified railroad companies; provided that +such bonds have been issued or assumed by a qualified railroad company or + + + +guaranteed as to principal and interest by indorsement by a qualified railroad +company, or guaranteed as to principal and interest by indorsement, which +guaranty has been assumed by a qualified railroad company. + +(c) As used in this subsection, the words qualified railroad company +means a railroad corporation other than a street railroad corporation which, at +the date of the investment by the fiduciary, meets the following requirements: + +1. It shall be a railroad corporation incorporated under the laws of the +United States or of any state or commonwealth thereof or of the District of +Columbia. + +2. It shall own and operate within the United States not less than 500 miles +of standard gauge railroad lines, exclusive of sidings. + +3. Its railroad operating revenues derived from the operation of all railroad +lines operated by it, including leased lines and lines owned or leased by a +subsidiary corporation, all of the voting stock of which, except directors +qualifying shares, is owned by it, for its fiscal year next preceding the date of +the investment, shall have been not less than $10 million. + +4. At no time during its fiscal year in which the investment is made, and its +5 fiscal years immediately prior thereto, shall it have been in default in the +payment of any part of the principal or interest owing by it upon any part of +its funded indebtedness. + +5. In at least 4 of its 5 fiscal years immediately preceding the date of +investment, its net income available for fixed charges shall have been at least +equal to its fixed charges, and in its fiscal year immediately preceding the +date of investment, its net income available for fixed charges shall have been +not less than 1 times its fixed charges. + +(d) As used in this subsection, the words income available for fixed +charges mean the amount obtained by deducting from gross income all items +deductible in ascertaining the net income other than contingent income +interest and those constituting fixed charges as used in the accounting reports +of common carriers as prescribed by the accounting regulations of the +Interstate Commerce Commission. + +(e) As used in this subsection, the words fixed charges mean rent for +leased roads, miscellaneous rents, funded debt interest, and amortization of +discount on funded debt. + + + +(7) Bonds of gas, water, or electric companies. In bonds issued by, +or guaranteed as to principal and interest by, or assumed by, any gas, +water, or electric company, subject to the following conditions: +(a) Gas, water, or electric companies by which such bonds are issued, + +guaranteed, or assumed, shall be incorporated under the laws of the United +States or any state or commonwealth thereof or of the District of Columbia. + +(b) The company shall be an operating company transacting the business of +supplying water, electrical energy, artificial gas, or natural gas for light, heat, +power, and other purposes, and provided that at least 75 percent of its gross +operating revenue shall be derived from such business and not more than 15 +percent of its gross operating revenues shall be derived from any other one +kind of business. + +(c) The company shall be subject to regulation by a public service +commission, a public utility commission, or any other similar regulatory +body duly established by the laws of the United States or any state or +commonwealth or of the District of Columbia in which such company +operates. + +(d) The company shall have all the franchises necessary to operate in the +territory in which at least 75 percent of its gross revenues are obtained, which +franchises shall either be indeterminate permits of, or agreements with, or +subject to the jurisdiction of, a public service commission or other duly +constituted regulatory body, or shall extend at least 5 years beyond the +maturity of the bonds. + +(e) The company shall have been in existence for a period of not less than +8 fiscal years, and at no time within the period of 8 fiscal years immediately +preceding the date of such investment shall such company have failed to pay +punctually and regularly the matured principal and interest of all its +indebtedness, direct, assumed, or guaranteed, but the period of life of the +company, together with the period of life of any predecessor company, or +company from which a major portion of its property was acquired by +consolidation, merger, or purchase, shall be considered together in +determining such required period. + +(f) For a period of 5 fiscal years immediately preceding the date of the +investment, net earnings shall have averaged per year not less than 2 times + + + +the average annual interest charges on its entire funded debt, applicable to +that period and for the last fiscal year preceding the date of investment, such +net earnings shall have been not less than 2 times such interest charges for +that year. + +(g) The bonds of any such company must be part of an issue of not less +than $1 million and must be mortgage bonds secured by a first or refunding +mortgage upon property owned and operated by the company issuing or +assuming them or must be underlying mortgage bonds secured by property +owned and operated by the companies issuing or assuming them. The +aggregate principal amount of bonds secured by such first or refunding +mortgage, plus the principal amount of all the underlying outstanding bonds, +shall not exceed 60 percent of the value of the physical property owned, +which shall be book value less such reserves for depreciation or retirement, as +the company may have established, and subject to the lien of such mortgage +or mortgages securing the total mortgage debt. If such mortgage is a +refunding mortgage, it must provide for the retirement on or before the date +of maturity of all bonds secured by prior liens on the property. + +(h) As used in this subsection, the words gross operating revenues and +expenses mean, respectively, the total amount earned from the operation of, +and the total expenses of maintaining and operating, all property owned and +operated by, or leased and operated by, such companies, as determined by the +system of accounts prescribed by the Public Service Commission or other +similar regulatory body having jurisdiction. + +(i) As used in this subsection, the words net earnings mean the +balance obtained by deducting from its gross operating revenues, its +operating and maintenance expenses, taxes, other than federal and +state income taxes, rentals, and provisions for depreciation, renewals +and retirements of the physical assets of the company, and by adding +to such balance its income from securities and miscellaneous sources, +but not, however, exceeding 15 percent of such balance. + +(8) Bonds of telephone companies. In bonds issued by, or +guaranteed as to principal and interest by, or assumed by, any telephone +company, subject to the following conditions: +(a) The telephone company by which such bonds are issued shall be + +incorporated under the laws of the United States or of any state or + + + +commonwealth thereof or of the District of Columbia and shall be engaged in +the business of supplying telephone service in the United States and shall be +subject to regulations by the Federal Communications Commission, a public +service commission, a public utility commission, or any similar regulatory +body duly established by the laws of the United States or of any state or +commonwealth or of the District of Columbia in which such company +operates. + +(b) The company by which such bonds are issued, guaranteed, or assumed +shall have been in existence for a period of not less than 8 fiscal years, and at +no time within the period of 8 fiscal years immediately preceding the date of +such investment shall such company have failed to pay punctually and +regularly the matured principal and interest of all its indebtedness, direct, +assumed, or guaranteed, but the period of life of the company, together with +the period of life of any predecessor company, or company from which a +major portion of its property was acquired by consolidation, merger, or +purchase, shall be considered together in determining such required period. +The company shall file with the Federal Communications Commission, or a +public service commission or similar regulatory body having jurisdiction over +it, and make public in each year a statement and a report giving the income +account covering the previous fiscal year, and a balance sheet showing in +reasonable detail the assets and liabilities at the end of the year. + +(c) For a period of 5 fiscal years immediately preceding the investment, the +net earnings of such telephone company shall have averaged per year not less +than twice the average annual interest charges on its outstanding obligations +applicable to that period, and for the last fiscal year preceding such +investment, such net earnings shall have been not less than twice such interest +charges for that year. + +(d) The bonds must be part of an issue of not less than $5 million and must +be mortgage bonds secured by a first or refunding mortgage upon property +owned and operated by the company issuing or assuming them, or must be +underlying mortgage bonds similarly secured. As of the close of the fiscal +year preceding the date of the investment by the fiduciary, the aggregate +principal amount of bonds secured by such first or refunding mortgage, plus +the principal amount of all the underlying outstanding bonds, shall not exceed +60 percent of the value of the real estate and tangible personal property +owned absolutely, which value shall be book value less such reserves for + + + +depreciation or retirement as the company may have established, and subject +to the lien of such mortgage, or mortgages, securing the total mortgage debt. +If such mortgage is a refunding mortgage, it must provide for the retirement, +on or before the date of their maturity, of all bonds secured by prior liens on +the property. + +(e) As used in this subsection, the words gross operating revenues and +expenses mean, respectively, the total amount earned from the operation of, +and the total expenses of maintaining and operating all property owned and +operated by, or leased and operated by, such company as determined by the +system of accounts prescribed by the Federal Communications Commission, +or any other similar federal or state regulatory body having jurisdiction in the +matter. + +(f) As used in this subsection, the words net earnings mean the balance +obtained by deducting from the telephone companys gross operating +revenues its operating and maintenance expenses, provision for depreciation +of the physical assets of the company, taxes, other than federal and state +income taxes, rentals, and miscellaneous charges, and by adding to such +balance its income from securities and miscellaneous sources but not, +however, to exceed 15 percent of such balance. + +(9) First mortgages. In mortgages signed by one or more individuals +or corporations, subject to the following conditions: +(a) If the taking of the mortgages as an investment for any particular trust, + +estate, or guardianship will not result in more than 40 percent of the then +value of the principal of such trust, estate, or guardianship being invested in +mortgages. + +(b) Within 30 days preceding the taking of a mortgage as an investment, +the property encumbered or to be encumbered thereby shall be appraised by +two or more reputable persons especially familiar with real estate values. The +fair market value of the property as disclosed by the appraisal of such persons +shall be set forth in a writing dated and signed by them and in such writing +they shall certify that their valuation of the property was made after an +inspection of the same, including all buildings and other improvements. + +(c) The mortgage shall encumber improved real estate located in the state +and in or within 5 miles of the corporate limits of a city or town having a + + + +population of 2,000 or more, according to the federal census next preceding +the date of making any such investment. + +(d) The mortgage shall be or become, through the recordation of +documents simultaneously filed for record, a first lien upon the property +described therein prior to all other liens, except taxes previously levied or +assessed but not due and payable at the time the mortgage is taken as an +investment. + +(e) The mortgage shall secure no indebtedness other than that owing to the +executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian taking the same as an +investment. + +(f) The amount of the indebtedness secured by the mortgage shall not +exceed 60 percent of the fair market value, as determined in accordance with +the provisions of paragraph (b), of the property encumbered or to be +encumbered by said mortgage. + +(g) If the amount of the indebtedness secured by the mortgage is in excess +of 50 percent of the fair market value, as determined in accordance with the +provisions of paragraph (b), of the property encumbered or to be encumbered +by said mortgage, then the mortgage shall require principal payments, at +annual or more frequent intervals, sufficient to reduce by or before the +expiration of 3 years from the date the mortgage is taken as an investment, +the unpaid principal balance secured thereby to an amount not in excess of 50 +percent of the fair market value of said property, as determined in accordance +with the provisions of paragraph (b). + +(h) The mortgage shall contain a covenant of the mortgagor to keep +insured at all times the improvements on the real estate encumbered by said +mortgage, with loss payable to the mortgagee, against loss and damage by +fire, in an amount not less than the unpaid principal secured by said +mortgage. + +(i) Provided, however, that the foregoing limitations and +requirements shall not apply to notes or bonds secured by mortgage or +trust deed insured by the Federal Housing Administrator, and that +notes or bonds secured by mortgage or trust deed insured by the +Federal Housing Administrator are declared to be eligible for +investment under the provisions of this chapter. + + + +(10) Life insurance. Annuity or endowment contracts with any life +insurance company which is qualified to do business in the state under the +laws thereof. + +(11) Savings and loan associations. In savings share or investment +share accounts of any federal savings and loan association chartered under +the laws of the United States, and doing business in this state, and in the +shares of any Florida building and loan association which is a member of +the Federal Home Loan Bank System. + +(12) Savings accounts, certificates of deposit; state and national +banks. In savings accounts and certificates of deposit in any bank +chartered under the laws of the United States and doing business in this +state, and in savings accounts and certificates of deposit in any bank +chartered under the laws of this state. + +(13) Savings share accounts, credit unions. In savings share +accounts of any credit union chartered under the laws of the United States +and doing business in this state, and savings share accounts of any credit +union chartered under the laws of this state, provided the credit union is +insured under the federal share insurance program or an approved state +share insurance program. +In determining the qualification of investments under the requirements of +this section, published statements of corporations or statements of reliable +companies engaged in the business of furnishing statistical information on +bonds may be used. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 17949, 1937; CGL 1940 Supp. 7100(9); s. 1, ch. 28154, 1953; s. + +1, ch. 63-111; s. 1, ch. 73-41; s. 2, ch. 74-92; s. 24, ch. 93-268. + +Editors notes. +The Interstate Commerce Commission, referred to in paragraph (6)(d), was + +abolished by s. 101, Pub. L. No. 104-88. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.06. +Fla. Stat. 518.06 + + 518.06. Investment of fiduciary funds in loans insured by Federal +Housing Administrator. + +Banks, savings banks, trust companies, building and loan associations, +insurance companies, and guardians holding funds received from or currently +in receipt of funds from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to +the extent of those funds alone, may: + +(1) Make such loans and advances of credit, and purchases of +obligations representing loans and advances of credit, as are insured by the +Federal Housing Administrator, and obtain such insurance; + +(2) Make such loans secured by real property or leasehold as the Federal +Housing Administrator insures or makes a commitment to insure, and +obtain such insurance. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 17130, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 7100(1); s. 1, ch. 17980, 1937; s. + +2, ch. 28154, 1953; s. 25, ch. 93-268. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.07. +Fla. Stat. 518.07 + + 518.07. Investment of fiduciary funds in bonds, etc., issued by Federal +Housing Administrator. +(1) Banks, savings banks, trust companies, building and loan + +associations, insurance companies, guardians holding funds received from +or currently in receipt of funds from the United States Department of +Veterans Affairs to the extent of those funds alone, the state and its +political subdivisions, all institutions and agencies thereof, with the +approval of the officials or boards having supervision or management of +same, may invest their funds and moneys in their custody or possession, +eligible for investment, in notes or bonds secured by mortgage or trust +deed insured by the Federal Housing Administrator, in debentures issued +by the Federal Housing Administrator, and in securities issued by national +mortgage associations. + +(2) Such notes, bonds, debentures, and securities made eligible for +investment may be used wherever, by statute of this state, collateral is +required as security for the deposit of public or other funds; or deposits are +required to be made with any public official or departments, or an +investment of capital or surplus, or a reserve or other fund, is required to +be maintained consisting of designated securities. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 17130, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 7100(2); s. 2, ch. 17980, 1937; s. + +3, ch. 28154, 1953; s. 26, ch. 93-268. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.08. +Fla. Stat. 518.08 + + 518.08. Applicability of laws requiring security, etc. +No law of this state requiring security upon which loans or investments + +may be made, prescribing the nature, amount, or form of such security, +prescribing or limiting interest rates upon loans or investments, limiting +investments of capital or deposits, or prescribing or limiting the period for +which loans or investments may be made, shall be deemed to apply to loans +or investments made pursuant to ss. 518.06 and 518.07. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 17130, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 7100(3). + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.09. +Fla. Stat. 518.09 + + 518.09. Housing bonds legal investments and security. +The state and all public officers, municipal corporations, political + +subdivisions, and public bodies, all banks, bankers, trust companies, savings +banks and institutions, building and loan associations, savings and loan +associations, investment companies, all insurance companies, insurance +associations, and other persons carrying on an insurance business, and +guardians holding funds received from or currently in receipt of funds from +the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to the extent of those funds +alone may legally invest any sinking funds, moneys, or other funds belonging +to them or within their control in any bonds or other obligations issued by a +housing authority pursuant to the Housing Authorities Law of this state +(chapter 421), or issued by any public housing authority or agency in the +United States, when such bonds or other obligations are secured by a pledge +of annual contributions to be paid by the United States Government or any +agency thereof, and such bonds and other obligations shall be authorized +security for all public deposits; it being the purpose of this section to +authorize any person, associations, political subdivisions, bodies, and +officers, public or private, to use any funds owned or controlled by them, +including, but not limited to, sinking, insurance, investment, retirement, +compensation, pension, and trust funds, and funds held on deposit, for the +purchase of any bonds or other obligations; provided, however, that nothing +contained in this section shall be construed as relieving any person from any +duty of exercising reasonable care in selecting securities. + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, 3, ch. 19512, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 7100(3-nn); s. 4, ch. 28154, + +1953; s. 27, ch. 93-268. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.10. +Fla. Stat. 518.10 + + 518.10. Fiduciary defined as used in ss. 518.11-518.14. +For the purpose of ss. 518.11-518.14, a fiduciary is defined as an + +executor, administrator, trustee, guardian (except any guardian holding funds +received from or currently in receipt of funds from the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs, to the extent of those funds alone), or other +person, whether individual or corporate, who by reason of a written +agreement, will, court order, or other instrument has the responsibility for the +acquisition, investment, reinvestment, exchange, retention, sale, or +management of money or property of another. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 28154, 1953; s. 28, ch. 93-268. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.11. +Fla. Stat. 518.11 + + 518.11. Investments by fiduciaries; prudent investor rule. +(1) A fiduciary has a duty to invest and manage investment assets as + +follows: +(a) The fiduciary has a duty to invest and manage investment assets as a + +prudent investor would considering the purposes, terms, distribution +requirements, and other circumstances of the trust. This standard requires the +exercise of reasonable care and caution and is to be applied to investments +not in isolation, but in the context of the investment portfolio as a whole and +as a part of an overall investment strategy that should incorporate risk and +return objectives reasonably suitable to the trust, guardianship, or probate +estate. If the fiduciary has special skills, or is named fiduciary on the basis of +representations of special skills or expertise, the fiduciary is under a duty to +use those skills. + +(b) No specific investment or course of action is, taken alone, prudent or +imprudent. The fiduciary may invest in every kind of property and type of +investment, subject to this section. The fiduciarys investment decisions and +actions are to be judged in terms of the fiduciarys reasonable business +judgment regarding the anticipated effect on the investment portfolio as a +whole under the facts and circumstances prevailing at the time of the decision +or action. The prudent investor rule is a test of conduct and not of resulting +performance. + +(c) The fiduciary has a duty to diversify the investments unless, under the +circumstances, the fiduciary believes reasonably it is in the interests of the +beneficiaries and furthers the purposes of the trust, guardianship, or estate not +to diversify. + +(d) The fiduciary has a duty, within a reasonable time after acceptance of +the trust, estate, or guardianship, to review the investment portfolio and to +make and implement decisions concerning the retention and disposition of +original preexisting investments in order to conform to the provisions of this +section. The fiduciarys decision to retain or dispose of an asset may be +influenced properly by the assets special relationship or value to the +purposes of the trust, estate, or guardianship, or to some or all of the + + + +beneficiaries, consistent with the trustees duty of impartiality, or to the ward. +(e) The fiduciary has a duty to pursue an investment strategy that considers + +both the reasonable production of income and safety of capital, consistent +with the fiduciarys duty of impartiality and the purposes of the trust, estate, +or guardianship. Whether investments are underproductive or overproductive +of income shall be judged by the portfolio as a whole and not as to any +particular asset. + +(f) The circumstances that the fiduciary may consider in making +investment decisions include, without limitation, the general economic +conditions, the possible effect of inflation, the expected tax consequences of +investment decisions or strategies, the role each investment or course of +action plays within the overall portfolio, the expected total return, including +both income yield and appreciation of capital, and the duty to incur only +reasonable and appropriate costs. The fiduciary may, but need not, consider +related trusts, estates, and guardianships, and the income available from other +sources to, and the assets of, beneficiaries when making investment +decisions. + +(2) The provisions of this section may be expanded, restricted, +eliminated, or otherwise altered by express provisions of the governing +instrument, whether the instrument was executed before or after the +effective date of this section. An express provision need not refer +specifically to this statute. The fiduciary is not liable to any person for the +fiduciarys reasonable reliance on those express provisions. + +(3) Nothing in this section abrogates or restricts the power of an +appropriate court in proper cases: +(a) To direct or permit the trustee to deviate from the terms of the + +governing instrument; or +(b) To direct or permit the fiduciary to take, or to restrain the fiduciary + +from taking, any action regarding the making or retention of investments. +(4) The following terms or comparable language in the investment + +powers and related provisions of a governing instrument shall be construed +as authorizing any investment or strategy permitted under this section: +investments permissible by law for investment of trust funds, legal +investments, authorized investments, using the judgment and care + + + +under the circumstances then prevailing that persons of prudence, +discretion, and intelligence exercise in the management of their own +affairs, not in regard to speculation but in regard to the permanent +disposition of their funds, considering the probable income as well as the +probable safety of their capital, prudent trustee rule, prudent person +rule, and prudent investor rule. + +(5) This section applies to all existing and future fiduciary relationships +subject to this section, but only as to acts or omissions occurring after +October 1, 1993. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 28154, 1953; s. 2, ch. 93-257; s. 26, ch. 97-98; s. 686, ch. 97-103. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.112. +Fla. Stat. 518.112 + + 518.112. Delegation of investment functions. +(1) A fiduciary may delegate any part or all of the investment functions, + +with regard to acts constituting investment functions that a prudent +investor of comparable skills might delegate under the circumstances, to an +investment agent as provided in subsection (3), if the fiduciary exercises +reasonable care, judgment, and caution in selecting the investment agent, +in establishing the scope and specific terms of any delegation, and in +reviewing periodically the agents actions in order to monitor overall +performance and compliance with the scope and specific terms of the +delegation. +(2)(a) The requirements of subsection (1) notwithstanding, a fiduciary that +administers an insurance contract on the life or lives of one or more +persons may delegate without any continuing obligation to review the +agents actions, certain investment functions with respect to any such +contract as provided in subsection (3), to any one or more of the following +persons as investment agents: +1. The trusts settlor if the trust is one described in s. 733.707(3); +2. Beneficiaries of the trust or estate, regardless of the beneficiarys + +interest therein, whether vested or contingent; +3. The spouse, ancestor, or descendant of any person described in + +subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2.; +4. Any person or entity nominated by a majority of the beneficiaries + +entitled to receive notice under paragraph (3)(b); or +5. An investment agent if the fiduciary exercises reasonable care, + +judgment, and caution in selecting the investment agent and in establishing +the scope and specific terms of any delegation. + +(b) The delegable investment functions under this subsection include: +1. A determination of whether the insurance contract was procured or + +effected in compliance with s. 627.404; +2. A determination of whether any insurance contract is or remains a + + + +proper investment; +3. The investigation of the financial strength of the life insurance company; +4. A determination of whether or not to exercise any policy option + +available under any insurance contracts; +5. A determination of whether or not to diversify such contracts relative to + +one another or to other assets, if any, administered by the fiduciary; or +6. An inquiry about changes in the health or financial condition of the + +insured or insureds relative to any such contract. +(c) Until the contract matures and the policy proceeds are received, a + +fiduciary that administers insurance contracts under this subsection is not +obligated to diversify nor allocate other assets, if any, relative to such +insurance contracts. + +(3) A fiduciary may delegate investment functions to an investment +agent under subsection (1) or subsection (2), if: +(a) In the case of a guardianship, the fiduciary has obtained court approval. +(b) In the case of a trust or estate, the fiduciary has given written notice, of + +its intention to begin delegating investment functions under this section, to all +beneficiaries, or their legal representative, eligible to receive distributions +from the trust or estate within 30 days of the delegation unless such notice is +waived by the eligible beneficiaries entitled to receive such notice. This +notice shall thereafter, until or unless the beneficiaries eligible to receive +income from the trust or distributions from the estate at the time are notified +to the contrary, authorize the trustee or legal representative to delegate +investment functions pursuant to this subsection. This discretion to revoke the +delegation does not imply under subsection (2) any continuing obligation to +review the agents actions. + +1. Notice to beneficiaries eligible to receive distributions from the trust +from the estate, or their legal representatives shall be sufficient notice to all +persons who may join the eligible class of beneficiaries in the future. + +2. Additionally, as used herein, legal representative includes one described +in s. 731.303, without any requirement of a court order, an attorney-in-fact +under a durable power of attorney sufficient to grant such authority, a legally +appointed guardian, or equivalent under applicable law, any living, natural + + + +guardian of a minor child, or a guardian ad litem. +3. Written notice shall be given as provided in part III of chapter 731 as to + +an estate, and as provided in s. 736.0109 and part III of chapter 736 as to a +trust. + +(4) If all requirements of subsection (3) are satisfied, the fiduciary shall +not be responsible otherwise for the investment decisions nor actions or +omissions of the investment agent to which the investment functions are +delegated. + +(5) The investment agent shall, by virtue of acceptance of its +appointment, be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state. + +(6) In performing a delegated function, the investment agent shall be +subject to the same standards as the fiduciary. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 93-257; s. 8, ch. 97-240; s. 2, ch. 2010-172, eff. July 1, 2010. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.115. +Fla. Stat. 518.115 + + 518.115. Power of fiduciary or custodian to deposit securities in a +central depository. + +(1)(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any fiduciary, as +defined in s. 518.10, holding securities, as defined in s. 678.102(1), in its +fiduciary capacity, and any bank or trust company holding securities as a +custodian, managing agent, or custodian for a fiduciary, is authorized to +deposit or arrange for the deposit of such securities in a clearing +corporation, as defined in s. 678.102(3). When such securities are so +deposited, certificates representing securities of the same class of the same +issuer may be merged and held in bulk in the name of the nominee of such +clearing corporation with any other such securities deposited in such +clearing corporation by any person, regardless of the ownership of such +securities, and certificates of small denomination may be merged into one +or more certificates of larger denomination. +(b) A bank or a trust company so depositing securities with a clearing + +corporation shall be subject to such rules and regulations with respect to the +making and maintenance of such deposit as, in the case of state-chartered +institutions, the Financial Services Commission and, in the case of national +banking associations, the Comptroller of the Currency may from time to time +issue. + +(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, ownership of, and other +interests in, the securities credited to such account may be transferred by +entries on the books of said clearing corporation without physical delivery of +any securities. The records of such fiduciary and the records of such bank or +trust company acting as custodian, managing agent, or custodian for a +fiduciary shall at all times show the name of the party for whose account the +securities are so deposited. A bank or trust company acting as custodian for a +fiduciary shall, on demand by the fiduciary, certify in writing to the fiduciary +the securities so deposited by such bank or trust company in such clearing +corporation for the account of such fiduciary. A fiduciary shall, on demand +by any party to a judicial proceeding for the settlement of such fiduciarys +account or on demand by the attorney for such party, certify in writing to +such party the securities deposited by such fiduciary in such clearing + + + +corporation for its account as such fiduciary. +(2) This section shall apply to any fiduciary holding securities in its + +fiduciary capacity, and to any bank or trust company holding securities as a +custodian, managing agent, or custodian for a fiduciary, acting on June 18, +1974, or who thereafter may act regardless of the date of the agreement, +instrument, or court order by which it is appointed and regardless of +whether or not such fiduciary, custodian, managing agent, or custodian for +a fiduciary owns capital stock of such clearing corporation. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-224; s. 613, ch. 2003-261. + +Editors notes. +Section 678.102, referred to in two places in paragraph (1)(a), was + +repealed by s. 25, ch. 98-11. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.116. +Fla. Stat. 518.116 + + 518.116. Power of certain fiduciaries and custodians to deposit United +States Government and agency securities with a Federal Reserve +bank. + +(1)(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any fiduciary, as +defined in s. 518.10, which is a bank or trust company holding securities in +its fiduciary capacity, and any bank or trust company holding securities as +a custodian, managing agent, or custodian for a fiduciary, is authorized to +deposit or arrange for the deposit with the Federal Reserve Bank in its +district of any securities, the principal and interest of which the United +States Government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof +has agreed to pay or has guaranteed payment, to be credited to one or more +accounts on the books of said Federal Reserve Bank in the name of such +bank or trust company to be designated fiduciary or safekeeping accounts, +to which account other similar securities may be credited. +(b) A bank or trust company so depositing securities with a Federal + +Reserve Bank shall be subject to such rules and regulations with respect to +the making and maintenance of such deposits as, in the case of state-chartered +institutions, the Financial Services Commission and, in the case of national +banking associations, the Comptroller of the Currency may from time to time +issue. The records of such bank or trust company shall at all times show the +ownership of the securities held in such account. + +(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ownership of, and other +interests in, the securities credited to such account may be transferred by +entries on the books of said Federal Reserve Bank without physical delivery +of any securities. The records of such fiduciary and the records of such bank +or trust company acting as custodian, managing agent, or custodian for a +fiduciary shall at all times show the name of the party for whose account the +securities are so deposited. A bank or a trust company acting as custodian for +a fiduciary shall, on demand by the fiduciary, certify in writing to the +fiduciary the securities so deposited by such bank or trust company with such +Federal Reserve Bank for the account of such fiduciary. A fiduciary shall, on +demand by any party to a judicial proceeding for the settlement of such +fiduciarys account or on demand by the attorney for such party, certify in + + + +writing to such party the securities deposited by such fiduciary with such +Federal Reserve bank for its account as such fiduciary. + +(2) This section shall apply to any fiduciary and to any bank or trust +company holding securities as custodian, managing agent, or custodian for +a fiduciary, acting on June 18, 1974, or who thereafter may act regardless +of the date of the instrument or court order by which it is appointed. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 74-224; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 614, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.117. +Fla. Stat. 518.117 + + 518.117. Permissible investments of fiduciary funds. +A fiduciary that is authorized by lawful authority to engage in trust + +business as defined in s. 658.12 may invest fiduciary funds in accordance +with s. 660.417 so long as the investment otherwise complies with this +chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2022-178, effective July 1, + +2022. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.12. +Fla. Stat. 518.12 + + 518.12. Instrument creating or defining powers, duties of fiduciary not +affected. + +Nothing contained in ss. 518.10-518.14 shall be construed as conferring a +power of sale upon any fiduciary not possessing such power or as authorizing +any departure from, or variation of, the express terms or limitations set forth +in any will, agreement, court order, or other instrument creating or defining +the fiduciarys duties and powers, but the terms legal investment or +authorized investment or words of similar import, as used in any such +instrument, shall be taken to mean any investment which is permitted by the +terms of s. 518.11. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 28154, 1953; s. 1, ch. 57-120. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.13. +Fla. Stat. 518.13 + + 518.13. Authority of court to permit deviation from terms of +instrument creating trust not affected. + +Nothing contained in ss. 518.10-518.14 shall be construed as restricting the +power of a court of proper jurisdiction to permit a fiduciary to deviate from +the terms of any will, agreement, or other instrument relating to the +acquisition, investment, reinvestment, exchange, retention, sale, or +management of fiduciary property. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 28154, 1953. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.14. +Fla. Stat. 518.14 + + 518.14. Scope of ss. 518.10-518.13. +The provisions of ss. 518.10-518.13 shall govern fiduciaries acting under + +wills, agreements, court orders, and other instruments now existing or +hereafter made. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 28154, 1953. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.15. +Fla. Stat. 518.15 + + 518.15. Bonds or motor vehicle tax anticipation certificates, legal +investments and security. + +Notwithstanding any restrictions on investments contained in any law of +this state, the state and all public officers, municipal corporations, political +subdivisions, and public bodies, all banks, bankers, trust companies, savings +banks, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, +investment companies, and all persons carrying on an insurance business, and +all executors, administrators, guardians, trustees, and other fiduciaries may +legally invest any sinking funds, moneys or other funds belonging to them or +within their control in bonds or motor vehicle anticipation certificates issued +under authority of s. 18, Art. XII of the State Constitution of 1885 as adopted +by s. 9(d) of Art. XII, 1968 revised constitution, and the additional provisions +of s. 9(d), and such bonds or certificates shall be authorized security for all +public deposits, including, but not restricted to, deposits as authorized in s. +17.57, it being the purpose of this act to authorize any person, firm or +corporation, association, political subdivision, body, and officer, public or +private, to use any funds owned or controlled by them, including, but not +limited to, sinking, insurance, investment, retirement, compensation, pension, +and trust funds, and funds held on deposit, for the purchase of any such bonds +or anticipation certificates, up to the amount as authorized by law to be +invested in any type of security, including United States Government Bonds. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 27990, 1953; s. 31, ch. 69-216; s. 615, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.151. +Fla. Stat. 518.151 + + 518.151. Higher education bonds or certificates, legal investments and +security. + +Notwithstanding any restrictions on investments contained in any law of +this state, the state and all public officers, municipal corporations, political +subdivisions, and public bodies, all banks, bankers, trust companies, savings +banks, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, +investment companies, and all persons carrying on an insurance business, and +all executors, administrators, guardians, trustees, and other fiduciaries may +legally invest any sinking funds, moneys or other funds belonging to them or +within their control in higher education bonds or certificates issued under +authority of s. 19, Art. XII of the State Constitution of 1885 or of s. 9(a), Art. +XII of the constitution as revised in 1968, as amended, and such bonds or +certificates shall be authorized security for all public deposits, including, but +not restricted to, deposits as authorized in s. 17.57, it being the purpose of +this act to authorize any person, firm or corporation, association, political +subdivision, body, and officer, public or private, to use any funds owned or +controlled by them, including, but not limited to, sinking, insurance, +investment, retirement, compensation, pension, and trust funds, and funds +held on deposit, for the purchase of any such bonds or certificates, up to the +amount as authorized by law to be invested in any type of security, including +United States Government Bonds. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 65-443; s. 140, ch. 71-355; s. 616, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.152. +Fla. Stat. 518.152 + + 518.152. Puerto Rican bonds or obligations, legal investments and +securities. + +Notwithstanding any restrictions on investments contained in any law of +this state, all public officers and public bodies of the state, counties, +municipal corporations, and other political subdivisions; all banks, bankers, +trust companies, savings banks, building and loan associations, savings and +loan associations, investment companies, and other persons carrying on a +banking business; all insurance companies, insurance associations and other +persons carrying on an insurance business; all persons holding in trust any +pension, health and welfare, and vacation funds; all administrators, executors, +guardians, trustees, and other fiduciaries of any public, quasi-public, or +private fund or estate; and all other persons authorized to invest in bonds or +other obligations may legally invest any sinking funds, moneys, or other +funds belonging to them or within their control in bonds or other obligations +issued by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, its agencies, authorities, +instrumentalities, municipalities, or political subdivisions, provided such +agency, authority, instrumentality, municipality, or political subdivision has +not, within 5 years prior to the making of such investment, defaulted for more +than 90 days in the payment of any part of the principal or interest of its +bonded indebtedness. Such bonds or obligations shall be authorized security +for all public deposits, including, but not restricted to, deposits as authorized +in s. 17.57, it being the purpose of this section to authorize any person, firm, +corporation, association, political subdivision, body, and officer, public or +private, to use any funds owned or controlled by them, including, but not +limited to, sinking, insurance, investment, retirement, compensation, pension +and trust funds, and funds held on deposit, for the purchase of any such bonds +or obligations up to the amount as authorized by law to be invested in any +type of security, including United States Government Bonds. However, +nothing contained in this section shall be construed as relieving any person +from any duty of exercising reasonable care in selecting securities. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 72-136; s. 617, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XXXIII. , Ch. 518. , 518.16. +Fla. Stat. 518.16 + + 518.16. Chapter cumulative. +This chapter shall be cumulative to any other law providing for + +investments and security for public deposits. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 27990, 1953; s. 11, ch. 28154, 1953. + + + + Title XXXVIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XXXVIII + +TITLE XXXVIII. +BANKS AND BANKING. + +________ + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. + +Fla. Stat. Title XXXVIII, Ch. 655 + + + +CHAPTER 655. +FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS GENERALLY. + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.769. +Fla. Stat. 655.769 + + 655.769. Definitions of terms used in ss. 655.77-655.91. +As used in ss. 655.77-655.91, the term: + +(1) Check includes a share draft of a credit union. +(2) Deposit includes a share of a credit union. +(3) Depositor includes a member of a credit union. +(4) Institution means any state or national bank, state or federal + +association, or state or federal credit union. + +HISTORY: +S. 45, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.77. +Fla. Stat. 655.77 + + 655.77. Deposits by minors. +Deposits made by a minor, or made in the minors name by other than a + +court-appointed guardian, may be withdrawn by the minor in the absence of +an agreement to the contrary made between the institution and the depositor +at the time the account is opened. In case of any such agreement, such +moneys, until the minors disabilities are removed, may be withdrawn by the +person or persons designated in such agreement. + +HISTORY: +S. 46, ch. 92-303; s. 526, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.78. +Fla. Stat. 655.78 + + 655.78. Deposit accounts in two or more names. +(1) Unless otherwise expressly provided in a contract, agreement, or + +signature card executed in connection with the opening or maintenance of +an account, including a certificate of deposit, a deposit account in the +names of two or more persons may be paid to, or on the order of, either or +any of such persons or to, or on the order of, the guardian of the property +of any such person who is incompetent, whether the other or others are +competent. The check or other order for payment to any such person or +guardian is a valid and sufficient release and discharge of the obligation of +the institution for funds transferred thereby. + +(2) In the case of a credit union, a member may designate any person or +persons to hold deposits with the member in joint tenancy with the right of +survivorship; but a joint tenant, unless he or she is a member in his or her +own right, may not be permitted to vote, obtain a loan, or hold office or be +required to pay an entrance or membership fee. + +HISTORY: +S. 47, ch. 92-303; s. 527, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.79. +Fla. Stat. 655.79 + + 655.79. Deposits and accounts in two or more names; presumption as +to vesting on death. +(1) Unless otherwise expressly provided in a contract, agreement, or + +signature card executed in connection with the opening or maintenance of +an account, including a certificate of deposit, a deposit account in the +names of two or more persons shall be presumed to have been intended by +such persons to provide that, upon the death of any one of them, all rights, +title, interest, and claim in, to, and in respect of such deposit account, less +all proper setoffs and charges in favor of the institution, vest in the +surviving person or persons. Any deposit or account made in the name of +two persons who are husband and wife shall be considered a tenancy by +the entirety unless otherwise specified in writing. + +(2) The presumption created in this section may be overcome only by +proof of fraud or undue influence or clear and convincing proof of a +contrary intent. In the absence of such proof, all rights, title, interest, and +claims in, to, and in respect of such deposits and account and the additions +thereto, and the obligation of the institution created thereby, less all proper +setoffs and charges in favor of the institution against any one or more of +such persons, upon the death of any such person, vest in the surviving +person or persons, notwithstanding the absence of proof of any donative +intent or delivery, possession, dominion, control, or acceptance on the part +of any person and notwithstanding that the provisions hereof may +constitute or cause a vesting or disposition of property or rights or interests +therein, testamentary in nature, which, except for the provisions of this +section, would or might otherwise be void or voidable. + +(3) This section does not abridge, impair, or affect the validity, +effectiveness, or operation of any of the provisions of ss. 655.78 and +674.405 or the rights of institutions to make payments as therein provided. + +HISTORY: +S. 48, ch. 92-303; s. 8, ch. 2008-75, eff. Oct. 1, 2008. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.80. +Fla. Stat. 655.80 + + 655.80. Convenience accounts. +(1) A convenience account is a deposit account, other than a certificate + +of deposit, in the name of one individual (principal), in which one or more +other individuals have been designated as agents with the right to make +deposits to and to withdraw funds from or draw checks on such account. +The designation of agents, the substitution or removal of agents, or any +other change in the contractual terms or provisions governing a +convenience account may be made only by the principal. Except as +otherwise provided in this section, the agency relationship created under +this account is not affected by the subsequent death or incompetence of the +principal. + +(2) All rights, interests, and claims in, to, and in respect of, such deposits +and convenience account and the additions thereto shall be those of the +principal only. + +(3) Any balance standing to the credit of a convenience account shall be +paid to the guardian of the property of the principal, to any person +designated in a court order entered pursuant to s. 735.206, to any person +designated by letter or other writing as authorized by s. 735.301, or to the +personal representative of the deceased principals estate, upon +presentation of effective written notice and, if applicable, proof of judicial +appointment of such guardian or personal representative by a court of +competent jurisdiction. No such court order or letter, written notice, or +proof of judicial appointment is effective until it is served upon and +received by an officer of the institution during regular banking hours and +in such time and in such manner as to afford the institution a reasonable +opportunity to act on it prior to the happening of any of the events +described in s. 674.303. No other notice, knowledge, or other information +shown to have been available to an institution affects its right to the +protection provided by this section. + +(4) Payment by an institution pursuant to this section is a valid and +sufficient release and discharge to the institution from all claims for +payments so paid. + + + +(5) Without qualifying any other right to setoff or lien, and subject to +any contractual provision, if the principal is indebted to the institution, the +institution has a right to setoff against the account. + +HISTORY: +S. 49, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.82. +Fla. Stat. 655.82 + + 655.82. Pay-on-death accounts. +(1) As used in this section: + +(a) Account means a contract of deposit between a depositor and an +institution, including, but not limited to, a checking account, savings account, +certificate of deposit, and share account. + +(b) Beneficiary means a person named as one to whom sums on deposit +in an account are payable on request after death of all parties or for whom a +party is named as trustee. + +(c) Devisee means any person designated in a will to receive a +testamentary disposition of real or personal property. + +(d) Heirs means those persons, including a surviving spouse, who are +entitled, under the laws of this state regarding intestate succession, to the +property of a decedent. + +(e) Multiple-party account means an account payable on request to one +or more of two or more parties, whether or not a right of survivorship is +mentioned. + +(f) Party means a person who, by the terms of an account, has a present +right, subject to request, to payment from the account other than as a +beneficiary. + +(g) Payment means disbursement of sums on deposit, and includes +withdrawal, payment to a party or third person pursuant to check or other +request, and a pledge of sums on deposit by a party, or a setoff, reduction, or +other disposition of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge. + +(h) Pay-on-death designation means the designation of: +1. A beneficiary in an account payable on request to one party during the + +partys lifetime and on the partys death to one or more beneficiaries, or to +one or more parties during their lifetimes and on death of all of them to one +or more beneficiaries; or + +2. A beneficiary in an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee + + + +for one or more beneficiaries if the relationship is established by the terms of +the account and there is no subject of the trust other than the sums on deposit +in the account, whether or not payment to the beneficiary is mentioned. + +(i) Personal representative means an executor, administrator, +curator, successor personal representative, special administrator, or +any other person who performs substantially the same function under +the law governing their status. + +(j) Receive, as it relates to notice to an institution, means receipt in the +office or branch office of the institution in which the account is established, +but if the terms of the account require notice at a particular place, in the place +required. + +(k) Request means a request for payment complying with all terms of the +account, including special requirements concerning necessary signatures and +regulations of the institution; but, for purposes of this section, if terms of the +account condition payment on advance notice, a request for payment is +treated as immediately effective and a notice of intent to withdraw is treated +as a request for payment. + +(l) Successor means any person, other than a creditor, who is entitled to +property of a decedent under the decedents will or otherwise. + +(m) Sums on deposit means the balance payable on an account, +including interest and dividends earned, whether or not included in the +current balance, and any deposit of life insurance proceeds added to the +account by reason of death of a party. + +(n) Terms of the account means the deposit agreement and other terms +and conditions, including the form, of the contract of deposit. + +(2) A beneficiary in an account having a pay-on-death designation has +no right to sums on deposit during the lifetime of any party. + +(3) In an account with a pay-on-death designation: +(a) On the death of one of two or more parties, sums on deposit in the + +account belong to the surviving party or parties. +(b) On the death of the sole party or the last survivor of two or more + +parties, sums on deposit belong to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries. +If two or more beneficiaries survive, sums on deposit belong to them in equal + + + +and undivided shares, and, unless otherwise provided in a depository +agreement written between December 31, 1994, and July 1, 2001, there is no +right of survivorship in the event of death of a beneficiary thereafter. If no +beneficiary survives, sums on deposit belong to the estate of the last +surviving party. + +(4) A pay-on-death designation in a multiple-party account without right +of survivorship is ineffective. For purposes of this section, designation of +an account as a tenancy in common establishes that the account is without +right of survivorship. + +(5) The ownership right of a surviving party or beneficiary, or of the +decedents estate, in sums on deposit is subject to requests for payment +made by a party before the partys death, whether paid by the institution +before or after death, or unpaid. The surviving party or beneficiary, or the +decedents estate, is liable to the payee of an unpaid request for payment. +The liability is limited to a proportionate share of the amount transferred +under this section, to the extent necessary to discharge the request for +payment. + +(6) An institution, on request, may pay sums on deposit in an account +with a pay-on-death designation to: +(a) One or more of the parties, whether or not another party is disabled, + +incapacitated, or deceased when the payment is requested and whether or not +a party survives another party; + +(b) The beneficiary or beneficiaries, if proof of death is presented to the +institution showing that the beneficiary or beneficiaries survived all persons +named as parties; or + +(c) The personal representative, if any, or, if there is none, the heirs or +devisees of a deceased party, if proof of death is presented to the institution +showing that the deceased party was the survivor of all other persons named +on the account either as a party or beneficiary. + +(7) Payment made pursuant to this section discharges the institution +from all claims for amounts so paid, whether or not the payment is +consistent with the beneficial ownership of the account as between parties, +beneficiaries, or their successors. Payment may be made whether or not a +party or beneficiary is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when payment + + + +is requested, received, or made. +(8) A beneficiary in an account at a credit union having a pay-on-death + +designation, unless the beneficiary is a member in her or his own right, +may not be permitted to vote, obtain an extension of credit, or hold office +or be required to pay an entrance or membership fee. + +(9) The following is an example of the form of a contract of deposit that +may be used to select a pay-on-death account for use by one or more +parties: + +SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT OR MULTIPLE-PARTY +ACCOUNT WITH PAY-ON-DEATH DESIGNATION + +PARTIES (Name each party): __________________________ +OWNERSHIP (Select one and initial): +_________ SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT +_________ MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT +RIGHTS AT DEATH (Select one and initial): +_________ SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT +At death of the party, ownership passes as part of the partys estate. +_________ SINGLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH A PAY-ON-DEATH + +DESIGNATION +(Name one or more beneficiaries): +At death of the party, ownership passes to the designated pay-on-death + +beneficiaries and is not part of the partys estate. +_________ MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH RIGHT OF + +SURVIVORSHIP +At death of a party, ownership passes to the surviving party or parties. +_________ MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT WITH RIGHT OF + +SURVIVORSHIP AND A PAY-ON-DEATH DESIGNATION +(Name one or more beneficiaries): + + + +__________________________ +At death of the last surviving party, ownership passes to the designated + +pay-on-death beneficiaries and is not part of the last surviving partys estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 94-216; s. 529, ch. 97-102; s. 21, ch. 2001-243. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.825. +Fla. Stat. 655.825 + + 655.825. Deposits in trust; applicability of s. 655.82 in place of former s. +655.81. +(1) Because deposits in trust are also accounts with a pay-on-death + +designation as described in s. 655.82, it is the intent of the Legislature that +the provisions of s. 655.82 shall apply to and govern deposits in trust. +References to former s. 655.81 in any depository agreement shall be +interpreted after the effective date of this act as references to s. 655.82. + +(2) This section shall take effect July 1, 2001, and shall apply to deposits +made to a depository account created after December 31, 1994. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2001-243; s. 101, ch. 2019-3, effective July 3, 2019. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.83. +Fla. Stat. 655.83 + + 655.83. Adverse claim to a deposit or fiduciary account. +Notice to any institution of an adverse claim to a deposit or fiduciary + +account standing on its books to the credit of any person does not obligate the +institution to recognize the adverse claimant unless the adverse claimant also +either: + +(1) Procures a restraining order, injunction, or other appropriate process +having specific application to the institution issued by a court of competent +jurisdiction in a cause therein instituted by such claimant wherein the +person to whose credit the deposit or fiduciary account stands is made a +party and served with process; or + +(2) Obtains in favor of the institution, in a form, amount, and with +sureties acceptable to it, a bond indemnifying the institution from any and +all liability (including liabilities for penalties), loss, damage, costs, and +expenses should it act to give effect to the adverse claim, including the +decision not to honor the check or other order of the person to whose credit +the deposit or fiduciary account stands on the books of the institution. +Upon receipt of such bond, the institution shall hold the account pending +agreement between the claimant and the person to whose credit the deposit +or fiduciary account stands on the books of the institution or pending +receipt of a restraining order, injunction, or other process pursuant to +subsection (1). + +HISTORY: +S. 51, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.84. +Fla. Stat. 655.84 + + 655.84. Limitations; statements as correct. +(1) Unless written objection thereto has been theretofore delivered by + +the depositor to the institution, a statement of account rendered by any +institution in this state to a depositor, with a description of the amount and +type (such as deposit, withdrawal, debit, credit, or any similar designation) +of entries to such account, which description may be on accompanying +documents or on the statement itself, shall, after the expiration of 2 years +from the date rendered, be conclusively presumed to be correct; and the +depositor is thereafter barred from questioning same. + +(2) In the absence of a written contract between an institution and a +depositor providing otherwise, the statement of account is deemed to have +been rendered to the depositor within the meaning of this section when +prepared and lodged by the institution at its statement window or other +customary place for delivery to the depositor. Any such statement of +account which is not demanded by the depositor within 3 years may be +destroyed by the institution without accountability or liability therefor to +anyone. + +(3) This section does not relieve a depositor from any duty or obligation +imposed by law or by contract heretofore or hereafter made to examine +such statement of account and to report any disputed debits, credits, errors, +or irregularities within a shorter period of time than mentioned in this +section, or from the legal consequences of the depositors failure to +perform any such duty or obligation. + +HISTORY: +S. 52, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.85. +Fla. Stat. 655.85 + + 655.85. Settlement of checks. +If a check is forwarded or presented to a financial institution for payment, + +except when presented by the payee in person, the paying institution or +remitting institution shall settle the amount of the check at par, at its option, +in money or in exchange drawn on its reserve agent or agents in the City of +New York or in any reserve city within the Sixth Federal Reserve District. +The term at par applies only to the settlement of checks between collecting +and paying or remitting institutions and does not apply to, or prohibit an +institution from, deducting from the face amount of the check drawn on it a +fee for paying the check if the check is presented to the institution by the +payee in person. This section does not apply to the settlement of a check sent +to such institution as a special collection item. + +HISTORY: +S. 53, ch. 92-303; s. 12, ch. 2014-91, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors Notes +Section 13, ch. 2014-91, provides: The Legislature intends that the + +amendment to s. 655.85, Florida Statutes, made by this act, clarify the +relevant portions of the financial institutions codes as defined in s. 655.005, +Florida Statutes, relating to fees imposed by a financial institution for the +payment of checks presented in person without requiring further +amendment. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.851. +Fla. Stat. 655.851 + + 655.851. Unclaimed credit balances. +Credit balances held by a financial institution, credit union, or participant + +as defined in 12 U.S.C. s. 4001(19) which result from the performance of or +participation in check-clearing functions, whether pursuant to a contractual +relationship between financial institutions, credit unions, or participants; +through a clearinghouse as defined by s. 674.104; or through a clearinghouse +association as defined by 12 U.S.C. s. 4001(8), are not subject to s. 717.117. +This section is intended to clarify existing law and to be remedial in nature +and applies to credit balances held before, on, or after July 1, 2007. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2007-142, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.86. +Fla. Stat. 655.86 + + 655.86. Issuance of postdated checks. +It is the duty of the person drawing a postdated check to notify, in writing, + +the separate office or branch of the institution upon which such check is +drawn, giving a complete description thereof, including the name of the +payee, the date, the number, and the amount thereof; otherwise, the institution +is not liable for paying such check. + +HISTORY: +S. 54, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.89. +Fla. Stat. 655.89 + + 655.89. Legal holidays; business days; business and transactions. +(1) In this section, the term: + +(a) Business day means that part of any day on which an institution is +open to the public for carrying on substantially all its banking functions, trust +functions, or transactions. A financial institution is deemed to be closed on +any day, or any part of a day, when it is not open to the public for carrying on +substantially all its banking functions, trust functions, and transactions. + +(b) Legal holiday means a statutory holiday or a permissive holiday. A +statutory holiday is any day which, by the laws of this state or the United +States, is designated or recognized as a legal or public holiday. A permissive +holiday is any one day, other than a statutory holiday, in each week on +which an institution is customarily closed. + +(c) Transaction means any one or more of the functions and elements of +the business of an institution and includes, but is not limited to, the receipt or +giving of any notice; the receipt or acceptance of deposits; the transmission, +acceptance, payment, dishonor, and giving notice of dishonor of items; and +its obligations and duties with respect to all thereof; and the word transact +means to take action or nonaction the result of which is a transaction. + +(2) Any institution may, but unless otherwise required by law is not +required to, be closed or be open only for limited transactions and +functions or purposes on any legal holiday. When an institution is closed as +provided or permitted by law, it is not under any obligation or duty to +conduct any of its business or effectuate any transaction. An institution is +open only for limited transactions and functions or purposes when one or +more, but fewer than all, of its branches, separate or other offices, +departments, sections, or other functional elements of its business, which +customarily are open to the public for carrying on the banking or trust +business and transactions, are not open to the public for such purposes. +When, as provided or permitted by law, an institution is open only for +limited transactions and functions or purposes, it is not under any +obligation or duty to conduct or transact, at or from such of its branches, +separate or other offices, departments, sections, or other functional + + + +elements of its business which are not open to the public for such purposes, +any of the business or transactions customarily conducted or transacted +therefrom or thereat. + +(3) When any statutory holiday occurs on a Sunday or on a day when an +institution customarily is closed, such institution may, but unless otherwise +required by law is not required to, elect to be closed or to be open only for +limited transactions and functions or purposes on the next preceding or the +next following day which, except for the provisions of this section, would +not be a legal holiday, and such day so elected is, with respect to such +institution, a legal holiday as to all transactions and for all purposes and +laws. + +(4) Any legal holiday on which an institution is closed or is open only +for limited transactions and functions or purposes may, if the institution +elects, be deemed and treated with respect to all transactions and for all +purposes and laws, including, but not limited to, the Uniform Commercial +Code, as not a business day; and any notice, item, or deposit of money +received on any such day may be treated as being received at the opening +of the next business day, and any transaction or other business which +would or should have occurred or been transacted on any such legal +holiday may be treated as postponed by law to the next business day. + +(5) An institution may establish the regular and customary hours of each +day during which each of its branches, separate or other offices, +departments, sections, or functional elements of its business will be +operated for the transaction of the business customarily conducted or +transacted at or from each such branch, office, department, section, or +functional element of business, and the regular and customary hours during +which each thereof will be open to the public for the conduct of such +business and transactions, and it is not necessary that the same hours be +established for all thereof or that the hours so established for any thereof be +the same on every day. + +(6) With prior written approval of the office, an institution may +designate another day or other days on which the institution may be closed +and which day or days will not be considered business days. + +(7) An institution may, but unless otherwise required by law is not under +or subject to any obligation or duty to, effectuate any transaction or + + + +transact any business on any legal holiday; at any time before the +beginning, or after the close, of its business day; or outside the regular and +customary hours established as provided in subsection (5) or subsection (6) +of any separate or other office or branch or any department, section, or +functional element of business. If the institution elects to do so, it has all +the rights provided by law with respect to such transaction or business, +and, at its election, any such transactions or business shall be treated as +having occurred or as having been transacted on that day or on its next +following business day, except that any transaction or business occurring +before the beginning of its regular business day shall be treated as +occurring at the beginning of that business day. + +(8) No liability or loss of rights of any kind on the part of any institution +accrues or results by reason of any institution being closed or open only for +limited functions or purposes, or by reason of any branch, separate or other +office, department, section, or functional element of business being +operated or open for the transaction of business only during the regular and +customary hours established by the institution, as provided in this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 55, ch. 92-303; s. 1732, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.90. +Fla. Stat. 655.90 + + 655.90. Closing during emergencies and other special days. +(1) Definitions. As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Commissioner means the director of the Office of Financial +Regulation and any other person lawfully exercising such powers. + +(b) Emergency means any condition or occurrence, actual or threatened, +which may interfere physically with the conduct of normal business +operations of an institution or of one or more or all of the departments, +sections, functions, offices, or facilities of an institution, or which poses an +imminent or existing threat to the safety or security of persons or property, or +both. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, an emergency may +exist, arise, or be imminent as the result of any one or more, actual or +threatened, of the following: fires; floods; earthquakes; tornadoes; hurricanes; +wind, rain, or other storms; labor disputes and strikes; power failures; +transportation failures; interruption of communication facilities; shortages of +fuel, food, transportation, or labor; robberies or burglaries or attempted +robberies or burglaries; actual or threatened enemy attacks; epidemics or +other catastrophes; explosions; and riots, civil commotions, and other acts of +lawlessness or violence, actual or threatened. + +(c) Office means any place at which an institution transacts its business +or conducts operations relating to its business. However, this section does not +authorize an institution to conduct its banking business at any place or places +not otherwise authorized or permitted by law. + +(d) Officers means the person or persons designated by the board of +directors, board of trustees, or other governing body of an institution to act +for the institution in carrying out the provisions of this section or, in the +absence of any such designation or in the absence of the officers so +designated, the president or any other officer currently in charge of the +institution or of the office or offices in question. + +(e) The authorizations herein provided for an institution to close in case +of an emergency means and includes the authority not to open on any +business or banking day and, if having opened, to close and suspend business. + + + +(2) Powers of commissioner. Whenever the commissioner is of the +opinion that an emergency exists, or is impending, in this state or in any +part of this state, he or she may, by proclamation, authorize state and +nationally or federally chartered institutions, if not inconsistent with, and if +it does not infringe upon, paramount federal law, located in the affected +area or areas to close or to close any or all the departments, sections, +functions, offices, or facilities thereof. In addition, if the commissioner is +of the opinion that an emergency exists, or is impending, which affects, or +may affect, a particular institution or institutions, or one or more particular +departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities thereof, but not +institutions located in the area generally, he or she may authorize the +particular institution or institutions to close or to close one or more of the +departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities thereof. The +institution or institutions affected by any such proclamation or +authorization may close in accordance therewith. Such institutions and +such of the departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities thereof so +closed may remain closed until the commissioner proclaims that the +emergency has ended, or until such earlier time as the officers of the +institution determine that the institution or any of its departments, sections, +functions, offices, or facilities, theretofore closed because of the +emergency, should reopen, and, in either event, for such further time +thereafter as may reasonably be required to reopen. + +(3) Powers of officers. +(a) Whenever the officers of an institution are of the opinion that an + +emergency exists, or is impending, which affects, or may affect, the +institution or one or more or all of its departments, sections, functions, +offices, or facilities, they shall have the authority, in the reasonable exercise +of their discretion, to close the institution or any one or more or all of the +departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities thereof on any business +day or days during the continuation of such emergency, even if the +commissioner has not issued and does not issue a proclamation of +emergency. The office or offices so closed may remain closed until such time +as the officers determine that the emergency has ended and for such further +time thereafter as may reasonably be required to reopen. However, in no case +may such institution or any department, section, function, office, or facility +thereof remain closed pursuant to this paragraph for more than 48 + + + +consecutive hours, excluding other legal holidays, without requesting the +approval of the commissioner. + +(b) The officers of an institution may close the institution or any one or +more or all of the institutions departments, sections, functions, offices, or +facilities on any day or days designated, by proclamation of the President of +the United States or the Governor of this state, as a day or days of mourning, +rejoicing, or other special observance. + +(4) Notice to be given. +(a) An institution chartered under the laws of this state closing, or closing + +any of its departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities, pursuant to +the authority granted under subsection (3) shall give notice of its action to the +commissioner as promptly as conditions reasonably permit and by any means +reasonably available. + +(b) A national or federal institution closing, or closing any of its +departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities, pursuant to the +authority granted by this section shall give notice of its action to the +appropriate federal regulatory agency as promptly as conditions reasonably +permit and by any means reasonably available. + +(5) Effect of closing and partial closing. +(a) Any day on which an institution, or any one or more of its departments, + +sections, functions, offices, or facilities, is closed during all or any part of its +normal banking hours pursuant to the authorization granted in this section is, +with respect to such institution or, if not all its departments, sections, +functions, offices, or facilities are closed, then with respect to any of its +departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities which are closed, a legal +holiday for all purposes with respect to any business of any kind or character +of the institution, or of any of its departments, sections, functions, offices, or +facilities, so closed, including, but without limiting the generality of the +foregoing, matters relating to the time payable, the presenting for payment or +acceptance, and the protesting and giving notice of protest and notice of +dishonor of bills of exchange, checks, promissory notes, and other items +drawn on or payable at such institution and relating to any other banking +business of any kind or character. No liability or loss of rights of any kind on +the part of any institution or director, officer, or employee thereof accrues or + + + +results by virtue of any closing authorized by this section. +(b) On any day which by the provisions of this section is deemed or + +declared to be a legal holiday with respect to any institution or institutions or +office or offices thereof, the officers thereof may, in the exercise of their +discretion, cause such institution or any office thereof to open its doors or +facilities for the transaction or conduct of a limited business by the operation +of one or more, but less than all, of its departments, sections, offices, +functions, or facilities. On any day when, pursuant to the provisions of this +section, less than all the departments, sections, functions, offices, or facilities +are open, at the election of such institution the limited business transacted or +conducted on such day is deemed for all purposes as transacted or conducted +on the next following business day which is not deemed or declared as a legal +holiday pursuant to the provisions of this section or of any other provision of +law. + +(6) Provisions cumulative. The provisions of this section shall be +construed and applied as being in addition to, and not in substitution for or +limitation of, any other law of this state or of the United States authorizing +the closing of an institution or excusing the delay by an institution in the +performance of its duties and obligations because of emergencies or +conditions beyond the institutions control or otherwise. + +HISTORY: +S. 56, ch. 92-303; s. 530, ch. 97-102; s. 31, ch. 99-155; s. 1733, ch. 2003- + +261. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.91. +Fla. Stat. 655.91 + + 655.91. Records of institutions and copies thereof; retention and +destruction. +(1) In this section, records of an institution means and includes all + +books of account and other books of every kind, journals, ledgers, +statements, instruments, documents, files, messages, writings of every +kind, and other internal or other data and other information of every +description, made or received by an institution in the regular course of its +business or otherwise, regardless of the mode in which it is recorded. + +(2) Institutions need not preserve or retain any of their records or copies +thereof for a period longer than is expressly required by an applicable +statute or rule or regulation of this state or the United States which +identifies, either specifically or by type or category, the relevant records or +copies thereof or, if there is no such statute or rule or regulation which +specifies a retention period applicable to the records or copies thereof, for a +period longer than 5 years. An institution may destroy any of its records or +copies thereof after the expiration of the retention period determined as +provided in this subsection. + +(3) No liability shall accrue against any institution because of the +destruction of any of its records or copies thereof as permitted by +subsection (2), and in any judicial or other action or proceeding in which +any such records or copies thereof may be called in question or be +demanded of the institution or any officer or employee thereof, a showing +that such records or copies thereof have been destroyed in accordance with +the provisions of subsection (2) is a sufficient excuse for the failure to +produce them. + +(4) Any institution may at any time make, or cause to be made, a copy or +copies of any or all of its records, and any such copy duly certified, +authenticated, or identified by a responsible officer or agent of the +institution under whose supervision the records or copies are kept shall, in +all cases and in all courts and places, be admitted and received as evidence +with a like force and effect as the original record, whether or not the +original is in existence. + + + +(5) The original of any record of an institution includes the data or other +information comprising a record stored or transmitted in or by means of +any electronic, computerized, mechanized, or other information storage or +retrieval or transmission system or device which can upon request +generate, regenerate, or transmit the precise data or other information +comprising the record; and an original also includes the visible data or +other information so generated, regenerated, or transmitted if it is legible or +can be made legible by enlargement or other process. + +(6) Copies of records of an institution, heretofore or hereafter made, +include duplicates or counterparts of an original produced from the same +impression or process as the original by carbon or other chemical or +substance or process; negative and positive film and prints of an original or +copy and reproductions and facsimiles of an original or copy, whether or +not the same size, produced by photographic, microphotographic, +photostatic, xerographic, electronic, computerized, or mechanized process, +or by any other process, and enlargements and reductions thereof; and the +data or other information comprising a record stored or transmitted as +provided in subsection (5), and the visible data or other information +generated or regenerated or transmitted by such information storage or +retrieval or transmission system or device, if it is legible or can be made +legible by enlargement or other process. + +HISTORY: +S. 57, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.921. +Fla. Stat. 655.921 + + 655.921. Transaction of business by out-of-state financial institutions; +exempt transactions. +(1) The financial institutions codes do not prohibit a financial institution + +or business trust that has its principal place of business outside this state +and that does not operate branches in this state from: +(a) Contracting in this state with any person to acquire from such person a + +part, or the entire, interest in a loan that such person makes, together with a +like interest in any security instrument covering real or personal property in +the state given to such person to secure or evidence such loan. + +(b) Entering into mortgage servicing contracts with persons authorized to +transact business in this state and enforcing in this state the obligations +acquired by it in the transaction of business outside this state or in the +transaction of any business authorized by this section. + +(c) Acquiring, holding, leasing, mortgaging, contracting with respect to, or +otherwise protecting, managing, or conveying property in this state which is +assigned, transferred, mortgaged, or conveyed to it as security for, or in +whole or in part in satisfaction of, a loan or loans made by it or obligations +acquired by it in the transaction of any business authorized by this section. + +(d) Making loans or committing to make loans to any person located in this +state and soliciting compensating deposit balances in connection therewith. + +(e) Filing suit in any court in this state to collect any debt or foreclose on +any security interest in collateral securing a debt. + +(2) A financial institution or business trust may not be deemed to be +transacting business in this state, or be required to qualify to do so, solely +by reason of the performance of any of the acts or business authorized in +this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 58, ch. 92-303; s. 10, ch. 2004-340; s. 93, ch. 2004-390; s. 14, ch. 2014- + +91, effective July 1, 2014. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.922. +Fla. Stat. 655.922 + + 655.922. Banking business by unauthorized persons; use of name. +(1) Only a financial institution authorized to do business in this state + +pursuant to the financial institutions codes of any state or federal law may +engage in the business of soliciting or receiving funds for deposit, issuing +certificates of deposit, or paying checks in this state; and only such +financial institution may establish or maintain a place of business in this +state for any of the functions, transactions, or purposes identified in this +subsection. A person who violates this subsection commits a felony of the +third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. +775.084. This subsection does not prohibit the issuance or sale by a +financial institution of travelers checks, money orders, or other +instruments for the transmission or payment of money, by or through +employees or agents of the financial institution off the financial +institutions premises. + +(2) Only a financial institution authorized to do business in this state as +provided under subsection (1) may: +(a) Transact or solicit business under any name or title that contains the + +words bank, banc, banco, banque, banker, banking, trust +company, savings and loan association, savings bank, or credit union, +or words of similar import, in any context or in any manner; + +(b) Use any name, word, trademark, service mark, trade name, Internet +address, logo, sign, symbol, or device in any context or in any manner; or + +(c) Circulate or use any letterhead, billhead, circular, paper, electronic +media, Internet website or posting, or writing of any kind or otherwise +advertise or represent in any manner, + +which indicates or reasonably implies that the business being solicited, +conducted, or advertised is the kind or character of business transacted or +conducted by a financial institution or which is likely to lead any person to +believe that such business is that of a financial institution; however, the +words bank, banc, banco, banque, banker, banking, trust +company, savings and loan association, savings bank, or credit union, +or the plural of any thereof, may be used by, and in the corporate or other + + + +name or title of, any company that is or becomes a holding company of a +financial institution pursuant to state or federal law; any subsidiary of such +holding company which includes as a part of its name or title all or any part, +or abbreviations, of the name or title of the holding company of which it is a +subsidiary; any trade organization or association, whether or not +incorporated, functioning for the purpose of promoting the interests of +financial institutions or holding companies, the active members of which are +financial institutions or holding companies; and any international +development bank chartered pursuant to part II of chapter 663. + +(3) A person may not use the name, trademark, service mark, trade +name, Internet address, or logo of a financial institution or an affiliate or +subsidiary thereof, or use a name similar to that of a financial institution or +an affiliate or subsidiary thereof, to market or solicit business from a +customer or prospective customer of such institution if: +(a) The solicitation is done without the written consent of the financial + +institution or its affiliate or subsidiary; and +(b) A reasonable person would believe that the materials originated from, + +are endorsed by, or are connected with the financial institution or its affiliates +or subsidiaries. + +(4) A financial institution, affiliate, subsidiary, or service corporation +may not do business, solicit, or advertise in this state using a name, +trademark, service mark, trade name, Internet address, or logo that may +mislead consumers or cause confusion as to the identification of the proper +legal business entity or the nature of the financial institutions business. + +(5) Any court, in a proceeding brought by the office, by a financial +institution the principal place of business of which is in this state, or by any +other person residing or whose principal place of business is in this state +and whose interests are substantially affected thereby, may enjoin any +person from violating any provision of this section. Except for a financial +institution duly chartered by the office, the office may also seek an order +from the circuit court for the annulment or dissolution of a corporation or +any other business entity found violating any provision of this section. For +the purposes of this subsection, the interests of a trade organization or +association are deemed to be substantially affected if the interests of its +members are so affected. The office may also issue and serve upon any + + + +person who violates any provision of this section an emergency cease and +desist order or a complaint seeking a cease and desist order in accordance +with s. 655.033. The office is not required to make any finding or +determination that a violation of this section is likely to result in +insolvency, substantial dissipation of assets or earnings, or substantial +prejudice to any person in association with the issuance of an emergency +cease and desist order. + +(6) This section does not prohibit the lawful establishment or operation +of a financial institution, affiliate, subsidiary, or service corporation or +prohibit any advertisement or other activity in this state by any person if +such prohibition would contravene any applicable federal law that +preempts the law of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 59, ch. 92-303; s. 12, ch. 96-168; s. 1734, ch. 2003-261; s. 11, ch. 2004- + +340; s. 94, ch. 2004-390; s. 101, ch. 2013-18, eff. July 2, 2013; s. 15, ch. +2014-91, effective July 1, 2014. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.93. +Fla. Stat. 655.93 + + 655.93. Definitions for ss. 655.93-655.94. +As used in ss. 655.93-655.94, the term: + +(1) Lessee means a person who contracts with a lessor for the use of a +safe-deposit box. + +(2) Lessor means a financial institution that rents safe-deposit +facilities. + +(3) Safe-deposit box means a safe-deposit box, vault, or other safe- +deposit receptacle maintained by a lessor, and the rules relating thereto +apply to property or documents kept in safekeeping in the financial +institutions vault. + +HISTORY: +S. 60, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.931. +Fla. Stat. 655.931 + + 655.931. Authority to engage in safe-deposit business. +A financial institution may maintain and lease safe-deposit boxes and may + +accept property or documents for safekeeping if, except in the case of +property or documents accepted through night depositories, it issues a receipt +therefor. + +HISTORY: +S. 61, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.932. +Fla. Stat. 655.932 + + 655.932. Lease to minor. +A lessor may lease a safe-deposit box to, and in connection therewith deal + +with, a minor with the same effect as if leasing to and dealing with a person +of full legal capacity. + +HISTORY: +S. 62, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.933. +Fla. Stat. 655.933 + + 655.933. Access by fiduciaries. +If a safe-deposit box is made available by a lessor to one or more persons + +acting as fiduciaries, the lessor may, except as otherwise expressly provided +in the lease or the writings pursuant to which such fiduciaries are acting, +allow access thereto as follows: + +(1) By any one or more of the persons acting as personal representatives. +(2) By any one or more of the persons otherwise acting as fiduciaries if + +authorized in writing, which writing is signed by all other persons so +acting. + +(3) By any agent authorized in writing, which writing is signed by all +persons acting as fiduciaries. + +HISTORY: +S. 63, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.934. +Fla. Stat. 655.934 + + 655.934. Effect of lessees death or incapacity. +If a lessor without knowledge of the death or an order determining the + +incapacity of the lessee deals with the lessees agent in accordance with a +written power of attorney or a durable power of attorney signed by such +lessee, the transaction binds the lessees estate and the lessee. + +HISTORY: +S. 64, ch. 92-303; s. 1, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.935. +Fla. Stat. 655.935 + + 655.935. Search procedure on death of lessee. +If satisfactory proof of the death of the lessee is presented, a lessor shall + +permit the person named in a court order for that purpose, or if no order has +been served upon the lessor, the spouse, a parent, an adult descendant, or a +person named as a personal representative in a copy of a purported will +produced by such person, to open and examine the contents of a safe-deposit +box leased or coleased by a decedent, or any documents delivered by a +decedent for safekeeping, in the presence of an officer of the lessor. + +(1) If requested by such person, the lessor shall remove and deliver only: +(a) Any writing purporting to be a will of the decedent, to the court having + +probate jurisdiction in the county in which the financial institution is located. +(b) Any writing purporting to be a deed to a burial plot or to give burial + +instructions, to the person making the request for a search. +(c) Any document purporting to be an insurance policy on the life of the + +decedent, to the beneficiary named therein. +(2) The officer of the lessor shall make a complete copy of any + +document removed and delivered pursuant to this section and place that +copy, together with a memorandum of delivery identifying the name of the +officer, the person to whom the document was delivered, the purported +relationship of the person to whom the document was delivered, and the +date of delivery, in the safe-deposit box leased or coleased by the decedent. + +(3) The lessor may charge reasonable fees to cover costs incurred +pursuant to this section. + +(4) Access granted pursuant to this section is not considered the initial +opening of the safe-deposit box pursuant to s. 733.6065. + +HISTORY: +S. 65, ch. 92-303; s. 1, ch. 2006-134, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 67, ch. 2006-213, + +eff. October 1, 2006; s. 2, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.936. +Fla. Stat. 655.936 + + 655.936. Delivery of safe-deposit box contents or property held in +safekeeping to personal representative. +(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3), the lessor shall + +immediately deliver to a personal representative appointed by a court in +this state, upon presentation of a certified copy of his or her letters of +authority, all property deposited with it by the decedent for safekeeping, +and shall grant the personal representative access to any safe-deposit box +in the decedents name and permit him or her to remove from such box any +part or all of the contents thereof. + +(2) If a personal representative of a deceased lessee has been appointed +by a court of any other state, a lessor may, at its discretion, after 3 months +from the issuance to such personal representative of his or her letters of +authority, deliver to such personal representative all properties deposited +with it for safekeeping and the contents of any safe-deposit box in the +name of the decedent if at such time the lessor has not received written +notice of the appointment of a personal representative in this state, and +such delivery is a valid discharge of the lessor for all property or contents +so delivered. A personal representative appointed by a court of any other +state shall furnish the lessor with an affidavit setting forth facts showing +the domicile of the deceased lessee to be other than this state and stating +that there are no unpaid creditors of the deceased lessee in this state, +together with a certified copy of his or her letters of authority. A lessor +making delivery pursuant to this subsection shall maintain in its files a +receipt executed by such personal representative which itemizes in detail +all property so delivered. + +(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), after the death of a +lessee of a safe-deposit box, the lessor shall permit the initial opening of +the safe-deposit box and the removal of the contents of the safe-deposit +box in accordance with s. 733.6065. + +(4) A lessor is not liable for damages or penalty by reason of any +delivery made pursuant to this section. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 66, ch. 92-303; s. 531, ch. 97-102; s. 12, ch. 97-240; s. 3, ch. 2001-226; +s. 2, ch. 2006-134, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 68, ch. 2006-213, eff. October 1, +2006. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.937. +Fla. Stat. 655.937 + + 655.937. Access to safe-deposit boxes leased in two or more names. +(1) Unless specifically provided in the lease or rental agreement to the + +contrary, if a safe-deposit box is rented or leased in the names of two or +more lessees, access to the safe-deposit box will be granted to: +(a) Either or any of such lessees, regardless of whether or not the other + +lessee or lessees or any of them are living or competent. +(b) Subject to s. 655.933, those persons named in s. 655.933. +(c) Subject to s. 655.935, those persons named in s. 655.935. +(d) Subject to s. 733.6065, the personal representative of the estate of + +either or any of such lessees who is deceased, or the guardian of the property +of either or any of such lessees who is incapacitated. + +(2) In all cases described in subsection (1), the signature on the safe- +deposit entry or access record, or the receipt or acquittance, in the case of +property or documents otherwise held for safekeeping, is a valid and +sufficient release and discharge to the lessor for granting access to such +safe-deposit box or for the delivery of such property or documents +otherwise held for safekeeping. + +(3) A lessor may not be held liable for damages or penalty by reason of +any access granted or delivery made pursuant to this section. + +(4) The right of access by a colessee is separate from the rights and +responsibilities of other persons who may be granted access to a safe- +deposit box after the death or incapacity of another colessee, and such right +of access is not subject to the provisions of s. 655.935, s. 733.6065, or +other requirements imposed upon personal representatives, guardians, or +other fiduciaries. + +(5) After the death of a colessee, the surviving colessee or any other +person who is granted access to the safe-deposit box pursuant to this +section may make a written inventory of the box, which must be conducted +by the person making the request in the presence of one other person as +specified in this subsection. Each person present shall verify the contents + + + +of the box by signing a copy of the inventory under penalty of perjury. +(a) If the person making the written inventory is a surviving colessee, the + +other person may be any other person granted access pursuant to this section, +an employee of the institution where the box is located, or an attorney +licensed in this state. + +(b) If the person making the written inventory is not a surviving colessee, +the other person may be a surviving colessee, an employee of the institution +where the box is located, or an attorney licensed in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 67, ch. 92-303; s. 3, ch. 2006-134, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 69, ch. 2006-213, + +eff. October 1, 2006. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.938. +Fla. Stat. 655.938 + + 655.938. Adverse claims to contents of safe-deposit box. +(1) An adverse claim to the contents of a safe-deposit box, or to property + +held in safekeeping, is not sufficient to require the lessor to deny access to +its lessee unless: +(a) The lessor is directed to do so by a court order issued in an action in + +which the lessee is served with process and named as a party by a name +which identifies the lessee with the name in which the safe-deposit box is +leased or the property held; or + +(b) The safe-deposit box is leased or the property is held in the name of a +lessee with the addition of words indicating that the contents or property are +held in a fiduciary capacity, and the adverse claim is supported by a written +statement of facts disclosing that it is made by, or on behalf of, a beneficiary +and that there is reason to know that the fiduciary will misappropriate the +trust property. + +(2) A claim is also an adverse claim if one of several lessees claims, +contrary to the terms of the lease, an exclusive right of access, or if one or +more persons claim a right of access as agents or officers of a lessee to the +exclusion of others as agents or officers, or if it is claimed that a lessee is +the same person as one using another name. + +HISTORY: +S. 68, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.939. +Fla. Stat. 655.939 + + 655.939. Limiting right of access for failure to comply with security +procedures. + +If any individual who has a right of access to a safe-deposit box is +unwilling or unable for any reason or cause to comply with any of the +lessors normal requirements or procedures in connection with such access +relating to security, safety, or protection, the lessor has the right to limit or +deny access to the safe-deposit box by such individual unless all lessees of +such safe-deposit box take such action as is necessary to ensure reasonable +compliance with such security, safety, or protection requirements or +procedures. + +HISTORY: +S. 69, ch. 92-303. + + + + Title XXXVIII. , Ch. 655. , 655.94. +Fla. Stat. 655.94 + + 655.94. Special remedies for nonpayment of rent. +(1) If the rental due on a safe-deposit box has not been paid for 3 + +months, the lessor may send a notice by certified mail to the last known +address of the lessee stating that the safe-deposit box will be opened and its +contents stored at the expense of the lessee unless payment of the rental is +made within 30 days. If the rental is not paid within 30 days from the +mailing of the notice, the box may be opened in the presence of an officer +of the lessor and of a notary public. The contents shall be sealed in a +package by a notary public who shall write on the outside the name of the +lessee and the date of the opening. The notary public shall execute a +certificate reciting the name of the lessee, the date of the opening of the +box, and a list of its contents. The certificate shall be included in the +package, and a copy of the certificate shall be sent by certified mail to the +last known address of the lessee. The package shall then be placed in the +general vaults of the lessor at a rental not exceeding the rental previously +charged for the box. The lessor has a lien on the package and its contents +to the extent of any rental due and owing plus the actual, reasonable costs +of removing the contents from the safe-deposit box. + +(2) If the contents of the safe-deposit box have not been claimed within +1 year after the mailing of the certificate, the lessor may send a further +notice to the last known address of the lessee stating that, unless the +accumulated charges are paid within 30 days, the contents of the box will +be sold at public auction at a specified time and place or, in the case of +securities listed on a stock exchange, will be sold upon the exchange on or +after a specified date and unsalable items will be destroyed. The time, +place, and manner of sale shall also be posted conspicuously on the +premises of the lessor and advertised once in a newspaper of general +circulation in the community. If the articles are not claimed, they may then +be sold in accordance with the notice. The balance of the proceeds, after +deducting accumulated charges, including the expenses of advertising and +conducting the sale, shall be deposited to the credit of the lessee in any +account maintained by the lessee, or, if none, shall be deemed a deposit +account with the financial institution operating the safe-deposit facility, + + + +and shall be identified on the books of the financial institution as arising +from the sale of contents of a safe-deposit box. + +(3) Any documents or writings of a private nature, and having little or +no apparent value, need not be offered for sale, but shall be retained, unless +claimed by the owner, for the period specified for unclaimed contents, after +which they may be destroyed. + +HISTORY: +S. 70, ch. 92-303; s. 12, ch. 2004-340; s. 95, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. +Fla. Stat. Title XL + +TITLE XL. +REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. + +________ + Title XL. , Ch. 689. + +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 689 + + + +CHAPTER 689. +CONVEYANCES OF LAND AND DECLARATIONS OF + +TRUST. + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.01. + +Fla. Stat. 689.01 + + 689.01. How real estate conveyed. +(1) No estate or interest of freehold, or for a term of more than 1 year, or + +any uncertain interest of, in, or out of any messuages, lands, tenements, or +hereditaments shall be created, made, granted, transferred, or released in +any manner other than by instrument in writing, signed in the presence of +two subscribing witnesses by the party creating, making, granting, +conveying, transferring, or releasing such estate, interest, or term of more +than 1 year, or by the partys lawfully authorized agent, unless by will and +testament, or other testamentary appointment, duly made according to law; +and no estate or interest, either of freehold, or of term of more than 1 year, +or any uncertain interest of, in, to, or out of any messuages, lands, +tenements, or hereditaments, shall be assigned or surrendered unless it be +by instrument signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses by the +party so assigning or surrendering, or by the partys lawfully authorized +agent, or by the act and operation of law; provided, however, that no +subscribing witnesses shall be required for a lease of real property or any +such instrument pertaining to a lease of real property. No seal shall be +necessary to give validity to any instrument executed in conformity with +this section. Corporations may execute any and all conveyances in +accordance with the provisions of this section or ss. 692.01 and 692.02. + +(2) For purposes of this chapter: +(a) Any requirement that an instrument be signed in the presence of two + +subscribing witnesses may be satisfied by witnesses being present and +electronically signing by means of audio-video communication technology, +as defined in s. 117.201. + +(b) The act of witnessing an electronic signature is satisfied if a witness is +in the physical presence of the principal or present through audio-video + + + +communication technology at the time the principal affixes his or her +electronic signature and the witness hears the principal make a statement +acknowledging that the principal has signed the electronic record. + +(c) The terms used in this subsection have the same meanings as the terms +defined in s. 117.201. + +(3) All acts of witnessing made or taken in the manner described in +subsection (2) are validated and, upon recording, may not be denied to +have provided constructive notice based on any alleged failure to have +strictly complied with this section or the laws governing notarization of +instruments, including online notarization. This subsection does not +preclude a challenge to the validity or enforceability of an instrument or +electronic record based upon fraud, forgery, impersonation, duress, +incapacity, undue influence, minority, illegality, unconscionability, or any +other basis not related to the act of witnessing. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, Nov. 15, 1828; RS 1950; GS 2448; RGS 3787; CGL 5660; s. 4, ch. + +20954, 1941; s. 751, ch. 97-102; s. 2, ch. 2008-35, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 21, ch. +2019-71, effective January 1, 2020; s. 1, ch. 2020-102, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.02. +Fla. Stat. 689.02 + + 689.02. Form of warranty deed prescribed. +(1) Warranty deeds of conveyance to land may be in the following form, + +viz.: +This indenture, made this _____ day of _____ A.D. _____, between + +_____, of the County of _____ in the State of _____, party of the first part, +and _____, of the County of, in the State of _____, party of the second part, +witnesseth: That the said party of the first part, for and in consideration of the +sum of _____ dollars, to her or him in hand paid by the said party of the +second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, has granted, +bargained and sold to the said party of the second part, her or his heirs and +assigns forever, the following described land, to wit: + +And the said party of the first part does hereby fully warrant the title to +said land, and will defend the same against the lawful claims of all persons +whomsoever. + +(2) The form for warranty deeds of conveyance to land shall include a +blank space for the property appraisers parcel identification number +describing the property conveyed, which number, if available, shall be +entered on the deed before it is presented for recording. The failure to +include such blank space or the parcel identification number, or the +inclusion of an incorrect parcel identification number, does not affect the +validity of the conveyance or the recordability of the deed. Such parcel +identification number is not a part of the legal description of the property +otherwise set forth in the deed and may not be used as a substitute for the +legal description of the property being conveyed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 4038, 1891; GS 2449; RGS 3788; CGL 5661; s. 1, ch. 87-66; s. + +17, ch. 88-176; s. 60, ch. 89-356; s. 752, ch. 97-102; s. 1, ch. 2013-241, eff. +Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.03. +Fla. Stat. 689.03 + + 689.03. Effect of such deed. +A conveyance executed substantially in the foregoing form shall be held to + +be a warranty deed with full common-law covenants, and shall just as +effectually bind the grantor, and the grantors heirs, as if said covenants were +specifically set out therein. And this form of conveyance when signed by a +married woman shall be held to convey whatever interest in the property +conveyed which she may possess. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 4038, 1891; GS 2450; RGS 3789; CGL 5662; s. 5, ch. 20954, + +1941; s. 753, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.04. +Fla. Stat. 689.04 + + 689.04. How executed. +Such deeds shall be executed and acknowledged as is now or may + +hereafter be provided by the law regulating conveyances of realty by deed. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 4038, 1891; GS 2451; RGS 3790; CGL 5663. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.041. +Fla. Stat. 689.041 + + 689.041. Curative procedure for scriveners errors in deeds. +(1) As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Erroneous deed means any deed, other than a quitclaim deed, which +contains a scriveners error. + +(b) Intended real property means the real property vested in the grantor +and intended to be conveyed by the grantor in the erroneous deed. + +(c) Scriveners error means a single error or omission in the legal +description of the intended real property in no more than one of the following +categories: + +1. An error or omission in no more than one of the lot or block +identifications of a recorded platted lot; however, the transposition of the lot +and block identifications is considered one error for the purposes of this +subparagraph; + +2. An error or omission in no more than one of the unit, building, or phase +identifications of a condominium or cooperative unit; or + +3. An error or omission in no more than one directional designation or +numerical fraction of a tract of land that is described as a fractional portion of +a section, township, or range; however, an error or omission in the directional +description and numerical fraction of the same call is considered one error for +the purposes of this subparagraph. + +The term scriveners error does not include any error in a document that +contains multiple errors. + +(2) A deed that contains a scriveners error conveys title to the intended +real property as if there had been no scriveners error and, likewise, each +subsequent erroneous deed containing the identical scriveners error +conveys title to the intended real property as if there had been no such +error if all of the following apply: +(a) Record title to the intended real property was held by the grantor of the + +first erroneous deed at the time the first erroneous deed was executed. + + + +(b) Within the 5 years before the record date of the erroneous deed, the +grantor of any erroneous deed did not hold title to any other real property in +the same subdivision, condominium, or cooperative development or in the +same section, township, and range, described in the erroneous deed. + +(c) The intended real property is not described exclusively by a metes and +bounds legal description. + +(d) A curative notice is recorded in the official records of the county in +which the intended real property is located which evidences the intended real +property to be conveyed by the grantor. + +(3) A curative notice must be in substantially the following form: +Curative Notice, Per Sec. 689.041, F.S. +Scriveners Error in Legal Description +The undersigned does hereby swear and affirm: +1. The deed which transferred title from (Insert Name) to (Insert Name) on +(Date) and recorded on (Record Date) in O.R. Book ____, Page ____, +and/or Instrument No. ____, of the official records of (Name of County), +Florida, (hereinafter referred to as first erroneous deed) contained the +following erroneous legal description: +(Insert Erroneous Legal Description) +2. The deed transferring title from (Insert Name) to (Insert Name) and +recorded on (Record Date) in O.R. Book ____, Page ____, and/or +Instrument No. ____, of the official records of (Name of County), Florida, +contains the same erroneous legal description described in the first +erroneous deed. +(Insert and repeat paragraph 2. as necessary to include each subsequent +erroneous deed in the chain of title containing the same erroneous legal +description) +3. I have examined the official records of the county in which the intended +real property is located and have determined that the deed dated (Date), +and recorded on (Record Date) in O.R. Book ____, Page ____, and/or +Instrument No. ____, official records of (Name of County), Florida, +establishes that record title to the intended real property was held by the + + + +grantor of the first erroneous deed at the time the first erroneous deed was +executed. +4. I have examined or have had someone else examine the official records +of (Name of County), Florida, and certify that: +a. Record title to the intended real property was held by the grantor of the +first erroneous deed, (Insert Name), at the time that deed was executed. +b. The grantor of the first erroneous deed and the grantors of any +subsequent erroneous deeds listed above did not hold record title to any +property other than the intended real property in either the same +subdivision, condominium, or cooperative or the same section, township, +and range, if described in this manner, at any time within the 5 years +before the date that the erroneous deed was executed. +c. The intended real property is not described by a metes and bounds legal +description. +5. This notice is made to establish that the real property described as (insert +legal description of the intended real property) (hereinafter referred to as +the intended real property) was the real property that was intended to be +conveyed in the first erroneous deed and all subsequent erroneous deeds. +(Signature) +(Printed Name) +Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me this ____ day of____, +(year), by (name of person making statement). +(Signature of Notary Public - State of Florida) +(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public) +Personally Known ____ OR Produced Identification ____ +Type of Identification Produced ____ + +(4) The clerk of the circuit court where the intended real property is +located shall accept and record curative notices in the form described in +subsection (3) as evidence of the intent of the grantor in the erroneous deed +to convey the intended real property to the grantee in the erroneous deed. + +(5) A curative notice recorded pursuant to this section operates as a + + + +correction of the first erroneous deed and all subsequent erroneous deeds +containing the same scriveners error described in the curative notice and +releases any cloud or encumbrance that any of the erroneous deeds may +have created as to any property other than the intended real property. The +correction relates back to the record date of the first erroneous deed. + +(6) The remedies under this section are not exclusive and do not +abrogate any right or remedy under the laws of this state other than this +section. + +History. +S. 1, ch. 2020-33, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.045. +Fla. Stat. 689.045 + + 689.045. Conveyances to or by partnership. +(1) Any estate in real property may be acquired in the name of a limited + +partnership. Title so acquired must be conveyed or encumbered in the +partnership name. Unless otherwise provided in the certificate of limited +partnership, a conveyance or encumbrance of real property held in the +partnership name, and any other instrument affecting title to real property +in which the partnership has an interest, must be executed in the +partnership name by one of the general partners. + +(2) Every conveyance to a limited partnership in its name recorded +before January 1, 1972, as required by law while the limited partnership +was in existence is validated and is deemed to convey the title to the real +property described in the conveyance to the partnership named as grantee. + +(3) When title to real property is held in the name of a limited +partnership or a general partnership, one of the general partners may +execute and record, in the public records of the county in which such +partnerships real property is located, an affidavit stating the names of the +general partners then existing and the authority of any general partner to +execute a conveyance, encumbrance, or other instrument affecting such +partnerships real property. The affidavit shall be conclusive as to the facts +therein stated as to purchasers without notice. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 71-9; s. 71, ch. 86-263; s. 23, ch. 95-242. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 620.081. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.05. +Fla. Stat. 689.05 + + 689.05. How declarations of trust proved. +All declarations and creations of trust and confidence of or in any + +messuages, lands, tenements or hereditaments shall be manifested and proved +by some writing, signed by the party authorized by law to declare or create +such trust or confidence, or by the partys last will and testament, or else they +shall be utterly void and of none effect; provided, always, that where any +conveyance shall be made of any lands, messuages or tenements by which a +trust or confidence shall or may arise or result by the implication or +construction of law, or be transferred or extinguished by the act and operation +of law, then, and in every such case, such trust or confidence shall be of the +like force and effect as the same would have been if this section had not been +made, anything herein contained to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, Nov. 15, 1828; RS 1951; GS 2452; RGS 3791; CGL 5664; s. 754, ch. + +97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.06. +Fla. Stat. 689.06 + + 689.06. How trust estate conveyed. +All grants, conveyances, or assignments of trust or confidence of or in any + +lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or of any estate or interest therein, shall +be by deed signed and delivered, in the presence of two subscribing +witnesses, by the party granting, conveying, or assigning, or by the partys +attorney or agent thereunto lawfully authorized, or by last will and testament +duly made and executed, or else the same shall be void and of no effect. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, Nov. 15, 1828; RS 1952; GS 2453; RGS 3792; CGL 5665; s. 1, ch. + +80-219; s. 755, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.07. +Fla. Stat. 689.07 + + 689.07. Trustee or as trustee added to name of grantee, transferee, +assignee, or mortgagee transfers interest or creates lien as if +additional word or words not used. +(1) Every deed or conveyance of real estate heretofore or hereafter made + +or executed in which the words trustee or as trustee are added to the +name of the grantee, and in which no beneficiaries are named, the nature +and purposes of the trust, if any, are not set forth, and the trust is not +identified by title or date, shall grant and is hereby declared to have granted +a fee simple estate with full power and authority in and to the grantee in +such deed to sell, convey, and grant and encumber both the legal and +beneficial interest in the real estate conveyed, unless a contrary intention +shall appear in the deed or conveyance; provided, that there shall not +appear of record among the public records of the county in which the real +property is situate at the time of recording of such deed or conveyance, a +declaration of trust by the grantee so described declaring the purposes of +such trust, if any, declaring that the real estate is held other than for the +benefit of the grantee. + +(2) Every instrument heretofore or hereafter made or executed +transferring or assigning an interest in real property in which the words +trustee or as trustee are added to the name of the transferee or +assignee, and in which no beneficiaries are named, the nature and purposes +of the trust, if any, are not set forth, and the trust is not identified by title or +date, shall transfer and assign, and is hereby declared to have transferred +and assigned, the interest of the transferor or assign or to the transferee or +assignee with full power and authority to transfer, assign, and encumber +such interest, unless a contrary intention shall appear in the instrument; +provided that there shall not appear of record among the public records of +the county in which the real property is situate at the time of the recording +of such instrument, a declaration of trust by the assignee or transferee so +described declaring the purposes of such trust, if any, or declaring that the +interest in real property is held other than for the benefit of the transferee +or assignee. + +(3) Every mortgage of any interest in real estate or assignment thereof + + + +heretofore or hereafter made or executed in which the words trustee or +as trustee are added to the name of the mortgagee or assignee, and in +which no beneficiaries are named, the nature and purposes of the trust, if +any, are not set forth, and the trust is not identified by title or date, shall +vest and is hereby declared to have vested full rights of ownership to such +mortgage or assignment and the lien created thereby with full power in +such mortgagee or assignee to assign, hypothecate, release, satisfy, or +foreclose such mortgage unless a contrary intention shall appear in the +mortgage or assignment; provided that there shall not appear of record +among the public records of the county in which the property constituting +security is situate at the time of recording of such mortgage or assignment, +a declaration of trust by such mortgagee or assignee declaring the purposes +of such trust, if any, or declaring that such mortgage is held other than for +the benefit of the mortgagee or assignee. + +(4) Nothing herein contained shall prevent any person from causing any +declaration of trust to be recorded before or after the recordation of the +instrument evidencing title or ownership of property in a trustee; nor shall +this section be construed as preventing any beneficiary under an +unrecorded declaration of trust from enforcing the terms thereof against the +trustee; provided, however, that any grantee, transferee, assignee, or +mortgagee, or person obtaining a release or satisfaction of mortgage from +such trustee for value prior to the placing of record of such declaration of +trust among the public records of the county in which such real property is +situate, shall take such interest or hold such previously mortgaged property +free and clear of the claims of the beneficiaries of such declaration of trust +and of anyone claiming by, through or under such beneficiaries, and such +person need not see to the application of funds furnished to obtain such +transfer of interest in property or assignment or release or satisfaction of +mortgage thereon. + +(5) In all cases in which tangible personal property is or has been sold, +transferred, or mortgaged in a transaction in conjunction with and +subordinate to the transfer or mortgage of real property, and the personal +property so transferred or mortgaged is physically located on and used in +conjunction with such real property, the prior provisions of this section are +applicable to the transfer or mortgage of such personal property, and, +where the prior provisions of this section in fact apply to a transfer or + + + +mortgage of personal property, then any transferee or mortgagee of such +tangible personal property shall take such personal property free and clear +of the claims of the beneficiaries under such declaration of trust (if any), +and of the claims of anyone claiming by, through, or under such +beneficiaries, and the release or satisfaction of a mortgage on such personal +property by such trustee shall release or satisfy such personal property +from the claims of the beneficiaries under such declaration of trust, if any, +and from the claims of anyone claiming by, through, or under such +beneficiaries. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 6925, 1915; s. 10, ch. 7838, 1919; RGS 3793; CGL 5666; s. 1, ch. + +59-251; s. 1, ch. 2004-19. + +Editors notes. +Section 2, ch. 2004-19 provides: The amendments to section 689.07, + +Florida Statutes, provided by this act are intended to clarify existing law and +shall apply retroactively. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.071. +Fla. Stat. 689.071 + + 689.071. Florida Land Trust Act. +(1) Short title. This section may be cited as the Florida Land Trust + +Act. +(2) Definitions. As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Beneficial interest means any interest, vested or contingent and +regardless of how small or minimal such interest may be, in a land trust +which is held by a beneficiary. + +(b) Beneficiary means any person or entity having a beneficial interest in +a land trust. A trustee may be a beneficiary of the land trust for which such +trustee serves as trustee. + +(c) Land trust means any express written agreement or arrangement by +which a use, confidence, or trust is declared of any land, or of any charge +upon land, under which the title to real property, including, but not limited to, +a leasehold or mortgagee interest, is vested in a trustee by a recorded +instrument that confers on the trustee the power and authority prescribed in s. +689.073(1) and under which the trustee has no duties other than the +following: + +1. The duty to convey, sell, lease, mortgage, or deal with the trust property, +or to exercise such other powers concerning the trust property as may be +provided in the recorded instrument, in each case as directed by the +beneficiaries or by the holder of the power of direction; + +2. The duty to sell or dispose of the trust property at the termination of the +trust; + +3. The duty to perform ministerial and administrative functions delegated +to the trustee in the trust agreement or by the beneficiaries or the holder of the +power of direction; or + +4. The duties required of a trustee under chapter 721, if the trust is a +timeshare estate trust complying with s. 721.08(2)(c)4. or a vacation club +trust complying with s. 721.53(1)(e). + +However, the duties of the trustee of a land trust created before June 28, + + + +2013 may exceed the limited duties listed in this paragraph to the extent +authorized in subsection (12). +(d) Power of direction means the authority of a person, as provided in + +the trust agreement, to direct the trustee of a land trust to convey property or +interests, execute a lease or mortgage, distribute proceeds of a sale or +financing, and execute documents incidental to the administration of a land +trust. + +(e) Recorded instrument has the same meaning as provided in s. +689.073(1). + +(f) Trust agreement means the written agreement governing a land trust +or other trust, including any amendments. + +(g) Trust property means any interest in real property, including, but not +limited to, a leasehold or mortgagee interest, conveyed by a recorded +instrument to a trustee of a land trust or other trust. + +(h) Trustee means the person designated in a recorded instrument or trust +agreement to hold title to the trust property of a land trust or other trust. + +(3) Ownership vests in trustee. Every recorded instrument +transferring any interest in real property to the trustee of a land trust and +conferring upon the trustee the power and authority prescribed in s. +689.073(1), whether or not reference is made in the recorded instrument to +the beneficiaries of such land trust or to the trust agreement or any separate +collateral unrecorded declarations or agreements, is effective to vest, and is +hereby declared to have vested, in such trustee both legal and equitable +title, and full rights of ownership, over the trust property or interest therein, +with full power and authority as granted and provided in the recorded +instrument to deal in and with the trust property or interest therein or any +part thereof. The recorded instrument does not itself create an entity, +regardless of whether the relationship among the beneficiaries and the +trustee is deemed to be an entity under other applicable law. + +(4) Statute of uses inapplicable. Section 689.09 and the statute of +uses do not execute a land trust or vest the trust property in the beneficiary +or beneficiaries of the land trust, notwithstanding any lack of duties on the +part of the trustee or the otherwise passive nature of the land trust. + +(5) Doctrine of merger inapplicable. The doctrine of merger does + + + +not extinguish a land trust or vest the trust property in the beneficiary or +beneficiaries of the land trust, regardless of whether the trustee is the sole +beneficiary of the land trust. + +(6) Personal property. In all cases in which the recorded instrument +or the trust agreement, as hereinabove provided, contains a provision +defining and declaring the interests of beneficiaries of a land trust to be +personal property only, such provision is controlling for all purposes when +such determination becomes an issue under the laws or in the courts of this +state. If no such personal property designation appears in the recorded +instrument or in the trust agreement, the interests of the land trust +beneficiaries are real property. + +(7) Trustee liability. In addition to any other limitation on personal +liability existing pursuant to statute or otherwise, the provisions of ss. +736.08125 and 736.1013 apply to the trustee of a land trust created +pursuant to this section. + +(8) Land trust beneficiaries. +(a) Except as provided in this section, the beneficiaries of a land trust are + +not liable, solely by being beneficiaries, under a judgment, decree, or order of +court or in any other manner for a debt, obligation, or liability of the land +trust. Any beneficiary acting under the trust agreement of a land trust is not +liable to the land trusts trustee or to any other beneficiary for the +beneficiarys good faith reliance on the provisions of the trust agreement. A +beneficiarys duties and liabilities under a land trust may be expanded or +restricted in a trust agreement or beneficiary agreement. + +(b)1. If provided in the recorded instrument, in the trust agreement, or in a +beneficiary agreement: +a. A particular beneficiary may own the beneficial interest in a particular + +portion or parcel of the trust property of a land trust; +b. A particular person may be the holder of the power of direction with + +respect to the trustees actions concerning a particular portion or parcel of the +trust property of a land trust; and + +c. The beneficiaries may own specified proportions or percentages of the +beneficial interest in the trust property or in particular portions or parcels of +the trust property of a land trust. + + + +2. Multiple beneficiaries may own a beneficial interest in a land trust as +tenants in common, joint tenants with right of survivorship, or tenants by the +entireties. + +(c) If a beneficial interest in a land trust is determined to be personal +property as provided in subsection (6), chapter 679 applies to the perfection +of any security interest in that beneficial interest. If a beneficial interest in a +land trust is determined to be real property as provided in subsection (6), then +to perfect a lien or security interest against that beneficial interest, the +mortgage, deed of trust, security agreement, or other similar security +document must be recorded in the public records of the county that is +specified for such security documents in the recorded instrument or in a +declaration of trust or memorandum of such declaration of trust recorded in +the public records of the same county as the recorded instrument. If no +county is so specified for recording such security documents, the proper +county for recording such a security document against a beneficiarys interest +in any trust property is the county where the trust property is located. The +perfection of a lien or security interest in a beneficial interest in a land trust +does not affect, attach to, or encumber the legal or equitable title of the +trustee in the trust property and does not impair or diminish the authority of +the trustee under the recorded instrument, and parties dealing with the trustee +are not required to inquire into the terms of the unrecorded trust agreement or +any lien or security interest against a beneficial interest in the land trust. + +(d) The trustees legal and equitable title to the trust property of a land trust +is separate and distinct from the beneficial interest of a beneficiary in the land +trust and in the trust property. A lien, judgment, mortgage, security interest, +or other encumbrance attaching to the trustees legal and equitable title to the +trust property of a land trust does not attach to the beneficial interest of any +beneficiary; and any lien, judgment, mortgage, security interest, or other +encumbrance against a beneficiary or beneficial interest does not attach to the +legal or equitable title of the trustee to the trust property held under a land +trust, unless the lien, judgment, mortgage, security interest, or other +encumbrance by its terms or by operation of other law attaches to both the +interest of the trustee and the interest of such beneficiary. + +(e) Any subsequent document appearing of record in which a beneficiary +of a land trust transfers or encumbers any beneficial interest in the land trust +does not transfer or encumber the legal or equitable title of the trustee to the + + + +trust property and does not diminish or impair the authority of the trustee +under the terms of the recorded instrument. Parties dealing with the trustee of +a land trust are not required to inquire into the terms of the unrecorded trust +agreement. + +(f) The trust agreement for a land trust may provide that one or more +persons have the power to direct the trustee to convey property or interests, +execute a mortgage, distribute proceeds of a sale or financing, and execute +documents incidental to administration of the land trust. The power of +direction, unless provided otherwise in the trust agreement of the land trust, is +conferred upon the holders of the power for the use and benefit of all holders +of any beneficial interest in the land trust. In the absence of a provision in the +trust agreement of a land trust to the contrary, the power of direction shall be +in accordance with the percentage of individual ownership. In exercising the +power of direction, the holders of the power of direction are presumed to act +in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of all holders of any beneficial interest +in the land trust, unless otherwise provided in the trust agreement. A +beneficial interest in a land trust is indefeasible, and the power of direction +may not be exercised so as to alter, amend, revoke, terminate, defeat, or +otherwise affect or change the enjoyment of any beneficial interest in a land +trust. + +(g) A land trust does not fail, and any use relating to the trust property may +not be defeated, because beneficiaries are not specified by name in the +recorded instrument to the trustee or because duties are not imposed upon the +trustee. The power conferred by any recorded instrument on a trustee of a +land trust to sell, lease, encumber, or otherwise dispose of property described +in the recorded instrument is effective, and a person dealing with the trustee +of a land trust is not required to inquire any further into the right of the +trustee to act or the disposition of any proceeds. + +(h) The principal residence of a beneficiary shall be entitled to the +homestead tax exemption even if the homestead is held by a trustee in a land +trust, provided the beneficiary qualifies for the homestead exemption under +chapter 196. + +(i) In a foreclosure against trust property or other litigation +affecting the title to trust property of a land trust, the appointment of a +guardian ad litem is not necessary to represent the interest of any + + + +beneficiary. +(9) Successor trustee. + +(a) If the recorded instrument and the unrecorded trust agreement are silent +as to the appointment of a successor trustee of a land trust in the event of the +death, incapacity, resignation, or termination due to dissolution of a trustee or +if a trustee is unable to serve as trustee of a land trust, one or more persons +having the power of direction may appoint a successor trustee or trustees of +the land trust by filing a declaration of appointment of a successor trustee or +trustees in the public records of the county in which the trust property is +located. The declaration must be signed by a beneficiary or beneficiaries of +the land trust and by the successor trustee or trustees, must be acknowledged +in the manner provided for acknowledgment of deeds, and must contain: + +1. The legal description of the trust property. +2. The name and address of the former trustee. +3. The name and address of the successor trustee or trustees. +4. A statement that one or more persons having the power of direction of + +the land trust appointed the successor trustee or trustees, together with an +acceptance of appointment by the successor trustee or trustees. + +(b) If the recorded instrument is silent as to the appointment of a successor +trustee or trustees of a land trust but an unrecorded trust agreement provides +for the appointment of a successor trustee or trustees in the event of the death, +incapacity, resignation, or termination due to dissolution of the trustee of a +land trust, then upon the appointment of any successor trustee pursuant to the +terms of the unrecorded trust agreement, the successor trustee or trustees shall +file a declaration of appointment of a successor trustee in the public records +of the county in which the trust property is located. The declaration must be +signed by both the former trustee and the successor trustee or trustees, must +be acknowledged in the manner provided for acknowledgment of deeds, and +must contain: + +1. The legal description of the trust property. +2. The name and address of the former trustee. +3. The name and address of the successor trustee or trustees. + + + +4. A statement of resignation by the former trustee and a statement of +acceptance of appointment by the successor trustee or trustees. + +5. A statement that the successor trustee or trustees were duly appointed +under the terms of the unrecorded trust agreement. + +If the appointment of any successor trustee of a land trust is due to the +death or incapacity of the former trustee, the declaration need not be signed +by the former trustee and a copy of the death certificate or a statement that +the former trustee is incapacitated or unable to serve must be attached to or +included in the declaration, as applicable. +(c) If the recorded instrument provides for the appointment of any + +successor trustee of a land trust and any successor trustee is appointed in +accordance with the recorded instrument, no additional declarations of +appointment of any successor trustee are required under this section. + +(d) Each successor trustee appointed with respect to a land trust is fully +vested with all the estate, properties, rights, powers, trusts, duties, and +obligations of the predecessor trustee, except that any successor trustee of a +land trust is not under any duty to inquire into the acts or omissions of a +predecessor trustee and is not liable for any act or failure to act of a +predecessor trustee. A person dealing with any successor trustee of a land +trust pursuant to a declaration filed under this section is not obligated to +inquire into or ascertain the authority of the successor trustee to act within or +exercise the powers granted under the recorded instruments or any +unrecorded trust agreement. + +(e) A trust agreement may provide that the trustee of a land trust, when +directed to do so by the holder of the power of direction or by the +beneficiaries of the land trust or legal representatives of the beneficiaries, +may convey the trust property directly to another trustee on behalf of the +beneficiaries or to another representative named in such directive. + +(10) Trustee as creditor. +(a) If a debt is secured by a security interest or mortgage against a + +beneficial interest in a land trust or by a mortgage on trust property of a land +trust, the validity or enforceability of the debt, security interest, or mortgage +and the rights, remedies, powers, and duties of the creditor with respect to the +debt or the security are not affected by the fact that the creditor and the + + + +trustee are the same person, and the creditor may extend credit, obtain any +necessary security interest or mortgage, and acquire and deal with the +property comprising the security as though the creditor were not the trustee. + +(b) A trustee of a land trust does not breach a fiduciary duty to the +beneficiaries, and it is not evidence of a breach of any fiduciary duty owed by +the trustee to the beneficiaries for a trustee to be or become a secured or +unsecured creditor of the land trust, the beneficiary of the land trust, or a third +party whose debt to such creditor is guaranteed by a beneficiary of the land +trust. + +(11) Notices to trustee. Any notice required to be given to a trustee +of a land trust regarding trust property by a person who is not a party to the +trust agreement must identify the trust property to which the notice pertains +or include the name and date of the land trust to which the notice pertains, +if such information is shown on the recorded instrument for such trust +property. + +(12) Determination of applicable law. Except as otherwise provided +in this section, chapter 736 does not apply to a land trust governed by this +section. +(a) A trust is not a land trust governed by this section if there is no + +recorded instrument that confers on the trustee the power and authority +prescribed in s. 689.073(1). + +(b) For a trust created before June 28, 2013: +1. The trust is a land trust governed by this section if a recorded instrument + +confers on the trustee the power and authority described in s. 689.073(1) and +if: + +a. The recorded instrument or the trust agreement expressly provides that +the trust is a land trust; or + +b. The intent of the parties that the trust be a land trust is discerned from +the trust agreement or the recorded instrument, + +without regard to whether the trustees duties under the trust agreement are +greater than those limited duties described in paragraph (2)(c). +2. The trust is not a land trust governed by this section if: + + + +a. The recorded instrument or the trust agreement expressly provides that +the trust is to be governed by chapter 736, or by any predecessor trust code or +other trust law other than this section; or + +b. The intent of the parties that the trust be governed by chapter 736, or by +any predecessor trust code or other trust law other than this section, is +discerned from the trust agreement or the recorded instrument, + +without regard to whether the trustees duties under the trust agreement are +greater than those limited duties listed in paragraph (2)(c), and without +consideration of any references in the trust agreement to provisions of +chapter 736 made applicable to the trust by chapter 721, if the trust is a +timeshare estate trust complying with s. 721.08(2)(c)4. or a vacation club +trust complying with s. 721.53(1)(e). +3. Solely for the purpose of determining the law governing a trust under + +subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2., the determination shall be made without +consideration of any amendment to the trust agreement made on or after June +28, 2013, except as provided in paragraph (d). + +4. If the determination of whether a trust is a land trust governed by this +section cannot be made under either subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2., the +determination shall be made under paragraph (c) as if the trust was created on +or after June 28, 2013. + +(c) If a recorded instrument confers on the trustee the power and authority +described in s. 689.073(1) and the trust was created on or after June 28, 2013, +the trust shall be determined to be a land trust governed by this section only if +the trustees duties under the trust agreement, including any amendment +made on or after such date, are no greater than those limited duties described +in paragraph (2)(c). + +(d) If the trust agreement for a land trust created before June 28, 2013, is +amended on or after such date to add to or increase the duties of the trustee +beyond the duties provided in the trust agreement as of June 28, 2013, the +trust shall remain a land trust governed by this section only if the additional +or increased duties of the trustee implemented by the amendment are no +greater than those limited duties described in paragraph (2)(c). + +(13) Uniform commercial code transition rule. This section does +not render ineffective any effective Uniform Commercial Code financing + + + +statement filed before July 1, 2014, to perfect a security interest in a +beneficial interest in a land trust that is determined to be real property as +provided in subsection (6), but such a financing statement ceases to be +effective at the earlier of July 1, 2019, or the time the financing statement +would have ceased to be effective under the law of the jurisdiction in +which it is filed, and the filing of a Uniform Commercial Code +continuation statement after July 1, 2014, does not continue the +effectiveness of such a financing statement. The recording of a mortgage, +deed of trust, security agreement, or other similar security document +against such a beneficial interest that is real property in the public records +specified in paragraph (8)(c) continues the effectiveness and priority of a +financing statement filed against such a beneficial interest before July 1, +2014, if: +(a) The recording of the security document in that county is effective to + +perfect a lien on such beneficial interest under paragraph (8)(c); +(b) The recorded security document identifies a financing statement filed + +before July 1, 2014, by indicating the office in which the financing statement +was filed and providing the dates of filing and the file numbers, if any, of the +financing statement and of the most recent continuation statement filed with +respect to the financing statement; and + +(c) The recorded security document indicates that such financing statement +filed before July 1, 2014, remains effective. + +If no original security document bearing the debtors signature is readily +available for recording in the public records, a secured party may proceed +under this subsection with such financing statement filed before July 1, +2014, by recording a copy of a security document verified by the secured +party as being a true and correct copy of an original authenticated by the +debtor. This subsection does not apply to the perfection of a security +interest in any beneficial interest in a land trust that is determined to be +personal property under subsection (6). + +(14) Remedial act. This act is remedial in nature and shall be given a +liberal interpretation to effectuate the intent and purposes hereinabove +expressed. + +(15) Exclusion. This act does not apply to any deed, mortgage, or + + + +other instrument to which s. 689.07 applies. + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ch. 63-468; s. 1, ch. 84-31; s. 2, ch. 2002-233; s. 21, ch. + +2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 1, ch. 2006-274, eff. Oct. 1, 2006; s. 7, ch. +2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 2, ch. 2013-240, eff. June 28, 2013. + +Applicability. +Section 3, ch. 2006-274, provides: This act is intended to clarify existing + +law and applies to all land trusts whether created before, on, or after October +1, 2006. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.072. +Fla. Stat. 689.072 + + 689.072. Real estate interests transferred to or by a custodian or +trustee of an individual retirement account or qualified plan. + +(1)(a) A conveyance, deed, mortgage, lease assignment, or other recorded +instrument that transfers an interest in real property in this state, including +a leasehold or mortgagee interest, to a person who is qualified to act as a +custodian or trustee for an individual retirement account under 26 U.S.C. s. +408(a)(2), as amended, in which instrument the transferee is designated +custodian, as custodian, trustee, or as trustee and the account +owner or beneficiary of the custodianship in the individual retirement +account is named, creates custodial property and transfers title to the +custodian or trustee when an interest in real property is recorded in the +name of the custodian or trustee, followed by the words as custodian or +trustee for the benefit of (name of individual retirement account owner or +beneficiary) individual retirement account. +(b) This section also applies to a qualified stock bonus, pension, or profit- + +sharing plan created under 26 U.S.C. s. 401(a), as amended, in which +instrument a person is designated custodian, as custodian, trustee, or +as trustee and the plan, plan participant, or plan beneficiary of the +custodianship in the plan also creates custodial property and transfers title to +the custodian or trustee when an interest in real property is recorded in the +name of the custodian or trustee, followed by the words as custodian, or +trustee of the (name of plan) for the benefit of (name of plan participant or +beneficiary). + +(2) A transfer to a custodian or trustee of an individual retirement +account or qualified plan pursuant to this section incorporates the +provisions of this section into the disposition and grants to the custodian or +trustee the power to protect, conserve, sell, lease, encumber, or otherwise +manage and dispose of the real property described in the recorded +instrument without joinder of the named individual retirement account +owner, plan participant, or beneficiary, except as provided in subsection +(5). + +(3) A person dealing with the custodian or trustee does not have a duty + + + +to inquire as to the qualifications of the custodian or trustee and may rely +on the powers of the custodian or trustee for the custodial property created +under this section regardless of whether such powers are specified in the +recorded instrument. A grantee, mortgagee, lessee, transferee, assignee, or +person obtaining a satisfaction or release or otherwise dealing with the +custodian or trustee regarding such custodial property is not required to +inquire into: +(a) The identification or status of any named individual retirement account + +owner, plan participant, or beneficiary of the individual retirement account or +qualified plan or his or her heirs or assigns to whom a custodian or trustee +may be accountable under the terms of the individual retirement account +agreement or qualified plan document; + +(b) The authority of the custodian or trustee to act within and exercise the +powers granted under the individual retirement account agreement or +qualified plan document; + +(c) The adequacy or disposition or any consideration provided to the +custodian or trustee in connection with any interest acquired from such +custodian or trustee; or + +(d) Any provision of an individual retirement account agreement or +qualified plan document. + +(4) A person dealing with the custodian or trustee under the recorded +instrument takes any interest transferred by such custodian or trustee, +within the authority provided under this section, free of claims of the +named owner, plan participant, or beneficiary of the individual retirement +account or qualified plan or of anyone claiming by, through, or under such +owner, plan participant, or beneficiary. + +(5) If notice of the revocation or termination of the individual retirement +account agreement, qualified plan, or custodianship established under such +individual retirement account agreement or qualified plan is recorded, any +disposition or encumbrance of the custodial property must be by an +instrument executed by the custodian or trustee or the successor and the +respective owner, plan participant, or beneficiary of the individual +retirement account or qualified plan. + +(6) In dealing with custodial property created under this section, a + + + +custodian or trustee shall observe the standard of care of a prudent person +dealing with property of another person. This section does not relieve the +custodian or trustee from liability for breach of the individual retirement +account agreement, custodial agreement, or qualified plan document. + +(7) A provision of the recorded instrument that defines and declares the +interest of the owner, plan participant, or beneficiary of the individual +retirement account or qualified plan to be personal property controls only if +a determination becomes an issue in any legal proceeding. + +(8) As used in this section, the term beneficiary applies only when the +individual retirement account owner or qualified plan participant is +deceased. +(9)(a) This section does not apply to any deed, mortgage, or instrument to +which s. 689.071 applies. +(b) Section 689.09 does not apply to transfers of real property interests to a + +custodian or trustee under this section. +(10) This section is remedial and shall be liberally construed to + +effectively carry out its purposes. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-147, eff. July 1, 2006. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.073. +Fla. Stat. 689.073 + + 689.073. Powers conferred on trustee in recorded instrument. +(1) Ownership vests in trustee. Every conveyance, deed, mortgage, + +lease assignment, or other instrument heretofore or hereafter made, +hereinafter referred to as the recorded instrument, transferring any +interest in real property, including, but not limited to, a leasehold or +mortgagee interest, to any person or any corporation, bank, trust company, +or other entity duly formed under the laws of its state of qualification, +which recorded instrument designates the person, corporation, bank, trust +company, or other entity trustee or as trustee and confers on the trustee +the power and authority to protect, to conserve, to sell, to lease, to +encumber, or otherwise to manage and dispose of the real property +described in the recorded instrument, is effective to vest, and is declared to +have vested, in such trustee full power and authority as granted and +provided in the recorded instrument to deal in and with such property, or +interest therein or any part thereof, held in trust under the recorded +instrument. + +(2) No duty to inquire. Any grantee, mortgagee, lessee, transferee, +assignee, or person obtaining satisfactions or releases or otherwise in any +way dealing with the trustee with respect to the real property or any +interest in such property held in trust under the recorded instrument, as +hereinabove provided for, is not obligated to inquire into the identification +or status of any named or unnamed beneficiaries, or their heirs or assigns +to whom a trustee may be accountable under the terms of the recorded +instrument, or under any unrecorded separate declarations or agreements +collateral to the recorded instrument, whether or not such declarations or +agreements are referred to therein; or to inquire into or ascertain the +authority of such trustee to act within and exercise the powers granted +under the recorded instrument; or to inquire into the adequacy or +disposition of any consideration, if any is paid or delivered to such trustee +in connection with any interest so acquired from such trustee; or to inquire +into any of the provisions of any such unrecorded declarations or +agreements. + +(3) Beneficiary claims. All persons dealing with the trustee under + + + +the recorded instrument as hereinabove provided take any interest +transferred by the trustee thereunder, within the power and authority as +granted and provided therein, free and clear of the claims of all the named +or unnamed beneficiaries of such trust, and of any unrecorded declarations +or agreements collateral thereto whether referred to in the recorded +instrument or not, and of anyone claiming by, through, or under such +beneficiaries. However, this section does not prevent a beneficiary of any +such unrecorded collateral declarations or agreements from enforcing the +terms thereof against the trustee. + +(4) Exclusion. This section does not apply to any deed, mortgage, or +other instrument to which s. 689.07 applies. + +(5) Applicability. The section applies without regard to whether any +reference is made in the recorded instrument to the beneficiaries of such +trust or to any separate collateral unrecorded declarations or agreements, +without regard to the provisions of any unrecorded trust agreement or +declaration of trust, and without regard to whether the trust is governed by +s. 689.071 or chapter 736. This section applies both to recorded +instruments that are recorded after June 28, 2013, and to recorded +instruments that were previously recorded and governed by similar +provisions contained in s. 689.071(3), Florida Statutes 2012, and any such +recorded instrument purporting to confer power and authority on a trustee +under such provisions of s. 689.071(3), Florida Statutes 2012, is valid and +has the effect of vesting full power and authority in such trustee as +provided in this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2013-240, eff. June 28, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.075. +Fla. Stat. 689.075 + + 689.075. Inter vivos trusts; powers retained by settlor. +(1) A trust which is otherwise valid and which complies with s. + +736.0403, including, but not limited to, a trust the principal of which is +composed of real property, intangible personal property, tangible personal +property, the possible expectancy of receiving as a named beneficiary +death benefits as described in s. 733.808, or any combination thereof, and +which has been created by a written instrument shall not be held invalid or +an attempted testamentary disposition for any one or more of the following +reasons: +(a) Because the settlor or another person or both possess the power to + +revoke, amend, alter, or modify the trust in whole or in part; +(b) Because the settlor or another person or both possess the power to + +appoint by deed or will the persons and organizations to whom the income +shall be paid or the principal distributed; + +(c) Because the settlor or another person or both possess the power to add +to, or withdraw from, the trust all or any part of the principal or income at +one time or at different times; + +(d) Because the settlor or another person or both possess the power to +remove the trustee or trustees and appoint a successor trustee or trustees; + +(e) Because the settlor or another person or both possess the power to +control the trustee or trustees in the administration of the trust; + +(f) Because the settlor has retained the right to receive all or part of the +income of the trust during her or his life or for any part thereof; or + +(g) Because the settlor is, at the time of the execution of the instrument, or +thereafter becomes, sole trustee. + +(2) Nothing contained herein shall affect the validity of those accounts, +including but not limited to bank accounts, share accounts, deposits, +certificates of deposit, savings certificates, and other similar arrangements, +heretofore or hereafter established at any bank, savings and loan +association, or credit union by one or more persons, in trust for one or + + + +more other persons, which arrangements are, by their terms, revocable by +the person making the same until her or his death or incompetency. + +(3) The fact that any one or more of the powers specified in subsection +(1) are in fact exercised once, or more than once, shall not affect the +validity of the trust or its nontestamentary character. + +(4) This section shall be applicable to trusts executed before or after July +1, 1969, by persons who are living on or after said date. + +(5) The amendment of this section, by chapter 75-74, Laws of Florida, is +intended to clarify the legislative intent of this section at the time of its +original enactment that it apply to all otherwise valid trusts which are +created by written instrument and which are not expressly excluded by the +terms of this section and that no such trust shall be declared invalid for any +of the reasons stated in subsections (1) and (3) regardless of whether the +trust involves or relates to an interest in real property. + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, ch. 69-192; s. 1, ch. 69-1747; ss. 1, 2, ch. 71-126; s. 169, ch. 73- + +333; s. 1, ch. 74-78; ss. 1, 2, ch. 75-74; s. 5, ch. 95-401; s. 756, ch. 97-102; s. +22, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.08. +Fla. Stat. 689.08 + + 689.08. Fines and common recoveries. +Conveyance by fine or by common recovery shall never be used in this + +state. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, Feb. 4, 1835; RS 1953; GS 2454; RGS 3794; CGL 5667. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.09. +Fla. Stat. 689.09 + + 689.09. Deeds under statute of uses. +By deed of bargain and sale, or by deed of lease and release, or of covenant + +to stand seized to the use of any other person, or by deed operating by way of +covenant to stand seized to the use of another person, of or in any lands or +tenements in this state, the possession of the bargainor, releasor or covenantor +shall be deemed and adjudged to be transferred to the bargainee, releasee or +person entitled to the use as perfectly as if such bargainee, releasee or person +entitled to the use had been enfeoffed by livery of seizin of the land conveyed +by such deed of bargain and sale, release or covenant to stand seized; +provided, that livery of seizin can be lawfully made of the lands or tenements +at the time of the execution of the said deeds or any of them. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, Nov. 15, 1828; RS 1954; GS 2455; RGS 3795; CGL 5668. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.10. +Fla. Stat. 689.10 + + 689.10. Words of limitation and the words fee simple dispensed with. +Where any real estate has heretofore been conveyed or granted or shall + +hereafter be conveyed or granted without there being used in the said deed or +conveyance or grant any words of limitation, such as heirs or successors, or +similar words, such conveyance or grant, whether heretofore made or +hereafter made, shall be construed to vest the fee simple title or other whole +estate or interest which the grantor had power to dispose of at that time in the +real estate conveyed or granted, unless a contrary intention shall appear in the +deed, conveyance or grant. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 5145, 1903; GS 2456; RGS 3796; s. 1, ch. 10170, 1925; CGL + +5669. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.11. +Fla. Stat. 689.11 + + 689.11. Conveyances between husband and wife direct; homestead. +(1) A conveyance of real estate, including homestead, made by one + +spouse to the other shall convey the legal title to the grantee spouse in all +cases in which it would be effectual if the parties were not married, and the +grantee need not execute the conveyance. An estate by the entirety may be +created by the action of the spouse holding title: +(a) Conveying to the other by a deed in which the purpose to create the + +estate is stated; or +(b) Conveying to both spouses. + +(2) All deeds heretofore made by a husband direct to his wife or by a +wife direct to her husband are hereby validated and made as effectual to +convey the title as they would have been were the parties not married; + +(3) Provided, that nothing herein shall be construed as validating any +deed made for the purpose, or that operates to defraud any creditor or to +avoid payment of any legal debt or claim; and + +(4) Provided further that this section shall not apply to any conveyance +heretofore made, the validity of which shall be contested by suit +commenced within 1 year of the effective date of this law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 5147, 1903; GS 2457; RGS 3797; CGL 5670; s. 6, ch. 20954, + +1941; s. 1, ch. 23964, 1947; s. 1, ch. 71-54. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.111. +Fla. Stat. 689.111 + + 689.111. Conveyances of homestead; power of attorney. +(1) A deed or mortgage of homestead realty owned by an unmarried + +person may be executed by virtue of a power of attorney executed in the +same manner as a deed. + +(2) A deed or mortgage of homestead realty owned by a married person, +or owned as an estate by the entirety, may be executed by virtue of a power +of attorney executed solely by one spouse to the other, or solely by one +spouse or both spouses to a third party, provided the power of attorney is +executed in the same manner as a deed. Nothing in this section shall be +construed as dispensing with the requirement that husband and wife join in +the conveyance or mortgage of homestead realty, but the joinder may be +accomplished through the exercise of a power of attorney. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 71-27. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.115. +Fla. Stat. 689.115 + + 689.115. Estate by the entirety in mortgage made or assigned to +husband and wife. + +Any mortgage encumbering real property, or any assignment of a mortgage +encumbering real property, made to two persons who are husband and wife, +heretofore or hereafter made, creates an estate by the entirety in such +mortgage and the obligation secured thereby unless a contrary intention +appears in such mortgage or assignment. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-29; s. 21, ch. 91-110. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.12. +Fla. Stat. 689.12 + + 689.12. How state lands conveyed for educational purposes. +(1) The title to all lands granted to or held by the state for educational + +purposes shall be conveyed by deed executed by the members of the State +Board of Education, with an impression of the seal of the Board of +Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the state thereon and +when so impressed by this seal deeds shall be entitled to be recorded in the +public records and to be received in evidence in all courts and judicial +proceedings. + +(2) Lands held for any tuberculosis hospital and declared to be surplus to +the needs of such hospital may be conveyed to the district school board in +which said lands are located for educational purposes. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 4999, 1901; GS 2458; RGS 3798; CGL 5671; ss. 1, 2, ch. 67-191; + +ss. 27, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 69-300. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.13. +Fla. Stat. 689.13 + + 689.13. Rule against perpetuities not applicable to dispositions of +property for private cemeteries, etc. + +No disposition of property, or the income thereof, hereafter made for the +maintenance or care of any public or private burying ground, churchyard, or +other place for the burial of the dead, or any portion thereof, or grave therein, +or monument or other erection in or about the same, shall fail by reason of +such disposition having been made in perpetuity; but such disposition shall be +held to be made for a charitable purpose or purposes. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 14655, 1931; CGL 1936 Supp. 5671(1). + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.14. +Fla. Stat. 689.14 + + 689.14. Entailed estates. +No property, real or personal, shall be entailed in this state. Any instrument + +purporting to create an estate tail, express or implied, shall be deemed to +create an estate for life in the first taker with remainder per stirpes to the +lineal descendants of the first taker in being at the time of her or his death. If +the remainder fails for want of such remainderman, then it shall vest in any +other remaindermen designated in such instrument, or, if there is no such +designation, then it shall revert to the original donor or to her or his heirs. + +HISTORY: +S. 20, Nov. 17, 1829; RS 1818; GS 2293; RGS 3616; CGL 5481; s. 2, ch. + +20954, 1941; s. 1, ch. 23126, 1945; s. 757, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.15. +Fla. Stat. 689.15 + + 689.15. Estates by survivorship. +The doctrine of the right of survivorship in cases of real estate and personal + +property held by joint tenants shall not prevail in this state; that is to say, +except in cases of estates by entirety, a devise, transfer or conveyance +heretofore or hereafter made to two or more shall create a tenancy in +common, unless the instrument creating the estate shall expressly provide for +the right of survivorship; and in cases of estates by entirety, the tenants, upon +dissolution of marriage, shall become tenants in common. + +HISTORY: +S. 20, Nov. 17, 1829; RS 1819; GS 2294; RGS 3617; CGL 5482; s. 3, ch. + +20954, 1941; s. 1, ch. 73-300. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.17. +Fla. Stat. 689.17 + + 689.17. Rule in Shelleys Case abolished. +The rule in Shelleys Case is hereby abolished. Any instrument purporting + +to create an estate for life in a person with remainder to her or his heirs, +lawful heirs, heirs of her or his body or to her or his heirs described by words +of similar import, shall be deemed to create an estate for life with remainder +per stirpes to the life tenants lineal descendants in being at the time said life +estate commences, but said remainder shall be subject to open and to take in +per stirpes other lineal descendants of the life tenant who come into being +during the continuance of said life estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 23126, 1945; s. 758, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.175. +Fla. Stat. 689.175 + + 689.175. Worthier title doctrine abolished. +The doctrine of worthier title is abolished as a rule of law and as a rule of + +construction. Language in a governing instrument describing the beneficiaries +of a disposition as the transferors heirs, heirs at law, next of kin, +distributees, relatives, or family, or language of similar import, does +not create or presumptively create a reversionary interest in the transferor. + +HISTORY: +S. 23, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.18. +Fla. Stat. 689.18 + + 689.18. Reverter or forfeiture provisions, limitations; exceptions. +(1) It is hereby declared by the Legislature of the state that reverter or + +forfeiture provisions of unlimited duration in the conveyance of real estate +or any interest therein in the state constitute an unreasonable restraint on +alienation and are contrary to the public policy of the state. + +(2) All reverter or forfeiture provisions of unlimited duration embodied +in any plat or deed executed more than 21 years prior to the passage of this +law conveying real estate or any interest therein in the state, be and the +same are hereby canceled and annulled and declared to be of no further +force and effect. + +(3) All reverter provisions in any conveyance of real estate or any +interest therein in the state, now in force, shall cease and terminate and +become null, void, and unenforceable 21 years from the date of the +conveyance embodying such reverter or forfeiture provision. + +(4) No reverter or forfeiture provision contained in any deed conveying +real estate or any interest therein in the state, executed on and after July 1, +1951, shall be valid and binding more than 21 years from the date of such +deed, and upon the expiration of such period of 21 years, the reverter or +forfeiture provision shall become null, void, and unenforceable. + +(5) Any and all conveyances of real property in this state heretofore or +hereafter made to any governmental, educational, literary, scientific, +religious, public utility, public transportation, charitable or nonprofit +corporation or association are hereby excepted from the provisions of this +section. + +(6) Any holder of a possibility of reverter who claims title to any real +property in the state, or any interest therein by reason of a reversion or +forfeiture under the terms or provisions of any deed heretofore executed +and delivered containing such reverter or forfeiture provision shall have 1 +year from July 1, 1951, to institute suit in a court of competent jurisdiction +in this state to establish or enforce such right, and failure to institute such +action within said time shall be conclusive evidence of the abandonment of +any such right, title, or interest, and all right of forfeiture or reversion shall + + + +thereupon cease and determine, and become null, void, and unenforceable. +(7) This section shall not vary, alter, or terminate the restrictions placed + +upon said real estate, contained either in restrictive covenants or reverter or +forfeiture clauses, and all said restrictions may be enforced and violations +thereof restrained by a court of competent jurisdiction whenever any one of +said restrictions or conditions shall be violated, or threat to violate the +same be made by owners or parties in possession or control of said real +estate, by an injunction which may be issued upon petition of any person +adversely affected, mandatorily requiring the abatement of such violations +or threatened violation and restraining any future violation of said +restrictions and conditions. + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ch. 26927, 1951; s. 218, ch. 77-104. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.19. +Fla. Stat. 689.19 + + 689.19. Variances of names in recorded instruments. +(1) The word instrument as used in this section shall be construed to + +mean and include not only instruments voluntarily executed but also +papers filed or issued in or in connection with actions and other +proceedings in court and orders, judgments and decrees entered therein and +transcripts of such judgments and proceedings in foreclosure of mortgage +or other liens. + +(2) Variances between any two instruments affecting the title to the +same real property both of which shall have been spread on the record for +the period of more than 10 years among the public records of the county in +which such real property is situated, with respect to the names of persons +named in the respective instruments or in acknowledgments thereto arising +from the full Christian name appearing in one and only the initial letter of +that Christian name appearing in the other or from a full middle name +appearing in one and only the initial letter of that middle name appearing +in the other or from the initial letter of a middle name appearing in one and +not appearing in the other, irrespective of which one of the two instruments +in which any such variance occurred was prior in point of time to the other +and irrespective of whether the instruments were executed or originated +before or after August 5, 1953, shall not destroy or impair the presumption +that the person so named in one of said instruments was the same person as +the one so named in the other of said instruments which would exist if the +names in the two instruments were identical; and, in spite of any such +variance, the person so named in one of said instruments shall be presumed +to be the same person as the one so named in the other until such time as +the contrary appears and, until such time, either or both of such +instruments or the record thereof or certified copy or copies of the record +thereof shall be admissible in evidence in the same manner as though the +names in the two instruments were identical. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 28208, 1953. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.20. +Fla. Stat. 689.20 + + 689.20. Limitation on use of word minerals. +Whenever the word minerals is hereafter used in any deed, lease, or + +other contract in writing, said word or term shall not include any of the +following: topsoil, muck, peat, humus, sand, and common clay, unless +expressly provided in said deed, lease, or other contract in writing. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 59-375. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.21. +Fla. Stat. 689.21 + + 689.21. Disclaimer of interests in property passing under certain +nontestamentary instruments or under certain powers of +appointment [Repealed.] + +Repealed by s. 5, ch. 2005-108, effective July 1, 2005. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 71-31; s. 26, ch. 73-334; s. 759, ch. 97-102; s. 3, ch. 2002-233. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.225. +Fla. Stat. 689.225 + + 689.225. Statutory rule against perpetuities. +(1) Short title. This section may be cited as the Florida Uniform + +Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities. +(2) Statement of the rule. + +(a) A nonvested property interest in real or personal property is invalid +unless: + +1. When the interest is created, it is certain to vest or terminate no later +than 21 years after the death of an individual then alive; or + +2. The interest either vests or terminates within 90 years after its creation. +(b) A general power of appointment not presently exercisable because of a + +condition precedent is invalid unless: +1. When the power is created, the condition precedent is certain to be + +satisfied or become impossible to satisfy no later than 21 years after the death +of an individual then alive; or + +2. The condition precedent either is satisfied or becomes impossible to +satisfy within 90 years after its creation. + +(c) A nongeneral power of appointment or a general testamentary power of +appointment is invalid unless: + +1. When the power is created, it is certain to be irrevocably exercised or +otherwise to terminate no later than 21 years after the death of an individual +then alive; or + +2. The power is irrevocably exercised or otherwise terminates within 90 +years after its creation. + +(d) In determining whether a nonvested property interest or a power of +appointment is valid under subparagraph (a)1., subparagraph (b)1., or +subparagraph (c)1., the possibility that a child will be born to an individual +after the individuals death is disregarded. + +(e) If, in measuring a period from the creation of a trust or other property +arrangement, language in a governing instrument (i) seeks to disallow the + + + +vesting or termination of any interest or trust beyond, (ii) seeks to postpone +the vesting or termination of any interest or trust until, or (iii) seeks to operate +in effect in any similar fashion upon, the later of: + +1. The expiration of a period of time not exceeding 21 years after the death +of a specified life or the survivor of specified lives, or upon the death of a +specified life or the death of the survivor of specified lives in being at the +creation of the trust or other property arrangement, or + +2. The expiration of a period of time that exceeds or might exceed 21 years +after the death of the survivor of lives in being at the creation of the trust or +other property arrangement, + +that language is inoperative to the extent it produces a period of time that +exceeds 21 years after the death of the survivor of the specified lives. +(f) As to any trust created after December 31, 2000, through June 30, 2022, + +this section shall apply to a nonvested property interest or power of +appointment contained in a trust by substituting 360 years in place of 90 +years in each place such term appears in this section unless the terms of the +trust require that all beneficial interests in the trust vest or terminate within a +lesser period. + +(g) As to any trust created on or after July 1, 2022, this section shall apply +to a nonvested property interest or power of appointment contained in a trust +by substituting 1,000 years in place of 90 years in each place such term +appears in this section unless the terms of the trust require that all beneficial +interests in the trust vest or terminate within a lesser period. + +(3) When nonvested property interest or power of appointment created. +(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (d), and (e) of this subsection and + +in paragraph (a) of subsection (6), the time of creation of a nonvested +property interest or a power of appointment is determined under general +principles of property law. + +(b) For purposes of this section, if there is a person who alone can exercise +a power created by a governing instrument to become the unqualified +beneficial owner of a nonvested property interest or a property interest +subject to a power of appointment described in paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) +of subsection (2), the nonvested property interest or power of appointment is +created when the power to become the unqualified beneficial owner + + + +terminates. +(c) For purposes of this section, a joint power with respect to community + +property or to marital property under the Uniform Marital Property Act held +by individuals married to each other is a power exercisable by one person +alone. + +(d) For purposes of this section, a nonvested property interest or a power of +appointment arising from a transfer of property to a previously funded trust +or other existing property arrangement is created when the nonvested +property interest or power of appointment in the original contribution was +created. + +(e) For purposes of this section, if a nongeneral or testamentary power of +appointment is exercised to create another nongeneral or testamentary power +of appointment, every nonvested property interest or power of appointment +created through the exercise of such other nongeneral or testamentary power +is considered to have been created at the time of the creation of the first +nongeneral or testamentary power of appointment. + +(4) Reformation. Upon the petition of an interested person, a court shall +reform a disposition in the manner that most closely approximates the +transferors manifested plan of distribution and is within the 90 years +allowed by subparagraph (2)(a)2., subparagraph (2)(b)2., or subparagraph +(2)(c)2. if: +(a) A nonvested property interest or a power of appointment becomes + +invalid under subsection (2); +(b) A class gift is not but might become invalid under subsection (2) and + +the time has arrived when the share of any class member is to take effect in +possession or enjoyment; or + +(c) A nonvested property interest that is not validated by subparagraph (2) +(a)1. can vest but not within 90 years after its creation. + +(5) Exclusions from statutory rule against perpetuities. Subsection +(2) does not apply to: +(a) A nonvested property interest or a power of appointment arising out of + +a nondonative transfer, except a nonvested property interest or a power of +appointment arising out of: + + + +1. A premarital or postmarital agreement; +2. A separation or divorce settlement; +3. A spouses election; +4. A similar arrangement arising out of a prospective, existing, or previous + +marital relationship between the parties; +5. A contract to make or not to revoke a will or trust; +6. A contract to exercise or not to exercise a power of appointment; +7. A transfer in satisfaction of a duty of support; or +8. A reciprocal transfer; +(b) A fiduciarys power relating to the administration or management of + +assets, including the power of a fiduciary to sell, lease, or mortgage property, +and the power of a fiduciary to determine principal and income; + +(c) A power to appoint a fiduciary; +(d) A discretionary power of a trustee to distribute principal before + +termination of a trust to a beneficiary having an indefeasibly vested interest in +the income and principal; + +(e) A nonvested property interest held by a charity, government, or +governmental agency or subdivision, if the nonvested property interest is +preceded by an interest held by another charity, government, or governmental +agency or subdivision; + +(f) A nonvested property interest in, or a power of appointment with +respect to, a trust or other property arrangement forming part of a pension, +profit-sharing, stock bonus, health, disability, death benefit, income deferral, +or other current or deferred benefit plan for one or more employees, +independent contractors, or their beneficiaries or spouses, to which +contributions are made for the purpose of distributing to or for the benefit of +the participants, or their beneficiaries or spouses, the property, income, or +principal in the trust or other property arrangement, except a nonvested +property interest or a power of appointment that is created by an election of a +participant or a beneficiary or spouse; or + +(g) A property interest, power of appointment, or arrangement that was not + + + +subject to the common-law rule against perpetuities or is excluded by another +statute of this state. + +(6) Application. +(a) Except as extended by paragraph (c), this section applies to a nonvested + +property interest or a power of appointment that is created on or after October +1, 1988. For purposes of this subsection, a nonvested property interest or a +power of appointment created by the exercise of a power of appointment is +created when the power is irrevocably exercised or when a revocable exercise +becomes irrevocable. + +(b) This section also applies to a power of appointment that was created +before October 1, 1988, but only to the extent that it remains unexercised on +October 1, 1988. + +(c) If a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment was created +before October 1, 1988, and is determined in a judicial proceeding +commenced on or after October 1, 1988, to violate this states rule against +perpetuities as that rule existed before October 1, 1988, a court, upon the +petition of an interested person, may reform the disposition in the manner that +most closely approximates the transferors manifested plan of distribution +and is within the limits of the rule against perpetuities applicable when the +nonvested property interest or power of appointment was created. + +(7) Rule of construction. With respect to any matter relating to the +validity of an interest within the rule against perpetuities, unless a contrary +intent appears, it shall be presumed that the transferor of the interest +intended that the interest be valid. This section is the sole expression of +any rule against perpetuities or remoteness in vesting in this state. No +common-law rule against perpetuities or remoteness in vesting shall exist +with respect to any interest or power regardless of whether such interest or +power is governed by this section. + +(8) Uniformity of application and construction. This section shall be +applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the +law with respect to the subject of this act among states enacting it. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 88-40; s. 1, ch. 97-240; s. 1, ch. 2000-245; s. 1, ch. 2022-96, + + + +effective July 1, 2022. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.25. +Fla. Stat. 689.25 + + 689.25. Failure to disclose homicide, suicide, deaths, or diagnosis of +HIV or AIDS infection in an occupant of real property. + +(1)(a) The fact that an occupant of real property is infected or has been +infected with human immunodeficiency virus or diagnosed with acquired +immune deficiency syndrome is not a material fact that must be disclosed +in a real estate transaction. +(b) The fact that a property was, or was at any time suspected to have been, + +the site of a homicide, suicide, or death is not a material fact that must be +disclosed in a real estate transaction. + +(2) A cause of action shall not arise against an owner of real property, +his or her agent, an agent of a transferee of real property, or a person +licensed under chapter 475 for the failure to disclose to the transferee that +the property was or was suspected to have been the site of a homicide, +suicide, or death or that an occupant of that property was infected with +human immunodeficiency virus or diagnosed with acquired immune +deficiency syndrome. + +HISTORY: +S. 46, ch. 88-380; s. 51, ch. 2003-164. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.26. +Fla. Stat. 689.26 + + 689.26. Prospective purchasers subject to association membership +requirement; disclosure required; covenants; assessments; contract +voidability [Transferred.] + +Transferred to s. 720.401. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.261. +Fla. Stat. 689.261 + + 689.261. Sale of residential property; disclosure of ad valorem taxes to +prospective purchaser. +(1) A prospective purchaser of residential property must be presented a + +disclosure summary at or before execution of the contract for sale. Unless a +substantially similar disclosure summary is included in the contract for +sale, a separate disclosure summary must be attached to the contract for +sale. The disclosure summary, whether separate or included in the contract, +must be in a form substantially similar to the following: +PROPERTY TAX +DISCLOSURE SUMMARY +BUYER SHOULD NOT RELY ON THE SELLERS CURRENT +PROPERTY TAXES AS THE AMOUNT OF PROPERTY TAXES +THAT THE BUYER MAY BE OBLIGATED TO PAY IN THE YEAR +SUBSEQUENT TO PURCHASE. A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OR +PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS TRIGGERS REASSESSMENTS OF +THE PROPERTY THAT COULD RESULT IN HIGHER PROPERTY +TAXES. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING +VALUATION, CONTACT THE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISERS +OFFICE FOR INFORMATION. + +(2) Unless included in the contract, the disclosure summary must be +provided by the seller. If the disclosure summary is not included in the +contract for sale, the contract for sale must refer to and incorporate by +reference the disclosure summary and include, in prominent language, a +statement that the potential purchaser should not execute the contract until +he or she has read the disclosure summary required by this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2004-349. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.262. +Fla. Stat. 689.262 + + 689.262. Sale of residential property; disclosure of windstorm +mitigation rating [Repealed.] + +Repealed by s. 1, ch. 2010-275, effective November 17, 2010. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 2008-66, eff. Jan. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.265. +Fla. Stat. 689.265 + + 689.265. Financial report [Transferred.] +Transferred to s. 720.3086. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.27. +Fla. Stat. 689.27 + + 689.27. Termination by servicemember of agreement to purchase real +property. +(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law and for the purposes of + +this section: +(a) Closing means the finalizing of the sale of property, upon which title + +to the property is transferred from the seller to the buyer. +(b) Contract means an instrument purporting to contain an agreement to + +purchase real property. +(c) Property means a house, condominium, or mobile home that a + +servicemember intends to purchase to serve as his or her primary residence. +(d) Servicemember shall have the same meaning as provided in s. + +250.01. +(2) Any servicemember may terminate a contract to purchase property, + +prior to closing on such property, by providing the seller or mortgagor of +the property with a written notice of termination to be effective +immediately, if any of the following criteria are met: +(a) The servicemember is required, pursuant to permanent change of + +station orders received after entering into a contract for the property and prior +to closing, to move 35 miles or more from the location of the property; + +(b) The servicemember is released from active duty or state active duty +after having agreed to purchase the property and prior to closing while +serving on active duty or state active duty status, and the property is 35 miles +or more from the servicemembers home of record prior to entering active +duty or state active duty; + +(c) Prior to closing, the servicemember receives military orders requiring +him or her to move into government quarters or the servicemember becomes +eligible to live in and opts to move into government quarters; or + +(d) Prior to closing, the servicemember receives temporary duty orders, +temporary change of station orders, or active duty or state active duty orders +to an area 35 miles or more from the location of the property, provided such + + + +orders are for a period exceeding 90 days. +(3) The notice to the seller or mortgagor canceling the contract must be + +accompanied by either a copy of the official military orders or a written +verification signed by the servicemembers commanding officer. + +(4) Upon termination of a contract under this section, the seller or +mortgagor or his or her agent shall refund any funds provided by the +servicemember under the contract within 7 days. The servicemember is not +liable for any other fees due to the termination of the contract as provided +for in this section. + +(5) The provisions of this section may not be waived or modified by the +agreement of the parties under any circumstances. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 2003-72; s. 28, ch. 2022-183, effective July 1, 2022. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.28. +Fla. Stat. 689.28 + + 689.28. Prohibition against transfer fee covenants. +(1) Intent. The Legislature finds and declares that the public policy + +of this state favors the marketability of real property and the transferability +of interests in real property free of title defects or unreasonable restraints +on alienation. The Legislature further finds and declares that transfer fee +covenants violate this public policy by impairing the marketability and +transferability of real property and by constituting an unreasonable +restraint on alienation regardless of the duration of such covenants or the +amount of such transfer fees, and do not run with the title to the property or +bind subsequent owners of the property under common law or equitable +principles. + +(2) Definitions. As used in this section, the term: +(a) Environmental covenant means a covenant or servitude that imposes + +limitations on the use of real property pursuant to an environmental +remediation project pertaining to the property. An environmental covenant is +not a transfer fee covenant. + +(b) Transfer means the sale, gift, conveyance, assignment, inheritance, or +other transfer of an ownership interest in real property located in this state. + +(c) Transfer fee means a fee or charge required by a transfer fee +covenant and payable upon the transfer of an interest in real property, or +payable for the right to make or accept such transfer, regardless of whether +the fee or charge is a fixed amount or is determined as a percentage of the +value of the property, the purchase price, or other consideration given for the +transfer. The following are not transfer fees for purposes of this section: + +1. Any consideration payable by the grantee to the grantor for the interest +in real property being transferred, including any subsequent additional +consideration for the property payable by the grantee based upon any +subsequent appreciation, development, or sale of the property. For the +purposes of this subparagraph, an interest in real property may include a +separate mineral estate and its appurtenant surface access rights. + +2. Any commission payable to a licensed real estate broker for the transfer + + + +of real property pursuant to an agreement between the broker and the grantor +or the grantee, including any subsequent additional commission for that +transfer payable by the grantor or the grantee based upon any subsequent +appreciation, development, or sale of the property. + +3. Any interest, charges, fees, or other amounts payable by a borrower to a +lender pursuant to a loan secured by a mortgage against real property, +including, but not limited to, any fee payable to the lender for consenting to +an assumption of the loan or a transfer of the real property subject to the +mortgage, any fees or charges payable to the lender for estoppel letters or +certificates, and any shared appreciation interest or profit participation or +other consideration described in s. 687.03(4) and payable to the lender in +connection with the loan. + +4. Any rent, reimbursement, charge, fee, or other amount payable by a +lessee to a lessor under a lease, including, but not limited to, any fee payable +to the lessor for consenting to an assignment, subletting, encumbrance, or +transfer of the lease. + +5. Any consideration payable to the holder of an option to purchase an +interest in real property or the holder of a right of first refusal or first offer to +purchase an interest in real property for waiving, releasing, or not exercising +the option or right upon the transfer of the property to another person. + +6. Any tax, fee, charge, assessment, fine, or other amount payable to or +imposed by a governmental authority. + +7. Any fee, charge, assessment, fine, or other amount payable to a +homeowners, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, or property owners +association pursuant to a declaration or covenant or law applicable to such +association, including, but not limited to, fees or charges payable for estoppel +letters or certificates issued by the association or its authorized agent. + +8. Any fee, charge, assessment, dues, contribution, or other amount +imposed by a declaration or covenant encumbering four or more parcels in a +community, as defined in s. 720.301, and payable to a nonprofit or charitable +organization for the purpose of supporting cultural, educational, charitable, +recreational, environmental, conservation, or other similar activities +benefiting the community that is subject to the declaration or covenant. + +9. Any fee, charge, assessment, dues, contribution, or other amount + + + +pertaining to the purchase or transfer of a club membership relating to real +property owned by the member, including, but not limited to, any amount +determined by reference to the value, purchase price, or other consideration +given for the transfer of the real property. + +10. Any payment required pursuant to an environmental covenant. +(d) Transfer fee covenant means a declaration or covenant recorded + +against the title to real property which requires or purports to require the +payment of a transfer fee to the declarant or other person specified in the +declaration or covenant or to their successors or assigns upon a subsequent +transfer of an interest in the real property. + +(3) Prohibition. A transfer fee covenant recorded in this state on or +after July 1, 2008, does not run with the title to real property and is not +binding on or enforceable at law or in equity against any subsequent +owner, purchaser, or mortgagee of any interest in real property as an +equitable servitude or otherwise. Any liens purporting to secure the +payment of a transfer fee under a transfer fee covenant that is recorded in +this state on or after July 1, 2008, are void and unenforceable. This +subsection does not mean that transfer fee covenants or liens recorded in +this state before July 1, 2008, are presumed valid and enforceable. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2008-35, eff. July 1, 2008. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.29. +Fla. Stat. 689.29 + + 689.29. Disclosure of subsurface rights to prospective purchaser. +(1) A seller must provide a prospective purchaser of residential property + +with a disclosure summary at or before the execution of a contract if the +seller or an affiliated or related entity has previously severed or retained or +will sever or retain any of the subsurface rights or right of entry. The +disclosure summary must be conspicuous, in boldface type, and in a form +substantially similar to the following: + +SUBSURFACE RIGHTS +DISCLOSURE SUMMARY +SUBSURFACE RIGHTS HAVE BEEN OR WILL BE SEVERED FROM +THE TITLE TO REAL PROPERTY BY CONVEYANCE (DEED) OF THE +SUBSURFACE RIGHTS FROM THE SELLER OR AN AFFILIATED OR +RELATED ENTITY OR BY RESERVATION OF THE SUBSURFACE +RIGHTS BY THE SELLER OR AN AFFILIATED OR RELATED +ENTITY. WHEN SUBSURFACE RIGHTS ARE SEVERED FROM THE +PROPERTY, THE OWNER OF THOSE RIGHTS MAY HAVE THE +PERPETUAL RIGHT TO DRILL, MINE, EXPLORE, OR REMOVE ANY +OF THE SUBSURFACE RESOURCES ON OR FROM THE PROPERTY +EITHER DIRECTLY FROM THE SURFACE OF THE PROPERTY OR +FROM A NEARBY LOCATION. SUBSURFACE RIGHTS MAY HAVE A +MONETARY VALUE. +(Purchasers Initials) + +(2) If the disclosure summary is not included in the contract for sale, the +contract for sale must refer to and incorporate by reference the disclosure +summary and must include, in prominent language, a statement that the +potential purchaser should not execute the contract until he or she has read +the disclosure summary required under this section. + +(3) As used in this section, the term: +(a) Seller means a seller of real property which, at the time of sale, is + +zoned for residential use and is property upon which a new dwelling is being +constructed or will be constructed pursuant to the contract for sale with the + + + +seller or has been constructed since the last transfer of the property. +(b) Subsurface rights means the rights to all minerals, mineral fuels, and + +other resources, including, but not limited to, oil, gas, coal, oil shale, +uranium, metals, and phosphate, whether or not they are mixed with any +other substance found or located beneath the surface of the earth. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2014-34, effective October 1, 2014. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 689. , 689.301. +Fla. Stat. 689.301 + + 689.301. Disclosure of known defects in sanitary sewer laterals to +prospective purchaser. + +Before executing a contract for sale, a seller of real property shall disclose +to a prospective purchaser any defects in the propertys sanitary sewer lateral +which are known to the seller. As used in this section, the term sanitary +sewer lateral means the privately owned pipeline connecting a property to +the main sewer line. + +History. +S. 3, ch. 2020-158, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 695 + + + +CHAPTER 695. +RECORD OF CONVEYANCES OF REAL ESTATE. + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.01. +Fla. Stat. 695.01 + + 695.01. Conveyances and liens to be recorded. +(1) No conveyance, transfer, or mortgage of real property, or of any + +interest therein, nor any lease for a term of 1 year or longer, shall be good +and effectual in law or equity against creditors or subsequent purchasers +for a valuable consideration and without notice, unless the same be +recorded according to law; nor shall any such instrument made or executed +by virtue of any power of attorney be good or effectual in law or in equity +against creditors or subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration and +without notice unless the power of attorney be recorded before the +accruing of the right of such creditor or subsequent purchaser. + +(2) Grantees by quitclaim, heretofore or hereafter made, shall be deemed +and held to be bona fide purchasers without notice within the meaning of +the recording acts. + +(3) A lien by a governmental entity or quasi-governmental entity that +attaches to real property for an improvement, service, fine, or penalty, +other than a lien for taxes, non-ad valorem or special assessments, or +utilities, is valid and effectual in law or equity against creditors or +subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration only if the lien is +recorded in the official records of the county in which the property is +located. The recorded notice of lien must contain the name of the owner of +record, a description or address of the property, and the tax or parcel +identification number applicable to the property as of the date of recording. + +HISTORY: +SS. 4, 9, Nov. 15, 1828; RS 1972; GS 2480; RGS 3822; CGL 5698; s. 10, + +ch. 20954, 1941; s. 8, ch. 85-63; s. 2, ch. 2013-241, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.015. +Fla. Stat. 695.015 + + 695.015. Conveyances by law between governmental agencies, +recording. + +All laws which purport to convey title to real property from one +governmental agency or political subdivision to another shall be recorded in +the public records of the county or counties in which the property is located, +and such laws shall contain a provision requiring such recording. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 70-103. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.02. +Fla. Stat. 695.02 + + 695.02. Blank or master form of instruments may be recorded. +(1) Any person may have a blank or master form of mortgage or other + +instrument conveying, transferring or reserving an interest in, or creating a +lien on, real or personal property, filed, indexed and recorded in the office +of the clerk of the circuit court. + +(2) When any such blank or master form is filed with the clerk of the +circuit court, she or he shall record and index the same in the manner +provided by law for recording and indexing mortgages and such other +instruments respectively, except that the name of the person whose name +appears on such blank or master form shall be inserted in the indexes as +grantor and also as grantee. + +(3) When any instrument conveying, transferring or reserving an interest +in, or creating a lien on, real or personal property, incorporates by +reference the provisions, terms, covenants, conditions, obligations, powers +and other contents, or any of them, set forth in any such recorded blank or +master form, such incorporation by reference, for all purposes, shall be +equivalent to setting forth in extenso in such instrument that which is +incorporated by reference. + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, 3, 4, ch. 17109, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 5698(1); s. 219, ch. 77- + +104; s. 762, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.03. +Fla. Stat. 695.03 + + 695.03. Acknowledgment and proof; validation of certain +acknowledgments; legalization or authentication before foreign +officials. + +To entitle any instrument concerning real property to be recorded, the +execution must be acknowledged by the party executing it, proved by a +subscribing witness to it, or legalized or authenticated in one of the following +forms: + +(1) Within this state. An acknowledgment or a proof may be taken, +administered, or made within this state by or before a judge, clerk, or +deputy clerk of any court; a United States commissioner or magistrate; or +any notary public or civil-law notary of this state, and the certificate of +acknowledgment or proof must be under the seal of the court or officer, as +the case may be. + +(2) Outside this state but within the united states. An +acknowledgment or a proof taken, administered, or made outside of this +state but within the United States may be taken, administered, or made by +or before a civil-law notary of this state or a commissioner of deeds +appointed by the Governor of this state; a judge or clerk of any court of the +United States or of any state, territory, or district; by or before a United +States commissioner or magistrate; or by or before any notary public, +justice of the peace, master in chancery, or registrar or recorder of deeds of +any state, territory, or district having a seal, and the certificate of +acknowledgment or proof must be under the seal of the court or officer, as +the case may be. If the acknowledgment or proof is taken, administered, or +made by or before a notary public who does not affix a seal, it is sufficient +for the notary public to type, print, or write by hand on the instrument, I +am a Notary Public of the State of (state), and my commission expires on +(date). + +(3) Outside of the united states or within foreign countries. An +acknowledgment, an affidavit, an oath, a legalization, an authentication, or +a proof taken, administered, or made outside the United States or in a +foreign country may be taken, administered, or made by or before a + + + +commissioner of deeds appointed by the Governor of this state to act in +such country; before a notary public of such foreign country or a civil-law +notary of this state or of such foreign country who has an official seal; +before an ambassador, envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary, +minister, commissioner, charge daffaires, consul general, consul, vice +consul, consular agent, or other diplomatic or consular officer of the +United States appointed to reside in such country; or before a military or +naval officer authorized by 10 U.S.C. s. 1044a to perform the duties of +notary public, and the certificate of acknowledgment, legalization, +authentication, or proof must be under the seal of the officer. A certificate +legalizing or authenticating the signature of a person executing an +instrument concerning real property and to which a civil-law notary or +notary public of that country has affixed her or his official seal is sufficient +as an acknowledgment. For the purposes of this section, the term civil-law +notary means a civil-law notary as defined in chapter 118 or an official of +a foreign country who has an official seal and who is authorized to make +legal or lawful the execution of any document in that jurisdiction, in which +jurisdiction the affixing of her or his official seal is deemed proof of the +execution of the document or deed in full compliance with the laws of that +jurisdiction. + +(4) Compliance and validation. The affixing of the official seal or +the electronic equivalent thereof under s. 117.021 or other applicable law, +including part II of chapter 117, conclusively establishes that the +acknowledgment or proof was taken, administered, or made in full +compliance with the laws of this state or, as applicable, the laws of the +other state, or of the foreign country governing notarial acts. All affidavits, +oaths, acknowledgments, legalizations, authentications, or proofs taken, +administered, or made in any manner as set forth in subsections (1), (2), +and (3) are validated and upon recording may not be denied to have +provided constructive notice based on any alleged failure to have strictly +complied with this section, as currently or previously in effect, or the laws +governing notarization of instruments. This subsection does not preclude a +challenge to the validity or enforceability of an instrument or electronic +record based upon fraud, forgery, impersonation, duress, incapacity, undue +influence, minority, illegality, unconscionability, or any other basis not +related to the notarial act or constructive notice provided by recording. + + + +HISTORY: +RS 1973; ch. 5404, 1905; GS 2481; ss. 1, 2, ch. 7849, 1919; RGS 3823; + +CGL 5699; s. 7, ch. 22858, 1945; s. 1, ch. 28225, 1953; s. 1, ch. 69-79; s. 1, +ch. 71-53; s. 26, ch. 73-334; s. 3, ch. 80-173; s. 1, ch. 84-97; s. 763, ch. 97- +102; s. 21, ch. 98-246; s. 23, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.031. +Fla. Stat. 695.031 + + 695.031. Affidavits and acknowledgments by members of armed forces +and their spouses. +(1) In addition to the manner, form and proof of acknowledgment of + +instruments as now provided by law, any person serving in or with the +Armed Forces of the United States, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, +Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, or any component or any arm or +service of any thereof, including any female auxiliary of any thereof, and +any person whose duties require his or her presence with the Armed Forces +of the United States, as herein designated, or otherwise designated by law +or military or naval command, may acknowledge any instrument, wherever +located, either within or without the state, or without the United States, +before any commissioned officer in active service of the Armed Forces of +the United States, as herein designated, or otherwise designated by law, or +military or naval command, or order, with the rank of second lieutenant or +higher in the Army, Air Force, Space Force, or Marine Corps, or of any +component or any arm or service of any thereof, including any female +auxiliary of any thereof, or ensign or higher in the Navy or United States +Coast Guard, or of any component or any arm or service of either thereof, +including any female auxiliary of any thereof. + +(2) The instrument shall not be rendered invalid by the failure to state +therein the place of execution or acknowledgment. No authentication of the +officers certificate of acknowledgment or otherwise shall be required, and +no seal shall be necessary, but the officer taking the acknowledgment shall +endorse thereon or attach thereto a certificate substantially in the following +form: +On this _________ day of _________, (year), before me _________, the + +undersigned officer, personally appeared _________, known to me (or +satisfactorily proven) to be serving in or with, or whose duties require her or +his presence with the Armed Forces of the United States, and to be the person +whose name is subscribed to the within instrument, and acknowledged that +she or he executed the same for the purposes therein contained, and the +undersigned does further certify that she or he is at the date of this certificate +a commissioned officer of the rank stated below and is in the active service of + + + +the Armed Forces of the United States. +(Signature of commissioned officer) +(Rank of commissioned officer and command or branch of service to + +which officer is attached) +(3) Such acknowledgments by a married woman, who is a member of + +the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be sufficient in all respects to +bar the dower, homestead rights or separate property rights of such married +woman in any real estate described in the instrument thus acknowledged +by her, as fully and completely as though such married woman had +acknowledged such instrument as now required by other statutes. + +(4) An acknowledgment by the spouse of a member of the Armed +Forces of the United States shall be sufficient in all respects if it is +acknowledged in the manner and form herein provided and shall have the +same force and effect as though the instrument had been acknowledged as +now required by other statutes and such acknowledgment by a married +woman who is a spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United +States shall be sufficient in all respects to bar the dower, homestead rights +or separate property rights of such married woman in any real estate +described in the instrument thus acknowledged by her as fully and +completely as though such married woman had acknowledged such +instrument as now required by other statutes. + +(5) Any instrument or document acknowledged in the manner and form +herein provided shall be entitled to be recorded and shall be recorded as in +the case of other instruments or documents properly acknowledged. + +(6) This section is to be liberally construed in favor of the validity of any +such acknowledgments by any such member of the Armed Forces of the +United States and any acknowledgments heretofore taken, containing +words of similar import, are hereby confirmed and declared to be valid and +binding. This section shall be construed as an enabling act and as an +exception to existing laws rather than, inferentially or otherwise, as a +repeal of the same or any part of the same. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 22858, 1945; s. 1, ch. 57-40; s. 764, ch. 97-102; s. 28, ch. 99-6; s. + + + +17, ch. 2022-183, effective July 1, 2022. + +Editors Notes +Former s. 120.08. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.032. +Fla. Stat. 695.032 + + 695.032. Provisions not applicable to transactions under chapter 679, +Uniform Commercial Code. + +Section 695.03 shall not apply to any of the transactions within the scope +of chapter 679 of the Uniform Commercial Code. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 65-254. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.04. +Fla. Stat. 695.04 + + 695.04. Requirements of certificate. +The certificate of the officer before whom the acknowledgment or proof is + +taken, except for a certificate legalizing or authenticating the signature of a +person executing an instrument concerning real property pursuant to s. +695.03(3), shall contain and set forth substantially the matter required to be +done or proved to make such acknowledgment or proof effectual as set forth +in s. 117.05. + +HISTORY: +RS 1974; GS 2482; RGS 3824; CGL 5700; s. 2, ch. 84-97; s. 24, ch. 2019- + +71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.05. +Fla. Stat. 695.05 + + 695.05. Certain defects cured as to acknowledgments and witnesses. +All deeds, conveyances, bills of sale, mortgages or other transfers of real or + +personal property within the limits of this state, heretofore or hereafter made +and received bona fide and upon good consideration by any corporation, and +acknowledged for record before some officer, stockholder or other person +interested in the corporation, grantee, or mortgagee as a notary public or other +officer authorized to take acknowledgments of instruments for record within +this state, shall be held, deemed and taken as valid as if acknowledged by the +proper notary public or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments of +instruments for record in this state not so interested in said corporation, +grantee or mortgagee; and said instrument whenever recorded shall be +deemed notice to all persons; provided, however, that this section shall not +apply to any instrument heretofore made, the validity of which shall be +contested by suit commenced within 1 year of the effective date of this law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 4953, 1901; GS 2483; RGS 3825; s. 1, ch. 11991, 1927; CGL + +5701, 5702; s. 1, ch. 14706, 1931; CGL 1936 Supp. 5702(1); s. 11, ch. +20954, 1941. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.06. +Fla. Stat. 695.06 + + 695.06. Certain irregularities as to venue validated. +Whenever, in the acknowledgment to any deed or other instrument relating + +to real estate, heretofore recorded in this state, it shall appear, either from the +recitals in such acknowledgment, or following the signature of the officer +taking the same, or from the seal of such officer that the said +acknowledgment was not taken, or may not have been taken, in the place as +stated in the caption or venue thereof, said deed or other instrument shall, +notwithstanding such irregularity or defect, be deemed and taken as properly +acknowledged and of record. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 11990, 1927; CGL 5703. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.07. +Fla. Stat. 695.07 + + 695.07. Use of scrawl as seal. +A scrawl or scroll, printed or written, affixed as a seal to any written + +instrument shall be as effectual as a seal. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 4148, 1893; GS 2484; RGS 3826; CGL 5704. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.08. +Fla. Stat. 695.08 + + 695.08. Prior use of scrawl as seal. +All written instruments heretofore or hereafter made with a scrawl or + +scroll, printed or written, affixed as a seal are declared to be sealed +instruments, and shall be construed and received in evidence as such in all the +courts of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 4148, 1893; GS 2485; RGS 3827; CGL 5705. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.09. +Fla. Stat. 695.09 + + 695.09. Identity of grantor. +No acknowledgment or proof shall be taken, except as set forth in s. + +695.03(3), by any officer within or without the United States unless the +officer knows, or has satisfactory proof, that the person making the +acknowledgment is the individual described in, and who executed, such +instrument or that the person offering to make proof is one of the subscribing +witnesses to such instrument. + +HISTORY: +RS 1975; GS 2486; RGS 3828; CGL 5706; s. 3, ch. 84-97; s. 765, ch. 97- + +102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.10. +Fla. Stat. 695.10 + + 695.10. Proof by others. +Where the grantors and witnesses of any instrument which may be + +recorded are dead, or cannot be had, the judge of the circuit court, or the +county court judge for the county wherein the real property is situated, may +take the examination of any competent witness or witnesses, on oath, to +prove the handwriting of the witness or witnesses, or where such proof +cannot be had, then to prove the handwriting of the grantor or grantors, which +shall be certified by the judge, and the instrument being thus proved may be +recorded. + +HISTORY: +RS 1976; GS 2487; RGS 3829; CGL 5707; s. 26, ch. 73-334. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.11. +Fla. Stat. 695.11 + + 695.11. Instruments deemed to be recorded from time of filing. +All instruments which are authorized or required to be recorded in the + +office of the clerk of the circuit court of any county in the State of Florida, +and which are to be recorded in the Official Records as provided for under +s. 28.222, and which are filed for recording on or after the effective date of +this act, shall be deemed to have been officially accepted by the said officer, +and officially recorded, at the time she or he affixed thereon the consecutive +official register numbers required under s. 28.222, and at such time shall be +notice to all persons. The sequence of such official numbers shall determine +the priority of recordation. An instrument bearing the lower number in the +then-current series of numbers shall have priority over any instrument +bearing a higher number in the same series. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 3592, 1885; RS 1977; GS 2488; RGS 3830; CGL 5708; s. 1, ch. + +17217, 1935; s. 1, ch. 67-442; s. 766, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.12. +Fla. Stat. 695.12 + + 695.12. Imperfect record. +Whenever any instrument authorized or required by law to be recorded in + +any county either has been or may be so imperfectly or erroneously recorded +as to require a new record thereof, if the officer who so recorded the same be +still in office, she or he shall, upon demand of the owner of such instrument, +or person controlling the same, record it anew free of any charge or fee than +the fee allowed by law for one perfect record thereof. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 3896, 1889; RS 1978; GS 2489; RGS 3831; CGL 5709; s. 767, ch. + +97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.13. +Fla. Stat. 695.13 + + 695.13. Want of certificate of record. +Whenever any instrument authorized or required by law to be recorded + +shall appear to be recorded in the appropriate record book in the proper +office, whether the record shall be in the handwriting of the officer whose +duty it was to record such instrument, or in the handwriting of any other +person, the record shall be presumed to have been made by the officer whose +duty it was to make it, and the absence of a certificate of such officer that +such instrument was recorded by her or him shall in no wise affect the +validity of the record. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 3894, 1889; RS 1979; GS 2490; RGS 3832; CGL 5710; s. 768, ch. + +97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.14. +Fla. Stat. 695.14 + + 695.14. Unsigned certificate of record. +Whenever any unsigned certificate on such record of the instruments + +mentioned in s. 695.13 shall contain the date of filing or of recording such +instrument, it shall be prima facie evidence of the time of filing or of +recording such instrument. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 3894, 1889; RS 1980; GS 2491; RGS 3833; CGL 5711. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.15. +Fla. Stat. 695.15 + + 695.15. Recording conveyances lost by fire. +Whenever the record in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of any + +county in this state of any deed, conveyance, contract, mortgage, deed of +trust, map or plat or other instrument in writing affecting real estate in such +county has been heretofore destroyed by fire, any such instrument, or a copy +thereof from such former record duly certified, may be rerecorded in such +county, and in rerecording the same the officer shall record the certificate of +the previous record, and the date of filing for record appearing in said +original certificate so recorded shall be deemed and taken as the date of the +record thereof. And copies of such record so authorized to be made +hereunder, duly certified by said officer, under the seal of said court, shall be +received in evidence under the same circumstances and conditions under +which a certified copy of the original record would be so received, and shall +have the same force and effect as a certified copy of the original record. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 4950, 1901; GS 2492; RGS 3834; CGL 5712; s. 7, ch. 22858, + +1945. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.16. +Fla. Stat. 695.16 + + 695.16. When mortgage or lien is destroyed. +Whenever any mortgage or other lien required by law to be recorded, to be + +good and effectual against creditors or subsequent purchasers for a valuable +consideration and without notice, has been heretofore recorded, and the +record thereof has been destroyed by fire prior to May 30, 1901, such +mortgage or other lien or a certified copy thereof, as aforesaid, shall be +rerecorded within 9 months from said date, or such mortgage or other lien +shall not be good or effectual in law or equity against a creditor or subsequent +purchaser for valuable consideration and without notice; provided, however, +that if the original instrument of mortgage or other lien has been lost or +destroyed, the foregoing provision of this section shall not apply thereto, but +such mortgage or other lien shall not be good or effectual in law or equity +against creditors, or subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration and +without notice, unless legal proceedings to reestablish the same were begun +in the proper court prior to March 3, 1902. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 4950, 1901; GS 2493; RGS 3835; CGL 5713. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.17. +Fla. Stat. 695.17 + + 695.17. United States deeds and patents may be recorded. +Deeds and patents issued by the United States Government and + +photographic copies made by authority of said government from its records +thereof in the general land office, embracing lands within the state, shall be +admitted to record in this state in the county or counties where the land lies, +when presented to the clerk of the court of the county where same is to be +recorded, and when said deeds, patents or photographic copies shall appear to +her or him to be genuine. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 8565, 1921; CGL 5714; s. 769, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.18. +Fla. Stat. 695.18 + + 695.18. Indorsement by clerk. +Upon recording said deed, patent or certified copy, the clerk of the court + +shall indorse thereon and also upon the record made by her or him the +following: +This deed and patent (or certified copy as the case may be) having been +presented to me on the____ day of ____ for record, and same appearing to +me to be genuine and to have been made and issued by the authority of the +United States Government, I have duly recorded same in ____ on page ____ +of the public records of my office. +Witness my hand and official seal at ____ Florida, this ____ day of ____ + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 8565, 1921; CGL 5715; s. 770, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.19. +Fla. Stat. 695.19 + + 695.19. Certified copies of recorded instruments may be recorded. +Certified copies of deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney and all other + +instruments of any kind which have been or may hereafter be duly recorded +or filed among the public records of any county in this state may be recorded +or rerecorded among the public records of any other county in this state as +fully and in the same manner and with like effect as if such certified copy +were the original instrument. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 11989, 1927; CGL 5717. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.20. +Fla. Stat. 695.20 + + 695.20. Unperformed contracts of record. +Whenever anyone shall have contracted to purchase real estate in the state, + +prior to January 1, 1930, by written agreement requiring all payments to be +made within 10 years from the date of the contract, or has accepted an +assignment of such an agreement, and the fact of the existence of such a +contract of purchase, or assignment, appears of record from the instrument +itself or by reference in some other recorded instrument, and shall not have +obtained and placed of record a deed to the property or a decree of a court of +competent jurisdiction recognizing her or his rights thereunto, and is not in +actual possession of the property covered by the contract or by the +assignment, as defined in s. 95.17, she or he, her or his surviving spouse, +heirs, personal representatives, successors, and assigns, shall have no further +interest in the property described in the contract, or the assignment, by virtue +thereof, and the record of such contract, assignment or other record reference +thereto, shall no longer constitute either actual or constructive notice to a +purchaser, mortgagee, or other person acquiring an interest in the property, +unless within 6 months after this law shall take effect, (approved April 26, +1941) she or he or some one claiming under her or him shall: + +(1) Place on record a deed or other conveyance of the property from the +holder of the record title; or + +(2) Place on record a written instrument executed by the holder of the +record title evidencing an extension or modification of the original contract +and showing that the original contract remains in force and effect; or + +(3) Institute, or have pending, in a court of competent jurisdiction a suit +for the enforcement of her or his rights under such contract. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 20235, 1941; s. 771, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Section 95.17, referred to in the middle of this section, was transferred to s. + +95.16(2) by the reviser incident to compiling the 1974 Supplement to the + + + +Florida Statutes 1973. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.22. +Fla. Stat. 695.22 + + 695.22. Daily schedule of deeds and conveyances filed for record to be +furnished property appraiser. + +After October 1, 1945, the several county recorders must keep and furnish +to the respective county property appraisers in the counties where such +instruments are recorded a daily schedule of the aforesaid deeds and +conveyances so filed for recordation, in which schedule must be set forth the +name of the grantor or grantors, the names and addresses of each grantee, and +a description of the land as specified in each instrument so filed. The daily +schedule must include notification of any information therein which is +subject to a request for removal on file with the county recorder. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 23114, 1945; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 4, ch. 2021-215, effective July 1, + +2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.25. +Fla. Stat. 695.25 + + 695.25. Short form of acknowledgment. +The forms of acknowledgment set forth in this section may be used, and + +are sufficient for their respective purposes, under any law of this state. The +forms shall be known as Statutory Short Forms of Acknowledgment and +may be referred to by that name. The authorization of the forms in this +section does not preclude the use of other forms. + +(1) For an individual acting in his or her own right: + +(2) For a corporation: + +(3) For a limited liability company: + + + +(4) For a partnership: + +(5) For an individual acting as principal by an attorney in fact: + +(6) By any public officer, trustee, or personal representative: +STATE OF ___________ +COUNTY OF ___________ + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 73-62; s. 10, ch. 91-291; s. 7, ch. 93-62; s. 772, ch. 97-102; s. 25, + +ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.26. +Fla. Stat. 695.26 + + 695.26. Requirements for recording instruments affecting real +property. +(1) No instrument by which the title to real property or any interest + +therein is conveyed, assigned, encumbered, or otherwise disposed of shall +be recorded by the clerk of the circuit court unless: +(a) The name of each person who executed such instrument is legibly + +printed, typewritten, or stamped upon such instrument immediately beneath +the signature of such person and the post-office address of each such person +is legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped upon such instrument; + +(b) The name and post-office address of the natural person who prepared +the instrument or under whose supervision it was prepared are legibly +printed, typewritten, or stamped upon such instrument; + +(c) The name of each witness to the instrument is legibly printed, +typewritten, or stamped upon such instrument immediately beneath the +signature of such witness; + +(d) The name of any notary public or other officer authorized to take +acknowledgments or proofs whose signature appears upon the instrument is +legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped upon such instrument immediately +beneath the signature of such notary public or other officer authorized to take +acknowledgment or proofs; + +(e) A 3-inch by 3-inch space at the top right-hand corner on the first page +and a 1-inch by 3-inch space at the top right-hand corner on each subsequent +page are reserved for use by the clerk of the court; and + +(f) In any instrument other than a mortgage conveying or purporting to +convey any interest in real property, the name and post-office address of each +grantee in such instrument are legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped upon +such instrument. + +(2) If a name or address is printed, typewritten, or stamped on an +instrument in a position other than the position required by subsection (1), +the clerk of the circuit court may, in her or his discretion, accept the +instrument for recordation if she or he determines that the connection + + + +between the signature and the name or the name and the address is +apparent. + +(3) This section does not apply to: +(a) An instrument executed before July 1, 1991. +(b) A decree, order, judgment, or writ of any court. +(c) An instrument executed, acknowledged, or proved outside of this state. +(d) A will. +(e) A plat. +(f) An instrument prepared or executed by any public officer other than a + +notary public. +(4) The failure of the clerk of the circuit court to comply with this + +section does not impair the validity of the recordation or of the +constructive notice imparted by recordation. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 90-183; ss. 8, 22, ch. 94-348; s. 773, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.27. +Fla. Stat. 695.27 + + 695.27. Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act. +(1) Short title. This section may be cited as the Uniform Real + +Property Electronic Recording Act. +(2) Definitions. As used in this section: + +(a) Document means information that is: +1. Inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other + +medium and is retrievable in perceivable form; and +2. Eligible to be recorded in the Official Records, as defined in s. 28.222, + +and maintained by a county recorder. +(b) Electronic means relating to technology having electrical, digital, + +magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. +(c) Electronic document means a document that is received by a county + +recorder in an electronic form. +(d) Electronic signature means an electronic sound, symbol, or process + +that is executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document +and is attached to or logically associated with a document such that, when +recorded, it is assigned the same document number or a consecutive page +number immediately following such document. + +(e) Person means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, +partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public +corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, +instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. + +(f) State means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, +Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular +possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. + +(3) Validity of electronic documents. +(a) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a document be an + +original, be on paper or another tangible medium, or be in writing, the +requirement is satisfied by an electronic document satisfying the + + + +requirements of this section. +(b) If a law requires, as a condition for recording, that a document be + +signed, the requirement is satisfied by an electronic signature. +(c) A requirement that a document or a signature associated with a + +document be notarized, acknowledged, verified, witnessed, or made under +oath is satisfied if the electronic signature of the person authorized to perform +that act, and all other information required to be included, is attached to or +logically associated with the document or signature. A physical or electronic +image of a stamp, impression, or seal need not accompany an electronic +signature. + +(4) Recording of documents. +(a) In this subsection, the term paper document means a document that is + +received by the county recorder in a form that is not electronic. +(b) A county recorder: +1. Who implements any of the functions listed in this section shall do so in + +compliance with standards established by rule by the Department of State. +2. May receive, index, store, archive, and transmit electronic documents. +3. May provide for access to, and for search and retrieval of, documents + +and information by electronic means. +4. Who accepts electronic documents for recording shall continue to accept + +paper documents as authorized by state law and shall place entries for both +types of documents in the same index. + +5. May convert paper documents accepted for recording into electronic +form. + +6. May convert into electronic form information recorded before the +county recorder began to record electronic documents. + +7. May agree with other officials of a state or a political subdivision +thereof, or of the United States, on procedures or processes to facilitate the +electronic satisfaction of prior approvals and conditions precedent to +recording. + +(5) Administration and standards. The Department of State, by + + + +rule pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, shall prescribe standards to +implement this section.To keep the standards and practices of county +recorders in this state in harmony with the standards and practices of +recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact substantially this section +and to keep the technology used by county recorders in this state +compatible with technology used by recording offices in other jurisdictions +that enact substantially this section, the Department of State, so far as is +consistent with the purposes, policies, and provisions of this section, in +adopting, amending, and repealing standards, shall consider: +(a) Standards and practices of other jurisdictions. +(b) The most recent standards adopted by national standard-setting bodies, + +such as the Property Records Industry Association. +(c) The views of interested persons and governmental officials and entities. +(d) The needs of counties of varying size, population, and resources. +(e) Standards requiring adequate information security protection to ensure + +that electronic documents are accurate, authentic, adequately preserved, and +resistant to tampering. + +(6) Uniformity of application and construction. In applying and +construing this section, consideration must be given to the need to promote +uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that +enact it. + +(7) Relation to electronic signatures in global and national +commerce act. This section modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal +Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. +7001 et seq., but this section does not modify, limit, or supersede s. 101(c) +of that act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any of +the notices described in s. 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7003(b). + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2007-233, eff. June 27, 2007; s. 157, ch. 2020-2, effective May + +18, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 695. , 695.28. +Fla. Stat. 695.28 + + 695.28. Validity of recorded electronic documents. +(1) A document that is otherwise entitled to be recorded and that was or + +is submitted to the clerk of the court or county recorder by electronic or +other means and accepted for recordation is deemed validly recorded and +provides notice to all persons notwithstanding: +(a) That the document was received and accepted for recordation before + +the Department of State adopted standards implementing s. 695.27; +(b) Any defects in, deviations from, or the inability to demonstrate strict + +compliance with any statute, rule, or procedure relating to electronic +signatures, electronic witnesses, electronic notarization, or online +notarization, or for submitting or recording an electronic document in effect +at the time the electronic document was executed or was submitted for +recording; + +(c) That the document was signed, witnessed, or notarized electronically, +and that the document was notarized by an online notary public outside the +physical presence of the signer through audio-video communication +technology, as defined in s. 117.201, or that witnessing may have been done +outside the physical presence of the notary public or principal through such +audio-visual communication; or + +(d) That the document recorded was a certified printout of a document to +which one or more electronic signatures have been affixed. + +(2) This section does not alter the duty of the clerk or recorder to comply +with s. 28.222, s. 695.27, or any rules adopted pursuant to those sections. + +(3) This section does not preclude a challenge to the validity or +enforceability of an instrument or electronic record based upon fraud, +forgery, impersonation, duress, incapacity, undue influence, minority, +illegality, unconscionability, or any other basis not in the nature of those +matters described in subsection (1). + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2011-173, eff. June 17, 2011; s. 26, ch. 2019-71, effective January + + + +1, 2020. + +Editors notes. +Section 2, ch. 2011-173 provides: This act is intended to clarify existing + +law and applies prospectively and retroactively. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 709 + + + +CHAPTER 709. +POWERS OF ATTORNEY AND SIMILAR INSTRUMENTS. + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 709, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +POWERS OF APPOINTMENT. + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.01. +Fla. Stat. 709.01 + + 709.01. Power of attorney; authority of nominee when principal dead +[Repealed]. + +Repealed by s. 33, ch. 2011-210, effective October 1, 2011. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 23011, 1945; s. 1, ch. 67-453; s. 793, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.015. +Fla. Stat. 709.015 + + 709.015. Power of attorney; authority of agent when principal listed as +missing [Repealed]. + +Repealed by s. 33, ch. 2011-210, effective October 1, 2011. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 70-33; s. 794, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.02. +Fla. Stat. 709.02 + + 709.02. Power of appointment; method of release. +Powers of appointment over any property, real, personal, intangible or + +mixed, may be released, in whole or in part, by a written instrument signed +by the donee or donees of such powers. Such written releases shall be signed +in the presence of two witnesses but need not be sealed, acknowledged or +recorded in order to be valid, nor shall it be necessary to the validity of such +releases for spouses of married donees to join such donees in the execution of +releases, in whole or part, of powers of appointment. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 23007, 1945; s. 795, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.03. +Fla. Stat. 709.03 + + 709.03. Power of appointment; property held in trust. +If property subject to a power of appointment is held in trust by a person, + +firm or corporation other than the donee or donees of the power, a written +release, in whole or in part, of a power to appoint the same shall be delivered +to such trustee or trustees before the written release becomes legally +effective. In no other instance shall a delivery of a release, in whole or in part, +of a power of appointment be necessary to the validity of such release. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 23007, 1945. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.04. +Fla. Stat. 709.04 + + 709.04. Power of appointment; effect of release. +Any power of appointment wholly released by a written instrument signed + +by the donee or donees of such power shall be, in legal effect, completely +revoked, and shall not, after such release, be subject to being exercised in any +manner whatsoever. Any power of appointment partially released by a +written instrument signed by the donee or donees of such power shall be, in +legal effect, as to such released part, completely revoked, and shall not after +such release be subject to being exercised in any manner whatsoever as to +such released part. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 23007, 1945. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.05. +Fla. Stat. 709.05 + + 709.05. Powers of appointment; validation of prior releases. +All releases, in whole or in part, of powers of appointment heretofore + +executed in a manner that conforms with the provisions of this law be and +they are hereby validated and shall be given the same force and effect as if +executed subsequently to the effective date of this law. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 23007, 1945. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.06. +Fla. Stat. 709.06 + + 709.06. Powers of appointment included in law. +Powers of appointment referred to in this law shall include not only those + +recognized as such by general law but also those designated as such under the +tax law of the United States. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 23007, 1945. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.07. +Fla. Stat. 709.07 + + 709.07. Power of appointment; effect of release on title to property. +No such release, in whole or in part, of a power of appointment shall affect + +the title to property of any bona fide purchaser for value who does not have +notice or knowledge of such release. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 23007, 1945. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.08. +Fla. Stat. 709.08 + + 709.08. Durable power of attorney [Repealed]. +Repealed by s. 33, ch. 2011-210, effective October 1, 2011. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-245; s. 1, ch. 77-272; s. 1, ch. 83-139; s. 1, ch. 88-36; s. 24, ch. + +90-232; s. 1, ch. 92-71; s. 8, ch. 92-199; s. 17, ch. 95-401; s. 796, ch. 97-102; +s. 2, ch. 97-240; s. 29, ch. 99-6; s. 1, ch. 2001-241; s. 104, ch. 2002-1; s. 22, +ch. 2003-154; s. 16, ch. 2004-260; s. 31, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. +24, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. I. , 709.11. +Fla. Stat. 709.11 + + 709.11. Deployment-contingent power of attorney [Repealed]. +Repealed by s. 33, ch. 2011-210, effective October 1, 2011. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 88-62. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 709, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +POWERS OF ATTORNEY. + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2101. +Fla. Stat. 709.2101 + + 709.2101. Short title. +This part may be cited as the Florida Power of Attorney Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2102. +Fla. Stat. 709.2102 + + 709.2102. Definitions. +As used in this part, the term: + +(1) Agent means a person granted authority to act for a principal under +a power of attorney, whether denominated an agent, attorney in fact, or +otherwise. The term includes an original agent, co-agent, and successor +agent. + +(2) Another state means a state of the United States, the District of +Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or +insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. + +(3) Broker-dealer means a broker-dealer registered with the United +States Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures +Trading Commission if the broker-dealer is acting in that capacity. + +(4) Durable means, with respect to a power of attorney, not terminated +by the principals incapacity. + +(5) Electronic means technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, +wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. + +(6) Financial institution has the same meaning as in s. 655.005. +(7) Incapacity means the inability of an individual to take those + +actions necessary to obtain, administer, and dispose of real and personal +property, intangible property, business property, benefits, and income. + +(8) Knowledge means a person has actual knowledge of the fact, has +received a notice or notification of the fact, or has reason to know the fact +from all other facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in +question. An organization that conducts activities through employees has +notice or knowledge of a fact involving a power of attorney only from the +time information was received by an employee having responsibility to act +on matters involving the power of attorney, or would have had if brought +to the employees attention if the organization had exercised reasonable +diligence. An organization exercises reasonable diligence if the +organization maintains reasonable routines for communicating significant + + + +information to the employee having responsibility to act on matters +involving the power of attorney and there is reasonable compliance with +the routines. Reasonable diligence does not require an employee to +communicate information unless the communication is part of the +individuals regular duties or the individual knows that a matter involving +the power of attorney would be materially affected by the information. + +(9) Power of attorney means a writing that grants authority to an agent +to act in the place of the principal, whether or not the term is used in that +writing. + +(10) Presently exercisable general power of appointment means, with +respect to property or a property interest subject to a power of +appointment, power exercisable at the time in question to vest absolute +ownership in the principal individually, the principals estate, the +principals creditors, or the creditors of the principals estate. The term +includes a power of appointment not exercisable until the occurrence of a +specified event, the satisfaction of an ascertainable standard, or the passage +of a specified period only after the occurrence of the specified event, the +satisfaction of the ascertainable standard, or the passage of the specified +period. The term does not include a power exercisable in a fiduciary +capacity or only by will. + +(11) Principal means an individual who grants authority to an agent in +a power of attorney. + +(12) Property means anything that may be the subject of ownership, +whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest or right therein. + +(13) Record means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium +or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in +perceivable form. + +(14) Sign means having present intent to authenticate or adopt a +record to: +(a) Execute by signature or mark; or +(b) Attach to, or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, + +symbol, or process. +(15) Third person means any person other than the principal, or the + + + +agent in the agents capacity as agent. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 1, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2103. +Fla. Stat. 709.2103 + + 709.2103. Applicability. +This part applies to all powers of attorney except: + +(1) A proxy or other delegation to exercise voting rights or management +rights with respect to an entity; + +(2) A power created on a form prescribed by a government or +governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality for a governmental +purpose; + +(3) A power to the extent it is coupled with an interest in the subject of +the power, including a power given to or for the benefit of a creditor in +connection with a credit transaction; + +(4) A power created by a person other than an individual; +(5) A power given to a transfer agent to facilitate a specific transfer or + +disposition of one or more identified stocks, bonds, or other financial +instruments; + +(6) A power authorizing a financial institution or broker-dealer, or an +employee of the financial institution or broker-dealer, to act as agent for +the account owner in executing trades or transfers of cash, securities, +commodities, or other financial assets in the regular course of business; +and + +(7) A delegation of powers by a trustee in accordance with s. 736.0807. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 2, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2104. +Fla. Stat. 709.2104 + + 709.2104. Durable power of attorney. +Except as otherwise provided under this part, a power of attorney is + +durable if it contains the words: This durable power of attorney is not +terminated by subsequent incapacity of the principal except as provided in +chapter 709, Florida Statutes, or similar words that show the principals +intent that the authority conferred is exercisable notwithstanding the +principals subsequent incapacity. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2105. +Fla. Stat. 709.2105 + + 709.2105. Qualifications of agent; execution of power of attorney. +(1) The agent must be a natural person who is 18 years of age or older or + +a financial institution that has trust powers, has a place of business in this +state, and is authorized to conduct trust business in this state. + +(2) A power of attorney must be signed by the principal and by two +subscribing witnesses and be acknowledged by the principal before a +notary public or as otherwise provided in s. 695.03. + +(3) If the principal is physically unable to sign the power of attorney, the +notary public before whom the principals oath or acknowledgment is +made may sign the principals name on the power of attorney pursuant to s. +117.05(14). + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 3, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2106. +Fla. Stat. 709.2106 + + 709.2106. Validity of power of attorney. +(1) A power of attorney executed on or after October 1, 2011, is valid if + +its execution complies with s. 709.2105. +(2) A power of attorney executed before October 1, 2011, is valid if its + +execution complied with the law of this state at the time of execution. +(3) A power of attorney executed in another state which does not + +comply with the execution requirements of this part is valid in this state if, +when the power of attorney was executed, the power of attorney and its +execution complied with the law of the state of execution. A third person +who is requested to accept a power of attorney that is valid in this state +solely because of this subsection may in good faith request, and rely upon, +without further investigation, an opinion of counsel as to any matter of law +concerning the power of attorney, including the due execution and validity +of the power of attorney. An opinion of counsel requested under this +subsection must be provided at the principals expense. A third person may +reject a power of attorney that is valid in this state solely because of this +subsection if the agent does not provide the requested opinion of counsel, +and in such case, a third person has no liability for rejecting the power of +attorney. This subsection does not affect any other rights of a third person +who is requested to accept the power of attorney under this part, or any +other provisions of applicable law. + +(4) A military power of attorney is valid if it is executed in accordance +with 10 U.S.C. s. 1044b, as amended. A deployment-contingent power of +attorney may be signed in advance, is effective upon the deployment of the +principal, and shall be afforded full force and effect by the courts of this +state. + +(5) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, a photocopy +or electronically transmitted copy of an original power of attorney has the +same effect as the original. Notwithstanding this subsection, an original +power of attorney that is relied upon to affect the title to real property may +be required for recording in the official records. + +(6) An original of a properly executed power of attorney may be + + + +presented to the clerk of the circuit court for recording in the official +records as provided under s. 28.222 upon payment of the service charge as +provided under s. 28.24. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 4, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2107. +Fla. Stat. 709.2107 + + 709.2107. Meaning and effectiveness of power of attorney. +The meaning and effectiveness of a power of attorney is governed by this + +part if the power of attorney: +(1) Is used in this state; or +(2) States that it is to be governed by the laws of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2108. +Fla. Stat. 709.2108 + + 709.2108. When power of attorney is effective. +(1) Except as provided in this section, a power of attorney is exercisable + +when executed. +(2) If a power of attorney executed before October 1, 2011, is + +conditioned on the principals lack of capacity and the power of attorney +has not become exercisable before that date, the power of attorney is +exercisable upon the delivery of the affidavit of a physician who has +primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the principal and who +is licensed to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine pursuant to +chapter 458 or chapter 459 as of the date of the affidavit. The affidavit +executed by the physician must state that the physician is licensed to +practice medicine or osteopathic medicine pursuant to chapter 458 or +chapter 459, that the physician is the primary physician who has +responsibility for the treatment and care of the principal, and that the +physician believes that the principal lacks the capacity to manage property. + +(3) Except as provided in subsection (2) and s. 709.2106(4), a power of +attorney is ineffective if the power of attorney provides that it is to become +effective at a future date or upon the occurrence of a future event or +contingency. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2109. +Fla. Stat. 709.2109 + + 709.2109. Termination or suspension of power of attorney or agents +authority. +(1) A power of attorney terminates when: + +(a) The principal dies; +(b) The principal becomes incapacitated, if the power of attorney is not + +durable; +(c) The principal is adjudicated totally or partially incapacitated by a court, + +unless the court determines that certain authority granted by the power of +attorney is to be exercisable by the agent; + +(d) The principal revokes the power of attorney; +(e) The power of attorney provides that it terminates; +(f) The purpose of the power of attorney is accomplished; or +(g) The agents authority terminates and the power of attorney does not + +provide for another agent to act under the power of attorney. +(2) An agents authority is exercisable until the authority terminates. An + +agents authority terminates when: +(a) The agent dies, becomes incapacitated, resigns, or is removed by a + +court; +(b) An action is filed for the dissolution or annulment of the agents + +marriage to the principal or for their legal separation, unless the power of +attorney otherwise provides; or + +(c) The power of attorney terminates. +(3) If any person initiates judicial proceedings to determine the + +principals incapacity or for the appointment of a guardian advocate, the +authority granted under the power of attorney is suspended until the +petition is dismissed or withdrawn or the court enters an order authorizing +the agent to exercise one or more powers granted under the power of +attorney. However, if the agent named in the power of attorney is the +principals parent, spouse, child, or grandchild, the authority under the + + + +power of attorney is not suspended unless a verified motion in accordance +with s. 744.3203 is also filed. +(a) If an emergency arises after initiation of proceedings to determine + +incapacity and before adjudication regarding the principals capacity, the +agent may petition the court in which the proceeding is pending for +authorization to exercise a power granted under the power of attorney. The +petition must set forth the nature of the emergency, the property or matter +involved, and the power to be exercised by the agent. + +(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, unless otherwise +ordered by the court, a proceeding to determine incapacity does not affect the +authority of the agent to make health care decisions for the principal, +including, but not limited to, those provided in chapter 765. If the principal +has executed a health care advance directive designating a health care +surrogate, the terms of the directive control if the directive and the power of +attorney are in conflict unless the power of attorney is later executed and +expressly states otherwise. + +(4) Termination or suspension of an agents authority or of a power of +attorney is not effective as to an agent who, without knowledge of the +termination or suspension, acts in good faith under the power of attorney. +An act so performed, unless otherwise invalid or unenforceable, binds the +principal and the principals successors in interest. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 1, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, + +2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2110. +Fla. Stat. 709.2110 + + 709.2110. Revocation of power of attorney. +(1) A principal may revoke a power of attorney by expressing the + +revocation in a subsequently executed power of attorney or other writing +signed by the principal. The principal may give notice of the revocation to +an agent who has accepted authority under the revoked power of attorney. + +(2) Except as provided in subsection (1), the execution of a power of +attorney does not revoke a power of attorney previously executed by the +principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2111. +Fla. Stat. 709.2111 + + 709.2111. Co-agents and successor agents. +(1) A principal may designate two or more persons to act as co-agents. + +Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, each co-agent may +exercise its authority independently. + +(2) A principal may designate one or more successor agents to act if an +agent resigns, dies, becomes incapacitated, is not qualified to serve, or +declines to serve. Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, a +successor agent: +(a) Has the same authority as that granted to the original agent; and +(b) May not act until the predecessor agents have resigned, have died, have + +become incapacitated, are no longer qualified to serve, or have declined to +serve. + +(3) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney and +subsection (4), an agent who does not participate in or conceal a breach of +fiduciary duty committed by another agent, including a predecessor agent, +is not liable for the actions or omissions of the other agent. + +(4) An agent who has actual knowledge of a breach or imminent breach +of fiduciary duty by another agent, including a predecessor agent, must +take any action reasonably appropriate in the circumstances to safeguard +the principals best interests. If the agent in good faith believes that the +principal is not incapacitated, giving notice to the principal is a sufficient +action. An agent who fails to take action as required by this subsection is +liable to the principal for the principals reasonably foreseeable damages +that could have been avoided if the agent had taken such action. + +(5) A successor agent does not have a duty to review the conduct or +decisions of a predecessor agent. Except as provided in subsection (4), a +successor agent does not have a duty to institute any proceeding against a +predecessor agent, or to file any claim against a predecessor agents estate, +for any of the predecessor agents actions or omissions as agent. + +(6) If a power of attorney requires that two or more persons act together +as co-agents, notwithstanding the requirement that they act together, one or + + + +more of the agents may delegate to a co-agent the authority to conduct +banking transactions as provided in s. 709.2208(1), whether the authority +to conduct banking transactions is specifically enumerated or incorporated +by reference to that section in the power of attorney. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2112. +Fla. Stat. 709.2112 + + 709.2112. Reimbursement and compensation of agent. +(1) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, an agent is entitled + +to reimbursement of expenses reasonably incurred on behalf of the +principal. + +(2) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, a qualified agent is +entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances. + +(3) Notwithstanding any provision in the power of attorney, an agent +may not be paid compensation unless the agent is a qualified agent. + +(4) For purposes of this section, the term qualified agent means an +agent who is the spouse of the principal, an heir of the principal within the +meaning of s. 732.103, a financial institution that has trust powers and a +place of business in this state, an attorney or certified public accountant +who is licensed in this state, or a natural person who is a resident of this +state and who has never been an agent for more than three principals at the +same time. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2113. +Fla. Stat. 709.2113 + + 709.2113. Agents acceptance of appointment. +Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, a person accepts + +appointment as an agent by exercising authority or performing duties as an +agent or by any other assertion or conduct indicating acceptance. The scope +of an agents acceptance is limited to those aspects of the power of attorney +for which the agents assertions or conduct reasonably manifests acceptance. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2114. +Fla. Stat. 709.2114 + + 709.2114. Agents duties. +(1) An agent is a fiduciary. Notwithstanding the provisions in the power + +of attorney, an agent who has accepted appointment: +(a) Must act only within the scope of authority granted in the power of + +attorney. In exercising that authority, the agent: +1. May not act contrary to the principals reasonable expectations actually + +known by the agent; +2. Must act in good faith; +3. May not act in a manner that is contrary to the principals best interest, + +except as provided in paragraph (2)(d) and s. 709.2202; and +4. Must attempt to preserve the principals estate plan, to the extent + +actually known by the agent, if preserving the plan is consistent with the +principals best interest based on all relevant factors, including: + +a. The value and nature of the principals property; +b. The principals foreseeable obligations and need for maintenance; +c. Minimization of taxes, including income, estate, inheritance, generation- + +skipping transfer, and gift taxes; +d. Eligibility for a benefit, a program, or assistance under a statute or rule; + +and +e. The principals personal history of making or joining in making gifts; +(b) May not delegate authority to a third person except as authorized under + +s. 518.112 or this part or by executing a power of attorney on a form +prescribed by a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or +instrumentality for a governmental purpose; + +(c) Must keep a record of all receipts, disbursements, and transactions +made on behalf of the principal; and + +(d) Must create and maintain an accurate inventory each time the agent +accesses the principals safe-deposit box, if the power of attorney authorizes + + + +the agent to access the box. +(2) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, an agent who + +has accepted appointment shall: +(a) Act loyally for the sole benefit of the principal; +(b) Act so as not to create a conflict of interest that impairs the agents + +ability to act impartially in the principals best interest; +(c) Act with the care, competence, and diligence ordinarily exercised by + +agents in similar circumstances; and +(d) Cooperate with a person who has authority to make health care + +decisions for the principal in order to carry out the principals reasonable +expectations to the extent actually known by the agent and, otherwise, act in +the principals best interest. + +(3) An agent who acts in good faith is not liable to any beneficiary of the +principals estate plan for failure to preserve the plan. + +(4) If an agent is selected by the principal because of special skills or +expertise possessed by the agent or in reliance on the agents +representation that the agent has special skills or expertise, the special +skills or expertise must be considered in determining whether the agent has +acted with care, competence, and diligence under the circumstances. + +(5) Absent a breach of duty to the principal, an agent is not liable if the +value of the principals property declines. + +(6) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, an agent is +not required to disclose receipts, disbursements, transactions conducted on +behalf of the principal, or safe-deposit box inventories, unless ordered by a +court or requested by the principal, a court-appointed guardian, another +fiduciary acting for the principal, a governmental agency having authority +to protect the welfare of the principal, or, upon the death of the principal, +by the personal representative or successor in interest of the principals +estate. If requested, the agent must comply with the request within 60 days +or provide a writing or other record substantiating why additional time is +needed and comply with the request within an additional 60 days. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 16, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 5, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2115. +Fla. Stat. 709.2115 + + 709.2115. Exoneration of agent. +A power of attorney may provide that the agent is not liable for any acts or + +decisions made by the agent in good faith and under the power of attorney, +except to the extent the provision: + +(1) Relieves the agent of liability for breach of a duty committed +dishonestly, with improper motive, or with reckless indifference to the +purposes of the power of attorney or the best interest of the principal; or + +(2) Was inserted as a result of an abuse of a confidential or fiduciary +relationship with the principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 17, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2116. +Fla. Stat. 709.2116 + + 709.2116. Judicial relief; conflicts of interests. +(1) A court may construe or enforce a power of attorney, review the + +agents conduct, terminate the agents authority, remove the agent, and +grant other appropriate relief. + +(2) The following persons may petition the court: +(a) The principal or the agent, including any nominated successor agent. +(b) A guardian, conservator, trustee, or other fiduciary acting for the + +principal or the principals estate. +(c) A person authorized to make health care decisions for the principal if + +the health care of the principal is affected by the actions of the agent. +(d) Any other interested person if the person demonstrates to the courts + +satisfaction that the person is interested in the welfare of the principal and has +a good faith belief that the courts intervention is necessary. + +(e) A governmental agency having regulatory authority to protect the +welfare of the principal. + +(f) A person asked to honor the power of attorney. +(3) In any proceeding commenced by filing a petition under this section, + +including, but not limited to, the unreasonable refusal of a third person to +allow an agent to act pursuant to the power of attorney, and in challenges +to the proper exercise of authority by the agent, the court shall award +reasonable attorney fees and costs as in chancery actions. + +(4) If an agents exercise of a power is challenged in a judicial +proceeding brought by or on behalf of the principal on the grounds that the +exercise of the power was affected by a conflict of interest, and evidence is +presented that the agent or an affiliate of the agent had a personal interest +in the exercise of the power, the agent or affiliate has the burden of +proving, by clear and convincing evidence that the agent acted: +(a) Solely in the interest of the principal; or +(b) In good faith in the principals best interest, and the conflict of interest + + + +was expressly authorized in the power of attorney. +(5) For purposes of subsection (4): + +(a) A provision authorizing an agent to engage in a transaction affected by +a conflict of interest which is inserted into a power of attorney as the result of +the abuse of a fiduciary or confidential relationship with the principal by the +agent or the agents affiliate is invalid. + +(b) Affiliates of an agent include: +1. The agents spouse; +2. The agents descendants, siblings, parents, or their spouses; +3. A corporation or other entity in which the agent, or a person who owns a + +significant interest in the agent, has an interest that might affect the agents +best judgment; + +4. A person or entity that owns a significant interest in the agent; or +5. The agent acting in a fiduciary capacity for someone other than the + +principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 6, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2117. +Fla. Stat. 709.2117 + + 709.2117. Agents liability. +An agent who violates this part is liable to the principal or the principals + +successors in interest for the amount required to: +(1) Restore the value of the principals property to what it would have + +been had the violation not occurred; and +(2) Reimburse the principal or the principals successors in interest for + +the attorneys fees and costs paid from the principals funds on the agents +behalf in defense of the agents actions. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2118. +Fla. Stat. 709.2118 + + 709.2118. Agents resignation. +Unless the power of attorney provides a different method for an agents + +resignation, an agent may resign by giving notice to the principal, to the +guardian if the principal is incapacitated and one has been appointed for the +principal, and to any co-agent, or if none, the next successor agent. + +HISTORY: +S. 20, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2119. +Fla. Stat. 709.2119 + + 709.2119. Acceptance of and reliance upon power of attorney. +(1)(a) A third person who in good faith accepts a power of attorney that +appears to be executed in the manner required by law at the time of its +execution may rely upon the power of attorney and the actions of the agent +which are reasonably within the scope of the agents authority and may +enforce any obligation created by the actions of the agent as if: +1. The power of attorney were genuine, valid, and still in effect; +2. The agents authority were genuine, valid, and still in effect; and +3. The authority of the officer executing for or on behalf of a financial + +institution that has trust powers and acting as agent is genuine, valid, and still +in effect. + +(b) For purposes of this subsection, and without limiting what constitutes +good faith, a third person does not accept a power of attorney in good faith if +the third person has notice that: + +1. The power of attorney is void, invalid, or terminated; or +2. The purported agents authority is void, invalid, suspended, or + +terminated. +(2) A third person may require: + +(a) An agent to execute an affidavit stating where the principal is +domiciled; that the principal is not deceased; that there has been no +revocation, or partial or complete termination by adjudication of incapacity or +by the occurrence of an event referenced in the power of attorney; that there +has been no suspension by initiation of proceedings to determine incapacity, +or to appoint a guardian, of the principal; that the agents authority has not +been terminated by the filing of an action for dissolution or annulment of +marriage or legal separation of the agent and principal; and, if the affiant is a +successor agent, the reasons for the unavailability of the predecessor agents, +if any, at the time the authority is exercised. + +(b) An officer of a financial institution acting as agent to execute a separate +affidavit, or include in the form of the affidavit, the officers title and a + + + +statement that the officer has full authority to perform all acts and enter into +all transactions authorized by the power of attorney for and on behalf of the +financial institution in its capacity as agent. + +(c) A written affidavit executed by the agent under this subsection which +may, but need not, be in the following form: +STATE OF________________ +COUNTY OF________________ + +Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared +(agent) (Affiant), by the means specified herein who swore or +affirmed that: +1. Affiant is the agent named in the Power of Attorney executed by + +(principal) (Principal) on (date). +2. This Power of Attorney is currently exercisable by Affiant. The + +principal is domiciled in (insert name of state, territory, or foreign country). +3. To the best of Affiants knowledge after diligent search and inquiry: +a. The Principal is not deceased; +b. Affiants authority has not been suspended by initiation of proceedings + +to determine incapacity or to appoint a guardian or a guardian advocate; and +c. Affiants authority has not been terminated by the filing of an action for + +dissolution or annulment of Affiants marriage to the principal, or their legal +separation; and + +d. There has been no revocation, or partial or complete termination, of the +power of attorney or of Affiants authority. + +4. Affiant is acting within the scope of authority granted in the power of +attorney. + +5. Affiant is the successor to (insert name of predecessor agent), who has +resigned, died, become incapacitated, is no longer qualified to serve, has +declined to serve as agent, or is otherwise unable to act, if applicable. + +6. Affiant agrees not to exercise any powers granted by the Power of +Attorney if Affiant attains knowledge that the power of attorney has been + + + +revoked, has been partially or completely terminated or suspended, or is no +longer valid because of the death or adjudication of incapacity of the +Principal. + + ________________ +(Affiant) + +Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me by means of + physical presence or online notarization this ____ day of + + (month), (year), by (name of person making statement) +(Signature of Notary Public) +(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public) +Personally Known OR Produced Identification + +(Type of Identification Produced) +(3) A third person who is asked to accept a power of attorney that + +appears to be executed in accordance with s. 709.2105 may in good faith +request, and rely upon, without further investigation: +(a) A certified English translation of the power of attorney if the power of + +attorney contains, in whole or in part, language other than English; +(b) An opinion of counsel as to any matter of law concerning the power of + +attorney if the third person making the request provides in a writing or other +record the reason for the request; + +(c) The affidavit described in subsection (2); or +(d) The electronic journal or record made by the notary public pursuant to + +the laws of the state in which the notary public is appointed if the power of +attorney is witnessed or notarized remotely through the use of online +witnesses or notarization. + +(4) An English translation, an opinion of counsel, or an electronic +journal or record requested under this section must be provided at the +principals expense unless the request is made after the time specified in s. +709.2120(1) for acceptance or rejection of the power of attorney. + +(5) Third persons who act in reliance upon the authority granted to an + + + +agent and in accordance with the instructions of the agent shall be held +harmless by the principal from any loss suffered or liability incurred as a +result of actions taken before the receipt of notice as provided in s. +709.2121. A third person who acts in good faith upon any representation, +direction, decision, or act of the agent is not liable to the principal or the +principals estate, beneficiaries, or joint owners for those acts. + +(6) The acts of an agent under a power of attorney are as valid and +binding on the principal or the principals estate as if the principal were +alive and competent if, in connection with any activity pertaining to +hostilities in which the United States is then engaged, the principal is +officially listed or reported by a branch of the United States Armed Forces +in a missing status as defined in 37 U.S.C. s. 551 or 5 U.S.C. s. 5561, +regardless of whether the principal is dead, alive, or incompetent. +Homestead property held as tenants by the entireties may not be conveyed +by a power of attorney regulated under this provision until 1 year after the +first official report or listing of the principal as missing or missing in +action. An affidavit of an officer of the Armed Forces having maintenance +and control of the records pertaining to those missing or missing in action +that the principal has been in that status for a given period is conclusive +presumption of the fact. + +HISTORY: +S. 21, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 7, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013; + +s. 27, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020; s. 3, ch. 2021-205, effective +June 29, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2120. +Fla. Stat. 709.2120 + + 709.2120. Rejecting power of attorney. +(1) A third person must accept or reject a power of attorney within a + +reasonable time. Four days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal +holidays, are presumed to be a reasonable time for a financial institution or +broker-dealer to accept or reject a power of attorney with respect to: +(a) A banking transaction, if the power of attorney expressly contains + +authority to conduct banking transactions pursuant to s. 709.2208(1); or +(b) An investment transaction, if the power of attorney expressly contains + +authority to conduct investment transactions pursuant to s. 709.2208(2). +(2) A third person may not require an additional or different form of + +power of attorney for authority granted in the power of attorney presented. +(3) A third person who rejects a power of attorney for any reason other + +than as provided in paragraph (4)(a) must state in writing the reason for the +rejection. + +(4) A third person is not required to accept a power of attorney if: +(a) The third person is not otherwise required to engage in a transaction + +with the principal in the same circumstances; +(b) The third person has knowledge of the termination or suspension of the + +agents authority or of the power of attorney before exercising the power; +(c) A timely request by the third person for an affidavit, English + +translation, opinion of counsel, or electronic journal or record under s. +709.2119 is refused by the agent; + +(d) The power of attorney is witnessed or notarized remotely through the +use of online witnesses or notarization, and either the agent is unable to +produce the electronic journal or record, or the notary public did not maintain +an electronic journal or record of the notarization; + +(e) Except as provided in paragraph (b), the third person believes in good +faith that the power is not valid or that the agent does not have authority to +perform the act requested; or + + + +(f) The third person makes, or has knowledge that another person has +made, a report to the local adult protective services office stating a good faith +belief that the principal may be subject to physical or financial abuse, neglect, +exploitation, or abandonment by the agent or a person acting for or with the +agent. + +(5) A third person who, in violation of this section, rejects a power of +attorney is subject to: +(a) A court order mandating acceptance of the power of attorney; and +(b) Liability for damages, including reasonable attorney fees and costs, + +incurred in any action or proceeding that confirms, for the purpose tendered, +the validity of the power of attorney or mandates acceptance of the power of +attorney. + +HISTORY: +S. 22, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 8, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013; + +s. 28, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2121. +Fla. Stat. 709.2121 + + 709.2121. Notice. +(1) A notice, including a notice of revocation, notice of partial or + +complete termination by adjudication of incapacity or by the occurrence of +an event referenced in the power of attorney, notice of death of the +principal, notice of suspension by initiation of proceedings to determine +incapacity or to appoint a guardian, or other notice, is not effective until +written notice is provided to the agent or any third persons relying upon a +power of attorney. + +(2) Notice must be in writing and must be accomplished in a manner +reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt +of the notice or document. Permissible methods of notice or for sending a +document include first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the +persons last known place of residence or place of business, or a properly +directed facsimile or other electronic message. + +(3) Notice to a financial institution or broker-dealer must contain the +principals name and address and the last four digits of the principals +taxpayer identification number and be directed to an officer or a manager +of the financial institution or broker-dealer in this state. + +(4) Notice is effective when given, except that notice upon a financial +institution, brokerage company, or title insurance company is not effective +until 5 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after it is +received. + +HISTORY: +S. 23, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 9, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2201. +Fla. Stat. 709.2201 + + 709.2201. Authority of agent. +(1) Except as provided in this section or other applicable law, an agent + +may only exercise authority specifically granted to the agent in the power +of attorney and any authority reasonably necessary to give effect to that +express grant of specific authority. General provisions in a power of +attorney which do not identify the specific authority granted, such as +provisions purporting to give the agent authority to do all acts that the +principal can do, are not express grants of specific authority and do not +grant any authority to the agent. Court approval is not required for any +action of the agent in furtherance of an express grant of specific authority. + +(2) As a confirmation of the law in effect in this state when this part +became effective, such authorization may include, without limitation, +authority to: +(a) Execute stock powers or similar documents on behalf of the principal + +and delegate to a transfer agent or similar person the authority to register any +stocks, bonds, or other securities into or out of the principals or nominees +name. + +(b) Convey or mortgage homestead property. However, if the principal is +married, the agent may not mortgage or convey homestead property without +joinder of the principals spouse or the spouses guardian. Joinder by a +spouse may be accomplished by the exercise of authority in a power of +attorney executed by the joining spouse, and either spouse may appoint the +other as his or her agent. + +(c) If such authority is specifically granted in a durable power of attorney, +make all health care decisions on behalf of the principal, including, but not +limited to, those set forth in chapter 765. + +(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, an agent may not: +(a) Perform duties under a contract that requires the exercise of personal + +services of the principal; +(b) Make any affidavit as to the personal knowledge of the principal; + + + +(c) Vote in any public election on behalf of the principal; +(d) Execute or revoke any will or codicil for the principal; or +(e) Exercise powers and authority granted to the principal as trustee or as + +court-appointed fiduciary. +(4) Subject to s. 709.2202, if the subjects over which authority is granted + +in a power of attorney are similar or overlap, the broadest authority +controls. + +(5) Authority granted in a power of attorney is exercisable with respect +to property that the principal has when the power of attorney is executed +and to property that the principal acquires later, whether or not the property +is located in this state and whether or not the authority is exercised or the +power of attorney is executed in this state. + +(6) An act performed by an agent pursuant to a power of attorney has the +same effect and inures to the benefit of and binds the principal and the +principals successors in interest as if the principal had performed the act. + +HISTORY: +S. 24, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2202. +Fla. Stat. 709.2202 + + 709.2202. Authority that requires separate signed enumeration. +(1) Notwithstanding s. 709.2201, an agent may exercise the following + +authority only if the principal signed or initialed next to each specific +enumeration of the authority, the exercise of the authority is consistent +with the agents duties under s. 709.2114, and the exercise is not otherwise +prohibited by another agreement or instrument: +(a) Create an inter vivos trust; +(b) With respect to a trust created by or on behalf of the principal, amend, + +modify, revoke, or terminate the trust, but only if the trust instrument +explicitly provides for amendment, modification, revocation, or termination +by the settlors agent; + +(c) Make a gift, subject to subsection (4); +(d) Create or change rights of survivorship; +(e) Create or change a beneficiary designation; +(f) Waive the principals right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor + +annuity, including a survivor benefit under a retirement plan; or +(g) Disclaim property and powers of appointment. + +(2) In addition to signing the power of attorney on behalf of the principal +pursuant to s. 709.2105(3), if the principal is physically unable to sign or +initial next to any enumerated authority for which subsection (1) requires +the principal to sign or initial, the notary public before whom the +principals oath or acknowledgment is made may sign the principals name +or initials if: +(a) The principal directs the notary to sign the principals name or initials + +on the power of attorney next to any enumerated authority for which +subsection (1) requires the principal to sign or initial; + +(b) The signing or initialling by the notary is done in the presence of the +principal and witnessed by two disinterested subscribing witnesses; and + +(c) The notary writes the statement Signature or initials affixed by the + + + +notary pursuant to s. 709.2202(2), Florida Statutes, below each signature or +initial that the notary writes on behalf of the principal. + +Only one notarial certificate in substantially the same form as those +described in s. 117.05(14), which states the circumstances of all signatures +and initials written by the notary public, is required to be completed by the +notary public. + +(3) Notwithstanding a grant of authority to do an act described in +subsection (1), unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, an agent +who is not an ancestor, spouse, or descendant of the principal may not +exercise authority to create in the agent, or in an individual to whom the +agent owes a legal obligation of support, an interest in the principals +property, whether by gift, right of survivorship, beneficiary designation, +disclaimer, or otherwise. + +(4) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, a provision in a +power of attorney granting general authority with respect to gifts +authorizes the agent to only: +(a) Make outright to, or for the benefit of, a person a gift of any of the + +principals property, including by the exercise of a presently exercisable +general power of appointment held by the principal, in an amount per donee +per calendar year not to exceed the annual dollar limits of the federal gift tax +exclusion under 26 U.S.C. s. 2503(b), as amended, without regard to whether +the federal gift tax exclusion applies to the gift, or if the principals spouse +agrees to consent to a split gift pursuant to 26 U.S.C. s. 2513, as amended, in +an amount per donee per calendar year not to exceed twice the annual federal +gift tax exclusion limit; and + +(b) Consent, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. s. 2513, as amended, to the splitting of +a gift made by the principals spouse in an amount per donee per calendar +year not to exceed the aggregate annual gift tax exclusions for both spouses. + +(5) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if a power of attorney is otherwise +sufficient to grant an agent authority to conduct banking transactions, as +provided in s. 709.2208(1), conduct investment transactions as provided in +s. 709.2208(2), or otherwise make additions to or withdrawals from an +account of the principal, making a deposit to or withdrawal from an +insurance policy, retirement account, individual retirement account, benefit + + + +plan, bank account, or any other account held jointly or otherwise held in +survivorship or payable on death, is not considered to be a change to the +survivorship feature or beneficiary designation, and no further specific +authority is required for the agent to exercise such authority. A financial +institution or broker-dealer does not have a duty to inquire as to the +appropriateness of the agents exercise of that authority and is not liable to +the principal or any other person for actions taken in good faith reliance on +the appropriateness of the agents actions. This subsection does not +eliminate the agents fiduciary duties to the principal with respect to any +exercise of the power of attorney. + +(6) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and s. 709.2106(3), a power of +attorney, executed by a principal domiciled in this state at the time of +execution, that is witnessed remotely pursuant to s. 117.285 or other +applicable law by a witness who is not in the physical presence of the +principal is not effective to grant authority to an agent to take any of the +actions enumerated in subsection (1). + +(7) This section does not apply to a power of attorney executed before +October 1, 2011. + +HISTORY: +S. 25, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 10, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, + +2013; s. 29, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2208. +Fla. Stat. 709.2208 + + 709.2208. Banks and other financial institutions. +(1) A power of attorney that includes the statement that the agent has + +authority to conduct banking transactions as provided in section +709.2208(1), Florida Statutes grants general authority to the agent to +engage in the following transactions with financial institutions without +additional specific enumeration in the power of attorney: +(a) Establish, continue, modify, or terminate an account or other banking + +arrangement with a financial institution. +(b) Contract for services available from a financial institution, including + +renting a safe-deposit box or space in a vault. +(c) Withdraw, by check, order, electronic funds transfer, or otherwise, + +money or property of the principal deposited with or left in the custody of a +financial institution. + +(d) Receive statements of account, vouchers, notices, and similar +documents from a financial institution and act with respect to them. + +(e) Purchase cashiers checks, official checks, counter checks, bank drafts, +money orders, and similar instruments. + +(f) Endorse and negotiate checks, cashiers checks, official checks, drafts, +and other negotiable paper of the principal or payable to the principal or the +principals order, transfer money, receive the cash or other proceeds of those +transactions, and accept a draft drawn by a person upon the principal and pay +it when due. + +(g) Apply for, receive, and use debit cards, electronic transaction +authorizations, and travelers checks from a financial institution. + +(h) Use, charge, or draw upon any line of credit, credit card, or other credit +established by the principal with a financial institution. + +(i) Consent to an extension of the time of payment with respect to +commercial paper or a financial transaction with a financial +institution. + + + +(2) A power of attorney that specifically includes the statement that the +agent has authority to conduct investment transactions as provided in +section 709.2208(2), Florida Statutes grants general authority to the agent +with respect to securities held by financial institutions or broker-dealers to +take the following actions without additional specific enumeration in the +power of attorney: +(a) Buy, sell, and exchange investment instruments. +(b) Establish, continue, modify, or terminate an account with respect to + +investment instruments. +(c) Pledge investment instruments as security to borrow, pay, renew, or + +extend the time of payment of a debt of the principal. +(d) Receive certificates and other evidences of ownership with respect to + +investment instruments. +(e) Exercise voting rights with respect to investment instruments in person + +or by proxy, enter into voting trusts, and consent to limitations on the right to +vote. + +(f) Sell commodity futures contracts and call and put options on stocks and +stock indexes. + +For purposes of this subsection, the term investment instruments means +stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and all other types of securities and financial +instruments, whether held directly, indirectly, or in any other manner, +including shares or interests in a private investment fund, including, but +not limited to, a private investment fund organized as a limited partnership, +a limited liability company, a statutory or common law business trust, a +statutory trust, or a real estate investment trust, joint venture, or any other +general or limited partnership; derivatives or other interests of any nature +in securities such as options, options on futures, and variable forward +contracts; mutual funds; common trust funds; money market funds; hedge +funds; private equity or venture capital funds; insurance contracts; and +other entities or vehicles investing in securities or interests in securities +whether registered or otherwise, except commodity futures contracts and +call and put options on stocks and stock indexes. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 26, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 11, ch. 2013-90, eff. May 30, +2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2301. +Fla. Stat. 709.2301 + + 709.2301. Principles of law and equity. +The common law of agency and principles of equity supplement this part, + +except as modified by this part or other state law. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2302. +Fla. Stat. 709.2302 + + 709.2302. Laws applicable to financial institutions and entities. +This part does not supersede any other law applicable to financial + +institutions or other entities, and that law controls if inconsistent with this +part. + +HISTORY: +S. 28, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2303. +Fla. Stat. 709.2303 + + 709.2303. Remedies under other law. +The remedies under this part are not exclusive and do not abrogate any + +right or remedy under any other law other than this part. + +HISTORY: +S. 29, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2401. +Fla. Stat. 709.2401 + + 709.2401. Relation to electronic signatures in federal law. +This part modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures + +in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7001 et seq., but does +not modify, limit, or supersede s. 101(c) of that act, or authorize electronic +delivery of any of the notices described in s. 103(b) of that act. + +HISTORY: +S. 30, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 709. , Pt. II. , 709.2402. +Fla. Stat. 709.2402 + + 709.2402. Effect on existing powers of attorney. +Except as otherwise provided in this part: + +(1) With respect to formalities of execution, this part applies to a power +of attorney created on or after October 1, 2011. + +(2) With respect to all matters other than formalities of execution, this +part applies to a power of attorney regardless of the date of creation. + +(3) With respect to a power of attorney existing on October 1, 2011, this +part does not invalidate such power of attorney and it shall remain in +effect. If a right was acquired under any other law before October 1, 2011, +that law continues to apply to the right even if it has been repealed or +superseded. + +(4) An act of an agent occurring before October 1, 2011, is not affected +by this part. + +HISTORY: +S. 31, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 710 + + + +CHAPTER 710. +TRANSFERS TO MINORS. + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.101. +Fla. Stat. 710.101 + + 710.101. Short title. +This act may be cited as the Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.102. +Fla. Stat. 710.102 + + 710.102. Definitions. +As used in this act, the term: + +(1) Adult means an individual who has attained the age of 21 years. +(2) Benefit plan means a retirement plan and may include, but is not + +limited to, any pension, profit-sharing, stock-bonus, or stock-ownership +plan or individual retirement account. + +(3) Broker means a person lawfully engaged in the business of +effecting transactions in securities or commodities for the persons own +account or for the account of others. + +(4) Conservator means a person appointed or qualified by a court to +act as general, limited, or temporary guardian of a minors property or a +person legally authorized to perform substantially the same functions. + +(5) Court means the circuit court. +(6) Custodial property means any interest in property transferred to a + +custodian under this act and the income from and proceeds of that interest +in property. + +(7) Custodian means a person so designated under s. 710.111 or a +successor or substitute custodian designated under s. 710.121. + +(8) Financial institution means a bank, trust company, savings +institution, or credit union, chartered and supervised under state or federal +law. + +(9) General power of appointment means a power of appointment as +defined in s. 732.2025(3). + +(10) Legal representative means an individuals personal +representative or conservator. + +(11) Member of the minors family means the minors parent, +stepparent, spouse, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, or aunt, whether of +the whole or half blood or by adoption. + +(12) Minor means an individual who has not attained the age of 21 + + + +years. +(13) Person means an individual, corporation, organization, or other + +legal entity. +(14) Personal representative means an executor, administrator, + +successor personal representative, or special administrator of a decedents +estate or a person legally authorized to perform substantially the same +functions. + +(15) Qualified minors trust means a trust that meets the requirements +of s. 2503(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. + +(16) State includes any state of the United States, the District of +Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or +possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. + +(17) Transfer means a transaction that creates custodial property under +s. 710.111. + +(18) Transferor means a person who makes a transfer under this act. +(19) Trust company means a financial institution, corporation, or other + +legal entity, authorized to exercise general trust powers. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 3, ch. 2005-101; s. 1, ch. 2015-140, effective July 1, + +2015. + +Editors notes. +Section 2503(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in this + +section, is codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 2503(c). + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.103. +Fla. Stat. 710.103 + + 710.103. Scope and jurisdiction. +(1) This act applies to a transfer that refers to this act in the designation + +under s. 710.111(1) by which the transfer is made if at the time of the +transfer, the transferor, the minor, or the custodian is a resident of this state +or the custodial property is located in this state. The custodianship so +created remains subject to this act despite a subsequent change in residence +of a transferor, the minor, or the custodian, or the removal of custodial +property from this state. + +(2) A person designated as custodian under this act is subject to personal +jurisdiction in this state with respect to any matter relating to the +custodianship. + +(3) A transfer that purports to be made and which is valid under the +Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act, or a +substantially similar act, of another state is governed by the law of the +designated state and may be executed and is enforceable in this state if, at +the time of the transfer, the transferor, the minor, or the custodian is a +resident of the designated state or the custodial property is located in the +designated state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.104. +Fla. Stat. 710.104 + + 710.104. Nomination of custodian. +(1) A person having the right to designate the recipient of property + +transferable upon the occurrence of a future event may revocably nominate +a custodian to receive the property for a minor beneficiary upon the +occurrence of the event by naming the custodian followed in substance by +the words: as custodian for (name of minor) under the Florida Uniform +Transfers to Minors Act. The nomination may name one or more persons +as substitute custodians to whom the property must be transferred, in the +order named, if the first nominated custodian dies before the transfer or is +unable, declines, or is ineligible to serve. The nomination may be made in +a will, a trust, a deed, an instrument exercising a power of appointment, or +in a writing designating a beneficiary of contractual rights, including, but +not limited to, the right to a benefit plan, which is registered with or +delivered to the payor, issuer, or other obligor of the contractual rights. + +(2) A custodian nominated under this section must be a person to whom +a transfer of property of that kind may be made under s. 710.111(1). + +(3) The nomination of a custodian under this section does not create +custodial property until the nominating instrument becomes irrevocable or +a transfer to the nominated custodian is completed under s. 710.111. +Unless the nomination of a custodian has been revoked, upon the +occurrence of the future event the custodianship becomes effective and the +custodian shall enforce a transfer of the custodial property pursuant to s. +710.111. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 4, ch. 2005-101. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.105. +Fla. Stat. 710.105 + + 710.105. Transfer by gift or exercise of power of appointment. +A person may make a transfer by irrevocable gift to, or the irrevocable + +exercise of a power of appointment in favor of, a custodian for the benefit of +a minor pursuant to s. 710.111. Notwithstanding s. 710.106, a transfer by +irrevocable gift from a trust over which the grantor has at the time of transfer +a right of revocation, as defined in s. 733.707(3)(e), shall be treated for all +purposes under this act as a transfer made directly by the grantor of the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 2, ch. 2015-140, effective July 1, 2015. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.106. +Fla. Stat. 710.106 + + 710.106. Transfer authorized by will or trust. +(1) A personal representative or trustee may make an irrevocable + +transfer pursuant to s. 710.111 to a custodian for the benefit of a minor as +authorized in the governing will or trust. + +(2) If the testator or settlor has nominated a custodian under s. 710.104 +to receive the custodial property, the transfer must be made to that person. + +(3) If the testator or settlor has not nominated a custodian under s. +710.104, or all persons so nominated as custodian die before the transfer or +are unable, decline, or are ineligible to serve, the personal representative or +the trustee, as the case may be, shall designate the custodian from among +those eligible to serve as custodian for property of that kind under s. +710.111(1). + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.107. +Fla. Stat. 710.107 + + 710.107. Other transfer by fiduciary. +(1) Subject to subsection (3), a personal representative or trustee may + +make an irrevocable transfer to another adult or trust company as custodian +for the benefit of a minor pursuant to s. 710.111, in the absence of a will or +under a will or trust that does not contain an authorization to do so. + +(2) Subject to subsection (3), a conservator may make an irrevocable +transfer to another adult or trust company as custodian for the benefit of +the minor pursuant to s. 710.111. + +(3) A transfer under subsection (1) or subsection (2) may be made only +if: +(a) The personal representative, trustee, or conservator considers the + +transfer to be in the best interest of the minor; +(b) The transfer is not prohibited by or inconsistent with provisions of the + +applicable will, trust agreement, or other governing instrument; and +(c) The transfer is authorized by the court if it exceeds $10,000 in value. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.108. +Fla. Stat. 710.108 + + 710.108. Transfer by obligor. +(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a person not subject to s. 710.106 + +or s. 710.107 who holds property, including, but not limited to, a benefit +plan, of a minor not having a conservator, or who owes a liquidated debt to +a minor not having a conservator, may make an irrevocable transfer to a +custodian for the benefit of the minor pursuant to s. 710.111. + +(2) If a person having the right to do so under s. 710.104 has nominated +a custodian under that section to receive the custodial property, the transfer +must be made to that person. + +(3) If no custodian has been nominated under s. 710.104, or all persons +so nominated as custodian die before the transfer or are unable, decline, or +are ineligible to serve, a transfer under this section may be made to an +adult member of the minors family or to a trust company unless the +property exceeds $15,000 in value. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 61, ch. 87-226; s. 5, ch. 2005-101. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.109. +Fla. Stat. 710.109 + + 710.109. Receipt for custodial property. +A written acknowledgment of delivery by a custodian constitutes a + +sufficient receipt and discharge for custodial property transferred to the +custodian pursuant to this act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.111. +Fla. Stat. 710.111 + + 710.111. Manner of creating custodial property and effecting transfer; +designation of initial custodian; control. +(1) Custodial property is created and a transfer is made whenever: + +(a) An uncertificated security or a certificated security in registered form is +either: + +1. Registered in the name of the transferor, an adult other than the +transferor, or a trust company, followed in substance by the words: as +custodian for (name of minor) under the Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors +Act; or + +2. Delivered if in certificated form, or any document necessary for the +transfer of an uncertificated security is delivered, together with any necessary +endorsement to an adult other than the transferor or to a trust company as +custodian, accompanied by an instrument in substantially the form set forth in +subsection (2); + +(b) Money is paid or delivered to a broker or financial institution for credit +to an account in the name of the transferor, an adult other than the transferor, +or a trust company, followed in substance by the words: as custodian for +(name of minor) under the Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act; + +(c) The ownership of a life or endowment insurance policy or annuity +contract is either: + +1. Registered with the issuer in the name of the transferor, an adult other +than the transferor, or a trust company, followed in substance by the words: +as custodian for (name of minor) under the Florida Uniform Transfers to +Minors Act; or + +2. Assigned in a writing delivered to an adult other than the transferor or to +a trust company whose name in the assignment is followed in substance by +the words: as custodian for (name of minor) under the Florida Uniform +Transfers to Minors Act; + +(d) An irrevocable exercise of a power of appointment or an irrevocable +present right to future payment under a contract is the subject of a written + + + +notification delivered to the payor, issuer, or other obligor that the right is +transferred to the transferor, an adult other than the transferor, or a trust +company, whose name in the notification is followed in substance by the +words: as custodian for (name of minor) under the Florida Uniform +Transfers to Minors Act; + +(e) An interest in real property is recorded in the name of the transferor, an +adult other than the transferor, or a trust company, followed in substance by +the words: as custodian for (name of minor) under the Florida Uniform +Transfers to Minors Act; + +(f) A certificate of title issued by a department or agency of a state or of the +United States which evidences title to tangible personal property is either: + +1. Issued in the name of the transferor, an adult other than the transferor, or +a trust company, followed in substance by the words: as custodian for (name +of minor) under the Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act; or + +2. Delivered to an adult other than the transferor or to a trust company, +endorsed to that person followed in substance by the words: as custodian for +(name of minor) under the Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act; or + +(g) An interest in any property not described in paragraphs (a)-(f) is +transferred to an adult other than the transferor or to a trust company by a +written instrument in substantially the form set forth in subsection (2). + +(2) An instrument in the following form satisfies the requirements of +subparagraph (1)(a)2. and paragraph (1)(g): + +(3) A transferor shall place the custodian in control of the custodial + + + +property as soon as practicable. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.112. +Fla. Stat. 710.112 + + 710.112. Single custodianship. +A transfer may be made only for one minor, and only one person may be + +the custodian. All custodial property held under this act by the same +custodian for the benefit of the same minor constitutes a single custodianship. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.113. +Fla. Stat. 710.113 + + 710.113. Validity and effect of transfer. +(1) The validity of a transfer made in a manner prescribed in this act is + +not affected by: +(a) Failure of the transferor to comply with s. 710.111(3) concerning + +possession and control; +(b) Designation of an ineligible custodian, except designation of the + +transferor in the case of property for which the transferor is ineligible to serve +as custodian under s. 710.111(1); or + +(c) Death or incapacity of a person nominated under s. 710.104 or +designated under s. 710.111 as custodian or the disclaimer of the office by +that person. + +(2) A transfer made pursuant to s. 710.111 is irrevocable, and the +custodial property is indefeasibly vested in the minor, but the custodian has +all the rights, powers, duties, and authority provided in this act, and neither +the minor nor the minors legal representative has any right, power, duty, +or authority with respect to the custodial property except as provided in +this act. + +(3) By making a transfer, the transferor incorporates in the disposition +all the provisions of this act and grants to the custodian, and to any third +person dealing with a person designated as custodian, the respective +powers, rights, and immunities provided in this act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.114. +Fla. Stat. 710.114 + + 710.114. Care of custodial property. +(1) A custodian shall: + +(a) Take control of custodial property; +(b) Register or record title to custodial property if appropriate; and +(c) Collect, hold, manage, invest, and reinvest custodial property. + +(2) In dealing with custodial property, a custodian shall observe the +standard of care that would be observed by a prudent person dealing with +property of another and is not limited by any other statute restricting +investments by fiduciaries. If a custodian has a special skill or expertise or +is named custodian on the basis of representations of a special skill or +expertise, the custodian shall use that skill or expertise. However, a +custodian, in the custodians discretion and without liability to the minor or +the minors estate, may retain any custodial property received from a +transferor. + +(3) A custodian may invest in or pay premiums on life insurance or +endowment policies on the life of the minor only if the minor or the +minors estate is the sole beneficiary, or on the life of another person in +whom the minor has an insurable interest only to the extent that the minor, +the minors estate, or the custodian in the capacity of custodian is the +irrevocable beneficiary. + +(4) A custodian at all times shall keep custodial property separate and +distinct from all other property in a manner sufficient to identify it clearly +as custodial property of the minor. Custodial property consisting of an +undivided interest is so identified if the minors interest is held as a tenant +in common and is fixed. Custodial property subject to recordation is so +identified if it is recorded, and custodial property subject to registration is +so identified if it is either registered, or held in an account designated, in +the name of the custodian, followed in substance by the words: as a +custodian for (name of minor) under the Florida Uniform Transfers to +Minors Act. + +(5) A custodian shall keep records of all transactions with respect to + + + +custodial property, including information necessary for the preparation of +the minors tax returns, and shall make them available for inspection at +reasonable intervals by a parent or legal representative of the minor or by +the minor if the minor has attained the age of 14 years. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.115. +Fla. Stat. 710.115 + + 710.115. Powers of custodian. +(1) A custodian, acting in a custodial capacity, has all the rights, powers, + +and authority over custodial property that unmarried adult owners have +over their own property, but a custodian may exercise those rights, powers, +and authority in that capacity only. + +(2) This section does not relieve a custodian from liability for breach of +s. 710.114. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.116. +Fla. Stat. 710.116 + + 710.116. Use of custodial property. +(1) A custodian may deliver or pay to the minor or expend for the + +minors benefit so much of the custodial property as the custodian +considers advisable for the use and benefit of the minor, without court +order and without regard to the duty or ability of the custodian personally +or of any other person to support the minor, or to any other income or +property of the minor which may be applicable or available for that +purpose. + +(2) A custodian may, without court order, transfer all or part of the +custodial property to a qualified minors trust. A transfer of property +pursuant to this subsection terminates the custodianship to the extent of the +property transferred. + +(3) On petition of an interested person or the minor if the minor has +attained the age of 14 years, the court may order the custodian to deliver or +pay to the minor or expend for the minors benefit so much of the custodial +property as the court considers advisable for the use and benefit of the +minor. + +(4) A delivery, payment, or expenditure under this section is in addition +to, not in substitution for, and does not affect any obligation of a person to +support the minor. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 6, ch. 2005-101. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.117. +Fla. Stat. 710.117 + + 710.117. Custodians expenses, compensation, and bond. +(1) A custodian is entitled to reimbursement from custodial property for + +reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of the custodians duties. +(2) Except for one who is a transferor under s. 710.105, a custodian has + +a noncumulative election during each calendar year to charge reasonable +compensation for services performed during that year. + +(3) Except as provided in s. 710.121(6), a custodian need not give a +bond. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.118. +Fla. Stat. 710.118 + + 710.118. Exemption of third person from liability. +A third person in good faith and without court order may act on the + +instructions of or otherwise deal with any person purporting to make a +transfer or purporting to act in the capacity of a custodian and, in the absence +of knowledge, is not responsible for determining: + +(1) The validity of the purported custodians designation; +(2) The propriety of, or the authority under this act for, any act of the + +purported custodian; +(3) The validity or propriety under this act of any instrument or + +instructions executed or given either by the person purporting to make a +transfer or by the purported custodian; or + +(4) The propriety of the application of any property of the minor +delivered to the purported custodian. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.119. +Fla. Stat. 710.119 + + 710.119. Liability to third persons. +(1) A claim based on: + +(a) A contract entered into by a custodian acting in a custodial capacity; +(b) An obligation arising from the ownership or control of custodial + +property; or +(c) A tort committed during the custodianship, +may be asserted against the custodial property by proceeding against the +custodian in the custodial capacity, whether or not the custodian or the +minor is personally liable therefor. + +(2) A custodian is not personally liable: +(a) On a contract properly entered into in the custodial capacity unless the + +custodian fails to reveal that capacity and to identify the custodianship in the +contract; or + +(b) For an obligation arising from control of custodial property or for a tort +committed during the custodianship unless the custodian is personally at +fault. + +(3) A minor is not personally liable for an obligation arising from +ownership of custodial property or for a tort committed during the +custodianship unless the minor is personally at fault. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.121. +Fla. Stat. 710.121 + + 710.121. Renunciation, resignation, death, or removal of custodian; +designation of successor custodian. +(1) A person nominated under s. 710.104 or designated under s. 710.111 + +as custodian may decline to serve by delivering a valid disclaimer under +chapter 739 to the person who made the nomination or to the transferor or +the transferors legal representative. If the event giving rise to a transfer +has not occurred and no substitute custodian able, willing, and eligible to +serve was nominated under s. 710.104, the person who made the +nomination may nominate a substitute custodian under s. 710.104; +otherwise, the transferor or the transferors legal representative shall +designate a substitute custodian at the time of the transfer, in either case +from among the persons eligible to serve as custodian for that kind of +property under s. 710.111(1). The custodian so designated has the rights of +a successor custodian. + +(2) A custodian at any time may designate a trust company or an adult +other than a transferor under s. 710.105 as successor custodian by +executing and dating an instrument of designation before a subscribing +witness other than the successor. If the instrument of designation does not +contain or is not accompanied by the resignation of the custodian, the +designation of the successor does not take effect until the custodian +resigns, dies, becomes incapacitated, or is removed. + +(3) A custodian may resign at any time by delivering written notice to +the minor if the minor has attained the age of 14 years and to the successor +custodian and by delivering the custodial property to the successor +custodian. + +(4) If a custodian is ineligible, dies, or becomes incapacitated without +having effectively designated a successor and the minor has attained the +age of 14 years, the minor may designate as successor custodian, in the +manner prescribed in subsection (2), an adult member of the minors +family, a conservator of the minor, or a trust company. If the minor has not +attained the age of 14 years or fails to act within 60 days after the +ineligibility, death, or incapacity, the conservator of the minor becomes + + + +successor custodian. If the minor has no conservator or the conservator +declines to act, the transferor, the legal representative of the transferor or of +the custodian, an adult member of the minors family, or any other +interested person may petition the court to designate a successor custodian. + +(5) A custodian who declines to serve under subsection (1) or resigns +under subsection (3), or the legal representative of a deceased or +incapacitated custodian, as soon as practicable, shall put the custodial +property and records in the possession and control of the successor +custodian. The successor custodian by action may enforce the obligation to +deliver custodial property and records and becomes responsible for each +item as received. + +(6) A transferor, the legal representative of a transferor, an adult member +of the minors family, a guardian of the person of the minor, the +conservator of the minor, or the minor if the minor has attained the age of +14 years may petition the court to remove the custodian for cause and +designate a successor custodian other than a transferor under s. 710.105 or +to require the custodian to give appropriate bond. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 4, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.122. +Fla. Stat. 710.122 + + 710.122. Accounting by and determination of liability of custodian. +(1) A minor who has attained the age of 14 years, the minors guardian + +of the person or legal representative, an adult member of the minors +family, a transferor, or a transferors legal representative may petition the +court for an accounting by the custodian or the custodians legal +representative or for a determination of responsibility, as between the +custodial property and the custodian personally, for claims against the +custodial property unless the responsibility has been adjudicated in an +action under s. 710.119 to which the minor or the minors legal +representative was a party. + +(2) A successor custodian may petition the court for an accounting by +the predecessor custodian. + +(3) The court, in a proceeding under this act or in any other proceeding, +may require or permit the custodian or the custodians legal representative +to account. + +(4) If a custodian is removed under s. 710.121(6), the court shall require +an accounting and order delivery of the custodial property and records to +the successor custodian and the execution of all instruments required for +transfer of the custodial property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.123. +Fla. Stat. 710.123 + + 710.123. Termination of custodianship. +(1) The custodian shall transfer in an appropriate manner the custodial + +property to the minor or to the minors estate upon the earlier of: +(a) The minors attainment of 21 years of age with respect to custodial + +property transferred under s. 710.105 or s. 710.106. However, a transferor +can, with respect to such custodial property, create the custodianship so that it +terminates when the minor attains 25 years of age; + +(b) The minors attainment of 18 years of age with respect to custodial +property transferred under s. 710.107 or s. 710.108; or + +(c) The minors death. +(2) If the transferor of a custodianship under paragraph (1)(a) creates the + +custodianship to terminate when the minor attains 25 years of age, in the +case of a custodianship created by irrevocable gift or by irrevocable inter +vivos exercise of a general power of appointment, the minor nevertheless +has the absolute right to compel immediate distribution of the entire +custodial property when the minor attains 21 years of age. + +(3) As to a custodianship described in subsection (2), a transferor may +provide, by delivery of a written instrument to the custodian upon the +creation of such custodianship, that the minors right to compel immediate +distribution of the entire custodial property will terminate upon the +expiration of a fixed period that begins with the custodians delivery of a +written notice to the minor of the existence of such right. To be effective to +terminate the minors right to compel an immediate distribution of the +entire custodial property when the minor attains 21 years of age, the +custodians written notice must be delivered at least 30 days before, and +not later than 30 days after, the date upon which the minor attains 21 years +of age, and the fixed period specified in the notice for the termination of +such right cannot expire before the later of 30 days after the minor attains +21 years of age or 30 days after the custodian delivers such notice. + +(4) Notwithstanding the definition of the term minor as provided in s. +710.102, if the transferor creates the custodianship to terminate when the + + + +minor attains 25 years of age, solely for purposes of the application of the +termination provisions of this section, the term minor means an +individual who has not attained 25 years of age. + +(5) A financial institution has no liability to a custodian or minor for +distribution of custodial property to, or for the benefit of, the minor in a +custodianship created by irrevocable gift or by irrevocable exercise of a +general power of appointment when the minor attains 21 years of age. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 3, ch. 2015-140, effective July 1, 2015. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.124. +Fla. Stat. 710.124 + + 710.124. Applicability. +This act applies to a transfer within the scope of s. 710.103 made after + +October 1, 1985, if: +(1) The transfer purports to have been made under the Florida Gifts to + +Minors Act (former ss. 710.01-710.10); or +(2) The instrument by which the transfer purports to have been made + +uses in substance the designation as custodian under the Uniform Gifts to +Minors Act or as custodian under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act +of any other state, and the application of this act is necessary to validate the +transfer. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95; s. 62, ch. 87-226. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.125. +Fla. Stat. 710.125 + + 710.125. Effect on existing custodianships. +(1) Any transfer of custodial property as now defined in this act made + +before October 1, 1985, is validated notwithstanding that there was no +specific authority in the Florida Gifts to Minors Act for the coverage of +custodial property of that kind or for a transfer from that source at the time +the transfer was made. + +(2) This act applies to all transfers made before October 1, 1985, in a +manner and form prescribed in the Florida Gifts to Minors Act, except +insofar as the application impairs constitutionally vested rights or extends +the duration of custodianships in existence on October 1, 1985. + +(3) Sections 710.102-710.123 with respect to the age of a minor for +whom custodial property is held under this act do not apply to custodial +property held in a custodianship that terminated because of the minors +attainment of the age of 18 after January 1, 1975, and before October 1, +1985. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 710. , 710.126. +Fla. Stat. 710.126 + + 710.126. Uniformity of application and construction. +This act shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to + +make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this act among states +enacting it. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-95. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 711 + + + +CHAPTER 711. +FLORIDA UNIFORM TRANSFER-ON-DEATH SECURITY + +REGISTRATION ACT. + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.50. + +Fla. Stat. 711.50 + + 711.50. Short title. +Sections 711.50-711.512 may be cited as the Florida Uniform Transfer- + +on-Death Security Registration Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.501. +Fla. Stat. 711.501 + + 711.501. Definitions. +In ss. 711.50-711.512, unless the context otherwise requires, the term: + +(1) Beneficiary form means a registration of a security which indicates +the present owner of the security and the intention of the owner regarding +the person who will become the owner of the security upon the death of the +owner. + +(2) Devisee means any person designated in a will to receive a +disposition of real or personal property. + +(3) Heirs means those persons, including the surviving spouse, who +are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a +decedent. + +(4) Person means an individual, a corporation, an organization, or +other legal entity. + +(5) Personal representative includes an executor, administrator, +successor personal representative, special administrator, and persons who +perform substantially the same function under the law governing their +status. + +(6) Property includes both real and personal property or any interest +therein and means anything that may be the subject of ownership. + +(7) Register, including its derivatives, means to issue a certificate +showing the ownership of a certificated security or, in the case of an +uncertificated security, to initiate or transfer an account showing ownership +of securities. + +(8) Registering entity means a person who originates or transfers a +security title by registration, and includes a broker maintaining security +accounts for customers and a transfer agent or other person acting for or as +an issuer of securities. + +(9) Security means a share, participation, or other interest in property, +in a business, or in an obligation of an enterprise or other issuer, and +includes a certificated security, an uncertificated security, and a security + + + +account. +(10) Security account means: + +(a) A reinvestment account associated with a security, a securities account +with a broker, a cash balance in a brokerage account, cash, interest, earnings, +or dividends earned or declared on a security in an account, a reinvestment +account, or a brokerage account, whether or not credited to the account before +the owners death; + +(b) An investment management account, investment advisory account, +investment agency account, custody account, or any other type of account +with a bank or trust company, including the securities in the account, the cash +balance in the account, and cash equivalents, and any interest, earnings, or +dividends earned or declared on a security in the account, whether or not +credited to the account before the owners death; or + +(c) A cash balance or other property held for or due to the owner of a +security as a replacement for or product of an account security, whether or +not credited to the account before the owners death. + +(11) State includes any state of the United States, the District of +Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or +possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216; s. 1, ch. 2005-85. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.502. +Fla. Stat. 711.502 + + 711.502. Registration in beneficiary form; sole or joint tenancy +ownership. + +Only individuals whose registration of a security shows sole ownership by +one individual or multiple ownership by two or more with right of +survivorship, rather than as tenants in common, may obtain registration in +beneficiary form. Multiple owners of a security registered in beneficiary form +hold as joint tenants with right of survivorship, as tenants by the entireties, or +as owners of community property held in survivorship form, and not as +tenants in common. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.503. +Fla. Stat. 711.503 + + 711.503. Registration in beneficiary form; applicable law. +A security may be registered in beneficiary form if the form is authorized + +by this or a similar statute of the state of organization of the issuer or +registering entity, the location of the registering entitys principal office, the +office of its transfer agent or its office making the registration, or by this or a +similar statute of the law of the state listed as the owners address at the time +of registration. A registration governed by the law of a jurisdiction in which +this or similar legislation is not in force or was not in force when a +registration in beneficiary form was made is nevertheless presumed to be +valid and authorized as a matter of contract law. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.504. +Fla. Stat. 711.504 + + 711.504. Origination of registration in beneficiary form. +A security, whether evidenced by certificate or account, is registered in + +beneficiary form when the registration includes a designation of a beneficiary +to take the ownership at the death of the owner or the deaths of all multiple +owners. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.505. +Fla. Stat. 711.505 + + 711.505. Form of registration in beneficiary form. +Registration in beneficiary form may be shown by the words transfer on + +death or the abbreviation TOD, or by the words pay on death or the +abbreviation POD, after the name of the registered owner and before the +name of a beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.506. +Fla. Stat. 711.506 + + 711.506. Effect of registration in beneficiary form. +The designation of a transfer-on-death beneficiary on a registration in + +beneficiary form has no effect on ownership until the owners death. A +registration of a security in beneficiary form may be canceled or changed at +any time by the sole owner or all then-surviving owners without the consent +of the beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.507. +Fla. Stat. 711.507 + + 711.507. Ownership on death of owner. +On death of a sole owner or the last to die of all multiple owners, + +ownership of securities registered in beneficiary form passes to the +beneficiary or beneficiaries who survive all owners. On proof of death of all +owners and compliance with any applicable requirements of the registering +entity, a security registered in beneficiary form may be reregistered in the +name of the beneficiary or beneficiaries who survived the death of all owners. +Until division of the security after the death of all owners, multiple +beneficiaries surviving the death of all owners hold their interests as tenants +in common. If no beneficiary survives the death of all owners, the security +belongs to the estate of the deceased sole owner or the estate of the last to die +of all multiple owners. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.508. +Fla. Stat. 711.508 + + 711.508. Protection of registering entity. +(1) A registering entity is not required to offer or to accept a request for + +security registration in beneficiary form. If a registration in beneficiary +form is offered by a registering entity, the owner requesting registration in +beneficiary form assents to the protections given to the registering entity +by ss. 711.50-711.512. + +(2) By accepting a request for registration of a security in beneficiary +form, the registering entity agrees that the registration will be implemented +on death of the deceased owner as provided in ss. 711.50-711.512. + +(3) A registering entity is discharged from all claims to a security by the +estate, creditors, heirs, or devisees of a deceased owner if it registers a +transfer of the security in accordance with s. 711.507 and does so in good +faith reliance on the registration, on ss. 711.50-711.512, and on +information provided to it by affidavit of the personal representative of the +deceased owner, or by the surviving beneficiary or by the surviving +beneficiarys representatives, or other information available to the +registering entity. The protections of ss. 711.50-711.512 do not extend to a +reregistration or payment made after a registering entity has received +written notice from any claimant to any interest in the security objecting to +implementation of a registration in beneficiary form. No other notice or +other information available to the registering entity affects its right to +protection under ss. 711.50-711.512. + +(4) The protection provided by ss. 711.50-711.512 to the registering +entity of a security does not affect the rights of beneficiaries in disputes +between themselves and other claimants to ownership of the security +transferred or its value or proceeds. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.509. +Fla. Stat. 711.509 + + 711.509. Nontestamentary transfer on death. +(1) A transfer on death resulting from a registration in beneficiary form + +is effective by reason of the contract regarding the registration between the +owner and the registering entity and ss. 711.50-711.512 and is not +testamentary. + +(2) Sections 711.50-711.512 do not limit the rights of creditors of +security owners against beneficiaries and other transferees under other +laws of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.51. +Fla. Stat. 711.51 + + 711.51. Terms, conditions, and forms for registration. +(1) A registering entity offering to accept registrations in beneficiary + +form may establish the terms and conditions under which it will receive +requests for registrations in beneficiary form, and requests for +implementation of registrations in beneficiary form, including requests for +cancellation of previously registered transfer-on-death beneficiary +designations and requests for reregistration to effect a change of +beneficiary. The terms and conditions so established may provide for +proving death, avoiding or resolving any problems concerning fractional +shares, designating primary and contingent beneficiaries, and substituting a +named beneficiarys descendants to take in the place of the named +beneficiary in the event of the beneficiarys death. Substitution may be +indicated by appending to the name of the primary beneficiary the letters +LDPS, standing for lineal descendants per stirpes. This designation +substitutes a deceased beneficiarys descendants who survive the owner for +a beneficiary who fails to so survive, the descendants to be identified and +to share in accordance with the law of the beneficiarys domicile at the +owners death governing inheritance by descendants of an intestate. Other +forms of identifying beneficiaries who are to take on one or more +contingencies, and rules for providing proofs and assurances needed to +satisfy reasonable concerns by registering entities regarding conditions and +identities relevant to accurate implementation of registrations in +beneficiary form, may be contained in a registering entitys terms and +conditions. + +(2) The following are illustrations of registrations in beneficiary form +which a registering entity may authorize: +(a) Sole owner-sole beneficiary: John S Brown TOD (or POD) John S + +Brown Jr. +(b) Multiple owners-sole beneficiary: John S Brown Mary B Brown JT + +TEN TOD John S Brown Jr. +(c) Multiple owners-primary and secondary (substituted) beneficiaries: +1. John S Brown Mary B Brown JT TEN TOD John S Brown Jr SUB + + + +BENE Peter Q Brown; or +2. John S Brown Mary B Brown JT TEN TOD John S Brown Jr LDPS. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.511. +Fla. Stat. 711.511 + + 711.511. Rules of construction. +(1) Sections 711.50-711.512 shall be liberally construed and applied to + +promote their underlying purposes and policy and to make uniform the +laws with respect to the subject of these sections among states enacting +them. + +(2) Unless displaced by the particular provisions of ss. 711.50-711.512, +the principles of law and equity supplement the provisions of these +sections. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 711. , 711.512. +Fla. Stat. 711.512 + + 711.512. Application of ss. 711.50-711.512. +Sections 711.50-711.512 apply to registrations of securities in beneficiary + +form made before, on, or after January 1, 1995, by decedents dying on or +after January 1, 1995. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 94-216. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 716 + + + +CHAPTER 716. +ESCHEATS + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. , 716.01. +Fla. Stat. 716.01 + + 716.01. Declaration of policy. +It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state, while protecting the + +interests of the owners thereof, to possess all unclaimed and abandoned +money and property for the benefit of all the people of the state, and this law +shall be liberally construed to accomplish such purpose. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 24333, 1947. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. , 716.02. +Fla. Stat. 716.02 + + 716.02. Escheat of funds in the possession of federal agencies. +All property within the provisions of subsections (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5), + +are declared to have escheated, or to escheat, including all principal and +interest accruing thereon, and to have become the property of the state. + +(1) All money or other property which has remained in, or has been +deposited in the custody of, or under the control of, any court of the United +States, in and for any district within this state, or which has been deposited +with and is in the custody of any depository, registry, clerk or other officer +of such court, or the United States treasury, which money or other property +the rightful owner or owners thereof, either: +(a) Has been unknown for a period of 5 or more consecutive years; or, +(b) Has died, without having disposed thereof, and without having left + +heirs, next of kin or distributees, or +(c) Has made no demand for such money or other property for 5 years; +are declared to have escheated, or to escheat, together with all interest +accrued thereon, and to have become the property of the state. + +(2) All money or other property which has remained in, or has been +deposited in the custody of, or under the control of, any court of the United +States, in and for any district within this state, for a period of 4 years, the +rightful owner or owners of which, either: +(a) Shall have been unknown for a period of 4 years; or, +(b) Shall have died without having disposed thereof, and without having + +left or without leaving heirs, next of kin or distributees; or, +(c) Shall have failed within 4 years to demand the payment or delivery of + +such funds or other property; +is hereby declared to have escheated, or to escheat, together with all +interest accrued thereon, and to have become the property of the state. + +(3) All money or other property which has remained in, or has been +deposited in the custody of, or under the control of any officer, department + + + +or agency of the United States for 5 or more consecutive years, which +money or other property had its situs or source in this state, except as +hereinafter provided in subsection (4), the sender of which is unknown, or +who sent the money or other property for an unknown purpose, or money +which is credited as unknown, and which said governmental agency is +unable to credit to any particular account, or the sender of which has been +unknown for a period of 5 or more consecutive years; or when known, has +died without having disposed thereof, and without leaving heirs, next of +kin or distributees, or for any reason is unclaimed from such governmental +agency. + +(4) In the event any money is due to any resident of this state as a +refund, rebate or tax rebate from the United States Commissioner of +Internal Revenue, the United States Treasurer, or other governmental +agency or department, which said resident will, or is likely to have her or +his rights to apply for and secure such refund or rebate barred by any +statute of limitations or, in any event, has failed for a period of 1 year after +said resident could have filed a claim for said refund or rebate, the +Department of Financial Services is appointed agent of such resident to +demand, file and apply for said refund or rebate, and is appointed to do any +act which a natural person could do to recover such money, and it is hereby +declared that when the department files such application or any other +proceeding to secure such refund or rebate, its agency is coupled with an +interest in the money sought and money recovered. + +(5) It is the purpose of this chapter to include all funds or other property +in the possession of the government of the United States, and of its +departments, officers, and agencies, which property has its situs in this +state or belonged to a resident thereof, and not to limit the application of +this chapter by the naming of any particular agency. This chapter shall +include all funds held in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, +Comptroller of Currency, United States Treasury, Department of Internal +Revenue, federal courts, registry of federal courts, and such evidences of +indebtedness as adjusted service bonds, old matured debts issued prior to +1917, unclaimed and interest thereon, postal savings bonds, liberty bonds, +victory notes, treasury bonds, treasury notes, certificates of indebtedness, +treasury bills, treasurers savings certificates, bonuses and adjusted +compensation, allotments, and all unclaimed refunds or rebates of + + + +whatever kind or nature, which are subjects of escheat, under the terms of +this chapter. Provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall be +construed to mean that any refunds due ratepayers under order of any court +of the United States shall become the property of the state. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 24333, 1947; s. 11, ch. 25035, 1949; ss. 12, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, + +ch. 70-405; s. 36, ch. 93-268; s. 847, ch. 97-102; s. 1881, ch. 2003-261; s. +158, ch. 2020-2, effective May 18, 2020. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. , 716.03. +Fla. Stat. 716.03 + + 716.03. Department to institute proceedings to recover escheated +property. + +When there exists, or may exist, escheated funds or property under this +chapter, the Department of Financial Services shall demand or institute +proceedings in the name of the state for an adjudication that an escheat to the +state of such funds or property has occurred; and shall take appropriate action +to recover such funds or property. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 24333, 1947; s. 11, ch. 25035, 1949; ss. 12, 35, ch. 69-106; s. + +1882, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. , 716.04. +Fla. Stat. 716.04 + + 716.04. Jurisdiction. +Whenever the Department of Financial Services is of the opinion an + +escheat has occurred, or shall occur, of any money or other property +deposited in the custody of, or under the control of, any court of the United +States, in and for any district within the state, or in the custody of any +depository, registry or clerk or other officer of such court, or the treasury of +the United States, it shall cause to be filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of +Leon County, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, to ascertain if +any escheat has occurred, and to cause said court to enter a judgment or +decree of escheat in favor of the state, with costs, disbursements, and attorney +fee. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 24333, 1947; ss. 12, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1883, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. , 716.05. +Fla. Stat. 716.05 + + 716.05. Money recovered to be paid into State Treasury. +When any funds or property which has escheated within the meaning of + +this chapter has been recovered by the Department of Financial Services, the +department shall first pay all costs incident to the collection and recovery of +such funds or property and shall promptly deposit the remaining balance of +such funds or property with the Chief Financial Officer, to be distributed in +accordance with law. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 24333, 1947; ss. 12, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 153, ch. 83-216; s. 1884, + +ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. , 716.06. +Fla. Stat. 716.06 + + 716.06. Public records. +All records in the office of the Chief Financial Officer or the Department + +of Financial Services relating to federal funds, pursuant to this chapter, shall +be public records. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 24333, 1947; ss. 12, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1885, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 716. , 716.07. +Fla. Stat. 716.07 + + 716.07. Recovery of escheated property by claimant. +(1) Any person who claims any property, funds, or money delivered to + +the Treasurer or Chief Financial Officer under this chapter, shall, within 5 +years from the date of receipt of such property, funds, or money, file a +verified claim with the Chief Financial Officer, setting forth the facts upon +which such party claims to be entitled to recover such money or property. +All claims made for recovery of property, funds, or money, not filed within +5 years from the date that such property, funds, or money is received by +the Chief Financial Officer, shall be forever barred, and the Chief Financial +Officer shall be without power to consider or determine any claims so +made by any claimant after 5 years from the date that the property, funds, +or money was received by the Chief Financial Officer. + +(2) The Chief Financial Officer shall approve or disapprove the claim. If +the claim is approved, the funds, money, or property of the claimant, less +any expenses and costs which shall have been incurred by the state in +securing the possession of said property, as provided by this chapter, shall +be delivered to the claimant by the Chief Financial Officer upon warrant +issued according to law and her or his receipt taken therefor. If the court +finds, upon any judicial review, that the claimant is entitled to the property, +money, or funds claimed, and shall render judgment in her or his or its +favor, declaring that the claimant is entitled to such property, funds, or +money, then upon presentation of said judgment or a certified copy thereof +to the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Financial Officer shall draw her or +his warrant for the amount of money stated in such judgment, without +interest or cost to the state, less any sum paid by the state as costs or +expenses in securing possession of such property, funds, or money. When +payment has been made to any claimant, no action thereafter shall be +maintained by any other claimant against the state or any officer thereof, +for or on account of such money, property, or funds. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 24333, 1947; s. 30, ch. 63-559; ss. 12, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 7, ch. 78- + +95; s. 848, ch. 97-102; s. 1886, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. +Fla. Stat. Title XL, Ch. 717 + + + +CHAPTER 717. +DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.001. +Fla. Stat. 717.001 + + 717.001. Short title. +This chapter may be cited as the Florida Disposition of Unclaimed + +Property Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 87-105. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.101. +Fla. Stat. 717.101 + + 717.101. Definitions. +As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: + +(1) Aggregate means the amounts reported for owners of unclaimed +property of less than $50 or where there is no name for the individual or +entity listed on the holders records, regardless of the amount to be +reported. + +(2) Apparent owner means the person whose name appears on the +records of the holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or +owing by the holder. + +(3) Banking organization means any state or national bank, +international banking entity or similar entity, trust company, savings bank, +industrial savings bank, land bank, safe-deposit company, private bank, or +any organization otherwise defined by law as a bank or banking +organization. + +(4) Business association means any corporation (other than a public +corporation), joint stock company, investment company, business trust, +partnership, limited liability company, or association of two or more +individuals for business purposes, whether for profit or not for profit. + +(5) Claimant means the person on whose behalf a claim is filed. +(6) Credit balance means an account balance in the customers favor. +(7) Department means the Department of Financial Services. +(8) Domicile means the state of incorporation for a corporation + +incorporated under the laws of a state, or, for an unincorporated business +association, the state where the business association is organized. + +(9) Due diligence means the use of reasonable and prudent methods +under particular circumstances to locate apparent owners of inactive +accounts using the taxpayer identification number or social security +number, if known, which may include, but are not limited to, using a +nationwide database, cross-indexing with other records of the holder, +mailing to the last known address unless the last known address is known + + + +to be inaccurate, or engaging a licensed agency or company capable of +conducting such search and providing updated addresses. + +(10) Financial organization means a state or federal savings +association, savings and loan association, bank, trust company, +international bank agency, cooperative bank, building and loan association, +or credit union. + +(11) Health care provider means any state-licensed entity that provides +and receives payment for health care services. These entities include, but +are not limited to, hospitals, outpatient centers, physician practices, and +skilled nursing facilities. + +(12) Holder means a person, wherever organized or domiciled, who is: +(a) In possession of property belonging to another; +(b) A trustee in case of a trust; or +(c) Indebted to another on an obligation. + +(13) Insurance company means an association, corporation, or +fraternal or mutual benefit organization, whether for profit or not for profit, +which is engaged in providing insurance coverage. + +(14) Intangible property includes, by way of illustration and not +limitation: +(a) Moneys, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, and income. +(b) Credit balances, customer overpayments, security deposits and other + +instruments as defined by chapter 679, refunds, unpaid wages, unused airline +tickets, and unidentified remittances. + +(c) Stocks, and other intangible ownership interests in business +associations. + +(d) Moneys deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, bearer bonds, original issue +discount bonds, coupons, and other securities, or to make distributions. + +(e) Amounts due and payable under the terms of insurance policies. +(f) Amounts distributable from a trust or custodial fund established under a + +plan to provide any health, welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, +death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental + + + +unemployment insurance, or similar benefit. +(15) Last known address means a description of the location of the + +apparent owner sufficient for the purpose of the delivery of mail. For the +purposes of identifying, reporting, and remitting property to the department +which is presumed to be unclaimed, last known address includes any +partial description of the location of the apparent owner sufficient to +establish the apparent owner was a resident of this state at the time of last +contact with the apparent owner or at the time the property became due and +payable. + +(16) Lawful charges means charges against dormant accounts that are +authorized by statute for the purpose of offsetting the costs of maintaining +the dormant account. + +(17) Managed care payor means a health care plan that has a defined +system of selecting and limiting health care providers as evidenced by a +managed care contract with the health care providers. These plans include, +but are not limited to, managed care health insurance companies and health +maintenance organizations. + +(18) Owner means a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in +the case of a trust or a deposit in trust, or a payee in the case of other +intangible property, or a person having a legal or equitable interest in +property subject to this chapter or his or her legal representative. + +(19) Public corporation means a corporation created by the state, +founded and owned in the public interest, supported by public funds, and +governed by those deriving their power from the state. + +(20) Reportable period means the calendar year ending December 31 +of each year. + +(21) State, when applied to a part of the United States, includes any +state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession, and any other +area subject to the legislative authority of the United States. + +(22) Trust instrument means a trust instrument as defined in s. +736.0103. + +(23) Ultimate equitable owner means a natural person who, directly or +indirectly, owns or controls an ownership interest in a corporation, a + + + +foreign corporation, an alien business organization, or any other form of +business organization, regardless of whether such natural person owns or +controls such ownership interest through one or more natural persons or +one or more proxies, powers of attorney, nominees, corporations, +associations, partnerships, trusts, joint stock companies, or other entities or +devices, or any combination thereof. + +(24) United States means any state, district, commonwealth, territory, +insular possession, and any other area subject to the legislative authority of +the United States of America. + +(25) Utility means a person who owns or operates, for public use, any +plant, equipment, property, franchise, or license for the transmission of +communications or the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery, or +furnishing of electricity, water, steam, or gas. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 87-105; s. 23, ch. 91-110; s. 1, ch. 96-301; s. 1770, ch. 97-102; s. + +1, ch. 2001-36; s. 1, ch. 2003-21; s. 1887, ch. 2003-261; s. 110, ch. 2004-390; +s. 1, ch. 2005-163; s. 2, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; s. 1, ch. 2016-90, +effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.102. +Fla. Stat. 717.102 + + 717.102. Property presumed unclaimed; general rule. +(1) All intangible property, including any income or increment thereon + +less any lawful charges, that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary +course of the holders business and the owner fails to claim such property +for more than 5 years after the property becomes payable or distributable is +presumed unclaimed, except as otherwise provided by this chapter. + +(2) Property is payable or distributable for the purpose of this chapter +notwithstanding the owners failure to make demand or to present any +instrument or document required to receive payment. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 87-105; s. 2, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.103. +Fla. Stat. 717.103 + + 717.103. General rules for taking custody of intangible unclaimed +property. + +Unless otherwise provided in this chapter or by other statute of this state, +intangible property is subject to the custody of the department as unclaimed +property if the conditions leading to a presumption that the property is +unclaimed as described in ss. 717.102 and 717.105-717.116 are satisfied and: + +(1) The last known address, as shown on the records of the holder, of the +apparent owner is in this state; + +(2) The records of the holder do not reflect the identity of the person +entitled to the property, and it is established that the last known address of +the person entitled to the property is in this state; + +(3) The records of the holder do not reflect the last known address of the +apparent owner, and it is established that: +(a) The last known address of the person entitled to the property is in this + +state; or +(b) The holder is a domiciliary or a government or governmental + +subdivision or agency of this state and has not previously paid the property to +the state of the last known address of the apparent owner or other person +entitled to the property; + +(4) The last known address, as shown on the records of the holder, of the +apparent owner or other person entitled to the property is in a state that +does not provide by law for the escheat or custodial taking of the property, +or its escheat or unclaimed property law is not applicable to the property, +and the holder is a domiciliary or a government or governmental +subdivision or agency of this state; + +(5) The last known address, as shown on the records of the holder, of the +apparent owner is in a foreign nation and the holder is a domiciliary or a +government or governmental subdivision or agency of this state; or + +(6) The transaction out of which the property arose occurred in this state, +and; + + + +(a)1. The last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled +to the property is unknown; or +2. The last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled to + +the property is in a state that does not provide by law for the escheat or +custodial taking of the property, or its escheat or unclaimed property law is +not applicable to the property; and + +(b) The holder is a domiciliary of a state that does not provide by law for +the escheat or custodial taking of the property, or its escheat or unclaimed +property law is not applicable to the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 87-105; s. 3, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1035. +Fla. Stat. 717.1035 + + 717.1035. Property originated or issued by this state, any political +subdivision of this state, or any entity incorporated, organized, +created, or otherwise located in the state. +(1) All intangible property, including, but not limited to, any interest, + +dividend, or other earnings thereon, less any lawful charges, held by a +business association, federal, state, or local government or governmental +subdivision, agency, or entity, or any other person or entity, regardless of +where the holder may be found, if the owner has not claimed or +corresponded in writing concerning the property within 3 years after the +date prescribed for payment or delivery, is presumed to be unclaimed +property and subject to the custody of this state as such if: +(a) The last known address of the owner is unknown; and +(b) The person or entity originating or issuing the intangible property is + +this state or any political subdivision of this state, or the person or entity is +incorporated, organized, created, or otherwise located in this state. + +(2) The provisions of subsection (1) shall not apply to property which is +or may be presumed unclaimed and subject to the custody of this state +pursuant to any other provision of law containing a dormancy period +different than that prescribed in subsection (1). + +(3) The provisions of subsection (1) shall apply to all property held at +the time of enactment, or at any time thereafter, regardless of when such +property became or becomes presumptively unclaimed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 90-113; s. 2, ch. 92-169; s. 4, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.104. +Fla. Stat. 717.104 + + 717.104. Travelers checks and money orders. +(1) Subject to subsection (4), any sum payable on a travelers check that + +has been outstanding for more than 15 years after its issuance is presumed +unclaimed unless the owner, within 15 years, has communicated in writing +with the issuer concerning it or otherwise indicated an interest as +evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the issuer. + +(2) Subject to subsection (4), any sum payable on a money order or +similar written instrument, other than a third party bank check, that has +been outstanding for more than 7 years after its issuance is presumed +unclaimed unless the owner, within 7 years, has communicated in writing +with the issuer concerning it or otherwise indicated an interest as +evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the issuer. + +(3) No holder may deduct from the amount of any travelers check or +money order any charges imposed by reason of the failure to present those +instruments for payment unless there is a valid and enforceable written +contract between the issuer and the owner of the property pursuant to +which the issuer may impose those charges and the issuer regularly +imposes those charges and does not regularly reverse or otherwise cancel +those charges with respect to the property. + +(4) No sum payable on a travelers check, money order, or similar +written instrument, other than a third party bank check, described in +subsections (1) and (2) may be subjected to the custody of this state as +unclaimed property unless: +(a) The records of the issuer show that the travelers check, money order, + +or similar written instrument was purchased in this state; +(b) The issuer has its principal place of business in this state and the + +records of the issuer do not show the state in which the travelers check, +money order, or similar written instrument was purchased; or + +(c) The issuer has its principal place of business in this state; the records of +the issuer show the state in which the travelers check, money order, or +similar written instrument was purchased; and the laws of the state of + + + +purchase do not provide for the escheat or custodial taking of the property, or +its escheat or unclaimed property law is not applicable to the property. + +(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, subsection (4) +applies to sums payable on travelers checks, money orders, and similar +written instruments presumed unclaimed on or after February 1, 1965, +except to the extent that those sums have been paid over to a state prior to +January 1, 1974. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 87-105; s. 5, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1045. +Fla. Stat. 717.1045 + + 717.1045. Gift certificates and similar credit items. +Notwithstanding s. 717.117, an unredeemed gift certificate or credit memo + +as defined in s. 501.95 is not required to be reported as unclaimed property. +(1) The consideration paid for an unredeemed gift certificate or credit + +memo is the property of the issuer of the unredeemed gift certificate or +credit memo. + +(2) An unredeemed gift certificate or credit memo is subject only to any +rights of a purchaser or owner thereof and is not subject to a claim made by +any state acting on behalf of a purchaser or owner. + +(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section apply to the +custodial holding of unredeemed gift certificates and credit memos. + +(4) However, a gift certificate or credit memo described in s. 501.95(2) +(b) shall be reported as unclaimed property. The consideration paid for +such a gift certificate or credit memo is the property of the owner of the +gift certificate or credit memo. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2007-256, eff. June 28, 2007. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.105. +Fla. Stat. 717.105 + + 717.105. Checks, drafts, and similar instruments issued or certified by +banking and financial organizations. +(1) Any sum payable on a check, draft, or similar instrument, except + +those subject to ss. 717.104 and 717.115, on which a banking or financial +organization is directly liable, including, but not limited to, a cashiers +check or a certified check, which has been outstanding for more than 5 +years after it was payable or after its issuance if payable on demand, is +presumed unclaimed unless the owner, within 5 years, has communicated +in writing with the banking or financial organization concerning it or +otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other +record on file with the banking or financial organization. + +(2) No holder may deduct from the amount of any instrument subject to +this section any charges imposed by reason of the failure to present the +instrument for encashment unless there is a valid and enforceable written +contract between the holder and the owner of the instrument pursuant to +which the holder may impose those charges and does not regularly reverse +or otherwise cancel those charges with respect to the instrument. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 87-105; s. 2, ch. 96-301; s. 6, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.106. +Fla. Stat. 717.106 + + 717.106. Bank deposits and funds in financial organizations. +(1) Any demand, savings, or matured time deposit with a banking or + +financial organization, including deposits that are automatically renewable, +and any funds paid toward the purchase of shares, a mutual investment +certificate, or any other interest in a banking or financial organization is +presumed unclaimed unless the owner has, within 5 years: +(a) Increased or decreased the amount of the deposit or presented the + +passbook or other similar evidence of the deposit for the crediting of interest; +(b) Communicated in writing or by documented telephone contact with the + +banking or financial organization concerning the property; +(c) Otherwise indicated an interest in the property as evidenced by a + +memorandum or other record on file with the banking or financial +organization; + +(d) Owned other property to which paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or +paragraph (c) is applicable and if the banking or financial organization +communicates in writing with the owner with regard to the property that +would otherwise be presumed unclaimed under this subsection at the address +to which communications regarding the other property regularly are sent; or + +(e) Had another relationship with the banking or financial organization +concerning which the owner has: + +1. Communicated in writing with the banking or financial organization; or +2. Otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other + +record on file with the banking or financial organization and if the banking or +financial organization communicates in writing with the owner with regard to +the property that would otherwise be unclaimed under this subsection at the +address to which communications regarding the other relationship regularly +are sent. + +(2) For purpose of paragraph (1)(a), property includes any interest or +dividends thereon. + +(3) No holder may impose with respect to property described in + + + +subsection (1) any charges due to dormancy or inactivity or cease payment +of interest unless: +(a) There is an enforceable written contract between the holder and the + +owner of the property pursuant to which the holder may impose those charges +or cease payment of interest. + +(b) For property in excess of $2, the holder, no more than 3 months prior to +the initial imposition of those charges or cessation of interest, has given +written notice to the owner of the amount of those charges at the last known +address of the owner stating that those charges shall be imposed or that +interest shall cease, but the notice provided in this section need not be given +with respect to charges imposed or interest ceased before July 1, 1987. + +(c) The holder regularly imposes those charges or ceases payment of +interest and does not regularly reverse or otherwise cancel those charges or +retroactively credit interest with respect to such property. + +(4) Any property described in subsection (1) that is automatically +renewable is matured for purposes of subsection (1) upon the expiration of +its initial time period except that, in the case of any renewal to which the +owner consents at or about the time of renewal by communicating in +writing with the banking or financial organization or otherwise indicating +consent as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared +by an employee of the organization, the property is matured upon the +expiration of the last time period for which consent was given. If, at the +time provided for delivery in s. 717.119, a penalty or forfeiture in the +payment of interest would result from the delivery of the property, the time +for delivery is extended until the time when no penalty or forfeiture would +result. + +(5) If the documents establishing a deposit described in subsection (1) +state the address of a beneficiary of the deposit, and the account has a +value of at least $50, notice shall be given to the beneficiary as provided +for notice to the apparent owner under s. 717.117(4). This subsection shall +apply to accounts opened on or after October 1, 1990. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 87-105; s. 2, ch. 90-113; s. 63, ch. 91-110; s. 3, ch. 96-301; s. 7, + +ch. 2001-36; s. 111, ch. 2004-390; s. 2, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.107. +Fla. Stat. 717.107 + + 717.107. Funds owing under life insurance policies, annuity contracts, +and retained asset accounts; fines, penalties, and interest; United +States Social Security Administration Death Master File. +(1) Funds held or owing under any life or endowment insurance policy + +or annuity contract which has matured or terminated are presumed +unclaimed if unclaimed for more than 5 years after the date of death of the +insured, the annuitant, or the retained asset account holder, but property +described in paragraph (3)(d) is presumed unclaimed if such property is not +claimed for more than 2 years. The amount presumed unclaimed shall +include any amount due and payable under s. 627.4615. + +(2) If a person other than the insured, the annuitant, or the retained asset +account holder is entitled to the funds and no address of the person is +known to the company or it is not definite and certain from the records of +the company who is entitled to the funds, it is presumed that the last known +address of the person entitled to the funds is the same as the last known +address of the insured, the annuitant, or the retained asset account holder +according to the records of the company. + +(3) For purposes of this chapter, a life or endowment insurance policy or +annuity contract not matured by actual proof of the death of the insured, +the annuitant, or the retained asset account holder according to the records +of the company is deemed matured and the proceeds due and payable if +any of the following applies: +(a) The company knows that the insured, the annuitant, or the retained + +asset account holder has died. +(b) A presumption of death made in accordance with paragraph (8)(c) has + +not been rebutted. +(c) The policy or contract has reached its maturity date. +(d)1. The insured has attained, or would have attained if he or she were +living, the limiting age under the mortality table on which the reserve is +based; +2. The policy was in force at the time the insured attained, or would have + + + +attained, the limiting age specified in subparagraph 1.; and +3. Neither the insured nor any other person appearing to have an interest in + +the policy within the preceding 2 years, according to the records of the +company, has assigned, readjusted, or paid premiums on the policy; subjected +the policy to a loan; corresponded in writing with the company concerning +the policy; or otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum +or other record on file prepared by an employee of the company. + +(4) For purposes of this chapter, the application of an automatic +premium loan provision or other nonforfeiture provision contained in an +insurance policy does not prevent the policy from being matured or +terminated under subsection (1) if the insured has died or the insured or the +beneficiaries of the policy otherwise have become entitled to the proceeds +thereof before the depletion of the cash surrender value of a policy by the +application of those provisions. + +(5) If the laws of this state or the terms of the life insurance policy +require the company to give notice to the insured or owner that an +automatic premium loan provision or other nonforfeiture provision has +been exercised and the notice, given to an insured or owner whose last +known address according to the records of the company is in this state, is +undeliverable, the company shall make a reasonable search to ascertain the +policyholders correct address to which the notice must be mailed. + +(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the company learns of +the death of the insured, the annuitant, or the retained asset account holder +and the beneficiary has not communicated with the insurer within 4 months +after the death, the company shall take reasonable steps to pay the proceeds +to the beneficiary. + +(7) Commencing 2 years after July 1, 1987, every change of beneficiary +form issued by an insurance company under any life or endowment +insurance policy or annuity contract to an insured or owner who is a +resident of this state must request the following information: +(a) The name of each beneficiary, or if a class of beneficiaries is named, + +the name of each current beneficiary in the class. +(b) The address of each beneficiary. +(c) The relationship of each beneficiary to the insured. + + + +(8)(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an insurer shall +compare the records of its insureds life or endowment insurance policies, +annuity contracts that provide a death benefit, and retained asset accounts +that were in force at any time on or after January 1, 1992, against the +United States Social Security Administration Death Master File once to +determine whether the death of an insured, an annuitant, or a retained asset +account holder is indicated and shall thereafter use the Death Master File +update files for future comparisons. The comparisons must use the name +and social security number or date of birth of the insured, the annuitant, or +the retained asset account holder. The comparisons must be made on at +least an annual basis before August 31 of each year. If an insurer performs +such comparisons regarding its annuities or other books of business more +frequently than once a year, the insurer must also make comparisons +regarding its life insurance policies, annuity contracts that provide a death +benefit, and retained asset accounts at the same frequency as is made +regarding its annuities or other books or lines of business. An insurer may +perform the comparisons required by this paragraph using any database or +service that the department determines is at least as comprehensive as the +United States Social Security Administration Death Master File for the +purpose of indicating that a person has died. +(b) However, an insurer that meets one of the following criteria as of June + +30, 2016, shall conduct the comparison in paragraph (a) to all in-force +policies: + +1. The insurer has entered into a regulatory settlement agreement with the +Office of Insurance Regulation; or + +2. The insurer has received a targeted market conduct examination report +issued by the Office of Insurance Regulation regarding claims-handling +practices and the use of the Death Master File with no findings of violations +of law. + +(c) An insured, an annuitant, or a retained asset account holder is presumed +deceased if the date of his or her death is indicated by the comparison +required under paragraph (a) unless the insurer has in its records competent +and substantial evidence that the person is living, including, but not limited +to, a contact made by the insurer with such person or his or her legal +representative. The insurer shall account for common variations in data and + + + +for any partial names, social security numbers, dates of birth, and addresses +of the insured, the annuitant, or the retained asset account holder which +would otherwise preclude an exact match. + +(d) For purposes of this section, a policy, an annuity contract, or a retained +asset account is deemed to be in force if it has not lapsed, has not been +canceled, or has not been terminated at the time of death of the insured, the +annuitant, or the retained asset account holder. + +(e) This subsection does not apply to an insurer with respect to benefits +payable under: + +1. An annuity that is issued in connection with an employment-based plan +subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or that is +issued to fund an employment-based retirement plan, including any deferred +compensation plan. + +2. A policy of credit life or accidental death insurance. +3. A joint and survivor annuity contract if an annuitant is still living. +4. A policy issued to a group master policy owner for which the insurer + +does not perform recordkeeping functions. For purposes of this subparagraph, +the term recordkeeping means those circumstances under which the insurer +has agreed through a group policyholder to be responsible for obtaining, +maintaining, and administering, in its own or its agents systems, information +about each individual insured under a group insurance policy or a line of +coverage thereunder, including at least the following: + +a. The social security number, or name and date of birth; +b. Beneficiary designation information; +c. Coverage eligibility; +d. The benefit amount; and +e. Premium payment status. +5. Any policy or certificate of life insurance that is assigned to a person + +licensed under s. 497.452 to fund a preneed funeral merchandise or service +contract. + +(9) No later than 120 days after learning of the death of an insured, an + + + +annuitant, or a retained asset account holder through a comparison under +subsection (8), an insurer shall: +(a) Complete and document an effort to confirm the death of the insured, + +the annuitant, or the retained asset account holder against other available +records and information. + +(b) Review its records to determine whether the insured, the annuitant, or +the retained asset account holder purchased other products from the insurer. + +(c) Determine whether benefits may be due under a policy, an annuity, or a +retained asset account. + +(d) Complete and document an effort to locate and contact the beneficiary +or authorized representative under a policy, an annuity, or a retained asset +account if such person has not communicated with the insurer before the +expiration of the 120-day period. The effort must include: + +1. Sending to the beneficiary or authorized representative information +concerning the claim process of the insurer. + +2. Notice of any requirement to provide a certified original or copy of the +death certificate if applicable under the policy, annuity, or retained asset +account. + +(10) An insurer may, to the extent permitted by law, disclose the +minimum necessary personal information about an insured, an annuitant, a +retained asset account owner, or a beneficiary to an individual or entity +reasonably believed by the insurer to possess the ability to assist the +insurer in locating the beneficiary or any other individual or entity that is +entitled to payment of the claim proceeds. + +(11) An insurer, or any agent or third party that it engages or that works +on its behalf, may not charge insureds, annuitants, retained asset account +holders, beneficiaries, or the estates of insureds, annuitants, retained asset +account holders, or the beneficiaries of an estate any fees or costs +associated with any search, verification, claim, or delivery of funds +conducted pursuant to this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 87-105; s. 849, ch. 97-102; s. 8, ch. 2001-36; s. 112, ch. 2004-390; + + + +s. 1, ch. 2016-219, effective April 12, 2016. + +Editors Notes +Section 2, ch. 2016-219, provides: The amendments made by this act are + +remedial in nature and apply retroactively. Fines, penalties, or additional +interest, pursuant to chapter 717, Florida Statutes, may not be imposed due to +the failure to report and remit an unclaimed life or an endowment insurance +policy, a retained asset account, or an annuity contract with a death benefit if +any unclaimed life or endowment insurance policy, retained asset account, or +annuity contract proceeds are reported and remitted to the Department of +Financial Services on or before May 1, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1071. +Fla. Stat. 717.1071 + + 717.1071. Lost owners of unclaimed demutualization, rehabilitation, or +related reorganization proceeds. +(1) Property distributable in the course of a demutualization, + +rehabilitation, or related reorganization of an insurance company is deemed +abandoned 2 years after the date the property is first distributable if, at the +time of the first distribution, the last known address of the owner on the +books and records of the holder is known to be incorrect or the distribution +or statements are returned by the post office as undeliverable; and the +owner has not communicated in writing with the holder or its agent +regarding the interest or otherwise communicated with the holder +regarding the interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on +file with the holder or its agent. + +(2) Property distributable in the course of demutualization, +rehabilitation, or related reorganization of a mutual insurance company that +is not subject to subsection (1) shall be reportable as otherwise provided by +this chapter. + +(3) Property subject to this section shall be reported and delivered no +later than May 1 as of the preceding December 31; however, the initial +report under this section shall be filed no later than November 1, 2003, as +of December 31, 2002. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2003-21; s. 75, ch. 2003-281. + +Editors notes. +This section is set out as enacted by s. 75, ch. 2003-281. Section 717.1071 + +was also enacted by s. 2, ch. 2003-21, and that version read: +717.1071 Unclaimed demutualization proceeds. Unclaimed property + +payable or distributable in the course of a demutualization of an insurance +company is presumed unclaimed 5 years after the earlier of the date of last +contact with the policyholder or the date the property became payable or +distributable. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.108. +Fla. Stat. 717.108 + + 717.108. Deposits held by utilities. +Any deposit, including any interest thereon, made by a subscriber with a + +utility to secure payment or any sum paid in advance for utility services to be +furnished, less any lawful charges, that remains unclaimed by the owner for +more than 1 year after termination of the services for which the deposit or +advance payment was made is presumed unclaimed. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 87-105; s. 4, ch. 96-301; s. 9, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.109. +Fla. Stat. 717.109 + + 717.109. Refunds held by business associations. +Except as otherwise provided by law, any sum that a business association + +has been ordered to refund by a court or administrative agency which has +been unclaimed by the owner for more than 1 year after it became payable in +accordance with the final determination or order providing for the refund, +regardless of whether the final determination or order requires any person +entitled to a refund to make a claim for it, is presumed unclaimed. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 87-105; s. 10, ch. 2001-36; s. 113, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1101. +Fla. Stat. 717.1101 + + 717.1101. Unclaimed equity and debt of business associations. +(1)(a) Stock or other equity interest in a business association is presumed +unclaimed 3 years after the earliest of: +1. The date of the most recent dividend, stock split, or other distribution + +unclaimed by the apparent owner; +2. The date of a statement of account or other notification or + +communication that was returned as undeliverable; or +3. The date the holder discontinued mailings, notifications, or + +communications to the apparent owner. +(b) Unmatured or unredeemed debt, other than a bearer bond or an original + +issue discount bond, is presumed unclaimed 3 years after the date of the most +recent interest payment unclaimed by the owner. + +(c) Matured or redeemed debt is presumed unclaimed 3 years after the date +of maturity or redemption. + +(d) At the time property is presumed unclaimed under paragraph (a) or +paragraph (b), any other property right accrued or accruing to the owner as a +result of the property interest and not previously presumed unclaimed is also +presumed unclaimed. + +(2) The running of such 3-year period ceases if the person: +(a)1. Communicates in writing with the association or its agent regarding +the interest or a dividend, distribution, or other sum payable as a result of +the interest; or +2. Otherwise communicates with the association regarding the interest or a + +dividend, distribution, or other sum payable as a result of the interest, as +evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the association or +its agent. + +(b) Presents an instrument issued to pay interest or a dividend or other cash +distribution. If any future dividend, distribution, or other sum payable to the +owner as a result of the interest is subsequently not claimed by the owner, a + + + +new period in which the property is presumed unclaimed commences and +relates back only to the time a subsequent dividend, distribution, or other sum +became due and payable. + +(3) At the same time any interest is presumed unclaimed under this +section, any dividend, distribution, or other sum then held for or owing to +the owner as a result of the interest, is presumed unclaimed. + +(4) Any dividend, profit, distribution, interest redemption, payment on +principal, or other sum held or owing by a business association for or to a +shareholder, certificateholder, member, bondholder, or other security +holder, who has not claimed such amount or corresponded in writing with +the business association concerning such amount, within 3 years after the +date prescribed for payment or delivery, is presumed unclaimed. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 87-105; s. 5, ch. 96-301; s. 11, ch. 2001-36; s. 3, ch. 2003-21; s. + +3, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.111. +Fla. Stat. 717.111 + + 717.111. Property of business associations held in course of dissolution. +All intangible property distributable in the course of a voluntary or + +involuntary dissolution of a business association which is not claimed by the +owner for more than 6 months after the date specified for final distribution is +presumed unclaimed. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 87-105; s. 12, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.112. +Fla. Stat. 717.112 + + 717.112. Property held by agents and fiduciaries. +(1) Except as provided in ss. 717.1125 and 733.816, all intangible + +property and any income or increment thereon held in a fiduciary capacity +for the benefit of another person is presumed unclaimed unless the owner +has within 5 years after it has become payable or distributable increased or +decreased the principal, accepted payment of principal or income, +communicated concerning the property, or otherwise indicated an interest +as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file with the fiduciary. + +(2) Funds in an individual retirement account or a retirement plan for +self-employed individuals or similar account or plan established pursuant +to the Internal Revenue laws of the United States are not payable or +distributable within the meaning of subsection (1) unless, under the terms +of the account or plan, distribution of all or part of the funds would then be +mandatory. + +(3) For the purpose of this section, a person who holds property as an +agent for a business association is deemed to hold the property in a +fiduciary capacity for that business association alone, unless the agreement +between said person and the business association provides otherwise. + +(4) For the purposes of this chapter, a person who is deemed to hold +property in a fiduciary capacity for a business association alone is the +holder of the property only insofar as the interest of the business +association in the property is concerned, and the business association is the +holder of the property insofar as the interest of any other person in the +property is concerned. + +(5) All intangible property, and any income or increment thereon, issued +by a government or governmental subdivision or agency, public +corporation, or public authority and held in an agency capacity for the +governmental subdivision, agency, public corporation, or public authority +for the benefit of the owner of record, is presumed unclaimed unless the +owner has, within 1 year after such property has become payable or +distributable, increased or decreased the principal, accepted payment of the +principal or income, communicated concerning the property, or otherwise + + + +indicated an interest in the property as evidenced by a memorandum or +other record on file with the fiduciary. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 87-105; s. 6, ch. 96-301; s. 13, ch. 2001-36; s. 3, ch. 2013-172, + +eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1125. +Fla. Stat. 717.1125 + + 717.1125. Property held by fiduciaries under trust instruments. +All intangible property and any income or increment thereon held in a + +fiduciary capacity for the benefit of another person under a trust instrument is +presumed unclaimed unless the owner has, within 2 years after it has become +payable or distributable, increased or decreased the principal, accepted +payment of principal or income, communicated concerning the property, or +otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other +record on file with the fiduciary. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.113. +Fla. Stat. 717.113 + + 717.113. Property held by courts and public agencies. +All intangible property held for the owner by any court, government or + +governmental subdivision or agency, public corporation, or public authority +that has not been claimed by the owner for more than 1 year after it became +payable or distributable is presumed unclaimed. Except as provided in s. +45.032 (3) (c), money held in the court registry and for which no court order +has been issued to determine an owner does not become payable or +distributable and is not subject to reporting under this chapter. +Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, funds deposited in the +Minerals Trust Fund pursuant to s. 377.247 are presumed unclaimed only if +the funds have not been claimed by the owner for more than 5 years after the +date of first production from the well. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 87-105; s. 4, ch. 94-193; s. 71, ch. 96-321; s. 14, ch. 2001-36; s. + +8, ch. 2018-71, effective July 1, 2019. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.115. +Fla. Stat. 717.115 + + 717.115. Wages. +Unpaid wages, including wages represented by unpresented payroll + +checks, owing in the ordinary course of the holders business that have not +been claimed by the owner for more than 1 year after becoming payable are +presumed unclaimed. + +HISTORY: +S. 16, ch. 87-105; s. 15, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.116. +Fla. Stat. 717.116 + + 717.116. Contents of safe-deposit box or other safekeeping repository. +All tangible and intangible property held by a banking or financial + +organization in a safe-deposit box or any other safekeeping repository in this +state in the ordinary course of the holders business, and proceeds resulting +from the sale of the property permitted by law, that has not been claimed by +the owner for more than 3 years after the lease or rental period on the box or +other repository has expired are presumed unclaimed. + +HISTORY: +S. 17, ch. 87-105; s. 8, ch. 96-301; s. 16, ch. 2001-36; s. 114, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.117. +Fla. Stat. 717.117 + + 717.117. Report of unclaimed property. +(1) Every person holding funds or other property, tangible or intangible, + +presumed unclaimed and subject to custody as unclaimed property under +this chapter shall report to the department on such forms as the department +may prescribe by rule. In lieu of forms, a report identifying 25 or more +different apparent owners must be submitted by the holder via electronic +medium as the department may prescribe by rule. The report must include: +(a) Except for travelers checks and money orders, the name, social + +security number or taxpayer identification number, and date of birth, if +known, and last known address, if any, of each person appearing from the +records of the holder to be the owner of any property which is presumed +unclaimed and which has a value of $50 or more. + +(b) For unclaimed funds which have a value of $50 or more held or owing +under any life or endowment insurance policy or annuity contract, the full +name, taxpayer identification number or social security number, date of birth, +if known, and last known address of the insured or annuitant and of the +beneficiary according to records of the insurance company holding or owing +the funds. + +(c) For all tangible property held in a safe-deposit box or other safekeeping +repository, a description of the property and the place where the property is +held and may be inspected by the department, and any amounts owing to the +holder. Contents of a safe-deposit box or other safekeeping repository which +consist of documents or writings of a private nature and which have little or +no apparent value shall not be presumed unclaimed. + +(d) The nature and identifying number, if any, or description of the +property and the amount appearing from the records to be due. Items of value +under $50 each may be reported in the aggregate. + +(e) The date the property became payable, demandable, or returnable, and +the date of the last transaction with the apparent owner with respect to the +property. + +(f) Any person or business association or public corporation holding funds + + + +presumed unclaimed and having a total value of $10 or less may file a zero +balance report for that reporting period. The balance brought forward to the +new reporting period is zero. + +(g) Such other information as the department may prescribe by rule as +necessary for the administration of this chapter. + +(h) Credit balances, customer overpayments, security deposits, and refunds +having a value of less than $10 shall not be presumed unclaimed. + +(2) If the holder of property presumed unclaimed and subject to custody +as unclaimed property is a successor holder or if the holder has changed +the holders name while in possession of the property, the holder shall file +with the holders report all known names and addresses of each prior +holder of the property. Compliance with this subsection means the holder +exercises reasonable and prudent efforts to determine the names of all prior +holders. + +(3) The report must be filed before May 1 of each year. The report shall +apply to the preceding calendar year. The department may impose and +collect a penalty of $10 per day up to a maximum of $500 for the failure to +timely report or the failure to include in a report information required by +this chapter. The penalty shall be remitted to the department within 30 days +after the date of the notification to the holder that the penalty is due and +owing. As necessary for proper administration of this chapter, the +department may waive any penalty due with appropriate justification. On +written request by any person required to file a report and upon a showing +of good cause, the department may postpone the reporting date. The +department must provide information contained in a report filed with the +department to any person requesting a copy of the report or information +contained in a report, to the extent the information requested is not +confidential, within 45 days after the report has been processed and added +to the unclaimed property database subsequent to a determination that the +report is accurate and that the reported property is the same as the remitted +property. + +(4) Holders of inactive accounts having a value of $50 or more shall use +due diligence to locate apparent owners. Not more than 120 days and not +less than 60 days prior to filing the report required by this section, the +holder in possession of property presumed unclaimed and subject to + + + +custody as unclaimed property under this chapter shall send written notice +to the apparent owner at the apparent owners last known address +informing the apparent owner that the holder is in possession of property +subject to this chapter, if the holder has in its records an address for the +apparent owner which the holders records do not disclose to be inaccurate. + +(5) Any holder of intangible property may file with the department a +petition for determination that the property is unclaimed requesting the +department to accept custody of the property. The petition shall state any +special circumstances that exist, contain the information required by +subsection (2), and show that a diligent search has been made to locate the +owner. If the department finds that the proof of diligent search is +satisfactory, it shall give notice as provided in s. 717.118 and accept +custody of the property. + +(6) Upon written request by any entity or person required to file a report, +stating such entitys or persons justification for such action, the +department may place that entity or person in an inactive status as an +unclaimed property holder. +(7)(a) This section does not apply to the unclaimed patronage refunds as +provided for by contract or through bylaw provisions of entities organized +under chapter 425 or that are exempt from ad valorem taxation pursuant to +s. 196.2002. +(b) This section does not apply to intangible property held, issued, or + +owing by a business association subject to the jurisdiction of the United +States Surface Transportation Board or its successor federal agency if the +apparent owner of such intangible property is a business association. The +holder of such property does not have any obligation to report, to pay, or to +deliver such property to the department. + +(c) This section does not apply to credit balances, overpayments, refunds, +or outstanding checks owed by a health care provider to a managed care +payor with whom the health care provider has a managed care contract, +provided that the credit balances, overpayments, refunds, or outstanding +checks become due and owing pursuant to the managed care contract. + +(8)(a) As used in this subsection, the term property identifier means the +descriptor used by the holder to identify the unclaimed property. + + + +(b) Social security numbers and property identifiers contained in reports +required under this section, held by the department, are confidential and +exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. + +(c) This exemption applies to social security numbers and property +identifiers held by the department before, on, or after the effective date of this +exemption. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 87-105; s. 1, ch. 92-169; s. 30, ch. 92-319; s. 1, ch. 93-280; s. 9, + +ch. 96-301; s. 1771, ch. 97-102; s. 17, ch. 2001-36; s. 1, ch. 2002-64; s. 1888, +ch. 2003-261; s. 115, ch. 2004-390; s. 4, ch. 2005-163; s. 1, ch. 2007-69, eff. +Oct. 1, 2007; s. 1, ch. 2012-227, eff. May 4, 2012; s. 2, ch. 2016-90, effective +July 1, 2016; s. 1, ch. 2017-33, effective October 1, 2017. + +Editors notes. +Section 2, ch. 2007-69, provides: The Legislature finds that it is a public + +necessity that property identifiers contained in reports of unclaimed property +be made confidential and exempt from public-records requirements. Property +identifiers, which are descriptors used by a holder to identify unclaimed +property, could be used to obtain fraudulently unclaimed funds or property. +Protection of property identifiers is a public necessity in order to prevent the +fraudulent use of such information for purposes of creating falsified or forged +documents that appear to demonstrate entitlement to unclaimed property. +Such use defrauds the rightful property owner or the State School Fund. +Furthermore, the release of property identifiers contained in reports of +unclaimed property hinders the effective and efficient administration of the +unclaimed property program. + +Section 2, ch. 2012-227, provides: The Legislature finds that it is a public +necessity that social security numbers contained in reports of unclaimed +property remain confidential and exempt from public records requirements. +Social security numbers, which are used by a holder of unclaimed property to +identify such property, could be used to fraudulently obtain unclaimed +property. The release of social security numbers could also place owners of +unclaimed property at risk of identity theft. Therefore, the protection of social +security numbers is a public necessity in order to prevent the fraudulent use +of such information by creating falsified or forged documents that appear to + + + +demonstrate entitlement to unclaimed property and to prevent opportunities +for identify theft. Such use defrauds the rightful owner or the State School +Fund, which is the depository for all remaining unclaimed funds. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.118. +Fla. Stat. 717.118 + + 717.118. Notification of apparent owners of unclaimed property. +(1) It is specifically recognized that the state has an obligation to make + +an effort to notify owners of unclaimed property in a cost-effective +manner. In order to provide all the citizens of this state an effective and +efficient program for the recovery of unclaimed property, the department +shall use cost-effective means to make at least one active attempt to notify +owners of unclaimed property accounts valued at more than $250 with a +reported address or taxpayer identification number. Such active attempt to +notify apparent owners shall include any attempt by the department to +directly contact the owner. Other means of notification, such as publication +of the names of owners in the newspaper, on television, on the Internet, or +through other promotional efforts and items in which the department does +not directly attempt to contact the owner are expressly declared to be +passive attempts. Nothing in this subsection precludes other agencies or +entities of state government from notifying owners of the existence of +unclaimed property or attempting to notify apparent owners of unclaimed +property. + +(2) Notification provided directly to individual apparent owners shall +consist of a description of the property and information regarding recovery +of unclaimed property from the department. + +(3) This section is not applicable to sums payable on travelers checks, +money orders, and other written instruments presumed unclaimed under s. +717.104. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 87-105; s. 2, ch. 88-256; s. 31, ch. 92-319; s. 2, ch. 93-280; s. 10, + +ch. 96-301; s. 18, ch. 2001-36; s. 116, ch. 2004-390; s. 5, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.119. +Fla. Stat. 717.119 + + 717.119. Payment or delivery of unclaimed property. +(1) Every person who is required to file a report under s. 717.117 shall + +simultaneously pay or deliver to the department all unclaimed property +required to be reported. Such payment or delivery shall accompany the +report as required in this chapter for the preceding calendar year. + +(2) Payment of unclaimed funds may be made to the department by +electronic funds transfer. + +(3) If the owner establishes the right to receive the unclaimed property +to the satisfaction of the holder before the property has been delivered to +the department or it appears that for some other reason the presumption +that the property is unclaimed is erroneous, the holder need not pay or +deliver the property to the department. In lieu of delivery, the holder shall +file a verified written explanation of the proof of claim or of the error in +the presumption that the property was unclaimed. + +(4) All stock or other intangible ownership interest reported under this +chapter on the annual report filing required in s. 717.117 shall be remitted +to the department with the report. Upon delivery of the stock or other +intangible ownership interest to the department, the holder and any transfer +agent, registrar, or other person acting for or on behalf of a holder is +relieved of all liability of every kind in accordance with the provisions of s. +717.1201 to every person for any losses or damages resulting to the person +by the delivery to the department of the stock or other intangible +ownership interest. + +(5) All intangible and tangible property held in a safe-deposit box or any +other safekeeping repository reported under s. 717.117 shall not be +delivered to the department until 120 days after the report due date. The +delivery of the property, through the United States mail or any other +carrier, shall be insured by the holder at an amount equal to the estimated +value of the property. Each package shall be clearly marked on the outside +Deliver Unopened. A holders safe-deposit box contents shall be +delivered to the department in a single shipment. In lieu of a single +shipment, holders may provide the department with a single detailed + + + +shipping schedule that includes package tracking information for all +packages being sent pursuant to this section. +(a) Holders may remit the value of cash and coins found in unclaimed safe- + +deposit boxes to the department by cashiers check or by electronic funds +transfer, unless the cash or coins have a value above face value. The +department shall identify by rule those cash and coin items having a +numismatic value. Cash and coin items identified as having a numismatic +value shall be remitted to the department in their original form. + +(b) Any firearm or ammunition found in an unclaimed safe-deposit box or +any other safekeeping repository shall be delivered by the holder to a law +enforcement agency for disposal pursuant to s. 705.103(2)(b) with the +balance of the proceeds deposited into the State School Fund if the firearm is +sold. However, the department is authorized to make a reasonable attempt to +ascertain the historical value to collectors of any firearm that has been +delivered to the department. Any firearm appearing to have historical value to +collectors may be sold by the department pursuant to s. 717.122 to a person +having a federal firearms license. Any firearm which is not sold pursuant to s. +717.122 shall be delivered by the department to a law enforcement agency in +this state for disposal pursuant to s. 705.103(2)(b) with the balance of the +proceeds deposited into the State School Fund if the firearm is sold. The +department shall not be administratively, civilly, or criminally liable for any +firearm delivered by the department to a law enforcement agency in this state +for disposal. + +(c) If such property is not paid or delivered to the department on or before +the applicable payment or delivery date, the holder shall pay to the +department a penalty for each safe-deposit box shipment received late. The +penalty shall be $100 for a safe-deposit box shipment container that is late 30 +days or less. Thereafter, the penalty shall be $500 for a safe-deposit box +shipment container that is late for each additional successive 30-day period. +The penalty assessed against a holder for a late safe-deposit box shipment +container shall not exceed $4,000 annually. The penalty shall be remitted to +the department within 30 days after the date of the notification to the holder +that the penalty is due and owing. + +(d) The department may waive any penalty due with appropriate +justification, as provided by rule. + + + +(e) If a will or trust instrument is included among the contents of a safe- +deposit box or other safekeeping repository delivered to the department, the +department must provide a copy of the will, trust, and any codicils or +amendments to such will or trust instrument, upon request, to anyone who +provides the department with evidence of the death of the testator or settlor. + +(6) Any holder may request an extension in writing of up to 60 days for +the delivery of property if extenuating circumstances exist for the late +delivery of the property. Any such extension the department may grant +shall be in writing. + +HISTORY: +S. 20, ch. 87-105; s. 11, ch. 96-301; s. 19, ch. 2001-36; s. 4, ch. 2003-21; s. + +117, ch. 2004-390; s. 6, ch. 2005-163; s. 1, ch. 2021-144, effective June 21, +2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1201. +Fla. Stat. 717.1201 + + 717.1201. Custody by state; holder relieved from liability; +reimbursement of holder paying claim; reclaiming for owner; +defense of holder; payment of safe-deposit box or repository charges. +(1) Upon the payment or delivery of property to the department, the state + +assumes custody and responsibility for the safekeeping of property. Any +person who pays or delivers property to the department in good faith is +relieved of all liability to the extent of the value of the property paid or +delivered for any claim then existing or which thereafter may arise or be +made in respect to the property. + +(2) Any holder who has paid money to the department pursuant to this +chapter may make payment to any person appearing to be entitled to +payment and, upon filing proof that the payee is entitled thereto, the +department shall forthwith repay the holder without deduction of any fee or +other charges. If repayment is sought for a payment made on a negotiable +instrument, including a travelers check or money order, the holder must be +repaid under this subsection upon filing proof that the instrument was duly +presented and that the payee is entitled to payment. The holder shall be +repaid for payment made under this subsection even if the payment was +made to a person whose claim was barred under s. 717.129(1). + +(3) Any holder who has delivered property, including a certificate of any +interest in a business association, other than money to the department +pursuant to this chapter may reclaim the property if still in the possession +of the department, without payment of any fee or other charges, upon filing +proof that the owner has claimed the property from the holder. + +(4) The department may accept an affidavit of the holder stating the facts +that entitle the holder to recover money and property under this section as +sufficient proof. + +(5) If the holder pays or delivers property to the department in good faith +and thereafter any other person claims the property from the holder paying +or delivering, or another state claims the money or property under that +states laws relating to escheat or abandoned or unclaimed property, the +department, upon written notice of the claim, shall defend the holder + + + +against the claim and indemnify the holder against any liability on the +claim. + +(6) For the purposes of this section, good faith means that: +(a) Payment or delivery was made in a reasonable attempt to comply with + +this chapter. +(b) The person delivering the property was not a fiduciary then in breach of + +trust in respect to the property and had a reasonable basis for believing, based +on the facts then known to that person, that the property was unclaimed for +the purposes of this chapter. + +(c) There is no showing that the records pursuant to which the delivery was +made did not meet reasonable commercial standards of practice in the +industry. + +(7) Property removed from a safe-deposit box or other safekeeping +repository is received by the department subject to the holders right under +this subsection to be reimbursed for the actual cost of the opening and to +any valid lien or contract providing for the holder to be reimbursed for +unpaid rent or storage charges. The department shall make the +reimbursement to the holder out of the proceeds remaining after the +deduction of the departments selling cost. + +HISTORY: +S. 21, ch. 87-105; s. 20, ch. 2001-36; s. 118, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.121. +Fla. Stat. 717.121 + + 717.121. Crediting of dividends, interest, or increments to owners +account. + +Whenever property other than money is paid or delivered to the department +under this chapter, the owner is entitled to receive from the department any +dividends, interest, or other increments realized or accruing on the property at +or before liquidation or conversion thereof into money. + +HISTORY: +S. 22, ch. 87-105. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.122. +Fla. Stat. 717.122 + + 717.122. Public sale of unclaimed property. +(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2)(a), the department after the + +receipt of unclaimed property shall sell it to the highest bidder at public +sale on the Internet or at a specified physical location wherever in the +judgment of the department the most favorable market for the property +involved exists. The department may decline the highest bid and reoffer +the property for sale if in the judgment of the department the bid is +insufficient. The department shall have the discretion to withhold from sale +any unclaimed property that the department deems to be of benefit to the +people of the state. If in the judgment of the department the probable cost +of sale exceeds the value of the property, it need not be offered for sale and +may be disposed of as the department determines appropriate. Any sale at a +specified physical location held under this section must be preceded by a +single publication of notice, at least 3 weeks in advance of sale, in a +newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the property is to +be sold. The department shall proportionately deduct auction fees, +preparation costs, and expenses from the amount posted to the owners +account when safe-deposit box contents are sold. No action or proceeding +may be maintained against the department for or on account of any +decision to decline the highest bid or withhold any unclaimed property +from sale. +(2)(a) Securities listed on an established stock exchange must be sold at +prices prevailing at the time of sale on the exchange. Other securities may +be sold over the counter at prices prevailing at the time of sale or by any +other method the department deems advisable. The department may +authorize the agent or broker acting on behalf of the department to deduct +fees from the proceeds of these sales at a rate agreed upon in advance by +the agent or broker and the department. The department shall reimburse +owners accounts for these brokerage fees from the State School Fund +unless the securities are sold at the owners request. +(b) Unless the department deems it to be in the public interest to do + +otherwise, all securities presumed unclaimed and delivered to the department +may be sold upon receipt. Any person making a claim pursuant to this + + + +chapter is entitled to receive either the securities delivered to the department +by the holder, if they still remain in the hands of the department, or the +proceeds received from sale, but no person has any claim under this chapter +against the state, the holder, any transfer agent, any registrar, or any other +person acting for or on behalf of a holder for any appreciation in the value of +the property occurring after delivery by the holder to the state. + +(c) Certificates for unclaimed stock or other equity interest of business +associations that cannot be canceled and registered in the departments name +or that cannot be readily liquidated and converted into the currency of the +United States may be sold for the value of the certificate, if any, in +accordance with subsection (1) or may be destroyed in accordance with s. +717.128. + +(3) The purchaser of property at any sale conducted by the department +pursuant to this chapter is entitled to ownership of the property purchased +free from all claims of the owner or previous holder thereof and of all +persons claiming through or under them. The department shall execute all +documents necessary to complete the transfer of ownership. + +(4) The sale of unclaimed tangible personal property is not subject to tax +under chapter 212 when such property is sold by or on behalf of the +department pursuant to this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 23, ch. 87-105; s. 3, ch. 90-113; s. 12, ch. 96-301; s. 21, ch. 2001-36; s. + +119, ch. 2004-390; s. 7, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.123. +Fla. Stat. 717.123 + + 717.123. Deposit of funds. +(1) All funds received under this chapter, including the proceeds from + +the sale of unclaimed property under s. 717.122, shall forthwith be +deposited by the department in the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund. The +department shall retain, from funds received under this chapter, an amount +not exceeding $15 million from which the department shall make prompt +payment of claims allowed by the department and shall pay the costs +incurred by the department in administering and enforcing this chapter. All +remaining funds received by the department under this chapter shall be +deposited by the department into the State School Fund. + +(2) The department shall record the name and last known address of +each person appearing from the holders reports to be entitled to the +unclaimed property in the total amounts of $5 or greater; the name and the +last known address of each insured person or annuitant; and with respect to +each policy or contract listed in the report of an insurance corporation, its +number, the name of the corporation, and the amount due. + +HISTORY: +S. 24, ch. 87-105; s. 13, ch. 96-301; s. 22, ch. 2001-36; s. 120, ch. 2004- + +390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1235. +Fla. Stat. 717.1235 + + 717.1235. Dormant campaign accounts; report of unclaimed property. +Unclaimed funds reported in the name of a campaign for public office, for + +any campaign that must dispose of surplus funds in its campaign account +pursuant to s. 106.141, after being reported to the department, shall be +deposited with the Chief Financial Officer to the credit of the State School +Fund. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2016-90, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.124. +Fla. Stat. 717.124 + + 717.124. Unclaimed property claims. +(1) Any person, excluding another state, claiming an interest in any + +property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter may file +with the department a claim on a form prescribed by the department and +verified by the claimant or the claimants representative. The claimants +representative must be an attorney licensed to practice law in this state, a +licensed Florida-certified public accountant, or a private investigator +licensed under chapter 493. The claimants representative must be +registered with the department under this chapter. The claimant, or the +claimants representative, shall provide the department with a legible copy +of a valid driver license of the claimant at the time the original claim form +is filed. If the claimant has not been issued a valid driver license at the time +the original claim form is filed, the department shall be provided with a +legible copy of a photographic identification of the claimant issued by the +United States, a state or territory of the United States, a foreign nation, or a +political subdivision or agency thereof or other evidence deemed +acceptable by the department by rule. In lieu of photographic +identification, a notarized sworn statement by the claimant may be +provided which affirms the claimants identity and states the claimants +full name and address. The claimant must produce to the notary +photographic identification of the claimant issued by the United States, a +state or territory of the United States, a foreign nation, or a political +subdivision or agency thereof or other evidence deemed acceptable by the +department by rule. The notary shall indicate the notarys full address on +the notarized sworn statement. Any claim filed without the required +identification or the sworn statement with the original claim form and the +original Unclaimed Property Recovery Agreement or Unclaimed Property +Purchase Agreement, if applicable, is void. +(a) Within 90 days after receipt of a claim, the department may return any + +claim that provides for the receipt of fees and costs greater than that +permitted under this chapter or that contains any apparent errors or +omissions. The department may also request that the claimant or the +claimants representative provide additional information. The department + + + +shall retain a copy or electronic image of the claim. +(b) A claim is considered to have been withdrawn by a claimant or the + +claimants representative if the department does not receive a response to its +request for additional information within 60 days after the notification of any +apparent errors or omissions. + +(c) Within 90 days after receipt of the claim, or the response of the +claimant or the claimants representative to the departments request for +additional information, whichever is later, the department shall determine +each claim. Such determination shall contain a notice of rights provided by +ss. 120.569 and 120.57. The 90-day period shall be extended by 60 days if +the department has good cause to need additional time or if the unclaimed +property: + +1. Is owned by a person who has been a debtor in bankruptcy; +2. Was reported with an address outside of the United States; +3. Is being claimed by a person outside of the United States; or +4. Contains documents filed in support of the claim that are not in the + +English language and have not been accompanied by an English language +translation. + +(2) A claim for a cashiers check or a stock certificate without the +original instrument may require an indemnity bond equal to the value of +the claim to be provided prior to issue of the stock or payment of the claim +by the department. + +(3) The department may require an affidavit swearing to the authenticity +of the claim, lack of documentation, and an agreement to allow the +department to provide the name and address of the claimant to subsequent +claimants coming forward with substantiated proof to claim the account. +This shall apply to claims equal to or less than $250. The exclusive remedy +of a subsequent claimant to the property shall be against the person who +received the property from the department. +(4)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, if a claim is determined +in favor of the claimant, the department shall deliver or pay over to the +claimant the property or the amount the department actually received or the +proceeds if it has been sold by the department, together with any additional + + + +amount required by s. 717.121. +(b) If an owner authorizes an attorney licensed to practice law in this state, + +a Florida-certified public accountant, or a private investigator licensed under +chapter 493, and registered with the department under this chapter, to claim +the unclaimed property on the owners behalf, the department is authorized to +make distribution of the property or money in accordance with the Unclaimed +Property Recovery Agreement or Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement +under s. 717.135. The original Unclaimed Property Recovery Agreement or +Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement must be executed by the claimant +or seller and must be filed with the department. + +(c)1. Payments of approved claims for unclaimed cash accounts must be +made to the owner after deducting any fees and costs authorized by the +claimant under an Unclaimed Property Recovery Agreement. The contents +of a safe-deposit box must be delivered directly to the claimant. +2. Payments of fees and costs authorized under an Unclaimed Property + +Recovery Agreement for approved claims must be made or issued to the law +firm of the designated attorney licensed to practice law in this state, the +public accountancy firm of the licensed Florida-certified public accountant, +or the designated employing private investigative agency licensed by this +state. Such payments shall be made by electronic funds transfer and may be +made on such periodic schedule as the department may define by rule, +provided the payment intervals do not exceed 31 days. Payment made to an +attorney licensed in this state, a Florida-certified public accountant, or a +private investigator licensed under chapter 493, operating individually or as a +sole practitioner, must be to the attorney, certified public accountant, or +private investigator. + +(5) The department shall not be administratively, civilly, or criminally +liable for any property or funds distributed pursuant to this section, +provided such distribution is made in good faith. + +(6) This section does not supersede the licensing requirements of chapter +493. + +(7) The department may allow an apparent owner to electronically +submit a claim for unclaimed property to the department. If a claim is +submitted electronically for $2,000 or less, the department may use a + + + +method of identity verification other than a copy of a valid driver license, +other government-issued photographic identification, or a sworn notarized +statement. The department may adopt rules to implement this subsection. + +(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the department +may develop and implement an identification verification and +disbursement process by which an account valued at $2,000 or less, after +being received by the department and added to the unclaimed property +database, may be disbursed to an apparent owner after the department has +verified that the apparent owner is living and that the apparent owners +current address is correct. The department shall include with the payment a +notification and explanation of the dollar amount, the source, and the +property type of each account included in the disbursement. The +department shall adopt rules to implement this subsection. +(9)(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the department +may develop and implement a verification and disbursement process by +which an account, after being received by the department and added to the +unclaimed property database, for which the apparent owner entity is: +1. A state agency in this state or a subdivision or successor agency thereof; +2. A county government in this state or a subdivision thereof; +3. A public school district in this state or a subdivision thereof; +4. A municipality in this state or a subdivision thereof; or +5. A special taxing district or authority in this state, +may be disbursed to the apparent owner entity or successor entity. The + +department shall include with the payment a notification and explanation of +the dollar amount, the source, and the property type of each account included +in the disbursement. + +(b) The department may adopt rules to implement this subsection. +(10) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the department + +may develop a process by which a claimants representative or a buyer of +unclaimed property may electronically submit to the department an +electronic image of a completed claim and claims-related documents under +this chapter, including an Unclaimed Property Recovery Agreement or +Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement that has been signed and dated + + + +by a claimant or seller under s. 717.135, after the claimants representative +or the buyer of unclaimed property receives the original documents +provided by the claimant or the seller for any claim. Each claim filed by a +claimants representative or a buyer of unclaimed property must include a +statement by the claimants representative or the buyer of unclaimed +property attesting that all documents are true copies of the original +documents and that all original documents are physically in the possession +of the claimants representative or the buyer of unclaimed property. All +original documents must be kept in the original form, by claim number, +under the secure control of the claimants representative or the buyer of +unclaimed property and must be available for inspection by the department +in accordance with s. 717.1315. The department may adopt rules to +implement this subsection. + +(11) This section applies to all unclaimed property reported and remitted +to the Chief Financial Officer, including, but not limited to, property +reported pursuant to ss. 45.032, 732.107, 733.816, and 744.534. + +HISTORY: +S. 25, ch. 87-105; s. 3, ch. 89-291; s. 8, ch. 89-299; s. 4, ch. 90-113; s. 14, + +ch. 96-301; s. 295, ch. 96-410; s. 31, ch. 97-93; s. 1772, ch. 97-102; s. 23, ch. +2001-36; s. 121, ch. 2004-390; s. 8, ch. 2005-163; s. 1, ch. 2013-34, eff. July +1, 2013; s. 9, ch. 2018-71, effective July 1, 2019; s. 34, ch. 2019-140, +effective July 1, 2019; s. 2, ch. 2021-144, effective June 21, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.12403. +Fla. Stat. 717.12403 + + 717.12403. Unclaimed demand, savings, or checking account in a +financial institution held in the name of more than one person. + +(1)(a) If an unclaimed demand, savings, or checking account in a financial +institution is reported as an and account in the name of two or more +persons who are not beneficiaries, it is presumed that each person must +claim the account in order for the claim to be approved by the department. +This presumption may be rebutted by showing that entitlement to the +account has been transferred to another person or by clear and convincing +evidence demonstrating that the account should have been reported by the +financial institution as an or account. +(b) If an unclaimed demand, savings, or checking account in a financial + +institution is reported as an and account and one of the persons on the +account is deceased, it is presumed that the account is a survivorship account. +This presumption may be rebutted by showing that entitlement to the account +has been transferred to another person or by clear and convincing evidence +demonstrating that the account is not a survivorship account. + +(2) If an unclaimed demand, savings, or checking account in a financial +institution is reported as an or account in the name of two or more +persons who are not beneficiaries, it is presumed that either person listed +on the account may claim the entire amount held in the account. This +presumption may be rebutted by showing that entitlement to the account +has been transferred to another person or by clear and convincing evidence +demonstrating that the account should have been reported by the financial +institution as an and account. + +(3) If an unclaimed demand, savings, or checking account in a financial +institution is reported in the name of two or more persons who are not +beneficiaries without identifying whether the account is an and account +or an or account, it is presumed that the account is an or account. This +presumption may be rebutted by showing that entitlement to the account +has been transferred to another person or by clear and convincing evidence +demonstrating that the account should have been reported by the financial +institution as an and account. + + + +(4) The department shall be deemed to have made a distribution in good +faith if the department remits funds consistent with this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 122, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.12404. +Fla. Stat. 717.12404 + + 717.12404. Claims on behalf of a business entity or trust. +(1)(a) Claims on behalf of an active or dissolved corporation, for which the +last annual report is not available from the Department of State through the +Internet, must be accompanied by a microfiche copy of the records on file +with the Department of State or, if the corporation has not made a +corporate filing with the Department of State, the claim must be +accompanied by a uniform resource locator for the address of a free +Internet site operated by the state of incorporation of the corporation that +provides access to the last corporate filing identifying the officers and +directors of the corporation. If available, the claim must be accompanied +by a printout of the officers and directors from the Department of State +Internet site or the free Internet site operated by the state of incorporation +of the corporation. If the free Internet site is not available, the claim must +be accompanied by an authenticated copy of the last corporate filing +identifying the officers and directors from the appropriate authorized +official of the state of incorporation. +(b) A claim on behalf of a corporation must be made by an officer or + +director identified on the last corporate filing. +(2) Claims on behalf of a dissolved corporation, a business entity other + +than an active corporation, or a trust must include a legible copy of a valid +driver license of the person acting on behalf of the dissolved corporation, +business entity other than an active corporation, or trust. If the person has +not been issued a valid driver license, the department shall be provided +with a legible copy of a photographic identification of the person issued by +the United States, a foreign nation, or a political subdivision or agency +thereof. In lieu of photographic identification, a notarized sworn statement +by the person may be provided which affirms the persons identity and +states the persons full name and address. The person must produce his or +her photographic identification issued by the United States, a state or +territory of the United States, a foreign nation, or a political subdivision or +agency thereof or other evidence deemed acceptable by the department by +rule. The notary shall indicate the notarys full address on the notarized +sworn statement. Any claim filed without the required identification or the + + + +sworn statement with the original claim form and the original Unclaimed +Property Recovery Agreement or Unclaimed Property Purchase +Agreement, if applicable, is void. + +HISTORY: +S. 123, ch. 2004-390; s. 9, ch. 2005-163; s. 3, ch. 2021-144, effective June + +21, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.12405. +Fla. Stat. 717.12405 + + 717.12405. Claims by estates. +An estate or any person representing an estate or acting on behalf of an + +estate may claim unclaimed property only after the heir or legatee of the +decedent entitled to the property has been located. Any estate, or any person +representing an estate or acting on behalf of an estate, that receives unclaimed +property before the heir or legatee of the decedent entitled to the property has +been located, is personally liable for the unclaimed property and must +immediately return the full amount of the unclaimed property or the value +thereof to the department in accordance with s. 717.1341. + +HISTORY: +S. 124, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.12406. +Fla. Stat. 717.12406 + + 717.12406. Joint ownership of unclaimed securities or dividends. +For the purpose of determining joint ownership of unclaimed securities or + +dividends, the term: +(1) TEN COM means tenants in common. +(2) TEN ENT means tenants by the entireties. +(3) JT TEN or JT means joint tenants with the right of survivorship + +and not as tenants in common. +(4) And means tenants in common with each person entitled to an + +equal pro rata share. +(5) Or means that each person listed on the account is entitled to all of + +the funds. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1241. +Fla. Stat. 717.1241 + + 717.1241. Conflicting claims. +(1) When conflicting claims have been received by the department for + +the same unclaimed property account or accounts, the property shall be +remitted in accordance with the claim filed by the person as follows, +notwithstanding the withdrawal of a claim: +(a) To the person submitting the first claim received by the Division of + +Unclaimed Property of the department that is complete or made complete. +(b) If a claimants claim and a claimants representatives claim are + +received by the Division of Unclaimed Property of the department on the +same day and both claims are complete, to the claimant. + +(c) If a buyers claim and a claimants claim or a claimants +representatives claim are received by the Division of Unclaimed Property of +the department on the same day and the claims are complete, to the buyer. + +(d) As between two or more claimants representatives claims received by +the Division of Unclaimed Property of the department that are complete or +made complete on the same day, to the claimants representative who has +agreed to receive the lowest fee. If the two or more claimants representatives +whose claims received by the Division of Unclaimed Property of the +department were complete or made complete on the same day are charging +the same lowest fee, the fee shall be divided equally between the claimants +representatives. + +(e) If more than one buyers claim received by the Division of Unclaimed +Property of the department is complete or made complete on the same day, +the department shall remit the unclaimed property to the buyer who paid the +highest amount to the seller. If the buyers paid the same amount to the seller, +the department shall remit the unclaimed property to the buyers divided in +equal amounts. + +(2) The purpose of this section is solely to provide guidance to the +department regarding to whom it should remit the unclaimed property and +is not intended to extinguish or affect any private cause of action that any +person may have against another person for breach of contract or other + + + +statutory or common-law remedy. A buyers sole remedy, if any, shall be +against the claimants representative or the seller, or both. A claimants +representatives sole remedy, if any, shall be against the buyer or the seller, +or both. A claimants or sellers sole remedy, if any, shall be against the +buyer or the claimants representative, or both. Nothing in this section +forecloses the right of a person to challenge the departments determination +of completeness in a proceeding under ss. 120.569 and 120.57. + +(3) A claim is complete when entitlement to the unclaimed property has +been established. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 96-301; s. 24, ch. 2001-36; s. 125, ch. 2004-390; s. 11, ch. 2005- + +163; s. 40, ch. 2016-165, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1242. +Fla. Stat. 717.1242 + + 717.1242. Restatement of jurisdiction of the circuit court sitting in +probate and the department. +(1) It is and has been the intent of the Legislature that, pursuant to s. + +26.012(2)(b), circuit courts have jurisdiction of proceedings relating to the +settlement of the estates of decedents and other jurisdiction usually +pertaining to courts of probate. It is and has been the intent of the +Legislature that, pursuant to s. 717.124, the department determines the +merits of claims for property paid or delivered to the department under this +chapter. Consistent with this legislative intent, any estate or beneficiary, as +defined in s. 731.201, of an estate seeking to obtain property paid or +delivered to the department under this chapter must file a claim with the +department as provided in s. 717.124. + +(2) If any estate or heir of an estate seeks or obtains an order from a +circuit court sitting in probate directing the department to pay or deliver to +any person property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter, +the estate or heir shall be ordered to pay the department reasonable costs +and attorneys fees in any proceeding brought by the department to oppose, +appeal, or collaterally attack the order if the department is the prevailing +party in any such proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 16, ch. 96-301; s. 126, ch. 2004-390; s. 12, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1243. +Fla. Stat. 717.1243 + + 717.1243. Small estate accounts. +(1) A claim for unclaimed property made by a beneficiary, as defined in + +s. 731.201, of a deceased owner need not be accompanied by an order of a +probate court if the claimant files with the department an affidavit, signed +by all beneficiaries, stating that all the beneficiaries have amicably agreed +among themselves upon a division of the estate and that all funeral +expenses, expenses of the last illness, and any other lawful claims have +been paid, and any additional information reasonably necessary to make a +determination of entitlement. If the owner died testate, the claim shall be +accompanied by a copy of the will. + +(2) Each person receiving property under this section shall be personally +liable for all lawful claims against the estate of the owner, but only to the +extent of the value of the property received by such person under this +section, exclusive of the property exempt from claims of creditors under +the constitution and laws of this state. + +(3) Any heir or devisee of the owner, who was lawfully entitled to share +in the property but did not receive his or her share of the property, may +enforce his or her rights in appropriate proceedings against those who +received the property and shall be awarded taxable costs as in chancery +actions, including attorneys fees. + +(4) This section only applies if all of the unclaimed property held by the +department on behalf of the owner has an aggregate value of $10,000 or +less and no probate proceeding is pending. + +(5) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as precluding the use of +live testimony in order to establish entitlement. + +HISTORY: +S. 17, ch. 96-301; s. 25, ch. 2001-36; s. 23, ch. 2003-154; s. 13, ch. 2005- + +163; s. 4, ch. 2016-90, effective July 1, 2016. + +Editors notes. + + + +Section 23, ch. 2003-154 renacted (1) without change to incorporate +amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1244. +Fla. Stat. 717.1244 + + 717.1244. Determinations of unclaimed property claims. +In rendering a determination regarding the merits of an unclaimed property + +claim, the department shall rely on the applicable statutory, regulatory, +common, and case law. Agency statements applying the statutory, regulatory, +common, and case law to unclaimed property claims are not agency +statements subject to s. 120.56(4). + +HISTORY: +S. 127, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1245. +Fla. Stat. 717.1245 + + 717.1245. Garnishment of unclaimed property. +If any person files a petition for writ of garnishment seeking to obtain + +property paid or delivered to the department under this chapter, the petitioner +shall be ordered to pay the department reasonable costs and attorneys fees in +any proceeding brought by the department to oppose, appeal, or collaterally +attack the petition or writ if the department is the prevailing party in any such +proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.125. +Fla. Stat. 717.125 + + 717.125. Claim of another state to recover property; procedure. +(1) At any time after property has been paid or delivered to the + +department under this chapter, another state may recover the property if: +(a) The property was subjected to custody by this state because the records + +of the holder did not reflect the last known address of the apparent owner +when the property was presumed unclaimed under this chapter, and the other +state establishes that the last known address of the apparent owner or other +person entitled to the property was in that state and under the laws of that +state the property escheated to or was subject to a claim of abandonment or +being unclaimed by that state; + +(b) The last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled +to the property, as reflected by the records of the holder, is in the other state +and under the laws of that state the property has escheated to or become +subject to a claim of abandonment by that state; + +(c) The records of the holder were erroneous in that they did not accurately +reflect the actual owner of the property and the last known address of the +actual owner is in the other state and under laws of that state the property +escheated to or was subject to a claim of abandonment by that state; + +(d) The property was subject to custody by this state under s. 717.103(6) +and under the laws of the state of domicile of the holder the property has +escheated to or become subject to a claim of abandonment by that state; or + +(e) The property is the sum payable on a travelers check, money order, or +other similar instrument that was subjected to custody by this state under s. +717.104, and the instrument was purchased in the other state, and under the +laws of that state the property escheated to or became subject to a claim of +abandonment by that state. + +(2) The claim of another state to recover escheated or unclaimed +property under this section must be presented in a form prescribed by the +department, and the department shall determine the claim within 90 days +after it is presented. Such determination shall contain a notice of rights +provided by ss. 120.569 and 120.57. + + + +(3) The department shall require a state, prior to recovery of property +under this section, to indemnify this state and its officers and employees +against any liability on a claim for the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 26, ch. 87-105; s. 296, ch. 96-410; s. 26, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.126. +Fla. Stat. 717.126 + + 717.126. Administrative hearing; burden of proof; proof of +entitlement; venue. +(1) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the department may petition + +for a hearing as provided in ss. 120.569 and 120.57. In any proceeding for +determination of a claim to property paid or delivered to the department +under this chapter, the burden shall be upon the claimant to establish +entitlement to the property by a preponderance of evidence. Having the +same name as that reported to the department is not sufficient, in the +absence of other evidence, to prove entitlement to unclaimed property. + +(2) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, venue shall be in +Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. However, upon the request of a party, +the presiding officer may, in the presiding officers discretion, conduct the +hearing at an alternative remote video location. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 87-105; s. 297, ch. 96-410; s. 128, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1261. +Fla. Stat. 717.1261 + + 717.1261. Death certificates. +Any person who claims entitlement to unclaimed property by means of the + +death of one or more persons shall file a copy of the death certificate of the +decedent or decedents that has been certified as being authentic by the issuing +governmental agency. + +HISTORY: +S. 129, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1262. +Fla. Stat. 717.1262 + + 717.1262. Court documents. +Any person who claims entitlement to unclaimed property by reason of a + +court document shall file a certified copy of the court document with the +department. A certified copy of each pleading filed with the court to obtain a +court document establishing entitlement, filed within 180 days before the date +the claim form was signed by the claimant or claimants representative, must +also be filed with the department. + +HISTORY: +S. 130, ch. 2004-390; s. 5, ch. 2016-90, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.127. +Fla. Stat. 717.127 + + 717.127. Election to take payment or delivery. +The department may decline to receive any property reported under this + +chapter that the department considers to have a value less than the expense of +giving notice and of sale. If the department elects not to receive custody of +the property, the holder shall be notified within 120 days after filing the +report required under s. 717.117 or remitting the property required under s. +717.119. + +HISTORY: +S. 28, ch. 87-105; s. 18, ch. 96-301. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.128. +Fla. Stat. 717.128 + + 717.128. Destruction or disposition of property having insubstantial +commercial value; immunity from liability. + +If the department after investigation finds that any property delivered under +this chapter has insubstantial commercial value, the department may destroy +or otherwise dispose of the property. No action or proceeding may be +maintained against the state or any officer or against the holder for or on +account of any action taken by the department pursuant to this section with +respect to the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 29, ch. 87-105. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.129. +Fla. Stat. 717.129 + + 717.129. Periods of limitation. +(1) The expiration before or after July 1, 1987, of any period of time + +specified by contract, statute, or court order, during which a claim for +money or property may be made or during which an action or proceeding +may be commenced or enforced to obtain payment of a claim for money or +to recover property, does not prevent the money or property from being +presumed unclaimed or affect any duty to file a report or to pay or deliver +unclaimed property to the department as required by this chapter. + +(2) No action or proceeding may be commenced by the department with +respect to any duty of a holder under this chapter more than 10 years after +the duty arose. + +HISTORY: +S. 30, ch. 87-105; s. 27, ch. 2001-36. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1301. +Fla. Stat. 717.1301 + + 717.1301. Investigations; examinations; subpoenas. +(1) The department may make investigations and examinations within or + +outside this state of claims, reports, and other records as it deems necessary +to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. In such +investigations and examinations the department may administer oaths, +examine witnesses, issue subpoenas, and otherwise gather evidence. The +department may request any person who has not filed a report under s. +717.117 to file a verified report stating whether or not the person is holding +any unclaimed property reportable or deliverable under this chapter. + +(2) Subpoenas for witnesses whose evidence is deemed material to any +investigation or examination under this section may be issued by the +department under seal of the department, or by any court of competent +jurisdiction, commanding such witnesses to appear before the department +at a time and place named and to bring such books, records, and documents +as may be specified or to submit such books, records, and documents to +inspection. Such subpoenas may be served by an authorized representative +of the department. + +(3) If any person shall refuse to testify, produce books, records, and +documents, or otherwise refuse to obey a subpoena issued under this +section, the department may present its petition to a court of competent +jurisdiction in or for the county in which such person resides or has its +principal place of business, whereupon the court shall issue its rule nisi +requiring such person to obey forthwith the subpoena issued by the +department or show cause for failing to obey said subpoena. Unless said +person shows sufficient cause for failing to obey the subpoena, the court +shall forthwith direct such person to obey the same subject to such +punishment as the court may direct including, but not limited to, the +restraint, by injunction or by appointment of a receiver, of any transfer, +pledge, assignment, or other disposition of such persons assets or any +concealment, alteration, destruction, or other disposition of subpoenaed +books, records, or documents as the court deems appropriate, until such +person has fully complied with such subpoena and the department has +completed its investigation or examination. The department is entitled to + + + +the summary procedure provided in s. 51.011, and the court shall advance +the cause on its calendar. Costs incurred by the department to obtain an +order granting, in whole or in part, its petition shall be taxed against the +subpoenaed person, and failure to comply with such order shall be a +contempt of court. + +(4) Witnesses shall be entitled to the same fees and mileage as they may +be entitled by law for attending as witnesses in the circuit court, except +where such examination or investigation is held at the place of business or +residence of the witness. + +(5) The material compiled by the department in an investigation or +examination under this chapter is confidential until the investigation or +examination is complete. The material compiled by the department in an +investigation or examination under this chapter remains confidential after +the departments investigation or examination is complete if the +department has submitted the material or any part of it to any law +enforcement agency or other administrative agency for further +investigation or for the filing of a criminal or civil prosecution and such +investigation has not been completed or become inactive. + +(6) If an investigation or an examination of the records of any person +results in the disclosure of property reportable and deliverable under this +chapter, the department may assess the cost of investigation or the +examination against the holder at the rate of $100 per 8-hour day for each +investigator or examiner. Such fee shall be calculated on an hourly basis +and shall be rounded to the nearest hour. The person shall also pay the +travel expense and per diem subsistence allowance provided for state +employees in s. 112.061. The person shall not be required to pay a per +diem fee and expenses of an examination or investigation which shall +consume more than 30 worker-days in any one year unless such +examination or investigation is due to fraudulent practices of the person, in +which case such person shall be required to pay the entire cost regardless +of time consumed. The fee shall be remitted to the department within 30 +days after the date of the notification that the fee is due and owing. Any +person who fails to pay the fee within 30 days after the date of the +notification that the fee is due and owing shall pay to the department +interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum on such fee from the date of the +notification. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 31, ch. 87-105; s. 1, ch. 94-262; s. 131, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1311. +Fla. Stat. 717.1311 + + 717.1311. Retention of records. +(1) Every holder required to file a report under s. 717.117 shall maintain + +a record of the specific type of property, amount, name, and last known +address of the owner for 5 years after the property becomes reportable, +except to the extent that a shorter time is provided in subsection (2) or by +rule of the department. + +(2) Any business association that sells in this state its travelers checks, +money orders, or other similar written instruments, other than third-party +bank checks on which the business association is directly responsible, or +that provides such instruments to others for sale in this state, shall maintain +a record of those instruments while they remain outstanding, indicating the +state and date of issue for 3 years after the date the property is reportable. + +HISTORY: +S. 32, ch. 87-105; s. 24, ch. 91-110; s. 19, ch. 96-301; s. 15, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1315. +Fla. Stat. 717.1315 + + 717.1315. Retention of records by claimants representatives and +buyers of unclaimed property. +(1) Every claimants representative and buyer of unclaimed property + +shall keep and use in his or her business such books, accounts, and records +of the business conducted under this chapter to enable the department to +determine whether such person is complying with this chapter and the rules +adopted by the department under this chapter. Every claimants +representative and buyer of unclaimed property shall preserve such books, +accounts, and records, including every Unclaimed Property Recovery +Agreement or Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement between the owner +and such claimants representative or buyer, for at least 3 years after the +date of the initial agreement. + +(2) A claimants representative or buyer of unclaimed property, +operating at two or more places of business in this state, may maintain the +books, accounts, and records of all such offices at any one of such offices, +or at any other office maintained by such claimants representative or +buyer of unclaimed property, upon the filing of a written notice with the +department designating in the written notice the office at which such +records are maintained. + +(3) A claimants representative or buyer of unclaimed property shall +make all books, accounts, and records available at a convenient location in +this state upon request of the department. + +HISTORY: +S. 28, ch. 2001-36; s. 132, ch. 2004-390; s. 16, ch. 2005-163; s. 4, ch. + +2021-144, effective June 21, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.132. +Fla. Stat. 717.132 + + 717.132. Enforcement; cease and desist orders; fines. +(1) The department may bring an action in any court of competent + +jurisdiction to enforce or administer any provision of this chapter, any rule +or order promulgated under this chapter, or any written agreement entered +into with the department. + +(2) In addition to any other powers conferred upon it to enforce and +administer the provisions of this chapter, the department may issue and +serve upon a person an order to cease and desist and to take corrective +action whenever the department finds that such person is violating, has +violated, or is about to violate any provision of this chapter, any rule or +order promulgated under this chapter, or any written agreement entered +into with the department. For purposes of this subsection, the term +corrective action includes refunding excessive charges, requiring a +person to return unclaimed property, requiring a holder to remit unclaimed +property, and requiring a holder to correct a report that contains errors or +omissions. Any such order shall contain a notice of rights provided by ss. +120.569 and 120.57. + +(3) In addition to any other powers conferred upon it to enforce and +administer the provisions of this chapter, the department or a court of +competent jurisdiction may impose fines against any person found to have +violated any provision of this chapter, any rule or order promulgated under +this chapter, or any written agreement entered into with the department in +an amount not to exceed $2,000 for each violation. All fines collected +under this subsection shall be deposited as received in the Unclaimed +Property Trust Fund. + +HISTORY: +S. 33, ch. 87-105; s. 4, ch. 93-280; s. 20, ch. 96-301; s. 298, ch. 96-410; s. + +29, ch. 2001-36; s. 133, ch. 2004-390; s. 17, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1322. +Fla. Stat. 717.1322 + + 717.1322. Administrative and civil enforcement. +(1) The following acts are violations of this chapter and constitute + +grounds for an administrative enforcement action by the department in +accordance with the requirements of chapter 120 and for civil enforcement +by the department in a court of competent jurisdiction: +(a) Failure to comply with any provision of this chapter, any rule or order + +adopted under this chapter, or any written agreement entered into with the +department. + +(b) Fraud, misrepresentation, deceit, or gross negligence in any matter +within the scope of this chapter. + +(c) Fraudulent misrepresentation, circumvention, or concealment of any +matter required to be stated or furnished to an owner or apparent owner under +this chapter, regardless of reliance by or damage to the owner or apparent +owner. + +(d) Willful imposition of illegal or excessive charges in any unclaimed +property transaction. + +(e) False, deceptive, or misleading solicitation or advertising within the +scope of this chapter. + +(f) Failure to maintain, preserve, and keep available for examination all +books, accounts, or other documents required by this chapter, by any rule or +order adopted under this chapter, or by any agreement entered into with the +department under this chapter. + +(g) Refusal to permit inspection of books and records in an investigation or +examination by the department or refusal to comply with a subpoena issued +by the department under this chapter. + +(h) Criminal conduct in the course of a persons business. +(i) Failure to timely pay any fine imposed or assessed under this + +chapter or any rule adopted under this chapter. +(j) Requesting or receiving compensation for notifying a person of his or + + + +her unclaimed property or assisting another person in filing a claim for +unclaimed property, unless the person is an attorney licensed to practice law +in this state, a Florida-certified public accountant, or a private investigator +licensed under chapter 493, or entering into, or making a solicitation to enter +into, an agreement to file a claim for unclaimed property owned by another, +or a contract or agreement to purchase unclaimed property, unless such +person is registered with the department under this chapter and an attorney +licensed to practice law in this state in the regular practice of her or his +profession, a Florida-certified public accountant who is acting within the +scope of the practice of public accounting as defined in chapter 473, or a +private investigator licensed under chapter 493. This paragraph does not +apply to a person who has been granted a durable power of attorney to +convey and receive all of the real and personal property of the owner, is the +court-appointed guardian of the owner, has been employed as an attorney or +qualified representative to contest the departments denial of a claim, or has +been employed as an attorney to probate the estate of the owner or an heir or +legatee of the owner. + +(k) Failure to authorize the release of records in the possession of a third +party after being requested to do so by the department regarding a pending +examination or investigation. + +(l) Receipt or solicitation of consideration to be paid in advance of +the approval of a claim under this chapter. + +(2) Upon a finding by the department that any person has committed any +of the acts set forth in subsection (1), the department may enter an order: +(a) Revoking for a minimum of 5 years or suspending for a maximum of 5 + +years a registration previously granted under this chapter during which time +the registrant may not reapply for a registration under this chapter; + +(b) Placing a registrant or an applicant for a registration on probation for a +period of time and subject to such conditions as the department may specify; + +(c) Placing permanent restrictions or conditions upon issuance or +maintenance of a registration under this chapter; + +(d) Issuing a reprimand; +(e) Imposing an administrative fine not to exceed $2,000 for each such act; + +or + + + +(f) Prohibiting any person from being a director, officer, agent, employee, +or ultimate equitable owner of a 10-percent or greater interest in an employer +of a registrant. + +(3) A registrant is subject to civil enforcement and the disciplinary +actions specified in subsection (2) for violations of subsection (1) by an +agent or employee of the registrants employer if the registrant knew or +should have known that such agent or employee was violating any +provision of this chapter. +(4)(a) The department shall adopt, by rule, and periodically review the +disciplinary guidelines applicable to each ground for disciplinary action +which may be imposed by the department under this chapter. +(b) The disciplinary guidelines shall specify a meaningful range of + +designated penalties based upon the severity or repetition of specific offenses, +or both. It is the legislative intent that minor violations be distinguished from +more serious violations; that such guidelines consider the amount of the claim +involved, the complexity of locating the owner, the steps taken to ensure the +accuracy of the claim by the person filing the claim, the acts of commission +and omission of the ultimate owners in establishing themselves as rightful +owners of the funds, the acts of commission or omission of the agent or +employee of an employer in the filing of the claim, the actual knowledge of +the agent, employee, employer, or owner in the filing of the claim, the +departure, if any, by the agent or employee from the internal controls and +procedures established by the employer with regard to the filing of a claim, +the number of defective claims previously filed by the agent, employee, +employer, or owner; that such guidelines provide reasonable and meaningful +notice of likely penalties that may be imposed for proscribed conduct; and +that such penalties be consistently applied by the department. + +(c) A specific finding of mitigating or aggravating circumstances shall +allow the department to impose a penalty other than that provided for in such +guidelines. The department shall adopt by rule disciplinary guidelines to +designate possible mitigating and aggravating circumstances and the +variation and range of penalties permitted for such circumstances. Such +mitigating and aggravating circumstances shall also provide for consideration +of, and be consistent with, the legislative intent expressed in paragraph (b). + +(d) In any proceeding brought under this chapter, the administrative law + + + +judge, in recommending penalties in any recommended order, shall follow +the penalty guidelines established by the department and shall state in writing +any mitigating or aggravating circumstances upon which the recommended +penalty is based. + +(5) The department may seek any appropriate civil legal remedy +available to it by filing a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction +against any person who has, directly or through a claimants +representative, wrongfully submitted a claim as the ultimate owner of +property and improperly received funds from the department in violation +of this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 134, ch. 2004-390; s. 18, ch. 2005-163; s. 5, ch. 2021-144, effective + +June 21, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1323. +Fla. Stat. 717.1323 + + 717.1323. Prohibited practice. +A person may not knowingly enter false information onto the Internet + +website of the Division of Unclaimed Property. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 2005-163; s. 41, ch. 2016-165, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.133. +Fla. Stat. 717.133 + + 717.133. Interstate agreements and cooperation; joint and reciprocal +actions with other states. +(1) The department may enter into agreements with other states to + +exchange information needed to enable this or another state to audit or +otherwise determine unclaimed property that it or another state may be +entitled to subject to a claim of custody. The department may require the +reporting of information needed to enable compliance with agreements +made pursuant to this section and prescribe the form. + +(2) The department may join with other states to seek enforcement of +this chapter against any person. + +(3) At the request of another state, the department may bring an action in +the name of the other state in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce +the unclaimed property laws of the other state against a holder in this state +of property subject to escheat or a claim of abandonment by the other state, +if the other state has agreed to pay expenses incurred in bringing the +action. + +(4) The department may request that the attorney general of another state +or any other person bring an action in the name of the department in the +other state. The department may pay all expenses including attorneys fees +in any action under this subsection. + +(5) As necessary for proper administration of this chapter, the +department may enter into contracts for the location or collection of +property subject to payment or delivery to the department under this +chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 34, ch. 87-105. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1331. +Fla. Stat. 717.1331 + + 717.1331. Actions against holders. +The department may initiate, or cause to be initiated, an action against a + +holder to enforce a subpoena or recover unclaimed property. If the +department prevails in a civil or administrative action to enforce a subpoena +or recover unclaimed property initiated by or on behalf of the department, the +holder shall be ordered to pay the department reasonable costs and attorneys +fees. + +HISTORY: +S. 135, ch. 2004-390; s. 20, ch. 2005-163. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1333. +Fla. Stat. 717.1333 + + 717.1333. Evidence; estimations; audit reports, examiners worksheets, +investigative reports, other related documents. +(1) In any proceeding involving a holder under ss. 120.569 and 120.57 + +in which an auditor, examiner, or investigator acting under authority of this +chapter is available for cross-examination, any official written report, +worksheet, or other related paper, or copy thereof, compiled, prepared, +drafted, or otherwise made or received by the auditor, examiner, or +investigator, after being duly authenticated by the auditor, examiner, or +investigator, may be admitted as competent evidence upon the oath of the +auditor, examiner, or investigator that the report, worksheet, or related +paper was prepared or received as a result of an audit, examination, or +investigation of the books and records of the person audited, examined, or +investigated, or the agent thereof. + +(2) If the records of the holder that are available for the periods subject +to this chapter are insufficient to permit the preparation of a report of the +unclaimed property due and owing by a holder, or if the holder fails to +provide records after being requested to do so, the amount due to the +department may be reasonably estimated. + +HISTORY: +S. 136, ch. 2004-390; s. 21, ch. 2005-163; s. 6, ch. 2016-90, effective July + +1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.134. +Fla. Stat. 717.134 + + 717.134. Penalties and interest. +(1) The department may impose and collect a penalty of $500 per day up + +to a maximum of $5,000 and 25 percent of the value of property not +reported until a report is rendered for any person who willfully fails to +render any report required under this chapter. Upon a holders showing of +good cause, the department may waive said penalty or any portion thereof. +If the holder acted in good faith and without negligence, the department +shall waive the penalty provided herein. + +(2) The department may impose and collect a penalty of $500 per day up +to a maximum of $5,000 and 25 percent of the value of property not paid +or delivered until the property is paid or delivered for any person who +willfully refuses to pay or deliver abandoned property to the department as +required under this chapter. + +(3) Any person who willfully or fraudulently conceals, destroys, +damages, or makes unlawful disposition of any property or of the books, +records, or accounts pertaining to property which is subject to the +provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, +punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. + +(4) In addition to any damages, penalties, or fines for which a person +may be liable under any other provision of law, any person who fails to +report or pay or deliver unclaimed property within the time prescribed by +this chapter shall pay to the department interest at the rate of 12 percent per +annum on such property, or value thereof, from the date such property +shall have been paid or delivered. The department may waive any penalty +due under this subsection with appropriate justification. + +(5) The department may impose and collect a penalty of $500 per day up +to a maximum of $5,000 and 25 percent of the value of property willfully +not reported with all of the information required by this chapter. Upon a +holders showing of good cause, the department may waive the penalty or +any portion thereof. If the holder acted in good faith and without +negligence, the department shall waive the penalty provided herein. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 35, ch. 87-105; s. 21, ch. 96-301; s. 137, ch. 2004-390. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1341. +Fla. Stat. 717.1341 + + 717.1341. Invalid claims, recovery of property, interest and penalties. +(1)(a) No person shall receive unclaimed property that the person is not +entitled to receive. Any person who receives, or assists another person to +receive, unclaimed property that the person is not entitled to receive is +strictly, jointly, personally, and severally liable for the unclaimed property +and shall immediately return the property, or the reasonable value of the +property if the property has been damaged or disposed of, to the +department plus interest at the rate set in accordance with s. 55.03(1). +Assisting another person to receive unclaimed property includes executing +a claim form on the persons behalf. +(b)1. In the case of stocks or bonds which have been sold, the proceeds +from the sale shall be returned to the department plus any dividends or +interest received thereon plus an amount equal to the brokerage fee plus +interest at a rate set in accordance with s. 55.03(1) on the proceeds from +the sale of the stocks or bonds, the dividends or interest received, and the +brokerage fee. +2. In the case of stocks or bonds which have not been sold, the stocks or + +bonds and any dividends or interest received thereon shall be returned to the +department, together with interest on the dividends or interest received, at a +rate set in accordance with s. 55.03(1) of the value of the property. + +(2) The department may maintain a civil or administrative action: +(a) To recover unclaimed property that was paid or remitted to a person + +who was not entitled to the unclaimed property or to offset amounts owed to +the department against amounts owed to an owner representative; + +(b) Against a person who assists another person in receiving, or attempting +to receive, unclaimed property that the person is not entitled to receive; or + +(c) Against a person who attempts to receive unclaimed property that the +person is not entitled to receive. + +(3) If the department prevails in any proceeding under subsection (2), a +fine not to exceed three times the value of the property received or sought +to be received may be imposed on any person who knowingly, or with + + + +reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance of the truth, violated this section. +If the department prevails in a civil or administrative proceeding under +subsection (2), the person who violated subsection (1) shall be ordered to +pay the department reasonable costs and attorneys fees. + +(4) No person shall knowingly file, knowingly conspire to file, or +knowingly assist in filing, a claim for unclaimed property the person is not +entitled to receive. Any person who violates this subsection regarding +unclaimed property of an aggregate value: +(a) Greater than $50,000, is guilty of a felony of the first degree, + +punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084; +(b) Greater than $10,000 up to $50,000, is guilty of a felony of the second + +degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084; +(c) Greater than $250 up to $10,000, is guilty of a felony of the third + +degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084; +(d) Greater than $50 up to $250, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first + +degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083; or +(e) Up to $50, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable + +as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. + +HISTORY: +S. 138, ch. 2004-390; s. 2, ch. 2011-169, eff. July 1, 2011. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.135. +Fla. Stat. 717.135 + + 717.135. Recovery agreements and purchase agreements for claims +filed by a claimants representative; fees and costs. +(1) In order to protect the interests of owners of unclaimed property, the + +department shall adopt by rule a form entitled Unclaimed Property +Recovery Agreement and a form entitled Unclaimed Property Purchase +Agreement. + +(2) The Unclaimed Property Recovery Agreement and the Unclaimed +Property Purchase Agreement must include and disclose all of the +following: +(a) The total dollar amount of unclaimed property accounts claimed or + +sold. +(b) The total percentage of all authorized fees and costs to be paid to the + +claimants representative or the percentage of the value of the property to be +paid as net gain to the purchasing claimants representative. + +(c) The total dollar amount to be deducted and received from the claimant +as fees and costs by the claimants representative or the total net dollar +amount to be received by the purchasing claimants representative. + +(d) The net dollar amount to be received by the claimant or the seller. +(e) For each account claimed, the unclaimed property account number. +(f) For the Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement, a statement that the + +amount of the purchase price will be remitted to the seller by the purchaser +within 30 days after the execution of the agreement by the seller. + +(g) The name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and license number +of the claimants representative. + +(h)1. The manual signature of the claimant or seller and the date signed, +affixed on the agreement by the claimant or seller. +2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, the + +department may allow an apparent owner, who is also the claimant, to sign +the agreement electronically for claims of $2,000 or less. All electronic + + + +signatures on the Unclaimed Property Recovery Agreement and the +Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement must be affixed on the agreement +by the claimant or seller using the specific, exclusive eSignature product and +protocol authorized by the department. + +(i) The social security number or taxpayer identification number of +the claimant or seller, if a number has been issued to the claimant or +seller. + +(j) The total fees and costs, or the total discount in the case of a purchase +agreement, which may not exceed 30 percent of the claimed amount. If the +total fees and costs exceed 30 percent, the fees and costs shall be reduced to +30 percent and the net balance shall be remitted directly by the department to +the claimant. + +(3) For an Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement form, proof that the +purchaser has made payment must be filed with the department along with +the claim. If proof of payment is not provided, the claim is void. + +(4) A claimants representative must use the Unclaimed Property +Recovery Agreement or the Unclaimed Property Purchase Agreement as +the exclusive means of engaging with a claimant or seller to file a claim +with the department. + +(5) Fees and costs may be owed or paid to, or received by, a claimants +representative only after a filed claim has been approved and if the +claimants representative used an agreement authorized by this section. + +(6) A claimants representative may not use or distribute any other +agreement, form, or other media with respect to the claimant or seller +which relates, directly or indirectly, to unclaimed property accounts held +by the department or the Chief Financial Officer other than the agreements +authorized by this section. Any engagement, authorization, recovery, or fee +agreement that is not authorized by this section is void. A claimants +representative is subject to administrative and civil enforcement under s. +717.1322 if he or she uses an agreement that is not authorized by this +section. + +(7) The Unclaimed Property Recovery Agreement and the Unclaimed +Property Purchase Agreement may not contain language that makes the +agreement irrevocable or that creates an assignment of any portion of + + + +unclaimed property held by the department. +(8) When a claim is approved, the department may pay any additional + +account that is owned by the claimant but has not been claimed at the time +of approval, provided that a subsequent claim has not been filed or is not +pending for the claimant at the time of approval. + +(9) This section does not supersede s. 717.1241. + +HISTORY: +S. 36, ch. 87-105; s. 1, ch. 91-261; s. 2, ch. 94-191; s. 22, ch. 96-301; s. 30, + +ch. 2001-36; s. 1889, ch. 2003-261; s. 139, ch. 2004-390; s. 22, ch. 2005-163; +s. 7, ch. 2016-90, effective July 1, 2016; s. 42, ch. 2016-165, effective July 1, +2016; s. 6, ch. 2021-144, effective June 21, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1351. +Fla. Stat. 717.1351 + + 717.1351. Acquisition of unclaimed property. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +S. 140, ch. 2004-390; s. 23, ch. 2005-163; s. 8, ch. 2016-90, effective July + +1, 2016; s. 43, ch. 2016-165, effective July 1, 2016; repealed by s. 7, ch. +2021-144, effective June 21, 2021. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1355. +Fla. Stat. 717.1355 + + 717.1355. Theme park and entertainment complex tickets. +This chapter does not apply to any tickets for admission to a theme park or + +entertainment complex as defined in s. 509.013(9), or to any tickets to a +permanent exhibition or recreational activity within such theme park or +entertainment complex. + +HISTORY: +S. 23, ch. 96-301. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.136. +Fla. Stat. 717.136 + + 717.136. Foreign transactions. +This chapter does not apply to any property held, due, and owing in a + +foreign country and arising out of foreign transaction. + +HISTORY: +S. 37, ch. 87-105. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.138. +Fla. Stat. 717.138 + + 717.138. Rulemaking authority. +The department shall administer and provide for the enforcement of this + +chapter. The department has authority to adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536 +(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this chapter. The department +may adopt rules to allow for electronic filing of fees, forms, and reports +required by this chapter. The authority to adopt rules pursuant to this chapter +applies to all unclaimed property reported and remitted to the Chief Financial +Officer, including, but not limited to, property reported and remitted pursuant +to ss. 45.032, 732.107, 733.816, and 744.534. + +HISTORY: +S. 39, ch. 87-105; s. 220, ch. 98-200; s. 31, ch. 2001-36; s. 1890, ch. 2003- + +261; s. 27, ch. 2016-132, effective July 1, 2016; s. 10, ch. 2018-71, effective +July 1, 2019. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1381. +Fla. Stat. 717.1381 + + 717.1381. Void unclaimed property powers of attorney and purchase +agreements. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +S. 24, ch. 2005-163; repealed by s. 9, ch. 2016-90, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1382. +Fla. Stat. 717.1382 + + 717.1382. United States savings bond; unclaimed property; +escheatment; procedure. +(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a United States savings + +bond in possession of the department or registered to a person with a last +known address in the state, including a bond that is lost, stolen, or +destroyed, is presumed abandoned and unclaimed 5 years after the bond +reaches maturity and no longer earns interest and shall be reported and +remitted to the department by the financial institution or other holder in +accordance with ss. 717.117(1) and (3) and 717.119, if the department is +not in possession of the bond. +(2)(a) After a United States savings bond is abandoned and unclaimed in +accordance with subsection (1), the department may commence a civil +action in a court of competent jurisdiction in Leon County for a +determination that the bond shall escheat to the state. Upon determination +of escheatment, all property rights to the bond or proceeds from the bond, +including all rights, powers, and privileges of survivorship of an owner, +co-owner, or beneficiary, shall vest solely in the state. +(b) Service of process by publication may be made on a party in a civil + +action pursuant to this section. A notice of action shall state the name of any +known owner of the bond, the nature of the action or proceeding in short and +simple terms, the name of the court in which the action or proceeding is +instituted, and an abbreviated title of the case. + +(c) The notice of action shall require a person claiming an interest in the +bond to file a written defense with the clerk of the court and serve a copy of +the defense by the date fixed in the notice. The date must not be less than 28 +or more than 60 days after the first publication of the notice. + +(d) The notice of action shall be published once a week for 4 consecutive +weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in Leon County. Proof +of publication shall be placed in the court file. + +(e)1. If no person files a claim with the court for the bond and if the +department has substantially complied with the provisions of this section, +the court shall enter a default judgment that the bond, or proceeds from + + + +such bond, has escheated to the state. +2. If a person files a claim for one or more bonds and, after notice and + +hearing, the court determines that the claimant is not entitled to the bonds +claimed by such claimant, the court shall enter a judgment that such bonds, or +proceeds from such bonds, have escheated to the state. + +3. If a person files a claim for one or more bonds and, after notice and +hearing, the court determines that the claimant is entitled to the bonds +claimed by such claimant, the court shall enter a judgment in favor of the +claimant. + +(3) The department may redeem a United States savings bond escheated +to the state pursuant to this section or, in the event that the department is +not in possession of the bond, seek to obtain the proceeds from such bond. +Proceeds received by the department shall be deposited in accordance with +s. 717.123. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2015-152, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 3, ch. 2015-152, provides: This act applies to any United States + +savings bond that reaches maturity on, before, or after the effective date of +this act. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1383. +Fla. Stat. 717.1383 + + 717.1383. United States savings bond; claim for bond. +A person claiming a United States savings bond escheated to the state + +under s. 717.1382, or for the proceeds from such bond, may file a claim with +the department. The department may approve the claim if the person is able +to provide sufficient proof of the validity of the persons claim. Once a bond, +or the proceeds from such bond, are remitted to a claimant, no action +thereafter may be maintained by any other person against the department, the +state, or any officer thereof, for or on account of such funds. The persons +sole remedy, if any, shall be against the claimant who received the bond or +the proceeds from such bond. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2015-152, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 3, ch. 2015-152, provides: This act applies to any United States + +savings bond that reaches maturity on, before, or after the effective date of +this act. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.139. +Fla. Stat. 717.139 + + 717.139. Uniformity of application and construction. +(1) It is the public policy of the state to protect the interests of owners of + +unclaimed property. It is declared to be in the best interests of owners of +unclaimed property that such owners receive the full amount of any +unclaimed property without any fee. + +(2) This chapter shall be applied and construed as to effectuate its +general purpose of protecting the interest of missing owners of property, +while providing that the benefit of all unclaimed and abandoned property +shall go to all the people of the state, and to make uniform the law with +respect to the subject of this chapter among states enacting it. + +HISTORY: +S. 40, ch. 87-105; s. 10, ch. 2016-90, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1400. +Fla. Stat. 717.1400 + + 717.1400. Registration. +(1) In order to file claims as a claimants representative, acquire + +ownership of or entitlement to unclaimed property, receive a distribution of +fees and costs from the department, and obtain unclaimed property dollar +amounts and numbers of reported shares of stock held by the department, a +private investigator holding a Class C individual license under chapter +493 must register with the department on such form as the department +prescribes by rule and must be verified by the applicant. To register with +the department, a private investigator must provide: +(a) A legible copy of the applicants Class A business license under + +chapter 493 or that of the applicants firm or employer which holds a Class +A business license under chapter 493. + +(b) A legible copy of the applicants Class C individual license issued +under chapter 493. + +(c) The business address and telephone number of the applicants private +investigative firm or employer. + +(d) The names of agents or employees, if any, who are designated to act on +behalf of the private investigator, together with a legible copy of their photo +identification issued by an agency of the United States, or a state, or a +political subdivision thereof. + +(e) Sufficient information to enable the department to disburse funds by +electronic funds transfer. + +(f) The tax identification number of the private investigators firm or +employer which holds a Class A business license under chapter 493. + +(2) In order to file claims as a claimants representative, acquire +ownership of or entitlement to unclaimed property, receive a distribution of +fees and costs from the department, and obtain unclaimed property dollar +amounts and numbers of reported shares of stock held by the department, a +Florida-certified public accountant must register with the department on +such form as the department prescribes by rule and must be verified by the +applicant. To register with the department, a Florida-certified public + + + +accountant must provide: +(a) The applicants Florida Board of Accountancy number. +(b) A legible copy of the applicants current driver license showing the full + +name and current address of such person. If a current driver license is not +available, another form of identification showing the full name and current +address of such person or persons shall be filed with the department. + +(c) The business address and telephone number of the applicants public +accounting firm or employer. + +(d) The names of agents or employees, if any, who are designated to act on +behalf of the Florida-certified public accountant, together with a legible copy +of their photo identification issued by an agency of the United States, or a +state, or a political subdivision thereof. + +(e) Sufficient information to enable the department to disburse funds by +electronic funds transfer. + +(f) The tax identification number of the accountants public accounting +firm employer. + +(3) In order to file claims as a claimants representative, acquire +ownership of or entitlement to unclaimed property, receive a distribution of +fees and costs from the department, and obtain unclaimed property dollar +amounts and numbers of reported shares of stock held by the department, +an attorney licensed to practice in this state must register with the +department on such form as the department prescribes by rule and must be +verified by the applicant. To register with the department, such attorney +must provide: +(a) The applicants Florida Bar number. +(b) A legible copy of the applicants current driver license showing the full + +name and current address of such person. If a current driver license is not +available, another form of identification showing the full name and current +address of such person or persons shall be filed with the department. + +(c) The business address and telephone number of the applicants firm or +employer. + +(d) The names of agents or employees, if any, who are designated to act on + + + +behalf of the attorney, together with a legible copy of their photo +identification issued by an agency of the United States, or a state, or a +political subdivision thereof. + +(e) Sufficient information to enable the department to disburse funds by +electronic funds transfer. + +(f) The tax identification number of the attorneys firm or employer. +(4) Information and documents already on file with the department + +before the effective date of this provision need not be resubmitted in order +to complete the registration. + +(5) If a material change in the status of a registration occurs, a registrant +must, within 30 days, provide the department with the updated +documentation and information in writing. Material changes include, but +are not limited to: a designated agent or employee ceasing to act on behalf +of the designating person, a surrender, suspension, or revocation of a +license, or a license renewal. +(a) If a designated agent or employee ceases to act on behalf of the person + +who has designated the agent or employee to act on such persons behalf, the +designating person must, within 30 days, inform the Division of Unclaimed +Property in writing of the termination of agency or employment. + +(b) If a registrant surrenders the registrants license or the license is +suspended or revoked, the registrant must, within 30 days, inform the +division in writing of the surrender, suspension, or revocation. + +(c) If a private investigators Class C individual license under chapter +493 or a private investigators employers Class A business license under +chapter 493 is renewed, the private investigator must provide a copy of the +renewed license to the department within 30 days after the receipt of the +renewed license by the private investigator or the private investigators +employer. + +(6) A registrants firm or employer may not have a name that might lead +another person to conclude that the registrants firm or employer is +affiliated or associated with the United States, or an agency thereof, or a +state or an agency or political subdivision of a state. The department shall +deny an application for registration or revoke a registration if the +applicants or registrants firm or employer has a name that might lead + + + +another person to conclude that the firm or employer is affiliated or +associated with the United States, or an agency thereof, or a state or an +agency or political subdivision of a state. Names that might lead another +person to conclude that the firm or employer is affiliated or associated with +the United States, or an agency thereof, or a state or an agency or political +subdivision of a state, include, but are not limited to, the words United +States, Florida, state, bureau, division, department, or government. + +(7) The licensing and other requirements of this section must be +maintained as a condition of registration with the department. + +HISTORY: +S. 141, ch. 2004-390; s. 133, ch. 2005-2; s. 25, ch. 2005-163; s. 11, ch. + +2016-90, effective July 1, 2016; s. 44, ch. 2016-165, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XL. , Ch. 717. , 717.1401. +Fla. Stat. 717.1401 + + 717.1401. Repeal. +This chapter shall not repeal, but shall be additional and supplemental to + +the existing provisions of ss. 43.18 and 402.17 and chapter 716. + +HISTORY: +S. 41, ch. 87-105; s. 62, ch. 92-348; s. 11, ch. 2018-71, effective July 1, + +2019. + + + + Title XLII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII + +TITLE XLII. +ESTATES AND TRUSTS. + +________ + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. + +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 731 + + + +CHAPTER 731. +PROBATE CODE: GENERAL PROVISIONS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 731, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +SHORT TITLE; CONSTRUCTION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.005. +Fla. Stat. 731.005 + + 731.005. Short title. +Chapters 731-735 shall be known and may be cited as the Florida Probate + +Code and referred to as the code. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 1, ch. 75-220; s. 4, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.011. +Fla. Stat. 731.011 + + 731.011. Determination of substantive rights; procedures. +The code became effective on January 1, 1976. The substantive rights of + +all persons that vested prior to January 1, 1976, shall be determined as +provided in former chapters 731-737 and 744-746. The procedures for the +enforcement of vested substantive rights shall be as provided in the Florida +Probate Rules. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 74-106; ss. 2, 113, ch. 75-220; s. 5, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.102. +Fla. Stat. 731.102 + + 731.102. Construction against implied repeal. +This code is intended as unified coverage of its subject matter. No part of it + +shall be impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation if that construction can +reasonably be avoided. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 2, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.103. +Fla. Stat. 731.103 + + 731.103. Evidence as to death or status. +In proceedings under this code and under chapter 736, the following + +additional rules relating to determination of death and status are applicable: +(1) An authenticated copy of a death certificate issued by an official or + +agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie +proof of the fact, place, date, and time of death and the identity of the +decedent. + +(2) A copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic +or foreign, that a person is alive, missing, detained, or, from the facts +related, presumed dead is prima facie evidence of the status and of the +dates, circumstances, and places disclosed by the record or report. + +(3) A person who is absent from the place of his or her last known +domicile for a continuous period of 5 years and whose absence is not +satisfactorily explained after diligent search and inquiry is presumed to be +dead. The persons death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the +period unless there is evidence establishing that death occurred earlier. +Evidence showing that the absent person was exposed to a specific peril of +death may be a sufficient basis for the court determining at any time after +such exposure that he or she died less than 5 years after the date on which +his or her absence commenced. A petition for this determination shall be +filed in the county in Florida where the decedent maintained his or her +domicile or in any county of this state if the decedent was not a resident of +Florida at the time his or her absence commenced. + +(4) This section does not preclude the establishment of death by direct or +circumstantial evidence prior to expiration of the 5-year time period set +forth in subsection (3). + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 2, ch. 75-220; s. 946, ch. 97-102; s. 1, ch. 2003-154; s. + +27, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. + + + +Created from former s. 734.34. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.1035. +Fla. Stat. 731.1035 + + 731.1035. Applicable rules of evidence. +In proceedings under this code, the rules of evidence in civil actions are + +applicable unless specifically changed by the code. + +HISTORY: +S. 28, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.104. +Fla. Stat. 731.104 + + 731.104. Verification of documents. +When verification of a document is required in this code or by rule, the + +document filed shall include an oath or affirmation as provided in the Florida +Probate Rules. Any person who willfully includes a false statement in the +document shall be guilty of perjury. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 2, ch. 75-220; s. 6, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.105. +Fla. Stat. 731.105 + + 731.105. In rem proceeding. +Probate proceedings are in rem proceedings. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.1055. +Fla. Stat. 731.1055 + + 731.1055. Disposition of real property. +The validity and effect of a disposition, whether intestate or testate, of real + +property in this state shall be determined by Florida law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2016-189, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.106. +Fla. Stat. 731.106 + + 731.106. Assets of nondomiciliaries. +(1) A debt in favor of a nondomiciliary, other than one evidenced by + +investment or commercial paper or other instrument, is located in the +county where the debtor resides or, if the debtor is not an individual, at the +place where the debtor has its principal office. Commercial paper, +investment paper, and other instruments are located where the instrument +is at the time of death. + +(2) When a nonresident decedent, whether or not a citizen of the United +States, provides by will that the testamentary disposition of tangible or +intangible personal property having a situs within this state shall be +construed and regulated by the laws of this state, the validity and effect of +the dispositions shall be determined by Florida law. The court may, and in +the case of a decedent who was at the time of death a resident of a foreign +country the court shall, direct the personal representative appointed in this +state to make distribution directly to those designated by the decedents +will as beneficiaries of the tangible or intangible property or to the persons +entitled to receive the decedents personal estate under the laws of the +decedents domicile. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 947, ch. 97-102; s. 7, ch. 2001-226; s. + +2, ch. 2016-189, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.1065. +Fla. Stat. 731.1065 + + 731.1065. Precious metals. +(1) For the purposes of the code, precious metals in any tangible form, + +such as bullion or coins kept and acquired for their historical, artistic, +collectable, or investment value apart from their normal use as legal tender +for payment, are tangible personal property. + +(2) This section is intended to clarify existing law and applies +retroactively to all written instruments executed before, on, or after July 1, +2020, as well as all proceedings pending or commenced before, on, or after +July 1, 2020, in which the disposition of precious metals in any tangible +form has not been finally determined. + +History. +S. 1, ch. 2020-67, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.109. +Fla. Stat. 731.109 + + 731.109. Seal of the court. +For the purposes of this code, the seal of the clerk of the circuit court is the + +seal of the court. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.110. +Fla. Stat. 731.110 + + 731.110. Caveat; proceedings. +(1) Any interested person who is apprehensive that an estate, either + +testate or intestate, will be administered or that a will may be admitted to +probate without that persons knowledge may file a caveat with the court. +The caveat of the interested person, other than a creditor, may be filed +before or after the death of the person for whom the estate will be, or is +being, administered. The caveat of a creditor may be filed only after the +persons death. + +(2) If the caveator is a nonresident and is not represented by an attorney +admitted to practice in this state who has signed the caveat, the caveator +must designate some person residing in the county in which the caveat is +filed as the agent of the caveator, upon whom service may be made; +however, if the caveator is represented by an attorney admitted to practice +in this state who has signed the caveat, it is not necessary to designate a +resident agent. + +(3) If a caveat has been filed by an interested person other than a +creditor, the court may not admit a will of the decedent to probate or +appoint a personal representative until formal notice of the petition for +administration has been served on the caveator or the caveators designated +agent and the caveator has had the opportunity to participate in +proceedings on the petition, as provided by the Florida Probate Rules. This +subsection does not require a caveator to be served with formal notice of +its own petition for administration. + +(4) A caveat filed before the death of the person for whom the estate will +be administered expires 2 years after filing. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 75-220; s. 2, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 85-79; s. 2, ch. 92-200; s. 948, ch. + +97-102; s. 9, ch. 2001-226; s. 2, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2010- +132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010; s. 5, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. I. , 731.155. +Fla. Stat. 731.155 + + 731.155. Applicability. +This act shall take effect January 1, 2002. The substantive rights of all + +persons that have vested prior to January 1, 2002, shall be determined as +provided in former chapters 63, 215, 409, 660, and 731-737 as they existed +prior to January 1, 2002. The procedures for the enforcement of substantive +rights which have vested prior to January 1, 2002, shall be as provided in this +act, except that any Family Administration filed before January 1, 2002, may +be completed as a Family Administration. + +HISTORY: +S. 195, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 731, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +DEFINITIONS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. II. , 731.201. +Fla. Stat. 731.201 + + 731.201. General definitions. +Subject to additional definitions in subsequent chapters that are applicable + +to specific chapters or parts, and unless the context otherwise requires, in this +code, in s. 409.9101, and in chapters 736, 738, 739, and 744, the term: + +(1) Authenticated, when referring to copies of documents or judicial +proceedings required to be filed with the court under this code, means a +certified copy or a copy authenticated according to the Federal Rules of +Civil Procedure. + +(2) Beneficiary means heir at law in an intestate estate and devisee in +a testate estate. The term beneficiary does not apply to an heir at law or a +devisee after that persons interest in the estate has been satisfied. In the +case of a devise to an existing trust or trustee, or to a trust or trustee +described by will, the trustee is a beneficiary of the estate. Except as +otherwise provided in this subsection, the beneficiary of the trust is not a +beneficiary of the estate of which that trust or the trustee of that trust is a +beneficiary. However, if each trustee is also a personal representative of +the estate, each qualified beneficiary of the trust as defined in s. 736.0103 +shall be regarded as a beneficiary of the estate. + +(3) Child includes a person entitled to take as a child under this code +by intestate succession from the parent whose relationship is involved, and +excludes any person who is only a stepchild, a foster child, a grandchild, or +a more remote descendant. + +(4) Claim means a liability of the decedent, whether arising in +contract, tort, or otherwise, and funeral expense. The term does not include +an expense of administration or estate, inheritance, succession, or other +death taxes. + +(5) Clerk means the clerk or deputy clerk of the court. +(6) Collateral heir means an heir who is related to the decedent + + + +through a common ancestor but who is not an ancestor or descendant of the +decedent. + +(7) Court means the circuit court. +(8) Curator means a person appointed by the court to take charge of + +the estate of a decedent until letters are issued. +(9) Descendant means a person in any generational level down the + +applicable individuals descending line and includes children, +grandchildren, and more remote descendants. The term descendant is +synonymous with the terms lineal descendant and issue but excludes +collateral heirs. + +(10) Devise, when used as a noun, means a testamentary disposition of +real or personal property and, when used as a verb, means to dispose of +real or personal property by will or trust. The term includes gift, give, +bequeath, bequest, and legacy. A devise is subject to charges for +debts, expenses, and taxes as provided in this code, the will, or the trust. + +(11) Devisee means a person designated in a will or trust to receive a +devise. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, in the case of a +devise to an existing trust or trustee, or to a trust or trustee of a trust +described by will, the trust or trustee, rather than the beneficiaries of the +trust, is the devisee. However, if each trustee is also a personal +representative of the estate, each qualified beneficiary of the trust as +defined in s. 736.0103 shall be regarded as a devisee. + +(12) Distributee means a person who has received estate property +from a personal representative or other fiduciary other than as a creditor or +purchaser. A testamentary trustee is a distributee only to the extent of +distributed assets or increments to them remaining in the trustees hands. A +beneficiary of a testamentary trust to whom the trustee has distributed +property received from a personal representative is a distributee. For +purposes of this provision, testamentary trustee includes a trustee to +whom assets are transferred by will, to the extent of the devised assets. + +(13) Domicile means a persons usual place of dwelling and shall be +synonymous with residence. + +(14) Estate means the property of a decedent that is the subject of +administration. + + + +(15) Exempt property means the property of a decedents estate which +is described in s. 732.402. + +(16) File means to file with the court or clerk. +(17) Foreign personal representative means a personal representative + +of another state or a foreign country. +(18) Formal notice means a form of notice that is described in and + +served by a method of service provided under rule 5.040(a) of the Florida +Probate Rules. + +(19) Grantor means one who creates or adds to a trust and includes +settlor or trustor and a testator who creates or adds to a trust. + +(20) Heirs or heirs at law means those persons, including the +surviving spouse, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession +to the property of a decedent. + +(21) Incapacitated means a judicial determination that a person lacks +the capacity to manage at least some of the persons property or to meet at +least some of the persons essential health and safety requirements. A +minor shall be treated as being incapacitated. + +(22) Informal notice or notice means a method of service for +pleadings or papers as provided under rule 5.040(b) of the Florida Probate +Rules. + +(23) Interested person means any person who may reasonably be +expected to be affected by the outcome of the particular proceeding +involved. In any proceeding affecting the estate or the rights of a +beneficiary in the estate, the personal representative of the estate shall be +deemed to be an interested person. In any proceeding affecting the +expenses of the administration and obligations of a decedents estate, or +any claims described in s. 733.702(1), the trustee of a trust described in s. +733.707(3) is an interested person in the administration of the grantors +estate. The term does not include a beneficiary who has received complete +distribution. The meaning, as it relates to particular persons, may vary +from time to time and must be determined according to the particular +purpose of, and matter involved in, any proceedings. + +(24) Letters means authority granted by the court to the personal + + + +representative to act on behalf of the estate of the decedent and refers to +what has been known as letters testamentary and letters of administration. +All letters shall be designated letters of administration. + +(25) Minor means a person under 18 years of age whose disabilities +have not been removed by marriage or otherwise. + +(26) Other state means any state of the United States other than +Florida and includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of +Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative +authority of the United States. + +(27) Parent excludes any person who is only a stepparent, foster +parent, or grandparent. + +(28) Personal representative means the fiduciary appointed by the +court to administer the estate and refers to what has been known as an +administrator, administrator cum testamento annexo, administrator de +bonis non, ancillary administrator, ancillary executor, or executor. + +(29) Petition means a written request to the court for an order. +(30) Power of appointment means an authority, other than as an + +incident of the beneficial ownership of property, to designate recipients of +beneficial interests in property. + +(31) Probate of will means all steps necessary to establish the validity +of a will and to admit a will to probate. + +(32) Property means both real and personal property or any interest in +it and anything that may be the subject of ownership, including causes of +action of the estate and causes of action the decedent had at the time of +death. + +(33) Protected homestead means the property described in s. 4(a)(1), +Art. X of the State Constitution on which at the death of the owner the +exemption inures to the owners surviving spouse or heirs under s. 4(b), +Art. X of the State Constitution. For purposes of the code, real property +owned in tenancy by the entireties or in joint tenancy with rights of +survivorship is not protected homestead. + +(34) Residence means a persons place of dwelling. + + + +(35) Residuary devise means a devise of the assets of the estate which +remain after the provision for any devise which is to be satisfied by +reference to a specific property or type of property, fund, sum, or statutory +amount. If the will contains no devise which is to be satisfied by reference +to a specific property or type of property, fund, sum, or statutory amount, +residuary devise or residue means a devise of all assets remaining after +satisfying the obligations of the estate. + +(36) Security means a security as defined in s. 517.021. +(37) Security interest means a security interest as defined in s. + +671.201. +(38) Trust means an express trust, private or charitable, with additions + +to it, wherever and however created. It also includes a trust created or +determined by a judgment or decree under which the trust is to be +administered in the manner of an express trust. Trust excludes other +constructive trusts, and it excludes resulting trusts; conservatorships; +custodial arrangements pursuant to the Florida Uniform Transfers to +Minors Act; business trusts providing for certificates to be issued to +beneficiaries; common trust funds; land trusts under s. 689.071, except to +the extent provided in s. 689.071(7); trusts created by the form of the +account or by the deposit agreement at a financial institution; voting trusts; +security arrangements; liquidation trusts; trusts for the primary purpose of +paying debts, dividends, interest, salaries, wages, profits, pensions, or +employee benefits of any kind; and any arrangement under which a person +is nominee or escrowee for another. + +(39) Trustee includes an original, additional, surviving, or successor +trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by court. + +(40) Will means a testamentary instrument, including a codicil, +executed by a person in the manner prescribed by this code, which +disposes of the persons property on or after his or her death and includes +an instrument which merely appoints a personal representative or guardian +or revokes or revises another will. The term includes an electronic will as +defined in s. 732.521. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 4, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 2, ch. 85-79; s. 66, ch. + + + +87-226; s. 1, ch. 88-340; s. 7, ch. 93-257; s. 6, ch. 95-401; s. 949, ch. 97-102; +s. 52, ch. 98-421; s. 11, ch. 2001-226; s. 106, ch. 2002-1; s. 2, ch. 2003-154; +s. 2, ch. 2005-108; s. 29, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2007-74, +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 1, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 4, ch. 2010-132, eff. +Oct. 1, 2010; s. 1, ch. 2012-109, eff. July 1, 2012; s. 16, ch. 2013-172, eff. +Oct. 1, 2013; s. 30, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020; s. 2, ch. 2020-67, +effective October 1, 2020. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.03. +The introductory language of s. 1, ch. 2012-109, provides: Effective July + +1, 2012, and applicable to proceedings pending before or commenced on or +after July 1, 2012, subsection (33) of section 731.201, Florida Statutes, is +amended to read. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. III. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 731, Pt. III + + + +PART III. +NOTICE AND REPRESENTATION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. III. , 731.301. +Fla. Stat. 731.301 + + 731.301. Notice. +(1) If notice to an interested person of a petition or other proceeding is + +required, the notice shall be given to the interested person or that persons +attorney as provided in the code or the Florida Probate Rules. + +(2) In a probate proceeding, formal notice to a person is sufficient notice +for the court to exercise its in rem jurisdiction over the persons interest in +the estate property or in the decedents protected homestead. The court +does not acquire personal jurisdiction over a person by service of formal +notice. + +(3) Persons given proper notice of a proceeding are bound by all orders +entered in that proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 5, ch. 75-220; s. 3, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, ch. + +93-257; s. 64, ch. 95-211; s. 950, ch. 97-102; s. 12, ch. 2001-226; s. 5, ch. +2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010; s. 3, ch. 2020-67, effective October 1, 2020. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.28. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. III. , 731.302. +Fla. Stat. 731.302 + + 731.302. Waiver and consent by interested person. +Subsequent to the filing of a petition for administration, an interested + +person, including a guardian ad litem, administrator ad litem, guardian of the +property, personal representative, trustee, or other fiduciary, or a sole holder +or all coholders of a power of revocation or a power of appointment, may +waive, to the extent of that persons interest or the interest which that person +represents, subject to the provisions of ss. 731.303 and 733.604, any right or +notice or the filing of any document, exhibit, or schedule required to be filed +and may consent to any action or proceeding which may be required or +permitted by this code. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 6, ch. 75-220; s. 4, ch. 77-87; s. 267, ch. 79-400; s. 3, + +ch. 84-106; s. 25, ch. 2003-154. + +Editors notes. +Section 25, ch. 2003-154 reenacted 731.302 without change to incorporate + +amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. +Created from former s. 732.28. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. III. , 731.303. +Fla. Stat. 731.303 + + 731.303. Representation. +In the administration of or in judicial proceedings involving estates of + +decedents, the following apply: +(1) Persons are bound by orders binding others in the following cases: + +(a)1. Orders binding the sole holder or all coholders of a power of +revocation or a general, special, or limited power of appointment, +including one in the form of a power of amendment or revocation to the +extent that the power has not become unexercisable in fact, bind all +persons to the extent that their interests, as persons who may take by virtue +of the exercise or nonexercise of the power, are subject to the power. +2. Subparagraph 1. does not apply to: +a. Any matter determined by the court to involve fraud or bad faith by the + +trustee; +b. A power of a trustee to distribute trust property; or +c. A power of appointment held by a person while the person is the sole + +trustee. +(b) To the extent there is no conflict of interest between them or among the + +persons represented: +1. Orders binding a guardian of the property bind the ward. +2. Orders binding a trustee bind beneficiaries of the trust in proceedings to + +probate a will, in establishing or adding to a trust, in reviewing the acts or +accounts of a prior fiduciary, and in proceedings involving creditors or other +third parties. However, for purposes of this section, a conflict of interest shall +be deemed to exist when each trustee of a trust that is a beneficiary of the +estate is also a personal representative of the estate. + +3. Orders binding a personal representative bind persons interested in the +undistributed assets of a decedents estate, in actions or proceedings by or +against the estate. + +(c) An unborn or unascertained person, or a minor or any other person + + + +under a legal disability, who is not otherwise represented is bound by an +order to the extent that persons interest is represented by another party +having the same or greater quality of interest in the proceeding. + +(2) Orders binding a guardian of the person shall not bind the ward. +(3) In proceedings involving the administration of estates, notice is + +required as follows: +(a) Notice as prescribed by law shall be given to every interested person, or + +to one who can bind the interested person as described in paragraph (1)(a) or +paragraph (1)(b). Notice may be given both to the interested person and to +another who can bind him or her. + +(b) Notice is given to unborn or unascertained persons who are not +represented pursuant to paragraph (1)(a) or paragraph (1)(b) by giving notice +to all known persons whose interests in the proceedings are the same as, or of +a greater quality than, those of the unborn or unascertained persons. + +(4) If the court determines that representation of the interest would +otherwise be inadequate, the court may, at any time, appoint a guardian ad +litem to represent the interests of an incapacitated person, an unborn or +unascertained person, a minor or any other person otherwise under a legal +disability, or a person whose identity or address is unknown. If not +precluded by conflict of interest, a guardian ad litem may be appointed to +represent several persons or interests. + +(5) The holder of a power of appointment over property not held in trust +may represent and bind persons whose interests, as permissible appointees, +takers in default, or otherwise, are subject to the power. Representation +under this subsection does not apply to: +(a) Any matter determined by the court to involve fraud or bad faith by the + +trustee; +(b) A power of a trustee to distribute trust property; or +(c) A power of appointment held by a person while the person is the sole + +trustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 7, ch. 75-220; s. 5, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, ch. + + + +88-217; s. 3, ch. 92-200; s. 951, ch. 97-102; s. 13, ch. 2001-226; s. 3, ch. +2002-82; s. 3, ch. 2003-154; s. 30, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 9, ch. +2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 731. , Pt. III. , 731.401. +Fla. Stat. 731.401 + + 731.401. Arbitration of disputes. +(1) A provision in a will or trust requiring the arbitration of disputes, + +other than disputes of the validity of all or a part of a will or trust, between +or among the beneficiaries and a fiduciary under the will or trust, or any +combination of such persons or entities, is enforceable. + +(2) Unless otherwise specified in the will or trust, a will or trust +provision requiring arbitration shall be presumed to require binding +arbitration under chapter 682, the Revised Florida Arbitration Code. If an +arbitration enforceable under this section is governed under chapter 682, +the arbitration provision in the will or trust shall be treated as an agreement +for the purposes of applying chapter 682. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 37, ch. 2013-232, eff. July 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732 + + + +CHAPTER 732. +PROBATE CODE: INTESTATE SUCCESSION AND WILLS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +INTESTATE SUCCESSION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.101. +Fla. Stat. 732.101 + + 732.101. Intestate estate. +(1) Any part of the estate of a decedent not effectively disposed of by + +will passes to the decedents heirs as prescribed in the following sections +of this code. + +(2) The decedents death is the event that vests the heirs right to the +decedents intestate property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 8, ch. 75-220; s. 14, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.23. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.102. +Fla. Stat. 732.102 + + 732.102. Spouses share of intestate estate. +The intestate share of the surviving spouse is: + +(1) If there is no surviving descendant of the decedent, the entire +intestate estate. + +(2) If the decedent is survived by one or more descendants, all of whom +are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse has +no other descendant, the entire intestate estate. + +(3) If there are one or more surviving descendants of the decedent who +are not lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, one-half of the intestate +estate. + +(4) If there are one or more surviving descendants of the decedent, all of +whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the surviving +spouse has one or more descendants who are not descendants of the +decedent, one-half of the intestate estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 8, ch. 75-220; s. 15, ch. 2001-226; s. 5, ch. 2007-74, + +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 2, ch. 2011-183, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.23. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + +Section 2, ch. 2012-109, provides: Notwithstanding section 2 or section +14 of chapter 2011-183, Laws of Florida, the amendments to section 732.102, +Florida Statutes, made by section 2 of that act apply only to the estates of +decedents dying on or after October 1, 2011. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.103. +Fla. Stat. 732.103 + + 732.103. Share of other heirs. +The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse under s. + +732.102, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, descends +as follows: + +(1) To the descendants of the decedent. +(2) If there is no descendant, to the decedents father and mother + +equally, or to the survivor of them. +(3) If there is none of the foregoing, to the decedents brothers and + +sisters and the descendants of deceased brothers and sisters. +(4) If there is none of the foregoing, the estate shall be divided, one-half + +of which shall go to the decedents paternal, and the other half to the +decedents maternal, kindred in the following order: +(a) To the grandfather and grandmother equally, or to the survivor of them. +(b) If there is no grandfather or grandmother, to uncles and aunts and + +descendants of deceased uncles and aunts of the decedent. +(c) If there is either no paternal kindred or no maternal kindred, the estate + +shall go to the other kindred who survive, in the order stated above. +(5) If there is no kindred of either part, the whole of the property shall + +go to the kindred of the last deceased spouse of the decedent as if the +deceased spouse had survived the decedent and then died intestate entitled +to the estate. + +(6) If none of the foregoing, and if any of the descendants of the +decedents great-grandparents were Holocaust victims as defined in s. +626.9543(3)(a), including such victims in countries cooperating with the +discriminatory policies of Nazi Germany, then to the descendants of the +great-grandparents. The court shall allow any such descendant to meet a +reasonable, not unduly restrictive, standard of proof to substantiate his or +her lineage. This subsection only applies to escheated property and shall +cease to be effective for proceedings filed after December 31, 2004. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 8, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 16, ch. 2001-226; s. + +145, ch. 2004-390; s. 102, ch. 2006-1, eff. July 4, 2006; s. 6, ch. 2007-74, eff. +July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.23. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.104. +Fla. Stat. 732.104 + + 732.104. Inheritance per stirpes. +Descent shall be per stirpes, whether to descendants or to collateral heirs. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 9, ch. 75-220; s. 7, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.25. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.105. +Fla. Stat. 732.105 + + 732.105. Half blood. +When property descends to the collateral kindred of the intestate and part + +of the collateral kindred are of the whole blood to the intestate and the other +part of the half blood, those of the half blood shall inherit only half as much +as those of the whole blood; but if all are of the half blood they shall have +whole parts. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 10, ch. 75-220. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.24. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.106. +Fla. Stat. 732.106 + + 732.106. Afterborn heirs. +Heirs of the decedent conceived before his or her death, but born + +thereafter, inherit intestate property as if they had been born in the decedents +lifetime. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 10, ch. 75-220; s. 6, ch. 77-87; s. 952, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.11. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.107. +Fla. Stat. 732.107 + + 732.107. Escheat. +(1) When a person dies leaving an estate without being survived by any + +person entitled to a part of it, that part shall escheat to the state. +(2) Property that escheats shall be sold as provided in the Florida + +Probate Rules and the proceeds paid to the Chief Financial Officer of the +state and deposited in the State School Fund. + +(3) At any time within 10 years after the payment to the Chief Financial +Officer, a person claiming to be entitled to the proceeds may reopen the +administration to assert entitlement to the proceeds. If no claim is timely +asserted, the states rights to the proceeds shall become absolute. + +(4) The Department of Legal Affairs shall represent the state in all +proceedings concerning escheated estates. +(5)(a) If a person entitled to the proceeds assigns the rights to receive +payment to an attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or private +investigative agency which is duly licensed to do business in this state +pursuant to a written agreement with that person, the Department of +Financial Services is authorized to make distribution in accordance with +the assignment. +(b) Payments made to an attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or + +private investigative agency shall be promptly deposited into a trust or +escrow account which is regularly maintained by the attorney, Florida- +certified public accountant, or private investigative agency in a financial +institution authorized to accept such deposits and located in this state. + +(c) Distribution by the attorney, Florida-certified public accountant, or +private investigative agency to the person entitled to the proceeds shall be +made within 10 days following final credit of the deposit into the trust or +escrow account at the financial institution, unless a party to the agreement +protests the distribution in writing before it is made. + +(d) The department shall not be civilly or criminally liable for any proceeds +distributed pursuant to this subsection, provided such distribution is made in +good faith. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 10, ch. 75-220; s. 4, ch. 89-291; s. 9, ch. 89-299; s. 953, + +ch. 97-102; s. 32, ch. 2001-36; s. 17, ch. 2001-226; s. 1896, ch. 2003-261. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.33. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.108. +Fla. Stat. 732.108 + + 732.108. Adopted persons and persons born out of wedlock. +(1) For the purpose of intestate succession by or from an adopted person, + +the adopted person is a descendant of the adopting parent and is one of the +natural kindred of all members of the adopting parents family, and is not a +descendant of his or her natural parents, nor is he or she one of the kindred +of any member of the natural parents family or any prior adoptive parents +family, except that: +(a) Adoption of a child by the spouse of a natural parent has no effect on + +the relationship between the child and the natural parent or the natural +parents family. + +(b) Adoption of a child by a natural parents spouse who married the +natural parent after the death of the other natural parent has no effect on the +relationship between the child and the family of the deceased natural parent. + +(c) Adoption of a child by a close relative, as defined in s. 63.172(2), has +no effect on the relationship between the child and the families of the +deceased natural parents. + +(2) For the purpose of intestate succession in cases not covered by +subsection (1), a person born out of wedlock is a descendant of his or her +mother and is one of the natural kindred of all members of the mothers +family. The person is also a descendant of his or her father and is one of +the natural kindred of all members of the fathers family, if: +(a) The natural parents participated in a marriage ceremony before or after + +the birth of the person born out of wedlock, even though the attempted +marriage is void. + +(b) The paternity of the father is established by an adjudication before or +after the death of the father. Chapter 95 shall not apply in determining heirs +in a probate proceeding under this paragraph. + +(c) The paternity of the father is acknowledged in writing by the father. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 11, ch. 75-220; s. 7, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 2, ch. +87-27; s. 954, ch. 97-102; s. 8, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 2, ch. 2009- +115, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 731.29, 731.30. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.1081. +Fla. Stat. 732.1081 + + 732.1081. Termination of parental rights. +For the purpose of intestate succession by a natural or adoptive parent, a + +natural or adoptive parent is barred from inheriting from or through a child if +the natural or adoptive parents parental rights were terminated pursuant to +chapter 39 prior to the death of the child, and the natural or adoptive parent +shall be treated as if the parent predeceased the child. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2012-109, eff. July 1, 2012. + +Editors notes. +The introductory language of s. 4, ch. 2012-109, provides: Effective July + +1, 2012, and applicable only to estates of persons dying on or after July 1, +2012, section 732.1081, Florida Statutes, is created to read. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.109. +Fla. Stat. 732.109 + + 732.109. Debts to decedent. +A debt owed to the decedent shall not be charged against the intestate share + +of any person except the debtor. If the debtor does not survive the decedent, +the debt shall not be taken into account in computing the intestate share of the +debtors heirs. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 11, ch. 75-220. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.01. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.1101. +Fla. Stat. 732.1101 + + 732.1101. Aliens. +Aliens shall have the same rights of inheritance as citizens. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 955, ch. 97-102; s. 18, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.28. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. I. , 732.111. +Fla. Stat. 732.111 + + 732.111. Dower and curtesy abolished. +Dower and curtesy are abolished. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +ELECTIVE SHARE OF SURVIVING SPOUSE; RIGHTS IN + +COMMUNITY PROPERTY. + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.201. + +Fla. Stat. 732.201 + + 732.201. Right to elective share. +The surviving spouse of a person who dies domiciled in Florida has the + +right to a share of the elective estate of the decedent as provided in this part, +to be designated the elective share. The election does not reduce what the +spouse receives if the election were not made and the spouse is not treated as +having predeceased the decedent. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 13, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 99-343; s. 3, ch. 2016-189, + +effective July 1, 2016. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.34. +Section 4, ch. 2016-189, provides: It is the intent of the Legislature that + +the amendment to s. 732.201, Florida Statutes, made by this act is to clarify +existing law. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2025. +Fla. Stat. 732.2025 + + 732.2025. Definitions. +As used in ss. 732.2025-732.2155, the term: + +(1) Direct recipient means the decedents probate estate and any other +person who receives property included in the elective estate by transfer +from the decedent, including transfers described in s. 732.2035(9), by right +of survivorship, or by beneficiary designation under a governing +instrument. For this purpose, a beneficiary of an insurance policy on the +decedents life, the net cash surrender value of which is included in the +elective estate, is treated as having received property included in the +elective estate. In the case of property held in trust, direct recipient +includes the trustee but excludes the beneficiaries of the trust. + +(2) Elective share trust means a trust under which: +(a) The surviving spouse is entitled for life to the use of the property or to + +all of the income payable at least as often as annually; +(b) The surviving spouse has the right under the terms of the trust or state + +law to require the trustee either to make the property productive or to convert +it within a reasonable time; and + +(c) During the spouses life, no person other than the spouse has the power +to distribute income or principal to anyone other than the spouse. + +As used in this subsection, the term income has the same meaning as that +provided in s. 643(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and +regulations adopted under that section. + +(3) General power of appointment means a power of appointment +under which the holder of the power, whether or not the holder has the +capacity to exercise it, has the power to create a present or future interest in +the holder, the holders estate, or the creditors of either. The term includes +a power to consume or invade the principal of a trust, but only if the power +is not limited by an ascertainable standard relating to the holders health, +education, support, or maintenance. + +(4) Governing instrument means a deed; will; trust; insurance or + + + +annuity policy; account with payable-on-death designation; security +registered in beneficiary form (TOD); pension, profit-sharing, retirement, +or similar benefit plan; an instrument creating or exercising a power of +appointment or a power of attorney; or a dispositive, appointive, or +nominative instrument of any similar type. + +(5) Payor means an insurer, business entity, employer, government, +governmental agency or subdivision, or any other person, other than the +decedents personal representative or a trustee of a trust created by the +decedent, authorized or obligated by law or a governing instrument to +make payments. + +(6) Person includes an individual, trust, estate, partnership, +association, company, or corporation. + +(7) Probate estate means all property wherever located that is subject +to estate administration in any state of the United States or in the District of +Columbia. + +(8) Qualifying special needs trust or supplemental needs trust means +a trust established for an ill or disabled surviving spouse with court +approval before or after a decedents death, if, commencing on the +decedents death: +(a) The income and principal are distributable to or for the benefit of the + +spouse for life in the discretion of one or more trustees less than half of +whom are ineligible family trustees. For purposes of this paragraph, ineligible +family trustees include the decedents grandparents and any descendants of +the decedents grandparents who are not also descendants of the surviving +spouse; and + +(b) During the spouses life, no person other than the spouse has the power +to distribute income or principal to anyone other than the spouse. + +The requirement for court approval shall not apply if the aggregate value of +all property in all qualifying special needs trusts for the spouse is less than +$100,000. For purposes of this subsection, value is determined on the +applicable valuation date as defined in s. 732.2095(1)(a). + +(9) Revocable trust means a trust that is includable in the elective +estate under s. 732.2035(5). + + + +(10) Transfer in satisfaction of the elective share means an irrevocable +transfer by the decedent during life to an elective share trust. + +(11) Transfer tax value means the value the interest would have for +purposes of the United States estate and gift tax laws if it passed without +consideration to an unrelated person on the applicable valuation date. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 99-343; s. 19, ch. 2001-226; s. 2, ch. 2002-82; s. 151, ch. 2004-5; + +s. 9, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 1, +ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, 2017. + +Editors notes. +Section 643(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this section, is + +codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 643(b). + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2035. +Fla. Stat. 732.2035 + + 732.2035. Property entering into elective estate. +Except as provided in s. 732.2045, the elective estate consists of the sum of + +the values as determined under s. 732.2055 of the following property +interests: + +(1) The decedents probate estate. +(2) The decedents interest in property which constitutes the protected + +homestead of the decedent. +(3) The decedents ownership interest in accounts or securities registered + +in Pay On Death, Transfer On Death, In Trust For, or co-ownership +with right of survivorship form. For this purpose, decedents ownership +interest means, in the case of accounts or securities held in tenancy by the +entirety, one-half of the value of the account or security, and in all other +cases, that portion of the accounts or securities which the decedent had, +immediately before death, the right to withdraw or use without the duty to +account to any person. + +(4) The decedents fractional interest in property, other than property +described in subsection (3) or subsection (8), held by the decedent in joint +tenancy with right of survivorship or in tenancy by the entirety. For this +purpose, decedents fractional interest in property means the value of the +property divided by the number of tenants. + +(5) That portion of property, other than property described in +subsections (2) and (3), transferred by the decedent to the extent that at the +time of the decedents death the transfer was revocable by the decedent +alone or in conjunction with any other person. This subsection does not +apply to a transfer that is revocable by the decedent only with the consent +of all persons having a beneficial interest in the property. +(6)(a) That portion of property, other than property described in subsection +(2), subsection (4), subsection (5), or subsection (8), transferred by the +decedent to the extent that at the time of the decedents death: +1. The decedent possessed the right to, or in fact enjoyed the possession or + +use of, the income or principal of the property; or + + + +2. The principal of the property could, in the discretion of any person other +than the spouse of the decedent, be distributed or appointed to or for the +benefit of the decedent. + +In the application of this subsection, a right to payments under a +commercial or private annuity, an annuity trust, a unitrust, or a similar +arrangement shall be treated as a right to that portion of the income of the +property necessary to equal the annuity, unitrust, or other payment. + +(b) The amount included under this subsection is: +1. With respect to subparagraph (a)1., the value of the portion of the + +property to which the decedents right or enjoyment related, to the extent the +portion passed to or for the benefit of any person other than the decedents +probate estate; and + +2. With respect to subparagraph (a)2., the value of the portion subject to +the discretion, to the extent the portion passed to or for the benefit of any +person other than the decedents probate estate. + +(c) This subsection does not apply to any property if the decedents only +interests in the property are that: + +1. The property could be distributed to or for the benefit of the decedent +only with the consent of all persons having a beneficial interest in the +property; or + +2. The income or principal of the property could be distributed to or for the +benefit of the decedent only through the exercise or in default of an exercise +of a general power of appointment held by any person other than the +decedent; or + +3. The income or principal of the property is or could be distributed in +satisfaction of the decedents obligation of support; or + +4. The decedent had a contingent right to receive principal, other than at +the discretion of any person, which contingency was beyond the control of +the decedent and which had not in fact occurred at the decedents death. + +(7) The decedents beneficial interest in the net cash surrender value +immediately before death of any policy of insurance on the decedents life. + +(8) The value of amounts payable to or for the benefit of any person by + + + +reason of surviving the decedent under any public or private pension, +retirement, or deferred compensation plan, or any similar arrangement, +other than benefits payable under the federal Railroad Retirement Act or +the federal Social Security System. In the case of a defined contribution +plan as defined in s. 414(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended, this subsection shall not apply to the excess of the proceeds of +any insurance policy on the decedents life over the net cash surrender +value of the policy immediately before the decedents death. + +(9) Property that was transferred during the 1-year period preceding the +decedents death as a result of a transfer by the decedent if the transfer was +either of the following types: +(a) Any property transferred as a result of the termination of a right or + +interest in, or power over, property that would have been included in the +elective estate under subsection (5) or subsection (6) if the right, interest, or +power had not terminated until the decedents death. + +(b) Any transfer of property to the extent not otherwise included in the +elective estate, made to or for the benefit of any person, except: + +1. Any transfer of property for medical or educational expenses to the +extent it qualifies for exclusion from the United States gift tax under s. +2503(e) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended; and + +2. After the application of subparagraph 1., the first annual exclusion +amount of property transferred to or for the benefit of each donee during the +1-year period, but only to the extent the transfer qualifies for exclusion from +the United States gift tax under s. 2503(b) or (c) of the Internal Revenue +Code, as amended. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term annual +exclusion amount means the amount of one annual exclusion under s. +2503(b) or (c) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended. + +(c) Except as provided in paragraph (d), for purposes of this subsection: +1. A termination with respect to a right or interest in property occurs + +when the decedent transfers or relinquishes the right or interest, and, with +respect to a power over property, a termination occurs when the power +terminates by exercise, release, lapse, default, or otherwise. + +2. A distribution from a trust the income or principal of which is subject to +subsection (5), subsection (6), or subsection (10) shall be treated as a transfer + + + +of property by the decedent and not as a termination of a right or interest in, +or a power over, property. + +(d) Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (c) to the contrary: +1. A termination with respect to a right or interest in property does not + +occur when the right or interest terminates by the terms of the governing +instrument unless the termination is determined by reference to the death of +the decedent and the court finds that a principal purpose for the terms of the +instrument relating to the termination was avoidance of the elective share. + +2. A distribution from a trust is not subject to this subsection if the +distribution is required by the terms of the governing instrument unless the +event triggering the distribution is determined by reference to the death of the +decedent and the court finds that a principal purpose of the terms of the +governing instrument relating to the distribution is avoidance of the elective +share. + +(10) Property transferred in satisfaction of the elective share. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 75-220; s. 3, ch. 99-343; s. 20, ch. 2001-226; s. 10, ch. 2007-74, + +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 2, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, 2017. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.206. +Sections 414(i) and 2503 of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this + +section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. n 414(i) and 2503, respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2045. +Fla. Stat. 732.2045 + + 732.2045. Exclusions and overlapping application. +(1) Exclusions. Section 732.2035 does not apply to: + +(a) Except as provided in s. 732.2155(4), any transfer of property by the +decedent to the extent the transfer is irrevocable before the effective date of +this subsection or after that date but before the date of the decedents +marriage to the surviving spouse. + +(b) Any transfer of property by the decedent to the extent the decedent +received adequate consideration in money or moneys worth for the transfer. + +(c) Any transfer of property by the decedent made with the written consent +of the decedents spouse. For this purpose, spousal consent to split-gift +treatment under the United States gift tax laws does not constitute written +consent to the transfer by the decedent. + +(d) The proceeds of any policy of insurance on the decedents life in excess +of the net cash surrender value of the policy whether payable to the +decedents estate, a trust, or in any other manner. + +(e) Any policy of insurance on the decedents life maintained pursuant to a +court order. + +(f) The decedents one-half of the property to which ss. 732.216-732.228, +or any similar provisions of law of another state, apply and real property that +is community property under the laws of the jurisdiction where it is located. + +(g) Property held in a qualifying special needs trust on the date of the +decedents death. + +(h) Property included in the gross estate of the decedent for federal estate +tax purposes solely because the decedent possessed a general power of +appointment. + +(i) Property which constitutes the protected homestead of the +decedent if the surviving spouse validly waived his or her homestead +rights as provided under s. 732.702, or otherwise under applicable +law, and such spouse did not receive any interest in the protected +homestead upon the decedents death. + + + +(2) Overlapping application. If s. 732.2035(1) and any other +subsection of s. 732.2035 apply to the same property interest, the amount +included in the elective estate under other subsections is reduced by the +amount included under subsection (1). In all other cases, if more than one +subsection of s. 732.2035 applies to a property interest, only the subsection +resulting in the largest elective estate shall apply. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 99-343; s. 21, ch. 2001-226; s. 4, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; + +s. 3, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2055. +Fla. Stat. 732.2055 + + 732.2055. Valuation of the elective estate. +For purposes of s. 732.2035, value means: +(1)(a) In the case of protected homestead: +1. If the surviving spouse receives a fee simple interest, the fair market + +value of the protected homestead on the date of the decedents death. +2. If the spouse takes a life estate as provided in s. 732.401(1), or validly + +elects to take an undivided one-half interest as a tenant in common as +provided in s. 732.401(2), one-half of the fair market value of the protected +homestead on the date of the decedents death. + +3. If the surviving spouse validly waived his or her homestead rights as +provided under s. 732.702 or otherwise under applicable law, but +nevertheless receives an interest in the protected homestead, other than an +interest described in s. 732.401, including an interest in trust, the value of the +spouses interest is determined as property interests that are not protected +homestead. + +(b) For purposes of this subsection, fair market value shall be calculated by +deducting from the total value of the property all mortgages, liens, and +security interests to which the protected homestead is subject and for which +the decedent is liable, but only to the extent that such amount is not otherwise +deducted as a claim paid or payable from the elective estate. + +(2) In the case of any policy of insurance on the decedents life +includable under s. 732.2035(5), (6), or (7), the net cash surrender value of +the policy immediately before the decedents death. + +(3) In the case of any policy of insurance on the decedents life +includable under s. 732.2035(9), the net cash surrender value of the policy +on the date of the termination or transfer. + +(4) In the case of amounts includable under s. 732.2035(8), the transfer +tax value of the amounts on the date of the decedents death. + +(5) In the case of other property included under s. 732.2035(9), the fair +market value of the property on the date of the termination or transfer, + + + +computed after deducting any mortgages, liens, or security interests on the +property as of that date. + +(6) In the case of all other property, the fair market value of the property +on the date of the decedents death, computed after deducting from the +total value of the property: +(a) All claims paid or payable from the elective estate; and +(b) To the extent they are not deducted under paragraph (a), all mortgages, + +liens, or security interests on the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 99-343; s. 22, ch. 2001-226; s. 4, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2065. +Fla. Stat. 732.2065 + + 732.2065. Amount of the elective share. +The elective share is an amount equal to 30 percent of the elective estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 81-27; s. 6, ch. 99-343. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.207. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2075. +Fla. Stat. 732.2075 + + 732.2075. Sources from which elective share payable; abatement. +(1) Unless otherwise provided in the decedents will or, in the absence + +of a provision in the decedents will, in a trust referred to in the decedents +will, the following are applied first to satisfy the elective share: +(a) Property interests included in the elective estate that pass or have + +passed to or for the benefit of the surviving spouse, including interests that +are contingent upon making the election, but only to the extent that such +contingent interests do not diminish other property interests that would be +applied to satisfy the elective share in the absence of the contingent interests. + +(b) To the extent paid to or for the benefit of the surviving spouse, amounts +payable under any plan or arrangement described in s. 732.2035(8). + +(c) To the extent paid to or for the benefit of the surviving spouse, the +decedents one-half of any property described in s. 732.2045(1)(f). + +(d) To the extent paid to or for the benefit of the surviving spouse, the +proceeds of any term or other policy of insurance on the decedents life if, at +the time of decedents death, the policy was owned by any person other than +the surviving spouse. + +(e) Property held for the benefit of the surviving spouse in a qualifying +special needs trust. + +(f) Property interests that would have satisfied the elective share under any +preceding paragraph of this subsection but were disclaimed. + +(2) If, after the application of subsection (1), the elective share is not +fully satisfied, the unsatisfied balance shall be allocated entirely to one +class of direct recipients of the remaining elective estate and apportioned +among those recipients, and if the elective share amount is not fully +satisfied, to the next class of direct recipients, in the following order of +priority, until the elective share amount is satisfied: +(a) Class 1. The decedents probate estate and revocable trusts. +(b) Class 2. Recipients of property interests, other than protected charitable + +interests, included in the elective estate under s. 732.2035(3), (4), or (7) and, + + + +to the extent the decedent had at the time of death the power to designate the +recipient of the property, property interests, other than protected charitable +interests, included under s. 732.2035(6) and (8). + +(c) Class 3. Recipients of all other property interests, other than protected +charitable interests, included in the elective estate. + +For purposes of this subsection, a protected charitable interest is any +interest for which a charitable deduction with respect to the transfer of the +property was allowed or allowable to the decedent or the decedents spouse +under the United States gift or income tax laws. + +(3) If, after the application of subsections (1) and (2), the elective share +amount is not fully satisfied, the additional amount due to the surviving +spouse shall be determined and satisfied as follows: +(a) The remaining unsatisfied balance shall be satisfied from property + +described in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) which passes or which has passed in a +trust in which the surviving spouse has a beneficial interest, other than an +elective share trust or a qualified special needs trust. + +(b) In determining the amount of the remaining unsatisfied balance, the +effect, if any, of any change caused by the operation of this subsection in the +value of the spouses beneficial interests in property described in paragraphs +(1)(a) and (b) shall be taken into account, including, if necessary, further +recalculations of the value of those beneficial interests. + +(c) If there is more than one trust to which this subsection could apply, +unless otherwise provided in the decedents will or, in the absence of a +provision in the decedents will, in a trust referred to in the decedents will, +the unsatisfied balance shall be apportioned pro rata to all such trusts in +proportion to the value, as determined under s. 732.2095(2)(f), of the +surviving spouses beneficial interests in the trusts. + +(4) If, after the application of subsections (1), (2), and (3), the elective +share is not fully satisfied, any remaining unsatisfied balance shall be +satisfied from direct recipients of protected charitable lead interests, but +only to the extent and at such times that contribution is permitted without +disqualifying the charitable interest in that property for a deduction under +the United States gift tax laws. For purposes of this subsection, a protected +charitable lead interest is a protected charitable interest as defined in + + + +subsection (2) in which one or more deductible interests in charity precede +some other nondeductible interest or interests in the property. + +(5) The contribution required of the decedents probate estate and +revocable trusts may be made in cash or in kind. In the application of this +subsection, subsections (6) and (7) are to be applied to charge contribution +for the elective share to the beneficiaries of the probate estate and +revocable trusts as if all beneficiaries were taking under a common +governing instrument. + +(6) Unless otherwise provided in the decedents will or, in the absence +of a provision in the decedents will, in a trust referred to in the decedents +will, any amount to be satisfied from the decedents probate estate, other +than from property passing to an inter vivos trust, shall be paid from the +assets of the probate estate in the order prescribed in s. 733.805. + +(7) Unless otherwise provided in the trust instrument or, in the +decedents will if there is no provision in the trust instrument, any amount +to be satisfied from trust property shall be paid from the assets of the trust +in the order provided for claims under s. 736.05053(2) and (3). A direction +in the decedents will is effective only for revocable trusts. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 75-220; s. 7, ch. 99-343; s. 23, ch. 2001-226; s. 4, ch. 2002-82; s. + +31, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 11, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 5, +ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 5, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, 2017. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.209. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2085. +Fla. Stat. 732.2085 + + 732.2085. Liability of direct recipients and beneficiaries. +(1) Only direct recipients of property included in the elective estate and + +the beneficiaries of the decedents probate estate or of any trust that is a +direct recipient, are liable to contribute toward satisfaction of the elective +share. +(a) Within each of the classes described in s. 732.2075(2)(b) and (c), each + +direct recipient is liable in an amount equal to the value, as determined under +s. 732.2055, of the proportional part of the liability for all members of the +class. + +(b) Trust and probate estate beneficiaries who receive a distribution of +principal after the decedents death are liable in an amount equal to the value +of the principal distributed to them multiplied by the contribution percentage +of the distributing trust or estate. For this purpose, contribution percentage +means the remaining unsatisfied balance of the trust or estate at the time of +the distribution divided by the value of the trust or estate as determined under +s. 732.2055. Remaining unsatisfied balance means the amount of liability +initially apportioned to the trust or estate reduced by amounts or property +previously contributed by any person in satisfaction of that liability. + +(2) In lieu of paying the amount for which they are liable, beneficiaries +who have received a distribution of property included in the elective estate +and direct recipients other than the decedents probate estate or revocable +trusts, may: +(a) Contribute a proportional part of all property received; or +(b) With respect to any property interest received before the date of the + +courts order of contribution: +1. Contribute all of the property; or +2. If the property has been sold or exchanged prior to the date on which the + +spouses election is filed, pay an amount equal to the value of the property, +less reasonable costs of sale, on the date it was sold or exchanged. + +In the application of paragraph (a), the proportional part of all property + + + +received is determined separately for each class of priority under s. +732.2075(2). + +(3) If a person pays the value of the property on the date of a sale or +exchange or contributes all of the property received, as provided in +paragraph (2)(b): +(a) No further contribution toward satisfaction of the elective share shall be + +required with respect to that property. However, if a persons required +contribution is not fully paid by 2 years after the date of the death of the +decedent, such person must also pay interest at the statutory rate on any +portion of the required contribution that remains unpaid. + +(b) Any unsatisfied contribution is treated as additional unsatisfied balance +and reapportioned to other recipients as provided in s. 732.2075 and this +section. + +(4) If any part of s. 732.2035 or s. 732.2075 is preempted by federal law +with respect to a payment, an item of property, or any other benefit +included in the elective estate, a person who, not for value, receives the +payment, item of property, or any other benefit is obligated to return the +payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount +of the payment or the value of that item of property or benefit, as provided +in ss. 732.2035 and 732.2075, to the person who would have been entitled +to it were that section or part of that section not preempted. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 99-343; s. 24, ch. 2001-226; s. 6, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; + +s. 6, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2095. +Fla. Stat. 732.2095 + + 732.2095. Valuation of property used to satisfy elective share. +(1) Definitions. As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Applicable valuation date means: +1. In the case of transfers in satisfaction of the elective share, the date of + +the decedents death. +2. In the case of property held in a qualifying special needs trust on the + +date of the decedents death, the date of the decedents death. +3. In the case of other property irrevocably transferred to or for the benefit + +of the surviving spouse during the decedents life, the date of the transfer. +4. In the case of property distributed to the surviving spouse by the + +personal representative, the date of distribution. +5. Except as provided in subparagraphs 1., 2., and 3., in the case of + +property passing in trust for the surviving spouse, the date or dates the trust is +funded in satisfaction of the elective share. + +6. In the case of property described in s. 732.2035(2), (3), or (4), the date +of the decedents death. + +7. In the case of proceeds of any policy of insurance payable to the +surviving spouse, the date of the decedents death. + +8. In the case of amounts payable to the surviving spouse under any plan or +arrangement described in s. 732.2035(8), the date of the decedents death. + +9. In all other cases, the date of the decedents death or the date the +surviving spouse first comes into possession of the property, whichever +occurs later. + +(b) Qualifying power of appointment means a general power of +appointment that is exercisable alone and in all events by the decedents +spouse in favor of the spouse or the spouses estate. For this purpose, a +general power to appoint by will is a qualifying power of appointment if the +power may be exercised by the spouse in favor of the spouses estate without +the consent of any other person. + + + +(c) Qualifying invasion power means a power held by the surviving +spouse or the trustee of an elective share trust to invade trust principal for the +health, support, and maintenance of the spouse. The power may, but need not, +provide that the other resources of the spouse are to be taken into account in +any exercise of the power. + +(2) Except as provided in this subsection, the value of property for +purposes of s. 732.2075 is the fair market value of the property on the +applicable valuation date. +(a) If the surviving spouse has a life interest in property not in trust that + +entitles the spouse to the use of the property for life, including, without +limitation, a life estate in protected homestead as provided in s. 732.401(1), +the value of the spouses interest is one-half of the value of the property on +the applicable valuation date. + +(b) If the surviving spouse elects to take an undivided one-half interest in +protected homestead as a tenant in common as provided in s. 732.401(2), the +value of the spouses interest is one-half of the value of the property on the +applicable valuation date. + +(c) If the surviving spouse validly waived his or her homestead rights as +provided in s. 732.702 or otherwise under applicable law but nevertheless +receives an interest in protected homestead, other than an interest described in +s. 732.401, including, without limitation, an interest in trust, the value of the +spouses interest is determined as property interests that are not protected +homestead. + +(d) If the surviving spouse has an interest in a trust, or portion of a trust, +which meets the requirements of an elective share trust, the value of the +spouses interest is a percentage of the value of the principal of the trust, or +trust portion, on the applicable valuation date as follows: + +1. One hundred percent if the trust instrument includes both a qualifying +invasion power and a qualifying power of appointment. + +2. Eighty percent if the trust instrument includes a qualifying invasion +power but no qualifying power of appointment. + +3. Fifty percent in all other cases. +(e) If the surviving spouse is a beneficiary of a trust, or portion of a trust, + + + +which meets the requirements of a qualifying special needs trust, the value of +the principal of the trust, or trust portion, on the applicable valuation date. + +(f) If the surviving spouse has an interest in a trust that does not meet the +requirements of either an elective share trust or a qualifying special needs +trust, the value of the spouses interest is the transfer tax value of the interest +on the applicable valuation date; however, the aggregate value of all of the +spouses interests in the trust shall not exceed one-half of the value of the +trust principal on the applicable valuation date. + +(g) In the case of any policy of insurance on the decedents life the +proceeds of which are payable outright or to a trust described in paragraph +(d), paragraph (e), or paragraph (f), the value of the policy for purposes of s. +732.2075 and paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) is the net proceeds. + +(h) In the case of a right to one or more payments from an annuity or under +a similar contractual arrangement or under any plan or arrangement described +in s. 732.2035(8), the value of the right to payments for purposes of s. +732.2075 and paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) is the transfer tax value of the right +on the applicable valuation date. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 99-343; s. 25, ch. 2001-226; s. 7, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2105. +Fla. Stat. 732.2105 + + 732.2105. Effect of election on other interests. +The elective share shall be in addition to homestead, exempt property, and + +allowances as provided in part IV. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 75-220; s. 10, ch. 99-343; s. 26, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.208. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2115. +Fla. Stat. 732.2115 + + 732.2115. Protection of payors and other third parties. +Although a property interest is included in the decedents elective estate + +under s. 732.2035(3)-(9), a payor or other third party is not liable for paying, +distributing, or transferring the property to a beneficiary designated in a +governing instrument, or for taking any other action in good faith reliance on +the validity of a governing instrument. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 99-343; s. 8, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2125. +Fla. Stat. 732.2125 + + 732.2125. Right of election; by whom exercisable. +The right of election may be exercised: + +(1) By the surviving spouse. +(2) With approval of the court having jurisdiction of the probate + +proceeding by an attorney in fact or a guardian of the property of the +surviving spouse. Before approving the election, the court shall determine +that the election is in the best interests of the surviving spouse during the +spouses probable lifetime. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 75-220; s. 12, ch. 99-343; s. 27, ch. 2001-226; s. 6, ch. 2010-132, + +eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.210. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2135. +Fla. Stat. 732.2135 + + 732.2135. Time of election; extensions; withdrawal. +(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the election must be filed on or + +before the earlier of the date that is 6 months after the date of service of a +copy of the notice of administration on the surviving spouse, or an attorney +in fact or guardian of the property of the surviving spouse, or the date that +is 2 years after the date of the decedents death. + +(2) Within the period provided in subsection (1), or 40 days after the +date of termination of any proceeding which affects the amount the spouse +is entitled to receive under s. 732.2075(1), whichever is later, but no more +than 2 years after the decedents death, the surviving spouse or an attorney +in fact or guardian of the property of the surviving spouse may petition the +court for an extension of time for making an election. For good cause +shown, the court may extend the time for election. If the court grants the +petition for an extension, the election must be filed within the time allowed +by the extension. + +(3) The surviving spouse or an attorney in fact, guardian of the property, +or personal representative of the surviving spouse may withdraw an +election at any time within 8 months after the decedents death and before +the courts order of contribution. + +(4) A petition for an extension of the time for making the election or for +approval to make the election shall toll the time for making the election. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 75-220; s. 13, ch. 99-343; s. 28, ch. 2001-226; s. 4, ch. 2006-134, + +eff. July 1, 2006; s. 7, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 9, ch. 2017-121, +effective July 1, 2017. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.212. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2145. +Fla. Stat. 732.2145 + + 732.2145. Order of contribution; personal representatives duty to +collect contribution. +(1) The court shall determine the elective share and contribution. Any + +amount of the elective share not satisfied within 2 years of the date of +death of the decedent shall bear interest at the statutory rate until fully +satisfied, even if an order of contribution has not yet been entered. +Contributions shall bear interest at the statutory rate beginning 90 days +after the order of contribution. The order is prima facie correct in +proceedings in any court or jurisdiction. + +(2) Except as provided in subsection (3), the personal representative +shall collect contribution from the recipients of the elective estate as +provided in the courts order of contribution. +(a) If property within the possession or control of the personal + +representative is distributable to a beneficiary or trustee who is required to +contribute in satisfaction of the elective share, the personal representative +shall withhold from the distribution the contribution required of the +beneficiary or trustee. + +(b) If, after the order of contribution, the personal representative brings an +action to collect contribution from property not within the personal +representatives control, the judgment shall include the personal +representatives costs and reasonable attorneys fees. The personal +representative is not required to seek collection of any portion of the elective +share from property not within the personal representatives control until after +the entry of the order of contribution. + +(3) A personal representative who has the duty under this section of +enforcing contribution may be relieved of that duty by an order of the court +finding that it is impracticable to enforce contribution in view of the +improbability of obtaining a judgment or the improbability of collection +under any judgment that might be obtained, or otherwise. The personal +representative shall not be liable for failure to attempt collection if the +attempt would have been economically impracticable. + +(4) Nothing in this section limits the independent right of the surviving + + + +spouse to collect the elective share as provided in the order of contribution, +and that right is hereby conferred. If the surviving spouse brings an action +to enforce the order, the judgment shall include the surviving spouses +costs and reasonable attorneys fees. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 99-343; s. 29, ch. 2001-226; s. 10, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2151. +Fla. Stat. 732.2151 + + 732.2151. Award of fees and costs in elective share proceedings. +(1) The court may award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including + +attorney fees, in any proceeding under this part in which there is an +objection to or dispute over: +(a) The entitlement to or the amount of the elective share; +(b) The property interests included in the elective estate, or its value; or +(c) The satisfaction of the elective share. + +(2) When awarding taxable costs or attorney fees, the court may do one +or more of the following: +(a) Direct payment from the estate. +(b) Direct payment from a partys interest in the elective share or the + +elective estate. +(c) Enter a judgment that can be satisfied from other property of the party. + +(3) In addition to any of the fees that may be awarded under subsections +(1) and (2), if the personal representative does not file a petition to +determine the amount of the elective share as required by the Florida +Probate Rules, the electing spouse or the attorney in fact, guardian of the +property, or personal representative of the electing spouse may be awarded +from the estate reasonable costs, including attorney fees, incurred in +connection with the preparation and filing of the petition. + +(4) This section applies to all proceedings commenced on or after July 1, +2017, without regard to the date of the decedents death. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2017-121, effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.2155. +Fla. Stat. 732.2155 + + 732.2155. Effective date; effect of prior waivers; transition rules. +(1) Sections 732.201-732.2155 are effective on October 1, 1999, for all + +decedents dying on or after October 1, 2001. The law in effect prior to +October 1, 1999, applies to decedents dying before October 1, 2001. + +(2) Nothing in ss. 732.201-732.2155 modifies or applies to the rights of +spouses under chapter 61. + +(3) A waiver of elective share rights before the effective date of this +section which is otherwise in compliance with the requirements of s. +732.702 is a waiver of all rights under ss. 732.201-732.2145. + +(4) Notwithstanding anything in s. 732.2045(1)(a) to the contrary, any +trust created by the decedent before the effective date of ss. 732.201- +732.2145 that meets the requirements of an elective share trust is treated as +if the decedent created the trust after the effective date of these sections +and in satisfaction of the elective share. + +(5) Sections 732.201-732.2155 do not affect any interest in contracts +entered into for adequate consideration in money or moneys worth before +October 1, 1999, to the extent that the contract was irrevocable at all times +from October 1, 1999, until the date of the decedents death. + +(6) Sections 732.201-732.2155 do not affect any interest in property +held, as of the decedents death, in a trust, whether revocable or +irrevocable, if: +(a) The property was an asset of the trust at all times between October 1, + +1999, and the date of the decedents death; +(b) The decedent was not married to the decedents surviving spouse when + +the property was transferred to the trust; and +(c) The property was a nonmarital asset as defined in s. 61.075 + +immediately prior to the decedents death. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 99-343; s. 30, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.216. +Fla. Stat. 732.216 + + 732.216. Short title. +Sections 732.216-732.228 may be cited as the Florida Uniform + +Disposition of Community Property Rights at Death Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-200. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.217. +Fla. Stat. 732.217 + + 732.217. Application. +Sections 732.216-732.228 apply to the disposition at death of the following + +property acquired by a married person: +(1) Personal property, wherever located, which: + +(a) Was acquired as, or became and remained, community property under +the laws of another jurisdiction; + +(b) Was acquired with the rents, issues, or income of, or the proceeds from, +or in exchange for, community property; or + +(c) Is traceable to that community property. +(2) Real property, except real property held as tenants by the entirety, + +which is located in this state, and which: +(a) Was acquired with the rents, issues, or income of, the proceeds from, or + +in exchange for, property acquired as, or which became and remained, +community property under the laws of another jurisdiction; or + +(b) Is traceable to that community property. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 92-200; s. 4, ch. 2003-154. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.218. +Fla. Stat. 732.218 + + 732.218. Rebuttable presumptions. +In determining whether ss. 732.216-732.228 apply to specific property, the + +following rebuttable presumptions apply: +(1) Property acquired during marriage by a spouse of that marriage + +while domiciled in a jurisdiction under whose laws property could then be +acquired as community property is presumed to have been acquired as, or +to have become and remained, property to which these sections apply. + +(2) Real property located in this state, other than homestead and real +property held as tenants by the entirety, and personal property wherever +located acquired by a married person while domiciled in a jurisdiction +under whose laws property could not then be acquired as community +property and title to which was taken in a form which created rights of +survivorship are presumed to be property to which these sections do not +apply. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 92-200; s. 31, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.219. +Fla. Stat. 732.219 + + 732.219. Disposition upon death. +Upon the death of a married person, one-half of the property to which ss. + +732.216-732.228 apply is the property of the surviving spouse and is not +subject to testamentary disposition by the decedent or distribution under the +laws of succession of this state. One-half of that property is the property of +the decedent and is subject to testamentary disposition or distribution under +the laws of succession of this state. The decedents one-half of that property +is not in the elective estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 92-200; s. 32, ch. 2001-226; s. 107, ch. 2002-1. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.221. +Fla. Stat. 732.221 + + 732.221. Perfection of title of personal representative or beneficiary. +If the title to any property to which ss. 732.216-732.228 apply is held by + +the surviving spouse at the time of the decedents death, the personal +representative or a beneficiary of the decedent may institute an action to +perfect title to the property. The personal representative has no duty to +discover whether any property held by the surviving spouse is property to +which ss. 732.216-732.228 apply, unless a written demand is made by a +beneficiary within 3 months after service of a copy of the notice of +administration on the beneficiary or by a creditor within 3 months after the +first publication of the notice to creditors. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 92-200; s. 33, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.222. +Fla. Stat. 732.222 + + 732.222. Purchaser for value or lender. +(1) If a surviving spouse has apparent title to property to which ss. + +732.216-732.228 apply, a purchaser for value or a lender taking a security +interest in the property takes the interest in the property free of any rights +of the personal representative or a beneficiary of the decedent. + +(2) If a personal representative or a beneficiary of the decedent has +apparent title to property to which ss. 732.216-732.228 apply, a purchaser +for value or a lender taking a security interest in the property takes that +interest in the property free of any rights of the surviving spouse. + +(3) A purchaser for value or a lender need not inquire whether a vendor +or borrower acted properly. + +(4) The proceeds of a sale or creation of a security interest must be +treated as the property transferred to the purchaser for value or a lender. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 92-200; s. 956, ch. 97-102; s. 34, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.223. +Fla. Stat. 732.223 + + 732.223. Perfection of title of surviving spouse. +If the title to any property to which ss. 732.216-732.228 apply was held by + +the decedent at the time of the decedents death, title of the surviving spouse +may be perfected by an order of the probate court or by execution of an +instrument by the personal representative or the beneficiaries of the decedent +with the approval of the probate court. The probate court in which the +decedents estate is being administered has no duty to discover whether +property held by the decedent is property to which ss. 732.216-732.228 +apply. The personal representative has no duty to discover whether property +held by the decedent is property to which ss. 732.216-732.228 apply unless a +written demand is made by the surviving spouse or the spouses successor in +interest within 3 months after service of a copy of the notice of administration +on the surviving spouse or the spouses successor in interest. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 92-200; s. 957, ch. 97-102; s. 35, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.224. +Fla. Stat. 732.224 + + 732.224. Creditors rights. +Sections 732.216-732.228 do not affect rights of creditors with respect to + +property to which ss. 732.216-732.228 apply. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 92-200. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.225. +Fla. Stat. 732.225 + + 732.225. Acts of married persons. +Sections 732.216-732.228 do not prevent married persons from severing or + +altering their interests in property to which these sections apply. The +reinvestment of any property to which these sections apply in real property +located in this state which is or becomes homestead property creates a +conclusive presumption that the spouses have agreed to terminate the +community property attribute of the property reinvested. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 92-200. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.226. +Fla. Stat. 732.226 + + 732.226. Limitations on testamentary disposition. +Sections 732.216-732.228 do not authorize a person to dispose of property + +by will if it is held under limitations imposed by law preventing testamentary +disposition by that person. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 92-200. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.227. +Fla. Stat. 732.227 + + 732.227. Homestead defined. +For purposes of ss. 732.216-732.228, the term homestead refers only to + +property the descent and devise of which is restricted by s. 4(c), Art. X of the +State Constitution. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 92-200. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. II. , 732.228. +Fla. Stat. 732.228 + + 732.228. Uniformity of application and construction. +Sections 732.216-732.228 are to be so applied and construed as to + +effectuate their general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the +subject of these sections among those states which enact them. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 92-200. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. III. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. III + + + +PART III. +PRETERMITTED SPOUSE AND CHILDREN. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. III. , 732.301. +Fla. Stat. 732.301 + + 732.301. Pretermitted spouse. +When a person marries after making a will and the spouse survives the + +testator, the surviving spouse shall receive a share in the estate of the testator +equal in value to that which the surviving spouse would have received if the +testator had died intestate, unless: + +(1) Provision has been made for, or waived by, the spouse by prenuptial +or postnuptial agreement; + +(2) The spouse is provided for in the will; or +(3) The will discloses an intention not to make provision for the spouse. + +The share of the estate that is assigned to the pretermitted spouse shall be +obtained in accordance with s. 733.805. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 16, ch. 75-220; s. 9, ch. 77-87. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.10. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. III. , 732.302. +Fla. Stat. 732.302 + + 732.302. Pretermitted children. +When a testator omits to provide by will for any of his or her children born + +or adopted after making the will and the child has not received a part of the +testators property equivalent to a childs part by way of advancement, the +child shall receive a share of the estate equal in value to that which the child +would have received if the testator had died intestate, unless: + +(1) It appears from the will that the omission was intentional; or +(2) The testator had one or more children when the will was executed + +and devised substantially all the estate to the other parent of the +pretermitted child and that other parent survived the testator and is entitled +to take under the will. +The share of the estate that is assigned to the pretermitted child shall be +obtained in accordance with s. 733.805. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 16, ch. 75-220; s. 958, ch. 97-102; s. 36, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.11. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. IV + + + +PART IV. +EXEMPT PROPERTY AND ALLOWANCES. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IV. , 732.401. +Fla. Stat. 732.401 + + 732.401. Descent of homestead. +(1) If not devised as authorized by law and the constitution, the + +homestead shall descend in the same manner as other intestate property; +but if the decedent is survived by a spouse and one or more descendants, +the surviving spouse shall take a life estate in the homestead, with a vested +remainder to the descendants in being at the time of the decedents death +per stirpes. + +(2) In lieu of a life estate under subsection (1), the surviving spouse may +elect to take an undivided one-half interest in the homestead as a tenant in +common, with the remaining undivided one-half interest vesting in the +decedents descendants in being at the time of the decedents death, per +stirpes. +(a) The right of election may be exercised: +1. By the surviving spouse; or +2. With the approval of a court having jurisdiction of the real property, by + +an attorney in fact or guardian of the property of the surviving spouse. Before +approving the election, the court shall determine that the election is in the +best interests of the surviving spouse during the spouses probable lifetime. + +(b) The election must be made within 6 months after the decedents death +and during the surviving spouses lifetime. The time for making the election +may not be extended except as provided in paragraph (c). + +(c) A petition by an attorney in fact or by a guardian of the property of the +surviving spouse for approval to make the election must be filed within 6 +months after the decedents death and during the surviving spouses lifetime. +If the petition is timely filed, the time for making the election shall be +extended for at least 30 days after the rendition of the order allowing the +election. + + + +(d) Once made, the election is irrevocable. +(e) The election must be made by filing a notice of election containing the + +legal description of the homestead property for recording in the official +record books of the county or counties where the homestead property is +located. The notice must be in substantially the following form: + +ELECTION OF SURVIVING SPOUSE TO TAKE A ONE-HALF +INTEREST OF DECEDENTS INTEREST IN HOMESTEAD PROPERTY + +STATE OF ________________ +COUNTY OF ________________ + +1. The decedent, ________________, died on ________. On the date of +the decedents death, The decedent was married to ________________, who +survived the decedent. + +2. At the time of the decedents death, the decedent owned an interest in +real property that the affiant believes to be homestead property described in s. +4, Article X of the State Constitution, which real property being in +________________ County, Florida, and described as: (description of +homestead property). + +3. Affiant elects to take one-half of decedents interest in the homestead as +a tenant in common in lieu of a life estate. + +4. If affiant is not the surviving spouse, affiant is the surviving spouses +attorney in fact or guardian of the property, and an order has been rendered +by a court having jurisdiction of the real property authorizing the undersigned +to make this election. + +_______________ +(Affiant) + +Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me by means of physical +presence or online notarization this ________ day of (month), (year), by +(affiant) + +(Signature of Notary Public) + + + + +(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public) + +Personally Known OR Produced Identification + +(Type of Identification Produced) + + +(3) Unless and until an election is made under subsection (2), expenses +relating to the ownership of the homestead shall be allocated between the +surviving spouse, as life tenant, and the decedents descendants, as +remaindermen, in accordance with chapter 738. If an election is made, +expenses relating to the ownership of the homestead shall be allocated +between the surviving spouse and the descendants as tenants in common in +proportion to their respective shares, effective as of the date the election is +filed for recording. + +(4) If the surviving spouses life estate created in subsection (1) is +disclaimed pursuant to chapter 739, the interests of the decedents +descendants may not be divested. + +(5) This section does not apply to property that the decedent owned in +tenancy by the entireties or in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 17, ch. 75-220; s. 37, ch. 2001-226; s. 12, ch. 2007-74, + +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 7, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010; s. 3, ch. 2012-109, eff. +July 1, 2012; s. 4, ch. 2021-205, effective June 29, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.27. +The introductory language of s. 3, ch. 2012-109, provides: Effective July + +1, 2012, and applicable only to estates of persons dying on or after July 1, +2012, section 732.401, Florida Statutes, is amended to read. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IV. , 732.4015. +Fla. Stat. 732.4015 + + 732.4015. Devise of homestead. +(1) As provided by the Florida Constitution, the homestead shall not be + +subject to devise if the owner is survived by a spouse or a minor child or +minor children, except that the homestead may be devised to the owners +spouse if there is no minor child or minor children. + +(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the term: +(a) Owner includes the grantor of a trust described in s. 733.707(3) that + +is evidenced by a written instrument which is in existence at the time of the +grantors death as if the interest held in trust was owned by the grantor. + +(b) Devise includes a disposition by trust of that portion of the trust +estate which, if titled in the name of the grantor of the trust, would be the +grantors homestead. + +(3) If an interest in homestead has been devised to the surviving spouse +as authorized by law and the constitution, and the surviving spouses +interest is disclaimed, the disclaimed interest shall pass in accordance with +chapter 739. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 18, 30, ch. 75-220; s. 16, ch. 92-200; s. 959, ch. 97- + +102; s. 38, ch. 2001-226; s. 13, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 8, ch. 2010- +132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IV. , 732.4017. +Fla. Stat. 732.4017 + + 732.4017. Inter vivos transfer of homestead property. +(1) If the owner of homestead property transfers an interest in that + +property, including a transfer in trust, with or without consideration, to one +or more persons during the owners lifetime, the transfer is not a devise for +purposes of s. 731.201(10) or s. 732.4015, and the interest transferred does +not descend as provided in s. 732.401 if the transferor fails to retain a +power, held in any capacity, acting alone or in conjunction with any other +person, to revoke or revest that interest in the transferor. + +(2) As used in this section, the term transfer in trust refers to a trust +under which the transferor of the homestead property, alone or in +conjunction with another person, does not possess a right of revocation as +that term is defined in s. 733.707(3)(e). A power possessed by the +transferor which is exercisable during the transferors lifetime to alter the +beneficial use and enjoyment of the interest within a class of beneficiaries +identified only in the trust instrument is not a right of revocation if the +power may not be exercised in favor of the transferor, the transferors +creditors, the transferors estate, or the creditors of the transferors estate or +exercised to discharge the transferors legal obligations. This subsection +does not create an inference that a power not described in this subsection is +a power to revoke or revest an interest in the transferor. + +(3) The transfer of an interest in homestead property described in +subsection (1) may not be treated as a devise of that interest even if: +(a) The transferor retains a separate legal or equitable interest in the + +homestead property, directly or indirectly through a trust or other +arrangement such as a term of years, life estate, reversion, possibility of +reverter, or fractional fee interest; + +(b) The interest transferred does not become a possessory interest until a +date certain or upon a specified event, the occurrence or nonoccurrence of +which does not constitute a power held by the transferor to revoke or revest +the interest in the transferor, including, without limitation, the death of the +transferor; or + +(c) The interest transferred is subject to divestment, expiration, or lapse + + + +upon a date certain or upon a specified event, the occurrence or +nonoccurrence of which does not constitute a power held by the transferor to +revoke or revest the interest in the transferor, including, without limitation, +survival of the transferor. + +(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section clarify existing law. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IV. , 732.402. +Fla. Stat. 732.402 + + 732.402. Exempt property. +(1) If a decedent was domiciled in this state at the time of death, the + +surviving spouse, or, if there is no surviving spouse, the children of the +decedent shall have the right to a share of the estate of the decedent as +provided in this section, to be designated exempt property. + +(2) Exempt property shall consist of: +(a) Household furniture, furnishings, and appliances in the decedents + +usual place of abode up to a net value of $20,000 as of the date of death. +(b) Two motor vehicles as defined in s. 316.003, which do not, + +individually as to either such motor vehicle, have a gross vehicle weight in +excess of 15,000 pounds, held in the decedents name and regularly used by +the decedent or members of the decedents immediate family as their +personal motor vehicles. + +(c) All qualified tuition programs authorized by s. 529 of the Internal +Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including, but not limited to, the Florida +Prepaid College Trust Fund advance payment contracts under s. 1009.98 and +the Florida Prepaid College Trust Fund participation agreements under s. +1009.981. + +(d) All benefits paid pursuant to s. 112.1915. +(3) Exempt property shall be exempt from all claims against the estate + +except perfected security interests thereon. +(4) Exempt property shall be in addition to protected homestead, + +statutory entitlements, and property passing under the decedents will or by +intestate succession. + +(5) Property specifically or demonstratively devised by the decedents +will to any devisee shall not be included in exempt property. However, +persons to whom property has been specifically or demonstratively devised +and who would otherwise be entitled to it as exempt property under this +section may have the court determine the property to be exempt from +claims, except for perfected security interests thereon, after complying + + + +with the provisions of subsection (6). +(6) Persons entitled to exempt property shall be deemed to have waived + +their rights under this section unless a petition for determination of exempt +property is filed by or on behalf of the persons entitled to the exempt +property on or before the later of the date that is 4 months after the date of +service of the notice of administration or the date that is 40 days after the +date of termination of any proceeding involving the construction, +admission to probate, or validity of the will or involving any other matter +affecting any part of the estate subject to this section. + +(7) Property determined as exempt under this section shall be excluded +from the value of the estate before residuary, intestate, or pretermitted or +elective shares are determined. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 19, ch. 75-220; s. 10, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, + +ch. 81-238; s. 3, ch. 85-79; s. 67, ch. 87-226; s. 51, ch. 98-421; s. 3, ch. 99- +220; s. 3, ch. 2001-180; s. 39, ch. 2001-226; s. 1036, ch. 2002-387; s. 5, ch. +2006-134, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 5, ch. 2006-303, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 8, ch. +2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 81, ch. 2016-239, effective July 1, 2016. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.08. +Section 8, ch. 85-79, provides in pertinent part that with respect to s. 3, ch. + +85-79, the substantive rights of all persons which have vested prior to +October 1, 1985, shall be determined as provided in s. 732.402, Florida +Statutes, 1983. + +Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this section, is +codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 529. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IV. , 732.403. +Fla. Stat. 732.403 + + 732.403. Family allowance. +In addition to protected homestead and statutory entitlements, if the + +decedent was domiciled in Florida at the time of death, the surviving spouse +and the decedents lineal heirs the decedent was supporting or was obligated +to support are entitled to a reasonable allowance in money out of the estate +for their maintenance during administration. The court may order this +allowance to be paid as a lump sum or in periodic installments. The +allowance shall not exceed a total of $18,000. It shall be paid to the surviving +spouse, if living, for the use of the spouse and dependent lineal heirs. If the +surviving spouse is not living, it shall be paid to the lineal heirs or to the +persons having their care and custody. If any lineal heir is not living with the +surviving spouse, the allowance may be made partly to the lineal heir or +guardian or other person having the heirs care and custody and partly to the +surviving spouse, as the needs of the dependent heir and the surviving spouse +appear. The family allowance is not chargeable against any benefit or share +otherwise passing to the surviving spouse or to the dependent lineal heirs, +unless the will otherwise provides. The death of any person entitled to a +family allowance terminates the right to that part of the allowance not paid. +For purposes of this section, the term lineal heir or lineal heirs means +lineal ascendants and lineal descendants of the decedent. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 19, ch. 75-220; s. 960, ch. 97-102; s. 40, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.20. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. V + + + +PART V. +WILLS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.501. +Fla. Stat. 732.501 + + 732.501. Who may make a will. +Any person who is of sound mind and who is either 18 or more years of + +age or an emancipated minor may make a will. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 41, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.04. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.502. +Fla. Stat. 732.502 + + 732.502. Execution of wills. +Every will must be in writing and executed as follows: +(1)(a) Testators signature. +1. The testator must sign the will at the end; or +2. The testators name must be subscribed at the end of the will by some + +other person in the testators presence and by the testators direction. +(b) Witnesses. The testators: +1. Signing, or +2. Acknowledgment: +a. That he or she has previously signed the will, or +b. That another person has subscribed the testators name to it, +must be in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses. +(c) Witnesses signatures. The attesting witnesses must sign the will in + +the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other. +(2) Any will, other than a holographic or nuncupative will, executed by + +a nonresident of Florida, either before or after this law takes effect, is valid +as a will in this state if valid under the laws of the state or country where +the will was executed. A will in the testators handwriting that has been +executed in accordance with subsection (1) shall not be considered a +holographic will. + +(3) Any will executed as a military testamentary instrument in +accordance with 10 U.S.C. s. 1044d, Chapter 53, by a person who is +eligible for military legal assistance is valid as a will in this state. + +(4) No particular form of words is necessary to the validity of a will if it +is executed with the formalities required by law. + +(5) A codicil shall be executed with the same formalities as a will. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 21, ch. 75-220; s. 11, ch. 77-87; s. 961, ch. 97-102; s. +42, ch. 2001-226; s. 5, ch. 2003-154. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.07. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.503. +Fla. Stat. 732.503 + + 732.503. Self-proof of will. +(1) A will or codicil executed in conformity with s. 732.502 may be + +made self-proved at the time of its execution or at any subsequent date by +the acknowledgment of it by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, +made before an officer authorized to administer oaths and evidenced by the +officers certificate attached to or following the will, in substantially the +following form: + +STATE OF ........ +COUNTY OF +I,, declare to the officer taking my acknowledgment of this + +instrument, and to the subscribing witnesses, that I signed this +instrument as my will. + +We, and, have been sworn by the officer signing below, and +declare to that officer on our oaths that the testator declared the +instrument to be the testators will and signed it in our presence +and that we each signed the instrument as a witness in the +presence of the testator and of each other. + +Acknowledged and subscribed before me by means of +physical presence or online notarization by the testator, (type +or print testators name), who is personally known to me or +has produced (state type of identificationsee s. 117.05(5)(b)2.) +as identification, and sworn to and subscribed before me by each +of the following witnesses: (type or print name of first witness) + + + +who is personally known to me or has produced (state type of +identificationsee s. 117.05(5)(b)2.) as identification, by means +of physical presence or online notarization; and (type or print +name of second witness) who is personally known to me or +has produced (state type of identificationsee s. 117.05(5)(b)2.) +as identification, by means of physical presence or online +notarization. Subscribed by me in the presence of the testator and +the subscribing witnesses, by the means specified herein, all on +(date). + +(Print, type, or stamp commissioned name and affix official +seal) + +(2) A will or codicil made self-proved under former law, or executed in +another state and made self-proved under the laws of that state, shall be +considered as self-proved under this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 21, ch. 75-220; s. 12, ch. 77-87; s. 8, ch. 93-62; s. 962, + +ch. 97-102; s. 18, ch. 98-246; s. 43, ch. 2001-226; s. 5, ch. 2021-205, +effective June 29, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.071. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.504. +Fla. Stat. 732.504 + + 732.504. Who may witness. +(1) Any person competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. +(2) A will or codicil, or any part of either, is not invalid because the will + +or codicil is signed by an interested witness. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 22, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 268, ch. 79-400. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.505. +Fla. Stat. 732.505 + + 732.505. Revocation by writing. +A will or codicil, or any part of either, is revoked: + +(1) By a subsequent inconsistent will or codicil, even though the +subsequent inconsistent will or codicil does not expressly revoke all +previous wills or codicils, but the revocation extends only so far as the +inconsistency. + +(2) By a subsequent will, codicil, or other writing executed with the +same formalities required for the execution of wills declaring the +revocation. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 23, ch. 75-220; s. 13, ch. 77-87; s. 269, ch. 79-400; s. + +44, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 731.12, 731.13. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.506. +Fla. Stat. 732.506 + + 732.506. Revocation by act. +A will or codicil, other than an electronic will, is revoked by the testator, or + +some other person in the testators presence and at the testators direction, by +burning, tearing, canceling, defacing, obliterating, or destroying it with the +intent, and for the purpose, of revocation. An electronic will or codicil is +revoked by the testator, or some other person in the testators presence and at +the testators direction, by deleting, canceling, rendering unreadable, or +obliterating the electronic will or codicil, with the intent, and for the purpose, +of revocation, as proved by clear and convincing evidence. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 23, ch. 75-220; s. 963, ch. 97-102; s. 31, ch. 2019-71, + +effective January 1, 2020. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.14. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.507. +Fla. Stat. 732.507 + + 732.507. Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or dissolution +of marriage. +(1) Neither subsequent marriage, birth, nor adoption of descendants shall + +revoke the prior will of any person, but the pretermitted child or spouse +shall inherit as set forth in ss. 732.301 and 732.302, regardless of the prior +will. + +(2) Any provision of a will that affects the testators spouse is void upon +dissolution of the marriage of the testator and the spouse, whether the +marriage occurred before or after the execution of such will. Upon +dissolution of marriage, the will shall be construed as if the spouse died at +the time of the dissolution of marriage. +(a) Dissolution of marriage occurs at the time the decedents marriage is + +judicially dissolved or declared invalid by court order. +(b) This subsection does not invalidate a provision of a will: +1. Executed by the testator after the dissolution of the marriage; +2. If there is a specific intention to the contrary stated in the will; or +3. If the dissolution of marriage judgment expressly provides otherwise. + +(3) This section applies to wills of decedents who die on or after the +effective date of this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 3, ch. 90-23; s. 45, ch. 2001-226; s. + +14, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 2, ch. 2021-183, effective June 29, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 731.10, 731.101, 731.11. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.508. +Fla. Stat. 732.508 + + 732.508. Revival by revocation. +(1) The revocation by the testator of a will that revokes a former will + +shall not revive the former will, even though the former will is in existence +at the date of the revocation of the subsequent will. + +(2) The revocation of a codicil to a will does not revoke the will, and, in +the absence of evidence to the contrary, it shall be presumed that in +revoking the codicil the testator intended to reinstate the provisions of a +will or codicil that were changed or revoked by the revoked codicil, as if +the revoked codicil had never been executed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 25, ch. 75-220. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.15. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.509. +Fla. Stat. 732.509 + + 732.509. Revocation of codicil. +The revocation of a will revokes all codicils to that will. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.16. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.5105. +Fla. Stat. 732.5105 + + 732.5105. Republication of wills by codicil. +The execution of a codicil referring to a previous will has the effect of + +republishing the will as modified by the codicil. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.17. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.511. +Fla. Stat. 732.511 + + 732.511. Republication of wills by reexecution. +If a will has been revoked or if it is invalid for any other reason, it may be + +republished and made valid by its reexecution or the execution of a codicil +republishing it with the formalities required by this law for the execution of +wills. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.18. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.512. +Fla. Stat. 732.512 + + 732.512. Incorporation by reference. +(1) A writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated + +by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes +the writing sufficiently to permit its identification. + +(2) A will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events which +have significance apart from their effect upon the dispositions made by the +will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before +or after the testators death. The execution or revocation of a will or trust +by another person is such an event. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 27, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.513. +Fla. Stat. 732.513 + + 732.513. Devises to trustee. +(1) A valid devise may be made to the trustee of a trust that is evidenced + +by a written instrument in existence at the time of making the will, or by a +written instrument subscribed concurrently with making of the will, if the +written instrument is identified in the will. + +(2) The devise shall not be invalid for any or all of the following +reasons: +(a) Because the trust is amendable or revocable, or both, by any person. +(b) Because the trust has been amended or revoked in part after execution + +of the will or a codicil to it. +(c) Because the only res of the trust is the possible expectancy of receiving, + +as a named beneficiary, a devise under a will or death benefits as described in +s. 733.808, and even though the testator or other person has reserved any or +all rights of ownership in the death benefit policy, contract, or plan, including +the right to change the beneficiary. + +(d) Because of any of the provisions of s. 689.075. +(3) The devise shall dispose of property under the terms of the + +instrument that created the trust as previously or subsequently amended. +(4) An entire revocation of the trust by an instrument in writing before + +the testators death shall invalidate the devise or bequest. +(5) Unless the will provides otherwise, the property devised shall not be + +held under a testamentary trust of the testator but shall become a part of the +principal of the trust to which it is devised. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 3, ch. 75-74; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 2, ch. 88-340; s. 46, + +ch. 2001-226; s. 32, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.17. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.514. +Fla. Stat. 732.514 + + 732.514. Vesting of devises. +The death of the testator is the event that vests the right to devises unless + +the testator in the will has provided that some other event must happen before +a devise vests. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 28, 113, ch. 75-220; s. 964, ch. 97-102; s. 47, ch. + +2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 731.21 and 733.102. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.515. +Fla. Stat. 732.515 + + 732.515. Separate writing identifying devises of tangible property. +A written statement or list referred to in the decedents will shall dispose of + +items of tangible personal property, other than property used in trade or +business, not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will. To be admissible +under this section as evidence of the intended disposition, the writing must be +signed by the testator and must describe the items and the devisees with +reasonable certainty. The writing may be prepared before or after the +execution of the will. It may be altered by the testator after its preparation. It +may be a writing that has no significance apart from its effect upon the +dispositions made by the will. If more than one otherwise effective writing +exists, then, to the extent of any conflict among the writings, the provisions +of the most recent writing revoke the inconsistent provisions of each prior +writing. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 29, ch. 75-220; s. 48, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.5165. +Fla. Stat. 732.5165 + + 732.5165. Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, and undue influence. +A will is void if the execution is procured by fraud, duress, mistake, or + +undue influence. Any part of the will is void if so procured, but the remainder +of the will not so procured shall be valid if it is not invalid for other reasons. +If the revocation of a will, or any part thereof, is procured by fraud, duress, +mistake, or undue influence, such revocation is void. + +HISTORY: +S. 31, ch. 75-220; s. 6, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, 2011. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.517. +Fla. Stat. 732.517 + + 732.517. Penalty clause for contest. +A provision in a will purporting to penalize any interested person for + +contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is +unenforceable. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.518. +Fla. Stat. 732.518 + + 732.518. Will contests. +An action to contest the validity of all or part of a will or the revocation of + +all or part of a will may not be commenced before the death of the testator. + +HISTORY: +S. 17, ch. 92-200; s. 7, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, 2011. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.521. +Fla. Stat. 732.521 + + 732.521. Definitions. +As used in ss. 732.521-732.525, the term: + +(1) Audio-video communication technology has the same meaning as +provided in s. 117.201. + +(2) Electronic record has the same meaning as provided in s. 668.50. +(3) Electronic signature means an electronic mark visibly manifested + +in a record as a signature and executed or adopted by a person with the +intent to sign the record. + +(4) Electronic will means a testamentary instrument, including a +codicil, executed with an electronic signature by a person in the manner +prescribed by this code, which disposes of the persons property on or after +his or her death and includes an instrument which merely appoints a +personal representative or guardian or revokes or revises another will. + +(5) Online notarization has the same meaning as provided in s. +117.201. + +(6) Online notary public has the same meaning as provided in s. +117.201. + +(7) Qualified custodian means a person who meets the requirements of +s. 732.524(1). + +(8) Secure system means a system that satisfies the requirements of a +secure repository qualified to retain electronic journals of online notaries +public in accordance with s. 117.245 and any rules established under part +II of chapter 117. + +HISTORY: +S. 32, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020; s. 6, ch. 2021-205, effective + +June 29, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.522. +Fla. Stat. 732.522 + + 732.522. Method and place of execution. +For purposes of the execution or filing of an electronic will, the + +acknowledgment of an electronic will by the testator and the affidavits of +witnesses under s. 732.503, or any other instrument under the Florida Probate +Code: + +(1) Any requirement that an instrument be signed may be satisfied by an +electronic signature. + +(2) Any requirement that individuals sign an instrument in the presence +of one another may be satisfied by witnesses being present and +electronically signing by means of audio-video communication technology +that meets the requirements of part II of chapter 117 and any rules adopted +thereunder, if: +(a) The individuals are supervised by a notary public in accordance with s. + +117.285; +(b) The individuals are authenticated and signing as part of an online + +notarization session in accordance with s. 117.265; +(c) The witness hears the signer make a statement acknowledging that the + +signer has signed the electronic record; and +(d) The signing and witnessing of the instrument complies with the + +requirements of s. 117.285. +(3) Except as otherwise provided in this part, all questions as to the + +force, effect, validity, and interpretation of an electronic will which comply +with this section must be determined in the same manner as in the case of a +will executed in accordance with s. 732.502. + +(4) An instrument that is signed electronically is deemed to be executed +in this state if the instrument states that the person creating the instrument +intends to execute and understands that he or she is executing the +instrument in, and pursuant to the laws of, this state. + +History. + + + +S. 33, ch. 2019-71, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.523. +Fla. Stat. 732.523 + + 732.523. Self-proof of electronic will. +An electronic will is self-proved if: + +(1) The acknowledgment of the electronic will by the testator and the +affidavits of the witnesses are made in accordance with s. 732.503 and are +part of the electronic record containing the electronic will, or are attached +to, or are logically associated with, the electronic will; + +(2) The electronic will designates a qualified custodian; +(3) The electronic record that contains the electronic will is held in the + +custody of a qualified custodian at all times before being offered to the +court for probate; and + +(4) The qualified custodian who has custody of the electronic will at the +time of the testators death certifies under oath that, to the best knowledge +of the qualified custodian, the electronic record that contains the electronic +will was at all times before being offered to the court in the custody of a +qualified custodian in compliance with s. 732.524 and that the electronic +will has not been altered in any way since the date of its execution. + +History. +S. 34, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.524. +Fla. Stat. 732.524 + + 732.524. Qualified custodians. +(1) To serve as a qualified custodian of an electronic will, a person must + +be: +(a) Domiciled in and a resident of this state; or +(b) Incorporated, organized, or have its principal place of business in this + +state. +(2) A qualified custodian shall: + +(a) In the course of maintaining custody of electronic wills, regularly +employ a secure system and store in such secure system electronic records +containing: + +1. Electronic wills; +2. Records attached to or logically associated with electronic wills; and +3. Acknowledgments of the electronic wills by testators, affidavits of the + +witnesses, and the records described in s. 117.245(1) and (2) which pertain to +the online notarization. + +(b) Furnish for any court hearing involving an electronic will that is +currently or was previously stored by the qualified custodian any information +requested by the court pertaining to the qualified custodians qualifications, +policies, and practices related to the creation, sending, communication, +receipt, maintenance, storage, and production of electronic wills. + +(c) Provide access to or information concerning the electronic will, or the +electronic record containing the electronic will, only: + +1. To the testator; +2. To persons authorized by the testator in the electronic will or in written + +instructions signed by the testator with the formalities required for the +execution of a will in this state; + +3. After the death of the testator, to the testators nominated personal +representative; or + + + +4. At any time, as directed by a court of competent jurisdiction. +(3) The qualified custodian of the electronic record of an electronic will + +may elect to destroy such record, including any of the documentation +required to be created and stored under paragraph (2)(a), at any time after +the earlier of the fifth anniversary of the conclusion of the administration +of the estate of the testator or 20 years after the death of the testator. + +(4) A qualified custodian who at any time maintains custody of the +electronic record of an electronic will may elect to cease serving in such +capacity by: +(a) Delivering the electronic will or the electronic record containing the + +electronic will to the testator, if then living, or, after the death of the testator, +by filing the will with the court in accordance with s. 732.901; and + +(b) If the outgoing qualified custodian intends to designate a successor +qualified custodian, by doing the following: + +1. Providing written notice to the testator of the name, address, and +qualifications of the proposed successor qualified custodian. The testator +must provide written consent before the electronic record, including the +electronic will, is delivered to a successor qualified custodian; + +2. Delivering the electronic record containing the electronic will to the +successor qualified custodian; and + +3. Delivering to the successor qualified custodian an affidavit of the +outgoing qualified custodian stating that: + +a. The outgoing qualified custodian is eligible to act as a qualified +custodian in this state; + +b. The outgoing qualified custodian is the qualified custodian designated +by the testator in the electronic will or appointed to act in such capacity under +this paragraph; + +c. The electronic will has at all times been in the custody of one or more +qualified custodians in compliance with this section since the time the +electronic record was created, and identifying such qualified custodians; and + +d. To the best of the outgoing qualified custodians knowledge, the +electronic will has not been altered since the time it was created. + + + +For purposes of making this affidavit, the outgoing qualified custodian +may rely conclusively on any affidavits delivered by a predecessor qualified +custodian in connection with its designation or appointment as qualified +custodian; however, all such affidavits must be delivered to the successor +qualified custodian. + +(5) Upon the request of the testator which is made in writing signed with +the formalities required for the execution of a will in this state, a qualified +custodian who at any time maintains custody of the electronic record of the +testators electronic will must cease serving in such capacity and must +deliver to a successor qualified custodian designated in writing by the +testator the electronic record containing the electronic will and the affidavit +required in subparagraph (4)(b)3. + +(6) A qualified custodian may not succeed to office as a qualified +custodian of an electronic will unless he or she agrees in writing to serve in +such capacity. + +(7) If a qualified custodian is an entity, an affidavit, or an appearance by +the testator in the presence of a duly authorized officer or agent of such +entity, acting in his or her own capacity as such, shall constitute an +affidavit, or an appearance by the testator in the presence of the qualified +custodian. + +(8) A qualified custodian must provide a paper copy of an electronic will +and the electronic record containing the electronic will to the testator +immediately upon request. For the first request, the testator may not be +charged a fee for being provided with these documents. + +(9) The qualified custodian shall be liable for any damages caused by +the negligent loss or destruction of the electronic record, including the +electronic will, while it is in the possession of the qualified custodian. A +qualified custodian may not limit liability for such damages. + +(10) A qualified custodian may not terminate or suspend access to, or +downloads of, the electronic will by the testator, provided that a qualified +custodian may charge a fee for providing such access and downloads. + +(11) Upon receiving information that the testator is dead, a qualified +custodian must deposit the electronic will with the court in accordance +with s. 732.901. A qualified custodian may not charge a fee for depositing + + + +the electronic will with the clerk, provided the affidavit is made in +accordance with s. 732.503, or furnishing in writing any information +requested by a court under paragraph (2)(b). + +(12) Except as provided in this act, a qualified custodian must at all +times keep information provided by the testator confidential and may not +disclose such information to any third party. + +(13) A contractual venue provision between a qualified custodian and a +testator is not valid or enforceable to the extent that it requires a specific +jurisdiction or venue for any proceeding relating to the probate of an estate +or the contest of a will. + +History. +S. 35, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.525. +Fla. Stat. 732.525 + + 732.525. Liability coverage; receivership of qualified custodians. +(1) A qualified custodian shall: + +(a) Post and maintain a blanket surety bond of at least $250,000 to secure +the faithful performance of all duties and obligations required under this part. +The bond must be made payable to the Governor and his or her successors in +office for the benefit of all persons who store electronic records with a +qualified custodian and their estates, beneficiaries, successors, and heirs, and +be conditioned on the faithful performance of all duties and obligations under +this chapter. The terms of the bond must cover the acts or omissions of the +qualified custodian and each agent or employee of the qualified custodian; or + +(b) Maintain a liability insurance policy that covers any losses sustained by +any person who stores electronic records with a qualified custodian and their +estates, beneficiaries, successors, and heirs which are caused by errors or +omissions by the qualified custodian and each agent or employee of the +qualified custodian. The policy must cover losses of at least $250,000 in the +aggregate. + +(2) The Attorney General may petition a court of competent jurisdiction +for the appointment of a receiver to manage the electronic records of a +qualified custodian for proper delivery and safekeeping if any of the +following conditions exist: +(a) The qualified custodian is ceasing operation; +(b) The qualified custodian intends to close the facility and adequate + +arrangements have not been made for proper delivery of the electronic +records in accordance with this part; + +(c) The Attorney General determines that conditions exist which present a +danger that electronic records will be lost or misappropriated; or + +(d) The qualified custodian fails to maintain and post a surety bond or +maintain insurance as required in this section. + +History. + + + +S. 36, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. V. , 732.526. +Fla. Stat. 732.526 + + 732.526. Probate. +(1) An electronic will that is filed electronically with the clerk of the + +court through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal is deemed to have been +deposited with the clerk as an original of the electronic will. + +(2) A paper copy of an electronic will which is certified by a notary +public to be a true and correct copy of the electronic will may be offered +for and admitted to probate and shall constitute an original of the electronic +will. + +History. +S. 37, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. VI + + + +PART VI. +RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.6005. +Fla. Stat. 732.6005 + + 732.6005. Rules of construction and intention. +(1) The intention of the testator as expressed in the will controls the + +legal effect of the testators dispositions. The rules of construction +expressed in this part shall apply unless a contrary intention is indicated by +the will. + +(2) Subject to the foregoing, a will is construed to pass all property +which the testator owns at death, including property acquired after the +execution of the will. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 33, 35, ch. 75-220; s. 965, ch. 97-102; s. 49, ch. 2001- + +226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 732.41 and 732.602. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.601. +Fla. Stat. 732.601 + + 732.601. Simultaneous Death Law. +Unless a contrary intention appears in the governing instrument: + +(1) When title to property or its devolution depends on priority of death +and there is insufficient evidence that the persons have died otherwise than +simultaneously, the property of each person shall be disposed of as if that +person survived. + +(2) When two or more beneficiaries are designated to take successively +by reason of survivorship under another persons disposition of property +and there is insufficient evidence that the beneficiaries died otherwise than +simultaneously, the property thus disposed of shall be divided into as many +equal parts as there are successive beneficiaries and the parts shall be +distributed to those who would have taken if each designated beneficiary +had survived. + +(3) When there is insufficient evidence that two joint tenants or tenants +by the entirety died otherwise than simultaneously, the property so held +shall be distributed one-half as if one had survived and one-half as if the +other had survived. If there are more than two joint tenants and all of them +so died, the property thus distributed shall be in the proportion that one +bears to the number of joint tenants. + +(4) When the insured and the beneficiary in a policy of life or accident +insurance have died and there is insufficient evidence that they died +otherwise than simultaneously, the proceeds of the policy shall be +distributed as if the insured had survived the beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 34, ch. 75-220; s. 966, ch. 97-102; s. 50, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.05. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.603. +Fla. Stat. 732.603 + + 732.603. Antilapse; deceased devisee; class gifts. +(1) Unless a contrary intent appears in the will, if a devisee who is a + +grandparent, or a descendant of a grandparent, of the testator: +(a) Is dead at the time of the execution of the will; +(b) Fails to survive the testator; or +(c) Is required by the will or by operation of law to be treated as having + +predeceased the testator, +a substitute gift is created in the devisees surviving descendants who take +per stirpes the property to which the devisee would have been entitled had +the devisee survived the testator. + +(2) When a power of appointment is exercised by will, unless a contrary +intent appears in the document creating the power of appointment or in the +testators will, if an appointee who is a grandparent, or a descendant of a +grandparent, of the donor of the power: +(a) Is dead at the time of the execution of the will or the creation of the + +power; +(b) Fails to survive the testator; or +(c) Is required by the will, the document creating the power, or by + +operation of law to be treated as having predeceased the testator, +a substitute gift is created in the appointees surviving descendants who +take per stirpes the property to which the appointee would have been +entitled had the appointee survived the testator. Unless the language +creating a power of appointment expressly excludes the substitution of the +descendants of an object of a power for the object, a surviving descendant +of a deceased object of a power of appointment may be substituted for the +object whether or not the descendant is an object of the power. + +(3) In the application of this section: +(a) Words of survivorship in a devise or appointment to an individual, such + +as if he survives me, if she survives me, or to my surviving children, + + + +are a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of +subsections (1) and (2). Words of survivorship used by the donor of the +power in a power to appoint to an individual, such as the term if he survives +the donee or if she survives the donee, or in a power to appoint to the +donees then surviving children, are a sufficient indication of an intent +contrary to the application of subsection (2). + +(b) The term: +1. Appointment includes an alternative appointment and an appointment + +in the form of a class gift. +2. Appointee includes: +a. A class member if the appointment is in the form of a class gift. +b. An individual or class member who was deceased at the time the testator + +executed his or her will as well as an individual or class member who was +then living but who failed to survive the testator. + +3. Devise also includes an alternative devise and a devise in the form of +a class gift. + +4. Devisee also includes: +a. A class member if the devise is in the form of a class gift. +b. An individual or class member who was deceased at the time the testator + +executed his or her will as well as an individual or class member who was +then living but who failed to survive the testator. + +(4) This section applies only to outright devises and appointments. +Devises and appointments in trust, including to a testamentary trust, are +subject to s. 736.1106. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 36, ch. 75-220; s. 967, ch. 97-102; s. 51, ch. 2001-226; + +s. 6, ch. 2003-154; s. 33, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 159, ch. 2020-2, +effective May 18, 2020. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.20. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.604. +Fla. Stat. 732.604 + + 732.604. Failure of testamentary provision. +(1) Except as provided in s. 732.603, if a devise other than a residuary + +devise fails for any reason, it becomes a part of the residue. +(2) Except as provided in s. 732.603, if the residue is devised to two or + +more persons, the share of a residuary devisee that fails for any reason +passes to the other residuary devisee, or to the other residuary devisees in +proportion to the interests of each in the remaining part of the residue. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 968, ch. 97-102; s. 52, ch. 2001-226; + +s. 29, ch. 2003-154; s. 34, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. +Section 29, ch. 2003-154 reenacted 732.604 without change to incorporate + +amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.605. +Fla. Stat. 732.605 + + 732.605. Change in securities; accessions; nonademption. +(1) If the testator intended a specific devise of certain securities rather + +than their equivalent value, the specific devisee is entitled only to: +(a) As much of the devised securities as is a part of the estate at the time of + +the testators death. +(b) Any additional or other securities of the same entity owned by the + +testator because of action initiated by the entity, excluding any acquired by +exercise of purchase options. + +(c) Securities of another entity owned by the testator as a result of a +merger, consolidation, reorganization, or other similar action initiated by the +entity. + +(d) Securities of the same entity acquired as a result of a plan of +reinvestment. + +(2) Distributions before death with respect to a specifically devised +security, whether in cash or otherwise, which are not provided for in +subsection (1) are not part of the specific devise. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 53, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.606. +Fla. Stat. 732.606 + + 732.606. Nonademption of specific devises in certain cases; sale by +guardian of the property; unpaid proceeds of sale, condemnation, or +insurance. +(1) If specifically devised property is sold by a guardian of the property + +or if a condemnation award or insurance proceeds are paid to a guardian of +the property, the specific devisee has the right to a general pecuniary +devise equal to the net sale price, the condemnation award, or the +insurance proceeds. This subsection does not apply if, subsequent to the +sale, condemnation, or casualty, it is adjudicated that the disability of the +testator has ceased and the testator survives the adjudication by 1 year. The +right of the specific devisee under this subsection is reduced by any right +described in subsection (2). + +(2) A specific devisee has the right to the remaining specifically devised +property and: +(a) Any balance of the purchase price owing from a purchaser to the + +testator at death because of sale of the property plus any security interest. +(b) Any amount of a condemnation award for the taking of the property + +unpaid at death. +(c) Any proceeds unpaid at death on fire or casualty insurance on the + +property. +(d) Property owned by the testator at death as a result of foreclosure, or + +obtained instead of foreclosure, of the security for the specifically devised +obligation. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 38, ch. 75-220; s. 969, ch. 97-102; s. 54, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.607. +Fla. Stat. 732.607 + + 732.607. Exercise of power of appointment. +A general residuary clause in a will, or a will making general disposition of + +all the testators property, does not exercise a power of appointment held by +the testator unless specific reference is made to the power or there is some +other indication of intent to include the property subject to the power. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 38, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.608. +Fla. Stat. 732.608 + + 732.608. Construction of terms. +The laws used to determine paternity and relationships for the purposes of + +intestate succession apply when determining whether class gift terminology +and terms of relationship include adopted persons and persons born out of +wedlock. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 38, ch. 75-220; s. 10, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.609. +Fla. Stat. 732.609 + + 732.609. Ademption by satisfaction. +Property that a testator gave to a person in the testators lifetime is treated + +as a satisfaction of a devise to that person, in whole or in part, only if the will +provides for deduction of the lifetime gift, the testator declares in a +contemporaneous writing that the gift is to be deducted from the devise or is +in satisfaction of the devise, or the devisee acknowledges in writing that the +gift is in satisfaction. For purposes of part satisfaction, property given during +the testators lifetime is valued at the time the devisee came into possession +or enjoyment of the property or at the time of the death of the testator, +whichever occurs first. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 38, ch. 75-220. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.611. +Fla. Stat. 732.611 + + 732.611. Devises to multigeneration classes to be per stirpes. +Unless the will provides otherwise, all devises to descendants, issue, and + +other multigeneration classes shall be per stirpes. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 38, ch. 75-220; s. 35, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.615. +Fla. Stat. 732.615 + + 732.615. Reformation to correct mistakes. +Upon application of any interested person, the court may reform the terms + +of a will, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms to the testators intent if +it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that both the accomplishment +of the testators intent and the terms of the will were affected by a mistake of +fact or law, whether in expression or inducement. In determining the +testators original intent, the court may consider evidence relevant to the +testators intent even though the evidence contradicts an apparent plain +meaning of the will. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2011-183, eff. July 1, 2011. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VI. , 732.616. +Fla. Stat. 732.616 + + 732.616. Modification to achieve testators tax objectives. +Upon application of any interested person, to achieve the testators tax + +objectives the court may modify the terms of a will in a manner that is not +contrary to the testators probable intent. The court may provide that the +modification has retroactive effect. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2011-183, eff. July 1, 2011. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. VII + + + +PART VII. +CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS RELATING TO + +DEATH. + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VII. , 732.701. + +Fla. Stat. 732.701 + + 732.701. Agreements concerning succession. +(1) No agreement to make a will, to give a devise, not to revoke a will, + +not to revoke a devise, not to make a will, or not to make a devise shall be +binding or enforceable unless the agreement is in writing and signed by the +agreeing party in the presence of two attesting witnesses. Such an +agreement executed by a nonresident of Florida, either before or after this +law takes effect, is valid in this state if valid when executed under the laws +of the state or country where the agreement was executed, whether or not +the agreeing party is a Florida resident at the time of death. + +(2) The execution of a joint will or mutual wills neither creates a +presumption of a contract to make a will nor creates a presumption of a +contract not to revoke the will or wills. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 39, ch. 75-220; s. 55, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.051. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VII. , 732.702. +Fla. Stat. 732.702 + + 732.702. Waiver of spousal rights. +(1) The rights of a surviving spouse to an elective share, intestate share, + +pretermitted share, homestead, exempt property, family allowance, and +preference in appointment as personal representative of an intestate estate +or any of those rights, may be waived, wholly or partly, before or after +marriage, by a written contract, agreement, or waiver, signed by the +waiving party in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. The +requirement of witnesses shall be applicable only to contracts, agreements, +or waivers signed by Florida residents after the effective date of this law. +Any contract, agreement, or waiver executed by a nonresident of Florida, +either before or after this law takes effect, is valid in this state if valid when +executed under the laws of the state or country where it was executed, +whether or not he or she is a Florida resident at the time of death. Unless +the waiver provides to the contrary, a waiver of all rights, or equivalent +language, in the property or estate of a present or prospective spouse, or a +complete property settlement entered into after, or in anticipation of, +separation, dissolution of marriage, or divorce, is a waiver of all rights to +elective share, intestate share, pretermitted share, homestead, exempt +property, family allowance, and preference in appointment as personal +representative of an intestate estate, by the waiving party in the property of +the other and a renunciation by the waiving party of all benefits that would +otherwise pass to the waiving party from the other by intestate succession +or by the provisions of any will executed before the written contract, +agreement, or waiver. + +(2) Each spouse shall make a fair disclosure to the other of that spouses +estate if the agreement, contract, or waiver is executed after marriage. No +disclosure shall be required for an agreement, contract, or waiver executed +before marriage. + +(3) No consideration other than the execution of the agreement, contract, +or waiver shall be necessary to its validity, whether executed before or +after marriage. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 39, ch. 75-220; s. 14, ch. 77-87; s. 56, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VII. , 732.7025. +Fla. Stat. 732.7025 + + 732.7025. Waiver of homestead rights through deed. +(1) A spouse waives his or her rights as a surviving spouse with respect + +to the devise restrictions under s. 4(c), Art. X of the State Constitution if +the following or substantially similar language is included in a deed: +By executing or joining this deed, I intend to waive homestead rights that + +would otherwise prevent my spouse from devising the homestead property +described in this deed to someone other than me. + +(2) The waiver language in subsection (1) may not be considered a +waiver of the protection against the owners creditor claims during the +owners lifetime and after death. Such language may not be considered a +waiver of the restrictions against alienation by mortgage, sale, gift, or deed +without the joinder of the owners spouse. + +History. +S. 1, ch. 2018-22, effective July 1, 2018. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VII. , 732.703. +Fla. Stat. 732.703 + + 732.703. Effect of divorce, dissolution, or invalidity of marriage on +disposition of certain assets at death. +(1) As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise, the + +term: +(a) Asset, when not modified by other words or phrases, means an asset + +described in subsection (3), except as provided in paragraph (4)(j). +(b) Beneficiary means any person designated in a governing instrument + +to receive an interest in an asset upon the death of the decedent. +(c) Death certificate means a certified copy of a death certificate issued + +by an official or agency for the place where the decedents death occurred. +(d) Employee benefit plan means any funded or unfunded plan, program, + +or fund established by an employer to provide an employees beneficiaries +with benefits that may be payable on the employees death. + +(e) Governing instrument means any writing or contract governing the +disposition of all or any part of an asset upon the death of the decedent. + +(f) Payor means any person obligated to make payment of the decedents +interest in an asset upon the death of the decedent, and any other person who +is in control or possession of an asset. + +(g) Primary beneficiary means a beneficiary designated under the +governing instrument to receive an interest in an asset upon the death of the +decedent who is not a secondary beneficiary. A person who receives an +interest in the asset upon the death of the decedent due to the death of another +beneficiary prior to the decedents death is also a primary beneficiary. + +(h) Secondary beneficiary means a beneficiary designated under the +governing instrument who will receive an interest in an asset if the +designation of the primary beneficiary is revoked or otherwise cannot be +given effect. + +(2) A designation made by or on behalf of the decedent providing for the +payment or transfer at death of an interest in an asset to or for the benefit of +the decedents former spouse is void as of the time the decedents marriage + + + +was judicially dissolved or declared invalid by court order prior to the +decedents death, if the designation was made prior to the dissolution or +court order. The decedents interest in the asset shall pass as if the +decedents former spouse predeceased the decedent. An individual +retirement account described in s. 408 or s. 408A of the Internal Revenue +Code of 1986, or an employee benefit plan, may not be treated as a trust +for purposes of this section. + +(3) Subsection (2) applies to the following assets in which a resident of +this state has an interest at the time of the residents death: +(a) A life insurance policy, qualified annuity, or other similar tax-deferred + +contract held within an employee benefit plan. +(b) An employee benefit plan. +(c) An individual retirement account described in s. 408 or s. 408A of the + +Internal Revenue Code of 1986, including an individual retirement annuity +described in s. 408(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. + +(d) A payable-on-death account. +(e) A security or other account registered in a transfer-on-death form. +(f) A life insurance policy, annuity, or other similar contract that is not held + +within an employee benefit plan or a tax-qualified retirement account. +(4) Subsection (2) does not apply: + +(a) To the extent that controlling federal law provides otherwise; +(b) If the governing instrument is signed by the decedent, or on behalf of + +the decedent, after the order of dissolution or order declaring the marriage +invalid and such governing instrument expressly provides that benefits will +be payable to the decedents former spouse; + +(c) To the extent a will or trust governs the disposition of the assets and s. +732.507(2) or s. 736.1105 applies; + +(d) If the order of dissolution or order declaring the marriage invalid +requires that the decedent acquire or maintain the asset for the benefit of a +former spouse or children of the marriage, payable upon the death of the +decedent either outright or in trust, only if other assets of the decedent +fulfilling such a requirement for the benefit of the former spouse or children + + + +of the marriage do not exist upon the death of the decedent; +(e) If, under the terms of the order of dissolution or order declaring the + +marriage invalid, the decedent could not have unilaterally terminated or +modified the ownership of the asset, or its disposition upon the death of the +decedent; + +(f) If the designation of the decedents former spouse as a beneficiary is +irrevocable under applicable law; + +(g) If the governing instrument is governed by the laws of a state other +than this state; + +(h) To an asset held in two or more names as to which the death of one co- +owner vests ownership of the asset in the surviving co-owner or co-owners; + +(i) If the decedent remarries the person whose interest would +otherwise have been revoked under this section and the decedent and +that person are married to one another at the time of the decedents +death; or + +(j) To state-administered retirement plans under chapter 121. +(5) In the case of an asset described in paragraph (3)(a), paragraph (3) + +(b), or paragraph (3)(c), unless payment or transfer would violate a court +order directed to, and served as required by law on, the payor: +(a) If the governing instrument does not explicitly specify the relationship + +of the beneficiary to the decedent or if the governing instrument explicitly +provides that the beneficiary is not the decedents spouse, the payor is not +liable for making any payment on account of, or transferring any interest in, +the asset to the beneficiary. + +(b) As to any portion of the asset required by the governing instrument to +be paid after the decedents death to a primary beneficiary explicitly +designated in the governing instrument as the decedents spouse: + +1. If the death certificate states that the decedent was married at the time of +his or her death to that spouse, the payor is not liable for making a payment +on account of, or for transferring an interest in, that portion of the asset to +such primary beneficiary. + +2. If the death certificate states that the decedent was not married at the + + + +time of his or her death, or if the death certificate states that the decedent was +married to a person other than the spouse designated as the primary +beneficiary at the time of his or her death, the payor is not liable for making a +payment on account of, or for transferring an interest in, that portion of the +asset to a secondary beneficiary under the governing instrument. + +3. If the death certificate is silent as to the decedents marital status at the +time of his or her death, the payor is not liable for making a payment on +account of, or for transferring an interest in, that portion of the asset to the +primary beneficiary upon delivery to the payor of an affidavit validly +executed by the primary beneficiary in substantially the following form: + +STATE OF ________________ +COUNTY OF ________________ +Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared + +(type or print Affiants name)(Affiant), who swore or affirmed +that: + +1. (Type or print name of Decedent)(Decedent) died on +(type or print the date of the Decedents death). + +2. Affiant is a primary beneficiary as that term is defined in +Section 732.703, Florida Statutes. Affiant and Decedent were +married on (type or print the date of marriage), and were legally +married to one another on the date of the Decedents death. + +(Affiant) +Sworn to or affirmed before me by the affiant who is + +personally known to me or who has produced (state type of +identification) as identification this day of (month), (year). + +(Signature of Officer) +(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned name of Notary Public) + +4. If the death certificate is silent as to the decedents marital status at the +time of his or her death, the payor is not liable for making a payment on + + + +account of, or for transferring an interest in, that portion of the asset to the +secondary beneficiary upon delivery to the payor of an affidavit validly +executed by the secondary beneficiary in substantially the following form: + +STATE OF ________________ +COUNTY OF ________________ +Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared by the means + +specified herein, ...(type or print Affiants name)... (Affiant), who swore or +affirmed that: + +1. ...(Type or print name of Decedent)... (Decedent) died on ...(type or +print the date of the Decedents death).... + +2. Affiant is a secondary beneficiary as that term is defined in Section +732.703, Florida Statutes. On the date of the Decedents death, the Decedent +was not legally married to the spouse designated as the primary beneficiary +as that term is defined in Section 732.703, Florida Statutes. + + ...(Affiant)... +Sworn to or affirmed before me by means of physical presence or + +online notarization by the affiant who is personally known to me or has +produced ...(state type of identification)... as identification this ____ day of ... +(month)..., ...(year).... + +...(Signature of Officer)... + +...(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned name of Notary Public)... +(6) In the case of an asset described in paragraph (3)(d), paragraph (3) + +(e), or paragraph (3)(f), the payor is not liable for making any payment on +account of, or transferring any interest in, the asset to any beneficiary. + +(7) Subsections (5) and (6) apply notwithstanding the payors +knowledge that the person to whom the asset is transferred is different +from the person who would own the interest pursuant to subsection (2). + +(8) This section does not affect the ownership of an interest in an asset +as between the former spouse and any other person entitled to such interest +by operation of this section, the rights of any purchaser for value of any +such interest, the rights of any creditor of the former spouse or any other + + + +person entitled to such interest, or the rights and duties of any insurance +company, financial institution, trustee, administrator, or other third party. + +(9) This section applies to all designations made by or on behalf of +decedents dying on or after July 1, 2012, regardless of when the +designation was made. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2012-148, eff. July 1, 2012; s. 6, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; + +s. 7, ch. 2021-205, effective June 29, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. VIII + + + +PART VIII. +GENERAL PROVISIONS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VIII. , 732.801. +Fla. Stat. 732.801 + + 732.801. Disclaimer of interests in property passing by will or intestate +succession or under certain powers of appointment [Repealed.] + +Repealed by s. 5, ch. 2005-108, effective July 1, 2005. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 40, ch. 75-220; s. 15, ch. 77-87; s. 970, ch. 97-102; s. + +57, ch. 2001-226; s. 30, ch. 2003-154. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VIII. , 732.802. +Fla. Stat. 732.802 + + 732.802. Killer not entitled to receive property or other benefits by +reason of victims death. +(1) A surviving person who unlawfully and intentionally kills or + +participates in procuring the death of the decedent is not entitled to any +benefits under the will or under the Florida Probate Code, and the estate of +the decedent passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent. Property +appointed by the will of the decedent to or for the benefit of the killer +passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent. + +(2) Any joint tenant who unlawfully and intentionally kills another joint +tenant thereby effects a severance of the interest of the decedent so that the +share of the decedent passes as the decedents property and the killer has +no rights by survivorship. This provision applies to joint tenancies with +right of survivorship and tenancies by the entirety in real and personal +property; joint and multiple-party accounts in banks, savings and loan +associations, credit unions, and other institutions; and any other form of +co-ownership with survivorship incidents. + +(3) A named beneficiary of a bond, life insurance policy, or other +contractual arrangement who unlawfully and intentionally kills the +principal obligee or the person upon whose life the policy is issued is not +entitled to any benefit under the bond, policy, or other contractual +arrangement; and it becomes payable as though the killer had predeceased +the decedent. + +(4) Any other acquisition of property or interest by the killer, including a +life estate in homestead property, shall be treated in accordance with the +principles of this section. + +(5) A final judgment of conviction of murder in any degree is conclusive +for purposes of this section. In the absence of a conviction of murder in +any degree, the court may determine by the greater weight of the evidence +whether the killing was unlawful and intentional for purposes of this +section. + +(6) This section does not affect the rights of any person who, before +rights under this section have been adjudicated, purchases from the killer + + + +for value and without notice property which the killer would have acquired +except for this section, but the killer is liable for the amount of the +proceeds or the value of the property. Any insurance company, bank, or +other obligor making payment according to the terms of its policy or +obligation is not liable by reason of this section unless prior to payment it +has received at its home office or principal address written notice of a +claim under this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 82-71. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 731.31. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VIII. , 732.8031. +Fla. Stat. 732.8031 + + 732.8031. Forfeiture for abuse, neglect, exploitation, or aggravated +manslaughter of an elderly person or a disabled adult. +(1) A surviving person who is convicted in any state or foreign + +jurisdiction of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or aggravated manslaughter of +an elderly person or a disabled adult, as those terms are defined in s. +825.101, for conduct against the decedent or another person on whose +death such beneficiarys interest depends is not entitled to any benefits +under the will of the decedent or the Florida Probate Code, and the estate +of the decedent passes as if the abuser, neglector, exploiter, or killer had +predeceased the decedent. Property appointed by the will of the decedent +to or for the benefit of the abuser, neglector, exploiter, or killer passes as if +the abuser, neglector, exploiter, or killer had predeceased the decedent. +(a) A final judgment of conviction for abuse, neglect, exploitation, or + +aggravated manslaughter of the decedent or other person creates a rebuttable +presumption that this section applies. + +(b) In the absence of a qualifying conviction, the court may determine by +the greater weight of the evidence whether the decedents or other persons +death was caused by or contributed to by the abusers, neglectors, +exploiters, or killers conduct as defined in s. 825.102, s. 825.103, or s. +782.07(2) for purposes of this section. + +(2) A joint tenant who is convicted in any state or foreign jurisdiction of +abuse, neglect, exploitation, or aggravated manslaughter of an elderly +person or a disabled adult, as those terms are defined in s. 825.101, for +conduct against another joint tenant decedent thereby effects a severance of +the interest of the decedent so that the share of the decedent passes as the +decedents sole property and as if the abuser, neglector, exploiter, or killer +has no rights by survivorship. This subsection applies to joint tenancies +with right of survivorship and tenancies by the entirety in real and personal +property; joint and multiple-party accounts in banks, savings and loan +associations, credit unions, and other financial institutions; and any other +form of coownership with survivorship interests. +(a) A final judgment of conviction for abuse, neglect, exploitation, or + + + +aggravated manslaughter of the decedent or other person creates a rebuttable +presumption that this section applies. + +(b) In the absence of a qualifying conviction, the court may determine by +the greater weight of the evidence whether the decedents or other persons +death was caused by or contributed to by the abusers, neglectors, +exploiters, or killers conduct as defined in s. 825.102, s. 825.103, or s. +782.07(2) for purposes of this section. + +(3) A named beneficiary of a bond, life insurance policy, or other +contractual arrangement who is convicted in any state or foreign +jurisdiction of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or aggravated manslaughter of +an elderly person or a disabled adult, as those terms are defined in s. +825.101, for conduct against the owner or principal obligee of the bond, +life insurance policy, or other contractual arrangement or the person upon +whose life such policy was issued is not entitled to any benefit under the +bond, policy, or other contractual arrangement, and the bond, policy, or +other contractual arrangement becomes payable as though the abuser, +neglector, exploiter, or killer had predeceased the decedent. +(a) A final judgment of conviction for abuse, neglect, exploitation, or + +aggravated manslaughter of the decedent or other person creates a rebuttable +presumption that this section applies. + +(b) In the absence of a qualifying conviction, the court may determine by +the greater weight of the evidence whether the decedents or other persons +death was caused by or contributed to by the abusers, neglectors, +exploiters, or killers conduct as defined in s. 825.102, s. 825.103, or s. +782.07(2) for purposes of this section. + +(4) Any other property or interest acquired as a result of the abuse, +neglect, exploitation, or manslaughter must be returned in accordance with +this section. +(5)(a) This section does not affect the rights of any person who purchases +property for value and without notice from the abuser, neglector, exploiter, +or killer before rights have been adjudicated in accordance with this +section. +(b) The abuser, neglector, exploiter, or killer is liable for the amount of the + +proceeds or the value of the property under paragraph (a). + + + +(6) Any insurance company, financial institution, or other obligor +making payment according to the terms of its policy or obligation is not +liable by reason of this section unless more than 2 business days before +payment it receives at its home office or principal address written notice, +or in the case of a financial institution it receives notice in accordance with +s. 655.0201, of a claim under this section. + +(7) This section does not apply if it can be proven by clear and +convincing evidence that, after the conviction of abuse, neglect, or +exploitation, the victim of the offense, if capacitated, ratifies an intent that +the person so convicted of abuse, neglect, or exploitation retain his or her +inheritance, survivorship rights, or any other right that might otherwise be +removed by this section by executing a valid written instrument, sworn to +and witnessed by two persons who would be competent as witnesses to a +will, which expresses a specific intent to allow the convicted person to +retain his or her inheritance, survivorship rights, or any other right that +might otherwise be removed by this section. + +History. +S. 3, ch. 2021-221, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VIII. , 732.804. +Fla. Stat. 732.804 + + 732.804. Provisions relating to disposition of the body. +Before issuance of letters, any person may carry out written instructions of + +the decedent relating to the decedents body and funeral and burial +arrangements. The fact that cremation occurred pursuant to a written +direction signed by the decedent that the body be cremated is a complete +defense to a cause of action against any person acting or relying on that +direction. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 43, ch. 75-220; s. 971, ch. 97-102; s. 58, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VIII. , 732.805. +Fla. Stat. 732.805 + + 732.805. Spousal rights procured by fraud, duress, or undue influence. +(1) A surviving spouse who is found to have procured a marriage to the + +decedent by fraud, duress, or undue influence is not entitled to any of the +following rights or benefits that inure solely by virtue of the marriage or +the persons status as surviving spouse of the decedent unless the decedent +and the surviving spouse voluntarily cohabited as husband and wife with +full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, duress, or undue +influence or both spouses otherwise subsequently ratified the marriage: +(a) Any rights or benefits under the Florida Probate Code, including, but + +not limited to, entitlement to elective share or family allowance; preference in +appointment as personal representative; inheritance by intestacy, homestead, +or exempt property; or inheritance as a pretermitted spouse. + +(b) Any rights or benefits under a bond, life insurance policy, or other +contractual arrangement if the decedent is the principal obligee or the person +upon whose life the policy is issued, unless the surviving spouse is provided +for by name, whether or not designated as the spouse, in the bond, life +insurance policy, or other contractual arrangement. + +(c) Any rights or benefits under a will, trust, or power of appointment, +unless the surviving spouse is provided for by name, whether or not +designated as the spouse, in the will, trust, or power of appointment. + +(d) Any immunity from the presumption of undue influence that a +surviving spouse may have under state law. + +(2) Any of the rights or benefits listed in paragraphs (1)(a)-(c) which +would have passed solely by virtue of the marriage to a surviving spouse +who is found to have procured the marriage by fraud, duress, or undue +influence shall pass as if the spouse had predeceased the decedent. + +(3) A challenge to a surviving spouses rights under this section may be +maintained as a defense, objection, or cause of action by any interested +person after the death of the decedent in any proceeding in which the fact +of marriage may be directly or indirectly material. + +(4) The contestant has the burden of establishing, by a preponderance of + + + +the evidence, that the marriage was procured by fraud, duress, or undue +influence. If ratification of the marriage is raised as a defense, the +surviving spouse has the burden of establishing, by a preponderance of the +evidence, the subsequent ratification by both spouses. + +(5) In all actions brought under this section, the court shall award +taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorneys fees. When +awarding taxable costs and attorneys fees, the court may direct payment +from a partys interest, if any, in the estate, or enter a judgment that may be +satisfied from other property of the party, or both. + +(6) An insurance company, financial institution, or other obligor making +payment according to the terms of its policy or obligation is not liable by +reason of this section unless, before payment, it received written notice of +a claim pursuant to this section. +(a) The notice required by this subsection must be in writing and must be + +accomplished in a manner reasonably suitable under the circumstances and +likely to result in receipt of the notice. Permissible methods of notice include +first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the persons last known place +of residence or place of business, or a properly directed facsimile or other +electronic message. + +(b) To be effective, notice to a financial institution or insurance company +must contain the name, address, and the taxpayer identification number, or +the account or policy number, of the principal obligee or person whose life is +insured and shall be directed to an officer or a manager of the financial +institution or insurance company in this state. If the financial institution or +insurance company has no offices in this state, the notice shall be directed to +the principal office of the financial institution or insurance company. + +(c) Notice shall be effective when given, except that notice to a financial +institution or insurance company is not effective until 5 business days after +being given. + +(7) The rights and remedies granted in this section are in addition to any +other rights or remedies a person may have at law or equity. + +(8) Unless sooner barred by adjudication, estoppel, or a provision of the +Florida Probate Code or Florida Probate Rules, an interested person is +barred from bringing an action under this section unless the action is + + + +commenced within 4 years after the decedents date of death. A cause of +action under this section accrues on the decedents date of death. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. VIII. , 732.806. +Fla. Stat. 732.806 + + 732.806. Gifts to lawyers and other disqualified persons. +(1) Any part of a written instrument which makes a gift to a lawyer or a + +person related to the lawyer is void if the lawyer prepared or supervised the +execution of the written instrument, or solicited the gift, unless the lawyer +or other recipient of the gift is related to the person making the gift. + +(2) This section is not applicable to a provision in a written instrument +appointing a lawyer, or a person related to the lawyer, as a fiduciary. + +(3) A provision in a written instrument purporting to waive the +application of this section is unenforceable. + +(4) If property distributed in kind, or a security interest in that property, +is acquired by a purchaser or lender for value from a person who has +received a gift in violation of this section, the purchaser or lender takes title +free of any claims arising under this section and incurs no personal liability +by reason of this section, whether or not the gift is void under this section. + +(5) In all actions brought under this section, the court must award +taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorney fees. When +awarding taxable costs and attorney fees under this section, the court may +direct payment from a partys interest in the estate or trust, or enter a +judgment that may be satisfied from other property of the party, or both. +Attorney fees and costs may not be awarded against a party who, in good +faith, initiates an action under this section to declare a gift void. + +(6) If a part of a written instrument is invalid by reason of this section, +the invalid part is severable and may not affect any other part of the written +instrument which can be given effect, including a term that makes an +alternate or substitute gift. In the case of a power of appointment, this +section does not affect the power to appoint in favor of persons other than +the lawyer or a person related to the lawyer. + +(7) For purposes of this section: +(a) A lawyer is deemed to have prepared, or supervised the execution of, a + +written instrument if the preparation, or supervision of the execution, of the +written instrument was performed by an employee or lawyer employed by the + + + +same firm as the lawyer. +(b) A person is related to an individual if, at the time the lawyer prepared + +or supervised the execution of the written instrument or solicited the gift, the +person is: + +1. A spouse of the individual; +2. A lineal ascendant or descendant of the individual; +3. A sibling of the individual; +4. A relative of the individual or of the individuals spouse with whom the + +lawyer maintains a close, familial relationship; +5. A spouse of a person described in subparagraph 2., subparagraph 3., or + +subparagraph 4.; or +6. A person who cohabitates with the individual. +(c) The term written instrument includes, but is not limited to, a will, a + +trust, a deed, a document exercising a power of appointment, or a beneficiary +designation under a life insurance contract or any other contractual +arrangement that creates an ownership interest or permits the naming of a +beneficiary. + +(d) The term gift includes an inter vivos gift, a testamentary transfer of +real or personal property or any interest therein, and the power to make such +a transfer regardless of whether the gift is outright or in trust; regardless of +when the transfer is to take effect; and regardless of whether the power is +held in a fiduciary or nonfiduciary capacity. + +(8) The rights and remedies granted in this section are in addition to any +other rights or remedies a person may have at law or in equity. + +(9) This section applies only to written instruments executed on or after +October 1, 2013. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; s. 1, ch. 2014-127, effective July 1, + +2014. + +Editors notes. + + + +Section 2, ch. 2014-127, provides: The changes made by this act to s. +732.806, Florida Statutes, are intended to clarify existing law and are +remedial in nature. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IX. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 732, Pt. IX + + + +PART IX. +PRODUCTION OF WILLS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 732. , Pt. IX. , 732.901. +Fla. Stat. 732.901 + + 732.901. Production of wills. +(1) The custodian of a will must deposit the will with the clerk of the + +court having venue of the estate of the decedent within 10 days after +receiving information that the testator is dead. The custodian must supply +the testators date of death or the last four digits of the testators social +security number to the clerk upon deposit. + +(2) Upon petition and notice, the custodian of any will may be +compelled to produce and deposit the will. All costs, damages, and a +reasonable attorneys fee shall be adjudged to petitioner against the +delinquent custodian if the court finds that the custodian had no just or +reasonable cause for failing to deposit the will. + +(3) An original will submitted to the clerk with a petition or other +pleading is deemed to have been deposited with the clerk. + +(4) Upon receipt, the clerk shall retain and preserve the original will in +its original form for at least 20 years. If the probate of a will is initiated, the +original will may be maintained by the clerk with the other pleadings +during the pendency of the proceedings, but the will must at all times be +retained in its original form for the remainder of the 20-year period +whether or not the will is admitted to probate or the proceedings are +terminated. Transforming and storing a will on film, microfilm, magnetic, +electronic, optical, or other substitute media or recording a will onto an +electronic recordkeeping system, whether or not in accordance with the +standards adopted by the Supreme Court of Florida, or permanently +recording a will does not eliminate the requirement to preserve the original +will. + +(5) For purposes of this section, the term will includes a separate +writing as described in s. 732.515. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 44, ch. 75-220; s. 18, ch. 92-200; s. 972, ch. 97-102; s. +59, ch. 2001-226; s. 8, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.22. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733 + + + +CHAPTER 733. +PROBATE CODE: ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +GENERAL PROVISIONS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.101. +Fla. Stat. 733.101 + + 733.101. Venue of probate proceedings. +(1) The venue for probate of wills and granting letters shall be: + +(a) In the county in this state where the decedent was domiciled. +(b) If the decedent had no domicile in this state, then in any county where + +the decedents property is located. +(c) If the decedent had no domicile in this state and possessed no property + +in this state, then in the county where any debtor of the decedent resides. +(2) For the purpose of this section, a married woman whose husband is + +an alien or a nonresident of Florida may establish or designate a separate +domicile in this state. + +(3) Whenever a proceeding is filed laying venue in an improper county, +the court may transfer the action in the same manner as provided in the +Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Any action taken by the court or the +parties before the transfer is not affected by the improper venue. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 46, ch. 75-220; s. 981, ch. 97-102; s. 78, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.06. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.103. +Fla. Stat. 733.103 + + 733.103. Effect of probate. +(1) Until admitted to probate in this state or in the state where the + +decedent was domiciled, the will shall be ineffective to prove title to, or the +right to possession of, property of the testator. + +(2) In any collateral action or proceeding relating to devised property, +the probate of a will in Florida shall be conclusive of its due execution; +that it was executed by a competent testator, free of fraud, duress, mistake, +and undue influence; and that the will was unrevoked on the testators +death. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 48, ch. 75-220; s. 17, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 79, + +ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.26. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.104. +Fla. Stat. 733.104 + + 733.104. Suspension of statutes of limitation in favor of the personal +representative. +(1) If a person entitled to bring an action dies before the expiration of + +the time limited for the commencement of the action and the cause of +action survives, the action may be commenced by that persons personal +representative before the later of the expiration of the time limited for the +commencement of the action or 12 months after the decedents death. + +(2) If a person against whom a cause of action exists dies before the +expiration of the time limited for commencement of the action and the +cause of action survives, if a claim is timely filed, the expiration of the +time limited for commencement of the action shall not apply. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 48, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 982, ch. 97-102; s. + +80, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.27. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.105. +Fla. Stat. 733.105 + + 733.105. Determination of beneficiaries. +(1) When property passes by intestate succession or the will is unclear + +and there is doubt about: +(a) Who is entitled to receive any part of the property, or +(b) The shares and amounts that any person is entitled to receive, +any interested person may petition the court to determine beneficiaries or +their shares. + +(2) Any personal representative who makes distribution or takes any +other action pursuant to an order determining beneficiaries shall be fully +protected. + +(3) A separate civil action to determine beneficiaries may be brought +when an estate has not been administered. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 48, ch. 75-220; s. 226, ch. 77-104; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. + +983, ch. 97-102; s. 81, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.25. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.1051. +Fla. Stat. 733.1051 + + 733.1051. Limited judicial construction of will with federal tax +provisions. +(1) Upon the application of a personal representative or a person who is + +or may be a beneficiary who is affected by the outcome of the +construction, a court at any time may construe the terms of a will to define +the respective shares or determine beneficiaries, in accordance with the +intention of a testator, if a disposition occurs during the applicable period +and the will contains a provision that: +(a) Includes a disposition formula referring to the terms unified credit, + +estate tax exemption, applicable exemption amount, applicable credit +amount, applicable exclusion amount, generation-skipping transfer tax +exemption, GST exemption, marital deduction, maximum marital +deduction, unlimited marital deduction, or maximum charitable +deduction; + +(b) Measures a share of an estate based on the amount that may pass free of +federal estate tax or the amount that may pass free of federal generation- +skipping transfer tax; + +(c) Otherwise makes a disposition referring to a charitable deduction, +marital deduction, or another provision of federal estate tax or generation- +skipping transfer tax law; or + +(d) Appears to be intended to reduce or minimize the federal estate tax or +generation-skipping transfer tax. + +(2) For purposes of this section: +(a) The term applicable period means a period beginning January 1, + +2010, and ending on the end of the day on the earlier of December 31, 2010, +or the day before the date that an act becomes law that repeals or otherwise +modifies or has the effect of repealing or modifying s. 901 of the Economic +Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. + +(b) A disposition occurs when the testator dies. +(3) In construing the will, the court shall consider the terms and + + + +purposes of the will, the facts and circumstances surrounding the creation +of the will, and the testators probable intent. In determining the testators +probable intent, the court may consider evidence relevant to the testators +intent even though the evidence contradicts an apparent plain meaning of +the will. + +(4) This section does not apply to a disposition that is specifically +conditioned upon no federal estate or generation-skipping transfer tax +being imposed. +(5)(a) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, during the applicable period +and without court order, the personal representative administering a will +containing one or more provisions described in subsection (1) may: +1. Delay or refrain from making any distribution. +2. Incur and pay fees and costs reasonably necessary to determine its duties + +and obligations, including compliance with provisions of existing and +reasonably anticipated future federal tax laws. + +3. Establish and maintain reserves for the payment of these fees and costs +and federal taxes. + +(b) The personal representative shall not be liable for its actions as +provided in this subsection made or taken in good faith. + +(6) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in +derogation of, rights under the common law to construe a will. + +(7) This section is remedial in nature and intended to provide a new or +modified legal remedy. This section shall operate retroactively to January +1, 2010. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2010-132, eff. May 27, 2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.106. +Fla. Stat. 733.106 + + 733.106. Costs and attorney fees. +(1) In all probate proceedings, costs may be awarded as in chancery + +actions. +(2) A person nominated as personal representative, or any proponent of + +a will if the person so nominated does not act within a reasonable time, if +in good faith justified in offering the will in due form for probate, shall +receive costs and attorney fees from the estate even though probate is +denied or revoked. + +(3) Any attorney who has rendered services to an estate may be awarded +reasonable compensation from the estate. + +(4) If costs and attorney fees are to be paid from the estate under this +section, s. 733.6171(4), s. 736.1005, or s. 736.1006, the court, in its +discretion, may direct from what part of the estate they shall be paid. +(a) If the court directs an assessment against a persons part of the estate + +and such part is insufficient to fully pay the assessment, the court may direct +payment from the persons part of a trust, if any, if a pour-over will is +involved and the matter is interrelated with the trust. + +(b) All or any part of the costs and attorney fees to be paid from the estate +may be assessed against one or more persons part of the estate in such +proportions as the court finds to be just and proper. + +(c) In the exercise of its discretion, the court may consider the following +factors: + +1. The relative impact of an assessment on the estimated value of each +persons part of the estate. + +2. The amount of costs and attorney fees to be assessed against a persons +part of the estate. + +3. The extent to which a person whose part of the estate is to be assessed, +individually or through counsel, actively participated in the proceeding. + +4. The potential benefit or detriment to a persons part of the estate + + + +expected from the outcome of the proceeding. +5. The relative strength or weakness of the merits of the claims, defenses, + +or objections, if any, asserted by a person whose part of the estate is to be +assessed. + +6. Whether a person whose part of the estate is to be assessed was a +prevailing party with respect to one or more claims, defenses, or objections. + +7. Whether a person whose part of the estate is to be assessed unjustly +caused an increase in the amount of costs and attorney fees incurred by the +personal representative or another interested person in connection with the +proceeding. + +8. Any other relevant fact, circumstance, or equity. +(d) The court may assess a persons part of the estate without finding that + +the person engaged in bad faith, wrongdoing, or frivolousness. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 49, ch. 75-220; s. 984, ch. 97-102; s. 82, ch. 2001-226; + +s. 1, ch. 2015-27, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.14. +Section 11, ch. 2015-27, provides: The amendments made by this act to + +ss. 733.106, 736.1005, and 736.1006, Florida Statutes, apply to proceedings +commenced on or after July 1, 2015. The law in effect before July 1, 2015, +applies to proceedings commenced before that date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.1061. +Fla. Stat. 733.1061 + + 733.1061. Fees and costs; will reformation and modification. +(1) In a proceeding arising under s. 732.615 or s. 732.616, the court shall + +award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorneys fees and +guardian ad litem fees. + +(2) When awarding taxable costs, including attorneys fees and guardian +ad litem fees, under this section, the court in its discretion may direct +payment from a partys interest, if any, in the estate or enter a judgment +which may be satisfied from other property of the party, or both. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2011-183, eff. July 1, 2011. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.107. +Fla. Stat. 733.107 + + 733.107. Burden of proof in contests; presumption of undue influence. +(1) In all proceedings contesting the validity of a will, the burden shall + +be upon the proponent of the will to establish prima facie its formal +execution and attestation. A self-proving affidavit executed in accordance +with s. 732.503 or an oath of an attesting witness executed as required in s. +733.201(2) is admissible and establishes prima facie the formal execution +and attestation of the will. Thereafter, the contestant shall have the burden +of establishing the grounds on which the probate of the will is opposed or +revocation is sought. + +(2) In any transaction or event to which the presumption of undue +influence applies, the presumption implements public policy against abuse +of fiduciary or confidential relationships and is therefore a presumption +shifting the burden of proof under ss. 90.301-90.304. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 50, ch. 75-220; s. 83, ch. 2001-226; s. 5, ch. 2002-82; s. + +13, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010; s. 3, ch. 2014-127, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.31. +Section 4, ch. 2014-127, provides: The changes made by this act to s. + +733.107, Florida Statutes, are intended to clarify existing law, are remedial in +nature, and apply retroactively to all proceedings pending on or before the +effective date of this act and to all cases commenced on or after the effective +date of this act. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. I. , 733.109. +Fla. Stat. 733.109 + + 733.109. Revocation of probate. +(1) A proceeding to revoke the probate of a will shall be brought in the + +court having jurisdiction over the administration. Any interested person, +including a beneficiary under a prior will, unless barred under s. 733.212 +or s. 733.2123, may commence the proceeding before final discharge of +the personal representative. + +(2) Pending the determination of any petition for revocation of probate, +the personal representative shall proceed with the administration of the +estate as if no revocation proceeding had been commenced, except that no +distribution may be made to beneficiaries in contravention of the rights of +those who, but for the will, would be entitled to the property disposed of. + +(3) Revocation of probate of a will shall not affect or impair the title to +property purchased in good faith for value from the personal representative +prior to an order of revocation. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 50, ch. 75-220; s. 18, ch. 77-87; s. 227, ch. 77-104; s. + +84, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.30. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +COMMENCING ADMINISTRATION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.201. +Fla. Stat. 733.201 + + 733.201. Proof of wills. +(1) Self-proved wills executed in accordance with this code may be + +admitted to probate without further proof. However, a purportedly self- +proved electronic will may be admitted to probate only in the manners +prescribed in subsections (2) and (3) if the execution of such electronic +will, or the acknowledgment by the testator and the affidavits of the +witnesses, involves an online notarization in which there was a substantial +failure to comply with the procedures set forth in s. 117.265. + +(2) A will may be admitted to probate upon the oath of any attesting +witness taken before any circuit judge, commissioner appointed by the +court, or clerk. + +(3) If it appears to the court that the attesting witnesses cannot be found +or that they have become incapacitated after the execution of the will or +their testimony cannot be obtained within a reasonable time, a will may be +admitted to probate upon the oath of the personal representative nominated +by the will as provided in subsection (2), whether or not the nominated +personal representative is interested in the estate, or upon the oath of any +person having no interest in the estate under the will stating that the person +believes the writing exhibited to be the true last will of the decedent. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 51, ch. 75-220; s. 985, ch. 97-102; s. 85, ch. 2001-226; + +s. 9, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 38, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, +2020. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.24. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.202. +Fla. Stat. 733.202 + + 733.202. Petition. +Any interested person may petition for administration. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 52, ch. 75-220; s. 19, ch. 77-87; s. 19, ch. 92-200; s. + +986, ch. 97-102; s. 86, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.43. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.204. +Fla. Stat. 733.204 + + 733.204. Probate of a will written in a foreign language. +(1) No will written in a foreign language shall be admitted to probate + +unless it is accompanied by a true and complete English translation. +(2) No personal representative who complies in good faith with the + +English translation of the will as established by the court shall be liable for +doing so. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 54, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 88, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.34. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.205. +Fla. Stat. 733.205 + + 733.205. Probate of notarial will. +(1) When a copy of a notarial will in the possession of a notary entitled + +to its custody in a foreign state or country, the laws of which state or +country require that the will remain in the custody of the notary, duly +authenticated by the notary, whose official position, signature, and seal of +office are further authenticated by an American consul, vice consul, or +other American consular officer within whose jurisdiction the notary is a +resident, or whose official position, signature, and seal of office have been +authenticated according to the requirements of the Hague Convention of +1961, is presented to the court, it may be admitted to probate if the original +could have been admitted to probate in this state. + +(2) The duly authenticated copy shall be prima facie evidence of its +purported execution and of the facts stated in the certificate in compliance +with subsection (1). + +(3) Any interested person may oppose the probate of such a notarial will +or may petition for revocation of probate of such a notarial will, as in the +original probate of a will in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 55, ch. 75-220; s. 89, ch. 2001-226; s. 7, ch. 2003-154. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.37. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.206. +Fla. Stat. 733.206 + + 733.206. Probate of will of resident after foreign probate. +(1) If a will of any person who dies a resident of this state is admitted to + +probate in any other state or country through inadvertence, error, or +omission before probate in this state, the will may be admitted to probate +in this state if the original could have been admitted to probate in this state. + +(2) An authenticated copy of the will, foreign proof of the will, the +foreign order of probate, and any letters issued shall be filed instead of the +original will and shall be prima facie evidence of its execution and +admission to foreign probate. + +(3) Any interested person may oppose the probate of the will or may +petition for revocation of the probate of the will, as in the original probate +of a will in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 56, ch. 75-220; s. 90, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.35. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.207. +Fla. Stat. 733.207 + + 733.207. Establishment and probate of lost or destroyed will. +Any interested person may establish the full and precise terms of a lost or + +destroyed will and offer the will for probate. The specific content of the will +must be proved by the testimony of two disinterested witnesses, or, if a +correct copy is provided, it shall be proved by one disinterested witness. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 57, ch. 75-220; s. 91, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.27. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.208. +Fla. Stat. 733.208 + + 733.208. Discovery of later will. +On the discovery of a later will or codicil, any interested person may + +petition to revoke the probate of the earlier will or to probate the later will or +codicil. No will or codicil may be offered after the testate or intestate estate +has been completely administered and the personal representative discharged. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 58, ch. 75-220; s. 92, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.32. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.209. +Fla. Stat. 733.209 + + 733.209. Estates of missing persons. +Any interested person may petition to administer the estate of a missing + +person; however, no personal representative shall be appointed until the court +determines the missing person is dead. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 93, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.53. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.212. +Fla. Stat. 733.212 + + 733.212. Notice of administration; filing of objections. +(1) The personal representative shall promptly serve a copy of the notice + +of administration on the following persons who are known to the personal +representative: +(a) The decedents surviving spouse; +(b) Beneficiaries; +(c) The trustee of any trust described in s. 733.707(3) and each qualified + +beneficiary of the trust as defined in s. 736.0103, if each trustee is also a +personal representative of the estate; and + +(d) Persons who may be entitled to exempt property +in the manner provided for service of formal notice, unless served under s. + +733.2123. The personal representative may similarly serve a copy of the +notice on any devisees under a known prior will or heirs or others who claim +or may claim an interest in the estate. + +(2) The notice shall state: +(a) The name of the decedent, the file number of the estate, the designation + +and address of the court in which the proceedings are pending, whether the +estate is testate or intestate, and, if testate, the date of the will and any +codicils. + +(b) The name and address of the personal representative and the name and +address of the personal representatives attorney, and that the fiduciary +lawyer-client privilege in s. 90.5021 applies with respect to the personal +representative and any attorney employed by the personal representative. + +(c) That any interested person on whom a copy of the notice of +administration is served must file on or before the date that is 3 months after +the date of service of a copy of the notice of administration on that person +any objection that challenges the validity of the will, the venue, or the +jurisdiction of the court. The 3-month time period may only be extended for +estoppel based upon a misstatement by the personal representative regarding +the time period within which an objection must be filed. The time period may + + + +not be extended for any other reason, including affirmative representation, +failure to disclose information, or misconduct by the personal representative +or any other person. Unless sooner barred by subsection (3), all objections to +the validity of a will, venue, or the jurisdiction of the court must be filed no +later than the earlier of the entry of an order of final discharge of the personal +representative or 1 year after service of the notice of administration. + +(d) That persons who may be entitled to exempt property under s. 732.402 +will be deemed to have waived their rights to claim that property as exempt +property unless a petition for determination of exempt property is filed by +such persons or on their behalf on or before the later of the date that is 4 +months after the date of service of a copy of the notice of administration on +such persons or the date that is 40 days after the date of termination of any +proceeding involving the construction, admission to probate, or validity of +the will or involving any other matter affecting any part of the exempt +property. + +(e) That, unless an extension is granted pursuant to s.732.2135(2), an +election to take an elective share must be filed on or before the earlier of the +date that is 6 months after the date of service of a copy of the notice of +administration on the surviving spouse, or an attorney in fact or a guardian of +the property of the surviving spouse, or the date that is 2 years after the date +of the decedents death. + +(f) That, under certain circumstances and by failing to contest the will, the +recipient of the notice of administration may be waiving his or her right to +contest the validity of a trust or other writing incorporated by reference into a +will. + +(3) Any interested person on whom a copy of the notice of +administration is served must object to the validity of the will, the venue, +or the jurisdiction of the court by filing a petition or other pleading +requesting relief in accordance with the Florida Probate Rules on or before +the date that is 3 months after the date of service of a copy of the notice of +administration on the objecting person, or those objections are forever +barred. The 3-month time period may only be extended for estoppel based +upon a misstatement by the personal representative regarding the time +period within which an objection must be filed. The time period may not +be extended for any other reason, including affirmative representation, + + + +failure to disclose information, or misconduct by the personal +representative or any other person. Unless sooner barred by this +subsection, all objections to the validity of a will, venue, or the jurisdiction +of the court must be filed no later than the earlier of the entry of an order of +final discharge of the personal representative or 1 year after service of the +notice of administration. + +(4) The appointment of a personal representative or a successor personal +representative shall not extend or renew the period for filing objections +under this section, unless a new will or codicil is admitted. + +(5) The personal representative is not individually liable to any person +for giving notice under this section, regardless of whether it is later +determined that notice was not required by this section. The service of +notice in accordance with this section shall not be construed as conferring +any right. + +(6) If the personal representative in good faith fails to give notice +required by this section, the personal representative is not liable to any +person for the failure. Liability, if any, for the failure is on the estate. + +(7) If a will or codicil is subsequently admitted to probate, the personal +representative shall promptly serve a copy of a new notice of +administration as required for an initial will admission. + +(8) For the purpose of determining deadlines established by reference to +the date of service of a copy of the notice of administration in cases in +which such service has been waived, service shall be deemed to occur on +the date the waiver is filed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 60, ch. 75-220; s. 227, ch. 77-104; s. 3, ch. 88-340; s. 2, + +ch. 89-340; s. 2, ch. 90-23; s. 8, ch. 93-257; s. 7, ch. 95-401; s. 191, ch. 99- +397; s. 94, ch. 2001-226; s. 8, ch. 2003-154; s. 6, ch. 2006-134, eff. July 1, +2006; s. 36, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 8, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, +2011; s. 17, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; s. 5, ch. 2020-67, effective +October 1, 2020. + +Editors notes. + + + +Created from former s. 732.28. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + +Section 9, ch. 2015-27, provides: The amendments made by this act to ss. +733.212, 733.2123, 733.3101, and 733.504, Florida Statutes, apply to +proceedings commenced on or after July 1, 2015. The law in effect before +July 1, 2015, applies to proceedings commenced before that date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.2121. +Fla. Stat. 733.2121 + + 733.2121. Notice to creditors; filing of claims. +(1) Unless creditors claims are otherwise barred by s. 733.710, the + +personal representative shall promptly publish a notice to creditors. The +notice shall contain the name of the decedent, the file number of the estate, +the designation and address of the court in which the proceedings are +pending, the name and address of the personal representative, the name and +address of the personal representatives attorney, and the date of first +publication. The notice shall state that creditors must file claims against the +estate with the court during the time periods set forth in s. 733.702, or be +forever barred. + +(2) Publication shall be once a week for 2 consecutive weeks, in a +newspaper published in the county where the estate is administered or, if +there is no newspaper published in the county, in a newspaper of general +circulation in that county. +(3)(a) The personal representative shall promptly make a diligent search to +determine the names and addresses of creditors of the decedent who are +reasonably ascertainable, even if the claims are unmatured, contingent, or +unliquidated, and shall promptly serve a copy of the notice on those +creditors. Impracticable and extended searches are not required. Service is +not required on any creditor who has filed a claim as provided in this part, +whose claim has been paid in full, or whose claim is listed in a personal +representatives timely filed proof of claim. +(b) The personal representative is not individually liable to any person for + +giving notice under this section, even if it is later determined that notice was +not required. The service of notice to creditors in accordance with this section +shall not be construed as admitting the validity or enforceability of a claim. + +(c) If the personal representative in good faith fails to give notice required +by this section, the personal representative is not liable to any person for the +failure. Liability, if any, for the failure is on the estate. + +(d) If a decedent at the time of death was 55 years of age or older, the +personal representative shall promptly serve a copy of the notice to creditors +and provide a copy of the death certificate on the Agency for Health Care + + + +Administration within 3 months after the first publication of the notice to +creditors, unless the agency has already filed a statement of claim in the +estate proceedings. + +(e) The personal representative may serve a notice to creditors on the +Department of Revenue only when the Department of Revenue is determined +to be a creditor under paragraph (a). + +(4) Claims are barred as provided in ss. 733.702 and 733.710. + +HISTORY: +S. 95, ch. 2001-226; s. 9, ch. 2003-154; s. 4, ch. 2005-140; s. 49, ch. 2017- + +36, effective May 25, 2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.2123. +Fla. Stat. 733.2123 + + 733.2123. Adjudication before issuance of letters. +A petitioner may serve formal notice of the petition for administration on + +interested persons. A person who is served with such notice before the +issuance of letters or who has waived notice may not challenge the validity of +the will, testacy of the decedent, venue, or jurisdiction of the court, except in +the proceedings before issuance of letters. + +HISTORY: +S. 60, ch. 75-220; s. 2, ch. 81-27; s. 987, ch. 97-102; s. 96, ch. 2001-226; s. + +14, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010; s. 3, ch. 2015-27, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Section 9, ch. 2015-27, provides: The amendments made by this act to ss. + +733.212, 733.2123, 733.3101, and 733.504, Florida Statutes, apply to +proceedings commenced on or after July 1, 2015. The law in effect before +July 1, 2015, applies to proceedings commenced before that date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. II. , 733.213. +Fla. Stat. 733.213 + + 733.213. Probate as prerequisite to judicial construction of will. +A will may not be construed until it has been admitted to probate. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 61, ch. 75-220; s. 97, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.42. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. III + + + +PART III. +PREFERENCE IN APPOINTMENT AND + +QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.301. + +Fla. Stat. 733.301 + + 733.301. Preference in appointment of personal representative. +(1) In granting letters of administration, the following order of + +preference shall be observed: +(a) In testate estates: +1. The personal representative, or his or her successor, nominated by the + +will or pursuant to a power conferred in the will. +2. The person selected by a majority in interest of the persons entitled to + +the estate. +3. A devisee under the will. If more than one devisee applies, the court + +may select the one best qualified. +(b) In intestate estates: +1. The surviving spouse. +2. The person selected by a majority in interest of the heirs. +3. The heir nearest in degree. If more than one applies, the court may select + +the one best qualified. +(2) A guardian of the property of a ward who if competent would be + +entitled to appointment as, or to select, the personal representative may +exercise the right to select the personal representative. + +(3) In either a testate or an intestate estate, if no application is made by +any of the persons described in subsection (1), the court shall appoint a +capable person; but no person may be appointed under this subsection: +(a) Who works for, or holds public office under, the court. +(b) Who is employed by, or holds office under, any judge exercising + +probate jurisdiction. + + + +(4) After letters have been granted in either a testate or an intestate +estate, if a person who was entitled to, and has not waived, preference over +the person appointed at the time of the appointment and on whom formal +notice was not served seeks the appointment, the letters granted may be +revoked and the person entitled to preference may have letters granted after +formal notice and hearing. + +(5) After letters have been granted in either a testate or an intestate +estate, if any will is subsequently admitted to probate, the letters shall be +revoked and new letters granted. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 62, ch. 75-220; s. 21, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 988, + +ch. 97-102; s. 98, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.44. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.302. +Fla. Stat. 733.302 + + 733.302. Who may be appointed personal representative. +Subject to the limitations in this part, any person who is sui juris and is a + +resident of Florida at the time of the death of the person whose estate is to be +administered is qualified to act as personal representative in Florida. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 63, ch. 75-220; s. 5, ch. 79-343; s. 989, ch. 97-102; s. + +99, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.45. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.303. +Fla. Stat. 733.303 + + 733.303. Persons not qualified. +(1) A person is not qualified to act as a personal representative if the + +person: +(a) Has been convicted of a felony. +(b) Has been convicted in any state or foreign jurisdiction of abuse, + +neglect, or exploitation of an elderly person or a disabled adult, as those +terms are defined in s. 825.101. + +(c) Is mentally or physically unable to perform the duties. +(d) Is under the age of 18 years. + +(2) If the person named as personal representative in the will is not +qualified, letters shall be granted as provided in s. 733.301. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 63, ch. 75-220; s. 22, ch. 77-87; s. 990, ch. 97-102; s. 2, + +ch. 2021-221, effective July 1, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.46. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.304. +Fla. Stat. 733.304 + + 733.304. Nonresidents. +A person who is not domiciled in the state cannot qualify as personal + +representative unless the person is: +(1) A legally adopted child or adoptive parent of the decedent; +(2) Related by lineal consanguinity to the decedent; +(3) A spouse or a brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the + +decedent, or someone related by lineal consanguinity to any such person; +or + +(4) The spouse of a person otherwise qualified under this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 63, ch. 75-220; s. 6, ch. 79-343. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.47. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.305. +Fla. Stat. 733.305 + + 733.305. Trust companies and other corporations and associations. +(1) All trust companies incorporated under the laws of Florida, all state + +banking corporations and state savings associations authorized and +qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in Florida, and all national banking +associations and federal savings and loan associations authorized and +qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in Florida shall be entitled to act as +personal representatives and curators of estates. + +(2) When a qualified corporation has been named as a personal +representative in a will and subsequently transfers its business and assets +to, consolidates or merges with, or is in any manner provided by law +succeeded by, another qualified corporation, on the death of the testator, +the successor corporation may qualify as personal representative unless the +will provides otherwise. + +(3) A corporation authorized and qualified to act as a personal +representative as a result of merger or consolidation shall succeed to the +rights and duties of all predecessor corporations as the personal +representative of estates upon filing proof in the court, and without a new +appointment. A purchase of substantially all the assets and the assumption +of substantially all the liabilities shall be deemed a merger for the purpose +of this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 63, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 3, ch. 81-27; s. 100, + +ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.49. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.306. +Fla. Stat. 733.306 + + 733.306. Effect of appointment of debtor. +The appointment of a debtor as personal representative shall not extinguish + +the debt due the decedent. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 63, ch. 75-220; s. 101, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.51. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.307. +Fla. Stat. 733.307 + + 733.307. Succession of administration. +The personal representative of the estate of a deceased personal + +representative is not authorized to administer the estate of the first decedent. +On the death of a sole or surviving personal representative, the court shall +appoint a successor personal representative to complete the administration of +the estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 64, ch. 75-220; s. 102, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.52. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.308. +Fla. Stat. 733.308 + + 733.308. Administrator ad litem. +When an estate must be represented and the personal representative is + +unable to do so, the court shall appoint an administrator ad litem without +bond to represent the estate in that proceeding. The fact that the personal +representative is seeking reimbursement for claims against the decedent does +not require appointment of an administrator ad litem. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 65, ch. 75-220; s. 103, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.55. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.309. +Fla. Stat. 733.309 + + 733.309. Executor de son tort. +No person shall be liable to a creditor of a decedent as executor de son tort, + +but any person taking, converting, or intermeddling with the property of a +decedent shall be liable to the personal representative or curator, when +appointed, for the value of all the property so taken or converted and for all +damages to the estate caused by the wrongful action. This section shall not be +construed to prevent a creditor of a decedent from suing anyone in possession +of property fraudulently conveyed by the decedent to set aside the fraudulent +conveyance. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 65, ch. 75-220; s. 991, ch. 97-102; s. 104, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. III. , 733.3101. +Fla. Stat. 733.3101 + + 733.3101. Personal representative not qualified. +(1) A personal representative shall resign immediately if the personal + +representative knows that he or she was not qualified to act at the time of +appointment. + +(2) Any time a personal representative, who was qualified to act at the +time of appointment, knows that he or she would not be qualified for +appointment if application for appointment were then made, the personal +representative shall promptly file and serve a notice setting forth the +reasons. The personal representatives notice shall state that any interested +person may petition to remove the personal representative. An interested +person on whom a copy of the personal representatives notice is served +may file a petition requesting the personal representatives removal within +30 days after the date on which such notice is served. + +(3) A personal representative who fails to comply with this section shall +be personally liable for costs, including attorney fees, incurred in any +removal proceeding if the personal representative is removed. This liability +extends to a personal representative who does not know, but should have +known, of the facts that would have required him or her to resign under +subsection (1) or to file and serve notice under subsection (2). This liability +shall be cumulative to any other provided by law. + +(4) As used in this section, the term qualified means that the personal +representative is qualified under ss. 733.302-733.305. + +HISTORY: +S. 105, ch. 2001-226; s. 4, ch. 2015-27, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Section 9, ch. 2015-27, provides: The amendments made by this act to ss. + +733.212, 733.2123, 733.3101, and 733.504, Florida Statutes, apply to +proceedings commenced on or after July 1, 2015. The law in effect before +July 1, 2015, applies to proceedings commenced before that date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. IV + + + +PART IV. +FIDUCIARY BONDS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IV. , 733.402. +Fla. Stat. 733.402 + + 733.402. Bond of fiduciary; when required; form. +(1) Unless the bond requirement has been waived by the will or by the + +court, every fiduciary to whom letters are granted shall execute and file a +bond with surety, as defined in s. 45.011, to be approved by the clerk +without a service fee. The bond shall be payable to the Governor and the +Governors successors in office, conditioned on the performance of all +duties as personal representative according to law. The bond must be joint +and several. + +(2) No bond shall be void or invalid because of an informality in it or an +informality or illegality in the appointment of the fiduciary. The bond shall +have the same force as if the appointment had been legally made and the +bond executed in proper form. + +(3) The requirements of this section shall not apply to banks and trust +companies authorized by law to act as personal representative. + +(4) On petition by any interested person or on the courts own motion, +the court may waive the requirement of filing a bond, require a bond, +increase or decrease the bond, or require additional surety. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 67, ch. 75-220; s. 24, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 992, + +ch. 97-102; s. 107, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.61. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IV. , 733.403. +Fla. Stat. 733.403 + + 733.403. Amount of bond. +All bonds required by this part shall be in the penal sum that the court + +deems sufficient after consideration of the gross value of the estate, the +relationship of the personal representative to the beneficiaries, exempt +property and any family allowance, the type and nature of assets, known +creditors, and liens and encumbrances on the assets. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 67, ch. 75-220; s. 108, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 732.63, 732.64, 732.66. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IV. , 733.404. +Fla. Stat. 733.404 + + 733.404. Liability of surety. +No surety for any personal representative or curator shall be charged + +beyond the value of the assets of an estate because of any omission or +mistake in pleading or of false pleading of the personal representative or +curator. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 68, ch. 75-220; s. 109, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.65. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IV. , 733.405. +Fla. Stat. 733.405 + + 733.405. Release of surety. +(1) Subject to the limitations of this section, on the petition of any + +interested person, the surety is entitled to be released from liability for the +future acts and omissions of the fiduciary. + +(2) Pending the hearing of the petition, the court may restrain the +fiduciary from acting, except to preserve the estate. + +(3) On hearing, the court shall enter an order prescribing the amount of +the new bond for the fiduciary and the date when the bond shall be filed. If +the fiduciary fails to give the new bond, the fiduciary shall be removed at +once, and further proceedings shall be had as in cases of removal. + +(4) The original surety shall remain liable in accordance with the terms +of its original bond for all acts and omissions of the fiduciary that occur +prior to the approval of the new surety and filing and approval of the bond. +The new surety shall be liable on its bond only after the filing and approval +of the new bond. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 68, ch. 75-220; s. 993, ch. 97-102; s. 110, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.68. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IV. , 733.406. +Fla. Stat. 733.406 + + 733.406. Bond premium allowable as expense of administration. +A personal representative or other fiduciary required to give bond shall pay + +the reasonable premium as an expense of administration. + +HISTORY: +S. 613, ch. 59-205; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; + +ss. 253, 566, ch. 82-243; s. 994, ch. 97-102; s. 111, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 627.753. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. V + + + +PART V. +CURATORS; RESIGNATION AND REMOVAL OF + +PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES. + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.501. + +Fla. Stat. 733.501 + + 733.501. Curators. +(1) When it is necessary, the court may appoint a curator after formal + +notice to the person apparently entitled to letters of administration. The +curator may be authorized to perform any duty or function of a personal +representative. If there is great danger that any of the decedents property +is likely to be wasted, destroyed, or removed beyond the jurisdiction of the +court and if the appointment of a curator would be delayed by giving +notice, the court may appoint a curator without giving notice. + +(2) Bond shall be required of the curator as the court deems necessary. +No bond shall be required of banks and trust companies as curators. + +(3) Curators shall be allowed reasonable compensation for their services, +and the court may consider the provisions of s. 733.617. + +(4) Curators shall be subject to removal and surcharge. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 69, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 995, ch. 97-102; s. + +112, ch. 2001-226; s. 108, ch. 2002-1. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.21. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.502. +Fla. Stat. 733.502 + + 733.502. Resignation of personal representative. +A personal representative may resign. After notice to all interested persons, + +the court may accept the resignation and then revoke the letters of the +resigning personal representative if the interests of the estate are not +jeopardized by the resignation. The acceptance of the resignation shall not +exonerate the personal representative or the surety from liability. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 69, ch. 75-220; s. 25, ch. 77-87; s. 996, ch. 97-102; s. + +113, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.09. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.503. +Fla. Stat. 733.503 + + 733.503. Appointment of successor upon resignation. +When the personal representatives resignation is accepted, the court shall + +appoint a personal representative or shall appoint a curator to serve until a +successor personal representative is appointed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 69, ch. 75-220; s. 997, ch. 97-102; s. 114, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.10. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.5035. +Fla. Stat. 733.5035 + + 733.5035. Surrender of assets after resignation. +When the resignation has been accepted by the court, all estate assets, + +records, documents, papers, and other property of or concerning the estate in +the resigning personal representatives possession or control shall +immediately be surrendered to the successor fiduciary. The court may +establish the conditions and specify the assets and records, if any, that the +resigning personal representative may retain until the final accounting of the +resigning personal representative has been approved. + +HISTORY: +S. 115, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.5036. +Fla. Stat. 733.5036 + + 733.5036. Accounting and discharge following resignation. +(1) A resigning personal representative shall file and serve a final + +accounting of the personal representatives administration. +(2) After determination and satisfaction of the liability, if any, of the + +resigning personal representative, after compensation of the personal +representative and the attorney and other persons employed by the personal +representative, and upon receipt of evidence that undistributed estate assets +have been delivered to the successor fiduciary, the personal representative +shall be discharged, the bond released, and the surety discharged. + +HISTORY: +S. 116, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.504. +Fla. Stat. 733.504 + + 733.504. Removal of personal representative; causes for removal. +A personal representative shall be removed and the letters revoked if he or + +she was not qualified to act at the time of appointment. A personal +representative may be removed and the letters revoked for any of the +following causes: + +(1) Adjudication that the personal representative is incapacitated. +(2) Physical or mental incapacity rendering the personal representative + +incapable of the discharge of his or her duties. +(3) Failure to comply with any order of the court, unless the order has + +been superseded on appeal. +(4) Failure to account for the sale of property or to produce and exhibit + +the assets of the estate when so required. +(5) Wasting or maladministration of the estate. +(6) Failure to give bond or security for any purpose. +(7) Conviction of a felony. +(8) Insolvency of, or the appointment of a receiver or liquidator for, any + +corporate personal representative. +(9) Holding or acquiring conflicting or adverse interests against the + +estate that will or may interfere with the administration of the estate as a +whole. This cause of removal shall not apply to the surviving spouse +because of the exercise of the right to the elective share, family allowance, +or exemptions, as provided elsewhere in this code. + +(10) Revocation of the probate of the decedents will that authorized or +designated the appointment of the personal representative. + +(11) Removal of domicile from Florida, if domicile was a requirement +of initial appointment. + +(12) The personal representative was qualified to act at the time of +appointment but is not now entitled to appointment. + + + +Removal under this section is in addition to any penalties prescribed by +law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 69, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 998, ch. 97-102; s. + +117, ch. 2001-226; s. 10, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 5, ch. 2015-27, +effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.11. +Section 9, ch. 2015-27, provides: The amendments made by this act to ss. + +733.212, 733.2123, 733.3101, and 733.504, Florida Statutes, apply to +proceedings commenced on or after July 1, 2015. The law in effect before +July 1, 2015, applies to proceedings commenced before that date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.505. +Fla. Stat. 733.505 + + 733.505. Jurisdiction in removal proceedings. +A petition for removal shall be filed in the court having jurisdiction of the + +administration. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 118, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.12. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.506. +Fla. Stat. 733.506 + + 733.506. Proceedings for removal. +Proceedings for removal of a personal representative may be commenced + +by the court or upon the petition of an interested person. The court shall +revoke the letters of a removed personal representative. The removal of a +personal representative shall not exonerate the removed personal +representative or the removed personal representatives surety from any +liability. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 71, ch. 75-220; s. 119, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.13. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.5061. +Fla. Stat. 733.5061 + + 733.5061. Appointment of successor upon removal. +When a personal representative is removed, the court shall appoint a + +personal representative or shall appoint a curator to serve until a successor +personal representative is appointed. + +HISTORY: +S. 120, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.508. +Fla. Stat. 733.508 + + 733.508. Accounting and discharge of removed personal +representatives upon removal. +(1) A removed personal representative shall file and serve a final + +accounting of that personal representatives administration. +(2) After determination and satisfaction of the liability, if any, of the + +removed personal representative, after compensation of that personal +representative and the attorney and other persons employed by that +personal representative, and upon receipt of evidence that the estate assets +have been delivered to the successor fiduciary, the removed personal +representative shall be discharged, the bond released, and the surety +discharged. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 999, ch. 97-102; s. 122, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.15. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. V. , 733.509. +Fla. Stat. 733.509 + + 733.509. Surrender of assets upon removal. +Upon entry of an order removing a personal representative, the removed + +personal representative shall immediately deliver all estate assets, records, +documents, papers, and other property of or concerning the estate in the +removed personal representatives possession or control to the remaining +personal representative or successor fiduciary. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 73, ch. 75-220; s. 123, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.16. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. VI + + + +PART VI. +DUTIES AND POWERS OF PERSONAL + +REPRESENTATIVE. + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.601. + +Fla. Stat. 733.601 + + 733.601. Time of accrual of duties and powers. +The duties and powers of a personal representative commence upon + +appointment. The powers of a personal representative relate back in time to +give acts by the person appointed, occurring before appointment and +beneficial to the estate, the same effect as those occurring after appointment. +A personal representative may ratify and accept acts on behalf of the estate +done by others when the acts would have been proper for a personal +representative. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 74, ch. 75-220; s. 1000, ch. 97-102; s. 124, ch. 2001- + +226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.602. +Fla. Stat. 733.602 + + 733.602. General duties. +(1) A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the + +standards of care applicable to trustees. A personal representative is under +a duty to settle and distribute the estate of the decedent in accordance with +the terms of the decedents will and this code as expeditiously and +efficiently as is consistent with the best interests of the estate. A personal +representative shall use the authority conferred by this code, the authority +in the will, if any, and the authority of any order of the court, for the best +interests of interested persons, including creditors. + +(2) A personal representative shall not be liable for any act of +administration or distribution if the act was authorized at the time. Subject +to other obligations of administration, a probated will is authority to +administer and distribute the estate according to its terms. An order of +appointment of a personal representative is authority to distribute +apparently intestate assets to the heirs of the decedent if, at the time of +distribution, the personal representative is not aware of a proceeding +challenging intestacy or a proceeding questioning the appointment or +fitness to continue. Nothing in this section affects the duty of the personal +representative to administer and distribute the estate in accordance with the +rights of interested persons. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 74, ch. 75-220; s. 27, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 270, + +ch. 79-400; s. 3, ch. 89-340; s. 1001, ch. 97-102; s. 125, ch. 2001-226; s. 37, +ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 11, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.603. +Fla. Stat. 733.603 + + 733.603. Personal representative to proceed without court order. +A personal representative shall proceed expeditiously with the settlement + +and distribution of a decedents estate and, except as otherwise specified by +this code or ordered by the court, shall do so without adjudication, order, or +direction of the court. A personal representative may invoke the jurisdiction +of the court to resolve questions concerning the estate or its administration. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 1002, ch. 97-102; s. 126, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.604. +Fla. Stat. 733.604 + + 733.604. Inventories and accountings; public records exemptions. +(1)(a) Unless an inventory has been previously filed, a personal +representative shall file a verified inventory of property of the estate, +listing it with reasonable detail and including for each listed item its +estimated fair market value at the date of the decedents death. +(b)1. Any inventory of an estate, whether initial, amended, or +supplementary, filed with the clerk of the court in conjunction with the +administration of an estate is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) +and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. +2. Any inventory of an elective estate, whether initial, amended, or + +supplementary, filed with the clerk of the court in conjunction with an +election made in accordance with part II of chapter 732 is confidential and +exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. + +3. Any accounting, whether interim, final, amended, or supplementary, +filed with the clerk of court in an estate proceeding is confidential and +exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. + +4. Any inventory or accounting made confidential and exempt by +subparagraph 1., subparagraph 2., or subparagraph 3. shall be disclosed by +the custodian for inspection or copying: + +a. To the personal representative; +b. To the personal representatives attorney; +c. To an interested person as defined in s. 731.201; or +d. By court order upon a showing of good cause. +5. These exemptions apply to any inventory or accounting filed before, on, + +or after July 1, 2009. +(2) If the personal representative learns of any property not included in + +the original inventory, or learns that the estimated value or description +indicated in the original inventory for any item is erroneous or misleading, +the personal representative shall file a verified amended or supplementary + + + +inventory showing any new items and their estimated value at the date of +the decedents death, or the revised estimated value or description. + +(3) Upon written request to the personal representative, a beneficiary +shall be furnished a written explanation of how the inventory value for an +asset was determined, or, if an appraisal was obtained, a copy of the +appraisal, as follows: +(a) To a residuary beneficiary or heir in an intestate estate, regarding all + +inventoried assets. +(b) To any other beneficiary, regarding all assets distributed or proposed to + +be distributed to that beneficiary. +The personal representative must notify each beneficiary of that +beneficiarys rights under this subsection. Neither a request nor the failure +to request information under this subsection affects any rights of a +beneficiary in subsequent proceedings concerning any accounting of the +personal representative or the propriety of any action of the personal +representative. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 76, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 80-127; s. 4, ch. 84-106; s. 1, + +ch. 85-72; s. 29, ch. 85-342; s. 68, ch. 87-226; s. 28, ch. 95-401; s. 1003, ch. +97-102; s. 13, ch. 97-240; s. 127, ch. 2001-226; s. 1, ch. 2009-230, eff. July 1, +2009; s. 1, ch. 2014-82, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors notes. +Section 2, ch. 2009-230 provides: The Legislature finds that it is a public + +necessity to exempt from public records requirements all inventories of +property of estates of decedents, including amended and supplementary +inventories, and all inventories of elective estates of surviving spouses, +whether initial, amended, or supplementary. In addition, in order to preserve +the privacy of information that would otherwise be available in an accounting +filed in an estate proceeding, the Legislature finds that it is a public necessity +that all accountings, whether interim, final, amended, or supplementary, filed +in the estate proceeding be made exempt from public records requirements. +The Legislature finds that the public disclosure of estate inventories and +accountings would make public financial information of the decedent that + + + +would produce undue harm to the heirs of the decedent or beneficiaries of the +decedents estate. + +Created from former s. 733.03. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.6065. +Fla. Stat. 733.6065 + + 733.6065. Opening safe-deposit box. +(1) Subject to the provisions of s. 655.936(2), the initial opening of a + +safe-deposit box that is leased or coleased by the decedent shall be +conducted in the presence of any two of the following persons: an +employee of the institution where the box is located, the personal +representative, or the personal representatives attorney of record. Each +person who is present must verify the contents of the box by signing a +copy of the inventory under penalties of perjury. The personal +representative shall file the safe-deposit box inventory, together with a +copy of the box entry record from a date which is 6 months prior to the +date of death to the date of inventory, with the court within 10 days after +the box is opened. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, this inventory +and the attached box entry record is subject to inspection only by persons +entitled to inspect an inventory under s. 733.604(1). The personal +representative may remove the contents of the box. + +(2) The right to open and examine the contents of a safe-deposit box +leased by a decedent, or any documents delivered by a decedent for +safekeeping, and to receive items as provided for in s. 655.935 is separate +from the rights provided for in subsection (1). + +HISTORY: +S. 129, ch. 2001-226; s. 7, ch. 2006-134, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 71, ch. 2006- + +213, eff. October 1, 2006. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.607. +Fla. Stat. 733.607 + + 733.607. Possession of estate. +(1) Except as otherwise provided by a decedents will, every personal + +representative has a right to, and shall take possession or control of, the +decedents property, except the protected homestead, but any real property +or tangible personal property may be left with, or surrendered to, the +person presumptively entitled to it unless possession of the property by the +personal representative will be necessary for purposes of administration. +The request by a personal representative for delivery of any property +possessed by a beneficiary is conclusive evidence that the possession of the +property by the personal representative is necessary for the purposes of +administration, in any action against the beneficiary for possession of it. +The personal representative shall take all steps reasonably necessary for the +management, protection, and preservation of the estate until distribution +and may maintain an action to recover possession of property or to +determine the title to it. + +(2) If, after providing for statutory entitlements and all devises other +than residuary devises, the assets of the decedents estate are insufficient to +pay the expenses of the administration and obligations of the decedents +estate, the personal representative is entitled to payment from the trustee of +a trust described in s. 733.707(3), in the amount the personal representative +certifies in writing to be required to satisfy the insufficiency, subject to the +exclusions and preferences under s. 736.05053. The provisions of s. +733.805 shall apply in determining the amount of any payment required by +this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 28, ch. 77-87; s. 9, ch. 93-257; s. 9, ch. 95-401; s. 1005, + +ch. 97-102; s. 130, ch. 2001-226; s. 1, ch. 2010-122, eff. July 1, 2010. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.01. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.608. +Fla. Stat. 733.608 + + 733.608. General power of the personal representative. +(1) All real and personal property of the decedent, except the protected + +homestead, within this state and the rents, income, issues, and profits from +it shall be assets in the hands of the personal representative: +(a) For the payment of devises, family allowance, elective share, estate and + +inheritance taxes, claims, charges, and expenses of the administration and +obligations of the decedents estate. + +(b) To enforce contribution and equalize advancement. +(c) For distribution. + +(2) If property that reasonably appears to the personal representative to +be protected homestead is not occupied by a person who appears to have +an interest in the property, the personal representative is authorized, but not +required, to take possession of that property for the limited purpose of +preserving, insuring, and protecting it for the person having an interest in +the property, pending a determination of its homestead status. If the +personal representative takes possession of that property, any rents and +revenues may be collected by the personal representative for the account of +the heir or devisee, but the personal representative shall have no duty to +rent or otherwise make the property productive. + +(3) If the personal representative expends funds or incurs obligations to +preserve, maintain, insure, or protect the property referenced in subsection +(2), the personal representative shall be entitled to a lien on that property +and its revenues to secure repayment of those expenditures and obligations +incurred. These expenditures and obligations incurred, including, but not +limited to, fees and costs, shall constitute a debt owed to the personal +representative that is charged against and which may be secured by a lien +on the protected homestead, as provided in this section. The debt shall +include any amounts paid for these purposes after the decedents death and +prior to the personal representatives appointment to the extent later +ratified by the personal representative in the court proceeding provided for +in this section. + + + +(a) On the petition of the personal representative or any interested person, +the court having jurisdiction of the administration of the decedents estate +shall adjudicate the amount of the debt after formal notice to the persons +appearing to have an interest in the property. + +(b) The persons having an interest in the protected homestead shall have no +personal liability for the repayment of the above noted debt. The personal +representative may enforce payment of the debt through any of the following +methods: + +1. By foreclosure of the lien as provided in this section; +2. By offset of the debt against any other property in the personal + +representatives possession that otherwise would be distributable to any +person having an interest in the protected homestead, but only to the extent of +the fraction of the total debt owed to the personal representative the +numerator of which is the value of that persons interest in the protected +homestead and the denominator of which is the total value of the protected +homestead; or + +3. By offset of the debt against the revenues from the protected homestead +received by the personal representative. + +(4) The personal representatives lien shall attach to the property and +take priority as of the date and time a notice of that lien is recorded in the +official records of the county where that property is located, and the lien +may secure expenditures and obligations incurred, including, but not +limited to, fees and costs made before or after recording the notice. The +notice of lien may be recorded before adjudicating the amount of the debt. +The notice of lien shall also be filed in the probate proceeding, but failure +to do so does not affect the validity of the lien. A copy of the notice of lien +shall be served in the manner provided for service of formal notice upon +each person appearing to have an interest in the property. The notice of +lien must state: +(a) The name and address of the personal representative and the personal + +representatives attorney; +(b) The legal description of the property; +(c) The name of the decedent and also, to the extent known to the personal + +representative, the name and address of each person appearing to have an + + + +interest in the property; and +(d) That the personal representative has expended or is obligated to expend + +funds to preserve, maintain, insure, and protect the property and that the lien +stands as security for recovery of those expenditures and obligations incurred, +including, but not limited to, fees and costs. + +Substantial compliance with the foregoing provisions renders the notice in +comportment with this section. + +(5) The lien shall terminate upon the earliest of: +(a) Recording a satisfaction or release signed by the personal representative + +in the official records of the county where the property is located; +(b) The discharge of the personal representative when the estate + +administration is complete; +(c) One year from the recording of the lien in the official records unless a + +proceeding to determine the debt or enforce the lien has been filed; or +(d) The entry of an order releasing the lien. + +(6) Within 14 days after receipt of the written request of any interested +person, the personal representative shall deliver to the requesting person at +a place designated in the written request an estoppel letter setting forth the +unpaid balance of the debt secured by the lien referred to in this section. +After complete satisfaction of the debt secured by the lien, the personal +representative shall record within 30 days after complete payment, a +satisfaction of the lien in the official records of the county where the +property is located. If a judicial proceeding is necessary to compel +compliance with the provisions of this subsection, the prevailing party +shall be entitled to an award of attorneys fees and costs. + +(7) The lien created by this section may be foreclosed in the manner of +foreclosing a mortgage under the provisions of chapter 702. + +(8) In any action for enforcement of the debt described in this section, +the court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including +reasonable attorneys fees. + +(9) A personal representative entitled to recover a debt for expenditures +and obligations incurred, including, but not limited to, fees and costs, + + + +under this section may be relieved of the duty to enforce collection by an +order of the court finding: +(a) That the estimated court costs and attorneys fees in collecting the debt + +will approximate or exceed the amount of the recovery; or +(b) That it is impracticable to enforce collection in view of the + +improbability of collection. +(10) A personal representative shall not be liable for failure to attempt to + +enforce collection of the debt if the personal representative reasonably +believes it would have been economically impracticable. + +(11) The personal representative shall not be liable for failure to take +possession of the protected homestead or to expend funds on its behalf. In +the event that the property is determined by the court not to be protected +homestead, subsections (2)-(10) shall not apply and any liens previously +filed shall be deemed released upon recording of the order in the official +records of the county where the property is located. + +(12) Upon the petition of an interested party to accommodate a sale or +the encumbrance of the protected homestead, the court may transfer the +lien provided for in this section from the property to the proceeds of the +sale or encumbrance by requiring the deposit of the proceeds into a +restricted account subject to the lien. The court shall have continuing +jurisdiction over the funds deposited. The transferred lien shall attach only +to the amount asserted by the personal representative, and any proceeds in +excess of that amount shall not be subject to the lien or otherwise restricted +under this section. Alternatively, the personal representative and the +apparent owners of the protected homestead may agree to retain in escrow +the amount demanded as reimbursement by the personal representative, to +be held there under the continuing jurisdiction of the court pending a final +determination of the amount properly reimbursable to the personal +representative under this section. + +(13) This act shall apply to estates of decedents dying after the date on +which this act becomes a law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 29, ch. 77-87; s. 131, ch. 2001-226; s. 10, ch. 2003-154; + + + +s. 15, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.01(1). + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.609. +Fla. Stat. 733.609 + + 733.609. Improper exercise of power; breach of fiduciary duty. +(1) A personal representatives fiduciary duty is the same as the + +fiduciary duty of a trustee of an express trust, and a personal representative +is liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from the breach +of this duty. In all actions for breach of fiduciary duty or challenging the +exercise of or failure to exercise a personal representatives powers, the +court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including attorneys +fees. + +(2) When awarding taxable costs, including attorneys fees, under this +section, the court in its discretion may direct payment from a partys +interest, if any, in the estate or enter a judgment which may be satisfied +from other property of the party, or both. + +(3) This section shall apply to all proceedings commenced hereunder +after the effective date, without regard to the date of the decedents death. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 78, ch. 75-220; s. 1006, ch. 97-102; s. 132, ch. 2001- + +226; s. 11, ch. 2003-154. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.610. +Fla. Stat. 733.610 + + 733.610. Sale, encumbrance, or transaction involving conflict of +interest. + +Any sale or encumbrance to the personal representative or the personal +representatives spouse, agent, or attorney, or any corporation, other entity, or +trust in which the personal representative, or the personal representatives +spouse, agent, or attorney, has a substantial beneficial or ownership interest, +or any transaction that is affected by a conflict of interest on the part of the +personal representative, is voidable by any interested person except one who +has consented after fair disclosure, unless: + +(1) The will or a contract entered into by the decedent expressly +authorized the transaction; or + +(2) The transaction is approved by the court after notice to interested +persons. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 78, ch. 75-220; s. 1007, ch. 97-102; s. 133, ch. 2001- + +226; s. 6, ch. 2020-67, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.611. +Fla. Stat. 733.611 + + 733.611. Persons dealing with the personal representative; protection. +Except as provided in s. 733.613(1), a person who in good faith either + +assists or deals for value with a personal representative is protected as if the +personal representative acted properly. The fact that a person knowingly +deals with the personal representative does not require the person to inquire +into the authority of the personal representative. A person is not bound to see +to the proper application of estate assets paid or delivered to the personal +representative. This protection extends to instances in which a procedural +irregularity or jurisdictional defect occurred in proceedings leading to the +issuance of letters, including a case in which the alleged decedent is alive. +This protection is in addition to any protection afforded by comparable +provisions of the laws relating to commercial transactions and laws +simplifying transfers of securities by fiduciaries. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 78, ch. 75-220; s. 30, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. + +1008, ch. 97-102; s. 134, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.612. +Fla. Stat. 733.612 + + 733.612. Transactions authorized for the personal representative; +exceptions. + +Except as otherwise provided by the will or court order, and subject to the +priorities stated in s. 733.805, without court order, a personal representative, +acting reasonably for the benefit of the interested persons, may properly: + +(1) Retain assets owned by the decedent, pending distribution or +liquidation, including those in which the personal representative is +personally interested or that are otherwise improper for fiduciary +investments. + +(2) Perform or compromise, or, when proper, refuse to perform, the +decedents contracts. In performing the decedents enforceable contracts to +convey or lease real property, among other possible courses of action, the +personal representative may: +(a) Convey the real property for cash payment of all sums remaining due or + +for the purchasers note for the sum remaining due, secured by a mortgage on +the property. + +(b) Deliver a deed in escrow, with directions that the proceeds, when paid +in accordance with the escrow agreement, be paid as provided in the escrow +agreement. + +(3) Receive assets from fiduciaries or other sources. +(4) Invest funds as provided in ss. 518.10-518.14, considering the + +amount to be invested, liquidity needs of the estate, and the time until +distribution will be made. + +(5) Acquire or dispose of an asset, excluding real property in this or +another state, for cash or on credit and at public or private sale, and +manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, or change the character of +an estate asset. + +(6) Make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in buildings or +other structures; demolish improvements; or erect new party walls or +buildings. + + + +(7) Enter into a lease, as lessor or lessee, for a term within, or extending +beyond, the period of administration, with or without an option to renew. + +(8) Enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and removal of +minerals or other natural resources or enter into a pooling or unitization +agreement. + +(9) Abandon property when it is valueless or so encumbered, or in a +condition, that it is of no benefit to the estate. + +(10) Vote, or refrain from voting, stocks or other securities in person or +by general or limited proxy. + +(11) Pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or accruing +against, or on account of, securities, unless barred by the provisions +relating to claims. + +(12) Hold property in the name of a nominee or in other form without +disclosure of the interest of the estate, but the personal representative is +liable for any act of the nominee in connection with the property so held. + +(13) Insure the assets of the estate against damage or loss and insure +against personal and fiduciary liability to third persons. + +(14) Borrow money, with or without security, to be repaid from the +estate assets or otherwise, other than real property, and advance money for +the protection of the estate. + +(15) Extend, renew, or in any manner modify any obligation owing to +the estate. If the personal representative holds a mortgage, security interest, +or other lien upon property of another person, he or she may accept a +conveyance or transfer of encumbered assets from the owner in satisfaction +of the indebtedness secured by its lien instead of foreclosure. + +(16) Pay taxes, assessments, and other expenses incident to the +administration of the estate. + +(17) Sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights or consent, +directly or through a committee or other agent, to the reorganization, +consolidation, merger, dissolution, or liquidation of a corporation or other +business enterprise. + +(18) Allocate items of income or expense to either estate income or + + + +principal, as permitted or provided by law. +(19) Employ persons, including, but not limited to, attorneys, + +accountants, auditors, appraisers, investment advisers, and others, even if +they are one and the same as the personal representative or are associated +with the personal representative, to advise or assist the personal +representative in the performance of administrative duties; act upon the +recommendations of those employed persons without independent +investigation; and, instead of acting personally, employ one or more agents +to perform any act of administration, whether or not discretionary. Any +fees and compensation paid to a person who is the same as, associated +with, or employed by, the personal representative shall be taken into +consideration in determining the personal representatives compensation. + +(20) Prosecute or defend claims or proceedings in any jurisdiction for +the protection of the estate, of the decedents property, and of the personal +representative. + +(21) Sell, mortgage, or lease any personal property of the estate or any +interest in it for cash, credit, or for part cash or part credit, and with or +without security for the unpaid balance. + +(22) Continue any unincorporated business or venture in which the +decedent was engaged at the time of death: +(a) In the same business form for a period of not more than 4 months from + +the date of appointment, if continuation is a reasonable means of preserving +the value of the business, including good will. + +(b) In the same business form for any additional period of time that may be +approved by court order. + +(23) Provide for exoneration of the personal representative from +personal liability in any contract entered into on behalf of the estate. + +(24) Satisfy and settle claims and distribute the estate as provided in this +code. + +(25) Enter into agreements with the proper officer or department head, +commissioner, or agent of any department of the government of the United +States, waiving the statute of limitations concerning the assessment and +collection of any federal tax or any deficiency in a federal tax. + + + +(26) Make partial distribution to the beneficiaries of any part of the +estate not necessary to satisfy claims, expenses of administration, taxes, +family allowance, exempt property, and an elective share, in accordance +with the decedents will or as authorized by operation of law. + +(27) Execute any instruments necessary in the exercise of the personal +representatives powers. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 78, ch. 75-220; s. 3, ch. 76-172; s. 31, ch. 77-87; s. 1, + +ch. 77-174; s. 271, ch. 79-400; s. 1009, ch. 97-102; s. 135, ch. 2001-226; s. 7, +ch. 2020-67, effective October 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.6121. +Fla. Stat. 733.6121 + + 733.6121. Personal representative; powers as to environmental issues +relating to property subject to administration; liability. +(1) Except as otherwise provided by the will or by court order, and + +subject to s. 733.805, the personal representative has, without court +authorization, the powers specified in subsection (2). + +(2) A personal representative has the power, acting reasonably and for +the benefit of the interested persons: +(a) To inspect or investigate, or cause to be inspected or investigated, + +property subject to administration, including interests in sole proprietorships, +partnerships, or corporations and any assets owned by such a business entity +for the purpose of determining compliance with an environmental law +affecting that property or to respond to an actual or threatened violation of an +environmental law affecting that property; + +(b) To take, on behalf of the estate, any action necessary to prevent, abate, +or otherwise remedy an actual or potential violation of an environmental law +affecting property subject to administration, either before or after initiation of +an enforcement action by a governmental body; + +(c) To settle or compromise at any time any claim against the estate or the +personal representative that may be asserted by a governmental body or +private party which involves the alleged violation of an environmental law +affecting property subject to administration over which the personal +representative has responsibility; + +(d) To disclaim any power granted by any document, statute, or rule of law +which, in the sole judgment of the personal representative, could cause the +personal representative to incur personal liability, or the estate to incur +liability, under any environmental law; + +(e) To decline to serve as a personal representative, or having undertaken +to serve, to resign at any time, if the personal representative believes that +there is or could be a conflict of interest because of potential claims or +liabilities that could be asserted on behalf of the estate by reason of the type +or condition of the assets held; or + + + +(f) To charge against the assets of the estate the cost of any inspection, +investigation, review, abatement, response, cleanup, or remedial action +considered reasonable by the personal representative; and, in the event of the +closing or termination of the estate or the transfer of the estate property to +another personal representative, to hold moneys sufficient to cover the cost of +cleaning up any known environmental problem. + +(3) A personal representative is not personally liable to any beneficiary +or any other party for a decrease in value of assets in an estate by reason of +the personal representatives compliance or efforts to comply with an +environmental law, specifically including any reporting requirement under +that law. + +(4) A personal representative who acquires ownership or control of a +vessel or other property without having owned, operated, or materially +participated in the management of that vessel or property before assuming +ownership or control as personal representative is not considered an owner +or operator for purposes of liability under chapter 376, chapter 403, or any +other environmental law. A personal representative who willfully, +knowingly, or recklessly causes or exacerbates a release or threatened +release of a hazardous substance is personally liable for the cost of the +response, to the extent that the release or threatened release is attributable +to the personal representatives activities. This subsection does not +preclude the filing of claims against the assets that constitute the estate +held by the personal representative or the filing of actions against the +personal representative as representative of the estate. In such an action, an +award or judgment against the personal representative must be satisfied +only from the assets of the estate. + +(5) Neither the acceptance by the personal representative of the property +or a failure by the personal representative to inspect or investigate the +property creates any inference of liability under an environmental law with +respect to that property. + +(6) For the purposes of this section, the term environmental law means +a federal, state, or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance that relates to +protection of the environment or human health, and the term hazardous +substance means a substance, material, or waste defined as hazardous or +toxic, or any contaminant, pollutant, or constituent thereof, or otherwise + + + +regulated by an environmental law. +(7) This section applies to any estate admitted to probate on or after July + +1, 1995. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 95-401; s. 1010, ch. 97-102; s. 136, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.613. +Fla. Stat. 733.613 + + 733.613. Personal representatives right to sell real property. +(1) When a personal representative of an intestate estate, or whose + +testator has not conferred a power of sale or whose testator has granted a +power of sale but the power is so limited by the will or by operation of law +that it cannot be conveniently exercised, shall consider that it is for the best +interest of the estate and of those interested in it that real property be sold, +the personal representative may sell it at public or private sale. No title +shall pass until the court authorizes or confirms the sale. No bona fide +purchaser shall be required to examine any proceedings before the order of +sale. + +(2) When a decedents will confers specific power to sell or mortgage +real property or a general power to sell any asset of the estate, the personal +representative may sell, mortgage, or lease, without authorization or +confirmation of court, any real property of the estate or any interest therein +for cash or credit, or for part cash and part credit, and with or without +security for unpaid balances. The sale, mortgage, or lease need not be +justified by a showing of necessity, and the sale pursuant to power of sale +shall be valid. + +(3) In a sale or mortgage which occurs under a specific power to sell or +mortgage real property, or under a court order authorizing or confirming +that act, the purchaser or lender takes title free of claims of creditors of the +estate and entitlements of estate beneficiaries, except existing mortgages or +other liens against real property are not affected. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 78, ch. 75-220; s. 1011, ch. 97-102; s. 137, ch. 2001- + +226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.23. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.614. +Fla. Stat. 733.614 + + 733.614. Powers and duties of successor personal representative. +A successor personal representative has the same power and duty as the + +original personal representative to complete the administration and +distribution of the estate as expeditiously as possible, but shall not exercise +any power made personal to the personal representative named in the will +without court approval. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 78, ch. 75-220; s. 1012, ch. 97-102; s. 138, ch. 2001- + +226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.10. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.615. +Fla. Stat. 733.615 + + 733.615. Joint personal representatives; when joint action required. +(1) If two or more persons are appointed joint personal representatives, + +and unless the will provides otherwise, the concurrence of all joint +personal representatives appointed pursuant to a will or codicil executed +prior to October 1, 1987, or appointed to administer an intestate estate of a +decedent who died prior to October 1, 1987, or of a majority of joint +personal representatives appointed pursuant to a will or codicil executed on +or after October 1, 1987, or appointed to administer an intestate estate of a +decedent dying on or after October 1, 1987, is required on all acts +connected with the administration and distribution of the estate. This +restriction does not apply when any joint personal representative receives +and receipts for property due the estate, when the concurrence required +under this subsection cannot readily be obtained in the time reasonably +available for emergency action necessary to preserve the estate, or when a +joint personal representative has been delegated to act for the others. + +(2) Where action by a majority of the joint personal representatives +appointed is authorized, a joint personal representative who has not joined +in exercising a power is not liable to the beneficiaries or to others for the +consequences of the exercise, and a dissenting joint personal representative +is not liable for the consequences of an action in which the dissenting +personal representative joins at the direction of the majority of the joint +personal representatives, if the dissent is expressed in writing to the other +joint personal representatives at or before the time of the action. + +(3) A person dealing with a joint personal representative without actual +knowledge that joint personal representatives have been appointed, or if +advised by a joint personal representative that the joint personal +representative has authority to act alone for any of the reasons mentioned +in subsection (1), is as fully protected in dealing with that joint personal +representative as if that joint personal representative possessed and +properly exercised the power. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 1, ch. 87-317; s. 4, ch. 88-340; s. 1013, ch. 97-102; s. + + + +139, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.50. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.616. +Fla. Stat. 733.616 + + 733.616. Powers of surviving personal representatives. +Unless otherwise provided by the terms of the will or a court order, every + +power exercisable by joint personal representatives may be exercised by the +one or more remaining after the appointment of one or more is terminated. If +one or more, but not all, nominated as joint personal representatives are not +appointed, those appointed may exercise all powers granted to those +nominated. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 140, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 732.52. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.617. +Fla. Stat. 733.617 + + 733.617. Compensation of personal representative. +(1) A personal representative shall be entitled to a commission payable + +from the estate assets without court order as compensation for ordinary +services. The commission shall be based on the compensable value of the +estate, which is the inventory value of the probate estate assets and the +income earned by the estate during administration. + +(2) A commission computed on the compensable value of the estate is +presumed to be reasonable compensation for a personal representative in +formal administration as follows: +(a) At the rate of 3 percent for the first $1 million. +(b) At the rate of 2.5 percent for all above $1 million and not exceeding $5 + +million. +(c) At the rate of 2 percent for all above $5 million and not exceeding $10 + +million. +(d) At the rate of 1.5 percent for all above $10 million. + +(3) In addition to the previously described commission, a personal +representative shall be allowed further compensation as is reasonable for +any extraordinary services including, but not limited to: +(a) The sale of real or personal property. +(b) The conduct of litigation on behalf of or against the estate. +(c) Involvement in proceedings for the adjustment or payment of any taxes. +(d) The carrying on of the decedents business. +(e) Dealing with protected homestead. +(f) Any other special services which may be necessary for the personal + +representative to perform. +(4) If the will provides that a personal representatives compensation + +shall be based upon specific criteria, other than a general reference to +commissions allowed by law or words of similar import, including, but not + + + +limited to, rates, amounts, commissions, or reference to the personal +representatives regularly published schedule of fees in effect at the +decedents date of death, or words of similar import, then a personal +representative shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with that +provision. However, except for references in the will to the personal +representatives regularly published schedule of fees in effect at the +decedents date of death, or words of similar import, if there is no written +contract with the decedent regarding compensation, a personal +representative may renounce the provisions contained in the will and be +entitled to compensation under this section. A personal representative may +also renounce the right to all or any part of the compensation. + +(5) If the probate estates compensable value is $100,000 or more, and +there are two representatives, each personal representative is entitled to the +full commission allowed to a sole personal representative. If there are more +than two personal representatives and the probate estates compensable +value is $100,000 or more, the compensation to which two would be +entitled must be apportioned among the personal representatives. The basis +for apportionment shall be one full commission allowed to the personal +representative who has possession of and primary responsibility for +administration of the assets and one full commission among the remaining +personal representatives according to the services rendered by each of them +respectively. If the probate estates compensable value is less than +$100,000 and there is more than one personal representative, then one full +commission must be apportioned among the personal representatives +according to the services rendered by each of them respectively. + +(6) Except as otherwise provided in this section, if the personal +representative is a member of The Florida Bar and has rendered legal +services in connection with the administration of the estate, then in +addition to a fee as personal representative, there also shall be allowed a +fee for the legal services rendered. + +(7) Upon petition of any interested person, the court may increase or +decrease the compensation for ordinary services of the personal +representative or award compensation for extraordinary services if the facts +and circumstances of the particular administration warrant. In determining +reasonable compensation, the court shall consider all of the following +factors, giving weight to each as it determines to be appropriate: + + + +(a) The promptness, efficiency, and skill with which the administration +was handled by the personal representative; + +(b) The responsibilities assumed by and the potential liabilities of the +personal representative; + +(c) The nature and value of the assets that are affected by the decedents +death; + +(d) The benefits or detriments resulting to the estate or interested persons +from the personal representatives services; + +(e) The complexity or simplicity of the administration and the novelty of +the issues presented; + +(f) The personal representatives participation in tax planning for the estate +and the estates beneficiaries and in tax return preparation, review, or +approval; + +(g) The nature of the probate, nonprobate, and exempt assets, the expenses +of administration, the liabilities of the decedent, and the compensation paid to +other professionals and fiduciaries; + +(h) Any delay in payment of the compensation after the services were +furnished; and + +(i) Any other relevant factors. +(8)(a) An attorney serving as a personal representative, or a person related +to the attorney, is not entitled to compensation for serving as a personal +representative if the attorney prepared or supervised the execution of the +will that nominated the attorney or person related to the attorney as +personal representative, unless the attorney or person nominated is related +to the testator, or the attorney makes the following disclosures to the +testator before the will is executed: +1. Subject to certain statutory limitations, most family members, regardless + +of their residence, and any other persons who are residents of Florida, +including friends and corporate fiduciaries, are eligible to serve as a personal +representative; + +2. Any person, including an attorney, who serves as a personal +representative is entitled to receive reasonable compensation for serving as a + + + +personal representative; and +3. Compensation payable to the personal representative is in addition to + +any attorney fees payable to the attorney or the attorneys firm for legal +services rendered to the personal representative. + +(b)1. The testator must execute a written statement acknowledging that the +disclosures required under paragraph (a) were made prior to the execution +of the will. The written statement must be in a separate writing from the +will but may be annexed to the will. The written statement may be +executed before or after the execution of the will in which the attorney or +related person is nominated as the personal representative. +2. The written statement must be in substantially the following form: +I, (Name), declare that: +I have designated my attorney, an attorney employed in the same law firm + +as my attorney, or a person related to my attorney as a nominated personal +representative in my will or codicil dated (insert date) + +Before executing the will or codicil, I was informed that: +1. Subject to certain statutory limitations, most family members, regardless + +of their residence, and any other individuals who are residents of Florida, +including friends and corporate fiduciaries, are eligible to serve as a personal +representative. + +2. Any person, including an attorney, who serves as a personal +representative is entitled to receive reasonable compensation for serving as a +personal representative. + +3. Compensation payable to the personal representative is in addition to +any attorney fees payable to the attorney or the attorneys firm for legal +services rendered to the personal representative. + +(c) For purposes of this subsection: +1. An attorney is deemed to have prepared or supervised the execution of a + +will if the preparation or supervision of the execution of the will was +performed by an employee or attorney employed by the same firm as the + + + +attorney at the time the will was executed. +2. A person is related to an individual if, at the time the attorney + +prepared or supervised the execution of the will, the person is: +a. A spouse of the individual; +b. A lineal ascendant or descendant of the individual; +c. A sibling of the individual; +d. A relative of the individual or of the individuals spouse with whom the + +attorney maintains a close, familial relationship; +e. A spouse of a person described in sub-subparagraphs b.-d.; +f. A person who cohabitates with the individual; or +g. An employee or attorney employed by the same firm as the attorney at + +the time the will is executed. +3. An attorney or a person related to the attorney is deemed to have been + +nominated in the will when the will nominates the attorney or the person +related to the attorney as personal representative, copersonal representative, +successor, or alternate personal representative in the event another person +nominated is unable to or unwilling to serve, or provides the attorney or any +person related to the attorney with the power to nominate the personal +representative and the attorney or person related to the attorney was +nominated using that power. + +(d) Other than compensation payable to the personal representative, this +subsection does not limit any rights or remedies that any interested person +may have at law or in equity. + +(e) The failure to obtain an acknowledgment from the testator under this +subsection does not disqualify a personal representative from serving and +does not affect the validity of a will. + +(f) This subsection applies to all nominations made pursuant to a will: +1. Executed by a resident of this state on or after October 1, 2020; or +2. Republished by a resident of this state on or after October 1, 2020, if the + +republished will nominates the attorney who prepared or supervised the +execution of the instrument that republished the will, or a person related to + + + +such attorney, as personal representative. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 80, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 76-172; s. 5, ch. 88-340; s. 1, + +ch. 90-129; s. 10, ch. 93-257; s. 1, ch. 95-401; s. 141, ch. 2001-226; s. 109, +ch. 2002-1; s. 8, ch. 2020-67, effective October 1, 2020. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.01. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.6171. +Fla. Stat. 733.6171 + + 733.6171. Compensation of attorney for the personal representative. +(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2)(d), attorneys for personal + +representatives are entitled to reasonable compensation payable from the +estate assets without court order. +(2)(a) The attorney, the personal representative, and persons bearing the +impact of the compensation may agree to compensation determined in a +different manner than provided in this section. Compensation may also be +determined in a different manner than provided in this section if the +manner is disclosed to the parties bearing the impact of the compensation +and if no objection is made as provided for in the Florida Probate Rules. +(b) An attorney representing a personal representative in an estate + +administration who intends to charge a fee based upon the schedule set forth +in subsection (3) shall make the following disclosures in writing to the +personal representative: + +1. There is not a mandatory statutory attorney fee for estate administration. +2. The attorney fee is not required to be based on the size of the estate, and + +the presumed reasonable fee provided in subsection (3) may not be +appropriate in all estate administrations. + +3. The fee is subject to negotiation between the personal representative and +the attorney. + +4. The selection of the attorney is made at the discretion of the personal +representative, who is not required to select the attorney who prepared the +will. + +5. The personal representative shall be entitled to a summary of ordinary +and extraordinary services rendered for the fees agreed upon at the +conclusion of the representation. The summary shall be provided by counsel +and shall consist of the total hours devoted to the representation or a detailed +summary of the services performed during the representation. + +(c) The attorney shall obtain the personal representatives timely signature +acknowledging the disclosures. + + + +(d) If the attorney does not make the disclosures required by this section, +the attorney may not be paid for legal services without prior court approval of +the fees or the written consent of all interested parties. + +(3) Subject to subsection (2), compensation for ordinary services of +attorneys in a formal estate administration is presumed to be reasonable if +based on the compensable value of the estate, which is the inventory value +of the probate estate assets and the income earned by the estate during the +administration as provided in the following schedule: +(a) One thousand five hundred dollars for estates having a value of $40,000 + +or less. +(b) An additional $750 for estates having a value of more than $40,000 and + +not exceeding $70,000. +(c) An additional $750 for estates having a value of more than $70,000 and + +not exceeding $100,000. +(d) For estates having a value in excess of $100,000, at the rate of 3 + +percent on the next $900,000. +(e) At the rate of 2.5 percent for all above $1 million and not exceeding $3 + +million. +(f) At the rate of 2 percent for all above $3 million and not exceeding $5 + +million. +(g) At the rate of 1.5 percent for all above $5 million and not exceeding + +$10 million. +(h) At the rate of 1 percent for all above $10 million. + +(4) Subject to subsection (2), in addition to fees for ordinary services, +the attorney for the personal representative shall be allowed further +reasonable compensation for any extraordinary service. What is an +extraordinary service may vary depending on many factors, including the +size and complexity of the estate. Extraordinary services may include, but +are not limited to: +(a) Involvement in a will contest, will construction, a proceeding for + +determination of beneficiaries, a contested claim, elective share proceeding, +apportionment of estate taxes, or any adversarial proceeding or litigation by + + + +or against the estate. +(b) Representation of the personal representative in audit or any + +proceeding for adjustment, determination, or collection of any taxes. +(c) Tax advice on postmortem tax planning, including, but not limited to, + +disclaimer, renunciation of fiduciary commission, alternate valuation date, +allocation of administrative expenses between tax returns, the QTIP or +reverse QTIP election, allocation of GST exemption, qualification for +Internal Revenue Code ss. 6166 and 303 privileges, deduction of last illness +expenses, fiscal year planning, distribution planning, asset basis +considerations, handling income or deductions in respect of a decedent, +valuation discounts, special use and other valuation, handling employee +benefit or retirement proceeds, prompt assessment request, or request for +release of personal liability for payment of tax. + +(d) Review of estate tax return and preparation or review of other tax +returns required to be filed by the personal representative. + +(e) Preparation of the estates federal estate tax return. If this return is +prepared by the attorney, a fee of one-half of 1 percent up to a value of $10 +million and one-fourth of 1 percent on the value in excess of $10 million of +the gross estate as finally determined for federal estate tax purposes, is +presumed to be reasonable compensation for the attorney for this service. +These fees shall include services for routine audit of the return, not beyond +the examining agent level, if required. + +(f) Purchase, sale, lease, or encumbrance of real property by the personal +representative or involvement in zoning, land use, environmental, or other +similar matters. + +(g) Legal advice regarding carrying on of the decedents business or +conducting other commercial activity by the personal representative. + +(h) Legal advice regarding claims for damage to the environment or related +procedures. + +(i) Legal advice regarding homestead status of real property or +proceedings involving that status and services related to protected +homestead. + +(j) Involvement in fiduciary, employee, or attorney compensation disputes. + + + +(k) Proceedings involving ancillary administration of assets not subject to +administration in this state. + +(5) Upon petition of any interested person, the court may increase or +decrease the compensation for ordinary services of the attorney or award +compensation for extraordinary services if the facts and circumstances of +the particular administration warrant. In determining reasonable +compensation, the court shall consider all of the following factors, giving +weight to each as it determines to be appropriate: +(a) The promptness, efficiency, and skill with which the administration + +was handled by the attorney. +(b) The responsibilities assumed by and the potential liabilities of the + +attorney. +(c) The nature and value of the assets that are affected by the decedents + +death. +(d) The benefits or detriments resulting to the estate or interested persons + +from the attorneys services. +(e) The complexity or simplicity of the administration and the novelty of + +issues presented. +(f) The attorneys participation in tax planning for the estate and the + +estates beneficiaries and tax return preparation, review, or approval. +(g) The nature of the probate, nonprobate, and exempt assets, the expenses + +of administration, the liabilities of the decedent, and the compensation paid to +other professionals and fiduciaries. + +(h) Any delay in payment of the compensation after the services were +furnished. + +(i) Any agreement relating to the attorneys compensation and +whether written disclosures were made to the personal representative +in a timely manner under the circumstances pursuant to subsection +(2). + +(j) Any other relevant factors. +(6) If a separate written agreement regarding compensation exists + +between the attorney and the decedent, the attorney shall furnish a copy to + + + +the personal representative prior to commencement of employment, and, if +employed, shall promptly file and serve a copy on all interested persons. A +separate agreement or a provision in the will suggesting or directing that +the personal representative retain a specific attorney does not obligate the +personal representative to employ the attorney or obligate the attorney to +accept the representation, but if the attorney who is a party to the +agreement or who drafted the will is employed, the compensation paid +shall not exceed the compensation provided in the agreement or in the will. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 93-257; s. 2, ch. 95-401; s. 142, ch. 2001-226; s. 1, ch. 2021-145, + +effective October 1, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Sections 6166 and 303 of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this + +section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 6166 and 303, respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.6175. +Fla. Stat. 733.6175 + + 733.6175. Proceedings for review of employment of agents and +compensation of personal representatives and employees of estate. +(1) The court may review the propriety of the employment of any person + +employed by the personal representative and the reasonableness of any +compensation paid to that person or to the personal representative. + +(2) Court proceedings to determine reasonable compensation of the +personal representative or any person employed by the personal +representative, if required, are a part of the estate administration process, +and the costs, including attorneys fees, of the person assuming the burden +of proof of propriety of the employment and reasonableness of the +compensation shall be determined by the court and paid from the assets of +the estate unless the court finds the requested compensation to be +substantially unreasonable. The court shall direct from which part of the +estate the compensation shall be paid. + +(3) The burden of proof of propriety of the employment and the +reasonableness of the compensation shall be upon the personal +representative and the person employed. Any person who is determined to +have received excessive compensation from an estate for services rendered +may be ordered to make appropriate refunds. + +(4) The court may determine reasonable compensation for the personal +representative or any person employed by the personal representative +without receiving expert testimony. Any party may offer expert testimony +after notice to interested persons. If expert testimony is offered, a +reasonable expert witness fee shall be awarded by the court and paid from +the assets of the estate. The court shall direct from what part of the estate +the fee shall be paid. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 76-172; s. 1014, ch. 97-102; s. 143, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.619. +Fla. Stat. 733.619 + + 733.619. Individual liability of personal representative. +(1) Unless otherwise provided in the contract, a personal representative + +is not individually liable on a contract, except a contract for attorneys fee, +properly entered into as fiduciary unless the personal representative fails to +reveal that representative capacity and identify the estate in the contract. + +(2) A personal representative is individually liable for obligations arising +from ownership or control of the estate or for torts committed in the course +of administration of the estate only if personally at fault. + +(3) Claims based on contracts, except a contract for attorneys fee, +entered into by a personal representative as a fiduciary, on obligations +arising from ownership or control of the estate, or on torts committed in +the course of estate administration, may be asserted against the estate by +proceeding against the personal representative in that capacity, whether or +not the personal representative is individually liable. + +(4) Issues of liability as between the estate and the personal +representative individually may be determined in a proceeding for +accounting, surcharge, or indemnification, or other appropriate proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 82, ch. 75-220; s. 32, ch. 77-87; s. 228, ch. 77-104; s. 1015, ch. 97-102; + +s. 144, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VI. , 733.620. +Fla. Stat. 733.620 + + 733.620. Exculpation of personal representative. +(1) A term of a will relieving a personal representative of liability to a + +beneficiary for breach of fiduciary duty is unenforceable to the extent that +the term: +(a) Relieves the personal representative of liability for breach of fiduciary + +duty committed in bad faith or with reckless indifference to the purposes of +the will or the interests of interested persons; or + +(b) Was inserted into the will as the result of an abuse by the personal +representative of a fiduciary or confidential relationship with the testator. + +(2) An exculpatory term drafted or caused to be drafted by the personal +representative is invalid as an abuse of a fiduciary or confidential +relationship unless: +(a) The personal representative proves that the exculpatory term is fair + +under the circumstances. +(b) The terms existence and contents were adequately communicated + +directly to the testator or to the independent attorney of the testator. This +paragraph applies only to wills created on or after July 1, 2007. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. VII + + + +PART VII. +CREDITORS CLAIMS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.701. +Fla. Stat. 733.701 + + 733.701. Notifying creditors. +Unless creditors claims are otherwise barred by s. 733.710, every personal + +representative shall cause notice to creditors to be published and served under +s. 733.2121. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 83, ch. 75-220; s. 33, ch. 77-87; s. 4, ch. 89-340; s. 145, + +ch. 2001-226; s. 31, ch. 2003-154. + +Editors notes. +Section 31, ch. 2003-154 reenacted 733.701 without change to incorporate + +amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. +Created from former s. 733.15. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.702. +Fla. Stat. 733.702 + + 733.702. Limitations on presentation of claims. +(1) If not barred by s. 733.710, no claim or demand against the + +decedents estate that arose before the death of the decedent, including +claims of the state and any of its political subdivisions, even if the claims +are unmatured, contingent, or unliquidated; no claim for funeral or burial +expenses; no claim for personal property in the possession of the personal +representative; and no claim for damages, including, but not limited to, an +action founded on fraud or another wrongful act or omission of the +decedent, is binding on the estate, on the personal representative, or on any +beneficiary unless filed in the probate proceeding on or before the later of +the date that is 3 months after the time of the first publication of the notice +to creditors or, as to any creditor required to be served with a copy of the +notice to creditors, 30 days after the date of service on the creditor, even +though the personal representative has recognized the claim or demand by +paying a part of it or interest on it or otherwise. The personal representative +may settle in full any claim without the necessity of the claim being filed +when the settlement has been approved by the interested persons. + +(2) No cause of action, including, but not limited to, an action founded +upon fraud or other wrongful act or omission, shall survive the death of the +person against whom the claim may be made, whether or not an action is +pending at the death of the person, unless a claim is filed within the time +periods set forth in this part. + +(3) Any claim not timely filed as provided in this section is barred even +though no objection to the claim is filed unless the court extends the time +in which the claim may be filed. An extension may be granted only upon +grounds of fraud, estoppel, or insufficient notice of the claims period. No +independent action or declaratory action may be brought upon a claim +which was not timely filed unless an extension has been granted by the +court. If the personal representative or any other interested person serves +on the creditor a notice to file a petition for an extension, the creditor shall +be limited to a period of 30 days from the date of service of the notice in +which to file a petition for extension. + + + +(4) Nothing in this section affects or prevents: +(a) A proceeding to enforce any mortgage, security interest, or other lien + +on property of the decedent. +(b) To the limits of casualty insurance protection only, any proceeding to + +establish liability that is protected by the casualty insurance. +(c) The filing of a cross-claim or counterclaim against the estate in an + +action instituted by the estate; however, no recovery on a cross-claim or +counterclaim shall exceed the estates recovery in that action. + +(5) Nothing in this section shall extend the limitations period set forth in +s. 733.710. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 84, ch. 75-220; s. 2, ch. 80-127; s. 4, ch. 81-27; s. 160, + +ch. 83-216; s. 5, ch. 84-106; s. 4, ch. 85-79; s. 6, ch. 88-340; s. 5, ch. 89-340; +s. 4, ch. 90-23; s. 1016, ch. 97-102; s. 146, ch. 2001-226; s. 6, ch. 2002-82; s. +26, ch. 2006-312, eff. January 1, 2007; s. 21, ch. 2010-4, eff. June 29, 2010. + +Revisors note. +Former subsection (5), which authorized the Department of Revenue to file + +a claim against the estate of a decedent for taxes due under chapter 199 after +the expiration of the time for filing claims provided in subsection (1), if the +department filed its claim within 30 days after the service of the inventory, +was repealed by s. 26, ch. 2006-312, Laws of Florida, effective January 1, +2009. Since the subsection was not repealed by a current session of the +Legislature, ch. 2010-4, a revisers bill, also repealed the subsection. See s. +11.242(5)(b) and (i). + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.16. +Section 23, ch. 2010-4 provides: This act shall take effect on the 60th day + +after adjournment sine die of the session of the Legislature in which enacted. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.703. +Fla. Stat. 733.703 + + 733.703. Form and manner of presenting claim. +(1) A creditor shall file a written statement of the claim. No additional + +charge may be imposed by a claimant who files a claim against the estate. +(2) Within the time allowed by s. 733.702, the personal representative + +may file a proof of claim of all claims he or she has paid or intends to pay. +A claimant whose claim is listed in a personal representatives proof of +claim shall be deemed to have filed a statement of the claim listed. Except +as provided otherwise in this part, the claim shall be treated as if the +claimant had filed it. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 84, ch. 75-220; s. 5, ch. 81-27; s. 5, ch. 85-79; s. 6, ch. + +89-340; s. 147, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.16. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.704. +Fla. Stat. 733.704 + + 733.704. Amendment of claims. +If a bona fide attempt to file a claim is made but the claim is defective as to + +form, the court may permit the amendment of the claim at any time. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 148, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.17. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.705. +Fla. Stat. 733.705 + + 733.705. Payment of and objection to claims. +(1) The personal representative shall pay all claims within 1 year from + +the date of first publication of notice to creditors, provided that the time +shall be extended with respect to claims in litigation, unmatured claims, +and contingent claims for the period necessary to dispose of those claims +pursuant to subsections (5), (6), (7), and (8). The court may extend the time +for payment of any claim upon a showing of good cause. No personal +representative shall be compelled to pay the debts of the decedent until +after the expiration of 5 months from the first publication of notice to +creditors. If any person brings an action against a personal representative +within the 5 months on any claim to which the personal representative has +not filed an objection, the plaintiff shall not receive any costs or attorneys +fees, nor shall the judgment change the class of the claim for payment +under this code. + +(2) On or before the expiration of 4 months from the first publication of +notice to creditors or within 30 days from the timely filing or amendment +of a claim, whichever occurs later, a personal representative or other +interested person may file a written objection to a claim. If an objection is +filed, the person filing it shall serve a copy of the objection as provided by +the Florida Probate Rules. The failure to serve a copy of the objection +constitutes an abandonment of the objection. For good cause, the court +may extend the time for filing or serving an objection to any claim. +Objection to a claim constitutes an objection to an amendment of that +claim unless the objection is withdrawn. + +(3) If the objection is filed by a person other than the personal +representative, the personal representative may apply to the court for an +order relieving him or her from the obligation to defend the estate in an +independent action or for the appointment of the objector as administrator +ad litem to defend the action. Fees for the attorney for the administrator ad +litem may be awarded as provided in s. 733.106(3). If costs or attorneys +fees are awarded from or against the estate, the probate court may charge +or apportion that award as provided in s. 733.106(4). + + + +(4) An objection by an interested person to a personal representatives +proof of claim shall state the particular item or items to which the +interested person objects and shall be filed and served as provided in +subsection (2). Issues of liability as between the estate and the personal +representative individually for items listed in a personal representatives +proof of claim shall be determined in the estate administration, in a +proceeding for accounting or surcharge, or in another appropriate +proceeding, whether or not an objection has been filed. If an objection to +an item listed as to be paid in a personal representatives proof of claim is +filed and served, and the personal representative has not paid the item, the +other subsections of this section shall apply as if a claim for the item had +been filed by the claimant; but if the personal representative has paid the +claim after listing it as to be paid, issues of liability as between the estate +and the personal representative individually shall be determined in the +manner provided for an item listed as paid. + +(5) The claimant is limited to a period of 30 days from the date of +service of an objection within which to bring an independent action upon +the claim, or a declaratory action to establish the validity and amount of an +unmatured claim which is not yet due but which is certain to become due +in the future, or a declaratory action to establish the validity of a contingent +claim upon which no cause of action has accrued on the date of service of +an objection and that may or may not become due in the future, unless an +extension of this time is agreed to by the personal representative in writing +before it expires. +(a) For good cause, the court may extend the time for filing an action or + +proceeding after objection is filed. No action or proceeding on the claim may +be brought against the personal representative after the time limited above, +and the claim is barred without court order. + +(b) If an action or proceeding by the claimant is pending against the +decedent at the time of the decedents death, the requirement to bring an +independent action is satisfied if, within 30 days after the filing of an +objection to the claim: + +1. A motion complying with all applicable rules of procedure is filed, or a +similar procedure is initiated, to substitute the proper party; or + +2. An order substituting the proper party is entered. + + + +(c) If the decedent entered into a binding arbitration agreement relating to +the claim during his or her lifetime, or if arbitration is required under s. +731.401, the requirement to bring an independent action is satisfied if, within +30 days after the filing of an objection to the claim, a motion to compel +arbitration against the proper party is initiated, as provided for in s. 682.03. + +(d) If arbitration was commenced before the decedents death, the +requirement to bring an independent action is satisfied if, within 30 days after +the filing of an objection to the claim, notice is given to the proper party. If +the arbitration was commenced by order of the court, the notice must take the +form of a timely filed motion, complying with all applicable rules of +procedure, to substitute the proper party. + +(e) If an objection is filed to the claim of any claimant and the claimant +brings an action to establish the claim, a judgment establishing the claim shall +give it no priority over claims of the same class to which it belongs. + +(6) A claimant may bring an independent action or declaratory action +upon a claim which was not timely filed pursuant to s. 733.702(1) only if +the claimant has been granted an extension of time to file the claim +pursuant to s. 733.702(3). + +(7) If an unmatured claim has not become due before the time for +distribution of an estate, the personal representative may prepay the full +amount of principal plus accrued interest due on the claim, without +discount and without penalty, regardless of any prohibition against +prepayment or provision for penalty in any instrument on which the claim +is founded. If the claim is not prepaid, no order of discharge may be +entered until the creditor and personal representative have filed an +agreement disposing of the claim, or in the absence of an agreement until +the court provides for payment by one of the following methods: +(a) Requiring the personal representative to reserve such assets as the court + +determines to be adequate to pay the claim when it becomes due; in fixing the +amount to be reserved, the court may determine the value of any security or +collateral to which the creditor may resort for payment of the claim and may +direct the reservation, if necessary, of sufficient assets to pay the claim or to +pay the difference between the value of any security or collateral and the +amount necessary to pay the claim. If the estate is insolvent, the court may +direct a proportionate amount to be reserved. The court shall direct that the + + + +amount reserved be retained by the personal representative until the time that +the claim becomes due, and that so much of the reserved amount as is not +used for payment be distributed according to law; + +(b) Requiring that the claim be adequately secured by a mortgage, pledge, +bond, trust, guaranty, or other security, as may be determined by the court, +the security to remain in effect until the time the claim becomes due, and so +much of the security or collateral as is not needed for payment be distributed +according to law; or + +(c) Making provisions for the disposition or satisfaction of the claim as are +equitable, and in a manner so as not to delay unreasonably the closing of the +estate. + +(8) If no cause of action has accrued on a contingent claim before the +time for distribution of an estate, no order of discharge may be entered +until the creditor and the personal representative have filed an agreement +disposing of the claim or, in the absence of an agreement, until: +(a) The court determines that the claim is adequately secured or that it has + +no value, +(b) Three months from the date on which a cause of action accrues upon + +the claim, provided that no action on the claim is then pending, +(c) Five years from the date of first publication of notice to creditors, or +(d) The court provides for payment of the claim upon the happening of the + +contingency by one of the methods described in paragraph (a), paragraph (b), +or paragraph (c) of subsection (7), + +whichever occurs first. No action or proceeding on the claim may be +brought against the personal representative after the time limited above, +and the claim is barred without court order. If an objection is filed to the +claim of any creditor and the creditor brings an action to establish the +claim, a judgment establishing the claim shall give it no priority over +claims of the same class to which it belongs. + +(9) Interest shall be paid by the personal representative on written +obligations of the decedent providing for the payment of interest. On all +other claims, interest shall be allowed and paid beginning 5 months from +the first publication of the notice to creditors. + + + +(10) The court may determine all issues concerning claims or matters +not requiring trial by jury. + +(11) An order for extension of time authorized under this section may be +entered only in the estate administration proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 86, ch. 75-220; s. 34, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, + +ch. 84-25; s. 1, ch. 86-249; s. 7, ch. 88-340; s. 7, ch. 89-340; s. 2, ch. 91-61; +s. 1017, ch. 97-102; s. 149, ch. 2001-226; s. 1, ch. 2022-101, effective July 1, +2022. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.18. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.706. +Fla. Stat. 733.706 + + 733.706. Executions and levies. +Except upon approval by the court, no execution or other process shall + +issue on or be levied against property of the estate. An order approving +execution or other process to be levied against property of the estate may be +entered only in the estate administration proceeding. Claims on all judgments +against a decedent shall be filed in the same manner as other claims against +estates of decedents. This section shall not be construed to prevent the +enforcement of mortgages, security interests, or liens encumbering specific +property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 86, ch. 75-220; s. 8, ch. 89-340. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.19. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.707. +Fla. Stat. 733.707 + + 733.707. Order of payment of expenses and obligations. +(1) The personal representative shall pay the expenses of the + +administration and obligations of the decedents estate in the following +order: +(a) Class 1. Costs, expenses of administration, and compensation of + +personal representatives and their attorneys fees and attorneys fees awarded +under s. 733.106(3). + +(b) Class 2. Reasonable funeral, interment, and grave marker expenses, +whether paid by a guardian, the personal representative, or any other person, +not to exceed the aggregate of $6,000. + +(c) Class 3. Debts and taxes with preference under federal law, claims +pursuant to ss. 409.9101 and 414.28, and claims in favor of the state for +unpaid court costs, fees, or fines. + +(d) Class 4. Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of +the last 60 days of the last illness of the decedent, including compensation of +persons attending the decedent. + +(e) Class 5. Family allowance. +(f) Class 6. Arrearage from court-ordered child support. +(g) Class 7. Debts acquired after death by the continuation of the + +decedents business, in accordance with s. 733.612(22), but only to the extent +of the assets of that business. + +(h) Class 8. All other claims, including those founded on judgments or +decrees rendered against the decedent during the decedents lifetime, and any +excess over the sums allowed in paragraphs (b) and (d). + +(2) After paying any preceding class, if the estate is insufficient to pay +all of the next succeeding class, the creditors of the latter class shall be +paid ratably in proportion to their respective claims. + +(3) Any portion of a trust with respect to which a decedent who is the +grantor has at the decedents death a right of revocation, as defined in + + + +paragraph (e), either alone or in conjunction with any other person, is +liable for the expenses of the administration and obligations of the +decedents estate to the extent the decedents estate is insufficient to pay +them as provided in ss. 733.607(2) and 736.05053. +(a) For purposes of this subsection, any trusts established as part of, and all + +payments from, either an employee annuity described in s. 403 of the Internal +Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, an Individual Retirement Account, as +described in s. 408 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, a +Keogh (HR-10) Plan, or a retirement or other plan established by a +corporation which is qualified under s. 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of +1986, as amended, shall not be considered a trust over which the decedent has +a right of revocation. + +(b) For purposes of this subsection, any trust described in s. 664 of the +Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall not be considered a trust +over which the decedent has a right of revocation. + +(c) This subsection shall not impair any rights an individual has under a +qualified domestic relations order as that term is defined in s. 414(p) of the +Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. + +(d) For purposes of this subsection, property held or received by a trust to +the extent that the property would not have been subject to claims against the +decedents estate if it had been paid directly to a trust created under the +decedents will or other than to the decedents estate, or assets received from +any trust other than a trust described in this subsection, shall not be deemed +assets of the trust available to the decedents estate. + +(e) For purposes of this subsection, a right of revocation is a power +retained by the decedent, held in any capacity, to: + +1. Amend or revoke the trust and revest the principal of the trust in the +decedent; or + +2. Withdraw or appoint the principal of the trust to or for the decedents +benefit. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 86, ch. 75-220; s. 35, ch. 77-87; s. 7, ch. 85-79; s. 69, + +ch. 87-226; s. 20, ch. 93-208; s. 11, ch. 93-257; s. 10, ch. 95-401; s. 1018, ch. + + + +97-102; s. 3, ch. 97-240; s. 150, ch. 2001-226; s. 2, ch. 2010-122, eff. July 1, +2010; s. 17, ch. 2012-100, eff. July 1, 2012. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.20. +Sections 401, 403, 408, 414, and 664 of the Internal Revenue Code, + +referred to in this section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 401, 403, 408, 414, +and 664. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.708. +Fla. Stat. 733.708 + + 733.708. Compromise. +When a proposal is made to compromise any claim, whether in suit or not, + +by or against the estate of a decedent or to compromise any question +concerning the distribution of a decedents estate, the court may enter an +order authorizing the compromise if satisfied that the compromise will be for +the best interest of the interested persons. The order shall relieve the personal +representative of liability or responsibility for the compromise. Claims +against the estate may not be compromised until after the time for filing +objections to claims has expired. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 86, ch. 75-220; s. 151, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 733.21. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VII. , 733.710. +Fla. Stat. 733.710 + + 733.710. Limitations on claims against estates. +(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the code, 2 years after the + +death of a person, neither the decedents estate, the personal representative, +if any, nor the beneficiaries shall be liable for any claim or cause of action +against the decedent, whether or not letters of administration have been +issued, except as provided in this section. + +(2) This section shall not apply to a creditor who has filed a claim +pursuant to s. 733.702 within 2 years after the persons death, and whose +claim has not been paid or otherwise disposed of pursuant to s. 733.705. + +(3) This section shall not affect the lien of any duly recorded mortgage +or security interest or the lien of any person in possession of personal +property or the right to foreclose and enforce the mortgage or lien. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 50, ch. 75-220; s. 36, ch. 77-87; s. 9, ch. 89-340; s. 152, + +ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.29(1). + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. VIII + + + +PART VIII. +SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.801. +Fla. Stat. 733.801 + + 733.801. Delivery of devises and distributive shares. +(1) No personal representative shall be required to pay or deliver any + +devise or distributive share or to surrender possession of any land to any +beneficiary until the expiration of 5 months from the granting of letters. + +(2) Except as otherwise provided in the will, the personal representative +shall pay as an expense of administration the reasonable expenses of +storage, insurance, packing, and delivery of tangible personal property to a +beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 86, ch. 75-220; s. 153, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.02. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.802. +Fla. Stat. 733.802 + + 733.802. Proceedings for compulsory payment of devises or distributive +interest. +(1) Before final distribution, no personal representative shall be + +compelled: +(a) To pay a devise in money before the final settlement of the personal + +representatives accounts, +(b) To deliver specific personal property devised, unless the personal + +property is exempt personal property, +(c) To pay all or any part of a distributive share in the personal estate of a + +decedent, or +(d) To surrender land to any beneficiary, +unless the beneficiary establishes that the property will not be required for +the payment of debts, family allowance, estate and inheritance taxes, +claims, elective share of the surviving spouse, charges, or expenses of +administration or to provide funds for contribution or to enforce +equalization in case of advancements. + +(2) An order directing the surrender of real property or the delivery of +personal property by the personal representative to the beneficiary shall be +conclusive in favor of bona fide purchasers for value from the beneficiary +or distributee as against the personal representative and all other persons +claiming by, through, under, or against the decedent or the decedents +estate. + +(3) If the administration of the estate has not been completed before the +entry of an order of partial distribution, the court may require the person +entitled to distribution to give a bond with sureties as prescribed in s. +45.011, conditioned on the making of due contribution for the payment of +devises, family allowance, estate and inheritance taxes, claims, elective +share of the spouse, charges, expenses of administration, and equalization +in case of advancements, plus any interest on them. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 86, ch. 75-220; s. 37, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 272, +ch. 79-400; s. 1019, ch. 97-102; s. 154, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.03. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.803. +Fla. Stat. 733.803 + + 733.803. Encumbered property; liability for payment. +The specific devisee of any encumbered property shall be entitled to have + +the encumbrance on devised property paid at the expense of the residue of the +estate only when the will shows that intent. A general direction in the will to +pay debts does not show that intent. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 86, ch. 75-220; s. 155, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.051. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.805. +Fla. Stat. 733.805 + + 733.805. Order in which assets abate. +(1) Funds or property designated by the will shall be used to pay debts, + +family allowance, exempt property, elective share charges, expenses of +administration, and devises, to the extent the funds or property is +sufficient. If no provision is made or the designated fund or property is +insufficient, the funds and property of the estate shall be used for these +purposes, and to raise the shares of a pretermitted spouse and children, +except as otherwise provided in subsections (3) and (4), in the following +order: +(a) Property passing by intestacy. +(b) Property devised to the residuary devisee or devisees. +(c) Property not specifically or demonstratively devised. +(d) Property specifically or demonstratively devised. + +(2) Demonstrative devises shall be classed as general devises upon the +failure or insufficiency of funds or property out of which payment should +be made, to the extent of the insufficiency. Devises to the decedents +surviving spouse, given in satisfaction of, or instead of, the surviving +spouses statutory rights in the estate, shall not abate until other devises of +the same class are exhausted. Devises given for a valuable consideration +shall abate with other devises of the same class only to the extent of the +excess over the amount of value of the consideration until all others of the +same class are exhausted. Except as herein provided, devises shall abate +equally and ratably and without preference or priority as between real and +personal property. When property that has been specifically devised or +charged with a devise is sold or used by the personal representative, other +devisees shall contribute according to their respective interests to the +devisee whose devise has been sold or used. The amounts of the respective +contributions shall be determined by the court and shall be paid or +withheld before distribution is made. + +(3) Section 733.817 shall be applied before this section is applied. +(4) In determining the contribution required under s. 733.607(2), + + + +subsections (1)-(3) of this section and s. 736.05053(2) shall be applied as if +the beneficiaries of the estate and the beneficiaries of a trust described in s. +733.707(3), other than the estate or trust itself, were taking under a +common instrument. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 88, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1020, ch. 97-102; s. + +156, ch. 2001-226; s. 38, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.05. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.806. +Fla. Stat. 733.806 + + 733.806. Advancement. +If a person dies intestate, property that the decedent gave during lifetime to + +an heir is treated as an advancement against the heirs share of the estate only +if declared in a contemporaneous writing by the decedent or acknowledged in +writing by the heir. The property advanced shall be valued at the time the heir +came into possession or enjoyment of the property or at the time of the death +of the decedent, whichever first occurs. If the recipient of the property does +not survive the decedent, the property shall not be taken into account in +computing the intestate share to be received by the recipients descendants +unless the declaration or acknowledgment provides otherwise. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 1021, ch. 97-102; s. 157, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.07. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.808. +Fla. Stat. 733.808 + + 733.808. Death benefits; disposition of proceeds. +(1) Death benefits of any kind, including, but not limited to, proceeds of: + +(a) An individual life insurance policy; +(b) A group life insurance policy; +(c) A benefit plan as defined by s. 710.102; +(d) An annuity or endowment contract; and +(e) A health or accident policy, +may be made payable to the trustee under a trust agreement or declaration +of trust in existence at the time of the death of the insured, employee, or +annuitant or the owner of or participant in the benefit plan. The death +benefits shall be held and disposed of by the trustee in accordance with the +terms of the trust as they appear in writing on the date of the death of the +insured, employee, annuitant, owner, or participant. It shall not be +necessary to the validity of the trust agreement or declaration of trust, +whether revocable or irrevocable, that it have a trust corpus other than the +right of the trustee to receive death benefits. + +(2) Death benefits of any kind, including, but not limited to, proceeds of: +(a) An individual life insurance policy; +(b) A group life insurance policy; +(c) A benefit plan as defined in s. 710.102; +(d) An annuity or endowment contract; and +(e) A health or accident policy, +may be made payable to the trustee named, or to be named, in a written +instrument that is admitted to probate as the last will of the insured, the +owner of the policy, the employee, owner, or participant covered by the +plan or contract, or any other person, whether or not the will is in existence +at the time of designation. Upon the admission of the will to probate, the +death benefits shall be paid to the trustee, to be held, administered, and + + + +disposed of in accordance with the terms of the trust or trusts created by +the will. + +(3) In the event no trustee makes proper claim to the proceeds from the +insurance company or other obligor within a period of 6 months after the +date of the death of the insured, employee, annuitant, owner, or participant, +or if satisfactory evidence is furnished to the insurance company or obligor +within that period that there is, or will be, no trustee to receive the +proceeds, payment shall be made by the insurance company or obligor to +the personal representative of the person making the designation, unless +otherwise provided by agreement with the insurer or obligor during the +lifetime of the insured, employee, annuitant, owner, or participant. + +(4) Unless the trust agreement, declaration of trust, or will expressly +refers to this subsection and directs that it does not apply, death benefits +payable as provided in subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (3), +unless paid to a personal representative under the provisions of subsection +(3), shall not be deemed to be part of the decedents estate and shall not be +subject to any obligation to pay the expenses of the administration and +obligations of the decedents estate or for contribution required from a trust +under s. 733.607(2) to any greater extent than if the proceeds were payable +directly to the beneficiaries named in the trust. + +(5) The death benefits held in trust may be commingled with any other +assets that may properly come into the trust. + +(6) This section does not affect the validity of any designation of a +beneficiary of proceeds previously made that designates as beneficiary the +trustee of any trust established under a trust agreement or declaration of +trust or by will. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 38, ch. 77-87; s. 158, ch. 2001-226; s. 7, ch. 2005-101; + +s. 5, ch. 2014-127, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.172. +Section 6, ch. 2014-127, provides: The changes made by this act to s. + + + +733.808, Florida Statutes, are intended to clarify existing law, are remedial in +nature, and apply retroactively without regard to the date of the decedents +death. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.809. +Fla. Stat. 733.809 + + 733.809. Right of retainer. +The amount of a noncontingent indebtedness due from a beneficiary to the + +estate or its present value, if not due, may be offset against that beneficiarys +interest. However, that beneficiary shall have the benefit of any defense that +would be available in a direct proceeding for recovery of the debt. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 39, ch. 77-87; s. 1022, ch. 97-102; s. 159, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.810. +Fla. Stat. 733.810 + + 733.810. Distribution in kind; valuation. +(1) Assets shall be distributed in kind unless: + +(a) A general power of sale is conferred; +(b) A contrary intention is indicated by the will or trust; or +(c) Disposition is made otherwise under the provisions of this code. + +(2) Any pecuniary devise, family allowance, or other pecuniary share of +the estate or trust may be satisfied in kind if: +(a) The person entitled to payment has not demanded cash; +(b) The property is distributed at fair market value as of its distribution + +date; and +(c) No residuary devisee has requested that the asset remain a part of the + +residuary estate. +(3) When not practicable to distribute undivided interests in a residuary + +asset, the asset may be sold. +(4) When the fiduciary under a will or trust is required, or has an option, + +to satisfy a pecuniary devise or transfer in trust, to or for the benefit of the +surviving spouse, with an in-kind distribution, at values as finally +determined for federal estate tax purposes, the fiduciary shall, unless the +governing instrument otherwise provides, satisfy the devise or transfer in +trust by distribution of assets, including cash, fairly representative of the +appreciated or depreciated value of all property available for that +distribution, taking into consideration any gains and losses realized from a +prior sale of any property not devised specifically, generally, or +demonstratively. + +(5) A personal representative or a trustee is authorized to distribute any +distributable assets, non-pro rata among the beneficiaries subject to the +fiduciarys duty of impartiality. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 92, ch. 75-220; s. 40, ch. 77-87; s. 160, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.031. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.811. +Fla. Stat. 733.811 + + 733.811. Distribution; right or title of distributee. +If a distributee receives from a fiduciary an instrument transferring assets + +in kind, payment in distribution, or possession of specific property, the +distributee has succeeded to the estates interest in the assets as against all +persons interested in the estate. However, the fiduciary may recover the +assets or their value if the distribution was improper. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 161, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.812. +Fla. Stat. 733.812 + + 733.812. Improper distribution or payment; liability of distributee or +payee. + +A distributee or a claimant who was paid improperly must return the assets +or funds received, and the income from those assets or interest on the funds +since distribution or payment, unless the distribution or payment cannot be +questioned because of adjudication, estoppel, or limitations. If the distributee +or claimant does not have the property, its value at the date of disposition, +income thereon, and gain received by the distributee or claimant must be +returned. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 92, ch. 75-220; s. 1023, ch. 97-102; s. 162, ch. 2001- + +226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.813. +Fla. Stat. 733.813 + + 733.813. Purchasers from distributees protected. +If property distributed in kind, or a security interest in that property, is + +acquired by a purchaser or lender for value from a distributee, the purchaser +or lender takes title free of any claims of the estate and incurs no personal +liability to the estate, whether or not the distribution was proper. The +purchaser or lender need not inquire whether a personal representative acted +properly in making the distribution in kind. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 163, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.814. +Fla. Stat. 733.814 + + 733.814. Partition for purpose of distribution. +When two or more beneficiaries are entitled to distribution of undivided + +interests in any property, the personal representative or any beneficiary may +petition the court before the estate is closed to partition the property in the +same manner as provided by law for civil actions of partition. The court may +direct the personal representative to sell any property that cannot be +partitioned without prejudice to the owners and that cannot be allotted +equitably and conveniently. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 164, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.815. +Fla. Stat. 733.815 + + 733.815. Private contracts among interested persons. +Subject to the rights of creditors and taxing authorities, interested persons + +may agree among themselves to alter the interests, shares, or amounts to +which they are entitled in a written contract executed by them. The personal +representative shall abide by the terms of the contract, subject to the personal +representatives obligation to administer the estate for the benefit of +interested persons who are not parties to the contract, and to pay costs of +administration. Trustees of a testamentary trust are interested persons for the +purposes of this section. Nothing in this section relieves trustees of any duties +owed to beneficiaries of trusts. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 94, ch. 75-220; s. 1024, ch. 97-102; s. 165, ch. 2001- + +226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.816. +Fla. Stat. 733.816 + + 733.816. Disposition of unclaimed property held by personal +representatives. +(1) In all cases in which there is unclaimed property in the hands of a + +personal representative that cannot be distributed or paid because of the +inability to find the lawful owner or because no lawful owner is known or +because the lawful owner refuses to accept the property after a reasonable +attempt to distribute it and after notice to that lawful owner, the court shall +order the personal representative to sell the property and deposit the +proceeds and cash already in hand, after retaining those amounts provided +for in subsection (4), with the clerk and receive a receipt, and the clerk +shall deposit the funds in the registry of the court to be disposed of as +follows: +(a) If the value of the funds is $500 or less, the clerk shall post a notice for + +30 days at the courthouse door giving the amount involved, the name of the +personal representative, and the other pertinent information that will put +interested persons on notice. + +(b) If the value of the funds is over $500, the clerk shall publish the notice +once a month for 2 consecutive months in a newspaper of general circulation +in the county. + +After the expiration of 6 months from the posting or first publication, the +clerk shall deposit the funds with the Chief Financial Officer after +deducting the clerks fees and the costs of publication. + +(2) Upon receipt of the funds, the Chief Financial Officer shall deposit +them to the credit of the State School Fund, to become a part of the school +fund. All interest and all income that may accrue from the money while so +deposited shall belong to the fund. The funds so deposited shall constitute +and be a permanent appropriation for payments by the Chief Financial +Officer in obedience to court orders entered as provided by subsection (3). + +(3) Within 10 years from the date of deposit with the Chief Financial +Officer, on written petition to the court that directed the deposit of the +funds and informal notice to the Department of Legal Affairs, and after +proof of entitlement, any person entitled to the funds before or after + + + +payment to the Chief Financial Officer and deposit as provided by +subsection (1) may obtain a court order directing the payment of the funds +to that person. All funds deposited with the Chief Financial Officer and not +claimed within 10 years from the date of deposit shall escheat to the state +for the benefit of the State School Fund. + +(4) The personal representative depositing assets with the clerk is +permitted to retain from the funds a sufficient amount to pay final costs of +administration chargeable to the assets accruing between the deposit of the +funds with the clerk of the court and the order of discharge. Any funds so +retained which are surplus shall be deposited with the clerk prior to +discharge of the personal representative. +(5)(a) If a person entitled to the funds assigns the right to receive payment +or part payment to an attorney or private investigative agency which is +duly licensed to do business in this state pursuant to a written agreement +with that person, the Department of Financial Services is authorized to +make distribution in accordance with the assignment. +(b) Payments made to an attorney or private investigative agency shall be + +promptly deposited into a trust or escrow account which is regularly +maintained by the attorney or private investigative agency in a financial +institution located in this state and authorized to accept these deposits. + +(c) Distribution by the attorney or private investigative agency to the +person entitled to the funds shall be made within 10 days following final +credit of the deposit into the trust or escrow account at the financial +institution, unless a party to the agreement protests the distribution in writing +before it is made. + +(d) The department shall not be civilly or criminally liable for any funds +distributed pursuant to this subsection, provided the distribution is made in +good faith. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 95, ch. 75-220; s. 6, ch. 85-79; s. 5, ch. 89-291; s. 10, + +ch. 89-299; s. 21, ch. 95-401; s. 1025, ch. 97-102; s. 166, ch. 2001-226; s. +1897, ch. 2003-261. + +Editors notes. + + + +Created from former s. 734.221. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. VIII. , 733.817. +Fla. Stat. 733.817 + + 733.817. Apportionment of estate taxes. +(1) Definitions. As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Fiduciary means a person, other than the personal representative in +possession of property included in the measure of the tax, who is liable to the +applicable taxing authority for payment of the entire tax to the extent of the +value of the property in possession. + +(b) Generation-skipping transfer tax means the generation-skipping +transfer tax imposed by chapter 13 of the Internal Revenue Code on direct +skips of interests includable in the federal gross estate or a corresponding tax +imposed by any state or country or political subdivision of the foregoing. The +term does not include the generation-skipping transfer tax on taxable +distributions, taxable terminations, or any other generation-skipping transfer. +The terms direct skip, taxable distribution, and taxable termination +have the same meanings as provided in s. 2612 of the Internal Revenue Code. + +(c) Governing instrument means a will, trust instrument, or any other +document that controls the transfer of property on the occurrence of the event +with respect to which the tax is being levied. + +(d) Gross estate means the gross estate, as determined by the Internal +Revenue Code with respect to the federal estate tax and the Florida estate tax, +and as that concept is otherwise determined by the estate, inheritance, or +death tax laws of the particular state, country, or political subdivision whose +tax is being apportioned. + +(e) Included in the measure of the tax means for each separate tax that an +interest may incur, only interests included in the measure of that particular +tax are considered. As used in this section, the term does not include: + +1. Any interest, whether passing under the will or not, to the extent the +interest is initially deductible from the gross estate, without regard to any +subsequent reduction of the deduction by reason of the charge of any part of +the applicable tax to the interest. If an election is required for deductibility, an +interest is not initially deductible unless the election for deductibility is +allowed. + + + +2. Interests or amounts that are not included in the gross estate but are +included in the amount upon which the applicable tax is computed, such as +adjusted taxable gifts pursuant to s. 2001 of the Internal Revenue Code. + +3. Gift taxes included in the gross estate pursuant to s. 2035 of the Internal +Revenue Code and the portion of any inter vivos transfer included in the +gross estate pursuant to s. 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, notwithstanding +inclusion in the gross estate. + +(f) Internal Revenue Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended. + +(g) Net tax means the net tax payable to the particular state, country, or +political subdivision whose tax is being apportioned, after taking into account +all credits against the applicable tax except as provided in this section. With +respect to the federal estate tax, net tax is determined after taking into account +all credits against the tax except for the credit for foreign death taxes and +except for the credit or deduction for state taxes imposed by states other than +this state. + +(h) Nonresiduary devise means any devise that is not a residuary devise. +(i) Nonresiduary interest, in connection with a trust, means any + +interest in a trust which is not a residuary interest. +(j) Recipient means, with respect to property or an interest in property + +included in the gross estate, an heir at law in an intestate estate; devisee in a +testate estate; beneficiary of a trust; beneficiary of a life insurance policy, +annuity, or other contractual right; surviving tenant; taker as a result of the +exercise or in default of the exercise of a general power of appointment; +person who receives or is to receive the property or an interest in the +property; or person in possession of the property, other than a creditor. + +(k) Residuary devise has the meaning in s. 731.201. +(l) Residuary interest, in connection with a trust, means an + +interest in the assets of a trust which remain after provision for any +distribution that is to be satisfied by reference to a specific property or +type of property, fund, sum, or statutory amount. + +(m) Revocable trust means a trust as described in s. 733.707(3). +(n) Section 2044 interest means an interest included in the measure of + + + +the tax by reason of s. 2044 of the Internal Revenue Code. +(o) State means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, + +the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. +(p) Tax means any estate tax, inheritance tax, generation-skipping + +transfer tax, or other tax levied or assessed under the laws of this or any other +state, the United States, any other country, or any political subdivision of the +foregoing, as finally determined, which is imposed as a result of the death of +the decedent. The term also includes any interest or penalties imposed in +addition to the tax. Unless the context indicates otherwise, the term means +each separate tax. The term does not include any additional estate tax +imposed by s. 2032A(c) or s. 2057(f) of the Internal Revenue Code or a +corresponding tax imposed by any state or country or political subdivision of +the foregoing. The additional estate tax imposed shall be apportioned as +provided in s. 2032A or s. 2057 of the Internal Revenue Code. + +(q) Temporary interest means an interest in income or an estate for a +specific period of time, for life, or for some other period controlled by +reference to extrinsic events, whether or not in trust. + +(r) Tentative Florida tax with respect to any property means the net +Florida estate tax that would have been attributable to that property if no tax +were payable to any other state in respect of that property. + +(s) Value means the pecuniary worth of the interest involved as finally +determined for purposes of the applicable tax after deducting any debt, +expense, or other deduction chargeable to it for which a deduction was +allowed in determining the amount of the applicable tax. A lien or other +encumbrance is not regarded as chargeable to a particular interest to the +extent that it will be paid from other interests. The value of an interest is not +reduced by reason of the charge against it of any part of the tax, except as +provided in paragraph (3)(a). + +(2) Allocation of tax. Except as effectively directed in the governing +instrument pursuant to subsection (4), the net tax attributable to the +interests included in the measure of each tax shall be determined by the +proportion that the value of each interest included in the measure of the tax +bears to the total value of all interests included in the measure of the tax. +Notwithstanding the foregoing provision of this subsection and except as + + + +effectively directed in the governing instrument: +(a) The net tax attributable to section 2044 interests shall be determined in + +the manner provided for the federal estate tax in s. 2207A of the Internal +Revenue Code, and the amount so determined shall be deducted from the tax +to determine the net tax attributable to all other interests included in the +measure of the tax. + +(b) The foreign tax credit allowed with respect to the federal estate tax +shall be allocated among the recipients of interests finally charged with the +payment of the foreign tax in reduction of any federal estate tax chargeable to +the recipients of the foreign interests, whether or not any federal estate tax is +attributable to the foreign interests. Any excess of the foreign tax credit shall +be applied to reduce proportionately the net amount of federal estate tax +chargeable to the remaining recipients of the interests included in the measure +of the federal estate tax. + +(c) The reduction in the net tax attributable to the deduction for state death +taxes allowed by s. 2058 of the Internal Revenue Code shall be allocated to +the recipients of the interests that produced the deduction. For this purpose, +the reduction in the net tax shall be calculated in the manner provided for +interests other than those described in paragraph (a). + +(d) The reduction in the Florida tax, if one is imposed, on the estate of a +Florida resident for tax paid to another state shall be allocated as follows: + +1. If the net tax paid to another state is greater than or equal to the tentative +Florida tax attributable to the property subject to tax in the other state, none +of the Florida tax shall be attributable to that property. + +2. If the net tax paid to another state is less than the tentative Florida tax +attributable to the property subject to tax in the other state, the net Florida tax +attributable to the property subject to tax in the other state shall be the excess +of the amount of the tentative Florida tax attributable to the property over the +net tax payable to the other state with respect to the property. + +3. Any remaining net Florida tax shall be attributable to property included +in the measure of the Florida tax exclusive of the property subject to tax in +another state. + +4. The net federal tax attributable to the property subject to tax in the other +state shall be determined as if the property were located in that state. + + + +(e) The net tax attributable to a temporary interest, if any, is regarded as +attributable to the principal that supports the temporary interest. + +(3) Apportionment of tax. Except as otherwise effectively directed +in the governing instrument pursuant to subsection (4), the net tax +attributable to each interest shall be apportioned as follows: +(a) Generation-skipping transfer tax. Any federal or state generation- + +skipping transfer tax shall be apportioned as provided in s. 2603 of the +Internal Revenue Code after the application of the remaining provisions of +this subsection to taxes other than the generation-skipping transfer tax. + +(b) Section 2044 interests. The net tax attributable to section 2044 +interests shall be apportioned among the recipients of the section 2044 +interests in the proportion that the value of each section 2044 interest bears to +the total of all section 2044 interests. The net tax apportioned by this +paragraph to section 2044 interests that pass in the manner described in +paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) shall be apportioned to the section 2044 +interests in the manner described in those paragraphs before the +apportionment of the net tax attributable to the other interests passing as +provided in those paragraphs. The net tax attributable to the interests other +than the section 2044 interests which pass in the manner described in +paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) shall be apportioned only to such other +interests pursuant to those paragraphs. + +(c) Wills. The net tax attributable to property passing under the +decedents will shall be apportioned in the following order of priority: + +1. The net tax attributable to nonresiduary devises shall be charged to and +paid from the residuary estate, whether or not all interests in the residuary +estate are included in the measure of the tax. If the residuary estate is +insufficient to pay the net tax attributable to all nonresiduary devises, the +balance of the net tax attributable to nonresiduary devises shall be +apportioned among the recipients of the nonresiduary devises in the +proportion that the value of each nonresiduary devise included in the measure +of the tax bears to the total of all nonresiduary devises included in the +measure of the tax. + +2. The net tax attributable to residuary devises shall be apportioned among +the recipients of the residuary devises included in the measure of the tax in + + + +the proportion that the value of each residuary devise included in the measure +of the tax bears to the total of all residuary devises included in the measure of +the tax. If the residuary estate is insufficient to pay the net tax attributable to +all residuary devises, the balance of the net tax attributable to residuary +devises shall be apportioned among the recipients of the nonresiduary devises +in the proportion that the value of each nonresiduary devise included in the +measure of the tax bears to the total of all nonresiduary devises included in +the measure of the tax. + +(d) Trusts. The net tax attributable to property passing under the terms +of any trust other than a trust created in the decedents will shall be +apportioned in the following order of priority: + +1. The net tax attributable to nonresiduary interests of the trust shall be +charged to and paid from the residuary portion of the trust, whether or not all +interests in the residuary portion are included in the measure of the tax. If the +residuary portion is insufficient to pay the net tax attributable to all +nonresiduary interests, the balance of the net tax attributable to nonresiduary +interests shall be apportioned among the recipients of the nonresiduary +interests in the proportion that the value of each nonresiduary interest +included in the measure of the tax bears to the total of all nonresiduary +interests included in the measure of the tax. + +2. The net tax attributable to residuary interests of the trust shall be +apportioned among the recipients of the residuary interests of the trust +included in the measure of the tax in the proportion that the value of each +residuary interest included in the measure of the tax bears to the total of all +residuary interests of the trust included in the measure of the tax. If the +residuary portion is insufficient to pay the net tax attributable to all residuary +interests, the balance of the net tax attributable to residuary interests shall be +apportioned among the recipients of the nonresiduary interests in the +proportion that the value of each nonresiduary interest included in the +measure of the tax bears to the total of all nonresiduary interests included in +the measure of the tax. + +Except as provided in paragraph (g), this paragraph applies separately for +each trust. + +(e) Protected homestead, exempt property, and family allowance + + + +1. The net tax attributable to an interest in protected homestead, exempt +property, and the family allowance determined under s. 732.403 shall be +apportioned against the recipients of other interests in the estate or passing +under any revocable trust in the following order of priority: + +a. Class I. Recipients of interests passing by intestacy that are included +in the measure of the federal estate tax. + +b. Class II. Recipients of residuary devises, residuary interests, and +pretermitted shares under ss. 732.301 and 732.302 that are included in the +measure of the federal estate tax. + +c. Class III. Recipients of nonresiduary devises and nonresiduary +interests that are included in the measure of the federal estate tax. + +2. Any net tax apportioned to a class pursuant to this paragraph shall be +apportioned among each recipient in the class in the proportion that the value +of the interest of each bears to the total value of all interests included in that +class. A tax may not be apportioned under this paragraph to the portion of +any interest applied in satisfaction of the elective share whether or not +included in the measure of the tax. For purposes of this paragraph, if the +value of the interests described in s. 732.2075(1) exceeds the amount of the +elective share, the elective share shall be treated as satisfied first from +interests other than those described in classes I, II, and III, and to the extent +that those interests are insufficient to satisfy the elective share, from the +interests passing to or for the benefit of the surviving spouse described in +classes I, II, and III, beginning with those described in class I, until the +elective share is satisfied. This paragraph has priority over paragraphs (a) and +(h). + +3. The balance of the net tax attributable to any interest in protected +homestead, exempt property, and the family allowance determined under s. +732.403 which is not apportioned under the preceding provisions of this +paragraph shall be apportioned to the recipients of those interests included in +the measure of the tax in the proportion that the value of each bears to the +total value of those interests included in the measure of the tax. + +(f) Construction. For purposes of this subsection: +1. If the decedents estate is the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, + +annuity, or contractual right included in the decedents gross estate, or is the + + + +taker as a result of the exercise or default in exercise of a general power of +appointment held by the decedent, that interest shall be regarded as passing +under the terms of the decedents will for the purposes of paragraph (c) or by +intestacy if not disposed of by will. Additionally, any interest included in the +measure of the tax by reason of s. 2041 of the Internal Revenue Code passing +to the decedents creditors or the creditors of the decedents estate shall be +regarded as passing to the decedents estate for the purpose of this +subparagraph. + +2. If a trust is the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, annuity, or +contractual right included in the decedents gross estate, or is the taker as a +result of the exercise or default in exercise of a general power of appointment +held by the decedent, that interest shall be regarded as passing under the trust +for purposes of paragraph (d). + +(g) Common instrument construction. In the application of this +subsection, paragraphs (b)-(f) shall be applied to apportion the net tax to the +recipients under certain governing instruments as if all recipients under those +instruments, other than the estate or revocable trust itself, were taking under a +common instrument. This construction applies to the following: + +1. The decedents will and revocable trust if the estate is a beneficiary of +the revocable trust or if the revocable trust is a beneficiary of the estate. + +2. A revocable trust of the decedent and another revocable trust of the +decedent if either trust is the beneficiary of the other trust. + +(h) Other interests. The net tax that is not apportioned to interests under +paragraphs (b)-(g), including, but not limited to, the net tax attributable to +interests passing by intestacy, interests applied in satisfaction of the elective +share pursuant to s. 732.2075(2), interests passing by reason of the exercise +or nonexercise of a general power of appointment, jointly held interests +passing by survivorship, life insurance, properties in which the decedent held +a reversionary or revocable interest, annuities, and contractual rights, shall be +apportioned among the recipients of the remaining interests included in the +measure of the tax in the proportion that the value of each such interest bears +to the total value of all remaining interests included in the measure of the tax. + +(i) Assessment of liability by court. If the court finds that: +1. It is inequitable to apportion interest or penalties, or both, in the manner + + + +provided in paragraphs (a)-(h), the court may assess liability for the payment +thereof in the manner that the court finds equitable. + +2. The payment of any tax was not effectively directed in the governing +instrument pursuant to subsection (4) and that such tax is not apportioned by +this subsection, the court may assess liability for the payment of such tax in +the manner that the court finds equitable. + +(4) Direction against apportionment. +(a) Except as provided in this subsection, a governing instrument may not + +direct that taxes be paid from property other than that passing under the +governing instrument. + +(b) For a direction in a governing instrument to be effective to direct +payment of taxes attributable to property passing under the governing +instrument in a manner different from that provided in this section, the +direction must be express. + +(c) For a direction in a governing instrument to be effective to direct +payment of taxes attributable to property not passing under the governing +instrument from property passing under the governing instrument, the +governing instrument must expressly direct that the property passing under +the governing instrument bear the burden of taxation for property not passing +under the governing instrument. Except as provided in paragraph (d), a +direction in the governing instrument to the effect that all taxes are to be paid +from property passing under the governing instrument whether attributable to +property passing under the governing instrument or otherwise shall be +effective to direct payment from property passing under the governing +instrument of taxes attributable to property not passing under the governing +instrument. + +(d) In addition to satisfying the other provisions of this subsection: +1.a. For a direction in the decedents will or revocable trust to be effective +in waiving the right of recovery provided in s. 2207A of the Internal +Revenue Code for the tax attributable to section 2044 interests, and for any +tax imposed by Florida based upon such section 2044 interests, the +direction must expressly waive that right of recovery. An express direction +that property passing under the will or revocable trust bear the tax imposed +by s. 2044 of the Internal Revenue Code is deemed an express waiver of + + + +the right of recovery provided in s. 2207A of the Internal Revenue Code. A +reference to qualified terminable interest property, QTIP, or property +in which the decedent had a qualifying income interest for life is deemed +to be a reference to property upon which tax is imposed by s. 2044 of the +Internal Revenue Code which is subject to the right of recovery provided +in s. 2207A of the Internal Revenue Code. +b. If property is included in the gross estate pursuant to ss. 2041 and 2044 + +of the Internal Revenue Code, the property is deemed included under s. 2044, +and not s. 2041, for purposes of allocation and apportionment of the tax. + +2. For a direction in the decedents will or revocable trust to be effective in +waiving the right of recovery provided in s. 2207B of the Internal Revenue +Code for tax imposed by reason of s. 2036 of the Internal Revenue Code, and +any tax imposed by Florida based upon s. 2036 of the Internal Revenue Code, +the direction must expressly waive that right of recovery. An express +direction that property passing under the will or revocable trust bear the tax +imposed by s. 2036 of the Internal Revenue Code is deemed an express +waiver of the right of recovery provided in s. 2207B of the Internal Revenue +Code. If property is included in the gross estate pursuant to ss. 2036 and 2038 +of the Internal Revenue Code, the property is deemed included under s. 2038, +not s. 2036, for purposes of allocation and apportionment of the tax, and there +is no right of recovery under s. 2207B of the Internal Revenue Code. + +3. A general statement in the decedents will or revocable trust waiving all +rights of reimbursement or recovery under the Internal Revenue Code is not +an express waiver of the rights of recovery provided in s. 2207A or s. 2207B +of the Internal Revenue Code. + +4. For a direction in a governing instrument to be effective to direct +payment of generation-skipping transfer tax in a manner other than as +provided in s. 2603 of the Internal Revenue Code, and any tax imposed by +Florida based on s. 2601 of the Internal Revenue Code, the direction must +specifically reference the tax imposed by s. 2601 of the Internal Revenue +Code. A reference to the generation-skipping transfer tax or s. 2603 of the +Internal Revenue Code is deemed to be a reference to property upon which +tax is imposed by reason of s. 2601 of the Internal Revenue Code. + +(e) If the decedent expressly directs by will, the net tax attributable to +property over which the decedent held a general power of appointment may + + + +be determined in a manner other than as provided in subsection (2) if the net +tax attributable to that property does not exceed the difference between the +total net tax determined pursuant to subsection (2), determined without regard +to this paragraph, and the total net tax that would have been payable if the +value of the property subject to such power of appointment had not been +included in the decedents gross estate. If tax is attributable to one or more +section 2044 interests pursuant to subsection (2), the net tax attributable to +the section 2044 interests shall be calculated before the application of this +paragraph unless the decedent expressly directs otherwise by will. + +(f) If the decedents will expressly provides that the tax is to be +apportioned as provided in the decedents revocable trust by specific +reference to the revocable trust, an express direction in the revocable trust is +deemed to be a direction contained in the will as well as the revocable trust. + +(g) An express direction in the decedents will to pay tax from the +decedents revocable trust by specific reference to the revocable trust is +effective unless a contrary express direction is contained in the revocable +trust. + +(h) If governing instruments contain effective directions that conflict as to +payment of taxes, the most recently executed tax apportionment provision +controls to the extent of the conflict. For the purpose of this subsection, if a +will or other governing instrument is amended, the date of the codicil to the +will or amendment to the governing instrument is regarded as the date of the +will or other governing instrument only if the codicil or amendment contains +an express tax apportionment provision or an express modification of the tax +apportionment provision. A general statement ratifying or republishing all +provisions not otherwise amended does not meet this condition. If the +decedents will and another governing instrument were executed on the same +date, the will is deemed executed after the other governing instrument. The +earlier conflicting governing instrument controls as to any tax remaining +unpaid after the application of the later conflicting governing instrument. + +(i) A grant of permission or authority in a governing instrument to +request payment of tax from property passing under another +governing instrument is not a direction apportioning the tax to the +property passing under the other governing instrument. A grant of +permission or authority in a governing instrument to pay tax + + + +attributable to property not passing under the governing instrument is +not a direction apportioning the tax to property passing under the +governing instrument. + +(j) This section applies to any tax remaining to be paid after the application +of any effective express directions. An effective express direction for +payment of tax on specific property or a type of property in a manner +different from that provided in this section is not effective as an express +direction for payment of tax on other property or other types of property +included in the measure of the tax. + +(5) Transfer of property. A personal representative or fiduciary +shall not be required to transfer to a recipient any property reasonably +anticipated to be necessary for the payment of taxes. Further, the personal +representative or fiduciary is not required to transfer any property to the +recipient until the amount of the tax due from the recipient is paid by the +recipient. If property is transferred before final apportionment of the tax, +the recipient shall provide a bond or other security for his or her +apportioned liability in the amount and form prescribed by the personal +representative or fiduciary. + +(6) Order of apportionment. +(a) The personal representative may petition at any time for an order of + +apportionment. If administration of the decedents estate has not commenced +at any time after 90 days from the decedents death, any fiduciary may +petition for an order of apportionment in the court in which venue would be +proper for administration of the decedents estate. Notice of the petition for +order of apportionment must be served on all interested persons in the +manner provided for service of formal notice. At any time after 6 months +from the decedents death, any recipient may petition the court for an order of +apportionment. + +(b) The court shall determine all issues concerning apportionment. If the +tax to be apportioned has not been finally determined, the court shall +determine the probable tax due or to become due from all interested persons, +apportion the probable tax, and retain jurisdiction over the parties and issues +to modify the order of apportionment as appropriate until after the tax is +finally determined. + + + +(7) Deficiency. +(a) If the personal representative or fiduciary does not have possession of + +sufficient property otherwise distributable to the recipient to pay the tax +apportioned to the recipient, whether under this section, the Internal Revenue +Code, or the governing instrument, if applicable, the personal representative +or fiduciary shall recover the deficiency in tax so apportioned to the recipient: + +1. From the fiduciary in possession of the property to which the tax is +apportioned, if any; and + +2. To the extent of any deficiency in collection from the fiduciary, or to the +extent collection from the fiduciary is excused pursuant to subsection (8) and +in all other cases, from the recipient of the property to which the tax is +apportioned, unless relieved of this duty as provided in subsection (8). + +(b) In any action to recover the tax apportioned, the order of apportionment +is prima facie correct. + +(c) In any action for the enforcement of an order of apportionment, the +court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including reasonable +attorney fees, and may award penalties and interest on the unpaid tax in +accordance with equitable principles. + +(d) This subsection does not authorize the recovery of any tax from a +company issuing life insurance included in the gross estate, or from a bank, +trust company, savings and loan association, or similar institution with +respect to any account in the name of the decedent and any other person +which passed by operation of law at the decedents death. + +(8) Relief from Duty. +(a) A personal representative or fiduciary who has the duty under this + +section of collecting the apportioned tax from recipients may be relieved of +the duty to collect the tax by an order of the court finding that: + +1. The estimated court costs and attorney fees in collecting the apportioned +tax from a person against whom the tax has been apportioned will +approximate or exceed the amount of the recovery; + +2. The person against whom the tax has been apportioned is a resident of a +foreign country other than Canada and refuses to pay the apportioned tax on +demand; or + + + +3. It is impracticable to enforce contribution of the apportioned tax against +a person against whom the tax has been apportioned in view of the +improbability of obtaining a judgment or the improbability of collection +under any judgment that might be obtained, or otherwise. + +(b) A personal representative or fiduciary is not liable for failure to attempt +to enforce collection if the personal representative or fiduciary reasonably +believes that collection would have been economically impracticable. + +(9) Uncollected tax. Any apportioned tax that is not collected shall +be reapportioned in accordance with this section as if the portion of the +property to which the uncollected tax had been apportioned had been +exempt. + +(10) Contribution. This section does not limit the right of any person +who has paid more than the amount of the tax apportionable to that person, +calculated as if all apportioned amounts would be collected, to obtain +contribution from those who have not paid the full amount of the tax +apportionable to them, calculated as if all apportioned amounts would be +collected, and that right is hereby conferred. In any action to enforce +contribution, the court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, +including reasonable attorney fees. + +(11) Foreign tax. This section does not require the personal +representative or fiduciary to pay any tax levied or assessed by a foreign +country unless specific directions to that effect are contained in the will or +other instrument under which the personal representative or fiduciary is +acting. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 95, ch. 75-220; s. 41, ch. 77-87; s. 273, ch. 79-400; s. + +20, ch. 92-200; s. 1026, ch. 97-102; s. 9, ch. 97-240; s. 13, ch. 2000-159; s. +167, ch. 2001-226; s. 39, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 122, ch. 2010-5, +eff. June 29, 2010; s. 6, ch. 2015-27, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.041. +The references to sections of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this + + + +section, are codified throughout Title 26 of the U.S.C.S. +Section 10, ch. 2015-27, provides: (1) The amendment made by this act to + +s. 733.817(1)(g) and (2)(c), Florida Statutes, is remedial in nature, is intended +to clarify existing law, and applies retroactively to all proceedings pending or +commenced on or after July 1, 2015, in which the apportionment of taxes has +not been finally determined or agreed for the estates of decedents who die +after December 31, 2004. + +(2) The amendment made by this act to s. 733.817(1)(e)3., (3)(e), (3)(g), +(4)(b), (4)(c), (4)(d)1.b., (4)(e), (4)(h), and (6), Florida Statutes, applies to the +estates of decedents who die on or after July 1, 2015. + +(3) Except as provided in subsections (1) and (2), the amendment made +by this act to s. 733.817, Florida Statutes, is remedial in nature, is intended to +clarify existing law, and applies retroactively to all proceedings pending or +commenced on or after July 1, 2015, in which the apportionment of taxes has +not been finally determined or agreed and without regard to the date of the +decedents death. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IX. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 733, Pt. IX + + + +PART IX. +CLOSING ESTATES. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IX. , 733.901. +Fla. Stat. 733.901 + + 733.901. Final discharge. +(1) After administration has been completed, the personal representative + +shall be discharged. +(2) The discharge of the personal representative shall release the + +personal representative and shall bar any action against the personal +representative, as such or individually, and the surety. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 96, ch. 75-220; s. 42, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 6, + +ch. 81-27; s. 29, ch. 95-401; s. 1027, ch. 97-102; s. 168, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.22. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 733. , Pt. IX. , 733.903. +Fla. Stat. 733.903 + + 733.903. Subsequent administration. +The final settlement of an estate and the discharge of the personal + +representative shall not prevent further administration. The order of discharge +may not be revoked based upon the discovery of a will or later will. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 96, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 88-110; s. 169, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.26. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 734 + + + +CHAPTER 734. +PROBATE CODE: FOREIGN PERSONAL + +REPRESENTATIVES; ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION. + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. I. + +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 734, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +GENERAL PROVISIONS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. I. , 734.101. +Fla. Stat. 734.101 + + 734.101. Foreign personal representative. +(1) Personal representatives who produce authenticated copies of + +probated wills or letters of administration duly obtained in any state or +territory of the United States may maintain actions in the courts of this +state. + +(2) Personal representatives appointed in any state or country may be +sued in this state concerning property in this state and may defend actions +or proceedings brought in this state. + +(3) Debtors who have not received a written demand for payment from a +personal representative or curator appointed in this state within 90 days +after appointment of a personal representative in any other state or country, +and whose property in Florida is subject to a mortgage or other lien +securing the debt held by the foreign personal representative, may pay the +foreign personal representative after the expiration of 90 days from the +date of appointment of the foreign personal representative. Thereafter, a +satisfaction of the mortgage or lien executed by the foreign personal +representative, with an authenticated copy of the letters or other evidence +of authority attached, may be recorded in the public records. The +satisfaction shall be an effective discharge of the mortgage or lien, +irrespective of whether the debtor making payment had received a written +demand before paying the debt. + +(4) Except as provided in s. 655.936, all persons indebted to the estate of +a decedent, or having possession of personal property belonging to the +estate, who have received no written demand from a personal +representative or curator appointed in this state for payment of the debt or +the delivery of the property are authorized to pay the debt or to deliver the +personal property to the foreign personal representative after the expiration +of 90 days from the date of appointment of the foreign personal +representative. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 98, ch. 75-220; s. 1028, ch. 97-102; s. 170, ch. 2001- + +226; s. 110, ch. 2002-1; s. 16, ch. 2007-74, eff. July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.30. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. I. , 734.102. +Fla. Stat. 734.102 + + 734.102. Ancillary administration. +(1) If a nonresident of this state dies leaving assets in this state, credits + +due from residents in this state, or liens on property in this state, a personal +representative specifically designated in the decedents will to administer +the Florida property shall be entitled to have ancillary letters issued, if +qualified to act in Florida. Otherwise, the foreign personal representative of +the decedents estate shall be entitled to have letters issued, if qualified to +act in Florida. If the foreign personal representative is not qualified to act +in Florida and the will names an alternate or successor who is qualified to +act in Florida, the alternate or successor shall be entitled to have letters +issued. Otherwise, those entitled to a majority interest of the Florida +property may have letters issued to a personal representative selected by +them who is qualified to act in Florida. If the decedent dies intestate and +the foreign personal representative is not qualified to act in Florida, the +order of preference for appointment of a personal representative as +prescribed in this code shall apply. If ancillary letters are applied for by +other than the domiciliary personal representative, prior notice shall be +given to any domiciliary personal representative. + +(2) Ancillary administration shall be commenced as provided by the +Florida Probate Rules. + +(3) If the will and any codicils are executed as required by the code, they +shall be admitted to probate. + +(4) The ancillary personal representative shall give bond as do personal +representatives generally. All proceedings for appointment and +administration of the estate shall be as similar to those in original +administrations as possible. + +(5) Unless creditors claims are otherwise barred by s. 733.710, the +ancillary personal representative shall cause a notice to creditors to be +served and published according to the requirements of chapter 733. Claims +not filed in accordance with chapter 733 shall be barred as provided in s. +733.702. + +(6) After the payment of all expenses of administration and claims + + + +against the estate, the court may order the remaining property held by the +ancillary personal representative transferred to the foreign personal +representative or distributed to the beneficiaries. + +(7) Ancillary personal representatives shall have the same rights, +powers, and authority as other personal representatives in Florida to +manage and settle estates; to sell, lease, or mortgage local property; and to +raise funds for the payment of debts, claims, and devises in the domiciliary +jurisdiction. No property shall be sold, leased, or mortgaged to pay a debt +or claim that is barred by any statute of limitation or of nonclaim of this +state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 98, ch. 75-220; s. 43, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. + +1029, ch. 97-102; s. 171, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 734.31. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. I. , 734.1025. +Florida Probate Rules and Statutes, Rel. EB23E, Rel. EB23E 734.1025 + + 734.1025. Nonresident decedents testate estate with property not +exceeding $50,000 in this state; determination of claims. +(1) When a nonresident decedent dies testate and leaves property subject + +to administration in this state the gross value of which does not exceed +$50,000 at the date of death, the foreign personal representative of the +estate before the expiration of 2 years after the decedents death may file in +the circuit court of the county where any property is located an +authenticated transcript of so much of the foreign proceedings as will show +the will and beneficiaries of the estate, as provided in the Florida Probate +Rules. The court shall admit the will and any codicils to probate if they +comply with s. 732.502(1), (2), or (3). + +(2) The foreign personal representative may cause a notice to creditors +to be served and published according to the relevant requirements of +chapter 733. Claims not filed in accordance with chapter 733 shall be +barred as provided in s. 733.702. If any claim is filed, a personal +representative shall be appointed as provided in the Florida Probate Rules. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 80-203; s. 10, ch. 89-340; s. 1030, ch. 97-102; s. 79, ch. 99-3; s. + +172, ch. 2001-226; s. 12, ch. 2003-154. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. I. , 734.104. +Fla. Stat. 734.104 + + 734.104. Foreign wills; admission to record; effect on title. +(1) An authenticated copy of the will of a nonresident that devises real + +property in this state, or any right, title, or interest in the property, may be +admitted to record in any county of this state where the property is located +at any time after 2 years from the death of the decedent or at any time after +the domiciliary personal representative has been discharged if there has +been no proceeding to administer the estate of the decedent in this state, +provided: +(a) The will was executed as required by chapter 732; and +(b) The will has been admitted to probate in the proper court of any other + +state, territory, or country. +(2) A petition to admit a foreign will to record may be filed by any + +person and shall be accompanied by authenticated copies of the foreign +will, the petition for probate, and the order admitting the will to probate. If +no petition is required as a prerequisite to the probate of a will in the +jurisdiction where the will of the nonresident was probated, upon proof by +affidavit or certificate that no petition is required, an authenticated copy of +the will may be admitted to record without an authenticated copy of a +petition for probate, and the order admitting the will to record in this state +shall recite that no petition was required in the jurisdiction of original +probate. + +(3) If the court finds that the requirements of this section have been met, +it shall enter an order admitting the foreign will to record. + +(4) When admitted to record, the foreign will shall be as valid and +effectual to pass title to real property and any right, title, or interest therein +as if the will had been admitted to probate in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 74-106; s. 98, ch. 75-220; s. 45, ch. 77-87; s. 229, ch. 77-104; s. + +15, ch. 79-221; s. 274, ch. 79-400; s. 11, ch. 89-340; s. 173, ch. 2001-226. + + + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.06. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 734, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +JURISDICTION OVER FOREIGN PERSONAL + +REPRESENTATIVES. + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. II. , 734.201. + +Fla. Stat. 734.201 + + 734.201. Jurisdiction by act of foreign personal representative. +A foreign personal representative submits personally to the jurisdiction of + +the courts of this state in any proceeding concerning the estate by: +(1) Filing authenticated copies of the domiciliary proceedings under s. + +734.104; +(2) Receiving payment of money or taking delivery of personal property, + +under s. 734.101; or +(3) Doing any act as a personal representative in this state that would + +have given the state jurisdiction over that person as an individual. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 99, ch. 75-220; s. 1031, ch. 97-102; s. 174, ch. 2001- + +226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 734. , Pt. II. , 734.202. +Fla. Stat. 734.202 + + 734.202. Jurisdiction by act of decedent. +In addition to jurisdiction conferred by s. 734.201, a foreign personal + +representative is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state to the +same extent that the decedent was subject to jurisdiction immediately before +death. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 1032, ch. 97-102; s. 175, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 735 + + + +CHAPTER 735. +PROBATE CODE: SMALL ESTATES. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 735, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. I. , 735.201. +Fla. Stat. 735.201 + + 735.201. Summary administration; nature of proceedings. +Summary administration may be had in the administration of either a + +resident or nonresident decedents estate, when it appears: +(1) In a testate estate, that the decedents will does not direct + +administration as required by chapter 733. +(2) That the value of the entire estate subject to administration in this + +state, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does +not exceed $75,000 or that the decedent has been dead for more than 2 +years. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 105, ch. 75-220; s. 2, ch. 80-203; s. 13, ch. 89-340; s. + +179, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. I. , 735.202. +Fla. Stat. 735.202 + + 735.202. May be administered in the same manner as other estates. +The estate may be administered in the same manner as the administration + +of any other estate, or it may be administered as provided in this part. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 735.02. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. I. , 735.203. +Fla. Stat. 735.203 + + 735.203. Petition for summary administration. +(1) A petition for summary administration may be filed by any + +beneficiary or person nominated as personal representative in the +decedents will offered for probate. The petition must be signed and +verified by the surviving spouse, if any, and any beneficiaries except that +the joinder in a petition for summary administration is not required of a +beneficiary who will receive a full distributive share under the proposed +distribution. However, formal notice of the petition must be served on a +beneficiary not joining in the petition. + +(2) If a person named in subsection (1) has died, is incapacitated, or is a +minor, or has conveyed or transferred all interest in the property of the +estate, then, as to that person, the petition must be signed and verified by: +(a) The personal representative, if any, of a deceased person or, if none, the + +surviving spouse, if any, and the beneficiaries; +(b) The guardian of an incapacitated person or a minor; or +(c) The grantee or transferee of any of them shall be authorized to sign and + +verify the petition instead of the beneficiary or surviving spouse. +(3) If each trustee of a trust that is a beneficiary of the estate of the + +deceased person is also a petitioner, formal notice of the petition for +summary administration shall be served on each qualified beneficiary of +the trust as defined in s. 736.0103 unless joinder in, or consent to, the +petition is obtained from each qualified beneficiary of the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 107, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 180, ch. 2001-226; + +s. 12, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 16, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 735.05. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. I. , 735.2055. +Fla. Stat. 735.2055 + + 735.2055. Filing of petition. +The petition for summary administration may be filed at any stage of the + +administration of an estate if it appears that at the time of filing the estate +would qualify. + +HISTORY: +S. 47, ch. 77-87. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. I. , 735.206. +Fla. Stat. 735.206 + + 735.206. Summary administration distribution. +(1) Upon the filing of the petition for summary administration, the will, + +if any, shall be proved in accordance with chapter 733 and be admitted to +probate. + +(2) Prior to entry of the order of summary administration, the petitioner +shall make a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for any known or +reasonably ascertainable creditors, serve a copy of the petition on those +creditors, and make provision for payment for those creditors to the extent +that assets are available. + +(3) The court may enter an order of summary administration allowing +immediate distribution of the assets to the persons entitled to them. + +(4) The order of summary administration and distribution so entered +shall have the following effect: +(a) Those to whom specified parts of the decedents estate, including + +exempt property, are assigned by the order shall be entitled to receive and +collect the parts and to have the parts transferred to them. They may maintain +actions to enforce the right. + +(b) Debtors of the decedent, those holding property of the decedent, and +those with whom securities or other property of the decedent are registered +are authorized and empowered to comply with the order by paying, +delivering, or transferring to those specified in the order the parts of the +decedents estate assigned to them by the order, and the persons so paying, +delivering, or transferring shall not be accountable to anyone else for the +property. + +(c) After the entry of the order, bona fide purchasers for value from those +to whom property of the decedent may be assigned by the order shall take the +property free of all claims of creditors of the decedent and all rights of the +surviving spouse and all other beneficiaries. + +(d) Property of the decedent that is not exempt from claims of creditors and +that remains in the hands of those to whom it may be assigned by the order +shall continue to be liable for claims against the decedent until barred as + + + +provided in the code. Any known or reasonably ascertainable creditor who +did not receive notice and for whom provision for payment was not made +may enforce the claim and, if the creditor prevails, shall be awarded +reasonable attorneys fees as an element of costs against those who joined in +the petition. + +(e) The recipients of the decedents property under the order of summary +administration shall be personally liable for a pro rata share of all lawful +claims against the estate of the decedent, but only to the extent of the value of +the estate of the decedent actually received by each recipient, exclusive of the +property exempt from claims of creditors under the constitution and statutes +of Florida. + +(f) After 2 years from the death of the decedent, neither the decedents +estate nor those to whom it may be assigned shall be liable for any claim +against the decedent, unless proceedings have been taken for the enforcement +of the claim. + +(g) Any heir or devisee of the decedent who was lawfully entitled to share +in the estate but who was not included in the order of summary +administration and distribution may enforce all rights in appropriate +proceedings against those who procured the order and, if successful, shall be +awarded reasonable attorneys fees as an element of costs. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 108, ch. 75-220; s. 48, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 14, + +ch. 89-340; s. 1035, ch. 97-102; s. 181, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 735.07. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. I. , 735.2063. +Fla. Stat. 735.2063 + + 735.2063. Notice to creditors. +(1) Any person who has obtained an order of summary administration + +may publish a notice to creditors according to the relevant requirements of +s. 733.2121, notifying all persons having claims or demands against the +estate of the decedent that an order of summary administration has been +entered by the court. The notice shall specify the total value of the estate +and the names and addresses of those to whom it has been assigned by the +order. + +(2) If proof of publication of the notice is filed with the court, all claims +and demands of creditors against the estate of the decedent who are not +known or are not reasonably ascertainable shall be forever barred unless +the claims and demands are filed with the court within 3 months after the +first publication of the notice. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 80-203; s. 182, ch. 2001-226; s. 13, ch. 2003-154. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 735, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY WITHOUT + +ADMINISTRATION. + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. II. , 735.301. + +Fla. Stat. 735.301 + + 735.301. Disposition without administration. +(1) No administration shall be required or formal proceedings instituted + +upon the estate of a decedent leaving only personal property exempt under +the provisions of s. 732.402, personal property exempt from the claims of +creditors under the Constitution of Florida, and nonexempt personal +property the value of which does not exceed the sum of the amount of +preferred funeral expenses and reasonable and necessary medical and +hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness. + +(2) Upon informal application by affidavit, letter, or otherwise by any +interested party, and if the court is satisfied that subsection (1) is +applicable, the court, by letter or other writing under the seal of the court, +may authorize the payment, transfer, or disposition of the personal +property, tangible or intangible, belonging to the decedent to those persons +entitled. + +(3) Any person, firm, or corporation paying, delivering, or transferring +property under the authorization shall be forever discharged from liability +thereon. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 111, ch. 75-220; s. 50, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. + +275, ch. 79-400; s. 52, ch. 98-421; s. 184, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. II. , 735.302. +Fla. Stat. 735.302 + + 735.302. Income tax refunds in certain cases. +(1) In any case when the United States Treasury Department determines + +that an overpayment of federal income tax exists and the person in whose +favor the overpayment is determined is dead at the time the overpayment +of tax is to be refunded, and irrespective of whether the decedent had filed +a joint and several or separate income tax return, the amount of the +overpayment, if not in excess of $2,500, may be refunded as follows: +(a) Directly to the surviving spouse on his or her verified application; or +(b) If there is no surviving spouse, to one of the decedents children who is + +designated in a verified application purporting to be executed by all of the +decedents children over the age of 14 years. + +In either event, the application must show that the decedent was not +indebted, that provision has been made for the payment of the decedents +debts, or that the entire estate is exempt from the claims of creditors under +the constitution and statutes of the state, and that no administration of the +estate, including summary administration, has been initiated and that none +is planned, to the knowledge of the applicant. + +(2) If a refund is made to the surviving spouse or designated child +pursuant to the application, the refund shall operate as a complete +discharge to the United States from liability from any action, claim, or +demand by any beneficiary of the decedent or other person. This section +shall be construed as establishing the ownership or rights of the payee in +the refund. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 112, ch. 75-220; s. 51, ch. 77-87; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. + +185, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 735.15. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. II. , 735.303. +Fla. Stat. 735.303 + + 735.303. Payment to successor without court proceedings. +(1) As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Family member means: +1. The surviving spouse of the decedent; +2. An adult child of the decedent if the decedent left no surviving spouse; +3. An adult descendant of the decedent if the decedent left no surviving + +spouse and no surviving adult child; or +4. A parent of the decedent if the decedent left no surviving spouse, no + +surviving adult child, and no surviving adult descendant. +(b) Qualified account means a depository account or certificate of + +deposit held by a financial institution in the sole name of the decedent +without a pay-on-death or any other survivor designation. + +(2) A financial institution in this state may pay to the family member of +a decedent, without any court proceeding, order, or judgment, the funds on +deposit in all qualified accounts of the decedent at the financial institution +if the total amount of the combined funds in the qualified accounts at the +financial institution do not exceed an aggregate total of $1,000. The +financial institution may not make such payment earlier than 6 months +after the date of the decedents death. + +(3) In order to receive the funds described in subsection (2), the family +member must provide to the financial institution a certified copy of the +decedents death certificate and a sworn affidavit that includes all of the +following: +(a) A statement attesting that the affiant is the surviving spouse, adult + +child, adult descendant, or parent of the decedent. +1. If the affiant is an adult child of the decedent, the affidavit must attest + +that the decedent left no surviving spouse. +2. If the affiant is an adult descendant of the decedent, the affidavit must + +attest that the decedent left no surviving spouse and no surviving adult child. + + + +3. If the affiant is a parent of the decedent, the affidavit must attest that the +decedent left no surviving spouse, no surviving adult child, and no surviving +adult descendant. + +(b) The date of death and the address of the decedents last residence. +(c) A statement attesting that the total amount in all qualified accounts held + +by the decedent in all financial institutions known to the affiant does not +exceed an aggregate total of $1,000. + +(d) A statement acknowledging that a personal representative has not been +appointed to administer the decedents estate and attesting that no probate +proceeding or summary administration procedure has been commenced with +respect to the estate. + +(e) A statement acknowledging that the affiant has no knowledge of the +existence of any last will and testament or other document or agreement +relating to the distribution of the decedents estate. + +(f) A statement acknowledging that the payment of the funds constitutes a +full release and discharge of the financial institutions obligation regarding +the amount paid. + +(g) A statement acknowledging that the affiant understands that he or she +is personally liable to the creditors of the decedent and other persons +rightfully entitled to the funds under the Florida Probate Code, to the extent +the amount paid exceeds the amount properly attributable to the affiants +share. + +(h) A statement acknowledging that the affiant understands that making a +false statement in the affidavit may be punishable as a criminal offense. + +(4) The family member may use an affidavit in substantially the +following form to fulfill the requirements of subsection (3): +AFFIDAVIT UNDER + +SECTION 735.303, FLORIDA STATUTES, +TO OBTAIN BANK PROPERTY OF DECEASED +ACCOUNT HOLDER: (Name of decedent) + +State of ________________ +County of ________________ + + + +Before the undersigned authority personally appeared(name of affiant), of +(residential address of affiant), who has been sworn and says the following +statements are true: + +(a) The affiant is (initial one of the following responses): +The surviving spouse of the decedent. +A surviving adult child of the decedent, and the decedent left no surviving + +spouse. +A surviving adult descendant of the decedent, and the decedent left no + +surviving spouse and no surviving adult child. +A surviving parent of the decedent, and the decedent left no surviving + +spouse, no surviving adult child, and no surviving adult descendant. +(b) As shown in the certified death certificate, the date of death of the + +decedent was (date of death), and the address of the decedents last residence +was (address of last residence) + +(c) The affiant is entitled to payment of the funds in the decedents +depository accounts and certificates of deposit held by the financial +institution (name of financial institution) The total amount in all qualified +accounts held by the decedent in all financial institutions known to the affiant +does not exceed an aggregate total of $1,000. The affiant requests full +payment from the financial institution. + +(d) A personal representative has not been appointed to administer the +decedents estate, and no probate proceeding or summary administration +procedure has been commenced with respect to the estate. + +(e) The affiant has no knowledge of any last will and testament or other +document or agreement relating to the distribution of the decedents estate. + +(f) The payment of the funds constitutes a full release and discharge of the +financial institution regarding the amount paid. + +(g) The affiant understands that he or she is personally liable to the +creditors of the decedent and other persons rightfully entitled to the funds +under the Florida Probate Code, to the extent the amount paid exceeds the +amount properly attributable to the affiants share. + +(h) The affiant understands that making a false statement in this affidavit + + + +may be punishable as a criminal offense. +By(signature of Affiant) +Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of __________ by(name of + +Affiant), who is personally known to me or produced as identification, and +did take an oath. + +(Signature of Notary Public - State of Florida) +(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public) +My commission expires: (date of expiration of commission) + +(5) The financial institution is not required to determine whether the +contents of the sworn affidavit are truthful. The payment of the funds by +the financial institution to the affiant constitutes the financial institutions +full release and discharge regarding the amount paid. A person does not +have a right or cause of action against the financial institution for taking an +action, or for failing to take an action, in connection with the affidavit or +the payment of the funds. + +(6) The family member who withdraws the funds under this section is +personally liable to the creditors of the decedent and any other person +rightfully entitled to the funds under the Florida Probate Code, to the +extent the amount paid exceeds the amount properly attributable to the +family members share. + +(7) The financial institution shall maintain a copy or an image of the +affidavit in accordance with its customary retention policies. If a surviving +spouse or descendant of the decedent requests a copy of the affidavit +during such time, the financial institution may provide a copy of the +affidavit to the requesting surviving spouse or descendant of the decedent. + +(8) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, a person who +knowingly makes a false statement in a sworn affidavit given to a financial +institution to receive a decedents funds under this section commits theft, +punishable as provided in s. 812.014. + +History. +S. 2, ch. 2020-110, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 735. , Pt. II. , 735.304. +Fla. Stat. 735.304 + + 735.304. Disposition without administration of intestate property in +small estates. +(1) No administration shall be required or formal proceedings instituted + +upon the estate of a decedent who has died intestate leaving only personal +property exempt under the provisions of s. 732.402, personal property +exempt from the claims of creditors under the Florida Constitution, and +nonexempt personal property the value of which does not exceed the sum +of $10,000 and the amount of preferred funeral expenses and reasonable +and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last +illness, provided the decedent has been deceased for more than 1 year and +no administration of the decedents estate is pending in this state. + +(2) Any heir at law of the decedent entitled to a share of the intestate +estate pursuant to s. 732.102 or s. 732.103 may by affidavit request +distribution of assets of the decedent through informal application under +this section. The affidavit must be signed and verified by the surviving +spouse, if any, and any heirs at law, except that joinder in the affidavit is +not required of an heir who will receive a full intestate share under the +proposed distribution of the personal property. Before the filing of the +affidavit, the affiant must make a diligent search and reasonable inquiry for +any known or reasonably ascertainable creditors, and the proposed +distribution must make provision for payment of those creditors to the +extent that assets are available or the creditors must consent to the +proposed distribution. The affidavit must be served in the manner of +formal notice upon all heirs at law who have not joined in the affidavit; +upon all known or reasonably ascertainable creditors of the decedent; and, +if the decedent at the time of death was over the age of 55 years of age, +upon the Agency for Health Care Administration. + +(3) If the court is satisfied that subsection (1) is applicable and the +affidavit filed by the heir at law meets the requirements of subsection (2), +the court, by letter or other writing under the seal of the court, may +authorize the payment, transfer, disposition, delivery, or assignment of the +tangible or intangible personal property to those persons entitled. + + + +(a) Any individual, corporation, or other person paying, transferring, +delivering, or assigning personal property under the authorization shall be +forever discharged from liability thereon. + +(b) Bona fide purchasers for value from those to whom personal property +of the decedent has been paid, transferred, delivered, or assigned shall take +the property free of all claims of creditors of the decedent and all rights of the +surviving spouse and all other beneficiaries or heirs at law of the decedent. + +(c) Personal property of the decedent that is not exempt from claims of +creditors and that remains in the possession of those to whom it has been +paid, delivered, transferred, or assigned shall continue to be liable for claims +against the decedent until barred as provided in the Florida Probate Code. +Any known or reasonably ascertainable creditor who did not consent to the +proposed distribution and for whom provision for payment was not made +may enforce the claim and, if the creditor prevails, shall be awarded costs, +including reasonable attorney fees, against those who joined in the affidavit. + +(d) Recipients of the decedents personal property under this section shall +be personally liable for a pro rata share of all lawful claims against the estate +of the decedent, but only to the extent of the value on the date of distribution +of the personal property actually received by each recipient, exclusive of the +property exempt from claims of creditors under the constitution and statutes +of Florida. + +(e) Except as otherwise provided in s. 733.710, after 2 years from the death +of the decedent, neither the decedents estate nor those to whom it may be +distributed shall be liable for any claim against the decedent, unless within +that time proceedings have been taken for the enforcement of the claim. + +(f) Any heir or devisee of the decedent who was lawfully entitled to share +in the estate but who was not included in the distribution under this section +may enforce all rights in appropriate proceedings against those who signed +the affidavit or received distribution of personal property and, if successful, +shall be awarded costs including reasonable attorney fees as in chancery +actions. + +History. +S. 3, ch. 2020-110, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736 + + + +CHAPTER 736. +FLORIDA TRUST CODE. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0101. +Fla. Stat. 736.0101 + + 736.0101. Short title. +This chapter may be cited as the Florida Trust Code and for purposes of + +this chapter is referred to as the code. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0102. +Fla. Stat. 736.0102 + + 736.0102. Scope. +(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this code applies to + +express trusts, charitable or noncharitable, and trusts created pursuant to a +law, judgment, or decree that requires the trust to be administered in the +manner of an express trust. + +(2) This code does not apply to constructive or resulting trusts; +conservatorships; custodial arrangements pursuant to the Florida Uniform +Transfers to Minors Act; business trusts providing for certificates to be +issued to beneficiaries; common trust funds; trusts created by the form of +the account or by the deposit agreement at a financial institution; voting +trusts; security arrangements; liquidation trusts; trusts for the primary +purpose of paying debts, dividends, interest, salaries, wages, profits, +pensions, or employee benefits of any kind; and any arrangement under +which a person is nominee or escrowee for another. + +(3) This code does not apply to any land trust under s. 689.071, except to +the extent provided in s. 689.071(7), s. 721.08(2)(c)4., or s. 721.53(1)(e). A +trust governed at its creation by this chapter, former chapter 737, or any +prior trust statute superseded or replaced by any provision of former +chapter 737, is not a land trust regardless of any amendment or +modification of the trust, any change in the assets held in the trust, or any +continuing trust resulting from the distribution or retention in further trust +of assets from the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 10, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 3, ch. 2013-240, eff. June 28, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0103. +Fla. Stat. 736.0103 + + 736.0103. Definitions. +Unless the context otherwise requires, in this code: + +(1) Action, with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act. +(2) Affiliate means any person or entity that directly or indirectly + +through one or more intermediaries owns or controls, is owned or +controlled by, or is under common control or ownership with, the +fiduciary. An affiliate may include, but is not limited to, an investment +adviser, administrator, broker, transfer agent, placement agent, servicing +agent, registrar, custodian, underwriter, sponsor, distributor, or manager. + +(3) Ascertainable standard means a standard relating to an individuals +health, education, support, or maintenance within the meaning of s. +2041(b)(1)(A) or s. 2514(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended. + +(4) Beneficiary means a person who has a present or future beneficial +interest in a trust, vested or contingent, or who holds a power of +appointment over trust property in a capacity other than that of trustee. An +interest as a permissible appointee of a power of appointment, held by a +person in a capacity other than that of trustee, is not a beneficial interest for +purposes of this subsection. Upon an irrevocable exercise of a power of +appointment, the interest of a person in whose favor the appointment is +made shall be considered a present or future beneficial interest in a trust in +the same manner as if the interest had been included in the trust +instrument. + +(5) Charitable trust means a trust, or portion of a trust, created for a +charitable purpose as described in s. 736.0405(1). + +(6) Directed trust means a trust for which the terms of the trust grant a +power of direction. + +(7) Directed trustee means a trustee that is subject to a trust directors +power of direction. + +(8) Distributee means a beneficiary who is currently entitled to receive + + + +a distribution. +(9) Environmental law means a federal, state, or local law, rule, + +regulation, or ordinance that relates to protection of the environment or +human health. + +(10) General power of appointment means a power of appointment +exercisable in favor of the holder of the power, the power holders +creditors, the power holders estate, or the creditors of the power holders +estate. + +(11) Guardian of the person means a person appointed by the court to +make decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, and welfare +of a minor or an incapacitated adult. The term does not include a guardian +ad litem. + +(12) Guardian of the property means a person appointed by the court +to administer the estate of a minor or incapacitated adult. + +(13) Interests of the beneficiaries means the beneficial interests +intended by the settlor as provided in the terms of a trust. + +(14) Jurisdiction with respect to a geographic area, includes a state or +country. + +(15) Permissible distributee means a beneficiary who is currently +eligible to receive a distribution. + +(16) Power of direction means a power over a trust granted to a person +by the terms of the trust to the extent the power is exercisable while the +person is not serving as a trustee. The term includes a power over the +investment, management, or distribution of trust property, a power to +amend a trust instrument or terminate a trust, or a power over other matters +of trust administration. The term excludes the powers excluded from part +XIV of this chapter under s. 736.1405(2). + +(17) Power of withdrawal means a presently exercisable general +power of appointment other than a power: +(a) Exercisable by a trustee and limited by an ascertainable standard; or +(b) Exercisable by another person only upon consent of the trustee or a + +person holding an adverse interest. + + + +(18) Property means anything that may be the subject of ownership, +real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein. + +(19) Qualified beneficiary means a living beneficiary who, on the date +the beneficiarys qualification is determined: +(a) Is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal; +(b) Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or + +principal if the interests of the distributees described in paragraph (a) +terminated on that date without causing the trust to terminate; or + +(c) Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or +principal if the trust terminated in accordance with its terms on that date. + +(20) Revocable, as applied to a trust, means revocable by the settlor +without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest. + +(21) Settlor means a person, including a testator, who creates or +contributes property to a trust. If more than one person creates or +contributes property to a trust, each person is a settlor of the portion of the +trust property attributable to that persons contribution except to the extent +another person has the power to revoke or withdraw that portion. + +(22) Spendthrift provision means a term of a trust that restrains both +voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiarys interest. + +(23) State means any state of the United States and includes the +District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory +or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. + +(24) Terms of a trust means: +(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), the manifestation of the + +settlors intent regarding a trusts provisions as: +1. Expressed in the trust instrument; or +2. Established by other evidence that would be admissible in a judicial + +proceeding; or +(b) The trusts provisions as established, determined, or amended by: +1. A trustee or trust director in accordance with applicable law; +2. Court order; or + + + +3. A nonjudicial settlement agreement under s. 736.0111, relating to +nonjudicial settlement agreements. + +(25) Trust director means a person who is granted a power of direction +by the terms of a trust to the extent the power is exercisable while the +person is not serving as a trustee. The person is a trust director whether or +not the terms of the trust refer to the person as a trust director and whether +or not the person is a beneficiary or settlor of the trust. + +(26) Trust instrument means an instrument executed by a settlor that +contains terms of the trust, including any amendments to the trust. + +(27) Trustee means the original trustee and includes any additional +trustee, any successor trustee, and any cotrustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 1, ch. 2009-117, eff. July 1, 2009; + +s. 9, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; s. 1, ch. 2018-35, effective July 1, 2018; +s. 3, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Sections 2041(b)(1)(A) and 2514(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, + +referred to in this section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 2041(b)(1)(A) and +2514(c)(1), respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0104. +Fla. Stat. 736.0104 + + 736.0104. Knowledge. +(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person has knowledge of a fact if the + +person: +(a) Has actual knowledge of the fact; +(b) Has received a notice or notification of the fact; or +(c) Has reason to know the fact from all the other facts and circumstances + +known to the person at the time in question. +(2) An organization that conducts activities through employees has + +notice or knowledge of a fact involving a trust only from the time the +information was received by an employee having responsibility to act on +matters involving the trust, or would have been brought to the employees +attention if the organization had exercised reasonable diligence. An +organization exercises reasonable diligence if the organization maintains +reasonable routines for communicating significant information to the +employee having responsibility to act on matters involving the trust and +there is reasonable compliance with the routines. Reasonable diligence +does not require an employee of the organization to communicate +information unless the communication is part of the individuals regular +duties or the individual knows a matter involving the trust would be +materially affected by the information. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0105. +Fla. Stat. 736.0105 + + 736.0105. Default and mandatory rules. +(1) Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, this code + +governs the duties and powers of a trustee, relations among trustees, and +the rights and interests of a beneficiary. + +(2) The terms of a trust prevail over any provision of this code except: +(a) The requirements for creating a trust. +(b) Subject to s. 736.1409, relating to the duties and liabilities of a directed + +trustee; s. 736.1411, relating to limitations on duties of a trustee or trust +director to monitor, inform, or advise on matters involving the other; and s. +736.1412, relating to the allocation of powers among cotrustees, requirements +for excluded cotrustees to act as a directed trustee, and liability and related +obligations of directing cotrustees, the duty of the trustee to act in good faith +and in accordance with the terms and purposes of the trust and the interests of +the beneficiaries. + +(c) The requirement that a trust have a purpose that is lawful, not contrary +to public policy, and possible to achieve. + +(d) The periods of limitation for commencing a judicial proceeding. +(e) The power of the court to take such action and exercise such + +jurisdiction as may be necessary in the interests of justice. +(f) The requirements under s. 736.0108(1) for the designation of a principal + +place of administration of the trust and the requirements under s. 736.0107 +for the designation of a jurisdiction the law of which determines the meaning +and effect of the terms of a trust. + +(g) The jurisdiction and venue provisions in ss. 736.0202, 736.0203, and +736.0204. + +(h) The restrictions on the designation of representative under s. 736.0306. +(i) The formalities required under s. 736.0403(2) for the execution + +of a trust. +(j) The power of the court to modify or terminate a trust under ss. + + + +736.0410-736.04115, except as provided in s. 736.04115(3)(b), and under ss. +736.0413, 736.0415, and 736.0416. + +(k) The ability to modify a trust under s. 736.0412, except as provided in s. +736.0412(4)(b). + +(l) The effect of a spendthrift provision and the rights of certain creditors +and assignees to reach a trust as provided in part V. + +(m) The trustees duty under s. 736.05053 to pay expenses and obligations +of the settlors estate. + +(n) The trustees duty under s. 736.05055 to file a notice of trust at the +settlors death. + +(o) The right of a trustee under s. 736.0701 to decline a trusteeship and the +right of a trustee under s. 736.0705 to resign a trusteeship. + +(p) The power of the court under s. 736.0702 to require, dispense with, +modify, or terminate a bond. + +(q) The power of the court under s. 736.0708(2) to adjust a trustees +compensation specified in the terms of the trust that is unreasonably low or +high. + +(r) The duty under s. 736.0813(1)(a) and (b) to notify qualified +beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust of the existence of the trust, of the +identity of the trustee, and of their rights to trust accountings. + +(s) The duty under s. 736.0813(1)(c) and (d) to provide a complete copy of +the trust instrument and to account to qualified beneficiaries except as +otherwise provided in s. 736.0813(1)(d). + +(t) The duty under s. 736.0813(1)(e) to respond to the request of a qualified +beneficiary of an irrevocable trust for relevant information about the assets +and liabilities of the trust and the particulars relating to trust administration. + +(u) The effect of an exculpatory term under s. 736.1011. +(v) The rights under ss. 736.1013-736.1017 of a person other than a + +trustee or beneficiary. +(w) The effect of a penalty clause for contesting a trust under s. 736.1108. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 2, ch. 2009-117, eff. July 1, 2009; +s. 2, ch. 2018-35, effective July 1, 2018; s. 4, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, +2021; s. 2, ch. 2022-96, effective July 1, 2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0106. +Fla. Stat. 736.0106 + + 736.0106. Common law of trusts; principles of equity. +The common law of trusts and principles of equity supplement this code, + +except to the extent modified by this code or another law of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0107. +Fla. Stat. 736.0107 + + 736.0107. Governing law. +The meaning and effect of the terms of a trust are determined by: + +(1) The law of the jurisdiction designated in the terms of the trust, +provided there is a sufficient nexus to the designated jurisdiction at the +time of the creation of the trust or during the trust administration, +including, but not limited to, the location of real property held by the trust +or the residence or location of an office of the settlor, trustee, or any +beneficiary; or + +(2) In the absence of a controlling designation in the terms of the trust, +the law of the jurisdiction where the settlor resides at the time the trust is +first created. +Notwithstanding subsection (1) or subsection (2), a designation in the +terms of a trust is not controlling as to any matter for which the designation +would be contrary to a strong public policy of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0108. +Fla. Stat. 736.0108 + + 736.0108. Principal place of administration. +(1) Terms of a trust designating the principal place of administration of + +the trust are valid only if there is a sufficient connection with the +designated jurisdiction. Without precluding other means for establishing a +sufficient connection, terms of a trust designating the principal place of +administration are valid and controlling if: +(a) A trustees principal place of business is located in or a trustee is a + +resident of the designated jurisdiction; or +(b) All or part of the administration occurs in the designated jurisdiction. + +(2) Unless otherwise validly designated in the trust instrument, the +principal place of administration of a trust is the trustees usual place of +business where the records pertaining to the trust are kept or, if the trustee +has no place of business, the trustees residence. In the case of cotrustees, +the principal place of administration is: +(a) The usual place of business of the corporate trustee, if there is only one + +corporate cotrustee; +(b) The usual place of business or residence of the individual trustee who is + +a professional fiduciary, if there is only one such person and no corporate +cotrustee; or otherwise + +(c) The usual place of business or residence of any of the cotrustees as +agreed on by the cotrustees. + +(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the principal +place of administration of a trust, for which a bank, association, or trust +company organized under the laws of this state or bank or savings +association organized under the laws of the United States with its main +office in this state has been appointed trustee, shall not be moved or +otherwise affected solely because the trustee engaged in an interstate +merger transaction with an out-of-state bank pursuant to s. 658.2953 in +which the out-of-state bank is the resulting bank. + +(4) A trustee is under a continuing duty to administer the trust at a place + + + +appropriate to its purposes and its administration. +(5) Without precluding the right of the court to order, approve, or + +disapprove a transfer, the trustee, in furtherance of the duty prescribed by +subsection (4), may transfer the trusts principal place of administration to +another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States. + +(6) The trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of a proposed +transfer of a trusts principal place of administration not less than 60 days +before initiating the transfer. The notice of proposed transfer must include: +(a) The name of the jurisdiction to which the principal place of + +administration is to be transferred. +(b) The address and telephone number at the new location at which the + +trustee can be contacted. +(c) An explanation of the reasons for the proposed transfer. +(d) The date on which the proposed transfer is anticipated to occur. +(e) The date, not less than 60 days after the notice is provided, by which + +the qualified beneficiary must notify the trustee of an objection to the +proposed transfer. + +(7) The authority of a trustee to act under this section without court +approval to transfer a trusts principal place of administration is suspended +if a qualified beneficiary files a lawsuit objecting to the proposed transfer +on or before the date specified in the notice. The suspension is effective +until the lawsuit is dismissed or withdrawn. + +(8) In connection with a transfer of the trusts principal place of +administration, the trustee may transfer any of the trust property to a +successor trustee designated in the terms of the trust or appointed pursuant +to s. 736.0704. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0109. +Fla. Stat. 736.0109 + + 736.0109. Methods and waiver of notice. +(1) Notice to a person under this code or the sending of a document to a + +person under this code must be accomplished in a manner reasonably +suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt of the notice +or document. Permissible methods of notice or for sending a document +include first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the persons last +known place of residence or place of business, a properly directed +facsimile or other electronic message, including e-mail, or posting on a +secure electronic account or website in accordance with subsection (3). + +(2) Notice otherwise required under this code or a document otherwise +required to be sent under this code need not be provided to a person whose +identity or location is unknown to and not reasonably ascertainable by the +trustee. + +(3) A document that is sent solely by posting on an electronic account or +website is not deemed sent for purposes of this section unless the sender +complies with this subsection. The sender has the burden of proving +compliance with this subsection. +(a) The recipient must sign a separate written authorization solely for the + +purpose of authorizing the sender to post documents on an electronic account +or website before such posting. The written authorization must: + +1. Specifically indicate whether a trust accounting, trust disclosure +document, or limitation notice, as those terms are defined in s. 736.1008(4), +will be posted in this manner, and generally enumerate the other types of +documents that may be posted in this manner. + +2. Contain specific instructions for accessing the electronic account or +website, including the security procedures required to access the electronic +account or website, such as a username and password. + +3. Advise the recipient that a separate notice will be sent when a document +is posted on the electronic account or website and the manner in which the +separate notice will be sent. + +4. Advise the recipient that the authorization to receive documents by + + + +electronic posting may be amended or revoked at any time and include +specific instructions for revoking or amending the authorization, including +the address designated for the purpose of receiving notice of the revocation or +amendment. + +5. Advise the recipient that posting a document on the electronic account +or website may commence a limitations period as short as 6 months even if +the recipient never actually accesses the electronic account, electronic +website, or document. + +(b) Once the recipient signs the written authorization, the sender must +provide a separate notice to the recipient when a document is posted on the +electronic account or website. As used in this subsection, the term separate +notice means a notice sent to the recipient by means other than electronic +posting, which identifies each document posted to the electronic account or +website and provides instructions for accessing the document. The separate +notice requirement is deemed satisfied if the recipient accesses the document +on the electronic account or website. + +(c) A document sent by electronic posting is deemed received by the +recipient on the earlier of the date on which the separate notice is received or +the date on which the recipient accesses the document on the electronic +account or website. + +(d) At least annually after a recipient signs a written authorization, a sender +shall send a notice advising recipients who have authorized one or more +documents to be posted on an electronic account or website that such posting +may commence a limitations period as short as 6 months even if the recipient +never accesses the electronic account or website or the document and that +authority to receive documents by electronic posting may be amended or +revoked at any time. This notice must be given by means other than +electronic posting and may not be accompanied by any other written +communication. Failure to provide such notice within 380 days after the last +notice is deemed to automatically revoke the authorization to receive +documents in the manner permitted under this subsection 380 days after the +last notice is sent. + +(e) The notice required in paragraph (d) may be in substantially the +following form: You have authorized the receipt of documents through +posting on an electronic account or website on which the documents can be + + + +accessed. This notice is being sent to advise you that a limitations period, +which may be as short as 6 months, may be running as to matters disclosed in +a trust accounting or other written report of a trustee posted to the electronic +account or website even if you never actually access the electronic account or +website or the documents. You may amend or revoke the authorization to +receive documents by electronic posting at any time. If you have any +questions, please consult your attorney. + +(f) A sender may rely on the recipients authorization until the recipient +amends or revokes the authorization by sending a notice to the address +designated for that purpose in the authorization or in the manner specified on +the electronic account or website. The recipient, at any time, may amend or +revoke an authorization to have documents posted on the electronic account +or website. + +(g) If a document is provided to a recipient solely through electronic +posting pursuant to this subsection, the recipient must be able to access and +print or download the document until the earlier of 4 years after the date that +the document is deemed received by the recipient or the date upon which the +recipients access to the electronic account or website is terminated for any +reason. + +1. If the recipients access to the electronic account or website is +terminated for any reason, such termination does not invalidate the notice or +sending of any document previously posted on the electronic account or +website in accordance with this subsection, but may toll the applicable +limitations period as provided in subparagraph 2. + +2. If the recipients access to the electronic account or website is +terminated by the sender sooner than 4 years after the date on which the +document was received by the recipient, any applicable limitations period set +forth in s. 736.1008(1) or (2) which is still running is tolled for any +information adequately disclosed in a document sent solely by electronic +posting, from the date on which the recipients access to the electronic +account or website was terminated by the sender until 45 days after the date +on which the sender provides one of the following to the recipient by means +other than electronic posting: + +a. Notice of such termination and notification to the recipient that he or she +may request that any documents sent during the prior 4 years solely through + + + +electronic posting be provided to him or her by other means at no cost; or +b. Notice of such termination and notification to the recipient that his or + +her access to the electronic account or website has been restored. +Any applicable limitations period is further tolled from the date on which + +any request is made pursuant to sub-subparagraph 2.a. until 20 days after the +date on which the requested documents are provided to the recipient by +means other than electronic posting. + +(h) For purposes of this subsection, access to an electronic account or +website is terminated by the sender when the sender unilaterally terminates +the recipients ability to access the electronic website or account or to +download or print any document posted on such website or account. Access +is not terminated by the sender when access is terminated by an action of the +recipient or by an action of the sender in response to the recipients request to +terminate access. The recipients revocation of authorization pursuant to +paragraph (f) is not considered a request to terminate access. + +(i) This subsection does not affect or alter the duties of a trustee to +keep clear, distinct, and accurate records pursuant to s. 736.0810 or +affect or alter the time periods for which the trustee must maintain +such records. + +(j) This subsection governs the posting of a document solely for the +purpose of giving notice under this code or the sending of a document to a +person under this code and does not prohibit or otherwise apply to the posting +of a document on an electronic account or website for any other purpose or +preclude the sending of a document by any other means. + +(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), a family trust company, licensed +family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust company, as defined +in s. 662.111, that is a trustee of a trust may use any permissible method +for providing notice or for sending a document specified in subsection (1) +or may send a properly directed e-mail that contains an attached notice or +document or contains a hyperlink through which the recipient can view the +notice or document as a permissible method of providing notice or sending +a document. For purposes of this subsection, such notice or document sent +by e-mail is deemed to have been sent if any username, password, or other +specific instructions needed to access the notice or document are + + + +communicated to the recipient beforehand or contemporaneously with the +sending of the e-mail message containing the notice, document, or +hyperlink, or upon the request of the recipient. + +(5) Notice to a person under this code, or the sending of a document to a +person under this code electronically, is complete when sent. +(a) An electronic message is presumed received on the date that the + +message is sent. +(b) If the sender has knowledge that an electronic message did not reach + +the recipient, the electronic message is deemed to have not been received. +The sender has the burden to prove that another copy of the notice or +document was sent by electronic message or by other means authorized by +this section. + +(6) Notice under this code or the sending of a document under this code +may be waived by the person to be notified or to whom the document is to +be sent. + +(7) Notice and service of documents in a judicial proceeding are +governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 1, ch. 2015-176, effective July 1, + +2015; s. 3, ch. 2018-35, effective July 1, 2018; s. 3, ch. 2022-96, effective +July 1, 2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0110. +Fla. Stat. 736.0110 + + 736.0110. Others treated as qualified beneficiaries. +(1) A charitable organization expressly designated to receive + +distributions under the terms of a charitable trust has the rights of a +qualified beneficiary under this code if the charitable organization, on the +date the charitable organizations qualification is being determined: +(a) Is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal; +(b) Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or + +principal on termination of the interests of other distributees or permissible +distributees then receiving or eligible to receive distributions; or + +(c) Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or +principal if the trust terminated on that date. + +(2) A person appointed to enforce a trust created for the care of an +animal or another noncharitable purpose as provided in s. 736.0408 or s. +736.0409 has the rights of a qualified beneficiary under this code. + +(3) The Attorney General may assert the rights of a qualified beneficiary +with respect to a charitable trust having its principal place of +administration in this state. The Attorney General has standing to assert +such rights in any judicial proceedings. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 5, ch. 2017-155, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0111. +Fla. Stat. 736.0111 + + 736.0111. Nonjudicial settlement agreements. +(1) For purposes of this section, the term interested persons means + +persons whose interest would be affected by a settlement agreement. +(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3), interested persons + +may enter into a binding nonjudicial settlement agreement with respect to +any matter involving a trust. + +(3) A nonjudicial settlement agreement among the trustee and trust +beneficiaries is valid only to the extent the terms and conditions could be +properly approved by the court. A nonjudicial settlement may not be used +to produce a result not authorized by other provisions of this code, +including, but not limited to, terminating or modifying a trust in an +impermissible manner. + +(4) Matters that may be resolved by a nonjudicial settlement agreement +include: +(a) The interpretation or construction of the terms of the trust. +(b) The approval of a trustees report or accounting. +(c) The direction to a trustee to refrain from performing a particular act or + +the grant to a trustee of any necessary or desirable power. +(d) The resignation or appointment of a trustee and the determination of a + +trustees compensation. +(e) The transfer of a trusts principal place of administration. +(f) The liability of a trustee for an action relating to the trust. + +(5) Any interested person may request the court to approve or +disapprove a nonjudicial settlement agreement. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. I. , 736.0112. +Fla. Stat. 736.0112 + + 736.0112. Qualification of foreign trustee. +Unless otherwise doing business in this state, local qualification by a + +foreign trustee is not required for the trustee to receive distribution from a +local estate. Nothing in this chapter shall affect the provisions of s. 660.41. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.0201. +Fla. Stat. 736.0201 + + 736.0201. Role of court in trust proceedings. +(1) Except as provided in subsections (5), (6), and (7) and s. 736.0206, + +judicial proceedings concerning trusts shall be commenced by filing a +complaint and shall be governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. + +(2) The court may intervene in the administration of a trust to the extent +the courts jurisdiction is invoked by an interested person or as provided by +law. + +(3) A trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless +ordered by the court. + +(4) A judicial proceeding involving a trust may relate to the validity, +administration, or distribution of a trust, including proceedings to: +(a) Determine the validity of all or part of a trust; +(b) Appoint or remove a trustee; +(c) Review trustees fees; +(d) Review and settle interim or final accounts; +(e) Ascertain beneficiaries; determine any question arising in the + +administration or distribution of any trust, including questions of construction +of trust instruments; instruct trustees; and determine the existence or +nonexistence of any immunity, power, privilege, duty, or right; + +(f) Obtain a declaration of rights; or +(g) Determine any other matters involving trustees and beneficiaries. + +(5) A proceeding for the construction of a testamentary trust may be +filed in the probate proceeding for the testators estate. The proceeding +shall be governed by the Florida Probate Rules. + +(6) Rule 1.525, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, shall apply to judicial + + + +proceedings concerning trusts, except that the following do not constitute +taxation of costs or attorney fees even if the payment is for services +rendered or costs incurred in a judicial proceeding: +(a) A trustees payment of compensation or reimbursement of costs to + +persons employed by the trustee from assets of the trust. +(b) A determination by the court directing from what part of the trust fees + +or costs shall be paid, unless the determination is made under s. 736.1004 in +an action for breach of fiduciary duty or challenging the exercise of, or failure +to exercise, a trustees powers. + +(7) A proceeding to determine the homestead status of real property +owned by a trust may be filed in the probate proceeding for the settlors +estate if the settlor was treated as the owner of the interest held in the trust +under s. 732.4015. The proceeding shall be governed by the Florida +Probate Rules. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 13, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, + +2011; s. 5, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.0202. +Fla. Stat. 736.0202 + + 736.0202. Jurisdiction over trustee and beneficiary. +(1) In rem jurisdiction. Any beneficiary of a trust having its + +principal place of administration in this state is subject to the jurisdiction +of the courts of this state to the extent of the beneficiarys interest in the +trust. + +(2) Personal jurisdiction. +(a) Any trustee, trust beneficiary, or other person, whether or not a citizen + +or resident of this state, who personally or through an agent does any of the +following acts related to a trust, submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of +this state involving that trust: + +1. Accepts trusteeship of a trust having its principal place of administration +in this state at the time of acceptance. + +2. Moves the principal place of administration of a trust to this state. +3. Serves as trustee of a trust created by a settlor who was a resident of this + +state at the time of creation of the trust or serves as trustee of a trust having +its principal place of administration in this state. + +4. Accepts or exercises a delegation of powers or duties from the trustee of +a trust having its principal place of administration in this state. + +5. Commits a breach of trust in this state, or commits a breach of trust with +respect to a trust having its principal place of administration in this state at +the time of the breach. + +6. Accepts compensation from a trust having its principal place of +administration in this state. + +7. Performs any act or service for a trust having its principal place of +administration in this state. + +8. Accepts a distribution from a trust having its principal place of +administration in this state with respect to any matter involving the +distribution. + +(b) A court of this state may exercise personal jurisdiction over a trustee, + + + +trust beneficiary, or other person, whether found within or outside the state, +to the maximum extent permitted by the State Constitution or the Federal +Constitution. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 10, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.02025. +Fla. Stat. 736.02025 + + 736.02025. Service of process. +(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, service of process upon + +any person may be made as provided in chapter 48. +(2) Where only in rem or quasi in rem relief is sought against a person in + +a matter involving a trust, service of process on that person may be made +by sending a copy of the summons and complaint by any commercial +delivery service requiring a signed receipt or by any form of mail requiring +a signed receipt. Service under this subsection shall be complete upon +signing of a receipt by the addressee or by any person authorized to receive +service of a summons on behalf of the addressee as provided in chapter 48. +Proof of service shall be by verified statement of the person serving the +summons, to which must be attached the signed receipt or other evidence +satisfactory to the court that delivery was made to the addressee or other +authorized person. + +(3) Under any of the following circumstances, service of original +process pursuant to subsection (2) may be made by first-class mail: +(a) If registered or certified mail service to the addressee is unavailable and + +if delivery by commercial delivery service is also unavailable. +(b) If delivery is attempted and is refused by the addressee. +(c) If delivery by mail requiring a signed receipt is unclaimed after notice + +to the addressee by the delivering entity. +(4) If service of process is obtained under subsection (3), proof of + +service shall be made by verified statement of the person serving the +summons. The verified statement must state the basis for service by first- +class mail, the date of mailing, and the address to which the mail was sent. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.0203. +Fla. Stat. 736.0203 + + 736.0203. Subject matter jurisdiction. +The circuit court has original jurisdiction in this state of all proceedings + +arising under this code. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.0204. +Fla. Stat. 736.0204 + + 736.0204. Venue. +Venue for actions and proceedings concerning trusts, including those under + +s. 736.0201, may be laid in: +(1) Any county where the venue is proper under chapter 47; +(2) Any county where the beneficiary suing or being sued resides or has + +its principal place of business; or +(3) The county where the trust has its principal place of administration. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.0205. +Fla. Stat. 736.0205 + + 736.0205. Trust proceedings; dismissal of matters relating to foreign +trusts. [Repealed] + +Repealed by s. 12, ch. 2013-172, effective October 1, 2013. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.0206. +Fla. Stat. 736.0206 + + 736.0206. Proceedings for review of employment of agents and review +of compensation of trustee and employees of trust. +(1) The court may review the propriety of the employment by a trustee + +of any person, including any attorney, auditor, investment adviser, or other +specialized agent or assistant, and the reasonableness of any compensation +paid to that person or to the trustee. + +(2) If the settlors estate is being probated, and the settlors trust or the +trustee of the settlors trust is a beneficiary under the settlors will, the +trustee, any person employed by the trustee, or any interested person may +have the propriety of employment and the reasonableness of the +compensation of the trustee or any person employed by the trustee +determined in the probate proceeding. + +(3) The burden of proof of the propriety of the employment and the +reasonableness of the compensation shall be on the trustee and the person +employed by the trustee. Any person who is determined to have received +excessive compensation from a trust for services rendered may be ordered +to make appropriate refunds. + +(4) Court proceedings to determine reasonable compensation of a trustee +or any person employed by a trustee, if required, are a part of the trust +administration process. The costs, including attorneys fees, of the person +assuming the burden of proof of propriety of the employment and +reasonableness of the compensation shall be determined by the court and +paid from the assets of the trust unless the court finds the compensation +paid or requested to be substantially unreasonable. The court shall direct +from which part of the trust assets the compensation shall be paid. + +(5) The court may determine reasonable compensation for a trustee or +any person employed by a trustee without receiving expert testimony. Any +party may offer expert testimony after notice to interested persons. If +expert testimony is offered, a reasonable expert witness fee may be +awarded by the court and paid from the assets of the trust unless the court +finds that the expert testimony did not assist the court. The court shall +direct from which part of the trust assets the fee shall be paid. + + + +(6) In a proceeding pursuant to subsection (2), the petitioner may serve +formal notice as provided in the Florida Probate Rules, and such notice +shall be sufficient for the court to acquire jurisdiction over the person +receiving the notice to the extent of the persons interest in the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2010-122, eff. July 1, 2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. II. , 736.0207. +Fla. Stat. 736.0207 + + 736.0207. Trust contests. +(1) In an action to contest the validity or revocation of all or part of a + +trust, the contestant has the burden of establishing the grounds for +invalidity. + +(2) An action to contest the validity of all or part of a revocable trust, or +the revocation of part of a revocable trust, may not be commenced until the +trust becomes irrevocable by its terms or by the settlors death. If all of a +revocable trust has been revoked, an action to contest the revocation may +not be commenced until after the settlors death. This section does not +prohibit such action by the guardian of the property of an incapacitated +settlor. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 9, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, 2011; + +s. 7, ch. 2014-127, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + +Section 8, ch. 2014-127, provides: The changes made by this act to s. +736.0207, Florida Statutes, apply to all cases commenced on or after the +effective date of this act. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. III. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. III + + + +PART III. +REPRESENTATION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. III. , 736.0301. +Fla. Stat. 736.0301 + + 736.0301. Representation; basic effect. +(1) Notice, information, accountings, or reports given to a person who + +may represent and bind another person under this part may serve as a +substitute for and have the same effect as notice, information, accountings, +or reports given directly to the other person. + +(2) Actions taken by a person who represents the interests of another +person under this part are binding on the person whose interests are +represented to the same extent as if the actions had been taken by the +person whose interests are represented. + +(3) Except as otherwise provided in s. 736.0602, a person under this part +who represents a settlor lacking capacity may receive notice and give a +binding consent on the settlors behalf. + +(4) A trustee is not liable for giving notice, information, accountings, or +reports to a beneficiary who is represented by another person under this +part, and nothing in this part prohibits the trustee from giving notice, +information, accountings, or reports to the person represented. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. III. , 736.0302. +Fla. Stat. 736.0302 + + 736.0302. Representation by holder of power of appointment. +(1) The holder of a power of appointment may represent and bind + +persons whose interests, as permissible appointees, takers in default, or +otherwise, are subject to the power. + +(2) The takers in default of the exercise of a power of appointment may +represent and bind persons whose interests, as permissible appointees, are +subject to the power. + +(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to: +(a) Any matter determined by the court to involve fraud or bad faith by the + +trustee; or +(b) A power of appointment held by a person while the person is the sole + +trustee. +(4) As used in this section, the term power of appointment does not + +include a power of a trustee to make discretionary distributions of trust +property. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2009-117, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. III. , 736.0303. +Fla. Stat. 736.0303 + + 736.0303. Representation by fiduciaries and parents. +To the extent there is no conflict of interest between the representative and + +the person represented or among those being represented with respect to a +particular question or dispute: + +(1) A guardian of the property may represent and bind the estate that the +guardian of the property controls. + +(2) An agent having authority to act with respect to the particular +question or dispute may represent and bind the principal. + +(3) A trustee may represent and bind the beneficiaries of the trust. +(4) A personal representative of a decedents estate may represent and + +bind persons interested in the estate. +(5) A parent may represent and bind the parents unborn child and the + +unborn descendants of such unborn child, or the parents minor child and +the minor or unborn descendants of such minor child, if a guardian of the +property for the unborn child, minor child, or such childs descendants has +not been appointed. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 4, ch. 2022-96, effective July 1, + +2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. III. , 736.0304. +Fla. Stat. 736.0304 + + 736.0304. Representation by person having substantially identical +interest. + +Unless otherwise represented, a minor, incapacitated, or unborn individual, +or a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably +ascertainable, may be represented by and bound by another person having a +substantially identical interest with respect to the particular question or +dispute, but only to the extent there is no conflict of interest between the +representative and the person represented. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. III. , 736.0305. +Fla. Stat. 736.0305 + + 736.0305. Appointment of representative. +(1) If the court determines that an interest is not represented under this + +part, or that the otherwise available representation might be inadequate, the +court may appoint a representative to receive notice, give consent, and +otherwise represent, bind, and act on behalf of a minor, incapacitated, or +unborn individual, or a person whose identity or location is unknown. If +not precluded by a conflict of interest, a representative may be appointed to +represent several persons or interests. + +(2) A representative may act on behalf of the individual represented with +respect to any matter arising under this code, whether or not a judicial +proceeding concerning the trust is pending. + +(3) In making decisions, a representative may consider general benefits +accruing to the living members of the represented individuals family. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. III. , 736.0306. +Fla. Stat. 736.0306 + + 736.0306. Designated representative. +(1) If specifically nominated in the trust instrument, one or more persons + +may be designated to represent and bind a beneficiary and receive any +notice, information, accounting, or report. The trust instrument may also +authorize any person or persons, other than a trustee of the trust, to +designate one or more persons to represent and bind a beneficiary and +receive any notice, information, accounting, or report. + +(2) Except as otherwise provided in this code, a person designated, as +provided in subsection (1) may not represent and bind a beneficiary while +that person is serving as trustee. + +(3) Except as otherwise provided in this code, a person designated, as +provided in subsection (1) may not represent and bind another beneficiary +if the person designated also is a beneficiary, unless: +(a) That person was named by the settlor; or +(b) That person is the beneficiarys spouse or a grandparent or descendant + +of a grandparent of the beneficiary or the beneficiarys spouse. +(4) No person designated, as provided in subsection (1), is liable to the + +beneficiary whose interests are represented, or to anyone claiming through +that beneficiary, for any actions or omissions to act made in good faith. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 4, ch. 2009-117, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. IV + + + +PART IV. +CREATION, VALIDITY, MODIFICATION, AND + +TERMINATION. + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0401. + +Fla. Stat. 736.0401 + + 736.0401. Methods of creating trust. +A trust may be created by: + +(1) Transfer of property to another person as trustee during the settlors +lifetime or by will or other disposition taking effect on the settlors death; + +(2) Declaration by the owner of property that the owner holds +identifiable property as trustee; or + +(3) Exercise of a power of appointment in favor of a trustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0402. +Fla. Stat. 736.0402 + + 736.0402. Requirements for creation. +(1) A trust is created only if: + +(a) The settlor has capacity to create a trust. +(b) The settlor indicates an intent to create the trust. +(c) The trust has a definite beneficiary or is: +1. A charitable trust; +2. A trust for the care of an animal, as provided in s. 736.0408; or +3. A trust for a noncharitable purpose, as provided in s. 736.0409. +(d) The trustee has duties to perform. +(e) The same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary. + +(2) A beneficiary is definite if the beneficiary can be ascertained now or +in the future, subject to any applicable rule against perpetuities. + +(3) A power of a trustee to select a beneficiary from an indefinite class is +valid. If the power is not exercised within a reasonable time, the power +fails and the property subject to the power passes to the persons who would +have taken the property had the power not been conferred. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0403. +Fla. Stat. 736.0403 + + 736.0403. Trusts created in other jurisdictions; formalities required for +revocable trusts. +(1) A trust not created by will is validly created if the creation of the + +trust complies with the law of the jurisdiction in which the trust instrument +was executed or the law of the jurisdiction in which, at the time of creation, +the settlor was domiciled. + +(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1): +(a) No trust or confidence of or in any messuages, lands, tenements, or + +hereditaments shall arise or result unless the trust complies with the +provisions of s. 689.05. + +(b) The testamentary aspects of a revocable trust, executed by a settlor who +is a domiciliary of this state at the time of execution, are invalid unless the +trust instrument is executed by the settlor with the formalities required for the +execution of a will in this state. For purposes of this subsection, the term +testamentary aspects means those provisions of the trust instrument that +dispose of the trust property on or after the death of the settlor other than to +the settlors estate. + +(3) Paragraph (2)(b) does not apply to trusts established as part of an +employee annuity described in s. 403 of the Internal Revenue Code of +1986, as amended, an individual retirement account as described in s. 408 +of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, a Keogh (HR-10) Plan, +or a retirement or other plan that is qualified under s. 401 of the Internal +Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. + +(4) Paragraph (2)(b) applies to trusts created on or after the effective +date of this code. Former s. 737.111, as in effect prior to the effective date +of this code, continues to apply to trusts created before the effective date of +this code. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 103, ch. 2019-3, effective July 3, + +2019. + + + +Editors notes. +Sections 401, 403, and 408 of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in + +this section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 401, 403, and 408, respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0404. +Fla. Stat. 736.0404 + + 736.0404. Trust purposes. +A trust may be created only to the extent the purposes of the trust are + +lawful, not contrary to public policy, and possible to achieve. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 4, ch. 2018-35, effective July 1, + +2018. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0405. +Fla. Stat. 736.0405 + + 736.0405. Charitable purposes; enforcement. +(1) A trust may be created for charitable purposes. Charitable purposes + +include, but are not limited to, the relief of poverty; the advancement of +arts, sciences, education, or religion; and the promotion of health, +governmental, or municipal purposes. + +(2) If the terms of a charitable trust do not indicate a particular charitable +purpose or beneficiary, the court may select one or more charitable +purposes or beneficiaries. The selection must be consistent with the +settlors intent to the extent such intent can be ascertained. + +(3) The settlor of a charitable trust, among others, has standing to +enforce the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0406. +Fla. Stat. 736.0406 + + 736.0406. Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence. +If the creation, amendment, or restatement of a trust is procured by fraud, + +duress, mistake, or undue influence, the trust or any part so procured is void. +The remainder of the trust not procured by such means is valid if the +remainder is not invalid for other reasons. If the revocation of a trust, or any +part thereof, is procured by fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence, such +revocation is void. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 10, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, + +2011. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0407. +Fla. Stat. 736.0407 + + 736.0407. Evidence of oral trust. +Except as required by s. 736.0403 or a law other than this code, a trust + +need not be evidenced by a trust instrument but the creation of an oral trust +and its terms may be established only by clear and convincing evidence. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0408. +Fla. Stat. 736.0408 + + 736.0408. Trust for care of an animal. +(1) A trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal alive + +during the settlors lifetime. The trust terminates on the death of the animal +or, if the trust was created to provide for the care of more than one animal +alive during the settlors lifetime, on the death of the last surviving animal. + +(2) A trust authorized by this section may be enforced by a person +appointed in the terms of the trust or, if no person is appointed, by a person +appointed by the court. A person having an interest in the welfare of the +animal may request the court to appoint a person to enforce the trust or to +remove a person appointed. + +(3) Property of a trust authorized by this section may be applied only to +the intended use of the property, except to the extent the court determines +that the value of the trust property exceeds the amount required for the +intended use. Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, +property not required for the intended use must be distributed to the settlor, +if then living, otherwise as part of the settlors estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0409. +Fla. Stat. 736.0409 + + 736.0409. Noncharitable trust without ascertainable beneficiary. +Except as otherwise provided in s. 736.0408 or by another provision of + +law, the following rules apply: +(1) A trust may be created for a noncharitable purpose without a definite + +or definitely ascertainable beneficiary or for a noncharitable but otherwise +valid purpose to be selected by the trustee. The trust may not be enforced +for more than 1,000 years. + +(2) A trust authorized by this section may be enforced by a person +appointed in the terms of the trust or, if no person is appointed, by a person +appointed by the court. + +(3) Property of a trust authorized by this section may be applied only to +the intended use of the property, except to the extent the court determines +that the value of the trust property exceeds the amount required for the +intended use. Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, +property not required for the intended use must be distributed to the settlor, +if then living, otherwise as part of the settlors estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 5, ch. 2022-96, effective July 1, + +2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0410. +Fla. Stat. 736.0410 + + 736.0410. Modification or termination of trust; proceedings for +disapproval of nonjudicial acts. +(1) In addition to the methods of termination prescribed by ss. + +736.04113-736.0414, a trust terminates to the extent the trust expires or is +revoked or is properly distributed pursuant to the terms of the trust. + +(2) A proceeding to disapprove a proposed modification or termination +under s. 736.0412 or a trust combination or division under s. 736.0417 may +be commenced by any beneficiary. + +(3) A proceeding to disapprove a proposed termination under s. +736.0414(1) may be commenced by any qualified beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.04113. +Fla. Stat. 736.04113 + + 736.04113. Judicial modification of irrevocable trust when modification +is not inconsistent with settlors purpose. +(1) Upon the application of a trustee of the trust or any qualified + +beneficiary, a court at any time may modify the terms of a trust that is not +then revocable in the manner provided in subsection (2), if: +(a) The purposes of the trust have been fulfilled or have become illegal, + +impossible, wasteful, or impracticable to fulfill; +(b) Because of circumstances not anticipated by the settlor, compliance + +with the terms of the trust would defeat or substantially impair the +accomplishment of a material purpose of the trust; or + +(c) A material purpose of the trust no longer exists. +(2) In modifying a trust under this section, a court may: + +(a) Amend or change the terms of the trust, including terms governing +distribution of the trust income or principal or terms governing administration +of the trust; + +(b) Terminate the trust in whole or in part; +(c) Direct or permit the trustee to do acts that are not authorized or that are + +prohibited by the terms of the trust; or +(d) Prohibit the trustee from performing acts that are permitted or required + +by the terms of the trust. +(3) In exercising discretion to modify a trust under this section: + +(a) The court shall consider the terms and purposes of the trust, the facts +and circumstances surrounding the creation of the trust, and extrinsic +evidence relevant to the proposed modification. + +(b) The court shall consider spendthrift provisions as a factor in making a +decision, but the court is not precluded from modifying a trust because the +trust contains spendthrift provisions. + +(4) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in +derogation of, rights under the common law to modify, amend, terminate, + + + +or revoke trusts. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.04114. +Fla. Stat. 736.04114 + + 736.04114. Limited judicial construction of irrevocable trust with +federal tax provisions. +(1) Upon the application of a trustee or any qualified beneficiary of a + +trust, a court at any time may construe the terms of a trust that is not then +revocable to define the respective shares or determine beneficiaries, in +accordance with the intention of the settlor, if a disposition occurs during +the applicable period and the trust contains a provision that: +(a) Includes a formula disposition referring to the unified credit, estate + +tax exemption, applicable exemption amount, applicable credit amount, +applicable exclusion amount, generation-skipping transfer tax exemption, +GST exemption, marital deduction, maximum marital deduction, +unlimited marital deduction, or maximum charitable deduction; + +(b) Measures a share of a trust based on the amount that can pass free of +federal estate tax or the amount that can pass free of federal generation- +skipping transfer tax; + +(c) Otherwise makes a disposition referring to a charitable deduction, +marital deduction, or another provision of federal estate tax or generation- +skipping transfer tax law; or + +(d) Appears to be intended to reduce or minimize federal estate tax or +generation-skipping transfer tax. + +(2) For the purpose of this section: +(a) Applicable period means a period beginning January 1, 2010, and + +ending on the end of the day on the earlier of: +1. December 31, 2010; or +2. The day before the date that an act becomes law which repeals or + +otherwise modifies or has the effect of repealing or modifying s. 901 of the +Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. + +(b) A disposition occurs when an interest takes effect in possession or +enjoyment. + + + +(3) In construing the trust, the court shall consider the terms and +purposes of the trust, the facts and circumstances surrounding the creation +of the trust, and the settlors probable intent. In determining the settlors +probable intent, the court may consider evidence relevant to the settlors +intent even though the evidence contradicts an apparent plain meaning of +the trust instrument. + +(4) This section does not apply to a disposition that is specifically +conditioned upon no federal estate or generation-skipping transfer tax +being imposed. + +(5) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, during the applicable period +and without court order, the trustee administering a trust containing one or +more provisions described in subsection (1) may: +(a) Delay or refrain from making any distribution; +(b) Incur and pay fees and costs reasonably necessary to determine its + +duties and obligations, including compliance with provisions of existing and +reasonably anticipated future federal tax laws; and + +(c) Establish and maintain reserves for the payment of these fees and costs +and federal taxes. + +The trustee is not liable for its actions as provided in this subsection which +are made or taken in good faith. + +(6) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in +derogation of, rights under this code or the common law to construe a trust. + +(7) This section is remedial in order to provide a new or modified legal +remedy. This section applies retroactively and is effective as of January 1, +2010. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2010-122, eff. May 27, 2010. + +Editors notes. +Section 901 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of + +2001, referred to in this section, is carried as a note to 26 U.S.C.S. 1. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.04115. +Fla. Stat. 736.04115 + + 736.04115. Judicial modification of irrevocable trust when modification +is in best interests of beneficiaries. +(1) Without regard to the reasons for modification provided in s. + +736.04113, if compliance with the terms of a trust is not in the best +interests of the beneficiaries, upon the application of a trustee or any +qualified beneficiary, a court may at any time modify a trust that is not +then revocable as provided in s. 736.04113(2). + +(2) In exercising discretion to modify a trust under this section: +(a) The court shall exercise discretion in a manner that conforms to the + +extent possible with the intent of the settlor, taking into account the current +circumstances and best interests of the beneficiaries. + +(b) The court shall consider the terms and purposes of the trust, the facts +and circumstances surrounding the creation of the trust, and extrinsic +evidence relevant to the proposed modification. + +(c) The court shall consider spendthrift provisions as a factor in making a +decision, but the court is not precluded from modifying a trust because the +trust contains spendthrift provisions. + +(3) This section shall not apply to: +(a) Any trust created prior to January 1, 2001. +(b) Any trust created after December 31, 2000, if: +1. Under the terms of the trust, all beneficial interests in the trust must vest + +or terminate within the period prescribed by the rule against perpetuities in s. +689.225(2), notwithstanding s. 689.225(2)(f) and (g). + +2. The terms of the trust expressly prohibit judicial modification. +(4) For purposes of subsection (3), a revocable trust shall be treated as + +created when the right of revocation terminates. +(5) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in + +derogation of, rights under the common law to modify, amend, terminate, +or revoke trusts. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 6, ch. 2022-96, effective July 1, + +2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.04117. +Fla. Stat. 736.04117 + + 736.04117. Trustees power to invade principal in trust. +(1) Definitions. As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Absolute power means a power to invade principal that is not limited +to specific or ascertainable purposes, such as health, education, maintenance, +and support, regardless of whether the term absolute is used. A power to +invade principal for purposes such as best interests, welfare, comfort, or +happiness constitutes an absolute power not limited to specific or +ascertainable purposes. + +(b) Authorized trustee means a trustee, other than the settlor or a +beneficiary, who has the power to invade the principal of a trust. + +(c) Beneficiary with a disability means a beneficiary of the first trust +who the authorized trustee believes may qualify for government benefits +based on disability, regardless of whether the beneficiary currently receives +those benefits or has been adjudicated incapacitated. + +(d) Current beneficiary means a beneficiary who, on the date his or her +qualification is determined, is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust +income or principal. The term includes the holder of a presently exercisable +general power of appointment but does not include a person who is a +beneficiary only because he or she holds another power of appointment. + +(e) Government benefits means financial aid or services from any state, +federal, or other public agency. + +(f) Internal Revenue Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended. + +(g) Power of appointment has the same meaning as provided in s. +731.201. + +(h) Presently exercisable general power of appointment means a power +of appointment exercisable by the power holder at the relevant time. The +term: + +1. Includes a power of appointment that is exercisable only after the +occurrence of a specified event or that is subject to a specified restriction, but + + + +only after the event has occurred or the restriction has been satisfied. +2. Does not include a power of appointment that is exercisable only upon + +the death of the power holder. +(i) Substantially similar means that there is no material change in + +a beneficiarys beneficial interests or in the power to make +distributions and that the power to make a distribution under a second +trust for the benefit of a beneficiary who is an individual is +substantially similar to the power under the first trust to make a +distribution directly to the beneficiary. A distribution is deemed to be +for the benefit of a beneficiary if: + +1. The distribution is applied for the benefit of a beneficiary; +2. The beneficiary is under a legal disability or the trustee reasonably + +believes the beneficiary is incapacitated, and the distribution is made as +permitted under this code; or + +3. The distribution is made as permitted under the terms of the first trust +instrument and the second trust instrument for the benefit of the beneficiary. + +(j) Supplemental needs trust means a trust that the authorized trustee +believes would not be considered a resource for purposes of determining +whether the beneficiary who has a disability is eligible for government +benefits. + +(k) Vested interest means a current unconditional right to receive a +mandatory distribution of income, a specified dollar amount, or a percentage +of value of a trust, or a current unconditional right to withdraw income, a +specified dollar amount, or a percentage of value of a trust, which right is not +subject to the occurrence of a specified event, the passage of a specified time, +or the exercise of discretion. + +1. The term includes a presently exercisable general power of appointment. +2. The term does not include a beneficiarys interest in a trust if the trustee + +has discretion to make a distribution of trust property to a person other than +such beneficiary. + +(2) Distribution from first trust to second trust when authorized trustee +has absolute power to invade. + + + +(a) Unless a trust instrument expressly provides otherwise, an authorized +trustee who has absolute power under the terms of the trust to invade its +principal, referred to in this section as the first trust, to make current +distributions to or for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries may instead +exercise such power by appointing all or part of the principal of the trust +subject to such power in favor of a trustee of one or more other trusts, +whether created under the same trust instrument as the first trust or a different +trust instrument, including a trust instrument created for the purposes of +exercising the power granted by this section, each referred to in this section +as the second trust, for the current benefit of one or more of such +beneficiaries only if: + +1. The beneficiaries of the second trust include only beneficiaries of the +first trust; and + +2. The second trust does not reduce any vested interest. +(b) In an exercise of absolute power, the second trust may: +1. Retain a power of appointment granted in the first trust; +2. Omit a power of appointment granted in the first trust, other than a + +presently exercisable general power of appointment; +3. Create or modify a power of appointment if the power holder is a current + +beneficiary of the first trust; +4. Create or modify a power of appointment if the power holder is a + +beneficiary of the first trust who is not a current beneficiary, but the exercise +of the power of appointment may take effect only after the power holder +becomes, or would have become if then living, a current beneficiary of the +first trust; and + +5. Extend the term of the second trust beyond the term of the first trust. +(c) The class of permissible appointees in favor of which a created or + +modified power of appointment may be exercised may differ from the class +identified in the first trust. + +(3) Distribution from first trust to second trust when authorized +trustee does not have absolute power to invade. Unless the trust +instrument expressly provides otherwise, an authorized trustee who has a +power, other than an absolute power, under the terms of a first trust to + + + +invade principal to make current distributions to or for the benefit of one or +more beneficiaries may instead exercise such power by appointing all or +part of the principal of the first trust subject to such power in favor of a +trustee of one or more second trusts. If the authorized trustee exercises +such power: +(a) The second trusts, in the aggregate, shall grant each beneficiary of the + +first trust beneficial interests in the second trusts which are substantially +similar to the beneficial interests of the beneficiary in the first trust. + +(b) If the first trust grants a power of appointment to a beneficiary of the +first trust, the second trust shall grant such power of appointment in the +second trust to such beneficiary, and the class of permissible appointees shall +be the same as in the first trust. + +(c) If the first trust does not grant a power of appointment to a beneficiary +of the first trust, the second trust may not grant a power of appointment in the +second trust to such beneficiary. + +(d) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), the term of the second +trust may extend beyond the term of the first trust, and, for any period after +the first trust would have otherwise terminated, in whole or in part, under the +provisions of the first trust, the trust instrument of the second trust may, with +respect to property subject to such extended term: + +1. Include language providing the trustee with the absolute power to invade +the principal of the second trust during such extended term; and + +2. Create a power of appointment, if the power holder is a current +beneficiary of the first trust, or expand the class of permissible appointees in +favor of which a power of appointment may be exercised. + +(4) Distribution from first trust to supplemental needs trust. +(a) Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (3), unless the trust instrument + +expressly provides otherwise, an authorized trustee who has the power under +the terms of a first trust to invade the principal of the first trust to make +current distributions to or for the benefit of a beneficiary with a disability +may instead exercise such power by appointing all or part of the principal of +the first trust in favor of a trustee of a second trust that is a supplemental +needs trust if: + + + +1. The supplemental needs trust benefits the beneficiary with a disability; +2. The beneficiaries of the second trust include only beneficiaries of the + +first trust; and +3. The authorized trustee determines that the exercise of such power will + +further the purposes of the first trust. +(b) Except as affected by any change to the interests of the beneficiary with + +a disability, the second trusts, in the aggregate, shall grant each other +beneficiary of the first trust beneficial interests in the second trusts which are +substantially similar to such other beneficiarys beneficial interests in the first +trust. + +(5) Prohibited distributions. +(a) An authorized trustee may not distribute the principal of a trust under + +this section in a manner that would prevent a contribution to that trust from +qualifying for, or that would reduce a federal tax benefit, including a federal +tax exclusion or deduction, which was originally claimed or could have been +claimed for that contribution, including: + +1. An exclusion under s. 2503(b) or s. 2503(c) of the Internal Revenue +Code; + +2. A marital deduction under s. 2056, s. 2056A, or s. 2523 of the Internal +Revenue Code; + +3. A charitable deduction under s. 170(a), s. 642(c), s. 2055(a), or s. +2522(a) of the Internal Revenue Code; + +4. Direct skip treatment under s. 2642(c) of the Internal Revenue Code; or +5. Any other tax benefit for income, gift, estate, or generation-skipping + +transfer tax purposes under the Internal Revenue Code. +(b) If S corporation stock is held in the first trust, an authorized trustee may + +not distribute all or part of that stock to a second trust that is not a permitted +shareholder under s. 1361(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code. If the first trust +holds stock in an S corporation and is, or but for provisions of paragraphs (a), +(c), and (d) would be, a qualified subchapter S trust within the meaning of s. +1361(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, the second trust instrument may not +include or omit a term that prevents it from qualifying as a qualified + + + +subchapter S trust. +(c) Except as provided in paragraphs (a), (b), and (d), an authorized trustee + +may distribute the principal of a first trust to a second trust regardless of +whether the settlor is treated as the owner of either trust under ss. 671-679 of +the Internal Revenue Code; however, if the settlor is not treated as the owner +of the first trust, he or she may not be treated as the owner of the second trust +unless he or she at all times has the power to cause the second trust to cease +being treated as if it were owned by the settlor. + +(d) If an interest in property which is subject to the minimum distribution +rules of s. 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code is held in trust, an +authorized trustee may not distribute such an interest to a second trust under +subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4) if the distribution would +shorten the otherwise applicable maximum distribution period. + +(6) Exercise by writing. The exercise of a power to invade principal +under subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4) must be by a written +instrument signed and acknowledged by the authorized trustee and filed +with the records of the first trust. + +(7) Restrictions on exercise of power. The exercise of a power to +invade principal under subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4): +(a) Is considered the exercise of a power of appointment, excluding a + +power to appoint to the authorized trustee, the authorized trustees creditors, +the authorized trustees estate, or the creditors of the authorized trustees +estate. + +(b) Is subject to the provisions of s. 689.225 covering the time at which the +permissible period of the rule against perpetuities begins and the law that +determines the permissible period of the rule against perpetuities of the first +trust. + +(c) May apply to a second trust created or administered under the law of +any jurisdiction. + +(d) May not: +1. Increase the authorized trustees compensation beyond the compensation + +specified in the first trust instrument; or +2. Relieve the authorized trustee from liability for breach of trust or + + + +provide for indemnification of the authorized trustee for any liability or claim +to a greater extent than the first trust instrument; however, the exercise of the +power may divide and reallocate fiduciary powers among fiduciaries and +relieve a fiduciary from liability for an act or failure to act of another +fiduciary as otherwise allowed under law or common law. + +(8) Notice. +(a) The authorized trustee shall provide written notification of the manner + +in which he or she intends to exercise his or her power to invade principal to +all of the following parties at least 60 days before the effective date of the +authorized trustees exercise of such power pursuant to subsection (2), +subsection (3), or subsection (4): + +1. All qualified beneficiaries of the first trust. +2. If paragraph (5)(c) applies, the settlor of the first trust. +3. All trustees of the first trust. +4. Any person who has the power to remove or replace the authorized + +trustee of the first trust. +(b) The authorized trustees obligation to provide notice under this + +subsection is satisfied when he or she provides copies of the proposed +instrument exercising the power, the trust instrument of the first trust, and the +proposed trust instrument of the second trust. + +(c) If all of those required to be notified waive the notice period by signed +written instrument delivered to the authorized trustee, the authorized trustees +power to invade principal shall be exercisable immediately. + +(d) The authorized trustees notice under this subsection does not limit the +right of any beneficiary to object to the exercise of the authorized trustees +power to invade principal except as otherwise provided in other applicable +provisions of this code. + +(9) Inapplicability of spendthrift clause or other prohibition. The +exercise of the power to invade principal under subsection (2), subsection +(3), or subsection (4) is not prohibited by a spendthrift clause or by a +provision in the trust instrument that prohibits amendment or revocation of +the trust. + + + +(10) No duty to exercise. Nothing in this section is intended to create +or imply a duty to exercise a power to invade principal, and no inference of +impropriety may be made as a result of an authorized trustees failure to +exercise the power to invade principal conferred under subsections (2), (3), +and (4). + +(11) No abridgement of common law rights. This section may not +be construed to abridge the right of any trustee who has a power of +invasion to appoint property in further trust that arises under the terms of +the first trust or under any other section of this code or under another +provision of law or under common law. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 5, ch. 2018-35, effective March 19, + +2018. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0412. +Fla. Stat. 736.0412 + + 736.0412. Nonjudicial modification of irrevocable trust. +(1) After the settlors death, a trust may be modified at any time as + +provided in s. 736.04113(2) upon the unanimous agreement of the trustee +and all qualified beneficiaries. + +(2) Modification of a trust as authorized in this section is not prohibited +by a spendthrift clause or by a provision in the trust instrument that +prohibits amendment or revocation of the trust. + +(3) An agreement to modify a trust under this section is binding on a +beneficiary whose interest is represented by another person under part III +of this code. + +(4) This section shall not apply to: +(a) Any trust created prior to January 1, 2001. +(b) Any trust created after December 31, 2000, if, under the terms of the + +trust, all beneficial interests in the trust must vest or terminate within the +period prescribed by the rule against perpetuities in s. 689.225(2), +notwithstanding s. 689.225(2)(f) and (g), unless the terms of the trust +expressly authorize nonjudicial modification. + +(c) Any trust for which a charitable deduction is allowed or allowable +under the Internal Revenue Code until the termination of all charitable +interests in the trust. + +(5) For purposes of subsection (4), a revocable trust shall be treated as +created when the right of revocation terminates. + +(6) The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in +derogation of, rights under the common law to modify, amend, terminate, +or revoke trusts. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 7, ch. 2022-96, effective July 1, + +2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0413. +Fla. Stat. 736.0413 + + 736.0413. Cy pres. +(1) If a particular charitable purpose becomes unlawful, impracticable, + +impossible to achieve, or wasteful, the court may apply the doctrine of cy +pres to modify or terminate the trust by directing that the trust property be +applied or distributed, in whole or in part, in a manner consistent with the +settlors charitable purposes. + +(2) A proceeding to modify or terminate a trust under this section may +be commenced by a settlor, a trustee, or any qualified beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0414. +Fla. Stat. 736.0414 + + 736.0414. Modification or termination of uneconomic trust. +(1) After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the trustee of a trust + +consisting of trust property having a total value less than $50,000 may +terminate the trust if the trustee concludes that the value of the trust +property is insufficient to justify the cost of administration. + +(2) Upon application of a trustee or any qualified beneficiary, the court +may modify or terminate a trust or remove the trustee and appoint a +different trustee if the court determines that the value of the trust property +is insufficient to justify the cost of administration. + +(3) Upon termination of a trust under this section, the trustee shall +distribute the trust property in a manner consistent with the purposes of the +trust. The trustee may enter into agreements or make such other provisions +that the trustee deems necessary or appropriate to protect the interests of +the beneficiaries and the trustee and to carry out the intent and purposes of +the trust. + +(4) The existence of a spendthrift provision in the trust does not make +this section inapplicable unless the trust instrument expressly provides that +the trustee may not terminate the trust pursuant to this section. + +(5) This section does not apply to an easement for conservation or +preservation. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0415. +Fla. Stat. 736.0415 + + 736.0415. Reformation to correct mistakes. +Upon application of a settlor or any interested person, the court may + +reform the terms of a trust, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms to the +settlors intent if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that both the +accomplishment of the settlors intent and the terms of the trust were affected +by a mistake of fact or law, whether in expression or inducement. In +determining the settlors original intent, the court may consider evidence +relevant to the settlors intent even though the evidence contradicts an +apparent plain meaning of the trust instrument. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0416. +Fla. Stat. 736.0416 + + 736.0416. Modification to achieve settlors tax objectives. +Upon application of any interested person, to achieve the settlors tax + +objectives the court may modify the terms of a trust in a manner that is not +contrary to the settlors probable intent. The court may provide that the +modification has retroactive effect. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IV. , 736.0417. +Fla. Stat. 736.0417 + + 736.0417. Combination and division of trusts. +(1) After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, a trustee may combine two + +or more trusts into a single trust or divide a trust into two or more separate +trusts, if the result does not impair rights of any beneficiary or adversely +affect achievement of the purposes of the trusts or trust, respectively. + +(2) Subject to the terms of the trust, the trustee may take into +consideration differences in federal tax attributes and other pertinent +factors in administering the trust property of any separate account or trust, +in making applicable tax elections, and in making distributions. A separate +trust created by severance must be treated as a separate trust for all +purposes from the date on which the severance is effective. The effective +date of the severance may be retroactive to a date before the date on which +the trustee exercises such power. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. V + + + +PART V. +CREDITORS CLAIMS; SPENDTHRIFT AND + +DISCRETIONARY TRUSTS. + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.0501. + +Fla. Stat. 736.0501 + + 736.0501. Rights of beneficiarys creditor or assignee. +Except as provided in s. 736.0504, to the extent a beneficiarys interest is + +not subject to a spendthrift provision, the court may authorize a creditor or +assignee of the beneficiary to reach the beneficiarys interest by attachment +of present or future distributions to or for the benefit of the beneficiary or by +other means. The court may limit the award to such relief as is appropriate +under the circumstances. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 11, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.0502. +Fla. Stat. 736.0502 + + 736.0502. Spendthrift provision. +(1) A spendthrift provision is valid only if the provision restrains both + +voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiarys interest. This +subsection does not apply to any trust the terms of which are included in an +instrument executed before the effective date of this code. + +(2) A term of a trust providing that the interest of a beneficiary is held +subject to a spendthrift trust, or words of similar import, is sufficient to +restrain both voluntary and involuntary transfer of the beneficiarys +interest. + +(3) A beneficiary may not transfer an interest in a trust in violation of a +valid spendthrift provision and, except as otherwise provided in this part, a +creditor or assignee of the beneficiary may not reach the interest or a +distribution by the trustee before receipt of the interest or distribution by +the beneficiary. + +(4) A valid spendthrift provision does not prevent the appointment of +interests through the exercise of a power of appointment. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 12, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.0503. +Fla. Stat. 736.0503 + + 736.0503. Exceptions to spendthrift provision. +(1) As used in this section, the term child includes any person for + +whom an order or judgment for child support has been entered in this or +any other state. + +(2) To the extent provided in subsection (3), a spendthrift provision is +unenforceable against: +(a) A beneficiarys child, spouse, or former spouse who has a judgment or + +court order against the beneficiary for support or maintenance. +(b) A judgment creditor who has provided services for the protection of a + +beneficiarys interest in the trust. +(c) A claim of this state or the United States to the extent a law of this state + +or a federal law so provides. +(3) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and in s. 736.0504, a + +claimant against which a spendthrift provision may not be enforced may +obtain from a court, or pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family Support +Act, an order attaching present or future distributions to or for the benefit +of the beneficiary. The court may limit the award to such relief as is +appropriate under the circumstances. Notwithstanding this subsection, the +remedies provided in this subsection apply to a claim by a beneficiarys +child, spouse, former spouse, or a judgment creditor described in paragraph +(2)(a) or paragraph (2)(b) only as a last resort upon an initial showing that +traditional methods of enforcing the claim are insufficient. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 13, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.0504. +Fla. Stat. 736.0504 + + 736.0504. Discretionary trusts; effect of standard. +(1) As used in this section, the term discretionary distribution means a + +distribution that is subject to the trustees discretion whether or not the +discretion is expressed in the form of a standard of distribution and +whether or not the trustee has abused the discretion. + +(2) Whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision, if a trustee +may make discretionary distributions to or for the benefit of a beneficiary, +a creditor of the beneficiary, including a creditor as described in s. +736.0503(2), may not: +(a) Compel a distribution that is subject to the trustees discretion; or +(b) Attach or otherwise reach the interest, if any, which the beneficiary + +might have as a result of the trustees authority to make discretionary +distributions to or for the benefit of the beneficiary. + +(3) If the trustees discretion to make distributions for the trustees own +benefit is limited by an ascertainable standard, a creditor may not reach or +compel distribution of the beneficial interest except to the extent the +interest would be subject to the creditors claim were the beneficiary not +acting as trustee. + +(4) This section does not limit the right of a beneficiary to maintain a +judicial proceeding against a trustee for an abuse of discretion or failure to +comply with a standard for distribution. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 14, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.0505. +Fla. Stat. 736.0505 + + 736.0505. Creditors claims against settlor. +(1) Whether or not the terms of a trust contain a spendthrift provision, + +the following rules apply: +(a) The property of a revocable trust is subject to the claims of the settlors + +creditors during the settlors lifetime to the extent the property would not +otherwise be exempt by law if owned directly by the settlor. + +(b) With respect to an irrevocable trust, a creditor or assignee of the settlor +may reach the maximum amount that can be distributed to or for the settlors +benefit. If a trust has more than one settlor, the amount the creditor or +assignee of a particular settlor may reach may not exceed the settlors interest +in the portion of the trust attributable to that settlors contribution. + +(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b), the assets of an +irrevocable trust may not be subject to the claims of an existing or subsequent +creditor or assignee of the settlor, in whole or in part, solely because of the +existence of a discretionary power granted to the trustee by the terms of the +trust, or any other provision of law, to pay directly to the taxing authorities or +to reimburse the settlor for any tax on trust income or principal which is +payable by the settlor under the law imposing such tax. + +(2) For purposes of this section: +(a) During the period the power may be exercised, the holder of a power of + +withdrawal is treated in the same manner as the settlor of a revocable trust to +the extent of the property subject to the power. + +(b) Upon the lapse, release, or waiver of the power, the holder is treated as +the settlor of the trust only to the extent the value of the property affected by +the lapse, release, or waiver exceeds the greater of the amount specified in: + +1. Section 2041(b)(2) or s. 2514(e); or +2. Section 2503(b) and, if the donor was married at the time of the transfer + +to which the power of withdrawal applies, twice the amount specified in s. +2503(b), + +of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. + + + +(3) Subject to the provisions of s. 726.105, for purposes of this section, +the assets in: +(a)1. A trust described in s. 2523(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, +as amended; +2. A trust for which the election described in s. 2523(f) of the Internal + +Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, has been made; or +3. An irrevocable trust not otherwise described in subparagraph 1. or + +subparagraph 2. in which: +a. The settlors spouse is a beneficiary as described in s. 736.0103(19)(a) + +for the lifetime of the settlors spouse; +b. At no time during the lifetime of the settlors spouse is the settlor a + +beneficiary as described in s. 736.0103(19)(a); and +c. Transfers to the trust by the settlor are completed gifts under s. 2511 of + +the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; and +(b) Another trust, to the extent that the assets in the other trust are + +attributable to a trust described in paragraph (a), shall, after the death of the +settlors spouse, be deemed to have been contributed by the settlors spouse +and not by the settlor. + +shall, after the death of the settlors spouse, be deemed to have been +contributed by the settlors spouse and not by the settlor. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 5, ch. 2010-122, eff. July 1, 2010; + +s. 2, ch. 2022-101, effective July 1, 2022. + +Editors notes. +Sections 2041(b)(2), 2503(b), 2514(e), and 2523 of the Internal Revenue + +Code, referred to in this section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 2041(b)(2), +2503(b), 2514(e), and 2523, respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.05053. +Fla. Stat. 736.05053 + + 736.05053. Trustees duty to pay expenses and obligations of settlors +estate. +(1) A trustee of a trust described in s. 733.707(3) shall pay to the + +personal representative of a settlors estate any amounts that the personal +representative certifies in writing to the trustee are required to pay the +expenses of the administration and obligations of the settlors estate. +Payments made by a trustee, unless otherwise provided in the trust +instrument, must be charged as expenses of the trust without a contribution +from anyone. The interests of all beneficiaries of such a trust are subject to +the provisions of this subsection; however, the payments must be made +from assets, property, or the proceeds of the assets or property that are +included in the settlors gross estate for federal estate tax purposes and +may not be made from assets proscribed in s. 733.707(3) or death benefits +described in s. 733.808(4) unless the trust instrument expressly refers to s. +733.808(4) and directs that it does not apply . + +(2) Unless a settlor provides by will, or designates in a trust described in +s. 733.707(3) funds or property passing under the trust to be used as +designated, the expenses of the administration and obligations of the +settlors estate must be paid from the trust in the following order: +(a) Property of the residue of the trust remaining after all distributions that + +are to be satisfied by reference to a specific property or type of property, +fund, or sum. + +(b) Property that is not to be distributed from specified or identified +property or a specified or identified item of property. + +(c) Property that is to be distributed from specified or identified property or +a specified or identified item of property. + +(3) Trust distributions that are to be satisfied from specified or identified +property must be classed as distributions to be satisfied from the general +assets of the trust and not otherwise disposed of in the trust instrument on +the failure or insufficiency of funds or property from which payment +should be made, to the extent of the insufficiency. Trust distributions given +for valuable consideration abate with other distributions of the same class + + + +only to the extent of the excess over the value of the consideration until all +others of the same class are exhausted. Except as provided in this section, +trust distributions abate equally and ratably and without preference or +priority between real and personal property. When a specified or identified +item of property that has been designated for distribution in the trust +instrument or that is charged with a distribution is sold or taken by the +trustee, other beneficiaries shall contribute according to their respective +interests to the beneficiary whose property has been sold or taken. Before +distribution, the trustee shall determine the amounts of the respective +contributions and such amounts must be paid or withheld before +distribution is made. + +(4) The trustee shall pay the expenses of trust administration, including +compensation of trustees and attorneys of the trustees, before and in +preference to the expenses of the administration and obligations of the +settlors estate. + +(5) Nonresiduary trust dispositions shall abate pro rata with +nonresiduary devises pursuant to the priorities specified in this section and +s. 733.805, determined as if the beneficiaries of the will and trust, other +than the estate or trust itself, were taking under a common instrument. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 6, ch. 2010-122, eff. July 1, 2010; + +s. 9, ch. 2014-127, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors notes. +Section 10, ch. 2014-127, provides: The changes made by this act to s. + +736.05053, Florida Statutes, are intended to clarify existing law, are remedial +in nature, and apply retroactively without regard to the date of the settlors +death. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.05055. +Fla. Stat. 736.05055 + + 736.05055. Notice of trust. +(1) Upon the death of a settlor of a trust described in s. 733.707(3), the + +trustee must file a notice of trust with the court of the county of the +settlors domicile and the court having jurisdiction of the settlors estate. + +(2) The notice of trust must contain the name of the settlor, the settlors +date of death, the title of the trust, if any, the date of the trust, and the name +and address of the trustee. + +(3) If the settlors probate proceeding has been commenced, the clerk +shall notify the trustee in writing of the date of the commencement of the +probate proceeding and the file number. + +(4) The clerk shall file and index the notice of trust in the same manner +as a caveat unless there exists a probate proceeding for the settlors estate, +in which case the notice of trust must be filed in the probate proceeding +and the clerk shall send a copy to the personal representative. + +(5) The clerk shall send a copy of any caveat filed regarding the settlor +to the trustee, and the notice of trust to any caveator, unless there is a +probate proceeding pending and the personal representative and the trustee +are the same. + +(6) Any proceeding affecting the expenses of the administration or +obligations of the settlors estate prior to the trustee filing a notice of trust +are binding on the trustee. + +(7) The trustees failure to file the notice of trust does not affect the +trustees obligation to pay expenses of administration and obligations of +the settlors estate as provided in s. 733.607(2). + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.0506. +Fla. Stat. 736.0506 + + 736.0506. Overdue distribution. +(1) As used in this section, the term mandatory distribution means a + +distribution of income or principal the trustee is required to make to a +beneficiary under the terms of the trust, including a distribution on +termination of the trust. The term does not include a distribution subject to +the exercise of the trustees discretion, even if: +(a) The discretion is expressed in the form of a standard of distribution; or +(b) The terms of the trust authorizing a distribution couple language of + +discretion with language of direction. +(2) A creditor or assignee of a beneficiary may reach a mandatory + +distribution of income or principal, including a distribution upon +termination of the trust, if the trustee has not made the distribution to the +beneficiary within a reasonable time after the designated distribution date, +whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. V. , 736.0507. +Fla. Stat. 736.0507 + + 736.0507. Personal obligations of trustee. +Except to the extent of the trustees interest in the trust other than as a + +trustee, trust property is not subject to personal obligations of the trustee, +even if the trustee becomes insolvent or bankrupt. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VI. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. VI + + + +PART VI. +REVOCABLE TRUSTS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VI. , 736.0601. +Fla. Stat. 736.0601 + + 736.0601. Capacity of settlor of revocable trust. +The capacity required to create, amend, revoke, or add property to a + +revocable trust, or to direct the actions of the trustee of a revocable trust, is +the same as that required to make a will. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VI. , 736.0602. +Fla. Stat. 736.0602 + + 736.0602. Revocation or amendment of revocable trust. +(1) Unless the terms of a trust expressly provide that the trust is + +irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend the trust. This subsection +does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before the +effective date of this code. + +(2) If a revocable trust is created or funded by more than one settlor: +(a) To the extent the trust consists of community property, the trust may be + +revoked by either spouse acting alone but may be amended only by joint +action of both spouses. + +(b) To the extent the trust consists of property other than community +property, each settlor may revoke or amend the trust with regard to the +portion of the trust property attributable to that settlors contribution. + +(c) Upon the revocation or amendment of the trust by fewer than all of the +settlors, the trustee shall promptly notify the other settlors of the revocation +or amendment. + +(3) Subject to s. 736.0403(2), the settlor may revoke or amend a +revocable trust: +(a) By substantial compliance with a method provided in the terms of the + +trust; or +(b) If the terms of the trust do not provide a method, by: +1. A later will or codicil that expressly refers to the trust or specifically + +devises property that would otherwise have passed according to the terms of +the trust; or + +2. Any other method manifesting clear and convincing evidence of the +settlors intent. + +(4) Upon revocation of a revocable trust, the trustee shall deliver the +trust property as the settlor directs. + +(5) A settlors powers with respect to revocation, amendment, or +distribution of trust property may be exercised by an agent under a power + + + +of attorney only as authorized by s. 709.2202. +(6) A guardian of the property of the settlor may exercise a settlors + +powers with respect to revocation, amendment, or distribution of trust +property only as provided in s. 744.441. + +(7) A trustee who does not know that a trust has been revoked or +amended is not liable for distributions made and other actions taken on the +assumption that the trust had not been amended or revoked. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 32, ch. 2011-210, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VI. , 736.0603. +Fla. Stat. 736.0603 + + 736.0603. Settlors powers; powers of withdrawal. +(1) While a trust is revocable, the duties of the trustee are owed + +exclusively to the settlor. +(2) During the period the power may be exercised, the holder of a power + +of withdrawal has the rights of a settlor of a revocable trust under this +section to the extent of the property subject to the power. + +(3) Subject to ss. 736.0403(2) and 736.0602(3)(a), the trustee may +follow a direction of the settlor that is contrary to the terms of the trust +while a trust is revocable. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 6, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, + +2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VI. , 736.0604. +Fla. Stat. 736.0604 + + 736.0604. Limitation on action contesting validity of revocable trust. +An action to contest the validity of a trust that was revocable at the settlors + +death is barred, if not commenced within the earlier of: +(1) The time as provided in chapter 95; or +(2) Six months after the trustee sent the person a copy of the trust + +instrument and a notice informing the person of the trusts existence, of the +trustees name and address, and of the time allowed for commencing a +proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. VII + + + +PART VII. +OFFICE OF TRUSTEE. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0701. +Fla. Stat. 736.0701 + + 736.0701. Accepting or declining trusteeship. +(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3), a person designated + +as trustee accepts the trusteeship: +(a) By substantially complying with a method of acceptance provided in + +the terms of the trust; or +(b) If the terms of the trust do not provide a method or the method + +provided in the terms is not expressly made exclusive, by accepting delivery +of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or +otherwise indicating acceptance of the trusteeship. + +(2) A person designated as trustee who has not accepted the trusteeship +may decline the trusteeship. A designated trustee who does not accept the +trusteeship within a reasonable time after knowing of the designation is +deemed to have declined the trusteeship. + +(3) A person designated as trustee may, without accepting the +trusteeship: +(a) Act to preserve the trust property if, within a reasonable time after + +acting, the person sends to a qualified beneficiary a written statement +declining the trusteeship. + +(b) Inspect or investigate trust property to determine potential liability +under environmental or other law or for any other purpose. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0702. +Fla. Stat. 736.0702 + + 736.0702. Trustees bond. +(1) A trustee shall give bond to secure performance of the trustees + +duties only if the court finds that a bond is needed to protect the interests of +the beneficiaries or is required by the terms of the trust and the court has +not dispensed with the requirement. + +(2) The court may specify the amount of a bond, the trustees liabilities +under the bond, and whether sureties are necessary. The court may modify +or terminate a bond at any time. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0703. +Fla. Stat. 736.0703 + + 736.0703. Cotrustees. +(1) Cotrustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by + +majority decision. +(2) If a vacancy occurs in a cotrusteeship, the remaining cotrustees or a + +majority of the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust. +(3) Subject to s. 736.1412, relating to the allocation of powers among + +cotrustees, requirements for excluded cotrustees to act as a directed trustee, +and liability and related obligations of directing cotrustees, a cotrustee +must participate in the performance of a trustees function unless the +cotrustee is unavailable to perform the function because of absence, illness, +disqualification under other provision of law, or other temporary +incapacity or the cotrustee has properly delegated the performance of the +function to another cotrustee. + +(4) If a cotrustee is unavailable to perform duties because of absence, +illness, disqualification under other law, or other temporary incapacity, and +prompt action is necessary to achieve the purposes of the trust or to avoid +injury to the trust property, the remaining cotrustee or a majority of the +remaining cotrustees may act for the trust. + +(5) A cotrustee may not delegate to another cotrustee the performance of +a function the settlor reasonably expected the cotrustees to perform jointly, +except that a cotrustee may delegate investment functions to a cotrustee +pursuant to and in compliance with s. 518.112. A cotrustee may revoke a +delegation previously made. + +(6) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (7), a cotrustee who does +not join in an action of another cotrustee is not liable for the action. + +(7) Except as otherwise provided in s. 736.1412, relating to the +allocation of powers among cotrustees, requirements for excluded +cotrustees to act as a directed trustee, and liability and related obligations +of directing cotrustees, each cotrustee shall exercise reasonable care to: +(a) Prevent a cotrustee from committing a breach of trust. + + + +(b) Compel a cotrustee to redress a breach of trust. +(8) A dissenting cotrustee who joins in an action at the direction of the + +majority of the cotrustees and who notifies any cotrustee of the dissent at +or before the time of the action is not liable for the action. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 1, ch. 2008-76, eff. July 1, 2008; s. + +5, ch. 2009-117, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 1, ch. 2014-115, effective July 1, 2014; +s. 7, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0704. +Fla. Stat. 736.0704 + + 736.0704. Vacancy in trusteeship; appointment of successor. +(1) A vacancy in a trusteeship occurs if: + +(a) A person designated as trustee declines the trusteeship; +(b) A person designated as trustee cannot be identified or does not exist; +(c) A trustee resigns; +(d) A trustee is disqualified or removed; +(e) A trustee dies; or +(f) A trustee is adjudicated to be incapacitated. + +(2) If one or more cotrustees remain in office, a vacancy in a trusteeship +need not be filled. A vacancy in a trusteeship must be filled if the trust has +no remaining trustee. + +(3) A vacancy in a trusteeship of a noncharitable trust that is required to +be filled must be filled in the following order of priority: +(a) By a person named or designated pursuant to the terms of the trust to + +act as successor trustee. +(b) By a person appointed by unanimous agreement of the qualified + +beneficiaries. +(c) By a person appointed by the court. + +(4) A vacancy in a trusteeship of a charitable trust that is required to be +filled must be filled in the following order of priority: +(a) By a person named or designated pursuant to the terms of the trust to + +act as successor trustee. +(b) By a person selected by unanimous agreement of the charitable + +organizations expressly designated to receive distributions under the terms of +the trust. + +(c) By a person appointed by the court. +(5) The court may appoint an additional trustee or special fiduciary + + + +whenever the court considers the appointment necessary for the +administration of the trust, whether or not a vacancy in a trusteeship exists +or is required to be filled. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0705. +Fla. Stat. 736.0705 + + 736.0705. Resignation of trustee. +(1) A trustee may resign in accordance with the procedure set forth in + +the trust instrument and upon notice to the cotrustees or, if none, to the +successor trustee who has accepted the appointment, or, if none, to the +person or persons who have the authority to appoint a successor trustee. +Notwithstanding any provision of the terms of the trust, a trustee may also +resign: +(a) Upon at least 30 days notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor, + +if living, and all cotrustees; or +(b) With the approval of the court. + +(2) In approving a resignation, the court may issue orders and impose +conditions reasonably necessary for the protection of the trust property. + +(3) Any liability of a resigning trustee or of any sureties on the trustees +bond for acts or omissions of the trustee is not discharged or affected by +the trustees resignation. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2022-101, effective July 1, + +2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0706. +Fla. Stat. 736.0706 + + 736.0706. Removal of trustee. +(1) The settlor, a cotrustee, or a beneficiary may request the court to + +remove a trustee, or a trustee may be removed by the court on the courts +own initiative. + +(2) The court may remove a trustee if: +(a) The trustee has committed a serious breach of trust; +(b) The lack of cooperation among cotrustees substantially impairs the + +administration of the trust; +(c) Due to the unfitness, unwillingness, or persistent failure of the trustee + +to administer the trust effectively, the court determines that removal of the +trustee best serves the interests of the beneficiaries; or + +(d) There has been a substantial change of circumstances or removal is +requested by all of the qualified beneficiaries, the court finds that removal of +the trustee best serves the interests of all of the beneficiaries and is not +inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust, and a suitable cotrustee or +successor trustee is available. + +(3) Pending a final decision on a request to remove a trustee, or in lieu +of or in addition to removing a trustee, the court may order such +appropriate relief under s. 736.1001(2) as may be necessary to protect the +trust property or the interests of the beneficiaries. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0707. +Fla. Stat. 736.0707 + + 736.0707. Delivery of property by former trustee. +(1) Unless a cotrustee remains in office or the court otherwise orders and + +until the trust property is delivered to a successor trustee or other person +entitled to the property, a trustee who has resigned or been removed has +the duties of a trustee and the powers necessary to protect the trust +property. + +(2) A trustee who has resigned or been removed shall within a +reasonable time deliver the trust property within the trustees possession to +the cotrustee, successor trustee, or other person entitled to the property, +subject to the right of the trustee to retain a reasonable reserve for the +payment of debts, expenses, and taxes. The provisions of this subsection +are in addition to and are not in derogation of the rights of a removed or +resigning trustee under the common law. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0708. +Fla. Stat. 736.0708 + + 736.0708. Compensation of trustee. +(1) If the terms of a trust do not specify the trustees compensation, a + +trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the +circumstances. + +(2) If the terms of a trust specify the trustees compensation, the trustee +is entitled to be compensated as specified, but the court may allow more or +less compensation if: +(a) The duties of the trustee are substantially different from those + +contemplated when the trust was created; or +(b) The compensation specified by the terms of the trust would be + +unreasonably low or high. +(3) If the trustee has rendered other services in connection with the + +administration of the trust, the trustee shall also be allowed reasonable +compensation for the other services rendered in addition to reasonable +compensation as trustee. +(4)(a) An attorney serving as a trustee, or a person related to such attorney, +is not entitled to compensation for serving as a trustee if the attorney +prepared or supervised the execution of the trust instrument that appointed +the attorney or person related to the attorney as trustee, unless the attorney +or person appointed is related to the settlor or the attorney makes the +following disclosures to the settlor before the trust instrument is executed: +1. Unless specifically disqualified by the terms of the trust instrument, any + +person, regardless of state of residence and including a family member, +friend, or corporate fiduciary, is eligible to serve as a trustee; + +2. Any person, including an attorney, who serves as a trustee is entitled to +receive reasonable compensation for serving as trustee; and + +3. Compensation payable to the trustee is in addition to any attorney fees +payable to the attorney or the attorneys firm for legal services rendered to +the trustee. + +(b)1. The settlor must execute a written statement acknowledging that the + + + +disclosures required under paragraph (a) were made prior to the execution +of the trust instrument. The written statement must be in a separate writing +from the trust instrument but may be annexed to the trust instrument. The +written statement may be executed before or after the execution of the trust +in which the attorney or related person is appointed as the trustee. +2. The written statement must be in substantially the following form: +I, (Name), declare that: +I have designated my attorney, an attorney employed in the same law firm + +as my attorney, or a person related to my attorney as a trustee in my trust +instrument dated (insert date) + +Before executing the trust, I was informed that: +1. Unless specifically disqualified by the terms of the trust instrument, + +any person, regardless of state of residence and including family members, +friends, and corporate fiduciaries, is eligible to serve as a trustee. + +2. Any person, including an attorney, who serves as a trustee is entitled +to receive reasonable compensation for serving as trustee. + +3. Compensation payable to the trustee is in addition to any attorney fees +payable to the attorney or the attorneys firm for legal services rendered to +the trustee. + +(c) For purposes of this subsection: +1. An attorney is deemed to have prepared, or supervised the execution of, + +a trust instrument if the preparation, or supervision of the execution, of the +trust instrument was performed by an employee or attorney employed by the +same firm as the attorney at the time the trust instrument was executed. + +2. A person is related to an individual if, at the time the attorney +prepared or supervised the execution of the trust instrument, the person is: + +a. A spouse of the individual; +b. A lineal ascendant or descendant of the individual; +c. A sibling of the individual; + + + +d. A relative of the individual or of the individuals spouse with whom the +attorney maintains a close, familial relationship; + +e. A spouse of a person described in sub-subparagraphs b.-d.; +f. A person who cohabitates with the individual; or +g. An employee or attorney employed by the same firm as the attorney at + +the time the trust instrument is executed. +3. An attorney or a person related to the attorney is deemed appointed in + +the trust instrument when the trust instrument appoints the attorney or the +person related to the attorney as trustee, cotrustee, successor, or alternate +trustee in the event another person nominated is unable to or unwilling to +serve, or provides the attorney or any person related to the attorney with the +power to appoint the trustee and the attorney or person related to the attorney +was appointed using that power. + +(d) Other than compensation payable to the trustee, this subsection does +not limit any rights or remedies that any interested person may have at law or +equity. + +(e) The failure to obtain an acknowledgment from the settlor under this +subsection does not disqualify a trustee from serving and does not affect the +validity of a trust instrument. + +(f) This subsection applies to all appointments made pursuant to a trust +agreement: + +1. Executed by a resident of this state on or after October 1, 2020; or +2. Amended by a resident of this state on or after October 1, 2020, if the + +trust agreement nominates the attorney who prepared or supervised the +execution of the amendment or a person related to such attorney as trustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 9, ch. 2020-67, effective October 1, + +2020. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VII. , 736.0709. +Fla. Stat. 736.0709 + + 736.0709. Reimbursement of expenses. +(1) A trustee is entitled to be reimbursed out of the trust property, with + +interest as appropriate, for reasonable expenses that were properly incurred +in the administration of the trust. + +(2) An advance by the trustee of money for the protection of the trust +gives rise to a lien against trust property to secure reimbursement with +reasonable interest. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. VIII + + + +PART VIII. +DUTIES AND POWERS OF TRUSTEE. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0801. +Fla. Stat. 736.0801 + + 736.0801. Duty to administer trust. +Upon acceptance of a trusteeship, the trustee shall administer the trust in + +good faith, in accordance with its terms and purposes and the interests of the +beneficiaries, and in accordance with this code. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0802. +Fla. Stat. 736.0802 + + 736.0802. Duty of loyalty. +(1) As between a trustee and the beneficiaries, a trustee shall administer + +the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. +(2) Subject to the rights of persons dealing with or assisting the trustee + +as provided in s. 736.1016, a sale, encumbrance, or other transaction +involving the investment or management of trust property entered into by +the trustee for the trustees own personal account or which is otherwise +affected by a conflict between the trustees fiduciary and personal interests +is voidable by a beneficiary affected by the transaction unless: +(a) The transaction was authorized by the terms of the trust; +(b) The transaction was approved by the court; +(c) The beneficiary did not commence a judicial proceeding within the + +time allowed by s. 736.1008; +(d) The beneficiary consented to the trustees conduct, ratified the + +transaction, or released the trustee in compliance with s. 736.1012; +(e) The transaction involves a contract entered into or claim acquired by + +the trustee when that person had not become or contemplated becoming +trustee; + +(f) The transaction was consented to in writing by a settlor of the trust +while the trust was revocable; + +(g) The transaction is one by a corporate trustee that involves a money +market mutual fund, mutual fund, or a common trust fund described in s. +736.0816(3); or + +(h) With regard to a trust that is administered by a family trust company, +licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust company +operating under chapter 662, the transaction is authorized by s. 662.132(4)- +(8). + +(3)(a) A sale, encumbrance, or other transaction involving the investment +or management of trust property is presumed to be affected by a conflict + + + +between personal and fiduciary interests if the sale, encumbrance, or other +transaction is entered into by the trustee with: +1. The trustees spouse; +2. The trustees descendants, siblings, parents, or their spouses; +3. An officer, director, employee, agent, or attorney of the trustee; or +4. A corporation or other person or enterprise in which the trustee, or a + +person that owns a significant interest in the trustee, has an interest that might +affect the trustees best judgment. + +(b) This subsection does not apply to a trust being administered by a family +trust company, licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust +company operating under chapter 662 if the sale, encumbrance, or other +transaction is authorized by s. 662.132(4)-(8). + +(4) A transaction not concerning trust property in which the trustee +engages in the trustees individual capacity involves a conflict between +personal and fiduciary interests if the transaction concerns an opportunity +properly belonging to the trust. +(5)(a) An investment by a trustee authorized by lawful authority to engage +in trust business, as defined in s. 658.12, in investment instruments, as +defined in s. 660.25(6), that are owned or controlled by the trustee or its +affiliate, or from which the trustee or its affiliate receives compensation for +providing services in a capacity other than as trustee, is not presumed to be +affected by a conflict between personal and fiduciary interests provided the +investment otherwise complies with chapters 518 and 660 and the trustee +complies with the requirements of this subsection. +(b) A trustee who, pursuant to this subsection, invests trust funds in + +investment instruments that are owned or controlled by the trustee or its +affiliate shall disclose the following to all qualified beneficiaries: + +1. Notice that the trustee has invested trust funds in investment instruments +owned or controlled by the trustee or its affiliate. + +2. The identity of the investment instruments. +3. The identity and relationship to the trustee of any affiliate that owns or + +controls the investment instruments. + + + +(c) A trustee who, pursuant to this subsection, invests trust funds in +investment instruments with respect to which the trustee or its affiliate +receives compensation for providing services in a capacity other than as +trustee shall disclose to all qualified beneficiaries, the nature of the services +provided by the trustee or its affiliate, and all compensation, including, but +not limited to, fees or commissions paid or to be paid by the account and +received or to be received by an affiliate arising from such affiliated +investment. + +(d) Disclosure required by this subsection shall be made at least annually +unless there has been no change in the method or increase in the rate at which +such compensation is calculated since the most recent disclosure. The +disclosure may be given in a trust disclosure document as defined in s. +736.1008, in a copy of the prospectus for the investment instrument, in any +other written disclosure prepared for the investment instrument under +applicable federal or state law, or in a written summary that includes all +compensation received or to be received by the trustee and any affiliate of the +trustee and an explanation of the manner in which such compensation is +calculated, either as a percentage of the assets invested or by some other +method. + +(e) This subsection shall apply as follows: +1. This subsection does not apply to qualified investment instruments or to + +a trust for which a right of revocation exists. +2. For investment instruments other than qualified investment instruments, + +paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) shall apply to irrevocable trusts created on or +after July 1, 2007, which expressly authorize the trustee, by specific reference +to this subsection, to invest in investment instruments owned or controlled by +the trustee or its affiliate. + +3. For investment instruments other than qualified investment instruments, +paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) shall apply to irrevocable trusts created on or +after July 1, 2007, that are not described in subparagraph 2. and to +irrevocable trusts created prior to July 1, 2007, only as follows: + +a. Such paragraphs shall not apply until the statement required in +paragraph (f) is provided and a majority of the qualified beneficiaries have +provided written consent. All consents must be obtained within 90 days after + + + +the date of delivery of the written request. Once given, consent shall be valid +as to all investment instruments acquired pursuant to the consent prior to the +date of any withdrawal of the consent. + +(I) Any qualified beneficiary may petition the court for an order to +prohibit, limit, or restrict a trustees authority to make investments under +this subsection. The burden shall be upon the petitioning beneficiary to +show good cause for the relief sought. + +(II) The court may award costs and attorney fees relating to any petition +under this subparagraph in the same manner as in chancery actions. When +costs and attorney fees are to be paid out of the trust, the court, in its +discretion, may direct from which part of the trust such costs and fees shall be +paid. + +b. The consent of a majority of the qualified beneficiaries under this +subparagraph may be withdrawn prospectively by written notice of a majority +of any one of the class or classes of the qualified beneficiaries. + +(f)1. The trustee of a trust as defined in s. 731.201 may request authority to +invest in investment instruments described in this subsection other than a +qualified investment instrument, by providing to all qualified beneficiaries +a written request containing the following: +a. The name, telephone number, street address, and mailing address of the + +trustee and of any individuals who may be contacted for further information. +b. A statement that the investment or investments cannot be made without + +the consent of a majority of each class of the qualified beneficiaries. +c. A statement that, if a majority of each class of qualified beneficiaries + +consent, the trustee will have the right to make investments in investment +instruments, as defined in s. 660.25(6), which are owned or controlled by the +trustee or its affiliate, or from which the trustee or its affiliate receives +compensation for providing services in a capacity other than as trustee, that +such investment instruments may include investment instruments sold +primarily to trust accounts, and that the trustee or its affiliate may receive fees +in addition to the trustees compensation for administering the trust. + +d. A statement that the consent may be withdrawn prospectively at any +time by written notice given by a majority of any class of the qualified +beneficiaries. + + + +A statement by the trustee is not delivered if the statement is accompanied +by another written communication other than a written communication by the +trustee that refers only to the statement. + +2. For purposes of paragraph (e) and this paragraph: +a. Majority of the qualified beneficiaries means: + +(I) If at the time the determination is made there are one or more +beneficiaries as described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), at least a majority in +interest of the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(a), at least a +majority in interest of the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(b), +and at least a majority in interest of the beneficiaries described in s. +736.0103(19)(c), if the interests of the beneficiaries are reasonably +ascertainable; otherwise, a majority in number of each such class; or + +(II) If there is no beneficiary as described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), at least a +majority in interest of the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(a) and at +least a majority in interest of the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19) +(b), if the interests of the beneficiaries are reasonably ascertainable; +otherwise, a majority in number of each such class. + +b. Qualified investment instrument means a mutual fund, common trust +fund, or money market fund described in and governed by s. 736.0816(3). + +c. An irrevocable trust is created upon execution of the trust instrument. If +a trust that was revocable when created thereafter becomes irrevocable, the +irrevocable trust is created when the right of revocation terminates. + +(g) Nothing in this chapter is intended to create or imply a duty for the +trustee to seek the application of this subsection to invest in investment +instruments described in paragraph (a), and no inference of impropriety may +be made as a result of a trustee electing not to invest trust assets in investment +instruments described in paragraph (a). + +(h) This subsection is not the exclusive authority under this code for +investing in investment instruments described in paragraph (a). A trustee who +invests trust funds in investment instruments described in paragraph (a) is not +required to comply with paragraph (b), paragraph (c), or paragraph (f) if the +trustee is permitted to invest in such investment instruments pursuant to +subsection (2). + + + +(i) This subsection does not apply to a trust administered by a +family trust company, licensed family trust company, or foreign +licensed family trust company operating under chapter 662. + +(6) In voting shares of stock or in exercising powers of control over +similar interests in other forms of enterprise, the trustee shall act in the best +interests of the beneficiaries. If the trust is the sole owner of a corporation +or other form of enterprise, the trustee shall elect or appoint directors or +other managers who will manage the corporation or enterprise in the best +interests of the beneficiaries. + +(7) This section does not preclude the following transactions, if fair to +the beneficiaries: +(a) An agreement between a trustee and a beneficiary relating to the + +appointment or compensation of the trustee; +(b) A payment of reasonable compensation to the trustee; +(c) A transaction between a trust and another trust, the decedents estate, or + +a guardian of the property of which the trustee is a fiduciary or in which a +beneficiary has an interest; + +(d) A deposit of trust money in a regulated financial service institution +operated by the trustee; or + +(e) An advance by the trustee of money for the protection of the trust. +(8) This section does not preclude the employment of persons, + +including, but not limited to, attorneys, accountants, investment advisers, +or agents, even if they are the trustee, an affiliate of the trustee, or +otherwise associated with the trustee, to advise or assist the trustee in the +exercise of any of the trustees powers and to pay reasonable compensation +and costs incurred in connection with such employment from the assets of +the trust; to act without independent investigation on their +recommendations; and, instead of acting personally, to employ one or +more agents to perform any act of administration, whether or not +discretionary. + +(9) The court may appoint a special fiduciary to act with respect to any +proposed transaction that might violate this section if entered into by the +trustee. + + + +(10) Unless otherwise provided in this subsection, payment of costs or +attorney fees incurred in any proceeding may be made by a trustee from +assets of the trust without the approval of any person and without court +authorization, as provided in ss. 736.0816(20) and 736.1007(1). +(a) As used in this subsection, the term pleading means a pleading as + +defined in Rule 1.100 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. +(b) If a trustee incurs attorney fees or costs in connection with a claim or + +defense of breach of trust which is made in a filed pleading, the trustee may +pay such attorney fees or costs from trust assets without the approval of any +person and without any court authorization. However, the trustee must serve +a written notice of intent upon each qualified beneficiary of the trust whose +share of the trust may be affected by the payment before such payment is +made. The notice of intent does not need to be served upon a qualified +beneficiary whose identity or location is unknown to, and not reasonably +ascertainable by, the trustee. + +(c) The notice of intent must identify the judicial proceeding in which the +claim or defense of breach of trust has been made in a filed pleading and +must inform the person served of his or her right under paragraph (e) to apply +to the court for an order prohibiting the trustee from using trust assets to pay +attorney fees or costs as provided in paragraph (b) or compelling the return of +such attorney fees and costs to the trust. The notice of intent must be served +by any commercial delivery service or form of mail requiring a signed +receipt; the manner provided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure for +service of process; or, as to any party over whom the court has already +acquired jurisdiction in that judicial proceeding, in the manner provided for +service of pleadings and other documents by the Florida Rules of Civil +Procedure. + +(d) If a trustee has used trust assets to pay attorney fees or costs described +in paragraph (b) before service of a notice of intent, any qualified beneficiary +who is not barred under s. 736.1008 and whose share of the trust may have +been affected by such payment is entitled, upon the filing of a motion to +compel the return of such payment to the trust, to an order compelling the +return of such payment, with interest at the statutory rate. The court shall +award attorney fees and costs incurred in connection with the motion to +compel as provided in s. 736.1004. + + + +(e) Upon the motion of any qualified beneficiary who is not barred under s. +736.1008 and whose share of the trust may be affected by the use of trust +assets to pay attorney fees or costs as provided in paragraph (b), the court +may prohibit the trustee from using trust assets to make such payment and, if +such payment has been made from trust assets after service of a notice of +intent, the court may enter an order compelling the return of the attorney fees +and costs to the trust, with interest at the statutory rate. In connection with +any hearing on a motion brought under this paragraph: + +1. The court shall deny the motion unless it finds a reasonable basis to +conclude that there has been a breach of trust. If the court finds there is a +reasonable basis to conclude there has been a breach of trust, the court may +still deny the motion if it finds good cause to do so. + +2. The movant may show that such reasonable basis exists, and the trustee +may rebut any such showing by presenting affidavits, answers to +interrogatories, admissions, depositions, and any evidence otherwise +admissible under the Florida Evidence Code. + +(f) If a trustee fails to comply with an order of the court prohibiting the use +of trust assets to pay attorney fees or costs described in paragraph (b) or fails +to comply with an order compelling that such payment be refunded to the +trust, the court may impose such remedies or sanctions as the court deems +appropriate, including, without limitation, striking the defenses or pleadings +filed by the trustee. + +(g) Notwithstanding the entry of an order prohibiting the use of trust assets +to pay attorney fees and costs as provided in paragraph (b), or compelling the +return of such attorney fees or costs, if a claim or defense of breach of trust is +withdrawn, dismissed, or judicially resolved in the trial court without a +determination that the trustee has committed a breach of trust, the trustee is +authorized to use trust assets to pay attorney fees and costs as provided in +paragraph (b) and may do so without service of a notice of intent or order of +the court. The attorney fees and costs may include fees and costs that were +refunded to the trust pursuant to an order of the court. + +(h) This subsection does not limit proceedings under s. 736.0206 or +remedies for breach of trust under s. 736.1001, or the right of any interested +person to challenge or object to the payment of compensation or costs from +the trust. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 3, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 159, ch. 2008-4, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 2, ch. 2008-76, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 20, +ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 18, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; s. 38, +ch. 2014-97, effective October 1, 2015; s. 5, ch. 2016-189, effective July 1, +2016; s. 41, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021; s. 18, ch. 2022-178, +effective July 1, 2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0803. +Fla. Stat. 736.0803 + + 736.0803. Impartiality. +If a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee shall act impartially in + +administering the trust property, giving due regard to the beneficiaries +respective interests. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0804. +Fla. Stat. 736.0804 + + 736.0804. Prudent administration. +A trustee shall administer the trust as a prudent person would, by + +considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other +circumstances of the trust. In satisfying this standard, the trustee shall +exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0805. +Fla. Stat. 736.0805 + + 736.0805. Expenses of administration. +In administering a trust, the trustee shall only incur expenses that are + +reasonable in relation to the trust property, the purposes of the trust, and the +skills of the trustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0806. +Fla. Stat. 736.0806 + + 736.0806. Trustees skills. +A trustee who has special skills or expertise, or is named trustee in reliance + +on the trustees representation that the trustee has special skills or expertise, +shall use those special skills or expertise. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0807. +Fla. Stat. 736.0807 + + 736.0807. Delegation by trustee. +(1) A trustee may delegate duties and powers that a prudent trustee of + +comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances, +including investment functions pursuant to s. 518.112. The trustee shall +exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution in: +(a) Selecting an agent. +(b) Establishing the scope and terms of the delegation, consistent with the + +purposes and terms of the trust. +(c) Reviewing the agents actions periodically, in order to monitor the + +agents performance and compliance with the terms of the delegation. +(2) In performing a delegated function, an agent owes a duty to the trust + +to exercise reasonable care to comply with the terms of the delegation. +(3) A trustee who complies with subsection (1) and, when investment + +functions are delegated, s. 518.112 is not liable to the beneficiaries or to +the trust for an action of the agent to whom the function was delegated. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 6, ch. 2009-117, eff. July 1, 2009; + +s. 13, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0808. +Fla. Stat. 736.0808 + + 736.0808. Powers to direct. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; repealed by s. 8, ch. 2021-183, + +effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0809. +Fla. Stat. 736.0809 + + 736.0809. Control and protection of trust property. +A trustee shall take reasonable steps to take control of and protect the trust + +property. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0810. +Fla. Stat. 736.0810 + + 736.0810. Recordkeeping and identification of trust property. +(1) A trustee shall keep clear, distinct, and accurate records of the + +administration of the trust. +(2) A trustee shall keep trust property separate from the trustees own + +property. +(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4), a trustee shall cause + +the trust property to be designated so that the interest of the trust, to the +extent feasible, appears in records maintained by a party other than a +trustee or beneficiary. + +(4) If the trustee maintains records clearly indicating the respective +interests, a trustee may invest as a whole the property of two or more +separate trusts. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.08105. +Fla. Stat. 736.08105 + + 736.08105. Duty to ascertain marketable title of trust real property. +A trustee holding title to real property received from a settlor or estate shall + +not be required to obtain title insurance or proof of marketable title until a +marketable title is required for a sale or conveyance of the real property. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0811. +Fla. Stat. 736.0811 + + 736.0811. Enforcement and defense of claims. +A trustee shall take reasonable steps to enforce claims of the trust and to + +defend claims against the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0812. +Fla. Stat. 736.0812 + + 736.0812. Collecting trust property. +A trustee shall take reasonable steps to compel a former trustee or other + +person to deliver trust property to the trustee and, except as provided in s. +736.08125, to redress a breach of trust known to the trustee to have been +committed by a former trustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.08125. +Fla. Stat. 736.08125 + + 736.08125. Protection of successor trustees. +(1) A successor trustee is not personally liable for actions taken by any + +prior trustee, nor does any successor trustee have a duty to institute any +proceeding against any prior trustee, or file any claim against any prior +trustees estate, for any of the prior trustees actions as trustee under any of +the following circumstances: +(a) As to a successor trustee who succeeds a trustee who was also the + +settlor of a trust that was revocable during the time that the settlor served as +trustee; + +(b) As to any beneficiary who has waived any accounting required by s. +736.0813, but only as to the periods included in the waiver; + +(c) As to any beneficiary who has released the successor trustee from the +duty to institute any proceeding or file any claim; + +(d) As to any person who is not an eligible beneficiary; or +(e) As to any eligible beneficiary: +1. If a super majority of the eligible beneficiaries have released the + +successor trustee; +2. If the eligible beneficiary has not delivered a written request to the + +successor trustee to institute an action or file a claim against the prior trustee +within 6 months after the date of the successor trustees acceptance of the +trust, if the successor trustee has notified the eligible beneficiary in writing of +acceptance by the successor trustee in accordance with s. 736.0813(1)(a) and +that writing advises the beneficiary that, unless the beneficiary delivers the +written request within 6 months after the date of acceptance, the right to +proceed against the successor trustee will be barred pursuant to this section; +or + +3. For any action or claim that the eligible beneficiary is barred from +bringing against the prior trustee. + +(2) For the purposes of this section, the term: + + + +(a) Eligible beneficiaries means: +1. At the time the determination is made, if there are one or more + +beneficiaries as described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), the beneficiaries described in +s. 736.0103(19)(a) and (c); or + +2. If there is no beneficiary as described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), the +beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(a) and (b). + +(b) Super majority of eligible beneficiaries means at least two-thirds in +interest of the eligible beneficiaries if the interests of the eligible beneficiaries +are reasonably ascertainable, otherwise, at least two-thirds in number of the +eligible beneficiaries. + +(3) Nothing in this section affects any liability of the prior trustee or the +right of the successor trustee or any beneficiary to pursue an action or +claim against the prior trustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 19, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; + +s. 42, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0813. +Fla. Stat. 736.0813 + + 736.0813. Duty to inform and account. +The trustee shall keep the qualified beneficiaries of the trust reasonably + +informed of the trust and its administration. +(1) The trustees duty to inform and account includes, but is not limited + +to, the following: +(a) Within 60 days after acceptance of the trust, the trustee shall give notice + +to the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance of the trust, the full name and +address of the trustee, and that the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege in s. +90.5021 applies with respect to the trustee and any attorney employed by the +trustee. + +(b) Within 60 days after the date the trustee acquires knowledge of the +creation of an irrevocable trust, or the date the trustee acquires knowledge +that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable, whether by the death +of the settlor or otherwise, the trustee shall give notice to the qualified +beneficiaries of the trusts existence, the identity of the settlor or settlors, the +right to request a copy of the trust instrument, the right to accountings under +this section, and that the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege in s. 90.5021 +applies with respect to the trustee and any attorney employed by the trustee. + +(c) Upon reasonable request, the trustee shall provide a qualified +beneficiary with a complete copy of the trust instrument. + +(d) A trustee of an irrevocable trust shall provide a trust accounting, as set +forth in s. 736.08135, from the date of the last accounting or, if none, from +the date on which the trustee became accountable, to each qualified +beneficiary at least annually and on termination of the trust or on change of +the trustee. Notwithstanding s. 736.0105(2)(s) or the duties under this +paragraph, if a family trust company, licensed family trust company, or +foreign licensed family trust company, as defined in s. 662.111, is a trustee of +an irrevocable trust, the terms of the trust may permit for accounting to the +qualified beneficiaries only at the termination of the trust; upon the removal, +resignation, or other event resulting in a trustee ceasing to serve as a trustee; +or upon demand of a qualified beneficiary or the representative of a qualified +beneficiary. This paragraph may not be construed to prohibit a trustee that is + + + +a family trust company, licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed +family trust company from voluntarily accounting to the qualified +beneficiaries annually or at other times selected by such trustee. + +(e) Upon reasonable request, the trustee shall provide a qualified +beneficiary with relevant information about the assets and liabilities of the +trust and the particulars relating to administration. + +Paragraphs (a) and (b) do not apply to an irrevocable trust created before +the effective date of this code, or to a revocable trust that becomes +irrevocable before the effective date of this code. Paragraph (a) does not +apply to a trustee who accepts a trusteeship before the effective date of this +code. + +(2) A qualified beneficiary may waive the trustees duty to account +under paragraph (1)(d). A qualified beneficiary may withdraw a waiver +previously given. Waivers and withdrawals of prior waivers under this +subsection must be in writing. Withdrawals of prior waivers are effective +only with respect to accountings for future periods. + +(3) The representation provisions of part III apply with respect to all +rights of a qualified beneficiary under this section. + +(4) As provided in s. 736.0603(1), the trustees duties under this section +extend only to the settlor while a trust is revocable. + +(5) This section applies to trust accountings rendered for accounting +periods beginning on or after July 1, 2007. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 15, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 11, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, 2011; s. 14, ch. 2013-172, eff. Oct. 1, 2013; +s. 8, ch. 2022-96, effective July 1, 2022. + +Editors notes. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.08135. +Fla. Stat. 736.08135 + + 736.08135. Trust accountings. +(1) A trust accounting must be a reasonably understandable report from + +the date of the last accounting or, if none, from the date on which the +trustee became accountable, that adequately discloses the information +required in subsection (2). +(2)(a) The accounting must begin with a statement identifying the trust, the +trustee furnishing the accounting, and the time period covered by the +accounting. +(b) The accounting must show all cash and property transactions and all + +significant transactions affecting administration during the accounting period, +including compensation paid to the trustee and the trustees agents. Gains and +losses realized during the accounting period and all receipts and +disbursements must be shown. + +(c) To the extent feasible, the accounting must identify and value trust +assets on hand at the close of the accounting period. For each asset or class of +assets reasonably capable of valuation, the accounting shall contain two +values, the asset acquisition value or carrying value and the estimated current +value. The accounting must identify each known noncontingent liability with +an estimated current amount of the liability if known. + +(d) To the extent feasible, the accounting must show significant +transactions that do not affect the amount for which the trustee is +accountable, including name changes in investment holdings, adjustments to +carrying value, a change of custodial institutions, and stock splits. + +(e) The accounting must reflect the allocation of receipts, disbursements, +accruals, or allowances between income and principal when the allocation +affects the interest of any beneficiary of the trust. + +(f) The trustee shall include in the final accounting a plan of distribution +for any undistributed assets shown on the final accounting. + +(3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), if a family trust company, +licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust company, +as defined in s. 662.111, is a trustee of the trust, such trustee may elect, for + + + +any accounting period, to provide the qualified beneficiaries with all of the +following information: +(a) A notice stating that the trustee has made an election to provide the + +information described in this subsection. +(b) The information required by paragraph (2)(a) and, if applicable, the + +information required by paragraph (2)(f). +(c) A financial statement for the trust which summarizes the information + +provided pursuant to paragraphs (2)(b)-(e). The financial statement must +contain sufficient information to put the beneficiary on notice of the trusts +comprehensive assets and liabilities as well as of the transactions occurring +during the accounting period. A financial statement that reports a summary of +the comprehensive assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the +accounting period and the aggregate amounts of all cash and property +transactions, gains, losses, receipts, expenses, disbursements, distributions, +accruals, or allowances occurring within the accounting period for each +category of assets and liabilities meets the requirements of this paragraph. + +For the purposes of this chapter, a financial statement that a trustee +provides to a beneficiary of a trust under this subsection is deemed to be a +trust accounting. Any trustee that makes the election provided in this +subsection shall, upon request of any beneficiary made within the limitations +period under s. 736.1008, make available the detailed information necessary +for preparation of the financial statement to the beneficiary within 30 days +after the date of such request, including providing copies of the requested +information. A request by a beneficiary for the detailed information necessary +for the preparation of the financial statement tolls the running of any +applicable limitations period until the detailed information is made available +to the beneficiary. + +(4) Subsections (1) and (2) govern the form and content of all trust +accountings rendered for any accounting periods beginning on or after +January 1, 2003, and all trust accountings rendered on or after July 1, 2018. +The election provided in subsection (3) for trusts for which a family trust +company, licensed family trust company, or foreign licensed family trust +company, as defined in s. 662.111, is a trustee is available for any +accounting periods beginning on or after July 1, 2022. This subsection +does not affect the beginning period from which a trustee is required to + + + +render a trust accounting. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 6, ch. 2018-35, effective July 1, + +2018; s. 9, ch. 2022-96, effective July 1, 2022. + +Editors Notes +S. 8 of ch. 2018-35 provides: The changes to ss. 736.08135 and 736.1008, + +Florida Statutes, made by this act are intended to clarify existing law, are +remedial in nature, and apply retroactively to all cases pending or +commenced on or after July 1, 2018. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0814. +Fla. Stat. 736.0814 + + 736.0814. Discretionary powers; tax savings. +(1) Notwithstanding the breadth of discretion granted to a trustee in the + +terms of the trust, including the use of such terms as absolute, sole, or +uncontrolled, the trustee shall exercise a discretionary power in good +faith and in accordance with the terms and purposes of the trust and the +interests of the beneficiaries. A court shall not determine that a trustee +abused its discretion merely because the court would have exercised the +discretion in a different manner or would not have exercised the discretion. + +(2) Subject to subsection (3) and unless the terms of the trust expressly +indicate that a rule in this subsection does not apply, a person who is a +beneficiary and a trustee may not: +(a) Make discretionary distributions of either principal or income to or for + +the benefit of that trustee, except to provide for that trustees health, +education, maintenance, or support as described under ss. 2041 and 2514 of +the Internal Revenue Code; + +(b) Make discretionary allocations of receipts or expenses as between +principal and income, unless the trustee acts in a fiduciary capacity whereby +the trustee has no power to enlarge or shift any beneficial interest except as +an incidental consequence of the discharge of the trustees fiduciary duties; + +(c) Make discretionary distributions of either principal or income to satisfy +any of the trustees legal support obligations; or + +(d) Exercise any other power, including, but not limited to, the right to +remove or to replace any trustee, so as to cause the powers enumerated in +paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c) to be exercised on behalf of, or +for the benefit of, a beneficiary who is also a trustee. + +(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to: +(a) A power held by the settlor of the trust; +(b) A power held by the settlors spouse who is the trustee of a trust for + +which a marital deduction, as defined in s. 2056(a) or s. 2523(a) of the +Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, was previously allowed; + + + +(c) Any trust during any period that the trust may be revoked or amended +by its settlor; or + +(d) A trust if contributions to the trust qualify for the annual exclusion +under s. 2503(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. + +(4) A power whose exercise is limited or prohibited by subsection (2) +may be exercised by the remaining trustees whose exercise of the power is +not so limited or prohibited. If there is no trustee qualified to exercise the +power, on petition by any qualified beneficiary, the court may appoint an +independent trustee with authority to exercise the power. + +(5) A person who has the right to remove or to replace a trustee does not +possess nor may that person be deemed to possess, by virtue of having that +right, the powers of the trustee that is subject to removal or to replacement. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + +Editors notes. +Sections 2041, 2056(a), 2503(c), 2514, and 2523(a) of the Internal + +Revenue Code, referred to in this section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. +2041, 2056(a), 2503(c), 2514, and 2523(a), respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.08145. +Fla. Stat. 736.08145 + + 736.08145. Grantor trust reimbursement. +(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided under the terms of a trust, if all or any +portion of the trust is treated as being owned by a person under s. 671 of +the Internal Revenue Code or any similar federal, state, or other tax law, +the trustee may, in the trustees sole discretion, reimburse the person being +treated as the owner for any amount of the persons personal federal, state, +or other income tax liability which is attributable to the inclusion of the +trusts income, capital gains, deductions, or credits in the calculation of the +persons taxable income. In the trustees sole discretion, the trustee may +pay such tax reimbursement amount, determined without regard to any +other distribution or payment made from trust assets, to the person directly +or to the appropriate taxing authority. +(b) A life insurance policy held in the trust, the cash value of any such + +policy, or the proceeds of any loan secured by an interest in the policy may +not be used for such reimbursement or such payment if the person is an +insured. + +(2) This section applies to all trusts that are governed by the laws of this +state or that have a principal place of administration within this state, +whether created on, before, or after July 1, 2020, unless: +(a) The trustee provides written notification that the trustee intends to + +irrevocably elect out of the application of this section, at least 60 days before +the effective date of such election, to the person treated as the owner of all or +a portion of the trust under s. 671 of the Internal Revenue Code or any similar +federal, state, or other tax law and to all persons who have the ability to +remove and replace the trustee. + +(b) Applying this section would prevent a contribution to the trust from +qualifying for, or would reduce, a federal tax benefit, including a federal tax +exclusion or deduction, which was originally claimed or could have been +claimed for the contribution, including: + +1. An exclusion under s. 2503(b) or s. 2503(c) of the Internal Revenue +Code; + + + +2. A marital deduction under s. 2056, s. 2056A, or s. 2523 of the Internal +Revenue Code; + +3. A charitable deduction under s. 170(a), s. 642(c), s. 2055(a), or s. +2522(a) of the Internal Revenue Code; or + +4. Direct skip treatment under s. 2642(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. +(3) A trustee may not exercise, or participate in the exercise of, the + +powers granted by this section with respect to any trust if any of the +following applies: +(a) The trustee is treated as the owner of all or part of such trust under s. + +671 of the Internal Revenue Code or any similar federal, state, or other tax +law. + +(b) The trustee is a beneficiary of such trust. +(c) The trustee is a related or subordinate party, as defined in s. 672(c) of + +the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to a person treated as the owner of +all or part of such trust under s. 671 of the Internal Revenue Code or any +similar federal, state, or other tax law or with respect to a beneficiary of such +trust. + +(4) If the terms of a trust require the trustee to act at the direction or with +the consent of a trust advisor, a protector, or any other person, or that the +decisions addressed in this section be made directly by a trust advisor, a +protector, or any other person, the powers granted by this section to the +trustee must instead or also be granted, as applicable under the terms of the +trust, to the advisor, protector, or other person subject to the limitations set +forth in subsection (3), which must be applied as if the advisor, protector, +or other person were a trustee. + +(5) A person may not be considered a beneficiary of a trust solely by +reason of the application of this section, including for purposes of +determining the elective estate. + +History. +S. 1, ch. 2020-70, effective July 1, 2020; s. 10, ch. 2022-96, effective July + +1, 2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.08147. +Fla. Stat. 736.08147 + + 736.08147. Duty to distribute trust income. +If a will or trust instrument granting income to the settlors or testators + +spouse for life is silent as to the time of distribution of income and the +frequency of distributions, the trustee shall distribute all net income, as +defined in chapter 738, to the spouse no less frequently than annually. This +provision shall apply to any trust established before, on, or after July 1, 2007, +unless the trust instrument expressly directs or permits net income to be +distributed less frequently than annually. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0815. +Fla. Stat. 736.0815 + + 736.0815. General powers of trustee. +(1) A trustee, without authorization by the court, may, except as limited + +or restricted by this code, exercise: +(a) Powers conferred by the terms of the trust. +(b) Except as limited by the terms of the trust: +1. All powers over the trust property that an unmarried competent owner + +has over individually owned property. +2. Any other powers appropriate to achieve the proper investment, + +management, and distribution of the trust property. +3. Any other powers conferred by this code. + +(2) The exercise of a power is subject to the fiduciary duties prescribed +by this code. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0816. +Fla. Stat. 736.0816 + + 736.0816. Specific powers of trustee. +Except as limited or restricted by this code, a trustee may: + +(1) Collect trust property and accept or reject additions to the trust +property from a settlor, including an asset in which the trustee is personally +interested, and hold property in the name of a nominee or in other form +without disclosure of the trust so that title to the property may pass by +delivery but the trustee is liable for any act of the nominee in connection +with the property so held. + +(2) Acquire or sell property, for cash or on credit, at public or private +sale. + +(3) Acquire an undivided interest in a trust asset, including, but not +limited to, a money market mutual fund, mutual fund, or common trust +fund, in which asset the trustee holds an undivided interest in any trust +capacity, including any money market or other mutual fund from which the +trustee or any affiliate or associate of the trustee is entitled to receive +reasonable compensation for providing necessary services as an investment +adviser, portfolio manager, or servicing agent. A trustee or affiliate or +associate of the trustee may receive compensation for such services in +addition to fees received for administering the trust provided such +compensation is fully disclosed in writing to all qualified beneficiaries. As +used in this subsection, the term mutual fund includes an open-end or +closed-end management investment company or investment trust registered +under the Investment Company Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. ss. 80a-1 et seq., as +amended. + +(4) Exchange, partition, or otherwise change the character of trust +property. + +(5) Deposit trust money in an account in a regulated financial service +institution. + +(6) Borrow money, with or without security, and mortgage or pledge +trust property for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the +trust and advance money for the protection of the trust. + + + +(7) With respect to an interest in a proprietorship, partnership, limited +liability company, business trust, corporation, or other form of business or +enterprise, continue the business or other enterprise and take any action +that may be taken by shareholders, members, or property owners, +including, but not limited to, merging, dissolving, or otherwise changing +the form of business organization or contributing additional capital. + +(8) With respect to stocks or other securities, exercise the rights of an +absolute owner, including, but not limited to, the right to: +(a) Vote, or give proxies to vote, with or without power of substitution, or + +enter into or continue a voting trust agreement. +(b) Hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without + +disclosure of the trust so that title may pass by delivery. +(c) Pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or accruing against + +the securities, and sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights. +(d) Deposit the securities with a depositary or other regulated financial + +service institution. +(9) With respect to an interest in real property, construct, or make + +ordinary or extraordinary repairs to, alterations to, or improvements in, +buildings or other structures, demolish improvements, raze existing or +erect new party walls or buildings, subdivide or develop land, dedicate +land to public use or grant public or private easements, and make or vacate +plats and adjust boundaries. + +(10) Enter into a lease for any purpose as lessor or lessee, including a +lease or other arrangement for exploration and removal of natural +resources, with or without the option to purchase or renew, for a period +within or extending beyond the duration of the trust. + +(11) Grant an option involving a sale, lease, or other disposition of trust +property or acquire an option for the acquisition of property, including an +option exercisable beyond the duration of the trust, and exercise an option +so acquired. + +(12) Insure the property of the trust against damage or loss and insure +the trustee, trustees agents, and beneficiaries against liability arising from +the administration of the trust. + + + +(13) Abandon or decline to administer property of no value or of +insufficient value to justify the collection or continued administration of +such property. + +(14) Pay or contest any claim, settle a claim by or against the trust, and +release, in whole or in part, a claim belonging to the trust. + +(15) Pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the trustee and of +employees and agents of the trust, and other expenses incurred in the +administration of the trust. + +(16) Allocate items of income or expense to trust income or principal, as +provided by law. + +(17) Exercise elections with respect to federal, state, and local taxes. +(18) Select a mode of payment under any employee benefit or retirement + +plan, annuity, or life insurance payable to the trustee, exercise rights under +such plan, annuity, or insurance, including exercise of the right to +indemnification for expenses and against liabilities, and take appropriate +action to collect the proceeds. + +(19) Make loans out of trust property, including, but not limited to, loans +to a beneficiary on terms and conditions that are fair and reasonable under +the circumstances, and the trustee has a lien on future distributions for +repayment of those loans. + +(20) Employ persons, including, but not limited to, attorneys, +accountants, investment advisers, or agents, even if they are the trustee, an +affiliate of the trustee, or otherwise associated with the trustee, to advise or +assist the trustee in the exercise of any of the trustees powers and pay +reasonable compensation and costs incurred in connection with such +employment from the assets of the trust, subject to s. 736.0802(10) with +respect to attorney fees and costs, and act without independent +investigation on the recommendations of such persons. + +(21) Pay an amount distributable to a beneficiary who is under a legal +disability or who the trustee reasonably believes is incapacitated, by paying +the amount directly to the beneficiary or applying the amount for the +beneficiarys benefit, or by: +(a) Paying the amount to the beneficiarys guardian of the property or, if + + + +the beneficiary does not have a guardian of the property, the beneficiarys +guardian of the person; + +(b) Paying the amount to the beneficiarys custodian under a Uniform +Transfers to Minors Act or custodial trustee under a Uniform Custodial Trust +Act, and, for that purpose, creating a custodianship or custodial trust; + +(c) Paying the amount to an adult relative or other person having legal or +physical care or custody of the beneficiary, to be expended on the +beneficiarys behalf, if the trustee does not know of a guardian of the +property, guardian of the person, custodian, or custodial trustee; or + +(d) Managing the amount as a separate fund on the beneficiarys behalf, +subject to the beneficiarys continuing right to withdraw the distribution. + +(22) On distribution of trust property or the division or termination of a +trust, make distributions in divided or undivided interests, allocate +particular assets in proportionate or disproportionate shares, value the trust +property for those purposes, and adjust for resulting differences in +valuation. + +(23) Prosecute or defend, including appeals, an action, claim, or judicial +proceeding in any jurisdiction to protect trust property or the trustee in the +performance of the trustees duties. + +(24) Sign and deliver contracts and other instruments that are useful to +achieve or facilitate the exercise of the trustees powers. + +(25) On termination of the trust, exercise the powers appropriate to wind +up the administration of the trust and distribute the trust property to the +persons entitled to the property, subject to the right of the trustee to retain a +reasonable reserve for the payment of debts, expenses, and taxes. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 4, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 6, ch. 2016-189, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.08163. +Fla. Stat. 736.08163 + + 736.08163. Powers of trustees relating to environmental or human +health laws or to trust property contaminated with hazardous or +toxic substances; liability. +(1) From the creation of a trust until final distribution of the assets from + +the trust, the trustee has, without court authorization, the powers specified +in subsection (2). + +(2) Unless otherwise provided in the trust instrument, a trustee has the +power, acting reasonably, to: +(a) Inspect or investigate, or cause to be inspected or investigated, property + +held by the trustee, including interests in sole proprietorships, partnerships, or +corporations and any assets owned by any such business entity for the +purpose of determining compliance with an environmental law affecting that +property or to respond to an actual or threatened violation of an +environmental law affecting that property; + +(b) Take, on behalf of the trust, any action necessary to prevent, abate, or +otherwise remedy an actual or potential violation of an environmental law +affecting property held by the trustee, before or after initiation of an +enforcement action by a governmental body; + +(c) Refuse to accept property in trust if the trustee determines that any +property to be donated or conveyed to the trustee is contaminated with a +hazardous substance or is being used or has been used for an activity directly +or indirectly involving a hazardous substance, which circumstance could +result in liability to the trust or trustee or otherwise impair the value of the +assets to be held; + +(d) Settle or compromise at any time any claim against the trust or trustee +that may be asserted by a governmental body or private party that involves +the alleged violation of an environmental law affecting property of any trust +over which the trustee has responsibility; + +(e) Disclaim any power granted by any document, law, or rule of law that, +in the sole judgment of the trustee, may cause the trustee to incur personal +liability, or the trust to incur liability, under any environmental law; + + + +(f) Decline to serve as a trustee, or having undertaken to serve as a trustee, +resign at any time, if the trustee believes there is or may be a conflict of +interest in its fiduciary capacity and in its individual capacity because of +potential claims or liabilities that may be asserted against the trustee on +behalf of the trust by reason of the type or condition of the assets held; or + +(g) Charge against the income and principal of the trust the cost of any +inspection, investigation, review, abatement, response, cleanup, or remedial +action that this section authorizes the trustee to take and, if the trust +terminates or closes or the trust property is transferred to another trustee, hold +assets sufficient to cover the cost of cleaning up any known environmental +problem. + +(3) A trustee is not personally liable to any beneficiary or any other +person for a decrease in value of assets in a trust by reason of the trustees +compliance or efforts to comply with an environmental law, specifically +including any reporting requirement under that law. + +(4) A trustee that acquires ownership or control of a vessel or other +property, without having owned, operated, or materially participated in the +management of that vessel or property before assuming ownership or +control as trustee, is not considered an owner or operator for purposes of +liability under chapter 376, chapter 403, or any other environmental law. A +trustee that willfully, knowingly, or recklessly causes or exacerbates a +release or threatened release of a hazardous substance is personally liable +for the cost of the response, to the extent that the release or threatened +release is attributable to the trustees activities. This subsection does not +preclude the filing of claims against the assets that constitute the trust held +by the trustee or the filing of actions against the trustee in its representative +capacity and in any such action, an award or judgment against the trustee +must be satisfied only from the assets of the trust. + +(5) The acceptance by the trustee of the property or a failure by the +trustee to inspect or investigate the property does not create any inference +as to whether there is liability under an environmental law with respect to +that property. + +(6) For the purposes of this section, the term hazardous substance +means a substance defined as hazardous or toxic, or any contaminant, +pollutant, or constituent thereof, or otherwise regulated, by an + + + +environmental law. +(7) This section does not apply to any trust created under a document + +executed before July 1, 1995, unless the trust is amendable and the settlor +amends the trust at any time to incorporate the provisions of this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.08165. +Fla. Stat. 736.08165 + + 736.08165. Administration pending outcome of contest or other +proceeding. +(1) Pending the outcome of a proceeding filed to determine the validity + +of all or part of a trust or the beneficiaries of all or part of a trust, the +trustee shall proceed with the administration of the trust as if no +proceeding had been commenced, except no action may be taken and no +distribution may be made to a beneficiary in contravention of the rights of +those persons who may be affected by the outcome of the proceeding. + +(2) Upon motion of a party and after notice to interested persons, a +court, on good cause shown, may make an exception to the prohibition +under subsection (1) and authorize the trustee to act or to distribute trust +assets to a beneficiary subject to any conditions the court, in the courts +discretion, may impose, including the posting of bond by the beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. VIII. , 736.0817. +Fla. Stat. 736.0817 + + 736.0817. Distribution on termination. +Upon the occurrence of an event terminating or partially terminating a + +trust, the trustee shall proceed expeditiously to distribute the trust property to +the persons entitled to the property, subject to the right of the trustee to retain +a reasonable reserve for the payment of debts, expenses, and taxes. The +provisions of this section are in addition to and are not in derogation of the +rights of a trustee under the common law with respect to final distribution of +a trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IX. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. IX + + + +PART IX. +TRUST INVESTMENTS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IX. , 736.0901. +Fla. Stat. 736.0901 + + 736.0901. Applicability of chapter 518. +A trustee shall invest trust property in accordance with chapter 518. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. IX. , 736.0902. +Fla. Stat. 736.0902 + + 736.0902. Nonapplication of prudent investor rule. +(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 518.11 or s. 736.0804, with + +respect to any contract for life insurance acquired or retained on the life of +a qualified person, a trustee has no duty to: +(a) Determine whether the contract of life insurance is or was procured or + +effected in compliance with s. 627.404; +(b) Determine whether any contract of life insurance is, or remains, a + +proper investment; +(c) Investigate the financial strength of the life insurance company; +(d) Determine whether to exercise any policy option available under the + +contract for life insurance; +(e) Diversify any such contract for life insurance or the assets of the trust + +with respect to the contract for life insurance; or +(f) Inquire about or investigate the health or financial condition of any + +insureds. +(2) For purposes of this section, a qualified person is a person who is + +insured or a proposed insured, or the spouse of that person, who has +provided the trustee with the funds used to acquire or pay premiums with +respect to a policy of insurance on the life of that person or the spouse of +that person, or on the lives of that person and the spouse of that person. + +(3) The trustee is not liable to the beneficiaries of the trust or any other +person for any loss sustained with respect to a contract for life insurance to +which this section applies. + +(4) Unless otherwise provided in the trust instrument, paragraph (1)(a) +applies to any contract for life insurance on the life of a qualified person. + +(5) Unless otherwise provided in the trust instrument, paragraphs (1)(b)- +(f) apply if: +(a) The trust instrument, by reference to this section, makes this section + +applicable to contracts for life insurance held by the trust; or + + + +(b) The trustee gives notice that this section applies to a contract for life +insurance held by the trust. + +1. The notice of the application of this section shall be given to the +qualified beneficiaries and shall contain a copy or restatement of this section. + +2. Notice given pursuant to any of the provisions of part III of this chapter +to a person who represents the interests of any of the persons set forth in +subparagraph 1. shall be treated as notice to the person so represented. + +3. Notice shall be given in the manner provided in s. 736.0109. +4. If any person notified pursuant to this paragraph delivers a written + +objection to the application of this section to the trustee within 30 days after +the date on which the objector received such notice, paragraphs (1)(b)-(f) +shall not apply until the objection is withdrawn. + +5. There shall exist a rebuttable presumption that any notice sent by United +States mail is received 3 days after depositing the notice in the United States +mail system with proper postage prepaid. + +(6) This section does not apply to any contract for life insurance +purchased from any affiliate of the trustee, or with respect to which the +trustee or any affiliate of the trustee receives any commission unless the +duties have been delegated to another person in accordance with s. +518.112. For purposes of this subsection, an affiliate is any person who +controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the trustee. + +(7) Paragraph (1)(a) does not apply if the trustee applied for or accepted +ownership of a contract of life insurance and the trustee had knowledge +that: +(a) The benefits were not payable to a person specified in s. 627.404 when + +the contract of life insurance was issued; or +(b) The contract of life insurance is or was purchased with resources or + +guarantees directly or indirectly provided by a person who, at the time of the +inception of such contract, did not have an insurable interest in the insured as +defined by s. 627.404, and, at the time of the inception of such contract, there +is a verbal or written arrangement, agreement, or plan with a third party to +transfer ownership of the policy or policy benefits in a manner that would be +in violation of state law. + + + +(8) A trustee who performs fiduciary or advisory services related to a +policy of life insurance to which subsection (1) applies shall not be +compensated for performing the applicable service to which subsection (1) +applies. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2010-172, eff. July 1, 2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. X + + + +PART X. +LIABILITY OF TRUSTEE AND RIGHTS OF PERSONS + +DEALING WITH TRUSTEE. + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1001. + +Fla. Stat. 736.1001 + + 736.1001. Remedies for breach of trust. +(1) A violation by a trustee of a duty the trustee owes to a beneficiary is + +a breach of trust. +(2) To remedy a breach of trust that has occurred or may occur, the court + +may: +(a) Compel the trustee to perform the trustees duties; +(b) Enjoin the trustee from committing a breach of trust; +(c) Compel the trustee to redress a breach of trust by paying money or + +restoring property or by other means; +(d) Order a trustee to account; +(e) Appoint a special fiduciary to take possession of the trust property and + +administer the trust; +(f) Suspend the trustee; +(g) Remove the trustee as provided in s. 736.0706; +(h) Reduce or deny compensation to the trustee; + +(i) Subject to s. 736.1016, void an act of the trustee, impose a lien +or a constructive trust on trust property, or trace trust property +wrongfully disposed of and recover the property or its proceeds; or + +(j) Order any other appropriate relief. +(3) As an illustration of the remedies available to the court and without + +limiting the courts discretion as provided in subsection (2), if a breach of +trust results in the favoring of any beneficiary to the detriment of any other +beneficiary or consists of an abuse of the trustees discretion: + + + +(a) To the extent the breach of trust has resulted in no distribution to a +beneficiary or a distribution that is too small, the court may require the trustee +to pay from the trust to the beneficiary an amount the court determines will +restore the beneficiary, in whole or in part, to his or her appropriate position. + +(b) To the extent the breach of trust has resulted in a distribution to a +beneficiary that is too large, the court may restore the beneficiaries, the trust, +or both, in whole or in part, to their appropriate positions by requiring the +trustee to withhold an amount from one or more future distributions to the +beneficiary who received the distribution that was too large or by requiring +that beneficiary to return some or all of the distribution to the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 147, ch. 2007-5, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 19, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1002. +Fla. Stat. 736.1002 + + 736.1002. Damages for breach of trust. +(1) A trustee who commits a breach of trust is liable for the greater of: + +(a) The amount required to restore the value of the trust property and trust +distributions to what they would have been if the breach had not occurred, +including lost income, capital gain, or appreciation that would have resulted +from proper administration; or + +(b) The profit the trustee made by reason of the breach. +(2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, if more than one + +person, including a trustee or trustees, is liable to the beneficiaries for a +breach of trust, each liable person is entitled to pro rata contribution from +the other person or persons. A person is not entitled to contribution if the +person committed the breach of trust in bad faith. A person who received a +benefit from the breach of trust is not entitled to contribution from another +person to the extent of the benefit received. + +(3) In determining the pro rata shares of liable persons in the entire +liability for a breach of trust: +(a) Their relative degrees of fault shall be the basis for allocation of + +liability. +(b) If equity requires, the collective liability of some as a group shall + +constitute a single share. +(c) Principles of equity applicable to contribution generally shall apply. + +(4) The right of contribution shall be enforced as follows: +(a) Contribution may be enforced by separate action, whether or not + +judgment has been entered in an action against two or more liable persons for +the same breach of trust. + +(b) When a judgment has been entered in an action against two or more +liable persons for the same breach of trust, contribution may be enforced in +that action by judgment in favor of one judgment defendant against any other +judgment defendants by motion upon notice to all parties to the action. + + + +(c) If there is a judgment for breach of trust against the liable person +seeking contribution, any separate action by that person to enforce +contribution must be commenced within 1 year after the judgment has +become final by lapse of time for appeal or after appellate review. + +(d) If there is no judgment for the breach of trust against the liable person +seeking contribution, the persons right of contribution is barred unless the +person has: + +1. Discharged by payment the common liability within the period of the +statute of limitations applicable to the beneficiarys right of action against the +liable person and the person has commenced an action for contribution within +1 year after payment, or + +2. Agreed, while action is pending against the liable person, to discharge +the common liability and has within 1 year after the agreement paid the +liability and commenced the persons action for contribution. + +(5) The beneficiarys recovery of a judgment for breach of trust against +one liable person does not of itself discharge other liable persons from +liability for the breach of trust unless the judgment is satisfied. The +satisfaction of the judgment does not impair any right of contribution. + +(6) The judgment of the court in determining the liability of several +defendants to the beneficiary for breach of trust is binding upon such +defendants in determining the right of such defendants to contribution. + +(7) Subsection (2) applies to all causes of action for breach of trust +pending on July 1, 2007, under which causes of action the right of +contribution among persons jointly and severally liable is involved and to +all causes of action filed after July 1, 2007. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1003. +Fla. Stat. 736.1003 + + 736.1003. Damages in absence of breach. +Absent a breach of trust, a trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a loss or + +depreciation in the value of trust property or for not having made a profit. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1004. +Fla. Stat. 736.1004 + + 736.1004. Attorneys fees and costs. +(1)(a) In all actions for breach of fiduciary duty or challenging the exercise +of, or failure to exercise, a trustees powers; and +(b) In proceedings arising under ss. 736.0410-736.0417, +the court shall award taxable costs as in chancery actions, including +attorney fees and guardian ad litem fees. + +(2) When awarding taxable costs under this section, including attorney +fees and guardian ad litem fees, the court, in its discretion, may direct +payment from a partys interest, if any, in the trust or enter a judgment that +may be satisfied from other property of the party, or both. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1005. +Fla. Stat. 736.1005 + + 736.1005. Attorney fees for services to the trust. +(1) Any attorney who has rendered services to a trust may be awarded + +reasonable compensation from the trust. The attorney may apply to the +court for an order awarding attorney fees and, after notice and service on +the trustee and all beneficiaries entitled to an accounting under s. +736.0813, the court shall enter an order on the fee application. + +(2) If attorney fees are to be paid from the trust under subsection (1), s. +736.1007(5)(a), or s. 733.106(4)(a), the court, in its discretion, may direct +from what part of the trust the fees shall be paid. +(a) All or any part of the attorney fees to be paid from the trust may be + +assessed against one or more persons part of the trust in such proportions as +the court finds to be just and proper. + +(b) In the exercise of its discretion, the court may consider the following +factors: + +1. The relative impact of an assessment on the estimated value of each +persons part of the trust. + +2. The amount of attorney fees to be assessed against a persons part of the +trust. + +3. The extent to which a person whose part of the trust is to be assessed, +individually or through counsel, actively participated in the proceeding. + +4. The potential benefit or detriment to a persons part of the trust expected +from the outcome of the proceeding. + +5. The relative strength or weakness of the merits of the claims, defenses, +or objections, if any, asserted by a person whose part of the trust is to be +assessed. + +6. Whether a person whose part of the trust is to be assessed was a +prevailing party with respect to one or more claims, defenses, or objections. + +7. Whether a person whose part of the trust is to be assessed unjustly +caused an increase in the amount of attorney fees incurred by the trustee or + + + +another person in connection with the proceeding. +8. Any other relevant fact, circumstance, or equity. +(c) The court may assess a persons part of the trust without finding that + +the person engaged in bad faith, wrongdoing, or frivolousness. +(3) Except when a trustees interest may be adverse in a particular + +matter, the attorney shall give reasonable notice in writing to the trustee of +the attorneys retention by an interested person and the attorneys +entitlement to fees pursuant to this section. A court may reduce any fee +award for services rendered by the attorney prior to the date of actual +notice to the trustee, if the actual notice date is later than a date of +reasonable notice. In exercising this discretion, the court may exclude +compensation for services rendered after the reasonable notice date but +before the date of actual notice. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 7, ch. 2015-27, effective July 1, + +2015. + +Editors notes. +Section 11, ch. 2015-27, provides: The amendments made by this act to + +ss. 733.106, 736.1005, and 736.1006, Florida Statutes, apply to proceedings +commenced on or after July 1, 2015. The law in effect before July 1, 2015, +applies to proceedings commenced before that date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1006. +Fla. Stat. 736.1006 + + 736.1006. Costs in trust proceedings. +(1) In all trust proceedings, costs may be awarded as in chancery + +actions. +(2) If costs are to be paid from the trust under subsection (1) or s. + +733.106(4)(a), the court, in its discretion, may direct from what part of the +trust the costs shall be paid. All or any part of the costs to be paid from the +trust may be assessed against one or more persons part of the trust in such +proportions as the court finds to be just and proper. In the exercise of its +discretion, the court may consider the factors set forth in s. 736.1005(2). + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 8, ch. 2015-27, effective July 1, + +2015. + +Editors notes. +Section 11, ch. 2015-27, provides: The amendments made by this act to + +ss. 733.106, 736.1005, and 736.1006, Florida Statutes, apply to proceedings +commenced on or after July 1, 2015. The law in effect before July 1, 2015, +applies to proceedings commenced before that date. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1007. +Fla. Stat. 736.1007 + + 736.1007. Trustees attorney fees. +(1)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d), if the trustee of a revocable +trust retains an attorney to render legal services in connection with the +initial administration of the trust, the attorney is entitled to reasonable +compensation for those legal services, payable from the assets of the trust, +subject to s. 736.0802(10), without court order. The trustee and the +attorney may agree to compensation that is determined in a manner or +amount other than the manner or amount provided in this section. The +agreement is not binding on a person who bears the impact of the +compensation unless that person is a party to or otherwise consents to be +bound by the agreement. The agreement may provide that the trustee is not +individually liable for the attorney fees and costs. +(b) An attorney representing a trustee in the initial administration of the + +trust who intends to charge a fee based upon the schedule set forth in +subsection (2) shall make the following disclosures in writing to the trustee: + +1. There is not a mandatory statutory attorney fee for trust administration. +2. The attorney fee is not required to be based on the size of the trust, and + +the presumed reasonable fee provided in subsection (2) may not be +appropriate in all trust administrations. + +3. The fee is subject to negotiation between the trustee and the attorney. +4. The selection of the attorney is made at the discretion of the trustee, who + +is not required to select the attorney who prepared the trust. +5. The trustee shall be entitled to a summary of ordinary and extraordinary + +services rendered for the fees agreed upon at the conclusion of the +representation. The summary shall be provided by counsel and shall consist +of the total hours devoted to the representation or a detailed summary of the +services performed during the representation. + +(c) The attorney shall obtain the trustees timely signature acknowledging +the disclosures. + +(d) If the attorney does not make the disclosures required by this section, + + + +the attorney may not be paid for legal services without prior court approval of +the fees or the written consent of the trustee and all qualified beneficiaries. + +(2) Unless otherwise agreed and subject to subsection (1), compensation +based on the value of the trust assets immediately following the settlors +death and the income earned by the trust during initial administration at the +rate of 75 percent of the schedule provided in s. 733.6171(3)(a)-(h) is +presumed to be reasonable total compensation for ordinary services of all +attorneys employed generally to advise a trustee concerning the trustees +duties in the initial trust administration. + +(3) Subject to subsection (1), an attorney who is retained to render only +limited and specifically defined legal services shall be compensated as +provided in the retaining agreement. If the amount or method of +determining compensation is not provided in the agreement, the attorney is +entitled to a reasonable fee, taking into account the factors set forth in +subsection (6). + +(4) Ordinary services of the attorney in an initial trust administration +include legal advice and representation concerning the trustees duties +relating to: +(a) Review of the trust instrument and each amendment for legal + +sufficiency and interpretation. +(b) Implementation of substitution of the successor trustee. +(c) Persons who must or should be served with required notices and the + +method and timing of such service. +(d) The obligation of a successor to require a former trustee to provide an + +accounting. +(e) The trustees duty to protect, insure, and manage trust assets and the + +trustees liability relating to these duties. +(f) The trustees duty regarding investments imposed by the prudent + +investor rule. +(g) The trustees obligation to inform and account to beneficiaries and the + +method of satisfaction of such obligations, the liability of the trust and trustee +to the settlors creditors, and the advisability or necessity for probate +proceedings to bar creditors. + + + +(h) Contributions due to the personal representative of the settlors estate +for payment of expenses of administration and obligations of the settlors +estate. + +(i) Identifying tax returns required to be filed by the trustee, the +trustees liability for payment of taxes, and the due date of returns. + +(j) Filing a nontaxable affidavit, if not filed by a personal representative. +(k) Order of payment of expenses of administration of the trust and order + +and priority of abatement of trust distributions. +(l) Distribution of income or principal to beneficiaries or funding of further + +trusts provided in the governing instrument. +(m) Preparation of any legal documents required to effect distribution. +(n) Fiduciary duties, avoidance of self-dealing, conflicts of interest, duty of + +impartiality, and obligations to beneficiaries. +(o) If there is a conflict of interest between a trustee who is a beneficiary + +and other beneficiaries of the trust, advice to the trustee on limitations of +certain authority of the trustee regarding discretionary distributions or +exercise of certain powers and alternatives for appointment of an independent +trustee and appropriate procedures. + +(p) Procedures for the trustees discharge from liability for administration +of the trust on termination or resignation. + +(5) Subject to subsection (1), in addition to the attorney fees for ordinary +services, the attorney for the trustee shall be allowed further reasonable +compensation for any extraordinary service. What constitutes an +extraordinary service may vary depending on many factors, including the +size and complexity of the trust. Extraordinary services may include, but +are not limited to: +(a) Involvement in a trust contest, trust construction, a proceeding for + +determination of beneficiaries, a contested claim, elective share proceedings, +apportionment of estate taxes, or other adversary proceedings or litigation by +or against the trust. + +(b) Representation of the trustee in an audit or any proceeding for +adjustment, determination, or collection of any taxes. + + + +(c) Tax advice on postmortem tax planning, including, but not limited to, +disclaimer, renunciation of fiduciary commission, alternate valuation date, +allocation of administrative expenses between tax returns, the QTIP or +reverse QTIP election, allocation of GST exemption, qualification for +Internal Revenue Code ss. 303 and 6166 privileges, deduction of last illness +expenses, distribution planning, asset basis considerations, throwback rules, +handling income or deductions in respect of a decedent, valuation discounts, +special use and other valuation, handling employee benefit or retirement +proceeds, prompt assessment request, or request for release from personal +liability for payment of tax. + +(d) Review of an estate tax return and preparation or review of other tax +returns required to be filed by the trustee. + +(e) Preparation of decedents federal estate tax return. If this return is +prepared by the attorney, a fee of one-half of 1 percent up to a value of $10 +million and one-fourth of 1 percent on the value in excess of $10 million, of +the gross estate as finally determined for federal estate tax purposes, is +presumed to be reasonable compensation for the attorney for this service. +These fees shall include services for routine audit of the return, not beyond +the examining agent level, if required. + +(f) Purchase, sale, lease, or encumbrance of real property by the trustee or +involvement in zoning, land use, environmental, or other similar matters. + +(g) Legal advice regarding carrying on of decedents business or +conducting other commercial activity by the trustee. + +(h) Legal advice regarding claims for damage to the environment or related +procedures. + +(i) Legal advice regarding homestead status of trust real property or +proceedings involving the status. + +(j) Involvement in fiduciary, employee, or attorney compensation disputes. +(k) Considerations of special valuation of trust assets, including discounts + +for blockage, minority interests, lack of marketability, and environmental +liability. + +(6) Upon petition of any interested person in a proceeding to review the +compensation paid or to be paid to the attorney for the trustee, the court + + + +may increase or decrease the compensation for ordinary services of the +attorney for the trustee or award compensation for extraordinary services if +the facts and circumstances of the particular administration warrant. In +determining reasonable compensation, the court shall consider all of the +following factors giving such weight to each as the court may determine to +be appropriate: +(a) The promptness, efficiency, and skill with which the initial + +administration was handled by the attorney. +(b) The responsibilities assumed by, and potential liabilities of, the + +attorney. +(c) The nature and value of the assets that are affected by the decedents + +death. +(d) The benefits or detriments resulting to the trust or the trusts + +beneficiaries from the attorneys services. +(e) The complexity or simplicity of the administration and the novelty of + +issues presented. +(f) The attorneys participation in tax planning for the estate, the trust, and + +the trusts beneficiaries and tax return preparation or review and approval. +(g) The nature of the trust assets, the expenses of administration, and the + +claims payable by the trust and the compensation paid to other professionals +and fiduciaries. + +(h) Any delay in payment of the compensation after the services were +furnished. + +(i) Any agreement relating to the attorneys compensation and +whether written disclosures were made to the trustee in a timely +manner under the circumstances pursuant to paragraph (1)(b). + +(j) Any other relevant factors. +(7) If a separate written agreement regarding compensation exists + +between the attorney and the settlor, the attorney shall furnish a copy to the +trustee prior to commencement of employment and, if employed, shall +promptly file and serve a copy on all interested persons. A separate +agreement or a provision in the trust suggesting or directing the trustee to + + + +retain a specific attorney does not obligate the trustee to employ the +attorney or obligate the attorney to accept the representation but, if the +attorney who is a party to the agreement or who drafted the trust is +employed, the compensation paid shall not exceed the compensation +provided in the agreement. + +(8) As used in this section, the term initial trust administration means +administration of a revocable trust during the period that begins with the +death of the settlor and ends on the final distribution of trust assets outright +or to continuing trusts created under the trust agreement but, if an estate +tax return is required, not until after issuance of an estate tax closing letter +or other evidence of termination of the estate tax proceeding. This initial +period is not intended to include continued regular administration of the +trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 7, ch. 2010-122, eff. July 1, 2010; + +s. 7, ch. 2016-189, effective July 1, 2016; s. 2, ch. 2021-145, effective +October 1, 2021. + +Editors notes. +Sections 303 and 6166 of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this + +section, are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 303 and 6166, respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1008. +Fla. Stat. 736.1008 + + 736.1008. Limitations on proceedings against trustees. +(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), all claims by a beneficiary + +against a trustee for breach of trust are barred as provided in chapter 95 as +to: +(a) All matters adequately disclosed in a trust disclosure document issued + +by the trustee or a trust director, with the limitations period beginning on the +date of receipt of adequate disclosure. + +(b) All matters not adequately disclosed in a trust disclosure document if +the trustee has issued a final trust accounting and has given written notice to +the beneficiary of the availability of the trust records for examination and that +any claims with respect to matters not adequately disclosed may be barred +unless an action is commenced within the applicable limitations period +provided in chapter 95. The limitations period begins on the date of receipt of +the final trust accounting and notice. + +(2) Unless sooner barred by adjudication, consent, or limitations, a +beneficiary is barred from bringing an action against a trustee for breach of +trust with respect to a matter that was adequately disclosed in a trust +disclosure document unless a proceeding to assert the claim is commenced +within 6 months after receipt from the trustee or a trust director of the trust +disclosure document or a limitation notice that applies to that disclosure +document, whichever is received later. + +(3) When a trustee has not issued a final trust accounting or has not +given written notice to the beneficiary of the availability of the trust +records for examination and that claims with respect to matters not +adequately disclosed may be barred, a claim against the trustee for breach +of trust based on a matter not adequately disclosed in a trust disclosure +document is barred as provided in chapter 95 and accrues when the +beneficiary has actual knowledge of: +(a) The facts upon which the claim is based, if such actual knowledge is + +established by clear and convincing evidence; or +(b) The trustees repudiation of the trust or adverse possession of trust + + + +assets. +Paragraph (a) applies to claims based upon acts or omissions occurring on + +or after July 1, 2008. A beneficiarys actual knowledge that he or she has not +received a trust accounting does not cause a claim to accrue against the +trustee for breach of trust based upon the failure to provide a trust accounting +required by s. 736.0813 or former s. 737.303 and does not commence the +running of any period of limitations or laches for such a claim, and paragraph +(a) and chapter 95 do not bar any such claim. + +(4) As used in this section, the term: +(a) Limitation notice means a written statement of the trustee or a trust + +director that an action by a beneficiary for breach of trust based on any matter +adequately disclosed in a trust disclosure document may be barred unless the +action is commenced within 6 months after receipt of the trust disclosure +document or receipt of a limitation notice that applies to that trust disclosure +document, whichever is later. A limitation notice may but is not required to +be in the following form: An action for breach of trust based on matters +disclosed in a trust accounting or other written report of the trustee or a trust +director may be subject to a 6-month statute of limitations from the receipt of +the trust accounting or other written report. If you have questions, please +consult your attorney. + +(b) Trust accounting means an accounting that adequately discloses the +information required by and that substantially complies with the standards set +forth in s. 736.08135. + +(c) Trust disclosure document means a trust accounting or any other +written report of the trustee or a trust director. A trust disclosure document +adequately discloses a matter if the document provides sufficient information +so that a beneficiary knows of a claim or reasonably should have inquired +into the existence of a claim with respect to that matter. + +(5) For purposes of this section, a limitation notice applies to a trust +disclosure document when the limitation notice is: +(a) Contained as a part of the trust disclosure document or as a part of + +another trust disclosure document received within 1 year prior to the receipt +of the latter trust disclosure document; + +(b) Accompanied concurrently by the trust disclosure document or by + + + +another trust disclosure document that was received within 1 year prior to the +receipt of the latter trust disclosure document; + +(c) Delivered separately within 10 days after the delivery of the trust +disclosure document or of another trust disclosure document that was +received within 1 year prior to the receipt of the latter trust disclosure +document. For purposes of this paragraph, a limitation notice is not delivered +separately if the notice is accompanied by another written communication, +other than a written communication that refers only to the limitation notice; +or + +(d) Received more than 10 days after the delivery of the trust disclosure +document, but only if the limitation notice references that trust disclosure +document and: + +1. Offers to provide to the beneficiary on request another copy of that trust +disclosure document if the document was received by the beneficiary within +1 year prior to receipt of the limitation notice; or + +2. Is accompanied by another copy of that trust disclosure document if the +trust disclosure document was received by the beneficiary 1 year or more +prior to the receipt of the limitation notice. + +(6)(a) Notwithstanding subsections (1), (2), and (3), all claims by a +beneficiary against a trustee are barred: +1. Upon the later of: +a. Ten years after the date the trust terminates, the trustee resigns, or the + +fiduciary relationship between the trustee and the beneficiary otherwise ends +if the beneficiary had actual knowledge of the existence of the trust and the +beneficiarys status as a beneficiary throughout the 10-year period; or + +b. Twenty years after the date of the act or omission of the trustee that is +complained of if the beneficiary had actual knowledge of the existence of the +trust and the beneficiarys status as a beneficiary throughout the 20-year +period; or + +2. Forty years after the date the trust terminates, the trustee resigns, or the +fiduciary relationship between the trustee and the beneficiary otherwise ends. + +(b) When a beneficiary shows by clear and convincing evidence that a +trustee actively concealed facts supporting a cause of action, any existing + + + +applicable statute of repose shall be extended by 30 years. +(c) For purposes of sub-subparagraph (a)1.b., the failure of the trustee to + +take corrective action is not a separate act or omission and does not extend +the period of repose established by this subsection. + +(d) This subsection applies to claims based upon acts or omissions +occurring on or after July 1, 2008. + +(7) Any claim barred against a trustee or trust director under this section +is also barred against the directors, officers, and employees acting for the +trustee or trust director. + +(8) This section applies to trust accountings for accounting periods +beginning on or after July 1, 2007, and to written reports, other than trust +accountings, received by a beneficiary on or after July 1, 2007. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 5, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 3, ch. 2008-76, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 7, ch. 2018-35, effective July 1, 2018; +s. 9, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021; s. 57, ch. 2022-4, effective May 13, +2022. + +Editors Notes +S. 8 of ch. 2018-35 provides: The changes to ss. 736.08135 and 736.1008, + +Florida Statutes, made by this act are intended to clarify existing law, are +remedial in nature, and apply retroactively to all cases pending or +commenced on or after July 1, 2018. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1009. +Fla. Stat. 736.1009 + + 736.1009. Reliance on trust instrument. +A trustee who acts in reasonable reliance on the terms of the trust as + +expressed in the trust instrument is not liable to a beneficiary for a breach of +trust to the extent the breach resulted from the reliance. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1010. +Fla. Stat. 736.1010 + + 736.1010. Event affecting administration or distribution. +If the happening of an event, including marriage, divorce, performance of + +educational requirements, or death, affects the administration or distribution +of a trust, a trustee who has exercised reasonable care to ascertain the +happening of the event is not liable for a loss resulting from the trustees lack +of knowledge. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1011. +Fla. Stat. 736.1011 + + 736.1011. Exculpation of trustee. +(1) A term of a trust relieving a trustee of liability for breach of trust is + +unenforceable to the extent that the term: +(a) Relieves the trustee of liability for breach of trust committed in bad + +faith or with reckless indifference to the purposes of the trust or the interests +of the beneficiaries; or + +(b) Was inserted into the trust instrument as the result of an abuse by the +trustee of a fiduciary or confidential relationship with the settlor. + +(2) An exculpatory term drafted or caused to be drafted by the trustee is +invalid as an abuse of a fiduciary or confidential relationship unless: +(a) The trustee proves that the exculpatory term is fair under the + +circumstances. +(b) The terms existence and contents were adequately communicated + +directly to the settlor or the independent attorney of the settlor. This +paragraph applies only to trusts created on or after July 1, 2007. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 6, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1012. +Fla. Stat. 736.1012 + + 736.1012. Beneficiarys consent, release, or ratification. +A trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for breach of trust if the beneficiary + +consented to the conduct constituting the breach, released the trustee from +liability for the breach, or ratified the transaction constituting the breach, +unless: + +(1) The consent, release, or ratification of the beneficiary was induced +by improper conduct of the trustee; or + +(2) At the time of the consent, release, or ratification, the beneficiary did +not know of the beneficiarys rights or of the material facts relating to the +breach. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1013. +Fla. Stat. 736.1013 + + 736.1013. Limitation on personal liability of trustee. +(1) Except as otherwise provided in the contract, a trustee is not + +personally liable on a contract properly entered into in the trustees +fiduciary capacity in the course of administering the trust if the trustee in +the contract disclosed the fiduciary capacity. + +(2) A trustee is personally liable for torts committed in the course of +administering a trust or for obligations arising from ownership or control +of trust property only if the trustee is personally at fault. + +(3) A claim based on a contract entered into by a trustee in the trustees +fiduciary capacity, on an obligation arising from ownership or control of +trust property, or on a tort committed in the course of administering a trust +may be asserted in a judicial proceeding against the trustee in the trustees +fiduciary capacity, whether or not the trustee is personally liable for the +claim. + +(4) Issues of liability between the trust estate and the trustee individually +may be determined in a proceeding for accounting, surcharge, or +indemnification or in any other appropriate proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1014. +Fla. Stat. 736.1014 + + 736.1014. Limitations on actions against certain trusts. +(1) After the death of a settlor, no creditor of the settlor may bring, + +maintain, or continue any direct action against a trust described in s. +733.707(3), the trustee of the trust, or any beneficiary of the trust that is +dependent on the individual liability of the settlor. Such claims and causes +of action against the settlor shall be presented and enforced against the +settlors estate as provided in part VII of chapter 733, and the personal +representative of the settlors estate may obtain payment from the trustee +of a trust described in s. 733.707(3) as provided in ss. 733.607(2), +733.707(3), and 736.05053. + +(2) This section does not preclude a direct action against a trust +described in s. 733.707(3), the trustee of the trust, or a beneficiary of the +trust that is not dependent on the individual liability of the settlor. + +(3) This section does not affect the lien of any duly recorded mortgage +or security interest or the lien of any person in possession of personal +property or the right to foreclose and enforce the mortgage or lien. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1015. +Fla. Stat. 736.1015 + + 736.1015. Interest as general partner. +(1) Unless personal liability is imposed in the contract, a trustee who + +holds an interest as a general partner in a general or limited partnership is +not personally liable on a contract entered into by the partnership after the +trusts acquisition of the interest if the fiduciary capacity was disclosed in +the contract or in a statement previously filed pursuant to a Uniform +Partnership Act or Uniform Limited Partnership Act. + +(2) A trustee who holds an interest as a general partner is not personally +liable for torts committed by the partnership or for obligations arising from +ownership or control of the interest unless the trustee is personally at fault. + +(3) If the trustee of a revocable trust holds an interest as a general +partner, the settlor is personally liable for contracts and other obligations of +the partnership as if the settlor were a general partner. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1016. +Fla. Stat. 736.1016 + + 736.1016. Protection of person dealing with trustee. +(1) A person other than a beneficiary who in good faith assists a trustee + +or who in good faith and for value deals with a trustee, without knowledge +that the trustee is exceeding or improperly exercising the trustees powers, +is protected from liability as if the trustee properly exercised the power. + +(2) A person other than a beneficiary who in good faith deals with a +trustee is not required to inquire into the extent of the trustees powers or +the propriety of their exercise. + +(3) A person who in good faith delivers assets to a trustee need not +ensure their proper application. + +(4) A person other than a beneficiary who in good faith assists a former +trustee or who in good faith and for value deals with a former trustee, +without knowledge that the trusteeship has terminated, is protected from +liability as if the former trustee were still a trustee. + +(5) Comparable protective provisions of other laws relating to +commercial transactions or transfer of securities by fiduciaries prevail over +the protection provided by this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1017. +Fla. Stat. 736.1017 + + 736.1017. Certification of trust. +(1) Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other + +than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of +trust containing the following information: +(a) The trust exists and the date the trust instrument was executed. +(b) The identity of the settlor. +(c) The identity and address of the currently acting trustee. +(d) The powers of the trustee. +(e) Whether the trust contains any powers of direction, and if so, the + +identity of the current trust directors, the trustee powers subject to a power of +direction, and whether the trust directors have directed or authorized the +trustee to engage in the proposed transaction for which the certification of +trust was issued. + +(f) The revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any +person holding a power to revoke the trust. + +(g) The authority of cotrustees to sign or otherwise authenticate and +whether all or less than all are required in order to exercise powers of the +trustee. + +(h) The manner of taking title to trust property. +(2) A certification of trust may be signed or otherwise authenticated by + +any trustee. +(3) A certification of trust must state that the trust has not been revoked, + +modified, or amended in any manner that would cause the representations +contained in the certification of trust to be incorrect. + +(4) A certification of trust need not contain the dispositive terms of a +trust. + +(5) A recipient of a certification of trust may require the trustee to +furnish copies of any excerpts from the original trust instrument and later +amendments that designate the trustee and confer upon the trustee the + + + +power to act in the pending transaction. +(6) A person who acts in reliance on a certification of trust without + +knowledge that the representations contained in the certification are +incorrect is not liable to any person for so acting and may assume without +inquiry the existence of the facts contained in the certification. Knowledge +of the terms of the trust may not be inferred solely from the fact that a copy +of all or part of the trust instrument is held by the person relying on the +certification. + +(7) A person who in good faith enters into a transaction in reliance on a +certification of trust may enforce the transaction against the trust property +as if the representations contained in the certification were correct. + +(8) This section does not limit the right of a person to obtain a copy of +the trust instrument when required to be furnished by law or in a judicial +proceeding concerning the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 10, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, + +2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. X. , 736.1018. +Fla. Stat. 736.1018 + + 736.1018. Improper distribution or payment; liability of distributee. +Any person who received a distribution or was paid improperly from a + +trust shall return the assets or funds received and the income from those +assets or interest on the funds from the date of distribution or payment unless +the distribution or payment cannot be questioned because of adjudication, +estoppel, or limitations. If the person does not have the assets or funds, the +value of the assets or funds at the date of disposition, income from the assets +or funds, and gain received by the person from the assets or funds shall be +returned. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. XI + + + +PART XI. +RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1101. +Fla. Stat. 736.1101 + + 736.1101. Rules of construction; general provisions. +Except as provided in s. 736.0105(2): + +(1) The intent of the settlor as expressed in the terms of the trust controls +the legal effect of the dispositions made in the trust. + +(2) The rules of construction as expressed in this part shall apply unless +a contrary intent is indicated by the terms of the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1102. +Fla. Stat. 736.1102 + + 736.1102. Construction of terms. +The laws used to determine paternity and relationships for the purposes of + +intestate succession apply when determining whether class gift terminology +and terms of relationship include adopted persons and persons born out of +wedlock. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 17, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, + +2010. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1103. +Fla. Stat. 736.1103 + + 736.1103. Gifts to multigeneration classes to be per stirpes. +Class gifts to descendants, issue, and other multigeneration classes shall be + +per stirpes. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1104. +Fla. Stat. 736.1104 + +736.1104. Person not entitled to receive property or other benefits by +reason of victims death. +(1) A beneficiary of a trust who unlawfully and intentionally kills or + +unlawfully and intentionally participates in procuring the death of the +settlor or another person on whose death such beneficiarys interest +depends, is not entitled to any trust interest, including homestead, +dependent on the victims death, and such interest shall devolve as though +the killer had predeceased the victim. + +(2) A final judgment of conviction of murder in any degree is conclusive +for the purposes of this section. In the absence of a murder conviction in +any degree, the court may determine by the greater weight of the evidence +whether the killing was unlawful and intentional for purposes of this +section. + +(3) A beneficiary of a trust who was convicted in any state or foreign +jurisdiction of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or aggravated manslaughter of +an elderly person or a disabled adult, as those terms are defined in s. +825.101, for conduct against a settlor or another person on whose death +such beneficiarys interest depends is not entitled to any trust interest, +including a homestead dependent on the victims death, and such interest +shall devolve as though the abuser, neglector, exploiter, or killer had +predeceased the victim. +(a) A final judgment of conviction for abuse, neglect, exploitation, or + +aggravated manslaughter of the decedent or other person creates a rebuttable +presumption that this section applies. + +(b) In the absence of a qualifying conviction, the court may determine by +the greater weight of the evidence whether the decedents or other persons +death was caused by or contributed to by the abusers, neglectors, +exploiters, or killers conduct as defined in s. 825.102, s. 825.103, or s. +782.07(2) for purposes of this section. + +(c) This subsection does not apply if it can be proven by clear and +convincing evidence that, after the conviction of abuse, neglect, or +exploitation, the victim of the offense, if capacitated, ratifies an intent that the + + + +person so convicted of abuse, neglect, or exploitation retain a trust interest by +executing a valid written instrument, sworn to and witnessed by two persons +who would be competent as witnesses to a will, which expresses a specific +intent to allow the convicted person to retain a trust interest. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 4, ch. 2021-221, effective July 1, + +2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1105. +Fla. Stat. 736.1105 + + 736.1105. Effect of subsequent marriage, birth, adoption, or dissolution +of marriage. +(1) Neither subsequent marriage, birth, nor adoption of descendants shall + +revoke the revocable trust of any person. +(2) Any provision of a revocable trust that affects the settlors spouse is + +void upon dissolution of the marriage of the settlor and the spouse, whether +the marriage occurred before or after the execution of such revocable trust. +Upon dissolution of marriage, the revocable trust shall be construed as if +the spouse had died at the time of the dissolution of marriage. +(a) Dissolution of marriage occurs at the time the decedents marriage is + +judicially dissolved or declared invalid by court order. +(b) This subsection does not invalidate a provision of a revocable trust: +1. Executed by the settlor after the dissolution of the marriage; +2. If there is a specific intention to the contrary stated in the revocable + +trust; or +3. If the dissolution of marriage judgment expressly provides otherwise. + +(3) This section applies to revocable trusts of decedents who die on or +after June 29, 2021. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 11, ch. 2021-183, effective June + +29, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1106. +Fla. Stat. 736.1106 + + 736.1106. Antilapse; survivorship with respect to future interests under +terms of inter vivos and testamentary trusts; substitute takers. +(1) As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Beneficiary means the beneficiary of a future interest and includes a +class member if the future interest is in the form of a class gift. + +(b) Distribution date, with respect to a future interest, means the time +when the future interest is to take effect. The distribution date need not occur +at the beginning or end of a calendar day, but can occur at a time during the +course of a day. The distribution date refers to the time that the right to +possession or enjoyment arises and is not necessarily the time that any benefit +of the right is realized. + +(c) Future interest includes an alternative future interest and a future +interest in the form of a class gift. + +(d) Future interest under the terms of a trust means a future interest +created by an inter vivos or testamentary transfer to an existing trust or +creating a trust or by an exercise of a power of appointment to an existing +trust directing the continuance of an existing trust, designating a beneficiary +of an existing trust, or creating a trust. + +(e) Surviving beneficiary or surviving descendant means a beneficiary +or a descendant who did not predecease the distribution date or is not deemed +to have predeceased the distribution date by operation of law. + +(2) A future interest under the terms of a trust is contingent upon the +beneficiary surviving the distribution date. Unless a contrary intent appears +in the trust instrument, if a beneficiary of a future interest under the terms +of a trust fails to survive the distribution date, and the deceased beneficiary +leaves surviving descendants, a substitute gift is created in the +beneficiarys surviving descendants. They take per stirpes the property to +which the beneficiary would have been entitled if the beneficiary had +survived the distribution date. + +(3) In the application of this section: + + + +(a) Words of survivorship attached to a future interest are a sufficient +indication of an intent contrary to the application of this section. + +(b) A residuary clause in a will is not a sufficient indication of an intent +contrary to the application of this section, whether or not the will specifically +provides that lapsed or failed devises are to pass under the residuary clause. + +(4) If, after the application of subsections (2) and (3), there is no +surviving taker, the property passes in the following order: +(a) If the future interest was created by the exercise of a power of + +appointment, the property passes under the donors gift-in-default clause, if +any, which clause is treated as creating a future interest under the terms of a +trust. + +(b) If no taker is produced by the application of paragraph (a) and the trust +was created in a nonresiduary devise or appointment in the transferors will, +the property passes under the residuary clause in the transferors will. For +purposes of this section, the residuary clause is treated as creating a future +interest under the terms of a trust. + +(c) If no taker is produced by the application of paragraph (a) or paragraph +(b), the property passes to those persons, including the state, and in such +shares as would succeed to the transferors intestate estate under the intestate +succession law of the transferors domicile if the transferor died when the +disposition is to take effect in possession or enjoyment. + +For purposes of paragraphs (b) and (c), the term transferor with respect +to a future interest created by the exercise of a power of appointment, +means the donor if the power was a nongeneral power and the donee if the +power was a general power. + +(5) Unless a contrary intent appears in the trust instrument, subsections +(2)-(4) do not apply to an outright devise that vests upon the death of the +settlor unless the beneficiary is a grandparent, or a lineal descendant of a +grandparent, of the settlor or testator and the beneficiary: +(a) Is dead at the time of the execution of the revocable trust or will; +(b) Fails to survive the settlor or testator; or +(c) Is required by the inter vivos trust or by operation of law to be treated + +as having predeceased the settlor or testator. + + + +A devise in a revocable trust or a testamentary trust that is to take effect at +the death of the settlor or testator does not vest until the death of the settlor +or testator. + +(6) Subsections (1)-(4) apply to all trusts other than trusts that were +irrevocable before the effective date of this code. Sections 732.603, +732.604, and 737.6035, as they exist on June 30, 2007, continue to apply to +other trusts executed on or after June 12, 2003. Subsection (5) applies to +those trusts that become irrevocable after June 30, 2014. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 16, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, + +2007; s. 7, ch. 2009-117, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 11, ch. 2014-127, effective July +1, 2014. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1107. +Fla. Stat. 736.1107 + + 736.1107. Change in securities; accessions; nonademption. +A gift of specific securities, rather than their equivalent value, entitles the + +beneficiary only to: +(1) As much of the gifted securities of the same issuer held by the trust + +estate at the time of the occurrence of the event entitling the beneficiary to +distribution. + +(2) Any additional or other securities of the same issuer held by the trust +estate because of action initiated by the issuer, excluding any acquired by +exercise of purchase options. + +(3) Securities of another issuer held by the trust estate as a result of a +merger, consolidation, reorganization, or other similar action initiated by +the original issuer. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1108. +Fla. Stat. 736.1108 + + 736.1108. Penalty clause for contest. +(1) A provision in a trust instrument purporting to penalize any + +interested person for contesting the trust instrument or instituting other +proceedings relating to a trust estate or trust assets is unenforceable. + +(2) This section applies to trusts created on or after October 1, 1993. For +purposes of this subsection, a revocable trust shall be treated as created +when the right of revocation terminates. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XI. , 736.1109. +Fla. Stat. 736.1109 + + 736.1109. Testamentary and revocable trusts; homestead protections. +(1) If a devise of homestead under a trust violates the limitations on the + +devise of homestead in s. 4(c), Art. X of the State Constitution, title shall +pass as provided in s. 732.401 at the moment of death. + +(2) A power of sale or general direction to pay debts, expenses, and +claims within the trust instrument does not subject an interest in the +protected homestead to the claims of decedents creditors, expenses of +administration, and obligations of the decedents estate as provided in s. +736.05053. + +(3) If a trust directs the sale of property that would otherwise qualify as +protected homestead, and the property is not subject to the constitutional +limitations on the devise of homestead under the State Constitution, title +shall remain vested in the trustee and subject to the provisions of the trust. + +(4) This section applies only to trusts described in s. 733.707(3) and to +testamentary trusts. + +(5) This section is intended to clarify existing law and applies to the +administration of trusts and estates of decedents who die before, on, or +after July 1, 2021. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. XII + + + +PART XII. +CHARITABLE TRUSTS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1201. +Fla. Stat. 736.1201 + + 736.1201. Definitions. +As used in this part: + +(1) Charitable organization means an organization described in s. +501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and exempt from tax under s. +501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. + +(2) Delivery of notice means delivery of a written notice required +under this part using any commercial delivery service requiring a signed +receipt or by any form of mail requiring a signed receipt. + +(3) Internal Revenue Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, +as amended. + +(4) Private foundation trust means a trust, including a trust described +in s. 4947(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in s. 509(a) of the +Internal Revenue Code. + +(5) Split interest trust means a trust for individual and charitable +beneficiaries that is subject to the provisions of s. 4947(a)(2) of the Internal +Revenue Code. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 6, ch. 2017-155, effective July 1, + +2017. + +Editors notes. +Sections 501(a), 501(c)(3), 509(a), and 4947 of the Internal Revenue Code, + +are codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 501(a), 501(c)(3), 509(a), and 4947, +respectively. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1202. +Fla. Stat. 736.1202 + + 736.1202. Application of this part. +Except as otherwise provided in the trust, the provisions of this part apply + +to all private foundation trusts and split interest trusts, whether created or +established before or after November 1, 1971, and to all trust assets acquired +by the trustee before or after November 1, 1971. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1203. +Fla. Stat. 736.1203 + + 736.1203. Trustee of a private foundation trust or a split interest trust. +Except as provided in s. 736.1205, the trustee of a private foundation trust + +or a split interest trust has the duties and powers conferred on the trustee by +this part. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1204. +Fla. Stat. 736.1204 + + 736.1204. Powers and duties of trustee of a private foundation trust or +a split interest trust. +(1) In the exercise of a trustees powers, including the powers granted by + +this part, a trustee has a duty to act with due regard to the trustees +obligation as a fiduciary, including a duty not to exercise any power in +such a way as to: +(a) Deprive the trust of an otherwise available tax exemption, deduction, or + +credit for tax purposes; +(b) Deprive a donor of a trust asset or tax deduction or credit; or +(c) Operate to impose a tax on a donor, trust, or other person. +For purposes of this subsection, the term tax includes, but is not limited + +to, any federal, state, or local excise, income, gift, estate, or inheritance tax. +(2) Except as provided in s. 736.1205, a trustee of a private foundation + +trust shall make distributions at such time and in such manner as not to +subject the trust to tax under s. 4942 of the Internal Revenue Code. + +(3) Except as provided in subsection (4) and in s. 736.1205, a trustee of +a private foundation trust, or a split interest trust to the extent that the split +interest trust is subject to the provisions of s. 4947(a)(2) of the Internal +Revenue Code, in the exercise of the trustees powers shall not: +(a) Engage in any act of self-dealing as defined in s. 4941(d) of the Internal + +Revenue Code; +(b) Retain any excess business holdings as defined in s. 4943(c) of the + +Internal Revenue Code; +(c) Make any investments in a manner that subjects the foundation to tax + +under s. 4944 of the Internal Revenue Code; or +(d) Make any taxable expenditures as defined in s. 4945(d) of the Internal + +Revenue Code. +(4) Paragraphs (3)(b) and (c) shall not apply to a split interest trust if: + +(a) All the income interest, and none of the remainder interest, of the trust + + + +is devoted solely to one or more of the purposes described in s. 170(c)(2)(B) +of the Internal Revenue Code, and all amounts in the trust for which a +deduction was allowed under s. 170, s. 545(b)(2), s. 556(b)(2), s. 642(c), s. +2055, s. 2106(a)(2), or s. 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code have an +aggregate fair market value of not more than 60 percent of the aggregate fair +market value of all amounts in the trust; or + +(b) A deduction was allowed under s. 170, s. 545(b)(2), s. 556(b)(2), s. +642(c), s. 2055, s. 2106(a)(2), or s. 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code for +amounts payable under the terms of the trust to every remainder beneficiary +but not to any income beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 17, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, + +2007. + +Editors notes. +The references to sections of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this + +section, are codified throughout Title 26 of the U.S.C.S. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1205. +Fla. Stat. 736.1205 + + 736.1205. Notice that this part does not apply. +In the case of a power to make distributions, if the trustee determines that + +the governing instrument contains provisions that are more restrictive than s. +736.1204(2), or if the trust contains other powers, inconsistent with the +provisions of s. 736.1204(3) that specifically direct acts by the trustee, the +trustee shall notify the Attorney General by delivery of notice when the trust +becomes subject to this part. Section 736.1204 does not apply to any trust for +which notice has been given pursuant to this section unless the trust is +amended to comply with the terms of this part. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 7, ch. 2017-155, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1206. +Fla. Stat. 736.1206 + + 736.1206. Power to amend trust instrument. +(1) In the case of a trust that is solely for a named charitable + +organization or organizations and for which the trustee does not possess +any discretion concerning the distribution of income or principal among +two or more such organizations, the trustee may amend the governing +instrument to comply with the provisions of s. 736.1204(2) with the +consent of the named charitable organization or organizations. + +(2) In the case of a charitable trust that is not subject to subsection (1), +the trustee may amend the governing instrument to comply with s. +736.1204(2) after delivery of notice to, and with the consent of, the +Attorney General. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 8, ch. 2017-155, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1207. +Fla. Stat. 736.1207 + + 736.1207. Power of court to permit deviation. +This part does not affect the power of a court to relieve a trustee from any + +restrictions on the powers and duties that are placed on the trustee by the +governing instrument or applicable law for cause shown and on complaint of +the trustee, the Attorney General, or an affected beneficiary and notice to the +affected parties. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 9, ch. 2017-155, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1208. +Fla. Stat. 736.1208 + + 736.1208. Release; property and persons affected; manner of effecting. +(1) The trustee of a trust, all of the unexpired interests in which are + +devoted to one or more charitable purposes, may release a power to select +charitable donees unless the creating instrument provides otherwise. + +(2) The release of a power to select charitable donees may apply to all or +any part of the property subject to the power and may reduce or limit the +charitable organizations, or classes of charitable organizations, in whose +favor the power is exercisable. + +(3) A release shall be effected by a duly acknowledged written +instrument signed by the trustee and delivered as provided in subsection +(4). + +(4) Delivery of a release shall be accomplished as follows: +(a) If the release is accomplished by specifying a charitable organization or + +organizations as beneficiary or beneficiaries of the trust, by delivery of a +copy of the release to each designated charitable organization. + +(b) If the release is accomplished by reducing the class of permissible +charitable organizations, by delivery of notice of the release to the Attorney +General, including a copy of the release. + +(5) If a release is accomplished by specifying a public charitable +organization or organizations as beneficiary or beneficiaries of the trust, +the trust at all times thereafter shall be operated exclusively for the benefit +of, and be supervised by, the specified public charitable organization or +organizations. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 10, ch. 2017-155, effective July 1, + +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1209. +Fla. Stat. 736.1209 + + 736.1209. Election to come under this part. +With the consent of that organization or organizations, a trustee of a trust + +for the benefit of a public charitable organization or organizations may come +under s. 736.1208(5) by delivery of notice to the Attorney General of the +election, accompanied by the proof of required consent. Thereafter the trust +shall be subject to s. 736.1208(5). + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 148, ch. 2007-5, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 18, ch. 2007-153, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 11, ch. 2017-155, effective July 1, +2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1210. +Fla. Stat. 736.1210 + + 736.1210. Interpretation. +This part shall be interpreted to effectuate the intent of the state to + +preserve, foster, and encourage gifts to, or for the benefit of, charitable +organizations. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XII. , 736.1211. +Fla. Stat. 736.1211 + + 736.1211. Protections afforded to certain charitable trusts and +organizations. +(1) A charitable organization, private foundation trust, split interest trust, + +or a private foundation as defined in s. 509(a) of the Internal Revenue +Code may not be required by a state agency or a local government to +disclose the race, religion, gender, national origin, socioeconomic status, +age, ethnicity, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or political +party registration of its employees, officers, directors, trustees, members, +or owners, without the prior written consent of the individual or +individuals in question. + +(2) A private foundation as defined in s. 509(a) of the Internal Revenue +Code, a private foundation trust, a split interest trust, or a grant-making +organization may not be required by the state or any local government to +disclose the race, religion, gender, national origin, socioeconomic status, +age, ethnicity, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or political +party registration of any person, or of the employees, officers, directors, +trustees, members, or owners of any entity that has received monetary or +in-kind contributions from or contracted with the organization, trust, or +foundation, without the prior written consent of the individual or +individuals in question. For purposes of this subsection, a grant-making +organization is an organization that makes grants to charitable +organizations but is not a private foundation, private foundation trust, or +split interest trust. + +(3) A state agency or a local government may not require that the +governing board or officers of a charitable organization, private foundation +trust, split interest trust, or a private foundation as defined in s. 509(a) of +the Internal Revenue Code include an individual or individuals of any +particular race, religion, gender, national origin, socioeconomic status, age, +ethnicity, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or political party +registration. Further, a state agency or a local government may not prohibit +service as a board member or officer by an individual or individuals based +upon their familial relationship to each other or to a donor or require that +the governing board or officers include one or more individuals who do not + + + +share a familial relationship with each other or with a donor. +(4) A charitable organization, private foundation trust, split interest trust, + +or any private foundation as defined in s. 509(a) of the Internal Revenue +Code may not be required by a state agency or a local government to +distribute its funds to or contract with any person or entity based upon the +race, religion, gender, national origin, socioeconomic status, age, ethnicity, +disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or political party registration +of the person or of the employees, officers, directors, trustees, members, or +owners of the entity, or based upon the populations, locales, or +communities served by the person or entity, except as a lawful condition +on the expenditure of particular funds imposed by the donor of such funds. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2010-122, eff. July 1, 2010. + +Editors notes. +Section 9, ch. 2010-122 provides: Section 8 of this act does not invalidate + +contracts in effect before the effective date of this act. +Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this section, is + +codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 509(a). + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. XIII + + + +PART XIII. +MISCELLANEOUS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIII. , 736.1301. +Fla. Stat. 736.1301 + + 736.1301. Electronic records and signatures. +Any provisions of this code governing the legal effect, validity, or + +enforceability of electronic records or electronic signatures, and of contracts +formed or performed with the use of such records or signatures, are deemed +to conform to the requirements of s. 102 of the Electronic Signatures in +Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7002, and supersede, +modify, and limit the requirements of the Electronic Signatures in Global and +National Commerce Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIII. , 736.1302. +Fla. Stat. 736.1302 + + 736.1302. Severability clause. +If any provision of this code or its application to any person or + +circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions +or applications of this code that can be given effect without the invalid +provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this code are +severable. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIII. , 736.1303. +Fla. Stat. 736.1303 + + 736.1303. Application to existing relationships. +(1) Except as otherwise provided in this code, on July 1, 2007: + +(a) This code applies to all trusts created before, on, or after such date. +(b) This code applies to all judicial proceedings concerning trusts + +commenced on or after such date. +(c) This code applies to judicial proceedings concerning trusts commenced + +before such date, unless the court finds that application of a particular +provision of this code would substantially interfere with the effective conduct +of the judicial proceedings or prejudice the rights of the parties, in which case +the particular provision of this code does not apply and the superseded law +applies. + +(d) Any rule of construction or presumption provided in this code applies +to trust instruments executed before the effective date of this code unless +there is a clear indication of a contrary intent in the terms of the trust. + +(e) An act done before such date is not affected by this code. +(2) If a right is acquired, extinguished, or barred on the expiration of a + +prescribed period that has commenced to run under any other law before +July 1, 2007, that law continues to apply to the right even if it has been +repealed or superseded. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. XIV + + + +PART XIV. FLORIDA UNIFORM DIRECTED TRUST ACT. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1401. +Fla. Stat. 736.1401 + + 736.1401. Short title. +This part may be cited as the Florida Uniform Directed Trust Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1403. +Fla. Stat. 736.1403 + + 736.1403. Application; principal place of administration. +(1) This part applies to a trust subject to this chapter, whenever created, + +that has its principal place of administration in the state, subject to the +following rules: +(a) If the trust was created before July 1, 2021, this part applies only to a + +decision or action occurring on or after July 1, 2021. +(b) If the principal place of administration of the trust is changed to the + +state on or after July 1, 2021, this part applies only to a decision or action +occurring on or after the date of the change. + +(2) In addition to s. 736.0108, relating to a trusts principal place of +administration, in a directed trust, terms of the trust that designate the +principal place of administration of the trust in the state are valid and +controlling if a trust directors principal place of business is located in or a +trust director is a resident of the state. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1405. +Fla. Stat. 736.1405 + + 736.1405. Exclusions. +(1) As used in this section, the term power of appointment means a + +power that enables a person acting in a nonfiduciary capacity to designate +a recipient of an ownership interest in or another power of appointment +over trust property. + +(2) Unless the terms of a trust expressly provide otherwise by specific +reference to this part, section, or paragraph, this part does not apply to: +(a) A power of appointment; +(b) A power to appoint or remove a trustee or trust director; +(c) A power of a settlor over a trust while the trust is revocable by that + +settlor; +(d) A power of a beneficiary over a trust to the extent the exercise or + +nonexercise of the power affects the beneficial interest of: +1. The beneficiary; or +2. Another beneficiary represented by the beneficiary under ss. 736.0301- + +736.0305 with respect to the exercise or nonexercise of the power; +(e) A power over a trust if the terms of the trust provide that the power is + +held in a nonfiduciary capacity; and +1. The power must be held in a nonfiduciary capacity to achieve the + +settlors tax objectives under the United States Internal Revenue Code of +1986, as amended, and regulations issued thereunder, as amended; or + +2. It is a power to reimburse the settlor for all or a part of the settlors +income tax liabilities attributable to the income of the trust; or + +(f) A power to add or to release a power under the trust instrument if the +power subject to addition or release causes the settlor to be treated as the +owner of all or any portion of the trust for federal income tax purposes. + +(3) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise, a power granted to a +person other than a trustee: + + + +(a) To designate a recipient of an ownership interest in trust property, +including a power to terminate a trust, is a power of appointment and not a +power of direction. + +(b) To create, modify, or terminate a power of appointment is a power of +direction and not a power of appointment, except a power to create a power +of appointment that is an element of a broader power to affect an ownership +interest in trust property beyond the mere creation of a power of appointment, +such as a power to appoint trust property in further trust, is a power of +appointment and not a power of direction. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1406. +Fla. Stat. 736.1406 + + 736.1406. Power of trust director. +(1) Subject to s. 736.1407, relating to trust directors being subject to the + +same rules as a trustee regarding Social Security Act reimbursement +requirements and charitable trust instruments, the terms of a trust may +grant a power of direction to a trust director. + +(2) A power of direction includes only those powers granted by the +terms of the trust. + +(3) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise: +(a) A trust director may exercise any further power appropriate to the + +exercise or nonexercise of a power of direction granted to the trust director +under subsection (1); and + +(b) Trust directors with joint powers must act by majority decision. + +HISTORY: +S. 17, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1407. +Fla. Stat. 736.1407 + + 736.1407. Limitations on trust director. +A trust director is subject to the same rules as a trustee in a like position + +and under similar circumstances in the exercise or nonexercise of a power of +direction or further power under s. 736.1406(3)(a), relating to additional +power granted to a trust director in furtherance of an express power of +direction, regarding: + +(1) A payback provision in the terms of a trust necessary to comply with +the reimbursement requirements of s. 1917 of the Social Security Act, 42 +U.S.C. s. 1396p(d)(4)(A), as amended, and regulations issued thereunder, +as amended. + +(2) A charitable interest in the trust, including notice regarding the +interest to the Attorney General. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1408. +Fla. Stat. 736.1408 + + 736.1408. Duty and liability of trust director. +(1) Subject to subsection (2), with respect to a power of direction or + +further power under s. 736.1406(3)(a), relating to additional power granted +to a trust director in furtherance of an express power of direction: +(a) A trust director has the same fiduciary duty and liability in the exercise + +or nonexercise of the power: +1. If the power is held individually, as a sole trustee in a like position and + +under similar circumstances; or +2. If the power is held jointly with a trustee or another trust director, as a + +cotrustee in a like position and under similar circumstances. +(b) The terms of the trust may vary the trust directors duty or liability to + +the same extent the terms of the trust may vary the duty or liability of a +trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances. + +(2) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise, if a trust director is +licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized or permitted by law other than +this part to provide health care in the ordinary course of the trust directors +business or practice of a profession, to the extent the trust director acts in +that capacity the trust director has no duty or liability under this part. + +(3) The terms of a trust may impose a duty or liability on a trust director +in addition to the duties and liabilities under this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1409. +Fla. Stat. 736.1409 + + 736.1409. Duty and liability of directed trustee. +(1) Subject to subsection (2), a directed trustee shall take reasonable + +action to comply with a trust directors exercise or nonexercise of a power +of direction or further power under s. 736.1406(3)(a), relating to additional +power granted to a trust director in furtherance of an express power of +direction, and the trustee is not liable for such reasonable action. + +(2) A directed trustee may not comply with a trust directors exercise or +nonexercise of a power of direction or further power under s. 736.1406(3) +(a), relating to additional power granted to a trust director in furtherance of +an express power of direction, to the extent that by complying the trustee +would engage in willful misconduct. + +(3) Before complying with a trust directors exercise of a power of +direction, the directed trustee shall determine whether or not the exercise is +within the scope of the trust directors power of direction. The exercise of a +power of direction is not outside the scope of a trust directors power of +direction merely because the exercise constitutes or may constitute a +breach of trust. + +(4) An exercise of a power of direction under which a trust director may +release a trustee or another trust director from liability for breach of trust is +not effective if: +(a) The breach involved the trustees or other directors willful misconduct; +(b) The release was induced by improper conduct of the trustee or other + +director in procuring the release; or +(c) At the time of the release, the trust director did not know the material + +facts relating to the breach. +(5) A directed trustee that has reasonable doubt about its duty under this + +section may apply to the court for instructions, with attorney fees and costs +to be paid from assets of the trust as provided in this code. + +(6) The terms of a trust may impose a duty or liability on a directed +trustee in addition to the duties and liabilities under this part. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 20, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.141. +Fla. Stat. 736.141 + + 736.141. Duty to provide information. +(1) Subject to s. 736.1411, relating to limitations on the duties of trustees + +or trust directors to monitor, inform, or advise on matters involving the +other, a trustee shall provide information to a trust director to the extent the +information is reasonably related to the powers or duties of the trust +director. + +(2) Subject to s. 736.1411, relating to limitations on the duties of trustees +or trust directors to monitor, inform, or advise on matters involving the +other, a trust director shall provide information to a trustee or another trust +director to the extent the information is reasonably related to the powers or +duties of the trustee or other trust director. + +(3) A trustee that acts in reliance on information provided by a trust +director is not liable for a breach of trust to the extent the breach resulted +from the reliance, unless by so acting the trustee engages in willful +misconduct. + +(4) A trust director that acts in reliance on information provided by a +trustee or another trust director is not liable for a breach of trust to the +extent the breach resulted from the reliance, unless by so acting the trust +director engages in willful misconduct. + +(5) A trust director shall provide information within the trust directors +knowledge or control to a qualified beneficiary upon a written request of a +qualified beneficiary to the extent the information is reasonably related to +the powers or duties of the trust director. + +HISTORY: +S. 21, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1411. +Fla. Stat. 736.1411 + + 736.1411. No duty to monitor, inform, or advise. +(1) Notwithstanding s. 736.1409(1), relating to the duty of a directed + +trustee to take reasonable action when directed and to the release of +liability for such action, unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise: +(a) A trustee does not have a duty to: +1. Monitor a trust director; or +2. Inform or give advice to a settlor, beneficiary, trustee, or trust director + +concerning an instance in which the trustee might have acted differently from +the trust director. + +(b) By taking an action described in paragraph (a), a trustee does not +assume the duty excluded by paragraph (a). + +(2) Notwithstanding s. 736.1408(1), relating to the fiduciary duty of a +trust director, unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise: +(a) A trust director does not have a duty to: +1. Monitor a trustee or another trust director; or +2. Inform or give advice to a settlor, beneficiary, trustee, or another trust + +director concerning an instance in which the trust director might have acted +differently from a trustee or another trust director. + +(b) By taking an action described in paragraph (a), a trust director does not +assume the duty excluded by paragraph (a). + +HISTORY: +S. 22, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021; s. 58, ch. 2022-4, effective + +May 13, 2022. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1412. +Fla. Stat. 736.1412 + + 736.1412. Application to cotrustee. +(1) The terms of a trust may provide for the appointment of more than + +one trustee but confer upon one or more of the trustees, to the exclusion of +the others, the power to direct or prevent specified actions of the trustees. + +(2) The excluded trustees shall act in accordance with the exercise of the +power in the manner, and with the same duty and liability, as directed +trustees with respect to a trust directors power of direction under s. +736.1409, relating to the duties and liabilities of a directed trustee; s. +736.141, relating to the duties of a trustee and trust director to provide and +rely on information; and s. 736.1411, relating to limitations on the duties of +trustees or trust directors to monitor, inform, or advise on matters +involving the other. + +(3) The trustee or trustees having the power to direct or prevent actions +of the excluded trustees shall be liable to the beneficiaries with respect to +the exercise of the power as if the excluded trustees were not in office and +shall have the exclusive obligation to account to and to defend any action +brought by the beneficiaries with respect to the exercise of the power. + +HISTORY: +S. 23, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1413. +Fla. Stat. 736.1413 + + 736.1413. Limitation of action against trust director. +(1) An action against a trust director for breach of trust must be + +commenced within the same limitation period for an action for breach of +trust against a trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances +under s. 736.1008, relating to limitations on proceedings against trustees. + +(2) A trust accounting or any other written report of a trustee or a trust +director has the same effect on the limitation period for an action against a +trust director for breach of trust that such trust accounting or written report +would have under s. 736.1008, relating to limitations on proceedings +against trustees, in an action for breach of trust against a trustee in a like +position and under similar circumstances. + +HISTORY: +S. 24, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1414. +Fla. Stat. 736.1414 + + 736.1414. Defenses in action against trust director. +In an action against a trust director for breach of trust, the trust director + +may assert the same defenses a trustee in a like position and under similar +circumstances could assert in an action for breach of trust against the trustee. + +HISTORY: +S. 25, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1415. +Fla. Stat. 736.1415 + + 736.1415. Jurisdiction over trust director. +(1) By accepting appointment as a trust director of a trust subject to this + +part, the trust director submits to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of +the state regarding any matter related to a power or duty of the trust +director. + +(2) This section does not preclude other methods of obtaining +jurisdiction over a trust director. + +HISTORY: +S. 26, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XIV. , 736.1416. +Fla. Stat. 736.1416 + + 736.1416. Office of trust director. +(1) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise, a trust director shall be + +considered a trustee for purposes of the following: +(a) Role of the court in trust proceedings under s. 736.0201. +(b) Proceedings for review of employment of agents and review of + +compensation of a trustee and employees of a trust under s. 736.0206. +(c) Representation by the holder of power of appointment under s. + +736.0302(4), relating to how trustees with discretionary power to make trust +distributions do not have a power of appointment for purposes of representing +persons affected by such power. + +(d) Prohibition on a trustee acting as a designated representative under s. +736.0306(2). + +(e) Validation of power to select a beneficiary from an indefinite class +under s. 736.0402(3). + +(f) As to allowing application by the trust director for judicial modification +of a trust when such modification is not inconsistent with the settlors +purpose under s. 736.04113, for judicial construction of provisions relating to +federal taxes under s. 736.04114, for judicial modification of a trust when +such modification is in the best interest of the beneficiaries under s. +736.04115, or for judicial modification or termination of an uneconomic trust +under s. 736.0414(2), if the trust director is so authorized by the terms of the +trust. + +(g) Discretionary trusts and the effect of a standard under s. 736.0504, +relating to special provisions regarding discretionary trusts. + +(h) Trust assets not being subject to creditor claims by reason of +discretionary powers granted to a trustee under s. 736.0505(1)(c). + +(i) A trustees duty to pay trust obligations and expenses before +paying obligations and expenses of the settlors estate under s. +736.05053(4). + + + +(j) Acceptance or declination of a trusteeship under s. 736.0701. +(k) Requirement to give bond to secure performance under certain + +circumstances and court discretions relating to such bonds under s. 736.0702. +(l) Filling trustee vacancies and court appointment of an additional trustee + +or special fiduciary under s. 736.0704. +(m) Resignation of a trustee under s. 736.0705, including requirements, + +court authorizations, and remaining liabilities. +(n) Court removal of a trustee, including who may request a removal, + +under s. 736.0706, but not to give the trust director the power to request +removal of a trustee. + +(o) Reasonable compensation of a trustee or professional acting as a trustee +under s. 736.0708. + +(p) Entitlement of a trustee to reimbursement of expenses and liens to +secure advances under s. 736.0709. + +(q) Authority to pay costs or attorney fees without approval under s. +736.0802(10), if the trust director has a power of direction or, if the trust +director has a further power to direct, the payment of such costs or attorney +fees under s. 736.1406(2), relating to the explicit power of direction granted +to a trust director, or s. 736.1406(3)(a), relating to the implied additional +power of a director in furtherance of an express power of direction. + +(r) Limitations on a trustees discretionary powers under s. 736.0814. +(s) Administration of trusts by trustees without regard to pending contests + +or proceedings, except as the court directs, under s. 736.08165. +(t) A trustees obligation to invest in accordance with chapter 518 under s. + +736.0901. +(u) The exception to the prudent investor rule for life insurance under s. + +736.0902. +(v) Remedies available for a trustee breach of trust under s. + +736.1001. +(w) Damages against a trustee for breach of trust under s. 736.1002. + +(x) A trustees immunity from liability for loss or no profit under s. + + + +736.1003 if there is no breach of trust. +(y) Court-awarded attorney fees and costs under s. 736.1004 for breach of + +trust challenges. +(z) Fees available to a trustees attorney for extraordinary service under s. + +736.1007(5), court variance of compensation for a trustees attorney under s. +736.1007(6), and agreements between a settlor and an attorney for fees to be +provided to a trustee under s. 736.1007(7). + +(aa) A trustees immunity from liability for a breach of trust under s. +736.1009 if the trustee relied on the trust instrument terms. + +(bb) Limitations on a trustees liability for acting without knowledge of +relevant events under s. 736.1010. + +(cc) Limitations on a trustees exculpation of liability under the terms of a +trust under s. 736.1011. + +(dd) The release of a trustee from liability with consent, the release or +ratification of a beneficiary, and the limitations on such actions under s. +736.1012. + +(ee) Limitations on imposing liability on a trustee for obligations of a +settlor under s. 736.1014. + +(2) If a person has not accepted a trust directorship under the terms of +the trust or has accepted or declined a trusteeship under s. 736.0701 or a +trustee, settlor, or a qualified beneficiary of the trust is uncertain whether +such acceptance has occurred, a trustee, settlor, or a qualified beneficiary +of the trust may make a written demand on a person designated to serve as +a trust director, with a written copy to the trustees, to accept or confirm +prior acceptance of the trust directorship in writing. A written acceptance, +written acknowledgment of prior acceptance, or written declination of the +trust directorship shall be delivered by the designated trust director within +60 days after receipt of such demand to all trustees, qualified beneficiaries, +and the settlor if living. + +HISTORY: +S. 27, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 736, Pt. XV + + + +PART XV. COMMUNITY PROPERTY TRUST ACT. + +HISTORY: +S. 28, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1501. +Fla. Stat. 736.1501 + + 736.1501. Short title. +This part may be cited as the Community Property Trust Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 29, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1502. +Fla. Stat. 736.1502 + + 736.1502. Definitions. +Unless the context otherwise requires, as used in this part: + +(1) Community property means the property and the appreciation of +and income from the property owned by a qualified trustee of a community +property trust during the marriage of the settlor spouses. The property +owned by a community property trust pursuant to this part and the +appreciation of and income from such property shall be deemed to be +community property for purposes of general law. + +(2) Community property trust means an express trust that complies +with s. 736.1503 and is created on or after July 1, 2021. + +(3) Decree means a judgment or other order of a court of competent +jurisdiction. + +(4) Dissolution means either: +(a) Termination of a marriage by a decree of dissolution, divorce, + +annulment, or declaration of invalidity; or +(b) Entry of a decree of legal separation maintenance by a court of + +competent jurisdiction in another state that recognizes legal separation or +maintenance under its laws. + +(5) During marriage means a period that begins at marriage and ends +upon the dissolution of marriage or upon the death of a spouse. + +(6) Qualified trustee means either: +(a) A natural person who is a resident of the state; or +(b) A company authorized to act as a trustee in the state. +A qualified trustees powers include, but are not limited to, maintaining + +records for the trust on an exclusive or a nonexclusive basis and preparing or +arranging for the preparation of, on an exclusive or a nonexclusive basis, any +income tax returns that must be filed by the trust. + +(7) Settlor spouses means a married couple who establishes a +community property trust pursuant to this part. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 30, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1503. +Fla. Stat. 736.1503 + + 736.1503. Requirements for community property trust. +An arrangement is a community property trust if one or both settlor + +spouses transfer property to a trust that: +(1) Expressly declares that the trust is a community property trust within + +the meaning of this part. +(2) Has at least one trustee who is a qualified trustee, provided that both + +spouses or either spouse also may be a trustee. +(3) Is signed by both settlor spouses consistent with the formalities + +required for the execution of a trust under this chapter. +(4) Contains substantially the following language in capital letters at the + +beginning of the community property trust agreement: + +THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS COMMUNITY PROPERTY TRUST +MAY BE VERY EXTENSIVE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, +YOUR RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO CREDITORS AND OTHER THIRD +PARTIES, AND YOUR RIGHTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE DURING THE +COURSE OF YOUR MARRIAGE, AT THE TIME OF A DIVORCE, AND +UPON THE DEATH OF YOU OR YOUR SPOUSE. ACCORDINGLY, +THIS TRUST AGREEMENT SHOULD BE SIGNED ONLY AFTER +CAREFUL CONSIDERATION. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS +ABOUT THIS TRUST AGREEMENT, YOU SHOULD SEEK +COMPETENT AND INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE. ALTHOUGH +NOT A REQUIREMENT, IT IS STRONGLY ADVISABLE THAT EACH +SPOUSE OBTAIN THEIR OWN SEPARATE LEGAL COUNSEL PRIOR +TO THE EXECUTION OF THIS TRUST. + +HISTORY: +S. 31, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1504. +Fla. Stat. 736.1504 + + 736.1504. Agreement establishing community property trust; +amendments and revocation. +(1) In the agreement establishing a community property trust, the settlor + +spouses may agree upon: +(a) The rights and obligations in the property transferred to the trust, + +notwithstanding when and where the property is acquired or located. +(b) The management and control of the property transferred into the trust. +(c) The disposition of the property transferred to the trust on dissolution, + +death, or the occurrence or nonoccurrence of another event, subject to ss. +736.1507 and 736.1508. + +(d) Whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable. +(e) Any other matter that affects the property transferred to the trust and + +does not violate public policy or general law imposing a criminal penalty, or +result in the property not being treated as community property under the laws +of a relevant jurisdiction. + +(2) In the event of the death of a settlor spouse, the surviving spouse +may amend a community property trust regarding the disposition of that +spouses one-half share of the community property, regardless of whether +the agreement provides that the community property trust is irrevocable. + +(3) A community property trust may be amended or revoked by the +settlor spouses unless the agreement itself specifically provides that the +community property trust is irrevocable. + +(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the settlor spouses +shall be deemed to be the only qualified beneficiaries of a community +property trust until the death of one of the settlor spouses, regardless of +whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable. After the death of one of the +settlor spouses, the surviving spouse shall be deemed to be the only +qualified beneficiary as to his or her share of the community property trust. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 32, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1505. +Fla. Stat. 736.1505 + + 736.1505. Classification of property as community property; +enforcement; duration; management and control; effect of +distributions. +(1) An obligation incurred by both spouses during the marriage may be + +satisfied from a community property trust of the settlor spouses. +(2) A community property trust is enforceable without consideration. +(3) All property owned by a community property trust is community + +property under the laws of the state during the marriage of the settlor +spouses. + +(4) The right to manage and control property that is transferred to a +community property trust is determined by the terms of the trust +agreement. + +(5) When property is distributed from a community property trust, the +property shall no longer constitute community property within the meaning +of this part, provided that community property as classified by a +jurisdiction other than the state retains its character as community property +to the extent otherwise provided by ss. 732.216-732.228. + +HISTORY: +S. 33, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1506. +Fla. Stat. 736.1506 + + 736.1506. Satisfaction of obligations. +Except as provided in s. 4, Art. X of the State Constitution: + +(1) An obligation solely incurred by one settlor spouse before or during +the marriage may be satisfied from that settlor spouses one-half share of a +community property trust, unless a greater amount is otherwise provided in +the community property trust agreement. + +(2) An obligation incurred by both spouses during the marriage may be +satisfied from a community property trust of the settlor spouses. + +HISTORY: +S. 34, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1507. +Fla. Stat. 736.1507 + + 736.1507. Death of a spouse. +Upon the death of a spouse, one-half of the aggregate value of the property + +held in a community property trust established by the settlor spouses reflects +the share of the surviving spouse and is not subject to testamentary +disposition by the decedent spouse or distribution under the laws of +succession of the state. The other one-half of the value of that property +reflects the share of the decedent spouse and is subject to testamentary +disposition or distribution under the laws of succession of the state. Unless +provided otherwise in the community property trust agreement, the trustee +has the power to distribute assets of the trust in divided or undivided interests +and to adjust resulting differences in valuation. A distribution in kind may be +made on the basis of a non-pro rata division of the aggregate value of the +trust assets, on the basis of a pro rata division of each individual asset, or by +using both methods. The decedents spouses one-half share shall not be +included in the elective estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 35, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1508. +Fla. Stat. 736.1508 + + 736.1508. Dissolution of marriage. +(1) Upon the dissolution of the marriage of the settlor spouses, the + +community property trust shall terminate and the trustee shall distribute +one-half of the trust assets to each spouse in accordance with subsection +(3). For purposes of this act, s. 61.075 does not apply to the disposition of +the assets and liabilities held in a community property trust. + +(2) The initiation of an action to dissolve the settlor spouses marriage +does not automatically terminate the community property trust unless +otherwise agreed to by the settlor spouses in writing or otherwise ordered +by the court having jurisdiction over the dissolution proceedings between +the settlor spouses. However, if an action to dissolve the settlor spouses +marriage remains pending for 180 days, the trust automatically terminates +and the trustee must distribute one-half of the trust assets to each spouse in +accordance with subsection (3), unless any of the following apply: +(a) A settlor spouse objects to the termination within 180 days following + +the filing of the dissolution action. At which time, either party may request +that the court having jurisdiction over the dissolution proceedings between +the settlor spouses determine if good cause exists to terminate the community +property trust during the pendency of the dissolution of marriage action. + +(b) The court having jurisdiction over the dissolution proceedings between +the settlor spouses enters an order directing otherwise. + +(c) The settlor spouses otherwise agree, in writing, while the dissolution of +marriage action is pending. + +(d) The community property trust agreement provides otherwise. +(3) Unless provided otherwise in the community property trust + +agreement, the trustee has the power to distribute assets of the trust in +divided or undivided interests and to adjust resulting differences in +valuation. A distribution in kind may be made on the basis of a non-pro +rata division of the aggregate value of the trust assets, on the basis of a pro +rata division of each individual asset, or by using both methods. A trustee +may not distribute real property or business interests in a manner that + + + +would leave the settlor spouses as co-owners of such assets post +dissolution of the settlor spouses marriage or termination of the +community property trust, unless otherwise agreed to by the settlor spouses +in a separate written agreement executed during the dissolution of marriage +action. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the community +property trust agreement cannot be terminated, and the assets cannot be +distributed, in a manner that could cause the trust assets to not be treated as +community property. + +(4) The court having jurisdiction over the dissolution proceedings +between the settlor spouses has personal and subject matter jurisdiction +over the settlor spouses and the trustee of the community property trust for +the purpose of effectuating the distribution of the community property trust +assets consistent with the terms of the community property trust +agreement, in a manner ensuring that the trust assets retain their +community property character. + +HISTORY: +S. 36, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1509. +Fla. Stat. 736.1509 + + 736.1509. Right of child to support. +A community property trust does not adversely affect the right of a child of + +the settlor spouses to support, pursuant to s. 61.30 or the applicable law of +another jurisdiction, that either spouse would be required to give under the +applicable laws of the settlor spouses state of domicile. + +HISTORY: +S. 37, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.151. +Fla. Stat. 736.151 + + 736.151. Homestead property. +(1) Property that is transferred to or acquired subject to a community + +property trust may continue to qualify or may initially qualify as the settlor +spouses homestead within the meaning of s. 4(a)(1), Art. X of the State +Constitution and for all purposes of general law, provided that the property +would qualify as the settlor spouses homestead if title was held in one or +both of the settlor spouses individual names. + +(2) The settlor spouses shall be deemed to have beneficial title in equity +to the homestead property held subject to a community property trust for +all purposes, including for purposes of s. 196.031. + +HISTORY: +S. 38, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1511. +Fla. Stat. 736.1511 + + 736.1511. Application of Internal Revenue Code; community property +classified by another jurisdiction. + +For purposes of the application of s. 1014(b)(6) of the Internal Revenue +Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. s. 1014(b)(6), as of January 1, 2021, a community +property trust is considered a trust established under the community property +laws of the state. Community property, as classified by a jurisdiction other +than this state, which is transferred to a community property trust retains its +character as community property while in the trust. If the trust is revoked and +property is transferred on revocation of the trust, the community property as +classified by a jurisdiction other than the state retains its character as +community property to the extent otherwise provided by ss. 732.216-732.228. + +HISTORY: +S. 39, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 736. , Pt. XV. , 736.1512. +Fla. Stat. 736.1512 + + 736.1512. Unenforceable trusts. +(1) A community property trust executed during marriage is not + +enforceable if the spouse against whom enforcement is sought proves that: +(a) The trust was unconscionable when made; +(b) The spouse against whom enforcement is sought did not execute the + +community property trust agreement voluntarily; +(c) The community property trust agreement was the product of fraud, + +duress, coercion, or overreaching; or +(d) Before execution of the community property trust agreement, the + +spouse against whom enforcement is sought: +1. Was not given a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property and + +financial obligations of the other spouse. +2. Did not voluntarily sign a written waiver expressly waiving right to + +disclosure of the property and financial obligations of the other spouse +beyond the disclosure provided. + +3. Did not have notice of the property or financial obligations of the other +spouse. + +(2) Whether a community property trust is unconscionable shall be +determined by a court as a matter of law. + +(3) A community property trust may not be deemed unenforceable +solely on the fact that the settlor spouses did not have separate legal +representation when executing the community property trust agreement. + +HISTORY: +S. 40, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 737. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 737 + + + +CHAPTER 737. +TRUST ADMINISTRATION [REPEALED]. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 738 + + + +CHAPTER 738. +PRINCIPAL AND INCOME. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.101. +Fla. Stat. 738.101 + + 738.101. Short title. +This chapter may be cited as the Florida Uniform Principal and Income + +Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.102. +Fla. Stat. 738.102 + + 738.102. Definitions. +As used in this chapter, the term: + +(1) Accounting period means a calendar year unless another 12-month +period is selected by a fiduciary. The term includes a portion of a calendar +year or other 12-month period that begins when an income interest begins +or ends when an income interest ends. + +(2) Beneficiary means, in the case of a decedents estate, an heir or +devisee and, in the case of a trust, an income beneficiary or a remainder +beneficiary. + +(3) Carrying value means the fair market value at the time the assets +are received by the fiduciary. For the estates of decedents and trusts +described in s. 733.707(3), after the grantors death, the assets are +considered received as of the date of death. If there is a change in +fiduciaries, a majority of the continuing fiduciaries may elect to adjust the +carrying values to reflect the fair market value of the assets at the +beginning of their administration. If such election is made, it must be +reflected on the first accounting filed after the election. For assets acquired +during the administration of the estate or trust, the carrying value is equal +to the acquisition costs of the asset. + +(4) Fiduciary means a personal representative or a trustee. The term +includes an executor, administrator, successor personal representative, +special administrator, or a person performing substantially the same +function. + +(5) Income means money or property that a fiduciary receives as +current return from a principal asset. The term includes a portion of +receipts from a sale, exchange, or liquidation of a principal asset, to the +extent provided in ss. 738.401-738.403 and s. 738.503. + +(6) Income beneficiary means a person to whom net income of a trust +is or may be payable. + +(7) Income interest means the right of an income beneficiary to +receive all or part of net income, whether the terms of the trust require the + + + +net income to be distributed or authorize the net income to be distributed in +the trustees discretion. + +(8) Mandatory income interest means the right of an income +beneficiary to receive net income that the terms of the trust require the +fiduciary to distribute. + +(9) Net income means the total receipts allocated to income during an +accounting period minus the disbursements made from income during the +period, plus or minus transfers under this chapter to or from income during +the period. + +(10) Person means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, +trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, +public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity or a +government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality. + +(11) Principal means property held in trust for distribution to a +remainder beneficiary when the trust terminates. + +(12) Remainder beneficiary means a person entitled to receive +principal when an income interest ends. + +(13) Terms of a trust means the manifestation of the intent of a grantor +or decedent with respect to the trust, expressed in a manner that admits of +its proof in a judicial proceeding, whether by written or spoken words or +by conduct. + +(14) Trustee includes an original, additional, or successor trustee, +whether or not appointed or confirmed by a court. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 2, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.103. +Fla. Stat. 738.103 + + 738.103. Fiduciary duties; general principles. +(1) In allocating receipts and disbursements to or between principal and + +income, and with respect to any matter within the scope of ss. 738.201 and +738.202 and ss. 738.301-738.303, a fiduciary: +(a) Shall administer a trust or estate in accordance with the terms of the + +trust or the will, even if there is a different provision in this chapter. +(b) May administer a trust or estate by the exercise of a discretionary + +power of administration given to the fiduciary by the terms of the trust or the +will, even if the exercise of the power produces a result different from a result +required or permitted by this chapter. + +(c) Shall administer a trust or estate in accordance with this chapter if the +terms of the trust or the will do not contain a different provision or do not +give the fiduciary a discretionary power of administration. + +(d) Shall add a receipt or charge a disbursement to principal to the extent +the terms of the trust and this chapter do not provide a rule for allocating the +receipt or disbursement to or between principal and income. + +(2) In exercising the power to adjust under s. 738.104(1) or a +discretionary power of administration regarding a matter within the scope +of this chapter, whether granted by the terms of a trust, a will, or this +chapter, a fiduciary shall administer a trust or estate impartially, based on +what is fair and reasonable to all of the beneficiaries, except to the extent +the terms of the trust or the will clearly manifest an intention that the +fiduciary shall or may favor one or more of the beneficiaries. A +determination in accordance with this chapter is presumed to be fair and +reasonable to all of the beneficiaries. + +(3) Except as provided in s. 738.1041(9), this chapter pertains to the +administration of a trust and is applicable to any trust that is administered +in this state or under its law. This chapter also applies to any estate that is +administered in this state unless the provision is limited in application to a +trustee, rather than a fiduciary. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 3, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.104. +Fla. Stat. 738.104 + + 738.104. Trustees power to adjust. +(1) A trustee may adjust between principal and income to the extent the + +trustee considers necessary if the trustee invests and manages trust assets +as a prudent investor, the terms of the trust describe the amount that may or +shall be distributed to a beneficiary by referring to the trusts income, and +the trustee determines, after applying the rules in s. 738.103(1), that the +trustee is unable to comply with s. 738.103(2). + +(2) In deciding whether and to what extent to exercise the power +conferred by subsection (1), a trustee shall consider all factors relevant to +the trust and its beneficiaries, including the following factors to the extent +they are relevant: +(a) The nature, purpose, and expected duration of the trust. +(b) The intent of the grantor. +(c) The identity and circumstances of the beneficiaries. +(d) The needs for liquidity, regularity of income, and preservation and + +appreciation of capital. +(e) The assets held in the trust; the extent to which the assets consist of + +financial assets, interests in closely held enterprises, tangible and intangible +personal property, or real property; the extent to which an asset is used by a +beneficiary; and whether an asset was purchased by the trustee or received +from the grantor. + +(f) The net amount allocated to income under the other sections of this +chapter and the increases or decreases in the value of the principal assets, +which the trustee may estimate as to assets for which market values are not +readily available. + +(g) Whether and to what extent the terms of the trust give the trustee the +power to invade principal or accumulate income or prohibit the trustee from +invading principal or accumulating income and the extent to which the trustee +has exercised a power from time to time to invade principal or accumulate +income. + + + +(h) The actual and anticipated effect of economic conditions on principal +and income and effects of inflation and deflation. + +(i) The anticipated tax consequences of an adjustment. +(3) A trustee may not make an adjustment: + +(a) That reduces the actuarial value of the income interest in a trust to +which a person transfers property with the intent to qualify for a gift tax +exclusion; + +(b) That changes the amount payable to a beneficiary as a fixed annuity or +a fixed fraction of the value of the trust assets; + +(c) From any amount that is permanently set aside for charitable purposes +under a will or the terms of a trust unless both income and principal are so set +aside; + +(d) If possessing or exercising the power to adjust causes an individual to +be treated as the owner of all or part of the trust for income tax purposes and +the individual would not be treated as the owner if the trustee did not possess +the power to adjust; + +(e) If possessing or exercising the power to adjust causes all or part of the +trust assets to be included for estate tax purposes in the estate of an individual +who has the power to remove a trustee or appoint a trustee, or both, and the +assets would not be included in the estate of the individual if the trustee did +not possess the power to adjust; + +(f) If the trustee is a beneficiary of the trust; or +(g) If the trustee is not a beneficiary of the trust but the adjustment would + +benefit the trustee directly or indirectly, except that in the case of a trustee +whose compensation for acting as trustee is based upon the value of trust +assets, an adjustment that affects the value of trust assets shall not be deemed +to benefit the trustee. + +(4) If paragraph (3)(d), paragraph (3)(e), paragraph (3)(f), or paragraph +(3)(g) applies to a trustee and there is more than one trustee, a cotrustee to +whom the provision does not apply may make the adjustment unless the +exercise of the power by the remaining trustee is not permitted by the +terms of the trust. + + + +(5) A trustee may release the entire power to adjust conferred by +subsection (1) or may release only the power to adjust from income to +principal or the power to adjust from principal to income if the trustee is +uncertain about whether possessing or exercising the power will cause a +result described in paragraphs (3)(a)-(e) or paragraph (3)(g) or if the trustee +determines that possessing or exercising the power will or may deprive the +trust of a tax benefit or impose a tax burden not described in subsection +(3). A release under this subsection may be permanent or for a specified +period, including a period measured by the life of an individual. + +(6) Terms of a trust that limit a trustees power to adjust between +principal and income do not affect the application of this section unless it +is clear from the terms of the trust that the terms are intended to deny the +trustee the power to adjust conferred by subsection (1). + +(7) Nothing in this chapter is intended to create or imply a duty to make +an adjustment and no inference of impropriety shall be made as a result of +a trustee not exercising the power to adjust conferred by subsection (1). + +(8) With respect to a trust in existence on January 1, 2003: +(a) A trustee shall not have the power to adjust under this section until the + +statement required in subsection (9) is provided and either no objection is +made or any objection which is made has been terminated. + +1. An objection is made if, within 60 days after the date of the statement +required in subsection (9), a super majority of the eligible beneficiaries +deliver to the trustee a written objection to the application of this section to +such trust. An objection shall be deemed to be delivered to the trustee on the +date the objection is mailed to the mailing address listed in the notice +provided in subsection (9). + +2. An objection is terminated upon the earlier of the receipt of consent +from a super majority of eligible beneficiaries of the class that made the +objection, or the resolution of the objection pursuant to paragraph (c). + +(b) An objection or consent under this section may be executed by a legal +representative or natural guardian of a beneficiary without the filing of any +proceeding or approval of any court. + +(c) If an objection is delivered to the trustee, then the trustee may petition +the circuit court for an order quashing the objection and vesting in such + + + +trustee the power to adjust under this section. The burden will be on the +objecting beneficiaries to prove that the power to adjust would be inequitable, +illegal, or otherwise in contravention of the grantors intent. The court may +award costs and attorneys fees relating to the trustees petition in the same +manner as in chancery actions. When costs and attorneys fees are to be paid +out of the trust, the court may, in its discretion, direct from which part of the +trust they shall be paid. + +(d) If no timely objection is made or if the trustee is vested with the power +to adjust by court order, the trustee may thereafter exercise the power to +adjust without providing notice of its intent to do so unless, in vesting the +trustee with the power to adjust, the court determines that unusual +circumstances require otherwise. + +(e)1. If a trustee makes a good faith effort to comply with the notice +provisions of subsection (9), but fails to deliver notice to one or more +beneficiaries entitled to such notice, neither the validity of the notice +required under this subsection nor the trustees power to adjust under this +section shall be affected until the trustee has actual notice that one or more +beneficiaries entitled to notice were not notified. Until the trustee has +actual notice of the notice deficiency, the trustee shall have all of the +powers and protections granted a trustee with the power to adjust under +this chapter. +2. When the trustee has actual notice that one or more beneficiaries entitled + +to notice under subsection (9) were not notified, the trustees power to adjust +under this section shall cease until all beneficiaries who are entitled to such +notice, including those who were previously provided with such notice, are +notified and given the opportunity to object as provided for under this +subsection. + +(f) The objection of a super majority of eligible beneficiaries under this +subsection shall be valid for a period of 1 year after the date of the notice set +forth in subsection (9). Upon expiration of the objection, the trustee may +thereafter give a new notice under subsection (9). + +(g) Nothing in this section is intended to create or imply a duty of the +trustee of a trust existing on January 1, 2003, to seek a power to adjust +pursuant to this subsection or to give the notice described in subsection (9) if +the trustee does not desire to have a power to adjust under this section, and no + + + +inference of impropriety shall be made as the result of a trustee not seeking a +power to adjust pursuant to this subsection. + +(9)(a) A trustee of a trust in existence on January 1, 2003, that is not +prohibited under subsection (3) from exercising the power to adjust shall, +any time prior to initially exercising the power, provide to all eligible +beneficiaries a statement containing the following: +1. The name, telephone number, street address, and mailing address of the + +trustee and of any individuals who may be contacted for further information; +2. A statement that unless a super majority of the eligible beneficiaries + +objects to the application of this section to the trust within 60 days after the +date the statement pursuant to this subsection was served, this section shall +apply to the trust; and + +3. A statement that, if this section applies to the trust, the trustee will have +the power to adjust between income and principal and that such a power may +have an effect on the distributions to such beneficiary from the trust. + +(b) The statement may contain information regarding a trustees fiduciary +obligations with respect to the power to adjust between income and principal +under this section. + +(c) The statement referred to in this subsection shall be served informally, +in the manner provided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure relating to +service of pleadings subsequent to the initial pleading. The statement may be +served on a legal representative or natural guardian of a beneficiary without +the filing of any proceeding or approval of any court. + +(d) For purposes of subsection (8) and this subsection, the term: +1. Eligible beneficiaries means: +a. If at the time the determination is made there are one or more + +beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), the beneficiaries described in s. +736.0103(19)(a) and (c); or + +b. If there is no beneficiary described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), the +beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(a) and (b). + +2. Super majority of the eligible beneficiaries means: +a. If at the time the determination is made there are one or more + + + +beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), at least two-thirds in interest of +the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(a) or two-thirds in interest of +the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), if the interests of the +beneficiaries are reasonably ascertainable; otherwise, it means two-thirds in +number of either such class; or + +b. If there is no beneficiary described in s. 736.0103(19)(c), at least two- +thirds in interest of the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(a) or two- +thirds in interest of the beneficiaries described in s. 736.0103(19)(b), if the +interests of the beneficiaries are reasonably ascertainable, otherwise, two- +thirds in number of either such class. + +(10) A trust exists on January 1, 2003, if it is not revocable on January 1, +2003. A trust is revocable if revocable by the grantor alone or in +conjunction with any other person. A trust is not revocable for purposes of +this section if revocable by the grantor only with the consent of all persons +having a beneficial interest in the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 1, ch. 2003-43; s. 5, ch. 2005-85; s. 40, ch. 2006-217, + +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 4, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013; s. 20, ch. 2013-172, eff. +Oct. 1, 2013; s. 43, ch. 2021-183, effective July 1, 2021. + +Applicability. +Section 5, ch. 2003-43, provides: This act shall take effect upon becoming + +a law and shall apply retroactively to January 1, 2003. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.1041. +Fla. Stat. 738.1041 + + 738.1041. Total return unitrust. +(1) For purposes of this section, the term: + +(a) Average fair market value means the average of the fair market +values of assets held by the trust at the beginning of the current and each of +the 2 preceding years, or for the entire term of the trust if there are less than 2 +preceding years, and adjusted as follows: + +1. If assets have been added to the trust during the years used to determine +the average, the amount of each addition is added to all years in which such +addition was not included. + +2. If assets have been distributed from the trust during the years used to +determine the average, other than in satisfaction of the unitrust amount, the +amount of each distribution is subtracted from all years in which such +distribution was not included. + +(b) Disinterested person means a person who is not a related or +subordinate party with respect to the person acting as trustee of the trust and +excludes the grantor and any interested trustee. + +(c) Fair market value means the fair market value of the assets held by +the trust as otherwise determined under this chapter, reduced by all known +noncontingent liabilities. + +(d) Income trust means a trust, created by an inter vivos or a +testamentary instrument, which directs or permits the trustee to distribute the +net income of the trust to one or more persons, in fixed proportions or in +amounts or proportions determined by the trustee and regardless of whether +the trust directs or permits the trustee to distribute the principal of the trust to +one or more such persons. + +(e) Interested distributee means a person to whom distributions of +income or principal can currently be made and who has the power to remove +the existing trustee and designate as successor a person who may be a related +or subordinate party with respect to such distributee. + +(f) Interested trustee means an individual trustee to whom the net income + + + +or principal of the trust can currently be distributed or would be distributed if +the trust were then to terminate and be distributed, any trustee whom an +interested distributee has the power to remove and replace with a related or +subordinate party, or an individual trustee whose legal obligation to support a +beneficiary may be satisfied by distributions of income and principal of the +trust. + +(g) Related or subordinate party has the same meaning as provided in the +Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. s. 672(c) or any successor provision +thereof. + +(h) Unitrust amount means the amount determined by multiplying the +average fair market value of the assets as calculated in paragraph (a) by the +percentage calculated under paragraph (2)(b). + +(2) A trustee may, without court approval, convert an income trust to a +total return unitrust, reconvert a total return unitrust to an income trust, or +change the percentage used to calculate the unitrust amount or the method +used to determine the fair market value of the trust if: +(a) The trustee adopts a written statement regarding trust distributions + +which provides: +1. In the case of a trust being administered as an income trust, that future + +distributions from the trust will be unitrust amounts rather than net income, +and indicates the manner in which the unitrust amount will be calculated and +the method in which the fair market value of the trust will be determined. + +2. In the case of a trust being administered as a total return unitrust, that: +a. Future distributions from the trust will be net income rather than unitrust + +amounts; or +b. The percentage used to calculate the unitrust amount or the method used + +to determine the fair market value of the trust will be changed, and indicates +the manner in which the new unitrust amount will be calculated and the +method in which the new fair market value of the trust will be determined; + +(b) The trustee determines the terms of the unitrust under one of the +following methods: + +1. A disinterested trustee determines, or if there is no trustee other than an +interested trustee, the interested trustee appoints a disinterested person who, + + + +in its sole discretion but acting in a fiduciary capacity, determines for the +interested trustee: + +a. The percentage to be used to calculate the unitrust amount, provided the +percentage used is not greater than 5 percent nor less than 3 percent; + +b. The method to be used in determining the fair market value of the trust; +and + +c. Which assets, if any, are to be excluded in determining the unitrust +amount; or + +2. The interested trustee or disinterested trustee administers the trust such +that: + +a. The percentage used to calculate the unitrust amount is 50 percent of the +rate as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. s. 7520, in effect for +the month the conversion under this section becomes effective and for each +January thereafter; however, if the percentage calculated exceeds 5 percent, +the unitrust percentage is 5 percent and if the percentage calculated is less +than 3 percent, the unitrust percentage is 3 percent; and + +b. The fair market value of the trust shall be determined at least annually +on an asset-by-asset basis, reasonably and in good faith, in accordance with s. +738.202(5), except the following property shall not be included in +determining the value of the trust: + +(I) Any residential property or any tangible personal property that, as +of the first business day of the current valuation year, one or more +current beneficiaries of the trust have or have had the right to occupy, or +have or have had the right to possess or control, other than in his or her +capacity as trustee of the trust, and instead the right of occupancy or the +right to possession and control is the unitrust amount with respect to +such property; however, the unitrust amount must be adjusted to take +into account partial distributions from or receipt into the trust of such +property during the valuation year; + +(II) Any asset specifically given to a beneficiary and the return on +investment on such property, which return on investment shall be +distributable to the beneficiary; or + +(III) Any asset while held in a decedents estate; + + + +(c) The trustee sends written notice of its intention to take such action, +along with copies of the written statement regarding trust distributions and +this section, and, if applicable, the determinations of the trustee or the +disinterested person to: + +1. The grantor of the trust, if living. +2. All living persons who are currently receiving or eligible to receive + +distributions of income from the trust. +3. All living persons who would receive distributions of principal of the + +trust if the trust were to terminate at the time of giving such notice without +regard to the exercise of any power of appointment, or, if the trust does not +provide for its termination, all living persons who would receive or be +eligible to receive distributions of income or principal of the trust if the +persons identified in subparagraph 2. were deceased. + +4. All persons acting as advisers or protectors of the trust. +Notice under this paragraph shall be served informally in the manner + +provided in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure relating to service of +pleadings subsequent to the initial pleading. Notice may be served on a legal +representative or natural guardian of a person without filing any proceeding +or approval of any court; + +(d) At least one person receiving notice under each of subparagraphs (c)2. +and 3. is legally competent; and + +(e) No person receiving such notice objects, by written instrument +delivered to the trustee, to the proposed action of the trustee or the +determinations of the disinterested person within 60 days after service of such +notice. An objection may be executed by a legal representative or natural +guardian of a person without filing any proceeding or approval of any court. + +(3) If a trustee desires to convert an income trust to a total return +unitrust, reconvert a total return unitrust to an income trust, or change the +percentage used to calculate the unitrust amount or the method used to +determine a fair market value of the trust but does not have the ability to or +elects not to do it under subsection (2), the trustee may petition the circuit +court for such order as the trustee deems appropriate. In that event, the +court, in its own discretion or on the petition of such trustee or any person +having an income or remainder interest in the trust, may appoint a + + + +disinterested person who, acting in a fiduciary capacity, shall present such +information to the court as is necessary for the court to make a +determination hereunder. + +(4) Following the conversion of an income trust to a total return unitrust, +the trustee: +(a) Shall treat the unitrust amount as if it were net income of the trust for + +purposes of determining the amount available, from time to time, for +distribution from the trust. + +(b) May allocate to trust income for each taxable year of the trust, or +portion thereof: + +1. Net short-term capital gain described in the Internal Revenue Code, 26 +U.S.C. s. 1222(5), for such year, or portion thereof, but only to the extent that +the amount so allocated together with all other amounts allocated to trust +income, as determined under the provisions of this chapter without regard to +this section and s. 738.104, for such year, or portion thereof, does not exceed +the unitrust amount for such year, or portion thereof. + +2. Net long-term capital gain described in the Internal Revenue Code, 26 +U.S.C. s. 1222(7), for such year, or portion thereof, but only to the extent that +the amount so allocated together with all other amounts, including amounts +described in subparagraph 1., allocated to trust income for such year, or +portion thereof, does not exceed the unitrust amount for such year, or portion +thereof. + +(5) In administering a total return unitrust, the trustee may, in its sole +discretion but subject to the provisions of the governing instrument, +determine: +(a) The effective date of the conversion. +(b) The timing of distributions, including provisions for prorating a + +distribution for a short year in which a beneficiarys right to payments +commences or ceases. + +(c) Whether distributions are to be made in cash or in kind or partly in cash +and partly in kind. + +(d) If the trust is reconverted to an income trust, the effective date of such +reconversion. + + + +(e) Such other administrative issues as may be necessary or appropriate to +carry out the purposes of this section. + +(6) Conversion to a total return unitrust under this section does not affect +any other provision of the governing instrument, if any, regarding +distributions of principal. + +(7) Any trustee or disinterested person who in good faith takes or fails to +take any action under this section is not liable to any person affected by +such action or inaction, regardless of whether such person received written +notice as provided in this section or such person was under a legal +disability at the time of the delivery of such notice. Such persons +exclusive remedy is to obtain, under subsection (8), an order of the court +directing the trustee to convert an income trust to a total return unitrust, to +reconvert from a total return unitrust to an income trust, or to change the +percentage used to calculate the unitrust amount. If a court determines that +the trustee or disinterested person has not acted in good faith in taking or +failing to take any action under this section, s. 738.105(3) applies. + +(8) If a majority in interest of the income or remainder beneficiaries of +an income trust has delivered to the trustee a written objection to the +amount of the income distributions of the trust, and, if the trustee has failed +to resolve the objection to the satisfaction of the objecting beneficiaries +within 6 months after receipt of such written objection, the objecting +beneficiaries may petition the court in accordance with subsection (3). + +(9) This section pertains to the administration of a trust and is applicable +to any trust that is administered in this state or under Florida law unless: +(a) The governing instrument reflects an intention that the current + +beneficiary or beneficiaries are to receive an amount other than a reasonable +current return from the trust; + +(b) The trust is a trust described in the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. s. +170(f)(2)(B), s. 642(c)(5), s. 664(d), s. 2702(a)(3), or s. 2702(b); + +(c) One or more persons to whom the trustee could distribute income have +a power of withdrawal over the trust: + +1. That is not subject to an ascertainable standard under the Internal +Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. s. 2041 or s. 2514, and exceeds in any calendar +year the amount set forth in the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. s. 2041(b) + + + +(2) or s. 2514(e); or +2. A power of withdrawal over the trust that can be exercised to discharge + +a duty of support he or she possesses; or +(d) The governing instrument expressly prohibits use of this section by + +specific reference to the section. A provision in the governing instrument +that, The provisions of section 738.1041, Florida Statutes, as amended, or +any corresponding provision of future law, may not be used in the +administration of this trust, or similar words reflecting such intent are +sufficient to preclude the use of this section. + +(10) The grantor of a trust may create an express total return unitrust that +will be effective as provided in the trust instrument without requiring a +conversion under this section. +(a) An express total return unitrust created by the grantor of the trust is + +treated as a unitrust only if the terms of the trust instrument contain all of the +following provisions: + +1. That distributions from the trust will be unitrust amounts and the manner +in which the unitrust amount will be calculated; and + +2. The percentage to be used to calculate the unitrust amount, provided the +percentage used is not greater than 5 percent nor less than 3 percent. + +(b) The trust instrument may also contain provisions specifying: +1. The method to be used in determining the fair market value of the trust, + +including whether to use an average fair market value or the fair market value +of the assets held by the trust at the beginning of the current year; or + +2. Which assets, if any, are to be excluded in determining the unitrust +amount. + +(c) This section establishes the method of determining the fair market +value of the trust if the trust instrument is silent as to subparagraph (b)1., and +to specify those assets, if any, which are to be excluded in determining the +unitrust amount if the trust instrument is silent as to subparagraph (b)2. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 2, ch. 2003-43; s. 6, ch. 2005-85; s. 41, ch. 2006-217, + + + +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 5, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + +Editors notes. +The references to sections of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this + +section, are codified throughout Title 26 of the U.S.C.S. + +Applicability. +Section 5, ch. 2003-43, provides: This act shall take effect upon becoming + +a law and shall apply retroactively to January 1, 2003. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.105. +Fla. Stat. 738.105 + + 738.105. Judicial control of discretionary powers. +(1) A court may not change a trustees decision to exercise or not to + +exercise a discretionary power conferred by this chapter unless the court +determines that the decision was an abuse of the trustees discretion. A +court may not determine that a trustee abused its discretion merely because +the court would have exercised the discretion in a different manner or +would not have exercised the discretion. + +(2) The decisions to which subsection (1) applies include: +(a) A determination under s. 738.104(1) of whether and to what extent an + +amount should be transferred from principal to income or from income to +principal. + +(b) A determination of the factors that are relevant to the trust and trust +beneficiaries, the extent to which such factors are relevant, and the weight, if +any, to be given to the relevant factors, in deciding whether and to what +extent to exercise the power conferred by s. 738.104(1). + +(3) If a court determines that a trustee has abused its discretion, the +remedy is to restore the income and remainder beneficiaries to the +positions they would have occupied if the trustee had not abused its +discretion, in accordance with the following: +(a) To the extent the abuse of discretion has resulted in no distribution to a + +beneficiary or a distribution that is too small, the court shall require the +trustee to distribute from the trust to the beneficiary an amount the court +determines will restore the beneficiary, in whole or in part, to his or her +appropriate position. + +(b) To the extent the abuse of discretion has resulted in a distribution to a +beneficiary that is too large, the court shall restore the beneficiaries, the trust, +or both, in whole or in part, to their appropriate positions by requiring the +trustee to withhold an amount from one or more future distributions to the +beneficiary who received the distribution that was too large or requiring that +beneficiary to return some or all of the distribution to the trust. + +(c) To the extent the court is unable, after applying paragraphs (a) and (b), + + + +to restore the beneficiaries or the trust, or both, to the positions they would +have occupied if the trustee had not abused its discretion, the court may +require the trustee to pay an appropriate amount from its own funds to one or +more of the beneficiaries or the trust or both. + +(4) Upon the filing of a petition by the trustee, the court having +jurisdiction over the trust shall determine whether a proposed exercise or +nonexercise by the trustee of a discretionary power conferred by this +chapter will result in an abuse of the trustees discretion. If the petition +describes the proposed exercise or nonexercise of the power and contains +sufficient information to inform the beneficiaries of the reasons for the +proposal, the facts upon which the trustee relies, and an explanation of how +the income and remainder beneficiaries will be affected by the proposed +exercise or nonexercise of the power, a beneficiary who challenges the +proposed exercise or nonexercise has the burden of establishing that such +exercise or nonexercise will result in an abuse of discretion. + +(5) If an action is instituted alleging an abuse of discretion in the +exercise or nonexercise of the power of adjustment conferred by s. +738.104(1) and the court determines that no abuse of discretion has +occurred, the trustees costs and attorneys fees incurred in defending the +action shall be paid from the trust assets. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 6, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.201. +Fla. Stat. 738.201 + + 738.201. Determination and distribution of net income. +After a decedent dies, in the case of an estate, or after an income interest in + +a trust ends, the following rules apply: +(1) A fiduciary of an estate or of a terminating income interest shall + +determine the amount of net income and net principal receipts received +from property specifically given to a beneficiary under ss. 738.301- +738.706 and subsection (5). The fiduciary shall distribute the net income +and net principal receipts to the beneficiary who is to receive the specific +property. + +(2) A fiduciary shall determine the remaining net income of a decedents +estate or a terminating income interest under ss. 738.301-738.706 and by: +(a) Including in net income all income from property used to discharge + +liabilities. +(b) Paying from income or principal, in the fiduciarys discretion, fees of + +attorneys, accountants, and fiduciaries; court costs and other expenses of +administration; and interest on death taxes. The fiduciary may pay those +expenses from income of property passing to a trust for which the fiduciary +claims an estate tax marital or charitable deduction under the Internal +Revenue Code or comparable law of any state only to the extent the payment +of those expenses from income will not cause the reduction or loss of the +deduction. + +(c) Paying from principal all other disbursements made or incurred in +connection with the settlement of a decedents estate or the winding up of a +terminating income interest, including debts, funeral expenses, disposition of +remains, family allowances, and death taxes and related penalties that are +apportioned to the estate or terminating income interest by the will, the terms +of the trust, or applicable law. + +(3) If a beneficiary who receives a pecuniary devise outright is also +entitled to receive interest or any other amount on the devise under the +terms of the will or trust, the fiduciary shall distribute the interest or other +amount from net income determined under subsection (2) or from principal + + + +to the extent net income is insufficient. +(4) A fiduciary shall distribute the net income remaining after + +distributions required under subsections (1)-(3) in the manner described in +s. 738.202 to all other beneficiaries, including a beneficiary who receives a +pecuniary amount in trust, even if the beneficiary holds an unqualified +power to withdraw assets from the trust or other presently exercisable +general power of appointment over the trust. + +(5) A fiduciary may not reduce principal or income receipts from +property described in subsection (1) because of a payment described in s. +738.701 or s. 738.702 to the extent the will, the terms of the trust, or +applicable law requires the fiduciary to make the payment from assets +other than the property or to the extent the fiduciary recovers or expects to +recover the payment from a third party. The net income and principal +receipts from the property are determined by including all of the amounts +the fiduciary receives or pays with respect to the property, whether those +amounts accrued or became due before, on, or after the date of a +decedents death or an income interests terminating event, and by making +a reasonable provision for amounts the fiduciary believes the estate or +terminating income interest may become obligated to pay after the property +is distributed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 7, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.202. +Fla. Stat. 738.202 + + 738.202. Distribution to residuary and remainder beneficiaries. +(1) Each beneficiary described in s. 738.201(4) is entitled to receive a + +portion of the net income remaining after the application of s. 738.201(1)- +(3), which is equal to the beneficiarys fractional interest in undistributed +principal assets, using carrying values as of the distribution date. If a +fiduciary makes more than one distribution of assets to beneficiaries to +whom this section applies, each beneficiary, including one who does not +receive part of the distribution, is entitled, as of each distribution date, to +the net income the fiduciary received after the date of death or terminating +event or earlier distribution date but has not distributed as of the current +distribution date. + +(2) In determining a beneficiarys share of net income, the following +applies: +(a) The beneficiary is entitled to receive a portion of the net income equal + +to the beneficiarys fractional interest in the carrying value of the +undistributed principal assets immediately before the distribution date, +excluding the amount of unpaid liabilities. + +(b) The beneficiarys fractional interest in the undistributed principal assets +shall be calculated: + +1. At the time the interest began and adjusted for any disproportionate +distributions since the interest began; + +2. By excluding any liabilities of the estate or trust from the calculation; +3. By also excluding property specifically given to a beneficiary and + +property required to pay pecuniary amounts not in trust; and +4. On the basis of the aggregate carrying value of those assets determined + +under subsection (1) as of the distribution date. +(c) If a disproportionate distribution of principal is made to any + +beneficiary, the respective fractional interests of all beneficiaries in the +remaining underlying assets shall be recomputed by: + +1. Adjusting the carrying value of the principal assets to their fair market + + + +value before the distribution; +2. Reducing the fractional interest of the recipient of the disproportionate + +distribution in the remaining principal assets by the fair market value of the +principal distribution; and + +3. Recomputing the fractional interests of all beneficiaries in the remaining +principal assets based upon the now restated carrying values. + +(3) If a fiduciary does not distribute all of the collected but undistributed +net income to each person as of a distribution date, the fiduciary shall +maintain appropriate records showing the interest of each beneficiary in +that net income. + +(4) A fiduciary may apply the provisions of this section, to the extent the +fiduciary considers appropriate, to net gain or loss realized after the date of +death or terminating event or earlier distribution date from the disposition +of a principal asset if this section applies to the income from the asset. + +(5) The carrying value or fair market value of trust assets shall be +determined on an asset-by-asset basis and is conclusive if reasonable and +determined in good faith. Determinations of fair market value based on +appraisals performed within 2 years before or after the valuation date are +presumed reasonable. The values of trust assets are conclusively presumed +to be reasonable and determined in good faith unless proven otherwise in a +proceeding commenced by or on behalf of a person interested in the trust +within the time provided in s. 736.1008. + +(6) All distributions to a beneficiary shall be valued based on their fair +market value on the date of distribution. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 3, ch. 2003-43; s. 42, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; + +s. 8, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + +Applicability. +Section 5, ch. 2003-43, provides: This act shall take effect upon becoming + +a law and shall apply retroactively to January 1, 2003. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.301. +Fla. Stat. 738.301 + + 738.301. When right to income begins and ends. +An income beneficiary is entitled to net income from the date on which the + +income interest begins. +(1) An income interest begins on the date specified in the terms of the + +trust or, if no date is specified, on the date an asset becomes subject to a +trust or successive income interest. + +(2) An asset becomes subject to a trust: +(a) On the date the asset is transferred to the trust in the case of an asset + +that is transferred to a trust during the transferors life; +(b) On the date of a testators death in the case of an asset that becomes + +subject to a trust by reason of a will, even if there is an intervening period of +administration of the testators estate; or + +(c) On the date of an individuals death in the case of an asset that is +transferred to a fiduciary by a third party because of the individuals death. + +(3) An asset becomes subject to a successive income interest on the day +after the preceding income interest ends, as determined under subsection +(4), even if there is an intervening period of administration to wind up the +preceding income interest. + +(4) An income interest ends on the day before an income beneficiary +dies or another terminating event occurs, or on the last day of a period +during which there is no beneficiary to whom a fiduciary may distribute +income. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 9, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.302. +Fla. Stat. 738.302 + + 738.302. Apportionment of receipts and disbursements when decedent +dies or income interest begins. +(1) A fiduciary shall allocate an income receipt or disbursement other + +than one to which s. 738.201(1) applies to principal if the due date of the +receipt or disbursement occurs before a decedent dies in the case of an +estate or before an income interest begins in the case of a trust or +successive income interest. + +(2) A fiduciary shall allocate an income receipt or disbursement to +income if the due date of the receipt or disbursement occurs on or after the +date on which a decedent dies or an income interest begins and the due +date is a periodic due date. An income receipt or disbursement shall be +treated as accruing from day to day if the due date of the receipt or +disbursement is not periodic or the receipt or disbursement has no due date. +The portion of the receipt or disbursement accruing before the date on +which a decedent dies or an income interest begins shall be allocated to +principal and the balance shall be allocated to income. + +(3) An item of income or an obligation is due on the date the payor is +required to make a payment. If a payment date is not stated, there is no due +date for the purposes of this chapter. Distributions to shareholders or other +owners from an entity to which s. 738.401 applies are deemed to be due on +the date fixed by the entity for determining who is entitled to receive the +distribution or, if no date is fixed, on the declaration date for the +distribution. A due date is periodic for receipts or disbursements that shall +be paid at regular intervals under a lease or an obligation to pay interest or +if an entity customarily makes distributions at regular intervals. + +(4) Nothing in this section shall prevent the application of s. 733.817 to +apportion tax to the income recipient under this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 10, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.303. +Fla. Stat. 738.303 + + 738.303. Apportionment when income interest ends. +(1) For purposes of this section, undistributed income means net + +income received on or before the date on which an income interest ends. +The term does not include an item of income or expense that is due or +accrued or net income that has been added or is required to be added to +principal under the terms of the trust. In the case of a trust being +administered as a unitrust under s. 738.1041, the term undistributed +income means the prorated unitrust amount computed on a daily basis +through the date on which the income interest ends. + +(2) When a mandatory income interest ends, the fiduciary shall pay to a +mandatory income beneficiary who survives that date, or the estate of a +deceased mandatory income beneficiary whose death causes the interest to +end, the beneficiarys share of the undistributed income that is not +disposed of under the terms of the trust unless the beneficiary has an +unqualified power to revoke more than 5 percent of the trust immediately +before the income interest ends. In the latter case, the undistributed income +from the portion of the trust that may be revoked shall be added to +principal. + +(3) When a fiduciarys obligation to pay a fixed annuity or a fixed +fraction of the value of the trusts assets ends, the fiduciary shall prorate +the final payment if and to the extent required by applicable law to +accomplish a purpose of the trust or its grantor relating to income, gift, +estate, or other tax requirements. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 7, ch. 2005-85; s. 11, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.401. +Fla. Stat. 738.401 + + 738.401. Character of receipts. +(1) For purposes of this section, the term entity means a corporation, + +partnership, limited liability company, regulated investment company, real +estate investment trust, common trust fund, or any other organization in +which a fiduciary has an interest other than a trust or estate to which s. +738.402 applies, a business or activity to which s. 738.403 applies, or an +asset-backed security to which s. 738.608 applies. + +(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a fiduciary shall +allocate to income money received from an entity. + +(3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a fiduciary shall +allocate the following receipts from an entity to principal: +(a) Property other than money. +(b) Money received in one distribution or a series of related distributions in + +exchange for part or all of a trusts or estates interest in the entity. +(c) Money received in total or partial liquidation of the entity. +(d) Money received from an entity that is a regulated investment company + +or a real estate investment trust if the money received represents short-term or +long-term capital gain realized within the entity. + +(e) Money received from an entity listed on a public stock exchange during +any year of the trust or estate which exceeds 10 percent of the fair market +value of the trusts or estates interest in the entity on the first day of that +year. The amount to be allocated to principal must be reduced to the extent +that the cumulative distributions from the entity to the trust or estate allocated +to income do not exceed a cumulative annual return of 3 percent of the fair +market value of the interest in the entity at the beginning of each year or +portion of a year for the number of years or portion of years in the period that +the interest in the entity has been held by the trust or estate. If a trustee has +exercised a power to adjust under s. 738.104 during any period the interest in +the entity has been held by the trust, the trustee, in determining the total +income distributions from that entity, must take into account the extent to +which the exercise of that power resulted in income to the trust from that + + + +entity for that period. If the income of the trust for any period has been +computed under s. 738.1041, the trustee, in determining the total income +distributions from that entity for that period, must take into account the +portion of the unitrust amount paid as a result of the ownership of the trusts +interest in the entity for that period. + +(4) If a fiduciary elects, or continues an election made by its +predecessor, to reinvest dividends in shares of stock of a distributing +corporation or fund, whether evidenced by new certificates or entries on +the books of the distributing entity, the new shares retain their character as +income. + +(5) Money is received in partial liquidation: +(a) To the extent the entity, at or near the time of a distribution, indicates + +that such money is a distribution in partial liquidation; or +(b) To the extent the total amount of money and property received in a + +distribution or series of related distributions from an entity that is not listed +on a public stock exchange exceeds 20 percent of the trusts or estates pro +rata share of the entitys gross assets, as shown by the entitys year-end +financial statements immediately preceding the initial receipt. + +This subsection does not apply to an entity to which subsection (7) applies. +(6) Money may not be taken into account in determining any excess + +under paragraph (5)(b), to the extent that the cumulative distributions from +the entity to the trust or the estate allocated to income do not exceed the +greater of: +(a) A cumulative annual return of 3 percent of the entitys carrying value + +computed at the beginning of each period for the number of years or portion +of years that the entity was held by the fiduciary. If a trustee has exercised a +power to adjust under s. 738.104 during any period the interest in the entity +has been held by the trust, the trustee, in determining the total income +distributions from that entity, must take into account the extent to which +exercise of the power resulted in income to the trust from that entity for that +period. If the income of a trust for any period has been computed pursuant to +s. 738.1041, the trustee, in determining the total income distributions from +the entity for that period, must take into account the portion of the unitrust +amount paid as a result of the ownership of the trusts interest in the entity for + + + +that period; or +(b) If the entity is treated as a partnership, subchapter S corporation, or a + +disregarded entity pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as +amended, the amount of income tax attributable to the trusts or estates +ownership share of the entity, based on its pro rata share of the taxable +income of the entity that distributes the money, for the number of years or +portion of years that the interest in the entity was held by the fiduciary, +calculated as if all of that tax was incurred by the fiduciary. + +(7) The following applies to money or property received by a private +trustee as a distribution from an investment entity described in this +subsection: +(a) The trustee shall first treat as income of the trust all of the money or + +property received from the investment entity in the current year which would +be considered income under this chapter if the trustee had directly held the +trusts pro rata share of the assets of the investment entity. For this purpose, +all distributions received in the current year must be aggregated. + +(b) The trustee shall next treat as income of the trust any additional money +or property received in the current year which would have been considered +income in the prior 2 years under paragraph (a) if additional money or +property had been received from the investment entity in any of those prior 2 +years. The amount to be treated as income shall be reduced by any +distributions of money or property made by the investment entity to the trust +during the current and prior 2 years which were treated as income under this +paragraph. + +(c) The remainder of the distribution, if any, is treated as principal. +(d) As used in this subsection, the term: +1. Investment entity means an entity, other than a business activity + +conducted by the trustee described in s. 738.403 or an entity that is listed on a +public stock exchange, which is treated as a partnership, subchapter S +corporation, or disregarded entity pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of +1986, as amended, and which normally derives 50 percent or more of its +annual cumulative net income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, +rental activity, or other passive investments, including income from the sale +or exchange of such passive investments. + + + +2. Private trustee means a trustee who is a natural person, but only if the +trustee is unable to use the power to adjust between income and principal +with respect to receipts from entities described in this subsection pursuant to +s. 738.104. A bank, trust company, or other commercial trustee is not +considered a private trustee. + +(8) This section shall be applied before ss. 738.705 and 738.706 and +does not modify or change any of the provisions of those sections. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 4, ch. 2003-43; s. 8, ch. 2005-85; s. 12, ch. 2012-49, + +eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + +Applicability. +Section 5, ch. 2003-43, provides: This act shall take effect upon becoming + +a law and shall apply retroactively to January 1, 2003. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.402. +Fla. Stat. 738.402 + + 738.402. Distribution from trust or estate. +A fiduciary shall allocate to income an amount received as a distribution of + +income from a trust or an estate in which the trust has an interest other than a +purchased interest and allocate to principal an amount received as a +distribution of principal from such a trust or estate. If a fiduciary purchases +an interest in a trust that is an investment entity, or a decedent or donor +transfers an interest in such a trust to a fiduciary, s. 738.401 or s. 738.608 +applies to a receipt from the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 13, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.403. +Fla. Stat. 738.403 + + 738.403. Business and other activities conducted by fiduciary. +(1) If a fiduciary who conducts a business or other activity determines + +that it is in the best interest of all the beneficiaries to account separately for +the business or activity instead of accounting for the business or activity as +part of the trusts or estates general accounting records, the fiduciary may +maintain separate accounting records for the transactions of the business or +other activity, whether or not the assets of such business or activity are +segregated from other trust or estate assets. + +(2) A fiduciary who accounts separately for a business or other activity +may determine the extent to which the net cash receipts of the business or +activity must be retained for working capital, the acquisition or +replacement of fixed assets, and other reasonably foreseeable needs of the +business or activity, and the extent to which the remaining net cash receipts +are accounted for as principal or income in the trusts or estates general +accounting records. If a fiduciary sells assets of the business or other +activity, other than in the ordinary course of the business or activity, the +fiduciary must account for the net amount received as principal in the +trusts or estates general accounting records to the extent the fiduciary +determines that the amount received is no longer required in the conduct of +the business. + +(3) Activities for which a fiduciary may maintain separate accounting +records include: +(a) Retail, manufacturing, service, and other traditional business activities. +(b) Farming. +(c) Raising and selling livestock and other animals. +(d) Management of rental properties. +(e) Extraction of minerals and other natural resources. +(f) Timber operations. +(g) Activities to which s. 738.607 applies. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 14, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.501. +Fla. Stat. 738.501 + + 738.501. Principal receipts. +A fiduciary shall allocate to principal: + +(1) To the extent not allocated to income under this chapter, assets +received from a donor during the donors lifetime, a decedents estate, a +trust with a terminating income interest, or a payor under a contract +naming the trust, estate, or fiduciary as beneficiary. + +(2) Money or other property received from the sale, exchange, +liquidation, or change in form of a principal asset, including realized profit, +subject to this section. + +(3) Amounts recovered from third parties to reimburse the trust or estate +because of disbursements described in s. 738.702(1)(g) or for other reasons +to the extent not based on the loss of income. + +(4) Proceeds of property taken by eminent domain; however, a separate +award made for the loss of income with respect to an accounting period +during which a current income beneficiary had a mandatory income +interest is income. + +(5) Net income received in an accounting period during which there is +no beneficiary to whom a fiduciary may or shall distribute income. + +(6) Other receipts as provided in ss. 738.601-738.608. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 15, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.502. +Fla. Stat. 738.502 + + 738.502. Rental property. +If a fiduciary accounts for receipts from rental property pursuant to this + +section, the fiduciary shall allocate to income an amount received as rent of +real or personal property, including an amount received for cancellation or +renewal of a lease. An amount received as a refundable deposit, including a +security deposit or a deposit that is to be applied as rent for future periods, +must be added to principal and held subject to the terms of the lease and is +not available for distribution to a beneficiary until the fiduciarys contractual +obligations have been satisfied with respect to that amount. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 16, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.503. +Fla. Stat. 738.503 + + 738.503. Obligation to pay money. +(1) An amount received as interest, whether determined at a fixed, + +variable, or floating rate, on an obligation to pay money to the fiduciary, +including an amount received as consideration for prepaying principal, +shall be allocated to income without any provision for amortization of +premium. + +(2) Except as otherwise provided herein, a fiduciary shall allocate to +principal an amount received from the sale, redemption, or other +disposition of an obligation to pay money to the fiduciary. + +(3) The increment in value of a bond or other obligation for the payment +of money bearing no stated interest but payable at a future time in excess +of the price at which it was issued or purchased, if purchased after +issuance, is distributable as income. If the increment in value accrues and +becomes payable pursuant to a fixed schedule of appreciation, it may be +distributed to the beneficiary who was the income beneficiary at the time +of increment from the first principal cash available or, if none is available, +when the increment is realized by sale, redemption, or other disposition. If +unrealized increment is distributed as income but out of principal, the +principal must be reimbursed for the increment when realized. If, in the +reasonable judgment of the fiduciary, exercised in good faith, the ultimate +payment of the bond principal is in doubt, the fiduciary may withhold the +payment of incremental interest to the income beneficiary. + +(4) This section does not apply to an obligation to which s. 738.602, s. +738.603, s. 738.604, s. 738.605, s. 738.607, or s. 738.608 applies. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 17, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.504. +Fla. Stat. 738.504 + + 738.504. Insurance policies and similar contracts. +(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), a fiduciary shall + +allocate to principal the proceeds of a life insurance policy or other +contract in which the trust, estate, or fiduciary is named as beneficiary, +including a contract that insures the trust, estate, or fiduciary against loss +for damage to, destruction of, or loss of title to a trust or estate asset. The +fiduciary shall allocate dividends on an insurance policy to income if the +premiums on the policy are paid from income and to principal if the +premiums are paid from principal. + +(2) A fiduciary shall allocate to income the proceeds of a contract that +insures the fiduciary against loss of occupancy or other use by an income +beneficiary, loss of income, or, subject to s. 738.403, loss of profits from a +business. + +(3) This section does not apply to a contract to which s. 738.602 applies. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 18, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.601. +Fla. Stat. 738.601 + + 738.601. Insubstantial allocations not required. +If a fiduciary determines that an allocation between principal and income + +required by s. 738.602, s. 738.603, s. 738.604, s. 738.605, or s. 738.608 is +insubstantial, the fiduciary may allocate the entire amount to principal unless +one of the circumstances described in s. 738.104(3) applies to the allocation. +This power may be exercised by a cofiduciary under the circumstances +described in s. 738.104(4) and may be released for the reasons and in the +manner described in s. 738.104(5). An allocation is presumed to be +insubstantial if: + +(1) The amount of the allocation would increase or decrease net income +in an accounting period, as determined before the allocation, by less than +10 percent; or + +(2) The value of the asset producing the receipt for which the allocation +would be made is less than 10 percent of the total value of the trust or +estate assets at the beginning of the accounting period. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 19, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.602. +Fla. Stat. 738.602 + + 738.602. Payments from deferred compensation plans, annuities, and +retirement plans or accounts. +(1) As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Fund means a private or commercial annuity, an individual +retirement account, an individual retirement annuity, a deferred compensation +plan, a pension plan, a profit-sharing plan, a stock-bonus plan, an employee +stock-ownership plan, or another similar arrangement in which federal +income tax is deferred. + +(b) Income of the fund means income that is determined according to +subsection (2) or subsection (3). + +(c) Nonseparate account means a fund for which the value of the +participants or account owners right to receive benefits can be determined +only by the occurrence of a date or event as defined in the instrument +governing the fund. + +(d) Payment means a distribution from a fund that a fiduciary may +receive over a fixed number of years or during the life of one or more +individuals because of services rendered or property transferred to the payor +in exchange for future payments. The term includes a distribution made in +money or property from the payors general assets or from a fund created by +the payor or payee. + +(e) Separate account means a fund holding assets exclusively for the +benefit of a participant or account owner and: + +1. The value of such assets or the value of the separate account is +ascertainable at any time; or + +2. The administrator of the fund maintains records that show receipts and +disbursements associated with such assets. + +(2)(a) For a fund that is a separate account, income of the fund shall be +determined: +1. As if the fund were a trust subject to the provisions of ss. 738.401- + +738.706; or + + + +2. As a unitrust amount calculated by multiplying the fair market value of +the fund as of the first day of the first accounting period and, thereafter, as of +the last day of the accounting period that immediately precedes the +accounting period during which a payment is received by the percentage +determined in accordance with s. 738.1041(2)(b)2.a. The fiduciary shall +determine such percentage as of the first month that the fiduciarys election to +treat the income of the fund as a unitrust amount becomes effective. For +purposes of this subparagraph, fair market value means the fair market +value of the assets held in the fund as of the applicable valuation date +determined as provided in this subparagraph. The fiduciary is not liable for +good faith reliance upon any valuation supplied by the person or persons in +possession of the fund. If the fiduciary makes or terminates an election under +this subparagraph, the fiduciary shall make such disclosure in a trust +disclosure document that satisfies the requirements of s. 736.1008(4)(c). + +(b) The fiduciary may elect the method of determining the income of the +fund pursuant to this subsection and may change the method of determining +income of the fund for any future accounting period. + +(3) For a fund that is a nonseparate account, income of the fund is a +unitrust amount determined by calculating the present value of the right to +receive the remaining payments under the Internal Revenue Code, 26 +U.S.C. s. 7520, as of the first day of the accounting period and multiplying +it by the percentage determined in accordance with s. 738.1041(2)(b)2.a. +The fiduciary shall determine the unitrust amount as of the first month that +the fiduciarys election to treat the income of the fund as a unitrust amount +becomes effective. + +(4) Except for those trusts described in subsection (5), the fiduciary shall +allocate to income the lesser of the payment received from a fund or the +income determined under subsection (2) or subsection (3). Any remaining +amount of the payment shall be allocated to principal. + +(5) For a trust that, in order to qualify for the estate or gift tax marital +deduction under the Internal Revenue Code or comparable law of any +state, entitles the spouse to all of the income of the trust, and the terms of +the trust are silent as to the time and frequency for distribution of the +income of the fund: +(a) For a fund that is a separate account, unless the spouse directs the + + + +fiduciary to leave the income of the fund in the fund, the fiduciary shall +withdraw and pay to the spouse, at least annually: + +1. All of the income of the fund determined in accordance with +subparagraph (2)(a)1.; or + +2. The income of the fund as a unitrust amount determined in accordance +with subparagraph (2)(a)2. + +(b) For a fund that is a nonseparate account, the fiduciary shall withdraw +and pay to the spouse, at least annually, the income of the fund as a unitrust +amount determined in accordance with subsection (3). + +(6) This section does not apply to payments to which s. 738.603 applies. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 1, ch. 2009-207, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 20, ch. 2012-49, + +eff. Jan. 1, 2013; s. 59, ch. 2022-4, effective May 13, 2022. + +Editors notes. +Section 7520 of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this section, is + +codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 7520. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.603. +Fla. Stat. 738.603 + + 738.603. Liquidating asset. +(1) For purposes of this section, the term liquidating asset means an + +asset the value of which will diminish or terminate because the asset is +expected to produce receipts for a period of limited duration. The term +includes a leasehold, patent, copyright, royalty right, and right to receive +payments for more than 1 year under an arrangement that does not provide +for the payment of interest on the unpaid balance. The term does not +include a payment subject to s. 738.602, resources subject to s. 738.604, +timber subject to s. 738.605, an activity subject to s. 738.607, an asset +subject to s. 738.608, or any asset for which the fiduciary establishes a +reserve for depreciation under s. 738.703. + +(2) A fiduciary shall allocate to income 5 percent of the receipts from +the carrying value of a liquidating asset and the balance to principal. +Amounts allocated to principal shall reduce the carrying value of the +liquidating asset, but not below zero. Amounts received in excess of the +remaining carrying value must be allocated to principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 21, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.604. +Fla. Stat. 738.604 + + 738.604. Minerals, water, and other natural resources. +(1) If a fiduciary accounts for receipts from an interest in minerals or + +other natural resources pursuant to this section, the fiduciary shall allocate +such receipts as follows: +(a) If received as nominal delay rental or nominal annual rent on a lease, a + +receipt shall be allocated to income. +(b) If received from a production payment, a receipt shall be allocated to + +income if and to the extent the agreement creating the production payment +provides a factor for interest or its equivalent. The balance shall be allocated +to principal. + +(c) If an amount received as a royalty, shut-in-well payment, take-or-pay +payment, bonus, or delay rental is more than nominal, 90 percent shall be +allocated to principal and the balance to income. + +(d) If an amount is received from a working interest or any other interest +not provided for in paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), 90 percent +of the net amount received shall be allocated to principal and the balance to +income. + +(2) An amount received on account of an interest in water that is +renewable shall be allocated to income. If the water is not renewable, 90 +percent of the amount shall be allocated to principal and the balance to +income. + +(3) This chapter applies whether or not a decedent or donor was +extracting minerals, water, or other natural resources before the interest +became subject to the trust or estate. + +(4) If a trust or estate owns an interest in minerals, water, or other +natural resources on January 1, 2003, the fiduciary may allocate receipts +from the interest as provided in this chapter or in the manner used by the +fiduciary before January 1, 2003. If the trust or estate acquires an interest +in minerals, water, or other natural resources after January 1, 2003, the +fiduciary shall allocate receipts from the interest as provided in this +chapter. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 22, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.605. +Fla. Stat. 738.605 + + 738.605. Timber. +(1) If a fiduciary accounts for receipts from the sale of timber and + +related products pursuant to this section, the fiduciary shall allocate such +net receipts as follows: +(a) To income to the extent the amount of timber removed from the land + +does not exceed the rate of growth of the timber during the accounting +periods in which a beneficiary has a mandatory income interest; + +(b) To principal to the extent the amount of timber removed from the land +exceeds the rate of growth of the timber or the net receipts are from the sale +of standing timber; + +(c) To or between income and principal if the net receipts are from the +lease of timberland or from a contract to cut timber from land owned by a +trust or estate by determining the amount of timber removed from the land +under the lease or contract and applying the rules in paragraphs (a) and (b); or + +(d) To principal to the extent advance payments, bonuses, and other +payments are not allocated pursuant to paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or +paragraph (c). + +(2) In determining net receipts to be allocated pursuant to subsection (1), +a fiduciary shall deduct and transfer to principal a reasonable amount for +depletion. + +(3) This chapter applies whether or not a decedent or donor was +harvesting timber from the property before the property became subject to +the trust or estate. + +(4) If a trust or estate owns an interest in timberland on January 1, 2003, +the fiduciary may allocate net receipts from the sale of timber and related +products as provided in this chapter or in the manner used by the fiduciary +before January 1, 2003. If the trust or estate acquires an interest in +timberland after January 1, 2003, the fiduciary shall allocate net receipts +from the sale of timber and related products as provided in this chapter. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 23, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.606. +Fla. Stat. 738.606 + + 738.606. Property not productive of income. +(1) If a marital deduction under the Internal Revenue Code or + +comparable law of any state is allowed for all or part of a trust, or if assets +are transferred to a trust that satisfies the requirements of s. 732.2025(2)(a) +and (c), and such assets have been used in whole or in part to satisfy an +election by a surviving spouse under s. 732.2125 and consist of property +that, in the aggregate, does not provide the spouse with sufficient income +from or use of the trust assets, and if amounts the trustee transfers from +principal to income under s. 738.104 and distributes to the spouse from +principal pursuant to the terms of the trust are insufficient to provide the +spouse with the beneficial enjoyment required to obtain the marital +deduction, even though, in the case of an elective share trust, a marital +deduction is not made or is only partially made, the spouse may require the +trustee of such marital trust or elective share trust to make property +productive of income, convert property within a reasonable time, or +exercise the power conferred by ss. 738.104 and 738.1041. The trustee +may decide which action or combination of actions to take. + +(2) In cases not governed by subsection (1), proceeds from the sale or +other disposition of an asset are principal without regard to the amount of +income the asset produces during any accounting period. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 24, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013; s. 12, ch. 2017-121, + +effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.607. +Fla. Stat. 738.607 + + 738.607. Derivatives and options. +(1) For purposes of this section, derivative means a contract or + +financial instrument or a combination of contracts and financial +instruments which gives a trust the right or obligation to participate in +some or all changes in the price of a tangible or intangible asset or group of +assets, or changes in a rate, an index of prices or rates, or other market +indicator for an asset or a group of assets. + +(2) To the extent a fiduciary does not account under s. 738.403 for +transactions in derivatives, the fiduciary shall allocate to principal receipts +from and disbursements made in connection with those transactions. + +(3) If a fiduciary grants an option to buy property from the trust or estate +whether or not the trust or estate owns the property when the option is +granted, grants an option that permits another person to sell property to the +trust or estate, or acquires an option to buy property for the trust or estate +or an option to sell an asset owned by the trust or estate, and the fiduciary +or other owner of the asset is required to deliver the asset if the option is +exercised, an amount received for granting the option shall be allocated to +principal. An amount paid to acquire the option shall be paid from +principal. A gain or loss realized upon the exercise of an option, including +an option granted to a grantor of the trust or estate for services rendered, +shall be allocated to principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 25, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.608. +Fla. Stat. 738.608 + + 738.608. Asset-backed securities. +(1) For purposes of this section, asset-backed security means an asset + +the value of which is based upon the right given the owner to receive +distributions from the proceeds of financial assets that provide collateral +for the security. The term includes an asset that gives the owner the right to +receive from the collateral financial assets only the interest or other current +return or only the proceeds other than interest or current return. The term +does not include an asset to which s. 738.401 or s. 738.602 applies. + +(2) If a trust or estate receives a payment from interest or other current +return and from other proceeds of the collateral financial assets, the +fiduciary shall allocate to income the portion of the payment which the +payor identifies as being from interest or other current return and allocate +the balance of the payment to principal. + +(3) If a trust or estate receives one or more payments in exchange for the +trusts or estates entire interest in an asset-backed security during a single +accounting period, the fiduciary shall allocate the payments to principal. If +a payment is one of a series of payments that will result in the liquidation +of the trusts or estates interest in the security over more than a single +accounting period, the fiduciary shall allocate 10 percent of the payment to +income and the balance to principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 26, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.701. +Fla. Stat. 738.701 + + 738.701. Disbursements from income. +A fiduciary shall make the following disbursements from income to the + +extent they are not disbursements to which s. 738.201(2) applies: +(1) One-half of the regular compensation of the fiduciary and of any + +person providing investment advisory or custodial services to the fiduciary. +(2) One-half of all expenses for accountings, judicial proceedings, or + +other matters that involve both the income and remainder interests. +(3) All of the other ordinary expenses incurred in connection with the + +administration, management, or preservation of trust property and the +distribution of income, including interest, ordinary repairs, regularly +recurring taxes assessed against principal, and expenses of a proceeding or +other matter that concerns primarily the income interest. + +(4) Recurring premiums on insurance covering the loss of a principal +asset or the loss of income from or use of the asset. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 27, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.702. +Fla. Stat. 738.702 + + 738.702. Disbursements from principal. +(1) A fiduciary shall make the following disbursements from principal: + +(a) The remaining one-half of the disbursements described in s. 738.701(1) +and (2). + +(b) All of the trustees compensation calculated on principal as a fee for +acceptance, distribution, or termination and disbursements made to prepare +property for sale. + +(c) Payments on the principal of a trust debt. +(d) Expenses of a proceeding that concerns primarily principal, including a + +proceeding to construe the trust or will, or to protect the trust, estate, or its +property. + +(e) Premiums paid on a policy of insurance not described in s. 738.701(4) +of which the trust or estate is the owner and beneficiary. + +(f) Estate, inheritance, and other transfer taxes, including penalties, +apportioned to the trust. + +(g) Disbursements related to environmental matters, including reclamation, +assessing environmental conditions, remedying and removing environmental +contamination, monitoring remedial activities and the release of substances, +preventing future releases of substances, collecting amounts from persons +liable or potentially liable for the costs of such activities, penalties imposed +under environmental laws or regulations and other payments made to comply +with those laws or regulations, statutory or common law claims by third +parties, and defending claims based on environmental matters. + +(h) Payments representing extraordinary repairs or expenses incurred in +making a capital improvement to principal, including special assessments; +however, a fiduciary may establish an allowance for depreciation out of +income to the extent permitted by s. 738.703. + +(2) If a principal asset is encumbered with an obligation that requires +income from that asset to be paid directly to the creditor, the trustee shall +transfer from principal to income an amount equal to the income paid to + + + +the creditor in reduction of the principal balance of the obligation. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 28, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.703. +Fla. Stat. 738.703 + + 738.703. Transfers from income to principal for depreciation. +(1) For purposes of this section, depreciation means a reduction in + +value due to wear, tear, decay, corrosion, or gradual obsolescence of a +fixed asset having a useful life of more than 1 year. + +(2) A fiduciary may transfer to principal a reasonable amount of the net +cash receipts from a principal asset that is subject to depreciation but may +not transfer any amount for depreciation: +(a) Of that portion of real property used or available for use by a + +beneficiary as a residence or of tangible personal property held or made +available for the personal use or enjoyment of a beneficiary; + +(b) During the administration of a decedents estate; or +(c) Under this section if the fiduciary is accounting under s. 738.403 for the + +business or activity in which the asset is used. +(3) The amount of depreciation taken for tax purposes with respect to an + +asset shall be presumed to be a reasonable amount of depreciation. An +amount taken for depreciation shall not be considered unreasonable solely +because it is greater or less than the amount taken for tax purposes. + +(4) An amount transferred to principal need not be held as a separate +fund. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 29, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.704. +Fla. Stat. 738.704 + + 738.704. Transfers from income to reimburse principal. +(1) If a fiduciary makes or expects to make a principal disbursement + +described in this section, the fiduciary may transfer an appropriate amount +from income to principal in one or more accounting periods to reimburse +principal or to provide a reserve for future principal disbursements. + +(2) Principal disbursements to which subsection (1) applies include the +following, but only to the extent the fiduciary has not been and does not +expect to be reimbursed by a third party: +(a) An amount chargeable to income but paid from principal because the + +amount is unusually large. +(b) Disbursements made to prepare property for rental, including tenant + +allowances, leasehold improvements, and brokers commissions. +(c) Disbursements described in s. 738.702(1)(g). + +(3) If the asset the ownership of which gives rise to the disbursements +becomes subject to a successive income interest after an income interest +ends, a fiduciary may continue to transfer amounts from income to +principal as provided in subsection (1). + +(4) To the extent principal cash is not sufficient to pay the principal +balance of payments due on mortgaged property, income may be applied to +such payment in order to avoid a default on any mortgage or security +interest securing the property. Income shall be reimbursed for such +payments out of the first available principal cash. If the asset the ownership +of which gives rise to the disbursements described in this subsection +becomes subject to a successive income interest after an income interest +ends, all rights of the initial income interest shall lapse, and amounts +remaining due from principal shall not be a lien on the assets of the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 30, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.705. +Fla. Stat. 738.705 + + 738.705. Income taxes. +(1) A tax required to be paid by a fiduciary based on receipts allocated + +to income shall be paid from income. +(2) A tax required to be paid by a fiduciary based on receipts allocated + +to principal shall be paid from principal, even if the tax is called an income +tax by the taxing authority. + +(3) A tax required to be paid by a fiduciary on the trusts or estates +share of an entitys taxable income shall be paid proportionately: +(a) From income to the extent receipts from the entity are allocated to + +income. +(b) From principal to the extent receipts from the entity are allocated to + +principal. +(c) From principal to the extent that the income taxes payable by the trust + +or estate exceed the total receipts from the entity. +(4) After applying subsections (1)-(3), the fiduciary shall adjust income + +or principal receipts to the extent that the trusts or estates income taxes +are reduced, but not eliminated, because the trust or estate receives a +deduction for payments made to a beneficiary. The amount distributable to +that beneficiary as income as a result of this adjustment shall be equal to +the cash received by the trust or estate, reduced, but not below zero, by the +entitys taxable income allocable to the trust or estate multiplied by the +trusts or estates income tax rate. The reduced amount shall be divided by +the difference between 1 and the trusts or estates income tax rate in order +to determine the amount distributable to that beneficiary as income before +giving effect to other receipts or disbursements allocable to that +beneficiarys interest. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 31, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.706. +Fla. Stat. 738.706 + + 738.706. Adjustments between principal and income because of taxes. +(1) A fiduciary may make adjustments between principal and income to + +offset the shifting of economic interests or tax benefits between income +beneficiaries and remainder beneficiaries which arise from: +(a) Elections and decisions, other than those described in paragraph (b), + +that the fiduciary makes from time to time regarding tax matters; +(b) An income tax or any other tax that is imposed upon the fiduciary or a + +beneficiary as a result of a transaction involving or a distribution from the +estate or trust; or + +(c) The ownership by an estate or trust of an interest in an entity whose +taxable income, whether or not distributed, is includable in the taxable +income of the estate, trust, or a beneficiary. + +(2) If the amount of an estate tax marital deduction or charitable +contribution deduction is reduced because a fiduciary deducts an amount +paid from principal for income tax purposes instead of deducting such +amount for estate tax purposes, and as a result estate taxes paid from +principal are increased and income taxes paid by an estate, trust, or +beneficiary are decreased, each estate, trust, or beneficiary that benefits +from the decrease in income tax shall reimburse the principal from which +the increase in estate tax is paid. The total reimbursement shall equal the +increase in the estate tax to the extent the principal used to pay the increase +would have qualified for a marital deduction or charitable contribution +deduction but for the payment. The proportionate share of the +reimbursement for each estate, trust, or beneficiary whose income taxes are +reduced shall be the same as such estates, trusts, or beneficiarys +proportionate share of the total decrease in income tax. An estate or trust +shall reimburse principal from income. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.801. +Fla. Stat. 738.801 + + 738.801. Apportionment of expenses; improvements. +(1) For purposes of this section, the term: + +(a) Remainderman means the holder of the remainder interests after the +expiration of a tenants estate in property. + +(b) Tenant means the holder of an estate for life or term of years in real +property or personal property, or both. + +(2) If a trust has not been created, expenses shall be apportioned +between the tenant and remainderman as follows: +(a) The following expenses are allocated to and shall be paid by the tenant: +1. All ordinary expenses incurred in connection with the administration, + +management, or preservation of the property, including interest, ordinary +repairs, regularly recurring taxes assessed against the property, and expenses +of a proceeding or other matter that concerns primarily the tenants estate or +use of the property. + +2. Recurring premiums on insurance covering the loss of the property or +the loss of income from or use of the property. + +3. Any of the expenses described in subparagraph (b)3. which are +attributable to the use of the property by the tenant. + +(b) The following expenses are allocated to and shall be paid by the +remainderman: + +1. Payments on the principal of a debt secured by the property, except to +the extent the debt is for expenses allocated to the tenant. + +2. Expenses of a proceeding or other matter that concerns primarily the +title to the property, other than title to the tenants estate. + +3. Except as provided in subparagraph (a)3., expenses related to +environmental matters, including reclamation, assessing environmental +conditions, remedying and removing environmental contamination, +monitoring remedial activities and the release of substances, preventing +future releases of substances, collecting amounts from persons liable or + + + +potentially liable for the costs of such activities, penalties imposed under +environmental laws or regulations and other payments made to comply with +those laws or regulations, statutory or common law claims by third parties, +and defending claims based on environmental matters. + +4. Extraordinary repairs. +(c) If the tenant or remainderman incurred an expense for the benefit of his + +or her own estate without consent or agreement of the other, he or she must +pay such expense in full. + +(d) Except as provided in paragraph (c), the cost of, or special taxes or +assessments for, an improvement representing an addition of value to +property forming part of the principal shall be paid by the tenant if the +improvement is not reasonably expected to outlast the estate of the tenant. In +all other cases, only a part shall be paid by the tenant while the remainder +shall be paid by the remainderman. The part payable by the tenant is +ascertainable by taking that percentage of the total that is found by dividing +the present value of the tenants estate by the present value of an estate of the +same form as that of the tenant, except that it is limited for a period +corresponding to the reasonably expected duration of the improvement. The +computation of present values of the estates shall be made by using the rate +defined in 26 U.S.C. s. 7520, then in effect and, in the case of an estate for +life, the official mortality tables then in effect under 26 U.S.C. s. 7520. Other +evidence of duration or expectancy may not be considered. + +(3) This section does not apply to the extent it is inconsistent with the +instrument creating the estates, the agreement of the parties, or the specific +direction of the taxing or other statutes. + +(4) The common law applicable to tenants and remaindermen +supplements this section, except as modified by this section or other laws. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42; s. 32, ch. 2012-49, eff. Jan. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.802. +Fla. Stat. 738.802 + + 738.802. Uniformity of application and construction. +In applying and construing this act, consideration shall be given to the need + +to promote uniformity of the law with respect to the acts subject matter +among states that enact such act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.803. +Fla. Stat. 738.803 + + 738.803. Severability. +If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or + +circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or +applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid +provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are +severable. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 738. , 738.804. +Fla. Stat. 738.804 + + 738.804. Application. +Except as provided in the trust instrument, the will, or this chapter, this + +chapter shall apply to any receipt or expense received or incurred and any +disbursement made after January 1, 2003, by any trust or decedents estate, +whether established before or after January 1, 2003, and whether the asset +involved was acquired by the trustee or personal representative before or after +January 1, 2003. Receipts or expenses received or incurred and +disbursements made before January 1, 2003, shall be governed by the law of +this state in effect at the time of the event, except as otherwise expressly +provided in the will or terms of the trust or in this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2002-42. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 739 + + + +CHAPTER 739. +FLORIDA UNIFORM DISCLAIMER OF PROPERTY + +INTERESTS ACT. + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.101. + +Fla. Stat. 739.101 + + 739.101. Short title. +This chapter may be cited as the Florida Uniform Disclaimer of Property + +Interests Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.102. +Fla. Stat. 739.102 + + 739.102. Definitions. +As used in this chapter, the term: + +(1) Benefactor means the creator of the interest that is subject to a +disclaimer. + +(2) Beneficiary designation means an instrument, other than an +instrument creating or amending a trust, naming the beneficiary of: +(a) An annuity or insurance policy; +(b) An account with a designation for payment on death; +(c) A security registered in beneficiary form; +(d) A pension, profit-sharing, retirement, or other employment-related + +benefit plan; or +(e) Any other nonprobate transfer at death. + +(3) Disclaimant means the person to whom a disclaimed interest or +power would have passed had the disclaimer not been made. + +(4) Disclaimed interest means the interest that would have passed to +the disclaimant had the disclaimer not been made. + +(5) Disclaimer means the refusal to accept an interest in or power over +property. The term includes a renunciation. + +(6) Fiduciary means a personal representative, trustee, agent acting +under a power of attorney, guardian, or other person authorized to act as a +fiduciary with respect to the property of another person. + +(7) Future interest means an interest that takes effect in possession or +enjoyment, if at all, later than the time of its creation. + +(8) Insolvent means, solely for purposes of this chapter, that the sum +of a persons debts is greater than all of the persons assets at fair valuation +and that the person is generally not paying his or her debts as they become +due. For purposes of this subsection, the term assets has the same +meaning as that provided in s. 726.102. + + + +(9) Jointly held property means property held in the names of two or +more persons under an arrangement in which all holders have concurrent +interests and under which the last surviving holder is entitled to the whole +of the property. Jointly held property does not include property held as +tenants by the entirety. + +(10) Person includes individuals, ascertained and unascertained, living +or not living, whether entitled to an interest by right of intestacy or +otherwise; a government, governmental subdivision, agency, or +instrumentality; and a public corporation. + +(11) Time of distribution means the time when a disclaimed interest +would have taken effect in possession or enjoyment. + +(12) Trust means: +(a) An express trust (including an honorary trust or a trust under s. + +736.0408), charitable or noncharitable, with additions thereto, whenever and +however created; and + +(b) A trust created pursuant to a statute, judgment, or decree which +requires the trust be administered in the manner of an express trust. + +As used in this chapter, the term trust does not include a constructive +trust or a resulting trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108; s. 43, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 13, ch. 2009- + +115, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.103. +Fla. Stat. 739.103 + + 739.103. Scope. +This chapter applies to disclaimers of any interest in or power over + +property, whenever created. Except as provided in s. 739.701, this chapter is +the exclusive means by which a disclaimer may be made under Florida law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.104. +Fla. Stat. 739.104 + + 739.104. Power to disclaim; general requirements; when irrevocable. +(1) A person may disclaim, in whole or in part, conditionally or + +unconditionally, any interest in or power over property, including a power +of appointment. A person may disclaim the interest or power even if its +creator imposed a spendthrift provision or similar restriction on transfer or +a restriction or limitation on the right to disclaim. A disclaimer shall be +unconditional unless the disclaimant explicitly provides otherwise in the +disclaimer. + +(2) With court approval, a fiduciary may disclaim, in whole or part, any +interest in or power over property, including a power of appointment, +except that a disclaimer of a power arising under s. 739.201(4) does not +require court approval. Without court approval, a fiduciary may disclaim, +in whole or in part, any interest in or power over property, including a +power of appointment, if and to the extent that the instrument creating the +fiduciary relationship explicitly grants the fiduciary the right to disclaim. +In the absence of a court-appointed guardian, notwithstanding anything in +chapter 744 to the contrary, without court approval, a natural guardian +under s. 744.301 may disclaim on behalf of a minor child of the natural +guardian, in whole or in part, any interest in or power over property, +including a power of appointment, which the minor child is to receive +solely as a result of another disclaimer, but only if the disclaimed interest +or power does not pass to or for the benefit of the natural guardian as a +result of the disclaimer. + +(3) To be effective, a disclaimer must be in writing, declare the writing +as a disclaimer, describe the interest or power disclaimed, and be signed by +the person making the disclaimer and witnessed and acknowledged in the +manner provided for deeds of real estate to be recorded in this state. In +addition, for a disclaimer to be effective, an original of the disclaimer must +be delivered or filed in the manner provided in s. 739.301. + +(4) A partial disclaimer may be expressed as a fraction, percentage, +monetary amount, term of years, limitation of a power, or any other +interest or estate in the property. + + + +(5) A disclaimer becomes irrevocable when any conditions to which the +disclaimant has made the disclaimer subject are satisfied and when the +disclaimer is delivered or filed pursuant to s. 739.301 or it becomes +effective as provided in ss. 739.201-739.207, whichever occurs later. + +(6) A disclaimer made under this chapter is not a transfer, assignment, or +release. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108; s. 103, ch. 2006-1, eff. July 4, 2006; s. 14, ch. 2009- + +115, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.201. +Fla. Stat. 739.201 + + 739.201. Disclaimer of interest in property. +Except for a disclaimer governed by s. 739.202, s. 739.203, or s. 739.204, + +the following rules apply to a disclaimer of an interest in property: +(1) The disclaimer takes effect as of the time the instrument creating the + +interest becomes irrevocable or, if the interest arose under the law of +intestate succession, as of the time of the intestates death. + +(2) The disclaimed interest passes according to any provision in the +instrument creating the interest providing explicitly for the disposition of +the interest, should it be disclaimed, or of disclaimed interests in general. + +(3) If the instrument does not contain a provision described in subsection +(2), the following rules apply: +(a) If the disclaimant is an individual, the disclaimed interest passes as if + +the disclaimant had died immediately before the interest was created, unless +under the governing instrument or other applicable law the disclaimed +interest is contingent on surviving to the time of distribution, in which case +the disclaimed interest passes as if the disclaimant had died immediately +before the time for distribution. However, if, by law or under the governing +instrument, the descendants of the disclaimant would share in the disclaimed +interest by any method of representation had the disclaimant died before the +time of distribution, the disclaimed interest passes only to the descendants of +the disclaimant who survive the time of distribution. For purposes of this +subsection, a disclaimed interest is created at the death of the benefactor or +such earlier time, if any, that the benefactors transfer of the interest is a +completed gift for federal gift tax purposes. Also for purposes of this +subsection, a disclaimed interest in a trust described in s. 733.707(3) shall +pass as if the interest had been created under a will. + +(b) If the disclaimant is not an individual, the disclaimed interest passes as +if the disclaimant did not exist. + +(c) Upon the disclaimer of a preceding interest, a future interest held by a +person other than the disclaimant takes effect as if the disclaimant had died or +ceased to exist immediately before the time of distribution, but a future + + + +interest held by the disclaimant is not accelerated in possession or enjoyment +as a result of the disclaimer. + +(4) In the case of a disclaimer of property over which the disclaimant +has a power, in a fiduciary or nonfiduciary capacity, to direct the beneficial +enjoyment of the disclaimed property, unless the disclaimer specifically +provides to the contrary with reference to this subsection, the disclaimant +shall also be deemed to have disclaimed that power unless the power is +limited by an ascertainable standard, as defined in s. 736.0103, as in effect +when the disclaimer becomes irrevocable. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108; s. 15, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.202. +Fla. Stat. 739.202 + + 739.202. Disclaimer of rights of survivorship in jointly held property. +(1) Upon the death of a holder of jointly held property: + +(a) If, during the deceased holders lifetime, the deceased holder could +have unilaterally regained a portion of the property attributable to the +deceased holders contributions without the consent of any other holder, +another holder may disclaim, in whole or in part, a fractional share of that +portion of the property attributable to the deceased holders contributions +determined by dividing the number one by the number of joint holders alive +immediately after the death of the holder to whose death the disclaimer +relates. + +(b) For all other jointly held property, another holder may disclaim, in +whole or in part, a fraction of the whole of the property the numerator of +which is one and the denominator of which is the product of the number of +joint holders alive immediately before the death of the holder to whose death +the disclaimer relates multiplied by the number of joint holders alive +immediately after the death of the holder to whose death the disclaimer +relates. + +(2) A disclaimer under subsection (1) takes effect as of the death of the +holder of jointly held property to whose death the disclaimer relates. + +(3) An interest in jointly held property disclaimed by a surviving holder +of the property passes as if the disclaimant predeceased the holder to +whose death the disclaimer relates. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.203. +Fla. Stat. 739.203 + + 739.203. Disclaimer of property held as tenancy by the entirety. +(1) The survivorship interest in property held as a tenancy by the + +entirety to which the survivor succeeds by operation of law upon the death +of the cotenant may be disclaimed as provided in this chapter. For purposes +of this chapter only, the deceased tenants interest in property held as a +tenancy by the entirety shall be deemed to be an undivided one-half +interest. + +(2) A disclaimer under subsection (1) takes effect as of the death of the +deceased tenant to whose death the disclaimer relates. + +(3) The survivorship interest in property held as a tenancy by the +entirety disclaimed by the surviving tenant passes as if the disclaimant had +predeceased the tenant to whose death the disclaimer relates. + +(4) A disclaimer of an interest in real property held as tenants by the +entirety does not cause the disclaimed interest to be homestead property for +purposes of descent and distribution under ss. 732.401 and 732.4015. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.204. +Fla. Stat. 739.204 + + 739.204. Disclaimer of interest by trustee. +If a trustee having the power to disclaim under the instrument creating the + +fiduciary relationship or pursuant to court order disclaims an interest in +property that otherwise would have become trust property, the interest does +not become trust property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.205. +Fla. Stat. 739.205 + + 739.205. Disclaimer of power of appointment or other power not held +in a fiduciary capacity. + +If a holder disclaims a power of appointment or other power not held in a +fiduciary capacity, the following rules apply: + +(1) If the holder has not exercised the power, the disclaimer takes effect +as of the time the instrument creating the power becomes irrevocable. + +(2) If the holder has exercised the power and the disclaimer is of a +power other than a presently exercisable general power of appointment, the +disclaimer takes effect immediately after the last exercise of the power. + +(3) The instrument creating the power is construed as if the power +expired when the disclaimer became effective. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.206. +Fla. Stat. 739.206 + + 739.206. Disclaimer by appointee, object, or taker in default of exercise +of power of appointment. +(1) A disclaimer of an interest in property by an appointee of a power of + +appointment takes effect as of the time the instrument by which the holder +exercises the power becomes irrevocable. + +(2) A disclaimer of an interest in property by an object, or taker in +default of an exercise of a power of appointment, takes effect as of the time +the instrument creating the power becomes irrevocable. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.207. +Fla. Stat. 739.207 + + 739.207. Disclaimer of power held in fiduciary capacity. +(1) If a fiduciary disclaims a power held in a fiduciary capacity which + +has not been exercised, the disclaimer takes effect as of the time the +instrument creating the power becomes irrevocable. + +(2) If a fiduciary disclaims a power held in a fiduciary capacity which +has been exercised, the disclaimer takes effect immediately after the last +exercise of the power. + +(3) A disclaimer under this section is effective as to another fiduciary if +the disclaimer so provides and the fiduciary disclaiming has the authority +to bind the estate, trust, or other person for whom the fiduciary is acting, +except that a disclaimer of a fiduciary power arising under s. 739.201(4) +shall bind only the disclaiming fiduciary. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108; s. 16, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.301. +Fla. Stat. 739.301 + + 739.301. Delivery or filing. +(1) Subject to subsections (2) through (12), delivery of a disclaimer may + +be effected by personal delivery, first-class mail, or any other method that +results in its receipt. A disclaimer sent by first-class mail shall be deemed +to have been delivered on the date it is postmarked. Delivery by any other +method shall be effective upon receipt by the person to whom the +disclaimer is to be delivered under this section. + +(2) In the case of a disclaimer of an interest created under the law of +intestate succession or an interest created by will, other than an interest in a +testamentary trust: +(a) The disclaimer must be delivered to the personal representative of the + +decedents estate; or +(b) If no personal representative is serving when the disclaimer is sought to + +be delivered, the disclaimer must be filed with the clerk of the court in any +county where venue of administration would be proper. + +(3) In the case of a disclaimer of an interest in a testamentary trust: +(a) The disclaimer must be delivered to the trustee serving when the + +disclaimer is delivered or, if no trustee is then serving, to the personal +representative of the decedents estate; or + +(b) If no personal representative is serving when the disclaimer is sought to +be delivered, the disclaimer must be filed with the clerk of the court in any +county where venue of administration of the decedents estate would be +proper. + +(4) In the case of a disclaimer of an interest in an inter vivos trust: +(a) The disclaimer must be delivered to the trustee serving when the + +disclaimer is delivered; +(b) If no trustee is then serving, it must be filed with the clerk of the court + +in any county where the filing of a notice of trust would be proper; or +(c) If the disclaimer is made before the time the instrument creating the + + + +trust becomes irrevocable, the disclaimer must be delivered to the grantor of +the revocable trust or the transferor of the interest or to such persons legal +representative. + +(5) In the case of a disclaimer of an interest created by a beneficiary +designation made before the time the designation becomes irrevocable, the +disclaimer must be delivered to the person making the beneficiary +designation or to such persons legal representative. + +(6) In the case of a disclaimer of an interest created by a beneficiary +designation made after the time the designation becomes irrevocable, the +disclaimer must be delivered to the person obligated to distribute the +interest. + +(7) In the case of a disclaimer by a surviving holder of jointly held +property, or by the surviving tenant in property held as a tenancy by the +entirety, the disclaimer must be delivered to the person to whom the +disclaimed interest passes or, if such person cannot reasonably be located +by the disclaimant, the disclaimer must be delivered as provided in +subsection (2). + +(8) In the case of a disclaimer by an object, or taker in default of +exercise, of a power of appointment at any time after the power was +created: +(a) The disclaimer must be delivered to the holder of the power or to the + +fiduciary acting under the instrument that created the power; or +(b) If no fiduciary is serving when the disclaimer is sought to be delivered, + +the disclaimer must be filed with a court having authority to appoint the +fiduciary. + +(9) In the case of a disclaimer by an appointee of a nonfiduciary power +of appointment: +(a) The disclaimer must be delivered to the holder, the personal + +representative of the holders estate, or the fiduciary under the instrument that +created the power; or + +(b) If no fiduciary is serving when the disclaimer is sought to be delivered, +the disclaimer must be filed with a court having authority to appoint the +fiduciary. + + + +(10) In the case of a disclaimer by a fiduciary of a power over a trust or +estate, the disclaimer must be delivered as provided in subsection (2), +subsection (3), or subsection (4) as if the power disclaimed were an interest +in property. + +(11) In the case of a disclaimer of a power exercisable by an agent, other +than a power exercisable by a fiduciary over a trust or estate, the disclaimer +must be delivered to the principal or the principals representative. + +(12) Notwithstanding subsection (1), delivery of a disclaimer of an +interest in or relating to real estate shall be presumed upon the recording of +the disclaimer in the office of the clerk of the court of the county or +counties where the real estate is located. + +(13) A fiduciary or other person having custody of the disclaimed +interest is not liable for any otherwise proper distribution or other +disposition made without actual notice of the disclaimer or, if the +disclaimer is barred under s. 739.402, for any otherwise proper distribution +or other disposition made in reliance on the disclaimer, if the distribution +or disposition is made without actual knowledge of the facts constituting +the bar of the right to disclaim. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.401. +Fla. Stat. 739.401 + + 739.401. When disclaimer is permitted. +A disclaimer may be made at any time unless barred under s. 739.402. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.402. +Fla. Stat. 739.402 + + 739.402. When disclaimer is barred or limited. +(1) A disclaimer is barred by a written waiver of the right to disclaim. +(2) A disclaimer of an interest in property is barred if any of the + +following events occur before the disclaimer becomes effective: +(a) The disclaimant accepts the interest sought to be disclaimed; +(b) The disclaimant voluntarily assigns, conveys, encumbers, pledges, or + +transfers the interest sought to be disclaimed or contracts to do so; +(c) The interest sought to be disclaimed is sold pursuant to a judicial sale; + +or +(d) The disclaimant is insolvent when the disclaimer becomes irrevocable. + +(3) A disclaimer, in whole or in part, of the future exercise of a power +held in a fiduciary capacity is not barred by its previous exercise. + +(4) A disclaimer, in whole or in part, of the future exercise of a power +not held in a fiduciary capacity is not barred by its previous exercise unless +the power is exercisable in favor of the disclaimant. + +(5) A disclaimer of an interest in, or a power over, property which is +barred by this section is ineffective. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108; s. 17, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.501. +Fla. Stat. 739.501 + + 739.501. Tax-qualified disclaimer. +Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter other than s. 739.402, if, as a + +result of a disclaimer or transfer, the disclaimed or transferred interest is +treated pursuant to the provisions of s. 2518 of the Internal Revenue Code of +1986 as never having been transferred to the disclaimant, the disclaimer or +transfer is effective as a disclaimer under this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108; s. 18, ch. 2009-115, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Section 2518 of the Internal Revenue Code, referred to in this section, is + +codified as 26 U.S.C.S. 2518. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.601. +Fla. Stat. 739.601 + + 739.601. Recording of disclaimer relating to real estate. +(1) A disclaimer of an interest in or relating to real estate does not + +provide constructive notice to all persons unless the disclaimer contains a +legal description of the real estate to which the disclaimer relates and +unless the disclaimer is filed for recording in the office of the clerk of the +court in the county or counties where the real estate is located. + +(2) An effective disclaimer meeting the requirements of subsection (1) +constitutes constructive notice to all persons from the time of filing. +Failure to record the disclaimer does not affect its validity as between the +disclaimant and persons to whom the property interest or power passes by +reason of the disclaimer. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 739. , 739.701. +Fla. Stat. 739.701 + + 739.701. Application to existing relationships. +Except as otherwise provided in s. 739.402, an interest in or power over + +property existing on July 1, 2005, as to which the time for delivering or filing +a disclaimer under laws superseded by this chapter has not expired, may be +disclaimed after July 1, 2005. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2005-108. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. +Fla. Stat. Title XLII, Ch. 740 + + + +CHAPTER 740. +FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS. + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.001. +Fla. Stat. 740.001 + + 740.001. Short title. +This chapter may be cited as the Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital + +Assets Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.002. +Fla. Stat. 740.002 + + 740.002. Definitions. +As used in this chapter, the term: + +(1) Account means an arrangement under a terms-of-service +agreement in which the custodian carries, maintains, processes, receives, or +stores a digital asset of the user or provides goods or services to the user. + +(2) Agent means a person that is granted authority to act for a +principal under a durable or nondurable power of attorney, whether +denominated an agent, an attorney in fact, or otherwise. The term includes +an original agent, a co-agent, and a successor agent. + +(3) Carries means to engage in the transmission of electronic +communications. + +(4) Catalog of electronic communications means information that +identifies each person with which a user has had an electronic +communication, the time and date of the communication, and the electronic +address of the person. + +(5) Content of an electronic communication means information +concerning the substance or meaning of the communication which: +(a) Has been sent or received by a user; +(b) Is in electronic storage by a custodian providing an electronic + +communication service to the public or is carried or maintained by a +custodian providing a remote computing service to the public; and + +(c) Is not readily accessible to the public. +(6) Court means a circuit court of this state. +(7) Custodian means a person that carries, maintains, processes, + +receives, or stores a digital asset of a user. +(8) Designated recipient means a person chosen by a user through an + +online tool to administer digital assets of the user. +(9) Digital asset means an electronic record in which an individual has + +a right or interest. The term does not include an underlying asset or + + + +liability unless the asset or liability is itself an electronic record. +(10) Electronic means relating to technology having electrical, digital, + +magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. +(11) Electronic communication has the same meaning as provided in + +18 U.S.C. s. 2510(12). +(12) Electronic communication service means a custodian that + +provides to a user the ability to send or receive an electronic +communication. + +(13) Fiduciary means an original, additional, or successor personal +representative, guardian, agent, or trustee. + +(14) Guardian means a person who is appointed by the court as +guardian of the property of a minor or an incapacitated individual. The +term includes an original guardian, a coguardian, and a successor guardian, +as well as a person appointed by the court as an emergency temporary +guardian of the property. + +(15) Information means data, text, images, videos, sounds, codes, +computer programs, software, databases, or the like. + +(16) Online tool means an electronic service provided by a custodian +which allows the user, in an agreement distinct from the terms-of-service +agreement between the custodian and user, to provide directions for +disclosure or nondisclosure of digital assets to a third person. + +(17) Person means an individual, estate, trust, business or nonprofit +entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, +agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity. + +(18) Personal representative means the fiduciary appointed by the +court to administer the estate of a deceased individual pursuant to letters of +administration or an order appointing a curator or administrator ad litem +for the estate. The term includes an original personal representative, a +copersonal representative, and a successor personal representative, as well +as a person who is entitled to receive and collect a deceased individuals +property pursuant to an order of summary administration issued pursuant +to chapter 735. + +(19) Power of attorney means a record that grants an agent authority + + + +to act in the place of a principal pursuant to chapter 709. +(20) Principal means an individual who grants authority to an agent in + +a power of attorney. +(21) Record means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium + +or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in +perceivable form. + +(22) Remote computing service means a custodian that provides to a +user computer processing services or the storage of digital assets by means +of an electronic communications system as defined in 18 U.S.C. s. +2510(14). + +(23) Terms-of-service agreement means an agreement that controls the +relationship between a user and a custodian. + +(24) Trustee means a fiduciary that holds legal title to property under +an agreement, declaration, or trust instrument that creates a beneficial +interest in the settlor or other persons. The term includes an original +trustee, a cotrustee, and a successor trustee. + +(25) User means a person that has an account with a custodian. +(26) Ward means an individual for whom a guardian has been + +appointed. +(27) Will means an instrument admitted to probate, including a + +codicil, executed by an individual in the manner prescribed by the Florida +Probate Code, which disposes of the individuals property on or after his or +her death. The term includes an instrument that merely appoints a personal +representative or revokes or revises another will. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.003. +Fla. Stat. 740.003 + + 740.003. User direction for disclosure of digital assets. +(1) A user may use an online tool to direct the custodian to disclose to a + +designated recipient or not to disclose some or all of the users digital +assets, including the content of electronic communications. If the online +tool allows the user to modify or delete a direction at all times, a direction +regarding disclosure using an online tool overrides a contrary direction by +the user in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record. + +(2) If a user has not used an online tool to give direction under +subsection (1) or if the custodian has not provided an online tool, the user +may allow or prohibit disclosure to a fiduciary of some or all of the users +digital assets, including the content of electronic communications sent or +received by the user, in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record. + +(3) A users direction under subsection (1) or subsection (2) overrides a +contrary provision in a terms-of-service agreement that does not require the +user to act affirmatively and distinctly from the users assent to the terms +of service. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.004. +Fla. Stat. 740.004 + + 740.004. Terms-of-service agreement preserved. +(1) This chapter does not change or impair a right of a custodian or a + +user under a terms-of-service agreement to access and use the digital assets +of the user. + +(2) This chapter does not give a fiduciary or a designated recipient any +new or expanded rights other than those held by the user for whom, or for +whose estate or trust, the fiduciary or designated recipient acts or +represents. + +(3) A fiduciarys or designated recipients access to digital assets may be +modified or eliminated by a user, by federal law, or by a terms-of-service +agreement if the user has not provided direction under s. 740.003. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.005. +Fla. Stat. 740.005 + + 740.005. Procedure for disclosing digital assets. +(1) When disclosing the digital assets of a user under this chapter, the + +custodian may, at its sole discretion: +(a) Grant a fiduciary or designated recipient full access to the users + +account; +(b) Grant a fiduciary or designated recipient partial access to the users + +account sufficient to perform the tasks with which the fiduciary or designated +recipient is charged; or + +(c) Provide a fiduciary or designated recipient a copy in a record of any +digital asset that, on the date the custodian received the request for disclosure, +the user could have accessed if the user were alive and had full capacity and +access to the account. + +(2) A custodian may assess a reasonable administrative charge for the +cost of disclosing digital assets under this chapter. + +(3) A custodian is not required to disclose under this chapter a digital +asset deleted by a user. + +(4) If a user directs or a fiduciary requests a custodian to disclose under +this chapter some, but not all, of the users digital assets to the fiduciary or +a designated recipient, the custodian is not required to disclose the assets if +segregation of the assets would impose an undue burden on the custodian. +If the custodian believes the direction or request imposes an undue burden, +the custodian or the fiduciary may seek an order from the court to disclose: +(a) A subset limited by date of the users digital assets; +(b) All of the users digital assets to the fiduciary or designated recipient, + +or to the court for review in chambers; or +(c) None of the users digital assets. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.006. +Fla. Stat. 740.006 + + 740.006. Disclosure of content of electronic communications of +deceased user. + +If a deceased user consented to or a court directs the disclosure of the +content of electronic communications of the user, the custodian shall disclose +to the personal representative of the estate of the user the content of an +electronic communication sent or received by the user if the personal +representative gives to the custodian: + +(1) A written request for disclosure which is in physical or electronic +form; + +(2) A certified copy of the death certificate of the user; +(3) A certified copy of the letters of administration, the order authorizing + +a curator or administrator ad litem, the order of summary administration +issued pursuant to chapter 735, or other court order; + +(4) Unless the user provided direction using an online tool, a copy of the +users will, trust, power of attorney, or other record evidencing the users +consent to disclosure of the content of electronic communications; and + +(5) If requested by the custodian: +(a) A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the users account; +(b) Evidence linking the account to the user; or +(c) A finding by the court that: +1. The user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by + +information specified in paragraph (a); +2. Disclosure of the content of electronic communications of the user + +would not violate 18 U.S.C. ss. 2701 et seq., 47 U.S.C. s. 222, or other +applicable law; + +3. Unless the user provided direction using an online tool, the user +consented to disclosure of the content of electronic communications; or + +4. Disclosure of the content of electronic communications of the user is + + + +reasonably necessary for the administration of the estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.007. +Fla. Stat. 740.007 + + 740.007. Disclosure of other digital assets of deceased user. +Unless a user prohibited disclosure of digital assets or the court directs + +otherwise, a custodian shall disclose to the personal representative of the +estate of a deceased user a catalog of electronic communications sent or +received by the user and digital assets of the user, except the content of +electronic communications, if the personal representative gives to the +custodian: + +(1) A written request for disclosure which is in physical or electronic +form; + +(2) A certified copy of the death certificate of the user; +(3) A certified copy of the letters of administration, the order authorizing + +a curator or administrator ad litem, the order of summary administration +issued pursuant to chapter 735, or other court order; and + +(4) If requested by the custodian: +(a) A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the users account; +(b) Evidence linking the account to the user; +(c) An affidavit stating that disclosure of the users digital assets is + +reasonably necessary for the administration of the estate; or +(d) An order of the court finding that: +1. The user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by + +information specified in paragraph (a); or +2. Disclosure of the users digital assets is reasonably necessary for the + +administration of the estate. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.008. +Fla. Stat. 740.008 + + 740.008. Disclosure of content of electronic communications of +principal. + +To the extent a power of attorney expressly grants an agent authority over +the content of electronic communications sent or received by the principal +and unless directed otherwise by the principal or the court, a custodian shall +disclose to the agent the content if the agent gives to the custodian: + +(1) A written request for disclosure which is in physical or electronic +form; + +(2) An original or copy of the power of attorney expressly granting the +agent authority over the content of electronic communications of the +principal; + +(3) A certification by the agent, under penalty of perjury, that the power +of attorney is in effect; and + +(4) If requested by the custodian: +(a) A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the principals account; or +(b) Evidence linking the account to the principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.009. +Fla. Stat. 740.009 + + 740.009. Disclosure of other digital assets of principal. +Unless otherwise ordered by the court, directed by the principal, or + +provided by a power of attorney, a custodian shall disclose to an agent with +specific authority over the digital assets or with general authority to act on +behalf of the principal a catalog of electronic communications sent or +received by the principal, and digital assets of the principal, except the +content of electronic communications, if the agent gives the custodian: + +(1) A written request for disclosure which is in physical or electronic +form; + +(2) An original or a copy of the power of attorney which gives the agent +specific authority over digital assets or general authority to act on behalf of +the principal; + +(3) A certification by the agent, under penalty of perjury, that the power +of attorney is in effect; and + +(4) If requested by the custodian: +(a) A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the principals account; or +(b) Evidence linking the account to the principal. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.01. +Fla. Stat. 740.01 + + 740.01. Disclosure of digital assets held in trust when trustee is the +original user. + +Unless otherwise ordered by the court or provided in a trust, a custodian +shall disclose to a trustee that is an original user of an account any digital +asset of the account held in trust, including a catalog of electronic +communications of the trustee and the content of electronic communications. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.02. +Fla. Stat. 740.02 + + 740.02. Disclosure of content of electronic communications held in trust +when trustee is not the original user. + +Unless otherwise ordered by the court, directed by the user, or provided in +a trust, a custodian shall disclose to a trustee that is not an original user of an +account the content of an electronic communication sent or received by an +original or successor user and carried, maintained, processed, received, or +stored by the custodian in the account of the trust if the trustee gives the +custodian: + +(1) A written request for disclosure which is in physical or electronic +form; + +(2) A certified copy of the trust instrument, or a certification of trust +under s. 736.1017, which includes consent to disclosure of the content of +electronic communications to the trustee; + +(3) A certification by the trustee, under penalty of perjury, that the trust +exists and that the trustee is a currently acting trustee of the trust; and + +(4) If requested by the custodian: +(a) A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the trusts account; or +(b) Evidence linking the account to the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.03. +Fla. Stat. 740.03 + + 740.03. Disclosure of other digital assets held in trust when trustee is +not the original user. + +Unless otherwise ordered by the court, directed by the user, or provided in +a trust, a custodian shall disclose to a trustee that is not an original user of an +account, a catalog of electronic communications sent or received by an +original or successor user and stored, carried, or maintained by the custodian +in an account of the trust and any digital assets in which the trust has a right +or interest, other than the content of electronic communications, if the trustee +gives the custodian: + +(1) A written request for disclosure which is in physical or electronic +form; + +(2) A certified copy of the trust instrument, or a certification of trust +under s. 736.1017; + +(3) A certification by the trustee, under penalty of perjury, that the trust +exists and that the trustee is a currently acting trustee of the trust; and + +(4) If requested by the custodian: +(a) A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the trusts account; or +(b) Evidence linking the account to the trust. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.04. +Fla. Stat. 740.04 + + 740.04. Disclosure of digital assets to guardian of ward. +(1) After an opportunity for a hearing under chapter 744, the court may + +grant a guardian access to the digital assets of a ward. +(2) Unless otherwise ordered by the court or directed by the user, a + +custodian shall disclose to a guardian the catalog of electronic +communications sent or received by the ward and any digital assets in +which the ward has a right or interest, other than the content of electronic +communications, if the guardian gives the custodian: +(a) A written request for disclosure which is in physical or electronic form; +(b) A certified copy of letters of plenary guardianship of the property or the + +court order that gives the guardian authority over the digital assets of the +ward; and + +(c) If requested by the custodian: +1. A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the wards account; or +2. Evidence linking the account to the ward. + +(3) A guardian with general authority to manage the property of a ward +may request a custodian of the digital assets of the ward to suspend or +terminate an account of the ward for good cause. A request made under +this section must be accompanied by a certified copy of the court order +giving the guardian authority over the wards property. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.05. +Fla. Stat. 740.05 + + 740.05. Fiduciary duty and authority. +(1) The legal duties imposed on a fiduciary charged with managing + +tangible property apply to the management of digital assets, including: +(a) The duty of care; +(b) The duty of loyalty; and +(c) The duty of confidentiality. + +(2) A fiduciarys or designated recipients authority with respect to a +digital asset of a user: +(a) Except as otherwise provided in s. 740.003, is subject to the applicable + +terms-of-service agreement; +(b) Is subject to other applicable law, including copyright law; +(c) In the case of a fiduciary, is limited by the scope of the fiduciarys + +duties; and +(d) May not be used to impersonate the user. + +(3) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible personal property of a +decedent, ward, principal, or settlor has the right to access any digital asset +in which the decedent, ward, principal, or settlor had or has a right or +interest and that is not held by a custodian or subject to a terms-of-service +agreement. + +(4) A fiduciary acting within the scope of the fiduciarys duties is an +authorized user of the property of the decedent, ward, principal, or settlor +for the purpose of applicable computer fraud and unauthorized computer +access laws, including under chapter 815. + +(5) A fiduciary with authority over the tangible personal property of a +decedent, ward, principal, or settlor: +(a) Has the right to access the property and any digital asset stored in it; + +and +(b) Is an authorized user for the purpose of computer fraud and + + + +unauthorized computer access laws, including under chapter 815. +(6) A custodian may disclose information in an account to a fiduciary of + +the user when the information is required to terminate an account used to +access digital assets licensed to the user. + +(7) A fiduciary of a user may request a custodian to terminate the users +account. A request for termination must be in writing, in paper or +electronic form, and accompanied by: +(a) If the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the + +user; +(b) A certified copy of the letters of administration; the order authorizing a + +curator or administrator ad litem; the order of summary administration issued +pursuant to chapter 735; or the court order, power of attorney, or trust giving +the fiduciary authority over the account; and + +(c) If requested by the custodian: +1. A number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account + +identifier assigned by the custodian to identify the users account; +2. Evidence linking the account to the user; or +3. A finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the + +custodian, identifiable by the information specified in subparagraph 1. + +HISTORY: +S. 15, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.06. +Fla. Stat. 740.06 + + 740.06. Custodian compliance and immunity. +(1) Not later than 60 days after receipt of the information required under + +ss. 740.006-740.04, a custodian shall comply with a request under this +chapter from a fiduciary or designated recipient to disclose digital assets or +terminate an account. If the custodian fails to comply, the fiduciary or +designated recipient may apply to the court for an order directing +compliance. + +(2) An order under subsection (1) directing compliance must contain a +finding that compliance is not in violation of 18 U.S.C. s. 2702. + +(3) A custodian may notify a user that a request for disclosure or to +terminate an account was made under this chapter. + +(4) A custodian may deny a request under this chapter from a fiduciary +or designated recipient for disclosure of digital assets or to terminate an +account if the custodian is aware of any lawful access to the account +following the receipt of the fiduciarys request. + +(5) This chapter does not limit a custodians ability to obtain or require a +fiduciary or designated recipient requesting disclosure or termination under +this chapter to obtain a court order that: +(a) Specifies that an account belongs to the ward or principal; +(b) Specifies that there is sufficient consent from the ward or principal to + +support the requested disclosure; and +(c) Contains a finding required by a law other than this chapter. + +(6) A custodian and its officers, employees, and agents are immune from +liability for an act or omission done in good faith in compliance with this +chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 16, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.07. +Fla. Stat. 740.07 + + 740.07. Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National +Commerce Act. + +This chapter modifies, limits, and supersedes the Electronic Signatures in +Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 7001 et seq., but does not +modify, limit, or supersede s. 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7001(c), or +authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in s. 103(b) of +that act, 15 U.S.C. s. 7003(b). + +HISTORY: +S. 17, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.08. +Fla. Stat. 740.08 + + 740.08. Applicability. +(1) Subject to subsection (3), this chapter applies to: + +(a) A fiduciary acting under a will, trust, or power of attorney executed +before, on, or after July 1, 2016; + +(b) A personal representative acting for a decedent who died before, on, or +after July 1, 2016; + +(c) A guardian appointed through a guardianship proceeding, whether +pending in a court or commenced before, on, or after July 1, 2016; and + +(d) A trustee acting under a trust created before, on, or after July 1, 2016. +(2) This chapter applies to a custodian if the user resides in this state or + +resided in this state at the time of the users death. +(3) This chapter does not apply to a digital asset of an employer used by + +an employee in the ordinary course of the employers business. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.09. +Fla. Stat. 740.09 + + 740.09. Severability. +If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or + +circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or +applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid +provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are +severable. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 2016-46, effective July 1, 2016. + + + + Title XLII. , Ch. 740. , 740.11. +Fla. Stat. 740.11 + + 740.11. Relation to wills. +No act taken pursuant to this chapter is valid to affect the obligation of a + +person to deposit a will of a decedent as required under s. 732.901. + +History. +S. 39, ch. 2019-71, effective January 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII + +TITLE XLIII. +DOMESTIC RELATIONS. + +________ + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. + +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744 + + + +CHAPTER 744. +GUARDIANSHIP. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +GENERAL PROVISIONS. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.101. +Fla. Stat. 744.101 + + 744.101. Short title. +This chapter may be cited as the Florida Guardianship Law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 1, ch. 89-96. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.01. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1012. +Fla. Stat. 744.1012 + + 744.1012. Legislative intent. +The Legislature finds that: + +(1) Adjudicating a person totally incapacitated and in need of a guardian +deprives such person of all her or his civil and legal rights and that such +deprivation may be unnecessary. + +(2) It is desirable to make available the least restrictive form of +guardianship to assist persons who are only partially incapable of caring +for their needs and that alternatives to guardianship and less restrictive +means of assistance, including, but not limited to, guardian advocates, be +explored before a plenary guardian is appointed. + +(3) By recognizing that every individual has unique needs and differing +abilities, it is the purpose of this act to promote the public welfare by +establishing a system that permits incapacitated persons to participate as +fully as possible in all decisions affecting them; that assists such persons in +meeting the essential requirements for their physical health and safety, in +protecting their rights, in managing their financial resources, and in +developing or regaining their abilities to the maximum extent possible; and +that accomplishes these objectives through providing, in each case, the +form of assistance that least interferes with the legal capacity of a person to +act in her or his own behalf. This act shall be liberally construed to +accomplish this purpose. + +(4) Private guardianship may be inadequate when there is no willing and +responsible family member or friend, other person, bank, or corporation +available to serve as guardian for an incapacitated person, and such person +does not have adequate income or wealth for the compensation of a private +guardian. + +(5) Through the establishment of the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians, the Legislature intends to permit the establishment of offices of +public guardians for the purpose of providing guardianship services for +incapacitated persons when no private guardian is available. + +(6) A public guardian will be provided only to those persons whose + + + +needs cannot be met through less restrictive means of intervention. A +public guardian may also serve in the capacity of a limited guardian or +guardian advocate under s. 393.12 when the public guardian is the +guardian of last resort as described in subsection (4). + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 89-96; s. 1, ch. 90-271; s. 1067, ch. 97-102; s. 4, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.102. +Fla. Stat. 744.102 + + 744.102. Definitions. +As used in this chapter, the term: + +(1) Attorney for the alleged incapacitated person means an attorney +who represents the alleged incapacitated person. The attorney shall +represent the expressed wishes of the alleged incapacitated person to the +extent it is consistent with the rules regulating The Florida Bar. + +(2) Audit means a systematic review of financial and all other +documents to ensure compliance with s. 744.368, rules of court, and local +procedures using generally accepted accounting principles. The term +includes various practices that meet professional standards, such as +verifications, reviews of substantiating papers and accounts, interviews, +inspections, and investigations. + +(3) Clerk means the clerk or deputy clerk of the court. +(4) Corporate guardian means a corporation authorized to exercise + +fiduciary or guardianship powers in this state and includes a nonprofit +corporate guardian. + +(5) Court means the circuit court. +(6) Court monitor means a person appointed by the court under s. + +744.107 to provide the court with information concerning a ward. +(7) Estate means the property of a ward subject to administration. +(8) Foreign guardian means a guardian appointed in another state or + +country. +(9) Guardian means a person who has been appointed by the court to + +act on behalf of a wards person or property, or both. +(a) Limited guardian means a guardian who has been appointed by the + +court to exercise the legal rights and powers specifically designated by court +order entered after the court has found that the ward lacks the capacity to do +some, but not all, of the tasks necessary to care for his or her person or +property, or after the person has voluntarily petitioned for appointment of a + + + +limited guardian. +(b) Plenary guardian means a person who has been appointed by the + +court to exercise all delegable legal rights and powers of the ward after the +court has found that the ward lacks the capacity to perform all of the tasks +necessary to care for his or her person or property. + +(10) Guardian ad litem means a person who is appointed by the court +having jurisdiction of the guardianship or a court in which a particular +legal matter is pending to represent a ward in that proceeding. + +(11) Guardian advocate means a person appointed by a written order +of the court to represent a person with developmental disabilities under s. +393.12. As used in this chapter, the term does not apply to a guardian +advocate appointed for a person determined incompetent to consent to +treatment under s. 394.4598. + +(12) Incapacitated person means a person who has been judicially +determined to lack the capacity to manage at least some of the property or +to meet at least some of the essential health and safety requirements of the +person. +(a) To manage property means to take those actions necessary to obtain, + +administer, and dispose of real and personal property, intangible property, +business property, benefits, and income. + +(b) To meet essential requirements for health or safety means to take +those actions necessary to provide the health care, food, shelter, clothing, +personal hygiene, or other care without which serious and imminent physical +injury or illness is more likely than not to occur. + +(13) Minor means a person under 18 years of age whose disabilities +have not been removed by marriage or otherwise. + +(14) Next of kin means those persons who would be heirs at law of the +ward or alleged incapacitated person if the person were deceased and +includes the lineal descendants of the ward or alleged incapacitated person. + +(15) Nonprofit corporate guardian means a nonprofit corporation +organized for religious or charitable purposes and existing under the laws +of this state. + +(16) Preneed guardian means a person named in a written declaration + + + +to serve as guardian in the event of the incapacity of the declarant as +provided in s. 744.3045. + +(17) Professional guardian means any guardian who has at any time +rendered services to three or more wards as their guardian. A person +serving as a guardian for two or more relatives as defined in s. 744.309(2) +is not considered a professional guardian. A public guardian shall be +considered a professional guardian for purposes of regulation, education, +and registration. + +(18) Property means both real and personal property or any interest in +it and anything that may be the subject of ownership. + +(19) Standby guardian means a person empowered to assume the +duties of guardianship upon the death or adjudication of incapacity of the +last surviving natural or appointed guardian. + +(20) Surrogate guardian means a guardian designated according to s. +744.442. + +(21) Totally incapacitated means incapable of exercising any of the +rights enumerated in s. 744.3215(2) and (3). + +(22) Ward means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 2, ch. 75-222; s. 231, ch. 77-104; s. 1, ch. 79-221; s. 3, + +ch. 80-171; s. 4, ch. 89-96; s. 2, ch. 90-271; s. 1, ch. 96-354; s. 1780, ch. 97- +102; s. 6, ch. 2003-57; s. 9, ch. 2004-260; s. 1, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, +2006; s. 1, ch. 2014-124, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.03. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1025. +Fla. Stat. 744.1025 + + 744.1025. Additional definitions. +The definitions contained in the Florida Probate Code shall be applicable + +to the Florida Guardianship Law, unless the context requires otherwise, +insofar as such definitions do not conflict with definitions contained in this +law. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 79-221; s. 5, ch. 89-96. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.103. +Fla. Stat. 744.103 + + 744.103. Guardians of incapacitated world war veterans. [Repealed] +Repealed by s. 1, ch. 2012-40, effective July 1, 2012. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 2, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 6, ch. 89-96. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.104. +Fla. Stat. 744.104 + + 744.104. Verification of documents. +When verification of a document is required in this chapter or by rule, the + +document filed shall include an oath or affirmation or the following +statement: Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the +foregoing, and the facts alleged are true to the best of my knowledge and +belief. Any person who shall willfully include a false statement in the +document shall be guilty of perjury and upon conviction shall be punished +accordingly. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 2, ch. 75-222; s. 7, ch. 89-96. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.37. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.105. +Fla. Stat. 744.105 + + 744.105. Costs. +In all guardianship proceedings, costs may be awarded. When the costs are + +to be paid out of the property of the ward, the court may direct from what part +of the property the costs shall be paid. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 8, ch. 89-96; s. 3, ch. 90-271. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.47. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.106. +Fla. Stat. 744.106 + + 744.106. Notice. +The requirements for notice under this chapter are those provided for in the + +Florida Probate Rules except as provided in s. 744.331(1). + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 75-222; s. 9, ch. 89-96; s. 65, ch. 95-211. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.107. +Fla. Stat. 744.107 + + 744.107. Court monitors. +(1) The court may, upon inquiry from any interested person or upon its + +own motion in any proceeding over which it has jurisdiction, appoint a +monitor. The court shall not appoint as a monitor a family member or any +person with a personal interest in the proceedings. The order of +appointment shall be served upon the guardian, the ward, and such other +persons as the court may determine. + +(2) The monitor may investigate, seek information, examine documents, +or interview the ward and shall report to the court his or her findings. The +report shall be verified and shall be served on the guardian, the ward, and +such other persons as the court may determine. + +(3) If it appears from the monitors report that further action by the court +to protect the interests of the ward is necessary, the court shall, after a +hearing with notice, enter any order necessary to protect the ward or the +wards estate, including amending the plan, requiring an accounting, +ordering production of assets, freezing assets, suspending a guardian, or +initiating proceedings to remove a guardian. + +(4) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, a monitor may be allowed a +reasonable fee as determined by the court and paid from the property of the +ward. No full-time state, county, or municipal employee or officer shall be +paid a fee for such investigation and report. If the court finds the motion +for court monitor to have been filed in bad faith, the costs of the +proceeding, including attorneys fees, may be assessed against the movant. + +(5) The court may appoint the office of criminal conflict and civil +regional counsel as monitor if the ward is indigent. + +HISTORY: +SS. 18, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 10, ch. 89-96; s. 4, ch. 90-271; s. 1068, ch. 97- + +102; s. 2, ch. 2006-77, eff. June 6, 2006; s. 2, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, +2015. + +Editors Notes + + + +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1075. +Fla. Stat. 744.1075 + + 744.1075. Emergency court monitor. +(1)(a) A court, upon inquiry from any interested person or upon its own +motion, in any proceeding over which the court has jurisdiction, may +appoint a court monitor on an emergency basis without notice. The court +must specifically find that there appears to be imminent danger that the +physical or mental health or safety of the ward will be seriously impaired +or that the wards property is in danger of being wasted, misappropriated, +or lost unless immediate action is taken. The scope of the matters to be +investigated and the powers and duties of the monitor must be specifically +enumerated by court order. +(b) The authority of a monitor appointed under this section expires 60 days + +after the date of appointment or upon a finding of no probable cause, +whichever occurs first. The authority of the monitor may be extended for an +additional 30 days upon a showing that the emergency conditions still exist. + +(2) Within 15 days after the entry of the order of appointment, the +monitor shall file his or her report of findings and recommendations to the +court. The report shall be verified and may be supported by documents or +other evidence. + +(3) Upon review of the report, the court shall determine whether there is +probable cause to take further action to protect the person or property of +the ward. If the court finds no probable cause, the court shall issue an order +finding no probable cause and discharging the monitor. +(4)(a) If the court finds probable cause, the court shall issue an order to +show cause directed to the guardian or other respondent stating the +essential facts constituting the conduct charged and requiring the +respondent to appear before the court to show cause why the court should +not take further action. The order shall specify the time and place of the +hearing with a reasonable time to allow for the preparation of a defense +after service of the order. +(b) At any time prior to the hearing on the order to show cause, the court + +may issue a temporary injunction, a restraining order, or an order freezing +assets; may suspend the guardian or appoint a guardian ad litem; or may issue + + + +any other appropriate order to protect the physical or mental health or safety +or property of the ward. A copy of all such orders or injunctions shall be +transmitted by the court or under its direction to all parties at the time of entry +of the order or injunction. + +(c) Following a hearing on the order to show cause, the court may impose +sanctions on the guardian or his or her attorney or other respondent or take +any other action authorized by law, including entering a judgment of +contempt; ordering an accounting; freezing assets; referring the case to local +law enforcement agencies or the state attorney; filing an abuse, neglect, or +exploitation complaint with the Department of Children and Families; or +initiating proceedings to remove the guardian. + +Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to preclude the mandatory +reporting requirements of chapter 39. + +(5) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, a monitor may be allowed a +reasonable fee as determined by the court and paid from the property of the +ward. No full-time state, county, or municipal employee or officer shall be +paid a fee for such investigation and report. If the court finds the motion +for a court monitor to have been filed in bad faith, the costs of the +proceeding, including attorneys fees, may be assessed against the movant. + +(6) The court may appoint the office of criminal conflict and civil +regional counsel as monitor if the ward is indigent. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2006-77, eff. June 6, 2006; s. 291, ch. 2014-19, effective July 1, + +2014; s. 3, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1076. +Fla. Stat. 744.1076 + + 744.1076. Court orders appointing court monitors and emergency +court monitors; reports of court monitors; orders finding no +probable cause; public records exemptions. + +(1)(a) The order of any court appointing a court monitor pursuant to s. +744.107 or an emergency court monitor pursuant to s. 744.1075 is exempt +from s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. +(b) The reports of an appointed court monitor or emergency court monitor + +relating to the medical condition, financial affairs, or mental health of the +ward are confidential and exempt from s. 24(a), Art. I of the State +Constitution. Such reports may be subject to inspection as determined by the +court or upon a showing of good cause. + +(c) The public records exemptions provided in this subsection expire if a +court makes a finding of probable cause, except that information otherwise +made confidential or exempt shall retain its confidential or exempt status. + +(2) Court orders finding no probable cause pursuant to s. 744.107 or s. +744.1075 are confidential and exempt from s. 24(a), Art. I of the State +Constitution; however, such orders may be subject to inspection as +determined by the court or upon a showing of good cause. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2006-129, eff. June 6, 2006; s. 161, ch. 2008-4, eff. July 1, 2008; + +s. 1, ch. 2011-204, eff. Oct. 1, 2011. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.108. +Fla. Stat. 744.108 + + 744.108. Guardian and attorney fees and expenses. +(1) A guardian, or an attorney who has rendered services to the ward or + +to the guardian on the wards behalf, is entitled to a reasonable fee for +services rendered and reimbursement for costs incurred on behalf of the +ward. + +(2) When fees for a guardian or an attorney are submitted to the court +for determination, the court shall consider the following criteria: +(a) The time and labor required; +(b) The novelty and difficulty of the questions involved and the skill + +required to perform the services properly; +(c) The likelihood that the acceptance of the particular employment will + +preclude other employment of the person; +(d) The fee customarily charged in the locality for similar services; +(e) The nature and value of the incapacitated persons property, the amount + +of income earned by the estate, and the responsibilities and potential +liabilities assumed by the person; + +(f) The results obtained; +(g) The time limits imposed by the circumstances; +(h) The nature and length of the relationship with the incapacitated person; + +and +(i) The experience, reputation, diligence, and ability of the person + +performing the service. +(3) In awarding fees to attorney guardians, the court must clearly + +distinguish between fees and expenses for legal services and fees and +expenses for guardian services and must have determined that no conflict +of interest exists. + +(4) Fees for legal services may include customary and reasonable +charges for work performed by legal assistants employed by and working +under the direction of the attorney. + + + +(5) All petitions for guardian and attorney fees and expenses must be +accompanied by an itemized description of the services performed for the +fees and expenses sought to be recovered. + +(6) A petition for fees or expenses may not be approved without prior +notice to the guardian and to the ward, unless the ward is a minor or is +totally incapacitated. + +(7) A petition for fees shall include the period covered and the total +amount of all prior fees paid or costs awarded to the petitioner in the +guardianship proceeding currently before the court. + +(8) When court proceedings are instituted to review or determine a +guardians or an attorneys fees under subsection (2), such proceedings are +part of the guardianship administration process and the costs, including +costs and attorney fees for the guardians attorney, an attorney appointed +under s. 744.331(2), or an attorney who has rendered services to the ward, +shall be determined by the court and paid from the assets of the +guardianship estate unless the court finds the requested compensation +under subsection (2) to be substantially unreasonable. + +(9) The court may determine that a request for compensation by the +guardian, the guardians attorney, a person employed by the guardian, an +attorney appointed under s. 744.331(2), or an attorney who has rendered +services to the ward, is reasonable without receiving expert testimony. A +person or party may offer expert testimony for or against a request for +compensation after giving notice to interested persons. Reasonable expert +witness fees shall be awarded by the court and paid from the assets of the +guardianship estate using the standards in subsection (8). + +HISTORY: +SS. 18, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 11, ch. 89-96; s. 5, ch. 90-271; s. 2, ch. 96-354; s. + +7, ch. 2003-57; s. 4, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, + + + +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1083. +Fla. Stat. 744.1083 + + 744.1083. Professional guardian registration. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.1083 was transferred to 744.2002 by s. 9, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1085. +Fla. Stat. 744.1085 + + 744.1085. Regulation of professional guardians; application; bond +required; educational requirements. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.1085 was transferred to 744.2003 by s. 10, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.109. +Fla. Stat. 744.109 + + 744.109. Records. +(1) All hearings on appointment of a guardian; adjudication of + +incapacity; modification, termination, or revocation of the adjudication of +incapacity; or restoration of capacity must be electronically or +stenographically recorded. + +(2) If an appeal is taken from any of these proceedings, a transcript must +be furnished to an indigent ward at public expense. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 89-96. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1095. +Fla. Stat. 744.1095 + + 744.1095. Hearings. +At any hearing under this chapter, the alleged incapacitated person or the + +adjudicated ward has the right to: +(1) Remain silent and refuse to testify at the hearing. The person may + +not be held in contempt of court or otherwise penalized for refusing to +testify. Refusal to testify may not be used as evidence of incapacity; + +(2) Testify; +(3) Present evidence; +(4) Call witnesses; +(5) Confront and cross-examine all witnesses; and +(6) Have the hearing open or closed as she or he may choose. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 89-96; s. 6, ch. 90-271; s. 1069, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1096. +Fla. Stat. 744.1096 + + 744.1096. Domicile of ward. +The domicile of a resident ward is the county where the ward resides. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 5, ch. 75-222; s. 14, ch. 89-96; s. 5, ch. 2016-40, eff. + +Mar. 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +Created from former s. 744.10. +S. 5 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.201. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1097. +Fla. Stat. 744.1097 + + 744.1097. Venue. +(1) The venue in proceedings for declaration of incapacity shall be + +where the alleged incapacitated person resides or is found. The provisions +of this section do not apply to veterans. + +(2) The venue in proceedings for the appointment of a guardian shall be: +(a) If the incapacitated person is a resident of this state, in the county + +where the incapacitated person resides. +(b) If the incapacitated person is not a resident of this state, in any county + +in this state where property of the incapacitated person is located. +(c) If the incapacitated person is not a resident of this state and owns no + +property in this state, in the county where any debtor of the incapacitated +person resides. + +(d) If the incapacitated person is a child or young adult under the +jurisdiction of a dependency court, in the county where the child or young +adult resides or in the county having jurisdiction of the dependency case. + +(3) When the residence of an incapacitated person is changed to another +county, the guardian shall petition to have the venue of the guardianship +changed to the county of the acquired residence, except in cases where +venue was established under paragraph (2)(d) or as provided in s. +744.1098. + +(4) If an incapacitated person is a resident of this state and is found in a +county other than the county of residence, the venue for declaration of +incapacity and for the appointment of a guardian may be the county where +the incapacitated person is found. Upon transfer of the incapacitated person +to the county of residence, the guardian may have the venue of the +guardianship changed to the county of residence and a successor guardian +may be appointed. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 5, ch. 75-222; s. 15, ch. 89-96; s. 7, ch. 90-271; s. 33, + + + +ch. 95-401; s. 3, ch. 96-354; s. 6, ch. 2016-40, eff. Mar. 10, 2016.; s. 1, ch. +2019-10, effective April 26, 2019. + +Editors Notes +Created from former s. 744.11. +S. 6 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.202. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. I. , 744.1098. +Fla. Stat. 744.1098 + + 744.1098. Change of wards residence. +(1) Prior court approval required. A guardian who has power + +pursuant to this chapter to determine the residence of the ward may not, +without court approval, change the residence of the ward from this state to +another, or from one county of this state to another county of this state, +unless such county is adjacent to the county of the wards current +residence. Any guardian who wishes to remove the ward from the wards +current county of residence to another county which is not adjacent to the +wards current county of residence must obtain court approval prior to +removal of the ward. In granting its approval, the court shall, at a +minimum, consider the reason for such relocation and the longevity of +such relocation. + +(2) Immediate court notification required. Any guardian who +wishes to remove the ward from the wards current county of residence to +another county adjacent to the wards county of residence shall notify the +court having jurisdiction of the guardianship within 15 days after +relocation of the ward. Such notice shall state the compelling reasons for +relocation of the ward and how long the guardian expects the ward to +remain in such other county. + +HISTORY: +S. 16, ch. 89-96; s. 8, ch. 90-271; s. 4, ch. 96-354; s. 7, ch. 2016-40, eff. + +Mar. 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 7 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.2025. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL GUARDIANS. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2001. +Fla. Stat. 744.2001 + + 744.2001. Office of Public and Professional Guardians. +There is created the Office of Public and Professional Guardians within the + +Department of Elderly Affairs. +(1) The Secretary of Elderly Affairs shall appoint the executive director, + +who shall be the head of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. +The executive director must be a member of The Florida Bar, +knowledgeable of guardianship law and of the social services available to +meet the needs of incapacitated persons, shall serve on a full-time basis, +and shall personally, or through a representative of the office, carry out the +purposes and functions of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians +in accordance with state and federal law. The executive director shall serve +at the pleasure of and report to the secretary. + +(2) The executive director shall, within available resources: +(a) Have oversight responsibilities for all public and professional + +guardians. +(b) Establish standards of practice for public and professional guardians by + +rule, in consultation with professional guardianship associations and other +interested stakeholders, no later than October 1, 2016. The executive director +shall provide a draft of the standards to the Governor, the Legislature, and the +secretary for review by August 1, 2016. + +(c) Review and approve the standards and criteria for the education, +registration, and certification of public and professional guardians in Florida. + +(3) The executive directors oversight responsibilities of professional +guardians must be finalized by October 1, 2016, and shall include, but are +not limited to: +(a) Developing and implementing a monitoring tool to ensure compliance + +of professional guardians with the standards of practice established by the + + + +Office of Public and Professional Guardians. This monitoring tool may not +include a financial audit as required by the clerk of the circuit court under s. +744.368. + +(b) Developing procedures, in consultation with professional guardianship +associations and other interested stakeholders, for the review of an allegation +that a professional guardian has violated the standards of practice established +by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians governing the conduct of +professional guardians. + +(c) Establishing disciplinary proceedings, conducting hearings, and taking +administrative action pursuant to chapter 120. + +(4) The executive directors oversight responsibilities of public +guardians shall include, but are not limited to: +(a) Reviewing the current public guardian programs in Florida and other + +states. +(b) Developing, in consultation with local guardianship offices and other + +interested stakeholders, statewide performance measures. +(c) Reviewing various methods of funding public guardianship programs, + +the kinds of services being provided by such programs, and the demographics +of the wards. In addition, the executive director shall review and make +recommendations regarding the feasibility of recovering a portion or all of +the costs of providing public guardianship services from the assets or income +of the wards. + +(d) By January 1 of each year, providing a status report and +recommendations to the secretary which address the need for public +guardianship services and related issues. + +(e) Developing a guardianship training program curriculum that may be +offered to all guardians, whether public or private. + +(5) The executive director may provide assistance to local governments +or entities in pursuing grant opportunities. The executive director shall +review and make recommendations in the annual report on the availability +and efficacy of seeking Medicaid matching funds. The executive director +shall diligently seek ways to use existing programs and services to meet +the needs of public wards. + + + +(6) The executive director may conduct or contract for demonstration +projects authorized by the Department of Elderly Affairs, within funds +appropriated or through gifts, grants, or contributions for such purposes, to +determine the feasibility or desirability of new concepts of organization, +administration, financing, or service delivery designed to preserve the civil +and constitutional rights of persons of marginal or diminished capacity. +Any gifts, grants, or contributions for such purposes shall be deposited in +the Department of Elderly Affairs Administrative Trust Fund. +(7)(a) On or before July 1, 2023, the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians shall publish on its website a profile of each registered +professional guardian. The profiles must be accessible and searchable by +the public and must include, at a minimum, the following information: +1. The guardians name and business address. +2. Whether the guardian meets the education and bonding requirements + +under s. 744.2003. +3. The number and type of substantiated complaints against the guardian. +4. Any disciplinary actions taken by the Department of Elderly Affairs + +against the guardian. +(b) The Department of Elderly Affairs may not populate the professional + +guardian profiles with information from the database established in s. +744.2112. + +(c) The Department of Elderly Affairs may adopt rules necessary to +implement this subsection. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 99-277; s. 14, ch. 2003-57; s. 5, ch. 2003-262; s. 140, ch. 2005-2; + +s. 107, ch. 2013-18, eff. July 2, 2013; s. 8, ch. 2016-40, eff. Mar. 10, 2016.; s. +2, ch. 2022-218, effective July 1, 2022. + +Editors Notes +S. 8 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.7021. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2002. +Fla. Stat. 744.2002 + + 744.2002. Professional guardian registration. +(1) A professional guardian must register with the Office of Public and + +Professional Guardians established in part II of this chapter. +(2) Annual registration shall be made on forms furnished by the Office + +of Public and Professional Guardians and accompanied by the applicable +registration fee as determined by rule. The fee may not exceed $100. + +(3) Registration must include the following: +(a) Sufficient information to identify the professional guardian, as follows: +1. If the professional guardian is a natural person, the name, address, date + +of birth, and employer identification or social security number of the person. +2. If the professional guardian is a partnership or association, the name, + +address, and employer identification number of the entity. +(b) Documentation that the bonding and educational requirements of s. + +744.2003 have been met. +(c) Sufficient information to distinguish a guardian providing guardianship + +services as a public guardian, individually, through partnership, corporation, +or any other business organization. + +(4) Prior to registering a professional guardian, the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians must receive and review copies of the credit and +criminal investigations conducted under s. 744.3135. The credit and +criminal investigations must have been completed within the previous 2 +years. + +(5) The executive director of the office may deny registration to a +professional guardian if the executive director determines that the +guardians proposed registration, including the guardians credit or +criminal investigations, indicates that registering the professional guardian +would violate any provision of this chapter. If a guardians proposed +registration is denied, the guardian has standing to seek judicial review of +the denial pursuant to chapter 120. + + + +(6) The Department of Elderly Affairs may adopt rules necessary to +administer this section. + +(7) A trust company, a state banking corporation or state savings +association authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this +state, or a national banking association or federal savings and loan +association authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this +state, may, but is not required to, register as a professional guardian under +this section. If a trust company, state banking corporation, state savings +association, national banking association, or federal savings and loan +association described in this subsection elects to register as a professional +guardian under this subsection, the requirements of subsections (3) and (4) +do not apply and the registration must include only the name, address, and +employer identification number of the registrant, the name and address of +its registered agent, if any, and the documentation described in paragraph +(3)(b). + +(8) The Department of Elderly Affairs may contract with the Florida +Guardianship Foundation or other not-for-profit entity to register +professional guardians. + +(9) The department or its contractor shall ensure that the clerks of the +court and the chief judge of each judicial circuit receive information about +each registered professional guardian. + +(10) A state college or university or an independent college or university +that is located and chartered in Florida, that is accredited by the +Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and +Schools or the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, +and that confers degrees as defined in s. 1005.02(7) may, but is not +required to, register as a professional guardian under this section. If a state +college or university or independent college or university elects to register +as a professional guardian under this subsection, the requirements of +subsections (3) and (4) do not apply and the registration must include only +the name, address, and employer identification number of the registrant. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2002-195; s. 8, ch. 2003-57; s. 10, ch. 2004-260; s. 2, ch. 2006- + +178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 2, ch. 2009-175, eff. July 1, 2009; renumbered from + + + + 744.1083 by s. 9, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 9 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.1083. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2003. +Fla. Stat. 744.2003 + + 744.2003. Regulation of professional guardians; application; bond +required; educational requirements. +(1) The provisions of this section are in addition to and supplemental to + +any other provision of the Florida Guardianship Law, except s. 744.3145. +(2) Each professional guardian who files a petition for appointment after + +October 1, 1997, shall post a blanket fiduciary bond with the clerk of the +circuit court in the county in which the guardians primary place of +business is located. The guardian shall provide proof of the fiduciary bond +to the clerks of each additional circuit court in which he or she is serving as +a professional guardian. The bond shall be maintained by the guardian in +an amount not less than $50,000. The bond must cover all wards for whom +the guardian has been appointed at any given time. The liability of the +provider of the bond is limited to the face amount of the bond, regardless +of the number of wards for whom the professional guardian has been +appointed. The act or omissions of each employee of a professional +guardian who has direct contact with the ward or access to the wards +assets is covered by the terms of such bond. The bond must be payable to +the Governor of the State of Florida and his or her successors in office and +conditioned on the faithful performance of all duties by the guardian. In +form, the bond must be joint and several. The bond is in addition to any +bonds required under s. 744.351. This subsection does not apply to any +attorney who is licensed to practice law in this state and who is in good +standing, to any financial institution as defined in s. 744.309(4), or a public +guardian. The expenses incurred to satisfy the bonding requirements +prescribed in this section may not be paid with the assets of any ward. + +(3) Each professional guardian defined in s. 744.102(17) and public +guardian must receive a minimum of 40 hours of instruction and training. +Each professional guardian must receive a minimum of 16 hours of +continuing education every 2 calendar years after the year in which the +initial 40-hour educational requirement is met. The instruction and +education must be completed through a course approved or offered by the +Office of Public and Professional Guardians. The expenses incurred to +satisfy the educational requirements prescribed in this section may not be + + + +paid with the assets of any ward. This subsection does not apply to any +attorney who is licensed to practice law in this state or an institution acting +as guardian under s. 744.2002(7). + +(4) Each professional guardian must allow, at the guardians expense, an +investigation of the guardians credit history, and the credit history of +employees of the guardian, in a manner prescribed by the Department of +Elderly Affairs. + +(5) As required in s. 744.3135, each professional guardian shall allow a +level 2 background screening of the guardian and employees of the +guardian in accordance with the provisions of s. 435.04. + +(6) Each professional guardian is required to demonstrate competency to +act as a professional guardian by taking an examination approved by the +Department of Elderly Affairs. +(a) The Department of Elderly Affairs shall determine the minimum + +examination score necessary for passage of guardianship examinations. +(b) The Department of Elderly Affairs shall determine the procedure for + +administration of the examination. +(c) The Department of Elderly Affairs or its contractor shall charge an + +examination fee for the actual costs of the development and the +administration of the examination. The examination fee for a guardian may +not exceed $500. + +(d) The Department of Elderly Affairs may recognize passage of a national +guardianship examination in lieu of all or part of the examination approved +by the Department of Elderly Affairs, except that all professional guardians +must take and pass an approved examination section related to Florida law +and procedure. + +(7) The Department of Elderly Affairs shall set the minimum score +necessary to demonstrate professional guardianship competency. + +(8) The Department of Elderly Affairs shall waive the examination +requirement in subsection (6) if a professional guardian can provide: +(a) Proof that the guardian has actively acted as a professional guardian for + +5 years or more; and + + + +(b) A letter from a circuit judge before whom the professional guardian +practiced at least 1 year which states that the professional guardian had +demonstrated to the court competency as a professional guardian. + +(9) The court may not appoint any professional guardian who is not +registered by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. + +(10) This section does not apply to a professional guardian or the +employees of that professional guardian when that guardian is a trust +company, a state banking corporation, state savings association authorized +and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state, or a national +banking association or federal savings and loan association authorized and +qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 97-161; s. 9, ch. 99-277; s. 9, ch. 2003-57; s. 17, ch. 2004-260; s. + +62, ch. 2004-267; s. 32, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; renumbered from +744.1085 by s. 10, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +Section 62, ch. 2004-267, reenacted (5) without change to incorporate + +amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. +S. 10 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.1085. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2004. +Fla. Stat. 744.2004 + + 744.2004. Complaints; disciplinary proceedings; penalties; +enforcement. +(1) By October 1, 2016, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians + +shall establish procedures to: +(a) Review and, if determined legally sufficient, investigate any complaint + +that a professional guardian has violated the standards of practice established +by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians governing the conduct of +professional guardians. A complaint is legally sufficient if it contains ultimate +facts that show a violation of a standard of practice by a professional +guardian has occurred. + +(b) Initiate an investigation no later than 10 business days after the Office +of Public and Professional Guardians receives a complaint. + +(c) Complete and provide initial investigative findings and +recommendations, if any, to the professional guardian and the person who +filed the complaint within 60 days after receipt. + +(d) Obtain supporting information or documentation to determine the legal +sufficiency of a complaint. + +(e) Interview a ward, family member, or interested party to determine the +legal sufficiency of a complaint. + +(f) Dismiss any complaint if, at any time after legal sufficiency is +determined, it is found there is insufficient evidence to support the allegations +contained in the complaint. + +(g) Coordinate, to the greatest extent possible, with the clerks of court to +avoid duplication of duties with regard to the financial audits prepared by the +clerks pursuant to s. 744.368. + +(2) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall establish +disciplinary proceedings, conduct hearings, and take administrative action +pursuant to chapter 120. Disciplinary actions may include, but are not +limited to, requiring a professional guardian to participate in additional +educational courses provided or approved by the Office of Public and + + + +Professional Guardians, imposing additional monitoring by the office of +the guardianships to which the professional guardian is appointed, and +suspension or revocation of a professional guardians registration. + +(3) In any disciplinary proceeding that may result in the suspension or +revocation of a professional guardians registration, the Department of +Elderly Affairs shall provide the professional guardian and the person who +filed the complaint: +(a) A written explanation of how an administrative complaint is resolved + +by the disciplinary process. +(b) A written explanation of how and when the person may participate in + +the disciplinary process. +(c) A written notice of any hearing before the Division of Administrative + +Hearings at which final agency action may be taken. +(4) If the office makes a final determination to suspend or revoke the + +professional guardians registration, it must provide such determination to +the court of competent jurisdiction for any guardianship case to which the +professional guardian is currently appointed. + +(5) If the office determines or has reasonable cause to suspect that a +vulnerable adult has been or is being abused, neglected, or exploited as a +result of a filed complaint or during the course of an investigation of a +complaint, it shall immediately report such determination or suspicion to +the central abuse hotline established and maintained by the Department of +Children and Families pursuant to s. 415.103. + +(6) By October 1, 2016, the Department of Elderly Affairs shall adopt +rules to implement the provisions of this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.20041. +Fla. Stat. 744.20041 + + 744.20041. Grounds for discipline; penalties; enforcement. +(1) The following acts by a professional guardian shall constitute + +grounds for which the disciplinary actions specified in subsection (2) may +be taken: +(a) Making misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent representations in or + +related to the practice of guardianship. +(b) Violating any rule governing guardians or guardianships adopted by the + +Office of Public and Professional Guardians. +(c) Being convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea of guilty or nolo + +contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any jurisdiction which +relates to the practice of or the ability to practice as a professional guardian. + +(d) Failing to comply with the educational course requirements contained +in s. 744.2003. + +(e) Having a registration, a license, or the authority to practice a regulated +profession revoked, suspended, or otherwise acted against, including the +denial of registration or licensure, by the registering or licensing authority of +any jurisdiction, including its agencies or subdivisions, for a violation under +Florida law. The registering or licensing authoritys acceptance of a +relinquishment of registration or licensure, stipulation, consent order, or other +settlement offered in response to or in anticipation of the filing of charges +against the registration or license shall be construed as an action against the +registration or license. + +(f) Knowingly filing a false report or complaint with the Office of Public +and Professional Guardians against another guardian. + +(g) Attempting to obtain, obtaining, or renewing a registration or license to +practice a profession by bribery, by fraudulent misrepresentation, or as a +result of an error by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians which is +known and not disclosed to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. + +(h) Failing to report to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians any +person who the professional guardian knows is in violation of this chapter or + + + +the rules of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. +(i) Failing to perform any statutory or legal obligation placed upon + +a professional guardian. +(j) Making or filing a report or record that the professional guardian knows + +to be false, intentionally or negligently failing to file a report or record +required by state or federal law, or willfully impeding or obstructing another +persons attempt to do so. Such reports or records shall include only those +that are signed in the guardians capacity as a professional guardian. + +(k) Using the position of guardian for the purpose of financial gain by a +professional guardian or a third party, other than the funds awarded to the +professional guardian by the court pursuant to s. 744.108. + +(l) Violating a lawful order of the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians or failing to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena of the Office +of Public and Professional Guardians. + +(m) Improperly interfering with an investigation or inspection authorized +by statute or rule or with any disciplinary proceeding. + +(n) Using the guardian relationship to engage or attempt to engage the +ward, or an immediate family member or a representative of the ward, in +verbal, written, electronic, or physical sexual activity. + +(o) Failing to report to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians in +writing within 30 days after being convicted or found guilty of, or entered a +plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any +jurisdiction. + +(p) Being unable to perform the functions of a professional guardian with +reasonable skill by reason of illness or use of alcohol, drugs, narcotics, +chemicals, or any other type of substance or as a result of any mental or +physical condition. + +(q) Failing to post and maintain a blanket fiduciary bond pursuant to s. +744.2003. + +(r) Failing to maintain all records pertaining to a guardianship for a +reasonable time after the court has closed the guardianship matter. + +(s) Violating any provision of this chapter or any rule adopted pursuant + + + +thereto. +(2) When the Office of Public and Professional Guardians finds a + +professional guardian guilty of violating subsection (1), it may enter an +order imposing one or more of the following penalties: +(a) Refusal to register an applicant as a professional guardian. +(b) Suspension or permanent revocation of a professional guardians + +registration. +(c) Issuance of a reprimand or letter of concern. +(d) Requirement that the professional guardian undergo treatment, attend + +continuing education courses, submit to reexamination, or satisfy any terms +that are reasonably tailored to the violations found. + +(e) Requirement that the professional guardian pay restitution of any funds +obtained, disbursed, or obtained through a violation of any statute, rule, or +other legal authority to a ward or the wards estate, if applicable. + +(f) Requirement that the professional guardian undergo remedial education. +(3) In determining what action is appropriate, the Office of Public and + +Professional Guardians must first consider what sanctions are necessary to +safeguard wards and to protect the public. Only after those sanctions have +been imposed may the Office of Public and Professional Guardians +consider and include in the order requirements designed to mitigate the +circumstances and rehabilitate the professional guardian. + +(4) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall adopt by rule +and periodically review the disciplinary guidelines applicable to each +ground for disciplinary action that may be imposed by the Office of Public +and Professional Guardians pursuant to this chapter. + +(5) It is the intent of the Legislature that the disciplinary guidelines +specify a meaningful range of designated penalties based upon the severity +and repetition of specific offenses and that minor violations be +distinguished from those which endanger the health, safety, or welfare of a +ward or the public; that such guidelines provide reasonable and meaningful +notice to the public of likely penalties that may be imposed for proscribed +conduct; and that such penalties be consistently applied by the Office of +Public and Professional Guardians. + + + +(6) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall by rule +designate possible mitigating and aggravating circumstances and the +variation and range of penalties permitted for such circumstances. +(a) An administrative law judge, in recommending penalties in any + +recommended order, must follow the disciplinary guidelines established by +the Office of Public and Professional Guardians and must state in writing any +mitigating or aggravating circumstance upon which a recommended penalty +is based if such circumstance causes the administrative law judge to +recommend a penalty other than that provided in the disciplinary guidelines. + +(b) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians may impose a penalty +other than those provided for in the disciplinary guidelines upon a specific +finding in the final order of mitigating or aggravating circumstances. + +(7) In addition to, or in lieu of, any other remedy or criminal +prosecution, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians may file a +proceeding in the name of the state seeking issuance of an injunction or a +writ of mandamus against any person who violates any provision of this +chapter or any provision of law with respect to professional guardians or +the rules adopted pursuant thereto. + +(8) Notwithstanding chapter 120, if the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians determines that revocation of a professional guardians +registration is the appropriate penalty, the revocation is permanent. + +(9) If the Office of Public and Professional Guardians makes a final +determination to suspend or revoke the professional guardians +registration, the office must provide the determination to the court of +competent jurisdiction for any guardianship case to which the professional +guardian is currently appointed. + +(10) The purpose of this section is to facilitate uniform discipline for +those actions made punishable under this section and, to this end, a +reference to this section constitutes a general reference under the doctrine +of incorporation by reference. + +(11) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall adopt rules +to administer this section. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 12, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016; s. 45, ch. 2017-3, effective +July 7, 2017. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2005. +Fla. Stat. 744.2005 + + 744.2005. Order of appointment. +(1) The court may hear testimony on the question of who is entitled to + +preference in the appointment of a guardian. Any interested person may +intervene in the proceedings. + +(2) The order appointing a guardian must state the nature of the +guardianship as either plenary or limited. If limited, the order must state +that the guardian may exercise only those delegable rights which have been +removed from the incapacitated person and specifically delegated to the +guardian. The order shall state the specific powers and duties of the +guardian. + +(3) The order appointing a guardian must be consistent with the +incapacitated persons welfare and safety, must be the least restrictive +appropriate alternative, and must reserve to the incapacitated person the +right to make decisions in all matters commensurate with the persons +ability to do so. + +(4) If a petition for appointment of a guardian has been filed, an order +appointing a guardian must be issued contemporaneously with the order +adjudicating the person incapacitated. The order must specify the amount +of the bond to be given by the guardian and must state specifically whether +the guardian must place all, or part, of the property of the ward in a +restricted account in a financial institution designated pursuant to s. +69.031. + +(5) If a petition for the appointment of a guardian has not been filed or +ruled upon at the time of the hearing on the petition to determine capacity, +the court may appoint an emergency temporary guardian in the manner and +for the purposes specified in s. 744.3031. + +(6) A plenary guardian shall exercise all delegable rights and powers of +the incapacitated person. + +(7) A person for whom a limited guardian has been appointed retains all +legal rights except those that have been specifically granted to the guardian +in the courts written order. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 12, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 39, ch. 89-96; s. 24, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1081, ch. 97-102; s. 12, ch. 2015-83, eff. July 1, 2015; renumbered from +744.344 by s. 13, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +Created from former s. 744.34. +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + +S. 13 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.344. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2006. +Fla. Stat. 744.2006 + + 744.2006. Office of Public and Professional Guardians; appointment, +notification. +(1) The executive director of the Office of Public and Professional + +Guardians, after consultation with the chief judge and other circuit judges +within the judicial circuit and with appropriate advocacy groups and +individuals and organizations who are knowledgeable about the needs of +incapacitated persons, may establish, within a county in the judicial circuit +or within the judicial circuit, one or more offices of public guardian and if +so established, shall create a list of persons best qualified to serve as the +public guardian, who have been investigated pursuant to s. 744.3135. The +public guardian must have knowledge of the legal process and knowledge +of social services available to meet the needs of incapacitated persons. The +public guardian shall maintain a staff or contract with professionally +qualified individuals to carry out the guardianship functions, including an +attorney who has experience in probate areas and another person who has a +masters degree in social work, or a gerontologist, psychologist, advanced +practice registered nurse, or registered nurse. A public guardian that is a +nonprofit corporate guardian under s. 744.309(5) must receive tax-exempt +status from the United States Internal Revenue Service. + +(2) The executive director shall appoint or contract with a public +guardian from the list of candidates described in subsection (1). A public +guardian must meet the qualifications for a guardian as prescribed in s. +744.309(1)(a). Upon appointment of the public guardian, the executive +director shall notify the chief judge of the judicial circuit and the Chief +Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, in writing, of the appointment. + +(3) If the needs of the county or circuit do not require a full-time public +guardian, a part-time public guardian may be appointed at reduced +compensation. + +(4) A public guardian, whether full-time or part-time, may not hold any +position that would create a conflict of interest. + +(5) The public guardian is to be appointed for a term of 4 years, after +which her or his appointment must be reviewed by the executive director, + + + +and may be reappointed for a term of up to 4 years. The executive director +may suspend a public guardian with or without the request of the chief +judge. If a public guardian is suspended, the executive director shall +appoint an acting public guardian as soon as possible to serve until such +time as a permanent replacement is selected. A public guardian may be +removed from office during the term of office only by the executive +director who must consult with the chief judge prior to said removal. A +recommendation of removal made by the chief judge must be considered +by the executive director. + +(6) Public guardians who have been previously appointed by a chief +judge prior to the effective date of this act pursuant to this section may +continue in their positions until the expiration of their term pursuant to +their agreement. However, oversight of all public guardians shall transfer +to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians upon the effective date +of this act. The executive director of the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians shall be responsible for all future appointments of public +guardians pursuant to this act. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 98, ch. 89-96; s. 69, ch. 95-211; s. 27, ch. 95-401; s. 16, + +ch. 96-354; s. 1789, ch. 97-102; s. 5, ch. 99-277; s. 8, ch. 2002-195; +renumbered from 744.703 by s. 14, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016; +s. 34, ch. 2020-9, effective July 1, 2020. + +Editors Notes +S. 14 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.703. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2007. +Fla. Stat. 744.2007 + + 744.2007. Powers and duties. +(1) A public guardian may serve as a guardian of a person adjudicated + +incapacitated under this chapter if there is no family member or friend, +other person, bank, or corporation willing and qualified to serve as +guardian. + +(2) The public guardian shall be vested with all the powers and duties of +a guardian under this chapter, except as otherwise provided by law. + +(3) The public guardian shall primarily serve incapacitated persons who +are of limited financial means, as defined by contract or rule of the +Department of Elderly Affairs. The public guardian may serve +incapacitated persons of greater financial means to the extent the +Department of Elderly Affairs determines to be appropriate. + +(4) The public guardian shall be authorized to employ sufficient staff to +carry out the duties of his or her office. + +(5) The public guardian may delegate to assistants and other members of +his or her staff the powers and duties of the office of public guardian, +except as otherwise limited by law. The public guardian shall retain +ultimate responsibility for the discharge of his or her duties and +responsibilities. + +(6) The public guardian, when appointed guardian of an incapacitated +person, shall seek a family member or friend, other person, bank, or +corporation who is qualified and willing to serve as guardian. Upon +determining that there is someone qualified and willing to serve as +guardian, either the public guardian or the qualified person shall petition +the court for appointment of a successor guardian. + +(7) A public guardian may not commit a ward to a treatment facility, as +defined in s. 394.455(49), without an involuntary placement proceeding as +provided by law. + +(8) When a person is appointed successor public guardian, he or she +immediately succeeds to all rights, duties, responsibilities, and powers of +the preceding public guardian. + + + +(9) When the position of public guardian is vacant, subordinate +personnel employed under subsection (4) shall continue to act as if the +position of public guardian were filled. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 99, ch. 89-96; s. 45, ch. 96-169; s. 1790, ch. 97-102; s. + +86, ch. 99-3; s. 15, ch. 2003-57; s. 71, ch. 2006-227, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 15, +ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016; s. 78, ch. 2016-241, eff. July 1, 2016; +s. 23, ch. 2020-39, effective July 1, 2020; s. 12, ch. 2022-36, effective July 1, +2022. + +Editors Notes +S. 15 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.704. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2008. +Fla. Stat. 744.2008 + + 744.2008. Costs of public guardian. +(1) All costs of administration shall be paid from the budget of the office + +of public guardian. No costs of administration, including filing fees, shall +be recovered from the assets or the income of the ward. + +(2) In any proceeding for appointment of a public guardian, or in any +proceeding involving the estate of a ward for whom a public guardian has +been appointed guardian, the court shall waive any court costs or filing +fees. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 100, ch. 89-96; s. 16, ch. 2016-40, eff. Mar. 10, 2016.; + +s. 2, ch. 2020-73, effective July 1, 2020. + +Editors Notes +S. 16 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.705. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2009. +Fla. Stat. 744.2009 + + 744.2009. Preparation of budget. +Each public guardian, whether funded in whole or in part by money raised + +through local efforts, grants, or any other source or whether funded in whole +or in part by the state, shall prepare a budget for the operation of the office of +public guardian to be submitted to the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians. As appropriate, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians +will include such budgetary information in the Department of Elderly Affairs +legislative budget request. The office of public guardian shall be operated +within the limitations of the General Appropriations Act and any other funds +appropriated by the Legislature to that particular judicial circuit, subject to +the provisions of chapter 216. The Department of Elderly Affairs shall make +a separate and distinct request for an appropriation for the Office of Public +and Professional Guardians. However, this section may not be construed to +preclude the financing of any operations of the office of public guardian by +moneys raised through local effort or through the efforts of the Office of +Public and Professional Guardians. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 101, ch. 89-96; s. 6, ch. 99-277; renumbered from + +744.706 by s. 17, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 17 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.706. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.201. +Fla. Stat. 744.201 + + 744.201. Domicile of ward. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.201 was transferred to 744.1096 by s. 5, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.202. +Fla. Stat. 744.202 + + 744.202. Venue. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.202 was transferred to 744.1097 by s. 6, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2025. +Fla. Stat. 744.2025 + + 744.2025. Change of wards residence. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.2025 was transferred to 744.1098 by s. 7, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2101. +Fla. Stat. 744.2101 + + 744.2101. Procedures and rules. +The public guardian, subject to the oversight of the Office of Public and + +Professional Guardians, is authorized to: +(1) Formulate and adopt necessary procedures to assure the efficient + +conduct of the affairs of the ward and general administration of the office +and staff. + +(2) Contract for services necessary to discharge the duties of the office. +(3) Accept the services of volunteer persons or organizations and + +provide reimbursement for proper and necessary expenses. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 102, ch. 89-96; s. 7, ch. 99-277; renumbered from + +744.707 by s. 18, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 18 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.707. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2102. +Fla. Stat. 744.2102 + + 744.2102. Surety bond. +Upon taking office, a public guardian shall file a bond with surety as + +prescribed in s. 45.011 to be approved by the clerk. The bond shall be +payable to the Governor and the Governors successors in office, in the penal +sum of not less than $5,000 nor more than $25,000, conditioned on the +faithful performance of all duties by the guardian. The amount of the bond +shall be fixed by the majority of the judges within the judicial circuit. In form +the bond shall be joint and several. The bond shall be purchased from the +funds of the local office of public guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 104, ch. 89-96; s. 1128, ch. 97-102; s. 11, ch. 99-277; s. + +19, ch. 2016-40, eff. Mar. 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 19 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.709. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2103. +Fla. Stat. 744.2103 + + 744.2103. Reports and standards. +(1) The public guardian shall keep and maintain proper financial, case + +control, and statistical records on all matters in which the public guardian +serves as guardian. + +(2) No report or disclosure of the wards personal and medical records +shall be made, except as authorized by law. + +(3) A public guardian shall file an annual report on the operations of the +office of public guardian, in writing, by September 1 for the preceding +fiscal year with the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, which +shall have responsibility for supervision of the operations of the office of +public guardian. + +(4) Within 6 months of his or her appointment as guardian of a ward, the +public guardian shall submit to the clerk of the court for placement in the +wards guardianship file and to the executive director of the Office of +Public and Professional Guardians a report on his or her efforts to locate a +family member or friend, other person, bank, or corporation to act as +guardian of the ward and a report on the wards potential to be restored to +capacity. +(5)(a) Each office of public guardian shall undergo an independent audit by +a qualified certified public accountant at least once every 2 years. A copy +of the audit report shall be submitted to the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians. +(b) In addition to regular monitoring activities, the Office of Public and + +Professional Guardians shall conduct an investigation into the practices of +each office of public guardian related to the managing of each wards +personal affairs and property. If feasible, the investigation shall be conducted +in conjunction with the financial audit of each office of public guardian under +paragraph (a). + +(6) A public guardian shall ensure that each of the guardians wards is +personally visited by the public guardian or by one of the guardians +professional staff at least once each calendar quarter. During this personal + + + +visit, the public guardian or the professional staff person shall assess: +(a) The wards physical appearance and condition. +(b) The appropriateness of the wards current living situation. +(c) The need for any additional services and the necessity for continuation + +of existing services, taking into consideration all aspects of social, +psychological, educational, direct service, health, and personal care needs. + +(7) The ratio for professional staff to wards shall be 1 professional to 40 +wards. The Office of Public and Professional Guardians may increase or +decrease the ratio after consultation with the local public guardian and the +chief judge of the circuit court. The basis for the decision to increase or +decrease the prescribed ratio must be included in the annual report to the +secretary. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 103, ch. 89-96; s. 17, ch. 96-354; s. 1791, ch. 97-102; s. + +8, ch. 99-277; s. 127, ch. 2001-266; s. 27, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. +159, ch. 2010-102, eff. May 26, 2010; renumbered from 744.708 by s. 20, +ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 20 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.708. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.21031. +Fla. Stat. 744.21031 + + 744.21031. Public records exemption. [Effective until October 2, +2023] + +The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, places of +employment, and photographs of current or former public guardians and +employees with fiduciary responsibility; the names, home addresses, +telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of the spouses +and children of such persons; and the names and locations of schools and day +care facilities attended by the children of such persons are exempt from s. +119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. As used in this +section, the term employee with fiduciary responsibility means an +employee of a public guardian who has the ability to direct any transactions +of a wards funds, assets, or property; who under the supervision of the +guardian, manages the care of the ward; or who makes any health care +decision, as defined in s. 765.101, on behalf of the ward. This exemption +applies to information held by an agency before, on, or after July 1, 2018. An +agency that is the custodian of the information specified in this section shall +maintain the exempt status of that information only if the current or former +public guardians and employees with fiduciary responsibility submit to the +custodial agency a written request for maintenance of the exemption. This +section is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance +with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2023, unless reviewed +and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2018-16, effective July 1, 2018. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2104. +Fla. Stat. 744.2104 + + 744.2104. Access to records by the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians; confidentiality. +(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any + +medical, financial, or mental health records held by an agency, or the court +and its agencies, or financial audits prepared by the clerk of the court +pursuant to s. 744.368 and held by the court, which are necessary as part of +an investigation of a guardian as a result of a complaint filed with the +Office of Public and Professional Guardians to evaluate the public +guardianship system, to assess the need for additional public guardianship, +or to develop required reports, shall be provided to the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians or its designee upon that offices request. Any +confidential or exempt information provided to the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians shall continue to be held confidential or exempt as +otherwise provided by law. + +(2) All records held by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians +relating to the medical, financial, or mental health of vulnerable adults as +defined in chapter 415, persons with a developmental disability as defined +in chapter 393, or persons with a mental illness as defined in chapter 394, +shall be confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of +the State Constitution. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 99-278; s. 112, ch. 2000-349; s. 1, ch. 2004-361; renumbered + +from 744.7081 by s. 21, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016; s. 1, ch. +2018-68, effective July 1, 2018. + +Editors Notes +S. 21 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.7081. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2105. +Fla. Stat. 744.2105 + + 744.2105. Direct-support organization; definition; use of property; +board of directors; audit; dissolution. +(1) Definition. As used in this section, the term direct-support + +organization means an organization whose sole purpose is to support the +Office of Public and Professional Guardians and is: +(a) A not-for-profit corporation incorporated under chapter 617 and + +approved by the Department of State; +(b) Organized and operated to conduct programs and activities; to raise + +funds; to request and receive grants, gifts, and bequests of moneys; to +acquire, receive, hold, invest, and administer, in its own name, securities, +funds, objects of value, or other property, real or personal; and to make +expenditures to or for the direct or indirect benefit of the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians; and + +(c) Determined by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians to be +consistent with the goals of the office, in the best interests of the state, and in +accordance with the adopted goals and mission of the Department of Elderly +Affairs and the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. + +(2) Contract. The direct-support organization shall operate under a +written contract with the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. The +written contract must provide for: +(a) Certification by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians that + +the direct-support organization is complying with the terms of the contract +and is doing so consistent with the goals and purposes of the office and in the +best interests of the state. This certification must be made annually and +reported in the official minutes of a meeting of the direct-support +organization. + +(b) The reversion of moneys and property held in trust by the direct- +support organization: + +1. To the Office of Public and Professional Guardians if the direct-support +organization is no longer approved to operate for the office; + + + +2. To the Office of Public and Professional Guardians if the direct-support +organization ceases to exist; + +3. To the Department of Elderly Affairs if the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians ceases to exist; or + +4. To the state if the Department of Elderly Affairs ceases to exist. +The fiscal year of the direct-support organization shall begin on July 1 of + +each year and end on June 30 of the following year. +(c) The disclosure of the material provisions of the contract, and the + +distinction between the Office of Public and Professional Guardians and the +direct-support organization, to donors of gifts, contributions, or bequests, +including such disclosure on all promotional and fundraising publications. + +(3) Board of directors. The Secretary of Elderly Affairs shall +appoint a board of directors for the direct-support organization from a list +of nominees submitted by the executive director of the Office of Public +and Professional Guardians. + +(4) Use of property. The Department of Elderly Affairs may permit, +without charge, appropriate use of fixed property and facilities of the +department or the Office of Public and Professional Guardians by the +direct-support organization. The department may prescribe any condition +with which the direct-support organization must comply in order to use +fixed property or facilities of the department or the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians. + +(5) Moneys. Any moneys may be held in a separate depository +account in the name of the direct-support organization and subject to the +provisions of the written contract with the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians. Expenditures of the direct-support organization +shall be expressly used to support the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians. The expenditures of the direct-support organization may not be +used for the purpose of lobbying as defined in s. 11.045. + +(6) Public records. Personal identifying information of a donor or +prospective donor to the direct-support organization who desires to remain +anonymous is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. +I of the State Constitution. + + + +(7) Audit. The direct-support organization shall provide for an +annual financial audit in accordance with s. 215.981. + +(8) Dissolution. A not-for-profit corporation incorporated under +chapter 617 that is determined by a circuit court to be representing itself as +a direct-support organization created under this section, but that does not +have a written contract with the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians in compliance with this section, is considered to meet the +grounds for a judicial dissolution described in s. 617.1430(1)(a). The +Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall be the recipient for all +assets held by the dissolved corporation which accrued during the period +that the dissolved corporation represented itself as a direct-support +organization created under this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 2002-195; s. 14, ch. 2004-260; ss. 1, 2, ch. 2006-179, eff. July 1, + +2006; s. 1, ch. 2011-228, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; s. 25, ch. 2014-96, effective June +13, 2014; renumbered from 744.7082 by s. 22, ch. 2016-40, effective +March 10, 2016; s. 1, ch. 2018-20, effective July 1, 2018. + +Editors Notes +S. 22 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.7082. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2106. +Fla. Stat. 744.2106 + + 744.2106. Joining Forces for Public Guardianship grant program; +purpose. + +The Legislature establishes the Joining Forces for Public Guardianship +matching grant program for the purpose of assisting counties to establish and +fund community-supported public guardianship programs. The Joining +Forces for Public Guardianship matching grant program shall be established +and administered by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians within +the Department of Elderly Affairs. The purpose of the program is to provide +startup funding to encourage communities to develop and administer locally +funded and supported public guardianship programs to address the needs of +indigent and incapacitated residents. + +(1) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians may distribute the +grant funds as follows: +(a) As initial startup funding to encourage counties that have no office of + +public guardian to establish an office, or as initial startup funding to open an +additional office of public guardian within a county whose public +guardianship needs require more than one office of public guardian. + +(b) As support funding to operational offices of public guardian that +demonstrate a necessity for funds to meet the public guardianship needs of a +particular geographic area in the state which the office serves. + +(c) To assist counties that have an operating public guardianship program +but that propose to expand the geographic area or population of persons they +serve, or to develop and administer innovative programs to increase access to +public guardianship in this state. + +Notwithstanding this subsection, the executive director of the office may +award emergency grants if he or she determines that the award is in the best +interests of public guardianship in this state. Before making an emergency +grant, the executive director must obtain the written approval of the Secretary +of Elderly Affairs. Subsections (2), (3), and (4) do not apply to the +distribution of emergency grant funds. + +(2) One or more grants may be awarded within a county. However, a + + + +county may not receive an award that equals, or multiple awards that +cumulatively equal, more than 20 percent of the total amount of grant +funds appropriated during any fiscal year. + +(3) If an applicant is eligible and meets the requirements to receive grant +funds more than once, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians +shall award funds to prior awardees in the following manner: +(a) In the second year that grant funds are awarded, the cumulative sum of + +the award provided to one or more applicants within the same county may not +exceed 75 percent of the total amount of grant funds awarded within that +county in year one. + +(b) In the third year that grant funds are awarded, the cumulative sum of +the award provided to one or more applicants within the same county may not +exceed 60 percent of the total amount of grant funds awarded within that +county in year one. + +(c) In the fourth year that grant funds are awarded, the cumulative sum of +the award provided to one or more applicants within the same county may not +exceed 45 percent of the total amount of grant funds awarded within that +county in year one. + +(d) In the fifth year that grant funds are awarded, the cumulative sum of the +award provided to one or more applicants within the same county may not +exceed 30 percent of the total amount of grant funds awarded within that +county in year one. + +(e) In the sixth year that grant funds are awarded, the cumulative sum of +the award provided to one or more applicants within the same county may not +exceed 15 percent of the total amount of grant funds awarded within that +county in year one. + +The Office of Public and Professional Guardians may not award grant +funds to any applicant within a county that has received grant funds for more +than 6 years. + +(4) Grant funds shall be used only to provide direct services to indigent +wards, except that up to 10 percent of the grant funds may be retained by +the awardee for administrative expenses. + +(5) Implementation of the program is subject to a specific appropriation + + + +by the Legislature in the General Appropriations Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 2004-260; renumbered from 744.712 by s. 23, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 23 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.712. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2107. +Fla. Stat. 744.2107 + + 744.2107. Program administration; duties of the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians. + +The Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall administer the grant +program. The office shall: + +(1) Publicize the availability of grant funds to entities that may be +eligible for the funds. + +(2) Establish an application process for submitting a grant proposal. +(3) Request, receive, and review proposals from applicants seeking grant + +funds. +(4) Determine the amount of grant funds each awardee may receive and + +award grant funds to applicants. +(5) Develop a monitoring process to evaluate grant awardees, which + +may include an annual monitoring visit to each awardees local office. +(6) Ensure that persons or organizations awarded grant funds meet and + +adhere to the requirements of this act. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2004-260; s. 108, ch. 2013-18, eff. July 2, 2013; renumbered from + + 744.713 by s. 24, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 24 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.713. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2108. +Fla. Stat. 744.2108 + + 744.2108. Eligibility. +(1) Any person or organization that has not been awarded a grant must + +meet all of the following conditions to be eligible to receive a grant: +(a) The applicant must meet or directly employ staff that meet the + +minimum qualifications for a public guardian under this chapter. +(b) The applicant must have already been appointed by, or is pending + +appointment by, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians to become +an office of public guardian in this state. + +(2) Any person or organization that has been awarded a grant must meet +all of the following conditions to be eligible to receive another grant: +(a) The applicant must meet or directly employ staff that meet the + +minimum qualifications for a public guardian under this chapter. +(b) The applicant must have been appointed by, or is pending + +reappointment by, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians to be an +office of public guardian in this state. + +(c) The applicant must have achieved a satisfactory monitoring score +during the applicants most recent evaluation. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2004-260; renumbered from 744.714 by s. 25, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 25 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.714. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2109. +Fla. Stat. 744.2109 + + 744.2109. Grant application requirements; review criteria; awards +process. + +Grant applications must be submitted to the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians for review and approval. + +(1) A grant application must contain: +(a) The specific amount of funds being requested. +(b) The proposed annual budget for the office of public guardian for which + +the applicant is applying on behalf of, including all sources of funding, and a +detailed report of proposed expenditures, including administrative costs. + +(c) The total number of wards the applicant intends to serve during the +grant period. + +(d) Evidence that the applicant has: +1. Attempted to procure funds and has exhausted all possible other sources + +of funding; or +2. Procured funds from local sources, but the total amount of the funds + +collected or pledged is not sufficient to meet the need for public guardianship +in the geographic area that the applicant intends to serve. + +(e) An agreement or confirmation from a local funding source, such as a +county, municipality, or any other public or private organization, that the +local funding source will contribute matching funds to the public +guardianship program totaling not less than $1 for every $1 of grant funds +awarded. For purposes of this section, an applicant may provide evidence of +agreements or confirmations from multiple local funding sources showing +that the local funding sources will pool their contributed matching funds to +the public guardianship program for a combined total of not less than $1 for +every $1 of grant funds awarded. In-kind contributions, such as materials, +commodities, office space, or other types of facilities, personnel services, or +other items as determined by rule shall be considered by the office and may +be counted as part or all of the local matching funds. + +(f) A detailed plan describing how the office of public guardian for which + + + +the applicant is applying on behalf of will be funded in future years. +(g) Any other information determined by rule as necessary to assist in + +evaluating grant applicants. +(2) If the Office of Public and Professional Guardians determines that an + +applicant meets the requirements for an award of grant funds, the office +may award the applicant any amount of grant funds the executive director +deems appropriate, if the amount awarded meets the requirements of this +act. The office may adopt a rule allocating the maximum allowable amount +of grant funds which may be expended on any ward. + +(3) A grant awardee must submit a new grant application for each year +of additional funding. +(4)(a) In the first year of the Joining Forces for Public Guardianship +programs existence, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians shall +give priority in awarding grant funds to those entities that: +1. Are operating as appointed offices of public guardians in this state; +2. Meet all of the requirements for being awarded a grant under this act; + +and +3. Demonstrate a need for grant funds during the current fiscal year due to + +a loss of local funding formerly raised through court filing fees. +(b) In each fiscal year after the first year that grant funds are distributed, + +the Office of Public and Professional Guardians may give priority to +awarding grant funds to those entities that: + +1. Meet all of the requirements of this section and ss. 744.2106, 744.2107, +and 744.2108 for being awarded grant funds; and + +2. Submit with their application an agreement or confirmation from a local +funding source, such as a county, municipality, or any other public or private +organization, that the local funding source will contribute matching funds +totaling an amount equal to or exceeding $2 for every $1 of grant funds +awarded by the office. An entity may submit with its application agreements +or confirmations from multiple local funding sources showing that the local +funding sources will pool their contributed matching funds to the public +guardianship program for a combined total of not less than $2 for every $1 of +grant funds awarded. In-kind contributions allowable under this section shall + + + +be evaluated by the Office of Public and Professional Guardians and may be +counted as part or all of the local matching funds. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2004-260; renumbered from 744.715 by s. 26, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +S. 26 of ch. 2016-40 renumbered this section from 744.715. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2111. +Fla. Stat. 744.2111 + + 744.2111. Confidentiality. +(1) A complaint and any information held by the Department of Elderly + +Affairs as part of the investigative process are confidential and exempt +from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until the +investigation is completed or ceases to be active. An investigation is +considered active as long as the department is continuing with a +reasonable, good faith belief that the investigation may lead to a finding +that a guardian has violated the standards of practice established by the +Office of Public and Professional Guardians. + +(2) Once an investigation is completed or ceases to be active, the +following information held by the department shall remain confidential and +exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution: +(a) Personal identifying information of a complainant or ward. +(b) All personal health and financial records of a ward. +(c) All photographs and video recordings of a complainant or ward. + +(3) This section does not prohibit the department from providing such +information: +(a) To any law enforcement agency; +(b) To any other regulatory agency in the performance of its official duties + +and responsibilities; +(c) To the clerk of the circuit court under s. 744.368; or +(d) Pursuant to a court order. + +(4) The exemption under this section applies to all documents received +by the department in connection with a complaint before, on, or after July +1, 2017. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2017-176, effective July 1, 2017; s. 1, ch. 2022-45, effective + +October 1, 2022. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. II. , 744.2112. +Fla. Stat. 744.2112 + + 744.2112. Guardianship information and transparency. +(1) The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation and the clerks of + +court shall establish a statewide database of guardian and guardianship +case information to facilitate improving court oversight of guardianship +cases. The database may not be operational for end users until on or after +July 1, 2023. The database must meet interoperability standards defined by +the Florida Courts Technology Commission so that each circuit court can +easily access the information for regular use in judicial proceedings under +this chapter. The database must include, at a minimum, the following: +(a) The registration status of each professional guardian. +(b) The substantiated disciplinary history of each professional guardian. +(c) The status of each guardians compliance with the statutory + +qualifications for guardianship under s. 744.2003 or s. 744.3145. +(d) The status of statutorily required reports and submissions under this + +chapter. +(2)(a) Except as provided under paragraph (3)(b), the database shall be +accessible only by members of the judiciary, their direct staff, and court +personnel and clerks of court personnel authorized by a judge to assist with +guardianship matters. The database must restrict access to the information +necessary to perform such individuals duties but in no way restrict access +by judges or magistrates. +(b) The database must be searchable by, at a minimum, the name of the + +petitioner, ward, guardian, and legal counsel for all parties; the demographic +information of the ward; the location of the guardians office; the name of the +judge and the circuit in which the case is brought; and the number of wards +served by each guardian, by ward county of residence. + +(3) The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation shall: +(a) Upload certain professional guardian information from the database to a + +web page accessible to the general public in a searchable format. Such +professional guardian information must be limited to the names of + + + +professional guardians and current data regarding the number of wards served +by each guardian, the counties of residence of such wards and the number of +wards residing in each county, and whether the wards are under limited or +plenary guardianships. Personal identifying information of wards may not be +included in the data that is searchable under this paragraph. + +(b) Generate monthly reports of statewide, circuit-level, and county-level +statistical data to provide assistance to the courts and the Department of +Elderly Affairs and to provide transparency to the public and the Legislature +regarding the states guardianship system. The monthly reports shall include +only aggregated and deidentified data. The Florida Clerks of Court +Operations Corporation shall publish the statistical data reports monthly on +the web page under paragraph (a). + +(c) Generate reports using information in the database at the request of the +Legislature, the judiciary, or the Department of Elderly Affairs. + +(4) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians is directed to share +professional guardian registration and disciplinary action information for +the purposes of this section. +(5)(a) Beginning July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter through July 1, +2027, the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation must compile +and report data collected by the clerks of court and the Department of +Elderly Affairs and maintained in the database to the Office of Program +Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). +(b) OPPAGA must analyze the consolidated data compiled in accordance + +with paragraph (a) to evaluate trends in the use of guardianships in this state +and to conduct a comparative analysis of guardianship laws in other states. +OPPAGA must consult with the Office of the State Courts Administrator, the +Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, the clerks of court, and the +Department of Elderly Affairs during its analysis. OPPAGA shall submit a +report containing its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the +President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by +October 15, 2024, and annually thereafter through October 15, 2027. + +(c) The data compiled and used for the reports required under this +subsection must be produced in a statewide, circuit-level, and county-level +statistical format. Such reports must include only aggregated and deidentified + + + +data and may not contain personal identifying information of wards. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2022-218, effective July 1, 2022. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. III + + + +PART III. +TYPES OF GUARDIANSHIP. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.301. +Fla. Stat. 744.301 + + 744.301. Natural guardians. +(1) The parents jointly are the natural guardians of their own children + +and of their adopted children, during minority, unless the parents parental +rights have been terminated pursuant to chapter 39. If a child is the subject +of any proceeding under chapter 39, the parents may act as natural +guardians under this section unless the court division with jurisdiction over +guardianship matters finds that it is not in the childs best interests. If one +parent dies, the surviving parent remains the sole natural guardian even if +he or she remarries. If the marriage between the parents is dissolved, the +natural guardianship belongs to the parent to whom sole parental +responsibility has been granted, or if the parents have been granted shared +parental responsibility, both continue as natural guardians. If the marriage +is dissolved and neither parent is given parental responsibility for the child, +neither may act as natural guardian of the child. The mother of a child born +out of wedlock is the natural guardian of the child and is entitled to +primary residential care and custody of the child unless the court enters an +order stating otherwise. + +(2) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, on behalf of any of +their minor children, and without appointment, authority, or bond if the +amounts received in the aggregate do not exceed $15,000, natural +guardians may: +(a) Settle and consummate a settlement of any claim or cause of action + +accruing to any of their minor children for damages to the person or property +of any minor children; + +(b) Collect, receive, manage, and dispose of the proceeds of any +settlement; + +(c) Collect, receive, manage, and dispose of any real or personal property +distributed from an estate or trust; + + + +(d) Collect, receive, manage, and dispose of and make elections regarding +the proceeds from a life insurance policy or annuity contract payable to, or +otherwise accruing to the benefit of, the child; and + +(e) Collect, receive, manage, dispose of, and make elections regarding the +proceeds of any benefit plan as defined in s. 710.102, of which the minor is a +beneficiary, participant, or owner. + +(3) In addition to the authority granted in subsection (2), natural +guardians are authorized, on behalf of any of their minor children, to waive +and release, in advance, any claim or cause of action against a commercial +activity provider, or its owners, affiliates, employees, or agents, which +would accrue to a minor child for personal injury, including death, and +property damage resulting from an inherent risk in the activity. +(a) As used in this subsection, the term inherent risk means those + +dangers or conditions, known or unknown, which are characteristic of, +intrinsic to, or an integral part of the activity and which are not eliminated +even if the activity provider acts with due care in a reasonably prudent +manner. The term includes, but is not limited to: + +1. The failure by the activity provider to warn the natural guardian or +minor child of an inherent risk; and + +2. The risk that the minor child or another participant in the activity may +act in a negligent or intentional manner and contribute to the injury or death +of the minor child. A participant does not include the activity provider or its +owners, affiliates, employees, or agents. + +(b) To be enforceable, a waiver or release executed under this subsection +must, at a minimum, include the following statement in uppercase type that is +at least 5 points larger than, and clearly distinguishable from, the rest of the +text of the waiver or release: + +NOTICE TO THE MINOR CHILDS +NATURAL GUARDIAN + +READ THIS FORM COMPLETELY AND CAREFULLY. YOU ARE +AGREEING TO LET YOUR MINOR CHILD ENGAGE IN A +POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ACTIVITY. YOU ARE AGREEING +THAT, EVEN IF (name of released party or parties) USES REASONABLE +CARE IN PROVIDING THIS ACTIVITY, THERE IS A CHANCE YOUR + + + +CHILD MAY BE SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED BY +PARTICIPATING IN THIS ACTIVITY BECAUSE THERE ARE +CERTAIN DANGERS INHERENT IN THE ACTIVITY WHICH CANNOT +BE AVOIDED OR ELIMINATED. BY SIGNING THIS FORM YOU ARE +GIVING UP YOUR CHILDs RIGHT AND YOUR RIGHT TO RECOVER +FROM (name of released party or parties) IN A LAWSUIT FOR ANY +PERSONAL INJURY, INCLUDING DEATH, TO YOUR CHILD OR ANY +PROPERTY DAMAGE THAT RESULTS FROM THE RISKS THAT ARE +A NATURAL PART OF THE ACTIVITY. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO +REFUSE TO SIGN THIS FORM, AND (name of released party or parties) +HAS THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TO LET YOUR CHILD PARTICIPATE IF +YOU DO NOT SIGN THIS FORM. + +(c) If a waiver or release complies with paragraph (b) and waives no more +than allowed under this subsection, there is a rebuttable presumption that the +waiver or release is valid and that any injury or damage to the minor child +arose from the inherent risk involved in the activity. + +1. To rebut the presumption that the waiver or release is valid, a claimant +must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the waiver or +release does not comply with this subsection. + +2. To rebut the presumption that the injury or damage to the minor child +arose from an inherent risk involved in the activity, a claimant must +demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the conduct, condition, or +other cause resulting in the injury or damage was not an inherent risk of the +activity. + +3. If a presumption under this paragraph is rebutted, liability and +compensatory damages must be established by a preponderance of the +evidence. + +(d) Nothing in this subsection limits the ability of natural guardians, on +behalf of any of their minor children, to waive and release, in advance, any +claim or cause of action against a noncommercial activity provider, or its +owners, affiliates, employees, or agents, to the extent authorized by common +law. + +(4) All instruments executed by a natural guardian for the benefit of the +ward under the powers specified in this section are binding on the ward. + + + +The natural guardian may not, without a court order, use the property of +the ward for the guardians benefit or to satisfy the guardians support +obligation to the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 8, ch. 75-166; s. 7, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-190; s. 3, ch. + +79-221; s. 17, ch. 89-96; s. 22, ch. 92-200; s. 66, ch. 95-211; s. 73, ch. 97- +170; s. 11, ch. 2002-195; s. 8, ch. 2005-101; s. 3, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, +2006; s. 2, ch. 2010-27, eff. Apr. 27, 2010; s. 1, ch. 2012-48, eff. July 1, +2012; s. 5, ch. 2015-112, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Created from former s. 744.13. +Section 1, ch. 2015-112, provides: This act may be cited as The Regis + +Little Act to Protect Children with Special Needs. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.3021. +Fla. Stat. 744.3021 + + 744.3021. Guardians of minors. +(1) Except as provided in subsection (4), upon petition of a parent, + +brother, sister, next of kin, or other person interested in the welfare of a +minor, a guardian for a minor may be appointed by the court without the +necessity of adjudication pursuant to s. 744.331. A guardian appointed for +a minor, whether of the person or property, has the authority of a plenary +guardian. + +(2) A minor is not required to attend the hearing on the petition for +appointment of a guardian, unless otherwise directed by the court. + +(3) In its discretion, the court may appoint an attorney to represent the +interests of a minor at the hearing on the petition for appointment of a +guardian. + +(4) If a petition is filed pursuant to this section requesting appointment +of a guardian for a minor who is the subject of any proceeding under +chapter 39 and who is aged 17 years and 6 months or older, the court +division with jurisdiction over guardianship matters has jurisdiction over +the proceedings under s. 744.331. The alleged incapacitated minor under +this subsection shall be provided all the due process rights conferred upon +an alleged incapacitated adult pursuant to this chapter and applicable court +rules. The order of adjudication under s. 744.331 and the letters of limited +or plenary guardianship may issue upon the minors 18th birthday or as +soon thereafter as possible. Any proceeding pursuant to this subsection +shall be conducted separately from any other proceeding. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 90-271; s. 6, ch. 2015-112, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 1, ch. 2015-112, provides: This act may be cited as The Regis + +Little Act to Protect Children with Special Needs. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.3025. +Fla. Stat. 744.3025 + + 744.3025. Claims of minors. +(1)(a) The court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the minors +interest before approving a settlement of the minors portion of the claim +in a case in which a minor has a claim for personal injury, property +damage, wrongful death, or other cause of action in which the gross +settlement of the claim exceeds $15,000 if the court believes a guardian ad +litem is necessary to protect the minors interest. +(b) Except as provided in paragraph (e), the court shall appoint a guardian + +ad litem to represent the minors interest before approving a settlement of the +minors claim in a case in which the gross settlement involving a minor +equals or exceeds $50,000. + +(c) The appointment of the guardian ad litem must be without the necessity +of bond or notice. + +(d) The duty of the guardian ad litem is to protect the minors interests as +described in the Florida Probate Rules. + +(e) A court need not appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor if a guardian +of the minor has previously been appointed and that guardian has no potential +adverse interest to the minor. + +(2) Unless waived, the court shall award reasonable fees and costs to the +guardian ad litem to be paid out of the gross proceeds of the settlement. + +(3) A settlement of a claim pursuant to this section is subject to the +confidentiality provisions of this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 5, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, + +2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, + + + +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.3031. +Fla. Stat. 744.3031 + + 744.3031. Emergency temporary guardianship. +(1) A court, prior to appointment of a guardian but after a petition for + +determination of incapacity has been filed pursuant to this chapter, may +appoint an emergency temporary guardian for the person or property, or +both, of an alleged incapacitated person. The court must specifically find +that there appears to be imminent danger that the physical or mental health +or safety of the person will be seriously impaired or that the persons +property is in danger of being wasted, misappropriated, or lost unless +immediate action is taken. The subject of the proceeding or any adult +interested in the welfare of that person may apply to the court in which the +proceeding is pending for the emergency appointment of a temporary +guardian. The powers and duties of the emergency temporary guardian +must be specifically enumerated by court order. The court shall appoint +counsel to represent the alleged incapacitated person during any such +summary proceedings, and such appointed counsel may request that the +proceeding be recorded and transcribed. + +(2) Notice of filing of the petition for appointment of an emergency +temporary guardian and a hearing on the petition must be served on the +alleged incapacitated person and on the alleged incapacitated persons +attorney at least 24 hours before the hearing on the petition is commenced, +unless the petitioner demonstrates that substantial harm to the alleged +incapacitated person would occur if the 24-hour notice is given. + +(3) The court may appoint an emergency temporary guardian on its own +motion if no petition for appointment of guardian has been filed at the time +of entry of an order determining incapacity. + +(4) The authority of an emergency temporary guardian expires 90 days +after the date of appointment or when a guardian is appointed, whichever +occurs first. The authority of the emergency temporary guardian may be +extended for an additional 90 days upon a showing that the emergency +conditions still exist. + +(5) The court may issue an injunction, restraining order, or other +appropriate writ to protect the physical or mental health or safety of the + + + +person who is the ward of the emergency temporary guardianship. +(6) The emergency temporary guardian shall take an oath to faithfully + +perform the duties of a guardian before letters of emergency temporary +guardianship are issued. + +(7) Before exercising authority as guardian, the emergency temporary +guardian of the property may be required to file a bond in accordance with +s. 744.351. + +(8) An emergency temporary guardians authority and responsibility +begins upon issuance of letters of emergency temporary guardianship in +accordance with s. 744.345. +(9)(a) An emergency temporary guardian shall file a final report no later +than 30 days after the expiration of the emergency temporary guardianship. +(b) A court may not authorize any payment of the emergency temporary + +guardians final fees or the final fees of his or her attorney until the final +report is filed. + +(c) If an emergency temporary guardian is a guardian for the property, the +final report must consist of a verified inventory of the property, as provided +in s. 744.365, as of the date the letters of emergency temporary guardianship +were issued, a final accounting that gives a full and correct account of the +receipts and disbursements of all the property of the ward over which the +guardian had control, and a statement of the property of the ward on hand at +the end of the emergency temporary guardianship. If the emergency +temporary guardian becomes the successor guardian of the property, the final +report must satisfy the requirements of the initial guardianship report for the +guardian of the property as provided in s. 744.362. + +(d) If the emergency temporary guardian is a guardian of the person, the +final report must summarize the activities of the temporary guardian with +regard to residential placement, medical condition, mental health and +rehabilitative services, and the social condition of the ward to the extent of +the authority granted to the temporary guardian in the letters of guardianship. +If the emergency temporary guardian becomes the successor guardian of the +person, the report must satisfy the requirements of the initial report for a +guardian of the person as stated in s. 744.362. + +(e) A copy of the final report of the emergency temporary guardianship + + + +shall be served on the successor guardian and the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 19, ch. 89-96; s. 10, ch. 90-271; s. 1070, ch. 97-102; s. 5, ch. 2006-178, + +eff. July 1, 2006; s. 6, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.304. +Fla. Stat. 744.304 + + 744.304. Standby guardianship. +(1) Upon a petition by the natural guardians or a guardian appointed + +under s. 744.3021, the court may appoint a standby guardian of the person +or property of a minor. The court may also appoint an alternate to the +guardian to act if the standby guardian does not serve or ceases to serve +after appointment. Notice of a hearing on the petition must be served on +the parents, natural or adoptive, and on any guardian currently serving +unless the notice is waived in writing by them or waived by the court for +good cause shown. + +(2) Upon petition of a currently serving guardian, a standby guardian of +the person or property of an incapacitated person may be appointed by the +court. Notice of the hearing shall be served on the wards next of kin. + +(3) The standby guardian or alternate shall be empowered to assume the +duties of guardianship immediately on the death, removal, or resignation of +the guardian of a minor, or on the death or adjudication of incapacity of the +last surviving natural guardian of a minor, or upon the death, removal, or +resignation of the guardian for an adult. The guardian of the wards +property may not be empowered to deal with the wards property, other +than to safeguard it, before issuance of letters of guardianship. If the ward +is over the age of 18 years, the court shall conduct a hearing as provided in +s. 744.331 before confirming the appointment of the standby guardian, +unless the ward has previously been found to be incapacitated. + +(4) Within 20 days after assumption of duties as guardian, a standby +guardian shall petition for confirmation of appointment. If the court finds +the standby guardian to be qualified to serve as guardian under ss. 744.309 +and 744.312, appointment of the guardian must be confirmed. Each +guardian so confirmed shall file an oath in accordance with s. 744.347, +shall file a bond, and shall submit to a credit and a criminal history record +check as set forth in s. 744.3135, if required. Letters of guardianship must +then be issued in the manner provided in s. 744.345. + +(5) After the assumption of duties by a standby guardian, the court shall +have jurisdiction over the guardian and the ward. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 7, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 20, ch. 89-96; s. 11, + +ch. 90-271; s. 1071, ch. 97-102; s. 6, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.72. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.3045. +Fla. Stat. 744.3045 + + 744.3045. Preneed guardian. +(1) A competent adult may name a preneed guardian by making a + +written declaration that names such guardian to serve in the event of the +declarants incapacity. + +(2) The written declaration must reasonably identify the declarant and +preneed guardian and be signed by the declarant in the presence of at least +two attesting witnesses present at the same time. + +(3) The declarant may file the declaration with the clerk of the court. +When a petition for incapacity is filed, the clerk shall produce the +declaration. + +(4) Production of the declaration in a proceeding for incapacity shall +constitute a rebuttable presumption that the preneed guardian is entitled to +serve as guardian. The court shall not be bound to appoint the preneed +guardian if the preneed guardian is found to be unqualified to serve as +guardian. + +(5) The preneed guardian shall assume the duties of guardian +immediately upon an adjudication of incapacity. + +(6) If the preneed guardian refuses to serve, a written declaration +appointing an alternate preneed guardian constitutes a rebuttable +presumption that such preneed guardian is entitled to serve as guardian. +The court is not bound to appoint the alternate preneed guardian if the +alternate preneed guardian is found to be unqualified to serve as guardian. + +(7) Within 20 days after assumption of duties as guardian, a preneed +guardian shall petition for confirmation of appointment. If the court finds +the preneed guardian to be qualified to serve as guardian pursuant to ss. +744.309 and 744.312, appointment of the guardian must be confirmed. +Each guardian so confirmed shall file an oath in accordance with s. +744.347 and shall file a bond, if required. Letters of guardianship must +then be issued in the manner provided in s. 744.345. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 21, ch. 89-96; s. 12, ch. 90-271. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.3046. +Fla. Stat. 744.3046 + + 744.3046. Preneed guardian for minor. +(1) Both parents, natural or adoptive, if living, or the surviving parent, + +may nominate a preneed guardian of the person or property or both of the +parents minor child by making a written declaration that names such +guardian to serve if the minors last surviving parent becomes +incapacitated or dies. The declarant or declarants may also name an +alternate to the guardian to act if the designated preneed guardian refuses +to serve, renounces the appointment, dies, or becomes incapacitated after +the death of the last surviving parent of the minor. + +(2) The written declaration must reasonably identify the declarant or +declarants and the designated preneed guardian and must be signed by the +declarant or declarants in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses +present at the same time. The written declaration must also provide the +following information for each minor child named in such declaration: the +full name as it appears on the birth certificate or as ordered by a court, date +of birth, and social security number, if any. + +(3) The declarant must file the declaration with the clerk of the court. +When a petition for incapacity of the last surviving parent or the +appointment of a guardian upon the death of the last surviving parent is +filed, the clerk shall produce the declaration. + +(4) Production of the declaration in a proceeding to determine incapacity +of the last surviving parent, or in a proceeding to appoint a guardian upon +the death of the last surviving parent, constitutes a rebuttable presumption +that the designated preneed guardian is entitled to serve as guardian. The +court is not bound to appoint the designated preneed guardian if the +designated preneed guardian is found to be unqualified to serve as +guardian. + +(5) The preneed guardian shall assume the duties of guardian +immediately upon an adjudication of incapacity of the last surviving parent +or the death of the last surviving parent. + +(6) If the preneed guardian refuses to serve, a written declaration +appointing an alternate preneed guardian constitutes a rebuttable + + + +presumption that the alternate preneed guardian is entitled to serve as +guardian. The court is not bound to appoint the alternate preneed guardian +if the alternate preneed guardian is found to be unqualified to serve as +guardian. + +(7) Within 20 days after assumption of duties as guardian, a preneed +guardian shall petition for confirmation of appointment. If the court finds +the preneed guardian to be qualified to serve as guardian, appointment of +the guardian must be confirmed. Each guardian so confirmed shall file an +oath in accordance with s. 744.347 and shall file a bond, if the court +requires a bond. Letters of guardianship must then be issued in the manner +provided in s. 744.345. + +(8) The clerk shall maintain all declarations filed pursuant to this section +until: +(a) A petition for incapacity of the last surviving parent is filed or petition + +for the appointment of a guardian upon the death of the last surviving parent +is filed as provided in subsection (3); or + +(b) All minor children named in the declaration have reached the age of +majority. + +The clerk may dispose of such written declaration in accordance with law. + +HISTORY: +S. 23, ch. 92-200. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.306. +Fla. Stat. 744.306 + + 744.306. Foreign guardians. +(1) When the residence of a ward of a foreign guardian is moved to this + +state, the guardian shall, within 60 days after such change of residence, file +the authenticated order of her or his appointment with the clerk of the court +in the county where the ward resides. Such order shall be recognized and +given full faith and credit in the courts of this state. The guardian and the +ward are subject to this chapter. + +(2) A guardian appointed in any state, territory, or country may maintain +or defend any action in this state as a representative of her or his ward. + +(3) Debtors who have received no written demand for payment from a +guardian appointed in this state within 60 days after the appointment of a +guardian, curator, conservator, or committee in any state, territory, or +country other than this state, and whose property in this state is subject to a +mortgage or other lien securing the debt held by the foreign guardian, +curator, conservator, or committee, may pay the debt to the foreign +guardian, curator, conservator, or committee after the expiration of 60 days +from the date of her or his appointment. A satisfaction of the mortgage or +lien, executed after the 60 days have expired by the foreign guardian, +curator, conservator, or committee, with an authenticated copy of the +letters or other evidence of authority of the foreign guardian, curator, +conservator, or committee attached, may be recorded in the public records +of this state and shall constitute an effective discharge of the mortgage or +lien, irrespective of whether the debtor had received written demand before +paying the debt. + +(4) All persons indebted to a ward, or having possession of personal +property belonging to a ward, who have received no written demand for +payment of the indebtedness or the delivery of the property from a +guardian appointed in this state are authorized to pay the indebtedness or to +deliver the personal property to the foreign guardian, curator, conservator, +or committee after the expiration of the 60 days from the date of her or his +appointment. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 7, ch. 75-222; s. 23, ch. 89-96; s. 1072, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.15. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.307. +Fla. Stat. 744.307 + + 744.307. Foreign guardian may manage the property of nonresident +ward. +(1) A guardian of the property of a nonresident ward, duly appointed by + +a court of another state, territory, or country, who desires to manage any +part or all of the property of the ward located in this state, may file a +petition showing his or her appointment, describing the property, stating its +estimated value, and showing the indebtedness, if any, existing against the +ward in this state, to the best of the guardians knowledge and belief. + +(2) The guardian shall designate a resident agent as required by the +Florida Probate Rules. + +(3) The guardian shall file authenticated copies of his or her letters of +guardianship or other authority and of his or her bond or other security. +The court shall determine if the foreign bond or other security is sufficient +to guarantee the faithful management of the wards property in this state. +The court may require a new guardians bond in this state in the amount it +deems necessary and conditioned for the proper management and +application of the property of the ward coming into the custody of the +guardian in this state. + +(4) Thereafter, the guardianship shall be governed by the law concerning +guardianships. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 7, ch. 75-222; s. 24, ch. 89-96; s. 67, ch. 95-211; s. + +1073, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.16. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.308. +Fla. Stat. 744.308 + + 744.308. Resident guardian of the property of nonresident ward. +(1) The court may appoint a person qualified under s. 744.309 as + +guardian of a nonresident wards property upon the petition of a foreign +guardian, next of kin, or creditor of the ward, regardless of whether he or +she has a foreign guardian or not. + +(2) The petition for the appointment of a guardian for the property of a +nonresident ward shall be in writing and shall be prepared in accordance +with the requirements of s. 744.334. + +(3) If it is alleged that the incapacity is due to mental or physical +incapacity, the petition shall be accompanied by an authenticated copy of +the adjudication of incapacity from the qualified authorities in the state, +territory, or country where the incapacitated person is domiciled and shall +state whether the incapacitated person is in the custody of any person or +institution and, if so, the name and post office address of the custodian. +The adjudication shall constitute prima facie proof of the incapacity. + +(4) If the question about the mental or physical incapacity of a +nonresident is presented while the nonresident is temporarily residing in +this state and he or she is not under an adjudication of incapacity made in +some other state, territory, or country, the procedure for the appointment of +a guardian of the nonresidents property shall be the same as though he or +she were a resident of this state. + +(5) When the ground for the appointment of a guardian is incapacity for +which the person has been adjudicated in another state, territory, or +country, notice of the hearing shall be served personally or by registered +mail on the ward and the wards next of kin and legal custodian, if any, at +least 20 days before the hearing. + +(6) In the appointment of the guardian, the court shall be governed by s. +744.312. + +(7) The duties, powers, and liabilities for the custody, control, +management, and disposition of the wards property and removal, +accounting, and discharge shall be governed by the law applicable to + + + +guardians of property of resident wards. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 7, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 25, ch. 89-96; s. 13, + +ch. 90-271; s. 1074, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 744.18, 744.19, 744.21, 744.25, 744.26. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. III. , 744.3085. +Fla. Stat. 744.3085 + + 744.3085. Guardian advocates. +A circuit court may appoint a guardian advocate, without an adjudication + +of incapacity, for a person with developmental disabilities if the person lacks +the capacity to do some, but not all, of the tasks necessary to care for his or +her person, property, or estate, or if the person has voluntarily petitioned for +the appointment of a guardian advocate. Unless otherwise specified, the +proceeding shall be governed by the Florida Probate Rules. In accordance +with the legislative intent of this chapter, courts are encouraged to consider +appointing a guardian advocate, when appropriate, as a less restrictive form +of guardianship. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 2004-260. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. IV + + + +PART IV. +GUARDIANS. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IV. , 744.309. +Fla. Stat. 744.309 + + 744.309. Who may be appointed guardian of a resident ward. +(1) Resident. +(a) Any resident of this state who is sui juris and is 18 years of age or older + +is qualified to act as guardian of a ward. +(b) No judge shall act as guardian after this law becomes effective, except + +when he or she is related to the ward by blood, marriage, or adoption, or has +maintained a close relationship with the ward or the wards family, and +serves without compensation. + +(2) Nonresident. A nonresident of the state may serve as guardian of +a resident ward if he or she is: +(a) Related by lineal consanguinity to the ward; +(b) A legally adopted child or adoptive parent of the ward; +(c) A spouse, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew of the ward, or + +someone related by lineal consanguinity to any such person; or +(d) The spouse of a person otherwise qualified under this section. + +(3) Disqualified persons. No person who has been convicted of a +felony or who, from any incapacity or illness, is incapable of discharging +the duties of a guardian, or who is otherwise unsuitable to perform the +duties of a guardian, shall be appointed to act as guardian. Further, no +person who has been judicially determined to have committed abuse, +abandonment, or neglect against a child as defined in s. 39.01 or s. +984.03(1), (2), and (37), or who has been found guilty of, regardless of +adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, any offense +prohibited under s. 435.04 or similar statute of another jurisdiction, shall +be appointed to act as a guardian. Except as provided in subsection (5) or +subsection (6), a person who provides substantial services to the proposed +ward in a professional or business capacity, or a creditor of the proposed + + + +ward, may not be appointed guardian and retain that previous professional +or business relationship. A person may not be appointed a guardian if he or +she is in the employ of any person, agency, government, or corporation +that provides service to the proposed ward in a professional or business +capacity, except that a person so employed may be appointed if he or she is +the spouse, adult child, parent, or sibling of the proposed ward or the court +determines that the potential conflict of interest is insubstantial and that the +appointment would clearly be in the proposed wards best interest. The +court may not appoint a guardian in any other circumstance in which a +conflict of interest may occur. + +(4) Trust company, state bank or savings association, or national +bank or federal savings and loan association. A trust company, a +state banking corporation or state savings association authorized and +qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state, or a national banking +association or federal savings and loan association authorized and qualified +to exercise fiduciary powers in this state may act as guardian of the +property of the ward. + +(5) Nonprofit corporate guardian. A nonprofit corporation +organized for religious or charitable purposes and existing under the laws +of this state may be appointed guardian for a ward. If the nonprofit +corporate guardian charges fees against the assets or property of the ward +for its services, the corporation must employ at least one professional +guardian. + +(6) Health care provider. A provider of health care services to the +ward, whether direct or indirect, may not be appointed the guardian of the +ward, unless the court specifically finds that there is no conflict of interest +with the wards best interests. + +(7) For-profit corporate guardian. A for-profit corporate guardian +existing under the laws of this state is qualified to act as guardian of a ward +if the entity is qualified to do business in the state, is wholly owned by the +person who is the circuits public guardian in the circuit where the +corporate guardian is appointed, has met the registration requirements of s. +744.2002, and posts and maintains a bond or insurance policy under +paragraph (a). +(a) The for-profit corporate guardian must meet one of the following + + + +requirements: +1. Post and maintain a blanket fiduciary bond of at least $250,000 with the + +clerk of the circuit court in the county in which the corporate guardian has its +principal place of business. The corporate guardian shall provide proof of the +fiduciary bond to the clerks of each additional circuit court in which he or she +is serving as a guardian. The bond must cover all wards for whom the +corporation has been appointed as a guardian at any given time. The liability +of the provider of the bond is limited to the face value of the bond, regardless +of the number of wards for whom the corporation is acting as a guardian. The +terms of the bond must cover the acts or omissions of each agent or employee +of the corporation who has direct contact with the ward or access to the assets +of the guardianship. The bond must be payable to the Governor and his or her +successors in office and be conditioned on the faithful performance of all +duties of a guardian under this chapter. The bond is in lieu of and not in +addition to the bond required under s. 744.2003 but is in addition to any +bonds required under s. 744.351. The expenses incurred to satisfy the +bonding requirements of this section may not be paid with the assets of any +ward; or + +2. Maintain a liability insurance policy that covers any losses sustained by +the guardianship caused by errors, omissions, or any intentional misconduct +committed by the corporations officers or agents. The policy must cover all +wards for whom the corporation is acting as a guardian for losses up to +$250,000. The terms of the policy must cover acts or omissions of each agent +or employee of the corporation who has direct contact with the ward or +access to the assets of the guardianship. The corporate guardian shall provide +proof of the policy to the clerk of each circuit court in which he or she is +serving as a guardian. + +(b) A for-profit corporation appointed as guardian before July 1, 2015, is +also qualified to serve as a guardian in the particular guardianships in which +the corporation has already been appointed as guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 8, ch. 75-222; s. 4, ch. 79-221; s. 7, ch. 81-27; s. 2, ch. + +83-139; s. 26, ch. 89-96; s. 14, ch. 90-271; s. 1, ch. 96-184; s. 5, ch. 96-354; +s. 1781, ch. 97-102; s. 48, ch. 98-280; s. 159, ch. 98-403; s. 8, ch. 2000-135; + + + +s. 110, ch. 2000-349; s. 4, ch. 2002-195; s. 31, ch. 2004-267; s. 53, ch. 2010- +114, eff. Aug. 1, 2010; s. 7, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015; s. 36, ch. +2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors Notes +Section 31, ch. 2004-267, reenacted (3) without change to incorporate + +amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. +Created from former s. 744.27. +Section 58, ch. 2010-114 provides: The changes made by this act are + +intended to be prospective in nature. It is not intended that persons who are +employed or licensed on the effective date of this act be rescreened until such +time as they are otherwise required to be rescreened pursuant to law, at which +time they must meet the requirements for screening as set forth in this act. + +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IV. , 744.3115. +Fla. Stat. 744.3115 + + 744.3115. Advance directives for health care. +In each proceeding in which a guardian is appointed under this chapter, the + +court shall determine whether the ward, prior to incapacity, has executed any +valid advance directive under chapter 765. If any advance directive exists, the +court shall specify in its order and letters of guardianship what authority, if +any, the guardian shall exercise over the ward with regard to health care +decisions and what authority, if any, the surrogate shall continue to exercise +over the ward with regard to health care decisions. Pursuant to the grounds +listed in s. 765.105, the court, upon its own motion, may, with notice to the +surrogate and any other appropriate parties, modify or revoke the authority of +the surrogate to make health care decisions for the ward. Any order revoking +or modifying the authority of the surrogate must be supported by specific +written findings of fact. If the court order provides that the guardian is +responsible for making health care decisions for the ward, the guardian shall +assume the responsibilities of the surrogate which are provided in s. 765.205. +For purposes of this section, the term health care decision has the same +meaning as in s. 765.101. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 92-199; s. 1, ch. 94-183; s. 7, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 8, + +ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IV. , 744.312. +Fla. Stat. 744.312 + + 744.312. Considerations in appointment of guardian. +(1) If the person designated is qualified to serve pursuant to s. 744.309, + +the court shall appoint any standby guardian or preneed guardian, unless +the court determines that appointing such person is contrary to the best +interests of the ward. + +(2) If a guardian cannot be appointed under subsection (1), the court +may appoint any person who is fit and proper and qualified to act as +guardian, whether related to the ward or not. The court shall give +preference to the appointment of a person who: +(a) Is related by blood or marriage to the ward; +(b) Has educational, professional, or business experience relevant to the + +nature of the services sought to be provided; +(c) Has the capacity to manage the financial resources involved; or +(d) Has the ability to meet the requirements of the law and the unique + +needs of the individual case. +(3) The court shall also: + +(a) Consider the wishes expressed by an incapacitated person as to who +shall be appointed guardian. + +(b) Consider the preference of a minor who is age 14 or over as to who +should be appointed guardian. + +(c) Consider any person designated as guardian in any will in which the +ward is a beneficiary. + +(d) Consider the wishes of the wards next of kin, when the ward cannot +express a preference. + +(e) Inquire into and consider potential disqualifications under s. 744.309 +and potential conflicts of interest under s. 744.446. + +(4) Except when a standby guardian or a preneed guardian is appointed +by the court: + + + +(a) In each case when a court appoints a professional guardian and does not +use a rotation system for such appointment, the court must make specific +findings of fact stating why the person was selected as guardian in the +particular matter involved. The findings must reference each of the factors +listed in subsections (2) and (3). + +(b) An emergency temporary guardian who is a professional guardian may +not be appointed as the permanent guardian of a ward unless one of the next +of kin of the alleged incapacitated person or the ward requests that the +professional guardian be appointed as permanent guardian. The court may +waive the limitations of this paragraph if the special requirements of the +guardianship demand that the court appoint a guardian because he or she has +special talent or specific prior experience. The court must make specific +findings of fact that justify waiving the limitations of this paragraph. + +(5) The court may not give preference to the appointment of a person +under subsection (2) based solely on the fact that such person was +appointed by the court to serve as an emergency temporary guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 12, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 5, ch. 79-221; s. 27, + +ch. 89-96; s. 15, ch. 90-271; s. 9, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015; s. 1, ch. +2020-35, effective July 1, 2020. + +Editors Notes +Created from former s. 744.35. +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IV. , 744.3125. +Fla. Stat. 744.3125 + + 744.3125. Application for appointment. +(1) Every prospective guardian must complete an application for + +appointment as guardian. The application must list the persons +qualifications to serve as a guardian. + +(2) A person may not be appointed a guardian unless the person +discloses in the application form the names of all wards for whom the +person is currently acting as a guardian. The application must identify each +ward by court file number and circuit court in which the case is pending +and must state whether the person is acting as the limited or plenary +guardian of the person or property or both. + +(3) This section does not apply to corporate guardians other than +nonprofit corporate guardians or to public guardians. + +(4) Nonprofit corporate guardians must file quarterly with the clerk of +court disclosure statements that contain the information required under +subsections (1) and (2), rather than filing a guardianship application with +each petition to be appointed guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 29, ch. 89-96; s. 16, ch. 90-271; s. 1075, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IV. , 744.3135. +Fla. Stat. 744.3135 + + 744.3135. Credit and criminal investigation. +(1) The court shall require all guardians who are seeking appointment by + +the court, other than a corporate guardian as described in s. 744.309(4), +and all employees of a professional guardian, other than a corporate +guardian as described in s. 744.309(4), who have a fiduciary responsibility +to a ward, to submit, at their own expense, to a credit history investigation +and to undergo level 2 background screening as required under s. 435.04. +On petition by any interested person or on the courts own motion, the +court may waive the requirement of a credit history investigation or a level +2 background screening, or both. If appointed, a nonprofessional guardian +may petition the court for reimbursement of the reasonable expenses of the +credit history investigation and background screening. The court must +consider the results of any investigation before appointing a guardian. At +any time, the court may require a guardian or the guardians employees to +submit to an investigation of the persons credit history and complete a +level 1 or level 2 background screening pursuant to s. 435.03. The court +shall consider the results of any investigation in determining whether to +reappoint a guardian. The clerk of the court shall maintain a file on each +guardian appointed by the court and retain in the file documentation of the +result of any investigation conducted under this section. A professional +guardian shall pay the clerk of the court a fee of up to $7.50 for handling +and processing professional guardian files. + +(2) For nonprofessional guardians, the court shall accept the satisfactory +completion of a criminal history record check as described in this +subsection. A nonprofessional guardian satisfies the requirements of this +section by undergoing a state and national criminal history record check +using fingerprints. Any nonprofessional guardian who is so required shall +have his or her fingerprints taken and forward them along with the +necessary fee to the Department of Law Enforcement for processing. The +results of the fingerprint criminal history record check shall be forwarded +to the clerk of the court, who shall maintain the results in the +nonprofessional guardians file and make the results available to the court. + +(3) For professional guardians, the court and the Office of Public and + + + +Professional Guardians shall accept the satisfactory completion of a +criminal history record check by any method described in this subsection. +A professional guardian satisfies the requirements of this section by +undergoing an electronic fingerprint criminal history record check. A +professional guardian may use any electronic fingerprinting equipment +used for criminal history record checks. By October 1, 2016, the Office of +Public and Professional Guardians shall adopt a rule detailing the +acceptable methods for completing an electronic fingerprint criminal +history record check under this section. The professional guardian shall +pay the actual costs incurred by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and +the Department of Law Enforcement for the criminal history record check. +The entity completing the record check must immediately send the results +of the criminal history record check to the clerk of the court and the Office +of Public and Professional Guardians. The clerk of the court shall maintain +the results in the professional guardians file and shall make the results +available to the court. +(4)(a) A professional guardian, and each employee of a professional +guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility to a ward, must complete, at +his or her own expense, a level 2 background screening as set forth in s. +435.04 before and at least once every 5 years after the date the guardian is +registered. A professional guardian, and each employee of a professional +guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility to a ward, must complete, at +his or her own expense, a level 1 background screening as set forth in s. +435.03 at least once every 2 years after the date the guardian is registered. +However, a professional guardian is not required to resubmit fingerprints +for a criminal history record check if he or she has been screened using +electronic fingerprinting equipment and the fingerprints are retained by the +Department of Law Enforcement in order to notify the clerk of the court of +any crime charged against the person in this state or elsewhere, as +appropriate. +(b) All fingerprints electronically submitted to the Department of Law + +Enforcement under this section shall be retained by the Department of Law +Enforcement in a manner provided by rule and entered in the statewide +automated biometric identification system authorized by s. 943.05(2)(b). The +fingerprints shall thereafter be available for all purposes and uses authorized +for arrest fingerprints entered in the Criminal Justice Information Program + + + +under s. 943.051. +(c) The Department of Law Enforcement shall search all arrest fingerprints + +received under s. 943.051 against the fingerprints retained in the statewide +automated biometric identification system under paragraph (b). Any arrest +record that is identified with the fingerprints of a person described in this +paragraph must be reported to the clerk of court. The clerk of court must +forward any arrest record received for a professional guardian to the Office of +Public and Professional Guardians within 5 days. Each professional guardian +who elects to submit fingerprint information electronically shall participate in +this search process by paying an annual fee to the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians of the Department of Elderly Affairs and by +informing the clerk of court and the Office of Public and Professional +Guardians of any change in the status of his or her guardianship appointment. +The amount of the annual fee to be imposed for performing these searches +and the procedures for the retention of professional guardian fingerprints and +the dissemination of search results shall be established by rule of the +Department of Law Enforcement. At least once every 5 years, the Office of +Public and Professional Guardians must request that the Department of Law +Enforcement forward the fingerprints maintained under this section to the +Federal Bureau of Investigation. + +(5)(a) A professional guardian, and each employee of a professional +guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility to a ward, must complete, at +his or her own expense, an investigation of his or her credit history before +and at least once every 2 years after the date of the guardians registration +with the Office of Public and Professional Guardians. +(b) By October 1, 2016, the Office of Public and Professional Guardians + +shall adopt a rule detailing the acceptable methods for completing a credit +investigation under this section. If appropriate, the Office of Public and +Professional Guardians may administer credit investigations. If the office +chooses to administer the credit investigation, the office may adopt a rule +setting a fee, not to exceed $25, to reimburse the costs associated with the +administration of a credit investigation. + +(6) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians may inspect at any +time the results of any credit or criminal history record check of a public or +professional guardian conducted under this section. The office shall + + + +maintain copies of the credit or criminal history record check results in the +guardians registration file. If the results of a credit or criminal +investigation of a public or professional guardian have not been forwarded +to the Office of Public and Professional Guardians by the investigating +agency, the clerk of the court shall forward copies of the results of the +investigations to the office upon receiving them. + +(7) The requirements of this section do not apply to a professional +guardian, or to the employees of a professional guardian, that is a trust +company, a state banking corporation or state savings association +authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state, or a +national banking association or federal savings and loan association +authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 30, ch. 89-96; s. 1076, ch. 97-102; s. 2, ch. 97-161; s. 10, ch. 99-277; s. + +5, ch. 2002-195; s. 10, ch. 2003-57; s. 114, ch. 2003-402; s. 12, ch. 2004-260; +s. 22, ch. 2004-267; s. 8, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 1, ch. 2007-127, +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 58, ch. 2013-116, eff. July 1, 2013; s. 2, ch. 2014-124, +effective July 1, 2014; s. 27, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors notes. +Section 22, ch. 2004-267, reenacted this section without change to + +incorporate amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IV. , 744.3145. +Fla. Stat. 744.3145 + + 744.3145. Guardian education requirements. +(1) Each ward is entitled to a guardian competent to perform the duties + +of a guardian necessary to protect the interests of the ward. +(2) Each person appointed by the court to be a guardian, other than a + +parent who is the guardian of the property of a minor child, must receive a +minimum of 8 hours of instruction and training which covers: +(a) The legal duties and responsibilities of the guardian; +(b) The rights of the ward; +(c) The availability of local resources to aid the ward; and +(d) The preparation of habilitation plans and annual guardianship reports, + +including financial accounting for the wards property. +(3) Each person appointed by the court to be the guardian of the property + +of his or her minor child must receive a minimum of 4 hours of instruction +and training that covers: +(a) The legal duties and responsibilities of the guardian of the property; +(b) The preparation of the initial inventory and annual guardianship + +accountings for the wards property; and +(c) Use of guardianship assets. + +(4) Each person appointed by the court to be a guardian must complete +the required number of hours of instruction and education within 4 months +after his or her appointment as guardian. The instruction and education +must be completed through a course approved by the chief judge of the +circuit court and taught by a court-approved organization. Court-approved +organizations may include, but are not limited to, community or junior +colleges, guardianship organizations, and the local bar association or The +Florida Bar. + +(5) Expenses incurred by the guardian to satisfy the education +requirement may be paid from the wards estate, unless the court directs +that such expenses be paid by the guardian individually. + + + +(6) The court may, in its discretion, waive some or all of the +requirements of this section or impose additional requirements. The court +shall make its decision on a case-by-case basis and, in making its decision, +shall consider the experience and education of the guardian, the duties +assigned to the guardian, and the needs of the ward. + +(7) The provisions of this section do not apply to professional guardians. + +HISTORY: +S. 31, ch. 89-96; s. 17, ch. 90-271; s. 1077, ch. 97-102; s. 3, ch. 97-161; s. + +11, ch. 2003-57; s. 9, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. V + + + +PART V. +ADJUDICATION OF INCAPACITY AND APPOINTMENT + +OF GUARDIANS. + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.3201. + +Fla. Stat. 744.3201 + + 744.3201. Petition to determine incapacity. +(1) A petition to determine incapacity of a person may be executed by an + +adult person. +(2) The petition must be verified and must: + +(a) State the name, age, and present address of the petitioner and his or her +relationship to the alleged incapacitated person; + +(b) State the name, age, county of residence, and present address of the +alleged incapacitated person; + +(c) Specify the primary language spoken by the alleged incapacitated +person, if known; + +(d) Allege that the petitioner believes the alleged incapacitated person to be +incapacitated and specify the factual information on which such belief is +based and the names and addresses of all persons known to the petitioner who +have knowledge of such facts through personal observations; + +(e) State the name and address of the alleged incapacitated persons +attending or family physician, if known; + +(f) State which rights enumerated in s. 744.3215 the alleged incapacitated +person is incapable of exercising, to the best of petitioners knowledge. If the +petitioner has insufficient experience to make such judgments, the petition +must so state; and + +(g) State the names, relationships, and addresses of the next of kin of the +alleged incapacitated person, so far as are known, specifying the dates of +birth of any who are minors. + +(3) A copy of any petition for appointment of guardian or emergency +temporary guardian, if applicable, shall be filed with the petition to + + + +determine incapacity. + +HISTORY: +S. 33, ch. 89-96; s. 18, ch. 90-271; s. 22, ch. 95-401; s. 1078, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.3203. +Fla. Stat. 744.3203 + + 744.3203. Suspension of power of attorney before incapacity +determination. +(1) At any time during proceedings to determine incapacity but before + +the entry of an order determining incapacity, the authority granted under an +alleged incapacitated persons power of attorney to a parent, spouse, child, +or grandchild is suspended when the petitioner files a motion stating that a +specific power of attorney should be suspended for any of the following +grounds: +(a) The agents decisions are not in accord with the alleged incapacitated + +persons known desires. +(b) The power of attorney is invalid. +(c) The agent has failed to discharge his or her duties or incapacity or + +illness renders the agent incapable of discharging duties. +(d) The agent has abused powers. +(e) There is a danger that the property of the alleged incapacitated person + +may be wasted, misappropriated, or lost unless the authority under the power +of attorney is suspended. + +Grounds for suspending a power of attorney do not include the existence of +a dispute between the agent and the petitioner which is more appropriate for +resolution in some other forum or a legal proceeding other than a +guardianship proceeding. + +(2) The motion must: +(a) Identify one or more of the grounds in subsection (1); +(b) Include specific statements of fact showing that grounds exist to justify + +the relief sought; and +(c) Include the following statement: Under penalties of perjury, I declare + +that I have read the foregoing motion and that the facts stated in it are true to +the best of my knowledge and belief, followed by the signature of the +petitioner. + + + +(3) Upon the filing of a response to the motion by the agent under the +power of attorney, the court shall schedule the motion for an expedited +hearing. Unless an emergency arises and the agents response sets forth the +nature of the emergency, the property or matter involved, and the power to +be exercised by the agent, notice must be given to all interested persons, +the alleged incapacitated person, and the alleged incapacitated persons +attorney. The court order following the hearing must set forth what powers +the agent is permitted to exercise, if any, pending the outcome of the +petition to determine incapacity. + +(4) In addition to any other remedy authorized by law, a court may +award reasonable attorney fees and costs to an agent who successfully +challenges the suspension of the power of attorney if the petitioners +motion was made in bad faith. + +(5) The suspension of authority granted to persons other than a parent, +spouse, child, or grandchild shall be as provided in s. 709.2109. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.3215. +Fla. Stat. 744.3215 + + 744.3215. Rights of persons determined incapacitated. +(1) A person who has been determined to be incapacitated retains the + +right: +(a) To have an annual review of the guardianship report and plan. +(b) To have continuing review of the need for restriction of his or her + +rights. +(c) To be restored to capacity at the earliest possible time. +(d) To be treated humanely, with dignity and respect, and to be protected + +against abuse, neglect, and exploitation. +(e) To have a qualified guardian. +(f) To remain as independent as possible, including having his or her + +preference as to place and standard of living honored, either as he or she +expressed or demonstrated his or her preference prior to the determination of +his or her incapacity or as he or she currently expresses his or her preference, +insofar as such request is reasonable. + +(g) To be properly educated. +(h) To receive prudent financial management for his or her property and to + +be informed how his or her property is being managed, if he or she has lost +the right to manage property. + +(i) To receive services and rehabilitation necessary to maximize the +quality of life. + +(j) To be free from discrimination because of his or her incapacity. +(k) To have access to the courts. + +(l) To counsel. +(m) To receive visitors and communicate with others. +(n) To notice of all proceedings related to determination of capacity and + +guardianship, unless the court finds the incapacitated person lacks the ability +to comprehend the notice. + + + +(o) To privacy. +(2) Rights that may be removed from a person by an order determining + +incapacity but not delegated to a guardian include the right: +(a) To marry. If the right to enter into a contract has been removed, the + +right to marry is subject to court approval. +(b) To vote. +(c) To personally apply for government benefits. +(d) To have a driver license. +(e) To travel. +(f) To seek or retain employment. + +(3) Rights that may be removed from a person by an order determining +incapacity and which may be delegated to the guardian include the right: +(a) To contract. +(b) To sue and defend lawsuits. +(c) To apply for government benefits. +(d) To manage property or to make any gift or disposition of property. +(e) To determine his or her residence. +(f) To consent to medical and mental health treatment. +(g) To make decisions about his or her social environment or other social + +aspects of his or her life. +(4) Without first obtaining specific authority from the court, as described + +in s. 744.3725, a guardian may not: +(a) Commit the ward to a facility, institution, or licensed service provider + +without formal placement proceeding, pursuant to chapter 393, chapter 394, +or chapter 397. + +(b) Consent on behalf of the ward to the performance on the ward of any +experimental biomedical or behavioral procedure or to the participation by +the ward in any biomedical or behavioral experiment. The court may permit +such performance or participation only if: + + + +1. It is of direct benefit to, and is intended to preserve the life of or prevent +serious impairment to the mental or physical health of the ward; or + +2. It is intended to assist the ward to develop or regain his or her abilities. +(c) Initiate a petition for dissolution of marriage for the ward. +(d) Consent on behalf of the ward to termination of the wards parental + +rights. +(e) Consent on behalf of the ward to the performance of a sterilization or + +abortion procedure on the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 34, ch. 89-96; s. 19, ch. 90-271; s. 36, ch. 93-39; s. 13, ch. 94-183; s. 44, + +ch. 96-169; s. 6, ch. 96-354; s. 1782, ch. 97-102; s. 10, ch. 2006-178, eff. July +1, 2006; s. 5, ch. 2017-16, effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.331. +Fla. Stat. 744.331 + + 744.331. Procedures to determine incapacity. +(1) Notice of petition to determine incapacity. Notice of the filing of a + +petition to determine incapacity and a petition for the appointment of a +guardian if any and copies of the petitions must be served on and read to +the alleged incapacitated person. The notice and copies of the petitions +must also be given to the attorney for the alleged incapacitated person, and +served upon all next of kin identified in the petition. The notice must state +the time and place of the hearing to inquire into the capacity of the alleged +incapacitated person and that an attorney has been appointed to represent +the person and that, if she or he is determined to be incapable of exercising +certain rights, a guardian will be appointed to exercise those rights on her +or his behalf. + +(2) Attorney for the alleged incapacitated person. +(a) When a court appoints an attorney for an alleged incapacitated person, + +the court must appoint the office of criminal conflict and civil regional +counsel or a private attorney as prescribed in s. 27.511(6). A private attorney +must be one who is included in the attorney registry compiled pursuant to s. +27.40. Appointments of private attorneys must be made on a rotating basis, +taking into consideration conflicts arising under this chapter. + +(b) The court shall appoint an attorney for each person alleged to be +incapacitated in all cases involving a petition for adjudication of incapacity. +The alleged incapacitated person may substitute her or his own attorney for +the attorney appointed by the court. + +(c) Any attorney representing an alleged incapacitated person may not +serve as guardian of the alleged incapacitated person or as counsel for the +guardian of the alleged incapacitated person or the petitioner. + +(d) An attorney seeking to be appointed by a court for incapacity and +guardianship proceedings must have completed a minimum of 8 hours of +education in guardianship. A court may waive the initial training requirement +for an attorney who has served as a court-appointed attorney in incapacity +proceedings or as an attorney of record for guardians for not less than 3 years. +This training requirement does not apply to a court-appointed attorney + + + +employed by an office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel. +(3) Examining committee. + +(a) Within 5 days after a petition for determination of incapacity has been +filed, the court shall appoint an examining committee consisting of three +members. One member must be a psychiatrist or other physician. The +remaining members must be either a psychologist, a gerontologist, a +psychiatrist, a physician, an advanced practice registered nurse, a registered +nurse, a licensed social worker, a person with an advanced degree in +gerontology from an accredited institution of higher education, or any other +person who by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may, in +the courts discretion, advise the court in the form of an expert opinion. One +of three members of the committee must have knowledge of the type of +incapacity alleged in the petition. Unless good cause is shown, the attending +or family physician may not be appointed to the committee. If the attending +or family physician is available for consultation, the committee must consult +with the physician. Members of the examining committee may not be related +to or associated with one another, with the petitioner, with counsel for the +petitioner or the proposed guardian, or with the person alleged to be totally or +partially incapacitated. A member may not be employed by any private or +governmental agency that has custody of, or furnishes, services or subsidies, +directly or indirectly, to the person or the family of the person alleged to be +incapacitated or for whom a guardianship is sought. A petitioner may not +serve as a member of the examining committee. Members of the examining +committee must be able to communicate, either directly or through an +interpreter, in the language that the alleged incapacitated person speaks or to +communicate in a medium understandable to the alleged incapacitated person +if she or he is able to communicate. The clerk of the court shall send notice of +the appointment to each person appointed no later than 3 days after the +courts appointment. + +(b) A person who has been appointed to serve as a member of an +examining committee to examine an alleged incapacitated person may not +thereafter be appointed as a guardian for the person who was the subject of +the examination. + +(c) Each person appointed to an examining committee must file an +affidavit with the court stating that he or she has completed the required + + + +courses or will do so no later than 4 months after his or her initial +appointment. Each year, the chief judge of the circuit must prepare a list of +persons qualified to be members of an examining committee. + +(d) A member of an examining committee must complete a minimum of 4 +hours of initial training. The person must complete 2 hours of continuing +education during each 2-year period after the initial training. The initial +training and continuing education program must be developed under the +supervision of the Office of Public and Professional Guardians, in +consultation with the Florida Conference of Circuit Court Judges; the Elder +Law and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law sections of The Florida +Bar; and the Florida State Guardianship Association. The court may waive +the initial training requirement for a person who has served for not less than 5 +years on examining committees. If a person wishes to obtain his or her +continuing education on the Internet or by watching a video course, the +person must first obtain the approval of the chief judge before taking an +Internet or video course. + +(e) Each member of the examining committee shall examine the person. +Each examining committee member must determine the alleged incapacitated +persons ability to exercise those rights specified in s. 744.3215. In addition +to the examination, each examining committee member must have access to, +and may consider, previous examinations of the person, including, but not +limited to, habilitation plans, school records, and psychological and +psychosocial reports voluntarily offered for use by the alleged incapacitated +person. Each member of the examining committee must file his or her report +with the clerk of the court within 15 days after appointment. + +(f) The examination of the alleged incapacitated person must include a +comprehensive examination, a report of which shall be filed by each +examining committee member as part of his or her written report. The +comprehensive examination report should be an essential element, but not +necessarily the only element, used in making a capacity and guardianship +decision. The comprehensive examination must include, if indicated: + +1. A physical examination; +2. A mental health examination; and +3. A functional assessment. + + + +If any of these three aspects of the examination is not indicated or cannot +be accomplished for any reason, the written report must explain the reasons +for its omission. + +(g) Each committee members written report must include: +1. To the extent possible, a diagnosis, prognosis, and recommended course + +of treatment. +2. An evaluation of the alleged incapacitated persons ability to retain her + +or his rights, including, without limitation, the rights to marry; vote; contract; +manage or dispose of property; have a driver license; determine her or his +residence; consent to medical treatment; and make decisions affecting her or +his social environment. + +3. The results of the comprehensive examination and the committee +members assessment of information provided by the attending or family +physician, if any. + +4. A description of any matters with respect to which the person lacks the +capacity to exercise rights, the extent of that incapacity, and the factual basis +for the determination that the person lacks that capacity. + +5. The names of all persons present during the time the committee member +conducted his or her examination. If a person other than the person who is the +subject of the examination supplies answers posed to the alleged +incapacitated person, the report must include the response and the name of +the person supplying the answer. + +6. The signature of the committee member and the date and time the +member conducted his or her examination. + +(h) Within 3 days after receipt of each examining committee members +report, the clerk shall serve the report on the petitioner and the attorney for +the alleged incapacitated person by electronic mail delivery or United States +mail, and, upon service, shall file a certificate of service in the incapacity +proceeding. The petitioner and the attorney for the alleged incapacitated +person must be served with all reports at least 10 days before the hearing on +the petition, unless the reports are not complete, in which case the petitioner +and attorney for the alleged incapacitated person may waive the 10 day +requirement and consent to the consideration of the report by the court at the +adjudicatory hearing. If such service is not timely effectuated, the petitioner + + + +or the alleged incapacitated person may move for a continuance of the +hearing. + +(i) The petitioner and the alleged incapacitated person may object +to the introduction into evidence of all or any portion of the +examining committee members reports by filing and serving a +written objection on the other party no later than 5 days before the +adjudicatory hearing. The objection must state the basis upon which +the challenge to admissibility is made. If an objection is timely filed +and served, the court shall apply the rules of evidence in determining +the reports admissibility. For good cause shown, the court may +extend the time to file and serve the written objection. + +(4) Dismissal of petition. If a majority of the examining committee +members conclude that the alleged incapacitated person is not +incapacitated in any respect, the court shall dismiss the petition. + +(5) Adjudicatory hearing. +(a) Upon appointment of the examining committee, the court shall set the + +date upon which the petition will be heard. The adjudicatory hearing must be +conducted at least 10 days, which time period may be waived, but no more +than 30 days, after the filing of the last filed report of the examining +committee members, unless good cause is shown. The adjudicatory hearing +must be conducted at the time and place specified in the notice of hearing and +in a manner consistent with due process. + +(b) The alleged incapacitated person must be present at the adjudicatory +hearing, unless waived by the alleged incapacitated person or the persons +attorney or unless good cause can be shown for her or his absence. +Determination of good cause rests in the sound discretion of the court. + +(c) In the adjudicatory hearing on a petition alleging incapacity, the partial +or total incapacity of the person must be established by clear and convincing +evidence. + +(6) Order determining incapacity. If, after making findings of fact on +the basis of clear and convincing evidence, the court finds that a person is +incapacitated with respect to the exercise of a particular right, or all rights, +the court shall enter a written order determining such incapacity. In +determining incapacity, the court shall consider the persons unique needs + + + +and abilities and may only remove those rights that the court finds the +person does not have the capacity to exercise. A person is determined to be +incapacitated only with respect to those rights specified in the order. +(a) The court shall make the following findings: +1. The exact nature and scope of the persons incapacities; +2. The exact areas in which the person lacks capacity to make informed + +decisions about care and treatment services or to meet the essential +requirements for her or his physical or mental health or safety; + +3. The specific legal disabilities to which the person is subject; and +4. The specific rights that the person is incapable of exercising. +(b) When an order determines that a person is incapable of exercising + +delegable rights, the court must consider and find whether there is an +alternative to guardianship that will sufficiently address the problems of the +incapacitated person. A guardian may not be appointed if the court finds there +is an alternative to guardianship which will sufficiently address the problems +of the incapacitated person. If the court finds there is not an alternative to +guardianship that sufficiently addresses the problems of the incapacitated +person, a guardian must be appointed to exercise the incapacitated persons +delegable rights. + +(c) In determining that a person is totally incapacitated, the order must +contain findings of fact demonstrating that the individual is totally without +capacity to care for herself or himself or her or his property. + +(d) An order adjudicating a person to be incapacitated constitutes proof of +such incapacity until further order of the court. + +(e) After the order determining that the person is incapacitated has been +filed with the clerk, it must be served on the incapacitated person. The person +is deemed incapacitated only to the extent of the findings of the court. The +filing of the order is notice of the incapacity. An incapacitated person retains +all rights not specifically removed by the court. + +(f) Upon the filing of a verified statement by an interested person stating: +1. That he or she has a good faith belief that the alleged incapacitated + +persons trust, trust amendment, or durable power of attorney is invalid; and + + + +2. A reasonable factual basis for that belief, the trust, trust amendment, or +durable power of attorney shall not be deemed to be an alternative to the +appointment of a guardian. The appointment of a guardian does not limit the +courts power to determine that certain authority granted by a durable power +of attorney is to remain exercisable by the agent. + +(7) Fees. +(a) The examining committee and any attorney appointed under subsection + +(2) are entitled to reasonable fees to be determined by the court. +(b) The fees awarded under paragraph (a) shall be paid by the guardian + +from the property of the ward or, if the ward is indigent, by the state. The +state shall have a creditors claim against the guardianship property for any +amounts paid under this section. The state may file its claim within 90 days +after the entry of an order awarding attorney ad litem fees. If the state does +not file its claim within the 90-day period, the state is thereafter barred from +asserting the claim. Upon petition by the state for payment of the claim, the +court shall enter an order authorizing immediate payment out of the property +of the ward. The state shall keep a record of the payments. + +(c) If the petition is dismissed or denied: +1. The fees of the examining committee shall be paid upon court order as + +expert witness fees under s. 29.004(6). +2. Costs and attorney fees of the proceeding may be assessed against the + +petitioner if the court finds the petition to have been filed in bad faith. The +petitioner shall also reimburse the state courts system for any amounts paid +under subparagraph 1. upon such a finding. + +HISTORY: +SS. 9, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 4, ch. 77-328; s. 1, ch. 78-342; s. 6, ch. 79-221; s. + +35, ch. 89-96; s. 20, ch. 90-271; s. 4, ch. 91-303; s. 5, ch. 91-306; s. 7, ch. 96- +354; s. 1783, ch. 97-102; s. 76, ch. 2004-265; s. 4, ch. 2006-77, eff. June 6, +2006; s. 11, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 44, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, +2007; s. 28, ch. 2007-62, eff. Oct. 1, 2007; s. 11, ch. 2015-83, effective July +1, 2015; s. 33, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016; s. 1, ch. 2017-16, +effective July 1, 2017; s. 89, ch. 2018-110, effective May 10, 2018; s. 35, ch. +2020-9, effective July 1, 2020; s. 11, ch. 2022-195, effective July 1, 2022. + + + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.334. +Fla. Stat. 744.334 + + 744.334. Petition for appointment of guardian or professional +guardian; contents. +(1) Every petition for the appointment of a guardian shall be verified by + +the petitioner and shall contain statements, to the best of petitioners +knowledge and belief, showing the name, age, residence, and post office +address of the alleged incapacitated person or minor; the nature of her or +his incapacity, if any; the extent of guardianship desired, either plenary or +limited; the residence and post office address of the petitioner; the names +and addresses of the next of kin of the alleged incapacitated person or +minor, if known to the petitioner; the name of the proposed guardian and +the reasons why she or he should be appointed guardian; whether the +proposed guardian is a professional guardian; the relationship and previous +relationship of the proposed guardian to the alleged incapacitated person or +minor; any other type of guardianship under part III of this chapter or +alternatives to guardianship that the alleged incapacitated person or minor +has designated or is in currently or has been in previously; the reasons why +a guardian advocate under s. 744.3085 or other alternatives to guardianship +are insufficient to meet the needs of the alleged incapacitated person or +minor; and the nature and value of property subject to the guardianship. +The petition must state whether a willing and qualified guardian cannot be +located. As used in this subsection, the term alternatives to guardianship +means an advance directive as defined in s. 765.101, a durable power of +attorney as provided in chapter 709, a representative payee under 42 +U.S.C. s. 1007, or a trust instrument as defined in s. 736.0103. + +(2) If the petitioner is a professional guardian, she or he may not petition +for her or his own appointment unless the petitioner is a relative of the +alleged incapacitated person or minor. For purposes of this subsection, the +term relative means an individual who would qualify to serve as a +nonresident guardian under s. 744.309(2). This subsection does not apply +to a public guardian appointed under s. 744.2006 who seeks appointment +as a guardian of a person of limited financial means and whose +compensation as guardian for such person would be paid from the Office +of Public and Professional Guardians or any local government. + + + +HISTORY: +SS. 11, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 7, ch. 79-221; s. 36, ch. 89-96; s. 21, ch. 90-271; + +s. 8, ch. 96-354; s. 1784, ch. 97-102; s. 2, ch. 2020-35, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.3371. +Fla. Stat. 744.3371 + + 744.3371. Notice of petition for appointment of guardian and hearing. +(1) When the petition for appointment of a guardian for an incapacitated + +person is heard upon the conclusion of the hearing in which the person is +determined to be incapacitated, the court shall hear the petition without +further notice. If the petition is heard on a later date, reasonable notice of +the hearing must be served on the incapacitated person, the persons +attorney, if any, any guardian then serving, the persons next of kin, and +such other interested persons as the court may direct. + +(2) When a petition for appointment of a guardian for a minor is filed, +formal notice must be served on the minors parents. If the petitioner has +custody of the minor and the petition alleges that, after diligent search, the +parents cannot be found, the parents may be served by informal notice, +delivered to their last known address or addresses. When a parent petitions +for appointment as guardian for his or her minor child, no notice is +necessary unless the other parent is living and does not consent to the +appointment. + +HISTORY: +S. 22, ch. 90-271; s. 1079, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.341. +Fla. Stat. 744.341 + + 744.341. Voluntary guardianship. +(1) Without adjudication of incapacity, the court shall appoint a guardian + +of the property of a resident or nonresident person who, though mentally +competent, is incapable of the care, custody, and management of his or her +estate by reason of age or physical infirmity and who has voluntarily +petitioned for the appointment. The petition shall be accompanied by a +certificate of a licensed physician specifying that he or she has examined +the petitioner and that the petitioner is competent to understand the nature +of the guardianship and his or her delegation of authority. Notice of +hearing on any petition for appointment and for authority to act shall be +given to the petitioner and to any person to whom the petitioner requests +that notice be given. Such request may be made in the petition for +appointment of guardian or in a subsequent written request for notice +signed by the petitioner. + +(2) If requested in the petition for appointment of a guardian brought +under this section, the court may direct the guardian to take possession of +less than all of the wards property and of the rents, income, issues, and +profits from it. In such case, the court shall specify in its order the property +to be included in the guardianship estate, and the duties and responsibilities +of the guardian appointed under this section will extend only to such +property. + +(3) Unless the voluntary guardianship is limited pursuant to subsection +(2), any guardian appointed under this section has the same duties and +responsibilities as are provided by law for plenary guardians of the +property, generally. + +(4) A guardian must include in the annual report filed with the court a +certificate from a licensed physician who examined the ward not more than +90 days before the annual report is filed with the court. The certificate must +certify that the ward is competent to understand the nature of the +guardianship and of the wards authority to delegate powers to the +voluntary guardian. + +(5) A voluntary guardianship may be terminated by the ward by filing a + + + +notice with the court that the voluntary guardianship is terminated. A copy +of the notice must be served on all interested persons. + +HISTORY: +SS. 11, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 9, ch. 79-221; s. 4, ch. 84-31; s. 38, ch. 89-96; s. + +23, ch. 90-271; s. 1080, ch. 97-102; s. 12, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.342. +Fla. Stat. 744.342 + + 744.342. Minors; guardianship. +Upon petition, the court may appoint a guardian for a minor without + +appointing an examining committee or conducting an adjudicatory hearing +pursuant to s. 744.331. + +HISTORY: +S. 71, ch. 90-271. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.344. +Fla. Stat. 744.344 + + 744.344. Order of appointment. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015; Former 744.344 was + +transferred to 744.2005 by s. 13, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.345. +Fla. Stat. 744.345 + + 744.345. Letters of guardianship. +Letters of guardianship shall be issued to the guardian and shall specify + +whether the guardianship pertains to the person, or the property, or both, of +the ward. The letters must state whether the guardianship is plenary or +limited, and, if limited, the letters must state the powers and duties of the +guardian. The letters shall state whether or not and to what extent the +guardian is authorized to act on behalf of the ward with regard to any +advance directive previously executed by the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 12, ch. 75-222; s. 28, ch. 89-96; s. 25, ch. 90-271; s. 7, + +ch. 92-199; s. 2, ch. 94-183; s. 13, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Created from former s. 744.40; former s. 744.313. +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.347. +Fla. Stat. 744.347 + + 744.347. Oath of guardian. +Before exercising his or her authority as guardian, every guardian shall + +take an oath that he or she will faithfully perform his or her duties as +guardian. This oath is not jurisdictional. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 19, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 40, ch. 89-96; s. 1082, ch. 97- + +102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.36. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.351. +Fla. Stat. 744.351 + + 744.351. Bond of guardian. +(1) Before exercising his or her authority as guardian, every person + +appointed a guardian of the property of a ward in this state shall file a bond +with surety as prescribed in s. 45.011 to be approved by the clerk. The +bond shall be payable to the Governor of the state and the Governors +successors in office, conditioned on the faithful performance of all duties +by the guardian. In form the bond shall be joint and several. When the +petitioner or guardian presents compelling reasons, the court may waive a +bond or require the use of a designated financial institution as defined in s. +655.005(1). + +(2) When the sureties on a bond are natural persons, the guardian shall +be required to file with the annual guardianship report proof satisfactory to +the court that the sureties are alive and solvent. + +(3) The penal sum of a guardians bond shall be fixed by the court, and +it must be in an amount not less than the full amount of the cash on hand +and on deposit belonging to the ward and subject to the control of the +guardian, plus the value of the notes and bonds owned by the ward that are +payable to bearer, and plus the value of all other intangible personal +property, in whatever form, owned by the ward which has a market value +which readily can be fixed and which intangible personal property readily +can be traded for cash or its equivalent. + +(4) For good cause, the court may require, or increase or reduce the +amount of, bond or change or release the surety. + +(5) Financial institutions as defined in s. 744.309(4), other than a trust +company operating under chapter 662 which is not a licensed family trust +company or foreign licensed family trust company, and public guardians +authorized by law to be guardians are not required to file bonds. + +(6) When it is expedient in the judgment of any court having jurisdiction +of any guardianship property, because the size of the bond required of the +guardian is burdensome, or for other cause, the court may order, in lieu of +a bond or in addition to a lesser bond, that the guardian place all or part of +the property of the ward in a designated financial institution under the + + + +same conditions and limitations as are contained in s. 69.031. A designated +financial institution shall also include a dealer, as defined in s. 517.021(6), +if the dealer is a member of the Security Investment Protection Corporation +and is doing business in the state. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 19, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 2, ch. 78-342; s. + +2, ch. 86-120; s. 41, ch. 89-96; s. 26, ch. 90-271; s. 30, ch. 95-401; s. 9, ch. +96-354; s. 1785, ch. 97-102; s. 39, ch. 2014-97, effective October 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.38. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.354. +Fla. Stat. 744.354 + + 744.354. Validity of bond. +No bond executed by any guardian shall be invalid because of an + +informality in it or because of an informality or illegality in the appointment +of the guardian. The bond shall have the same force and effect as if the bond +had been executed in proper form and the appointment had been legally +made. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 19, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 42, ch. 89-96. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.42. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.357. +Fla. Stat. 744.357 + + 744.357. Liability of surety. +No surety for a guardian shall be charged beyond the property of the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 19, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 43, ch. 89-96; s. 27, ch. 90-271. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.43. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.358. +Fla. Stat. 744.358 + + 744.358. Liability of a guardian. +(1) A guardian is not liable, solely because of the guardianship, for the + +debts, contracts, or torts of her or his ward. +(2) In dealing with the wards property, a guardian is subject to the + +standards set forth in s. 518.11. + +HISTORY: +S. 44, ch. 89-96; s. 28, ch. 90-271; s. 1083, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. V. , 744.359. +Fla. Stat. 744.359 + + 744.359. Abuse, neglect, or exploitation by a guardian. +(1) A guardian may not abuse, neglect, or exploit a ward. +(2) A guardian has committed exploitation when the guardian: + +(a) Commits fraud in obtaining appointment as a guardian; +(b) Abuses his or her powers; or +(c) Wastes, embezzles, or intentionally mismanages the assets of the ward. + +(3) A person who believes that a guardian is abusing, neglecting, or +exploiting a ward shall report the incident to the central abuse hotline of +the Department of Children and Families. + +(4) This section shall be interpreted in conformity with s. 825.103. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. VI + + + +PART VI. +POWERS AND DUTIES. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.361. +Fla. Stat. 744.361 + + 744.361. Powers and duties of guardian. +(1) The guardian of an incapacitated person is a fiduciary and may + +exercise only those rights that have been removed from the ward and +delegated to the guardian. The guardian of a minor shall exercise the +powers of a plenary guardian. + +(2) The guardian shall act within the scope of the authority granted by +the court and as provided by law. + +(3) The guardian shall act in good faith. +(4) A guardian may not act in a manner that is contrary to the wards + +best interests under the circumstances. +(5) A guardian who has special skills or expertise, or is appointed in + +reliance upon the guardians representation that the guardian has special +skills or expertise, shall use those special skills or expertise when acting on +behalf of the ward. + +(6) The guardian shall file an initial guardianship report in accordance +with s. 744.362. + +(7) The guardian shall file a guardianship report annually in accordance +with s. 744.367. + +(8) The guardian of the person shall implement the guardianship plan. +(9) When two or more guardians have been appointed, the guardians + +shall consult with each other. +(10) A guardian who is given authority over any property of the ward + +shall: +(a) Protect and preserve the property and invest it prudently as provided in + +chapter 518, apply it as provided in s. 744.397, and keep clear, distinct, and +accurate records of the administration of the wards property. + + + +(b) Perform all other duties required of him or her by law. +(c) At the termination of the guardianship, deliver the property of the ward + +to the person lawfully entitled to it. +(11) The guardian shall observe the standards in dealing with the + +guardianship property that would be observed by a prudent person dealing +with the property of another. + +(12) The guardian, if authorized by the court, shall take possession of all +of the wards property and of the rents, income, issues, and profits from it, +whether accruing before or after the guardians appointment, and of the +proceeds arising from the sale, lease, or mortgage of the property or of any +part. All of the property and the rents, income, issues, and profits from it +are assets in the hands of the guardian for the payment of debts, taxes, +claims, charges, and expenses of the guardianship and for the care, support, +maintenance, and education of the ward or the wards dependents, as +provided for under the terms of the guardianship plan or by law. + +(13) Recognizing that every individual has unique needs and abilities, a +guardian who is given authority over a wards person shall, as appropriate +under the circumstances: +(a) Consider the expressed desires of the ward as known by the guardian + +when making decisions that affect the ward. +(b) Allow the ward to maintain contact with family and friends unless the + +guardian believes that such contact may cause harm to the ward. +(c) Not restrict the physical liberty of the ward more than reasonably + +necessary to protect the ward or another person from serious physical injury, +illness, or disease. + +(d) Assist the ward in developing or regaining capacity, if medically +possible. + +(e) Notify the court if the guardian believes that the ward has regained +capacity and that one or more of the rights that have been removed should be +restored to the ward. + +(f) To the extent applicable, make provision for the medical, mental, +rehabilitative, or personal care services for the welfare of the ward. + + + +(g) To the extent applicable, acquire a clear understanding of the risks and +benefits of a recommended course of health care treatment before making a +health care decision. + +(h) Evaluate the wards medical and health care options, financial +resources, and desires when making residential decisions that are best suited +for the current needs of the ward. + +(i) Advocate on behalf of the ward in institutional and other +residential settings and regarding access to home and community- +based services. + +(j) When not inconsistent with the persons goals, needs, and preferences, +acquire an understanding of the available residential options and give priority +to home and other community-based services and settings. + +(14) A professional guardian must ensure that each of the guardians +wards is personally visited by the guardian or one of the guardians +professional staff at least once each calendar quarter. During the personal +visit, the guardian or the guardians professional staff person shall assess: +(a) The wards physical appearance and condition. +(b) The appropriateness of the wards current living situation. +(c) The need for any additional services and the necessity for continuation + +of existing services, taking into consideration all aspects of social, +psychological, educational, direct service, health, and personal care needs. + +(d) The nature and extent of visitation and communication with the wards +family and friends. + +This subsection does not apply to a professional guardian who has been +appointed only as guardian of the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 6, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 45, ch. 89-96; s. 29, ch. 90-271; s. + +1084, ch. 97-102; s. 13, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 45, ch. 2006-217, +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 15, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Created from former ss. 744.48, 744.49. + + + +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.362. +Fla. Stat. 744.362 + + 744.362. Initial guardianship report. +(1) Each guardian shall file with the court an initial guardianship report + +within 60 days after her or his letters of guardianship are signed. The initial +guardianship report for a guardian of the property must consist of a +verified inventory. The initial report for a guardian of the person must +consist of an initial guardianship plan. The initial report shall be served on +the ward, unless the ward is a minor under the age of 14 years or is totally +incapacitated, and the attorney for the ward. Either the ward or the wards +attorney may request a hearing concerning the adequacy of the report. + +(2) Review of the initial guardianship report and representation of the +ward during an objection thereto, if any, shall be the appointed attorneys +final official action on behalf of the ward. Thereafter, the court-appointed +attorney is no longer obligated to represent the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 46, ch. 89-96; s. 30, ch. 90-271; s. 24, ch. 92-200; s. 23, ch. 95-401; s. + +1085, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.363. +Fla. Stat. 744.363 + + 744.363. Initial guardianship plan. +(1) The initial guardianship plan shall include all of the following: + +(a) The provision of medical, mental, or personal care services for the +welfare of the ward. + +(b) The provision of social and personal services for the welfare of the +ward. + +(c) The place and kind of residential setting best suited for the needs of the +ward. + +(d) The application of health and accident insurance and any other private +or governmental benefits to which the ward may be entitled to meet any part +of the costs of medical, mental health, or related services provided to the +ward. + +(e) Any physical and mental examinations necessary to determine the +wards medical and mental health treatment needs. + +(f) A list of any preexisting orders not to resuscitate executed under s. +401.45(3) or preexisting advance directives, as defined in s. 765.101, the date +an order or directive was signed, whether such order or directive has been +suspended by the court, and a description of the steps taken to identify and +locate the preexisting order not to resuscitate or advance directive. + +(2) The initial guardianship plan for an incapacitated person must be +based on the recommendations of the examining committees examination, +as incorporated into the order determining incapacity. + +(3) Unless the ward has been found to be totally incapacitated or is a +minor under the age of 14 years, the initial guardianship plan must contain +an attestation that the guardian has consulted with the ward and, to the +extent reasonable, has honored the wards wishes consistent with the rights +retained by the ward under the plan. To the maximum extent reasonable, +the plan must be in accordance with the wishes of the ward. + +(4) The guardianship plan may not restrict the physical liberty of the +ward more than reasonably necessary to protect the ward or others from + + + +serious physical injury, illness, or disease and to provide the ward with +medical care and mental health treatment for the wards physical and +mental health. + +(5) An initial guardianship plan continues in effect until it is amended or +replaced by the approval of an annual guardianship plan, until the +restoration of capacity or death of the ward, or until the ward, if a minor, +reaches the age of 18 years. If there are significant changes in the capacity +of the ward to meet the essential requirements for his or her health or +safety, the guardian may file a petition to modify the guardianship plan and +shall serve notice on all persons who received notice of the plan. At the +hearing on such petition, the court may modify the guardianship plan and +specify the effective date of such amendment. + +(6) In exercising his or her powers, the guardian shall recognize any +rights retained by the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 47, ch. 89-96; s. 31, ch. 90-271; s. 1086, ch. 97-102; s. 3, ch. 2020-35, + +effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.365. +Fla. Stat. 744.365 + + 744.365. Verified inventory. +(1) Filing. A guardian of the property shall file a verified inventory + +of the wards property. +(2) Contents. The verified inventory must include the following: + +(a) All property of the ward, real and personal, that has come into the +guardians possession or knowledge, including a statement of all +encumbrances, liens, and other secured claims on any item, any claims +against the property, any cause of action accruing to the ward, and any trusts +of which the ward is a beneficiary. + +(b) The location of the real and personal property in sufficient detail so that +it may be clearly identified or located. + +(c) A description of all sources of income, including, without limitation, +social security benefits and pensions. + +(3) Cash assets. Along with the verified inventory, the guardian must +file a copy of the most current statement of all of the wards cash assets +from all institutions where the cash is on deposit. + +(4) Safe-deposit box. +(a) The initial opening of any safe-deposit box of the ward must be + +conducted in the presence of an employee of the institution where the box is +located. The inventory of the contents of the box also must be conducted in +the presence of the employee, who must verify the contents of the box by +signing a copy of the inventory. This safe-deposit box inventory shall be filed +with the court within 10 days after the box is opened. + +(b) The guardian shall provide the ward with a copy of each signed safe- +deposit box inventory unless the ward is a minor or has been adjudicated +totally incapacitated or unless the order appointing the guardian states +otherwise. + +(c) Nothing may be removed from the wards safe-deposit box without +specific court approval. + + + +(5) Records retention. +(a) The guardian shall maintain substantiating papers and records sufficient + +to demonstrate the accuracy of the initial inventory for a period of 3 years +after her or his discharge. The substantiating papers need not be filed with the +court but must be made available for inspection and review at such time and +place and before such persons as the court may order. + +(b) As part of the substantiating papers, the guardian must identify by +name, address, and occupation, the witness or witnesses, if any, who were +present during the initial inventory of the wards personal property. + +(6) Audit fee. +(a) Where the value of the wards property exceeds $25,000, a guardian + +shall pay from the wards property to the clerk of the circuit court a fee of up +to $85, from which the clerk shall remit $10 to the Department of Revenue +for deposit into the General Revenue Fund, upon the filing of the verified +inventory, for the auditing of the inventory. Upon petition by the guardian, +the court may waive the auditing fee upon a showing of insufficient funds in +the wards estate. Any guardian unable to pay the auditing fee may petition +the court for waiver of the fee. The court may waive the fee after it has +reviewed the documentation filed by the guardian in support of the waiver. + +(b) An audit fee may not be charged to any ward whose property has a +value of less than $25,000. + +HISTORY: +S. 49, ch. 89-96; s. 32, ch. 90-271; s. 1087, ch. 97-102; s. 115, ch. 2003- + +402; s. 77, ch. 2004-265; s. 14, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 40, ch. +2008-111, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 26, ch. 2019-58, effective May 24, 2019. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.367. +Fla. Stat. 744.367 + + 744.367. Duty to file annual guardianship report. +(1) Unless the court requires filing on a calendar-year basis, each + +guardian of the person shall file with the court an annual guardianship plan +within 90 days after the last day of the anniversary month that the letters of +guardianship were signed, and the plan must cover the coming fiscal year, +ending on the last day in such anniversary month. If the court requires +calendar-year filing, the guardianship plan must be filed on or before April +1 of each year. The latest annual guardianship plan approved by the court +will remain in effect until the court approves a subsequent plan. + +(2) Unless the court requires or authorizes filing on a fiscal-year basis, +each guardian of the property shall file with the court an annual accounting +on or before April 1 of each year. The annual accounting must cover the +preceding calendar year. If the court authorizes or directs filing on a fiscal- +year basis, the annual accounting must be filed on or before the first day of +the fourth month after the end of the fiscal year. +(3)(a) The annual guardianship report of a guardian of the property must +consist of an annual accounting, and the annual guardianship report of a +guardian of the person must consist of an annual guardianship plan. The +annual guardianship report of a guardian of the property and the annual +guardianship report of a guardian of the person must both include a +declaration of all remuneration received by the guardian from any source +for services rendered to or on behalf of the ward. As used in this +paragraph, the term remuneration means any payment or other benefit +made directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, or in cash or in kind to the +guardian. +(b) The annual guardianship report must be served on the ward, unless the + +ward is a minor or is totally incapacitated, and on the attorney for the ward, if +any. The guardian shall provide a copy to any other person as the court may +direct. + +(4) Unless the ward is a minor or has been determined to be totally +incapacitated, the guardian shall review a copy of the annual report with +the ward, to the extent possible. Within 30 days after the annual report has + + + +been filed, any interested person, including the ward, may file written +objections to any element of the report, specifying the nature of the +objection. + +(5) If the guardian fails to timely file the annual guardianship report, the +judge may impose sanctions which may include contempt, removal of the +guardian, or other sanctions provided by law in s. 744.3685. + +(6) Notwithstanding any other requirement of this section or unless +otherwise directed by the court, the guardian of the property may file the +first annual accounting on either a fiscal-year or calendar-year basis. +Unless the court directs otherwise, the guardian shall notify the court as to +the guardians filing intention within 30 days from the date the guardian +was issued the letter of guardianship. All subsequent annual accountings +must be filed on the same accounting period as the first annual accounting +unless the court authorizes or directs otherwise. The first accounting period +must end within 1 year after the end of the month in which the letters of +guardianship were issued to the guardian of the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 6, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 50, ch. 89-96; s. 33, ch. 90-271; s. + +25, ch. 92-200; s. 68, ch. 95-211; s. 24, ch. 95-401; s. 10, ch. 96-354; s. 15, +ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 16, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015; s. +2, ch. 2017-16, effective July 1, 2017; s. 4, ch. 2020-35, effective July 1, +2020. + +Editors Notes +Created from former s. 744.482. +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3675. +Fla. Stat. 744.3675 + + 744.3675. Annual guardianship plan. +Each guardian of the person must file with the court an annual + +guardianship plan which updates information about the condition of the ward. +The annual plan must specify the current needs of the ward and how those +needs are proposed to be met in the coming year. + +(1) Each plan for an adult ward must, if applicable, include: +(a) Information concerning the residence of the ward, including: +1. The wards address at the time of filing the plan. +2. The name and address of each place where the ward was maintained + +during the preceding year. +3. The length of stay of the ward at each place. +4. A statement of whether the current residential setting is best suited for + +the current needs of the ward. +5. Plans for ensuring during the coming year that the ward is in the best + +residential setting to meet his or her needs. +(b) Information concerning the medical and mental health conditions and + +treatment and rehabilitation needs of the ward, including: +1. A resume of any professional medical treatment given to the ward + +during the preceding year. +2. The report of a physician or an advanced practice registered nurse + +registered under s. 464.0123 who examined the ward no more than 90 days +before the beginning of the applicable reporting period. If the guardian has +requested a physician to complete the examination and prepare the report and +the physician has delegated that responsibility, the examination may be +performed and the report may be prepared and signed by a physician assistant +acting pursuant to s. 458.347(4)(h) or s. 459.022(4)(g), or by an advanced +practice registered nurse acting pursuant to s. 464.012(3). The report must +contain an evaluation of the wards condition and a statement of the current +level of capacity of the ward. + + + +3. The plan for providing medical, mental health, and rehabilitative +services in the coming year. + +(c) Information concerning the social condition of the ward, including: +1. The social and personal services currently used by the ward. +2. The social skills of the ward, including a statement of how well the ward + +communicates and maintains interpersonal relationships. +3. The social needs of the ward. +(d) A list of any preexisting orders not to resuscitate executed under s. + +401.45(3) or preexisting advance directives, as defined in s. 765.101, the date +an order or directive was signed, whether such order or directive has been +suspended by the court, and a description of the steps taken to identify and +locate the preexisting order not to resuscitate or advance directive. + +(2) Each plan filed by the legal guardian of a minor must include: +(a) Information concerning the residence of the minor, including: +1. The minors address at the time of filing the plan. +2. The name and address of each place the minor lived during the + +preceding year. +(b) Information concerning the medical and mental health conditions and + +treatment and rehabilitation needs of the minor, including: +1. A resume of any professional medical treatment given to the minor + +during the preceding year. +2. A report from the physician who examined the minor no more than 180 + +days before the beginning of the applicable reporting period that contains an +evaluation of the minors physical and mental conditions. + +3. The plan for providing medical services in the coming year. +(c) Information concerning the education of the minor, including: +1. A summary of the school progress report. +2. The social development of the minor, including a statement of how well + +the minor communicates and maintains interpersonal relationships. +3. The social needs of the minor. + + + +(3) Each plan for an adult ward must address the issue of restoration of +rights to the ward and include: +(a) A summary of activities during the preceding year that were designed + +to enhance the capacity of the ward. +(b) A statement of whether the ward can have any rights restored. +(c) A statement of whether restoration of any rights will be sought. + +(4) The court, in its discretion, may require reexamination of the ward +by a physician at any time. + +HISTORY: +S. 51, ch. 89-96; s. 34, ch. 90-271; s. 11, ch. 96-354; s. 1786, ch. 97-102; s. + +4, ch. 97-161; s. 16, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 36, ch. 2020-9, +effective July 1, 2020; s. 5, ch. 2020-35, effective July 1, 2020; s. 3, ch. +2020-73, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3678. +Fla. Stat. 744.3678 + + 744.3678. Annual accounting. +(1) Each guardian of the property must file an annual accounting with + +the court. +(2) The annual accounting must include: + +(a) A full and correct account of the receipts and disbursements of all of +the wards property over which the guardian has control and a statement of +the wards property on hand at the end of the accounting period. This +paragraph does not apply to any property or any trust of which the ward is a +beneficiary but which is not under the control or administration of the +guardian. + +(b) A copy of the annual or year-end statement of all of the wards cash +accounts from each of the institutions where the cash is deposited. + +(3) The guardian must obtain a receipt, canceled check, or other proof of +payment for all expenditures and disbursements made on behalf of the +ward. The guardian must preserve all evidence of payment, along with +other substantiating papers, for a period of 3 years after his or her +discharge. The receipts, proofs of payment, and substantiating papers need +not be filed with the court but shall be made available for inspection and +review at the time and place and before the persons as the court may order. + +(4) The guardian shall pay from the wards estate to the clerk of the +circuit court a fee based upon the following graduated fee schedule, upon +the filing of the annual financial return, for the auditing of the return: +(a) For estates with a value of $25,000 or less the clerk of the court may + +charge a fee of up to $20, from which the clerk shall remit $5 to the +Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. + +(b) For estates with a value of more than $25,000 up to and including +$100,000 the clerk of the court may charge a fee of up to $85, from which the +clerk shall remit $10 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the +General Revenue Fund. + +(c) For estates with a value of more than $100,000 up to and including + + + +$500,000 the clerk of the court may charge a fee of up to $170, from which +the clerk shall remit $20 to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the +General Revenue Fund. + +(d) For estates with a value in excess of $500,000 the clerk of the court +may charge a fee of up to $250, from which the clerk shall remit $25 to the +Department of Revenue for deposit into the General Revenue Fund. + +Upon petition by the guardian, the court may waive the auditing fee upon a +showing of insufficient funds in the wards estate. Any guardian unable to +pay the auditing fee may petition the court for a waiver of the fee. The court +may waive the fee after it has reviewed the documentation filed by the +guardian in support of the waiver. + +(5) This section does not apply if the court determines that the ward +receives income only from social security benefits and the guardian is the +wards representative payee for the benefits. + +HISTORY: +S. 52, ch. 89-96; ss. 35, 72, ch. 90-271; s. 1088, ch. 97-102; s. 116, ch. + +2003-402; s. 13, ch. 2004-260; s. 78, ch. 2004-265; s. 139, ch. 2005-2; s. 17, +ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 41, ch. 2008-111, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 27, +ch. 2019-58, effective May 24, 2019. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3679. +Fla. Stat. 744.3679 + + 744.3679. Simplified accounting procedures in certain cases. +(1) In a guardianship of property, when all property of the estate is in + +designated depositories under s. 69.031 and the only transactions that +occur in that account are interest accrual, deposits from a settlement, or +financial institution service charges, the guardian may elect to file an +accounting consisting of: +(a) The original or a certified copy of the year-end statement of the wards + +account from the financial institution; and +(b) A statement by the guardian under penalty of perjury that the guardian + +has custody and control of the wards property as shown in the year-end +statement. + +(2) The accounting allowed by subsection (1) is in lieu of the accounting +and auditing procedures under s. 744.3678(2). However, any interested +party may seek judicial review as provided in s. 744.3685. + +(3) The guardian need not be represented by an attorney in order to file +the annual accounting allowed by subsection (1). + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 93-102; s. 18, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 44, ch. 2021-183, + +effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.368. +Fla. Stat. 744.368 + + 744.368. Responsibilities of the clerk of the circuit court. +(1) In addition to the duty to serve as the custodian of the guardianship + +files, the clerk shall review each initial and annual guardianship report to +ensure that it contains information about the ward addressing, as +appropriate: +(a) Physical and mental health care; +(b) Personal and social services; +(c) The residential setting; +(d) The application of insurance, private benefits, and government benefits; +(e) The physical and mental health examinations; and +(f) The initial verified inventory or the annual accounting. + +(2) The clerk shall, within 30 days after the date of filing of the initial or +annual report of the guardian of the person, complete his or her review of +the report. + +(3) Within 90 days after the filing of the verified inventory and +accountings by a guardian of the property, the clerk shall audit the verified +inventory and the accountings. The clerk shall advise the court of the +results of the audit. + +(4) The clerk shall report to the court when a report is not timely filed. +(5) If the clerk has reason to believe further review is appropriate, the + +clerk may request and review records and documents that reasonably +impact guardianship assets, including, but not limited to, the beginning +inventory balance and any fees charged to the guardianship. As a part of +this review, the clerk may conduct audits and may cause the initial and +annual guardianship reports to be audited. The clerk shall advise the court +of the results of any such audit. Any fee or cost incurred by the guardian in +responding to the review or audit may not be paid or reimbursed by the +wards assets if there is a finding of wrongdoing by the court. + +(6) If a guardian fails to produce records and documents to the clerk + + + +upon request, the clerk may request the court to enter an order pursuant to +s. 744.3685(2) by filing an affidavit that identifies the records and +documents requested and shows good cause as to why the documents and +records requested are needed to complete the audit. + +(7) Upon application to the court supported by an affidavit pursuant to +subsection (6), the clerk may issue subpoenas to nonparties to compel +production of books, papers, and other documentary evidence. Before +issuance of a subpoena by affidavit, the clerk must serve notice on the +guardian and the ward, unless the ward is a minor or totally incapacitated, +of the intent to serve subpoenas to nonparties. +(a) The clerk must attach the affidavit and the proposed subpoena to the + +notice to the guardian and, if appropriate, to the ward, and must: +1. State the time, place, and method for production of the documents or + +items, and the name and address of the person who is to produce the +documents or items, if known, or, if not known, a general description +sufficient to identify the person or the particular class or group to which the +person belongs. + +2. Include a designation of the items to be produced. +3. State that the person who will be asked to produce the documents or + +items has the right to object to the production under this section and that the +person is not required to surrender the documents or items. + +(b) A copy of the notice and proposed subpoena may not be furnished to +the person upon whom the subpoena is to be served. + +(c) If the guardian or ward serves an objection to production under this +subsection within 10 days after service of the notice, the documents or items +may not be required to be produced until resolution of the objection. If an +objection is not made within 10 days after service of the notice, the clerk may +issue the subpoena to the nonparty. The court may shorten the period within +which a guardian or ward is required to file an objection upon a showing by +the clerk by affidavit that the wards property is in imminent danger of being +wasted, misappropriated, or lost unless immediate action is taken. + +HISTORY: +S. 53, ch. 89-96; s. 36, ch. 90-271; s. 1089, ch. 97-102; s. 19, ch. 2006-178, + + + +eff. July 1, 2006; s. 3, ch. 2014-124, effective July 1, 2014; s. 2, ch. 2018-68, +effective July 1, 2018. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3685. +Fla. Stat. 744.3685 + + 744.3685. Order requiring guardianship report; contempt. +(1) If a guardian fails to file the guardianship report, the court shall order + +the guardian to file the report within 15 days after the service of the order +upon her or him or show cause why she or he may not be compelled to do +so. + +(2) If a guardian fails to comply with the submission of records and +documents requested by the clerk during the audit, upon a showing of good +cause by affidavit of the clerk which shows the reasons the records must be +produced, the court may order the guardian to produce the records and +documents within a period specified by the court unless the guardian +shows good cause as to why the guardian may not be compelled to do so +before the deadline specified by the court. The affidavit of the clerk shall +be served with the order. + +(3) A copy of an order entered pursuant to subsection (1) or subsection +(2) shall be served on the guardian or on the guardians resident agent. If +the guardian fails to comply with the order within the time specified by the +order without good cause, the court may cite the guardian for contempt of +court and may fine her or him. The fine may not be paid out of the wards +property. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 17, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 70, ch. 89-96; s. 37, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1090, ch. 97-102; s. 4, ch. 2014-124, effective July 1, 2014. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 745.29; former s. 744.431. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.369. +Fla. Stat. 744.369 + + 744.369. Judicial review of guardianship reports. +(1) The court shall review the initial guardianship report within 60 days + +after the filing of the clerks report of findings to the court. The court shall +review the annual guardianship report within 30 days after the filing of the +clerks report of findings to the court. + +(2) The court may appoint a general or special magistrate to assist the +court in its review function. The court may require the general or special +magistrate to conduct random field audits. + +(3) If an initial or annual report is not timely filed, the court shall order +the guardian to file the report or to show cause why the report has not been +filed within the prescribed time. Service of the order and subsequent +proceedings shall be governed by s. 744.3685. + +(4) The court must review the initial and annual guardianship report to +determine that the report: +(a) Meets the needs of the ward; +(b) Authorizes the guardian to act only in areas in which an adult ward has + +been declared incapacitated; and +(c) Conforms to all other requirements of the law. + +(5) Upon examining the initial or annual guardianship report, the court +shall enter an order approving or disapproving the report. If the court +disapproves the report, the court shall order the guardian to provide a +revised report or proof of any item in the report to the court. The guardian +shall do so within a reasonable amount of time set by court. + +(6) If the guardian fails to comply with the court order entered pursuant +to subsection (5), the court shall take immediate action to compel +compliance or to sanction the guardian after a hearing with appropriate +notice to the ward, the wards counsel, if any, the guardian, and the wards +next of kin. + +(7) If an objection has been filed to a report, the court shall set the matter +for hearing and shall conduct the hearing within 30 days after the filing of + + + +the objection. After the hearing, the court shall enter a written order either +approving, or ordering modifications to, the report. If an objection is found +to be without merit, the court may assess costs and attorneys fees against +the person who made the objection. + +(8) The approved report constitutes the authority for the guardian to act +in the forthcoming year. The powers of the guardian are limited by the +terms of the report. The annual report may not grant additional authority to +the guardian without a hearing, as provided for in s. 744.331, to determine +that the ward is incapacitated to act in that matter. Unless the court orders +otherwise, the guardian may continue to act under authority of the last- +approved report until the forthcoming years report is approved. + +HISTORY: +S. 54, ch. 89-96; s. 38, ch. 90-271; s. 1, ch. 99-277; s. 96, ch. 2004-11; s. + +17, ch. 2015-83, effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3701. +Fla. Stat. 744.3701 + + 744.3701. Confidentiality. +(1) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, upon a showing of good + +cause, an initial, annual, or final guardianship report or amendment thereto, +or a court record relating to the settlement of a claim, is subject to +inspection only by the court, the clerk or the clerks representative, the +guardian and the guardians attorney, the guardian ad litem with regard to +the settlement of the claim, the ward if he or she is at least 14 years of age +and has not been determined to be totally incapacitated, the wards +attorney, the minor if he or she is at least 14 years of age, or the attorney +representing the minor with regard to the minors claim, or as otherwise +provided by this chapter. + +(2) The court may direct disclosure and recording of parts of an initial, +annual, or final report or amendment thereto, or a court record relating to +the settlement of a claim, including a petition for approval of a settlement +on behalf of a ward or minor, a report of a guardian ad litem relating to a +pending settlement, or an order approving a settlement on behalf of a ward +or minor, in connection with a real property transaction or for such other +purpose as the court allows. + +(3) A court record relating to the settlement of a wards or minors +claim, including a petition for approval of a settlement on behalf of a ward +or minor, a report of a guardian ad litem relating to a pending settlement, +or an order approving a settlement on behalf of a ward or minor, is +confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), +Art. I of the State Constitution and may not be disclosed except as +specifically authorized. + +(4) The clerk may disclose confidential information to the Department of +Children and Families or law enforcement agencies for other purposes as +provided by court order. + +HISTORY: +S. 39, ch. 90-271; s. 1091, ch. 97-102; s. 3, ch. 2018-68, effective July 1, + +2018. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.371. +Fla. Stat. 744.371 + + 744.371. Relief to be granted. +If it appears from the annual guardianship report that: + +(1) The condition of the ward requires further examination; +(2) Any change in the proposed care, maintenance, or treatment is + +needed; +(3) The ward is qualified for restoration of some or all rights; +(4) The condition or maintenance of the ward requires the performance + +or doing of any other thing for the best interest of the ward which is not +indicated in the plan; or + +(5) There is any other matter necessary to protect the interests of the +ward, +the court shall, after a hearing with appropriate notice, amend the plan or +enter any other order necessary to protect the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 6, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 55, ch. 89-96; s. 40, ch. 90-271. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.484. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3715. +Fla. Stat. 744.3715 + + 744.3715. Petition for interim judicial review. +(1) At any time, any interested person, including the ward, may petition + +the court for review alleging that the guardian is not complying with the +guardianship plan, is exceeding his or her authority under the guardianship +plan, is acting in a manner contrary to s. 744.361, is denying visitation +between the ward and his or her relatives in violation of s. 744.361(13), or +is not acting in the best interest of the ward. The petition for review must +state the nature of the objection to the guardians action or proposed action. +Upon the filing of any such petition, the court shall review the petition and +act upon it expeditiously. + +(2) If the petition for review is found to be without merit, the court may +assess costs and attorneys fees against the petitioner. + +HISTORY: +S. 56, ch. 89-96; s. 41, ch. 90-271; s. 1092, ch. 97-102; s. 18, ch. 2015-83, + +effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.372. +Fla. Stat. 744.372 + + 744.372. Judicial review of guardianships. +The court retains jurisdiction over all guardianships. The court shall review + +the appropriateness and extent of a guardianship annually and: +(1) If an objection to the terms of the guardianship report has been filed + +pursuant to s. 744.367; +(2) If interim review has been requested under s. 744.3715; +(3) If a person, including the ward, has filed a suggestion of increased + +capacity; or +(4) If the guardianship report has not been received and the guardian has + +failed to respond to a show cause order. + +HISTORY: +S. 57, ch. 89-96; s. 42, ch. 90-271. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3725. +Fla. Stat. 744.3725 + + 744.3725. Procedure for extraordinary authority. +Before the court may grant authority to a guardian to exercise any of the + +rights specified in s. 744.3215(4), the court must: +(1) Appoint an independent attorney to act on the incapacitated persons + +behalf, and the attorney must have the opportunity to meet with the person +and to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses at any hearing on the +petition for authority to act; + +(2) Receive as evidence independent medical, psychological, and social +evaluations with respect to the incapacitated person by competent +professionals or appoint its own experts to assist in the evaluations; + +(3) Personally meet with the incapacitated person to obtain its own +impression of the persons capacity, so as to afford the incapacitated +person the full opportunity to express his or her personal views or desires +with respect to the judicial proceeding and issue before the court; + +(4) Find by clear and convincing evidence that the person lacks the +capacity to make a decision about the issue before the court and that the +incapacitated persons capacity is not likely to change in the foreseeable +future; and + +(5) Be persuaded by clear and convincing evidence that the authority +being requested is in the best interests of the incapacitated person. +The provisions of this section and s. 744.3215(4) are procedural and do not + +establish any new or independent right to or authority over the termination of +parental rights, dissolution of marriage, sterilization, abortion, or the +termination of life support systems. + +HISTORY: +S. 58, ch. 89-96; s. 43, ch. 90-271; s. 25, ch. 95-401; s. 1093, ch. 97-102; s. + +3, ch. 2017-16, effective July 1, 2017. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.373. +Fla. Stat. 744.373 + + 744.373. Production of property. +On the petition of a creditor or other interested person, including the ward, + +or on its own motion, the court may require a guardian of the property to +produce satisfactory evidence that the property of the ward for which the +guardian is responsible is in the guardians possession or under her or his +control. If it deems it necessary or proper, the court may order the guardian to +produce the property for the inspection of the creditor, another interested +person, the ward, or the court. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 17, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 71, ch. 89-96; s. 44, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1094, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 745.30; former s. 744.434. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.3735. +Fla. Stat. 744.3735 + + 744.3735. Annual appearance of the guardian. +The court may require the guardian to appear before the court at the time + +the guardian files the annual guardianship report or at such other time as the +court determines, in order for the court to inquire as to any matter relating to +the well-being of the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 17, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 11, ch. 79-221; s. 72, ch. 89-96. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 744.437. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.374. +Fla. Stat. 744.374 + + 744.374. Payments to guardian. +If there is more than one guardian, either guardian may petition for an + +order directing the guardian of the property to pay to the guardian of the +person periodic amounts for the support, care, maintenance, education, and +other needs of the ward if not otherwise provided for in the guardianship +plan. The amount may be increased or decreased from time to time. If an +order is entered, the receipt of the guardian for payments made shall be a +sufficient discharge of the guardian who makes the payments. The guardian +shall not be bound to see to the application of the payments. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 6, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 59, ch. 89-96; s. 45, ch. 90-271; s. + +1095, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.50. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.381. +Fla. Stat. 744.381 + + 744.381. Appraisals. +When the court deems it necessary, appraisers may be appointed to + +appraise the property of the ward that is subject to the guardianship. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 61, ch. 89-96; s. 46, ch. 90-271. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.54. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.384. +Fla. Stat. 744.384 + + 744.384. Subsequently discovered or acquired property. +(1) If a plenary guardian of the property of the ward learns of any + +property that is not included in previous inventories, the property shall be +inventoried within 30 days after the discovery or acquisition. + +(2) If a limited guardian of the property of the ward learns of any +property that was not known to the court at the time of his or her +appointment, he or she shall file a report of such property with the court. +Upon petition by the guardian, ward, or other interested person, the court, +after hearing with appropriate notice, may direct the guardian to take +custody and control of such property, without further adjudicatory +proceeding under s. 744.331. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 14, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 62, ch. 89-96; s. 47, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1096, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.59. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.387. +Fla. Stat. 744.387 + + 744.387. Settlement of claims. +(1) When a settlement of any claim by or against the guardian, whether + +arising as a result of personal injury or otherwise, and whether arising +before or after appointment of a guardian, is proposed, but before an action +to enforce it is begun, on petition by the guardian of the property stating +the facts of the claim, question, or dispute and the proposed settlement, and +on any evidence that is introduced, the court may enter an order +authorizing the settlement if satisfied that the settlement will be for the best +interest of the ward. The order shall relieve the guardian from any further +responsibility in connection with the claim or dispute when the settlement +has been made in accordance with the order. The order authorizing the +settlement may also determine whether an additional bond is required and, +if so, shall fix the amount of it. + +(2) In the same manner as provided in subsection (1) or as authorized by +s. 744.301, the natural guardians or guardian of a minor may settle any +claim by or on behalf of a minor that does not exceed $15,000 without +bond. A legal guardianship shall be required when the amount of the net +settlement to the ward exceeds $15,000. +(3)(a) No settlement after an action has been commenced by or on behalf +of a ward shall be effective unless approved by the court having +jurisdiction of the action. +(b) In the event of settlement or judgment in favor of the ward or minor, + +the court may authorize the natural guardians or guardian, or a guardian of +the property appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction, to collect the +amount of the settlement or judgment and to execute a release or satisfaction. +When the amount of net settlement to the ward or judgment exceeds $15,000 +and no guardian has been appointed, the court shall require the appointment +of a guardian for the property. + +(4) In making a settlement under court order as provided in this section, +the guardian is authorized to execute any instrument that may be necessary +to effect the settlement. When executed, the instrument shall be a complete +release of the person making the settlement. + + + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 14, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 3, ch. 78-342; s. 10, ch. 79-221; + +s. 63, ch. 89-96; s. 48, ch. 90-271; s. 10, ch. 2002-195. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.60. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.391. +Fla. Stat. 744.391 + + 744.391. Actions by and against guardian or ward. +If an action is brought by the guardian against the ward, or vice versa, or if + +the interest of the guardian is adverse to that of his or her ward, a guardian ad +litem shall be appointed to represent the ward in that particular litigation. In +any litigation between the guardian and the ward, a guardian ad litem shall be +appointed to represent the ward. If there is a conflict of interest between the +guardian and the ward, the guardian ad litem shall petition the court for +removal of the guardian. Judgments in favor of the ward shall become the +property of the ward without the necessity for any assignment by the +guardian or receipt by the ward upon termination of guardianship. The +guardian may receive payment and satisfy any judgment in behalf of the ward +without joinder by the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 64, ch. 89-96; s. 1097, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.61. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.394. +Fla. Stat. 744.394 + + 744.394. Suspension of statutes of limitations in favor of guardian. +If a person entitled to bring an action is declared incapacitated before the + +expiration of the time limited for the commencement of it and the cause of +the action survives, the action may be commenced by the guardian of the +property after such expiration and within 1 year from the date of the order +appointing the guardian or the time otherwise limited by law, whichever is +longer. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 16, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 65, ch. 89-96; s. 49, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1098, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.62. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.397. +Fla. Stat. 744.397 + + 744.397. Application of income of property of ward. +(1) The court may authorize the guardian of the property to apply the + +wards income, first to the wards care, support, education, and +maintenance, and then for the care, support, education, maintenance, cost +of final illness, and cost of funeral and burial or cremation of the parent, +spouse, or dependents, if any, of the ward, to the extent necessary. If the +income is not sufficient for these purposes, the court may authorize the +expenditure of part of the principal for such purposes from time to time. + +(2) The word dependents, as used in subsection (1) means, in addition +to those persons who are legal dependents of a ward under existing law, +the person or persons whom the ward is morally or equitably obligated to +aid, assist, maintain, or care for, including, but not limited to, such persons +as the indigent spouse of the ward, based upon the showing of an existing +need and an ability of the estate of the ward to pay for, provide, or furnish +the aid, assistance, maintenance, or care without unreasonably jeopardizing +the care, support, and maintenance of the ward. + +(3) If the ward is a minor and the wards parents are able to care for him +or her and to support, maintain, and educate him or her, the guardian of the +minor shall not so use his or her wards property unless directed or +authorized to do so by the court. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 16, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 66, ch. 89-96; s. 50, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1099, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.64. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.421. +Fla. Stat. 744.421 + + 744.421. Petition for support of wards dependents. +Any person dependent on the ward for support may petition for an order + +directing the guardian of the property to contribute to the support of the +dependent person from the property of the ward. The court may enter an +order for suitable support and education of the dependent person out of the +wards property that is subject to the guardianship. The grant or denial of an +order for support shall not preclude a further petition for increase, decrease, +modification, or termination of allowance for support by either the petitioner +or the guardian. The order for support shall be valid for payments made +pursuant to it, but no valid payments can be made after the termination of the +guardianship. The receipt of the petitioner shall be a sufficient release of the +guardian for payments made pursuant to the order. If the property of the ward +is derived in whole or in part from payments of compensation, adjusted +compensation, pension, insurance, or other benefits made directly to the +guardian by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, notice of the +petition for support shall be given by the petitioner to the office of the United +States Department of Veterans Affairs having jurisdiction over the area in +which the court is located and the chief attorney for the Department of +Veterans Affairs in this state at least 15 days before the hearing on the +petition. The court may not authorize payments from the wards property +unless the ward has been adjudicated incapacitated to handle such property in +accordance with s. 744.331; except in a voluntary guardianship, in which +case such petition may be granted only upon the written consent of the ward. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 16, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, ch. 78-305; s. + +80, ch. 81-167; s. 84, ch. 83-55; s. 30, ch. 88-290; s. 67, ch. 89-96; s. 51, ch. +90-271; s. 37, ch. 93-268. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 744.65. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.441. +Fla. Stat. 744.441 + + 744.441. Powers of guardian upon court approval. +After obtaining approval of the court pursuant to a petition for + +authorization to act: +(1) A plenary guardian of the property, or a limited guardian of the + +property within the powers granted by the order appointing the guardian or +an approved annual or amended guardianship report, may: +(a) Perform, compromise, or refuse performance of a wards contracts that + +continue as obligations of the estate, as he or she may determine under the +circumstances. + +(b) Execute, exercise, or release any powers as trustee, personal +representative, custodian for minors, conservator, or donee of any power of +appointment or other power that the ward might have lawfully exercised, +consummated, or executed if not incapacitated, if the best interest of the ward +requires such execution, exercise, or release. + +(c) Make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in buildings or +other structures; demolish any improvements; or raze existing, or erect new, +party walls or buildings. + +(d) Subdivide, develop, or dedicate land to public use; make or obtain the +vacation of plats and adjust boundaries; adjust differences in valuation on +exchange or partition by giving or receiving consideration; or dedicate +easements to public use without consideration. + +(e) Enter into a lease as lessor or lessee for any purpose, with or without +option to purchase or renew, for a term within, or extending beyond, the +period of guardianship. + +(f) Enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and removal of +minerals or other natural resources or enter into a pooling or unitization +agreement. + +(g) Abandon property when, in the opinion of the guardian, it is valueless +or is so encumbered or in such condition that it is of no benefit to the estate. + +(h) Pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or accruing against, + + + +or on account of, securities. +(i) Borrow money, with or without security, to be repaid from the + +property or otherwise and advance money for the protection of the +estate. + +(j) Effect a fair and reasonable compromise with any debtor or obligor or +extend, renew, or in any manner modify the terms of any obligation owing to +the estate. + +(k) Prosecute or defend claims or proceedings in any jurisdiction for the +protection of the estate and of the guardian in the performance of his or her +duties. Before authorizing a guardian to bring an action described in s. +736.0207, the court shall first find that the action appears to be in the wards +best interests during the wards probable lifetime. There shall be a rebuttable +presumption that an action challenging the wards revocation of all or part of +a trust is not in the wards best interests if the revocation relates solely to a +devise. This paragraph does not preclude a challenge after the wards death. +If the court denies a request that a guardian be authorized to bring an action +described in s. 736.0207, the court shall review the continued need for a +guardian and the extent of the need for delegation of the wards rights. + +(l) Sell, mortgage, or lease any real or personal property of the estate, +including homestead property, or any interest therein for cash or credit, or for +part cash and part credit, and with or without security for unpaid balances. + +(m) Continue any unincorporated business or venture in which the ward +was engaged. + +(n) Purchase the entire fee simple title to real estate in this state in which +the guardian has no interest, but the purchase may be made only for a home +for the ward, to protect the home of the ward or the wards interest, or as a +home for the wards dependent family. If the ward is a married person and +the home of the ward or of the dependent family of the ward is owned by the +ward and spouse as an estate by the entirety and the home is sold pursuant to +the authority of paragraph (l), the court may authorize the investment of any +part or all of the proceeds from the sale toward the purchase of a fee simple +title to real estate in this state for a home for the ward or the dependent family +of the ward as an estate by the entirety owned by the ward and spouse. If the +guardian is authorized to acquire title to real estate for the ward or dependent + + + +family of the ward as an estate by the entirety in accordance with the +preceding provisions, the conveyance shall be in the name of the ward and +spouse and shall be effective to create an estate by the entirety in the ward +and spouse. + +(o) Exercise any option contained in any policy of insurance payable to, or +inuring to the benefit of, the ward. + +(p) Pay reasonable funeral, interment, and grave marker expenses for the +ward from the wards estate. + +(q) Make gifts of the wards property to members of the wards family in +estate and income tax planning procedures. + +(r) When the wards will evinces an objective to obtain a United States +estate tax charitable deduction by use of a split interest trust (as that term is +defined in s. 736.1201), but the maximum charitable deduction otherwise +allowable will not be achieved in whole or in part, execute a codicil on the +wards behalf amending said will to obtain the maximum charitable +deduction allowable without diminishing the aggregate value of the benefits +of any beneficiary under such will. + +(s) Create or amend revocable trusts or create irrevocable trusts of property +of the wards estate which may extend beyond the disability or life of the +ward in connection with estate, gift, income, or other tax planning or in +connection with estate planning. The court shall retain oversight of the assets +transferred to a trust, unless otherwise ordered by the court. + +(t) Renounce or disclaim any interest by testate or intestate succession or +by inter vivos transfer. + +(u) Enter into contracts that are appropriate for, and in the best interest of, +the ward. + +(v) As to a minor ward, pay expenses of the wards support, health, +maintenance, and education, if the wards parents, or either of them, +are alive. + +(2) A plenary guardian or a limited guardian of a ward may sign an +order not to resuscitate as provided in s. 401.45(3). When a plenary +guardian or a limited guardian of a ward seeks to obtain approval of the +court to sign an order not to resuscitate, if required by exigent + + + +circumstances, the court must hold a preliminary hearing within 72 hours +after the petition is filed, and: +(a) Rule on the relief requested immediately after the preliminary hearing; + +or +(b) Conduct an evidentiary hearing not later than 4 days after the + +preliminary hearing and rule on the relief requested immediately after the +evidentiary hearing. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 22, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 2, ch. 77-328; s. + +281, ch. 79-400; s. 4, ch. 80-203; s. 3, ch. 86-120; s. 2, ch. 87-317; s. 73, ch. +89-96; s. 52, ch. 90-271; s. 1100, ch. 97-102; s. 11, ch. 97-240; s. 5, ch. 2006- +77, eff. June 6, 2006; s. 20, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 46, ch. 2006- +217, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 12, ch. 2011-183, eff. June 21, 2011; s. 4, ch. 2017- +16, effective July 1, 2017; s. 6, ch. 2020-35, effective July 1, 2020. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 744.501, 745.03(2) and (3), 745.20, 745.23. +Section 14, ch. 2011-183 provides: Except as otherwise expressly + +provided in this act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law and shall +apply to all proceedings pending before such date and all cases commenced +on or after the effective date. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.442. +Fla. Stat. 744.442 + + 744.442. Delegation of authority. +(1) A guardian may designate a surrogate guardian to exercise the + +powers of the guardian if the guardian is unavailable to act. A person +designated as a surrogate guardian under this section must be a +professional guardian. +(2)(a) A guardian must file a petition with the court requesting permission +to designate a surrogate guardian. +(b) If the court approves the designation, the order must specify the name + +and business address of the surrogate guardian and the duration of +appointment, which may not exceed 30 days. The court may extend the +appointment for good cause shown. The surrogate guardian may exercise all +powers of the guardian unless limited by order of the court. The surrogate +guardian must file with the court an oath swearing or affirming that he or she +will faithfully perform the duties delegated. The court may require the +surrogate guardian to post a bond. + +(3) This section does not limit the responsibility of the guardian to the +ward and to the court. The guardian is liable for the acts of the surrogate +guardian. The guardian may terminate the authority of the surrogate +guardian by filing a written notice of the termination with the court. + +(4) The surrogate guardian is subject to the jurisdiction of the court as if +appointed to serve as guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 21, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.444. +Fla. Stat. 744.444 + + 744.444. Power of guardian without court approval. +Without obtaining court approval, a plenary guardian of the property, or a + +limited guardian of the property within the powers granted by the order +appointing the guardian or an approved annual or amended guardianship +report, may: + +(1) Retain assets owned by the ward. +(2) Receive assets from fiduciaries or other sources. +(3) Vote stocks or other securities in person or by general or limited + +proxy or not vote stocks or other securities. +(4) Insure the assets of the estate against damage, loss, and liability and + +insure himself or herself against liability as to third persons. +(5) Execute and deliver in his or her name as guardian any instrument + +necessary or proper to carry out and give effect to this section. +(6) Pay taxes and assessments on the wards property. +(7) Pay valid encumbrances against the wards property in accordance + +with their terms, but no prepayment may be made without prior court +approval. + +(8) Pay reasonable living expenses for the ward, taking into +consideration the accustomed standard of living, age, health, and financial +condition of the ward. This subsection does not authorize the guardian of a +minor to expend funds for the wards living expenses if one or both of the +wards parents are alive. + +(9) Elect to dissent from a will under s. 732.2125(2), seek approval to +make an election in accordance with s. 732.401, or assert any other right or +choice available to a surviving spouse in the administration of a decedents +estate. + +(10) Deposit or invest liquid assets of the estate, including moneys +received from the sale of other assets, in federally insured interest-bearing +accounts, readily marketable secured loan arrangements, money market + + + +mutual funds, or other prudent investments. The guardian may redeem or +sell such deposits or investments to pay the reasonable living expenses of +the ward as provided herein. + +(11) Pay incidental expenses in the administration of the estate. +(12) Sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights and consent, + +directly or through a committee or other agent, to the reorganization, +consolidation, merger, dissolution, or liquidation of a corporation or other +business enterprise. + +(13) When reasonably necessary, employ persons, including attorneys, +auditors, investment advisers, care managers, or agents, even if they are +associated with the guardian, to advise or assist the guardian in the +performance of his or her duties. + +(14) Execute and deliver in his or her name as guardian any instrument +that is necessary or proper to carry out the orders of the court. + +(15) Hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without +disclosure of the interest of the ward, but the guardian is liable for any act +of the nominee in connection with the security so held. + +(16) Pay or reimburse costs incurred and reasonable fees or +compensation to persons, including attorneys, employed by the guardian +pursuant to subsection (13) from the assets of the guardianship estate, +subject to obtaining court approval of the annual accounting. + +(17) Provide confidential information about a ward which is related to +an investigation arising under s. 744.368 to the clerk, part II of this chapter +to an Office of Public and Professional Guardians investigator, or part I of +chapter 400 to a local or state ombudsman council member conducting +such an investigation. Any such clerk, Office of Public and Professional +Guardians investigator, or ombudsman shall have a duty to maintain the +confidentiality of such information. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 23, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 3, ch. 77-328; s. 282, ch. 79-400; + +s. 5, ch. 84-31; s. 74, ch. 89-96; s. 53, ch. 90-271; s. 1101, ch. 97-102; s. 8, +ch. 2000-155; s. 12, ch. 2003-57; s. 18, ch. 2010-132, eff. Oct. 1, 2010; s. 4, +ch. 2018-68, effective July 1, 2018. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.446. +Fla. Stat. 744.446 + + 744.446. Conflicts of interest; prohibited activities; court approval; +breach of fiduciary duty. +(1) It is essential to the proper conduct and management of a + +guardianship that the guardian be independent and impartial. The fiduciary +relationship which exists between the guardian and the ward may not be +used for the private gain of the guardian other than the remuneration for +fees and expenses provided by law. The guardian may not incur any +obligation on behalf of the guardianship which conflicts with the proper +discharge of the guardians duties. + +(2) A guardian may not offer, pay, solicit, or receive a commission, +benefit, bonus, rebate, or kickback, directly or indirectly, overtly or +covertly, in cash or in kind, or engage in a split-fee arrangement in return +for referring, soliciting, or engaging in a transaction for goods or services +on behalf of an alleged incapacitated person or minor, or a ward, for past +or future goods or services. + +(3) Unless prior approval is obtained by court order, or unless such +relationship existed before appointment of the guardian and is disclosed to +the court in the petition for appointment of guardian, a guardian may not: +(a) Have any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, in any + +business transaction or activity with the ward, the judge presiding over the +case, any member of the appointed examining committee, any court +employee involved in the guardianship process, or the attorney for the ward; + +(b) Acquire an ownership, possessory, security, or other pecuniary interest +adverse to the ward; + +(c) Be designated as a beneficiary on any life insurance policy, pension, or +benefit plan of the ward unless such designation was validly made by the +ward before adjudication of incapacity of the ward; and + +(d) Directly or indirectly purchase, rent, lease, or sell any property or +services from or to any business entity of which the guardian or the +guardians spouse or any of the guardians lineal descendants, or collateral +kindred, is an officer, partner, director, shareholder, or proprietor, or has any + + + +financial interest. +(4) Any activity prohibited by this section is voidable during the term of + +the guardianship or by the personal representative of the wards estate, and +the guardian is subject to removal and to imposition of personal liability +through a proceeding for surcharge, in addition to any other remedies +otherwise available. + +(5) In the event of a breach by the guardian of the guardians fiduciary +duty, the court shall take those necessary actions to protect the ward and +the wards assets. + +HISTORY: +S. 75, ch. 89-96; s. 54, ch. 90-271; s. 1102, ch. 97-102; s. 6, ch. 2002-195; + +s. 7, ch. 2020-35, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.447. +Fla. Stat. 744.447 + + 744.447. Petition for authorization to act. +(1) Application for authorization to perform, or confirmation of, any acts + +under s. 744.441 or s. 744.446 shall be by petition stating the facts showing +the expediency or necessity for the action; a description of any property +involved; and the price and terms of a sale, mortgage, or other contract. +The application must state whether it conforms to the general terms of the +guardianship report and whether the ward has been adjudicated +incapacitated to act with respect to the rights to be exercised. + +(2) No notice of a petition to authorize a sale of perishable personal +property or of property rapidly deteriorating shall be required. Notice of a +petition to perform any other acts under s. 744.441 or s. 744.446 shall be +given to the ward, to the next of kin, if any, and to those interested persons +who have filed requests for notices and copies of pleadings, as provided in +the Florida Probate Rules, unless waived by the court. Notice need not be +given to a ward who is under 14 years of age or who has been determined +to be totally incapacitated. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 24, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 12, ch. 79-221; s. 76, ch. 89-96; + +s. 55, ch. 90-271. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 745.06. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.451. +Fla. Stat. 744.451 + + 744.451. Order. +(1) If a sale or mortgage is authorized, the order shall describe the + +property, and +(a) If the property is authorized for sale at private sale, the order shall fix + +the price and the terms of sale. +(b) If the sale is to be public, the order shall state that the sale shall be + +made to the highest bidder and the court reserves the right to reject all bids. +(2) An order for any other act permitted under s. 744.441 or s. 744.446 + +shall describe the permitted act and authorize the guardian to perform it. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 24, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 77, ch. 89-96. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 745.09. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.454. +Fla. Stat. 744.454 + + 744.454. Guardian forbidden to borrow or purchase; exceptions. +A professional guardian may not purchase property or borrow money from + +his or her ward. A guardian who is not a professional guardian may do so if: +(1) A court by written order authorizes the sale or loan after a hearing to + +which interested persons were given notice; or +(2) The property is sold at public sale and the guardian is a spouse, + +parent, child, brother, or sister of the ward or a cotenant of the ward in the +property to be sold. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 24, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 78, ch. 89-96; s. + +2, ch. 96-184; s. 12, ch. 96-354; s. 1787, ch. 97-102; s. 5, ch. 97-161. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 745.14. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.457. +Fla. Stat. 744.457 + + 744.457. Conveyance of various property rights by guardians of the +property. + +(1)(a) All legal or equitable interests in property owned as an estate by the +entirety by an incapacitated person for whom a guardian of the property +has been appointed may be sold, transferred, conveyed, or mortgaged in +accordance with s. 744.447, if the spouse who is not incapacitated joins in +the sale, transfer, conveyance, or mortgage of the property. When both +spouses are incapacitated, the sale, transfer, conveyance, or mortgage shall +be by the guardians only. The sale, transfer, conveyance, or mortgage may +be accomplished by one instrument or by separate instruments. +(b) In ordering or approving the sale and conveyance of the real or + +personal property owned by the ward and the wards spouse as an estate by +the entirety or as joint tenants with right of survivorship, the court may +provide that one-half of the net proceeds of the sale shall go to the guardian +of the ward and the other one-half to the wards spouse, or the court may +provide for the proceeds of the sale to retain the same character as to +survivorship as the original asset. + +(c) The guardian of the property shall collect all payments coming due on +intangible property, such as notes and mortgages and other securities, and +shall retain one-half of all principal and interest payments so collected and +shall pay the other one-half of the collections to the spouse who is not +incapacitated. If both spouses are incapacitated, the guardian of either shall +collect the payments, retain one-half of the principal and interest payments, +and pay the other one-half to the guardian of the other spouse. + +(d) The spouse of the incapacitated person shall collect all payments of +rents on real estate held as an estate by the entirety and, after paying all +charges against the property, such as taxes, insurance, maintenance, and +repairs, shall retain one-half of the net rents so collected and pay the other +one-half to the guardian of the spouse who is incapacitated. If both spouses +are incapacitated, the guardian of the property of either may collect the rent, +pay the charges, retain one-half of the net rent, and pay the other one-half to +the guardian of the other spouse. + + + +(2) In determining the value of life estates or remainder interests, the +American Experience Mortality Tables may be used. + +(3) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the court in its discretion from +appointing a sole guardian to serve as guardian for both spouses. + +(4) Any contingent or expectant interest in property, including marital +property rights and any right of survivorship incident to joint tenancy or +tenancy by the entirety, may be conveyed or released in accordance with s. +744.447. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 24, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 13, ch. 79-221; s. 3, ch. 87-317; + +s. 79, ch. 89-96; s. 56, ch. 90-271; s. 1103, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 745.15. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.461. +Fla. Stat. 744.461 + + 744.461. Purchasers and lenders protected. +No person purchasing or leasing from, or taking a mortgage, pledge, or + +other lien from, a guardian shall be bound to see that the money or other +things of value paid to the guardian are actually needed or properly applied. +The person is not otherwise bound as to the proprieties or expediencies of the +acts of the guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 24, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 80, ch. 89-96. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 745.21. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VI. , 744.462. +Fla. Stat. 744.462 + + 744.462. Determination regarding alternatives to guardianship. +Any judicial determination concerning the validity of the wards durable + +power of attorney, trust, or trust amendment shall be promptly reported in the +guardianship proceeding by the guardian of the property. If the instrument +has been judicially determined to be valid or if, after the appointment of a +guardian, a petition is filed alleging that there is an alternative to +guardianship which will sufficiently address the problems of the ward, the +court shall review the continued need for a guardian and the extent of the +need for delegation of the wards rights. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 2006-77, eff. June 6, 2006; s. 47, ch. 2006-217, eff. July 1, 2007. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. VII + + + +PART VII. +TERMINATION. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.464. +Fla. Stat. 744.464 + + 744.464. Restoration to capacity. +(1) Venue. A suggestion of capacity must be filed with the court in + +which the guardianship is pending. +(2) Suggestion of capacity. + +(a) Any interested person, including the ward, may file a suggestion of +capacity. The suggestion of capacity must state that the ward is currently +capable of exercising some or all of the rights which were removed. + +(b) Upon the filing of the suggestion of capacity, the court shall +immediately appoint a physician to examine the ward. The physician must +examine the ward and file his or her report with the court within 20 days after +the appointment. + +(c) The court shall immediately send notice of the filing of the suggestion +of capacity to the ward, the guardian, the attorney for the ward, if any, and +any other interested persons designated by the court. Formal notice must be +served on the guardian. Informal notice may be served on other persons. +Notice need not be served on the person who filed the suggestion of capacity. + +(d) Any objections to the suggestion of capacity must be filed within 20 +days after service of the notice. + +(e) If an objection is timely filed, or if the medical examination suggests +that full restoration is not appropriate, the court shall set the matter for +hearing. If the ward does not have an attorney, the court shall appoint one to +represent the ward. + +(f) Notice of the hearing and copies of the objections and medical +examination reports shall be served upon the ward, the wards attorney, the +guardian, the wards next of kin, and any other interested persons as directed +by the court. + +(3) Order of restoration. + + + +(a) If no objections are filed, and the court is satisfied that the medical +examination establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that restoration +of all or some of the wards rights is appropriate, the court shall enter an +order of restoration of capacity, restoring all or some of the rights which were +removed from the ward in accordance with those findings. + +(b) At the conclusion of a hearing, conducted pursuant to s. 744.1095, the +court shall make specific findings of fact and, based on a preponderance of +the evidence, enter an order either denying the suggestion of capacity or +restoring all or some of the rights which were removed from the ward. The +ward has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the +restoration of capacity is warranted. + +(c) If only some rights are restored to the ward, the order must state which +rights are restored, and the guardian shall prepare a new guardianship report +which addresses only the remaining rights retained by the guardian. The +guardian must file a copy of the new report with the court within 60 days +after the entry of the order. + +(4) Timeliness of hearing. The court shall give priority to any +suggestion of capacity and shall advance the cause on the calendar. + +HISTORY: +SS. 10, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 81, ch. 89-96; s. 57, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1104, ch. 97-102; s. 22, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 19, ch. 2015-83, +effective July 1, 2015. + +Editors Notes +Section 20, ch. 2015-83, provides: Sections 709.2109 and 744.3203, + +Florida Statutes, as created by this act, apply to all proceedings filed on or +after July 1, 2015. The amendments made by this act to ss. 744.107, +744.1075, 744.108, 744.3025, 744.3031, 744.309, 744.3115, 744.312, +744.331, 744.344, 744.345, 744.359, 744.361, 744.367, 744.369, 744.3715, +and 744.464, Florida Statutes, apply to all proceedings pending on July 1, +2015. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.467. +Fla. Stat. 744.467 + + 744.467. Resignation of guardian. +A guardian may resign and be relieved of his or her duties after the notice + +that the court may require and notice to the surety on his or her bond. Before +entering an order discharging a guardian of the property, the court shall +require the guardian to file a true and correct final report of his or her +guardianship and to deliver to the successor guardian all property of the ward, +all records concerning the property of the ward or of the guardianship, and all +money due to the ward from him or her. A guardian of the person must +deliver to the successor guardian copies of all records of medical or personal +care, prior to being discharged. Before entering the order, the court shall be +satisfied that the interest of the ward will not be placed in jeopardy by the +resignation. The acceptance of the resignation shall not exonerate the +guardian or the guardians surety from any liability previously incurred. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 19, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 82, ch. 89-96; s. + +58, ch. 90-271; s. 1105, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.01. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.471. +Fla. Stat. 744.471 + + 744.471. Appointment of successor. +A successor guardian must be appointed and duly qualified before a + +guardian shall be relieved of his or her duties and obligations as provided in +s. 744.467. A successor guardian shall be appointed if a guardian dies, +becomes incapacitated, or is removed. Successor guardians are governed by +the laws concerning guardianships. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 83, ch. 89-96; s. 26, ch. 95-401; s. 1106, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.02. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.474. +Fla. Stat. 744.474 + + 744.474. Reasons for removal of guardian. +A guardian may be removed for any of the following reasons, and the + +removal shall be in addition to any other penalties prescribed by law: +(1) Fraud in obtaining her or his appointment. +(2) Failure to discharge her or his duties. +(3) Abuse of her or his powers. +(4) An incapacity or illness, including substance abuse, which renders + +the guardian incapable of discharging her or his duties. +(5) Failure to comply with any order of the court. +(6) Failure to return schedules of property sold or accounts of sales of + +property or to produce and exhibit the wards assets when so required. +(7) The wasting, embezzlement, or other mismanagement of the wards + +property. +(8) Failure to give bond or security for any purpose when required by + +the court or failure to file with the annual guardianship plan the evidence +required by s. 744.351 that the sureties on her or his bond are alive and +solvent. + +(9) Conviction of a felony. +(10) Appointment of a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or liquidator for + +any corporate guardian. +(11) Development of a conflict of interest between the ward and the + +guardian. +(12) Having been found guilty of, regardless of adjudication, or entered + +a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, any offense prohibited under s. +435.04 or similar statute of another jurisdiction. + +(13) A material failure to comply with the guardianship report by the +guardian. + +(14) A failure to comply with the rules for timely filing the initial and + + + +annual guardianship reports. +(15) A failure to fulfill the guardianship education requirements. +(16) The improper management of the wards assets. +(17) A material change in the wards financial circumstances such that + +the guardian is no longer qualified to manage the finances of the ward, or +the previous degree of management is no longer required. + +(18) After appointment, the guardian becomes a disqualified person as +set forth in s. 744.309(3). + +(19) Upon a showing by a person who did not receive notice of the +petition for adjudication of incapacity, when such notice is required, or +who is related to the ward within the relationships specified for nonresident +relatives in ss. 744.309(2) and 744.312(2) and who has not previously been +rejected by the court as a guardian that the current guardian is not a family +member and subsection (20) applies. + +(20) Upon a showing that removal of the current guardian is in the best +interest of the ward. In determining whether a guardian who is related by +blood or marriage to the ward is to be removed, there shall be a rebuttable +presumption that the guardian is acting in the best interests of the ward. + +(21) A bad faith failure to submit guardianship records during the audit +pursuant to s. 744.368. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 84, ch. 89-96; s. 138, ch. 95-418; + +s. 13, ch. 96-354; s. 1788, ch. 97-102; s. 283, ch. 99-8; s. 2, ch. 99-277; s. +111, ch. 2000-349; s. 32, ch. 2004-267; s. 23, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; +s. 54, ch. 2010-114, eff. Aug. 1, 2010; s. 5, ch. 2014-124, effective July 1, +2014. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.03. +Section 32, ch. 2004-267, reenacted (12) without change to incorporate + +amendments to statutory sections referenced therein. +Section 58, ch. 2010-114 provides: The changes made by this act are + + + +intended to be prospective in nature. It is not intended that persons who are +employed or licensed on the effective date of this act be rescreened until such +time as they are otherwise required to be rescreened pursuant to law, at which +time they must meet the requirements for screening as set forth in this act. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.477. +Fla. Stat. 744.477 + + 744.477. Proceedings for removal of a guardian. +Proceedings for removal of a guardian may be instituted by the court, by + +any surety or other interested person, or by the ward. Reasonable notice shall +be given to the guardian. On the hearing, the court may enter an order that is +proper considering the pleadings and the evidence. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 85, ch. 89-96; s. 59, ch. 90-271. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.04. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.511. +Fla. Stat. 744.511 + + 744.511. Accounting upon removal. +A removed guardian shall file with the court a true, complete, and final + +report of his or her guardianship within 20 days after removal and shall serve +a copy on the successor guardian and the ward, unless the ward is a minor or +has been determined to be totally incapacitated. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 86, ch. 89-96; s. 60, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1107, ch. 97-102; s. 24, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.05. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.514. +Fla. Stat. 744.514 + + 744.514. Surrender of property upon removal. +The successor guardian shall demand of the removed guardian or her or his + +heirs, personal representative, or surety all the property of the ward and +copies of all records of the ward. The removed guardian or her or his heirs, +personal representative, or surety shall turn over the items to her or his duly +qualified successor. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 87, ch. 89-96; s. 61, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1108, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.06. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.517. +Fla. Stat. 744.517 + + 744.517. Proceedings for contempt. +If a removed guardian of the property fails to file a true, complete, and + +final accounting of his or her guardianship; to turn over to his or her +successor or to the ward all the property of his or her ward and copies of all +records that are in his or her control and that concern the ward; or to pay over +to the successor guardian of the property or to the ward all money due the +ward by him or her, the court shall issue a show cause order. If cause is +shown for the default, the court shall set a reasonable time within which to +comply, and, on failure to comply with this or any subsequent order, the +removed guardian may be held in contempt. Proceedings for contempt may +be instituted by the court, by any interested person, including the ward, or by +a successor guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 88, ch. 89-96; s. 62, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1109, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former ss. 746.07, 746.08. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.521. +Fla. Stat. 744.521 + + 744.521. Termination of guardianship. +When a ward becomes sui juris or is restored to capacity, when the + +guardian has been unable to locate the ward through diligent search, or, for a +guardian of the property, when the property subject to the guardianship has +been exhausted, the guardian shall file a final report and receive his or her +discharge. A guardian of the person is discharged without further proceeding +upon filing a certified copy of the wards death certificate. The court may +require proof of the removal of incapacity. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 4, ch. 86-120; s. 89, ch. 89-96; s. + +63, ch. 90-271; s. 1110, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.12. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.524. +Fla. Stat. 744.524 + + 744.524. Termination of guardianship on change of domicile of resident +ward. + +When the domicile of a resident ward has changed as provided in s. +744.1098, and the foreign court having jurisdiction over the ward at the +wards new domicile has appointed a guardian and that guardian has qualified +and posted a bond in an amount required by the foreign court, the guardian in +this state may file her or his final report and close the guardianship in this +state. The guardian of the property in this state shall cause a notice to be +published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks, in a newspaper of general +circulation published in the county, that she or he has filed her or his +accounting and will apply for discharge on a day certain and that jurisdiction +of the ward will be transferred to the state of foreign jurisdiction. If an +objection is filed to the termination of the guardianship in this state, the court +shall hear the objection and enter an order either sustaining or overruling the +objection. Upon the disposition of all objections filed, or if no objection is +filed, final settlement shall be made by the Florida guardian. On proof that +the remaining property in the guardianship has been received by the foreign +guardian, the guardian of the property in this state shall be discharged. The +entry of the order terminating the guardianship in this state shall not +exonerate the guardian or the guardians surety from any liability previously +incurred. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 90, ch. 89-96; s. 64, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1111, ch. 97-102; s. 37, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.121. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.527. +Fla. Stat. 744.527 + + 744.527. Final reports and application for discharge; hearing. +(1) When the court terminates the guardianship for any of the reasons set + +forth in s. 744.521, the guardian shall promptly file his or her final report. +If the ward has died, the guardian must file a final report with the court no +later than 45 days after he or she has been served with letters of +administration or letters of curatorship. If no objections are filed and if it +appears that the guardian has made full and complete distribution to the +person entitled and has otherwise faithfully discharged his or her duties, +the court shall approve the final report. If objections are filed, the court +shall conduct a hearing in the same manner as provided for a hearing on +objections to annual guardianship reports. + +(2) The guardian applying for discharge may retain from the funds in his +or her possession a sufficient amount to pay the final costs of +administration, including guardian and attorneys fees regardless of the +death of the ward, accruing between the filing of his or her final returns +and the order of discharge. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 91, ch. 89-96; s. 65, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1112, ch. 97-102; s. 25, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.13. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.528. +Fla. Stat. 744.528 + + 744.528. Discharge of guardian named as personal representative. +(1) A guardian authorized to manage property, who is subsequently + +appointed personal representative, must serve a copy of the guardians +final report and petition for discharge upon the beneficiaries of the wards +estate who will be affected by the report. + +(2) All such beneficiaries shall have 30 days to file objections to the +final report and petition for discharge. + +(3) Any interested person may file a notice of a hearing on any +objections filed by the beneficiaries. Notice of the hearing must be served +upon the guardian, beneficiaries of the wards estate, and any other person +to whom the court directs service. If a notice of hearing on the objections is +not served within 90 days after filing of the objections, the objections are +deemed abandoned. + +(4) The guardian may not be discharged until: +(a) All objections have been judicially resolved; +(b) The report of the guardian is approved by the court; and +(c) In the case of a guardian of the property, all property has been + +distributed to the wards estate or the persons entitled to it. + +HISTORY: +S. 92, ch. 89-96; s. 66, ch. 90-271; s. 26, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.531. +Fla. Stat. 744.531 + + 744.531. Order of discharge. +If the court is satisfied that the guardian has faithfully discharged her or his + +duties, has rendered a complete and accurate final report, and, in the case of a +guardian of the property, has delivered the property of the ward to the person +entitled, and that the interest of the ward is protected, the court shall enter an +order of discharge. The discharge shall operate as a release from the duties of +the guardianship and as a bar to any action against the guardian or the +guardians surety unless the action is commenced within 3 years after the +date of the order. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; ss. 21, 26, ch. 75-222; s. 93, ch. 89-96; s. 67, ch. 90-271; + +s. 1113, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 746.14. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VII. , 744.534. +Fla. Stat. 744.534 + + 744.534. Disposition of unclaimed funds held by guardian. +(1) In all cases in which it is appropriate for the guardianship to + +terminate due to the wards death and in which property in the hands of the +guardian cannot be distributed because no estate proceeding has been +instituted, the guardian of the property shall be considered an interested +person pursuant to s. 733.202 and may, after a reasonable time, institute +such a proceeding. In the alternative, the guardian may follow the +procedures set forth in subsection (2). +(2)(a) In those cases in which it is appropriate for the guardianship to +terminate pursuant to s. 744.521 and in which property in the hands of a +guardian cannot be distributed to the ward or the wards estate solely +because the guardian is unable to locate the ward through diligent search, +the court shall order the guardian of the property to sell the property of the +ward and deposit the proceeds and cash already on hand after retaining +those amounts provided for in paragraph (e) with the clerk of the court +exercising jurisdiction over the guardianship and receive a receipt. The +clerk shall deposit the funds in the registry of the court, to be disposed of +as follows: +1. If the value of the funds is $50 or less, the clerk shall post a notice for 30 + +days at the courthouse door giving the amount involved, the name of the +ward, and other pertinent information that will put interested persons on +notice. + +2. If the value of the funds is over $50, the clerk shall publish the notice +once a month for 2 consecutive months in a newspaper of general circulation +in the county. + +3. After the expiration of 6 months from the posting or first publication, the +clerk shall deposit the funds with the Chief Financial Officer after deducting +his or her fees and the costs of publication. + +(b) Upon receipt of the funds, the Chief Financial Officer shall deposit +them to the credit of public guardianship. All interest and all income that may +accrue from the money while so deposited shall belong to the fund. The funds +so deposited shall constitute and be a permanent appropriation for payments + + + +by the Chief Financial Officer in obedience to court orders entered as +provided by paragraph (c). + +(c) Within 5 years from the date of deposit with the Chief Financial +Officer, on written petition to the court that directed the deposit of the funds +and informal notice to the Department of Legal Affairs, and after proof of his +or her right to them, any person entitled to the funds, before or after payment +to the Chief Financial Officer and deposit as provided for in paragraph (a), +may obtain a court order directing the payment of the funds to him or her. All +funds deposited with the Chief Financial Officer and not claimed within 5 +years from the date of deposit shall escheat to the state to be deposited in the +Department of Elderly Affairs Administrative Trust Fund to be used solely +for the benefit of public guardianship as determined by the Secretary of +Elderly Affairs. + +(d) Upon depositing the funds with the clerk, the guardian of the property +may proceed with the filing of his or her final return and application for +discharge under s. 744.527. + +(e) The guardian depositing assets with the clerk is permitted to retain from +the funds in his or her possession a sufficient amount to pay the final costs of +administration, including guardian and attorneys fees accruing between the +deposit of the funds with the clerk of the court and the order of discharge. +Any surplus funds so retained must be deposited with the clerk prior to +discharge of the guardian of the property. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 86-120; s. 94, ch. 89-96; s. 68, ch. 90-271; s. 1114, ch. 97-102; s. + +7, ch. 2002-195; s. 13, ch. 2003-57; s. 1898, ch. 2003-261. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. VIII + + + +PART VIII. +VETERANS GUARDIANSHIP. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.602. +Fla. Stat. 744.602 + + 744.602. Short title; scope of part. +(1) This part shall be known and may be cited as the Veterans + +Guardianship Law. +(2) The application of this part is limited to veterans and other persons + +who are entitled to receive benefits from the United States Department of +Veterans Affairs. This part is not intended to replace the general law +relating to guardianship except insofar as this part is inconsistent with the +general law relating to guardianship; in which event, this part and the +general law relating to guardianship shall be read together, with any +conflict between this part and the general law of guardianship to be +resolved by giving effect to this part. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(1); s. 1, ch. 84-62; s. 38, ch. + +93-268. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.01. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.604. +Fla. Stat. 744.604 + + 744.604. Definitions. +As used in this part, the term: + +(1) Adjudication by a court of competent jurisdiction means a judicial +decision or finding that a person is or is not incapacitated as provided in s. +744.331. + +(2) Adjudication by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs +means a determination or finding that a person is competent or +incompetent on examination in accordance with the laws and regulations +governing the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. + +(3) Secretary means the Secretary of Veterans Affairs as head of the +United States Department of Veterans Affairs or her or his successor. + +(4) Benefits means arrears of pay, bonus, pension, compensation, +insurance, and all other moneys paid or payable by the United States +through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs by reason of +service in the Armed Forces of the United States. + +(5) Estate means income on hand and assets acquired in whole or in +part with income. + +(6) Guardian means any person acting as a fiduciary for a wards +person or the wards estate, or both. + +(7) Income means moneys received from the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs as benefits, and revenue or profit from any +property acquired in whole or in part with such moneys. + +(8) Person means an individual, a partnership, a corporation, or an +association. + +(9) United States Department of Veterans Affairs means the United +States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessors or successors. + +(10) Ward means a beneficiary of the United States Department of +Veterans Affairs. + +HISTORY: + + + +S. 1, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(2); s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 2, ch. +84-62; s. 95, ch. 89-96; s. 39, ch. 93-268; s. 1115, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.02. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.607. +Fla. Stat. 744.607 + + 744.607. Secretary of Veterans Affairs as party in interest. +The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall be a party in interest in any + +proceeding for the appointment or removal of a guardian or for the removal +of the disability of minority or mental incapacity of a ward, and in any suit or +other proceeding affecting in any manner the administration by the guardian +of the estate of any present or former ward whose estate includes assets +derived in whole or in part from benefits heretofore or hereafter paid by the +United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Not less than 15 days prior to +hearing in such matter, notice in writing of the time and place thereof shall be +given by mail (unless waived in writing) to the office of the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs having jurisdiction over the area in which +any such suit or any such proceeding is pending. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 21795, 1943; s. 3, ch. 84-62; s. 40, ch. 93-268. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.20. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.609. +Fla. Stat. 744.609 + + 744.609. Procedure for commitment of veteran to United States +Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. + +The procedure for the placement into a United States Department of +Veterans Affairs hospital of a ward hereunder shall be the procedure +prescribed in s. 394.4672. + +HISTORY: +S. 22, ch. 84-62; s. 41, ch. 93-268. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.613. +Fla. Stat. 744.613 + + 744.613. Appointment of guardian for ward authorized. +(1) Whenever, pursuant to any law of the United States or regulation of + +the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the secretary requires, +prior to the payment of benefits, that a guardian be appointed for a ward, +the appointment may be made in the manner hereinafter provided. + +(2) When a petition is filed for the appointment of a guardian of a minor +ward, a certificate of the secretary or the secretarys authorized +representative setting forth the age of such minor, as shown by the records +of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and a statement that +the appointment of a guardian is a condition precedent to the payment of +any moneys due to the minor by the United States Department of Veterans +Affairs are prima facie evidence of the necessity for such appointment. + +(3) When a petition is filed for the appointment of a guardian of a +mentally incompetent ward, a certificate of the secretary or the secretarys +authorized representative, setting forth the fact that the person has been +found incompetent and has been rated incompetent by the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs, on examination in accordance with the +laws and regulations governing the United States Department of Veterans +Affairs, and that the appointment of a guardian is a condition precedent to +the payment of any moneys due to such person by the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs, is prima facie evidence of the necessity +for such appointment. + +HISTORY: +SS. 2, 5, 6, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(3), (6), (7); s. 1, ch. + +73-304; s. 5, ch. 84-62; s. 42, ch. 93-268; s. 1116, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Consolidation of former ss. 293.03, 293.06, 293.07. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.616. +Fla. Stat. 744.616 + + 744.616. Petition for appointment of guardian. +(1) A petition for the appointment of a guardian may be filed in any + +court of competent jurisdiction by, or on behalf of, any person who under +existing law is entitled to priority of appointment. If no person is so +entitled, or if the person so entitled neglects or refuses to file such a +petition within 30 days after the mailing of notice by the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs to the last known address of such person, +indicating the necessity for filing the petition, a petition for such +appointment may be filed in any court of competent jurisdiction by, or on +behalf of, any responsible person residing in this state. +(2)(a) The petition for appointment shall set forth: +1. The name, age, and place of residence of the ward; +2. The names and places of residence of the nearest relative, if known; +3. The fact that the ward is entitled to receive moneys payable by or + +through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; +4. The amount of moneys then due and the amount of probable future + +payments; +5. The name and address of the person or institution, if any, having actual + +custody of the ward; and +6. The name, age, relationship, if any, occupation, and address of the + +proposed guardian. +(b) In the case of a mentally incompetent ward, the petition shall show that + +the ward has been found incompetent and has been rated incompetent on +examination by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, in +accordance with the laws and regulations governing the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(5); s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 6, ch. + +84-62; s. 43, ch. 93-268. + + + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.05. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.617. +Fla. Stat. 744.617 + + 744.617. Notice by court of petition filed for appointment of guardian. +(1) When a petition for the appointment of a guardian has been filed + +pursuant to s. 744.616, the court shall cause such notice to be given as +provided by the general guardianship law. In addition, notice of the +petition shall be given to the office of the United States Department of +Veterans Affairs having jurisdiction over the area in which the court is +located. + +(2) A copy of the petition provided for in s. 744.616 shall be mailed by +the clerk of the court to the person or persons for whom a guardian is to be +appointed, the clerk of court mailing the copy of the petition to the last +known address of such person or persons not less than 5 days prior to the +date set for the hearing of the petition by the court. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 11906, 1927; s. 7, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 2134; CGL 1936 Supp. + +2146(8); s. 7, ch. 84-62; s. 44, ch. 93-268. + +Editors notes. +Consolidation of former ss. 293.08, 294.03. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.618. +Fla. Stat. 744.618 + + 744.618. Persons who may be appointed guardian. +(1) Notwithstanding any law with respect to priority of persons entitled + +to appointment, or nomination in the petition, the court may appoint some +other individual or a bank or trust company as guardian if the court +determines that the appointment of the other individual or bank or trust +company would be in the best interest of the ward. + +(2) It is unlawful for a circuit judge to appoint either herself or himself, +or a member of her or his family, as guardian for any person entitled to the +benefits provided for in 38 U.S.C., as amended, except in a case when the +person entitled to such benefits is a member of the family of the circuit +judge involved. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2136; s. 24, ch. 73-334; s. 6, ch. 84-62; s. + +1117, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 294.04. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.619. +Fla. Stat. 744.619 + + 744.619. Bond of guardian. +When the appointment of a guardian is made, the guardian shall execute + +and file a bond to be approved by the court in an amount not less than the +sum of the amount of moneys then due to the ward and the amount of moneys +estimated to become payable during the ensuing year. The bond shall be in +the form, and shall be conditioned, as required of guardians appointed under +the general guardianship laws of this state. The court has the power to +require, from time to time, the guardian to file an additional bond. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(9); s. 7, ch. 84-62. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.09. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.621. +Fla. Stat. 744.621 + + 744.621. Inventory of wards property; guardians failure to file +inventory; discharge; forfeiture of commissions. + +Every guardian shall, within 30 days after his or her qualification and +whenever subsequently required by the circuit judge, file in the circuit court a +complete inventory of all the wards personal property in his or her hands +and, also, a schedule of all real estate in the state belonging to his or her +ward, describing it and its quality, whether it is improved or not, and, if it is +improved, in what manner, and the appraised value of same. The failure on +the part of the guardian to conform to the requirements of this section is a +ground for the discharge of the guardian, in which case the guardian shall +forfeit all commissions. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2138; s. 24, ch. 73-334; s. 10, ch. 84-62; s. + +1118, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 294.06. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.622. +Fla. Stat. 744.622 + + 744.622. Guardian empowered to receive moneys due ward from the +United States Government. + +A guardian appointed under the provisions of s. 744.616 may receive +income and benefits payable by the United States through the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs and also has the right to receive for the +account of the ward any moneys due from the United States Government in +the way of arrears of pay, bonus, compensation or insurance, or other sums +due by reason of his or her service (or the service of the person through +whom the ward claims) in the Armed Forces of the United States and any +other moneys due from the United States Government, payable through its +agencies or entities, together with the income derived from investments of +these moneys. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2138; s. 8, ch. 84-62; s. 45, ch. 93-268; s. + +1119, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 294.05. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.624. +Fla. Stat. 744.624 + + 744.624. Guardians application of estate funds for support and +maintenance of person other than ward. + +A guardian shall not apply any portion of the estate of her or his ward to +the support and maintenance of any person other than her or his ward, except +upon order of the court after a hearing, notice of which has been given to the +proper office of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as provided +in s. 744.625. + +HISTORY: +S. 13, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(14); s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 10, + +ch. 84-62; s. 46, ch. 93-268; s. 1120, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.14. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.625. +Fla. Stat. 744.625 + + 744.625. Petition for support, or support and education, of wards +dependents; payments of apportioned benefits prohibit contempt +action against veteran. +(1) Any person who is dependent on a ward for support may petition a + +court of competent jurisdiction for an order directing the guardian of the +wards estate to contribute from the estate of the ward to the support, or +support and education, of the dependent person, when the estate of the +ward is derived in whole or in part from payments of compensation, +adjusted compensation, pension, insurance, or other benefits made directly +to the guardian of the ward by the United States Department of Veterans +Affairs. A notice of the application for support, or support and education, +shall be given by the applicant to the office of the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs having jurisdiction over the area in which +the court is located at least 15 days before the hearing on the application. + +(2) The grant or denial of an order for support, or support and education, +does not preclude a further petition for an increase, decrease, modification, +or termination of the allowance for such support, or support and education, +by either the petitioner or the guardian. + +(3) The order for the support, or support and education, of the petitioner +is valid for any payment made pursuant to the order, but no valid payment +can be made after the termination of the guardianship. The receipt of the +petitioner shall be a sufficient release of the guardian for payments made +pursuant to the order. + +(4) When a claim for apportionment of benefits filed with the United +States Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of a dependent or +dependents of a disabled veteran is approved by the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs, subsequent payments of such apportioned +benefits by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs prohibit an +action for contempt from being instituted against the veteran. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 84-62; s. 47, ch. 93-268. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.626. +Fla. Stat. 744.626 + + 744.626. Exemption of benefits from claims of creditors. +Except as provided by federal law, payments of benefits from the United + +States Department of Veterans Affairs or the Social Security Administration +to or for the benefit of a disabled veteran or the veterans surviving spouse or +dependents are exempt from the claims of creditors and shall not be liable to +attachment, levy, or seizure by or under any legal or equitable process +whatever, either before or after the receipt of the payments by the guardian or +the beneficiary. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 84-62; s. 48, ch. 93-268; s. 1121, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.627. +Fla. Stat. 744.627 + + 744.627. Investment of funds of estate by guardian. +Every guardian shall invest the funds of the estate in such manner or in + +such securities, in which the guardian has no interest, as allowed by chapter +518. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 14579, 1929; s. 1, ch. 17473, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(13); + +s. 10, ch. 84-62. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.13. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.631. +Fla. Stat. 744.631 + + 744.631. Guardians petition for authority to sell wards real estate; +notice by publication; penalties. +(1) When a guardian of the estate of a minor or an incompetent ward, + +which guardian has the control or management of any real estate that is the +property of such minor or incompetent, deems it necessary or expedient to +sell all or part of the real estate, the guardian shall apply, either in term +time or in vacation by petition to the judge of the circuit court for the +county in which the real estate is situated, for authority to sell all or part of +the real estate. If the prayer of the petition appears to the judge to be +reasonable and just and financially beneficial to the estate of the ward, the +judge may authorize the guardian to sell the real estate described in the +petition under such conditions as the interest of the minor or incompetent +may, in the opinion of the judge, seem to require. + +(2) The authority to sell the real estate described in the petition shall not +be granted unless the guardian has given previous notice, published once a +week for 4 successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where +the application is made, of his or her intention to make application to the +judge for authority to sell such real estate, the guardian setting forth in the +notice the time and place and to what judge the application will be made. If +the lands lie in more than one county, the application for such authority +shall be made in each county in which the lands lie. + +(3) The failure on the part of the guardian to comply with the provisions +of this section makes the guardian and the guardians bond agents +individually responsible for any loss that may accrue to the estate of the +ward involved, and is a ground for the immediate removal of such guardian +as to his or her functions, but does not discharge the guardian as to his or +her liability or discharge the liabilities of his or her sureties. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2141; s. 24, ch. 73-334; s. 11, ch. 84-62; s. + +1122, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. + + + +Former s. 294.10. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.634. +Fla. Stat. 744.634 + + 744.634. Guardians accounts, filing with court and certification to +United States Department of Veterans Affairs; notice and hearing on +accounts; failure to account. +(1) Every guardian who receives on account of his or her ward any + +moneys from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs shall +annually file with the court on the anniversary date of the appointment, in +addition to such other accounts as may be required by the court, a full, true, +and accurate account under oath, which account is an account of all +moneys so received by him or her and of all disbursements from such +moneys, and which account shows the balance of the moneys in his or her +hands at the date of such filing and shows how the moneys are invested. A +certified copy of each of such accounts filed with the court shall be sent by +the guardian to the office of the United States Department of Veterans +Affairs having jurisdiction over the area in which such court is located. If +the requirement of certification is waived in writing by the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs, an uncertified copy of each of such +accounts shall be sent. + +(2) The court, at its discretion or upon the petition of an interested party, +shall fix a time and place for the hearing on such account; and notice of the +hearing shall be given by the court to the United States Department of +Veterans Affairs not less than 15 days prior to the date fixed for the +hearing. + +(3) The court need not appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the ward +at the hearing provided for in subsection (2). If the residence of the next +kin of the ward is known, notice by registered mail shall be sent to such +relative. Notice also shall be served on the ward; or, if the ward is mentally +incapable of understanding the matter at issue, the notice may be served on +the person in charge of the institution where the ward is detained, or on the +person having charge or custody of the ward. + +(4) When a hearing on an account is required by the court or requested +in the petition of an interested party as provided in subsection (2), the +judge of the court on the day of the hearing as provided for in subsection + + + +(2) shall carefully examine the vouchers and audit and state the account +between the guardian and ward. Proper evidence shall be required in +support of any voucher or item of the account that may appear to the court +not to be just and proper, such evidence to be taken by affidavit or by any +other legal mode. If any voucher is rejected, the item or items covered by +the disapproval of any voucher or vouchers shall be taxed against the +guardian personally. After such examination, the court shall render a +decree upon the account, which shall be entered on the record, and the +account and vouchers shall be filed. Such partial settlement shall be taken +and presumed as correct on final settlement of the guardianship. + +(5) If a guardian fails to file any account of the moneys received by him +or her from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on account +of his or her ward within 30 days after such account is required by either +the court or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or fails to +furnish the United States Department of Veterans Affairs a copy of his or +her accounts as required by subsection (1), such failure shall be a ground +for the removal of the guardian. + +HISTORY: +SS. 7, 8, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2139, 2140; ss. 9, 10, ch. 14579, 1929; + +CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(10), (11); s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 12, ch. 84-62; s. 49, ch. +93-268; s. 1123, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Consolidation of former ss. 293.10, 293.11, 294.08, 294.09. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.637. +Fla. Stat. 744.637 + + 744.637. Certified copies of public records made available. +When a copy of any public record is required by the United States + +Department of Veterans Affairs to be used in determining the eligibility of +any person to participate in benefits made available by the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs, the official charged with the custody of such +public record shall, without charge, provide to the applicant for such benefits +or any person acting on her or his behalf, or to the authorized representative +of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, a certified copy of such +record. For each and every certified copy so furnished by the official, the +official shall be paid by the board of county commissioners the fee provided +by law for copies. + +HISTORY: +S. 14, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(15); s. 7, ch. 29749, 1955; + +s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 13, ch. 84-62; s. 50, ch. 93-268; s. 1124, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.15. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.638. +Fla. Stat. 744.638 + + 744.638. Clerk of the circuit court; fees; duties. +Upon the filing of the petition for guardianship, granting of same, and + +entering decree thereon, the clerk of the circuit court is entitled to the service +charge as provided by law, which shall include the cost of recording the +petition, bond, and decree and the issuing of letters of guardianship. The +certificate of the secretary or the secretarys authorized representative +provided for in s. 744.613 need not be recorded but must be kept in the file. +Upon issuing letters of guardianship or letters appointing a guardian for the +estate of a minor or incompetent, the clerk of the circuit court shall send to +the regional office of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs +having jurisdiction in this state two certified copies of the letters and two +certified copies of the bond approved by the court, without charge or expense +to the estate involved. The clerk of the circuit court shall also send a certified +copy of such letters to the property appraiser and to the tax collector in each +county in which the ward owns real property. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2142; s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 24, ch. 73-334; s. 7, + +ch. 84-62; s. 11, ch. 87-145; s. 51, ch. 93-268; s. 1125, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 294.11. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.639. +Fla. Stat. 744.639 + + 744.639. Attorneys fee. +The fee for the attorney filing the petition and conducting the proceedings + +shall be fixed by the court in an amount as small as reasonably possible, not +to exceed $250. However, this section is not to be interpreted to exclude a +petition for extraordinary attorneys fees, properly filed, and if approved by +the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, does not necessitate a +hearing before the court for approval, but the court shall enter its order for +withdrawal of said attorneys fees from the wards guardianship account +accordingly. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 84-62; s. 31, ch. 95-401; s. 16, ch. 97-93. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.641. +Fla. Stat. 744.641 + + 744.641. Guardians compensation; bond premiums. +The amount of compensation payable to a guardian shall not exceed 5 + +percent of the income of the ward during any year and may be taken, by the +guardian, on a monthly basis. In the event of extraordinary services rendered +by such guardian, the court may, upon petition and after hearing on the +petition, authorize additional compensation for the extraordinary services, +payable from the estate of the ward. Provided that extraordinary services +approved by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs do not require +a court hearing for approval of the fees, but shall require an order authorizing +the guardian to withdraw the amount from the guardianship account. No +compensation shall be allowed on the corpus of an estate received from a +preceding guardian. The guardian may be allowed from the estate of her or +his ward reasonable premiums paid by the guardian to any corporate surety +upon the guardians bond. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(12); s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 14, + +ch. 84-62; s. 63, ch. 85-62; s. 52, ch. 93-268; s. 32, ch. 95-401; s. 1126, ch. +97-102; s. 85, ch. 99-3. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.12. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.643. +Fla. Stat. 744.643 + + 744.643. Discharge of guardian of minor or incompetent ward. +When a minor ward, for whom a guardian has been appointed under the + +provisions of this part or other laws of this state, attains his or her majority +and, if such minor ward has been incompetent, is declared competent by the +United States Department of Veterans Affairs and the court, or when an +incompetent ward who is not a minor is declared competent by the United +States Department of Veterans Affairs and the court, the guardian shall, upon +making a satisfactory accounting, be discharged upon a petition filed for that +purpose. + +HISTORY: +S. 16, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(17); s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 15, + +ch. 84-62; s. 53, ch. 93-268; s. 1127, ch. 97-102. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.17. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.646. +Fla. Stat. 744.646 + + 744.646. Final settlement of guardianship; notice required; guardian +ad litem fee; papers required by United States Department of +Veterans Affairs. + +On the final settlement of the guardianship, the notice provided herein for +partial settlement must be given and the other proceedings conducted as in +the case of partial settlement, except that a guardian ad litem may be +appointed to represent the ward, the fee of which guardian ad litem shall in +no case exceed $150. However, if the ward has been pronounced competent, +is shown to be mentally sound, appears in court, and is 18 years of age, the +settlement may be had between the guardian and the ward under the direction +of the court without notice to the next of kin, or the appointment of a +guardian ad litem. A certified copy of the final settlement so made in every +case must be filed with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs by +the clerk of the court. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2143; s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. 13, ch. 77-121; s. + +16, ch. 84-62; s. 54, ch. 93-268. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 294.12. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.649. +Fla. Stat. 744.649 + + 744.649. Notice of appointment of general guardian; closing of +veterans guardianship; transfer of responsibilities and penalties to +general guardian. + +When the appointment of a general guardian has been made in the proper +court and such guardian has qualified and taken charge of the other property +of the ward, the general guardian shall file notice of such appointment in the +court in which the veterans guardianship is pending and have the veterans +guardianship settled up and closed so that the general guardian may take +charge of the moneys referred to and described in ss. 744.613(2) and (3) and +744.622. When the appointment of a general guardian, whether for an +incompetent or minor child or another beneficiary entitled to the benefits +provided in 38 U.S.C., as amended, has been confirmed by the court having +jurisdiction, such general guardian is responsible and is subject to the +provisions and penalties contained in 38 U.S.C., as amended, as well as the +requirements pertaining to guardians as set forth in this part. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 11906, 1927; CGL 2138; s. 17, ch. 84-62. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 294.07. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.652. +Fla. Stat. 744.652 + + 744.652. Construction and application of part. +This part shall be construed liberally to secure the beneficial intents and + +purposes of this part and applies only to beneficiaries of the United States +Department of Veterans Affairs. It shall be so interpreted and construed as to +effectuate its general purpose of making the welfare of such beneficiaries the +primary concern of their guardians and of the court. + +HISTORY: +SS. 17, 19, ch. 14579, 1929; CGL 1936 Supp. 2146(18); s. 1, ch. 73-304; s. + +18, ch. 84-62; s. 55, ch. 93-268. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 293.18. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. VIII. , 744.653. +Fla. Stat. 744.653 + + 744.653. Annual guardianship report. +Guardians appointed under the Veterans Guardianship Law shall not be + +required to comply with the provisions of s. 744.367. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 91-306. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 744, Pt. IX + + + +PART IX. +PUBLIC GUARDIANSHIP. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.701. +Fla. Stat. 744.701 + + 744.701. Short title. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 96, ch. 89-96; repealed by s. 28, ch. 2016-40, effective + +March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.702. +Fla. Stat. 744.702 + + 744.702. Legislative intent. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-120; s. 97, ch. 89-96; s. 3, ch. 99-277; repealed by s. 29, ch. + +2016-40, effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.7021. +Fla. Stat. 744.7021 + + 744.7021. Statewide Public Guardianship Office. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.7021 was transferred to 744.2001 by s. 8, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.703. +Fla. Stat. 744.703 + + 744.703. Office of public guardian; appointment, notification. +[Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.703 was transferred to 744.2006 by s. 14, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.704. +Fla. Stat. 744.704 + + 744.704. Powers and duties. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.704 was transferred to 744.2007 by s. 15, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.705. +Fla. Stat. 744.705 + + 744.705. Costs of public guardian. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.705 was transferred to 744.2008 by s. 16, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.706. +Fla. Stat. 744.706 + + 744.706. Preparation of budget. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.706 was transferred to 744.2009 by s. 17, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.707. +Fla. Stat. 744.707 + + 744.707. Procedures and rules. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.707 was transferred to 744.2101 by s. 18, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.708. +Fla. Stat. 744.708 + + 744.708. Reports and standards. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.708 was transferred to 744.2103 by s. 20, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.7081. +Fla. Stat. 744.7081 + + 744.7081. Access to records by Statewide Public Guardianship Office; +confidentiality. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.7081 was transferred to 744.2104 by s. 21, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.7082. +Fla. Stat. 744.7082 + + 744.7082. Direct-support organization; definition; use of property; +board of directors; audit; dissolution. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.7082 was transferred to 744.2105 by s. 22, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.709. +Fla. Stat. 744.709 + + 744.709. Surety bond. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.709 was transferred to 744.2102 by s. 19, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.7101. +Fla. Stat. 744.7101 + + 744.7101. Short title. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2004-260; repealed by s. 30, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, + +2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.711. +Fla. Stat. 744.711 + + 744.711. Legislative findings and intent. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 2004-260; repealed by s. 31, ch. 2016-40, effective March 10, + +2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.712. +Fla. Stat. 744.712 + + 744.712. Joining Forces for Public Guardianship grant program; +purpose. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.712 was transferred to 744.2106 by s. 23, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.713. +Fla. Stat. 744.713 + + 744.713. Program administration; duties of the Statewide Public +Guardianship Office. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.713 was transferred to 744.2107 by s. 24, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.714. +Fla. Stat. 744.714 + + 744.714. Eligibility. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.714 was transferred to 744.2108 by s. 25, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 744. , Pt. IX. , 744.715. +Fla. Stat. 744.715 + + 744.715. Grant application requirements; review criteria; awards +process. [Transferred] + +HISTORY: +Former 744.715 was transferred to 744.2109 by s. 26, ch. 2016-40, + +effective March 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIII, Ch. 747 + + + +CHAPTER 747. +CONSERVATORSHIP. + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.01. +Fla. Stat. 747.01 + + 747.01. Who are absentees under this law. +(1) Any person serving in or with the Armed Forces of the United + +States, in or with the Red Cross, in or with the Merchant Marine or +otherwise, during any period of time when a state of hostilities exists +between the United States and any other power and for 1 year thereafter, +who has been reported or listed as missing in action, interned in a neutral +country, beleaguered, besieged or captured by the enemy, shall be an +absentee within the meaning of this law; and, + +(2) Any resident of this state, or any person owning property herein, +who disappears under circumstances indicating that he or she may have +died, either naturally, accidentally or at the hand of another, or may have +disappeared as the result of mental derangement, amnesia or other mental +cause, shall also be an absentee within the meaning of this law. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 22888, 1945; s. 1, ch. 67-458; s. 1129, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.011. +Fla. Stat. 747.011 + + 747.011. Absentee incompetent for certain purposes. +An absentee as defined in s. 747.01 is considered incompetent for the + +purposes of s. 4, Art. X of the State Constitution. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 71-103. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.02. +Fla. Stat. 747.02 + + 747.02. Jurisdiction. +The circuit court has jurisdiction to appoint a conservator of the estate of + +an absentee as defined in s. 747.01 upon a showing that: +(1)(a)1. The absentee has an interest in any form of property in this state; + +or +2. The absentee is a legal resident of this state; or +3. The spouse or next of kin of the absentee is a legal resident of this state; + +and +(b) The absentee has not provided an adequate power of attorney + +authorizing another to act in his or her behalf with regard to such property or +interest or the term of any such power of attorney has expired; and + +(2) A necessity exists for providing care for the property or estate of the +absentee or care for or judgments concerning the absentees spouse and +children or, if he or she has no spouse and children, the absentees mother +or father. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 22888, 1945; s. 2, ch. 71-103; s. 1130, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.03. +Fla. Stat. 747.03 + + 747.03. Petition. +(1) The jurisdiction of the court shall be invoked by the filing of a + +petition by any person who would have an interest in the property or estate +of the absentee were such absentee deceased or any person who is +dependent on said absentee for his or her maintenance or support. + +(2) The petition shall be sworn to by the petitioner and shall state: +(a) The names, addresses, and ages of the spouse, children, mother, father, + +brothers, and sisters, or, if none of these is living, the next of kin, of the +absentee; + +(b) The name, address, and age of any other person who would have an +interest in the property or the estate of the absentee if he or she were +deceased; + +(c) The exact circumstances which cause the person missing to be an +absentee under s. 747.01 including the date he or she was first known to be +missing, interned, beleaguered, etc.; + +(d) The necessity for establishing a conservatorship; +(e) Whether or not the person alleged to be an absentee has a will and the + +whereabouts of said will; and +(f) A statement of all property constituting an asset of the alleged + +absentees estate or in which he or she has any interest and the approximate +value of same. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 22888, 1945; s. 5, ch. 71-103; s. 1131, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.031. +Fla. Stat. 747.031 + + 747.031. Notice; hearing. +(1) Notice of the hearing on the petition to appoint a conservator shall be + +given to all persons named in the petition by registered mail or certified +mail with return receipt requested. + +(2) The judge shall hear evidence on the question of whether the person +alleged to be missing, interned, beleaguered, etc., is an absentee as defined +by s. 747.01 and on the question of who is entitled to appointment as +conservator. Any person interested in such proceedings may intervene with +leave of the court. + +(3) The court may in its discretion appoint a guardian ad litem to +represent the alleged absentee at the hearing. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 71-103. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.032. +Fla. Stat. 747.032 + + 747.032. Order of appointment. +(1) If, after hearing, the court is satisfied that the person alleged to be an + +absentee is an absentee as defined in s. 747.01 and that it is necessary that +a conservatorship be established, she or he shall appoint a conservator of +the estate and property of said absentee to take charge of the absentees +estate and property under the supervision, and subject to the further orders, +of the court. + +(2) In the appointment of a conservator, the court shall give due +consideration to the appointment of one of the next of kin of the absentee if +such next of kin is a fit and proper person and is qualified to act. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 71-103; s. 1132, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.033. +Fla. Stat. 747.033 + + 747.033. Oath. +Every conservator, before exercising his or her authority as conservator, + +shall take oath that he or she will faithfully perform his or her duties as +conservator and will render true accounts whenever required according to +law, which oath may be administered by any officer authorized to administer +oaths under the laws of this state. Such oath shall be filed with the court. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 71-103; s. 1133, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.034. +Fla. Stat. 747.034 + + 747.034. Bond. +The court may require the conservator to post a bond as required for a + +guardian under ss. 744.38 and 744.39. All provisions of chapter 744 which +are applicable to bonds are applicable to the bond of the conservator required +under this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 9, ch. 71-103. + +Editors notes. +Sections 744.38 and 744.39, referred to in the first sentence, were repealed + +by s. 3, ch. 74-106. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.035. +Fla. Stat. 747.035 + + 747.035. Rights, powers, and duties of conservator. +(1) The conservator shall have all the rights, powers, and duties of a + +guardian of the property as established in chapter 744 and an absentee and +an absentees dependents shall be entitled to all benefits accruing to a ward +or a wards dependents under said chapter. + +(2) The circuit court shall have the same responsibility as to a +conservatorship as it has with respect to the guardianship of the property +under said chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 71-103; s. 32, ch. 73-334; s. 70, ch. 95-211. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.036. +Fla. Stat. 747.036 + + 747.036. Resignation or removal of conservator. +The provision for resignation and removal of a guardian of the property in + +chapter 746 shall apply in the circuit court to resignation and removal of a +conservator. + +HISTORY: +S. 11, ch. 71-103. + +Editors notes. +All sections in chapter 746, referred to in this section, were repealed by s. + +3, ch. 74-106. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.04. +Fla. Stat. 747.04 + + 747.04. Termination of conservatorship. +(1) At any time upon petition signed by the absentee, or on petition of an + +attorney in fact acting under an adequate power of attorney granted by the +absentee, the court shall direct the termination of the conservatorship and +the transfer of all property held thereunder to the absentee or to the +designated attorney in fact. + +(2) Likewise, if at any time subsequent to the appointment of a +conservator it shall appear that the absentee has died and an executor or +administrator has been appointed for her or his estate, the court shall direct +the termination of the conservatorship and the transfer of all property of +the deceased absentee held thereunder to such executor or administrator. + +(3) When the need for a conservatorship terminates, the conservator +shall promptly file her or his final returns and application for discharge +with the court. If it appears to the court that the returns are correct and that +the conservator has made full and complete transfer of the absentees +assets as directed, the court may approve the returns and discharge the +conservator. If objections to the returns are filed, the circuit judge shall +conduct a hearing under the same conditions for a hearing on objections to +annual returns. + +(4) Such discharge shall operate as a release from the duties of the +conservatorship and as a bar to any suit against said conservator or her or +his surety, unless such suit is commenced within 1 year from the date of +discharge. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 22888, 1945; s. 12, ch. 71-103; s. 1134, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.051. +Fla. Stat. 747.051 + + 747.051. Summary procedure. +(1) If the wife of any person defined as an absentee in s. 747.01(1), or + +his next of kin if said absentee has no wife, shall wish to sell or transfer +any property of the absentee which has a gross value of less than $5,000, +or shall require the consent of the absentee in any matter regarding the +absentees children or in any other matter in which the gross value of the +subject matter is less than $5,000, she may apply to the circuit court for an +order authorizing said sale, transfer, or consent without opening a full +conservatorship proceeding as provided by this chapter. She may make the +application without the assistance of an attorney. Said application shall be +made by petition on the following form, which form shall be made readily +available to the applicant by the clerk of the circuit court: + +In the Circuit Court + +In re: (Absentee)case number _________. + +PETITION FOR SUMMARY RELIEF + +Petitioner, (Name), whose residence is (Street & number), (City or town), +and (County), Florida, and who is the (Describe relationship to absentee) of +the absentee, (Name), states that the absentee has been (Imprisoned or +missing in action) since (Date) when (Describe details). Petitioner desires to +sell/transfer (Describe property) of the value of (Value) because (Give +reasons). The terms of sale/transfer are (Give reasons). Petitioner requires the +consent of the absentee for the purpose of _________. + +(Petitioner) +State of Florida +County of_________ +Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me this _________ day of + +____________________, (year), by (name of person making statement). +(Signature of Notary Public - State of Florida) + + + +(Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public) +Personally Known ____________________ OR Produced Identification + +____________________ +Type of Identification Produced ____________________ + +(2) The court shall, without hearing or notice, enter an order on said +petition if it deems the relief requested in said petition necessary to protect +the best interests of the absentee or her or his dependents. + +(3) Such order shall be prima facie evidence of the validity of the +proceedings and the authority of the petitioner to make a conveyance or +transfer of the property or to give the absentees consent in any matter +prescribed by subsection (1). + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 71-103; s. 32, ch. 73-334; s. 1135, ch. 97-102; s. 19, ch. 98-246; s. + +8, ch. 2021-205, effective June 29, 2021. + + + + Title XLIII. , Ch. 747. , 747.052. +Fla. Stat. 747.052 + + 747.052. Procedure for order authorizing action by spouse or next of +kin. +(1) If the spouse, or the next of kin if there is no spouse, of any person + +defined as an absentee under s. 747.01(1), shall wish to sell, lease, or +mortgage specific property having a gross value of $5,000 or more owned +by the absentee or in which the absentee had an interest, or take specific +action with respect to the absentees interest having a gross value of $5,000 +or more, he or she may petition the circuit court for an order authorizing +the action with respect to such property or interest. + +(2) The petition shall be sworn to by the petitioner and shall state: +(a) The names, addresses, and ages of the spouse, children, mother, father, + +brothers, and sisters, or, if none of these is living, the next of kin, of the +absentee; + +(b) The name, address, and age of any other person who would have an +interest in the property or the estate of the absentee if she or he were +deceased; + +(c) The exact circumstances which cause the person missing to be an +absentee under s. 747.01, including the date she or he was first known to be +missing, interned, beleaguered, etc.; + +(d) The reasons for the action for which the petition seeks authorization; +(e) Whether or not the person alleged to be an absentee has a will and the + +whereabouts of said will and contents if known; and +(f) A statement of all property constituting an asset of the alleged + +absentees estate or in which she or he has any interest and the approximate +value of same. + +(3) Notice of the hearing on the petition shall be given to all persons +named in the petition by registered mail or certified mail with return +receipt requested. + +(4) The judge shall hear evidence on the question of whether the person +alleged to be missing, interned, beleaguered, etc., is an absentee as defined + + + +by s. 747.01 and on the question of whether the action in question should +be authorized. Any person interested in such proceedings may intervene +with leave of the court. + +(5) The court may in its discretion appoint a guardian ad litem to +represent the alleged absentee at the hearing. + +(6) If, after hearing, the court is satisfied that the person alleged to be an +absentee is an absentee as defined in s. 747.01, that the action in question +should be authorized, and that there is no necessity for a full +conservatorship as provided by s. 747.03, the court shall enter an order +appointing the petitioner as conservator for the purposes of the action +which is the subject of the petition and authorizing the conservator to take +the action requested in the petition. The court shall require the conservator +to account for the proceeds of the sale, lease, or other action, but the +conservator shall not be required to subject the other property of the +absentee to a conservatorship proceeding. The court may retain jurisdiction +of the proceeding to make such further orders as it deems proper. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 71-103; s. 1136, ch. 97-102. + + + + Title XLIV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIV + +TITLE XLIV. +CIVIL RIGHTS. + +________ + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. + +Fla. Stat. Title XLIV, Ch. 765 + + + +CHAPTER 765. +HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIV, Ch. 765, Pt. I + + + +PART I. +GENERAL PROVISIONS. + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.101. +Fla. Stat. 765.101 + + 765.101. Definitions. +As used in this chapter: + +(1) Advance directive means a witnessed written document or oral +statement in which instructions are given by a principal or in which the +principals desires are expressed concerning any aspect of the principals +health care or health information, and includes, but is not limited to, the +designation of a health care surrogate, a living will, or an anatomical gift +made pursuant to part V of this chapter. + +(2) Attending physician means the physician who has primary +responsibility for the treatment and care of the patient while the patient +receives such treatment or care in a hospital as defined in s. 395.002(12). + +(3) Close personal friend means any person 18 years of age or older +who has exhibited special care and concern for the patient, and who +presents an affidavit to the health care facility or to the primary physician +stating that he or she is a friend of the patient; is willing and able to +become involved in the patients health care; and has maintained such +regular contact with the patient so as to be familiar with the patients +activities, health, and religious or moral beliefs. + +(4) End-stage condition means an irreversible condition that is caused +by injury, disease, or illness which has resulted in progressively severe and +permanent deterioration, and which, to a reasonable degree of medical +probability, treatment of the condition would be ineffective. + +(5) Health care means care, services, or supplies related to the health +of an individual and includes, but is not limited to, preventive, diagnostic, +therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or palliative care, and counseling, +service, assessment, or procedure with respect to the individuals physical +or mental condition or functional status or that affect the structure or +function of the individuals body. + + + +(6) Health care decision means: +(a) Informed consent, refusal of consent, or withdrawal of consent to any + +and all health care, including life-prolonging procedures and mental health +treatment, unless otherwise stated in the advance directives. + +(b) The decision to apply for private, public, government, or veterans +benefits to defray the cost of health care. + +(c) The right of access to health information of the principal reasonably +necessary for a health care surrogate or proxy to make decisions involving +health care and to apply for benefits. + +(d) The decision to make an anatomical gift pursuant to part V of this +chapter. + +(7) Health care facility means a hospital, nursing home, hospice, home +health agency, or health maintenance organization licensed in this state, or +any facility subject to part I of chapter 394. + +(8) Health care provider or provider means any person licensed, +certified, or otherwise authorized by law to administer health care in the +ordinary course of business or practice of a profession. + +(9) Health information means any information, whether oral or +recorded in any form or medium, as defined in 45 C.F.R. s. 160.103 and +the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 42 U.S.C. +s. 1320d, as amended, that: +(a) Is created or received by a health care provider, health care facility, + +health plan, public health authority, employer, life insurer, school or +university, or health care clearinghouse; and + +(b) Relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or +condition of the principal; the provision of health care to the principal; or the +past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the +principal. + +(10) Incapacity or incompetent means the patient is physically or +mentally unable to communicate a willful and knowing health care +decision. For the purposes of making an anatomical gift, the term also +includes a patient who is deceased. + + + +(11) Informed consent means consent voluntarily given by a person +after a sufficient explanation and disclosure of the subject matter involved +to enable that person to have a general understanding of the treatment or +procedure and the medically acceptable alternatives, including the +substantial risks and hazards inherent in the proposed treatment or +procedures, and to make a knowing health care decision without coercion +or undue influence. + +(12) Life-prolonging procedure means any medical procedure, +treatment, or intervention, including artificially provided sustenance and +hydration, which sustains, restores, or supplants a spontaneous vital +function. The term does not include the administration of medication or +performance of medical procedure, when such medication or procedure is +deemed necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain. + +(13) Living will or declaration means: +(a) A witnessed document in writing, voluntarily executed by the principal + +in accordance with s. 765.302; or +(b) A witnessed oral statement made by the principal expressing the + +principals instructions concerning life-prolonging procedures. +(14) Minors principal means a principal who is a natural guardian as + +defined in s. 744.301(1); legal custodian; or, subject to chapter 744, legal +guardian of the person of a minor. + +(15) Persistent vegetative state means a permanent and irreversible +condition of unconsciousness in which there is: +(a) The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any kind. +(b) An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the + +environment. +(16) Physician means a person licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or + +chapter 459. +(17) Primary physician means a physician designated by an individual + +or the individuals surrogate, proxy, or agent under a durable power of +attorney as provided in chapter 709, to have primary responsibility for the +individuals health care or, in the absence of a designation or if the +designated physician is not reasonably available, a physician who + + + +undertakes the responsibility. +(18) Principal means a competent adult executing an advance directive + +and on whose behalf health care decisions are to be made or health care +information is to be received, or both. + +(19) Proxy means a competent adult who has not been expressly +designated to make health care decisions for a particular incapacitated +individual, but who, nevertheless, is authorized pursuant to s. 765.401 to +make health care decisions for such individual. + +(20) Reasonably available means readily able to be contacted without +undue effort and willing and able to act in a timely manner considering the +urgency of the patients health care needs. + +(21) Surrogate means any competent adult expressly designated by a +principal to make health care decisions and to receive health information. +The principal may stipulate whether the authority of the surrogate to make +health care decisions or to receive health information is exercisable +immediately without the necessity for a determination of incapacity or only +upon the principals incapacity as provided in s. 765.204. + +(22) Terminal condition means a condition caused by injury, disease, +or illness from which there is no reasonable medical probability of +recovery and which, without treatment, can be expected to cause death. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 3, ch. 94-183; s. 46, ch. 96-169; s. 16, ch. 99-331; s. 3, + +ch. 2001-250; s. 131, ch. 2001-277; s. 104, ch. 2006-1, eff. July 4, 2006; s. +28, ch. 2006-178, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 2, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, +2015; s. 14, ch. 2021-112, effective July 1, 2021; s. 60, ch. 2022-4, effective +May 13, 2022. + +Editors notes. +For chapter 2003-418, authorizing the Governor to issue a one-time stay to + +prevent the withholding of nutrition and hydration to a patient under certain +circumstances, see the note at s. 765.404. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.102. +Fla. Stat. 765.102 + + 765.102. Legislative findings and intent. +(1) The Legislature finds that every competent adult has the fundamental + +right of self-determination regarding decisions pertaining to his or her own +health, including the right to choose or refuse medical treatment. This right +is subject to certain interests of society, such as the protection of human +life and the preservation of ethical standards in the medical profession. + +(2) To ensure that such right is not lost or diminished by virtue of later +physical or mental incapacity, the Legislature intends that a procedure be +established to allow a person to plan for incapacity by executing a +document or orally designating another person to direct the course of his or +her health care or receive his or her health information, or both, upon his or +her incapacity. Such procedure should be less expensive and less restrictive +than guardianship and permit a previously incapacitated person to exercise +his or her full right to make health care decisions as soon as the capacity to +make such decisions has been regained. + +(3) The Legislature also recognizes that some competent adults may +want to receive immediate assistance in making health care decisions or +accessing health information, or both, without a determination of +incapacity. The Legislature intends that a procedure be established to allow +a person to designate a surrogate to make health care decisions or receive +health information, or both, without the necessity for a determination of +incapacity under this chapter. + +(4) The Legislature recognizes that for some the administration of life- +prolonging medical procedures may result in only a precarious and +burdensome existence. In order to ensure that the rights and intentions of a +person may be respected even after he or she is no longer able to +participate actively in decisions concerning himself or herself, and to +encourage communication among such patient, his or her family, and his or +her physician, the Legislature declares that the laws of this state recognize +the right of a competent adult to make an advance directive instructing his +or her physician to provide, withhold, or withdraw life-prolonging +procedures or to designate another to make the health care decision for him + + + +or her in the event that such person should become incapacitated and +unable to personally direct his or her health care. + +(5) The Legislature recognizes the need for all health care professionals +to rapidly increase their understanding of end-of-life and palliative care. +Therefore, the Legislature encourages the professional regulatory boards to +adopt appropriate standards and guidelines regarding end-of-life care and +pain management and encourages educational institutions established to +train health care professionals and allied health professionals to implement +curricula to train such professionals to provide end-of-life care, including +pain management and palliative care. + +(6) For purposes of this chapter: +(a) Palliative care is the comprehensive management of the physical, + +psychological, social, spiritual, and existential needs of patients. Palliative +care is especially suited to the care of persons who have incurable, +progressive illnesses. + +(b) Palliative care must include: +1. An opportunity to discuss and plan for end-of-life care. +2. Assurance that physical and mental suffering will be carefully attended + +to. +3. Assurance that preferences for withholding and withdrawing life- + +sustaining interventions will be honored. +4. Assurance that the personal goals of the dying person will be addressed. +5. Assurance that the dignity of the dying person will be a priority. +6. Assurance that health care providers will not abandon the dying person. +7. Assurance that the burden to family and others will be addressed. +8. Assurance that advance directives for care will be respected regardless + +of the location of care. +9. Assurance that organizational mechanisms are in place to evaluate the + +availability and quality of end-of-life, palliative, and hospice care services, +including the evaluation of administrative and regulatory barriers. + +10. Assurance that necessary health care services will be provided and that + + + +relevant reimbursement policies are available. +11. Assurance that the goals expressed in subparagraphs 1.-10. will be + +accomplished in a culturally appropriate manner. +(7) The Department of Elderly Affairs, the Agency for Health Care + +Administration, and the Department of Health shall jointly create a +campaign on end-of-life care for purposes of educating the public. This +campaign should include culturally sensitive programs to improve +understanding of end-of-life care issues in minority communities. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 1144, ch. 97-102; s. 17, ch. 99-331; s. 7, ch. 2000-295; + +s. 4, ch. 2001-250; ss. 132, 133, ch. 2001-277; s. 3, ch. 2015-153, effective +October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.103. +Fla. Stat. 765.103 + + 765.103. Existing advance directives. +Any advance directive made prior to October 1, 1999, shall be given effect + +as executed, provided such directive was legally effective when written. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 18, ch. 99-331. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.104. +Fla. Stat. 765.104 + + 765.104. Amendment or revocation. +(1) An advance directive may be amended or revoked at any time by a + +competent principal: +(a) By means of a signed, dated writing; +(b) By means of the physical cancellation or destruction of the advance + +directive by the principal or by another in the principals presence and at the +principals direction; + +(c) By means of an oral expression of intent to amend or revoke; or +(d) By means of a subsequently executed advance directive that is + +materially different from a previously executed advance directive. +(2) Unless otherwise provided in the advance directive or in an order of + +dissolution or annulment of marriage, the dissolution or annulment of +marriage of the principal revokes the designation of the principals former +spouse as a surrogate. + +(3) Any such amendment or revocation will be effective when it is +communicated to the surrogate, health care provider, or health care facility. +No civil or criminal liability shall be imposed upon any person for a failure +to act upon an amendment or revocation unless that person has actual +knowledge of such amendment or revocation. + +(4) Any patient for whom a medical proxy has been recognized under s. +765.401 and for whom any previous legal disability that precluded the +patients ability to consent is removed may amend or revoke the +recognition of the medical proxy and any uncompleted decision made by +that proxy. The amendment or revocation takes effect when it is +communicated to the proxy, the health care provider, or the health care +facility in writing or, if communicated orally, in the presence of a third +person. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 47, ch. 96-169; s. 19, ch. 99-331; s. 12, ch. 2002-195; s. + + + +4, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.105. +Fla. Stat. 765.105 + + 765.105. Review of surrogate or proxys decision. +(1) The patients family, the health care facility, or the primary + +physician, or any other interested person who may reasonably be expected +to be directly affected by the surrogate or proxys decision concerning any +health care decision may seek expedited judicial intervention pursuant to +rule 5.900 of the Florida Probate Rules, if that person believes: +(a) The surrogate or proxys decision is not in accord with the patients + +known desires or this chapter; +(b) The advance directive is ambiguous, or the patient has changed his or + +her mind after execution of the advance directive; +(c) The surrogate or proxy was improperly designated or appointed, or the + +designation of the surrogate is no longer effective or has been revoked; +(d) The surrogate or proxy has failed to discharge duties, or incapacity or + +illness renders the surrogate or proxy incapable of discharging duties; +(e) The surrogate or proxy has abused his or her powers; or +(f) The patient has sufficient capacity to make his or her own health care + +decisions. +(2) This section does not apply to a patient who is not incapacitated and + +who has designated a surrogate who has immediate authority to make +health care decisions or receive health information, or both, on behalf of +the patient. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 4, ch. 94-183; s. 5, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, + +2015; s. 85, ch. 2016-10, effective May 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.106. +Fla. Stat. 765.106 + + 765.106. Preservation of existing rights. +The provisions of this chapter are cumulative to the existing law regarding + +an individuals right to consent, or refuse to consent, to medical treatment +and do not impair any existing rights or responsibilities which a health care +provider, a patient, including a minor, competent or incompetent person, or a +patients family may have under the common law, Federal Constitution, State +Constitution, or statutes of this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 5, ch. 94-183. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.107. +Fla. Stat. 765.107 + + 765.107. Construction. +(1) This chapter shall not be construed to repeal by implication any + +provision of s. 766.103, the Florida Medical Consent Law. For all +purposes, the Florida Medical Consent Law shall be considered an +alternative to provisions of this section. + +(2) Procedures provided in this chapter permitting the withholding or +withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures do not apply to a person who +never had capacity to designate a health care surrogate or execute a living +will. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 20, ch. 99-331. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.108. +Fla. Stat. 765.108 + + 765.108. Effect with respect to insurance. +The making of an advance directive pursuant to the provisions of this + +chapter shall not affect the sale, procurement, or issuance of any policy of life +insurance, nor shall such making of an advance directive be deemed to +modify the terms of an existing policy of life insurance. No policy of life +insurance will be legally impaired or invalidated by the withholding or +withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures from an insured patient in +accordance with the provisions of this chapter, nor by any other treatment +decision made according to this chapter, notwithstanding any term of the +policy to the contrary. A person shall not be required to make an advance +directive as a condition for being insured for, or receiving, health care +services. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.109. +Fla. Stat. 765.109 + + 765.109. Immunity from liability; weight of proof; presumption. +(1) A health care facility, provider, or other person who acts under the + +direction of a health care facility or provider is not subject to criminal +prosecution or civil liability, and will not be deemed to have engaged in +unprofessional conduct, as a result of carrying out a health care decision +made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The surrogate or +proxy who makes a health care decision on a patients behalf, pursuant to +this chapter, is not subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability for such +action. + +(2) The provisions of this section shall apply unless it is shown by a +preponderance of the evidence that the person authorizing or effectuating a +health care decision did not, in good faith, comply with the provisions of +this chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.110. +Fla. Stat. 765.110 + + 765.110. Health care facilities and providers; discipline. +(1) A health care facility, pursuant to Pub. L. No. 101-508, ss. 4206 and + +4751, shall provide to each patient written information concerning the +individuals rights concerning advance directives and the health care +facilitys policies respecting the implementation of such rights, and shall +document in the patients medical records whether or not the individual has +executed an advance directive. + +(2) A health care provider or health care facility may not require a +patient to execute an advance directive or to execute a new advance +directive using the facilitys or providers forms. The patients advance +directives shall travel with the patient as part of the patients medical +record. + +(3) A health care provider or health care facility shall be subject to +professional discipline and revocation of license or certification, and a fine +of not more than $1,000 per incident, or both, if the health care provider or +health care facility, as a condition of treatment or admission, requires an +individual to execute or waive an advance directive. + +(4) The Department of Health, in consultation with the Department of +Elderly Affairs, for health care providers; the Agency for Health Care +Administration for hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, home health +agencies, and health maintenance organizations; and the Department of +Children and Families for facilities subject to part I of chapter 394 shall +adopt rules to implement this section. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 6, ch. 94-183; s. 243, ch. 94-218; s. 48, ch. 96-169; s. + +284, ch. 99-8; s. 21, ch. 99-331; s. 293, ch. 2014-19, effective July 1, 2014; s. +29, ch. 2019-11, effective July 1, 2019. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.1103. +Fla. Stat. 765.1103 + + 765.1103. Pain management and palliative care. +(1) A patient shall be given information concerning pain management + +and palliative care when he or she discusses with the primary physician, or +such physicians designee, the diagnosis, planned course of treatment, +alternatives, risks, or prognosis for his or her illness. If the patient is +incapacitated, the information shall be given to the patients health care +surrogate or proxy, court-appointed guardian as provided in chapter 744, or +attorney in fact under a durable power of attorney as provided in chapter +709. The court-appointed guardian or attorney in fact must have been +delegated authority to make health care decisions on behalf of the patient. + +(2) Health care providers and practitioners regulated under chapter 458, +chapter 459, or chapter 464 must, as appropriate, comply with a request for +pain management or palliative care from a patient under their care or, for +an incapacitated patient under their care, from a surrogate, proxy, guardian, +or other representative permitted to make health care decisions for the +incapacitated patient. Facilities regulated under chapter 395, chapter 400, +or chapter 429 must comply with the pain management or palliative care +measures ordered by the patients physician. + +HISTORY: +S. 8, ch. 2000-295; s. 5, ch. 2001-250; s. 134, ch. 2001-277; s. 105, ch. + +2006-197, eff. July 1, 2006; s. 6, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.1105. +Fla. Stat. 765.1105 + + 765.1105. Transfer of a patient. +(1) A health care provider or facility that refuses to comply with a + +patients advance directive, or the treatment decision of his or her surrogate +or proxy, shall make reasonable efforts to transfer the patient to another +health care provider or facility that will comply with the directive or +treatment decision. This chapter does not require a health care provider or +facility to commit any act which is contrary to the providers or facilitys +moral or ethical beliefs, if the patient: +(a) Is not in an emergency condition; and +(b) Has received written information upon admission informing the patient + +of the policies of the health care provider or facility regarding such moral or +ethical beliefs. + +(2) A health care provider or facility that is unwilling to carry out the +wishes of the patient or the treatment decision of his or her surrogate or +proxy because of moral or ethical beliefs must within 7 days either: +(a) Transfer the patient to another health care provider or facility. The + +health care provider or facility shall pay the costs for transporting the patient +to another health care provider or facility; or + +(b) If the patient has not been transferred, carry out the wishes of the +patient or the patients surrogate or proxy, unless s. 765.105 applies. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 11, ch. 94-183; s. 1148, ch. 97-102; s. 30, ch. 99-331; s. + +7, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 765.308. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.1115. +Fla. Stat. 765.1115 + + 765.1115. Falsification, forgery, or willful concealment, cancellation, or +destruction of directive or revocation or amendment; penalties. +(1) Any person who willfully conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or + +damages an advance directive without the principals consent or who +falsifies or forges the revocation or amendment of an advance directive of +another, and who thereby causes life-prolonging procedures to be utilized +in contravention of the previously expressed intent of the principal, +commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, +s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. + +(2) Any person who falsifies or forges the advance directive of another +or who willfully conceals or withholds personal knowledge of the +revocation of an advance directive, with the intent to cause a withholding +or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures contrary to the wishes of the +principal, and who thereby because of such act directly causes life- +prolonging procedures to be withheld or withdrawn and death to be +hastened, commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in +s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 31, ch. 99-331. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 765.310. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.112. +Fla. Stat. 765.112 + + 765.112. Recognition of advance directive executed in another state. +An advance directive executed in another state in compliance with the law + +of that state or of this state is validly executed for the purposes of this +chapter. + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. I. , 765.113. +Fla. Stat. 765.113 + + 765.113. Restrictions on providing consent. +Unless the principal expressly delegates such authority to the surrogate in + +writing, or a surrogate or proxy has sought and received court approval +pursuant to rule 5.900 of the Florida Probate Rules, a surrogate or proxy may +not provide consent for: + +(1) Abortion, sterilization, electroshock therapy, psychosurgery, +experimental treatments that have not been approved by a federally +approved institutional review board in accordance with 45 C.F.R. part 46 +or 21 C.F.R. part 56, or voluntary admission to a mental health facility. + +(2) Withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging procedures from a +pregnant patient prior to viability as defined in s. 390.0111(4). + +HISTORY: +S. 2, ch. 92-199; s. 7, ch. 94-183; s. 87, ch. 99-3. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIV, Ch. 765, Pt. II + + + +PART II. +HEALTH CARE SURROGATE. + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. , 765.201. +Fla. Stat. 765.201 + + 765.201. Short title. +Sections 765.202-765.205 may be cited as the Florida Health Care + +Surrogate Act. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 92-199. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. , 765.202. +Fla. Stat. 765.202 + + 765.202. Designation of a health care surrogate. +(1) A written document designating a surrogate to make health care + +decisions for a principal or receive health information on behalf of a +principal, or both, shall be signed by the principal in the presence of two +subscribing adult witnesses. A principal unable to sign the instrument may, +in the presence of witnesses, direct that another person sign the principals +name as required herein. An exact copy of the instrument shall be provided +to the surrogate. + +(2) The person designated as surrogate shall not act as witness to the +execution of the document designating the health care surrogate. At least +one person who acts as a witness shall be neither the principals spouse nor +blood relative. + +(3) A document designating a health care surrogate may also designate +an alternate surrogate provided the designation is explicit. The alternate +surrogate may assume his or her duties as surrogate for the principal if the +original surrogate is not willing, able, or reasonably available to perform +his or her duties. The principals failure to designate an alternate surrogate +shall not invalidate the designation of a surrogate. + +(4) If neither the designated surrogate nor the designated alternate +surrogate is willing, able, or reasonably available to make health care +decisions on behalf of the principal and in accordance with the principals +instructions, the health care facility may seek the appointment of a proxy +pursuant to part IV. + +(5) A principal may designate a separate surrogate to consent to mental +health treatment in the event that the principal is determined by a court to +be incompetent to consent to mental health treatment and a guardian +advocate is appointed as provided under s. 394.4598. However, unless the +document designating the health care surrogate expressly states otherwise, +the court shall assume that the health care surrogate authorized to make +health care decisions under this chapter is also the principals choice to +make decisions regarding mental health treatment. + +(6) A principal may stipulate in the document that the authority of the + + + +surrogate to receive health information or make health care decisions, or +both, is exercisable immediately without the necessity for a determination +of incapacity as provided in s. 765.204. + +(7) Unless the document states a time of termination, the designation +shall remain in effect until revoked by the principal. + +(8) A written designation of a health care surrogate executed pursuant to +this section establishes a rebuttable presumption of clear and convincing +evidence of the principals designation of the surrogate. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 92-199; s. 8, ch. 94-183; s. 49, ch. 96-169; s. 1797, ch. 97-102; s. + +8, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. , 765.203. +Fla. Stat. 765.203 + + 765.203. Suggested form of designation. +A written designation of a health care surrogate executed pursuant to this + +chapter may, but need not be, in the following form: + +INSTRUCTIONS FOR HEALTH CARE +I authorize my health care surrogate to: +(Initial here) Receive any of my health information, whether oral or recorded +in any form or medium, that: +1. Is created or received by a health care provider, health care facility, health +plan, public health authority, employer, life insurer, school or university, or +health care clearinghouse; and +2. Relates to my past, present, or future physical or mental health or +condition; the provision of health care to me; or the past, present, or future +payment for the provision of health care to me. +I further authorize my health care surrogate to: +(Initial here) Make all health care decisions for me, which means he or she +has the authority to: +1. Provide informed consent, refusal of consent, or withdrawal of consent to +any and all of my health care, including life-prolonging procedures. +2. Apply on my behalf for private, public, government, or veterans benefits +to defray the cost of health care. + + + +3. Access my health information reasonably necessary for the health care +surrogate to make decisions involving my health care and to apply for +benefits for me. +4. Decide to make an anatomical gift pursuant to part V of chapter 765, +Florida Statutes. +(Initial here) Specific instructions and restrictions: +____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ +____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ +While I have decisionmaking capacity, my wishes are controlling and my +physicians and health care providers must clearly communicate to me the +treatment plan or any change to the treatment plan prior to its +implementation. +To the extent I am capable of understanding, my health care surrogate shall +keep me reasonably informed of all decisions that he or she has made on my +behalf and matters concerning me. +THIS HEALTH CARE SURROGATE DESIGNATION IS NOT +AFFECTED BY MY SUBSEQUENT INCAPACITY EXCEPT AS +PROVIDED IN CHAPTER 765, FLORIDA STATUTES. +PURSUANT TO SECTION 765.104, FLORIDA STATUTES, I +UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY, AT ANY TIME WHILE I RETAIN MY +CAPACITY, REVOKE OR AMEND THIS DESIGNATION BY: +(1) SIGNING A WRITTEN AND DATED INSTRUMENT WHICH +EXPRESSES MY INTENT TO AMEND OR REVOKE THIS +DESIGNATION; +(2) PHYSICALLY DESTROYING THIS DESIGNATION THROUGH MY +OWN ACTION OR BY THAT OF ANOTHER PERSON IN MY +PRESENCE AND UNDER MY DIRECTION; +(3) VERBALLY EXPRESSING MY INTENTION TO AMEND OR +REVOKE THIS DESIGNATION; OR +(4) SIGNING A NEW DESIGNATION THAT IS MATERIALLY +DIFFERENT FROM THIS DESIGNATION. + + + +MY HEALTH CARE SURROGATES AUTHORITY BECOMES +EFFECTIVE WHEN MY PRIMARY PHYSICIAN DETERMINES THAT I +AM UNABLE TO MAKE MY OWN HEALTH CARE DECISIONS +UNLESS I INITIAL EITHER OR BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING BOXES: +IF I INITIAL THIS BOX [____], MY HEALTH CARE SURROGATES +AUTHORITY TO RECEIVE MY HEALTH INFORMATION TAKES +EFFECT IMMEDIATELY. +IF I INITIAL THIS BOX [____], MY HEALTH CARE SURROGATES +AUTHORITY TO MAKE HEALTH CARE DECISIONS FOR ME TAKES +EFFECT IMMEDIATELY. PURSUANT TO SECTION 765.204(3), +FLORIDA STATUTES, ANY INSTRUCTIONS OR HEALTH CARE +DECISIONS I MAKE, EITHER VERBALLY OR IN WRITING, WHILE I +POSSESS CAPACITY SHALL SUPERSEDE ANY INSTRUCTIONS OR +HEALTH CARE DECISIONS MADE BY MY SURROGATE THAT ARE +IN MATERIAL CONFLICT WITH THOSE MADE BY ME. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 92-199; s. 1145, ch. 97-102; s. 9, ch. 2000-295; s. 1, ch. 2008-223, + +eff. July 1, 2008; s. 9, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. , 765.2035. +Fla. Stat. 765.2035 + + 765.2035. Designation of a health care surrogate for a minor. +(1) A natural guardian as defined in s. 744.301(1), legal custodian, or + +legal guardian of the person of a minor may designate a competent adult to +serve as a surrogate to make health care decisions for the minor. Such +designation shall be made by a written document signed by the minors +principal in the presence of two subscribing adult witnesses. If a minors +principal is unable to sign the instrument, the principal may, in the +presence of witnesses, direct that another person sign the minors +principals name as required by this subsection. An exact copy of the +instrument shall be provided to the surrogate. + +(2) The person designated as surrogate may not act as witness to the +execution of the document designating the health care surrogate. + +(3) A document designating a health care surrogate may also designate +an alternate surrogate; however, such designation must be explicit. The +alternate surrogate may assume his or her duties as surrogate if the original +surrogate is not willing, able, or reasonably available to perform his or her +duties. The minors principals failure to designate an alternate surrogate +does not invalidate the designation. + +(4) If neither the designated surrogate or the designated alternate +surrogate is willing, able, or reasonably available to make health care +decisions for the minor on behalf of the minors principal and in +accordance with the minors principals instructions, s. 743.0645(2) shall +apply as if no surrogate had been designated. + +(5) A natural guardian as defined in s. 744.301(1), legal custodian, or +legal guardian of the person of a minor may designate a separate surrogate +to consent to mental health treatment for the minor. However, unless the +document designating the health care surrogate expressly states otherwise, +the court shall assume that the health care surrogate authorized to make +health care decisions for a minor under this chapter is also the minors +principals choice to make decisions regarding mental health treatment for +the minor. + +(6) Unless the document states a time of termination, the designation + + + +shall remain in effect until revoked by the minors principal. An otherwise +valid designation of a surrogate for a minor shall not be invalid solely +because it was made before the birth of the minor. + +(7) A written designation of a health care surrogate executed pursuant to +this section establishes a rebuttable presumption of clear and convincing +evidence of the minors principals designation of the surrogate and +becomes effective pursuant to s. 743.0645(2)(a). + +HISTORY: +S. 10, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. , 765.2038. +Fla. Stat. 765.2038 + + 765.2038. Designation of health care surrogate for a minor; suggested +form. + +A written designation of a health care surrogate for a minor executed +pursuant to this chapter may, but need not, be in the following form: + +DESIGNATION OF HEALTH CARE SURROGATE FOR MINOR +I/We, __________, the [____] natural guardian(s) as defined + +in s. 744.301(1), Florida Statutes; [____] legal custodian(s); +[____] legal guardian(s) [check one] of the following minor(s): + +________________; +________________; +________________, +pursuant to s. 765.2035, Florida Statutes, designate the + +following person to act as my/our surrogate for health care +decisions for such minor(s) in the event that I/we am/are not able +or reasonably available to provide consent for medical treatment +and surgical and diagnostic procedures: + +Name: (name) +Address: (address) +Zip Code: (zip code) +Phone: (telephone) +If my/our designated health care surrogate for a minor is not + +willing, able, or reasonably available to perform his or her +duties, I/we designate the following person as my/our alternate +health care surrogate for a minor: + + + +Name: (name) +Address: (address) +Zip Code: (zip code) +Phone: (telephone) +I/We authorize and request all physicians, hospitals, or other + +providers of medical services to follow the instructions of +my/our surrogate or alternate surrogate, as the case may be, at +anytime and under any circumstances whatsoever, with regard to +medical treatment and surgical and diagnostic procedures for a +minor, provided the medical care and treatment of any minor is +on the advice of a licensed physician. + +I/We fully understand that this designation will permit my/our +designee to make health care decisions for a minor and to +provide, withhold, or withdraw consent on my/our behalf, to +apply for public benefits to defray the cost of health care, and to +authorize the admission or transfer of a minor to or from a health +care facility. + +I/We will notify and send a copy of this document to the +following person(s) other than my/our surrogate, so that they +may know the identity of my/our surrogate: + +Name: (name) +Name: (name) +Signed:(signature) +Date:(date) +WITNESSES: +1. (witness) + + + +2. (witness) +HISTORY: + +S. 11, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015; s. 86, ch. 2016-10, +effective May 10, 2016. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. , 765.204. +Fla. Stat. 765.204 + + 765.204. Capacity of principal; procedure. +(1) A principal is presumed to be capable of making health care + +decisions for herself or himself unless she or he is determined to be +incapacitated. While a principal has decisionmaking capacity, the +principals wishes are controlling. Each physician or health care provider +must clearly communicate to a principal with decisionmaking capacity the +treatment plan and any change to the treatment plan prior to +implementation of the plan or the change to the plan. Incapacity may not +be inferred from the persons voluntary or involuntary hospitalization for +mental illness or from her or his intellectual disability. + +(2) If a principals capacity to make health care decisions for herself or +himself or provide informed consent is in question, the primary or +attending physician shall evaluate the principals capacity and, if the +evaluating physician concludes that the principal lacks capacity, enter that +evaluation in the principals medical record. If the evaluating physician has +a question as to whether the principal lacks capacity, another physician +shall also evaluate the principals capacity, and if the second physician +agrees that the principal lacks the capacity to make health care decisions or +provide informed consent, the health care facility shall enter both +physicians evaluations in the principals medical record. If the principal +has designated a health care surrogate or has delegated authority to make +health care decisions to an attorney in fact under a durable power of +attorney, the health care facility shall notify such surrogate or attorney in +fact in writing that her or his authority under the instrument has +commenced, as provided in chapter 709 or s. 765.203. If an attending +physician determines that the principal lacks capacity, the hospital in +which the attending physician made such a determination shall notify the +principals primary physician of the determination. + +(3) The surrogates authority commences either upon a determination +under subsection (2) that the principal lacks capacity or upon a stipulation +of such authority pursuant to s. 765.101(21). Such authority remains in +effect until a determination that the principal has regained such capacity, if +the authority commenced as a result of incapacity, or until the authority is + + + +revoked, if the authority commenced immediately pursuant to s. +765.101(21). Upon commencement of the surrogates authority, a +surrogate who is not the principals spouse shall notify the principals +spouse or adult children of the principals designation of the surrogate. +Except if the principal provided immediately exercisable authority to the +surrogate pursuant to s. 765.101(21), in the event that the primary or +attending physician determines that the principal has regained capacity, the +authority of the surrogate shall cease, but recommences if the principal +subsequently loses capacity as determined pursuant to this section. A +health care provider is not liable for relying upon health care decisions +made by a surrogate while the principal lacks capacity. At any time when a +principal lacks capacity, a health care decision made on the principals +behalf by a surrogate is effective to the same extent as a decision made by +the principal. If a principal possesses capacity, health care decisions of the +principal take precedence over decisions made by the surrogate that present +a material conflict. + +(4) Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (3), if the principal has +designated a health care surrogate and has stipulated that the authority of +the surrogate is to take effect immediately, or has appointed an agent under +a durable power of attorney as provided in chapter 709 to make health care +decisions for the principal, the health care facility shall notify such +surrogate or agent in writing when a determination of incapacity has been +entered into the principals medical record. + +(5) A determination made pursuant to this section that a principal lacks +capacity to make health care decisions shall not be construed as a finding +that a principal lacks capacity for any other purpose. + +(6) If the surrogate is required to consent to withholding or withdrawing +life-prolonging procedures, part III applies. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 92-199; s. 1146, ch. 97-102; s. 22, ch. 99-331; s. 10, ch. 2000-295; + +s. 23, ch. 2013-162, eff. July 1, 2013; s. 12, ch. 2015-153, effective October +1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. II. , 765.205. +Fla. Stat. 765.205 + + 765.205. Responsibility of the surrogate. +(1) The surrogate, in accordance with the principals instructions, unless + +such authority has been expressly limited by the principal, shall: +(a) Have authority to act for the principal and to make all health care + +decisions for the principal during the principals incapacity. +(b) Consult expeditiously with appropriate health care providers to provide + +informed consent, and make only health care decisions for the principal +which he or she believes the principal would have made under the +circumstances if the principal were capable of making such decisions. If there +is no indication of what the principal would have chosen, the surrogate may +consider the patients best interest in deciding that proposed treatments are to +be withheld or that treatments currently in effect are to be withdrawn. + +(c) Provide written consent using an appropriate form whenever consent is +required, including a physicians order not to resuscitate. + +(d) Be provided access to the appropriate health information of the +principal. + +(e) Apply for public benefits, such as Medicare and Medicaid, for the +principal and have access to information regarding the principals income and +assets and banking and financial records to the extent required to make +application. A health care provider or facility may not, however, make such +application a condition of continued care if the principal, if capable, would +have refused to apply. + +(2) The surrogate may authorize the release of health information to +appropriate persons to ensure the continuity of the principals health care +and may authorize the admission, discharge, or transfer of the principal to +or from a health care facility or other facility or program licensed under +chapter 400 or chapter 429. + +(3) If, after the appointment of a surrogate, a court appoints a guardian, +the surrogate shall continue to make health care decisions for the principal, +unless the court has modified or revoked the authority of the surrogate +pursuant to s. 744.3115. The surrogate may be directed by the court to + + + +report the principals health care status to the guardian. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 92-199; s. 9, ch. 94-183; s. 50, ch. 96-169; s. 23, ch. 99-331; s. 11, + +ch. 2000-295; s. 6, ch. 2001-250; s. 135, ch. 2001-277; s. 106, ch. 2006-197, +eff. July 1, 2006; s. 13, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIV, Ch. 765, Pt. III + + + +PART III. +LIFE-PROLONGING PROCEDURES. + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. , 765.301. +Fla. Stat. 765.301 + + 765.301. Short title. +Sections 765.302-765.309 may be cited as the Life-Prolonging Procedure + +Act of Florida. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 24, ch. 99-331. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. , 765.302. +Fla. Stat. 765.302 + + 765.302. Procedure for making a living will; notice to physician. +(1) Any competent adult may, at any time, make a living will or written + +declaration and direct the providing, withholding, or withdrawal of life- +prolonging procedures in the event that such person has a terminal +condition, has an end-stage condition, or is in a persistent vegetative state. +A living will must be signed by the principal in the presence of two +subscribing witnesses, one of whom is neither a spouse nor a blood relative +of the principal. If the principal is physically unable to sign the living will, +one of the witnesses must subscribe the principals signature in the +principals presence and at the principals direction. + +(2) It is the responsibility of the principal to provide for notification to +her or his primary physician that the living will has been made. In the +event the principal is physically or mentally incapacitated at the time the +principal is admitted to a health care facility, any other person may notify +the physician or health care facility of the existence of the living will. A +primary physician or health care facility which is so notified shall promptly +make the living will or a copy thereof a part of the principals medical +records. + +(3) A living will, executed pursuant to this section, establishes a +rebuttable presumption of clear and convincing evidence of the principals +wishes. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 1147, ch. 97-102; s. 25, ch. 99-331; s. 14, ch. 2015-153, + +effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. , 765.303. +Fla. Stat. 765.303 + + 765.303. Suggested form of a living will. +(1) A living will may, BUT NEED NOT, be in the following form: + +Living Will +Declaration made this ____ day of __________,(year), I, +________________, willfully and voluntarily make known my desire that my +dying not be artificially prolonged under the circumstances set forth below, +and I do hereby declare that, if at any time I am incapacitated and +(initial) I have a terminal condition +or (initial) I have an end-stage condition +or (initial) I am in a persistent vegetative state +and if my primary physician and another consulting physician have +determined that there is no reasonable medical probability of my recovery +from such condition, I direct that life-prolonging procedures be withheld or +withdrawn when the application of such procedures would serve only to +prolong artificially the process of dying, and that I be permitted to die +naturally with only the administration of medication or the performance of +any medical procedure deemed necessary to provide me with comfort care or +to alleviate pain. +It is my intention that this declaration be honored by my family and physician +as the final expression of my legal right to refuse medical or surgical +treatment and to accept the consequences for such refusal. +In the event that I have been determined to be unable to provide express and +informed consent regarding the withholding, withdrawal, or continuation of +life-prolonging procedures, I wish to designate, as my surrogate to carry out +the provisions of this declaration: + +I understand the full import of this declaration, and I am emotionally and + + + +mentally competent to make this declaration. +Additional Instructions (optional): + +(2) The principals failure to designate a surrogate shall not invalidate +the living will. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 35, ch. 99-6; s. 26, ch. 99-331; s. 12, ch. 2000-295; s. + +15, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. , 765.304. +Fla. Stat. 765.304 + + 765.304. Procedure for living will. +(1) If a person has made a living will expressing his or her desires + +concerning life-prolonging procedures, but has not designated a surrogate +to execute his or her wishes concerning life-prolonging procedures or +designated a surrogate under part II, the persons primary physician may +proceed as directed by the principal in the living will. In the event of a +dispute or disagreement concerning the primary physicians decision to +withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures, the primary physician +shall not withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures pending review +under s. 765.105. If a review of a disputed decision is not sought within 7 +days following the primary physicians decision to withhold or withdraw +life-prolonging procedures, the primary physician may proceed in +accordance with the principals instructions. + +(2) Before proceeding in accordance with the principals living will, it +must be determined that: +(a) The principal does not have a reasonable medical probability of + +recovering capacity so that the right could be exercised directly by the +principal. + +(b) The principal has a terminal condition, has an end-stage condition, or is +in a persistent vegetative state. + +(c) Any limitations or conditions expressed orally or in a written +declaration have been carefully considered and satisfied. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 10, ch. 94-183; s. 27, ch. 99-331; s. 16, ch. 2015-153, + +effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. , 765.305. +Fla. Stat. 765.305 + + 765.305. Procedure in absence of a living will. +(1) In the absence of a living will, the decision to withhold or withdraw + +life-prolonging procedures from a patient may be made by a health care +surrogate designated by the patient pursuant to part II unless the +designation limits the surrogates authority to consent to the withholding or +withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures. + +(2) Before exercising the incompetent patients right to forego treatment, +the surrogate must be satisfied that: +(a) The patient does not have a reasonable medical probability of + +recovering capacity so that the right could be exercised by the patient. +(b) The patient has an end-stage condition, the patient is in a persistent + +vegetative state, or the patients physical condition is terminal. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 28, ch. 99-331; s. 13, ch. 2000-295. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. , 765.306. +Fla. Stat. 765.306 + + 765.306. Determination of patient condition. +In determining whether the patient has a terminal condition, has an end- + +stage condition, or is in a persistent vegetative state or may recover capacity, +or whether a medical condition or limitation referred to in an advance +directive exists, the patients primary physician and at least one other +consulting physician must separately examine the patient. The findings of +each such examination must be documented in the patients medical record +and signed by each examining physician before life-prolonging procedures +may be withheld or withdrawn. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199; s. 13, ch. 94-183; s. 29, ch. 99-331; s. 14, ch. 2000-295; s. + +17, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. III. , 765.309. +Fla. Stat. 765.309 + + 765.309. Mercy killing or euthanasia not authorized; suicide +distinguished. +(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to condone, authorize, or + +approve mercy killing or euthanasia, or to permit any affirmative or +deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural +process of dying. + +(2) The withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures from a +patient in accordance with any provision of this chapter does not, for any +purpose, constitute a suicide. + +HISTORY: +S. 4, ch. 92-199. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. IV. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIV, Ch. 765, Pt. IV + + + +PART IV. +ABSENCE OF ADVANCE DIRECTIVE. + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. IV. , 765.401. +Fla. Stat. 765.401 + + 765.401. The proxy. +(1) If an incapacitated or developmentally disabled patient has not + +executed an advance directive, or designated a surrogate to execute an +advance directive, or the designated or alternate surrogate is no longer +available to make health care decisions, health care decisions may be made +for the patient by any of the following individuals, in the following order +of priority, if no individual in a prior class is reasonably available, willing, +or competent to act: +(a) The judicially appointed guardian of the patient or the guardian + +advocate of the person having a developmental disability as defined in s. +393.063, who has been authorized to consent to medical treatment, if such +guardian has previously been appointed; however, this paragraph shall not be +construed to require such appointment before a treatment decision can be +made under this subsection; + +(b) The patients spouse; +(c) An adult child of the patient, or if the patient has more than one adult + +child, a majority of the adult children who are reasonably available for +consultation; + +(d) A parent of the patient; +(e) The adult sibling of the patient or, if the patient has more than one + +sibling, a majority of the adult siblings who are reasonably available for +consultation; + +(f) An adult relative of the patient who has exhibited special care and +concern for the patient and who has maintained regular contact with the +patient and who is familiar with the patients activities, health, and religious +or moral beliefs; or + +(g) A close friend of the patient. + + + +(h) A clinical social worker licensed pursuant to chapter 491, or who is a +graduate of a court-approved guardianship program. Such a proxy must be +selected by the providers bioethics committee and must not be employed by +the provider. If the provider does not have a bioethics committee, then such a +proxy may be chosen through an arrangement with the bioethics committee +of another provider. The proxy will be notified that, upon request, the +provider shall make available a second physician, not involved in the +patients care to assist the proxy in evaluating treatment. Decisions to +withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures will be reviewed by the +facilitys bioethics committee. Documentation of efforts to locate proxies +from prior classes must be recorded in the patient record. + +(2) Any health care decision made under this part must be based on the +proxys informed consent and on the decision the proxy reasonably +believes the patient would have made under the circumstances. If there is +no indication of what the patient would have chosen, the proxy may +consider the patients best interest in deciding that proposed treatments are +to be withheld or that treatments currently in effect are to be withdrawn. + +(3) Before exercising the incapacitated patients rights to select or +decline health care, the proxy must comply with the provisions of ss. +765.205 and 765.305, except that a proxys decision to withhold or +withdraw life-prolonging procedures must be supported by clear and +convincing evidence that the decision would have been the one the patient +would have chosen had the patient been competent or, if there is no +indication of what the patient would have chosen, that the decision is in the +patients best interest. + +(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preempt the designation +of persons who may consent to the medical care or treatment of minors +established pursuant to s. 743.0645. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 92-199; s. 12, ch. 94-183; s. 32, ch. 99-331; s. 15, ch. 2000-295; s. + +7, ch. 2001-250; s. 136, ch. 2001-277; s. 13, ch. 2002-195; s. 5, ch. 2003-57. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. IV. , 765.404. +Fla. Stat. 765.404 + + 765.404. Persistent vegetative state. +For persons in a persistent vegetative state, as determined by the persons + +primary physician in accordance with currently accepted medical standards, +who have no advance directive and for whom there is no evidence indicating +what the person would have wanted under such conditions, and for whom, +after a reasonably diligent inquiry, no family or friends are available or +willing to serve as a proxy to make health care decisions for them, life- +prolonging procedures may be withheld or withdrawn under the following +conditions: + +(1) The person has a judicially appointed guardian representing his or +her best interest with authority to consent to medical treatment; and + +(2) The guardian and the persons primary physician, in consultation +with the medical ethics committee of the facility where the patient is +located, conclude that the condition is permanent and that there is no +reasonable medical probability for recovery and that withholding or +withdrawing life-prolonging procedures is in the best interest of the +patient. If there is no medical ethics committee at the facility, the facility +must have an arrangement with the medical ethics committee of another +facility or with a community-based ethics committee approved by the +Florida Bio-ethics Network. The ethics committee shall review the case +with the guardian, in consultation with the persons primary physician, to +determine whether the condition is permanent and there is no reasonable +medical probability for recovery. The individual committee members and +the facility associated with an ethics committee shall not be held liable in +any civil action related to the performance of any duties required in this +subsection. + +HISTORY: +S. 33, ch. 99-331; s. 18, ch. 2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +One-time stay. Section 1, ch. 2003-418 provides: (1) The Governor + + + +shall have the authority to issue a one-time stay to prevent the withholding of +nutrition and hydration from a patient if, as of October 15, 2003: (a) That +patient has no written advance directive; (b) The court has found that patient +to be in a persistent vegetative state; (c) That patient has had nutrition and +hydration withheld; and (d) A member of that patients family has challenged +the withholding of nutrition and hydration. (2) The Governors authority to +issue the stay expires 15 days after the effective date of this act [October 21, +2003], and the expiration of that authority does not impact the validity or the +effect of any stay issued pursuant to this act. The Governor may lift the stay +authorized under this act at any time. A person may not be held civilly liable +and is not subject to regulatory or disciplinary sanctions for taking any action +to comply with a stay issued by the Governor pursuant to this act. (3) Upon +the issuance of a stay, the chief judge of the circuit court shall appoint a +guardian ad litem for the patient to make recommendations to the Governor +and the court. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. +Fla. Stat. Title XLIV, Ch. 765, Pt. V + + + +PART V. +ANATOMICAL GIFTS. + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.510. +Fla. Stat. 765.510 + + 765.510. Legislative declaration. +Because of the rapid medical progress in the fields of tissue and organ + +preservation, transplantation of tissue, and tissue culture, and because it is in +the public interest to aid the medical developments in these fields, the +Legislature in enacting this part intends to encourage and aid the +development of reconstructive medicine and surgery and the development of +medical research by facilitating premortem and postmortem authorizations +for donations of tissue and organs. It is the purpose of this part to regulate the +gift of a body or parts of a body, the gift to be made after the death of a +donor. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 3, ch. 84-264; s. 60, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.21; s. 732.910. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.511. +Fla. Stat. 765.511 + + 765.511. Definitions. +As used in this part, the term: + +(1) Agency means the Agency for Health Care Administration. +(2) Anatomical gift or gift means a donation of all or part of a + +human body to take effect after the donors death and to be used for +transplantation, therapy, research, or education. + +(3) Bank or storage facility means a facility licensed, accredited, or +approved under the laws of any state for storage of human bodies or body +parts. + +(4) Death means the absence of life as determined, in accordance with +currently accepted medical standards, by the irreversible cessation of all +respiration and circulatory function, or as determined, in accordance with +s. 382.009, by the irreversible cessation of the functions of the entire brain, +including the brain stem. + +(5) Decedent means a deceased individual whose body or body parts +may be, or are, the source of an anatomical gift. + +(6) Department means the Department of Highway Safety and Motor +Vehicles. + +(7) Disinterested witness means a witness other than a person listed in +s. 765.512(3) or other family member. + +(8) Document of gift means any of the documents or mechanisms used +in making an anatomical gift under s. 765.514. + +(9) Donor means an individual who makes an anatomical gift of all or +part of his or her body. + +(10) Donor registry means a database that contains records of +anatomical gifts and amendments to, or revocations of, such gifts. + +(11) Eye bank means an entity that is accredited by the Eye Bank +Association of America or otherwise regulated under federal or state law to +engage in the retrieval, screening, testing, processing, storage, or + + + +distribution of human eye tissue. +(12) Guardian means a person appointed pursuant to chapter 744. The + +term does not include a guardian ad litem. +(13) Hospital means a hospital licensed, accredited, or approved under + +the laws of any state and includes a hospital operated by the United States +Government or a state, or a subdivision thereof, although not required to be +licensed under state laws. + +(14) Identification card means an official identification card issued by +a governmental entity, state agency, or subdivision thereof. + +(15) Organ procurement organization means an entity that is +designated as an organ procurement organization by the Secretary of the +United States Department of Health and Human Services and that engages +in the retrieval, screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of +human organs. + +(16) Part of the body or body part means an organ, eye, or tissue of +a human being. The term does not include the whole body. + +(17) Physician or surgeon means a physician or surgeon licensed to +practice under chapter 458 or chapter 459 or similar laws of any state. +Surgeon includes dental or oral surgeon. + +(18) Procurement means any retrieval, recovery, processing, storage, +or distribution of human organs or tissues for transplantation, therapy, +research, or education. + +(19) Procurement organization means an organ procurement +organization, eye bank, or tissue bank. + +(20) Reasonably available means able to be contacted by a +procurement organization in a timely manner without undue effort, and +willing and able to act in a manner consistent with existing medical +protocols necessary for the making of an anatomical gift. + +(21) Record means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium +or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in +perceivable form. + +(22) Sign or signed means, with the present intent to authenticate or + + + +adopt a record, to execute or adopt a tangible symbol, or attach to or +logically associate an electronic symbol, sound, or process with the record. + +(23) Tissue bank means an entity that is accredited by the American +Association of Tissue Banks or otherwise regulated under federal or state +law to engage in the retrieval, screening, testing, processing, storage, or +distribution of human tissue. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 973, ch. 97-102; s. 5, ch. 98-68; s. + +61, ch. 2001-226; s. 1, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.22; s. 732.911. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.512. +Fla. Stat. 765.512 + + 765.512. Persons who may make an anatomical gift. +(1) Any person who may make a will may make an anatomical gift of + +his or her body. +(a) If the decedent makes an anatomical gift by one of the methods listed in + +s. 765.514(1), and in the absence of actual notice of contrary indications by +the decedent, the document or entry in the donor registry is legally sufficient +evidence of the decedents informed consent to donate an anatomical gift. + +(b) An anatomical gift made by a qualified donor and not revoked by the +donor, as provided in s. 765.516, is irrevocable after the donors death. A +family member, guardian, representative ad litem, or health care surrogate +may not modify, deny, or prevent a donors wish or intent to make an +anatomical gift after the donors death. + +(2) A health care surrogate designated by the decedent pursuant to part +II of this chapter may give all or any part of the decedents body for any +purpose specified in s. 765.513 absent actual notice of contrary indications +by the decedent. + +(3) If the decedent has not made an anatomical gift or designated a +health surrogate, a member of one of the classes of persons listed below, in +the order of priority listed and in the absence of actual notice of contrary +indications by the decedent or actual notice of opposition by a member of a +prior class, may give all or any part of the decedents body for any purpose +specified in s. 765.513: +(a) The spouse of the decedent; +(b) An adult son or daughter of the decedent; +(c) Either parent of the decedent; +(d) An adult brother or sister of the decedent; +(e) An adult grandchild of the decedent; +(f) A grandparent of the decedent; +(g) A close personal friend, as defined in s. 765.101; + + + +(h) A guardian of the person of the decedent at the time of his or her death; +or + +(i) A representative ad litem appointed by a court of competent +jurisdiction upon a petition heard ex parte filed by any person, who +shall ascertain that no person of higher priority exists who objects to +the gift of all or any part of the decedents body and that no evidence +exists of the decedents having made a communication expressing a +desire that his or her body or body parts not be donated upon death. + +Those of higher priority who are reasonably available must be contacted +and made aware of the proposed gift and a reasonable search must be +conducted which shows that there would have been no objection to the gift +by the decedent. + +(4) A donee may not accept an anatomical gift if the donee has actual +notice of contrary indications by the donor or actual notice that an +anatomical gift by a member of a class is opposed by a member of a prior +class. + +(5) The person authorized by subsection (3) may make the anatomical +gift after the decedents death or immediately before the decedents death. + +(6) An anatomical gift authorizes: +(a) Any examination necessary to assure medical acceptability of the gift + +for the purposes intended. +(b) The decedents medical provider, family, or a third party to furnish + +medical records requested concerning the decedents medical and social +history. + +(7) Once the anatomical gift has been made, the rights of the donee are +paramount to the rights of others, except as provided by s. 765.517. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 45, ch. 75-220; s. 4, ch. 84-264; s. 62, ch. 85-62; s. 5, + +ch. 95-423; s. 974, ch. 97-102; s. 6, ch. 98-68; s. 12, ch. 99-331; s. 62, ch. +2001-226; s. 2, ch. 2003-46; s. 2, ch. 2008-223, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 2, ch. +2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + +Editors notes. +Section 1, ch. 2003-46, provides: This act may be cited as the Nick + +Oelrich Gift of Life Act. +Created from former s. 736.23; s. 732.912. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.513. +Fla. Stat. 765.513 + + 765.513. Donees; purposes for which anatomical gifts may be made. +(1) The following persons or entities may become donees of anatomical + +gifts of bodies or parts of them for the purposes stated: +(a) Any procurement organization or accredited medical or dental school, + +college, or university for education, research, therapy, or transplantation. +(b) Any individual specified by name for therapy or transplantation needed + +by him or her. +(c) The anatomical board or a nontransplant anatomical donation + +organization, as defined in s. 406.49, for donation of the whole body for +medical or dental education or research. + +(2) If multiple purposes are set forth in the document of gift but are not +set forth in any priority order, the anatomical gift shall be used first for +transplantation or therapy, if suitable. If the gift cannot be used for +transplantation or therapy, the gift may be used for research or education. + +(3) The Legislature declares that the public policy of this state prohibits +restrictions on the possible recipients of an anatomical gift on the basis of +race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, physical disability, health +status, marital status, or economic status, and such restrictions are void and +unenforceable. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 45, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 94-305; s. 975, ch. 97-102; s. 7, + +ch. 98-68; s. 63, ch. 2001-226; s. 3, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 20, ch. +2013-138, eff. July 1, 2013. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.24; s. 732.913. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.514. +Fla. Stat. 765.514 + + 765.514. Manner of making anatomical gifts. +(1) A person may make an anatomical gift of all or part of his or her + +body under s. 765.512(1) by: +(a) Signing an organ and tissue donor card. +(b) Registering online with the donor registry. +(c) Signifying an intent to donate on his or her driver license or + +identification card issued by the department. Revocation, suspension, +expiration, or cancellation of the driver license or identification card does not +invalidate the gift. + +(d) Expressing a wish to donate in a living will or other advance directive. +(e) Executing a will that includes a provision indicating that the testator + +wishes to make an anatomical gift. The gift becomes effective upon the death +of the testator without waiting for probate. If the will is not probated or if it is +declared invalid for testamentary purposes, the gift is nevertheless valid to the +extent that it has been acted upon in good faith. + +(f) Expressing a wish to donate in a document other than a will. The +document must be signed by the donor in the presence of two witnesses who +shall sign the document in the donors presence. If the donor cannot sign, the +document may be signed for him or her at the donors direction and in his or +her presence and the presence of two witnesses who must sign the document +in the donors presence. Delivery of the document of gift during the donors +lifetime is not necessary to make the gift valid. The following form of written +document is sufficient for any person to make an anatomical gift for the +purposes of this part: + +UNIFORM DONOR CARD +The undersigned hereby makes this anatomical gift, if medically + +acceptable, to take effect on death. The words and marks below indicate my +desires: + +I give: + + + +(a) _________ any needed organs, tissues, or eyes; +(b) _________ only the following organs, tissues, or eyes + +[Specify the organs, tissues, or eyes] +for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, medical research, or education; +(c) _________ my body for anatomical study if needed. Limitations or + +special wishes, if any: +(If applicable, list specific donee; + +this must be arranged in advance with the donee.) +Signed by the donor and the following witnesses in the presence of each +other: +(Signature of donor) (Date of birth of donor) +(Date signed) (City and State) +(Witness) (Witness) +(Address) (Address) + +(2) The anatomical gift may be made to a donee listed in s. 765.513, and +the donee may be specified by name. + +(3) Any anatomical gift by a health care surrogate designated by the +decedent pursuant to part II of this chapter or a member of a class +designated in s. 765.512(3) must be made by a document signed by that +person or made by that persons witnessed telephonic discussion, +telegraphic message, or other recorded message. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 45, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 83-171; s. 2, ch. 94-305; s. 6, + +ch. 95-423; s. 976, ch. 97-102; s. 8, ch. 98-68; s. 13, ch. 99-331; s. 64, ch. +2001-226; s. 3, ch. 2008-223, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 4, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, +2009. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.25; s. 732.914. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.515. +Fla. Stat. 765.515 + + 765.515. Delivery of donor document. +(1) If an anatomical gift is made pursuant to s. 765.521, the completed + +donor registration card shall be delivered to the department, and the +department must communicate the donors intent to the donor registry, but +delivery is not necessary to the validity of the gift. If the donor withdraws +the gift, the records of the department must be updated to reflect such +withdrawal, and the department must communicate the withdrawal to the +donor registry for the purpose of updating the registry. + +(2) If an anatomical gift is made by the donor to a specified donee, the +document of gift, other than a will, may be delivered to the donee to +expedite the appropriate procedures immediately after death, but delivery +is not necessary to the validity of the gift. The document of gift may be +deposited in any hospital, bank, storage facility, or registry office that +accepts such documents for safekeeping or to facilitate the donation of +organs and tissue after death. + +(3) At the request of any interested party upon or after the donors death, +the person in possession shall produce the document of gift for +examination. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 45, ch. 75-220; s. 2, ch. 83-171; s. 1, ch. 87-372; s. 7, + +ch. 95-423; s. 33, ch. 96-418; s. 9, ch. 98-68; s. 65, ch. 2001-226; s. 17, ch. +2008-9, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 4, ch. 2008-223, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 5, ch. 2009- +218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.26; s. 732.915. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.5155. +Fla. Stat. 765.5155 + + 765.5155. Donor registry; education program. +(1) The Legislature finds that: + +(a) There is a shortage of organ and tissue donors in this state willing to +provide the organs and tissue that could save lives or enhance the quality of +life for many persons. + +(b) There is a need to encourage the various minority populations of this +state to donate organs and tissue. + +(c) A statewide donor registry having an online donor registration process +coupled with an enhanced program of donor education will lead to an +increase in the number of organ and tissue donors registered in this state, thus +affording more persons who are awaiting organ or tissue transplants the +opportunity for a full and productive life. + +(2) The agency and the department shall jointly contract for the +operation of a donor registry and education program. The contractor shall +be procured by competitive solicitation pursuant to chapter 287, +notwithstanding an exemption under s. 287.057(3)(e). When awarding the +contract, priority shall be given to existing nonprofit groups that are based +within the state, have expertise working with procurement organizations, +have expertise in conducting statewide organ and tissue donor public +education campaigns, and represent the needs of the organ and tissue +donation community in the state. + +(3) The contractor shall be responsible for: +(a) The development, implementation, and maintenance of an interactive + +web-based donor registry that, through electronic means, allows for online +organ donor registration and the recording of organ and tissue donation +records submitted through the driver license identification program or +through other sources. + +1. The registry must be maintained in a manner that allows, through +electronic and telephonic methods, immediate access to organ and tissue +donation records 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. + + + +2. Access to the registry must be through coded and secure means to +protect the integrity of the data in the registry. + +(b) A continuing program to educate and inform medical professionals, law +enforcement agencies and officers, other state and local government +employees, high school students, minorities, and the public about the laws of +this state relating to anatomical gifts and the need for anatomical gifts. + +1. Existing community resources, when available, must be used to support +the program and volunteers may assist the program to the maximum extent +possible. + +2. The contractor shall coordinate with the head of a state agency or other +political subdivision of the state, or his or her designee, to establish +convenient times, dates, and locations for educating that entitys employees. + +(c) Preparing and submitting an annual written report to the agency by +December 31 of each year. The report must include: + +1. The number of donors on the registry and an analysis of the registration +rates by location and method of donation; + +2. The characteristics of donors as determined from registry information +submitted directly by the donors or by the department; + +3. The annual dollar amount of voluntary contributions received by the +contractor; + +4. A description of the educational campaigns and initiatives implemented +during the year and an evaluation of their effectiveness in increasing +enrollment on the registry; and + +5. An analysis of Floridas registry compared with other states donor +registries. + +(4) Costs for the donor registry and education program shall be paid by +the agency from the funds deposited into the Health Care Trust Fund +pursuant to ss. 320.08047 and 322.08, which are designated for +maintaining the donor registry and education program. In addition, the +contractor may receive and use voluntary contributions to help support the +registry and provide education. + +(5) The donor registry established by this section is designated as the + + + +Joshua Abbott Organ and Tissue Registry. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 2008-223, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 6, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009; + +s. 40, ch. 2010-151, eff. July 1, 2010; s. 20, ch. 2013-154, eff. July 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.51551. +Fla. Stat. 765.51551 + + 765.51551. Donor registry; public records exemption. +(1) Information held in the donor registry which identifies a donor is + +confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State +Constitution. + +(2) Such information may be disclosed to the following: +(a) Procurement organizations that have been certified by the agency for + +the purpose of ascertaining or effectuating the existence of a gift under s. +765.522. + +(b) Persons engaged in bona fide research if the person agrees to: +1. Submit a research plan to the agency which specifies the exact nature of + +the information requested and the intended use of the information; +2. Maintain the confidentiality of the records or information if personal + +identifying information is made available to the researcher; +3. Destroy any confidential records or information obtained after the + +research is concluded; and +4. Not directly or indirectly contact, for any purpose, any donor or donee. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 2008-222, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 7, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009; + +s. 1, ch. 2013-65, eff. Oct. 1, 2013. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.516. +Fla. Stat. 765.516 + + 765.516. Donor amendment or revocation of anatomical gift. +(1) A donor may amend the terms of or revoke an anatomical gift by: + +(a) The execution and delivery to the donee of a signed statement +witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested +witness. + +(b) An oral statement that is made in the presence of two persons, one of +whom is not a family member, and communicated to the donors family or +attorney or to the donee. An oral statement is effective only if the +procurement organization, transplant hospital, or physician or technician has +actual notice of the oral amendment or revocation before an incision is made +to the decedents body or an invasive procedure to prepare the recipient has +begun. + +(c) A statement made during a terminal illness or injury addressed to the +primary physician, who must communicate the revocation of the gift to the +procurement organization. + +(d) A signed document found on or about the donors person. +(e) Removing his or her name from the donor registry. +(f) A later-executed document of gift which amends or revokes a previous + +anatomical gift or portion of an anatomical gift, either expressly or by +inconsistency. + +(g) By the destruction or cancellation of the document of gift or the +destruction or cancellation of that portion of the document of gift used to +make the gift with the intent to revoke the gift. + +(2) Any anatomical gift made by a will may also be amended or revoked +in the manner provided for the amendment or revocation of wills or as +provided in paragraph (1)(a). + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 113, ch. 75-220; s. 3, ch. 83-171; s. 8, ch. 95-423; s. + +977, ch. 97-102; s. 10, ch. 98-68; s. 66, ch. 2001-226; s. 3, ch. 2003-46; s. 6, + + + +ch. 2008-223, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 8, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 19, ch. +2015-153, effective October 1, 2015. + +Editors notes. +Section 1, ch. 2003-46, provides: This act may be cited as the Nick + +Oelrich Gift of Life Act. +Created from former s. 736.27; s. 732.916. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.517. +Fla. Stat. 765.517 + + 765.517. Rights and duties at death. +(1) The donee, pursuant to s. 765.515(2), may accept or reject an + +anatomical gift. If the donee accepts a gift to be used for research or +education purposes, the donee may authorize embalming and the use of the +body in funeral services, subject to the terms of the gift. If the gift is of a +part of the body, the donee shall cause the part to be removed without +unnecessary mutilation upon the death of the donor and before or after +embalming. After removal of the body part, custody of the remainder of +the body vests in the surviving spouse, next of kin, or other persons under +obligation to dispose of the body. + +(2) The time of death shall be determined by a physician who attends the +donor at the donors death or, if there is no such physician, the physician +who certifies the death. After death, those physicians or the donors +primary care physician may participate in, but may not obstruct, the +procedures to preserve the donors organs or tissues and may not be paid or +reimbursed for such participation, nor be associated with or employed by, a +procurement organization. These physicians may not participate in the +procedures for removing or transplanting a part. However, this subsection +does not prevent a physician from serving in a voluntary capacity on the +board of directors of a procurement organization or participating on any +board, council, commission, or similar body related to the organ and tissue +procurement system. + +(3) The procurement organizations, or hospital medical professionals +under the direction thereof, may perform any and all tests to evaluate the +deceased as a potential donor and any invasive procedures on the deceased +body in order to preserve the potential donors organs. These procedures +do not include the surgical removal of an organ or penetrating any body +cavity, specifically for the purpose of donation, until: +(a) It has been verified that the deceaseds consent to donate appears in the + +donor registry or a properly executed document of gift is located; or +(b) If a properly executed document of gift cannot be located or the + +deceaseds consent is not listed in the donor registry, a person specified in s. + + + +765.512(2) or (3) has been located, has been notified of the death, and has +granted legal permission for the donation. + +(4) All reasonable additional expenses incurred in the procedures to +preserve the donors organs or tissues shall be reimbursed by the +procurement organization. + +(5) A person who acts in good faith and without negligence in accord +with the terms of this part or under the anatomical gift laws of another state +or a foreign country, or attempts to do so, may not be subject to any civil +action for damages, may not be subject to any criminal proceeding, and +may not be subject to discipline, penalty, or liability in any administrative +proceeding. + +(6) The provisions of this part are subject to the laws of this state +prescribing powers and duties with respect to autopsies. + +(7) The person making an anatomical gift and the donors estate are not +liable for any injury or damages that result from the making or use of the +gift. + +(8) In determining whether an anatomical gift has been made, amended, +or revoked under this part, a person may rely upon the representation of an +individual listed in s. 765.512, relating to the individuals relationship to +the donor or prospective donor, unless the person knows that the +representation is untrue. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 45, ch. 75-220; s. 4, ch. 83-171; s. 9, ch. 95-423; s. 978, + +ch. 97-102; s. 14, ch. 99-331; s. 67, ch. 2001-226; s. 7, ch. 2008-223, eff. July +1, 2008; s. 9, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.28; s. 732.917. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.518. +Fla. Stat. 765.518 + + 765.518. Eye banks. +(1) Any state, county, district, or other public hospital may purchase and + +provide the necessary facilities and equipment to establish and maintain an +eye bank for restoration of sight purposes. + +(2) The Department of Education may have prepared, printed, and +distributed: +(a) A form document of gift for a gift of the eyes. +(b) An eye bank register consisting of the names of persons who have + +executed documents for the gift of their eyes. +(c) Wallet cards reciting the document of gift. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 45, ch. 75-220; s. 462, ch. 77-147; s. 68, ch. 2001-226. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.29; s. 732.918. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.5185. +Fla. Stat. 765.5185 + + 765.5185. Corneal removal by medical examiners. +(1) In any case in which a patient is in need of corneal tissue for a + +transplant, a district medical examiner or an appropriately qualified +designee with training in ophthalmologic techniques may, upon request of +any eye bank authorized under s. 765.518, provide the cornea of a decedent +whenever all of the following conditions are met: +(a) A decedent who may provide a suitable cornea for the transplant is + +under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner and an autopsy is required in +accordance with s. 406.11. + +(b) No objection by the next of kin of the decedent is known by the +medical examiner. + +(c) The removal of the cornea will not interfere with the subsequent course +of an investigation or autopsy. + +(2) Neither the district medical examiner nor the medical examiners +appropriately qualified designee nor any eye bank authorized under s. +765.518 may be held liable in any civil or criminal action for failure to +obtain consent of the next of kin. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 77-172; s. 1, ch. 78-191; s. 979, ch. 97-102; s. 69, ch. 2001-226; s. + +111, ch. 2002-1. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.9185. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.519. +Fla. Stat. 765.519 + + 765.519. Enucleation of eyes by licensed funeral directors. +With respect to a gift of an eye as provided for in this part, a licensed + +funeral director as defined in chapter 497 who has completed a course in eye +enucleation and has received a certificate of competence from the Department +of Ophthalmology of the University of Florida School of Medicine, the +University of South Florida School of Medicine, or the University of Miami +School of Medicine may enucleate eyes for gift after proper certification of +death by a physician and in compliance with the intent of the gift as defined +in this chapter. No properly certified funeral director acting in accordance +with the terms of this part shall have any civil or criminal liability for eye +enucleation. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 74-106; s. 45, ch. 75-220; s. 1, ch. 80-157; s. 70, ch. 2001-226; s. + +148, ch. 2004-301. + +Editors notes. +Created from former s. 736.31; s. 732.919. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.521. +Fla. Stat. 765.521 + + 765.521. Donations as part of driver license or identification card +process. +(1) The agency and the department shall develop and implement a + +program encouraging and allowing persons to make anatomical gifts as a +part of the process of issuing identification cards and issuing and renewing +driver licenses. The donor registration card distributed by the department +shall include the information required by the uniform donor card under s. +765.514 and such additional information as determined necessary by the +department. The department shall also develop and implement a program +to identify donors which includes notations on identification cards, driver +licenses, and driver records or such other methods as the department +develops to clearly indicate the individuals intent to make an anatomical +gift. A notation on an individuals driver license or identification card that +the individual intends to make an anatomical gift satisfies all requirements +for consent to organ or tissue donation. The agency shall provide the +necessary supplies and forms from funds appropriated from general +revenue or contributions from interested voluntary, nonprofit +organizations. The department shall provide the necessary recordkeeping +system from funds appropriated from general revenue. The department and +the agency shall incur no liability in connection with the performance of +any acts authorized herein. + +(2) The department shall maintain an integrated link on its website +referring a visitor renewing a driver license or conducting other business to +the donor registry operated under s. 765.5155. + +(3) The department, after consultation with and concurrence by the +agency, shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of this section +according to the provisions of chapter 120. + +(4) Funds expended by the agency to carry out the intent of this section +may not be taken from funds appropriated for patient care. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 75-71; s. 1, ch. 77-16; s. 463, ch. 77-147; s. 1, ch. 77-174; ss. 1, 2, + + + +ch. 80-134; s. 5, ch. 83-171; s. 10, ch. 95-423; s. 71, ch. 2001-226; s. 8, ch. +2008-223, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 10, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009; s. 62, ch. +2016-239, effective July 1, 2016. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.921. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.5215. +Fla. Stat. 765.5215 + + 765.5215. Education program relating to annatomical gifts [Repealed.] +Repealed by s. 10, ch. 2008-223, effective July 1, 2008. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 85-247; s. 11, ch. 95-423; s. 65, ch. 99-248; s. s72, ch. 2001-226; + +s. 112, ch. 2002-1. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.52155. +Fla. Stat. 765.52155 + + 765.52155. Florida Organ and Tissue Donor Education and +Procurement Trust Fund [Repealed.] + +Repealed by s. 18, ch. 2008-9, effective July 1, 2008. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 95-316; s. 29, ch. 96-418; s. 73, ch. 2001-226. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.5216. +Fla. Stat. 765.5216 + + 765.5216. Organ and tissue education panel [Repealed.] +Repealed by s. 10, ch. 2008-223, effective July 1, 2008. + +HISTORY: +S. 12, ch. 95-423; s. 11, ch. 98-68; s. 66, ch. 99-248; s. 25, ch. 2000-305; s. + +74, ch. 2001-226; s. 113, ch. 2002-1; s. 103, ch. 2003-1. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.522. +Fla. Stat. 765.522 + + 765.522. Duty of hospital administrators; liability of hospital +administrators and procurement organizations. +(1) If, based on accepted medical standards, a hospital patient is a + +suitable candidate for organ or tissue donation, the hospital administrator +or the hospital administrators designee shall, at or near the time of death, +notify the appropriate procurement organization, which shall access the +donor registry created by s. 765.5155 or any other donor registry to +ascertain the existence of an entry in the registry which has not been +revoked or a document of gift executed by the decedent. In the absence of +an entry in the donor registry, a document of gift, or other properly +executed document, the procurement organization shall request: +(a) The patients health care surrogate, as authorized in s. 765.512(2); or +(b) If the patient does not have a surrogate, or the surrogate is not + +reasonably available, any of the persons specified in s. 765.512(3), in the +order and manner listed, + +to consent to the anatomical gift of the decedents body for any purpose +specified in this part. Except as provided in s. 765.512, in the absence of +actual notice of opposition, consent need only be obtained from the person +or persons in the highest priority class reasonably available. + +(2) A document of gift is valid if executed in accordance with this part +or the laws of the state or country where it was executed and where the +person making the anatomical gift was domiciled, has a place of residence, +or was a citizen at the time the document of gift was executed. + +(3) The agency shall establish rules and guidelines concerning the +education of individuals who may be designated to perform the request and +the procedures to be used in making the request. The agency is authorized +to adopt rules concerning the documentation of the request, where such +request is made. + +(4) If a document of gift is valid under this section, the laws of this state +govern the interpretation of the document of gift. + +(5) A document of gift or amendment of an anatomical gift is presumed + + + +to be valid unless it was not validly executed or was revoked. +(6) There shall be no civil or criminal liability against any procurement + +organization certified under s. 765.542 or against any hospital or hospital +administrator or designee who complies with the provisions of this part and +agency rules or if, in the exercise of reasonable care, a request for organ +donation is inappropriate and the gift is not made according to this part and +agency rules. + +(7) The hospital administrator or a designee shall, at or near the time of +death of a potential donor, directly notify the affiliated organ procurement +organization of the potential organ donor. The organ procurement +organization must offer any organ from such a donor first to patients on a +Florida-based local or state organ sharing transplant list. For the purpose of +this subsection, the term transplant list includes certain categories of +national or regional organ sharing for patients of exceptional need or +exceptional match, as approved or mandated by the Organ Procurement +and Transplantation Network, or its agent. This notification may not be +made to a tissue bank or eye bank in lieu of the organ procurement +organization unless the tissue bank or eye bank is also designated as an +organ procurement organization. + +HISTORY: +S. 1, ch. 86-212; s. 2, ch. 87-372; s. 13, ch. 95-423; s. 980, ch. 97-102; s. + +12, ch. 98-68; s. 15, ch. 99-331; s. 75, ch. 2001-226; s. 104, ch. 2003-1; s. 9, +ch. 2008-223, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 11, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Former s. 732.922. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.523. +Fla. Stat. 765.523 + + 765.523. Discrimination in access to anatomical gifts and organ +transplants prohibited. +(1) As used in this section, the term: + +(a) Auxiliary aids and services means: +1. Qualified interpreters or other effective methods of making aurally + +delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments. +2. Qualified readers, recorded texts, texts in an accessible electronic + +format, or other effective methods of making visually delivered materials +available to individuals with visual impairments. + +3. Supported decisionmaking services, including any of the following: +a. The use of a support person to assist an individual in making medical + +decisions, communicating information to the individual, or ascertaining his or +her wishes. + +b. The provision of information to a person designated by the individual, +consistent with federal and state laws governing the disclosure of health +information. + +c. Measures used to ensure that the individuals guardian or legal +representative, if any, is included in decisions involving the individuals +health care and that medical decisions are in accordance with the individuals +own expressed interests. + +d. Any other aid or service that is used to provide information in a format +that is readily understandable and accessible to individuals with cognitive, +neurological, developmental, or intellectual disabilities. + +(b) Covered entity means any of the following: +1. A licensed health care practitioner as defined in s. 456.001. +2. A health care facility as defined in s. 408.07. +3. Any other entity responsible for potential recipients of anatomical gifts + +or organ transplants. + + + +(c) Disability has the same meaning as developmental disability and +intellectual disability as those terms are defined in s. 393.063. + +(d) Organ transplant means the transplantation or transfusion of a part of +a human body into the body of another individual for the purpose of treating +or curing a medical condition. + +(e) Qualified individual means an individual who has a disability and +meets the clinical eligibility requirements for the receipt of an anatomical gift +or an organ transplant, regardless of: + +1. The support networks available to the individual; +2. The provision of auxiliary aids and services; or +3. Reasonable modifications to the policies, practices, or procedures of a + +covered entity pursuant to subsection (4). +(2) A covered entity may not do any of the following solely on the basis + +of an individuals disability: +(a) Consider a qualified individual ineligible to receive an anatomical gift + +or organ transplant. +(b) Deny medical or other services related to an organ transplant, including + +evaluation, surgery, counseling, and posttransplant treatment and services. +(c) Refuse to refer the individual to an organ procurement organization or a + +related specialist for the purpose of evaluation or receipt of an organ +transplant. + +(d) Refuse to place a qualified individual on an organ transplant waiting +list. + +(e) Place a qualified individual at a lower priority position on an organ +transplant waiting list than the position at which the qualified individual +would have been placed if not for the disability. + +(3)(a) A covered entity may take an individuals disability into account if, +following an individualized evaluation of him or her, a physician finds the +individuals disability to be medically significant to the provision of the +anatomical gift or organ transplant, but only to the extent that the covered +entity is making treatment or coverage recommendations or decisions for +the individual. + + + +(b) If an individual has the necessary support system to assist him or her in +complying with posttransplant medical requirements, a covered entity may +not consider the individuals inability to independently comply with the +posttransplant medical requirements to be medically significant for the +purposes of paragraph (a). + +(4) A covered entity shall make reasonable modifications to policies, +practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to allow an +individual with a disability access to services, including transplant-related +counseling, information, coverage, or treatment, unless the covered entity +can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter +the nature of the services. Such modifications shall include, but need not +be limited to, communication with the persons responsible for supporting +the individual with his or her postsurgical and posttransplant care, +including medication. Such modifications shall also consider the support +networks available to the individual, including, but not limited to, family, +friends, and home and community-based services coverage when +determining whether the individual is able to comply with posttransplant +medical requirements. + +(5) A covered entity shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure +that an individual with a disability is not denied services, including +transplant-related counseling, information, coverage, or treatment, due to +the absence of auxiliary aids and services, unless the covered entity can +demonstrate that taking the steps would fundamentally alter the nature of +the services being offered or would result in an undue burden on the +covered entity. + +(6) If a covered entity violates this section, the qualified individual who +is affected by the violation may bring an action in the appropriate circuit +court for injunctive or other equitable relief. + +(7) This section may not be construed to require a covered entity to +make a referral or recommendation for or perform a medically +inappropriate organ transplant. + +History. +S. 1, ch. 2020-139, effective July 1, 2020. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.53. +Fla. Stat. 765.53 + + 765.53. Organ Transplant Advisory Council; membership; +responsibilities. [Repealed] + +HISTORY: +SS. 1, 2, ch. 86-208; ss. 88, 89, ch. 86-220; s. 3, ch. 87-50; s. 8, ch. 91-49; + +s. 52, ch. 91-297; s. 5, ch. 91-429; s. 3, ch. 94-305; s. 50, ch. 97-101; s. 1, ch. +99-299; s. 6, ch. 2000-305; s. 33, ch. 2003-1; s. 12, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, +2009; repealed by s. 7, ch. 2021-151, effective July 1, 2021. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.541. +Fla. Stat. 765.541 + + 765.541. Certification of procurement organizations; agency +responsibilities. + +The agency shall: +(1) Establish a program for the certification of organizations, + +corporations, or other entities engaged in the procurement of organs, +tissues, and eyes for transplantation. + +(2) Adopt rules that set forth appropriate standards and guidelines for the +program in accordance with ss. 765.541-765.546 and part II of chapter +408. These standards and guidelines must be substantially based on the +existing laws of the Federal Government and this state and the existing +standards and guidelines of the United Network for Organ Sharing +(UNOS), the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), the South- +Eastern Organ Procurement Foundation (SEOPF), the North American +Transplant Coordinators Organization (NATCO), and the Eye Bank +Association of America (EBAA). In addition, the agency shall, before +adopting these standards and guidelines, seek input from all procurement +organizations based in this state. + +(3) Collect, keep, and make available to the Governor and the +Legislature information regarding the numbers and disposition of organs, +tissues, and eyes procured by each certified procurement organization. + +(4) Monitor procurement organizations for program compliance. +(5) Provide for the administration of the Organ and Tissue Procurement + +and Transplantation Advisory Board. + +HISTORY: +SS. 2, 9, ch. 91-271; s. 5, ch. 91-429; s. 5, ch. 94-305; s. 33, ch. 2003-1; s. + +201, ch. 2007-230, eff. July 1, 2007; s. 13, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Formerly s. 381.6021: transferred by s. 33, ch. 2003-1, effective July 1, + +2003. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.542. +Fla. Stat. 765.542 + + 765.542. Requirements to engage in organ, tissue, or eye procurement. +(1) The requirements of part II of chapter 408 apply to the provision of + +services that require licensure pursuant to ss. 765.541-765.546 and part II +of chapter 408 and to entities licensed or certified by or applying for such +licensure or certification from the agency pursuant to ss. 765.541-765.546. +A person may not engage in the practice of organ procurement in this state +without being designated as an organ procurement organization by the +Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services +and being appropriately certified by the agency. A physician or organ +procurement organization based outside this state is exempt from these +certification requirements if: +(a) The organs are procured for an out-of-state patient who is listed on, or + +referred through, the United Network for Organ Sharing System; and +(b) The organs are procured through an agreement of an organ + +procurement organization certified by the state. +(2) A person may not engage in tissue procurement in this state unless it + +is appropriately certified as a tissue bank by the agency. +(3) A person may not engage in the practice of eye procurement in this + +state without being appropriately certified as an eye bank by the agency. +Funeral directors or direct disposers who retrieve eye tissue for an eye +bank certified under this subsection are exempt from the certification +requirements under this subsection. + +(4) A limited certificate may be issued to a tissue bank or eye bank, +certifying only those components of procurement which the bank has +chosen to perform. The agency may issue a limited certificate if it +determines that the tissue bank or eye bank is adequately staffed and +equipped to operate in conformity with the rules adopted under this +section. + +HISTORY: +S. 3, ch. 91-271; s. 6, ch. 94-305; s. 33, ch. 2003-1; s. 202, ch. 2007-230, + + + +eff. July 1, 2007; s. 14, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Formerly s. 381.6022: transferred by s. 33, ch. 2003-1, effective July 1, + +2003. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.543. +Fla. Stat. 765.543 + + 765.543. Organ and Tissue Procurement and Transplantation Advisory +Board; creation; duties. +(1) There is hereby created the Organ and Tissue Procurement and + +Transplantation Advisory Board, which shall consist of 14 members who +are appointed by and report directly to the Secretary of Health Care +Administration. The membership must be regionally distributed and must +include: +(a) Two representatives who have expertise in vascular organ transplant + +surgery; +(b) Two representatives who have expertise in vascular organ procurement, + +preservation, and distribution; +(c) Two representatives who have expertise in musculoskeletal tissue + +transplant surgery; +(d) Two representatives who have expertise in musculoskeletal tissue + +procurement, processing, and distribution; +(e) A representative who has expertise in eye and cornea transplant + +surgery; +(f) A representative who has expertise in eye and cornea procurement, + +processing, and distribution; +(g) A representative who has expertise in bone marrow procurement, + +processing, and transplantation; +(h) A representative from the Florida Pediatric Society; + +(i) A representative from the Florida Society of Pathologists; and +(j) A representative from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. + +(2) The advisory board members may not be compensated for their +services except that they may be reimbursed for their travel expenses as +provided by law. Members of the board shall be appointed for 3-year terms +of office. + +(3) The board shall: + + + +(a) Assist the agency in the development of necessary professional +qualifications, including, but not limited to, the education, training, and +performance of persons engaged in the various facets of organ and tissue +procurement, processing, preservation, and distribution for transplantation; + +(b) Assist the agency in monitoring the appropriate and legitimate +expenses associated with organ and tissue procurement, processing, and +distribution for transplantation and developing methodologies to assure the +uniform statewide reporting of data to facilitate the accurate and timely +evaluation of the organ and tissue procurement and transplantation system; + +(c) Provide assistance to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission in +the development of appropriate procedures and protocols to ensure the +continued improvement in the approval and release of potential donors by the +district medical examiners and associate medical examiners; + +(d) Develop with and recommend to the agency the necessary procedures +and protocols required to assure that all residents of this state have reasonable +access to available organ and tissue transplantation therapy and that residents +of this state can be reasonably assured that the statewide procurement +transplantation system is able to fulfill their organ and tissue requirements +within the limits of the available supply and according to the severity of their +medical condition and need; and + +(e) Develop with and recommend to the agency any changes to the laws of +this state or administrative rules or procedures to ensure that the statewide +organ and tissue procurement and transplantation system is able to function +smoothly, effectively, and efficiently, in accordance with the Federal +Anatomical Gift Act and in a manner that assures the residents of this state +that no person or entity profits from the altruistic voluntary donation of +organs or tissues. + +HISTORY: +SS. 4, 9, ch. 91-271; s. 5, ch. 91-429; s. 7, ch. 94-305; s. 7, ch. 2000-305; s. + +33, ch. 2003-1; s. 15, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Formerly s. 381.6023: transferred by s. 33, ch. 2003-1, effective July 1, + +2003. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.544. +Fla. Stat. 765.544 + + 765.544. Fees; organ and tissue donor education and procurement. +(1) In accordance with s. 408.805, an applicant or a certificateholder + +shall pay a fee for each application submitted under this part, part II of +chapter 408, and applicable rules. The amount of the fee shall be as +follows: +(a) An initial application fee of $1,000 from organ procurement + +organizations and tissue banks and $500 from eye banks. +(b) Annual fees to be used, in the following order of priority, for the + +certification program, the advisory board, maintenance of the donor registry, +and the organ and tissue donor education program, which may not exceed +$35,000 per organization: + +1. Each organ procurement organization shall pay the greater of $1,000 or +0.25 percent of its total revenues produced from procurement activity in this +state by the certificateholder during its most recently completed fiscal or +operational year. + +2. Each tissue procurement organization shall pay the greater of $1,000 or +0.25 percent of its total revenues from procurement and processing activity in +this state by the certificateholder during its most recently completed fiscal or +operational year. + +3. Each eye bank shall pay the greater of $500 or 0.25 percent of its total +revenues produced from procurement activity in this state by the +certificateholder during its most recently completed fiscal or operational year. + +(2) The agency shall specify by rule the administrative penalties for the +purpose of ensuring adherence to the standards of quality and practice +required by this chapter, part II of chapter 408, and applicable rules of the +agency for continued certification. +(3)(a) Proceeds from fees, administrative penalties, and surcharges +collected pursuant to this section must be deposited into the Health Care +Trust Fund. +(b) Moneys deposited in the trust fund pursuant to this section must be + + + +used exclusively for the implementation, administration, and operation of the +certification program and the advisory board, for maintaining the donor +registry, and for organ and tissue donor education. + +(4) As used in this section, the term procurement activity in this state +includes the bringing into this state for processing, storage, distribution, or +transplantation of organs or tissues that are initially procured in another +state or country. + +HISTORY: +S. 5, ch. 91-271; s. 8, ch. 94-305; s. 32, ch. 96-418; ss. 3, 4, ch. 98-68; s. + +54, ch. 2002-1; s. 33, ch. 2003-1; s. 203, ch. 2007-230, eff. July 1, 2007; s. +19, ch. 2008-9, eff. July 1, 2008; s. 16, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Formerly s. 381.6024: transferred by s. 33, ch. 2003-1, effective July 1, + +2003. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.545. +Fla. Stat. 765.545 + + 765.545. Physician supervision of cadaveric organ and tissue +procurement coordinators. + +Procurement organizations may employ coordinators who are registered +nurses, physician assistants, or other medically trained personnel who meet +the relevant standards for procurement organizations adopted by the agency +under s. 765.541, to assist in the medical management of organ donors or in +the surgical procurement of cadaveric organs, tissues, or eyes for +transplantation or research. A coordinator who assists in the medical +management of organ donors or in the surgical procurement of cadaveric +organs, tissues, or eyes for transplantation or research must do so under the +direction and supervision of a physician medical director pursuant to rules +and guidelines adopted by the agency. With the exception of organ +procurement surgery, this supervision may be indirect supervision. For +purposes of this section, the term indirect supervision means that the +medical director is responsible for the medical actions of the coordinator, that +the coordinator is operating under protocols expressly approved by the +medical director, and that the medical director or his or her physician +designee is always available, in person or by telephone, to provide medical +direction, consultation, and advice in cases of organ, tissue, and eye donation +and procurement. Although indirect supervision is authorized under this +section, direct physician supervision is to be encouraged when appropriate. + +HISTORY: +S. 6, ch. 91-271; s. 9, ch. 94-305; s. 1035, ch. 95-148; s. 34, ch. 2003-1; s. + +17, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + +Editors notes. +Formerly s. 381.6025: transferred by s. 34, ch. 2003-1, effective July 1, + +2003. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.546. +Fla. Stat. 765.546 + + 765.546. Procurement of cadaveric organs for transplant by out-of- +state physicians. + +Any physician currently licensed to practice medicine and surgery in the +United States may surgically procure in this state cadaveric organs for +transplant if: + +(1) The organs are being procured for an out-of-state patient who is +listed on, or referred through, the United Network for Organ Sharing +System; and + +(2) The organs are being procured through the auspices of an organ +procurement organization certified in this state. + +HISTORY: +S. 7, ch. 91-271; s. 33, ch. 2003-1. + +Editors notes. +Formerly s. 381.6026: transferred by s. 33, ch. 2003-1, effective July 1, + +2003. + + + + Title XLIV. , Ch. 765. , Pt. V. , 765.547. +Fla. Stat. 765.547 + + 765.547. Cooperation between medical examiner and procurement +organization. +(1) A medical examiner and procurement organization shall cooperate + +with each other in order to maximize opportunities to recover anatomical +gifts for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. + +(2) The Florida Medical Examiners Commission shall adopt rules +establishing cooperative responsibilities between medical examiners and +procurement organizations to facilitate and expedite completion of the +medical examiners responsibilities under chapter 406 in a manner that will +maximize opportunities to recover anatomical gifts. + +(3) This part does not supersede any part of chapter 406 relating to +medical examiners and the disposition of dead bodies. + +HISTORY: +S. 18, ch. 2009-218, eff. July 1, 2009. + + + + Title XLVI. +Fla. Stat. Title XLVI + +TITLE XLVI. +CRIMES. + +________ + Title XLVI. , Ch. 825. + +Fla. Stat. Title XLVI, Ch. 825 + + + +CHAPTER 825. +ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION OF ELDERLY + +PERSONS AND DISABLED ADULTS. + Title XLVI. , Ch. 825. , 825.1035. + +Fla. Stat. 825.1035 + + 825.1035. Injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable +adult. +(1) Injunction created. There is created a cause of action for an + +injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult. +(2) Who may file; venue; recording. + +(a) The cause of action may be sought in an adversary proceeding by: +1. A vulnerable adult in imminent danger of being exploited; +2. The guardian of a vulnerable adult in imminent danger of being + +exploited; +3. A person or organization acting on behalf of the vulnerable adult with + +the consent of the vulnerable adult or his or her guardian; +4. An agent under a valid durable power of attorney with the authority + +specifically granted in the power of attorney; or +5. A person who simultaneously files a petition for determination of + +incapacity and appointment of an emergency temporary guardian with respect +to the vulnerable adult. + +(b) A sworn petition for an injunction for protection against exploitation of +a vulnerable adult may be filed regardless of whether any other cause of +action is currently pending between either the petitioner and the respondent +or the vulnerable adult and the respondent. However, the pendency of any +such cause of action must be noted in the petition. + +(c) A person temporarily or permanently vacating a residence or household +in an attempt to avoid exploitation does not affect his or her right to petition +for an injunction. + + + +(d) Parties to an injunction for protection against exploitation of a +vulnerable adult may not be required to be represented by an attorney. + +(e) There is no minimum requirement of residency to petition for an +injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult. It is not +required as a prerequisite of filing a petition for or issuance of an injunction +under this section for exploitation to have already occurred. + +(f) If a proceeding concerning the vulnerable adult under chapter 744 is +pending at the time of the filing, the petition must be filed in that proceeding. +Otherwise, a petition for an injunction for protection against exploitation of a +vulnerable adult may only be filed in the circuit where the vulnerable adult +resides. + +(g) All proceedings conducted pursuant to this subsection must be +recorded. Recording may be by electronic means as provided by court rule. + +(3) Form of petition. +(a) A sworn petition filed under this section must allege the existence of + +exploitation, or the imminent exploitation, of the vulnerable adult and must +include the specific facts and circumstances for which relief is sought. The +sworn petition must be in substantially the following form: + +PETITION FOR INJUNCTION FOR PROTECTION +AGAINST EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE ADULT +Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared + +Petitioner ........................(Name), who has been sworn and says +that the following statements are true: + +1. __________________The petitioners name is: +2. ___________The petitioners address is: +3.___________The petitioners relationship to the vulnerable + +adult is: +4. ___________How long has the petitioner known the + +vulnerable adult: + + + +5. __________________The vulnerable adults name is: +6.___________Aliases of the vulnerable adult are: +7. ___________The vulnerable adults date of birth is: +8. The vulnerable adults address is +9.Does the vulnerable adult have one or more impairments + +that impact his or her ability to perform normal activities of daily +living or to provide for his or her own care or protection? + +If so, what are this persons impairments? (check all that +apply) + +............Long-term physical disability + +............Sensory disability (e.g., hearing or vision impaired) + +............Cognitive disability + +............Mental or emotional disability + +............Developmental disability + +............Infirmity of aging + +............Other (explain) +10. The respondents last known address is +11.The respondents last known place of employment is: + +............(name of business and address) +12. ............Physical description of the respondent: +............Race +............Sex +............Date of birth + + + +............Height + +............Weight + +............Eye color + +............Hair color + +............Distinguishing marks or scars +13. ............Aliases of the respondent: +14. The respondent is associated with the vulnerable adult as + +follows: +15.The following describes any other cause of action currently + +pending between the petitioner and the respondent, any +proceeding under chapter 744 concerning the vulnerable adult, +and any previous or pending attempts by the petitioner to obtain +an injunction for protection against exploitation of the vulnerable +adult in this or any other circuit; related case numbers, if +available; ............and the results of any such attempts: + +16.The following describes the petitioners knowledge of any +reports made to a government agency, including, but not limited +to, the Department of Elderly Affairs, the Department of +Children and Families, and the adult protective services program +relating to the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the vulnerable +adult; any investigations performed by a government agency +relating to abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the vulnerable adult; +............and the results of any such reports or investigations: + +17.The petitioner knows the vulnerable adult is either a victim +of exploitation or the petitioner has reasonable cause to believe +the vulnerable adult is, or is in imminent danger of becoming, a +victim of exploitation because the respondent has: .................. +(describe in the spaces below the incidents or threats of + + + +exploitation) +18. ............The following describes the petitioners knowledge + +of the vulnerable adults dependence on the respondent for care; +alternative provisions for the vulnerable adults care in the +absence of the respondent, if necessary; available resources the +vulnerable adult has to access such alternative provisions; and +the vulnerable adults willingness to use such alternative +provisions: + +19.The petitioner knows the vulnerable adult maintains assets, +accounts, or lines of credit at the following financial +institution(s): ..................(list name, address, and account +number of each) + +20.The petitioner believes that the vulnerable adults assets to +be frozen are: ............(mark one) + +............ Worth less than $1500; + +............ Worth between $1500 and $5000; or + +............Worth more than $5000. +21.The petitioner genuinely fears imminent exploitation of the + +vulnerable adult by the respondent. +22.The petitioner seeks an injunction for the protection of the + +vulnerable adult, including: ............(mark appropriate section or +sections) + +Prohibiting the respondent from having any direct or indirect contact +with the vulnerable adult. + +............Immediately restraining the respondent from +committing any acts of exploitation against the vulnerable adult. + +............Freezing the assets of the vulnerable adult held at + + + +..................(name and address of depository or financial +institution) even if titled jointly with the respondent, or in the +respondents name only, in the courts discretion. + +............Freezing the credit lines of the vulnerable adult at +..................(name and address of financial institution) even if +jointly with the respondent, in the courts discretion. + +............Providing any terms the court deems necessary for the +protection of the vulnerable adult or his or her assets, including +any injunctions or directives to law enforcement agencies. + +23.Should the court enter an injunction freezing assets and +credit lines, the petitioner believes that the critical expenses of +the vulnerable adult will be paid for or provided by the following +persons or entities, or the petitioner requests that the following +expenses be paid notwithstanding the freeze: ..................(for +each expense, list the name of the payee, address, account +number if known, amount, and a brief explanation of why +payment is critical) + +PETITION FOR INJUNCTION FOR PROTECTION +AGAINST EXPLOITATION OF A VULNERABLE ADULT +Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared Petitioner (Name) +who has been sworn and says that the following statements are true: +1. The vulnerable adult resides at: (address). +2. The respondent resides at: (last known address). +3. The respondents last known place of employment is: (name of business +and address). +4. Physical description of the respondent: _______ +Race _______ +Sex _______ + + + +Date of birth _______ +Height _______ +Weight _______ +Eye color _______ +Hair color _______ +Distinguishing marks or scars _______ +5. Aliases of the respondent: _______ +6. The respondent is associated with the vulnerable adult as follows: _______ +7. The following describes any other cause of action currently pending +between the petitioner and the respondent, any proceeding under chapter 744 +concerning the vulnerable adult, and any previous or pending attempts by the +petitioner to obtain an injunction for protection against exploitation of the +vulnerable adult in this or any other circuit; related case numbers, if +available; and the results of any such attempts: +____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ +8. The following describes the petitioners knowledge of any reports made to +a government agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of +Elderly Affairs, the Department of Children and Families, and the adult +protective services program relating to the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of +the vulnerable adult; any investigations performed by a government agency +relating to abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the vulnerable adult; and the +results of any such reports or investigations: _______ +9. The petitioner knows the vulnerable adult is either a victim of exploitation +or the petitioner has reasonable cause to believe the vulnerable adult is, or is +in imminent danger of becoming, a victim of exploitation because the +respondent has: (describe in the spaces below the incidents or threats of +exploitation). +10. The following describes the petitioners knowledge of the vulnerable +adults dependence on the respondent for care; alternative provisions for the +vulnerable adults care in the absence of the respondent, if necessary; +available resources the vulnerable adult has to access such alternative +provisions; and the vulnerable adults willingness to use such alternative + + + +provisions: +11. The petitioner knows the vulnerable adult maintains assets, accounts, or +lines of credit at the following financial institution(s): (list name, address, and +account number of each). +12. The petitioner believes that the vulnerable adults assets to be frozen are: +(mark one). +_______ Worth less than $1500; +_______ Worth between $1500 and $5000; or +_______ Worth more than $5000. +13. The petitioner genuinely fears imminent exploitation of the vulnerable +adult by the respondent. +14. The petitioner seeks an injunction for the protection of the vulnerable +adult, including: (mark appropriate section or sections). +_______ Prohibiting the respondent from having any direct or indirect +contact with the vulnerable adult. +_______ Immediately restraining the respondent from committing any acts of +exploitation against the vulnerable adult. +_______ Freezing the assets of the vulnerable adult held at (name and +address of depository or financial institution) even if titled jointly with the +respondent, or in the respondents name only, in the courts discretion. +_______ Freezing the credit lines of the vulnerable adult at (name and +address of financial institution) even if jointly with the respondent, in the +courts discretion. +_______ Providing any terms the court deems necessary for the protection of +the vulnerable adult or his or her assets, including any injunctions or +directives to law enforcement agencies. +15. Should the court enter an injunction freezing assets and credit lines, the +petitioner believes that the critical expenses of the vulnerable adult will be +paid for or provided by the following persons or entities, or the petitioner +requests that the following expenses be paid notwithstanding the freeze: (for +each expense, list the name of the payee, address, account number if known, + + + +amount, and a brief explanation of why payment is critical). +(b) Each petition for an injunction for protection against exploitation of a + +vulnerable adult must contain, directly above the signature line, a statement +in all capital letters and bold type not smaller than the surrounding text, as +follows: + +I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PURSUANT TO SECTION 415.1034, +FLORIDA STATUTES, ANY PERSON WHO KNOWS, OR HAS +REASONABLE CAUSE TO SUSPECT, THAT A VULNERABLE ADULT +HAS BEEN OR IS BEING ABUSED, NEGLECTED, OR EXPLOITED +HAS A DUTY TO IMMEDIATELY REPORT SUCH KNOWLEDGE OR +SUSPICION TO THE CENTRAL ABUSE HOTLINE. I HAVE REPORTED +THE ALLEGATIONS IN THIS PETITION TO THE CENTRAL ABUSE +HOTLINE. + +I HAVE READ EACH STATEMENT MADE IN THIS PETITION AND +EACH SUCH STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. I UNDERSTAND +THAT THE STATEMENTS MADE IN THIS PETITION ARE BEING +MADE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY PUNISHABLE AS PROVIDED +IN SECTION 837.02, FLORIDA STATUTES. + +(c) Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall schedule a hearing on the +petition on the earliest possible date. + +(4) Clerks duties, responsibilities, and charges. +(a) The clerk of the circuit court shall assist the petitioner in filing an + +injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult and any +petition alleging a violation thereof. + +(b) The clerk of the circuit court shall provide simplified petition forms for +the injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and +any modifications thereto, and for the enforcement thereof, and instructions +for completion of such forms. + +(c) The clerk of the circuit court shall, to the extent practicable, ensure the +petitioners privacy while completing such forms. + +(d) The clerk of the circuit court shall provide the petitioner with two +certified copies of the petition for an injunction without charge, and shall + + + +inform the petitioner of the steps necessary for service of process and +enforcement. + +(e) If an injunction is entered, the clerk of the circuit court shall provide, +without charge, the petitioner with certified copies of an order of injunction +that may be served upon any person holding property, upon any financial +institution holding property or accounts, or upon any financial institution with +an open line of credit that is subject to the freeze, and shall inform the +petitioner of the service of process and enforcement. + +(f) The clerk of the circuit court and appropriate staff in each county shall +receive training in the effective assistance of petitioners as provided or +approved by the Florida Association of Court Clerks. + +(g) The clerk of the circuit court in each county shall produce an +informational brochure and provide it to the petitioner at the time of filing for +an injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The +brochure must include information about the exploitation of vulnerable adults +and the effect of providing false information to the court. The clerk of the +circuit court in each county shall also make available informational brochures +on the exploitation of vulnerable adults to local senior centers, local aging +and disability resource centers, or appropriate state or federal agencies. + +(h) The clerk of the circuit court shall provide a copy of all petitions filed +pursuant to this section and all orders entered on such petitions to the adult +protective services program. Within 72 hours after receipt of such orders or +petitions, the adult protective services program shall submit to the court +overseeing proceedings on the petition the results of any relevant +investigations relating to the vulnerable adult. + +(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the clerk of the +circuit court may not assess an initial filing fee or service charge for +petitions filed under this section. However, subject to legislative +appropriation, the clerk of the circuit court may, on a quarterly basis, +submit a certified request for reimbursement to the Office of the State +Courts Administrator for the processing of such petitions, at the rate +of $40 per petition. The request for reimbursement must be submitted +in the form and manner prescribed by the office. From each +reimbursement received, the clerk of the circuit court shall pay any +law enforcement agency serving the injunction for protection against + + + +exploitation of a vulnerable adult the fee requested by the law +enforcement agency, to not exceed $20. + +(5) Temporary injunction; service; hearing. +(a)1. The court may grant a temporary injunction ex parte, pending a full +hearing, and may grant such relief as the court deems proper if the court +finds that: +a. An immediate and present danger of exploitation of the vulnerable adult + +exists. +b. There is a likelihood of irreparable harm and nonavailability of an + +adequate remedy at law. +c. There is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. +d. The threatened injury to the vulnerable adult outweighs possible harm to + +the respondent. +e. Granting a temporary injunction will not disserve the public interest. +f. Such injunction provides for the vulnerable adults physical or financial + +safety. +2. Such relief the court deems proper may include, but is not limited to, + +injunctions doing any of the following: +a. Restraining the respondent from committing any acts of exploitation + +against the vulnerable adult. +b. Awarding to the vulnerable adult the temporary exclusive use and + +possession of the dwelling that the vulnerable adult and the respondent share, +or barring the respondent from the residence of the vulnerable adult. The +court shall confirm the availability of any required services or alternative +caregivers that may be necessary to ensure the vulnerable adults safety. + +c. Freezing any assets of the vulnerable adult in any depository or financial +institution whether titled solely in the vulnerable adults name, solely in the +respondents name, jointly with the respondent, in guardianship, in trust, or in +a Totten trust, provided that: + +(I) Assets held by a guardian for the vulnerable adult may be frozen +only by an order entered by the court overseeing the guardianship + + + +proceeding. +(II) Assets held by a trust may be frozen only by an order of the court if all + +the trustees of the trust are served with process and are given reasonable +notice before any hearing on the petition. + +(III) Assets held solely in the name of the respondent may only be frozen +on an ex parte basis if the petition and affidavit demonstrate to the court +probable cause that such assets are traceable to the unlawful exploitation of +the vulnerable adult, that such assets are likely to be returned to the +vulnerable adult after a final evidentiary hearing, and that no other adequate +remedy at law is reasonably available. + +d. Freezing any line of credit of the vulnerable adult at any depository or +financial institution whether listed solely in the vulnerable adults name or +jointly with the respondent. + +(I) Lines of credit held by a guardian for the vulnerable adult may be +frozen only by an order entered by the court overseeing the guardianship +proceeding. + +(II) Lines of credit held by a trust may be frozen only by an order of the +court if all the trustees of the trust are served with process and are given +reasonable notice before any hearing on the petition. + +e. Prohibiting the respondent from having direct or indirect contact with +the vulnerable adult. + +f. Providing directives to law enforcement agencies. +g. If the court has ordered an asset and credit freeze, ordering that specified + +living expenses of the vulnerable adult continue to be paid. +h. Ordering any financial institution holding assets of the vulnerable adult + +to pay the clerk of the circuit court from unencumbered assets of the +vulnerable adult, if any, a fee of $75 if the assets of the petitioner are between +$1,500 and $5,000 or a fee of $200 if the assets are in excess of $5,000. The +court may rely on the estimate of the value of the assets in the petition when +assessing the fee. The fee shall be taxed as costs against the respondent if the +court enters an injunction. + +(b) Except as provided in s. 90.204, in a hearing ex parte for the purpose of +obtaining an ex parte temporary injunction, only verified pleadings or + + + +affidavits may be used as evidence unless the respondent appears at the +hearing or has received reasonable notice of the hearing. A petition under this +section shall be considered a family case for purposes of s. 90.204(4)(4). + +(c) A denial of a petition for an ex parte injunction must be by written +order and must note the legal grounds for denial. When the only ground for +denial is failure to demonstrate appearance of an immediate and present +danger of exploitation of a vulnerable adult, the court must set a full hearing +on the petition for injunction at the earliest possible date. Nothing in this +paragraph affects a petitioners right to promptly amend any petition +consistent with court rules. + +(d) An ex parte temporary injunction may be effective for a fixed period +not to exceed 15 days unless good cause is shown to extend the injunction. +The ex parte temporary injunction may be extended one time for up to an +additional 30 days. A full hearing, as provided by this section, must be set for +a date no later than the date when the ex parte temporary injunction ceases to +be effective. + +(6) Reasonable cause. In determining whether a petitioner has +reasonable cause to believe that the vulnerable adult is, or is in imminent +danger of becoming, a victim of exploitation, the court shall consider and +evaluate all relevant factors, including, but not limited to, any of the +following: +(a) The existence of a verifiable order of protection issued previously or + +from another jurisdiction. +(b) Any history of exploitation by the respondent upon the vulnerable adult + +in the petition or any other vulnerable adult. +(c) Any history of the vulnerable adult being previously exploited or + +unduly influenced. +(d) The capacity of the vulnerable adult to make decisions related to his or + +her finances and property. +(e) Susceptibility of the vulnerable adult to undue influence. +(f) Any criminal history of the respondent or previous probable cause + +findings by the adult protective services program, if known. +(7) Notice of petition and injunction. + + + +(a) The respondent shall be personally served, pursuant to chapter 48, with +a copy of the petition, notice of hearing, and temporary injunction, if any, +before the final hearing. + +(b) If the petitioner is acting in a representative capacity, the vulnerable +adult shall also be served with a copy of the petition, notice of hearing, and +temporary injunction, if any, before the final hearing. + +(c) If any assets or lines of credit are ordered to be frozen, the depository +or financial institution must be served as provided in s. 655.0201. + +(8) Final hearing on petition. +(a)1. The court may grant such relief as the court deems proper when, upon +notice and hearing, it appears to the court that: +a. The vulnerable adult is the victim of exploitation or that the vulnerable + +adult is in imminent danger of becoming a victim of exploitation. +b. There is a likelihood of irreparable harm and nonavailability of an + +adequate remedy at law. +c. The threatened injury to the vulnerable adult outweighs possible harm to + +the respondent. +d. Where the injunction freezes assets of the respondent, the court finds + +probable cause that exploitation has occurred, the freeze only affects the +proceeds of such exploitation, and there is a substantial likelihood that such +assets will be ordered to be returned to the vulnerable adult. + +e. The relief provides for the vulnerable adults physical or financial safety. +2. Such relief may include, but need not be limited to, injunctions doing + +any of the following: +a. Continuing the temporary injunction in part or in whole. +b. Restraining the respondent from committing any acts of exploitation. +c. Awarding to the vulnerable adult the exclusive use and possession of the + +dwelling that the vulnerable adult and the respondent share or excluding the +respondent from the residence of the vulnerable adult. The court shall +confirm the availability of any required services or alternative caregivers that +may be necessary to ensure the vulnerable adults safety. + + + +d. Ordering the respondent to participate in treatment, intervention, or +counseling services to be paid for by the respondent. + +e. Directing that assets under temporary freeze by injunction be returned to +the vulnerable adult, or directing that those assets remain frozen until +ownership can be determined; and directing that the temporary freeze on any +line of credit be lifted. + +f. Where the court has found that the respondent has engaged in +exploitation of the vulnerable adult, entering a final cost judgment against the +respondent and in favor of the petitioner for all taxable costs, and entering a +final cost judgment against the respondent and in favor of the clerk of the +circuit court for all the clerks filing fees and service charges that were +waived by operation of this section. + +g. Ordering such other relief as the court deems necessary for the +protection of a victim of exploitation, including injunctions or directives to +law enforcement agencies, as provided in this section. + +(b) The court must allow an advocate from a state attorneys office, a law +enforcement agency, or the adult protective services program to be present +with the petitioner or the respondent during any court proceedings or hearings +related to the injunction, provided the petitioner or the respondent has made +such a request and the advocate is able to be present. + +(c) The terms of an injunction restraining the respondent as provided in +paragraph (a) remain in effect until the injunction is modified or dissolved. + +(9) Provisions required in any temporary or permanent injunction. +A temporary or final judgment on an injunction must, on its face, indicate: +(a) That the injunction is valid and enforceable in all counties of this state. +(b) That law enforcement officers may use their arrest powers under s. + +901.15(6) to enforce the terms of the injunction. +(c) That the court had jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter under + +state law and that reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard were given to +the person against whom the order was sought, in a manner that was +sufficient to protect that persons right to due process. + +(d) If any assets or lines of credit are ordered to be frozen, the date that the +depository or financial institution was served with the injunction as provided + + + +in s. 655.0201. +(e) The date the respondent was served with the petition for injunction. + +(10) Transmittal to sheriff; service. +(a)1.a. The clerk of the circuit court shall furnish a copy of the petition, + +the financial affidavit, the notice of hearing, and any temporary +injunction to the sheriff or a law enforcement agency of the county in +which the respondent resides or can be found, who shall serve it upon +the respondent as soon thereafter as possible on any day of the week +and at any time of the day or night. At the request of the sheriff, the +clerk of the circuit court may transmit a facsimile copy of an injunction +that has been certified by the clerk of the circuit court pursuant to +subparagraph 4., and this facsimile copy may be served in the same +manner as a certified copy. The clerk of the circuit court shall also +furnish to the sheriff such information on the respondents physical +description and location as is required by the Department of Law +Enforcement to comply with the verification procedures set forth in +sub-subparagraph b. + +b. Upon receiving a facsimile copy, the sheriff must verify receipt with the +clerk of the circuit court before attempting to serve it upon the respondent. If +the sheriff is in possession of an injunction that has been certified by the clerk +of the circuit court, the sheriff may transmit a facsimile copy of that +injunction to a law enforcement officer who shall serve it in the same manner +as a certified copy. + +c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chief judge of each +judicial circuit, in consultation with the appropriate sheriff, may authorize a +law enforcement agency within the jurisdiction to effect service. A law +enforcement agency performing service pursuant to this section shall use +service and verification procedures consistent with those of the sheriff. + +2.a. Except where the vulnerable adult is the petitioner, the clerk of the +circuit court shall furnish a copy of the petition, the financial affidavit, the +notice of hearing, and any temporary injunction to the sheriff or a law +enforcement agency of the county in which the vulnerable adult resides or +can be found, who shall serve it upon the vulnerable adult as soon +thereafter as possible on any day of the week and at any time of the day or + + + +night. At the request of the sheriff, the clerk of the circuit court may +transmit a facsimile copy of an injunction that has been certified by the +clerk of the circuit court pursuant to subparagraph 4., and this facsimile +copy may be served in the same manner as a certified copy. The clerk of +the circuit court shall also furnish to the sheriff such information on the +vulnerable adults physical description and location as is required by the +Department of Law Enforcement to comply with the verification +procedures set forth in sub-subparagraph b. +b. Upon receiving a facsimile copy, the sheriff must verify receipt with the + +clerk of the circuit court before attempting to serve it upon the vulnerable +adult. If the sheriff is in possession of an injunction that has been certified by +the clerk of the circuit court, the sheriff may transmit a facsimile copy of that +injunction to a law enforcement officer, who shall serve it in the same manner +as a certified copy. + +c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the chief judge of each +judicial circuit, in consultation with the appropriate sheriff, may authorize a +law enforcement agency within the jurisdiction of the circuit to effect service. +A law enforcement agency performing service pursuant to this section shall +use service and verification procedures consistent with those of the sheriff. + +3. When an injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable +adult is issued, if the petitioner requests that a law enforcement agency assist +the vulnerable adult, the court may order that an officer from the appropriate +law enforcement agency accompany the vulnerable adult and assist in the +service or execution of the injunction, including returning possession of a +dwelling or residence to the vulnerable adult. A law enforcement officer shall +accept a copy of an injunction, certified by the clerk of the circuit court +pursuant to subparagraph 4., from the petitioner and immediately serve it +upon a respondent who has been located but not yet served. The law +enforcement agency must also serve any injunction freezing assets on a +financial institution where assets subject to dissipation are held, or where a +credit line may be exploited. Service upon the depository or financial +institution must be served as provided in s. 655.0201. + +4. The clerk of the circuit court shall certify a copy of all orders issued, +changed, continued, extended, or vacated subsequent to the original service +of the original petition, notice of hearing, or temporary injunction and deliver + + + +the certified copy to the parties at the time of the entry of the order. The +parties may acknowledge receipt of a certified order in writing on the face of +the original order. If a party fails or refuses to acknowledge the receipt of a +certified copy of an order, the clerk of the circuit court must note on the +original petition that service was effected. If delivery at the hearing during +which an order is issued is not possible, the clerk of the circuit court shall +mail certified copies of the order to the parties at their respective last known +mailing addresses; except that service upon a depository or financial +institution must be served as provided in s. 655.0201. Service by mail is +complete upon mailing. When an order is served pursuant to this +subparagraph, the clerk of the circuit court shall notify the sheriff of the +service and prepare a written certification to be placed in the court file +specifying the time, date, and method of service. + +5. If the respondent has been previously served with the temporary +injunction and has failed to appear at the initial hearing on the temporary +injunction, any subsequent petition for an injunction seeking an extension of +time may be served on the respondent by the clerk of the court by certified +mail in lieu of personal service by a law enforcement officer. + +(b)1. Within 24 hours after the court issues an injunction for protection +against exploitation of a vulnerable adult or changes, continues, extends, or +vacates such an injunction, the clerk of the circuit court must forward a +certified copy of the order to the sheriff with jurisdiction over the residence +of the petitioner for service in accordance with this subsection. +2. Within 24 hours after service of an injunction for protection against + +exploitation of a vulnerable adult upon a respondent, the law enforcement +officer who served the injunction must forward the written proof of service to +the sheriff with jurisdiction over the residence of the petitioner. + +3. Within 24 hours after the sheriff receives a certified copy of the +injunction for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult, the sheriff +must make information related to the injunction available to this states law +enforcement agencies by electronically transmitting such information to the +Department of Law Enforcement. + +4. Within 24 hours after the sheriff or other law enforcement officer has +made service upon the respondent and the sheriff has been so notified, the +sheriff must make information relating to the service available to other law + + + +enforcement agencies by electronically transmitting such information to the +Department of Law Enforcement. + +5. Within 24 hours after an injunction for protection against exploitation of +a vulnerable adult is terminated or otherwise rendered no longer effective by +ruling of the court, the clerk of the circuit court must notify the sheriff +receiving original notification of the injunction as provided in subparagraph +1. The sheriff shall, within 24 hours after receiving such notification from the +clerk of the circuit court, notify the Department of Law Enforcement of such +court action. + +(11) Enforcement. +(a) As to the respondent, the court may enforce a violation of an injunction + +for protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult through a civil or +criminal contempt proceeding, and the state attorney may prosecute it as a +criminal violation under s. 825.1036. Any assessment or fine ordered by the +court enforcing such injunction shall be collected by the clerk of the circuit +court and transferred on a monthly basis to the Department of Revenue for +deposit in the Domestic Violence Trust Fund. + +(b) If the respondent is arrested by a law enforcement officer under s. +901.15(6) or for a violation of s. 825.1036, the respondent must be held in +custody until he or she is brought before the court, which must occur as +expeditiously as possible, for the purpose of enforcing the injunction for +protection against exploitation of a vulnerable adult and for admittance to bail +in accordance with chapter 903 and the applicable rules of criminal +procedure, pending a hearing. + +(12) Judgment for damages. Actual damages may be assessed against +the petitioner in a proceeding under this section if the court finds that the +petition lacks substantial fact or legal support. + +(13) Modification or dissolution of injunction. The petitioner, +respondent, or vulnerable adult may move at any time to modify or +dissolve the injunction in part or in whole. No specific allegations are +required for modification or dissolution of the injunction, which may be +granted in addition to other civil or criminal penalties. The court shall +promptly hear a motion to modify or dissolve an injunction. + +(14) Limitation. Nothing in this section may affect title to real property. + + + +History. +S. 2, ch. 2018-100, effective July 1, 2018; s. 8, ch. 2021-221, effective July + +1, 2021. + + + +CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA +AS REVISED IN 1968 AND SUBSEQUENTLY + +AMENDED. + +________ + Title XLVI. , Art. X. + +Fla. Const. Art. X + +ARTICLE X. +MISCELLANEOUS. + + Title XLVI. , Art. X. , 4. +Fla. Const. Art. X, 4 + +Section 4. Homestead; exemptions. +(a) There shall be exempt from forced sale under process of any court, and + +no judgment, decree or execution shall be a lien thereon, except for the +payment of taxes and assessments thereon, obligations contracted for the +purchase, improvement or repair thereof, or obligations contracted for house, +field or other labor performed on the realty, the following property owned by +a natural person: + +(1) a homestead, if located outside a municipality, to the extent of one +hundred sixty acres of contiguous land and improvements thereon, which +shall not be reduced without the owners consent by reason of subsequent +inclusion in a municipality; or if located within a municipality, to the +extent of one-half acre of contiguous land, upon which the exemption shall +be limited to the residence of the owner or the owners family; + +(2) personal property to the value of one thousand dollars. +(b) These exemptions shall inure to the surviving spouse or heirs of the + +owner. +(c) The homestead shall not be subject to devise if the owner is survived by + +spouse or minor child, except the homestead may be devised to the owners +spouse if there be no minor child. The owner of homestead real estate, joined + + + +by the spouse if married, may alienate the homestead by mortgage, sale or +gift and, if married, may by deed transfer the title to an estate by the entirety +with the spouse. If the owner or spouse is incompetent, the method of +alienation or encumbrance shall be as provided by law. + +HISTORY: +Am. H.J.R. 4324, 1972; adopted 1972; Am. H.J.R. 40, 1983; adopted + +1984; Am. proposed by Constitution Revision Commission, Revision No. 13, +1998, filed with the Secretary of State May 5, 1998; adopted 1998. + + + +INDEX TO FLORIDA PROBATE RULES AND STATUTES +________ + +A + +ABANDONED PROPERTY. +Escheat. + +See ESCHEAT. +Unclaimed property. + +See UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. +ABATEMENT, 733.805. +ACCESSIONS, 732.605. +ACCOUNTING. +Business, continuance of wards, 5.640(d). +Contents of, 5.346. +Curator, by, 5.122(e), 5.345. +Disclosure of amount of attorneys fees, 5.400(b)(4). +Execution. + +By guardian, 5.610(d). +By personal representative, 5.330(b). + +Failure to file, 5.150(a), 5.440(d). +Fees to attorneys, disclosure of amount of, 5.400(b)(4). +Fiduciary Accounting Principles, Uniform, 5.346Appendix B. +Final, 5.346. + +Filing of, 5.345, 5.400(a), 5.400(c), 5.440(b), 5.670(c), 5.680(c), 744.521, +744.524. + +Objections to, 5.345(b)(e), 5.400(b)(6)(b)(7), 5.400(d), 5.401, 5.670(f) +(h), 5.680(f)(g), 5.700. + +Service, 5.345(b), 5.400(c), 5.680(e). + + + +Time for, 5.400(c). +Verification of, 5.346(d). +Waiver of, 5.180, 731.302. + +Forms, 5.346Appendix A, 5.346(c). +Guardian. + +See GUARDIAN. +Interim. + +Approval of, 5.345(e). +Contents of, 5.346. +Election by personal representative, 5.345(a). +Fiscal year, selection of, 5.345(a)(1). +Notice of filing of, 5.345(b). +Objections to, 5.345(b)(e). +Substantiating documents, 5.345(f). +Supplemental accounting, 5.345(g). + +Order requiring, 5.150, 744.3685. +Personal representative, 5.345. + +Form, 5.346Appendix A. +Removal, upon. + +Guardian, 5.660(b), 5.660(d), 744.511. +Personal representative, 5.345, 5.440(b), 733.508(1). + +Resignation, upon. +Guardian, 744.467. +Personal representative, 5.345, 5.430(g), 733.5036(1). + +Restoration of rights of developmentally disabled person, filing of final +accounting, 5.681(f). + +Service of order on personal representative or guardian and attorney, +5.150(c), 744.3685. + +Standards for, 5.346(b). +Supplemental, 5.345(g). + + + +Time for, 5.150(a), 5.345(a), 5.440(b), 5.695(a)(2), 744.367(1). +Trust. + +See TRUST. +Trustee, by. + +See TRUSTEE. +Uniform Fiduciary Accounting Principles, 5.346Appendix B. +Verification of, 5.345(h), 5.346(d). +ACKNOWLEDGMENT. +Deed, of. + +See REAL PROPERTY. +Will, of, 732.502(1)(b), 732.503. +ADEMPTION, 732.605, 732.606, 732.609. +ADMINISTRATION. +Ancillary. + +See ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION. +Bond by personal representative, 5.235(a)(2), 5.235(c), 733.402, 733.403. +Curator, by. + +See CURATOR. +Disposition of personal property without, 5.420, 735.301, 735.302. + +Intestate property in small estates, 735.304. +Payment to successor without court proceedings, 735.303. + +Evidence of death, filing of, 5.205(a), 731.103. +Expenses of. + +See EXPENSES. +Information about, generally, 5.341. +Letters, issuance of, 5.235(b). +Notice of. + +Contents, 5.240(b), 733.212(2). +Objections, 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3), 733.2123. + + + +Service, 733.212(1)(8). +By personal representative, 5.240(a). +On personal representative, date notices considered served, 5.2405. +Waiver of service, 5.240(e). + +Waiver, 733.212(8). +Petition for. + +Generally, 5.200, 733.202. +Notice, 5.201, 733.2123. + +Probate of will without, 5.210. +Revocation of order of discharge, 5.460(c), 733.903. +Subsequent to final settlement and discharge, 5.460, 733.903. +Succession of, 733.307. +Summary. + +See SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION. +ADMINISTRATOR AD LITEM. +Appointment of, 5.120(a), 5.120(g), 733.308. +Enforcement of judgments, 5.120(f). +Oath, 5.120(a). +Objector to claim against estate, 733.705(3). +Recovery of judgments or other relief, 5.120(f). +Service of petition and order, 5.120(e). +ADOPTED PERSONS. +Intestate succession by or from, 732.108. +Trust. + +Subsequent adoption, effect on revocable trust, 736.1105. +ADULT ABUSE. +Disabilities, persons with. + +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly person +or disabled adult. + + + +Forfeiture of beneficiary interest, 732.8031. +Elderly persons. + +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly person +or disabled adult. +Forfeiture of beneficiary interest, 732.8031. + +Injunctions. +Elderly and disabled adult abuse. + +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(a), 825.1035. +ADVANCE DIRECTIVES, HEALTH CARE. +See HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. +ADVANCEMENTS, 733.806. +ADVERSARY PROCEEDINGS. +Caption of pleadings, 5.025(d)(5). +Declared adversary proceedings. + +Notice required, 5.025(b)(3). +Service. + +Petitioner, by, 5.025(b)(1). +Respondent, by, 5.025(b)(2). + +Defined, 5.025(a). +Delay, evidence of, 5.025(d)(3). +Notice required, 5.025(b)(3), 5.025(d)(1). +Order, 5.025(c)(d). +Rules of Civil Procedure to govern, 5.025(d)(2). +Specific proceedings designated as, 5.025(a). +AFFIRMATIONS. +See OATH. +AFTERBORN BENEFICIARIES, 732.106, 732.302, 732.507(1). +AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION. +Creditor status of, 5.241(a), 5.241(e), 409.910, 409.9101, 733.2121(3)(d). + + + +Notice of names of decedents to agency by circuit judges, 198.30. +AGENT, RESIDENT. +See RESIDENT AGENT. +AGENTS. +Elective share, election by agent or guardian of property, 5.360(a)(b). +AGREEMENTS. +Private, 733.815. +Succession, concerning, 732.701. +ALIENS. +Estate tax on decedents, 198.04. +Rights of inheritance, 732.1101. +ANATOMICAL GIFTS. +Amendment of terms of, 765.516. +Certification of organizations engaged in procurement of organs and + +tissues, 765.541, 765.542, 765.544. +Confidentiality of donor registry information, 765.51551. +Cooperation between medical examiners and procurement + +organizations, 765.547. +Coordinators of procurement organizations, supervision of, 765.545. +Corneal removal, 765.5185735.519. +Definitions, 765.511. +Discrimination in access to anatomical gifts and organ transplants, + +765.523. +Donees. + +Duties of, 765.517. +Permissible, 765.513. +Rights of, 765.517. + +Donor registry, 765.5155. +Driver license, notation of gift on, 765.514(1)(c), 765.521. + + + +Education program relating to, 765.5155. +Eye banks, 765.518, 765.522, 765.541, 765.542, 765.544. +Fees from applicants and certificateholders, 765.544. +Hospital administrators, duty of, 765.522. +Identification card, notation of gift on, 765.514(1)(c), 765.521. +Legislative declaration, 765.510. +Organ and Tissue Donor Education and Procurement Trust Fund, + +765.544. +Organ and Tissue Procurement and Transplantation Advisory Board, + +765.543. +Out-of-state physicians, procurement of organs by, 765.546. +Procedure to make, 765.514. +Public records exemption, 765.51551. +Purposes for, permissible, 765.513. +Registry, donor, 765.5155. +Revocation of, 765.516. +Uniform donor card. + +Delivery of, 765.515. +Form for, 765.514(1)(f). + +Who may make, 765.512. +ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION. +Admission of will to probate, 734.102(3). +Authenticated copy of will, 5.215, 5.470(a)(c), 5.475(a). +Bond by personal representative, 734.102(4). +Commencement of, 734.102(2). +Evidence of death, filing of, 5.205(a)(2). +Notice of, 5.065(b)(c), 5.470(b), 734.102(1). +Notice to creditors, 734.102(5). +Personal representative. + +Appointment of, 734.102(1). + + + +Bond by, 734.102(4). +Rights and duties of, 734.102(7). + +Petition for, 5.020(b), 5.470(a). +Short form. + +Claims. +Notification of, 5.475(e), 734.1025(2). +Objections to, 5.475(f). +Procedure, 5.475(c). + +Filing requirements, 5.475(a), 734.1025(1). +Notice to creditors, 5.475(b), 734.1025(2). +Order, 5.475(d). + +Transfer of property by court order, 734.102(6). +Will, filing of copy of, 5.470(a)(1), 5.475(a)(1), 734.1025(1). +ANIMAL, TRUST FOR CARE OF, 736.0408. +ANNUAL ACCOUNTING. +See ACCOUNTING. +ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP PLAN. +See GUARDIAN. +ANNUAL GUARDIANSHIP REPORT. +See GUARDIAN. +ANNUITY CONTRACTS, UNCLAIMED PROCEEDS, 717.107. +ANTILAPSE. +Devise, 732.603. +Disposition by trust, 736.1106. +APPEAL. +Guardianship proceedings, 5.100, 744.109(2). +Probate proceedings, 5.100. +APPOINTMENT OF PROPERTY. + + + +See POWER OF APPOINTMENT. +APPORTIONMENT. +Estate taxes, 733.817. +Income and principal. + +See FLORIDA UNIFORM PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT. +APPRAISAL. +Guardianship proceedings, 744.381. +Probate, 5.340(g), 733.604(3). +APPRAISERS. +Compensation, review of, 733.6175, 736.0206. +County property, schedule of recorded conveyances furnished to, 695.22. +Department of Revenue, appointment by, 198.07, 198.11. +Employment by personal representative, 733.612(19). +ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLVING WILLS OR TRUSTS, + +731.401. +ASSETS. +Defined, 732.703(1)(a). +Elective share payable from, 732.2035, 732.2045, 732.2075. +Exhaustion of wards, 5.680. +Inventory of. + +See INVENTORY. +Nondomiciliaries, of, 731.106. +Order of appropriation of, 733.805. +Production of, 5.160, 744.373. +Surrender of. + +Removed guardian, by, 5.660(c), 744.514. +Removed personal representative, by, 733.509. +Resigning personal representative, by, 733.5035. + +ASSIGNMENT OF DOWER, 5.365. + + + +ATTORNEYS. +Compensation of. + +Discovery, cost of, 5.080(b). +Expert witnesses. + +Guardian and attorney fees, expert testimony as to reasonableness, +744.108(9). + +Guardianship proceedings, 744.107(4), 744.108, 744.331(7)(a), +744.1075(5). + +Power of attorney petitions, 709.2116(3). +Probate proceedings, 5.355, 5.400(b), 732.2145(2)(b), 733.609, + +733.612(19), 733.707, 733.3101, 733.6171, 733.6175. +Generally, 733.106. +Will reformation and modification, 733.1061. + +Summary administration proceedings, 735.206(4). +Trust proceedings, 736.0206, 736.0802, 736.1004, 736.1005, 736.1007, + +736.05053(4), 738.104(8)(c). +Veterans guardianship, 744.369. + +Counsel for alleged incapacitated person, 744.102(1), 744.331(2), +744.362(2). + +Counsel for developmentally disabled person, 5.649(c), 5.681(b), +393.12(5), 393.12(12)(a). + +Counsel for guardian or personal representative, 5.030(a). +Counsel for minor, 744.3021(3). +Counsel for self, 5.030(a). +Elective share proceedings. + +Award of attorneys fees and costs, 732.2151. +Gifts to lawyers and other disqualified persons, 732.806. +Limited appearance without court order, 5.030(b). + +Withdrawal, 5.030(c). +Personal representative, service as. + +Compensation, restrictions, 733.617. + + + +Trustee, service as. +Compensation, restrictions, 736.0708. + +Withdrawal of. +Court approval required, 5.030(c). +Motion for, 5.030(c). + +AUDIT. +Defined, 744.102(2). +Guardians reports, fee for, 744.365(6), 744.3678(4). +Public guardian, report by, 5.710(e). +Verified inventory, 744.365(6), 744.368(3). +AUTHENTICATION. +Copy of will, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 5.215, 5.470(a)(c), 5.475(a), 733.206(2). +Defined, 731.201(1). + + + +B + +BANK ACCOUNTS. +Adverse claim to, 655.83, 717.1241, 717.12403. +Business days, 655.89(1)(a), 655.89(5)(8). +Checks. + +Postdated, issuance of, 655.86. +Settlement of, 655.85. + +Convenience accounts, 655.80. +Credit balances, unclaimed, 655.851. +Definitions, 655.89(1), 655.90(1), 655.91(1), 655.93, 655.769. +Emergency closings of banks, 655.90. +Holidays, banking, 655.89(1)(b), 655.89(2)(5), 655.89(7)(8). +Minors, withdrawal of deposits by, 655.77. +Out-of-state institutions, transactions by, 655.921. +Pay-on-death accounts, 655.82. +Records, retention and destruction of, 655.91. +Safe-deposit box. + +See SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX. +Statements of account, validity of, 655.84. +Trust, deposits in, 655.825. +Two or more names, deposits in. + +Vesting on death of one account holder, 655.79. +Withdrawals, 655.78. + +Unauthorized banking business, 655.922. +Unclaimed property. + +Credit balances, 655.851. +Generally, 717.106, 717.12403. + +BANKRUPTCY EXEMPTIONS. + + + +See EXEMPT PROPERTY. +BENEFICIARY. +Contracts, private, 733.815. +Defined, 731.201(2), 732.703(1)(b), 736.0103(4), 738.102(2). +Determination of, 5.025(a), 5.385, 733.105. +Exclusion from status as interested person, 731.201(23). +Income beneficiary defined, 738.102(5). +Interests of the beneficiaries. + +Defined, 736.1003. +BIRTH. +Trust. + +Subsequent birth, effect on revocable trust, 736.1105. +BOND. +Amount of for estate fiduciaries, 733.403. +Ancillary administration, 734.102(4). +Conservator, 747.034. +Curator, 733.402, 733.403, 733.501(2). +Department of Revenue, bond for agents of, 198.07(2). +Emergency temporary guardian, 744.3031(7). +Foreign guardian, 5.645(e), 744.307(3). +Generally, 733.402. +Guardian, 744.351, 744.354, 744.357. +Magistrate, 5.095(e). +Partial distribution, bond required before entry of order of, 5.380(c), + +733.802(3). +Personal representative, 5.235(a)(2), 5.235(c), 733.402, 733.403. +Premium allowable as expense of administration, 733.406, 744.641. +Preneed guardian, 744.3045(7). +Professional guardian, 744.2002(3)(b), 744.2003(2). + + + +Public guardian, 744.351(5), 744.2102. +Release of surety. + +Discharge of guardian, upon, 744.531. +Final distribution of assets and discharge, upon, 5.400(e), 733.901(2). +Petition, upon, 733.405. +Removal of personal representative, upon, 733.506, 733.508(2). +Resignation of personal representative, upon, 733.502, 733.5036(2). + +Removal of personal representative, 733.506, 733.508(2). +Resignation of personal representative. + +Exoneration of surety, 733.502, 733.5036(2). +Notice to surety, 5.430(c). + +Surety. +See SURETY. + +Trustee, 736.0702, 736.0705(3). +Veterans guardian, 744.619, 744.641. +Waiver of, 733.402(4). +Will. + +Electronic will or codicil. +Qualified custodians, 732.525. + +BURDEN OF PROOF. +Compensation of agent, reasonableness of, 5.355, 733.6175, 736.0206. +Propriety of employment of agent, 5.355, 733.6175, 736.0206. +Will contests, 5.275, 733.107. +BUSINESS, CONTINUANCE OF. +Guardian, by. + +Accounting, 5.640(d). +Conduct of, 5.640(c)(d). +Discontinuance by court order, 5.640(e). +Generally, 5.640(a), 744.441(m). + + + +Order authorizing, 5.640(a)(c). +Petition for, 5.640(b). +Reports, 5.640(d). + +Personal representative, by. +Conduct of, 5.350(a), 5.350(d). +Discontinuance by court order, 5.350(d). +Generally, 733.612(22). +Order authorizing, 5.350(c). +Petition, 5.330, 5.350(b), 5.350(d). +Records to court, 5.350(a). + + + +C + +CAVEAT. +Contents, 5.260(b), 731.110(2). +Designation of resident agent for nonresident caveator, 5.260(c), + +731.110(2). +Filed after will admitted to probate, 5.260(d). +Filing of, 5.260(a), 731.110(1). +Other interested persons, 5.260(f). +Petition for administration, formal notice not required, 5.260(f), 731.110. +Service of notice on caveator or resident agent, 5.260(c), 5.260(f), + +731.110(2)(3). +CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE, 5.496(b). +CERTIFICATION OF TRUST, 736.1017. +CHARITABLE TRUST. +See TRUST. +CHILDREN OR MINORS. +Attorney for, 744.3021(3). +Bank deposits, withdrawal of, 655.77. +Defined, 710.102(11), 731.201(3), 731.201(25), 744.102(13). +Disclaimer on behalf of. + +See DISCLAIMER. +Family allowance for. + +See FAMILY ALLOWANCE. +Guardian ad litem for, 5.636(d), 744.3025. +Guardian for. + +Annual plan, 5.555(e)(2), 744.3675. +Form of annual guardianship plan for minor, 5.904(b). + +Annual report, 5.555(e). + + + +Appointment of, 5.555(c)(d), 744.342, 744.387(3)(b), 744.3021, +744.3371(2). + +Initial guardianship report, 5.555(e). +Initial plan, 5.555(e)(2). + +Form for initial guardianship plan for minor, 5.904(a). +Natural, 744.301. +Powers of, 744.361(1), 744.3021(1). +Preneed, 744.3046. +Settlement of claims, 5.636, 744.301(2)(3), 744.387, 744.3025. +Veterans, 744.613(2), 744.631(1), 744.643. + +Health care surrogate. +Designation of surrogate for minor, 765.2035. + +Form, 765.2038. +Illegitimate, inheritance rights of, 732.108(2), 732.608. +Intestate succession, rights of. + +See INTESTATE SUCCESSION. +Pretermitted, 732.302, 732.507(1). +Safe-deposit box, leasing, 655.932. +Transfers to. + +See FLORIDA UNIFORM TRANSFERS TO MINORS ACT. +CHILD SUPPORT. +Trust. + +Community property trust act. +Right to support, 736.1509. + +CITATION OF RULES, 5.010. +CIVIL ACTION. +Notice of, 5.065(a), 5.065(c). +Rules of evidence in, applicability of, 5.170, 731.103, 731.1035. +CIVIL PROCEDURE, RULES OF. + + + +See RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE. +CLAIMS. +Amending, 5.490(d), 733.704. +Ancillary administration, 734.102(5)(7). +Ancillary administration, short form, 5.475(c), 5.475(e), 5.475(f), + +734.1025(2). +Community property, 732.224. +Compromise of, 5.330(e), 733.708. +Defined, 731.201(4). +Exempt property. + +See EXEMPT PROPERTY. +Extension of time for filing, 733.702. +Failure to deliver or receive, effect of, 5.490(c). +Fraudulent transfers, 222.29, 222.30. +Garnishment. + +See GARNISHMENT. +Guardian, settlement by, 5.636, 744.301(2)(3), 744.387, 744.3025(1)(e). +Guardian ad litem, settlement by, 5.636, 744.3025. +Independent action on, 733.705(5). +Limitations on, 733.702, 733.710. +Minors, of, 5.636, 744.301(2)(3), 744.387, 744.3025. +Notice of trust, 736.05055. +Notice to creditors, 5.241, 5.260(e), 5.475(b), 733.701, 733.2121, + +734.102(5), 734.1025(2), 735.206(2), 735.2063. +Objection to, 5.496, 5.499, 733.705. +Payment of. + +Generally, 733.705. +Priority of, 733.707. +Trust, by, 736.05053. + +Personal representatives proof of, 5.498, 733.703(2), 733.705(4). + + + +Presentation of. +Form of, 5.490(a). +Service, 5.490(b). + +Sale of real property to third party, exemption for, 733.613(3). +Settlement of. + +Guardian, by or against, 744.301(2)(3), 744.387, 744.3025(1). +Confidentiality of reports, 744.3701. + +Minor, on behalf of, 5.636, 744.301(2)(3), 744.387, 744.3025. +Confidentiality of reports, 744.3701. + +Spendthrift provision, effect of, 736.0502, 736.0503. +Statement of, 5.490, 733.703(1). +Summary administration, statement in petition regarding creditors + +claims, 5.530(a)(9). +Transfer-on-death provisions governing securities, effect of, 711.509(2). +Trust, settlor. + +Creditor claims against settlor, 736.0505. +Trust property subject to, 733.707(3), 736.0501736.05053, 736.0506, + +736.1014. +Unclaimed property. + +See UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. +Validity, 5.490(c). +CLASS GIFTS, 732.603, 732.608. +CLERK. +Caveat, duties as to, 5.260(d). +Defined, 731.201(5), 744.102(3). +Review of annual guardianship reports, 744.368. +Seal of the clerk of court, 731.109. +CODICIL. +See WILL. + + + +COLLATERAL HEIR. +Defined, 731.201(6). +COMMISSION TO PROVE WILL. +See PROBATE. +COMMUNITY PROPERTY. +Alteration of interest in, 732.225. +Application of Act, 732.217, 732.228. +Construction of Act, 732.228. +Creditors rights, 732.224. +Disposition on death, 732.219. +Homestead property, 732.225, 732.227. +Lender, interest of, 732.222. +Perfection of title. + +Action by personal representative or beneficiary, 732.221. +Surviving spouse, of, 732.223. + +Presumptions applicable to Act, 732.218. +Property subject to Act, 732.217. +Purchaser for value, interest of, 732.222. +Reinvestment of property that is or becomes homestead, 732.225. +Severance of interest in, 732.225. +Testamentary disposition, limitations on, 732.226. +Title of Act, 732.216. +COMMUNITY PROPERTY TRUST ACT, 736.1501 to 736.1512. +See TRUST. +COMPENSATION. +Attorney. + +See ATTORNEYS. +Corporate personal representative, 5.355, 733.617(4), 733.6175. +Court monitor, 744.107(4). + + + +Curator, 733.501(3). +Disclosure of, 5.180(b)(4), 5.400(b)(4). +Examining committee, 744.331(7)(a). +Expert testimony regarding, 733.6175(4). +Guardian, 744.108, 744.641. +Guardian ad litem, 5.120(d), 744.3025(2). +Legal assistants, 5.355, 733.6175, 744.108(4). +Personal representative, 5.355, 5.400(b), 733.612(19), 733.617, 733.707(1), + +733.6175. +Petition. + +See PETITION. +Professionals other than attorneys, 5.355, 733.612(19), 733.707, 733.6175. +Review of propriety of, 5.355, 733.6175, 736.0206. +Trustee, 736.0206, 736.0708, 736.1004, 738.701(1), 738.702(1). +Veterans guardian, 744.641. +COMPROMISE OF CLAIM, 5.330, 733.708. +COMPULSORY PAYMENT OF DEVISES OR DISTRIBUTIVE + +INTERESTS. +Bond, 5.380(c), 733.802(3). +Order, 5.380(b), 733.802(2). +Petition, 5.380(a). +CONFLICT BETWEEN GUARDIAN AND WARD, 744.391, 744.446, + +744.474. +CONSERVATORSHIP. +Absentee. + +Defined, 747.01. +Incompetency of, 747.011. +Petition to terminate conservatorship, 747.04(1). + +Conservator. +Appointment of, 747.032. + + + +Bond, 747.034. +Discharge of, 747.04(3)(4). +Duties of, 747.035. +Minor, of, 710.102(4). +Oath of, 747.033. +Powers of, 747.035. +Removal of, 747.036. +Resignation of, 747.036. +Rights of, 747.035. + +Hearing. +Notice of. + +Plenary proceedings, 747.031(1). +Summary proceedings, 747.051(2), 747.052(3). + +Plenary proceedings, 747.031(2). +Summary proceedings, 747.051(2), 747.052(4). + +Jurisdiction of circuit court, 747.02, 747.03(1). +Order. + +Plenary proceedings, 747.032. +Summary proceedings, 747.051(2)(3), 747.052(6). + +Petition. +Plenary proceedings. + +Contents, 747.03(2). +Filing, 747.03(1). +Notice of hearing on, 747.031(1). + +Summary proceedings, 747.051(1), 747.052(1)(2). +Summary proceedings. + +Property valued at $5,000 or more, 747.052. +Property valued at less than $5,000, 747.051. + +Termination of, 747.04. + + + +CONSTRUCTION OF PROBATE CODE. +Applicability, 731.155. +Effective date, 731.011. +Fiduciary access to digital assets act. + +Application, 740.08. +Relation to electronic signatures in global and national commerce act, + +740.07. +Severability, 740.09. + +Implied repeal. +Construction against, 731.102. + +Seal of the court, 731.109. +Short title, 731.005. +Substantive rights. + +Procedure for determining, 731.011. +CONTEST. +Trust, of, 736.0207, 736.0604, 736.1108, 736.08165. +Will, of. + +See WILL. +CONTRACTS AMONG INTERESTED PERSONS, 733.815. +CONTRIBUTION. +From beneficiary, 733.805(2)(4). +From trustee, 733.607(2), 736.05053. +Taxes, estate. + +Florida. +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(10). + +COPIES. +Authenticated, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 5.215, 5.470(a), 5.470(c), 5.475(a), + +733.206(2), 734.104. +Certified, defined, 5.015(b)(1). + + + +Evidence of death, 5.205, 731.103. +Inventory. + +Order extending time for filing, 5.340(b). +Petition requesting extension of time for filing, 5.340(b). +Service of, 5.340(d). + +Notarial will, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 733.205(2). +Notice of administration, 5.240(a), 733.212(1). +Pleadings and motions, request for, 5.060(a)(b). +Service of copy of will, 5.240(c). +Will, authenticated copy of, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 5.215, 5.470(a), 5.470(c), + +5.475(a), 733.206(2), 734.104. +CORPORATE GUARDIAN, 5.590(c), 744.102(4), 744.309(4)(5), + +744.351(5). +For-profit corporate guardian, 744.309(7). +COSTS. +Awarding of. + +Breach of fiduciary duty, actions for, 733.609. +Elective share proceedings, 732.2151. +Guardianship proceedings, 744.105, 744.369(7), 744.3025(2), + +744.3715(2). +Incapacity proceedings, 744.331(7)(c). +Power of attorney petitions, 709.2116(3). +Probate proceedings. + +Generally, 733.106. +Will reformation and modification, 733.1061. + +Trust proceedings, 736.1004, 736.1006. +Bond premium allowable as, 733.406, 744.641. +Discovery, of, 5.080(b). +Priority of payment of, 733.707. +Trustee, payment by, 736.05053. + + + +COUNSEL. +See ATTORNEYS. +COURT. +Defined, 710.102(5), 731.201(7), 744.102(5). +Jurisdiction. + +See JURISDICTION. +Reporting, 744.109. +COURT MONITOR. +Appointment of, 5.720(a)(b), 744.107(1), 744.1076(1). +Defined, 744.102(6). +Duties of, 5.720(b)(c), 744.107. +Emergency, 5.725, 744.1075, 744.1076(1). +Fee allowed to, 744.107(4). +Indigent wards. + +Appointment of office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel as +monitor, 744.107(5). + +CREDIT INVESTIGATION OF PROSPECTIVE GUARDIAN, +744.3135. + +CREDITOR. +Agency for Health Care Administration as, 409.910, 409.9101, + +733.2121(3)(d). +Assets of ward, right to inspect, 744.373. +Caveat filed by, 5.260(a), 731.110. +Claims. + +See CLAIMS. +Community property, rights as to, 732.224. +Notice to, 5.241, 5.260(e), 5.475(b), 733.701, 733.2121, 734.102(5), + +734.1025(2), 735.206(2), 735.2063. +Statement regarding, 5.241(d). +CREMATION, 732.804, 744.397(1). + + + +CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF PROSPECTIVE GUARDIAN, +744.3135. + +CURATOR. +Accounting by, 5.122(e). +Appointment of, 5.122(b), 5.122(f), 733.501(1), 733.503, 733.5061. +Bond, 733.402, 733.403, 733.501(2). +Compensation of, 733.501(3). +Defined, 731.201(8). +Inventory by, 5.122(e). +Laws governing, 5.122(g). +Notice, 5.122(c), 733.501(1). +Oath of, 5.122(b). +Petition for appointment of, 5.122(a). +Powers of, 5.122(d), 733.501(1). +Reconsideration of appointment of, 5.122(f). +Removal of, 5.122(e), 733.501(4). +Resident agent, designation of, 5.122(b). +Rules governing, 5.122(g). +Surcharge of, 733.501(4). +CURTESY ABOLISHED, 732.111. + + + +D + +DEATH. +Benefits, 733.808. +Certificate. + +See DEATH CERTIFICATE, FILING OF. +Defined, 765.511(4). +Disclosure in connection with sale of real estate, 689.25. +Donation of body. + +See ANATOMICAL GIFTS. +Evidence of, filing, 5.205, 731.103. +Generally, 5.171, 731.103, 732.101(2). +Personal representative, of, 733.307. +Resident agent, of, 5.110(g). +Simultaneous, 732.601. +Trust. + +Community property trust act. +Death of spouse. + +Effect on property held in trust, 736.1507. +Ward, of, 5.680, 744.521. +DEATH CERTIFICATE, FILING OF. +Court order requiring, 5.205(c). +Definition, 732.703(1)(c). +Times, 5.205(a). +Unclaimed property proceedings, 717.1261. +Waiver of, 5.205(b). +Ward, death of, 5.680(a), 744.521. +DEBTS. +Claims. + + + +See CLAIMS. +To decedent, intestate estate, 732.109. +DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS, 86.041. +DEFECTS IN PLEADINGS, 5.020(a). +DEFENSES, WRITTEN, 5.040(a)(2). +DEFINITIONS. +Absentee, 747.01. +Anatomical gifts, generally, 765.511. +At par. + +Settlement of checks, 655.85. +Attorney for the alleged incapacitated person. + +Guardianship, 744.102. +Audit. + +Guardianship, 744.102. +Banking provisions, for purposes of, 655.89(1), 655.90(1), 655.91(1), + +655.93, 655.769. +Beneficiary. + +Antilapse, 736.1106. +Charitable organization. + +Charitable trusts, 736.1201. +Clerk. + +Guardianship, 744.102. +Community property. + +Community property trust act, 736.1502. +Community property trusts, 736.1502. +Corporate guardian. + +Guardianship, 744.102. +Court. + +Guardianship, 744.102. + + + +Court monitor. +Guardianship, 744.102. + +Death, 765.511(4). +Decedents estates, 732.703. +Decree. + +Community property trust act, 736.1502. +Delivery of notice. + +Charitable trusts, 736.1201. +Developmental disabilities law, for purposes of, 393.063. +Dissolution. + +Community property trust act, 736.1502. +Distribution date. + +Antilapse, 736.1106. +During marriage. + +Community property trust act, 736.1502. +Elective share, for purposes of, 732.2025. +Electronic wills, 732.521. +Estate, 731.201(14), 744.102(7). +Estate tax, for purposes of, 198.01. +Estate tax apportionment, 733.817(1). +Fiduciary, 518.10, 738.102. +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, for purposes of, 740.002. +Florida Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, for purposes of, 717.101. +Florida Land Trust Act, for purposes of, 689.071(2). +Florida Probate Code, general definitions for purposes of, 731.201. +Florida Probate Rules, for purposes of, 5.015. +Florida Trust Code, for purposes of, 736.0103. +Florida Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act, for purposes of, + +739.102. +Florida Uniform Principal and Income Act, for purposes of, 738.102, + + + +738.401, 738.602, 738.801, 738.1041(1). +Florida Uniform Transfer-on-Death Security Registration Act, for + +purposes of, 711.501. +Florida Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, for purposes of, 710.102. +Foreign guardian, 744.102. +Future interest. + +Antilapse, 736.1106. +Future interest under the terms of a trust. + +Antilapse, 736.1106. +Gift. + +Gifts to lawyers and other disqualified persons, 732.806. +Guardian, 744.102, 744.108(2). +Guardian ad litem, 744.102. +Guardian advocate, 744.102. +Guardianship, generally, 731.201, 744.102, 744.1025. +Health care advance directives, generally, 765.101. +Incapacitated person. + +Guardians, 744.102. +Internal revenue code. + +Charitable trusts, 736.1201. +Invasion of principal of trust, 736.04117. +Limited guardian, 744.102. +Manage property. + +Guardians, 744.102. +Meet essential requirements for health or safety. + +Guardians, 744.102. +Minor. + +Guardians, 744.102. +Next of kin. + +Guardians, 744.102. + + + +Nonprofit corporate guardian. +Guardians, 744.102. + +Notice, 5.015(b)(2)(b)(3), 5.040(c), 731.201(22). +Plenary guardian, 744.102. +Power of attorney, for purposes of, 709.2102. +Preneed guardian, 744.102. +Private foundation trust. + +Charitable trusts, 736.1201. +Probate, generally, 5.015, 731.201. +Professional guardian, 744.102. +Property. + +Guardians, 744.102. +Property identifier, construction liens, 717.117. +Qualified trustee. + +Community property trust act, 736.1502. +Related to. + +Gifts to lawyers and other disqualified persons, 732.806. +Seller. + +Subsurface rights, disclosure to prospective purchaser, 689.29. +Settlor spouses. + +Community property trust act, 736.1502. +Split interest trust. + +Charitable trusts, 736.1201. +Standby guardian, 744.102. +Subsurface rights. + +Real property, disclosure to prospective purchaser, 689.29. +Surrogate guardian, 744.102. +Surviving beneficiary. + +Antilapse, 736.1106. +Surviving descendant. + + + +Antilapse, 736.1106. +Totally incapacitated. + +Guardians, 744.102. +Transfer fee covenants, for purpose of prohibition against, 689.28(2). +Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, for purposes of, + +695.27(2). +Ward. + +Guardians, 744.102. +Written instrument. + +Gifts to lawyers and other disqualified persons, 732.806. +DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE. +Agents appointed by, 198.07. +Appraisers appointed by, 198.07, 198.11. +Enforcement actions by, 198.25. +Estate tax administered by, 198.05. +Estate taxes generally. + +See TAXES, ESTATE. +Examination of records by, 198.06. +Extension to file return allowed by, 198.14. +Hearing on deficiency, 198.17. +Inventory, service of, 733.2121(3)(e). +Nonliability, issuance of certificate of, 198.13(2). +Notice of determination of deficiency in federal taxes, 198.16. +Notice to. + +Claims, notice to creditors to file, 733.2121(3)(e). +Names of decedents by circuit judges, 198.30. + +Receipt, issuance of, 198.19. +Refunds issued by, 198.29. +Returns filed with, 198.13. + + + +Rules promulgated by, 198.08. +Warrant issued by, 198.29. +DEPOSITIONS. +Costs, assessment of by court, 5.080(b). +Experts, of, 5.080(a)(13). +Generally, 5.080. +Rules of Civil Procedure governing, 5.080(a). +Scope, court discretion to limit, 5.080(b). +DEPOSITORY. +Designated financial institution as. + +Acceptance of designation, 69.031(4). +Accountings by, 69.031(2). +Delivery of property to, 69.031(3). +Generally, 69.031(1). +Rejection of designation by, 69.031(4). + +Securities, deposit of, 518.115. +DESCENDANT. +Defined, 731.201(9). +DESTROYED WILL. +See WILL. +DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED PERSON. +Administrator ad litem for, 5.120. +Business, continuation of, 5.640. +Definitions, 393.063. +Guardian advocate for. + +See GUARDIAN ADVOCATE. +Rights of. + +Counsel, right to, 5.649(c), 5.681(b), 393.12(5), 393.12(12)(a). +Restoration of. + + + +Amended plan, filing of, 5.681(f), 393.12(12)(g). +Counsel, right to, 5.681(b), 393.12(12)(a). +Final accounting, filing of, 5.681(f). +Generally, 393.12(12). +Notice of filing of suggestion, 5.681(c). +Objections to, 5.681(d), 393.12(12)(c), 393.12(12)(d). +Order, 5.681(e), 393.12(12). +Petition for, 393.12(12). +Suggestion of restoration, execution, 5.681(a). + +Retention of, 393.12(9). +DEVISE. +Ademption, 732.605, 732.609. +Compulsory payment of, 5.380, 733.802. +Defined, 731.201(10). +Delivery of. + +Expenses of, 733.801(2). +Time for, 733.801(1). + +Disclaimer of. +See DISCLAIMER. + +Homestead, 732.4015. +Lapse of, 732.603. +Modification to achieve testators tax objectives. + +Fees and costs, 733.1061. +Generally, 732.616. + +Per stirpital, 732.603, 732.611. +Reformation to correct mistakes. + +Fees and costs, 733.106, 733.1061. +Generally, 732.615. + +Residuary, defined, 731.201(35). + + + +Separate writing identifying, 732.515. +Trustee, to, 732.513. +Vesting of, 732.514. +Writing identifying, 732.515. +DEVISEE. +Defined, 731.201(11). +Excluded from interested person status, 731.201(23). +DIGITAL ASSETS, FIDUCIARY ACCESS, 740.001740.11. +See FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT. +DIRECTED TRUST, 736.1401 to 736.1416. +See TRUST. +DISABILITIES, PERSONS WITH. +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly + +person or disabled adult. +Forfeiture of beneficiary interest, 732.8031. + +Injunctions. +Elderly and disabled adult abuse. + +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(a), 825.1035. +DISABILITY BENEFITS, EXEMPTION FROM PROCESS, 222.18. +DISCHARGE. +Distribution. + +See DISTRIBUTION. +Guardian. + +See GUARDIAN. +Personal representative. + +See PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +DISCLAIMER. +Custodian under Florida Uniform Gifts to Minors Act, nominated, + +710.121(1). + + + +Florida Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act. +Application to existing relationships, 739.701. +Barred, when disclaimer is, 739.402. +Definitions for purposes of, 739.102. +Delivery of disclaimer, 739.301. +Effective date of disclaimer, generally, 739.201. +Entireties property, 739.203. +Execution requirements, 739.104(3). +Fiduciarys power to disclaim, 739.104(2). +Filing of disclaimer, 739.301. +Irrevocability of disclaimer, 739.104(5). +Jointly held property, 739.202. +Passing of disclaimed interest, 739.201(2)(4). +Power held in fiduciary capacity, disclaimer of, 739.207. +Power of appointment. + +Appointee, disclaimer by, 739.206(1). +Disclaimer of, 739.104(1)(2), 739.205. +Fiduciary, disclaimer by, 739.207. +Object or taker in default, disclaimer by, 739.206(2). +Power to disclaim, general requirements, 739.104. + +Recording of disclaimer related to real estate, 739.601. +Scope of Act, 739.103. +Survivorship rights, 739.202, 739.203. +Tax-qualified disclaimer, 739.501. +Time of disclaimer, 739.401. +Title of Act, 739.101. +Trustee, disclaimer by, 739.204. +When disclaimer permitted, 739.401. +Writing, necessity of, 739.104(3). + + + +DISCOVERY. +Costs, assessment of by court, 5.080(b). +Generally, 5.080. +Rules of Civil Procedure governing, 5.080(a). +Scope, court discretion to limit, 5.080(b). +DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY WITHOUT + +ADMINISTRATION, 5.205(a)(4), 5.420, 735.301, 735.302. +Payment to successor without court proceedings, 735.303. +Small estates. + +Intestate personal property in small estates, 5.425, 735.304. +DISQUALIFICATION. +Guardian, 5.650(i), 5.650(j), 744.309(3), 744.474(18). +Personal representative, 5.310, 733.303, 733.304, 733.3101. +DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, EFFECT OF. +Decedents estates, effect on, 732.703. +Health care advance directive, 765.104(2). +Trust, 736.1010, 736.1105. + +Community property trust act. +Generally, 736.1501 to 736.1512. + +See TRUST. +Termination of trust and distribution of trust assets, 736.1508. + +Will, 732.507(2). +DISTRIBUTEE. +Defined, 731.201(12), 736.0103(6). +Liability for improper distribution. + +From estate, 733.812. +From trust, 736.1018. + +Permissible distributee, defined, 736.0103(13). +DISTRIBUTION. + + + +Advancement, 733.806. +Compulsory payment of devises or distributive interests, 5.380, 733.802. +Death benefits and proceeds, 733.808. +Encumbered property, liability for payment, 733.803. +Final accounting prior to. + +Guardian, by. +See GUARDIAN. + +Personal representative, by. +Contents of, 5.346. +Filing of, 5.400(a), 5.400(c). +Objections to, 5.400(b)(6)(b)(7), 5.400(d), 5.401. +Service, 5.400(c). +Time for, 5.400(c). +Waiver of, 5.180, 731.302. + +Final discharge. +Guardian, of. + +See GUARDIAN. +Personal representative, of. + +Order of, 5.400(e), 5.401(e), 733.901(2). +Petition for. + +Contents, 5.020(b), 5.330(g), 5.400(a)(b). +Objections to, 5.400(b)(6)(b)(7), 5.401. +Service, 5.400(c). +Time for, 5.400(c), 733.901(1). +Waiver of, 5.180, 731.302. + +Improper, 733.812, 736.1018. +In kind, 733.810. +Order of appropriation of assets, 733.805. +Partition for purpose of, 733.814. +Per stirpital, 732.104, 732.603, 732.611. + + + +Plan of. +Contents of, 5.400(b)(5). +Objections to, 5.400(b)(6)(b)(7). + +Private contract among interested persons, 733.815. +Purchasers from distributees, 733.813. +Retainer, right of, 733.809. +Right of distributee in property, 733.811. +Summary administration, 5.530(d), 735.206. +Time for, 733.801(1). +Title of distributee, 733.811. +Unclaimed property. + +See UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. +DIVORCE, EFFECT OF. +See DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, EFFECT OF. +DOMICILE. +Affidavit of, 222.17. +Defined. + +Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, for purposes of, 717.101(8). +Estate administration, for purposes of, 731.201(13). +Estate tax, for purposes of, 198.015. + +Evidence of, 222.17. +Ward. + +Change of, 5.670, 744.524. +Generally, 744.1096. + +DONATION OF BODY OR ORGANS. +See ANATOMICAL GIFTS. +DOWER. +Abolished, 732.111. + + + +Petition for assignment to widow, 5.365. +DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY. +See POWER OF ATTORNEY. + + + +E + +EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GUARDIAN, 5.625, 744.2002(3) +(b), 744.2002(7), 744.2002(10), 744.2003, 744.3145. + +ELDERLY PERSONS. +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly + +person or disabled adult. +Forfeiture of beneficiary interest, 732.8031. + +Injunctions. +Elderly and disabled adult abuse. + +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(a), 825.1035. +ELECTIVE SHARE. +Adversary nature of proceeding to determine amount of share and + +contribution, 5.025(a). +Amount of. + +Determination of, 5.025(a), 5.360(d). +Generally, 732.2065. + +Assets applied to payment of, 732.2075. +Award of attorneys fees and costs in proceedings relating to elective + +share, 732.2151. +Beneficiaries, liability for contributions, 732.2085. +Contribution to satisfy. + +Action to enforce, 5.025(a), 732.2145(4). +Beneficiaries, liability of, 732.2085. +Direct recipients, liability of, 732.2085. +Order of, 5.360(d)(5), 732.2145. +Personal representatives duty to collect, 732.2145(2)(3). +Relief from duty to enforce, 5.360(e). + +Definitions, 732.2025. +Direct recipients of property included in elective estate, liability for + + + +contributions, 732.2085. +Effective dates of laws regarding, 732.2155. +Elective estate. + +Inventory of, 5.340(g). +Property entering into, 732.2035. +Property excluded from, 732.2045. +Valuation of, 732.2055. + +Excluded property, 732.2045. +Extension of time to elect, 5.360(b)(1), 732.2135(2), 732.2135(4). +Interests other than, effect of election on, 732.2105. +Notice of administration, notice relating to filing of election to take + +elective share, 5.240(b)(5), 733.212(2)(e). +Payors, protection of, 732.2115. +Procedure. + +Amount of share. +Determination of, 5.025(a), 5.360(d). +Objection to, 5.360(d)(4). + +Contribution. +Determination of, 5.025(a), 5.360(d). +Relief from duty to enforce, 5.360(e). + +Entitlement, determination of, 5.360(c). +Extension of time to make election, 5.360(b)(1). +Filing of election, 5.360(a). +Notice. + +Election, 5.360(b)(3). +Petition, 5.360(a)(2)(B). + +Objections. +Amount of share, to, 5.360(d)(4). +Election, to, 5.360(b)(4). + +Order. + + + +Amount of, determining, 5.360(d)(5)(d)(6). +Contribution to, specifying, 732.2145. +Entitlement to, determining, 5.360(b)(3)(C), 5.360(c). +Filing by agent or guardian, authorizing, 5.360(a)(2)(C). + +Petition. +Approval to make election, 5.360(a)(2)(A). +Determination of amount of, 5.360(d)(1), 5.360(d)(3). +Extension of time to make election, 5.360(b)(1). +Relief of duty to enforce contribution, 5.360(e). +Withdrawal of election, 5.360(b)(2), 732.2135(3). + +Property available for. +Exclusions, 732.2045. +Generally, 732.2035, 733.608(1). +Pension and retirement accounts, 222.21(2)(d). +Valuation of, 732.2095. + +Qualifying special needs trust, 732.2025(8), 732.2045(1)(g), 732.2075(1) +(e), 732.2095(1)(a)(2), 732.2095(2)(c). + +Right to, 732.201, 732.2125. +Spousal rights. + +Procurement by fraud, duress or undue influence, 732.805, 732.4017. +Time of election. + +Generally, 732.2135. +Notice of, 733.212(2)(e). + +Transition rules for elective share statutes, 732.2155. +Trust, 732.2025(2), 732.2025(10), 732.2095(2)(b), 732.2155(4). +Waiver of right to, 732.702, 732.2155(3). +Withdrawal of election, 5.360(b)(2), 732.2135(3). +ELECTRONIC WILLS, 732.521-732.526. +See WILL. + + + +EMBEZZLEMENT. +Guardian. + +Exploitation of ward, 744.359. +EMERGENCY COURT MONITOR, 5.725, 744.1075, 744.1076(1). +Indigent wards. + +Appointment of office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel as +monitor, 744.1075(6). + +EMERGENCY TEMPORARY GUARDIAN, 5.600, 5.648, 744.2005(4), +744.3031. + +EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN. +Defined, 732.703(1)(d). +ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS, PROTECTION AGAINST VIOLATION + +OF. +Personal representative, 733.6121. +ESCHEAT. +Administration, 5.386(a). +Assignment of right to receive payment, 732.107(5). +Claimant, recovery of escheated property by, 716.07. +Court report, 5.386(b). +Department of Financial Services. + +Deposit of funds by, 716.05. +Proceedings instituted by, 716.03, 716.04. + +Federal agencies, funds in possession of, 716.02. +Generally, 732.107(1), 733.816. +Policy of state, declaration of, 716.01. +Proceeding, 5.386(a), 716.03, 716.04. +Public records, 716.06. +Reopening administration, 732.107(3). +Savings bonds, 717.1382. + + + +Claims for savings bond, 717.1383. +Transfer to state, 716.05, 732.107(2), 733.816(1). +Unclaimed property. + +See UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. +ESTABLISHMENT OF LOST OR DESTROYED WILL. +See WILL. +ESTATE. +Defined. + +Guardianship, 744.102(7). +Probate, 731.201(14). + +Escheated. +See ESCHEAT. + +Execution or levy against property of, 733.706. +Information about, generally, 5.341. +Intestate, 732.101732.111. +Missing person, probate of, 733.209. +Possession of by personal representative, 733.607. +Taxes. + +See TAXES, ESTATE. +ESTATE TAX RETURN, NOTICE OF. +See TAXES, ESTATE. +EVIDENCE. +Civil action rules generally applicable, 5.170, 731.103, 731.1035. +Death, of. + +Filing of, 5.205. +Generally, 5.171, 731.103. + +Incapacity adjudication. +Reports, objection to entry into evidence, 5.550(e). + +EXAMINING COMMITTEE FOR ALLEGED INCAPACITATED + + + +PERSON, 5.550(e), 744.331(3)(5), 744.331(7)(a). +Adjudicatory hearing, 5.550(f). +Reports, 5.550(e). +EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS. +Electronic signatures. + +Real property. +Method of conveyance, 689.01. +Recording of conveyances, 695.28. + +Guardian, when required, 5.610. +Personal representative, when required, 5.330. +Pleadings, generally, 5.020(a). +Waivers, 5.180(a). +Wills, 732.502. + +Electronic will or codicil, 732.522. +EXECUTIONS AND LEVIES, 733.706. +EXECUTOR. +See PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +EXECUTOR DE SON TORT, 733.309. +EXEMPT PROPERTY. +Bankruptcy exemptions, 222.20, 222.201. +Defined, 731.201(15). +Designation in petition for summary administration, 5.530(a)(8). +Disposition of without administration, 5.420(b). +Garnishment. + +See GARNISHMENT. +Generally, 732.402. +Homestead. + +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. +Levy against. + + + +See PERSONAL PROPERTY. +Order determining, 5.406(c). +Petition to determine. + +Contents, 5.406(b). +Filing, 5.406(a), 732.402(6). + +Taxes, estate. +Florida. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Waiver of, 732.702, 733.212(2)(d). +EXPEDITED JUDICIAL INTERVENTION CONCERNING + +MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES, 5.900, 765.105. +EXPENSES. +Costs. + +See COSTS. +Custodian of minor, 710.117. +Delivery of property, 733.801(2). +Order of payment of, 733.707. +Personal representative, payment by prior to distribution, 5.400(b)(5)(D). +Storage of property, 733.801(2). +Trustee, payment by, 736.0709, 736.05053. +EXPERT WITNESSES. +Depositions of, 5.080(a)(13). +Fee determination, testimony regarding, 733.6175(4). +Guardian and attorney fees, expert testimony as to reasonableness, + +744.108(9). + + + +F + +FAMILY ALLOWANCE. +Generally, 5.407, 732.403, 733.608(1). +Order determining, 5.407(c). +Order of payment of, 733.707. +Petition to determine. + +Contents, 5.407(b). +Filing, 5.407(a). + +Taxes, estate. +Florida. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Waiver of, 732.702. +FAMILY TRUST COMPANIES. +Accounting, 736.0813, 736.08135. +Loyalty. + +Duty of loyalty of trustee, 736.0809. +Notice, 736.0109. +FEES. +See COMPENSATION. +FIDELITY BOND. +See BOND. +FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT, 740.001740.11. +Applicability of act, 740.08. + +Relation to electronic signatures in global and national commerce act, +740.07. + +Severability, 740.09. +Authority of fiduciary, 740.05. + + + +Compliance requirements of custodian, 740.06. +Construction of act. + +Relation to electronic signatures in global and national commerce act, +740.07. + +Definitions, 740.002. +Direction to custodian using online tool or testamentary instrument, + +740.003. +Disclosures by custodian. + +Catalog of electronic communications and digital assets held in trust. +Trustee is not original user, 740.03. + +Catalog of electronic communications and digital assets of deceased user, +740.007. + +Catalog of electronic communications and digital assets of principal, +740.009. + +Contents of electronic communications held in trust. +Trustee is not original user, 740.02. + +Contents of electronic communications of deceased user, 740.006. +Contents of electronic communications of principal, 740.008. +Digital assets held in trust. + +Trustee is original user, 740.01. +Guardian of ward, digital asset disclosure to, 740.04. +Procedures for disclosing digital assets. + +Charges for cost of disclosure, 740.005. +Scope of disclosure, 740.005. +Segregation of assets causing undue burden, 740.005. + +Duties of fiduciary, 740.05. +Limitation of liability of custodian, 740.06. +Order directing custodian to comply, 740.06. +Relation to electronic signatures in global and national commerce act, + +740.07. +Scope of authority of fiduciary, 740.05. + + + +Severability, 740.09. +Standards of care of fiduciary, 740.05. +Termination of users account, 740.05. +Terms of service agreements. + +Directions overriding, 740.003. +Effect of provisions generally, 740.004. +Rights of user and fiduciary under, 740.004. + +Title of act, 740.001. +Wills. + +Deposit of will. +Effect of act on obligations to deposit will, 740.11. + +FILING. +Defined, 731.201(16). +FINAL DISTRIBUTION. +See DISTRIBUTION. +FISCAL YEAR, ELECTION OF BY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE, + +5.345(a)(1). +FLORIDA DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY ACT. +See UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. +FLORIDA LAND TRUST ACT, 689.071. +FLORIDA UNIFORM DIRECTED TRUST ACT. +Directed trust generally. + +See TRUST. +FLORIDA UNIFORM DISCLAIMER OF PROPERTY INTERESTS + +ACT. +See DISCLAIMER. +FLORIDA UNIFORM PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT. +Allocations under. + + + +Annuities, 738.602. +Asset-backed securities, 738.608. +Deferred compensation plans, 738.602. +Derivatives, 738.607(1)(2). +Entity, from, 738.401. +Estate, from, 738.402. +Insubstantial allocations, 738.601. +Insurance policies, 738.504. +Liquidating assets, 738.603. +Natural resources, interests in, 738.604, 738.605. +Obligation to pay money, 738.503. +Options, 738.607(3). +Principal receipts, generally, 738.501. +Rental property, 738.502. +Retirement plans, 738.602. +Timber, 738.605. +Trust, from, 738.402. +Unproductive income property, 738.606. +When decedent dies, 738.302. +When income interest begins, 738.302. + +Application of, 738.804. +Apportionment under, 738.302, 738.303. +Definitions for purposes of, 738.102, 738.1041(1). +Depreciation, transfers from income to principal for, 738.703. +Disbursements. + +Income, from, 738.701. +Principal, from, 738.702. + +Distributions, 738.202, 738.402. +Income taxes. + +Adjustments between income and principal due to, 738.706. + + + +Source of payment of, 738.705. +Judicial control of discretionary powers, 738.105. +Net income. + +Defined, 738.102(8). +Determination of, 738.201. +Distribution of, 738.201. +When right to begins and ends, 738.301. + +Receipts, character of, 738.401. +Reimbursement to principal from income, 738.704. +Severability of provisions of, 738.803. +Taxes, income. + +Adjustments between income and principal due to, 738.706. +Source of payment of, 738.705. + +Tenants and remaindermen, apportionment of expenses between, +738.801. + +Title of Act, 738.101. +Trustee. + +Allocations by. See within this heading, Allocations under. +Business and other activities conducted by trustee, 738.403. +Defined, 738.102(13). +Duties, generally, 738.103. +Powers. + +Adjustments, 738.104. +Generally, 738.103. +Judicial control of, 738.105. +Total return unitrusts, 738.104. + +Uniformity of application of law, 738.802. +FLORIDA UNIFORM TRANSFER-ON-DEATH SECURITY + +REGISTRATION ACT. +Application of, 711.512. + + + +Beneficiary form, registration in. +Acceptance by registering entity, 711.508(2). +Applicable law, 711.503. +Cancellation of, 711.506. +Change in, 711.507. +Effect of, 711.506. +Form of, 711.51, 711.505. +Multiple owners, ability to obtain, 711.502. +Origination of, 711.504. + +Creditors rights, 711.509(2). +Death of owner of security, ownership on, 711.507. +Definitions for purposes of, 711.501. +Nontestamentary nature of transfer, 711.509(1). +Registering entity. + +Acceptance of request, effect of, 711.508(2). +Protection of, 711.508(1), 711.508(3)(4). +Terms and conditions set by, 711.51. + +Rules of construction, 711.511. +Title of Act, 711.50. +FLORIDA UNIFORM TRANSFERS TO MINORS ACT. +Applicability of, 710.124, 710.126. +Construction of, 710.126. +Custodial property. + +Accounting, 710.122. +Care of, 710.114. +Creating, manner of, 710.105, 710.111. +Receipt for, 710.109. +Transfer to minor, 710.123. +Use of, 710.116. + + + +Custodian under. +Accounting by, 710.122. +Bond, 710.117(3). +Death of, 710.121(4)(5). +Duties of, 710.114. +Expenses of, reimbursement for, 710.117(1). +Incapacity of, 710.121(4)(5). +Liability. + +Breach of care, 710.114. +Third persons, to, 710.119. + +Nomination of. +Disclaimer of, 710.121(1). +Generally, 710.104. + +Powers of, 710.115. +Removal of, 710.121(6). +Resignation of, 710.121(3), 710.121(5). +Standard of care, 710.114(2). +Substitute, nomination of, 710.121(1). +Successor, designation of, 710.121(2), 710.121(4), 710.121(6). + +Definitions for purposes of, 710.102. +Existing custodianships, effect on, 710.125. +Jurisdiction, 710.103(2)(3). +Scope of Act, 710.103(1). +Single custodianship rule, 710.112. +Termination of custodianship, 710.123. +Third persons. + +Exemption from liability of, 710.118. +Liability to, 710.119. + +Title of Act, 710.101. +Transfers under. + + + +Effect of, 710.113. +Gift, by, 710.105. +Irrevocability of, 710.113(2). +Obligor, by, 710.108. +Power of appointment, by, 710.105. +Single custodianship rule, 710.112. +Trust, by, 710.106, 710.107. +Validity of, 710.113. +Will, by, 710.106, 710.107. + +FOREIGN GUARDIAN. +Change of domicile of ward, procedure, 5.670. +Defined, 744.102(8). +Generally, 744.306. +Management of property of nonresident ward by, 5.645, 744.307. +FOREIGN LANGUAGE, PROBATE OF WILL WRITTEN IN, 5.216, + +733.204. +FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +See PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +FOREIGN TAXES. +Taxes, estate. + +Florida. +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(11). + +FOREIGN TRUSTEE, QUALIFICATION OF, 736.0112. +FOREIGN WILL, 5.216, 732.502(2), 733.204, 734.102734.104. +FORFEITURE OF BENEFICIARY INTEREST. +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly + +person or disabled adult, 732.8031. +Killer not entitled to receive property or benefits, 732.802. +Trust beneficiaries. + + + +Killer not entitled to receive property or benefits, 736.1104. +FORMAL NOTICE. +See NOTICE. +FRAUD. +Guardian. + +Exploitation of ward, 744.359. +Trust. + +Community property trust act. +Unenforceable trusts. + +Factors leading to unenforceability, 736.1512. +FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS, 732.804. + + + +G + +GARNISHMENT. +Exemptions from. + +ABLE accounts, 222.22(5). +College funds, 222.22(1), 222.22(3). +Disability benefits, 222.18. +Disaster savings accounts, 222.22(4). +Earned income credit, 222.25(3). +Fraudulent transfers, 222.29. +Health aids, 222.25(2). +Health or medical savings account, 222.22(2). +I.R.S. approved plans, 222.21(2). +Motor vehicle, interest in, 222.25(1). +Pensions, 222.21. +Personal property to value of $4,000, 222.25(4). +Retirement benefits, 222.21. +Tax-exempt funds, 222.21. +U.S. pensions, 222.21(1). +Wages, 222.11. + +Unclaimed property, of, 717.1245. +GENERAL MAGISTRATES. +See MAGISTRATES. +GIFTS TO DISQUALIFIED PERSONS, 732.806. +GRANTOR. +Defined, 731.201(19). +GUARDIAN. +Abuse of ward, 744.359. + + + +Accounting. +Appearance of guardian before court, 744.3735. +Applicability of rule, 5.696(a). +Audit of, 744.368(3), 744.3678(4). +Contents of, 5.696(b), 744.3678(2). +Execution of, 5.610(d). +Failure to file, 744.367(5), 744.3685. +Fee, audit, 744.3678(4). +Filing of, 5.695(a)(2), 744.3678(1). +Interim inspection of records, 5.696(g). +Magistrate, review by, 5.095(i), 5.697, 744.369(2). +Minor, for, 5.555(e). +Model format, 5.696Appendix A, 5.696(d). +Objections to, 5.700, 744.369(7). +Production of assets, 5.160, 744.373. +Review of. + +By clerk, 744.368. +By court, 744.369. +By magistrate, 5.697. + +Simplified procedures, 744.3679. +Social security benefits, receipt of, no requirement to account for, + +744.3678(5). +Standards for, 5.696(c). + +Accounting principles, 5.696Appendix B. +Substantiating documents, 5.696(f), 744.3678(3). +Time for, 5.695(a)(2), 744.367(2). +Verification, 5.696(e). +Veterans guardian, 744.634, 744.653. + +Actions by or against, 744.391. +Acts, approval of. + + + +Order authorizing, 5.630(c), 744.451. +Petition. + +Contents, 5.020(b), 5.630(a), 744.447(1). +Notice, 5.630(b), 744.447(2). + +Address designation, 5.110(a). +Ad litem. + +See GUARDIAN AD LITEM. +Adversary proceedings, 5.025. +Advocate. + +See GUARDIAN ADVOCATE. +Alternatives to appointment of, 5.550(a), 5.550(d), 5.560(a)(9), 5.685, + +744.331, 744.331(6)(b), 744.462. +Annual plan. + +Adult. +Form for annual guardianship plan for adult, 5.904(d). + +Appearance of guardian before court, 744.3735. +Clerk, review by, 744.368. +Contents of, 744.3675. +Duty to file, 5.695(a)(1), 744.3675. +Execution of, 5.610(c). +Implementation, 744.361(8). +Magistrate, review by, 5.095(i), 5.697, 744.369(2). +Minor, for, 5.555(e)(2), 744.3675. + +Form of annual guardianship plan for minor, 5.904(b). +Objections to, 5.700, 744.367(4), 744.369(7). +Physicians evaluation, 5.552(d), 744.341(4), 744.3675(1)(b), 744.3675(2) + +(b). +Reexamination of ward, 744.3675(4). +Review of. + +By clerk, 744.368. + + + +By court, 5.705, 744.369. +By magistrate, 5.697. + +Waiver, 5.555(e)(2). +Annual report. + +Amendment by court, 744.371. +Appearance by guardian, 744.3735. +Clerk, review by, 744.368. +Confidentiality, 744.3701. +Contents of, 5.695(a), 744.367(3). +Duty to file, 5.695(a), 744.361(7), 744.367(1)(2), 744.367(6). +Execution of, 5.610(d). +Failure to file, 744.367(5), 744.3685. +Filing of, 5.695(a), 744.367(1)(2), 744.367(6). +Guardians appointed before October 1, 1989, duties of, 5.800(b). +Magistrate, review by, 5.095(i), 5.697, 744.369(2). +Minor, for, 5.555(e). +Objections to, 5.700, 744.367(4), 744.369(7). +Order to file, 744.369(3), 744.3685. +Review of. + +By clerk, 744.368. +By court, 744.369, 744.372, 744.3715. + +Service of, 5.695(a), 744.367(3). +Time for, 5.695(a), 744.367(1)(2), 744.367(6). +Veterans guardians, exemption from filing granted to, 744.653. +Ward. + +Duty to review with, 744.367(4). +Service on, 5.555(e)(3), 5.695(b). + +Appearance before court, 744.3735. +Application of income of property of ward, 744.397. +Appointment of. + + + +Alternatives to, 5.550(a), 5.550(d), 5.560(a)(9), 5.685, 744.331(6)(b), +744.331(6)(f), 744.462. + +Application for. +Corporations and associations with trust powers, 5.590(c), 744.3125(3). +Individual applicants, 5.590(a), 744.3125(1)(2). +Nonprofit corporate guardians, 5.590(b), 744.3125(3)(4). +Public guardians, 5.590(d). + +Considerations in, 744.312. +Generally, 744.2005(1)(3). +Hearing, 5.540, 5.541(a), 744.2005(1), 744.3371. +Letters, 744.345. +Minor, for, 5.555(c), 744.342, 744.387(3)(b), 744.3021. +Notice of petition for, 5.555(d), 5.560(b), 744.3371. +Order, 744.2005(1)(3). + +Form for petition and order of guardian, 5.902. +Petition for. + +Contents, 5.020(b), 5.560(a), 744.334. +Form for petition and order of guardian, 5.902. +Minor, guardian for, 5.555(c). +Notice, 5.555(d), 5.560(b)(c), 744.3371. +Oath of guardian incorporated in, 5.600. + +Successor, 5.650(c), 744.471. +Voluntary, 5.552(a)(c), 744.341(1). +Who may be appointed, 744.309, 744.312. + +Appraisals required, 744.381. +Approval of acts, 5.630, 744.447, 744.451. +Attorney for. + +See ATTORNEYS. +Best interest of ward. + +Acting not contrary to best interests, 744.361(4). + + + +Bond of. +Costs, premiums allowable as, 744.641. +Emergency temporary guardian, 744.3031(7). +Foreign guardian, 5.645(e), 744.307(3). +Generally, 744.351, 744.354. +Preneed guardian, 744.3045(7). +Professional guardian, 744.2002(3)(b), 744.2003(2). +Public guardian, 744.351(5), 744.2102. +Veterans guardian, 744.619, 744.641. + +Borrowing or purchasing from ward by, 744.454. +Claims, settlement of, 744.387. +Compensation of, 744.108. + +Conflicts of interest, prohibited activities, 744.446. +Expert witnesses. + +Guardian and attorney fees, expert testimony as to reasonableness, +744.108(9). + +Compliance with post-September 30 1989 laws, 5.800. +Conflict with ward, 744.391, 744.446, 744.474. +Contempt proceedings against, 744.367, 744.517, 744.3685. +Continuance of wards unincorporated business. + +Accounting, 5.640(d). +Conduct of, 5.640(c)(d). +Discontinuance by court order, 5.640(e). +Generally, 5.640(a), 744.441(m). +Order authorizing, 5.640(a)(c). +Petition, 5.640(b). +Reports, 5.640(d). + +Conveyance of property by, 744.457. +Corporate, 5.590(c), 744.102(4), 744.309(4)(5), 744.351(5). + +For-profit corporate guardian, 744.309(7). + + + +Credit investigation of, 744.3135. +Criminal investigation of, 744.3135. +Defaulting, 5.660(d), 744.367, 744.517, 744.3685. +Defined, 736.0103(9)(10), 744.102(9), 765.511(12). +Delegation of authority to surrogate, 5.647, 744.442. +Discharge of. + +Change of domicile of ward, 5.670, 744.524. +Death of ward, 5.680, 744.521. +Exhaustion of property of ward, 5.680. +Final report by guardian, 5.610(g), 5.680(c), 744.521, 744.524, 744.527 + +744.528. +Hearing, 5.670(g), 5.680(f)(g), 744.524, 744.527(1), 744.528(3). +Notice of petition for, 5.670(d)(e), 5.680(d)(e), 744.524. +Order, 5.650(h), 5.670(h), 5.680(g), 744.524, 744.531. +Personal representative, guardian named as, 744.528. +Petition for, 5.610(f), 5.650(a)(b), 5.670(a)(b), 5.680(a)(b), 744.528. +Restoration to capacity of ward, 5.680, 744.521. +Retention of funds to pay costs and fees, 5.650(c), 5.670(c), 5.680(c), + +744.527(2), 744.534(2)(e). +Unclaimed funds held by guardian, disposition of, 744.534. +Voluntary guardian, 5.552(e). + +Disclaimer by. +See DISCLAIMER. + +Disqualification of, 5.650(i)(j), 744.309(3). +Duties and powers, 744.361, 744.369(8), 744.441, 744.444. +Education requirements. + +Generally, 744.3145. +Notice of completion of, 5.625. +Professional guardians, 744.2002(3)(b), 744.2002(7), 744.2002(10), + +744.2003, 744.3145(7). + + + +Emergency temporary, 5.600, 5.648, 744.2005(4), 744.3031. +Execution of documents by, 5.610. +Exploitation of ward, 744.359. +Extraordinary authority, 5.635, 744.3215(4), 744.3725. +Fee payable to, 744.108. +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, 740.001740.11. + +See FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT. +Fiduciary duty, breach of, 744.446. +Final report of, 5.650(c), 5.650(e), 5.660(b), 5.670(c), 5.680(c), 744.511, + +744.521, 744.524, 744.527, 744.528, 744.3031(9). +Confidentiality, 744.3701. + +Foreign. +See FOREIGN GUARDIAN. + +Good faith. +Acting in good faith, 744.361(3). + +Hearing. +Acts of guardian, approval, 5.630(d). +Closing of, 5.540. +Recording of, 5.541. +Rights of ward, 5.540, 744.1095. + +Income of ward, application of, 744.397. +Initial plan. + +Adult. +Form for initial guardianship plan for adult, 5.904(c). + +Clerk, review by, 744.368. +Contents of, 744.363(1)(4). +Duty to file, 5.555(e)(2), 5.690(a), 744.362(1). +Execution of, 5.610(a). +Magistrate, review by, 5.095(i), 5.697, 744.369(2). +Minors, 5.555(e)(2). + + + +Form for initial guardianship plan for minor, 5.904(a). +Modification of, 744.363(5). +Objections to, 744.369(7). +Period of effectiveness, 744.363(5). +Review of. + +By clerk, 744.368. +By court, 744.369. +By magistrate, 5.697. + +Service of, 5.690(b), 744.362(1). +Initial report. + +Clerk, review by, 744.368. +Confidentiality, 744.3701. +Contents of, 5.690(a), 744.362(1). +Court-appointed attorney, duties of, 744.362(2). +Duty to file, 5.620(a), 5.690(a), 744.361(6), 744.362(1). +Execution of, 5.610(a). +Filing of, 5.620(a), 5.690(a), 744.362(1). +Hearing, request for, 744.362(1). +Inspection of, 5.555(f). +Magistrate, review by, 5.095(i), 5.697, 744.369(2). +Minors, 5.555(e). +Order to file, 744.369(3), 744.3685. +Review of. + +By clerk, 744.368. +By court, 744.369. +By magistrate, 5.697. + +Service of, 5.690(b), 744.362(1). +Signature on, 5.610(b). +Time for, 5.620(a), 5.690(a), 744.362(1). +Verified inventory. + + + +Appraisals, 744.381. +Audit of, 744.365(6), 744.368(3). +Contents of, 744.365(2). +Filing of, 5.620(a), 5.690(a), 744.365(1). +Safe-deposit box inventory, 5.620(d), 744.365(4). +Service of, 5.690(b). +Substantiating documents, 5.620(c), 744.365(3), 744.365(5). + +Interim judicial review of guardians actions, 5.705, 744.372(2), 744.3715. +Letters of guardianship, 744.345. + +Form, 5.903. +Liability of, 744.358. +Limited, 744.102(9), 744.345, 744.361, 744.384(2), 744.2005(1), + +744.2005(6). +Magistrates. + +See MAGISTRATES. +Minor, of. + +See CHILDREN OR MINORS. +Monitor, court. + +See COURT MONITOR. +Multiple guardians, 744.361(9), 744.374. +Natural, 744.301. +Neglect of ward, 744.359. +Nonprofit corporate, 5.590(b), 744.102(15), 744.309(5), 744.3125(3), + +744.3125(4). +Nonresident, 5.650(j), 744.309(2). +Oath, 5.600, 744.347. +Payments to guardian, 744.374. +Person of ward. + +Duties of guardian given authority over person of ward, 744.361(13). +Petitions. + + + +See PETITION. +Physician report. + +Form, 5.904(e). +Plenary, 744.102(9), 744.345, 744.384(1), 744.2005(1), 744.2005(5). +Powers and duties, generally, 744.361, 744.369(8), 744.441, 744.444. +Preneed. + +See PRENEED GUARDIAN. +Production of assets by, 5.160, 744.373. +Professional. + +See PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN. +Property of guardianship. + +Powers and duties of guardian, 744.361(11). +Property of ward. + +Powers and duties of guardian given authority over property, 744.361(10), +744.361(12). + +Public. +See PUBLIC GUARDIAN. + +Readjudication hearings, 5.800(a). +Removal of. + +Accounting upon. +Contents, 744.511. +Failure to file, 5.660(d), 744.517. +Filing of, 5.660(b), 744.511. +Service of, 5.660(b), 744.511. +Time for, 5.660(b), 744.511. + +Adversarial nature of proceeding, 5.025(a). +Contempt proceedings, 744.367, 744.517, 744.3685. +Notice of proceedings, 5.660(a), 744.477. +Proceedings for, 5.660, 744.477. +Reasons for, 5.660(a), 744.391, 744.446, 744.474. + + + +Surrender of assets upon, 5.660(c), 744.514. +Transfer of property to successor guardian. + +Failure of removed guardian to comply, 5.660(d), 744.517. +Generally, 5.660(c). + +Representative payee of ward, no requirement to account for social +security benefits, 744.3678(5). + +Resident, of property of nonresident, 744.308. +Resident agent for, 5.110. +Resignation of, 5.610(h), 5.650, 744.467. +Review of actions, judicial, 5.705, 744.369, 744.372, 744.3715. +Scope of authority granted by court and provided by law. + +Acting within scope, 744.361(2). +Settlement of claims, 744.387. + +Confidentiality of reports, 744.3701. +Signature, when required, 5.610. +Special skills or expertise. + +Use when acting on behalf of ward, 744.361(5). +Standby. + +See STANDBY GUARDIAN. +Statute of limitations, suspension of, 744.394. +Successor guardian, appointment of, 5.650(h), 744.471. +Surcharge of, 5.025(a). +Surrogate, 5.647, 744.102(20), 744.442. +Temporary, 5.600, 744.2005(4), 744.3031. +Termination of guardianship. + +Surrogate guardianship, 5.647(d), 744.442(3). +Upon change of resident wards domicile. + +Costs, final, 744.527(2). +Generally, 5.670(a), 744.524. +Notice, publication of, 5.670(d), 744.524. + + + +Objections to termination, 5.670(f)(h), 744.524. +Order of discharge, 5.670(h), 744.524. + +Petition for discharge of Florida guardian, 5.670(a)(b). +Procedure, 5.670. +Report, final, 5.670(c), 744.524, 744.527(1). +Service of petition and notice, 5.670(e). + +Upon removal of wards incapacity or death, or inability to locate ward. +Costs, final, 744.527(2). +Disposition of unclaimed funds, 744.534. +Final report, 5.680(c), 744.521, 744.527(1). +Generally, 744.521. +Hearing, 5.680(f)(g), 744.527(1). +Notice of hearing, 5.680(f). +Objections, 5.680(f), 744.527(1). +Order of discharge, 5.680(g), 744.531. +Petition for discharge, 5.680(a)(b). +Procedure, 5.680. +Report, final, 5.680(c), 744.521, 744.527(1). +Restoration to capacity, procedure for, 744.464. + +Voluntary guardianship, 5.552(e), 744.341(5). +Title of act, 744.101. +Unclaimed property held by, 717.112, 717.1125, 744.534. +Veterans. + +See VETERANS GUARDIAN. +Voluntary, 5.552, 744.341. +Ward. + +See WARD. +Who may be appointed, 744.309, 744.312. +GUARDIAN AD LITEM. + + + +Appointment. +Conservatorship proceeding, 747.031(3). +Guardianship proceeding, 5.120(a), 744.391. +Minors settlement, 5.636(d), 744.3025. +Probate proceeding, 5.120(a), 731.303(4). + +Defined, 744.102(10). +Fee, 5.120(d), 744.3025(2). +Oath, 5.120(a). +Petition for appointment of, 5.120(b). +Petition for compensation and discharge, 5.120(d). +Recovery of judgments or other relief, 5.120(f). +Report of investigation by, 5.120(d). +Veterans guardianship, final settlement of, 744.646. +GUARDIAN ADVOCATE. +Appointment of. + +Advance directives, consideration of, 393.12(7). +Generally, 393.12(2), 744.3085. +Hearing, 5.540, 393.12(6). +Order, 5.649(d), 393.12(8). + +Form, 5.905(c). +Petition for, 5.649(a)(b), 393.12(3)(4). + +Form, 5.905(a). +Notice of filing. + +Form, 5.905(b). +Attorney, representation by. + +Developmentally disabled individual, 393.12(5). +Guardian advocate, 5.030(a). + +Cost, court, 393.12(11). +Defined, 5.015(b)(5), 744.102(11). + + + +Duties of, 393.12(10). +Guardian generally. + +See GUARDIAN. +Incapacity, determination of, 393.12(1). +Issuance of letters, 5.649(e). +Letters of guardian advocacy. + +Form, 5.906. +Powers of, 393.12(10). +Property of person, authority over, 5.649(a)(6), 5.649(d)(3). + + + +H + +HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. +Absence of, 765.401, 765.404. +Amendment of, 765.104(1), 765.104(3)(4). +Application of law to incapacitated person, 765.107(2), 765.404. +Condition of patient, determination of, 765.306. +Definitions, 765.101, 765.102(6). +Destruction of, 765.1115. +Dissolution of marriage, effect of, 765.104(2). +Euthanasia not authorized, 765.309(1). +Existing directive, effect of, 765.103. +Falsification of, 765.1115. +Foreign state, directive executed in, 765.112. +Forgery of, 765.1115. +Guardianship proceedings, 744.345, 744.3115. +Health care providers. + +Defined, 765.101(7). +Disciplinary actions against, 765.110(3). +Form provided by, prohibition against, 765.110(2). +Immunity from liability, 765.104(3), 765.109. +Provision of information to patients, 765.110(1). +Review, right to seek, 765.105. +Rules applicable to, adoption of, 765.110(4). +Transfer of patient by, 765.1105. + +Health care surrogate. +See HEALTH CARE SURROGATE. + +Health information. +Defined, 765.101(9). + + + +Informed consent. +Defined, 765.101(9). + +Judicial intervention, expedited, 5.900, 765.105. +Legislative findings and intent, 765.102. +Life insurance, effect with respect to, 765.108. +Living will. + +Absence of, procedure, 765.305, 765.401. +Amendment of, 765.104(1), 765.104(3). +Cancellation of, 765.1115. +Condition of patient, 765.107(2), 765.306. +Definition, 765.101(13). +Destruction of, 765.1115. +Falsification of, 765.1115. +Forgery of, 765.1115. +Form, 765.303. +Procedure for making, 765.302. +Proceedings under, 765.304. +Revocation of, 765.104. +Short title, 765.301. +Transfer of patient, 765.1105. + +Medical consent law, effect of, 765.107(1). +Mercy killing not authorized, 765.309(1). +Minors principal. + +Defined, 765.101(14). +Pain management, 765.1103. +Palliative care, 765.102(6), 765.1103. +Persistent vegetative state, procedure governing person in, 765.404. +Preservation of existing rights, 765.106. +Primary physician. + +Defined, 765.101(17). + + + +Proxies. +Amendment of, 765.104(4). +Definition, 765.101(19). +Generally, 765.401. +Responsibilities of, 765.401(2)(3). +Revocation of, 765.104(4). + +Reasonably available, 765.101(20). +Revocation of, 765.104. +Suicide distinguished, 765.309(2). +Surrogates. + +Defined, 765.101(21). +Generally. + +See HEALTH CARE SURROGATE. +Transfer of patient, 765.1105. +Vegetative state, persistent, procedure governing person in, 765.404. +HEALTH CARE SURROGATE. +Absence of health care advance directive, 765.305. +Amendment of designation, 765.104(1), 765.104(3). +Capacity of principal, 765.107(2), 765.204. +Defined, 765.101(21). +Designation of. + +Amendment of, 765.104(3). +Form, 765.203. + +Minor, designation, 765.2038. +Generally, 765.202. +Minors, designation for, 765.2035. + +Form, 765.2038. +Revocation of, 765.104. + +Immunity from liability, 765.104(3), 765.109. + + + +Legislative findings and intent, 765.102. +Living will. + +See HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. +Minors. + +Designation of surrogate for minor, 765.2035. +Form, 765.2038. + +Responsibilities of, 765.205, 765.305. +Restrictions on consent, 765.113. +Review of decisions of, 765.105. +Revocation of designation, 765.104. +Title of act, 765.201. +HEIRS. +Defined, 731.201(20). +Intestate succession. + +See INTESTATE SUCCESSION. +HOLOGRAPHIC WILL, 732.502(2). +HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. +Community property reinvested as, 732.225, 732.227. +Conveyance between spouses, 689.11. +Deeds. + +Waiver of homestead rights through deed, 732.7025. +Descent of, 732.401. +Determination of, proceedings for, 5.405. +Devise of, 732.4015. +Disclaimer. + +See DISCLAIMER. +Elective estate. + +Property entering into, 732.2035. +Property excluded from, 732.2045. + + + +Valuation of, 732.2055, 732.2095. +Evidence of death, filing of, 5.205(a)(6). +Exemption from forced sale, FL Const Art X 4. + +Designation of. +Generally, 222.01(1). +Judgment, after filing of, 222.01(2)(5). +Levy, after, 222.02. +Notice of homestead, form, 222.01(2). + +Leaseholds, 222.05. +Survey of property by creditor. + +Generally, 222.03. +Sale after, 222.04. + +Guardian, sale or lease by, 744.441(j). +Inter vivos transfer, 732.4017. +Inventory, designation in, 5.340(a). +Jurisdiction of court, 222.08222.10. +Lien by personal representative against. + +Amount of. +Generally, 733.608(3)(4). +Proceedings to determine, 5.403. + +Attachment of, 733.608(4). +Costs, award of, 733.608(8). +Entitlement to, 733.608(3). +Foreclosure of, 733.608(3)(b)(1), 733.608(7). +Notice of, 5.402, 733.608(3)(a), 733.608(4). +Priority of, 733.608(4). +Right to, 733.608(3). +Satisfaction of, 733.608(6). +Termination of, 733.608(5). +Transfer of, 733.608(12). + + + +Order determining protected, 5.405(c). +Petition to determine protected, 5.405(a)(b). +Possession by personal representative, 5.404, 733.608(2). +Power of attorney, conveyance under, 689.111. +Power of personal representative over, 733.608. +Protected homestead defined, 731.201(33). +Summary administration, designation in petition for, 5.530(a)(8). +Taxes, estate. + +Florida. +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). + +Trust. +Community property trust act, 736.151. +Devise in trust of homestead. + +Proceedings to determine protected homestead status, 5.405. +Proceedings to determine homestead status of real property. + +Applicable provisions and procedures, 736.0201. +Testamentary and revocable trusts. + +Homestead protections, 736.1109. +Waiver of homestead through deed, 732.7025. + + + +I + +ILLEGITIMATE PERSON. +Intestate succession rights of, 732.108(2), 732.608. +Medicare benefits for, 409.910(8). +Natural guardian of, 744.301(1). +INCAPACITATED PERSON. +Defined, 731.201(21), 744.102(12), 744.102(21), 765.101(10). +Rights of, 744.3215. +INCAPACITY, PROCEDURE TO DETERMINE, 5.550, 744.331(1), + +744.3201. +Petition to determine incapacity, 744.331, 744.3201. + +Form, 5.901. +Power of attorney. + +Suspension prior to determination of capacity, 744.3203. +Reports, 5.550(e), 744.331. +INCOME. +Principal and income act. + +See FLORIDA UNIFORM PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT. +Trust income. + +See TRUST. +INCOME BENEFICIARY. +Defined, 738.102(5). +INCOMPETENT. +Defined, 765.101(10). +INCORPORATION OF WRITING BY REFERENCE, 732.512, 732.515. +INFORMAL NOTICE. +See NOTICE. + + + +INITIAL GUARDIANSHIP PLAN. +See GUARDIAN. +INITIAL GUARDIANSHIP REPORT. +See GUARDIAN. +INJUNCTIONS. +Elderly and disabled adult abuse. + +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(a), 825.1035. +Vulnerable adults, protection against exploitation. + +Denial of injunction. +Order denying injunction and notice of hearing. + +Form, 5.920(c). +Final protective injunction. + +Form, 5.920(d). +Petition for injunction, 5.920(a). +Temporary protective injunction against exploitation. + +Form, 5.920(b). +IN REM PROCEEDINGS, 731.105, 731.1055, 736.0202. +INSURANCE, LIABILITY. +Will. + +Electronic will or codicil. +Qualified custodians, 732.525. + +INSURANCE, LIFE. +Advance directive, effect of, 765.108. +Cash surrender value, exemption of, 222.14. +Disposition of proceeds, 222.13, 732.2075(1)(d). +Elective share payable from proceeds of, 732.2075(1)(d). +Unclaimed proceeds, 717.107, 717.117(1)(b). +INTERESTED PERSON. + + + +Defined, 731.201(23), 736.0111. +INTEREST IN PROPERTY. +Disclaimer of. + +See DISCLAIMER. +Power of appointment over. + +See POWER OF APPOINTMENT. +INTERIM ACCOUNTING. +See ACCOUNTING. +INTERROGATORIES. +See DISCOVERY. +IN TERROREM CLAUSE. +Trust, 736.1108. +Will, 732.517. +INTESTATE SUCCESSION. +Adopted persons, 732.108, 732.608. +Afterborn heirs, 732.106. +Aliens, rights of, 732.1101. +Child born out of wedlock, 732.108(2), 732.608. +Descendants of decedent, rights of, 732.103. +Disclaimers. + +See DISCLAIMER. +Escheat. + +See ESCHEAT. +Generally, 732.101. +Generic terms, construction of, 732.608. +Halfblood relatives, 732.105. +Heirs other than spouse, share of, 732.103. +Homestead, 732.401. +Illegitimate persons, 732.108, 732.608. + + + +Small estates. +Disposition without administration of intestate property in small estates, + +735.304. +Surviving spouse. + +Share of, 732.102. +Waiver of rights by, 732.301, 732.702. + +Termination of parental rights, effect of, 732.1081. +Waiver of spousal rights, 732.301, 732.702. +INVENTORY. +Amendments to, 5.340(c), 5.620(b), 733.604(2), 744.384. +Appraisal. + +Guardian, 744.381. +Personal representative, 5.340(g), 733.604(3). + +Audit fee, 744.365(6). +Contents, 5.340(a), 733.604(1), 744.365(2). +Copy to interested persons who request, 5.340(d). +Curator, by, 5.122(e). +Elective estate, 5.340(g), 5.360(d)(2). +Execution. + +By guardian, 5.610(b). +By personal representative, 5.330(a). + +Exempt property, 222.061. +Extension of time to file, 5.340(b). +Filing of, 5.340(a), 733.604(1). +Form, 5.910. +Guardian. + +See GUARDIAN. +Inspection of, 5.555, 5.620(c), 733.604(1). +Notice to nonresiduary beneficiaries, 5.340(f). +Personal representative. + + + +Filing by, 5.340(a), 733.604(1). +Signature on, 5.330. + +Safe-deposit box. +Decedent, 5.342(a), 733.6065(1). +Ward, 5.620(d), 744.365(4). + +Service of, 5.340(d), 5.342(c), 733.2121(3)(e). +Substantiating documents, 5.620(c), 744.365(3), 744.365(5). +Supplemental, 5.340(c)(d), 5.620(b), 733.604(1)(2), 744.384. +Time for. + +Extension of, 5.340(b). +Guardianship, 5.620(a), 5.690(a), 744.362(1). +Personal representative, 5.340(a). + +Verification of, 5.340(h), 5.342(b). +Veterans guardian, by, 744.621. +INVENTORY VALUE. +Explanation of determination of, 5.340(g), 733.604(3). +Fee determination, as basis for, 733.617(1), 733.6171(3). +INVESTMENT OF FIDUCIARY FUNDS. +Chapter cumulative, 518.16. +Delegation of investment functions, 518.112. +Federal Reserve bank, deposits in, 518.116. +Generally, 518.11518.14, 518.117, 710.114. +Higher education bonds, investment in, 518.151. +Motor vehicle tax anticipation certificates, investment in, 518.15. +Power of sale not conferred by statutes, 518.12. +Prudent Investor Rule, 518.11. + +Inapplicability to trust investments, 736.0902. +Puerto Rican bonds, investment in, 518.152. +School bonds, investment in, 518.15. + + + +Securities, power to deposit in central depository, 518.115. +Trustee, by, 736.0901. +Veterans guardian, by. + +See VETERANS GUARDIAN. +ISSUANCE OF LETTERS. +Adjudication before, 733.2123. +Bond, requirement for, 5.235(a)(2), 5.235(c), 733.402. +Guardianship, 744.345. +Procedure, 5.235(a)(b). + + + +J + +JUDGE. +Defined, 5.015(b)(4). +Eligibility as guardian, 744.309(1)(b). +JUDGMENT. +Appeal of. + +See APPEAL. +Motion for rehearing of, 5.020(d). +JURISDICTION. +Acquisition by notice, 731.301(2). +Allegation in petition, 5.020(b). +Children or minors. + +Guardian for. +Appointment of, 744.3021(4). + +Conservatorships, 747.02, 747.03(1). +Defect in statement of jurisdictional facts in pleadings, 5.020(a). +Estates, settlement of, 717.1242(1). +Foreign personal representative, over, 734.201, 734.202. +Homestead, proceedings affecting, 222.08222.10. +In rem proceedings, 731.105, 731.1055. +Objection to, 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3), 733.2123. +Removal of personal representative, 733.505. +Retention over guardianships, 744.372. +Standby guardianships, 744.304(5). +Surrogate guardianships, 744.442(4). +Trust proceedings, 736.0201(2), 736.0202, 736.0203. + +Trust director, jurisdiction over, 736.1415. + + + +K + +KILLER NOT ENTITLED TO RECEIVE PROPERTY OR BENEFITS, +732.802. + +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly +person or disabled adult. +Forfeiture of benefits, 732.8031. + +Trust beneficiaries, 736.1104. + + + +L + +LAND TRUST ACT, FLORIDA, 689.071. +LAPSE. +Devise, 732.603. +Disposition by trust, 736.1106. +LAWYERS. +See ATTORNEYS. +LEGISLATIVE INTENT OF GUARDIANSHIP ACT, 744.1012. +LENDER OF PROPERTY TO GUARDIAN, PROTECTION + +EXTENDED TO, 744.461. +LETTERS. +Ancillary, 5.470. +Curatorship, 5.122(b). +Guardian advocacy. + +Form, 5.906. +Guardianship, 744.345. + +Form, 5.903. +Probate. + +Defined, 731.201(24). +Issuance of, 5.235(b). + +LIABILITY. +Claimant, of, 733.812. +Damage to estate property, 733.309, 733.6121. +Distributee, of, 733.812. +Encumbered property, 733.803. +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, custodian, 740.06. +Guardian, of, 744.358, 744.467. + + + +Payee, of, 733.812. +Personal representative, of. + +Breach of fiduciary duty, 733.609. +Discharge, after, 733.508(2), 733.901(2), 733.5036(2). +Environmental laws, violation of, 733.6121. +Executor de son tort, 733.309. +Individual, 733.619. + +Purchaser of property. +From distributee, 733.813. +From guardian, 744.461. + +Surety, of, 733.404, 733.405, 733.901(2), 744.357. +Trustee, of. + +See TRUSTEE. +Will. + +Electronic will or codicil. +Qualified custodians, 732.524. + +LIEN BY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE ON PROTECTED +HOMESTEAD. + +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. +LIENS ON REAL PROPERTY, RECORDING, 695.01. +LIFE INSURANCE. +See INSURANCE, LIFE. +LIMITATIONS PERIOD. +See STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS. +LIMITED GUARDIAN. +Appointment of, 744.2005(1). +Defined, 744.102(9)(a). +Duties of, 744.345, 744.361, 744.384(2), 744.2005(6). + + + +LIVING WILL. +See HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. +LOST WILL. +See WILL. + + + +M + +MAGISTRATES. +Appointment of, 5.095(a)(b), 5.697(a)(b), 744.369(2). +Bond, 5.095(e). +General, 5.095(a), 5.697(a), 744.369(2). +Hearings before, 5.095(f), 5.697(d). +Oath of, 5.095(a)(b), 5.697(a)(b). +Powers of, 5.095(d), 5.697(c). +Referral to, 5.095(c). +Report of. + +Contents, 5.095(g), 5.697(e). +Exceptions to, 5.095(h), 5.697(f). +Filing of, 5.095(h), 5.697(f). +Service of, 5.095(h), 5.697(f). + +Special, 5.095(b), 5.697(b), 744.369(2). +MAIL. +Service of process and papers. + +Additional time after service by mail, 5.042. +MARRIAGE. +Dissolution. + +See DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, EFFECT OF. +Trust. + +Subsequent marriage, effect on revocable trust, 736.1105. +MEDICAID ESTATE RECOVERY ACT, 409.9101. +MEDICAID PROGRAM. +Notice to, 733.2121(3)(d). +Priority of payment to, 733.707(1)(c). + + + +Reimbursement to, 409.910. +MEDICAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES, EXPEDITED JUDICIAL + +INTERVENTION CONCERNING. +Health care advance directives. + +See HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. +Hearing, 5.900(d). +Petition. + +Contents, 5.900(a). +Notice of, 5.900(c). +Supporting documentation, 5.900(b). + +Right to seek, 5.900(a), 765.105. +MENTAL INCOMPETENT. +Defined, 86.041. +MILITARY POWER OF ATTORNEY, 709.2106(4). +MILITARY TESTAMENTARY INSTRUMENT, VALIDITY OF, + +732.502(3). +MINOR. +See CHILDREN OR MINORS. +MISSING PERSONS, 5.385, 5.680(a), 731.103, 733.209, 744.521. +MONITOR, COURT. +See COURT MONITOR. +MOTIONS. +Generally, 5.020(c). +Rehearing, for, 5.020(d). +Service of, 5.041. +Withdrawal of attorney, 5.030(c). +MURDERER NOT ENTITLED TO RECEIVE PROPERTY OR + +BENEFITS, 732.802. +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly + + + +person or disabled adult. +Forfeiture of benefits, 732.8031. + +Trust beneficiaries, 736.1104. + + + +N + +NATURAL GUARDIAN, 744.301. +NEXT OF KIN. +Defined, 744.102(14). +NONDOMICILIARIES, ASSETS OF, 731.106. +Ancillary administration. + +See ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION. +NONPROFIT CORPORATE GUARDIAN, 5.590(b), 744.102(15), + +744.309(5), 744.3125(3)(4). +NOTARIAL WILL, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 733.205. +NOTICE. +Accounting. + +Final, 5.345(b), 5.400(c), 5.430(h). +Interim, 5.345(b). + +Adjudication of incapacity. +Petition for, 5.550(b), 744.331(1). +Petition for appointment of guardian based on, 5.560(b). + +Administration. +See ADMINISTRATION. + +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(d)(1), 5.025(d)(4). +Amendment of guardianship plan, 744.371(5). +Ancillary administration, 5.065(b)(c), 5.470(b), 734.102(1). +Ancillary administration, short form, 5.475(b), 5.475(e). +Appointment, of. + +Ancillary personal representative, 5.470(b), 734.102(1). +Curator, 5.122(c), 733.501(1). +Guardian, 5.560(b), 744.331(1). +Guardian ad litem, 5.120(c). + + + +Personal representative, 5.201, 733.212. +Resident guardian of nonresident incapacitated person, 744.308(5). +Voluntary guardian, 5.552(c), 744.341(1). + +Approval of act of guardian, 5.630(b), 744.447(2). +Approval of settlement of minors claims, 5.636(c). +Capacity, suggestion of, 744.464(2)(c), 744.464(2)(f). +Civil action by or against personal representative or guardian, 5.065(a), + +5.065(c). +Conservatorship proceedings. + +Plenary proceedings, 747.031(1). +Summary proceedings, 747.051(2), 747.052(3). + +Creditors, to, 5.241, 5.260(e), 5.475(b), 733.701, 733.2121, 734.102(5), +734.1025(2), 735.206(2), 735.2063. + +Defined, 5.015(b)(2), 5.015(b)(3), 5.040(c), 731.201(22). +Determination of beneficiaries and shares, 5.385. +Developmentally disabled person, suggestion of restoration of rights of, + +5.681(c). +Developmentally disabled person, to, 5.649(b), 393.12(4), 393.12(12). +Discharge of guardian, 5.650(d), 5.670(d), 5.680(d), 744.524, 744.528. +Discharge of personal representative, 5.400(c). +Disqualification of personal representative, 733.3101. +Effect of, 731.301(3). +Elective share, 5.360(a)(b). +Emergency temporary guardian. + +Petition for appointment, 744.3031(2). +Establishment of lost or destroyed will, 5.510(d). +Estate tax return, federal, 5.395. +Expedited judicial intervention concerning medical treatment + +procedures, 5.900(c). +Fee petitions, 5.120(d), 744.108(6), 744.641. + + + +Final accounting by personal representative, 5.400(c). +Formal. + +Adversary proceeding, 5.025(b)(3), 5.025(d)(1). +Ancillary proceedings, 5.470(b). +Curatorship proceedings, 5.122(c). +Defined, 5.015(b)(2), 5.040(a), 731.201(18). +Destroyed will proceeding, 5.510(d). +Elective share, 5.360(a)(2)(B), 5.360(b)(3). +Employment and compensation of agent by trustee, 736.0206. +Extraordinary authority of guardian, 5.635(b). +Extraordinary petition for dower, 5.365. +Generally, 5.040(a), 731.301(2), 744.106. +Incapacity proceedings, 5.550(b), 744.331(1), 744.3371(2). +Lost will proceeding, 5.510(d). +Notice of administration, 5.240(a), 733.212. +Optional, 5.040(d). +Personal representative, service of notice of administration, 5.2405. +Receipt and proof of service, 5.040(e). +Removal of guardian, 5.660(a), 744.477. +Service. + +See SERVICE. +Taking possession of protected homestead, 5.404(c). +Waiver of, 5.180, 731.302, 744.106. + +Guardianship proceedings, generally, 744.106. +Incapacity proceedings, 5.550(b), 744.331(1), 744.3371(2). +Informal. + +Defined, 5.015(b)(3), 731.201(22). +Formal notice in lieu of, 5.040(d). +Generally, 5.040(a)(2), 5.040(b). +Service, 5.040(b). + + + +Waiver of, 5.180. +Inventory. + +Notice to nonresiduary beneficiaries, 5.340(f). +Lien on protected homestead. + +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. +Order authorizing sale of real property where no power conferred, + +5.370(b). +Possession of protected homestead by personal representative, notice of + +taking. +Contents, 5.404(b). +Filing, 5.404(a). +Service, 5.404(c). + +Power of attorney, 709.2121. +Removal of guardian, proceedings for, 5.660(a), 744.477. +Representative parties, 731.303(3). +Request for, 5.060(a). +Resignation of personal representative, 5.430(c), 733.502. +Sale of personal property of ward, 5.630(b), 744.447(2). +Sale of real property, 5.370(b). +Service. + +See SERVICE. +Suggestion of capacity, 744.464(2)(c), 744.464(2)(f). +Summary administration, notice to creditors, 735.2063. +Termination of guardianship, 5.670(d), 5.680(d), 744.524, 744.527(1). +Time, enlargement of, 5.042. +Time for written defenses, 5.040(a)(1)(a)(2). +Trust Code. + +Notice under, 736.0109. +Waiver. + +See WAIVER. + + + +NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION. +See ADMINISTRATION. +NOTICE OF LIEN ON PROTECTED HOMESTEAD. +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. +NOTICE OF TRUST, 736.05055. +NOTICE TO CREDITORS. +See CREDITOR. +NUNCUPATIVE WILL, 732.502(2). + + + +O + +OATH. +Administrator ad litem, 5.120(a). +Conservator, 747.033. +Curator, 5.122(b). +Department of Revenue agents empowered to administer, 198.07(3). +Disinterested person, 733.201(3). +Emergency temporary guardian, 5.600, 744.3031(6). +Foreign guardian, 5.645(c). +General magistrate, 5.095(a), 5.697(a). +Guardian, 5.600, 744.347. +Guardian ad litem, 5.120(a). +Personal representative, 5.320, 733.201(3). +Preneed guardian, 744.3045(7). +Resident agent, 5.235(a)(3). +Special magistrate, 5.095(b), 5.697(b). +Surrogate guardian, 5.647(c). +Verification, 5.020(e), 731.104, 744.104. +Witness attesting to will, 5.230, 733.201(2). +OBJECTION. +Administration, notice of, 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3). +Ancillary administration, short form, 5.475(f). +Annual report, 5.700, 744.367(4), 744.369(7), 744.372(1). +Claim against estate, 5.496, 5.499, 733.705. +Elective share. + +See ELECTIVE SHARE. +Final accounting of personal representative, 5.345(b)(e), 5.400(b), + +5.400(d), 5.401. + + + +Final report of guardian, 5.650(f)(h), 5.670(f)(h), 5.680(f)(g), 5.700. +Incapacity adjudication. + +Reports, objection to entry into evidence, 5.550(e). +Interim accounting of personal representative, 5.345(b)(e). +Jurisdiction of court, 5.210(c), 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3), + +733.2123. +Notice of administration, 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3). +Petition for discharge, 5.400(b)(6), 5.401, 5.650(d), 5.650(f), 5.680(d), + +744.528(2)(4). +Qualifications of personal representative, 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), + +733.212(2)(3), 733.2123. +Reports, guardianship, 5.650(f)(h), 5.670(f)(h), 5.680(f)(g), 5.700. +Suggestion of capacity, 744.464(2)(d)(2)(f). +Suggestion of restoration of rights of developmentally disabled person, + +5.681(c)(d), 393.12(12)(c), 393.12(12)(d). +Termination of guardianship, 5.670(b)(c), 5.680(d), 744.524, 744.527(1), + +744.528(2)(4). +Validity of wills, 5.210(c), 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3), 733.2123. +Venue, 5.210(c), 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3), 733.2123. +OFFICE OF PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL GUARDIANS. +Access to records by, 744.2104. +Budget, preparation of, 744.2009. +Direct-support organization, relationship to, 744.2105. +Generally, 744.2001, 744.2006. +Professional guardians, registration of, 5.560(a)(10), 744.2002. +Professional guardians generally. + +See PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN. +Public guardians generally. + +See PUBLIC GUARDIAN. +OFFICIAL RECORD OF DEATH, 5.171, 5.205, 731.103. + + + +ORDER. +Accounting by personal representative, 5.150. +Acts of guardian, approving, 5.630(c). +Admitting lost or destroyed will to probate, 5.510(e). +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(c)(d). +Alternatives to guardianship, specifying, 5.685. +Ancillary administration, short form, 5.475(d). +Annual report, 744.369(3), 744.369(5), 744.3685. +Appeal of, 5.100. +Application to court for, 5.020(c). +Appointment, of. + +Conservator, 747.032. +Court monitor, 5.720(b), 5.725(b), 744.107(1), 744.1075(1), 744.1076(1). +Curator, 5.122(b). +Emergency temporary guardian, 5.648(d). +Guardian, 744.2005. +Guardian ad litem, 5.120(c), 5.120(e). +Personal representative, 5.235(a)(1). + +Approving act of guardian, 5.630(c), 744.451. +Compulsory payments, 5.380(b), 733.802(2). +Conservator. + +Appointment of, 747.032. +Summary procedure, 747.051, 747.052. + +Continuance of unincorporated business, 5.350(c), 5.640(a)(c). +Death, filing copy of official record of, 5.205(c). +Delivery of personal property, 733.802(2). +Destroyed will, admitting to probate, 5.510(e). +Determination of beneficiaries, 5.385(c). +Directing payment from one guardian to another, 744.374. +Discharge of guardian, 5.650(h), 5.670(h), 5.680(g), 744.524, 744.531. + + + +Discharge of personal representative, 5.400(e), 5.430(k). +Discontinuing unincorporated business of decedent, 5.350(d), 5.640(e). +Elective share. + +See ELECTIVE SHARE. +Establishing lost or destroyed will, 5.510(e). +Exempt property, determining, 5.406(c). +Extending time period, 5.042(b). +Family allowance, determining, 5.407(c). +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, order directing custodian to + +comply, 740.06. +Final distribution, 5.400(e). +Guardian advocate generally. + +See GUARDIAN ADVOCATE. +Guardians, appointment, 744.2005(1)(3). + +Form for petition and order of guardian, 5.902. +Guardianship report, filing of, 744.369, 744.3685. +Homestead property, determining, 5.405(c). +Incapacity, adjudicating, 744.331(6), 744.2005. +Lost will, admitting to probate, 5.510(e). +Nonresident ward, managing property of, 5.645(e). +Objection to petition for discharge, 5.401(e). +Partial distribution, 5.380(b), 733.802(2). +Payment of devise, 5.380(b), 733.802(2). +Production of assets, requiring, 5.160, 744.373. +Protecting ward, 744.107(3), 744.371, 744.1075(3)(4). +Refund of excessive compensation, 5.355. +Rehearing of, motion for, 5.020(d). +Resignation of guardian, 5.650(a), 744.467. +Resignation of personal representative, 5.430(k). +Restoration of capacity, 744.464(3). + + + +Restoration of rights of developmentally disabled person, 5.681(e), +393.12(12). + +Sale of property, 5.370(b), 5.630(c), 733.613, 744.441(j), 744.441(n), +744.451, 744.457(1), 744.631. + +Settling claim by or against guardian, 744.387. +Subsequent administration, 5.460(c), 733.903. +Summary administration, 5.530(d), 735.206. +Surrender of real property, 733.802(2). +Termination of guardianship. + +Change of wards domicile, 5.670(h), 744.524. +Removal of wards incapacity, death of ward, inability to locate ward, or + +exhaustion of wards assets, 5.680(g), 744.531. +Undue delay in adversary proceedings, preventing, 5.025(d)(3). +Unincorporated business. + +Accounting for, 5.350(d). +Continuance of, 5.350(c), 5.640(a)(c). +Termination of, 5.350(d), 5.640(e). + +Ward, protection of, 744.107(3), 744.371, 744.1075(3)(4). +Wills. + +Probate of will without administration, 5.210(d). +ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION. +See ANATOMICAL GIFTS. + + + +P + +PARENT. +Defined, 731.201(27). +PARTITION FOR PURPOSE OF DISTRIBUTION, 5.025(a), 733.814. +PERMISSIBLE DISTRIBUTEE. +Defined, 736.0103(13). +PERSONAL PROPERTY. +Disposition of without administration, 5.420, 735.301. + +Payment to successor without court proceedings, 735.303. +Small estates. + +Intestate personal property in small estates, 5.425, 735.304. +Entailed estates, 689.14. +Estates by survivorship, doctrine of, 689.15. +Exemption from levy. + +Defendants right of selection, 222.07. +Generally, 222.061. +Injunction against sale, 222.09. +Jurisdiction of courts, 222.08. +Wages. + +See WAGES. +Rule against perpetuities. + +Cemeteries, effect on disposition of property for, 689.13. +Generally, 689.225. + +Separate writing disposing of, 732.512, 732.515. +Small estates. + +Disposition of without administration. +Intestate personal property in small estates, 735.304. + +Trust, inter vivos, validity of, 689.075. + + + +Wards, sale of, 5.630(b), 744.447(2). +PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +Accounting by. + +See ACCOUNTING. +Address designation, 5.110(a). +Ancillary administration, 734.102, 734.1025. +Appointment of. + +Claim filed in ancillary proceeding, after, 734.1025(2). +Debtor as, 733.306. +Nonresidents, 733.304. +Persons not qualified, 733.303. +Petition for, 5.200. +Preference in, 733.301. +Trust companies and associations, 733.305. +Who may be appointed, 733.302. + +Attorney, 5.030(a). +Bond of, 5.235(a)(2), 733.402, 733.403. +Claim, proof of, 5.498, 733.703(2), 733.705(4). + +Service of claim by personal representative, 5.490(e). +Compensation of, 5.355, 5.400(b), 733.612(19), 733.617, 733.707(1), + +733.6175. +Compulsory payment of devise by, 5.380, 733.802. +Continuance of decedents business by, 5.350. +Death of, 733.307. +Debtor as, 733.306. +Defined, 731.201(28). +Discharge. + +Effect of, 733.901(2). +Florida estate tax, liability for, 198.19. +Order of, 5.400(e), 5.401(f), 5.430(k). + + + +Petition for. +Contents of, 5.400(a)(b), 5.430(g). +Execution of, 5.330(g). +Objections to, 5.401, 5.430(i). +Service of, 5.400(c), 5.430(i). +Waiver of, 731.302. + +Disclaimer by. +See DISCLAIMER. + +Disqualification of, 5.310, 733.303, 733.304, 733.3101. +Distribution by. + +See DISTRIBUTION. +Duties and powers of. + +Accrual, time of, 733.601. +Breach of fiduciary duty, 733.609. +Creditors, duties to, 733.2121. +Generally, 733.602, 733.608. +Improper exercise of, 733.609. +Possession of estate, 733.607. +Sale of real property by, 5.370, 733.613. +Successor personal representative, 733.614. +Transactions authorized, 733.612. +Unclaimed property, as to, 717.112, 717.1125, 717.1242, 717.12405, + +733.816. +Without court order, 733.603, 733.612. + +Elective share. +See ELECTIVE SHARE. + +Environmental laws, protection against violation of, 733.6121. +Escheat proceedings initiated by, 5.386. +Estate tax. + +Discharge from liability for state, 198.19. + + + +Filing notice of federal, 5.395. +Exculpation of by will, 733.620. +Execution of documents by, 5.330. +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, 740.001740.11. + +See FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT. +Fiscal year, election of, 5.345(a)(1). +Foreign. + +Defined, 731.201(17). +Filing of authenticated transcript of foreign proceedings by, 5.470, 5.475, + +734.104, 734.1025(1). +Generally, 734.101. +Jurisdiction over, 734.201, 734.202. +Service and publication of notice to creditors by, 734.1025(2). + +Guardian subsequently appointed as, 744.528. +Interim accounting, filing, 5.345, 5.346, 5.346Appendix A. +Inventory, filing, 5.340, 733.604. +Joint, 733.615. +Liability of. + +Breach of fiduciary duty, 733.609. +Discharge, after, 733.901(2). +Environmental laws, violation of, 733.6121. +Exculpatory clause in will, 733.620. +Executor de son tort, 733.309. +Individual, 733.619, 733.2121(3)(b). + +Lien on protected homestead by. +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. + +Nonresidents as, 733.304. +Oath of, 5.320, 733.201(3). +Payment of compensation to, review of, 5.355, 733.6175. +Petition for administration. + + + +Statement of qualification to serve, 5.200(k). +Preference in appointment of, 732.702(1), 733.301. +Production of assets by, 5.160. +Proof of claim by, 5.498, 733.703(2), 733.705(4). +Protection for persons dealing with, 733.611. +Removal of. + +Accounting required, 5.345, 5.440(b), 733.508(1). +Adversary nature of proceeding, 5.025(a). +Appointment of successor, 733.5061. +Causes for, 733.504. +Jurisdiction, 733.505. +Proceedings for, 5.440, 733.506. +Surrender of assets, 5.440(c), 733.508(2), 733.509. + +Resident agent for. +See RESIDENT AGENT. + +Resignation of. +Acceptance of, 5.430(e). +Accounting required, 5.430(g), 733.5036(1). +Appointment of successor, 5.430(d), 733.503. +Delivery of records and property by, 5.430(f), 5.430(j). +Discharge following, 5.430(k), 733.5036(2). +Execution of, 5.330(h). +Generally, 5.430(a), 733.502. +Knowledge that he or she is not qualified, 733.3101. +Petition for. + +Contents of, 5.430(b). +Filing of, 5.430(b). +Service of, 5.430(c). +Verification of, 5.430(b). + +Surrender of assets, 5.430(a), 733.5035, 733.5036(2). + + + +Review of employment of agents by, 733.6175. +Safe-deposit box, access to. + +See SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX. +Sale of real property, by, 5.370, 733.613. +Sale or encumbrance to representative or spouse, agent or attorney of + +representative, 733.610. +Service of notice of administration on personal representative, 5.2405. +Signature, when required, 5.330. +Succession of, 733.307. +Successor. + +Appointment of, 5.430(d), 733.307, 733.503, 733.5061. +Powers and duties of, 733.614. + +Surcharge of, 5.025(a). +Surviving, 733.616. +Transactions authorized for, 733.612. +Trust companies and associations as, 733.305. +Unclaimed property. + +Claims to, 717.1242, 717.12405. +Held by, 717.112, 717.1125, 733.816. + +Unqualified persons, 733.303. +Who may be appointed as, 733.302. +PER STIRPITAL DISTRIBUTION. +Devises, 732.603, 732.611. +Intestate succession, 732.104. +PET, TRUST FOR CARE OF, 736.0408. +PETITION. +Adjudication of incapacity, 5.550, 744.331. +Administration. + +Ancillary, 5.470(a). + + + +Generally, 5.200, 733.202. +Notice, 5.201, 733.2123. + +Administrator ad litem, appointment of, 5.120(b). +Admission of will to probate without administration, 5.210(a)(b). +Alternatives to guardianship, 5.685(b)(d). +Ancillary administration, 5.470(a). +Appointment. + +Administrator ad litem, 5.120(e). +Conservator, 747.03. +Curator, 5.122(a). +Emergency temporary guardian, 5.648(a), 744.3031(1), 744.3201(3). +Guardian, 5.555(c), 5.560, 744.331(1), 744.334, 744.3201(3). +Guardian ad litem, 5.120(b)(c), 5.120(e). +Guardian advocate, 5.649(a)(b), 393.12(3)(4). +Personal representative, 5.200. +Preneed guardian, 744.3045(7). +Resident guardian of nonresident ward, 744.308(1)(3). +Standby guardian, 5.646, 744.304(1)(2). +Veterans guardian, 744.616. +Voluntary guardian, 5.552(a)(c), 744.341. + +Approval of acts of guardian, 5.610(e), 5.630(a), 744.447(1). +Assignment of dower for widow, 5.365. +Changing residence of ward, 744.1098. +Commissioner to prove will, appointment of, 5.230(a). +Compensation. + +Attorney, 744.108(5)(7). +Guardian, 744.108(5)(7), 744.641. +Guardian ad litem, 5.120(d). +Personal representative and estate employees, review of propriety of fees, + +5.355. + + + +Compulsory payment of devises or distributive interests, 5.380(a). +Conservatorship. + +Establishment of. +Plenary procedure, 747.03. +Summary procedure, 747.051, 747.052. + +Termination of, 747.04(1). +Contents of, 5.020(b). +Continuance of unincorporated business. + +By guardian, 5.640(b), 744.441(m). +By personal representative, 5.330(d), 5.350. + +Defined, 731.201(29). +Determination of beneficiaries and shares, 5.385(a)(b), 733.105(1). +Determination of homestead, 5.405(a)(b). +Determination of incapacity, 5.550, 744.331(1), 744.331(4)(5), 744.3201. + +Form, 5.901. +Discharge. + +Guardian, 5.552(e), 5.610(f), 5.650(a)(b), 5.670(a)(b), 5.680(a)(d), +744.528. + +Personal representative, 5.330(g), 5.400, 5.430(g). +Veterans guardian for minor ward, 744.643. + +Dower, assignment of, 5.365. +Elective share, determination of amount of. + +See ELECTIVE SHARE. +Establishment and probate of lost or destroyed will, 5.510(b). +Execution, when required. + +Guardian, 5.610. +Personal representative, 5.330. + +Exempt property, determination of, 5.406(a)(b), 732.402(6). +Expedited judicial intervention concerning medical treatment + +procedures, 5.900(a). + + + +Extraordinary authority of guardian, 5.635(a). +Family allowance, determination of, 5.407(a)(b). +Grounds for relief, allegation of, 5.020(b). +Guardian advocate generally. + +See GUARDIAN ADVOCATE. +Guardians, appointment. + +Contents, 5.020(b), 5.560(a), 744.334. +Form for petition and order of guardian, 5.902. + +Homestead property. +Determination of, 5.405(a)(b). +Determination of amount of lien on, 5.403, 733.608(3)(a). + +Incapacity, determination of, 5.550, 744.331(1), 744.331(4)(5), 744.3201. +Adjudicatory hearing, 5.550(f). +Examining committee, 5.550(e). + +Interim judicial review of guardians actions, 5.705, 744.3715. +Jurisdiction, allegation of, 5.020(b). +Later will, probate of, 733.208. +Lien on protected homestead, determination of, 5.403, 733.608(3)(a). +Lost or destroyed will, probate of, 5.510(b). +Managing Florida property of nonresident ward, 5.645(a), 744.307(1). +Missing person, administering estate of, 733.209. +Payment from one guardian to another, 744.374. +Pleadings generally. + +See PLEADINGS. +Production of property, 5.160, 744.373. +Production of will, 732.901(2). +Relief sought, allegation of, 5.020(b). +Removal of guardian, 5.660(a), 744.391. +Removal of personal representative, 5.310, 5.440(a), 733.505. +Requiring filing of death certificate, 5.205(c). + + + +Residence of ward, changing, 744.1098. +Resignation of personal representative, 5.330(h), 5.430(b), 5.430(g). +Restoration of rights of developmentally disabled person, 393.12(12). +Review of compensation of personal representative, 5.355. +Revocation of probate, 5.270(a), 733.208. +Sale of property, 5.330(c), 5.370(a), 5.630(a), 744.441(j), 744.441(n), + +744.447, 744.451, 744.631. +Service of, generally, 5.041. +Settlement of claim, approval of, 5.636(b)(c). +Signature, when required, 5.330, 5.610. +Subsequent administration, 5.460(a)(b). +Summary administration, 5.530(a), 735.203, 735.2055. +Support of wards dependents, 744.421, 744.625. +Surrogate guardian, designation of, 5.647, 744.442(2)(a). +Termination of guardianship, 5.680(a), 5.680(d), 744.524. +Verification of, 5.020(e), 731.104, 744.104. +Waiver. + +Audit fee, 744.365(6), 744.3678(4). +Bond, fiduciary, 733.402(4). + +PLANS, INITIAL AND ANNUAL. +See GUARDIAN. +PLEADINGS. +Caption of, adversary proceedings, 5.025(d)(5). +Copies, request for, 5.060(a). +Defects in form, 5.020(a). +Form of, 5.020(a). +Motions, 5.020(c). +Petition, contents of, 5.020(b). +Petition, generally. + + + +See PETITION. +Service of. + +See SERVICE. +Signature required, 5.020(a), 5.330, 5.610. +Technical forms abolished, 5.020(a). +Verification, 5.020(e), 731.104, 744.104. +PLENARY GUARDIAN. +See GUARDIAN. +POWER OF APPOINTMENT. +Defined, 731.201(30), 732.2025(3), 736.0103(7). + +General power of appointment defined for purposes of transfers to minors +provisions, 710.102. + +Disclaimer of property passing under. +See DISCLAIMER. + +Qualifying, defined, 732.2095(1)(b). +Release. + +Effect of, 709.04. +Method of, 709.02. +Prior release, validation of, 709.05. +Tax laws, powers included, 709.06. +Title to property held by bona fide purchaser for value without knowledge + +of release, validity of, 709.07. +Trust, property held in, 709.03. + +Representation by holder of, 731.303, 736.0302. +Trust. + +Directed trust. +Exclusions from provisions, 726.1403. + +Release of power, 709.03. +Validity of, 689.225. + + + +POWER OF ATTORNEY. +Acceptance, 709.2119(2). +Applicability of provisions, 709.2103. +Appointment acceptance, 709.2113. +Attorneys fees and costs, 709.2116(3). +Authority, 709.2201. +Banks, 709.2208, 709.2302. +Citation of provisions, 709.2101. +Co-agents, 709.2111(1), 709.2111(6). +Compensation, 709.2112(2)(3). +Conflicts of interest, 709.2116(4)(5). +Copies, 709.2106(5). +Court powers, 709.2116(1). +Definitions, 709.2102. +Disclosures, 709.2114(6). +Durable, 709.2104. +Duties, 709.2114(2). +Effective date, 709.2108. +Effectiveness, 709.2107. +Electronically transmitted copies, 709.2106(5). +Electronic signatures in federal law and, 709.2401. +English translations, 709.2119(4). +Executions, 709.2105. +Existing powers of, 709.2402. +Exoneration, 709.2115. +Expertise, 709.2114(4). +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, 740.001740.11. + +See FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT. +Fiduciary duties, 709.2114(1). +Financial institutions, 709.2208, 709.2302. + + + +Good faith, 709.2114(3). +Homestead, conveyance of, 689.111. +Law and equity principles, 709.2301. +Liability, 709.2117. +Meaning of, 709.2107. +Military power of attorney, 709.2106(4). +Notice, 709.2121. +Out-of-state executions, 709.2106(3). +Principal physically unable to sign or initial, 709.2202. +Property value declines, 709.2114(5). +Qualifications, 709.2105. +Recordation by clerk, 709.2106(6). +Reimbursement, 709.2112(1). +Rejection of power, 709.2120. +Reliance on, 709.2119(1), 709.2119(3). +Relief petitions, 709.2116(2). +Remedies, 709.2303. +Resignation, 709.2118. +Revocation, 709.2110. +Signed enumeration authority, 709.2202. +Successor agents, 709.2111(2)(5). +Suspension, 709.2109. + +Incapacity determination, suspension of power before, 744.3203. +Termination, 709.2109. +Unclaimed property, 717.135. +Validity, 709.2106. +PRENEED GUARDIAN. +Alternate, 744.3045(6). +Defined, 744.102(16). + + + +Generally, 744.312(4), 744.3045. +Minor, for, 744.3046. +PRESERVATION OF WILL, 732.901. +PRETERMITTED CHILDREN, 732.302, 732.507(1), 733.805(1). +PRETERMITTED SPOUSE, 732.301, 732.507(1), 732.702(1), 733.805(1). +PRIVATE CONTRACTS, 733.815. +PROBATE. +Administration. + +Ancillary, 5.470, 734.102, 734.1025. +Notice of. + +Generally, 5.240, 733.212. +Petition for administration, 5.201, 733.2123. + +Petition for, 5.200, 733.202. +Probate without administration, 5.210. + +Admission of foreign will to, 5.216, 734.102, 734.1025. +Authenticated copy of will, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 5.215, 5.470(a), 5.470(c), + +5.475(a), 733.206(2). +Caveat. + +See CAVEAT. +Claim, form and manner of presenting, 5.490, 733.703. +Commission to prove will. + +Commissioner, appointment of, 5.230(a). +Filing of, 5.230(d). +Generally, 5.230(b), 733.201(2). +Mailing of, 5.230(c). +Petition, 5.230(a). + +Construction of will, as prerequisite to, 733.213. +Continuance of decedents business, 5.350. +Definitions, 731.201. + + + +Destroyed or lost will, 5.510, 733.207. +Disposition of personal property without administration, 5.420, 735.301. + +Intestate property in small estates, 735.304. +Payment to successor without court proceedings, 735.303. + +Effect of, 733.103. +Elective share. + +See ELECTIVE SHARE. +Electronic will or codicil, 732.526. + +Self-proved electronic will. +Probate of self-proved electronic will, 733.201. + +Evidence, 5.170. +Execution by personal representative, 5.330. +Foreign language, will written in, 5.216, 733.204. +Foreign probate of will of Florida resident, procedure following, 733.206. +In rem proceeding, 731.105, 731.1055. +Inventory, 5.340, 733.604. +Later will, discovery of, 733.208. +Lost or destroyed will, 5.510, 733.207. +Notarial will, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 733.205. +Notice of administration, 5.240, 733.212. +Oath. + +Personal representative, 5.320, 733.201(3). +Witness to will, 5.230, 733.201(2). + +Objections, 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212, 733.2123. +Petition for administration, 5.200, 733.202. +Petition for admission of will, 5.210. +Pleadings. + +Service of pleadings and documents, 5.041. +Precious metals. + +Defined, 731.1065. + + + +Proof of wills, 733.201. +Revocation of, 5.025(a), 5.270, 733.109. +Service of pleadings and documents, 5.041. + +Creditors claims against estates. +Objections to claims, 5.496. +Personal representatives proof of claim, 5.498. + +Objection to, 5.499. +Presentation of claims. + +Service by personal representative, 5.490. +Wills. + +See WILL. +Without administration, 5.210. +Witness, oath of, 5.230, 733.201(2). +PRODUCTION OF ASSETS, REQUIRING, 5.160, 744.373. +PRODUCTION OF WILL, 732.901. +PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN. +Appointment of, petition for, 744.334(2). +Assessment of wards condition by, 744.361(14). +Banking corporation as, 744.2002(7). +Bond, 744.2002(3)(b), 744.2003(2). +Borrowing from ward prohibited, 744.454. +College or university as, 744.2002(10). +Complaints against, review and investigation, 744.2004(1). +Credit and criminal investigation, 744.2002(4)(5), 744.3135. +Defined, 744.102(17). +Department of Elderly Affairs, rules to implement disciplinary + +provisions, 744.2004(6). +Disciplinary proceedings. + +Available sanctions, 744.20041(2). + + + +Determination as to sanction imposed, 744.20041(3). +Establishment of procedures, 744.2004(2). +Grounds for discipline, 744.20041(1). +Injunction or writ of mandamus, 744.20041(7). +Legislative intent of guidelines, 744.20041(5). +Mitigating and aggravating circumstances, 744.20041(6). +Review of disciplinary guidelines prior to imposition of sanction, + +744.20041(4). +Revocation, permanent nature, 744.20041(8). +Rulemaking to administer provisions, 744.20041(11). +Uniform discipline as purpose of provisions, 744.20041(10). + +Education and training, 744.2002(3)(b), 744.2003, 744.3145(7). +Examination of competency, 744.2003(6)(10). +Grounds for discipline, 744.20041(1). +Information and transparency. + +Database of information, 744.2112. +Petition for appointment of, 744.334(2). +Registration, 5.560(a)(10), 744.2002. + +Profiles of registered professional guardians. +Publication on office website, 744.2001. + +Regulation of, 744.2003. +Savings association as, 744.2002(7). +Surrogate guardian, 5.647(a). +Suspension or revocation of registration, determination provided to + +courts, 744.2004(4), 744.20041(9). +Trust company as, 744.2002(7). +Visits to ward, duty to make, 744.361(14). +Vulnerable adult, report of misconduct involving, 744.2004(5). +Written notices required prior to suspension or revocation of + +registration, 744.2004(3). + + + +PROOF OF SERVICE, 5.040(a)(6). +Formal, 5.040(e). + +Persons served, 5.040(a)(4). +Persons served, 5.040(a)(4). +PROOF OF WILLS, 733.201. +PROPERTY. +Abandonment of, 733.612(9). +Abuse, neglect, exploitation or aggravated manslaughter of elderly + +person or disabled adult. +Forfeiture of benefits, 732.8031. + +Ademption, 732.605, 732.609. +Appraisal. + +See APPRAISAL. +Assets. + +See ASSETS. +Community. + +See COMMUNITY PROPERTY. +Defined. + +Guardianship, 744.102(18). +Probate, 731.201(32). +Trust, 736.0103(15). + +Disposition without administration, 5.420, 735.301. +Intestate property in small estates, 735.304. +Payment to successor without court proceedings, 735.303. + +Estates. +See ESTATE. + +Exempt, 5.406, 732.402. +Homestead. + +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. + + + +Inventory. +See INVENTORY. + +Killer not entitled to receive, 732.802. +Trust beneficiaries, 736.1104. + +Partition, 733.814. +Personal property. + +See PERSONAL PROPERTY. +Production of, 5.160, 744.373. +Real property. + +See REAL PROPERTY. +Subsequently discovered, 5.340, 744.384. +Surrender of. + +By removed guardian, 5.660(c), 744.514. +By removed personal representative, 5.440(d). + +Unclaimed, disposition of. +See UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. + +PROTECTED HOMESTEAD. +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. +PROXY. +See HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. +PRUDENT INVESTOR RULE. +See INVESTMENT OF FIDUCIARY FUNDS. +PUBLICATION. +Notice of termination of guardianship, 5.670(b), 744.524. +Notice to creditors, 5.241(a), 5.241(c), 5.475(b), 733.701, 733.2121(1), + +733.2121(2), 734.102(5), 734.1025(2), 735.2063. +PUBLIC GUARDIAN. +Annual report of operations, 5.710(d), 744.2103(3). +Application for appointment of, 5.590(d). + + + +Appointment of, 5.560, 744.2006(2), 744.2006(5)(6). +Bond by, 744.351(5), 744.2102. +Budget, preparation of, 744.2009. +Confidential information, 744.2111. +Costs of, 744.2008. +Emergency temporary guardian, as, 5.648. +Grant program to develop local offices. + +Administration of, 744.2107. +Application requirements, 744.2109. +Distribution of funds, 744.2106, 744.2109(2), 744.2109(4). +Eligibility requirements, 744.2108. +Generally, 744.2106. +Purpose, 744.2106. + +Office of Public and Professional Guardians, 744.2001, 744.2006(1). +Part-time, 744.2006(3). +Powers and duties of, 5.710, 744.2007. +Procedures and rules, 744.2101. +Public records. + +Exemption from required disclosures, 744.21031. +Records, access to, 744.2104. +Removal of, 744.2006(5). +Reports by, 5.710, 744.2103. +Requirements for, 744.309(1), 744.2006(2)(4). +Service of petition and notice in appointment of guardian, 5.560(c). +Suspension of, 744.2006(5). +PURCHASER OF PROPERTY, PROTECTION EXTENDED TO. +Distributee, from, 733.813. +Guardian, from, 744.461. + + + +R + +REAL PROPERTY. +Acknowledgment or authentication of instrument. + +Armed forces, members of, 695.031. +Certificate of officer taking, 695.04. +Defects cured, 695.05, 695.06. +Form of, 695.25. +General requirements, 695.03. +Identity of grantor, determination of, 695.09. +Scrawl or scroll, use of, 695.07, 695.08. +Short form of, 695.25. +Uniform Commercial Code, exceptions for transactions under, 695.032. +Venue, validation of irregularities as to, 695.06. +Warranty deed, 689.04. + +Ad valorem taxes, disclosure of, 689.261. +Appraiser, county property, schedule of recorded conveyances furnished + +to, 695.22. +Armed forces, members of. + +Acknowledgment or authentication of instrument by, 695.032. +Termination of purchase agreement by, 689.27. + +Cemeteries, disposition for care in, 689.13. +Common recovery, conveyance by, 689.08. +Community real property. + +See COMMUNITY PROPERTY. +Custodian of individual retirement plan or qualified plan, transfer to or + +by, 689.072. +Death on, failure to disclose, 689.25. +Deed, warranty. + + + +Acknowledgment of, 689.04. +Effect of, 689.03. +Execution of, 689.04. +Form of, 689.02. + +Disclosures. +Ad valorem taxes, 689.261. +Death on property, 689.25. +HIV infection in occupant of real property, 689.25. +Sewers. + +Sanitary sewer laterals, defects. +Disclosure to prospective purchasers, 689.301. + +Entailed estates, 689.14. +Estates by survivorship, doctrine of, 689.15. +Execution of petition for sale or confirmation of sale or encumbrance of, + +5.330. +Fine, conveyance by, 689.08. +Florida Land Trust Act, 689.071. +Foreign will, admission to pass title and interest, 734.104. +Forfeiture provisions, 689.18. +Guardian, purchase or sale by, 744.441(j), 744.441(n), 744.447, 744.451, + +744.457(1). +HIV infection in occupant of real property, failure to disclose, 689.25. +Homestead. + +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. +Husband and wife. + +Conveyance between, 689.11, 689.111(2). +Conveyance to, 689.115. + +Land trusts, 689.071. +Limitation, absence of words of, 689.10. +Method of conveyance, 689.01. + + + +Minerals, limitations on use of term, 689.20. +Order directing surrender, 5.380(b)(4), 733.802(2). +Partition, 733.814. +Partnership, conveyance to or by, 689.045. +Recording of conveyances. + +Acknowledgment or authentication, requirement of, 695.03. +Blank form of mortgage or other instrument, 695.02. +Certificate of record. + +Lack of, 695.13. +Unsigned, 695.14. + +Certified copies of instruments, 695.19. +Contracts of record, unperformed, 695.20. +Electronic. + +Applicability of provisions, 695.28(2). +Generally, 695.27. +Validity, 695.28(1). + +Filing, instruments deemed recorded from time of, 695.11. +Fire, destruction of recorded instruments by, 695.15, 695.16. +Generally, 695.01, 695.25. +Governmental agencies. + +Conveyances between, 695.015. +United States deeds and patents, 695.17, 695.18. + +Imperfect record, 695.12. +Master form of mortgage or other instrument, 695.02. +Proof of handwriting of deceased grantor and witnesses, 695.10. +Requirements for, generally, 695.26. +Schedule of recorded conveyances furnished to county property appraiser, + +695.22. +Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act. + +Applicability of provisions, 695.28(2). + + + +Generally, 695.27. +Validity, 695.28(1). + +Recording of liens, 695.01. +Reverter provisions, 689.18. +Right of entry. + +Subsurface rights, disclosure to prospective purchasers, 689.29. +Rule against perpetuities. + +Cemeteries, effect on disposition of property for, 689.13. +Generally, 689.225. + +Sale of to pay estate tax, 198.24. +Sale of when no power conferred. + +Notice of public sale, 5.370(b). +Order, 5.370(b), 5.630(c), 733.613(1), 744.451, 744.457(1)(b). +Petition, 5.370(a), 744.441(j), 744.441(n), 744.447. + +Sale of when power conferred, 733.612(2), 733.612(5), 733.613(2)(3). +Scriveners error. + +Curative procedure for scriveners error in deeds, 689.041. +Shelleys Case, abolishment of rule in, 689.17. +State lands conveyed for educational purposes, 689.12. +Statute of uses, deed under, 689.09. +Subsurface rights. + +Disclosure to prospective purchasers, 689.29. +Taxes, ad valorem, disclosure of, 689.261. +Termination of purchase agreement by servicemember, 689.27. +Transfer fee covenants, prohibition against, 689.28. +Trust estate. + +Conveyance of, 689.06. +Declarations of, 689.05. +Individual retirement account trustee, transfers to or by, 689.072. +Inter vivos trust, validity of, 689.075. + + + +Land trusts, 689.071. +Powers conferred on trustee in recorded instrument, 689.073. +Qualified plan trustee, transfers to or by, 689.072. +Trustee or as trustee added to name of grantee, effect of, 689.07. + +Variances of names in recorded instruments, 689.19. +Windstorm mitigation rating, disclosure of, 689.261. +Worthier title, abolishment of doctrine of, 689.175. +RECORD. +Appeals, 744.109(2). +Death, of, 5.171, 5.205, 731.103. +Hearings, 5.541, 744.109(1). +Incapacity determination, reports, 5.550(e). +Public guardian. + +Public records. +Exemption from required disclosures, 744.21031. + +REEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE. +Deceased employees, 222.15(2), 222.16. +REHEARING, MOTION FOR, 5.020(d). +RELIEF, ALLEGATION OF. +Motion, in, 5.020(c). +Petition, in, 5.020(b). +REMAINDER BENEFICIARY. +Defined, 738.102(11). +REMOVAL. +Curator, 733.501(4). +Guardian. + +See GUARDIAN. +Personal representative. + + + +See PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +Trustee, 736.0706. +REPORTING. +See RECORD. +REPRESENTATION. +Estates, 731.303. +Trusts. + +See TRUST. +REPRESENTATIVE. +See PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +REQUEST FOR NOTICES AND COPIES OF PLEADINGS, 5.060(a). +RESIDENCE. +Defined, 731.201(34). +Wards, change of, 744.1097(3), 744.1098. +RESIDENT AGENT. +Acceptance. + +Effect of, 5.110(f). +Filing of, 5.110(b). +Writing, requirement of, 5.110(d). + +Address designation, 5.110(a)(b). +Attorney as, 5.110(b)(c). +Caveator, of, 5.260(c). +Corporate fiduciaries exemption for, 5.110(b). +Curator, of, 5.122(b). +Death of, 5.110(g). +Designation of for service of process, 5.110(b), 5.110(f). +Guardian of nonresident ward, designation by, 5.645(b), 744.307(2). +Incorporation of designation in other pleadings, 5.110(e). + + + +Residency requirement, 5.110(b)(c). +Resignation of, 5.110(g). +Successor, appointment of, 5.110(g). +RESIGNATION. +Custodian, 710.121(3), 710.121(5). +Guardian, 5.610(h), 5.650, 744.467. +Personal representative. + +See PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. +Resident agent, 5.110(g). +Trustee, 736.0705. +RETAINED ASSET ACCOUNTS. +Unclaimed proceeds, 717.107. +REVOCATION. +Anatomical gift, 765.516. +Probate, 5.025(a), 5.270, 733.109. +Will. + +See WILL. +RULE AGAINST PERPETUITIES. +Cemeteries, effect on disposition of property for, 689.13. +Generally, 689.225. +RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE, APPLICABILITY OF, 5.100. +RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE. +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(d)(2). +Applicability of, generally, 5.010. +Depositions, 5.080(a). +Discovery, 5.080(a). +Objections to venue or jurisdiction of court, 5.240(d). +Process, service of, 5.040(a)(3)(B). +Subpoenas, 5.080(a)(14). + + + +Transfer of proceedings, 5.050(a). +Trust. + +Notice of judicial proceeding involving, 736.0109(6). +Proceedings involving, generally, 736.0201(1). + + + +S + +SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX. +Adverse claims to contents of, 655.938. +Authority to engage in business, 655.931. +Death of lessee. + +Delivery of contents to fiduciary, 655.935, 655.936. +Lack of knowledge of, effect of, 655.934. +Search procedure after, 655.935. + +Definitions, 655.93. +Fiduciaries. + +Access to box by, 655.933, 655.936, 655.937, 733.6065. +Delivery of contents to, 655.936, 733.6065. + +Inventory of. +Decedents, 5.342, 655.937(5), 733.6065(1). +Wards, 5.620(d), 744.365(4). + +Joint lessees, access by, 655.937. +Minor, lease to, 655.932. +Nonpayment of rent, remedies for, 655.94. +Power of attorney, presumptive validity of, 655.934. +Security procedures, failure of lessor to abide by, 655.939. +Two or more lessees, access by, 655.937. +Unclaimed property in, 717.116, 717.117(1)(c), 717.119(5), 717.1201(7). +Verification of contents, 5.342(b). +SALE OF REAL PROPERTY. +See REAL PROPERTY. +SAVINGS BONDS. +Unclaimed property. + +Florida Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. + + + +Claims for savings bond, 717.1383. +United States savings bonds, 717.1382. + +SCOPE OF PROBATE RULES, 5.010. +SCRIVENERS ERROR. +Curative procedure for scriveners error in deeds, 689.041. +SEARCH OF, 5.3425. +SECURITY. +Defined, 731.201(36). +Security interest, defined, 731.201(37). +Transfer on death. + +See FLORIDA UNIFORM TRANSFER-ON-DEATH SECURITY +REGISTRATION ACT. + +Unclaimed property, 717.1101. +SEPARATE WRITING, 732.512, 732.515. +SERVICE. +Adversary proceedings, 5.025(b), 5.025(d)(1). +Annual plan and accounting of guardian, 5.695(b). +Appointment of administrator ad litem, petition for, 5.120(e). +Appointment of guardian, petition for, 5.560(b)(c), 744.331(1), 744.3371. +Appointment of guardian ad litem, petition for, 5.120(e). +Appointment of personal representative, petition for, 5.201. +Assignment of dower, petition for, 5.365. +Caveat, 5.260(c), 731.110(2)(3). +Certificate of, 5.496(b). +Claims. + +Presentation of claims, 5.490(b). +Personal representative, service by, 5.490(e). + +Completion of service, 5.040(a)(5). +Designation of resident agent for, 5.110. + + + +Discharge of guardian, petition for, 5.680(d), 744.528. +Discharge of personal representative, petition for, 5.400(c). +Elective share. + +Election to take, 5.360(a)(1), 5.360(a)(2)(B). +Inventory of elective estate, 5.360(d)(2). +Notice of election, 5.360(b)(3). +Objection to election, 5.360(b)(4). +Petition to determine amount of, 5.360(d)(1). + +E-mail, additional time after service by email, 5.042(d). +Expedited judicial intervention concerning medical treatment + +procedures, notice of petition and hearing on, 5.900(c). +Final accounting, 5.400(c), 5.660(b), 5.660(d). +Final report, 5.650(e), 5.680(e), 744.511, 744.528(1), 744.3031(9)(e). +Formal notice. + +Generally, 5.040(a)(1), (3), 731.301. +In lieu of informal notice, 5.040(d). +Receipt and proof of service, 5.040(e). + +Generally, 736.02025. +Guardian ad litem, on, 5.120(a). +Hearings, for, 5.042(c). +Incapacity adjudication. + +Examining committee report, 744.331(3). +Order of, 744.331(6)(e). +Petition for, 5.550(b), 5.560(b), 744.331(1). + +Reports, 5.550(e). +Informal notice, 5.040(b). +Inventory, 5.340(b), 5.340(d), 5.342(c), 5.360(d)(2). +Mail, additional time to act after service by, 5.042(d). +Mail, when permissible, 736.02025. +Method. + + + +Formal notice, 5.040(a)(3). +Informal notice, 5.040(b). + +Motion. +Rehearing, 5.020(d). +Withdrawal of attorney, 5.030(c). + +Notice of administration, 733.212(1), 733.212(8). +On personal representative, date notices considered served, 5.2405. +Persons served by personal representative, 5.240(a). + +Notice of taking possession of protected homestead, 5.404(c). +Notice to creditors, 5.241(a), 733.701, 733.2121(3), 734.102(5), + +734.1025(2), 735.206(2), 735.2063. +Objection. + +Accounting, to, 5.345(d), 5.401(c). +Claim, to, 5.499(e), 733.705(2). +Election of elective share, to, 5.360(b)(4). +Petition for discharge, to, 5.401(c). + +Order requiring accounting, 5.150(c), 744.3685. +Pleadings and documents, 5.041. + +Creditors claims against estates. +Objections to claims, 5.496. +Personal representatives proof of claim, 5.498. + +Objection to, 5.499. +Presentation of claims. + +Service by personal representative, 5.490. +Guardians. + +Petition to determine incapacity, 5.550. +Reports, 5.690, 5.695. + +Request for notices and copies, service of notice of further proceedings and +copies, 5.060(b). + +Proof, 5.040(a)(6). + + + +Proof of service by formal notice, 5.040(e). +Report of guardian. + +Annual, 5.695(a), 744.367(3). +Final, 5.650(e), 5.680(e), 744.528(1). +Initial, 5.690(b), 744.362(1). + +Suggestion of capacity, notice of filing of, 744.464(2)(c). +Time for, generally, 5.042. +Trust, in rem or quasi in rem relief sought, 736.02025. +Waiver, 5.180, 5.240(e). +SHELLEYS CASE, RULE IN, 689.17. +SIGNATURE. +See EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS. +SIMULTANEOUS DEATHS, 732.601. +SMALL ESTATES. +Disposition without administration, 5.205(a)(4), 5.420, 735.301, 735.302. + +Intestate personal property in small estates, 5.425, 735.304. +Payment to successor without court proceedings, 735.303. + +Summary administration. +See SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION. + +Unclaimed property, agreement among beneficiaries, 717.1243. +SPECIAL MAGISTRATES. +See MAGISTRATES. +SPOUSE. +Elective share. + +See ELECTIVE SHARE. +Exempt property. + +See EXEMPT PROPERTY. +Family allowance, 732.403. + + + +Homestead. +See HOMESTEAD PROPERTY. + +Intestate estate, share of, 732.102. +Pretermitted, 732.301, 732.507(1), 732.702(1). +Service of notice of administration on, 5.240(a)(1). +STANDBY GUARDIAN. +Appointment of, 5.646, 744.304(1)(4), 744.312(4). +Defined, 744.102(19). +Jurisdiction of court, 744.304(5). +STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS. +Escheated property, recovery of, 732.107(3), 733.816(3). +Suspension of. + +In favor of guardian, 744.394. +In favor of personal representative, 733.104. + +Trust. +Directed trust. + +Limitation of action against trust director, 736.1413. +Trustee. + +Actions against, limitations on, 736.1008. +Unadministered estates, 733.710. +STOCK. +See SECURITY. +SUBPOENAS, 5.080(a)(14). +SUBSEQUENT ADMINISTRATION, 5.460, 733.903. +SUGGESTION OF CAPACITY, 744.464(2). +SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION. +Distribution, 5.530(d), 735.206(3)(4). +Evidence of death, filing of, 5.205(a)(3). + + + +Generally, 5.530, 735.201735.202. +Notice to creditors, 5.530(b), 735.206(2), 735.2063. +Order, 5.530(d), 735.206. +Petition, 5.020, 5.530(a), 735.203, 735.2055. +Testate estate, procedure governing, 5.530(c), 735.201(1). +SURETY. +Guardianship liability of, 744.357. +Probate liability of, 733.404. +Release of, 5.400(e), 733.405, 733.508(2), 733.901(2), 733.5036(2), + +736.0705(3), 744.531. +Will. + +Electronic will or codicil. +Qualified custodians, 732.525. + +SURROGATE, HEALTH CARE. +See HEALTH CARE SURROGATE. +SURROGATE GUARDIAN. +Defined, 744.102(20). +Designation of, 5.647, 744.442. + + + +T + +TAXES, ESTATE. +Allocation. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(2). +Apportionment of estate taxes, 733.817. +Estate Tax Law of Florida. + +Short title of act, 198.42. +Federal. + +Apportionment of estate taxes, 733.817. +Priority of, 733.707(1)(c). +Return. + +Accounting and discharge tied to due date of, 5.400(c). +Filing by personal representative, 198.13. +Notice of due date of, 5.395. + +Trusts. +Limited judicial construction of irrevocable trust, 736.04114. + +Wills. +Limited judicial construction of will, 733.1051. + +Florida. +Administration of, 198.05. +Agents appointed by Department of Revenue, 198.07, 198.11. +Alien decedents, on, 198.04. +Apportionment of estate taxes, 733.817. +Assessment of amount, 198.28. +Certificate of nonliability, 198.13(2), 198.26. +Collection. + +Relief of personal representative from duty. +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(8). + + + +Uncollected tax, reapportionment, 733.817(9). +Contribution. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(10). +Corporate personal representative of nonresident decedent, duties of, + +198.31. +Deficiency. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(7). +Definitions, 198.01. +Department of Revenue, role of. + +See DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE. +Direction against apportionment, 733.817(4). +Domicile of decedent, 198.015. +Due date for payment, 198.15. +Effectiveness of Chapter 198, 198.41. +Exemptions from, 198.44. +Exempt property. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Family allowance. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Foreign tax. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(11). +Generally, 198.02, 198.13. +Generation-skipping transfers, 198.13(3)(4), 198.021, 198.031, 198.155. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Homestead property. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Imposition of, 198.02, 198.13(4). +Liability for. + +Estate, 198.32(1). +Personal representative, 198.19, 198.23. + + + +Lien for unpaid taxes, 198.19, 198.22, 198.33. +Nonresident decedents, on, 198.03, 198.031. +Order of apportionment, 733.817(6). +Payment of. + +Discharge of personal representative, 198.19, 198.26. +Due date, 198.15. +Extension, 198.15. +Generation-skipping transfers, 198.155(2). +Interest, 198.15(1), 198.18, 198.155(5). +Liability for, 198.19, 198.23. + +Penalties for failure to pay, 198.15(2), 198.18, 198.37, 198.40. +Payable from estate, 198.21. +Priority of, 733.707(1)(c). +Receipt for, 198.19. +Refunds of excess tax paid, 198.29. +Sale of real estate for, 198.24. +Treasury, state, as repository of payments, 198.34. +Warrant directing levy, 198.20. + +Penalties. +Failure to file return, 198.14, 198.37. +Failure to pay tax, 198.15(2), 198.18, 198.37, 198.40. +Failure to produce records, 198.36. +False returns, 198.38. +False statement in return, 198.39. + +Records. +Failure to produce, 198.36. + +Records, examination of, 198.06. +Refunds, 198.29. +Return, tax. + +Extension of time to file, 198.14. + + + +Failure to file, 198.14, 198.37. +False return, 198.38. +False statement in, 198.39. +Filing of, 198.13(1), 198.13(4). + +Rules of construction applicable to, 198.35. +Section 2044 interests. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Short title of act, 198.42. +Transfer of property. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(5). +Trusts. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +Wills. + +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). +TEMPORARY GUARDIAN, EMERGENCY, 5.600, 5.648, 744.2005(4), + +744.3031. +TERMINATION OF GUARDIANSHIP. +See GUARDIAN. +TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS. +Intestate succession. + +Effect of termination, 732.1081. +TIME. +Accounting, 5.150(a), 5.345(a), 5.440(b), 5.660(b), 5.695(a)(2), 744.367(2), + +744.511. +Annual guardianship report, 5.695(a), 744.367. +Claims against discharged guardian, 744.531. +Claims against estate. + +See CLAIMS. +Clerks review of guardianship reports, 744.368(2)(3). + + + +Computation of, 5.042(a). +Defenses, for, 5.040(a)(1), 5.040(a)(2). +Delivery of devises and distributive shares, 733.801(1). +Elective share, exercise of right to, 5.360(a), 732.2135. +Enlargement of, 5.042(b). +Estate tax return, notice of due date, 5.395. +Formal notice in lieu of informal notice. + +Modification of specified time period, 5.040(d). +Incapacity adjudication. + +Date for hearing on petition, 5.550(f). +Initial guardianship report, 5.620(a), 5.690(a), 744.362(1). +Interim accounting, approval of, 5.345(e). +Inventory by personal representative. + +Extension for filing, 5.340(b). +Filing, 5.340(a). + +Judicial review of guardianship reports, 744.369(1). +Objections. + +To annual report by guardian, 5.700(a), 744.367(4). +To claims against estate, 733.705(2). +To final accounting and petition for discharge, 5.400(b)(6), 5.401(a), + +5.650(d), 5.650(f), 5.670(d), 5.670(f), 5.680(d), 5.680(f), 744.528(2). +To interim accounting, 5.345(e). +To suggestion of capacity, 744.464(2)(d). + +Report of public guardian, 5.710. +Restoration of capacity. + +Hearing, timeliness, 744.464. +Service. + +Hearings, for, 5.042(c). +Mail, additional time after service by, 5.042(d). + +Statutes of limitations. + + + +See STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS. +TOTAL INCAPACITATION. +Defined, 744.102(21). +TRANSCRIPTS. +Appeals, 744.109(2). +Foreign probate proceedings, 734.104, 734.1025(1). +Hearings, 744.109(1). +TRANSFER OF PROCEEDINGS. +Domicile change of ward, 5.050(b), 744.1097(2). +Incorrect venue, 5.050(a), 733.101(3), 744.1097(2). +Objection to venue, 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3). +TRANSFER OF PROPERTY. +Taxes, estate. + +Florida. +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(5). + +TRANSPLANTS. +See ANATOMICAL GIFTS. +TRUST. +Adoption. + +Subsequent adoption, effect on revocable trust, 736.1105. +Animal, for care of, 736.0408. +Arbitration of dispute involving, 731.401. +Attorneys fees, 736.0206, 736.1004, 736.1005, 736.1007, 736.05053(4), + +738.104(8). +Bank deposits in, 655.825. +Birth. + +Subsequent birth, effect on revocable trust, 736.1105. +Breach of, remedies for, 736.1001736.1003. +Certification of, 736.1017. + + + +Charitable. +Application of statutes, 736.1202. + +Election to be governed by statutes, 736.1209. +Notice of nonapplicability, 736.1205. + +Creation, 736.0402(1), 736.0405. +Cy pres doctrine, application of, 736.0413. +Definitions, 736.1201. +Disclosure protections afforded certain trusts and organizations, 736.1211. +Duties and powers of trustees, 736.1203736.1207. +Election to be governed by statutes, 736.1209. +Enforcement of, 736.0405(3). +Interpretation of governing law, 736.1210. +Release of power to select donees, 736.1208. + +Claims. +See CLAIMS. + +Community property trust act, 736.1501 to 736.1512. +Agreement establishing trust, 736.1504. +Amendment of trust, 736.1504. +Child support. + +Right to support, 736.1509. +Classification of property as community property, 736.1505. + +Other jurisdiction classifying. +Effect of transfer to trust, 736.1511. + +Death of spouse. +Effect on property held in trust, 736.1507. + +Definitions, 736.1502. +Dissolution of marriage. + +Effect, 736.1508. +Distributions from trust. + +Effect, 736.1505. + + + +Homestead property, 736.151. +Management and control of property, 736.1505. +Requirements for trust, 736.1503. +Revocation of trust, 736.1504. +Satisfaction of individual obligations from settlor-spouses one-half share, + +736.1506. +Short title of provisions, 736.1501. +Taxation. + +Internal Revenue Code, application, 736.1511. +Unenforceable trusts. + +Factors leading to unenforceability, 736.1512. +Consolidation of trusts, 736.0417(1). +Construction, rules of, 736.1101736.1109. +Contest of, 736.0207, 736.0604, 736.1108, 736.08165. +Creation of, 736.0401, 736.0402, 736.0601. +Creditor claims against settlor, 736.0505. +Death, evidence as to, 731.103. +Declaration of trust. + +Scriveners error. +Curative procedure for scriveners error in deeds, 689.041. + +Defined, 731.201(38), 739.102(12). +Directed trust, 726.1401 to 736.1416. + +Administration. +Principal place of administration, 726.1403. + +Applicability of provisions, 726.1403. +Cotrustees. + +Conferring powers upon one to exclusion of others, 736.1412. +Defenses in actions against trust director, 736.1414. +Defined, 736.0103. +Duty and liability of directed trustee, 736.1409. + + + +Duty and liability of trust director, 736.1408, 736.1416. +Exclusions from provisions, 726.1403. +Information provided by trustee to trust director. + +Duty to provide, 736.141. +Jurisdiction over trust director, 736.1415. +Limitation of action against trust director, 736.1413. +Limitations on trust director, 736.1407. +Monitoring, informing or advising of trust director. + +No trustee duty, 736.1411. +Power of trust director, 736.1406. +Role of trust director, 736.1416. +Short title, uniform directed trust act, 726.1401. + +Directed trustee. +Defined, 736.0103. +Duty and liability of directed trustee, 736.1409. +Trust code provision prevailing over terms of trust, 736.0105(2). + +Dissolution of marriage, effect of, 736.1010, 736.1105. +Community property trust act. + +Generally, 736.1501 to 736.1512. +Termination of trust and distribution of trust assets, 736.1508. + +Distributee, liability of, 736.1018. +Duress, effect of, 736.0406. +Elective share law not applicable to, 732.2155(6). +Elective share trust, 732.2025(2), 732.2025(10), 732.2095(2)(b), + +732.2155(4). +Electronic notice. + +Trust Code, notice under, 736.0109. +Electronic signatures, 736.1301. +Execution of, 736.0403, 736.1301. +Federal tax provisions. + + + +Limited judicial construction of irrevocable trust, 736.04114. +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, 740.001740.11. + +See FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT. +Final distribution of assets, 736.0817. +Foreign trusts, 736.0403. +Fraud, effect of, 736.0406. +Governing law, 736.0107. +Grantor trusts. + +Reimbursement. +Trustee duties, 736.08145. + +Homestead property. +Community property trust act, 736.151. +Devise in trust of homestead, 732.4015(2). + +Proceedings to determine protected homestead status, 5.405. +Inter vivos transfer, 732.4017. +Proceedings to determine homestead status of real property. + +Applicable provisions and procedures, 736.0201. +Testamentary and revocable trusts. + +Homestead protections, 736.1109. +Income. + +Accountings, treatment in, 5.346, 736.08135. +Receipt and disbursement of. + +See FLORIDA UNIFORM PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT. +Instrument. + +Defined, 736.0103(22). +Reliance on by trustee, 736.1009. +Terms of as prevailing over Trust Code, 736.0105(2). + +Jurisdiction over proceedings, 736.0201(2), 736.0203. +Trust director, jurisdiction over, 736.1415. + + + +Knowledge defined, 736.0104. +Limitations on actions against trust dependent on liability of settlor, + +736.1014. +Marriage. + +Subsequent marriage, effect on revocable trust, 736.1105. +Mistake, effect of, 736.0406. +Modification of. + +Judicial, 736.0414, 736.0416, 736.04113, 736.04115. +Nonjudicial, 736.0410(2), 736.0412, 736.0414. + +Oral, evidence of, 736.0407. +Penalty for contesting, 736.1108. +Pet, for care of, 736.0408. +Power of appointment. + +Directed trust. +Exclusions from provisions, 726.1403. + +Release, 709.03. +Power of direction. + +Defined, 736.0103. +Principal. + +Accountings, treatment in, 5.346. +Invasion of, 736.04117. +Receipt and disbursement of. + +See FLORIDA UNIFORM PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT. +Principal place of administration, 736.0108. +Proceedings. + +Jurisdiction over, 736.0201(2), 736.0203. +Prudent Investor Rule. + +Inapplicability to trust investments, 736.0902. +Purposes of. + +Charitable, 736.0405. + + + +Generally, 736.0404. +Qualified beneficiary. + +Charitable beneficiary treated as, 736.0110. +Defined, 736.0103(16). + +Qualifying special needs trust, 732.2025(8), 732.2045(1)(g), 732.2075(1) +(e), 732.2095(1)(a)(2), 732.2095(2)(c). + +Real property, interests in. +See REAL PROPERTY. + +Reformation of terms, 736.0415. +Representation. + +Appointment of representative, 736.0305. +Designated representative, 736.0306. +Fiduciaries, by, 736.0303. +Generally, 731.303(1), 736.0301. +Holder of power of appointment, by, 736.0302. +Identical interest, by person having, 736.0304. +Parent, by, 736.0303. + +Revocable. +Amendment of, 736.0602. +Dissolution of marriage, effect of, 736.1105. +Duties of trustee owed to settlor, 736.0603. +Homestead protections, 736.1109. +Revocation of, 736.0602. +Validity of, 689.075, 736.0403(2)(4), 736.0406, 736.0604. + +Rule against perpetuities. +Generally, 689.225. + +Rules of construction, 736.1101736.1109. +Safe-deposit box, trust instruments in. + +Unclaimed property. +Copy of will, trust, codicils, etc to person providing evidence of death of + + + +testator or settlor, 717.119. +Settlement agreements, nonjudicial, 736.0111. +Severance of, 736.0417. +Taxation of costs or attorneys fees, 736.0201(6). +Termination of, 736.0410, 736.0413, 736.0414. +Terms of trust. + +Defined, 736.0103. +Testamentary trust. + +Homestead protections, 736.1109. +Trust Code. + +Application to existing relationships, 736.1303. +Common law of trusts as supplement to, 736.0106. +Definitions under, 736.0103. +Evidence as to death in proceedings under, 731.103. +Notice under, 736.0109. +Scope of, 736.0102, 736.0105(1). +Severability clause, 736.1302. +Short title, 736.0101. + +Trust director. +Defenses in actions against trust director, 736.1414. +Defined, 736.0103. +Duty and liability of trust director, 736.1408, 736.1416. +Information provided by trustee to trust director. + +Duty to provide, 736.141. +Jurisdiction over trust director, 736.1415. +Limitation of action against trust director, 736.1413. +Limitations on trust director, 736.1407. +Monitoring, informing or advising of trust director. + +No trustee duty, 736.1411. +Power of trust director, 736.1406. + + + +Role of trust director, 736.1416. +Trust code provision prevailing over terms of trust, 736.0105(2). + +Trustee. +See TRUSTEE. + +Unascertainable beneficiary, enforcement of trust for, 736.0409. +Undue influence. + +Effect of, 736.0406. +Presumption shifting burden of proof, 733.107(2). + +Validity of. +Contesting, 736.0207, 736.0604, 736.1108, 744.441(k). +Inter vivos trusts, generally, 689.075, 736.0403. + +Venue for actions involving, 736.0204. +TRUSTEE. +Acceptance of trusteeship, 736.0701. +Actions against, limitations on, 736.1008. +Bond, 736.0702, 736.0705(3). +Breach of trust by, 736.1001736.1003, 736.1008, 736.1009. +Compensation of, 736.0206, 736.0708, 738.701(1), 738.702(1). +Cotrustees, 736.0703. + +Directed trust. +Conferring powers upon one cotrustee to exclusion of others, 736.1412. + +Creditors claims, payment of, 736.05053. +Declination of trusteeship, 736.0701(2). +Defined, 731.201(39), 736.0103(23). +Devises to, 732.513. +Disclaimer by. + +See DISCLAIMER. +Duties of. + +Accountings, 736.0813, 736.08135. + + + +Adjustments between principal and income. +See FLORIDA UNIFORM PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT. + +Charitable, 736.1203736.1207. +Claims, enforcing and defending, 736.0811. +Compelling delivery of trust property, 736.0812. +Delegation of, 736.0807. +Discretionary powers, good faith exercise of, 736.0814. +Expenses, incurring, 736.0805. +Fees or costs, payment from trust assets, 736.0802. +Generally, 736.0108(4), 736.0801736.08147. +Grantor trust reimbursement, 736.08145. +Impartiality, 736.0803. +Income, distribution of, 736.08147. +Loyalty, 736.0802. +Marketable title, ascertaining, 736.08105. +Protection of trust property, 736.0809. +Prudent administration, 736.0804. +Recordkeeping, 736.0810. +Resigning or removed trustee, 736.0707. +Skills, use of, 736.0806. +Successor trustee, 736.08125. + +Environmental laws, protection against violation of, 736.08163. +Expenses. + +Incurring, 736.0805. +Payment of, 736.05053. +Reimbursement for payment of, 736.0709. + +Foreign, qualification of, 736.0112. +Former, delivery of property by, 736.0707. +General partner, trustee as, 736.1015. +Individual retirement accounts, transfers of, 689.072. + + + +Invasion of principal by, 736.04117. +Investments by. + +See INVESTMENT OF FIDUCIARY FUNDS. +Joint, 736.0703. +Jurisdiction over, 736.0202. +Liability of. + +Consent by beneficiary as relief from, 736.1012. +Exculpatory term, effect of, 736.1011. +Generally, 736.1013. +Lack of knowledge of events, 736.1010. +Personal liability, limitation on, 689.071(7), 736.1013, 736.1015, + +736.08163. +Release by beneficiary as relief from, 736.1012. + +Personal obligations of trustee, 736.0507. +Powers of, 689.073, 736.0105(1), 736.0814736.0816, 736.04117, 738.103 + +738.105. +Protection for third person dealing with, 736.1016. +Qualified retirement plans, transfers of, 689.072. +Reimbursement for payment of expenses, 736.0709. +Reliance on trust instrument, 736.1009. +Removal of, 736.0706. +Resignation of, 736.0705. +Service of notice of administration on, 5.240(a)(3), 733.212(1). +Successor. + +Appointment of, 736.0704. +Protection afforded, 689.071(7), 736.08125. +Transfer of property to, 736.0108(8). + +Transfer of principal place of administration by, 736.0108. +Unclaimed property, claim to, 717.12404(2). + + + +U + +UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. +Credit balances, 655.851. +Escheat. + +See ESCHEAT. +Florida Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. + +Actions to recover property from holder, 717.1331. +Administrative enforcement actions by Department of Banking and + +Finance, 717.1322, 717.1333. +Application and construction of Act, 717.139, 717.1401. +Authority of Department of Financial Services to determine merits of + +claims, 717.1242(1). +Business entity, claims by, 717.12404. +Campaign accounts, unclaimed funds reported, 717.1235. +Claiming property, 717.124, 717.1201, 717.1241, 717.1243. +Conflicting claims, 717.1241. +Court documents, filing of, 717.1262. +Credit memo, 717.1045. +Custody by state, 717.103, 717.1201(1). +Death certificate, filing of, 717.1261. +Definitions for purposes of, 717.101, 717.12406. +Deposit of funds, 717.123. +Determinations by department, status as agency statements, 717.1244. +Electronic claims, 717.124(10). +Enforcement of laws by Department of Financial Services, 717.132, + +717.133, 717.138. +General rules, 717.102, 717.103. +Gift certificates, 717.1045. +Hearing, administrative, 717.126. + + + +Identification verification and disbursement process, 717.124. +Interest, liability for, 717.134(4), 717.1341(1). +Interstate agreements concerning property, 717.133. +Investigations, power of Department of Financial Services to make, + +717.1301. +Limitations periods, effect on status of property, 717.129. +Nonprobated estate, claim for assets from, 717.1243. +Notification of apparent owners, 717.118. +Other states. + +Agreements with concerning property, 717.133. +Claims of, 717.125, 717.133. + +Penalties for violation of Act, 717.134, 717.1341. +Power of attorney to recover property, 717.135. +Presumption that property is unclaimed, 717.102, 717.112, 717.1125. +Property subject to custody of Department of Financial Services. + +Agents, property held by, 717.112. +Annuity contracts, 717.107. +Bank checks and drafts, 717.105. +Bank deposits, 717.106, 717.12403. +Business associations. + +Agent, property held by, 717.112(1), 717.112(3), 717.112(5). +Dissolution, property distributed in course of, 717.111. +Equity in, 717.122(2), 717.1101, 717.12406. +Fiduciaries, property held by, 717.112. +Property held by, generally, 717.1035. +Refunds held by, 717.109. +Stock in, 717.122(2), 717.1101, 717.12406. + +Courts, property held by, 717.113, 717.1035. +Credit memo, 717.1045. +Dividends on, 717.121, 717.12406. + + + +Entertainment complex tickets, 717.1355. +Fiduciaries, property held by, 717.112. +Foreign transactions, 717.136. +Generally, 717.102(1), 717.103. +Gift certificates, 717.1045. +Income on, 717.121, 717.12406. +Interest on, 717.121. +Invalid claims, 717.1341. +Joint accounts, 717.12403, 717.12406. +Life insurance proceeds, 717.107, 717.117(1)(b). +Limitations periods, effect on status of property, 717.129. +Lost owners of unclaimed demutualization, rehabilitation or related + +reorganization proceeds, 717.1071. +Money orders, 717.104(2)(5). +Property having value less than expense of giving notice and sale, + +treatment of, 717.127. +Public sale of, 717.122. +Retained asset accounts, 717.107. +Safe-deposit box, contents of, 717.116, 717.117(1)(c), 717.119(5), + +717.1201(7). +Sale of, public, 717.122. +State agencies, property held by, 717.113, 717.1035. +Survivorship accounts, 717.12403, 717.12406. +Theme park tickets, 717.1355. +Travelers checks, 717.104(1), 717.104(3)(5), 717.118(3). +Utility deposits, 717.108. +Wages, 717.115. + +Reclaiming property, 717.124, 717.1201, 717.1241, 717.1243. +Records, retention of by holder, claimants representative, and buyer, + +717.1311, 717.1315. + + + +Recovery of property. +Invalid claim, recovery after, 717.1341. +Purchase agreements, 717.124, 717.135. +Recovery agreements, 717.124, 717.135. + +Reimbursement by state for payment to rightful owner of property, +717.1201. + +Report to Department of Financial Services, 717.117, 717.119(1). +Retention of records by holder, 717.1311. +Savings bonds. + +Claims for bond, 717.1383. +United States savings bonds, 717.1382. + +Small estate, claim for assets from, 717.1243. +Title of Act, 717.001. +United States savings bonds, 717.1382. + +Claims for savings bond, 717.1383. +Verification and disbursement process, 717.124(9). + +Garnishment of, 717.1245. +Guardians. + +Disposition by, 744.534. +Presumption that property held is unclaimed, 717.112, 717.1125. + +Internet website of Division, entering false information on, 717.1323. +Owners representative, duties of, 717.1315. +Personal representatives. + +Claims by, 717.1242, 717.12405. +Disposition by, 733.816. +Presumption that property held is unclaimed, 717.112, 717.1125. + +Purchase or acquisition of unclaimed property by accountant, attorney, +or private investigator, 717.1400. + +Trustees, claims by, 717.12404(2). +Worthless property, treatment of, 717.128. + + + +UNDUE INFLUENCE. +Trusts. + +Effect of, 736.0406. +Presumption shifting burden of proof, 733.107(2). +Spousal rights, procured by fraud, duress or undue influence, 732.805, + +732.4017. +Wills. + +Contest of. +Burden of proof in, 5.275(b). + +Effect of, 732.5165. +Presumption shifting burden of proof, 733.107(2). +Spousal rights, procured by fraud, duress or undue influence, 732.805, + +732.4017. +UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION, PAYMENT TO SPOUSE OR + +RELATIVE OF DECEDENT, 222.15(2), 222.16. +UNIFORM DIRECTED TRUST ACT. +Directed trust generally, 736.1401 to 736.1416. + +See TRUST. +UNIFORM REAL PROPERTY ELECTRONIC RECORDING ACT. +Applicability of provisions, 695.28(2). +Generally, 695.27. +Validity, 695.28(1). +UNIFORM TRANSFERS TO MINORS ACT. +See FLORIDA UNIFORM TRANSFERS TO MINORS ACT. +UNINCORPORATED BUSINESS, CONTINUANCE OF. +See BUSINESS, CONTINUANCE OF. +UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS. +Unclaimed property. + +Florida Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, 717.1382. + + + +Claims for savings bond, 717.1383. + + + +V + +VENUE. +Change of domicile of ward, 5.050(b), 744.1097(3)(4). +Designation in petition for summary administration, 5.530(a)(4). +Generally. + +Guardianship, 744.1097. +Probate, 733.101. + +Incorrect, 5.050(a), 733.101(3). +Objection to, 5.240(b)(3), 5.240(d), 733.212(2)(3), 733.2123. +Restoration to capacity, proceedings for, 744.464(1). +Statement in petition for administration, 5.200(d). +Trust proceedings, 736.0204. +Unclaimed property hearings, 717.126(2). +VERIFICATION. +Accounting, 5.345(h), 5.346(d). + +Form, 5.346Appendix A. +Guardian accounting, 5.696(e). + +Generally, 5.020(e), 731.104, 744.104. +Inventory. + +Estate, 5.340(g). +Guardianship, 5.620(a)(b), 5.690(a). +Safe-deposit box, 5.342(b), 5.620(d). + +Notice of completion of guardian education requirements, 5.625(c). +Petition. + +Administration, 5.200. +Approval of acts by guardian, 5.630(a). +Continuance of unincorporated business, 5.630(b), 5.640(b). +Determining amount of lien on protected homestead, 5.403(b). + + + +Determining exempt property, 5.406(b). +Determining family allowance, 5.407(b). +Determining incapacity, 5.550(a). +Determining protected homestead, 5.405(b). +Discharge of personal representative, 5.430(g). +Expedited judicial intervention concerning medical treatment, 5.900(a). +Extraordinary authority of guardian, 5.635(a). +Guardian, appointment of. + +Incapacitated person, for, 5.560(a). +Minor, for, 5.555(c). +Voluntary, 5.552(a). + +Interim judicial review, 5.705(a). +Probate of will without administration, 5.210(a). +Resignation of personal representative, 5.430(b). +Sale of real property, 5.370(a). +Summary administration, 5.530(a). + +Statement of claim, 5.490(a). +Unclaimed property. + +Florida Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. +Identification verification and disbursement process, 717.124(8). + +VESTING. +Devises, 732.514. +Intestate succession, 732.101(2). +VETERANS GUARDIAN. +Administrator of Veterans Affairs as party, 744.607. +Annual accounting by, 744.634. +Annual report, exemption from filing, 744.653. +Application of estate funds to other persons, 744.624. +Appointment of. + + + +Authorized, 744.613(1). +Minor, guardian for, 744.613(2). +Notice, 744.617. +Persons who may be appointed, 744.618. +Petition for, 744.616. + +Bond of, 744.619, 744.641. +Commitment to VA hospital, procedure for, 744.609. +Construction of act, 744.652. +Definitions, 744.604. +Discharge. + +Generally, 744.646. +Minor, guardian for, 744.643. + +Exemption of benefits from creditors claims, 744.626. +Fees. + +Attorneys, 744.639. +Clerks, 744.638. +Guardians, 744.641. + +Inventory, 744.621. +Investment of funds by guardian, 518.01, 518.06518.09, 744.627. +Petition. + +Appointment of guardian, for, 744.616. +Authority to sell real estate, for, 744.631. +Support of wards dependents, for, 744.625. + +Receipt of money due ward, by, 744.622. +Records. + +Certified copies of public records, 744.637. +Title of act, 744.602. +Transfer of responsibility to general guardian, 744.649. +VIRTUAL REPRESENTATION, 731.303. + + + +VOLUNTARY GUARDIAN. +Appointment of, 5.552(a)(c), 744.341(1). +Duties of, 744.341(2)(3). +Physicians certificate, duty to file, 5.552(d), 744.341(4). +Termination of, 5.552(e), 744.341(5). +VULNERABLE ADULTS, EXPLOITATION. +Injunction for protection against exploitation. + +Denial of injunction. +Order denying injunction and notice of hearing. + +Form, 5.920(c). +Final protective injunction. + +Form, 5.920(d). +Petition for injunction, 5.920(a). +Temporary protective injunction against exploitation. + +Form, 5.920(b). + + + +W + +WAGES. +Exemption from garnishment, 222.11, 222.061. +Payment to spouse or other relative, 222.15(1), 222.16. +Unpaid, as unclaimed property, 717.115. +WAIVER. +Audit fee, 744.365(6), 744.3678(4). +Bond, 733.402(4), 744.351(1). +Contents of, generally, 5.180(b). +Death certificate, filing of, 5.205(b). +Disclosure of amount of compensation paid or to be paid to fiduciaries or + +agents, 5.180(b)(4). +Elective share, 732.301, 732.702. +Execution of, 5.180(a). +Exempt property, 732.702, 733.212(2)(d). +Family allowance, 732.702. +Filing of, 5.180(c). +Formal notice, 744.106. +Generally, 5.180, 731.302. +Homestead, 732.702. +Homestead rights. + +Waiver of homestead through deed, 732.7025. +Informal notice, 744.106. +Rights, of, 731.302. +Service, of, 5.240(e), 733.212(8). +Spouse, rights of, 732.301, 732.702. +Will, contest. + +Administration, notice of. + + + +Effect of failure to contest, 733.212(2)(F). +WARD. +Actions by or against, 744.391. +Best interest of ward. + +Guardian acting not contrary to best interests, 744.361(4). +Conflict with guardian, 744.391, 744.446, 744.474. +Death of, 5.680, 744.521. +Defined, 744.102(22). +Dependents of, support for, 744.421, 744.625. +Disclaimer on behalf of. + +See DISCLAIMER. +Domicile of, 744.1096. +Guardian. + +See GUARDIAN. +Hearing, rights of ward at, 5.540, 744.1095. +Income of, application of, 744.397. +Minor. + +See CHILDREN OR MINORS. +Periodic examination of, 744.3675. +Person of ward, authority over. + +Guardians duties, 744.361(13). +Property of ward. + +Guardian given authority over property, powers and duties, 744.361(10), +744.361(12). + +Protection of, 744.371, 744.3031. +Residence, change of, 744.1098. +Restoration to capacity, procedure for, 5.541(d), 744.464. +Restrictions on physical liberty, limitations on, 744.363(4). +Rights of, 744.363(6), 744.1095, 744.3215. +Safe-deposit box of. + + + +Inventory of, 5.260(d), 744.365(4). +Opening of, 744.365(4). + +WASTE. +Guardian. + +Exploitation of ward, 744.359. +WILL. +Acknowledgment, 732.502(1)(b), 732.503. +Admission to probate, 5.210, 733.201. +Age of testator, 732.501. +Agreement to make, 732.701. +Ancillary proceedings. + +See ANCILLARY ADMINISTRATION. +Arbitration of dispute involving, 731.401. +Authenticated copy, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 5.215, 5.470(a), 5.470(c), + +5.475(a), 733.206(2), 734.104. +Burden of proof in will contests, 5.275, 733.107. +Caveat. + +See CAVEAT. +Challenge to, 733.212, 733.2123. +Codicil. + +Deposit with court, 5.043. +Execution of, 732.502. +Republication of will by, 732.5105. +Revocation of, 732.505, 732.506, 732.508(2), 732.509. +Self-proof of, 732.503. + +Commission to prove, 5.230, 733.201. +Competency to make, 732.501. +Construction of. + +Adversary nature of proceeding, 5.025(a). + + + +Declaratory judgment regarding, 86.041(3). +Failure of testamentary provision, 732.604. +Probate as prerequisite to, 733.213. +Rules of, 732.6005732.616. +Will with federal tax provisions, 733.1051. + +Contest of. +Administration, notice of. + +Effect of failure to contest, 733.212(2)(F). +Burden of proof in, 5.275, 733.107. +Penalty clause for, 732.517. +Undue influence. + +Burden of proof, 5.275(b). +When action may be commenced, 732.518. + +Contract to make, 732.701. +Copy, service of, 5.240(c). +Custodian, duties of, 732.901. +Defined, 731.201(40). +Deposit with clerk, 732.901. + +Fiduciary access to digital assets act. +Effect of act on duty to deposit will, 740.11. + +Deposit with court, 5.043. +Devises. + +Ademption, 732.605, 732.606, 732.609. +Lapse of, 732.603. +Modification to achieve testators tax objectives. + +Fees and costs, 733.1061. +Generally, 732.616. + +Reformation to correct mistakes. +Fees and costs, 733.1061. +Generally, 732.615. + + + +Separate writing identifying, 732.515. +Trustee, to, 732.513. +Vesting of, 732.514. + +Dissolution of marriage, effect on will, 732.507(2). +Duress, effect of, 732.5165. +Effect of fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence, 732.5165. +Effect of subsequent act on, 732.507. +Electronic will or codicil, 732.521-732.526. + +Audio-video communication technology. +Defined, 732.521. + +Definitions, 732.521. +Electronic records. + +Defined, 732.521. +Retention of records, 732.524. + +Execution. +Method, 732.522. +Place of execution, 732.522. + +Online notarization. +Defined, 732.521. + +Online notary public. +Defined, 732.521. + +Probate, 732.526. +Qualified custodians. + +Bonds, surety, 732.525. +Ceasing to serve, 732.524. +Defined, 732.521. +Duties, 732.524. +Entity serving as, 732.524. +Insurance coverage, 732.525. + + + +Liability, 732.524. +Qualifications, 732.524. +Receivership of qualified custodians, 732.525. +Retention of records, 732.524. + +Revocation by act, 732.506. +Secure systems. + +Defined, 732.521. +Self-proof, 732.523. + +Probate of self-proved electronic will, 733.201. +Exculpatory clause in, validity of, 733.620. +Execution of, 732.502. +Federal tax provisions. + +Limited judicial construction of will, 733.1051. +Fiduciary access to digital assets act, 740.001740.11. + +See FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT. +Foreign, 5.216, 732.502(2), 733.204, 734.102734.104. +Foreign language, 5.216, 733.204. +Foreign probate, probate after, 733.206. +Fraud, effect of, 732.5165. +Holographic, 732.502(2). +Incorporation by reference, 732.512, 732.515. +Joint wills, 732.701(2). +Later, discovery of, 733.208. +Living will. + +See HEALTH CARE ADVANCE DIRECTIVES. +Lost or destroyed, establishment and probate of. + +Adversary nature of proceeding, 5.025(a). +Generally, 5.510(a), 733.207. +Notice, 5.510(d). +Order, 5.510(e). + + + +Petition, 5.510(b). +Testimony of witnesses, 5.510(c), 733.207. + +Marriage after execution of, 732.301, 732.507. +Military testamentary instrument, validity of, 732.502(3). +Mistake, effect of, 732.5165. +Mutual wills, 732.701(2). +Notarial, 5.200(j), 5.210(a)(8), 733.205. +Nuncupative, 732.502(2). +Omitted children, 732.302, 732.507(1). +Penalty for contesting, 732.517. +Power of appointment, exercise of power, 732.607. +Precious metals. + +Defined, 731.1065. +Preservation by clerk, 732.901. +Probate. + +See PROBATE. +Production of, 732.901. +Proof of, 733.201. +Republication of, 732.511, 732.5105. +Revival by revocation, 732.508. +Revocation of. + +Act, by, 732.506. +Adoption of descendant, effect of, 732.507(1). +Birth of descendant, effect of, 732.507(1). +Codicil, of, 732.505, 732.506, 732.508, 732.509. +Dissolution of marriage, effect of, 732.507(2). +Marriage, effect of, 732.507(1). +Revival of former will by, 732.508. +Writing, by, 732.505. + + + +Rules of construction, 732.6005732.616. +Safe-deposit box, in, 655.935. + +Unclaimed property. +Copy of will, trust, codicils, etc to person providing evidence of death of + +testator or settlor, 717.119. +Self-proved, 732.503, 733.201(1). + +Electronic will or codicil, 732.523. +Probate of self-proved electronic will, 733.201. + +Separate writing, 732.515. +Taxes, estate. + +Florida. +Apportionment of estate tax, 733.817(3). + +Trustee, devises to, 732.513. +Undue influence. + +Effect of, 732.5165. +Presumption shifting burden of proof, 733.107(2). + +Who may make, 732.501. +Witness to, 5.230, 732.502(1), 732.504, 733.201. +WITNESS. +Deposition of expert, 5.080(a)(13). +Destroyed will, testimony regarding, 5.510(c), 733.207. +Expert. + +Deposition of, 5.080(a)(13). +Fee determination, testimony regarding, 733.6175(4). + +Lost will, testimony regarding, 5.510(c), 733.207. +Oath of, attesting to will, 5.230, 733.201. +Power of attorney. + +Remote witnessing, 709.2202. +Proof of handwriting of deceased, 695.10. +Real property. + + + +Method of conveyance, 689.01. +Requirement of for validity of will, 732.502(1). +Waiver of spousal rights, required for, 732.702(1). +Who may act as witness to will, 732.504. +WORTHIER TITLE, DOCTRINE OF, 689.175. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/Books/Procedure/Made to Stick_ Why Some Ideas S - Chip Heath.txt b/Books/Procedure/Made to Stick_ Why Some Ideas S - Chip Heath.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6afc54 --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Procedure/Made to Stick_ Why Some Ideas S - Chip Heath.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4363 @@ + Copyright © 2007 by Chip Heath and Dan Heath + + Excerpt from Switch copyright © 2010 by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. + + Excerpt from Decisive copyright © 2013 by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. + + + + All rights reserved. + + + + Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. + + + + RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC + + + + + + LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA + + Heath, Chip. + +Made to stick : why some ideas survive and others die / Chip Heath & Dan Heath + + p. cm. + + 1. Social psychology. 2. Contagion (Social psychology). 3. Context effects (Psychology). I. Heath, Dan. II. Title. + + HM1033.H43 2007 + + 302'.13—dc22 2006046467 + + + + www.randomhousebooks.com + + + + Ebook ISBN 9781588365965 + + rh_3.0_140145427_c0_r14 + + + + + + TITLE PAGE + + COPYRIGHT + + + + INTRODUCTION + +WHAT STICKS? + + CHAPTER 1 + +SIMPLE + + CHAPTER 2 + +UNEXPECTED + + CHAPTER 3 + +CONCRETE + + CHAPTER 4 + +CREDIBLE + + CHAPTER 5 + +EMOTIONAL + + CHAPTER 6 + +STORIES + + EPILOGUE + +WHAT STICKS + + + + MAKING IDEAS STICK: THE EASY REFERENCE GUIDE + + NOTES + + DEDICATION + + ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + OTHER TITLES BY CHIP AND DAN HEATH + + ABOUT THE AUTHORS + + EXCERPT FROM SWITCH + + EXCERPT FROM DECISIVE + + + + + + WHAT STICKS? + + + + A friend of a friend of ours is a frequent business traveler. Let’s call him Dave. Dave was recently in Atlantic City for an important meeting with clients. Afterward, he had some time to kill before his flight, so he went to a local bar for a drink. + + He’d just finished one drink when an attractive woman approached and asked if she could buy him another. He was surprised but flattered. Sure, he said. The woman walked to the bar and brought back two more drinks—one for her and one for him. He thanked her and took a sip. And that was the last thing he remembered. + + Rather, that was the last thing he remembered until he woke up, disoriented, lying in a hotel bathtub, his body submerged in ice. + + He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there. Then he spotted the note: + + DON’T MOVE. CALL 911. + + A cell phone rested on a small table beside the bathtub. He picked it up and called 911, his fingers numb and clumsy from the ice. The operator seemed oddly familiar with his situation. She said, “Sir, I want you to reach behind you, slowly and carefully. Is there a tube protruding from your lower back?” + + Anxious, he felt around behind him. Sure enough, there was a tube. + + The operator said, “Sir, don’t panic, but one of your kidneys has been harvested. There’s a ring of organ thieves operating in this city, and they got to you. Paramedics are on their way. Don’t move until they arrive.” + + + + You’ve just read one of the most successful urban legends of the past fifteen years. The first clue is the classic urban-legend opening: “A friend of a friend. . .” Have you ever noticed that our friends’ friends have much more interesting lives than our friends themselves? + + You’ve probably heard the Kidney Heist tale before. There are hundreds of versions in circulation, and all of them share a core of three elements: (1) the drugged drink, (2) the ice-filled bathtub, and(3) the kidney-theft punch line. One version features a married man who receives the drugged drink from a prostitute he has invited to his room in Las Vegas. It’s a morality play with kidneys. + + Imagine that you closed the book right now, took an hourlong break, then called a friend and told the story, without rereading it. Chances are you could tell it almost perfectly. You might forget that the traveler was in Atlantic City for “an important meeting with clients”—who cares about that? But you’d remember all the important stuff. + + The Kidney Heist is a story that sticks. We understand it, we remember it, and we can retell it later. And if we believe it’s true, it might change our behavior permanently—at least in terms of accepting drinks from attractive strangers. + + Contrast the Kidney Heist story with this passage, drawn from a paper distributed by a nonprofit organization. “Comprehensive community building naturally lends itself to a return-on-investment rationale that can be modeled, drawing on existing practice,” it begins, going on to argue that “[a] factor constraining the flow of resources to CCIs is that funders must often resort to targeting or categorical requirements in grant making to ensure accountability.” + + Imagine that you closed the book right now and took an hourlong break. In fact, don’t even take a break; just call up a friend and retell that passage without rereading it. Good luck. + + Is this a fair comparison—an urban legend to a cherry-picked bad passage? Of course not. But here’s where things get interesting: Think of our two examples as two poles on a spectrum of memorability. Which sounds closer to the communications you encounter at work? If you’re like most people, your workplace gravitates toward the nonprofit pole as though it were the North Star. + + Maybe this is perfectly natural; some ideas are inherently interesting and some are inherently uninteresting. A gang of organ thieves—inherently interesting! Nonprofit financial strategy—inherently uninteresting! It’s the nature versus nurture debate applied to ideas: Are ideas born interesting or made interesting? + + Well, this is a nurture book. + + So how do we nurture our ideas so they’ll succeed in the world? Many of us struggle with how to communicate ideas effectively, how to get our ideas to make a difference. A biology teacher spends an hour explaining mitosis, and a week later only three kids remember what it is. A manager makes a speech unveiling a new strategy as the staffers nod their heads enthusiastically, and the next day the frontline employees are observed cheerfully implementing the old one. + + Good ideas often have a hard time succeeding in the world. Yet the ridiculous Kidney Heist tale keeps circulating, with no resources whatsoever to support it. + + Why? Is it simply because hijacked kidneys sell better than other topics? Or is it possible to make a true, worthwhile idea circulate as effectively as this false idea? + + The Truth About Movie Popcorn + + Art Silverman stared at a bag of movie popcorn. It looked out of place sitting on his desk. His office had long since filled up with fake-butter fumes. Silverman knew, because of his organization’s research, that the popcorn on his desk was unhealthy. Shockingly unhealthy, in fact. His job was to figure out a way to communicate this message to the unsuspecting moviegoers of America. + + Silverman worked for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit group that educates the public about nutrition. The CSPI sent bags of movie popcorn from a dozen theaters in three major cities to a lab for nutritional analysis. The results surprised everyone. + + The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that a normal diet contain no more than 20 grams of saturated fat each day. According to the lab results, the typical bag of popcorn had 37 grams. + + The culprit was coconut oil, which theaters used to pop their popcorn. Coconut oil had some big advantages over other oils. It gave the popcorn a nice, silky texture, and released a more pleasant and natural aroma than the alternative oils. Unfortunately, as the lab results showed, coconut oil was also brimming with saturated fat. + + The single serving of popcorn on Silverman’s desk—a snack someone might scarf down between meals—had nearly two days’ worth of saturated fat. And those 37 grams of saturated fat were packed into a medium-sized serving of popcorn. No doubt a decent-sized bucket could have cleared triple digits. + + The challenge, Silverman realized, was that few people know what “37 grams of saturated fat” means. Most of us don’t memorize the USDA’s daily nutrition recommendations. Is 37 grams good or bad? And even if we have an intuition that it’s bad, we’d wonder if it was “bad bad” (like cigarettes) or “normal bad” (like a cookie or a milk shake). + + Even the phrase “37 grams of saturated fat” by itself was enough to cause most people’s eyes to glaze over. “Saturated fat has zero appeal,” Silverman says. “It’s dry, it’s academic, who cares?” + + Silverman could have created some kind of visual comparison—perhaps an advertisement comparing the amount of saturated fat in the popcorn with the USDA’s recommended daily allowance. Think of a bar graph, with one of the bars stretching twice as high as the other. + + But that was too scientific somehow. Too rational. The amount of fat in this popcorn was, in some sense, not rational. It was ludicrous. The CSPI needed a way to shape the message in a way that fully communicated this ludicrousness. + + Silverman came up with a solution. + + + + CSPI called a press conference on September 27, 1992. Here’s the message it presented: “A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings—combined!” + + The folks at CSPI didn’t neglect the visuals—they laid out the full buffet of greasy food for the television cameras. An entire day’s worth of unhealthy eating, displayed on a table. All that saturated fat—stuffed into a single bag of popcorn. + + The story was an immediate sensation, featured on CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN. It made the front pages of USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post’s Style section. Leno and Letterman cracked jokes about fat-soaked popcorn, and headline writers trotted out some doozies: “Popcorn Gets an ‘R’ Rating,” “Lights, Action, Cholesterol!” “Theater Popcorn is Double Feature of Fat.” + + The idea stuck. Moviegoers, repulsed by these findings, avoided popcorn in droves. Sales plunged. The service staff at movie houses grew accustomed to fielding questions about whether the popcorn was popped in the “bad” oil. Soon after, most of the nation’s biggest theater chains—including United Artists, AMC, and Loews—announced that they would stop using coconut oil. + + On Stickiness + + This is an idea success story. Even better, it’s a truthful idea success story. The people at CSPI knew something about the world that they needed to share. They figured out a way to communicate the idea so that people would listen and care. And the idea stuck—just like the Kidney Heist tale. + + And, let’s be honest, the odds were stacked against the CSPI. The “movie popcorn is fatty” story lacks the lurid appeal of an organ-thieving gang. No one woke up in an oil-filled bathtub. The story wasn’t sensational, and it wasn’t even particularly entertaining. Furthermore, there was no natural constituency for the news—few of us make an effort to “stay up to date with popcorn news.” There were no celebrities, models, or adorable pets involved. + + In short, the popcorn idea was a lot like the ideas that most of us traffic in every day—ideas that are interesting but not sensational, truthful but not mind-blowing, important but not “life-or-death.” Unless you’re in advertising or public relations, you probably don’t have many resources to back your ideas. You don’t have a multimillion-dollar ad budget or a team of professional spinners. Your ideas need to stand on their own merits. + + We wrote this book to help you make your ideas stick. By “stick,” we mean that your ideas are understood and remembered, and have a lasting impact—they change your audience’s opinions or behavior. + + At this point, it’s worth asking why you’d need to make your ideas stick. After all, the vast majority of our daily communication doesn’t require stickiness. “Pass the gravy” doesn’t have to be memorable. When we tell our friends about our relationship problems, we’re not trying to have a “lasting impact.” + + So not every idea is stick-worthy. When we ask people how often they need to make an idea stick, they tell us that the need arises between once a month and once a week, twelve to fifty-two times per year. For managers, these are “big ideas” about new strategic directions and guidelines for behavior. Teachers try to convey themes and conflicts and trends to their students—the kinds of themes and ways of thinking that will endure long after the individual factoids have faded. Columnists try to change readers’ opinions on policy issues. Religious leaders try to share spiritual wisdom with their congregants. Nonprofit organizations try to persuade volunteers to contribute their time and donors to contribute their money to a worthy cause. + + Given the importance of making ideas stick, it’s surprising how little attention is paid to the subject. When we get advice on communicating, it often concerns our delivery: “Stand up straight, make eye contact, use appropriate hand gestures. Practice, practice, practice (but don’t sound canned).” Sometimes we get advice about structure: “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em. Tell ’em, then tell ’em what you told ’em.” Or “Start by getting their attention—tell a joke or a story.” + + Another genre concerns knowing your audience: “Know what your listeners care about, so you can tailor your communication to them.” And, finally, there’s the most common refrain in the realm of communication advice: Use repetition, repetition, repetition. + + All of this advice has obvious merit, except, perhaps, for the emphasis on repetition. (If you have to tell someone the same thing ten times, the idea probably wasn’t very well designed. No urban legend has to be repeated ten times.) But this set of advice has one glaring shortcoming: It doesn’t help Art Silverman as he tries to figure out the best way to explain that movie popcorn is really unhealthful. + + Silverman no doubt knows that he should make eye contact and practice. But what message is he supposed to practice? He knows his audience—they’re people who like popcorn and don’t realize how unhealthy it is. So what message does he share with them? Complicating matters, Silverman knew that he wouldn’t have the luxury of repetition—he had only one shot to make the media care about his story. + + Or think about an elementary-school teacher. She knows her goal: to teach the material mandated by the state curriculum committee. She knows her audience: third graders with a range of knowledge and skills. She knows how to speak effectively—she’s a virtuoso of posture and diction and eye contact. So the goal is clear, the audience is clear, and the format is clear. But the design of the message itself is far from clear. The biology students need to understand mitosis—okay, now what? There are an infinite number of ways to teach mitosis. Which way will stick? And how do you know in advance? + + What Led to Made to Stick + + The broad question, then, is how do you design an idea that sticks? + + A few years ago the two of us—brothers Chip and Dan—realized that both of us had been studying how ideas stick for about ten years. Our expertise came from very different fields, but we had zeroed in on the same question: Why do some ideas succeed while others fail? + + Dan had developed a passion for education. He co-founded a start-up publishing company called Thinkwell that asked a somewhat heretical question: If you were going to build a textbook from scratch, using video and technology instead of text, how would you do it? As the editor in chief of Thinkwell, Dan had to work with his team to determine the best ways to teach subjects like economics, biology, calculus, and physics. He had an opportunity to work with some of the most effective and best-loved professors in the country: the calculus teacher who was also a stand-up comic; the biology teacher who was named national Teacher of the Year; the economics teacher who was also a chaplain and a playwright. Essentially, Dan enjoyed a crash course in what makes great teachers great. And he found that, while each teacher had a unique style, collectively their instructional methodologies were almost identical. + + Chip, as a professor at Stanford University, had spent about ten years asking why bad ideas sometimes won out in the social marketplace of ideas. How could a false idea displace a true one? And what made some ideas more viral than others? As an entry point into these topics, he dove into the realm of “naturally sticky” ideas such as urban legends and conspiracy theories. Over the years, he’s become uncomfortably familiar with some of the most repulsive and absurd tales in the annals of ideas. He’s heard them all. Here’s a very small sampler: + + + + • The Kentucky Fried Rat. Really, any tale that involves rats and fast food is on fertile ground. + + • Coca-Cola rots your bones. This fear is big in Japan, but so far the country hasn’t experienced an epidemic of gelatinous teenagers. + + • If you flash your brights at a car whose headlights are off, you will be shot by a gang member. + + • The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that is visible from space. (The Wall is really long but not very wide. Think about it: If the Wall were visible, then any interstate highway would also be visible, and maybe a few Wal-Mart superstores as well.) + + • You use only 10 percent of your brain. (If this were true, it would certainly make brain damage a lot less worrisome.) + + + + Chip, along with his students, has spent hundreds of hours collecting, coding, and analyzing naturally sticky ideas: urban legends, wartime rumors, proverbs, conspiracy theories, and jokes. Urban legends are false, but many naturally sticky ideas are true. In fact, perhaps the oldest class of naturally sticky ideas is the proverb—a nugget of wisdom that often endures over centuries and across cultures. As an example, versions of the proverb “Where there’s smoke there’s fire” have appeared in more than fifty-five different languages. + + In studying naturally sticky ideas, both trivial and profound, Chip has conducted more than forty experiments with more than 1,700 participants on topics such as: + + + + • Why Nostradamus’s prophecies are still read after 400 years + + • Why Chicken Soup for the Soul stories are inspirational + + • Why ineffective folk remedies persist + + + + A few years ago, he started teaching a course at Stanford called “How to Make Ideas Stick.” The premise of the course was that if we understood what made ideas naturally sticky we might be better at making our own messages stick. During the past few years he has taught this topic to a few hundred students bound for careers as managers, public-policy analysts, journalists, designers, and film directors. + + To complete the story of the Brothers Heath, in 2004 it dawned on us that we had been approaching the same problem from different angles. Chip had researched and taught what made ideas stick. Dan had tried to figure out pragmatic ways to make ideas stick. Chip had compared the success of different urban legends and stories. Dan had compared the success of different math and government lessons. Chip was the researcher and the teacher. Dan was the practitioner and the writer. (And we knew that we could make our parents happy by spending more quality time together.) + + We wanted to take apart sticky ideas—both natural and created—and figure out what made them stick. What makes urban legends so compelling? Why do some chemistry lessons work better than others? Why does virtually every society circulate a set of proverbs? Why do some political ideas circulate widely while others fall short? + + In short, we were looking to understand what sticks. We adopted the “what sticks” terminology from one of our favorite authors, Malcolm Gladwell. In 2000, Gladwell wrote a brilliant book called The Tipping Point, which examined the forces that cause social phenomena to “tip,” or make the leap from small groups to big groups, the way contagious diseases spread rapidly once they infect a certain critical mass of people. Why did Hush Puppies experience a rebirth? Why did crime rates abruptly plummet in New York City? Why did the book Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood catch on? + + The Tipping Point has three sections. The first addresses the need to get the right people, and the third addresses the need for the right context. The middle section of the book, “The Stickiness Factor,” argues that innovations are more likely to tip when they’re sticky. When The Tipping Point was published, Chip realized that “stickiness” was the perfect word for the attribute that he was chasing with his research into the marketplace of ideas. + + This book is a complement to The Tipping Point in the sense that we will identify the traits that make ideas sticky, a subject that was beyond the scope of Gladwell’s book. Gladwell was interested in what makes social epidemics epidemic. Our interest is in how effective ideas are constructed—what makes some ideas stick and others disappear. So, while our focus will veer away from The Tipping Point’s turf, we want to pay tribute to Gladwell for the word “stickiness.” It stuck. + + Who Spoiled Halloween? + + In the 1960s and 1970s, the tradition of Halloween trick-or-treating came under attack. Rumors circulated about Halloween sadists who put razor blades in apples and booby-trapped pieces of candy. The rumors affected the Halloween tradition nationwide. Parents carefully examined their children’s candy bags. Schools opened their doors at night so that kids could trick-or-treat in a safe environment. Hospitals volunteered to X-ray candy bags. + + In 1985, an ABC News poll showed that 60 percent of parents worried that their children might be victimized. To this day, many parents warn their children not to eat any snacks that aren’t prepackaged. This is a sad story: a family holiday sullied by bad people who, inexplicably, wish to harm children. But in 1985 the story took a strange twist. Researchers discovered something shocking about the candy-tampering epidemic: It was a myth. + + The researchers, sociologists Joel Best and Gerald Horiuchi, studied every reported Halloween incident since 1958. They found no instances where strangers caused children life-threatening harm on Halloween by tampering with their candy. + + Two children did die on Halloween, but their deaths weren’t caused by strangers. A five-year-old boy found his uncle’s heroin stash and overdosed. His relatives initially tried to cover their tracks by sprinkling heroin on his candy. In another case, a father, hoping to collect on an insurance settlement, caused the death of his own son by contaminating his candy with cyanide. + + In other words, the best social science evidence reveals that taking candy from strangers is perfectly okay. It’s your family you should worry about. + + The candy-tampering story has changed the behavior of millions of parents over the past thirty years. Sadly, it has made neighbors suspicious of neighbors. It has even changed the laws of this country: Both California and New Jersey passed laws that carry special penalties for candy-tamperers. Why was this idea so successful? + + Six Principles of Sticky Ideas + + The Halloween-candy story is, in a sense, the evil twin of the CSPI story. + + Both stories highlighted an unexpected danger in a common activity: eating Halloween candy and eating movie popcorn. Both stories called for simple action: examining your child’s candy and avoiding movie popcorn. Both made use of vivid, concrete images that cling easily to memory: an apple with a buried razor blade and a table full of greasy foods. And both stories tapped into emotion: fear in the case of Halloween candy and disgust in the case of movie popcorn. + + The Kidney Heist, too, shares many of these traits. A highly unexpected outcome: a guy who stops for a drink and ends up one kidney short of a pair. A lot of concrete details: the ice-filled bathtub, the weird tube protruding from the lower back. Emotion: fear, disgust, suspicion. + + We began to see the same themes, the same attributes, reflected in a wide range of successful ideas. What we found based on Chip’s research—and by reviewing the research of dozens of folklorists, psychologists, educational researchers, political scientists, and proverb-hunters—was that sticky ideas shared certain key traits. There is no “formula” for a sticky idea—we don’t want to overstate the case. But sticky ideas do draw from a common set of traits, which make them more likely to succeed. + + It’s like discussing the attributes of a great basketball player. You can be pretty sure that any great player has some subset of traits like height, speed, agility, power, and court sense. But you don’t need all of these traits in order to be great: Some great guards are five feet ten and scrawny. And having all the traits doesn’t guarantee greatness: No doubt there are plenty of slow, clumsy seven-footers. It’s clear, though, that if you’re on the neighborhood court, choosing your team from among strangers, you should probably take a gamble on the seven-foot dude. + + Ideas work in much the same way. One skill we can learn is the ability to spot ideas that have “natural talent,” like the seven-foot stranger. Later in the book, we’ll discuss Subway’s advertising campaign that focused on Jared, an obese college student who lost more than 200 pounds by eating Subway sandwiches every day. The campaign was a huge success. And it wasn’t created by a Madison Avenue advertising agency; it started with a single store owner who had the good sense to spot an amazing story. + + But here’s where our basketball analogy breaks down: In the world of ideas, we can genetically engineer our players. We can create ideas with an eye to maximizing their stickiness. + + As we pored over hundreds of sticky ideas, we saw, over and over, the same six principles at work. + + PRINCIPLE 1: SIMPLICITY + + How do we find the essential core of our ideas? A successful defense lawyer says, “If you argue ten points, even if each is a good point, when they get back to the jury room they won’t remember any.” To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize. Saying something short is not the mission—sound bites are not the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound. The Golden Rule is the ultimate model of simplicity: a one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning to follow it. + + PRINCIPLE 2: UNEXPECTEDNESS + + How do we get our audience to pay attention to our ideas, and how do we maintain their interest when we need time to get the ideas across? We need to violate people’s expectations. We need to be counterintuitive. A bag of popcorn is as unhealthy as a whole day’s worth of fatty foods! We can use surprise—an emotion whose function is to increase alertness and cause focus—to grab people’s attention. But surprise doesn’t last. For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity. How do you keep students engaged during the forty-eighth history class of the year? We can engage people’s curiosity over a long period of time by systematically “opening gaps” in their knowledge—and then filling those gaps. + + PRINCIPLE 3: CONCRETENESS + + How do we make our ideas clear? We must explain our ideas in terms of human actions, in terms of sensory information. This is where so much business communication goes awry. Mission statements, synergies, strategies, visions—they are often ambiguous to the point of being meaningless. Naturally sticky ideas are full of concrete images—ice-filled bathtubs, apples with razors—because our brains are wired to remember concrete data. In proverbs, abstract truths are often encoded in concrete language: “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.” Speaking concretely is the only way to ensure that our idea will mean the same thing to everyone in our audience. + + PRINCIPLE 4: CREDIBILITY + + How do we make people believe our ideas? When the former surgeon general C. Everett Koop talks about a public-health issue, most people accept his ideas without skepticism. But in most day-to-day situations we don’t enjoy this authority. Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials. We need ways to help people test our ideas for themselves—a “try before you buy” philosophy for the world of ideas. When we’re trying to build a case for something, most of us instinctively grasp for hard numbers. But in many cases this is exactly the wrong approach. In the sole U.S. presidential debate in 1980 between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, Reagan could have cited innumerable statistics demonstrating the sluggishness of the economy. Instead, he asked a simple question that allowed voters to test for themselves: “Before you vote, ask yourself if you are better off today than you were four years ago.” + + PRINCIPLE 5: EMOTIONS + + How do we get people to care about our ideas? We make them feel something. In the case of movie popcorn, we make them feel disgusted by its unhealthiness. The statistic “37 grams” doesn’t elicit any emotions. Research shows that people are more likely to make a charitable gift to a single needy individual than to an entire impoverished region. We are wired to feel things for people, not for abstractions. Sometimes the hard part is finding the right emotion to harness. For instance, it’s difficult to get teenagers to quit smoking by instilling in them a fear of the consequences, but it’s easier to get them to quit by tapping into their resentment of the duplicity of Big Tobacco. + + PRINCIPLE 6: STORIES + + How do we get people to act on our ideas? We tell stories. Firefighters naturally swap stories after every fire, and by doing so they multiply their experience; after years of hearing stories, they have a richer, more complete mental catalog of critical situations they might confront during a fire and the appropriate responses to those situations. Research shows that mentally rehearsing a situation helps us perform better when we encounter that situation in the physical environment. Similarly, hearing stories acts as a kind of mental flight simulator, preparing us to respond more quickly and effectively. + + + + Those are the six principles of successful ideas. To summarize, here’s our checklist for creating a successful idea: a Simple Unexpected Concrete Credentialed Emotional Story. A clever observer will note that this sentence can be compacted into the acronym SUCCESs. This is sheer coincidence, of course. (Okay, we admit, SUCCESs is a little corny. We could have changed “Simple” to “Core” and reordered a few letters. But, you have to admit, CCUCES is less memorable.) + + No special expertise is needed to apply these principles. There are no licensed stickologists. Moreover, many of the principles have a commonsense ring to them: Didn’t most of us already have the intuition that we should “be simple” and “use stories”? It’s not as though there’s a powerful constituency for overcomplicated, lifeless prose. + + But wait a minute. We claim that using these principles is easy. And most of them do seem relatively commonsensical. So why aren’t we deluged with brilliantly designed sticky ideas? Why is our life filled with more process memos than proverbs? + + Sadly, there is a villain in our story. The villain is a natural psychological tendency that consistently confounds our ability to create ideas using these principles. It’s called the Curse of Knowledge. (We will capitalize the phrase throughout the book to give it the drama we think it deserves.) + + Tappers and Listeners + + In 1990, Elizabeth Newton earned a Ph.D. in psychology at Stanford by studying a simple game in which she assigned people to one of two roles: “tappers” or “listeners.” Tappers received a list of twenty-five well-known songs, such as “Happy Birthday to You” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Each tapper was asked to pick a song and tap out the rhythm to a listener (by knocking on a table). The listener’s job was to guess the song, based on the rhythm being tapped. (By the way, this experiment is fun to try at home if there’s a good “listener” candidate nearby.) + + The listener’s job in this game is quite difficult. Over the course of Newton’s experiment, 120 songs were tapped out. Listeners guessed only 2.5 percent of the songs: 3 out of 120. + + But here’s what made the result worthy of a dissertation in psychology. Before the listeners guessed the name of the song, Newton asked the tappers to predict the odds that the listeners would guess correctly. They predicted that the odds were 50 percent. + + The tappers got their message across 1 time in 40, but they thought they were getting their message across 1 time in 2. Why? + + When a tapper taps, she is hearing the song in her head. Go ahead and try it for yourself—tap out “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It’s impossible to avoid hearing the tune in your head. Meanwhile, the listeners can’t hear that tune—all they can hear is a bunch of disconnected taps, like a kind of bizarre Morse Code. + + In the experiment, tappers are flabbergasted at how hard the listeners seem to be working to pick up the tune. Isn’t the song obvious? The tappers’ expressions, when a listener guesses “Happy Birthday to You” for “The Star-Spangled Banner,” are priceless: How could you be so stupid? + + It’s hard to be a tapper. The problem is that tappers have been given knowledge (the song title) that makes it impossible for them to imagine what it’s like to lack that knowledge. When they’re tapping, they can’t imagine what it’s like for the listeners to hear isolated taps rather than a song. This is the Curse of Knowledge. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us. And it becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others, because we can’t readily re-create our listeners’ state of mind. + + The tapper/listener experiment is reenacted every day across the world. The tappers and listeners are CEOs and frontline employees, teachers and students, politicians and voters, marketers and customers, writers and readers. All of these groups rely on ongoing communication, but, like the tappers and listeners, they suffer from enormous information imbalances. When a CEO discusses “unlocking shareholder value,” there is a tune playing in her head that the employees can’t hear. + + It’s a hard problem to avoid—a CEO might have thirty years of daily immersion in the logic and conventions of business. Reversing the process is as impossible as un-ringing a bell. You can’t unlearn what you already know. There are, in fact, only two ways to beat the Curse of Knowledge reliably. The first is not to learn anything. The second is to take your ideas and transform them. + + This book will teach you how to transform your ideas to beat the Curse of Knowledge. The six principles presented earlier are your best weapons. They can be used as a kind of checklist. Let’s take the CEO who announces to her staff that they must strive to “maximize shareholder value.” + + Is this idea simple? Yes, in the sense that it’s short, but it lacks the useful simplicity of a proverb. Is it unexpected? No. Concrete? Not at all. Credible? Only in the sense that it’s coming from the mouth of the CEO. Emotional? Um, no. A story? No. + + Contrast the “maximize shareholder value” idea with John F. Kennedy’s famous 1961 call to “put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade.” Simple? Yes. Unexpected? Yes. Concrete? Amazingly so. Credible? The goal seemed like science fiction, but the source was credible. Emotional? Yes. Story? In miniature. + + Had John F. Kennedy been a CEO, he would have said, “Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives.” Fortunately, JFK was more intuitive than a modern-day CEO; he knew that opaque, abstract missions don’t captivate and inspire people. The moon mission was a classic case of a communicator’s dodging the Curse of Knowledge. It was a brilliant and beautiful idea—a single idea that motivated the actions of millions of people for a decade. + + Systematic Creativity + + Picture in your mind the type of person who’s great at coming up with ideas. Have a mental image of the person? A lot of people, when asked to do this, describe a familiar stereotype—the “creative genius,” the kind of person who thinks up slogans in a hot advertising agency. Maybe, like us, you picture someone with gelled hair and hip clothing, carrying a dog-eared notebook full of ironies and epiphanies, ready to drop everything and launch a four-hour brainstorming session in a room full of caffeine and whiteboards. Or maybe your stereotype isn’t quite so elaborate. + + There’s no question that some people are more creative than others. Perhaps they’re just born that way. So maybe you’ll never be the Michael Jordan of sticky ideas. But the premise of this book is that creating sticky ideas is something that can be learned. + + In 1999, an Israeli research team assembled a group of 200 highly regarded ads—ads that were finalists and award winners in the top advertising competitions. They found that 89 percent of the award-winning ads could be classified into six basic categories, or templates. That’s remarkable. We might expect great creative concepts to be highly idiosyncratic—emerging from the whims of born creative types. It turns out that six simple templates go a long way. + + Most of these templates relate to the principle of unexpectedness. For example, the Extreme Consequences template points out unexpected consequences of a product attribute. One ad emphasizes the power of a car stereo system—when the stereo belts out a tune, a bridge starts oscillating to the music, and when the speakers are cranked up the bridge shimmies so hard that it nearly collapses. This same template also describes the famous World War II slogan devised by the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization that creates public-service campaigns for other nonprofits and government agencies: “Loose Lips Sink Ships.” And speaking of extreme consequences, let’s not forget the eggs sizzling in the 1980s commercial “This is your brain on drugs” (also designed by the Ad Council). The template also pops up spontaneously in naturally sticky ideas—for example, the legend that Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head. (For the other templates, see the endnotes.) + + The researchers also tried to use their six templates to classify 200 other ads—from the same publications and for the same types of products—that had not received awards. Amazingly, when the researchers tried to classify these “less successful” ads, they could classify only 2 percent of them. + + The surprising lesson of this story: Highly creative ads are more predictable than uncreative ones. It’s like Tolstoy’s quote: “All happy families resemble each other, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” All creative ads resemble one another, but each loser is uncreative in its own way. + + But if creative ads consistently make use of the same basic set of templates, perhaps “creativity” can be taught. Perhaps even novices—with no creative experience—could produce better ideas if they understood the templates. The Israeli researchers, curious about the ability to teach creativity, decided to see just how far a template could take someone. + + They brought in three groups of novices and gave each group some background information about three products: a shampoo, a diet-food item, and a sneaker. One group received the background information on the products and immediately started generating ads, with no training. An experienced creative director, who didn’t know how the group had been trained, selected its top fifteen ads. Then those ads were tested by consumers. The group’s ads stood out: Consumers rated them as “annoying.” (Could this be the long-awaited explanation for the ads of local car dealerships?) + + A second group was trained for two hours by an experienced creativity instructor who showed the participants how to use a free-association brainstorming method. This technique is a standard method for teaching creativity; it’s supposed to broaden associations, spark unexpected connections, and get lots of creative ideas on the table so that people can select the very best. If you’ve ever sat in a class on brainstorming great ideas, this method is probably the one you were taught. + + Again, the fifteen best ads were selected by the same creative director, who didn’t know how the group had been trained, and the ads were then tested by consumers. This group’s ads were rated as less annoying than those of the untrained group but no more creative. + + The final group was trained for two hours on how to use the six creative templates. Once again, the fifteen best ads were selected by the creative director and tested with consumers. Suddenly these novices sprouted creativity. Their ads were rated as 50 percent more creative and produced a 55 percent more positive attitude toward the products advertised. This is a stunning improvement for a two-hour investment in learning a few basic templates! It appears that there are indeed systematic ways to produce creative ideas. + + + + What this Israeli research team did for advertisements is what this book does for your ideas. We will give you suggestions for tailoring your ideas in a way that makes them more creative and more effective with your audience. We’ve created our checklist of six principles for precisely this purpose. + + But isn’t the use of a template or a checklist confining? Surely we’re not arguing that a “color by numbers” approach will yield more creative work than a blank-canvas approach? + + Actually, yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying. If you want to spread your ideas to other people, you should work within the confines of the rules that have allowed other ideas to succeed over time. You want to invent new ideas, not new rules. + + This book can’t offer a foolproof recipe. We’ll admit it up front: We won’t be able to show you how to get twelve-year-olds to gossip about mitosis around the campfire. And in all likelihood your process-improvement memo will not circulate decades from now as a proverb in another culture. + + But we can promise you this: Regardless of your level of “natural creativity,” we will show you how a little focused effort can make almost any idea stickier, and a sticky idea is an idea that is more likely to make a difference. All you need to do is understand the six principles of powerful ideas. + + + + + + SIMPLE + + Every move an Army soldier makes is preceded by a staggering amount of planning, which can be traced to an original order from the president of the United States. The president orders the Joint Chiefs of Staff to accomplish an objective, and the Joint Chiefs set the parameters of the operation. Then the orders and plans begin to cascade downward—from generals to colonels to captains. + + The plans are quite thorough, specifying the “scheme of maneuver” and the “concept of fires”—what each unit will do, which equipment it will use, how it will replace munitions, and so on. The orders snowball until they accumulate enough specificity to guide the actions of individual foot soldiers at particular moments in time. + + The Army invests enormous energy in its planning, and its processes have been refined over many years. The system is a marvel of communication. There’s just one drawback: The plans often turn out to be useless. + + “The trite expression we always use is No plan survives contact with the enemy,” says Colonel Tom Kolditz, the head of the behavioral sciences division at West Point. “You may start off trying to fight your plan, but the enemy gets a vote. Unpredictable things happen—the weather changes, a key asset is destroyed, the enemy responds in a way you don’t expect. Many armies fail because they put all their emphasis into creating a plan that becomes useless ten minutes into the battle.” + + The Army’s challenge is akin to writing instructions for a friend to play chess on your behalf. You know a lot about the rules of the game, and you may know a lot about your friend and the opponent. But if you try to write move-by-move instructions you’ll fail. You can’t possibly foresee more than a few moves. The first time the opponent makes a surprise move, your friend will have to throw out your carefully designed plans and rely on her instincts. + + Colonel Kolditz says, “Over time we’ve come to understand more and more about what makes people successful in complex operations.” He believes that plans are useful, in the sense that they are proof that planning has taken place. The planning process forces people to think through the right issues. But as for the plans themselves, Kolditz says, “They just don’t work on the battlefield.” So, in the 1980s the Army adapted its planning process, inventing a concept called Commander’s Intent (CI). + + CI is a crisp, plain-talk statement that appears at the top of every order, specifying the plan’s goal, the desired end-state of an operation. At high levels of the Army, the CI may be relatively abstract: “Break the will of the enemy in the Southeast region.” At the tactical level, for colonels and captains, it is much more concrete: “My intent is to have Third Battalion on Hill 4305, to have the hill cleared of enemy, with only ineffective remnants remaining, so we can protect the flank of Third Brigade as they pass through the lines.” + + The CI never specifies so much detail that it risks being rendered obsolete by unpredictable events. “You can lose the ability to execute the original plan, but you never lose the responsibility of executing the intent,” says Kolditz. In other words, if there’s one soldier left in the Third Battalion on Hill 4305, he’d better be doing something to protect the flank of the Third Brigade. + + Commander’s Intent manages to align the behavior of soldiers at all levels without requiring play-by-play instructions from their leaders. When people know the desired destination, they’re free to improvise, as needed, in arriving there. Colonel Kolditz gives an example: “Suppose I’m commanding an artillery battalion and I say, ‘We’re going to pass this infantry unit through our lines forward.’ That means something different to different groups. The mechanics know that they’ll need lots of repair support along the roads, because if a tank breaks down on a bridge the whole operation will come to a screeching halt. The artillery knows they’ll need to fire smoke or have engineers generate smoke in the breech area where the infantry unit moves forward, so it won’t get shot up as it passes through. As a commander, I could spend a lot of time enumerating every specific task, but as soon as people know what the intent is they begin generating their own solutions.” + + The Combat Maneuver Training Center, the unit in charge of military simulations, recommends that officers arrive at the Commander’s Intent by asking themselves two questions: + + + + If we do nothing else during tomorrow’s mission, we must + + _________________. + + + + The single, most important thing that we must do tomorrow is + + ________________. + + + + No plan survives contact with the enemy. No doubt this principle has resonance for people who have no military experience whatsoever. No sales plan survives contact with the customer. No lesson plan survives contact with teenagers. + + It’s hard to make ideas stick in a noisy, unpredictable, chaotic environment. If we’re to succeed, the first step is this: Be simple. Not simple in terms of “dumbing down” or “sound bites.” You don’t have to speak in monosyllables to be simple. What we mean by “simple” is finding the core of the idea. + + “Finding the core” means stripping an idea down to its most critical essence. To get to the core, we’ve got to weed out superfluous and tangential elements. But that’s the easy part. The hard part is weeding out ideas that may be really important but just aren’t the most important idea. The Army’s Commander’s Intent forces its officers to highlight the most important goal of an operation. The value of the Intent comes from its singularity. You can’t have five North Stars, you can’t have five “most important goals,” and you can’t have five Commander’s Intents. Finding the core is analogous to writing the Commander’s Intent—it’s about discarding a lot of great insights in order to let the most important insight shine. The French aviator and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once offered a definition of engineering elegance: “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” A designer of simple ideas should aspire to the same goal: knowing how much can be wrung out of an idea before it begins to lose its essence. + + In fact, we’ll follow our own advice and strip this book down to its core. Here it is: There are two steps in making your ideas sticky—Step 1 is to find the core, and Step 2 is to translate the core using the SUCCESs checklist. That’s it. We’ll spend the next half chapter on Step 1, and the remainder of the book on Step 2. The first step in unpacking these ideas is to explore why Southwest Airlines deliberately ignores the food preferences of its customers. + + Finding the Core at Southwest Airlines + + It’s common knowledge that Southwest is a successful company, but there is a shocking performance gap between Southwest and its competitors. Although the airlines industry as a whole has only a passing acquaintance with profitability, Southwest has been consistently profitable for more than thirty years. + + The reasons for Southwest’s success could (and do) fill up books, but perhaps the single greatest factor in the company’s success is its dogged focus on reducing costs. Every airline would like to reduce costs, but Southwest has been doing it for decades. For this effort to succeed, the company must coordinate thousands of employees, ranging from marketers to baggage handlers. + + Southwest has a Commander’s Intent, a core, that helps to guide this coordination. As related by James Carville and Paul Begala: + + + + Herb Kelleher [the longest-serving CEO of Southwest] once told someone, “I can teach you the secret to running this airline in thirty seconds. This is it: We are THE low-fare airline. Once you understand that fact, you can make any decision about this company’s future as well as I can. + + “Here’s an example,” he said. “Tracy from marketing comes into your office. She says her surveys indicate that the passengers might enjoy a light entrée on the Houston to Las Vegas flight. All we offer is peanuts, and she thinks a nice chicken Caesar salad would be popular. What do you say?” + + The person stammered for a moment, so Kelleher responded: “You say, ‘Tracy, will adding that chicken Caesar salad make us THE low-fare airline from Houston to Las Vegas? Because if it doesn’t help us become the unchallenged low-fare airline, we’re not serving any damn chicken salad.’” + + + + Kelleher’s Commander’s Intent is “We are THE low-fare airline.” This is a simple idea, but it is sufficiently useful that it has guided the actions of Southwest’s employees for more than thirty years. + + Now, this core idea—“THE low-fare airline”—isn’t the whole story, of course. For instance, in 1996 Southwest received 124,000 applications for 5,444 openings. It’s known as a great place to work, which is surprising. It’s not supposed to be fun to work for penny-pinchers. It’s hard to imagine Wal-Mart employees giggling their way through the workday. + + Yet somehow Southwest has pulled it off. Let’s think about the ideas driving Southwest Airlines as concentric circles. The central circle, the core, is “THE low-fare airline.” But the very next circle might be “Have fun at work.” Southwest’s employees know that it’s okay to have fun so long as it doesn’t jeopardize the company’s status as THE low-fare airline. A new employee can easily put these ideas together to realize how to act in unscripted situations. For instance, is it all right to joke about a flight attendant’s birthday over the P.A.? Sure. Is it equally okay to throw confetti in her honor? Probably not—the confetti would create extra work for cleanup crews, and extra clean-up time means higher fares. It’s the lighthearted business equivalent of the foot soldier who improvises based on the Commander’s Intent. A well-thought-out simple idea can be amazingly powerful in shaping behavior. + + A warning: In the future, months after you’ve put down this book, you’re going to recall the word “Simple” as an element of the SUCCESs checklist. And your mental thesaurus will faithfully go digging for the meaning of “Simple,” and it’s going to come back with associations like dumbing down, shooting for the lowest common denominator, making things easy, and so on. At that moment, you’ve got to remind your thesaurus of the examples we’ve explored. “THE low-fare airline” and the other stories in this chapter aren’t simple because they’re full of easy words. They’re simple because they reflect the Commander’s Intent. It’s about elegance and prioritization, not dumbing down. + + Burying the Lead + + News reporters are taught to start their stories with the most important information. The first sentence, called the lead, contains the most essential elements of the story. A good lead can convey a lot of information, as in these two leads from articles that won awards from the American Society of Newspaper Editors: + + + + A healthy 17-year-old heart pumped the gift of life through 34-year-old Bruce Murray Friday, following a four-hour transplant operation that doctors said went without a hitch. + + + + JERUSALEM, Nov. 4—A right-wing Jewish extremist shot and killed Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin tonight as he departed a peace rally attended by more than 100,000 in Tel Aviv, throwing Israel’s government and the Middle East peace process into turmoil. + + + + After the lead, information is presented in decreasing order of importance. Journalists call this the “inverted pyramid” structure—the most important info (the widest part of the pyramid) is at the top. + + The inverted pyramid is great for readers. No matter what the reader’s attention span—whether she reads only the lead or the entire story—the inverted pyramid maximizes the information she gleans. Think of the alternative: If news stories were written like mysteries, with a dramatic payoff at the end, then readers who broke off in mid-story would miss the point. Imagine waiting until the last sentence of a story to find out who won the presidential election or the Super Bowl. + + The inverted pyramid also allows newspapers to get out the door on time. Suppose a late-breaking story forces editors to steal space from other stories. Without the inverted pyramid, they’d be forced to do a slow, careful editing job on all the other articles, trimming a word here or a phrase there. With the inverted pyramid structure, they simply lop off paragraphs from the bottom of the other articles, knowing that those paragraphs are (by construction) the least important. + + According to one account, perhaps apocryphal, the inverted pyramid arose during the Civil War. All the reporters wanted to use military telegraphs to transmit their stories back home, but they could be cut off at any moment; they might be bumped by military personnel, or the communication line might be lost completely—a common occurrence during battles. The reporters never knew how much time they would get to send a story, so they had to send the most important information first. + + Journalists obsess about their leads. Don Wycliff, a winner of prizes for editorial writing, says, “I’ve always been a believer that if I’ve got two hours in which to write a story, the best investment I can make is to spend the first hour and forty-five minutes of it getting a good lead, because after that everything will come easily.” + + So if finding a good lead makes everything else easy, why would a journalist ever fail to come up with one? A common mistake reporters make is that they get so steeped in the details that they fail to see the message’s core—what readers will find important or interesting. The longtime newspaper writer Ed Cray, a professor of communications at the University of Southern California, has spent almost thirty years teaching journalism. He says, “The longer you work on a story, the more you can find yourself losing direction. No detail is too small. You just don’t know what your story is anymore.” + + This problem of losing direction, of missing the central story, is so common that journalists have given it its own name: Burying the lead. “Burying the lead” occurs when the journalist lets the most important element of the story slip too far down in the story structure. + + The process of writing a lead—and avoiding the temptation to bury it—is a helpful metaphor for the process of finding the core. Finding the core and writing the lead both involve forced prioritization. Suppose you’re a wartime reporter and you can telegraph only one thing before the line gets cut, what would it be? There’s only one lead, and there’s only one core. You must choose. + + Forced prioritization is really painful. Smart people recognize the value of all the material. They see nuance, multiple perspectives—and because they fully appreciate the complexities of a situation, they’re often tempted to linger there. This tendency to gravitate toward complexity is perpetually at war with the need to prioritize. This difficult quest—the need to wrestle priorities out of complexity—was exactly the situation that James Carville faced in the Clinton campaign of 1992. + + “If You Say Three Things, You Don’t Say Anything.” + + A political campaign is a breeding ground of decision angst. If you think your organization has problems, imagine this challenge: You must build a nationwide organization from scratch, using primarily unpaid and largely unskilled workers. You’ve got about a year to pull the team together and line up an endless supply of doughnuts. Everyone in the organization needs to sing from the same hymnal, but you don’t have much time to rehearse the choir. And the media prod you to sing a new song every day. To make matters worse, you must constantly contend with opponents who will seize on every errant word. + + Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign was a classic example of sticky ideas at work in a difficult environment. Not only did the campaign have the normal set of complexities, Clinton himself added a few new wrinkles. First, there were the “bimbo eruptions,” which need not be reexamined here. Second, Clinton was a policy wonk by nature, which meant that he was inclined to pontificate on virtually every issue that he was asked about, instead of staying focused on a few key principles. + + As his key political adviser, James Carville had to cope with this complexity. One day, struggling to maintain his focus, he wrote three phrases on a whiteboard for all the campaign workers to see. One of the phrases on the impromptu list was “It’s the economy, stupid.” This message would become the core of Clinton’s successful campaign. + + The word “stupid” was added as a taunt to the campaign workers themselves, reminding them not to lose focus on what was important. “It was simple and it was self-effacing,” Carville explained. “I was trying to say, ‘Let’s don’t be too clever here, don’t come down here thinking we’re too smart. Let’s just remember the basics.’” + + The need for focus extended to Bill Clinton himself, perhaps especially to Clinton himself. At one point, Clinton was frustrated that he’d been advised to stop talking about balanced budgets despite the fact that Ross Perot, the third-party candidate for president in 1992, was getting positive attention for his stand on the balanced budget. Clinton said, “I’ve been talking about these things for two years, why should I stop talking about them now because Perot is in?” Clinton’s advisers had to tell him, “There has to be message triage. If you say three things, you don’t say anything.” + + “It’s the economy, stupid” was the lead of the Clinton story—and it was a good one, because in 1992 the U.S. economy was mired in a recession. But if “It’s the economy, stupid” is the lead, then the need for a balanced budget can’t also be the lead. Carville had to stop Clinton from burying the lead. + + Decision Paralysis + + Why is prioritizing so difficult? In the abstract, it doesn’t sound so tough. You prioritize important goals over less important goals. You prioritize goals that are “critical” ahead of goals that are “beneficial.” + + But what if we can’t tell what’s “critical” and what’s “beneficial”? Sometimes it’s not obvious. We often have to make decisions between one “unknown” and another. This kind of complexity can be paralyzing. In fact, psychologists have found that people can be driven to irrational decisions by too much complexity and uncertainty. + + In 1954, the economist L. J. Savage described what he perceived as a basic rule of human decision-making. He called it the “sure-thing principle.” He illustrated it with this example: A businessman is thinking about buying a piece of property. There’s an election coming up soon, and he initially thinks that its outcome could be relevant to the attractiveness of the purchase. So, to clarify his decision, he thinks through both scenarios. If the Republican wins, he decides, he’ll buy. If the Democrat wins, he’ll do the same. Seeing that he’d buy in either scenario, he goes forward with the purchase, despite not knowing the outcome. This decision seems sensible—not many people would quibble with Savage’s logic. + + Two psychologists quibbled. Amos Tversky and Eldar Shafir later published a paper proving that the “sure-thing principle” wasn’t always a sure thing. They uncovered situations where the mere existence of uncertainty seemed to alter how people made decisions—even when the uncertainty was irrelevant to the outcome, as with the businessman’s purchase. For instance, imagine that you’re in college and you’ve just completed an important final exam a couple of weeks before the Christmas holidays. You’d been studying for this exam for weeks, because it’s in a subject that’s important to your future career. + + You’ve got to wait two days to get the exam results back. Meanwhile, you see an opportunity to purchase a vacation during the holidays to Hawaii at a bargain-basement price. Here are your three options: You can buy the vacation today, pass on it today, or pay a five-dollar fee to lock in the price for two days, which would allow you to make your decision after you got your grade. What would you do? + + You may feel some desire to know the outcome of your exam before you decide, as did the students who faced this choice in the original experiment. So Tversky and Shafir simply removed this uncertainty for two groups of participants. These groups were told up front how they did on the exam. Some students were told that they passed the exam, and 57 percent of them chose to go on the trip (after all, it makes for a good celebration). Other students were told that they failed the exam, and 54 percent of them chose to go on the trip (after all, it makes for good recuperation). Both those who passed and those who failed wanted to go to Hawaii, pronto. + + Here’s the twist: The group of students who, like you, didn’t know their final exam results behaved completely differently. The majority of them (61 percent) paid five dollars to wait for two days. Think about that! If you pass, you want to go to Hawaii. If you fail, you want to go to Hawaii. If you don’t know whether you passed or failed, you. . .wait and see? This is not the way the “sure-thing principle” is supposed to behave. It’s as if our businessman had decided to wait until after the election to buy his property, despite being willing to make the purchase regardless of the outcome. + + Tversky and Shafir’s study shows us that uncertainty—even irrelevant uncertainty—can paralyze us. Another study, conducted by Shafir and a colleague, Donald Redelmeier, demonstrates that paralysis can also be caused by choice. Imagine, for example, that you are in college and you face the following choice one evening. What would you do? + + + + 1. Attend a lecture by an author you admire who is visiting just for the evening, + + + +or + + 2. Go to the library and study. + + + + Studying doesn’t look so attractive compared with a once in a lifetime lecture. When this choice was given to actual college students, only 21 percent decided to study. + + Suppose, instead, you had been given three choices: + + + + 1. Attend the lecture. + + 2. Go to the library and study. + + 3. Watch a foreign film that you’ve been wanting to see. + + + + Does your answer differ? Remarkably, when a different group of students were given the three choices, 40 percent decided to study—double the number who did before. Giving students two good alternatives to studying, rather than one, paradoxically makes them less likely to choose either. This behavior isn’t “rational,” but it is human. + + Prioritization rescues people from the quicksand of decision angst, and that’s why finding the core is so valuable. The people who listen to us will be constantly making decisions in an environment of uncertainty. They will suffer anxiety from the need to choose—even when the choice is between two good options, like the lecture and the foreign film. + + Core messages help people avoid bad choices by reminding them of what’s important. In Herb Kelleher’s parable, for instance, someone had to choose between chicken salad and no chicken salad—and the message “THE low-fare airline” led her to abandon the chicken salad. + + Idea Clinics + + The goal of this book is to help you make your ideas stick. So, periodically throughout the book, we will present “Idea Clinics,” which illustrate, in practical terms, how an idea can be made stickier. The Clinics were inspired by the classic “before and after” photos used by weight-loss centers—visible evidence that the diet works. Like patients trying a new diet, the initial ideas in the Clinics vary in their need for change; some need dramatic help, like a stomach-stapling and lipo-suction, and some only need to lose a few pounds around the waistline. + + The point of the Clinics is not to wow you with our creative genius, and it’s fortunate for readers and authors alike that this is not the goal, because we are not creative geniuses. The point is simply to model the process of making ideas stickier. In contrast to traditional disclaimers, this is something you should try at home. Think about each message and consider how you would improve it using the principles in the book. + + You can safely skip the Clinics—they are intended as sidebars to the text, rather than as building blocks—but we hope you’ll find them useful. + + + + + +* * * + + + +Warning: Sun Exposure Is Dangerous + + THE SITUATION: Health educators at Ohio State University want to inform the academic community about the risks of sun exposure. + + + + MESSAGE 1: Here’s a Web page with facts about sun exposure from Ohio State University. We’ve added numbers to each paragraph so that we can analyze the message later: + + Sun Exposure: Precautions and Protection + + (1) A golden, bronze tan is often considered a status symbol. Perhaps this supports the idea that people who have time to lie in the sun long enough to develop a deep tan, or who can travel to warm climates during winter, have more money or leisure time than “common folk.” Nevertheless, the goal of many is a deep tan early in spring or to return from vacation with that hearty, healthy glow. Whether a tan suggests status or not, careless exposure to the sun can be harmful. Ultraviolet rays from the sun will damage skin but can also create vision problems, allergic reactions, and depressed immune systems. + + (2) Tanning and burning are caused by ultraviolet rays from the sun. These rays cannot be seen or felt, but penetrate the skin and stimulate cells containing a brownish pigment called melanin. Melanin protects the skin by absorbing and scattering ultraviolet rays. People with dark skins have high amounts of melanin, have greater natural protection from ultraviolet rays, and tan more easily. Blondes, redheads, and people with fair skins have less melanin and, therefore, burn more quickly. + + (3) As melanin is stimulated by ultraviolet rays, it rises to the skin’s surface as a tan and provides protection against future sun exposure. Individuals with dark skins such as olive, brown, or black are not immune to burning and skin damage caused by careless exposure to the sun. + + (4) Two types of ultraviolet rays (UV) from the sun exist: UVA and UVB. UVB cause burning of the skin or the red associated with sunburn, skin cancer, and premature aging of skin. UVA rays stimulate tanning but are also linked to other problems such as impaired vision, skin rashes, and allergic or other reactions to drugs. + + (5) Skin damage from overexposure to the sun is cumulative over the years and cannot be reversed. Once damage occurs, it cannot be undone. Most serious and lasting damage occurs before age 18. Protection should start early, particularly with children who enjoy out door play on sunny days. + + + + Before you read our comments below, go back and reread Message 1. What can you do to improve it? + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: What’s the lead here? What’s the core? The first paragraph dives into tanned skin as a status symbol, which is simply an interesting red herring. (In fact, the text acknowledges as much when it says, “Whether a tan suggests status or not. . .”) To us, Paragraph 5 flashes in neon lights as the core: Skin damage. . .is cumulative over the years and cannot be reversed. Wow. Isn’t that the single most important thing we’d want to tell sun-worshippers? By contrast, Paragraphs 2–4 provide superfluous mechanics. As an analogy, do smokers really need to understand the workings of the lungs in order to appreciate the dangers of smoking? + + + + MESSAGE 2: In the text below, we have reordered the points and tinkered with the prose a bit in the hope of unburying the lead. + + Sun Exposure: How to Get Old Prematurely + + (5) Skin damage from overexposure to the sun is like getting older: It is cumulative over the years and cannot be reversed. Once damage occurs, it cannot be undone. Most serious and lasting damage occurs before age 18. Fortunately, unlike aging, skin damage can be prevented. Sun protection should start early, particularly with children who enjoy playing outdoors on sunny days. + + (2, 3, 4) Tanning and burning are caused by ultraviolet rays from the sun. Ultraviolet rays cause sunburn, which is a temporary sign of deeper underlying skin damage. Sunburns eventually disappear, but the underlying damage persists and may eventually cause premature aging or skin cancer. + + (1) Ironically, a golden, bronze tan is often considered a sign of good health. But ultraviolet rays not only damage skin, they can also create vision problems, allergic reactions, and depressed immune systems. So instead of a “healthy tan,” perhaps we should call it a “sickly tan.” + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2: The core of this message is that skin damage is cumulative and irreversible. So we’ve rewritten the message to stress that point and eliminate nonessential information. We’ve done this to illustrate the process of forced prioritization; we’ve had to eliminate some interesting stuff (such as the references to melanin) in order to let the core shine through. + + We’ve tried to emphasize the core in a couple of ways. First, we’ve unburied the lead—putting the core right up front. Second, we’ve added the analogy to aging to hammer home the idea that damage is irreversible. Third, we’ve added a concrete and perhaps unexpected image: Sunburns are a signal of damage; they may disappear, but the underlying damage does not. + + + + + + PUNCH LINE: Avoid burying the lead. Don’t start with something interesting but irrelevant in hopes of entertaining the audience. Instead, work to make the core message itself more interesting. + + + +* * * + + + + Names, Names, and Names + + Dunn, North Carolina, is a small town about forty miles south of Raleigh. It has 14,000 residents and its workforce is primarily blue collar. The local diner is packed in the morning with people eating big breakfasts and drinking coffee. Waitresses call you “hon.” The town recently got a Wal-Mart. + + All in all, Dunn is a pretty normal place, except for one fact: Almost everyone there reads the local paper, the Daily Record. As a matter of fact, more than everyone in Dunn reads the paper. + + The Daily Record’s penetration in the Dunn community is 112 percent, which is the highest penetration of any newspaper in the country. For a community penetration to exceed 100 percent, one of two things must be true: (1) People from outside Dunn—perhaps people commuting to jobs in Dunn—are buying the paper; or (2) some households are buying more than one paper. Maybe it’s hard for some couples in Dunn to share. + + What’s the explanation for this remarkable success? The people of Dunn certainly have plenty of options for their news: USA Today, the Raleigh News & Observer, CNN, the Internet, and hundreds of other outlets. So why is the Daily Record so popular? + + + + The Dunn Daily Record was founded in 1950 by Hoover Adams. Adams was born with ink in his blood. He got his first byline by sending dispatches from his Boy Scout camp. By the time he was in high school he was serving as a stringer—a freelance reporter—for the Raleigh paper. After World War II, Adams became the editor of the Dunn Dispatch. Eventually, he grew restless at the Dispatch and decided to start his own paper, the Daily Record. In 1978, after twenty-eight years of head-to-head competition, the Dispatch finally gave up and sold out to him. + + Across the fifty-five years of his tenure as publisher, Adams has had a remarkably consistent editorial philosophy. He believes that newspapers should be relentlessly local in their coverage. In fact, he’s a zealot about community coverage. + + In 1978, frustrated by what he felt was insufficient focus on local issues in the paper, he wrote a memo to his staff, explaining his views: + + “All of us know that the main reason anybody reads a local newspaper is for local names and pictures. That’s the one thing we can do better than anybody else. And that’s the thing our readers can’t get anywhere else. Always remember, the mayor of Angier and the mayor of Lillington are just as important to those towns as the mayor of New York is to his people.” + + Let’s be clear: Adams’s focus on local coverage is not a revolutionary sentiment. In fact, among publishers of small newspapers it would be utterly uncontroversial. Yet it’s easy enough to see that the idea has not become a reality at most papers. The average local newspaper is loaded with wire stories, analyses of pro sports teams, and spot photos with nary a person in sight. + + In other words, finding the core isn’t synonymous with communicating the core. Top management can know what the priorities are but be completely ineffective in sharing and achieving those priorities. Adams has managed to find and share the core. How did he do it? + + Sharing the Core + + Adams found the core of his newspaper operations: local focus. Then he turned his attention to sharing his core message—making it stick with his staff. For the rest of the chapter—in fact, the rest of the book—we will discuss ways to get core messages to stick. And we will start by studying the way Adams has made his “local focus” message stick. + + While many publishers pay lip service to the value of local focus, Adams is an extremist about it. He’s willing to hurt the bottom line for local focus: + + + + The fact is, a local newspaper can never get enough local names. I’d happily hire two more typesetters and add two more pages in every edition of each paper if we had the names to fill them up. + + + + He’s willing to be boring for local focus: + + + + I’ll bet that if the Daily Record reprinted the entire Dunn telephone directory tonight, half the people would sit down and check it to be sure their name was included. . . When somebody tells you, “Aw, you don’t want all those names,” please assure them that’s exactly what we want, most of all! + + + + He gleefully exaggerates in order to emphasize the value of local focus, quoting a saying of a friend, Ralph Delano, who runs the local paper in Benson: + + + + If an atomic bomb fell on Raleigh, it wouldn’t be news in Benson unless some of the debris and ashes fell on Benson. + + + + In fact, asked why the Daily Record has been so successful, Adams replies, “It’s because of three things: Names, names, and names.” + + What’s going on here? Adams has found the core idea that he wants to communicate—that local focus is the key to his newspaper’s success. That’s Step 1. Step 2 is to communicate the core to others. And he does that brilliantly. + + Look at the techniques Adams uses to communicate his seriousness about local focus. He uses an analogy: comparing the mayor of Angier to the mayor of New York. (We’ll have more to say about analogy later in this chapter.) He says he’d hire more typesetters if the reporters could generate enough names. This is forced prioritization: Local focus is more important than minimizing costs! (Not a common sentiment among small-town papers. See the “Unexpected” chapter.) + + He also speaks in clear, tangible language. What does he want? Names. He wants lots of individual names in the newspaper every day. (See the “Concrete” chapter.) This idea is concrete enough that everyone in the organization can comprehend and use it. Is there any room for misunderstanding? Is there a staffer who won’t understand what Adams means by “names”? + + “Names, names, and names” is a simple statement that is symbolic of a core truth. It’s not just that names are helpful. In Adams’s mind, names trump costs. Names trump well-written prose. Names trump nuclear explosions in neighboring communities. + + For fifty-five years, since Adams founded the paper, his core value of community focus has helped hundreds of people at the paper, in thousands of circumstances, make good decisions. As a publisher, Adams has presided over close to 20,000 issues. And each of those issues involved countless decisions: Which stories do we cover? What’s important in the stories? Which photos do we run? Which do we cut out to save space? + + Adams can’t possibly be personally involved in the vast majority of these hundreds of small decisions. But his employees don’t suffer from decision paralysis, because Adams’s Commander’s Intent is clear: “Names, names, and names.” Adams can’t be everywhere. But by finding the core and communicating it clearly, he has made himself everywhere. That’s the power of a sticky idea. + + Simple = Core + Compact + + Adams is a clever wordsmith, but his most useful bit of wordplay is probably his least clever: “Names, names, and names.” This phrase is useful and memorable because it is highly concrete, but also because it is highly succinct. This example illustrates a second aspect of simplicity: Simple messages are core and compact. + + At one level, the idea of compactness is uncontroversial. Rarely will you get advice to make your communications lengthy and convoluted, unless you write interest-rate disclosures for a credit card company. We know that sentences are better than paragraphs. Two bullet points are better than five. Easy words are better than hard words. It’s a bandwidth issue: The more we reduce the amount of information in an idea, the stickier it will be. + + But let’s be clear: Compactness alone isn’t enough. We could latch on to a compact message that isn’t core; in other words, a pithy slogan that doesn’t reflect our Commander’s Intent. Compact messages may be sticky, but that says nothing about their worth. We can imagine compact messages that are lies (“The earth is flat”), compact messages that are irrelevant (“Goats like sprouts”), and compact messages that are ill-advised (“Never let a day pass without a shoe purchase”). + + In other cases, compactness itself can come to seem an unworthy goal. Lots of us have expertise in particular areas. Becoming an expert in something means that we become more and more fascinated by nuance and complexity. That’s when the Curse of Knowledge kicks in, and we start to forget what it’s like not to know what we know. At that point, making something simple can seem like “dumbing down.” As an expert, we don’t want to be accused of propagating sound bites or pandering to the lowest common denominator. Simplifying, we fear, can devolve into oversimplifying. + + So if we’re going to define “simple” as core and compact, we need to assure ourselves that compactness is worth striving for. We’ve already got core, why do we need compact? Aren’t “stripped-down” ideas inherently less useful than fully elaborated ideas? Suppose we took compactness to its most extreme form. Is it possible to say something meaningful in the span of a sound bite? + + “A Bird in the Hand” + + For thousands of years, people have exchanged sound bites called proverbs. Proverbs are simple yet profound. Cervantes defined proverbs as “short sentences drawn from long experience.” Take the English-language proverb: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” What’s the core? The core is a warning against giving up a sure thing for something speculative. The proverb is short and simple, yet it packs a big nugget of wisdom that is useful in many situations. + + As it turns out, this is not just an English-language proverb. In Sweden, the saying is “Rather one bird in the hand than ten in the woods.” In Spain: “A bird in the hand is better than a hundred flying birds.” In Poland: “A sparrow in your hand is better than a pigeon on the roof.” In Russia: “Better a titmouse in the hand than a crane in the sky.” + + Other variants can be found in Romanian, Italian, Portuguese, German, Icelandic, and even medieval Latin. The first documented case in English is from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in 1678. But the proverb may be much older still. In one of Aesop’s fables, a hawk seizes a nightingale, who pleads for its life, arguing that it is too tiny a morsel to satisfy the hawk. The hawk replies, “I would be foolish to release the bird I have in my hand to pursue another bird that is not even in sight.” This story dates from 570 B.C. + + The “bird in hand” proverb, then, is an astoundingly sticky idea. It has survived for more than 2,500 years. It has spread across continents, cultures, and languages. Keep in mind that nobody funded a “bird in hand” advertising campaign. It spreads on its own. Many other proverbs share this longevity. In fact, a repertoire of proverbs has been found in almost every documented culture. Why? What is their purpose? + + Proverbs are helpful in guiding individual decisions in environments with shared standards. Those shared standards are often ethical or moral norms. Proverbs offer rules of thumb for the behavior of individuals. The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is so profound that it can influence a lifetime of behavior. The Golden Rule is a great symbol of what we’re chasing in this chapter: ideas that are compact enough to be sticky and meaningful enough to make a difference. + + Great simple ideas have an elegance and a utility that make them function a lot like proverbs. Cervantes’s definition of “proverbs” echoes our definition of Simple ideas: short sentences (compact) drawn from long experience (core). We are right to be skeptical of sound bites, because lots of sound bites are empty or misleading—they’re compact without being core. But the Simple we’re chasing isn’t a sound bite, it’s a proverb: compact and core. + + Adams managed to turn his core idea—the need to focus relentlessly on local issues—into a journalistic proverb. “Names, names, and names” is an idea that helps guide individual decision-making in a community of shared standards. If you’re a photographer, the proverb has no value as a literal statement, unless you plan to shoot name tags. But when you know that your organization thrives on names—i.e., the specific actions taken by specific members of the local community—that knowledge informs the kinds of photo ops you look for. Do you shoot the boring committee deliberations or the gorgeous sunset over the park? Answer: the boring committee deliberations. + + Palm Pilot and the Visual Proverb + + Compact ideas help people learn and remember a core message. But they may be even more important when it comes time to help people act properly, particularly in an environment where they have to make lots of choices. + + Why do remote controls have more buttons than we ever use? The answer starts with the noble intentions of engineers. Most technology and product-design projects must combat “feature creep,” the tendency for things to become incrementally more complex until they no longer perform their original functions very well. A VCR is a case in point. + + Feature creep is an innocent process. An engineer looking at a prototype of a remote control might think to herself, “Hey, there’s some extra real estate here on the face of the control. And there’s some extra processing capacity on the chip. Rather than let it go to waste, what if we give people the ability to toggle between the Julian and Gregorian calendars?” + + The engineer is just trying to help—to add another gee-whiz feature that will improve the remote control. The other engineers on the team, meanwhile, don’t particularly care about the calendar-toggle. Even if they think it’s lame, they probably don’t care enough to stage a protest: “Either the calendar-toggle button goes or I quit!” In this way, slowly and quietly, remote controls—and, by extension, other types of technologies—are featured to death. + + The Palm Pilot team, aware of this danger, took a hard line against feature creep. When the team began its work, in the early 1990s, personal digital assistants (PDAs) had an unblemished record of failure. Apple’s famous debacle with its Newton PDA had made other competitors gun-shy. + + One of the competitors on the PDA market in 1994 looked like a malnourished computer. It was a bulky device with a keyboard and multiple ports for peripherals. Jeff Hawkins, the Palm Pilot team leader, was determined that his product would avoid this fate. He wanted the Palm Pilot to be simple. It would handle four things: calendars, contacts, memos, and task lists. The Palm Pilot would do only four things, but it would do them well. + + Hawkins fought feature creep by carrying around a wooden block the size of the Palm. Trae Vassallo, a member of the Palm V design team, says, “The block was dumb, which resonated with the simple technological goals of the product, but it was also small, which made the product elegant and different.” Hawkins would pull out the wooden block to “take notes” during a meeting or “check his calendar” in the hallway. Whenever someone suggested another feature, Hawkins would pull out the wooden block and ask them where it would fit. + + Vassallo said that the Palm Pilot became a successful product “almost because it was defined more in terms of what it was not than in terms of what it was.” Tom Kelley, from IDEO, a prominent Silicon Valley design firm, made a similar point: “The real barrier to the initial PDAs. . .was the idea that the machine had to do nearly everything.” + + Hawkins knew that the core idea of his project needed to be elegance and simplicity (and a tenacious avoidance of feature creep). In sharing this core idea, Hawkins and his team used what was, in essence, a visual proverb. The block of wood became a visual reminder to do a few things and do them well. + + There is a striking parallel between the development of the Palm Pilot and the Clinton campaign led by James Carville. In both cases, the teams were composed of people who were knowledgeable and passionate about their work. Both teams boasted plenty of people who had the capability and the desire to do a lot of different things—argue every issue and engineer every feature. Yet in both cases the team needed a simple reminder to fight the temptation to do too much. When you say three things, you say nothing. When your remote control has fifty buttons, you can’t change the channel anymore. + + Using What’s There + + Our messages have to be compact, because we can learn and remember only so much information at once. But suppose we’ve assessed the core of our message and we have too much information to aspire to the compactness of a proverb. How do we convey lots of information when we need to? The following exercise is designed to reinforce the need for compactness and to provide a hint about how to cram more information into a compact message. + + Here are the rules of this exercise: Spend ten to fifteen seconds, no more, studying the letters below. Then close the book, pull out a sheet of paper, and write down as many letters as you can remember. Spoiler alert: Don’t turn the page until you’ve finished the exercise. + + + + J FKFB INAT OUP SNA SAI RS + + + + If you’re like most people, you probably remembered about seven to ten letters. That’s not much information. Compactness is essential, because there’s a limit to the amount of information we can juggle at once. + + Now turn the page and try the exercise again. + + There’s a twist this time. We haven’t changed the letters or the sequence. All we’ve done is change the way the letters are grouped. Once again, study the letters for ten to fifteen seconds, then close the book and test your recall. + + + + JFK FBI NATO UPS NASA IRS + + + + Chances are you did much better the second time. Suddenly the letters meant something, which made them easier to remember. In Round 1, you were trying to remember raw data. In Round 2, you were remembering concepts: John F. Kennedy, the FBI, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, UPS, NASA, the IRS. + + But wait a second. Why is it easier to remember “John F. Kennedy” than the random letters F, J, K? Surely John F. Kennedy is a bigger bundle of information than the three random letters! Think of all the associations with JFK—politics, relationships, his assassination, and his famous family. If remembering was like weight lifting, it would be ridiculous to think we could “lift” JFK easier than three little letters! + + The secret, of course, is that we’re not “lifting” JFK. All the remembering work related to JFK has already been done. We’ve already built those muscles—the concept of JFK, and all its associations, is already embedded in our memories. What we’re remembering is simply a pointer to this information—we’re posting a little flag on the terrain of our memory. With the raw letters, we’re posting three separate flags. In the end, it’s one bit of information (or one flag) versus three, and it’s no surprise that one is easier to remember. + + So what? Is this just neat brain trivia? Here’s where we’re going: We’ve seen that compact ideas are stickier, but that compact ideas alone aren’t valuable—only ideas with profound compactness are valuable. So, to make a profound idea compact you’ve got to pack a lot of meaning into a little bit of messaging. And how do you do that? You use flags. You tap the existing memory terrain of your audience. You use what’s already there. + + The Pomelo Schema + + So far we have presented situations in which one simple idea, or a handful of simple ideas, were useful in guiding behavior. But, let’s face it, most people in the world do complicated things. It’s not our intention to argue that complicated things—law, medicine, construction, programming, teaching—can be pared down to two or three compact messages. We obviously can’t replace a school of architecture with a single compact idea (“Keep the building from falling down”). + + This leads us to an important issue that we haven’t discussed yet: How do you turn a freshman into an architect? How does complexity emerge from simplicity? We will argue that it is possible to create complexity through the artful use of simplicity. If simple ideas are staged and layered correctly, they can very quickly become complex. + + Let us teach you what a “pomelo” is. (If you already know what a pomelo is, be a good sport and feign ignorance.) Here is one way that we can explain to you what a pomelo is: + + + + EXPLANATION 1: A pomelo is the largest citrus fruit. The rind is very thick but soft and easy to peel away. The resulting fruit has a light yellow to coral pink flesh and can vary from juicy to slightly dry and from seductively spicy-sweet to tangy and tart. + + + + Quick question: Based on this explanation, if you mixed pomelo juice half and half with orange juice, would it taste good? You might make a guess, but the answer is probably a bit ambiguous. Let’s move on to an alternative explanation: + + + + EXPLANATION 2: A pomelo is basically a supersized grapefruit with a very thick and soft rind. + + + + Explanation 2 sticks a flag on a concept that you already know: a grapefruit. When we tell you that a pomelo is like a grapefruit, you call up a mental image of a grapefruit. Then we tell you what to change about it: It’s “supersized.” Your visualized grapefruit grows accordingly. + + We’ve made it easier for you to learn a new concept by tying it to a concept that you already know. In this case, the concept is “grapefruit.” “Grapefruit” is a schema that you already have. (“Schema” is a bit of technical jargon from psychology, but it’s so useful that we think it’s worth carrying through the book.) + + Psychologists define schema as a collection of generic properties of a concept or category. Schemas consist of lots of prerecorded information stored in our memories. If someone tells you that she saw a great new sports car, a picture immediately springs to mind, filled with generic properties. You know what “sports cars” are like. You picture something small and two-door, with a convertible top perhaps. If the car in your picture moves, it moves fast. Its color is almost certainly red. Similarly, your schema of “grapefruit” also contains a cluster of generic properties: yellow-pink color, tart flavor, softball-sized, and so on. + + By calling up your grapefruit schema, we were able to teach you the concept of pomelo much faster than if we had mechanically listed all the attributes of a pomelo. Note, too, that it’s easier to answer the question about the blend of pomelo and orange juice. You know that grapefruit juice blends well with OJ, so the pomelo schema inherits this property from the grapefruit schema. (By the way, to be complete, Explanation 1 is itself full of schemas. “Citrus fruit” is a schema, “rind” is a schema, and “tangy” is a schema. Explanation 2 is easier to parse only because “grapefruit” is a higher-level schema—a schema composed of other schemas.) + + By using schemas, Explanation 2 improves both our comprehension and our memory. Let’s think about the two definitions of “pomelo” in terms of the inverted pyramid structure. What’s the lead? Well, with Explanation 1 the lead is: citrus fruit. After the lead, there is no clear hierarchy; depending on what catches people’s attention, they might remember the rind info (“very thick but soft and easy to peel away”) or the color info (“light yellow to coral pink”) or the juiciness info or the taste info. + + With Explanation 2, the lead is: grapefruit-like. The second paragraph is: supersized. The third paragraph is: very thick and soft rind. + + Six months from now, people will remember—at best!—the lead of our story. That means that with one story they’d remember “fruit” or “citrus fruit.” With the other story they’d remember “grapefruit.” The second story is clearly better—it isn’t a judgment call. + + This concludes what will probably be the last psychological discussion of citrus fruit you’ll ever encounter. But though the concept of “pomelo” may not be worth the neurons you just burned on it, the underlying concept—that schemas enable profound simplicity—is critical. + + Good teachers intuitively use lots of schemas. Economics teachers, for instance, start with compact, stripped-down examples that can be understood by students who have no preexisting economics schemas. “Let’s say that you grow apples and I grow oranges. We’re the only two people around. Let’s also say that we’d prefer to eat some of both fruits rather than all of either. Should we trade? If so, how do we go about doing it?” + + Students are initially taught how trade works in this simplified context. This knowledge, in turn, becomes a basic trade schema for them. Once learned, this schema can be called up and stretched along some dimension. For example, what happens if you suddenly get better at growing apples? Do we still trade the same way we did before? To solve this problem, we’re calling up a schema and adapting it, just as we did in making a pomelo out of our grapefruit schema. + + Complexity from Simplicity + + Schemas help us create complex messages from simple materials. In school, lots of science courses are taught by clever uses of schemas. Introductory physics deals with simple, idealized situations: pulleys, inclines, objects moving at constant rates along frictionless paths. As students become familiar with the “pulley” schema, it can be stretched in some way or merged with other schemas to solve more complicated problems. + + Another nice use of a schema is the solar system model of the atom, which many of us were taught as kids. This model posits that electrons orbit the nucleus, much as planets orbit the sun. This analogy gives students a quick, compact insight into how the atom works. + + The planetary analogy also provides an insight into the reason that many people avoid compact schemas (“a supersized grapefruit”) in favor of exhaustive description (“a citrus fruit with a soft, thick rind, blah blah blah. . .”). The use of schemas can sometimes involve a somewhat slower route to the “real truth.” For instance, physicists now know that electrons don’t orbit the nucleus the way that planets do. In reality, electrons move in “probability clouds.” So what do you tell a sixth grader? Do you talk about the motion of planets, which is easy to understand and nudges you closer to the truth? Or do you talk about “probability clouds,” which are impossible to understand but accurate? + + The choice may seem to be a difficult one: (1) accuracy first, at the expense of accessibility; or (2) accessibility first, at the expense of accuracy. But in many circumstances this is a false choice for one compelling reason: If a message can’t be used to make predictions or decisions, it is without value, no matter how accurate or comprehensive it is. + + Herb Kelleher could tell a flight attendant that her goal is to “maximize shareholder value.” In some sense, this statement is more accurate and complete than that the goal is to be “THE low-fare airline.” After all, the proverb “THE low-fare airline” is clearly incomplete—Southwest could offer lower fares by eliminating aircraft maintenance, or by asking passengers to share napkins. Clearly, there are additional values (customer comfort, safety ratings) that refine Southwest’s core value of economy. The problem with “maximize shareholder value,” despite its accuracy, is that it doesn’t help the flight attendant decide whether to serve chicken salad. An accurate but useless idea is still useless. + + We discussed the Curse of Knowledge in the introduction—the difficulty of remembering what it was like not to know something. Accuracy to the point of uselessness is a symptom of the Curse of Knowledge. To a CEO, “maximizing shareholder value” may be an immensely useful rule of behavior. To a flight attendant, it’s not. To a physicist, probability clouds are fascinating phenomena. To a child, they are incomprehensible. + + People are tempted to tell you everything, with perfect accuracy, right up front, when they should be giving you just enough info to be useful, then a little more, then a little more. + + Schemas in Hollywood: High-concept Pitches + + A great way to avoid useless accuracy, and to dodge the Curse of Knowledge, is to use analogies. Analogies derive their power from schemas: A pomelo is like a grapefruit. A good news story is structured like an inverted pyramid. Skin damage is like aging. Analogies make it possible to understand a compact message because they invoke concepts that you already know. + + A good analogy can wield a lot of power. In fact, in Hollywood $100 million movies can be green-lighted based largely on the strength of a one-sentence analogy. + + The average Hollywood studio considers hundreds of pitches or screenplays for every movie it makes. It may be hard to muster sympathy for the life of studio execs, but let’s try for a moment. Imagine the terrifying decisions they must make. When they invest in a movie, they are essentially betting millions of dollars—and their own reputations—on an intangible idea. + + Contrast a movie pitch with the blueprint for a home. If an architect creates a nifty blueprint for a home, and someone puts up the money for construction, you can feel pretty confident that, nine months later, you’ll have a home that realizes the architect’s original vision. + + A movie pitch, on the other hand, is destined to change. When a screenwriter is hired, the story will change. When a director is hired, the artistic feel of the movie will change. When stars are hired to play the parts, their personalities will change how we perceive the characters in the story. When producers are hired, the storytelling will become subject to financial and logistical constraints. And when the movie is completed, months or years later, the marketing team will need to find a way to explain the plot to the public in about thirty seconds—without giving away too much. + + Imagine investing millions in an idea that will change as it is filtered through the consciousness of a succession of individuals with giant egos: directors, stars, producers, marketers. That idea had better be good. + + In Hollywood, people use core ideas called “high-concept pitches.” You’ve probably heard some of them. Speed was “Die Hard on a bus.” 13 Going on 30 was “Big for girls.” Alien was “Jaws on a spaceship.” + + The high-concept pitches don’t always reference other movies.E.T., for instance, was pitched as “Lost alien befriends lonely boy to get home.” But a lot of pitches do invoke past movies. Why is that? Is it because Hollywood is full of cynical execs who shamelessly recycle old ideas? + + Well, yes, but that’s only part of the reason. The concept of the movie Speed, before it was pitched, obviously did not exist in the minds of the execs. It was like the word “pomelo,” before you knew what it meant. The compact, five-word phrase “Die Hard on a bus” pours a breathtaking amount of meaning into the previously nonexistent concept of Speed. To see this, think of all the important decisions you could make, just on the strength of those five words. Do you hire an action director or an indie director? Action. Do you budget $10 million for the movie or $100 million? $100 million. Big star or ensemble cast? Big star. Target a summer release or a Christmas release? Summer. + + As another example, imagine that you were just hired to be the production designer on the new film Alien. It will be your job to design the spaceship where most of the movie takes place. What does it look like? If you knew nothing at all about the movie, you might sensibly start by looking at old spaceship designs. For instance, think of the cool, immaculate interior of the Enterprise on Star Trek. + + Then your boss tells you that the vision for the movie is “Jaws on a spaceship.” That changes everything. Jaws was not cool or immaculate. Richard Dreyfus navigated around on a rickety old boat. Decisions were rushed, slapdash, claustrophobic, anxiety-ridden. The environment was sweaty. As you think about what made Jaws tick, your ideas start to take shape: The ship will be underdeveloped, dingy, and oppressive. The crew members will not wear bright Lycra uniforms. The rooms will not be well lit and lintless. + + High-concept pitches are Hollywood’s version of core proverbs. Like most proverbs, they tap the power of analogy. By invoking schemas that already exist (e.g., what the movie Jaws is like), the proverbs radically accelerate the learning process for people working on a brand-new movie. + + Obviously, a good pitch is not synonymous with a good movie. “Jaws on a spaceship” could have turned into a terrible movie if it weren’t for the contributions of hundreds of talented people over a period of years. On the other hand, a bad pitch—a bad proverb—is plenty to ruin a movie. No director could save “Terms of Endearment on a spaceship.” + + If high-concept pitches can have this power in the movie world—an environment filled with forty times the normal density of egos—we should feel confident that we can harness the same power in our own environments. + + Generative Analogies + + Some analogies are so useful that they don’t merely shed light on a concept, they actually become platforms for novel thinking. For example, the metaphor of the brain as a computer has been central to the insights generated by cognitive psychologists during the past fifty years. It’s easier to define how a computer works than to define how the brain works. For this reason it can be fruitful for psychologists to use various, well-understood aspects of a computer—such as memory, buffers, or processors—as inspiration to locate similar functions in the brain. + + Good metaphors are “generative.” The psychologist Donald Schon introduced this term to describe metaphors that generate “new perceptions, explanations, and inventions.” Many simple sticky ideas are actually generative metaphors in disguise. For example, Disney calls its employees “cast members.” This metaphor of employees as cast members in a theatrical production is communicated consistently throughout the organization: + + + + • Cast members don’t interview for a job, they audition for a role. + + • When they are walking around the park, they are onstage. + + • People visiting Disney are guests, not customers. + + • Jobs are performances; uniforms are costumes. + + + + The theater metaphor is immensely useful for Disney employees. It is so useful that just by reading the last few paragraphs you can probably predict how cast members should behave in situations we haven’t discussed. For instance, you can probably guess that employees are not allowed to be on break while in costume and in a public area. (An actor would never have a chat and a cigarette in mid-scene.) You might guess that street sweepers are evaluated on criteria other than the cleanliness of their sidewalks. Indeed, street sweepers are some of the most highly trained cast members, since their very visible public presence—coupled with the fact that they are clearly Disney employees—makes them an obvious target for customers’ questions about rides, parades, and restroom locations. Having them think of their role as performance, rather than maintenance, is a key part of the park’s success. “Employees as cast members” is a generative metaphor that has worked for Disney for more than fifty years. + + Contrast Disney with Subway. Like Disney, Subway has created a metaphor for its frontline employees. They are “sandwich artists.” This metaphor is the evil twin of Disney’s “cast members.” It is utterly useless as a guide to how the employee should act. Disney expects its cast members to behave like actors, but Subway does not expect its counter help to behave like artists. The defining trait of an “artist” is individual expression. We wonder how long an employee would last at Subway if she exhibited a lot of individual expression—in dress, in interaction, in the presentation of sandwiches. No doubt Subway’s sandwich artists are trusted to place a handful of onions on a twelve-inch sub, and it’s true that this is a certain kind of liberty. But one suspects that the counter person’s “artistry” can’t extend to adding an extra slice of turkey. + + The Power of Simplicity + + Generative metaphors and proverbs both derive their power from a clever substitution: They substitute something easy to think about for something difficult. The proverb “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush” gives us a tangible, easily processed statement that we can use for guidance in complex, emotionally fraught situations. Generative metaphors perform a similar role. The “cast members” at Disney might find it easier to tackle a new situation from the perspective of a hired actor than from their own unique individual perspective. + + Proverbs are the Holy Grail of simplicity. Coming up with a short, compact phrase is easy. Anybody can do it. On the other hand, coming up with a profound compact phrase is incredibly difficult. What we’ve tried to show in this chapter is that the effort is worth it—that “finding the core,” and expressing it in the form of a compact idea, can be enduringly powerful. + + + + + + UNEXPECTED + + By FAA edict, a flight attendant must make a safety announcement before a passenger plane takes off. We’ve all heard it: where the exits are, what to do in case of a “sudden change in cabin pressure,” how to use your seat as a flotation device, and why you shouldn’t smoke in the lavatories (or tinker with the smoke alarm). + + Flight-safety announcements might be labeled a tough message environment. No one cares about what’s being communicated. The flight attendant doesn’t care. The passengers don’t care. Filibusters are fascinating by comparison. + + What if you were asked to make the safety announcement? Worse, what if you actually needed people to listen to you? How would you handle it? + + A flight attendant named Karen Wood faced exactly this situation and solved it with creativity. On a flight from Dallas to San Diego, she made the following announcement: + + + + If I could have your attention for a few moments, we sure would love to point out these safety features. If you haven’t been in an automobile since 1965, the proper way to fasten your seat belt is to slide the flat end into the buckle. To unfasten, lift up on the buckle and it will release. + + And as the song goes, there might be fifty ways to leave your lover, but there are only six ways to leave this aircraft: two forward exit doors, two over-wing removable window exits, and two aft exit doors. The location of each exit is clearly marked with signs overhead, as well as red and white disco lights along the floor of the aisle. + + Made ya look! + + + + It didn’t take long for passengers to tune into Wood’s comic spiel. When she wrapped up her announcement, scattered applause broke out. (And if a well-designed message can make people applaud for a safety announcement there’s hope for all of us.) + + The first problem of communication is getting people’s attention. Some communicators have the authority to demand attention. Parents are good at this: “Bobby, look at me!” Most of the time, though, we can’t demand attention; we must attract it. This is a tougher challenge. People say, “You can’t make people pay attention,” and there is a commonsense ring to that. But wait a minute: That’s exactly what Karen Wood did. She made people pay attention, and she didn’t even need to raise her voice. + + The most basic way to get someone’s attention is this: Break a pattern. Humans adapt incredibly quickly to consistent patterns. Consistent sensory stimulation makes us tune out: Think of the hum of an air conditioner, or traffic noise, or the smell of a candle, or the sight of a bookshelf. We may become consciously aware of these things only when something changes: The air conditioner shuts off. Your spouse rearranges the books. + + Wood got people’s attention in a message-hostile environment by avoiding the same generic safety spiel that her passengers had heard many times. She told jokes, which not only got people’s attention but kept it. But if getting attention had been Wood’s only concern, she wouldn’t have needed to be so entertaining. She could have gotten passengers’ attention just as easily by starting the announcement and then suddenly pausing in midsentence. Or switching to Russian for a few seconds. + + Our brain is designed to be keenly aware of changes. Smart product designers are well aware of this tendency. They make sure that, when products require users to pay attention, something changes. Warning lights blink on and off because we would tune out a light that was constantly on. Old emergency sirens wailed in a two-note pattern, but modern sirens wail in a more complex pattern that’s even more attention-grabbing. Car alarms make diabolical use of our change sensitivity. + + This chapter focuses on two essential questions: How do I get people’s attention? And, just as crucially, How do I keep it? We can’t succeed if our messages don’t break through the clutter to get people’s attention. Furthermore, our messages are usually complex enough that we won’t succeed if we can’t keep people’s attention. + + To understand the answers to these two questions, we have to understand two essential emotions—surprise and interest—that are commonly provoked by naturally sticky ideas. + + + + • Surprise gets our attention. Some naturally sticky ideas propose surprising “facts”: The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space! You use only 10 percent of your brain! You should drink eight glasses of water a day! Urban legends frequently contain surprising plot twists. + + • Interest keeps our attention. There are classes of sticky ideas that maintain our interest over time. Conspiracy theories keep people ravenously collecting new information. Gossip keeps us coming back to our friends for developments. + + + + Naturally sticky ideas are frequently unexpected. If we can make our ideas more unexpected, they will be stickier. But can you generate “unexpectedness”? Isn’t “planned unexpectedness” an oxymoron? + + GETTING PEOPLE’S ATTENTION + + No One Ever Does + + The television commercial for the new Enclave minivan opens with the Enclave sitting in front of a park. A boy holding a football helmet climbs into the minivan, followed by his two younger sisters. “Introducing the all-new Enclave,” begins a woman’s voice-over. Dad is behind the wheel and Mom is in the passenger seat. Cup holders are everywhere. Dad starts the car and pulls away from the curb. “It’s a minivan to the max.” + + The minivan cruises slowly through suburban streets. “With features like remote-controlled sliding rear doors, 150 cable channels, a full sky-view roof, temperature-controlled cup holders, and the six-point navigation system. . .It’s the minivan for families on the go.” + + The Enclave pulls to a stop at an intersection. The camera zooms in on the boy, gazing out a side window that reflects giant, leafy trees. Dad pulls into the intersection. + + That’s when it happens. + + A speeding car barrels into the intersection and broadsides the minivan. There is a terrifying collision, with metal buckling and an explosion of broken glass. + + The screen fades to black, and a message appears: “Didn’t see that coming?” + + The question fades and is replaced by a statement: “No one ever does.” + + With the sound of a stuck horn blaring in the background, a few final words flash across the screen: “Buckle up. . .Always.” + + There is no Enclave minivan. This ad was created by the Ad Council. (The Enclave spot was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation.) The Ad Council, founded in 1942, has launched many successful campaigns, from the World War II–era “Loose Lips Sink Ships” to the more recent “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.” The Enclave ad, like many other Council ads, capitalizes on the second characteristic of sticky ideas: Unexpectedness. + + The Enclave ad is unexpected because it violates our schema for car commercials. We know how car commercials are supposed to behave. Pickups climb mountains of boulders. Sports cars zip along vacant curvy roads. SUVs carry yuppies through forests to waterfalls. And minivans deliver kids to soccer practice. No one dies, ever. + + The ad is unexpected in a second way: It violates our schema of real-life neighborhood trips. We take thousands of trips in our neighborhoods, and the vast majority of them end safely. The commercial reminds us that accidents are inherently unexpected—we ought to buckle up, just in case. + + Our schemas are like guessing machines. Schemas help us predict what will happen and, consequently, how we should make decisions. The Enclave asks, “Didn’t see that coming?” No, we didn’t. Our guessing machines failed, which caused us to be surprised. + + Emotions are elegantly tuned to help us deal with critical situations. They prepare us for different ways of acting and thinking. We’ve all heard that anger prepares us to fight and fear prepares us to flee. The linkages between emotion and behavior can be more subtle, though. For instance, a secondary effect of being angry, which was recently discovered by researchers, is that we become more certain of our judgments. When we’re angry, we know we’re right, as anyone who has been in a relationship can attest. + + So if emotions have biological purposes, then what is the biological purpose of surprise? Surprise jolts us to attention. Surprise is triggered when our schemas fail, and it prepares us to understand why the failure occurred. When our guessing machines fail, surprise grabs our attention so that we can repair them for the future. + + The Surprise Brow + + Surprise is associated with a facial expression that is consistent across cultures. In a book called Unmasking the Face, Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen coined a term, “the surprise brow,” to describe the distinctive facial expression of surprise: “The eyebrows appear curved and high…. The skin below the brow has been stretched by the lifting of the brow, and is more visible than usual.” + + When our brows go up, it widens our eyes and gives us a broader field of vision—the surprise brow is our body’s way of forcing us to see more. We may also do a double take to make sure that we saw what we thought we saw. By way of contrast, when we’re angry our eyes narrow so that we can focus on a known problem. In addition to making our eyebrows rise, surprise causes our jaws to drop and our mouths to gape. We’re struck momentarily speechless. Our bodies temporarily stop moving and our muscles go slack. It’s as though our bodies want to ensure that we’re not talking or moving when we ought to be taking in new information. + + So surprise acts as a kind of emergency override when we confront something unexpected and our guessing machines fail. Things come to a halt, ongoing activities are interrupted, our attention focuses involuntarily on the event that surprised us. When a minivan commercial ends in a bloodcurdling crash, we stop and wonder, What is going on? + + Unexpected ideas are more likely to stick because surprise makes us pay attention and think. That extra attention and thinking sears unexpected events into our memories. Surprise gets our attention. Sometimes the attention is fleeting, but in other cases surprise can lead to enduring attention. Surprise can prompt us to hunt for underlying causes, to imagine other possibilities, to figure out how to avoid surprises in the future. + + Researchers who study conspiracy theories, for instance, have noted that many of them arise when people are grappling with unexpected events, such as when the young and attractive die suddenly. There are conspiracy theories about the sudden deaths of JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and Kurt Cobain. There tends to be less conspiratorial interest in the sudden deaths of ninety-year-olds. + + Surprise makes us want to find an answer—to resolve the question of why we were surprised—and big surprises call for big answers. If we want to motivate people to pay attention, we should seize the power of big surprises. + + Avoiding Gimmickry + + Going for a big surprise, though, can cause a big problem. It’s easy to step over the line into gimmickry. + + The late 1990s was the heyday of the dot-com bubble. Venture-backed start-ups poured millions of dollars into advertising to establish their brands. With increasing amounts of money chasing a finite amount of consumer attention, ads had to work harder and harder to provoke surprise and interest. + + During the Super Bowl of 2000, an ad ran that opened with a college marching band practicing on a football field. We’re shown closeups of the band members as they execute their precision movements. Then we cut to the stadium tunnel, which leads out onto the field—and suddenly a dozen ravenous wolves rush onto the field. Band members scatter in terror as the wolves hunt them down and attack. + + What was this advertisement for? We have no idea. There’s no question that this ad was surprising and memorable. To this day, we remember the tastelessly comic image of the wolves chasing the terrified band members. But because the surprise was utterly non-germane to the message that needed to be communicated, it was worthless. If the product being advertised had been “mauling-proof band uniforms,” on the other hand, the ad could have been an award winner. + + In this sense, the wolves ad is the opposite of the Enclave ad. Both ads contain powerful surprises, but only the Enclave ad uses that surprise to reinforce its core message. In Chapter 1 we discussed the importance of finding the core in your ideas. Using surprise in the service of a core message can be extremely powerful. + + Hension and Phraug + + Below is a list of four words. Read each one and take a second to determine whether it’s a real English word. + + + + HENSION + + BARDLE + + PHRAUG + + TAYBL + + + + According to Bruce Whittlesea and Lisa Williams, the researchers who developed this task, “PHRAUG and TAYBL often cause raised eyebrows, and an ‘Oh!’ reaction. HENSION and BARDLE often cause a frown.” + + PHRAUG and TAYBL cause the surprise brow because they look unfamiliar but sound familiar. The “Oh!” reaction comes when we realize that PHRAUG is just a funny way to spell FROG. + + HENSION and BARDLE are more troubling. They seem oddly familiar, because they borrow letter combinations from common words. They have the look of SAT words—fancy vocabulary that we should probably know but don’t. But HENSION and BARDLE are made-up words. When we realize that we’ve been struggling to find a nonexistent solution, we get frustrated. + + HENSION and BARDLE provide an example of surprise without insight. So far, we’ve talked a lot about the power of surprise, and how surprise can make our ideas stickier. But although HENSION and BARDLE are surprising, they aren’t sticky; they’re just frustrating. What we see now is that surprise isn’t enough. We also need insight. + + To be surprising, an event can’t be predictable. Surprise is the opposite of predictability. But, to be satisfying, surprise must be “postdictable.” The twist makes sense after you think about it, but it’s not something you would have seen coming. PHRAUG is post-dictable, but HENSION isn’t. Contrast the feeling you get from TV shows or films, such as The Sixth Sense, that have great surprise endings—endings that unite clues that you’ve been exposed to all along—with the feeling you get from gimmicky, unforeseeable endings (“It was all a dream”). + + We started the chapter by pointing out that surprise happens when our guessing machines fail. The emotion of surprise is designed to focus our attention on the failure, so that we can improve our guessing machines for the future. Then we drew a distinction between gimmicky surprise, like dot-com ads, and meaningful post-dictable surprise. + + Here is the bottom line for our everyday purposes: If you want your ideas to be stickier, you’ve got to break someone’s guessing machine and then fix it. But in surprising people, in breaking their guessing machines, how do we avoid gimmicky surprise, like the wolves? The easiest way to avoid gimmicky surprise and ensure that your unexpected ideas produce insight is to make sure you target an aspect of your audience’s guessing machines that relates to your core message. We’ve already seen a few examples of this strategy. + + In Chapter 1, we discussed Hoover Adams, the newspaper publisher whose mantra is “Names, names, and names.” To most local newspaper reporters, this mantra will seem like common sense. Certainly, their schemas of “good local news” involve community-focused stories. + + But that wasn’t Adams’s point. He had something much more radical in mind. So he broke their schema by saying, essentially, “If I could, I’d publish pages from the phone book to get names. In fact, if I could gather up enough names I’d hire more typesetters to lay out more pages so they’d fit.” Suddenly the reporters realized that “Names, names, and names” was not consistent with their schemas. Whereas their previous schema might have been “Try to emphasize local angles when you can,” Adams had replaced that with “Names come before everything else, even my own profitability.” That’s a message that draws power from its unexpectedness. + + Another example we discussed in Chapter 1 was Southwest Airlines’ proverb “THE low-cost airline.” Again, most Southwest staffers and customers know that Southwest is a discount airline. In that context, the proverb seems intuitive. It was only when Kelleher put teeth in the proverb—refusing to offer chicken salad to customers even if they really wanted it—that its meaning sank in. Before Kelleher, an average staffer’s guessing machine might have predicted, “We want to please our customers in a low-cost way.” After Kelleher, the guessing machine was refined to “We will be THE low-cost airline, even if it means intentionally disregarding some of our customers’ preferences.” + + So, a good process for making your ideas stickier is: (1) Identify the central message you need to communicate—find the core; (2) Figure out what is counterintuitive about the message—i.e., What are the unexpected implications of your core message? Why isn’t it already happening naturally? (3) Communicate your message in a way that breaks your audience’s guessing machines along the critical, counterintuitive dimension. Then, once their guessing machines have failed, help them refine their machines. + + Common sense is the enemy of sticky messages. When messages sound like common sense, they float gently in one ear and out the other. And why shouldn’t they? If I already intuitively “get” what you’re trying to tell me, why should I obsess about remembering it? The danger, of course, is that what sounds like common sense often isn’t, as with the Hoover Adams and Southwest examples. It’s your job, as a communicator, to expose the parts of your message that are uncommon sense. + + Tire Chains at Nordstrom + + Nordstrom is a department store known for outstanding customer service. That extra service comes at a price: Nordstrom can be an expensive place to shop. Yet many people are willing to pay higher prices precisely because Nordstrom makes shopping so much more pleasant. + + For Nordstrom’s strategy to work, it must transform its frontline employees into customer-service zealots. And they do not walk in the door that way. Most people with service experience come from environments where managers spend much of their energy trying to minimize labor costs. The prevailing schema of customer service might be, roughly, “Get customers in and out the door as fast as possible, and try to smile.” + + Job applicants at Nordstrom will likely have years of experience acting on this schema. But Nordstrom has a different philosophy: Make customers happy even at the expense of efficiency. How does Nordstrom break down one schema and replace it with another? + + The company solves this problem, in part, through unexpected stories. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, in their book Built to Last, describe stories told at Nordstrom about unexpected service by employees, who are known within the firm as “Nordies”: + + + + The Nordie who ironed a new shirt for a customer who needed it for a meeting that afternoon; + + the Nordie who cheerfully gift wrapped products a customer bought at Macy’s; + + the Nordie who warmed customers’ cars in winter while they finished shopping; + + the Nordie who made a last-minute delivery of party clothes to a frantic hostess; + + and even the Nordie who refunded money for a set of tire chains—although Nordstrom doesn’t sell tire chains. + + + + You can imagine the surprise, if not shock, that these stories provoke in new Nordstrom employees. “Wrap a gift from Macy’s! I don’t get it. What’s in it for us?” These stories attack the unspoken assumptions of customer service, such as: Service stops at the door of the store. Don’t waste your time on someone who’s not buying. Once you close a sale, move on to the next prospect. + + To new employees, the idea of wrapping a gift bought at a competitor’s store is so absurd, so far outside the bounds of their existing notion of “service,” that the story stops them in their tracks. Their guessing machines have been broken. Their old “good service” guessing machine would never have produced the idea of altruistic gift-wrapping. The stories provide the first step toward replacing a new employee’s schema of “good service” with the Nordstrom service schema. + + In this way, Nordstrom breaks through the complacency of common sense. Instead of spreading stories about “Nordies,” Nordstrom could simply tell its employees that its mission is to provide “the best customer service in the industry.” This statement may be true, but, unfortunately, it sounds like something that JCPenney or Sears might also tell its employees. To make a message stick, you’ve got to push it beyond common sense to uncommon sense. “Great customer service” is common sense. Warming customers’ cars in the winter is uncommon sense. + + Note that these stories would be even more unexpected—and even less commonsensical—if they were told about a 7-Eleven employee. “Yeah, I went in to get a pack of smokes and the counter clerk ironed my shirt!” The value of the stories does not come from unexpectedness in and of itself. The value comes from the perfect alignment between Nordstrom’s goals and the content of the stories. These stories could just as easily be destructive in another context. The 7-Eleven management does not want to face an epidemic of gift-wrapping clerks. + + Nordstrom’s stories are a classic example of the power of unexpectedness. There’s no danger that the stories will feel gimmicky, because the surprise is followed by insight—the stories tell us what it means to be a good Nordstrom employee. It’s uncommon sense in the service of a core message. + + Journalism 101 + + Nora Ephron is a screenwriter whose scripts for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, and Sleepless in Seattle have all been nominated for Academy Awards. Ephron started her career as a journalist for the New York Post and Esquire. She became a journalist because of her high school journalism teacher. + + Ephron still remembers the first day of her journalism class. Although the students had no journalism experience, they walked into their first class with a sense of what a journalist does: A journalists gets the facts and reports them. To get the facts, you track down the five Ws—who, what, where, when, and why. + + As students sat in front of their manual typewriters, Ephron’s teacher announced the first assignment. They would write the lead of a newspaper story. The teacher reeled off the facts: “Kenneth L. Peters, the principal of Beverly Hills High School, announced today that the entire high school faculty will travel to Sacramento next Thursday for a colloquium in new teaching methods. Among the speakers will be anthropologist Margaret Mead, college president Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins, and California governor Edmund ‘Pat’ Brown.” + + The budding journalists sat at their typewriters and pecked away at the first lead of their careers. According to Ephron, she and most of the other students produced leads that reordered the facts and condensed them into a single sentence: “Governor Pat Brown, Margaret Mead, and Robert Maynard Hutchins will address the Beverly Hills High School faculty Thursday in Sacramento. . .blah, blah, blah.” + + The teacher collected the leads and scanned them rapidly. Then he laid them aside and paused for a moment. + + Finally, he said, “The lead to the story is ‘There will be no school next Thursday.’” + + “It was a breathtaking moment,” Ephron recalls. “In that instant I realized that journalism was not just about regurgitating the facts but about figuring out the point. It wasn’t enough to know the who, what, when, and where; you had to understand what it meant. And why it mattered.” For the rest of the year, she says, every assignment had a secret—a hidden point that the students had to figure out in order to produce a good story. + + + + This idea should be in the Sticky Hall of Fame. This teacher had a huge impact not because he was a dynamic speaker or a caring mentor—though he may have been both—but because he crafted a brilliant idea. It was an idea that, in a matter of seconds, rewrote the schema of journalism in the minds of his students. An idea that changed a student’s career plans and stuck with her thirty years later. + + What made this idea work? First, the teacher knew that the students had a defective schema of journalism, and he knew how it was defective. Second, he made them publicly commit to their defective models with the “write the lead” assignment. Then he pulled the rug out from under them with a well-structured surprise. By revealing the right lead—“There will be no school next Thursday”—he took their mental models, gave them a swift kick, and made them work better. + + + + + +* * * + + + +Does America Spend Too Much on Foreign Aid? + + THE SITUATION: Over the years, polls have shown that the majority of Americans think the federal government spends too much on foreign aid. The ratio has dropped toward fifty/fifty since 9/11, but half of Americans still think we overspend. Let’s look at two arguments that try to persuade people that we spend too little, not too much. + + + + MESSAGE 1: Here is a message from the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, a Catholic advocacy group: + + Americans persist in thinking we spend too much on foreign aid despite honest efforts to inform the public by the State Department and other government agencies. Even President Bush’s proposed increases, though welcome, will not make the United States generous in its foreign assistance. In fiscal year 2003, the Bush administration will spend about $15-billion in foreign aid, but over $7-billion of this amount—almost half—will be military, not economic assistance. The $8-billion in foreign economic assistance is, according to a recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, less than the cost of one month of war with Iraq. Of all the industrialized nations, the U.S. spends proportionally the least amount on foreign aid, and has for many years. All of sub-Saharan Africa receives just over $1-billion of economic assistance, about the cost of a B-2 bomber. Our foreign aid programs do not support our belief that we are a nation known for its good works around the world. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: First, notice that the lead has been buried. The last sentence is the most effective argument. Americans’ schema of the United States is that it is a generous, caring country—“known for its good works around the world.” The way to break that schema is to lay out the blunt fact that the United States “spends proportionally the least amount on foreign aid, and has for many years.” + + The numbers in billions are unlikely to stick—huge numbers are difficult to grasp and hard to remember. One effective part of the message, in combating this “big-number problem,” is the analogy comparing our sub-Saharan Africa aid to the cost of a single B-2 bomber. We really like this comparison, because it puts the reader in a decision-making mode: “Would I trade one B-2 bomber for the chance to double aid to sub-Saharan Africa?” + + To make this message stickier, let’s try two things. First, let’s just reshuffle the great raw materials that are already there while down playing the numbers in the billions. Second, let’s choose a concrete comparison that has a better emotional resonance. Some people might think B-2 bombers are a reasonable expense. Let’s try to create a comparison that would be more unexpected because it’s clearly frivolous. + + + + MESSAGE 2: Our foreign-aid programs do not support our belief that we are a nation known for its good works around the world. The public believes we spend a great deal more money helping other countries than we actually do. Polls suggest that most Americans think the federal government spends about 10 to 15 percent of its budget on foreign aid. The truth is that we spend less than 1 percent, the lowest of any industrialized nation. + + All of sub-Saharan Africa receives just over $1 billion in economic aid. If everyone in the United States gave up one soft drink a month, we could double our current aid to Africa. If everyone gave up one movie a year, we could double our current aid to Africa and Asia. + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2: Here’s what we tried to do to make this message stickier: First, we built interest by quickly and directly breaking our schema of a “generous America.” We also shifted the conversation to percentages, which are easier to understand than billions. Second, we tried to make the B-2 analogy more concrete by replacing it with soft drinks and movies. Soft drinks and movies are more tangible—does anyone really have a “gut feel” for what a B-2 bomber costs, or what it’s worth? Soft drinks and movies, because they are frivolous expenses, also provide an emotional contrast to the critical human needs present in Africa. + + + + + + PUNCH LINE: The best way to get people’s attention is to break their existing schemas directly. + + + +* * * + + + + KEEPING PEOPLE’S ATTENTION The Mystery of the Rings + + We began this chapter with two questions: How do we get people’s attention? And how do we keep it? So far, most of our unexpected ideas represent relatively simple, quick adjustments to a model. They may be profound—as with Nora Ephron’s journalism teacher—but they happen rapidly, so they only need to get people’s attention for a short time. Sometimes, though, our messages are more complex. How do we get people to stick with us through a more complex message? How do we keep people’s attention? + + A few years ago, Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist at Arizona State University, set out to improve the way he talked about science in his writing and in his classes. For inspiration, he went to the library. He pulled down every book he could find in which scientists were writing for an audience of nonscientists. He photocopied sections of prose that he liked. Later, flipping through his stack of copied passages, he hunted for consistencies. + + In passages that weren’t interesting, he found mostly what he expected. The purpose wasn’t clear, and the prose was too formal and riddled with jargon. He also found a lot of predictable virtues in the good passages: The structure was clear, the examples vivid, and the language fluid. “But,” says Cialdini, “I also found something I had not expected—the most successful of these pieces all began with a mystery story. The authors described a state of affairs that seemed to make no sense and then invited the reader into the material as a way of solving the mystery.” + + One example that stuck in his mind was written by an astronomer, who began with a puzzle: + + + + How can we account for what is perhaps the most spectacular planetary feature in our solar system, the rings of Saturn? There’s nothing else like them. What are the rings of Saturn made of anyway? + + And then he deepened the mystery further by asking, “How could three internationally acclaimed groups of scientists come to wholly different conclusions on the answer?” One, at Cambridge University, proclaimed they were gas; another group, at MIT, was convinced they were made up of dust particles; while the third, at Cal Tech, insisted they were comprised of ice crystals. How could this be, after all, each group was looking at the same thing, right? So, what was the answer? + + + + The answer unfolded like the plot of a mystery. The teams of scientists pursued promising leads, they hit dead ends, they chased clues. Eventually, after many months of effort, there was a breakthrough. Cialdini says, “Do you know what the answer was at the end of twenty pages? Dust. Dust. Actually, ice-covered dust, which accounts for some of the confusion. Now, I don’t care about dust, and the makeup of the rings of Saturn is entirely irrelevant to my life. But that writer had me turning pages like a speed-reader.” + + Mysteries are powerful, Cialdini says, because they create a need for closure. “You’ve heard of the famous Aha! experience, right?” he says. “Well, the Aha! experience is much more satisfying when it is preceded by the Huh? experience.” + + By creating a mystery, the writer-astronomer made dust interesting. He sustained attention, not just for the span of a punch line but for the span of a twenty-page article dense with information on scientific theories and experimentation. + + Cialdini began to create mysteries in his own classroom, and the power of the approach quickly became clear. He would introduce the mystery at the start of class, return to it during the lecture, and reveal the answer at the end. In one lecture, though, the end-of-class bell rang before he had time to reveal the solution. He says, “Normally five to ten minutes before the scheduled end time, some students start preparing to leave. You know the signals—pencils are put away, notebooks folded, backpacks zipped up.” This time, though, the class was silent. “After the bell rang, no one moved. In fact, when I tried to end the lecture without revealing the mystery, I was pelted with protests.” He said he felt as if he’d discovered dynamite. + + Cialdini believes that a major benefit of teaching using mysteries is that “the process of resolving mysteries is remarkably similar to the process of science.” So, by using mysteries, teachers don’t just heighten students’ interest in the day’s material; they train them to think like scientists. + + Science doesn’t have a monopoly on mysteries. Mysteries exist wherever there are questions without obvious answers. Why is it so hard to get pandas at the zoo to breed? Why don’t customers like our new product? What’s the best way to teach kids about fractions? + + Notice what is happening here: We have now moved to a higher level of unexpectedness. In the Nordstrom example, the Nordie stories had a punchy immediacy: Nordies warm up customers’ cars! When you hear this, your past schema of customer service is called up, contradicted, and refined, all in a short period of time. Mysteries act differently. Mystery is created not from an unexpected moment but from an unexpected journey. We know where we’re headed—we want to solve the mystery—but we’re not sure how we’ll get there. + + A schema violation is a onetime transaction. Boom, something has changed. If we were told that the rings of Saturn were made of dryer lint, a schema would be violated. We could call it “first-level” unexpectedness. But the actual “rings of Saturn mystery” is more extended and subtle. We are told that scientists do not know what Saturn’s rings are made of, and we’re asked to follow on a journey whose ending is unpredictable. That’s second-level unexpectedness. In this way, we jump from fleeting surprise to enduring interest. + + Curiosity in Hollywood Screenplays + + Early in the movie Trading Places, Billy Ray Valentine (played by Eddie Murphy), an apparently legless beggar, is using his arms to push himself around on a skateboardish contraption in a public park. He begs for money from passersby and harasses an attractive woman for a date. A couple of cops approach. As they jerk him up, his legs—perfectly normal legs—are exposed. Valentine is a con artist. + + Later in the movie, the Duke brothers—two elderly business-men—intervene to get Valentine out of jail, persuading the cops to release him into their custody. A couple of scenes later, Valentine appears, dressed in a three-piece suit, in a wood-paneled office. The Duke brothers have turned him into a commodities trader. + + Robert McKee, the screenwriting guru, uses this example to illustrate the concept of a “Turning Point.” McKee knows something about how to hold an audience’s attention. His screenwriting seminars play to packed auditoriums of aspiring screenwriters, who pay five hundred dollars a head to listen to his thoughts. The Village Voice described his course as “damned near indispensable not only for writers, but also for actors, directors, reviewers, and garden-variety cinephiles.” His students have written, directed, or produced television shows such as E.R., Hill Street Blues, and The X-Files, and movies ranging from The Color Purple to Forrest Gump and Friday the 13th. + + McKee says, “Curiosity is the intellectual need to answer questions and close open patterns. Story plays to this universal desire by doing the opposite, posing questions and opening situations.” In Trading Places, the Turning Point with Billy Ray and the Duke brothers makes the audience curious. How will Valentine, the street-smart con man, fare as a trader? + + In McKee’s view, a great script is designed so that every scene is a Turning Point. “Each Turning Point hooks curiosity. The audience wonders, What will happen next? and How will it turn out? The answer to this will not arrive until the Climax of the last act, and so the audience, held by curiosity, stays put.” McKee notes that the How will it turn out? question is powerful enough to keep us watching even when we know better. “Think of all the bad films you’ve sat through just to get the answer to that nagging question.” + + What will happen next? How will it turn out? We want to answer these questions, and that desire keeps us interested. It keeps us watching bad movies—but it might also keep us reading long scientific articles. McKee and Cialdini have come up with similar solutions to very different problems. + + Yet there are other domains where people can be rabidly interested in something that lacks this sense of mystery. Kids who obsessively memorize Pokémon characters and their traits are motivated by something, but it isn’t What will happen next? It isn’t a sense of an unfolding mystery that keeps car buffs plowing through every issue of Car & Driver. But, as we’ll discover, Pokémon fans and car buffs have something in common with movie viewers and students in an intriguing lecture. + + Psychologists have studied this question—What makes people interested?—for decades. The holy grail of research on interest is to find a way to describe situational interest. In other words, what features of a situation spark and elevate interest? What makes situations interesting? As it turns out, Cialdini and McKee were pretty close to the mark. + + The “Gap Theory” of Curiosity + + In 1994, George Loewenstein, a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon University, provided the most comprehensive account of situational interest. It is surprisingly simple. Curiosity, he says, happens when we feel a gap in our knowledge. + + Loewenstein argues that gaps cause pain. When we want to know something but don’t, it’s like having an itch that we need to scratch. To take away the pain, we need to fill the knowledge gap. We sit patiently through bad movies, even though they may be painful to watch, because it’s too painful not to know how they end. + + This “gap theory” of interest seems to explain why some domains create fanatical interest: They naturally create knowledge gaps. Take movies, for instance. McKee’s language is similar to Loewenstein’s: McKee says, “Story works by posing questions and opening situations.” Movies cause us to ask, What will happen? Mystery novels cause us to ask, Who did it? Sports contests cause us to ask, Who will win? Crossword puzzles cause us to ask, What is a six-letter word for “psychiatrist”? Pokémon cards cause kids to wonder, Which characters am I missing? + + One important implication of the gap theory is that we need to open gaps before we close them. Our tendency is to tell people the facts. First, though, they must realize that they need these facts. The trick to convincing people that they need our message, according to Loewenstein, is to first highlight some specific knowledge that they’re missing. We can pose a question or puzzle that confronts people with a gap in their knowledge. We can point out that someone else knows something they don’t. We can present them with situations that have unknown resolutions, such as elections, sports events, or mysteries. We can challenge them to predict an outcome (which creates two knowledge gaps—What will happen? and Was I right?). + + As an example, most local news programs run teaser ads for upcoming broadcasts. The teasers preview the lead story of the evening, usually in laughably hyperbolic terms: “There’s a new drug sweeping the teenage community—and it may be in your own medicine cabinet!” “Which famous local restaurant was just cited—for slime in the ice machine?” “There’s an invisible chemical in your home—and it may be killing you right now!” + + These are sensationalist examples of the gap theory. They work because they tease you with something that you don’t know—in fact, something that you didn’t care about at all, until you found out that you didn’t know it. “Is my daughter strung out on one of my old prescriptions? I wonder if I ate at the restaurant with the slime?” + + A little dollop of the news-teaser approach can make our communications a lot more interesting, as we’ll see in the Clinic. + + + + + +* * * + + + +An Internal Presentation on Fund-raising + + THE SITUATION: Imagine that you’re the fund-raising manager for a local theater company. Your job is to help raise donations to support the theater. It’s now the end of the year, and you’re preparing a summary presentation for the theater’s board of directors. + + + + MESSAGE 1: (Both messages in this Clinic are made up.) + + This year we targeted support from theatergoers under thirty-five. Our goal is to increase donations from younger patrons, who have traditionally composed a much greater percentage of our audience than of our donor base. To reach them, we implemented a phone-based fund-raising program. Six months into the program, the response rate has been almost 20 percent, which we consider a success. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: This message is a classic summary approach. I know the facts. I’ve put the facts in a logical order and I will spoon-feed them to you. As a presentation format, it’s safe and normal and thoroughly nonsticky. + + In improving this message, we need to think about how to elicit interest rather than force-feeding facts. We’ll try to add a dash of the news-teaser approach. + + + + MESSAGE 2: This year we set out to answer a question: Why do people under thirty-five, who make up 40 percent of our audience, provide only 10 percent of our donations? Our theory was that they didn’t realize how much we rely on charitable donations to do our work, so we decided to try calling them with a short overview of our business and our upcoming shows. Going into the six-month test, we thought a 10 percent response rate would be a success. Before I tell you what happened, let me remind you of how we set up the program. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2:This approach is inspired by the gap theory. The goal is not to summarize; it’s to make you care about knowing something, and then to tell you what you want to know. Like the Saturn rings mystery, it starts with a puzzle: Why don’t young people donate more? Then we present a theory and a way of testing it. The mystery engages the members of our audience, causing them to wonder what happened and whether our theory was right. + + The improvement here is driven by structure, not content. Let’s face it, this is not a particularly interesting mystery. It would never make an episode of Law & Order. But our minds are extremely generous when it comes to mysteries—the format is inherently appealing. + + + + + + PUNCH LINE: To hold people’s interest, we can use the gap theory of curiosity to our advantage. A little bit of mystery goes a long way. + + + +* * * + + + + + + The news-teaser approach can be used with all sorts of ideas in all sorts of contexts. To make our communications more effective, we need to shift our thinking from “What information do I need to convey?” to “What questions do I want my audience to ask?” + + Battling Overconfidence + + The gap theory relies on our ability to point out things that people don’t know. One complication is that people tend to think they know a lot. Research has shown that we are typically overconfident about how much we know. + + In one study, researchers asked people to consider the serious parking problem faced by their university. Participants were given time to generate as many solutions as they could. The participants generated, in total, about 300 solutions, which were classified into seven major categories. One category suggested ways to reduce demand for parking (e.g., by raising parking fees), and another suggested ways to use parking space more efficiently (e.g., by creating spaces for “Compact Cars Only”). + + The average participant failed to identify more than 70 percent of the best solutions identified by an expert panel. This failure is understandable; we wouldn’t expect any one person to be able to generate a database worth of solutions. However, when the individuals were asked to assess their own performance, they predicted that they had identified 75 percent. They thought they got the majority, but in reality they’d missed them. + + If people believe they know everything, it’s hard to make the gap theory work. Fortunately, there are strategies for combating overconfidence. For instance, Nora Ephron’s journalism teacher prevented overconfidence by causing the students’ schemas of journalism to fail. He made them commit to their preconceived ideas and then pulled the rug out from under them. + + Making people commit to a prediction can help prevent overconfidence. Eric Mazur, a physics professor at Harvard, came up with a pedagogical innovation known as “concept testing.” Every so often in his classes, Mazur will pose a conceptual question and then ask his students to vote publicly on the answer. The simple act of committing to an answer makes the students more engaged and more curious about the outcome. + + Overconfident people are more likely to recognize a knowledge gap when they realize that others disagree with them. Nancy Lowry and David Johnson studied a teaching environment where fifth and sixth graders were assigned to interact on a topic. With one group, the discussion was led in a way that fostered a consensus. With the second group, the discussion was designed to produce disagreements about the right answer. + + Students who achieved easy consensus were less interested in the topic, studied less, and were less likely to visit the library to get additional information. The most telling difference, though, was revealed when teachers showed a special film about the discussion topic—during recess! Only 18 percent of the consensus students missed recess to see the film, but 45 percent of the students from the disagreement group stayed for the film. The thirst to fill a knowledge gap—to find out who was right—can be more powerful than the thirst for slides and jungle gyms. + + Gaps Start with Knowledge + + If curiosity arises from knowledge gaps, we might assume that when we know more, we’ll become less curious because there are fewer gaps in our knowledge. But Loewenstein argues that the opposite is true. He says that as we gain information we are more and more likely to focus on what we don’t know. Someone who knows the state capitals of 17 of 50 states may be proud of her knowledge. But someone who knows 47 may be more likely to think of herself as not knowing 3 capitals. + + Some topics naturally highlight gaps in our knowledge. Human-interest stories are fascinating because we know what it’s like to be human—but we don’t know what it’s like to have certain dramatic experiences. How does it feel to win an Olympic medal? How does it feel to win the Lotto? How did it feel to be conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker (each of whom not only married but had ten children. . .which sparks several additional lines of questioning)? + + Gossip is popular because we know a lot about some people but there’s some information that we lack. We don’t gossip about passing acquaintances. Celebrity gossip is particularly tantalizing. We have a sense of who Tiger Woods and Julia Roberts are, but we crave the missing pieces—their quirks, their romantic struggles, their secret vices. + + Curiosity comes from gaps in our knowledge. But what if there’s not much knowledge there to begin with? In the 1960s, an upstart television network, American Broadcasting Corporation, signed a contract to televise NCAA football games. College sports is a classic insiders’ topic. With the exception of a fringe of die-hard sports junkies, most fans usually care only about their own schools’ teams. But ABC could show only a few games each week in each region. For ABC’s bet to pay off, it needed to make viewers care about games that didn’t involve their home teams. + + How do you go about making viewers in College Station, Texas, care about the Michigan vs. Ohio State matchup? A twenty-nine-year-old named Roone Arledge, whose previous responsibilities primarily involved assigning crews to cover baseball, boxing, and football games, wrote a memo suggesting ways to improve the coverage of college football games. + + Arledge saw ample room for improvement. Sportscasters typically set up their cameras, focused on the field, and waited for something to happen in front of them. They ignored everything else—the fans, the color, the pageantry. “It was like looking out on the Grand Canyon through a peephole in a door,” Arledge said. + + One Saturday afternoon, after procrastinating all morning, he sat down to type out a proposal to his bosses: + + + + Heretofore, television has done a remarkable job of bringing the game to the viewer—now we are going to take the viewer to the game!. . . + + After our opening commercial billboards, instead of dissolving to the usual pan shots of the field we will have pre-shot film of the campus and the stadium so we can orient the viewer. He must know he is in Columbus, Ohio, where the town is football mad; or that he is part of a small but wildly enthusiastic crowd in Corvallis, Oregon. He must know what the surrounding country and campus look like, how many other people are watching this game with him, how the people dress at football games in this part of the country, and what the game means to the two schools involved. + + + + The memo was three pages long. It discussed camera angles, impact shots, opening graphics. The heart of the memo, though, was a new way of engaging viewers who might not ordinarily care about a college game in Corvallis, Oregon. The trick, Arledge said, was to give people enough context about the game so that they’d start to care. + + Other people at ABC were excited by what Arledge had written. Two days later, he was asked—at age twenty-nine, with a skimpy résumé—to produce a college-football game using the guidelines in his memo. + + Arledge intuitively made use of Loewenstein’s gap theory. How do you get people interested in a topic? You point out a gap in their knowledge. But what if they lack so much knowledge about, say, the Georgia Bulldogs, that they’ve got more of an abyss than a gap? In that case, you have to fill in enough knowledge to make the abyss into a gap. Arledge set the scene, showed the local fans, panned across the campus. He talked up the emotions, the rivalries, the histories. By the time the game started, some viewers had begun to care who won. Others were riveted. + + Arledge’s next assignment was to take over a series that was eventually renamed Wide World of Sports. The show introduced Americans to a variety of sports events they may never have seen before: the Tour de France, the Le Mans auto races, rodeo championships, ski races, and soccer matches. In covering these events, Arledge used the same philosophy he’d pioneered for the NCAA: Set the context and give people enough backstory that they start to care about the gaps in their knowledge. Who’s going to falter during the grueling twenty-four-hour Le Mans? Will the teacher turned barrel racer win the championship? What the heck is a yellow card? + + Arledge died in 2002. During his career, he became the head of ABC Sports and later ABC News. He founded the Wide World of Sports, Monday Night Football, 20/20, and Nightline. He won thirty-six Emmys. The tool kit he developed for NCAA football stood the test of time. The way to get people to care is to provide context. Today that seems obvious, because these techniques have become ubiquitous. But this avalanche of context started because a twenty-nine-year-old wrote a memo about how to make college football more interesting. + + Many teachers use some version of the Arledge tool kit to prime their students’ interest. Some label the strategy “advanced organizers.” The idea is that to engage students in a new topic you should start by highlighting some things they already know. An earth-science teacher might ask her students to bring in pictures of an earthquake’s devastation, as a way of leading up to a discussion of plate tectonics. Alternatively, the teacher can set the context, à la Arledge, so that students start to become interested. A chemistry teacher might lead into the periodic table of elements by discussing Mendeleyev and his long, passionate quest to organize the elements. In this way, the periodic table emerges from within the context of a sort of detective story. + + Knowledge gaps create interest. But to prove that the knowledge gaps exist, it may be necessary to highlight some knowledge first. “Here’s what you know. Now here’s what you’re missing.” Alternatively, you can set context so people care what comes next. It’s no accident that mystery novelists and crossword-puzzle writers give us clues. When we feel that we’re close to the solution of a puzzle, curiosity takes over and propels us to the finish. + + Treasure maps, as shown in the movies, are vague. They show a few key landmarks and a big X where the treasure is. Usually the adventurer knows just enough to find the first landmark, which becomes the first step in a long journey toward the treasure. If treasure maps were produced on MapQuest.com, with door-to-door directions, it would kill the adventure-movie genre. There is value in sequencing information—not dumping a stack of information on someone at once but dropping a clue, then another clue, then another. This method of communication resembles flirting more than lecturing. + + Unexpected ideas, by opening a knowledge gap, tease and flirt. They mark a big red X on something that needs to be discovered but don’t necessarily tell you how to get there. And, as we’ll see, a red X of spectacular size can end up driving the actions of thousands of people for many years. + + Walking on the Moon and Radios in Pockets + + In the rubble of Tokyo after World War II, a young company, later named Sony, struggled to stay in business. It attracted a handful of smart scientists and engineers, but its first innovation, an electric rice cooker, was a failure. Initially, Sony survived by repairing shortwave radios. + + Around this time, Masaru Ibuka, Sony’s lead technologist, became intrigued by transistors, which had recently been invented by a team at Bell Laboratories. Ibuka craved a “substantial” project to motivate his team of fifty scientists and engineers, and he saw tremendous promise in transistors. But when he bid to license the technology from Bell Labs, the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry denied the license. It was skeptical of the young company’s ability to manage such a cutting-edge technology. + + In 1953, Ibuka secured permission to license transistors. He had a vision for a radio that would be based on transistors. The advantage of a transistor radio was obvious to engineers; it would free radios from the big vacuum tubes that made them so bulky and unreliable. Bell Labs told Ibuka that it didn’t think a “transistor radio” was possible. His engineers began to pursue the vision anyway. + + Let’s pause here for a moment to put ourselves in Ibuka’s shoes. Your company has been struggling, and you’ve got a team of brilliant people whom you need to inspire. You have the potential to lead them in one hundred different directions—rice cookers or radios or telephones or whatever else R & D could dream up. But you’re convinced that the idea of a transistor-based radio is the most promising path. + + Your core message, then, is the dream of a transistor radio. How do you make this message unexpected? How do you engage the curiosity and interest of your team? The concept of a “transistor radio” is probably not enough, in and of itself, to motivate your team. It’s focused more on technology than on value. A transistor radio—so what? + + What about tapping into some of the classic managerial themes? Competition: “Sony will beat Bell Labs in making a transistor radio work.” Quality: “Sony will be the world’s most respected manufacturer of radios.” Innovation: “Sony will create the most advanced radios in the world.” + + Here’s the idea Ibuka proposed to his team: a “pocketable radio.” + + It’s hard, in retrospect, to comprehend the hubris of that idea—how utterly unexpected, how preposterous, it must have seemed the first time a Sony engineer heard it. Radios were not things you put into your pocket; they were pieces of furniture. At the time, radio factories employed full-time cabinetmakers. + + Furthermore, the idea that an upstart Japanese company would deliver such an innovation, when the brilliant minds at Bell Labs thought it impossible, was not credible. After all, the 1950s were a decade when “Made in Japan” was synonymous with shoddy workmanship. + + But Sony engineers were talented and hungry. Ibuka’s idea of a pocketable radio caught on internally and drove Sony through an incredible period of growth. By 1957, Sony had grown to 1,200 employees. In March 1957, just four years after Sony was grudgingly granted permission to tinker with transistors, the company released the TR-55, the world’s first pocketable transistor radio. The TR-55 sold 1.5 million units and put Sony on the world map. + + A “pocketable radio”—isn’t this simply a brilliant product idea, rather than a brilliant “sticky idea”? No, it is both, and both elements are indispensable. There’s no question that someone in the world would have invented a transistor radio, even if Ibuka had decided to build the world’s fanciest rice cooker. Transistor radios were an inevitable technological progression. But the first transistor radios were nowhere near pocket-sized, and without Ibuka’s unexpected idea his engineers might have stopped pursuing the technology long before it became small enough to be useful. Ibuka inspired years of effort because he came up with an unexpected idea that challenged hundreds of engineers to do their best work. + + In May 1961, John F. Kennedy gave a speech to a special session of Congress. It was a time when the Cold War dominated global politics. The Cold War allowed for few ways to measure success—to record gains and losses—but, in one highly visible field, the United States was clearly lagging behind. That field was space. + + Four years earlier, the United States—which had prided itself as the most technologically advanced nation—was stunned when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite. The United States eventually responded with its own satellite launches, but the Soviet Union maintained its lead, racking up first after first. In April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard followed a month later. + + In Kennedy’s address to Congress, he outlined a series of requests to help the United States maintain its leadership during the Cold War. He asked for funds to achieve a number of strategic goals: to establish the AID program for international development, to expand the NATO alliance, to build radio and television stations in Latin America and Southeast Asia, and to shore up civil defense. + + But he ended the speech on a curious note. His final proposal had nothing to do with international aid or civil defense. It was this: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. . .if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will not be one man going to the moon, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.” + + Two unexpected ideas. Both create surprise. Radios are pieces of furniture, not something to slip into a pocket. Men don’t walk on the moon. It’s a long way up. The air is thin. + + Both create insight. Rather than leading us along a plodding route from one incremental step to the next, the ideas give us a sudden, dramatic glimpse of how the world might unfold. And not just how but why. + + Both create knowledge gaps. Loewenstein, the author of the gap theory, says it’s important to remember that knowledge gaps are painful. “If people like curiosity, why do they work to resolve it?” he asks. “Why don’t they put mystery novels down before the last chapter, or turn off the television before the final inning of a close ball game?” + + Both of these unexpected ideas set up big knowledge gaps—but not so big that they seemed insurmountable. Kennedy didn’t propose a “man on Mercury,” and Ibuka didn’t propose an “implantable radio.” Each goal was audacious and provocative, but not paralyzing. Any engineer who heard the “man on the moon” speech must have begun brainstorming immediately: “Well, first we’d need to solve this problem, then we’d need to develop this technology, then. . .” + + The vision of a pocketable radio sustained a company through a tricky period of growth and led it to become an internationally recognized player in technology. The vision of a man on the moon sustained tens of thousands of separate individuals, in dozens of organizations, for almost a decade. These are big, powerful, sticky ideas. + + When we’re skeptical about our ability to get people’s attention, or our ability to keep people’s attention, we should draw inspiration from Kennedy and Ibuka. And, on a smaller scale, from Nora Ephron’s journalism teacher and Nordstrom’s managers. Unexpectedness, in the service of core principles, can have surprising longevity. + + + + + + CONCRETE + + + + One hot summer day a Fox was strolling through an orchard. He saw a bunch of Grapes ripening high on a grape vine. “Just the thing to quench my thirst,” he said. Backing up a few paces, he took a run and jumped at the grapes, just missing. Turning around again, he ran faster and jumped again. Still a miss. Again and again he jumped, until at last he gave up out of exhaustion. Walking away with his nose in the air, he said: “I am sure they are sour.” It is easy to despise what you can’t get. + + + + The fable above, “The Fox and the Grapes,” was written by Aesop. According to Herodotus, he was a slave (though he was later freed). Aesop authored some of the stickiest stories in world history. We’ve all heard his greatest hits: “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs,” “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” and many more. If any story told in this book is still circulating a few millennia from now, odds are it will be “The Fox and the Grapes.” + + Even English speakers who’ve never heard “The Fox and the Grapes” will recognize the phrase “sour grapes,” which encapsulates the moral of the story. Aesop’s lesson has traveled the world. In Hungary, people say savanyu a szolo—“sour grapes” in Hungarian. In China, they say, “Grapes are sour because you cannot reach them.” In Sweden, a little local color was added; the Swedish expression Surt sa räven om rönnbären means “Sour, the fox said, about the rowanberries.” + + Clearly, Aesop was illustrating a universal human shortcoming. The fable would not have survived for more than 2,500 years if it didn’t reflect some profound truth about human nature. But there are many profound truths that have not seeped into the day-to-day language and thinking of dozens of cultures. This truth is especially sticky because of the way it was encoded. The concrete images evoked by the fable—the grapes, the fox, the dismissive comment about sour grapes—allowed its message to persist. One suspects that the life span of Aesop’s ideas would have been shorter if they’d been encoded as Aesop’s Helpful Suggestions—“Don’t be such a bitter jerk when you fail.” + + What the world needs is a lot more fables. On the Web, a satirical site features a “Business Buzzword Generator.” Readers can produce their own business buzzwords by combining one word each from three columns, which yields phrases like “reciprocal cost-based reengineering,” “customer-oriented visionary paradigm,” and “strategic logistical values.” (All of these sound eerily plausible as buzzwords, by the way.) Teachers have their own buzzwords: metacognitive skills, intrinsic motivation, portfolio assessment, developmentally appropriate, thematic learning. And if you’ve ever talked to a doctor, we don’t even have to provide examples. Our favorite from medicine: “idiopathic cardiomyopathy.” “Cardiomyopathy” means something is wrong with your heart, and “idiopathic” means “we have no idea why yours isn’t working.” + + Language is often abstract, but life is not abstract. Teachers teach students about battles and animals and books. Doctors repair problems with our stomachs, backs, and hearts. Companies create software, build planes, distribute newspapers; they build cars that are cheaper, faster, or fancier than last year’s. Even the most abstract business strategy must eventually show up in the tangible actions of human beings. It’s easier to understand those tangible actions than to understand an abstract strategy statement—just as it’s easier to understand a fox dissing some grapes than an abstract commentary about the human psyche. + + Abstraction makes it harder to understand an idea and to remember it. It also makes it harder to coordinate our activities with others, who may interpret the abstraction in very different ways. Concreteness helps us avoid these problems. This is perhaps the most important lesson that Aesop can teach us. + + The Nature Conservancy + + For fifty years, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has helped protect environmentally precious areas in the world using the simplest possible method: It buys them. It buys land at market prices, making it off-limits to environmentally damaging uses, such as development or logging. This strategy has come to be known within TNC as “bucks and acres.” It had appeal to donors and benefactors, because the results of their gifts were so clear. A big gift bought a big piece of land. A small gift bought a small piece of land. As one donor commented, TNC produced “results you could walk around on.” + + In 2002, Mike Sweeney, the COO of TNC California, was facing a big challenge. California is particularly important to TNC, because it contains so many environmentally critical areas. California is one of only five Mediterranean climate regions in the world. (The others are the fynbos of South Africa, the matorral of Chile, the kwongan of Australia, and, of course, the Mediterranean.) These Mediterranean climate zones occupy only 2 percent of the world’s landmass but host more than 20 percent of its plant species. If you want to buy environmentally precious land, Mediterranean climates give you a lot of bang for your buck. + + In 2002, Sweeney and his staff had taken a map of California and colored in the most environmentally sensitive areas, the areas worth preserving. Astonishingly, 40 percent of the map was colored. This was a non-starter: There weren’t enough bucks out there to buy that many acres. + + Yet 9 percent of the state was classified as being in “critical danger.” Nine percent of California was still far too much to contemplate purchasing, but these regions were environmentally essential; TNC couldn’t simply give up on them. + + TNC decided to implement some new approaches. “Bucks and acres” couldn’t succeed with this vast quantity of land. So instead of owning the land outright, TNC would ensure that the critical areas were protected against damage. The organization would pay landowners not to develop their land, buying what’s known as a “conservation easement.” It would work with local and state governments to change policies and encourage conservation of private and public land. It would focus on important marine areas, where there was no land to buy. + + These new strategies made sense—TNC could protect more areas than it could reach through “bucks and acres.” But they also had drawbacks. First, they were much less concrete to donors. Donors can’t “walk around on” a favorable government regulation. Second, they were also potentially demoralizing for employees—they made progress less tangible. When TNC was focused on land deals, Sweeney said, “it was easy to celebrate a deal closing, to tell everyone, ‘John and Mary got this land,’ and to pat them on the back.” These “milestone moments,” so great for morale, were harder to find in the new model. How could TNC make the new strategy more concrete? + + What would you do in this situation? Is there a way to recapture the invaluable tangibility of the “bucks and acres” strategy in a context that was necessarily more ambiguous? You’ve got 40 percent (or at least 9 percent) of the state to protect, and you can’t buy it. How do you explain yourself to donors and partners? + + Chip has discussed this case with his students at Stanford, and in grappling with the need for concreteness some students respond by breaking up the impossibly large scale of the challenge—40 percent of California! 9 percent in critical need!—by subdividing it into more tangible “subgoals.” For example: “We will protect a 2 percent chunk of California every year for twenty years.” Others try to invoke a unit of measurement that we can understand, such as the acre. Most people can visualize an acre. But the scale is too big: 2 percent of California is about two million acres. No one can picture two million acres. + + The students are wisely trying to find a way to break up a big, abstract goal into smaller, more concrete subgoals. This is the right idea. But in this case the numbers are just too big. And “acreage” is not necessarily the best way to think. There are 1,500-acre plots of land that are more environmentally precious than other 90,000-acre plots. Thinking about “acreage per year” is akin to a museum curator thinking about “canvases per year,” without regard to period, style, or painter. + + Here’s what TNC did: Instead of talking in terms of land area, it talked about a “landscape.” A landscape is a contiguous plot of land with unique, environmentally precious features. The TNC set a goal of preserving fifty landscapes—of which twenty-five were an immediate priority—over a ten-year period. Five landscapes per year sounds more realistic than 2 million acres per year, and it’s much more concrete. + + To the east of Silicon Valley there is a set of brown hills that are the beginnings of a wilderness the size of Yosemite. The brown hills are an important watershed for the San Francisco Bay, but they are quickly being chipped away by Silicon Valley sprawl. Although the area is important ecologically, it is not like the redwoods or the coast, with beautiful visuals that engage people’s imaginations. The hills are covered with grass interspersed with a few oak trees. Most of the year, the grass is brown. Sweeney admits that it’s not very sexy. Even local groups in the Silicon Valley area that were interested in protecting open spaces weren’t paying attention to the brown hills. But, says Sweeney, “We don’t go after stuff because it’s pretty. We go after it because it’s an ecologically important part of creation.” + + TNC named the oak savanna the Mount Hamilton Wilderness (based on its highest peak, the site of a local observatory). Identifying the area as a coherent landscape and naming it put it on the map for local groups and policymakers. Before, Sweeney says, Silicon Valley groups wanted to protect important areas close to their homes, but they didn’t know where to start. “If you say, ‘There’s a really important area to the east of Silicon Valley,’ it’s just not exciting, because it’s not tangible. But when you say, ‘The Mount Hamilton Wilderness,’ their interest perks up.” + + The Packard Foundation, a Silicon Valley institution created by one of the founders of the Hewlett-Packard Company, provided a large grant to protect the Mount Hamilton Wilderness. Other environmental groups in the Bay Area started campaigning to preserve the area. Sweeney says, “We’re always laughing now, because we see other people’s documents and they’re talking about the Mount Hamilton Wilderness. We say, ‘You know we made that up.’” + + People who live in cities tend to name and define their neighborhoods: “the Castro,” “SoHo,” “Lincoln Park,” and so forth. These names come to define an area and its traits. Neighborhoods have personalities. The Nature Conservancy created the same effect with its landscapes. The Mount Hamilton Wilderness is not a set of acres; it’s an eco-celebrity. + + This is not a story about land; it’s a story about abstraction. TNC avoided the trap of abstraction—saving 2 million acres per year—by converting abstract blobs on a map into tangible landscapes. TNC realized, wisely, that the context had grown more ambiguous, and the solutions had grown more ambiguous, but that their messages could not be allowed to grow more ambiguous. Concreteness is an indispensable component of sticky ideas. + + Understanding Subtraction + + What makes something “concrete”? If you can examine something with your senses, it’s concrete. A V8 engine is concrete. “High-performance” is abstract. Most of the time, concreteness boils down to specific people doing specific things. In the “Unexpected” chapter, we talked about Nordstrom’s world-class customer service. “World-class customer service” is abstract. A Nordie ironing a customer’s shirt is concrete. + + Concrete language helps people, especially novices, understand new concepts. Abstraction is the luxury of the expert. If you’ve got to teach an idea to a room full of people, and you aren’t certain what they know, concreteness is the only safe language. + + To see this, we can start by studying math classrooms in Asia. We know, from the news over the years, that East Asian children outperform American children in, well, just about everything (except the consumption of fatty foods). This is especially evident in math. The math skills of Americans fall behind those of Asians early—the gap is apparent in the first grade, and it widens throughout elementary school. + + What are Asian schools doing differently? Our stereotype is that these schools operate with almost robotic efficiency: Hours are long and discipline is strict. We think of East Asian students as being less “creative” somehow; we like to think they outperform our students through rote mechanics and memorization. The truth, it turns out, is almost exactly the opposite. + + In 1993, a group of researchers studied ten schools in Japan, ten in Taiwan, and twenty in the United States. In each school, they picked two different math teachers to observe, and they observed four lessons with each teacher. The researchers found that all the teachers used rote recall quite a bit; it was standard procedure in at least half the lessons observed in every country. But other techniques varied greatly among the three countries. + + For instance, consider this question by a Japanese teacher: “You had 100 yen but then you bought a notebook for 70 yen. How much money do you still have?” Or this question, posed by a teacher in Taiwan: “Originally there are three kids playing ball. Two more came later, and then one more joined them. How many are playing now?” As she talked, she drew stick figures on the board and wrote down the equation 3 + 2 + 1. + + Notice that these teachers are explaining abstract mathematical concepts by emphasizing things that are concrete and familiar—buying school supplies and playing ball. Their explanations take advantage of preexisting schemas, a tactic we explored in the “Simple” chapter. Teachers take an existing schema—the dynamics of a six-person ball game—and overlay a new layer of abstraction. + + The researchers called this style of questioning Computing in Context. It is pretty much the opposite of “rote recall.” And, contrary to our stereotypes, it occurred about twice as much in Asia as it did in the United States (61 percent of lessons versus 31 percent). + + In another case, a Japanese teacher placed on a desk 5 rows of 10 tiles each. Then she took away 3 rows of 10 tiles. She asked a student how many tiles were left, and he gave the correct answer: 20. The teacher then asked the students how they knew that this was a subtraction problem. This teacher provided her students with a visual image of subtraction. Students could build an abstract concept—“subtraction”—on a concrete foundation: 30 tiles being yanked away from an original set of 50. The researchers coded questions like this one as Conceptual Knowledge questions. This type of question was asked in 37 percent of lessons in Japan, 20 percent in Taiwan, but only 2 percent in the United States. + + Using concreteness as a foundation for abstraction is not just good for mathematical instruction; it is a basic principle of understanding. Novices crave concreteness. Have you ever read an academic paper or a technical article or even a memo and found yourself so flummoxed by the fancy abstract language that you were crying out for an example? + + Or maybe you’ve experienced the frustration of cooking from a recipe that was too abstract: “Cook until the mixture reaches a hearty consistency.” Huh? Just tell me how many minutes to stir! Show me a picture of what it looks like! After we’ve cooked the dish a few times, then the phrase “hearty consistency” might start to make sense. We build a sensory image of what that phrase represents. But the first time it’s as meaningless as 3 + 2 + 1 would be to a three-year-old. + + This is how concreteness helps us understand—it helps us construct higher, more abstract insights on the building blocks of our existing knowledge and perceptions. Abstraction demands some concrete foundation. Trying to teach an abstract principle without concrete foundations is like trying to start a house by building a roof in the air. + + Concrete Is Memorable + + Concrete ideas are easier to remember. Take individual words, for instance. Experiments in human memory have shown that people are better at remembering concrete, easily visualized nouns (“bicycle” or “avocado”) than abstract ones (“justice” or “personality”). + + Naturally sticky ideas are stuffed full of concrete words and images—think of the Kentucky Fried Rat or the Kidney Heist’s ice-filled bathtub. The Kidney Heist legend would have been far less sticky if the man had woken up and found that someone had absconded with his self-esteem. + + Yale researcher Eric Havelock studies tales that have been passed down by word of mouth, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. He notes that these tales are characterized by lots of concrete actions, with few abstractions. Why? The ancient Greeks certainly had no problem with abstraction—this was the society that produced Plato and Aristotle, after all. Havelock believes that the stories evolved away from abstraction over time. When they were passed along from generation to generation, the more memorable concrete details survived and the abstractions evaporated. + + Let’s skip to the modern world and another timeless and beautiful domain of expression: accounting. Put yourself in the shoes of an accounting professor who has to introduce accounting principles to college students. To a new student, accounting can seem bewilderingly abstract—the income statement, the balance sheet, T-accounts, accounts receivable, treasury stock. No people or sensory data in sight. + + As the teacher, how do you make accounting concepts vivid? Two professors from Georgia State University, Carol Springer and Faye Borthick, decided to try something radically different. In the fall of 2000, Springer and Borthick taught a semester of accounting using, as a centerpiece, a semester-long case study. The case study followed a new business launched by two imaginary college sophomores, Kris and Sandy, at LeGrande State University. + + Kris and Sandy had an idea for a new product called Safe Night Out (SNO), a device targeted at parents with teenagers who were old enough to drive. Installed in the teenager’s car, the device would record the route and speed of the car. For the first time, parents could confirm whether their car was being driven responsibly. + + At this point you, as a student in introductory accounting, become part of the story. Kris and Sandy are your friends, and they’ve heard that you’re taking an accounting class. They need your help. They ask, Is our business idea feasible? How many units would we have to sell in order to pay for our tuition? You are given guidance on how to track down the costs of the relevant materials (GPS receivers, storage hardware) and partnerships (how much it would cost to sell it on eBay). + + The semester-long Kris and Sandy soap opera revealed the role that accounting plays in business life. Every accounting course defines the distinction between fixed and variable costs, but in the soap opera this distinction wasn’t so much defined as discovered. Kris and Sandy have to pay some costs no matter what, such as the programming expense for developing the product. Those are fixed costs. Other costs are incurred only when products are made or sold—the cost of the materials or eBay’s commission, for example. Those are variable costs. If your friends are pouring their tuition money into a start-up business, those distinctions matter. + + The case study is an example of learning in context, similar to the teachers in the Asian math classrooms. But in the math classrooms a student might encounter 300 different examples over the course of a semester. In the accounting class, students had one example that was sufficiently rich to encompass a semester’s worth of material. + + As the semester progresses, you witness, from your hot seat as Kris and Sandy’s accountant, the evolution of their business. A local court approaches Kris and Sandy wanting to use the SNO device for its parolees, but it wants to lease the device rather than buy it. How should Kris and Sandy respond? Later, the business begins to grow rapidly, but suddenly Kris and Sandy make a panicked call to you, having bounced a check. They’ve been selling more units than ever, yet there’s no cash in the bank. How is that possible? (This problem is faced by many startup businesses, and it introduces the difference between profitability and cash flow.) The answer becomes clear to you only after you’ve worked through a month of payment slips and eBay receipts. + + So, did the students learn better? At first it was hard to say. The changes to the course made it hard to compare final exams directly with those of previous years. Some students seemed more enthusiastic about the new course, but others groused because the case study demanded a lot of time. Over time, however, the benefits of the concrete case study became increasingly obvious. After experiencing the case study, students with high GPAs were more likely to major in accounting. The concreteness actually made the most capable students want to become accountants. + + But the case study also had positive effects for regular students. In the next accounting course—taken an average of two years later—the first section of the course built heavily on the concepts that students were supposed to have learned in introductory accounting. Students who had worked through the case study scored noticeably higher on this first exam. In fact, the difference in scores was particularly dramatic for students with a C average overall. Generally speaking, they scored twelve points higher. And remember, this is two years after the case study ended. Concreteness sticks. + + The Velcro Theory of Memory + + What is it about concreteness that makes ideas stick? The answer lies with the nature of our memories. + + Many of us have a sense that remembering something is a bit like putting it in storage. To remember a story is to file it away in our cerebral filing cabinets. There’s nothing wrong with that analogy. But the surprising thing is that there may be completely different filing cabinets for different kinds of memories. + + You can actually test this idea for yourself. The following set of sentences will ask you to remember various ideas. Spend five or ten seconds lingering on each one—don’t rush through them. As you move from one sentence to another, you’ll notice that it feels different to remember different kinds of things. + + + + • Remember the capital of Kansas. + + • Remember the first line of “Hey Jude” (or some other song that you know well). + + • Remember the Mona Lisa. + + • Remember the house where you spent most of your childhood. + + • Remember the definition of “truth.” + + • Remember the definition of “watermelon.” + + + + David Rubin, a cognitive psychologist at Duke University, uses this exercise to illustrate the nature of memory. Each command to remember seems to trigger a different mental activity. Remembering the capital of Kansas is an abstract exercise, unless you happen to live in Topeka. By contrast, when you think about “Hey Jude,” you may hear Paul McCartney’s voice and piano playing. (If the phrase “Hey Jude” drew a blank, please exchange this book for a Beatles album. You’ll be happier.) + + No doubt the Mona Lisa memory conjured a visual image of that famously enigmatic smile. Remembering your childhood home might have evoked a host of memories—smells, sounds, sights. You might even have felt yourself running through your home, or remembering where your parents used to sit. + + The definition of “truth” may have been a bit harder to summon—you certainly have a sense of what “truth” means, but you probably had no preformulated definition to pluck out of memory, as with the Mona Lisa. You might have had to create a definition on the fly that seemed to fit with your sense of what “truth” means. + + The definition of “watermelon” might also have involved some mental gyrations. The word “watermelon” immediately evoked sense memories—the striped green rind and red fruit, the sweet smell and taste, the heft of a whole watermelon. Then you might have felt your gears switch as you tried to encapsulate these sense memories into a definition. + + Memory, then, is not like a single filing cabinet. It is more like Velcro. If you look at the two sides of Velcro material, you’ll see that one is covered with thousands of tiny hooks and the other is covered with thousands of tiny loops. When you press the two sides together, a huge number of hooks get snagged inside the loops, and that’s what causes Velcro to seal. + + Your brain hosts a truly staggering number of loops. The more hooks an idea has, the better it will cling to memory. Your childhood home has a gazillion hooks in your brain. A new credit card number has one, if it’s lucky. + + Great teachers have a knack for multiplying the hooks in a particular idea. A teacher from Iowa named Jane Elliott once designed a message so powerful—tapping into so many different aspects of emotion and memory—that, twenty years later, her students still remember it vividly. + + Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes + + Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The next day, Jane Elliott, an elementary-school teacher in Iowa, found herself trying to explain his death to her classroom of third-graders. In the all-white town of Riceville, Iowa, students were familiar with King but could not understand who would want him dead, or why. + + Elliott said, “I knew it was time to deal with this in a concrete way, because we’d talked about discrimination since the first day of school. But the shooting of Martin Luther King, one of our ‘Heroes of the Month’ two months earlier, couldn’t be explained to little third-graders in Riceville, Iowa.” + + She came to class the next day with a plan: She aimed to make prejudice tangible to her students. At the start of class, she divided the students into two groups: brown-eyed kids and blue-eyed kids. She then made a shocking announcement: Brown-eyed kids were superior to blue-eyed kids—“They’re the better people in this room.” The groups were separated: Blue-eyed kids were forced to sit at the back of the classroom. Brown-eyed kids were told that they were smarter. They were given extra time at recess. The blue-eyed kids had to wear special collars, so that everyone would know their eye color from a distance. The two groups were not allowed to mix at recess. + + Elliott was shocked at how quickly the class was transformed. “I watched those kids turn into nasty, vicious, discriminating third-graders. . .it was ghastly,” she said. “Friendships seemed to dissolve instantly, as brown-eyed kids taunted their blue-eyed former friends. One brown-eyed student asked Elliott how she could be the teacher “if you’ve got dem blue eyes.” + + At the start of class the following day, Elliott walked in and announced that she had been wrong. It was actually the brown-eyed children who were inferior. This reversal of fortune was embraced instantly. A shout of glee went up from the blue-eyed kids as they ran to place their collars on their lesser, brown-eyed counterparts. + + On the day when they were in the inferior group, students described themselves as sad, bad, stupid, and mean. “When we were down,” one boy said, his voice cracking, “it felt like everything bad was happening to us.” When they were on top, the students felt happy, good, and smart. + + Even their performance on academic tasks changed. One of the reading exercises was a phonics card pack that the kids were supposed to go through as quickly as possible. The first day, when the blue-eyed kids were on the bottom, it took them 5.5 minutes. On the second day, when they were on top, it took 2.5 minutes. “Why couldn’t you go this fast yesterday?” Elliott asked. One blue-eyed girl said, “We had those collars on….” Another student chimed in, “We couldn’t stop thinking about those collars.” + + Elliott’s simulation made prejudice concrete—brutally concrete. It also had an enduring impact on the students’ lives. Studies conducted ten and twenty years later showed that Elliott’s students were significantly less prejudiced than their peers who had not been through the exercise. + + Students still remember the simulation vividly. A fifteen-year reunion of Elliott’s students broadcast on the PBS series Frontline revealed how deeply it had moved them. Ray Hansen, remembering the way his understanding changed from one day to the next, said, “It was one of the most profound learning experiences I’ve ever had.” Sue Ginder Rolland said, “Prejudice has to be worked out young or it will be with you all your life. Sometimes I catch myself [discriminating], stop myself, think back to the third grade, and remember what it was like to be put down.” + + Jane Elliott put hooks into the idea of prejudice. It would have been easy for her to treat the idea of prejudice the way other classroom ideas are treated—as an important but abstract bit of knowledge, like the capital of Kansas or the definition of “truth.” She could have treated prejudice as something to be learned, like the story of a World War II battle. Instead, Elliott turned prejudice into an experience. Think of the “hooks” involved: The sight of a friend suddenly sneering at you. The feel of a collar around your neck. The despair at feeling inferior. The shock you get when you look at your own eyes in the mirror. This experience put so many hooks into the students’ memories that, decades later, it could not be forgotten. + + The Path to Abstraction: + +The Blueprint and the Machine + + Jane Elliott’s simulation of prejudice is compelling evidence of the power of concreteness. But if concreteness is so powerful, why do we slip so easily into abstraction? + + The reason is simple: because the difference between an expert and a novice is the ability to think abstractly. New jurors are struck by lawyers’ personalities and factual details and courtroom rituals. Meanwhile, judges weigh the current case against the abstract lessons of past cases and legal precedent. Biology students try to remember whether reptiles lay eggs or not. Biology teachers think in terms of the grand system of animal taxonomy. + + Novices perceive concrete details as concrete details. Experts perceive concrete details as symbols of patterns and insights that they have learned through years of experience. And, because they are capable of seeing a higher level of insight, they naturally want to talk on a higher level. They want to talk about chess strategies, not about bishops moving diagonally. + + And here is where our classic villain, the Curse of Knowledge, inserts itself. A researcher named Beth Bechky studied a manufacturing firm that designed and built the complicated machinery used to produce silicon chips. To build such machinery, the firm needed two sets of skills: engineers who could create brilliant designs, and skilled manufacturing people who could transform those designs into complex physical machines. + + If the firm was to succeed, these two sets of people had to be able to communicate smoothly. But, not surprisingly, they spoke different languages. The engineers tended to think abstractly—they spent their day agonizing over drawings and blueprints. The manufacturing team, on the other hand, tended to think on a physical level—they spent their day building machines. + + What’s most revealing for the Curse of Knowledge is what happened when something went wrong on the manufacturing floor. The manufacturing folks would sometimes run into a problem—something didn’t fit or perhaps wasn’t receiving enough power. The manufacturers would bring the problem to the engineers, and the engineers would immediately get to work. Specifically, they’d get to work fixing their drawings. + + For example, the manufacturing team might find a part that didn’t fit on the machine. When the team showed the part to the engineers, they wanted to pull out the blueprints and move things around on the drawing. In other words, the engineers instinctively wanted to jump to a higher level of abstraction. + + The engineers, Bechky found, made their drawings “increasingly elaborate” in the hope that the enhanced drawings would clarify the process for the manufacturers. Over time, the drawings became more abstract, which further hampered communication. + + The engineers were behaving like American tourists who travel to foreign countries and try to make themselves understood by speaking English more slowly and loudly. They were suffering from the Curse of Knowledge. They had lost the ability to imagine what it was like to look at a technical drawing from the perspective of a nonexpert. + + The manufacturing people were thinking, Why don’t you just come down to the factory floor and show me where the part should go? And the engineering people were thinking, What do I need to do to make the drawings better? + + The miscommunication has a quality that is familiar, no doubt, to many readers who don’t work on silicon chip–making machinery. So how do you fix it? Should both parties learn greater empathy for the other and, in essence, meet in the middle? Actually, no. The solution is for the engineers to change their behavior. Why? As Bechky notes, the physical machine was the most effective and relevant domain of communication. Everyone understands the machines fluently. Therefore problems should be solved at the level of the machine. + + It’s easy to lose awareness that we’re talking like an expert. We start to suffer from the Curse of Knowledge, like the tappers in the “tappers and listeners” game. It can feel unnatural to speak concretely about subject matter we’ve known intimately for years. But if we’re willing to make the effort we’ll see the rewards: Our audience will understand what we’re saying and remember it. + + The moral of this story is not to “dumb things down.” The manufacturing people faced complex problems and they needed smart answers. Rather, the moral of the story is to find a “universal language,” one that everyone speaks fluently. Inevitably, that universal language will be concrete. + + Concrete Allows Coordination + + In the last chapter, we closed with two unexpected slogans that were used to motivate and coordinate large groups of smart people. The slogans were challenges to build a “pocketable radio” and to “put a man on the moon within the decade.” Notice that these slogans are also pleasingly concrete. It is doubtful that Japanese engineers were paralyzed with uncertainty about their mission, or that much time was spent at NASA quibbling about the meaning of “man,” “moon,” or “decade.” + + Concreteness makes targets transparent. Even experts need transparency. Consider a software start-up whose goal is to build “the next great search engine.” Within the start-up are two programmers with nearly identical knowledge, working in neighboring cubes. To one “the next great search engine” means completeness, ensuring that the search engine returns everything on the Web that might be relevant, no matter how obscure. To the other it means speed, ensuring pretty good results very fast. Their efforts will not be fully aligned until the goal is made concrete. + + When Boeing prepared to launch the design of the 727 passenger plane in the 1960s, its managers set a goal that was deliberately concrete: The 727 must seat 131 passengers, fly nonstop from Miami to New York City, and land on Runway 4-22 at La Guardia. (The 4-22 runway was chosen for its length—less than a mile, which was much too short for any of the existing passenger jets.) With a goal this concrete, Boeing effectively coordinated the actions of thousands of experts in various aspects of engineering or manufacturing. Imagine how much harder it would have been to build a 727 whose goal was to be “the best passenger plane in the world.” + + The Ferraris Go to Disney World in the R & D Lab + + Stone Yamashita Partners, a small consulting firm in San Francisco, was founded by Robert Stone and Keith Yamashita, former Apple creatives. Stone Yamashita is a master of using concrete techniques to help organizations create change. “Almost everything we do is visceral and visual,” Keith Yamashita says. The “product” of most consulting firms is often a PowerPoint presentation. At Stone Yamashita, it’s much more likely to be a simulation, an event, or a creative installation. + + Around 2002, Stone Yamashita was approached by Hewlett-Packard (HP). HP’s top management team hoped to win a partnership with Disney, and they asked Stone Yamashita to help prepare a proposal that would highlight HP research, and show how it could help Disney run its theme parks. + + HP, like many technology firms, generates great research in its laboratories, but that research isn’t always translated into tangible physical products. Researchers get excited about pushing the boundaries of a technology, making products that are complex and sophisticated, while customers generally seek out products that are easy and reliable. The desires of researchers and customers don’t always dovetail. + + The “presentation” that Stone Yamashita designed was an exhibit that filled 6,000 square feet. Yamashita describes the gist: “We invented a fictitious family called the Ferraris, three generations of them, and built an exhibit about their life and their visit to Disney World.” + + Walking into the exhibit, you began in the Ferraris’ living room, furnished with family photos. Each subsequent room followed the Ferraris through various scenes of their Disney World vacation. HP technology helped them buy tickets, sped their entry into the park, and scheduled their reservations for dinner. Another bit of technology helped them enjoy their favorite rides while minimizing waiting time. Back inside their hotel room at the end of the day, there was a final twist: A digital picture frame had automatically downloaded a picture of them as they rode a Disney World roller coaster. + + Stone Yamashita, working with HP’s engineers, turned a message about the benefits of collaboration—what could have been a PowerPoint presentation—into a living, breathing simulation. Stone Yamashita put hooks into the idea of e-services. They took an abstract idea and made it concrete with an intense sensory experience. + + Note that there were two different audiences for the exhibit. The first audience was Disney. Disney’s execs were the “novices”—they needed to be shown, in tangible terms, what HP’s technology could do for them. Then there were HP’s employees, particularly the engineers. They were far from novices. Many engineers had been skeptical about the value of Yamashita’s demos. Once the exhibit opened, however, it produced tremendous enthusiasm within HP. It was initially intended to stay up long enough to make the Disney pitch, but, because it was so popular, it remained for three or four months afterward. One observer said, “It became very viral in that others began to ask, ‘Did you see that great thing that the labs team did? Did you know that we could do this? Did you know that they did it in only twenty-eight days?’” + + Concreteness helped this team of experts coordinate. A diverse group of engineers, accustomed to contemplating difficult technology problems, suddenly came face-to-face with the Ferrari family. By grappling with one family’s concrete needs—their tickets and reservations and photos—they did something remarkable: They took abstract ideas from their research labs and turned them into a family picture on a roller-coaster ride. + + Concrete Brings Knowledge to Bear: + +White Things + + Grab a pencil and a piece of paper and find a way to time yourself (a watch, a spouse who likes to count, etc.). Here is a do-it-yourself test on concreteness. You’ll do two brief fifteen-second exercises. When you’ve got your supplies ready, set your timer for fifteen seconds, then follow the instructions for Step 1 below. + + + + STEP 1 INSTRUCTIONS: + + Write down as many things that are white in color as you can think of. + + + + STOP. Reset your timer for fifteen seconds. Turn the page for the instructions for Step 2. + + + + + + STEP 2 INSTRUCTIONS: + + Write down as many white things in your refrigerator as you can think of. + + + + Most people, remarkably, can list about as many white things from their refrigerators as white anythings. This result is stunning because, well, our fridges don’t include a particularly large part of the universe. Even people who list more white anythings often feel that the refrigerator test is “easier.” + + Why does this happen? Because concreteness is a way of mobilizing and focusing your brain. For another example of this phenomenon, consider these two statements: (1) Think of five silly things that people have done in the world in the past ten years. (2) Think about five silly things your child has done in the past ten years. + + Sure, this is a neat brain trick. But what value does it have? Consider a situation where an entrepreneur used this neat brain trick to earn a $4.5 million investment from a savvy and sophisticated group of investors. + + Kaplan and Go Computers + + For an entrepreneur, having the chance to pitch a business idea to local venture capitalists is a big deal, like a budding actor getting an audition with an independent film director. But having a chance to pitch an idea to Kleiner Perkins—the most prestigious firm in Silicon Valley—is more like a private one-on-one audition with Steven Spielberg. You could walk out a star, or you could walk out having blown the biggest chance of your life. + + And that’s why twenty-nine-year-old Jerry Kaplan was nervous as he stood in the Kleiner Perkins office in early 1987. His presentation would start in about thirty minutes. Kaplan was a former researcher at Stanford who had quit to work at Lotus in its early days. Lotus, with its bestselling Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, became a stock market darling. Now Kaplan was ready for the next challenge. He had a vision for a smaller, more portable generation of personal computers. + + He hung around outside the conference room as the previous entrepreneur finished his presentation. Watching the other entrepreneur, he felt underprepared. As he observed, his nervousness advanced toward panic. The other entrepreneur wore a dark pin-striped suit with a red power tie. Kaplan had on a sport jacket with an open-collared shirt. The other entrepreneur was projecting an impressive color graph onto the whiteboard. Kaplan was carrying a maroon portfolio with a blank pad of paper inside. This did not bode well. + + Kaplan had thought that he was showing up for an informal “get to know you” session, but, standing there, he realized how naive he’d been. He had “no business plan, no slides, no charts, no financial projections, no prototypes.” Worst of all, the überprepared entrepreneur in the boardroom was facing a skeptical audience that now peppered him with tough questions. + + When Kaplan’s turn arrived, one of the partners introduced him. Kaplan took a deep breath and started: “I believe that a new type of computer, more like a notebook than a typewriter, and operated by a pen rather than a keyboard, will serve the needs of professionals like ourselves when we are away from our desks. We will use them to take notes, send and receive messages through cellular telephone links; look up addresses, phone numbers, price lists, and inventories; do spreadsheet calculations; and fill out order forms.” + + He covered the required technology, highlighting the major unknown: whether a machine could reliably recognize handwriting and convert it into commands. Kaplan recounts what happened next: + + + + My audience seemed tense. I couldn’t tell whether they were annoyed by my lack of preparation or merely concentrating on what I was saying…. Thinking I had already blown it, and therefore had little to lose, I decided to risk some theatrics. + + “If I were carrying a portable PC right now, you would sure as hell know it. You probably didn’t realize that I am holding a model of the future of computing right here in my hands.” + + I tossed my maroon leather case in the air. It sailed to the center of the table where it landed with a loud clap. + + “Gentlemen, here is a model of the next step in the computer revolution.” + + For a moment, I thought this final act of drama might get me thrown out of the room. They were sitting in stunned silence, staring at my plain leather folder—which lay motionless on the table—as though it were suddenly going to come to life. Brook Byers, the youthful-looking but long-time partner in the firm, slowly reached out and touched the portfolio as if it were some sort of talisman. He asked the first question. + + “Just how much information could you store in something like this?” + + John Doerr [another partner] answered before I could respond. “It doesn’t matter. Memory chips are getting smaller and cheaper each year and the capacity will probably double for the same size and price annually.” + + Someone else chimed in. “But bear in mind, John, that unless you translate the handwriting efficiently, it’s likely to take up a lot more room.” The speaker was Vinod Khosla, the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems, who helped the partnership evaluate technology deals. + + + + Kaplan said that from that point on he hardly had to speak, as partners and associates traded questions and insights that fleshed out his proposal. Periodically, he said, someone would reach out to touch or examine his portfolio. “It had been magically transformed from a stationery-store accessory into a symbol of the future of technology.” + + A few days later, Kaplan got a call from Kleiner Perkins. The partners had decided to back the idea. Their investment valued Kaplan’s nonexistent company at $4.5 million. + + What transformed this meeting from a grill session—with an anxious entrepreneur in the hot seat—to a brainstorming session? The maroon portfolio. The portfolio presented a challenge to the boardroom participants—a way of focusing their thoughts and bringing their existing knowledge to bear. It changed their attitude from reactive and critical to active and creative. + + The presence of the portfolio made it easier for the venture capitalists to brainstorm, in the same way that focusing on “white things in our refrigerator” made it easier for us to brainstorm. When they saw the size of the portfolio, it sparked certain questions: How much memory could you fit in that thing? Which PC components will shrink in the next few years, and which won’t? What new technology would have to be invented to make it feasible? This same process was sparked in Sony’s Japanese engineering team by the concept of a “pocketable radio.” + + Concreteness creates a shared “turf” on which people can collaborate. Everybody in the room feels comfortable that they’re tackling the same challenge. Even experts—even the Kleiner Perkins venture capitalists, the rock stars of the technology world—benefit from concrete talk that puts them on common ground. + + + + + +* * * + + + +Oral Rehydration Therapy Saves Children’s Lives! + + THE SITUATION: Each year more than a million children in countries around the world die from dehydration caused by diarrhea. This problem can be prevented, at very low cost, by getting kids the right kind of fluids. How do you get people invested in this idea? + + + + + + MESSAGE 1: Here’s an explanation from PSI, a nonprofit group that addresses health problems in developing countries: + + Diarrhea is one of the leading killers of young children in developing countries, causing over 1.5 million child deaths annually. Diarrhea itself is not the cause of death, but rather dehydration, the loss of body fluid. Approximately three quarters of the body is composed of water, and if fluid loss exceeds ten percent of total body fluid, vital organs collapse, followed by death. If an episode is severe, as with cholera, death can occur within just eight hours. + + To prevent life-threatening dehydration it is necessary to increase liquid intake in quantities sufficient to replenish the fluids and electrolytes lost with diarrhea. The best liquid for this purpose is a blend of electrolytes, sugar, and water, known as oral rehydration salts. ORS restores body fluid and electrolytes more rapidly than any other liquid, and does so even when the intestinal wall is compromised by disease. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: Quick: How solvable is this problem? Suppose you were a health official in a developing nation. What would you do tomorrow to start saving kids? + + To be fair, this message appears on a Web page that describes what PSI has been doing to solve this problem. The text doesn’t necessarily reflect how the organization might approach decision-makers to persuade them to act. The information is written in language that creates credibility; there is lots of scientific language and exposition. If the problem sounds too complex, however, that could deter people from trying to solve it. + + + + + + MESSAGE 2: This message is from James Grant, who was the director of UNICEF for many years. Grant always traveled with a packet filled with one teaspoon of salt and eight teaspoons of sugar—the ingredients for Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) when mixed with a liter of water. When he met with the prime ministers of developing countries, he would take out his packet of salt and sugar and say, “Do you know that this costs less than a cup of tea and it can save hundreds of thousands of children’s lives in your country?” + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2: Quick: How solvable is this problem? What are you going to do tomorrow to start saving these children’s lives? Grant’s message brings you to the table, helps you bring your knowledge to bear. Maybe you’re brainstorming ways of getting salt/sugar packets to schools. Maybe you’re thinking about publicity campaigns to teach mothers the right ratio of salt and sugar. Grant is clearly a master of making ideas stick. He brings out a concrete prop and starts with an attention-grabbing unexpected contrast: This packet costs less than a cup of tea, but it can have a real impact. Prime ministers spend their time thinking about elaborate, complex social problems—building infrastructure, constructing hospitals, maintaining a healthy environment—and suddenly here’s a bag of salt and sugar that can save hundreds of thousands of children. + + Grant’s message does sacrifice the statistics and the scientific description that add credibility to the PSI message. But, as the director of UNICEF, he had enough credibility to keep people from questioning his facts. So Grant left the (uncontested) factual battle behind and fought the motivational battle. His bag of salt and sugar is the equivalent of Kaplan’s maroon portfolio in the venture-capital presentation: It helps the members of the audience bring their expertise to the problem. You can’t see it and not start brainstorming about the possibilities. + + + + + + PUNCH LINE: This Clinic is one of our favorite before-and-after examples in the book, because it shows how powerful a concrete idea can be. The moral is to find some way to invite people to the table, to help them bring their knowledge to bear. Here, a prop works better than a scientific description. + + + +* * * + + + + Making Ideas Concrete + + How do we move toward concrete ideas for our own messages? We might find our own decisions easier to make if they are guided by the needs of specific people: our readers, our students, our customers. + + General Mills is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of consumer products. Its brands include Pillsbury, Cheerios, Green Giant, Betty Crocker, Chex, and many others. One of the largest brands in the company, from a sales perspective, is Hamburger Helper. Melissa Studzinski, a twenty-eight-year-old from Michigan, joined General Mills in 2004 as Hamburger Helper’s brand manager. + + When she joined the team, Hamburger Helper had been in a decade-long slump. The CEO, frustrated by the decline, announced that his number one goal for 2005 was to fix and grow the Hamburger Helper brand. Studzinski, the newest person on the team, was eager to tackle the challenge. + + When she started the job, she was given three huge binders full of data and stats: sales and volume data, advertising-strategy briefs, product information, and market research on the brand’s customers. The binders were difficult to pick up, let alone absorb into memory. She called them the “death binders.” + + A few months later, Studzinski’s team decided to put the data aside and try something new. They made plans to send members of the Hamburger Helper team—marketing, advertising, and R & D staffers—out into the homes of Hamburger Helper customers. The idea was known informally as “Fingertips,” because the General Mills employees needed to have a picture of the brand’s customers at their fingertips. + + A call went out for mothers (the predominant customers of Hamburger Helper) who were willing to let strangers come into their homes and gawk at them while they cooked. The team visited two to three dozen homes. Studzinski visited three homes, and the experience stuck with her. “I had read and I could recite all the data about our customers,” she says. “I knew their demographics by heart. But it was a very different experience to walk into a customer’s home and experience a little bit of her life. I’ll never forget one woman, who had a toddler on her hip while she was mixing up dinner on the stove. We know that ‘convenience’ is an important attribute of our product, but it’s a different thing to see the need for convenience firsthand.” + + Most of all, Studzinski learned that moms and their kids really valued predictability. Hamburger Helper had eleven different pasta shapes, but kids didn’t care about different shapes. What they did care about was flavor, and moms just wanted to buy the same predictable flavor their kids wouldn’t reject. But Hamburger Helper had more than thirty different flavors, and moms struggled to find their favorites among the massive grocery-store displays. Food and beverage companies constantly push to develop new flavors and packages, but Studzinski needed to resist this push. “Moms saw new flavors as risky,” she says. + + Using this concrete information about moms and kids, the team convinced a diverse collection of people across the organization—in groups ranging from supply chain and manufacturing to finance—to simplify the product line. According to Studzinski, the cost savings were “huge,” yet moms were happier because it was easier to find their families’ favorites on grocery stores shelves. The insight to simplify the product line—along with other key insights concerning pricing and advertising—sparked a turnaround for the brand. At the end of fiscal year 2005, Hamburger Helper’s sales had increased 11 percent. + + Studzinski says, “Now when I’ve got a decision to make about the brand, I think of the women I met. I wonder what they would do if they were in my shoes. And it’s amazing how helpful it is to think that way.” + + + + The same philosophy is just as useful for ideas that are more transcendent. The Saddleback Church is a very successful church in a suburb of Irvine, California, that has grown to more than 50,000 members. Over the years, the church’s leaders have created a detailed picture of the kind of person they’re trying to reach. They call him “Saddleback Sam.” Here’s how Rick Warren, the minister of the Saddleback Church, describes him: + + + + Saddleback Sam is the typical unchurched man who lives in our area. His age is late thirties or early forties. He has a college degree and may have an advanced degree…. He is married to Saddleback Samantha, and they have two kids, Steve and Sally. + + Surveys show that Sam likes his job, he likes where he lives, and he thinks he’s enjoying life more now than he was five years ago. He’s self-satisfied, even smug, about his station in life. He’s either a professional, a manager, or a successful entrepreneur. + + . . .Another important characteristic of Sam is that he’s skeptical of what he calls “organized” religion. He’s likely to say, “I believe in Jesus. I just don’t like organized religion.” + + + + The profile goes into much greater depth: Sam and Samantha’s tastes in pop culture, their preferences about social events, and so on. + + What does “Saddleback Sam” accomplish for church leaders? Sam forces them to view their decisions through a different lens. Say someone proposes a telemarketing campaign to local community members. It sounds as if it has great potential to reach new people. But the leaders know from their research that Sam hates telemarketers, so the idea is scratched. + + And thinking about Saddleback Sam and Samantha isn’t limited to church leaders. There are hundreds of small ministries at the Saddleback Church: grade school classes, Mother’s Day Out programs, a men’s basketball league. All are led by volunteer members who don’t receive day-to-day direction from paid church staff. But these diverse programs work together because people throughout the church know whom they’re trying to reach. “Most of our members would have no trouble describing Sam,” Warren says. + + By making Saddleback Sam and Samantha a living, breathing, concrete presence in the minds of the members of the Saddleback Church, the church has managed to reach 50,000 real Sams and Samanthas. + + Of the six traits of stickiness that we review in this book, concreteness is perhaps the easiest to embrace. It may also be the most effective of the traits. + + To be simple—to find our core message—is quite difficult. (It’s certainly worth the effort, but let’s not kid ourselves that it’s easy.) Crafting our ideas in an unexpected way takes a fair amount of effort and applied creativity. But being concrete isn’t hard, and it doesn’t require a lot of effort. The barrier is simply forgetfulness—we forget that we’re slipping into abstractspeak. We forget that other people don’t know what we know. We’re the engineers who keep flipping back to our drawings, not noticing that the assemblers just want us to follow them down to the factory floor. + + + + + + CREDIBLE + + Over the course of a lifetime, one person in ten will develop an ulcer. Duodenal ulcers, the most common type, are almost never fatal, but they are extremely painful. For a long time, the cause of ulcers was a mystery. Conventional wisdom held that ulcers developed when surplus acid built up in the stomach, eating through the stomach wall. Such surplus acid could be caused, it was thought, by stress, spicy foods, or lots of alcohol. Ulcer treatments traditionally focused on mitigating the painful symptoms, since there was no clear way to “cure” an ulcer. + + In the early 1980s, two medical researchers from Perth, Australia, made an astonishing discovery: Ulcers are caused by bacteria. The researchers, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, identified a tiny spiral-shaped type of bacteria as the culprit. (It would later be named Helicobacter pylori, or H. pylori.) The significance of this discovery was enormous: If ulcers were caused by bacteria, they could be cured. In fact, they could be cured within a matter of days by a simple treatment with antibiotics. + + The medical world, however, did not rejoice. There were no celebrations for Marshall and Warren, who had almost single-handedly improved the health prospects of several hundred million human beings. The reason for the lack of acclaim was simple: No one believed them. + + There were several problems with the bacteria story. The first problem was common sense. The acid in the stomach is potent stuff—it can, obviously, eat through a thick steak, and it’s (less obviously) strong enough to dissolve a nail. It was ludicrous to think that bacteria could survive in such an environment. It would be like stumbling across an igloo in the Sahara. + + The second problem was the source. At the time of the discovery, Robin Warren was a staff pathologist at a hospital in Perth; Barry Marshall was a thirty-year-old internist in training, not even a doctor yet. The medical community expects important discoveries to come from Ph.D.s at research universities or professors at large, world-class medical centers. Internists do not cure diseases that affect 10 percent of the world’s population. + + The final problem was the location. A medical researcher in Perth is like a physicist from Mississippi. Science is science, but, thanks to basic human snobbery, we tend to think it will emerge from some places but not others. + + Marshall and Warren could not even get their research paper accepted by a medical journal. When Marshall presented their findings at a professional conference, the scientists snickered. One of the researchers who heard one of his presentations commented that he “simply didn’t have the demeanor of a scientist.” + + To be fair to the skeptics, they had a reasonable argument: Marshall and Warren’s evidence was based on correlation, not causation. Almost all of the ulcer patients seemed to have H. pylori. Unfortunately, there were also people who had H. pylori but no ulcer. And, as for proving causation, the researchers couldn’t very well dose a bunch of innocent people with bacteria to see whether they sprouted ulcers. + + By 1984, Marshall’s patience had run out. One morning he skipped breakfast and asked his colleagues to meet him in the lab. While they watched in horror, he chugged a glass filled with about a billion H. pylori. “It tasted like swamp water,” he said. + + Within a few days, Marshall was experiencing pain, nausea, and vomiting—the classic symptoms of gastritis, the early stage of an ulcer. Using an endoscope, his colleagues found that his stomach lining, previously pink and healthy, was now red and inflamed. Like a magician, Marshall then cured himself with a course of antibiotics and bismuth (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol). + + Even after this dramatic demonstration, the battle wasn’t over. Other scientists quibbled with the demonstration. Marshall had cured himself before he developed a full-blown ulcer, they argued, so maybe he had just generated ulcer symptoms rather than a genuine ulcer. But Marshall’s demonstration gave a second wind to supporters of the bacteria theory, and subsequent research amassed more and more evidence in its favor. + + In 1994, ten years later, the National Institutes of Health finally endorsed the idea that antibiotics were the preferred treatment for ulcers. Marshall and Warren’s research contributed to an important theme in modern medicine: that bacteria and viruses cause more diseases than we would think. It is now known that cervical cancer is caused by the contagious human papillomavirus, or HPV. Certain types of heart disease have been linked to cytomegalovirus, a common virus that infects about two thirds of the population. + + In the fall of 2005, Marshall and Warren received the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work. These two men had a brilliant, Nobel-worthy, world-changing insight. So why did Marshall have to poison himself to get people to believe him? + + Finding Credibility + + Let’s pose the question in the broadest possible terms: What makes people believe ideas? How’s that for an ambitious question? Let’s start with the obvious answers. We believe because our parents or our friends believe. We believe because we’ve had experiences that led us to our beliefs. We believe because of our religious faith. We believe because we trust authorities. + + These are powerful forces—family, personal experience, faith. And, thankfully, we have no control over the way these forces affect people. We can’t route our memos through people’s mothers to add credibility. We can’t construct a PowerPoint presentation that will nullify people’s core beliefs. + + If we’re trying to persuade a skeptical audience to believe a new message, the reality is that we’re fighting an uphill battle against a lifetime of personal learning and social relationships. It would seem that there’s nothing much we can do to affect what people believe. But if we’re skeptical about our ability to affect belief, we merely have to look at naturally sticky ideas, because some of them persuade us to believe some pretty incredible things. + + Around 1999, an e-mail message spread over the Internet, forwarded from person to person, claiming that shipments of bananas from Costa Rica were infected with necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh-eating bacteria. People were warned not to purchase bananas for the next three weeks, and urged to SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION!!! if they contracted a rash after eating a banana. The e-mail also warned, “The skin infection from necrotizing fasciitis is very painful and eats two to three centimeters of flesh per hour. Amputation is likely, death is possible.” It claimed that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was reluctant to issue a general warning because it feared a nationwide panic. (One would think that disappearing centimeters of flesh might be sufficient to cause a panic, even in the absence of the FDA’s response.) This surprising message was attributed to the Manheim Research Institute. + + This bizarre rumor spread at least in part because it had an air of authority. It was circulated by the Manheim Research Institute! And the Food and Drug Administration knew about the problem! The Manheim Research Institute and the FDA are invoked as credibility-boosters. Their authority makes us think twice about what would otherwise be some pretty incredible statements: Necrotizing fasciitis consumes three centimeters of flesh per hour? If that’s true, why isn’t the story on the evening news? + + Evidently, someone realized that the rumor’s credibility could be improved. Later versions added, “This message has been verified by the Centers for Disease Control.” If the rumor circulated long enough, no doubt it would eventually be “approved by the Dalai Lama” and “heartily endorsed by the Security Council.” + + + + As the contaminated bananas show, authorities are a reliable source of credibility for our ideas. When we think of authorities who can add credibility, we tend to think of two kinds of people. The first kind is the expert—the kind of person whose wall is covered with framed credentials: Oliver Sachs for neuroscience, Alan Greenspan for economics, or Stephen Hawking for physics. + + Celebrities and other aspirational figures make up the second class of “authorities.” Why do we care that Michael Jordan likes McDonald’s? Certainly he is not a certified nutritionist or a world-class gourmet. We care because we want to be like Mike, and if Mike likes McDonald’s, so do we. If Oprah likes a book, it makes us more interested in that book. We trust the recommendations of people whom we want to be like. + + If you have access to the endorsement of Stephen Hawking or Michael Jordan—renowned experts or celebrities—skip this part of the chapter. As for the rest of us, whom can we call on? Can we find external sources of credibility that don’t involve celebrities or experts? + + The answer, surprisingly, is yes. We can tap the credibility of antiauthorities. One antiauthority was a woman named Pam Laffin. + + Pam Laffin, the Antiauthority + + Pam Laffin was the star of a series of antismoking TV ads that were broadcast in the mid-1990s. Laffin is not a celebrity and she’s not a health expert. She’s a smoker. + + At the time, Laffin was a twenty-nine-year-old mother of two. She had started smoking at age ten and had developed emphysema by age twenty-four. She’d suffered a failed lung transplant. + + Greg Connolly, the director of tobacco control for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), was in charge of designing a public-service campaign against smoking. He became aware of Pam Laffin and asked her to share her story with the public. She agreed. + + Connolly said, “What we’ve learned from previous campaigns is that telling stories using real people is the most compelling way.” The MDPH filmed a series of thirty-second spots, broadcast during hip shows such as Ally McBeal and Dawson’s Creek. The spots were brutal. They showed Laffin battling to live while slowly suffocating because of her failing lungs. The TV audience watched her enduring an invasive bronchoscopy—a procedure in which a tube with a camera at the end is inserted through the mouth and pushed into the lungs. The spots showed the nasty surgical scars on her back. + + In another spot, featuring photos of Laffin as a child and as an adult, she talks about how her emphysema left her with a “fat face” and “a hump on my neck.” She said, “I started smoking to look older and I’m sorry to say it worked.” + + The spots were difficult to watch, and contrasted jarringly with the light soap-opera fare of shows like Dawson’s Creek. “We have no compunction at all about shocking smokers into waking up,” Connolly said. + + Laffin became a heroine of the antismoking movement. She was the subject of an MTV documentary. The Centers for Disease Control features her story in an antismoking Web campaign and a twenty-minute educational video titled I Can’t Breathe. + + She died in November 2000 at the age of thirty-one, three weeks before she was scheduled for a second lung transplant. + + + + After hearing Laffin’s story you’re probably not surprised that she was an effective spokeswoman. There’s no question that she knew from personal experience what she was talking about. She had a powerful tale to tell. + + Another example of drawing credibility from antiauthorities comes from the Doe Fund in New York City, an organization that takes homeless men—the John Does of our society—and turns them into productive citizens through counseling, drug rehabilitation, and, most important, job training. A few years ago, some representatives from a grant organization—potential financial supporters—were going to visit the offices of the Doe Fund. The Doe Fund sent a driver, Dennis, to pick them up and drive them to the home office. + + Dennis had been homeless before he turned to the Doe Fund for help. During the forty-five-minute car trip, Dennis shared his story with the grant representatives. One commented, “We weren’t just sitting around listening to a bunch of directors telling us how effective their services are; Dennis was the best ambassador that the Doe Fund could provide—he was living proof.” The Doe Fund also uses this principle internally. Every homeless man who enters the program is matched with a mentor who, two years before, was in the same situation. + + It’s worth reminding ourselves that it wasn’t obvious that Laffin or Dennis would be effective authorities. Thirty years ago, an antismoking campaign like Laffin’s would probably not have happened. Instead, the Surgeon General would have given us a stern lecture on the dangers of smoking. Or Burt Reynolds would have extolled the virtues of a smoke-free life. + + A citizen of the modern world, constantly inundated with messages, learns to develop skepticism about the sources of those messages. Who’s behind these messages? Should I trust them? What do they have to gain if I believe them? + + A commercial claiming that a new shampoo makes your hair bouncier has less credibility than hearing your best friend rave about how a new shampoo made her own hair bouncier. Well, duh. The company wants to sell you shampoo. Your friend doesn’t, so she gets more trust points. The takeaway is that it can be the honesty and trustworthiness of our sources, not their status, that allows them to act as authorities. Sometimes antiauthorities are even better than authorities. + + The Power of Details + + We don’t always have an external authority who can vouch for our message; most of the time our messages have to vouch for themselves. They must have “internal credibility.” Of course, internal credibility frequently depends on what topic we’re discussing: A credible math proof looks different from a credible movie review. But, surprisingly, there are some general principles for establishing internal credibility. To see these principles in action, we can again turn to urban legends. + + The Boyfriend’s Death is a famous urban legend that begins with a couple heading out on a date in the boyfriend’s car. The car runs out of gas under a tree on a deserted road. The girl suspects that the guy is faking in order to make out with her, but soon she realizes they’re really stuck. The boyfriend decides to walk to the nearest house for help, and the girl stays behind. He has been gone for a long time—it feels like hours—and the girl is frightened by a creepy scratching coming from the roof of the car, possibly the scrapings of a low-hanging tree branch. After several hours of anxious waiting, the girl gets out of the car to discover—cue the horror music!—her boyfriend, murdered and hanging from the tree above the car. His toes scrape the roof as he swings in the wind. + + When people pass this legend along, they always add particular details. It’s always set in a specific location, which varies when it is told in different parts of the country: “It happened right off Farm Road 121”; “It happened right on top of that bluff over Lake Travis.” An expert on folk legends, Jan Brunvand, says that legends “acquire a good deal of their credibility and effect from their localized details.” + + A person’s knowledge of details is often a good proxy for her expertise. Think of how a history buff can quickly establish her credibility by telling an interesting Civil War anecdote. But concrete details don’t just lend credibility to the authorities who provide them; they lend credibility to the idea itself. The Civil War anecdote, with lots of interesting details, is credible in anyone’s telling. By making a claim tangible and concrete, details make it seem more real, more believable. + + Jurors and the Darth Vader Toothbrush + + In 1986, Jonathan Shedler and Melvin Manis, researchers at the University of Michigan, created an experiment to simulate a trial. Subjects were asked to play the role of jurors and were given the transcript of a (fictitious) trial to read. The jurors were asked to assess the fitness of a mother, Mrs. Johnson, and to decide whether her seven-year-old son should remain in her care. + + The transcript was constructed to be closely balanced: There were eight arguments against Mrs. Johnson and eight arguments for Mrs. Johnson. All the jurors heard the same arguments. The only difference was the level of detail in those arguments. In one experimental group, all the arguments that supported Mrs. Johnson had some vivid detail, whereas the arguments against her had no extra details; they were pallid by comparison. The other group heard the opposite combination. + + As an example, one argument in Mrs. Johnson’s favor said: “Mrs. Johnson sees to it that her child washes and brushes his teeth before bedtime.” In the vivid form, the argument added a detail: “He uses a Star Wars toothbrush that looks like Darth Vader.” + + An argument against Mrs. Johnson was: “The child went to school with a badly scraped arm which Mrs. Johnson had not cleaned or attended to. The school nurse had to clean the scrape.” The vivid form added the detail that, as the nurse was cleaning the scrape, she spilled Mercurochrome on herself, staining her uniform red. + + The researchers carefully tested the arguments with and without vivid details to ensure that they had the same perceived importance—the details were designed to be irrelevant to the judgment of Mrs. Johnson’s worthiness. It mattered that Mrs. Johnson didn’t attend to the scraped arm; it didn’t matter that the nurse’s uniform got stained in the process. + + But even though the details shouldn’t have mattered, they did. Jurors who heard the favorable arguments with vivid details judged Mrs. Johnson to be a more suitable parent (5.8 out of 10) than did jurors who heard the unfavorable arguments with vivid details (4.3 out of 10). The details had a big impact. + + We can take comfort, perhaps, in the fact that the swing wasn’t more dramatic. (If the mother’s fitness had dropped from eight to two, we might have had to worry a bit about our justice system.) But the jurors did make different judgments based on irrelevant vivid details. So why did the details make a difference? They boosted the credibility of the argument. If I can mentally see the Darth Vader toothbrush, it’s easier for me to picture the boy diligently brushing his teeth in the bathroom, which in turn reinforces the notion that Mrs. Johnson is a good mother. + + + + What we should learn from urban legends and the Mrs. Johnson trial is that vivid details boost credibility. But what should also be added is that we need to make use of truthful, core details. We need to identify details that are as compelling and human as the “Darth Vader toothbrush” but more meaningful—details that symbolize and support our core idea. + + In 2004, two Stanford Business School professors held a workshop with arts organizations in Washington, D.C. One exercise was designed to make the arts leaders focus on the enduring principles of their organizations, the principles they would not compromise under any circumstances. One organization at the workshop was the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (LLDE), “a company of dance artists that creates, performs, teaches, and engages people in making art.” At the workshop, the leaders from the LLDE maintained that one of their core values was “diversity.” + + “Come on,” scoffed one of the professors, suspecting an exaggeration. “Everyone claims that they value diversity, but you’re a dance company. You’re probably filled with a bunch of twenty-five-year-old dancers, all of them tall and thin. Some of them are probably people of color, but is that diversity?” Other people in the audience, unfamiliar with the LLDE, nodded at this skeptical response. + + Peter DiMuro, the artistic director of the LLDE, responded with an example. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “the longest-term member of our company is a seventy-three-year-old man named Thomas Dwyer. He came to the LLDE after a full career working for the U.S. government when he retired in 1988, and had no previous dance experience. He has now been with the LLDE for seventeen years.” + + This detail—seventy-three-year-old Thomas Dwyer—silenced the skepticism in the room. The professors experienced a rare moment of speechlessness. + + And there was a good reason that DiMuro could respond quickly with a vivid example. The reason is that diversity truly is a core value at the LLDE. It’s part of the LLDE’s organizational DNA. + + In 2002, Liz Lerman won a MacArthur “genius grant” for her work creating modern dance involving communities throughout the United States. In a dance project called Hallelujah/U.S.A., Lerman visited communities across the country and asked residents what made them thankful. Then she choreographed dances around those themes of praise. The final performances featured members of the local community: teenage female Hmong dancers in Minneapolis, Border collie owners in Virginia, and a group of six card-playing ladies from Burlington, Vermont, who’d missed only two of their weekly card games in forty years. + + Now, a brief aside to the eye-rolling skeptics out there, to whom a modern dance performance sounds as appealing as being buried alive: Whether or not you’d like to spend your weekends watching the gyrations of Border collie owners, you’ve got to admit that the LLDE is diverse. It’s real diversity, not workspeak diversity. + + The example of Thomas Dwyer—the seventy-three-year-old former government employee—is a vivid, concrete symbol of a core organization value. It’s a symbol both to supporters and to the dancers themselves. No one wants to participate in a “dance project” and be the only balding, middle-aged guy on a stage full of Twiggys. The LLDE’s claim that diversity was a core value gained credibility from the details of Dwyer’s example, rather than from an external source. + + Beyond War + + The use of vivid details is one way to create internal credibility—to weave sources of credibility into the idea itself. Another way is to use statistics. Since grade school, we’ve been taught to support our arguments with statistical evidence. But statistics tend to be eye-glazing. How can we use them while still managing to engage our audience? + + Geoff Ainscow and other leaders of the Beyond War movement in the 1980s were determined to find a way to address the following paradox: When we see a child running with scissors, we wince. We shout at her to stop. Yet when we read newspaper articles about nuclear weapons—which have the power to destroy millions of children—it provokes, at best, only a moment of dismay. + + Beyond War was started by a group of citizens who were alarmed by the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. At this point, the combined Soviet and American nuclear arsenals were sufficient to destroy the world multiple times. The Beyond War participants went door-to-door in their neighborhoods, hoping to galvanize a public outcry against the arms race. They struggled with the problem of how to make credible their belief that the arms race was out of control. How do you make clear to people the staggering destructive capability of the world’s nuclear stockpile? It’s so intangible, so invisible. And yet telling stories, or providing details, seems inadequate: Grappling with the nuclear arms race requires us to grapple with the scale of it. Scale relies on numbers. + + Beyond War would arrange “house parties,” in which a host family invited a group of friends and neighbors over, along with a Beyond War representative to speak to them. Ainscow recounts a simple demonstration that the group used in its presentations. He always carried a metal bucket to the gatherings. At the appropriate point in the presentation, he’d take a BB out of his pocket and drop it into the empty bucket. The BB made a loud clatter as it ricocheted and settled. Ainscow would say, “This is the Hiroshima bomb.” He then spent a few minutes describing the devastation of the Hiroshima bomb—the miles of flattened buildings, the tens of thousands killed immediately, the larger number of people with burns or other long-term health problems. + + Next, he’d drop ten BBs into the bucket. The clatter was louder and more chaotic. “This is the firepower of the missiles on one U.S. or Soviet nuclear submarine,” he’d say. + + Finally, he asked the attendees to close their eyes. He’d say, “This is the world’s current arsenal of nuclear weapons.” Then he poured 5,000 BBs into the bucket (one for every nuclear warhead in the world). The noise was startling, even terrifying. “The roar of the BBs went on and on,” said Ainscow. “Afterward there was always dead silence.” + + This approach is an ingenious way to convey a statistic. Let’s unpack it a bit. First, Beyond War had a core belief: “The public needs to wake up and do something about the arms race.” Second, the group’s members determined what was unexpected about the message: Everyone knew that the world’s nuclear arsenal had grown since World War II, but no one realized the scale of the growth. Third, they had a statistic to make their belief credible—i.e., that the world had 5,000 nuclear warheads when a single one was enough to decimate a city. But the problem was that the number 5,000 means very little to people. The trick was to make this large number meaningful. + + The final twist was the demonstration—the bucket and the BBs, which added a sensory dimension to an otherwise abstract concept. Furthermore, the demonstration was carefully chosen—BBs are weapons, and the sound of the BBs hitting the bucket was fittingly threatening. + + Notice something that may be counterintuitive: The statistic didn’t stick. It couldn’t possibly stick. No one who saw the demonstration would remember, a week later, that there were 5,000 nuclear warheads in the world. + + What did stick was the sudden, visceral awareness of a huge danger—the massive scale-up from World War II’s limited atomic weaponry to the present worldwide arsenal. It was irrelevant whether there were 4,135 nuclear warheads or 9,437. The point was to hit people in the gut with the realization that this was a problem that was out of control. + + This is the most important thing to remember about using statistics effectively. Statistics are rarely meaningful in and of themselves. Statistics will, and should, almost always be used to illustrate a relationship. It’s more important for people to remember the relationship than the number. + + The Human-Scale Principle + + Another way to bring statistics to life is to contextualize them in terms that are more human, more everyday. As a scientific example, contrast the following two statements: + + + + 1. Scientists recently computed an important physical constraint to an extraordinary accuracy. To put the accuracy in perspective, imagine throwing a rock from the sun to the earth and hitting the target within one third of a mile of dead center. + + 2. Scientists recently computed an important physical constraint to an extraordinary accuracy. To put the accuracy in perspective, imagine throwing a rock from New York to Los Angeles and hitting the target within two thirds of an inch of dead center. + + + + Which statement seems more accurate? + + As you may have guessed, the accuracy levels in both questions are exactly the same, but when different groups evaluated the two statements, 58 percent of respondents ranked the statistic about the sun to the earth as “very impressive.” That jumped to 83 percent for the statistic about New York to Los Angeles. We have no human experience, no intuition, about the distance between the sun and the earth. The distance from New York to Los Angeles is much more tangible. (Though, frankly, it’s still far from tangible. The problem is that if you make the distance more tangible—like a football field—then the accuracy becomes intangible. “Throwing a rock the distance of a football field to an accuracy of 3.4 microns” doesn’t help.) + + Stephen Covey, in his book The 8th Habit, describes a poll of 23,000 employees drawn from a number of companies and industries. He reports the poll’s findings: + + + + • Only 37 percent said they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why. + + • Only one in five was enthusiastic about their team’s and their organization’s goals. + + • Only one in five said they had a clear “line of sight” between their tasks and their team’s and organization’s goals. + + • Only 15 percent felt that their organization fully enables them to execute key goals. + + • Only 20 percent fully trusted the organization they work for. + + + + Pretty sobering stuff. It’s also pretty abstract. You probably walk away from these stats thinking something like “There’s a lot of dissatisfaction and confusion in most companies.” + + Then Covey superimposes a very human metaphor over the statistics. He says, “If, say, a soccer team had these same scores, only 4 of the 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs. Only 2 of the 11 would care. Only 2 of the 11 would know what position they play and know exactly what they are supposed to do. And all but 2 players would, in some way, be competing against their own team members rather than the opponent.” + + The soccer analogy generates a human context for the statistics. It creates a sense of drama and a sense of movement. We can’t help but imagine the actions of the two players trying to score a goal, being opposed at every stage by the rest of their team. + + Why does the analogy work? It relies on our schema of soccer teams and the fact that this schema is somehow cleaner, more well-defined, than our schemas of organizations. It’s more vivid to think of a lack of cooperation on a soccer team—where teamwork is paramount—than in a corporation. And this is exactly Covey’s point: Corporations should operate like teams, but they don’t. Humanizing the statistics gives the argument greater wallop. + + As another example of the human-scale principle, take a mundane situation: figuring out whether a particular technological upgrade is worth the money. One example comes from Cisco, when it had to decide whether to add a wireless network for its employees. The cost of maintaining a wireless network was estimated at $500 per year per employee. That price sounds hefty—on the order of adding dental or vision insurance for all employees. But it’s not a benefit, it’s an investment. So how do you compute the value of an investment? You’ve got to decide whether you can get $501 worth of additional value from each employee each year after adding the network. + + One Cisco employee figured out a better way to think about the investment: “If you believe you can increase an employee’s productivity by one to two minutes a day, you’ve paid back the cost of wireless.” On this scale, the investment is much easier to assess. Our intuition works at this scale. We can easily simulate scenarios where employees can save a few minutes from wireless access—for instance, sending someone a request for a forgotten document during a critical meeting. + + Statistics aren’t inherently helpful; it’s the scale and context that make them so. Not many people have an intuition about whether wireless networking can generate $500 worth of marginal value per employee per year. The right scale changes everything. We saw that Concreteness allows people to bring their knowledge to bear—remember HP’s simulation of a family at Disney World? Similarly, the human-scale principle allows us to bring our intuition to bear in assessing whether the content of a message is credible. + + + + Statistics are a good source of internal credibility when they are used to illustrate relationships. In the introduction of this book, we discussed the example of the CSPI’s campaign against saturated-fat-loaded movie popcorn. The relevant statistic was that a mediumsized bag of popcorn had 37 grams of saturated fat. So what? Is that good or bad? + + Art Silverman, of the CSPI, cleverly placed the popcorn’s saturated-fat content in a relevant context for comparison. He said that one bag of popcorn was equivalent to a whole day’s worth of unhealthy eating. Silverman knew that most people would be appalled by this finding. + + What if Silverman had been a sleazebag? He could have picked a food item that was notoriously unhealthy but relatively low in saturated fat, such as lollipops. “One bag of popcorn has the fat equivalent of 712,000 lollipops!” (Or an infinite number of lollipops, since they’re fat-free.) This statistic is sleazy because it draws its power from sleight of hand involving different senses of unhealthy food. A sleazy movie-theater executive, to retaliate, might have changed the domain of comparison from saturated fat to some positive attribute of corn: “A bag of popcorn has as much Vitamin J as 71 pounds of broccoli!” (We made this up.) + + These possibilities are examples of why writing about statistics filled us with anxiety. Particularly in the realm of politics, tinkering with statistics provides lucrative employment for untold numbers of issue advocates. Ethically challenged people with lots of analytical smarts can, with enough contortions, make almost any case from a given set of statistics. + + Of course, let’s also remember that it’s easier to lie without statistics than with them. Data enforces boundaries. Unless people are unethical enough to make up data, the reality of the data constrains them. That’s a good thing, but it still leaves a lot of wiggle room. + + So what about the rest of us, who aren’t spinmeisters? What do we do? We will still be tempted to put the best possible spin on our statistics. All of us do it. “I scored sixteen points for the church basketball team tonight!” (Not mentioned: twenty-two missed shots and the loss of the game.) “I’m five feet six.” (Not mentioned: The three-inch heels.) “Revenue was up 10 percent this year, so I think I deserve a bonus.” (Not mentioned: Profits tanked.) + + When it comes to statistics, our best advice is to use them as input, not output. Use them to make up your mind on an issue. Don’t make up your mind and then go looking for the numbers to support yourself—that’s asking for temptation and trouble. But if we use statistics to help us make up our minds, we’ll be in a great position to share the pivotal numbers with others, as did Geoff Ainscow and the Beyond War supporters. + + + + + +* * * + + + +Dealing with Shark Attack Hysteria + + THE SITUATION: Every few years the media go frothy over shark attacks. Shark attacks, however, remain extremely rare and do not vary much from one year to the next. So why do they consume so much media and public attention? The answer is that shark attacks spawn terrifying, dream-haunting stories like the following, from The Oprah Winfrey Show: + + + + OPRAH: Bethany Hamilton loved to ride the waves. Surfing daily since she was 8 years old, Bethany was such a phenom, people said she had salt water running through her veins. At the young age of 13, Bethany was a rising star on the surfing circuit and had become a local celebrity, but what happened next landed Bethany in headlines around the world. + + It was early morning. Bethany was in the ocean lying on her board with her arm dangling in the water. Suddenly, a deadly fifteen-foot tiger shark seized her arm. Violently, he jerked and yanked it until her arm was ripped right off of her small body. Seconds later the shark and her entire arm were gone, and Bethany was left alone on her board surrounded by bloody water. + + + + Imagine that you are forced to combat these vivid stories. Maybe you’re the publicity director of the Save the Sharks Foundation, or maybe you’re trying to convince your junior high school daughter that it’s okay to go to the beach. How do you do it? You’ve got the truth on your side—attacks are very rare—but that’s no guarantee that people will believe you. So what source of credibility do you tap to get people to believe you? + + + + MESSAGE 1: We based this message on statistics published by the Florida Museum of Natural History: + + You’re more likely to drown on a beach in an area protected by a lifeguard than you are to be attacked by a shark, much less killed by one. In the United States in 2000, twelve people died in lifeguard-protected areas. There were no fatalities from sharks. (In a typical year there are only 0.4 fatalities.) + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: This is okay but not great. This message taps internal credibility—the credibility of hard statistics. We have two comments: First, drowning does not seem like the right comparison to make, because many people may think drowning is a common cause of death. “Drowning is more common than shark attacks” does not feel particularly unexpected. (And maybe we’re too skeptical, but the presence of the college-student lifeguard never struck us as an ironclad guarantee of safety.) Second, the statistical comparison—12 deaths versus 0.4—is good, but it isn’t particularly vivid or meaningful on a human scale. It’s unlikely that anyone would remember these numbers a week later. + + + + MESSAGE 2: This message is also based on statistics published by the Florida Museum of Natural History: + + Which of these animals is more likely to kill you? + + A SHARK A DEER + + + + ANSWER: The deer is more likely to kill you. In fact, it’s 300 times more likely to kill you (via a collision with your car). + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2: We like the unexpected idea that Bambi is more dangerous than the evil shark, followed by the doubly unexpected statistic that Bambi is wildly more dangerous (300 times more deadly!). It’s absurd to the point of being funny, and humor is a nice antidote to the fear generated by shark-attack stories. In a sense, we’re fighting emotional associations with emotional associations (see the next chapter). + + This message taps internal credibility with the statistic, but it also taps into the audience as a source of credibility. People in the audience know how much they fear deer when they’re driving around—i.e., not much. Few of us are afraid to go out in the evening on account of lurking deer. We know that we don’t fear deer, so why should we fear sharks? (This is more effective than comparing shark attacks with drowning—after all, most of us have at least a mild fear of drowning.) + + + + + + PUNCH LINE:When we use statistics, the less we rely on the actual numbers the better. The numbers inform us about the underlying relationship, but there are better ways to illustrate the underlying relationship than the numbers themselves. Juxtaposing the deer and the shark is similar to Ainscow’s use of BBs in a bucket. + + + +* * * + + + + The Sinatra Test and Safexpress + + We’ve seen that we can make our ideas more credible, on their own merits, by using compelling details or by using statistics. A third way to develop internal credibility is to use a particular type of example, an example that passes what we call the Sinatra Test. + + In Frank Sinatra’s classic “New York, New York,” he sings about starting a new life in New York City, and the chorus declares, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.” An example passes the Sinatra Test when one example alone is enough to establish credibility in a given domain. For instance, if you’ve got the security contract for Fort Knox, you’re in the running for any security contract (even if you have no other clients). If you catered a White House function, you can compete for any catering contract. It’s the Sinatra Test: If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. + + Safexpress, a family-owned business based in India, used the Sinatra Test to its advantage. Safexpress competes in the shipping business, where competition is fierce. And, while the competition led to low prices, there was a catch: Most shipping firms would not guarantee safe, on-time deliveries. With some firms, you couldn’t be guaranteed that deliveries would be made, ever. + + To distinguish itself from the competition, Safexpress assured its customers of safe, on-time delivery. International companies operating in India—companies accustomed to the reliability of FedEx—embraced Safexpress immediately. But Safexpress struggled to attract business from Indian companies that weren’t accustomed to paying higher rates. Rubal Jain, a member of the founding family of Safexpress, was determined to make inroads with Indian companies. + + To do so, Jain set his sights on winning the account of a major Bollywood studio. When Jain proposed that Safexpress distribute the studio’s films, the reaction was “Are you kidding?” + + The skepticism was predictable and plausible: Piracy is a major concern in India, as it is in the rest of the world, so distribution is mission-critical. If films end up “misplaced” en route, bootlegged versions show up a few weeks later on street corners. This risk wasn’t one that the movie studio could take. + + Fortunately, Jain had a powerful credential ready. Safexpress had handled the release of the fifth Harry Potter book—every Potter book in every bookstore in India had been delivered there by Safexpress, an insanely complicated delivery: All the books had to arrive in stores by 8 A.M. on the morning of the release. Not too early, or the bookstore owners might try to sell them early and the secret would be blown; and not too late, or the bookstore owners would be irate at lost sales. Also, the Potter books needed the same piracy protections as the studio’s films—there could be no leaks. + + And Jain had a second story. He knew from an earlier conversation that the Bollywood studio executive had a brother who had recently taken his high school board exams. After telling the Harry Potter story, Jain mentioned, “By the way, we also safely delivered the examination papers for your brother’s boards and carried the return answer sheets.” Safexpress handles the distribution of all the central examinations for high school and university admissions. + + Two months later, the deal was signed. + + Both of Jain’s stories passed the Sinatra Test. Jain could have used statistics instead of stories—“98.84 percent of our deliveries arrive on time.” Or he could have drawn on an external source of credibility, such as a testimonial from the CEO of a multinational company: “We’ve used Safexpress for all our deliveries in India and we’ve found them to be an excellent service provider.” Both of these are good credibility-boosters. But there is something extraordinary about being the company that carries completed board exams and the latest Harry Potter book. Their power comes from their concreteness rather than from numbers or authority. These stories make you think, “If Safexpress can make it there, they can make it anywhere.” + + Edible Fabrics + + For an example that unites all three of the “internal credibility” sources—details, statistics, and the Sinatra Test—we can turn to Bill McDonough, an environmentalist known for helping companies improve both the environment and the bottom line. + + Most executives tend to be skeptical and suspicious when approached by an environmentalist, even a “business-friendly” environmentalist like McDonough. To overcome such skepticism—to prove that there can be perfect consistency between business goals and environmental goals—McDonough tells a story that passes the Sinatra Test. + + The story goes as follows. In 1993, McDonough and a chemist, Michael Braungart, were hired by the Swiss textile manufacturer Rohner Textil, which produces the fabrics for Steelcase chairs. Their mission was one that most people in the textile industry considered impossible: Create a manufacturing process without using toxic chemicals. + + The textile industry routinely deals with hazardous chemicals. Most dye colors contain toxic elements. In fact, the trimmings from Rohner Textil’s factory—the excess cloth not used on the chairs—contained so many questionable chemicals that the Swiss government classified them as hazardous waste. Furthermore, the trimmings couldn’t be buried or burned in Switzerland—to comply with government regulations, they had to be exported—shipped to a country with laxer regulations, such as Spain. (Note the vivid, concrete detail.) McDonough said, “If your trimmings are declared hazardous waste but you can sell what’s in the middle, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know you’re selling hazardous waste.” + + To tackle this problem—eliminating toxic chemicals from the furniture-manufacturing process—McDonough needed to find a willing partner in the chemical industry. He had to provide Rohner Textil with a source for clean chemicals that would fit the company’s production needs. So he and Braungart started approaching executives in the chemical industry. They said, “We’d like to see all products in the future be as safe as pediatric pharmaceuticals. We’d like our babies to be able to suck on them and get health and not sickness.” + + They asked chemical factories to open their books and talk about how the chemicals were manufactured. McDonough told the companies, “Don’t tell us ‘it’s proprietary and legal.’ If we don’t know what it is, we’re not using it.” Sixty chemical companies turned them down. Finally, the chairman of one firm, Ciba-Geigy, said okay. + + McDonough and Braungart studied 8,000 chemicals commonly used in the textile industry. They measured each chemical against a set of safety criteria. Of the chemicals they tested, 7,962 failed. They were left with 38 chemicals—but those 38 were “safe enough to eat,” according to McDonough. (Note the concrete detail—“safe enough to eat”—plus a statistic that establishes a relationship—a tiny number of good chemicals out of a larger number of toxic chemicals.) + + Amazingly, using just those 38 chemicals, they were able to create a complete line of fabrics, containing every color but black. The fabric they chose was made from natural materials—wool and a plant fiber called ramie. When the production process went online, inspectors from the Swiss government came to check the water flowing out of the plant to make sure chemical emissions were within legal limits. “At first, the inspectors thought their equipment had broken,” McDonough says. The instruments were detecting nothing in the water. Then the inspectors tested the water flowing into the factory, which was Swiss drinking water, and found that the equipment was fine. McDonough says, “The fabrics during the production process were further filtering the water.” + + McDonough’s new process wasn’t just safer, it was cheaper. Manufacturing costs shrank 20 percent. The savings came, in part, from the reduced hassle and expense of dealing with toxic chemicals. Workers no longer had to wear protective clothing. And the scraps—instead of being shipped off to Spain for burial—were converted into felt, which was sold to Swiss farmers and gardeners for crop insulation. + + This story is remarkable. Think about all the memorable elements: The impossible mission. The elimination of all but 38 of 8,000 chemicals. The factory’s water turned so clean that Swiss inspectors thought their instruments were broken. The scraps were transformed from hazardous waste into crop insulation. The idea that this fabric was “safe enough to eat.” And the happy business result—workers made safer and costs down 20 percent. + + If McDonough approaches any business, in any industry, with a suggestion for a more environment-friendly process, this story will give him enormous credibility. It easily clears the bar set by the Sinatra Test. + + So far we’ve talked about creating credibility by drawing on external sources—authorities and antiauthorities. And we’ve talked about creating credibility by drawing on sources inside the message itself—by using details and statistics and examples that pass the Sinatra Test. But there’s one remaining source of credibility that we haven’t discussed. And it may be the most powerful source of all. + + Where’s the Beef? + + One of the most brilliant television ad campaigns of all time was launched by Wendy’s in 1984. The first commercial opens on three elderly women standing together at a counter. On the counter there’s a hamburger on a plate, and they’re gawking at it, because it’s huge—about a foot in diameter. + + “It certainly is a big bun,” says the woman on the left. + + “A very big bun,” echoes the one in the center. + + “A big, fluffy bun,” says the first. + + “A very big fluffy. . .” + + There’s a pause as the woman in the middle lifts the top half of the bun and reveals a meager, overcooked beef patty and a single pickle. The patty is dwarfed by the bun. + + For the first time, we hear from the woman on the right, played by eighty-year-old Clara Peller. She squints through her glasses and says, cantankerously, “Where’s the beef?” + + The announcer says, “Some hamburger places give you a lot less beef on a fluffy bun….” + + Peller: “Where’s the beef?” + + Announcer: “The Wendy’s Single has more beef than the Whopper or the Big Mac. At Wendy’s you get more beef and less bun.” + + Peller: “Hey! Where’s the beef?” She peers over the counter. “I don’t think there’s anybody back there.” + + There’s a lot to love about these commercials. They’re funny and well produced. Clara Peller became a minor celebrity. More remarkably, the ads highlighted a true advantage of Wendy’s hamburgers: They really did have more beef. The ads were a refreshing departure from the standard advertiser tool kit that attempts to paint powerful but irrelevant emotions on consumer goods—for instance, associating a mother’s love of her children with a particular brand of fabric softener. Wendy’s did something more admirable: It highlighted a genuine advantage of its product and presented it in an enjoyable way. + + The ads had a big impact. According to polls taken by Wendy’s, the number of customers who believed that Wendy’s Single was larger than the Whopper or the Big Mac increased by 47 percent in the two months after the commercial aired. During the first full year after the ads ran, Wendy’s revenues rose 31 percent. + + The claim Wendy’s had made was that its burgers had more beef. This information was probably not something most people would have given much thought to before. Certainly it was not common sense at the time. So how did Wendy’s make this claim credible? + + Notice that something different is going on here. This message doesn’t draw on external credibility—Wendy’s didn’t invite Larry Bird to weigh in on burger sizes. (Nor did it use an antiauthority, like an obese burger-eating giant.) It doesn’t draw on internal credibility, either, quoting a statistic like “11 percent more beef!” Instead, the commercials developed a brand-new source of credibility: the audience. Wendy’s outsourced its credibility to its customers. + + The spots implicitly challenged customers to verify Wendy’s claims: See for yourself—look at our burgers versus McDonald’s burgers. You’ll notice the size difference! To use scientific language, Wendy’s made a falsifiable claim. Any customer with a ruler and a scale could have verified the claim’s truth value. (Though Wendy’s advantage was sufficiently substantial that just eyeballing the difference was enough.) + + This challenge—asking customers to test a claim for themselves—is a “testable credential.” Testable credentials can provide an enormous credibility boost, since they essentially allow your audience members to “try before they buy.” + + Testable Credentials + + Testable credentials have a colorful history in urban legends. In the 1990s, Snapple struggled to shake rumors that it supported the Ku Klux Klan. Rumormongers thought they had a few pieces of “evidence” on their side: “Look on any bottle of Snapple—there’s a picture of a slave ship on the front!” Doubters were also encouraged to look for the strange symbol showing a K inside a circle—allegedly, evidence of the Klan’s ownership. + + Sure enough, Snapple’s labels did feature a picture of a ship and a K in a circle. They just had nothing to do with the Klan. The ship was from an engraving of the Boston Tea Party. The circled K is a symbol for “kosher.” But some uninformed people saw these symbols and bought into the rumors. + + Notice that the Snapple rumor provides a kind of bait-and-switch version of “Where’s the Beef?” Wendy’s says, “See for yourself—our burgers have more beef.” The Rumormongers say, “See for yourself—there’s a circled K. Therefore Snapple supports the Ku Klux Klan.” The validity of the see-for-yourself claim causes some people to leap, illogically, to the rumormongers’ conclusion. This is how testable credentials can backfire—the “see for yourself” step can be valid, while the resulting conclusion can be entirely invalid. + + Testable credentials are useful in many domains. For example, take the question “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Ronald Reagan famously posed this question to the audience during his 1980 presidential debate with Jimmy Carter. Reagan could have focused on statistics—the high inflation rate, the loss of jobs, the rising interest rates. But instead of selling his case he deferred to his audience. + + Another example of testable credentials comes from Jim Thompson, the founder of the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). The mission of the PCA is to emphasize that youth sports should not be about winning at all costs; it should be about learning life lessons. + + The PCA holds positive-coaching seminars for youth sports coaches. At the seminars, trainers use the analogy of an “Emotional Tank” to get coaches to think about the right ratio of praise, support, and critical feedback. “The Emotional Tank is like the gas tank of an automobile. If your car’s tank is empty, you can’t drive very far. If your Emotional Tank is empty, you are not going to be able to perform at your best.” + + After the Emotional Tank analogy is introduced, the trainers begin an exercise. First, they ask the coaches to imagine that the person next to them has just flubbed a key play in the game. The coaches are challenged to say something to the person to drain his Emotional Tank. Since clever put-downs are a staple of many sports interactions, this exercise is embraced with noticeable enthusiasm. Thompson says, “The room fills with laughter as coaches get into the exercise, sometimes with great creativity.” + + Then the coaches are asked to imagine that someone else has made the same mistake, but now they’re in charge of filling that person’s Emotional Tank instead of draining it. This generates a more muted response. Thompson says, “The room often gets very quiet, and you finally hear a feeble, ‘Nice try!’” + + Observing their own behavior, the coaches learn the lesson—how they found it easier to criticize than to support, to think of ten clever insults rather than a single consolation. Thompson found a way to transform his point into a testable credential, something the coaches could experience for themselves. + + + + + +* * * + + + +Our Intuition Is Flawed, but Who Wants to Believe That? + + THE SITUATION: People often trust their intuition, but our intuition is flawed by identifiable biases. Still, most people feel pretty good about their intuition, and it’s hard to convince them otherwise. This is the uphill battle faced by psychologists who study decision-making. Pretend that you’re the editor of an introductory psychology textbook, and you’re looking at two competing ways of explaining the concept of “availability bias.” + + + + MESSAGE 1: Get ready to make a few predictions. Which of the following events kill more people: Homicide or suicide? Floods or tuberculosis? Tornadoes or asthma? Take a second to think about your answers. + + You might have thought that homicide, floods, and tornadoes are more common. People generally do. But in the United States there are 50 percent more deaths from suicide than from homicide, nine times more deaths from tuberculosis than from floods, and eighty times more deaths from asthma than from tornadoes. + + So why do people predict badly? Because of the availability bias. The availability bias is a natural tendency that causes us, when estimating the probability of a particular event, to judge the event’s probability by its availability in our memory. We intuitively think that events are more likely when they are easier to remember. But often the things we remember are not an accurate summary of the world. + + We may remember things better because they evoke more emotion, not because they are more frequent. We may remember things better because the media spend more time covering them (perhaps because they provide more vivid images), not because they are more common. The availability bias may lead our intuition astray, prompting us to treat unusual things as common and unlikely things as probable. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: This passage uses a simple but effective testable credential: Which problem do you think kills more people? With any luck, readers will botch at least one of the predictions, thus illustrating for themselves the reality of the availability bias. + + + + + + MESSAGE 2: Here’s an alternative passage illustrating the availability bias that is more typical of introductory textbooks: + + The availability bias is a natural tendency that causes us, when estimating the probability of a particular event, to judge the event’s probability by its availability in our memory. We intuitively think that events are more likely when they’re easier to remember. But often the things we remember are not an accurate summary of the world. For example, in a study by decision researchers at the University of Oregon, experimental participants thought that 20 percent more people died in homicides than in suicides, when the truth is that there are 50 percent more deaths from suicides. Subjects thought that more people were killed by floods than tuberculosis, but nine times more people are killed by tuberculosis. Subjects believed that approximately as many people were killed by tornadoes as by asthma, but there are eighty times more deaths from asthma. + + People remember things better because they evoke more emotion, not because they are more frequent. People remember things better because the media spend more time covering them (perhaps because they provide more vivid images), not because they are more common. + + The availability bias may lead our intuition astray, prompting us to treat unusual things as common and unlikely things as probable. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2: This is less involving. You could imagine a student reading the second paragraph—which gives away the punch line that asthma kills eighty times more people than tornadoes—and thinking, Wow, those research participants were dumb. It’s much more powerful to experience the effect for yourself. + + + + + + PUNCH LINE: Using testable credentials allows people to try out an idea for themselves. + + + +* * * + + + + Rookie Orientation + + Let’s shift to a different sports domain: the National Basketball Association. Imagine that it’s your job to educate incoming NBA rookies about the danger of AIDS. NBA players are young men—rookies are often under twenty-one. And they are sudden celebrities, with all the attention that goes with this new fame. They’ve heard about AIDS their entire lives, so the risk is not that they’re unaware of AIDS; the risk is that the circumstances of their lives prompt them to drop their guard for a night. + + How do you make the threat of AIDS credible and immediate? Think through the possible sources of credibility. You could draw on external credibility—a celebrity/expert like Magic Johnson, or an antiauthority, such as an athlete in the terminal stages of AIDS. You could use statistics on a human scale (perhaps the odds of contracting AIDS from a single encounter with a stranger). You could use vivid details—an athlete could recount how his normal safe-sex vigilance was eroded by a particularly wild night of partying. Any of these could be quite effective. But what if you wanted to move the source of credibility inward, inside the heads of the players? The NBA came up with an ingenious way to do just that. + + + + A few weeks before the NBA season begins, all the rookie players are required to meet in Tarrytown, New York, for a mandatory orientation session. They’re essentially locked in a hotel for six days: no pagers, no cell phones. The rookies are taught about life in the big leagues—everything from how to deal with the media to how to make sensible investments with their new riches. + + One year, despite the secrecy surrounding the orientation, a group of female fans staked out the location. On the first night of the orientation, they were hanging out in the hotel bar and restaurant, dressed to be noticed. The players were pleased by the attention. There was a lot of flirting, and the players made plans to meet up with some of the women later in the orientation. + + The next morning, the rookies dutifully showed up for their session. They were surprised to see the female fans in front of the room. The women introduced themselves again, one by one. “Hi, I’m Sheila and I’m HIV positive.” “Hi, I’m Donna and I’m HIV positive.” + + Suddenly the talk about AIDS clicked for the rookies. They saw how life could get out of control, how a single night could cause a lifetime of regret. + + Contrast the NBA’s approach with the NFL’s approach. At the NFL’s orientation one year, league personnel had every rookie put a condom on a banana. No doubt eye-rolling was epidemic. Later, two women—former football groupies—talked about how they would try to seduce players, hoping to get pregnant. The women’s session was powerful—it was a well-designed message. But what’s more likely to stick with someone: hearing about someone who fooled someone else, or being fooled yourself? + + + + How do we get people to believe our ideas? We’ve got to find a source of credibility to draw on. Sometimes the wellsprings are dry, as Barry Marshall discovered in his quest to cure the ulcer. Drawing on external credibility didn’t work—the endorsement of his supervisors and his institution in Perth didn’t seem to be enough. Drawing on internal credibility didn’t work—his careful marshaling of data and detail still didn’t help him clear the bar. In the end, what he did was draw on the audience’s credibility—he essentially “modeled” a testable credential by gulping a glass of bacteria. The implicit challenge was: See for yourself—if you drink this gunk, you’ll get an ulcer, just like I did. + + It’s not always obvious which wellspring of credibility we should draw from. What Marshall showed so brilliantly was perseverance—knowing when it was time to draw on a different well. In this chapter we’ve seen that the most obvious sources of credibility—external validation and statistics—aren’t always the best. A few vivid details might be more persuasive than a barrage of statistics. An antiauthority might work better than an authority. A single story that passes the Sinatra Test might overcome a mountain of skepticism. It’s inspirational to know that a medical genius like Marshall had to climb over the same hurdles with his idea as we’ll have to climb with ours—and to see that he eventually prevailed, to the benefit of us all. + + + + + + EMOTIONAL + + Mother Teresa once said, “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.” In 2004, some researchers at Carnegie Mellon University decided to see whether most people act like Mother Teresa. + + The researchers wanted to see how people responded to an opportunity to make a charitable contribution to an abstract cause versus a charitable contribution to a single person. They offered participants five dollars to complete a survey about their usage of various technology products. (The survey was irrelevant; the point was to ensure that the participants would have some cash on hand to consider donating to charity.) + + When people finished the survey, they received their payment in five one-dollar bills. They also received, unexpectedly, an envelope and a charity-request letter giving them an opportunity to donate some of their money to Save the Children, a charity that focuses on the well-being of children worldwide. + + The researchers tested two versions of the request letter. The first version featured statistics about the magnitude of the problems facing children in Africa, such as the following: + + + + • Food shortages in Malawi are affecting more than 3 million children. + + • In Zambia, severe rainfall deficits have resulted in a 42 percent drop in maize production from 2000. As a result, an estimated 3 million Zambians face hunger. + + • Four million Angolans—one third of the population—have been forced to flee their homes. + + • More than 11 million people in Ethiopia need immediate food assistance. + + + + The other version of the letter gave information about a single young girl: + + + + • Any money that you donate will go to Rokia, a seven-year-old girl from Mali, Africa. Rokia is desperately poor and faces the threat of severe hunger or even starvation. Her life will be changed for the better as a result of your financial gift. With your support, and the support of other caring sponsors, Save the Children will work with Rokia’s family and other members of the community to help feed and educate her and provide basic medical care and hygiene education. + + + + The researchers gave participants one of the two different letters, then left them alone. They chose how much money, if any, to put back into the envelope, then they sealed the envelope and handed it back to a researcher. + + On average, the people who read the statistics contributed $1.14. The people who read about Rokia contributed $2.38—more than twice as much. It seems that most people have something in common with Mother Teresa: When it comes to our hearts, one individual trumps the masses. + + The researchers believed that the smaller donations for the statistical letter could be a result of what they called the “drop in the bucket effect.” If people felt overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, their small donations might have seemed meaningless. But here’s where things get even more interesting. The researchers decided to give a third group of people both sets of information—the statistics and the story about Rokia. The researchers wondered whether people who got all the information would give more, on average, than the $2.38 that had been given by the Rokia group. Perhaps the combination of statistics and stories—the power of individual need coupled with the statistical scale of the problem—would inspire a whole new level of giving. + + Nope. The people who received both letters gave $1.43, almost a dollar less than the people who got the Rokia story alone. Somehow the statistics—evidence of massive human suffering in Africa—actually made people less charitable. What was going on? + + The researchers theorized that thinking about statistics shifts people into a more analytical frame of mind. When people think analytically, they’re less likely to think emotionally. And the researchers believed it was people’s emotional response to Rokia’s plight that led them to act. + + To prove this argument, they ran a second study. In this study they primed some people to think in an analytical way by asking questions such as, “If an object travels at five feet per minute, then by your calculations how many feet will it travel in 360 seconds?” Other people were primed to think in terms of feelings: “Please write down one word to describe how you feel when you hear the word ‘baby.’” + + Then both groups were given the Rokia letter. And, confirming the researchers’ theory, the analytically primed people gave less. When people were primed to feel before they read about Rokia, they gave $2.34, about the same as before. But when they were primed to calculate before they read about Rokia, they gave $1.26. + + These results are shocking. The mere act of calculation reduced people’s charity. Once we put on our analytical hat, we react to emotional appeals differently. We hinder our ability to feel. + + + + In the last chapter, we discussed how to convince people that our ideas are credible, how to make them believe. Belief counts for a lot, but belief isn’t enough. For people to take action, they have to care. + + Everyone believes there is tremendous human suffering in Africa; there’s no doubt about the facts. But belief does not necessarily make people care enough to act. Everyone believes that eating lots of fatty food leads to health problems; there’s no doubt about the facts. But the belief does not make people care enough to act. + + Charities have long since figured out the Mother Teresa effect—they know that donors respond better to individuals than to abstract causes. You don’t give to “African poverty,” you sponsor a specific child. (In fact, the idea of sponsoring a child as a charitable hook dates back to the 1950s, when a young Christian minister encouraged Americans to sponsor needy Korean orphans.) The concept works with animals, too. At Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization that fights to reduce cruel treatment of farm animals, donors can “adopt a chicken” ($10 per month), a goat ($25), or a cow ($50). + + No one wants to donate to the General Administrative Fund of a charity. It’s easy to understand, intellectually, why general funds would be needed—someone’s got to buy the staples—but it’s hard to generate a lot of passion for office supplies. + + Charities have learned how to arouse sympathy and compassion in donors—and thank goodness they’re good at it, because their skills ease a lot of suffering. But “making people care” isn’t something that only charities need to do. Managers have to make people care enough to work long and hard on complex tasks. Teachers have to make students care about literature. Activists have to make people care about city council initiatives. + + This chapter tackles the emotional component of stickiness, but it’s not about pushing people’s emotional buttons, like some kind of movie tearjerker. Rather, the goal of making messages “emotional” is to make people care. Feelings inspire people to act. + + As an example, most teenagers believe that cigarette smoking is dangerous. There’s no credibility problem with that message. Yet teenagers still take up smoking. So how do you transform their belief into action? You have to make them care. And, in 1998, someone finally figured out how to do that. + + The Truth + + The commercial starts with a shot of a city street in New York City. The footage is video, not film—it’s a bit dark, a bit unprofessional. It feels like a documentary, not a commercial. A caption flashes at the bottom of the screen: “Outside the headquarters of a major tobacco company.” + + An eighteen-wheeler pulls up in front of the building, and a group of teenagers jump out. The teens begin to unload long white sacks marked “Body Bag.” They stack the bags on top of one another near the edge of the building. As the commercial progresses, the pile of body bags gets bigger and bigger. By the end of the ad, there are hundreds of bags in the pile. One of the teens shouts at the building through a megaphone, “Do you know how many people tobacco kills every day?” The daily death toll is revealed to be 1,800—the number of body bags the teens have piled up in front of the tobacco headquarters. + + This ad is part of a series of ads called the Truth campaign. The campaign was launched by the American Legacy Foundation, which was formed in November 1998 after forty-six state attorneys-general settled a lawsuit against major U.S. tobacco companies. + + You can’t watch the Truth ads without getting angry at tobacco companies. After the ads began airing, Philip Morris invoked a special Big Tobacco “anti-vilification” clause to have the spots yanked from the air. The tobacco companies inserted this clause in the settlements of a number of antitobacco lawsuits; it gives them some veto power over how the settlement money can be spent on antismoking advertising. “We felt that [the Truth ads] are not consistent with the focus and mission of the American Legacy Foundation,” said Carolyn Levy, Philip Morris’s senior vice president for youth-smoking prevention, in reference to the censorship effort. + + One translation of this complaint: The ads were working. + + Meanwhile, another series of antismoking ads started to run. As part of the tobacco settlement, Philip Morris agreed to air its own series of antismoking ads. The Philip Morris tagline was “Think. Don’t Smoke.” + + Two campaigns were launched, almost simultaneously, with two different approaches. This juxtaposition set up an exciting, head-to-head horse race in the marketplace of ideas. In fact, in June 2002, an article in the American Journal of Public Health surveyed 10,692 teenagers to compare the Truth campaign with “Think. Don’t Smoke.” + + It turns out that some horses run better than others. When kids were asked to recall any antitobacco advertising they had seen, the Truth campaign was remembered spontaneously by 22 percent of them; the Think campaign by 3 percent. What’s particularly striking about this statistic is that when the kids were prompted with information from the campaigns, more than 70 percent of them remembered seeing both. In other words, teens had seen both ads on TV, but one stuck better than the other. Something about the Truth campaign was spontaneously memorable. + + Memory is important, but it’s only the first step. What about action? When the survey asked kids whether they were likely to smoke a cigarette during the next year, those who were exposed to the Truth campaign were 66 percent less likely to smoke. Those who were exposed to “Think. Don’t Smoke” were 36 percent more likely to smoke! Tobacco execs must have taken the news quite hard. + + It wasn’t just surveys that registered the difference. A study measured teen smoking in Florida, where the Truth campaign had its debut, versus the rest of the country. After two years of the campaign, smoking among high school students dropped by 18 percent and among middle school students by 40 percent. (About half of this decline may have been associated with a rise in cigarette taxes during the time of the study.) + + What happened here? It’s the Save the Children example revisited. What is the “Think. Don’t Smoke” campaign about? Er, thinking. It’s the Analytical Hat. Remember what happened with contributions to Rokia when donors were asked to think analytically before donating? + + What’s the Truth campaign about? It’s about tapping into antiauthority resentment, the classic teenage emotion. Once, teens smoked to rebel against The Man. Thanks to the ingenious framing of the Truth campaign—which paints a picture of a duplicitous Big Tobacco—teens now rebel against The Man by not smoking. + + The Truth campaign isn’t about rational decision-making; it’s about rebellion. And it made a lot of teens care enough to do something. In this case, that something was nothing. + + Semantic Stretch and the Power of Association + + So far we’ve been talking about what you might expect from a chapter on emotion—complex, fundamental human emotions like empathy (Rokia) and anger (the Truth). But the main question of this chapter is even more basic: How do we make people care about our messages? The good news is that to make people care about our ideas we don’t have to produce emotion from an absence of emotion. In fact, many ideas use a sort of piggybacking strategy, associating themselves with emotions that already exist. + + Consider the following sentence from a movie review: “Rashomon can be seen as a cinematic extension of Einstein’s theory of relativity.” Rashomon is a classic 1950 film by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. In the film, four different characters describe the same event—a murder and rape—from their own perspectives. The movie is told in a series of flashbacks, as each of the characters recounts his or her version of events. But the characters’ tales are self-serving and contradictory, and at the end of the movie the viewer is still uncertain about what actually happened. The movie questions the existence of absolute truth—or, at least, our ability to uncover it. + + So the movie reviewer, in the quote above, was comparing Rashomon’s “relative truth” to Einstein’s theory of relativity. But Einstein’s theory of relativity wasn’t designed to say that “everything is relative.” In fact, its actual meaning was essentially the opposite. The theory was designed to explain how the laws of physics are identical in every frame of reference. From Einstein’s view, things don’t look unpredictable; they look surprisingly orderly. + + Why did the reviewer link Rashomon with relativity? This reference doesn’t look like an appeal to Einstein’s authority; it claims that Rashomon is the cinematic “equivalent” of Einstein’s theory. Instead, the analogy seems intended to create a sense of awe—when we watch Rashomon, it implies, we will be in the presence of something profound. + + The theory of relativity is borrowed, as an association, because it lends an aura of emotional resonance—profundity, awe—to the movie. The movie review above is just one example among thousands. “Relativity” becomes, in a sense, a color on the idea palette. When you want to conjure up awe, you dab your brush into “relativity.” Other scientific terms—the “uncertainty principle,” “chaos theory,” the “quantum leap” of quantum mechanics—are also colors on this palette. + + In 1929, Einstein protested, “Philosophers play with the word, like a child with a doll…. It does not mean that everything in life is relative.” To Einstein’s chagrin, the number of people trying to tap into the resonance of “relativity” began to exceed the number of people who were trying to understand relativity. + + When associations to certain terms are drawn repeatedly—sometimes with precision, sometimes with crudeness—the effect is to dilute the power of the terms and their underlying concepts. When everyone paints with lime green, lime green no longer stands out. + + Research conducted at Stanford and Yale shows that this process—exploiting terms and concepts for their emotional associations—is a common characteristic of communication. People tend to overuse any idea or concept that delivers an emotional kick. The research labeled this overuse “semantic stretch.” + + Let’s look at a nonscientific example: the word “unique.” “Unique” used to mean one of a kind. “Unique” was special. + + The researchers used a database to examine every newspaper article in each of the top fifty newspapers in the United States over a twenty-year period. During this time, the percentage of articles in which something was described as “unique” increased by 73 percent. So either there’s a lot more unique stuff in the world today or the “uniqueness bar” has been lowered. + + Perhaps some skeptics, contemplating robot vacuum cleaners or Paris Hilton, would protest, “Hey, there is a lot more unique stuff in the world these days.” But at the same time that the word “unique” was rising in popularity, the word “unusual” was falling. In 1985, articles were more than twice as likely to use the word “unusual” as the word “unique.” By 2005, the two words were about equally likely to be used. + + Unique things should be a subset of unusual things—unique (i.e., one of a kind) is about as unusual as you can get. So if there really were more unique things today, we should see more “unusual” things as well. The fact that unusual things are getting less common makes the rise in unique things look like a case of semantic stretch. What we used to call “unusual” we now stretch and call “unique.” + + So where’s the emotion in “relativity” and in “unique”? Here’s the punch line: The most basic way to make people care is to form an association between something they don’t yet care about and something they do care about. We all naturally practice the tactic of association. What “relativity” and “unique” teach us is that in using associations we can overuse colors. Over time, associations get overused and become diluted in value; people end up saying things like “This is really, truly unique.” + + The superlatives of one generation—groovy, awesome, cool, phat—fade over time because they’ve been associated with too many things. When you hear your father call something “cool,” coolness loses its punch. When your finance professor starts using the word “dude,” you must eliminate the word from your vocabulary. Using associations, then, is an arms race of sorts. The other guy builds a missile, so you have to build two. If he’s “unique,” you’ve got to be “super-unique.” + + This emotional-association arms race creates problems for people who are trying to make others care. In fact, as we’ll see, the arms race essentially bankrupted the term “sportsmanship.” + + Fighting Semantic Stretch: The Case of “Sportsmanship” + + In the last chapter, we discussed the coaching seminars held by Jim Thompson, the founder of the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). Since 1988, when he founded the PCA, Thompson has struggled with an important problem. How do you clean up the bad behavior often associated with youth sports? In grappling with this problem, Thompson had to confront the issue of semantic stretch. + + The tennis player John McEnroe was once the poster child of poor sportsmanship, with his racket-throwing and bratty arguments with officials. But today McEnroe’s behavior wouldn’t raise an eyebrow at many youth sports games. Bad behavior is now common not only among athletes but also among parents and other spectators. According to the National Alliance for Youth Sports, nearly 15 percent of youth sports games involved a confrontation between parents or coaches and officials, up from 5 percent a few years ago. + + Sportsmanship was once a powerful idea in athletics, but Thompson felt that it had become a weak term. “Sportsmanship trophies are seen as consolation prizes for losers,” he says. One woman told Thompson that her high school basketball coach said that if his players ever won a sportsmanship trophy, they’d have to run laps. Thompson adds, “Sportsmanship seems like it is mostly about not doing something bad: ‘Don’t yell at officials. Don’t break the rules.’ But it’s not enough to simply refuse to do bad things. We need to expect much more of participants in youth sports. Unfortunately, ‘Be a good sport!’ is not the rallying cry that we need to transform youth sports.” + + Everyone enjoys hearing about real examples of good sportsmanship. Thompson uses the example of Lance Armstrong, who reacted unexpectedly when one of his chief opponents, Jan Ullrich, crashed during the Tour de France. Instead of taking advantage of this lucky break to increase his lead, Armstrong slowed down and waited for Ullrich to remount. He later said that he rode better when he was competing with a great athlete like Ullrich. That’s sportsmanship. + + Thompson knew that people still admired the underlying ideals of sportsmanship. Parents did want their kids to learn respect and manners from athletics. Coaches did want to be mentors, not just victorious taskmasters. Kids did want their teams to be respected by others. All three groups sometimes slipped up and acted like jerks. But Thompson saw that the need and the desire for sportsmanship remained, even though the term “sportsmanship” had lost its ability to motivate good behavior. + + “Sportsmanship” had been stretched too far. Like “relativity,” it had migrated far afield from its original meaning. It used to refer to the kind of behavior that Lance Armstrong showed Jan Ullrich. But over time the term was stretched to include unimpressive, nonchivalrous behavior, like losing without whining too much or making it through an entire game without assaulting a referee. + + Thompson and the PCA needed a different way of encouraging people, not just to avoid bad behavior but to embrace good behavior. They called it Honoring the Game. People care about sports, they care about the Game. It’s a way of making the point that the Game and its integrity are larger than the individual participants. “Honoring the Game” is a kind of sports patriotism. It implies that you owe your sport basic respect. Armstrong wasn’t being a “good sport”; he was Honoring the Game. And Honoring the Game also works for people other than players. It reminds anyone that sports is a civic institution. It’s unseemly to mess with an institution. It’s dishonorable. + + Is there any proof that Honoring the Game works? Consider the data gathered by a basketball league in Dallas, Texas: “In the 2002 basketball season, on average there was a technical foul called every fifteen games. Since that time, we’ve conducted six Double-Goal Coach workshops. In the 2004 basketball season, there was a technical foul called every fifty-two games.” A baseball league in Northern California found that after Positive Coaching training, there was a dramatic reduction (90 percent!) in the number of people who were ejected from games for bad behavior. Team morale improved so much that the number of players enrolling in the league increased by 20 percent. The only complaint was that they were running out of fields. + + Thompson doesn’t want to change just the culture of youth sports. He wants to change the culture of all sports: “I have a fantasy. I’m watching the World Series and a manager comes rushing onto the field to berate an umpire who made a call he disagrees with. On national TV, Bob Costas says, ‘That’s really too bad to see the manager dishonoring the game of baseball that way.’” (As a side note, notice how wonderfully concrete this vision is.) + + Youth sports hasn’t been purged of discourtesy, but Thompson is making a tangible difference in the places he’s reached. And, with Honoring the Game, he has managed to sidestep semantic stretch and peg an idea that makes people care. + + The lesson for the rest of us is that if we want to make people care, we’ve got to tap into the things they care about. When everybody taps into the same thing, an arms race emerges. To avoid it, we’ve either got to shift onto new turf, as Thompson did, or find associations that are distinctive for our ideas. + + Appealing to Self-Interest + + We’re searching for ways to make people care about our ideas—to make them care about the African child Rokia, about smoking, about charity, about sportsmanship. We make people care by appealing to the things that matter to them. + + And what matters to people? So far, we’ve dealt with associations, but there’s a more direct answer. In fact, it might be the most obvious answer of all. What matters to people? People matter to themselves. It will come as no surprise that one reliable way of making people care is by invoking self-interest. + + In 1925, John Caples was assigned to write a headline for an advertisement promoting the correspondence music course offered by the U.S. School of Music. Caples had no advertising experience, but he was a natural. He sat at his typewriter and pecked out the most famous headline in print-advertising history: “They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano. . .But When I Started to Play!” + + This is a classic underdog story in fifteen words. People laughed at him! And he shut them up through his playing! (The headline is enthralling enough that it makes us overlook commonsense reactions like, Um, why would anyone laugh at someone sitting down at a piano? When was the last time you laughed at someone who sat down at a piano?) + + The headline was so successful at selling correspondence courses that it’s still being ripped off by copywriters decades later. Sixty years later, the following knockoff headline increased sales by 26 percent over the previous year: “My Husband Laughed When I Ordered Our Carpet Through the Mail. But When I Saved 50%. . .” (Our publisher rejected the following subtitle for this book: “They Laughed When We Wrote This Book. But When They Woke Up in an Ice-Filled Bathtub. . .”) + + Caples helped establish mail-order advertising, the forerunner of the modern infomercial. In mail-order advertising, unlike most other forms of advertising, advertisers know exactly how well an ad works. Say there’s an ad for a “stock-picking guide” in a newspaper or a magazine. If you want to order the stock-picking guide, you send off a check to the address listed in the ad. But each version of an ad lists a slightly different address, so when your order shows up at a particular address the marketer knows precisely which ad generated the sale. + + Contrast mail-order ads with a classic consumer product like Crest. Why does someone buy a tube of Crest? Is it because of the new TV ads? Or was it the discount price at retail? Or the fancy new package design? Or the fact that Mom always used Crest? Or that it was the only brand in stock that day? Marketers have surprisingly little ability to tell. + + Because mail-order advertising is so transparent, it’s essentially a laboratory for assessing motivational appeals. What makes people care? Ask a direct-mail copywriter. And John Caples is often cited as the greatest copywriter of all time. He says, “First and foremost, try to get self-interest into every headline you write. Make your headline suggest to readers that here is something they want. This rule is so fundamental that it would seem obvious. Yet the rule is violated every day by scores of writers.” + + Caples’s ads get self-interest into their headlines by promising huge benefits for trivial costs: + + + + • You Can Laugh at Money Worries if You Follow This Simple Plan + + • Give Me 5 Days and I’ll Give You a Magnetic Personality. . .Let Me Prove It—Free + + • The Secret of How to Be Taller + + • How You Can Improve Your Memory in One Evening + + • Retire at 55 + + + + Caples says companies often emphasize features when they should be emphasizing benefits. “The most frequent reason for unsuccessful advertising is advertisers who are so full of their own accomplishments (the world’s best seed!) that they forget to tell us why we should buy (the world’s best lawn!).” An old advertising maxim says you’ve got to spell out the benefit of the benefit. In other words, people don’t buy quarter-inch drill bits. They buy quarter-inch holes so they can hang their children’s pictures. + + We get uncomfortable looking at Caples’s handiwork: Many of his ads are shady. Deceptive. The manufacturers of the Magnetic Personality Kit may enjoy a conscience-free existence, but most of us aspire to a working relationship with the truth. + + So what’s the nonadvertising, nonschlocky takeaway from the Caples techniques? The first lesson is not to overlook self-interest. Jerry Weissman, a former TV producer and screenwriter who now coaches CEOs in how to deliver speeches, says that you shouldn’t dance around the appeal to self-interest. He says that the WIIFY—“what’s in it for you,” pronounced whiff-y—should be a central aspect of every speech. + + Weissman notes that some people resist spelling out the message. “But my audiences aren’t stupid,” he quotes the resisters. “They might even feel insulted if I spell it out for them!” For an audience that may be distracted, though, spelling it out has value: “Even if it takes them just a few seconds to connect the dots between the feature you describe and the implied benefit, by the time they catch up, you will have moved on to your next point, and they probably won’t have time to absorb the benefit. . .or the next point.” + + Teachers are all too familiar with the student refrain “How are we ever going to use this?” In other words, what’s in it for me? If the WIIFY was that algebra made students better at video games, would any teacher hesitate to say so? Does any teacher doubt that students would pay more attention? + + If you’ve got self-interest on your side, don’t bury it. Don’t talk around it. Even subtle tweaks can make a difference. It’s important, Caples says, to keep the self in self-interest: “Don’t say, ‘People will enjoy a sense of security when they use Goodyear Tires.’ Say, ‘You enjoy a sense of security when you use Goodyear Tires.’” + + Of course, there are less obnoxious, less overt ways to appeal to self-interest than those promoted by mail-order ads. To explore this, we’ll start with a rather odd study conducted in Tempe, Arizona. + + Cable TV in Tempe + + In 1982, psychologists conducted a study on persuasion with a group of homeowners in Tempe, Arizona. The homeowners were visited by student volunteers who asked them to fill out surveys for a class project. + + At the time, cable TV was just starting to appear—it was still unfamiliar to most people. The research study was designed to compare the success of two different approaches to educating the homeowners about the potential benefits of cable TV. + + One group of homeowners was presented with some information about why cable might be worthwhile: + + + + CATV will provide a broader entertainment and informational service to its subscribers. Used properly, a person can plan in advance to enjoy events offered. Instead of spending money on the babysitter and gas, and putting up with the hassles of going out, more time can be spent at home with family, alone, or with friends. + + + + The second group of homeowners was asked to imagine themselves in a detailed scenario: + + + + Take a moment and imagine how CATV will provide you with a broader entertainment and informational service. When you use it properly, you will be able to plan in advance which of the events offered you wish to enjoy. Take a moment and think of how, instead of spending money on the babysitter and gas, and then having to put up with the hassles of going out, you will be able to spend your time at home, with your family, alone, or with your friends. + + + + Some readers have said that at first they didn’t see any difference between the two appeals. The difference is subtle. But go back and count up the number of times the word “you” appears in each appeal. + + In a sense, the study was a more elaborate version of Caples’s advice to avoid talking about abstract benefits (“People will enjoy a sense of security when they use Goodyear Tires”) and focus on personal benefits (“You enjoy a sense of security when you use Goodyear Tires”). The Arizona study, though, took it a step further. It asked people to visualize the feeling of security they would get by using Goodyear tires. + + The homeowners filled out a questionnaire for the students and said goodbye. They thought they were finished with the research project, but the researchers still had another stage to complete. A month after the survey was conducted, cable TV arrived in Tempe. The local cable company approached the homeowners for subscriptions. The university researchers managed to get subscriber data from the cable company. They then analyzed which homeowners had subscribed and which hadn’t. + + The homeowners who got information about cable subscribed at a rate of 20 percent, which was about the same as the rest of the neighborhood. But the homeowners who imagined themselves subscribing to cable subscribed at a rate of 47 percent. The research paper, when it was published, was subtitled “Does Imagining Make It So?” The answer was yes. + + Compared with a typical mail-order ad, the “imagine cable television” appeal is a much more subtle appeal to self-interest. Note that the benefits offered were not fantastic in a Caples-esque way. The gist was that you could avoid the hassle of leaving home (!) by ordering cable. Indeed, just hearing about the benefits, in the abstract, wasn’t enough to lure additional subscribers. It was only when people put themselves in the starring role—I can see myself watching a good movie at home with my hubby, and I can get up and check on the kids in the next room whenever I like. . .and think of all that babysitting money I’d save!—that their interest grew. + + This finding suggests that it may be the tangibility, rather than the magnitude, of the benefits that makes people care. You don’t have to promise riches and sex appeal and magnetic personalities. It may be enough to promise reasonable benefits that people can easily imagine themselves enjoying. + + Imagine that Save the Children incorporated this idea into its pitches for sponsorship. Right now the pitch is “You can sponsor Rokia, a little girl in Mali, for $30 per month”—a pitch that is already successful. But what if the pitch was expanded? “Imagine yourself as the sponsor of Rokia, a little girl in Mali. You’ve got a picture of her on your desk at work, next to your kids’ pictures. During the past year you’ve traded letters with her three times, and you know from the letters that she loves to read and frequently gets annoyed by her little brother. She is excited that next year she’ll get to play on the soccer team.” That’s powerful. (And it’s not crass.) + + Maslow + + Self-interest isn’t the whole story, of course—especially if we define “self-interest” narrowly, as we often do, in terms of wealth and security. If it were the whole story, no one would ever serve in the armed forces. There are things people care about that would never appear in a Caples ad. + + In 1954, a psychologist named Abraham Maslow surveyed the research in psychology about what motivates people. He boiled down volumes of existing research to a list of needs and desires that people try to fulfill: + + + + • Transcendence: help others realize their potential + + • Self-actualization: realize our own potential, self-fulfillment, peak experiences + + • Aesthetic: symmetry, order, beauty, balance + + • Learning: know, understand, mentally connect + + • Esteem: achieve, be competent, gain approval, independence, status + + • Belonging: love, family, friends, affection + + • Security: protection, safety, stability + + • Physical: hunger, thirst, bodily comfort + + + + You may remember this list as Maslow’s Pyramid, or Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow’s list of needs was incredibly insightful, but he was wrong to describe it as a “hierarchy.” Maslow saw the hierarchy as a ladder—to be climbed rung by rung from the bottom up. You couldn’t fill your longing for Esteem until you satisfied your longing for Security. You couldn’t fill your Aesthetic needs until your Physical needs were taken care of. (In Maslow’s world, there were no starving artists.) + + Subsequent research suggests that the hierarchical aspect of Maslow’s theory is bogus—people pursue all of these needs pretty much simultaneously. There’s no question that most starving men would rather eat than transcend, but there’s an awful lot of overlap in the middle. + + When people talk about “self-interest,” they’re typically invoking the Physical, Security, and Esteem layers. Sometimes Belonging gets acknowledged if the speaker is touchy-feely. Not many marketers or managers venture far beyond these categories. Even appeals that seem to fall under the Aesthetic category are often really Esteem-related, but in disguise (e.g., a luxury-auto ad). + + There could be a very good reason that people focus on those particular categories. Maybe those are the ones that truly matter. The rest of them—Self-actualization, Transcendence, and so on—do seem a bit academic. Recent research has explored this question, helping to shed light on which of Maslow’s categories made people care. + + + + Imagine that a company offers its employees a $1,000 bonus if they meet certain performance targets. There are three different ways of presenting the bonus to the employees: + + + + 1. Think of what that $1,000 means: a down payment on a new car or that new home improvement you’ve been wanting to make. + + 2. Think of the increased security of having that $1,000 in your bank account for a rainy day. + + 3. Think of what the $1,000 means: the company recognizes how important you are to its overall performance. It doesn’t spend money for nothing. + + + + When people are asked which positioning would appeal to them personally, most of them say No. 3. It’s good for the self-esteem—and, as for No. 1 and No. 2, isn’t it kind of obvious that $1,000 can be spent or saved? Most of us have no trouble at all visualizing ourselves spending $1,000. (It’s a bit less common to find people who like to visualize themselves saving.) + + Here’s the twist, though: When people are asked which is the best positioning for other people (not them), they rank No. 1 most fulfilling, followed by No. 2. That is, we are motivated by self-esteem, but others are motivated by down payments. This single insight explains almost everything about the way incentives are structured in most large organizations. + + Or consider another version of the same task. Let’s say you’re trying to persuade someone to take a new job in a department that’s crucial to the company’s success. Here are three possible pitches for the new job: + + + + 1. Think about how much security this job provides. It’s so important that the company will always need someone in this job. + + 2. Think about the visibility provided by this job. Because the job is so important, a lot of people will be watching your performance. + + 3. Think about how rewarding it will be to work in such a central job. It offers a unique opportunity to learn how the company really works. + + + + The chasm between ourselves and others opens again. Most people say No. 3—an appeal to Learning—would be most motivating for them. Those same people predict that others would be most motivated by No. 1 (Security) and No. 2 (Esteem). + + In other words, a lot of us think everyone else is living in Maslow’s basement—we may have a penthouse apartment, but everyone else is living below. The result of spending too much time in Maslow’s basement is that we may overlook lots of opportunities to motivate people. It’s not that the “bottom floors”—or the more tangible, physical needs, to avoid the hierarchy metaphor—aren’t motivational. Of course they are. We all like to get bonuses and to have job security and to feel like we fit in. But to focus on these needs exclusively robs us of the chance to tap more profound motivations. + + A great example of using these more profound motivations involves a retired member of the U.S. Army—not a battlefield commander but a guy who ran a mess hall. + + Dining in Iraq + + Army food is just about what you’d expect: bland, overcooked, and prepared in massive quantities. The dishes are not garnished with sprigs of parsley. The mess halls are essentially calorie factories, giving the troops the fuel they need to do their jobs. An old Army proverb says, “An Army travels on its stomach.” + + The Pegasus chow hall, just outside the Baghdad airport, has developed a different reputation. At Pegasus, the prime rib is perfectly prepared. The fruit platter is a beautiful assortment of watermelon, kiwi fruit, and grapes. There are legends of soldiers driving to Pegasus from the Green Zone (the well-protected Americanized area of Baghdad), along one of the most treacherous roads in Iraq, just to eat a meal. + + Floyd Lee, the man in charge of Pegasus, was retired from his twenty-five-year career as a Marine Corps and Army cook when the Iraq war began. He came out of retirement to take the job. “The good Lord gave me a second chance to feed soldiers,” he said. “I’ve waited for this job all my life, and here I am in Baghdad.” + + Lee is well aware that being a soldier is relentlessly difficult. The soldiers often work eighteen-hour days, seven days a week. The threat of danger in Iraq is constant. Lee wants Pegasus to provide a respite from the turmoil. He’s clear about his leadership mission: “As I see it, I am not just in charge of food service; I am in charge of morale.” + + Think about that: I am in charge of morale. In terms of Maslow’s hierarchy, Lee is going for Transcendence. + + This vision manifests itself in hundreds of small actions taken by Lee’s staff on a daily basis. At Pegasus, the white walls of the typical mess hall are covered with sports banners. There are gold treatments on the windows, and green tablecloths with tassels. The harsh fluorescent lights have been replaced by ceiling fans with soft bulbs. The servers wear tall white chef’s hats. + + The remarkable thing about Pegasus’s reputation for great food is that Pegasus works with exactly the same raw materials that everyone else does. Pegasus serves the same twenty-one-day Army menu as other dining halls. Its food comes from the same suppliers. It’s the attitude that makes the difference. A chef sorts through the daily fruit shipment, culling the bad grapes, selecting the best parts of the watermelon and kiwi, to prepare the perfect fruit tray. At night, the dessert table features five kinds of pie and three kinds of cake. The Sunday prime rib is marinated for two full days. A cook from New Orleans orders spices that are mailed to Iraq to enhance the entrées. A dessert chef describes her strawberry cake as “sexual and sensual”—two adjectives never before applied to Army food. + + Lee realizes that serving food is a job, but improving morale is a mission. Improving morale involves creativity and experimentation and mastery. Serving food involves a ladle. + + One of the soldiers who commute to Pegasus for Sunday dinner said, “The time you are in here, you forget you’re in Iraq.” Lee is tapping into Maslow’s forgotten categories—the Aesthetic, Learning, and Transcendence needs. In redefining the mission of his mess hall, he has inspired his co-workers to create an oasis in the desert. + + The Popcorn Popper and Political Science + + Even John Caples, the mail-order copywriter, admits that there are powerful motivations outside narrow self-interest. He tells a story about a marketer who was promoting a new educational film on fire safety that was intended to help firemen. This marketer had been taught that there are three basic consumer appeals: sex, greed, and fear. + + The marketer’s instinct was that greed would work best in this situation. He came up with a couple of ideas for free giveaways that would persuade firemen to check out the film. He began calling local units to figure out which giveaway would have the most appeal. When he called, he would describe the new film and ask, “Would you like to see the film for possible purchase for your educational programs?” The universal answer was an enthusiastic “Yes!” + + The second question tested two versions of his greed appeal: “Would your firefighters prefer a large electric popcorn popper or an excellent set of chef’s carving knives as a thank-you for reviewing the film?” + + The first two calls yielded definitive answers to this question: “Do you think we’d use a fire safety program because of some #*$@%! popcorn popper?!” + + The marketer stopped asking about the free gifts. + + + + So, sometimes self-interest helps people care, and sometimes it backfires. What are we to make of this? + + The mystery deepens if we consider politics. The conventional wisdom is that voters are paragons of self-interest. If there’s a proposal on the table to raise the marginal tax rate on the highest incomes, we expect rich people to vote against it and everyone else to vote for it. + + Actually, this conventional wisdom is wrong. There’s not much evidence that public opinion can be predicted by narrow self-interest. In 1998, Donald Kinder, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, wrote an influential survey of thirty years of research on this topic. He summarizes the effects of self-interest on political views as “trifling.” Trifling! Kinder writes: + + + + When faced with affirmative action, white and black Americans come to their views without calculating personal harms or benefits. The unemployed do not line up behind policies designed to alleviate economic distress. The medically needy are no more likely to favor government health insurance than the fully insured. Parents of children in public schools are not more likely to support government aid to education than other citizens. Americans who are likely to be drafted are not more likely to oppose military intervention or escalating conflicts that are under way. Women employed outside the home do not differ from homemakers in their support of policies intended to benefit women at work. On such diverse matters as racial busing for the purpose of school desegregation, anti-drinking ordinances, mandatory college examinations, housing policy, bilingual education, compliance with laws, satisfaction with the resolution of legal disputes, gun control and more, self-interest turns out to be quite unimportant. + + + + These findings are bracingly counterintuitive. If people aren’t supporting their own self-interest, whose interests are they supporting? + + The answer is nuanced. First, self-interest does seem to matter, quite a bit, when the effects of a public policy are significant, tangible, and immediate. For example, in California in 1978, a ballot initiative called Proposition 13 called for a sharp reduction in property taxes in exchange for equally sharp reductions in public services such as schools, libraries, and police and fire departments. On this issue, homeowners—tired of the huge tax increases that accompany rising property values—voted for Proposition 13. Librarians and firefighters, among others, voted against it. Second, self-interest shapes what we pay attention to, even if it doesn’t dictate our stance. For example, on Proposition 13 homeowners and public employees were more likely to have a well-formed opinion on the initiative—even if their opinion was inconsistent with their personal self-interest. + + But self-interest isn’t the whole story. Principles—equality, individualism, ideals about government, human rights, and the like—may matter to us even when they violate our immediate self-interest. We may dislike hearing the views of some fringe political group but support its right to speak because we treasure free speech. + + And perhaps the most important part of the story is this: “Group interest” is often a better predictor of political opinions than self-interest. Kinder says that in forming opinions people seem to ask not “What’s in it for me?” but, rather, “What’s in it for my group?” Our group affiliation may be based on race, class, religion, gender, region, political party, industry, or countless other dimensions of difference. + + A related idea comes from James March, a professor at Stanford University, who proposes that we use two basic models to make decisions. The first model involves calculating consequences. We weigh our alternatives, assessing the value of each one, and we choose the alternative that yields us the most value. This model is the standard view of decision-making in economics classes: People are self-interested and rational. The rational agent asks, Which sofa will provide me with the greatest comfort and the best aesthetics for the price? Which political candidate will best serve my economic and social interests? The second model is quite different. It assumes that people make decisions based on identity. They ask themselves three questions: Who am I? What kind of situation is this? And what do people like me do in this kind of situation? + + Notice that in the second model people aren’t analyzing the consequences or outcomes for themselves. There are no calculations, only norms and principles. Which sofa would someone like me—a Southeastern accountant—be more likely to buy? Which political candidate should a Hollywood Buddhist get behind? It’s almost as if people consulted an ideal self-image: What would someone like me do? + + This second model of decision-making helps shed light on why the firefighters got angry about the popcorn popper. Bear in mind that the popcorn popper wasn’t a bribe. If the marketer had said, “Order this film for your firehouse and I’ll give you a popcorn popper for your family,” clearly most people would reject the offer on ethical grounds. On the contrary, the offer was innocuous: We will give you a popcorn popper to thank you for the trouble you’re taking to review the film. You can have the popper regardless of your decision on the film. There’s nothing unethical about accepting this offer. + + And we can go further than that: From a self-interested, value-maximizing point of view, it is simply stupid to turn down this offer. If you make Decision A, you end up with a popcorn popper. If you make Decision B, you end up with no popcorn popper. Everything else is the same. So unless popcorn destroys value in your world, you’d better make Decision A. + + But from the perspective of the identity model of decision-making, turning down the popper makes perfect sense. The thought process would be more like this: “I’m a firefighter. You’re offering me a popcorn popper to get me to view a film on safety. But firefighters aren’t the kind of people who need little gifts to motivate us to learn about safety. We risk our lives, going into burning buildings to save people. Shame on you for implying that I need a popcorn popper!” + + There are ways to unite these two decision models. What if the marketer had offered to donate fifty dollars to a school’s fire-safety program in exchange for the firemen’s viewing the film? It’s less clear that this offer would have violated the firefighters’ sense of identity. + + Self-interest is important. There’s no question that we can make people care by appealing to it. But it makes for a limited palette. Always structuring our ideas around self-interest is like always painting with one color. It’s stifling for us and uninspiring for others. + + Floyd Lee, the manager of the Pegasus dining hall, has it right. He could have generated motivation through a strict self-interest appeal: perhaps by offering to let his employees off ten minutes early every night if they worked hard, or by giving them the first choice of the steaks. Instead, he helped create a kind of Pegasus identity: A Pegasus chef is in charge of morale, not food. You can imagine hundreds of decisions being made by staffers in the tent who think to themselves, What should a Pegasus person do in this situation? + + + + + +* * * + + + +The Need for Algebra and Maslow’s Basement + + THE SITUATION: Every algebra teacher in recorded history has had to deal with two student questions: “Why do I need to know this? When will I ever use this?” This Clinic examines three attempts to answer these questions. + + + + MESSAGE 1: In a 1993 conference on “Algebra for All,” the following points were made in response to the question “Why study algebra?” + + + + • Algebra provides methods for moving from the specific to the general. It involves discovering the patterns among items in a set and developing the language needed to think about and communicate it to others. + + • Algebra provides procedures for manipulating symbols to allow for understanding of the world around us. + + • Algebra provides a vehicle for understanding our world through mathematical models. + + • Algebra is the science of variables. It enables us to deal with large bodies of data by identifying variables (quantities which change in value) and by imposing or finding structures within the data. + + • Algebra is the basic set of ideas and techniques for describing and reasoning about relations between variable quantities. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: This message illustrates the problems posed by the Curse of Knowledge. Presumably, this conference was filled with a group of algebra experts and they came up with an answer that seemed plausible to other experts. But let’s get real: Will any restless student jump on the algebra bandwagon after being told that it “provides procedures for manipulating symbols to allow for understanding of the world”? As a definition of algebra, the bullets above seem quite logical. But as reasons for studying algebra, they don’t work. We need a message that makes students care about algebra. + + MESSAGE 2: We made up the following response. It was inspired by several examples that we saw floating around the Internet: + + Here’s what I tell my students about why they need to learn algebra: + + + + • You need it to get your high school diploma. + + • Every future math and science class you take will require a knowledge of algebra. + + • To get admitted to a good college, you’ll need a good record in math. + + • And even if you don’t ever plan to attend college, the reasoning skills you learn in algebra will help you buy a home, create a budget, etc. + + + + My brother is a sales rep for a high-tech firm. . .he always had trouble with math in school but now realizes the hard work he put into the course has improved his analytical skills and has made him a better presenter to his clients. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2: This teacher avoids the Curse of Knowledge by speaking practically, but he stays close to Maslow’s Basement. Why study algebra? The first reason: You have to do it because you have to do it. The second: You have to do it so that you can do more of it. The primary appeal is to Esteem—the desire to be competent, to gain approval and status. The most effective part is the part about the author’s brother, who later realized that his struggles with math paid off. The brother story is an Esteem appeal that builds in an almost Caples-esque victory story. (“They laughed when I botched the equation, but when I won the account. . .”) + + + + MESSAGE 3: This is a response from a high school algebra teacher, Dean Sherman, to an Internet discussion of this topic among high school teachers: + + My grade 9 students have difficulty appreciating the usefulness of the Standard Form of the equation of a line, prompting them to ask, “When are we ever going to need this?” + + This question used to really bother me, and I would look, as a result, for justification for everything I taught. Now I say, “Never. You will never use this.” + + I then go on to remind them that people don’t lift weights so that they will be prepared should, one day, [someone] knock them over on the street and lay a barbell across their chests. You lift weights so that you can knock over a defensive lineman, or carry your groceries or lift your grandchildren without being sore the next day. You do math exercises so that you can improve your ability to think logically, so that you can be a better lawyer, doctor, architect, prison warden or parent. + + MATH IS MENTAL WEIGHT TRAINING. It is a means to an end (for most people), not an end in itself. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 3: This is a great response. Note the elements we’ve seen before in the book: The surprise opening to grab attention (“Never. You will never use this”). Also, the use of analogy is brilliant—he taps our existing schema of weight lifting to change our model of “learning algebra” (i.e., it’s not that in the future you’re going to have a daily need to find the slope of a line; it’s that you’re making your brain more muscular). + + He is also moving up Maslow’s hierarchy. The appeal here is to higher levels like Learning and Self-actualization. The idea is that learning algebra makes you realize more of your potential. + + + + + + PUNCH LINE: “Math is mental weight training” reminds us that, even in the most mundane situations, there’s an opportunity to move out of Maslow’s basement and into the higher levels of motivation. + + + +* * * + + + + Don’t Mess with Texas + + Dan Syrek is the nation’s leading researcher on litter. He has worked with sixteen states—from New York to Alaska—on antilitter initiatives. He often begins his projects by selecting random stretches of road—from interstates to farm roads—and walking the roads personally, a clicker in each hand, manually counting litter. + + In the 1980s, Syrek and his Sacramento-based organization, the Institute for Applied Research, were hired by the state of Texas. Texas had a serious litter problem. The state was spending $25 million per year on cleanup, and the costs were rising 15 percent per year. The state’s attempts to encourage better behavior—“Please Don’t Litter” signs, lots of roadside trash cans marked “Pitch In”—weren’t working. Texas hired Syrek to help craft a new strategy. + + The standard antilitter message is emotional, but it tends to focus on a limited set of emotions. There are appeals to guilt and shame, as in a spot that shows a Native American shedding a tear over litter. There are also appeals to our feelings for cuddly wildlife, such as the campaign starring a cartoon owl who says, “Give a Hoot—Don’t Pollute.” + + Syrek knew that this type of messaging wouldn’t solve Texas’s problem. In his view, those kinds of ads are just “preaching to the choir.” What Texas needed to do was reach people who weren’t inclined to shed tears over roadside trash. The profile of the typical litterer in Texas was an eighteen- to thirty-five-year-old, pickup-driving male who liked sports and country music. He didn’t like authority and he wasn’t motivated by emotional associations with cuddly owls. One member of the Texas Department of Transportation said, “Saying ‘please’ to these guys falls on deaf ears.” + + “We found that people who throw the stuff are real slobs,” Syrek says. “You had to explain to them that what they were doing was littering.” Syrek kept with him a photo of a macho-looking man in a pickup truck. “This is our target market,” he said. “We call him Bubba.” + + Designing an antilitter campaign based on self-interest wasn’t likely to work with this group. After all, what do the Bubbas really have to gain by not littering? Throwing things away properly takes effort, for which there are no obvious rewards. The situation doesn’t lend itself to a greed or sex-based appeal, à la Caples. It might be possible to design a fear-based approach—highlighting hefty fines or other punishments—but the Bubbas’ antiauthority streak would likely render it useless (or even cause it to backfire). + + Syrek knew that the best way to change Bubba’s behavior was to convince him that people like him did not litter. Based on his research, the Texas Department of Transportation approved a campaign built around the slogan “Don’t Mess with Texas.” + + One of the earliest TV commercials featured two Dallas Cowboy players who were famous in Texas: defensive end Ed “Too-Tall” Jones and defensive tackle Randy White. In the spot, they’re picking up trash on the side of a highway: + + + + Too-Tall Jones steps toward the camera and says, “You see the guy who threw this out the window. . .you tell him I got a message for him.” + + Randy White steps forward with a beer can and says, “I got a message for him too. . .” + + An off-camera voice asks, “What’s that?” + + White crushes the can with his fist and says threateningly, “Well, I kinda need to see him to deliver it.” + + Too-Tall Jones adds, “Don’t mess with Texas.” + + + + This commercial is a far cry from cute owls and weepy Native Americans. + + Another ad features Houston Astros pitcher Mike Scott, famous for his split-fingered fastball. Scott says that throwing stuff away is “the Texas thing to do.” He demonstrates his “split-fingered trashball,” hurling some litter into a roadside can, which explodes with a pillar of fire. Subtle stuff. + + The campaign featured athletes and musicians, most of whom probably weren’t household names outside Texas but were all well-known to Texans as Texans: Houston Oiler quarterback Warren Moon, boxer George Foreman, blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, and country artist Jerry Jeff Walker. Willie Nelson contributed an ad with the line “Mamas, tell all your babies, ‘Don’t mess with Texas.’” + + But isn’t this just a garden-variety celebrity endorsement? No, it’s more subtle than that. Certainly, the spots are not driven by pure celebrity—Barbra Streisand wouldn’t pack much of a punch with Bubba. And even macho celebrities wouldn’t have worked the same way. Schwarzenegger is macho but does nothing to evoke Texanness. + + What if the campaign used the same celebrities but adopted a more conventional PSA-type approach? “I’m pro boxer George Foreman. It’s uncool to litter.” That, too, would be unlikely to work: Foreman would be stepping into the authority role that Bubba hates. + + The message of the campaign was Texans don’t litter. Notice that the celebrities are valuable only insofar as they can quickly establish the schema of “Texas”—or, more specifically, of “ideal, masculine Texans.” Even people who dislike Willie Nelson’s music can appreciate his quality of Texan-ness. + + The campaign was an instant success. Within a few months of the launch, an astonishing 73 percent of Texans polled could recall the message and identify it as an antilitter message. Within one year, litter had declined 29 percent. + + The Department of Transportation originally planned to accompany the “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign with a separate $1 million program to enforce litter laws more vigorously. This was a fear tactic: If you litter, you’re more likely to get caught and prosecuted. But the effect of “Don’t Mess with Texas” was so strong and immediate that the enforcement program was abandoned. By offering Bubba a compelling message about identity, the campaign made appeals to fear unnecessary. + + During the first five years of the campaign, visible roadside litter in Texas decreased 72 percent and the number of cans along Texas roads dropped 81 percent. In 1988, Syrek found that Texas had less than half the trash he found along the roads of other states that had run antilitter programs for comparable periods. + + “Don’t Mess with Texas,” as a phrase, is a great slogan. But we shouldn’t confuse the slogan with the idea. The idea was that Syrek could make Bubba care about litter by showing him that real Texans didn’t litter. The idea was that Bubba would respond to an identity appeal better than he would to a rational self-interest appeal. Even if a second-rate copywriter had been hired, and the slogan had been “Don’t Disrespect Texas,” the campaign would still have decreased cans on Texas highways. + + The Music of Duo Piano + + So far we’ve looked at three strategies for making people care: using associations (or avoiding associations, as the case may be), appealing to self-interest, and appealing to identity. All three strategies can be effective, but we’ve got to watch out for our old nemesis, the Curse of Knowledge, which can interfere with our ability to implement them. + + In 2002, Chip helped a group of professors lead a seminar for nonprofit arts leaders in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. One of the exercises was intended to help the leaders articulate and refine the core mission of their organization. The questions put to the attendees were difficult ones: Why does your organization exist? Can other organizations do what you do—and if so, what is it you do that is unique? + + One question asked participants to define the purpose of their organization in a way that would motivate other people to care about it. Volunteers must care enough to contribute their time, donors must care enough to donate their money, and employees must care enough to stick by the organization (even when they get lucrative job offers from other, for-profit organizations). One of the organizations attending the seminar was the Murray Dranoff Duo Piano Foundation. When it was their turn, Chip asked the representatives to read their emotion-evoking purpose statement: + + + + DUO PIANO GROUP: We exist to protect, preserve, and promote the music of duo piano. + + CHIP: Why is it important to protect the music of duo piano? + + DUO PIANO GROUP: Well, not much duo piano music is being performed anymore. We want to keep it from dying out. + + + + One attendee admitted later that when he first heard the phrase “duo piano” he immediately thought of the “dueling pianos” that you find in touristy bars, with people drunkenly singing along to “Piano Man.” Some people in the room thought that perhaps the death of duo piano music should not be prevented but hastened. + + The conversation went around in circles for a few minutes without much progress in making the people in the room care about duo piano as an art form. Finally, one of the other participants chimed in: I don’t want to be rude, but why would the world be a less rich place if duo piano music disappeared completely? + + + + DUO PIANO GROUP: (Clearly taken aback). Wow. . . + + The piano is this magnificent instrument. It was created to put the entire range and tonal quality of the whole orchestra under the control of one performer. There is no other instrument that has the same breadth and range. + + And when you put two of these magnificent instruments in the same room, and the performers can respond to each other and build on each other, it’s like having the sound of the orchestra but the intimacy of chamber music. + + + + At that point, surprise brows went up around the room and there was an audible murmur of approval. This phrase—“the sound of the orchestra but the intimacy of chamber music”—was profound and evocative. Suddenly the people in the room understood, for the first time, why the Murray Dranoff team was, and should be, committed to the duo piano. + + Why did it take ten minutes for the Murray Dranoff group to come up with a message that made other people care? You’d think that a group devoted to the duo piano would be in the best position of anyone on earth to explain the value of the music. + + The reality is that they did in fact know better than anyone on earth why the duo piano was worth preserving. But the Curse of Knowledge prevented them from expressing it well. The mission to “preserve duo piano music” was effective and meaningful inside Murray Dranoff, but outside the organization it was opaque. Several attendees later commented that they had sympathized with the question “Why would the world be a less rich place if duo piano music disappeared completely?” What’s so special about the duo piano? Who cares? + + If you come to work every day for years, focused on duo piano issues, it’s easy to forget that a lot of the world has never heard of the duo piano. It’s easy to forget that you’re the tapper and the world is the listener. The duo piano group was rescued from the Curse of Knowledge by a roomful of people relentlessly asking them, “Why?” By asking “Why?” three times, the duo piano group moved from talking about what they were doing to why they were doing it. They moved from a set of associations that had no power (except to someone who already knew duo piano music) to a set of deeper, more concrete associations that connected emotionally with outsiders. + + This tactic of the “Three Whys” can be useful in bypassing the Curse of Knowledge. (Toyota actually has a “Five Whys” process for getting to the bottom of problems on its production line. Feel free to use as many “Whys” as you like.) Asking “Why?” helps to remind us of the core values, the core principles, that underlie our ideas. + + + + A few years back, a group of hospital administrators asked the design firm IDEO to help improve the hospital’s workflow. The team at IDEO knew that they would probably face a lot of internal resistance to their recommendations. The first step in motivating the hospital staff to change was to get them to realize that there was a problem and get them to care about it. + + IDEO created a video, shot from the perspective of a patient who goes to the emergency room for a leg fracture. In the video, we see what the patient sees. We are the patient. We come in through the door to the ER—we hunt around for check-in instructions and interact with the admissions people, who are speaking in a foreign medical tongue. Eventually, we are laid on a gurney and wheeled through the hospital. We see long stretches of the hospital ceiling. We hear disembodied voices, because we can’t see the person addressing us. Every now and then, someone pokes his or her head into our field of view. Frequently, there are long pauses where we just sit idle, staring at the ceiling, unsure what’s coming next. + + Jane Fulton Suri, a psychologist at IDEO, said that when the hospital staff was shown the video it had an immediate impact. “The first reaction was always something like ‘Oh, I never realized. . .’” Suri says she likes the word realized. Before the hospital workers saw the video, the problem wasn’t quite real. Afterward, she said, “There’s an immediate motivation to fix things. It’s no longer just some problem on a problem list.” + + IDEO also created role-playing exercises, putting the staffers in the patients’ shoes. The exercises included such tasks as, “Imagine that you are French and you are trying to locate your father in the hospital, but you don’t speak any English.” IDEO has become known for this type of simulation—simulations that drive employees to empathize with their customers. Time seems to erode empathy in some contexts, and IDEO’s simulations manage to restore the natural empathy that we have for others. “The world of business tends to emphasize the pattern over the particular,” Suri said. “The intellectual aspects of the pattern prevent people from caring.” + + + + This realization—that empathy emerges from the particular rather than the pattern—brings us back full circle to the Mother Teresa quote at the beginning of the chapter: “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.” + + How can we make people care about our ideas? We get them to take off their Analytical Hats. We create empathy for specific individuals. We show how our ideas are associated with things that people already care about. We appeal to their self-interest, but we also appeal to their identities—not only to the people they are right now but also to the people they would like to be + + And, while we should always think about “what’s in it” for our audience, we should remember to stay clear of Maslow’s Basement. “What’s in it” for our audience might be aesthetic motivation or the desire for transcendence rather than a $250 bonus. Floyd Lee said, “As I see it, I am not just in charge of food service; I am in charge of morale.” Who wouldn’t want a leader like Floyd Lee? + + + + + + STORIES + + The nurse was working in the neonatal intensive-care unit, where newborns with serious health problems are treated and monitored. She’d been watching one baby in particular for several hours, and she didn’t like what she was seeing. His color, a key indicator of potential problems, had been fluctuating—wavering between a healthy shade of pink and a duller, more troublesome hue. + + Suddenly, within a matter of seconds, the baby turned a deep blue-black. The nurse’s stomach fell. Others in the ICU yelled for an X-ray technician and a doctor. + + The gathering medical team was operating on the assumption that the baby’s lung had collapsed, a common problem for babies on ventilators. The team prepared for the typical response to a collapsed lung, which involves piercing the chest and inserting a tube to suck the air from around the collapsed lung, allowing it to reinflate. + + But the nurse thought it was a heart problem. As soon as she saw the baby’s color—that awful blue-black—she suspected a pneumopericardium, a condition in which air fills the sac surrounding the heart, pressing inward and preventing the heart from beating. The nurse was terrified, because the last time she witnessed a pneumopericardium the baby died before the problem could even be diagnosed. + + The nurse tried to stop the frantic preparations to treat the lung. “It’s the heart!” she said. But in response the other medical personnel pointed to the heart monitor, which showed that the baby’s heart was fine; his heart rate was bouncing along steadily, at the normal newborn rate of 130 beats per minute. The nurse, still insistent, pushed their hands away and screamed for quiet as she lowered a stethoscope to check for a heartbeat. + + There was no sound—the heart was not beating. + + She started doing compressions on the baby’s chest. The chief neonatologist burst into the room and the nurse slapped a syringe in his hand. “It’s a pneumopericardium,” she said. “Stick the heart.” + + The X-ray technician, who was finally receiving results from his scan, confirmed the nurse’s diagnosis. The neonatologist guided the syringe into the heart and slowly released the air that had been strangling the baby’s heart. The baby’s life was saved. His color slowly returned to normal. + + Later, the group realized why the heart monitor misled them. It is designed to measure electrical activity, not actual heartbeats. The baby’s heart nerves were firing—telling the heart to beat at the appropriate rate—but the air in the sac around the heart prevented the heart from actually beating. Only when the nurse used the stethoscope—so she could hear whether the heart was pumping correctly—did it become clear that his heart had stopped. + + + + This story was collected by Gary Klein, a psychologist who studies how people make decisions in high-pressure, high-stakes environments. He spends time with firefighters, air-traffic controllers, power-plant operators, and intensive-care workers. The story about the baby appears in a chapter called “The Power of Stories,” in Klein’s book Sources of Power. + + Klein says that, in the environments he studies, stories are told and retold because they contain wisdom. Stories are effective teaching tools. They show how context can mislead people to make the wrong decisions. Stories illustrate causal relationships that people hadn’t recognized before and highlight unexpected, resourceful ways in which people have solved problems. + + Medically, the story related above teaches important lessons. It instructs people in how to spot and treat the specific condition pneumopericardium. More broadly, it warns medical personnel about relying too much on machines. The heart monitor was functioning perfectly well, but it couldn’t substitute for the insight of a human being with a simple stethoscope. + + These medical lessons are not particularly useful to people who don’t work in health care. But the story is inspiring to everyone. It’s a story about a woman who stuck to her guns, despite implicit pressure to conform to the group’s opinion. It’s an underdog story—in the hierarchical hospital environment, it was the nurse who told the chief neonatologist the right diagnosis. A life hinged on her willingness to step out of her “proper place.” + + The story’s power, then, is twofold: It provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act). Note that both benefits, simulation and inspiration, are geared to generating action. In the last few chapters, we’ve seen that a credible idea makes people believe. An emotional idea makes people care. And in this chapter we’ll see that the right stories make people act. + + Shop Talk in the Xerox Lunchroom + + Photocopiers are perhaps the most complex machines that most of us will ever use. What other everyday machine combines optical, mechanical, chemical, and electrical technologies? It’s a wonder copiers work at all. And often they don’t. When there’s a problem—and it’s not one that a cubicle-dweller can fix by opening and shutting the paper tray a few times—it takes a very sophisticated repair person to troubleshoot the situation. + + Researcher Julian Orr spent a lot of time among Xerox copier repairmen and found that they spent a lot of time swapping stories. Take the story below, which was told by a Xerox copier salesperson over a game of cribbage at lunch. (We’ve provided some explanatory comments in brackets.) The salesperson starts with a reference to a recent mechanical change made by copier designers in an attempt to prevent an ordinary power surge from frying multiple components: + + + + The new XER board configuration won’t cook the board if you had an arcing dicorotron. Instead, it now trips the 24-Volt interlock on the Low Voltage Power Supply, and the machine will crash. But when it comes back up it’ll give you an E053 error. [This is a misleading error code that refers to an area of the machine that is unrelated to the real problem.] + + That’s exactly what I had down there, at the end of the hall, and Weber and I ran for four hours trying to chase that thing. All it was was a bad dicorotron. We finally got it running long enough so that we got an E053 with an F066 and the minute we checked the dicorotrons we had one that was totally dead…. [Orr reports that there was a long pause for cribbage.] Yeah that was a fun one. + + + + These cribbage-playing guys in the lunchroom are simply talking shop, as we all do. A misleading E053 error may not constitute drama in your world, but no doubt we all have our equivalents. + + Why do people talk shop? Part of the reason is simply Humanity 101—we want to talk to other people about the things that we have in common. Xerox repairmen work with photocopiers, so they talk about them. But that’s not the only factor at play here. For example, the storyteller above could have shared the general arc of the story without the details: “I had a real bear of a problem today—it took me four hours to get to the bottom of it. I’m glad that one’s over.” Or he could have leapt straight to the punch line: “After hours of hassle, I traced the problem back to a measly burned-out dicorotron. How was your morning?” + + Instead, he tells a story that’s much more interesting to his lunch partners. It has built-in drama—a misleading code leads two men on a wild goose chase until they uncover, through lots of work and thought, that the problem is simpler than they initially thought. Why is this story format more interesting? Because it allows his lunch partners to play along. He’s giving them enough information so that they can mentally test out how they would have handled the situation. The people in the room who weren’t aware of the misleading E053 code have now had their “E053 schema” fixed. Before, there was only one way to respond to an E053 code. Now, repairmen know to be aware of the “misleading E053” scenario. + + In other words, this story is part entertainment and part instruction. Shop talk conveys important clues about how to respond to the world. It teaches nurses not to have blind faith in heart monitors. It teaches copy repairmen to beware of the misleading E053 code. + + But the stories above aren’t simply transferring nuggets of information. The Xerox story is not functionally equivalent to an e-mail sent around the company that contains the line “Watch out for false E053 codes related to burned-out dicorotrons.” Something more profound is happening here. It will take a bit of unpacking to reveal the additional value that these stories bring. + + The Un-passive Audience + + Stories are strongly associated with entertainment—movies and books and TV shows and magazines. When children say “Tell me a story,” they’re begging for entertainment, not instruction. + + Being the “audience” for a story seems like a passive role—audiences who get their stories from television are called “couch potatoes,” after all. But “passive” may be overstating the case. When we read books, we have the sensation of being drawn into the author’s world. When friends tell us stories, we instinctively empathize. When we watch movies, we identify with the protagonists. + + But what if stories involve us in less intuitive, more dramatic ways? One team of researchers has produced some exciting evidence suggesting that the line between a story’s “audience” and a story’s “protagonist” may be a bit blurry. + + + + Three psychologists interested in how people come to understand stories created a few for their study participants to read on a computer. They divided the participants into two groups. The first group read a story in which a critical object was associated with the main character in the story—for instance, “John put on his sweatshirt before he went jogging.” The second group read a story in which the same critical object was separated from the main character: “John took off his sweatshirt before jogging.” + + Two sentences later, the story threw in a reference to the sweatshirt, and the computer was able to track how long it took people to read that sentence. Something strange happened: The people who thought John had taken off his sweatshirt before the jog took more time to read the sentence than the people who thought John had it on. + + This result is subtle but fascinating. It implies that we create a kind of geographic simulation of the stories we hear. It’s one thing to say “Reading stories makes us see pictures in our head.” We’d all find that statement intuitive. It’s quite another thing to say that when John left his sweatshirt behind, he left it back at the house in a more remote place in our heads. For that to be true, we cannot simply visualize the story on a movie screen in our heads; we must somehow simulate it, complete with some analogue (however loose) to the spatial relationships described in the story. These studies suggest that there’s no such thing as a passive audience. When we hear a story, our minds move from room to room. When we hear a story, we simulate it. But what good is simulation? + + + + A group of UCLA students were asked to think about a current problem in their lives, one that was “stressing them out” but was potentially solvable in the future, such as a problem with schoolwork or with a relationship. + + The students were told that the goal of the experiment was to help them deal with the problem effectively, and they got some brief instructions on problem-solving: “It is important to think about the problem, learn more about it, think about what you can do, take steps to deal with it…. Resolving it could reduce your stress, make you feel pleased with how you dealt with it, and help you grow from the experience.” After receiving these instructions, this “control group” was sent home and asked to report back to the lab a week later. + + A second group of students, the “event-simulation” group, were kept in the lab. They were asked to mentally simulate how the problem had unfolded: + + + + We would like you to visualize how this problem arose. Visualize the beginning of the problem, going over in detail the first incident…. Go over the incidents as they occurred step by step. Visualize the actions you took. Remember what you said, what you did. Visualize the environment, who was around, where you were. + + + + The event-simulation participants had to retrace, step by step, the events that led to their problem. Presumably, reviewing the chain of causation might help the students think about how to fix the problem, like programmers engaged in systematic debugging. + + A third group, the “outcome-simulation” group, was asked to mentally simulate a positive outcome emerging from the problem: + + + + Picture this problem beginning to resolve, you are coming out of the stressful situation…. Picture the relief you feel. Visualize the satisfaction you would feel at having dealt with the problem. Picture the confidence you feel in yourself, knowing that you have dealt successfully with the problem. + + + + The outcome-simulators kept their focus on the desired future outcome: What will it be like once this problem is behind me? + + After this initial exercise, both of the simulation groups were sent home. Both groups were asked to spend five minutes every day repeating their simulations, and to report back to the lab a week later. + + Now it’s play-at-home time: Make a quick prediction about which group of students fared best in coping with their problems. (Hint: It’s not the control group.) + + Here’s the answer: The event-simulation group—the people who simulated how the events unfolded—did better on almost every dimension. Simulating past events is much more helpful than simulating future outcomes. In fact, the gap between the groups opened up immediately after the first session in the lab. By the first night, the event-simulation people were already experiencing a positive mood boost compared with the other two groups. + + When the groups returned a week later, the event simulators’ advantage had grown wider. They were more likely to have taken specific action to solve their problems. They were more likely to have sought advice and support from others. They were more likely to report that they had learned something and grown. + + You may find these results a bit counterintuitive, because the pop-psychology literature is full of gurus urging you to visualize success. It turns out that a positive mental attitude isn’t quite enough to get the job done. Maybe financial gurus shouldn’t be telling us to imagine that we’re filthy rich; instead, they should be telling us to replay the steps that led to our being poor. + + + + Why does mental simulation work? It works because we can’t imagine events or sequences without evoking the same modules of the brain that are evoked in real physical activity. Brain scans show that when people imagine a flashing light, they activate the visual area of the brain; when they imagine someone tapping on their skin, they activate tactile areas of the brain. The activity of mental simulation is not limited to the insides of our heads. People who imagine words that start with b or p can’t resist subtle lip movements, and people who imagine looking at the Eiffel Tower can’t resist moving their eyes upward. Mental simulation can even alter visceral physical responses: When people drink water but imagine that it’s lemon juice, they salivate more. Even more surprisingly, when people drink lemon juice but imagine that it’s water, they salivate less. + + Mental simulations help us manage emotions. There is a standard treatment for phobias of various kinds—spiders, public speaking, airplane travel, and others. Patients are introduced to a relaxation procedure that inhibits anxiety, and then asked to visualize exposure to the thing they fear. The first visualizations start at the periphery of the fear. For example, someone who’s afraid of air travel might start by thinking about the drive to the airport. The therapist leads the patient through a series of visualizations that get closer and closer to the heart of the fear (“Now the airplanes’ engines are revving up on the runway, sounding louder and louder. . .”). Each time the visualizations create anxiety, the person pauses for a moment and uses the relaxation technique to restore equilibrium. + + Notice that these visualizations focus on the events themselves—the process, rather than the outcomes. No one has ever been cured of a phobia by imagining how happy they’ll be when it’s gone. + + Mental simulation helps with problem-solving. Even in mundane planning situations, mentally simulating an event helps us think of things that we might otherwise have neglected. Imagining a trip to the grocery store reminds us that we could drop off the dry cleaning at the store in the same shopping center. Mental simulations help us anticipate appropriate responses to future situations. Picturing a potential argument with our boss, imagining what she will say, may lead us to have the right words available when the time comes (and avoid saying the wrong words). Research has suggested that mental rehearsal can prevent people from relapsing into bad habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, or overeating. A man trying to kick a drinking problem will be better off if he mentally rehearses how he will handle Super Bowl Sunday: How should he respond when someone gets up for beers? + + Perhaps most surprisingly, mental simulation can also build skills. A review of thirty-five studies featuring 3,214 participants showed that mental practice alone—sitting quietly, without moving, and picturing yourself performing a task successfully from start to finish—improves performance significantly. The results were borne out over a large number of tasks: Mental simulation helped people weld better and throw darts better. Trombonists improved their playing, and competitive figure skaters improved their skating. Not surprisingly, mental practice is more effective when a task involves more mental activity (e.g., trombone playing) as opposed to physical activity (e.g., balancing), but the magnitude of gains from mental practice is large on average: Overall, mental practice alone produced about two thirds of the benefits of actual physical practice. + + The takeaway is simple: Mental simulation is not as good as actually doing something, but it’s the next best thing. And, to circle back to the world of sticky ideas, what we’re suggesting is that the right kind of story is, effectively, a simulation. Stories are like flight simulators for the brain. Hearing the nurse’s heart-monitor story isn’t like being there, but it’s the next best thing. + + Or think about the Xerox E053 code story. Why is hearing this story better than a warning about “misleading E053 indicators” in the training manual? It’s better for precisely the reason that flight simulators are better for pilots than stacks of instructional flash cards. The more that training simulates the actions we must take in the world, the more effective it will be. + + A story is powerful because it provides the context missing from abstract prose. It’s back to the Velcro theory of memory, the idea that the more hooks we put into our ideas, the better they’ll stick. The E053 story builds in emotions—the frustration of failing to find the problem and being misled by the machine’s code. It builds in historical background—the idea that the recent change in the “XER board configuration” led to this new error. At the end, it delivers a kind of meta-level moral: You shouldn’t have complete faith in the error code. This “code skepticism” is something the repairmen can apply to every future job they undertake. + + It’s easy for a doctor to treat appendicitis once it’s been diagnosed, but the problem is learning to distinguish an inflamed appendix from an upset stomach or food poisoning or an ulcer. Or think about beginning algebra students, who can solve complex equations but grind to a halt when they’re presented with a simple word problem that involves exactly the same math. Problem X doesn’t always identify itself as Problem X. + + This is the role that stories play—putting knowledge into a framework that is more lifelike, more true to our day-to-day existence. More like a flight simulator. Being the audience for a story isn’t so passive, after all. Inside, we’re getting ready to act. + + + + + +* * * + + + +Dealing with Problem Students + + THE SITUATION: Professors have to deal with the occasional nuisance in class—an angry, aggressive, or challenging student. Many professors are caught by surprise and aren’t sure how to deal with the situation. In this Clinic we’ll compare two different messages that were intended to share strategies for coping with these students. + + + + MESSAGE 1: The first message was produced by Indiana University as a resource for instructors. + + + + • Remain calm. Slow down and regularize your breathing. Don’t become defensive. + + • Don’t ignore them. Attempt to diffuse their anger. Arrange to meet them during a break or after class. During the meeting, acknowledge the student’s emotions and listen. Talk in a professional and courteous manner. + + + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 1: Notice that there’s nothing unexpected here—nothing that is uncommon sense. (And if dealing with difficult students is common sense, then why do we need to publish tips for dealing with them?) Most of the advice—“Remain calm”; “Don’t become defensive”; “Attempt to diffuse their anger”—is both too abstract and too obvious to stick. (Few teachers believe that you should freak out in response to a problem student.) + + + + MESSAGE 2: The second message was posted, informally, to a news group by a professor named Alyson Buckman, who wanted to share her experience with other teachers in the group: + + I had a student. . .who talked loudly and often in the back of the class, generally when I was speaking. I could hear his comments at the front of the room, and so could everyone else. He also disagreed with me on every point I made, no matter what it was. Students began very quickly to complain about his behavior in their journals and suggest methods, generally designed to humiliate, of dealing with him. + + I tried several things from the beginning, but finally called him and his confidante in class up to the front at the end of class one day and scheduled appointments with me in my office. I made sure I had witnesses to these appointments as well—one of the perks of being in a shared office space. The confidante, I believe, had been trapped into that role—the other student just utilized his body as a means to disruption. + + When I met with the bully, he came in with sunglasses on and a totally defiant behavior. I started with “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on in the back of the room. . .” and he responded, “I disagree with you.” I attempted to talk about this and met with silence. + + It was not until I told him that other students were complaining and suggesting treatments for the situation that he listened. His body language totally changed as did his manner. I didn’t have a problem with him from then on. My basic understanding of this little teaching lesson was that students who display contempt for the teacher might very well be brought into check by other students. After all, he thought he was showing off for them and found that they didn’t want to hear or see it. + + COMMENTS ON MESSAGE 2: This story allows us to simulate the process of dealing with a problem student. We follow along with Buckman as she works her way through the problem. Notice that many of the bulleted points from the first message are shown, rather than told, in the story. The professor attempts to “defuse” the student’s anger. She arranges “to talk with the student in a more private setting.” She stays calm throughout. + + The solution—in essence, using peer pressure to get the student under control—is both concrete and unexpected. It’s uncommon sense. We might have expected a problem student not to care about what his peers thought. We empathize with Buckman, which makes us care about the outcome. It’s easier to care about a person than a list of bulleted instructions. + + + + + + PUNCH LINE: A few stories like Professor Buckman’s—flight simulators for reining in problem students—would be much more interesting and effective in training professors than the list of bullet points in Message 1. This solution is not intuitive; nine out of ten training departments would create Message 1. We must fight the temptation to skip directly to the “tips” and leave out the story. + + + +* * * + + + + Stories as Inspiration: The Tale of Jared + + In the late 1990s, the fast-food giant Subway launched a campaign to tout the healthiness of a new line of sandwiches. The campaign was based on a statistic: Seven subs under six grams of fat. As far as statistics go, that’s pretty good—a spoonful of alliteration helps the medicine go down. But “7 Under 6” didn’t stick like Subway’s next campaign, which focused on the remarkable story of a college student named Jared Fogle. + + Jared had a serious weight problem. By his junior year in college, he had ballooned to 425 pounds. He wore size XXXXXXL shirts, the largest size available in big-and-tall clothing stores. His pants had a 60-inch waist. + + Jared’s father, a general practitioner in Indianapolis, had been warning his son about his weight for years without much success. Then, one day in December, Jared’s roommate, a premed major, noticed that Jared’s ankles were swollen. He correctly diagnosed edema, a condition in which the body retains fluid because the blood can’t transport enough liquid; it often leads to diabetes, heart problems, and even early heart attacks. Jared’s father told him that, given his weight and general health, he might not live past thirty-five. + + By the spring break following his December hospital visit, Jared had decided to slim down. Motivated by the “7 Under 6” campaign, he had his first turkey club. He liked the sandwich, and eventually he developed his own, all-Subway diet: a foot-long veggie sub for lunch and a six-inch turkey sub for dinner. + + After three months of the “Subway diet,” as he called it, he stepped on the scale. It read 330 pounds. He had dropped almost 100 pounds in three months by eating at Subway. He stuck with the diet for several more months, sometimes losing as much as a pound a day. As soon as his health permitted, he began walking as much as he could—not taking the bus to classes and even walking up stairs rather than taking the department-store escalator. + + The story of how Jared’s inspiring weight-loss became a national phenomenon begins with an article that appeared in the Indiana Daily Student in April 1999. It was written by Ryan Coleman, a former dormmate of Jared’s. Coleman saw Jared after he had lost weight and almost didn’t recognize him. He wrote movingly about what it was like for Jared to be obese: + + + + When Fogle registered for a class, he didn’t base his choice on professor or class time like most students. He based which classes to register on whether he could fit into the classroom seats. + + When most folks worried whether they could find a parking spot close to campus, Fogle worried whether he could find a parking spot without a car already parked nearby—he needed the extra room in order to open the driver’s side door so he could get out. + + + + The article ended with this quote from Jared: “Subway helped save my life and start over. I can’t ever repay that.” This may have been the first time that a fast-food chain was credited with transforming someone’s life in a profoundly positive way. + + Then a reporter at Men’s Health magazine, who was writing an article called “Crazy Diets That Work,” happened to see the Indiana Daily article about Jared, and he included a blurb about a “subway sandwich diet.” The article didn’t mention Jared’s name or even where he had bought the sandwiches; it simply referred generically to “subway sandwiches.” + + The key link in the chain was a Subway franchise owner named Bob Ocwieja, who spotted the article and thought it had potential. He took time out of his schedule to track down the creative director at Subway’s Chicago ad agency, a man named Richard Coad, and suggested that he check out the article. Coad says, “I kind of laughed at first, but we followed up on it.” + + Jared is the hero of the weight-loss story, but Ocwieja and Coad are the heroes of our idea story. Ocwieja is a hero for spotting potential in a story, and Coad is a hero for spending the resources to follow up on it. + + Coad and Barry Krause, the president of the advertising agency called Hal Riney, sent an intern to Bloomington, Indiana, with vague instructions to find the mystery sandwich-diet guy—and also to find out whose sandwiches he had been eating. It could easily have turned out that Jared had been dining at Flo’s Sub Shop. + + The intern wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to do. His tentative plan was to show up in Bloomington, look through the Yellow Pages, and start dropping by the town’s sub shops. Fortunately for the intern, the operation never became that complex. The first sub shop the intern visited was a Subway franchise close to campus. He launched into his description of the mystery eater, and about one sentence into the description the counter worker said, “Oh, that’s Jared. He comes here every day.” + + The intern returned victorious. Jared was real, and he’d shed pounds by eating at Subway. The agency thought, We’ve got a great story on our hands. + + And that’s when the Jared story hit another hurdle. Ad agency president Krause called Subway’s marketing director to unveil the tale of Jared, but the marketing director wasn’t impressed. He had just started his job at Subway, having previously worked for another fast-food company. “I’ve seen that before,” he said. “Fast foods can’t do healthy.” The marketing director preferred to launch a campaign focused on the taste of Subway’s sandwiches. + + To satisfy Krause, though, the director ran the Jared campaign idea by Subway’s lawyers. The lawyers, predictably, said a Jared campaign couldn’t be done. It would appear to be making a medical claim that might create a liability, blah blah blah. The only way to avoid any liability was to run disclaimers like “We don’t recommend this diet. See your doctor first.” + + The idea seemed dead. But Krause and Coad weren’t ready to give up. Subway, like many franchise-based firms, runs ad campaigns at two levels: national and regional. While the national Subway office had vetoed Jared, some regional Subway franchisees expressed interest in the story and were willing to run the ads using regional advertising money. + + Then came another hurdle: Franchisees didn’t usually pay to make the actual commercials; they just paid to run the commercials in their regions. The commercials were generally funded by the national office. So who would pay for the Jared commercials? + + Krause decided to make the spots for free. He said, “For the first and only time in my career, I gave the go-ahead to shoot an ad that we weren’t going to be paid for.” + + The ad first ran on January 1, 2000—just in time for the annual epidemic of diet-related New Year’s resolutions. It showed Jared in front of his home. “This is Jared,” the announcer said. “He used to weigh 425 pounds”—we see a photo of Jared in his old 60-inch-waist pants—“but today he weighs 180 thanks to what he calls the Subway diet.” The announcer describes Jared’s meal plan, then concludes, “That, combined with a lot of walking, worked for Jared. We’re not saying this is for everyone. You should check with your doctor before starting any diet program. But it worked for Jared.” + + The next day, Krause said, the phones started ringing in the morning and didn’t let up. USA Today called, ABC and Fox News called. On the third day, Oprah called. “I’ve talked to a lot of marketers over the years who wanted to get media attention” Krause said. “No one ever got anywhere by lavishing calls on Oprah. The only time I’ve succeeded in my career with Oprah was with Jared, and Oprah called us.” + + A few days later, Subway’s national office called Krause, asking if the ad could be aired nationally. In 1999, Subway’s sales were flat. In 2000, sales jumped 18 percent, and they jumped another 16 percent in 2001. At the time, other (much smaller) sandwich chains such as Schlotzsky’s and Quiznos were growing at about 7 percent per year. + + + + The Jared story has a morsel of simulation value. It makes it relatively easy to imagine what it would be like to embrace the Subway diet—the lunch order, the dinner order, the walking in between. But this story is not so much a flight simulator as it is a pep talk. This huge guy lost 245 pounds on a diet that he invented! Wow! The story provides a good kick in the pants for anyone who’s been struggling to lose that last 10 pounds. + + Like the nurse story that opened the chapter, this story, too, has emotional resonance. Even skinny people who aren’t interested in dieting will be inspired by Jared’s tale. He fought big odds and prevailed through perseverance. And this is the second major payoff that stories provide: inspiration. Inspiration drives action, as does simulation. + + By the way, note how much better this campaign functions than the “7 Under 6” campaign. Both campaigns are mining the same turf—they both highlight the availability of nutritious, low-fat sandwiches. They both hold out the promise of weight loss. But one campaign was a modest success and one was a sensation. + + What we have argued in this book—and we hope we’ve made you a believer by now—is that you could have predicted in advance that Jared would be the winner in these two campaigns. + + Note how well the Jared story does on the SUCCESs checklist: + + + + • It’s simple: Eat subs and lose weight. (It may be oversimplified, frankly, since the meatball sub with extra mayo won’t help you lose weight.) + + • It’s unexpected: A guy lost a ton of weight by eating fast food! This story violates our schema of fast food, a schema that’s more consistent with the picture of a fat Jared than a skinny Jared. + + • It’s concrete: Think of the oversized pants, the massive loss of girth, the diet composed of particular sandwiches. It’s much more like an Aesop fable than an abstraction. + + • It’s credible: It has the same kind of antiauthority truthfulness that we saw with the Pam Laffin antismoking campaign. The guy who wore 60-inch pants is giving us diet advice! + + • It’s emotional: We care more about an individual, Jared, than about a mass. And it taps into profound areas of Maslow’s hierarchy—it’s about a guy who reached his potential with the help of a sub shop. + + • It’s a story: Our protagonist overcomes big odds to triumph. It inspires the rest of us to do the same. + + + + By contrast, let’s size up “7 Under 6” on the checklist. It’s simple, but notice that it has a much less compelling core message. Its core message is “We’ve got a variety of low-fat sandwiches,” versus Jared’s “Eat Subway, lose weight, change your life.” The first message sells drill bits; the second tells you how to hang your kid’s picture. + + “7 Under 6” is far less unexpected. Jared’s story packs a wallop because it violates the powerful schema that fast food is fatty. If “7 Under 6” is attacking the same schema, it makes the point much more tangentially. + + “7 Under 6” isn’t concrete. Numbers aren’t concrete. It’s credible only because it hasn’t set the bar very high—not many of us will be floored to hear that a sandwich has less than 6 grams of fat, so we don’t need much convincing. It’s not emotional, and it’s not a story. + + Any reader of this book could have analyzed these two multimillion-dollar national ad campaigns and chosen the right one, just by laying them side by side on the SUCCESs checklist. (Note, though, that nonreaders might not be so savvy. The national advertising director, who had a lifetime of experience in trying to make ideas stick, wanted to walk away from the Jared story.) + + Another compelling aspect of the Jared tale is how many people had to work hard to make it a reality. Look at how many unlikely events had to take place in order for Jared to hit TV: The Subway store manager had to be proactive enough to bring the magazine article to the creative director’s attention. (Would your frontline people do this?) The creative director had to be savvy enough to invest resources in what could have been a fruitless errand. (Was this really an errand with a good return on investment?) The president of the ad agency had to make the spot for free because he knew he was onto something big. (Free!) The national Subway marketing team had to swallow its pride and realize that it had made a mistake by not embracing Jared earlier. + + These are not trivial actions. This behavior is not routine. How many great ideas have been extinguished because someone in the middle—a link between the source of the idea and its eventual outlet—dropped the ball? In the normal world, a franchise owner would have been amused by the Jared tale. He would have tacked it up on the bulletin board, on the wall of the hallway leading to the bathroom, as a source of amusement for his employees. And that would have been the pinnacle of the Jared tale. + + Jared reminds us that we don’t always have to create sticky ideas. Spotting them is often easier and more useful. What if history teachers were diligent about sharing teaching methods that worked brilliantly in reaching students? What if we could count on the volunteers of nonprofit organizations to be on the lookout for symbolic events or encounters that might inspire other people in the organization? What if we could count on our bosses to take a gamble on important ideas? You don’t have to admire Subway sandwiches to admire the process of bringing a great idea to life. + + The Art of Spotting + + How do we make sure that we don’t let a great idea, a potential Jared, float right under our nose? Spotting isn’t hard, but it isn’t natural, either. Ideas don’t flag themselves to get our attention. We have to consciously look for the right ones. So what is it, exactly, that we should look for? + + In the introduction of the book, we discussed a study showing that laypeople who’d been trained to use classic ad templates could create ads that were vastly superior to those developed by an untrained group. Just as there are ad templates that have been proven effective, so, too, there are story templates that have been proven effective. Learning the templates gives our spotting ability a huge boost. + + Warren Buffett likes to tell the story of Rose Blumkin, a woman who manages one of the businesses that he invested in. Blumkin is a Russian woman who, at age twenty-three, finagled her way past a border guard to come to America. She couldn’t speak English and had received no formal schooling. + + Blumkin started a furniture business in 1937 with $500 that she had saved. Almost fifty years later, her furniture store was doing $100 million in annual revenue. At age one hundred, she was still on the floor seven days a week. She actually postponed her one-hundredth birthday party until an evening when the store was closed. At one point her competitors sued her for violating the fair-trade agreement because her prices were so much lower. They thought she was selling at a loss in order to put them out of business. Buffett says, “She demonstrated to the court that she could profitably sell carpet at a huge discount and sold the judge $1,400 worth of carpet.” + + The story of Rose Blumkin isn’t from the book Chicken Soup for the Soul, but it could be. The Chicken Soup series has become a publishing phenomenon, with more than 4.3 million books sold and thirty-seven Chicken Soup titles in print, including Chicken Soup for the Father’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul, and Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul. + + The Chicken Soup books traffic in inspirational stories—stories that uplift, motivate, energize. In that sense, these stories are the opposite of urban legends, which tend to reinforce a cynical, pessimistic, or paranoid view of the world. (Strangers will steal your kidneys! Snapple supports the KKK! McDonald’s puts worms in its burgers!) + + What’s amazing about these stories is that the authors didn’t write them—they merely spotted and collected them. We wanted to understand what made these inspirational stories tick. We pored over inspirational stories—hundreds of stories, both from Chicken Soup and elsewhere—looking for underlying similarities. + + Aristotle believed there were four primary dramatic plots: Simple Tragic, Simple Fortunate, Complex Tragic, and Complex Fortunate. Robert McKee, the screenwriting guru, lists twenty-five types of stories in his book: the modern epic, the disillusionment plot, and so on. When we finished sorting through a big pile of inspirational stories—a much narrower domain—we came to the conclusion that there are three basic plots: the Challenge plot, the Connection plot, and the Creativity plot. + + These three basic plots can be used to classify more than 80 percent of the stories that appear in the original Chicken Soup collection. Perhaps more surprisingly, they can also be used to classify more than 60 percent of the stories published by People magazine about people who aren’t celebrities. If an average person makes it into People, it’s usually because he or she has an inspiring story for the rest of us. If our goal is to energize and inspire others, these three plots are the right place to start. (By the way, if you’re a more jaded type of person who finds the Chicken Soup series treacly rather than inspirational, you’ll still find value in the three plot templates. You can always turn down the volume on the plots a bit.) + + THE CHALLENGE PLOT + + The story of David and Goliath is the classic Challenge plot. A protagonist overcomes a formidable challenge and succeeds. David fells a giant with his homemade slingshot. There are variations of the Challenge plot that we all recognize: the underdog story, the rags-to-riches story, the triumph of sheer willpower over adversity. + + The key element of a Challenge plot is that the obstacles seem daunting to the protagonist. Jared slimming down to 180 pounds is a Challenge plot. Jared’s 210-pound neighbor shaving an inch off his waistline is not. We’ve all got a huge mental inventory of Challenge plot stories. The American hockey team beating the heavily favored Russians in the 1980 Olympics. The Alamo. Horatio Alger tales. The American Revolution. Seabiscuit. The Star Wars movies. Lance Armstrong. Rosa Parks. + + Challenge plots are inspiring even when they’re much less dramatic and historical than these examples. The Rose Blumkin story doesn’t involve a famous character. Challenge plots are inspiring in a defined way. They inspire us by appealing to our perseverance and courage. They make us want to work harder, take on new challenges, overcome obstacles. Somehow, after you’ve heard about Rose Blumkin postponing her one-hundredth birthday party until an evening when her store was closed, it’s easier to clean out your garage. Challenge plots inspire us to act. + + THE CONNECTION PLOT + + Today the phrase “good Samaritan” refers to someone who voluntarily helps others in times of distress. The original story of the Good Samaritan from the Bible is certainly consistent with this definition, but it’s even more profound. + + The story begins with a lawyer who approached Jesus with a question about how to get to heaven. The lawyer was more interested in testing Jesus than in learning from him. When Jesus asked the lawyer what he thought the answer was, the lawyer gave a reply that included the notion “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus accepted the lawyer’s answer. Then the lawyer (perhaps wanting to limit the number of people he’s on the hook to love) says, “And who is my neighbor?” + + In response, Jesus told a story: + + + + “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. + + “A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. + + “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ + + “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” + + The lawyer replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” + + Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” + + + + What’s missing from this tale, for modern-day readers, is a bit of context. The Samaritan in the story was not simply a nice guy. He was a nice guy crossing a huge social gulf in helping the wounded man. At the time, there was tremendous hostility between Samaritans and Jews (all the other main characters in the story). A modern-day analogy to the outcast status of the Samaritan might be an “atheist biker gang member.” The lesson of the story is clear: Good neighbors show mercy and compassion, and not just to people in their own group. + + This is what a Connection plot is all about. It’s a story about people who develop a relationship that bridges a gap—racial, class, ethnic, religious, demographic, or otherwise. The Connection plot doesn’t have to deal with life-and-death stakes, as does the Good Samaritan. The connection can be as trivial as a bottle of a Coke, as in the famous Mean Joe Greene commercial. A scrawny young white fan encounters a towering famous black athlete. A bottle of Coke links them. It ain’t the Good Samaritan, but it’s clearly a Connection plot. + + Connection plots are also fabulous for romance stories—think of Romeo and Juliet (or the top-grossing movie of all time, Titanic). All Connection plots inspire us in social ways. They make us want to help others, be more tolerant of others, work with others, love others. The Connection plot is the most common kind of plot found in the Chicken Soup series. + + Where Challenge plots involve overcoming challenges, Connection plots are about our relationships with other people. If you’re telling a story at the company Christmas party, it’s probably best to use the Connection plot. If you’re telling a story at the kickoff party for a new project, go with the Challenge plot. + + THE CREATIVITY PLOT + + The third major type of inspirational story is the Creativity plot. The prototype might be the story of the apple that falls on Newton’s head, inspiring his theory of gravity. The Creativity plot involves someone making a mental breakthrough, solving a long-standing puzzle, or attacking a problem in an innovative way. It’s the MacGyver plot. + + Ingersoll-Rand is a giant company that makes nonsexy products such as industrial grinders, used in auto shops to sand down auto bodies. Historically, Ingersoll-Rand had been slow at bringing new products to market. One employee, frustrated by the average four-year product life cycle, said, “It was taking us longer to introduce a new product than it took our nation to fight World War II.” + + Ingersoll-Rand decided to do something about the slow development cycle. The company created a project team whose goal was to produce a new grinder in a year—one quarter the usual time. Standard theories of organizational culture would have predicted a slim chance of success. The grinder team, however, did a lot of things right, including the use of stories to emphasize the group’s new attitude and culture. One story, for instance, involved a critical decision about whether to build the new grinder’s casing out of plastic or metal. Plastic would be more comfortable for the customer, but would it hold up as well as metal? + + The traditional Ingersoll-Rand method of solving this problem would have been to conduct protracted, careful studies of the tensile and compression properties of both materials. But this was the Grinder Team. They were supposed to act quickly. A few members of the team cooked up a less formal testing procedure. While on an off-site customer visit, the team members tied a sample of each material to the back bumper of their rental car, then drove around the parking lot with the materials dragging behind. They kept this up until the police came and told them to knock it off. The verdict was that the new plastic composite held up just as well as the traditional metal. Decision made. + + In the history of the Grinder Team, this story has become known as the Drag Test. The Drag Test is a Creativity plot that reinforced the team’s new culture. The Drag Test implied, “We still need to get the right data to make decisions. We just need to do it a lot quicker.” + + The famous explorer Ernest Shackleton faced such enormous odds in his explorations (obviously a classic Challenge plot) that unity among his men was mission-critical. A mutiny could leave everyone dead. Shackleton came up with a creative solution for dealing with the whiny, complaining types. He assigned them to sleep in his own tent. When people separated into groups to work on chores, he grouped the complainers with him. Through his constant presence, he minimized their negative influence. Creativity plots make us want to do something different, to be creative, to experiment with new approaches. + + + + The goal of reviewing these plots is not to help us invent stories. Unless you write fiction or advertisements, that won’t help much. The goal here is to learn how to spot the stories that have potential. When the Jared article hits our desk, we want to spot the crucial elements immediately. Guy faces huge obstacles and overcomes them—it’s a Challenge plot. Challenge plots inspire people to take on challenges and work harder. If that feeling is consistent with the goal you want to achieve, run with the story; don’t tack it on the bulletin board. + + If you’re running the Grinder Team, and you’re trying to reinvent the company culture, then you need to be on the lookout for Creativity plots. When you hear that some of your men dragged metal around a parking lot, you’ve found something. + + Know what you’re looking for. You don’t need to make stuff up, you don’t need to exaggerate or be as melodramatic as the Chicken Soup tales. (The Drag Test isn’t melodramatic.) You just need to recognize when life is giving you a gift. + + Stories at the World Bank + + In 1996, Stephen Denning was working for the World Bank, the international institution that lends money to developing countries for infrastructure projects such as building schools, roads, and water-treatment facilities. At the time, he managed the bank’s work in Africa—the third-largest area of the bank—and seemed to be on a fast track to the top of the organization. + + Then one of his two main mentors retired and the second left. Shortly thereafter he was asked to step down from his Africa position and “look into the issue of information.” His superiors asked him to explore the area of knowledge management. Denning said, “Now this was a bank which cared about flows of money, not information. The new assignment was the equivalent of being sent to corporate Siberia.” + + The task was not just organizationally unattractive, it was daunting. The World Bank knew a lot about how to achieve results in developing nations, but that information was scattered about the organization. The World Bank conducted projects in dozens of countries all over the world—and while there was a central bureaucracy, much of the operational know-how was naturally at the local level. Each project was, in a sense, its own universe. A water-treatment guru in Zambia might have figured out a great way to handle local political negotiations, but he was unlikely to have the opportunity to share it with a highway-construction guru in Bangladesh. Neither manager would know the other existed, unless they happened to be in the same circle of friends or former colleagues. + + A month after accepting his assignment, Denning had lunch with a colleague who had just returned from Zambia. This colleague was working on a project to improve health care, particularly for mothers and children. While he was in Zambia he had met a health-care worker in Kamana—a small town 360 miles from Zambia’s capital—who was struggling to fight malaria in the community and was trying to find information on how to combat the disease. The worker had found a way to log on to the Internet and had discovered the answers he needed on the website of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. (Keep in mind that this was in 1996, when the Internet would not have been the obvious first stop for someone in search of information, especially in Africa.) + + Denning says that he didn’t give the story much thought at the time; it was just an interesting anecdote about the resourcefulness of a colleague. Later, it dawned on him that the Zambia story was a perfect example of the power of knowledge management. Someone in charge of a vital operation needed information. He went looking for it, found it, and, as a result, was able to act more effectively. That’s the vision of knowledge management—except that the health-care worker shouldn’t have been forced to conduct a trial-and-error search, ending at the CDC’s website, to get the right information. He should have been able to tap the knowledge of the World Bank. + + Denning began to incorporate the story into conversations with colleagues, stressing why the World Bank ought to make knowledge management a serious priority. Weeks later, he had an opportunity to speak to a committee of senior management. He’d have only ten to twelve minutes on the agenda. In that time he’d have to introduce a new organizational strategy and win the group’s endorsement. A tall order. + + First, Denning set up the problem: the difficulties that the World Bank had experienced in pooling its knowledge and the sorry state of its information systems. Then, rather than doing what most people would have done—i.e., rehashing the discipline of knowledge management and quoting some authorities about the importance of knowledge management for the twenty-first century—Denning did something different. He told the Zambia story. + + Immediately after the presentation, two executives raced up to Denning and began to bombard him with all the things he should be doing to get the program off the ground. Denning thought, “This is a very strange conversation. Up till ten minutes ago, these people weren’t willing to give me the time of day, and now I’m not doing enough to implement their idea. This is horrible! They’ve stolen my idea!” And then he had a happier thought. “How wonderful! They’ve stolen my idea. It’s become their idea!” + + + + A few years later, after Denning had left the World Bank, he devoted himself to spreading the lessons he’d learned about storytelling. In 2001, he wrote a very insightful book called The Springboard. Denning defines a springboard story as a story that lets people see how an existing problem might change. Springboard stories tell people about possibilities. + + One major advantage of springboard stories is that they combat skepticism and create buy-in. Denning says that the idea of telling stories initially violated his intuition. He had always believed in the value of being direct, and he worried that stories were too ambiguous, too peripheral, too anecdotal. He thought, “Why not spell out the message directly? Why go to the trouble and difficulty of trying to elicit the listener’s thinking indirectly, when it would be so much simpler if I come straight out in an abstract directive? Why not hit the listeners between the eyes?” + + The problem is that when you hit listeners between the eyes they respond by fighting back. The way you deliver a message to them is a cue to how they should react. If you make an argument, you’re implicitly asking them to evaluate your argument—judge it, debate it, criticize it—and then argue back, at least in their minds. But with a story, Denning argues, you engage the audience—you are involving people with the idea, asking them to participate with you. + + Denning talks about engaging the “little voice inside the head,” the voice that would normally debate the speaker’s points. “The conventional view of communication is to ignore the little voice inside the head and hope it stays quiet and that the message will somehow get through,” Denning says. But he has a different recommendation: “Don’t ignore the little voice…. Instead, work in harmony with it. Engage it by giving it something to do. Tell a story in a way that elicits a second story from the little voice.” + + In addition to creating buy-in, springboard stories mobilize people to act. Stories focus people on potential solutions. Telling stories with visible goals and barriers shifts the audience into a problem-solving mode. Clearly, the amount of “problem-solving” we do varies across stories. We don’t watch Titanic and start brainstorming about improved iceberg-spotting systems. But we do empathize with the main characters and start cheering them on when they confront their problems: “Look out behind you!” “Tell him off now!” “Don’t open that door!” + + But springboard stories go beyond having us problem-solve for the main character. A springboard story helps us problem-solve for ourselves. A springboard story is an exercise in mass customization—each audience member uses the story as a springboard to slightly different destinations. + + After Denning told the Zambia story, one of the executives at the meeting took the idea of knowledge management to the president of the World Bank, arguing that it was the future of the organization. Denning was invited to present his ideas to the bank’s top leaders, including the president. By the end of the year, the president had announced that knowledge management was one of the bank’s top priorities. + + The Conference Storybook + + We started the chapter with the nurse story, which comes from the researcher Gary Klein. Klein tells another story that provides a good summary of the ground we’ve covered. + + The organizer of a conference once asked Klein’s firm to sum up the results of a conference. The organizer wanted a useful summary of the conference—more compact than a transcript and more coherent than an idiosyncratic collection of the presenters’ PowerPoint slides. + + Klein’s firm assigned one person to monitor each of the conference’s five parallel tracks. The monitors attended each panel, and each time someone told a story they jotted it down. At the end of the conference, the monitors compared notes and found that, as Klein said, they had compiled a set of stories that were “funny, and tragic, and exciting.” The group structured and organized the stories and sent the packet to the conference organizer. + + She was ecstatic. She found the packet much more vivid and useful than the typical conference takeaway: a set of dry, jargon-filled abstracts. She even requested funds from her organization to convert the notes into a book. Meanwhile, as a courtesy, she sent the summary notes to all of the conference presenters. + + They were furious. They were insulted to have the stories scooped out of their overall structure—they didn’t want to be remembered as people who told a bunch of stories and anecdotes. They felt that they’d invested countless hours into distilling their experiences into a series of recommendations. Indeed, their abstracts—which had been submitted to the conference organizers—were filled with tidbits of wisdom, such as “Keep the lines of communication open” and “Don’t wait too long when problems are building up.” + + Klein said, “We want to explain to them how meaningless these slogans are in contrast to stories, such as the one that showed how they had kept the lines of communication open during a difficult incident in which a plant was shut down.” But the presenters were adamant, and the project was abandoned. + + This story is one of our favorites in the book, because the dynamics are so clear. We’re not trying to portray the presenters as bad, idea-hating people. Put yourself in their shoes. You’ve created this amazing presentation, summarizing years of your work, and your goal is to help people master a complex structure that you’ve spent years constructing. You’ve erected an amazing intellectual edifice! Then Klein’s crew approaches your edifice, plucks a few bricks out of the wall, and tries to pass them off as the sum of all your labors. The nerve! + + The problem, of course, is that it’s impossible to transfer an edifice in a ninety-minute presentation. The best you can do is convey some building blocks. But you can’t pluck building blocks from the roof, which is exactly what you’re doing with a recommendation like “Keep the lines of communication open.” + + Suppose you’re a manager at Nordstrom, addressing a conference of your peers. The final slide in your presentation might read, “Lessons from Nordstrom: In retail, outstanding customer service is a key source of competitive advantage.” While discussing your fourth slide you might have mentioned, as a humorous aside, the Nordie who gift-wrapped a present bought at Macy’s. These jokers from Klein’s firm want to keep your gift-wrapping story but drop your punch line. And they’re absolutely right. + + In the “Simple” and “Unexpected” chapters, we said that good messages must move from common sense to uncommon sense. In contrast, there’s nothing but common sense in recommendations such as “Keep the lines of communication open” and “Don’t wait too long when problems are building up.” (Klein comments that these lessons are presumably designed for people who would rather close lines of communication and sit around when they’re facing a daunting problem.) + + Once again, the Curse of Knowledge has bewitched these presenters. When they share their lessons—“Keep the lines of communication open”—they’re hearing a song, filled with passion and emotion, inside their heads. They’re remembering the experiences that taught them those lessons—the struggles, the political battles, the missteps, the pain. They are tapping. But they forget that the audience can’t hear the same tune they hear. + + Stories can almost single-handedly defeat the Curse of Knowledge. In fact, they naturally embody most of the SUCCESs framework. Stories are almost always Concrete. Most of them have Emotional and Unexpected elements. The hardest part of using stories effectively is making sure that they’re Simple—that they reflect your core message. It’s not enough to tell a great story; the story has to reflect your agenda. You don’t want a general lining up his troops before battle to tell a Connection plot story. + + Stories have the amazing dual power to simulate and to inspire. And most of the time we don’t even have to use much creativity to harness these powers—we just need to be ready to spot the good ones that life generates every day. + + + + + + WHAT STICKS + + + + Sometimes ideas stick despite our best efforts to stop them. In 1946, Leo Durocher was the coach of the Dodgers. His club was leading the National League, while the team’s traditional archrival, the New York Giants, was languishing in the bottom of the standings. + + During a game between the Dodgers and the Giants, Durocher was mocking the Giants in front of a group of sportswriters. One of the sportswriters teased Durocher, “Why don’t you be a nice guy for a change?” Durocher pointed at the Giants’ dugout and said, “Nice guys! Look over there. Do you know a nicer guy than [Giants’ manager] Mel Ott? Or any of the other Giants? Why, they’re the nicest guys in the world! And where are they? In seventh place!” + + As recounted by Ralph Keyes in his book on misquotations, Nice Guys Finish Seventh, the metamorphosis of Durocher’s quote began a year later. The Baseball Digest quoted Durocher as saying, “Nice guys finish in last place in the second division.” Before long, as his quip was passed along from one person to another, it evolved, becoming simpler and more universal, until it emerged as a cynical comment on life: “Nice guys finish last.” No more reference to the Giants, no more reference to seventh place—in fact, no more reference to baseball at all. Nice guys finish last. + + This quote, polished by the marketplace of ideas, irked Durocher. For years, he denied saying the phrase (and, of course, he was right), but eventually he gave up. Nice Guys Finish Last was the title of his autobiography. + + + + One of the most famous misquotations of all time is attributed to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Holmes never said, “Elementary, my dear Watson.” This seems hard to believe—the quote is perfectly suited to our schema of Holmes. In fact, if you asked someone to name one Sherlock Holmes quote, this would be it. His most famous quote is the one he never said. + + Why did this nonexistent quote stick? It’s not hard to imagine what must have happened. Holmes frequently said, “My dear Watson,” and he often said, “Elementary.” A natural mistake, for someone inclined to quote from a Holmes mystery, would be to combine the two. And, like an adaptive biological mutation, the newly combined quote was such an improvement that it couldn’t help but spread. This four-word quotation, after all, contains the essence of Holmes: the brilliant detective never too busy to condescend to his faithful sidekick. + + + + In the “Simple” chapter, we told the story of the 1992 Clinton campaign and Carville’s famous proverb, “It’s the economy, stupid.” We mentioned that this proverb was one of three phrases that Carville wrote on a whiteboard. Here’s a trivia question: What were the other two? + + The other two phrases were “Change vs. more of the same” and “Don’t forget health care.” Those phrases didn’t stick. So should Carville have been pleased with the success of “It’s the economy, stupid” as an idea? On the one hand, his phrase resonated so strongly that it became a powerful tool in framing the election. On the other hand, he got only one third of his message across! + + We bring up these examples because, in making ideas stick, the audience gets a vote. The audience may change the meaning of your idea, as happened with Durocher. The audience may actually improve your idea, as was the case with Sherlock Holmes. Or the audience may retain some of your ideas and jettison others, as with Carville. + + All of us tend to have a lot of “idea pride.” We want our message to endure in the form we designed. Durocher’s response, when the audience shaped his idea, was to deny, deny, deny. . .then eventually accept. + + The question we have to ask ourselves in any situation is this: Is the audience’s version of my message still core? In Chapter 1 (“Simple”), we discussed the importance of focusing on core messages—honing in on the most important truths that we need to communicate. If the world takes our ideas and changes them—or accepts some and discards others—all we need to decide is whether the mutated versions are still core. If they are—as with “It’s the economy, stupid”—then we should humbly embrace the audience’s judgment. Ultimately, the test of our success as idea creators isn’t whether people mimic our exact words, it’s whether we achieve our goals. + + The Power of Spotting + + Carville, Durocher, and Arthur Conan Doyle were all creators of ideas. They produced ideas from scratch. But let’s not forget that it’s just as effective to spot sticky ideas as it is to create them. + + Think about Nordstrom. You can’t very well create from scratch a bunch of stories about sales reps cheerfully gift-wrapping presents from Macy’s. But when you come across a real story like that, you’ve got to be alert to the idea’s potential. And this isn’t as easy as it sounds. + + The barrier to idea-spotting is that we tend to process anecdotes differently than abstractions. If a Nordstrom manager is hit with an abstraction, such as “Increase customer satisfaction scores by 10 percent this quarter,” that abstraction kicks in the managerial mentality: How do we get there from here? But a story about a tire-chain-exchanging, cold-car-warming sales rep provokes a different way of thinking. It will likely be filed away with other kinds of day-to-day personal news—interesting but ultimately trivial, like the fact that John Robison shaved his head or James Schlueter showed up late seven days in a row. In some sense, there’s a wall in our minds separating the little picture—stories, for instance—from the big picture. Spotting requires us to tear down that wall. + + How do we tear down the wall? As a rough analogy, think about the way we buy gifts for loved ones. If we know that Christmas or a birthday is approaching, there’s a little nagging process that opens up in our minds, reminding us that “Dad is a gadget guy, so keep an eye out for cool gadgets.” It’s barely conscious, but if we happen upon a Retractable Roto-Laser-Light on December 8, chances are we’ll immediately spot it as a possible fit for Dad. + + The analogy to the idea world is maintaining a deeply ingrained sense of the core message that we want to communicate. Just as we can put on Dad Gift Glasses, allowing us to view merchandise from his perspective, we can also put on Core Idea Glasses, allowing us to filter incoming ideas from that perspective. If you’re a Nordstrom manager, obsessed with improving customer service, this filter helps you spot the warming-cars episode as a symbol of perfection, rather than as an interesting anecdote. + + In the Introduction, we debunked the common assumption that you need natural creative genius to cook up a great idea. You don’t. But, beyond that, it’s crucial to realize that creation, period, is unnecessary. Think of the ideas in this book that were spotted rather than created: Nordies. Jared. The mystery of Saturn’s rings. Pam Laffin, the smoking antiauthority. The nurse who ignored the heart monitor, listened with her stethoscope, and saved the baby’s life. If you’re a great spotter, you’ll always trump a great creator. Why? Because the world will always produce more great ideas than any single individual, even the most creative one. + + The Speakers and the Stickers + + Each year in the second session of Chip’s “Making Ideas Stick” class at Stanford, the students participate in an exercise, a kind of testable credential to show what kinds of messages stick and don’t stick. The students are given some data from a government source on crime patterns in the United States. Half of them are asked to make a one-minute persuasive speech to convince their peers that nonviolent crime is a serious problem in this country. The other half are asked to take the position that it’s not particularly serious. + + Stanford students, as you’d expect, are smart. They also tend to be quick thinkers and good communicators. No one in the room ever gives a poor speech. + + The students divide into small groups and each one gives a one-minute speech while the others listen. After each speech, the listeners rate the speaker: How impressive was the delivery? How persuasive? + + What happens, invariably, is that the most polished speakers get the highest ratings. Students who are poised, smooth, and charismatic are rated at the top of the class. No surprise, right? Good speakers score well in speaking contests. + + The surprise comes next. The exercise appears to be over; in fact, Chip often plays a brief Monty Python clip to kill a few minutes and distract the students. Then, abruptly, he asks them to pull out a sheet of paper and write down, for each speaker they heard, every single idea that they remember. + + The students are flabbergasted at how little they remember. Keep in mind that only ten minutes have elapsed since the speeches were given. Nor was there a huge volume of information to begin with—at most, they’ve heard eight one-minute speeches. And yet the students are lucky to recall one or two ideas from each speaker’s presentation. Many draw a complete blank on some speeches—unable to remember a single concept. + + In the average one-minute speech, the typical student uses 2.5 statistics. Only one student in ten tells a story. Those are the speaking statistics. The “remembering” statistics, on the other hand, are almost a mirror image: When students are asked to recall the speeches, 63 percent remember the stories. Only 5 percent remember any individual statistic. + + Furthermore, almost no correlation emerges between “speaking talent” and the ability to make ideas stick. The people who were captivating speakers typically do no better than others in making their ideas stick. Foreign students—whose less-polished English often leaves them at the bottom of the speaking-skills rankings—are suddenly on a par with native speakers. The stars of stickiness are the students who made their case by telling stories, or by tapping into emotion, or by stressing a single point rather than ten. There is no question that a ringer—a student who came into the exercise having read this book—would squash the other students. A community college student for whom English is a second language could easily outperform unwitting Stanford graduate students. + + Why can’t these smart, talented speakers make their ideas stick? A few of the villains discussed in this book are implicated. The first villain is the natural tendency to bury the lead—to get lost in a sea of information. One of the worst things about knowing a lot, or having access to a lot of information, is that we’re tempted to share it all. High school teachers will tell you that when students write research papers they feel obligated to include every unearthed fact, as though the value were in the quantity of data amassed rather than in its purpose or clarity. Stripping out information, in order to focus on the core, is not instinctual. + + The second villain is the tendency to focus on the presentation rather than on the message. Public speakers naturally want to appear composed, charismatic, and motivational. And, certainly, charisma will help a properly designed message stick better. But all the charisma in the world won’t save a dense, unfocused speech, as some Stanford students learn the hard way. + + More Villains + + There are two other key villains in the book that the Stanford students don’t have to wrestle with. The first is decision paralysis—the anxiety and irrationality that can emerge from excessive choice or ambiguous situations. Think about the students who missed both a fantastic lecture and a great film because they couldn’t decide which one was better, or how hard it was for Jeff Hawkins, the leader of the Palm Pilot development group, to get his team to focus on a few issues rather than on many. + + To beat decision paralysis, communicators have to do the hard work of finding the core. Lawyers must stress one or two points in their closing arguments, not ten. A teacher’s lesson plans may contain fifty concepts to share with her students, but in order to be effective that teacher must devote most of her efforts to making the most critical two or three stick. Managers must share proverbs—“Names, names, and names” or “THE low-fare airline”—that help employees wring decisions out of ambiguous situations. + + The archvillain of sticky ideas, as you know by now, is the Curse of Knowledge. The Stanford students didn’t face the Curse of Knowledge because the data on crime was brand-new to them—they were more akin to reporters trying to avoid burying the lead on a news story than to experts who have forgotten what it’s like not to know something. + + The Curse of Knowledge is a worthy adversary, because in some sense it’s inevitable. Getting a message across has two stages: the Answer stage and the Telling Others stage. In the Answer stage, you use your expertise to arrive at the idea that you want to share. Doctors study for a decade to be capable of giving the Answer. Business managers may deliberate for months to arrive at the Answer. + + Here’s the rub: The same factors that worked to your advantage in the Answer stage will backfire on you during the Telling Others stage. To get the Answer, you need expertise, but you can’t dissociate expertise from the Curse of Knowledge. You know things that others don’t know, and you can’t remember what it was like not to know those things. So when you get around to sharing the Answer, you’ll tend to communicate as if your audience were you. + + You’ll stress the scads of statistics that were pivotal in arriving at the Answer—and, like the Stanford students, you’ll find that no one remembers them afterward. You’ll share the punch line—the overarching truth that emerged from months of study and analysis—and, like the CEO who stresses “maximizing shareholder value” to his frontline employees, no one will have a clue how your punch line relates to the day-to-day work. + + There is a curious disconnect between the amount of time we invest in training people how to arrive at the Answer and the amount of time we invest in training them how to Tell Others. It’s easy to graduate from medical school or an MBA program without ever taking a class in communication. College professors take dozens of courses in their areas of expertise but none on how to teach. A lot of engineers would scoff at a training program about Telling Others. + + Business managers seem to believe that, once they’ve clicked through a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their conclusions, they’ve successfully communicated their ideas. What they’ve done is share data. If they’re good speakers, they may even have created an enhanced sense, among their employees and peers, that they are “decisive” or “managerial” or “motivational.” But, like the Stanford students, the surprise will come when they realize that nothing they’ve said had impact. They’ve shared data, but they haven’t created ideas that are useful and lasting. Nothing stuck. + + Making an Idea Stick: The Communication Framework + + For an idea to stick, for it to be useful and lasting, it’s got to make the audience: + + + + 1. Pay attention + + 2. Understand and remember it + + 3. Agree/Believe + + 4. Care + + 5. Be able to act on it + + + + This book could have been organized around these five steps, but there’s a reason they were reserved for the conclusion. The Curse of Knowledge can easily render this framework useless. When an expert asks, “Will people understand my idea?,” her answer will be Yes, because she herself understands. (“Of course, my people will understand ‘maximizing shareholder value!’”) When an expert asks, “Will people care about this?,” her answer will be Yes, because she herself cares. Think of the Murray Dranoff Duo Piano people, who said, “We exist to protect, preserve, and promote the music of the duo piano.” They were shocked when that statement didn’t arouse the same passion in others that it did in them. + + The SUCCESs checklist is a substitute for the framework above, and its advantage is that it’s more tangible and less subject to the Curse of Knowledge. In fact, if you think back across the chapters you’ve read, you’ll notice that the framework matches up nicely: + + + + 1. Pay attention: + + UNEXPECTED + + + + 2. Understand and remember it: + + CONCRETE + + + + 3. Agree/Believe: + + CREDIBLE + + + + 4. Care: + + EMOTIONAL + + + + 5. Be able to act on it: + + STORY + + + + + + So, rather than guess about whether people will understand our ideas, we should ask, “Is it concrete?” Rather than speculate about whether people will care, we should ask, “Is it emotional? Does it get out of Maslow’s basement? Does it force people to put on an Analytical Hat or allow them to feel empathy?” (By the way, “Simple” is not on the list above because it’s mainly about the Answer stage—honing in on the core of your message and making it as compact as possible. But Simple messages help throughout the process, especially in helping people to understand and act.) + + The SUCCESs checklist, then, is an ideal tool for dealing with communication problems. Let’s look at some common symptoms of communication problems and how we can respond to them. + + + + + +* * * + + + + + + Problems getting people to pay attention to a message + + + + SYMPTOM: “No one is listening to me” or “They seem bored—they hear this stuff all the time.” + + SOLUTION: Surprise them by breaking their guessing machines—tell them something that is uncommon sense. (The lead is, There will be no school next Thursday! Nordies gift-wrap packages from Macy’s!) + + SYMPTOM:“I lost them halfway through” or “Their attention was wavering toward the end.” + + SOLUTION: Create curiosity gaps—tell people just enough for them to realize the piece that’s missing from their knowledge. (Remember Roone Arledge’s introductions to college football games, setting the context for the rivalry.) Or create mysteries or puzzles that are slowly solved over the course of the communication. (Like the professor who started each class with a mystery, such as the one about Saturn’s rings.) + + Problems getting people to understand and remember + + SYMPTOM: “They always nod their heads when I explain it to them, but it never seems to translate into action.” + + SOLUTION: Make the message simpler and use concrete language. Use what people already know as a way to make your intentions clearer, as with a generative analogy (like Disney’s “cast member” metaphor). Or use concrete, real-world examples. Don’t talk about “knowledge management”; tell a story about a health worker in Zambia getting information on malaria from the Internet. + + SYMPTOM: “We have these meetings where it seems like everyone is talking past each other” or “Everyone has such different levels of knowledge that it’s hard to teach them.” + + SOLUTION: Create a highly concrete turf where people can apply their knowledge. (Think of the venture-capital pitch for a portable computer where the entrepreneur tossed his binder onto the table, sparking brainstorming.) Have people grapple with specific examples or cases rather than concepts. + + Problems getting people to believe you or agree + + SYMPTOM: “They’re not buying it.” + + SOLUTION: Find the telling details for your message—the equivalent of the dancing seventy-three-year-old man, or the textile factory so environmentally friendly that it actually cleans the water pouring through it. Use fewer authorities and more antiauthorities. + + SYMPTOM: “They quibble with everything I say” or “I spend all my time arguing with them about this.” + + SOLUTION: Quiet the audience’s mental skeptics by using a springboard story, switching them into creative mode. Move away from statistics and facts toward meaningful examples. Use an anecdote that passes the Sinatra Test. + + Problems getting people to care + + SYMPTOM: “They are so apathetic” or “No one seems fired up about this.” + + SOLUTION: Remember the Mother Teresa effect—people care more about individuals than they do about abstractions. Tell them an inspiring Challenge plot or Creativity plot story. Tap into their sense of their own identities, like the “Don’t Mess with Texas” ads, which suggested that not littering was the Texan thing to do. + + SYMPTOM: “The things that used to get people excited just aren’t doing it anymore.” + + SOLUTION: Get out of Maslow’s basement and try appealing to more profound types of self-interest. + + Problems getting people to act + + SYMPTOM: “Everyone nods their heads and then nothing happens.” + + SOLUTION: Inspire them with a Challenge plot story (Jared, David and Goliath) or engage them by using a springboard story (the World Bank). Make sure your message is simple and concrete enough to be useful—turn it into a proverb (“Names, names, and names”). + + + +* * * + + + + John F. Kennedy versus Floyd Lee + + “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Those were John F. Kennedy’s words in May 1961. An inspiring message for an inspiring mission. It was a single idea that motivated a nation to a decade of work—and an eventual, historic, unforgettable success. + + But here’s the thing: You’re not JFK. + + And neither are we. We don’t have an ounce of his charisma or power. We are less concerned with traveling to the moon than with, say, remembering our wallets when we leave home in the morning. So, if being JFK was what it took to make an idea stick, this would be a depressing book indeed. + + JFK isn’t the standard. In fact, he’s the aberration. Keep in mind that the same chapter where we first mentioned the “Man on the Moon” speech also contains a reference to the Kentucky Fried Rat. Our heads are not entirely in the clouds. + + Sticky ideas have things in common, and in this book we’ve reverse-engineered them. We’ve studied preposterous ideas: the kidney thieves and their ice-filled bathtub. We’ve studied brilliant ideas: Ulcers are caused by bacteria. We’ve studied boring ideas made interesting: the flight-safety announcement. We’ve studied interesting ideas made boring: Oral rehydration salts that could save the lives of thousands of kids. We’ve seen ideas related to newspapers, accounting, nuclear war, evangelism, seat belts, dust, dancing, litter, football, AIDS, shipping, and hamburgers. + + And what we’ve seen is that all these ideas—profound and mundane, serious and silly—share common traits. Our hope is that, now that you understand these traits, you’ll be able to apply them to your own ideas. They laughed when you shared a story instead of a statistic. But when the idea stuck. . . + + The SUCCESs checklist is intended to be a deeply practical tool. It’s no accident that it’s a checklist and not an equation. It’s not hard, and it’s not rocket science. But neither is it natural or instinctive. It requires diligence and it requires awareness. + + This book is filled with normal people facing normal problems who did amazing things simply by applying these principles (even if they weren’t aware that they were doing it). These people are so normal that you probably won’t even recognize their names when you see them. Their names aren’t sticky, but their stories are. + + There was Art Silverman. He was the guy who stopped a nation from eating obscenely unhealthy movie popcorn. He laid out a full day’s worth of fatty foods next to a tub of popcorn and said, “This is how much saturated fat is in this snack.” A normal person with a normal job who made a difference. + + There was Nora Ephron’s journalism teacher. Poor guy, we didn’t even mention his name. He told his class, “The lead is ‘There will be no school next Thursday.’” And in that one sentence he rewrote his students’ image of journalism. He inspired Ephron—and doubtless many others—to become journalists. A normal person with a normal job who made a difference. + + What about Bob Ocwieja? No chance you remember his name. He’s the Subway franchise owner who served sandwiches to a fat guy every day and spotted a great story in the making. Because of Ocwieja the hugely successful Jared campaign was discovered and launched. A normal person with a normal job who made a difference. + + Then there was Floyd Lee, the leader of the Pegasus mess hall in Iraq. He defined his role as being about morale, not food service. He got the same supplies as everyone else, but soldiers flocked to his tent and his pastry chef started describing her desserts as “sensual.” A normal person with a normal job who made a difference. + + And there was Jane Elliott. Her classroom simulation of racial prejudice is still etched in the minds of her students more than twenty years later. It’s not a stretch to say that she came up with an idea that prevented prejudice, like a vaccine. A normal person with a normal job who made a difference. + + All these people distinguished themselves by crafting ideas that made a difference. They didn’t have power or celebrity or PR firms or advertising dollars or spinmeisters. All they had were ideas. + + And that’s the great thing about the world of ideas—any of us, with the right insight and the right message, can make an idea stick. + + + + + +MAKING IDEAS STICK: THE EASY REFERENCE GUIDE + + + + What Sticks? + + Kidney heist. Halloween candy. Movie popcorn. + + Sticky = understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior. + + SIX PRINCIPLES: SUCCESs. + + SIMPLE UNEXPECTED CONCRETE CREDIBLE EMOTIONAL STORIES. + + THE VILLAIN: CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE. It’s hard to be a tapper. Creativity starts with templates: Beat the Curse with the SUCCESs checklist. + + 1. Simple + + FIND THE CORE. + + Commander’s Intent. Determine the single most important thing: “THE low-fare airline.” Inverted pyramid: Don’t bury the lead. The pain of decision paralysis. Beat decision paralysis through relentless prioritization: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinic: Sun exposure. Names, names, names. + + SHARE THE CORE. + + Simple = core + compact. Proverbs: sound bites that are profound. Visual proverbs: The Palm Pilot wood block. How to pack a lot of punch into a compact communication: (1) Using what’s there: Tap into existing schemas. The pomelo. (2) Create a high concept pitch: “Die Hard on a bus.” (3) Use a generative analogy: Disney’s “cast members.” + + 2. Unexpected + + GET ATTENTION: SURPRISE. + + The successful flight safety announcement. Break a pattern! Break people’s guessing machines (on a core issue). The surprise brow: a pause to collect information. Avoid gimmicky surprise—make it “postdictable.” “The Nordie who. . .” “There will be no school next Thursday.” Clinic: Too much on foreign aid? + + HOLD ATTENTION: INTEREST. + + Create a mystery: What are Saturn’s rings made of? Screenplays as models of generating curiosity. The Gap Theory of Curiosity: Highlight a knowledge gap. Use the news-teaser approach: “Which local restaurant has slime in the ice machine?” Clinic: Fund-raising. Priming the gap: How Roone Arledge made NCAA football interesting to nonfans. Hold long-term interest: the “pocketable radio” and the “man on the moon.” + + 3. Concrete + + HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND AND REMEMBER. + + Write with the concreteness of a fable. (Sour grapes.) Make abstraction concrete: The Nature Conservancy’s landscapes as eco-celebrities. Provide a concrete context: Asian teachers’ approach to teaching math. Put people into the story: accounting class taught with a soap opera. Use the Velcro theory of memory: The more hooks in your idea, the better. Brown eyes, blue eyes: a simulation that “cured” racial prejudice. + + HELP PEOPLE COORDINATE. + + Engineers vs. manufacturers: Find common ground at a shared level of understanding. Set common goals in tangible terms: Our plane will land on Runway 4-22. Make it real: The Ferraris go to Disney World. Why concreteness helps: white things versus white things in your refrigerator. Create a turf where people can bring their knowledge to bear: The VC pitch and the maroon portfolio. Clinic: Oral Rehydration Therapy. Talk about people, not data: Hamburger Helper’s in-home visits and “Saddleback Sam.” + + 4. Credible + + HELP PEOPLE BELIEVE. + + The Nobel-winning ulcer insight no one believed. Flesh-eating bananas. + + EXTERNAL CREDIBILITY. Authority and antiauthority. Pam Laffin, smoker. + + INTERNAL CREDIBILITY. + + Use convincing details. Jurors and the Darth Vader Toothbrush. The dancing seventy-three year old. + + Make statistics accessible. Nuclear warheads as BBs. The Human Scale principle. Stephen Covey’s analogy of a workplace to a soccer team. Clinic: Shark attack hysteria. + + Find an example that passes the Sinatra Test. “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” Transporting Bollywood movies: “We handled Harry Potter and your brother’s board exams.” A business-friendly environmentalist and the textile factory that actually purified the water that fed it—and yielded fabric that was edible. + + Use testable credentials. “Try before you buy.” Where’s the beef? Snapple supports the KKK?! Coaches: It’s easier to tear down than to build up: Filling the Emotional Tank. NBA rookie orientation: “These women all have AIDS.” + + 5. Emotional + + MAKE PEOPLE CARE. + + The Mother Teresa principle: If I look at the one, I will act. People donate more to Rokia than to a huge swath of Africa. The Truth antismoking campaign: What made kids care was not health concerns but anticorporate rebellion. + + USE THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION. + + The need to fight semantic stretch: the diluted meaning of “relativity” and why “unique” isn’t unique anymore. Transforming “sportsmanship” into “honoring the game.” + + APPEAL TO SELF-INTEREST (AND NOT JUST BASE SELF-INTEREST). + + Mail-order ads—“They laughed when I sat down at the piano….” WIIFY. Cable television in Tempe: Visualizing what it could do for you. Avoid Maslow’s basement: our false assumption that other people are baser than we are. Floyd Lee and his Iraq mess tent: “I’m in charge of morale.” + + APPEAL TO IDENTITY. + + The firemen who rejected the popcorn popper. Understand how people make decisions based on identity. (Who am I? What kind of situation is this? And what do people like me do in this kind of situation?) Clinic: Why study algebra? Don’t mess with Texas: Texans don’t litter. Don’t forget the Curse of Knowledge—don’t assume, like the defenders of the duo piano, that others care at the same level that you do. + + 6. Stories + + GET PEOPLE TO ACT. + + STORIES AS SIMULATION (TELL PEOPLE HOW TO ACT). + + The day the heart monitor lied: how the nurse acted. Shop talk at Xerox: how the repairman acted. Visualizing “how I got here”: simulating problems to solve them. Use stories as flight simulators. Clinic: Dealing with problem students. + + STORIES AS INSPIRATION (GIVE PEOPLE ENERGY TO ACT). + + Jared, the 425-pound fast-food dieter. How to spot inspiring stories. Look for three key plots: Challenge (to overcome obstacles), Connection (to get along or reconnect), Creativity (to inspire a new way of thinking). Tell a springboard story: a story that helps people see how an existing problem might change. Stephen Denning at the World Bank: a health worker in Zambia. You can extract a moral from a story, but you can’t extract a story from a moral. Why speakers got mad when people boiled down their presentations to stories. + + What Sticks. + + USE WHAT STICKS. + + Nice guys finish last. Elementary, my dear Watson. It’s the economy, stupid. The power of spotting. Why good speaking skills aren’t necessarily good sticking skills: Stanford students and the speech exercise. A final warning about the Curse of Knowledge. + + Remember how SUCCESs helps people to: + + Pay attention + + Unexpected + + + + Understand and remember + + Concrete + + + + Believe and agree + + Credible + + + + Care + + Emotional + + + + Act + + Stories + + + + Simple helps at many stages. Most important, it tells you what to say. + + Symptoms and solutions: For practical guidance. + + John F. Kennedy versus Floyd Lee: How normal people, in normal situations, can make a profound difference with their sticky ideas. + + + + + + Introduction: What Sticks? + + “Comprehensive community building”: Tony Proscio, “In Other Words: A Plea for Plain Speaking in Foundations,” Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, 2000. + + The Truth About Movie Popcorn: A good account of the popcorn story is in Howard Kurtz, “The Great Exploding Popcorn Exposé,” Washington Post, May 12, 1994, C1. + + Who Spoiled Halloween?: The story of the contaminated Halloween candy legend is told in Joel Best and Gerald T. Horiuchi, “The Razor Blade and the Apple: The Social Construction of Urban Legends,” Social Forces 32 (1985): 488–99. Joel Best is one of a group of sociologists who study the “construction” of social problems. Social concerns about various problems such as drunk driving, drug abuse, or poisoned Halloween candy do not always match the underlying incidence of problems, and sociologists have tried to understand how social problems become defined as “problems.” For another interesting read on this topic, see Joel Best, Random Violence: How We Talk About New Crimes and New Victims (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999). + + the Curse of Knowledge: The Curse of Knowledge concept comes from C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein, and M. Weber, “The Curse of Knowledge in Economic Settings: An Experimental Analysis,” Journal of Political Economy 97 (1989): 1232–54. The Curse of Knowledge increases as people gain more expertise. Pamela Hinds asked experts (salespeople at a cellular company) to predict how long novice cell-phone users would take to learn to perform various tasks (e.g., storing a greeting on voice mail or saving some messages and deleting others). Experts dramatically underestimated the amount of time it would take novice users to accomplish the tasks (i.e., they estimated that it would take thirteen minutes to perform functions that actually took thirty-three minutes), and their estimates did not improve when they were specifically asked to think about the problems they encountered while they were originally learning. See Pamela J. Hinds, “The Curse of Expertise: The Effects of Expertise and Debiasing Methods on Predicting Novice Performance,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 5 (1999): 205–21. See also brilliant work in psychology by Boas Keysar, Linda E. Ginzel, and MaxH. Bazerman, “States of Affairs and States of Mind: The Effect of Knowledge on Beliefs,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 64(1995): 283–93. Ironically, the Curse of Knowledge has been well documented in economic and market settings, where people should have the greatest incentives to try to overcome it (see http://curse-of-knowledge.behaviouralfinance.net/). If you can’t overcome the Curse of Knowledge when it’s costing you lots of money, it’s going to be even harder to detect and overcome it in day-to-day situations. + + In 1990, Elizabeth Newton: L. Newton, “Overconfidence in the Communication of Intent: Heard and Unheard Melodies,” Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1990. + + In 1999, an Israeli research team: Jacob Goldenberg, David Mazursky, and Sorin Solomon, “The Fundamental Templates of Quality Ads,” Marketing Science 18 (1999): 333–51. The Pictorial Analogy template features extreme analogies rendered visually. For instance, a Nike ad is shot from the perspective of someone jumping from a tall building. A group of firemen are on the street below, preparing to cushion the jumper’s fall with an oversized Nike sneaker. The tagline reads, “Something soft between you and the pavement.” The majority of the winners are composed of Pictorial Analogy and Extreme Consequences. The other templates were Extreme Situations (in which a product is shown performing under unusual circumstances or in which a product’s attribute is exaggerated to the extreme), Competition (in which a product is shown winning in competition with another product, often in an unusual usage situation), Interactive Experiments (where listeners interact with the product directly—see “Testable Credentials” in Chapter 4), and Dimensionality Alteration (e.g., a time leap that shows the long-run implications of a decision). + + 1. Simple + + Herb Kelleher. . .once told: James Carville and Paul Begala, Buck Up, Suck Up, and Come Back When You Foul Up (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002), 88. This is one of the most interesting books we’ve found about the dynamics of political campaigns, and there’s a chapter on how to communicate in a political campaign that echoes several of the principles we cover in this book: tell stories (“facts tell but stories sell”), be emotional, and be unique (their version of “Unexpected”). + + A healthy 17-year-old heart: Jonathan Bor, “It Fluttered and Became Bruce Murray’s Heart,” Syracuse Post-Standard, May 12, 1984. + + JERUSALEM, Nov. 4: Barton Gellman, “Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Is Killed,” Washington Post, November 5, 1995. Chip Scanlon has a great collection of online columns describing the tradecraft of journalism, including one that contains the two headlines here: www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=52&aid=35609. + + the inverted pyramid arose: Rich Cameron, “Understanding the Lead and the Inverted Pyramid Structure Are Staples of Journalism 101 Classes,” The Inverted Pyramid, 2003. See www.cerritosjournalism.com, in the section entitled “101—Newswriting.” + + “It was simple”: Carville’s advice to remember the basics is from Mary Matalin and James Carville, All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President (New York: Random House, 1994), 244. The Clinton interchange leading up to the “If you say three things, you don’t say anything” quote is on page 175. + + In 1954, the economist L. J. Savage: Leonard J. Savage, The Foundations of Statistics (New York: Wiley, 1954). + + Amos Tversky and Eldar Shafir: The study about the Christmas vacation in Hawaii study is in Amos Tversky and Eldar Shafir, “The Disjunction Effect in Choice Under Uncertainty,” Psychological Science 3 (1992): 305–9. The lecture/foreign film/library study is found in Donald A. Redelmeier and Eldar Shafir, “Medical Decision Making in Situations That Offer Multiple Alternatives,” Journal of the American Medical Association 273 (1995): 302–6. The phenomenon of decision paralysis is pronounced even for professionals. Redelmeier and Shafir show that doctors will delay in prescribing any treatment when they are forced to choose among multiple good treatments. + + Sun Exposure: Precautions and Protection: Message 1 of the Sun Exposure Idea Clinic is from http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5550.htm. + + Cervantes defined proverbs: The discussion of proverbs is based on Paul Hernandi and Francis Steen, “The Tropical Landscapes of Proverbial: A Crossdisciplinary Travelogue,” Style 33 (1999): 1–20. + + “The real barrier to the initial PDAs”: Tom Kelley, The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm (New York: Doubleday Currency, 2001). + + J FKFB INAT OUP: The letter/acronym exercise demonstrates the classic principle of “chunking” from cognitive psychology. Working memory is sufficient to hold only about seven independent pieces of information. (See George Miller’s classic description in “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two,” Psychological Review 63 (1956): 81–97. In the first exercise, the chunks are letters, and most people can hold about seven of them. In the second, the chunks are pre-stored acronyms; people can remember around seven acronyms even though they each contain multiple letters. By taking advantage of preexisting chunks of information, we can cram more information into a limited attentional space. + + Psychologists define schema: Schemas are part of the standard tool kit of cognitive and social psychology. For an interesting discussion of schemas in social perception, see Chapters 4 and 5 of Susan T. Fiske and Shelley E. Taylor, Social Cognition, 2nd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991). For an interesting summary of cognitive psychology research on schemas, see Chapter 2 of David C. Rubin, Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-out Rhymes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). + + An analogy is a good way of helping people access the knowledge in a schema. Educational psychologists have published a number of papers on the value of analogies in learning new material, particularly Richard Mayer. In a 1980 paper, he helped students learn to program the language of a database. One group of students was given analogies for the structure of the computer: “The long-term storage function of the computer was described as a file cabinet; the sorting function was described as an in-basket, save basket, and discard basket on an office desk.” When students were confronting easy problems, the analogies didn’t matter much, but when the problems became more complex, students who had been given analogies were about twice as good as the others. See R. Mayer, “Elaborate Techniques That Increase the Meaningfulness of Technical Text: An Experimental Test of the Learning Strategy Hypothesis,” Journal of Educational Psychology 72 (1980): 770–84. + + Metaphor is another way of allowing people to access the knowledge in a schema. George Lakoff has, in a number of books, shown how deep metaphors structure the way that we understand and talk about the world (e.g., George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980]). For example, we talk about and think of love as a journey (Look at how far we’ve come. We’re at a crossroads. We’re off track.) Lakoff has been better than anyone else at recognizing the pervasive ways in which such metaphors affect our communication, but metaphors need not be deep or pervasive to be useful in conveying a message; they just need to be shared by the relevant audience, as in the discussion of “high concept” in Hollywood. + + Good metaphors are “generative”: D. A. Schon, “Generative Metaphor: A Perspective on Problem-Solving in Social Policy,” in Metaphor and Thought, 2nd ed., edited by A. Ortony, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993). + + Disney calls its employees “cast members”: The examples from Disney are from: Disney Institute, Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service (New York: Disney Editions, 2001). + + 2. Unexpected + + A flight attendant named Karen Wood: It’s no accident that Karen Wood was a flight attendant on Southwest Airlines. See Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg, Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success (Austin, Tex.: Bard Press, 1996), 209–10. + + “the surprise brow”: Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen, Unmasking the Face: A Guide to Recognizing Emotions from Facial Clues (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1975). The role of surprise is an understudied topic in psychology, because it falls in the cracks between psychological disciplines. Cognitive researchers who study attention and learning find it too emotional; social psychologists who study emotions such as anger, fear, and disgust find it too cognitive. Yet you could make the case that surprise is the most important emotion because of its role in controlling attention and learning. + + “PHRAUG and TAYBL”: Bruce W. A. Whittlesea and Lisa D. Williams, “The Discrepancy-Attribution Hypothesis II: Expectation, Uncertainty, Surprise, and Feelings of Familiarity,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 27 (2001): 14–33. + + The Nordie who ironed: Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (New York: HarperBusiness, 1994), 118. + + Journalism 101: Ephron’s account is in Lorraine Glennon and Mary Mohler, Those Who Can. . .Teach! Celebrating Teachers Who Make a Difference (Berkeley, Calif.: Wildcat Canyon Press, 1999), 95–96. + + Americans persist in thinking: Message 1 from the foreign aid Clinic is from www.ipjc.org/journal/fall02/nick_mele.htm. + + Polls suggest that most Americans: See surveys conducted by the Program for International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. + + All of sub-Saharan Africa: As of 2001, sub-Saharan Africa and the entire region of Asia each received a little more than $1 billion per year. Assuming that there are 280 million Americans, twelve soft drinks at a bargain price of $.33 equals $1.1 billion. One movie per year at $8 per movie ticket equals $2.24 billion. + + How do we keep people’s attention?: Arousing people’s interest and keeping it are topics that have been discussed frequently among educational psychologists who want to keep kids engaged in textbooks. Many of their findings are consistent with the topics we consider in this book: Kids are more engaged when texts evoke action and images (Concrete) or emotions (Emotional) or when something is novel (Unexpected, though in our view novelty is more likely to attract interest than to sustain it). Other topics go beyond what we discuss here. For example, kids are more engaged when material is personalized (e.g., they pay more attention to math problems that feature their names or the names of their friends), though this customization strategy is hard to apply in general. But most of the research in educational psychology has been limited in that it focuses only on sentence- or paragraph-level characteristics of texts rather than on broader questions, such as how do you get readers to read whole sections, chapters, or books. Cialdini’s observations on mystery and Loewenstein’s gap theory of curiosity would add a great deal to this important area of research. For a review of educational research, see Suzanne Hidi, “Interest and Its Contribution as a Mental Resource for Learning,” Review of Educational Research 60 (1990): 549–71. + + A few years ago, Robert Cialdini: Cialdini wrote his article for psychology professors, but it’s excellent advice for all teachers. See Robert B. Cialdini, “What’s the Best Secret Device for Engaging Student Interest? The Answer Is in the Title,” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 24 (2005): 22–29. + + McKee says, “Curiosity”: Robert McKee, Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting (New York: ReganBooks, 1997). McKee also has good insight into the difference between gimmicky surprise and surprise that leads to resolution in movies: “We can always shock filmgoers by cutting to something it doesn’t expect to see or away from something it expects to continue.” But he says that “true surprise” happens when a legitimate gap is suddenly revealed between what we expect and what actually happens. The legitimacy comes from a rush of insight, revealing some truth that was previously hidden. + + In 1994, George Loewenstein: George Loewenstein, “The Psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation,” Psychological Bulletin 116(1994): 75–98. This is a brilliant article that reviews decades of psychological research. + + Heretofore, television has done: The Roone Arledge story is from his autobiography, Roone: A Memoir (New York: HarperCollins, 2003). The quote from the memo is on page 32. + + In the rubble of Tokyo: The Sony history is from John Nathan, Sony: The Private Life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999). + + “If people like curiosity”: Loewenstein, “Psychology of Curiosity,” 86. + + 3. Concrete + + “Business Buzzword Generator”: The buzzword generator was invented by W. Davis Folsom at the University of South Carolina–Aiken. See http:// highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072537892/student_view0/business_jargon_exercise.htm. + + Concreteness helps us avoid these problems: The advantages of concrete ideas show up across psychology. Concrete ideas are more memorable. Perhaps the most interesting summary of this evidence is from a book by David Rubin, a cognitive psychologist at Duke University who has spent years trying to understand how aspects of culture—epic sagas, ballads, and children’s rhymes—propagate from person to person and generation to generation. His book Memory in Oral Traditions is a masterful summary of work across the humanities and psychology. Concrete elements are the most likely to survive transmission from one person to another because they are the easiest to understand and remember. See David C. Rubin, Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-Out Rhymes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). + + Concrete ideas are also more understandable. In education research, Mark Sadoski, Ernest Goetz, and colleagues have published a number of interesting papers illustrating that concrete ideas are more understandable, memorable, and, as a side benefit, more interesting. See Mark Sadoski, Ernest T. Goetz, and Maximo Rodriguez, “Engaging Texts: Effects of Concreteness on Comprehensibility, Interest, and Recall in Four Text Types,” Journal of Educational Psychology 92 (2000): 85–95. + + Yale researcher Eric Havelock: E. A. Havelock, Preface to Plato (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1963). + + Two professors from Georgia State University: Carol W. Springer and A. Faye Borthick, “Business Simulation to Stage Critical Thinking in Introductory Accounting: Rationale, Design, and Implementation,” Issues in Accounting Education 19 (2004): 277–303. + + Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes: The description of Jane Elliott’s antiprejudice simulation is taken from a PBS Frontline documentary, “A Class Divided.” It’s one of the most frequently requested programs in the station’s history, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Informational, Cultural, or Historical Programming in 1985. It can be seen on the Web at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ shows/divided/etc/view.htm. + + Studies conducted ten and twenty years later: Phil Zimbardo, Psychology and Life, 12th ed. (Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, 1985), 634. + + A researcher named Beth Bechky: B. A. Bechky, “Crossing Occupational Boundaries: Communication and Learning on a Production Floor,” Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1999. + + The 727 must seat 131 passengers: Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (New York: HarperBusiness, 1994), 93. + + The Ferraris Go to Disney World: The Stone-Yamashita work with HP is based on Victoria Chang and Chip Heath, “Stone-Yamashita and PBS: A Case at the Graduate School of Business,” Stanford University Graduate School of Business case study SM119 (2004). + + Kaplan and Go Computers: This example is from a great book by Jerry Kaplan: Start-Up: A Silicon Valley Adventure (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995). It’s one of the best accounts we’ve read about the day-to-day uncertainty and struggle of being an entrepreneur and building a company. And it’s very funny. + + My audience seemed tense: Ibid., 25–26. + + Their investment valued: Kaplan’s company, later named Go Computers, ultimately failed because the technology of its time wasn’t sufficient to support pen-based computers. Nonetheless, the idea of pen-based computing was so sticky—the “pocketable radio” of its generation—that several other firms in addition to Kaplan’s arose and attracted venture capital dollars (and skilled engineering talent) to pursue the technology. + + Diarrhea is one of the leading killers: Message 1 of the Oral Rehydration Therapy Clinic is from PSI, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization that is doing innovative work on health for low-income populations. See www.psi.org/our_programs/products/ors.htm. + + “Do you know”: Message 2 of the Oral Rehydration Therapy Clinic is by James Grant, who, during his time at UNICEF, made changes that have been credited with saving the lives of more than 25 million children. Vaccination rates increased, for example, from 20 percent to 80 percent. This remarkable story is told in David Bornstein, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). See page 248 for the quote. + + “Saddleback Sam” Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Church (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1995): 169. Warren’s book explains the organizing principles of one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the country. + + 4. Credible + + “simply didn’t have the demeanor”: Daniel Q. Haney, “News That Ulcers Are Caused by Bacteria Travels Slowly to MDs,” Buffalo News, February 11, 1996. + + “It tasted like swamp water”: Manveet Kaur, “Doctor Who Discovered ‘Ulcer Bugs,’” New Straits Times, August 13, 2002, 6. + + an important theme in modern medicine: Laura Beil, “A New Look at Old Ills: Research Finds Some Chronic Diseases May Be Infectious,” The Record (Northern New Jersey), March 24, 1997. + + But if we’re skeptical about: Naturally sticky ideas are a great source of insight about the process of persuasion, and researchers who study persuasion in psychology would benefit from studying them. Traditional studies of persuasion in psychology have sidestepped the issue of credibility by creating a bunch of arguments, having people rate them for credibility, then using the ones that are rated as having high or low credibility. With the exception of a number of studies on the impact of authority, researchers have avoided trying to understand what makes messages credible. Yet rumors and urban legends regularly evolve features that ascribe credibility to bizarre claims. The “testable credentials” idea that we discuss in the chapter, for example, has been a feature of dozens of urban legends, yet it has not been discussed by the research literature on persuasion. + + Around 1999, an e-mail message: The flesh-eating banana legend is discussed at www.snopes.com/medical/disease/bananas.asp. + + Pam Laffin, the Antiauthority: The story of Pam Laffin is described in Bella English, “Sharing a Life Gone Up in Smoke,” Boston Globe, September 20, 1998. + + “I started smoking to look older”: From the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/christy/myth1.htm. + + The Doe Fund sent a driver: We thank Spencer Robertson for this example. + + “acquire a good deal”: Jan Harold Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1981), 7. This book is largely responsible for creating the urban legends craze in the United States. For years, folklorists had been writing articles about the folklore of modern people, but this book by Brunvand was accessible enough that everyone started hearing about urban legends—and they were shocked to hear that different versions of their local stories were being told by everyone else in the nation. + + By making a claim tangible: There is a running debate in the psychology literature on the impact that vivid details have on memory and credibility. In our view, the evidence is confusing because researchers have not been careful about distinguishing details that support or distract from a core message. People inevitably focus on and remember vivid details. When the vivid details support the core message, it is more memorable and convincing, but irrelevant vivid details can also distract people from the core and make a message less memorable and convincing (thus the concern, in educational psychology, about “seductive details”). A good summary of the issues can be found in Ernest T. Goetz and Mark Sadoski, “Commentary: The Perils of Seduction: Distracting Details or Incomprehensible Abstractions?” Reading Research Quarterly 30 (1995), 500–11. + + In 1986, Jonathan Shedler and Melvin Manis: Jonathan Shedler and Melvin Manis, “Can the Availability Heuristic Explain Vividness Effects?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51 (1986), 26–36. + + “If, say, a soccer team”: The Covey example is from an excerpt from his book reprinted in Fortune, November 29, 2004, 162. + + A SHARK A DEER: We thank Tim O’Hara for the idea for the comparison in Message 2 of the Shark Attack Hysteria Clinic. + + Edible Fabrics: William McDonough, 2003 Conradin Von Gugelberg Memorial Lecture on the Environment, Stanford University, February 11, 2003; www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/2003_vongugelberg.shtml. See also Andrew Curry, “Green Machine,” U.S. News & World Report, August 5, 2002, 36. + + “The Emotional Tank”: “Emotional Tank” is from Jim Thompson, The Double-Goal Coach: Positive Coaching Tools for Honoring the Game and Developing Winners in Sports and Life (New York: HarperCollins, 2003). The exercise is described on page 63. This book is a must-read for anyone who coaches kids’ sports. + + But in the United States: The statistics in the Our Intuition Is Flawed Clinic about various causes of death are from the 2001 Statistical Abstract of the United States. + + A few weeks before the NBA: The NBA rookie orientation is described in a great article by Michelle Kaufman, “Making a Play for Players,” Miami Herald, October 5, 2003. + + At the NFL’s orientation: See Grant Wahl and L. Jon Wertheim, “Paternity Ward,” Sports Illustrated, May 4, 1998, 62. + + 5. Emotional + + In 2004, some researchers at Carnegie Mellon: Deborah A. Small, George Loewenstein, and Paul Slovic, “Can Insight Breed Callousness? The Impact of Learning About the Identifiable Victim Effect on Sympathy,” working paper, University of Pennsylvania, 2005. + + This chapter tackles the emotional component: This chapter focuses on the power of emotions to make people care, but research suggests that emotional ideas are also more memorable. Emotions increase memory for an event’s “gist or center.” Memory researchers talk about “weapon focus”—people who have been robbed or who have witnessed crimes often remember the perpetrator’s gun or knife with great clarity but remember little else (Reisberg and Heuer, below). People remember the central emotional theme of an event and other things that are closely related in space or causal structure. Thus, highlighting the emotional content of an idea may be one way to focus people on a core message. See Daniel Reisberg and Friderike Heuer, “Memory for Emotional Events” in Memory and Emotion, ed. Daniel Reisberg and Paula Hertel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). + + Mark Sadoski and colleagues have found that emotional aspects of texts are rated as more important (Sadoski, Goetz, and Kangiser, 1988) and are recalled much better (Sadoski and Quest, 1990). Interestingly, the latter article is among several research studies that have found that things are more emotional when they are easy to visualize. Making things concrete not only helps make them understandable, it makes them emotional and helps people care. Mark Sadoski and Z. Quest, “Reader Recall and Long-term Recall for Journalistic Text: The Roles of Imagery, Affect, and Importance,” Reading Research Quarterly 25 (1990), 256–72. Mark Sadoski, Ernest T. Goetz, and Suzanne Kangiser, “Imagination in Story Response: Relationships Between Imagery, Affect, and Structural Importance,” Reading Research Quarterly 23(1988), 320–36. + + We felt that [the Truth ads]”: “Smoke Signals,” LA Weekly, November 24–30, 2000 (also found at www.laweekly.com/ink/01/01/offbeat.php). + + American Journal of Public Health: The comparison of the “Truth” and “Think. Don’t Smoke” campaigns is in Matthew C. Farrelly, et al, “Getting to the Truth: Evaluating National Tobacco Countermarketing Campaigns,” American Journal of Public Health 92 (2002), 901–7. + + associating themselves with emotions: This principle has been well-known since Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for teaching dogs to salivate in response to a bell. A fun discussion of the power of association is found in the chapter on “Liking” in Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New York: Quill, 1993). Cialdini opens with the dilemma of the weatherman in a rainy city who regularly receives hate mail because viewers associate him with the news he delivers; he also discusses research on the “luncheon technique” that showed people were more likely to endorse political statements that they first heard while eating lunch. Cialdini’s book is the classic study on influence and one of the best books in the social sciences. + + “Rashomon can be seen as”: C. Vognar, “Japanese Film Legend Kurosawa Dies at 88,” Dallas Morning News, September 7, 1998, 1A. + + In 1929, Einstein protested: Einstein’s comments about the way people used the term relativity is from David Bodanis, E = mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation (New York: Walker & Company, 2000). Quotes are on pages 84 and 261. + + Research conducted at Stanford and Yale: Chip Heath and Roger Gould, “Semantic Stretch in the Marketplace of Ideas,” working paper, Stanford University, 2005. In this paper, Chip and Roger also showed that extreme synonyms for the word good (e.g., fantastic or amazing) are increasing in use faster than synonyms that are less extreme (okay or pretty good), and that extreme synonyms for bad (awful versus bad) show the same pattern. Either semantic stretch is happening or the world is becoming simultaneously much better and much worse. + + Sportsmanship was once a powerful idea: Jim Thompson, The Double-Goal Coach: Positive Coaching Tools for Honoring the Game and Developing Winners in Sports and Life (New York: HarperCollins, 2003). Chapter 4 talks about the problems with sportsmanship and the idea of Honoring the Game. + + In 1925, John Caples: The classic book on mail-order advertising is John Caples, Tested Advertising Methods, 5th ed., revised by Fred E. Hahn (Paramus, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1997). Mail-order ads are frequently schlocky, but, as we say in the text, they’re one of the few places where advertisers get immediate, measurable feedback about what is and isn’t working. That means that there’s often a lot of wisdom to be gained in understanding why they look the way they do—someone has tested every attribute. + + Jerry Weissman, a former TV producer: Jerry Weissman, Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story (New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2003). The quote is on page 18. + + “Don’t say, ‘People will enjoy’”: Caples/Hahn, Tested Advertising, 133. + + Cable TV in Tempe: W. Larry Gregory, Robert B. Cialdini, and Kathleen M. Carpenter, “Self-Relevant Scenarios as Mediators of Likelihood Estimates and Compliance: Does Imagining Make It So?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 43 (1982): 89–99. + + In 1954, a psychologist named Abraham Maslow: Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality (New York: Harper, 1954). + + Subsequent research suggests that the hierarchical: See any introductory book in psychology. Every textbook author prints a picture of Maslow’s hierarchy because it’s a great graphic, then confesses that the hierarchical aspect of his theory didn’t quite work. + + Imagine that a company offers: The bonus and new job-framing studies are from Chip Heath, “On the Social Psychology of Agency Relationships: Lay Theories of Motivation Overemphasize Extrinsic Rewards,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 78 (1999): 25–62. + + Dining in Iraq: The Floyd Lee story is from a marvelous article by Julian E. Barnes, “A Culinary Oasis,” U.S. News & World Report, December 6, 2004, 28. + + The Popcorn Popper and Political Science: The popcorn popper story is from Caples/Hahn, Tested Advertising, 71. + + When faced with affirmative action: Donald Kinder, “Opinion and Action in the Realm of Politics,” in Handbook of Social Psychology, ed. Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske, and Gardner Lindzey, 4th ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1988), 778–867. The extended quote is from page 801. + + A related idea comes from James March: James March describes the two patterns of making decisions—consequence versus identity—in Chapters 1 and 2 of James G. March, A Primer on Decision Making (New York: Free Press, 1994). Economic analysis, in particular, assumes that all decisions are made on the basis of consequences, so it makes incorrect predictions in a number of arenas where identity is important; most economists would be surprised that the “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign would work without imposing fines for littering. + + In a 1993 conference on “Algebra”: Message 1 in the Idea Clinic is from Joseph G. Rosenstein, Janet H. Caldwell, and Warren G. Crown, New Jersey Mathematics Curriculum Framework (New Jersey: New Jersey Department of Education, 1996). + + MESSAGE 3: Dean Sherman’s response and an extended discussion of this question among algebra teachers can be found at http://mathforum.org/t2t/ thread.taco?thread=1739. + + Dan Syrek is the nation’s leading: Seth Kantor, “Don’t Mess With Texas Campaign Scores Direct Hit with Ruffian Litterers,” Austin American-Statesman, August 4, 1989, A1. + + “We call him Bubba”: Allyn Stone, “The Anti-Litter Campaign in Texas Worked Just Fine,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 28, 1988, A4. + + Too-Tall Jones steps toward: The Dallas Cowboys spot is described in Robert Reinhold, “Texas Is Taking a Swat at Litterbugs,” New York Times, December 14, 1986. + + The Department of Transportation originally: Marj Charlier, “Like Much in Life, Roadside Refuse Is Seasonally Adjusted,” The Wall Street Journal, August 3, 1989. + + 6. Stories + + The nurse was working: The story about the blue-black baby is found in Gary Klein, Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998), 178–79. + + stories make people act: As in previous chapters, this chapter highlights one virtue of stories—encouraging action—but we could have discussed others. Stories also help people understand and remember. It’s hard to tell an abstract story, so stories inherit all the virtues of the Concrete, but they also serve as Simple (core and compact) ways of integrating lots of information. Research on jury decision-making shows that jurors rely heavily on stories to decide on their verdicts. Jurors confront masses of facts, presented in a scrambled sequence with substantial gaps in the record, filtered through the obvious personal biases of witnesses. How do they deal with this complexity? It turns out they spontaneously construct a story (or stories) to account for this welter of information, then match their personal story with the stories told by the prosecution and the defense and choose whichever side tells a story that best matches their own. In one study in this area, Nancy Pennington and Reid Hastie showed that verdicts shifted depending on how easily jurors were able to construct a story, even when identical information was presented. When the defense presented evidence in the order of an unfolding story but the prosecution presented evidence out of story order, only 31 percent of jurors voted to convict the defendant. When exactly the same information was presented but the defense presented witnesses out of order and the prosecution presented witnesses in story order, 78 percent of the jurors voted to convict. Jurors felt most confident in their decision when both sides presented in story order; people like to understand both stories, to see the evidence clearly in their mind, and then decide. See Nancy Pennington and Reid Hastie, “Explanation-based Decision Making: Effects of Memory Structure on Judgment,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition 14 (1988): 521–33. + + Stories also improve credibility. Researchers Melanie Green and Timothy Brock point out that attitudes formed by direct experience are more powerful, and stories give us the feeling of real experience. They show that people are more likely to be persuaded by a story when they are “transported” by it—when they feel more wrapped up in their mental simulation. See Melanie C. Green and Timothy C. Brock, “The Role of Transportation in the Persuasiveness of Public Narratives,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79(2000): 701–21. + + The new XER board configuration: Julian E. Orr, Talking About Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996). The dicorotron story is on page 137. + + “John put on his sweatshirt”: This study is among dozens of studies that support the importance of mental simulation. For a review, see Rolf A. Zwaan and Gabriel A. Radvansky, “Situation Models in Language Comprehension and Memory,” Psychological Bulletin 123 (1998): 162–85. Not only do people mentally simulate space, they also simulate time. In a story about people entering a movie theater, respondents are more likely to recognize a reference to “the projectionist” if only ten minutes have elapsed in the story than if six hours have elapsed, even if both references are just a few sentences away on the page from the line about the movie theater. + + no such thing as a passive audience: The best overview of the “active reader” research is provided by Richard Gerrig, a researcher in the field. See Experiencing Narrative Worlds: On the Psychological Activities of Reading (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1988). Gerrig says that Samuel Coleridge was wrong to describe our ability to appreciate stories as the “suspension of disbelief,” because his quote implies that the default state of humans is skeptical disbelief. In fact, the real state is the opposite. It’s easy to get wrapped up in a story; it’s hard to evaluate arguments skeptically, disbelieving them until they are proven. One of our favorite illustrations of the power of simulation is Gerrig’s research on stories with well-known endings. When people are in the middle of a story, they often get so wrapped up in the simulation that they momentarily act as though they’d forgotten an obvious ending. Watch out for that iceberg, Titanic! + + Why does mental simulation work?: The tapping, Eiffel Tower, lemon juice, and other examples are from Mark R. Dadds, Dana H. Bovbejerg, William H. Redd, and Tim R. H. Cutmore, “Imagery in Human Classical Conditioning,” Psychological Bulletin 122 (1997): 89–103. + + A review of thirty-five studies: James E. Driskell, Carolyn Copper, and Aidan Moran, “Does Mental Practice Enhance Performance?” Journal of Applied Psychology 79 (1994): 481–92. + + Dealing with Problem Students: Message 1 is from a tip sheet, “Tips for Dealing with Student Problem Behaviors,” from the Office for Professional Development, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. See www.opd.iupui.edu/uploads/library/IDD/IDD6355.doc. Message 2, by Alison Buckman, was originally posted to http://research.umbc.edu/~korenman/ wmst/disruptive_students2.htm. + + When Fogle registered: Ryan Coleman, “Indiana U. Senior Gains New Perspective on Life,” Indiana Daily Student, April 29, 1999. + + In 1999, Subway’s sales: Performance statistics for Subway, Schlotzky’s, and Quiznos are from Bob Sperber, “In Search of Fresh Ideas,” Brandweek, October 15, 2001, M54. + + Blumkin is a Russian woman: Rose Blumkin is described by Warren Buffett in his 1983 shareholder letter (see www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1983.htm). + + These three basic plots: These results are from Chip’s research at Stanford. After studying urban legends for a while—stories that frequently specialize in creating negative emotions such as fear, anger, or disgust—he asked whether there were stories that circulated because they produced positive emotions. The Chicken Soup for the Soul stories were the obvious place to start. The research on the frequencies of the three plots was done by giving raters the classification system but no other information about the hypotheses of the research. Even though raters worked independently, pairs of raters who saw the same stories showed strong agreement on classifications. + + Another Stanford study suggests that these three plots are a good way to ensure that your stories are more inspiring. Students were given the assignment of finding a true story that would inspire their classmates, either from their own lives or from some public source. Later, their fellow students rated the stories on their ability to inspire—to make them feel proud, excited, and determined. Stories that featured one of the three plots were much more likely to wind up in the top half of the stories. Of the stories that wound up in the top 10 percent, all had one or more of the three plots. + + Another study showed that each plot drives a specific form of activity. People read through a selection of stories, one per day, and recorded how they felt after reading each story. Challenge plots made people want to set higher goals, to take on new challenges, to work harder and persist longer. Connection plots made people want to work with others, to reach out and help them, and to be more tolerant. Creativity plots made people want to do something different, to be creative, to experiment with new approaches. Thus, the right stories not only tell us how to act, they operate as a kind of psychological battery pack, giving us the energy to take action. Notably, none of these stories was more likely to drive “feel good” activity. People weren’t more likely to was to do something to enjoy themselves—to listen to good music, watch television, or eat a good meal; instead, they wanted to go out and accomplish something. Thus these stories drive productive action, not passive self-involvement. + + In response, Jesus told a story: The Good Samaritan story is from the New International Version of the Bible, Luke 10:25–37. + + Ingersoll-Rand: The story of the Grinder Team is told in Chapter 6 of Tom Peters, Liberation Management (New York: Knopf, 1992). + + Stories at the World Bank: This section is based on two excellent books by Stephen Denning. His first book, about the role of storytelling in organizations, is The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations (Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001). There are dozens of books available that talk about the role of storytelling in organizations and organizational culture; The Springboard is the best book on the subject, and among the best business books of any kind. A follow-up book that describes a number of story plots other than springboard stories is The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2005), The “corporate Siberia” quote is from a talk by Stephen Denning at IDEO, June 9, 2005. + + “This is a very strange conversation”: Denning, The Leader’s Guide, 63. + + “Why not spell out the message”: Denning, The Springboard, 80. + + “little voice inside the head”: Denning, The Leader’s Guide, 62. + + Klein tells another story: The story of the failed conference summaries is from Klein, Sources of Power, 195–96. + + Epilogue: What Sticks + + As recounted by Ralph Keyes: Ralph Keyes, Nice Guys Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings and Familiar Misquotations (New York: HarperCollins, 1992). This book is filled with interesting examples of how proverbs evolve and change as they spread in society. + + + + + + To Dad, for driving an old tan Chevette + +while putting us through college. + + + + To Mom, for making us breakfast + +every day for eighteen years. Each. + + + + + + Several people gave feedback on our initial proposal, which needed a lot of work. We thank the following people for helping us create a document that was compelling enough to pass the first essential test: Doug Crandall, James Dailey, Ben Ellis, John Lin, Tom Prehn, Chloe Sladden, and Craig Yee. + + When we finished the first half of the book, we were very excited and anxious to get some feedback. So we sent it to a bunch of friends and colleagues, who humored us and sent along written feedback. They also saved you, the reader, from lots of unconvincing and uninteresting anecdotes, like the one about the Charm Bracelet Punch-line, so you owe them some gratitude as well. Here is the roll call of good people: Daryl Anderson, E. Joseph Arias, Deena Bahri, Amy Bryant, Mark and Chelsea Dinsmore, Julie Balovich, Danny Fitelson, Alfred Edmond, Michael Erisman, Chris Ertel, Erika Faust, Craig Fox, Emmet Gaffney, Lisa Gansky, Liz Gerber, Julio Gonzalez, Eric Guenther, Steven Guerrero, Susanna Hamner and Byron Penstock, Tod and Susan Hays, Fred and Brenda Heath, Ian Hill, Joe Lassiter, Alex Kazaks, Brian Kelly, Paul Marshall, George Miller, Shara Morales, Michael Morris, Derek Newton, Justin Osofsky, Jeff Pfeffer, Bill Sahlman, Andrew and Katie Solomon, Melissa Studzinski, Mark Schlueter, Paul Schumann, Steven Slon, Amy and Walter Surdacki, Bob Sutton, Mike Sweeney, Anthony Trendl, Ed Uyeshima, Steve and Trae Vassallo, Rachel Ward, Keith Yamashita. Thank you all—you gave us the feedback we needed when it was most useful. + + Here is a hodgepodge of thank yous for people who helped us in distinctive ways. Thank you to Noah Weiss, who spent hours combing obscure sources for interesting examples in the early stages, and to Maggie Cong-Huyen, who picked up where he left off. Special thanks to Jeff Saunders for pointing out Commander’s Intent. Thanks to Chip’s students in several years of OB 368 classes, who helped refine and test this framework. Thanks to Chip’s collaborators who helped work out many of these ideas: Adrian Bangerter, Chris Bell, Jonah Berger, Sanford Devoe, Nate Fast, Alison Fragale, Emily Sternberg, Scott Wiltermuth. Thanks to the following people who read the book and helped collect examples for the international editions: Eugine Chong, Hide Doi, Atsuko Jenks, Hyun Kim, Motoki Korenaga, Andreas Kornstaedt, and Noriko Masuda. + + Now for the paragraph of people whose work inspired us. You didn’t have anything to do with this book, and yet you had a lot to do with this book. A fan letter to: Edward Tufte, Don Norman, Malcolm Gladwell, James Carville, Stephen Denning, Robert McKee, Andy Goodman, Jim Thompson, Steven Tomlinson, Edward Burger, George Wolfe, David Placek, Keith Yamashita, Jacob Goldenberg, George Loewenstein, Robert Cialdini, Mark Schaller, David Rubin, Jan Brunvand, and many others that we’re going to kick ourselves for not including by press time. + + To our agents Don Lamm and Christy Fletcher, we are deeply grateful to you for making this experience possible. And thank you to Mark Fortier, for spreading the word about the book. + + It is obligatory to thank your publisher. According to what we’ve heard from other authors, you usually have to say thanks through gritted teeth. This is our first book, and in the process of getting it to market, we were supposed to accumulate a lot of publishing horror stories. We were supposed to feel underappreciated and undersupported. Random House has been an utter failure on this front. The people at Random House have been such a joy to work with, so unexpectedly and unnecessarily nice, that it’s hard to know where to begin. Thanks to: Debbie Aroff, Avideh Bashirrad, Rachel Bernstein, Nicole Bond, Evan Camfield, Gina Centrello, Kristin Fassler, Jennifer Hershey, Stephanie Huntwork, Jennifer Huwer, London King, Sally Marvin, Dan Menaker, Jack Perry, Tom Perry, Kelle Ruden, Robbin Schiff, and Carol Schneider. And Sanyu Dillon, my goodness, how can we adequately express our appreciation for all that you’ve done? Unbelievable. + + And a huge, engraved, foil-embossed, calligraphied thank you to our amazing editor, Ben Loehnen. Our parents will read this book once, if we’re lucky. (An aside: Our dad has a Quantity Theory of Literature, which says that it’s not worth reading a book with fewer than four hundred pages. We’re relying purely on connections to get a read out of him.) Meanwhile, Ben has read this thing probably a dozen times without ever breaking down, at least in front of us. Ben, you are endlessly patient, thoughtful, insightful, and supportive. Okay, this is starting to sound like we’re signing your yearbook. (Stay cool!) But, really, we know we gave you a lot to stomach at times. Like our duct tape campaign. + + Now to our family, who put up with us. We owe you this heartfelt thank you, which really has nothing to do with this book and everything to do with your support of us in all that we do. This section just gives us a great opportunity to put it in black and white. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving us co-authors. Thanks, Susan. Thanks, Emory. Thanks, sister Susan. Thanks, Tod, Hunter, and Darby. + + We hope you enjoy the book. We had fun writing it. + + + + + +OTHER TITLES BY CHIP AND DAN HEATH + + Switch + + Decisive + + The Power of Moments + + + + + +ABOUT THE AUTHORS + + CHIP HEATH is a professor of organizational behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He lives in Los Gatos, California. + + DAN HEATH is a consultant to the Policy Programs at the Aspen Institute. A former researcher at Harvard Business School, he is a co-founder of Thinkwell, an innovative new-media textbook company. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. + + + + + + Read an excerpt from Chip and Dan Heath’s + + + + + + SWITCH + + + + + + 1 + +Three Surprises About Change + + 1. + + One Saturday in 2000, some unsuspecting moviegoers showed up at a suburban theater in Chicago to catch a 1:05 p.m. matinee of Mel Gibson’s action flick Payback. They were handed a soft drink and a free bucket of popcorn and were asked to stick around after the movie to answer a few questions about the concession stand. These movie fans were unwitting participants in a study of irrational eating behavior. + + There was something unusual about the popcorn they received. It was wretched. In fact, it had been carefully engineered to be wretched. It had been popped five days earlier and was so stale that it squeaked when you ate it. One moviegoer later compared it to Styrofoam packing peanuts, and two others, forgetting that they’d received the popcorn for free, demanded their money back. + + Some of them got their free popcorn in a medium-size bucket, and others got a large bucket—the sort of huge tub that looks like it might once have been an above-ground swimming pool. Every person got a bucket so there’d be no need to share. The researchers responsible for the study were interested in a simple question: Would the people with bigger buckets eat more? + + Both buckets were so big that none of the moviegoers could finish their individual portions. So the actual research question was a bit more specific: Would somebody with a larger inexhaustible supply of popcorn eat more than someone with a smaller inexhaustible supply? + + The sneaky researchers weighed the buckets before and after the movie, so they were able to measure precisely how much popcorn each person ate. The results were stunning: People with the large buckets ate 53 percent more popcorn than people with the medium size. That’s the equivalent of 173 more calories and approximately 21 extra hand-dips into the bucket. + + Brian Wansink, the author of the study, runs the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, and he described the results in his book Mindless Eating: “We’ve run other popcorn studies, and the results were always the same, however we tweaked the details. It didn’t matter if our moviegoers were in Pennsylvania, Illinois, or Iowa, and it didn’t matter what kind of movie was showing; all of our popcorn studies led to the same conclusion. People eat more when you give them a bigger container. Period.” + + No other theory explains the behavior. These people weren’t eating for pleasure. (The popcorn was so stale it squeaked!) They weren’t driven by a desire to finish their portion. (Both buckets were too big to finish.) It didn’t matter whether they were hungry or full. The equation is unyielding: Bigger container = more eating. + + Best of all, people refused to believe the results. After the movie, the researchers told the moviegoers about the two bucket sizes and the findings of their past research. The researchers asked, Do you think you ate more because of the larger size? The majority scoffed at the idea, saying, “Things like that don’t trick me,” or, “I’m pretty good at knowing when I’m full.” + + Whoops. + + + + + + 2. + + Imagine that someone showed you the data from the popcorn-eating study but didn’t mention the bucket sizes. On your data summary, you could quickly scan the results and see how much popcorn different people ate—some people ate a little, some ate a lot, and some seemed to be testing the physical limits of the human stomach. Armed with a data set like that, you would find it easy to jump to conclusions. Some people are Reasonable Snackers, and others are Big Gluttons. + + A public-health expert, studying that data alongside you, would likely get very worried about the Gluttons. We need to motivate these people to adopt healthier snacking behaviors! Let’s find ways to show them the health hazards of eating so much! + + But wait a second. If you want people to eat less popcorn, the solution is pretty simple: Give them smaller buckets. You don’t have to worry about their knowledge or their attitudes. + + You can see how easy it would be to turn an easy change problem (shrinking people’s buckets) into a hard change problem (convincing people to think differently). And that’s the first surprise about change: What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. + + + + + + 3. + + This is a book to help you change things. We consider change at every level—individual, organizational, and societal. Maybe you want to help your brother beat his gambling addiction. Maybe you need your team at work to act more frugally because of market conditions. Maybe you wish more of your neighbors would bike to work. + + Usually these topics are treated separately—there is “change management” advice for executives and “self-help” advice for individuals and “change the world” advice for activists. That’s a shame, because all change efforts have something in common: For anything to change, someone has to start acting differently. Your brother has got to stay out of the casino; your employees have got to start booking coach fares. Ultimately, all change efforts boil down to the same mission: Can you get people to start behaving in a new way? + + We know what you’re thinking—people resist change. But it’s not quite that easy. Babies are born every day to parents who, inexplicably, welcome the change. Think about the sheer magnitude of that change! Would anyone agree to work for a boss who’d wake you up twice a night, screaming, for trivial administrative duties? (And what if, every time you wore a new piece of clothing, the boss spit up on it?) Yet people don’t resist this massive change—they volunteer for it. + + In our lives, we embrace lots of big changes—not only babies, but marriages and new homes and new technologies and new job duties. Meanwhile, other behaviors are maddeningly intractable. Smokers keep smoking and kids grow fatter and your husband can’t ever seem to get his dirty shirts into a hamper. + + So there are hard changes and easy changes. What distinguishes one from the other? In this book, we argue that successful changes share a common pattern. They require the leader of the change to do three things at once. We’ve already mentioned one of those three things: To change someone’s behavior, you’ve got to change that person’s situation. + + The situation isn’t the whole game, of course. You can send an alcoholic to rehab, where the new environment will help him go dry. But what happens when he leaves and loses that influence? You might see a boost in productivity from your sales reps when the sales manager shadows them, but what happens afterward when the situation returns to normal? For individuals’ behavior to change, you’ve got to influence not only their environment but their hearts and minds. + + The problem is this: Often the heart and mind disagree. Fervently. + + + + + + 4. + + Consider the Clocky, an alarm clock invented by an MIT student, Gauri Nanda. It’s no ordinary alarm clock—it has wheels. You set it at night, and in the morning when the alarm goes off, it rolls off your nightstand and scurries around the room, forcing you to chase it down. Picture the scene: You’re crawling around the bedroom in your underwear, stalking and cursing a runaway clock. + + Clocky ensures that you won’t snooze-button your way to disaster. And apparently that’s a common fear, since about 35,000 units were purchased, at $50 each, in Clocky’s first two years on the market (despite minimal marketing). + + The success of this invention reveals a lot about human psychology. What it shows, fundamentally, is that we are schizophrenic. Part of us—our rational side—wants to get up at 5:45 a.m., allowing ourselves plenty of time for a quick jog before we leave for the office. The other part of us—the emotional side— wakes up in the darkness of the early morning, snoozing inside a warm cocoon of sheets and blankets, and wants nothing in the world so much as a few more minutes of sleep. If, like us, your emotional side tends to win these internal debates, then you might be a potential Clocky customer. The beauty of the device is that it allows your rational side to outsmart your emotional side. It’s simply impossible to stay cuddled up under the covers when a rogue alarm clock is rolling around your room. + + Let’s be blunt here: Clocky is not a product for a sane species. If Spock wants to get up at 5:45 a.m., he’ll just get up. No drama required. + + Our built-in schizophrenia is a deeply weird thing, but we don’t think much about it because we’re so used to it. When we kick off a new diet, we toss the Cheetos and Oreos out of the pantry, because our rational side knows that when our emotional side gets a craving, there’s no hope of self-control. The only option is to remove the temptation altogether. (For the record, some MIT student will make a fortune designing Cheetos that scurry away from people when they’re on a diet.) + + The unavoidable conclusion is this: Your brain isn’t of one mind. + + The conventional wisdom in psychology, in fact, is that the brain has two independent systems at work at all times. First, there’s what we called the emotional side. It’s the part of you that is instinctive, that feels pain and pleasure. Second, there’s the rational side, also known as the reflective or conscious system. It’s the part of you that deliberates and analyzes and looks into the future. + + In the past few decades, psychologists have learned a lot about these two systems, but of course mankind has always been aware of the tension. Plato said that in our heads we have a rational charioteer who has to rein in an unruly horse that “barely yields to horsewhip and goad combined.” Freud wrote about the selfish id and the conscientious superego (and also about the ego, which mediates between them). More recently, behavioral economists dubbed the two systems the Planner and the Doer. + + But, to us, the duo’s tension is captured best by an analogy used by University of Virginia psychologist Jonathan Haidt in his wonderful book The Happiness Hypothesis. Haidt says that our emotional side is an Elephant and our rational side is its Rider. Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the Rider’s control is precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant. Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. He’s completely overmatched. + + Most of us are all too familiar with situations in which our Elephant overpowers our Rider. You’ve experienced this if you’ve ever slept in, overeaten, dialed up your ex at midnight, procrastinated, tried to quit smoking and failed, skipped the gym, gotten angry and said something you regretted, abandoned your Spanish or piano lessons, refused to speak up in a meeting because you were scared, and so on. Good thing no one is keeping score. + + The weakness of the Elephant, our emotional and instinctive side, is clear: It’s lazy and skittish, often looking for the quick payoff (ice cream cone) over the long-term payoff (being thin). When change efforts fail, it’s usually the Elephant’s fault, since the kinds of change we want typically involve short-term sacrifices for long-term payoffs. (We cut back on expenses today to yield a better balance sheet next year. We avoid ice cream today for a better body next year.) Changes often fail because the Rider simply can’t keep the Elephant on the road long enough to reach the destination. + + The Elephant’s hunger for instant gratification is the opposite of the Rider’s strength, which is the ability to think long-term, to plan, to think beyond the moment (all those things that your pet can’t do). + + But what may surprise you is that the Elephant also has enormous strengths and that the Rider has crippling weaknesses. The Elephant isn’t always the bad guy. Emotion is the Elephant’s turf—love and compassion and sympathy and loyalty. That fierce instinct you have to protect your kids against harm—that’s the Elephant. That spine-stiffening you feel when you need to stand up for yourself—that’s the Elephant. + + And even more important if you’re contemplating a change, the Elephant is the one who gets things done. To make progress toward a goal, whether it’s noble or crass, requires the energy and drive of the Elephant. And this strength is the mirror image of the Rider’s great weakness: spinning his wheels. The Rider tends to overanalyze and overthink things. Chances are, you know people with Rider problems: your friend who can agonize for twenty minutes about what to eat for dinner; your colleague who can brainstorm about new ideas for hours but can’t ever seem to make a decision. + + If you want to change things, you’ve got to appeal to both. The Rider provides the planning and direction, and the Elephant provides the energy. So if you reach the Riders of your team but not the Elephants, team members will have understanding without motivation. If you reach their Elephants but not their Riders, they’ll have passion without direction. In both cases, the flaws can be paralyzing. A reluctant Elephant and a wheel-spinning Rider can both ensure that nothing changes. But when Elephants and Riders move together, change can come easily. + + + + + + 5. + + When Rider and Elephant disagree about which way to move, you’ve got a problem. The Rider can get his way temporarily—he can tug on the reins hard enough to get the Elephant to submit. (Anytime you use willpower you’re doing exactly that.) But the Rider can’t win a tug-of-war with a huge animal for long. He simply gets exhausted. + + To see this point more clearly, consider the behavior of some college students who participated in a study about “food perception” (or so they were told). They reported to the lab a bit hungry; they’d been asked not to eat for at least three hours beforehand. They were led to a room that smelled amazing— the researchers had just baked chocolate-chip cookies. On a table in the center of the room were two bowls. One held a sampling of chocolates, along with the warm, fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies they’d smelled. The other bowl held a bunch of radishes. + + The researchers had prepped a cover story: We’ve selected chocolates and radishes because they have highly distinctive tastes. Tomorrow, we’ll contact you and ask about your memory of the taste sensations you experienced while eating them. + + Half the participants were asked to eat two or three cookies and some chocolate candies, but no radishes. The other half were asked to eat at least two or three radishes, but no cookies. While they ate, the researchers left the room, intending, rather sadistically, to induce temptation: They wanted those poor radish-eaters to sit there, alone, nibbling on rabbit food, glancing enviously at the fresh-baked cookies. (It probably goes without saying that the cookie-eaters experienced no great struggle in resisting the radishes.) Despite the temptation, all participants ate what they were asked to eat, and none of the radish-eaters snuck a cookie. That’s willpower at work. + + At that point, the “taste study” was officially over, and another group of researchers entered with a second, supposedly unrelated study: We’re trying to find who’s better at solving problems, college students or high school students. This framing was intended to get the college students to puff out their chests and take the forthcoming task seriously. + + The college students were presented with a series of puzzles that required them to trace a complicated geometric shape without retracing any lines and without lifting their pencils from the paper. They were given multiple sheets of paper so they could try over and over. In reality, the puzzles were designed to be unsolvable. The researchers wanted to see how long the college students would persist in a difficult, frustrating task before they finally gave up. + + The “untempted” students, who had not had to resist eating the chocolate-chip cookies, spent nineteen minutes on the task, making thirty-four well-intentioned attempts to solve the problem. + + The radish-eaters were less persistent. They gave up after only eight minutes—less than half the time spent by the cookie-eaters—and they managed only nineteen solution attempts. Why did they quit so easily? + + The answer may surprise you: They ran out of self-control. In studies like this one, psychologists have discovered that self-control is an exhaustible resource. It’s like doing bench presses at the gym. The first one is easy, when your muscles are fresh. But with each additional repetition, your muscles get more exhausted, until you can’t lift the bar again. The radish-eaters had drained their self-control by resisting the cookies. So when their Elephants, inevitably, started complaining about the puzzle task—it’s too hard, it’s no fun, we’re no good at this—their Riders didn’t have enough strength to yank on the reins for more than eight minutes. Meanwhile, the cookie-eaters had a fresh, untaxed Rider, who fought off the Elephant for nineteen minutes. + + Self-control is an exhaustible resource. This is a crucial realization, because when we talk about “self-control,” we don’t mean the narrow sense of the word, as in the willpower needed to fight vice (smokes, cookies, alcohol). We’re talking about a broader kind of self-supervision. Think of the way your mind works when you’re giving negative feedback to an employee, or assembling a new bookshelf, or learning a new dance. You are careful and deliberate with your words or movements. It feels like there’s a supervisor on duty. That’s self-control, too. + + Contrast that with all the situations in which your behavior doesn’t feel “supervised”—for instance, the sensation while you’re driving that you can’t remember the last few miles of road, or the easy, unthinking way you take a shower or make your morning coffee. Much of our daily behavior, in fact, is more automatic than supervised, and that’s a good thing because the supervised behavior is the hard stuff. It’s draining. + + Dozens of studies have demonstrated the exhausting nature of self-supervision. For instance, people who were asked to make tricky choices and trade-offs—such as setting up a wedding registry or ordering a new computer—were worse at focusing and solving problems than others who hadn’t made the tough choices. In one study, some people were asked to restrain their emotions while watching a sad movie about sick animals. Afterward, they exhibited less physical endurance than others who’d let the tears flow freely. The research shows that we burn up self-control in a wide variety of situations: managing the impression we’re making on others; coping with fears; controlling our spending; trying to focus on simple instructions such as “Don’t think of a white bear”; and many, many others. + + Here’s why this matters for change: When people try to change things, they’re usually tinkering with behaviors that have become automatic, and changing those behaviors requires careful supervision by the Rider. The bigger the change you’re suggesting, the more it will sap people’s self-control. + + And when people exhaust their self-control, what they’re exhausting are the mental muscles needed to think creatively, to focus, to inhibit their impulses, and to persist in the face of frustration or failure. In other words, they’re exhausting precisely the mental muscles needed to make a big change. + + So when you hear people say that change is hard because people are lazy or resistant, that’s just flat wrong. In fact, the opposite is true: Change is hard because people wear themselves out. And that’s the second surprise about change: What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. + + + + + + 6. + + Jon Stegner believed the company he worked for, a large manufacturer, was wasting vast sums of money. “I thought we had an opportunity to drive down purchasing costs not by 2 percent but by something on the order of $1 billion over the next five years,” said Stegner, who is quoted in John Kotter and Dan Cohen’s essential book The Heart of Change. + + To reap these savings, a big process shift would be required, and for that shift to occur, Stegner knew that he’d have to convince his bosses. He also knew that they’d never embrace such a big shift unless they believed in the opportunity, and for the most part, they didn’t. + + Seeking a compelling example of the company’s poor purchasing habits, Stegner assigned a summer student intern to investigate a single item—work gloves, which workers in most of the company’s factories wore. The student embarked on a mission to identify all the types of gloves used in all the company’s factories and then trace back what the company was paying for them. + + The intrepid intern soon reported that the factories were purchasing 424 different kinds of gloves! Furthermore, they were using different glove suppliers, and they were all negotiating their own prices. The same pair of gloves that cost $5 at one factory might cost $17 at another. + + At Stegner’s request, the student collected a specimen of every one of the 424 different types of gloves and tagged each with the price paid. Then all the gloves were gathered up, brought to the boardroom, and piled up on the conference table. Stegner invited all the division presidents to come visit the Glove Shrine. He recalled the scene: + + + What they saw was a large expensive table, normally clean or with a few papers, now stacked high with gloves. Each of our executives stared at this display for a minute. Then each said something like, “We really buy all these different kinds of gloves?” Well, as a matter of fact, yes we do. “Really?” Yes, really. Then they walked around the table. . . . They could see the prices. They looked at two gloves that seemed exactly alike, yet one was marked $3.22 and the other $10.55. It’s a rare event when these people don’t have anything to say. But that day, they just stood with their mouths gaping. + + + + The gloves exhibit soon became a traveling road show, visiting dozens of plants. The reaction was visceral: This is crazy. We’re crazy. And we’ve got to make sure this stops happening. Soon Stegner had exactly the mandate for change that he’d sought. The company changed its purchasing process and saved a great deal of money. This was exactly the happy ending everyone wanted (except, of course, for the glove salesmen who’d managed to sell the $5 gloves for $17). + + + + + + 7. + + Let’s be honest: Most of us would not have tried what Stegner did. It would have been so easy, so natural, to make a presentation that spoke only to the Rider. Think of the possibilities: the spreadsheets, the savings data, the cost-cutting protocols, the recommendations for supplier consolidation, the exquisite logic for central purchasing. You could have created a 12-tabbed Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that would have made a tax accountant weep with joy. But instead of doing any of that, Stegner dumped a bunch of gloves on a table and invited his bosses to see them. + + If there is such a thing as white-collar courage, surely this was an instance. + + Stegner knew that if things were going to change, he had to get his colleagues’ Elephants on his side. If he had made an analytical appeal, he probably would have gotten some supportive nods, and the execs might have requested a follow-up meeting six weeks later (and then rescheduled it). The analytical case was compelling—by itself, it might have convinced Stegner’s colleagues that overhauling the purchasing system would be an important thing to do . . . next year. + + Remember that if you reach your colleagues’ Riders but not their Elephants, they will have direction without motivation. Maybe their Riders will drag the Elephant down the road for a while, but as we’ve seen, that effort can’t last long. + + Once you break through to feeling, though, things change. Stegner delivered a jolt to his colleagues. First, they thought to themselves, We’re crazy! Then they thought, We can fix this. Everyone could think of a few things to try to fix the glove problem— and by extension the ordering process as a whole. That got their Elephants fired up to move. + + We don’t expect potential billion-dollar change stories to come dressed up like this. The change effort was led by a single employee, with the able help of a summer intern. It focused on a single product. The scope of the presentation didn’t correspond in any way to the scope of the proposal. Yet Stegner’s strategy worked. + + That’s the power of speaking to both the Rider and the Elephant. + + + + + + 8. + + It’s true that an unmotivated Elephant can doom a change effort, but let’s not forget that the Rider has his own issues. He’s a navel-gazer, an analyzer, a wheel-spinner. If the Rider isn’t sure exactly what direction to go, he tends to lead the Elephant in circles. And as we’ll see, that tendency explains the third and final surprise about change: What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. + + Two health researchers, Steve Booth-Butterfield and Bill Reger, professors at West Virginia University, were contemplating ways to persuade people to eat a healthier diet. From past research, they knew that people were more likely to change when the new behavior expected of them was crystal clear, but unfortunately, “eating a healthier diet” was anything but. + + Where to begin? Which foods should people stop (or start) eating? Should they change their eating behavior at breakfast, lunch, or dinner? At home or in restaurants? The number of ways to “eat healthier” is limitless, especially given the starting place of the average American diet. This is exactly the kind of situation in which the Rider will spin his wheels, analyzing and agonizing and never moving forward. + + As the two researchers brainstormed, their thoughts kept coming back to milk. Most Americans drink milk, and we all know that milk is a great source of calcium. But milk is also the single largest source of saturated fat in the typical American’s diet. In fact, calculations showed something remarkable: If Americans switched from whole milk to skim or 1% milk, the average diet would immediately attain the USDA recommended levels of saturated fat. + + How do you get Americans to start drinking low-fat milk? You make sure it shows up in their refrigerators. And that isn’t an entirely facetious answer. People will drink whatever is around the house—a family will plow through low-fat milk as fast as whole milk. So, in essence, the problem was even easier than anticipated: You don’t need to change drinking behavior. You need to change purchasing behavior. + + Suddenly the intervention became razor-sharp. What behavior do we want to change? We want consumers to buy skim or 1% milk. When? When they’re shopping for groceries. Where? Duh. What else needs to change? Nothing (for now). + + Reger and Booth-Butterfield launched a campaign in two communities in West Virginia, running spots on the local media outlets (TV, newspaper, radio) for two weeks. In contrast to the bland messages of most public-health campaigns, the 1% milk campaign was punchy and specific. One ad trumpeted the fact that one glass of whole milk has the same amount of saturated fat as five strips of bacon! At a press conference, the researchers showed local reporters a tube full of fat—the equivalent of the amount found in a half-gallon of whole milk. (Notice the Elephant appeals: They’re going for an “Oh, gross!” reaction.) + + Reger and Booth-Butterfield monitored milk sales data at all eight stores in the intervention area. Before the campaign, the market share of low-fat milk was 18 percent. After the campaign, it was 41 percent. Six months later, it held at 35 percent. + + This brings us to the final part of the pattern that characterizes successful changes: If you want people to change, you must provide crystal-clear direction. + + By now, you can understand the reason this is so important: + + + It’s so the Rider doesn’t spin his wheels. If you tell people to “act healthier,” think of how many ways they can interpret that— imagine their Riders contemplating the options endlessly. (Do I eat more grains and less meat? Or vice versa? Do I start taking vitamins? Would it be a good trade-off if I exercise more and bribe myself with ice cream? Should I switch to Diet Coke, or is the artificial sweetener worse than the calories?) + + What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. Before this study, we might have looked at these West Virginians and concluded they were the kind of people who don’t care about their health. But if they were indeed “that kind” of people, why was it so easy to shift their behavior? + + If you want people to change, you don’t ask them to “act healthier.” You say, “Next time you’re in the dairy aisle of the grocery store, reach for a jug of 1% milk instead of whole milk.” + + + + 9. + + Now you’ve had a glimpse of the basic three-part framework we will unpack in this book, one that can guide you in any situation where you need to change behavior: + + Direct the Rider. What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. So provide crystal-clear direction. (Think 1% milk.) + + + + Motivate the Elephant. What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. The Rider can’t get his way by force for very long. So it’s critical that you engage people’s emotional side—get their Elephants on the path and cooperative. (Think of the cookies and radishes study and the boardroom conference table full of gloves.) + + + + Shape the Path. What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. We call the situation (including the surrounding environment) the “Path.” When you shape the Path, you make change more likely, no matter what’s happening with the Rider and Elephant. (Think of the effect of shrinking movie popcorn buckets.) + + + + + + We created this framework to be useful for people who don’t have scads of authority or resources. Some people can get their way by fiat. CEOs, for instance, can sell off divisions, hire people, fire people, change incentive systems, merge teams, and so on. Politicians can pass laws or impose punishments to change behavior. The rest of us don’t have these tools (though, admittedly, they would make life easier: “Son, if you don’t take out the trash tonight, you’re fired”). In this book, we don’t talk a lot about these structural methods. + + As helpful as we hope this framework will be to you, we’re well aware, and you should be, too, that this framework is no panacea. For one thing, it’s incomplete. We’ve deliberately left out lots of great thinking on change in the interests of creating a framework that’s simple enough to be practical. For another, there’s a good reason why change can be difficult: The world doesn’t always want what you want. You want to change how others are acting, but they get a vote. You can cajole, influence, inspire, and motivate— but sometimes an employee would rather lose his job than move out of his comfortable routines. Sometimes the alcoholic will want another drink no matter what the consequences. + + So we don’t promise that we’re going to make change easy, but at least we can make it easier. Our goal is to teach you a framework, based on decades of scientific research, that is simple enough to remember and flexible enough to use in many different situations—family, work, community, and otherwise. + + To change behavior, you’ve got to direct the Rider, motivate the Elephant, and shape the Path. If you can do all three at once, dramatic change can happen even if you don’t have lots of power or resources behind you. For proof of that, we don’t need to look beyond Donald Berwick, a man who changed the face of health care. + + + + + + 10. + + In 2004, Donald Berwick, a doctor and the CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), had some ideas about how to save lives—massive numbers of lives. Researchers at the IHI had analyzed patient care with the kinds of analytical tools used to assess the quality of cars coming off a production line. They discovered that the “defect” rate in health care was as high as 1 in 10—meaning, for example, that 10 percent of patients did not receive their antibiotics in the specified time. This was a shockingly high defect rate—many other industries had managed to achieve performance at levels of 1 error in 1,000 cases (and often far better). Berwick knew that the high medical defect rate meant that tens of thousands of patients were dying every year, unnecessarily. + + Berwick’s insight was that hospitals could benefit from the same kinds of rigorous process improvements that had worked in other industries. Couldn’t a transplant operation be “produced” as consistently and flawlessly as a Toyota Camry? + + Berwick’s ideas were so well supported by research that they were essentially indisputable, yet little was happening. He certainly had no ability to force any changes on the industry. IHI had only seventy-five employees. But Berwick wasn’t deterred. + + On December 14, 2004, he gave a speech to a room full of hospital administrators at a large industry convention. He said, “Here is what I think we should do. I think we should save 100,000 lives. And I think we should do that by June 14, 2006—18 months from today. Some is not a number; soon is not a time. Here’s the number: 100,000. Here’s the time: June 14, 2006—9 a.m.” + + The crowd was astonished. The goal was daunting. But Berwick was quite serious about his intentions. He and his tiny team set out to do the impossible. + + IHI proposed six very specific interventions to save lives. For instance, one asked hospitals to adopt a set of proven procedures for managing patients on ventilators, to prevent them from getting pneumonia, a common cause of unnecessary death. (One of the procedures called for a patient’s head to be elevated between 30 and 45 degrees, so that oral secretions couldn’t get into the windpipe.) + + Of course, all hospital administrators agreed with the goal to save lives, but the road to that goal was filled with obstacles. For one thing, for a hospital to reduce its “defect rate,” it had to acknowledge having a defect rate. In other words, it had to admit that some patients were dying needless deaths. Hospital lawyers were not keen to put this admission on record. + + Berwick knew he had to address the hospitals’ squeamishness about admitting error. At his December 14 speech, he was joined by the mother of a girl who’d been killed by a medical error. She said, “I’m a little speechless, and I’m a little sad, because I know that if this campaign had been in place four or five years ago, that Josie would be fine. . . . But, I’m happy, I’m thrilled to be part of this, because I know you can do it, because you have to do it.” + + Another guest on stage, the chair of the North Carolina State Hospital Association, said: “An awful lot of people for a long time have had their heads in the sand on this issue, and it’s time to do the right thing. It’s as simple as that.” + + IHI made joining the campaign easy: It required only a one-page form signed by a hospital CEO. By two months after Berwick’s speech, over a thousand hospitals had enrolled. Once a hospital enrolled, the IHI team helped the hospital embrace the new interventions. Team members provided research, step-by-step instruction guides, and training. They arranged conference calls for hospital leaders to share their victories and struggles with one another. They encouraged hospitals with early successes to become “mentors” to hospitals just joining the campaign. + + The friction in the system was substantial. Adopting the IHI interventions required hospitals to overcome decades’ worth of habits and routines. Many doctors were irritated by the new procedures, which they perceived as constricting. But the adopting hospitals were seeing dramatic results, and their visible successes attracted more hospitals to join the campaign. + + Eighteen months later, at the exact moment he’d promised to return—June 14, 2006, at 9 a.m.—Berwick took the stage again to announce the results: “Hospitals enrolled in the 100,000 Lives Campaign have collectively prevented an estimated 122,300 avoidable deaths and, as importantly, have begun to institutionalize new standards of care that will continue to save lives and improve health outcomes into the future.” + + The crowd was euphoric. Don Berwick, with his 75-person team at IHI, had convinced thousands of hospitals to change their behavior, and collectively, they’d saved 122,300 lives—the equivalent of throwing a life preserver to every man, woman, and child in Ann Arbor, Michigan. + + This outcome was the fulfillment of the vision Berwick had articulated as he closed his speech eighteen months earlier, about how the world would look when hospitals achieved the 100,000 lives goal: + + + And, we will celebrate. Starting with pizza, and ending with champagne. We will celebrate the importance of what we have undertaken to do, the courage of honesty, the joy of companionship, the cleverness of a field operation, and the results we will achieve. We will celebrate ourselves, because the patients whose lives we save cannot join us, because their names can never be known. Our contribution will be what did not happen to them. And, though they are unknown, we will know that mothers and fathers are at graduations and weddings they would have missed, and that grandchildren will know grandparents they might never have known, and holidays will be taken, and work completed, and books read, and symphonies heard, and gardens tended that, without our work, would have been only beds of weeds. + + + + 11. + + Big changes can happen. + + Don Berwick and his team catalyzed a change that saved 100,000 lives, yet Berwick himself wielded no power. He couldn’t change the law. He couldn’t fire hospital leaders who didn’t agree with him. He couldn’t pay bonuses to hospitals that accepted his proposals. + + Berwick had the same tools the rest of us have. First, he directed his audience’s Riders. The destination was crystal clear: Some is not a number; soon is not a time. Here’s the number: 100,000. Here’s the time: June 14, 2006—9 a.m. But that wasn’t enough. He had to help hospitals figure out how to get there, and he couldn’t simply say, “Try harder.” (Remember “act healthier” versus “buy 1% milk.”) So he proposed six specific interventions, such as elevating the heads of patients on ventilators, that were known to save lives. By staying laser-focused on these six interventions, Berwick made sure not to exhaust the Riders of his audience with endless behavioral changes. + + Second, he motivated his audience’s Elephants. He made them feel the need for change. Many of the people in the audience already knew the facts, but knowing was not enough. (Remember, knowing wasn’t enough for executives at Jon Stegner’s company. It took a stack of gloves to get their Elephants engaged.) Berwick had to get beyond knowing, so he brought his audience face-to-face with the mother of the girl who’d been killed by a medical error: “I know that if this campaign had been in place four or five years ago, that Josie would be fine.” Berwick was also careful to motivate the people who hadn’t been in the room for his presentation. He didn’t challenge people to “overhaul medicine” or “bring TQM to health care.” He challenged them to save 100,000 lives. That speaks to anyone’s Elephant. + + Third, he shaped the Path. He made it easier for the hospitals to embrace the change. Think of the one-page enrollment form, the step-by-step instructions, the training, the support groups, the mentors. He was designing an environment that made it more likely for hospital administrators to reform. Berwick also knew that behavior was contagious. He used peer pressure to persuade hospitals to join the campaign. (Your rival hospital across town just signed on to help save 100,000 lives. Do you really want them to have the moral high ground?) He also connected people—he matched up people who were struggling to implement the changes with people who had mastered them, almost like the “mentors” found in Alcoholics Anonymous. Berwick was creating a support group for health care reform. + + In this book, you’ll learn about people like Berwick who’ve created sweeping change despite having few resources and little structural authority. You’ll learn about an entrepreneur who saved his small company by turning his skeptical employees into customer-service zealots; a student fresh out of college who saved an endangered species from extinction; a manager who plotted a way to get his colleague to stop acting like a jerk; and a therapist who reformed a group of child abusers. + + Whether the switch you seek is in your family, in your charity, in your organization, or in society at large, you’ll get there by making three things happen. You’ll direct the Rider, motivate the Elephant, and shape the Path. + + + + + + Read on for an early excerpt of Chip & Dan’s next book + + DECISIVE: + + How to Make Better Choices in Life and in Work + + + + Available Now + + + + + + Introduction + + Shannon, the head of a small consulting firm, is agonizing about whether to fire Clive, her IT director. Over the past year, Clive has consistently failed to do more than the minimum required of him. He’s not without his talents—he’s intelligent and has a knack for improvising cheap solutions to technical problems—but he rarely takes any initiative. Worse, his attitude is poor. In meetings, he is often critical of other people’s ideas, sometimes caustically so. + + Unfortunately, losing Clive would cause problems in the short-term. He understands how to maintain the company’s database of clients better than anyone else. + + What would you advise her to do? Should she fire him or not? + + +IF YOU REFLECT ON the past few seconds of your mental activity, what’s astonishing is how quickly your opinions started to form. Most of us, reflecting on the Clive situation, feel like we already know enough to start offering advice. Maybe you’d advise Shannon to fire Clive, or maybe you’d encourage her to give him another chance. But chances are you didn’t feel flummoxed. + + “A remarkable aspect of your mental life is that you are rarely stumped,” said Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in economics for his research on the way that people’s decisions depart from the strict rationality assumed by economists. In his fascinating book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, he describes the ease with which we draw conclusions: “The normal state of your mind is that you have intuitive feelings and opinions about almost everything that comes your way. You like or dislike people long before you know much about them; you trust or distrust strangers without knowing why; you feel that an enterprise is bound to succeed without analyzing it.” + + Kahneman says that we are quick to jump to conclusions because we give too much weight to the information that’s right in front of us, while failing to consider the information that’s just offstage. He called this tendency “what you see is all there is.” In keeping with Kahneman’s visual metaphor, we’ll refer to this tendency as a “spotlight” effect. (Think of the way a spotlight in a theater directs our attention; what’s inside the spotlight is crisply illuminated.) + + The Clive situation above is an example of the spotlight effect. When we’re offered information about Clive—he does only the bare minimum, he doesn’t take initiative, he has a poor attitude, and his boss might fire him—we find it very easy to take that readily available set of information and start drawing conclusions from it. + + But of course a spotlight only lights a spot. Everything outside it is obscured. So, in Clive’s situation, we don’t immediately think to ask a lot of obvious questions. For instance, rather than fire Clive, why not change his role to match up better with his strengths? (After all, he’s good at improvising cheap solutions.) Or maybe Clive could be matched with a mentor who’d help him set more ambitious goals and deliver less scathing criticism. + + Furthermore, what if we dug deeper and discovered that Clive’s colleagues adore his crusty, straight-talking ways? (Maybe he’s the IT version of Dr. House.) And what makes us think that Shannon’s take on Clive is impeccably accurate? What if she is a terrible manager? When we begin shifting the spotlight from side to side, the situation starts to look very different. We couldn’t possibly hope to make a good decision about Clive without doing this spotlight shifting. Yet developing an opinion was easy without doing it. + + And that, in essence, is the core difficulty of decision making: What’s in the spotlight will rarely be everything we need to make a good decision, but we won’t always remember to shift the light. Sometimes, in fact, we’ll forget there’s a spotlight at all, dwelling so long in the tiny circle of light that we forget there’s a broader landscape beyond it. + + +IF YOU STUDY THE kinds of decisions people make and the outcomes of those decisions, you’ll find that humanity does not have a particularly impressive track record. + + Career choices, for instance, are often abandoned or regretted. An American Bar Association survey found that 44% of lawyers would recommend that a young person not pursue a career in law. A study of 20,000 executive searches found that 40% of senior-level hires “are pushed out, fail or quit within 18 months.” More than half of teachers quit their jobs within four years. In fact, one study in Philadelphia schools found that a teacher was almost two times more likely to drop out than a student. + + Business decisions are frequently flawed. One study of corporate mergers and acquisitions—some of the highest-stakes decisions executives make—showed that 83% failed to create any value for shareholders. When another research team asked 2,207 executives to evaluate decisions in their organizations, 60% of the executives reported that bad decisions were about as frequent as good ones. + + On the personal front we’re not much better. People don’t save enough for retirement, and when they do save, they consistently erode their own stock portfolios by buying high and selling low. Young people start relationships with people who are bad for them. Middle-aged people let work interfere with their family lives. The elderly wonder why they didn’t take more time to smell the roses when they were younger. + + Why do we have such a hard time making good choices? In recent years, many fascinating books and articles have addressed this question, exploring the problems with our decision making. The biases. The irrationality. When it comes to making decisions, it’s clear that our brains are flawed instruments. But less attention has been paid to another compelling question: Given that we’re wired to act foolishly sometimes, how can we do better?* + + Sometimes we are given the advice to trust our guts when we make important decisions. Unfortunately, our guts are full of questionable advice. Consider the Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, a truly delicious dessert—and one that clocks in at 1,540 calories, which is the equivalent of three McDonald’s double cheeseburgers plus a pack of Skittles. This is something that you are supposed to eat after you are finished with your real meal. + + The Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake is exactly the kind of thing that our guts get excited about. Yet no one would mistake this guidance for wisdom. Certainly no one has ever thoughtfully plotted out a meal plan and concluded, I gotta add more cheesecake. + + Nor are our guts any better on big decisions. On October 10, 1975, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton celebrated the happy occasion of their wedding. Taylor was on her sixth marriage, Burton on his third. Samuel Johnson once described a second marriage as the “triumph of hope over experience.” But given Taylor and Burton’s track record their union represented something grander: the triumph of hope over a mountain of empirical evidence. (The marriage lasted 10 months.) + + Often our guts can’t make up their minds at all: an estimated 61,535 tattoos were reversed in the United States in 2009. A British study of more than 3,000 people found that 88% of New Year’s resolutions are broken, including 68% of resolutions merely to “enjoy life more.” Quarterback Brett Favre retired, then unretired, then retired. At press time he is playing retired. + + If we can’t trust our guts, then what can we trust? Many business-people put their faith in careful analysis. To test this faith, two researchers, Dan Lovallo, a professor at the University of Sydney, and Olivier Sibony, a director of McKinsey & Company, investigated 1,048 business decisions over five years, tracking both the ways the decisions were made and the subsequent outcomes in terms of revenues, profits, and market share. The decisions were important ones, such as whether or not to launch a new product or service, change the structure of the organization, enter a new country, or acquire another firm. + + The researchers found that in making most of the decisions, the teams had conducted rigorous analysis. They’d compiled thorough financial models and assessed how investors might react to their plans. + + Beyond the analysis, Lovallo and Sibony also asked the teams about their decision process—the softer, less analytical side of the decisions. Had the team explicitly discussed what was still uncertain about the decision? Did they include perspectives that contradicted the senior executive’s point of view? Did they elicit participation from a range of people who had different views of the decision? + + When the researchers compared whether process or analysis was more important in producing good decisions—those that increased revenues, profits, and market share—they found that “process mattered more than analysis—by a factor of six.” Often a good process led to better analysis—for instance, by ferreting out faulty logic. But the reverse was not true: “Superb analysis is useless unless the decision process gives it a fair hearing.” + + To illustrate the weakness of the decision-making process in most organizations, Sibony drew an analogy to the legal system: + + Imagine walking into a courtroom where the trial consists of a prosecutor presenting PowerPoint slides. In 20 pretty compelling charts, he demonstrates why the defendant is guilty. The judge then challenges some of the facts of the presentation, but the prosecutor has a good answer to every objection. So the judge decides, and the accused man is sentenced. That wouldn’t be due process, right? So if you would find this process shocking in a courtroom, why is it acceptable when you make an investment decision? + + Now of course, this is an oversimplification, but this process is essentially the one most companies follow to make a decision. They have a team arguing only one side of the case. The team has a choice of what points it wants to make and what way it wants to make them. And it falls to the final decision maker to be both the challenger and the ultimate judge. Building a good decision-making process is largely ensuring that these flaws don’t happen. + + + + Dan Lovallo says that when he talks about process with corporate leaders, they are skeptical. “They tend not to believe that the soft stuff matters more than the hard stuff,” he said. “They don’t spend very much time on it. Everybody thinks they know how to do this stuff.” But the ones who do pay attention reap the rewards: A better decision process substantially improves the results of the decisions, as well as the financial returns associated with them. + + The discipline exhibited by good corporate decision makers—exploring alternative points of view, recognizing uncertainty, searching for evidence that contradicts their beliefs—can help us in our families and friendships as well. A solid process isn’t just good for business; it’s good for our lives. + + Why a process? Because understanding our shortcomings is not enough to fix them. Does knowing you’re nearsighted help you see better? Or does knowing that you have a bad temper squelch it? Similarly, it’s hard to correct a bias in our mental processes just by being aware of it. + + Most of us rarely use a “process” for thinking through important decisions, like whether to fire Clive, or whether to relocate for a new job, or how to handle our frail, elderly parents. The only decision-making process in wide circulation is the pros-and-cons list. The advantage of this approach is that it’s deliberative. Rather than jump to conclusions about Clive, for example, we’d hunt for both positive and negative factors—pushing the spotlight around—until we felt ready to make a decision. + + What you may not know is that the pros-and-cons list has a proud historical pedigree. In 1772, Benjamin Franklin was asked for advice by a colleague who’d been offered an unusual job opportunity. Franklin replied in a letter that, given his lack of knowledge of the situation, he couldn’t offer advice on whether or not to take the job. But he did suggest a process the colleague could use to make his own decision. Franklin said that his approach was “to divide half a sheet of paper by a line into two columns, writing over the one Pro and over the other Con.” During the next three or four days, Franklin said, he’d add factors to the two columns as they occurred to him. Then, he said: + + When I have thus got them all together in one view, I endeavour to estimate their respective weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that seem equal, I strike them both out: If I find a reason Pro equal to some two reasons Con, I strike out the three. If I judge some two reasons Con equal to some three reasons Pro, I strike out the five; and thus proceeding I find at length where the balance lies; and if after a day or two of farther consideration nothing new that is of importance occurs on either side, I come to a determination accordingly. [Capitalization modernized.] + + + + Franklin called this technique “moral algebra.” Over 200 years after he wrote this letter, his approach is still, broadly speaking, the approach people use when they make decisions (that is, when they’re not trusting their guts). We may not follow Franklin’s advice about crossing off pros and cons of similar weight, but we embrace the gist of the process. When we’re presented with a choice, we compare the pros and cons of our options, and then we pick the one that seems the most favorable. + + The pros-and-cons approach is familiar. It is commonsensical. And it is also profoundly flawed. + + Research in psychology over the last 40 years has identified a set of biases in our thinking that doom the pros-and-cons model of decision making. If we aspire to make better choices, then we must learn how these biases work and how to fight them (with something more potent than a list of pros and cons). + + Prepare to encounter the four most pernicious villains of decision making—and a process that we can use to counteract their influence. + + +* See page 255 for a more thorough list of our recommended decision books, but to understand the problems we face in making decisions, essential reading would include Daniel Kahneman’s book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, mentioned above, and Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational. One of the handful of books that provides advice on making decisions better is Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, which was written for “choice architects” in business and government who construct decision systems such as retirement plans or organ-donation policies. It has been used to improve government policies in the United States, Great Britain, and other countries. + + + + + + What’s next on + +your reading list? + + + Discover your next + +great read! + + + + Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author. + + Sign up now. + + + + _140145427_ + + + + + diff --git a/Books/Procedure/Never Split the Difference_ Neg - Voss, Chris.txt b/Books/Procedure/Never Split the Difference_ Neg - Voss, Chris.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d89cb94 --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Procedure/Never Split the Difference_ Neg - Voss, Chris.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5968 @@ +DEDICATION + + +For my mother and father + +who showed me unconditional love + +and taught me the values of hard work and integrity + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Dedication + +CHAPTER 1 | THE NEW RULES + +How to Become the Smartest Person . . . in Any Room + +CHAPTER 2 | BE A MIRROR + +How to Quickly Establish Rapport + +CHAPTER 3 | DONT FEEL THEIR PAIN, LABEL IT + +How to Create Trust with Tactical Empathy + +CHAPTER 4 | BEWARE YESMASTER NO + +How to Generate Momentum and Make It Safe to Reveal the Real Stakes + +CHAPTER 5 | TRIGGER THE TWO WORDS THAT IMMEDIATELY TRANSFORM ANY NEGOTIATION + +How to Gain the Permission to Persuade + +CHAPTER 6 | BEND THEIR REALITY + +How to Shape What Is Fair + +CHAPTER 7 | CREATE THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL + +How to Calibrate Questions to Transform Conflict into Collaboration + +CHAPTER 8 | GUARANTEE EXECUTION + +How to Spot the Liars and Ensure Follow-Through from Everyone Else + +CHAPTER 9 | BARGAIN HARD + +How to Get Your Price + +CHAPTER 10 | FIND THE BLACK SWAN + +How to Create Breakthroughs by Revealing the Unknown Unknowns + + +Acknowledgments + +Appendix: Prepare a Negotiation One Sheet + +Notes + +Index + +About the Authors + +Credits + +Copyright + +About the Publisher + + + + + +CHAPTER 1 + + +THE NEW RULES + + +I was intimidated. + +Id spent more than two decades in the FBI, including fifteen years negotiating hostage situations from New York to the Philippines and the Middle East, and I was on top of my game. At any given time, there are ten thousand FBI agents in the Bureau, but only one lead international kidnapping negotiator. That was me. + +But Id never experienced a hostage situation so tense, so personal. + +Weve got your son, Voss. Give us one million dollars or he dies. + +Pause. Blink. Mindfully urge the heart rate back to normal. + +Sure, Id been in these types of situations before. Tons of them. Money for lives. But not like this. Not with my son on the line. Not $1 million. And not against people with fancy degrees and a lifetime of negotiating expertise. + +You see, the people across the tablemy negotiating counterpartswere Harvard Law School negotiating professors. + +Id come up to Harvard to take a short executive negotiating course, to see if I could learn something from the business worlds approach. It was supposed to be quiet and calm, a little professional development for an FBI guy trying to widen his horizons. + +But when Robert Mnookin, the director of the Harvard Negotiation Research Project, learned I was on campus, he invited me to his office for a coffee. Just to chat, he said. + +I was honored. And scared. Mnookin is an impressive guy whom Id followed for years: not only is he a Harvard law professor, hes also one of the big shots of the conflict resolution field and the author of Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight.1 + +To be honest, it felt unfair that Mnookin wanted me, a former Kansas City beat cop, to debate negotiation with him. But then it got worse. Just after Mnookin and I sat down, the door opened and another Harvard professor walked in. It was Gabriella Blum, a specialist in international negotiations, armed conflict, and counterterrorism, whod spent eight years as a negotiator for the Israeli National Security Council and the Israel Defense Forces. The tough-as-nails IDF. + +On cue, Mnookins secretary arrived and put a tape recorder on the table. Mnookin and Blum smiled at me. + +Id been tricked. + +Weve got your son, Voss. Give us one million dollars or he dies, Mnookin said, smiling. Im the kidnapper. What are you going to do? + +I experienced a flash of panic, but that was to be expected. It never changes: even after two decades negotiating for human lives you still feel fear. Even in a role-playing situation. + +I calmed myself down. Sure, I was a street cop turned FBI agent playing against real heavyweights. And I wasnt a genius. But I was in this room for a reason. Over the years I had picked up skills, tactics, and a whole approach to human interaction that had not just helped me save lives but, as I recognize now looking back, had also begun to transform my own life. My years of negotiating had infused everything from how I dealt with customer service reps to my parenting style. + +Cmon. Get me the money or I cut your sons throat right now, Mnookin said. Testy. + +I gave him a long, slow stare. Then I smiled. + +How am I supposed to do that? + +Mnookin paused. His expression had a touch of amused pity in it, like a dog when the cat its been chasing turns around and tries to chase it back. It was as if we were playing different games, with different rules. + +Mnookin regained his composure and eyed me with arched brows as if to remind me that we were still playing. + +So youre okay with me killing your son, Mr. Voss? + +Im sorry, Robert, how do I know hes even alive? I said, using an apology and his first name, seeding more warmth into the interaction in order to complicate his gambit to bulldoze me. I really am sorry, but how can I get you any money right now, much less one million dollars, if I dont even know hes alive? + +It was quite a sight to see such a brilliant man flustered by what must have seemed unsophisticated foolishness. On the contrary, though, my move was anything but foolish. I was employing what had become one of the FBIs most potent negotiating tools: the open-ended question. + +Today, after some years evolving these tactics for the private sector in my consultancy, The Black Swan Group, we call this tactic calibrated questions: queries that the other side can respond to but that have no fixed answers. It buys you time. It gives your counterpart the illusion of controlthey are the one with the answers and power after alland it does all that without giving them any idea of how constrained they are by it. + +Mnookin, predictably, started fumbling because the frame of the conversation had shifted from how Id respond to the threat of my sons murder to how the professor would deal with the logistical issues involved in getting the money. How he would solve my problems. To every threat and demand he made, I continued to ask how I was supposed to pay him and how was I supposed to know that my son was alive. + +After wed been doing that for three minutes, Gabriella Blum interjected. + +Dont let him do that to you, she said to Mnookin. + +Well, you try, he said, throwing up his hands. + +Blum dove in. She was tougher from her years in the Middle East. But she was still doing the bulldozer angle, and all she got were my same questions. + +Mnookin rejoined the session, but he got nowhere either. His face started to get red with frustration. I could tell the irritation was making it hard to think. + +Okay, okay, Bob. Thats all, I said, putting him out of his misery. + +He nodded. My son would live to see another day. + +Fine, he said. I suppose the FBI might have something to teach us. + +I had done more than just hold my own against two of Harvards distinguished leaders. I had taken on the best of the best and come out on top. + +But was it just a fluke? For more than three decades, Harvard had been the world epicenter of negotiating theory and practice. All I knew about the techniques we used at the FBI was that they worked. In the twenty years I spent at the Bureau wed designed a system that had successfully resolved almost every kidnapping we applied it to. But we didnt have grand theories. + +Our techniques were the products of experiential learning; they were developed by agents in the field, negotiating through crisis and sharing stories of what succeeded and what failed. It was an iterative process, not an intellectual one, as we refined the tools we used day after day. And it was urgent. Our tools had to work, because if they didnt someone died. + +But why did they work? That was the question that drew me to Harvard, to that office with Mnookin and Blum. I lacked confidence outside my narrow world. Most of all, I needed to articulate my knowledge and learn how to combine it with theirsand they clearly had someso I could understand, systematize, and expand it. + +Yes, our techniques clearly worked with mercenaries, drug dealers, terrorists, and brutal killers. But, I wondered, what about with normal humans? + +As Id soon discover in the storied halls of Harvard, our techniques made great sense intellectually, and they worked everywhere. + +It turned out that our approach to negotiation held the keys to unlock profitable human interactions in every domain and every interaction and every relationship in life. + +This book is how it works. + +THE SMARTEST DUMB GUY IN THE ROOM + +To answer my questions, a year later, in 2006, I talked my way into Harvard Law Schools Winter Negotiation Course. The best and brightest compete to get into this class, and it was filled with brilliant Harvard students getting law and business degrees and hotshot students from other top Boston universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts. The Olympic trials for negotiating. And I was the only outsider. + +The first day of the course, all 144 of us piled into a lecture hall for an introduction and then we split into four groups, each led by a negotiation instructor. After wed had a chat with our instructormine was named Sheila Heen, and shes a good buddy to this daywe were partnered off in pairs and sent into mock negotiations. Simple: one of us was selling a product, the other was the buyer, and each had clear limits on the price they could take. + +My counterpart was a languid redhead named Andy (a pseudonym), one of those guys who wear their intellectual superiority like they wear their khakis: with relaxed confidence. He and I went into an empty classroom overlooking one of those English-style squares on Harvards campus, and we each used the tools we had. Andy would throw out an offer and give a rationally airtight explanation for why it was a good onean inescapable logic trapand Id answer with some variation of How am I supposed to do that? + +We did this a bunch of times until we got to a final figure. When we left, I was happy. I thought Id done pretty well for a dumb guy. + +After we all regrouped in the classroom, Sheila went around the students and asked what price each group had agreed on, and then wrote the result on the board. + +Finally, it was my turn. + +Chris, how did you do with Andy? she asked. How much did you get? + +Ill never forget Sheilas expression when I told her what Andy had agreed to pay. Her whole face first went red, as if she couldnt breathe, and then out popped a little strangled gasp like a baby birds hungry cry. Finally, she started to laugh. + +Andy squirmed. + +You got literally every dime he had, she said, and in his brief he was supposed to hold a quarter of it back in reserve for future work. + +Andy sank deep in his chair. + +The next day the same thing happened with another partner. + +I mean, I absolutely destroyed the guys budget. + +It didnt make sense. A lucky one-off was one thing. But this was a pattern. With my old-school, experiential knowledge, I was killing guys who knew every cutting-edge trick you could find in a book. + +The thing was, it was the cutting-edge techniques these guys were using that felt dated and old. I felt like I was Roger Federer and I had used a time machine to go back to the 1920s to play in a tennis tournament of distinguished gentlemen who wore white pantsuits and used wood rackets and had part-time training regimens. There I was with my titanium alloy racket and dedicated personal trainer and computer-strategized serve-and-volley plays. The guys I was playing were just as smartactually, more soand we were basically playing the same game with the same rules. But I had skills they didnt. + +Youre getting famous for your special style, Chris, Sheila said, after I announced my second days results. + +I smiled like the Cheshire cat. Winning was fun. + +Chris, why dont you tell everybody your approach, Sheila said. It seems like all you do to these Harvard Law School students is say No and stare at them, and they fall apart. Is it really that easy? + +I knew what she meant: While I wasnt actually saying No, the questions I kept asking sounded like it. They seemed to insinuate that the other side was being dishonest and unfair. And that was enough to make them falter and negotiate with themselves. Answering my calibrated questions demanded deep emotional strengths and tactical psychological insights that the toolbox theyd been given did not contain. + +I shrugged. + +Im just asking questions, I said. Its a passive-aggressive approach. I just ask the same three or four open-ended questions over and over and over and over. They get worn out answering and give me everything I want. + +Andy jumped in his seat as if hed been stung by a bee. + +Damn! he said. Thats what happened. I had no idea. + +By the time Id finished my winter course at Harvard, Id actually become friends with some of my fellow students. Even with Andy. + +If my time at Harvard showed me anything, it was that we at the FBI had a lot to teach the world about negotiating. + +In my short stay I realized that without a deep understanding of human psychology, without the acceptance that we are all crazy, irrational, impulsive, emotionally driven animals, all the raw intelligence and mathematical logic in the world is little help in the fraught, shifting interplay of two people negotiating. + +Yes, perhaps we are the only animal that hagglesa monkey does not exchange a portion of his banana for anothers nutsbut no matter how we dress up our negotiations in mathematical theories, we are always an animal, always acting and reacting first and foremost from our deeply held but mostly invisible and inchoate fears, needs, perceptions, and desires. + +Thats not how these folks at Harvard learned it, though. Their theories and techniques all had to do with intellectual power, logic, authoritative acronyms like BATNA and ZOPA, rational notions of value, and a moral concept of what was fair and what was not. + +And built on top of this false edifice of rationality was, of course, process. They had a script to follow, a predetermined sequence of actions, offers, and counteroffers designed in a specific order to bring about a particular outcome. It was as if they were dealing with a robot, that if you did a, b, c, and d in a certain fixed order, you would get x. But in the real world negotiation is far too unpredictable and complex for that. You may have to do a then d, and then maybe q. + +If I could dominate the countrys brightest students with just one of the many emotionally attuned negotiating techniques I had developed and used against terrorists and kidnappers, why not apply them to business? What was the difference between bank robbers who took hostages and CEOs who used hardball tactics to drive down the price of a billion-dollar acquisition? + +After all, kidnappers are just businessmen trying to get the best price. + +OLD-SCHOOL NEGOTIATION + +Hostage takingand therefore hostage negotiatinghas existed since the dawn of recorded time. The Old Testament spins plenty of tales of Israelites and their enemies taking each others citizens hostage as spoils of war. The Romans, for their part, used to force the princes of vassal states to send their sons to Rome for their education, to ensure the continued loyalty of the princes. + +But until the Nixon administration, hostage negotiating as a process was limited to sending in troops and trying to shoot the hostages free. In law enforcement, our approach was pretty much to talk until we figured out how to take them out with a gun. Brute force. + +Then a series of hostage disasters forced us to change. + +In 1971, thirty-nine hostages were killed when the police tried to resolve the Attica prison riots in upstate New York with guns. Then at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by their Palestinian captors after a botched rescue attempt by the German police. + +But the greatest inspiration for institutional change in American law enforcement came on an airport tarmac in Jacksonville, Florida, on October 4, 1971. + +The United States was experiencing an epidemic of airline hijackings at the time; there were five in one three-day period in 1970. It was in that charged atmosphere that an unhinged man named George Giffe Jr. hijacked a chartered plane out of Nashville, Tennessee, planning to head to the Bahamas. + +By the time the incident was over, Giffe had murdered two hostageshis estranged wife and the pilotand killed himself to boot. + +But this time the blame didnt fall on the hijacker; instead, it fell squarely on the FBI. Two hostages had managed to convince Giffe to let them go on the tarmac in Jacksonville, where theyd stopped to refuel. But the agents had gotten impatient and shot out the engine. And that had pushed Giffe to the nuclear option. + +In fact, the blame placed on the FBI was so strong that when the pilots wife and Giffes daughter filed a wrongful death suit alleging FBI negligence, the courts agreed. + +In the landmark Downs v. United States decision of 1975, the U.S. Court of Appeals wrote that there was a better suited alternative to protecting the hostages well-being, and said that the FBI had turned what had been a successful waiting game, during which two persons safely left the plane, into a shooting match that left three persons dead. The court concluded that a reasonable attempt at negotiations must be made prior to a tactical intervention. + +The Downs hijacking case came to epitomize everything not to do in a crisis situation, and inspired the development of todays theories, training, and techniques for hostage negotiations. + +Soon after the Giffe tragedy, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) became the first police force in the country to put together a dedicated team of specialists to design a process and handle crisis negotiations. The FBI and others followed. + +A new era of negotiation had begun. + +HEART VS. MIND + +In the early 1980s, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the hot spot in the negotiating world, as scholars from different disciplines began interacting and exploring exciting new concepts. The big leap forward came in 1979, when the Harvard Negotiation Project was founded with a mandate to improve the theory, teaching, and practice of negotiation so that people could more effectively handle everything from peace treaties to business mergers. + +Two years later, Roger Fisher and William Urycofounders of the projectcame out with Getting to Yes,2 a groundbreaking treatise on negotiation that totally changed the way practitioners thought about the field. + +Fisher and Urys approach was basically to systematize problem solving so that negotiating parties could reach a mutually beneficial dealthe getting to Yes in the title. Their core assumption was that the emotional brainthat animalistic, unreliable, and irrational beastcould be overcome through a more rational, joint problem-solving mindset. + +Their system was easy to follow and seductive, with four basic tenets. One, separate the personthe emotionfrom the problem; two, dont get wrapped up in the other sides position (what theyre asking for) but instead focus on their interests (why theyre asking for it) so that you can find what they really want; three, work cooperatively to generate win-win options; and, four, establish mutually agreed-upon standards for evaluating those possible solutions. + +It was a brilliant, rational, and profound synthesis of the most advanced game theory and legal thinking of the day. For years after that book came out, everybodyincluding the FBI and the NYPDfocused on a problem-solving approach to bargaining interactions. It just seemed so modern and smart. + +Halfway across the United States, a pair of professors at the University of Chicago was looking at everything from economics to negotiation from a far different angle. + +They were the economist Amos Tversky and the psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Together, the two launched the field of behavioral economicsand Kahneman won a Nobel Prizeby showing that man is a very irrational beast. + +Feeling, they discovered, is a form of thinking. + +As youve seen, when business schools like Harvards began teaching negotiation in the 1980s, the process was presented as a straightforward economic analysis. It was a period when the worlds top academic economists declared that we were all rational actors. And so it went in negotiation classes: assuming the other side was acting rationally and selfishly in trying to maximize its position, the goal was to figure out how to respond in various scenarios to maximize ones own value. + +This mentality baffled Kahneman, who from years in psychology knew that, in his words, [I]t is self-evident that people are neither fully rational nor completely selfish, and that their tastes are anything but stable. + +Through decades of research with Tversky, Kahneman proved that humans all suffer from Cognitive Bias, that is, unconsciousand irrationalbrain processes that literally distort the way we see the world. Kahneman and Tversky discovered more than 150 of them. + +Theres the Framing Effect, which demonstrates that people respond differently to the same choice depending on how it is framed (people place greater value on moving from 90 percent to 100 percenthigh probability to certaintythan from 45 percent to 55 percent, even though theyre both ten percentage points). Prospect Theory explains why we take unwarranted risks in the face of uncertain losses. And the most famous is Loss Aversion, which shows how people are statistically more likely to act to avert a loss than to achieve an equal gain. + +Kahneman later codified his research in the 2011 bestseller Thinking, Fast and Slow.3 Man, he wrote, has two systems of thought: System 1, our animal mind, is fast, instinctive, and emotional; System 2 is slow, deliberative, and logical. And System 1 is far more influential. In fact, it guides and steers our rational thoughts. + +System 1s inchoate beliefs, feelings, and impressions are the main sources of the explicit beliefs and deliberate choices of System 2. Theyre the spring that feeds the river. We react emotionally (System 1) to a suggestion or question. Then that System 1 reaction informs and in effect creates the System 2 answer. + +Now think about that: under this model, if you know how to affect your counterparts System 1 thinking, his inarticulate feelings, by how you frame and deliver your questions and statements, then you can guide his System 2 rationality and therefore modify his responses. Thats what happened to Andy at Harvard: by asking, How am I supposed to do that? I influenced his System 1 emotional mind into accepting that his offer wasnt good enough; his System 2 then rationalized the situation so that it made sense to give me a better offer. + +If you believed Kahneman, conducting negotiations based on System 2 concepts without the tools to read, understand, and manipulate the System 1 emotional underpinning was like trying to make an omelet without first knowing how to crack an egg. + +THE FBI GETS EMOTIONAL + +As the new hostage negotiating team at the FBI grew and gained more experience in problem-solving skills during the 1980s and 90s, it became clear that our system was lacking a crucial ingredient. + +At the time, we were deep into Getting to Yes. And as a negotiator, consultant, and teacher with decades of experience, I still agree with many of the powerful bargaining strategies in the book. When it was published, it provided groundbreaking ideas on cooperative problem solving and originated absolutely necessary concepts like entering negotiations with a BATNA: the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. + +It was genius. + +But after the fatally disastrous sieges of Randy Weavers Ruby Ridge farm in Idaho in 1992 and David Koreshs Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993, there was no denying that most hostage negotiations were anything but rational problem-solving situations. + +I mean, have you ever tried to devise a mutually beneficial win-win solution with a guy who thinks hes the messiah? + +It was becoming glaringly obvious that Getting to Yes didnt work with kidnappers. No matter how many agents read the book with highlighters in hand, it failed to improve how we as hostage negotiators approached deal making. + +There was clearly a breakdown between the books brilliant theory and everyday law enforcement experience. Why was it that everyone had read this bestselling business book and endorsed it as one of the greatest negotiation texts ever written, and yet so few could actually follow it successfully? + +Were we morons? + +After Ruby Ridge and Waco, a lot of people were asking that question. U.S. deputy attorney general Philip B. Heymann, to be specific, wanted to know why our hostage negotiation techniques were so bad. In October 1993, he issued a report titled Lessons of Waco: Proposed Changes in Federal Law Enforcement,4 which summarized an expert panels diagnosis of federal law enforcements inability to handle complex hostage situations. + +As a result, in 1994 FBI director Louis Freeh announced the formation of the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG), a blended division that would combine the Crises Negotiation, Crises Management, Behavioral Sciences, and Hostage Rescue teams and reinvent crisis negotiation. + +The only issue was, what techniques were we going to use? + +Around this time, two of the most decorated negotiators in FBI history, my colleague Fred Lanceley and my former boss Gary Noesner, were leading a hostage negotiation class in Oakland, California, when they asked their group of thirty-five experienced law enforcement officers a simple question: How many had dealt with a classic bargaining situation where problem solving was the best technique? + +Not one hand went up. + +Then they asked the complementary question: How many students had negotiated an incident in a dynamic, intense, uncertain environment where the hostage-taker was in emotional crisis and had no clear demands? + +Every hand went up. + +It was clear: if emotionally driven incidents, not rational bargaining interactions, constituted the bulk of what most police negotiators had to deal with, then our negotiating skills had to laser-focus on the animal, emotional, and irrational. + +From that moment onward, our emphasis would have to be not on training in quid pro quo bargaining and problem solving, but on education in the psychological skills needed in crisis intervention situations. Emotions and emotional intelligence would have to be central to effective negotiation, not things to be overcome. + +What were needed were simple psychological tactics and strategies that worked in the field to calm people down, establish rapport, gain trust, elicit the verbalization of needs, and persuade the other guy of our empathy. We needed something easy to teach, easy to learn, and easy to execute. + +These were cops and agents, after all, and they werent interested in becoming academics or therapists. What they wanted was to change the behavior of the hostage-taker, whoever they were and whatever they wanted, to shift the emotional environment of the crisis just enough so that we could secure the safety of everyone involved. + +In the early years, the FBI experimented with both new and old therapeutic techniques developed by the counseling profession. These counseling skills were aimed at developing positive relationships with people by demonstrating an understanding of what theyre going through and how they feel about it. + +It all starts with the universally applicable premise that people want to be understood and accepted. Listening is the cheapest, yet most effective concession we can make to get there. By listening intensely, a negotiator demonstrates empathy and shows a sincere desire to better understand what the other side is experiencing. + +Psychotherapy research shows that when individuals feel listened to, they tend to listen to themselves more carefully and to openly evaluate and clarify their own thoughts and feelings. In addition, they tend to become less defensive and oppositional and more willing to listen to other points of view, which gets them to the calm and logical place where they can be good Getting to Yes problem solvers. + +The whole concept, which youll learn as the centerpiece of this book, is called Tactical Empathy. This is listening as a martial art, balancing the subtle behaviors of emotional intelligence and the assertive skills of influence, to gain access to the mind of another person. Contrary to popular opinion, listening is not a passive activity. It is the most active thing you can do. + +Once we started developing our new techniques, the negotiating world split into two currents: negotiation as learned at the countrys top school continued down the established road of rational problem solving, while, ironically, we meatheads at the FBI began to train our agents in an unproven system based on psychology, counseling, and crisis intervention. While the Ivy League taught math and economics, we became experts in empathy. + +And our way worked. + +LIFE IS NEGOTIATION + +While you might be curious how FBI negotiators get some of the worlds toughest bad guys to give up their hostages, you could be excused for wondering what hostage negotiation has to do with your life. Happily, very few people are ever forced to deal with Islamist terrorists whove kidnapped their loved ones. + +But allow me to let you in on a secret: Life is negotiation. + +The majority of the interactions we have at work and at home are negotiations that boil down to the expression of a simple, animalistic urge: I want. + +I want you to free the hostages, is a very relevant one to this book, of course. + +But so is: + +I want you to accept that $1 million contract. + +I want to pay $20,000 for that car. + +I want you to give me a 10 percent raise. + +and + +I want you to go to sleep at 9 p.m. + +Negotiation serves two distinct, vital life functionsinformation gathering and behavior influencingand includes almost any interaction where each party wants something from the other side. Your career, your finances, your reputation, your love life, even the fate of your kidsat some point all of these hinge on your ability to negotiate. + +Negotiation as youll learn it here is nothing more than communication with results. Getting what you want out of life is all about getting what you want fromand withother people. Conflict between two parties is inevitable in all relationships. So its usefulcrucial, evento know how to engage in that conflict to get what you want without inflicting damage. + +In this book, I draw on my more than two-decade career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation to distill the principles and practices I deployed in the field into an exciting new approach designed to help you disarm, redirect, and dismantle your counterpart in virtually any negotiation. And to do so in a relationship-affirming way. + +Yes, youll learn how we negotiated the safe release of countless hostages. But youll also learn how to use a deep understanding of human psychology to negotiate a lower car price, a bigger raise, and a childs bedtime. This book will teach you to reclaim control of the conversations that inform your life and career. + +The first step to achieving a mastery of daily negotiation is to get over your aversion to negotiating. You dont need to like it; you just need to understand thats how the world works. Negotiating does not mean browbeating or grinding someone down. It simply means playing the emotional game that human society is set up for. In this world, you get what you ask for; you just have to ask correctly. So claim your prerogative to ask for what you think is right. + +What this book is really about, then, is getting you to accept negotiation and in doing so learn how to get what you want in a psychologically aware way. Youll learn to use your emotions, instincts, and insights in any encounter to connect better with others, influence them, and achieve more. + +Effective negotiation is applied people smarts, a psychological edge in every domain of life: how to size someone up, how to influence their sizing up of you, and how to use that knowledge to get what you want. + +But beware: this is not another pop-psych book. Its a deep and thoughtful (and most of all, practical) take on leading psychological theory that distills lessons from a twenty-four-year career in the FBI and ten years teaching and consulting in the best business schools and corporations in the world. + +And it works for one simple reason: it was designed in and for the real world. It was not born in a classroom or a training hall, but built from years of experience that improved it until it reached near perfection. + +Remember, a hostage negotiator plays a unique role: he has to win. Can he say to a bank robber, Okay, youve taken four hostages. Lets split the differencegive me two, and well call it a day? + +No. A successful hostage negotiator has to get everything he asks for, without giving anything back of substance, and do so in a way that leaves the adversaries feeling as if they have a great relationship. His work is emotional intelligence on steroids. Those are the tools youll learn here. + +THE BOOK + +Like a contractor building a house, this book is constructed from the ground up: first comes the big slabs of foundation, then the necessary load-bearing walls, the elegant but impermeable roof, and the lovely interior decorations. + +Each chapter expands on the previous one. First youll learn the refined techniques of this approach to Active Listening and then youll move on to specific tools, turns of phrase, the ins and outs of the final acthagglingand, finally, how to discover the rarity that can help you achieve true negotiating greatness: the Black Swan. + +In Chapter 2, youll learn how to avoid the assumptions that blind neophyte negotiators and replace them with Active Listening techniques like Mirroring, Silences, and the Late-Night FM DJ Voice. Youll discover how to slow things down and make your counterpart feel safe enough to reveal themselves; to discern between wants (aspirations) and needs (the bare minimum for a deal); and to laser-focus on what the other party has to say. + +Chapter 3 will delve into Tactical Empathy. Youll learn how to recognize your counterparts perspective and then gain trust and understanding through Labelingthat is, by repeating that perspective back to them. Youll also learn how to defuse negative dynamics by bringing them into the open. Finally, Ill explain how to disarm your counterparts complaints about you by speaking them aloud in an Accusation Audit. + +Next, in Chapter 4, Ill examine ways to make your counterpart feel understood and positively affirmed in a negotiation in order to create an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard. Here, youll learn why you should strive for Thats right instead of Yes at every stage of a negotiation, and how to identify, rearticulate, and emotionally affirm your counterparts worldview with Summaries and Paraphrasing. + +Chapter 5 teaches the flip side of Getting to Yes. Youll learn why its vitally important to get to No because No starts the negotiation. Youll also discover how to step out of your ego and negotiate in your counterparts world, the only way to achieve an agreement the other side will implement. Finally, youll see how to engage your counterpart by acknowledging their right to choose, and youll learn an email technique that ensures that youll never be ignored again. + +In Chapter 6, youll discover the art of bending reality. That is, Ill explain a variety of tools for framing a negotiation in such a way that your counterpart will unconsciously accept the limits you place on the discussion. Youll learn how to navigate deadlines to create urgency; employ the idea of fairness to nudge your counterpart; and anchor their emotions so that not accepting your offer feels like a loss. + +After this, Chapter 7 is dedicated to that incredibly powerful tool I used at Harvard: Calibrated Questions, the queries that begin with How? or What? By eliminating Yes and No answers they force your counterpart to apply their mental energy to solving your problems. + +In Chapter 8 I demonstrate how to employ these Calibrated Questions to guard against failures in the implementation phase. Yes, as I always say, is nothing without How? Youll also discover the importance of nonverbal communication; how to use How questions to gently say No; how to get your counterparts to bid against themselves; and how to influence the deal killers when theyre not at the table. + +At a certain point, every negotiation gets down to the brass tacks: that is, to old-school haggling. Chapter 9 offers a step-by-step process for effective bargaining, from how to prepare to how to dodge an aggressive counterpart and how to go on the offensive. Youll learn the Ackerman system, the most effective process the FBI has for setting and making offers. + +Finally, Chapter 10 explains how to find and use those most rare of negotiation animals: the Black Swan. In every negotiation there are between three and five pieces of information that, were they to be uncovered, would change everything. The concept is an absolute game-changer; so much so, Ive named my company The Black Swan Group. In this chapter, youll learn how to recognize the markers that show the Black Swans hidden nest, as well as simple tools for employing Black Swans to gain leverage over your counterpart and achieve truly amazing deals. + +Each chapter will start with a fast-paced story of a hostage negotiation, which will then be dissected with an eye to explaining what worked and what didnt. After I explain the theory and the tools, youll read real-life case studies from me and others whove used these tools to prevail while negotiating a salary, purchasing a car, or working out nettlesome problems at home. + +When you finish this book, I will have succeeded if youve applied these crucial techniques to improve your career and life. Im sure you will. Just remember, to successfully negotiate it is critical to prepare. Which is why in the Appendix youll find an invaluable tool I use with all my students and clients called the Negotiation One Sheet: a concise primer of nearly all our tactics and strategies for you to think through and customize for whatever kind of deal youre looking to close. + +Most important to me is that you understand how urgent, essential, and even beautiful negotiation can be. When we embrace negotiatings transformative possibilities, we learn how to get what we want and how to move others to a better place. + +Negotiation is the heart of collaboration. It is what makes conflict potentially meaningful and productive for all parties. It can change your life, as it has changed mine. + +Ive always thought of myself as just a regular guy. Hardworking and willing to learn, yes, but not particularly talented. And Ive always felt that life holds amazing possibilities. In my much younger days, I just didnt know how to unlock those possibilities. + +But with the skills Ive learned, Ive found myself doing extraordinary things and watching the people Ive taught achieve truly life-changing results. When I use what Ive learned over the last thirty years, I know I actually have the power to change the course of where my life is going, and to help others do that as well. Thirty years ago, while I felt like that could be done, I didnt know how. + +Now I do. Heres how. + + + + + +CHAPTER 2 + + +BE A MIRROR + + +September 30, 1993 + +A brisk autumn morning, around eight thirty. Two masked bank robbers trigger an alarm as they storm into the Chase Manhattan Bank at Seventh Avenue and Carroll Street in Brooklyn. There are only two female tellers and a male security guard inside. The robbers crack the unarmed sixty-year-old security guard across the skull with a .357, drag him to the mens room, and lock him inside. One of the tellers gets the same pistol-whipping treatment. + +Then one of the robbers turns to the other teller, puts the barrel in her mouth, and pulls the triggerclick, goes the empty chamber. + +Next one is real, says the robber. Now open the vault. + +A bank robbery, with hostages. Happens all the time in the movies, but it had been almost twenty years since thered been one of these standoffs in New York, the city with more hostage negotiation jobs than any other jurisdiction in the country. + +And this happened to be my very first feet-to-the-fire, in-your-face hostage job. + +I had been training for about a year and a half in hostage negotiations, but I hadnt had a chance to use my new skills. For me, 1993 had already been a very busy and incredible ride. Working on the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force, I had been the cocase agent in an investigation that thwarted a plot to set off bombs in the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, the United Nations, and 26 Federal Plaza, the home of the FBI in New York City. We broke it up just as terrorists were mixing bombs in a safe house. The plotters were associated with an Egyptian cell that had ties to the Blind Sheikh, who later would be found guilty of masterminding the plot that we uncovered. + +You might think a bank robbery would be small potatoes after we busted up a terrorist plot, but by then I had already come to realize that negotiation would be my lifelong passion. I was eager to put my new skills to the test. And besides, there was nothing small about this situation. + +When we got the call, my colleague Charlie Beaudoin and I raced to the scene, bailed out of his black Crown Victoria, and made our way to the command post. The whole cavalry showed up for this oneNYPD, FBI, SWATall the muscle and savvy of law enforcement up against the knee-jerk desperation of a couple of bank robbers seemingly in over their heads. + +New York police, behind a wall of blue and white trucks and patrol cars, had set up across the street inside another bank. SWAT team members, peering through rifle scopes from the roofs of nearby brownstone buildings, had their weapons trained on the banks front and rear doors. + +ASSUMPTIONS BLIND, HYPOTHESES GUIDE + +Good negotiators, going in, know they have to be ready for possible surprises; great negotiators aim to use their skills to reveal the surprises they are certain exist. + +Experience will have taught them that they are best served by holding multiple hypothesesabout the situation, about the counterparts wants, about a whole array of variablesin their mind at the same time. Present and alert in the moment, they use all the new information that comes their way to test and winnow true hypotheses from false ones. + +In negotiation, each new psychological insight or additional piece of information revealed heralds a step forward and allows one to discard one hypothesis in favor of another. You should engage the process with a mindset of discovery. Your goal at the outset is to extract and observe as much information as possible. Which, by the way, is one of the reasons that really smart people often have trouble being negotiatorstheyre so smart they think they dont have anything to discover. + +Too often people find it easier just to stick with what they believe. Using what theyve heard or their own biases, they often make assumptions about others even before meeting them. They even ignore their own perceptions to make them conform to foregone conclusions. These assumptions muck up our perceptual windows onto the world, showing us an unchangingoften flawedversion of the situation. + +Great negotiators are able to question the assumptions that the rest of the involved players accept on faith or in arrogance, and thus remain more emotionally open to all possibilities, and more intellectually agile to a fluid situation. + +Unfortunately, back in 1993, I was far from great. + +Everyone thought the crisis would be over quickly. The bank robbers had little choice but to surrenderor so we thought. We actually started the day with intelligence that the bank robbers wanted to surrender. Little did we know that was a ruse their ringleader planted to buy time. And throughout the day, he constantly referred to the influence the other four bank robbers exerted on him. I hadnt yet learned to be aware of a counterparts overuse of personal pronounswe/they or me/I. The less important he makes himself, the more important he probably is (and vice versa). We would later find out there was only one other bank robber, and he had been tricked into the robbery. Actually, three robbers, if you counted the getaway driver, who got away before we even entered the scene. + +The lead hostage-taker was running his own counterintelligence operation, feeding us all kinds of misinformation. He wanted us to think he had a bunch of co-conspirators with himfrom a number of different countries. He also wanted us to think that his partners were much more volatile and dangerous than he was. + +Looking back, of course, his game plan was clearhe wanted to confuse us as much as he could until he could figure a way out. He would constantly tell us that he wasnt in charge and that every decision was the responsibility of the other guys. He would indicate that he was scaredor, at least, a little tentativewhen we asked him to pass along certain information. And yet he always spoke with a voice of complete calm and absolute confidence. It was a reminder to my colleagues and me that until you know what youre dealing with, you dont know what youre dealing with. + +Though the call had come in about 8:30 a.m., by the time we arrived across the street from the bank and made contact it was probably about 10:30 a.m. The word when we came on the scene was that this was going to be cookie-cutter, by the book, short and sweet. Our commanders thought wed be in and out of there in ten minutes, because the bad guys supposedly wanted to give themselves up. This would later become a problem, when negotiations stalled and Command became embarrassed, because theyd made the mistake of sharing this early optimism with the press, based on all the early misinformation. + +We arrived on the scene to take a surrender, but the situation went sideways almost immediately. + +Everything we assumed we knew was wrong. + +CALM THE SCHIZOPHRENIC + +Our Negotiation Operation Center (NOC) was set up in an office in a bank immediately across a narrow street from the Chase branch. We were way too close to the hostage site, so right away we were at a disadvantage. We were less than thirty yards from the crisis point, where ideally you want to have a little more of a buffer than that. You want to put some distance between you and whatever worst-case scenario might be waiting at the other end of the deal. + +When my partner and I arrived, I was immediately assigned to coach the police department negotiator on the phone. His name was Joe, and he was doing finebut in these types of situations, nobody worked alone. We always worked in teams. The thinking behind this policy was that all these extra sets of ears would pick up extra information. In some standoffs, we had as many as five people on the line, analyzing the information as it came in, offering behind-the-scenes input and guidance to our man on the phoneand thats how we were set up here. We had Joe taking the lead on the phone, and another three or four of us were listening in, passing notes back and forth, trying to make sense of a confusing situation. One of us was trying to gauge the mood of the bad guy taking the lead on the other end, and another was listening in for clues or tells that might give us a better read on what we were facing, and so on. + +Students of mine balk at this notion, asking, Seriously, do you really need a whole team to . . . hear someone out? The fact that the FBI has come to that conclusion, I tell them, should be a wake-up call. Its really not that easy to listen well. + +We are easily distracted. We engage in selective listening, hearing only what we want to hear, our minds acting on a cognitive bias for consistency rather than truth. And thats just the start. + +Most people approach a negotiation so preoccupied by the arguments that support their position that they are unable to listen attentively. In one of the most cited research papers in psychology,1 George A. Miller persuasively put forth the idea that we can process only about seven pieces of information in our conscious mind at any given moment. In other words, we are easily overwhelmed. + +For those people who view negotiation as a battle of arguments, its the voices in their own head that are overwhelming them. When theyre not talking, theyre thinking about their arguments, and when they are talking, theyre making their arguments. Often those on both sides of the table are doing the same thing, so you have what I call a state of schizophrenia: everyone just listening to the voice in their head (and not well, because theyre doing seven or eight other things at the same time). It may look like there are only two people in a conversation, but really its more like four people all talking at once. + +Theres one powerful way to quiet the voice in your head and the voice in their head at the same time: treat two schizophrenics with just one pill. Instead of prioritizing your argumentin fact, instead of doing any thinking at all in the early goings about what youre going to saymake your sole and all-encompassing focus the other person and what they have to say. In that mode of true active listeningaided by the tactics youll learn in the following chaptersyoull disarm your counterpart. Youll make them feel safe. The voice in their head will begin to quiet down. + +The goal is to identify what your counterparts actually need (monetarily, emotionally, or otherwise) and get them feeling safe enough to talk and talk and talk some more about what they want. The latter will help you discover the former. Wants are easy to talk about, representing the aspiration of getting our way, and sustaining any illusion of control we have as we begin to negotiate; needs imply survival, the very minimum required to make us act, and so make us vulnerable. But neither wants nor needs are where we start; it begins with listening, making it about the other people, validating their emotions, and creating enough trust and safety for a real conversation to begin. + +We were far from that goal with the lead hostage-taker on the call. He kept putting up these weird smoke screens. He wouldnt give up his name, he tried to disguise his voice, he was always telling Joe he was being put on speaker so everyone around him in the bank could hear, and then he would abruptly announce that he was putting Joe on hold and hang up the phone. He was constantly asking about a van, saying he and his partners wanted us to arrange one for them so they could drive themselves and the hostages to the local precinct to surrender. That was where the surrender nonsense had come frombut, of course, this wasnt a surrender plan so much as it was an escape plan. In the back of his mind, this guy thought he could somehow leave the bank without being taken into custody, and now that his getaway driver had fled the scene he needed access to a vehicle. + +After it was all over, a couple of other details came clear. We werent the only ones who had been lied to. Apparently, this lead bank robber hadnt told his partners they were going to rob a bank that morning. It turned out he was a cash courier who serviced the bank, and his partners were under the impression that they were going to burglarize the ATM. They didnt sign up for taking hostages, so we learned that this guys co-conspirators were also hostages, in a way. They were caught up in a bad situation they didnt see comingand, in the end, it was this disconnect among the hostage-takers that helped us to drive a wedge between them and put an end to the stalemate. + +SLOW. IT. DOWN. + +The leader wanted to make us think he and his partners were taking good care of his hostages, but in reality the security guard was out of the picture and the second bank teller had run to the bank basement to hide. Whenever Joe said he wanted to talk to the hostages, the hostage-taker would stall, and make it seem like there was this frenzy of activity going on inside the bank, going to ridiculous lengths to tell us how much time and energy he and his cohorts were spending on taking good care of the hostages. Very often, the leader would use this as a reason to put Joe on hold, or to end a call. Hed say, The girls need to go to the bathroom. Or, The girls want to call their families. Or, The girls want to get something to eat. + +Joe was doing a good job keeping this guy talking, but he was slightly limited by the negotiating approach that police departments were using at the time. The approach was half MSUMaking Shit Upand half a sort of sales approachbasically trying to persuade, coerce, or manipulate in any way possible. The problem was, we were in too much of a hurry, driving too hard toward a quick solution; trying to be a problem solver, not a people mover. + +Going too fast is one of the mistakes all negotiators are prone to making. If were too much in a hurry, people can feel as if theyre not being heard and we risk undermining the rapport and trust weve built. Theres plenty of research that now validates the passage of time as one of the most important tools for a negotiator. When you slow the process down, you also calm it down. After all, if someone is talking, theyre not shooting. + +We caught a break when the robbers started to make noise about food. Joe was going back and forth with them for a while on what they were going to have and how we were going to get it to them. It became a negotiation in and of itself. We got it all set up, prepared to send the food in on a kind of robot device, because thats what this guy was comfortable with, but then he did an about-face, said to forget about it. Said theyd found some food inside, so it was just one brick wall after another, one smoke screen after another. It would feel to us like we were making a little progress, then this guy would take an abrupt turn, or hang up on us, or change his mind. + +Meanwhile, our investigators used the time to run the registration of every one of the dozens of vehicles found nearby on the street, and managed to speak to the owners of every one of them except onea car belonging to someone named Chris Watts. This became our one and only lead, at the time, and as our endless back-and-forth continued on the phone we sent a group of investigators to the address on Chris Wattss registration, where they found someone who knew Chris Watts and agreed to come down to the scene of the standoff to possibly identify him. + +We still didnt have a visual on the inside, so our eyewitness had to be more of an earwitnessand he was able to identify Chris Watts by his voice. + +We now knew more about our adversary than he thought we knew, which put us at a momentary advantage. We were putting together all the puzzle pieces, but it didnt get us any closer to our endgame, which was to determine for sure who was inside the building, to ensure the health and well-being of the hostages, and to get them all out safelythe good guys and the bad guys. + +THE VOICE + +After five hours, we were stuck, so the lieutenant in charge asked me to take over. Joe was out; I was in. Basically, it was the only strategic play at our disposal that didnt involve an escalation in force. + +The man we now knew as Chris Watts had been in the habit of ending his calls abruptly, so my job was to find a way to keep him talking. I switched into my Late-Night, FM DJ Voice: deep, soft, slow, and reassuring. I had been instructed to confront Watts as soon as possible about his identity. I also came onto the phone with no warning, replacing Joe, against standard protocol. It was a shrewd move by the NYPD lieutenant to shake things up, but it easily could have backfired. This soothing voice was the key to easing the confrontation. + +Chris Watts heard my voice on the line and cut me off immediatelysaid, Hey, what happened to Joe? + +I said, Joes gone. This is Chris. Youre talking to me now. + +I didnt put it like a question. I made a downward-inflecting statement, in a downward-inflecting tone of voice. The best way to describe the late-night FM DJs voice is as the voice of calm and reason. + +When deliberating on a negotiating strategy or approach, people tend to focus all their energies on what to say or do, but its how we are (our general demeanor and delivery) that is both the easiest thing to enact and the most immediately effective mode of influence. Our brains dont just process and understand the actions and words of others but their feelings and intentions too, the social meaning of their behavior and their emotions. On a mostly unconscious level, we can understand the minds of others not through any kind of thinking but through quite literally grasping what the other is feeling. + +Think of it as a kind of involuntary neurological telepathyeach of us in every given moment signaling to the world around us whether we are ready to play or fight, laugh or cry. + +When we radiate warmth and acceptance, conversations just seem to flow. When we enter a room with a level of comfort and enthusiasm, we attract people toward us. Smile at someone on the street, and as a reflex theyll smile back. Understanding that reflex and putting it into practice is critical to the success of just about every negotiating skill there is to learn. + +Thats why your most powerful tool in any verbal communication is your voice. You can use your voice to intentionally reach into someones brain and flip an emotional switch. Distrusting to trusting. Nervous to calm. In an instant, the switch will flip just like that with the right delivery. + +There are essentially three voice tones available to negotiators: the late-night FM DJ voice, the positive/playful voice, and the direct or assertive voice. Forget the assertive voice for now; except in very rare circumstances, using it is like slapping yourself in the face while youre trying to make progress. Youre signaling dominance onto your counterpart, who will either aggressively, or passive-aggressively, push back against attempts to be controlled. + +Most of the time, you should be using the positive/playful voice. Its the voice of an easygoing, good-natured person. Your attitude is light and encouraging. The key here is to relax and smile while youre talking. A smile, even while talking on the phone, has an impact tonally that the other person will pick up on. + +The effect these voices have are cross-cultural and never lost in translation. On a vacation to Turkey with his girlfriend, one of our instructors at The Black Swan Group was befuddlednot to mention a little embarrassedthat his partner was repeatedly getting better deals in their backstreet haggling sessions at the spice markets in Istanbul. For the merchants in such markets throughout the Middle East, bargaining is an art form. Their emotional intelligence is finely honed, and theyll use hospitality and friendliness in a powerful way to draw you in and create reciprocity that ends in an exchange of money. But it works both ways, as our instructor discovered while observing his girlfriend in action: she approached each encounter as a fun game, so that no matter how aggressively she pushed, her smile and playful demeanor primed her merchant friends to settle on a successful outcome. + +When people are in a positive frame of mind, they think more quickly, and are more likely to collaborate and problem-solve (instead of fight and resist). It applies to the smile-er as much as to the smile-ee: a smile on your face, and in your voice, will increase your own mental agility. + +Playful wasnt the move with Chris Watts. The way the late-night FM DJ voice works is that, when you inflect your voice in a downward way, you put it out there that youve got it covered. Talking slowly and clearly you convey one idea: Im in control. When you inflect in an upward way, you invite a response. Why? Because youve brought in a measure of uncertainty. Youve made a statement sound like a question. Youve left the door open for the other guy to take the lead, so I was careful here to be quiet, self-assured. + +Its the same voice I might use in a contract negotiation, when an item isnt up for discussion. If I see a work-for-hire clause, for example, I might say, We dont do work-for-hire. Just like that, plain, simple, and friendly. I dont offer up an alternative, because it would beg further discussion, so I just make a straightforward declaration. + +Thats how I played it here. I said, Joes gone. Youre talking to me now. + +Done deal. + +You can be very direct and to the point as long as you create safety by a tone of voice that says Im okay, youre okay, lets figure things out. + +The tide was turning. Chris Watts was rattled, but he had a few moves left in him. One of the bad guys went down to the basement and collected one of the female bank tellers. Shed disappeared into the bowels of the bank at some point, but Chris Watts and his accomplice hadnt chased after her because they knew she wasnt going anywhere. Now one of the bank robbers dragged her back upstairs and put her on the phone. + +She said, Im okay. Thats all. + +I said, Who is this? + +She said, Im okay. + +I wanted to keep her talking, so I asked her namebut then, just like that, she was gone. + +This was a brilliant move on Chris Wattss part. It was a threat, teasing us with the womans voice, but subtly and indirectly. It was a way for the bad guy to let us know he was calling the shots on his end of the phone without directly escalating the situation. Hed given us a proof of life, confirming that he did indeed have hostages with him who were in decent enough shape to talk on the phone, but stopped short of allowing us to gather any useful information. + +Hed managed to take back a measure of control. + +MIRRORING + +Chris Watts came back on the phone trying to act like nothing had happened. He was a little rattled, thats for sure, but now he was talking. + +Weve identified every car on the street and talked to all the owners except one, I said to Watts. Weve got a van out here, a blue and gray van. Weve been able to get a handle on the owners of all of the vehicles except this one in particular. Do you know anything about it? + +The other vehicles not out there because you guys chased my driver away . . . he blurted. + +We chased your driver away? I mirrored. + +Well, when he seen the police he cut. + +We dont know anything about this guy; is he the one who was driving the van? I asked. + +The mirroring continued between me and Watts, and he made a series of damaging admissions. He started vomiting information, as we now refer to it in my consulting business. He talked about an accomplice we had no knowledge of at the time. That exchange helped us nail the driver of the getaway car. + +Mirroring, also called isopraxism, is essentially imitation. Its another neurobehavior humans (and other animals) display in which we copy each other to comfort each other. It can be done with speech patterns, body language, vocabulary, tempo, and tone of voice. Its generally an unconscious behaviorwe are rarely aware of it when its happeningbut its a sign that people are bonding, in sync, and establishing the kind of rapport that leads to trust. + +Its a phenomenon (and now technique) that follows a very basic but profound biological principle: We fear whats different and are drawn to whats similar. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Mirroring, then, when practiced consciously, is the art of insinuating similarity. Trust me, a mirror signals to anothers unconscious, You and Iwere alike. + +Once youre attuned to the dynamic, youll see it everywhere: couples walking on the street with their steps in perfect synchrony; friends in conversation at a park, both nodding their heads and crossing the legs at about the same time. These people are, in a word, connected. + +While mirroring is most often associated with forms of nonverbal communication, especially body language, as negotiators a mirror focuses on the words and nothing else. Not the body language. Not the accent. Not the tone or delivery. Just the words. + +Its almost laughably simple: for the FBI, a mirror is when you repeat the last three words (or the critical one to three words) of what someone has just said. Of the entirety of the FBIs hostage negotiation skill set, mirroring is the closest one gets to a Jedi mind trick. Simple, and yet uncannily effective. + +By repeating back what people say, you trigger this mirroring instinct and your counterpart will inevitably elaborate on what was just said and sustain the process of connecting. Psychologist Richard Wiseman created a study using waiters to identify what was the more effective method of creating a connection with strangers: mirroring or positive reinforcement. + +One group of waiters, using positive reinforcement, lavished praise and encouragement on patrons using words such as great, no problem, and sure in response to each order. The other group of waiters mirrored their customers simply by repeating their orders back to them. The results were stunning: the average tip of the waiters who mirrored was 70 percent more than of those who used positive reinforcement. + +I decided it was time to hit him with his nameto let him know we were on to him. I said, Theres a vehicle out here, and its registered to a Chris Watts. + +He said, Okay. Not letting anything on. + +I said, Is he there? Is this you? Are you Chris Watts? + +It was a stupid question, on my part. A mistake. For a mirror to be effective, youve got to let it sit there and do its work. It needs a bit of silence. I stepped all over my mirror. As soon as I said it, I wanted to take it back. + +Are you Chris Watts? + +What the hell could this guy say to that? Of course, he replied, No. + +Id made a bone-headed move and given Chris Watts a way to dodge this confrontation, but he was nevertheless rattled. Up until this moment, hed thought he was anonymous. Whatever fantasy he had running through his head, there was a way out for him, a do-over button. Now he knew different. I composed myself, slowed it down a little, and this time shut my mouth after the mirrorI said, No? You said okay. + +Now I had him, I thought. His voice went way up. He ended up blurting a few things out, vomiting more information, and became so flustered he stopped talking to me. Suddenly his accomplice, who we later learned was Bobby Goodwin, came onto the phone. + +We hadnt heard from this second hostage-taker, until now. Wed known all along that Chris Watts wasnt acting alone, but we hadnt gotten a good read on how many people he had working with him on this, and now here was his unwitting accomplice, thinking our original police department negotiator was still handling our end. We knew this because he kept calling me Joe, which told us hed been in the loop early on, and somewhat less involved as the stalemate dragged on. + +At the very least, the disconnect told me these guys werent exactly on the same pagebut I didnt jump to correct him. + +Another thing: it sounded like this second guy was speaking through a towel, or a sweatshirtlike he was biting on some kind of fabric, even. Going to all these lengths to mask his voice, which meant he was clearly scared. He was nervous, jumpy as hell, anxious over how this standoff was going down. + +I tried to set him at easestill with the downward-inflecting DJ voice. I said, Nobodys going anywhere. I said, Nobodys gonna get hurt. + +After about a minute and a half, the jumpiness seemed to disappear. The muffled voice, too. His voice came through much more clearly as he said, I trust you, Joe. + +The more I kept this second guy on the phone, the more it became clear he was someplace he did not want to be. Bobby wanted outand, of course, he wanted out without getting hurt. He was already in deep, but he didnt want it to get any deeper. He didnt start out that day planning to rob a bank, but it took hearing my calm voice on the other end of the phone for him to start to see a way out. The seventh-largest standing army in the world was at the ready outside the bank doorsthats the size and scope of the NYPD, in full force, and their guns were fixed on him and his partner. Obviously, Bobby was desperate to step out those doors unharmed. + +I didnt know where Bobby was, inside the bank. To this day, I dont know if he managed to step away from his partner, or if he was talking to me in plain sight of Chris Watts. I only know that I had his full attention, and that he was looking for a way to end the standoffor, at least, to end his role in it. + +I learned later that in between phone calls Chris Watts was busy squirreling cash inside the bank walls. He was also burning piles of cash, in full view of the two female hostages. On the face of it, this was bizarre behavior, but to a guy like Chris Watts there was a certain logic to it. Apparently, hed gotten it in his head that he could burn, say, $50,000, and if $300,000 was reported missing bank officials wouldnt think to go looking for the other $250,000. It was an interesting deceptionnot exactly clever, but interesting. It showed a weird attention to detail. In his own mind at least, if Chris Watts managed to escape this box hed made for himself, he could lie low for a while and come back at some future date for the money hed stashed awaymoney that would no longer be on the banks ledgers. + +What I liked about this second guy, Bobby, was that he didnt try to play any games with me on the phone. He was a straight shooter, so I was able to respond as a straight shooter in kind. The same way Id get back whatever I put out, he was getting back whatever he was putting out, so I was with him on this. Experience told me all I had to do was keep him talking and hed come around. Wed find a way to get him out of that bankwith or without Chris Watts. + +Someone on my team handed me a note: Ask him if he wants to come out. + +I said, Do you want to come out first? + +I paused, remaining silent. + +I dont know how Id do it, Bobby said finally. + +Whats stopping you from doing it right now? I asked. + +How do I do that? he asked again. + +Tell you what. Meet me out front right now. + +This was a breakthrough moment for usbut we still had to get Bobby out of there, and find a way to let him know that Id be waiting for him on the other side of the door. Id given him my word that I would be the one to take his surrender, and that he wouldnt get hurt, and now we had to make that happenand very often its this implementation phase that can be the most difficult. + +Our team scrambled to put a plan in place to bring this about. I started putting on bulletproof gear. We surveyed the scene, figuring I could position myself behind one of the big trucks wed parked out in front of the bank, to give me a measure of cover, just in case. + +Then we ran into one of those maddening situations where one hand didnt know what the other was doing. It turned out the bank door had been barricaded from the outside early on in the standoffa precaution to ensure that none of the bank robbers could flee the scene. We all knew this, of course, on some level, but when the time came for Bobby to give himself up and walk out the door, its like our brains went into sleep mode. No one on the SWAT team thought to remind anyone on the negotiating team of this one significant detail, so for a couple long beats Bobby couldnt get out, and I got a sick feeling in my stomach that whatever progress wed just made with this guy would be for nothing. + +So there we were, scrambling to recover. Soon, two SWAT guys moved forward toward the entrance, with ballistic shields, guns drawn, to take the locks and the barricade off the doorand at this point they still didnt know what they were facing on the other side. It was a super-tense moment. There could have been a dozen guns on these two SWAT guys, but there was nothing for them to do but make their slow approach. Those guys were rock solid. They unlocked the door, backed away, and finally we were good to go. + +Bobby came outhis hands in the air. Id walked him through a specific set of instructions on what to do when he came out the door, what to expect. A couple of SWAT guys patted him down. Bobby turned and looked and said, Wheres Chris? Take me to Chris. + +Finally, they brought him around to me, and we were able to debrief him inside our makeshift command post. This was the first we learned that there was only one other hostage-taker insideand this naturally set the commander off. I didnt learn this until later, but I could see why he would have been angry and embarrassed at this latest turn. All along, hed been telling the media there were a bunch of bad guys insidean international assemblage of bad guys, remember? But now that it turned out it was essentially a two-man operation, and one of the bad guys had wanted no part of it, the commander looked like he didnt have a handle on the situation. + +But like I said, we didnt know about the commanders reaction just yet. All we knew was that wed just gotten all this new intel, which told us we were closer to achieving our desired outcome than we had just thought. This was a positive development, something to celebrate. With what we now knew, it was going to be a whole lot easier to negotiate our way through the rest of it, and yet this commander was angry. He didnt like that hed been played, so he turned to one of the guys from NYPDs Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) and commanded them to get a camera inside the bank, a mic . . . something. + +Now that I was huddled with Bobby, the commander swapped me out in favor of another primary negotiator on the phone. The new negotiator played it the same way I had, a couple of hours earliersaid, This is Dominick. Youre talking to me now. + +Dominick Misino was a great hostage negotiatorin my view, one of the worlds great closers, which was the term often used for the guy brought in to bang out the last details and secure the deal. He didnt get rattled and he was good at what he did. + +Matter-of-fact. Street smart. + +Dominick plowed ahead. And then, an amazing thing happeneda nearly disastrous amazing thing. As Chris Watts was talking to Dominick, he heard an electric tool of some kind burrowing its way through the wall behind him. It was one of our TARU guys, trying to get a bug planted insidein precisely the wrong spot, at precisely the wrong time. Chris Watts was already rattled enough as it was, his partner giving himself up like that and leaving him to play out the siege on his own. And now, to hear our guys drilling through the wall, it just about set him off. + +He responded like a pit bull backed into a corner. He called Dominick a liar. Dominick was unflappable. He kept his cool as Chris Watts raged on the other end of the phone, and eventually Dominicks cool, calm demeanor brought the guy from a boil to a simmer. + +In retrospect, it was a fool move to try to get a bug inside the bank at this late stageborn out of frustration and panic. Wed gotten one of the hostage-takers out of the bank, but now wed given back a measure of control. Startling the one remaining hostage-taker, who may or may not have been a loose cannon, was absolutely not a good idea. + +As Dominick went to work smoothing over the situation, Chris Watts switched things up on us. He said, What if I let a hostage go? + +This came as if from nowhere. Dominick hadnt even thought to ask, but Chris Watts just offered up one of the tellers like it was no big dealand to him, at this late stage in the standoff, I guess it wasnt. From his view, such a conciliatory move might buy him enough time to figure out a way to escape. + +Dominick remained calm, but seized on the opportunity. He said he wanted to talk to the hostage first, to make sure everything went okay, so Chris Watts tapped one of the women and put her on the phone. The woman had been paying attention, knew thered been some sort of snafu when Bobby wanted to give himself up, so even though she was still completely terrified she had the presence of mind to ask about the door. I remember thinking this showed a lot of brassto be terrified, held against your will, roughed up a bit, and to still have your wits about you. + +She said, Are you sure you have a key to the front door? + +Dominick said, The front doors open. + +And it was. + +Ultimately, what happened was one of the women came out, unharmed, and an hour or so later the other woman followed, also unharmed. + +We were working on getting the bank guard out, but we couldnt be sure from the accounts of these bank tellers what kind of shape this guy might be in. We didnt even know if he was still alive. They hadnt seen him since first thing that morning. He could have had a heart attack and diedthere was just no way to know. + +But Chris Watts had one last trick up his sleeve. He pulled a fast one on us and out of the blue, offered to come out. Maybe he thought he could catch us off guard one last time. What was strange about his sudden appearance was that he seemed to be looking about, surveying the scene, like he still thought hed somehow elude capture. Right up until the moment the cops put the handcuffs on him, his gaze was darting back and forth, scanning for some kind of opportunity. The bright lights were on this guy, he was basically surrounded, but somewhere in the back of his scheming, racing mind he still thought he had a chance. + +It was a long, long day, but it went down in the books as a success. Nobody was hurt. The bad guys were in custody. And I emerged from the experience humbled by how much more there was to learn, but at the same time, awakened to and inspired by the elemental power of emotion, dialogue, and the FBIs evolving toolbox of applied psychological tactics to influence and persuade just about anyone in any situation. + +In the decades since my initiation into the world of high-stakes negotiations, Ive been struck again and again by how valuable these seemingly simple approaches can be. The ability to get inside the headand eventually under the skinof your counterpart depends on these techniques and a willingness to change your approach, based on new evidence, along the way. As Ive worked with executives and students to develop these skills, I always try to reinforce the message that being right isnt the key to a successful negotiationhaving the right mindset is. + +HOW TO CONFRONTAND GET YOUR WAYWITHOUT CONFRONTATION + +I only half-jokingly refer to mirroring as magic or a Jedi mind trick because it gives you the ability to disagree without being disagreeable. + +To consider just how useful that can be, think of the average workplace: invariably there is still someone in a position of authority who arrived at that position through aggressive assertiveness, sometimes outright intimidation, with old school top-down, command-and-control assumptions that the boss is always right. And lets not delude ourselves: whatever the enlightened rules of the new school, in every environment (work or otherwise) you will always have to deal with forceful type A people who prefer consent to collaboration. + +If you take a pit bull approach with another pit bull, you generally end up with a messy scene and lots of bruised feelings and resentment. Luckily, theres another way without all the mess. + +Its just four simple steps: + +1.Use the late-night FM DJ voice. + +2.Start with Im sorry . . . + +3.Mirror. + +4.Silence. At least four seconds, to let the mirror work its magic on your counterpart. + +5.Repeat. + +One of my students experienced the effectiveness of this simple process at her workplace, where her impulsive boss was known for his drive-bys: an infuriating practice by which the boss would suddenly swing by ones office or cubicle unannounced with an urgent, poorly thought out assignment that created a lot of unnecessary work. Past attempts at any kind of debate created immediate pushback. Theres a better way was always interpreted by this boss as the lazy way. + +Such a drive-by occurred toward the end of a long consulting engagement, one that had generated literally thousands of documents. The boss, still skeptical of anything digital, wanted the security of paper copies. + +Popping his head into her office, the boss said, Lets make two copies of all the paperwork. + +Im sorry, two copies? she mirrored in response, remembering not only the DJ voice, but to deliver the mirror in an inquisitive tone. The intention behind most mirrors should be Please, help me understand. Every time you mirror someone, they will reword what theyve said. They will never say it exactly the same way they said it the first time. Ask someone, What do you mean by that? and youre likely to incite irritation or defensiveness. A mirror, however, will get you the clarity you want while signaling respect and concern for what the other person is saying. + +Yes, her boss responded, one for us and one for the customer. + +Im sorry, so you are saying that the client is asking for a copy and we need a copy for internal use? + +Actually, Ill check with the clientthey havent asked for anything. But I definitely want a copy. Thats just how I do business. + +Absolutely, she responded. Thanks for checking with the customer. Where would you like to store the in-house copy? Theres no more space in the file room here. + +Its fine. You can store it anywhere, he said, slightly perturbed now. + +Anywhere? she mirrored again, with calm concern. When another persons tone of voice or body language is inconsistent with his words, a good mirror can be particularly useful. + +In this case, it caused her boss to take a nice, long pausesomething he did not often do. My student sat silent. As a matter of fact, you can put them in my office, he said, with more composure than hed had the whole conversation. Ill get the new assistant to print it for me after the project is done. For now, just create two digital backups. + +A day later her boss emailed and wrote simply, The two digital backups will be fine. + +Not long after, I received an ecstatic email from this student: I was shocked! I love mirrors! A week of work avoided! + +Mirroring will make you feel awkward as heck when you first try it. Thats the only hard part about it; the technique takes a little practice. Once you get the hang of it, though, itll become a conversational Swiss Army knife valuable in just about every professional and social setting. + +KEY LESSONS + +The language of negotiation is primarily a language of conversation and rapport: a way of quickly establishing relationships and getting people to talk and think together. Which is why when you think of the greatest negotiators of all time, Ive got a surprise for youthink Oprah Winfrey. + +Her daily television show was a case study of a master practitioner at work: on a stage face-to-face with someone she has never met, in front of a crowded studio of hundreds, with millions more watching from home, and a task to persuade that person in front of her, sometimes against his or her own best interests, to talk and talk and keep talking, ultimately sharing with the world deep, dark secrets that they had held hostage in their own minds for a lifetime. + +Look closely at such an interaction after reading this chapter and suddenly youll see a refined set of powerful skills: a conscious smile to ease the tension, use of subtle verbal and nonverbal language to signal empathy (and thus security), a certain downward inflection in the voice, embrace of specific kinds of questions and avoidance of othersa whole array of previously hidden skills that will prove invaluable to you, once youve learned to use them. + +Here are some of the key lessons from this chapter to remember: + +A good negotiator prepares, going in, to be ready for possible surprises; a great negotiator aims to use her skills to reveal the surprises she is certain to find. + +Dont commit to assumptions; instead, view them as hypotheses and use the negotiation to test them rigorously. + +People who view negotiation as a battle of arguments become overwhelmed by the voices in their head. Negotiation is not an act of battle; its a process of discovery. The goal is to uncover as much information as possible. + +To quiet the voices in your head, make your sole and all-encompassing focus the other person and what they have to say. + +Slow. It. Down. Going too fast is one of the mistakes all negotiators are prone to making. If were too much in a hurry, people can feel as if theyre not being heard. You risk undermining the rapport and trust youve built. + +Put a smile on your face. When people are in a positive frame of mind, they think more quickly, and are more likely to collaborate and problem-solve (instead of fight and resist). Positivity creates mental agility in both you and your counterpart. + +There are three voice tones available to negotiators: + +1.The late-night FM DJ voice: Use selectively to make a point. Inflect your voice downward, keeping it calm and slow. When done properly, you create an aura of authority and trustworthiness without triggering defensiveness. + +2.The positive/playful voice: Should be your default voice. Its the voice of an easygoing, good-natured person. Your attitude is light and encouraging. The key here is to relax and smile while youre talking. + +3.The direct or assertive voice: Used rarely. Will cause problems and create pushback. + +Mirrors work magic. Repeat the last three words (or the critical one to three words) of what someone has just said. We fear whats different and are drawn to whats similar. Mirroring is the art of insinuating similarity, which facilitates bonding. Use mirrors to encourage the other side to empathize and bond with you, keep people talking, buy your side time to regroup, and encourage your counterparts to reveal their strategy. + + + + + +CHAPTER 3 + + +DONT FEEL THEIR PAIN, LABEL IT + + +It was 1998 and I was standing in a narrow hallway outside an apartment on the twenty-seventh floor of a high-rise in Harlem. I was the head of the New York City FBI Crisis Negotiation Team, and that day I was the primary negotiator. + +The investigative squad had reported that at least three heavily armed fugitives were holed up inside. Several days earlier the fugitives had used automatic weapons in a shoot-out with a rival gang, so the New York City FBI SWAT team was arrayed behind me, and our snipers were on nearby rooftops with rifles trained on the apartment windows. + +In tense situations like this, the traditional negotiating advice is to keep a poker face. Dont get emotional. Until recently, most academics and researchers completely ignored the role of emotion in negotiation. Emotions were just an obstacle to a good outcome, they said. Separate the people from the problem was the common refrain. + +But think about that: How can you separate people from the problem when their emotions are the problem? Especially when they are scared people with guns. Emotions are one of the main things that derail communication. Once people get upset at one another, rational thinking goes out the window. + +Thats why, instead of denying or ignoring emotions, good negotiators identify and influence them. They are able to precisely label emotions, those of others and especially their own. And once they label the emotions they talk about them without getting wound up. For them, emotion is a tool. + +Emotions arent the obstacles, they are the means. + +The relationship between an emotionally intelligent negotiator and their counterpart is essentially therapeutic. It duplicates that of a psychotherapist with a patient. The psychotherapist pokes and prods to understand his patients problems, and then turns the responses back onto the patient to get him to go deeper and change his behavior. Thats exactly what good negotiators do. + +Getting to this level of emotional intelligence demands opening up your senses, talking less, and listening more. You can learn almost everything you needand a lot more than other people would like you to knowsimply by watching and listening, keeping your eyes peeled and your ears open, and your mouth shut. + +Think about the therapists couch as you read the following sections. Youll see how a soothing voice, close listening, and a calm repetition of the words of your patient can get you a lot further than a cold, rational argument. + +It may sound touchy-feely, but if you can perceive the emotions of others, you have a chance to turn them to your advantage. The more you know about someone, the more power you have. + +TACTICAL EMPATHY + +We had one big problem that day in Harlem: no telephone number to call into the apartment. So for six straight hours, relieved periodically by two FBI agents who were learning crisis negotiation, I spoke through the apartment door. + +I used my late-night FM DJ voice. + +I didnt give orders in my DJ voice, or ask what the fugitives wanted. Instead, I imagined myself in their place. + +It looks like you dont want to come out, I said repeatedly. It seems like you worry that if you open the door, well come in with guns blazing. It looks like you dont want to go back to jail. + +For six hours, we got no response. The FBI coaches loved my DJ voice. But was it working? + +And then, when we were almost completely convinced that no one was inside, a sniper on an adjacent building radioed that he saw one of the curtains in the apartment move. + +The front door of the apartment slowly opened. A woman emerged with her hands in front of her. + +I continued talking. All three fugitives came out. None of them said a word until we had them in handcuffs. + +Then I asked them the question that was most nagging me: Why did they come out after six hours of radio silence? Why did they finally give in? + +All three gave me the same answer. + +We didnt want to get caught or get shot, but you calmed us down, they said. We finally believed you wouldnt go away, so we just came out. + +There is nothing more frustrating or disruptive to any negotiation than to get the feeling you are talking to someone who isnt listening. Playing dumb is a valid negotiating technique, and I dont understand is a legitimate response. But ignoring the other partys position only builds up frustration and makes them less likely to do what you want. + +The opposite of that is tactical empathy. + +In my negotiating course, I tell my students that empathy is the ability to recognize the perspective of a counterpart, and the vocalization of that recognition. Thats an academic way of saying that empathy is paying attention to another human being, asking what they are feeling, and making a commitment to understanding their world. + +Notice I didnt say anything about agreeing with the other persons values and beliefs or giving out hugs. Thats sympathy. What Im talking about is trying to understand a situation from another persons perspective. + +One step beyond that is tactical empathy. + +Tactical empathy is understanding the feelings and mindset of another in the moment and also hearing what is behind those feelings so you increase your influence in all the moments that follow. Its bringing our attention to both the emotional obstacles and the potential pathways to getting an agreement done. + +Its emotional intelligence on steroids. + +As a cop in Kansas City, I was curious about how a select handful of veteran cops managed to talk angry, violent people out of fights or to get them to put down their knives and guns. + +When I asked how they did that, I rarely got more than a shrug. They couldnt articulate what they did. But now I know the answer is tactical empathy. They were able to think from another persons point of view while they were talking with that person and quickly assess what was driving them. + +Most of us enter verbal combat unlikely to persuade anyone of anything because we only know and care about our own goals and perspective. But the best officers are tuned in to the other partytheir audience. They know that if they empathize, they can mold their audience by how they approach and talk to them. + +Thats why, if a corrections officer approaches an inmate expecting him to resist, he often will. But if he approaches exuding calm, the inmate will be much more likely to be peaceful. It seems like wizardry, but its not. Its just that when the officer has his audience clearly in mind, he can become who he needs to be to handle the situation. + +Empathy is a classic soft communication skill, but it has a physical basis. When we closely observe a persons face, gestures, and tone of voice, our brain begins to align with theirs in a process called neural resonance, and that lets us know more fully what they think and feel. + +In an fMRI brain-scan experiment,1 researchers at Princeton University found that neural resonance disappears when people communicate poorly. The researchers could predict how well people were communicating by observing how much their brains were aligned. And they discovered that people who paid the most attentiongood listenerscould actually anticipate what the speaker was about to say before he said it. + +If you want to increase your neural resonance skills, take a moment right now and practice. Turn your attention to someone whos talking near you, or watch a person being interviewed on TV. As they talk, imagine that you are that person. Visualize yourself in the position they describe and put in as much detail as you can, as if you were actually there. + +But be warned, a lot of classic deal makers will think your approach is softheaded and weak. + +Just ask former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. + +A few years ago during a speech at Georgetown University, Clinton advocated, showing respect, even for ones enemies. Trying to understand and, insofar as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view. + +You can predict what happened next. A gaggle of pundits and politicians pounced on her. They called her statement inane and nave, and even a sign she had embraced the Muslim Brotherhood. Some said that she had blown her chances at a presidential run. + +The problem with all of that hot air is that she was right. + +Politics aside, empathy is not about being nice or agreeing with the other side. Its about understanding them. Empathy helps us learn the position the enemy is in, why their actions make sense (to them), and what might move them. + +As negotiators we use empathy because it works. Empathy is why the three fugitives came out after six hours of my late-night DJ voice. Its what helped me succeed at what Sun Tzu called the supreme art of war: to subdue the enemy without fighting. + +LABELING + +Lets go back to the Harlem doorway for a minute. + +We didnt have a lot to go on, but if youve got three fugitives trapped in an apartment on the twenty-seventh floor of a building in Harlem, they dont have to say a word for you to know that theyre worried about two things: getting killed, and going to jail. + +So for six straight hours in that sweltering apartment building hallway, the two FBI negotiating students and I took turns speaking. We rotated in order to avoid verbal stumbles and other errors caused by tiredness. And we stayed relentlessly on message, all three of us saying the same thing. + +Now, pay close attention to exactly what we said: It looks like you dont want to come out. It seems like you worry that if you open the door, well come in with guns blazing. It looks like you dont want to go back to jail. + +We employed our tactical empathy by recognizing and then verbalizing the predictable emotions of the situation. We didnt just put ourselves in the fugitives shoes. We spotted their feelings, turned them into words, and then very calmly and respectfully repeated their emotions back to them. + +In a negotiation, thats called labeling. + +Labeling is a way of validating someones emotion by acknowledging it. Give someones emotion a name and you show you identify with how that person feels. It gets you close to someone without asking about external factors you know nothing about (Hows your family?). Think of labeling as a shortcut to intimacy, a time-saving emotional hack. + +Labeling has a special advantage when your counterpart is tense. Exposing negative thoughts to daylightIt looks like you dont want to go back to jailmakes them seem less frightening. + +In one brain imaging study,2 psychology professor Matthew Lieberman of the University of California, Los Angeles, found that when people are shown photos of faces expressing strong emotion, the brain shows greater activity in the amygdala, the part that generates fear. But when they are asked to label the emotion, the activity moves to the areas that govern rational thinking. In other words, labeling an emotionapplying rational words to a feardisrupts its raw intensity. + +Labeling is a simple, versatile skill that lets you reinforce a good aspect of the negotiation, or diffuse a negative one. But it has very specific rules about form and delivery. That makes it less like chatting than like a formal art such as Chinese calligraphy. + +For most people, its one of the most awkward negotiating tools to use. Before they try it the first time, my students almost always tell me they expect their counterpart to jump up and shout, Dont you dare tell me how I feel! + +Let me let you in on a secret: people never even notice. + +The first step to labeling is detecting the other persons emotional state. Outside that door in Harlem we couldnt even see the fugitives, but most of the time youll have a wealth of information from the other persons words, tone, and body language. We call that trinity words, music, and dance. + +The trick to spotting feelings is to pay close attention to changes people undergo when they respond to external events. Most often, those events are your words. + +If you say, How is the family? and the corners of the other partys mouth turn down even when they say its great, you might detect that all is not well; if their voice goes flat when a colleague is mentioned, there could be a problem between the two; and if your landlord unconsciously fidgets his feet when you mention the neighbors, its pretty clear that he doesnt think much of them (well dig deeper into how to spot and use these cues in Chapter 9). + +Picking up on these tiny pieces of information is how psychics work. They size up their clients body language and ask him a few innocent questions. When they tell his future a few minutes later, theyre really just saying what he wants to hear based on small details theyve spotted. More than a few psychics would make good negotiators for that very reason. + +Once youve spotted an emotion you want to highlight, the next step is to label it aloud. Labels can be phrased as statements or questions. The only difference is whether you end the sentence with a downward or upward inflection. But no matter how they end, labels almost always begin with roughly the same words: + +It seems like . . . + +It sounds like . . . + +It looks like . . . + +Notice we said It sounds like . . . and not Im hearing that . . . Thats because the word I gets peoples guard up. When you say I, it says youre more interested in yourself than the other person, and it makes you take personal responsibility for the words that followand the offense they might cause. + +But when you phrase a label as a neutral statement of understanding, it encourages your counterpart to be responsive. Theyll usually give a longer answer than just yes or no. And if they disagree with the label, thats okay. You can always step back and say, I didnt say that was what it was. I just said it seems like that. + +The last rule of labeling is silence. Once youve thrown out a label, be quiet and listen. We all have a tendency to expand on what weve said, to finish, It seems like you like the way that shirt looks, with a specific question like Where did you get it? But a labels power is that it invites the other person to reveal himself. + +If youll trust me for a second, take a break now and try it out: Strike up a conversation and put a label on one of the other persons emotionsit doesnt matter if youre talking to the mailman or your ten-year-old daughterand then go silent. Let the label do its work. + +NEUTRALIZE THE NEGATIVE, REINFORCE THE POSITIVE + +Labeling is a tactic, not a strategy, in the same way a spoon is a great tool for stirring soup but its not a recipe. How you use labeling will go a long way in determining your success. Deployed well, its how we as negotiators identify and then slowly alter the inner voices of our counterparts consciousness to something more collaborative and trusting. + +First, lets talk a little human psychology. In basic terms, peoples emotions have two levels: the presenting behavior is the part above the surface you can see and hear; beneath, the underlying feeling is what motivates the behavior. + +Imagine a grandfather whos grumbly at a family holiday dinner: the presenting behavior is that hes cranky, but the underlying emotion is a sad sense of loneliness from his family never seeing him. + +What good negotiators do when labeling is address those underlying emotions. Labeling negatives diffuses them (or defuses them, in extreme cases); labeling positives reinforces them. + +Well come back to the cranky grandfather in a moment. First, though, I want to talk a little bit about anger. + +As an emotion, anger is rarely productivein you or the person youre negotiating with. It releases stress hormones and neurochemicals that disrupt your ability to properly evaluate and respond to situations. And it blinds you to the fact that youre angry in the first place, which gives you a false sense of confidence. + +Thats not to say that negative feelings should be ignored. That can be just as damaging. Instead, they should be teased out. Labeling is a helpful tactic in de-escalating angry confrontations, because it makes the person acknowledge their feelings rather than continuing to act out. + +Early on in my hostage negotiation career, I learned how important it was to go directly at negative dynamics in a fearless but deferential manner. + +It was to fix a situation Id created myself. Id angered the top FBI official in Canada when I entered the country without first alerting him (so he could notify the Department of State), a procedure known as country clearance. + +I knew I needed to call and assuage him to straighten out the situation, or I risked being expelled. Top guys like to feel on top. They dont want to be disrespected. All the more so when the office they run isnt a sexy assignment. + +Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, I said when he answered the phone. + +There was a long pause at the other end of the line. + +Who is this? he said. + +Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, I repeated. Its Chris Voss. + +Again there was a long silence. + +Does your boss know youre here? + +I said he did, and crossed my fingers. At this point, the FBI official would have been completely within his rights to tell me to leave Canada immediately. But by mentioning the negative dynamic, I knew Id diffused it as much as I could. I had a chance. + +All right, youve got country clearance, he finally said. Ill take care of the paperwork. + +Try this the next time you have to apologize for a bone-headed mistake. Go right at it. The fastest and most efficient means of establishing a quick working relationship is to acknowledge the negative and diffuse it. Whenever I was dealing with the family of a hostage, I started out by saying I knew they were scared. And when I make a mistakesomething that happens a lotI always acknowledge the other persons anger. Ive found the phrase Look, Im an asshole to be an amazingly effective way to make problems go away. + +That approach has never failed me. + +Lets go back to the cranky grandfather. + +Hes grumpy because he never sees the family and he feels left out. So hes speaking up in his own dysfunctional way to get attention. + +How do you fix that? + +Instead of addressing his grumpy behavior, you acknowledge his sadness in a nonjudgmental way. You head him off before he can really get started. + +We dont see each other all that often, you could say. It seems like you feel like we dont pay any attention to you and you only see us once a year, so why should you make time for us? + +Notice how that acknowledges the situation and labels his sadness? Here you can pause briefly, letting him recognize and appreciate your attempts to understand what hes feeling, and then turn the situation around by offering a positive solution. + +For us this is a real treat. We want to hear what you have to talk about. We want to value this time with you because we feel left out of your life. + +Research shows that the best way to deal with negativity is to observe it, without reaction and without judgment. Then consciously label each negative feeling and replace it with positive, compassionate, and solution-based thoughts. + +One of my Georgetown University students, a guy named TJ, who worked as an assistant controller at the Washington Redskins, put that lesson to work while he was taking my negotiations class. + +The economy was in the toilet at the time, and Redskins season ticket holders were leaving in droves to avoid the cost. Worse, the team had been terrible the year before, and off-field player problems were alienating the fans. + +The teams CFO was getting more worriedand crankyby the day, and two weeks before the season was to start he walked by TJs desk and slammed down a folder full of paper. + +Better yesterday than today, he said and walked away. + +Inside was a list of forty season ticket holders who hadnt paid their bills, a USB drive with a spreadsheet about each ones situation, and a script to use when calling them. + +TJ saw right away that the script was a disaster. It began by saying that his colleagues had been trying to call for months, and the account had been escalated to him. I wanted to inform you, it read, that in order to receive your tickets for the upcoming season opener against the New York Giants, you will need to pay your outstanding balance in full prior to September 10. + +It was the stupidly aggressive, impersonal, tone-deaf style of communication that is the default for most business. It was all me, me, me from TJ, with no acknowledgment of the ticket holders situation. No empathy. No connection. Just give me the money. + +Maybe I dont need to say it, but the script didnt work. TJ left messages; no one called back. + +A few weeks into the class, TJ rewrote the script. These werent massive changes, and he didnt offer the fans any discounts. What he did was add subtle tweaks to make the call about the fans, their situation, and their love of the team. + +Now the team was YOUR Washington Redskins and the purpose of the call was to ensure that the teams most valuable fansthe delinquent customerswould be there at the season opener. The home-field advantage created by you each and every Sunday at FedEx Field does not go unnoticed, TJ wrote. He then told them, In these difficult times, we understand our fans have been hit hard and we are here to work with you, and asked the ticket holders to call back to talk through their unique situation. + +Though superficially simple, the changes TJ made in the script had a deep emotional resonance with the delinquent ticket holders. It mentioned their debt to the team but also acknowledged the teams debt to them, and by labeling the tough economic times, and the stress they were causing, it diffused the biggest negative dynamictheir delinquencyand turned the issue into something solvable. + +The simple changes masked a complex understanding of empathy on TJs side. With the new script, TJ was able to set up payment plans with all the ticket holders before the Giants game. And the CFOs next visit? Well, it was far less terse. + +CLEAR THE ROAD BEFORE ADVERTISING THE DESTINATION + +Remember the amygdala, the part of the brain that generates fear in reaction to threats? Well, the faster we can interrupt the amygdalas reaction to real or imaginary threats, the faster we can clear the road of obstacles, and the quicker we can generate feelings of safety, well-being, and trust. + +We do that by labeling the fears. These labels are so powerful because they bathe the fears in sunlight, bleaching them of their power and showing our counterpart that we understand. + +Think back to that Harlem landing: I didnt say, It seems like you want us to let you go. We could all agree on that. But that wouldnt have diffused the real fear in the apartment, or shown that I empathized with the grim complexity of their situation. Thats why I went right at the amygdala and said, It seems like you dont want to go back to jail. + +Once theyve been labeled and brought into the open, the negative reactions in your counterparts amygdala will begin to soften. I promise it will shock you how suddenly his language turns from worry to optimism. Empathy is a powerful mood enhancer. + +The road is not always cleared so easily, so dont be demoralized if this process seems to go slowly. The Harlem high-rise negotiation took six hours. Many of us wear fears upon fears, like layers against the cold, so getting to safety takes time. + +That was the experience of another one of my students, a fund-raiser for the Girl Scouts, who backed into naming her counterparts fears almost accidentally. + +Were not talking about someone who sold Girl Scout cookies: my student was an experienced fund-raiser who regularly got donors to pony up $1,000 to $25,000 a check. Over the years, shed developed a very successful system to get her clients, usually wealthy women, to open their checkbook. + +Shed invite a potential donor to her office, serve a few Girl Scouts cookies, walk her through an album of heartwarming snapshots and handwritten letters from projects that matched the womans profile, and then collect a check when the donors eyes lit up. It was almost easy. + +One day, though, she met the immovable donor. Once the woman sat down in her office, my student began to throw out the projects her research had said would fit. But the woman shook her head at one project after another. + +My student found herself growing perplexed at the difficult donor who had no interest in donating. But she held her emotion in check and reached back to a lesson from my recent class on labeling. Im sensing some hesitation with these projects, she said in what she hoped was a level voice. + +As if shed been uncorked, the woman exclaimed: I want my gift to directly support programming for Girl Scouts and not anything else. + +This helped focus the conversation, but as my student put forth project after project that seemed to fulfill the donors criteria, all she got was still rejection. + +Sensing the potential donors growing frustration, and wanting to end on a positive note so that they might be able to meet again, my student used another label. It seems that you are really passionate about this gift and want to find the right project reflecting the opportunities and life-changing experiences the Girl Scouts gave you. + +And with that, this difficult woman signed a check without even picking a specific project. You understand me, she said as she got up to leave. I trust youll find the right project. + +Fear of her money being misappropriated was the presenting dynamic that the first label uncovered. But the second label uncovered the underlying dynamicher very presence in the office was driven by very specific memories of being a little Girl Scout and how it changed her life. + +The obstacle here wasnt finding the right match for the woman. It wasnt that she was this highly finicky, hard-to-please donor. The real obstacle was that this woman needed to feel that she was understood, that the person handling her money knew why she was in that office and understood the memories that were driving her actions. + +Thats why labels are so powerful and so potentially transformative to the state of any conversation. By digging beneath what seems like a mountain of quibbles, details, and logistics, labels help to uncover and identify the primary emotion driving almost all of your counterparts behavior, the emotion that, once acknowledged, seems to miraculously solve everything else. + +DO AN ACCUSATION AUDIT + +On the first day of negotiating class each semester, I march the group through an introductory exercise called sixty seconds or she dies. I play a hostage-taker and a student has to convince me to release my hostage within a minute. Its an icebreaker that shows me the level of my students, and it reveals to them how much they need to learn. (Heres a little secret: the hostage never gets out.) + +Sometimes students jump right in, but finding takers is usually hard because it means coming to the front of the class and competing with the guy who holds all the cards. If I just ask for a volunteer, my students sit on their hands and look away. Youve been there. You can almost feel your back muscles tense as you think, Oh please, dont call on me. + +So I dont ask. Instead, I say, In case youre worried about volunteering to role-play with me in front of the class, I want to tell you in advance . . . its going to be horrible. + +After the laughter dies down, I then say, And those of you who do volunteer will probably get more out of this than anyone else. + +I always end up with more volunteers than I need. + +Now, look at what I did: I prefaced the conversation by labeling my audiences fears; how much worse can something be than horrible? I defuse them and wait, letting it sink in and thereby making the unreasonable seem less forbidding. + +All of us have intuitively done something close to this thousands of times. Youll start a criticism of a friend by saying, I dont want this to sound harsh . . . hoping that whatever comes next will be softened. Or youll say, I dont want to seem like an asshole . . . hoping your counterpart will tell you a few sentences later that youre not that bad. The small but critical mistake this commits is denying the negative. That actually gives it credence. + +In court, defense lawyers do this properly by mentioning everything their client is accused of, and all the weaknesses of their case, in the opening statement. They call this technique taking the sting out. + +What I want to do here is turn this into a process that, applied systematically, you can use to disarm your counterpart while negotiating everything from your sons bedtime to large business contracts. + +The first step of doing so is listing every terrible thing your counterpart could say about you, in what I call an accusation audit. + +This idea of an accusation audit is really, really hard for people to get their minds around. The first time I tell my students about it, they say, Oh my God. We cant do that. It seems both artificial and self-loathing. It seems like it would make things worse. But then I remind them that its exactly what I did the first day of class when I labeled their fears of the hostage game in advance. And they all admit that none of them knew. + +As an example, Im going to use the experience of one of my students, Anna, because I couldnt be more proud at how she turned what she learned in my class into $1 million. + +At the time, Anna was representing a major government contractor. Her firm had won a competition for a sizable government deal by partnering with a smaller company, lets call it ABC Corp., whose CEO had a close relationship with the government client representative. + +Problems started right after they won the contract, though. Because ABCs relationship had been instrumental in winning the deal, ABC felt that it was owed a piece of the pie whether it fulfilled its part of the contract or not. + +And so, while the contract paid them for the work of nine people, they continually cut back support. As Annas company had to perform ABCs work, the relationship between ABC and Annas company fragmented into vituperative emails and bitter complaining. Facing an already low profit margin, Annas company was forced into tough negotiations to get ABC to take a cut to 5.5 people. The negotiations left a bitter aftertaste on both sides. The vituperative emails stopped, but then again all emails stopped. And no communication is always a bad sign. + +A few months after those painful talks, the client demanded a major rethink on the project and Annas firm was faced with losing serious money if it didnt get ABC to agree to further cuts. Because ABC wasnt living up to its side of the bargain, Annas firm would have had strong contractual grounds to cut out ABC altogether. But that would have damaged Annas firms reputation with a very important customer, and could have led to litigation from ABC. + +Faced with this scenario, Anna set up a meeting with ABC where she and her partners planned to inform ABC that its pay was being cut to three people. It was a touchy situation, as ABC was already unhappy about the first cut. Even though she was normally an aggressive and confident negotiator, worries about the negotiations ruined Annas sleep for weeks. She needed to extract concessions while improving the relationship at the same time. No easy task, right? + +To prepare, the first thing Anna did was sit down with her negotiating partner, Mark, and list every negative charge that ABC could level at them. The relationship had gone sour long before, so the list was huge. But the biggest possible accusations were easy to spot: + +You are the typical prime contractor trying to force out the small guy. + +You promised us we would have all this work and you reneged on your promise. + +You could have told us about this issue weeks ago to help us prepare. + +Anna and Mark then took turns role-playing the two sides, with one playing ABC and the other disarming these accusations with anticipatory labels. Youre going to think we are a big, bad prime contractor when we are done, Anna practiced saying slowly and naturally. It seems you feel this work was promised to you from the beginning, Mark said. They trained in front of an observer, honing their pacing; deciding at what point they would label each fear; and planning when to include meaningful pauses. It was theater. + +When the day of the meeting arrived, Anna opened by acknowledging ABCs biggest gripes. We understand that we brought you on board with the shared goal of having you lead this work, she said. You may feel like we have treated you unfairly, and that we changed the deal significantly since then. We acknowledge that you believe you were promised this work. + +This received an emphatic nod from the ABC representatives, so Anna continued by outlining the situation in a way that encouraged the ABC reps to see the firms as teammates, peppering her statements with open-ended questions that showed she was listening: What else is there you feel is important to add to this? + +By labeling the fears and asking for input, Anna was able to elicit an important fact about ABCs fears, namely that ABC was expecting this to be a high-profit contract because it thought Annas firm was doing quite well from the deal. + +This provided an entry point for Mark, who explained that the clients new demands had turned his firms profits into losses, meaning that he and Anna needed to cut ABCs pay further, to three people. Angela, one of ABCs representatives, gasped. + +It sounds like you think we are the big, bad prime contractor trying to push out the small business, Anna said, heading off the accusation before it could be made. + +No, no, we dont think that, Angela said, conditioned by the acknowledgment to look for common ground. + +With the negatives labeled and the worst accusations laid bare, Anna and Mark were able to turn the conversation to the contract. Watch what they do closely, as its brilliant: they acknowledge ABCs situation while simultaneously shifting the onus of offering a solution to the smaller company. + +It sounds like you have a great handle on how the government contract should work, Anna said, labeling Angelas expertise. + +Yesbut I know thats not how it always goes, Angela answered, proud to have her experience acknowledged. + +Anna then asked Angela how she would amend the contract so that everyone made some money, which pushed Angela to admit that she saw no way to do so without cutting ABCs worker count. + +Several weeks later, the contract was tweaked to cut ABCs payout, which brought Annas company $1 million that put the contract into the black. But it was Angelas reaction at the end of the meeting that most surprised Anna. After Anna had acknowledged that she had given Angela some bad news and that she understood how angry she must feel, Angela said: + +This is not a good situation but we appreciate the fact that you are acknowledging what happened, and we dont feel like you are mistreating us. And you are not the Big Bad Prime. + +Annas reaction to how this turned out? Holy crap, this stuff actually works! + +Shes right. As you just saw, the beauty of going right after negativity is that it brings us to a safe zone of empathy. Every one of us has an inherent, human need to be understood, to connect with the person across the table. That explains why, after Anna labeled Angelas fears, Angelas first instinct was to add nuance and detail to those fears. And that detail gave Anna the power to accomplish what she wanted from the negotiation. + +GET A SEATAND AN UPGRADEON A SOLD-OUT FLIGHT + +Up to this point, weve been building each skill as if they were musical instruments: first, try the saxophone mirror; now heres the bass label; and finally, why dont you blow a note on the French horn of tactical silence. But in a real negotiation the band all plays together. So youve got to learn how to conduct. + +Keeping all the instruments playing is really awkward for most people. It seems to go by in such a rush. So what Im going to do here is play a song at slow speed so you can hear each instrument note by note. I promise youll quickly see how the skills you have been building play off one another, rising, riffing, falling, and pausing in perfect harmony. + +Here is the situation (the song, if you will): My student Ryan B. was flying from Baltimore to Austin to sign a large computer-consulting contract. For six months, the client representative had gone back and forth on whether he wanted the services, but a major system collapse put the representative in a tight spot with his CEO. To shift the blame, he called Ryan with his CEO on the line and very aggressively demanded to know why it was taking Ryan so long to come ink the contract. If Ryan was not there by Friday morning, he said, the deal was off. + +Ryan bought a ticket for the next morning, Thursday, but a freak lightning storm whipped up in Baltimore, closing the airport for five hours. It became painfully clear that Ryan wasnt going to make his original connection to Austin from Dallas. Worse, when he called American Airlines just before departing, he found that his connection had been automatically rebooked to 3 p.m. the next day, putting the contract in jeopardy. + +When Ryan finally got to Dallas at 8 p.m., he ran to the gate where the days final American Airlines flight to Austin was less than thirty minutes from takeoff. His goal was to get on that flight or, at worst, get an earlier flight the next day. + +In front of him at the gate, a very aggressive couple was yelling at the gate agent, who was barely looking at them as she tapped on the computer in front of her; she was clearly making every effort not to scream back. After shed said, Theres nothing I can do, five times, the angry couple finally gave up and left. + +To start, watch how Ryan turns that heated exchange to his advantage. Following on the heels of an argument is a great position for a negotiator, because your counterpart is desperate for an empathetic connection. Smile, and youre already an improvement. + +Hi, Wendy, Im Ryan. It seems like they were pretty upset. + +This labels the negative and establishes a rapport based on empathy. This in turn encourages Wendy to elaborate on her situation, words Ryan then mirrors to invite her to go further. + +Yeah. They missed their connection. Weve had a fair amount of delays because of the weather. + +The weather? + +After Wendy explains how the delays in the Northeast had rippled through the system, Ryan again labels the negative and then mirrors her answer to encourage her to delve further. + +It seems like its been a hectic day. + +Thereve been a lot of irate consumers, you know? I mean, I get it, even though I dont like to be yelled at. A lot of people are trying to get to Austin for the big game. + +The big game? + +UT is playing Ole Miss football and every flight into Austin has been booked solid. + +Booked solid? + +Now lets pause. Up to this point, Ryan has been using labels and mirrors to build a relationship with Wendy. To her it must seem like idle chatter, though, because he hasnt asked for anything. Unlike the angry couple, Ryan is acknowledging her situation. His words ping-pong between Whats that? and I hear you, both of which invite her to elaborate. + +Now that the empathy has been built, she lets slip a piece of information he can use. + +Yeah, all through the weekend. Though who knows how many people will make the flights. The weathers probably going to reroute a lot of people through a lot of different places. + +Heres where Ryan finally swoops in with an ask. But notice how he acts: not assertive or coldly logical, but with empathy and labeling that acknowledges her situation and tacitly puts them in the same boat. + +Well, it seems like youve been handling the rough day pretty well, he says. I was also affected by the weather delays and missed my connecting flight. It seems like this flight is likely booked solid, but with what you said, maybe someone affected by the weather might miss this connection. Is there any possibility a seat will be open? + +Listen to that riff: Label, tactical empathy, label. And only then a request. + +At this point, Wendy says nothing and begins typing on her computer. Ryan, whos eager not to talk himself out of a possible deal, engages in some silence. After thirty seconds, Wendy prints a boarding pass and hands it to Ryan, explaining that there were a few seats that were supposed to be filled by people who would now arrive much later than the flights departure. To make Ryans success even better, she puts him in Economy Plus seating. + +All that in under two minutes! + +The next time you find yourself following an angry customer at a corner store or airplane line, take a moment and practice labels and mirrors on the service person. I promise they wont scream, Dont try to control me! and burst into flamesand you might walk away with a little more than you expected. + +KEY LESSONS + +As you try to insert the tools of tactical empathy into your daily life, I encourage you to think of them as extensions of natural human interactions and not artificial conversational tics. + +In any interaction, it pleases us to feel that the other side is listening and acknowledging our situation. Whether you are negotiating a business deal or simply chatting to the person at the supermarket butcher counter, creating an empathetic relationship and encouraging your counterpart to expand on their situation is the basis of healthy human interaction. + +These tools, then, are nothing less than emotional best practices that help you cure the pervasive ineptitude that marks our most critical conversations in life. They will help you connect and create more meaningful and warm relationships. That they might help you extract what you want is a bonus; human connection is the first goal. + +With that in mind, I encourage you to take the risk of sprinkling these in every conversation you have. I promise you that they will feel awkward and artificial at first, but keep at it. Learning to walk felt awfully strange, too. + +As you internalize these techniques, turning the artifice of tactical empathy into a habit and then into an integral part of your personality, keep in mind these lessons from the chapter youve just read: + +Imagine yourself in your counterparts situation. The beauty of empathy is that it doesnt demand that you agree with the other persons ideas (you may well find them crazy). But by acknowledging the other persons situation, you immediately convey that you are listening. And once they know that you are listening, they may tell you something that you can use. + +The reasons why a counterpart will not make an agreement with you are often more powerful than why they will make a deal, so focus first on clearing the barriers to agreement. Denying barriers or negative influences gives them credence; get them into the open. + +Pause. After you label a barrier or mirror a statement, let it sink in. Dont worry, the other party will fill the silence. + +Label your counterparts fears to diffuse their power. We all want to talk about the happy stuff, but remember, the faster you interrupt action in your counterparts amygdala, the part of the brain that generates fear, the faster you can generate feelings of safety, well-being, and trust. + +List the worst things that the other party could say about you and say them before the other person can. Performing an accusation audit in advance prepares you to head off negative dynamics before they take root. And because these accusations often sound exaggerated when said aloud, speaking them will encourage the other person to claim that quite the opposite is true. + +Remember youre dealing with a person who wants to be appreciated and understood. So use labels to reinforce and encourage positive perceptions and dynamics. + + + + + +CHAPTER 4 + + +BEWARE YESMASTER NO + + +Let me paint a scenario weve all experienced: Youre at home, just before dinner, and the phone rings. It is, no surprise, a telemarketer. He wants to sell you magazine subscriptions, water filters, frozen Argentine beefto be honest, it doesnt matter, as the script is always the same. After butchering your name, and engaging in some disingenuous pleasantries, he launches into his pitch. + +The hard sell that comes next is a scripted flowchart designed to cut off your escape routes as it funnels you down a path with no exit but Yes. Do you enjoy a nice glass of water from time to time. Well, yes, but . . . Me, too. And like me I bet you like crisp, clean water with no chemical aftertaste, like Mother Nature made it. Well, yes, but . . . + +Who is this guy with a fake smile in his voice, you wonder, who thinks he can trick you into buying something you dont want? You feel your muscles tighten, your voice go defensive, and your heart rate accelerate. + +You feel like his prey, and you are! + +The last thing you want to do is say Yes, even when its the only way to answer, Do you drink water? Compromise and concession, even to the truth, feels like defeat. And No, well, No feels like salvation, like an oasis. Youre tempted to use No when its blatantly untrue, just to hear its sweet sound. No, I do not need water, carbon filtered or otherwise. Im a camel! + +Now lets think about this selling technique. Its designed to get to Yes at all costs, as if No were death. And for many of us it is. We have all these negative connotations with No. We talk about the rejection of No, about the fear of hearing it. No is the ultimate negative word. + +But at the end of the day, Yes is often a meaningless answer that hides deeper objections (and Maybe is even worse). Pushing hard for Yes doesnt get a negotiator any closer to a win; it just angers the other side. + +So if Yes can be so damn uncomfortable, and No such a relief, why have we fetishized one and demonized the other? + +We have it backward. For good negotiators, No is pure gold. That negative provides a great opportunity for you and the other party to clarify what you really want by eliminating what you dont want. No is a safe choice that maintains the status quo; it provides a temporary oasis of control. + +At some point in their development, all negotiators have to come to grips with No. When you come to realize the real psychological dynamic behind it, youll love the word. Its not just that you lose your fear of it, but that you come to learn what it does for you and how you can build deals out of it. + +Yes and Maybe are often worthless. But No always alters the conversation. + +NO STARTS THE NEGOTIATION + +My fascination with No in all its beautiful nuance began with a conversation I had a few months before my negotiation career began. + +I started my career with the Bureau as a member of the FBI SWAT team in the Pittsburgh Division but after nearly two years I was transferred to New York, where the FBI attached me to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). It was an amazing post: We spent our days and nights tracking suspected terrorists, investigating their cells, and assessing whether or how they might strike. We were untying knots of human anger in the midst of Americas biggest city, making life-and-death decisions on who was dangerous and who was just blowing hot air. The work fascinated me. + +Ever since my first days with the Bureau, I had been obsessed with crisis response. The immediacy of the task enthralled me. The stakes were high. Lives hung in the balance. + +The emotional terrain was complex, changing, and often conflicting. To successfully gain a hostages safe release, a negotiator had to penetrate the hostage-takers motives, state of mind, intelligence, and emotional strengths and weaknesses. The negotiator played the role of bully, conciliator, enforcer, savior, confessor, instigator, and peacemakerand thats just a few of the parts. + +I thought I was cut out for every one of them. + +A few weeks after I got to Manhattan, I showed up at the desk of Amy Bonderow, who ran the FBIs Crisis Negotiation Team in New York. I didnt know beans about negotiating, so I went for the direct approach. + +I want be a hostage negotiator, I said. + +Everyone doesgot any training? she asked. + +No, I said. + +Any credentials? + +Nope. I answered. + +Any experience? she asked. + +No, I answered. + +Do you have a degree in psychology, sociology, anything at all related to negotiation? + +No. + +Looks like you answered your own question, she said. No. Now go away. + +Go away? I protested. Really? + +Yep. As in, Leave me alone. Everybody wants to be a hostage negotiator, and you have no rsum, experience, or skills. So what would you say in my position? You got it: No. + +I paused in front of her, thinking, This is not how my negotiating career ends. I had stared down terrorists; I wasnt going to just leave. + +Come on, I said. There has to be something I can do. + +Amy shook her head and gave one of those ironic laughs that mean the person doesnt think youve got a snowballs chance in hell. + +Ill tell you what. Yes, there is something you can do: Volunteer at a suicide hotline. Then come talk to me. No guarantees, got it? she said. Now, seriously, go away. + +My conversation with Amy kicked off my awareness of the complex and hidden subtleties of conversation, the power of certain words, the seemingly unintelligible emotional truths that so often underlie intelligible exchanges. + +A trap into which many fall is to take what other people say literally. I started to see that while people played the game of conversation, it was in the game beneath the game, where few played, that all the leverage lived. + +In our chat, I saw how the word Noso apparently clear and directreally wasnt so simple. Over the years, Ive thought back repeatedly to that conversation, replaying how Amy so quickly turned me down, again and again. But her Nos were just the gateway to Yes. They gave herand metime to pivot, adjust, and reexamine, and actually created the environment for the one Yes that mattered. + +While assigned to the JTTF, I worked with an NYPD lieutenant named Martin. He had a hard shell, and whenever asked for anything he responded with a terse negative. After Id gotten to know him a bit, I asked him why. Chris, he said, proudly, a lieutenants job is to say, No. + +At first, I thought that sort of automated response signaled a failure of imagination. But then I realized I did the same thing with my teenage son, and that after Id said No to him, I often found that I was open to hearing what he had to say. + +Thats because having protected myself, I could relax and more easily consider the possibilities. + +No is the start of the negotiation, not the end of it. Weve been conditioned to fear the word No. But it is a statement of perception far more often than of fact. It seldom means, I have considered all the facts and made a rational choice. Instead, No is often a decision, frequently temporary, to maintain the status quo. Change is scary, and No provides a little protection from that scariness. + +Jim Camp, in his excellent book, Start with NO,1 counsels the reader to give their adversary (his word for counterpart) permission to say No from the outset of a negotiation. He calls it the right to veto. He observes that people will fight to the death to preserve their right to say No, so give them that right and the negotiating environment becomes more constructive and collaborative almost immediately. + +When I read Camps book, I realized this was something wed known as hostage negotiators for years. Wed learned that the quickest way to get a hostage-taker out was to take the time to talk them out, as opposed to demanding their surrender. Demanding their surrender, telling them to come out, always ended up creating a much longer standoff and occasionally, actually contributed to death. + +It comes down to the deep and universal human need for autonomy. People need to feel in control. When you preserve a persons autonomy by clearly giving them permission to say No to your ideas, the emotions calm, the effectiveness of the decisions go up, and the other party can really look at your proposal. Theyre allowed to hold it in their hands, to turn it around. And it gives you time to elaborate or pivot in order to convince your counterpart that the change youre proposing is more advantageous than the status quo. + +Great negotiators seek No because they know thats often when the real negotiation begins. + +Politely saying No to your opponent (well go into this in more depth in Chapter 9), calmly hearing No, and just letting the other side know that they are welcome to say No has a positive impact on any negotiation. In fact, your invitation for the other side to say No has an amazing power to bring down barriers and allow for beneficial communication. + +This means you have to train yourself to hear No as something other than rejection, and respond accordingly. When someone tells you No, you need to rethink the word in one of its alternativeand much more realmeanings: + +I am not yet ready to agree; + +You are making me feel uncomfortable; + +I do not understand; + +I dont think I can afford it; + +I want something else; + +I need more information; or + +I want to talk it over with someone else. + +Then, after pausing, ask solution-based questions or simply label their effect: + +What about this doesnt work for you? + +What would you need to make it work? + +It seems like theres something here that bothers you. + +People have a need to say, No. So dont just hope to hear it at some point; get them to say it early. + +PERSUADE IN THEIR WORLD + +Id like to present you with a guy named Joe Businessman as he readies himself for a negotiation. Youve met him before. Hes the prepared type, with all his Getting to Yes strategies written out and memorized. And hes more than ready to unleash them on the guy across the table. Joe pauses to look at his expensive suit in the mirror, fantasizing about the impressive things hell say and the fancy charts and graphs thatll back up those things and leave his counterparthis opponentvanquished and in defeat. He is Russell Crowe in Gladiator. He is The Man. + +Now allow me to let you in on a secret: None of that preparation will mean a damn thing. His negotiation style is all me, me, me, ego, ego, ego. And when the people on the other side of the table pick up those signals, theyre going to decide that its best to politely, even furtively, ignore this Superman . . . by saying Yes! + +Huh? you say. + +Sure, the word theyll say right off is Yes, but that word is only a tool to get this blowhard to go away. Theyll weasel out later, claiming changing conditions, budget issues, the weather. For now, they just want to be released because Joe isnt convincing them of anything; hes only convincing himself. + +Ill let you in on a secret. There are actually three kinds of Yes: Counterfeit, Confirmation, and Commitment. + +A counterfeit yes is one in which your counterpart plans on saying no but either feels yes is an easier escape route or just wants to disingenuously keep the conversation going to obtain more information or some other kind of edge. A confirmation yes is generally innocent, a reflexive response to a black-or-white question; its sometimes used to lay a trap but mostly its just simple affirmation with no promise of action. And a commitment yes is the real deal; its a true agreement that leads to action, a yes at the table that ends with a signature on the contract. The commitment yes is what you want, but the three types sound almost the same so you have to learn how to recognize which one is being used. + +Human beings the world over are so used to being pursued for the commitment yes as a condition to find out more that they have become masters at giving the counterfeit yes. Thats what the people facing Joe Businessman are doing, dangling the counterfeit yes so they can hear more. + +Whether you call it buy-in or engagement or something else, good negotiators know that their job isnt to put on a great performance but to gently guide their counterpart to discover their goal as his own. + +Let me tell you, I learned that the hard way. + +Two months after talking with Amy, I started answering phones for HelpLine, the crisis hotline founded by Norman Vincent Peale. + +The basic rule was that you couldnt be with anybody on the phone for more than twenty minutes. If you did your job, it wasnt going to take you longer than that to get them to a better place. We had a thick book of organizations we referred them to for help. It was a paramedic approach: patch them up and send them on their way. + +But people in crisis only accounted for about 40 percent of the calls we got. The majority of the calls came from frequent callers. These are highly dysfunctional people, energy vampires whom no one else would listen to anymore. + +We kept a list of frequent callers and when you got one, the first thing you had to do was check to see if the person had called that day, because they were only allowed one call a day. They knew it, too. A lot of times, theyd say, Yeah, Im Eddie. I havent called yet today. Go ahead and check the list. You got to talk to me. + +Since I was there primarily to learn a skill, I loved the frequent callers. They were a problem, and I loved trying to figure them out. I felt I had some talent at it. I felt like a superstar. + +When it came time for my performance review, they assigned me a shift supervisor named Jim Snyder. Jim was a hotline veteran and a sweetheart; the only problem was he always wanted to joke around. Jim understood that volunteer burnout was the biggest problem at a hotline, so he dedicated his time to making work fun. I became good friends with Jim. + +For my review, Jim waited until I got a call and went into the monitoring room where the supervisors could listen to our calls. The call was from one of my frequent clients, a cabbie with a fear of going outside and plenty of time to tell me about it. This energy vampire (his name was Daryl) launched into his shtick about how he was going to lose his house and with it his will to live if he couldnt work. + +Seriously, when was the last time someone tried to hurt you on the streets? I asked. + +Well, I mean, its been a long time, Daryl said. + +Like . . . ? + +I cant really remember a date, Chris. Maybe a year, I guess. + +So its safe to say that the outside world hasnt been too hard on you, right? + +Yes, Daryl said. I suppose so. + +We went back and forth like this for a while, as I made him admit that most of us had little to fear in the world. I was feeling good about my new skills, about listening to Daryl and then CareFronting him, which was the slightly goofy name we gave to assertivelybut caringlyresponding to frequent callers. + +It was all flowing, and our rapport was great. I even got Daryl to laugh a few times. By the time I was done with him, he couldnt give me one reason not to step outside. + +Thank you, Chris, Daryl said just before he hung up. Thanks for doing such a great job. + +Before I went to see Jim, I leaned back in my chair and basked in that compliment. How often do you get that from a man in pain, I thought. Then I sprung up and strode toward the monitoring room, so proud I was practically buffing my nails on my shirt and patting my own back. + +Jim motioned me to the chair in front of him and gave me his biggest smile. I must have returned it with twice the wattage. + +Well, Chris, he said, still smiling. That was one of the worst calls I ever heard. + +I stared at him, gape-jawed. + +Jim, did you hear Daryl congratulate me? I asked. I talked him down, man. I killed it. + +Jim smiledI hated that smile right thenand nodded. + +Thats one of the signs, because they should be congratulating themselves when they get off the line, he said. They dont need to be congratulating you. That tells me you did too much. If they think you did itif you were the guy who killed ithow is he going to help himself? I dont want to be harsh, but you were horrible. + +As I listened to what Jim said, I felt that acid stomach rush you get when you are forced to accept that the guy dumping on you is completely right. Daryls response had been a kind of yes, but it had been anything but a true commitment yes. Hed made no promise to action. His yes had been designed to make me feel good enough to leave him alone. Daryl may not have known it, but his yes was as counterfeit as they came. + +You see, that whole call had been about me and my ego and not the caller. But the only way to get these callers to take action was to have them own the conversation, to believe that they were coming to these conclusions, to these necessary next steps, and that the voice at the other end was simply a medium for those realizations. + +Using all your skills to create rapport, agreement, and connection with a counterpart is useful, but ultimately that connection is useless unless the other person feels that they are equally as responsible, if not solely responsible, for creating the connection and the new ideas they have. + +I nodded slowly, the fight drained out of me. + +One of the worst calls? I said to Jim. Thats right. + +I worked hard at reorienting myself from that point on. I asked so many questions and read so much about it that soon they had me teaching two classes for new volunteers at HelpLine: the opening class, on active listening; and the one on CareFrontation. + +Got it, you say. Its not about me. We need to persuade from their perspective, not ours. But how? + +By starting with their most basic wants. + +In every negotiation, in every agreement, the result comes from someone elses decision. And sadly, if we believe that we can control or manage others decisions with compromise and logic, were leaving millions on the table. But while we cant control others decisions, we can influence them by inhabiting their world and seeing and hearing exactly what they want. + +Though the intensity may differ from person to person, you can be sure that everyone you meet is driven by two primal urges: the need to feel safe and secure, and the need to feel in control. If you satisfy those drives, youre in the door. + +As we saw with my chat with Daryl, youre not going to logically convince them that theyre safe, secure, or in control. Primal needs are urgent and illogical, so arguing them into a corner is just going to push your counterpart to flee with a counterfeit Yes. + +And being nice in the form of feigned sympathy is often equally as unsuccessful. We live in an age that celebrates niceness under various names. We are exhorted to be nice and to respect peoples feelings at all times and in every situation. + +But nice alone in the context of negotiation can backfire. Nice, employed as a ruse, is disingenuous and manipulative. Who hasnt received the short end of the stick in dealings with a nice salesman who took you for a ride? If you rush in with plastic niceness, your bland smile is going to dredge up all that baggage. + +Instead of getting inside with logic or feigned smiles, then, we get there by asking for No. Its the word that gives the speaker feelings of safety and control. No starts conversations and creates safe havens to get to the final Yes of commitment. An early Yes is often just a cheap, counterfeit dodge. + +About five months after shed told me to go away, I stopped by Amy Bonderows office and told her that Id volunteered at HelpLine. + +You did? she asked, smiling with surprise. I tell everybody to do that. And nobody ever does. + +It turned out that Amy had started her negotiating career by volunteering at the same place. She started naming people who were now mutual friends of ours. We laughed about Jim. + +In a sudden shift, Amy stopped speaking and stared at me. I shifted in my shoes as she gave me the Pause. Then she smiled. + +You get the next position. + +At that time, there were five other people aiming for the same slot, people who had psychology degrees, experience, and credentials. But I was on the road to the next hostage negotiation training course at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, ahead of everybody else. My career as a negotiator had officially begun. + +NO IS PROTECTION + +Think back to the telemarketer at the beginning of this chapter. The obvious reply to his questionDo you enjoy a nice glass of water?is Yes. But all you want to do is scream, No! After a question like that you just know the rest of the phone call is going to be painful. + +That, in a nutshell, distills the inherent contradictions in the values we give Yes and No. Whenever we negotiate, theres no doubt we want to finish with a Yes. But we mistakenly conflate the positive value of that final Yes with a positive value of Yes in general. And because we see No as the opposite of Yes, we then assume that No is always a bad thing. + +Nothing could be further from the truth. Saying No gives the speaker the feeling of safety, security, and control. You use a question that prompts a No answer, and your counterpart feels that by turning you down he has proved that hes in the drivers seat. Good negotiators welcomeeven invitea solid No to start, as a sign that the other party is engaged and thinking. + +Gun for a Yes straight off the bat, though, and your counterpart gets defensive, wary, and skittish. Thats why I tell my students that, if youre trying to sell something, dont start with Do you have a few minutes to talk? Instead ask, Is now a bad time to talk? Either you get Yes, it is a bad time followed by a good time or a request to go away, or you get No, its not and total focus. + +As an exercise, the next time you get a telemarketing call, write down the questions the seller asks. I promise youll find that your level of discomfort correlates directly to how quickly he pushes you for Yes. + +My colleague Marti Evelsizer was the one who first opened my eyes to why No was better than Yes. + +Marti was the FBIs Crisis Negotiation Coordinator in Pittsburgh at the time. She was a dynamo and a negotiating genius, which earned her huge respect both within the Bureau and with the local police. But human beings are innately jealous, and her immediate supervisor was no exception to that rule. Her success diminished him, and that made her a threat. + +His jealousy got the better of him when the Pittsburgh Police Departments Hostage Negotiation Team asked her to sit on the selection board for their new candidates. Picking her, and doing so over her boss, was an unprecedented move. + +So her boss decided to remove her from her position. For ignoring her regular duties, he said. But really it was for being a threat. + +When Marti sat down with her supervisor for her official dismissal, her options were few. He had every right to do as he pleased. + +Marti told me that she considered a variety of scenarios. She thought about going right at his jealousy and hashing it out, or explaining how the job would reflect well on the Bureau: Would you like our office to be honored for its expertise? + +But by the time she sat down with him, she had picked one of the most strongly worded No-oriented setup questions I have ever heard. + +Do you want the FBI to be embarrassed? she said. + +No, he answered. + +What do you want me to do? she responded. + +He leaned back in his chair, one of those 1950s faux-leather numbers that squeak meaningfully when the sitter shifts. He stared at her over his glasses and then nodded ever so slightly. He was in control. + +Look, you can keep the position, he said. Just go back out there and dont let it interfere with your other duties. + +And a minute later Marti walked out with her job intact. + +When I heard Marti do that, I was like, Bang! By pushing for a No, Marti nudged her supervisor into a zone where he was making the decisions. And then she furthered his feelings of safety and power with a question inviting him to define her next move. + +The important thing here is that Marti not only accepted the No; she searched it out and embraced it. + +At a recent sales conference, I asked the participants for the one word they all dread. The entire group yelled, No! To themand to almost everyoneNo means one thing: end of discussion. + +But thats not what it means. + +No is not failure. Used strategically its an answer that opens the path forward. Getting to the point where youre no longer horrified by the word No is a liberating moment that every negotiator needs to reach. Because if your biggest fear is No, you cant negotiate. Youre the hostage of Yes. Youre handcuffed. Youre done. + +So lets undress No. Its a reaffirmation of autonomy. It is not a use or abuse of power; it is not an act of rejection; it is not a manifestation of stubbornness; it is not the end of the negotiation. + +In fact, No often opens the discussion up. The sooner you say No, the sooner youre willing to see options and opportunities that you were blind to previously. Saying No often spurs people to action because they feel theyve protected themselves and now see an opportunity slipping away. + +Since Ive demystified No for myself, Ive found the ideas, perceptions, and baggage that people have with that two-letter word to be fascinating. To me, its like watching a movie or a music video from the 1980s for the umpteenth time. You can identify with the experiencewhile simultaneously being conscious of the fact that the world, and you, have moved on. + +Today, I coach my students to learn to see No for what it is. Rather than harming them or those they negotiate with, No protects and benefits all parties in an exchange. No creates safety, security, and the feeling of control. Its a requirement to implementable success. Its a pause, a nudge, and a chance for the speaker to articulate what they do want. + +As you can see, No has a lot of skills. + +No allows the real issues to be brought forth; + +No protects people from makingand lets them correctineffective decisions; + +No slows things down so that people can freely embrace their decisions and the agreements they enter into; + +No helps people feel safe, secure, emotionally comfortable, and in control of their decisions; + +No moves everyones efforts forward. + +One of my grad school students, a political fund-raiser named Ben Ottenhoff, drove home this lesson with a bang. For years, hed been using a traditional Yes pattern fund-raising script to raise money for Republican congressional candidates. + +FUND-RAISER: Hello, can I speak with Mr. Smith? + +MR. SMITH: Yes, this is he. + +FUND-RAISER: Im calling from the XYZ Committee, and I wanted to ask you a few important questions about your views on our economy today. Do you believe that gas prices are currently too high? + +MR. SMITH: Yes, gas prices are much too high and hurting my family. + +FUND-RAISER: Do you believe that the Democrats are part of the problem when it comes to high gas prices? + +MR. SMITH: Yes, President Obama is a bad person + +FUND-RAISER: Do you think we need change in November? + +MR. SMITH: Yes, I do. + +FUND-RAISER: Can you give me your credit card number so you can be a part of that change? + +In theory at least, the Yes answers built up a reservoir of positivity that exploded into donations when requested at the end of the script. The problem, in reality, was that the Yes pattern scripts had been giving poor rates of return for years. All the steps were Yes, but the final answer was invariably No. + +Then Ben read Jim Camps book Start with NO in my class and began to wonder if No could be a tool to boost donations. Ben knew that giving the potential donors a no-hard-feelings way to get off the call was going to be a tough sell to his grassroots fund-raisers, because it goes against everything they had been trained to do. But Bens a smart guy, so instead of totally swapping scripts he had a small group of his grassroots guys test-market a No-oriented script. + +FUND-RAISER: Hello, can I speak with Mr. Smith? + +MR. SMITH: Yes, this is he. + +FUND-RAISER: Im calling from the XYZ Committee, and I wanted to ask you a few important questions about your views on our economy today. Do you feel that if things stay the way they are, Americas best days are ahead of it? + +MR. SMITH: No, things will only get worse. + +FUND-RAISER: Are you going to sit and watch President Obama take the White House in November without putting up a fight? + +MR. SMITH: No, Im going to do anything I can to make sure that doesnt happen. + +FUND-RAISER: If you want do something today to make sure that doesnt happen, you can give to XYZ Committee, which is working hard to fight for you. + +See how clearly that swaps Yes for No and offers to take a donation if Mr. Smith wants? It puts Mr. Smith in the drivers seat; hes in charge. And it works! In a truly remarkable turnaround, the No-oriented script got a 23 percent better rate of return. + +The only sad part of Bens tale is that despite the huge improvement in results, he couldnt roll out the script to all his fund-raisers. It went against fund-raising orthodoxy, and longtime fund-raisers like the fake comfort of the Yes. Genius is often missed the first time around, right? + +One negotiating genius whos impossible to miss is Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks. I always quote to my students one of his best lines on negotiation: Every No gets me closer to a Yes. But then I remind them that extracting those Nos on the road to Yes isnt always easy. + +There is a big difference between making your counterpart feel that they can say No and actually getting them to say it. Sometimes, if youre talking to somebody who is just not listening, the only way you can crack their cranium is to antagonize them into No. + +One great way to do this is to mislabel one of the other partys emotions or desires. You say something that you know is totally wrong, like So it seems that you really are eager to leave your job when they clearly want to stay. That forces them to listen and makes them comfortable correcting you by saying, No, thats not it. This is it. + +Another way to force No in a negotiation is to ask the other party what they dont want. Lets talk about what you would say No to, youd say. And people are comfortable saying No here because it feels like self-protection. And once youve gotten them to say No, people are much more open to moving forward toward new options and ideas. + +Noor the lack thereofalso serves as a warning, the canary in the coal mine. If despite all your efforts, the other party wont say No, youre dealing with people who are indecisive or confused or who have a hidden agenda. In cases like that you have to end the negotiation and walk away. + +Think of it like this: No No means no go. + +EMAIL MAGIC: HOW NEVER TO BE IGNORED AGAIN + +Theres nothing more irritating than being ignored. Being turned down is bad, but getting no response at all is the pits. It makes you feel invisible, as if you dont exist. And its a waste of your time. Weve all been through it: You send an email to someone youre trying to do business with and they ignore you. Then you send a polite follow-up and they stonewall you again. So what do you do? + +You provoke a No with this one-sentence email. + +Have you given up on this project? + +The point is that this one-sentence email encapsulates the best of No-oriented questions and plays on your counterparts natural human aversion to loss. The No answer the email demands offers the other party the feeling of safety and the illusion of control while encouraging them to define their position and explain it to you. + +Just as important, it makes the implicit threat that you will walk away on your own terms. To stop that from happeningto cut their losses and prove their powerthe other partys natural inclination is to reply immediately and disagree. No, our priorities havent changed. Weve just gotten bogged down and . . . + +If youre a parent, you already use this technique instinctively. What do you do when your kids wont leave the house/park/mall? You say, Fine. Im leaving, and you begin to walk away. Im going to guess that well over half the time they yell, No, wait! and run to catch up. No one likes to be abandoned. + +Now, this may seem like a rude way to address someone in business, but you have to get over that. Its not rude, and though its direct, its cloaked with the safety of No. Ignoring you is whats rude. I can tell you that Ive used this successfully not just in North America, but with people in two different cultures (Arabic and Chinese) famous for never saying No. + +KEY LESSONS + +Using this chapters tools in daily life is difficult for many people because they go directly against one of societys biggest social dictums. That is, Be nice. + +Weve instrumentalized niceness as a way of greasing the social wheels, yet its often a ruse. Were polite and we dont disagree to get through daily existence with the least degree of friction. But by turning niceness into a lubricant, weve leeched it of meaning. A smile and a nod might signify Get me out of here! as much as it means Nice to meet you. + +Thats death for a good negotiator, who gains their power by understanding their counterparts situation and extracting information about their counterparts desires and needs. Extracting that information means getting the other party to feel safe and in control. And while it may sound contradictory, the way to get there is by getting the other party to disagree, to draw their own boundaries, to define their desires as a function of what they do not want. + +As you try to put the chapters methods to use, I encourage you to think of them as the antiniceness ruse. Not in the sense that they are unkind, but in the sense that they are authentic. Triggering No peels away the plastic falsehood of Yes and gets you to whats really at stake. Along the way, keep in mind these powerful lessons: + +Break the habit of attempting to get people to say yes. Being pushed for yes makes people defensive. Our love of hearing yes makes us blind to the defensiveness we ourselves feel when someone is pushing us to say it. + +No is not a failure. We have learned that No is the anti-Yes and therefore a word to be avoided at all costs. But it really often just means Wait or Im not comfortable with that. Learn how to hear it calmly. It is not the end of the negotiation, but the beginning. + +Yes is the final goal of a negotiation, but dont aim for it at the start. Asking someone for Yes too quickly in a conversationDo you like to drink water, Mr. Smith?gets his guard up and paints you as an untrustworthy salesman. + +Saying No makes the speaker feel safe, secure, and in control, so trigger it. By saying what they dont want, your counterpart defines their space and gains the confidence and comfort to listen to you. Thats why Is now a bad time to talk? is always better than Do you have a few minutes to talk? + +Sometimes the only way to get your counterpart to listen and engage with you is by forcing them into a No. That means intentionally mislabeling one of their emotions or desires or asking a ridiculous questionlike, It seems like you want this project to failthat can only be answered negatively. + +Negotiate in their world. Persuasion is not about how bright or smooth or forceful you are. Its about the other party convincing themselves that the solution you want is their own idea. So dont beat them with logic or brute force. Ask them questions that open paths to your goals. Its not about you. + +If a potential business partner is ignoring you, contact them with a clear and concise No-oriented question that suggests that you are ready to walk away. Have you given up on this project? works wonders. + + + + + +CHAPTER 5 + + +TRIGGER THE TWO WORDS THAT IMMEDIATELY TRANSFORM ANY NEGOTIATION + + +In August 2000, the militant Islamic group Abu Sayyaf, in the southern Philippines, broadcast that it had captured a CIA agent. The truth was not as newsworthy, or as valuable to the rebels. + +Abu Sayyaf had kidnapped Jeffrey Schilling, a twenty-four-year-old American who had traveled near their base in Jolo Island. A California native, Schilling became a hostage with a $10 million price tag on his head. + +At the time I was a Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) attached to the FBIs elite Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU). The CNU is the equivalent of the special forces of negotiations. Its attached to the FBIs Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). Both are national counterterrorist response assets. They are the best of the best. + +The CNU is based at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The FBI Academy has come to be known by the one word, Quantico. Rightly or wrongly, Quantico has developed the reputation as one of the centers, if not the center of knowledge, for law enforcement. When a negotiation is going badly and the negotiators involved are directed to call and find out what Quantico has to say, the CNU is who they call. + +CNU developed what is a powerful staple in the high-stakes world of crisis negotiation, the Behavioral Change Stairway Model (BCSM). The model proposes five stagesactive listening, empathy, rapport, influence, and behavioral changethat take any negotiator from listening to influencing behavior. + +The origins of the model can be traced back to the great American psychologist Carl Rogers, who proposed that real change can only come when a therapist accepts the client as he or she isan approach known as unconditional positive regard. The vast majority of us, however, as Rogers explained, come to expect that love, praise, and approval are dependent on saying and doing the things people (initially, our parents) consider correct. That is, because for most of us the positive regard we experience is conditional, we develop a habit of hiding who we really are and what we really think, instead calibrating our words to gain approval but disclosing little. + +Which is why so few social interactions lead to actual behavior change. Consider the typical patient with severe coronary heart disease recovering from open-heart surgery. The doctor tells the patient: This surgery isnt a cure. The only way to truly prolong your life is to make the following behavior changes . . . The grateful patient responds: Yes, yes, yes, of course, Doctor! This is my second chance. I will change! + +And do they? Study after study has shown that, no, nothing changes; two years after their operation, more than 90 percent of patients havent changed their lifestyle at all. + +Though the stakes of an everyday negotiation with your child, boss, or client are usually not as high as that of a hostage (or health crisis) negotiation, the psychological environment necessary for not just temporary in-the-moment compliance, but real gut-level change, is the same. + +If you successfully take someone up the Behavioral Change Stairway, each stage attempting to engender more trust and more connection, there will be a breakthrough moment when unconditional positive regard is established and you can begin exerting influence. + +After years of refining the BCSM and its tactics, I can teach anyone how to get to that moment. But as cardiologists know all too well, and legions of B-school grads weaned on the most famous negotiating book in the world, Getting to Yes, have ultimately discovered, you more than likely havent gotten there yet if what youre hearing is the word yes. + +As youll soon learn, the sweetest two words in any negotiation are actually Thats right. + +CREATE A SUBTLE EPIPHANY + +I was a natural for the Schilling case. I had spent some time in the Philippines and had an extensive background in terrorism from my New York City days assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). + +A few days after Schilling became a hostage, my partner Chuck Regini and I flew to Manila to run the negotiations. Along with Jim Nixon, the FBIs highest official in Manila, we conferred with top Philippine military brass. They agreed to let us guide the negotiations. Then we got down to business. One of us would take charge of the negotiation strategy for the FBI and consequently for the U.S. government. That became my role. With the support of my colleagues, my job was to come up with the strategy, get it approved, and implement it. + +As a result of the Schilling case, I would become the FBIs lead international kidnapping negotiator. + +Our principal adversary was Abu Sabaya, the rebel leader who personally negotiated for Schillings ransom. Sabaya was a veteran of the rebel movement with a violent past. He was straight out of the movies, a terrorist-sociopath-killer. He had a history of rape, murder, and beheadings. He liked to record his bloody deeds on video and send them to the Philippine media. + +Sabaya always wore sunglasses, a bandana, a black T-shirt, and camo pants. He thought it made him a more dashing figure. If you look for any photos of Abu Sayyaf terrorists from this period, you always see one in sunglasses. Thats Sabaya. + +Sabaya loved, loved, loved the media. He had the Philippine reporters on speed dial. Theyd call him and ask him questions in Tagalog, his native tongue. He would answer in English because he wanted the world to hear his voice on CNN. They should make a movie about me, he would tell reporters. + +In my eyes, Sabaya was a cold-blooded businessman with an ego as big as Texas. A real shark. Sabaya knew he was in the commodities game. In Jeffrey Schilling, he had an item of value. How much could he get for it? He would find out, and I intended it to be a surprise he wouldnt like. As an FBI agent, I wanted to free the hostage and bring the criminal to justice. + +One crucial aspect of any negotiation is to figure out how your adversary arrived at his position. Sabaya threw out the $10 million ransom based on a business calculation. + +First, the United States was offering $5 million for information leading to the arrest of any of the remaining fugitives from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Sabaya reasoned that if the United States would pay $5 million to get its hands on someone it didnt like, it would pay much more for a citizen. + +Second, a rival faction of the Abu Sayyaf had just reportedly been paid $20 million for six Western European captives. Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi had made the payment as development aid. This absurdity had been compounded by a significant portion of the ransom being paid in counterfeit bills. It was an opportunity for Gaddafi to both embarrass Western governments and get money over-the-table to groups with whom he sympathized. Im sure he laughed about that episode until the day he died. + +Regardless, a price had been set. Sabaya did the math and figured Schilling was worth $10 million. Problem was, Jeff Schilling came from a working-class family. His mother could come up with $10,000, perhaps. The United States wasnt about to pay one dollar. But we would allow a payment to be made if it could be run as a sting operation. + +If we could draw Sabaya into an offer-counteroffer bargaining situation, we had a bargaining system that worked every time. We could beat him down to where we wanted him, get the hostage out, and set up the sting. + +For months Sabaya refused to budge. He argued that Muslims in the Philippines had suffered five hundred years of oppression, since Spanish missionaries had brought Catholicism to the Philippines in the sixteenth century. He recited instances where atrocities had been committed against his Islamic forebears. He explained why the Abu Sayyaf wanted to establish an Islamic state in the southern Philippines. Fishing rights had been violated. You name it, he thought it up and used it. + +Sabaya wanted $10 million in war damagesnot ransom, but war damages. He held firm in his demand and kept us out of the offer-counteroffer system we wanted to use against him. + +And he occasionally dropped in threats that he was torturing Jeff Schilling. + +Sabaya negotiated directly with Benjie, a Filipino military officer. They talked in Tagalog. We reviewed transcripts translated to English and used them to advise Benjie. I rotated in and out of Manila and oversaw the talks and strategy. I instructed Benjie to ask what Schilling had to do with five hundred years of bad blood between Muslims and Filipinos. He told Sabaya that $10 million was not possible. + +No matter what approach we took to reason with Sabaya over why Schilling had nothing to do with the war damages, it fell on deaf ears. + +Our first thats right breakthrough actually came when I was negotiating with Benjie. He was a true Filipino patriot and hero. He was the leader of the Philippine National Polices Special Action Force and had been in his share of firefights. On many occasions, Benjie and his men had been sent on rescue missions to save hostages, and they had a sterling record. His men were feared, for good reason. They rarely took handcuffs. + +Benjie wanted to take a hard line with Sabaya and speak to him in direct, no-nonsense terms. We wanted to engage Sabaya in dialogue to discover what made the adversary tick. We actually wanted to establish rapport with an adversary. To Benjie that was distasteful. + +Benjie told us he needed a break. We had been working him nearly twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for several weeks. He wanted to spend some time with his family in the mountains north of Manila. We agreed, but only on the condition that we could accompany him and spend several hours both on Saturday and Sunday working on negotiation strategy. + +That Saturday night we sat in the library of the American ambassadors summer residence working on the strategy. As I was explaining to Benjie the value of establishing a rapport-based, working relationship, even with an adversary as dangerous as Sabaya, I could see a snarl coming over his face. I realized I needed to negotiate with Benjie. + +You hate Sabaya, dont you? I said, leading with a label. + +Benjie unloaded on me. I tell you I do! he said. He has murdered and raped. He has come up on our radio when we were lobbing mortars on his position and said these mortars are music to my ears. I heard his voice come on our radio one day and celebrate that he was standing over the body of one of my men. + +This outburst was Benjies equivalent of thats right. As he acknowledged his rage, I watched him get control of his anger and calm down. Though he had been very good up to that point, from that moment forward Benjie became a superstar. He blossomed into a truly talented negotiator. + +This negotiation between Benjie and me was no different than any other negotiation between colleagues who disagree on a strategy. Before you convince them to see what youre trying to accomplish, you have to say the things to them that will get them to say, Thats right. + +The thats right breakthrough usually doesnt come at the beginning of a negotiation. Its invisible to the counterpart when it occurs, and they embrace what youve said. To them, its a subtle epiphany. + +TRIGGER A THATS RIGHT! WITH A SUMMARY + +After four months of negotiations, Sabaya still refused to budge. I decided it was time to hit the reset switch. + +Benjie had gotten so good at extending the conversations that you could tell that there were times that Sabaya must have paced back and forth for an hour before calling Benjie, trying to figure out how to get what he wanted. He would call in and say, Tell me yes or no! Just yes or no! + +We had to get Sabaya off this war damages nonsense. No matter what type of questioning, logic, or reasoning we tried with him, he wouldnt release it. Threats against Schilling came and went. We talked him down each time. + +I decided that in order to break through this phase we needed to reposition Sabaya with his own words in a way that would dissolve barriers. We needed to get him to say, Thats right. At the time, I didnt know for sure what kind of breakthrough it was going to give us. I just knew we needed to trust the process. + +I wrote a two-page document that instructed Benjie to change course. We were going to use nearly every tactic in the active listening arsenal: + +1.Effective Pauses: Silence is powerful. We told Benjie to use it for emphasis, to encourage Sabaya to keep talking until eventually, like clearing out a swamp, the emotions were drained from the dialogue. + +2.Minimal Encouragers: Besides silence, we instructed using simple phrases, such as Yes, OK, Uh-huh, or I see, to effectively convey that Benjie was now paying full attention to Sabaya and all he had to say. + +3.Mirroring: Rather than argue with Sabaya and try to separate Schilling from the war damages, Benjie would listen and repeat back what Sabaya said. + +4.Labeling: Benjie should give Sabayas feelings a name and identify with how he felt. It all seems so tragically unfair, I can now see why you sound so angry. + +5.Paraphrase: Benjie should repeat what Sabaya is saying back to him in Benjies own words. This, we told him, would powerfully show him you really do understand and arent merely parroting his concerns. + +6.Summarize: A good summary is the combination of rearticulating the meaning of what is said plus the acknowledgment of the emotions underlying that meaning (paraphrasing + labeling = summary). We told Benjie he needed to listen and repeat the world according to Abu Sabaya. He needed to fully and completely summarize all the nonsense that Sabaya had come up with about war damages and fishing rights and five hundred years of oppression. And once he did that fully and completely, the only possible response for Sabaya, and anyone faced with a good summary, would be thats right. + +Two days later Sabaya phoned Benjie. Sabaya spoke. Benjie listened. When he spoke, he followed my script: he commiserated with the rebel groups predicament. Mirroring, encouraging, labeling, each tactic worked seamlessly and cumulatively to soften Sabaya up and begin shifting his perspective. Finally, Benjie repeated in his own words Sabayas version of history and the emotions that came with that version. + +Sabaya was silent for nearly a minute. Finally he spoke. + +Thats right, he said. + +We ended the call. + +The war damages demand just disappeared. + +From that point forward Sabaya never mentioned money again. He never asked for another dime for the release of Jeffrey Schilling. He ultimately became so weary of this case and holding the young Californian that he let down his guard. Schilling escaped from their camp, and Philippine commandoes swooped in and rescued him. He returned safely to his family in California. + +Two weeks after Jeff Schilling escaped, Sabaya called Benjie: + +Have you been promoted yet? he asked. If not, you should have been. + +Why? Benjie asked. + +I was going to hurt Jeffrey, Sabaya said. I dont know what you did to keep me from doing that, but whatever it was, it worked. + +In June 2002 Sabaya was killed in a shoot-out with Philippine military units. + +In the heat of negotiations for a mans life, I didnt appreciate the value of those two words: Thats right. But when I studied the transcripts and reconstructed the trajectory of the negotiations, I realized that Sabaya had changed course when he uttered those words. Benjie had used some fundamental techniques that we had developed over many years. He had reflected Sabayas vision. He had stepped back from confrontation. He had allowed Sabaya to speak freely and exhaust his version of events. + +Thats right signaled that negotiations could proceed from deadlock. It broke down a barrier that was impeding progress. It created a realization point with our adversary where he actually agreed on a point without the feeling of having given in. + +It was a stealth victory. + +When your adversaries say, Thats right, they feel they have assessed what youve said and pronounced it as correct of their own free will. They embrace it. + +Thats right allowed us to draw out the talks and divert Sabaya from hurting Schilling. And it gave Philippine commandos time to mount their rescue operation. + +In hostage negotiations, we never tried to get to yes as an endpoint. We knew that yes is nothing without how. And when we applied hostage negotiating tactics to business, we saw how thats right often leads to the best outcomes. + +THATS RIGHT IS GREAT, BUT IF YOURE RIGHT, NOTHING CHANGES + +Driving toward thats right is a winning strategy in all negotiations. But hearing youre right is a disaster. + +Take my son, Brandon, and his development as a football player. He had been playing on the offensive and defensive lines all through high school. At six foot two and 250 pounds, he was formidable. He loved to knock every player wearing an opposing jersey to the ground. + +Having played quarterback, I didnt fully appreciate the blue-collar nature of being a lineman. Linemen are like mountain goats. They put their heads down and hit things. It makes them happy. + +At St. Thomas More prep school in Connecticut, Brandons coach moved him to linebacker, and his role suddenly changed from hitting everything he saw to avoiding players who were trying to block him. He was supposed to play off blocksdodge them, if you willand get to the ball. But Brandon continued to confront opposing blockers head-on, which kept him from getting to the ballcarrier. His coach pleaded with him to avoid blockers, but Brandon couldnt change. He loved to hit. Flattening opposing players was a source of pride. + +Both his coach and I kept trying to explain it to him. And every time we got the worst possible answerYoure right. He agreed, in theory, but he didnt own the conclusion. Then he would go right back to the behavior we were trying to get him to stop. He would smash blockers and take himself out of the play. + +Why is youre right the worst answer? + +Consider this: Whenever someone is bothering you, and they just wont let up, and they wont listen to anything you have to say, what do you tell them to get them to shut up and go away? Youre right. + +It works every time. Tell people youre right and they get a happy smile on their face and leave you alone for at least twenty-four hours. But you havent agreed to their position. You have used youre right to get them to quit bothering you. + +I was in the same situation with Brandon. He didnt hear me and embrace my request. What could I say to get through to this kid? How could I reach Brandon and help him change course? + +I thought back to Benjie and Sabaya. I took Brandon aside before a crucial game. I had searched my mind for a way to hear the two critical words, Thats right. + +You seem to think its unmanly to dodge a block, I told him. You think its cowardly to get out of someones way thats trying to hit you. + +Brandon stared at me and paused. + +Thats right, he said. + +With those words Brandon embraced the reality of what was holding him back. Once he understood why he was trying to knock down every blocker, he changed course. He started avoiding the blocks and became an exceptionally fine linebacker. + +With Brandon on the field tackling and playing star linebacker, St. Thomas More School won every game. + +USING THATS RIGHT TO MAKE THE SALE + +Getting to thats right helped one of my students in her job as a sales representative for a large pharmaceutical company. + +She was trying to sell a new product to a doctor who used similar medication. He was the largest user of this kind of medication in her territory. The sale was critical to her success. + +In her first appointments, the doctor dismissed her product. He said it was no better than the ones he was already using. He was unfriendly. He didnt even want to hear her viewpoint. When she presented the positive attributes of her product, he interrupted her and knocked them down. + +Making the sales pitch, she soaked up as much as possible about the doctor. She learned that he was passionate about treating his patients. Each patient was special in his eyes. Improving their sense of calm and peace was the most important outcome for him. How could she put her understanding of his needs, desires, and passions to work for her? + +At her next visit, the doctor asked what medications she wanted to discuss. Rather than tout the benefits of her product, she talked about him and his practice. + +Doctor, she said, the last time I was in we spoke about your patients with this condition. I remember thinking that you seemed very passionate about treating them, and how you worked hard to tailor the specific treatment to each and every patient. + +He looked her in the eyes as if he were seeing her for the first time. + +Thats right, he said. I really feel like Im treating an epidemic that other doctors are not picking up onwhich means that a lot of patients are not getting treated adequately. + +She told him he seemed to have a deep understanding of how to treat these patients, especially because some of them didnt respond to the usual medications. They talked about specific challenges he had confronted in treating his patients. He gave her examples. + +When he was finished, she summarized what he had said, especially the intricacies and problems in treatment. + +You seem to tailor specific treatments and medications for each patient, she said. + +Thats right, he responded. + +This was the breakthrough she had hoped to reach. The doctor had been skeptical and cold. But when she recognized his passion for his patientsusing a summarythe walls came down. He dropped his guard, and she was able to gain his trust. Rather than pitch her product, she let him describe his treatment and procedures. With this, she learned how her medication would fit into his practice. She then paraphrased what he said about the challenges of his practice and reflected them back to him. + +Once the doctor signaled his trust and rapport, she could tout the attributes of her product and describe precisely how it would help him reach the outcomes he desired for his patients. He listened intently. + +It might be perfect for treating a patient who has not benefited from the medication I have been prescribing, he told her. Let me give yours a try. + +She made the sale. + +USING THATS RIGHT FOR CAREER SUCCESS + +One of my Korean students got to thats right in negotiating with his ex-boss for a new job. + +Returning to Seoul after getting his MBA, he wanted to work in his companys consumer electronics division, rather than the semiconductor section, where he had been stationed. He was a human resources specialist. Under the companys rules, he believed he had to remain in his previous department, unless he could also get approval from his ex-boss. He had gotten two job offers from the consumer products division. He phoned his ex-boss from the United States. + +You should reject this offer and find your spot here with the semiconductor division, the ex-boss said. + +My student hung up depressed. If he wanted to advance in the company, he had to obey his former superior. He rejected the two offers and prepared to return to the semiconductor side. + +Then he contacted a friend who was a senior manager in the human resources department to check on the companys regulations. He found there was no rule that he had to stay within his division, but he did need his ex-bosss blessing to switch. + +He phoned his ex-boss again. This time he asked questions to draw him out. + +Is there any reason you want me to go to the semiconductor headquarters? he asked. + +Its the best position for you, the ex-boss said. + +The best position? he asked. It sounds like theres no regulation that I have to remain with the semiconductor division, he said. Hmm, the ex-boss said. I dont think there is any. + +Then will you please tell me what made you decide that I remain in the semiconductor headquarters? he asked. + +The ex-boss said he needed someone to help him network at headquarters between the semiconductor and consumer products divisions. + +So it sounds like you could approve my new position no matter which division, as long as I was in headquarters and could help you communicate better with the top managers. + +Thats right, he said. I must admit I need your help in headquarters. + +My student realized he had made a breakthrough. Not only had his ex-boss uttered those sweet wordsthats rightbut he had revealed his true motive: he needed an ally in headquarters. + +Is there any other help you need? he asked. + +Let me tell you everything, the ex-boss responded. + +It turns out his former superior would be up for a promotion to vice president in two years. He desperately wanted to move up into this job. He needed someone in headquarters to lobby the company CEO. + +I would help you in any way, my student said. But I could help with the networking and also talk you up to the CEO even if I were at headquarters with the consumer products division, right? + +Thats right, he said. If you get an offer from the consumer products unit, I will approve it. + +Bingo! By asking questions that got him to thats right, my student had achieved his goal. He also got his boss to reveal two Black Swans, the unspoken, underlying breakthrough dynamics of a negotiation (explored in more detail in Chapter 10): + +His boss needed someone to help him network and communicate in headquarters. + +His boss would be up for a promotion and needed someone to talk him up to the CEO. + +My student was able to win the job he desired on the consumer electronics division. And hes been talking up his former boss. + +I was stunned, he wrote me in an email. In this culture it is not really possible to know what a superior is thinking. + +I have many opportunities to travel the country and speak to business leaders, either in formal speaking engagements or private counseling sessions. I entertain them with war stories, then I describe some basic negotiating skills. I always impart a few techniques. Getting to thats right is a staple. + +After a speech in Los Angeles, one of the attendees, Emily, sent me an email: + +Hi Chris, I feel compelled to tell you that I just tried the Thats right technique in a price negotiation with a potential new client. And, I got what I wanted. Im so excited! + +Before I probably would have just gone with the in-the-middle suggested price (halfway between my initial offer and her initial counter). Instead, I believe I correctly assessed her motivations, presented her with the right statement to get to a thats right (in her mind) . . . and then she proposed the solution I wanted and asked if I would agree to it! So, I did of course. + +Thank you! + +Emily + +And I thought to myself: Thats right. + +KEY LESSONS + +Sleeping in the same bed and dreaming different dreams is an old Chinese expression that describes the intimacy of partnership (whether in marriage or in business) without the communication necessary to sustain it. + +Such is the recipe for bad marriages and bad negotiations. + +With each party having its own set of objectives, its own goals and motivations, the truth is that the conversational nicetiesthe socially lubricating yeses and youre rights that get thrown out fast and furious early in any interactionare not in any way a substitute for real understanding between you and your partner. + +The power of getting to that understanding, and not to some simple yes, is revelatory in the art of negotiation. The moment youve convinced someone that you truly understand her dreams and feelings (the whole world that she inhabits), mental and behavioral change becomes possible, and the foundation for a breakthrough has been laid. + +Use these lessons to lay that foundation: + +Creating unconditional positive regard opens the door to changing thoughts and behaviors. Humans have an innate urge toward socially constructive behavior. The more a person feels understood, and positively affirmed in that understanding, the more likely that urge for constructive behavior will take hold. + +Thats right is better than yes. Strive for it. Reaching thats right in a negotiation creates breakthroughs. + +Use a summary to trigger a thats right. The building blocks of a good summary are a label combined with paraphrasing. Identify, rearticulate, and emotionally affirm the world according to . . . + + + + + +CHAPTER 6 + + +BEND THEIR REALITY + + +One Monday morning in Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince, a call came in to the FBI office from the nephew of a prominent Haitian political figure. He spoke so fast he had to repeat his story three times before I understood. But finally I got the basics: kidnappers had snatched his aunt from her car, and their ransom demand was $150,000. + +Give us the money, the kidnappers told him, or your aunt is going to die. + +In the lawless, chaotic wake of the 2004 rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti surpassed Colombia as the kidnap capital of the Americas. In fact, with between eight and ten people abducted every day in the Caribbean nation of eight million, Haiti earned the dubious honor of having the highest kidnapping rate in the world. + +During this onslaught of abductions and death threats, I was the FBIs lead international kidnapping negotiator. And I had never seen anything like it. Reports of abductionsincreasingly bold, daylight attacks right in Port-au-Princeseemed to roll into the office hourly: fourteen students abducted on their school bus; American missionary Phillip Snyder shot in an ambush and seized along with a Haitian boy he was taking to Michigan for eye surgery; prominent Haitian politicians and businessmen bundled from their homes in broad daylight. No one was spared. + +Most of the abductions went down the same way: ski-mask-clad kidnappers surrounded a house or a car, forced entry with a gun, and snatched a vulnerable victimusually a woman, child, or elderly person. + +Early on, there was the possibility that the kidnappings were driven by politically aligned gangs seeking to destabilize Haitis new government. This proved to be wrong. Haitian criminals are famous for employing brutal means for political ends, but when it came to kidnappings, it was almost always all business. + +Later on, Ill get to how we pieced together the clues to discover who the perpetrators were and what they really wantedinvaluable information when it came to negotiating with and destabilizing these gangs. But first I want to discuss the crystallizing feature of high-stakes, life-and-death negotiating: that is, how little of it is on the surface. + +When that Monday ransom call came in to the politicians nephew, the guy was so petrified he could only think of doing one thing: paying the thugs. His reaction makes sense: when you get a call from brutal criminals who say theyll kill your aunt unless you pay them immediately, it seems impossible to find leverage in the situation. So you pay the ransom and they release your relative, right? + +Wrong. Theres always leverage. Negotiation is never a linear formula: add X to Y to get Z. We all have irrational blind spots, hidden needs, and undeveloped notions. + +Once you understand that subterranean world of unspoken needs and thoughts, youll discover a universe of variables that can be leveraged to change your counterparts needs and expectations. From using some peoples fear of deadlines and the mysterious power of odd numbers, to our misunderstood relationship to fairness, there are always ways to bend our counterparts reality so it conforms to what we ultimately want to give them, not to what they initially think they deserve. + +DONT COMPROMISE + +Lets go back to the $150,000 ransom demand. Were always taught to look for the win-win solution, to accommodate, to be reasonable. So whats the win-win here? Whats the compromise? The traditional negotiating logic thats drilled into us from an early age, the kind that exalts compromises, says, Lets just split the difference and offer them $75,000. Then everyones happy. + +No. Just, simply, no. The win-win mindset pushed by so many negotiation experts is usually ineffective and often disastrous. At best, it satisfies neither side. And if you employ it with a counterpart who has a win-lose approach, youre setting yourself up to be swindled. + +Of course, as weve noted previously, you need to keep the cooperative, rapport-building, empathetic approach, the kind that creates a dynamic in which deals can be made. But you have to get rid of that navet. Because compromisesplitting the differencecan lead to terrible outcomes. Compromise is often a bad deal and a key theme well hit in this chapter is that no deal is better than a bad deal. + +Even in a kidnapping? + +Yes. A bad deal in a kidnapping is where someone pays and no one comes out. + +To make my point on compromise, let me paint you an example: A woman wants her husband to wear black shoes with his suit. But her husband doesnt want to; he prefers brown shoes. So what do they do? They compromise, they meet halfway. And, you guessed it, he wears one black and one brown shoe. Is this the best outcome? No! In fact, thats the worst possible outcome. Either of the two other outcomesblack or brownwould be better than the compromise. + +Next time you want to compromise, remind yourself of those mismatched shoes. + +So why are we so infatuated with the notion of compromise if it often leads to poor results? + +The real problem with compromise is that it has come to be known as this great concept, in relationships and politics and everything else. Compromise, we are told quite simply, is a sacred moral good. + +Think back to the ransom demand: Fair is no ransom, and what the nephew wants is to pay nothing. So why is he going to offer $75,000, much less $150,000, for the ransom? There is no validity in the $150,000 request. With any compromise, the nephew ends up with a bizarrely bad result. + +Im here to call bullshit on compromise right now. We dont compromise because its right; we compromise because it is easy and because it saves face. We compromise in order to say that at least we got half the pie. Distilled to its essence, we compromise to be safe. Most people in a negotiation are driven by fear or by the desire to avoid pain. Too few are driven by their actual goals. + +So dont settle andheres a simple rulenever split the difference. Creative solutions are almost always preceded by some degree of risk, annoyance, confusion, and conflict. Accommodation and compromise produce none of that. Youve got to embrace the hard stuff. Thats where the great deals are. And thats what great negotiators do. + +DEADLINES: MAKE TIME YOUR ALLY + +Time is one of the most crucial variables in any negotiation. The simple passing of time and its sharper cousin, the deadline, are the screw that pressures every deal to a conclusion. + +Whether your deadline is real and absolute or merely a line in the sand, it can trick you into believing that doing a deal now is more important than getting a good deal. Deadlines regularly make people say and do impulsive things that are against their best interests, because we all have a natural tendency to rush as a deadline approaches. + +What good negotiators do is force themselves to resist this urge and take advantage of it in others. Its not so easy. Ask yourself: What is it about a deadline that causes pressure and anxiety? The answer is consequences; the perception of the loss well incur in the futureThe deal is off! our mind screams at us in some imaginary future scenarioshould no resolution be achieved by a certain point in time. + +When you allow the variable of time to trigger such thinking, you have taken yourself hostage, creating an environment of reactive behaviors and poor choices, where your counterpart can now kick back and let an imaginary deadline, and your reaction to it, do all the work for him. + +Yes, I used the word imaginary. In all the years Ive been doing work in the private sector, Ive made it a point to ask nearly every entrepreneur and executive Ive worked with whether, over the course of their entire careers, they have ever been a witness to or a party of a negotiation in which a missed deadline had negative repercussions. Among hundreds of such clients, theres one single, solitary gentleman who gave the question serious consideration and responded affirmatively. Deadlines are often arbitrary, almost always flexible, and hardly ever trigger the consequences we thinkor are toldthey will. + +Deadlines are the bogeymen of negotiation, almost exclusively self-inflicted figments of our imagination, unnecessarily unsettling us for no good reason. The mantra we coach our clients on is, No deal is better than a bad deal. If that mantra can truly be internalized, and clients begin to believe theyve got all the time they need to conduct the negotiation right, their patience becomes a formidable weapon. + +A few weeks after the Haitian kidnapping boom began, we started to notice two patterns. First, Mondays seemed to be especially busy, as if the kidnappers had a particularly strong work ethic and wanted to get a jump on the week. And, second, the thugs grew increasingly eager to get paid as the weekend approached. + +At first, this didnt make any sense. But by listening closely to the kidnappers and debriefing the hostages we rescued, we discovered something that should have been obvious: These crimes werent politically motivated at all. Instead, these guys were garden-variety thugs who wanted to get paid by Friday so they could party through the weekend. + +Once we understood the pattern and knew the kidnappers self-imposed deadline, we had two key pieces of information that totally shifted the leverage to our side. + +First, if we let the pressure build by stalling the negotiations until Thursday or Friday, we could cut the best deal. And, second, because you didnt need anything close to $150,000 to have a good weekend in Haiti, offering a lot, lot less would suffice. + +How close we were getting to their self-imposed deadline would be indicated by how specific the threats were that they issued. Give us the money or your aunt is going to die is an early stage threat, as the time isnt specified. Increasing specificity on threats in any type of negotiations indicates getting closer to real consequences at a real specified time. To gauge the level of a particular threat, wed pay attention to how many of the four questionsWhat? Who? When? And how?were addressed. When people issue threats, they consciously or subconsciously create ambiguities and loopholes they fully intend to exploit. As the loopholes started to close as the week progressed, and did so over and over again in similar ways with different kidnappings, the pattern emerged. + +With this information in hand, I came to expect the kidnappings to be orderly, four-day events. It didnt make the abductions any more pleasant for the victim, but it certainly made them more predictableand a whole lot cheaperfor the families on the other end. + +Its not just with hostage negotiations that deadlines can play into your hands. Car dealers are prone to give you the best price near the end of the month, when their transactions are assessed. And corporate salespeople work on a quarterly basis and are most vulnerable as the quarter comes to a close. + +Now, knowing how negotiators use their counterparts deadlines to gain leverage would seem to suggest that its best to keep your own deadlines secret. And thats the advice youll get from most old-school negotiation experts. + +In his bestselling 1980 book, You Can Negotiate Anything,1 negotiation expert Herb Cohen tells the story of his first big business deal, when his company sent him to Japan to negotiate with a supplier. + +When he arrived, his counterparts asked him how long he was staying, and Cohen said a week. For the next seven days, his hosts proceeded to entertain him with parties, tours, and outingseverything but negotiation. In fact, Cohens counterparts didnt start serious talks until he was about to leave, and the two sides hammered out the deals final details in the car to the airport. + +Cohen landed in the United States with the sinking feeling that hed been played, and that he had conceded too much under deadline pressure. Would he have told them his deadline in retrospect? No, Cohen says, because it gave them a tool he didnt have: They knew my deadline, but I didnt know theirs. + +That mentality is everywhere these days. Seeing a simple rule to follow and assuming that a deadline is a strategic weakness, most negotiators follow Cohens advice and hide their drop-dead date. + +Allow me to let you in on a little secret: Cohen, and the herd of negotiation experts who follow his lead, are wrong. Deadlines cut both ways. Cohen may well have been nervous about what his boss would say if he left Japan without an agreement. But its also true that Cohens counterparts wouldnt have won if hed left without a deal. Thats the key: When the negotiation is over for one side, its over for the other too. + +In fact, Don A. Moore, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, says that hiding a deadline actually puts the negotiator in the worst possible position. In his research, hes found that hiding your deadlines dramatically increases the risk of an impasse. Thats because having a deadline pushes you to speed up your concessions, but the other side, thinking that it has time, will just hold out for more. + +Imagine if when NBA owners set a lockout deadline during contract negotiations they didnt tell the players union. They would concede and concede as the deadline approached, inciting the union to keep negotiating past the secret deadline. In that sense, hiding a deadline means youre negotiating with yourself, and you always lose when you do so. + +Moore discovered that when negotiators tell their counterparts about their deadline, they get better deals. Its true. First, by revealing your cutoff you reduce the risk of impasse. And second, when an opponent knows your deadline, hell get to the real deal- and concession-making more quickly. + +Ive got one final point to make before we move on: Deadlines are almost never ironclad. Whats more important is engaging in the process and having a feel for how long that will take. You may see that you have more to accomplish than time will actually allow before the clock runs out. + +NO SUCH THING AS FAIR + +In the third week of my negotiations class, we play my favorite type of game, that is, the kind that shows my students how much they dont understand themselves (I knowIm cruel). + +Its called the Ultimatum Game, and it goes like this: After the students split into pairs of a proposer and an accepter, I give each proposer $10. The proposer then has to offer the accepter a round number of dollars. If the accepter agrees he or she receives whats been offered and the proposer gets the rest. If the accepter refuses the offer, though, they both get nothing and the $10 goes back to me. + +Whether they win and keep the money or lose and have to give it back is irrelevant (except to my wallet). Whats important is the offer they make. The truly shocking thing is that, almost without exception, whatever selection anyone makes, they find themselves in a minority. No matter whether they chose $6/$4, $5/$5, $7/$3, $8/$2, etc., they look around and are inevitably surprised to find no split was chosen far more than any other. In something as simple as merely splitting $10 of found money, there is no consensus of what constitutes a fair or rational split. + +After we run this little experiment, I stand up in front of the class and make a point they dont like to hear: the reasoning each and every student used was 100 percent irrational and emotional. + +What? they say. I made a rational decision. + +Then I lay out how theyre wrong. First, how could they all be using reason if so many have made different offers? Thats the point: They didnt. They assumed the other guy would reason just like them. If you approach a negotiation thinking that the other guy thinks like you, youre wrong, I say. Thats not empathy; thats projection. + +And then I push it even further: Why, I ask, did none of the proposers offer $1, which is the best rational offer for them and logically unrejectable for the accepter? And if they did and they got rejectedwhich happenswhy did the accepter turn them down? + +Anyone who made any offer other than $1 made an emotional choice I say. And for you accepters who turned down $1, since when is getting $0 better than getting $1? Did the rules of finance suddenly change? + +This rocks my students view of themselves as rational actors. But theyre not. None of us are. Were all irrational, all emotional. Emotion is a necessary element to decision making that we ignore at our own peril. Realizing that hits people hard between the eyes. + +In Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain,2 neuroscientist Antonio Damasio explained a groundbreaking discovery he made. Studying people who had damage in the part of the brain where emotions are generated, he found that they all had something peculiar in common: They couldnt make decisions. They could describe what they should do in logical terms, but they found it impossible to make even the simplest choice. + +In other words, while we may use logic to reason ourselves toward a decision, the actual decision making is governed by emotion. + +THE F-WORD: WHY ITS SO POWERFUL, WHEN TO USE IT, AND HOW + +The most powerful word in negotiations is Fair. As human beings, were mightily swayed by how much we feel we have been respected. People comply with agreements if they feel theyve been treated fairly and lash out if they dont. + +A decade of brain-imaging studies has shown that human neural activity, particularly in the emotion-regulating insular cortex, reflects the degree of unfairness in social interactions. Even nonhuman primates are hardwired to reject unfairness. In one famous study, two capuchin monkeys were set to perform the same task, but one was rewarded with sweet grapes while the other received cucumbers. In response to such blatant unfairness, the cucumber-fed monkey literally went bananas. + +In the Ultimatum Game, years of experience has shown me that most accepters will invariably reject any offer that is less than half of the proposers money. Once you get to a quarter of the proposers money you can forget it and the accepters are insulted. Most people make an irrational choice to let the dollar slip through their fingers rather than to accept a derisory offer, because the negative emotional value of unfairness outweighs the positive rational value of the money. + +This irrational reaction to unfairness extends all the way to serious economic deals. + +Remember Robin Williamss great work as the voice of the genie in Disneys Aladdin? Because he wanted to leave something wonderful behind for his kids, he said, he did the voice for a cut-rate fee of $75,000, far below his usual $8 million payday. But then something happened: the movie became a huge hit, raking in $504 million. + +And Williams went ballistic. + +Now look at this with the Ultimatum Game in mind. Williams wasnt angry because of the money; it was the perceived unfairness that pissed him off. He didnt complain about his contract until Aladdin became a blockbuster, and then he and his agent went loud and long about how they got ripped off. + +Lucky for Williams, Disney wanted to keep its star happy. After initially pointing out the obviousthat hed happily signed the dealDisney made the dramatic gesture of sending the star a Picasso painting worth a reported $1 million. + +The nation of Iran was not so lucky. + +In recent years, Iran has put up with sanctions that have cost it well over $100 billion in foreign investment and oil revenue in order to defend a uranium-enriching nuclear program that can only meet 2 percent of its energy needs. In other words, like the students who wont take a free $1 because the offer seems insulting, Iran has screwed itself out of its chief source of incomeoil and gas revenuein order to pursue an energy project with little expected payoff. + +Why? Again, fairness. + +For Iran, its not fair that the global powerswhich together have several thousand nuclear weaponsshould be able to decide if it can use nuclear energy. And why, Iran wonders, is it considered a pariah for enriching uranium when India and Pakistan, which clandestinely acquired nuclear weapons, are accepted members of the international community? + +In a TV interview, former Iranian nuclear negotiator Seyed Hossein Mousavian hit the nail on the head. The nuclear issue today for Iranians is not nuclear, he said, its defending their integrity [as an] independent identity against the pressure of the rest. + +You may not trust Iran, but its moves are pretty clear evidence that rejecting perceived unfairness, even at substantial cost, is a powerful motivation. + +Once you understand what a messy, emotional, and destructive dynamic fairness can be, you can see why Fair is a tremendously powerful word that you need to use with care. + +In fact, of the three ways that people drop this F-bomb, only one is positive. + +The most common use is a judo-like defensive move that destabilizes the other side. This manipulation usually takes the form of something like, We just want whats fair. + +Think back to the last time someone made this implicit accusation of unfairness to you, and I bet youll have to admit that it immediately triggered feelings of defensiveness and discomfort. These feelings are often subconscious and often lead to an irrational concession. + +A friend of mine was selling her Boston home in a bust market a few years back. The offer she got was much lower than she wantedit meant a big loss for herand out of frustration she dropped this F-bomb on the prospective buyer. + +We just want whats fair, she said. + +Emotionally rattled by the implicit accusation, the guy raised his offer immediately. + +If youre on the business end of this accusation, you need to realize that the other side might not be trying to pick your pocket; like my friend, they might just be overwhelmed by circumstance. The best response either way is to take a deep breath and restrain your desire to concede. Then say, Okay, I apologize. Lets stop everything and go back to where I started treating you unfairly and well fix it. + +The second use of the F-bomb is more nefarious. In this one, your counterpart will basically accuse you of being dense or dishonest by saying, Weve given you a fair offer. Its a terrible little jab meant to distract your attention and manipulate you into giving in. + +Whenever someone tries this on me, I think back to the last NFL lockout. + +Negotiations were getting down to the wire and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) said that before they agreed to a final deal they wanted the owners to open their books. The owners answer? + +Weve given the players a fair offer. + +Notice the horrible genius of this: instead of opening their books or declining to do so, the owners shifted the focus to the NFLPAs supposed lack of understanding of fairness. + +If you find yourself in this situation, the best reaction is to simply mirror the F that has just been lobbed at you. Fair? youd respond, pausing to let the words power do to them as it was intended to do to you. Follow that with a label: It seems like youre ready to provide the evidence that supports that, which alludes to opening their books or otherwise handing over information that will either contradict their claim to fairness or give you more data to work with than you had previously. Right away, you declaw the attack. + +The last use of the F-word is my favorite because its positive and constructive. It sets the stage for honest and empathetic negotiation. + +Heres how I use it: Early on in a negotiation, I say, I want you to feel like you are being treated fairly at all times. So please stop me at any time if you feel Im being unfair, and well address it. + +Its simple and clear and sets me up as an honest dealer. With that statement, I let people know it is okay to use that word with me if they use it honestly. As a negotiator, you should strive for a reputation of being fair. Your reputation precedes you. Let it precede you in a way that paves success. + +HOW TO DISCOVER THE EMOTIONAL DRIVERS BEHIND WHAT THE OTHER PARTY VALUES + +A few years ago, I stumbled upon the book How to Become a Rainmaker,3 and I like to review it occasionally to refresh my sense of the emotional drivers that fuel decisions. The book does a great job to explain the sales job not as a rational argument, but as an emotional framing job. + +If you can get the other party to reveal their problems, pain, and unmet objectivesif you can get at what people are really buyingthen you can sell them a vision of their problem that leaves your proposal as the perfect solution. + +Look at this from the most basic level. What does a good babysitter sell, really? Its not child care exactly, but a relaxed evening. A furnace salesperson? Cozy rooms for family time. A locksmith? A feeling of security. + +Know the emotional drivers and you can frame the benefits of any deal in language that will resonate. + +BEND THEIR REALITY + +Take the same person, change one or two variables, and $100 can be a glorious victory or a vicious insult. Recognizing this phenomenon lets you bend reality from insult to victory. + +Let me give you an example. I have this coffee mug, red and white with the Swiss flag. No chips, but used. What would you pay for it, deep down in your heart of hearts? + +Youre probably going to say something like $3.50. + +Lets say its your mug now. Youre going to sell it to me. So tell me what its worth. + +Youre probably going to say something between $5 and $7. + +In both cases, it was the exact same mug. All I did was move the mug in relation to you, and I totally changed its value. + +Or imagine that I offer you $20 to run a three-minute errand and get me a cup of coffee. Youre going to think to yourself that $20 for three minutes is $400 an hour. Youre going to be thrilled. + +What if then you find out that by getting you to run that errand I made a million dollars. Youd go from being ecstatic for making $400 an hour to being angry because you got ripped off. + +The value of the $20, just like the value of the coffee mug, didnt change. But your perspective of it did. Just by how I position the $20, I can make you happy or disgusted by it. + +I tell you that not to expose our decision making as emotional and irrational. Weve already seen that. What I am saying is that while our decisions may be largely irrational, that doesnt mean there arent consistent patterns, principles, and rules behind how we act. And once you know those mental patterns, you start to see ways to influence them. + +By far the best theory for describing the principles of our irrational decisions is something called Prospect Theory. Created in 1979 by the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, prospect theory describes how people choose between options that involve risk, like in a negotiation. The theory argues that people are drawn to sure things over probabilities, even when the probability is a better choice. Thats called the Certainty Effect. And people will take greater risks to avoid losses than to achieve gains. Thats called Loss Aversion. + +Thats why people who statistically have no need for insurance buy it. Or consider this: a person whos told he has a 95 percent chance of receiving $10,000 or a 100 percent chance of getting $9,499 will usually avoid risk and take the 100 percent certain safe choice, while the same person whos told he has a 95 percent chance of losing $10,000 or a 100 percent chance of losing $9,499 will make the opposite choice, risking the bigger 95 percent option to avoid the loss. The chance for loss incites more risk than the possibility of an equal gain. + +Over the next few pages Ill explain a few prospect theory tactics you can use to your advantage. But first let me leave you with a crucial lesson about loss aversion: In a tough negotiation, its not enough to show the other party that you can deliver the thing they want. + +To get real leverage, you have to persuade them that they have something concrete to lose if the deal falls through. + +1. ANCHOR THEIR EMOTIONS + +To bend your counterparts reality, you have to start with the basics of empathy. So start out with an accusation audit acknowledging all of their fears. By anchoring their emotions in preparation for a loss, you inflame the other sides loss aversion so that theyll jump at the chance to avoid it. + +On my first consulting project after leaving the FBI, I received the honor to train the national hostage negotiation team for the United Arab Emirates. Unfortunately, the prestige of the assignment was tempered during the project by problems with the general contractor (I was a subcontractor). The problems became so bad that I was going to have to go back to the contractors Id signed up, who normally got $2,000 a day, and tell them that for several months, I could only offer $500. + +I knew exactly what they would do if I just told them straight out: theyd laugh me out of town. So I got each of them on the phone and hit them hard with an accusation audit. + +I got a lousy proposition for you, I said, and paused until each asked me to go on. By the time we get off the phone, youre going to think Im a lousy businessman. Youre going to think I cant budget or plan. Youre going to think Chris Voss is a big talker. His first big project ever out of the FBI, he screws it up completely. He doesnt know how to run an operation. And he might even have lied to me. + +And then, once Id anchored their emotions in a minefield of low expectations, I played on their loss aversion. + +Still, I wanted to bring this opportunity to you before I took it to someone else, I said. + +Suddenly, their call wasnt about being cut from $2,000 to $500 but how not to lose $500 to some other guy. + +Every single one of them took the deal. No counteroffers, no complaints. Now, if I hadnt anchored their emotions low, their perception of $500 would have been totally different. If Id just called and said, I can give you $500 per day. What do you think? theyd have taken it as an insult and slammed down the phone. + +2. LET THE OTHER GUY GO FIRST . . . MOST OF THE TIME. + +Now, its clear that the benefits of anchoring emotions are great when it comes to bending your counterparts reality. But going first is not necessarily the best thing when it comes to negotiating price. + +When the famous film director Billy Wilder went to hire the famous detective novelist Raymond Chandler to write the 1944 classic Double Indemnity, Chandler was new to Hollywood. But he came ready to negotiate, and in his meeting with Wilder and the movies producer, Chandler made the first salary offer: he bluffly demanded $150 per week and warned Wilder that it might take him three weeks to finish the project. + +Wilder and the producer could barely stop from laughing, because they had been planning to pay Chandler $750 per week and they knew that movie scripts took months to write. Lucky for Chandler, Wilder and the producer valued their relationship with Chandler more than a few hundred dollars, so they took pity on him and called an agent to represent Chandler in the negotiations. + +Similarly, I had a student named Jerry who royally screwed up his salary negotiation by going first (let me say that this happened before he was my student). + +In an interview at a New York financial firm, he demanded $110,000, in large part because it represented a 30 percent raise. It was only after he started that he realized that the firm had started everybody else in his program at $125,000. + +Thats why I suggest you let the other side anchor monetary negotiations. + +The real issue is that neither side has perfect information going to the table. This often means you dont know enough to open with confidence. Thats especially true anytime you dont know the market value of what you are buying or selling, like with Jerry or Chandler. + +By letting them anchor you also might get lucky: Ive experienced many negotiations when the other partys first offer was higher than the closing figure I had in mind. If Id gone first they would have agreed and I would have left with either the winners curse or buyers remorse, those gut-wrenching feelings that youve overpaid or undersold. + +That said, youve got to be careful when you let the other guy anchor. You have to prepare yourself psychically to withstand the first offer. If the other guys a pro, a shark, hes going to go for an extreme anchor in order to bend your reality. Then, when they come back with a merely absurd offer it will seem reasonable, just like an expensive $400 iPhone seems reasonable after they mark it down from a crazy $600. + +The tendency to be anchored by extreme numbers is a psychological quirk known as the anchor and adjustment effect. Researchers have discovered that we tend to make adjustments from our first reference points. For example, most people glimpsing 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 estimate that it yields a higher result than the same string in reverse order. Thats because we focus on the first numbers and extrapolate. + +Thats not to say, Never open. Rules like that are easy to remember, but, like most simplistic approaches, they are not always good advice. If youre dealing with a rookie counterpart, you might be tempted to be the shark and throw out an extreme anchor. Or if you really know the market and youre dealing with an equally informed pro, you might offer a number just to make the negotiation go faster. + +Heres my personal advice on whether or not you want to be the shark that eats a rookie counterpart. Just remember, your reputation precedes you. Ive run into CEOs whose reputation was to always badly beat their counterpart and pretty soon no one would deal with them. + +3. ESTABLISH A RANGE + +While going first rarely helps, there is one way to seem to make an offer and bend their reality in the process. That is, by alluding to a range. + +What I mean is this: When confronted with naming your terms or price, counter by recalling a similar deal which establishes your ballpark, albeit the best possible ballpark you wish to be in. Instead of saying, Im worth $110,000, Jerry might have said, At top places like X Corp., people in this job get between $130,000 and $170,000. + +That gets your point across without moving the other party into a defensive position. And it gets him thinking at higher levels. Research shows that people who hear extreme anchors unconsciously adjust their expectations in the direction of the opening number. Many even go directly to their price limit. If Jerry had given this range, the firm probably would have offered $130,000 because it looked so cheap next to $170,000. + +In a recent study,4 Columbia Business School psychologists found that job applicants who named a range received significantly higher overall salaries than those who offered a number, especially if their range was a bolstering range, in which the low number in the range was what they actually wanted. + +Understand, if you offer a range (and its a good idea to do so) expect them to come in at the low end. + +4. PIVOT TO NONMONETARY TERMS + +People get hung up on How much? But dont deal with numbers in isolation. That leads to bargaining, a series of rigid positions defined by emotional views of fairness and pride. Negotiation is a more intricate and subtle dynamic than that. + +One of the easiest ways to bend your counterparts reality to your point of view is by pivoting to nonmonetary terms. After youve anchored them high, you can make your offer seem reasonable by offering things that arent important to you but could be important to them. Or if their offer is low you could ask for things that matter more to you than them. Since this is sometimes difficult, what we often do is throw out examples to start the brainstorming process. + +Not long ago I did some training for the Memphis Bar Association. Normally, for the training they were looking for, Id charge $25,000 a day. They came in with a much lower offer that I balked at. They then offered to do a cover story about me in their association magazine. For me to be on the cover of a magazine that went out to who knows how many of the countrys top lawyers was priceless advertising. (Plus my mom is really proud of it!) + +They had to put something on the cover anyway, so it had zero cost to them and I gave them a steep discount on my fee. I constantly use that as an example in my negotiations now when I name a price. I want to stimulate my counterparts brainstorming to see what valuable nonmonetary gems they might have that are cheap to them but valuable to me. + +5. WHEN YOU DO TALK NUMBERS, USE ODD ONES + +Every number has a psychological significance that goes beyond its value. And Im not just talking about how you love 17 because you think its lucky. What I mean is that, in terms of negotiation, some numbers appear more immovable than others. + +The biggest thing to remember is that numbers that end in 0 inevitably feel like temporary placeholders, guesstimates that you can easily be negotiated off of. But anything you throw out that sounds less roundedsay, $37,263feels like a figure that you came to as a result of thoughtful calculation. Such numbers feel serious and permanent to your counterpart, so use them to fortify your offers. + +6. SURPRISE WITH A GIFT + +You can get your counterpart into a mood of generosity by staking an extreme anchor and then, after their inevitable first rejection, offering them a wholly unrelated surprise gift. + +Unexpected conciliatory gestures like this are hugely effective because they introduce a dynamic called reciprocity; the other party feels the need to answer your generosity in kind. They will suddenly come up on their offer, or theyll look to repay your kindness in the future. People feel obliged to repay debts of kindness. + +Lets look at it in terms of international politics. In 1977 Egyptian president Anwar Sadat dramatically pushed negotiations on the Egypt-Israel peace treaty forward by making a surprise address to the Israeli Knesset, a generous gesture that did not involve making any actual concessions but did signify a big step toward peace. + +Back in Haiti, a few hours after the kidnappers had snatched his aunt, I was on the phone with the politicians nephew. + +There was no way their family could come up with $150,000, he told me, but they could pay between $50,000 and $85,000. But since learning that the ransom was just party money, I was aiming much lower: $5,000. We were not going to compromise. It was a matter of professional pride. + +I advised him to start off by anchoring the conversation in the idea that he didnt have the money, but to do so without saying No so as not to hit their pride head-on. + +How am I supposed to do that? he asked in the next call. + +The kidnapper made another general threat against the aunt and again demanded the cash. + +Thats when I had the nephew subtly question the kidnappers fairness. + +Im sorry, the nephew responded, but how are we supposed to pay if youre going to hurt her? + +That brought up the aunts death, which was the thing the kidnappers most wanted to avoid. They needed to keep her unharmed if they hoped to get any money. They were commodity traders, after all. + +Notice that to this point the nephew hadnt named a price. This game of attrition finally pushed the kidnappers to name a number first. Without prodding, they dropped to $50,000. + +Now that the kidnappers reality had been bent to a smaller number, my colleagues and I told the nephew to stand his ground. + +How can I come up with that kind of money? we told him to ask. + +Again, the kidnapper dropped his demand, to $25,000. + +Now that we had him in our sights, we had the nephew make his first offer, an extreme low anchor of $3,000. + +The line went silent and the nephew began to sweat profusely, but we told him to hold tight. This always happened at the moment the kidnappers economic reality got totally rearranged. + +When he spoke again, the kidnapper seemed shell-shocked. But he went on. His next offer was lower, $10,000. Then we had the nephew answer with a strange number that seemed to come from deep calculation of what his aunts life was worth: $4,751. + +His new price? $7,500. In response, we had the cousin spontaneously say hed throw in a new portable CD stereo and repeated the $4,751. The kidnappers, who didnt really want the CD stereo felt there was no more money to be had, said yes. + +Six hours later, the family paid that sum and the aunt came back home safely. + +HOW TO NEGOTIATE A BETTER SALARY + +One of the critical factors in business school rankings is how well their graduates are compensated. So I tell every MBA class I lecture that my first objective is to single-handedly raise the ranking of their school by teaching them how to negotiate a better salary. + +I break down the process into three parts that blend this chapters dynamics in a way that not only brings you better money, but convinces your boss to fight to get it for you. + +BE PLEASANTLY PERSISTENT ON NONSALARY TERMS + +Pleasant persistence is a kind of emotional anchoring that creates empathy with the boss and builds the right psychological environment for constructive discussion. And the more you talk about nonsalary terms, the more likely you are to hear the full range of their options. If they cant meet your nonsalary requests, they may even counter with more money, like they did with a French-born American former student of mine. She kept askingwith a big smilefor an extra week of vacation beyond what the company normally gave. She was French, she said, and thats what French people did. The hiring company was completely handcuffed on the vacation issue, but because she was so darned delightful, and because she introduced a nonmonetary variable into the notion of her value, they countered by increasing her salary offer. + +SALARY TERMS WITHOUT SUCCESS TERMS IS RUSSIAN ROULETTE + +Once youve negotiated a salary, make sure to define success for your positionas well as metrics for your next raise. Thats meaningful for you and free for your boss, much like giving me a magazine cover story was for the bar association. It gets you a planned raise and, by defining your success in relation to your bosss supervision, it leads into the next step . . . + +SPARK THEIR INTEREST IN YOUR SUCCESS AND GAIN AN UNOFFICIAL MENTOR + +Remember the idea of figuring what the other side is really buying? Well, when you are selling yourself to a manager, sell yourself as more than a body for a job; sell yourself, and your success, as a way they can validate their own intelligence and broadcast it to the rest of the company. Make sure they know youll act as a flesh-and-blood argument for their importance. Once youve bent their reality to include you as their ambassador, theyll have a stake in your success. + +Ask: What does it take to be successful here? + +Please notice that this question is similar to questions that are suggested by many MBA career counseling centers, yet not exactly the same. And its the exact wording of this question thats critical. + +Students from my MBA courses who have asked this question in job interviews have actually had interviewers lean forward and say, No one ever asked us that before. The interviewer then gave a great and detailed answer. + +The key issue here is if someone gives you guidance, they will watch to see if you follow their advice. They will have a personal stake in seeing you succeed. Youve just recruited your first unofficial mentor. + +To show how this can be done to near perfection, I can think of no better example than my former MBA student Angel Prado. + +While Angel was finishing up his MBA, he went to his boss and began to lay the groundwork for his work post-MBA (which the company was paying). During his last semester, he set a nonspecific anchora kind of rangeby suggesting to his boss that once he graduated and the company was done investing in his MBA (around $31,000 per year), that money should go to him as salary. + +His boss made no commitment, but Angel was pleasantly persistent about it, which set the idea as an anchor in his bosss mind. + +Upon graduation, Angel and his boss had their big sit-down. In an assertive and calm manner, Angel broached a nonfinancial issue to move the focus away from How much?: he asked for a new title. + +Angels boss readily agreed that a new role was a no-brainer after Angels new degree. + +At that point, Angel and his manager defined what his roles and responsibilities would be in his new role, thereby setting success metrics. Then Angel took a breath and paused so that his boss would be the first to throw out a number. At last, he did. Curiously enough, the number showed that Angels earlier efforts at anchoring had worked: he proposed to add $31,000 to Angels base salary, almost a 50 percent raise. + +But Angel was no rookie negotiator, not after taking my class. So instead of countering and getting stuck in How much? he kept talking, labeling the bosss emotions and empathizing with his situation (at the time the company was going through difficult negotiations with its investors). + +And then Angel courteously asked for a moment to step away and print up the agreed-upon job description. This pause created a dynamic of pre-deadline urgency in his boss, which Angel exploited when he returned with the printout. On the bottom, hed added his desired compensation: $134.5k$143k. + +In that one little move, Angel weaved together a bunch of the lessons from this chapter. The odd numbers gave them the weight of thoughtful calculation. The numbers were high too, which exploited his bosss natural tendency to go directly to his price limit when faced by an extreme anchor. And they were a range, which made Angel seem less aggressive and the lower end more reasonable in comparison. + +From his bosss body languageraised eyebrowsit was clear that he was surprised by the compensation request. But it had the desired effect: after some comments about the description, he countered with $120,000. + +Angel didnt say No or Yes, but kept talking and creating empathy. Then, in the middle of a sentence, seemingly out of the blue, his boss threw out $127,000. With his boss obviously negotiating with himself, Angel kept him going. Finally his boss said he agreed with the $134,500 and would pay that salary starting in three months, contingent on the board of directors approval. + +As the icing on the cake, Angel worked in a positive use of the word Fair (Thats fair, he said), and then sold the raise to his boss as a marriage in which his boss would be the mentor. Im asking you, not the board, for the promotion, and all I need is for you to agree with it, he said. + +And how did Angels boss reply to his new ambassador? + +Ill fight to get you this salary. + +So follow Angels lead and make it rain! + +KEY LESSONS + +Compared to the tools discussed in previous chapters, the techniques here seem concrete and easy to use. But many people shy away from them because they seem manipulative. Something that bends your counterparts reality must be cheating, right? + +In response, let me just say that these tools are used by all the best negotiators because they simply recognize the human psyche as it is. We are emotional, irrational beasts who are emotional and irrational in predictable, pattern-filled ways. Using that knowledge is only, well, rational. + +As you work these tools into your daily life, remember the following powerful lessons: + +All negotiations are defined by a network of subterranean desires and needs. Dont let yourself be fooled by the surface. Once you know that the Haitian kidnappers just want party money, you will be miles better prepared. + +Splitting the difference is wearing one black and one brown shoe, so dont compromise. Meeting halfway often leads to bad deals for both sides. + +Approaching deadlines entice people to rush the negotiating process and do impulsive things that are against their best interests. + +The F-wordFairis an emotional term people usually exploit to put the other side on the defensive and gain concessions. When your counterpart drops the F-bomb, dont get suckered into a concession. Instead, ask them to explain how youre mistreating them. + +You can bend your counterparts reality by anchoring his starting point. Before you make an offer, emotionally anchor them by saying how bad it will be. When you get to numbers, set an extreme anchor to make your real offer seem reasonable, or use a range to seem less aggressive. The real value of anything depends on what vantage point youre looking at it from. + +People will take more risks to avoid a loss than to realize a gain. Make sure your counterpart sees that there is something to lose by inaction. + + + + + +CHAPTER 7 + + +CREATE THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL + + +A month after Id finished working the case of Jeffrey Schilling in May 2001, I got orders from headquarters to head back to Manila. The same bad guys whod taken Schilling, a brutal group of radical Islamists named the Abu Sayyaf, had raided the Dos Palmas private diving resort and taken twenty hostages, including three Americans: Martin and Gracia Burnham, a missionary couple from Wichita, Kansas; and Guillermo Sobero, a guy who ran a California waterproofing firm. + +Dos Palmas was a negotiators nightmare from the start. The day after the kidnappings, the recently elected Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, set up the most confrontational, nonconstructive dynamic possible by publicly declaring all-out war on the Abu Sayyaf. + +Not exactly empathetic discourse, right? + +It got a lot worse. + +The Philippine army and marines had a turf war in the midst of the negotiations, pissing off the kidnappers with several botched raids. Because American hostages were involved, the CIA, the FBI, and U.S. military intelligence were all called in and we too squabbled among ourselves. Then the kidnappers raped and killed several hostages, 9/11 happened, and the Abu Sayyaf was linked to Al Qaeda. + +By the time the crisis concluded in an orgy of gunshots in June 2002, Dos Palmas had officially become the biggest failure in my professional life. To call it a train wreck would be generous, if you know what I mean. + +But failures plant the seeds of future success, and our failure in the Philippines was no exception. + +If the Dos Palmas calamity showed me anything, it was that we all were still suffering under the notion that negotiation was a wrestling match where the point is to exhaust your opponent into submission, hope for the best, and never back down. + +As my disappointment with Dos Palmas forced me to reckon with our failed techniques, I took a deep look into the newest negotiating theoriessome great and some completely harebrainedand I had a chance encounter with a case in Pittsburgh that completely changed how I looked at the interpersonal dynamics of negotiation conversations. + +From the ashes of Dos Palmas, then, we learned a lesson that would forever change how the FBI negotiated kidnappings. We learned that negotiation was coaxing, not overcoming; co-opting, not defeating. Most important, we learned that successful negotiation involved getting your counterpart to do the work for you and suggest your solution himself. It involved giving him the illusion of control while you, in fact, were the one defining the conversation. + +The tool we developed is something I call the calibrated, or open-ended, question. What it does is remove aggression from conversations by acknowledging the other side openly, without resistance. In doing so, it lets you introduce ideas and requests without sounding pushy. It allows you to nudge. + +Ill explain it in depth later on, but for now let me say that its really as simple as removing the hostility from the statement You cant leave and turning it into a question. + +What do you hope to achieve by going? + +DONT TRY TO NEGOTIATE IN A FIREFIGHT + +The moment I arrived in Manila on the Burnham-Sobero case I was sent down to the Mindanao region, where the Philippine military was lobbing bullets and rockets into a hospital complex where the Abu Sayyaf and the hostages were holed up. + +This was no place for a negotiator, because its impossible to have a dialogue in the middle of a firefight. Then things got worse: when I woke up the next morning, I learned that during the night the kidnappers had taken their hostages and escaped. + +The escape was the first sign that this operation was going to be a rolling train wreck and that the Philippine military was less than a trustworthy partner. + +During debriefings following the episode, it was revealed that during a cease-fire a military guy had collected a suitcase from the thugs in the hospital, and not long after that all the soldiers on the rear perimeter of the hospital had been called away for a meeting. Coincidentallyor notthe bad guys chose that moment to slip away. + +Things really blew up two weeks later, on the Philippines Independence Day, when Abu Sabaya announced that he was going to behead one of the whites unless the government called off its manhunt by midday. We knew this meant one of the Americans and anticipated it would be Guillermo Sobero. + +We didnt have any direct contact with the kidnappers at the time because our partners in the Philippine military had assigned us an intermediary who always forgot to make sure we were present for his phone calls with the kidnappers (and similarly forgot to tape them). All we could do was send text messages offering to schedule a time to speak. + +What ended up happening was that just before the noon deadline, Sabaya and a member of the Philippine presidential cabinet had a conversation on a radio talk show, and the government conceded to Sabayas demand to name a Malaysian senator as a negotiator. In exchange, Sabaya agreed not to kill a hostage. + +But it was too late to fix this atmosphere of confrontation, distrust, and lies. That afternoon, the hostages heard Sabaya on the phone yelling, But that was part of the agreement! That was a part of the agreement! Not long after, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded Guillermo Sobero and for good measure the group took fifteen more hostages. + +With none of the important moving parts anywhere near under our control and the United States largely uninterested in spite of Soberos murder, I headed back to Washington, D.C. It seemed like there was little we could do. + +Then 9/11 changed everything. + +Once a minor terrorist outfit, the Abu Sayyaf was suddenly linked to Al Qaeda. And then a Philippine TV reporter named Arlyn dela Cruz got into the Abu Sayyaf camp and videotaped Sabaya as he taunted the American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, who were so emaciated they looked like concentration camp survivors. The video hit the U.S. news media like thunder. Suddenly, the case became a major U.S. government priority. + +THERE IS ALWAYS A TEAM ON THE OTHER SIDE + +The FBI sent me back in. Now I was sent in to make sure a deal got made. It was all very high profile, too. Some of my contacts reported that FBI director Robert Mueller was personally briefing President George W. Bush every morning on what we were doing. When Director Mueller showed up in the U.S. Embassy in Manila and I was introduced to him, a look of recognition came over his face. That was a very heady moment. + +But all the support in the world wont work if your counterparts team is dysfunctional. If your negotiation efforts dont reach past your counterpart and into the team behind him, then youve got a hope-based dealand hope is not a strategy. + +One of the things I failed to fully appreciate then was that the kidnappers had changed negotiators themselves. Sabaya had been replaced. + +My boss Gary Noesner had, in a previous kidnapping, pointed out to me that a change in negotiators by the other side almost always signaled that they meant to take a harder line. What I didnt realize at the time was this meant Sabaya was going to play a role as a deal breaker if he wasnt accounted for. + +Our new tack was to buy the Burnhams back. Although the United States officially doesnt pay ransoms, a donor had been found who would provide $300,000. The new Abu Sayyaf negotiator agreed to a release. + +The ransom drop was a disaster. The kidnappers decided that they wouldnt release the Burnhams: or, rather, Sabaya, who was physically in charge of the hostages, refused to release them. He had cut his own side-dealone we didnt know aboutand it had fallen through. The new negotiator, now embarrassed and in a foul mood, covered himself by claiming that the payment was short $600. We were baffledSix hundred dollars? You wont let hostages go because of six hundred dollars?and we tried to argue that if the money was missing, it must have been the courier who had stolen the money. But we had no dynamic of trust and cooperation to back us up. The $300,000 was gone and we were back to rarely answered text messages. + +The slow-motion wreck culminated about two months later with a botched rescue. A team of Philippine Scout Rangers walking around in the woods came across the Abu Sayyaf camp, or so they said. Later we heard another government agency had tipped them off. That other government agency (OGA) had not told us about their location because . . . because . . . why? Thats something I will never understand. + +The Scout Rangers formed a skirmish line from a tree line above the camp and opened fire, indiscriminately pouring bullets into the area. Gracia and Martin were taking a nap in their hammocks when the fire started raining down. They both fell out of their hammocks and started to roll down the hill toward safety. But as a sheet of bullets from their rescuers fell on them, Gracia felt a searing burn flare through her right thigh. And then, she felt Martin go limp. + +Minutes later, after the last rebels fled, the squad of Philippine soldiers tried to reassure Gracia that her husband was fine, but she shook her head. After a year in captivity, she had no time for fantasies. Gracia knew her husband was dead, and she was right: hed been hit in the chest, three times, by friendly fire. + +In the end, the supposed rescue mission killed two of the three hostages there that day (a Philippine nurse named Ediborah Yap also died), and the big fishSabayaescaped to live a few more months. From beginning to end, the thirteen-month mission was a complete failure, a waste of lives and treasure. As I sat in the dark at home a few days later, dispirited and spent, I knew that something had to change. We couldnt let this happen again. + +If the hostages deaths were going to mean something, we would have to find a new way to negotiate, communicate, listen, and speak, both with our enemies and with our friends. Not for communications sake, though. + +No. We had to do it to win. + +AVOID A SHOWDOWN + +No two ways about it, my return to the United States was a time of reckoning. I questionedI even doubtedsome of what we were doing at the FBI. If what we knew wasnt enough, we had to get better. + +The real kick in the pants came after my return, when I was reviewing information about the case, a lot of which we hadnt had in the field. Among the piles of information was one fact that totally blew my mind. + +Martin Burnham had been overheard on a phone call to someone. I wondered what in Gods name our hostage was doing talking on the phone without us knowing. And with whom was he talking? Theres only one reason a hostage ever gets on a phone. Its to provide proof of life. Someone else had been trying to ransom the Burnhams out. + +It turned out to be someone working for a crooked Philippine politician whod been running a parallel negotiation for the Burnhams release. He wanted to buy the hostages out himself in order to show up Philippine president Arroyo. + +But it wasnt so much that this guy was going behind our backs that bothered me. As is pretty clear already, there were a whole lot of underhanded things going on. What really ate at me was that this schmuck, who wasnt an FBI-trained hostage negotiator, had pulled off something that I hadnt been able to. + +Hed gotten to speak to Martin Burnham on the phone. For free. + +Thats when I realized that this crooked pols success where we had failed was a kind of metaphor for everything that was wrong with our one-dimensional mindset. + +Beyond our problems with the Philippine military, the big reason we had no effective influence with the kidnappers and hostages was that we had this very tit-for-tat mentality. Under that mentality, if we called up the bad guys we were asking for something, and if they gave it to us we had to give them something back. And so, because we were positive that the Burnhams were alive, wed never bothered to call and ask for proof of life. We were afraid to go into debt. + +If we made an ask and they granted it, wed owe. Not making good on a debt risked the accusation of bad-faith negotiation and bad faith in kidnappings gets people killed. + +And of course we didnt ask the kidnappers to talk directly to the hostage because we knew theyd say no and we were afraid of being embarrassed. + +That fear was a major flaw in our negotiating mindset. There is some information that you can only get through direct, extended interactions with your counterpart. + +We also needed new ways to get things without asking for them. We needed to finesse making an ask with something more sophisticated than closed-ended questions with their yes-no dynamic. + +Thats when I realized that what we had been doing wasnt communication; it was verbal flexing. We wanted them to see things our way and they wanted us to see it their way. If you let this dynamic loose in the real world, negotiation breaks down and tensions flare. That whole ethos permeated everything the FBI was doing. Everything was a showdown. And it didnt work. + +Our approach to proof-of-life questions embodied all these problems. + +At the time, we proved that our hostages were alive by devising questions that asked for a piece of information only the hostage could know. Computer-security-style questions, like, Whats the name of Martins first dog? or Whats Martins dads middle name? + +This particular type of question had many failings, however. For one thing, it had sort of become a signature of law enforcement in the kidnapping world. When a family starts asking a question of that type, its a near certainty that the cops are coaching them. And that makes kidnappers very nervous. + +Even beyond the nerves, you had the problem that answering questions like those required little, if any, effort. The bad guys go and get the fact and give it to you right away, because its so easy. Bang, bang, bang! It happens so fast that you didnt gain any tactical advantage, any usable information, any effort on their part toward a goal that serves you. And all negotiation, done well, should be an information-gathering process that vests your counterpart in an outcome that serves you. + +Worst of all, the bad guys know that they have just given you somethinga proof of lifewhich triggers this whole human reciprocity gene. Whether we like to recognize it or not, a universal rule of human nature, across all cultures, is that when somebody gives you something, they expect something in return. And they wont give anything else until you pay them back. + +Now, we didnt want to trigger this whole reciprocity thing because we didnt want to give anything. So what happened? All of our conversations became these paralyzed confrontations between two parties who wanted to extract something from each other but didnt want to give. We didnt communicate, out of pride and fear. + +Thats why we failed, while numbskulls like this crooked Philippine politician just stumbled in and got what we so desperately needed. That is, communication without reciprocity. I sat back and wondered to myself, How the hell do we do that? + +SUSPEND UNBELIEF + +While I was racking my brains over how this sleazy politician managed to get Martin Burnham on the phone while we never could, FBI Pittsburgh had a kidnapping case. + +My partner Chuck brought me the tapes from the case because he thought it was funny. You see, one Pittsburgh drug dealer had kidnapped the girlfriend of another Pittsburgh drug dealer, and for whatever reason the victim drug dealer came to the FBI for help. Coming to the FBI seemed kind of contrary to his best interests, being a drug dealer and all, but he did it because no matter who you are, when you need help you go to the FBI. Right? + +On the tapes, our hostage negotiators are riding around with this drug dealer while hes negotiating with the other drug dealer. Normally we would have had the guy ask a bulletproof proof-of-life question, like, What was the name of the girlfriends teddy bear when she was little? But in this situation, this drug dealer hadnt yet been coached on asking a correct question. So in the middle of the conversation with the kidnapper, he just blurts, Hey, dog, how do I know shes all right? + +And the funniest thing happened. The kidnapper actually went silent for ten seconds. He was completely taken aback. Then he said, in a much less confrontational tone of voice, Well, Ill put her on the phone. I was floored because this unsophisticated drug dealer just pulled off a phenomenal victory in the negotiation. To get the kidnapper to volunteer to put the victim on the phone is massively huge. + +Thats when I had my Holy shit! moment and realized that this is the technique Id been waiting for. Instead of asking some closed-ended question with a single correct answer, hed asked an open-ended, yet calibrated one that forced the other guy to pause and actually think about how to solve the problem. I thought to myself, This is perfect! Its a natural and normal question, not a request for a fact. Its a how question, and how engages because how asks for help. + +Best of all, he doesnt owe the kidnapper a damn thing. The guy volunteers to put the girlfriend on the phone: he thinks its his idea. The guy who just offered to put the girlfriend on the line thinks hes in control. And the secret to gaining the upper hand in a negotiation is giving the other side the illusion of control. + +The genius of this technique is really well explained by something that the psychologist Kevin Dutton says in his book Split-Second Persuasion.1 He talks about what he calls unbelief, which is active resistance to what the other side is saying, complete rejection. Thats where the two parties in a negotiation usually start. + +If you dont ever get off that dynamic, you end up having showdowns, as each side tries to impose its point of view. You get two hard skulls banging against each other, like in Dos Palmas. But if you can get the other side to drop their unbelief, you can slowly work them to your point of view on the back of their energy, just like the drug dealers question got the kidnapper to volunteer to do what the drug dealer wanted. You dont directly persuade them to see your ideas. Instead, you ride them to your ideas. As the saying goes, the best way to ride a horse is in the direction in which it is going. + +Our job as persuaders is easier than we think. Its not to get others believing what we say. Its just to stop them unbelieving. Once we achieve that, the games half-won. Unbelief is the friction that keeps persuasion in check, Dutton says. Without it, thered be no limits. + +Giving your counterpart the illusion of control by asking calibrated questionsby asking for helpis one of the most powerful tools for suspending unbelief. Not long ago, I read this great article in the New York Times2 by a medical student who was faced with a patient who had ripped out his IV, packed his bags, and was making a move to leave because his biopsy results were days late and he was tired of waiting. + +Just then a senior physician arrived. After calmly offering the patient a glass of water and asking if they could chat for a minute, he said he understood why the patient was pissed off and promised to call the lab to see why the results were delayed. + +But what he did next is what really suspended the patients unbelief: he asked a calibrated questionwhat he felt was so important about leavingand then when the patient said he had errands to handle, the doctor offered to connect the patient with services that could help him get them done. And, boom, the patient volunteered to stay. + +Whats so powerful about the senior doctors technique is that he took what was a showdownIm going to leave versus You cant leaveand asked questions that led the patient to solve his own problem . . . in the way the doctor wanted. + +It was still a kind of showdown, of course, but the doctor took the confrontation and bravado out of it by giving the patient the illusion of control. As an old Washington Post editor named Robert Estabrook once said, He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of negotiation. + +This same technique for suspending unbelief that you use with kidnappers and escaping patients works for anything, even negotiating prices. When you go into a store, instead of telling the salesclerk what you need, you can describe what youre looking for and ask for suggestions. + +Then, once youve picked out what you want, instead of hitting them with a hard offer, you can just say the price is a bit more than you budgeted and ask for help with one of the greatest-of-all-time calibrated questions: How am I supposed to do that? The critical part of this approach is that you really are asking for help and your delivery must convey that. With this negotiating scheme, instead of bullying the clerk, youre asking for their advice and giving them the illusion of control. + +Asking for help in this manner, after youve already been engaged in a dialogue, is an incredibly powerful negotiating technique for transforming encounters from confrontational showdowns into joint problem-solving sessions. And calibrated questions are the best tool. + +CALIBRATE YOUR QUESTIONS + +A few years ago, I was consulting with a client who had a small firm that did public relations for a large corporation. The folks at the big company were not paying their bills, and as time went on, they owed my client more and more money. They kept her on the hook by promising lots of repeat business, implying that she would get a pile of revenue if she just kept working. She felt trapped. + +My advice for her was simple: I told her to engage them in a conversation where she summarized the situation and then asked, How am I supposed to do that? + +She shook her head. No way. The idea of having to ask this question just terrified her. If they tell me I have to, then Im trapped! was her reaction. + +She also heard the question as Youre screwing me out of money and it has to stop. That sounded like the first step to her getting fired as a consultant. + +I explained to her that this implication, though real, was in her mind. Her client would hear the words and not the implication as long as she kept calm and avoided making it sound by her delivery like an accusation or threat. As long as she stayed cool, they would hear it as a problem to be solved. + +She didnt quite believe me. We walked through the script several times, but she was still afraid. Then a few days later she called me, totally giddy with happiness. The client had called with another request and she had finally gotten up the courage to summarize the situation, and ask, How am I supposed to do that? + +And you know what? The answer she got was Youre right, you cant and I apologize. Her client explained that they were going through some internal problems, but she was given a new accounting contact and told shed be paid within forty-eight hours. And she was. + +Now, think about how my clients question worked: without accusing them of anything, it pushed the big company to understand her problem and offer the solution she wanted. That in a nutshell is the whole point of open-ended questions that are calibrated for a specific effect. + +Like the softening words and phrases perhaps, maybe, I think, and it seems, the calibrated open-ended question takes the aggression out of a confrontational statement or close-ended request that might otherwise anger your counterpart. What makes them work is that they are subject to interpretation by your counterpart instead of being rigidly defined. They allow you to introduce ideas and requests without sounding overbearing or pushy. + +And thats the difference between Youre screwing me out of money, and it has to stop and How am I supposed to do that? + +The real beauty of calibrated questions is the fact that they offer no target for attack like statements do. Calibrated questions have the power to educate your counterpart on what the problem is rather than causing conflict by telling them what the problem is. + +But calibrated questions are not just random requests for comment. They have a direction: once you figure out where you want a conversation to go, you have to design the questions that will ease the conversation in that direction while letting the other guy think its his choice to take you there. + +Thats why I refer to these questions as calibrated questions. You have to calibrate them carefully, just like you would calibrate a gun sight or a measuring scale, to target a specific problem. + +The good news is that there are rules for that. + +First off, calibrated questions avoid verbs or words like can, is, are, do, or does. These are closed-ended questions that can be answered with a simple yes or a no. Instead, they start with a list of words people know as reporters questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Those words inspire your counterpart to think and then speak expansively. + +But let me cut the list even further: its best to start with what, how, and sometimes why. Nothing else. Who, when, and where will often just get your counterpart to share a fact without thinking. And why can backfire. Regardless of what language the word why is translated into, its accusatory. There are very rare moments when this is to your advantage. + +The only time you can use why successfully is when the defensiveness that is created supports the change you are trying to get them to see. Why would you ever change from the way youve always done things and try my approach? is an example. Why would your company ever change from your long-standing vendor and choose our company? is another. As always, tone of voice, respectful and deferential, is critical. + +Otherwise, treat why like a burner on a hot stovedont touch it. + +Having just two words to start with might not seem like a lot of ammunition, but trust me, you can use what and how to calibrate nearly any question. Does this look like something you would like? can become How does this look to you? or What about this works for you? You can even ask, What about this doesnt work for you? and youll probably trigger quite a bit of useful information from your counterpart. + +Even something as harsh as Why did you do it? can be calibrated to What caused you to do it? which takes away the emotion and makes the question less accusatory. + +You should use calibrated questions early and often, and there are a few that you will find that you will use in the beginning of nearly every negotiation. What is the biggest challenge you face? is one of those questions. It just gets the other side to teach you something about themselves, which is critical to any negotiation because all negotiation is an information-gathering process. + +Here are some other great standbys that I use in almost every negotiation, depending on the situation: + +What about this is important to you? + +How can I help to make this better for us? + +How would you like me to proceed? + +What is it that brought us into this situation? + +How can we solve this problem? + +Whats the objective? / What are we trying to accomplish here? + +How am I supposed to do that? + +The implication of any well-designed calibrated question is that you want what the other guy wants but you need his intelligence to overcome the problem. This really appeals to very aggressive or egotistical counterparts. + +Youve not only implicitly asked for helptriggering goodwill and less defensivenessbut youve engineered a situation in which your formerly recalcitrant counterpart is now using his mental and emotional resources to overcome your challenges. It is the first step in your counterpart internalizing your wayand the obstacles in itas his own. And that guides the other party toward designing a solution. + +Your solution. + +Think back to how the doctor used calibrated questions to get his patient to stay. As his story showed, the key to getting people to see things your way is not to confront them on their ideas (You cant leave) but to acknowledge their ideas openly (I understand why youre pissed off) and then guide them toward solving the problem (What do you hope to accomplish by leaving?). + +Like I said before, the secret to gaining the upper hand in a negotiation is giving the other side the illusion of control. Thats why calibrated questions are ingenious: Calibrated questions make your counterpart feel like theyre in charge, but its really you who are framing the conversation. Your counterpart will have no idea how constrained they are by your questions. + +Once I was negotiating with one of my FBI bosses about attending a Harvard executive program. He had already approved the expenditure for the travel, but on the day before I was supposed to leave he called me into his office and began to question the validity of the trip. + +I knew him well enough to know that he was trying to show me that he was in charge. So after we talked for a while, I looked at him and asked, When you originally approved this trip, what did you have in mind? + +He visibly relaxed as he sat back in his chair and brought the top of his fingers and thumbs together in the shape of a steeple. Generally this is a body language that means the person feels superior and in charge. + +Listen, he said, just make sure you brief everyone when you get back. + +That question, calibrated to acknowledge his power and nudge him toward explaining himself, gave him the illusion of control. + +And it got me just what I wanted. + +HOW NOT TO GET PAID + +Lets pause for a minute here, because theres one vitally important thing you have to remember when you enter a negotiation armed with your list of calibrated questions. That is, all of this is great, but theres a rub: without self-control and emotional regulation, it doesnt work. + +The very first thing I talk about when Im training new negotiators is the critical importance of self-control. If you cant control your own emotions, how can you expect to influence the emotions of another party? + +To show you what I mean, let me tell you a story. + +Not long ago, a freelance marketing strategist came to me with a problem. One of her clients had hired a new CEO, a penny pincher whose strategy was to cut costs by offshoring everything he could. He was also a male chauvinist who didnt like the assertive style in which the strategist, a woman, conducted herself. + +Immediately my client and the CEO started to go at each other on conference calls in that passive-aggressive way that is ever present in corporate America. After a few weeks of this, my client decided shed had enough and invoiced the CEO for the last bit of work shed done (about $7,000) and politely said that the arrangement wasnt working out. The CEO answered by saying the bill was too high, that hed pay half of it and that they would talk about the rest. + +After that, he stopped answering her calls. + +The underlying dynamic was that this guy didnt like being questioned by anyone, especially a woman. So she and I developed a strategy that showed him she understood where she went wrong and acknowledged his power, while at the same time directing his energy toward solving her problem. + +The script we came up with hit all the best practices of negotiation weve talked about so far. Here it is by steps: + +1.A No-oriented email question to reinitiate contact: Have you given up on settling this amicably? + +2.A statement that leaves only the answer of Thats right to form a dynamic of agreement: It seems that you feel my bill is not justified. + +3.Calibrated questions about the problem to get him to reveal his thinking: How does this bill violate our agreement? + +4.More No-oriented questions to remove unspoken barriers: Are you saying I misled you? Are you saying I didnt do as you asked? Are you saying I reneged on our agreement? or Are you saying I failed you? + +5.Labeling and mirroring the essence of his answers if they are not acceptable so he has to consider them again: It seems like you feel my work was subpar. Or . . . my work was subpar? + +6.A calibrated question in reply to any offer other than full payment, in order to get him to offer a solution: How am I supposed to accept that? + +7.If none of this gets an offer of full payment, a label that flatters his sense of control and power: It seems like you are the type of person who prides himself on the way he does businessrightfully soand has a knack for not only expanding the pie but making the ship run more efficiently. + +8.A long pause and then one more No-oriented question: Do you want to be known as someone who doesnt fulfill agreements? + +From my long experience in negotiation, scripts like this have a 90 percent success rate. That is, if the negotiator stays calm and rational. And thats a big if. + +In this case, she didnt. + +The first stepthe magic emailworked better than she imagined, and the CEO called within ten minutes, surprising her. Almost immediately her anger flared at the sound of his patronizing voice. Her only desire became to show him how he was wrong, to impose her will, and the conversation became a showdown that went nowhere. + +You probably dont need me to tell you that she didnt even get half. + +With that in mind, I want to end this chapter with some advice on how to remain rational in a negotiation. Even with all the best techniques and strategy, you need to regulate your emotions if you want to have any hope of coming out on top. + +The first and most basic rule of keeping your emotional cool is to bite your tongue. Not literally, of course. But you have to keep away from knee-jerk, passionate reactions. Pause. Think. Let the passion dissipate. That allows you to collect your thoughts and be more circumspect in what you say. It also lowers your chance of saying more than you want to. + +The Japanese have this figured out. When negotiating with a foreigner, its common practice for a Japanese businessman to use a translator even when he understands perfectly what the other side is saying. Thats because speaking through a translator forces him to step back. It gives him time to frame his response. + +Another simple rule is, when you are verbally assaulted, do not counterattack. Instead, disarm your counterpart by asking a calibrated question. The next time a waiter or salesclerk tries to engage you in a verbal skirmish, try this out. I promise you it will change the entire tenor of the conversation. + +The basic issue here is that when people feel that they are not in control, they adopt what psychologists call a hostage mentality. That is, in moments of conflict they react to their lack of power by either becoming extremely defensive or lashing out. + +Neurologically, in situations like this the fight-or-flight mechanism in the reptilian brain or the emotions in the limbic system overwhelm the rational part of our mind, the neocortex, leading us to overreact in an impulsive, instinctive way. + +In a negotiation, like in the one between my client and the CEO, this always produces a negative outcome. So we have to train our neocortex to override the emotions from the other two brains. + +That means biting your tongue and learning how to mindfully change your state to something more positive. And it means lowering the hostage mentality in your counterpart by asking a question or even offering an apology. (Youre right. That was a bit harsh.) + +If you were able to take an armed kidnapper whod been surrounded by police and hook him up to a cardiac monitor, youd find that every calibrated question and apology would lower his heart rate just a little bit. And thats how you get to a dynamic where solutions can be found. + +KEY LESSONS + +Who has control in a conversation, the guy listening or the guy talking? + +The listener, of course. + +Thats because the talker is revealing information while the listener, if hes trained well, is directing the conversation toward his own goals. Hes harnessing the talkers energy for his own ends. + +When you try to work the skills from this chapter into your daily life, remember that these are listeners tools. They are not about strong-arming your opponent into submission. Rather, theyre about using the counterparts power to get to your objective. Theyre listeners judo. + +As you put listeners judo into practice, remember the following powerful lessons: + +Dont try to force your opponent to admit that you are right. Aggressive confrontation is the enemy of constructive negotiation. + +Avoid questions that can be answered with Yes or tiny pieces of information. These require little thought and inspire the human need for reciprocity; you will be expected to give something back. + +Ask calibrated questions that start with the words How or What. By implicitly asking the other party for help, these questions will give your counterpart an illusion of control and will inspire them to speak at length, revealing important information. + +Dont ask questions that start with Why unless you want your counterpart to defend a goal that serves you. Why is always an accusation, in any language. + +Calibrate your questions to point your counterpart toward solving your problem. This will encourage them to expend their energy on devising a solution. + +Bite your tongue. When youre attacked in a negotiation, pause and avoid angry emotional reactions. Instead, ask your counterpart a calibrated question. + +There is always a team on the other side. If you are not influencing those behind the table, you are vulnerable. + + + + + +CHAPTER 8 + + +GUARANTEE EXECUTION + + +During a dangerous and chaotic prison siege in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, a few years ago, a group of inmates armed with makeshift knives took the warden and some of his staff hostage. The situation was especially nervy because the prisoners were both tense and disorganized, a worrisome mix that meant anything could happen. + +The negotiators sensed that, beneath the bluster, the prisoners didnt really want to hurt the staff. They knew that they felt backed into a corner and, more than anything, they wanted the situation to end. + +But there was a stumbling block: the inmates were afraid that the prisoners who gave up after taking correctional officers hostage, not to mention the warden, would end up beaten, and badly. + +So the negotiators delivered a pair of walkie-talkies to the inmates and designed this elaborate surrender ritual to get the hostage-takers to end the siege. The idea was elegantly simple: + +The inmates would send out one of their guys with a walkie-talkie, and hed walk past the three perimeters of combined multiagency law enforcement that were stationed outside the prison. Once hed walked past the final perimeter, hed get into the paddy wagon and be transferred to jail. There, hed use the walkie-talkie to call the guys back in the prison and say, essentially, They didnt kick my ass. And theyd know it was okay to come out just like he did, one at a time. + +After some haggling, the inmates agreed with the plan and the first inmate comes out. It starts off great. He walks past the federal zone, then the SWAT zone, and then he makes it to the outer perimeter. But just as hes about to climb into the paddy wagon, some guy sees the walkie-talkie and says, What the hell are you doing with that? and confiscates it before sending the guy off to the jail. + +The inmates back in the prison start to freak out because their buddy hasnt called. The one with the other walkie-talkie calls the negotiators and starts yelling, Why didnt he call? Theyre kicking his ass. We told you! He starts talking about cutting off a hostages finger, just to make sure the negotiators know the inmates are for real. + +Now its the negotiators who are freaking out. They sprint to the perimeter and start screaming at everyone. Its life and death at stake. Or at least an amputated finger. + +Finally, fifteen nail-biting minutes later, this SWAT guy comes striding up, all proud of himself. Some idiot gave this dude a radio, he says, and sort of smiles as he hands the negotiators the walkie-talkie. The negotiators barely stop themselves from slugging the guy before they tear off to the jail to have the first inmate call in. + +Crisis averted, but barely. + +The point here is that your job as a negotiator isnt just to get to an agreement. Its getting to one that can be implemented and making sure that happens. Negotiators have to be decision architects: they have to dynamically and adaptively design the verbal and nonverbal elements of the negotiation to gain both consent and execution. + +Yes is nothing without How. While an agreement is nice, a contract is better, and a signed check is best. You dont get your profits with the agreement. They come upon implementation. Success isnt the hostage-taker saying, Yes, we have a deal; success comes afterward, when the freed hostage says to your face, Thank you. + +In this chapter, Ill show how to drive toward and achieve consent, both with those at the negotiating table and with the invisible forces underneath it; distinguish true buy-in from fake acquiescence; and guarantee execution using the Rule of Three. + +YES IS NOTHING WITHOUT HOW + +About a year after the Dos Palmas crisis, I was teaching at the FBI Academy in Quantico when the Bureau got an urgent call from the State Department: an American had been kidnapped in the Ecuadoran jungle by a Colombia-based rebel group. As the FBIs lead international hostage negotiator, this was my baby, so I put a team together and set up operation headquarters in Quantico. + +For a few years, Jos and his wife, Julie, had been guiding tour groups through the jungle near the Colombian border. Born in Ecuador, Jos had become an American citizen and was working as a paramedic in New York City when he and Julie decided to set up an ecotourism business in his native country. Jos loved the Ecuadoran jungle, and hed long dreamed of teaching visitors about the monkeys that swung through the trees and the flowers that perfumed the trails. + +The business grew as ecotourists fell for the pairs obvious passion, and on August 20, 2003, Jos and Julie took eleven people on a white-water rafting trip down the Mira River. After a great day on the water, everyone was smiling and soaked as they piled into Jeeps and pickups for the ride to an inn in a nearby village. Jos told tall tales as he drove the lead truck, Julie to his right with their eleven-month-old baby in her lap. + +They were five minutes from the inn when three men jumped into the road and aimed guns at the truck. A fourth man emerged and held a revolver to Julies head as the thugs pulled Jos from the car and forced him into the truck bed. The kidnappers then ordered the caravan through several small towns to a fork in the road, where they got out and walked Jos past Julies seat in the cab. + +Just remember, Julie said, no matter what happens, I love you. + +Dont worry. Ill be fine, Jos answered. + +And then he and his captors disappeared into the jungle. + +The captors wanted $5 million. We wanted to buy time. + +Ever since the Dos Palmas debacle and the Pittsburgh epiphany, I had been raring to employ the lessons wed learned about calibrated questions. So when Jos was kidnapped, I sent my guys down to Ecuador and told them that we had a new strategy. The kidnapping would provide an opportunity to prove this approach. + +All were going to say is, Hey, how do we know Jos is okay? How are we supposed to pay until we know Jos is okay? Again and again, I told them. + +Although they were queasy about untested techniques, my guys were game. The local cops were livid, though, because they always did proof of life the old-fashioned way (which the FBI had taught them in the first place). Luckily Julie was with us 100 percent because she saw how the calibrated questions would stall for time, and she was convinced that with enough time her husband would find a way to get home. + +The day after the kidnapping, the rebels marched Jos into the mountains along the Colombian border and settled in a cabin high in the jungle. There Jos built a rapport with the kidnappers to make himself harder for them to kill. He impressed them with his knowledge of the jungle and, with a black belt in karate, he filled the time by teaching them martial arts. + +My negotiators coached Julie every day as we waited for contact from the rebels. We learned later that the designated negotiator from Joss captors had to walk to town to negotiate by phone. + +My guys told Julie to answer every one of the kidnappers demands with a question. My strategy was to keep the kidnappers engaged but off balance. + +How do I know Jos is alive? she asked the first time they talked. + +To their demand for $5 million, she said, We dont have that kind of money. How can we raise that much? + +How can we pay you anything until we know Jos is okay? Julie asked the next time they talked. + +Questions, always questions. + +The kidnapper who was negotiating with Julie seemed extremely perplexed by her persistent questions, and he kept asking for time to think. That slowed everything down, but he never got angry with Julie. Answering questions gave him the illusion that he had control of the negotiation. + +By constantly asking questions and making minuscule offers, Julie drove the ransom down to $16,500. When they came to that number, the kidnappers demanded she get it to them immediately. + +How can I do that when I have to sell my cars and trucks? she asked. + +Always buying more time. + +We were starting to grin because success was within reach; we were really close to a ransom that the family could afford. + +And then I got a phone call in the middle of the night from one of my deployed guys in Ecuador, Kevin Rust. Kevin is a terrific negotiator and the same guy whod called to tell me a year earlier that Martin Burnham had been killed. My stomach tied into a knot when I heard his voice. + +We just got a call from Jos, Kevin said. Hes still in guerrilla territory but he escaped and hes on a bus and hes making his way out. + +It took me half a minute to respond, and when I did all I could say was Holy shit! Thats fantastic news! + +What had happened, we learned later, was that with all the delays and questions, some of the guerrillas peeled off and didnt return. Pretty soon there was only one teenager guarding Jos at night. He saw an opening late one evening when it began to chuck down rain. Pounding on the metal roof, the rain drowned out all other sound as the lone guard slept. Knowing the wet leaves outside would absorb the sound of his footsteps, Jos climbed through the window, ran down jungle paths to a dirt road, and worked his way to a small town. + +Two days later he was back with Julie and their baby, just a few days before his daughters first birthday. + +Julie was right: with enough time he had found a way home. + +Calibrated How questions are a surefire way to keep negotiations going. They put the pressure on your counterpart to come up with answers, and to contemplate your problems when making their demands. + +With enough of the right How questions you can read and shape the negotiating environment in such a way that youll eventually get to the answer you want to hear. You just have to have an idea of where you want the conversation to go when youre devising your questions. + +The trick to How questions is that, correctly used, they are gentle and graceful ways to say No and guide your counterpart to develop a better solutionyour solution. A gentle How/No invites collaboration and leaves your counterpart with a feeling of having been treated with respect. + +Look back at what Julie did when the Colombian rebel kidnappers made their first demands. + +How can we raise that much? she asked. + +Notice that she did not use the word No. But she still managed to elegantly deny the kidnappers $5 million demand. + +As Julie did, the first and most common No question youll use is some version of How am I supposed to do that? (for example, How can we raise that much?). Your tone of voice is critical as this phrase can be delivered as either an accusation or a request for assistance. So pay attention to your voice. + +This question tends to have the positive effect of making the other side take a good look at your situation. This positive dynamic is what I refer to as forced empathy, and its especially effective if leading up to it youve already been empathic with your counterpart. This engages the dynamic of reciprocity to lead them to do something for you. Starting with Joss kidnapping, How am I supposed to do that? became our primary response to a kidnapper demanding a ransom. And we never had it backfire. + +Once I was working with an accounting consultant named Kelly who was owed a pile of money by a corporate client. She kept consulting because she believed she was developing a useful contact, and because the promise of a future payday seemed to justify continuing in good faith. + +But at a certain point Kelly was so far behind on her own bills that she was in a bind. She couldnt continue to work with only a vague idea of when shed get paid, but she worried that if she pushed too hard she wouldnt get paid at all. + +I told her to wait until the client asked for more work, because if she made a firm payment demand right away she would be vulnerable if they refused. + +Luckily for Kelly, the client soon called to ask her for more work. Once he finished his request, she calmly asked a How question: + +Id love to help, she said, but how am I supposed to do that? + +By indicating her willingness to work but asking for help finding a way to do so, she left her deadbeat customer with no choice but to put her needs ahead of everything else. + +And she got paid. + +Besides saying No, the other key benefit of asking How? is, quite literally, that it forces your counterpart to consider and explain how a deal will be implemented. A deal is nothing without good implementation. Poor implementation is the cancer that eats your profits. + +By making your counterparts articulate implementation in their own words, your carefully calibrated How questions will convince them that the final solution is their idea. And thats crucial. People always make more effort to implement a solution when they think its theirs. That is simply human nature. Thats why negotiation is often called the art of letting someone else have your way. + +There are two key questions you can ask to push your counterparts to think they are defining success their way: How will we know were on track? and How will we address things if we find were off track? When they answer, you summarize their answers until you get a Thats right. Then youll know theyve bought in. + +On the flip side, be wary of two telling signs that your counterpart doesnt believe the idea is theirs. As Ive noted, when they say, Youre right, its often a good indicator they are not vested in what is being discussed. And when you push for implementation and they say, Ill try, you should get a sinking feeling in your stomach. Because this really means, I plan to fail. + +When you hear either of these, dive back in with calibrated How questions until they define the terms of successful implementation in their own voice. Follow up by summarizing what they have said to get a Thats right. + +Let the other side feel victory. Let them think it was their idea. Subsume your ego. Remember: Yes is nothing without How. So keep asking How? And succeed. + +INFLUENCING THOSE BEHIND THE TABLE + +A few weeks after Jos got back to the United States, I drove to his familys place in upstate New York. + +I was thrilled when Jos escaped, but the case left me with one nagging worry: Had my new strategy failed? You see, Jos had gotten home safely, but not because wed negotiated his release. I worried that our winning had less to do with our brilliant strategy than with dumb luck. + +After being greeted warmly by Julie and her parents, Jos and I grabbed some coffee and sat down. Id gone there to do what CNU referred to as a hostage survival debriefing. I was after insights into how to better advise people facing potential kidnappings how best to survive, not just physically, but psychologically. I was also burning to find out what had occurred behind the scenes because it seemed as if my new strategy hadnt worked. + +Finally the conversation came around to our use of calibrated questions. + +You know what? he said. The craziest thing was that their negotiator was supposed to stay in town and negotiate the deal but because Julie kept asking him questions he didnt really know for sure how to answer, he kept coming out to the jungle. They all would get together and have a huge discussion about how to respond. They even thought about taking me into town and putting me on the phone because Julie was so persistent with asking how did she know if I was okay. + +Right then I knew we had the right tool. It was exactly the opposite of the Burnham case, where our negotiator cut the deal with one of the guys and then the rest of them took the $300,000 and said, No, were not doing that. Causing the other side to work that hard and forcing that much internal coordination in service of our own goals was unprecedented. + +Our negotiating strategy in Ecuador worked not just because the questions contributed to the environment that let Jos escape, but because they made sure the kidnappersour counterpartswere all on the same page. + +Yes, few hostage-takersand few business deal makersfly solo. But for the most part, there are almost always other players, people who can act as deal makers or deal killers. If you truly want to get to Yes and get your deal implemented, you have to discover how to affect these individuals. + +When implementation happens by committee, the support of that committee is key. You always have to identify and unearth their motivations, even if you havent yet identified each individual on that committee. That can be easy as asking a few calibrated questions, like How does this affect the rest of your team? or How on board are the people not on this call? or simply What do your colleagues see as their main challenges in this area? + +The larger concept Im explaining here is that in any negotiation you have to analyze the entire negotiation space. + +When other people will be affected by what is negotiated and can assert their rights or power later on, its just stupid to consider only the interests of those at the negotiation table. You have to beware of behind the table or Level II playersthat is, parties that are not directly involved but who can help implement agreements they like and block ones they dont. You cant disregard them even when youre talking to a CEO. There could always be someone whispering into his ear. At the end of the day, the deal killers often are more important than the deal makers. + +Think back to the prison siege: it was almost ruined because one bit player on our side was not totally on board. Thats what our use of calibrated questions in Ecuador avoided, and thats why Joss case was a home run. + +It only takes one bit player to screw up a deal. + +A few years into private practice Id lost sight of the importance of assessing and influencing the hidden negotiation that happens behind the table, and I paid a substantial price. + +We were closing a deal with a big company in Florida that wanted negotiation training for one of its divisions. Wed been on the phone a bunch of times with the CEO and the head of HR, and they were both 100 percent gung ho on our offering. We were elatedwe had what we thought was total buy-in from the top decision makers for an incredibly lucrative deal. + +And then, as we were figuring out the small print, the deal fell off the table. + +It turns out that the head of the division that needed the training killed the deal. Maybe this guy felt threatened, slighted, or otherwise somehow personally injured by the notion that he and his people needed any training at all. (A surprisingly high percentage of negotiations hinge on something outside dollars and cents, often having more to do with self-esteem, status, and other nonfinancial needs.) Well never know now. + +The point is, we didnt care until too late because we convinced ourselves that we were on the phone with the only decision makers that mattered. + +We could have avoided all that had we asked a few calibrated questions, like: How does this affect everybody else? How on board is the rest of your team? How do we make sure that we deliver the right material to the right people? How do we ensure the managers of those were training are fully on board? + +If we had asked questions like that, the CEO and HR head would have checked with this guy, maybe even brought him into the conversation. And saved us all a lot of pain. + +SPOTTING LIARS, DEALING WITH JERKS, AND CHARMING EVERYONE ELSE + +As a negotiator, youre going to run into guys who lie to your face and try to scare you into agreement. Aggressive jerks and serial fabricators come with the territory, and dealing with them is something you have to do. + +But learning how to handle aggression and identify falsehood is just part of a larger issue: that is, learning how to spot and interpret the subtleties of communicationboth verbal and nonverbalthat reveal the mental states of your counterparts. + +Truly effective negotiators are conscious of the verbal, paraverbal (how its said), and nonverbal communications that pervade negotiations and group dynamics. And they know how to employ those subtleties to their benefit. Even changing a single word when you present optionslike using not lose instead of keepcan unconsciously influence the conscious choices your counterpart makes. + +Here I want to talk about the tools you need to ID liars, disarm jerks, and charm everybody else. Of course, the open-ended How question is one of themmaybe the most important onebut there are many more. + +Alastair Onglingswan was living in the Philippines when, one evening in 2004, he hailed a taxi and settled in for a long ride home from Manilas Greenhills shopping center. + +He dozed off. + +And he woke up in chains. + +Unfortunately for Alastair, the cabbie had a second business as a kidnapper. He kept a bottle of ether in his front seat, and when a target fell asleep he would drug him, imprison him, and ask for ransom. + +Within hours, the kidnapper used Alastairs phone to contact his girlfriend in New York. He demanded a daily payment to take care of Alastair while he researched the familys wealth. + +Its okay if you dont pay, he said. I can always sell his organs in Saudi Arabia. + +Within twenty-four hours, Id been charged with heading the negotiation from Quantico. Alastairs girlfriend was too nervous to handle the family side of the negotiation, and his mother, who lived in the Philippines, just wanted to accept any demand the kidnapper made. + +But Alastairs brother Aaron, in Manila, was different: he just got the idea of negotiation and he accepted that Alastair might die, which would make him a better and more effective negotiator. Aaron and I set up an always-on phone line and I became Aarons guru on the other side of the world. + +Through the kidnappers comments and demands, I saw that he was experienced and patient. As a token of his intentions, he offered to cut off one of Alastairs ears and send it to the family along with a video of him severing the ear. + +The demand for the daily payment was clearly a trick to quickly drain the family of as much money as possible while at the same time gauging their wealth. We had to figure out who this guy wasWas he a lone operator or part of a group? Did he plan on killing Alastair or not?and we had to do that before the family went broke. To get there, we were going to have to engage the kidnapper in a protracted negotiation. We were going to have to slow everything down. + +From Quantico, I loaded Aaron up with calibrated questions. I instructed him to keep peppering the violent jerk with How? How am I supposed to . . . ? How do we know . . . ? How can we . . . ? There is great power in treating jerks with deference. It gives you the ability to be extremely assertiveto say Noin a hidden fashion. + +How do we know if we pay you that you wont hurt Alastair? Aaron asked. + +In the Chinese martial art of tai chi, the goal is to use your opponents aggressiveness against himto turn his offense into your way to defeat him. Thats the approach we took with Alastairs kidnapper: we wanted to absorb his threats and wear him down. We made sure that even scheduling a call with us was complex. We delayed making email responses. + +Through all these tactics, we gained the upper hand while giving the kidnapper the illusion of control. He thought he was solving Aarons problems while we were just reading him and wasting his time. You see, its best not to go chin to chin with aggressiveness like that of Alastairs kidnapper; rather, default to using what and how questions to avoid making bids or adjusting your own negotiating position. Dodge and weave. + +Finally, following days of back-and-forth bargaining on the daily rate, Aaron got the kidnapper down to a token amount and agreed to deposit a portion of the funds in his bank account. After that partial payment was made, Aaron came up with the perfect way to nonconfrontationally confront the cabbie with a calibrated When/What question. + +When we run out of money, what will happen? Aaron asked. + +The kidnapper paused. + +It will be all right, he finally responded. + +Yes! + +Without realizing what he had just agreed to, our killer had just promised us he wouldnt hurt Alastair. A repetitive series of What and How questions can help you overcome the aggressive tactics of a manipulative adversary. + +As you can see in that last exchange, the kidnappers protracted chats with Aaron had turned Aaron almost into a friend. Over time the kidnapper had become unguarded about spending time on the phone with his friend. Finally, the Philippine National Police investigators tracked the phone to a house and raided it. The kidnapper and Alastair were not there, but the kidnappers wife was. She told the police about another house they owned. The police quickly raided the other house, freed Alastair, and arrested the kidnapper. + +There are plenty of other tactics, tools, and methods for using subtle verbal and nonverbal forms of communication to understand and modify the mental states of your counterpart. As I run through some of them here, I want you to take a moment to internalize each one. These are the kind of tools that can help observant negotiators hit home runs. + +THE 7-38-55 PERCENT RULE + +In two famous studies on what makes us like or dislike somebody,1 UCLA psychology professor Albert Mehrabian created the 7-38-55 rule. That is, only 7 percent of a message is based on the words while 38 percent comes from the tone of voice and 55 percent from the speakers body language and face. + +While these figures mainly relate to situations where we are forming an attitude about somebody, the rule nonetheless offers a useful ratio for negotiators. You see, body language and tone of voicenot wordsare our most powerful assessment tools. Thats why Ill often fly great distances to meet someone face-to-face, even when I can say much of what needs to be said over the phone. + +So how do you use this rule? First, pay very close attention to tone and body language to make sure they match up with the literal meaning of the words. If they dont align, its quite possible that the speaker is lying or at least unconvinced. + +When someones tone of voice or body language does not align with the meaning of the words they say, use labels to discover the source of the incongruence. + +Heres an example: + +You: So were agreed? + +Them: Yes . . . + +You: I heard you say, Yes, but it seemed like there was hesitation in your voice. + +Them: Oh, its nothing really. + +You: No, this is important, lets make sure we get this right. + +Them: Thanks, I appreciate it. + +This is the way to make sure your agreement gets implemented with no surprises. And your counterpart will be grateful. Your act of recognizing the incongruence and gently dealing with it through a label will make them feel respected. Consequently, your relationship of trust will be improved. + +THE RULE OF THREE + +Im positive that sometime in your life youve been involved in a negotiation where you got a Yes that later turned out to be a No. Maybe the other party was lying to you, or maybe they were just engaged in wishful thinking. Either way, this is not an uncommon experience. + +This happens because there are actually three kinds of Yes: Commitment, Confirmation, and Counterfeit. + +As we discussed in Chapter 5, so many pushy salesman try to trap their clients into the Commitment Yes that many people get very good at the Counterfeit Yes. + +One great tool for avoiding this trap is the Rule of Three. + +The Rule of Three is simply getting the other guy to agree to the same thing three times in the same conversation. Its tripling the strength of whatever dynamic youre trying to drill into at the moment. In doing so, it uncovers problems before they happen. Its really hard to repeatedly lie or fake conviction. + +When I first learned this skill, my biggest fear was how to avoid sounding like a broken record or coming off as really pushy. + +The answer, I learned, is to vary your tactics. + +The first time they agree to something or give you a commitment, thats No. 1. For No. 2 you might label or summarize what they said so they answer, Thats right. And No. 3 could be a calibrated How or What question about implementation that asks them to explain what will constitute success, something like What do we do if we get off track? + +Or the three times might just be the same calibrated question phrased three different ways, like Whats the biggest challenge you faced? What are we up against here? What do you see as being the most difficult thing to get around? + +Either way, going at the same issue three times uncovers falsehoods as well as the incongruences between words and body language we mentioned in the last section. So next time youre not sure your counterpart is truthful and committed, try it. + +THE PINOCCHIO EFFECT + +With Carlo Collodis famous character Pinocchio, it was easy to tell when he was lying: you just had to watch the nose. + +It turns out that Collodi wasnt far off reality. Most people offer obvious telltale signs when theyre lying. Not a growing nose, but close enough. + +In a study of the components of lying,2 Harvard Business School professor Deepak Malhotra and his coauthors found that, on average, liars use more words than truth tellers and use far more third-person pronouns. They start talking about him, her, it, one, they, and their rather than I, in order to put some distance between themselves and the lie. + +And they discovered that liars tend to speak in more complex sentences in an attempt to win over their suspicious counterparts. Its what W. C. Fields meant when he talked about baffling someone with bullshit. The researchers dubbed this the Pinocchio Effect because, just like Pinocchios nose, the number of words grew along with the lie. People who are lying are, understandably, more worried about being believed, so they work hardertoo hard, as it wereat being believable. + +PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR USAGE OF PRONOUNS + +The use of pronouns by a counterpart can also help give you a feel for their actual importance in the decision and implementation chains on the other side of the table. The more in love they are with I, me, and my the less important they are. + +Conversely, the harder it is to get a first person pronoun out of a negotiators mouth, the more important they are. Just like in the Malhotra study where the liar is distancing himself from the lie, in a negotiation, smart decision makers dont want to be cornered at the table into making a decision. They will defer to the people away from the table to keep from getting pinned down. + +Our cabdriver kidnapper in the Philippines of Alastair Onglingswan used we, they, and them so rigorously early on in the kidnapping I was convinced we were engaged with their leader. I just never knew how literally true it was until the rescue. In the Chase Manhattan Bank robbery from Chapter 2, the bank robber Chris Watts consistently talked out how dangerous the others were and how little influence he had on them, all a lie. + +THE CHRIS DISCOUNT + +People always talk about remembering and using (but not overusing) your counterparts name in a negotiation. And thats important. The reality though is people are often tired of being hammered with their own name. The slick salesman trying to drive them to Yes will hit them with it over and over. + +Instead, take a different tack and use your own name. Thats how I get the Chris discount. + +Just as using Alastairs name with the kidnapper and getting him to use it back humanized the hostage and made it less likely he would be harmed, using your own name creates the dynamic of forced empathy. It makes the other side see you as a person. + +A few years ago I was in a bar in Kansas with a bunch of fellow FBI negotiators. The bar was packed, but I saw one empty chair. I moved toward it but just as I got ready to sit the guy next to it said, Dont even think about it. + +Why? I asked, and he said, Because Ill kick your ass. + +He was big, burly, and already drunk, but look, Im a lifelong hostage negotiatorI gravitate toward tense situations that need mediation like a moth to the flame. + +I held out my hand to shake his and said, My name is Chris. + +The dude froze, and in the pause my fellow FBI guys moved in, patted him on the shoulders, and offered to buy him a drink. Turned out he was a Vietnam veteran at a particularly low point. He was in a packed bar where the entire world seemed to be celebrating. The only thing he could think of was to fight. But as soon as I became Chris, everything changed. + +Now take that mindset to a financial negotiation. I was in an outlet mall a few months after the Kansas experience and I picked out some shirts in one of the stores. At the front counter the young lady asked me if I wanted to join their frequent buyer program. + +I asked her if I got a discount for joining and she said, No. + +So I decided to try another angle. I said in a friendly manner, My name is Chris. Whats the Chris discount? + +She looked from the register, met my eyes, and gave a little laugh. + +Ill have to ask my manager, Kathy, she said and turned to the woman whod been standing next to her. + +Kathy, whod heard the whole exchange, said, The best I can do is ten percent. + +Humanize yourself. Use your name to introduce yourself. Say it in a fun, friendly way. Let them enjoy the interaction, too. And get your own special price. + +HOW TO GET YOUR COUNTERPARTS TO BID AGAINST THEMSELVES + +Like you saw Aaron and Julie do with their kidnappers, the best way to get your counterparts to lower their demands is to say No using How questions. These indirect ways of saying No wont shut down your counterpart the way a blunt, pride-piercing No would. In fact, these responses will sound so much like counterbids that your counterparts will often keep bidding against themselves. + +Weve found that you can usually express No four times before actually saying the word. + +The first step in the No series is the old standby: + +How am I supposed to do that? + +You have to deliver it in a deferential way, so it becomes a request for help. Properly delivered, it invites the other side to participate in your dilemma and solve it with a better offer. + +After that, some version of Your offer is very generous, Im sorry, that just doesnt work for me is an elegant second way to say No. + +This well-tested response avoids making a counteroffer, and the use of generous nurtures your counterpart to live up to the word. The Im sorry also softens the No and builds empathy. (You can ignore the so-called negotiating experts who say apologies are always signs of weakness.) + +Then you can use something like Im sorry but Im afraid I just cant do that. Its a little more direct, and the cant do that does great double duty. By expressing an inability to perform, it can trigger the other sides empathy toward you. + +Im sorry, no is a slightly more succinct version for the fourth No. If delivered gently, it barely sounds negative at all. + +If you have to go further, of course, No is the last and most direct way. Verbally, it should be delivered with a downward inflection and a tone of regard; its not meant to be NO! + +One of my students, a guy named Jesus Bueno, wrote me not long ago to tell me an amazing story about how hed used the multi-step No to help his brother Joaquin out of a sticky business situation. + +His brother and two friends had bought a cannabis grow shop franchise in northern Spain, where the cultivation of marijuana for personal use is legal. Joaquin and his partner, Bruno, each invested 20,000 euros in the business for a 46 percent stake (a minority partner invested another 3,500 for 8 percent). + +From the beginning, Joaquin and Bruno had a rocky relationship. Joaquin is an excellent salesman, while Bruno was more of a bookkeeper. The minority partner was also an excellent salesman, and he and Joaquin believed that growing sales was the correct strategy. That meant offering discounts for large orders and repeat customers, which Bruno disagreed with. Their planned spending on launching a website and expanding inventory also rubbed Bruno the wrong way. + +Then Brunos wife became a problem as she started nagging Joaquin about how he should not spend so much on expansion and instead take more profits. One day, Joaquin was reviewing inventory purchases and noticed that some items they had ordered had not been placed on the stores shelves. He began searching for them online and to his surprise he found an eBay store set up with the wifes first name that was selling exactly those missing products. + +This started a huge argument between Bruno and Joaquin, and soured their relationship. In the heat of the moment, Bruno told Joaquin that he was open to selling his shares because he felt the business risks they were taking were too large. So Joaquin consulted with his brother: my student Jesus. + +Because they believed that pressure from Brunos wife was why he wanted to sell, Jesus helped Joaquin craft an empathy message around that: It seems like you are under a lot of pressure from your wife. Joaquin was also in the middle of a divorce, so they decided to use that to relate to the wife issues, and they prepared an accusation auditI know you think I dont care about costs and taking profits from the companyin order to diffuse the negative energy and get Bruno talking. + +It worked like a charm. Bruno immediately agreed with the accusation audit and began explaining why he thought Joaquin was careless with spending. Bruno also noted that he didnt have someone to bail him out like Joaquin did (Joaquin got a start-up loan from his mother). Joaquin used mirrors to keep Bruno talking, and he did. + +Finally, Joaquin said, I know how the pressure from your wife can feel, Im going through a divorce myself and it really takes a lot out of you. Bruno then went on a ten-minute rant about his wife and let slip a huge piece of information: the wife was very upset because the bank that lent them the 20,000 had reviewed their loan and had given them two options: repay the loan in full, or pay a much higher interest rate. + +Bingo! + +Joaquin and Jesus huddled after learning that, and decided that Joaquin could reasonably pay just above the loan price because Bruno had already taken 14,000 in salary from the business. The letter from the bank put Bruno in a bad spot, and Joaquin figured he could bid low because there wasnt really a market for Bruno to sell his shares. + +They decided that 23,000 would be the magic number, with 11,000 up front with the remaining 12,000 over a year period. + +Then things went sideways. + +Instead of waiting for Bruno to name a price, Joaquin jumped the gun and made his full offer, telling Bruno that he thought it was very fair. If theres one way to put off your counterpart, its by implying that disagreeing with you is unfair. + +What happened next proved that. + +Bruno angrily hung up the phone and two days later Joaquin received an email from a guy saying hed been hired to represent Bruno. They wanted 30,812: 20,000 for the loan, 4,000 for salary, 6,230 for equity, and 582 for interest. + +Nonround figures that seemed unchangeable in their specificity. This guy was a pro. + +Jesus told Joaquin that hed truly screwed up. But they both knew that Bruno was pretty desperate to sell. So they decided to use the multi-step No strategy to get Bruno to bid against himself. The worst-case scenario, they decided, was that Bruno would just change his mind about selling his shares and the status quo would continue. It was a risk theyd have to take. + +They crafted their first No message: + +The price you offered is very fair, and I certainly wish that I could afford it. Bruno has worked very hard for this business, and he deserves to be compensated appropriately. I am very sorry, but wish you the best of luck. + +Notice how they made no counteroffer and said No without using the word? + +Joaquin was shocked when the following day he received an email from the advisor lowering the price to 28,346. + +Joaquin and Jesus then crafted their second gentle No: + +Thank you for your offer. You were generous to reduce the price, which I greatly appreciate. I really wish that I could pay you this amount, but I am sincere in that I cannot afford this amount at this time. As you know, I am in the middle of a divorce and I just cannot come up with that type of money. Again, I wish you the best of luck. + +The next day Joaquin received a one-line email from the advisor dropping the price to 25,000. Joaquin wanted to take it but Jesus told him that he had some No steps to go. Joaquin fought him, but in the end he relented. + +Theres a critical lesson there: The art of closing a deal is staying focused to the very end. There are crucial points at the finale when you must draw on your mental discipline. Dont think about what time the last flight leaves, or what it would be like to get home early and play golf. Do not let your mind wander. Remain focused. + +They wrote: + +Thank you again for the generous offer. You have really come down on the price and I have tried very hard to come up with that amount. Unfortunately, no one is willing to lend me the money, not even my mother. I have tried various avenues but cannot come up with the funding. In the end, I can offer you 23,567, although I can only pay 15,321.37 up front. I could pay you the remainder over a one-year period, but that is really the most I can do. I wish you the best in your decision. + +Brilliant use of specific numbers, and what an empathy-building way to say No without using the word! + +And it worked. Within one hour, the advisor responded to accept. + +Look at this closely: see how the mixture of mirroring and open-ended questions dragged out the information about Brunos financial problems, and then the No method exploited his desperation? It might not have been a great idea to use this method if thered been another buyer, but with no one else it was a brilliant way to get Bruno to bid against himself. + +KEY LESSONS + +Superstar negotiatorsreal rainmakersknow that a negotiation is a playing field beneath the words, where really getting to a good deal involves detecting and manipulating subtle, nonobvious signals beneath the surface. It is only by visualizing and modifying these subsurface issues that you can craft a great deal and make sure that it is implemented. + + As you put the following tools to use, remember this chapters most important concept. That is, Yes is nothing without How. Asking How, knowing How, and defining How are all part of the effective negotiators arsenal. He would be unarmed without them. + +Ask calibrated How questions, and ask them again and again. Asking How keeps your counterparts engaged but off balance. Answering the questions will give them the illusion of control. It will also lead them to contemplate your problems when making their demands. + +Use How questions to shape the negotiating environment. You do this by using How can I do that? as a gentle version of No. This will subtly push your counterpart to search for other solutionsyour solutions. And very often it will get them to bid against themselves. + +Dont just pay attention to the people youre negotiating with directly; always identify the motivations of the players behind the table. You can do so by asking how a deal will affect everybody else and how on board they are. + +Follow the 7-38-55 Percent Rule by paying close attention to tone of voice and body language. Incongruence between the words and nonverbal signs will show when your counterpart is lying or uncomfortable with a deal. + +Is the Yes real or counterfeit? Test it with the Rule of Three: use calibrated questions, summaries, and labels to get your counterpart to reaffirm their agreement at least three times. Its really hard to repeatedly lie or fake conviction. + +A persons use of pronouns offers deep insights into his or her relative authority. If youre hearing a lot of I, me, and my, the real power to decide probably lies elsewhere. Picking up a lot of we, they, and them, its more likely youre dealing directly with a savvy decision maker keeping his options open. + +Use your own name to make yourself a real person to the other side and even get your own personal discount. Humor and humanity are the best ways to break the ice and remove roadblocks. + + + + + +CHAPTER 9 + + +BARGAIN HARD + + +A few years ago I fell in love with a red Toyota 4Runner. Actually not just red, but Salsa Red Pearl. Kind of a smoldering red that seemed to glow at night. How sexy is that? I just had to have it; getting one became my obsession. + +I searched the dealers in metropolitan Washington, D.C., and I quickly realized that I wasnt the only one obsessed with getting that truck: there werent any in that color in the entire area, none at all, save at one dealer. + +You know how they tell you not to shop for groceries when youre hungry? Well, I was hungry. Very hungry. Actually, I was in love. . . . I sat down, centered myself, and strategized. This lot was my only shot. I had to make it count + +I drove to the dealer on a sunny Friday afternoon. I sat down across from the salesman, a nice enough guy named Stan, and told him how gorgeous the vehicle was. + +He offered me the usual smilehe had me, he thoughtand mentioned the sticker price on that beautiful vehicle: $36,000. + +I gave him an understanding nod and pursed my lips. The key to beginning a haggle is to rattle the other guy ever so gently. You do it in the nicest way possible. If I could thread that needle, I had a good chance at getting my price. + +I can pay $30,000, I said. And I can pay it up front, all cash. Ill write a check today for the full amount. Im sorry, Im afraid I just cant pay any more. + +His smile flickered a little bit at the edges, as if it were losing focus. But he tightened it down and shook his head. + +Im sure you can understand we cant do that. The sticker price is $36,000, after all. + +How am I supposed to do that? I asked deferentially. + +Im sure, he said, then paused as if he wasnt sure what hed meant to say. Im sure we can figure something out with financing the $36,000. + +Its a beautiful truck. Really amazing. I cant tell you how much Id love to have it. Its worth more than what Im offering. Im sorry, this is really embarrassing. I just cant do that price. + +He stared at me in silence, a little befuddled now. Then he stood and went into the back for what seemed like an eternity. He was gone so long that I remember saying to myself, Damn! I should have come in lower! Theyre going to come all the way down. Any response thats not an outright rejection of your offer means you have the edge. + +He returned and told me like it was Christmas that his boss had okayed a new price: $34,000. + +Wow, your offer is very generous and this is the car of my dreams, I said. I really wish I could do that. I really do. This is so embarrassing. I simply cant. + +He dropped into silence and I didnt take the bait. I let the silence linger. And then with a sigh he trudged off again. + +He returned after another eternity. + +You win, he said. My manager okayed $32,500. + +He pushed a paper across the desk that even said YOU WIN in big letters. The words were even surrounded with smiley faces. + +I am so grateful. Youve been very generous, and I cant thank you enough. The truck is no doubt worth more than my price, I said. Im sorry, I just cant do that. + +Up he stood again. No smile now. Still befuddled. After a few seconds, he walked back to his manager and I leaned back. I could taste victory. A minute laterno eternity this timehe returned and sat. + +We can do that, he said. + +Two days later, I drove off in my Salsa Red Pearl Toyota 4Runnerfor $30,000. + +God I love that truck. Still drive it today. + +Most negotiations hit that inevitable point where the slightly loose and informal interplay between two people turns to confrontation and the proverbial brass tacks. You know the moment: youve mirrored and labeled your way to a degree of rapport; an accusation audit has cleared any lingering mental or emotional obstacles, and youve identified and summarized the interests and positions at stake, eliciting a Thats right, and . . . + +Now its time to bargain. + +Here it is: the clash for cash, an uneasy dance of offers and counters that send most people into a cold sweat. If you count yourself among that majority, regarding the inevitable moment as nothing more than a necessary evil, theres a good chance you regularly get your clock cleaned by those who have learned to embrace it. + +No part of a negotiation induces more anxiety and unfocused aggression than bargaining, which is why its the part that is more often fumbled and mishandled than any other. Its simply not a comfortable dynamic for most people. Even when we have the best-laid plans, a lot of us wimp out when we get to the moment of exchanging prices. + +In this chapter, Im going to explain the tactics that make up the bargaining process, and look at how psychological dynamics determine which tactics should be used and how they should be implemented. + +Now, bargaining is not rocket science, but its not simple intuition or mathematics, either. To bargain well, you need to shed your assumptions about the haggling process and learn to recognize the subtle psychological strategies that play vital roles at the bargaining table. Skilled bargainers see more than just opening offers, counteroffers, and closing moves. They see the psychological currents that run below the surface. + +Once youve learned to identify these currents, youll be able to read bargaining situations more accurately and confidently answer the tactical questions that dog even the best negotiators. + +Youll be ready for the bare-knuckle bargaining. And theyll never see it coming. + +WHAT TYPE ARE YOU? + +A few years ago I was on my boat with one of my employees, a great guy named Keenon; I was supposed to be giving him a pep talk and performance review. + +When I think of what we do, I describe it as uncovering the riptide, I said. + +Uncovering the riptide, Keenon said. + +Yes, the idea is that weyou and I and everyone herehave the skills to identify the psychological forces that are pulling us away from shore and use them to get somewhere more productive. + +Somewhere more productive, Keenon said. + +Exactly, I said. To a place where we can . . . + +We had talked for about forty-five minutes when my son Brandon, who runs operations for The Black Swan Group, broke out laughing. + +I cant take it anymore! Dont you see? Really, Dad, dont you see? + +I blinked. Did I see what? I asked him. + +All Keenon is doing is mirroring you. And hes been doing it for almost an hour. + +Oh, I said, my face going red as Keenon began to laugh. + +He was totally right. Keenon had been playing with me the entire time, using the psychological tool that works most effectively with assertive guys like me: the mirror. + +Your personal negotiation styleand that of your counterpartis formed through childhood, schooling, family, culture, and a million other factors; by recognizing it you can identify your negotiating strengths and weaknesses (and those of your counterpart) and adjust your mindset and strategies accordingly. + +Negotiation style is a crucial variable in bargaining. If you dont know what instinct will tell you or the other side to do in various circumstances, youll have massive trouble gaming out effective strategies and tactics. You and your counterpart have habits of mind and behavior, and once you identify them you can leverage them in a strategic manner. + +Just like Keenon did. + +Theres an entire library unto itself of research into the archetypes and behavioral profiles of all the possible people youre bound to meet at the negotiating table. Its flat-out overwhelming, so much so that it loses its utility. Over the last few years, in an effort primarily led by my son Brandon, weve consolidated and simplified all that research, cross-referencing it with our experiences in the field and the case studies of our business school students, and found that people fall into three broad categories. Some people are Accommodators; otherslike meare basically Assertive; and the rest are data-loving Analysts. + +Hollywood negotiation scenes suggest that an Assertive style is required for effective bargaining, but each of the styles can be effective. And to truly be effective you need elements from all three. + +A study of American lawyer-negotiators1 found that 65 percent of attorneys from two major U.S. cities used a cooperative style while only 24 percent were truly assertive. And when these lawyers were graded for effectiveness, more than 75 percent of the effective group came from the cooperative type; only 12 percent were Assertive. So if youre not Assertive, dont despair. Blunt assertion is actually counterproductive most of the time. + +And remember, your personal negotiating style is not a straitjacket. No one is exclusively one style. Most of us have the capacity to throttle up our nondominant styles should the situation call for it. But there is one basic truth about a successful bargaining style: To be good, you have to learn to be yourself at the bargaining table. To be great you have to add to your strengths, not replace them. + +Heres a quick guide to classifying the type of negotiator youre facing and the tactics that will be most fitting for you. + +ANALYST + +Analysts are methodical and diligent. They are not in a big rush. Instead, they believe that as long as they are working toward the best result in a thorough and systematic way, time is of little consequence. Their self-image is linked to minimizing mistakes. Their motto: As much time as it takes to get it right. + +Classic analysts prefer to work on their own and rarely deviate from their goals. They rarely show emotion, and they often use what is very close to the FM DJ Voice I talked about in Chapter 3, slow and measured with a downward inflection. However, Analysts often speak in a way that is distant and cold instead of soothing. This puts people off without them knowing it and actually limits them from putting their counterpart at ease and opening them up. + +Analysts pride themselves on not missing any details in their extensive preparation. They will research for two weeks to get data they might have gotten in fifteen minutes at the negotiating table, just to keep from being surprised. Analysts hate surprises. + +They are reserved problem solvers, and information aggregators, and are hypersensitive to reciprocity. They will give you a piece, but if they dont get a piece in return within a certain period of time, they lose trust and will disengage. This can often seem to come out of nowhere, but remember, since they like working on things alone the fact that they are talking to you at all is, from their perspective, a concession. They will often view concessions by their counterpart as a new piece of information to be taken back and evaluated. Dont expect immediate counterproposals from them. + +People like this are skeptical by nature. So asking too many questions to start is a bad idea, because theyre not going to want to answer until they understand all the implications. With them, its vital to be prepared. Use clear data to drive your reason; dont ad-lib; use data comparisons to disagree and focus on the facts; warn them of issues early; and avoid surprises. + +Silence to them is an opportunity to think. Theyre not mad at you and theyre not trying to give you a chance to talk more. If you feel they dont see things the way you do, give them a chance to think first. + +Apologies have little value to them since they see the negotiation and their relationship with you as a person largely as separate things. They respond fairly well in the moment to labels. They are not quick to answer calibrated questions, or closed-ended questions when the answer is Yes. They may need a few days to respond. + +If youre an analyst you should be worried about cutting yourself off from an essential source of data, your counterpart. The single biggest thing you can do is to smile when you speak. People will be more forthcoming with information to you as a result. Smiling can also become a habit that makes it easy for you to mask any moments youve been caught off guard. + +ACCOMMODATOR + +The most important thing to this type of negotiator is the time spent building the relationship. Accommodators think as long as there is a free-flowing continuous exchange of information time is being well spent. As long as theyre communicating, theyre happy. Their goal is to be on great terms with their counterpart. They love the win-win. + +Of the three types, they are most likely to build great rapport without actually accomplishing anything. + +Accommodators want to remain friends with their counterpart even if they cant reach an agreement. They are very easy to talk to, extremely friendly, and have pleasant voices. They will yield a concession to appease or acquiesce and hope the other side reciprocates. + +If your counterparts are sociable, peace-seeking, optimistic, distractible, and poor time managers, theyre probably Accommodators. + +If theyre your counterpart, be sociable and friendly. Listen to them talk about their ideas and use calibrated questions focused specifically on implementation to nudge them along and find ways to translate their talk into action. Due to their tendency to be the first to activate the reciprocity cycle, they may have agreed to give you something they cant actually deliver. + +Their approach to preparation can be lacking as they are much more focused on the person behind the table. They want to get to know you. They have a tremendous passion for the spirit of negotiation and what it takes not only to manage emotions but also to satisfy them. + +While it is very easy to disagree with an Accommodator, because they want nothing more that to hear what you have to say, uncovering their objections can be difficult. They will have identified potential problem areas beforehand and will leave those areas unaddressed out of fear of the conflict they may cause. + +If you have identified yourself as an Accommodator, stick to your ability to be very likable, but do not sacrifice your objections. Not only do the other two types need to hear your point of view; if you are dealing with another Accommodator they will welcome it. Also be conscious of excess chitchat: the other two types have no use for it, and if youre sitting across the table from someone like yourself you will be prone to interactions where nothing gets done. + +ASSERTIVE + +The Assertive type believes time is money; every wasted minute is a wasted dollar. Their self-image is linked to how many things they can get accomplished in a period of time. For them, getting the solution perfect isnt as important as getting it done. + +Assertives are fiery people who love winning above all else, often at the expense of others. Their colleagues and counterparts never question where they stand because they are always direct and candid. They have an aggressive communication style and they dont worry about future interactions. Their view of business relationships is based on respect, nothing more and nothing less. + +Most of all, the Assertive wants to be heard. And not only do they want to be heard, but they dont actually have the ability to listen to you until they know that youve heard them. They focus on their own goals rather than people. And they tell rather than ask. + +When youre dealing with Assertive types, its best to focus on what they have to say, because once they are convinced you understand them, then and only then will they listen for your point of view. + +To an Assertive, every silence is an opportunity to speak more. Mirrors are a wonderful tool with this type. So are calibrated questions, labels, and summaries. The most important thing to get from an Assertive will be a thats right that may come in the form of a thats it exactly or you hit it on the head. + +When it comes to reciprocity, this type is of the give an inch/take a mile mentality. They will have figured they deserve whatever you have given them so they will be oblivious to expectations of owing something in return. They will actually simply be looking for the opportunity to receive more. If they have given some kind of concession, they are surely counting the seconds until they get something in return. + +If you are an Assertive, be particularly conscious of your tone. You will not intend to be overly harsh but you will often come off that way. Intentionally soften your tone and work to make it more pleasant. Use calibrated questions and labels with your counterpart since that will also make you more approachable and increase the chances for collaboration. + +Weve seen how each of these groups views the importance of time differently (time = preparation; time = relationship; time = money). They also have completely different interpretations of silence. + +Im definitely an Assertive, and at a conference this Accommodator type told me that he blew up a deal. I thought, What did you do, scream at the other guy and leave? Because thats me blowing up a deal. + +But it turned out that he went silent; for an Accommodator type, silence is anger. + +For Analysts, though, silence means they want to think. And Assertive types interpret your silence as either you dont have anything to say or you want them to talk. Im one, so I know: the only time Im silent is when Ive run out of things to say. + +The funny thing is when these cross over. When an Analyst pauses to think, their Accommodator counterpart gets nervous and an Assertive one starts talking, thereby annoying the Analyst, who thinks to herself, Every time I try to think you take that as an opportunity to talk some more. Wont you ever shut up? + +Before we move on I want to talk about why people often fail to identify their counterparts style. + +The greatest obstacle to accurately identifying someone elses style is what I call the I am normal paradox. That is, our hypothesis that the world should look to others as it looks to us. After all, who wouldnt make that assumption? + +But while innocent and understandable, thinking youre normal is one of the most damaging assumptions in negotiations. With it, we unconsciously project our own style on the other side. But with three types of negotiators in the world, theres a 66 percent chance your counterpart has a different style than yours. A different normal. + +A CEO once told me he expected nine of ten negotiations to fail. This CEO was likely projecting his beliefs onto the other side. In reality, he probably only matched with someone like-minded one of ten times. If he understood that his counterpart was different from him, he would most surely have increased his success rate. + +From the way they prepare to the way they engage in dialogue, the three types negotiate differently. So before you can even think about bargaining effectively, you have to understand your counterparts normal. You have to identify their type by opening yourself to their difference. Because when it comes to negotiating, the Golden Rule is wrong. + +The Black Swan rule is dont treat others the way you want to be treated; treat them the way they need to be treated. + +(Ive got a complementary PDF available that will help you identify your type and that of those around you. Please visit http://info .blackswanltd.com/3-types.) + +TAKING A PUNCH + +Negotiation academics like to treat bargaining as a rational process devoid of emotion. They talk about the ZOPAor Zone of Possible Agreementwhich is where the sellers and buyers zones cross. Say Tony wants to sell his car and wont take less than $5,000 and Samantha wants to buy but wont pay more than $6,000. The ZOPA runs from $5,000 to $6,000. Some deals have ZOPAs and some dont. Its all very rational. + +Or so theyd have you think. + +You need to disabuse yourself of that notion. In a real bargaining session, kick-ass negotiators dont use ZOPA. Experienced negotiators often lead with a ridiculous offer, an extreme anchor. And if youre not prepared to handle it, youll lose your moorings and immediately go to your maximum. Its human nature. Like the great ear-biting pugilist Mike Tyson once said, Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. + +As a well-prepared negotiator who seeks information and gathers it relentlessly, youre actually going to want the other guy to name a price first, because you want to see his hand. Youre going to welcome the extreme anchor. But extreme anchoring is powerful and youre human: your emotions may well up. If they do there are ways to weather the storm without bidding against yourself or responding with anger. Once you learn these tactics, youll be prepared to withstand the hit and counter with panache. + +First, deflect the punch in a way that opens up your counterpart. Successful negotiators often say No in one of the many ways weve talked about (How am I supposed to accept that?) or deflect the anchor with questions like What are we trying to accomplish here? Responses like these are great ways to refocus your counterpart when you feel youre being pulled into the compromise trap. + +You can also respond to a punch-in-the-face anchor by simply pivoting to terms. What I mean by this is that when you feel youre being dragged into a haggle you can detour the conversation to the nonmonetary issues that make any final price work. + +You can do this directly by saying, in an encouraging tone of voice, Lets put price off to the side for a moment and talk about what would make this a good deal. Or you could go at it more obliquely by asking, What else would you be able to offer to make that a good price for me? + +And if the other side pushes you to go first, wriggle from his grip. Instead of naming a price, allude to an incredibly high number that someone else might charge. Once when a hospital chain wanted me to name a price first, I said, Well, if you go to Harvard Business School, theyre going to charge you $2,500 a day per student. + +No matter what happens, the point here is to sponge up information from your counterpart. Letting your counterpart anchor first will give you a tremendous feel for him. All you need to learn is how to take the first punch. + +One of my Georgetown MBA students, a guy named Farouq, showed how not to fold after being punched when he went to hit up the MBA dean for funds to hold a big alumni event in Dubai. It was a desperate situation, because he needed $600 and she was his last stop. + +At the meeting, Farouq told the dean about how excited the students were about the trip and how beneficial it would be for the Georgetown MBA brand in the region. + +Before he could even finish, the dean jumped in. + +Sounds like a great trip you guys are planning, she said. But money is tight and I could authorize no more than $300. + +Farouq hadnt expected the dean to go so quickly. But things dont always go according to plan. + +That is a very generous offer given your budget limits, but I am not sure how that would help us achieve a great reception for the alums in the region, Farouq said, acknowledging her limits but saying no without using the word. Then he dropped an extreme anchor. I have a very high amount in my head: $1,000 is what we need. + +As expected, the extreme anchor quickly knocked the dean off her limit. + +That is severely out of my range and I am sure I cant authorize that. However, I will give you $500. + +Farouq was half-tempted to foldbeing $100 short wasnt make-or-breakbut he remembered the curse of aiming low. He decided to push forward. + +The $500 got him closer to the goal but not quite there, he said; $850 would work. + +The dean replied by saying that she was already giving more than what she wanted and $500 was reasonable. At this point, if Farouq had been less prepared he would have given up, but he was ready for the punches. + +I think your offer is very reasonable and I understand your restrictions, but I need more money to put on a great show for the school, he said. How about $775? + +The dean smiled, and Farouq knew he had her. + +You seem to have a specific number in your head that you are trying to get to, she said. Just tell it to me. + +At that point Farouq was happy to give her his number as he felt she was sincere. + +I need $737.50 to make this work and you are my last stop, he said. + +She laughed. + +The dean then praised him for knowing what he wanted and said shed check her budget. Two days later, Farouq got an email saying her office would put in $750. + +PUNCHING BACK: USING ASSERTION WITHOUT GETTING USED BY IT + +When a negotiation is far from resolution and going nowhere fast, you need to shake things up and get your counterpart out of their rigid mindset. In times like this, strong moves can be enormously effective tools. Sometimes a situation simply calls for you to be the aggressor and punch the other side in the face. + +That said, if you are basically a nice person, it will be a real stretch to hit the other guy like Mike Tyson. You cant be what youre not. As the Danish folk saying goes, You bake with the flour you have. But anyone can learn a few tools. + +Here are effective ways to assert smartly: + +REAL ANGER, THREATS WITHOUT ANGER, AND STRATEGIC UMBRAGE + +Marwan Sinaceur of INSEAD and Stanford Universitys Larissa Tiedens found that expressions of anger increase a negotiators advantage and final take.2 Anger shows passion and conviction that can help sway the other side to accept less. However, by heightening your counterparts sensitivity to danger and fear, your anger reduces the resources they have for other cognitive activity, setting them up to make bad concessions that will likely lead to implementation problems, thus reducing your gains. + +Also beware: researchers have also found that disingenuous expressions of unfelt angeryou know, faking itbackfire, leading to intractable demands and destroying trust. For anger to be effective, it has to be real, the key for it is to be under control because anger also reduces our cognitive ability. + +And so when someone puts out a ridiculous offer, one that really pisses you off, take a deep breath, allow little anger, and channel itat the proposal, not the personand say, I dont see how that would ever work. + +Such well-timed offense-takingknown as strategic umbragecan wake your counterpart to the problem. In studies by Columbia University academics Daniel Ames and Abbie Wazlawek, people on the receiving end of strategic umbrage were more likely to rate themselves as overassertive, even when the counterpart didnt think so.3 The real lesson here is being aware of how this might be used on you. Please dont allow yourself to fall victim to strategic umbrage. + +Threats delivered without anger but with poisethat is, confidence and self-controlare great tools. Saying, Im sorry that just doesnt work for me, with poise, works. + +WHY QUESTIONS + +Back in Chapter 7, I talked about the problems with Why? Across our planet and around the universe, Why? makes people defensive. + +As an experiment, the next time your boss wants something done ask him or her Why? and watch what happens. Then try it with a peer, a subordinate, and a friend. Observe their reactions and tell me if you dont find some level of defensiveness across the spectrum. Dont do this too much, though, or youll lose your job and all your friends. + +The only time I say, Why did you do that? in a negotiation is when I want to knock someone back. Its an iffy technique, though, and I wouldnt advocate it. + +There is, however, another way to use Why? effectively. The idea is to employ the defensiveness the question triggers to get your counterpart to defend your position. + +I know it sounds weird, but it works. The basic format goes like this: When you want to flip a dubious counterpart to your side, ask them, Why would you do that? but in a way that the that favors you. Let me explain. If you are working to lure a client away from a competitor, you might say, Why would you ever do business with me? Why would you ever change from your existing supplier? Theyre great! + +In these questions, the Why? coaxes your counterpart into working for you. + +I MESSAGES + +Using the first-person singular pronoun is another great way to set a boundary without escalating into confrontation. + +When you say, Im sorry, that doesnt work for me, the word I strategically focuses your counterparts attention onto you long enough for you to make a point. + +The traditional I message is to use I to hit the pause button and step out of a bad dynamic. When you want to counteract unproductive statements from your counterpart, you can say, I feel ___ when you ___ because ___, and that demands a time-out from the other person. + +But be careful with the big I: You have to be mindful not to use a tone that is aggressive or creates an argument. Its got to be cool and level. + +NO NEEDINESS: HAVING THE READY-TO-WALK MINDSET + +Weve said previously that no deal is better than a bad deal. If you feel you cant say No then youve taken yourself hostage. + +Once youre clear on what your bottom line is, you have to be willing to walk away. Never be needy for a deal. + +Before we move on, I want to emphasize how important it is to maintain a collaborative relationship even when youre setting boundaries. Your response must always be expressed in the form of strong, yet empathic, limit-setting boundariesthat is, tough lovenot as hatred or violence. Anger and other strong emotions can on rare occasions be effective. But only as calculated acts, never a personal attack. In any bare-knuckle bargaining session, the most vital principle to keep in mind is never to look at your counterpart as an enemy. + +The person across the table is never the problem. The unsolved issue is. So focus on the issue. This is one of the most basic tactics for avoiding emotional escalations. Our culture demonizes people in movies and politics, which creates the mentality that if we only got rid of the person then everything would be okay. But this dynamic is toxic to any negotiation. + +Punching back is a last resort. Before you go there, I always suggest an attempt at de-escalating the situation. Suggest a time-out. When your counterparts step back and take a breath, theyll no longer feel that they are hostage to a bad situation. Theyll regain a sense of agency and power. And theyll appreciate you for that. + +Think of punching back and boundary-setting tactics as a flattened S-curve: youve accelerated up the slope of a negotiation and hit a plateau that requires you to temporarily stop any progress, escalate or de-escalate the issue acting as the obstacle, and eventually bring the relationship back to a state of rapport and get back on the slope. Taking a positive, constructive approach to conflict involves understanding that the bond is fundamental to any resolution. Never create an enemy. + +ACKERMAN BARGAINING + +Ive spent a lot of time talking about the psychological judo that Ive made my stock in trade: the calibrated questions, the mirrors, the tools for knocking my counterpart off his game and getting him to bid against himself. + +But negotiation still comes down to determining who gets which slice of the pie, and from time to time youre going to be forced into some real bare-knuckle bargaining with a hard-ass haggler. + +I faced bare-knuckle bargaining all the time in the hostage world. I haggled with a lot of guys who stuck to their game plan and were used to getting their way. Pay or well kill, theyd say, and they meant it. You had to have your skills drum-tight to negotiate them down. You need tools. + +Back at FBI negotiation training, I learned the haggling system that I use to this day. And I swear by it. + +I call the system the Ackerman model because it came from this guy Mike Ackerman, an ex-CIA type who founded a kidnap-for-ransom consulting company based out of Miami. On many kidnappings wed constantly be paired with Ackerman guysnever Mike himselfwho helped design the haggle. + +After I retired from the FBI, I finally met Mike on a trip to Miami. When I told him I also used the system for business negotiations, he laughed and said hed run the system by Howard Raiffa, a legendary Harvard negotiation guy, and Howard had said it would work in any situation. So I felt pretty justified by that. + +The Ackerman model is an offer-counteroffer method, at least on the surface. But it is a very effective system for beating the usual lackluster bargaining dynamic, which has the predictable result of meeting in the middle. + +The systematized and easy-to-remember process has only four steps: + +1.Set your target price (your goal). + +2.Set your first offer at 65 percent of your target price. + +3.Calculate three raises of decreasing increments (to 85, 95, and 100 percent). + +4.Use lots of empathy and different ways of saying No to get the other side to counter before you increase your offer. + +5.When calculating the final amount, use precise, nonround numbers like, say, $37,893 rather than $38,000. It gives the number credibility and weight. + +6.On your final number, throw in a nonmonetary item (that they probably dont want) to show youre at your limit. + +The genius of this system is that it incorporates the psychological tactics weve discussedreciprocity, extreme anchors, loss aversion, and so onwithout you needing to think about them. + +If youll bear with me for a moment, Ill go over the steps so you see what I mean. + +First, the original offer of 65 percent of your target price will set an extreme anchor, a big slap in the face that might bring your counterpart right to their price limit. The shock of an extreme anchor will induce a fight-or-flight reaction in all but the most experienced negotiators, limiting their cognitive abilities and pushing them into rash action. + +Now look at the progressive offer increases to 85, 95, and 100 percent of the target price. Youre going to drop these in sparingly: after the counterpart has made another offer on their end, and after youve thrown out a few calibrated questions to see if you can bait them into bidding against themselves. + +When you make these offers, they work on various levels. First, they play on the norm of reciprocity; they inspire your counterpart to make a concession, too. Just like people are more likely to send Christmas cards to people who first send cards to them, they are more likely to make bargaining concessions to those who have made compromises in their direction. + +Second, the diminishing size of the increasesnotice that they decrease by half each timeconvinces your counterpart that hes squeezing you to the point of breaking. By the time they get to the last one, theyll feel that theyve really gotten every last drop. + +This really juices their self-esteem. Researchers have found that people getting concessions often feel better about the bargaining process than those who are given a single firm, fair offer. In fact, they feel better even when they end up paying moreor receiving lessthan they otherwise might. + +Finally, the power of nonround numbers bears reiterating. + +Back in Haiti, I used to use the Ackerman system ferociously. Over eighteen months we got two or three kidnappings a week, so from experience, we knew the market prices were $15,000 to $75,000 per victim. Because I was a hard-ass, I made it my goal to get in under $5,000 in every kidnapping that I ran. + +One really stands out, the first one I mentioned in this book. I went through the Ackerman process, knocking them off their game with an extreme anchor, hitting them with calibrated questions, and slowly gave progressively smaller concessions. Finally, I dropped the weird number that closed the deal. Ill never forget the head of the Miami FBI office calling my colleague the next day and saying, Voss got this guy out for $4,751? How does $1 make a difference? + +They were howling with laughter, and they had a point. That $1 is ridiculous. But it works on our human nature. Notice that you cant buy anything for $2, but you can buy a million things for $1.99. How does a cent change anything? It doesnt. But it makes a difference every time. We just like $1.99 more than $2.00 even if we know its a trick. + +NEGOTIATING A RENT CUT AFTER RECEIVING NOTICE OF AN INCREASE + +Eight months after a Georgetown MBA student of mine named Mishary signed a rental contract for $1,850/month, he got some unwelcome news: his landlord informed him that if he wanted to re-up, it would be $2,100/month for ten months, or $2,000/month for a year. + +Mishary loved the place and didnt think hed find a better one, but the price was already high and he couldnt afford more. + +Taking to heart our class slogan, You fall to your highest level of preparation, he dove into the real estate listings and found that prices for comparable apartments were $1,800$1,950/month, but none of them were in as good a building. He then examined his own finances and figured the rent he wanted to pay was $1,830. + +He requested a sit-down with his rental agent. + +This was going to be tough. + +At their meeting, Mishary laid out his situation. His experience in the building had been really positive, he said. And, he pointed out, he always paid on time. It would be sad for him to leave, he said, and sad for the landlord to lose a good tenant. The agent nodded. + +Totally in agreement, he said. Thats why I think it will benefit both of us to agree on renewing the lease. + +Here Mishary pulled out his research: buildings around the neighborhood were offering much lower prices, he said. Even though your building is better in terms of location and services, how am I supposed to pay $200 extra? + +The negotiation was on. + +The agent went silent for a few moments and then said, You make a good point, but this is still a good price. And as you noted, we can charge a premium. + +Mishary then dropped an extreme anchor. + +I fully understand, you do have a better location and amenities. But Im sorry, I just cant, he said. Would $1,730 a month for a year lease sound fair to you? + +The agent laughed and when he finished said there was no way to accept that number, because it was way below market price. + +Instead of getting pulled into a haggle, Mishary smartly pivoted to calibrated questions. + +Okay, so please help me understand: how do you price lease renewals? + +The agent didnt say anything shockingmerely that they used factors like area prices and supply-and-demandbut that gave Mishary the opening to argue that his leaving would open the landlord to the risk of having an unrented apartment and the cost of repainting. One month unrented would be a $2,000 loss, he said. + +Then he made another offer. Now, youre probably shaking your head that hes making two offers without receiving one in return. And youre right; normally thats verboten. But you have to be able to improvise. If you feel in control of a negotiation, you can do two or three moves at a time. Dont let the rules ruin the flow. + +Let me try and move along with you: how about $1,790 for 12 months? + +The agent paused. + +Sir, I understand your concerns, and what you said makes sense, he said. Your number, though, is very low. However, give me time to think this out and we can meet at another time. How does that sound? + +Remember, any response that is not an outright rejection means you have the edge. + +Five days later the two met again. + +I ran the numbers, and believe me this is a good deal, the agent started. I am able to offer you $1,950 a month for a year. + +Mishary knew hed won. The agent just needed a little push. So he praised the agent and said no without saying, No. And notice how he brilliantly mislabels in order to get the guy to open up? + +That is generous of you, but how am I supposed to accept it when I can move a few blocks away and stay for $1,800? A hundred and fifty dollars a month means a lot to me. You know I am a student. I dont know, it seems like you would rather run the risk of keeping the place unrented. + +Its not that, the agent answered. But I cant give you a number lower than the market. + +Mishary made a dramatic pause, as if the agent was extracting every cent he had. + +Then I tell you what, I initially went up from $1,730 to $1,790, he said, sighing. I will bring it up to $1,810. And I think this works well for both. + +The agent shook his head. + +This is still lower than the market, sir. And I cannot do that. + +Mishary then prepared to give the last of his Ackerman offers. He went silent for a while and then asked the agent for a pen and paper. Then he started doing fake calculations to seem like he was really pushing himself. + +Finally, he looked up at the agent and said, I did some numbers, and the maximum I can afford is $1,829. + +The agent bobbed his head from side to side, as if getting his mind around the offer. At last, he spoke. + +Wow. $1,829, he said. You seem very precise. You must be an accountant. [Mishary was not.] Listen, I value you wanting to renew with us and for that I think we can make this work for a twelve-month lease. + +Ka-ching! Notice this brilliant combination of decreasing Ackerman offers, nonround numbers, deep research, smart labeling, and saying no without saying No? Thats what gets you a rent discount when a landlord wanted to raise his monthly take. + +KEY LESSONS + +When push comes to shoveand it willyoure going to find yourself sitting across the table from a bare-knuckle negotiator. After youve finished all the psychologically nuanced stuffthe labeling and mirroring and calibratingyou are going to have to hash out the brass tacks. + +For most of us, that aint fun. + +Top negotiators know, however, that conflict is often the path to great deals. And the best find ways to actually have fun engaging in it. Conflict brings out truth, creativity, and resolution. So the next time you find yourself face-to-face with a bare-knuckle bargainer, remember the lessons in this chapter. + +Identify your counterparts negotiating style. Once you know whether they are Accommodator, Assertive, or Analyst, youll know the correct way to approach them. + +Prepare, prepare, prepare. When the pressure is on, you dont rise to the occasion; you fall to your highest level of preparation. So design an ambitious but legitimate goal and then game out the labels, calibrated questions, and responses youll use to get there. That way, once youre at the bargaining table, you wont have to wing it. + +Get ready to take a punch. Kick-ass negotiators usually lead with an extreme anchor to knock you off your game. If youre not ready, youll flee to your maximum without a fight. So prepare your dodging tactics to avoid getting sucked into the compromise trap. + +Set boundaries, and learn to take a punch or punch back, without anger. The guy across the table is not the problem; the situation is. + +Prepare an Ackerman plan. Before you head into the weeds of bargaining, youll need a plan of extreme anchor, calibrated questions, and well-defined offers. Remember: 65, 85, 95, 100 percent. Decreasing raises and ending on nonround numbers will get your counterpart to believe that hes squeezing you for all youre worth when youre really getting to the number you want. + + + + + +CHAPTER 10 + + +FIND THE BLACK SWAN + + +At 11:30 a.m. on June 17, 1981, a beautiful 70-degree spring day with an insistent westerly breeze, thirty-seven-year-old William Griffin left the second-floor bedroom where he lived in his parents Rochester, New York, home and trod down the shoe-buffed stairs that led to their meticulous living room. + +At the bottom he stopped, paused, and then, without a word of warning, shot off three shotgun blasts that killed his mother and a handyman who was hanging wallpaper and critically wounded his stepfather. The sound reverberated in the enclosed space. + +Griffin then left the house and shot a workman and two bystanders as he jogged two blocks to the Security Trust Company, a neighborhood bank. Seconds after he entered, people began sprinting from the bank as Griffin took nine bank employees hostage and ordered the customers to leave. + +For the next three and a half hours, Griffin led police and FBI agents in a violent standoff in which he shot and wounded the first two police officers who responded to the banks silent alarm, and shot six people who happened to be walking near the bank. Griffin shot off so many roundsmore than one hundred in allthat the police used a garbage truck to shield one officer as he was being rescued. + +Waving the nine bank employees into a small office at 2:30 p.m., Griffin told the manager to call the police and deliver a message. + +Outside, FBI agent Clint Van Zandt stood by while Rochester police officer Jim OBrien picked up the phone. + +Either you come to the front entrance doors of the bank at three oclock and have a shoot-out with him in the parking lot, the manager blurted through her tears, or hes going to start killing hostages and throwing out bodies. + +Then the line went dead. + +Now, never in the history of the United States had a hostage-taker killed a hostage on deadline. The deadline was always a way to focus the mind; what the bad guys really wanted was money, respect, and a helicopter. Everyone knew that. It was a permanent and inalterable known known. It was the truth. + +But that permanent and inalterable truth was about to change. + +What came next showed the power of Black Swans, those hidden and unexpected pieces of informationthose unknown unknownswhose unearthing has game-changing effects on a negotiation dynamic. + +Negotiation breakthroughswhen the game shifts inalterably in your favorare created by those who can identify and utilize Black Swans. + +Heres how. + +FINDING LEVERAGE IN THE PREDICTABLY UNPREDICTABLE + +At exactly 3 p.m., Griffin gestured toward one of his hostages, a twenty-nine-year-old teller named Margaret Moore, and told her to walk to the glass bank doors. Petrified, Moore did as she was ordered, but first cried out that she was a single parent with a young son. + +Griffin didnt seem to hear her, or to care. Once the weeping Moore made it to the vestibule, Griffin shot off two blasts from his twelve-gauge shotgun. Both of the heavy rounds struck Moore in the midsection, violently blowing her through the glass door and almost cutting her body in half. + +Outside, law enforcement was stunned into silence. It was obvious that Griffin didnt want money or respect or an escape route. The only way he was coming out was in a body bag. + +At that moment, Griffin walked over to a full-length bank window and pressed his body against the glass. He was in full view of a sniper stationed in the church across the street. Griffin knew quite well the sniper was there; earlier in the day hed shot at him. + +Less than a second after Griffins silhouette appeared in his scope, the sniper pulled the trigger. + +Griffin crumpled to the floor, dead. + +Black Swan theory tells us that things happen that were previously thought to be impossibleor never thought of at all. This is not the same as saying that sometimes things happen against one-in-a-million odds, but rather that things never imagined do come to pass. + +The idea of the Black Swan was popularized by risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his bestselling books Fooled by Randomness (2001)1 and The Black Swan (2007),2 but the term goes back much further. Until the seventeenth century, people could only imagine white swans because all swans ever seen had possessed white feathers. In seventeenth-century London it was common to refer to impossible things as Black Swans. + +But then the Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh went to western Australia in 1697and saw a black swan. Suddenly the unthinkable and unthought was real. People had always predicted that the next swan they saw would be white, but the discovery of black swans shattered this worldview. + +Black Swans are just a metaphor, of course. Think of Pearl Harbor, the rise of the Internet, 9/11, and the recent banking crisis. + +None of the events above was predictedyet on reflection, the markers were all there. Its just that people werent paying attention. + +As Taleb uses the term, the Black Swan symbolizes the uselessness of predictions based on previous experience. Black Swans are events or pieces of knowledge that sit outside our regular expectations and therefore cannot be predicted. + +This is a crucial concept in negotiation. In every negotiating session, there are different kinds of information. There are those things we know, like our counterparts name and their offer and our experiences from other negotiations. Those are known knowns. There are those things we are certain that exist but we dont know, like the possibility that the other side might get sick and leave us with another counterpart. Those are known unknowns and they are like poker wild cards; you know theyre out there but you dont know who has them. But most important are those things we dont know that we dont know, pieces of information weve never imagined but that would be game changing if uncovered. Maybe our counterpart wants the deal to fail because hes leaving for a competitor. + +These unknown unknowns are Black Swans. + +With their known knowns and prior expectations so firmly guiding their approach, Van Zandt, and really, the entire FBI, were blind to the clues and connections that showed there was something outside of the predictable at play. They couldnt see the Black Swans in front of them. + +I dont mean to single out Van Zandt here. He did all of law enforcement a service by highlighting this event and he told me and a room full of agents the story of that horrible June day during a training session at Quantico. It was an introduction to the suicide-by-cop phenomenonwhen an individual deliberately creates a crisis situation to provoke a lethal response from law enforcementbut there was an even greater lesson at stake: the point of the story then, and now, was how important it is to recognize the unexpected to make sure things like Moores death never happen again. + +On that day in June 1981, OBrien kept calling the bank, but each time the bank employee who answered quickly hung up. It was at that moment they should have realized the situation was outside the known. Hostage-takers always talked because they always had demands; they always wanted to be heard, respected, and paid. + +But this guy didnt. + +Then, midway through the standoff, a police officer entered the command post with the news that a double homicide with a third person critically wounded had been reported a few blocks away. + +Do we need to know this? Van Zandt said. Is there a connection? + +No one knew or found out in time. If they had, they might have uncovered a second Black Swan: that Griffin had already killed several people without making monetary demands. + +And then, a few hours in, the hostage-taker had one of the hostages read a note to the police over the phone. Curiously, there were no demands. Instead, it was a rambling diatribe about Griffins life and the wrongs hed endured. The note was so long and unfocused it was never read in its entirety. Because of this, one important lineanother Black Swanwasnt registered: + +. . . after the police take my life . . . + +Because these Black Swans werent uncovered, Van Zandt and his colleagues never saw the situation for what it was: Griffin wanted to die, and he wanted the police to do it for him. + +Nothing like thisa shootout on a deadline?had ever happened to the FBI, so they tried to fit the information into what had happened in the past. Into the old templates. They wondered, What does he actually want? After scaring them for a bit, they expected Griffin to pick up the phone and start a dialogue. No one gets killed on deadline. + +Or so they thought. + +UNCOVERING UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS + +The lesson of what happened at 3 p.m. on June 17, 1981, in Rochester, New York, was that when bits and pieces of a case dont add up its usually because our frames of reference are off; they will never add up unless we break free of our expectations. + +Every case is new. We must let what we knowour known knownsguide us but not blind us to what we do not know; we must remain flexible and adaptable to any situation; we must always retain a beginners mind; and we must never overvalue our experience or undervalue the informational and emotional realities served up moment by moment in whatever situation we face. + +But those were not the only important lessons of that tragic event. If an overreliance on known knowns can shackle a negotiator to assumptions that prevent him from seeing and hearing all that a situation presents, then perhaps an enhanced receptivity to the unknown unknowns can free that same negotiator to see and hear the things that can produce dramatic breakthroughs. + +From the moment I heard the tale of June 17, 1981, I realized that I had to completely change how I approached negotiating. I began to hypothesize that in every negotiation each side is in possession of at least three Black Swans, three pieces of information that, were they to be discovered by the other side, would change everything. + +My experience since has proven this to be true. + +Now, I should note here that this is not just a small tweak to negotiation technique. It is not coincidence that I embraced Black Swan as the name of my company and the symbol of our approach. + +Finding and acting on Black Swans mandates a shift in your mindset. It takes negotiation from being a one-dimensional move-countermove game of checkers to a three-dimensional game thats more emotional, adaptive, intuitive . . . and truly effective. + +Finding Blacks Swans is no easy task, of course. We are all to some degree blind. We do not know what is around the corner until we turn it. By definition we do not know what we dont know. + +Thats why I say that finding and understanding Black Swans requires a change of mindset. You have to open up your established pathways and embrace more intuitive and nuanced ways of listening. + +This is vital to people of all walks of life, from negotiators to inventors and marketers. What you dont know can kill you, or your deal. But to find it out is incredibly difficult. The most basic challenge is that people dont know the questions to ask the customer, the user . . . the counterpart. Unless correctly interrogated, most people arent able to articulate the information you want. The world didnt tell Steve Jobs that it wanted an iPad: he uncovered our need, that Black Swan, without us knowing the information was there. + +The problem is that conventional questioning and research techniques are designed to confirm known knowns and reduce uncertainty. They dont dig into the unknown. + +Negotiations will always suffer from limited predictability. Your counterpart might tell you, Its a lovely plot of land, without mentioning that it is also a Superfund site. Theyll say, Are the neighbors noisy? Well, everyone makes a bit of noise, dont they? when the actual fact is that a heavy metal band practices there nightly. + +It is the person best able to unearth, adapt to, and exploit the unknowns that will come out on top. + +To uncover these unknowns, we must interrogate our world, must put out a call, and intensely listen to the response. Ask lots of questions. Read nonverbal clues and always voice your observations with your counterpart. + +This is nothing beyond what youve been learning up to now. It is merely more intense and intuitive. You have to feel for the truth behind the camouflage; you have to note the small pauses that suggest discomfort and lies. Dont look to verify what you expect. If you do, thats what youll find. Instead, you must open yourself up to the factual reality that is in front of you. + +This is why my company changed its format for preparing and engaging in a negotiation. No matter how much research our team has done prior to the interaction, we always ask ourselves, Why are they communicating what they are communicating right now? Remember, negotiation is more like walking on a tightrope than competing against an opponent. Focusing so much on the end objective will only distract you from the next step, and that can cause you to fall off the rope. Concentrate on the next step because the rope will lead you to the end as long as all the steps are completed. + +Most people expect that Black Swans are highly proprietary or closely guarded information, when in fact the information may seem completely innocuous. Either side may be completely oblivious to its importance. Your counterpart always has pieces of information whose value they do not understand. + +THE THREE TYPES OF LEVERAGE + +Im going to come back to specific techniques for uncovering Black Swans, but first Id like to examine what makes them so useful. + +The answer is leverage. Black Swans are leverage multipliers. They give you the upper hand. + +Now, leverage is the magic word, but its also one of those concepts that negotiation experts casually throw about but rarely delve into, so Id like to do so here. + +In theory, leverage is the ability to inflict loss and withhold gain. Where does your counterpart want to gain and what do they fear losing? Discover these pieces of information, we are told, and youll build leverage over the other sides perceptions, actions, and decisions. In practice, where our irrational perceptions are our reality, loss and gain are slippery notions, and it often doesnt matter what leverage actually exists against you; what really matters is the leverage they think you have on them. Thats why I say theres always leverage: as an essentially emotional concept, it can be manufactured whether it exists or not. + +If theyre talking to you, you have leverage. Who has leverage in a kidnapping? The kidnapper or the victims family? Most people think the kidnapper has all the leverage. Sure, the kidnapper has something you love, but you have something they lust for. Which is more powerful? Moreover, how many buyers do the kidnappers have for the commodity they are trying to sell? What business is successful if theres only one buyer? + +Leverage has a lot of inputs, like time and necessity and competition. If you need to sell your house now, you have less leverage than if you dont have a deadline. If you want to sell it but dont have to, you have more. And if various people are bidding on it at once, good on you. + +I should note that leverage isnt the same thing as power. Donald Trump has tons of power, but if hes stranded in a desert and the owner of the only store for miles has the water he wants, the vendor has the leverage. + +One way to understand leverage is as a fluid that sloshes between the parties. As a negotiator you should always be aware of which side, at any given moment, feels they have the most to lose if negotiations collapse. The party who feels they have more to lose and are the most afraid of that loss has less leverage, and vice versa. To get leverage, you have to persuade your counterpart that they have something real to lose if the deal falls through. + +At a taxonomic level, there are three kinds: Positive, Negative, and Normative. + +POSITIVE LEVERAGE + +Positive leverage is quite simply your ability as a negotiator to provideor withholdthings that your counterpart wants. Whenever the other side says, I want . . . as in, I want to buy your car, you have positive leverage. + +When they say that, you have power: you can make their desire come true; you can withhold it and thereby inflict pain; or you can use their desire to get a better deal with another party. + +Heres an example: + +Three months after youve put your business on the market, a potential buyer finally tells you, Yes, Id like to buy it. Youre thrilled, but a few days later your joy turns to disappointment when he delivers an offer so low its insulting. This is the only offer you have, so what do you do? + +Now, hopefully youve had contact with other buyers, even casually. If you have, you can use the offer to create a sense of competition, and thereby kick off a bidding war. At least youll force them to make a choice. + +But even if you dont have other offers or the interested buyer is your first choice, you have more power than before your counterpart revealed his desire. You control what they want. Thats why experienced negotiators delay making offersthey dont want to give up leverage. + +Positive leverage should improve your psychology during negotiation. Youve gone from a situation where you want something from the investor to a situation where you both want something from each other. + +Once you have it, you can then identify other things your opponent wants. Maybe he wants to buy your firm over time. Help him do that, if hell increase the price. Maybe his offer is all the money he has. Help him get what he wantsyour businessby saying you can only sell him 75 percent for his offer. + +NEGATIVE LEVERAGE + +Negative leverage is what most civilians picture when they hear the word leverage. Its a negotiators ability to make his counterpart suffer. And it is based on threats: you have negative leverage if you can tell your counterpart, If you dont fulfill your commitment/pay your bill/etc., I will destroy your reputation. + +This sort of leverage gets peoples attention because of a concept weve discussed: loss aversion. As effective negotiators have long known and psychologists have repeatedly proved, potential losses loom larger in the human mind than do similar gains. Getting a good deal may push us toward making a risky bet, but saving our reputation from destruction is a much stronger motivation. + +So what kind of Black Swans do you look to be aware of as negative leverage? Effective negotiators look for pieces of information, often obliquely revealed, that show what is important to their counterpart: Who is their audience? What signifies status and reputation to them? What most worries them? To find this information, one method is to go outside the negotiating table and speak to a third party that knows your counterpart. The most effective method is to gather it from interactions with your counterpart. + +That said, a word of warning: I do not believe in making direct threats and am extremely careful with even subtle ones. Threats can be like nuclear bombs. There will be a toxic residue that will be difficult to clean up. You have to handle the potential of negative consequences with care, or you will hurt yourself and poison or blow up the whole process. + +If you shove your negative leverage down your counterparts throat, it might be perceived as you taking away their autonomy. People will often sooner die than give up their autonomy. Theyll at least act irrationally and shut off the negotiation. + +A more subtle technique is to label your negative leverage and thereby make it clear without attacking. Sentences like It seems like you strongly value the fact that youve always paid on time or It seems like you dont care what position you are leaving me in can really open up the negotiation process. + +NORMATIVE LEVERAGE + +Every person has a set of rules and a moral framework. + +Normative leverage is using the other partys norms and standards to advance your position. If you can show inconsistencies between their beliefs and their actions, you have normative leverage. No one likes to look like a hypocrite. + +For example, if your counterpart lets slip that they generally pay a certain multiple of cash flow when they buy a company, you can frame your desired price in a way that reflects that valuation. + +Discovering the Black Swans that give you normative valuation can be as easy as asking what your counterpart believes and listening openly. You want to see what language they speak, and speak it back to them. + +KNOW THEIR RELIGION + +In March 2003 I led the negotiation with a farmer who became one of the most unlikely post-9/11 terrorists you can imagine. + +The drama started when Dwight Watson, a North Carolina tobacco grower, hooked up his jeep to a John Deere tractor festooned with banners and an inverted U.S. flag and towed it to Washington, D.C., to protest government policies he thought were putting tobacco farmers out of business. + +When Watson got to the capital, he pulled his tractor into a pond between the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and threatened to blow it up with the organophosphate bombs he claimed were inside. + +The capital went into lockdown as the police blocked off an eight-block area from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. Coming just months after the Beltway sniper attacks and alongside the buildup to the Iraq War, the ease with which Watson threw the nations capital into turmoil freaked people out. + +Talking on his cell phone, Watson told the Washington Post that he was on a do-or-die mission to show how reduced subsidies were killing tobacco farmers. He told the Post that God had instructed him to stage his protest and he wasnt going to leave. + +If this is the way America will be run, the hell with it, he said. I will not surrender. They can blow [me] out of the water. Im ready to go to heaven. + +The FBI deployed me to a converted RV on the National Mall, where I was to guide a team of FBI agents and U.S. Park Police as we tried to talk Watson out of killing himself and who knows how many others. + +And then we got down to business. + +Like youd expect of a negotiation with a guy threatening to destroy a good part of the U.S. capital, it was righteously tense. Sharpshooters had their weapons trained on Watson, and they had the green light to shoot if he made any crazy moves. + +In any negotiation, but especially in a tense one like this, its not how well you speak but how well you listen that determines your success. Understanding the other is a precondition to be able to speak persuasively and develop options that resonate for them. There is the visible negotiation and then all the things that are hidden under the surface (the secret negotiation space wherein the Black Swans dwell). + +Access to this hidden space very often comes through understanding the other sides worldview, their reason for being, their religion. Indeed, digging into your counterparts religion (sometimes involving God but not always) inherently implies moving beyond the negotiating table and into the life, emotional and otherwise, of your counterpart. + +Once youve understood your counterparts worldview, you can build influence. Thats why as we talked with Watson I spent my energy trying to unearth who he was rather than logically arguing him into surrender. + +From this we learned that Watson had been finding it increasingly hard to make a living on his 1,200-acre tobacco farm, which had been in his family for five generations. After being hit by a drought and having his crop quota cut by half, Watson decided he couldnt afford the farm anymore and drove to Washington to make his point. He wanted attention, and knowing what he wanted gave us positive leverage. + +Watson also told us he was a veteran, and veterans had rules. This is the kind of music you want to hear, as it provides normative leverage. He told us that he would be willing to surrender, but not right away. As a military police officer in the 82nd Airborne in the 1970s, hed learned that if he was trapped behind enemy lines, he could withdraw with honor if reinforcements didnt arrive within three days. But not before. + +Now, we had articulated rules we could hold him to, and the admission that he could withdraw also implied that, despite his bluster about dying, he wanted to live. One of the first things you try to decide in a hostage negotiation is whether your counterparts vision of the future involves them living. And Watson had answered yes. + +We used this informationa piece of negative leverage, as we could take away something he wanted: lifeand started working it alongside the positive leverage of his desire to be heard. We emphasized to Watson that he had already made national news and if he wanted his message to survive he was going to have to live. + +Watson was smart enough to understand that there was a real chance he wouldnt make it out alive, but he still had his rules of military honor. His own desires and fears helped generate some positive and negative leverage, but they were secondary to the norms by which he lived his life. + +It was tempting to just wait until the third day, but I doubted wed get that far. With each passing hour the atmosphere was growing tenser. The capital was under siege and we had reason to believe he might have explosives. If he made one wrong move, one spastic freak-out, the snipers would kill him. Hed already had several angry outbursts, so every hour that passed endangered him. He could still get himself killed. + +But we couldnt hit on that at all; we couldnt threaten to kill him and expect that to work. The reason for that is something called the paradox of powernamely, the harder we push the more likely we are to be met with resistance. Thats why you have to use negative leverage sparingly. + +Still, time was short and we had to speed things up. + +But how? + +What happened next was one of those glorious examples of how deeply listening to understand your counterparts worldview can reveal a Black Swan that transforms a negotiation dynamic. Watson didnt directly tell us what we needed to know, but by close attention we uncovered a subtle truth that informed everything he said. + +About thirty-six hours in, Winnie Miller, an FBI agent on our team whod been listening intently to subtle references Watson had been making, turned to me. + +Hes a devout Christian, she told me. Tell him tomorrow is the Dawn of the Third Day. Thats the day Christians believe Jesus Christ left his tomb and ascended to Heaven. If Christ came out on the Dawn of the Third Day, why not Watson? + +It was a brilliant use of deep listening. By combining that subtext of Watsons words with knowledge of his worldview she let us show Watson that we not only were listening, but that we had also heard him. + +If wed understood his subtext correctly, this would let him end the standoff honorably and to do so with the feeling that he was surrendering to an adversary that respected him and his beliefs. + +By positioning your demands within the worldview your counterpart uses to make decisions, you show them respect and that gets you attention and results. Knowing your counterparts religion is more than just gaining normative leverage per se. Rather, its gaining a holistic understanding of your counterparts worldviewin this case, literally a religionand using that knowledge to inform your negotiating moves. + +Using your counterparts religion is extremely effective in large part because it has authority over them. The other guys religion is what the market, the experts, God, or societywhatever matters to himhas determined to be fair and just. And people defer to that authority. + +In the next conversation with Watson, we mentioned that the next morning was the Dawn of the Third Day. There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the line. Our Negotiation Operation Center was so quiet you could hear the heartbeat of the guy next to you. + +Watson coughed. + +Ill come out, he said. + +And he did, ending a forty-eight-hour standoff, saving himself from harm, and allowing the nations capital to resume its normal life. + +No explosives were found. + +While the importance of knowing their religion should be clear from Watsons story, here are two tips for reading religion correctly: + +Review everything you hear. You will not hear everything the first time, so double-check. Compare notes with your team members. You will often discover new information that will help you advance the negotiation. + +Use backup listeners whose only job is to listen between the lines. They will hear things you miss. + +In other words: listen, listen again, and listen some more. + +Weve seen how a holistic understanding of your counterparts religiona huge Black Swancan provide normative leverage that leads to negotiating results. But there are other ways in which learning your counterparts religion enables you to achieve better outcomes. + +THE SIMILARITY PRINCIPLE + +Research by social scientists has confirmed something effective negotiators have known for ages: namely, we trust people more when we view them as being similar or familiar. + +People trust those who are in their in-group. Belonging is a primal instinct. And if you can trigger that instinct, that sense that, Oh, we see the world the same way, then you immediately gain influence. + +When our counterpart displays attitudes, beliefs, ideaseven modes of dressthat are similar to our own, we tend to like and trust them more. Similarities as shallow as club memberships or college alumni status increase rapport. + +Thats why in many cultures negotiators spend large amounts of time building rapport before they even think of offers. Both sides know that the information they glean could be vital to effective deal making and leverage building. Its a bit like dogs circling each other, smelling each others behind. + +I once worked a deal for our services with this CEO in Ohio where the similarity principle played a major role. + +My counterpart was constantly making references that I recognized as being sort of born-again Christian material. As we talked he kept going back and forth on whether he should bring in his advisors. The whole issue of his advisors clearly pained him; at one point he even said, Nobody understands me. + +At that moment I began to rack my brain for the Christian word that captured the essence of what he was saying. And then the term came to my mind, a term people often used in church to describe the duty one had to administer our own and our worldsand therefore Godsresources with honesty, accountability, and responsibility. + +This is really stewardship for you, isnt it? I said. + +His voice immediately strengthened. + +Yes! Youre the only one who understands, he said. + +And he hired us at that moment. By showing that I understood his deeper reasons for being and accessing a sense of similarity, of mutual belongingness, I was able to bring him to the deal. The minute I established a kind of shared identity with this Christian, we were in. Not simply because of similarity alone, but because of the understanding implied by that moment of similarity. + +THE POWER OF HOPES AND DREAMS + +Once you know your counterparts religion and can visualize what he truly wants out of life, you can employ those aspirations as a way to get him to follow you. + +Every engineer, every executive, every childall of us want to believe we are capable of the extraordinary. As children, our daydreams feature ourselves as primary players in great moments: an actor winning an Oscar, an athlete hitting the game-winning shot. As we grow older, however, our parents, teachers, and friends talk more of what we cant and shouldnt do than what is possible. We begin to lose faith. + +But when someone displays a passion for what weve always wanted and conveys a purposeful plan of how to get there, we allow our perceptions of whats possible to change. Were all hungry for a map to joy, and when someone is courageous enough to draw it for us, we naturally follow. + +So when you ascertain your counterparts unattained goals, invoke your own power and follow-ability by expressing passion for their goalsand for their ability to achieve them. + +Ted Leonsis is great at this. As the owner of the Washington Wizards professional basketball team and the Washington Capitals professional hockey team, he is always talking about creating the immortal moments in sports that people will tell their grandchildren about. Who doesnt want to come to an agreement with someone who is going to make them immortal? + +RELIGION AS A REASON + +Research studies have shown that people respond favorably to requests made in a reasonable tone of voice and followed with a because reason. + +In a famous study from the late 1970s,3 Harvard psychology professor Ellen Langer and her colleagues approached people waiting for copy machines and asked if they could cut the line. Sometimes they gave a reason; sometimes they didnt. What she found was crazy: without her giving a reason, 60 percent let her through, but when she did give one, more than 90 percent did. And it didnt matter if the reason made sense. (Excuse me, I have five pages. May I cut in line because I have to make copies? worked great.) People just responded positively to the framework. + +While idiotic reasons worked with something simple like photocopying, on more complicated issues you can increase your effectiveness by offering reasons that reference your counterparts religion. Had that Christian CEO offered me a lowball offer when he agreed to hire my firm, I might have answered, Id love to but I too have a duty to be a responsible steward of my resources. + +ITS NOT CRAZY, ITS A CLUE + +Its not human nature to embrace the unknown. It scares us. When we are confronted by it, we ignore it, we run away, or we label it in ways that allow us to dismiss it. In negotiations, that label most often takes the form of the statement, Theyre crazy! + +Thats one reason Ive been highly critical of some of the implementation of Americas hostage negotiation policywhich is that we dont negotiate with those we refer broadly to as the Terrorists, including groups from the Taliban to ISIS. + +The rationale for this nonengagement is summarized well by the journalist Peter Bergen, CNNs national security analyst: Negotiations with religious fanatics who have delusions of grandeur generally do not go well. + +The alternative weve chosen is to not understand their religion, their fanaticism, and their delusions. Instead of negotiations that dont go well, we shrug our shoulders and say, Theyre crazy! + +But thats absolutely wrongheaded. We must understand these things. Im not saying that because Im a softheaded pacifist (the FBI doesnt hire agents like that) but because I know understanding such things is the best way to discover the other sides vulnerabilities and wants and thereby gain influence. You cant get that stuff unless you talk. + +No one is immune to Theyre crazy! You can see it rear its head in every kind of negotiation, from parenting to congressional deal making to corporate bargaining. + +But the moment when were most ready to throw our hands up and declare Theyre crazy! is often the best moment for discovering Black Swans that transform a negotiation. It is when we hear or see something that doesnt make sensesomething crazythat a crucial fork in the road is presented: push forward, even more forcefully, into that which we initially cant process; or take the other path, the one to guaranteed failure, in which we tell ourselves that negotiating was useless anyway. + +In their great book Negotiation Genius,4 Harvard Business School professors Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman provide a look at the common reasons negotiators mistakenly call their counterparts crazy. Id like to talk through them here. + +MISTAKE #1: THEY ARE ILL-INFORMED + +Often the other side is acting on bad information, and when people have bad information they make bad choices. Theres a great computer industry term for this: GIGOGarbage In, Garbage Out. + +As an example, Malhotra talks about a student of his who was in a dispute with an ex-employee who claimed he was owed $130,000 in commissions for work he had done before being fired; he was threatening a lawsuit. + +Confused, the executive turned to the companys accountants. There he discovered the problem: the accounts had been a mess when the employee was fired but had since been put into order. With the clean information, the accountants assured the executive that in fact the employee owed the company $25,000. + +Eager to avoid a lawsuit, the executive called the employee, explained the situation, and made an offer: if the employee dropped the lawsuit he could keep the $25,000. To his surprise, the employee said that he was going forward with the suit anyway; he acted irrational, crazy. + +Malhotra told his student that the problem was not craziness, but a lack of information and trust. So the executive had an outside accounting firm audit the numbers and send the results to the employee. + +The result? The employee dropped the suit. + +The clear point here is that people operating with incomplete information appear crazy to those who have different information. Your job when faced with someone like this in a negotiation is to discover what they do not know and supply that information. + +MISTAKE #2: THEY ARE CONSTRAINED + +In any negotiation where your counterpart is acting wobbly, there exists a distinct possibility that they have things they cant do but arent eager to reveal. Such constraints can make the sanest counterpart seem irrational. The other side might not be able to do something because of legal advice, or because of promises already made, or even to avoid setting a precedent. + +Or they may just not have the power to close the deal. + +That last situation is one that a client of mine faced as he was trying to land Coca-Cola as a client for his marketing firm. + +The guy had been negotiating a deal for months and it was getting on to November. He was petrified that if he didnt close it before the calendar year ended he would have to wait for Coca-Cola to set a new budget and he might lose the client. + +The problem was that his contact had suddenly stopped responding. So we told him to send a version of our classic email for nonresponders, the one that always works: Have you given up on finalizing this deal this year? + +Then something weird happened. The Coca-Cola contact didnt respond to the perfect email. What was up? + +This was superficially quite irrational, but the contact had been a straight-up guy until then. We told our client this could mean only one thing: that the guy had given up on closing the deal by the end of the year, but he didnt want to admit it. There had to be some constraint. + +With this knowledge in hand, we had our client dig deep. After a batch of phone calls and emails he tracked down someone who knew his contact. And it turned out we had been right: the contacts division had been in chaos for weeks, and in the midst of corporate infighting he had completely lost influence. Not surprisingly, he was embarrassed to admit it. Thats why he was avoiding my client. + +To put it simply, he had major constraints. + +MISTAKE #3: THEY HAVE OTHER INTERESTS + +Think back to William Griffin, the first man ever to kill a hostage on deadline. + +What the FBI and police negotiators on the scene simply did not know was that his main interest was not negotiating a deal to release the hostages for money. He wanted to be killed by a cop. Had they been able to dig up that hidden interest, they might have been able to avoid some of that days tragedy. + +The presence of hidden interests isnt as rare as you might think. Your counterpart will often reject offers for reasons that have nothing to do with their merits. + +A client may put off buying your product so that their calendar year closes before the invoice hits, increasing his chance for a promotion. Or an employee might quit in the middle of a career-making project, just before bonus season, because he or she has learned that colleagues are making more money. For that employee, fairness is as much an interest as money. + +Whatever the specifics of the situation, these people are not acting irrationally. They are simply complying with needs and desires that you dont yet understand, what the world looks like to them based on their own set of rules. Your job is to bring these Black Swans to light. + +As weve seen, when you recognize that your counterpart is not irrational, but simply ill-informed, constrained, or obeying interests that you do not yet know, your field of movement greatly expands. And that allows you to negotiate much more effectively. + +Here are a few ways to unearth these powerful Black Swans: + +GET FACE TIME + +Black Swans are incredibly hard to uncover if youre not literally at the table. + +No matter how much research you do, theres just some information that you are not going to find out unless you sit face-to-face. + +Today, a lot of younger people do almost everything over email. Its just how things are done. But its very difficult to find Black Swans with email for the simple reason that, even if you knock your counterpart off their moorings with great labels and calibrated questions, email gives them too much time to think and re-center themselves to avoid revealing too much. + +In addition, email doesnt allow for tone-of-voice effects, and it doesnt let you read the nonverbal parts of your counterparts response (remember 7-38-55). + +Lets return now to the tale of my client who was trying to get Coca-Cola as a client, only to learn that his contact at the company had been pushed aside. + +I realized that the only way my client was going to get a deal with Coca-Cola was by getting his contact to admit that he was useless for the situation and pass my client on to the correct executive. But there was no way this guy wanted to do that, because he still imagined that he could be important. + +So I told my client to get his contact out of the Coca-Cola complex. You got to get him to dinner. Youre going to say, Would it be a bad idea for me to take you to your favorite steak house and we just have a few laughs, and we dont talk business? + +The idea was that no matter the reasonwhether the contact was embarrassed, or didnt like my client, or just didnt want to discuss the situationthe only way the process was going to move forward was through direct human interaction. + +So my client got this guy out for dinner and as promised he didnt bring up business. But there was no way not to talk about it, and just because my client created personal, face-to-face interaction, the contact admitted he was the wrong guy. He admitted that his division was a mess and hed have to hand things off to somebody else to get the deal done. + +And he did. It took more than a year to get the deal signed, but they did it. + +OBSERVE UNGUARDED MOMENTS + +While you have to get face time, formal business meetings, structured encounters, and planned negotiating sessions are often the least revealing kinds of face time because these are the moments when people are at their most guarded. + +Hunting for Black Swans is also effective during unguarded moments at the fringes, whether at meals like my client had with his Coca-Cola contact, or the brief moments of relaxation before or after formal interactions. + +During a typical business meeting, the first few minutes, before you actually get down to business, and the last few moments, as everyone is leaving, often tell you more about the other side than anything in between. Thats why reporters have a credo to never turn off their recorders: you always get the best stuff at the beginning and the end of an interview. + +Also pay close attention to your counterpart during interruptions, odd exchanges, or anything that interrupts the flow. When someone breaks ranks, peoples faades crack just a little. Simply noticing whose cracks and how others respond verbally and nonverbally can reveal a gold mine. + +WHEN IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE, THERES CENTS TO BE MADE + +Students often ask me whether Black Swans are specific kinds of information or any kind that helps. I always answer that they are anything that you dont know that changes things. + +To drive this home, heres the story of one of my MBA students who was interning for a private equity real estate firm in Washington. Faced with actions from his counterpart that didnt pass the sense test, he innocently turned up one of the greatest Black Swans Ive seen in years by using a label. + +My student had been performing due diligence on potential targets when a principal at the firm asked him to look into a mixed-use property in the heart of Charleston, South Carolina. He had no experience in the Charleston market, so he called the broker selling the property and requested the marketing package. + +After discussing the deal and the market, my student and his boss decided that the asking price of $4.3 million was about $450,000 too high. At that point, my student called the broker again to discuss pricing and next steps. + +After initial pleasantries, the broker asked my student what he thought of the property. + +It looks like an interesting property, he said. Unfortunately, we dont know the market fundamentals. We like downtown and King Street in particular, but we have a lot of questions. + +The broker then told him that he had been in the market for more than fifteen years, so he was well informed. At this point, my student pivoted to calibrated How and What questions in order to gather information and judge the brokers skills. + +Great, my student said. First and foremost, how has Charleston been affected by the economic downturn? + +The broker replied with a detailed answer, citing specific examples of market improvement. In the process, he showed my student that he was very knowledgeable. + +It sounds like Im in good hands! he said, using a label to build empathy. Next question: What sort of cap rate can be expected in this type of building? + +Through the ensuing back-and-forth, my student learned that owners could expect rates of 6 to 7 percent because buildings like this were popular with students at the local university, a growing school where 60 percent of the student body lived off campus. + +He also learned that it would be prohibitively expensiveif not physically impossibleto buy land nearby and build a similar building. In the last five years no one had built on the street because of historic preservation rules. Even if they could buy land, the broker said a similar building would cost $2.5 million just in construction. + +The building is in great shape, especially compared to the other options available to students, the broker said. + +It seems like this building functions more as a glorified dormitory than a classic multifamily building, my student said, using a label to extract more information. + +And he got it. + +Fortunately and unfortunately, yes, the broker said. The occupancy has historically been one hundred percent and it is a cash cow, but the students act like college students . . . + +A lightbulb went on in my students head: there was something strange afoot. If it were such a cash cow, why would someone sell a 100 percent occupied building located next to a growing campus in an affluent city? That was irrational by any measure. A little befuddled but still in the negotiation mindset, my student constructed a label. Inadvertently he mislabeled the situation, triggering the broker to correct him and reveal a Black Swan. + +If he or she is selling such a cash cow, it seems like the seller must have doubts about future market fundamentals, he said. + +Well, he said, the seller has some tougher properties in Atlanta and Savannah, so he has to get out of this property to pay back the other mortgages. + +Bingo! With that, my student had unearthed a fantastic Black Swan. The seller was suffering constraints that, until that moment, had been unknown. + +My student put the broker on mute as he described other properties and used the moment to discuss pricing with his boss. He quickly gave him the green light to make a lowball offeran extreme anchorto try to yank the broker to his minimum. + +After quizzing the broker if the seller would be willing to close quickly, and getting a yes, my student set his anchor. + +I think I have heard enough, he said. We are willing to offer $3.4 million. + +Okay, the broker answered. That is well below the asking price. However, I can bring the offer to the seller and see what he thinks. + +Later that day, the broker came back with a counteroffer. The seller had told him that the number was too low, but he was willing to take $3.7 million. My student could barely keep from falling off his chair; the counteroffer was lower than his goal. But rather than jump at the amountand risk leaving value on the table with a wimp-win dealmy student pushed further. He said No without using the word. + +That is closer to what we believe the value to be, he said, but we cannot in good conscience pay more than $3.55 million. + +(Later, my student told meand I agreedthat he should have used a label or calibrated question here to push the broker to bid against himself. But he was so surprised by how far the price had dropped that he stumbled into old-school haggling.) + +I am only authorized to go down to $3.6 million, the broker answered, clearly showing that hed never taken a negotiation class that taught the Ackerman model and how to pivot to terms to avoid the haggle. + +My students boss signaled to him that $3.6 million worked and he agreed to the price. + +Ive teased several of the techniques my student used to effectively negotiate a great deal for his firm, from the use of labels and calibrated questions to the probing of constraints to unearth a beautiful Black Swan. It also bears noting that my student did tons of work beforehand and had prepared labels and questions so that he was ready to jump on the Black Swan when the broker offered it. + +Once he knew that the seller was trying to get money out of this building to pay off mortgages on the underperforming ones, he knew that timing was important. + +Of course, theres always room for improvement. Afterward my student told me he wished he hadnt lowballed the offer so quickly and instead used the opportunity to discuss the other properties. He might have found more investment opportunities within the sellers portfolio. + +In addition, he could have potentially built more empathy and teased out more unknown unknowns with labels or calibrated questions like What markets are you finding difficult right now? Maybe even gotten face time with the seller directly. + +Still, well done! + +OVERCOMING FEAR AND LEARNING TO GET WHAT YOU WANT OUT OF LIFE + +People generally fear conflict, so they avoid useful arguments out of fear that the tone will escalate into personal attacks they cannot handle. People in close relationships often avoid making their own interests known and instead compromise across the board to avoid being perceived as greedy or self-interested. They fold, they grow bitter, and they grow apart. Weve all heard of marriages that ended in divorce and the couple never fought. + +Families are just an extreme version of all parts of humanity, from government to business. Except for a few naturals, everyone hates negotiation at first. Your hands sweat, your fight-or-flight kicks in (with a strong emphasis on flight), and your thoughts trip drunkenly over themselves. + +The natural first impulse for most of us is to chicken out, throw in the towel, run. The mere idea of tossing out an extreme anchor is traumatic. Thats why wimp-win deals are the norm in the kitchen and in the boardroom. + +But stop and think about that. Are we really afraid of the guy across the table? I can promise you that, with very few exceptions, hes not going to reach across and slug you. + +No, our sweaty palms are just an expression of physiological fear, a few trigger-happy neurons firing because of something more base: our innate human desire to get along with other members of the tribe. Its not the guy across the table who scares us: its conflict itself. + +If this book accomplishes only one thing, I hope it gets you over that fear of conflict and encourages you to navigate it with empathy. If youre going to be great at anythinga great negotiator, a great manager, a great husband, a great wifeyoure going to have to do that. Youre going to have to ignore that little genie whos telling you to give up, to just get alongas well as that other genie whos telling you to lash out and yell. + +Youre going to have to embrace regular, thoughtful conflict as the basis of effective negotiationand of life. Please remember that our emphasis throughout the book is that the adversary is the situation and that the person that you appear to be in conflict with is actually your partner. + +More than a little research has shown that genuine, honest conflict between people over their goals actually helps energize the problem-solving process in a collaborative way. Skilled negotiators have a talent for using conflict to keep the negotiation going without stumbling into a personal battle. + +Remember, pushing hard for what you believe is not selfish. It is not bullying. It is not just helping you. Your amygdala, the part of the brain that processes fear, will try to convince you to give up, to flee, because the other guy is right, or youre being cruel. + +But if you are an honest, decent person looking for a reasonable outcome, you can ignore the amygdala. + +With the style of negotiation taught in the bookan information-obsessed, empathic search for the best possible dealyou are trying to uncover value, period. Not to strong-arm or to humiliate. + +When you ask calibrated questions, yes, you are leading your counterpart to your goals. But you are also leading them to examine and articulate what they want and why and how they can achieve it. You are demanding creativity of them, and therefore pushing them toward a collaborative solution. + +When I bought my red 4Runner, no doubt I disappointed the salesman by giving him a smaller payday than he would have liked. But I helped him reach his quota, and no doubt I paid more for the truck than the car lot had paid Toyota. If all Id wanted was to win, to humiliate, I would have stolen the thing. + +And so Im going to leave you with one request: Whether its in the office or around the family dinner table, dont avoid honest, clear conflict. It will get you the best car price, the higher salary, and the largest donation. It will also save your marriage, your friendship, and your family. + +One can only be an exceptional negotiator, and a great person, by both listening and speaking clearly and empathetically; by treating counterpartsand oneselfwith dignity and respect; and most of all by being honest about what one wants and what one canand cannotdo. Every negotiation, every conversation, every moment of life, is a series of small conflicts that, managed well, can rise to creative beauty. + +Embrace them. + +KEY LESSONS + +What we dont know can kill us or our deals. But uncovering it can totally change the course of a negotiation and bring us unexpected success. + +Finding the Black Swansthose powerful unknown unknownsis intrinsically difficult, however, for the simple reason that we dont know the questions to ask. Because we dont know what the treasure is, we dont know where to dig. + +Here are some of the best techniques for flushing out the Black Swansand exploiting them. Remember, your counterpart might not even know how important the information is, or even that they shouldnt reveal it. So keep pushing, probing, and gathering information. + +Let what you knowyour known knownsguide you but not blind you. Every case is new, so remain flexible and adaptable. Remember the Griffin bank crisis: no hostage-taker had killed a hostage on deadline, until he did. + +Black Swans are leverage multipliers. Remember the three types of leverage: positive (the ability to give someone what they want); negative (the ability to hurt someone); and normative (using your counterparts norms to bring them around). + +Work to understand the other sides religion. Digging into worldviews inherently implies moving beyond the negotiating table and into the life, emotional and otherwise, of your counterpart. Thats where Black Swans live. + +Review everything you hear from your counterpart. You will not hear everything the first time, so double-check. Compare notes with team members. Use backup listeners whose job is to listen between the lines. They will hear things you miss. + +Exploit the similarity principle. People are more apt to concede to someone they share a cultural similarity with, so dig for what makes them tick and show that you share common ground. + +When someone seems irrational or crazy, they most likely arent. Faced with this situation, search for constraints, hidden desires, and bad information. + +Get face time with your counterpart. Ten minutes of face time often reveals more than days of research. Pay special attention to your counterparts verbal and nonverbal communication at unguarded momentsat the beginning and the end of the session or when someone says something out of line. + + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + +This book would not have been possible without my son Brandons help. Brandon has been involved in helping me shape and create these ideas since I first began teaching at Georgetown University. He was initially just there to video-record the classes but he also provided me feedback on how it was going and what was working. To be fair, he actually has been negotiating with me since he was two years old. I think Ive known that ever since I found out he was using empathy to get out of trouble with his vice-principal in high school. In my first meeting with my brilliant cowriter, Tahl Raz, Brandon was there to keep the information flow going as Tahl soaked it up. In the first progress conference call with my amazing publisher, Hollis Heimbouch, Hollis asked about Brandons role and Tahl said having Brandon around was like having another Chris in the room. Brandon has been indispensable. + +Tahl Raz is a flat-out genius. Anyone who writes a business book without him hasnt gotten as far as they could have. Its that simple. I cant believe how smart he is or how quickly he gets it. He is a true business-writing artist. Hes a great person as well. + +Steve Ross, my agent, is a man of integrity and was perfect for this book. He has great industry knowledge and made this book happen. I am grateful to know him. + +Hollis Heimbouch rocks! I am thrilled that she led the HarperCollins team and believed enough in this book to buy it. Thank you, Hollis. + +Thank you, Maya Stevenson, for coming onto the Black Swan team and holding us together. We are going farther because of you. + +Sheila Heen and John Richardson are two amazing people. They are the ones who really paved the way to show that these hostage negotiation ideas belong in the business world. Sheila was my teacher at Harvard Law School. She inspired me with how she taught and who she is. She asked me to teach alongside her two years later. John asked me to teach International Business Negotiation at Harvard alongside him a year after that. He guided me through that process, which led to the opportunity to become an adjunct at Georgetown. When nothing was happening for me, both John and Sheila were there. Without them I dont know where Id be. Thank you both. + +Gary Noesner was my mentor at the FBI. He inspired and remade the hostage negotiation world (with the help of his team at the Crisis Negotiation UnitCNU). He supported me in whatever I wanted to do. He made me the FBIs lead international kidnapping negotiator. I could call Gary at five a.m. and tell him I was getting on a plane in three hours to go to a kidnapping and he would say, Go. His support never wavered. At CNU he pulled together the most talented collection of hostage negotiators ever assembled. CNU hit its zenith when we were there. None of us knew how lucky we were. John Flood, Vince Dalfonzo, Chuck Regini, Winnie Miller, Manny Suarez, Dennis Braiden, Neil Purtell, and Steve Romano were all rock stars. I learned from you all. I cant believe what Chuck put up with from me as my partner. Dennis was a mentor and great friend. I constantly clashed with Vince and grew because of his talent. + +All those who were on the FBI Critical Incident Negotiation Team during that time taught me as well. Thank you. + +Tommy Corrigan and John Liguori were my brothers when I was in New York City. The three of us did extraordinary things together. I am inspired by the memory of Tommy Corrigan to this day. I was privileged to be a member of the Joint Terrorist Task Force. We fought evil. Richie DeFilippo and Charlie Beaudoin were exceptional wingmen on the Crisis Negotiation Team. Thank you both for all you taught me. + +Hugh McGowan and Bob Louden from the NYPDs Hostage Negotiation Team shared their wisdom with me. Both of you have been indispensable assets to the hostage negotiation world. Thank you. + +Derek Gaunt has been a great wingman in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Derek gets it. Thank you, Derek. Kathy Ellingsworth and her late husband, Bill, have been dear friends and a sounding board for years. I am grateful for your support and friendship. + +Tom Strentz is the godfather of the FBIs hostage/crisis negotiation program and has been an unwavering friend. I cant believe he still takes my calls. + +My students at Georgetown and USC have constantly proved that these ideas work everywhere. More than one student has stopped breathing when I looked at them and said, I need a car in sixty seconds or she dies. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Georgetown and USC have both been phenomenal places to teach. Both are truly dedicated to higher learning, the highest academic standards, and the success of their students. + +The hostages and their families who allowed me in during their darkest hours to try to help are all blessed people. I am grateful to still be in touch with some of you today. What wisdom there is in the universe that decided your paths were necessary, I dont understand. I was blessed by your grace. (I need all the help I can get.) + + + + + +APPENDIX + + +PREPARE A NEGOTIATION ONE SHEET + + +Negotiation is a psychological investigation. You can gain a measure of confidence going into such an investigation with a simple preparatory exercise we advise all our clients to do. Basically, its a list of the primary tools you anticipate using, such as labels and calibrated questions, customized to the particular negotiation. + +When the pressure is on, you dont rise to the occasionyou fall to your highest level of preparation. + +One note of caution before going into greater depth on this exercise: some negotiation experts fetishize preparation to such a degree that they advise people to create the equivalent of preordained scripts for exactly how the negotiation will unfold and the exact form and substance the agreement will take on. By now, after reading this far, youll understand why thats a fools errand. Not only will such an approach make you less agile and creative at the table, it will make you more susceptible to those who are. + +Based on my companys experiences, I believe that good initial preparation for each negotiation yields at least a 7:1 rate of return on time saved renegotiating deals or clarifying implementation. + +In the entertainment industry, they have a single document that summarizes a product for publicity and sales that they call a one sheet. Along the same lines, we want to produce a negotiation one sheet that summarizes the tools we are going to use. + +It will have five short sections + +SECTION I: THE GOAL + +Think through best/worst-case scenarios but only write down a specific goal that represents the best case. + +Typically, negotiation experts will tell you to prepare by making a list: your bottom line; what you really want; how youre going to try to get there; and counters to your counterparts arguments. + +But this typical preparation fails in many ways. Its unimaginative and leads to the predictable bargaining dynamic of offer/counteroffer/meet in the middle. In other words, it gets results, but theyre often mediocre. + +The centerpiece of the traditional preparation dynamicand its greatest Achilles heelis something called the BATNA. + +Roger Fisher and William Ury coined the term in their 1981 bestseller, Getting to Yes, and it stands for Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. Basically, its the best possible option you have if negotiations fail. Your last resort. Say youre on a car lot trying to sell your old BMW 3-series. If you already have another dealer whos given you a written offer for $10,000, thats your BATNA. + +The problem is that BATNA tricks negotiators into aiming low. Researchers have found that humans have a limited capacity for keeping focus in complex, stressful situations like negotiations. And so, once a negotiation is under way, we tend to gravitate toward the focus point that has the most psychological significance for us. + +In that context, obsessing over a BATNA turns it into your target, and thereby sets the upper limit of what you will ask for. After youve spent hours on a BATNA, you mentally concede everything beyond it. + +God knows aiming low is seductive. Self-esteem is a huge factor in negotiation, and many people set modest goals to protect it. Its easier to claim victory when you aim low. Thats why some negotiation experts say that many people who think they have win-win goals really have a wimp-win mentality. The wimp-win negotiator focuses on his or her bottom line, and thats where they end up. + +So if BATNA isnt your centerpiece, what should be? + +I tell my clients that as part of their preparation they should think about the outcome extremes: best and worst. If youve got both ends covered, youll be ready for anything. So know what you cannot accept and have an idea about the best-case outcome, but keep in mind that since theres information yet to be acquired from the other side, its quite possible that best case might be even better than you know. + +Remember, never be so sure of what you want that you wouldnt take something better. Once youve got flexibility in the forefront of your mind you come into a negotiation with a winning mindset. + +Lets say youre selling old speakers because you need $100 to put toward a new set. If you concentrate on the $100 minimum, youll relax when you hear that number and thats what youll get. But if you know that they are for sale in used audio stores for $140, you could set a high-end goal of $150, while remaining open to better things. + +Now, while I counsel thinking about a best/worst range to give my clients the security of some structure, when it comes to what actually goes on your one sheet, my advice is to just stick with the high-end goal, as it will motivate and focus your psychological powers, priming you to think you are facing a loss for any term that falls short. Decades of goal-setting research is clear that people who set specific, challenging, but realistic goals end up getting better deals than those who dont set goals or simply strive to do their best. + +Bottom line: People who expect more (and articulate it) get more. + +Here are the four steps for setting your goal: + +Set an optimistic but reasonable goal and define it clearly. + +Write it down. + +Discuss your goal with a colleague (this makes it harder to wimp out). + +Carry the written goal into the negotiation. + +SECTION II: SUMMARY + +Summarize and write out in just a couple of sentences the known facts that have led up to the negotiation. + +Youre going to have to have something to talk about beyond a self-serving assessment of what you want. And you had better be ready to respond with tactical empathy to your counterparts arguments; unless theyre incompetent, the other party will come prepared to argue an interpretation of the facts that favors them. + +Get on the same page at the outset. + +You have to clearly describe the lay of the land before you can think about acting in its confines. Why are you there? What do you want? What do they want? Why? + +You must be able to summarize a situation in a way that your counterpart will respond with a Thats right. If they dont, you havent done it right. + +SECTION III: LABELS/ACCUSATION AUDIT + +Prepare three to five labels to perform an accusation audit. + +Anticipate how your counterpart feels about these facts youve just summarized. Make a concise list of any accusations they might makeno matter how unfair or ridiculous they might be. Then turn each accusation into a list of no more than five labels and spend a little time role-playing it. + +There are fill-in-the-blank labels that can be used in nearly every situation to extract information from your counterpart, or defuse an accusation: + +It seems like _________ is valuable to you. + +It seems like you dont like _________. + +It seems like you value __________. + +It seems like _________ makes it easier. + +It seems like youre reluctant to _________. + +As an example, if youre trying to renegotiate an apartment lease to allow subletters and you know the landlord is opposed to them, your prepared labels would be on the lines of It seems as though youre not a fan of subletters or It seems like you want stability with your tenants. + +SECTION IV: CALIBRATED QUESTIONS + +Prepare three to five calibrated questions to reveal value to you and your counterpart and identify and overcome potential deal killers. + +Effective negotiators look past their counterparts stated positions (what the party demands) and delve into their underlying motivations (what is making them want what they want). Motivations are what they are worried about and what they hope for, even lust for. + +Figuring out what the other party is worried about sounds simple, but our basic human expectations about negotiation often get in the way. Most of us tend to assume that the needs of the other side conflict with our own. We tend to limit our field of vision to our issues and problems, and forget that the other side has its own unique issues based on its own unique worldview. Great negotiators get past these blinders by being relentlessly curious about what is really motivating the other side. + +Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has a great quote that sums up this concept: You must accept the reality of other people. You think that reality is up for negotiation, that we think its whatever you say it is. You must accept that we are as real as you are; you must accept that you are not God. + +There will be a small group of What and How questions that you will find yourself using in nearly every situation. Here are a few of them: + +What are we trying to accomplish? + +How is that worthwhile? + +Whats the core issue here? + +How does that affect things? + +Whats the biggest challenge you face? + +How does this fit into what the objective is? + +QUESTIONS TO IDENTIFY BEHIND-THE-TABLE DEAL KILLERS + +When implementation happens by committee, the support of that committee is key. Youll want to tailor your calibrated questions to identify and unearth the motivations of those behind the table, including: + +How does this affect the rest of your team? + +How on board are the people not on this call? + +What do your colleagues see as their main challenges in this area? + +QUESTIONS TO IDENTIFY AND DIFFUSE DEAL-KILLING ISSUES + +Internal negotiating influence often sits with the people who are most comfortable with things as they are. Change may make them look as if they havent been doing their job. Your dilemma in such a negotiation is how to make them look good in the face of that change. + +Youll be tempted to concentrate on money, but put that aside for now. A surprisingly high percentage of negotiations hinge on something outside dollars and cents. Often they have more to do with self-esteem, status, autonomy, and other nonfinancial needs. + +Think about their perceived losses. Never forget that a loss stings at least twice as much as an equivalent gain. + +For example, the guy across the table may be hesitating to install the new accounting system he needs (and you are selling) because he doesnt want to screw anything up before his annual review in four months time. Instead of lowering your price, you can offer to help impress his boss, and do it safely, by promising to finish the installation in ninety days, guaranteed. + +QUESTIONS TO USE TO UNEARTH THE DEAL-KILLING ISSUES + +What are we up against here? + +What is the biggest challenge you face? + +How does making a deal with us affect things? + +What happens if you do nothing? + +What does doing nothing cost you? + +How does making this deal resonate with what your company prides itself on? + +Its often very effective to ask these in groups of two or three as they are similar enough that they help your counterpart think about the same thing from different angles. + +Every situation is unique, of course, but choosing the right mix of these questions will lead your counterpart to reveal information about what they want and needand simultaneously push them to see things from your point of view. + +Be ready to execute follow-up labels to their answers to your calibrated questions. + +Having labels prepared will allow you to quickly turn your counterparts responses back to them, which will keep them feeding you new and expanding information. Again, these are fill-in-the-blank labels that you can use quickly without tons of thought: + +It seems like __________ is important. + +It seems you feel like my company is in a unique position to __________. + +It seems like you are worried that __________. + +SECTION V: NONCASH OFFERS + +Prepare a list of noncash items possessed by your counterpart that would be valuable. + +Ask yourself: What could they give that would almost get us to do it for free? Think of the anecdote I told a few chapters ago about my work for the lawyers association: My counterparts interest was to pay me as little cash as possible in order to look good in front of his board. We came upon the idea that they pay in part by publishing a cover story about me in their magazine. That was low-cost for them and it advanced my interests considerably. + +For more information on my company, The Black Swan Group, any additional information or guidance we can give you on negotiation, or for contacting me about speaking to your company, please visit our website at www.blackswanltd.com. + + + + + +NOTES + + +The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was made. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature on your e-book reader + +CHAPTER 1: THE NEW RULES + +1.Robert Mnookin, Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010). + +2.Roger Fisher and William Ury, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981). + +3.Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011). + +4.Philip B. Heymann and United States Department of Justice, Lessons of Waco: Proposed Changes in Federal Law Enforcement (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 1993). + +CHAPTER 2: BE A MIRROR + +1.George A. Miller, The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information, Psychological Review 63, no. 2 (1956): 8197. + +CHAPTER 3: DONT FEEL THEIR PAIN, LABEL IT + +1.Greg J. Stephens, Lauren J. Silbert, and Uri Hasson, SpeakerListener Neural Coupling Underlies Successful Communication, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107, no. 32 (August 10, 2010): 1442530. + +2.Matthew D. Lieberman et al., Putting Feelings into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli, Psychological Science 18, no. 5 (May 2007): 42128. + +CHAPTER 4: BEWARE YESMASTER NO + +1.Jim Camp, Start with NO: The Negotiating Tools That the Pros Dont Want You to Know (New York: Crown Business, 2002). + +CHAPTER 6: BEND THEIR REALITY + +1.Herb Cohen, You Can Negotiate Anything (Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1980). + +2.Antonio R. Damasio, Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain (New York: Quill, 2000). + +3.Jeffrey J. Fox, How to Become a Rainmaker: The People Who Get and Keep Customers (New York: Hyperion, 2000). + +4.Daniel Ames and Malia Mason, Tandem Anchoring: Informational and Politeness Effects of Range Offers in Social Exchange, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 108, no. 2 (February 2015): 25474. + +CHAPTER 7: CREATE THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL + +1.Kevin Dutton, Split-Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011). + +2.Dhruv Khullar, Teaching Doctors the Art of Negotiation, New York Times, January 23, 2014, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com /2014/01/23/teaching-doctors-the-art-of-negotiation/, accessed September 4, 2015. + +CHAPTER 8: GUARANTEE EXECUTION + +1.Albert Mehrabian, Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes, 2nd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1981), and Albert Mehrabian, Nonverbal Communication (Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1972). + +2.Lyn M. Van Swol, Michael T. Braun, and Deepak Malhotra, Evidence for the Pinocchio Effect: Linguistic Differences Between Lies, Deception by Omissions, and Truths, Discourse Processes 49, no. 2 (2012): 79106. + +CHAPTER 9: BARGAIN HARD + +1.Gerald R. Williams, Legal Negotiations and Settlement (St. Paul, MN: West, 1983). + +2.Marwan Sinaceur and Larissa Tiedens, Get Mad and Get More than Even: The Benefits of Anger Expressions in Negotiations, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 42, no. 3 (2006): 31422. + +3.Daniel R. Ames and Abbie Wazlawek, Pushing in the Dark: Causes and Consequences of Limited Self-Awareness for Interpersonal Assertiveness, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 40, no. 6 (2014): 116. + +CHAPTER 10: FIND THE BLACK SWAN + +1.Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (New York: Random House, 2001). + +2.Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (New York: Random House, 2007). + +3.Ellen J. Langer, Arthur Blank, and Benzion Chanowitz, The Mindlessness of Ostensibly Thoughtful Action: The Role of Placebic Information in Interpersonal Interaction, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 36, no. 6 (1978): 63542. + +4.Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman, Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond (New York: Bantam Books, 2007). + + + + + +INDEX + + +The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book readers search tools. + +Abu Sayyaf (militant Islamic group), 96, 99, 100, 140, 14244 + +Accommodators (bargaining style), 192, 19496 + +accusation audit, 19, 6468, 73, 128, 18283, 25455 + +example, contract negotiation, 6568 + +Ackerman, Mike, 2056 + +Ackerman model, 21, 2058, 212, 240 + +example, getting a rent cut, 20811 + +four steps of, 206 + +Haitian kidnappings and, 2078 + +active listening, 16, 19, 53. See also tactical empathy + +BCSM and, 97 + +crisis negotiations and, 225 + +difficulty of listening, 2728 + +effective pauses, 103 + +focusing on the other person, 28, 47 + +labeling and, 103 + +minimal encouragers, 103 + +mirroring and, 19, 103 + +paraphrasing and, 103 + +Schilling kidnapping case and, 1024 + +silences, 19, 103 + +summaries, 103 + +uncovering Black Swans and, 228, 24445 + +aggressiveness, 155, 160, 172, 173, 175 + +removing, 141, 152 + +agreement, 20, 52, 84, 143, 163, 195, 231 + +best/worst range, 253 + +clearing barriers to, 72 + +commitment yes and, 81 + +dynamic of, 157 + +execution of, 163, 171, 177 + +fairness and, 122 + +liars and, 172 + +no and, 89 + +Rule of Three and, 17778, 186 + +Aladdin (film), 123 + +Al Qaeda, 140, 143 + +Ames, Daniel, 202 + +Analysts (bargaining style), 192, 19394 + +anchor and adjustment effect, 130 + +anchoring + +bending reality with, 139 + +emotions and, 20, 12829 + +establishing a range, 13132, 139 + +extreme, 199, 200, 2067, 212, 240 + +in kidnapping case, 13335 + +monetary negotiations, 12930 + +anger, 5758, 158, 161, 202, 204 + +apologizing, 3, 5859, 125, 152, 159, 181, 194 + +Aristide, Jean-Bertrand, 113 + +Assertive (bargaining style), 192, 193, 19697 + +real anger, threats without anger, and strategic umbrage, 202 + +assumptions, 19, 2426, 44, 47, 191 + +bargaining styles and, 19798 + +of Fisher and Ury, 11 + +known knowns and, 218 + +bargaining hard, 2021, 188212 + +Accommodators, 192, 19496 + +Ackerman model and, 2058, 212 + +Analysts, 192, 19394 + +Assertive style, 192, 193, 19697 + +Black Swan rule, 198 + +effective ways to assert smartly, 2015 + +example, MBA student soliciting funds, 200201 + +fall to your highest level of preparation, 208, 211, 251 + +identifying your counterparts style, 19798, 211 + +information gathering and, 199200, 21112 + +key lessons of, 21112 + +lawyer-negotiators, 19293 + +no deal is better than a bad deal, 115, 117, 204 + +outcome goals and, 253 + +personal negotiation styles, 19298 + +pivoting to noncash terms, 199, 206, 258 + +psychological currents and, 191 + +punching back (using assertion), 2015, 212 + +taking a punch, 198201, 212 + +Voss and buying a truck, 18890 + +Bargaining with the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight (Mnookin), 2 + +BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement), 8, 13, 252 + +Bazerman, Max H., 233 + +Beaudoin, Charlie, 24 + +Behavioral Change Stairway Model (BCSM), 97 + +behavioral economics, 11 + +behavior change + +BCSM and, 97 + +health issues and, 97 + +lessons that lay the foundation for, 112 + +psychological environment necessary for, 9798 + +thats right and, 98, 1015, 107 + +youre right as ineffective, 1057 + +behind the table or Level II players, 17172, 186 + +pronoun usage and, 179, 187 + +questions to identify, 256 + +bending reality, 12635. See also prospect theory + +key lessons of, 13839 + +Bergen, Peter, 232 + +Black Swan, The (Taleb), 215 + +Black Swan Group, The, 3, 21, 191, 220 + +complementary PDF form, bargaining types, 198 + +website and more information, 258 + +Black Swans, 19, 21, 21345 + +ascertaining counterparts unattained goals, 231 + +asking questions to reveal, 110 + +crazy vs. a clue, 23233, 245 + +example, Griffin hostage case, 21314, 21617, 235, 244 + +example, MBA student uncovers sellers constraints, 23841 + +example, Watson standoff, Washington DC, 22428 + +getting face time to unearth hidden factors, 23637 + +key lessons of, 24445 + +knowing a counterparts religion and, 225, 22829, 244 + +as leverage multipliers, 22024, 244 + +listening and uncovering, 228, 24445 + +mistaking acting on bad information for craziness, 23334 + +mistaking constrained for acting crazy, 23435 + +mistaking having other interests for acting crazy, 235 + +observing unguarded moments to unearth hidden factors, 237 + +Talebs use of term, 216 + +theory of, 215 + +tips for reading religion correctly, 228 + +uncovering unknown unknowns, 21820 + +what they are, 238 + +Blum, Gabriella, 24, 5 + +body language. See nonverbal communication + +Bonderow, Amy, 7677, 81, 85 + +Branch Davidian siege, Waco, Texas, 13 + +Bueno, Jesus, 18285 + +Burnham, Martin and Gracia, 140, 143, 144, 145, 146, 166 + +Burnham-Sobero case, Dos Palmas, 14041, 14248, 170 + +Bush, George W., 143 + +calibrated, or open-ended, questions, 20, 141, 149, 150, 15156, 243 + +Ackerman model and, 207 + +to analyze negotiation team and behind the table/Level II players, 171, 172 + +Assertive (bargaining style) and, 196 + +caution about using why, 15354, 160, 203 + +Ecuador kidnapping and, 160, 165, 166, 167 + +to elicit information, 185 + +example, doctor and unhappy patient, 150, 155 + +examples to use, 154, 256 + +forced empathy and, 168 + +greatest-of-all-time question, 151, 168 + +How questions, 16769, 181, 186 + +key lessons of, 16061 + +Negotiation One Sheet and, 25558 + +questions to identify and diffuse deal-killing issues, 25657 + +questions to identify the behind-the-table deal killers, 256 + +responses to aggressiveness and, 141, 152, 159, 175 + +Rule of Three and, 17778 + +script for, 15758 + +tone of voice for, 16768 + +when to use, 154 + +words to avoid in, 153 + +words to begin with, 153, 160 + +Camp, Jim, 78, 90 + +car-buying negotiations, 119, 18890, 243 + +certainty effect, 127 + +Chandler, Raymond, 129 + +Chris discount, 17980 + +clearing the barriers to agreement, 6163, 72 + +Clinton, Hillary, 53 + +cognitive bias, 12 + +Cohen, Herb, 119 + +collaboration, 21 + +How/No questions and, 16768 + +never create an enemy, 2045 + +Collodi, Carlo, 178 + +Columbia Business School, 131 + +communication. See also active listening; calibrated, or open-ended, question; voice tones + +calibrated, or open-ended, question, 20, 141, 149, 150, 15156, 165, 166, 16769, 170, 17475, 25558 + +Chinese expression about, 111 + +control in, 160, 166 + +empathy as soft skill, 53 + +hidden aspects of, 77 + +I messages, 2034 + +literal interpretations, mistake of, 77 + +lying and, 178 + +no and, 7580 + +pronoun usage and persons importance, 179, 187 + +7-38-55 Percent Rule, 17677, 186 + +subtleties, spotting and interpreting, 17376 + +uncovering lying, 176 + +using your own name (Chris discount), 17980, 187 + +yes and, 8081 + +yes and no, values inherent in, 86 + +compromise, 1819, 11516, 139 + +reasons for, 116 + +win-win and, 115, 253 + +control, 14061 + +calibrated, or open-ended, question and, 141, 149, 150, 15156 + +in communication, 160 + +creating the illusion of, 14961, 166, 17475 + +influence vs., 84 + +key lessons of, 16061 + +lack of, and hostage mentality, 159 + +late-night FM DJ voice and, 33 + +as primal urge, 84 + +saying no and, 7879, 8692, 94 + +self-control, 15659, 161, 202, 204 + +crisis negotiations, 45, 910, 1316, 1819, 54. See also kidnapping or hostage negotiations + +Harlem standoff, 4951, 5455 + +Voss and, 76 + +Watson standoff, 22428 + +Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU), 9697 + +Behavioral Change Stairway Model (BCSM), 97 + +Cruz, Arlyn dela, 143 + +Cuban, Mark, 91 + +Damasio, Antonio, 122 + +deadlines, 20, 11620, 139 + +mistake of hiding a deadline, 120 + +decision-making + +discovering emotional drivers of, 126 + +emotion and, 122, 123 + +prospect theory and, 12735 + +Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain (Damasio), 122 + +direct or assertive voice, 3233, 48 + +Double Indemnity (film), 129 + +Downs v. United States, 10 + +Dutton, Kevin, 149, 150 + +Ecuador kidnapping, 16467, 16970 + +Egypt-Israel peace treaty, 133 + +email technique, 20, 9293, 95 + +emotion + +amygdala and fear, 55, 61, 62 + +anchoring emotions, 20, 12829 + +avoiding escalations, 204 + +careful use of, 204 + +communication derailed by, 49 + +contract for Robin Williams in Aladdin and, 123 + +decision-making and, 122, 123 + +detecting the other persons, 5556 + +Harlem stand-off negotiation, 4951, 5455 + +intentionally mislabeling, reason for, 91, 94 + +Iranian sanctions and, 12324 + +Japanese regulating technique, 159 + +labeling, 50, 5473 + +negative emotions, 5761 + +presenting behavior and underlying feeling, 57 + +primal needs and, 84 + +regulating, during negotiation, 15659, 161 + +replacing negative with positive, 59, 73 + +responses to verbal assaults, 159 + +role in negotiation, 4950 + +Ultimatum Game and, 12122 + +emotional intelligence, 19, 33, 50, 52. See also tactical empathy + +empathy, 15, 5354, 72, 128. See also tactical empathy + +BCSM and, 97 + +definition, 5152 + +FBI crisis negotiation techniques and, 16 + +forced empathy, 168, 180 + +Hillary Clinton and, 53 + +labeling and, 68 + +as a mood enhancer, 62 + +negotiation and, 16, 5354, 61, 7071 + +neural resonance and, 53 + +projection versus, 120 + +rapport based on, 70 + +as soft communication skill, 53 + +using an empathy message in negotiations, 182 + +using labeling to create, 239 + +using your own name (Chris discount) and, 17980, 187 + +verbal and nonverbal language to signal, 46 + +encouragers, 103 + +Estabrook, Robert, 15051 + +Evelsizer, Marti, 8687, 88 + +execution of agreements, 20, 16287 + +articulation of implementation, 169 + +How as necessary with Yes, 16469 + +How question and implementation, 16869, 186 + +prison siege, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, 16263 + +Rule of Three and, 17778 + +fairness, 20, 139 + +compromise as a bad deal, 11516, 139 + +contract for Robin Williams in Aladdin and, 123 + +error in using, 183 + +Iranian sanctions and, 12324 + +NFL lockout and, 125 + +Ultimatum Game, 12023 + +Vosss use of, 12526 + +when and how to use in negotiation, 12426 + +why its powerful, 12224 + +falsehoods and liars, 172, 173, 176 + +number of words used, 178 + +Pinocchio effect, 178 + +Rule of Three and, 17778, 186 + +use of pronouns, 178 + +fear + +amygdala and, 55, 61, 62, 243 + +labeling and calming, 61, 63, 64, 67, 73 + +of negotiating, 242 + +Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) + +Ackerman system, 21 + +country clearance, 58 + +Crisis Negotiation Teams, 4951, 7677, 8687 + +crisis negotiation techniques, 45, 1316, 141, 149, 165, 166, 167, 170, 174 + +Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU), 9697, 170 + +Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG), 14 + +Giffe hijacking hostages, mishandling of, 910 + +Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), 96 + +Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), 24, 76, 7778, 98 + +kidnapping negotiations, 141 + +number of agents, 1 + +Quantico, 96, 164, 173, 216 + +Ruby Ridge, Waco, and negotiation approach, 1314 + +Supervisory Special Agent (SSA), 96 + +SWAT teams, 49, 76 + +Voss as a SSA with the CNU, 96 + +Voss as international kidnapping negotiator, 1, 98, 164 + +Voss begins career with, 76 + +Voss begins negotiator career at, 85 + +Voss on the JTTF, New York, 76, 7778, 98 + +Fields, W. C., 178 + +financial negotiations. See also bargaining + +car-buying, 119, 18890, 243 + +Chris discount, 180 + +getting a rent cut, 20811 + +getting your counterparts to bid against themselves and, 18185 + +MBA student and soliciting funds, 200201 + +Fisher, Roger, 1011, 252 + +Fooled by Randomness (Taleb), 215 + +framing effect, 12, 20 + +Freeh, Louis, 14 + +fundraising, 8991 + +Gaddafi, Muammar, 99100 + +Getting to Yes (Fisher and Ury), 11, 13, 14, 16, 20, 80, 98, 252 + +Giffe, George, Jr., 910 + +goals/outcome goals, 12, 52, 81, 95, 112, 160, 170, 174, 201, 211, 240, 242, 243 + +Ackerman model and, 206, 208 + +agreement or yes as, 94 + +ascertaining counterparts, 28, 231 + +bargaining styles and, 193, 195, 196 + +BATNA and, 252 + +best/worst range, 69, 253 + +extracting information as, 25, 47, 110, 147 + +four steps for setting, 25354 + +human connection as, 72 + +Negotiation One Sheet, 25254 + +win-win or compromise, 115, 116, 253 + +Griffin, William, 21314, 21617, 235, 244 + +Haiti + +as kidnap capital, 11314 + +kidnapping case, 11315, 13335, 2078 + +Harvard Negotiation Research Project, 2, 1011 + +Harvard University, 4 + +executive negotiating course, 1, 58 + +Heen, Sheila, 56, 7 + +HelpLine, 81 + +CareFronting, 82, 84 + +Voss answering phones for, 8184, 85 + +Heymann, Philip B., 14 + +hostage mentality, 159 + +hostage negotiation. See kidnapping or hostage negotiations + +How to Become a Rainmaker, 126 + +humor, 187 + +I messages, 2034 + +influence, 16, 20 + +BCSM and, 97, 98 + +demeanor, delivery, and, 32 + +FBIs psychological tactics and, 43 + +identifying and influencing emotions, 50 + +negative, clearing out, 72 + +negotiation and, 18 + +persuading from others perspective and, 84, 225, 22729 + +Iran, 12324 + +ISIS, 232 + +Israel Defense Forces (IDF), 2 + +Israeli National Security Council, 2 + +Jobs, Steve, 219 + +Kahneman, Daniel, 11, 12, 13, 127 + +kidnapping or hostage negotiations, 910, 21, 78 + +airplane hijacking, 910 + +Americas hostage negotiation policy, 232 + +Attica prison riots, 9 + +bank robbery, Brooklyn, 2343, 179 + +Burnham-Sobero case, 14048 + +calibrated, or open-ended, questions, use of, 141, 149, 165, 166, 167, 170 + +compromise as a bad deal, 115, 133 + +Ecuador kidnapping, 16467, 16970 + +exercise called sixty seconds or she dies, 64 + +FBI and, 1, 141, 147, 170 + +FBI Pittsburgh case, 14849 + +gauging the level of a threat in, 118 + +Griffin case, 21314, 21617, 235, 244 + +Haitian kidnapping 11315, 13335 + +hostage survival debriefing, 170 + +late-night FM DJ voice and, 3334, 38 + +leverage in, 114, 118 + +Munich Olympics, 9 + +Negotiation Operation Center (NOC), 27 + +negotiator teams, 27 + +never split the difference in, 1819 + +Onglingswan kidnapping, 17375, 179 + +prison siege, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, 16263, 171 + +proof of life and, 34, 147, 14849, 165, 170 + +Schilling case, 96, 98105 + +terrorists and, 232 + +thats right and, 1015 + +knowing their religion, 225, 22829, 244 + +offering reasons that reference counterparts religion, 231 + +power of hopes and dreams and, 23031 + +similarity principle and, 22930 + +Koresh, David, 13 + +labeling, 19, 50, 5473, 112 + +accusation audit, 6468, 73, 25455 + +Assertive (bargaining style) and, 196 + +avoiding I, 56 + +cranky grandfather example, 59 + +deescalating angry confrontations with, 5859 + +to discover source of incongruence, 176 + +empathy as a mood enhancer, 62 + +empathy building and, 239 + +to extract information, 239, 25758 + +of fears, 6162 + +fill-in-the-blank examples, 255, 258 + +Girl Scout fundraiser and, 6263 + +intentionally mislabeling an emotion, 91, 94 + +key lessons of, 7173 + +labeling and calming fear, 61, 63, 64, 67, 73 + +lawyers and taking the sting out technique, 65 + +Lieberman brain imaging study, 55 + +negativity and, 5761, 6468, 70 + +phrasing the label, 56 + +Rule of Three and, 177 + +rules about form and delivery, 55 + +Schilling kidnapping case and, 103 + +silences and, 5657, 71, 72 + +step one: detecting the other persons emotional state, 5556 + +step two: labeling it aloud, 56 + +as transformative, 63 + +Washington Redskins ticket holder script, 6061 + +words, music, and dance and, 55 + +Lanceley, Fred, 1415 + +Langer, Ellen, 231 + +late-night FM DJ voice, 19, 3133, 47 + +contract discussion and, 34 + +downward-inflecting statement, 32, 33 + +general demeanor and delivery, 32 + +Harlem fugitive stand-off negotiation and, 51 + +hostage negotiation and, 3334, 38 + +lawyer-negotiators, 19293 + +Leonsis, Ted, 231 + +Lessons of Waco: Proposed Changes in Federal Law Enforcement (Heymann), 14 + +leverage, 22024 + +Black Swans as leverage multipliers, 22021, 224, 244 + +in a kidnapping, 221 + +loss aversion and, 128 + +negative, 22223, 226, 227, 244 + +normative, 224, 226, 244 + +personal negotiation styles and, 192 + +positive, 22122, 226, 244 + +what it is, 220 + +liars. See falsehoods and liars + +Lieberman, Matthew, 55 + +listening. See active listening + +loss aversion, 12, 12728, 139, 223, 257 + +Macapagal-Arroyo, Gloria, 140 + +Malhotra, Deepak, 178, 179, 233 + +Mehrabian, Albert, 176 + +Memphis Bar Association, 132 + +Middle Eastern merchants, 33 + +Miller, George A., 28 + +Miller, Winnie, 227 + +mindset + +finding and acting on Black Swans and, 218, 219 + +as key to successful negotiation, 43 + +multiple hypotheses approach, 25 + +positive, 33, 47 + +ready-to-walk, 2045 + +win-win, 115 + +mirroring (isopraxism), 19, 3536, 44, 48, 70, 71, 183 + +active listening and, 103 + +body language and, 36 + +to elicit information, 185 + +four step process for workplace negotiation, 4446 + +reaction to use of fair in negotiations, 125 + +silences and, 37, 44, 72 + +use with Assertive bargainers, 196 + +use with assertive people, 19192 + +verbal, 36 + +Wiseman waiter study, 36 + +Misino, Dominick, 4142 + +Mnookin, Robert, 24, 5 + +Moore, Don A., 120 + +Moore, Margaret, 21415, 217 + +Mousavian, Seyed Hossein, 124 + +MSU (making shit up) approach, 30 + +Mueller, Robert, 143 + +negotiation. See also bargaining hard; specific situations; specific techniques + +clearing the barriers to agreement, 6163, 72 + +confrontational showdowns or joint problem-solving sessions, 151 + +creating breakthroughs by uncovering unknowns, 21345 + +example, Anna and contract negotiation, 6568 + +example, getting an airline ticket and upgrade, 6871 + +example, getting a rent cut, 20811 + +extreme anchor to begin, 199 + +gaining permission to persuade, 96112 + +getting your counterparts to bid against themselves and, 18185 + +guaranteeing execution of a deal, 16281 + +how to get your price (bargaining hard), 188212 + +as information-gathering process, 147, 154 + +labeling and tactical empathy, 4973 + +life as, 17 + +limited predictability and, 219 + +mantra for, 115, 117, 204 + +mirroring to establish rapport, 2348 + +never split the difference, 1819, 115, 116, 139 + +no and generating momentum, 7495 + +preparation for, 211, 25158 (see also Negotiation One Sheet) + +problem-solving approach, 8, 11, 14, 15 + +psychological tactics and strategies, 1516, 18 + +questions to transform conflict into collaboration, 14061 + +research on and study of, 1013 + +shaping whats fair, 11339 + +sweetest two words for, 98 + +System 1 and 2 concepts and, 13 + +timing and success of, 119 + +Voss in Harvard course, 58 + +negotiation errors. See also specific negotiations + +aiming low, 25253 + +compromising, 1819, 11516, 139 + +deadlines and, 11620 + +getting to Yes too quickly, 86, 94, 112 + +going too fast, 30, 47 + +hiding a deadline, 120 + +lack of real communication, 14548 + +not focusing on the other person, 28 + +Negotiation Genius (Malhotra and Bazerman), 233 + +Negotiation One Sheet, 21, 25158 + +Section I: The Goal, 25254 + +Section II: Summary, 254 + +Section III: Labels/Accusation Audit, 25455 + +Section IV: Calibrated Questions, 25558 + +Section V: Noncash Offers, 258 + +neural resonance, 53 + +New York City Police Department (NYPD), 10, 24, 27, 30, 31, 38 + +Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU), 41 + +NFL Players Association (NFLPA), 125 + +niceness, 85, 93 + +9/11 terrorist attacks, 140, 143, 216, 224 + +Nixon, Jim, 98 + +No, 7495 + +asking for, 20, 85 + +demystifying, 88 + +email technique, 9293, 95 + +fear of, 88 + +forcing a response, 91 + +fundraising script using, 8991 + +as gateway to Yes, 77 + +getting your counterparts to bid against themselves and, 18185 + +How questions as gentle ways to say no, 16768, 174, 181, 186 + +Mark Cuban on, 91 + +meanings of, 79, 94 + +multi-step (for getting counterparts to bid against themselves), 18285 + +powerful lessons of, 9495 + +as protection, 7879, 8692, 93, 94 + +skills of, 89 + +as start of negotiation, 7580 + +voice tones and downward inflection, 181 + +ways to respond to, 7980 + +when to walk away, 92 + +Noesner, Gary, 1415, 144 + +nonmonetary issues, 132, 134, 135, 199, 206, 257 + +preparing noncash offers, 258 + +nonround numbers, 13233, 134, 137, 18384, 185, 201, 206, 207, 211, 212 + +Ackerman system and, 206, 212 + +Haitian kidnappings and, 2078 + +nonverbal communication, 173 + +matching body language with voice tone, 176 + +mirroring body language, 36 + +7-38-55 Percent Rule and, 176, 186 + +smiling, 33, 47 + +OBrien, Jim, 214, 217 + +Onglingswan, Aaron, 17475 + +Onglingswan, Alastair, 17375, 179 + +Ottenhoff, Ben, 8991 + +paradox of power, 227 + +paraphrasing, 20, 103, 112 + +Peale, Norman Vincent, 81 + +persuasion strategy: negotiating in the others world, 8085, 9495 + +Philippines, 96, 98104, 14041, 14248, 17375 + +Pinocchio effect, 178 + +Pittsburgh Police Departments Hostage Negotiation Team, 87 + +positive/playful voice, 32, 33, 48 + +positive reinforcement, 36 + +smiling and, 32, 33, 46, 47 + +Prado, Angel, 13638 + +preparation for negotiation, 211, 25158 (see also Negotiation One Sheet) + +fall to your highest level of preparation, 208, 211, 251 + +primal needs, 84 + +Princeton University, fMRI brain-scan experiment on neural resonance, 53 + +prison siege, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, 16263, 171 + +prospect theory, 12, 12735 + +anchoring emotions, 12829 + +establishing a range, 13132 + +letting the other guy go first, 12931 + +pivoting to nonmonetary terms, 132 + +surprising with a gift, 133 + +using odd numbers to fortify your offers, 107, 13233, 134, 137, 18384, 185, 206, 211, 212 + +Prospect Theory (Kahneman and Tversky), 127 + +psychics, 56 + +Raiffa, Howard, 206 + +rapport, 30, 47, 83, 84, 165. See also mirroring + +Accommodators and, 195 + +based on empathy, 70 + +BCSM and, 97 + +crisis negotiations amd, 15 + +mirroring to build, 35 + +negotiation and, 46 + +Schilling kidnapping case and, 101 + +used for sales, 108 + +rational actors, 12 + +reciprocity, 133, 148, 160, 168, 193, 196, 206, 207 + +Regini, Chuck, 98 + +Rogers, Carl, 97 + +Rowling, J. K., 256 + +Ruby Ridge siege, Idaho, 13 + +Rule of Three, 17778, 186 + +Rust, Kevin, 166 + +Sabaya, Abu, 98105, 14243, 144, 145 + +Sadat, Anwar, 133 + +safe and secure, 84, 86, 94 + +salary negotiations, 12930, 13538 + +bolstering range, 131 + +establishing a range, 13132 + +example, Angel Prado, 13638 + +pleasant persistence on nonsalary terms, 135, 137 + +recruiting a mentor with a specific question, 13637 + +setting success metrics, 13536, 137 + +sales, 30 + +opening line, 86, 94 + +using thats right and, 1078 + +Schilling, Jeffrey, 96, 98105, 140 + +scripts, 8, 251 + +for fundraising, 8991 + +for negotiating getting paid, 15758 + +telemarketer and, 74 + +Washington Redskins ticket holder script, 6061 + +self-esteem, 253, 257 + +7-38-55 Percent Rule, 17677, 186 + +silences + +bargaining styles and, 194, 196, 197 + +closing a deal and, 189 + +last rule of labeling and, 5657 + +pauses for active listening, 19, 103 + +pausing after labeling a barrier or mirroring a statement, 37, 44, 71, 72 + +similarity principle, 22930, 245 + +Sinaceur, Marwan, 202 + +smiling, 46 + +Analysts (bargaining style) and, 194 + +creating positivity with, 32, 33, 46, 47 + +to establish rapport, 70 + +niceness and feigned, 74, 85, 93 + +positive/playful voice and, 48 + +Snyder, Phillip, 11314 + +Sobero, Guillermo, 140, 142, 143 + +Split-Second Persuasion (Dutton), 149 + +Start with NO (Camp), 78, 90 + +strategic umbrage, 202 + +St. Thomas More School, 106, 107 + +summaries, 20 + +Assertive (bargaining style) and, 196 + +building blocks of, 112 + +for implementation of a deal, 169 + +Negotiation One Sheet and, 254 + +Rule of Three and, 177 + +triggering a thats right with, 108, 112 + +used for sales, 108 + +what a good summary is, 103 + +Sun Tzu, 5354 + +the supreme art of war, 54 + +System 1 and 2 thinking model, 1213 + +negotiation using, 13 + +tactical empathy, 16, 19, 5054 + +accusation audit, 19 + +airline counter and, 70, 71 + +key lessons of, 7173 + +labeling, 19 + +Washington Redskins ticket holder script, 6061 + +what it is, 52 + +tai chi, 174 + +Taleb, Nassim Nicholas, 215 + +telemarketers, 7475, 86 + +terrorism + +Blind Sheikh, 24 + +thwarted attempts, New York City, 24 + +thats right, 98, 1012, 112 + +Assertive (bargaining style) and, 196 + +How question and implementation of a deal, 169 + +how to trigger, 1025, 108, 112 + +used for career success, 10911 + +used in a price negotiation, 111 + +using to make a sale, 1078 + +youre right as ineffective, 1057, 169 + +Thinking, Fast and Slow (Kahneman), 12 + +threats, 202, 22223 + +Tiedens, Larissa, 202 + +time-out, 204 + +Trump, Donald, 221 + +trust + +fake anger and destroying, 202 + +losing, 194 + +similarity and, 22930, 245 + +Tversky, Amos, 11, 12 + +Tyson, Mike + +Ultimatum Game, 12023 + +unbelief, 14950, 151 + +unconditional positive regard, 97, 98, 112 + +United Arab Emirates, 128 + +University of California, Berkeley + +Haas School of Business, 120 + +University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 55, 176 + +University of Chicago, 11 + +Ury, William, 1011, 252 + +Van Zandt, Clint, 214, 216 + +Vlamingh, Willem de, 215 + +voice tones + +contract discussion and, 34 + +direct or assertive voice, 3233, 48, 197 + +for How questions, 16768 + +late-night FM DJ voice, 19, 3133, 47, 51 + +matching with body language, 176 + +positive/playful voice, 32, 48 + +7-38-55 Percent Rule and, 176, 186 + +Voss, Brandon, 1057, 191, 192 + +Washington Capitals, 231 + +Washington Redskins, 60 + +Washington Wizards, 231 + +Watson, Dwight, 22428 + +Watts, Chris, 3135, 3739, 4143, 179 + +Wazlawek, Abbie, 202 + +Weaver, Randy, 13 + +Wilder, Billy, 129 + +Williams, Robin, 123 + +wimp-win deal, 240, 242, 253 + +Winfrey, Oprah, 46 + +win-win goals, 115, 253 + +Wiseman, Richard, 36 + +workplace negotiations + +four step process, using mirroring, 4446 + +How question to collect funds owed, 168 + +salary negotiations, 12930, 13132, 13538 + +script for getting paid, 15758 + +thats right used for career success, 10911 + +World Trade Center bombing (1993), 99 + +Yap, Ediborah, 145 + +Yes + +achieving consent, 164 + +analyzing the entire negotiation space (the team), 17071 + +commitment, 80, 81, 83, 177 + +confirmation, 80, 81, 177 + +counterfeit, 8081, 84, 85, 177 + +defensiveness and, 86, 94 + +discomfort and, 86 + +How necessary with, 16469, 186 + +Rule of Three and, 17778, 186 + +using too early, 86, 94, 112 + +You Can Negotiate Anything (Cohen), 119 + +ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement), 8, 198, 199 + + + + + +ABOUT THE AUTHORS + + +CHRIS VOSS is one of the preeminent practitioners and professors of negotiating skills in the world. He currently teaches at both the University of Southern Californias Marshall School of Business and Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business. Chris has lectured at many other preeminent universities, including Harvard Law School, the Sloan School of Management, and the Kellogg School of Management. He lives in Los Angeles, California. + +TAHL RAZ uncovers big ideas and great stories that ignite change and growth in people and organizations. He is an award-winning journalist and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Never Eat Alone. When not researching or writing, he coaches executives, lectures widely on the forces transforming the new world of work, and serves as an editorial consultant for several national firms. He invites readers to e-mail him at tr@tahlraz.com and to visit his website at www.tahlraz.com. + +Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com. + + + + + +CREDITS + + +COVER DESIGN BY JARROD TAYLOR + + + + + +COPYRIGHT + + +The opinions expressed in this book are solely those of the author, and not of the FBI. + +NEVER SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE. Copyright 2016 by Christopher Voss. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. 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DENHARDT +Arizona State University + +and + +JOSEPH W. GRUBBS +Administration for Children and Families +U.S. Department of Health and Human Services + +THOMSON + +-*- +WADSWORTH Australia Canada Mexico Singapore Spain + +United Kingdom United States + + + +THOMSON +-*- +WADSWORTH + +Executive Editor: David Tatom Production Service: Progressive Publishing Alternatives +Editorial Assistant: Dianna Long Text Designer: Progressive Publishing Alternatives +Marketing Manager: Janise Fry Copy Editor: Progressive Publishing Alternatives +Marketing Assistant: Mary Ho Cover Designer: Jeanette Barber +Project Manager, Editorial Production: Angela Cover Printer: Transcontinental Interglobe + +Williams Urquhart Compositor: Progressive Information Technologies +Print/Media Buyer: Judy Inouye Printer: Transcontinental Interglobe +Permissions Editor: Elizabeth Zuber + +COPYRIGHT 2003 Wadsworth, a division of Thomsom Wadsworth/Thomson Learning +Learning, Inc. 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No part of this work covered +by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in Asia +any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic, or Thomson Learning +mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, 5 Shenton Way #01-01 +recording, taping, Web distribution, information net UIC Building +works, or information storage and retrieval systems Singapore 068808 +without the written permission of the publisher. + +Australia +Printed in Canada Nelson Thomson Learning +1 2 3 4 5 6 7 06 05 04 03 02 102 Dodds Street + +South Melbourne, Victoria 3205 +Australia + +For more information about our products, contact us at: Canada +Thomson Learning Academic Resource Center Nelson Thomson Learning + +1-800-423-0563 1120 Birchmount Road +Toronto, Ontario M1K 5G4 + +For permission to use material from this text, Canada +contact us by: Phone: 1-800-730-2214 + +Fax: 1-800-730-2215 Europe/Middle East/Africa +Web: http://www.thomsonrights.com Thomson Learning + +High Holborn House +50/51 Bedford Row +London WC1R 4LR + +Library of Congress Control Number: 2002107773 United Kingdom + +Latin America +ISBN: 0-15-505868-1 Thomson Learning + +Seneca, 53 +Colonia Polanco +11560 Mexico D.F. +Mexico + +Spain +Paraninfo Thomson Learning +Calle/Magallanes, 25 +28015 Madrid, Spain + + + +For Michael and Cari + + + +. + + + +About the Authors + +Robert B. Denhardt is a Professor of Public Administration at Arizona State University +and a Visiting Professor at the University of Delaware. A fellow of the National +Academy of Public Administration, Dr. Denhardt is a past president of the American +Society for Public Administration, the leading national association promoting excellence +in public service. + +Dr. Denhardt is the author of several books, including Managing Human Behavior +in Public and Nonprofit Organizations, The Pursuit of Significance, In the Shadow +of Organization, and Theories of Public Organization, and the editor of several others, +including Executive Leadership in the Public Service, The Revitalization of the Public +Service, Public Administration in Action, and Pollution and Public Policy. He has pub +lished more than seventy-five articles in professional journals, primarily in the areas +of public sector management, strategic planning and public productivity, and organiza +tion behavior. + +Prior to joining the faculty at Arizona State University and the University of Delaware, +Dr. Denhardt taught at the universities of Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, New Orleans, and +Central Florida. He has held several major administrative positions in these universities, +serving as vice provost at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He served as chair of the +Governors Advisory Council on Quality Productivity for the state of Missouri and was a +Fulbright scholar in Australia in 1990. + +Joseph W. Grubbs is a program analyst with the U.S. Department of Health and +Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Prior to this, he served as +assistant professor of public and nonprofit administration at Grand Valley State University +in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and as a visiting scholar for public administration at the +University of Gdansk, Poland. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Urban Affairs and +Public Policy at the University of Delaware, where his research focused on social policy +and the delivery of human and social services. His published work has appeared in +Organizational Research Methods, the Journal of Organizational Change Management, +the JAI Press series, Research in Organizational Change and Development, the American +Review of Public Administration, the International Journal of Public Administration, and +the online Journal of Public Administration and Management. + +vn + + + + - + + + +Preface + +The fourth edition of Public Administration: An Action Orientation updates the text, +taking it into the twenty-first century with the end of the second Clinton administration +and the beginning of the presidency of George W. Bush. But it also adds new material of +importance to those becoming acquainted with the field of public service. Most notably, +the book has been revised to take into account the management of nonprofit organiza +tions and should now be suitable for use in courses relating in nonprofit management as +well as core courses in public administration. In addition, we have included important +new material dealing with the global dimensions of public policy and administration +today and the increasingly important connection between public administration and +civic action or citizenship. This book also provides the latest approaches to management +in the public sector and continues to pay special attention to the skills needed for admin +istrators at all levels of government and in nonprofit organizations. + +Like previous editions, the fourth edition contains subtle but telling differences from +other books in the field. We assume that students in an introductory course in public +administration do not want to learn about the profession only in the abstract, but are +interested in influencing the operations of public agencies, as managers from the inside +or as citizens from the outside. They want to acquire the skills necessary for changing +things for the better. + +For this reason, it is important that the text not only introduce students to the schol +arly literature of public administration, but also help them develop the insights and abili +ties that will make them more effective and responsible actors. This book contains +a good deal of material that is basic to working in or with public organizations; at +the same time, the discussion attends to the complex and often confounding values +that distinguish work in the public sector. Most significant, however, is the focus on the +technical expertise and interpersonal skills that are crucial to effecting change in public +organizations. + +Another feature of the book is its balanced attention to the work of managers at all +levels of government and in nonprofit organizations. Although the federal government is +a powerful model for the study of public administration, managers of state and local +agencies are important actors in the governmental process, and their work is acknowl +edged and examined as well. Similarly, we show how managers of associations, non +profit, and third-sector organizations, and even traditionally private organizations are +now confronting the same issues faced by administrators in the public sector. In fact, we +frequently use the term public organizations to describe all such groups involved in the +management of public programs. + +We also have sought to give proper attention to the global dimensions of public +administration today. No longer are administrators confined in their work to their own +organizations or even their own jurisdictions. The complexity of modern life means, +among other things, that administrators must be attentive to developments around the +world as well as those at home. Decisions made in a foreign capital may affect the work +of a public administrator even more significantly than those made only miles away. + +ix + + + +Today, knowledge of international affairs and comparative issues is important not only +to those who work in other countries but to all who work in public administration. + +Public Administration: An Action Orientation is perhaps most distinctive in its treat +ment of the ethics of public service. Not only is the topic of ethics thoroughly covered in +a separate chapter, references to ethical concerns appear throughout the text. Ethical +issues cannot be separated from action; indeed, every act of every public servant, at +whatever level of government or in any related organization, has an important ethical +dimension. For this reason, we have made a strong effort to be attentive to the ethical +considerations that are a part of all administrative activities. + +Finally, Public Administration: An Action Orientation is the first such text to be fully +integrated with the Internet resources that are available to assist public administrators and +those studying public administration. In each chapter, we have highlighted networking +resources available to students, including Web sites that contain material that supplements +the text, provides examples and case studies, and links the student to other materials avail +able online. + +In this text we talk about action, but we also invite students to act. At the end of each +chapter are self-diagnostic materials and exercises (cases, simulations, discussion points, +and so on) designed to supplement students cognitive learning with behavioral practice. +These activities impart a sense not only of what public administration looks like to the +impartial observer, but also what it feels like to the manager or private individual +engaged in public action. Students have opportunities to test, practice, and improve their +skills. Each chapter also contains a list of key terms and definitions (which reappear in +the glossary) and recommendations for further reading. + +There are very exciting possibilities in public administration today. Working to solve +important public problems, sensing the human drama involved in such work, and gain +ing the satisfaction of doing something really worthwhile make being involved in public +organizations quite fascinating. The perspective adopted here, focusing on the experi +ences of people acting in the real world of public organizations and on the skills needed +for managerial success, permits a lively and interesting presentation of the field. We par +ticularly hope to convey, in a personal and direct manner, the challenges and rewards of +public service. + +The views expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not represent the +policy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. + + + +Acknowledgements + +Many people contributed to this book. From our work with members of the American +Society for Public Administration, we have gained special appreciation of the complexity +of public management and of the dedication and hard work required for public service. +We hope we have conveyed the commitment and concern that guide the work of the best +public managers; they deserve great credit and respect. + +In the first edition of the text, Bobs colleagues in the Department of Public +Administration at the University of Missouri-Columbia were a great source of help and +support. More recently, both Bob and Joe Grubbs have called upon good colleagues and +friends at the University of Colorado, the University of Central Florida, the University of +Delaware, Arizona State University, Grand Valley State University, and Wichita State +University, who have contributed substantially to the recent editions. We especially want +to acknowledge the help and support of Magdalena Borys, Joe Cayer, Linda Chapin, +Peter and Linda deLeon, Janet Denhardt, Mark Glaser, Jay Hakes, John Hall, Ed +Jennings, Arno Loessner, John Nalbandian, Jan Perkins, and John Thomas. + +In this new edition, we have also benefited from the comments of reviewers who pro +vide invaluable feedback on the third edition. They are: Rickert Alhaus, Southeast +Missouri State University; Robert E. Colvin, Christopher Newport University; Nancy L. +Fiorentino, Kean University; Judy-Lynne Peters, John Jay College of Public Administration; +Alice Marie Schumaker, University of Nebraska at Omaha; and Douglas A. Singh, Indiana +University-South Bend. + +While we have been going forward with this work, others have provided balance in +our lives, and their help in maintaining our sanity should be acknowledged. Bob is espe +cially appreciative of the warmth and support of his wife Janet, as well as Michael and +Shelly, Cari, Ben and Mary. He also wants to thank the poets and pickers of the Tyree +Basement String Band, and to express his appreciation for the support, help, and gen +erosity of friends and colleagues from Missouri to Colorado to Florida to Delaware to +Arizona, especially Mark, John, Jan, Ann, and Steve, and for the incredible support, tol +erance, and patience of a hapless group of very forgiving golfers. + +Joe would like to give special thanks to his wife, Heidi, for defining what love and +strength can be and laboring with him through every challenge; to his mother, Dorothy, +and members of his family, Charles, Lucy, Barbara, Jessica, Maggie, Seamus, Madison, +and Clay for their undying support and spiritual guidance; and to his first academic +mentor at the University of North Florida, David Courtwright, for instilling a sense of +responsibility and commitment. Finally, this book is dedicated to Bobs children, Michael +and Cari, who have been a constant source of joy, confusion, and wonderment, and to +the memory of Joes father, Robert I. Grubbs, Jr., a man who devoted his life to his faith, +to his family, and to public service. Thanks to all. + +Robert B. Denhardt +and +Joseph W. Grubbs + +xi + + + +. + + + +Contents + +Preface ix + +Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations 1 + +What Is Public Administration? 2 +Values of Democracy 3 +Contrasting Business and Public Administration 5 + +Ambiguity 6 +Pluralistic Decision Making 6 +Visibility 7 + +Thinking about Public Administration Today 7 +Publicness 8 + +Why Study Public Administration? 9 +Preparing for Administrative Positions 10 +Combining Technical and Managerial Training 12 +Interaction of Business and Government 13 +Influencing Public Organizations 14 +Making Things Happen 15 + +Issues in Public Administration Theory and Practice 17 +Politics and Administration 18 + +Ensuring Accountability 18 + +Bureaucracy and Democracy 19 +Efficiency versus Responsiveness 20 + +What Do Public Administrators Do? 21 +An Inventory of Public Management Skills 22 +Voices of Public Administrators 23 + +Summary and Action Implications 27 +Terms and Definitions 27 +Study Questions 28 +Cases and Exercises 28 +For Additional Reading 31 +Appendix A: OPM Inventory of Management Skills 32 + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration 34 + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 35 +Administrative Organizations 37 + +The Executive Office of the President 37 +Cabinet-Level Executive Departments 39 + +xiii + + + +xiv Contents + +Independent Agencies, Regulatory Commissions, and Public Corporations 40 +Agencies Supporting the Legislature and the Judiciary 40 + +The State Level 41 +The Local Level 43 + +Cities 43 +Counties 45 +Native American Tribes 45 +Special Districts 46 +Nonprofit Organizations and Associations 46 + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 49 +The Policy Process 49 + +Agenda Setting 50 +Policy Formulation 51 + +Policy Implementation 52 +Types of Policy 53 +Sources of Bureaucratic Power 56 +Legislative Supervision: Structural Controls 58 + +Legislative Veto 59 +Sunset Laws 60 +Sunshine Laws 61 + +Legislative Supervision: Oversight 62 +Legislative Supervision: Casework 64 + +Relationships with the Judiciary 65 +Concerns for Due Process 70 +The Courts and Agency Administration 70 + +Summary and Action Implications 72 +Terms and Definitions 73 +Study Questions 74 +Cases and Exercises 75 +For Additional Reading 77 + +Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration 79 + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 80 +Dual Federalism 82 +Cooperative Federalism 83 +Picket-Fence Federalism 84 +The Reagan and Bush Years 87 +The Clinton Presidency 88 +The Bush Administration 90 +Judicial Influence 93 + +The State and Local Perspective 96 +Funding Patterns 96 + + + +Contents xv + +Preemptions and Mandates 98 +Preemptions 98 +Mandates 100 + +Subnational Relationships 102 +State to State 102 +State to Local 103 +Local to Local 105 + +Working with Nongovernmental Organizations 106 +Privatization and Contracting 107 + +The Management of Nonprofit Organizations 110 +Operational Leadership 110 +Resource Development 112 +Financial Management 113 +Board Governance 113 +Board-Staff Relations 115 +Advocacy 116 + +Summary and Action Implications 117 +Terms and Definitions 118 +Study Questions 119 +Cases and Exercises 120 +For Additional Reading 121 + +Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service 123 + +Approaches to Ethical Deliberation 124 +Reasoning, Development, and Action 126 + +Moral Philosophy 126 +Moral Psychology 127 +Moral Action 129 + +Issues of Administrative Responsibility 130 +The Limits of Administrative Discretion 131 +Avenues for Public Participation 134 +The Ethics of Privatization 136 + +Ethical Problems for the Individual 137 +Interacting with Elected Officials 137 +Following Orders 138 +Conflicts of Interest 140 +Whistle Blowing 142 +Prohibitions on Political Activities 144 + +Managing Ethics 145 +Establishing an Ethical Climate 146 + +Summary and Action Implications 148 +Terms and Definitions 149 + + + +xvi Contents + +Study Questions 150 +Cases and Exercises 150 +For Additional Reading 153 +Appendix A: Code of Ethics of the American Society for Public Administration 154 + +Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management 157 + +The Budget as an Instrument of Fiscal Policy 158 +The Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy 160 + +Where the Money Comes From 160 +Individual Income Tax 161 +Corporation Income Tax 162 +Payroll Taxes 162 +Sales and Excise Taxes 162 +Property Taxes 163 +Other Revenue Sources 163 +Patterns of Government Revenues 163 + +Where the Money Goes 164 +The Bush Tax Plan 165 +State and Local Expenditures 167 + +The Budget as a Managerial Tool 168 +Budget Formulation 169 +Budget Approval 171 +Budget Execution 173 +Audit Phase 175 + +Approaches to Public Budgeting 176 +The Line-Item Budget 177 +The Performance Budget 178 +Program Budgeting 179 +Zero-Base Budgeting 180 +Outcome-Based Budgeting 181 + +Budgetary Strategies and Political Games 182 +Strategies for Program Development 183 + +Aspects of Financial Management 185 +Capital Budgeting 186 +Debt Management 187 +Risk Management 189 +Purchasing 190 + +Accounting and Computer-Based Information Systems 191 +Government Accounting 191 +Computer-Based Information Systems 192 + +Summary and Action Implications 194 +Terms and Definitions 195 + + + +Contents xvii + +Study Questions 197 +Cases and Exercises 197 +For Additional Reading 207 + +Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources 209 + +Merit Systems in Public Employment 210 +Spoils versus Merit 210 +The Civil Service Reform Act and Its Aftermath 214 +Reinvention and the National Performance Review 217 + +State and Local Personnel Systems 219 +Hiring, Firing, and Things In-Between 220 + +Classification Systems 220 +The Recruitment Process 221 +Pay Systems 223 +Conditions of Employment and Related Matters 225 +Sexual Harassment 226 +AIDS Policy 227 +Workplace Violence 228 +Removing Employees 228 + +The Changing Character of Labor-Management Relations 229 +Steps in the Bargaining Process 232 +To Strike or Not to Strike 233 +Unions Redefined 235 + +Correcting Patterns of Discrimination in Public Employment 236 +ADA 238 +Questions of Compliance 238 +Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination 240 +The Glass Ceiling 241 +The Debate over Comparable Worth 242 + +Political Appointee-Career Executive Relations 244 +The Relationship between Political and Career Executives 246 + +Summary and Action Implications 247 +Terms and Definitions 248 +Study Questions 249 +Cases and Exercises 249 +For Additional Reading 253 + +Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation 255 + +Planning 256 +Strategic Planning 256 + +Planning for Planning 257 +Organizing for Planning 258 + + + +xviii Contents + +Steps in Planning 259 +Mission or Objectives 259 +Environmental Analysis 260 +Strengths and Weaknesses 260 +Values of Organizational Leaders 260 + +Development of Alternative Strategies 260 +The Logic of Policy Analysis 261 + +Problem Definition 262 +Setting Objectives and Criteria 263 +Developing Alternatives 264 +Analyzing Various Policies 264 +Ranking and Choice 265 + +Costs and Benefits 265 +Other Quantitative Techniques 267 + +Implementation 270 +Organizational Design 271 +Systems Analysis 273 +PERT/CPM 275 + +Reengineering 276 + +Evaluation 277 +Performance Measurement 278 + +Program Evaluation 285 +Evaluation Designs and Techniques 286 + +Qualitative Techniques 287 +Quantitative Techniques 288 + +Summary and Action Implications 289 +Terms and Definitions 289 +Study Questions 291 +Cases and Exercises 291 +For Additional Reading 295 + +Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics 297 + +Images of Organizing in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors 297 +The Functions of Management 298 +The Early Writers: A Concern for Structure 300 +Recognizing Human Behavior 304 + +Two Classic Works 305 + +The Organization and Its Environment 307 +Systems Theory 307 +From Political Economy to Organization Development 309 +Decision Making in Organizations 311 + + + +Contents xix + +Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, and Strategic Management 312 +Total Quality Management 318 + +TQM Beginnings 319 + +Guidelines for Public Management 320 +Postmodern Narratives on Management 323 + +Postmodernism 323 +Issues of Gender and Power 324 + +Summary and Action Implications 325 +Terms and Definitions 325 +Study Questions 326 +Cases and Exercises 326 +For Additional Reading 328 +Appendix A: Description of Total Quality Management (TQM) 329 + +Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of +Public and Nonprofit Organizations 333 + +NPM, Reinvention, and Nonprofit Management Reform 334 +The New Public Management 335 +Reinventing Government 335 +Nonprofit Management Reform 337 +The Results of Reform 339 + +IT, the Internet, and Management Reform 340 +Wired Organizations 341 + +ePublic Administration 342 +The Human Side of Technological Innovation 343 +Human Resources, Innovation, and Performance 345 + +Management by Objectives 345 +Quality of Work-Life/Job Enrichment 347 +Quality Circles and Related Ideas 349 +Incentive Programs 350 +Innovation 352 +Recent Examples of Performance Management 354 + +GAO Cites Best Practices for Performance Management 354 +Measuring Performance in the State of Arizona 355 +Benchmarking and Performance Improvement in the City of Portland 356 + +Implementation Issues in Quality and Productivity 357 +Steps to Productivity Improvement 357 + +Summary and Action Implications 361 +Terms and Definitions 362 +Study Questions 363 +Cases and Exercises 363 +For Additional Reading 364 + + + +xx Contents + +Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management . ' 366 + +The Managers Day 367 +Elements of Managerial Work 367 +Distribution of Time among Work Elements 368 +Managerial Interaction and Communication 368 +Informal Aspects of Managerial Work 368 +Themes of Managerial Work 369 + +Stress Management 369 +Stress Signals and Responses 372 + +Type A/Type B Behaviors 372 +Lifestyle Changes 372 +Relaxation Techniques 373 +Exercise 3 74 + +Stress and the Organization 374 + +Time Management 375 + +Creativity and Problem Solving 376 +Models of Individual Decision Making 379 + +Power and Leadership 382 +Summary and Action Implications 386 +Terms and Definitions 386 +Study Questions 386 +Cases and Exercises 387 +For Additional Reading 389 +Appendix A: Lost on the Moon Exercise: Answers from NASA Experts 390 + +Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics 391 +Communications 39 j + +Listening 39 ^ +Have a Reason or Purpose 399 +Suspend Judgment Initially 397 +Resist Distractions 393 +Wait before Responding 394 + +Rephrase What You Listen to in Your Own Words 394 +Seek the Important Themes 394 + +Use the Thinking-Speaking Differential to Reflect and Find Meaning 394 + +Speaking 395 +Writing 396 + +Delegation and Motivation 397 + +Motivation 399 + +Pay and Job Satisfaction 399 +Reinforcement Theory 4qq +Goal Setting 4Q2 + + + +Contents xxi + +Conflict, Bargaining, and Negotiation 404 +Group Dynamics 405 + +Advantages of Group Decision Making 405 +Disadvantages of Group Decision Making 407 +Interpersonal Dynamics in Groups 408 +Changing the Composition of the Group 409 +Managing Groups in Action 412 +Specialized Techniques for Group Decision Making 413 +Participation in Group Decision Making 414 + +Organization Change and Development 417 +Diagnosing the Need for Change 418 +Strategies for Organizational Change 419 + +Summary and Action Implications 421 +Terms and Definitions 421 +Study Questions 422 +Cases and Exercises 422 +For Additional Reading 424 + +Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service 426 +The New Public Service 426 +Efforts to Support the Public Service 428 +Trends in the Public Service 431 + +Economic Changes and Redefining Government 432 +Globalization 434 +Technology and the Work Environment 435 +The Role of Citizens in the Governance Process 438 +The Ethical Challenges Facing the Public Service 439 + +A Final Note 441 +Study Questions 441 +Cases and Exercises 441 +For Additional Reading 442 + +References 444 + +Appendix 464 + +Journals 464 +Organizations 466 + +Glossary 468 + +Index 475 + + + + + + + + + +Chapter 1 + +Personal Action in +Public Organizations + +Public administration is concerned with the management of public programs. Public +administrators work at all levels of government, both at home and abroad, and they man +age nonprofit organizations, associations, and interest groups of all kinds. The substantive +fields within which public managers work range across the varied interests of government +and public affairs, from defense and national security to social welfare and environmental +quality, from the design and construction of roads and bridges to the exploration of space, +and from taxation and financial administration to personnel and human resources man +agement. Though public administration varies tremendously in its scope and substance, +those who work in public organizations share certain commitments. Among these, none is +more important than a commitment to public service. + +In this book, we will examine the work of public administrators in many different +kinds of organizations. We will seek a clear understanding of the political and historical +context within which public and nonprofit organizations operate; we will examine the +commitments that underlie the notion of public service and the opportunities and con +straints they place on public action; we will examine the many technical fields, such as +planning, budgeting, personnel, and evaluation, with which public administrators must +be familiar; and we will consider the personal and interpersonal talents needed by suc +cessful public managers. Most importantly, we will emphasize the knowledge, skills, +and values that you will need to be both effective and responsible as you act in the pub +lic interest. + +Although we will introduce you to many different areas of public administration, we +will do so from a particular point of view that will provide a unifying theme in our +examination of administrative work in public and nonprofit organizations. Briefly stated, +that point of view is that there is something very special about public administration: +your work in the public service is distinguished by its pursuit of democratic values, and +this concern affects nearly everything you do as a public manager. As a public adminis +trator, you are obligated not only to achieve efficiency and effectiveness, but to be +responsive to the many bodies that help define the public interest: elected officials, mem +bers of the legislature, client or constituent groups, and citizens generally. This special +obligation requires that you be ever mindful of managerial concerns, political concerns, +and ethical concerns, and that you develop structures and processes that take into +account all three. The result is a particularly complicated approach to getting things +done, but one that has special rewards. From service to the public, you may gain a very + + + +2 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +special sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction, one that comes from helping +others and from pursuing the public interest. + +What Is Public Adnti nistration? + +We have already described public administration as the management of public programs. +But to elaborate on this definition, it helps to know a little history. Happily, there is only +a little history to learn because public administration, at least in this country, is a rela +tively young field of study. Of course, people have been engaged in the management of +public programs for thousands of years. (For example, imagine the administrative +headaches involved in building the Egyptian pyramids!) However, the self-conscious +study of public administration is a fairly recent development, often dated to the work of +French and German scholars in the late nineteenth century. Public administration as we +know it today in the United States began as the study of government administration, and +that study began as part of late nineteenth-century efforts to reform governmental opera +tions. Most scholars and practitioners date the beginnings of the self-conscious study of +public administration in this country to an 1887 essay written by Woodrow Wilson +(then scholar, later president). While some have recently questioned the influence Wilson +had on the field, there is no question his essay marks the symbolic beginning of +American public administration. + +Wilsons essay was basically reformist in nature, and highly practical. It was designed +to address the inefficiency and open corruption that had become a part of government +during the late 1880s, and to suggest certain remedies within the administration of gov +ernment. Wilson argued that while scholars and practitioners had focused on political +institutions (such as Congress or the presidency), too little attention had been paid to +administrative questions the questions of how the government actually operates. The +result, according to Wilson, was that it was becoming harder to run a constitution +than to frame one (Wilson, 1887, p. 200). Wilson first wanted the work of govern +ment agencies to be accomplished more effectively. He felt that such organizations +would operate best if they pursued the private sectors commitment to efficient or busi +nesslike operations. Wilson, of course, wrote in a period during which business, indus +try, and technology were developing in rapid and surprising new ways. Like others, he +admired the managerial philosophies that business seemed to be developing. Among +these notions, Wilson particularly favored the idea of concentrating power in a single +authority atop a highly integrated and centralized administrative structure. His recom +mendation of a strong chief executive has been echoed by writers (and chief executives) +even to the present. + +The men and women who followed Wilson in discussions of what came to be called +public administration were very practical people, concerned with reforming governmen +tal structures and making them more efficient. But they were also quite careful to place +these concerns within the context of democratic government. How might the principles +of democracy, including such lofty ideals as liberty and justice, be extended throughout + + + +What Is Public Administration? 3 + +government and throughout society? Indeed, Leonard D. White, one of the most +thoughtful of the early writers, commented that the study of public administration . . . +needs to be related to the broad generalizations of political theory concerned with such +matters as justice, liberty, obedience, and the role of the state in human affairs (White, +1948, p. 10). As we will see, a continued concern for operating efficiently while at the +same time operating in a way consistent with democratic values marks the field of public +administration even today. + +Values of Democracy + +Since their commitment to democratic values so clearly affects the work of those in public +and nonprofit organizations in this country, it may be helpful to briefly review some of the +key commitments we associate with democratic governance. The term democracy well re +flects its rootsthe Greek words demos, meaning people, and kratis, meaning +authority. Generally speaking, democracy refers to a political system in which the +interests of the people at large prevail. However, it is clear that within these broad pa +rameters there are many different conceptions of democracy. As one illustration, at the end +of World War II, representatives of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia +met to consider the democratization of Germany. Yet, it soon became apparent that the +Russian idea of democracy was quite different from the Western view. While Westerners +associated democracy with such ideas as free elections, freedom of the press, freedom of +movement, and the freedom to criticize the government, the Russians had quite a different +conception. For them, democracy did not necessarily mean government by or of the people +but rather whether government policy is carried out in the interest of the people. + +Even today the term democratic is used in many different ways by many different +people. Yet, in the American experience, there is general agreement that democracy +refers to a political system a way of ordering power and authority in which decision +making power is widely shared among members of the society. Or, to put it in terms of +control, democracy is a system in which many ordinary citizens exercise a high degree of +control over their leaders. (In either case, the opposite would be an oligarchy, govern +ment by the few, or an autocracy, government by one.) + +But democracy is defined not only in terms of processes or procedures (for example, +rule by many, etc.), but also by several important cultural values that are typically pur +sued in a democratic society. Among these, threeindividualism, equality, and liberty +have been of special importance to those who have helped shape the American idea of +democracy. The first is individualism, the idea that the dignity and integrity of the indi +vidual is of supreme importance. Individualism suggests that achieving the fullest poten +tial of each individual is the best measure of the success of our political system. It is the +idea of individualism that is reflected in the familiar phrasing of the Declaration of +Independence that all persons are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable +rights and that it is the purpose of government to secure those rights. + +Second is the idea of equality, not the idea that all persons are equal in their talents or +possessions, but that each individual has an equal claim to life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness. In this view, each person should be seen as an end, not a means; no one + + + +Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +should be a mere tool of another. Moreover, equality in the field of government would +suggest that differences in wealth or position are not sufficient reasons for giving one +group preference over another. In a democracy, each one has an equal claim to the atten +tion of the system and should be able to expect just outcomes. + +A third central value of a democratic society is liberty. This idea suggests that the indi +vidual citizen of a democracy should have a high degree of self-determination. A person +should have the maximum opportunity to select ones own purpose in life and to choose +the means to accomplish it. Liberty is more than just the absence of constraints; it sug +gests the freedom to act positively in pursuit of ones own ends. Only by allowing indi +viduals the freedom to choose, it is argued, will social progress occur. + +That these themes have influenced the development of public administration is unde +niable. Though, as we will see, people differ over the degree to which they influence the +day-to-day operations of public agencies. Similarly, the way in which democracy has +been operationalized in the American political tradition has had important influences on +the operation of public organizations. For example, take the traditional separation of +legislative, executive, and judicial functions. While the primary task of the legislative +branch is to make policy through the enactment of legislation, the primary task of the +executive branch is the faithful execution or implementation of policy, and the primary +task of the judicial branch is the interpretation of the law, especially as it relates to con +stitutional guarantees. + +David Rosenbloom of American University has argued that these three functions of +government are related to three views of the role of public administrators in American +society (Rosenbloom, 1993, p. 15). + +1. The managerial approach to public administration, which Rosenbloom connects to the +executive function, emphasizes the management and organization of public organizations. +As with Wilson, this view sometimes suggests that management in the public sector is +very much like that in the private sector, in that it is primarily concerned with efficiency. +2. The political approach to public administration, related to the legislative function in +government, is more concerned about assuring constitutional safeguards, such as those +already mentioned. Efficiency becomes less a concern than effectiveness or responsiveness. +3. Finally, the legal approach to public administration, related to the judicial function, +emphasizes the administrators role in applying and enforcing the law in specific situa +tions. It is also concerned with the adjudicatory role of public organizations. + +While we will examine these various approaches in more detail as we move through the +book, it is important to understand at the outset that all the actions of public adminis +trators take place within an important political context: a commitment to democratic +ideals and practices. Yet today that ideal is somewhat tarnished. Americans trust in gov +ernment has been steadily declining over the last several decades. Questions are being +raised not only about the quality and productivity of government, but also about the +responsiveness of government to the people (see Box 1.1). This tension will be a persis +tent theme as we examine contemporary approaches to the study and practice of public +administration. Borrowing a phrase from earlier times, the task of public administrators +is still to make democracy suitable for modern conditions. Doing so in a time of con- + + + +What Is Public Administration? 5 + +BOX 1.1 + +The Democratic Dream + +The predominant American political beliefattained, pretended, or otherwise +from before the establishment of the Republic and throughout the nations history has +been the democratic dream, nominally based on some version of popular representa +tion and governance. Virtually every political structure and reform has been predi +cated on some mode of the democratic, egalitarian ethos, even as they oscillated back +and forth between its Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian poles. + +Indeed, to imagine a widespread domestic political movement (and probably for +eign policy initiative) that does not in some very visible manner drape itself in the +sacred vestment of democracy is inconceivable. + +It is this ambience that American political philosophies, politics themselves, and +even certain professions (e.g., public administration) were created and nurtured. + +Not surprisingly, public service and public administration in the United States +have shared a similar democratic coloration. From the early days of the professional +public administratorwhen Woodrow Wilson temporarily partitioned politics and +administration into separate entitieswe find a solid stream of democratic theory +underpinning and underlining contemporary public administration. + +But the Constitution cannot serve as a singular political poultice for whatever ails +the body politic. Within the country at large, there is a tangible sense that as often +appeals are made to the nations democratic benchmarks, these are more calls to a +fading faith than references to reality. Americans are apparently disenchanted with +their politics, both in terms of substance and process. Our public life is rife with +discontent. Americans do not believe they have much to say about how they are +governed and do not trust government to do the right thing. + +SOURCE: Reprinted by permission from Democracy and the Policy Sciences by Peter deLeon, State +University of New York Press 1997, State University of New York. All rights reserved. + +fusion and mistrust will be a special challenge to those in public administration as we +move into the twenty-first century. Keep this issue in mind as we examine the various +approaches and techniques that are appropriate to public administration today. + +Contrasting Business and Public Administration + +One issue, however, deserves further comment. As we have just seen, even though work in +public and nonprofit organizations is guided by commitments to democratic ideals, it is +also involved with management, and, for that reason, public administration is often con +fused with business management. Indeed, such confusion has occasionally been quite +prominent in the field of public administration. (As we have already seen, early writers in + + + +Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +the field often suggested that government should become more like business, a phrase +heard even today.) Certainly, there are some similarities between business and public +administration. Managers across all sectorspublic, private, and nonprofitare involved +in questions of organizational design, the allocation of scarce resources, and the manage +ment of people. But most observers would agree that the primary distinction between busi +ness and public service is that business is primarily concerned with making a profit, while +public service is concerned with delivering services or regulating individual or group +behavior in the public interest. All would agree that the context of public and nonprofit +management significantly alters the work itself. Three differences are most apparent. + +Ambiguity + +The first difference between government and business lies in the purposes to be served. +In most businesses, even those with service objectives, the bottom-line profit is the basic +measure of evaluating how good a job the organization is doing. In turn, the perfor +mance of individual managers can, in many cases, be directly measured in terms of their +units contribution to the overall profit of the company. The same is not true in public or +nonprofit agencies, where the objectives of the organization in which one works may be +much more ambiguous and where making or losing money is not the main criterion for +success or failure. + +Often the objectives of public and nonprofit organizations are stated in terms of ser +vice; for example, an agencys mission may be to protect the quality of the environment +or to provide an adequate level of rehabilitative services to the disabled. Yet such service +objectives are much harder to specify and to measure. What does quality mean with +respect to the environment? What level of service to the disabled is adequate? The dif +ficulty of specifying objectives such as these makes it harder to assess the performance of +government agencies and in turn their managers. Moreover, most businesses wouldnt +tolerate a money-losing operation in a depressed area, but a public or nonprofit organi +zation, though equally attentive to the money being spent, might well consider meeting +human needs more important than the financial bottom line. + +Pluralistic Decision Making + +The second difference between work in the public service and in business is the fact that +the public service, at least in a democratic society, requires that many groups and indi +viduals have access to the decision-making process. As a result, decisions that might +be made rapidly by one individual or a small group in a business might, in a public or +nonprofit organization, require input from many diverse groups and organizations. +Consequently, it is difficult to speak of specific decision centers in government. +W. Michael Blumenthal, a business executive who became secretary of the treasury in the +Carter administration, described the situation in this way: + +If the President said to me, you develop [an economic policy toward Japan], Mike, +the moment that becomes known there are innumerable interest groups that begin +to play a role. The House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance +Committee, and every member on them and every staff member has an opinion and + + + +What Is Public Administration f 7 + +seeks to exert influence. Also the Foreign Relations Committee, the oversight com +mittees, and then the interest groups, business, the unions, the State Department, +the Commerce Department, OMB (Office of Management and Budget), Council of +Economic Advisers, and not only the top people, but all their staff people, not to +speak of the Presidents staff and the entire press. (Blumenthal, 1983, p. 30) + +The pluralistic nature of public decision making has led many business executives who +have worked in the public or nonprofit sectors to comment that this feature of public +service makes public and nonprofit management much more difficult than management +in the private sector. But, as Blumenthal points out, the diversity of interests seeking to +affect policy is the nature and essence of democratic government (Blumenthal, 1983, +pp. 30-31). Many have also found that this aspect of public service is particularly chal +lenging and rewarding. + +Visibility + +Finally, managers in public and nonprofit organizations seem to operate with much +greater visibility than their counterparts in industry. The public service in a democratic +society is subject to constant scrutiny by the press and by the public. Donald Rumsfeld, +another who has worked in both government and business, once commented that +in government, you are operating in a goldfish bowl. You change your mind or make +a blunder, as human beings do, and its on the front page of every newspaper +(Rumsfeld, 1983, p. 36). The media seems to cover everything you do, and this may be a +mixed blessing. On the one hand, media coverage enables the leaders of the organization +to communicate rapidly both to external and internal audiences. On the other hand, the +medias constant scrutiny of policy positions and their labeling of inconsistencies as +weaknesses can be somewhat limiting to free discussion of issues in their formulation +stage. And, of course, the occasional intrusions of the press into even the most mundane +personal matters can be excessive; one local newspaper even reported a problem a new +city manager moving to the community was having with his refrigerator. Yet, executives +in government realize that it is essential to a democratic society that their work be visible +to the public and subject to the interest and control of the citizenry. + +Thinking about Public Administration Today + +With this background, we can now think more carefully about how the field of public +administration has traditionally been described and how we might develop an action ori +entation toward the study of public administration. In terms of definition, many early +writers spoke of administration as a function of government, something that occurred in +many shapes and forms throughout government. There were obviously administrative +activities performed in the executive branch, but there were also administrative functions +performed in the legislative and judicial branches. Some even noted that from time to +time any single official might engage in both legislative and administrative functions. + +Somewhat later, public administration came to be viewed as merely concerned with +the activities of the executive agencies of government. In the words of an early text, + + + +8 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +public administration is concerned with the operations of the administrative branch +only (Willoughby, 1927, p. 1). By the 1950s, such a perspective was so firmly +entrenched that the leading text of that period stated By public administration is meant, +in common usage, the activities of the executive branches of national, state, and local +governments; independent boards and commissions set up by Congress and state legisla +tures; government corporations; and certain other agencies of a specialized character +(Simon et ah, 1950, p. 7). More modern definitions of public administration have tended +to return to the traditional view, including attention to administrative officials in all +branches of government and even focusing on those in nonprofit organizations. + +For our purposes, a formal definition of the field may be less important than trying to +discover how public administration is experienced by those in the real world. Our com +mitment to an action orientation suggests that we try to determine the kinds of activities +engaged in by public administrators and the environmental factors that help to shape their +work. We have already seen how the ambiguity of service objectives, the pluralistic nature +of governmental decision making, and the visibility of management in the public and non +profit sectors create a context in which managerial work is significantly different from that +in other settings. From the standpoint of the real-world administrator, the things that really +make the difference in the way you operate are not whether you are employed by a gov +ernment agency but rather whether you work under circumstances that feature an ambigu +ity of objectives, a multiplicity of decision centers, and high public visibility. + +Networking + +The leading national organization for those in the field of public administration is +the American Society for Public Administration. See http://www.aspanet.org/. +Other related organizations with helpful Web sites include the National Academy +of Public Administration at http://www.napawash.org; the Alliance for +Redesigning Government, http://www.alliance.napawash.org/ALLIANCE; the +Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management at http://qsilver.queensu. +ca/appam/; the Council for Excellence in Government at http://www.excelgov.org/; +the American Political Science Association, http://www.apsanet.org/; the Alliance +for Nonprofit Management, http://www.allianceonline.org; the Independent Sector, +http://www.independentsector.org; and the Academy of Management, Public and +Not for Profit Sector Division, http://www.aom.pace.edu/pn/index.htm. + +Publicness + +These features in turn all derive from the simple fact that the public or nonprofit man +ager is pursuing public purposes. In terms of the actions and experiences of the public +administrator, therefore, we may say that it is the publicness of the work of the public or +nonprofit manager that distinguishes public administration from other similar activities. +This view of the administrators role suggests that, as a public or nonprofit manager, you +must operate with one eye toward managerial effectiveness and the other toward the +desires and demands of the public. It recognizes that you are likely to experience an + + + +Why Study Public Administration? 9 + +inevitable tension between efficiency and responsiveness as you work in governmental or +nongovernmental organizations, a tension that will be absolutely central to your work. + +Let us point out some of the implications of this orientation. Many commentators point +out that the distinction between public and private management is no longer simply a dis +tinction between business and government, or between profit and service. In fact, more and +more frequently, we encounter situations in which traditionally public organizations are +pursuing enhanced revenues (profits?) and traditionally private organizations are concerned +with the provision of services. What is important is not merely what is being sought, but +rather whose interest is being served. On this basis, a private enterprise would be one in +which private interests privately arrived at are paramount; a public organization, on the +other hand, would be one in which public interests publicly arrived at are paramount. + +There is a trend in our society for greater openness and responsiveness on the part of +many organizations. Most associations and nonprofit organizations would fit this mold, +and managers in those organizations must certainly be attentive to both efficiency and +responsiveness. But many corporations are now finding it important to open their deci +sion-making processes to public scrutiny and involvement. The range of organizations +engaged in the public service (and thus the applicability of public and nonprofit manage +ment) seems ever-increasing. + +On the other hand, our understanding of the managers role suggests that there could +be managers in governmental or nongovernmental agencies who would be pursuing +interests other than those of the public. Certainly, those operating agencies in totalitarian +countries could hardly be considered to be pursuing publicly defined values. They would +more likely be pursuing the privately defined interests of a political elite. Similarly, we +might question from time to time whether all managers in our democratic society have +a proper concern for the public interest. Certainly, in cases where managers pursue their +own personal agendas, as in cases of empire building, we would question the public +ness of their actions. + +We now have a notion of the complexity of work in the public and nonprofit sectors +the complexity inherent in the technical work of governmental and nongovernmental +agencies, but, even more important, the complexity of the political and ethical context in +which managers operate. Indeed, as noted before, this complexity will provide a theme +that ties together many aspects of your work as an administrator. The way you set objec +tives, the way you develop budgets and hire personnel, the way you interact with other +organizations and with your own clientele, the way you evaluate the success or failure of +your programs all of these aspects of your work as an administrator, and many more, +are directly affected by the fact that you will be managing in the public interest. + +Why Study Public Administration? + +Students come to introductory courses in public administration for many different rea +sons. Many students recognize the vast array of positions in government (and elsewhere) +that require training in public administration and hope that the course will provide some + + + +10 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +of the basic information and skills that will move them toward careers as public or non +profit managers. These students seek to understand the field of public administration, +and also hope to sharpen their own skills as potential administrators. + +Other students, whose interests lie in technical fields as wide-ranging as engineering, +teaching, natural resources, social work, and the fine arts, recognize that at some point +in their careers their jobs may involve management in the public sector. The engineer +may become director of a public works department; the teacher may become school +principal; the natural resources expert may be asked to run an environmental quality +program; the social worker may administer a welfare program; the fine arts major may +direct a publicly supported gallery or museum. In these cases and others like them, the +individuals technical expertise may need to be complemented by managerial training. + +Networking + +The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration +(NASPAA) is the accrediting body for programs in public administration and +pursues other educational matters. See its home page at http://www.naspaa.org +and download a list of NASPAA-accredited Masters of Public Administration +(MPA) programs at http://www.naspaa.org/programs/program.pdf. + +Other students may have no expectation whatever of working in a public agency, but +recognize that as corporate executives, as businesspeople, or merely as citizens, they are +likely to be called upon to interact with those in public organizations. Someone who +owns a small business might wish to sell products or services to a city, a county, or some +other governmental body; partners in an accounting firm might seek auditing contracts +with a local or state government; a construction firm might bid on the design and con +struction of a new public building. In each case, knowledge of the operations of public +agencies would not only be helpful, it would be essential. + +A final group of students, a group overlapping with any of the previous three, might +simply recognize the importance of public agencies in the governmental process and the +impact of public organizations on their daily lives. They might wish to acquire the +knowledge and skills that would enable them to more effectively analyze and influence +public policy. Some will find the world of public administration a fascinating field of +study in its own right and pursue academic careers in public affairs. Because understand +ing the motives for studying public administration will also give us a more complete +view of the variety and the importance of managerial work in the public sector, we will +examine each in greater detail. + +Preparing for Administrative Positions + +You may be among those who wish to use the introductory public administration course +as a stepping-stone to a career in the public service. If so, you will find that these careers +take many forms. We sometimes make distinctions among program managers, staff + + + +Why Study Public Administration? ii + +managers, and policy analysts. Program managers range from the executive level to the +supervisory level and are in charge of particular governmental or nongovernmental pro +grams, such as those in environmental quality or transportation safety. Their job is to +allocate and monitor human, material, and financial resources to meet the service objec +tives of their agency. Staff managers, on the other hand, support the work of program +managers through budgeting and financial management, personnel and labor relations, +and purchasing and procurement. Meanwhile, policy analysts provide important infor +mation about existing programs through their research into the operations and impacts +of the programs; moreover, analysts help bring together information about new pro +grams, assess the possible effects of different courses of action, and suggest new direc +tions for public policy. Managers and analysts may work with the chief executive, with +the legislature, with officials at other levels of government, and with the public in fram +ing and reframing public programs. + +As we will see, the work of public and nonprofit organizations also encompasses a +wide variety of substantive areas. Think for a moment of the range of activities the fed +eral government engages in. The federal government touches upon nearly every aspect of +American life, from aeronautics, air transportation, and atmospheric sciences to helping +juvenile delinquents, migrant workers, and the homeless; to working with waste man +agement, wages standards, and water quality. In each area, skilled managers are called +upon to develop, to implement, and to evaluate government programs. But the work of +managers at the federal level represents only a part of the work of those trained in public +administration. + +At the state and local levels of government, and in the nonprofit sector, even more +opportunities exist. As we will see in Chapter 2, whereas there is only one federal govern +ment in this country, there are over eighty thousand state and local governments (these +include cities, counties, and special districts) and more than one million nonprofit organi +zations. Consequently, state and local government employment in this country amounts +to over 13 million persons (compared to just under 3 million civilians employed at the +federal level), and an additional 10.2 million people work for nonprofit organizations. + +Obviously, the work of government at the state and local levels is different from that +at the federal level. State and local governments, for example, do not directly provide for +the national defense; however, most have police forces, which the federal government +does not. There are also other positions at the state and local levels that do not have +exact counterparts at the federal level. For example, the president or chancellor of your +state university can be considered a public administrator with significant and unusual +responsibilities. Likewise, the city manager in a local community can also be considered +a professional administrator appointed by a city council to manage the various functions +of local government. + +Public service is not limited to work in government. Beyond employment in federal, +state, or local government, those trained in public administration will find many other +opportunities. Directors of nonprofit organizations at the state and local levels, as well as +those in similar associations at the national level, often find that the skills required for +their jobs skills that combine managerial training with an understanding of the political +system are the skills developed in public administration courses. Again, to demonstrate +the breadth of these activities, we might note that there are large numbers of nonprofit + + + +12 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +associations at the national level alone, ranging from well-known groups like the +American Medical Association or the American Bar Association to trade groups such as +the American Frozen Food Institute and the National Association of Bedding Manu +facturers. Other nonprofit associations include everything from professional associations +such as the American Society for Public Administration to those representing a particular +field of interest, such as the Metropolitan Opera Guild. There is even an association of +association executivesthe American Society of Association Executives. Beyond these +groups at the national level, there are numerous nonprofit groups operating at state and +local levels. Examples include local United Way organizations, local food banks, art +leagues, or historic preservation groups. + +Finally, those with training in public administration may work in a private corpora +tions public affairs division. Because of the increasing interaction across private, public, +and nongovernmental sectors, corporations and nonprofit organizations often need spe +cial assistance in tracking legislation, developing and monitoring government contracts, +and influencing the legislative or regulatory process. Thus, the combination of manager +ial and political skills possessed by someone with training in public administration can +be highly valuable. The career possibilities in the field of public administration are seem +ingly endless. + +Combining Technical and Managerial Training + +Many students seek positions in the public service as a primary career objective, while +many others see the possibility of work in public administration as secondary, but +nonetheless important, to their main field of interest. As noted, the work of government +spans many areas; consequently, the people who work for government (one out of every +six people in this country) come from a wide variety of professional backgrounds. There +are engineers who work in the Defense Department or for NASA, in state highway +departments, and in local public works departments. Persons interested in natural +resources may work for the U.S. Forest Service and the Environmental Protection +Agency, in state conservation departments, and local parks departments. Medical per +sonnel may work for the Veterans Administration or the National Institute for Mental +Health, for state health departments, and for local hospitals and health offices. + +Governments at all levels hire social workers, planners, personnel specialists, accoun +tants, lawyers, biologists, law enforcement officers, educators, researchers, recreation +specialists, and agricultural specialists, just to mention a few. To illustrate the magnitude +of government employment of technical specialists, some 154,000 engineers and archi +tects, 134,000 medical personnel, and 123,000 accountants and budget specialists work +for the federal government alone. + +People who have worked for some time within a technical field in a public organiza +tion are often promoted to managerial positions. A surgeon may become chief of +surgeiy, a water pollution specialist may be asked to direct a pollution control project, +or a teacher may become a school principal. Despite having started out in a technical +field, these individuals find themselves in a managerial position; they are public adminis +trators. Some people may desire promotion to a managerial position; others may not. + + + +Why Study Public Administration? 13 + +(There are some jurisdictions in which continued advancement practically requires mov +ing into an administrative position.) But whatever ones motivation, the new administra +tor soon discovers a completely new world of work. Now the most pressing questions +are not the technical ones, but rather those having to do with management, with pro +gram planning and design, with supervision and motivation, and with balancing scarce +resources. Often the situation is quite bewildering; it is almost as if one has been asked +to change professions in midcareer from technical expert to public manager. + +The fact that so many people from technical fields eventually find themselves in man +agerial positions in the public sector has led many of them to seek training in public +administration. For this reason, it is no longer unusual for students majoring in technical +fields to take courses in public administration or for students to combine undergraduate +training in a technical field with graduate training in public administration (even at mid +career). This, then, is a second reason for studying public administrationto prepare +for the eventuality that work in a technical field of interest might lead you to a manager +ial position in the public sector. + +Interaction of Business and Government + +Even for students who never work for a public agency of any type, understanding the +processes of policy formulation and implementation can be enormously helpful. One of +the most important trends in American society is the increasing interaction of business +and government. Clearly, the decisions of government affect the environment within +which business operates, but government also specifically regulates many businesses, +and, of course, serves as the biggest single customer of business. + +Those in business recognize that governmental decisions affect the economic climate. +Most obvious are the effects of governmental decisions at the federal level; note, for +example, the impact of government economic pronouncements on the stock market. But +state and local governments also affect the business climate. The governors of many +states have begun major campaigns to attract industry to their states, providing not only +information and advice, but specific incentives for plants and industries that might relo +cate. Similar activities are being undertaken in more and more local communities as +cities recognize that they are in competition for economic development. At a minimum, +business recognizes that the political climate of any locality directly affects the areas +economic climate. + +But the influence of government on business is more specific. At the federal level, +major regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission and the +Federal Trade Commission, provide specific guidelines within which certain businesses +must operate. Moreover, requirements of agencies such as the Environmental Protection +Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration restrict the operations +of business so as to ensure the quality of air and water and the safety of working condi +tions. Similarly, at the state level, some agencies directly regulate specific businesses, +while others act more generally to prevent unfair or unsafe practices. Even at the local +level, through licensing and zoning practices, public organizations directly regulate busi +ness practice. + + + +14 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +Government is also important as a consumer of business products and services. At the +federal level, over $116 billion is spent each year on goods and services; in the Defense +Department alone, the figure is over $85 billion per year. Similarly, at the state and local +levels, expenditures for products and services amount to $176 billion. Business is atten +tive to its customers, so it is not surprising that business is attentive to government. + +For all these reasons, people in business are becoming increasingly aware of the need +to understand in detail the work of governmenthow policies are made, how they are +implemented, and how they may be influenced. Not only are more and more businesses +developing public affairs offices to specialize in governmental operations, to track policy +developments, and to try to influence policy, but they are placing a greater premium +upon having executives at all levels who understand how government agencies operate. +Even if you plan a career in business, understanding the work of public organizations is +an essential part of your training. + +Influencing Public Organizations + +Any of the motives for studying public administration we have discussed so far may +bring you to an introductory course. However, there is another more general reason you +may wish to study public administrationto understand one important aspect of the +governmental process so as to be able to deal effectively with public issues that directly +affect your life. We are all affected by the work of governmental and nongovernmental +organizations, so it is helpful, and sometimes even essential, to understand the opera +tions of these organizations. + +We have become so accustomed to the pervasiveness of the public service and the +range of its influence that we sometimes forget just how often our lives are touched by +public and nonprofit organizations. Imagine a typical day: we awake in the morning to +the sounds of a commercially regulated radio station or National Public Radio coming +over a patented and FCC-registered clock radio operating on power supplied either by a +government-regulated power company or by a public utility. We brush our teeth with +toothpaste produced under a government patent and trust that it has been judged safe (if +not effective) by a federal agency. We use municipally operated water and sewer systems +without thinking of the complexity of their operation. We dress in clothes produced +under governmental restrictions and eat food prepared in accord with government regu +lations and inspected by the government. We drive on a public highway, following gov +ernment-enforced traffic laws, to a university substantially funded by federal, state, and +sometimes local dollars to study from books copyrighted and catalogued by the Library +of Congress. Though the day has hardly started, our lives have been already touched by +public organizations in many, many ways. + +The importance of public administration in daily life is tremendous; consequently, +the decisions made by governmental and nongovernmental officials (and not just elected +officials) can affect us quite directly. Imagine, for example, that one day you discover +that the loan program that is helping to finance your college education is being +reviewed and will likely be revised in such a way that you will no longer be eligible for +funding. In such a case, you might well want to take some action to try to maintain + + + +Why Study Public Administration? 15 + +your eligibility. Obviously, knowing something about the operations of government +agencies, especially some of the ways administrative decisions can be influenced, would +be of great help. + +As citizens affected by the public service, understanding the operations of public and +nonprofit organizations is helpful; it is even more important if one becomes personally +involved in some aspect of the governmental process. For those reading this book, such +involvement is actually rather likely. Indeed, if you are a college graduate, regardless of +your major or field of interest, chances are quite good that at some point in your life you +will engage in some kind of formal governmental activity. You may be elected to local, +state, or national office; you may be asked to serve on a board or commission; or your +advice concerning government operations in your area may be sought in other ways. +You may also become involved in the work of nonprofit organizations or charities in +your local community. In any of these cases, a thorough knowledge of the structure and +processes of public organizations, both government and nonprofit organizations, will be +of great importance. + +Finally, those who are interested in understanding the work of public or nonprofit +organizations may indeed find the field of public administration interesting from a more +academic standpoint: studying and commenting upon the operations of government and +nonprofit organizations contribute to our understanding of the process of policy devel +opment and support the work of those in public organizations. The opportunities for +academic careers in public administration positions involving teaching and research are +many, and you may find yourself drawn to those opportunities. Even here, however, one +begins with a concern for action. + +Making Things Happen + +Of the many reasons to learn about public and nonprofit organizations, one theme seems +to tie together the various interests an interest in making things happen. Whether you +are preparing for a career in the public sector, covering the possibility that you might +someday manage a public agency, or simply preparing to affect the course of public pol +icy and its implementation as it directly affects you or your business, your interest is in +taking action, in influencing what goes on in public and nonprofit organizations. Its one +thing to gain knowledge of the field in the abstract, but most students want to learn +those things that will make them more effective actors in the governmental process. The +desire to make a difference is a powerful motive and one that underlies much of what +occurs in the public service. That motive certainly was demonstrated in the events of +September 11 and the months that followed. (See Box 1.2.) + +This book is oriented toward action, toward how to make things happen in the public +service. Our perspective will be that of the actor, not the scholar, although an under +standing of the world of administrative action is the basis for good scholarship as well. +Action first requires a base of knowledge. There are certain things that you simply need +to know about government and the administrative process to be effective. There are also +value questions that must be settled in the course of making and carrying out public +decisions. And, finally, there are both technical and interpersonal skills you must acquire + + + +16 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +BOX 1.2 _ ' + +The Power of Public Service + +Like you, we were devastated and shaken by the tragic events of September 11. Even +now, each hour brings a new set of images and emotions, new thoughts, and fears. As +we look back on that day, we recognize that we both initially went through a period +of disbelief, unable to process and accept what we were seeing over and over on the +television screen. The scenes were baffling and though we found ourselves watching +them repeatedly, we didnt really comprehend what was happening. + +Later in the evening, the tragedy began to become more personal names and +faces began to replace the surreal images that seemed almost impossible in their hor +ror. As that happened, grief and sorrow for the people whose lives were ended in a +fury of violence and hatred began to well up inside. We cried. + +As these scenes became more personal to us, we also began to think about the +many who reached out to their fellow citizens, especially the thousands of public ser +vants who walked and ran toward the unimaginable to help. A most enduring image +for us is the story told by several of those struggling down the stairs of the World +Trade Center to escape death. As we were trying to get down, we met police officers +and fire fighters going up and we clapped and cheered. Now we know that those +same brave souls almost surely perished in the collapse of the building. + +As hard as it is to understand planes flying into buildings, its also hard to under +stand the motives of these courageous men and women, who literally walked +through the fire to save and protect the lives of others. Some of them died. Some +were badly hurt. + +Even those who were not physically damaged were probably injured in a way that +is fundamentally different from the injuries suffered by those of us who watched from +the safe distance of a television newscast. Although many of us would like to think +that their uniforms and training somehow protected them from all the terror, pain, +and horror that we would feel, it did not. It prepared them, but it didnt shield them. + +In the end, they are human just like us. While their uniforms and equipment may +partially obscure their individuality, each of them has a name and a story. Each has +families, friends, dreams, and fears. They love and laugh, work and play, talk and +walk just like us. They are every bit as vulnerable as we are. + +Yet on September 11, these people showed America once again that they stand +apart. What makes them different is their quiet, often anonymous heroism. They are +public servants. They serve their fellow citizens in a way that many people would find +very difficult if not impossible to understand. How could they be so courageous? So +selfless? How can we understand their heroism? + +The answer to these questions goes to the very soul of the public service. Yes, it +was their job. Yes, they were trained. Yes, they were well equipped physically and +mentally for their tasks they had to perform. But that does not diminish the nobility, +the honor, or the sacrifice of their actions. Nor should it detract from our gratitude +and our respect. + +(continued) + + + +Issues in Public Administration Theory and Practice ly + +In a peculiar way, this ghastly act of terrorism reminds us of why we are in the +public service. We care about our country, our community and our neighbors. Each +of us, whether we wear a uniform, a suit, a jacket, coveralls, or a hard hat, plays +a role in improving the lives of others. Service to the public helping people in trou +ble, making the world safer and cleaner, helping children learn and prosper, literally +going where others would not go is our job and calling. + +The image of police officers and firefighters going up those stairs is compelling. But +even more compelling is the larger and more pervasive power of public service. Those +in law enforcement, in transportation, in health care, and in dozens of other fields at +the federal, state, and local levels will make untold sacrifices over the coming months +and years in order to respond to these events and to make this world a better place +for our citizens. + +This ability to be selfless, to be open to the needs and values and wants of others, +is a part of each public servant. And its a part of who we are that shouldnt require +effort, or even tragedy for us to recognize or acknowledge. We need not wait for such +events to awaken our sense of humanity and respect. As these events have once again +shown, service to the public is a proud and noble profession. + +SOURCE: Bob and Janet Denhardt. This article first appeared as an online column for the American +Society for Public Administration (aspanet.org). + +IB Hll 11 lllillllllllMBIIPIIIIHIIIIII'IWMMWWIlWIMIIMIIIMIIIIllllllllllllllllliMIIIIIlM lllll IW I I'lK |l^llllliW^^IIIUi^lrlilll^l lllii'lllillTrt WliW IK'Tl nri'T- MP|- ulll'l + +to be effective in working with others in your chosen field. Selecting an action orienta +tion, therefore, commits you to emphasizing all three areas the knowledge, values, and +skills that will help you to become more effective and responsible in your work in and +with real life public organizations. + +Issues in Public Administration Theory and Practice + +Throughout the chapters to come, our primary emphasis will be on action those +things that real-world actors do in order to be successful in public and nonprofit orga +nizations. But action never stands alone. Without some degree of reflection, action is +sterile and unguided. For this reason, we will outline here two themes that have tradi +tionally characterized work in public organizations and that continue to be of great +importance today. As such, these themespolitics and administration, and bureaucracy +and democracy provide a part of the intellectual and practical context of public +administration. While our purpose here will be simply to introduce these two themes, +we will suggest that they are most often manifest in contemporary public administra +tion in a tension between efficiency and responsiveness. This tension is one that is +absolutely central to the work of public administrators today and one to which we will +return frequently within the context of specific discussions of administrative action. + + + +18 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +Politics and Administration + +Even though the supposed dichotomy between politics and administration is one of the +oldest issues in public administration, it continues to hold great relevance for adminis +trators today. You will recall that an early essay by Woodrow Wilson framed the initial +study of public administration in this country. In addition to his emphasis on busi +nesslike practices, Wilson was also concerned with isolating the processes of adminis +tration from the potentially corrupting influences of politics. With respect to this issue, +Wilson wrote, Administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics. Administrative +questions are not political questions. Although politics sets the tasks for administration, +it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices (Wilson, 1887, p. 210). In other +words, while policies were to be debated and decided by politicians, they were to +be carried out by a politically neutral, professional bureaucracy. In this way, the every +day conduct of government would be isolated from the potentially corrupting influence +of politics. + +Other early writers joined Wilson in talking, at least analytically, about the distinction +between politics (or policy) and administration. More practical reformers went further, +creating governmental forms, such as the council-manager plan for local government, that +were based on a separation of policy and administration. As we will see later in this form +of government, the council presumably makes the policy and the city manager carries it +out. The council is engaged in politics (or policy) and the manager in administration. + +Over the first few decades of this century, however, the distinction between policy +and administration was increasingly broken down, even in council-manager govern +ments. Managers found that they had expertise that was needed by policy makers and +began to be drawn into the policy process. By about the middle of the century, Paul +Appleby of Syracuse University would write simply, Public administration is policy +making (Appleby, 1949, p. 170). + +The increasing involvement of administrators in the policy process was in part attrib +utable to the fact that the operations of government, and in contemporary society of +nonprofit organizations, were becoming more complex and the technical and profes +sional skills needed to operate public agencies were dramatically increasing. As people +with such skills and expertise became a part of public organizations, they were inevitably +called upon to present their views. At the same time, the legislative branches of govern +ment (at all levels) found it difficult to be knowledgeable about every detail of govern +ment and, consequently, were forced to rely more and more on the expertise of those in +public agencies. Additionally, the complexity of government meant that legislative bodies +often found it necessary to state laws in general terms, leaving those within the agencies +of government considerable discretion to interpret those laws as they saw fit, and, there +fore, make policy daily. + +Ensuring Accountability + +The acknowledgment of the interaction of politics and administration does not make the +question of their relationship any easier. If public administrators make policy, how can +we be sure that the policies they make are responsible to the people (as we would expect + + + +Issues in Public Administration Theory and Practice 19 + +in a democratic society)? Presumably legislators must be at least somewhat responsive or, +come the next election, they will no longer be legislators. But what of administrators? +Traditionally, the answer was that the administrators were accountable to the legislators +who, in turn, were accountable to the people. But even that argument is somewhat tricky +today. Those in public and nonprofit agencies do indeed both work with and report to +legislatures, but they also shape public opinion through the information they provide. +They mobilize for support within the government and outside, and they bargain with a +variety of public and private groups. To a certain extent, they act as independent agents. + +For this reason, more contemporary discussions of the issue of accountability (which +we will elaborate on in Chapter 4) place an emphasis on measures that would supple +ment accountability to the legislature by either seeking a strong subjective sense of +responsibility on the part of administrators or by providing structural controls to ensure +responsibility. As we will see, some people have tried to assert professional standards in +public and nonprofit organizations, while others have developed codes of ethics and +standards of professional practice. Others have sought greater legislative involvement in +the administrative process or more substantial legislative review. Still others have +described mechanisms such as public participation in the administrative process or sur +veys of public opinion that would bring the administrator in closer alignment with the +sentiments of the citizenry. + +The relationship between politics (or policy) and administration will be a theme that +recurs throughout the remainder of this book. While the classic dichotomy between poli +tics and administration has fallen, as the role of public administrators in the policy +process has become more apparent, the question of the relationship between politics and +administration remains central, simply because it goes to the heart of what public +administration is all about. If public organizations differ from others in our society, that +difference must surely rest in the way in which public organizations participate in and +respond to the public interest. But that question merely leads us to anotherthe rela +tionship between bureaucracy and democracy. + +Bureaucracy and Democracy + +A second theme that grew from the earliest discussions of public administration in this +country had to do with the potential for conflict between democracy and bureaucracy. +Lets start once again with democracy. One writer has defined the moral commitments of +a democracy in terms of three standards. First, democratic principles assume that the +individual is the primary measure of human value, and that the development of the indi +vidual is the primary goal of a democratic political system. Second, democratic morality +suggests that all persons are created equal that differences in wealth, status, or posi +tion should not give one person or group an advantage over another. Third, democratic +morality emphasizes widespread participation among the citizens in the making of major +decisions (Redford, 1969, p. 8). + +Set against these tenets of democracy are the ideals of bureaucratic management. The +early scholars and practitioners in public administration were, of course, writing at a +time when businesses were growing rapidly and beginning to use both new and more +complicated technologies and new ways of organizing appropriate to those technologies. + + + +20 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +To some extent the public sector looked to the field of business for models of organiza +tion. They found that the growth of large-scale business had led to the development of +large and complex bureaucratic organizations, organizations that were built around val +ues quite different from those of democracy. (While the term bureaucracy is often used in +a pejorative sense, as in bureaucratic red tape, we will use it here in its more neutral +and scientific sense, as one of the many ways of organizing work.) Consequently, the +bureaucratic model of organizing was brought into the public sector. + +The values of bureaucracy included, first, the need to bring together the work of +many individuals in order to achieve purposes far beyond the capabilities of any single +individual. Second, bureaucratic systems were to be structured hierarchically, with those +at the top having far greater power and discretion than those at the bottom. Third, +bureaucratic organization generally assumes that power and authority flow from the top +of the organization to the bottom rather than the other way around. (We will examine +the concept of bureaucracy in greater detail in Chapter 7.) + +In contrast to the democratic value of individuality, there stood the bureaucratic value +of the group or organization; in contrast to the democratic values of equality, there +stood the bureaucratic hierarchy; and in contrast to the democratic values of participa +tion and involvement, there stood the bureaucratic value of top-down decision making +and authority. + +How these values were to be reconciled became a difficult issue for early scholars and +practitioners in the field of public administration, as it continues to be today. A variety +of questions are raised. For example, is it proper for a democratic government to carry +out its work through basically authoritarian organizations? But the key issue turns out +to be an emphasis on efficiency as the sole measure of agency success. + +Efficiency versus Responsiveness + +As those in public administration have wrestled with the issues of politics and adminis +tration and democracy and bureaucracy, public (and increasingly nonprofit) managers +have begun to experience more frequently the problems they face from day to day in +terms of efficiency versus responsiveness. Indeed, in a sense, the two earlier issues seem +to have dissolved into the single issue of efficiency versus responsiveness. On the one +hand, there is the hope that public and nonprofit organizations will operate in the most +efficient way possible, getting things done quickly and with the least cost to taxpayers +and donors. On the other hand, public managers must be constantly attentive to the +demands of the citizenry, whether those demands are expressed through the chief execu +tive, through the legislature, or directly. + +A practical and contemporary expression of this difficulty is presented in case study +number five at the end of the chapter. (You might want to read that case study at this +point; see Cases and Exercises at the end of this chapter.) The case relates a dispute +that arose in the course of developing a new housing loan program. While the case pre +sents several different issues, most students reviewing the case focus their attention on +the different interpretations that John and Carol have of their work. At first glance, John +appears to be solely interested in doing things efficiently, while Carol appears to be much + + + +What Do Public Administrators Do? 21 + +more concerned with responding to the needs of the client group. The case appears to be +a classic illustration of the tension between efficiency and responsiveness, and indeed it +is. But, at a deeper level, the case also illustrates how complex the issues really are. You +might say, for example, that John was trying to be efficient in response to the demands +of those clients who had been waiting for their loans to be processed. You might also say +that Carol, through her educational efforts, was helping to ensure a more efficient, long +term operation. + +The main point, of course, is that, in public organizations, you may quite frequently +encounter difficulties in reconciling efficiency and responsiveness. A key to resolving the +ethical questions raised in situations such as that faced by John and Carol is first under +standing the various moral values represented on each side of the equation, and then +engaging in ethical deliberation (and perhaps dialogue) in order to arrive at a proper +approach to the problem. Interestingly enough, in this particular case, the real-life charac +ters represented by John and Carol got together and talked through the differences in +their respective approaches. The result was a course of action they both agreed upon, one +they felt met both their obligations to be efficient and to be responsive. In the real world, +dialogue sometimes works. + +To summarize this point, the themes of politics and administration and bureaucracy and +democracy have marked much of the history of the field of public administration. Today +those themes seem often manifest in the tension between efficiency and responsiveness. Are +public agencies to attend only to creating the desired outcomes in the most efficient manner +possible? Or are such agencies to be responsive to the public interest and the public will, +even though the public interest and public will may not have been explicitly articulated +by elected officials, especially those in the legislature? Time after time, you will find evidence +of this tension in discussions on public policy, human resources management, budgeting +and financial management, and so on. The tension between efficiency and responsiveness +remains an unsolved mystery of public administration. But, perhaps for that reason, it is +a tension that helps make public administration such a fascinating and dynamic field. + +What Do Public Administrators Do? + +An action orientation to public administration requires that we focus on what public +and nonprofit managers actually dohow they act in real-world situations. How do +they spend their time? What skills do they require to do their work well? What are the +rewards and frustrations of public service? From the perspective of the administrator, +we can ask: What characterizes the most effective and responsible public or nonprofit +management? What are the demands on administrators? What are the satisfactions that +public managers draw from their work? + +We will approach these issues by concentrating on the skills managers need to accom +plish their work. In a classic article in the Harvard Business Review, Robert Katz +provided the first major description of the general types of skills all managers need: con +ceptual, technical, and human (Katz, 1974). + + + +22 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +1. Conceptual skills include the ability to think abstractly, especially in regard to the man +agers concept of the organization. This category also involves the ability to see the organi +zation as a whole, how all the parts or functions work and fit together, and how making +a change in one part will affect other parts. Conceptual skills also include the ability to see +how the organization, or parts of it, relate to the organizations environment. +2. Technical skills refer to an understanding of and proficiency in the methods, +processes, and techniques for accomplishing tasks. These are, for example, the skills of +an accountant who can conduct an audit or develop an income statement, or the skills of +a mechanic who can repair an engine. +3. Human skills involve the capacity to work effectively as a member of a group, or the +ability to get others to work together effectively. (Others may include subordinates, +superiors, managers at the same level, or virtually anyone with whom one might work +on a given project or assignment.) + +All these skills are important to managers, but not equally important to all managers. +Katz makes a strong argument that technical skills are most important to managers at +the supervisory level who manage day-to-day operations but become less and less impor +tant as the level of management increases. On the other hand, conceptual skills are most +important to top-level managers who must deal with the organization as a whole rather +than with just one or a few parts of it. Conceptual skills are less important at the middle- +management level and least important at the supervisory level. + +Human skills, however, maintain a constant, high level of importance; they are critical +regardless of ones level. How managers human skills are employed may vary from level +to level (e.g., top managers lead more meetings than supervisory managers), but as a cat +egory, human skills remain the one constant for managerial success. In this book, we will +consider the knowledge and values associated with public management (conceptual +skills), the techniques public managers require in such areas as budgeting and personnel +(technical skills), and the personal and interpersonal qualities that help managers work +effectively with others (human skills). + +An Inventory of Public Management Skills + +One way to elaborate on an action approach is to create an inventory of the skills and com +petencies required for successful public and nonprofit management. There are many ways +such an inventory can be constructed; one of the best ways is to talk with public and non +profit managers about their work, as we suggest in exercise one at the end of the chapter. +Several research studies have sought to answer this question by identifying the skills that are +critical to managerial success. Of these studies, research by the federal governments Office +of Personnel Management (OPM) is particularly helpful (Flanders and Utterback, 1985). +The OPM study was based on information gathered from a large number of highly effective +federal managers and produced a description of the broad elements of managerial perfor +mance at all levels (supervisory, managerial, and executive). These sets of competencies +were divided into two subcategories: (1) management functions (the what of manage +ment, its content responsibilities), and (2) effectiveness characteristics (the how of man +agement, the style found most effective). (See Appendix A at the end of this chapter.) + + + +What Do Public Administrators Do? 23 + +Networking + +Web sites dealing with management issues at the federal level include +the Office of Personnel Management, http://www.opm.gov, and FirstGov, +http://www.firstgov.gov. In addition to the journals listed in the back of the book, +you might be interested in the Web sites of the following: Governing magazine, +http://www.governing.com/; the Chronicle of Philanthropy, http://www. +philanthropy.com; Government Executive magazine, http://www.govexec.com/, +Government Technology magazine, http://www.govtech.net/, and Public Manager, +http://www.feiaa.org/Public%20Manager.htm. + +According to the OPM study, the competencies of managers include such things as +being sensitive to agency policies and national concerns; representing the organization +and acting as a liaison to those outside the organization; establishing organizational +goals and the processes to carry them out; obtaining and allocating the necessary +resources to achieve the agencys purposes; effectively utilizing human resources; and +monitoring, evaluating, and redirecting the work of the organization. But the OPM +researchers recognized that managerial excellence requires not merely doing the job, but +doing it well. For this reason, they developed a set of skills, attitudes, and perspectives +that seemed to distinguish the work of highly successful managers. + +Displaying these characteristics in terms of several concentric circles (see Box 1.3) +makes a point about their importance at different organizational levels that as man +agers move up the organizational ladder, they must accumulate an increasingly broad set +of skills. The researchers suggest, for example, that first-line supervisors must apply +communication skills, interpersonal sensitivity, and technical competence to ensure effec +tive performance on their own part and within the work unit. In addition, their actions +must begin to reflect those characteristics in the next ring: leadership, flexibility, an +action orientation, and a focus on results. + +Middle managers, on the other hand, must demonstrate all these characteristics of +effectiveness and begin to acquire the skills listed in the outer ring: a broad perspective, a +strategic view, and environmental sensitivity. Executives at the highest levels of public +service who are responsible for the accomplishment of broad agency objectives must +demonstrate the full complement of effectiveness characteristics to be most successful. +Some of these characteristics are shown in Box 1.3. Clearly, a wide diversity of skills, +regardless of how the job is constructed or of the style with which it is executed, will be +essential to your success as a manager. + +Voices of Public Administrators + +Studies such as that of the OPM are helpful in understanding what you need to know +and what you must be able to do to be successful in public administration. But how does +it actually feel to work in a public or nonprofit organization? The best way to answer +this question is to let some public servants speak for themselves. Recently, we spoke to +three outstanding professionals in the field of public administration about their views of + + + +24 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +BOX 1.3 + +Management Excellence Framework + +Effectiveness Characteristics + +SOURCE: U.S. Office of Personnel Management, The Management Excellence Framework (Washington, +DC: Office of Personnel Management, 1985). + +the field and their feelings about their work. The following accounts are based on those +interviews. Jan C. Perkins is city manager of Fremont, California. When asked about her +motivations for entering the field of public administration, she replied: + +I was interested in improving the quality of life for all people and increasing the +access of women and minorities. I believed that I could have the most impact by +being involved in local government at a management level. + +The most rewarding aspects of my work have been being able to articulate the +mission of the city and focus my resources and efforts in effectively meeting that +mission, solving the problems of residents, and seeing employees grow and develop. + +Those considering public service careers should understand that managing in the +public arena is different from that in a private corporation. It requires a commit +ment to values of providing quality services for all and dealing with all people on +an equal level. It is very important that people who enter the public service do so +with a high standard of ethical behavior and an ability to deal honestly and +directly with all people. + + + +What Do Public Administrators Do? 25 + +Michael Stahl works for the federal government in the Environmental Protection +Agency. He stated: + +I entered public service because I viewed (and still do) government as an instrument +to solve social problems. Democratic government can be a tremendous positive +force in society, and in spite of recent political rhetoric and prevailing political ide +ology, I am convinced that the institutions and programs of government are of vital +importance to the nation and that public service is a noble calling. + +There is great satisfaction in knowing that your work has made an impact on +persons who could only have been helped through the intervention of the govern +ment. In my own experience, for example, schoolchildren across the country have +been helped by elimination of exposure to asbestos in their schools that were +unable to remove asbestos materials without federal financial assistance from a +program I helped implement. Government service provides opportunities to help +people through means that are beyond the capabilities of the private sector. + +If you are considering a career in the public service, take the time to reflect on your +motivation for entering the public service, because there are right reasons and wrong +reasons. You are entering for the right reasons if you want to make a contribution to +the solution of social problems, promote democratic values and ethical standards on +using the powers of government, and if the concept of serving the public good is +a passion. You are entering for the wrong reasons if you are looking for public adula +tion and recognition for your accomplishments, seeking material or financial rewards +as compensation for your hard work, or expecting to acquire levels of power and +change the world according to your own plan. Those entering for the wrong reasons +will be bitterly disappointed. Yet, for those whose passion is to contribute to the pub +lic good, government service can represent the single most satisfying way of translat +ing your passion into ideas and events for improving the quality of life for scores of +people. Very few professions offer this kind of opportunity and that is why public ser +vice will always be an exciting, challenging, and satisfying endeavor. + +Cheryle A. Broom was legislative auditor for the state of Washington. She described +her reasons for entering the public service: + +I was working in business and felt the need to make a change to a career where my +efforts might make more of a difference in terms of addressing public needs. While +I had a somewhat idealistic goal to serve the public, I recognized my orientation +was not toward professions such as social work or K-12 teaching. + +Problem solving and proposing solutions to significant public issues have been +the emphasis of my work. It is particularly rewarding when these efforts influence +policy and administrative changes that, hopefully, improve service delivery and cost +effectiveness of public programs. + +Individuals with an interest should be encouraged to explore careers in the pub +lic service and to develop the skills necessary to be successful in their chosen field. +I think it is also important to keep a perspective, that is, it wont be easy nor will +you do it single-handedly, but you can make a difference. + + + +2 6 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +BOX 1.4 + +Reflections of a Public Service Junkie + +In reviewing my own motivations for staying in public service, I found several, rather +than one single answer. + +First, there is a joy in the use of skills learned through a long apprenticeship. After +twenty years in public service, I realize my skills and abilities were not easily or pain +lessly acquired. My education in public service has been costly, and I feel an obliga +tion to repay the resources, energy, and interest others have invested in teaching me. + +A second factor is the conviction that the work is important. There is an underly +ing assumption in public service that we are all part of an effort that leads to a better +life for individuals in our society. Public service is ultimately based on the view that +the human condition can be improved, an optimism which perhaps forms the core of +the motivation for staying in public service. In order to remain in government, you +have to believe that your actions can have some small impact on the public good. + +Only in public service can you find the sense of completion that comes from work +ing on a successful program to reduce infant mortality, for example, and then realiz +ing that thirty-five more children are alive this year as a result of that effort. Only in +public service can you participate in a process that helps move individuals from men +tal hospitals back into the community. The opportunity to help solve a community +problem and then to witness the changes that occur is the cement that binds us to +public service. + +A final motivation for public service is the importance of constantly reaffirming the +legitimacy and credibility of government services in the publics mind. One vital way to +reaffirm our ability to govern ourselves, to control our own fate, is to have govern +ment, at all levels, that delivers the services expected of it. This presupposes a cadre of +individuals who can understand and manage public institutions. If there is no response +when the public demands action, then it confirms our sense of alienation and power +lessness, and we lose our ability to cooperate. If, as public servants, we are rusty, run +down, obsolete tools of government, then there will only be further reaction against +the institution of government. The challenge is to be there whether or not we are +wanted, to be committed to the public s business whether or not we are noticed, to +carry the public trust whether or not we are asked, and to pick up the garbage. + +In the end, regardless of the personal reasons to stay in public service, the process +of government demands dedicated professionals to make it work. The ability to con +tinue day-to-day government operations in the face of all difficulties is what public +service is about. That ability is what creates a legitimate government, what creates the +public trust. If that is too abstract, then let us say that public service is about babies +living, fires being extinguished, garbage collected, crimes solved, people moved. That +is all there is, ever. + +SSUlC^ZhmaS D,wn,s, Reflations of a Public Service Junkie. Reprinted with permission from the +March 1988 issue of Public Management (PM) magazine published by the International City/County +Management Association, Washington, D.C. + +- -- + + + +Terms and Definitions 27 + +Obviously, these three professionals, as well as Tom Downs, the public service junkie +(see Box 1.4), take very seriously their commitment to serving others. In making such +a commitment, these administrators participate in a long and proud tradition. Indeed, the +public service has historically been considered one of the highest callings in our society and +has been even more highly regarded in other countries, such as France and Japan. + +For the time being, we should simply note that the idea of serving others has great +appeal, in part because of the great joy and satisfaction it brings. Those working in pub +lic organizations experience almost daily the rewards of public service. + +Summary and Action Implications + +As noted, our focus in this book will be on the individual administrator or the individual +citizen seeking to influence public policy through the agencies of government or through +other public and nongovernmental organizations. We will consider in some detail the +institutions, processes, and techniques required for work in the public and nonprofit sec +tors. But, most importantly, we will examine the real world of public administration, the +world as experienced by the administrator. + +That world, as we have seen, is one for which you will need to develop certain capa +bilities to operate effectively and responsibly. Among these we include an understanding +of the institutions and processes of government; an appreciation of the values underlying +public service; technical skills in such areas as program design, budgeting, and personnel; +interpersonal skills in communications, leadership, and decision making; and a capacity +to put it all together to integrate knowledge, skills, and values appropriately. + +Ideally, in studying the issues discussed in this book, you will develop a good sense of +the political context of public administration; a sound understanding of your role in +both policy development and policy implementation; a sensitivity to the moral and ethi +cal questions inherent in the notion of public service; technical competence in such areas +as planning and program development, budgeting, personnel, and productivity; facility +with interpersonal relationships (including leadership, decision making, and communica +tions), and the self-confidence and self-awareness to act effectively and responsibly in +real-life situations. Though public administration in the abstract sometimes appears life +less and remote, the real world of the practicing public administrator is a quite lively and +interesting place, filled with challenging problems and unique opportunities. + +Terms and Definitions + +Autocracy: Government by one. + +Democracy: A political system in which decision-making power is widely shared +among members of the society. + + + +z8 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +Equality: The idea that all persons have an equal claim to life, liberty, and the pursuit +of happiness. + +Individualism: The idea that the dignity and integrity of the individual is of supreme +importance. + +Liberty: The idea that individual citizens of a democracy should have a high degree of +self-determination. + +Oligarchy: Government by the few. + +Policy analysts: Persons who provide important information about public programs +through research into the operations and impacts of the programs. + +Program managers: Persons ranging from the executive level to the supervisory level +who are in charge of particular governmental programs. + +Public administration: The management of public programs. + +Staff managers: Persons who support the work of program managers through budget +ing and financial management, personnel and labor relations, and purchasing and +procurement. + +Study Questions + +1. Discuss some of the career opportunities available to those trained in public +administration. + +2. One of the most important trends in American society is the increasing interaction +of business and government. This quotation signals the need for better recognition +and understanding of the interactions between business and government. Discuss +the importance of this interaction and why a clear understanding of the relationship +between the public and private sector is necessary. + +3. The differences between public administration and business management are profound. +Explain how the two fields differ and why the two terms are not interchangeable. + +4- How did early scholars, such as Wkiodrow Wilson, view the role of public administra +tion in a democracy? + +5. The term democracy can be interpreted in a variety of ways. What significant concepts +helped form the democratic society within which American government operates? + +6. What is the role of publicness in defining the work of public and nonprofit managers? + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Interview a public administrator. Tocate one or more people who work as a manager +or analyst in a public or nonprofit organization and interview them. The interviewees +might work in a public university, a local government, a state or federal agency, or + + + +Cases and Exercises 2 9 + +a nonprofit organization. They might be a university, a city manager or department +director (public works, parks and recreation, etc.), a county official (such as a county +clerk), a manager in state government (perhaps someone in a welfare office or the +highway department), a federal government manager (in a local office of a department +such as Social Security, Agriculture, or the FAA), or someone such as an association +executive. They might be a program manager, a staff manager, or a policy analyst. + +Ask the people you interview to describe their jobs, including the range of +responsibilities they have and the knowledge, values, and skills that are important +to them in their work. The following are some examples of questions you might +want to ask: + + Describe the work you do and how you came to this position. What is your educa +tional and work background? + + What impact does the work you do have on the community/state/nation/etc.? What +do you find different or unusual about working in a public organization? How do you +think your job compares to work at a comparable level in business or industry? + + What knowledge, values, and skills are important to your work? For instance, if you +were hiring someone to take your place, what would you look for? + +2. Consider the following case. As an administrative assistant in the Department of +Finance of a midsize suburban community, you are asked by the director to contract +with an accounting firm to audit the books of the ten major city departments. You +develop a request for bids, advertise in the local newspaper, and send written notices to +all the local accounting firms. In response, you receive five proposals, four from local +firms and one from a Big Eight accounting firm based in a nearby city. The proposals +are essentially the same with respect to cost and expected quality of work; however, one +firm, Jones and Denham, appears to have considerably more experience, having done +similar audits locally in the past. Having gathered all the information you feel you need +to make a decision, you make an appointment to report to the director early Tuesday +morning. At lunch Monday, however, a friend who knows you are working on the +auditing contract casually mentions that a certain Mr. Howard, of the firm T. P. +Howard and Co., is the brother-in-law of the mayor. T. P. Howard and Co. is one of the +five firms that has submitted bids for the auditing contract. Later that afternoon, you +receive a call from the mayor, asking for a report on the auditing contract. What do you +say to the mayor? What do you recommend be done about the contract? What does this +case say about the relationship between business and government? + +3. Consider the following case. There wasnt much that David Wood couldnt do. He +was an excellent teacher, a dedicated scholar, and a good department chair. He had +been called to the chancellors office to comment on a new curriculum proposal, one +his faculty and he had discussed and one his faculty firmly opposed. The chancellor +began the meeting by commenting on the excellent administrative work that David +had been doing and on the possibility that he might be considered for a deanship that +was coming open soon. David had always wanted to be a dean. He voiced very mild +objection to the curriculum proposal, then promised to try to convince his faculty to +support it. + +Moving from an academic position into an administrative position or from any +technical position into an administrative position puts you in a different world, one + + + +Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +with greater complexity and different pressures. What are some of the factors that +affect those holding managerial jobs as opposed to technical jobs? + +4. Recently fraternities and sororities at a major midwestern university were informed +that the property tax classification for their houses was being changed from residen +tial to commercial, a change that would increase the assessed values of the properties +from 19 percent to 32 percent and would cost the fraternities and sororities thousands +of dollars in new taxes. Members of the fraternities and sororities felt the change was +inappropriate because, as one member stated, Theres not a fraternity or sorority on +campus that makes a profit. On the other hand, a county official pointed out that the +houses contain more than four dwelling units, as the law describes it. Moreover, fra +ternities and sororities are probably not residential enterprises and are definitely not +agricultural ones (as specified in the law), so they are relegated to the third catch-all +category, commercial and all others. + +If you were advising the fraternities and sororities as to how they might seek relief, +what would you recommend? What kind of action should they take? Where should +an appeal originate? How might it proceed? + +5. Consider the following case study (see the discussion under Efficiency versus +Responsiveness earlier in this chapter): + +John Taylor and Carol Langley worked for a local, nonprofit community develop +ment agency. Following a rather massive reorganization of the agency in which a +number of new programs were taken on, John was asked to supervise a new housing +loan program, and Carol was asked to assist him. The program was designed to pro +vide low-interest loans to assist persons in rehabilitating housing in certain parts of +the city. Although John and Carol had experience in related areas, neither was famil +iar with this particular program. To make matters worse, seminars to provide help in +establishing such programs had been held some months earlier. John and Carol were +simply given a manual and told to begin. + +The program involved a number of new activities and took considerable time to set +up. For example, it was necessary to train new housing inspectors to coordinate their +inspection activities with those provided by the city government, and relationships +had to be established with the other public and nonprofit agencies that would provide +information about the applicants being processed. + +John soon began receiving considerable pressure to complete the processing of the +first group of applications within a brief period of time. For one thing, the first group +of applicants consisted of some forty persons who had originally applied for other +programs but had been turned down. Since their applications had been on file in the +agency for as long as a year, they were quite anxious to have their applications +processed quickly. Initial visits and phone calls from several of the applicants made +John quite aware of their feelings. In addition, however, John was aware that this par +ticular loan program would have a significant impact on the community and that, +consequently, his doing an efficient job under these difficult circumstances would be +important to the agency and in turn important to his own future in public service. + +Carol recognized the necessity to do the work as quickly as possible, but she also +felt a special obligation to the applicants themselves. She took seriously the agency +director s comment that the agency could use this opportunity to help educate the + + + +For Additional Reading 31 + +applicants about the procedures involved in such projects. She felt it was very impor +tant to check periodically on the inspections, cost estimates, loan amounts, financial +information, and terms and conditions of the loans. Unlike John, who spent most of +his time in the office, she talked frequently with the applicants, many of whom she +knew personally from her previous position in the agency. + +For each applicant, John and Carol were to accumulate a complete file of information +about financial status and about the rehabilitation project the applicant had in mind. +This file was to be received and signed by the applicant, then forwarded to the federal +regional office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for its action on the loan. + +John felt the process could be completed more quickly if Carol would simply get +the applicants to sign a blank set of forms that could be kept at the office. When +information was received regarding a loan, the appropriate items could be entered on +the signed forms, bypassing the time involved reviewing each form with the applicant. +Also, this procedure would eliminate the often lengthy process of coordinating several +office visits to discuss the material. + +When John asked Carol to obtain the signed forms, she refused. Not only was she +concerned that the applicants see and understand the materials before signing, she +was afraid that getting people to sign blank forms might be illegal. When she talked +with Johns supervisor about the request, she was told that the procedure was not ille +gal and had been used before by persons in the regional office. + +For Additional Reading + +Ban, Carolyn. How Do Public Managers Manage? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. +Cohen, Steven, and William Eimicke. The New Effective Public Manager. San Francisco: + +Jossey-Bass, 1995. +Doig, Jameson W., and Erwin C. Hargrove. Leadership and Innovation. Baltimore, MD: +Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. + +Frederickson, H. George. The Spirit of Public Administration. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, +1997. + +Ingraham, Patricia, and Donald F. Kettl, eds. Agenda for Excellence. Chatham, NJ: +Chatham House, 1992. + +Kettl, Donald F., and Brinton Milward, eds. The State of Public Management. Baltimore, +MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. + +King, Cheryl Simrell, and Camilla Stivers. Government is Us: Public Administration in +an Anti-Government Era. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. + +Lane, Frederick S., ed. Current Issues in Public Administration. 5th ed. New York: +St. Martins Press, 1994. + +Lynn, Naomi B., and Aaron Wildavsky, eds. Public Administration: The State of +the Discipline. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1990. + +Naschold, Frieder. New Frontiers in Public Sector Management. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, +1996. + + + +32 Chapter 1 Personal Action in Public Organizations + +Perry, James. Handbook of Public Administration. 2d ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996. +Rohr, John A. The President and Public Administration. Washington, DC: American + +Historical Association, 1989. +Stivers, Camilla. Democracy, Bureaucracy and the Study of Public Administration. + +Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000. +Waldo, Dwight. The Enterprise of Public Administration. Novato, CA: Chandler and + +Sharp, 1980. +Wilson, James Q. Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It. + +New York: Basic Books, 1989. + +APPENDIX A + +OPM Inventory of Management Skills + +The "What of Management: Functions + +1. External awareness: Identifying and keeping up-to-date with key agency policies +and priorities and/or external issues and trends (e.g., economic, political, social, +technological) likely to affect the work unit. + +2. Interpretation: Keeping subordinates informed about key agency and work unit +policies, priorities, issues, and trends and how these are to be incorporated into +work unit activities and products. + +3. Representation: Presenting, explaining, selling, and defending the work units activi +ties to the supervisor in the agency, and/or persons and groups outside the agency. + +4. Coordination. Performing liaison functions and integrating work unit activities with +the activities of other organizations. + +5. Work unit planning: Developing and deciding upon longer-term goals, objectives, +and priorities; and developing and deciding among alternative courses of action. + +6. Work unit guidance: Converting plans to actions by setting short-term objectives +and priorities; scheduling/sequencing activities; and establishing effectiveness and +efficiency standards/guidelines. + +7. Budgeting: Preparing, justifying, and/or administering the work units budget. +8. Material resources administration: Assuring the availability of adequate supplies, + +equipment, facilities; overseeing procurement/contracting activities; and/or oversee +ing logistical operations. + +9. Personnel management: Projecting the number and types of staff needed by the work +unit, and using various personnel management system components (e.g., recruit +ment, selection, promotion, performance appraisal) in managing the work unit. + +10. Supervision: Providing day-by-day guidance and oversight of subordinates +(e.g., work assignments, consultation, etc.); and actively working to promote +and recognize performance. + +11. Work unit monitoring: Keeping up-to-date on the overall status of activities in the +work unit, identifying problem areas, and taking corrective actions (e.g., reschedul +ing, reallocating resources, etc.). + + + +Appendix A 33 + +12. Program evaluation: Critically assessing the degree to which program/project goals +are achieved and the overall effectiveness/efficiency of work unit operations, to iden +tify means for improving work unit performance. + +The How of Management: Effectiveness Characteristics + +1. Broad perspective: Broad, long-term view; balancing short- and long-term consid +erations + +2. Strategic view: Collecting/assessing/analyzing information; diagnosis; anticipation; +judgment + +3. Environmental sensitivity: Tuned into agency and its environment; awareness of +importance of nontechnical factors + +4. Leadership: Individual; group; willingness to lead, manage, and accept responsibility +5. Flexibility: Openness to new information; behavioral flexibility; tolerance for + +stress/ambiguity/change; innovativeness +6. Action orientation: Independence, proactivity; calculated risk taking; problem solv + +ing; decisiveness +7. Results focus: Concern with goal achievement; follow-through, tenacity +8. Communication: Speaking; writing; listening +9. Interpersonal sensitivity: Self-knowledge and awareness of impact on others; sensitivity + +to needs/strengths/weaknesses of others; negotiation; conflict resolution; persuasion +10. Technical competence: Specialized expertise (e.g., engineering, physical science, law, + +accounting, social science) + +SOURCE: Loretta R. Flanders and Dennis Utterback, The Management Excellence Inventory, Public +Administration Review Vol. 45 No. 3, 1985, 403-410. + + + +Chapter 2 + +The Political Context +ol Public Administration + +Your involvement in public organizations, whether in your career or as a private citizen, +will inevitably center on the development, implementation, and evaluation of public +policies. You may work for an agency charged with devising new approaches to familiar +problems, you may want to see that a particular policy or proposal is framed in a way +that is consistent with your beliefs, or you may simply want to better understand the +implications of a particular direction in national policy. In any case, it will be helpful for +you to know how public policies are designed and put into practice. + +Talk of public policy is, of course, quite familiar. From one day to another, we hear +criticisms of the U.S. policy in the Middle East, calls for a more effective drug enforce +ment policy, challenges to a school districts approach to violence in the schools, ideas +for changing a citys policy toward the homeless, or proposals for altering an organiza +tions hiring practices. Our uses of the term policy are many and varied, and the process +by which policies are developed is even more complex. + +We may think of a policy as a statement of goals and intentions with respect to +a particular problem or set of problems, a statement often accompanied by a more +detailed set of plans, programs, or instructions for pursuing those goals. Public policies +are authoritative statements made by legitimate governmental actors (the chief execu +tive, the legislature, public agencies, etc.) or nongovernmental actors (nonprofit orga +nizations, foundations, quasi-governmental organizations, private corporations, etc.) +about important, and sometimes not so important, public problems. We expect deci +sion makers at all levels to spend considerable time and energy dealing with such +topics as foreign affairs, health, education, employment, the economy, civil rights, +the environment, energy, transportation, housing, agriculture, law enforcement, and +myriad other issues. But in each of these areas, public policy is simply what an agency +or an entire network of public, private, and nonprofit organizations decides to do or +not do. + +Organizations in all sectors are deeply involved in carrying out public policyeither +executing or implementing them. But these organizations are also involved in developing +policy. Governmental and nongovernmental organizations play an important role in shap +es public policy. Proposals are written and submitted by agency personnel; testimony +and other expert advice are presented; and representatives of various agencies, especially +political appointees who head agencies, often seek to build public support for particular +ideas. Those in government agencies, and increasingly in nonprofit organizations, are + +34 + + + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 35 + +often asked to elaborate on or clarify legislative intentions, and, in doing so, they con +tinue the process of policy development. + +Moreover, public, private, and nonprofit organizations not only develop policies that +guide their own activities, but also seek to influence the course of public policy on behalf +of their members or other constituencies. Many such groups limit their activities to pro +viding public information and seeking to affect indirectly the formation of policies in +their area of interest. But others are far more direct, employing lobbyists and others +whose specific job is to influence the policy process. + +To understand the conduct of specific groups, namely public and nonprofit organiza +tions, in the policy process, you must have some understanding of the context in which +these organizations operate. That context is not merely physical; it includes the beliefs +and values that shape our expectations of the organizations as well as the structures we +have developed to try to maintain those values. In large part, the complexity of the pol +icy process in this country is the result of the Founding Fathers fear of concentrated +power, a fear they sought to allay by organizing the federal government into three +branches executive, legislative, and judicial so that no one branch could exert itself +above the others. As we will see, our political system has evolved in such a way that the +relations between and among the various branches, and between governmental and +nongovernmental institutions, remain a central issue in conducting public programs. +This chapter focuses on the process of public policy and especially the relations between +public administrators and the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary as they work +together to seek important policy goals. + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leaders hip + +As we saw in Chapter 1, public administrators work in the federal, state, and local gov +ernments and in nonprofit organizations and associations. But, understandably, the fed +eral government, simply by virtue of its size and the range of its activities, has become +the model against which others are often judged. For that reason, we will begin our +discussion of the political context of American public administration by examining the +development of the national administrative system and the role of the chief executive in +that system. + +Again it is helpful to begin with a brief historical review, primarily because some of the +arguments that characterized discussions of administration in the early days of our nation +are quite similar to those that continue to confront us. Take, for example, the difference +between the Federalist view, expressed most forcefully by Alexander Hamilton, and that of +the Jeffersonians, led by (you guessed it!) Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton and his Federalist +colleagues argued for a strong centralized government, staffed and managed by men of +wealth, class, and education. The Federalist preference for the executive branch was a +faithful reflection of their distrust of the people. An intelligent perception of sound public +policy, in their view, could come only from well-educated men of affairs, men with trained +minds and broad experiencein short, from the upper classes (White, 1948, p. 410). + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +The Jeffersonians, on the other hand, saw the administration of government as inti +mately connected to the problem of extending democracy throughout the nation. They +thus preferred a more decentralized approach to the executive function and sought for +mal legal controls on the executive so that executive power would not be abused +(Caldwell, 1994). These democratic views reached their pinnacle in the administration of +Andrew Jackson, known for its openness to the common man. But the Jacksonian era +was also notable for extension and formalization of the administrative apparatus of gov +ernment; the administration of government began to form a link between the nations +political authorities and its citizens (Crenson, 1975, p. 10; see also Nelson, 1982). + +Despite these developments, the presidents role as chief executive officer and as head +of the federal bureaucracy was not clearly established until well into the twentieth cen +tury, when Franklin Roosevelt was able to assert his administrative management of the +executive branch and to set a model for all the presidents who have followed him. Some +changes were inevitable: the growing size and scope of governmental activity simply +required greater attention to management and organization. Other changes were more +reflective of a greater understanding of the administrative process and of how the work +of government might be accomplished more effectively. + +In 1936, President Roosevelt appointed a committee on administrative management, +chaired by Louis Brownlow, which included a number of respected scholars and practi +tioners in the emerging field of public administration. The Brownlow committee +concluded that the president needs help and recommended a series of possible steps to +improve the presidents management of the executive branch (Karl, 1963). Though ini +tially sidetracked in the wake of the presidents attempt to pack the Supreme Court with +his supporters, the major recommendations of the Brownlow committee were finally +approved in the Reorganization Act of 1939. This act authorized the president to take +the initiative in reshaping and reorganizing the executive branch, subject only to con +gressional veto. The Reorganization Act also allowed President Roosevelt to create the +Executive Office of the President, composed of six assistants, to give the president the +help he needed. (The Executive Office of the President continues today, though now it +employs nearly two thousand people.) + +All presidents since Roosevelt have continued to assert their executive power in vari +ous ways. President Nixon, for example, sought to further centralize managerial power +in the White House. President Carter sought greater managerial responsiveness through +the Civil Service Reform Act. President Reagan and the first President Bush pursued the +same ends, by extending political control further into the bureaucracy while also devel +oping programs to reduce costs and increase productivity. President Clinton carried +through on many of his promises to streamline government and improve quality and +productivity through implementing the National Performance Review (NPR). And, +within the first six months of his term in office, President George W. Bush has continued +this trend, championing several pieces of legislation that promise to redefine the scope of +the federal government. + +Although President Clintons National Performance Review officially ended in +January 2001, the larger Reinventing Government movement has become a central +current in the tides of public and nonprofit reform (Light, 1995, 2000). Reinvention and +the NPR will be discussed in more detail in later chapters, but it is important that you + + + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 37 + +understand generally what that effort is and why it was undertaken. Basically, the NPR +was a Clinton administration initiative headed by Vice President Gore and aimed at +increasing the trust of the American people in their government through a broad range +of improvements in the quality and productivity of government (as well as through +reductions in the size of government). The National Performance Review, first presented +to President Clinton in September 1993 and implemented over the next several years, +made hundreds of recommendations aimed at cutting unnecessary red tape and burden +some regulations, empowering federal employees to make decisions while holding them +accountable for the results, and emphasizing service to customers, that is, the public. +The general orientation of the NPR is outlined in Box 2.1. + +Returning to the subject of executive powers, one important tool that presidents have +employed is the executive order, a presidential mandate governing, with the effect of law, +the actions of government officials and government agencies. Over time, the executive +order has become a chief instrument of presidential power. President Bush, for example, +used one of his first executive orders (no. 13199, January 29, 2001) to create the Office of +Faith-based and Community Initiatives, which will serve as the centerpiece for his +administrations effort to extend federal funding to faith-based organizations. In this case +and many others like it, the president is essentially making law by decree, occasionally in +direct opposition to the wishes of Congress and constituent groups (Cooper, 1986). + +The president, as the chief executive officer of the federal government, exercises +power over an enormous and wide-ranging set of public organizations. There are some +2.9 million civilians employed by the federal government and another 1.5 million uni +formed military personnel. In addition, the federal government supports and pays for the +work of a wide variety of activities in which the actual work is performed by someone +other than a federal civil servant. The Defense Department, for example, supervises +almost two million persons in private industry involved, directly or indirectly, in defense- +related work. While the size of government actually grew some 8 percent during the +1980s, it decreased nearly 7 percent during the past decade and promises to decrease still +further under the Bush administration. + +Administrative Organizations + +You are probably already familiar with many of the agencies of government at the fed +eral level; however, several types are particularly important: (1) the Executive Office of +the President; (2) the cabinet-level executive departments; (3) a variety of independent +agencies, regulatory commissions, and public corporations; and (4) administrative agen +cies that support the work of the legislature and the judiciary. + +The Executive Office of the President + +The various administrative bodies located in the Executive Office of the President both +advise the president and assist in formulating and implementing national policy. Several +offices have come to play especially important policy roles; the Office of Management and +Budget (OMB), for example, assists the president in preparing the budget, submitting it to +Congress, and administering it. OMB is also involved in reviewing the management of + + + +3 8 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +BOX 2.1 + +Reinventing Government + +President Bill Clinton, March 27, 1995, White House press release +In Washington, were engaged today in a great debate over what the role of the govern +ment here ought to be. Just about everybody has rejected the past view that there is a big +one-size-fits-all government that can solve all the big problems of America. Now the rage +in Washington is to argue that the government is the source of all of our problems and +if just there simply werent one, wed have no problems. Sooner or later, the American +people will come to agreeand I think they are quickly coming to agreethat the old +one-size-fits-all view was wrong, but the new rage of no government is wrong as well; +that we need a government that can be a partner to our people, to help them to compete +and prosper in a global economy which is changing very rapidly and which presents +great opportunity, but also real challenges as well. Its basically an old-fashioned social +compact about citizenshipcitizenship for the twenty-first centurythat requires us to +get rid of yesterdays government and replace it with a new government. + +Vice President Al Gore, December 5, 1994, White House press release +It is time to get rid of the old way of managing the federal government where control is +centralized and direction comes only from the highest levels. While that system was +effective in the early 1900s, it no longer meets the needs of governments customers, the +American people. Whats needed instead is an entirely new model of leadership based +on clear sets of principles, flexibility, innovation, accountability, and customer service. + +Federal executives are where this revolution starts or stops. In each of their depart +ments and agencies, they must be responsible for leading the change from the old way +of doing the government s business to a more efficient, effective system where employ +ees are empowered to provide the American people with the best service possible. + +The information age has made possible flatter organizations, wider spans of con +trol, and quicker information sharing. It is now possible for a presidentwhether of a +company or a country to decentralize, yet keep field operations accountable. It means +empowering employees to do their jobs, yet holding them accountable for the results. + +Specifically, federal executives should: + +Encourage innovation and culture change: managers should help paint a clear +vision and specify a mission for workers. + +Implement the laws of the United States: the expectations of the president +should be shared with every employee. +Be accountable to the public: use surveys and goal-setting measures to provide +better customer service and empower front-line workers. + +Manage and empower other government employees: give employees freedom to +accomplish goals within broad guidelines. + +Experience has shown that painting a vision of what needs to be done and allowing +those closest to the processes to find the best way of doing it is a powerful tool to +increase productivity and efficiency. + + + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 39 + +various agencies, suggesting changes in structures and procedures, and searching out +capable executives for service in government. The National Security Council (NSC) is +charged with integrating domestic, military, and foreign policy. It is made up of the presi +dent, vice president, and secretaries of state and defense and is directed by the national +security adviser. (Recall that in late 1986, charges that John Poindexter and Oliver North, +among others on the NSC staff, were exceeding their statutory authority and engaging in +covert military operations led to the Iran-Contra affair, and, among other things, a reor +ganization of the NSC.) Finally, the Council of Economic Advisors consists of three econ +omists who develop proposals to maintain employment, production, and purchasing +power. The council also develops a variety of economic reports. + +Each of these groups, and others in the Executive Office of the President, are used in +different ways by different presidents, according to the personality of the president and the +particular issues that are most pressing at that time. Some presidents, such as Eisenhower +and Reagan, have relied very heavily on their staffs, while others, such as Carter, have been +much more personally involved in management and policy development. + +Networking + +To locate information about the executive branch of the federal government, check +out the following Web sites: http://www.whitehouse.gov/; and http://www.firstgov. +gov/us_gov/executive_branch.html. For access to executive orders, go to +http://www.nara.g0v/fedreg/e0.html#t0p. + +Cabinet-Level Executive Departments + +These agencies are among the most visible, if not always the largest, of the federal execu +tive agencies. There are currently thirteen cabinet-level departments. In decreasing order of +size, they are the Departments of Defense: Health and Human Services; Treasury; +Agriculture; Interior; Transportation; Justice; Commerce; State; Labor; Energy; Housing +and Urban Development; and Education. Several departments, such as Treasury and State, +date back to the nations founding; others have been created by Congress as needed. + +Each cabinet-level department is headed by a secretary, who, along with a group of +top-level staff people, is appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate. +Each cabinet-level department is organized into smaller units, such as offices, services, +administrations, branches, and sections. The Department of Health and Human Services, +for example, includes the Public Health Service, which in turn includes the Food and +Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Center for Disease +Control and Prevention. Though each department is headquartered in Washington, +D.C., their offices are, of course, spread across the country. Indeed, just over 10 percent +of the federal workforce lives in or around the District of Columbia. + +The cabinet-level secretaries, along with a few others, such as the director of the +Office of Management and Budget and the ambassador to the United Nations, constitute +the presidents cabinet, a group that some presidents have used sparingly and primarily +for formal matters and others have employed extensively for help and advice. Inevitably, + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +a president will come to rely informally on certain advisors, cabinet members, or others +outside the formal inner circle for advice and consultation. Historically, for example, +President Kennedy relied heavily on the advice of his brother, Robert, during the Cuban +Missile Crisis, even though as attorney general his brother held no formal position that +would involve him in foreign affairs. + +Independent Agencies, Regulatory Commissions, and Public Corporations + +A variety of independent agencies have been created intentionally outside the normal +cabinet organization. Some are engaged in staff functions in support of other agencies. +The Office of Personnel Management, for example, oversees the federal personnel func +tion, and the General Services Administration oversees the governments property. Other +agencies have simply not been viewed as appropriate to include in cabinet-level depart +ments; among these are the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business +Administration, and the Veterans Administration. With rare exceptions, these indepen +dent agencies are directed by persons appointed by the president with the confirmation +of the Senate. + +Regulatory commissions, which are formed to regulate a particular area of the econ +omy, are structured quite differently. Typically, they are headed by a group of individuals +(variously called directors, commissioners, or governors) appointed by the president and +confirmed by the Senate. These persons are protected in various ways from removal by +the president; in some cases, their terms of appointment overlap presidential terms. +Presumably, the regulatory commissions are to perform their tasks independently and +objectively, free from undue influence either by the political incumbent or by the affected +clientele. As we will see later, however, the nature of regulatory work makes this task +exceedingly difficult. (Note that not all regulatory bodies are located outside the cabinet +departments; for instance, the Food and Drug Administration is part of the Department +of Health and Human Services.) + +Public corporations are employed where the objective of the agency is essentially com +mercial, where the work of the agency requires greater latitude in personnel and budget +ing than would be typical, and where the agency will acquire at least a portion of its +funding in the marketplace (Moe, 2001; Walsh, 1978). The Tennessee Valley Authority, +which has provided power in the Tennessee Valley for over fifty years, is a classic exam +ple of a public corporation. Somewhat more recent additions to the growing list of +government corporations include the U.S. Postal Service and the National Rail Passenger +Corporation (AMTRAK), both established in 1970. (Periodically, there are questions +raised about the status of these two operations, indicating that the structure of public +organizations is constantly subject to question.) + +Agencies Supporting the Legislature and the Judiciary + +Whereas both the legislative and judicial branches require considerable direct adminis +trative support for their members (legislative staff, committee staff, court administra +tors), there are also several specific agencies attached to the legislative branch that are of +special significance. Among these, you are probably familiar with the Government +Piinting Office and the Library of Congress. But, although less is known about the + + + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 41 + +General Accounting Office (GAO), its duties have become increasingly important. +Established in 1921, the GAO is responsible for auditing funds to see that they are prop +erly spent. In recent years, however, the agencys mission has broadened to include +formal program evaluations within various agencies (Rourke, 1978). Finally, Congress is +supported by the Office of Technology Assessment and the Congressional Budget Office, +whose operations we will examine more carefully in Chapter 5. + +The State Level + +The organization of state governments varies considerably, according to each states pol +icy interests and political development; however, there is little question that state govern +ment in this country is big business. One recent study compared the financial activity of +state governments with Fortune magazines ranking of the 500 largest industrial firms. +On this basis, the financial activity of Californias state government would rank fourth +between Wal-Mart and Exxon, while New Yorks would be sixth, just above the General +Electric Corporation. Even Delaware, a small state, would rank in the top 500 near such +corporate well-knowns as OfficeMax and Estee Lauder. + +Recent efforts to decrease federal involvement in domestic policy have combined with a +general growth in the range of activities undertaken at the state level to support a vast +increase in state activity. Between 1980 and 1995, state government employment rose from +3.7 million to 4.7 million, with an even more dramatic rise in state expenditures. In 1996, +states also played a key role in the federal governments move to reform the nations +welfare system, a reform agenda which has led to the devolution of many public assistance +programs and a further expansion in the role of state government (Kettl, 2000). + +The organization and structure of state government in many ways mirrors that of the +national government, but there are some distinctive features. You should note, for exam +ple, the large number of elected administrative officials in most state governments. In most +states, the people elect not only the governor and lieutenant governor, but also the attorney +general, the secretary of state, and the state treasurer. Many states still elect the head of the +Department of Agriculture by popular vote, and it is not uncommon to have members of +various boards and commissions (e.g., the Public Service Commission) elected by the pub +lic. These latter offices are filled at the federal level by presidential appointment. (The large +number of elected officers at the state and local level is a carryover from a period in which +democratic tendencies in this country were especially strong and it was felt that nearly all +major officials of government should be elected directly by the people.) + +In addition, many state departments do not report directly to the governor, but rather +to boards or commissions isolated from executive control in the same way as regulatory +commissions at the federal level. For example, a Department of Conservation may report +to a commission appointed by the governor for periods exceeding those of the governor +and, indeed, may have dedicated sources of revenue essentially outside the governors +budgetary control. Under such circumstances, the governors power as chief executive is +severely limited. + +Despite structural limitations on gubernatorial powers, contemporary governors exer +cise a broad range of political and executive influence that enable them to play a major, + + + +42 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +even central, role in the operations of state government. In recefit years, these powers +have even had an impact on national policy making, particularly in the welfare reform +agenda mentioned previously. For example, Governors Thompson of Wisconsin and +Engler of Michigan were instrumental in the framing of the 1996 federal welfare reform +legislation, which built upon innovations at the state level (Katz, 2001). Most important, +governors play a key symbolic role, helping to set the political agenda and to focus the +attention of other political and administrative actors on a limited number of special top +ics. Many governors have accumulated special powers with respect to the budget process +through which they are able to dramatically affect the allocation of state resources and +to mediate policy disputes among executive agencies (Bowman & Kearney, 1986, p. 54). + +Beyond these somewhat informal powers, the strength of the governors formal execu +tive powers is often gauged by three measures: the presence or absence of the item veto, +the ability of the governor to reorganize state agencies, and the number of other elected +officials. In all states but North Carolina, the governor (like the president) has the power +to veto legislation. Most states also give the governor the power of an item veto (also +called line-item veto ), which is the capacity to veto specific items within an appropria +tions bill (as opposed to accepting all or nothing). The line-item veto is a helpful tool in +shaping legislation according to the governors preferences. (During his final term, +President Clinton, himself a former governor, supported passage of the line-item veto at +the federal level. The federal provision, however, was ultimately invalidated by the +Supreme Court in Clinton v. City of New York [1998].) The gubernatorial power to +reorganize is more limited. Roughly half the states require either statutory or even con +stitutional action to reorganize. Finally, as we have seen, nearly all states have a variety +of statewide elected officials in addition to the governor and lieutenant governor. Indeed, +most states have between four and eight agencies that are controlled by individuals +elected statewide rather than appointed. + +Networking + +For information about state governments, start with the Council of State govern +ments: http://www.statesnews.org/. Then see the state and local gateway at +http.//www.statelocal.gov/; the National Council of State Legislatures, http://www. +ncsl.org/, and these two library-based sites: http://www.loc.gov/global/state/ +stategov.html; and http://www.law.indiana.edu/v-lib/. + +The growing importance of state government suggests that governors will likely con +tinue to assert their executive leadership role and will seek greater control by reorganiz +ing the executive branch. So far, however, relatively few structural moves have been +made. However, some procedural changes have occurred; for example, many states have +moved in the direction of more clearly establishing the governors leading role in the +budgetary process and establishing centralized management improvement programs. + +Although the organization of government varies considerably from state to state, +most states have a variety of substantive agencies concerned with state and local needs +(Natural Resources, Highways and Transportation, etc.), as well as several agencies, + + + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 43 + +such as the Department of Social Services, that largely administer programs funded by +the federal government. These agencies are likely to be assisted by a central management +support unit, called an Office of Administration or some similar title, which provides +budget, personnel, and other general services. As mentioned, if there is one trend in the +reorganization of state agencies, that trend would seem to be creation of a greater num +ber of state departments devoted to economic development. In some cases, these depart +ments seek to coordinate many economic development activities; in others, there is a +more specific focus on small business or on providing incentives for industrial location +or relocation. + +The Local Level + +According to the most recent data available, there are over 85 thousand local govern +ments (see Table 2.1). Many of these are municipalities, cities, and towns of varying sizes +offering a full range of services; others are counties, typically more limited in their role +but still embracing a variety of governmental functions; but most are special districts, +created to serve one particular function, such as education, fire protection, or parks and +recreation. (Only special districts have substantially increased in numbers over the past +several years.) + +Cities + +American cities are organized in three ways. The mayor-council form is used by about +49 percent of all municipalities, about 56 percent of those having a population over +250,000, and three-fourths of those with a population over one million. In all cases, +both the council and the mayor are elected, the latter either by direct popular vote or a +council election. One variation of the mayor-council form features a strong mayor, with +almost total administrative authority, including preparation and administration of the + +TABLE 2.1 + +Number of Governmental Units, by Type of Government + +Type of government +Federal 1 +State 50 +Local 84,955 + +County 3,043 +Municipal 19,279 +Township and town 16,656 +School district 14,422 + +Special district 31,555 + +Total 85,006 + +SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing +Office, 1995). + + + +44 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +budget. Policy making in this form is a joint endeavor of the mayor and the council. The +weak mayor type places primary administrative control, including most appointments +and development of the budget, in the hands of the council. + +The power of the mayor as chief executive is obviously greater in the strong mayor +system and, consequently, that system is used in most large industrial cities. At least in a +formal sense, however, several large cities, including Chicago, still maintain a weak mayor +system, although even under such circumstances, a particular mayor may assert consider +able strength. The legendary Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, for example, was able to +utilize a well-oiled political machine to assert substantial administrative power. Though +he operated in a weak-mayor system, Daley was unquestionably a strong mayor. + +One interesting recent variation on the mayor-council form is the use of a professionally +trained chief administrative officer (sometimes called a deputy mayor) to oversee the +administrative operations of city government (e.g., Los Angeles, New Orleans, Washington, +D.C.). We find this administrative arrangement in many big cities, where mayors are often +more interested in campaigning and in working with external constituencies and like to +have someone else oversee the internal management of the city. But city administrators are +also being hired in an increasing number of smaller mayor-council communities as well, +mostly in an effort to bring professional expertise to local government. + +The council-manager form of local government is of special interest in that it repre +sents a structural effort to solve the classic question of the relationship between politics +(or policy) and administration. In this form, the city council, usually five to seven people, +has responsibility for making policy, including passing appropriations and supervising in +a general way the administration of city government. The primary executive responsibil +ity, however, lies with a full-time professionally trained city manager. The mayor has no +involvement in the administration of the city and performs primarily ceremonial duties +and legislation. In its classic formulation, therefore, the council-manager form is designed +so that the council makes policy and the city manager carries it out. + +The council-manager plan was first tried in Staunton, Virginia, in 1908, and a few +years later was adopted in Dayton, Ohio, with great success. Several reform organiza +tions, such as the National Municipal League, felt the council-manager plan would be a +good way to insulate the management of city government from the vagaries of local poli +tics and consequently added their endorsement. + +Networking + +For information about local government, see the National Civic League at +http://www.ncl.org and the National League of Cities at http://www.nlc.org/. See +also the Local Government Institute, http://www.lgi.org/, the Local Government +Network, http://www.civic.net/lgnet, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors home +page at http://www.usmayors.org/. + +The number of council-manager governments has grown steadily throughout this cen +tury and continues to increase. Today, some 42 percent of American communities employ +the plan. Where the mayor-council system is associated with larger, industrialized, and + + + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 45 + +heterogeneous cities, the council-manager plan is most frequently found in medium-sized +cities. Over 60 percent of American cities with populations between 25,000 and 250,000 +operate with the plan, and 32 percent of the cities with a population below 5,000 have +adopted it. Although a number of large cities (such as Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix, San +Antonio, and San Diego) use the plan, it is rare among cities over one million in popula +tion. The council-manager form continues to grow, however, with the number of council- +manager adoptions outrunning those of the mayor-council form by three to one over the +past twenty years. Those favoring the council-manager plan usually argue that it empha +sizes professional expertise and administrative accountability; those favoring the mayor- +council plan emphasize its adaptability and its responsiveness to community needs. + +A small number of American cities use the commission form of government. Under this +form, the people elect a set of commissioners. Each acts as a council member, but also as +director of a particular city department; for example, one commissioner might head the +Parks Department and another the Public Works Department. The commission form is +fading; we find it today primarily in smaller rural communities, though it is still found in +such cities as Portland, Oregon, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. These larger cities usually hire a +chief administrative officer to provide the necessary coordination of city government. + +Counties + +Counties (or variations, such as parishes in Louisiana) are found in nearly every state and +range in population from very small to huge. Once considered the an unexplored area of +local government, counties are emerging as important actors in the modern governmental +system. Counties have traditionally provided a range of services in behalf of state govern +ment, a role that has expanded considerably in the past few years. In addition, counties +have recently assumed a wide range of new services (such as mass transit, mental health, +waste disposal, and police services) that, for one reason or another, cannot be offered by +individual municipalities (Dodge, 1988, pp. 2-3). + +The traditional form of county government has been a combination of a county com +mission and a series of elected administrative officials, such as sheriff, auditor, treasurer, +and so on. An emerging trend in county government, however, is the use of appointed +county administrators, similar in many ways to the city manager at the municipal level. +Still another type of county government, also increasing in use, involves the combination +of a city council and an elected executive. In this system, a chief executive is elected by the +people and holds powers similar to that of a governor in a state system. For example, the +elected executive often has veto power over council actions (Henry, 1980, pp. 158-164). +Trends toward a greater range of activities, especially in the social services, combined +with the increasing professionalism of county government, make this often overlooked +area one of the most interesting arenas for public service today. + +Native American Tribes + +Native American tribes have had a special relationship with the United States govern +ment. This relationship was first articulated by Supreme Court Justice Marshall in three +decisions between 1827 and 1832 known as the Marshall Trilogy. In these decisions +Marshall acknowledged that Native Americans had inherent rights to possess and use + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +their land, and that they had sovereignty to run their own affairs. But even though they +were seen as nations, the tribes were not foreign nations. They could not sell their land +without the consent of the federal government. And the federal government had respon +sibilities to protect Native American land from incursions from the states and others. +Marshall described this relationship as similar to guardianship. + +In the last 150 years this relationship has evolved. Influenced greatly by European set +tlers desire to move westward, Congress made treaties, fought wars, and otherwise +moved Native Americans out of the way of the western expansion. Despite these efforts +to assimilate Indians into the dominant culture, many Native Americans have retained +their heritage and maintained their tribal governance systems. Today, the Department of +the Interior recognizes more than four hundred tribes who have sovereignty over their +internal affairs. + +Special Districts + +Finally, we should note again the large number of special districts that exist at the local +level. These limited-purpose districts, which may operate in the areas of natural resources, +fire protection, libraries, schools, housing and community development, and so forth, are +typically governed by an appointed part-time governing board and a full-time general +manager or executive director, who plays the most significant role in the operation of the +district. Critics claim the proliferation of special districts causes fragmentation and lack of +coordination, but others argue that such districts remain important because they are close +to the people. + +Nonprofit Organizations and Associations + +An increasingly significant set of institutions in the American system of public policy +falls between what we think of as the public sector and the private sector. These institu +tions may be described as belonging to an independent or third sector of our economy. +For the most part, independent-sector organizations do not have the distribution of +profits to shareholders as one of their major objectives; they exist instead to meet the +needs of the public at large, a particular portion of the public, or the needs and interests +of their own members (Boris, 1999; Salamon, 1999; McFaughlin, 1986). Technically, +nonprofit organizations are defined as those prohibited by law from distributing surplus +revenues (profits) to individuals (typically, members). Such organizations may in fact +make a profit; however, the profit must be used for the purposes of the organization. + +Nonprofit organizations may include churches, educational institutions, civic organiza +tions, schools and colleges, charitable organizations, social and recreational groups, health +and human service organizations, membership organizations (including labor unions and +fraternal organizations), conservation and environmental groups, mutual organizations +(including farmers cooperatives), trade associations, community chests, youth activities +(such as Boy Scouts), community betterment organizations, advocacy groups of all kinds, +and many others. Their numbers range into the millions, depending on how they are +counted, and, as noted earlier, include some 23,000 national nonprofits, and more than +a million organizations of varying sizes across the country (see Table 2.2). + + + +Administrative Organizations and Executive Leadership 47 + +TABLE 2.2 + +National Nonprofit Organizations by Specialty, 1993 + +Category_ Number + +Trade, business, and commercial organizations 3,755 +Environmental and agricultural organizations 1,124 +Legal governmental, public administration, and military organizations 780 +Engineering, technology, and sciences 1,381 +Educational organizations 1,310 +Cultural organizations 1,918 +Social welfare organizations 1,934 +Health and medical organizations 2,453 +Public affairs organizations 2,113 +Fraternal, nationality, and ethnic organizations 541 +Religious organizations 1,230 +Veteran, heredity, and patriotic organizations 745 +Hobby and vocational organizations 1,548 +Athletic and sports organizations 836 +Labor unions, associations, and federations 245 +Chambers of commerce and trade and tourism 160 +Greek and non-Greek letter societies, associations, and federations 337 +Fan clubs 491 +Total_22,901 + +SOURCE: From Encyclopedia of Associations, Carol A. Schwartz and Rebecca L. Turner, Eds., Vol. 1, 29th +edition, Gale Research Company, 1996. Copyright 1996. Reprinted by permission of The Gale Group. + +Networking + +For information on nonprofit organizations, see the Alliance for Nonprofit +Management at http://www.allianceonline.org and Compass Point Nonprofit +Services at http://www.supportcenter.org. See also the following sites for informa +tion on foundations: http://www.cof.org/ and http://www.foundations.org/. + +While private nonprofit organizations account for between 6 percent and 10 percent +of employment in the United States (again, depending on how you count), the voluntary +effort that is expended in support of these groups makes their impact far greater. Nearly +100 million American adults devote volunteer time to such organizations, an investment +of time that has been estimated as the equivalent of over $200 billion a year. Over the +last twenty years, the third sector has been the fastest-growing segment of our economy +(Salamon 1999). + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +The importance of volunteering was highlighted 'in President Clintons Summit for +Americas Future, led by Colin Powell and held in Philadelphia in 1997. The summit +called on all Americans to give of their time to serve others, but was especially oriented +toward involving young people in public service activities. Various youth service organi +zations have pledged to involve more youth in service projects, perhaps doubling the +number involved in service projects by the turn of the century. + +During the past decade, nonprofit organizations have taken a leading role in the deliv +ery of public services. As mentioned previously, change in the federal welfare system has +led to the devolution of services to the state and local level (a trend we will explore +later), where networks of agencies, many of which are nonprofits, manage the implemen +tation of public programs (Light, 2000). The current system has been characterized as + +an extended chain of implementation, in which recipients of public support in some +cases will not even encounter a government employee federal state or local[.] (Kettl, +2000, pp. 492-493). Moreover, nonprofits have become active in other areas of service +delivery, including hospitals, museums, colleges and universities, the performing arts, +religion, advocacy, and research (Boris, 1999). + +Nonprofit organizations can be categorized in many ways, but perhaps most easily +according to their purposes and source of financial support. Some nonprofits are charita +ble or public benefit organizations, which provide services to the public at large or +to some segment of the public. These organizations, such as social service organizations +or art museums, may receive some funding from government and some from private +contribution; they are generally tax-exempt under federal statutes. Other nonprofits are +advocacy organizations, groups that espouse a particular cause and seek to lobby for +that cause, or mutual benefit organizations, which produce benefits primarily for their +members. The former would include groups like Common Cause and the Sierra Club; +the latter would include trade associations, professional organizations, labor unions, and +others that directly promote the interests of their own members. However, from these +examples, the line between the two is not completely clear. Finally, churches are obvi +ously charitable organizations, but are difficult to classify in the categories mentioned. + +Indeed, the entire independent sector is sometimes confusing to categorize. For one +thing, the distinctions among the three sectors are not clear, even to the point that a par +ticular individual might find the same service provided by one or more sectors. For +example, you can play golf at a municipal course (public sector), a private driving range +(private sector), or a country club (independent sector). Furthermore, the sources of +funding are often intermixed. For example, both governments (public sector) and private +corporations (private sector) often contribute financial support to local chambers of +commerce. + +The fact that nonprofit organizations are required to pursue a public interest is +reflected in their legal structure (and tax-exempt status). Typically, so that the government +can feel that a public purpose is being carried out, there are requirements that the organi +zation be governed by a board of trustees (or directors or commissioners), the purpose of +which, at least in legal terms, is to promote and to protect the public interest that is +involved (Boris, 1999; Salamon, 1999). Such persons will also likely establish the mission +and operating policies, hire an executive director, and generally oversee fiscal and pro +grammatic operations. The executive director is responsible for day-to-day operations + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 49 + +and often becomes the organizations chief spokesperson. Most nonprofit associations are +highly dependent on their executive directors leadership. More and more, such persons +(and other major staff persons in nonprofit organizations) are coming from a background +in public administration. + +Relationships with the Legislative Body + +In examining the political context of public organizations, we have thus far emphasized +the importance of executive leadership. For example, we noted the emergence of the +president as the chief executive officer of our national government and the pivotal role of +the chief executive in state and local governments and in nonprofit organizations and +associations. But though we tend to associate public agencies with the executive branch +of government, there are numerous administrative bodies associated with the legislative +and judicial branches. More importantly, wherever agencies are located, their role in the +policy process will be especially clear in their relationship with the legislature. In dis +cussing the relationship between public agencies and legislative bodies, we will focus +much more directly on the policy process. + +The Policy Process + +Before we examine the role of public and nonprofit organizations in developing public pol +icy, we should review the process by which public policies are developed. We may think of +the policy process as involving three stages: agenda setting, policy formulation, and policy +implementation (see Box 2.2). Whereas public and nonprofit organizations are the primary +actors in implementing public policy (indeed, most of this book focuses on ways to effec +tively carry out public policy), they are also significant players in the first two phases. + +BOX 2.2 + +Stages in the Policy Process + +1. Agenda setting +a. Policy recognition +b. Policy generation +c. Political action + +2. Policy formulation +3. Policy implementation + +SOURCE: Excerpts from pp. 196-208 from Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2d ed. by John W. +Kingdon. Copyright 1995 by HarperCollins College Publishers. Reprinted by permission of Pearson +Education, Inc. + +IHIIIII ilMMWMWWIIIIIBMIllllllllllllWI'llBirT'TIMlWBIIllllllllWillllllllllWIiWiMIllllWIlllllllMWI + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Agenda Setting +- > + +Obviously, before policies are acted upon, they must get the attention of major decision +makers. From among all the many and competing claims on their time and interests, +decision makers must select issues that will be given priority and those that will be fil +tered out. Through the agenda-setting phase, certain problems come to be viewed as +needing action, while others are postponed. Naturally, there is a great deal of ebb and +flow in what is considered most important. In the 1970s and 1980s, U.S. foreign policy +was dominated by concerns for Soviet movement into such areas as the Middle East; in +the 1990s attention shifted to a variety of flash points such as Somalia and Bosnia. +Similarly, any particular issue area can gain or decline in prominence over time, as has +the attention to energy policy over the past fifteen years. + +Many people contribute to setting the public policy agenda. The president, for exam +ple, has a special claim on the attention of the American people and their elected repre +sentatives; a presidential speech or press conference can significantly affect what decision +makers see as important. But there are many others whose actions can give certain topics +greater or less visibility. Members of Congress, executive branch officials, political par +ties, interest groups, the media, and the general public can all significantly shape the +question of what will be considered important. Think, for example, how concern for +teen pregnancy has been recently brought to public awareness. Who have been the lead +ers in shaping public opinion on this issue? + +The agenda-setting process may be viewed as the confluence of three streams of +events: policy recognition, policy generation, and political action (Kingdon, 1995). The +first, policy recognition, has to do with the way certain topics emerge as significant issues +that demand action. As you can well imagine, decision makers are subject to many influ +ences in choosing what items are significant. They may respond to particular indicators +that come to public view, such as an increase in air traffic problems or a rise in unem +ployment, or they may get feedback on current programs that indicates some need to +reassess the status of a particular issue. Finally, some items are brought to the policy +agenda by events that simply demand attention, such as starvation in Africa or the dam +age brought about by hurricanes or other natural disasters. + +There are many ways people try to affect the degree of attention given to particular +items. Sometimes called policy entrepreneurs, many people are willing to invest per +sonal time, energy, and often money in pursuit of particular policy changes. They use a +variety of tactics, such as publicity campaigns, direct contacts with decision makers +(letters, phone calls), petition drives, and many others, or they involve themselves in +major institutions, such as the media, political parties, or interest groups, that provide +access to decision makers. Election campaigns, for example, often help clarify or focus +the policy agenda. + +A second phase of the agenda-setting process may occur almost simultaneously. At the +same time that attention is focusing on a particular issue, it is likely that many will be +involved in trying to generate solutions to the problem. Ideas may come from decision +makers themselves, members of their staffs, experts in the bureaucracy, members of the +scientific community, policy think tanks (such as the Brookings Institution or the +American Enterprise Institute), or from the public generally. Typically, proposed solutions + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 51 + +swirl around through speeches and articles, papers, and conversations until a few ideas +begin to gain special currency. Most often these will be the ideas that not only seem to +correctly address the problem, but also seem to be politically acceptable. + +Networking + +For material on specific policy areas see Policy.com at http://www.speakout.com/ +activism/policy/. See also the home pages of various think tanks such as the +Brookings Institution, http://www.brookings.org, and the American Enterprise +Institute at http://www.aei.org/. Especially interesting is the site for the Urban +Institute at http://www.urban.org/. + +A third stream of events affecting the policy agenda is concerned with political action. +For a proposal to reach the top of the policy agenda, it must be consistent with emerging +political realities. Items that are consistent with the prevailing political climate, those +that are favored by the incumbent administration and legislative majority, and those that +have interest group support (or at least lack organized opposition) are more likely to +reach the top of the agenda. These political realities, the proposed ideas or solutions, and +the recognition of particular topics represent streams that must come together at just the +right moment for action to occur. The windows of opportunity for policy action are nar +row, and it takes great skill in managing the various streams so that ones interests are +best served. + +Policy Formulation + +Formulation of public policy involves development of formal policy statements (legisla +tion, executive orders, administrative rules, etc.) that are viewed as legitimate. Again, we +will focus here on policy making by the legislature and on the role of public administra +tors in the legislative process. The basics of how a bill becomes law are well known. +At the federal level and in most state governments, a bill is introduced and referred to +a committee (and perhaps a subcommittee), hearings are held, the committee reports to +the larger body, a vote is taken in both houses, a conference committee works out any +differences in the two versions, and the bill is sent to the chief executive for signature. +In most other jurisdictions, a similar, though often simplified, approach is used. In any +case, the complexity of the legislative process, and the fact that many different decision +points must be passed before anything is final, means there are many occasions when +those seeking to shape legislative outcomes can seek to exert their influence. + +The president, of course, has both formal and informal means of influencing legisla +tion, most notably through program initiatives and budget proposals. Others in the gov +ernment, including many agency personnel, interact with Congress on a regular basis and +may also affect policy outcomes. At the same time, those outside the governmentfrom +individual citizens to well-organized interest groupsalso seek access and influence. +Agency personnel become involved in the legislative process in several ways. In many +cases, agencies actually send program proposals to the legislature for its consideration. + + + +ji Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Such proposals are usually submitted to the legislative' leadership, then passed on in turn +to the appropriate committee chairs. Though a member of Congress will actually be the +one to introduce the proposed legislation, that person may depend on those in the agency +for background information and other support. Whether or not legislation has been +submitted by an agency, agency personnel will often be called upon to provide testimony +regarding particular proposals. As you might imagine, those who staff major public agen +cies constitute an important source of expertise concerning public issues. For example, it +is hard to imagine a group of people better able to understand the tax laws of a particular +state than those who work in the state revenue department. + +Over time, the relationship between agency personnel and representatives of Congress +(either members or staff) can become quite strong. After all, the two groups share com +mon interests and concerns, along with representatives of certain interest groups. A sub +committee on aging, a senior citizens lobbying organization, and the Social Security +Administration, for example, are likely to agree on the need for more Social Security +benefits. When the relationship among such interest groups, agency personnel, and mem +bers of Congress becomes especially frequent and intense, the resulting alliances are +sometimes called subgovernments or iron triangles. These coalitions can often exert +great, possibly even unwarranted, influence. + +You should be aware of some of the special considerations facing public administrators +at the local level and in nonprofit organizations as they are called upon for advice and help +during the process of policy development. As noted, the council-manager form of govern +ment was actually founded on a separation of policy and administrationthe council +made policy and the city manager carried it out. Over time, however, many city managers +have become valued by their councils for their expertise in local government and fre +quently find themselves commenting on or even proposing particular policies. While this +situation is quite at odds with the theory underlying council-manager government, it is the +reality in most council-manager cities. The same is true of executives in nonprofit organi +zations and associations. Such situations are not without risk, however, for a delicate bal +ance must be maintained between the executive and legislative functions. Council or board +members who feel that their policy-making territory has been intruded upon may exercise +another of their council prerogativesfiring the manager or executive! + +Policy Implementation + +Members of public and nonprofit organizations play important roles in building the pol +icy agenda and shaping legislative policy, but they are also involved in policy making as +part of the implementation process. By its very nature, legislation is general and lacking +in detail. Legislators cannot foresee all the individual questions that might come up in +implementing a program. Moreover, legislators dont want to tie the hands of program +managers by being too restrictive. Consequently, legislation typically leaves a great deal +of discretion to public managers in working out the details of a particular program. +The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for example, is instructed to prevent deceptive +advertising, but has to decide what is deceptive. The Occupational Safety and Health +Administration (OSHA) is asked to define and set safety standards for the workplace, + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 53 + +but must define more clearly what that means (Meier, 1987, p. 52). In these and many +other cases, managers develop administrative rules or policies to give detail to the legisla +tion or to fill in the gaps and, in effect, they make policy. + +An early case involving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) illustrates the lat +itude administrators are often given by Congress (and other legislative bodies) and the +difficulties they can cause (Reich, 1985). The EPA is required by law to develop national +standards limiting the emission of hazardous air pollutants so as to provide an ample +margin of safety to protect the public health. But there is no definition in the legislation +of ample. This question was especially problematic in the case of a copper smelter in +Tacoma, Washington. The EPA determined that, in the absence of any controls on emis +sions of arsenic from the plant, four new cases of cancer each year could be expected. +Even with the very best control equipment, there would still be one new case each year. +On the other hand, requiring actions to eliminate the threat would cost the company so +much money that it could not afford to continue operations, and its annual $23-million +payroll would be lost to the Tacoma community. Obviously, then EPA administrator +William Ruckelshaus faced a difficult exercise of discretion. (We will see in Chapter 4 +what he did.) + +There have been several recent debates concerning the amount of discretion given to +administrative agencies. Some analysts argue that broad grants of discretion amount to +an abdication of legislative power; others point to the advantages of expertise and flexi +bility residing in the agencies or with the executive. Currently, the trend appears to be in +the direction of greater detail in federal legislation, though occasionally less so at other +levels. In any case, there inevitably remain many opportunities for the exercise of admin +istrative discretion. + +Types of Policy + +The government develops and carries out several different types of policies, and the +involvement of public and nonprofit organizations in the policy process varies somewhat +according to type. We will examine four types of policy: regulatory, distributive, redis +tributive, and constituent (Meier, 1987). These classifications are not precise, however, +and indeed, many agencies work in several different areas at the same time. + +Regulatory policy is designed to limit the actions of persons or groups so as to protect +the general public or a substantial portion of the public. For example, people are prohibited +from selling certain drugs, polluting the air and water, and engaging in monopolistic busi +ness practices. One form of regulation simply focuses on illegal criminal activity; it is a +crime to do certain things. State and local governments have special responsibilities in this +area, and certain federal agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, are active +here as well. Another form of regulation focuses on American business and seeks to assure +fair and competitive practices. Indeed, the first major regulatory effort in this country came +in 1887, when the federal government created the Interstate Commerce Commission to reg +ulate the railroads. Similar regulatory agencies today monitor securities (Securities and +Exchange Commission), commodity exchanges (Commodity Futures Trading Association), +and labor relations (National Labor Relations Board), among others. + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +A more modern regulatory area is concerned with limiting access to certain goods +available to the public generally, such as the airwaves (regulated by the Federal +Communications Commission) or clean air and water (regulated by the Environmental +Protection Agency). Other regulatory bodies focus on protecting health and safety, in +such areas as consumer protection (Consumer Product Safety Commission), air travel +(Federal Aviation Administration), food (Food and Drug Administration), and work +place safety (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration). + +While federal regulation of economic activities has seen several waves of growth +through the past century (Ripley & Franklin, 1987), the last two decades have seen +somewhat of a movement in the opposite direction. Fate in the Carter administration +and extending through the Reagan administration, there were several efforts to deregu +late certain industries. The Civil Aviation Board was disbanded in 1984, and over the +following decade significant areas of transportation, telecommunications, and banking +were deregulated. Moreover, regulations were eliminated or enforcement slowed down +in areas such as the workplace, auto, and consumer products safety. + +During the 1990s, however, even as other federal agencies relaxed their regulatory +grip, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attempted to expand its jurisdiction to +include one of the largest industries in the country, and certainly the industry with the +most profound impact on public healthtobacco. Under Commissioner David Kessler, +the FDA tried to establish nicotine as a drug, a move that would have given federal regu +lators the power to control cigarettes and other tobacco products. Tobacco companies +quickly challenged, and in FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation et al. +(2000) the Supreme Court ruled against the federal government. Justice OConnor, in +her summary of the majority opinion, wrote that although smoking should be consid +ered one of the most troubling public health problems facing our nation today . . . the +FDAs assertion of jurisdiction is impermissible (cited in Kessler, 2001, p. 384). + +Distributive policy, perhaps the most common form of government policy, uses general +tax revenues to provide benefits to individuals or groups, often by means of grants or sub +sidies. If the country faces a large agricultural surplus, for example, the federal govern +ment may provide incentive payments to farmers not to produce crops that would add to +the surplus. Similarly, the federal government provides direct grants to state and local +governments for a variety of purposes. Finally, governments often create public goods +that all citizens can enjoy. In some cases, such as national defense, the good is provided +for all; in others, such as city, state, or national parks, it is anticipated that some citizens +will use the benefit and others will not. (In Chapter 3, we will examine the growing trend +toward employing user fees for certain of these traditionally public goods.) + +Unlike regulatory agencies that are often at odds with a clientele group they are seeking +to regulate, agencies that carry out distributive policies often develop close relationships +with their constituencies and, in turn, with interested members of Congress. The growth of +veterans benefits over the past several decades is an almost classic example of the opera +tion of such a subgovernment. The Veterans Administration (VA) is now one of the largest +federal agencies and provides a broad range of health benefits, educational assistance, pen +sions, and insurance for veterans. Such a development would not have been possible with +out the VAs close relationship with veterans groups (such as the American Region and the +Veterans of Foreign Wars) and with the veterans committees in Congress. + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 55 + +Redistributive policies take taxes from certain groups and give them to another group. +On rare occasions, redistribution is from the less well off to the better off; many charge +that capital gains proposals are of this type. Redistribution is, however, generally thought +of as benefiting less advantaged groups at the perceived expense of the advantaged. +Among major redistributive policies are those that deal with (1) income stabilization, +helping to support those who are unemployed or retired; (2) social welfare, providing +either direct payments to individuals or supporting state and local efforts for the indigent; +and (3) health care programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare. Most federal agencies +active in the redistributive area, such as the Social Security Administration or the office of +Human Development, are located in the Department of Health and Human Services. + +Since redistributive policies are often (though sometimes incorrectly) viewed in win-lose +termsthat is, if one group benefits, another will surely losethey generate perhaps +more intense discussion than any other area of public policy. Despite this controversy, +every American president since Roosevelt and prior to Reagan has supported some major +redistributive efforts. Presidents Reagan and Bush, however, took the opposite position, +seeking to limit and even reduce redistributive programs. The reform agenda also influ +enced President Clinton, whose pledge to end welfare as we know it resulted in legisla +tion placing a five-year cap on public assistance and tying welfare benefits to a work +requirement. And, within the first six months of his term, President George W. Bush +showed his administrations commitment to continuing this trend by advancing a $1.3 tril +lion tax cut and encouraging Congress to trim federal spending. + +Constituent policies (Lowi, 1972, p. 300) are intended to benefit the public generally +or to serve the government. Foreign and defense policies are good examples of the first +set of constituent policies, as well as good examples of the operations of a significant +subgovernment. The Air Force had lobbied since the 1960s to build the B-l bomber as a +mainstay of our air defense. In 1978, President Carter was able to kill plans to build the +B-l; however, only three years later, a combination of Defense Department officials, +representatives from the defense industry (especially contractors), and congressional sup +porters of increased military capabilities helped President Reagan resurrect the B-l. +(Incidentally, even though today more than a hundred B-l bombers have been built and +are in service, the B-l remains controversial.) + +The other set of constituent policies are those directed toward the agencies of govern +ment itself. Legislation affecting the structure and function of government agencies, as +well as policies governing their operations, falls in this area. President Carter was espe +cially interested in policies impacting government agencies and was instrumental in such +changes as a reorganization of the federal personnel system and a reemphasis on affirma +tive action in hiring practices. Presidents Reagan and Bush were more interested in mat +ters of technical efficiency and problems of waste in government. President Clinton, early +in his term, expressed an interest in managerial issues, pledging to implement some ver +sion of Total Quality Management in the federal government, as he had done in +Arkansas. And as mentioned previously, President Clinton, later in his tenure, and +assisted in significant measure by Vice President Gore, developed the National +Performance Review, an effort to make government work better and cost less (and a topic +we will examine in detail later). More recently, President George W. Bush has rejuvenated +the Reagan-Bush drive for technical efficiency. In an article titled, Trying to Run a + + + +5 6 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Country Like a Corporation, the New York Times characterized President Bush, the first +president with an MBA, as the chairman of the board of the worlds biggest conglomer +ate . . . They said his administration would apply business discipline to a bloated govern +ment. And cabinet sessions do look a lot like the Business Roundtable[.J (Sanger, 2001, +p. 1). Led by a cabinet of former C.E.O.s, the Bush administration has placed an empha +sis on developing more efficient, business-like practices of government. + +Sources of Bureaucratic Power + +There are several reasons governmental agencies have become so influential in the policy +process. First, those who staff the agencies constitute an enormous source of expertise +with respect to their areas of interest. No president, governor, mayor, or legislator could +ever be expected to gain comparable expertise in all areas. Consequently, to make +informed decisions, elected officials must often rely on those in the various agencies. It is +often said that information is power; the information that is stored in government agen +cies is a distinct source of power. + +Second, as noted earlier, legislation is often both inevitably and intentionally vague, +leaving considerable discretion to the administrator. In some cases, legislators simply +wish to defer to the expertise of those in the agencies to provide detailed rules and +interpretations. In others, they are recognizing the necessity of some flexibility in +administering public programs. In still others, they are responding to the pressures of +the legislative process itself, where specificity leads to disputes, and vagueness can often +promote agreement. + +Administrative discretion is also necessary because changing conditions necessitate +changing policies, and it is not always possible to wait for new laws to be passed. In the +1960s, for example, the Department of Agriculture sought to maintain farm income by +lowering the supply of agricultural products. Following shortages in the 1970s, the +department sought increased production (Anderson, Brady, & Bullock, 1984). In the +1980s, the policy once again became one of limiting production. Flexibility is also +needed as new information is discovered. For example, a few years ago, the surgeon gen +eral sent a brochure to all households in the country outlining the latest information +about AIDS, an action not mandated by Congress but, in the judgment of the surgeon +general, required by emerging events. + +Through their expertise and discretionary power, those in public agencies help shape +public policy. But there are more active and more political ways in which certain agen +cies become involved in the policy process. Whereas all agencies participate in making +policy at some level, some agencies clearly are more politically adept than others. The +Defense Department and the Veterans Administration, for example, both wield consider +able power, whereas the Government Printing Office has little. + +The power, influence, and, in turn, the resources an agency is able to generate depend +on several factors, some external to the agency, some internal (Meier, 1987, pp. 54-72). +Obviously, shifts in public opinion concerning the agencys task are likely to affect the +support the agency receives. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has +experienced wide variations in public support over the years, riding a crest of popularity + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 57 + +with the first lunar landing, but later coming under special scrutiny in the wake of the +Challenger disaster. More recently, the agency has been fighting desperately to maintain +projects such as the space station in the light of proposed budget cuts. Not surprisingly, +there seems to be a close correlation between favorable public opinion concerning an +agencys area of interest and the support it receives from Congress. + +More specific support comes from clientele groups, members of the legislature, and +others in the executive branch. We have already noted the support certain agencies +receive from clientele groups who benefit from the agencies actions. Obviously, the +larger and more powerful the supporters of the agency, the more powerful the agency +is likely to be. But agencies also develop opposition, which can be damaging to the +agencies' programs. The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, interacts with +many different groups, including businesses, state environmental agencies, members of +the scientific community, and groups like the Sierra Club or the National Wildlife +Federation; the EPA is likely to receive support from some groups and opposition from +others. + +Special support can also come from individual members of the legislature who +decide, for whatever reason, to champion an agencys cause. Rep. Claude Pepper of +Florida, for instance, became associated with improved benefits for older Americans +and, in that role, worked closely with the Social Security Administration and related +social welfare agencies. As we have seen, the combination of congressional and clien +tele support can lead to the development of subgovernments within particular policy +areas. These subgovernments come about, in part, because each group has something +to give and something to gain from the relationship. The agency can provide quick and +favorable responses to congressional requests for help as well as rulings favorable +to clientele groups. In return, the agency might receive support for expansion of its +budget and programs. + +Support may also come from other members of the executive branch. Presidential sup +port is obviously important, whether it is diffuse support of the general area of an +agencys work or specific, as in a presidents support for AIDS research, increased drug +enforcement, or a particular new weapons system. But agencies are also attentive to their +relationships with other agencies. The development of a new state park may raise envi +ronmental issues, economic development issues, and health issues. The Parks Department +will clearly fare better if all the relevant groups and agencies are on board. + +For nonprofit organizations, the capacity to influence public policy tends to be lim +ited as much by informal as formal mandates. Although federal law does set guidelines +for the use of public and charitable resources for lobbying purposes, some nonprofit +leaders assume that these limitations prevent them from representing their con +stituents interests in policy decision-making. Or, they refrain from taking a stand on +issues, so as not to isolate themselves from opposing parties. Philanthropy groups, +such as the Independent Sector with its Charity Fobbying in the Public Interest initia +tive, have launched campaigns to encourage nonprofit leaders to be more proactive in +their lobbying and to expand the advocacy role of nonprofits in the public policy +process. The Internal Revenue Service has assisted in this effort by making available +a simplified set of guidelines from the federal tax code, which nonprofits can use to +map their lobbying strategies. + + + +5 8 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Networking + +For information on the advocacy role of nonprofit organizations, see http://www. +independentsector.org. A copy of the Nonprofit Lobbying Guide can be down +loaded at http://www.independentsector.org/clpi/IS_LOBBY.pdf. For the IRS +guidelines, see http://www. independentsector.org/clpi/IRS_Letter.htm. + +In addition to the external sources of bureaucratic power, there are several internal +sources of power (Meier, 1987, pp. 66-72). We have already noted the importance of +the information and expertise of agency personnel. Especially in highly technical areas, +such as medicine or agricultural economics, those in the agencies are likely to be far +more knowledgeable than many others involved in setting policies and priorities. If they +can employ their expertise credibly, demonstrating effective performance over time, the +agency will surely benefit. + +Agencies are also likely to benefit by their cohesion, the degree to which members are +uniformly committed to the organization and its goals. An agency that is seen as divided +over major issues will suffer a loss of credibility. Conversely, a sense of unity within an +agency is likely to make the agency more effective, both internally and externally. + +Finally, agencies benefit from strong and effective leadership. For example, James +Baker became known as a highly effective leader (as well as an effective politician) in his +several roles during the Bush administration. As Secretary of State, Baker played a strong +leadership role in U.S. policy in the Middle East and elsewhere. Similarly, in the Clinton +administration, Madeline Albright quickly emerged as a strong Secretary of State and +enjoyed a good relationship with Congress, especially in her early days in office. On the +other hand, the impact of effective versus ineffective leadership is illustrated by the +change in the EPA under the highly effective ^(/illiam Ruckelshaus and the ineffective +Anne Burford. + +The power of particular agencies, therefore, is the result of interaction between the +agency and its environment, a process to which the agency brings certain strengths, but +must also exercise considerable skill to reach its goals. The external support an agency +can generate and the internal combination of its knowledge, cohesion, and leadership +affect the amount of power and influence it can command. ^J7hatever an agencys degree +of power and influence, however, that power and influence must be exercised judiciously. +The agency is a creation of the legislature, and its programs are always subject to the +legislatures review, alteration, and even termination. + +Legislative Supervision: Structural Controls + +Most governmental programs (and the agencies that administer them) first take shape in +the legislative process. In response to public demands and perhaps also executive leader +ship, the Congress or a state legislature or a city council or a board of directors passes +legislation or policies to correct a particular problem. The problems vary widely, from +federal environmental policy to state education requirements to local trash collection + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 59 + +practices to the establishment of local health centers, but in most cases legislation autho +rizes the program. Typically, especially in larger jurisdictions, money to operate the +program is separately authorized through an appropriations process. With a program +authorized and money appropriated, the building (or expansion) of a public organiza +tion can commence. + +Networking + +For information on Congress, see the following: http://www.loc.gov/ for the +Library of Congress; http://thomas.loc.gov/ for Congress; http://www.house.gov/ +for the House; and U.S. http://www.senate.gov/ for the Senate. + +Legislation is, however, somewhat limited as a device for controlling the day-to-day +activities of public organizations, especially at the federal and state levels. (Remember that +legislation is usually intentionally vague at some points.) But legislation can be used as +a control device. After a program is under way, legislation may be passed to prevent mem +bers of the executive branch from taking certain actions (Meier, 1987, pp. 140-141). +For example, the Boland Amendment sought to prevent covert action in support of the +Contras in Nicaragua in the mid-1980s. Whereas legislation authorizing programs must +inevitably be somewhat general, legislative prohibitions on administrative actions can be +quite specific. However, as in the Iran-Contra scandal, members of an administration may +go to great lengths to reinterpret legislation to avoid even those specific prohibitions. + +Legislative Veto + +One specific device legislatures employ to control public agencies is the legislative veto, a +statutory provision that essentially says that any action proposed by the executive (or +administrative agency) under provisions of a particular piece of legislation is subject to +the approval or disapproval of Congress (or some portion of Congress), usually within +thirty to ninety days. For example, legislation might authorize a new highway program, +but require legislative consent to undertake specific projects. The legislative veto was first +used in the 1930s to permit the president to reorganize the government, subject to +review by Congress. In the 1970s and early 1980s, however, the legislative veto began to +be used in many other areas, most notably in the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which +required the president to notify Congress of military action and to cease such action +within sixty days unless Congress acts to continue it. + +The effect of a legislative veto provision on a public agency is illustrated in the experi +ence of the Federal Trade Commission in the late 1970s and early 1980s. An aggressive +consumer protection effort by the FTC in the late 1970s was countered by business +groups in Congress, which successfully passed legislation to the effect that Congress could +disapprove any FTC rules it didnt like. Congress used that provision in 1982 to disap +prove an FTC rule, which had been developed over a ten-year period, requiring used-car +dealers to disclose defects in cars they sold (Ripley & Franklin, 1987, pp. 141-142). +In a similar case that found its way to the Supreme Court as Immigration and + + + +6o Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Naturalization Services v. Chadba (1983), the Court ruled the legislative veto unconstitu +tional. The Courts argument was that the constitutional process for passing legislation +requires the involvement of the president, and actions under a legislative veto provision +violate the separation of powers by failing to involve the executive. + +Despite the unconstitutionality of the legislative veto, the interest of Congress in con +trolling the work of administrative agencies has not diminished. Indeed, Congress has +found a variety of ways to get around the Chadba ruling, either informally, or by adding +detailed rules to legislative authorizations, or by simply continuing to include veto provi +sions in legislation despite the courts ruling. More recently, Congress in 1996 approved +a legislative review process that, while providing a veto alternative, would not be open +to the types of legal challenges that limited previous procedures (Cooper, 2000, p. 172). + +It should be noted that the question of legislative control over administrative agencies +is not limited to the federal government. At the state level, the use of the legislative veto +has been growing rapidly, and many states have adopted the veto either in the form of +legislation or as part of state administrative procedures. Moreover, while state courts +have reinforced the principles of Chadba (the Chadba ruling in a federal case does not +itself limit the use of the legislative veto at the state level), state lawmakers continue to +employ veto-like actions in their processes of legislative review (Cooper, 2000, p. 172). + +Sunset Laws + +To assess the performance of agencies and to eliminate those that are not successful, +another control device that legislatures employ is the sunset law. Sunset laws are based +on the assumption that certain governmental programs should continue only after an +evaluation of the programs effectiveness and a specific vote in their favor by the legisla +ture. The legislation includes a provision that these programs will be terminated within a +given time frame. A classic case on the problem of program continuation is the military +commissary system, which was created to provide foodstuffs to the cavalry on the west +ern plains in the 1800s. The program continues today, although nearly all military com +missaries are within ten miles of two or more supermarkets! + +Sunset laws became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after the state of +Colorado, at the urging of Common Cause, passed a set of laws requiring that certain regu +latory agencies be terminated at a given point unless given new life by the legislature. Soon +dozens of other states and many municipalities passed general sunset laws, applying termi +nation dates to a set of programs, or included sunset provisions in legislation creating new +programs. Proposals containing sunset provisions were also presented at the federal level. + +The purpose of specifying a particular life span for a program is to force careful eval +uation of the program at some future point. Critics of automatic terminations point out +several problems, not the least of which is the cost of evaluations and the burden to the +legislature and legislative staff if all programs were periodically evaluated in great detail. +Questions also arise about whether sunset legislation actually changes our assumptions +about continuing most programs; for example, no one would seriously anticipate that +a police or fire department would be eliminated. Finally, critics point out that most +programs are leviewed periodically anyway and that highly ineffective programs are +often eliminated even without sunset provisions. + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 61 + +The debate over sunset provisions was fueled once again in 2001, as Congress acted +to phase in key elements of the Bush administrations $1.3 trillion tax cut over a ten-year +period, but then established a sunset deadline for the end of the tenth year. Critics of the +legislation viewed this as a political remedy, one that would carry serious economic +implications if the then-sitting Congress failed to reinstate the tax measures. As the +New York Times reported, Most striking, all the tax cuts that became law today will +expire on Dec. 31, 2010, and unless they are renewed, the tax law will revert to what it +was this morning, before the president signed the new law. No one expects that to hap +pen, but if it did, it would mean a sudden huge tax increase that could have disastrous +economic consequences (Rosenbaum, 2001, p. Al). + +A final mechanism through which legislative bodies formally exert control over +administrative agencies is passage of broad legislation to govern agency conduct. Such +legislation, applicable to all agencies, might affect administrative procedures, contracting +or purchasing arrangements, human resources management, or other areas. A good +example is the continuing congressional interest in access to governmental information. +Following World War II, governmental agencies, probably in keeping with the military +mentality of the war years, could legally classify as confidential all records for which +there was good cause to hold secret. As you can imagine, it was not difficult to come up +with all kinds of good causes or reasons to withhold records. The practice of keeping +secrets became so widespread that one congressional investigating group found that the +Pentagon had classified as secret the construction of the bow and arrow and the fact that +water runs downhill! Similarly, the General Services Administration had decided pho +tographs could not be taken in federal buildings without permission of the janitor +(Archibald, 1979, p. 314). + +As a result of findings such as these, and in the belief that the public has the right to +information gathered by the government, Congress passed the Freedom of Information +Act in 1966. The law was based on the assumption that the public has the right to know, +except in clearly defined and exceptional cases; in other words, it limited those in the +executive branch from classifying documents for ill-defined purposes. Implementation of +the new law was hindered by confusion about certain of its parts and by some agency +officials who still tried to maintain as much secrecy as possible. These problems were +addressed in a series of amendments passed over the veto of President Ford in 1974. +The amendments required agencies to respond to inquiries quickly and even sought to +penalize government officials who hid government records from the public. Although +problems with the act have persisted, nearly all federal agencies have now implemented +the Freedom of Information provisions. + +Sunshine Laws + +These examples of constraints on the operation of government agencies are closely +related to sunshine laws that require various agencies, especially regulatory agencies, to +conduct business in public view (except under specific conditions). For example, early in +1993, based on a Freedom of Information request from a New York artist, NASA +released forty-five photographs of wreckage of the space shuttle Challenger, which had +exploded some seven years earlier. + + + +62. Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Floridas Government-in-the-Sunshine Law provides the public a right of access to +governmental proceedings at the state, county, and municipal levels, as well as other +political subdivisions such as authorities and special districts. This law requires that any +gathering of two or more members of any board or commission be subject to the +requirements of the Sunshine Law if they discuss any matter that will, in the foreseeable +future, come before that board for action. The three basic requirements of the law are: +(1) meetings must be open to the public, (2) reasonable notice of such meetings must be +given, and (3) minutes of the meetings must be taken. In effect, the law prohibits mem +bers of any board or commission from having informal or casual discussions of board +business outside an open public meeting for which reasonable notice was given. + +All fifty states now have sunshine provisions for their own legislative bodies, for +administrative agencies, and for local governments. In all these cases, the legislative +body, in expressing its concern for the publics right to be informed about the publics +business, has exercised control over a broad range of administrative agencies. + +Legislative Supervision: Oversight + +In addition to the structural mechanisms for legislative control, the legislature also exer +cises continuing supervision of administrative agencies through what is called the over +sight function. Each house of Congress has a government operations committee charged +with overseeing the activities of all government agencies, including their relationships +with other levels of government. In addition, each of the other congressional committees +exercises oversight responsibility with respect to its particular area of interest and exper +tise (e.g., defense, welfare, the post office). Oversight is especially connected to the leg +islative and appropriations processes (see Box 2.3), but may occur at any time. For this +reason, it is not unusual to see a cabinet secretary, complete with charts and documents, +testifying before a congressional committee that is interested in his or her programs. + +BOX 2.3 + +Testifying before the Appropriations Committee + +The most important thing in a committee hearing is creating an atmosphere of confi +denceso that you have confidence in the committee and they have confidence in you. +I tell my people to be perfectly honest and to have a full, free, and frank discussion with +the committee, even if it hurts you a little bit. That will mean more than anything else in +getting your money. Nobody likes to admit things and cast reflections on his own shop, +but dont try to fool the congressmen. You cant. They have a sixth sense when someone +is not talking freely and frankly. If you have a perfectly open discussion, theyll have +more confidence in you, and your appropriations troubles will be minimized. + +SOURCE: An agency budget officer quoted in Richard F. Fenno, Jr., The Power of the Purse (Boston- Little +Brown, 1966), 298. + +' + + + +Relationships with the Legislative Body 63 + +Holding hearings is probably the most visible oversight activity of Congress, at times +assuming a circus-like atmosphere. The Iran-Contra hearings, for example, were essen +tially an investigation of the activities of the National Security Council, an executive +agency, but they became the arena for considerable political in-fighting concerning the +Reagan administrations conduct of foreign policy. (They were also noteworthy for their +revelations of intentional efforts by Lt. Colonel Oliver North and Undersecretary of +State Elliot Abrams to deceive Congress in the course of normal oversight activities.) + +The exposure that hearings provide members of Congress is obvious. Politicians from +Harry Truman to Sam Ervin to Daniel Inouye to Fred Thompson have built national +reputations through their involvement in congressional hearings. But hearings can also +provide excellent opportunities for administrative officials at the federal, state, and local +levels, and in nonprofit organizations, to tell their side of the story, to help educate mem +bers of the legislature and the public generally, and to build support for their programs. +Consequently, most agencies devote considerable time and attention to legislative rela +tions, often, at the federal level, working through a legislative liaison office, or, at the +state and local levels, on a more individual basis. + +Perhaps the most extraordinary example of legislative oversight in recent years +occurred in 1998/99, when Congress impeached, then acquitted, President Clinton on +charges stemming from an adulterous affair with a White House intern. The House of +Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against the president, claiming +that he perjured himself in his testimony before a federal grand jury and that he +obstructed justice by interfering with the investigation of the Independent Council, Ken +Starr. However, the Senate voted to acquit the president on both articles of impeach +ment, a decision that in many ways brought to a close eight years of allegations, investi +gations, and scandal that had plagued the Clinton presidency. + +Nationally, Congress can also exercise oversight through its staff agencies, most of +which were significantly enhanced by legislation in the early 1970s that created the +Congressional Budget Office and charged it with furnishing certain program information +to Congress, and also shifted the focus of the General Accounting Office from its tradi +tional financial auditing to program evaluations. Now, in addition to holding hearings, +Congress can exercise oversight responsibility through staff evaluations of agency opera +tions by requesting information from the Congressional Budget Office or by initiating +audits or program evaluations by the General Accounting Office. Although legislative +staff capabilities at the state and local levels are considerably less, and often more +focused on policy development than oversight, all levels of government have witnessed a +general increase in legislative staff over the past twenty years. + +Finally, there are myriad informal relationships between legislators and those in exec +utive agencies. In fact, such nonstatutory controls may be the most common form of +congressional oversight (Davidson & Oleszek, 1990). + +Despite the array of oversight activities available to members of Congress and despite +devoting increased staff resources to oversight, questions remain concerning the effec +tiveness of legislative oversight of executive branch operations. Part of the problem is +simply that many legislators have relatively little interest in oversight activities. Instead, +they tend to focus on policy issues, recognizing that they are much more likely to build +their reputations in the policy arena than in oversight activities. Moreover, interest in + + + +64 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +oversight activities is likely to vary from time to time, increasing in times of crisis or +public outcry, when new and different program requests are forthcoming from an +agency, or when a member feels a particular agency has not been responsive to con +stituent groups. Generally, when a member has high confidence in a set of leaders and +tends to agree with policies, the motivation for oversight decreases; conversely, when +trust is low or when the members favored programs are being ignored, the incentive for +oversight is greater. + +Legislative Supervision: Casework + +Legislators also interact with those in public agencies on an individual basis, usually on +behalf of their constituents. Obviously, legislators who wish to be reelected must be +attentive to requests for information or influence from those in their districts. And, on +the other side of the coin, individual citizens have come to expect that they can and +should receive help from their senator or representative in dealings with government. +Thus, members of the legislature receive a multitude of requests for assistance, from +someone who needs help to collect Social Security benefits to someone who hopes to +influence the award of a particular governmental contract. Intervention in behalf of indi +viduals or groups that need assistance with or access to government agencies is called +legislative casework. + +At the federal level, providing services for constituents has become one of the most +time-consuming and important activities for Congress members. Requests for assistance +are typically handled by congressional staff members who specialize in casework. If the +request requires an inquiry into an agency activity, the staffer will likely approach the +agencys congressional liaison office or perhaps go directly to the agency head or a +regional office. In most instances, inquiries are responded to promptly, and information +about the case and any necessary explanations of the agencys action are returned +quickly to the member of Congress. + +Federal officials, in both the legislature and the agencies, feel the process is useful not +only in providing a mechanism for review, but also in clarifying agency policies and pro +cedures and assessing agency performance (Johannes, 1984). Occasionally, however, +pressure to bend the rules or to play political favoritism occurs. For example, several +years ago. Congressman Daniel Flood of Pennsylvania was charged with conspiracy, +bribery, and perjury in connection with his efforts to obtain certain federal grants and +loans for a hospital in his district. + +Casework activities seem less routine and institutionalized at the state and local levels. +Here there appear to be both benefits and costs (Elling, 1980). On the one hand, case +work activities serve to humanize the bureaucracy; on the other, there are disadvantages +in the disruption of administrative processes and in the possibility of political influence. +Certainly in the more highly professionalized governmental agencies, agency heads view +legislators involvement positively (Abney & Lauth, 1982). + +In many European countries, and in some American states and localities, the legisla +tures casework function has been paralleled or even turned over to the office of the +ombudsman, a permanent office that receives complaints and acts on behalf of citizens in + + + +Relationships with the Judiciary 65 + +securing information, requesting services, or pursuing grievances. Many other jurisdic +tions have created similar, though less formal, structures, such as public advocates, +citizens assistance offices, and so on (Hill, 1982). + +Relationships with the Judiciary + +The relationship between administrative agencies and the judiciary derives from the legal +foundations of administrative actions, some of which are quasi-legislative and others of +which are quasi-judicial. Those that are quasi-legislative elaborate the details of legisla +tion. As we have noted, most legislation is necessarily and intentionally general, leaving +considerable room for interpretation or discretion on the part of the administrator. +For example, an agency might be required by law to set safety standards for nuclear- +powered electric utilities but receive little guidance about which specific standards +should be employed. The agency would seek to determine appropriate standards, then +develop rules to govern implementation of the legislation. Rule making is concerned +with establishing general guidelines that would apply to a class of people or a class of +actions in the future. + +Networking + +For legal research on issues of administrative law, go to http://www.findlaw.com or +explore specific Supreme Court decisions at http://guide.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/ +supreme.html. Information relating to the Administrative Procedures Act can be +found at http://www.fda.gov/opacom/laws/adminpro.htm. + +At the federal level, rule making by administrative agencies, as well as many other +aspects of administrative law, is governed by the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). +(Similar statutes exist in each state to provide the legal framework for administrative +actions.) The act seeks to assure that rules are based on proper legal authority, that there +are both adequate notice of the rule making and an opportunity for citizens to be heard, +that the rule is clear and unambiguous, and that people are given sufficient advance +warning that the new rule will take effect (Federal Administrative Procedures Source +Book, 1992, p. 416). + +In 1996, the APA had its fiftieth anniversary, an anniversary that had some question +ing whether the act still provided an adequate framework to resolve the increasingly +complex legal questions in contemporary society. Recent challenges to the APA have cen +tered on issues of regulatory reform, including efforts by Congress to curb powers of +administrative agencies. The discourse on Capitol Hill, however, has tended to be +divided along partisan lines, with only a trace of common ground to advance the reform +agenda, and, in fact, most of the recent criticism from Congress had little to do with +poor administrative practices. The courts, on the other hand, remain favorable to the + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +APA and during the past three years have sustained the acts administrative framework. +So while the legislative debate goes on, the APA continues to be the primary guide for +the practice of administration. + +In most cases, rule making is fairly straightforward, involving notice, comment, and +steps to assure an adequate record; in others, legislation requires greater detail and great +formality in the rule-making process. Food and Drug Administration regulations and +others that involve high risks require a formal rule-making process. Formal rule-making +procedures require that the agency issue its rule only after trial-type hearing procedures +are completed. + +Several important provisions were added to the APA during the 1970s and 1990s. +These included measures that reduced regulatory demands in some circumstances involv +ing smaller for-profit, nonprofit, and public-sector organizations. The first of these +changes, which appeared in the APA as part of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), +gained approval during the Carter administration. Under the RFA, administrative agen +cies not only must take into account the impact of new regulations on smaller agencies, +but also ensure a requisite level of flexibility in the rules to accommodate agency compli +ance and reporting without adding to administrative costs. In 1996, as part of the debt +limit extension bill, Congress expanded the RFA by adding three statutes and approving +a legislative review process for proposed regulations. With the review process, lawmak +ers would now have a window of opportunity to adopt a resolution of disapproval +prior to final decision making (Cooper, 2000, p. 139). + +The Negotiated Rule Making Act of 1990 continued a trend toward the use of alter +native means of dispute resolution that is, mechanisms for resolving disputes that +would not require formal legal processes. As with other alternative means of dispute res +olutions, negotiated rule making provides a means of using consensual techniques to +produce better, more acceptable results, reducing the likelihood of protracted legislation. +Essentially, negotiated rule making brings together various parties involved in a particu +lar issue to discuss potential rules and to try to arrive at consensus in advance of the +structure and content of those rules. + +Like other forms of dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration, no agency is +forced to use these techniques; however, many public agencies are finding it very helpful +to do so (Federal Alternative Procedures Source Book, 1992). + +Other administrative actions are quasi-judicial in that they produce orders relating to +individual cases. For example, following the issuance of safety standards for nuclear +power plants, an administrator might have to decide if a particular plant has met those +standaids. Similarly, an administrator might have to decide if a specific individual is eli +gible for workers compensation. In such cases, the administrator is making decisions +that determine one s status under the law. The substantive decisions are obviously impor +tant, but so are the procedures under which they are resolved. For example, a woman +denied welfare support might request a hearing to argue her case before a final decision +is made. The administrator s decision to grant or refuse the hearing represents another +kind of quasi-judicial administrative action. + +In quasi-judicial administrative actions, often called adjudication, procedural issues +such as those just mentioned are of special importance. There is a desire that citizens be +treated fairly and not subjected to arbitrary decisions. Consequently, where standards of + + + +Relationships with the Judiciary 6y + +due process are applied, notice of the proposed action must be given, there must be +a chance for the affected party to respond, and there must be an independent decision +maker and an opportunity for appeal. + +The courts may review administrative actions (in rule making, adjudication, +or other areas) through judicial review. Such review typically occurs when a party +suffering legal wrong because of agency action, or adversely affected or aggrieved by +agency action seeks judicial remedy (5 U.S.C., Section 702). The court reviews the +case in light of constitutional, statutory, and executive provisions and determines the +appropriateness of the administrative action. Generally speaking, courts may find +unlawful and set aside agency actions that are unconstitutional, that extend beyond +the limits of statutory authority, that are arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discre +tion, that are procedurally unfair or without substantive justification (5 U.S.C., +Section 706). However, following the Supreme Courts finding in Chevron v. National +Resources Defense Council (1984), if a statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to +the issue at hand, the agencys interpretation of the statute must be upheld if its inter +pretation is a reasonable one. + +The deference to administrators underlying Chevron, a position referred to as +contemporaneous administrative construction, stems from the courts belief that an +administrative agency responsible for implementing a piece of legislation has the most +knowledge of the policy and of existing legislation concerning the issue. The courts may +ultimately disagree with the agency interpretation, but they start with a presumption +that the agency was correct. While some suggest that Chevron is being called into ques +tion, recent Supreme Court decisions have reinforced the doctrine of judicial deference to +administrative agencies. + +For example, in Rust v. Sullivan (1991), the high court considered a challenge to the +Bush administrations abortion gag rule, which prevented family planning clinics that +receive federal funding from offering counseling or referrals for abortion services, but +allowed information concerning childbirth and related services. The gag rule resulted +from a fundamental reinterpretation of the existing statute by the Secretary of Health +and Human Services (HHS). Despite the fact that the Secretarys position went against +the long-standing interpretation, a divided court ruled that the agencys policy should +stand since Congress had given responsibility to HHS for implementing the statute. +(The Rust decision also carries important implications for nonprofit organizations, in +that it holds employees of nonprofit organizations that receive government funding +responsible for the same requirements as public officials. For instance, Rust was applied +recently in a case challenging the ability of nonprofit organizations to lobby for their +constituents. The Supreme Court in Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez [2001] ruled that +employees of nonprofit organizations that receive government funding must adhere to +the same standards and limitations as government workers with regard to advocating on +issues of public policy.) + +In more recent cases, including Smiley v. Citibank (1996), Auer v. Robbins (1997) and +Regions Hospital v. Shalala (1998) and others, the Supreme Court has continued to rein +force the Chevron standard, based on the principle that unless legislators give clear +direction to the administering agency, the administrators interpretation must be upheld +as long as it is permissible under the statute. + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +On the other hand, the courts have established parameters for Chevron, limiting the +standard to regulatory measures and to circumstances in which the administering agency +clearly acts within the confines of the statute. The courts have maintained that petitions +regarding administrative issues, but whose primary concerns relate to legal matters such +as contracts, should be viewed as a question of law clearly within the competence of +the courts (Cooper, 2000, p. 254). Despite these limitations, the consistency with which +the court has reinforced Chevron, and in light of lower court decisions during the same +period, it can be presumed that the judiciary will maintain the capacity and scope of +administrative agencies into the post-Chevron era. The list of cases in Box 2.4 provides a +summary of the principles established during the past two decades. + +That is not to say that the court always rules in favor of the administrative agency. +Of particular interest are those cases in which the court determines that the agency has +misinterpreted (or gone beyond) the intent of the legislation. As an example, the statute +creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the Department +of Labor charged the agency with developing a standard for toxic substances in the +workplace which assures, to the extent feasible, that no employee will suffer material +impairment even if such employee has regular exposure to the hazard for the period of +his working life (Cooper, 1983, p. 192). After extensive studies, OSHA determined that +exposure to the toxic substance benzene created a risk of cancer and other health haz +ards and set a standard accordingly. + +The American Petroleum Institute sought judicial review that led the courts to a +discussion of two rather interesting issues. One aspect of the case had to do with legisla +tive intent. The Fifth Circuit Court focused on this issue, finding that the phrase to the +extent feasible in the legislation meant that a standard had to be both technologically +and economically feasible. For this reason, the court set aside the OSHA standard. +The Supreme Court concentrated more on the health aspects of the case, with the major +ity concluding that existing standards were not dangerous and the new standard was not +necessary. The justices who dissented argued that the Court should not substitute its +own judgment on the technical merits of the case for that of experts within the agency. +The case illustrates several of the most important difficulties that face the courts in +reviewing administrative actions (Cooper, 2000). + +The courts lately have more frequently acted not only to review agency actions, but to +compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed (5 U.S.C., Section +706). A few years ago, the Food and Drug Administration received a petition from +a group of death row inmates to determine whether the materials used for lethal injec +tions were safe and painless or whether they might leave the prisoner conscious but para +lyzed, a witness to his or her own slow death. The FDA responded that it did not have +jurisdiction to review the practices of state corrections systems in cases such as this* +however, on review, the circuit court concluded that the FDA did indeed have jurisdiction +The court wrote, In this case FDA is clearly refusing to exercise enforcement discretion +because it does not wish to become embroiled in an issue so morally and emotionally trou +bling as the death penalty. As a result of the FDAs inaction, appellants face the risk of +cruel execution (Cooper, 1985, p. 649). + +Closely related to the FDAs failure to undertake an investigation are cases in which +the agency refuses to make rules or delays the issuance of rules required by statute. But + + + +Relationships with the Judiciary 69 + +BOX 2.4 + +Legal Principles Relating to Judicial Review and Deference to Agency +Interpretation + +The standard for judicial review requires the court to address two questions: First, +has the legislature provided clear direction to the administering agency with regard to +the implementation of the statute? If so, then the court and the agency must follow +the direction established by the legislative body. Second, if the legislature has left the +implementation of the statute relatively vague, and thus granted an implicit level of +authority to the agency, is the agencys interpretation a permissible one under the +statute? + +Interpretation Relevant Cases + +The premise that a long-standing agency Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources +interpretation of a statute should be given Defense Council (1984) +considerable notice, while having legal +precedence, does not override an adminis +trators prerogative to reinterpret a +statute, even if the reinterpretation repre +sents a substantive change in policy direc +tion. Administrators must be given the +opportunity to keep pace with changing +conditions, and their decisions merely +have to be permissible under the statute. +In other words, the administrators inter + +relation does not have to be the best or +rightest choice, only a permissible one. + +The power of judicial review in cases of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers +administrative interpretation must be Association v. State Farm Mutual Ins. +limited, since it is not up to the courts to Co. (1983) +negotiate among alternate interpreta INS v. Cardozo-Fonzeca (1987) +tions of a statute or to determine which + +Rust v. Sullivan (1991) +interpretation would be better from a +regulatory standpoint. In such cases, NationsBank v. Variable Annuity (1995) +the agencys interpretation must be Smiley v. Citibank (1996) +followedthat is, as long as the inter Auer v. Robbins (1997) +pretation adheres to the language and +principles of the statute. Regions Hospital v. Shalala (1998) + +Martin v. Occupational Safety and +Health Review Commission (1991) +Thomas Jefferson University v. Shalala +(1994) +United States v. OHagan (1997) + +SOURCE: Reproduced by permission of the publisher, F. E. Peacock Publishers Inc., Itasca, Illinois. From +Phillip J. Cooper, Public Law and Public Administration 3d ed., 2000 copyright, pp. 250-264, 269-270. + + + +jo Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +there have also been several recent cases in which agencies have been found to have +exceeded their authority in rescinding previously established rules. + +Concerns for Due Process + +At the heart of our system of jurisprudence is the assurance that people will be treated +fairly, that they have a right to present arguments and evidence in their own behalf, +and that those who make the decisions will be unbiased and impartial. As with issues +of due process in administrative adjudicationwhether a hearing is required, at what +point, and the format of the hearing some patterns have emerged in the Supreme +Courts evaluation of administrative matters. During the 1950s, 1960s, and early +1970s, the Court sought to protect the rights of citizens from arbitrary action on the +part of administrative agencies by requiring that a person be allowed an opportunity +to challenge a proposed action before being made to suffer serious harm. The Court +would not allow cost or inconvenience to the agency as an excuse for causing harm to +an individual. + +Through the 1970s and 1980s however, the Supreme Court, under the leadership of +Chief Justice Warren Burger, began to alter its approach to administrative due process, +treating administrative hearings not as a means of protection but as devices for fact +finding. Most frequently, the Court has employed a balancing test, weighing the +interests of the individual (rather narrowly defined), the value of additional safeguards, +and the governments interest (including the fiscal and administrative burdens that addi +tional procedural safeguards might impose). The material in Box 2.5 illustrates the +application of this balancing test. As a result, it has become much more difficult for +someone who feels that adequate protections have not been provided to prevail in the +courts (Cooper, 2000). + +The flexibility in administrative law for due process has contributed to a variety of +alternative dispute resolution (ADR) strategies, namely mediation and arbitration. +In fact, the adoption of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 1990 helped remove +many of the barriers administrators face to such alternative approaches. For the most +part, ADR strategies are easier to employ in less complex cases. Yet ADR should not be +used to obtain settlements that fail to protect the public interest. The spirit and letter of +the agreement must be clear or else face considerable challenge, and potential failure, +during the implementation stage. + +The Courts and Agency Administration + +Over the past twenty years, one of the most dramatic developments in the relationship +between administrative agencies and the judiciary is the direct involvement of federal +district courts (and some state courts) in agency administration, including decisions on +spending, personnel, organization, and management. This involvement has come about +through court rulings in administrative equity cases, wherein individual rights, such as +the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, have been violated by state and +local administrative organizations. + + + +Relationships with the Judiciary 71 + +BOX 2.5 ___.____ ...;. .. + +The Spotted Owl and Agency Interpretation of the Law + +When a court reviews an agencys construction of the statute it administers, it is con +fronted with two questions. First, always, is the question of whether Congress has +directly spoken to the precise question at issue. If the intent of Congress is clear, that +is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the +unambiguously expressed intent of Congress. + +If, however, the court determines Congress has not directly addressed the precise +question at issue, the court does not simply impose its own construction of the +statute, as would be necessary in the absence of an administrative interpretation. + +Rather, if the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the +question for the court is whether the agencys answer is based on a permissible con +struction of the statute. + +Given the ubiquity of ambiguity in regulatory statutes, Chevron looked like a +recipe for judicial acquiescence to agency interpretations. It hasnt worked out that +way. Sometimes, to be sure, the Court gives full scope to the doctrine announced in +Chevron. Other times, however, the Court virtually ignores the Chevron test. Most +importantly, only three years after Chevron, the Court recognized a major escape +hatch from the doctrine of deference to agency interpretation. + +Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregonthe cele +brated Spotted Owl caseillustrates the indeterminacy of the Chevron doctrine. +At issue was the meaning of the term harm in the Endangered Species Act. The act +prohibits the taking of endangered animals and defines take to mean to harass, +harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect!.] According to +Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, harm includes destruction of habitat that +has the effectalthough not the purpose of harming endangered wildlife. Oregon +business interests challenged this interpretation as contrary to the statute. + +The fundamental problem in administrative law is that a congressional majority +typically favors some federal response to a problem, but no congressional majority +favors any particular response. Rather than do nothing, Congress adopts general lan +guage and leaves it to the agenciesand the courtsto make the controversial +choices. The Endangered Species Act is a good illustration of this. Congress knew +quite well that habitat destruction poses the biggest threat to endangered species. +Congress also knew, however, that regulating habitat destruction would conflict with +economic development. So Congress waffled. + +The only clear intention Congress had regarding habitat destruction is a clear +intention to have no clear intention. The problem calls less for lawyerly interpreta +tions of authoritative language than for a policy decision made by an institution that +is familiar with the problem and is held politically accountable. The agency has the +advantage (over) the courts on both counts. + +SOURCE: Donald A. Dripps, Trial 32, no. 2 (February 1996), 70-71. + + + +72 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Two landmark cases in the early 1970s set precedents for such rulings. In the first, +prisoners in the Arkansas penitentiary system alleged a large number of abuses, includ +ing dangerous and unhealthy conditions in the prisons. The court ruled that confinement +in the Arkansas system amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and ordered correc +tions officials to devise a plan to remedy the problems. Similarly, in Alabama a federal +district court judge found intolerable and deplorable conditions in that states largest +mental health facility and ordered corrective actions. The court also established a consti +tutional right to treatment, detailing actions required to meet that constitutional stan +dard (Gilmour, 1982, pp. 26-29). + +The involvement of courts in the management of public agencies is especially well +illustrated in a federal judges order demanding reform of the New Orleans Parish +Prison. In addition to ordering adequate medical services, improved security, and devel +opment of recreational facilities, the judge directed that the management and opera +tion of the prison be improved immediately, that a professional penologist be hired to +manage the prison, and that personnel practices (filling vacancies, raising wages, etc.) +be improved in specific ways. Although court actions such as this have obviously cor +rected constitutional inequities, there are questions as to whether the courts are well +suited for involvement in the details of administration. Moreover, many states and +localities argue that court-ordered expenditures of funds on projects such as desegrega +tion or prison reform take money away from other needed services, such as education, +social welfare, or mental health. Indeed, for these various reasons, the Supreme Court +has recently taken steps to limit the involvement of courts in the work of administrative +agencies, requiring carefully tailored plans of limited duration based on specific consti +tutional violations. + +Summary and Action Implications + +This chapter has explored the political context of public administration, including things +you will simply need to know to operate effectively in or with public or nonprofit orga +nizations. The material in this chapter (and in Chapter 3) constitutes a knowledge base +on which to build your action skills. Understanding the political context of work in the +public sector will enhance the effectiveness of your actions. + +Public managers, and their counterparts in nonprofit organizations, work in many dif +ferent institutional settings, but those institutions all reflect important political values +that lie at the heart of a democratic system. Whether at the federal, state, or local level, +in the governmental or nongovernmental sector, a democracys values, especially a +concern for operating in the public interest, affect the structure of public and nonprofit +organizations. For example, the division of powers at the federal level expresses a fear of +concentrated power; similarly, the council-manager plan expresses one way to view the +relationship between politics and administration. Finally, the structure of nonprofit orga +nizations reflects their operation in the public interest. Knowing something about how +democratic values are reflected in the structure of the various organizations and knowing + + + +Terms and Definitions 73 + +something about the role of executive leadership in administrative organizations will +enable you to act with greater confidence and authority. + +As a manager, you may have important interactions with a legislative body, either the +national Congress, a state legislature, a local city council, or a nonprofit organizations +board of directors. Those serving in the public interest participate in one way or another +in nearly all policy areasa situation that our political system encourages. The distinc +tion Woodrow Wilson suggested between politics (or policy) and administration no +longer accurately describes the relationship between the legislative and the executive +branch. Today, the legislature and the various agencies of government share in the policy +process, either working together in developing policy or making separate decisions in +different realms. + +As a manager, you will also deal with the legislature in many other ways. Most impor +tantly, the legislature will establish the tasks your agency or association will undertake +and provide human and financial resources to carry them out. Moreover, the legislative +body will exercise continuing, though sometimes intermittent, supervision over your +work. Thus, you may spend a great deal of time developing effective working relation +ships with those in the legislature. + +The involvement of the courts in the work of administration is both intense and +inevitable. For this reason, your understanding of the legal system and your ability to +interact with legal and judicial officers will improve your effectiveness as a public man +ager. Whether you are dealing with the legislative body or the courts, your relationship +with either need not be adversarial. Indeed, in many cases, the legislature and the courts +can help to substantially improve administrative practices. + +By now you should be coming to realize that your behavior as a public or nonprofit +manager is bounded by a vast and complicated network of relationships in which you +are but one of many players. Within this network, you must be attentive to questions of +executive leadership, legislative intent and oversight, and judicial interpretation. The +world of the public administrator is indeed complex! + +Terms and Definitions + +Agenda setting: Phase in public policy process when certain problems come to be +viewed as needing attention. + +Cohesion: Degree to which members of a group are uniformly committed to the +group and its goals. + +Constituent policy: Policy designed to benefit the public generally or to serve the +government. + +Distributive policy: Policy involving use of general tax funds to provide assistance +and benefits to individuals or groups. + +Executive order: A presidential mandate directed to and governing, with the effect of +law, the actions of government officials and agencies. + + + +74 Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Independent agencies: Agencies intentionally created outside the normal cabinet +organization. + +Iron triangle: Term given to a coalition of interest groups, agency personnel, and +members of Congress created to exert influence on a particular policy issue. + +Legislative veto: Statutory provision that gives Congress the authority to approve or +disapprove certain executive actions. + +Nonprofit organizations: Organizations prohibited by law from distributing surplus +revenues to individuals. + +Ombudsman: Permanent office that receives complaints and acts on behalf of citizens +to secure information, request services, or pursue grievances. + +Policy: Statement of goals and intentions with respect to a particular problem or set +of problems. + +Policy entrepreneur: A person willing to invest personal time, energy, and money in +pursuit of particular policy changes. + +Public corporation: An essentially commercial agency where work requires greater +latitude and acquires at least a portion of its funding in the marketplace (e.g., +Tennessee Valley Authority). + +Public policy: Authoritative statements made by legitimate governmental actors about +public problems. + +Redistributive policy: Policy designed to take taxes from certain groups and give +them to another group. + +Regulatory commission: Group formed to regulate a particular area of the economy; +usually headed by a group of individuals appointed by the president and confirmed by +the Senate. + +Regulatory policy: Policy designed to limit actions of persons or groups to protect all +or parts of the general public. + +Rule making: Administrative establishment of general guidelines for application to +a class of people or a class of actions at some future time. + +Sunset law: Provision that sets a specific termination date for a program. + +Sunshine law: Provision that requires agencies to conduct business in public view. + +Study Questions + +1. What do we mean by the term public policies? +2. Describe how the presidents role in the administration of government has changed + +since the framing of the Constitution. + + + +Cases and Exercises 75 + +3. Describe how the federal government is organized. +4. State and local governments have been designed to operate similarly to the national + +level; however, both have distinct structures for administering government initiatives. +Explain each levels structure and the different approaches to operating the govern +ment bureaucracy. + +5. Describe the policy process and actors who play significant roles in shaping adminis +trative issues. + +6. What are the four types of policy? Define and give examples. +7. How do agencies maintain a power base within the government? +8. Describe some of the structural controls on bureaucratic power and how government, + +as a whole, benefits from these controls. +9. Discuss several ways the legislative and judicial branches interact with the bureau + +cracy. Explain why these interventions are necessary and useful. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. We have discussed the various powers, both formal and informal, that affect the gov +ernors ability to exercise executive power in the administration of state government. +Among the informal powers that governors exercise are political powers (including +agenda setting), budgetary powers, and executive leadership. + +Among the formal powers are the presence or absence of an item veto and the abil +ity of the governor to reorganize state agencies. Another indicator of gubernatorial +power is the number of other elected statewide officials. Analyze the power of the +governor in your state, giving special attention to the governors power to exercise +executive leadership over the agencies of state government. How do your governors +executive powers compare to those of the president of the EFnited States? How do they +compare to those of your local mayor? + +2. The United States Government Manual is the handbook or encyclopedia of federal +government programs and activities. It contains descriptions of the many programs the +federal government operates, as well as information about how the government is +organized to conduct those programs. Obtain a copy of the Manual and analyze the +organization and structure of one cabinet-level department, such as Transportation or +Health and Human Services. Then, using local sources, try to develop similar informa +tion about how your state and your local government are organized to deal with the +same subject matter. What are the similarities and what are the differences? How do +you explain them? + +3. Attend a meeting of a congressional or state legislative committee, of your local city +council, or of the board of directors of a local nonprofit organization. Watch the +pattern of interaction between elected members of the legislative body and full-time +administrators. (The latter may be agency staff called to testify, legislative support +staff, a city manager or executive director, or many others.) What strengths does +each side bring to the exchange? What is the level of cooperation or competition? +If possible, try to follow up with the administrator to see how he or she felt about + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +the interchange. To what extent did the legislative body set a clear direction for +the administrators ensuing actions? What discretion did the administrator have +(or claim to have) following the meeting? + +4. Consider the following case: Billie Jackson was the leader of a nonprofit, economic +development corporation in a small community in Colorado. For six years, Billie had +been trying to interest members of the city council in purchasing an abandoned down +town hotel for conversion to a city-owned long-term care facility. Billie felt strongly +that the community needed such a facility and that the city had a golden opportunity +to meet that need through purchase of the hotel. The problem was that several +extremely conservative members of the council felt differently. In their view, the city +shouldnt get into providing social services, especially where the need might be met by +a private firm at some point in the future. Moreover, they felt the cost of the purchase +and renovations would be more than the community could bear. + +The hotel issue was once again on the council agenda, and Billie was determined to +make the strongest appeal possible. With the help of a nearby university, she had pre +pared a lengthy report documenting the need for the facility and the desirability of +purchasing the hotel. Just as she was beginning her presentation, one of the conserva +tive council members said, Mrs. Jackson, we have heard more on this topic than we +care to. I just dont want to go through all this again. I move to table the issue indefi +nitely. The motion to table carried by a quick and somewhat confused voice vote. + +Assume the role of Billie Jackson. What is your immediate response? What would +you do in the days and weeks that followed? Would you continue to pursue the issue? +Why or why not? + +5. Read the following case: The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand a ruling requiring +Alaska to collect rent or royalties from miners of gold, silver, and other hard rock, +despite the fact that collections will be so low that the money wont even cover state +paperwork costs. + +Under the Alaska Statehood Act, the state received more than 100 million acres of +land and was directed to devise a system to protect its mineral rights. The legislature +decided to collect royalties from companies involved in the lucrative search for oil, +gas, and coal, but waived the requirement for the mining of gold, silver, and other +hard rock because it did not generate much money. + +Alaska received more than $1 billion a year in royalties from companies that mine +for oil and gas, the states major resources. The state has argued that royalties for +hard rock mining would amount to only $100,000 a year, not enough to make the +paper work worthwhile. + +A coalition of environmental, fishing and native Alaskan groups had originally +filed suit to force the state to collect fees for the mining for hard rock, accusing Alaska +of violating the Alaska Statehood Act. + +SOURCE: City and State 4 (June 6, 1988). Reprinted by permission. + +Discuss your response to this case. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think it +is appropriate for a federal court to order a state or locality to undertake an action it +has chosen not to take and that will cost the state or locality to administer? + + + +For Additional Reading 77 + +For Additional Reading + +Aaron, Henry, Thomas Mann, and Timothy Taylor, eds. Values and Public Policy. +Washington: Brookings Institution, 1994. + +Ammons, David N., and Charldean Newell. City Executives: Leadership Roles, Work +Characteristics and Time Management. Albany, NY: State University of New York +Press, 1989. + +Anderson, James E. Public Policymaking: An Introduction. 2d ed. Boston, MA: +Houghton Mifflin Co., 1994. + +Bailey, Mary Timney, and Richard T. Mayer, eds. Public Management in an Interconnected +World: Essays in the Minnowbrook Tradition. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992. + +Baker, Randall. Comparative Public Management. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994. +Bingham, Richard D., et al. Managing Local Government. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage + +Publications, 1991. +Boris, Elizabeth T., and C. Eugene Steuerle, eds. Nonprofits and Government: + +Collaboration and Conflict. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 1999. +Cochran, Clarke E., et al. American Public Policy: An Introduction. 4th ed. New York: + +St. Martins Press, 1993. +deLeon, Peter. Democracy and the Policy Sciences. Albany: State University of + +New York Press, 1997. +Ehrenhalt, Alan. The United States of Ambition: Politicians, Power and the Pursuit of + +Office. New York: Times Books, 1991. +Fiorina, Morris. Divided Government. New York: Macmillan, 1992. +Gies, David L., J. Steven Ott, and Jay Shafritz, eds. The Nonprofit Organization. + +Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1990. +Goodsell, Charles T. The Case for Bureaucracy. 3d ed. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, + +1994. +Holden, Matthew. Continuity and Disruption. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, + +1996. +Johnson, David B. Public Choice: An Introduction to the New Political Economy. + +Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1991. +Light, Paul C. Making Nonprofits Work: A Report on the Tides of Nonprofit + +Management Reform. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2000. +Meier, Kenneth J. Politics and the Bureaucracy. 2d ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, + +1987. +Mier, Robert. Social Justice and Local Development Policy. Newbury Park, CA: Sage + +Publishers, 1993. +Nalbandian, John. Professionalism in Local Government: Transformation in Roles, + +Responsibilities and Values of City Managers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1991. +National Academy of Public Administration. Beyond Distrust: Building Bridges between + +Congress and the Executive. Washington, D.C.: National Academy, 1992. +Palumbo, Dennis J. Public Policy in America. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988. +Peters, B. Guy. American Public Policy: Promise and Performance. 3d ed. Chatham, NJ: + +Chatham Books, 1993. + + + +Chapter 2 The Political Context of Public Administration + +Pfiffner, James P., ed. The Managerial Presidency. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1991. +Pops, Gerald M., and Thomas J. Pavlak. The Case for justice: Strengthening Decision + +Making and Policy in Public Administration. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991. +Reich, Robert. Locked in the Cabinet. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. +Ripley, Randall B., and Grace A. Franklin. Congress, the Bureaucracy, and Public Policy. + +4th ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1987. +Roberts, Nancy C., and Paula J. King. Transforming Public Policy. San Francisco: +Jossey-Bass, 1996. + +Rosenau, Pauline Vaillancourt. Public-Private Policy Partnerships. Cambridge, MA: +MIT Press, 2000. + +Seidmen, Harold, and Robert Gilmour. Politics, Position, and Power. 4th ed. New York: +Oxford University Press, 1986. + +Svara, James H. Official Leadership in the City: Patterns of Conflict and Cooperation. +New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. + + + +Chapter 3 + +The Interorganizational Context +of Public Administration + +As a manager, you will interact not only with many others at your level of government +or the independent sector, but also with those throughout our system of governance at +the federal, state, and local level. More and more, public administrators recognize that +managing an agency requires paying attention to what happens in other organizations +and that relations with those outside the agency are just as important as relations with +those inside. This chapter will examine the interorganizational context in which public +administrators operate. + +The traditional focus in public administration has been the agency, and that is the +focus we have largely taken so far. However, given the transformation of governance +that has occurred during the past decade, it may be more helpful to focus not on the +individual agency but on the relationships among many different groups public, pri +vate, and nonprofit (Kettl, 2000). Indeed, today more than ever, the effectiveness of +public programs depends on the ability of various agencies to cooperate in processes of +service delivery. + +Government resources, from federal grants for public assistance to local funding for +health and human services, go to a variety of actors, and while the funding usually con +tains guidelines and performance objectives, the implementing agencies often have a cer +tain amount of leeway for running the program or for forging relationships with other +groups to deliver the services. + +For example, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the federal program +that replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) under the Personal +Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (the federal welfare +reform legislation) provides funding to the states for public assistance and welfare- +to-work initiatives. The states rely on a variety of local government, for-profit and non +profit organizations for service delivery. These organizations, in turn, may provide the +services themselves, or they may contract with other organizations (again, public, +private, or nonprofit) for carrying out the programs. In many cases, it is possible for an +individual or family to receive an array of public assistance without ever coming into +contact with a government employee (Kettl, 2000). + +This example illustrates the complexity of the interactions triggered by federal poli +cies. But equally complex relationships can grow from the bottom up as well. A local +community that wants to attract new industry might develop a coalition of government, +business, labor, and education groups to promote the citys image and to work with + +79 + + + +80 Chapter 3 The Irtterorganizational Context of Public Administration + +groups at other levels of government. These groups might include a state department of +economic development to help contact prospective employers wishing to relocate. The +city might request that the state or federal government designate a particular area in the +city as an enterprise zone, thus permitting special tax incentives and other benefits for +businesses willing to locate there. Again, a variety of government and nongovernment +entities are involved in the task of economic development. + +One can easily understand why the effectiveness of many public programs depends on +the quality of the relationships among various organizations. For this reason, some ana +lysts emphasize the importance of the interorganizational networks that develop in vari +ous policy areas. The various groups and organizations involved in any policy arena do +not report to a single director, nor are they structured in a typically hierarchical fashion. +Rather, they are loosely joined systems that often have overlapping areas of interest, +duplication of effort, and lack of coordination. Hult and Walcott write, Governance +networks link structures both within and across organizational boundaries. Tike gover +nance structures, networks may be permanent or temporary, formal or informal. They +may be consciously designed, emerge unplanned from the decisions of several actors, or +simply evolve. A given governance structure may be part of one or several networks +(Hult & Walcott, 1990, p. 97). + +Whether the growing dependence on such systems is a helpful development is a mat +ter of some debate. Many experts have suggested that the use of intermediaries in the +delivery of services is a major reason for the difficulties many programs encounter. On +the other hand, many such networks have proven enormously stable over time, while +others have capitalized on the inherent flexibility and adaptability of such systems. +In any case, because interorganizational networks are such an important part of the +management of public programs, they deserve our attention. + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations + +In terms of your ability to operate public programs effectively and responsibly, you must +understand the relationships among levels of government. There are various ways to +describe the relationship between a larger comprehensive unit of government and its +constituent parts. A confederation, for example, is a system in which the constituent +units grant powers to the central government, but do not allow it to act independently. +A unitary system is one in which all powers reside with the central government, and var +ious units derive their powers from that unit. France and Sweden, for instance, are char +acterized by unitary systems, as is the relationship between states and localities in the +United States; localities hold only those powers specified or permitted by the state. + +The relationship between our national government and the states, however, is federal +in that it involves a division of powers between the two levels of government_federal +and state. (Local governments exist under the legal framework of the states.) Some +poweis aie granted specifically to the central government (to conduct foreign relations, +to regulate interstate commerce, and so on); some are reserved by the states (to conduct + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 81 + +elections, to establish local governments, etc.), and some are held by both levels (to tax, +to borrow money, to make laws, and so on). (This system of governance is also referred +to as federalism.) A federal structure has many advantages in that it allows for diver +sity and experimentation, but it has also led to the development of a highly complex +intergovernmental system, a fact of life with important implications for the management +of public programs. + +The term intergovernmental relations is often used to encompass all the complex and +interdependent relationships among those at various levels of government as they seek to +develop and implement public programs. The importance of intergovernmental relations +has been recognized in several structural developments. At the federal level, a permanent +Advisory Commission of Intergovernmental Relations was established in 1959 and contin +ued to operate until the mid-1990s. All states and nearly all major cities have a coordina +tor for intergovernmental relations (though the specific titles vary). Finally, many scholars +and practitioners have begun to emphasize the managerial processes involved in intergov +ernmental relations by employing the term intergovernmental management. + +A key to understanding intergovernmental relations in this country involves under +standing the changing patterns used to fund public programs. Although intergovernmen +tal relations consist of much more than money, financial questions are inevitably at the +core of the process, so definitions of various types of grants, and transfers of money (and +property) from one government to another are a helpful starting place. + +Networking + +Some basic information on federal, state, and local interactions can be found at +FirstGov at http://www.firstgov.gov. For coverage of the changing role of state and +local government, go to Governing magazine at www.governing.com. + +Some grants give more discretion to the recipient than do others. Categorical grants +or project grants may be spent for only a limited purpose, such as building a new sewage +treatment plant. Categorical grants have historically been the predominant form of +grants in this country; however, in recent years, many categorical grants have been con +solidated into block grants, which may be used for nearly any purpose within a specific +functional field, such as housing, community development, education, or law enforce +ment. The recipient government might spend a law enforcement grant on police training, +new equipment, or crime prevention programs. Finally, revenue sharing, when it has +been used, has made funds available for use by the recipient government in any way its +leaders choose (within the law). + +Grants may also be classified in terms of how they are made available. A formula +grant employs a specific decision rule indicating how much money any given jurisdiction +will receive. Typically, the decision rule is related to the purpose of the grant (for exam +ple, money for housing might be distributed to qualified governments based on the age +and density of residential housing). A project grant, on the other hand, makes funds +available on a competitive basis. Those seeking aid must submit an application for assis +tance for review and approval by the granting agency. + + + +82 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Grants may also be categorized as to the purposes'they serve. Entitlement grants pro +vide assistance to persons meeting certain criteria, such as age or income; for example, +TANF or Medicaid. Operating grants are for use in the development and operation of +specific programs, such as those in education or employment and job training. Capital +grants are for use in construction or renovation, as in the development of the interstate +highway system. + +Finally, grants may vary according to whether they require matching funds from the +recipient agency. Some federal grants require the state or locality to put up a certain per +centage of the money for the project; in the case of the interstate highway system, states +contribute $1 for every $9 of federal money. Other grants require different matching +amounts, and some will require no matching at all. Note that the different types may be +combined in different ways to create quite a variety of grant possibilities. A specific grant +might be made available on a competitive basis strictly for use in programs for job train +ing and may require local matching funds. + +Dual Federalism + +Historically, the various grant types have been employed in different ways and in differ +ent times. The earliest period in our countrys intergovernmental history, a period that +lasted well into this century, was characterized by what has been called dual federalism, +a pattern in which the federal and state governments both sought to carve out their own +spheres of power and influence and during which there was relatively little intergovern +mental cooperation indeed, there was substantial conflict. + +However, some programs cut across the strict divisions of federal, state, and local +responsibility associated with dual federalism. A notable example is the Morrill Act of +1862, which granted land to universities to establish agricultural programs and was the +basis for the eventual development of land-grant colleges. It was important in the devel +opment of higher education, but it was also precedent-setting in terms of the structure of +its grants (Nathan et ah, 1987). No longer were grants made in a fairly open-ended fash +ion; specific instructions were attached, requiring that they be used for agriculture and +the mechanical arts. In addition, new reporting and accounting requirements were added +as a condition of receiving the grants. + +The adoption of grant programs such as the Morrill Act was accompanied by consid +erable anguish, because some saw such programs as a drastic departure from the dual +federalism they preferred. The Morrill Act itself, signed by President Lincoln, had previ +ously been vetoed by President Buchanan, who commented: Should the time arrive +when the State governments shall look to the Federal Treasury for the means of support +ing themselves and maintaining their systems of education and internal policy, the char +acter of both Governments will be greatly deteriorated (Nathan et ah, 1987, p. 25). + +In any case, the period of dual federalism was marked by considerable conflict among +the various levels of government. The federal government sought to deal effectively with the +increasingly broad issues being raised in a more complex, urbanized society by developing +new grant programs in such areas as highway construction and vocational education. The +states, though they appreciated federal money, were cautious of federal interference in their + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 83 + +BOX 3.1 + +Images of American Federalism + +spheres of responsibility. The localities, though creatures of the state and dependent on state +grants of authority or money, sought to build their own political bases. The resulting pat +tern of federalism resembled a layer cake, with three levels of government working parallel +to one another but rarely together (see Box 3.1). + +Cooperative Federalism + +If the layer cake was the prevailing image associated with dual federalism, the marble +cake was the image for the period that followed, notable for its increasing complexity +and interdependence. As opposed to the conflict and division of the earlier period, the +emerging era of cooperative federalism was characterized by greater sharing of responsi +bilities. The marble cake image implied a system in which roles and responsibilities were +intermixed in a variety of patterns: vertical, horizontal, and even diagonal (see Box 3.1). + +The great impetus for the development of cooperative federalism was the Roosevelt +program for economic recovery following the Great Depression, what was called the +New Deal. Although the majority of President Roosevelts programs were national in +scope and could have been national in execution, a political choice was made to operate +many of the programs through the states and their localities. The pattern of intergovern +mental relations that emerged revealed a dramatically increased federal role, accompa +nied almost paradoxically by greater federal, state, and local sharing of responsibilities. +In addition, there was greater attention to vertical relationships within functional areas +such as social welfare or transportation. + +The pattern of federal, state, and local relations that emerged from the New Deal is +illustrated by several key programs. The first was the Federal Emergency Relief Adminis +tration, which provided grants to states for both direct relief and work relief and was +able to revitalize many rather weak state relief agencies. A variety of public works and +employment security programs were also attempted to supplement relief efforts. The most +well known was the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program that used federal +money to hire state-certified workers for locally initiated construction projects. Finally, + + + +84 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +the Social Security Act of 1935 brought the federal government to an even greater degree +into the area of direct relief for the poor, disabled, and unemployed, an area that had pre +viously been reserved for the states and cities. + +Through the middle part of this century, the structure of the various grant programs +initiated at the federal level featured: + +1. Federal definition of the problem +2. Transfer of funds primarily to the states (rather than localities) +3. A requirement that plans for use of funds be submitted to the federal government +4. A requirement for state matching funds +5. A requirement for federal review and audit of the programs (Nathan et ah, 1987) + +For the most part, these grant programs were categorical that is, directed to a particular +category of activity, such as public works. Indeed, the use of categorical grants as the pri +mary mechanisms for federal and state transfers continued until the 1970s. Throughout +this period, various groups appointed to review the state of intergovernmental relations +returned the same verdict: the federal government and the states should begin cooperat +ing with or complementing each other in meeting the growing demands on both (Nathan +et al., 1987, p. 33). Today, the principle of cooperative federalism is well established. + +Picket-Fence Federalism + +Through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, there were dramatic shifts in the pattern of inter +governmental relations. Nowhere were these shifts more striking than in the contrast +between the activism of the Kennedy and Johnson years and the cutbacks of the Reagan +and Bush years. President Johnson used the phrase creative federalism to describe his +approach to intergovernmental relations, which included a huge increase in the number +and amounts of federal grants available to states, localities, and other groups. Over three +years, the number of available grants from the federal government grew from about fifty +to nearly four hundred. Federal aid to states and localities rose from $7 billion in 1960 +to $24 billion in 1970 (Wright, 1987, p. 236). Interestingly, state aid to local govern +ments also nearly tripled during this period. + +The new federal programs focused mainly on urban problems and problems of the +disadvantaged. Medicaid, for example, the largest of the new grant programs, provided +funds to states to assist in medical care for low-income people. (Medicaid is largely +administered by the states [eligibility requirements vary from state to state], but it also +requires state matching funds, which became a fiscal problem for many states.) But there +were also new programs in education aimed directly at school districts, new programs in +employment and training run by cities and other independent providers, and new pro +grams in housing and urban development in major metropolitan areas. + +Probably the most publicized domestic program of the Johnson years was the War +on Poverty, launched with the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The +War on Poverty and other Johnson programs were significant for both their size and +shape. Substantially more aid was aimed directly at local governments, school districts, + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 85 + +and various nonprofit groups, as opposed to the previous pattern of aid primarily to +states. Second, there were requirements for detailed planning and for streamlined +budgeting systems, as well as demands for public participation in management of the +programs. Third, and most important, the majority of the new programs involved proj +ect grants, requiring grant applications for specific purposes. States and localities began +to spend enormous amounts of time playing the federal grant game trying to obtain +grants, searching for matching funds, and trying to meet planning and reporting require +ments. As a result, intergovernmental relations took on an increasingly competitive tone +(Wright, 1988, pp. 81-90). + +Through this period, the intergovernmental system was becoming increasingly domi +nated by the relationships among professionals within various substantive areas at vari +ous levels of government. In a particular program area, the relationship among mayor, +governor, and president might be less important than that involving a local health +department official, someone from a state department of health, and the manager of +a federal program in health care. A new image emerged, replacing the cakes of earlier +periodsthat of picket-fence federalism. The horizontal bars of the fence represented +the levels of government, and the vertical slats represented various substantive fields, +such as health, welfare, education, employment, and training (see Box 3.2). + +President Nixons administration brought about a reaction against many of the +developments we have just described. Claiming that the Johnson programs were simply +too detailed in their requirements to administer effectively at the local level and that sub +governments within particular substantive areas were coming to dominate the intergov +ernmental system, Nixon proposed what he termed a New Federalism that would +reestablish greater local autonomy in the use of federal funds. Although a part of his pro +gram involved administrative changes, lessening certain requirements, the most notable +changes President Nixon proposed involved changes in the structure of grant programs. + +One way to return power to state and local leaders, especially elected leaders as +opposed to program professionals, was through general revenue sharing. The Nixon plan +for general revenue sharing involved transfers of money from the federal government to +states and localities to use for any purpose they wished. The funds were distributed based +on a complex formula, but once in the hands of the state or local political leadership, they +could be used for tax reduction, transportation, community development, law enforce +ment, or any other area. First passed in 1972, the Nixon revenue-sharing program pro +vided approximately $6 billion a year for five years and was continued through the +Nixon, Ford, Carter, and early Reagan years before being eliminated in 1986. + +The Nixon administration also sought to consolidate large numbers of categorical +grants into block grants, two of which were passed. The Comprehensive Employment and +Training Act (CETA) provided funds to local prime sponsors, usually a local govern +ment or group of governments, for manpower training. Which specific programs would be +developed was up to the prime sponsor at the local level. Similarly, two weeks after +President Nixon resigned, President Ford signed the Community Development Block +Grant program (CDBG) consolidating several categorical grant programs, including urban +renewal and the model cities program. Despite these successes in altering the pattern of +federal grants, the Nixon and Ford years actually increased the total amount of aid avail +able to states and localities. + + + +86 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +BOX 3.2 + +Picket-Fence Federalism + +The Big Seven Public Interest Groups + +1. Council of State Governments 5. National League of Cities +2. National Governors Conference 6. U.S. Conference of Mayors +3. National Conference of State Legislatures 7. International City Management Association +4. National Association of County Officials + +SOURCE: From Understanding Intergovernmental Relations, 4th edition, by D. Wright 2003. Reprinted +with permission of Wadsworth, an imprint of the Wadsworth Group, a division of Thomson Learning. + +The dependency of state and especially local governments on federal aid became more +apparent during the administration of President Carter. The Carter years saw few dra +matic changes in intergovernmental relations, continuing the general revenue sharing +and block grants of the Nixon administration, though there was a greater tendency to +target funds through categorical grants. Among the more important initiatives was +expansion of public service employment under CETA, so that local government jobs +would be filled by the unemployed, and passage of the Urban Development Action Grant +program to stimulate economic development in especially distressed cities. + +As a former governor, President Carter was attentive to the needs of state and local +governments to more effectively operate intergovernmental programs, so he proposed +a series of administrative steps for improving intergovernmental management. In this +effort, he worked closely with a group of seven major public interest groups, known as +the PIGS, that had come to be increasingly active in the intergovernmental system. These +included such groups as the Council of State Governments, the National League of + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 8y + +Cities, the National Governors Association, and others. Later in the Carter years, how +ever, a new mood of fiscal restraint combined with Carters own fiscal conservatism to +limit the amount of money available, something states and localities found difficult to +handle. But, from the standpoint of state and local governments, the reductions of the +late Carter years were just the beginning. + +The Reagan and Bush Years + +The Reagan and Bush administrations brought major structural changes in the pattern of +fiscal federalism, including elimination of general revenue sharing and a reworking of the +block grant system. However, these years were more significant (in intergovernmental +terms) for the administrations efforts to reduce the size of the federal government +through a variety of tax and spending cuts and to return responsibility for major areas, +especially social welfare, to the states. + +A strong ideological commitment undergirded President Reagans efforts to eliminate +federal funding and federal regulation of state and local activity wherever possible. In his +inaugural speech, the president stated, It is my intention to curb the size and influence +of the federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the +powers granted the federal government, [and] those reserved to the states or to the peo +ple (Reagan, 1981). One way he proposed to do so was by turning back responsibility +for a variety of federal programs, and the resources to pay for them, to the states. +(President Bush employed the same ideology, emphasizing the term turnovers rather +than turnbacks in promoting his programs.) + +Proposals along these lines, however, quickly became intertwined with the presidents +1981 efforts to reduce taxes and spending under the banner of supply-side economics, an +approach that holds that decreased taxes and spending will stimulate capital investment +and in turn economic growth (Stone & Sawhill, 1984). The defense budget was pro +tected by the Reagan administration, so the majority of cuts were sought in federal grant +programs and general government operations. Indeed, during 1981, the Reagan adminis +tration achieved the first absolute decline in federal expenditures in decades. As part of +these reductions, federal grants were lowered from about $95 billion in fiscal year 1981 +to about $88 billion in fiscal year 1982, with a major portion of the cuts coming in +employment and training programs (Beam, 1984, p. 420). + +Meanwhile, state and local officials decried the depth of the cuts and the administra +tions failure to make available any revenue sources to pick up the slack, especially as the +tax cuts failed to produce the expected economic growth. Moreover, concerns were +increasingly voiced that efforts to balance the budget had been especially damaging to the +poor, for example, by reducing eligibility for Aid to Families with Dependent Children +(AFDC) payments (Nathan et al., 1987, pp. 52-57). Whereas the public was apparently +concerned about excessive spending, it became clear that neither the Congress nor the +public always considered spending for social welfare, environmental protection, and +infrastructure maintenance excessive. + +Thus, by the middle of the second Reagan term, eligibility requirements in AFDC +were restored; the environmental Superfund, designed to clean up toxic wastes and +repair leaking underground tanks, was funded by Congress at a significantly higher level + + + +88 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +than the president requested; and use of the Highway Trust Fund for improved high +ways, including urban mass transit, was passed over Reagans veto. + +On the other hand, reductions continued in specific areas, most notably in general +revenue sharing. Recall that the Nixon general revenue-sharing program had been con +tinued through the Carter administration; however, early in the Reagan years, revenue +sharing for states was eliminated. Finally, in 1986, revenue sharing for local govern +ments was also ended. Many saw general revenue sharing as a way to equalize the dis +parity between rich and poor communities and allow greater flexibility at the local level; +others saw revenue sharing as providing too much money and too much discretion, espe +cially to wealthy communities. + +President Bush continued the Reagan approach to federalism, making important, but +largely stylistic gestures to the states and localities. In part, he could do little else. The +budget deficit continued unabated and led to the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) of +1990. Under the new law, as we will see later, any legislation that exceeds the budget +ceiling in its category will trigger an across-the-board cut in that category. In this way, +the BEA effectively pits each domestic program against all others. When this legislation +was combined with the savings and loan bailout, there was little enthusiasm left for +expanding domestic spending, including state and local aid. + +As mentioned earlier, President Bush continued the Reagan strategy of turning back +or turning over various programs to the states, but just as in Reagans case, there was +great skepticism about whether the proposed turnovers were based on a commitment to +states rights and responsibilities or whether they were just a strategy for placing more of +the burden for funding various programs in the hands of the states. For example, the +administrations highway plan proposed to turn over four-fifths of the federal highway +system to the states with funding to be on a 60-40 basis, federal to state. According to +Transportation Secretary Skinner, the proposal was designed not only to permit greater +local flexibility, but also very clearly to turn over more financial responsibility to the +states, shifting the burden to the states. + +The Clinton Presidency + +During the Clinton presidency, the philosophical foundation of New Federalism +remained in place. The primary themes were regulatory reform and shifting decision +making authority from the federal to state and local governments. However, the charac +ter and scope of this devolution of power have been interpreted in vastly different ways +by the president, the Republican House, and the more moderate leadership in the Senate. +In latter stages of the Clinton administration, state and local governments offered their +own ideas on federalism and the overall system of intergovernmental relations. Such +diversity of viewpoints generated a number of questions concerning not only the state of +federalism but also the implications for government practice. + +Early on, President Clinton left little doubt as to his administrations position on +intergovernmental relations, a position characterized by a sensitivity to state and local +governments. The president quickly showed his gubernatorial roots, for example, by +choosing four of his cabinet members from the subnational level. And, within months of + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 89 + +taking office, the administration identified the removal of burdensome federal regula +tions as a primary objective. In September 1993, President Clinton issued Executive +Order 12866, which along with a subsequent order prevented federal agencies from +imposing mandates without financial support. Although administrative agencies would +gain regulatory powers under the order, central review was to be continued to ensure +that new regulations conformed with the presidents priorities. President Clinton rein +forced his stance soon after by issuing Executive Order 12875, establishing a system of +state and local review of intergovernmental regulations. + +The Clinton administrations New Federalist philosophy also carried over into pro +grammatic areas. In championing the drive to end welfare as we know it, for example, +the administration transformed the nations system of public assistance by turning to +mainly market forces for public well-being and placing service-delivery into the hands of +nongovernmental actors. Key provisions in the 1996 welfare reform legislation included +setting time limits on benefits, tying welfare to work requirements, handing over author +ity for welfare programs to state government, and limiting (in some cases eliminating) +access to public assistance for legal immigrants and the disabled. + +President Clintons New Federalism could be seen, as well, in his administrations main +community and economic development initiative, the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise +Community Program, and its key education initiative, the Goals 2000: Educate America +Act. In both programs, the administration persuaded Congress to expand state and/or +local discretion (Walker, 1996, p. 274), reinforcing the belief that by reducing federal regu +lations and handing decision-making power to the state and local level, those closest to the +issue would be in a better position to effect innovation and change in the given policy area. + +Vice President A1 Gore further advanced the administrations position on intergovern +mental relations. In his National Performance Review (NPR) and related efforts, the vice +president highlighted a variety of alternative strategies for managing public programs. +These strategies, which echoed Osborne and Gaeblers Reinventing Government, injected +a new spirit of entrepreneurialism into the federal government. Gores NPR called for +a new customer service contract with the American people, a new guarantee of effective, +efficient, and responsive government. Although the vice president focused mainly on the +national level, the philosophy driving his reinvention agenda fostered a greater apprecia +tion for innovation by local and state administrators. NPR also featured several practical +measures that affected intergovernmental relations, such as collapsing categorical grants +into more flexible funding streams and removing unfunded federal mandates. + +On this latter issue, the adoption of New Federalist ideals extended beyond the Clinton +administration. Regulatory reform and the removal of unfunded mandates became key +issues for the 104th Congress. As cited in the Republican Contract with America, con +servatives argued that federal agencies placed too great of a burden on state and local +administrations by imposing regulations without adequate financial resources for their +implementation. Republican lawmakers thus returned to two measures from the preceding +Congress (H.R. 4771 and S. 993) and, with assistance from the Clinton administration, +revised the bills into the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (1995). Under the resulting act, +the cost of any future mandate would need to be spelled out by the Congressional Budget +Office. The act also raised the Presidents Executive Orders cited above to a statutory level, +binding agencies by law to find less expensive, more flexible ways of instituting regulations. + + + +90 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +During President Clintons second term, however, ties with the Republican Congress +degenerated into political gridlock, and the administration devoted as much time to +avoiding scandal as it did setting public policy. Though the two camps did come together +on measures to eliminate the federal deficit and reform the nations welfare system, the +prevailing story from Washington during the last years of the twentieth century was one +of partisan extremism, culminating in President Clintons becoming the first elected pres +ident to be impeached, then acquitted, by Congress. Moreover, even the hallmarks of the +period failed to gain support among many state and local governments. Governors and +mayors across the country, while recognizing the need for fiscal constraint and welfare +reform, remained concerned that the cost of the measures would, over time, fall primar +ily on the subnational levels of administration. + +The impact of the NPR and the reinventing government drive at the federal level also +remains in question. While a variety of federal agencies implemented reform initiatives +during President Clintons consecutive terms, many were fraught with political and +administrative challenges. An example of this can be seen in the presidents national ser +vice initiative. In championing the National and Community Service Trust Act (1993), +which created the Corporation for National Service (CNS), President Clinton set out +to construct a model of reform, tying national service to key reinvention principles +among them mission and competition as well as performance-driven government +(Lenkowsky & Perry, 2000, p. 299). + +But reform under CNS proved to be a difficult path. From the beginning, the agency +was a target of controversy, with some in Congress viewing CNS grant programs less as +an example of catalytic government and more of a way to provide back-door fund +ing to expand the scope of federal programs (Lenkowsky & Perry, 2000, p. 299). +Others cited CNS as they questioned the core principles of reinvention, including to +whom the government should be responsive, to what extent public programs should be +decentralized, and how much competition is desirable in the public service. + +The experience of CNS during its early years, of course, does not give a full picture of the +reinvention movement. Examples can be found at all levels of government, and in the +nonprofit sector, as reformers strive to create a more responsive, entrepreneurial and results- +based system of governance. Indeed, reinvention compared to many political reform move +ments has had a fairly long lifespan. On the other hand, a growing number of scholars and +practitioners have taken issue with the assumptions underlying the reform agenda. While +few would dispute the values within the goal of making federal agencies more responsive to +citizens, or ensuring effectiveness in delivering public services, many have come to recognize +that productivity and performance should not be the only measures of success. + +The Bush Administration + +President George W. Bush appears to be continuing the New Federalism of his predeces +sors, as evident in his agenda to streamline the federal government, increase the role of +nongovernmental organizations (nonprofit, for-profit and faith-based) in the policy +process, and shift to more market-based models of service delivery (see Box 3.3). For +instance, the Bush administrations first legislative victory came with a $1.3 trillion tax +cut, which supporters say will force the federal government to tighten its belt on spend- + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 91 + +BOX 3.3 _ +_ + +Transformation of Governance: Globalization, Devolution, and +the Role of Government + +Over the last generation, American government has undergone a steady, but often un +noticed, transformation. Its traditional practices and institutions have become more +marginal to the fundamental debates. Meanwhile, new processes and institutions of +ten nongovernmental ones have become more central to public policy. In doing the +peoples work to a large and growing degree, American governments share responsibil +ity with other levels of government, with private companies, and with nonprofit orga +nizations. + +This transformation has two effects. First, it has strained the traditional roles of all +the players. For decades, we have debated privatizing and shrinking government. +While the debate raged, however, we incrementally made important policy decisions. +Those decisions have rendered much of the debate moot. Government has come to +rely heavily on for-profit and nonprofit organizations for delivering goods and ser +vices ranging from anti-missile systems to welfare reform. It is not that these changes +have obliterated the roles of Congress, the president, and the courts. State and local +governments have become even livelier. Rather, these changes have layered new chal +lenges on top of the traditional institutions and their processes. + +Second, the new challenges have strained the capacity of governments and their +nongovernmental partnersto deliver high-quality public services. The basic structure +of American government comes from the New Deal days. It is a government driven by +functional specialization and process control. However, new place-based problems have +emerged: How can governments functions be coordinated in a single place? Can envi +ronmental regulations flowing down separate channels (air, water, and soil) merge to +form a coherent environmental policy? New process-based problems have emerged as +well: How can hierarchical bureaucracies, created with the presumption that they +directly deliver services, cope with services increasingly delivered through multiple (often +nongovernmental) partners? Budgetary control processes that work well for traditional +bureaucracies often prove less effective in gathering information from nongovernmental +partners or in shaping their incentives. Personnel systems designed to insulate govern +ment from political interference have proven less adaptive to these new challenges, espe +cially in creating a cohort of executives skilled in managing indirect government. + +Consequently, government at all levels has found itself with new responsibilities +but without the capacity to manage them effectively. The same is true of its non +governmental partners. Moreover, despite these transformations, the expectations on +governmentby citizens and often by government officials remain rooted in a +past that no longer exists. Citizens expect their problems will be solved and tend not +to care who solves them. Elected officials take a similar view: They create programs +and appropriate money. They expect government agencies to deliver the goods and +services. When problems emerge, their first instinct is to reorganize agencies or +impose new procedureswhen the problem often has to do with organizational + +(continued) + + + +92 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +structures and processes that no longer fit reality. The performance of American +government its effectiveness, efficiency, responsiveness, and accountability +depends on cracking these problems. + +SOURCE: Donald F. Kettl, Transformation of Governance: Globalization, Devolution and the Role of +Government, Public Administration Review, Vol. 60, No. 6, 2000, pp. 488-497. Reprinted by permission. + +ing and stimulate economic growth by returning money to taxpayers. (Many compared +the measure to the major tax cuts early in the Reagan administration.) + +However, even before the ink dried on the legislation, some lawmakers were concerned +that the tax relief package, especially in light of the slowing economy in 2001, would +make it impossible for the government to address much-needed reforms in Medicare, edu +cation and Social Security. In fact, even Bush administration officials conceded that the +estimated budget surplus that looked substantial when Congress passed the tax bill had +decreased significantly by the time the IRS began sending refund checks to the American +public. Democratic leaders have indicated that while they may not advocate for an overall +repeal, Congress may have to revisit key provisions in the tax measure. + +The Bush administration also moved quickly on decentralization. As mentioned in +Chapter 2, the president used one of his first executive orders to create the Office of +Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which will outline the administrations policy +toward extending more federal funding to religious organizations. (Faith-based organiza +tions such as Catholic Charities USA, Lutheran Social Services, Jewish Community +Services, and others, already receive more than $3 billion in federal aid each year.) + +While many nonprofit leaders support the plan, which would expand the amount +in social service spending for which faith-based organizations could compete, others +(including many religious leaders) fear that without a substantial increase in the level of +funding the Bush initiative would do more to pit religious groups against each other for +a share of the pie. Others argue that although federal funding would help enhance the +role of faith-based nonprofits as service providers, most of the smaller religious organiza +tions simply lack the expertise needed to administer federal grants. Without an invest +ment in organizational capacity, critics say that the Bush plan would fail to attract a vital +segment of the nonprofit community (Hruby & Lipman, 2001). + +Another example of President Bushs New Federalism can be seen in his administra +tions reliance on the market for delivering public services. In July 2001, the president +outlined a plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly. The Bush plan +offers seniors the opportunity to join buying clubs, which would be administered by for- +profit firms, and use discount cards to save 15 to 25 percent on their pharmaceutical pur +chases. Several such buying clubs already exist, including a cooperative venture between +Merck-Medco, a pharmaceutical firm, and the Readers Digest Association. Some health +care companies and other Bush supporters view the plan as a way to improve access to +healthcare for the elderly, but doing so without increasing federal spending. + +Critics say the proposal would not produce the type of change needed in the Medicare +system. They argue that under the Bush plan pharmaceutical companies would still be + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 93 + +able to set their own prices, and that rather than relying purely on the market the federal +government should require the discount clubs to negotiate with drug manufacturers +and that pharmacists should be asked to set prices prospectively. President Bush agreed +that the proposal was simply the first step in what should be a major overhaul of the +36-year-old federal program, adding that the government should explore additional mar +ket approaches like expanding the role of health maintenance organizations and other +private health plans (Pear, 2001, p. Al). + +Judicial Influence + +One final point relates to the role of the judiciary in shaping intergovernmental relations. +Through the 1990s, students of federalism became increasingly aware of the role of the +judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, in defining the relationship between the federal gov +ernment and the states. While the recent judicial activism has produced varied results, with +the scope of federal authority limited in some cases and reaffirmed in others, an important +outcome has been the Court once again establishing itself as a conscious arbiter of the +respective powers of the national government and the states (Wise, 2001, p. 343). + +At issue has been Congresss constitutional authority to regulate activities at the state +level. For much of the twentieth century, the Commerce Clause, which gives Congress +the power to regulate trade between the states (and certain functions within the states +that may affect state capacity for interstate trade), has been the center point of federal +legislation, but regulations also have been imposed under the Fourteenth Amendment, +which grants Congress the power to enforce by appropriate legislation the rights pro +vided in the amendment. Regardless of its legal basis, federal regulatory authority has +been allowed to expand virtually unchecked by the Court since the 1940s. In fact, some +scholars of federalism began to wonder whether any boundaries would be established to +limit the scope of the federal government relative to the states (see Wise 2001, 1998). +The tide began to change, however, during the 1990s. + +Among the first key decisions setting parameters on Congresss regulatory power was +Gregory v. Ashcroft (1991). In this case, the Court ruled that the Missouri constitutions +rule that state judges retire at age seventy does not violate the federal Age Discrimination +Act, as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had ruled. The significance of +this [the Gregory ruling] is that it bars individuals and groups who wish to use federal +statutes of general applicability adopted under the Commerce Clause to attack state +regulation in federal court from doing so, unless Congress makes it clear that the statute +applies to the states (Wise, 2001, p. 344). In her opinion, Justice OConnor emphasized +the constitutional principle of dual sovereignty and the importance of maintaining a cer +tain degree of state authority. + +Congresss regulatory power under the Commerce Clause came into question again +in United States v. Lopez (1995) and United States v. Morrison (2000). In Lopez, the +Court considered a challenge to federal restrictions placed on handgun possession in a +school zone, while the Morrison case focused on provisions in the Violence Against +Women Act, which allow victims of violent crimes motivated by gender to seek federal +civil action. The Supreme Court ruled in both cases that Congress had overstepped its + + + +Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +regulatory jurisdiction, since the statutes were not consistent with the authority afforded +under the Commerce Clause. At the heart of the Courts decisions was the premise that +clear lines must be established between national and state powers, and that under the +Commerce Clause these lines must be limited to matters of interstate trade. + +Of course, the Lopez and Morrison decisions focused primarily on restoring a balance +of regulatory power between the national government and state governments. The recent +judicial activism, however, can be seen also on issues of administration, such as in +New York v. United States (1992) and Printz v. United States (1997), where the Court +placed restrictions on Congress ability to compel state and local actors to implement fed +eral statutes. The New York case involved a challenge from local governments against the +Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act, which required state and regional authorities in +certain circumstances to assume ownership of radioactive waste and commanded them to +implement provisions of the federal legislation. The Court ruled both alternatives unconsti +tutional, stating that Congress must not view state and local governments as mere politi +cal subdivisions . .. [or] regional offices (Wise, 1998, p. 95) of the national government +and must afford the level of state sovereignty guaranteed under the Tenth Amendment. + +In Printz, the Court reviewed a challenge to provisions of the Brady Handgun +Violence Prevention Act, which mandated background checks on prospective buyers and +required local law enforcement officers to serve as entities of the national government in +executing the regulation. The federal government, in an interesting twist, argued that +unlike New York, the Brady Act did not place on the states responsibility for policy +making and that, given the rewards, the cost to the states would be minimal. The Court +disagreed. In its rejection of the federal claim, the Court stated that New York estab +lished in very clear terms that Congress cannot command state officials to execute or +administer federal regulations, nor can the national government bypass the New York +limitations by directly enlisting state actors. + +However, the decisions cited here should not be taken as a complete shift toward state +sovereignty. Several recent rulings, including Davis v. Monroe County Board of +Education (1999) and Saenz v. Roe (1999), have reinforced the national governments +capacity to monitor state activities. In Davis, for example, the Court reaffirmed Congress +authority to establish state liability for certain actions as part of the states agreement to +receive federal funding. The majority of the justices ruled that, under the Spending +Clause, Congress could use its control over appropriations to enforce constitutional +rights, in this case the guarantee against third-party discrimination in public schools, as +long as the language in the funding program remained clear enough so that states would +have adequate notice of the federal requirements. + +The main issue in Saenz was the State of Californias revision to its welfare laws to set +a twelve-month residency requirement for certain levels of public assistance. While the +Court had previously invalidated residency requirements for eligibility (in Shapiro v. +Thompson [1969]), Secretary Saenz, of the State of Californias Department of Social +Services, claimed that the new welfare reform provisions did not exclude new arrivals +from welfare benefits but simply maintained their assistance levels to those in the states +of their previous residence. The Court disagreed, ruling that the Fourteenth Amendment +does not assign levels of citizenship according to length of residence but instead links +citizenship with residence generally. Although the Court appreciated the State of + + + +The Development of Intergovernmental Relations 95 + +Californias desire to reduce the cost of welfare benefits, a majority determined that fiscal +efficiency could not be allowed to outweigh citizen guarantees against discrimination. + +When taken as a whole, the decisions cited here present a mixed image of federalism +(see Box 3.4). On one hand, the Court clearly has reconsidered its deference to Congress on +issues of intergovernmental relations, a practice it had followed throughout the twentieth +century, setting restraints on the scope of federal power. On the other hand, federal regula +tory authority in other areas has been reaffirmed, particularly under the Spending Clause +and the Fourteenth Amendment. Despite the significance of these decisions on their own +implications, the implications go much further. Indeed, the most significant outcome is that +the Court appears to have reassumed its responsibility for judicial review on questions of +federal and state authority, which it had all but abandoned in Garcia v. San Antonio + +Balance of Power? The Changing Pace of Judicial Federalism + +Interpretation Relevant Rulings + +The authority of states protected under Gregory v. Ashcroft (1991) +the Constitution: based on a balance of United States v. Lopez (1995) +power between the national government + +United States v. Morrison (2000) +and the states and on the principle of +dual sovereignty. Limitations placed on +Congress regulatory authority under the +Commerce Clause of the Constitution. + +State sovereignty reaffirmed, in that state New York v. United States (1992) +and local actors cannot be compelled by Printz v. United States (1997) +Congress to implement federal regulatory +statutes. + +The authority of the Congress to regulate Davis v. Monroe Co. Board of Education +activities in the states; powers granted (1999) +under the Spending Clause of the Saenz v. Roe (1999) +Constitution. State and local actors may +be required to accept certain standards as +a condition of receiving federal funds. + +The authority of the Congress to impose Cedar Rapids Community School +conditions-of-aid requirements to advance District v. Garret (1999) +regulatory and administrative objectives. Davis v. Monroe County Board of +The legislation must be explicit with Education (1999) +regard to the conditions, making certain +that state and local governments are +aware of the requirements. + +SOURCE: Charles R. Wise, Judicial Federalism: The Resurgence of the Supreme Court, Public +Administration Review, Vol. 58, No. 2, 1998, pp. 95-98 and The Supreme Courts New Federalism, Public +Administration Review, Vol. 61, No. 3, 2001, pp. 343-358. Reprinted by permission. + + + +96 CHAPTER 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985). (The Garcia case will be discussed in more detail in +the next section.) Given not only the nature of the decisions but also the mere fact that the +judiciary has been willing to intervene, we can be assured that the Supreme Court once +again has become the Arbiter-in-Chief in our federal system (Wise, 1998, p. 98). + +The State and Local Perspective + +We have described the system of intergovernmental relations primarily from the federal +perspective, but states and localities are also major actors in the intergovernmental sys +tem, both as they participate in federal programs and as they interact with one another +state to state, state to locality, and locality to locality. Here also intergovernmental +relations have been changing. While budgetary shifts have created serious problems for +state and local governments, state and local governments have proven remarkably well +equipped to deal with these problems, both financially and administratively. + +Funding Patterns + +As we have seen, while federal aid to state and local governments declined in the early +1980s, this trend was soon reversed, with the amount of federal grant funding growing +from $59.8 billion in 1980 to $148.7 billion in 1995 and to $166.5 billion in 2000. This +roller-coaster ride created severe problems for state and local governments and still has +not returned aid to its earlier point in terms of its importance to those governments. +Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the impact on state and local governments, as well as +other service delivery organizations, was severe. As we see in Table 3.1, in 1980 federal +grants-in-aid made up about 39.8 percent of state and local government expenditures. + +TABLE 3.1 + +Federal Grants-in-Aid to State and Local Governments, 1980- 1999 (in millions of dollars) + +Federal Grants-in-Aid as a Percentage State and Local Government Expenditures + +Fiscal Year Federal Grants-in-Aid Percent State/Local Expenditures +1980 32,652 39.8 +1985 49,352 29.6 +1990 77,132 25.3 +1995 145,793 31.7 +1999 171,136 31.4 + +Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, +t YZ002 (Washington, DC: U.S. Office of Management and Budget), pp. 117-119. + +U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, +2000), 309. + + + +The State and Local Perspective 97 + +The figure dropped to about 25.3 percent by 1990 and increased only slightly to +31.7 percent in 1995, where it has remained fairly consistent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). + +All of these changes occurred at a time in which state governments were experiencing +significant fiscal stress related to other factors such as the recession, inelastic tax systems, +growing expenditures in health, poverty, and immigration, and so on. As an example, +twenty years ago, the states spent approximately $8.3 billion on healthcare costs (in con +stant 1996 dollars). These costs rose to $40.1 billion in 1996 and have continued to rise +steadily (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). The levels of fiscal stress experienced by the states +were especially difficult in 1991, a year in which twenty-nine states cut back expenses +below the levels appropriated and thirty-four states raised taxes (Gold, 1992, p. 35). +Consequently, state and localities found it necessary to curtail or even terminate many +programs, while at the same time trying to develop new sources of revenue. + +Without question, the last several decades have presented a variety of fiscal challenges +to state and local governments. One surprising development, however, is that the states +have proven able to manage their new responsibilities far better than many predicted. +Indeed, while the federal government has a huge deficit, the states continue to operate +balanced budgets, albeit often with great difficulty. + +An important boost to state governments came in 1998, as attorneys general across the +country reached a landmark settlement with tobacco companies to recoup expenditures +from health costs associated with smoking and other forms of tobacco use. The settle +ment, which amounts to $246 billion nationally over the next 25 years, has given states +much needed resources for anti-smoking campaigns, health care and a variety of other +needs. In fact, since the settlement set few limitations on how the proceeds could be used, +the approximately $8 billion per year has gone to state-level causes, including Michigans +college scholarships for students who excel on state standardized tests and Nevadas +grants for public television stations to convert to digital broadcasting in exchange for a +pledge to air anti-tobacco public service announcements (Greenblatt, 2000, pp. 42-45). +Table 3.2 shows the array of programs afforded by the tobacco settlement. + +Once considered a weak link in the federal system, the states have been able, over the +past twenty-five years, to dramatically increase their capacities. Although there are still +considerable variations in the capacities of the states, most have undertaken important +institutional reforms (such as developing legislative audits), expanded the scope and pro +fessionalism of their operations (to include new services in areas such as energy planning +and conservation or new programs in areas such as productivity improvement), and +demonstrated remarkable fiscal restraint. Indeed, the states are operating balanced bud +gets, and some are even making investments for the future (Beckman, 1988, p. 438). + +The states also are moving into areas of responsibility once thought to rest at the fed +eral level. The field of international trade is one area where some shifting in roles already +seems to be taking place. Whereas the federal government has traditionally played the +leading (if not the exclusive) role in foreign affairs, economic forces are precipitating +much greater state and local activity in the international arena. For example, all states +have offices of economic development involved in some way with international economic +development. Through such units, the states provide local businesses with seminars and +conferences on how to market themselves overseas. Over forty states also maintain per +manent offices overseas, with some of the larger states having offices in several countries. + + + +9# Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +TABLE 3.2 + +State Spending from the Tobacco Settlement, 2000 + +State Spending Categories, Amounts, and Percentages from the Tobacco Settlement + +Category Number of States Amount Percent of Total + +Smoking Prevention 35 $754 million 9.2% +Health Care Services 38 $3.53 billion 43.2% +Long-Term Care 12 $269 million 3.3% +Research 13 $207 million 2.5% +Education 14 $483 million 5.9% +Children & Adolescence 10 $534 million 6.5% +Tobacco Grower Support 6 $536 million 6.1% +Budget Reserve 11 $496 million 6.1% +Other Uses 16 $1.36 billion 16.7% +Total No. of States 44 $8.19 billion 100.0% +Receiving Money + +SOURCE: National Conference of State Legislatures, cited in Governing (October 2000), Vol. 45. Reprinted +with permission, Governing magazine, copyright 2000. + +Networking + +For data relating to federal funding to state and local governments, go to the +Statistical Abstract of the United States at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/ +statistical-abstract-us.html or to the Office of Management and Budget at +http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/index.html. Analyses of the changing +character of intergovernmental relations under the New Federalism can be found +at http://newfederalism.urban.org. + +Preemptions and Mandates + +Preemptions + +As discussed previously, although our federal system of government establishes certain fed +eral powers, reserves certain powers to the states, and permits certain actions at both levels, +there has long been controversy about the exact definition of these categories. This contro +versy has been especially intense where the question concerns the power of the federal gov +ernment to preempt the traditional powers of the states and localities or where the federal +government coerces states and localities into doing (or not doing) certain things. + +As a case in point, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 set the minimum +wages and maximum hours that could be worked before overtime pay was required. +Whereas the act originally applied only to the private sector, 1974 amendments applied + + + +The State and Local Perspective 99 + +its provisions to all state and local governments. Many state and local officials argued +against the amendments, citing the difficulties in applying the standards to government; +for example, how do you measure the hours a firefighter works in off-and-on shifts +of several days duration? Soon the amendments were challenged in court and, in the +case of National League of Cities v. Usery (1976), the Supreme Court decided that +the functions of general government were part of the powers reserved to the states by the +Tenth Amendment and therefore could not be regulated by the federal government. +Consequently, the FLSA did not apply. + +The Courts ruling in many ways raised as many questions as it answered, particularly +around the issue of what could be included under the notion of general government. The +confusion persisted until, nearly ten years later, the Court reviewed a case that sought to +determine whether the San Antonio transit authority was performing general govern +ment functions and was therefore exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. In Garcia +v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985), however, the Court went beyond +the narrow question of whether transit is a general government function and decided +that Congress did in fact have the power, under its responsibilities to regulate commerce, +to intervene in the affairs of state and local governments. + +The effect of Garcia, a direct reversal of the Courts earlier position in the Usery case, +was to remove questions about the scope of the federal governments powers from the +realm of judicial inquiry. The Court essentially held that the states have sufficient input +into the national legislative process, through the election of members of Congress and +the influence of their governors and mayors, to be able to protect themselves politically +from burdensome legislation. That being the case, the question of whether the federal +government could act in areas previously believed reserved to the states should be +decided through legislation rather than judicial action. The rights of the states were, +therefore, viewed as raising political rather than judicial questions (Howard, 1985). + +A similar argument was developed by the Court in South Carolina v. Baker (1988), a +case viewed by many at the time as putting a nail in the coffin of the Tenth Amendment +rights of the states. South Carolina asked whether the federal government had the right +to dictate the form of bonds issued by the states. The Court not only answered yes, but +also indicated that the federal government had the right to tax income earned on tax- +exempt bonds. Obviously, if the federal government had this right, then the states +would have to compete directly with private firms issuing bonds. While political leaders +tried to assure the bond market that the federal government would not try to balance +its budget by intruding on the states abilities to issue tax-exempt bonds, several such +proposals were in fact introduced in Congress. As you can imagine, states and localities +were incensed at this intrusion into a critical area of state financing, but again the states +were precluded from a judicial remedy and asked to rely on their political power to see +that Congress did not act to tax state and local bonds. + +The Garcia and South Carolina cases potentially open the door for the federal +government to move into more areas once thought to be the purview of state and local +governments. Certainly state and local officials, who have seen the federal government +act in areas from rat control to minimum drinking ages, have been skeptical of the self- +restraint of Congress. At a minimum, Garcia and South Carolina set a precedent for +expanded federal action directed at state and local governments. + + + +100 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +We should not, however, rush to judgment, since many of the' Supreme Court rulings +handed down in the past decade have been decided by 5-4 votes, and in several key +cases the majority has clearly reaffirmed the sovereignty of state governments (for exam +ple, New York v. United States [1992], Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida [1996], +Printz v. United States [1997], and Alden v. Maine [1999]). In fact, a recent commentary +on the emerging judicial federalism noted that the majority opinions maintained a theme +that state sovereignty may not be invaded, not only because it is rooted in the nations +constitutional structure, but also because such invasion undermines the very operation of +American democracy (Wise, 2001, p. 354). + +Whereas these cases deal with the powers of the federal government over states and +localities, similar but somewhat less complex issues have been raised with respect to the +powers of the states over local governments. As noted, our intergovernmental system +does not allocate separate spheres of power to state and local governments, but rather +treats local governments merely as creatures of the state, having only those powers +granted by the state. In what has come to be known as Dillons Rule, Judge John Dillon +declared in 1911 that municipalities had only those powers granted in their charters, +those fairly implied by the expressed powers, and those essential to the purposes of their +being granted a charter. In other words, Dillons Rule allowed for state control over all +but a narrow range of local activities. Dillons Rule has been somewhat relaxed, espe +cially in states that permit cities greater autonomy through home-rule provisions, but the +powers of local government continue to derive directly from the actions of the state. + +There are various mechanisms involved in the relationship between the federal govern +ment and the states and between the states and localities. Preemptions involving the federal +government preempting state action are traditionally associated with the lower level of +government. For example, the federal Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 pre +empted many state and local laws regarding food labeling. Such assumptions of power +have been particularly significant in the last few years. For example, federal preemptions of +state and local authority more than doubled after 1970. More than 50 percent of the pre +emption statutes enacted in the entire history of our country were enacted in the last +twenty years. Not even Ronald Reagan, despite his rhetoric promising a return of more +power to the states, was exempt from this trend, endorsing federal limits on the regulation +of business, as well as restraints in health and the environment (Kincaid, 1990, p. 149). + +Mandates + +The New York and Printz cases deal with what are called direct orders, requirements or +restrictions enforced by one government upon another (the federal government on +states and localities, the states on the cities). Direct orders might include a federal +requirement that cities meet certain clean water standards or a state requirement that +a city pay part of the costs of certain welfare programs. Another way control may be +exercised over another government is through conditions tied to grants-in-aid. These +conditions are typically of the type parents use with children: You can go outside to +play, if you first clean up your room. Conditions of aid might require land-use plan +ning or an assurance of making facilities accessible to the handicapped prior to a capital +construction project. + + + +The State and Local Perspective IOI + +Because cities derive their powers from the states, most state requirements are in +the form of direct orders. But most federal requirements are conditions-of-aid tied to +a particular grant program. Conditions-of-aid are of two varieties. 1) Cross-cutting +requirements are rules that apply to most, if not all, grant programs. For instance, the +federal government requires environmental impact statements before undertaking capital +projects, certain personnel provisions in agencies receiving grant funds, and compliance +with civil rights legislation. 2) Other conditions-of-aid are program specific, applicable +only to the particular program. They may include rules about program planning, imple +mentation, and evaluation; for example, a particular program might prescribe certain +maximum salaries for individuals employed under the grant or some form of citizen +participation in program design. Most federal programs have this latter requirement. +(Kettl, 1983). + +Congress imposes such conditions-of-aid requirements under the Spending Clause of +the Constitution. For the terms to be valid, though, federal lawmakers must clearly state +the conditions in the legislation, making certain that state and local governments are +aware of the requirements. The legality of Congress using funding conditions as a way of +advancing regulatory and administrative objectives has been reaffirmed in several +Supreme Court decisions, notably Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret +(1999) and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999) (see Box 3.4). + +The term mandate has been used to embrace both conditions-of-aid and direct +orders, in either case an order requiring a government to do something it might not +otherwise do. Mandates often require states or localities to spend money they would not +otherwise spend. Today it is estimated that federal mandates cost state and local govern +ments an estimated $100 billion a year. State spending mandated by the recent immigra +tion bills alone is estimated to be over $1 billion. Moreover, states and cities claim that +mandates unduly impinge upon the autonomy of their level of government. Consequently, +mandates have become a source of considerable frustration for those on the receiving end. + +Its no wonder that former Mayor Edward Koch described the mandate millstone +around the necks of state and local officials as a maze of complex statutory and adminis +trative directives [threatening] both the initiative and the financial health of local govern +ments throughout the country (Koch, 1980, p. 42). Koch was joined then and now in +his argument by mayors and governors across the country. The mayors were concerned +with both federal and state mandates, while the governors were concerned primarily with +federal mandates. + +For nonprofits, mandates tend to be a part of daily life. The key difference is that +where a local government may have mandates from a relatively narrow number of +sources, such as the federal and state level, a nonprofit agency often will face direct orders +or conditions-of-aid requirements from each of its funding sources, and the larger the fun +der (and funding amount) the greater the burden. Those in the nonprofit sector sometimes +speak of mandates as the golden handcuffsthe funding is great, but grant-maker +demands usually place an excessive administrative strain on the organization. As Paul +Light concluded, the situation has been exacerbated in recent years by trends in nonprofit +management reform: Unfortunately, the nonprofit sector is caught in the middle of an +unrelenting contest between competing philosophies and advocates of reform, all of +which produce significant motion back and forth across different reform ideologies + + + +102 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +(Light, 2000, p. 45). The varying philosophical positions can become manifested in an +array of reporting standards and administrative procedures imposed by grant-makers. + +The United Way of America, for example, has played a leading role across the country +in establishing guidelines for performance (or outcome) management by nonprofit +organizations, and an increasing number of local United Ways have set reporting stan +dards for agencies receiving grants. Similarly, many foundations (large and small) have +made interagency partnerships an eligibility requirement for grant programs. If a non +profit service provider wants to apply for a grant, the leadership must show how the +agency will collaborate with other nonprofits, government, and even for-profit firms. + +At the federal level, every president since Nixon has pledged to reduce the burden of +mandates on states and local governments. In his 1992 State of the Union address, +President Bush said, We must put an end to unfinanced Federal Government man +dates. ... If Congress passes a mandate, it should be forced to pay for it and to balance +the cost with savings elsewhere. After all, a mandate just increases someone elses bur +den, and that means higher taxes at the state and local level (Bowman & Pagano, +1992, p. 4). However, shortly after the president made his remarks, he signed a budget +agreement that contained twenty new mandates expected to cost state and local govern +ments about $17 billion over the next five years. + +An important step forward was taken in March 1995, when President Clinton signed +the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995, presumably an effort to limit the effects of +federally imposed mandates. While this legislation does not provide federal funding for +all mandated activities, it does require that Congress recognize the implications of man +dates for state and local activities and, in some cases, authorize funding for such man +dates. However, there seem to be a variety of loopholes through which Congress might +avoid funding. While most state and local government associations actively supported +the act, most also realize that it provides limited relief from federally imposed mandates. +And, we should note that the act does nothing about mandates imposed on local govern +ments by state governments. + +Subnational Relationships + +Even focusing on state and local activities, we find the federal government involved in +some wayat a minimum, in providing funds for states and localities. But important +intergovernmental activity also occurs at the subnational level: state to state, state to +local, and local to local. + +State to State + +Relationships between and among states are mentioned several times in the U.S. +Constitution, most notably in the requirement that states recognize the rights and +privileges of citizens of other states and give full faith and credit to the public acts +and legal proceedings of other states. Some of the most important intergovernmental +relationships involving various state governments are not based in constitutional doc +trine, however, but are rather the result of political practices over the years. + + + +The State and Local Perspective 103 + +Relationships among states are not without conflict. States may differ over census +counts (important in determining the number of representatives in Congress), may dis +pute shifting state boundaries (as when a river changes course), and may debate a variety +of substantive policy issues (such as the rights to underground water or the degree to +which dumping pollutants into a river affects water quality in states downstream). In +addition, states must increasingly compete with one another for economic development. +For example, when General Motors announced its plans to build a major new plant to +produce the Saturn, many states entered an intense bidding war, each hoping GM would +locate the plant within its boundaries. + +States also cooperate. There are many opportunities for officials in one state to seek +the advice of those in other states with respect to policy alternatives or new administra +tive arrangements. Many organizations, including the Council of State Governments, the +National Governors Association, the National Council of State Legislators, and groups +that bring together state officials in personnel, budgeting, purchasing, social welfare, +health, and so forth, have been created to help officials share information and expertise. +These groups, along with the Washington offices of various states, constitute an impor +tant lobbying group in Washington. + +One way the states come together to resolve potential disputes or work together on +common problems is through interstate compacts. These agreements have historically +been bilateral, involving only two states; however, increasingly, compacts are being +developed to involve a number of states within a region or even all fifty states. Originally +used to resolve boundary disputes, interstate compacts today cover a wide variety of top +ics, most arising from the fact that todays policy problems do not confine themselves +neatly to the borders of one state. Imagine, for example, the common interests of people +in several states sharing the same underground water supply. Think also of the problems +that are of interest to all who live in metropolitan areas, such as Cincinnati or Kansas +City, that cross the boundaries of two or even more states. It is not uncommon in such +areas to find interstate compacts covering air and water pollution, transportation, law +enforcement, and so on. + +States may also use interstate compacts to symbolize their agreement to cooperate in +especially important policy areas. For example, Arizona, California, and Nevada have +a definite interest in ensuring access to the water supply from the Colorado River. The +governments of these states have followed a series of compacts dating back to 1922, +which layout strict guidelines on access rights and water usage. In cases such as this, an +interstate compact provides a way for states to formalize resolution of a dispute or to +arrange to work together without involving the federal government. + +State to Local + +We have seen that the relationship between states and localities is unitarythat is, local +governments have only those powers granted by the state. However, the nature of the +powers may vary considerably. Most cities operate under some form of charter, the local +government equivalent of a constitution. But a state may grant charters in three ways. +Some states develop special charters for each individual local government; others take +exactly the opposite approach and grant a general charter for all local governments. + + + +i04 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +The classified charter approach seeks to avoid the restrictive nature of the special charter +and the rigidity of the general charter by granting charters to various classes of cities. +For example, all cities over 1 million in population might be designated Class A and +have one set of charter provisions, while cities from 250,000 to 1 million might be in +Class B and have a different set of provisions. A final means of chartering cities, called +home rule, permits cities to write their own charters, within very broad state guidelines +and generally subject to voter approval. + +Home rule provides the greatest flexibility for local governments in terms of basic struc +ture; however, even under home rule, there is substantial state involvement in local gov +ernment affairs. For one thing, the states are an important source of funding for local +activities. Indeed, at a time when federal aid has leveled somewhat, state aid to local gov +ernments has increased dramatically. Between 1980 and 1995, for example, state aid to +local governments increased from about $83 billion to well over $200 billion, with most of +that targeted for education and lesser amounts for welfare, highways, and other purposes. + +But states not only provide money; they also regulate local government activities. State +governments tell local governments what taxes they can levy, what services they can +provide, and what types of management systems they must employ. In doing so, states +provide needed uniformity, as in the case of highway signs, as well as ensure minimum +standards of performance, as in education or welfare programs. Since states have virtually +unlimited power over local governments, there is an obvious temptation to compel local +governments to assume new responsibilities. In most states, there are twenty to thirty +statutes that impose substantial financial burdens on local governments. The total number +of mandates or regulations may number in the thousands (Berman, 1992, p. 53). + +Just as states complain about federal mandates, many local officials view state man +dates as unnecessary intrusions on local prerogatives that may require local expenditures +that might not otherwise be made. Recently, localities have complained especially about +sneaky mandates, actions that are required of local governments by the inaction of state +governments. For example, Georgia failed to pick up prisoners housed temporarily in +county jails, resulting in overcrowding in the prison system, to say nothing of the addi +tional financial burden on the counties. There is, however, new sympathy for localities in +terms of mandates and about one-third of the states now have requirements for at least +partial reimbursements of expenses created by mandates (MacManus, 1992). + +Tocahties are not powerless in their relationship with the states, especially as they +constitute an important base of political support for those in the legislatures. Local +representatives and senators can and often do voice the local message loudly and clearly +in the state legislature. Moreover, various patterns of state and local cooperation have +emerged in the past several years. Many states, for example, have developed state-level +equivalents of the federal Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. These +state commissions bring together state and local officials to discuss problems in the inter +governmental system and devise ways to work together more effectively. Among the +recommendations that have emerged are suggestions for greater local discretionary +authority and for reductions in the number of state mandates. + +In 2000, the State of Wisconsin launched a comprehensive assessment of state-local part +nerships, with the intent of developing an incentive-based, performance-driven system of +intergovernmental relations. A primary issue for the reformers, namely Governor Tommy + + + +The State and Local Perspective 105 + +Thompson and his predecessor, Scott McCallum, centers on ways to balance public +demands for an integrated system of service delivery with the need for local self-governance +in the policy-making process. Some of the early recommendations from the governors blue- +ribbon commission include creating more incentives to encourage collaboration between +governments, moving service delivery toward performance-based contracts, and integrating +new technologies to enhance government productivity (Kettl, 2001). + +Local to Local + +In discussions of intergovernmental relations, there is an understandable tendency to +focus on national patterns, but for those who work at the local level, relationships with +other local governments are extremely important. One reason is that many citizens live +in one jurisdiction, work in another, shop in another, and pay taxes to several. They nat +urally expect services, such as the quality of the streets or law enforcement, to remain +fairly constant as they move from one place to another. + +From a political standpoint, the fragmentation of government, especially in urban areas, +often means that problems are separated from the resources that might be employed to +solve them. Wealthier cities have the money; poorer cities have the problems. But even +where resources are fairly evenly distributed, it is difficult to get several local governments +together to resolve common problems. Where this is the case, citizens often turn to higher- +level governments for help, thus taking the problem (and its solution) out of the hands of +local authorities (Nice, 1987, p. 191). + +But many interlocal problems are resolved at the local level. Natural, though informal, +patterns of cooperation develop, especially in the relationships among local professionals. +The police chief in one community talks with other police chiefs, the health officer talks +with other health officers, and so on. More formally, one government may actually pur +chase services from another, contracting for police or fire protection, wastewater treat +ment, or trash collection. Los Angeles County, for example, provides a variety of services +to local governments through contract arrangements. Additionally, councils of govern +ment (COGs), oversight bodies representing various localities, may be created to help +coordinate local affairs. + +In recent years, partnerships between local governments have entered the information +age as many cities and counties started to share technological innovations across juris +dictions. In the city of Sunnyvale, California, for example, the local government worked +with other municipalities and the Microsoft Corporation to develop an online permitting +software. The Silicon Valley Smart Permit initiative proved to be so successful, +Sunnyvale has created a public-private partnership with a management firm and its +e-government affiliate to market the application to other local authorities that are inter +ested in enhancing the efficiency and responsiveness of the regulatory process (Mariani, +2001; Hernandez, 2001). + +Finally, special districts may be created to solve problems that cross-governmental +boundaries. As mentioned, special districts are local governments created for a specific +purpose within a specific area (not necessarily coinciding with the boundaries of a city +or county). Although special districts may promote coordination of health, education, or +other services, they also add to the number of governments within a particular area. + + + +io6 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Thus, one city block may be governed by the city, a-county, and" several special districts; +a resident may have difficulty figuring out which government can help with a particular +problem. The difficulties in coordinating efforts are substantial, as are the problems of +holding the various governments accountable. + +Working with Nongovernmental Organizations + +It is impossible to speak of intergovernmental relations without discussing the role of +nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the policy process. Nonprofit, for-profit and +faith-based organizations have taken a leading role in the delivery of public services. +NGOs can be found at all levels of governance and in a variety of policy areas. However, +NGOs must be considered not only for their part in implementing public programs, but +also their growing influence in raising issues to the public agenda, lobbying for particular +policy alternatives, and guiding political and administrative decision making. In many +respects, even the term intergovernmental relations seems a bit outdated; perhaps we +should opt for the more inclusive term, interorganizational relations. + +The use of NGOs in the delivery of public services has grown markedly in the last +several years. Figure 3.1 compares civilian employment and overall governmental expen +ditures at the federal level. Between 1950 and 2000, government spending increased by +over 400 percent, even holding inflation constant, but government employment grew +only about 25 percent, with practically no significant growth in the last twenty-five + +Federal Spending and Payroll, 1970-2000 (in billions of constant dollars) + + + +"Working with Nongovernmental Organizations ioy + +years. This substantial growth in federal programs, occurring without comparable +growth in federal employment, is explained by the fact that parties other than the federal +government are actually conducting the programs and delivering the services. Federal +money, for example, goes to private firms, such as defense contractors or banks that +administer school loan programs, and to nonprofit organizations, especially those that +provide human services such as care for the homeless or disabled. + +Much of the attention on NGOs tends to focus on the nonprofit sector, which we will +discuss later in this chapter. But for-profits also deserve their share of attention. +Traditionally, business was seen as the antithesis to government, with clear boundaries +between the public and private sectors. Today, we have experienced a significant blurring +between sector lines, with only vague distinctions between for-profit firms and govern +ment agencies. Such involvement of private sector firms in public programs, of course, +isnt completely new. Defense and aerospace companies have contracted with government +for decades, and for-profit prisons were actually the norm in the nineteenth century. +In fact, many of our technological innovations stem from public-private partnerships. +Increasingly, though, these partnerships can be found in areas once viewed as purely +public in nature, including health and human services, trash collection, education, envi +ronmental protection, and parks and recreation (Sagawa & Segal, 2000; Rosenau, 2000). + +Governments have entered into public-private partnerships to conserve revenues, +to reduce crime in blighted areas, and to promote economic growth. We mentioned pre +viously the partnership between the city of Sunnyvale, California, and other municipali +ties with the Microsoft Corporation to create the online permitting software. Other +examples include an alliance between the city of Daytona Beach and a private develop +ment firm to renovate a dilapidated boardwalk area and build a beachfront hotel; a part +nership between the state of Michigan and other states for correctional services; and +school districts across the country forming relationships with private computer firms to +bring public school classrooms into the information age. In each case, the interorganiza- +tional relationships that arise are important to the success or failure of public programs. + +Privatization and Contracting + +The movement toward greater involvement of NGOs in the delivery of public services is +partly ideological. Some people simply feel that services should be provided by those +outside government wherever possible. But the movement has also been stimulated by +recent restrictions on government spending and a resulting effort to find more efficient +ways to conduct the publics business. Both motives have been discussed under the head +ing privatization, which is the use of NGOs to provide goods or services previously pro +vided by government, but since the term is used several different ways, it is important to +be clear about its various meanings (Kolderie, 1986). + +In its broader sense, privatization refers to efforts to remove government from any +involvement in either the design or conduct of a particular service. In Great Britain, for +example, major industries such as steel or coal, once nationalized, are returning to +private control, typically through direct sales to individuals, firms, or other groups. +In the United States, most such major industries, including most utilities, are already in +private hands, so there are relatively few examples of such magnitude (the sale of + + + +io8 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Conrail and certain petroleum reserves are exceptions). There'are many more limited +examples of privatization, however; a city might, for example, sell a golf course to a +country club development, thus ending the governments involvement in golf. + +Networking + +To trace some innovative practices in government, check out the Institute for +Innovations in Government at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of +Government program at http://www.innovations.harvard.edu. Also see the Center +for Accountability and Performance at http://www.aspanet.org/cap/index.html. +For innovations in nonprofit organizations, see the Peter F. Drucker Foundation +for Nonprofit Management at http://www.pfdf.org. + +The rationale for removing government from a particular area varies. In some cases, +people may feel that clients will receive more personal attention from a nongovernmental or +private group, such as one that operates a drug abuse program or a day care center. Others +suggest that privatization enhances competition among service providers, thus ensuring that +the new means of delivering services will provide higher quality at a lower cost to the client. +Programs also can be turned over to the private sector because the programs seem inappro +priate to government or because the private firm can operate more efficiently. + +Privatization is used in a more narrow sense (and more frequently) to refer to various +devices through which a government retains a policy role regarding a particular service +but engages someone else to actually deliver the service. A federal agency might decide to +contract with a private firm rather than handle its computer programming itself; a state +might contract with a nonprofit organization to deliver services to welfare recipients; or +a local government might lease a public hospital to a private firm. In each case, the ser +vices would be spelled out in detail by the government and some, if not all, funding +might be provided, but day-to-day operation of the program would be the responsibility +of the for-profit or nonprofit agency. + +During the past decade government at all levels has explored a variety of mechanisms +foi privatizing public services, the most popular being the use of contracting. Supporters +of contracting view fee-for-service and similar arrangements with NGOs as a more effi +cient method of service delivery, given the greater flexibility, different labor costs, and +economies of scale offered by for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Some of the most +publicized examples of contracting in recent years have been in the area of human ser +vices, as the federal government shifted to state and local authorities (and in turn to +NGOs) a larger role in the nations welfare system under the Personal Responsibility and +Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. + +In the city of West Palm Beach, Florida, the local Work and Gain Economic Self-suffi +ciency (WAGES) Board, the public-private partnership that oversees implementation of +welfare reform in regions statewide, invested $6.2 million on welfare-to-work programs +in fiscal year 1998/99. The WAGES Board contracted with Lockheed Martin IMS, a sub +sidiary of the aviation-aerospace giant, to run the programs, and in a short period of +time reduced the number of welfare cases by 45 percent. Advocates say the for-profit + + + +Working with Nongovernmental Organizations 109 + +firm was able to be more innovative than government agencies in its hiring and develop +ment of service systems, and in the future the WAGES Board intends to examine ways to +use privatization to streamline even the determination of program eligibility (Walters, +2000, pp. 34-35). + +The state of Kansas used contracts to hand over to the private sector most of its child +welfare services. Several years ago, government officials recognized that the states foster +care, adoption and related programs simply had to change. We had a failed child wel +fare system in this state, said State Rep. Melvin Neufeld, who played a key part in +drafting the reform legislation. Excessive costs and declining effectiveness on the part of +government agencies, coupled with a newly elected conservative leadership in the state +legislature, prompted state officials to shift virtually the entire system of service delivery +over to NGOs, mostly for-profit firms, hinder the new system, state government con +tracts with lead agencies at a regional level, which in turn subcontract with NGOs to +handle actual service delivery. State officials act mainly to administer the contracts and +ensure standards for service quality (Gurwitt, 2000, p. 40). + +As these cases may suggest, privatization has transformed public welfare into a major +growth industry. Maximus, Lockheed Martin IMS, and other for-profit corporations +have capitalized on the new arrangements to expand their business operations. The +Lockheed Martin IMS story is particularly interesting, since it also reflects changing pri +orities in public policy in the aftermath of the cold war. As the number of defense con +tracts dwindled during the 1980s and 1990s, Lockheed Martin IMS picked up the slack +in its parent companys defense-related operations by contracting for delivery and +administration of welfare services. The strategy has proven to be quite a success. +Lockheed Martin IMS has experienced a significant jump in the number of government +clients, from zero to 25, since the passage of welfare reform in 1996. + +But privatization of human services has its challenges. Even as supporters point to the +Kansas and Llorida examples as success stories, a closer look reveals major problems +relating to sustainability. Next door to its thriving effort in West Palm Beach, Lockheed +Martin IMS struggled in Miami-Dade County. The companys costs exceeded $38 mil +lion in the same fiscal year, but failed to make a significant impact on caseloads. In fact, +the county government has since handed the contract for welfare-to-work services over +to a local community college (Walters, 2000, p. 35). + +In Kansas, the states transformation of child and family services has come under +attack not only from liberal critics, who argue that public welfare should not be left up to +firms whose primary motive is profit, but also from the businesses themselves. Governing +magazine reported that Kansas story isnt really about privatization: Its about a rushed, +no-holds-barred effort to build a public-private social services system using managed-care +principles, as well as its struggle to recover from the fallout (Gurwitt, 2000, p. 40). The +fallout? State officials have been forced to pick up the pieces from what can only be con +sidered a managed-care revolution. Unlike other states, Kansas bypassed smaller-scale, +experimental initiatives, choosing instead sweeping reforms. The change inside the state +resulted in confusion, as state officials struggled to learn new roles as contract managers +rather than care givers. Lor private firms, the reforms opened a floodgate on newly cre +ated service networks, swamping many businesses that simply did not have the expertise +or capacity to deal with the demands of public welfare programs. + + + +no Chapter 3 The lnterorganizational Context of Public Administration + +The use of contracts to provide public services certainly has its promise. However, as +the Kansas example has shown, building effective alliances with NGOs must not be +taken for granted. Nor should contracts be seen as the only mechanism. There are a vari +ety of options for partnering with NGOs. A franchise can be awarded to a private firm +to perform a certain service within a state or locality. The firm charges citizens directly +for the services it provides. Typically, rates and performance standards are established by +the government, and there is often some continuing regulation of the firm. Examples +include electric power, taxi services, cable television, and emergency ambulance services. +Similarly, governments may provide grants or subsidies to private or nonprofit organiza +tions that are performing needed public services. The government provides full or partial +support for activities that will benefit the community but which the local government, +for financial or other reasons, does not wish to operate on its own. Examples include +local government support for the arts, childcare, or shelter for the homeless. + +All levels of government have experimented with the use of vouchers, which are coupons +citizens may use to redeem for goods or services. The federal food stamp program, for +example, provides recipients with vouchers to purchase food, but permits the individual to +choose both the supplier and the items to be purchased (within stated limits). At the local +level, many jurisdictions have explored the use of vouchers for education. But while propo +nents suggest it would lead to more effective, efficient options than the public schools, the +issue has become one of the most controversial topics in current education policy. + +What is important in all of these efforts to privatize public services is that they bring +government officials into new relationships with NGOs. But these new circumstances +also raise important value questions. Where government programs are run directly by +government, responsibility for their success lies squarely with the government agency. +But where such programs are actually delivered by those in the private or nonprofit sec +tor, traditional mechanisms for control and accountability may not work. Maintaining a +proper concern for democratic values such as equity and responsiveness may, in the long +run, prove more difficult than the managerial challenges of creating appropriate interor- +ganizational policy networks. + +The Management of Nonprofit Organizations + +As we have seen, NGOs have become important players in public policy and administra +tion. Unfortunately, many public administrators fail to appreciate the distinct challenges +faced by these organizations, especially in the nonprofit sector. In order to develop more +effective interorganizational, cross-sector relations, it may be helpful to identify some of +the key elements of organizational capacity within nonprofits. + +Operational Leadership + +Nonprofit management begins with effective leadership. By leadership, we mean an +organization s internal systems for establishing a mission and vision to guide organiza- + + + +The Management of Nonprofit Organizations in + +tional action, for engaging in strategy making and planning as a way of setting goals and +objectives, and for developing an operational structure to facilitate the translation of +strategy into action. + +Creating effective leadership systems in nonprofits starts with forging a sound mis +sion and vision. The mission represents what purpose the organization will serve in +its community; the vision is the guiding image of what members want the organiza +tion to become in the future (Smith, Bucklin & Associates, 2000; Bryson, 1997). +While these factors are critical in virtually all organizations, they are especially +important in nonprofits. Independent-sector groups depend upon a lot more than +paid staff to carry out organizational objectives, including volunteers, donors, board +members, and other resources. Without a strong sense of purpose, or a clear vision +for the future, nonprofit leaders will find it extremely difficult to build the critical +mass necessary for success. + +Of course, setting a mission and vision must be combined with sound planning, in +particular establishing clear, measurable goals and objectives. A recent survey of non +profits found that the level of support and commitment to planning by the leadership of +the organization is ... a crucial element in an assessment of organizational capacity. +If management neither plans nor possesses the support systems needed to enable plan +ning (e.g., budgeting systems, planning models, information about past organizational +experiences), then the issue of capacity is largely moot. Organizational survival generally +requires planning and the development of a shared vision and goals[.] (Fredericksen & +London, 2000, pp. 234-235). + +Leadership also involves building a solid organizational foundation that allows non +profits to transform their strategy into action. For those working in the charitable sector, +this often proves to be the most difficult task. Most nonprofits begin with an idea, which +translates very well into mission and vision. Things get much tougher, though, in trying +to turn the idea into an organizational reality. + +In fact, one of the biggest challenges confronting todays nonprofits involves creating +effective, high-capacity systems of operation. Much of this stems from an unwillingness +on the part of government and foundation grant-makers to provide funding for adminis +trative costs. Nonprofit agencies could gain access to resources for programming and +service-delivery, but struggled to find support for the basics of managementstaff, equip +ment, technology, and related expenses. Fortunately, foundations have begun to realize +that while restricting funding to program-related needs sounds good, it s impossible to +deliver quality services without a well-developed administrative structure (Greene, 2000). + +Networking + +To explore some of the aspects of nonprofit management, go to the Aspen Institute +at http://www.aspeninstitute.org; the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations +at Harvard University at http://www.ksghauser.harvard.edu; the Institute for +Not-for-Profit Management at Columbia University at http://www.gsb.columbia. +edu/execed/INM/index.html. See Chapter 2 for a list of sites relating to the advo +cacy role of nonprofit organizations. + + + +iiz Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Resource Development + +Speaking of financial support, resource development represents another key element of +nonprofit management. Agencies in the independent sector receive their funding from a +variety of sources, including fees and charges, government grants-in-aid, and private giv +ing. According to Giving USA 2001 (Center on Philanthropy, 2001) nonprofit organiza +tions reported more than $203 billion in revenues in charitable contributions during +2000, with 75 percent from individuals, 12 percent from foundations, 7.8 percent from +bequests, and 5.2 percent from corporations. And this figure doesnt include funding from +fees and government grants, which make up an additional $400 billion. With such a +diverse revenue base, it might seem strange that a primary weakness of nonprofits +(especially the smaller organizations) is to rely too much on a single source of support, or +to not look beyond the next grant cycle for their funding. Successful nonprofits, on the +other hand, diversify their revenue streams, balancing between grants, fees-for-service, +and other sources. + +Nonprofit organizations that are classified as either a public charity or private foun +dation under IRC 501(c)(3) benefit from their tax-exempt status, which allows taxpayers +to deduct contributions as charitable donations. Some nonprofits also may receive dis +counts on postal rates, special provisions for financing, as well as various exemptions +from state and local taxes. + +To assure sustainability, many nonprofits and their associations have developed inno +vative strategies for maintaining a sound financial base for the next generation. For exam +ple, the National Committee on Planned Giving has initiated the Leave a Legacy +program, a nationwide effort to encourage people of all socioeconomic groups to include +charitable contributions as part of their estates. The program in large part aims at +attracting charitable contributions from the baby-boomer generation, which over the next +few decades will retire with an unprecedented level of wealth. An important element of +Leave a Legacy is its community-based focusthat is, a single organization cannot adopt +the program, but instead the program brings together nonprofits from around a given +community. Prospective donors are asked to work directly with the planned giving offi +cers of the foundations they currently support, or with estate planners to decide upon a +charitable beneficiary. + +As any nonprofit manager will tell you, resource development goes well beyond +grants and other types of financial contributions. Although most people recognize the +challenge nonprofits face in competing for donors, few appreciate the level of competi +tion for other vital resources, such as in-kind support and volunteerism. While charitable +giving certainly remains central to a nonprofit organizations balance sheet, more and +more nonprofits depend on in-kind contributions and the time, energy and expertise of +volunteers to meet their objectives. A recent study conducted by the Independent Sector +found that while charitable giving by individuals had declined in recent years, more +Americans were volunteering than ever before. Figures for 1998 indicated that 109 mil +lion people, or 56 percent of Americans, volunteered in some way with a charitable +organization, far exceeding previous records (Greene, 1999, p. 1). + +Keys for successful resource development include being able to articulate a case for +your organization; exploring a diverse array of support; identifying an appropriate + + + +The Management of Nonprofit Organizations 113 + +development strategy and action plan; and ensuring effective implementation of the +action plan. Most importantly, at the heart of the resource development strategy must +be a commitment to building and maintaining relationships with funders, donors, and +volunteers (Smith, Bucklin & Associates, 2000). + +Financial Management + +Running a nonprofit also depends upon sound financial management. The benefits of +being a charitable organization were discussed previously, but with these benefits come +important requirements for accounting and public disclosure of financial transactions. +For example, all 501(c)(3) organizations must maintain open records and prepare +financial reports for their stakeholders on a periodic basis. Many foundations and other +grant-makers ask grant recipients to undergo periodic audits, sometimes as an eligibility +requirement. And charitable organizations with annual gross receipts of $25,000 +or more must submit to the IRS each year a Form 990 (Return of Organizations +Exempt from Income Tax), as well as file disclosure statements with state and local tax +authorities. + +In order to satisfy these requirements, nonprofits must maintain detailed financial +records. At the very least this includes following basic accounting standards and proce +dures. But financial management includes much more than reporting. It should be at the +heart of a nonprofits strategic planning and management. Without the ability to gener +ate clear, meaningful financial information, then incorporate this information into orga +nizational decision making, a nonprofit agency limits its overall capacity. Unfortunately, +many nonprofits fail to follow established procedures and some do not even have in +place even the simplest mechanisms for accounting. Small- to medium-sized nonprofits +have the greatest need in this area. + +The basics of financial management include monitoring the assets, liabilities, and net +assets of the organization, as well as the revenues and expenses for established reporting +periods. Moreover, nonprofit managers should make sure that the budget and financial +management process is undertaken in coordination with the governing board. In many +cases such coordination is mandated in the articles of incorporation, but it also makes +sense to have those responsible for setting the strategic direction informed on the organi +zations financial condition. + +Board Governance_ + +Most of the principles of nonprofit management discussed here have focused on the +operational side of the organization. Flowever, independent-sector agencies also must +have an effective governance system. Nonprofit boards are, in some respects, even +more vital to the organization than the staff, since some smaller agencies rely on +board members for performing day-to-day tasks. Regardless of an agencys size, its +board represents the final decision-making body of the organization. By law, board +members are bound (in the articles of incorporation) to ensure the fiscal and legal + +health of the agency. + + + +114 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +The board is responsible for several important roles. These include setting the strate +gic direction for the organization, serving as champions in the external community, and +overseeing organizational planning and implementation (Carver, 1996). First, with +regard to the strategic direction, board members act as the primary source of vision, mis +sion and values for the agency, then ensure that these strategic factors become reflected +in organizational action. An excellent example of this can be seen in Porter Hills +Retirement Communities and Services, a nonprofit healthcare provider in Grand Rapids, +Michigan. The Executive Leadership Team at Porter Hills actually brings the outline of +the Porter Hills mission, vision, and values into its strategy sessions and considers these +principles prior to moving ahead on all important decisions. If a new venture, partner +ship, or internal change does not reflect the core principles of the organization, or does +not coincide with where the board wants to be in the future, then the issue is either +dropped or taken back to the board for direction. + +Second, board members also must be the organizations champions in the community. +They are the principal spokespeople, representing the organization on key issues, but +also the role models for donations and volunteerism, as mentioned previously. In this +capacity, the board should set the policies and procedures for the operational staff and +leadership on strategies for external communication. Board members, consequently, +must always be kept in the loop on factors affecting the organization. + +A vital point here is that the board must speak with one voice, or it shouldnt speak at +all. This means that board members should support decisions of the governance body +once a consensus has been achieved. Too often, and particularly with smaller, community- +based organizations, members of nonprofit boards go into the community and speak +against the other members, or against the organization. This does nothing but send a sig +nal to those listening that the disgruntled board member has failed to appreciate the core +values of governance. + +Third, the board must support the organizations leadership on issues of planning and +implementation. As advisors from the Support Center for Nonprofit Management noted, + The board should make sure an effective planning process is in place, contribute its per +spective on the organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and +woi k with staff to reach consensus on overall program and administrative priorities +(Allison & Kaye, 1997, p. 32). This doesn t mean that board members should try to +manage day-to-day activities on the part of the staff. It does mean, though, that those on +the operational side of the organization should coordinate and seek direction from the +board on those issues that are truly strategic in nature. + +Nonprofit boards vary in size with some organizations having less than ten and +others having more than fifty members (this tends to be toward the extreme!). The com +position of the board will reflect the history and mission of the organization, but most +nonprofits strive to ensure that the governance system will reflect the diversity and +values of the constituent community. A few of the considerations relating to board size +include + + What functions are required of the board? + How many individuals, and in what roles, are needed to accomplish those functions? + How many board committees are needed to accomplish the organizations goals? + + + +The Management of Nonprofit Organizations + +' ^5* '"d'viduals on the board ,o participate on board comm,ttees> +(Smith, Bucklin & Associates, 2000, p. 29) + +A primary source of failure for nonprofit boards relates to the leaderships inability +to manage the board's tin* wisely. Most often the greatest ^efficiencyh open. +board meetings. How many hour-and-a-half meetings have turned into three-hour + +must set dea^tmie3 Set''n8 Yahab'e ^ginning point, but also the presiding officer +his the constraints for each of the agenda items, making sure that everyone +points! PPrtUn,ty partlc,Pate when necessary but limiting comment to only the key + +mem'Ahkh ^h m0S',mPortLant attrib for effective nonprofit manage- +ment. A high-impact board with an effective board chairperson can have an extraordinary +influence on the organizations success. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true Many \ + +an meZ: vy Hm,ted d m Sme C3SeS pfettly de + +Board-Staff Relations + +hnTdVtt TateSt Cla"ei.n8 faced by nnProfits 15 the <* to strike a balance in +central roe ro ffiT'' ffi PreUS ,discussion ^ggested, the board members have a +central role to play in the organization s strategy making and in representing the orgam- + +VhP ln^hkeXtarna Cmmunit^ However, once the parameters for action have been +established, board members must step back and allow staff adequate room to achieve +the goals and objectives. Frequently, boards (especially those consisting of inexperienced +members) tend to micromanage the operational staff. But this does little more than +oster distrust, frustration and, in many cases, contributes to high staff turnover. + +ere are several keys to effective relationships. First, the board must set clear expec- +tations for leadership and staff. At least once a year board members should sit down +with the executive director and lay out the goals and objectives for the coming term +econd the expectations must be reinforced by lines of communication between board + +and staff. Communication channels should be maintained by the executive director and +in some rare events directly between the board and the staff. Third, the board mustrein- +orce success. As part of its oversight function, the governing board should be ready to + +celebrate the good work being done, not just sanction the shortcomings. +In many respects, the primary buffer between the board and staff is the executive + +director. Although some executive directors position themselves in ways that cut off the +governance and operational sides of the agency, with very little direct involvement +between board members and staff, this takes things a bit too far. The most effective rela +tionships feature executive directors as the main conduits, as brokers. Staff should be +present, when appropriate, at board meetings, mainly to offer expertise and inform the +board on key decisions; similarly, the board must provide oversight and guidance to +the staff on key issues of agency strategy. How far to go on either side will depend upon +the organization, but its up to the executive director and members of the leadership team +to determine the appropriate balance. + + + +n6 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Advocacy + +Perhaps the most overlooked, and largely misunderstood, aspect of nonprofit manage +ment deals with the advocacy role of independent-sector organizations. Some of this +stems from the fact that the federal tax code limits lobbying activities by charitable orga +nizations and, depending upon the party affiliation or political position, some legislators +and policy makers have frowned upon nonprofit activism. But nonprofit organizations +may, even under federal tax law, engage in advocacy as a way of amplifying the voice of +their constituents in the policy process. + +In 1976, Congress granted nonprofits the right to lobby in the public interest without +having to worry about losing their status as tax-exempt organizations (Pub. L. No. 94- +455, 1307 [1976]). While the IRS deliberated on the issue for more than a decade, in +1990 the federal tax code was revised to expand the advocacy rights of nonprofits. +Under the 1976 tax law, nonprofits that choose to come under its jurisdiction must +comply with the definition of lobbying as the expenditure of money by the orga +nization for the purpose of attempting to influence legislation. Where there is no expen +diture by the organization for lobbying, there is no lobbying by the organization +(Smucker, 1999, p. 51). + +The tax law establishes two types of lobbying: direct and grassroots. Direct lobbying +refers to communication by the organization with legislators or other public officials on +matters concerning legislation on which they have a role to play in the bills formulation, +or with the nonprofit organizations own membership. In contrast, grassroots lobbying +involves influencing the legislative process by attempting to sway public opinion on the +policy issues. The law also establishes ceilings for the amount of expenditures that may +be allocated to lobbying, based on the total level of tax-exempt expenditures for the +organization. A nonprofit with annual expenses up to $500,000, for example, may allo +cate 20 percent of these expenses for lobbying activities, while an organization with tax- +exempt expenditures of over $17 million may spend a total of $1 million for lobbying +(Smucker, 1999, p. 55). + +We should point out that many activities by nonprofits, and even a wide array of +expenditures, which may be in some way connected with the legislative or public policy +process are not considered lobbying under the 1976 law. For instance, using contacts with +officials in the executive branch to influence proposed legislation; communicating to +members of the organization as long as they are not encouraged to lobbyeven if the +organization itself takes a certain position; and advocating legislators on issues that affect +the existence, tax-exempt status, or other aspects of operations (the so-called self-defense +activity) none of these would be viewed as lobbying on the part of the nonprofit. + +The right of nonprofits to lobby in the public interest was reinforced by the Supreme +Court in Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez (2001). At issue in the case were provisions in +the 1996 welfare reform law, which attempted to prohibit legal challenges to the reform +legislation from local organizations funded by the Legal Services Corporation. The Court +struck down these provisions, stating that since Congress allowed Legal Services +Corporation lawyers to advocate for the poor on some matters, federal lawmakers could +not deprive a Legal Services client of his or her rights to a full and complete legal defense, +which might well happen if a lawyer couldnt challenge the legitimacy of the welfare law + + + +Summary and Action Implications iij + +(Lenkowsky, 2001, p. 40). The ruling has been viewed by many in the nonprofit commu +nity as a potential expansion in the capability of independent-sector organizations, even +those that receive federal funding, to advocate for their constituents on legislative issues. + +For others, however, the ruling may have the opposite effect. In its analysis of the +decision, the Chronicle of Philanthropy characterized Velazquez as a Pyrrhic victory, +stating that while the ruling may have some positive impact on the advocacy role of non +profits, it also reaffirmed the Courts decision in Rust v. Sullivan (1991), in which +employees of NGOs that receive federal funding were held to be agents of the govern +ment. This means that they forfeit their First Amendment rights to free speech by agree +ing to accept the federal grants and contracts (Lenkowsky, 2000, p. 40). + +As future nonprofit managers, you should take this as a caution to explore the legal +constraints before engaging in lobbying activities, but by no means should you shy away +from attempting to influence policy decision-making on behalf of your constituents. The +law is on your side, and you certainly will have greater protection than you may have +originally thought for lobbying without fear of threatening your organizations tax- +exempt status. + +Summary and Action Implications + +Given the complexity of modern society, your work as a public administrator will likely +involve a complex set of relationships with all kinds of external groups. Many of these +groups will be agencies at other levels of government. Our federal system has evolved +from a pattern in which the various levels of government were relatively distinct to a +pattern in which funding and programmatic relationships are extremely intense. + +The fact that public programs today operate through vast and complex webs of people +and organizationspublic, private, and nonprofitmeans that new skills are required of +the public manager. Any particular program may involve various levels of government, +from all sectors of society, and clients or citizens with many different interests and con +cerns. As a public manager, you must be able to identify the network that is or should be +involved in a particular situation and assess the effectiveness of that network. + +To make that judgment, you will need to consider several factors. The first is commu +nications, the type of information that goes from one organization to another and how it +is transmitted. Second, you might focus on exchanges of goods and services, money, and +personnel among the organizations involved. Third, you might examine the normative +aspect of the relationshipthat is, what each organization expects of the other and +what each is willing to contribute to the alliance. Examining these same categories may +also suggest ways to improve the effectiveness of interorganizational relationships. + +The interorganizational nature of modern public administration also has interesting +implications for the interpersonal skills you must bring to the job. Increasingly, the govern +ment official responsible for a given program must be skilled in negotiating relationships +with those outside the agency to ensure that the program proceeds effectively and responsi +bly. More and more, the public administrator works in a world in which older images of + + + +ii8 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +organizational hierarchy and control are quickly giving way to newer images of managing +in ambiguity and negotiating organizational boundaries. The interorganizational nature of +public administration today has a direct effect on what skills managers need. + +Terms and Definitions + +Block grants: Grants in which the money can be used for nearly any purpose within +a specific functional field. + +Capital grants: Grants for use in construction or renovation. + +Categorical or project grants: Grants requiring that the money may be spent for only +a limited purpose; typically available on a competitive basis. + +Charter: Local governments equivalent of a constitution. + +Contracting: Government agreeing to contracts with private or non-profit groups to +deliver certain services. + +Cooperative federalism: Greater sharing of responsibilities between federal and state +governments. + +Coproduction: Using volunteer activity to supplement or supplant the work of govern +ment officials. + +Councils of government: Oversight bodies representing various localities to help coor +dinate local affairs. + +Cross-cutting requirements: Rules that apply to most grant programs. + +Dillon s Rule: Municipalities have only those powers granted in their charters; cities +are creatures of the state. + +Direct orders: Requirements or restrictions that are enforced by one government over +another. + +Dual federalism: Pattern in which federal and state governments are struggling for +power and influence with little intergovernmental cooperation. + +Entitlement grants: Grants that provide assistance to persons who meet certain criteria. + +Formula grants: Grants that employ a specific division rule to indicate how much +money any given jurisdiction will receive. + +Grants: Transfers of money (and/or property) from one government to another. + +Home rule: Provision allowing cities greater autonomy over local activities. + +Intergovernmental relations: A term encompassing all the complex and interdepen +dent relations among those at various levels of government. + + + +Study Questions 119 + +Interorganizational networks: Pattern of relationships within and among various +groups and organizations working in a single policy area. + +Mandate: Order requiring a government to do something. + +Negotiated investment strategy: Bringing together representatives of all affected +groups to set priorities for funding. + +Operating grants: Grants for use in development and operation of specific programs. + +Picket-fence federalism: Pattern of intergovernmental relations in which the horizon +tal bars represent levels of government and the vertical slats represent various sub +stantive fields. + +Preemption: Federal government efforts to preempt an area traditionally associated +with state government. + +Privatization: Use of nongovernmental agencies to provide goods and services previ +ously provided by government. + +Revenue sharing: Grant pattern in which the money can be used any way the recipi +ent government chooses. + +Sneaky mandates-. Actions that are required of local governments by the inaction of +state governments. + +Special districts: Local governments created for a specific purpose within a specific area. + +Supply-side economics: Argument that decreased taxes and spending will stimulate +capital investment and economic growth. + +Study Questions + +1. Although intergovernmental relations involve more than financial matters, funding +programs have a significant role in the process. Define and give examples of the vari +ous kinds of grants and funding programs. + +2. Compare and contrast dual federalism and cooperative federalism. Describe the +approach to federalism used during the Clinton and Bush presidencies. + +3. In the last decade, states and localities have faced significant changes in funding from +the federal government. Discuss the reasons for the changes and how they affect rela +tions among the various levels. + +4. Flow do governmental mandates and regulations affect operations at the state and + +local levels? +5. Government has been moving to privatization of some goods and services. + +Flow will this trend affect intergovernmental relations? +6. Explain the importance and use of contracting for services and goods. + + + +120 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Analyze the relationship between state and local governments in your state. What legal +requirements govern state/local relationships? What, if any, bodies exist to help in +intergovernmental cooperation? What kinds of mandates has the state imposed on +local governments? What has been the reaction to these? How do you think state/local +relations could be improved? + +2. Assume the role of a member of a task force that has been asked to consider ways +your local parks and recreation services could be delivered at less cost to the city gov +ernment. (You may be able to obtain a budget, a list of services, and existing fees from +the Parks and Recreation Department.) Consider alternatives such as special charges, +citizen involvement in service delivery, and limitations on services. At the same time, +consider what minimal level of parks and recreational services the city should provide +as part of its general operations. + +3. John Kincaid, a prominent student of intergovernmental relations, offers a list of +trends emerging during the 1990s that characterize what he calls Americas system of +coercive federalism. Discuss each trend and predict its impact on the future of inter +governmental relations. + Aid reduction: A decline in federal aid to state and local governments. + Aid reduction to persons: A cutback in federal assistance programs, such as + +Medicaid and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. + Aid conditions: An increase in federal mandates attached to aid programs to state + +and local governments. + Mandates: A rise in federal mandates, despite initiatives by Presidents Clinton and + +Bush and by Congress to curb such measures. + Preemption. A displacement of state and local government power by executive, leg + +islative, and judicial actions at the federal level. + Intergovernmental tax immunities: An intrusion on the part of the federal govern + +ment on the tax base of state and local governments. + Uncooperative programming: A deterioration in the level of cooperation toward + +intergovernmental programs. + Judicial indifference: A lack of concern on the part of the courts toward state and + +local government interests. +4. Divide the class into several groups of six to eight students each. Have one group + +assume the role of a granting agency charged, by legislation, with providing funds to +local communities to help in projects that improve the economic potential of the com +munity and assist low-income and disadvantaged groups in the community. Assume +that the agency has $50 million to distribute, but that the legislation has given the +granting agency the authority to determine all other details of the grant program. + +The agency group must first define as clearly as possible the intent of the legisla +tion, then prepare guidelines outlining the types of projects that will be funded under +the program. A written Request for Proposals (RFP) should then be prepared and dis +tributed to a set of potential applicant communities, each represented by one of the +other groups in the class. The RFP should contain, at a minimum, a description of the + + + +For Additional Reading IZI + +program, criteria by which proposals will be evaluated, examples of projects that +might be funded, and instructions for submitting proposals for funding (including a +deadline for applications). + +Each community group will then prepare a grant application to support a project or +projects it wants for its community. Members of each community group may commu +nicate with one representative of the agency designated as liaison to that community, +but should not talk with other agency members. Community groups can communicate +with one another if they wish. By the deadline contained in the RFP, all proposals +should be submitted to the agency. The agency will then determine which, if any, proj +ects will be funded and at what levels. The results should be communicated to all the +communities. + +Following the exercise, the class as a whole should discuss the entire process. You +might want to focus on issues such as these: + What is the role of the agency in defining the kinds of projects that will be funded? + What types of instructions are necessary to enable communities to compete fairly + +and effectively? + What was most attractive about the proposals that were funded? + For what reasons were other proposals not funded? + What effect on the final decisions did communications between the community and + +the liaison from the agency have? + Did politics play any role? + +For Additional Reading + +Bernstein, Susan R. Managing Contracted Services in the Nonprofit Economy. +Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991. + +Boris, Elizabeth T., and C. Eugene Steuerle. Nonprofits and Government: Collaboration +and Conflict. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 1999. + +Bowman, Ann O., and Richard C. Kearney. The Resurgence of the States. Englewood +Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1986. + +Cook, Brian J. Bureaucracy and Self-Government. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University +Press, 1996. + +Cooper, Phillip J., and Chester A. Newland. Handbook of Public Law and +Administration. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997. + +Cooper, Phillip J., et al. Public Administration for the Twenty-First Century. Fort Worth: +Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1997. + +Gage, Robert W., and Myrna P. Mandell, eds. Strategies for Managing +Intergovernmental Policies and Networks. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990. + +Hill, Kim Quaile, and Kenneth R. Mladenka. Democratic Governance in American +States and Cities. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1992. + +Hill, Larry B., ed. The State of Public Bureaucracy. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., + +1992. + + + +122 Chapter 3 The Interorganizational Context of Public Administration + +Jennings, Edward T., Jr., Dale Krane, Alex N. Pattakos, and B. J: Reed, eds. From. +Nation to States. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986. + +Judd, Dennis R., and Todd Swanstrom. City Politics. Private Power and Public Policy. +New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1994. + +Katz, Michael B. The Price of Citizenship: Redefining the American Welfare State. New + +York: Metropolitan Books, 2001. + +Kemp, Roger L., ed. Privatization. The Provision of Public Services by the Private Sector. +Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 1991. + +Kettl, Donald F. Government by Proxy. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly +Press, 1988. + +Kettl, Donald F. Sharing Power: Public Governance and Private Markets. Washington + +D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1993. + +Fevin, Martin, and Mary Sanger. Making Government Work. San Francisco: Jossey- +Bass, 1994. + +Light, Paul C. Sustaining Innovation: Creating Nonprofit and Government Organizations +that Innovate Naturally. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998. + +Fight, Paul C. Making Nonprofits Work: A Report on the Tides of Nonprofit Management +Reform. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2000. + +McFaughlin, Curtis. The Management of Nonprofit Organizations. New York- Wiley +1986. + +Nathan, Richard P., Fred C. Doolittle, et al. Reagan and the States. Princeton, NJ: +Princeton University Press, 1987. + +National Academy of Public Administration. Privatization: The Challenge to Public +Management. Washington, DC: National Academy, 1989. + +Nice, David C. Federalism: The Politics of Intergovernmental Relations. New York: St. +Martins Press, 1987. + +Peirce, Neal R., Curtis Johnson, and John Stuart Hall. Citistates: How Urban +America Can Prosper in a Competitive World. Washington, DC: Seven Focks +Press, 1993. + +Peterson, Paul. The Price of Federalism. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution +1995. + +Rivlin, Alice M. Reviving the American Dream: The Economy, the States, and the +Federal Government. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1992. + +Rosenbloom, David H. Building a Legislative-Centered Public Administration: Congress +and the Administrative State, 1946-1999. Tuscaloosa, AT: University of Alabama +Press, 2000. + +Rusk, David. Cities without Suburbs. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. + +S 1989n M ed' Beynd Prwatization- Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press, + +Salamon, Fester M. Partners in Public Service: Government-Nonprofit Relations in the +Modern Welfare State. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University, 1995. + +Smith, Steven Ragbeth, and Michael Fipsky. Nonprofits for Hire: The Welfare State in +the Age of Contracting. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. + +Wright, Deil S. Understanding Intergovernmental Relations. 3d ed. Pacific Grove CA- +Brooks/Cole, 1988. + + + +Chapter 4 + +The Ethics of Public Service + +So far we have focused on the context of public administrationthe values, structures, + +and relationships you need to understand to act effectively and responsibly in public + +organizations. Now we begin a transition to more skill-based issues by exploring the + +ethical issues raised in public service. An ethical posture toward work in public organiza + +tions requires not only knowing the right answers, but being willing and able to do what + +is right. You must be prepared to act. + +Over the last several years, there has been a surge of interest in ethical issues in public + +organizations. A recent set of Time cover stories asked the question, What Ever + +Happened to Ethics? The articles commented on ethical dilemmas in business, educa + +tion, and even religion, but gave special attention to the ethics of those in government. + +In one article, Sissela Bok, a philosophy professor at Brandeis University, stressed that + +moral leadership must come first from those in public office. Aristotle said that people + +in government exercise a teaching function. Among other things, we see what they do + +and think that is how we should act. Unfortunately, when they do things that are under + +handed or dishonest, that teaches too (Time, May 25, 1987). + +Certainly the concerns Bok and others expressed about the ethical behavior of public + +officials have been triggered by such dramatic public events as Watergate and the Iran- + +Contra scandal. But in fact, ethical issues permeate public organizations as they do + +all organizations. Every action of every public officialwhether in the formulation or + +implementation of public policycarries value implications. Given this situation, it is + +not surprising that both President Bush and President Clinton used their first executive + +orders to deal with ethical issues and that states and localities across the country have + +struggled mightily with ethical concerns. + +As a public manager, you will often face difficult ethical choices. These choices may + +present themselves in several ways. Dilemmas arise for decision makers when respon + +sibilities conflict, when the obligations they undertake or the rules to which they are + +subject are unclear, or when they are unsure how to weigh their responsibilities against + +personal needs or desires (Fleishman & Payne, 1980, p. 17). Understanding the moral + +implications of your actions and resolving the dilemmas they pose is one of the most + +difficult problems you will face working in the public sector. Consequently, your ability + +to understand the context in which public problems arise and to work them out in + +a careful, reasoned, and ethical fashion will be essential to your success (and your own + +sense of personal well-being). +In this chapter we examine a variety of ethical issues faced by public managers. Some + +involve concerns that might arise in any organizationcases of lying, cheating, or stealing, + +123 + + + +124 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +or questions about what to do when you feel compelled to refuse an order from your boss. +Others are more directly connected to the special values that underlie public service, involv +ing the relationship between political leaders and career civil servants or between competing +demands for efficiency and responsiveness. + +Approaches to Ethical Deliberation + +Ethics is, of course, a branch of philosophy and is concerned with the study of moral +principles and moral action. To properly define ethics, therefore, we must first understand +the meaning of morality. Morality is concerned with those practices and activities that are +considered right or wrong; it is also concerned with the values those practices reflect and +the rules through which they are carried out within a given setting (DeGeorge, 1982, +p. 12). The morality of a society, a political system, or a public organization concerns +what is considered to be right or wrong within that group. Morality expresses certain val +ues that members of the group hold to be important and is reflected in laws, rules, and +regulations, or in policies and procedures. Moral action, in turn, is action that is consis +tent with the groups moralitythat which expresses the groups most basic commit +ments about what is right and what is wrong. + +Ethics, on the other hand, can be defined as a systematic attempt through the use of +reason to make sense of our individual and social moral experience in such a way as to +determine the rules which ought to govern human conduct (DeGeorge, 1982, p. 12). +Ethics is concerned with the process by which we clarify what is right and wrong and by +which we act on what we take to be right. Ethics involves the use of reason in determin +ing a proper course of action. Ethics is the search for moral standards. + +Though we have defined ethics as the study of morality, the two terms are often used +almost interchangeably. For example, we often call an action that is morally correct an +ethical action. Similarly, we speak of codes of moral conduct as codes of ethics. Despite +the overlapping uses of the terms, the distinction between morality and ethics is impor +tant not only for philosophical reasons, but because focusing on ethics emphasizes the +individuals active involvement in searching out morally correct positions. Ethics calls us +into action; it requires us to reason, to analyze, and to seek guidance as to the proper +course of action. + +This deliberative aspect of ethics is important because the issues you will face in public +organizations are rarely black or white. Should you lie to a legislator so as to carry out +a policy you think is correct? Should you bend the rules to benefit a client in need? Should +you follow orders from an organizational superior even if you know you are being asked +to do something wrong? These questions and the thousands of others you may encounter +in public organizations do not have easy answers. To act properly, you must be able to +sort through the many and often competing values that underlie your work, and you +must be able to come to a reasoned conclusion that will form the basis for action. + +It is not enough to simply say, It depends, and go about your business, though such +a position has gained widespread currency in our society. Ethical (or moral) relativism is + + + +Approaches to Ethical Deliberation 125 + +the belief that actions that are immoral in some places or circumstances are moral in +others and that one can make moral judgments only by taking into account the context +in which an action occurs. According to this view, there are no universal rules of conduct +that apply in all situations. A defense of the relativist position is that different cultures +have different rules of conduct. One culture may consider it proper to leave old people +to die alone, while another may give the elderly considerable care and attention. + +Such arguments, however, often fail to take into account larger and more unifying +moral principles, such as respect for the elderly. Furthermore, the relativist position +seems at odds with our moral experience. When we make the judgment that murder is +immoral, we do not mean that it is immoral for some individuals and not others. +We do not even mean that murder is immoral in some countries and not in others. +We claim that murder is immoral for all people at all times and we can defend our +statement on both rational and emotional grounds. This position suggests that there +is really only one right answer to moral questions (even though that answer may be +hard to find!). Nevertheless, by understanding the context in which an action occurs, +working through the various arguments in behalf of one position or another, and +arriving at a set of guidelines for action, one can at least act with greater clarity +and confidence. + +What are the steps in ethical deliberation? First, you should attempt to clarify the +facts. Although most ethical issues involve both facts and values and the facts alone are +not likely to resolve the issue, it is important to establish the facts as clearly as possible. +A pollution control policy may require precise measurements of pollutants released into +the air; knowing the exact measurements, rather than speculating about them, may +resolve the issue. In other cases, merely becoming clearer about the facts will help resolve +certain ethical problems. + +Second, it is easier to resolve ethical issues if those involved come to some agreement +about basic principles. These may be broad moral standards (such as freedom or justice); +they may be laws or other rules accepted by the society; or they may be standards of +behavior appropriate to a particular group or organization. These ideas are, of course, +deeply held by members of any society or organization, so disagreements may be marked. +For example, two detectives may have dramatically different views about how to treat +criminals, but if they clarify their agreement on the basic goal of fighting crime, they may +be able to reconcile their differences. Generally speaking, any progress you can make in +establishing a common ground or in bringing about agreement on basic principles will +help resolve the issue. + +Third, one of the central aspects of ethical deliberation is the analysis of arguments +presented in behalf of various viewpoints. The arguments may be articulated by different +individuals or different groups, or they may simply be arguments and counterarguments +you think through yourself. In either case, you will need to consider the evidence pre +sented, the justifications for various viewpoints, and possible fallacies of the justifications. +Throughout the process of argumentation, dialogue is extremely helpful in clarifying +ones position. (If the problem is one you are considering alone, finding someone to talk +through the issues with you is a good idea.) Ultimately, however, you will need to make +a decision and act on it. Ethical deliberation will lead you to a decision, but acting in a +way that is consistent with that decision is also important, though often difficult. + + + +i2 6 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +Reasoning, Development, and Action + +You will be better prepared to deliberate if you become familiar with some basic +approaches to ethical reasoning: moral philosophy, moral psychology, and moral action. +In each case, we will present only a brief overview. You should be aware that there are +many varying and sometimes conflicting interpretations of these issues, and you may find +others (perhaps including your teacher) who disagree with the formulation presented +here. Consider this material merely an invitation for further learning! + +Moral Philosophy + +Regarding moral philosophy, we can ask: given a particular set of circumstances, how +do we determine what is right and what is wrong? In other words, how do we go about +figuring out the proper course of action? One approach is to consider who will benefit +and who will suffer from each of various alternative actions, then ask which course of +action provides the greatest benefit at the least cost. Another approach is to search for +a moral principle or rule against which to measure aspects of the particular case. In the +first approach, one focuses on the consequences of the action; in the second, one looks +for universal rules of conduct. + +One of the most common forms of ethical deliberation, which focuses on the conse +quences of actions, is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism holds that an action is right, compared +to other courses of action, if it results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people +(or at least the minimum harm). Proponents of this view contend that there are no universal +principles that can guide action, but rather that the likely benefits and costs associated with +any action must be calculated to judge that practice either moral or immoral. + +Obviously, this view leans toward relativism; according to a utilitarian, telling the +truth cannot be judged a priori either right or wrongrather, the rightness or wrong +ness of telling the truth depends on a calculation of who is helped and who is harmed by +the act. Only then can a moral judgment be rendered. In the utilitarian view, Actions +themselves have no intrinsic values. They are simply means to attain things which do +have value (DeGeorge, 1982, p. 40). + +An administrator employing a utilitarian approach to moral reasoning in a specific situ +ation would ask what the likely outcomes of one course of action or another might be. +If building a new highway through a particular neighborhood would inconvenience a few +people but benefit many others, then building that highway in that location would be con +sidered a proper course of action. The administrator would not follow any predetermined +moral principle, such as that citizens should not be arbitrarily displaced, but would calcu +late costs and benefits relative to the specific case. Moreover, the administrator would not +generalize beyond the specific case; each act would be judged on its own merits. + +A contrasting approach to moral reasoning based on the search for general rules or +principles of conduct is often called deontological. Deontology holds that broad princi +ples of rightness and wrongness can be established and that these principles are not +dependent on the consequences of a particular action. Those who hold this view tend to +focus on duties or responsibilities (deontology derives from the Greek word for duty). +Quite simply, one s duty is to do what is morally correct and to avoid doing that which is +morally wrong, regardless of the consequences of ones actions (DeGeorge, 1982, p. 55). + + + +Approaches to Ethical Deliberation 127 + +Deontologists thus tend to focus on broad principles of right and wrong, such as those +embodied in concepts like rights or justice. + +Using the deontological approach, an administrator would seek to act in accord with +generally accepted moral precepts, such as honesty or benevolence. Administrators are +expected, for example, to tell the truth, keep their promises, and respect the dignity of +the individual. Their doing so does not derive from laws or codes of ethics but from gen +erally accepted moral principles. In particular situations, these actions might even be +harmful to the overall interests of the organization or the society, but, because the +actions could be justified as consistent with a shared sense of moral order, the adminis +trator should feel strongly compelled to act in that way (Denhardt, 1988, p. 46). + +One contemporary deontological theory that has received considerable attention is +that of philosopher John Rawls. His approach emphasizes fairness or equity in policy +decisions (Rawls, 1971). An interesting argument that Rawls develops to explain his the +ory suggests that if decisions were made under conditions in which the decision makers +had no knowledge of whether they would personally accrue harm or benefit by choosing +one way or another, then fairness would likely prevail. Imagine a city council committee +deciding where to spend $1 million on street improvements. If all members of the com +mittee acted in their own interest, they might spend the money in their own neighbor +hoods (and those would likely be the more affluent neighborhoods). On the other hand, +if all members of the committee acted under a veil of ignorance, not knowing where they +lived or whether or not they were affluent, they would most likely spend the money so as +to bring the poorer streets up to some standard level (and in doing so, they would likely +spend more in less affluent neighborhoods). If all public decisions were rendered by act +ing out of concern for fairness rather than self-interest, Rawls argues, a far different +moral order would prevail one that was much more consistent with the basic princi +ples of liberty and justice. + +Moral Psychology + +Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg devised a scheme outlining three levels of moral develop +ment through which people pass: the preconventional, conventional, and postconven- +tional stages (Kohlberg, 1971). According to Kohlberg, most people operate on one of the +first two levels of moral development, and no one operates exclusively on the third level. + +At the preconventional level, children begin to develop certain ideas about right and +wrong. They interpret these ideas in terms of the consequences of their actions or the phys +ical power of those around them. At an early stage, the ideas are associated with punish +ments; for example, if the child writes on the wall with a crayon, the child will be scolded. +To avoid the negative consequences associated with writing on the wall, the child avoids +that behavior. Later on, the child begins to behave in certain ways to receive rewards, such +as parental praise. Whether to avoid negative consequences or to receive praise, the child +begins to behave in ways that we characterize as right rather than wrong. Of course, from +the childs point of view, there is no moral code; the child is merely doing things to avoid +punishments or to seek rewards. At this level of moral development, therefore, the conse +quences of our actionsthe rewards or punishments we receivedetermine whether +we consider our actions right or wrong. The preconventional orientation is, of course, one +that we all carry into adulthood. + + + +128 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +At the conventional level of moral development,- people behave morally in terms of +conformity to various standards or conventions of the family, group, or nation. The indi +vidual seeks to conform to given moral standards and, indeed, to actively support and +maintain those standards. This level involves two stages. Kohlberg calls the first the +Good Boy/Nice Girl stage, at which we conform to expectations of parents or teachers +or peers and to the norms we learn at home, in church, or at school. We come to develop +moral rules or codes and standards of right and wrong, although what we think of as +good behavior is really just that which meets the expectations of others. + +A second stage in the conventional level of moral development is the Law and +Order orientation. At this stage, we develop an orientation toward authority and the +social order; we learn what it means to be a good citizen; and we come to accept the +importance of living by the conventional rules of the society. Notions of duty and honor +tend to dominate ones moral perspective at this level. We recognize that certain behav +iors are wronglying, cheating, stealing but if asked why, we can only answer, +Because everyone knows they are wrong (DeGeorge, 1982, p. 25). Most adults con +tinue to operate, at least in part, at this level of moral development. + +Few adults reach the final level, the postconventional, but some do. At this level, peo +ple accept moral principles and behave according to those principles, not merely because +someone says they should, but because they know themselves what makes these princi +ples right. The individual seeks to define moral principles for himself or herself and to +understand how those values operate independently of any group or society. The first +postconventional stage is called the Social-Contract or Legalistic stage, which has +a strong utilitarian bias. The individual recognizes the rights of other individuals, includ +ing the right to ones own beliefs and values, and how societies are constituted to sup +port those rights. The result is a legalistic viewpoint, though it recognizes the possibility +of changing the legal order (rather than freezing it, as in the previous level). Changes of +this sort are often supported based on the greatest good for the greatest number. + +The second stage of the postconventional level represents the highest stage of moral +development. At this stage, the individual freely chooses to live by a particular set of +abstract moral principles, such as justice, equality, and respect for individual dignity. +One chooses to follow these precepts not for rewards or punishments and not to meet +others expectations, but because one understands why the principle should be supported +and freely chooses to live by that standard. The actual standards one follows may be the +same in both level two and level three, but there is an important difference in the reason +one holds an action to be right or wrong. + +Although we have focused on Kohlberg s work here, we should point out that there +are several alternatives to his interpretation that have been voiced recently. One impor +tant alternative, for example, is that suggested by Carol Gilligan. Gilligan argues that, in +contrast to the rational and impartial perspective of Rawls and Kohlberg, one may inter +pret moral theory in terms of care and relationships. According to Gilligan, a final and +mature morality involves an interaction between the concerns of impartiality and those +of personal relationship and care (Blum, 1988, pp. 472-491). + +As you work in and with public organizations, you will come to recognize that many +of the ethical decisions you make are based in one or another level of moral develop +ment. We do certain things because they will lead to rewards or punishments and we +do other things because we must adhere to laws or organizational standards of conduct. For + + + +Approaches to Ethical Deliberation 129 + +example, you may obey an order from a superior so that you will not be fired, or you may +purchase a new piece of equipment through a bidding process rather than from a friend +because that is the law. But you will also encounter cases that will require you to think +much more carefully and much more personally about the standards you are willing to live +by. For example, purchasing a piece of equipment might be complicated by the fact that +your supervisor ordered you to purchase the equipment from a friend without other bids. +In cases such as these, postconventional, or principled, reasoning may be essential. Certainly +if you recognize that not all the answers can come from the power or expectations of others +and that careful deliberation concerning moral principles is often quite appropriate, you +will be better positioned to make the correct ethical decisions, time after time. + +Moral Action + +Knowing the proper and correct course of action is not enough. You must indeed act in +a way that is consistent with what you consider to be right. (After all, we describe people +as having integrity not merely on the basis of what they believe, but on the basis of how +they act.) This concern is especially significant for a public manager (or, for that matter, +any other professional) who wishes to act ethically. Questions of ethics in the public +service are not abstract; they are real. And they have immediate and sometimes serious +human consequences. It is thus important to consider how we can ensure moral actions +in public organizations. + +A long philosophical tradition holds that putting principles (whether utilitarian, deon- +tological, or otherwise) into action requires the development of character on the part of +the individual. In other words, it is necessary to apply a complex set of general principles +to specific cases something that requires more than abstract knowledge. Aristotle spoke +of the importance of gaining practical wisdom so as to make morally correct judgments in +specific situations. This practical wisdom, or virtue, requires that the individual not sim +ply know how to apply given principles, but rather why to do so. That is, to bring moral +knowledge to bear in the real world, the individual needs a strong sense of what is ideal +in human conduct. Terry Cooper, for example, argues that virtues are traits of character +that are acquired through reflection and conduct. They involve an integration of both +thought and feeling where potentially conflicting tendencies are brought under control +(Cooper & Wright, 1992, p. 6). + +This ethics of virtue, then, is not merely another philosophical approach but a way of +developing the skills one brings to the problem of ethical decision making. Aristotle speaks +of developing the skills of virtue in the same way we develop other skills, that is, by prac +tice: The virtues we get first by exercising them. ... For the things we have to learn +before we can do them, we learn by doing them. ... We become just by doing just acts, +temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts (McKeon, 1941, p. 952). + +But what are the virtues that we must practice? Obviously, this question has chal +lenged philosophers over the centuries. Answers range from honesty, courage, and +trustworthiness to kindness, fairness, and dependability, but most seem to center +around concerns for benevolence and justice. If this is the case, then all persons should +practice these virtues, while members of specific professions (such as public adminis +trators) should practice applications of these virtues in their specific situations (Tong, + +1986, pp. 91-92). + + + +I3 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +How, then, does one sort out the various philosophical and psychological approaches one +might employ to make ethical choices in the real world? First, if you set about solving diffi +cult moral problems through the application of broad moral principles in specific situations, +you need to understand the principles and moral reasoning that underlie them. Second, you +must engage in careful and consistent ethical deliberation, through self-reflection and +dialogue with others. Third, you must understand how virtues such as benevolence or justice +are played out in public organizations; that is, you must recognize the political and ethical +context that conditions the moral priorities of the public service (Bailey, 1965, p. 285). + +President George W. Bush early in his term found himself facing such a moral ques +tion. At issue was whether his administration should allow federal funding for medical +research on so-called stem cells from human embryos. Congress years before had +restricted this type of research, but the Clinton administration found a way around the +restrictions by enabling research on cells from embryos grown in self-sustaining environ +ments. (Fertility clinics around the country dispose of thousands of human embryos each +year that have been developed in the process of in vitro fertilization.) + +The full benefits of stem-cell research are still unknown, but scientists suggest it may +hold the key to cures for a variety of diseases, including Parkinsons. However, oppo +nents argue that the use of embryos violates the sanctity of human life, whether that life +begins in the womb or in a petri dish. Interestingly, the question has defied the usual +partisan split that characterizes the abortion debate, with even some of the most ardent +pro-life members of Congress supporting stem-cell research. President Bush, who is +against abortions and ran on a ticket opposing stem-cell research, had to balance these +moral considerations with his professional commitment to support medical research on +some of the worlds most challenging diseases. + +As you approach similar questions, it may be helpful to consider first the utilitarian +position what are the costs and benefits, and which alternative will bring the greatest +benefits? Next, you might ask whether the alternative you chose will infringe upon the +rights of others and, if so, whether there are overwhelming factors that justify such an +outcome. You might next ask whether the chosen alternative violates principles of equity +and fairness and, if so, whether again there are overwhelming factors that would justify +the outcome. Finally, you might ask whether the alternative is consistent with your ideals +with respect to human conduct (especially the conduct of public affairs) and whether by +choosing this alternative you will be acting in a way you consider to be virtuous. At any +point, you may find that the alternative comes up short, and you must search for +another. Remember that your ultimate goal is the development of virtue and the applica +tion of sound ethical reasoning to public problems. + +Issues of Administrative Responsibility + +People who work in or with public organizations face literally dozens of ethical +dilemmas. Some like lying, cheating, or stealingare the same problems that many +others face. But some, like the public managers commitment to democratic standards + + + +Issues of Administrative Responsibility 131 + +or feelings about the political involvement of public employees, are peculiar to public +organizations. + +One of the most troublesome issues in the field of public administration is that of admin +istrative responsibility. (In the section that follows, we focus much more specifically on +issues where personal values, such as honesty, equity, and justice, become deeply intermin +gled with the broader values of public service.) As a public manager, you may often +confront the potentially conflicting demands of operating as efficiently as possible while, at +the same time, being fully responsive to administrative superiors, to the legislature, to the +citizenry, and to the principles of democratic governance generally. This tension between +efficiency and responsiveness characterizes many of the problems public managers face. + +As we have seen, the tension between efficiency and responsiveness grows from two +other issues that are deeply rooted in the history of public administration the issue of +politics and administration and the issue of bureaucracy versus democracy. Early writers in +the field sought a clear distinction between politics and administration, arguing that, wher +ever possible, administrative activities should be insulated from the potentially corrupting +influence of politics. This idea was based on the assumption that policy making could be +distinguished from policy implementing. Making such an assumption allows easy resolu +tion of questions of democratic responsibilitythe legislature, charged with making pol +icy, should be responsive to the people. The administrative agencies, charged with imple +menting policy, should be responsive to the legislature. The requirements of democracy +will be met by a neutral and competent public bureaucracy that follows the mandates of +the legislative body; this is called the doctrine of neutral competence. Most writers and +practitioners clearly preferred this somewhat narrow view of administrative responsibility. +Indeed, the doctrine of neutral competence, and the politics-administration dichotomy on +which it is based, continues to influence the field. But there were and are many who recog +nize the difficulty of maintaining a neutral public bureaucracy. Some even argue that the +role administrative agencies play in the policy process is not only inevitable, but proper. + +Networking + +For general discussions of ethics in government, see the following: Center for +Public Integrity, http://www.publicintegrity.org/; Institute for Philosophy and Public +Policy, http://www.puaf.umd.edu/IPPP/; Center for the Study of Values in Public +Life, http://www.hds.harvard.edu/csvpl/; and Josephson Institute at http://www. +josephsoninstitute.org/. Organizations that seek to promote citizen action include +the Center for Civic Networking at http://civic.net/ccn.html and the Center for +Democracy and technology at http://www.cdt.org/. + +The Limits of Administrative Discretion + +We have noted that administrators take their primary cues from the actions of legisla +tures that initiate programs and from executives who are charged with carrying out the +programs. If you are hired to manage a new agency, one of your first priorities will be to + + + +132 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +familiarize yourself with the legislation that created'the agency'and with any executive +orders or other directives outlining the agencys responsibilities. But if your situation is +typical, you will find that neither the legislation nor the directions you receive from the +executive are sufficiently detailed to answer all the questions your work raises. There +will be a need to develop policies regarding these issues; policies that are, in effect, +merely more detailed pieces of legislation. In addition, as you get into the work, you may +find it necessary to ask the legislature or the chief executive to make certain changes in +the rules and regulations under which you operate. + +The problem, of course, is to make sure that your policies or recommendations for +change are consistent with the wishes of the citizenry (see Box 4.1). In most jurisdictions, +of course, the legislature and the chief executive are popularly elected, and their reelec +tion depends on their response to the publics perceived needs and interests. For them, +the electoral process assures responsiveness, at least in theory. As long as you are acting +in a way that is clearly consistent with legislative intent, you are likely to be considered +appropriately responsive. But because most situations are not that clear, the question +becomes, How can we assure that the administrator is exercising discretion in a way +consistent with the will of the people, whether expressed in the Constitution, the laws of +the land, or the preferences of citizens? + +Historically, two answers have been posed to this question. In an important debate in +the pages of the Public Administration Review and other journals some forty years ago, +Herman Finer argued that to maintain responsiveness to the public, managers in public +organizations should be subjected to strict and rigid controls by the legislature. His ques +tion was straightforward: Are the servants of the public to decide their own course, or +is their course of action to be decided by a body outside themselves? (Finer, 1972, p. 8). +His answer was equally direct: Only through specific and detailed legislation carefully +limiting the work of public managers could responsiveness to the legislature be main +tained. This interpretation of how to assure responsiveness is often called objective +responsibility, depending as it does on objective external controls. + +Carl Friedrich, on the other hand, argued that the increasing complexity of modern +society made such detailed legislation difficult, if not impossible; consequently, Friedrich +felt that the administrators own concern for the public interest was often the only real +assurance that his or her actions would be responsive to the electorate. Fortunately, +wrote Friedrich, the growing number of professionals in government increases the likeli +hood that a sense of democratic responsibility will be a part of the administrators +makeup (Friedrich, 1972). + +Others, following Friedrichs lead, noted the growing number of governmental offi +cials receiving training in schools of public affairs and public administration. These +schools take quite seriously the need to expose students to the ethical issues they may +encounter in public organizations and to ways these issues might be resolved. This way +of assuring responsiveness is often called subjective responsibility, depending as it does +on the subjective nature of the individual. + +Recently, Terry Cooper has argued that the notion of citizenship involves both rights +and responsibilities and that the citizen must assume a positive role in the betterment of +society as a whole. In doing so, he or she acts in pursuit of the common good and in accord +with values such as political participation, political equality, and justice. When a citizen +becomes a public administrator, he or she assumes the role of citizen-administrator, both + + + +Issues of Administrative Responsibility 133 + +BOX 4.1 + +Putting Citizens First + +Over the past thirty to forty years, the publics trust in government has declined dra +matically. Where only a few decades ago three out of four people said that they +trusted the government in Washington to do what is right most or all of the time, +today that percentage is less than one out of four. People see their elected officials, +especially those at the federal level, as being dishonest, callous, and unwilling to lis +ten. They see the government as out of control. + +At the same time, the level of citizen interest and involvement in public affairs is +being questioned. In a historic context, citizenship meant working for the common +good. Yet too often today we hear people respond to public issues by saying Whats +in it for me or Not in my backyard. Citizens are not well-educated with respect to +the operations of government, nor are they well tuned in to public affairs. + +An interesting and important effort to address these basic concerns has been occur +ring over the past year and a half in Florida. On April 4, 1995, Linda W. Chapin, the +first elected county chairman of Orange County, Florida (the county surrounding +Orlando), addressed a large gathering of community leaders and volunteers. In her +remarks, Chapin pointed out that success in any policy areawhether the environ +ment, transportation, criminal justice, or schools ultimately depends on the pride +and commitment of citizens. Arguing that a rekindling of the idea of civic engagement +lies at the base of all efforts to improve community life, Chapin called for a program +to put Citizens First! + +The idea of Citizens First! starts with the proposition that people acting as citi +zens must demonstrate their concern for the larger community, their commitment to +matters that go beyond short-term interests, and their willingness to assume personal +responsibility for what happens in their neighborhoods and the community. After all, +these are among the defining elements of effective and responsible citizenship. + +But the Citizens First! theme cuts in another way. Chapin remarked, To the +extent that people are willing to assume (the role of citizens), those ... in government +must be willing to listen and to put the needs and values of citizens first in our deci +sions and our actions. We must reach out in new and innovative ways to understand +what our citizens are concerned about. And we must respond to the needs that they +believe will help make a better life for themselves and their children. In other words, +those of us in government must put citizens first. + +SOURCE: Robert B. Denhardt, Local Governments Learn to Put Citizens First, Public Administration +Times, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1997. Reprinted by permission. + +a citizen and someone working for the citizenry. In this case, the administrators ultimate +obligation is to deliver public goods and services in ways that enhance the common good +of community life through which character and civic virtue are formed (Cooper, p. 161). + +One approach to assuring responsiveness that cuts across the objective/subjective +distinction is representative bureaucracythe idea that public agencies whose employees + + + +134 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +reflect certain demographic characteristics of the population as a whole are likely to oper +ate more in line with the policy preferences of the general citizenry. According to this +view, an agency with a substantial number of women or minority employees is more +likely to take into account the views of women and minorities in the population than +would an agency of white males. Experience with representative bureaucracy has pro +duced mixed results. Whereas we might indeed expect greater responsiveness with respect +to race and gender in the example, there is no reason to think that such an agency would +be more or less representative on other types of issues. Moreover, there is no real assur +ance that a person from one particular group would necessarily or always reflect that +groups policy preferences. Those preferences might well be displaced by the professional +or bureaucratic norms that person adopts. + +Avenues for Public Participation + +Another way to assure that public managers and employees act in a way consistent with +the desires of the public is to involve citizens directly in the decision-making process +through membership on advisory boards, open hearings, or direct polling. Such tech +niques, which have now become widespread, took their initial impetus from passage of the +Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, legislation that required the maximum feasible par +ticipation of the poor in the design and conduct of antipoverty programs. In this case, the +question of involvement itself became quite an issue, especially as the representatives of the +poor came into direct confrontation with those holding established positions of power in +local communities. The movement toward widespread citizen participation was soon well +established, however, and spread quickly to local school boards, universities, and a variety +of other government agencies. Today, for example, the practice of holding hearings prior +to administrative decisions is commonplace at all levels of government. + +There are questions, of course, as to whether real power is transferred to the citizens +or whether citizen involvement is merely a device for defusing protests. Some use the +term co-optation to describe situations in which citizens are given the feeling of involve +ment but little real power. On balance, it is probably accurate to say that there are some +cases in which citizens have been co-opted through involvement in advisory boards or +even public hearings, but in most cases, administrators are truly interested in receiving +input from the public that will help them make difficult decisions. + +The complexities of public involvement in administrative decision-making are illus +trated in the following classic case, actually a continuation of one we encountered in +Chapter 2. As we learned, the Clean Air Act required the EPA to set national emissions +standards for hazardous air pollutants to protect the public health. But no definition was +given as to what would be considered an ample margin of safety. + +The issue received national attention in 1983 when EPA was trying to decide what, +if anything, should be done about inorganic arsenic, a cancer-causing pollutant pro +duced when arsenic-content ore is smelted into copper. The problem was particu +larly serious in the area around Tacoma, Washington, where the American Smelting +and Refining Company (ASARCO) operated a copper smelter. The EPA had + + + +Issues of Administrative Responsibility 135 + +concluded that, in the absence of any controls on ASARCOs arsenic emissions, +approximately four new cases of lung cancer would be contracted each year in the +Tacoma area. Even after installation of the best available pollution-control equip +ment, there would still be one new case of cancer per year. But there was an impor +tant consideration on the other side of the issue as well. If the EPA were to impose +any more onerous conditions on ASARCO requiring, for example, that it use ore +containing less arsenic or install a new and far more expensive electric smelterthe +company could not afford to continue to operate the plant. ASARCO employed +570 workers, with an annual payroll of approximately $23 million; the company +bought an additional $12 million worth of goods from local suppliers. Closing the +plant therefore would pose serious economic problems for the local economy. + +William Ruckelshaus, then administrator of the EPA, decided that the citizens of the +Tacoma area ought to wrestle with the problem. Accordingly, Ruckelshaus flew to +Tacoma to announce a series of three public workshops to be held during the summer of +1983. The purpose was to acquaint residents with the details of the pollution problem, +help them prepare for subsequent formal hearings, and enable them to deliberate about +what should be done. + +Some questions concerned technical matters, like the reliability of the proposed con +trol equipment and the risk figures and epidemiological studies on which the EPA had +based its estimates. Other questions revealed the inadequacy of the EPAs explanation of +the relative health risk posed by the smelter: One resident asked whether that risk was +greater than the risk posed by auto emissions. + +Residents were not solely concerned, however, with the factual basis for the agencys +claims. Several residents wanted to discuss the effects of the arsenic emissions on their +gardens, their animals, and on the overall quality of life. Several residents expressed hos +tility toward the EPA for involving them in this difficult decision making in the first +place. These issues are very complex, and the public is not sophisticated enough to make +these decisions. This is not to say that EPA does not have an obligation to inform the +public, but information is one thingdefaulting its legal mandate is another. + +These numerous workshops, together with the national attention that Ruckelshaus +had deliberately drawn to them by traveling to Tacoma to announce them, created con +siderable and often unfavorable press coverage. In an editorial on July 16, 1983, entitled +Mr. Ruckelshaus a Caesar, the New York Times argued that Mr. Ruckelshaus has it +all upside down. . . . What is inexcusable is for him to impose such an impossible choice +on Tacomans: An article in the Los Angeles Times pointed out the difficulties in tak +ing a communitys pulse. . . . [Should one] poll the community . . . [or] count the pros +and cons at the massive hearing? Ruckelshaus was not surprised by the controversy. +He said, Listen, I know people dont like these kinds of decisions. . . . [W]elcome to the +world of regulation. People have demanded to be involved and now I have involved +them, and they say, Dont ask that question. Whats the alternative? Dont involve +them? Then you are accused of doing something nefarious. (Reich, 1985.) + +SOURCE: Reprinted by permission of the Yale Law Journal Company and William S. Hein Company from +The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 94, pp. 1617-1641. + + + +6 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +The outcome of the case is anticlimactic: Before the EPA promulgated its regulations, +declining copper prices led to the closing of the ASARCO smelter anyway. The case +does, however, point out some of the difficulties in designing adequate programs for +public participation. Certainly there is every reason to think that Ruckelshaus really +wanted to test the pulse of the citizens before making regulations. But his attempt was +met not only with ambivalence, as is often the case, but with outright hostility. +Moreover, despite his efforts, there were few clear signals to the agency with respect to +what to do. The ethical issues posed by the requirements of administrative responsibility +are indeed complex. + +The Ethics of Privatization + +We noted in Chapter 3 the increasing involvement of for-profit and nonprofit organiza +tions in the delivery of public programs. Especially as governments have contracted for +or otherwise sought to privatize services, private and nonprofit organizations have +become major providers of public services. But, as we also saw, the transfer of responsi +bility may raise significant ethical questions regarding equity and accountability. The +government might find it necessary or expedient to contract out for garbage collection, +for example, but neither necessity nor cost savings would justify allowing contractors to +engage in discrimination or other unethical practices. + +The issue is particularly critical for private-sector providers, who could have a tendency +to maximize profits even at the sacrifice of some other public value. A private organization +might be tempted to provide either more services than necessary for clients (to increase +payments and therefore revenues) or less services than necessary (to cut costs). Actions +such as these, clearly motivated by concern for profit, are less likely to occur in service +delivery by nonprofit organizations, simply by virtue of their service ethos, but even they +require mechanisms to assure equity and accountability (Rubin, 1990). + +In any privatization arrangement, the governments responsibility is not only to +assure quality and cost consistent with stewardship of public resources, but also to +promote democratic ideals and assure constitutional protections. There are at least +two different types of delegation to consider: those that involve no transfer of discre +tionary authority and those that do. Obviously, many contracts involve no transfer of +authority; public works contracts, for example, can usually be standardized and highly +specified so as to grant virtually no discretionary public authority to contractors +(though even here there are exceptions). The government retains responsibility for +exercising public authority (e.g., determining eligibility for and frequency of garbage +collection or street repair) and for holding contractors accountable for quality, quan +tity, and cost of work. + +Other arrangements may involve the transfer of discretionary authority; for example, +the authority to determine details of eligibility requirements for student loans or the +authority to decide what services to provide to inmates of a privately operated prison. +In situations such as these, appropriate accountability structures must be in place to +assure responsiveness to the government agency that administers the contract as well as +to the public generally. Developing contractual arrangements that fully incorporate + + + +Ethical Problems for the Individual I37 + +appropriate concerns for the public interest presents one of the most significant chal +lenges of efforts to privatize public services. + +Ethical Problems for the Individual + +Even the most straightforward ethical problems may be problematic, especially in the +context of work in public organizations. Think for a moment about telling the truth. +At first glance, nothing could seem more obvious than to tell the truth, the whole truth, +and nothing but the truth. But is that really the proper ethical position (outside a court +room)? Should you be prepared to he to protect matters vital to the national defense? +Should you tell the whole truth in response to questions from the press about confiden +tial matters affecting your clients? Is it proper to stretch research findings so they better +support a policy position you feel is in the public interest? These are just a few of the +most pressing and difficult questions you may face that will test not only your principles +but also your willingness to act in accord with those principles. + +Interacting with Elected Officials + +The relationship between public managers and elected officials, either chief executives +(such as mayors or governors) or members of a legislative body, presents a unique but +nearly pervasive set of issues for the public manager. Whether as a department head +working with a legislative committee, a city manager working with a city council, or an +executive director working with the board of a nonprofit organization, the relationship +between manager and the legislative body presents special problems. + +We have examined some of the implications of this relationship for the development +of public policy, but we should also be aware of possible ethical implications. On the +one hand, an administrator should be accountable to the legislative body; on the other +hand, responding blindly to legislative decree may not always be in the public interest. + +The latter situation might arise in several ways. Certainly, differing strongly with +members of the legislature on policy questions presents great difficulties. As an adminis +trator, to what extent should you seek to persuade the legislature to your position? Is it +proper for a manager to try to build a power base in the legislature to enable special +consideration of legislation favorable to the agency? If the legislature acts contrary to +your strong beliefs, should you continue in your position or should you resign? If you +continue, is it proper to try later to shape implementation of the legislation to fall more +closely in line with your beliefs? + +Similarly difficult questions might arise if the manager is asked to do something +improper. For instance, what would you do if a legislator asked you to do something ille +gal, such as permitting health care payments to an ineligible client? How would your +decision change if the legislator only asked you to bend the rules a little bit? How would +your decision change if the legislator chaired the committee that passed on your agencys +appropriation? + + + +13 8 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +These issues may arise in any public organization; however, they are especially well +illustrated at the local level with the council-manager form of government, which is built +around the distinction between policy and administration. Theoretically, the council is +responsible for determining policy and the manager is responsible for carrying it out. +In practice, however, the line between policy and administration is never so clear; +inevitably, the manager becomes involved in policy matters and the council in adminis +trative matters. + +Because of this overlap, the Code of Ethics of the International City Management +Association contains several statements that bear on the council-manager relationship. +The codes first item emphasizes the managers dedication to effective and democratic +local government by responsible elected officials'' (ICMA, Code of Ethics) and recog +nizes the contribution professional management can make in this regard. More specifi +cally, on the managers policy role, the code suggests that the manager submit policy +proposals to elected officials; provide them with facts and advice on matters of policy as +a basis for making decisions and setting community goals, and uphold and implement +municipal policies adopted by elected officials. Similarly, the manager is advised to +recognize that elected representatives of the people are entitled to the credit for the +establishment of municipal policies; (while) responsibility for public execution rests with +the members (ICMA, Code of Ethics). + +Despite these helpful guidelines, city managers often face difficulties in relationships +with city councils. One city manager disagreed strongly with a council move to limit +widening a particular city street, an improvement the manager felt was essential to local +economic development; another city manager felt that a council member was acting irre +sponsibly in proposing legislation that would help his contracting business; still another +city manager was asked to process travel vouchers that included payment for personal +vacation expenses. Simply figuring out how to respond effectively to these situations is +hard enough, but the problem is even greater when you remember that the city manager +who forces an issue of policy or ethics may be seen as attacking his or her bosses and +may, at any time, be summarily fired. It is no wonder that the average tenure of city +managers in this country is only between four and five years! + +Following Orders + +Another problem has to do with limits to organizational authority. What would you do +if your boss asked you to do something you felt was morally wrong? Suppose you are +asked to bury a report on toxic wastes you consider potentially dangerous to the public, +or that, under pressures of time, you are asked to give quick approval to a piece of +equipment that might be unsafe. Imagine that you are asked to approve an expense reim +bursement for your boss, when you know the amount has been padded. + +In cases such as these, you face difficult choiceschoices made even more difficult by +the very logic that causes us to employ bureaucratic means of organizing. Bureaucratic +organizations are attractive because they enable people to accomplish large-scale tasks +they would not otherwise be able to undertake, but bureaucracy as a social form also +demands a certain amount of obedience to authority. Presumably, if orders are not + + + +Ethical Problems for the Individual 139 + +obeyed, the whole system falls apartso there are strong pressures for individuals to +follow orders rather than their consciences. + +The most dramatic historical example of the problem of unquestioning obedience to +authority comes from Hitlers attempt to exterminate the European Jews during World +War II. Although the killings were ordered by political leaders, they were carried out +through the German bureaucracy. The problem faced not only those at the top of the +organization but those throughout it. Raul Hilberg, author of a classic study of the +Holocaust, writes: + +Most bureaucrats composed memoranda, drew up blueprints, signed correspon +dence, talked on the telephone, and participated in conferences. . . . However, these +men were not stupid; they realized the connection between their paperwork and the +heaps of corpses in the East. And they realized, also, the shortcomings of those +rationalizations which placed all evil on the Jew and all good on the German. That +was why they were compelled to justify their individual activities. The first rational +ization was the oldest, the simplest, and therefore the most effective: the doctrine of +superior orders. First and foremost there was duty. No matter what objections there +might be, orders were given to be obeyed. A clear order was like an absolution; +armed with such an order, a perpetrator felt that he could pass his responsibility and +his conscience upward. (Hilberg, 1961, p. 649) + +This manner of justifying ones actions became central to the defense of those accused at +the Nuremberg trials. Many defendants argued, as did General Alfred Jodi, that it is not +the task of a soldier to act as a judge over his superior commander (Arendt, 1963, +p. 133). But despite the rationale of superior orders, for the German bureaucrats and for +their more contemporary counterparts, the moral dilemma posed by such orders remains. + +One might argue, of course, that the German example is overdrawnthat such +a thing could never happen in a democratic society such as ours. But perhaps it could. +Indeed, a remarkable series of studies conducted by Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram +many years ago suggests that Americans are often quite willing to obey, even where +doing so causes them extreme moral discomfort. In an elaborate series of experiments, +Milgram asked subjects to administer shocks to a person supposedly involved in a mem +ory experiment. Even though the person receiving the shocks writhed in pain (he was +actually an actor and an accomplice), the subjects continued to follow Milgrams orders +to administer the painful shockssimply because they were told to do so! Milgram con +cluded that a substantial proportion of people do what they are told, irrespective of the +content of the act and without limitations of conscience, so long as they perceive that the +command comes from a legitimate authority (Milgram, 1974, p. 189). + +Contemporary examples of problems with orders from above are perhaps less dramatic +than the German illustration, but they present equally difficult choices for the individual. +You may, of course, protest the action, either directly to your superiors or more indirectly, +though in doing so, you may place yourself in jeopardy. Or you may leave the organiza +tion, resigning in protest, even though the available alternativessuch as unemploy +mentmay not be attractive. Or you may simply keep quiet and do what you are told. +The latter alternative is certainly the easiest in most casesby obeying orders, you feel + + + +140 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +you have someone else (your superior) to blame if 'something goes wrongand, in any +case, there is a strong feeling that if people in large organizations fail to follow orders, +things will not get done. Unfortunately, rationalizations such as these do not allow you to +escape the moral consequences of your actions. + +Conflicts of Interest + +Another area of potential ethical difficulties for public officials involves conflicts of inter +est. Finding ways to avoid conflicts of interest, especially financial, has been central to +federal, state, and local ethics legislation for the past twenty-five to thirty years. At the +federal level, legislation proscribing the ethical behavior of public officials has deep his +torical roots; however, the tone of modern ethics legislation was set by Executive Order +11222 issued by President Johnson in 1965. In part, the policy reads as follows: + +Where government is based on the consent of the governed, every citizen is entitled +to have complete confidence in the integrity of his government. Each individual +officer, employee, advisor of government must help to earn and must honor that +trust by his own integrity and conduct in all official actions. + +The executive order then provides a set of standards of conduct that covers such +topics as accepting gifts, financial conflicts of interest, misuse of federal property, and lim +itations on outside employment. The policy also bars use of public office for personal gain +or for the gain of those with whom the individual has family, business, or financial ties. + +The Johnson policy also initiated public disclosure of financial statements, something +that was given greater prominence in the Ethics and Government Act of 1978. This act +codified many of the previously established standards and created the Office of Govern +ment Ethics to establish more detailed regulations to monitor the behavior of public +servants and provide ethics training for managers and other officials. + +President George Bush Sr., in keeping with his desire to set a high moral tone for his +administration, used his first executive order to establish a Commission on Federal +Ethics Law Reform. In establishing the commission, the president sought four key princi +ples: (1) ethical standards for public servants must be exacting enough to ensure that +the officials act with the utmost integrity and live up to the publics confidence in them; +(2) standards must be fair, they must be objective and consistent with common sense; +(3) the standards must be equitable across all three branches of the federal government; +finally we cannot afford to have unreasonably restrictive requirements that discourage +citizens who are able from entering public service (Presidents Commission, 1989, p. 2). +Central to the Bush recommendations were provisions dealing with conflicts of interest. + +Under existing legislation, officers of the executive branch of the federal government are +required to refrain from participating personally and financially in deciding, approving, +recommending, or advising with respect to matters in which they or family members +or close associates have a financial interest. An official facing a possible conflict of interest +has a number of avenues available. First, the official can simply withdraw from participat +ing in the particular case. Second, the official may seek a waiver, especially when his or her + + + +Ethical Problems for the Individual 141 + +interest is not considered substantial or the relationship is too remote to affect the integrity +of the action. Third, the employee may choose to place his or her assets in a blind trust. +Or fourth, the official can sell, give away, or otherwise divest himself or herself of the +financial interest in question. + +Other parts of the federal ethics legislation restrict outside income and the acceptance of +gifts or favors. For example, as a federal employee, you are prohibited from accepting any +salary or contribution from any source other than the federal government. The law also +limits the acceptance of meals, entertainment, and gifts; for example, meals can usually be +accepted if offered during the course of a working meeting, but there are prohibitions on +one-on-one meals in which you are being treated. + +There are also prohibitions on what a federal employee can do after leaving govern +ment. Sections of the Ethics and Government Act prohibit former officials from repre +senting outside parties before the federal government with respect to matters in which +they had some personal involvement or official responsibility for a period of two years. +There is also a one-year cooling-off period, during which you cannot represent parties +before your agency even on matters that were not your responsibility while working for +the government. The Bush commission recommended strengthening provisions dealing +with activities of former federal officials by requiring a prohibition not only against per +sonally representing outside interests before government agencies but also aiding or +advising any other person. The proposal would eliminate not only direct representa +tion, but behind the scenes advice and counsel as well. + +Legislation such as this is intended to prevent influence peddling by those who have +recently left government and to limit the revolving door phenomenon, wherein persons +move in and out of government to acquire knowledge and information valuable to external +groups. This issue became particularly prominent during the Reagan administration, when +several officials, including Michael Deaver and Lynn Nofziger, were accused of using their +previous contacts to unduly influence the governmental decision process. Moreover, the +defense procurement scandals of the Reagan years underlined the need for stricter controls +on information exchange that could influence purchase of defense materials or contracts. + +Linally, the potential for conflicts of interest is decreased by requirements for financial +disclosure on the part of executive officials. The Bush commission (of the first President +Bushs administration), for example, wrote financial disclosure has been variously +described as the linchpin of the ethical enforcement system, as the disinfectant sunlight +which makes possible the cleaning up of abusive practices (Presidents Commission, +1989, p. 5). Though financial reporting requirements have sometimes been criticized as +excessively detailed and intrusive, they have been, in the view of most ethics experts, +highly valuable in maintaining public confidence in the integrity of government. If noth +ing else, the reports have meant that individuals are forced to carefully review potential +conflicts of interests that they may bring with them to government, and thus be more +aware of those interests should conflicts arise. + +The recommendations of the Bush commission led in Lebruary 1993 to new standards +creating greater uniformity across all agencies of the federal government. The rules cover +seven areas: (1) gifts from outside sources, (2) gifts between federal employees, (3) con +flicting financial interests, (4) impartiality in performing official duties, (5) seeking other +employment, (6) misuse of position, and (7) outside activities. In many respects, these + + + +142 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +standards reflected the new presidents pledge for a return to values-based leadership. +As a candidate, President Clinton had voiced sharp criticism against the ethical short +comings of preceding administrations. On his Inauguration Day, President Clinton used +his first executive order to require new ethical commitments of executive branch +appointees. It included restrictions on appointees lobbying or otherwise trying to influ +ence the agency where he or she worked. + +Networking + +The primary federal agency dealing with ethics issues is the Office of Government +Ethics at http://www.usoge.gov/. + +However, despite the efforts of the Clinton administration to set a high moral tone, it +is unlikely that the Clinton presidency will be remembered for its stance on ethics (more +likely for its unethical behavior!). As mentioned in Chapter 2, President Clinton was +impeached by Congress for lying under oath to a federal grand jury, and even though the +Senate later acquitted the president of the formal charges, the fact that President Clinton +lied to the grand jury (and to the public) to protect his political career was never disputed. +Even as he left office, questions of ethics continued to cloud the president. Among the +most troubling was his unprecedented number of eleventh-hour pardons, including the +pardon issued to financier Marc Rich, which many believed to be in response for political +support. The final chapter of the Clinton presidency brought harsh criticism from both +sides of the political aisle (even from the soft-spoken former president, Jimmy Carter), +and prompted yet another Congressional investigation into possible ethics violations. + +Many of the same provisions for preventing conflict of interest in federal ethics legis +lation have been also instituted at the state level. Many states have passed detailed ethics +legislation, often using financial disclosure as a chief mechanism for preventing abuse. +Indeed, almost all states have some form of financial disclosure provision for some state +employees. In addition, more states have adopted ethics codes and ethics commissions. +For example, in 1991, the state of Texas established an ethics commission to review the +conduct of lobbyists, candidates, and elected officials. Similarly, given the influence of +money in politics, other states have sought to establish controls on political money. +Florida, for example, reduced the limits on campaign contributions and has created +a fully funded public campaign finance system. Many states have adopted similar ver +sions of the federal conflict of interest legislation passed during the Bush administration. +Across the country, many states have passed detailed ethics legislation, often using finan +cial disclosure as a chief mechanism for preventing abuse. + +Whistle Blowing + +There has been a marked increase over the last twenty years in employee disclosure of +problems in public organizations. Public employees have exposed defense contract +overruns; spoken out against corruption in local police departments; and revealed + + + +Ethical Problems for the Individual 143 + +abuses of the merit system, improper enforcement of toxic waste legislation, and +other matters. Alan Campbell, director of the Office of Personnel Management during +the Carter administration, described these public disclosures, or whistle blowing, in +this way: Quite simply, I view whistle blowing as a popular short-hand label for any +disclosure of a legal violation, mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of +authority, or a danger to public health or safety, whether the disclosure is made +within or outside the chain of command (Bowman, 1983, p. 91). In other words, +the whistle blower reveals information about fraud, waste, or abuse in government, +including actions that might endanger the safety or liberty of other government +employees or citizens at large. + +Generally, employees who decide to blow the whistle move through several stages. +First, the employees become aware of an organizational practice that is unethical or dan +gerous; second, they express concern to their immediate supervisor or those further up in +the hierarchy; and, third, unsatisfied that anyone in the organization will take appropri +ate action, they take the issue outside, either through leaks to the press or to external +public interest groups. (The press, of course, may independently play an important role +in revealing instances of wrongdoing.) + +Unfortunately, whistle blowers in both government and in industry have often been +subjected to abuse and retaliation by superiors. One study of whistle blowers shows a +large number who were fired or forced to resign or retire, as well as others who were +refused promotions or given less desirable work assignments. Others felt excluded from +communication within the organization and were avoided by both supervisors and +coworkers (Truelson, 1986, p. 9). Studies show that, as a result, many public employees +who have knowledge of corruption do not bother to report it, and many who do report +abuses suffer reprisals (Bowman, 1983, p. 91). + +Obviously if you discover improper actions on the part of persons in your organiza +tion, you have a strong obligation to report those actions; however, you should be +careful that your allegations are based on fact and are properly reported. Norman +Bowie suggests that an act of whistle blowing can be justified if the following condi +tions are met: + +1. If it is done with an appropriate moral motive +2. If all internal channels of dissent have been exhausted +3. If it is based on evidence that would persuade a reasonable person +4. If analysis has been made of the seriousness, immediacy, and specificity of the problem +5. If it is commensurate with ones responsibility +6. If it has some chance of success (Bowman, 1983, p. 91) + +At the federal level, codes of conduct have encouraged public servants to expose cor +ruption wherever it is discovered, and protection for whistle blowers has been provided +through the Civil Service Reform Act. Moreover, some agencies have established formal +dissent channels, confidential patterns of communications outside the normal chain of +command, that allow a potential whistle blower or someone who merely disagrees with +a proposed policy to express a dissenting opinion without fear of reprisal. Consequently, +whistle blowing has become somewhat more common at the federal level. But wherever + + + +i44 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +you work, if you decide to blow the whistle, you should be fully aware not only of +potential dangers, but also of the protection available to you based on rights of free +speech and of prohibitions against discriminatory actions. Encouraging greater commu +nication by providing freer and more open channels of dissent is one way to ensure more +ethical behavior in public organizations. + +Prohibitions on Political Activities + +Political neutrality has traditionally been considered important to effective democratic +governance. President Jefferson, for example, issued an early order against federal govern +ment employee partisanship, an order whose essence was repeated by Presidents Grant +and Hayes. Legislative action occurred with the adoption of the Pendleton Act in 1883, +which prohibited political assessment, solicitations, subscriptions or contributions from +or by any employee of the United States. The most sweeping ban on political activity, +however, occurred during Theodore Roosevelts administration. He declared that classi +fied civil service employees shall take no active part in political management or in politi +cal campaigns (Masters & Bierman, 1985, p. 519). Later, Congress passed the Hatch +Political Activities Act in 1939, stating that no officer or employee of the executive +branch of the federal government, or any agency or department thereof, shall take any +active part in political management or in political campaigns. (A set of amendments +passed in 1940 extended the ban on political management and campaigning to state and +local employees whose programs were financed fully or in part by federal funds.) + +Under the Hatch Act, public employees can register to vote, contribute money to +campaigns, assist in voter registration drives, and express opinions about candidates +and issues; however, certain other activities are prohibited: + +1. endorsing partisan candidates +2. listing or raising money for political action committees +3. participating in partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives +4. distributing campaign material on behalf of candidates +5. serving as a delegate to a political convention +6. making campaign speeches +7. seeking public office in partisan elections (Masters & Bierman, 1985, pp. 519-520) + +Although the Hatch Act seeks both to protect public employees from political harass +ment and the political process from special influence, it has been subject to various +interpretations and has proven confusing in its application. Moreover, many have +claimed that it unduly restricts public employees political freedoms by essentially +disenfranchising them from important political activities during the time they hold +government employment. Others have pointed out that the Hatch Act places more +stringent restrictions on United States government employees than on those of Great +Britain, Canada, and Australia. Lor this reason, there have been recent efforts in +Congress to change the Hatch Act to permit a greater range of political activities by + + + +Managing Ethics 145 + +those in government. Many support the proposed legislation, especially those in public +employee unions, who feel that public employees should be able to run for office and +solicit campaign funds on their own time. Others, however, have argued that the +Hatch Act is still necessary to prevent coercion of political officials. Reform of the +Hatch Act has been considered for a number of years, with Congress passing major +reform legislation in 1991 (though it was vetoed by President Bush). In 1993, +Congress changed the Hatch Act, generally strengthening those sections dealing with +activities while on duty and expanding the off-duty activities of federal employees. +Basically, with the exception of running for office, which is still prohibited, the +new act permits federal workers to participate in a full range of political activities on +their own time, though not to do so on the job (Congressional Quarterly Weekly, +1993, p. 511). + +Managing Ethics + +How does a manager promote more ethical practices in an organization? First, there are +a variety of formal controls, including legal, on the behavior of those in public organiza +tions. The courts may direct public officials to undertake specific actions or to cease and +desist from certain courses of action. They may also be required, on behalf of their agen +cies, to provide individuals with damages or other compensation. And, of course, any +public employee may be prosecuted for breaking the law. But what if you are sued as an +individual for actions you have undertaken in the course of your official duties? + +Actually, this question has been the subject of considerable legal debate throughout +our countrys history. Whereas early interpretations of the law generally protected public +officials against suits, claiming they violated an individuals rights in the course of ones +duties, more recent interpretations have severely limited the immunity granted to public +officials. Speaking broadly, there are two types of immunity: absolute immunity and +qualified (or good faith) immunity. Absolute immunity, which means that an official is +not liable for damages under any circumstances, has been granted to certain legislative +and judicial officers and, in limited cases, to members of the executive branch while per +forming their official duties. (The president has been granted absolute immunity but +state governors have not.) + +Most other officials have only qualified immunity. They may be sued, but can defend +themselves by showing they were acting in good faith to carry out their duties. That is, +they must show that they were unaware of the impropriety of an act at the time they were +carrying it out and that any reasonable person might have acted similarly. Although the +current legal position allows most officials to be sued, relatively few suits have been suc +cessful; most public managers have been found to have acted in good faith. In any case, +knowing something about public officials liability for their actions will better enable you +and those in your organization to avoid problems in the first place, or to respond to them +when they arise. + + + +146 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +Besides legal proceedings, other formal devices protect agairist waste or fraud on the +part of public officials or the private individuals or groups with which they interact. For +example, most major federal agencies have an Office of the Inspector General to investi +gate possible cases of fraud, waste, and abuse in government. The inspectors general are +charged with looking into situations in which federal employees or funds are being used +improperly. Targets of investigations may be either public employees or private individu +als, such as contractors, who might attempt to defraud the government. + +Through their internal investigations of federal agencies, the inspectors general have +occasionally revealed major problems. For example, the Office of the Inspector General +of the Department of Health and Human Services recently initiated several studies +related to excessive billings for Medicaid payments. Selling samples, billing Medicaid at +higher prices than charged the general public, and billing for brand drugs while dispens +ing generic drugs are among the expected abuses. Similarly, the inspector generals office +in the Defense Department announced plans recently to probe the military fastener +industrymakers of bolts, screws, and other hardware to see if substandard parts +contributed to military accidents. In a related case, two Maryland defense contractors +pleaded guilty to a decade-long scheme to sell cheap, low-grade fasteners for military +equipment. The contractors admitted to substituting commercial-grade bolts, screws, +and other fasteners for more expensive military-grade hardware ordered by defense +contractors for radar and sonar systems, satellites, Trident submarines, and armored +earthmovers like those used in the Persian Gulf War (Washington Post, 1992). + +Establishing an Ethical Climate + +In addition to formal controls, you can help promote ethical behavior by providing strong +ethical leadership, creating a climate in which ethical behavior is valued, and encouraging +free and open communications throughout the organization. Managing ethics involves +more than making public statements espousing a particular set of values and more than +selecting employees with good moral character. Managing ethics also involves careful +analysis of the organizational culture, working to develop a cultural environment that +places high value on ethical integrity and developing policies and procedures and systems +that enable organization members to act with ethical integrity (Denhardt, 1989, p. 1). +Unfortunately, most organizations, including most public organizations, have not under +taken active programs to promote ethics (see Box 4.2). + +Many organizational members feel that, in the absence of an ethics program, the +requirements of large bureaucracies tend to promote unethical, dishonest, and inhumane +behavior. Managers perceive that the bureaucratic environment is less ethical than their +own values and beliefs, that they are under pressure to compromise personal standards +to achieve organizational goals, and that their supervisors are interested only in results, +not how they were obtained (Bowman, 1983, p. 74). + +A first step in promoting more ethical practices in your organization is to analyze the +basic ideas, beliefs, and attitudes that guide the behavior of the organizations members. + + + +Managing Ethics 147 + +BOX 4.2 + +Intervention Techniques for Integrating Ethics into Agency Operations + +Do both compliance and integrity training and counseling. +Give briefings on common ethical problems on the job for new hires. +Give termination briefings on potential postemployment problems. +Designate senior manager(s) for integrity issues, separate from compliance/inves +tigative unit. +Require annual sign-off on prospective commitment and compliance. +Attend to ethical values and character in recruitment. +Integrate ethical performance into promotional exams and annual reviews; link +ethical behavior to incentives. +Publicize positive, noteworthy role models. +Raise ethical concerns at meetings and through regular communication channels. +Train middle managers to recognize and commend subordinates statements about +ethical concerns. +Review management practices and administrative routines at every level and in +every type of unit in the organization. +Get the whole team all employees, all levels, all units to participate; ethics is not +a spectator sport. +Give earnest attention to ethical treatment of subordinates, clients, and others. + +SOURCE: Carol W. Lewis; The Ethics Challenge in Public Service; Copyright 1991 by Jossey-Bass. This +material is used by permission of John Wiley 8c Sons, Inc. + +One device for assessing the prevailing beliefs of your organization is an ethics audit, +an assessment of the value premises that guide action in the organization. The audit +provides a methodical review of the organizations activities and the implicit values that +underlie the activities. Importantly, these values may not turn out to be those contained +in public pronouncements. One student of organizational behavior concluded that +the key to learning the ethics of individuals or organizations is simple: do not listen to +what they say about ethics, observe what they do (Pastin, 1988, p. 92). By clearly +establishing the values that guide behavior in the organization, you and other members +can more consciously and clearly begin to alter those that seem inappropriate. + +As an example, after numerous incidents of defense contract violations, the General +Dynamics Corporation brought in an outside consultant to help establish an ethics +program. The consultant conducted an ethics audit, which helped members of the organi +zation recognize that they shared a basic, though unstated, assumption that the govern +ment was their adversary and that taking advantage of an adversary was quite acceptable. +Once this assumption was understood, it could be addressed openly and replaced with +more appropriate assumptions about the relationships between government and its con +tractors. An example of an ethics audit conducted by a public agency is contained in +Carol Lewiss book, The Ethics Challenge in Public Service (1991, pp. 199-202). + + + +I4 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +Following an ethics audit, your organization may wish to develop a clearer statement +of values to guide individual behavior. That statement should include general moral +guidelines, but it should also articulate a vision of the organizations mission what it +stands for, what it seeks to achieve, and how it plans to go about its business. +Developing such a statement should involve many members of the organization and have +the full support of the top management team. (We will examine statements of values in +more detail later.) + +Besides developing a statement of management philosophy for your organization alone, +you may also wish to employ more general codes of ethics developed by other organiza +tions. The federal government, for example, has promulgated a Code of Ethics for Federal +Service, and many state and local government organizations have developed similar codes. +Professional organizations such as the International City Management Association (ICMA) +also have codes of ethics related to members of their profession. Perhaps the most compre +hensive code of ethics for public-sector managers is that of the American Society for Public +Administration (ASPA). The ASPA Code of Ethics and accompanying guidelines illustrate +the variety of ethical concerns public managers face and provide guidance for resolving ethi +cal issues (see Appendix A later in this chapter). + +After assessing values and adopting statements to express the desired values, you might +wish to develop training programs or other devices for communicating these ideals within +the organization. The Office of Government Ethics, for example, conducts frequent semi +nars for federal managers on ethics in the public service. Similarly, organizations such as +ASPA and ICMA have developed training programs that are available nationally or can +be adapted to local circumstances. Training programs are also available for executives in +nonprofit organizations. + +As a manager, however, you should not neglect the fact that your own actions will be +taken as a model of appropriate behavior. The example you set will be one of the most +important training devices to members of your organization. If you wish them to take +the moral high road, you must demonstrate by example that ethics is a substantial con +cern and that unethical conduct will not be tolerated. + +Summary and Action Implications + +As we move from the context of public administration to the ethics of public service, we +also move from areas where abstract knowledge is helpful to areas where the ability to +act is important. In dealing with the many ethical dilemmas that confront public offi +cials, you must know not only what the correct action is, but be able to act in a way +consistent with that judgment. Understanding something about how ethical choices are +made is helpful, as is recognizing the importance of deliberation in making ethical deci +sions. But what will ultimately make the difference will be your willingness to act on the +basis of moral principles. + + + +Terms and Definitions 149 + +The particular ethical issues you may face range from matters of individual integrity +to those that derive from the special value commitments associated with working in the +public interest. Most of the latter are associated in some way with the tension between +efficiency and responsiveness that seems to pervade public organizations. That tension, +as well as issues of accountability and responsiveness to public demands, are especially +intense in the relationship between administrators and the legislative branch. + +Many of the concerns you may encounter as a public manager are similar to those +other managers face, but some are especially conditioned by the fact that you are operat +ing in the public interest. In either case, you must exhibit the virtues of benevolence and +justice (including honesty, trustworthiness, and fairness) in your behavior. In any case, +as you face some of the difficulties that arise, careful self-reflection and dialogue with +others about ethical concerns will be especially helpful. + +It is within your power as an administrator to undertake programs to encourage and +facilitate a more ethical climate within your organization. Conducting an ethics audit, +developing a statement of organizational philosophy or a code of ethics, and establishing +training programs to deal with ethical issues will help improve your organizations +ethics. As a manager, however, perhaps the most important message you can send is that +communicated by your own actions. If you seem to attach great importance to ethical +concerns, others in the organization will attach similar importance. The model you pro +vide can make an important difference in the ethics of your organization. + +Terms and Definitions + +Co-optation: Situations in which citizens are given the feeling of involvement while +exercising little real power. + +Deontology: Belief that broad principles of rightness and wrongness can be estab +lished and are not dependent on particular circumstances. + +Ethical (or moral) relativism: Belief that moral judgment can be made only by taking +into account the context in which action occurs. + +Ethics: Process by which we clarify right and wrong and act on what we take to be right. + +Ethics audit: Evaluation of the value premises that guide action within an organization. + +Morality: Practices and activities considered right or wrong and the value those prac +tices reflect. + +Neutral competence: The belief that a neutral public bureaucracy following the man +dates of a legislative body will meet the requirements of democracy. + +Objective responsibility: Assurance of responsiveness through external controls. + + + +I50 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +Subjective responsibility: Assurance of responsiveness"based on an individuals character. + +Utilitarianism: Philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number of people. + +Study Questions + +1. Although ethics and morality are similar, what is the distinction between the terms? +2. Discuss the steps in ethical deliberation. +3. Compare the two approaches commonly used in moral philosophy. +4. Discuss the three levels of moral development devised by psychologist Lawrence + +Kohlberg. +5. What is meant by an ethics of virtue? +6. Discuss the conflict between efficiency and responsiveness. +7. Explain the limitations on administrators discretion with regard to responsiveness + +and efficiency. +8. Discuss some of the ethical problems individuals who work in public organizations + +encounter and how they can deal with them properly. +9. The Hatch Act defines prohibited activities of public employees. Explain the signifi + +cance of these prohibitions with regard to an individuals political actions. +10. Explain ways to improve the ethical behavior of those in a public organization and + +provide examples of managing ethics. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. To illustrate various aspects of ethical deliberation, read and discuss the following case: +There is a raging river which can be crossed only by means of a boat. The only + +boat is owned and operated by a person we shall call A (in order to protect the inno +cent as well as the guilty). On the tame side of the river, X is deeply and sincerely in +love with a person C on the other side of the river. X goes to A asking to be taken +across the river, offering to pay whatever the charge for the service. A declines any +money, but agrees to take X across the river if X will sleep with A. Person X refuses, +of course (!), but argues and then pleads with A to name some other price. A, how +ever, remains firm. + +Person X leaves, but returns a second day to seek a way across the river. A remains +as adamant as before. In frustration, X seeks out a third person, B, who hears the sit +uation sympathetically, agreeing that A is certainly a rogue. But B says, I have other +matters concerning me just now and am not able to help you. + + + +Cases and Exercises 151 + +In desperation, X goes to A a third time, only to be met with the same offer for the +trip across the river. X finally agrees to the price and sleeps with A, who then delivers +X across the river as promised. + +X and C are joyously reunited, until C asks how X got across the river. X truthfully +replies, I had to sleep with A to earn the trip across the river. C replies indignantly, +Out of my life! I will have nothing to do with one who holds honor and principle +so lightly! + +X, of course, is frustrated and desperate again, and appeals to Person D, who +replies, I understand and am deeply sympathetic. Id do anything I can to help you. +(The curtain falls.) (ASPA, n.d.) + +Following your discussion of the case itself, consider to what extent the discus +sion reflected moral relativism, utilitarianism, or deontology. Then, reconsider the +case, following the steps of ethical deliberation presented in this chapter: clarify the +facts, find basic principles, and analyze the arguments. How could you establish +a moral action? + +2. A random check of long distance telephone calls at the Department of Housing and +Urban Development (HUD), in a study conducted by the agencys inspector gen +eral, indicated that some 30 percent were personal calls (and were charged to the +government). The cost of the calls was estimated at $73,000 for the sample and, by +extrapolation, $290,000 for the agency as a whole. Many calls were placed to the +homes of employees or their relatives, while others were calls to prerecorded mes +sages, such as time and temperature, horoscopes, and financial information. +Penalties for unauthorized use of federal telephone lines include fines, suspension, +and dismissal. + +Why do you think employees at HUD, and presumably elsewhere, misuse official +telephone lines? What, if anything, should be done to limit such excesses? How do +you respond to employees who argue that using agency telephone lines for personal +business is necessary from time to time? What about those who argue that telephone +use is an essential benefit the organization should provide? If you crack down on +unauthorized calls, what will happen to morale in the agency? + +To put the case in a more intense, real-world setting, imagine that you are secretary +of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. You have just finished testify +ing at a congressional hearing. On your way out the door, a senator corners you and +waves a copy of the inspector generals report in your face saying, This is an outrage! +These people are stealing from the public and you have been letting it happen! I want +some action on this right away! Next, a reporter, who has seen the report and heard +the exchange with the senator, points a microphone toward your mouth and asks, +Well, what are you going to do? What is your response, both immediately and over +the next several days? + +3. Consider the following cases: +Sidney Franklin knew that one of his most valued employees, Anderson Hayes, + +was stealing from the organizationnot much, and in a way that no one but +Sidney would ever knowbut he was stealing. Sidney also knew that without +Anderson, his unit could never complete a newly assigned task on time. He decided +to do nothing about the stealing incident and secretly hoped that success in the new + + + +IJ2 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +assignment would bring about a long-desired promotion and get him out of this +awkward situation. + +George Cave was a former CIA station chief in Teheran. When he heard that the +Reagan administration was working with Manucher Ghorbanifar on an arms for +hostages deal, he was horrified. But what could he do? The project had the backing +of CIA director William J. Casey and the White House. Cave bit the bullet and trav +eled to Iran in May 1986 as the translator for former national security adviser Robert +C. McFarlane (Ignatius, 1987, p. 15). + +Shirley House, a recently appointed city manager in a small community in +Tennessee, arrived at work one morning to find an envelope from the mayor filled +with receipts from a recent trip he took to an economic development conference. +Included were receipts from a four-day vacation the mayor and his wife took at a +resort near the conference city. It was clear that the mayor wanted the city to reim +burse him for everything included in the envelope. + +Analyze and discuss each of these three cases in terms of the moral position that +the individual involved should have taken. Then consider the nature of your own ethi +cal reasoning. What types of moral philosophy, moral psychology, or moral action +have you been using? + +4. As a class, conduct an ethics audit (or survey) of your college or university and rec +ommend ways the institution might begin to develop higher standards of ethical +conduct. + +Begin by considering in detail what might be expected from such an audit (or sur +vey) in any organization and what is practical and ethical to expect from such a proj +ect conducted by students within the institution. Recognize your available resources, +but also the limitations on your work. (You might even want to discuss your project +with several university officers before going too far.) + +As a practical matter, consider basing your work primarily on interviews with +important decision makers throughout the institution, including administrators, deans +and department chairs, members of the faculty (especially members of the faculty +council or faculty senate), representatives of the schools athletic programs, and staff +support in areas such as budget and accounting and personnel or human resources. +Also consider interviews with members of the schools governing board. You might +also want to collect material based on the public record newspaper reports, maga +zine articles, editorials, and so forth. The Chronicle of Higher Education and other +materials dealing with higher education show what kinds of efforts other schools +have undertaken. + +Throughout your interviews and other research, you should first seek to deter +mine the major ethical concerns facing institutions of higher education. Topics you +will likely encounter are plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty (on the +part of both faculty and students), the integrity of the research process, matters of +institutional governance, questions of equal opportunity and affirmative action, insti +tutional policies toward drugs and alcohol, the schools position on certain political +issues, and athletic recruiting policies just to name a few. In going through these +matters, you may find that your institution has taken strong moral positions in some + + + +For Additional Reading 153 + +areas (perhaps many); you may even find parts of the institution that have under +taken serious and detailed appraisals of their ethical positions, but you may also find +that many of these issues simply have not been considered, at least in terms of ethical +implications. + +If you can simply develop an inventory of ethical issues that should receive greater +attention from members of the institution, you will have done a great service. But you +may also identify cases where actual behavior seems to imply an ethical position dif +ferent from the position espoused by those with whom you talk. If you do discover +such cases, be prepared not only to document your findings, but also to present your +report in such a way that will be helpful and constructive. Remember that you are +seeking to provide a service to the institution, not an expose. + +Based on your research and analysis, prepare a written report for the schools presi +dent or chancellor and offer to have a delegation meet with him or her (or a represen +tative) to discuss your findings. Again, your approach should be to provide preliminary +findings that will be helpful in terms of institutional ethics. It may be helpful to think +of yourselves as members of the presidents or chancellors staff, developing a report +upon which constructive action can be taken. As in any such situation, you should be +prepared to suggest specific action steps that will enable the school to give serious and +sustained attention to its ethical posture. + +After you finish your work, spend some time considering as a class what you +have learned from this exercise: what you have learned about institutional ethics +and the administrative process, and what will make you a more effective and +responsible administrator in the future. Try to develop specific action-oriented state +ments to guide your actions in the future. Finally, consider whether there were any +ethical questions you faced in the course of this project. How did you resolve them? +Or did you? + +For Additional Reading + +Bowman, James S., ed. Ethical Frontiers in Public Management: Seeking New Strategies +for Resolving Ethical Dilemmas. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991. + +Bowman, James, ed. Public Integrity Annual. Lexington, KY: Council of State +Governments, 1997. + +Burke, John P. Bureaucratic Responsibility. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University +Press, 2000. + +Bruce, Willa. Classics of Administrative Ethics. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001. +Cooper, Terry L. The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the + +Administrative Role. 3d ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990. +Cooper, Terry L. An Ethic of Citizenship for Public Administration. Englewood Cliffs, + +NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1991. + + + +iJ4 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +Cooper, Terry L. Exemplary Public Administrators: "Character and Leadership in +Government. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. + +Cooper, Terry, ed. Handbook of Administrative Ethics. New York: Marcel Dekker, +1994. + +Denhardt, Kathryn G. The Ethics of Public Service. New York: Greenwood Press, +1988. + +Harmon, Michael. Responsibility as Paradox. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, +1995. + +Hodgkinson, Christopher. Administrative Philosophy. Pergamon Press, 1996. +Kellar, Elizabeth, ed. Ethical Insight/Ethical Action. Washington, DC: ICMA, 1988. +Pasquerella, Lynn, Alfred G. Killilea, and Michael Vocino. Ethical Dilemmas in Public + +Administration. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996. +Richardson, William D. Ethics and Character: The Pursuit of Democratic Virtues. + +Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 1999. +Rohr, John. Ethics for Bureaucrats. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1978. +Rohr, John. To Run a Constitution. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1986. +Rohr, John. Ethics and Public Administration. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. +Tong, Rosemarie. Ethics in Policy Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, + +1986. +Washington, Sally. Ethics in the Public Service. Paris: OECD, 1996. + +APPENDIX A + +Code of Ethics of the American Society for Public Administration + +The American Society for Public Administration affirms its responsibility to develop the +spirit of professionalism within its membership, and to increase public awareness of ethical +principles in public service by its example. To this end, we, the members of the Society, +commit ourselves to the following principles: + +I. Serve the public interest +Serve the public, beyond serving oneself. ASPA members are committed to: +1. Exercise discretionary authority to promote the public interest. +2. Oppose all forms of discrimination and harassment, and promote affirmative + +action. +3. Recognize and support the publics right to know the publics business. +4. Involve citizens in policy decision-making. +5. Exercise compassion, benevolence, fairness, and optimism. +6. Respond to the public in ways that are complete, clear, and easy to understand. +7. Assist citizens in their dealings with government. +8. Be prepared to make decisions that may not be popular. + +II. Respect the Constitution and the law + + + +Appendix A ijj + +Respect, support, and study government constitutions and laws that define responsi +bilities of public agencies, employees, and all citizens. ASPA members are committed +to: +1. Understand and apply legislation and regulations relevant to their professional role. +2. Work to improve and change laws and policies that are counterproductive or ob + +solete. +3. Eliminate unlawful discrimination. +4. Prevent all forms of mismanagement of public funds by establishing and maintain + +ing strong fiscal and management controls, and by supporting audits and +investigative activities. + +5. Respect and protect privileged information. +6. Encourage and facilitate legitimate dissent activities in government and protect the + +whistle-blowing rights of public employees. +7. Promote constitutional principles of equality, fairness, representativeness, respon + +siveness, and due process in protecting citizens rights. +EL Demonstrate personal integrity + +Demonstrates the highest standards in all activities to inspire public confidence and +trust in public service. ASPA members are committed to: +1. Maintain truthfulness and honesty and to not compromise them for advancement, + +honor, or personal gain. +2. Ensure that others received credit for their work and contributions. +3. Zealously guard against conflict of interest or its appearance. +4. Respect superiors, subordinates, colleagues, and the public. +5. Take responsibility for their own errors. +6. Conduct official acts without partisanship. + +IV. Promote ethical organizations +Strengthen organizational capabilities to apply ethics, efficiency, and effectiveness in +serving the public. ASPA members are committed to: +1. Enhance organizational capacity for open communication, creativity, and dedication. +2. Subordinate institutional loyalties to the public good. +3. Establish procedures that promote ethical behavior and hold individuals and + +organizations accountable for their conduct. +4. Provide organization members with an administrative means for dissent, assurance + +of due process and safeguards against reprisal. +5. Promote merit principles that protect against arbitrary and capricious actions. +6. Promote organizational accountability through appropriate controls and proce + +dures. +7. Encourage organizations to adopt, distribute, and periodically review a code of + +ethics as a living document. +V. Strive for professional excellence + +Strengthen individual capabilities and encourage the professional development of +others. ASPA members are committed to: +1. Provide support and encouragement to upgrade competence. +2. Accept as a personal duty the responsibility to keep up to date on emerging issues + +and potential problems. + + + +ij6 Chapter 4 The Ethics of Public Service + +3. Encourage others, throughout their careers, to participate in professional activities +and associations. + +4. Allocate time to meet with students and provide a bridge between classroom stud +ies and the realities of public service. + +SOURCE: Copyright 1994 by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), 1120 C Street NW, +Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20005. Reprinted with permission. + + + +Chapter S + +Budgeting and Financial Management + +Public budgeting and financial management are concerned with the allocation of limited +resources to the problems governments and other public organizations face. Just as you +may establish a personal budget to track your income and expenses and just as busi +nesses create budgets to aid in decisions affecting profits and losses, so do public organi +zations of all types employ budgets to help in planning and management. Beyond the +budget process, however, public organizations must carefully and responsibly manage +large amounts of money and other resources taking in taxes and other revenues, pur +chasing innumerable goods and services, and investing surplus funds or managing debt +wisely. + +From the point of view of the manager or the citizen trying to influence public policy, +the budget is an extremely important tool for planning and control. To manage public +programs effectively, you must be able to manage resources, both practically and polit +ically. In this chapter we focus on the budget process from the standpoint of the indi +vidual public manager, examining how budget decisions are made and how you can +influence budgetary outcomes. Although much of the budget process is highly charged +politically, specific technical knowledge about budgeting systems will give you a distinct +advantage. + +The elaborate systems that public organizations have developed to manage their fiscal +affairs are relatively recent. Prior to the turn of the century, revenues were easily suffi +cient to cover the expenses of government, and financial management was merely record +keeping. But as the scope of government grew and new demands were placed on its +resources, the need for more sophisticated systems of decision making became apparent. +Moreover, repeated instances of corruption and waste made more effective control over +the publics resources necessary. + +In establishing its executive budget process through the Budgeting and Accounting +Act of 1921, the federal government was actually following the lead of several local and +state governments that had already taken similar actions. The municipal reform move +ment emphasized the budget process as a means of bringing order to public spending; +consequently, by the 1920s, most big cities had established a formal budget process. +Similar developments were also occurring at the state level. In 1910, Ohio became the +first state to require an executive budget; within the next decade, similar actions took +place in most other states. At the federal level, a special Commission on Economy and +Efficiency, known as the Taft Commission, recommended establishing an executive bud +get in 1912; the recommendation was implemented nearly a decade later. + +157 + + + +158 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +Networking + +General information on budgeting organizations can be found at http://www.gasb.org +and at http://www.nasbo.org/. + +Since the 1920s, the federal budget has grown in both size and complexity, as have +budgets at the state and local levels. This growth means that budgeting and financial +management have come to involve far more than keeping a record of income and +expenses. Today, how government spends its money affects many other areas of the econ +omy; consequently, the budget is an instrument of fiscal policy. Moreover, the budget is a +primary expression of government priorities; it constitutes a record of the decisions that +are made concerning various public policies. + +The Budget as an Instrument of Fiscal Policy + +Budgets express the public policy choices of governments and others. Among these are +choices with respect to the impact of the public sector on the economy. Fiscal policy is +concerned with the impact of government taxation and spending on the economy gener +ally. Before the Great Depression, little attention was paid to how the federal budget +affected the economy; the economy was presumably regulated by what is called the busi +ness cycle. Periods of economic growth, featuring inflation and high employment, were +followed by periods of recession or depression, featuring deflation and unemployment, +and so on. Meanwhile, the federal government sought to balance its budget each year +that is, to make revenues and expenditures approximately equal. + +Economists soon began to realize, however, that this pattern of government spending +was in fact influencing the economy in a negative way. In periods of economic growth, +government revenues naturally increased, so that, in an effort to balance the budget, +taxes could be lowered to the level of expenditures; in periods of economic decline, the +budget was balanced by lowering spending to meet the lower revenues. The unantici +pated result of these actions was to increase citizens income during good times and +decrease their income in bad times just the opposite of wThat would be desirable. +Government taxation and spending had the effect of accentuating economic instability +(Pechman, 1983, p. 8). + +Economists such as the British scholar John Maynard Keynes argued, in contrast, that +all else being equal, positive government action could lead to greater economic stability. +A key to Keyness analysis was the relationship between inflation and unemployment. +Keynes noted that periods of rapid economic growth are typically accompanied by high +inflation, which is harmful to individuals because it lowers their purchasing power, espe +cially if they are on fixed incomes. On the other hand, periods of economic decline are +typically accompanied by high unemployment, which not only hurts individuals, but also + + + +The Budget as an Instrument of Fiscal Policy 159 + +lowers revenues for government. In either case, government action aimed at achieving +greater stability might be both possible and desirable. + +There are many ways the federal government can influence the economy, but one +important way is simply by varying its own spending or, somewhat more indirectly, by +raising or lowering taxes. The capacity of government spending patterns to influence +the economy so dramatically is not hard to understand if you recognize the enormous +role of government in the economy. The Gross National Product (GNP), the rate of +inflation, and the rate of unemployment are the key indicators of economic health. The +Gross National Product, a measure of total spending in the economy, comprises per +sonal consumption, private investment, and government purchases. Almost two-thirds +of the current American GNP is private in nature, but over one-third is based on gov +ernment spending. Based on revenues, the U.S. federal government is the single largest +organization in the world, almost ten times the size of General Motors or Exxon. +Decisions at the federal level play an important role in the health and stability of the +economy generally. + +The key relationships are these. If the economy is experiencing rapid growthwith +high inflation and low unemploymentthen the government might seek to cool off the +economy through lowering spending, raising taxes, or both. These actions have the effect +of limiting private demand and slowing economic growth. On the other hand, if the +economy is experiencing recession or depressionwith falling prices and high unem +ploymentthen the government might want to stimulate the economy by putting more +money into circulation, through increasing spending, lowering taxes, or both. These +actions have the effect of stimulating private demand and increasing economic growth. +Creating a surplus, as might occur in the first case, would help restrain private spending +during prosperity; creating a deficit, as in the second case, might stimulate spending +during a recession. + +Cumulative state and local spending also affects the economy. State and local govern +ment expenditures constitute close to 15 percent of the GNP and must be taken into +account in discussions of fiscal policy. If the federal government seeks to cut taxes, but +also cuts aid to states and localities, those governments may find it necessary to raise +taxes themselves, thus offsetting any economic gains caused by lower taxes at the federal +level (Bahl, 1984, pp. 17-30). + +Patterns of spending in many states and in major cities do have some effect on the +local economy and, consequently, state and local officials are becoming more cognizant +of their role in fiscal policy and especially economic development. These governments, +however, often do not have the tools or authority to make certain kinds of decisions. For +example, nearly all the states have either constitutional or statutory provisions requiring +a balanced budget. (Various political leaders have called for a balanced budget amend +ment at the federal level as a way to eliminate deficit spending, although if balanced bud +gets are achieved in other ways, calls for an amendment will be undercut. In any case, +such a proposal, though attractive in a symbolic sense, would limit the flexibility of the +federal government in seeking to influence the economy.) In any case, it is clear that +the budget process has important effects on the economy that must be anticipated in +structuring overall patterns of public spending. + + + +160 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +The Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy + +Although the overall pattern of spending represented in a government budget has an im +portant effect on the economy, the many individual entries in the budget represent im +portant choices with respect to public policies of all types. The budget is, essentially, a +measure of support (or lack of support) for specific programs. Those in favor are funded; +those that are out of favor are not. For this reason, discussions of budgetary priorities +are of special importance to political leaders, to government officials at all levels, and to +representatives of various interests in society. As a manager, you will need to understand +both where the money comes from and where the money goes. + +Where the Money Comes From + +Governments obtain the funds they need to operate the programs deemed important +either from their own sources or through transfers from other governments. There are a +variety of ways governments can raise their own revenues, including levying taxes and + +Receipts: $2,192 billion + +Excise Taxes +Other 3% +4% + +Corporate +Income Taxes + +10% + +Individual Income +Taxes +49% + +Social Insurance +Receipts + +33% + +FIGURE 5.1 + +The Federal Government Dollar: Fiscal Year 2002 Estimate + +SOURCE: A Citizens Guide to the Federal Budget (Washington: Government Printing Office, 2001). + + + +The Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy 161 + +charging individuals or groups for specific services. Because all public programs are +affected by the way governments raise revenues, and because revenue administration is +itself an important part of public administration, you will find it helpful to understand +the way taxes are structured. + +Developing tax policies requires attention not only to the level of taxes being taken +from individuals or groups, but also to the fairness, efficiency, and simplicity of the tax +system. Everyone agrees that the tax system should be fair and that everyone should pay +his or her fair share. But what exactly does that mean? Some argue that each should +pay according to the benefits they receive; others argue that those who have a greater +ability to pay should in fact pay more. + +One way to approach the issue is to think in terms of the relationship between ones +tax rate and ones income. A tax is said to be proportional if it taxes everyone at the +same rate. If a tax rate of 10 percent is applied to a $20,000 income (yielding $2,000) +and the same rate is applied to a $200,000 income (yielding $20,000), even though the +amounts differ, the tax is proportional. A tax is said to be progressive if it taxes those +with higher incomes at a higher rate. A progressive tax might apply a 10 percent rate to +a $20,000 income (yielding $2,000) and a 50 percent rate to a $200,000 income (yield +ing $100,000). Finally, a tax is said to be regressive if it taxes those with lower incomes +at a proportionally higher rate than those with higher incomes. If an individual with a +$20,000 income and one with a $200,000 income both pay a $400 tax on the same new +car, the tax is regressive, taking 2 percent of the first individuals income but a much +smaller proportion of the second individuals income (LeLoup, 1977, pp. 193-194). + +Individual Income Tax + +All methods of taxation involve application of a tax rate to a particular tax base; the +product of the two yields tax revenue. The individual income tax, the single most impor +tant tax in our country, calls for the individual to add up all income from taxable +sources, reduce that amount by certain deductions or exemptions, then apply a tax rate +to that base to arrive at the individuals income tax. The current federal income tax, for +example, applies rates between 15 percent and 39.6 percent to five income brackets. + +All advanced industrial nations use some form of income tax. In the United States, the +income tax is the primary source of revenue for the federal government and is used to a +lesser extent in many states and some cities. In most cases, a higher rate is applied to +higher incomes, making the income tax a progressive tax. For nearly thirty years after +its passage in 1913, the federal income tax applied only to a fairly small number of high- +income people; however, with the advent of World War II, deductions were reduced +significantly and higher rates applied. + +Managing the task of collecting an income tax from everyone in the country is diffi +cult. Yet, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has developed a relatively efficient mecha +nism for collection and does so at a cost of less than one-half of 1 percent of the revenues +produced. One key to the existing system is the requirement that each individual calculate +his or her own tax liability. IRS auditors then select a few returns for closer inspection, +concentrating on those with unusual features. The extent of compliance with tax regula +tions in this country, though far from complete, is considered comparatively high. + + + +162 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +However, throughout 1997, testimonies before the National Commission on +Restructuring the IRS revealed serious concerns relating to the services internal and +external operations. Witnesses indicated that some IRS officials collected tax informa +tion for their personal benefit, that unjustifiable audits were ordered against citizens, and +that the organization had inappropriately acquired billions of dollars from taxpayers. +Commissioners concluded that the IRS needed a major reorganization, and by years +end a bipartisan effort had been launched in Congress to carry out the commissions +recommendations. + +Corporation Income Tax + +The corporation income tax actually predates the individual income tax by several years +and, for most of this century, was a key source of federal revenue. Also a progressive +tax, the corporation income tax is justified by its proponents as a way of taxing capital +accumulation that is not specifically distributed to individuals. Moreover, the corpora +tion income tax is needed to support the individual income tax; without it, individuals +could simply keep their income in corporations and avoid paying income taxes. Though +most states have corporation income taxes, the tax is far more substantial at the federal +level. Yet even here, the corporation income tax is declining in contrast to other sources +of revenue. Where it once yielded more revenue than the individual income tax, the +corporation income tax has declined to only about one-tenth of federal revenues. + +Payroll Taxes + +Taxes on payrolls support a variety of social security and other social insurance pro +grams, such as unemployment compensation and medical care for the aged. (These spe +cific taxes should not be confused with the general income taxes that may be deducted +from a payroll check.) These programs are primarily financed by taxes paid either by +the employer or by the employer and employee in equal amounts. Because there is a flat +rate, with no deductions or exemptions, and maximum amounts above which taxes are +not required, payroll taxes overall are regressive. Payroll taxes at the federal level now +constitute the second largest source of federal revenue. + +Sales and Excise Taxes + +Both sales and excise taxes are applied to goods and services. Sales taxes are applied to a +broad range of goods and services at either retail or wholesale levels and are a popular +source of income at state and local levels. There are, however, significant variations +in both sales tax rates and items covered by sales taxes; for example, some jurisdictions +exempt food, clothing, and medicine from sales tax. Excise taxes, on the other hand, +are applied to the sale of specific commodities such as gasoline, tobacco, or alcohol, and +are the primary form of consumption tax at the federal level. Typically, excise taxes are +applied at specific rates (e.g., 2 cents per gallon), but may also be applied to the total +sales price. Some excise taxes are, in effect, user charges that help support particular +activities. Gasoline taxes, for instance, are typically used to support highway construc +tion and maintenance. + + + +The Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy 163 + +A major issue concerning sales and excise taxes is that of equity. Since the poor con +sume a greater portion of their income than the rich, the burden of consumption taxes +tends to fall more heavily on the poor; that is, the taxes are regressive. These taxes also +tend to penalize certain groups, such as those with large families or those just starting a +household. On the other hand, these taxes tend to provide more stable revenues, some +thing that is especially important at state and local levels. + +Property Taxes + +Taxes on personal property are widely used at the local level and provide about half +of local government revenues. Administration of a property tax involves assessment +of an individuals property, most often land and buildings, then the application of +a tax rate. About half the revenue generated by the property tax derives from residen +tial property and half from businesses. Although the property tax is progressive in its +effect (those who spend more on housing pay more), administration is difficult and +has often not been highly professional. Moreover, recent tax limitations have severely +restricted the capacity of local governments to raise additional revenue through the +property tax. + +Other Revenue Sources + +There are, of course, a variety of other sources of government revenues. Whereas public +organizations have often charged fees for the use of specific government services, recent +limitations on other tax revenues have made such charges increasingly attractive, espe +cially at the local level. For example, fees for the use of parks and recreational facilities +are becoming increasingly important. Another recent development in terms of revenues +at the state level is the use of lotteries. Nearly half the states and several local govern +ments now conduct lotteries, which provide a highly visible, but relatively small and +unstable, source of funds. Lotteries are also highly regressive in their effect (since poorer +citizens tend to play the lotteries more); indeed, they are more regressive than even the +sales tax (Mikesell & Zorn, 1986, pp. 318-319). + +Nonprofit organizations, which lack the power to tax, derive revenues from quite dif +ferent sources and, indeed, engage in a wide variety of efforts to support their programs. +Membership organizations depend in large measure on member dues for revenue, but +such organizations, along with many others, have recently sought to diversify revenues. +While grant funding remains an important source of revenue for many nonprofit organi +zations, recent reductions in federal social service programs have seriously limited grant +opportunities for many nonprofits. Additional sources of funds include donations (from +individuals, corporations, and foundations), sales of goods and services (from books to +coffee cups), and joint enterprises involving commercial firms (such as insurance plans or +affinity credit cards). + +Patterns of Government Revenues + +As we have seen, different levels of government vary in their dependence on specific revenue +sources. Figure 5.1 shows the distribution of receipts at the federal level. The presidents + + + +164 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +budget for fiscal year 2002 estimated total revenues of $2.19 trillion, including the follow +ing major categories: + +Individual income taxes: $1,078.8 billion + +Corporate income taxes: $218.8 billion + +Social insurance and retirement receipts: $725.8 billion + +Excise taxes: $74.0 billion + +Estate and gift taxes: $28.7 billion + +Customs duties: $22.5 billion + +Miscellaneous receipts: $43.1 billion + +Although the federal government relies heavily on the income tax, state governments +are much more dependent on sales taxes, and local governments are primarily dependent +on property tax as a revenue source. All state and local governments combined generated +$1,095 billion in revenues in 1998, with $227 billion coming from sales taxes of one kind +or another and only $191 billion coming from individual and corporate income taxes. +In addition to tax receipts, the combined governments counted as revenues $240 billion +in intergovernmental (primarily federal) transfers. The property tax accounted for some +$10 billion in revenues (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000, p. 316) (see Figure 5.2). + +Networking + +For the budget of the United States and how to get to the budgets of other govern +ments, see the Department of the Treasury at http://www.ustreas.gov/. Details on +the current fiscal year federal budget and for access to historical budget data go to +http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/index.html. + +Where the Money Goes + +These revenue figures are staggering, but they hardly match up to the demands on +governments at all levels. There simply is not enough money to meet every need or cure +every problem, even if money alone were the solution. Instead, difficult choices must be +made each year about which programs will be funded and at what levels. The choices +made through the public policy process are reflected in the governments budget. The +budget, therefore, stands as a record of the governments priorities. + +But government priorities are always shifting. As new conditions arise, new programs +are proposed and old programs are expanded or contracted. The emphasis the federal +government gives to various areas, as one example, has reflected the condition of the + + + +The Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy 165 + +country and the world at various times, as in the large percentage of national resources +devoted to national defense during periods of international conflict. + +We can also trace budgetary changes over shorter time spans, thus indicating the pol +icy priorities of various presidents, governors, mayors, or other public officials. Certain +restrictions, however, have been built into the federal budget over the years that some +what limit the choices any president or Congress can make. Over the past twenty years, +for example, Congress has passed a variety of entitlement programs that provide speci +fied benefits to those who meet certain eligibility requirements. For example, legislation +might provide benefits to all persons above a certain age or all persons below a certain +income level. The implication, supported by several judicial rulings, is that individuals +are entitled to or have a right to certain benefits (primarily social welfare benefits). + +For these programs, Congress essentially agrees to provide whatever money is neces +sary from year to year to assure a certain level of benefits to all eligible people. +Legislation is typically written so that new action is not required each year to keep the +program going. Only a projection of likely beneficiaries is needed to determine the level +of expenditures for a given year. Unless Congress takes specific steps to limit benefits or +eligibilitysomething that legislators are reluctant to do funding of these programs is +practically automatic. + +But these programs vary in size over time. In a recession, for example, unemploy +ment would be high, and spending for unemployment compensation would rise. +Similarly, the changing character of the population for example, a larger number of +older Americanswould also change the amount of money required to provide bene +fits to that group. Moreover, most entitlement programs have now been indexed to +the cost of living (or related measures), so that benefit levels automatically rise with +inflation. (Indeed, over the past decade, Congress has passed major expansions of +indexing in Social Security and Medicare.) Expenditures for entitlement programs thus +increase almost every year. + +Such programs constituted just over 50 percent of the fiscal year 2001 federal budget. +When they are combined with farm price supports (also indexed), with interest on the +national debt (which must be paid), and with expenditures based on previous commit +ments, these so-called uncontrollable expenditures constitute almost two-thirds of the +federal budget. + +The remainder of the federal budget might be termed discretionary spending, meaning +the president and the Congress are open to make changes in this relatively small portion +of the budget. This includes defense spending (about 16 percent) and domestic discre +tionary spending (only about 17 percent). These are the areas that generate the most +difficult policy choices. + +The Bush Tax Plan + +A great deal of political debate in the 1980s and early 1990s centered on strategies +for controlling the federal deficit. However, by 2000, a booming economy and fiscal +measures taken by Congress in the late 1990s changed the debate from how to control +the deficit to ways to spend a growing budget surplus! + + + +166 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +President George W. Bush seized upon the opportunity affordfed by this emerging sur +plus to advance one of the key themes in his election platform a reduction in federal +taxes. And given the estimates early in the year from both the Congressional Budget +Office and the presidents Office of Management and Budget, few could stand in the way +of the new administrations drive for sweeping tax reform. + +The administrations original plan called for a $1.6 trillion cut in the federal income +tax, but even the presidents most ardent supporters on Capitol Hill cautioned that it +would be extremely difficult to pass such an enormous reduction plan. Recognizing the +importance of a victory on his administrations first key policy initiative, President Bush +worked with lawmakers to pare down the original proposal and gain the necessary votes. +The final measure, which was signed into law on June 7, 2001, featured a $1.3 trillion +tax cut to be phased in over the next decade and a fundamental restructuring of federal +income taxes. + +Supporters of the plan said that reducing the tax burden on the American public, par +ticularly with the projected federal surplus, was a way to return an overcharge to tax +payers and to curb federal spending. For example, House Majority Leader Dick Armey +said, The addicts are going to have to take the cure. Were no longer going to get +stoned on the other peoples money (Stevenson, 2001, p. Al). Proponents also argued +that the tax rebates, which the IRS began sending out in the summer of 2001, would +help to stimulate an economy that had declined sharply in the preceding months. + +Some of the central elements of the Bush plan include reductions in personal income +tax rates, as well as a phasing out of the estate tax, an increase in the child tax credit +(and an expansion in the number of low-income families who are eligible for this +credit), and an increase in the contribution limits to 401 (k) and individual retirement +accounts. + +For nonprofits, the tax reduction plan that finally passed Congress lacked many of the +provisions from the original Bush proposal that would have encouraged increases in char +itable giving. As the Chronicle for Philanthropy reported, the law lacked provisions that +would have + + Allowed people who do not itemize on their federal income-tax returns to write off +charitable deductions. + + Permitted people to donate to charity directly from their individual retirement +accounts, without incurring taxes. + + Increased the annual limit on charitable deductions taken by corporations from +10 percent to 15 percent of a companys taxable income. (Williams, 2001, p. 26) + +Furthermore, the phasing-out of the estate tax will increase the barriers nonprofits +face in the area of resource development over the long-term. + +Critics of the Bush tax plan in the governmental sector say that it may prove to be too +much, too soon. Senator Tom Daschle, who became majority leader when the Democrats +took control of the Senate in June 2001, said, We think this is good short-term politics. +[But] it is disastrous long-term policy (Stevenson, 2001, p. 26). Daschle and others sug +gested the plan would not leave enough in reserve to cover the cost of upgrading the mil +itary, much less the substantial reforms to Social Security and Medicare that remain +on the horizon. Even the presidents own economic advisors moved away from their + + + +The Budget as an Instrument of Public Policy i6y + +original optimism, saying that the more cautionary estimates relating to the federal sur +plus, which were released just weeks after the tax plan became law, may require +Congress to revisit some of its main provisions. + +Networking + +Check out the National Debt Clock at http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ and the +Treasury Departments FAQs about the budget at http://www.ustreas.gov/opc/ +opc0037.html. For simulations of financial conditions at the federal level, go to +http://www.thirdmil.org. + +State and Local Expenditures + +Expenditure comparisons at the state and local levels are complicated by our system of +intergovernmental transfers. In education, for example, the federal government pro +vides some money directly to individuals (e.g., student grants and loans), but it also +transfers large sums to state and local governments. States spend some money directly + +Receipts: $1,720 billion + +Liquor Store +Revenues Intergovernmental + +Insurance Trust +0.2% Revenues + +Revenues +15% + +16% +Utility Store +Revenues + +4% + +Charges and +Miscellaneous + +Revenues +20% + +FIGURE 5/(2 ^ wawaiB> , v + +The State and Local Dollar + +SOURCE: United States State and Local Government Finances by Level of Government: 1997-1998 +(Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). + + + +168 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +(e.g., colleges and universities), but they also transfer some money received from the +federal government and some raised at the state level to local governments, primarily to +support education. Consequently, while local governments provide only less than +30 percent of the money spent on education in this country, they actually are involved +in spending 70 percent of that money. If we include intergovernmental transfers spent at +the state and local levels in our calculations of state and local spending, the following +patterns emerge: states spend the greatest portion of their funds on education, with +public welfare next, and highways, health, and natural resources somewhat less. At the +local level, the largest amount again is spent on education, with health, public works, +and social welfare next. + +The Budget as a Managerial Tool + +As a public manager, you will find that the budget process is critical to your success and +that of your agency, quite simply because the budget process establishes the level of +funding for your programs and those of others. A variety of steps are required to enable +a particular agency to spend money. Legislation must first be passed and signed by the +chief executive to authorize the program. This authorizing legislation permits the estab +lishment or continuation of a particular program or agency. (Authorizing legislation usu +ally covers multiple years or is even open-ended, though some programs, such as the +space program, require new authorization each year.) Next come appropriations, +whereby the legislature sets aside funds and creates budget authority for their expendi +ture. Only after both steps have been taken can an agency spend money in pursuit of its +stated objectives. + +In most cases, governments use a fiscal year as their basic accounting period. The +federal fiscal year begins on October 1 and runs through September 30 of the following +year. The fiscal year carries the name of the year in which it ends; thus, fiscal year 2002, +or FY 02, begins October 1, 2001, and ends September 30, 2002. States and localities +differ widely in terms of fiscal years; some follow the federal pattern and run from +October through September, others start July 1 (as did the federal government until +1976), and others match the fiscal year to the calendar year. Kentucky and a few other +states actually have a two-year-long fiscal year because their legislatures meet and pass a +budget only every other year. + +The fiscal year is the key period in which money is spent, but a variety of steps must +be taken both before and after the fiscal year that can affect an agencys expenditures. +The budget must be developed, typically by the chief executive (president, governor, +mayor), and transmitted to the legislature; it must be approved by the legislature prior to +the beginning of the fiscal year; it must be executed during the fiscal year; and it must be +reviewed and audited following the fiscal year. At any given point in the budget cycle, +there are actually several budgets being worked upon. While one budget is being exe +cuted (for example, fiscal year 2001), formulation and approval of another (fiscal year +2002) is taking place, as are audits of the previous budget (fiscal year 2000). + + + +The Budget as a Managerial Tool 169 + +Budget Formulation + +In the federal government and in many state and local jurisdictions, the chief executive +has primary responsibility for preparation of the budget. The budget cycle (see Figure 5.3) +typically begins with a letter from a central budget office to the various agencies outlining +the timetable for preparation of the budget, transmitting forms for use in the process, and +indicating any policy concerns of special priority for the fiscal year. The agencies then pre +pare their own budget requests and forward them to the central budget office for review +(see Box 5.1). Often a series of meetings (or sometimes hearings) are held to negotiate +differences in the views of the central budget office (reflecting the priorities of the chief +executive) and the agencies. Finally, the budget document is prepared by the central bud +get office and transmitted by the chief executive to the legislature for approval. + +In some jurisdictions, responsibility for preparing the budget may not lie completely +with the chief executive, and the budget cycle may vary accordingly. In many states, for +example, responsibility for budget formulation may be shared among the governor, other +elected officials, and members of the legislature. Cities with a strong mayor form usually +give responsibility to the chief executive, whereas cities that operate under other forms +tend to disperse budget authority. The city manager usually prepares the budget in coun +cil-manager cities, though typically with substantial input from the mayor and other +council members. + +The Office of Management and Budget is the central budget office at the federal level, +and has evolved from an agency established in 1921. Originally called the Bureau of the +Budget, President Nixon renamed it the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 1970 +to reflect an emphasis on management concerns in addition to budgetary responsibilities. + +Major Steps in the Budget Process + +I +March January September 30 + +Formulation of Congressional budget Execution of enacted budget Fiscal data +presidents budget process, including action on available + +appropriations and revenue +measures (beginning 9 +months before fiscal +years)* + +If appropriation action is not complete by September 30, Congress enacts temporary appropriations (i.e., a continuing resolution) + +FIGURE 5.3 + +The Budget Cycle at the Federal Level__ + +SOURCE: The United States Budget in Brief, Fiscal Year 1990 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing +Office, 1990), p. 96. + + + +ijo Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +BOX 5.1 - + +Financial Management: The Program Managers Role + +Many in government think financial management is the responsibility of financial +offices, accountants, and the like. Most program managers, in particular, feel they do +not have to be concerned with financial management. + +WRONG. Nothing could be further from the truth. Successful program managers +appreciate that, in government, they have the responsibility for financial manage +ment. They understand what this entails, and thus have a far better chance of success +fully delivering their programs despite reduced budgets. + +What is financial management? It is nothing more than obtaining and effectively +using funds and other resources to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organi +zation. It typically entails: + +Defining people, materials, and services for achieving a programs goals and objec +tives. +Defining the sources of resources that can be used to fund the programs costs +Obtaining the resources +Managing and minimizing the costs +Obtaining results from the expenditure of the resources +Preventing waste in the expenditure of the resources +Reporting accountability for both the use of resources and delivery of the results. + +SOURCE: Harold I. Steinberg, Improving Financial Management: The Program Managers Role, +PA Times, v. 20, n. 11 (November 1997): 1. + +At the outset of the budget process, OMB collects information on projected revenues for +the coming fiscal year, as well as information on the outlook for the economy. In addition, +OMB develops information on the progress of the current years budget, as well as the +budget being considered by Congress. After a beginning consultation with the agencies to +assess their program priorities, OMB works with the president to establish basic policy +guidelines for developing the budget. + +Networking + +Federal organizations involved in budgeting and financial management include +the Office of Management and Budget at http://www.omb.gov, the Congressional +Budget Office at http://www.cbo.gov, and the General Accounting Office at +http://www.gao.gov. + +These guidelines are communicated to the agencies, along with detailed forms for +budget requests. In turn, managers in the various agencies assess their program priorities + + + +The Budget as a Managerial Tool xyi + +and decide the necessary level of funding for accomplishing objectives in the next fiscal +year. Starting about September, a period of negotiation occurs with OMB. The central +budget office represents the presidents policy concerns and usually takes a generalist +perspective, in contrast to the more narrow, specialized interests of the agency represen +tatives. About November or December, the president becomes more actively involved +in the budget process and makes final decisions with respect to both revenue and fiscal +considerations and individual program needs. + +The final budget document, which is submitted to Congress early in the new year, +represents the culmination of a long process of analysis and interaction among a wide +variety of groups. + +Given the magnitude and complexity of the federal government, the process of bud +get formulation at that level is the most complex in this country. But the difficulties of +reconciling different and competing interests in the budget process are significant at all +levels of government. In addition, chief executives at the state and local levels face +constraints not found at the federal level. For example, most governors are required +by constitution or statute to submit a balanced budget to the legislature, making it +essential that they project anticipated revenues as closely as possible. + +Budget Approval + +The budget approval phase begins with submission of the budget to the legislature and +ends with approval of the budget. The legislature, in most cases, can approve, disap +prove, or modify the chief executives budget proposal; it can add programs or eliminate +programs; and it can alter methods of raising revenues. Remember that programs must +first be authorized, then money can be appropriated for their implementation. In some +cases, appropriations are contained in one bill that is debated, amended, and passed by +the legislative body. In other cases, appropriations may be divided among several differ +ent appropriations bills. + +In any case, the budget submitted to the legislative body is first sent to the commit +tee or committees responsible for appropriations. These committees review the submit +ted document and hold hearings involving agency personnel, representatives of interest +groups, other legislators, and private citizens. After consideration by the full legislative +body, the bill as amended is passed and sent to the chief executive for signature (where +approval is required), or, in the case of bicameral legislatures, sent to the other legisla +tive body for similar consideration. If there are differences in the bills produced by the +two houses of the legislature, the differences are worked out in a conference commit +tee, and the bill is passed again by the two houses and sent to the chief executive. + +Again, there are wide variations in the approval process from jurisdiction to jurisdic +tion. At the federal level, granting budget authority the authority to obligate funds +for immediate or future outlays (government spending)can come about in several +ways. Budget authority for most programs must be granted annually through passage +of an appropriations bill. Congress has voted permanent budget authority for some +programs, however, so that funds become available each year without further congres +sional action. In addition, within any given fiscal year, some outlays will be based + + + +172 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +on obligations made in previous years. Thus, the total budget outlays for any fiscal year +include the total of previously granted budget authority, authority granted through +appropriations for the current year, and money obligated in previous years for spending +in the upcoming fiscal year, minus outlays deferred to later years. + +Under procedures established by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, Congress +considers budget totals before considering individual appropriations measures. Based on +work by the Budget Committees of both houses, a first concurrent resolution (a resolution +of both houses not requiring the presidents signature) is passed by May 15, establishing +targets for total revenues and total spending authority within various functional areas +for the upcoming fiscal year. Although the president is not formally involved in this part +of the budget process, consultation frequently occurs so that all parties will be informed +of developments in the approval process. In some cases, the various parties even agree on +a set of budget totals to be honored by both the president in his budget submission and +the Congress in its approval process. + +Congressional review of appropriations requests begins in the House of Represen +tatives, where the Ways and Means Committee considers revenue estimates and where +the Appropriations Committee (through various subcommittees) reviews spending rec +ommendations. Appropriations are considered within thirteen different appropriations +bills covering groups of departments and agencies within related functional areas. After +initial passage by the House, all tax bills and the thirteen appropriations bills are for +warded to the Senate for consideration. Differences in the appropriations measures com +ing from the two houses are worked out in conference committee and, following +approval by both houses, are forwarded to the president for signature. The two Budget +Committees are charged with drawing up a second concurrent resolution, this one bind +ing in nature, setting limits on total spending. Finally, a separate reconciliation bill +attempts to reconcile individual actions in taxes, authorizations, or appropriations with +the totals. + +If action on appropriations for the fiscal year is not completed by the beginning of the +fiscal year (October 1), the Congress enacts a continuing resolution, which permits the gov +ernment to keep operating until an appropriations measure is passed. (As we have seen, the +term continuing resolution became a household phrase during the budget turmoil of +1995-1996. The Clinton administration and Congress both refused to compromise on key +provisions of the major appropriations bills, which fund the main federal agencies. A series +of continuing resolutions was used to keep government offices open until an agreement +could be reached, all to no avail. On two separate occasions, first in November and then in +December, the government was forced to shut down as the temporary spending measures +ran out and budget deliberations stalled in partisan gridlock. By the end of the crisis, a +dozen continuing resolutions were signed to keep the federal government operational.) + +Throughout its consideration of the budget, the Congress is aided by the work of +Budget Committee staff members (whose numbers have grown substantially in recent +years) and by the Congressional Budget Office. This agency provides basic budget infor +mation and its own economic forecasts and indicates to Congress how its conclusions +differ from those of the executive branch. Such differences have, in several years, led the +Congressional Budget Office to predict a more substantial budget deficit than that antici +pated by the administration. + + + +The Budget as a Managerial Tool 173 + +An increase in staff capabilities has been among the most important developments in +the legislative approval process in most states and in some larger cities. Legislative budget +staffs vary in structure and composition; that is, they may be partisan or nonpartisan, +centralized or decentralized, joint (both houses) or single house, and so on. However, +their responsibilities usually include analyzing the governors budget, forecasting revenues +and expenditures, and developing alternatives to the executive budget. In all cases, greater +staff capabilities have considerably aided the resurgence of state legislative involvement in +the budget process. + +One important feature of the approval process at the state level is the existence in most +states of the line-item veto. (The line-item veto allows the executive to veto specific items in +an appropriations bill rather than decide between all or nothing.) Such authority has +been sought at the federal level by recent presidents, and President Clinton became the first +chief executive granted such capacity when the federal Line Item Veto Act (P.L. 104-130) +took effect in January 1997. The act, though stopping short of extending full constitutional +line-item veto power, gave the president authority to strike items from a federal appropria +tions bill without having to veto the entire piece of legislation. The Clinton administration, +like its Republican predecessors, argued that the powers granted under the act would enable +the president to make significant cuts in federal spending, and proponents added that a +great deal of time and energy will be saved since the executive and legislative branches +would not have to renegotiate an entire budget when only specific items are at issue. + +Despite the value inherent in such a measure, the Supreme Court invalidated the fed +eral act in Clinton v. City of New York (1998), stating that while there may be proce +dures for amending or repealing federal statutes, the process must be consistent with the +constitutional powers afforded each branch of government (see Immigration and +Naturalization Services v. Cbadba [1983]). In the case of the line-item veto, the president +simply did not have the constitutional authority to amend or repeal a spending bill +passed by Congress. + +Budget Execution + +The budget execution stage, generally coinciding with the fiscal year, is that part of the +budget cycle in which the agencies of government carry out agreed-upon programs and +policies. The execution stage involves public administrators in all aspects of the manage +ment process planning, analysis, personnel management, communication, and other +interpersonal skills. + +Basic financial controls are exercised during the budget execution phase through the +mechanism of apportionment, a process by which funds are allocated to agencies for +specific portions of the year. Typically, the central budget office asks for submission of +spending plans indicating what money the agencies anticipate spending in each quarter +of the year. Because the agencies may not have received all they wanted in the appropria +tions process, the apportionment mechanism also acts as the basis for required changes +in programs and policies. As soon as there is agreement between the central budget office +(acting on behalf of the chief executive) and the agencies on the changes embodied in the +apportionment plan, agencies begin receiving allotments. + + + +174 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +To assure that funds are in fact expended for the purposes for which they were intended +and that there is indeed enough money budgeted to cover a proposed expenditure, some +sort of preaudit (a review in advance of an actual expenditure) is usually required. +Depending on the jurisdiction, the preaudit may be conducted by an agencys own budget +office, by an independent agency, or even by an elected state official. Once approval has +been given, however, the treasurer is obligated to pay for the expenditure. + +Even though budgets are not passed until just before (or even well into) the fiscal year, +important changes may occur during the year that require changes in an agencys bud +geted expenditures. Some changes may require greater funding. For example, when an +unexpected natural disaster, such as a drought, places special burdens on farmers. If it is +felt that the need must be met prior to the next budget cycle, the president and Congress +can work together to provide a supplemental appropriation, a bill passed during the fis +cal year to add new money to an agencys budget for that fiscal year. Such a bill may +simply provide more money for existing programs or money for a newly authorized pro +gram. We might note that the events of September 11, 2001 required substantial changes +in the federal budget to aid in disaster relief, help for the airlines, and new security mea +sures. (See Box 5.2.) + +There are also devices, used primarily by chief executives as a matter of administra +tive discretion, to restrict agencies spending below budgeted amounts. Presidents +throughout the nations history have sought to limit agency spending by impound +ment, that is, by withholding, funds authorized and appropriated by law, typically in +the case of emergencies or where the purpose of the money had been achieved and +budgeted funds still remained. Similarly, at the state level, governors regularly with +hold agency funds when revenue projections fall below levels upon which the budget +was based. + +At the federal level, the impoundment issue became especially intense in the early +1970s, when President Nixon asserted his right to impound funds wherever he felt +appropriate to achieve his fiscal goals. Especially annoying to Congress was his refusal to +spend money for water pollution control; the money had been passed by Congress over a +presidential veto (Pfiffner, 1979, p. 4). Many felt that Nixons use of impoundment +amounted to an unconstitutional item veto. + +Consequently, the 1974 Budget Act sought to clarify matters by defining two types of +legal impoundments. The first, a deferral, is a decision by the president to withhold funds +for a brief period. In such circumstances, the president must inform the Congress, and +either house of Congress may veto the action. The second, a rescission, is a presidential +decision to withhold funds permanently; a rescission must receive the positive approval of +both houses of Congress. Through these devices, Congress has sought to maintain its +involvement in budget execution while at the same time allowing some administrative dis +cretion to the president. (Not surprisingly, recent presidents, including President Clinton, +have argued for expanded rescission authority.) + +Because situations change, public managers are often accorded some flexibility in the +use of allocated funds. Money originally allocated for salaries and wages, for example, +might be shifted (with appropriate approvals) to an equipment and expense category. On +a broader scale, some agencies engage in reprogramming that is, taking money appro +priated for one program and diverting it to another that emerges as a higher priority. + + + +The Budget as a Managerial Tool 175 + +BOX 5.2_ _ __ + +What Happens to the Budget During Emergencies + +The White House signaled last night it will seek a reordering of federal budget priori +ties, with programs not related to fighting terrorism or enhancing security under +scrutiny for reductions or elimination. + +Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., the White House budget director, warned that permanent +budget deficits may emerge again if lawmakers do not trim back parts of the govern +ment not dedicated to the military, law enforcement and intelligence-gathering. + +Many lesser priorities will have to yield while we ensure that the essential func +tions of government are provided for, Daniels told a business group in New York, +according to a draft of the speech released by the White House. The alternative is to +discard discipline totally and imperil our long-term economic health. + +In an interview, Daniels made it clear the administration was opposed to either higher +spending or tax increases. Daniels said he rejected the notion that much of the additional +spending in the war on terrorismby some estimates as much as $50 billion a year +will need to be added on top of existing commitments. Everything ought to be held up +to scrutiny, he said. Situations like this can have a clarifying benefit. People who could +not identify a low priority or lousy program before may now see the need. + +Daniels said the two new imperatives are fully affordable [but] the real danger is +that we will layer it on top of the government we have. He said that what you +dont do in a time of emergency is hold everything else sacrosanct, though he ruled +out not implementing portions of the presidents tax plan because we dont want to +do anything that hurts long-term growth. + +But many Democrats charge the administrations commitment to fiscal discipline is +merely a convenient way to slash funding for social and health programs dear to +Democrats while pouring dollars into the military and law enforcement agencies that +were always slated for big increases under President Bush. They question why every +thing but the presidents desire for more tax cuts needs to be on the table. . . . + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Kessler, Glenn, OMB Chief Signals New Spending Goals Washington Post, +Wednesday, October 17, 2001, Page A03, 2001 The Washington Post Company. Reprinted with permission. + +MMMUMWI.I IJMMWIIMWHW I MilljllillMlin.Cl Ml IIIHl'iiMPTTi'fM.ri^MWi^llWiWWIlWttHWffTWWWWWWMWlrWBWWMMWMHtilTIllirWIIIl + +This strategy must be undertaken with great care, however, not only because of legal and +ethical implications, but because efforts to subvert the legislatures intention are likely to +incur retribution in the next years budget process. + +Audit Phase + +The final phase of the budget process is the postexecution or audit phase. Postaudits take +place following the end of the fiscal year and are concerned with verifying the correct +ness and propriety of agency operations. These audits were originally designed to assure + + + +iy6 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +financial control; as such, they focused on accuracy of record keeping, on compliance with +statutes, and on uncovering fraud, waste, and mismanagement. More recently, the concept +of auditing has been broadened to include performance auditinganalyzing and evaluat +ing the effective performance of agencies in carrying out their objectives. Three purposes +are served by postaudits: (1) financial viability, as indicated by efficient use of resources; (2) +compliance with statutes and other limitations; and (3) program performance, including +the results of program operations. + +Agencies themselves can carry out audits; indeed, we have already seen how the audit +ing work of inspectors general has revealed waste and fraud in some agencies. There is a +clear trend, however, toward broader use of independent agencies. Moreover, to maintain +detachment in their review of executive agencies, the postaudit function is increasingly +being attached to the legislative rather than the executive branch. In 1921, for example, +the federal government created the General Accounting Office (GAO) as a support agency +of the Congress, although President Wilson had previously vetoed such legislation on the +grounds that the officers of such an agency should be answerable to the executive rather +than the legislature. As we saw, the GAO was originally concerned primarily with the +financial auditing of selected federal agencies; however, more recently, it has extended its +activities to include program evaluations as well. + +At the state level, organizational arrangements vary; however, the trend toward having +postaudit agencies attached to the legislature is clear. In 1938, there were five states +in which the audit function was part of the legislative branch; in 1960, there were fifteen; +today, there are more than forty (Council of State Governments, 1993). A large number +of states retain an elected state auditor, however, whose office often goes beyond detached +analysis and becomes embroiled in political controversy. Finally, a number of large cities, +including Dallas and Seattle, have developed legislative postaudit functions. + +Approaches to Public Budgeting + +To be an effective tool in management and decision making, the budget must present +information about the purposes of the proposed activity and the resources to be expended. +There are a variety of different ways to present such information. Some approaches to +budgeting, for example, are based on the assumption that budget decisions are (and should +be) largely incrementalpolicy makers start with the given situation (last years budget) as +a base and make only marginal adjustments to that base. Following this approach, man +agers build budgets by asking for limited increases in spending rather than focusing on +major programmatic concerns. Similarly, the legislature focuses on individual expenditures +rather than the big picture. According to proponents of incrementalism, this approach is +not only an accurate representation of the actual behavior of decision makers, it is an +appropriate way to maintain balance among the many different interests represented in the +budget. In contrast, other budget theorists argue for a more rational, comprehensive, and +programmatic approach. + + + +Approaches to Public Budgeting 177 + +Budgets can be categorized according to the purposes they serve. Allen Schick, a lead +ing scholar in the field of budgeting, has suggested that budgets can have at least three +different purposes, all of which are reflected in any approach to budgeting. These pur +poses are planning, management, and control. Planning involves the determination of +organizational objectives and the development of strategies to meet those objectives; +management involves the design of organizational means by which approved goals can +be translated into action, as well as developing the staffing and resources necessary for +execution; control refers to the process of binding operating officials to the policies and +plans set by their superiors. According to Schick, each attempt at budget reform +changes the balance among the three purposes sometimes inadvertently, sometimes +deliberately. Understanding how budgets are put together will help you present an effec +tive case for program changes. + +The Line-Item Budget + +Those who established the first systematic governmental budgeting schemes were con +cerned primarily with assuring the public that expenditures were properly made and +accounted for. Consequently, the systems they designed emphasized the control func +tion. Because all agencies purchase essentially the same kinds of goods and services, +it was argued, account classifications could be designed that would be broadly applic +able to various agencies or departments. It would then be possible for auditors +to apply uniform criteria to evaluate the expenditures of all (Lyden & Lindenberg, +1983, p. 67). + +Accordingly, in what is called a line-item or objects of expenditure budget, categories +of expenditures are listed along with amounts allocated to each. Typically, line-item +budgets are organized by departments, so that the budget for one agency might look +something like this: + +1998 1999 + +Salaries and wages $75,300 $94,400 + +Utilities 12,320 13,750 + +Supplies and materials 13,500 13,950 + +Travel 950 750 + +Printing 1,200 1,350 + +Telephone 1,550 1,900 + +The cost of each object of expenditure is generally based on the agencys past experience +and analysis of expected changes during the budget year. Since personnel costs (salaries, +wages, and other personal services) typically constitute over half the budget, special atten +tion is given to projected staffing changes, and such changes are often appended to the +budget. (Our example projects, among other things, the addition of one clerical person +during the upcoming year.) + +The line-item budget continues to be widely used, partly because it is easy to understand +and partly because it offers political leaders the more palatable option of reducing items + + + +178 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +(such as travel) rather than eliminating programs. Moreover, it is well suited to incremen +tal decisions, which make only minor modifications in the previous budget. However, +because in the line-item budget the focus is on expenditures, not on their results, it is of +little benefit to planning or management. Consequently, budget reformers have sought to +balance the line-item budgets advantage of effective control with attention to other pur +poses as well. + +The Performance Budget + +The 1930s proved a turning point with respect to public budgeting. The federal budget +grew tremendously, the Bureau of the Budget became attached to the White House, and, +in general, greater attention was paid to the executive management of government agen +cies. This interest in management was paralleled at the state and local levels, where +efforts to relate budget presentations to programmatic activities had been under way for +some time. The result was a new approach to budgeting, the performance budget. + +The performance budget is organized around programs or activities rather than depart +ments and includes various performance measurements to indicate the relationship +between the work actually done and its cost. As the Hoover Commission described it, a +performance budget would analyze the work of government departments and agencies +according to their functions, activities, or projects. It would concentrate attention on +the work to be done or the service to be rendered, rather than the things to be acquired. +By focusing on the relationship between available resources and the work to be done, +performance budgeting is well suited to the purposes of management. + +To construct a performance budget, the manager must first determine appropriate +program categories, such as highway safety, then break that program down into appro +priate subprograms, such as school visitations or advertising programs. It is then neces +sary to establish detailed work measures for each activity; for example, a highway safety +program might anticipate twenty-seven school visitations during the course of the year. +These data would then be related to the cost of making such visits. In its most detailed +presentation, a performance budget requires identifying the work activity, establishing +an output unit, calculating the cost of each unit, and projecting the units required and +the associated costs for the coming year. + +Although performance measures are helpful in making budgetary decisions, not all orga +nizations can easily develop such information. A license bureau can report the number of +licenses issued and fairly easily calculate the cost per license issued, but a research unit or a +group promoting civil rights would find its work much more difficult to measure. +Performance budgeting also tends to concentrate on quantity of work rather than quality. + +Finally, performance budgeting somewhat diffuses organizational responsibility, because +one program or function may be located in several different units. Public information +for example, may involve work in the mayors office, police department, fire department, +and elsewhere. To sort out costs by department, one would need to construct a crosswalk +or matrix of expenditures. A matrix might place various activities on one dimension and +departments on another: + + + +Approaches to Public Budgeting 179 + +Activities +1 2 3 Totals + +Division A $10,000 $20,000 $15,000 $45,000 + +Division B 12,000 16,000 10,000 38,000 + +Division C 5,000 12,000 13,000 30,000 + +Totals 27,000 48,000 38,000 + +A matrix could also be constructed relating activities to traditional objects of expendi +ture; such calculations are typical in performance budgets. + +Program Budgeting + +Another approach to budgeting had its origins in the Department of Defense in the early +1960s. Soon after taking office as Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara discovered +that his ability to manage the department was severely restricted by the lack of coordina +tion between planning and budgeting. Each service (army, navy, air force) prepared its +own annual budget, reflecting its own priorities, then submitted the documents to the sec +retary. This plan failed to give proper attention to systemwide issues. But, equally impor +tant, because the budgeting system was based on a one-year time frame, it bore little, if +any, relation to the multiyear projections of the departments planning and analysis staff. +The development of major weapons systems, for example, involves research and develop +ment, assembly, and operations over many years, yet this fact was not clearly reflected in +the annual budget submissions. + +Consequently, McNamara instituted a new approach, which came to be known as the +planning-programming-budgeting system (PPBS), an effort to connect planning, systems +analysis, and budgeting in a single exercise. In the Defense Department, PPBS began with +the identification of nearly one thousand program elements, each grouped under one of +nine major programs or missionsthat is, strategic retaliatory forces, continental air and +missile defense forces, civil defense, and so on. Not only was extensive study required to +identify the right combination of program elements to support each mission, but, once +having established the combinations, units in the department were required to submit +detailed analyses of proposed program changes. In addition, the new budget system was +designed to cover a nine-year period and to show detailed projections for the first six +years. President Johnson was so impressed with the operation of PPBS in the Defense +Department that he ordered the new system extended to all federal agencies. Each cabinet- +level department was asked to identify a limited number of purposes to be served by the +agency, then to organize budget requests around those themes. The Department of Health, +Education, and Welfare (HEW), for example, chose topics such as social and rehabilitation +services that cut across several agencies within HEW. Costs for each program element were +projected five years into the future, and extensive documentation justifying each element +was required, especially in areas undergoing significant changes. Most agencies were able +to develop their budgets using the new approach, but there was considerable confusion in +the implementation of PPBS. As a result of this confusion and for a variety of other politi +cal reasons, PPBS was formally terminated by President Nixon in 1971. + + + +i So Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +During its relatively short tenure, PPBS attracted great attention, with many cities, +states, and other countries embracing the new technique. PPBS not only emphasized the +planning aspect of budgeting, but it appeared to bring greater rationality and compre +hensiveness to the budget process. These goals, however, were accomplished at great +cost. Substantial numbers of new staff members were needed, both in the central budget +office and in the various agencies to provide the kind of analysis PPBS required. All in +all, the process proved extraordinarily time-consuming. Consequently, very few full +blown PPBS systems remain, although many of the principles of PPBS have been incor +porated into other approaches, often under the more general label program budgeting. + +There are important differences between performance budgeting and program budget +ing. As a general rule, performance budgeting is concerned with the process of work +(what methods should be used) while program budgeting is concerned with the purpose +of work (what activities should be authorized) (Schick, 1987, p. 53). Where a perfor +mance budget might define the operations of a city garbage department in terms of col +lecting and disposing of garbage, a program budget might focus instead on the purpose +served by collecting the garbageto prevent infectious disease or to protect property +values (Lyden & Lindenberg, 1983, pp. 92-93). + +Moreover, although both systems urge measurement of work being done, performance +budgeting is more likely to employ measures related to the work (for example, the num +ber of tons of garbage collected) and a program budget might concentrate instead on +measures related to the purpose of the work (for example, the rate of infectious disease in +the community). Performance data are of great interest to individual managers who seek +to improve productivity, but legislators and other policy makers are more likely to be +interested in the purposes of various activities. + +Zero-Base Budgeting + +One of the most recent budget reform efforts is zero-base budgeting (ZBB), a technique +developed by Texas Instruments and first applied in government by Jimmy Carter while +he was governor of Georgia. As president, Carter mandated the use of ZBB in all federal +agencies. ZBB does not mean that agencies must simply start over with each budget +cycle, building and rebuilding justifications for all their programs; rather, ZBB seeks to +structure the budget so as to present information about the efficiency and effectiveness of +existing piograms and also highlight possibilities for eliminating or reducing programs +(Pyhrr, 1977, p. 1). In contrast to the program development emphasis in program bud +geting, the emphasis in ZBB is on cutting back or restricting programs. + +The ZBB process begins with identifying a decision unit, the lowest organizational +unit at which significant program decisions are made. The manager of the decision unit +is asked to prepare one or more decision packages, which explain each proposed pro +gram and contain the purpose, a description of the action to be undertaken, costs and +benefits, and workload and performance measures. Top management and the legislature +use the decision packages to compare various programs and rank the highest priorities. + +As part of developing the decision packages, managers must provide two other types +of information. First, they must identify alternative measures for accomplishing the work + + + +Approaches to Public Budgeting 181 + +and indicate why these alternatives were not chosen. For example, an air quality labora +tory might recommend using a centralized laboratory to conduct tests rather than con +ducting tests at regional locations or contracting with a local university (Pyhrr, 1977, +p. 4). Second, managers must identify various funding levels: (1) a minimum level, +(2) the level necessary to continue current operations, and (3) an improvement level. +In each case, the manager must indicate the effects of the funding level on program per +formance. For example, a minimum level of $140,000 might permit testing 37,000 air +samples, meeting the minimum requirements of those who use the tests, and covering +70 percent of the states population. An improvement level might require $246,000, but +add additional urban areas and cover 90 percent of the population (Pyhrr, 1977, p. 4). + +ZBB has been criticized for generating too much paperwork and for failing to provide +effective criteria for ranking decision packages. In addition, the minimum funding level +requirement has proven difficult to establish; many jurisdictions equate minimum fund +ing with a certain percentage of the current level (e.g., 75 percent). For these and other +reasons, ZBB was discontinued by President Reagan, though many agencies still employ +some of its elements in their budget process. + +Outcome-Based, Budgeting + +A recent trend in government budgeting involves increasing the level of accountability for +public resources. Citizens, elected officials, and administrators want to be able to deter +mine how much is being spent on each program or agency and the return on the publics +investmentthat is, the substantive impact of each policy. In practical terms, this requires +linking budget information with some type of a performance measurement system. The +resulting budget enables administrators to track levels of expenditures and report on the +outcomes being achieved. + +Unlike performance budgeting mentioned previously, outcome budgeting goes +beyond looking at mere issues of productivity and unit cost. It assesses the long-term +impact of each policy, program, or agency within its targeted area. Though based on +quantitative measures, outcome-based budgeting determines the qualitative results of +government initiatives. Many government agencies have incorporated outcome-based +budgeting within their strategic planning processes, making it possible to observe the +level of resources needed to reach goals and objectives and then use that information +for budget decision making. + +In Catawba County, North Carolina, local officials used outcome-based budgeting to +enhance their governments system of service delivery. The county in the past few years had +experienced limited growth in revenues; yet during this time the call for human services +continued to rise. County leadership responded by handing decision-making authority to +agency administrators, challenging them to reduce costs while more effectively meeting +citizen demands. Those who achieved 90 percent of their goals would be able to apply +their savings to unrestricted needs. Catawba County administrators embarked on a citizen- +driven, outcome-based system of budgeting to ensure that resources were targeted to meet +specific community goals. Over time, they not only saved money but also enhanced gov +ernment responsiveness. + + + +182 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +We will see later the way in which performance or outcome measurement has affected +the conduct of the publics business at all levels of government. For now, we should sim +ply note that the current federal budgeting system, like most at the state and local levels, +is a combination of elements from several of the approaches we have discussed. What is +most important is not whether one particular system or another is being used but rather +what political and administrative choices underlie the selection of a particular budget +approach. That is, what are decision makers trying to emphasize by using the type of +budget they select? + +Budgetary Strategies and Political Games + +Despite all attempts to rationalize the budget process, public budgeting is an inherently +political activity. The changing demands on government and its programs, the shifting +interests that are brought to bear in policy decisions, and the many different actors (and +personalities) that are part of the budget process mean that budget decisions will always +occur in a highly charged political environment. As one student of the budget process +described the situation, Budgeting in this environment is a matter of negotiation, per +suasion, bargaining, bluff and counter-bluff (Caiden, 1985, p. 498). Because agency +managers typically (and properly) believe in the programs they operate and would like to +see the programs be of even greater benefit to the public, they tend to become advocates +of an agency position, often seeking to expand the size and scope of the agencys work. + +If you can deal effectively with the political environment in which budgeting occurs, +you will likely be more successful in expanding, or at least maintaining, your agencys +programs. (There are, of course, many cases in which you will be judged on your capac +ity to hold the line on expenditures or to manage program reductions.) Whatever your +intent, understanding the politics of the budgetary process will be helpful. + +In discussions of budgetary strategies, two basic concepts will help orient your think +ing. The first is the notion of program base. The base refers to those elements of an +agencys program that everyone expects will be continued from year to year. Under nor +mal circumstances, the programs base is assumed to remain pretty much the same from +one year to the next and is not subject to special scrutiny. Having an activity approved +for one year is one thing; having that activity considered a part of your agencys base +budget is far more important. A second and related concept is that of receiving a fair +share of the overall budget. Managers often measure success in terms of whether their +program receives a proportionate amount of any increases or decreases that the govern +ment generally supports. Agency personnel often work for years to build a base that they +consider a fair share of the overall budget (Wildavsky, 1988, p. 83). + +As we saw earlier, budget requests typically originate with the agencies. They are then +reviewed and often changed by a central budget office (acting in behalf of the chief execu +tive) and submitted to the legislature for approval. In constructing a budget request, you +need to take into account several different types of expenditures. Many departments at the +federal level have a large budget component that is essentially uncontrollable. The + + + +Budgetary Strategies and Political Games 183 + +Department of Health and Human Services, for example, which administers many entitle +ment programs, has a large percentage of its budget that is essentially fixed. A second part +of an agencys budget is likely to be devoted to adjustments for inflation. The rising cost of +utilities, telephones, postage, and other essential services must be taken into account, either +absorbed in the base or covered by increased expenditures. Finally, some part of the +agencys budget is discretionary, subject to increase or decrease according to the agencys +priorities. The discretionary portion of the budget allows you to decide both which new +programs to propose and which existing activities to recommend for more (or less) fund +ing. Understanding these categories will help you argue for changes in a particular budget. + +Strategies for Program Development + +These choices lead to strategic questions you must answer in building a budgetincluding +the important question of what total amount to request. Although an overall budget is +likely to differ only incrementally from that of the previous year, some agencies are clearly +more assertive in their requests than others. That is, they are more willing to request large +increases rather than small ones. But how assertive to be is conditioned by several factors.-' + +Support from the chief executive (the president, governor, mayor, and so on) is highly +important, whether the support is specific in terms of advocacy for a particular program +or more generally an expression of interest in a particular field, such as law enforcement. +Similarly, legislative support is also highly important. Agency personnel, in fact, work +hard throughout the year to maintain contact with key legislative leaders and to build +the kinds of alliances that will be helpful in supporting programs of mutual interest. +Finally, your personalityespecially your willingness to take risks and defend risky^ +choiceswill play a strong role in deciding how much to request. + +Aaron Wildavsky, who wrote a landmark study of the politics of the budgetary process, +suggested three other strategic elements that not only affect the nature of the request, but +also help build political support for it. The first of these is clientele support. The support +of client groups and other associations interested in the agencys work will be helpful in +developing testimony and lobbying in behalf of programs. An agency that is confident of +the testimony of satisfied customers or able to show support for proposed changes will +likely fare much better than others. The most effective way to build support is to serve a +client group well, but agencies may also try to stimulate supportive clientele to communi +cate with legislators about the agencys good work. + +A second element of political support is the confidence of higher executives and leg +islative officials in your character and ability. The magnitude of government budgets is +so great that higher officials or legislators simply cannot know all the details necessary +for making a purely rational analysis. At some point, they must simply trust the man +ager. Managers who enjoy a good reputation are typically more successful, especially in +dealings with the legislature (see Box 5.3). One administrator commented, If you have +the confidence of your [appropriations! subcommittee your life is much easier and you +can do your department some good; if you dont have confidence you cant accomplish +much and you are always in trouble (Wildavsky, 1988, p. 105). There are many ways +to build confidence, but highly successful managers seem to agree that a reputation for + + + +184 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +Play It Straight + +Everyone agrees that the most important requirement for confidence, at least in a +negative sense, is to be aboveboard. ... A lie, an attempt to blatantly cover up some +misdeed, a tricky move of any kind, can lead to an irreparable loss of confidence. +A typical comment by an administrator states, It doesnt pay to try to put some +thing over on them [committee members) because if you get caught, you might as +well pack your bags and leave Washington. And the chances of getting caught are +considerable because interested committeemen and their staffs have much experience +and many sources of information. + +Administrators believe that punishments for failure to establish confidence are +greater than the rewards for achieving it. But at times they do slip up, and then the +roof falls in. When Congress limited the amount of funds that could be spent on per +sonnel, a bureau apparently evaded this limitation in 1952 by subcontracting out a +plan to private investors. The House Subcommittee was furious: + +Representative Jensen: It certainly is going to take a house-cleaning ... of ... all +people who are responsible for this kind of business. +Official: We are going to do it, Mr. Chairman. +Representative Jensen: I do not mean maybe. That is the most disgraceful show +ing that I have seen of any department. +Official: I am awfully sorry. + +SOURCE: Excerpt p. 60 from The New Politics of the Budgetary Process, 3d ed. by Aaron Wildavsky and +Naomi Caiden. Copyright 1997 by Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. Reprinted by permission +of Pearson Education, Inc. + +integrity (telling the whole truth) and responsiveness (keeping in touch and responding +completely to inquiries) are particularly important. + +Third, agency officials can take certain tactical positions to attempt to develop or +protect their favorite programs. One approach, verging on the unethical but nonetheless +common, is budget paddingthat is, proposing a higher budget than is actually +needed, on the assumption that after the central budget office and legislature cut it, you +will have what you wanted in the first place. (One city manager described including +radio items in his budget a radio item was one that makes a lot of noise but can +be unplugged easily. The radio item would attract controversy and deflect attention +from other items that were actually more important to the manager.) Another strategy +is one Wildavsky terms the camels nose. The manager asks for a small amount to begin +a program, then later treats this program as part of the base and argues that it would be +unfortunate to lose the money already invested by not finishing the job (Wildavskv +1988, p. 115). + + + +Aspects of Financial Management i8j + +As we have seen, over the past couple of decades, many programs at all levels of gov +ernment have experienced lower revenues and more limited funding. In some cases, such as +in the social services, programs have been reduced or eliminated; in other cases, changes +such as the termination of revenue sharing at one level of government have resulted in +lower revenues at another; in still other cases, popular efforts to limit either revenues or +expenditures, such as Proposition 13 in California, have limited government funds. In any +case, many public managers have had to turn their attention from developing new pro +grams to maintaining or even reducing existing ones. This effort has been variously +referred to as managing fiscal stress or, where serious reductions have occurred, cutback +management. + +As you would expect under retrenchment conditions, many managers have used bud +getary tactics of the sort outlined by Wildavsky to lessen the impact of fiscal stress on +their agencies (Wildavsky, 1988, p. 113). Any attempt to resist cuts is risky, however, in +part because it can quickly undermine the managers credibility. Moreover, under condi +tions of long-term fiscal limitations, resistance to cuts is simply not a realistic option for +many managers (Levine, 1980, p. 20). Several other ways of dealing with fiscal stress +have been tried with some success: + + Following a multiyear plan so as to preserve the administrative capacity and the +capital investment of the jurisdictions + + Targeting cuts in specific programs rather than cutting across the board (all programs +cut at the same percentage) + + Smoothing out the impact of the cuts (lessening their immediate effect) +(Levine, Rubin, & Wolohojian, 1981, p. 210). Smoothing out may occur either +through improvements in productivity, so the organization can accomplish more +with less, or by generating new revenues, through such moves as imposing new +user charges for services. + +Aspects of Financial Management + +Although those in public organizations need to budget their resources, they must also +attend to other aspects of managing the publics money. They must be concerned with +the long-term financing of buildings, roads and highways, and equipment; they must +carefully plan and manage borrowing; they must ensure against future losses; and, in all +cases, they must try to get the most for the money they spend. + +Networking + +For more information on financial management see http://www.financenet.gov/. +Professional associations for budgeting and financial management can be found at +http://www.aabpa.org; http://www.abfm.org; and http://www.gfoa.org. + + + +186 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +Capital Budgeting + +In addition to budgeting annual expenditures, public policy makers and managers need +to invest in facilities and equipment that will be used over a period of time. For exam +ple, government is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining the countrys +public works infrastructurestreets and highways, tunnels and bridges, sewers and +water treatment facilities, and so on. In addition, governments invest in a variety of +other major facilities, including schools and universities, hospitals and mental health +centers, public housing, and correctional institutions. Finally, innumerable equipment +purchases (especially military equipment at the federal level) are intended for long-term +use. Expenditures on items that will be used over a period of several years are called +capital expenditures. + +Budgeting for capital expenditures is similar to the process of budgeting for annual +expenditures, but it also differs in some ways. In most jurisdictions, with the federal gov +ernment as the most notable exception, capital expenditures are treated in a separate +budget called a capital budget. Most states have a separate capital budget, and nearly all +give special treatment to capital expenditures in budget presentation; nearly all major +cities and most other local governments use a capital budget. For many years, the federal +government treated capital spending merely as part of the regular budget; only recently +has it begun to provide a special analysis of capital spending. There is still not a separate +capital budget at the federal level. + +The primary argument in favor of separate consideration of capital items is that the +benefits of these items are spread over future generations, and it is therefore not unrea +sonable to share the burden of repaying the money borrowed. A separate capital budget +may also encourage more long-term thinkingthe lack of which is often decried in the +annual budget process. On the other hand, the capital budget can become a political pork +barrel, in which each legislator seeks to gain his or her share of projects (and their fund +ing). Moreover, a capital budget can become a device for avoiding fiscal responsibility, by +pushing expenditures that should be faced immediately into an indefinite future. In any +case, whether a separate budget is developed or not, one should keep in mind the rela +tionship between capital and operating expenditures. Building a new swimming pool, for +example, implies that annual expenditures will be forthcoming in future years to keep it +operating. + +Ideally, a capital budget develops in the context of a fairly comprehensive planning +process, undertaken either for the government as a whole or by the various agencies +within their functional areas (such as health or criminal justice). Whether or not a +planning process is in operation, an important intermediate step (and one followed by +nearly all governments considering capital projects) is development of a capital invest +ment programa timetable indicating various projects to be undertaken, schedules for +their completion, and methods of financing. A capital investment plan is usually writ +ten to cover a three- to five-year period and is moved forward each year. The state of +Georgia, for example, has a capital budget that is mainly a gathering of capital outlays +by agency and project category as these have been requested by the various agencies in +their submissions to the budget office. For each category, the financing source is identi +fied (Thomassen, 1990, p. 73). + + + +Aspects of Financial Management i8y + +To undertake such a plan, government decision makers often solicit proposals from +the various agencies and then try to bring order to the resulting submissions. Among the +criteria decision makers might use would be the essentiality of the project, especially for +health and safety; whether the project fills a gap in existing services; whether it builds +effectively on existing services; and whether it meets an unforeseen emergency need +(Lyden & Lindenberg, 1983, p. 185). Because financing for capital projects is usually +spread over many years, as are the benefits, complete analysis of each project is likely to +involve detailed consideration of both costs and benefits over time. + +Debt Management + +One part of the capital budgeting process is careful consideration of the source of funding. +Some jurisdictions try to operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, paying in full for all projects +during the fiscal year in which they are authorized. (One variation of this idea is the accu +mulation of money in a sinking fund, which is then used to pay for the needed improve +ment.) Other jurisdictions may be willing to borrow money for a project, either because +waiting to accumulate funds would simply take too long or because, philosophically, it is +felt that the costs as well as the benefits of the project should be spread over a period of +yearsa pay-as-you-use approach. + +Borrowing is often used to finance capital improvement projects; but borrowing may +be employed to meet a variety of other needs as well. In some cases, anticipated revenues +will simply not be available at the time spending is necessary. To solve the resulting cash +flow problem, governments undertake short-term borrowing. (In more questionable +cases, money is borrowed from future years revenues to pay operating expenses within +the current year. Such a practice was partly responsible for the financial crisis in New +York City in the mid-1970s.) Borrowing is also used for emergency needs; for example, +a natural disaster, such as fire or flood, might require funds far beyond the capacity of +the annual budget. Especially when such spending will be used to reconstruct facilities +that will have long-term benefits, borrowing may well be justified. Finally, at least at the +federal level, borrowing is sometimes justified as a way of stimulating the economy. + +Governments may undertake various types of borrowing; however, the primary mecha +nism for financing government debt is the issuance of a bondthat is, a promise to repay +a certain amount (the principal) at a certain time (maturity date) at a particular rate of +interest. One of the most common bonds is the general obligation bond, which pledges +the full faith and credit of the jurisdictionin other words, the government provides as +security all its revenues and resources. In contrast, revenue bonds promise as security the +anticipated revenues that a capital project will produce. Revenue bonds might be issued +based on the future toll receipts of a new highway or on the gross receipts of a new +municipal sports complex. + +Both from the standpoint of a jurisdiction, and from the standpoint of potential +investors who might purchase the bonds, it is helpful to know something about the juris +dictions debt capacity if a city, the value of the citys resources combined with the +ability of the city government to draw on the citys resources to provide payment. As a +service to investors, several firms provide bond ratings for cities and other jurisdictions. + + + +188 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +The ratings are also important to the jurisdiction, because a lower rating means higher +costs of borrowing for the government. Standard and Poors reference guides rate bonds +in descending quality from AAA to AA to A to BBB to BB, and so on. Cities or other +government units that carry high ratings will be more successful than others in selling +their bonds. + +The capacity of a government to manage successfully its various financial obligations +is of great importance. For example, the Clinton administration proposed altering the +mix of securities used to finance the national debt, in order to take advantage of the +spread between long-term and short-term debt. Without going into the details of the +plan, some experts claimed the idea could save the government more than $16 billion +over the next five years (Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 20 March 1993, p. 657). +(For another example of the complexity of such issues, see Box 5.4.) + +BOX 5.4 + +How to Limit Losses Due to Accidents or Injuries + +In the local government workplace every accident, claim or incident may involve unin +sured or underinsured losses and/or deductibles that can become costly for municipali +ties. Although such situations may be virtually unavoidable in the long run, loss control +planning can limit their negative consequences. + +The costs of accidents can be viewed as the various disruptions of the normal work +procedures that occur when the accidents take place. City or county property may be +damaged and contractors may need to be hirednot a welcome expense in times of +tight municipal budgets. Accidents can result in downtime, extra administrative time, +retraining of existing workers and training of replacement workers. Downtime can +mean delayed completion of work. + +These are just a few of the costs that are absorbed by local governments; in some +cases, the costs can exceed the amounts covered by insurance. Effective loss control +can help to reduce these costs. A qualified loss control professional can provide safety +surveys of local government facilities. He or she can help implement a methodical +approach to self inspection, training, and loss prevention. + +Developing a safety plan is perhaps the most important component of a methodi +cal approach to loss control. For the plan to be effective, top officials must be com +mitted to it, and someone must be given the responsibility, authority, and budget for +seeing the plan through. Carrying out an accident analysis is the first step in develop +ing a successful safety plan. Staff members in charge of the analysis should review +and categorize the local governments past accident cases and identify the causes of +each case, as well as the patterns and related factors among the different cases. + +The next step, communication and training, involves sharing the information com +piled through the accident analysis with those who might be affected by similar accidents +in the future. The training element of this step can take the form of five- or ten-minute +safety talks or more formal training. Department leaders can also supplement the safety + +(continued) + + + +Aspects of Financial Management 189 + +training of their employees with informational posters, printed bulletins, paycheck +stuffers or novelty gifts as reminders of safety precautions. They can motivate employees +to heed these precautions through formal directives and work rules, as well as through +contests and incentives. + +Supervisors play a critical role in successful safety programs. Thus, training for +supervisors is an excellent idea, since they need to understand the goals of manage +ment concerning safety, buy into those goals, and be equipped to work with their +employees toward the objectives. Supervisors are responsible for field implementation +of the safety plan and directives. Supervisors should thus be held accountable for the +safety performance of their departments or agencies, just as they are held accountable +for their departments general performance. + +The next step, inspection, is necessary to ensure compliance with injury control +measures, as well as to follow up on the findings of the accident analysis. In areas +where physical conditions can be altered to prevent reoccurrence of historical prob +lems, the city or county should issue work orders to solve the problems. If a machine +contributed to a past accident, all similar machines should be inspected and altered +accordingly. + +Insurance costs and uninsured costs are too high for local governments to ignore. +Controlling these costs means looking methodically at past problems and striving to +make sure they do not reappear. + +SOURCE: Salzman, Scott, Cutting Your Losses in the Workplace, American City & County, 112 +(June 1997): 6. Reprinted with permission, American City & Country. + +Risk Management + +Public organizations are subject to a variety of risks that can prove extremely costly. +A few years ago, for example, an individual who was driving through a particular city +lost control of his car, which bounced off a guardrail into a ditch. The driver suffered +serious injuries, then sued the city for several million dollars, arguing that the guardrail +had been improperly placed. Similarly, a city employee, with no previous health prob +lems, began to suffer back pains on the job. After several operations, high medical bills, +and physical therapy, he was given disability retirement at age twenty-six (Lynch, 1985, +p. 316). Another city was sued by residents who lived near the municipal airport, +because the noise of aircraft landing and taking off supposedly lessened the value of their +property. Over the years, cases such as these involving civil damages, breach of contract, +workers compensation, and related legal problems have cost cities, states, and other +jurisdictions millions of dollars. + +Risk management concerns how public organizations anticipate and cope with these +risks. The first step in risk management is to identify potential areas of loss and then to +attempt to reduce the probability of losses occurring. Risk reduction programs might + + + +190 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +include improved work safety, periodic inspectionsof physical'property owned by the +city, and employee health programs. But whatever the success of risk reduction efforts, +losses do occur. The government has a variety of options for meeting losses, including +payment from operating funds or financial reserves, levying special taxes to cover the +loss, or even floating bonds. + +In anticipation of losses, however, many public organizations often purchase insur +ance from private firms. In recent years, this option has become more difficult, as insur +ance rates for governments and other public organizations have risen dramatically and +put many traditional forms of insurance beyond reach. (The difficulty of purchasing +insurance has also led some jurisdictions to eliminate uninsured services such as some +recreation programs.) Another possibility, however, is self-insurance, the development of +an insurance pool by the jurisdiction itself. After all, many governments are larger than +insurance companies, so such an undertaking is not only financially feasible, but pro +vides some administrative control and flexibility that is not present when private firms +are used. An increasingly popular means of self-insurance involves pooling risks in a +shared program operated by several municipalities. + +Purchasing + +A final aspect of financial management in public organizations is the purchase of goods +and services. Because public organizations are typically not equipped to produce all the +goods and services they require (and in most cases would not find it financially feasible +to do so anyway), they must acquire some goods and services from the private sector. +Like individuals and businesses, public organizations want to get the most for their +money. But at the same time, because government purchasing involves such substantial +sums of money and is capable of influencing the structure of the market generally, public +purchasing must also take into account social and political goals. + +Governments have often found that centralizing purchasing in one agency, rather than +having each agency buy what it needs, results in considerable savings. For one thing, a +central purchasing unit can buy in sufficient volume to get better prices; for another, +those in the purchasing unit can develop expertise with respect to pricing, business con +ditions, and market practices. Finally, experts in purchasing are likely to be more suc +cessful in the negotiating process. Although individual agencies occasionally complain +that their specific needs are not met by the purchasing unit, most state and local jurisdic +tions use centralized purchasing operations. + +In most cases, a purchasing unit circulates and advertises the governments needs and +solicits bids for the required goods and services. The resulting bids are evaluated in terms of +cost, and the lowest bid is usually, though not automatically, chosen. Consideration is also +given to the quality of the product and to the ability of the firm to actually deliver the goods +or services in a timely fashion. In addition, purchasers are often required to give special +preference to certain groups, such as minority-owned firms or in-state companies. Several +jurisdictions often join together to cooperate in purchasing activities. In some instances, sev +eral local governments may form a common purchasing unit; in other cases, prices negoti +ated by the state purchasing office are available to local governments as well. + + + +Accounting and Computer-Based Information Systems ipi + +Accounting and Computer-Based Information Systems + +Keeping track of the revenues and expenditures of government and other public organi +zations is an enormously complex task. Not only are there billions of dollars to record +and report, but the presentation of financial information must serve several purposes at +once. Certainly financial data should be developed and reported in such a way that pub +lic officials can be held accountable for the use of public funds, but at the same time, the +accounting and reporting system should provide managers with information they can use +to operate their organizations more efficiently and effectively. This dual requirement +means that financial information should correlate closely with other managerially rele +vant material, such as personnel data or productivity measures. + +Government Accounting + +Accounting, whether in the public or private sector, is simply the process of identifying, +measuring, and communicating economic information to permit informed judgment and +decision making by users of the information (Berne & Schramm, 1986, p. 12). But +because the purposes of public organizations differ from those of private organizations, +accounting practices also differ. Those in public organizations, for example, are generally +not concerned with making a profit; rather, they tend to focus on achieving a balance +between revenues and expenditureswhat comes in and what goes out. There are some +exceptions, such as public corporations, hospitals, and water companies, which are +somewhat more like profit-seeking groups; however, in nearly all public organizations, +accountability is more important than profit maximization. + +Governmental accounting systems reflect these different purposes. The cornerstone of +accounting in the public sector is the allocation of resources to various funds, each of +which is designed to record transactions within a particular functional area and assure that +funds are used in accord with the purposes sought. (Such use of funds is uncommon in the +private sector.) The various funds typically reflect policy makers intent in authorizing cer +tain activities and appropriating funds for them. The legislature may decide, for example, +that certain gasoline taxes should be used exclusively for highway maintenance, in which +case a separate fund might be created to keep track of money produced by the tax and +spent for highways. In all cases, a primary concern is that the accounting system show +whether the organizations activities have been consistent with the purposes for which it +was created. There are several broad types of funds that are used in public organizations. + +1. General funds are used to account for most of the ordinary or routine functions of gov +ernment. Most important among the general government funds is what is called the gen +eral fund, which handles the unrestricted funds of government, those not restricted to +specific purposes (and typically allocated to other funds). The general fund is the dominant +fund in most jurisdictions, and handles most of the governments operational activities. +Related general government funds might include those that account for special revenues, +such as a dedicated gasoline tax, or those that monitor expenditures for capital projects. + + + +192 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +2. Proprietary funds are used to account for government activities or enterprises that +more closely resemble private business in their orientation toward profit. This does not +mean that all agencies employing funds are required to make a profit; indeed, they may +break even or perhaps require a subsidy. What is implied is that a measure of profit is +possible and usually desirable in such operations; examples include a local transit system +or a state printing operation. +3. Finally, fiduciary funds are used when the government must hold assets for individuals +(e.g., those in a pension fund) or when the government holds resources to be transmitted +to another organization (e.g., property taxes that a county collects for a city) (Berne & +Schramm, 1986, pp. 14-15). + +Within each fund there is an accounting of the resources available and the flow of funds +in and out of the account. On the one hand, there are assetswhat the government owns; +on the other hand, there are liabilitieswhat the government owes. Assets include items +such as cash, capital facilities, equipment, and money owed to the government; liabilities +include items such as bills that the government has yet to pay. When the organizations +liabilities are subtracted from its assets, the remainder is called a fund balance (and may be +expressed either in positive or negative terms). An organization with $2,525,000 in assets +and $2,300,000 in liabilities has a fund balance of $225,000. Note that a fund balance +does not mean the amount of cash on hand, but rather signifies a relationship between all +assets (including cash) and all liabilities. Broadly, the fund balance is the key measure of +the viability of the operation monitored by the fund and is one of many items contained in +financial reports issued by governments and other public organizations. + +Both accounting practices and financial reporting are guided by standards referred to +as generally accepted accounting practices. The Governmental Accounting Standards +Board (GASB) was established in 1984 to develop standards for accounting and financial +reporting at the state and local levels. In its work, the GASB has been especially attentive +to multiple users of public financial information, including citizens, taxpayers, legislative +bodies, upper-level executives, labor and employee groups, interest groups, contractors, +and the press. Again, an important characteristic of governmental accounting is that it +must serve multiple purposes, including accountability within a democratic system. + +Computer-Based Information Systems + +The emergence and widespread use of computers in tracking financial data as well as other +program-relevant information has led to what one writer has called a quiet revolution in +the analysis and use of information in public organizations. Not only do computers make +easier the accumulation and manipulation of vast amounts of data, they also greatly facili +tate analysis of that data in terms that are meaningful to decision makers at all levels. +Computers have also increased the probability that information can be provided when it is +needed, not weeks later. Consequently, a great deal of attention is being given to design +and implementation of computer-based information systems in the public sector and to the +political and organizational implications of such changes. Applications in the area of finan +cial management have often led the way in these efforts. + + + +Accounting and Computer-Based Information Systems + +A distinction is often made between management information systems and decision +support systems. Management information systems are used to collect and summarize +routine information as a basis for structuring decision making. Relevant databases might +include budgetary information, expenditures for salaries and wages, and personnel +data. The system might be asked, for example, to produce a list of employees eligible +for salary increases based on length of service in the agency (McGowan & Lombardo, +1986, p. 581). + +Decision support systems, on the other hand, are interactive systems that can assist in +the solution of unstructured or nonroutine problems. These systems can range in capabili +ties from one that allows the manager to manipulate data within the system to produce a +specific analysis for a particular decision to one that provides optimization models to use +in analyzing a particular policy recommendation. Although most public organizations are +developing management information systems of various sorts, the development of deci +sion support systems remains somewhat behind, though we can expect increasing atten +tion to this area in the future. + +Applications of computer-based information systems are as wide-ranging as the work +of public organizations; however, most organizations are quickly becoming familiar with +the use of spreadsheets and statistical packages for budget analysis, financial manage +ment packages for revenue and expenditure forecasting, and accounting packages for +fund accounting and analysis. But far more extensive applications of information tech +nology have been developed in government agencies. A recent survey indicates that fed +eral agencies vary considerably in use of computer-based information systems, but in the +area of financial management, some agencies have developed quite sophisticated systems. +The State Department, for example, has developed and implemented a comprehensive +system designed to operate in the departments financial management centers around the +world. Other federal agencies have yet to develop agencywide financial management +information systems, though all seem to be moving in that direction. In the meantime, all +agencies report extensive and varied applications of information technology throughout +their organizations. + +At the state and local levels, one of the most interesting developments in information +technology has been the design and implementation of information systems integrating bud +geting, personnel, performance reporting, and auditing. Several states have begun this +process of integration, including Michigan, Oregon, Texas, Wyoming, and Washington. Yet +efforts of this nature reflect an overall shift on the part of states toward more sophisticated +systems of accounting. State governments over the past decade have used information tech +nology to enhance their capacity to generate more detailed financial and productivity data, +thus allowing for extensive analyses at a programmatic level and a linkage between expen +ditures and actual performance. + +To the extent that budgetary and performance data are made available to the chief +executive and other top managers on a timely basis, more effective management deci +sions may be possible. In addition, freeing budget analysts from the more mundane +aspects of budgetary procedures should allow more attention to planning and analysis. + +Similar developments have occurred at the local level, especially as the cost and avail +ability of computer technology has made the adoption of information systems more wide +spread. The city of Baltimore, Maryland, for example has implemented a comprehensive + + + +194 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +accounting and performance measurement system, called Citistat, to track (in real-time) +the productivity and fiscal efficiency of city departments. In a room lined with large +projection screens and computer terminals, Baltimores Mayor Martin OMalley meets +weekly with top aides and department heads to hear the latest reports on the citys service +delivery. If a departments numbers lag behind its performance targets, the manager +must account to his or her peers for the difference. If we only looked at performance +every year at budget time, Id be old and gray before anything would change. Citistat +brings the sense of urgency we need around here, said OMalley (cited in Swope, 2001, +p. 20). Thus far, the information system has contributed to significant improvements in +public safety and public health, as well as opened new doors for collaboration between +city departments. + +Whether Citistat or similar IT initiatives will have the across-the-board improvements +for public organizations remains to be seen. Some argue that change of this nature +requires far more than increased capacity to handle information. Moreover, the imple +mentation of these types of systems may have negative consequences on the organiza +tional culture and relationships within affected agencies. Groups that are at odds with +one another, for example, may have to adjust to new patterns of communications and +cooperation. + +Summary and Action Implications + +Budgeting and financial management in public organizations share much in common +with those activities elsewhere. But there are also important differences, most of which +flow from the necessity for public organizations to be accountable to elected officials +and, ultimately, to the people. + +The centrality of the budget to any organization can hardly be underestimated; if you +want to know what is going on in an organization, look at where the money is going. +Establishing budget processes that reflect the organizations priorities, while securing +appropriate levels of involvement from all those who will want to affect the budget, is thus +extremely important. Finding ways to present budgetary information clearly and compre +hensibly is a great aid to decision makers and to the public. Finally, developing mechanisms +to assure that the publics money is being spent both efficiently and responsibly is essential. +You will find that knowing the technical side of the budget process being able to follow +the budget process and clearly understanding preparation, administration, and review +will be extremely helpful as you try to influence the operations of your organization. + +If you work in a central budget office, you will find that the period during which +the budget is formulated is intense, and your technical expertise will be put to the test. +But you will also recognize that you are playing an important role in shaping public +policies. Similarly, if you are managing an agency, you will place your imprint on the +policies and directions of your organization through the budget process. Your skill in +presenting and supporting requests for programs may determine whether or not they +are undertaken. + + + +Terms and Definitions 195 + +The budget process at the federal level, and in some state and local jurisdictions, is +integrated with a process for long-range planning. Federal agencies are asked to provide +certain projections for the two-year period following the year for which the budget is +being prepared, thus adding an element of long-range planning to the process. + +Budgets and financial management systems are important tools for planning, prioritiz +ing, and operating public programs, as well as important mechanisms for accountability +and control. Public access to budgets and financial statements allows citizens to see how +their interests are reflected in the actual conduct of government. Budgets and other finan +cial documents that clearly show what is happening in an agency are a necessary part of +operating in the public interest. + +Terms and Definitions + +Accounting: The process of identifying, measuring, and communicating economic +information to permit informed judgment and decision making. + +Allotments: Amounts that agencies are authorized to spend within a given period. + +Apportionment: The process by which funds are allocated to agencies for specific +portions of the year. + +Appropriation: Legislative action to set aside funds and create budget authority for +their expenditures. + +Authorizing legislation: Legislative action that permits establishment or continuation +of a particular program or agency. + +Bond: Promise to repay a certain amount (principal) at a certain time (maturity date) +at a particular rate of interest. + +Budget padding: Proposing a higher budget than is actually needed. + +Business cycle: Periods of economic growth featuring inflation and high employment +followed by periods of recession or depression and unemployment. + +Capital budget: A budget depicting spending for items that will be used over a period +of several years. + +Capital investment program: A timetable indicating various projects to be undertaken, +schedules for their completion, and methods of financing. + +Continuing resolution: Resolution permitting the government to continue operating +until an appropriations measure is passed. + +Debt capacity: Value of a citys resources combined with the ability of the government +to draw on them to provide payment. + +Deferral: Decision by the president to withhold expenditure of funds for a brief +period. + + + +Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +Discretionary spending: That portion of the budget strll open to changes by the president +and Congress. + +Entitlement programs: Programs that provide a specified set of benefits to those who +meet certain eligibility requirements. + +Excise tax: Tax applied to the sale of specific commodities. + +Fiduciary funds: Funds used when government must hold assets for individuals or +when government holds resources to be transmitted to another organization. + +Fiscal policy: Public policy concerned with the impact of government taxation and +spending on the economy. + +Fiscal year (FY): Governments basic accounting period. + +General fund: Fund that handles the unrestricted funds of government. + +Gross National Product (GNP): Measure of total spending in the economy; includes +total personal consumption, private investment, and government purchases. + +Impoundment: Withholding of funds authorized and appropriated by law. + +Item veto: Allows the executive to veto specific items in an appropriations bill. + +Line-item budget: Budget format for listing categories of expenditures along with +amounts allocated to each. + +Outcome-based budgeting: Budgeting system that takes into account long-term effects +or outcomes. + +Performance auditing: Analysis and evaluation of the effective performance of agencies +in carrying out their objectives. + +Performance budget: Budget format organized around programs or activities, including +various performance measurements that indicate the relationship between work actually +done and its cost. + +Planning-programming-budgeting system (PPBS): Effort to connect planning, systems +analysis, and budgeting in a single exercise. + +Preaudit: Review in advance of an actual expenditure. + +Progressive tax: One that taxes those with higher incomes at a higher rate. + +Proportional tax: One that taxes everyone at the same rate. + +Proprietary funds: Used to account for government activities that more closely resemble +private business. + +Reconciliation bill: Legislative action that attempts to reconcile individual actions in +taxes, authorizations, or appropriations with the totals. + +Regressive tax: One that taxes those with lower incomes at a proportionally higher +rate than those with higher incomes. + + + +Cases and Exercises 197 + +Rescission: Decision by chief executive to permanently withhold funds. + +Risk management: Ways that public organizations anticipate and cope with risks. + +Supplemental appropriation: Bill passed during the fiscal year adding new money to +an agencys budget for the same fiscal year. + +Zero-base budgeting: Budget format that presents information about the efficiency +and effectiveness of existing programs and highlights possibilities for eliminating or +reducing programs. + +Study Questions + +1. Discuss how government uses the budget to affect fiscal policy. +2. Describe some of the ways government obtains funds for operation. Identify the various + +types of taxes that governments use. +3. How does the government spend the money it collects? +4. The budget cycle consists of four major phases. Discuss governments role in the budget + +cycle and the components of each phase. +5. Allen Schick suggests three different purposes of the budget. Identify and define these + +purposes. +6. Compare and contrast the different types of budgeting processes. +7. Explain the two basic concepts of budgetary strategies. +8. Political influence has a major impact on the budgetary process. What are some of + +the strategies managers use to influence the budget process? +9. Financial management is also an important part of fiscal activities. Discuss some of the + +concerns fiscal managers deal with, including capital budgeting, debt management, risk +management, and purchasing. + +10. Discuss the broad types of funds that public organizations use. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Revenues, especially at the state and local levels, can vary dramatically from year +to year or even month to month, depending on both public actions and economic +fluctuations. + +Assume that you are director of Motor Vehicle Registration for your state. Your +agency, with offices scattered all across the state, is responsible for registration and +licensing of cars, trucks, and other vehicles. About six months into the fiscal year, the +governor announces that all state agencies will have to finish the fiscal year with expen +ditures 5 percent less than originally budgeted. You have already spent half your yearly +allocation, so the reduction means you actually have to cut spending by 10 percent over +the next six months. How would you go about complying with the governors order? + + + +198 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +2. On December 1, 1988, Larry Rice, the City Ma-nager of Lakewood, Colorado, sub +mitted the 1989 budget to the mayor and city council of Lakewood. Part of that bud +get dealing with activities in the public works area is shown in Figure 5.4. A public +works summary page shows the 1987 actual, 1988 budgeted and estimated, and 1989 +proposed expenditures, first by program, then by category of expenditure, then by +source of funds. + +PROGRAM 1987 1988 1988 1989 +ACTUAL BUDGET ESTIMATED BUDGET + +Public Works Administration $ 251,388 $ 212,983 $ 199,369 $ 196,298 +Traffic Signals 788,913 957,404 1,182,739 934,777 +Traffic Control 592,166 648,585 594,926 661,744 +Street Lighting 808,501 945,752 901,500 920,652 +Design Inspections and Survey 813,850 929,998 816,879 838,401 +Development Review 342,080 366,324 354,618 368,022 +Street Maintenance 1,604,400 1,561,003 1,607,462 1,592,208 +Street Cleaning 423,154 484,322 483,094 497,097 +Snow and Ice Removal 417,428 285,397 283,322 409,817 +Street Resurfacing/Concrete Rehab. 2,611,102 2,000,342 2,720,000 2,003,384 +Drainage Maintenance 379,232 351,007 315,382 304,545 +Drainage Improvements 621,173 1,317,500 252,500 600,000 +Capital Improvements: + +Street Construction 3,085,010 4,580,205 2,898,500 505,000 +Fleet Management (1,093,554) (1,169,483) (1,140,596) (1,149,398) +Water Utility 400,086 558,154 500,333 +Sewer Utility 1,385,950 2,852,892 2,165,168 2,731,163 + +TOTAL $ 14,524,433 $ 17,493,714 $ 15,333,613 $ 13,063,441 + +CATEGORY 1987 1988 1988 1989 +ACTUAL BUDGET ESTIMATED BUDGET + +Personal Services $ 3,503,068 $ 3,552,303 $ 3,435,311 $ 3,512,808 +Operating and Maintenance Supplies 665,666 644,114 655,276 656,050 +Charges and Services 3,802,154 4,136,768 4,397,995 5,051,861 +Capital Outlay 6,553,545 9,160,529 6,845,031 3,842,722 + +TOTAL$ 14,524,433 $ 17,493,714$ 15,333,613 $ 13,063,441 + +FUNDS 1987 1988 1988 1989 +ACTUAL BUDGET ESTIMATED BUDGET + +General $ 6,141,818 $ 6,325,775 $ 6,160,866 $ 6,323,561 +Capital Improvement Fund 4,173,076 4,654,592 4,743,738 3,508,384 +Grant Capital Fund 845,269 390,000 _ +Central Garage Revolving (1,093,554) (1,169,483) (1,140,596) (1,149,398) +Street Bond 1,578,234 1,315,687 _ +Nonrevenue Intergovernmental +Resource 3,660,455 _ _ +Water and Sewer Funds 1,786,036 2,852,892 2,723,322 3,231,496 + +TOTAL $ 14,524,433 $ 17,493,714 $ 15,333,613 $ 13,063,441 + +FIGURE 5.4 + +City of Lakewood: Department of Public Works Budget Summary + + + +Cases and Exercises i99 + +DEPARTMENT: Public Works PROGRAM: SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL + +FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION: + +This program provides for the removal of snow and ice from the City street system (not including State Highways) and selected bikeways and +sidewalks by plowing and sanding. + +SERVICE STANDARDS: Services are standard when: + +1. All plows and sanders are hooked up within 90 minutes after notification of a coming storm and before every weekend and holiday +through winter for faster deployment. + +2. 75% of crews are on their routes within 1 -1/2 hours of being called. + +3. Flowing begins on priority #1 and #2 streets when snow depth reaches 2". Plowing/sanding continues until all priority streets are +cleared within 48 hours after the end of the storm. + +4. All residential streets (not priority 1 or 2) are plowed when snow depths reach 6". Plowing is completed within 48 hours after the end of +the storm. + +5. Plowing or sanding requests received from citizens are written up for completion by snow removal crews and completed within 72 hours +after the end of the storm, except during extremely heavy snowfalls and when this time is increased. + +CURRENT SERVICE EVALUATION: + +1. Met. + +2. Met and exceeded. + +3. Met. Plowing starts at 2". Priority 1 and 2 streets are cleared within 48 hours after the end of a storm. + +4. Not met. Non-priority residential streets are currently not plowed except in storms of over 18-24''. + +5. Met. + +PROGRAM OBJECTIVES FOR THE COMING YEAR: + +1. Meet service standard #4 to plow all residential streets when snow depth reaches 6 inches, at an annual cost of about $38,000 and +$28,000 in initial start up costs. + +2. Computerize record keeping. + +3. Replace worn out sanders and plows in kind. + +STATISTICS 1983 1984 1985 1SS6 1987 1988 1989 +Estimated Estimated + +Number of deployments 24 19 21 17 19 15 15 +Tons of sand/salt used 7905 3816 8493 4186 11,542 5,000 5,000 +Inches of snow 151 118 76 78 107 75 75 +Number of complaints 2385 249 528 583 1,648 500 500 +Man hours 13,836 7178 10,363 7053 13,900 8,000 8,000 + +FIGURE 5.4 continued + +Following the summary page, there are two pages detailing public works activities in +the area of snow and ice removal (line 9 of the summary page). Information is provided +about performance standards, current services, and program objectives. Although +the 1989 budget assumes a relatively flat revenue projection, several new budget initia +tives are included, one of which is removal of snow from all residential streets when +snow depth reaches six inches. (Note the increase in start-up and annual costs this item +involves.) + + + +200 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +DEPARTMENT: Public Works PROGRAM: SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL + +PROGRAM EXPENDITURE SUMMARY: +1987 1988 1989 + +ACTUAL ESTIMATED BUDGET + +PERSONNEL $ 133,491 $ 119,727 $ 136,709 +SUPPLIES 103,970 50,298 52,298 +SERVICES 153,904 113,297 167,310 +CAPITAL OUTLAY 26J3S3 53.500 + +TOTAL $ 417,428 $ 283,322 $ 409,817 + +PROGRAM FUND SOURCES: + +GENERAL FUND $ 417,428 $ 283,322 $ 409,817 + +PERSONNEL ASSIGNED: + +Maintenance Operations Manager .10 _ .10 +Maintenance Supervisor .40 .30 .30 +Maintenance Crew Leader .40 .40 .40 +Clerk III .25 .25 .25 +Maintenance Specialist III .50 .50 .50 +Maintenance Specialist II 1.00 1.00 1.00 +Maintenance Specialist 1 .70 .60 .60 +Maintenance Worker II .80 .70 .70 + +TOTAL 4.15 3.75 3.85 + +Part Time 3,652 hr. + +GENERAL COMMENTS: + +The Snow and Ice Control Program has two shifts that are on rotation for 12 hours. There are ten priority #1 routes consisting of 247 lane +miles and 6 zones of priority #2 routes with 265 lane miles. + +In 1989 smaller units throughout various City Departments will be equipped with plows and used to clear residential streets when snow depth +reaches 6 inches. Existing City employees will be utilitzed to operate the plow units. + +FIGURE 5.4 continued + +Analyze these budget pages from the perspective of (1) a city council member who +will have to make decisions about which city services to fund; (2) the public works +department director who wants to improve services to the community; and (3) an aver +age citizen interested in seeing whether the citys tax dollars are being put to good use. +For the purposes of each viewpoint, how complete and clear is the information? Does +the budget tell you what you want to know in order to act? Does it present a convinc +ing case for the initiative it contains? How might the budget presentation be improved? + +3. Consider the following case: +You are Mike Smith, chief procurement officer for a major university. Work gener + +ated by your staff of twenty procurement specialists includes writing proposals to +vendors and evaluating the vendors bids. To write those bids, the procurement spe +cialist works with someone from the university agency who is knowledgeable about +the project. Tom Drake, a procurement specialist, is currently working with Kathy + + + +Cases and Exercises zoi + +Kline of the Communications Department to develop a bid proposal to purchase a +new campuswide telephone system that includes a quick-dial feature. The universitys +current telephone system was installed fifteen years ago by Regional Telephone, and +over the last few years Regional and one other vendor have sold add-on equipment +to five of the universitys fifteen departments. This add-on equipment is expensive +and represents a major investment to the five departments, one of which is the +Communications Department. Departments that have the quick-dial equipment are +pleased with the results; departments that do not have quick-dial cannot afford it +and are unhappy with Regional. + +Tom has updated you on the status of the proposal. The Communications +Department has insisted throughout the proposal process that the new phone system +must be capable of using the existing quick-dial equipment. Tom tells you that if that is +the case, only Regional and two or three other vendors would be able to bid on the +system. Six other vendors with their own quick-dial equipment would not be able to +respond to the bid. Tom explains that in some cases, a whole new system was less +expensive than hooking up one of Regionals systems to existing quick-dial equipment. +Tom also tells you he has heard that several staff members from the Communications +Department have threatened to quit if the bid goes to a company other than Regional. +After fifteen years, they feel Regional is the best and only qualified vendor. Tom wants +to know how he should proceed to satisfy both the universitys needs and the vendors +rights to a fair bidding process. + +SOURCE: The preceding case was provided by Bill Carney. + +a. How should Tom proceed to ensure that all bidders have an equal chance to partici +pate in the bid process? + +b. How can the procurement office avoid the practice of vendors helping buyers to write +a bid proposal? + +c. What about Toms responsibility to taxpayers? (Several thousands of dollars would be +wasted if the quick-dial equipment already purchased was scrapped.) + +4. The following is an exercise in zero-base budgeting: +As superintendent of the Highway Patrol, you have been advised by your depart + +ment head that only $13,950,000 will be available the next fiscal year for expenditure +by the Highway Patrol. You have four decision units that could each achieve several +performance levels with different funding levels. Rank your decision packages in +order of decreasing benefit. + +5. The following simulation reenacts a series of budget discussions held at the +University of Southern Anonymous (USA) during a time of significant budget reduc +tions. To conduct the simulation, divide the class into five groups, each of which will +represent one character in the simulation. All students in the class should read the +following general description of the situation facing USA. Then members of each +group should read only the character description assigned to their group. (It is im +portant that you read only the description assigned to you.) The role descriptions of +the following characters can be found after the general description of the situation in +the following pages. + + + +20 2 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +Function: Enforcement Activities, Highway Patrol + +Decision Units + +A. Traffic patrol + +B. Criminal investigations + +C. Checking of trucks + +D. Citizen education + +Decision Cost per +Packages Increments Increment + +A-l 1,000,000 miles $8,000,000 +A-2 500,000 miles 4,000,000 +A-3 500,000 miles 4,000,000 +B-l 3,000 investigations 600,000 +B-2 1,000 investigations 200,000 +B-3 1,000 investigations 200,000 +C-l 10,000 truck checks 500,000 +C-2 5,000 truck checks 250,000 +C-3 5,000 truck checks 250,000 +D-l 500 seminars 100,000 +D-2 250 seminars 50,000 +D-3 250 seminars 50,000 + +SOURCE: The preceding case was provided by Stanley Botner of the University of Missouri at Columbia. + +Vice President Cooper + +Dean Berryderry, College of Liberal Arts + +Dean Stevens, Dean of Science + +Dean Dudley, Dean of Education + +Dean Dollar, Dean of Business + +After everyone has had a chance to read the general description of the situation +and the specific information pertaining to their character, each character group should +meet separately for fifteen to twenty minutes. During this period, the group should +(1) select a representative to play the character at a meeting to be held in Vice +President Coopers office, and (2) develop detailed strategies and information for that +person to use in representing your groups interests in the meeting. + +Following the individual group meetings, the five individuals selected to play the five +characters should meet around a table near the middle of the room. Vice President +Cooper will call the meeting to order, present any opening remarks he or she wishes to +make, then preside over the remainder of the discussion. All other students should +remain quiet during this part of the simulation. During the course of the meeting, any + + + +Cases and Exercises 203 + +member may request a recess to consult with his or her group (for no longer than five +minutes). When the meeting in Vice President Coopers office reconvenes, the person +who called the recess will have the floor. The meeting should continue until a consensus +is reached concerning the reductions or until Vice President Cooper feels the meeting is +stalled and he or she will have to make a decision independently. Enjoy the discussion! + +General Description of the Situation + +The University of Southern Anonymous (USA) has been informed by the state administra +tion that its budget for the current year will be reduced by several million dollars. The presi +dent of the University, I. M. Fearless, has informed Vice President for Academic Affairs +Cooper that the various colleges in the university will be required to reduce their budgets by +an average of 8 percent. In turn, Vice President Cooper has chosen not to implement across- +the-board cuts of 8 percent for all colleges, but has discussed different target percentage +reductions with each of the deans of the four collegesLiberal Arts, Science, Education, +and Business. In response to a request from several of the deans, Vice President Cooper has +called a meeting of the four deans to get their reactions to his targeted amounts for each +college and to find out how each college plans to implement the required reduction. + +By way of background, USA is a medium-sized Midwestern university with the mis +sion of providing students with a broad-based liberal arts education as well as limited +graduate programs, primarily in business and education. The school serves a regional +constituency in the southern part of the state, though it draws students from around the +country, many of whom first heard of USA because of its reputation as a leader in inter +collegiate billiards. (In fact, some cynics refer to USA as Cue U.) + +Though the university has traditionally enjoyed a good relationship with the governor +and members of the legislature, President Fearless has antagonized many in the state cap +ital with his rough and abrasive manner. Similarly, many on campus see the president as +bringing the university the same administrative style he employed as a colonel in the +Marine Corps. Despite these difficulties, most academic programs at the university are +considered sound, with some exceptions. Similarly, many feel some programs are not +suited to the mission of a regional Midwestern university, notably the schools long +standing program in oceanography, which some feel is out of place because the univer +sity is seven hundred miles from the nearest ocean. + +Character Descriptions + +Vice President Cooper + +In your five years as vice president at USA, you have never faced such a difficult situa +tion. You recognize that the universitys president is in some political trouble and may be +asked to resign soon. As a ploy to reduce the heat on his office, he has passed on the +largest part of the budgetary reductions to you. If you can come through this situation in +good shape, you will receive considerable notoriety and be a likely candidate for the + + + +204 Chapter 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +presidency should the president be forced to resign; You will, however, need to be sure +that you maintain the support of all the deans of the colleges, for their support is essen +tial for your promotion. On the other hand, a major disruption at the university, in +which you might lose support of the deans, would end any chances of your attaining +your ambition. In fact, you might be fired along with the president! + +Given the instructions from the president, there seems to be little you can do other than +to assign reductions to the colleges. After reviewing the various programs within the col +leges, however, you have decided that across-the-board cuts would be inappropriate and +that some colleges could indeed stand to be cut more than others. You have, therefore, +assigned differential reductions to each college, with Education receiving the greatest +reduction (20 percent), Liberal Arts receiving the second-greatest reduction (10 percent), +Science next (7 percent), and Business last (2 percent). You have chosen these figures based +on your assessment of the quality of programs, the quantity of students (faculty/student +ratios), the nature of the programs, and their suitability to the mission of your university. + +The total reductions you have assigned to the deans exceeds the total the president +has required you to complete. Your reasons for this strategy are twofold: (1) if any of the +deans complain too loudly, you can fall back to the figure you actually need as a com +promise, and (2) if you persuade all the deans to accept the assigned reduction, then you +will have some money available for internal reallocations, which you would like to +achieve anyway. + +For the most part, you are willing to let the various deans assign reductions within +their colleges as they see fit, so long as each seems to be doing a thorough job in the +assignment. Later, if there is money available, you can make other needed reallocations +to add needed new programs or strengthen others. + +However, you are personally interested in a couple of particular areas. First, your +favorite uncle chairs the oceanography program. Second, your own degree is in higher +education administration, and you have enjoyed periodic classroom visits to that +department. Third, the governor has expressed a strong interest in the integrity of the +public administration program. + +Dean Berryderry + +College of Liberal Arts (target reduction10 percent). You approach the meeting with +the vice president with some trepidation, for you realize that your college is likely to be +high on the list of cuts. You would prefer across-the-board cuts that would not place a +special burden on your college. Several of your programs, however, are of minimal qual +ity and simply have not been attracting students over the years. For example, your pro +gram in German has graduated an average of two majors per year over the past several +years, while having a faculty of three. Several other programs, such as anthropology and +geography, are showing similar results. These programs, however, are important to a +broad-based liberal arts education. You feel that students should at least have the oppor +tunity to enroll in such programs if they see fit. + +On the other hand, there are some programs currently housed in your college you +would just as soon see ended. For example, the graduate program in public adminis +tration is a professional program that you feel is inconsistent with the liberal arts + + + +Cases and Exercises 20 j + +perspective of the college. The total faculty salaries in this department would just +about equal the total by which you need to reduce your budget. This is an obvious +area to eliminate. + +Next, it has occurred to you that your staff of professional advisors could be elimi +nated and all academic advising performed by members of your faculty. This could be +accomplished with no faculty or program reductions. + +You feel a natural alliance with the College of Science and would prefer to see reduc +tions occur in either Education or Business rather than in Liberal Arts or Science. +However, Dean Stevens of the College of Science has always been somewhat antagonistic +toward you, perhaps because of your critical remarks about the oceanography program, +which you think should be eliminated. + +Finally, several personal considerations enter into your thinking. First, if the vice pres +ident were to become president, you would probably be the leading candidate for the +vice presidency. You would find that very attractive. Second, though you dont want to +appear to favor any department, your home department, the Department of Political +Science, is putting strong pressure on you to support expansion of the program. Across- +the-board cuts within your college would make that impossible. Third, a member of +your faculty was recently offended by sexual advances from the dean of the School of +Business, Dean Dollar. + +Dean Stevens + +Dean of the College of Science (target reduction 7 percent). You have conducted a +thorough analysis of the possibilities for reduction within your college. You feel that by +eliminating one visiting professorship, four graduate teaching assistantship positions, +and two staff positions, you will be able to accommodate the reductions. You are quite +aware, however, that others see your Department of Oceanography as a primary target +for elimination. This is, however, one of your oldest and strongest programs, certainly +one of the leading oceanography programs in the Midwest. You want to protect the pro +gram as it is; however, even if you are required to reduce that program, you wish to +do so only by eliminating several faculty positions rather than the entire department. +You also feel this program will be protected because the chair of that department is the +vice presidents uncle. + +Several other personal considerations affect your thinking. First, you feel that the +entire College of Education could be eliminated with no real loss to the university. Other +programs within the state clearly produce enough graduates in that field. Eliminating the +entire college would mean no reductions would be needed in any other college. Second, +you think Dean Berryderry is an idiot. You were especially incensed by Berryderrys com +ments about oceanography. If Berryderry cant run his own college, why try to run +yours? Third, one of your faculty members recently was offended by sexual advances +from the dean of the School of Business, Dean Dollar. + +Dean Dudley + +Dean of the College of Education (target reduction 20 percent). You know you are in +trouble! Over the past several years, enrollments have been dropping in Education to the + + + +2 o6 CHAPTER 5 Budgeting and Financial Management + +point that you are considerably overstaffed. At the same time,' other programs in the +state have developed and now have better reputations. This is especially true for your +Department of Higher Education Administration. The main campus of the university +boasts one of the countrys leading programs in this area. Your best hope is to argue for +across-the-board cuts that would affect all colleges equally. Your suspicion is that the +College of Business will receive the lowest reduction and the College of Liberal Arts and +the College of Science will be somewhere above. One of them would probably benefit +from across-the-board cuts as opposed to targeted reductions; the other would probably +losebut you do not know which one. + +In addition, several personal considerations guide your thinking. First, nearly all the +athletes who are part of the schools winning billiards program are students in your +college. You doubt if they could pass their coursework elsewhere. Second, the chair of +the Department of Higher Education Administration has been one of your strongest +critics over the years, and eliminating that department would eliminate one of your +biggest problems. Third, a member of your faculty was recently offended by sexual +advances from the dean of the School of Business, Dean Dollar. + +Dean Dollar + +Dean of the School of Business (target reduction2 percent). Though you realize that +your college will have to take a token reduction, you are certain that your reduction is far +less than that required from other schools. Consequently, you are highly supportive of the +vice presidents selective reduction and opposed to across-the-board cuts. Your college has +grown by leaps and bounds in the past several years, and you are in desperate need of +more faculty, not less. At the same time, salaries have increased dramatically in your field, +and retention of capable faculty is a problem. You can probably accommodate the reduc +tions assigned to you through minimal staff changes and will not have to fire faculty. + +You see all this as a possibility for considerable reorganization of programs. One pro +gram that you would particularly be interested in bringing into the college is that in public +administration. This program is viewed with great favor by the governor and, conse +quently, by those higher in the universitys administration. Moreover, the program would +seem to be consistent with the interest of your college in management. You wonder if per +haps somewhere in all of this redistribution of money you might be able to acquire a new +program. If you can discredit Dean Berryderrys interest in public administration and +champion that field, you should stand a good chance of receiving support from the higher +administration. All in all, you see this process as opening the possibility of adding to your +college rather than reducing it. This result, however, depends on selective reductions rather +than across-the-board cuts and upon reallocations beyond the amount required for the +presidents stated budget reduction. + +You also have several personal concerns. First, you think both the College of +Education and the Department of Oceanography (in the College of Science) could +be eliminated outright . . . and you could use the money. Second, you have heard that +the chair of the Department of Oceanography is the vice presidents cousin. Third, you +have just met a very attractive person who is an advisor in the College of Liberal Arts. +You think you are falling in love, again! + + + +For Additional Reading 207 + +Do Not Read This Paragraph Until After the Simulation + +Following the simulation, the entire class should discuss each groups strategies and tac +tics. Sometimes it is helpful to ask first what others thought each dean was trying to do, +then ask that group to describe its strategy. Pay particular attention to strategies of coop +eration and competition, as well as to strategies that have little to do with actual budget +reductions. (For example, shifting a program from one location to another does not save +the university any money.) Note also the inevitable lack of information, as well as the +roles of rumor and false impressions in the budget process. Both these features are more +typical of budget decisions than you might imagine! Finally, just for fun, have Dean +Berryderry read the last line of his or her description; then have Dean Stevens do the +same; then Dean Dudley; then Dean Dollar. + +For Additional Reading + +Axelrod, Donald. Budgeting for Modern Government. New York: St. Martins Press, +1988. + +Briffault, Richard. Balancing Acts. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1996. +Clynch, Edward J., and Thomas P. Lauth, eds. Governors, Legislatures, and Budgets: + +Diversity across the American States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1991. +Frank, Howard A. Forecasting in Local Government: Near Tools and Techniques. + +New York: Quorum Books, 1993. +Garner, C. William. Accounting and Budgeting in Public and Non-Profit Organizations: + +A Managers Guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991. +Gross, Malvern, and Richard Larkin, eds. Financial and Accounting Guide for + +Non-Profit Organizations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999. +Gosling, James J. Budgeting Politics in American Governments. White Plains, NY: + +Longman Publishing Group, 1992. +Jones, Vernon Dale. Downsizing the Federal Government. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, + +1997. +Kettl, Donald F., and John Dilulio, Jr. Cutting Government. Washington: Brookings + +Institution, 1995. +Light, Paul. Thickening Government. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1995. +Maddox, David. Budgeting for Not-for-Profit Organizations. New York: John Wiley & + +Sons, 1999. +Mikesell, John L. Fiscal Administration. 2d ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1986. +Miller, Gerald J. Government Financial Management Theory. New York: Marcel + +Dekker 1991. +Reed, B. J., and John Swain. Public Finance Administration. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: + +Prentice Hall, 1990. +Reischauer, Robert D. Setting National Priorities. Washington: Brookings Institution, + +1997. + + + +io8 Chapters Budgeting and Financial Management + +Rubin, Irene S., ed. New Directions in Budget Tbeofy. Albany: State University of +New York Press, 1988. + +Rubin, Irene S. The Politics of Public Budgeting. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1990. +Scott, David, John D. Martin, and Arthur J. Keown. Basic Financial Management. + +Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999. +Shick, Allen. The Federal Budget. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1995. +Wildavsky, Aaron, and Naomi Caiden. The New Politics of the Budgetary Process. 3d + +ed. New York: Longman, 1997. + + + +Chapter 6 + +The Management of Human Resources + +Nothing is more critical for an administrator than to effectively manage the people who +work in his or her organization. Yet the hiring and treatment of public employees often +seem so bound up in rules, regulations, and red tape that effective management is +extremely difficult. Many managers feel that civil service systems (and central personnel +offices), originally designed to attract and retain competent personnel, exist merely to +complicate the managers life and make it more difficult to manage. Instead of simply +hiring someone for a job, the manager must advise an applicant to take a competitive +examination and join many other candidates on a register for the position (some of +whom may be given special preferences in the hiring process) and then to wait until all +the paperwork clears. After someone has been hired, the manager finds there are limits +to the rewards and punishments that can be offered to encourage improved job perfor +mance; and, should the person fail to perform adequately, the paperwork and justifica +tions required to terminate his or her employment seem endless. You may wonder how +anything else gets done! + +But there are good reasons for the way human resources or personnel management in +government has developed. Even though it is true that some civil service systems have +become overly rigid, even fossilized, most of the requirements relating to government +employment are deeply rooted in important political and ethical principles. So an under +standing of how government personnel systems operate not only includes knowledge of +personnel techniques, but also a sensitivity to the values that underlie human resources +management in public organizations. + +Networking + +For general information on personnel issues, see the International Personnel +Management Association at http://www.ipma-hr.org. For jobs and recruiting, see +the following: http://www.aspanet.org/careers/index.html; http://www.fedworld. +gov; http://www.usajobs.opm.gov; http://www.careersingovernment.com; and +http://www.govtjobs.com. + +Nowhere is the contest between the competing values of efficiency and responsiveness +played out more clearly than in the area of human resources or personnel. On the one +hand, it is obvious that staffing government agencies with the most competent people +available is essential to effective management. On the other hand, it is equally clear that + +209 + + + +210 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +those who staff the offices of government should be- responsive 'to the citizenry. In any +case, the human resources or personnel system for any public organization ultimately +reflects the political priorities of the particular public involved. In some cases or in some +periods, managerial concern for efficiency may receive preference; in others, the demo +cratic concern for responsiveness may be uppermost. + +Merit Systems in Public Employment + +Because the Constitution made little mention of either administrative structures of +government or how they would be staffed, early leaders at the federal, state, and local +levels experimented with many different approaches to hiring, treatment of employees, +and firing. In the late 1800s, however, growing concern about the composition of the +civil service led to a new focus on competence and professionalism and, in turn, to leg +islation establishing the merit principle in public employment. The merit principle, +though widely varied in its application, generally means that selection and treatment of +government employees should be based on merit or competence rather than on personal +or political favoritism. Despite the apparent simplicity and appeal of this notion, the +development of public personnel systems has been infused with controversy. + +Spoils versus Merit + +Most of the early American presidents followed George Washingtons lead in seeking +persons of high competence and integritywhat he called fitness of characterto hold +governmental positions. This approach resulted in a stable and fairly skilled government +workforce, but is not without several problems. Because there were few well-educated +persons in society and because those with education tended to be from the wealthier +classes, the newly formed civil service soon took on a somewhat elitist character. +Moreover, partisan considerations began to enter into the process as well. Presidents and +members of Congress began to recognize not only that government employees needed to +be loyal to the new government (and presumably the party in power) but also that public +offices (and salaries) could be rewards to the party faithful. Finally, there was the question +of tenureshould civil servants hold office for life, thus providing experience and conti +nuity, or should they change with each administration, providing loyalty (and jobs) to the +incoming party? + +All these concerns were dramatically illustrated in the administration of Andrew +Jackson. Jackson was swept into office on a strong wave of democratic sentiment and +was especially concerned with making government more accessible to those previously +excluded, that is, the common people. Though Jackson was not the first to employ the +spoils system (the notion that to the victor belongs the spoilsin this case, the ability +to give government jobs to the party faithful), his administration was notable for its +expansion of the system and for his elaborate justification of it. Jackson not only argued + + + +Merit Systems in Public Employment in + +that the common people had as much right to government jobs as the wealthy, but that +most government jobs could be done without special training. + +Jackson is sometimes portrayed as something of a villain for his defense of the spoils +system, though far greater abuses occurred later at all levels of government. At the same +time, however, Jackson made several rather positive contributions to democratic govern +ment; for example, there is no question that he democratized the civil service of his era and +set a tone for greater representativeness within government agencies for decades to come. + +Even Jackson could not have foreseen the corruption and abuse that would soon +become associated with the spoils system (see Box 6.1). Succeeding presidents went far +beyond Jackson in applying the system, as did political bosses at the state and local +levels. The quality of the civil service rapidly declined, and even those who found jobs in +government became disenchanted with the financial contributions exacted from them +each election year. The system also became a problem for each new president, as thou +sands of office-seekers came to press their claims for patronage positions, and presidents +soon grew weary of the long lines of people seeking jobs. + +These factors began to set the stage for reform, but even more important in eventu +ally bringing about change was the increasing corruption in government. There were + +BOX 6.1 + +The Early Spoils System + +By the late 1800s, the spoils system was firmly a part of political life in most jurisdic +tions. One aspect of the system was collecting funds from appointees to help sustain +the party in power. Although such practices persisted in some jurisdictions well into +the 1950s and even 1960s, they were hardly as blatant as the tribute requested in the +letter from a state party committee in 1870. + +Dear Sir: +(We) have great and imperative need of funds at once, to carry the campaign to +successful issue. An assessment of one percent on the annual gross receipts of your +office is therefore called for, and you will please inclose that amount, without delay, +to the treasurer, E. S. Rowse, in the envelope inclosed. This assessment is made after +conference with our friends at Washington, where it is confidently expected that +those who receive the benefits of Federal appointments will support the machinery +that sustains the party which gives them pecuniary benefit and honor. The exigen +cies are great, and delay or neglect will rightly be construed into unfriendliness to +the Administration. We do not look for such a record from you, and you will at +once see the propriety and wisdom of the earliest attention to the matter. + +Isaac Sheppard + +Chairman of Committee + +SOURCE: Reprinted with the permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from +The Republican Era: 1869-1901, A Study in Administrative History by Leonard D. White. Copyright + 1958 by The Macmillan Company. + + + +Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +kickbacks from contractors, private sales of surplus public property, skimming of tax +receipts, and many other abuses. Corruption was becoming a normal way of doing +government business. + +The various ills that grew from the spoils system eventually led to a strong and active +reform movement, spearheaded by such groups as the National Civil Service Reform +League. The reformers made both vigorous and eloquent appeals, but their eventual suc +cess was assured more by a historical accident, the assassination of President Garfield, +than by eloquence. Though Garfield had hardly been a proponent of civil service reform +and had indeed drawn criticism from the reform groups for his failure to support +a reform bill, the fact that he was killed by a disappointed office-seeker made him a mar +tyr for the reform cause. + +A man named Charles Guiteau had hoped to be consul to Paris. After weeks of mak +ing his case and after repeatedly being turned away from Garfields office, he followed +Garfield into a train station and shot him twice in the back. As he did so, he shouted +that now Chester Arthur, a noted advocate of the spoils system, would be president. +The reformers capitalized on this comment, portraying the situation as the obvious result +of the evil spoils system and, in a sudden change of heart (and reality), they described +Garfield as a proponent of reform. After two more years of pressure, the Republican +Congress finally acknowledged the rising sentiment for reform and passed the Pendleton +Act, which was signed into law in January 1883. + +The Pendleton Act is one of two landmark pieces of legislation in federal personnel +administration (the other being the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978). The Pendleton +Act was primarily an effort to eliminate political influence from administrative agencies +and, secondarily, an effort to assure more competent government employees. It pursued +these aims through the following major provisions: + +1. A bipartisan commission, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, was created within +the executive branch to establish and implement personnel rules and procedures for the +federal government. +2. Open and competitive examinations to test job-related skills were developed wherever +practical within the agencies covered by the law and were to become the primary basis +upon which to make hiring decisions. +3. Employees were given protection against political pressures, such as assessments +(mandatory contributions) or required participation in campaign activities. +4. Lateral entry into government positions (that is, entry at any level as opposed to entry +only at the beginning level) was encouraged, thus maintaining an important element of +Jacksonian openness. +5. Positions in Washington offices were to be apportioned among the various states, in +an effort to provide geographical representation in the civil service. +6. The president was given the authority to extend coverage to other groups of government +employees beyond the approximately 10 percent of federal employees covered by the act. + +These provisions, especially the last, provided the basis for the gradual extension of +the idea of a merit system throughout most of the federal government as well as state +and local governments. A respected writer on public personnel provides the following + + + +Merit Systems in Public Employment 213 + +definition of the civil service system that emerged: Throughout its history, the civil +service idea has rested on three basic principles: (1) that the selection of subordinate +government officials should be based on meritthe ability to perform the work rather +than any form of personal or political favoritism; (2) that since jobs are to be filled by +weighing the merits of applicants, those hired should have tenure regardless of political +changes at the top of organizations; and (3) that the price of job security should be a +willing responsiveness to the legitimate political leaders of the day (Helco, 1977, p. 20). +The concept of merit is so central to the American approach to public personnel admin +istration that the terms merit system and civil service system have become almost +synonymous. + +The Pendleton Act, although it was important in establishing the notion of a merit +system of public employment, merely provided a framework within which a more full +blown system might develop. Unfortunately, the development of the system was not well +coordinated. Although the merit system was gradually extended to more and more gov +ernment employees, the values of the system were not always the primary motivation for +extension. For example, one unlikely set of agents for the extension of personnel reforms +turned out to be out-going presidents, many of whom sought to blanket in those they +had appointed to patronage positions by making their positions subject to the merit sys +tem. In this way, merit coverage was extended from its original 10 percent of all federal +employees in 1883 to approximately 70 percent by the end of World War I and some +90 percent today. + +Other changes in the system also occurred slowly. The Pendleton Act contained provi +sions for examinations, but other devices for improving the quality of the workforce, such +as position classification, standard pay schedules, and objective performance appraisals, +had not yet been developed. Over the next decades, however, these ideas too became +a part of the federal system of civil service. The Classification Act of 1923, for example, +established a system for classifying jobs according to qualifications needed to carry +them out and tying them to various pay grades, thus providing uniformity throughout +the system. + +Changes were also required to respond to a newly professionalized workforce and +a larger and more activist government. In the early days, the main jobs in government were +essentially clerkships, but as government grew and entered new fields, there was a need for +more professional and more highly specialized people. Similarly, especially through the +Roosevelt years, a multitude of new agencies were created, each placing different demands +on the personnel system. Prior to this time, the Civil Service Commission had assumed the +role of the governments central personnel agency; now it was necessary to decentralize +personnel responsibilities to the various agencies, with the commission setting regulations +and monitoring implementation. + +In any case, the merit system has now become firmly established at the federal level. +Nine out of ten federal employees are covered by either the general merit system or by +one of several special systems created by law to pursue merit principles within specific +agencies the Postal Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Foreign Service, +and so on. The remaining positions are exempt because they are not amenable to com +petitive selection or to regular personnel procedures; they include seasonal workers, +those in intelligence, and a limited number of policy-making/confidential positions. + + + +214 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +Any incoming president now has only about 2,400 -positions to' fill on a purely politi +cal basis a number that many think is still too high. + +Many questions have been raised in recent years about whether there are too many +political appointees in the federal government or, in other words, whether the federal +bureaucracy has become too highly politicized. This concern has been intensified as the +growth in numbers of political appointees was accompanied by increasing centralization +of the appointment process in the White House. At present, nearly all the several thou +sand political appointments that occur at the federal levelexecutives, as well as mem +bers of boards and commissions, ambassadorships, and judgeshipsare cleared through +the White House personnel office. + +The Civil Service Reform Act and Its Aftermath + +For nearly one hundred years, the Pendleton Act provided the primary statutory basis +for federal civil service. That changed with the passage and implementation of the Civil +Service Reform Act of 1978. During the 1960s and 1970s, it became increasingly clear +that there were serious problems in the federal personnel management system. The prob +lems were in large part a result of the fairly haphazard pattern through which the system +had been established. Responsibilities for various aspects of personnel management were +spread among the president, the Congress, the courts, the Civil Service Commission, and +the various agencies; but there was often disagreement on the basic principles that +should guide the development of the system. + +Even within the Civil Service Commission itself, there was confusion about the direction +of personnel policy. On the one hand, the commission existed to execute the presidents +personnel directives; on the other hand, it was also responsible for protecting employees +from political abuse. At times, the two objectives came into conflict. As a result, the num +bers of federal personnel rules and regulations were not only excessive, they often directly +conflicted with one another. + +President Carter made reform of the personnel system one of the central themes of his +administration and targeted at least five problem areas. + +1. Technical overkill: Critics charged that those in charge of the personnel function had, in +their drive to achieve political neutrality, created overly detailed regulations for recruiting, +testing, selecting, classifying, and releasing employees. In many cases, these technical rules +became a maze that prevented rather than aided action, and sorting through the proce +dures to replace a key manager could take as long as two years. Firing one $8,000-per-year +Commerce Department employee who consistently failed to show up for work without +valid reasons took twenty-one months! +2. Excessive protection of employees: Similarly, many felt that the drive to achieve +political neutrality created excessive protections for employees. Although these protec +tions were initiated for the best of reasons so that employees would not be unduly or +arbitrarily punished or dismissed they sometimes resulted in incredible outcomes, +such as an award of almost $5,000 in back pay to a postal employee who had been +fired for shooting a coworker in the stomach! On the other hand, protections were + + + +Merit Systems in Public Employment 215 + +needed in other areas; for example, employees who pointed out cases of waste, fraud, +and abuse in public agencies whistle blowerswere often subjected to harassment +or even dismissal. +3. Lack of management flexibility: Managers, especially political appointees, claimed that +civil service regulations were so inflexible that they could not manage effectively. In an +effort to counter this tendency, one official in the Nixon administration prepared a docu +ment suggesting 130 ways that managers could subvert the intent of the merit system and +do what they wanted to do. One entry described how to get rid of someone who does not +enjoy traveling: [He] is given extensive travel orders crisscrossing the country to towns +(hopefully with the worst accommodations possible) of a population of 20,000 or under. +Until his wife threatens him with divorce, unless he quits, you have him out of town and +out of the way. When he finally asks for relief you tearfully reiterate the importance of the +project and state that he must continue to obey travel orders or resign. +4. Inadequate incentives to eliminate inefficiencies: It was also charged that a system that +seemed to grant raises according to longevity rather than performance and that made raises +and promotion appear almost automatic encouraged inefficiency. Over 99 percent of the +nearly three million federal employees regularly received satisfactory performance ratings +that entitled them to raises. Alan Campbell a leading advocate of reform, wrote: The cur +rent system provides few incentives for managers to manage or for employees to perform. +5. Discrimination: Manynotably women and minorities felt the federal personnel +system was not adequately promoting their representation within the bureaucratic ranks. +They wanted to make sure that any new system would be more attentive to their interests +and better able to cope with the increasing number of complaints in this area. + +The Civil Service Reform Act was proposed to restore the merit principle to a system +which has grown into a bureaucratic maze (Carter, 1978). (See Box 6.2.) The act sought +to deal with the often contradictory roles of the Civil Service Commission by creating a +new office of Personnel Management responsible for policy leadership and a Merit +Systems Protection Board to handle investigations and appeals. OPM is the Presidents +principal agent for managing the federal workforce; it has responsibility for human +resource management and enforcement of personnel regulations (Campbell, 1978, +p. 100). The Merit System Protection Board, on the other hand, is the watchdog of the +personnel system, hearing and resolving complaints, as well as protecting whistle blowers +from reprisals. The previously conflicting responsibilities of the Civil Service Commission +were split between the two new agencies. + +Beyond establishing the two new agencies, perhaps the most striking feature of the Civil +Service Reform Act was the creation of the Senior Executive Service (SES). Following ideas +that had been discussed for nearly forty years and specifically proposed but not adopted in +the Nixon years, the SES created a separate personnel system for the highest-ranking civil +service officials, permitting greater flexibility in assignments and establishing a new system +of incentives for top-level managers. Basically, eligible managers would apply for positions +in the SES and, if accepted, would hold SES rank as individuals, rather than being limited +to the rank of a particular position. This meant that, within certain limitations, SES man +agers could be moved from agency to agency depending on their talents and the needs of +the agencies. A new system of performance evaluations and pay increases closely tied to + + + +2i 6 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +BOX 6.2 _ ... tm-it-t_-_ .. + +Reinventing Human Resource Management + +1. Create a flexible and responsive hiring system. +Authorize agencies to establish their own recruitment and examining pro + +grams. Abolish centralized registers and standard application forms. Allow +federal departments and agencies to determine that recruitment shortages exist +and directly hire candidates without ranking. Reduce the types of competitive +service appointments to three. Abolish the time-in-grade requirement. + +2. Reform the general schedule classification and basic pay scheme. +Remove all grade-level classification criteria from the law. Provide agencies + +with flexibility to establish broadbanding systems built upon the General +Schedule framework. + +3. Authorize agencies to develop programs for improvement of individual and +organization performance. + +Authorize agencies to design their own performance management programs +which define and measure success based on each agencys unique needs. + +4. Authorize agencies to develop incentive award and bonus systems to improve +individual and organization performance. + +Authorize agencies to develop their own incentive award and bonus systems. +Encourage agencies to establish productivity gainsharing programs to support +their reinvention and change efforts. + +5. Strengthen systems to support management in dealing with poor performers. +Develop a culture of performance which provides supervisors with the skills, + +knowledge, and support they need to deal with poor performers, and holds +supervisors accountable for effectively managing their human resources. +Reduce by half the time needed to terminate federal employees for cause. + +SOURCE: From From Red Tape to Results by A1 Gore, copyright 1993 by A1 Gore. Used by permission +of Times Books, a division of Random House, Inc. + +performance was also developed, along with an elaborate system of bonuses for excep +tional executives. A 1991 deal involving pay plans and performance measures required +SES members to be recertified every three years. + +Networking + +The Office of Personnel Management is located at http://www.opm.gov/. + +In addition to these major features, the Civil Service Reform Act made several other +changes: giving agencies greater flexibility to administer their own personnel systems, + + + +Merit Systems in Public Employment 217 + +establishing a new and more sophisticated performance appraisal system, creating +a merit pay system for managers just below the SES range, providing protection for +whistle blowers, assigning the federal Equal Employment Opportunity program (previ +ously with the Civil Service Commission) to the Equal Employment Opportunity +Commission, and creating a more independent Federal Labor Relations Authority. + +After more than two decades, the Civil Service Reform Act is still receiving mixed +reviews. The most favorable opinion is that there is little wrong with the act itself, but +that implementation has been flawed by lack of funding and administration pressures +to increase the number of political appointees. Others continue to suggest that the act +was based on questionable assumptions about the nature of the federal workforce and +was doomed from the beginning. In any case, the Civil Service Reform Act represented +the first major change in personnel policy at the federal level since the Pendleton Act. +Its confirmation of the principle of merit, its effort to sort out the multiple responsibili +ties of the personnel system, and its attempt to produce greater managerial flexibility +have been significant. + +Reinvention and the National Performance Review + +During the 1990s, Vice President Gores National Performance Review (NPR), and the +reinventing government movement generally, has had a dramatic impact on personnel sys +tems within the federal government. The goal of NPR was to enhance government produc +tivity by streamlining processes, increasing accountability, and decentralizing authority to +encourage entrepreneurial behavior. Federal administrators searched for innovative ways +of conducting the business of government while cutting costs. An immediate consequence +of NPR was a substantial reduction in the federal workforce. Within two years of NPRs +release, more than 160,000 jobs had been cut and more than 2,000 federal field offices +closed across the country. + +A second consequence of NPR was an overall shift in the culture of federal organiza +tions. Decentralization and the focus on results have instituted a fundamental change in +the way government agencies, and thus personnel systems, work. Public employees are +now held accountable for customer service and productivity. And, they are rewarded +based on their agencys efficiency and performance. (For some of the human resources +recommendations from the National Performance Review, see Box 6.2.) The long-term +impact of the NPR, and the reinventing movement, remains to be seen. Some laud the +approach as a key step in improving public service and restoring the publics trust, while +others suggest that reinvention serves purely as a way of downsizing big government. +At the very least, the reinventing government movement has significantly changed the +systems of management and human resources that underlie public organizations at all +levels (Kellough, 1999). + +Even more recently, and especially after the September 11 attacks, the federal gov +ernment has become aware of the need to maintain its core capabilities and to refocus +its human resources policies to attract people who can perform new types of tasks. +(See Box 6.3.) In part, the concern is that the retirement of many baby boomers at + + + +2i8 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +BOX 6.3 .__J_;_ + +Mass Retirement Could Hinder Anti-Terror War + +WASHINGTON (AP)A wave of retirements set to spread across the federal govern +ment in the next few years could seriously hamper the war on terrorism. Some of the +agencies most crucial in fighting terrorismthe Defense, State and Transportation +departments, and the Federal Emergency Management Agencycould lose up to 45% +of their workers through retirements in the next five years, according to the General +Accounting Office. If we are going to win the war, we have got to have the people, +said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. Hes the ranking member of the House +Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management and has taken a lead role in +trying to draw attention to the human capital crisis. + +Voinovich said the federal government must find ways to keep its best workers +while recruiting new staff with the skills to address new missions. Its the difference, +for example, between having a Defense Department loaded with Russian-speaking +workers when todays war against terrorism requires people who speak Arabic, Farsi +and Pashto. + +Its not just how many, but what kinds, said Frank Cipolla, senior consultant +to the National Academy of Public Administrations Center for Human Resources +Management. + +The terrorist attacks have helped focus attention on the problem, but the looming +shortage was identified long before Sept. 11. + +Last winter, the GAO, the investigative arm on Congress, placed strategic +human capital managementidentifying key jobs and filling them on its list of +federal programs and operations identified as high risk. And last March, former +Defense Secretary James Schlesinger and retired Adm. Harry D. Train told Congress +that national security is on the brink of an unprecedented crisis of competence +in government. + +The maintenance of American power in the world depends on the quality of U.S. +government personnelcivil and militaryat all levels, they said in a statement. +We must take immediate action in the personnel area to ensure that the United +States can meet future challenges. + +SOURCE: From USA Today.com, November 1, 2001. Copyright 2001. Reprinted with permission of The +Associated Press. + +about the same time will place a strain on the capabilities of federal agencies, that will +be particularly intense if the government can not attract new employees to take their +places. Also, it is clear that the government will need people with new and different +skills to fill emerging needs. The General Accounting Office already has suggested +three ways of improving the system: better pay and benefits; more active recruitment +of young people; and reform of antiquated management practices that complicate hir +ing and fail to address needed skill areas. + + + +State and Local Personnel Systems 119 + +State and Local Personnel Systems + +Many of the same problems that led to institution of the federal civil service system in +the late 1800s also existed at the state and local levelsindeed, the problems were often +even more severe. Although the federal government was certainly influenced by politi +cians interested in maintaining power through patronage, it was never so completely +dominated by political bosses and machines as were the states and, especially, the cities. + +Even after the federal government created its civil service system, states and localities +were slow to follow. New York adopted the first state civil service law in 1883, followed +by Massachusetts the next year. It was twenty years, however, before another state +joined these two. By 1935, only twenty states had adopted merit systems. While, today, +nearly all states have relatively sophisticated civil service merit systems, those systems do +not cover everyone. Even today, only about 60 percent of state government employees +are covered by merit systems. + +The story is much the same at the local level: Albany, New York, was the first city to +adopt a civil service system (1884), and a few other cities and counties followed prior +to the turn of the century, but reform came slowly at the local level. Moreover, even +where formal systems were adopted, patronage practices and political manipulation of +the government workforce continued. Chicago and Cook County were among the first +to adopt civil service systems; yet even today, mayoral candidates often run on a plat +form of reducing the power of political machines in Chicago. In any case, today +almost 90 percent of local jurisdictions with populations of over 50,000 have some type +of merit system on the books. + +Over the years, a primary motivator for adopting merit systems at state and local +levels has been the number of federal laws requiring such systems in order for states +and localities to receive federal funds. By 1980, every state and thousands of local gov +ernments had federal grants that required personnel systems that met a set of federal +standards. The result has been that most state agencies receiving large amounts of fed +eral funding are now covered by merit systems; those that receive limited or no federal +funds are much less likely to have a merit system. In addition to these requirements, the +courts have extended due process protections to many public employees and have sup +ported affirmative action and other personnel-related actions that place greater burdens +on state and local governments for detailed testing, classification, and reporting. Many +states have thus found it advisable to establish or to extend merit concepts for their +own protection. + +Though these regulations have been somewhat relaxed in recent years, it seems unlikely +that state and local governments will return to massive use of the spoils system. Indeed, +there is some evidence that governments are pursuing many of the same reforms pursued +at the federal level in the late 1970s, which some charge have led to greater politicization +of the public workforce. For example, states and localities are experimenting with decen +tralization of personnel functions, greater responsiveness of managerial and political +authority, and closer ties between performance appraisals and merit pay. Whether elected +officials at state and local levels will be subject to the same temptation as were those at the + + + +220 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +federal level to employ the new devices in a more politicized approach to public personnel +remains to be seen. + +Hiring, Firing, and Things In-Between + +Most provisions of public personnel systems exist to protect public employees from exces +sive political interference; however, in some cases, they appear to make public personnel +actions unduly complicated. Knowing the rules of the game will be a considerable help in +your administrative work and will also be of help if you are looking for a job in a govern +ment agency. + +Classification Systems + +The key to most public personnel systems is the notion of position classification, the +arrangement of jobs on the basis of duties and responsibilities and the skills required +to perform them. A position classification system usually begins with a set of job +descriptions, each based on a thorough analysis of the work and the required capabili +ties. A job description typically contains the following elements: job title, duties +required, responsibilities associated with the position, and qualifications needed to +carry out the job. A clerk-typist position, for example, might be described as including +duties such as typing reports, maintaining correspondence records, answering tele +phone and walk-in inquiries, arranging for meetings and conferences on behalf of the +supervisor, and other duties as assigned. Qualifications might include such things as a +high school degree or the equivalent, typing speed of forty words per minute, and two +years secretarial experience. + +Typically, sets of jobs that are closely related are then grouped together in classes that +indicate increasing levels of difficultyClerk-Typist I, Clerk-Typist II, Clerk-Typist III, +and so forth. In larger jurisdictions, such as the federal government, various classes may +also be grouped into grade schedules that group jobs of varying levels of difficulty. For +example, the federal General Schedule, which covers clerical and professional positions, +lists within one grade, GS-11, a variety of different occupations. + +Organizations use personnel classification systems for several reasons: to maintain an +objective inventory of positions, to provide equity across similar jobs, to connect tasks +and the skills required to perform them, and to provide standards for judging the work +of specific employees. Historically, such systems developed out of a concern for objectiv +ity and equity consistent with the idea of protecting employees from political abuse. The +Position Classification Act of 1923, for example, required grouping jobs into classes on +the basis of duties and responsibilities and, in language sounding much more contempo +rary, committed the federal government to providing equal compensation for equal +work, irrespective of sex. With this early impetus, most public organizations have +developed rather sophisticated classification systems that are usually more advanced +than their private-sector counterparts. + + + +Hiring, Firing, Things In-Between 221 + +While most people agree that the objective of current classification systemsequal pay +for substantially equal work is basically sound, many have argued that classification +systems have become burdensome, inflexible, and unfair. Specifically, many argue that the +complexity of the system creates excessive requirements that interfere with agency perfor +mance. Consequently, the National Academy of Public Administration has developed an +alternative classification scheme that groups the existing 459 federal job categories into +occupational families based on similarities in career progression, basic skills, recruit +ment training, and performance measurement. Families might include such areas as gen +eral support, office services, technical, engineering, health, or law enforcement. + +Likewise, the National Performance Review (NPR), which we mentioned previously, +identified existing classification systems as a primary target for reinvention. Key recom +mendations of NPR, for example, involved adopting a broader system of classification, +reducing the number of occupational families and using grade and pay banding (Risher, +Fay et al., 1997, p. 38). Proponents of NPR say that the traditional system relies on rigid +job descriptions, which tend to constrict employee performance to a limited set of tasks. +Instead, more flexible parameters should be used that allow for innovation and more +businesslike performance on the part of public employees. Administrators should be +given greater authority to establish classification systems that contribute to each agencys +overall productivity and accountability. + +The Recruitment Process + +Having objective statements of duties, responsibilities, and qualifications makes it possi +ble to recruit personnel based not on who one knows, but on what one knows and what +one can do. Recruitment efforts in the public sector must also be concerned with assur +ing fairness, openness, and representativeness. Typically, the recruitment process involves +the following steps: + +1. Advertising or giving notice of a vacancy to be filled +2. Testing or otherwise screening applicants +3. Preparing a list of qualified candidates +4. Selecting someone to fill the position + +In most jurisdictions, a personnel officer within a particular agency or someone from +a central personnel department is significantly involved in the first three steps. + +Testing or screening processes have been subject to special scrutiny in recent years. +Screening can occur through a review of written applications and recommendations, apti +tude or ability testing, performance examinations, interviews, or assessment centers. Of the +various aptitude or ability tests that public organizations use, some measure general knowl +edge, others measure personality characteristics, and still others measure specific job-related +knowledge or abilities. Performance examinations, such as typing tests, measure specific job +capabilities. + +The method of testing should relate to the job to be filled. Though individual interviews +are a common part of the hiring process, for example, they tend to be poor predictors of + + + +222 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +eventual job performance. Generally speaking, structured interviews, in which a previously +developed set of questions is used with each applicant, and panel interviews involving +more than one interviewer are preferable. Similarly, carefully constructed assessment cen +ters using several independent raters may be used. (An assessment center involves putting +several job applicants through a series of job-related simulations to observe their perfor +mance under nearly real-life conditions.) + +For almost a decade, the primary examination for entry-level administrative and pro +fessional positions in the federal government was the Professional and Administrative +Career Examination (PACE). In 1982, however, the Reagan administration bowed to +repeated challenges from groups charging that the test unfairly discriminated against +minority applicants and discontinued use of the test. (Over the years, only 5 percent of +African Americans and 13 percent of Hispanics who took the PACE exam passed it.) + +Through most of the 1980s, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) advised +agencies to promote from within, to use noncompetitive appointments, or to use temporary +appointments to fill vacanciesan approach that has obvious limitations in attracting and +retaining the best and the brightest for government service. + +In 1990, OPM implemented a hiring plan with two alternative recruitment possibili +ties. The first featured the use of a series of tests, which it called the Administrative +Careers with America (ACWA) test; the second, known as the Outstanding Scholar +Program (OSP), enabled agencies to select college graduates with a GPA of 3.5 or higher +on a 4.0 scale. Both have been challenged. Critics of the ACWA argue that the tests pose +a similar problem as other standardized assessments, limiting the number of minority +candidates in the hiring pool. Likewise, they state that while OSP leveled the playing +field somewhat, particularly when compared to the ACWA, the result was the same: +more nonminority than minority candidates being considered by federal agencies. + +In any case, after testing or screening, a small number of eligible applicants are certi +fied and forwarded to the hiring agency, often with rankings based on the candidates +qualifications. Most merit systems require that at least the top three names be forwarded +to the agency, so that the manager has some flexibility to consider personal or subjective +characteristics in the final selection. This rule of three provision has proven controver +sial, however; many claim that it has been used as a device to discriminate against +women and minorities. (Under this provision, for instance, a sexist employer could hire a +male even if a woman candidate were objectively more capable.) An equally controver +sial provision of many merit systems requires that veterans (or sometimes even relatives +of veterans) receive extra points in the ranking system. Such a provision works against +the interests of nonveterans, most of whom are women; as you might imagine, however, +it is strongly supported by veterans groups. + +The centralized process of recruitment traditionally underlying public personnel systems +itself has come under fire in recent years, with many suggesting that it places decision +making authority in the hands of human resources staff as opposed to public managers. +For example, NPR recommended that federal agencies be given the power to establish +their own recruitment and examining programs. The report concluded that managers in +each policy area can be more effective in recognizing the type of skills and abilities needed +to make the agency more productive, and that they are in the best position to determine +when to increase hiring levels. + + + +Hiring, Firing, and Things In-Between 223 + +As a result, the trend toward decentralized recruitment has gained in popularity even +in larger, more diverse agencies within the federal government. Decentralized processes +may rely on similar selection criteria as a centralized system, but the primary difference +is that agency heads, rather than personnel managers, select the viable candidates. Those +with the greatest knowledge of the policy field, therefore, choose the individuals they +believe will enhance the organization. Moreover, by not having to engage in the selection +process, personnel staff members are free to concentrate on broader concerns, such as +diversity, affirmative action and others affecting the organization. + +For those interested in applying for positions in the federal government, or in other +levels of government and the nonprofit sector, the Internet has become a vital resource. +Applicants can complete the necessary forms and submit their materials online, and in +some cases the entire recruitment process can occur without the candidate ever visiting +in the hiring organization. Whether it is done in person or online, be sure to submit the +appropriate application materials. In some cases this may be as simple as sending in a +current resume, which states the vacancy number and level. But most often even resumes +should be accompanied by the proper application forms. Many recruiters will not con +sider application materials unless they are submitted in a style and format consistent +with those called for in the vacancy announcement. (In the federal government, candi +dates may submit their information using forms that can be downloaded from the Office +of Personnel Management Web site.) + +Networking + +For employment opportunities in the federal government, go to the Office of +Personnel Management at http://www.opm.gov, Americas Job Bank at +http://www.ajb.org, or Careers in Government at http://www.careersingovernment. +com, or visit any of the federal agencies online. Those interested in employment +at other levels of government can go to http://www.aspanet.org or http:// +www.govtjobs.com, and for nonprofit-sector jobs go to +http://www.philanthropy.com or http://www.opportunitynocs.org. + +Pay Systems + +Naturally, both the recruiting process and the individuals performance on the job are +affected by compensation patterns, including both wages and benefits. Generally speak +ing, pay is determined by the nature of the work and the quality of performance in the +job. But pay plans in the public sector are difficult to construct, for they must embody +two often contradictory principles. On the one hand, to be fair and equitable, they must +be highly structured; on the other hand, to be competitive, they must be responsive to +changing political and economic conditions. + +Most large personnel systems in government (including states and big cities) base their +pay plans on their classification systems, which usually define a series of grades, each con +taining a set of jobs that are generally comparable in terms of difficulty, and a number of + + + +224 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +steps within each grade. These steps represent approximately equal increments of pay, +with the highest generally about 20 percent to 30 percent above the lowest. In most cases, +the grades are slightly overlapping, so that the first step in one grade is equal to one of +the higher steps in the grade below. Individuals are assigned to a particular grade and step +depending on how the position is described and on their individual qualifications for +the position. + +Employees in this type of system may receive pay increases in several ways. One way is +to change grades; however, for an employee to change grades, either the particular position +would have to be reclassified or all equivalent positions would have to be moved to a +higher range. For an employee to receive increases within grade, either the entire pay plan +can be adjusted upward, for example, through a legislative action to improve overall pay +(e.g., through cost of living increases), or the individual can receive a raise. Raises can be +based on several factors, ranging from seniority to merit pay, or pay for performance. + +The idea of merit pay is simply that increases in salaries and wages should be tied to +the actual quality of the work being done, so that those who perform better or more +productively receive greater rewards. Although governments have used various merit pay +systems, such systems have not always worked well. In many cases, the money available +for merit raises for a few is spread so thinly that meritorious employees are not differen +tiated from others. Part of the reason for this development is the difficulty of objectively +measuring an individuals performance and the fact that many managers find it awkward +to evaluate their employees work. + +As noted, the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 sought to remedy this situation by +requiring merit pay based on formal performance appraisal systems. Although agencies +have been given considerable flexibility as to what systems they adopt, efforts have been +made to base evaluations on critical elements of the individuals job or to develop results- +oriented systems that tie evaluation to specific job outcomes. Any system of performance +appraisal must be both accurate and fair: + +Performance-appraisal systems must be based on the real requirements of the task. +They must reflect realistic levels of performance, and be couched in terms that the +workers understand, while at the same time providing workers with some insights +on where and how performance improvements need to be made. (Siegel & Myrtle, +1985, p.337) + +One aspect of compensation policy that has received substantial attention over the years +is the comparability of wages and salaries in the public and private sectors. Though nearly +all efforts to make such comparisons have been plagued by the difficulty of comparing +apples and oranges, early studies tended to show public-sector salaries considerably below +those in the private sector, today ranging between 22 percent and 38 percent below, depend +ing on grade level. (Incidentally, the greatest differences are at the top-level positions.) + +Under these conditions, the federal Pay Comparability Act of 1990 required the federal +government to close the gap between the public and private sectors, beginning by closing +the gap 20 percent in 1993 and then 10 percent in following years. While both Presidents +Reagan and Bush cited the countrys economic problems as a reason to impose lower +wages than those suggested by comparability studies, President Clinton, while proposing + + + +Hiring, Firing, and Things In-Between 225 + +some increases, rejected the comparability targets, arguing that the laws formulas were +based on flawed methodology. + +Conditions of Employment and Related Matters + +There are several contemporary issues in personnel management that relate either to the +conditions under which employees are hired or the conditions under which they must +work. For example, increasing numbers of employers in both the public and private sectors +are recognizing that substance abuse is responsible for greater absenteeism, higher accident +rates, and generally lower productivity. Consequently, programs have been established to +identify and to aid or dismiss employees who have problems with drugs or alcohol. + +Testing for drugs, primarily through urinalysis, has become quite common. Despite the +fact that such programs violate personal dignity and have a variety of technical problems, +a substantial number of private companies now use drug testing. Whereas in 1983 only +about 3 percent of private firms used drug testing, today over three-quarters do so. +Employees in private firms have little protection from testing and, in the absence of col +lective bargaining agreements to the contrary, may be tested at management discretion. +Because public employees (at least civilian employees) are more clearly protected against +illegal search and seizure and are guaranteed equal protection and due process, programs +to test public employees have frequently been challenged in the courts. For the most part, +the courts have held that random mandatory testing is a violation of employee rights, but +that testing may be required where there is reasonable suspicion of abuse or where testing +is made a part of the hiring process. But questions continue to be debated; for example, +what type of testing is appropriate for those in sensitive positions, such as air traffic con +trollers or those in contact with nuclear or chemical weapons? + +Networking + +The following sites track contemporary issues in personnel management. +Many others are availablejust conduct your own search. +http://www.shrm.org/hrlinks/comp.htm (sources on benefits) +http://aad.english.ucsb.edu (information on affirmative action and diversity) +http://www.feminist.com/fairpay/ (National Committee on Pay Equity) +http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/htm (AIDS links from CDC) +http://www.hr.com (general information relating to human resource management) +http://www.hr-guide.com (index of subjects relating to personnel management) +http://lawinfo.com/forum/sex-discrimination/edics-2.html (overview of sex +discrimination) +http://www.faa.gov/acr/mwe/index.htm (work environment diversity) +http://www.backgroundbriefing.com/jobdiscr.html (how to hire and fire) +http://www.careermag.com (Career magazine) +http://www.unions.org (unions listed by state and country) +http://www.shrm.org/docs/FIRmagazine.html {HR Magazine) + + + +226 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +Sexual Harassment + +Another contemporary concern is establishing a work environment that is supportive of all +persons and sensitive to their needs, regardless of gender. One aspect of this concern is sex +ual harassment, a topic that has received considerable national attention in the wake of +several highly publicized cases, including the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in +1991, the inquiry into the behavior of Senator Bob Packwood in 1994, and the suit +brought against President Clinton in 1994 for allegedly harassing a state employee while +serving as governor of Arkansas. Sexual harassment may be defined as any unwanted and +nonreciprocal verbal or physical sexual advances or derogatory remarks that the recipient +finds offensive or that interfere with job performance. Sexual harassment especially +includes (though is not limited to) situations in which one person in a position of power or +influence uses his or her position to encourage or coerce a subordinate or coworker into +undesired sexual activity, even to the point of withholding or taking away job advance +ments or promotions. The courts consider sexual harassment a type of inequality that +employers must deal with, both in terms of eliminating offensive behaviors and creating a +less hostile or intimidating work environment for both men and women. (See Box 6.4.) + +Networking + +Two sites dealing with sexual harassment are http://www.employment-law.freeadvice. +com/sexual_harassment/ and http://www.feminist.org/911/sexharlinks.html. + +BOX 6.4 + +What Can Agencies Do about Sexual Harassment? + +1. Agencies should find ways to capitalize on what is already known about the +most effective actions that can be taken to prevent and eliminate sexual harass +ment; that is, they should publicize penalties and encourage assertive actions +on the part of employees who are targets of unwanted sexual attention. + +2. Managers and supervisors should be firm and consistent in penalizing proven +harassers. + +3. Agencies should diagnose the extent and seriousness of sexual harassment +within their own organizations so that they know what kinds of solutions +are appropriate and where resources should be concentrated. + +4. Agencies should evaluate the effectiveness of the sexual harassment training they +provide to ensure it addresses identified problems. Agencies should pay particular +attention in the training efforts to the problem of sexual harassment by coworkers. + +SOURCE: Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace: Trends, Progress, Continuing Challenges. +(U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, 1995). + + + +Hiring, Firing, and Things In-Between 227 + +Despite attention to sexual harassment in many public organizations, a survey by the +Merit Systems Protection Board found that 44 percent of all women working for the +federal government said they had been sexually harassed in the past two years. Incidents +cited included actual or attempted rape, pressure for sexual favors, deliberate touching, +suggestive looks, and sexual remarks. The board estimated that the practice cost the +federal government $327 million over two years in lost productivity and turnover +(Havemann, 1988b, p. 31). + +Although there appear to be many instances of sexual harassment, many remain +unreported. (The number of reported incidents has risen dramatically during the +1990s with the increase in public awareness.) One reason for this situation may be +the complex and often ambiguous procedures many organizations have for dealing +with complaints. Most tend to be lengthy, expensive, and psychologically draining. +For this reason, public organizations are currently reviewing their policies on sexual +harassment, establishing more clearly the seriousness of the offense, and develop +ing strong enforcement and disciplinary measures, including dismissal. The goal is +not only to eliminate specific instances of harassment, but also to create a work envi +ronment that is fully supportive of the potential of all employees, both men and +women. + +Aids Policy + +Related issues having to do with creating a positive work environment arise as public +organizations, like others, work to protect the rights of individuals with HIV/AIDS. +The Office of Personnel Management provided one of the first directives for federal agen +cies, setting a policy that prohibits the discrimination against employees with AIDS and +that allows managers to take disciplinary action against anyone who refuses to work with +an employee who has AIDS. Among other things, the guidelines said that employees with +AIDS should be allowed to continue working as long as they are able to maintain +acceptable performance and do not pose a safety or health threat to themselves or others +in the workplace. Moreover, because there is no medical basis for someone to refuse to +work with employees with AIDS, where managers feel that employees refusal is imped +ing or disrupting the organizations work, [the manager] should consider appropriate cor +rective or disciplinary action against the threatening or disruptive employees (Flavemann, +1988a, p. 34). + +These considerations have become even more important with the passage of the 1990 +Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which considers those infected with HIV/AIDS +as disabled individuals. (The ADA will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter.) +Consequently, many agencies are developing HIV/AIDS plans for the workplace. Despite +this attention, though, a recent survey of local government officials suggested that much +work remains to be done to create a positive work environment for this protected group. +Most municipalities have yet to comply fully with HIV/AIDS-related provisions of the +ADA. And the survey concluded that the public workplace offers little protection from +discrimination for those with HIV/AIDS. + + + +22 8 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +Workplace Violence + +In recent years, the incidence and the threat of violence in the workplace has had a dramatic +effect on work environments. While multiple murders and acts of terrorism, such as the +1995 Oklahoma City bombing, tend to capture the publics attention, other forms of vio +lence pose an equally significant threat to workplace safety and quality. Of course, violent +crime affects a variety of organizations in all sectors; however, the government remains +a primary target. For example, the U.S. Justice Department reported that nearly one-third +of the 1 million victims of workplace violence in 1994 were government employees. And, +in a separate report, researchers found that in the U.S. Postal Service alone, twenty-nine +employees were killed and sixteen wounded from August 1983 to May 1993. + +The increase in violence over the past decade has prompted administrators to imple +ment strategies for reducing the risk of workplace crime. Some preventive measures +include improving the physical environment, adding security and related staff, and +reducing hours of operation during high-risk periods. However, many public adminis +trators have yet to realize the actual threat of violence that affects their organization. +Some continue to view occupational violence as someone elses problem. Recent +research on violent crime, though, suggests otherwise. The political nature of govern +ment, the deterioration in public perception of government workers, and the increase in +stress loads among public employees combine to make public organizations likely tar +gets for workplace violence. + +Removing Employees + +For whatever reason, things occasionally do not work out on the job. An employee may +not live up to expectations or may become unproductive. In cases such as these, your +first step as a manager is to try to improve the individuals work (a strategy that is, of +course, far easier than recruiting and training a replacement). You may encourage or +counsel the employee, either personally or, better, through an employee assistance pro +gram. Or, in a surprising number of cases, you may be able to restructure the job so as +to better motivate the employee. Concerns about an employees work can often be +addressed in positive and productive ways that are helpful to both the individual and the +organization. + +But if your efforts to help the employee fail, you may have to resort to disciplinary +action, which might include formal reprimands, reduction of pay, suspension without +pay, or outright dismissal. In all cases, it is important to be able to demonstrate that +there is adequate cause for disciplinary action. Simply firing someone for personal rea +sons unrelated to the job opens both you and the organization to possible lawsuits; and, +of course, firing someone for political reasons is contrary to the whole concept of merit +employment in the public sector. + +There is a strong presumption that public-sector employees are entitled to notice and an +opportunity to be heard before disciplinary action or before dismissal. This does not mean +that a person cannot be demoted, suspended, or terminated but rather that the employer +cannot take such action in an arbitrary way. + + + +The Changing Character of Labor-Management Relations 229 + +At the federal level, the Civil Service Reform Act encourages development of perfor +mance appraisal systems that make it easier for managers to document employee incompe +tence and remove them from the organization. At the state and local levels, various court +cases have indicated that employees being terminated have certain due process rights, such +as advance notice and the opportunity for a hearing. In any case, if you decide to pursue +disciplinary action, you should build a clear case to demonstrate the underlying reasons for +your action. + +The Changing Character of Labor-Management Relations + +An interesting issue that cuts across the field of public personnel management is the +rise and decline of public-sector unions. At the federal level, many rather narrow +issues, having to do primarily with working conditions, are resolved through collec +tive bargaining, though more controversial issues, such as compensation and hiring +practices, are rarely considered. At state and local levels, there is a patchwork of +labor relations practices, ranging from highly restrictive to extremely permissive labor +legislation. + +The early development of public-sector unions was tied to the reform of the patron +age system. With the establishment of merit principles in public employment, employees +had greater protection from political intrusions, but they also had fewer direct ways to +get the attention of political leaders. To combat the possibility that they might simply be +ignored, public employees began organizing in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At first, +political leaders strenuously opposed these efforts; at least two presidents issued gag +orders to prevent federal workers from pursuing wage demands except through depart +mental channels. In response, the newly organized employees, led by the postal workers, +pressed Congress for recognition, which they finally received in the Lloyd-LaFollette Act +of 1912. The only statutory basis for public-sector unionization for more than half a +century, this act permitted federal employees to join unions (that did not advocate the +right to strike) and to appeal directly to Congress. + +With the early emergence of unions at the federal level, a few agencies, such as the +Tennessee Valley Authority, developed rather advanced patterns of labor-management +relations; elsewhere, however, public unions emerged relatively slowly, especially in com +parison to their counterparts in the private sector. The slow development of public +unions can be explained in part by the several difficult questions that public-sector +unionization raised for those in public organizations. + +First, there was the issue of sovereignty, the notion that the ultimate power to decide +issues of public policy in a democracy lies with the people or their elected representa +tives and cannot properly be delegated, even partially, to some nongovernmental group +such as a union. Illustrating this position, President Franklin Roosevelt wrote, The +process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the +public service. . . . The very nature and purpose of Government makes it impossible for +administrative officials to represent fully or bind the employer in mutual discussions. + + + +230 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +The employer is the whole people who speak by means of laws enacted by their repre +sentatives in Congress (Klingner & Nalbandian, 1985, p. 292). + +A second set of factors restricting the growth of public unions concerns the nature of +governmental services, which are often considered either essential to the community (po +lice, fire, national defense) or relatively unprofitable (systems of mass transportation). In +the case of essential services, the ultimate union weapon the strike may be seen as +holding the public interest hostage and can backfire; in the case of low-profit undertak +ings, the balancing factor of the marketthe fact that a company may go out of busi +ness if pressed too fardoes not appear to operate. In either case, the private-sector +model of collective bargaining seems to apply only loosely. + +Networking + +For information on labor-management issues, see http://www.labornet.org +and http://www.dol.gov. On specific unions, see http://www.afge.org and +http://www.afscme.org. + +A third factor limiting the growth of public-sector unions through much of this +century is the varied nature of government employment and the difficulties this +presents for unionizing. Traditionally, unions have organized around occupational +groups, such as truck drivers or garment workers. But government employs people in +thousands of occupational groups; to have a union for each group would lead to end +less and unsuccessful bargaining for both sides. The federal government is also char +acterized by geographic dispersion (only about 10 percent of the federal workforce is +located in the Washington area), and the fact that there are so many white-collar +workers in government, who have been historically reluctant to organize. Thus, the +question of finding an appropriate focus for union activity has been especially diffi +cult at the federal level. + +Yet unions have been able to organize. Sparked at least partly by the success of unions +in the private sector, where the right to bargain collectively was never seriously questioned +after passage of the Wagner Act in 1935, public employees continued to press for recogni +tion of their right to negotiate labor-management disputes. Soon even the sovereignty argu +ment was eroded. Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz commented, This doctrine is wrong +in theory; whats more, it doesnt work (Levitan, 1983, p. 6). Bills providing recognition +for unions in the public sector were introduced (although unsuccessfully) in every session +of Congress from 1949 to 1961. + +Just as another such bill seemed stalled in Congress, President Kennedy took the ini +tiative in reforming public labor-management relations by issuing Executive Order +10988 in 1962. Kennedys order affirmed the right of federal employees to form and +join unions, set up conditions under which unions would be recognized for purposes of +meeting and conferring (discussing, not necessarily negotiating) with management on +certain issues, and established limits on the kinds of issues that could be discussed. +Though the order placed a great deal of administrative authority in the hands of the + + + +The Changing Character of Labor-Management Relations 231 + +various agencies, it did seek some uniformity in application through the Civil Service +Commission. + +The Kennedy order was expanded somewhat by several executive orders during the +Nixon and Ford administrations. Principally, Executive Order 11491, issued in 1969, +sought a more coherent labor policy at the federal level through establishment of the +Federal Labor Relations Council and slightly expanded the scope of bargaining. +The essential items of wages and benefits, however, remained outside the bargaining +process. + +The next landmark in federal employee unions was the Civil Service Reform Act +(CSRA) of 1978. Though the CSRA did little to expand areas of bargaining or to alter +administration of federal labor practices (other than replacing the Federal Labor Relations +Council with a Federal Labor Relations Authority separate from the Office of Personnel +Management), the act was important in that it based federal labor relations on a single, +comprehensive statute rather than a series of executive orders. + +Currently, some three out of every five federal workers are represented by unions, +the largest of which is the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). +But because Congress has refused to permit a union shop among federal workers, +though it exists in the private sector, the actual membership of federal unions is signifi +cantly less than it might otherwise be. (A union shop is an arrangement under which +all members of an agency are required to join the union that represents them.) The +AFGE, for instance, negotiates agreements that apply to three times its actual member +ship. Despite that fact, however, the percentage of federal workers who pay dues to +unions compares quite favorably to that among workers in the private sector; public +unions have done quite well in terms of membership (Levitan, 1983, pp. 14-20). +Indeed, overall, public-sector union membership is higher than that in the private +sector. + +At state and local levels, there is incredible variety in the kinds of labor-management +relations permitted by law. Though there has been occasional talk of uniform federal +statutes to govern state and local practices, the case of National League of Cities v. +Usery (1976) seemed to indicate that states have considerable sovereignty over public +employees. More recently, however, the case of Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan +Transit Authority (1985) again opened the possibility of further federal intervention. +But until federal legislation is passed, states will continue to exercise control over labor +relations in widely varying ways. At present, some states follow the meet-and-confer +model of the Kennedy program, while others establish a negotiations process similar to +the private-sector model. Some states differentiate between state and local employees, +while others differentiate among various occupational groups as well. Some states +require enforced arbitration of one kind or another, and eight states permit strikes by +public employees. + +In all, forty-three states have comprehensive labor-relations laws, most of which are +more favorable to unions than the existing federal legislation. Between 1960 and 1990, in +fact, the two most rapidly growing unions in this country were the American Federation +of State, County, and Municipal Employees and the American Federation of Teachers, +both of which operate exclusively at the state and local levels. + + + +232 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +Steps in the Bargaining Process + +The first and major steps in the bargaining process are recognizing the unions right to +exist, determining the type of bargaining permitted, and determining the scope of bar +gaining. The scope of bargaining is a source of continuing debate in many jurisdictions. +Legislation may prescribe areas where negotiation is permitted, areas where it is prohib +ited, and areas where it is required. But the applicable legislation may range from a pro +hibition on negotiating wages and salaries (as exists at the federal level) to situations in +which wages and salaries are at the heart of the process (as in many states and localities). +Even beyond these questions, many other issues are less clear. For example, does inclu +sion of work methods and procedures in a bargaining arrangement for public schools +mean that teachers can negotiate class sizes? + +The typical procedure requires that organizers who wish to represent employees peti +tion the administrative authority to establish a bargaining unit that will represent the +employees in conferring or negotiating various issues. (The decision to include or +exclude certain groups in the bargaining unit is called unit determination.) Whereas the +traditional standard for setting unit boundaries has been to establish a community of +interests, governments have loosely applied this concept, in some cases recognizing +agency-based units (the Department of Social Services or the Department of Mental +Health) and in others recognizing units based on occupational classes (nurses, custodi +ans, or security officers). After deciding on the bargaining unit, some mechanism must +be established to ensure coordination among the various groups and to prevent whip +saw tactics (arguing that pay or benefits negotiated by one group should apply to others +as well). + +A similar concern is where to draw the line between managers and workers; for exam +ple, are first-line supervisors part of the bargaining unit or part of management? The +importance of this issue was illustrated in the case of NLRB v. Yeshiva University (1980), +in which it was determined that faculty at Yeshiva University, a private university, are +management personnel, participating in decisions such as curricula and scheduling, and +therefore outside the coverage of federal labor laws. Similar questions are raised in almost +any unit determination; inclusion or exclusion of supervisors in the bargaining process +varies greatly from place to place. + +After appropriate bargaining units have been established, the administrative authority +may either voluntarily recognize a particular union, essentially by petition, as represent +ing a group of employees, or it may conduct an election to determine which, if any, +union will represent the employees in that area. Once a union has been recognized, it is +usually granted exclusive representation of employees in the unit, including the ability to +bargain on all issues required or permitted by law. (The reverse of this process, decertifi +cation, is rare, though it can occur.) + +Bargaining may then begin, typically with both sides bargaining in good faith +attempting to resolve the issues at hand even while following the strategy they feel will +be most advantageous to them. In most cases, the bargaining process results in an agree +ment; occasionally it does not. Where an impasse occurs, there are several possibilities +for resolving the issue: mediation, fact-finding, and arbitration. + + + +The Changing Character of Labor-Management Relations 233 + +1. Mediation involves the use of a neutral third party to attempt to work out a settlement. +The work of the mediator is to assist the parties in communicating and clarifying their posi +tions, but not to impose solutions. Though the mediators recommendations are not bind +ing, professional mediators are remarkably successful in helping parties reach agreements. +2. Fact finding employs the third party in a somewhat more investigative and judicial role, +to examine evidence on both sides of the issue, present the evidence, and, in most cases, +make specific recommendations with respect to a settlement. Some jurisdictions require +making the recommendations public, on the assumption that public pressure will then +lead toward an agreement. +3. Arbitration is a form of impasse resolution involving fact-finding followed by specific +recommendations that are usually binding on the parties. One form of arbitration that +has received attention recently is final-offer arbitration, a technique in which both parties +must present their best offer with the understanding that the arbitrator will choose one or +the other without modification. Presumably, since both parties know that unreasonable +proposals will lead to the arbitrators choosing the opposing proposal, it is in the interest +of both parties to submit their most reasonable position. + +To Strike or Not to Strike + +If impasse resolution fails, the employee organization may consider a strike. Although +most governmental jurisdictions prohibit strikes by public employees, they do occur. +There are usually several hundred work stoppages in public agencies each year. These +strikes raise difficult questions for public-sector, labor-management relations. Certainly +public employees have the right to form associations, and one might argue that they +should have the right to withhold services just as employees in the private sector do. On +the other hand, the importance of public services, especially those such as fire or police +protection, may justify different standards in the public sector. + +Experts make the following arguments against public employee strikes: + +1. Strikes violate sovereignty (conceding authority to any special interest group contra +venes the public interest). +2. Public services are essential and cannot be interrupted. In effect, all government ser +vices are vital. +3. Traditional channels of influence on public policy exist for unions: lobbying and voting. +4. Whereas strikes in the private sector are usually of an economic nature, those in the +public service are political. They are strategies that use the leverage of public inconvenience +to cause a redirection of budgetary priorities (Siegel & Myrtle, 1985, pp. 377-378). + +On the other hand, advocates of public employees right to strike make these points: + +1. Public employee strikes occur whether or not they are illegal and regardless of heavy +penalties prescribed by law. + + + +234 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +2. In strike situations, labor-management conflict bcomes channeled and socially con +structive both labor and management gain greater understanding of each other and of +the consequences of work stoppages. +3. The right to strike enhances a unions strength as a bargaining agent. Lack of the ulti +mate ability to withdraw services weakens labors position at the bargaining table. +4. Many private workers doing the same work that public employees do (for example, in +transit, health care, garbage collection, and communications) have the right to strike, +and for many other public employees (clerks, for instance), the public consequences of +striking would be little different from what they are when private-sector clerks strike. + +Though strikes at the state and especially at the local level are more frequent, two +landmark strikes at the federal level were especially dramatic. The postal workers strike +of 1970 occurred when members of the Manhattan-Bronx Branch of the National +Association of Letter Carriers voted to strike against the U.S. Postal Service. The imme +diate issue was the low wage scale for carriersa scale that left a substantial number +of postal workers on welfare. Beyond this concern, the postal workers desired the right +to negotiate wages and benefits, especially if the Nixon administration followed its plans +to make the post office a government corporation. The strike began with about 25,000 +postal workers in New York City, but soon spread up and down the East Coast and to +several major cities around the country, ultimately involving some 200,000 union mem +bers. As the situation became more intolerable, President Nixon sent 27,500 National +Guardsmen into New York to sort and deliver the mail. He also broke a long-standing +precedent, however, and agreed to permit postal workers to bargain for wages. +Following this agreement, the postal workers returned to work, most claiming victory in +the strike. Eventually, the Postal Reorganization Act was passed, setting up the govern +ment corporation Nixon sought, and also providing for a bargaining pattern similar to +that in the private sector. + +A quite different result occurred when members of the Professional Air Traffic Control +lers Organization (PATCO) went on strike in August 1981. PATCO had earlier established +itself as one of the most powerful and most militant of the public unions, boasting 90 per +cent of the FAAs air traffic controllers as members (probably the highest percentage +among federal-level unions at the time). Early in the year, the FAA was pressured into +negotiating with the union concerning issues of wages and working conditions, even +though it had no statutory power to do so and could only recommend wage increases to +Congress. The union, arguing that the controllers were underpaid and subject to severe job +stress, presented several demands, including a $10,000 across-the-board annual salary +increase for the controllers and a four-day, thirty-two-hour workweek. Although the FAA +did not meet these demands, then-Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis agreed to sup +port a $40 million package of improvements, including a $4,000 wage increase. However, +95 percent of the union membership rejected this proposal. + +After a final round of negotiations was unsuccessful, the union decided to strike. +Union leader Robert Poli declared, The only illegal strike is one that fails (Steele, 1982, +p. 38). As it turned out, this strike was to fail. What had begun as a confrontation +between the union and the FAA now became a confrontation between the union and +the White House. President Reagan acted decisively, fining the union and firing nearly + + + +The Changing Character of Labor-Management Relations 235 + +11,500 striking controllers for participating in an illegal strike. Although there was severe +disruption in the air transportation system for several days, new controllers were hired, +airline schedules were altered, and training programs were accelerated. The situation soon +gave at least the appearance of a return to normalcy. Beaten in the strike and decertified +by the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), less than a year later PATCO filed for +bankruptcy. + +Unions Redefined + +The character and role of organized labor has undergone a fundamental change during the +1990s, as efforts to reinvent government and reform personnel processes have redefined the +ties between labor and management. In some respects, the influence of unions has been +diminished by the more businesslike approach taken by government agencies. Contracting +out and privatization, too, have contributed to labors troubles, due to more and more ser +vices being delivered by private or nongovernmental organizations. The net result has been +a drop not only in the power of unions, but in some cases in the level of union membership. +For instance, while AFGE still represents more than 640,000 employees, its roster of mem +bers nearly was cut in half during the last two decades. And, though a few public employee +unions grew during this period, the overall trend has been a decline in union representation. + +What remains the same, however, is the highly confrontational nature of the labor- +management relationship, with many identifying collective bargaining as a key contrib +utor to the problem. Though collective bargaining has been useful in private-sector +contract negotiations, its application by public agencies often results in bitter contests +between management and staff personnel. As a consequence, the National Commission +on State and Local Government reported that an adversarial climate . . . has predomi +nated. It is a climate that can stifle innovation and governments ability to get the job +done. Public organizations often spend months, or sometimes years, trying to reach +agreements or attempting to effectively manage existing contracts. Meanwhile, the +relationship between managers and union employees becomes bogged down over what +amounts to minuscule matters. + +During the past decade, both labor and management have sought more peaceful, less +adversarial alternatives to bargaining and dispute resolution (see Box 6.5 for an example). +A major step toward this goal came in 1993, when President Clinton issued Executive +Order 12871, which encouraged the two sides to form partnerships and take a cooperative +approach to labor issues. To carry out these objectives, the order created the National +Partnership Council, with representatives from public unions, management, and the Public +Employee Department of the AFL-CIO. + +Change in labor-management relations also has been targeted in the culture and lead +ership styles that characterize public organizations. Many public agencies have opted for +a more participatory form of management, thus precluding the legalistic, not to mention +lengthy, process of collective bargaining. Administrators work to dismantle bureaucratic +hierarchies and distribute power throughout the organization. Public employees enjoy a +more meaningful form of empowerment than could ever have been facilitated through +traditional channels. The result is a more effective, productive organization. + + + +236 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +BX 6.5 \ ... + +Labor-Management Cooperation + +To strengthen relations between labor and management at Wisconsins Department of +Industry, Labor and Human Relations (DILHR), Secretary Carol Skornicka two years +ago established a twelve-member Labor Management Advisory Council. + +The council includes six management and six union representatives, including rep +resentatives from the departments six divisions. The group meets monthly with the +following groundrules: + +1. Decisions are by consensus. +2. Employees are surveyed on all major issues affecting them. +3. Communication with all employees is a priority. + +The council is advisory, but operates under a strong presumption that the Secretary +will act upon consensus recommendations on non-contractual issues. + +The councils goal is to build labor-management policies that foster harmony, trust +and cooperation. Weve got good relations at the top, says Tom Lonsdorf, a board +member of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, Council 24, AFSCME. Now weve +got to move it down through the organization to get that team concept throughout +the department. + +SOURCE: Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Public Administration Foundation, 1120 G Street, +N.W., Suite 850, Washington, D.C. 20005. + +Of course, such an alternative does not completely resolve the issue. The structural +factors that pit the two sides against each other, for the most part, remain in place. Public +unions still hold a level of power in government personnel administration, and the gains +made on behalf of workers through lobbying and court decisions continue to influence +the administrative process. However, the relationship is changing. Though the direction of +this change remains to be seen, reform of the system and the search for alternative forms +of communication between labor and management appears necessary. + +Correcting Patterns of Discrimination in Public Employment + +Whereas civil service systems have traditionally emphasized the concept of merit in public +employment, other values have become increasingly important. Most prominent is a con +cern for correcting patterns of discrimination in hiring and treatment of workers in public +agencies. The two terms that have been central to that debate are equal employment +opportunity and affirmative action. Equal employment opportunity refers to efforts to elim +inate employment discrimination on the basis of race, ethnic background, sex, age, or phys +ical handicap; it simply seeks to ensure that all persons have an equal chance to compete for + + + +Correcting Patterns of Discrimination in Public Employment 23 7 + +and hold positions of employment based on their job qualifications. Affirmative action, on +the other hand, involves the use of positive, results-oriented practices to ensure that +women, minorities, handicapped persons, and other protected classes of people will be equi +tably represented in the organization (Hall & Albrecht, 1979, p. 26). + +The concept of equal opportunity has a firm basis in constitutional and legal history, +but the primary piece of federal legislation guiding current practices is the Civil Rights +Act of 1964. (Many states had passed equal employment legislation in advance of the +federal act.) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act banned employment discrimination in areas +such as selection, promotion, and training based on race, national origin, sex, or religion +and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate complaints +of discrimination in the private sector. In 1972 the act was amended through the Equal +Employment Opportunity Act to extend coverage to all public-sector employees (at the +federal, state, and local levels) and to provide for stronger actions, including filing suits, +against those who did not comply with the act. + +The original Civil Rights Act did not require affirmative action to correct past patterns +of discrimination; this requirement was included in an executive order issued by President +Johnson. Executive Order 11246 sought to secure compliance with the Civil Rights Act by +requiring that federal contractors not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, or national +origin and that they develop affirmative action programs leading to equal employment +practices. President Johnsons Executive Order 11375 later added women to the list of +protected groups and specified requirements for affirmative action plans. + +These requirements were first applied to federal contractors, but were soon adopted +elsewhere in government and the private sector. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had +declared that it shall be the policy of the United States to ensure equal employment +opportunities for federal employees, but it was an executive order issued by President +Nixon in 1969 that required agency heads to create affirmative programs in eliminat +ing patterns of discrimination (Shafritz, Hyde, & Rosenbloom, 1981, pp. 185-186). +Similarly, state and local governments were brought under the provisions of the Civil +Rights Act in 1972 and were threatened with loss of federal funds in the event of non- +compliance. Title IX of the Higher Education Act of 1972 was interpreted to require uni +versities to provide equal athletic opportunities for both sexes in intercollegiate sports; +the penalty was withdrawal of federal funds from universities found not in compliance. + +During the past two decades, however, there has been a waning of support for equal +employment opportunity programs. Beginning in 1984, with the Supreme Courts ruling +in Grove City v. Bell (1984), limits on the applicability of civil rights legislation have been +the source of considerable controversy. In Grove, the Court narrowly interpreted the law +as it regarded sex discrimination to mean that federal funds were to be restricted from the +particular program receiving funds rather than from an educational institution as a +whole. This meant that if an English department was found guilty of discrimination, its +federal funds would be cut off, but funds to other parts of the institution would not be. + +The effect of the Grove case was to severely limit enforcement power of the federal +legislation dealing with sex discrimination, and, by implication, similar legislation dealing +with discrimination based on race, age, or handicap. Barely a week after the Grove rul +ing, for example, the Department of Education dropped charges against the University of +Marylands athletic programs because they did not receive federal aid although the + + + +23 8 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +institution as a whole received substantial federal funding in scholarships, research +money, and so on. Not surprisingly, legislation was soon introduced in Congress to put +teeth back into the various civil rights laws. The Civil Rights Restoration Act, passed by +an overwhelming bipartisan majority, applies not only to educational institutions, but to +a wide range of other public and private organizations receiving federal funds. + +The Civil Rights Restoration Act, in many respects, proved to be the last of Congress +progressive stances on civil rights. Since then, equal opportunity legislation has come +under fire from a conservative judiciary (for example, Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents +[2000] and University of Alabama v. Garrett [2001], which will be discussed in more +detail), as well as from a conservative trend in legislatures at all levels of government. +The result has been a shift in the balance of power toward employers and away from +those petitioning on the grounds of discrimination. + +ADA + +In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. The purpose of the ADA is to +prohibit discrimination against 43 million Americans who live with some type of disabil +ity. Beginning in 1992, the ADA prohibited employers of twenty-five or more persons +from discriminating against people with disabilities who can satisfactorily meet the +expectations of the job they hold or seek, with or without reasonable accommodation. +A disabled person must be qualified, meet educational and skill requirements, and be +able to perform the essential functions of the position. However, the employer is +required to make reasonable accommodations to the work environment so the disabled +person can perform to the best of his or her ability (Bishop & Jones, 1993, p. 122). + +With respect to public services, the ADA prohibits excluding a person from participat +ing in programs or activities of a public entity or denying an individual benefits of its ser +vices. A public entity is defined to include not only the federal government but any part +of state or local government. Other sections of the act deal with transportation, public +accommodations, and telecommunications. + +Although the ADA has substantially changed both employment patterns and the +design of public facilities, a recent Supreme Court decision dealt a major blow to the +enforceability of the law. In University of Alabama v. Garrett (2001), the Court reviewed +a petition brought by employees of the state who claimed to have been discriminated +against under the ADA. The Court ruled against the plaintiffs, stating that suits of this +nature abrogate states immunity under the Eleventh Amendment. In doing so, the Court +effectively blocked the rights of state employees to file suit for monetary damages in +federal court for discrimination under the ADA. + +Questions of Compliance + +Early efforts to prove discrimination against an employer required proof of evil inten +tionevidence that the employer was knowingly discriminating. The difficulty of proving +intent led to a new focus on unequal treatmentproof that an employer used different + + + +Correcting Patterns of Discrimination in Public Employment 23 9 + +selection procedures for different groups or used the same procedure in different ways. +Still, under this definition, minorities made little progress entering the workforce. + +In 1971, however, the Supreme Court, in Griggs v. Duke Power Company, settled on +a new definition, adverse or disparate impact. The Griggs decision held that it was no +longer necessary to prove discriminatory motive or differential treatment; it was simply +necessary to show that employment practices affect one group more harshly than +another. The Court stated, Practices, procedures, or tests neutral on their face, and even +neutral in terms of intent cannot be maintained if they operate to freeze the status quo +of prior discriminatory practices (Hays & Reeves, 1984, p. 354). + +The notion of adverse impact has been articulated more fully in a set of Uniform +Guidelines agreed upon by federal agencies. Under the Uniform Guidelines, employers are +required to keep records indicating the relationship between those hired and minorities, +including women, available in the community and the comparative success of various +groups in selection for a position. If, for example, women constitute 50 percent of the +labor market, yet only 20 percent of the workforce are women, there is evidence of adverse +impact. (Actual figures show that about 41 percent of employees in local government are +women, 41 percent of employees in state government are women, and 43 percent of +employees in federal government are women. And, of course, women are disproportion +ately represented in lower-paying positions, such as secretarial or clerical jobs.) + +The guidelines also follow another aspect of the Griggs case in requiring employers +whose practices are found to have adverse impact to demonstrate the job relatedness of +tests or procedures used in hiring or promotion decisions. That is, if a screening test can +not be shown to relate specifically to job performance, then it cannot be used as a criterion +in making employment decisions. Elimination of the Professional and Administrative +Career Examination (PACE), which we noted earlier, is a classic case of the job-relatedness +issue. In a court challenge, it was ruled that the PACE exam, at that time the primary test +given to applicants for federal managerial positions, was not related to the eventual jobs +these persons would hold and had an adverse impact on African Americans and Hispanics. +For this reason, the exam was shelved. + +A conservative shift in the Supreme Court, however, led to an end in these protective +standards. In Wards Cove v. San Antonio (1989), the court reversed the Griggs interpreta +tion of Title VII and ruled that plaintiffs, not employers, must substantiate their position +in discrimination cases. In particular, the court deemed unconstitutional the earlier ruling +that allowed the establishment of a prima facie case based on the so-called four-fifths +rulethat is, when minority hires constitute less than 80 percent of the nonminority +hires. While the Wards Cove packing plant paid minority employees less and segregated +their living and dining quarters, justices said that the workers would have to prove that +such practices created a gap between the percentage of minorities actually employed and +the percentage in the workforce. + +Federal lawmakers tried repeatedly to counter the Wards Cove ruling and restore +the more progressive provisions of Griggs, finally adopting the Civil Rights Act of 1991. +In many respects, though, the act only confused the issue of Title VII protection. +Progressive critics argued that too much had to be sacrificed in order to gain the acts +approval. While it contained several important provisions, such as extending the defini +tion of discrimination to personnel decisions other than hiring and promotion, the act + + + +240 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +still placed in the courts hands the final decision on what can be considered discrimina +tion in the workplace. + +Consequently, the courts have continued to narrow the bounds on what constitutes dis +crimination. The Supreme Courts decision in University of Alabama v. Garrett (2001) was +discussed previously, but another example of this trend can be seen in Kimel v. Florida +Board of Regents (2000). In Kimel, the Court considered a challenge to the Age Discri +mination in Employment Act (ADEA) that allows suits to be filed against state governments +for monetary damages on the grounds of discrimination in employment decisions. The case +was filed by three sets of petitioners in Florida, who claimed to have experienced discrimi +nation on the basis of age during the employment process. However, the Court not only +ruled against the plaintiffs, but also criticized Congress for passing the ADEA in the first +place. The Court held that (1) age is not a suspect classification under the Equal Protection +Clause, and so states may discriminate on the basis of age without offending the Fourteenth +Amendment, if the age classification in question is rationally related to a legitimate state in +terest and (2) Congress had failed to identify a widespread pattern of age discrimination +by states, and it concluded this failure confirms that Congress had no reason to believe that +broad prophylactic legislation was necessary in this field (Wise, 2001, p. 348). + +The long-term impact of the University of Alabama v. Garrett and Kimel decisions +remains to be seen, but the immediate effect is that the burden of proof now lies with the +plaintiff on matters of discrimination. Moreover, given the underlying message in the +Courts rulings, it appears that even the statutory foundation of equal opportunity +employment has come under scrutiny, leaving us to wonder if our days of formal protec +tion against discrimination may be numbered. + +Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination + +Another area of intense controversy involves attempts to correct past patterns of dis +crimination against minorities and women, namely the use of affirmative action pro +grams. Such plans typically include (1) a statement of policy indicating a commitment to +correct discrimination with respect to employment practices; (2) an analysis of existing +practices and their results; and (3) a statement of goals to improve those practices. + +Unfortunately, a great deal of popular and legal confusion has developed around the +notion of goals and quotas, often resulting in charges of reverse discrimination against +white males. Although quotas require hiring specific numbers of people from specific +groups (and are rarely used in actual practice), goals or timetables are intended to be +flexible and are to be established internally by the employer. Both goals and quotas may +involve numbers (and this causes some of the confusion), but the goals are merely +intended to show a direction in which an employer wishes to move; generally, a good +faith effort in that direction will be viewed as satisfactory in terms of providing opportu +nities for equal employment. + +Even the Supreme Court has found it difficult to clarify exactly what is acceptable and +what constitutes reverse discrimination. In Bakke v. The Regents of the University of +California (1978), the Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal for a university to reserve a +specific number of slots in its medical school for minority applicants who were less qualified +than other students who were rejected. The Court agreed that race could be considered one +factor in an admissions decision, but only one among several. + + + +Correcting Patterns of Discrimination in Public Employment 241 + +On a slightly different issue, the Court held in United Steel Workers of America v. Weber +(1979) that a training program that admitted black workers before white workers with +more seniority was acceptable. The key here seemed to be that the company initiated +the program voluntarily to eliminate obvious patterns of discrimination and that it did +not necessitate the discharge of white workers (Stewart, 1983). On the other hand, in +Firefighters Local Union #1784 v. Stotts (1984), the Court held that a lower court could not +order an employer to lay off more senior employees in favor of less senior employees on the +basis of race to preserve a specific percentage of minority employees. The emerging consen +sus, reflected in such recent cases as United States v. Paradise (1987) and Johnson v. +Transportation Agency (1987), seems to be that affirmative action programs will be limited +to specific needs and circumstances. Broad-scale programs are not likely to be accepted. + +More recently, the federal courts also have begun to hear challenges to affirmative +action programs used by universities to increase student diversity. Following a federal +appellate courts decision in Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School (1996), in +which the school was barred from using race as a factor in admissions decisions, several +suits were filed against institutions across the country, including the University of +Michigan, University of Maryland, University of Georgia and others. + +Given this trend, as well as the increasingly conservative view in Washington and in +many states, as evident in Californias Proposition 209 (1996) that ended affirmative +action programs, the future of affirmative action seems questionable. Some suggest that +while preferences and so-called set asides leveled the playing field, they no longer offer +what the nation needs to ensure a diverse workforce. Unfortunately, though, the dis +course on the issue often degenerates into political rhetoric with both sides losing sight +of an important principlethat is, not only must all persons have an equal opportunity +to serve but also that the distinct contribution made by each person must be appreciated. +By pursuing an agenda to enhance diversity, organizations may gain important contribu +tions from a broader range of viewpoints. + +A few alternatives have been offered for promoting and sustaining such diversity, +including several strategies that target the underlying culture of organizations. The process +begins with creating a shared sense of purpose toward diversity, then empowering those at +all levels to contribute action steps for achieving this goal. Periodic assessments can be +used to determine how successful the organizational change has been and to identify any +future barriers the group may need to overcome. The U.S. Forest Service, for example, has +been working on the issue of diversity for a number of years. The Forest Service takes the +position that since the character of the nations workforce is changing, the character of the +Forest Service must also change. To be competitive in the business sense, the Forest +Service must have a multicultural workforce that is representative of our multicultural +society. Such a workforce will increase the productivity and quality of the organization +(Denhardt, 1993, p. 118). + +The Glass Ceiling + +Unfortunately, extending diversity throughout the organization, especially at the highest +levels of management, has proven difficult. While the representation of women and +minorities in the federal workforce has generally improved along with their representation +in the middle- and upper-management levels, certain groups remain underrepresented in + + + +242 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +the overall workforce, and white women and all minorities remain underrepresented in the +key jobs that lead to middle- and upper-management positions. Similarly, at the state and +local level, about 41 percent of government employees are women, but they still fill only +27 percent of the management positions. + +The glass ceiling encountered by many women and minorities has been recognized +in several recent studies. Data from OPM revealed that women were promoted less than +men who had comparable amounts of formal education and experience and who entered +government at the same grade levels as the women; and women face obstacles to advance +ment at lower levels in the pipeline. For those women who have advanced, it usually +meant staying late, relocating, or working longer hours (Desky, 1992, p. 1). Recognizing +these concerns, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 set up a glass ceiling commission to study the +barriers to the advancement of women and minorities in the private sector. + +However, efforts to remove the glass ceiling have been thwarted by similar trends +affecting affirmative action, and only rarely does the issue of equitable treatment for +women in the workplace receive its share of the national spotlight. Congress in 2000 +addressed the issue by passing the Equity Contracting for Women Act, which encourages +contractors to do business with women-owned businesses in industries where women are +underrepresented. The downside of the legislation is that it relies mainly on market +forces to achieve parity, meaning that firms are not obligated to contract with women +contractors. + +The result of these trends is that despite some gains made by women to achieve equal +treatment, they still experience a significant gap in pay, job status and overall employ +ment opportunity. Recent figures suggest that more women are becoming entrepreneurs +now than a decade ago, with about 37 percent of American firms owned by women +compared to 22 percent, and that the pay gap has closed to 76 cents from 61 cents on +each dollar of a mans salary. The divide has even closed for minority women, who now +earn 61 cents to each dollar earned by a white male. But supporters of womens rights +argue that these figures, rather than marking a significant improvement for women, tend +to be used more as ammunition for lawmakers who want to end affirmative action and +other civil rights programs. + +The political debate in Washington, and in communities across the country, has shifted +so far away from any type of set-asides or preferential treatment that even advocates for +women find themselves side-stepping the labels outright in their efforts to lobby for new leg +islation. In fact, even some advocates for protection on the basis of race, sexual preference +and other factors have turned away from protection of women, arguing that women have +achieved equal opportunity and that continuation of affirmative action not only would give +an undue advantage but that it will begin to negatively affect womens self-perception. + +The Debate over Comparable Worth + +One more aspect of the affirmative action question focuses on what has come to be +called comparable worth. The idea of comparable worth is that men and women in jobs +that are not identical but require similar levels of skill and training should be paid +equally. To understand this distinction, consider two questions: + + + +Correcting Patterns of Discrimination in Public Employment 143 + +1. Studies have shown that female electricians make less money on the average than male +electricians doing the same work. In situations like this, should employers be required by +law to increase womens pay to equal that of men? +2. Studies have shown that nurses, who have greater job skills and more extensive +responsibilities than electricians, make less money on the average than electricians. +Most nurses are women and most electricians are men. In situations like this, should +employers be required by law to increase nurses pay to match their job skills and +responsibilities? + +The first question raises the familiar issue of equal pay for equal work; the second +rests on the concept of equal pay for comparable work. The comparable worth issue has +its roots in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination +based on sex, and in the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which provided for equal pay on jobs +the performance of which requires equal skills, effort, and responsibility, and which are +performed under similar working conditions. These two pieces of legislation (primarily +the former) provide the basis upon which action can be taken to redress past patterns of +discrimination. + +Here is how it works. Persons in a female-dominated field seeking to prove discrim +ination would have to convince a court that their work requires equal skills, effort, +and responsibility, and is performed under working conditions similar to those in a +comparable male-dominated field. If these matters could be proven, the defendant +company or agency would then have to convince the court that the reason for the dif +ference was not sex discrimination but rather something that occurred under one of +the Equal Pay Acts exceptions. These exceptions permit paying workers of different +sexes different wages where there is (1) a seniority system, (2) a merit system, (3) a sys +tem that measures earnings by quantity and quality of production, or where the differ +ential is based on a factor other than sex; for example, where there is a scarcity of peo +ple to fill a particular job. + +The issue of comparable worth became a hot topic recently in the nonprofit sector, +when a report revealed sharp disparities in management positions and pay scales at char +itable organizations. According to a GuideStar survey of 75,000 charities nationwide, +women are less likely than men to serve in executive roles at larger (and better paying) +organizations, but even when they do act as top managers they are paid anywhere from +21 percent to 47 percent less than their male counterparts (Lipman, 2001, p. 33). The +purpose of the study was to provide a benchmark for nonprofits to use when setting +pay scales, as a way of staying in line with federal guidelines. However, the reports +sponsors said they hoped the study would do more to level the playing field for women +in philanthropy. + +Those who argue against the concept of comparable worth hold that even the best +available job analyses cannot properly compare apples and oranges and that, even if they +could, it would be improper (as well as excessively costly) to intervene in wage setting. +It is much better, they contend, to let the market decide prevailing wages in various occu +pations and for women who desire higher pay to train for different jobs. On the other +hand, those who favor the notion of comparable worth point out that the full-time earn +ing power of women has consistently been about 60 percent of that of men over the past + + + +244 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +decade and that where pay differentials are clearly the result of'patterns of sex discrimi +nation, corrective action should be taken. + +Again, regardless of the outcome of specific cases, it is clear that managers in public +and private organizations need to be attentive to shaping employment policies so as to +eliminate discrimination from the workplace. Whether in the area of affirmative action +generally or in the area of comparable worth, a manager is well advised to understand +the issues clearly and to take positive measures to create more equitable circumstances in +the public workplace. + +Political Appointee-Career Executive Relations + +The tension between political responsiveness and managerial effectiveness that character +izes public management is especially well illustrated in the relationship between political +appointees and career executives. Each newly elected administration, whether at the fed +eral, state, or local level, has a certain number of top-level managerial positions to fill +with persons of its choosing. These appointees become the bosses of career civil servants +who staff the various agencies of government. As you might imagine, there is occasion +ally some tension between the two groups. Incoming presidents are usually elected on a +platform of change and view career employees as representing opposition to change +(Colvard, 1992, p. 17). The political executive wants to move in new policy directions, +but often has little experience in government operations; the career executive, on the +other hand, has both knowledge and expertise, but, aware of potential problems, may +appear reluctant to change. + +The inevitable tension between political executives and careerists has become even +more pronounced in recent years. Many argue that both the Carter and Reagan admin +istrations came into office with a serious misunderstanding of the role of civil servants +and, consequently, encountered difficulties in their relationships with the career service. +Both presidents had, in a sense, run against the bureaucracy, pledging to clean up the +mess in Washington. Consequently, during the early days of their administrations, both +presidents seemed mistrustful of career bureaucrats and felt that civil servants were +inflexible and tied to the policies and programs of previous administrations. Both the +first President Bush and President Clinton were more tempered in their criticism of the +federal bureaucracy and indeed sought to establish more positive relations with career +civil servants. + +In any case, sorting out the relationship between politically appointed executives and +career executives returns us to the old question of politics and administration. One in +terpretation suggests that the role of the career executive is solely to execute orders +given by superior authoritieselected officials and their appointees. In the most ex +treme formulation of this view, the career executive should be isolated from any in +volvement in policy development and should concentrate on implementing policies +handed down from above. + + + +Political Appointee-Career Executive Relations 245 + +BOX 6.6 + +Education of Political Appointees + +I recall an instance in which I was instructed by a new cabinet secretary to award a +sole source contract of substantial dollar value to an individual who had been active +in the presidential campaign which had just ended. The contract would have provided +a service for which many other firms were qualified, and one clearly could not make +a reasonable ease of unique capability, which would justify a sole source procure +ment. I indicated to the secretary that while a sole source procurement in this instance +violated federal procurement regulations, he possessed the authority to approve it. +I further advised, however, that to award the proposed contract would be a serious +error since it would be perceived as political favoritism which would only embarrass +him and undermine his credibility, + +[In another case], I had pointed out to an assistant secretary, who had been an J +executive with a major bank, the advisability of consulting with, or at least providing +advance notice to, the chairman of the appropriate congressional committees on +action to be taken. In rejecting my advice, I was told at the bank when we decided +to change minimum deposit requirements, we merely posted an announcement. Well +decide and then tell them what weve done. Needless to say, throughout the assistant +secretarys tenure, he never had good relations with the Congress. + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Alfred M. Zuck, Education of Political Appointees, The Bureaucrat 13 +(Fall 1984): 17. Reprinted by permission. + +In contrast to this extreme position, career executives and many others find another +interpretation of the politics-administration issue more appealing. This view holds that +there are important reasons for career executives involvement in policy development +(see Box 6.6). Certainly, career executives have the background and expertise to con +tribute substantially to developing practical and effective public policies. In addition, +these executives are likely to be more effective in implementing policy if they have been +involved in developing it, if they understand the need for policy changes, and if they feel +some sense of ownership of the new policies. + +Political appointees, on the other hand, generally come to government with relatively +little knowledge about their subject matter (at least compared to career bureaucrats) and +certainly with little understanding of how policies are developed in a governmental set +ting. While the average tenure of career civil servants is over thirteen years, political ex +ecutives last an average of only eighteen to twenty-two months. If the stereotype of the +bureaucrat is one of hostility to any change, the stereotype of the political appointee is +someone brash, inexperienced, and intent on quick and flashy change (Lorentzen, +1985, p. 411). + + + +246 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +The Relationship between Political and Career Executives + +Assuming that political appointees and career executives are going to work side by side, +how might their relationship be improved and their work together be made more effec +tive and more responsible? Paul Lorentzen, a former federal executive, summarizes the +major problems in the relationship: + +1. the new political appointees lack of knowledge of and prior experience in the public +sector +2. the need of career staffs to learn about the new leaderships policy goals and directions +3. the joint need of the political appointees and executives to understand each others +perceptions, attitudes, role perspectives, and values (Lorentzen, 1984, p. 8) + +There have been several efforts to define a more effective relationship between political +appointees and career executives. A1 Zuck, a former career official in the Department of +Labor and elsewhere emphasizes the responsibility of the career executive. Zuck writes, +Career executives have a distinct advantage and, therefore, a distinct educational respon +sibility, as it relates to the substantive knowledge of program content and history, as well +as the knowledge of government processes to get things done. They possess invaluable +institutional knowledge which can be of great assistance to political executives (Zuck, +1984, p. 18). Based on this perspective, Zuck makes the following suggestions as to how +the career executive can relate most effectively to the political appointee: + +1. A successful relationship between career executives and political appointees must begin +with the career persons recognition that policy changes can and will occur and that the +career staff will be used as an instrument of change. +2. Career executives need to act professionally; the career executive should offer the best +advice, information, and insight that his or her experience has provided. +3. The career executive must be careful not to be too bureaucratic so bound by proce +dures and processes that nothing gets done. +4. Options or alternative courses of action should be provided to political officials so +they have full and complete information about their various choices. +5. The career executive should expect to have ones advice ignored or rejected. Not only +is it likely that ones advice is not always sound, but also each administration and politi +cal appointee has the right to fail (Zuck, 1984, p. 18). + +There appear to be at least three areas in which further improvements might be made in +the relationship between political appointees and career executives. First, political +appointees must receive the training and orientation they need to effectively manage public +organizations and to work with career executives both in developing and implementing +policies. Second, an exchange of views between political leaders and careerists, including +team-building sessions between politically appointed executives and career executives, may +help to develop greater understanding between the groups and forge more effective work +ing relationships. Third, Congress should reassess the structure of executive management +in government and make whatever structural changes are needed to establish a more +balanced political-career interface. But the basic dilemma continues: the political appointee + + + +Summary and Action Implications 247 + +must make sure that the bureaucracy is responsive to the policy directives of the current +president; the career executive must maintain high standards of professionalism so that the +work of the organization is carried out in the best way possible. + +Summary and Action Implications + +Personnel systems in the public sector have evolved in response to a variety of competing +demands. Much of the earliest personnel legislation at the federal level was directed +toward assuring a neutral and competent bureaucracy protected from the potentially +corrupting influences of politics. More recent efforts have sought greater responsiveness +on the part of the bureaucracy to political leadership. Personnel systems in the public +sectorlike systems of budgeting and financial management reflect important, though +sometimes changing, values. + +The development of merit systems of public employment reflects such concerns. +At the root, policies governing recruitment and classification in the public sector reflect +the fact that public organizations must, by definition, operate in the public interest. +Similar concerns significantly affect the way contemporary issues such as conditions of +employment (for example, drug testing), labor-management relations, and comparable +worth are played out in the public sector. + +As a manager, you must be concerned with recruitment, training, and retention of the +best possible people to work in your organization. You may often feel that public per +sonnel systems and the people who monitor them are simply roadblocks to effective +management. Fortunately, in many jurisdictions, the relationship between manager and +personnel officer is shifting in a more positive direction. + +Personnel managers have been given the responsibility of protecting the merit system +from abuse by maintaining detailed records of personnel transactions and enforcing per +sonnel rules and procedures. Personnel officers have thus often been placed in the posi +tion of exercising control over the activities of program managers. But public personnel +officers, like their private-sector counterparts, have always had another role as well +helping managers employ and utilize personnel effectively. + +Although this service aspect of the personnel officers role has often been treated as a sec +ondary function, there is every reason to believe that the more progressive personnel systems +will increasingly emphasize this aspect. Increasingly, personnel officers are shifting from the +traditional emphasis on compliance to a new emphasis on consultation. In this role, those in +personnel will be available to help with human resource management questions of all kinds; +for example, a personnel specialist might be called in to help develop a productivity improve +ment program or to advise on legal questions. As this new orientation becomes established, +line managers will tend to view the personnel officer more as an ally than as a protagonist. + +Consequently, you are likely to be more effective as a public manager if you are able +to develop a good understanding of the technical details of personnel transactions and +an effective working relationship with the personnel professionals in your agency. The +support of trained experts in the field of personnel management can help improve your +organizations performance and, in turn, its service to the public. + + + +248 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +Terms and Definitions + +Adverse or disparate impact: Criterion for showing that employment practices affect +one group more harshly than another. + +Affirmative action: Use of positive, results-oriented practices to ensure that women, +minorities, handicapped persons, and other protected classes of people will be equi +tably represented in an organization. + +Bargaining unit: The organization that will represent employees in conferring and +negotiating various issues. + +Comparable worth: Notion that men and women in jobs that are not identical but +require similar levels of skill and training should be paid equally. + +Equal employment opportunity: Refers to efforts to eliminate employment discrimi +nation on the basis of race, ethnic background, sex, age, or physical handicap; ensures +that all persons have an equal chance to compete for employment and promotions +based on job qualifications. + +Final-offer arbitration: Technique in which both parties must present their best +offer with the understanding that an arbitrator will choose one or the other with +out modification. + +Job description: A thorough analysis of the work to be done and the capabilities for a +job; typically contains these elements: job title, duties required, responsibilities, and +job qualifications. + +Lateral entry: Entry into government positions at any level. + +Merit pay: Increases in salary and wages that are tied to actual quality of work +performed. + +Merit principle: Concept that selection and treatment of government employees +should be based on merit or competence rather than personal or political favoritism. + +Position classification: Analyzing and organizing jobs on the basis of duties, responsi +bilities, and knowledge and skills required to perform them. + +Rule of three: Provision of most merit systems that requires at least the top three appli +cants names to be forwarded to the hiring official to allow some flexibility in selection. + +Sexual harassment: Any unwarranted and nonreciprocal verbal or physical sexual +advances or derogatory remarks that the recipient finds offensive or that interfere +with his or her job performance. + +Spoils system: The ability to give government jobs to the party faithful; to the victor +belongs the spoils. + +Structured interviews: Those in which a previously developed set of questions is used +with each applicant. + + + +Cases and Exercises 249 + +Unit determination: Decision to include or exclude certain groups in a bargaining unit. + +Whipsaw tactics: Argument that pay or benefits negotiated by one group should be +applied to others. + +Study Questions + +1. To the victor belongs the spoils was a phrase used to define the spoils system for +filling vacancies of government jobs. Discuss the historical use of this system and its +contemporary manifestations. + +2. What was the Pendleton Act, and how did it help to reform federal personnel +procedures? + +3. Explain the basic principles of the civil service system. +4. Discuss some of the basic problems President Carter faced regarding personnel/civil + +service reform. +5. The Civil Service Reform Act provided for various changes in personnel procedures. + +Explain the importance of this legislation and discuss the impact of major provisions +on the civil service system. + +6. What are some of the criticisms of the Civil Service Reform Act? +7. List the steps in recruiting for a government position. +8. Identify various methods of testing and screening applicants. +9. Discuss government methods to combat discrimination in employment activities. + +10. What are some of the tools governments use to ensure compliance with equal +employment opportunity regulations? + +11. Discuss the pros and cons of comparable worth in pay systems. +12. With changing labor-management relations, public unionization has become an issue. + +Explain the factors public managers must recognize to unionize the public sector. +13. Discuss the major components of the bargaining process. +14. Identify arguments against strikes by public employees and give a few examples of + +strikes that have occurred. +15. Discuss the relationship between political appointees and career executives and how + +it might be improved. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Consider the following case: You are Steve Style, a programming director in a large +citys data-processing department. You manage five sections of computer program +mers, each made up of a senior programmer and three to four trainees. The depart +ment generates computer systems for the other city departments, thus requiring you +and your staff to spend a lot of time with the users of the systems. Your staff has a +reputation throughout the city for being highly professional. For some time, your + + + +250 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +boss, Tom Traffic, has been talking about the need to expand the programming staff +by adding a database administrator. + +A few months ago, a new police chief was hired, brought in from another city. In +the past, when a new department head came in, if he or she were married, the spouse +also found a job somewhere in city government. You had heard that the police chiefs +wife has a degree in computer science. On Monday, Tom calls to tell you he has just +hired Muffy Mann as the database administrator in your area. Tom is happy to get +someone with Muffys education and background, which includes working for several +software companies. Tom also tells you that Muffy is the police chiefs wife and that +she will be making more money than any of your current senior programmers. + +Excited about the addition of a database administrator, you go to tell the staff about +the program expansion. Rather than the positive reaction you had expected, they are +quite negative. David Denman, the most experienced programmer, is upset for two rea +sons. First, is she not the police chiefs wife? It sounds to him like a deal was made. +And, second, why did not any of the current staff have a chance to interview for the +new position? Another staff member leaves the meeting grumbling about how much +money Muffy will be making in comparison to the other senior programmers. + +You go back to your office trying to figure out how to deal with this problem. You +are looking forward to having a database administrator, and from what Tom tells you, +Muffy is well qualified. You are concerned about the staffs reaction. You know you will +face an uphill battle to convince the users that Muffy is qualified for the position. + As a practical matter, how does an administration deal with the problem of a + +qualified spouse? + How do you justify to your staff the fact that Muffy is making a higher salary than + +any of them and that they did not have the chance to interview for the position? + How does the personnel office handle this problem in light of the citys civil service + +system? + +SOURCE: The preceding case was provided by Perri Lampe. + +2. Through contacts with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the states personnel +office, and the citys personnel office, learn as much as you can about finding employ +ment in a government agency in your area. Address such questions as + What kinds of positions are typically available? + What should you expect in terms of the salary range for entry at the bachelors or + +masters level? + What benefits and salary increments are associated with these positions? + What is the hiring process (how do you apply; what types of tests or interviews are + +required; who makes the final decision)? +In addition, contact a variety of nonprofit organizations in your community or a + +representative of the American Society of Association Executives to discuss career +possibilities in the nonprofit sector. Make your report available to students on campus +through your academic department and through your schools placement center. + +3. Obtain a copy of your schools policy (or policies) on sexual harassment regarding +administrators, faculty, staff, and students. Based on conversations with knowledgeable + + + +Cases and Exercises 2J1 + +faculty and other school officials, as well as your own reading and research, analyze the +policy in terms of the following questions: + Does the policy define sexual harassment in terms that are generally understandable? + Does the policy specify particular types of actions that will be considered harassment? + Are there clearly defined procedures through which charges of harassment can be + +brought and heard? + Are there specific penalties, including dismissal from the school, for prohibited actions? + Has the policy been employed in actual cases with success? + Does the policy act as a deterrent to sexual harassment? + Are there training programs or other educational materials available to help admin + +istrators, faculty, and students understand the issue of sexual harassment specifically +and gender sensitivity more generally? + + What would you suggest to strengthen, to clarify, or to more easily enforce the policy? + +SOURCE: The preceding exercise was adapted from material provided by Charles Sampson of the +University of Missouri-Columbia. + +4. Form small groups to complete the following exercise. +You have just accepted membership on the Energy Resources Commission + +Recruitment (ERC) Task Force. This task force was recently created by the newly +elected governor. The purpose of the task force is to develop recruitment strategies to +staff the ERC, which has just been established to fulfill the following functions: + Determine the future energy needs for the state. + Develop strategies to meet these needs. + Provide technical assistance to the public utilities and agencies involved in meeting + +these needs. +Special recruitment problems are anticipated because this is a completely new + +agency that will require a significant number of professional and technical personnel. +The task force has been charged with the responsibility for developing specific action +plans to recruit the required personnel over the next three years. The ERC will require +approximately 250 employees by the end of this three-year period, in the following +categories: + +1. management and management staff (50 employees) +2. clerical support staff (65 employees) +3. professional/technical personnel (100 employees) +4. blue-collar/maintenance-type personnel (35 employees) + +Factors that may or may not complicate the recruitment effort include the following: +1. The primary sources of employment in the state are in agriculture, mining, and + +transportation. +2. The population of the state totals 10 million, but almost 40 percent of the popu + +lation resides in a single upstate metropolitan district. +3. The political environment has traditionally been characterized by conflict + +between upstate Democrats and downstate Republicans. +4. This political competition has produced extensive reliance on patronage as the + +means for staffing most public agencies. + + + +2J2 Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +5. Control of state government has just shifted to the Republicans after twelve years +of Democratic control, but one of the new governors major campaign promises +was to professionalize the personnel system and expand civil service coverage to +most state employees. + +6. During the campaign, the governor also committed himself to hiring within the +state whenever possible. + +7. The state is currently involved in two employment discrimination lawsuits: one +brought by the National Organization for Women, and the other by the NAACR + +8. Racial minorities compose 15 percent of the population, but most of these indi +viduals reside in the upstate metropolitan area. + +9. Of the total state workforce, 22 percent are women and 4 percent are classified +minority. + +10. The unemployment rate for the state is 12 percent, but most of the unemployed +reside in the upstate area. + +11. The unemployment rate by occupational class is as follows: 18 percent blue-col +lar, 7 percent white-collar, and 3 percent professional/technical. + +12. The unemployment rate for minorities is 21 percent, and the rate for women is +16 percent. + +13. Public-sector unionization is in its early stages of development in the state. +Unions are competing for membership and becoming more and more militant. +A key demand, which is currently before the legislature, is to establish an union +shop for public utility employees. + +14. Citizens groups and professional associations actively lobbied for the creation of +the ERC. + +15. The ERC is being partially funded by a federal grant-in-aid program that, in ad +dition to requiring 50 percent matching funds from the state, also requires estab +lishment of a merit system to ensure nondiscrimination in employment. + +The task force is to design a specific recruitment strategy to meet all the staffing +needs of the new Energy Resources Commission. Besides paying particular interest +to the characteristics delineated above, you might also consider the following in your +deliberations: + +1. Need and approach for determining the commissions specific staffing requirements +2. Characteristics of the labor market geographically and by occupational field +3. Level and availability of the states labor resources +4. Extent of search process for candidates geographically and occupationally; type + +of institutions/organizations/agencies to be covered in recruitment process +5. Qualification standards (education, training, work experience, residency, physical + +characteristics, and so on) that should be required for each occupational category +in the commission + +6. Implications of these standards for the recruitment effort +7. Selection devices (tests, practical or aptitude type; credentials examination; + +interviews, and so on) and their effect on recruitment +8. Whether recruitment should be for specific jobs, or for a career (and the + +implication of this decision for qualification standards, selection devices, and +so on) + + + +For Additional Reading 253 + +9. Recruitment approaches for each occupational category; for example, job announce +ments, written brochures and materials, recruitment visits (and institutions that will +be covered, if any), use of professional/collegial contacts (whose?), and so on + +10. Consideration of the factors to emphasize to prospective candidates (that is, what +would be the attractive aspects of a job/career in this agency in this locale) + +For Additional Reading + +Beaumont, P. B. Human Resource Management: Key Concepts and Skills. Newbury +Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1993. + +Capozzoli, Thomas, and R. Steven McVey. Managing Violence in the Workplace. +Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1996. + +Cayer, N. Joseph. Public Personnel Administration in the United States. 2d ed. +New York: St. Martins Press, 1986. + +Coleman, Charles J. Managing Labor Relations in the Public Sector. San Francisco: +Jossey-Bass, 1990. + +Cooper, Phillip J., Linda P. Brady, Olivia Hidalgo-Lardeman, Albert Hyde, Katherine C. +Naff, Steven Ott, and Harvey White. Public Administration for the Twenty-First +Century. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998. + +Dresang, Dennis L. Public Personnel Management and Public Policy. Dallas, TX: +Pearson Publications, 1999. + +Farnham, David. Managing People in the Public Service. Basingstoke: Macmillan +Business, 1996. + +Goldstein, Irwin L. Training in Organizations: Seeds Assessment, Development, and +Evaluation. 3d ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1993. + +Guy, Mary E., ed. Women and Men of the States. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1992. +Huddleston, Mark, and William Boyer. The Higher Civil Service in the United States. + +Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996. +Ingraham, Patricia, and Ban, Carolyn, eds. Legislating Bureaucratic Change: The Civil + +Service Reform Act of 1978. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984. +Jackson, Susan E., ed. Diversity in the Workplace: Human Resource Initiatives. + +New York Guilford Press, 1992. +Kearney, Richard C. Public Sector Performance Management, Motivation and + +Measurement. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000. +Klingner, Donald E., and John Nalbandian. Public Personnel Management. 4th ed. + +Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1997. +Lane, Larry M., and James F. Wolf. The Human Resource Crisis in the Public Sector: + +Rebuilding the Capacity to Govern. New York: Quorum Books, 1990. +Maranto, Robert, and David Shultz. A Short History of the United States Civil Service. + +Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1991. +National Academy of Public Administration. Modernizing Federal Classification: + +An Opportunity for Excellence. Washington, DC: National Academy, 1991. + + + +Chapter 6 The Management of Human Resources + +Nigro, Lloyd G., and Felix A. Nigro. The New Public Personnel'Administration. 4th ed. +Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers, 1993. + +Risher, Howard, Charles H. Fay et al. New Strategies for Public Pay. San Francisco: +Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997. + +Robinson, Dana Gaines, and James C. Robinson. Performance Consulting. San Francisco: +Berrett Koehler Publishers, 1995. + +Selden, Sally Coleman. The Promise of Representative Bureaucracy. Armonk, NY: M. E. +Sharpe, 1997. + +Shafritz, Jay M., Albert C. Hyde, and David H. Rosenbloom. Personnel Management in +Government: Politics and Process. 4th ed. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1991. + +Sloane, Arthur A., and Fred Witney. Labor Relations. 8th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: +Prentice-Hall, 1994. + +Sylvia, Ronald D. Critical Issues in Public Personnel Policy. Pacific Grove, CA: +Brooks/Cole, 1989. + +Thompson, Frank J. Classics of Public Personnel Policy. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, +1991. + + + +Chapter 7 + +Planning, Implementation, +and Evaluation + +Developing policies and programs, putting them into operation, and measuring their +success or failure constitute an important and recurring cycle for public and nonprofit +managers. A new monitoring program is initiated in the Balkans. To support that policy +the U.S. Navy organizes a fleet of vessels to patrol those waters, while political and +military leaders assess the operation and decide what to do next. Similarly, a new policy +involves sending literature on AIDS to all households in the United States. A group in +the surgeon generals office is convened to monitor the operation. Both the efficiency of +getting the mailing out and its effectiveness as an educational device are discussed. +Meanwhile, a local parks and recreation department joins with nonprofit organizations +to develop a program for handicapped athletes. After staff and money are acquired to +support the program and it begins operations, the department director asks whether the +program is worth the time and energy it seems to be taking from other tasks. Repeatedly, +plans are made, policies and programs are implemented, and the work of the organiza +tion is evaluated. + +Recently these issues have taken on increased importance as managers in the public +and nonprofit sectors have been asked to do more with less, while at the same time pro +viding more and better services. This has led many to call for managing for results, that +is, clearly stating goals and objectives in terms of public outcomes, designing and imple +menting programs, then measuring the performance of the government or other agency +against established standards. The idea of managing for results or performance manage +ment suggests the importance of bringing together careful planning, implementation, and +evaluation. + +While planning, implementation, and evaluation all require knowledge of the political +and ethical context of public administration and certain personal and interpersonal +skills, various technical aids have been developed during the past decade to assist the +manager in each of the three areas. These techniques range from strategic planning +to specific quantitative methods for measuring performance. Moreover, these techniques +reflect a change in the way public and nonprofit organizations account for their actions. +Citizens, lawmakers, and other advocacy groups increasingly hold agencies accountable +not only for their efficiency in expending public and charitable resources but also their +effectiveness in achieving public outcomes. Techniques such as strategic planning, reengi +neering, and performance measurement link the actions of public and nonprofit orga +nizations with specific, measurable results. Through the use of such techniques, public + +*5 5 + + + +256 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +administrators may account both for their efforts arrd for the impact their efforts have in +each given policy area. + +Networking + +The General Accounting Office Web site at http://www.gao.gov provides resources +relating to managing for results. For additional resources on productivity and +performance management, see the Center for Accountability and Performance at +http://www.aspanet.org/cap/index.html or the American Productivity and Quality +Center at http://www.apqc.org/. + +Planning + +On a daily basis, all managers engage in planning. But organizations, and indeed entire +governments, engage in more formal planning processes, often involving a wide range of +participants and the development of considerable data and other information. Planning +typically leads to the development of alternative courses of action that must each be +examined to decide which way to go. Depending on the level of the problem, the process +of examining and choosing from among alternatives may involve the manager in either +policy analysis or program design. + +Strategic Planning + +Strategic planning is one approach that has been increasingly employed in the public and +nonprofit sectors. A number of writers have commented on the rapidity of the social and +technological changes we are now experiencing and on the turbulence and complexity +that such changes generate. In an effort to recognize and respond to such changes many +private corporations began programs in the 1960s and 1970s to systematically plan for +future development. The success of these programs is now confirmed by the fact that +more than half of publicly traded companies use strategic planning in some form. + +Strategic planning helps an organization match its objectives and capabilities to the +anticipated demands of the environment to produce a plan of action that will ensure +achievement of objectives. William Glucek (1980, p. 9) points out that a strategy is a plan +that is unified (ties all the parts of the enterprise together), comprehensive (covers all +aspects of the enterprise), and integrated (all parts are compatible with one another and +fit together well). Similarly, Robert Shirley (1982, p. 262) writes that strategy (1) defines +the relationship of the total organization to its environment and (2) gives guidance to +administrative and operational activities on an ongoing basis. + + + +Strategic Planning 257 + +We can differentiate strategic planning from more familiar long-range planning activi +ties in several ways. Long-range planning primarily concerns establishing goals or perfor +mance objectives over a period of time; it is less concerned with specific steps that must be +undertaken to achieve those goals. Strategic planning, on the other hand, implies that a +series of action steps will be developed as part of the planning process and that these steps +will guide the organizations activities in the immediate future. Strategic planning takes +the future into account, but in such a way as to improve present decisions. + +A second way that strategic planning differs from long-range planning is its special +attention to environmental complexity. The organization is not assumed to exist in a vac +uum; rather, both the organizations objectives and the steps to achieve them are seen in +the context of the resources and constraints presented by the organizations environment. + +A final distinction between the two types of planning is that strategic planning, espe +cially in the public sector, is a process that must involve many individuals at many levels. +As most managers know quite well, effective changes in organizational practices are most +readily accomplished by involving all those who will be affected by the change. This +general rule is especially applicable to changes generated through a process of strategic +planning. + +Public organizations undertake strategic planning efforts for many reasons: (1) to give +clarity and direction to the organization, (2) to choose from among competing goals and +activities, (3) to cope with expected shifts in the environment, and (4) to bring together +the thoughts and ideas of all participants in the work of the organization. Most impor +tantly, planning activities provide an opportunity for the widespread involvement of +leaders and citizens in defining the direction of the community or the agency as it moves +into the future, thus building trust and commitment. + +Planning for Planning + +As a manager, you may wonder whether such activities are appropriate for your jurisdic +tion or agency. Whatever your workat any level of government or in a nonprofit organi +zation you will find precedents for planning. Many federal, state, and local agencies +have begun strategic planning programs over the past several years, as have voluntary +associations, human service organizations, and job training programs. The key seems to be +that any organization is a candidate for strategic planning if, by allocation of resources, it +can significantly influence either formulation or implementation of public policy. + +You may, of course, question whether strategic planning is worth the costs in terms of +consultant fees, research and data analysis, and time away from other duties. The best +gauges for assessing costs are (1) is it likely that careful planning will lead to reduced +operating costs or increased productivity over the long run? and (2) what might the +organization lose in the absence of a more comprehensive and integrated approach to +the future? + +The latter question has become increasingly important to those in local governments, +who now realize that they must compete with other communities in attracting industry, +providing amenities, and maintaining the population base. The issue, however, must be +treated differently when an administrative agency such as a state government department + + + +25 8 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +is considering planning. Although strategic planning might make the agency more com +petitive in attracting resources from the executive or legislature, this clearly should not +be the purpose of planning. Rather, the agency should use strategic planning to involve +key stakeholders in assessing the units work and the possibilities for improving its ser +vices (Ackoff, 1981). The process may indeed lead to requests for further funding, but +it may also suggest ways to more effectively utilize existing resources or even ways to +reduce the scope of activities. + +You may also question, because of budgetary uncertainties, whether the time is right +for planning activities. Some say that planning can not take place without solid informa +tion about funding levels. But the opposite argument is compellingthat planning is +most essential in times of uncertainty, for these are exactly the times when you most +need to be in control of your own destiny. Times of uncertainty do not mitigate the need +for planning; they intensify it. + +Managers in the public sector voice a related argumentthat periodic changes in +political leadership make planning more difficult than in private industry. Again, the +opposite argument is compelling: in times of transition, planning can provide continuity. +Even when the new leadership wishes to change the directions specified in an earlier +planning effort, changes can be made with greater clarity and aimed more readily toward +critical concerns if a plan is in place. + +Finally, you may wonder whether strategic planning efforts are consistent with your +organizations commitment to democratic or participatory processes. Here lies the most +significant difference between strategic planning in the public and private sectors. +Whereas planning in the private sector may involve many people throughout an organi +zation, it remains centered and directed at the top, because that is where the private +interests of the firm are most clearly articulated. In the public sector, however, every +effort must be made to significantly involve all those who play an important role in the +jurisdiction or the agency. For example, a local government planning effort should +involve not only elected leadership and city staff, but also many others with a stake in +the outcome unions, neighborhood associations, chambers of commerce, civic orga +nizations, and so forth. Similarly, a state government agencys planning effort should +involve persons from all levels of the organization, members of constituent groups, +elected officials, persons from other agencies and other levels of government, and repre +sentatives of the general citizenry. + +Strategic planning in the public sector must be a highly participatory process, but this +participation opens the possibility of building new understanding among various groups. +Many communities that have engaged in strategic planning have found that the process +brought together various groups in a way not previously possible. Strategic planning +may therefore be undertaken to achieve both direction and commitment. + +Organizing for Planning + +The planning process can proceed in a number of different ways, but the most common +approach is to form a central planning group to work closely with an outside consul +tant to obtain information and make commitments to various new directions. In a local +community, the group might include the citys political leadership; representatives of city + + + +Strategic Planning 259 + +administration (for example, the city manager); representatives of business, industry, and +labor; members of neighborhood associations; and so on. For a federal or state agency, +on the other hand, the major planning group might comprise the agency director, man +agers from the next organizational level below, and selected program directors. The +planning group in a nonprofit organization might include the executive director, mem +bers of the board, staff members, and representatives of constituent groups. + +Steps in Planning + +Once it has been brought together, the planning group will want to give its attention to +four primary concerns: (1) the organizations mission or objectives, (2) an assessment of +the environment in terms of both opportunities and constraints, (3) an examination of +the organizations existing strengths and weaknesses, and (4) the values, interests, and +aspirations of those important to the organizations future (see Box 7.1). Consideration +of these issues will lead to several strategic alternatives, perhaps stated as scenarios for +the future, and to the choice of a particular direction in which the organization should +move. Finally, a set of action steps or implementation items will be developed to indicate +what must be done immediately to put the organization in the proper position to face +the future most effectively. + +Mission or Objectives + +Arriving at a concise, yet inclusive, statement of the mission of the organization is a dif +ficult step in the planning process. Although most organizations have a general sense of +their mission, questions often arise that cannot be readily answered in terms of stated +objectives. Having a specific mission statement, however, provides an identity for the +organization, as well as a guideline for future decisions and a standard against which to +measure specific actions. + +Because arriving at a mission statement may imply certain strategies, care should +be taken to consider alternative approaches to the organizations goals. A statement of +mission might indicate, for instance, whether a city wishes to seek a broad industrial +base or focus on particular types of businesses, such as tourism or high-tech industries. +Similarly, a university mission statement might indicate whether the institution seeks a +broad range of programs in all areas or a limited number of exceedingly high-quality + +BOX 7.1 + +Steps in Strategic Planning + +1. Statement of mission +2. Environmental analysis +3. Strengths and weaknesses +4. Values of organizational leaders +5. Development of alternative strategies + + + +i6o Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +programs. The mission statement of a state agency might comment on the desired range +of clientele, responsiveness to changes in the environment, or quality of service. If there +is doubt or debate about items, they should be carried forward as elements of strategy +for later consideration. + +Environmental Analysis + +After developing a mission statement, the planning group should move to an analysis of +the environment within which the organization operates. This assessment should include +legal and political considerations, social and cultural trends, economic circumstances, +technological developments, and, where appropriate, the organizations competitive or +market position. Each area should be examined in terms of the present environment and +how it is likely to change in the future. This assessment leads the group toward identify +ing possibilities for reducing constraints and extending opportunities. + +Strengths and Weaknesses + +At this point, the planning group can turn its attention toward assessing the organi +zations existing capabilitiesits strengths and weaknesses. The analysis should be as +forthright and inclusive as possible, taking into account financial resources (including +changing patterns of funding), human resources (including political and managerial +strengths and weaknesses), the operation of both technical and organizational systems, +and quality of work. This assessment of capabilities should relate as directly as possible +to the stated mission of the organization. For example, an agency involved in facilities +design and construction might want to consider the age and condition of facilities, the +number and abilities of architects and engineers, the number and frequency of design +projects, and the units standing among other similar organizations. Examining strengths +and weaknesses should be accompanied by some attention to programs that might sig +nificantly improve capabilities in one or more areas. + +Values of Organizational Leaders + +A final step in preparing to develop strategic alternatives is to take into account the val +ues, interests, and aspirations of those who will guide the organization into the future. +People will respond to the same environmental and organizational analysis in different +ways. In business, for example, some will be perfectly satisfied with the security of a sta +ble market share, while others will be willing to take greater risks in the hope of greater +payoffs. Leaders vary in terms of creativity, energy, and commitment. Yet to effectively +implement a plan, it must reflect the concerns and interests of those who will play major +roles in shaping the future of the organization. + +Development of Alternative Strategies + +At this point, the planning group can move to formulate alternative strategies. These +strategies can take several forms; however, one useful way to proceed is to draw up alter +native scenarios of the future, indicating what the organization might look like five, ten, + + + +Strategic Planning z6i + +or twenty years into the future. The scenarios should indicate new directions the orga +nization might take; pessimistic, realistic, and optimistic interpretations of its future; and +factors likely to influence these future patterns. It is helpful to develop more than one +scenario, then use them as competing viewpoints from which to debate the merits of +various alternatives. From a thorough discussion of the scenarios, one or more strategies +will emerge. The strategy should be chosen that most effectively moves the organization +toward its mission, given environmental opportunities and constraints, organizational +strengths and weaknesses, and the values, interests, and aspirations of the leadership. +After developing the strategic orientation, the planning group should be pressed to iden +tify specific action steps for implementing the strategy. A local job-training program, +for example, went through an extensive planning exercise involving thorough analysis +of environmental opportunities and constraints as well as organizational strengths +and weaknesses. Based on the information developed, and especially on expectations of +future funding patterns, the programs directors chose to de-emphasize subsidies for +local businesses to employ those without work and to try for longer-term benefits +through skills training and job preparation. + +The Logic of Policy Analysis + +One possible outcome of a formal planning process is that the need for new policies will +be identified. (The need for new policies can be generated in other ways as well, many of +which we discussed in Chapter 2.) A local group considering economic development +issues might recognize the need for new tax incentives for industries interested in locat +ing in the community. A state welfare department planning group might focus on the +relationship between providing day care and job training. Or a nonprofit organization +might decide there is a need for a new publications program. In each case, a problem is +identified and the question arises as to whether a new approach to the problema new +policymight help. + +Many issues may come up. Exactly what is the nature of the problem? What would +we be trying to achieve with the new policy? What might be alternative approaches? +What might we expect from each alternative? What criteria would we use to evaluate +alternatives? Which alternative would best meet our criteria? Answering questions like +these is the basis of analysis of public policies. We can therefore define policy analysis +as the process of researching or analyzing public problems to give policy makers specific +information about the range of available policy options and the advantages and dis +advantages of various approaches. There are several ways you might become involved +in policy analysis. All managers engage almost daily in a sort of informal analysis of +public policies; they encounter new problems and consider alternative policies. But often +a more formal review of policy options is called for. Sometimes staff members can do the +analysis; many public organizations employ policy analysts to work on just such prob +lems. In other cases, another governmental agency may be able to help; for example, the +Office of Management and Budget, as well as its counterparts in many states, develops +policy reports. Policy analysis might also be performed by legislative staff or legis +lative research groups. Finally, many analyses are performed by consultants, including + + + +z6z Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +university consultants, where the public manager acts as a client, issues the contract, +monitors the work, and receives the final report. Even though, as a manager, you may +perform the analysis yourself, you must be able to distinguish between high-quality +analysis and work of limited usefulness. + +Broadly speaking, most policy analyses attempt to follow a rational model of decision +making, involving five major steps: formulating the problem, establishing criteria for +evaluation, developing policy alternatives, considering the expected impact of the vari +ous alternatives, and ranking the alternatives according to the established criteria (see +Box 7.2). As a simple illustration, think about how you might decide what would be the +best route from home to work (Quade, 1989, pp. 33-34). If we assume at the outset that +the best route is the shortest, then we could simply lay out the alternative routes on a +map and select the shortest. (Using a map would in effect create a model that would help +in our analysis.) As in almost all policy analyses, however, there may be more than one +criterion involved. For example, the shortest route might involve more traffic and take +longer to drive. The shortest travel time might then constitute a second criterion, but +would require a more sophisticated model than a map, taking into account traffic con +gestion and perhaps other variables. Just thinking through the various complications +that might arise in this simple example, you can get some sense of the difficulties you +might encounter in moving through the five stages of a more comprehensive policy +analysis. + +Problem Definition + +There are many problems facing any public organization and, correspondingly, many +opportunities to analyze policy alternatives. Someone, however, must decide about the +problem to be analyzed and about how the analysis will proceed. This someonethe +sponsor of the analysismay be a legislator, an elected chief executive, or an agency +manager. But, in any case, the one who will perform the analysis the analystshould +seek as clear a statement of the problem as possible and as much information about the +nature of the problem and the range of solutions. Why has the problem surfaced? Who +is affected? How does this problem relate to similar problems? What policy options have +already been tried? What is the range of policies that would be feasible, both economi +cally and politically? What resources are available to support the analysis? + +BOX 7.2 + +Steps in Policy Analysis + +1. Problem definition +2. Setting objectives and criteria +3. Developing alternatives +4. Analyzing various policies +5. Ranking and choice + + + +Strategic Planning 263 + +How the question is initially formulated will guide the analyst toward certain pos +sibilities and away from others, so it is important at the outset to be as clear as possi +ble, without unnecessarily cutting off alternatives. The sponsor might ask, for example, +How can we provide adequate shelter for the homeless in our community this winter? +This statement of the issue permits exploring alternatives ranging from subsidizing exist +ing shelters to building new shelters. If, however, certain options, such as building new +shelters, are clearly out of the question by reason of time or money, then the analyst +should be advised of these limitations. + +Sometimes the problem is only vaguely understood at the outset, and part of the ana +lysts job is to develop a background statement or issue paper formulating the problem. +In some cases, gathering information at the library will be helpful, especially in laying +out the history of the problem, discovering approaches used in other jurisdictions, and +in becoming aware of technical developments in the field. Additionally, the analyst may +want to talk with other people, perhaps in other jurisdictions, to see what their expe +rience has taught them. People in other governments, other levels of government, and +other agencies at the same level can be helpful. The analyst can also gather information +from those involved. In our example, the analyst would probably want to talk with +those already involved in providing shelter. A statistical survey might even be possible. +Finally, agency records and statistics might be helpful. Throughout these initial informa +tion-gathering efforts, the analyst wants to develop an idea of how different people and +different groups perceive the problem and possible solutions. + +Setting Objectives and Criteria + +As we have seen, establishing objectives for a new policy or criteria for judging alternatives +is often quite difficult. In some rare agencies, the existing values and preferences are clear +enough to guide choices. The manager might be able to say, Its worth much more to +our agency to achieve result A than result B, C, or D. Therefore, whenever the choice pre +sents itself, choose A. But in most policy areas, there are likely to be multiple and often +conflicting objectives. To route a highway through an urban area, for example, one must +consider factors such as the cost of the project, how many and who might use the highway, +the number of houses and other properties that might be displaced, and the impact of +noise and pollution on adjacent neighborhoods. How does one begin to rank all the +factors? + +There are other problems in selecting criteria. For example, criteria may differ among +different levels of the organization. A constant problem for decision makers is to be sure +that criteria used at one level are consistent with those at another level. A particular +course of action might fit the criteria developed at one level, but so distort the use of +resources at the next higher level as to make the choice inappropriate. Criteria must +also be stated as completely as possible. An analyst might be told to seek a solution that +maximizes output at minimum cost, then discover that no single alternative can meet +both criteria. Which is more important? + +Finally, choosing criteria depends on individual perspective. Most policy areas have +many different stakeholdersmany different people who are involved in the policy deci +sion and affected by the result. These may include legislators, agency personnel, client + + + +Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +groups, and other interest groups, and each group may feel quite differently about what +is most important. In the design of a new highway, for example, a neighborhood associa +tion might place highest value on environmental concerns, while someone who lives in +the suburbs might be most concerned with finding the shortest, quickest route to work. +Many different criteria are likely to compete for prominence in any policy analysis. And, +often, which criteria receive greatest prominence is a political decision of legislators or +high-ranking administrators. + +Developing Alternatives + +Developing alternative policies is without question the most creative phase of policy +analysis, for it is here that the analyst must move beyond easy solutions and develop +innovative approaches to public problems. Different alternatives often derive from differ +ent assumptions about the problem. For example, should the welfare system be oriented +toward providing support at home for impoverished mothers or should it enable mothers +to work by providing day care? Should day care be addressed by building new centers or +by providing tax credits or vouchers to subsidize attendance at existing centers? Answers +to questions about alternative approaches to child support depend on interpretation of +both the causes of poverty and the motivations of the mothers. To develop a complete +range of alternatives, the analyst must assume the perspectives of many different stake +holders. + +Another way to develop far-ranging alternatives is to consider the relationship +between the particular problem and other similar issues. For example, adequate care for +the homeless ties to issues of health care, financial support for housing, welfare policy, +and perhaps such areas as mental health and Social Security. Again, alternatives that +take the various interrelated concerns into account are likely to be generated if the ana +lyst takes into account the views of many different stakeholders. Rather than saying, +How can my organization solve this problem? the analyst should ask, How can this +problem be solved? + +Analyzing Various Policies + +Having generated a number of realistic policy alternatives, the analyst must now assess +the likely impact each alternative will have. How one analyzes impacts will vary accord +ing to the particular type of policy. In some policy areas, including some of major impor +tance, only limited information about possible impacts will be available. The analyst +can only make intuitive judgments based on his or her experience and the experience of +others. In other cases, however, one can gather specific data and analyze it by means +of quantitative techniques. In the urban highway example, data could be gathered and +analyzed to determine cost per mile, load-bearing capabilities, travel time for users, and +a variety of other factors. + +Occasionally, actual experiments with several policy options may be possible, some +times with an experimental design similar to that used in the natural sciences. That is, +the behavior of a particular target population may be compared to that of a control +group when only one variable (the policy) is changed. Applied to large-scale social prob +lems, such experiments may be quite costly, but they may also save considerable time + + + +Strategic Planning 2 65 + +and money in the long run. Sometimes it is appropriate to spend millions to save bil +lions. (We should also note the ethical problems associated with providing a treatment +expected to be beneficial to one group, but intentionally denying it to another control +group. Is it ethical to deny some persons a treatment you think will be beneficial?) + +A less formal means of policy experimentation occurs when one state or locality tries +a particular policy approach and makes the results available to other communities. +Sometimes this form of experimentation is simply the result of different groups trying +different programs, but sometimes it is conscious. When state and local groups pressured +the Carter administration to move the administration of the small cities portion of the +Community Development Block Grant program to the states, two statesWisconsin +and Kentuckywere asked to run the program on an experimental basis. Their success +in tailoring programs to local needs led to legislation allowing all other states to assume +administration of the program (Jennings, Krane, Pattakos, & Reed, 1986). + +Ranking and Choice + +The final step in the analytic process is to compare the impacts associated with various +alternatives and the criteria for evaluation established earlier. (We will discuss policy +and organizational decision making in Chapter 8.) Alternatives can then be ranked in +terms of their respective impacts. When both the criteria and the impact levels are fairly +straightforward, a simple comparison of possible effects may readily show which choice +should be made; other cases may be more complex. The highway construction example, +for instance, might yield three or four alternative proposals and as many as twenty crite +ria by which to evaluate the alternatives. One way to treat such cases is to simply lay out +the expected results of each alternative in terms of the various criteria, leaving the task +of comparing the data and ranking the alternatives to the decision maker. Sometimes +more sophisticated quantitative techniques are available to the analyst. + +Costs and Benefits + +One of the most straightforward quantitative techniques is the cost-effectiveness +approach, which permits analysts to compare and advocate policies by quantifying +their total costs and effects (Dunn, 1981, p. 250). Costs are usually measured in mone +tary terms, but effects may be measured in units of any type. + +Typically, the cost-effectiveness approach takes one of two forms. First, the level of +effectiveness can be fixed, and one can search for the alternative that achieves this level +at the least cost. If, for example, we want to increase the number of houses in a commu +nity tested for radon by 25 percent, would it be cheaper to hire inspectors or to spend +money on advertising so that homeowners would do the inspection themselves? A sec +ond approach fixes the budget amount, then asks which alternative will provide the +highest level of effectiveness for that amount. If we want to spend no more than $50,000 +a year on radon inspections, which of our two approaches will result in a higher number +of inspections? + +The cost-effectiveness model is widely used because it is quite flexible and does not +demand the same degree of precision as other approaches. Cost-effectiveness is especially + + + +i66 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +useful when the relative merits of competing proposals, such as different child-care deliv +ery mechanisms, are being debated. It is not as useful in comparing questions of absolute +merits, however, such as whether to allocate resources to early childhood programs or +to radon testing. Moreover, the cost-effectiveness approach may be somewhat limited +where criteria and impacts are more complex. + +A closely related approach is cost-benefit analysis. Essentially, the cost-benefit approach +involves identifying and quantifying both negative impacts (costs) and positive impacts +(benefits) of a proposal, then subtracting one from the other to arrive at a measure of +net benefit. In contrast to cost-effectiveness analysis, the cost-benefit approach seeks +to establish both the total monetary costs and total monetary benefits of a proposal +(Dunn, 1981, p. 244). The logic of cost-benefit analysis is obvious, but applying it to policy +proposals that involve large expenditures and produce difficult-to-measure results can be +quite complicated. + +There are several advantages to cost-benefit analysis (Sylvia, Meier, & Gunn, 1985, +pp. 48-49). If programs can be evaluated in terms of costs and benefits, the approach +can result in rather precise recommendations. But even if it is difficult to calculate costs +or benefits, focusing on the two areas may help clarify the managers thinking about a +proposal. Legislation often requires that cost-benefit analysis precede particular policy +changes, especially in environmental or regulatory policy. + +Several factors make it difficult to assess the costs and benefits of a particular pro +gram. First, the analyst will be asked to come up with measures of both costs and bene +fits and reduce them to a common unit of measure (usually money). But in analyzing a +proposed new highway, can we accurately portray the fatality rate for similar highway +segments as a measure of safety? And, if so, how can we translate the rate of fatalities +into dollars? Second, we should always remember that the final calculated cost-benefit +ratio is not the only basis for choosing one alternative over another. Despite the ratio of +costs and benefits in our highway example, a particular level of fatalities may simply be +considered too high, either politically or ethically. + +Typically, costs are thought of as inputs and benefits as outputs. Costs might include +one-time items such as research and development, buildings and facilities, land acqui +sition, equipment purchases, and so on, and recurring budgetary items such as person +nel, rent, maintenance, administrative overhead, insurance, and so forth. Because these +expenditures take place over time, calculations usually take into account the time value +of moneythe fact that people generally are not as willing to pay for something in +the future as in the present. Although the particular calculations are beyond the scope of +this text, taking time into account enables us to answer questions such as whether +Project A with low initial cost but high maintenance is better than Project B with high +initial cost but low maintenance. + +Benefits, based on outputs, include both positive and negative effects. (The nega +tive effects of a program might be calculated either as increases in cost or decreases +in benefits. They are usually the latter.) Positive benefits might include reduction in +disease or improved drinking water or increased highway safety; negative benefits +might include increased noise and pollution from constructing a new airport. Again, +some effort to translate positive or negative benefits into monetary terms would have +to be made. + + + +Strategic Planning 267 + +Measuring outputs and translating them into dollars are exceedingly difficult tasks. For +example, eliminating a disease might increase productivity, which could be measured, but +also reduce pain and suffering, which would be more difficult to measure. Omitting these +factors because they are hard to measure biases the analysis, but assigning a dollar value +to them might do the same. Consequently, the quantitative presentation of costs and ben +efits is often accompanied by an explanation of additional qualitative considerations. + +Other Quantitative Techniques + +In addition to cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses, there are many other tech +niques to aid policy analysis. It is not necessary to examine the mathematical formulas, +but it is helpful to understand the logic they depend on. Let us examine the following +payoff matrices with that goal in mind. Assume a simple example: hiring an office worker +who will need proficiency in computer operation and budgeting. After interviewing two +applicants, A and B, you feel that A is stronger than B in both areas. Your thoughts might +be modeled like this: + +Value Measures + +Possible actions Computers Budgeting + +Choose A 1 1 +Choose B 2 2 + +Your choice here is simple, because one candidate is clearly superior in both respects. +But what if your decision appears to be structured like this: + +Value Measures + +Possible actions Computers Budgeting + +Choose A 1 2 +Choose B 2 1 + +Now there is no clear choice. Even if you thought computer skills were more impor +tant than budgeting skills, you could not choose, because candidate A might be a little +better with computers, but candidate B may be much better in budgeting. To decide, you +need either more sophisticated measures of ability or a way to weight the two factors, as +we do in our next example: + +Computers Budgeting Combination + +Choose A .9 .3 .8 +Choose B .5 .8 .6 +Weight .7 .3 + + + +268 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +Here we are assuming that we can measure ability in the two areas on a ten-point +scale and that we have established that computer skills are more important than budget +ing skills. By multiplying the scores by the weights, we obtain a combined value measure +for the two candidates, thus enabling us to choose the better candidate. (This example is +adapted from Latane, 1963.) + +We could extend the logic of the payoff matrix even further. One way is to combine +scores under differing working conditions. Indeed, following the logic of the payoff +matrix, we could accommodate large numbers of weighted variables, as might be invol +ved in a large-scale policy analysis; the logic remains much the same. Remember that one +can adopt different decision rules and that the choice of criteria is subjective. + +Another tool of policy analysis is decision analysis, a technique for use where deci +sions are likely to be made sequentially and with some degree of uncertainty. Decision +analysis is applicable to a variety of complex problems, such as choosing airport sites +or developing plans for commercial breeder reactors, but the underlying logic is fairly +straightforward and often quite helpful. Consider the following case: + +The officer in charge of a United States Embassy recreation program has decided to +replenish the employees club funds by arranging a dinner. It rains nine days out of +ten at the post, and he must decide whether to hold the dinner indoors or out. An +enclosed pavilion is available but uncomfortable, and past experience has shown +turnout to be low at indoor functions, resulting in a 60 percent chance of gaining +$100 from a dinner held in the pavilion and a 40 percent chance of losing $20. On +the other hand, an outdoor dinner could be expected to earn $500 unless it rains, in +which case the dinner would lose about $10. (Stokey & Zechauser, 1978, p. 202) + +Using decision analysis to structure the officers dilemma involves first constructing a +decision tree to show the various possible outcomes, given the risks associated with each +(see Figure 7.1). + +The decision tree drawn here merely lays out the options, the probabilities of various +occurrences, and the anticipated outcomes in much the same way as a payoff matrix. It is +easy to imagine how much more complicated the situation could become, however, with +the addition of other variables or other decision options. Even in this simple case, matters +might be complicated by other variables, such as whether the weather will be hot or cold, +whether there are other ways to increase attendance (advertising, and so on), and whether + +.6 +Attendance fair + +A. +$100 +Indoors .4 + +Attendance very poor -$20 +.1 + +No rain; attendance excellent +$500 +Outdoors .9 + +Rain; attendance poor -$10 + +FIGURE 7.1 + +Decision Tree + + + +Strategic Planning 269 + +the commanding officer prefers indoors or outdoors. You can imagine the sequences and +variables involved in a decision concerning location of a nuclear facility. + +And, as if this were not enough, consider what happens when you take into account +competition from others. Let us imagine a chess match in which we have decided upon +some evaluation criterion, such as king safety or center control, that we can measure (see +Figure 7.2). That is, we have identified a way to place a value on each outcome that +might result from a given set of moves. Let us say that White is ready to move and has +two options, W1 and W2, leading to the following decision tree. (If we move Wl, then +Black can move either B1 or B2; if we move W2, then Black can move either B3 or B4; +and so on. We will take the values across the bottom to be the outcomes.) We would +prefer to choose W2, then have Black choose B4, so that we could choose W9, the alter +native with the highest value for us. But taking into account what Black is likely to do, +we recognize that if we take W2, then Black will take B3, leading us to the two lowest +payoffs. Recognizing this probability, we will instead take Wl, expecting that Black will +take Bl, and we will have a satisfactory outcome. + +Although our examples have been quite simple, their logic can support far more +sophisticated applications of policy analysis. Moreover, the discipline these techniques +imposes makes them useful for even relatively simple applications. The models force us +to examine our assumptions, structure the problem clearly and logically, and consider +the full range of available options. The models also allow us to more effectively commu +nicate our analysis to others. + +That brings us to one final point. No matter how sophisticated the analysis and how +rational its conclusions, a policy analysis must be effectively communicated to the actual +decision makers. Communication is often quite difficult, because decision makers are +extremely busy and have a variety of conflicting demands on their time and interests. +Sometimes even those who are invited to do a policy analysis find themselves and the +analysis swept aside by political or other considerations and, indeed, that is the preroga +tive of major decision makers. A noted sociologist, Amitai Etzioni, spent several years +as a senior advisor to the White House during the Carter administration. After trying +unsuccessfully to interest the administration in a reindustrialization program, he wrote +with some frustration: Outsiders who seek to promote policy ideas uninvited, especially +without the backing of an organized societal group, lobby, or pressure group, will usually + +x + +W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 + +10 20 30 15 5 7 50 10 + +FIGURE 7.2 + +Chess Match Decision Tree + + + +270 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +find the process tortuous. Those who choose to travel this road should understand that as +a rule they are in for a long haul (Majchrzak, 1984, p. 92). A rational analysis is helpful +in the decision process, but political considerations, in the positive sense, must also be +taken into account before actions are taken. + +Implementation + +In the cycle of planning, implementation, and evaluation, implementation is the action +phase. Once plans have been made and policies decided upon, you must put them into +operation. Financial and human resources must be allocated and mobilized, organiza +tional structures and systems must be devised, and internal policies and procedures must +be developed. During implementation, you may be involved in issuing and enforcing +directives, disbursing funds, awarding grants and contracts, analyzing programmatic and +operational problems, taking corrective action, and negotiating with citizens, business, +and those in other public and nonprofit organizations. + +Recently, a body of literature dealing with the implementation process has emerged. +Some of the literature merely uses new terms to talk about the general processes of admin +istration in the public sector, whereas other parts of the literature focus on the relationship +between policy development and program implementation, specifically alerting us to the +difficulty of effective implementation and to how implementation of programs may distort +or even subvert the intent of policy makers. Most pointedly, one commentator has written, +It is hard enough to design public policies and programs that look good on paper. It is +harder still to formulate them in words and slogans that resonate pleasingly in the ears of +political leaders and the constituencies to which they are responsive. And it is excruciat +ingly hard to implement them in a way that pleases anyone at all, including the supposed +beneficiaries or clients (Bardach, 1977, p. 3). + +A classic study of the relationship between policy and implementation was suggestively +titled Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington Are Dashed in Oakland; +or Why Its Amazing That Federal Programs Work at All (Pressman & Wildavsky, 1973). +Implementation described a particular economic development program in the Oakland, +California, area that was less than successful. Pressman and Wildavsky conclude that +what seemed to be a simple program turned out to be a very complex one, involving +many participants, a host of different perspectives, and a long and tortuous path of deci +sion points that had to be cleared (p. 94). Implementation was characterized by multiple +and conflicting interests, each trying to influence the programs direction to suit their +many and divergent needs. The major recommendation of the study seemed to be that +persons involved in designing public policies pay as much attention to the creation of +organizational machinery for executing a program as for launching one (pp. 144-145). + +This lesson has been clearly recognized in the literature of strategic planning. Plans +remain sterile without implementation, so there has always been a close connection +between planning and execution. As noted, planning is most beneficial where it can help +make immediate decisions in light of future impact. Thus, a final step in any planning + + + +Implementation z 71 + +process is to arrive at a series of specific actions to take in the near future the next six +months, or the next year or two yearswho does what, when and to what effect. These +steps, which may detail new policy positions or new organizational processes, will form +a new action agenda for the community or the agency. + +Organizational Design + +Some of the classic approaches to implementation, or what was formerly called simply +organization and management, focused on the structure and design of new organizations +and their work processes or flows. The traditional organization chart expresses both the +division of labor within an organization and the structure of command or control. + +In the late 1930s, Luther Gulick advised managers developing new organizations that +there were several ways they could divide work (Gulick, 1937, pp. 21-29). Among these +were (1) purpose, (2) process, (3) persons or things, or (4) place. Dividing work accord +ing to purpose might result in distinctions such as that between providing education +or controlling crime, while dividing it according to process might lead to a legal unit, a +medical unit, or an engineering unit. One could also divide work according to the per +sons served or the things being dealt with; for example, the Veterans Administration +deals with all problems that veterans face, whether legal, medical, and so on. Finally, one +may organize according to geographic area, as would a state welfare department that +has regional or county offices. + +Networking + +Online resources and case studies relating to the planning and implementation of pro +ductivity initiatives can be found at http://www.alliance.napawash.org/ALLIANCE/ +and at the U.S. Conference of Mayors site at http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/ +best_practices/. For information on scenario planning, go to the Global Business +Network at http://www.gbn.org. + +Gulick and his contemporaries also talked about the number of levels that would +be appropriate to an organization. Many organizations are fairly tallthey have many +levels; others are flatthey have relatively few levels. The number of levels is guided +to a degree by the type of work and by the number of people who report to any one +manager. The term span of control signifies the number of people that one individual +supervises; though there are significant variations depending on type of work, it is gener +ally considered difficult to supervise more than six to ten people. + +In addition to developing organizational structures, early writers urged charting work +processes as an aid to organizational design. Process charting or flowcharting can pro +vide a graphic demonstration of the various steps in an operation, the people performing +each step, and the relationships among these elements. Figure 7.3 shows a simple illus +tration of process charting, though charts can become far more sophisticated in actual +applications. This process chart uses a variety of symbols to indicate different activities. + + + +272 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +The vertical lines set the basic framework of the chart. The columns show the flow of +work from one unit or person to another and vary depending on the complexity of the +process and the degree of analysis desired. The column headings indicate the elements +under study. In this example, the larger circles on the chart refer to a specific task (filling +out a form, testing a sample, and so on); the smaller circles indicate transportation of the +work from one unit or person to another. The triangles indicate storage, a period in +which the item or operation is stationary. Finally, the square indicates an inspection of +the work item, usually to check for quality or quantity. As illustrated here, one can make +notations on the chart to indicate the nature of particular steps in the process. + +Process charting is most useful where a considerable number of clerical or nonprofes +sional employees perform the same general classes of work and follow the same general +sequence of operating steps. Although process charting is less useful in analyzing the +work of professionals, there are possible applications here as well. For example, charting +a professional operation may reveal bottlenecks, excessive periods of review, or excessive +check points that inhibit the flow of work. As with other techniques, process charting +can become quite complex, but its logic is both simple and compelling. Process charting +simplifies analysis because it sharply points out backtracking, excessive detail, unneces +sary repetition, poor distribution of functions, and other administrative defects. For this +reason process charting has enjoyed a revival of interest by those implementing total +quality management programs. + +Classification + +Mail Clerk Analyst Section Chief +Date- +stamps +mail + +Sorts +for +analysts + +By clerk' +Examines + +Legend y requests + +I Conducts +|f desk + +Operations 1 T audit + +Transportation i Confers with + administrative + +T officer +Inspection 1 Prepares + +Urough draft +Storage ? + +By analyst |1 + +Awaits +handling + +FIGURE 7.3 + +Process Charting + + + +Implementation 273 + +Systems Analysis + +There are many other sophisticated devices that have been developed for analyzing the +design and operations of both public and private organizations. Many of the approaches +are based in systems theory, an effort to identify, in logical fashion, the interactions +of various internal and external elements that impinge on an organizations operations. +The systems approach has been used in a variety of fields, including physics, biology, +economics, sociology, and information science, but the basic concepts are much the same +regardless of discipline. Generally speaking, a system is a set of regularized interactions +configured or hounded in a way that differentiates and separates them from other +actions that constitute the systems environment; thus, we can speak of a biological sys +tem, a physical system, an economic system, or a political system. Any such system +receives inputs from its environment, then translates these through some sort of conver +sion process into outputs that are returned to the environment. These outputs in turn +affect future inputs to the system through a feedback loop. Presumably, if the outputs of +a system are valued by the environment, new inputs will be forthcoming and the organi +zation will survive. (A basic systems model is illustrated in Figure 7.4.) + +Following this model, consider the operation of a thermostat. The thermostat takes +in information about the heat in a room, then measures the heat against some standard. +If the level of heat is below the standard, the thermostat causes more heat to be put +out into the room. The additional heat becomes part of the environment and creates new +information (feedback), which becomes part of the next input into the system. + +The systems concept works similarly in human organizations. A business might receive +input from its environment that customers are demanding more red shoes. A decision might +be made to produce more red shoes, and those shoes would be part of the organizations + +Environment + +FIGURET^^^ + +A Basic Systems Model + + + +Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +output. The new red shoes become part of the environment and affect new inputs into the +system, which might range from comments about the quality of the shoes or information +that the demand has not yet been met. This new information guides the operation of the +system in the future. + +Like many of the other models we have discussed in this chapter, the systems approach +has been used in highly sophisticated applications ranging from analysis of organizational +design and processes to creation and modification of major weapons systems. Indeed, +the first major applications of systems analysis occurred in the military during and soon +after World War II. For some time thereafter, the Department of Defense was the major +user of systems analysis, depending on a variety of contractors, most notably the Rand +Corporation. This is why techniques such as PPBS (discussed in Chapter 5) found their +earliest and warmest reception in the Department of Defense. Yet it is possible to +apply systems logic to a variety of problems public organizations face, and, as with other +techniques, the systematic discipline that the approach brings to problem solving is +perhaps its greatest strength. + +Systems analysis emphasizes the relationship between the organization and its envi +ronment, suggesting that public managers carefully consider factors in the environment +that impinge on their operations. These factors include legal and political matters, sup +port and opposition generated by interest groups and client organizations, human and +financial resources, and applicable technology. Naturally, the environment also includes +a large number of other organizations with which the agency interacts, such as the chief +executives office, the legislature, the budget office, related agencies at the same level of +government, parallel agencies at other levels of government, and a variety of private and +nonprofit groups and associations. + +Many systems analysts tend to ignore what occurs within the system itself, preferring +to think of it as a black box into which inputs go and from which outputs come. Others +speak of several different subsystems that carry forward the organizations work. In a +classic formulation, the institutional subsystem is responsible for adapting the organiza +tion to its environment and for anticipating and planning for the future. People involved +in this activity generally constitute the organizations leadership cadre. The technical sub +system, on the other hand, is concerned with the effective performance of the organi +zations actual work. If the work of the organization is building rockets, the technical +subsystem is the people who actually build the rockets. Finally, the managerial subsystem +is concerned with providing the necessary resources for accomplishing the technical task, +as well as mediating between the technical and institutional subsystems (Thompson, +1967, pp. 10-11). + +Outputs of public organizations range from goods (such as highways or buildings) to +services (such as student loans or employment counseling), but also include regulations, +adjudication, and support for other programs. To know the effect of their efforts, man +agers need some sort of feedback mechanism. Feedback often occurs naturally: clients +write letters of appreciation; legislators inquire about program operations; a program +may even become an issue during an election campaign. Sometimes, however, you will +want to secure more systematic and accurate feedback, for which you can use devices +such as questionnaire surveys, field testing, or spot checks of service provision. Recall +that systems analysis helps focus on how an organization interacts with its environment; +developing effective feedback mechanisms helps the manager in that process. + + + +Implementation 275 + +PERT/CPM + +Another technique for guiding implementation of public programs is the Program +Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) or the Critical Path Method (CPM). (The two +techniques were developed separately and have minor differences, but we can treat them +as one, using the title PERT.) PERT is a system for organizing and monitoring projects +that have a specific beginning point and a specific ending point. NASA used the system +extensively in developing the manned spacecraft program; it can accommodate quite +substantial projects. We will focus on the basic logic underlying the system. + +A PERT chart uses a series of circles, designating events, and arrows, designating +time or costs, to indicate various activities for completing a project and the necessary +sequence. One circle might show the beginning of a particular effort and be connected +by an arrow to another circle, which might show the end of the first activity and the +beginning of a second. Any activity that must be completed before the start of another +activity should appear to the left of that activity. Thus, the key elements in a PERT chart +might look like this: + +Put on socks : Put on shoes + +Activities that are independent of one another are shown in separate sequences; for +example, if you could put on your shirt while you are putting on your shoes, that activity +could be parallel to putting on your shoes. + +A more complex PERT chart appears in Figure 7.5, showing a variety of activities +that might be undertaken to hold a conference. As in all PERT charts, no activity can +take place until all events logically prior to that event occur. For instance, to print and +mail the brochures (I), it is necessary to develop a budget (H), contract for the space (D), +and identify the conference speakers (K). Each event is necessarily preceded by others. +Time estimates for each activity are entered above each line. (Some PERT charts give +a normal, an optimistic, and a pessimistic time projection, but we give one figurethe +expected time in days. PERT charts can also be constructed with cost estimates substi +tuted for time estimates.) + +Various paths lead from the decision to hold the conference (A) to the opening session +(G). If you add the times required to complete all the steps along any particular path, +you arrive at an expected time to complete that pathABCDEFG requires twenty-two +days; ABJKIFG requires forty-two days. The path that takes the most time is the critical +path (in this case, path ABHKIFG) and is usually highlighted in some way. Any delay in +the critical path will delay the entire project. Other paths may have built-in slack times, +where small delays will not cause that path to exceed the time required for the critical +path. The critical path in this example tells us that the conference organizers have forty- +three days to complete their project. If for some reason the conference must be held +sooner, they must find some way to decrease the time required to complete the critical +path. + +In summary, program implementation involves the full range of administrative skills +and concepts, but implementation can occasionally be facilitated by using certain tech +niques. Our examples are simplified to illustrate the logic of the technique. All the tech +niques, however, can be applied to projects of much greater magnitude and complexity. + + + +zj6 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +4 * ' ... + +/ / +<5)/ (4) + +/ / \ + +(5) +(7)\ (12\ (3)/ + +\ \ / / 0) +--(1-5)- J + +Critical path + + +(12)''VX X (4) <> Expected time in days + +Key to Action Steps + +(A) Decide to hold conference. + +(B) Organize planning group. (fi) Develop budget. + +(C) Assess possible locations. (T) Print and mail brochures. + +(6) Contract for space. (j) Establish conference theme. + +(E) Set up rooms. (R) Contact and confirm speakers. + +(F) Conduct registration. (C) Develop conference materials. + +(G) Hold opening session. (Q) Deliver materials to site. + +FIGURE 7.5 + +Chart for Organizing a Conference + +Regardless of the complexity of the application, the result should be the samea more +disciplined and precise view of the implementation of ones program. + +Reengineering + +Recently, some public administrators have adopted a more comprehensive, even radical +technique for enhancing organizational performance, called reengineering. The core tenet +of reengineering centers on redesigning work processes and organizational structures to +be in line with agency outcomes. Proponents of the technique view existing bureaucracies +as relics from the industrial age and seek to restructure public organizations. Through +this technique, they attempt to make public organizations more flexible and capable of +responding to the dynamic conditions in contemporary society. + +In some respects, reengineering builds upon systems theory, PERT/CPM and other +techniques in that it involves the recognition of core processes and the systemic con +text of staff behavior. However, the outcome of reengineering goes well beyond simply +making alterations within the existing bureaucratic structure. Its goal is to overhaul +rigid government agencies into what one author calls seamless organizations: In con +trast to the fragmented bureaucracies of the past, seamless organizations provide a +smooth, transparent, almost effortless experience for their customers. Staff in seamless +organizations perform the full job, in direct contact with their end users (Linden +1994, p. xii). + + + +Evaluation 277 + +Implementation of a reengineering process begins with an identification of the organi +zations desired outcomes. These include the short- and long-term impacts the agency +wants to achieve. Then, the organization is redesigned around the core and support +processes that will produce these outcomes. Given the hierarchical, inflexible nature of +many public organizations, though, this is not as simple as it may seem. + +Reengineering requires that public administrators change their current assumptions, +those equating organization with traditional bureaucracy. Such a reorientation helps to +transform work processes and agency structures to those driven by meaningful out +comes a shift from segmentation to integration, from division of labor to seamless +work (Linden, 1994). + +Reengineering involves enhancing those activities that may be considered value- +added that is, activities that give customers more of what they are willing to pay for +and cutting functions that merely stand in the way. Of course, some of the functions +in this latter category remain crucial for the organizations success. Central administra +tion activities such as budgeting, accounting, and quality inspections cannot simply be +removed from the picture. On the other hand, these functions often hinder the comple +tion of the more value-added activities. The key to successful reengineering is to separate +the core processes from the other tasks, enabling the critical activities to be carried out +more effectively. + +While management plays a central role in any reengineering effort, the techniques +success depends upon the capacity of key teams engaged in project design and imple +mentation. The first team is responsible for identifying organizational processes in need +of change. Next, the second group leads the change initiative. Individuals from +throughout the organization, as well as members of the organizations stakeholder +groups, are brought in to inform the process and to develop indicators that will help +keep the initiative on track. Leaders emerge from each of these teamsindividuals +who guide the reengineering process by ensuring that it has adequate resources, admin +istrative support, and overall organizational commitment (Hammer & Champy, 1993; +Linden, 1994). + +Evaluation + +The sequence of planning, implementation, and evaluation is completed by asking +whether the goals and objectives of the program have been achieved in a way that was +both efficient and effective. Such evaluations may, however, operate at a variety of differ +ent levels. Some may respond to the interest of the legislature in knowing whether the +intended benefits of legislation were achieved; others may be designed to communicate to +the public what is happening in areas of broad citizen interest; still others may be oriented +toward improvements either in the design of the policy being implemented or in the way +it was conducted. An understanding of the contemporary approaches to evaluation +requires attention to both the performance measurement movement mentioned earlier +and more traditional program evaluation approaches. + + + +278 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +While program evaluation offers insight into each'policy or programs direction, effec +tiveness, and sustainability, performance measurement generates information concerning +the organization or network as a whole. When combined within the framework of eval +uation research, these strategies not only assist" in the decision-making process, they +improve the overall accountability of public organizations. In turn, evaluation research +enhances legislative oversight and administrative control. + +Several legislative groups conduct or sponsor evaluation research at the federal level. +These include the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Congressional Budget Office, +the Congressional Research Service, and the Office of Technology Assessment, as well as +various legislative committees, primarily those concerned with the budget and with over +sight of specific programs. Executive agencies, such as the Office of Management and +Budget and the Executive Office of the President, also conduct evaluation research. +Much of this research, however, is sponsored by the various agencies themselves, as +managers seek to determine how they can better manage or generate greater productivity +from their organizations. + +There is also great interest in performance measurement and program evaluation at +the state and local levels, although resources to support such activities have often been +limited. State governments have developed analytic capabilities within the executive +branch, often through the budget office. In recent years, many states have restructured +their budgets to be in line with predetermined performance standards. This has enabled +state governments to link fiscal resources to the desired results targeted by each agency. +Evaluation research is then used to help the state government determine how successful +it has been in achieving its performance goals. Consequently, state legislatures and citi +zens can now see what services and impacts were gained with public resources. + +Again, at the state and local levels and in most nongovernmental organizations, as +at the federal level, a great deal of evaluation research is done as part of the agency or +program managers ongoing responsibility. Particularly in the era of reinvention and +the National Performance Review, public administrators increasingly must show not +only the efficiency of their actions but also the results of their actions within the broader +stakeholder community. Examples of performance measurement and program evaluation +range from complex, detailed, one-time studies to the ongoing, integrated monitoring of +performance goals. Regardless of the level of sophistication, evaluation research offers +important details in support of the organizations overall strategic planning and to assist +the organization in determining the direction of individual programs. + +Performance Measurement + +The most recent addition to the field of evaluation research, performance measurement, +emerged during the late 1980s, as citizens, legislators, and advocacy groups started to +demand more value from public organizations. Government was pressured not only +to show its efficiency in expending public resources but also to prove that substantive +results, or outcomes directly related to the effect a program has on the public, had been +generated by its activities. As the call for reinventing government gained in strength in +the early 1990s, the move toward performance measurement occurred at all levels of +government. Federal agencies developed performance standards at the program level and + + + +Evaluation 279 + +in their management and administrative functions. State and local governments followed +suit, both as a means of assessing their activities and of enhancing their reporting under +federal programs (Wholey, Hatry, & Newcomer, 1994). + +Networking + +The federal government provides updates and related information concerning +evaluation strategies under its Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) +at the GPRA Report site (http://www.ombwatch.org/gpra) and the Congressional +Institute (http://www.conginst.org). For information concerning evaluation +activities by state and local governments, visit these sites: http://policyworks.gov +and http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/info.htm. + +In 1993, performance measurement became the law under the Government Perfor +mance and Results Act (GPRA). The act mandated that federal agencies undergo a strate +gic planning process to identify five-year performance outcomes. Organizational activities +toward these outcomes, then, would be measurable through annual performance reviews. +The performance review plans were required starting in fiscal year 1999. Within these +plans, federal agencies identified performance indicators specific, quantifiable goals that +the agency strives for in pursuit of its more substantive objectives. These indicators reflect +each agencys outputs and outcomes. + +A distinction should be made here between inputs, outputs, and outcomes: inputs are +those resources financial, human, and otherwise available to the organization; out +puts are the actual goods or services produced by an organization; and outcomes, as we +have mentioned, are the long-term objectives that the organization wants to achieve. As +an illustration, the Federal Aviation Administration issues regulations, which constitute +one type of its outputs. But someone measuring the performance of this organization +would be only moderately interested in the number of regulations it issues. More impor +tant would be the effect of the regulations on desired goals, such as improved air safety. +Improved air safety would be an outcome. (Generally speaking, objectives are likely +to be narrow and specific, directly tied to each organizations particular activities; out +comes, on the other hand, are related to the larger purposes to be served by the organi +zations work.) + +The long-term impact of GPRA remains to be seen; however, in a recent symposium, +representatives from federal agencies and the academic community had a chance to reflect +on some of the reactions to federally mandated performance measurement. Kathryn +Newcomer, one of the scholarly participants, wrote, [T]he message given at the confer +ence was certainly mixed. There are benefits in the form of improved dialogue about +Federal government performance in this GPRA era, but there is still much progress to be +made in improving dialogue across agencies and across congressional committees. And +the report cards on performance reporting in the federal government [based on reporting +standards for federal agencies] are not out yet. The criteria to be used by Congress in +grading performance reports are still bigand significantunknowns in the perfor +mance rating game (Newcomer, 1999, p. 10). All else aside, GPRA certainly has helped + + + +2 So Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +to broaden the dialogue to include issues of government effectiveness and the capacity of +federal agencies to achieve public objectives. + +Of course, the move toward performance measurement goes well beyond GPRA and +its requirements for federal agencies. Public organizations at all levels, as well as organi +zations in the nonprofit sector, have begun to tie evaluation research to their planning and +implementation functions. Most state governments, for instance, now use performance +measurement as a means of assessing their activities in terms of both outputs and out +comes. Accordingly, these states can associate budget decisions and program directives +with specific performance standards set by each agency. And, as a result, the states enjoy a +more effective system of accounting for their efficiency and effectiveness to citizens and +other stakeholders. + +Several years ago, for example, the state of Texas instituted a performance budgeting +system as a means of enhancing agency accountability and productivity. Under the new +system, state agencies must determine the resources necessary to accomplish perfor +mance goals, then negotiate the goals and resources with the state legislature. Once the +outcomes and allocations have been established, lawmakers grant spending authority +based on the performance goals. The move away from program categories and line +items, thus, gives administrators in Texas greater flexibility in meeting their performance +objectives. And, the budget system ensures that evaluation and measurement is based +on productivity rather than on agency processes (Carter, 1994). However, as we see in +Box 7.3, the task of identifying measures is not always easy. + +Altering the Outcomes + +These days, discussions of welfare reform invariably turn to outcomes. Historically, +welfare programs used measurements that assessed process efficiencies. In an entitle +ment system, the measurement of error rates and the number of cases per caseworker +were appropriate, since the business was focused as its primary driver on deter +mining eligibility. + +In the new world of welfare reform, with time-limited benefits and workfare pro +grams, the objectives are more complex than getting the applicant a check. + +The new paradigm involves helping recipients develop enough self-sufficiency so +that they do not need state-provided financial supports. It is no longer acceptable that +welfare programs are just efficient; they must also be effective. The only way to con +firm that they are effective is to measure their effectiveness against some agreed-upon +criteria. Therefore, the discussion of outcome measures is critical to welfare reform. + +William Kilmartin, comptroller for Massachusetts, who is a strong advocate of +management accountability in the public sector, said: + +Clarifying the outcomes we desire is important. Let me give an example of a +situation that makes outcome measurement so tricky in the field of human service. + +(continued) + + + +Evaluation 281 + +Take an example of a hypothetical mother and child that were getting assistance +under the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program; the +child was removed from the home and put into the care and protection of the +state in its foster care program. The child welfare worker that removed the child +from the mothers care was supposed to inform the welfare caseworker that the +child was out of the household, so that the benefit to the mother was reduced. +The assumed measure of program success for welfare was to reduce the caseload +level; we went one case down in AFDC and one up in child welfare. But a positive +outcome measure for the child welfare program was to get the children in foster +care back to their mothers. Working toward that outcome, the child welfare case +worker would not have informed the AFDC program of the foster care placement, +because doing so would have reduced the mothers income level. The child welfare +caseworker worried that the reduced resources available to the mother would +reduce the likelihood that she could create the conditions necessary for the return +of the child. The finance people went nuts when this type of situation occurred, +but from the perspective of the child welfare worker it was a rational decision +because of the assumed outcome of reunification. From the welfare agencys per +spective it was a poor outcomefraud! ... I think that you would find that every +public servant is in vociferous agreement with the concept of performance mea +surement. . . . The difficulty is converting policy objectives into metrics for +accountability. A lot of people have tried to use the budget process as a tool for +holding agencies accountable for outcomes, but I do not know if that works. +In the private sector, goals and objectives can be converted to financial terms +easily. In the public sector, it is a stretch beyond reason to think that all things +can be measured in terms of budgetary outcomes. + +SOURCE: Larry Singer, Altering the Outcomes: Assessing Welfare Program Effectiveness Requires More +Than Just Caseload Count. Government Technology 10 (December 1997): 143. Copyright 1997, +Government Technology magazine. Reprinted with permission. + +Similarly, the United Way of America has implemented a comprehensive outcome +measurement program, to foster a consistent, effective system of performance man +agement across United Way-funded agencies (Hatry et ah, 1996). The United Way +approach concentrates on a logical chain linking program inputs, activities, outputs +and outcomes with outcomes measured by specific points of information referred to +as indicators. The goal for the United Way is to encourage agencies to move away from +traditional, efficiency-related measures to more meaningful assessments of program +impact, based on the number and percentage of clients to achieve the program out +comes (Hatry et ah, 1996, pp. 1-2). + +In identifying performance standards, public and nonprofit organizations may pull +from a variety of sources. This is usually done in what is called a process of bench +marking. Benchmarking features the targeting of specific goals based on previous per +formance levels, standards set by similar organizations, objectives created through a +strategic planning process, or any combination of these and other relevant sources. + + + +2 82 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +Public administrators then assess agency performance, using comparisons with these +predetermined indicators. Through benchmarking, administrators are able to connect +their evaluation research directly with the agencys planning and implementation +strategies. + +The most effective application of performance measurement integrates evaluation +and measurement within the broader context of performance management. A recent +report on one successful performance management exercise was developed by Jay +Hakes, administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. +Department of Energy, based on his work with the agency. Specifically, based on the +EIA experience, Hakes suggests that organizations that attempt to pattern assessment +strategies, without first sequencing these strategies in the overall process of organiza +tional change, may lose sight of important organizational barriers both to perfor +mance measurement and to the change itself. These groups may fall into the trap +of monitoring activities without linking them to the targeted goals and outcomes of +the organization. + +To prevent this, Hakes suggests several action steps that lay a foundation for success +ful performance measurement, which include: + + analyzing goals deriving from statutes and historic practices + discussing desired outputs and outcomes with major customers in and out of + +government + writing a strategic plan + drawing an input/output map of the organization (Hakes, 1997, p. 10) + +However, it is important to note that these steps represent merely the beginning of +successful performance management. Commitments from top leadership, organizational +members, stakeholders and those overseeing agency resources must be gained in order +for the change strategy to be effective. The performance measures themselves must +be linked with the organizations budget allocations and reward systems. In this regard, +creating an effective measurement strategy means transforming the organization into a +performance-based organization. + +The next steps in the process involve integrating the measures throughout the organi +zation. This can be done, according to Hakes, by involving organizational members in +the process and by gaining feedback to enhance the measures. Data sources, complete +with baseline indicators, should be established and a benchmarking process initiated to +ensure that the goals will be measurable and the activities geared toward predetermined +performance standards. + +Finally, clear decisions must be reached on how the performance measurement system +will be used. Some may opt for a more punitive application of assessment, choosing to +use the techniques to play a watchdog role. Hakes encourages public administrators to +employ measurement strategies in a more constructive way: If workers can use mea +sures for self correction and continuous improvement without risk of punishment or +with some prospect for reward, progress on providing value for dollar (maximum out +puts and outcomes for minimal inputs) will surpass the expectations of most observers +(1997, p. 17). + + + +Evaluation 283 + +As with any successful approach to organizational change, Hakes reveals that the +most meaningful attempt at performance management will occur when leadership +engages members from throughout the organization and, in turn, connects the assess +ment strategy to the organizations long-term outcomes. More important, Hakes +suggests that public administrators must become less concerned with strictly the quan +titative indicators and more concerned with creating a culture of success within their +organizations. (The challenges of applying performance management in practice are +discussed in Box 7.4) + +BOX 7.4 +iH! + +Performance Management: Theory and Practice + +In theory, measures of performance are thought to be answers to questions. In prac +tice, performance measures are often themselves questions, or at least they raise as +many questions as they answer. Performance measures are exactly that, quantitative +representations of some reality. Because performance measures are represented quan +titatively, they have the appearance of fact and convey impressions of objectivity and +neutrality. In practice, such measures are quantitative interpretations of reality in +exactly the same way words are narrative interpretations of reality. In practice, very +little is judged to be neutral and objective; all performance measures may be used as +arguments and weapons in policy debates. + +Measuring Performance + +In Theory In Practice + +Measures of performance answers facts +are . . . objective evidence + +neutral questions +interpretations slanted +arguments weapons + +Results are . . . aggregated for everyone for some but not others +Performance is . . . long term short term +Policy is moved by . . . data and analysis rhetoric +What to measure . . . the important the measurable +Program domain . . . comparable particular + +Casual assertions demonstrated unclear +can be . . . +This program ... performs poorly performs poorly, but things + +would be worse without it + +SOURCE: H. George Frederickson, Measuring Performance in Theory and Practice. Public +Administration Times, Vol. 23, No. 8, 2000, pp. 8-10. + + + +Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +An interesting approach to performance measurement that has begun making its way +into the public and nonprofit sectors is Kaplan and Nortons (1996) Balanced +Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard balances concerns for financial performance and +internal business processes with customer service and organizational learning, enabling +decision makers to track various dimensions of an organizations performance and com +municated more effectively with stakeholders. Kaplan and Norton point out, however, +that the Balanced Scorecard is not a just technique to control behavior or evaluate past +performance. Rather it should be used to communicate, to inform, and to enable learn +ing and growth. Through the use of this technique managers should be able to monitor +and adjust the implementation of their strategies and make fundamental changes in the +way the organization operates (Kaplan & Norton, 1996, pp. 18-24). + +Not only those in the United States, but government agencies around the world have +begun to develop strategies to help them evaluate their efforts and assume more client- +centered approaches to meeting public outcomes. A recent study examined reform efforts +in member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development +(OECD) and selected nonmember nations. Nations such as Canada, Spain, and Sweden +were targeted for their efforts to develop and implement performance measurement tech +niques on a nationwide basis. Other countries, like the United States, Germany, Korea, +Mexico, and the Netherlands, were cited for implementing performance monitoring in +specific policy areas. The areas sampled included health care, police and public safety, and +policy advice. + +The findings from this research suggested that several requirements influence the suc +cess of performance monitoring by public organizations, including the need for strategic +leadership from central units, the establishment of the proper organizational incentives +which support and encourage results-based management, and the use of program +evaluation as a complement to ongoing performance measurement systems to address +performance issues that performance measurement cannot well deal with so as to make +the best use of these two measurement tools (Mayne, 1997, p. 16). + +The research showed that the dynamic environments in which the organizations +functioned had a significant impact on each agencys capacity for performance and its +measurement. In fact, the study found that the ability of an organization to adapt to +changing conditions exceeded raw performance as the primary indicator of organiza +tional success. Mayne (1997) wrote, Maximizing flexibility may be more important +than maximizing short-term utility (p. 16). The study concluded that organizational +survival depended on each groups ability to integrate performance measurement with +the organizations overall capacity for problem solving and strategic management. + +Of course, such a capacity depends on each agencys ability to monitor both the +broader organizational performance as well as the effectiveness of individual programs. +We have noted the significance of the first of these evaluation strategies in our discussion +of performance measurement. However, additional attention should be given to program +evaluation, which generates valuable insight into organizational processes and the pro +grammatic impacts produced by policies and initiatives. If performance measurement +connects the organization as a whole to specific results and outcomes, then program +evaluation reveals how actions by an organization contribute to the objectives within +each policy area. + + + +Program Evaluation 285 + +Program Evaluation + +There are a variety of ways to classify the approaches to program evaluation. These are, +for example, outcome evaluations and process evaluations. Outcome evaluations, which +are closely tied to the type of assessment in performance measurement, focus on the results +of program activitythat is, the extent to which a program meets its objectives in terms +of impact on the environment (for example, the previous discussion relating to the United +Way of America). If the work of an organization is to improve adult literacy, then an eval +uation might measure the number of individuals who learned to read. That information +would likely then be related to program inputs to show, in a cost-benefit ratio (in this case, +based on allocative efficiency), the number of individuals learning to read per thousand +dollars spent. In general, an outcome evaluation seeks to determine whether X causes Y, +where X is the activity of the program and Y is the desired outcome or goal. As you can +imagine, outcome evaluations are particularly valuable to legislators, grant-makers and +others concerned with performance of various programs. + +In contrast to outcome evaluations, process evaluations focus on ways program +implementation might be improved to better meet the programs objectives. The ques +tion here is what can be done to X, the programs management, to improve Y, the +desired outcome. Where an evaluator interested in outcomes might spend a great deal +of time developing systematic measures of program results, someone interested in +process evaluation would analyze the organization and management of the agencys +activities, including distribution of financial and human resources and design of service +delivery mechanisms (Sylvia, Meier, &c Gunn, 1985, p. 136). Process evaluations also +determine if legally prescribed processes are being followed and assure that individual +rights are not violated. + +Relevant measures here would fall more on the input side, and might include such items +as workload measures or data on resource allocation. In such studies it may be important +to distinguish between efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is concerned with the rela +tionship between inputs and outputs, usually expressed in a ratio per unit of input. For +example, a measure of streets paved per thousand dollars spent would be a measure of effi +ciency. Effectiveness, on the other hand, is concerned with the extent to which a program +is achieving or failing to achieve its stated objectives (Poister, McDavid, & Magoun, 1979, +p. 3). Effectiveness measures are outcome-oriented; they focus on the real changes the pro +gram produces, such as a decrease in airline deaths. + +Sometimes process evaluations occur after the fact, that is, upon completion of the +program; but often they occur during program operation. Indeed, some process evalua +tions are almost continuous in their ongoing review of program operations (Poister, +1983). In either case, the information that emerges in the course of a process evaluation +is likely to be of greatest interest to the program manager who hopes to improve his or +her organizations performance. + +Program evaluations may therefore be directed toward many different audiences and +serve many different purposes. The specific kinds of information required vary from eval +uation to evaluation. Eleanor Chelimsky, former head of the General Accounting Offices + + + +2 86 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +Program Evaluation and Methodology Division, lists the following types of information +that may be developed retrospectively: + + information on program implementation (such as the degree to which the program +is operational, how similar it is across sites, whether it conforms to the policies +and expectations formulated, how much it costs, how stakeholders feel about it, +whether there are major problems of service delivery or of error, fraud, and abuse, +and so on) + + ongoing information on the current state of the problem or threat addressed by +the program (Is the problem growing? Is it diminishing? Is it diminishing enough +so that the program is no longer needed? Is it changing in terms of its significant +characteristics?) + + information on program outcomes (What happened as a result of program imple +mentation?) + + information on the degree to which the program made, or is making, a difference +(That is, what change in the problem or threat occurred that can be directly attrib +uted to the program?) + + information on the unexpected (as well as the expected) effects of the programs +(For instance, was a program of drug education accompanied by an increase in the +use of drugs?) (Chelimsky, 1985, pp. 8-9) + +Evaluation Designs and Techniques + +Approaches to the evaluation of public programs range from historical analysis to +sophisticated experimental designs. Indeed, over the years, there has been a recurring +debate over the proper approach to evaluation. Some argue that such research should be +primarily qualitative, concerned with tracking program development and indicating +forces that helped shape the program. Advocates of this approach tend to be most inter +ested in process questions, such as reasons for success or failure and unanticipated con +sequences of the program. They ask, What happened? Others argue that program +evaluations should, wherever possible, employ the most rigorous scientific methods +appropriate to the subject matter, including the design and execution of formal experi +ments. These analysts tend to be more interested in program outcomes. They ask, +Does it work? (Chelimsky, 1985, p. 14). + +Whatever the approach, those involved in program evaluation must confront two +challenges to the validity of their work. The first question, concerning internal validity, +asks whether the approach measured what was intended. Was the design consistent with +the goals of the program and the needs of the sponsor? Were the methods most appro +priate for answering the questions that needed to be asked? Were the results as free from +bias as possible? A second question, concerning external validity, asks to what extent the +findings may be applicable to more general circumstances. What does the study say +about similarly situated programs? Can the study be replicated and expected to produce +similar results? These and other questions can be directed toward the various techniques +employed in evaluation research. + + + +Program Evaluation 2 87 + +Qualitative Techniques + +Many program evaluations depend on qualitative information derived from reading +about the program, from interviewing important actors (including agency personnel, +clients, and others), and sometimes from actually participating in the work of the pro +gram. The initial step in a qualitative evaluation project is usually to read everything +available about the program and the subject matter, including background material on +the subject of the program (flu vaccines, child nutrition, rapid transit systems, and so +on), agency documents, operating procedures, internal memoranda, newspaper and mag +azine articles, articles on similar programs elsewhere, and reports issued by various con +cerned groups. The researcher would also likely make a few phone calls to identify the +significant actors in the program and determine where the most important activities are +taking place. + +Following an initial reconnaissance, the analyst settles on a limited number of sites +(schools, hospitals, highway systems, and so on) as the focus of the investigation. Most +qualitative evaluations are largely exploratory, designed to explore a variety of hunches +or intuitions about the programs operation. For these cases, the analyst will probably +try to select sites that vary widely along several crucial dimensions. Some evaluations, +however, are hypothesis-guided, designed to demonstrate the plausibility of a particular +hypothesis, so the analyst might choose a limited number of crucial sites that are espe +cially illustrative of the issue under investigation (Murphy, 1980, pp. 38-47). + +Once the research sites have been chosen, the analyst may choose to gather most of his +or her information through intensive interviews, detailed information-gathering sessions +involving major actors both inside and outside the agency responsible for the program. +Interviewing skills include establishing the interviewers credentials, setting the proper cli +mate, arranging questions effectively, asking reasonable but challenging questions, and +keeping a good record of all that is said. Perhaps most important, the interviewer must +keep the discussion on the subject, in a way that is neither obvious nor embarrassing +to either party. Immediately following the interview, the interviewer should review and +expand upon the notes taken during the interview session. These notes will form an +important basis for drawing conclusions about the program. + +An alternative means of gathering qualitative information is the use of a participant- +observer, someone involved in either the target population or the agency itself, who +makes observations and draws conclusions based on firsthand data. For example, an +evaluation of an antipoverty program in eastern Kentucky some years ago employed a +participant-observer who lived in the community, talked daily with others in the commu +nity about the program, and reported back to the overall evaluation staff. + +Either technique can be questioned with respect to both internal and external validity. +Biased information and questions about internal validity can arise if the wrong people +are chosen to interview or if those interviewed provide misleading information, inten +tionally or unintentionally. Participant-observers can affect the programs operation +through their own presence, leading to outcomes far different from what would other +wise have happened. Questions concerning external validity (or generalizability) might +be raised with either technique based on the choice of only a limited number of sites for +investigation. + + + +2 88 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +Quantitative Techniques + +Policy evaluations often endeavor to approximate the scientific methods of the physical +sciences, though such efforts are extremely difficult. In its classic formulation, an experi +mental design involves examination of two or more groups under carefully controlled +conditions. One group, the experimental group, receives a treatment or intervention; in +the case of program evaluation, members of the experimental group receive the benefits +of the program being evaluated. Another group, the control group, consists of individu +als who are as similar as possible to those in the experimental group and who act under +the same general conditions, yet do not receive the intervention. Members of both +groups are tested before and after the experimental intervention (pretest and posttest +measures) and the results are compared. If the program has had either a positive or nega +tive effect, the differences should show up in the data. + +We can illustrate the difficulties in designing a rigorous experimental design with +respect to social programs by imagining that we are interested in analyzing the effective +ness of a new approach to mathematics education in the fourth grade. One classroom +might be designated an experimental group and be taught using the new approach; +another classroom might be designated the control group and be taught using traditional +methods. The mathematical abilities of all students would be measured both before and +after the period in which the new program was being taught. If the new technique is +indeed more effective in educating children in mathematics, the posttest scores of the +children in the experimental group should be higher than those of the children in the +control group. + +Very generally, this is an application of an experimental design to a social program, +and you can easily imagine how similar designs might be used to measure other pro +grams, ranging from immunizations to welfare incentives to highway designs. But we +can readily observe the difficulties in such designs, some of which relate to questions of +internal validity. One might respond to the study by saying that the students in the +experimental group were smarter to begin with, or that the absence rate was higher +among those in the control group. Or you might suggest that one teacher was better +than the other, and that made the difference. Or, even if the same teacher taught both +groups, you might speculate that he or she taught the new material with more enthusi +asm. Similar questions might be raised about external validity. For instance, if the results +were obtained in a rural school, would they apply as well to an urban setting? + +Some, if not all, of these questions could be anticipated by slightly altering the research +design. For example, students could be randomly assigned to the two groups, thus elimi +nating any possibility of bias in the groups composition. But questions such as these show +the difficulty of achieving true experimental conditions in measuring social programs. For +this reason, most evaluations of social programs are called quasi-experimental. + +Quasi-experimental designs retain the requirement for systematic data gathering that +should be part of any quantitative approach, but free the researcher from some of the dif +ficulties of developing experimental designs, such as the need for random assignment of +subjects to various groups. Flere again, different groups may be compared, but an essen +tial task for the researcher is to separate the effects of a treatment from effects of other +factors. Only the effects caused by the treatment are of interest. + + + +Terms and Definitions 289 + +Quasi-experimental approaches are not only more adaptable to social situations; they +also better fit the situation in which program evaluators often find themselves assigned +to the evaluation long after the program has begun and having little way to influence +patterns of intervention. In such a case, a historical approach may be of special value. +For example, one quasi-experimental design, time series analysis, involves making a +number of observations about the target population both before and after the program +intervention. (These observations may even be made retrospectively, by gathering histori +cal data.) In one case, basic information about neighborhood crime was developed for +a period of years prior to the introduction of a new patrol pattern, then similar data +followed after the new approach was introduced. + +Summary and Action Implications + +As a public manager, you will become quite familiar with the cycle of planning, imple +mentation, and evaluation. In practice, the phases of the cycle will rarely appear as dis +tinct as in our discussion, but you will still find that you must devote a portion of your +time to each phase. In middle and upper management, the planning, implementation, and +evaluation cycle will become especially complex, because you will find yourself engaged +in all three phases almost simultaneously. That is, you will be planning for one project +at the same time that you are implementing a second and evaluating a third, and so on. +Maintaining a good sense of the timing of the various projects and knowing when and +how to shift from one to the next will be extremely important. + +As we have seen, techniques have been developed to help you work through the typical +problems you will encounter in each phase of the cycle. Although many of the techniques +can be elaborated in highly complex ways, the logic upon which they are based can be +helpful in dealing even with fairly simple and immediate problems. + +Throughout the planning, implementation, and evaluation cycle, you should remember +that, whereas we have focused on technical aids to your administrative work, each of the +three areas will be strongly affected by how you interact with the people in your organi +zation (and elsewhere). Planning, implementation, and evaluation are human processes, +and are thus subject to peoples shifting values, attitudes, and behaviors. In planning, +implementation, and evaluation, as with budgeting, financial management, and person +nel, techniques are only successful when you use them with full regard for democratic +values, clear leadership, and humane management. + +Terms and Definitions + +Benchmarking: Targeting of specific goals based on previous performance levels, stan +dards set by similar organizations, objectives created through a strategic planning +process, or any combination of these and other relevant sources. + + + +290 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +Cost-benefit: Identifying and quantifying both negative impacts (costs) and positive +impacts (benefits) of a proposal, then subtracting one from the other to arrive at a net +benefit. + +Decision analysis: Technique wherein decisions are likely to be made sequentially and +under some degree of uncertainty. + +Decision tree: Technique that identifies various possible outcomes, given the risk asso +ciated with each. + +Effectiveness: Extent to which a program is achieving or failing to achieve its stated +objectives. + +Efficiency: Relationship between inputs and outputs. + +Institutional subsystem: Responsible for adapting the organization to its environment +and for anticipating and planning for the future. + +Managerial subsystem: Concerned with providing necessary resources for accomplish +ing a technical task and mediating between the technical and institutional subsystems. + +Outcome evaluations: Evaluations that focus on the results of program activity, +the extent to which a program meets its objectives in terms of impact on the +environment. + +Participant-observer: Someone in either the target population or the agency who makes +observations and draws conclusions based on firsthand experience. + +Performance indicators: Specific, quantifiable goals that the agency strives for in pursuit +of its more substantive objectives. + +Performance measurement: Careful and detailed measurement of the achievement of +program objectives and outcomes by a program or agency. + +PERT: A way to monitor the time or costs of various activities required to complete a +project, showing the sequence in which the activities must be completed. + +Policy analysis: Process of researching or analyzing public problems to provide policy +makers with specific information about the range of available policy options and advan +tages and disadvantages of different approaches. + +Process charting or flowcharting: Graphically demonstrating the various steps in +an operation, the people who perform each step, and relationships among those +elements. + +Process evaluations: Seeking ways to improve program implementation so as to better +meet program objectives. + +Reengineering: Radically redesigning work processes and organizational structures to +be in line with agency outcomes. + +Stakeholders: The many different persons who are involved in policy decisions and +are affected by the results. + + + +Cases and Exercises 291 + +Strategic planning: Matching organizational objectives and capabilities to the antici +pated demands of the environment to produce a plan of action that will ensure achieve +ment of objectives. + +System: Set of regularized interactions configured or bounded in a way that differenti +ates and separates them from other actions that constitute the systems environment. + +Systems theory: Effort to identify the interactions of various internal and external ele +ments that impinge on an organizations operations. + +Technical subsystem: Concerned with effective performance of an organizations +actual work. + +Time series analysis: Making a number of observations about the target population +both before and after program intervention. + +Study Questions + +1. Planning is one aspect of the policy process. Discuss the various types of planning and +their objectives. + +2. In organizing a planning process, what are the primary concerns of the planning group? +3. Discuss the necessary steps for comprehensive policy analysis. +4. Identify some of the quantitative techniques used for policy analysis. +5. The second phase of the policy process is implementation of plans. Discuss some of + +the techniques available to help in the beginning stages of the implementation process. +6. Compare and contrast the several different subsystems that carry forward an organi + +zations work. +7. What does the phrase managing for results mean? How might such a program be + +implemented? +8. What are the different types of evaluation approaches? Discuss the distinctions among + +them. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. As a class or working in small groups, assume the role of a task force that the +governor has asked to develop plans for a new university the legislature has cre +ated in a rapidly expanding area in the corner of your state. Your plan should be +based on whatever assumptions you wish to make by explicitly stating them in +writing; however, all your assumptions should be consistent with the following +guidelines: +a. Assume that you have full legal authority to develop the university, including the + +power to develop a full range of undergraduate programs and a limited number of + + + +292 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +graduate programs in areas of special interest ro the state. 'Assume a high degree of +political support within the corner of the state where the university will be built, +and general support throughout the state, but assume major opposition from the +states leading public university. + +b. Assume that the area where the new university is to be located already houses a +community college, which the university will take over, and a couple of small, +private liberal arts colleges. Assume that the community college has two thou +sand freshmen and sophomores and operates in two large buildings on a large +tract of otherwise undeveloped land, which will be sufficient to accommodate the +new university. + +c. Assume that the area in which the university will be built has traditionally had an +agricultural and tourist-based economy, but is experiencing rapid growth in high- +tech industry, primarily because companies are attracted to the areas natural beauty +and comfortable climate. + +d. Assume that you can anticipate a budget starting at $12 million for the first year of +operations (this is inclusive of the community college budget), but rising at a rate +of $7 million a year for the next nine years. Assume also that, in addition, there is +adequate financing available for whatever new construction will be required during +the first ten years of the universitys existence. + +e. Assume that you have full control over the curriculum of the university and author +ity to propose to the Coordinating Board on Higher Education any new program +offerings. Assume, however, that the major university in the state will fight hard to +protect its engineering and computer science programs from competition. +You should create a plan for development of the new university over the next ten + +years. You should take into account all aspects of development, including all academic +programs, student services, administrative support (including the physical plant, per +sonnel, and financial and accounting systems), capital construction, and intercolle +giate athletics. You may wish to establish subcommittees or task forces to work on +particular areas; however, all reports should be combined into one single planning +document to be submitted to the governors office. + +2. Imagine that your city council is considering a proposed ordinance to require a 5-cent +deposit on each beverage container sold in the city. Each beer can, soft drink bottle, +or other container would carry a city sticker or imprint. Retailers would collect the +deposit on each container sold and would be required to pay 5 cents for each empty +container returned to the store. Proponents of the bill argue that it would help clean +up the city and provide better recycling of containers. Opponents argue that the bill +would be difficult for stores to adhere to and a nightmare for the city to enforce. +Develop a research designthat is, a plan for conducting researchthat would +enable you to report to the city council on the potential costs and benefits of the pro +posed ordinance. + +3. Complete the following exercise: The newly elected governor of a large Middle +Atlantic state has asked you to assist in developing a plan to revise the method of +patrolling the highways. The problem stems from a report by the federal Department +of Transportation showing that an independent sampling of traffic in the state indicates + + + +Cases and Exercises 293 + +far too many motorists are exceeding the federally mandated speed limit. The report +goes on to threaten a cutoff of all federal highway funds to the state if something is not +done. Perhaps of greater urgency, however, is the finding that the number of accidents +per 1,000 miles driven is rising dramatically. + +The governors office has provided you with a set of alternative strategies for +patrolling the highways and the associated costs and probable reductions in both acci +dents and speeders. Also included ifi the materials is a study of the revenue generated +by the issuance of citations. You are asked to write a report indicating the various +payoffs associated with each strategy. The types of patrols are: + +stationary radar trap patrol + +cruising car patrol + +airplane/chase car patrol + +The costs per shift for each patrol type are: + +stationary = $600 per patrol + +cruising = $800 per patrol + +airplane = $1,500 per patrol + +The cost of servicing each accident that occurs during a patrol is $250. The likeli +hood of accidents, however, differs depending on the type of patrol: the stationary +patrol results in a .50 probability of two accidents; the cruising patrol results in a .30 +probability of two accidents; and the airplane patrol results in a .25 probability of +two accidents. Finally, the number of citations issued varies by type of patrol: sta +tionary patrols issue eight citations on average; cruising patrols issue five citations on +average; and airplane patrols issue three citations on average. + +A previous study indicated that accident rates of less than an average of one per +patrol were typical of states where the Department of Transportation found accept +able levels of speeding. + +In a concluding paragraph, the governor indicates that it costs the state $50 to +process a citation (which averages a fine of $85), but the governor goes on to say +that may not be relevant to the choice of patrol type since the whole idea is to pre +vent accidents by slowing traffic to the legal speed limit (and preventing a cutoff of +federal money). + +How would you go about developing the report to the governor? + +SOURCE: The preceding case was adapted from material provided by Barry Hammond of Slippery Rock +University. + +4. Complete the following exercise: You have been hired by Expert Analysis consulting +firm to work on a project for New York City. The city has hired the firm to analyze +the advisability of contracting out garbage collection,' expanding city garbage collec +tion capacity, or going to a twenty-four-hour collection system. + +The city currently operates a sanitation department of 2,538 people using 781 +garbage trucks of two different sizes. The large trucks carry 35 tons per trip and + + + +294 Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +make two trips per day. The small trucks carry 15 tons and make three trips per day. +There are 537 small trucks and 244 large trucks. The cost of one day for a large +truck is $720 in wages for three people (eight-hour shift) and $200 for maintenance. +The cost of one day for a small truck is $480 for wages for two people (eight-hour +shift) and $150 for maintenance. The collective bargaining contract calls for a shift +differential of 15 percent above the standard $30 per hour for the truck crews, if the +crews work other than 6:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. The contract has three years to go +before it expires. A recent study indicates that the amount of garbage to be collected +in the city will increase 14 percent in the next year and 18 percent in the following +year. The study also shows that many of the larger firms in the city are contemplating +using a private garbage service (We-Haul, Inc.), which has recently begun competing +with the city. The study concludes that, although the amount of garbage to be +collected will rise, the amount the city will be required to collect might fall slightly or +remain steady. + +A quick check of the maintenance records for the large trucks indicates that you +can expect a 20 percent increase in maintenance costs if you operate the trucks +twenty-four hours a day and a 30 percent increase for the small trucks. You call the +Tidy-Truck manufacturer and get a quote of $82,000 for a new large truck and +$59,000 for a new small truck if you order this year. They expect a 6 percent price +increase next year. + +Just as you put down the phone, your liaison with the city calls to tell you that the +private contractor (We-Haul, Inc.) has offered to collect the additional garbage at a +special rate for the city of $18 per ton for the first year and $20 per ton for the second +year. + +Making reasonable assumptions about information you may need, develop a +recommendation as to whether the city should expand its service by buying more +trucks and hiring more people, operate its service twenty-four hours a day, or contract +with the private service to pick up the increase. + +SOURCE: The preceding case was adapted from material provided by Barry Hammond of Slippery Rock +University. + +5. The governor of a large Midwestern state has recently introduced a performance +management initiative to enhance the activities of state agencies and, more specifi +cally, to reverse downward trends in educational achievement and increases in juve +nile crime. The governor, responding to increasing public outcry, has encouraged her +cabinet to develop ten outcomes in the area of human and social services, then iden +tify performance indicators that can be used in monitoring the states progress in +achieving these outcomes. As a senior cabinet member, you have been called upon to +play a leadership role in this process. What are the primary outcomes that the state +would need to accomplish in order to reverse the downward trends? What perfor +mance indicators could be used to help keep the statewide initiative on track? How +would you ensure that these performance measurement strategies are implemented +throughout the state and that the necessary organizational change has occurred to +ensure their effectiveness? + + + +For Additional Reading 295 + +For Additional Reading + +Allison, Michael, and Jude Kaye. Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations. +New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. + +Bingham, Richard D., and Claire L. Felbinger. Evaluation in Practice: A Methodological +Approach. 2d ed. New York: Chatham House, 2001. + +Bryson, John M., ed. Strategic Planning for Public Service and Non-Profit +Organizations. New York: Pergamon Press, 1993. + +Bryson, John, and Farnum Alston. Creating and Implementing Your Strategic Plan. +San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. + +Bryson, John M., and Robert C. Einsweiler, eds. Strategic Planning Threats and +Opportunities for Planners. Chicago, IL: Planners Press, 1988. + +Chambers, Donald E. Social Policy and Social Programs: A Method for Practical Public +Policy Analysis. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1999. + +Forester, John. Planning in the Face of Power. Berkeley, CA: University of California +Press, 1989. + +Greene, Jennifer C., and Valerie J. Caracelli. Advances in Mixed Method Evaluation. +San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997. + +Goggin, Malcolm L., Ann O. Bowman, James P. Lester, and Laurence OToole, Jr. +Implementation Theory and Practice: Toward a Third Generation. New York: +HarperCollins, 1990. + +Hatry, Harry, Therese van Houten, Margaret C. Plantz, and Martha Taylor Greenway. +Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach. Alexandria, VA: United Way of +America, 1996. + +Kaufman, Roger. Strategic Planning Plus: An Organizational Guide. 2d ed. Newbury +Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1992. + +Kearns, Kevin. Managing for Accountability. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996. +Keehley, Patricia, et al. Benchmarking for Best Practices. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, + +1996. +Koteen, Jack. Strategic Management in Public and Nonprofit Organizations. 2d ed. + +Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1997. +Linden, Russell. Seamless Government. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994. +Meehan, Eugene. Assessing Governmental Performance. Westport, CT: Greenwood + +Press, 1993. +Meier, Kenneth J., and Jeffrey L. Brudney. Applied Statistics for Public Administration. + +3d ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1993. +Mercer, James L. Strategic Planning for Public Managers. New York: Quorum Books, + +1991. +Nutt, Paul C., and Robert W. Backoff. Strategic Management of Public and Third Sector + +Organizations: A Handbook for Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. +Peters, Guy B. American Public Policy: Promise and Performance. New York: Chatham + +House, 1999. +Quade, E. S. Analysis for Public Decisions. 2d ed. New York: North-Holland, 1989. + + + +Chapter 7 Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation + +Rabin, Jack, W. Bartley Hidreth, and Gerald J. Miller, eds. Handbook of Strategic +Management. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1989. + +Starling, Grover. Strategies for Policy Making. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1988. +Sylvia, Ronald, et al. Program Planning and Evaluation for the Public Manager. 2d ed + +Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1997. +Vines, David. Information Strategy and Public Policy. Cambridge, MA: B. Blackwell, + +1991. +Wholey, Joseph, Harry P. Hatry, and Kathryn Newcomer, eds. Handbook of Practical + +Program Evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994. +Wye, Christopher G., and Harry P. Hatry, eds. Timely Low-Cost Evaluation in the + +Public Sector. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988. +Zey, Mary, ed. Decision Making: Alternatives to Rational Choice Models. Newbury + +Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1992. + + + +Chapter 8 + +Managing Organizational Dynamics + +A public administrator needs a good understanding of the values and principles underly +ing work in the public and nonprofit sectors, knowledge of how public policy is devel +oped and executed, and familiarity with a number of administrative techniques peculiar +to public and nonprofit organizations. But the real key to managerial success is not what +you know, but what you can do. How effectively and how responsibly can you deal with +the seemingly endless series of problems and opportunities that confront you in an orga +nizational setting? A legislator or foundation program officer calls to ask for an immedi +ate report on a matter you know will require a week to examine properly; a subordinate +confesses that he has grown dependent on drugs and needs your help; someone in a +meeting becomes outraged over what you perceive as a minor matter and threatens to +have you fired; your boss asks your assistance in designing a completely new program +and asks if you would be interested in running it. These situations and many more like +them constitute the real challenges of public administration. + +Your response to each event, of course, is spontaneous; yet your actions will soon add +up to a pattern that reflects your knowledge, values, and most of all, skills in dealing +with other people. If, time after time, you can act effectively and responsibly in situa +tions that arise unexpectedly and require immediate answers with little time to think +through the theoretical possibilities, you will likely be considered a highly successful +manager. + +Fortunately, the skills required for managerial effectiveness can be developed over time. +In this and the following chapters, we will examine how your knowledge and values can +be brought to bear in real-world situations. We will focus on the specific personal and +interpersonal skills a manager requires and on some ways you might further develop +those skills. In this chapter, we will look at several broad approaches to understanding the +structure and design of public and nonprofit organizations, as well as peoples behavior in +those organizations. + +Images of Organizing in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors + +All managers carry around in their heads ideas or images of how public and nonprofit +organizations should operate and how individual managers should act. These images, +built up through experience, reading and discussion, and reflection, include notions about +the most effective structures for public agencies, the best way to manage employees, and + +297 + + + +29# Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +the proper relationship between elected and appointed officials'. Depending on your par +ticular view, you will tend to look for and emphasize certain things and ignore others. +The images you carry in your head will lead you to emphasize certain aspects of organiza +tional life and de-emphasize others. + +Some of these images derive from our experiences in our families; others derive from +school experiences; still others derive from our work in other organizations. Some are +general lessons we learned about topics such as power and authority, communications +and cooperation, and so forth. Others are more specific to the world of work or the +world of public service. Some are fairly conscious; others lie far beneath the surface. + +Whatever their form, these images direct our actions in specific ways. They cause us to +see the world in a particular way and, correspondingly, to act in a particular way. So it is +important to carefully consider how each of us thinks about public and nonprofit organi +zations. What images do we have, and how do they direct us to think? Which images +allow us to be most successful? Which images hold us back or get in our way? + +As you begin to think more carefully about the images that shape your work, and +especially as you begin to accumulate experiences, you will begin to identify areas where +your insight (and consequently your actions) might be improved. One way to sharpen +your images of public and nonprofit organizations is to consider what scholars and prac +titioners in the field of management generally and public and nonprofit management in +particular have said and written. Fortunately, there is a considerable and growing body +of material to draw upon that offers many categories and approaches you might use in +thinking about your involvement. + +For the most part, this literature has developed out of the experiences of practicing +managers. (Since the literature on nonprofit management is still in its developmental +states, much of the following discussion will relate to public-sector management.) +Reflective practitioners and thoughtful academics have asked over and over how public +and nonprofit managers can be helped to select those features of organizational life that +will be most helpful to them. Many students and practitioners of public administration +have contributed to our understanding of the management of public agencies. They have +developed word pictures (often simply called theories) to suggest what will be most +helpful when you approach similar problems. + +Each theoretical approach directs attention toward certain topics or ideas and away +from others. It is up to you to select the most relevant and most helpful approaches to +your particular situation. In this chapter, we will review some of the most influential +ways of thinking about management in the public sector. Some early approaches focused +on fairly obvious points; more recent approaches seem more complex and sophisticated. + +The Functions of Management + +Writing early in the twentieth century, French management theorist and practitioner FFenri +Fayol (1949) identified five general functions managers should perform: planning, organiz +ing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Several years later, Luther Gulick arrived + + + +The Functions of Management 299 + +at a similar list. Gulick, at the time an advisor on federal government reorganization, +described the functions of public management in terms of an acronym, POSDCORB: +Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting (Gulick, +1937). To Fayol and Gulick, these activities were the essence of management and identified +functions that had to be performed if organizations were to be managed effectively. They +constituted advice to managers about what they should be doing. + +Planning involves preparing yourself and your organization to move effectively into +the future. All managers engage in planning at least to some extent, and for some man +agers, such as those on strategic planning staffs, planning is almost a full-time activity. +Some managers make plans for the entire organization, others make plans for the units +they directly supervise, and all managers plan for their own activities. Unfortunately, as +we noted earlier, planning is one managerial function that is often easy to overlook. +Managers get caught up in the hectic pace of conversations, meetings, and deadlines and +often neglect planning. Yet the most effective managers are aware that time taken out for +planning, whether for the organization or for oneself, pays rich dividends. + +Planning is closely related to decision making, an aspect of managerial work that +cuts across many of the other areas. The ability to make thoughtful decisions seems to +distinguish the more successful managers. Because decision making is so fundamental to +managerial work, it has been studied intensively for many years. In most organizations, +decision making is a central activity. (We will discuss decision making in more detail +later in this chapter.) + +Organizing refers to many different activities, including division of the organization +into different departments, creating levels in the organizations hierarchy, and deciding +who reports to whom. In a specific department or division, organizing also includes +the task of defining specific positions and jobs. Note that organizing includes job design, +but the assignment of individuals to specific jobs involves the staffing rather than the +organizing function. + +Staffing is the process of acquiring, training, and developing the personnel to conduct +the organizations activities. Staffing is today more generally described as personnel man +agement or sometimes as human resources management. As we saw in Chapter 6, specific +tasks such as hiring, training, firing, and so forth are examples of the staffing or personnel +function. Dealing with people involves important skills in communication and motivation, +as well as the ability to make sound decisions about whom you hire to work with you. + +Directing is often the most dynamic and most visible management function. It includes +three critical management activities: leading, motivating, and changing things when neces +sary. Providing direction to an organization is a subtle and complex task that involves the +full range of personal and interpersonal skills. + +Coordinating the work of many different people in many different places is also a +central managerial function. The complexity and diversity of most modern organizations +means that a great deal of time must be spent making sure that all the pieces fall into +place at the right time. Coordinating involves special skills in problem solvinghow to +make things work but also involves skills in communicating and negotiating. + +Budgeting involves managing the organizations resources, especially financial. +Budgeting involves securing, planning for, and managing the organizations funds. As we +saw in Chapter 5, budgeting is a technical field, but it also involves considerable human + + + +300 Chapters Managing Organizational Dynamics + +skills, especially those of developing funding for ones programs' and allocating scarce +resources among many different competing programs and people. + +In addition to these standard management functions, there are also a number of miscel +laneous tasks that are usually considered managerial work. One of the most important is +dealing with people from outside the organization. Skills in presenting your organization +and point of view to others are becoming increasingly important as the relationships +among organizations at many different levels become more intense. Representing your +organization before outside groups and organizations has come to be known in the litera +ture on management as boundary spanning. + +The Early Writers: A Concern for Structure + +The question of how managers might be guided in their work has occupied theorists and +practitioners for many years. Early writers on public administration thought of manage +ment in highly mechanical terms and considered questions of organizational structure +and design of paramount importance. Recall that the birth of public administration as a +separate field of study occurred during a time of impressive gains in science and industry; +new ideas and new products were changing society almost overnight, as were the indus +trial and organizational processes that made them possible. It was a time of rigid control +by the captains of industry; it was also a time of fostering the birth of the assembly line. + +In such an era, the machine became the leading image for how to organize technical +and human processes. Just as the machine was precise, mechanical, and efficient, so +should the organizations that built machines show the same characteristics. The result +was a highly mechanical approach to organization that valued the idea of developing +proper structures and operating them with great efficiency. + +This orientation was epitomized in the influential work of Frederick W. Taylor, who +developed what he termed scientific management, an approach based on carefully defined +laws, rules, and principles (1923, p. 7). Taylor focused first on the individual worker, +designing detailed measurements of time and motion to discover how the worker might +become more efficient. For example, one might measure the distance from where a partic +ular piece of equipment was stored to where it was used, then try to reduce that distance +and the time and motion required to use the equipment. (In one example, Taylor sought +to develop a science of shoveling based on the premise that the size of each individual +shovel load would affect the daily output of first-class shovelers. After careful and +detailed experiments, it was determined that the greatest tonnage per day would be +achieved with an average shovel load of about twenty-one pounds!) + +Taylors approach could be applied to a wide variety of work-process problems, from +the design of assembly lines to the arrangement of items on ones desk. But beyond these +efforts to turn workers into highly tuned machines, Taylors work provided guidance for +managers throughout the organization. The managers role became that of making the +organization more efficient through the application of detailed so-called scientific infor +mation. The smooth-running organization was to be highly mechanical, with the human + + + +The Early Writers: A Concern for Structure 301 + +elements strictly controlled to contribute to overall efficiency. The managers job was to +ensure the efficient operation of the system. + +Networking + +The Academy of Management Online (http://www.aom.pace.edu), the Society for +Industrial and Organizational Psychology (http://www.siop.org), and the Institute +for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (http://www.informs.org) +offer research and information sources concerning the general principles of organi +zation theory and behavior. For an alternative, visit the Electronic Journal of +Radical Organisation Theory at http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/depts/sml/journal/ +ejrot.htm. This site is published by the University of Waikato School of Manage +ment Studies in New Zealand. + +Just as Taylor and others emphasized the efficient operation of industrial systems, others +soon applied this emphasis in public administration. Leonard White wrote, The objective +of public administration is the most efficient utilization of the resources at the disposal of +officials and employees (1926, p. 2). In the science of administration, whether public or +private, the basic good is efficiency, Luther Gulick concurred (1937b, p. 192). Though +several writers objected, pointing out that other values, such as responsiveness, need to +come into play in public organizations and that mechanical efficiency is coldly calculating +and inhuman (Dimock, 1936, p. 120), efficiency was clearly the primary interest of most +early public administrationists. + +From the field of business, the early writers in public administration transferred other +lessons about the design and structure of organizations, specifically the importance of +establishing single centers of power controlling basically top-down structures. At the top +of the organization there was to be one single authority to whom all subordinate person +nel ultimately reported. Though the organization would be characterized by many man +agers and perhaps many organizational units, the ultimate responsibility and authority lay +at the top. + +To reconcile this view with the democratic requirement that public organizations +should be responsive to the popular will, the early writers suggested that the organiza +tions head, the single source of power and authority, should simply be accountable to the +legislative body in much the same way a corporate chief executive officer is accountable +to a board of directors. (In Chapter 4 this idea was mentioned as the doctrine of neutral +competence.) In describing the role of an agency chief executive, the advice of the early +writers was to vest all administrative authority in a single executive, who would be given +appropriate powers to carry out the work and responsibility for seeing that it was done. +According to W. F. Willoughby, this was the first step in making the executive branch a +single, integrated piece of administrative machinery (1927, p. 37). (This advice was at +odds with the standard political practice of that period, the election of many administra +tive officers and the use of many large executive boards. As we saw earlier, even today, +most states elect officers such as secretary of state or treasurer rather than having such +officers report to a single chief executive, in this case the governor.) + + + +302 Chapters Managing Organizational Dynamics + +The early writers who put forth the administrative-management viewpoint were prac +tical people who drew on their experience in managing public agencies. Consequently, +when they described their work, they tended to emphasize how organizational structures +might be built. Luther Gulick, for example, wrote extensively about the formation of +agencies. After the agency was created and an executive chosen, Gulick saw the next +question as one of dividing the work necessary to the organization, then establishing +proper means of coordination and control. In other words, the new organization would +move through four phases in which the legislature or chief executive would (1) define the +job, (2) select a director, who would (3) determine the nature and number of required +unit and (4) establish a structure of authority through which he or she would coordinate +and control activities of the units (1937a, p. 7). + +The division of labor, which amounted to creation of an organizational structure, was a +critical element. The logic was compelling: since people differ in knowledge and skills and +since the amount of time any one person can contribute to solution of large-scale problems +is limited, it is necessary to divide the work of the organization into manageable portions. +As we saw earlier, division of labor could be accomplished in a limited number of ways. +Recall that Gulick suggested organizing on the basis of (1) the major purpose served +(education, welfare, and so forth), (2) the process (engineering, medicine, and so forth), +(3) the persons or things being dealt with by the unit (veterans, convicts, and so forth), or +(4) the place or geographic location where the work is done (1937a, pp. 21-29). + +Having established a division of labor, the next problem facing the new director or +manager was to create a structure of authority to coordinate and control the various +parts of the organization. Gulicks answer to this question, like others during this +period, was again drawn from orthodox practice in business the organization should +feature unity of command exercised through a hierarchical structure of authority. +By the turn of the century, hierarchical organizations, like those symbolized in the stan +dard organization chart (see Figure 8.1), had become models for industry (as they had + +FIGURE 8.1 + +Typical Organization Chart Showing Line and Staff + + + +The Early Writers: A Concern for Structure 3 03 + +previously been in the military and the Catholic Church). Gulick and many other early +scholars and practitioners in public administration suggested a similar approach in the +public sector. + +Guidance for creating such structures was given by two former General Motors exec +utives, James Mooney and Alan Reiley (1939). Mooney and Reiley described four main +principles for structuring large organizations. The first, coordination through unity of +command, emphasized the importance of strong executive leadership exercised through +a specific and formal chain of command. In this structure, each person would have only +one boss, and each boss would have a limited span of controlthat is, a limited number +of people reporting to him or her. Mooney and Reiley argued that there should be +no question about whose orders to obey. The second principle was the scalar principle +which described the vertical division of labor among various organizational levels. +(In military terms, the difference between a general and a private reflects the scalar prin +ciple.) Third was the functional principle, describing a horizontal division of labor. +(Again, in military terms, the difference between Infantry and Air Force would be a func +tional difference.) Finally, Mooney and Reiley discussed the relationship between line +and staff, with line offices representing the direct flow of authority, and staff offices +(such as personnel or finance) available to advise the chief executive, but not exercising +direct authority over line offices. + +The language of hierarchical structures became somewhat standard. And, just as dis +tinctions were often drawn between line and staff, managers were (and are today) often +classified as top, middle, or supervisory. Supervisory managers are at the bottom of the +hierarchy, top managers at the peak, and middle managers in between. A supervisory +manager directly manages the people involved in producing the organizations output. +The supervisory level is the first level of management, so supervisors are sometimes +called first-line managers. There are normally no managers below the supervisory level. +An example of a supervisory manager is the person to whom your mail carrier reports at +the post office. + +Supervisors report to middle managers, and are usually defined as managers who +manage other managers! If the organization is small, there may be only one level of mid +dle managers; large organizations usually have more than one middle-management level. +The highest level of management, the top level, usually has the fewest managers of the +three levels. Top managers, often called executives, are responsible for entire organiza +tions, whereas middle- and supervisory-level managers focus on increasingly smaller sec +tions of it at each level. Top managers are usually the most involved in relationships with +other groups and agencies. + +It is easy to distinguish supervisory-level from middle-level managers, but it is often +ambiguous as to where middle management stops and top management begins. Titles +often confuse things more than they help. The title of vice president, for example, indi +cates a top manager in some organizations; in others, the vice president is only a middle +manager. Banks are particularly well known for having many vice presidents, most of +whom are obviously not part of top management. Similarly, titles in public organiza +tions, such as division director, branch chief, and department head, are used in many +different ways and are usually only meaningful if you understand the conventions of the +particular organization. + + + +3 04 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +Independently of the American writers we have mentioned, German sociologist Max +Weber examined the concept of bureaucracy early in this century, though Webers work +was not well known to the earlier public administrationists. Weber used the term bureau +cracy to refer to any large organization, public or private, characterized by a clearly +defined hierarchy of impersonal offices to which persons are appointed based on technical +qualifications and through which they are subject to strict discipline and control (Weber, +1947, p. 328). Though we now often use bureaucracy pejoratively, Webers more techni +cal use carries no negative connotation. Indeed, Weber argued that bureaucracy is an +attractive way to organize because it is so efficient: Experience tends to universally show +that the purely bureaucratic type of administration [is] capable of attaining the highest +degree of efficiency and is in the sense formally the most rational known means of carry +ing out imperative control over human beings (p. 337). + +In any case, early writers on public administration generally sought to apply what +they saw as the correct principles of administrative management to the conduct of +public organizations. In doing so they implied that the problems facing government +and their solutions were much the same as those in industry: centralization of author +ity and the development of hierarchical structures. But this assumption sidestepped +several important issues essential to the operations of public agencies. Is the criterion +of efficiency the only criterion by which the work of public organizations should be +evaluated? Is it incompatible to create highly authoritarian structures to carry out the +work of a democracy? + +There were also questions about whether approaches to organization based on struc +tural analyses alone were even the most efficient. In both the public and private sectors, for +example, managers and researchers began to ask whether the rigid structures described in +the principles of administrative management could effectively adapt to change. And, per +haps most important, where does the individual enter into the equation, other than as a +potential machine? The structural lens through which many early scholars and practition +ers viewed the world proved to be somewhat limiting; something else was needed. + +Recognizing Human Behavior + +In the mid-1920s, an impetus to further investigation of the informal or human factors in +organizational life came from studies conducted by a group of Harvard researchers at the +Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company. The studies, which began in a way +largely consistent with the scientific management tradition, were designed to measure the +relationship between working conditions (such as lighting, temperature, and humidity) and +worker productivity (including monotony and fatigue). In the experiment, certain groups +were isolated from their coworkers and placed in carefully controlled environments where +conditions could be varied systematically. But, as the experiment developed, regardless +of the changes in environmental conditionslighter or darker, hotter or colder, more +or less humidthe productivity of the experimental group tended to increase. Can you +guess why? + + + +Recognizing Human Behavior 305 + +The researchers answer was that the experimental group was responding not to the +conditions around them, but to the fact that they had been singled out for special atten +tion. As a result, the researchers developed a new interest in the human aspects of orga +nizational life. Those involved in the Hawthorne study began to see organizations as not +only meeting the stated goals of producing goods or services but as being concerned also, +even if implicitly, with the distribution of satisfactions some monetary, others social +and psychologicalto the members of the organization. The informal organization, the +human interactions that paralleled those prescribed by the organizational structure, was +viewed as important or even more important than the formal organization. If this were +the case, then it made sense that the managers role involved attention to both the formal +structure of the work process and the pattern of informal relationships among the work +ers. Either one could affect efficiency and effectiveness. + +There was, of course, abundant advice on how to manage the formal structure, but +only speculation about how to manage the informal or the human side of organizations. +Consequently, a number of studies were undertaken that dealt with the critical human +relationship between manager and worker. Many of the studies suggested that changes in +ones approach to managing, or management style, could lead to important differences +in productivity. By treating workers differently, you could affect the work they did. + +An example of this orientation was Douglas MacGregors discussion of Theory X and +Theory Y. After reviewing other work on management, MacGregor suggested that a bet +ter theory of human behavior might make it possible to more effectively control workers +in organizations. Specifically, MacGregor contrasted a set of assumptions about human +behavior that appeared to form the basis for traditional management techniques (Theory +X) with a set of assumptions he felt would underlie a new and more enlightened approach +(Theory Y). Traditionally, MacGregor argued, managers seemed to assume that human +beings are lazy and dislike work, that they must therefore be coerced to produce, and that +most in fact want such direction. MacGregor suggested in contrast that work is quite nat +ural, that people do not need to be coerced, that they will devote energy to objectives to +which they are committed, and that they will make commitments to objectives that, when +completed, will lead to rewards. As a consequence, MacGregor suggested that most +workers were not being utilized to their full potential. The lesson was straightforward: +managers must take care to determine the needs and desires of their employees, then help +orient the individuals objectives so that they are met by work toward the organizations +objectives (MacGregor, 1960). + +Two Classic Works + +Two writers on organizational behavior, both stimulated by the new attention to human +factors in organizational life, wrote classics on the subject during the forties and fifties. +One author, Herbert Simon, came from the field of public administration; the other, +Chris Argyris, began his work in the field of industrial psychology. Both have influenced +all fields of management even to the present. + +Simon began by suggesting that the reason we have large organizations in the first place +is that individual human beings are limited or bounded in their rationality or capacity to + + + +Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +solve the complex problems we face in the modern world. The'capacity of the human +mind for formulating and solving complex problems is very small in comparison with the +size of the problems whose solution is required for objectively rational behavior in the real +world or even for a reasonable approximation to such objective rationality (1957, +p. 198). Organizations are seen as devices for molding our sometimes erratic behavior to +rational patterns of obtaining our objectives. + +In the abstract, it is really not difficult to design a rational system for reaching organiza +tional objectives. The difficulty comes when human beings, with all their emotions and +interests, are inserted into the system. Because they are human, they often appear irrational +in terms of the system, even though what they are doing, from their point of view, may be +perfectly rational. The chief problem for Simon, therefore, became how to understand and +direct human behavior in such a way that it aids in pursuit of the organizations objectives +in a rational (that is, efficient) way. + +Simon described the organization as a decision-making system involving two pri +mary sets of decisions on the part of the individual: the decision to be a part of an +organization and the decision to contribute desired behaviors to the organization. +Simon approaches each problem through a rational calculation of costs and benefits. +For example, a person may be expected to remain a member of an organization as +long as the benefits provided by the organization appear to exceed those that might be +obtained elsewhere. + +The same approach is used with respect to the individuals contributions to the organi +zation, an issue closely tied to the question of authority. Simon argued that each individ +ual establishes an area of acceptance within which the subordinate is willing to accept the +decisions made for him by his superior (Simon, 1957, pp. 74-75). But since it is in the +interest of the organization to have the zone as wide as possible, the organization, +through its managers, offers certain inducements designed to increase the individuals +contributions. Inducements include money and status, but they also involve creating a +state of mind in which individuals will tend to obey rather than disobey. + +In establishing this state of mind, Simon argues that you cannot expect people +to make perfectly rational decisions. Indeed, most human beings act with bounded +rationality; they seek the best possible solution, though not necessarily the one that is +most rational from a purely economic standpoint. The member can be made to fall in +line with the organizations expectations by means of inducements that are just good +enough to elicit the desired contributions. In this way, what Simon terms administrative +man (in contrast to economic man) becomes a part of a rationally behaving system. + +Chris Argyris, rather than focusing on the design of rational systems, focused on the +interaction of the individual and the organization, and suggested, much like MacGregor, +that formal organizational structures and traditional management practices were inconsis +tent with a natural human striving for growth and development. Individuals in our soci- +ety, Argyris concluded, develop from infancy through adulthood along several important +dimensions: from passivity to activity, from dependence to independence, from a limited +to a greater range of behaviors, from shallow to deeper interests, from a shorter to a +longer time perspective, from a position of subordination to a position of equality or +superordination, and from lack of awareness to greater awareness. Movement along each +dimension contributes to what we know as the healthy adult personality. + + + +The Organization and Its Environment 307 + +Yet, argued Argyris, these goals are exactly those that traditional management prac +tices prevent. For example, standard patterns of management give the individual little +control over his or her work. Workers are expected to be passive, submissive, and lim +ited in the range of their responses. They are basically expected to behave like children. +Moreover, if individuals express frustration at such a situation, managers often see their +behavior as hostile and dysfunctional. The typical managerial response is to crack down, +to assert even more severe methods of control. + +A healthier approach, suggests Argyris, would be to understand the basic tendencies +of the human personality for growth and development, then to fuse these tendencies +with the objectives of the organization. Achieving this congruence or fusion is the task of +the manager. This requires that the manager develop skill in self-awareness, in effective +diagnosing, in helping individuals grow and become more creative, in coping with +dependent-oriented . . . employees, and in surviving in a competitive world of manage +ment (1962, p. 213). + +In the work of both Simon and Argyris, there is a dramatic shift from concerns with +structure to concerns with human behavior. Each offers a new way of looking at organi +zations and the people in them. The manager, according to this new view, needs to take +structure into account (for that will affect human behavior), but the bottom line is how +people behave. And, of course, the behavior of human beings is affected by much more +than the structures in which they reside. In these works, the attention of the manager is +redirected from structure to behavior. In this new view, the job of the manager is to mold +human behavior toward the purposes of the organization. + +The Organization and Its Environment + +Both the early emphasis on structure and the later emphasis on human behavior proved +helpful in focusing attention on important aspects of life in complex organizations. But +neither viewpoint even considered the relationship between the organization and its envi +ronment. This missing element began to appear, however, as writers in the field of public +administration returned to issues of structure, though they viewed it in a quite different +way. The new concern for structure was stimulated by two emerging approaches to public +organizations: systems theory and the political economy approach. The systems approach +suggested that public (or other) organizations could be viewed in the same general way as +biological or physical systems as whole organisms, independent of their parts and pursu +ing specific purposes within a complex environment; the political economy approach +focused on politics and economics as categories for analyzing organizational behavior. + +Systems Theory + +We will discuss the basic ideas associated with systems theory in more detail later. For the +time being, you should know that the systems model suggests that the organization +receives from its environment the human and material resources it requires to function, + + + +308 Chapters Managing Organizational Dynamics + +as well as requests and directives about how it should operate. These resources, requests, +and directives are processed through the organization and transformed by it, and the +resulting outputs (products, services, and so on) are transmitted back into the environ +ment. In turn, these outputs are taken into account as new inputs are developed, and, over +time, a balancing point is reached that makes possible the survival of the organization. + +While we will discuss applications of systems theory of organizational design later, we +should note here that the systems approach led those in public administration to think +more carefully about the environment in which they worked and to begin to consider what +influences were most important. A classic study of the relationship between an agency and +its environment was Selznicks analysis of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the +1940s. Selznick (1949) argued that, in contrast to the closed, mechanical systems implied +in many approaches to public organizations, those organizations are in fact open systems. +That is, they exist within an institutional framework, which includes political parties, pres +sure groups, and special interests, and, though the groups demands may appear irrational +from the perspective of the organization, they simply cannot be ignored. + +The Tennessee Valley Authority sought to involve already existing local agencies in +planning power distribution systems and other programs. One reason was to enable the +TVA to anticipate potential demands and be prepared to respond. A second reason was +to try to get local groups committed to the TVA program by making them feel part +of the organization. By bringing outside groups into the structure of the organization +(by placing persons on advisory groups or negotiating service contracts with them), TVA +sought support for its own programs. You will recall this idea as co-optation, a term +Selznick defined as the process of absorbing new elements into the leadership or policy- +determining structure of the organization as a means of averting threats to its stability or +existence (Selznick, 1949, p. 13). + +Another study examining the influence of environmental factors on the operations of +public agencies was Herbert Kaufmans analysis of the U.S. Forest Service (Kaufman, +1960). The Forest Service faced the problem of how to secure compliance and consistency +from forest rangers scattered across the country and subject to all kinds of pressures from +their local communities. Rangers often served, of course, in isolated locations. While they +sought to carry out the policies of the Forest Service, they also developed loyalties to their +local communities. They often had to carry out regulations that would adversely affect +their friends and neighbors in the local areas and, in such cases, might be tempted to devi +ate from central office directives. The agencys response was to devise a series of training +programs, procedural devices, inspections, and sanctions as efforts to reduce the influence +of the local environment and to ensure that central office orders were actually carried out +in the field. + +Looking at how environmental factors influence public organizations led other writers +to characterize public agencies as interdependent systems operating in a complex envi +ronment. No longer could one agencys work be viewed in isolation from other public +and private agencies; one would simply not be able to understand how an agency oper +ated without understanding the myriad external influences on the agency. Imagine, for +example, the difficulty of implementing a new set of standards for water quality in a city +such as Cincinnati, located on a state boundary. Think of all the agencies, public and +private, that would have to be notified and would wish to express their views. Think of + + + +The Organization and Its Environment 309 + +the various political jurisdictions states, cities, counties, and possibly many special dis +tricts. Think of the various bodies within each jurisdiction that might want inputthe +mayor, legislature, and administrative agencies. + +The complexity of administrative activities (as in this example) have led some scholars +to suggest that it is no longer even meaningful to focus on a specific agencys contribu +tion to implementing a particular policy, but to think instead in terms of programs. We +have already noted that many federal programs operate through a pattern of funding in +which money, rules, and guidelines are established for programs that are actually deliv +ered at the state and local levels through both public and private agencies. For example, +in the delivery of social services, such as drug prevention efforts, state and local govern +ments use federal money to fund private or nonprofit providers of the services. In many +cases, the money goes to fund programs, not specific agencies, so that these programs +operate through rather diffuse networks of loosely joined groups rather than through +traditional hierarchical structures. In such groups, older notions of organizational con +trol necessarily give way to new emphasis on bargaining and negotiation, in which the +systems perspective has much to offer. + +From Political Economy to Organization Development + +Interest in interorganizational policy networks was further stimulated by the emergence +of the political economy approach to understanding public organizations. Wamsley and +Zald (1973) suggest that public organizations can best be understood in terms of the +conjunction of political and economic factors influencing their operation. These factors +affect the organization both internally and externally, leading to four categories +through which we might view organizations. First, the external political environment +involves the interplay of various interest groups and other organizations that affect the +organizations political climate. Second, the external economic environment consists of +market exchanges that influence the available supply of resources. Third, the internal +political category focuses on the distribution of power and authority; and fourth, the +internal economy concerns the allocation of resources and how they are used. + +The Wamsley-Zald approach is related to a more sophisticated and complex approach +most often associated with Vincent Ostrom. Ostroms public choice approach begins +with examining how individuals might make choices if they were free to act rationally +and in their own self-interest. Under some circumstances, people might be expected to +engage in collective action, especially where public goods are involved, or where situa +tions are neither purely public nor purely private. (Public goods are distinguished from +private goods those that can be measured, marketed, and maintained by the fact +that they are highly indivisible; a public good such as the national defense is available to +all once it is provided for one.) + +Following this logic, Ostrom sees public organizations as a means for allocating deci +sion-making capabilities in order to provide public goods and services responsive to the +preferences of individuals in different social contexts (Ostrom & Ostrom, 1971, p. 207). +Ostrom argues that the best structures for satisfying individual preferences are not central +ized bureaucratic agencies, but rather more fragmented, multiorganizational arrangements. + + + +3io Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +Although earlier behavioral studies like Simons and Argyriss were important in coun +tering the fields dependence on a structural interpretation of organizational life, they +were limited in certain ways. First, most of the behavioral literature failed to question the +top-down pattern of organizational authority, so many thought it merely provided more +sophisticated mechanisms for managerial control. Second, there seemed to be little inter +est in organization change processes at a time that rapid social change was becoming a +dominant feature of the landscape. Third, the perspective failed to comprehend the com +plexity of interorganizational bargaining and negotiation. Similarly, the political economy +approach seemed to unnecessarily limit the creativity and communications possibilities of +those in public organizations, and seemed, at least to some, to place values in a secondary +position. + +Among major critics of earlier approaches were a group of scholars in the early 1970s +whose collective work came to be known (and, despite the passage of time, is still known) +as the New Public Administration. In contrast to older approaches that emphasized +efficiency and control, the New Public Administration heralded openness and change, +equity, and involvement. In a rapidly changing society populated by diverse groups, the +New Public Administrationists felt that the key element in the survival of organizations +indeed, of the societywas the capacity to adapt to rapid social change. Organizations +would have to find ways to deal with an increasingly turbulent environment. + +Doing so would require stimulating the creativity of everyone involved in any pub +lic program, both within the agency and in the environment. Involving the organiza +tions members and its clients in the decision-making process would, the New Public +Administrationists felt, foster creativity. Moreover, such an approach seemed far more +consistent with democratic norms and practices than operating through top-down +structures of control. The key words in the New Public Administration were equity +and involvement. + +Many of those associated with the New Public Administration became students of +organizational change processes and sought ways to help organizations implement +needed changes. One of the most important approaches they employed was organization +development, a process-oriented approach to planned change. Organization develop +ment suggests many techniques for change that we will examine later, but it also offers +another approach through which to view the work of organizations. + +Robert Golembiewski, a leader in the application of organization development strate +gies and techniques to the public sector, points out that organization development repre +sents a particular philosophy of management that is considerably at odds with traditional +top-down tendencies. It values: + +1. mutual accessibility and open communications +2. a willingness to experiment with new behaviors and to choose those that seem most +effective +3. a collaborative concept of authority that emphasizes cooperation and willingness to +examine conflicts openly +4. creating mutual helping relationships involving a sense of community and acceptance +of responsibility for others +5. authenticity in interpersonal relationships (Golembiewski, 1972, pp. 60-66) + + + +The Organization and Its Environment 311 + +Decision Making in Organizations + +As we suggested in our discussion of the public policy process, decision making represents +one of the most critical functions of public and nonprofit organizations. While the scope +and nature of decision making varies from issue to issue, the process itself is a daily activity. +Some have even suggested that organizations can be viewed as living histories of their deci +sion-making processes. To better appreciate this important function, it may be helpful to +examine some of the core concepts of organizational decision making and to understand +how leaders use these concepts in their management practice (Hatch, 1997, pp. 270-281). + +Scholars of organizations traditionally followed an economic view of decision mak +ing, which assumed that decisions were the result of rational, well-informed selection +procedures. (Much of our discussion to this point reflects this traditional viewpoint.) +In the rational model, management recognizes the problem, identifies alternatives, selects +and implements the most efficient alternative, and monitors the results. + +However, a series of works, beginning with March and Simon (1958) and Cyert and +March (1963), challenged this rational viewpoint, arguing that decision making can be +viewed as rational only in certain circumstances. Most often, organizations lack the infor +mation and capacity needed for making rational decisions. Simon, who received a Nobel +Prize for his work in artificial intelligence, referred to this phenomenon as a bounded +rationality. He identified five of the most common constraints: + +1. imperfect and incomplete information +2. the complexity of the problem +3. human information-processing capacity +4. the time available for decision-making processes +5. the conflicting preferences decision makers have for organizational goals. (Hatch, +1997, p.274) + +Despite attempts on the part of managers to use more rational processes, these factors +pose insurmountable barriers to rational decision making. The implications are two-fold. +First, managers will never have enough data to adequately inform decision-making +processes. Second, even if they did, they would face conflicting goals on the part of stake +holders, to the point that they would be unable to make a truly rational selection of the +most efficient alternatives. For Simon, the best that managers can do involves, what he +called, satisficingthat is, making do with the most information possible at the time +and attempting to balance between competing demands. + +But what happens when the goals of a particular decision point are relatively clear and +the only true variable lies in the uncertainty of the policy direction or the outcome? Henry +Mintzberg and his colleagues (1976) referred to this as the trial-and-error model of deci +sion making. Managers take an incremental approach to implementing policy alterna +tives, assess the impact, then move to the next decision point. Over time, the belief is that +a comprehensive solution to the issue will be attained, but the process will allow decision +makers to proceed with caution. + +Often the opposite may also be true. Decision makers may (and will!) face a variety +of competing demands on the part of stakeholders, which they must balance before even + + + +3i2 Chapters Managing Organizational Dynamics + +moving to the decision stage. Handling the complexity of these situations requires +what organization theorists refer to as the coalition model of decision making. The coali +tion model involves a search for interest-accommodating alternatives as opposed to the +problem-solving information in the rational model. Policy leaders recognize that what +may be the most efficient alternative will not be acceptable to the different interest +groups. The best option is the one they can sell to their key constituencies. While some +believe that the coalition model implies some sort of a breakdown in normal decision +making, in todays dynamic, multicultural world (particularly in the public and nonprofit +sectors) it tends to be the rule more than the exception. + +Of course, both the trial-and-error and coalition models of decision making assume +that either the certainty of approach or the goals of the process has been determined. +Anyone who has served in a public or nonprofit organization will tell you that many +times both sets of questions need to be answered. In these situations, which are character +ized by a continuous ebb and flow of leadership, ongoing change in the policy environ +ment, and shifting sets of coalitions among stakeholder groups, leaders find themselves +using the garbage can model of decision making. (Sound familiar? If not, it will very +soon!) Randomness replaces rationality. Indeed, Cohen, March and Olsen (1972) used +the term organized anarchies to describe organizations that practice the garbage can +model as normal policy. + +The approaches to organizational decision making described here should not be taken +as mutually exclusive. Leaders in public and nonprofit organizations should explore a vari +ety of methods, depending on the changing conditions in the policy environment. In fact, +the most effective managers will be able to read the shifting conditions and balance their +desire for rationality with a sensitivity to their internal barometers. + +Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, + +and Strategic Management + +During the past generation, many discussions of management and organizations, espe +cially in the private sector, have emphasized the importance of understanding the culture +of the organization. Most writers refer to organizational culture as the basic pattern of +attitudes, beliefs and values that underlie the organizations operations. An organizations +culture consists of the shared assumptions that members of the organization hold. Edgar +H. Schein (1997, pp. 8-10) notes that culture can be manifested in many ways, including +the following: + +1. Observed behavioral regularities when people interact: The language they use, the cus +toms and traditions that evolve, and the rituals they employ in a wide variety of situations. +2. Group norms: The implicit standards and values that evolve in working groups, such + +as the particular norm of a fair days work for a fair days pay that evolved among +workers in the Hawthorne studies. + + + +Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, and Strategic Management + +3. Espoused values: The articulated, publicly announced principles and values that the +group claims to be trying to achieve. +4. Formal philosophy: The broad policies and ideological principles that guide a groups +actions toward stockholders, employees, customers, and other stakeholders. +5. Rules of the game: Implicit rules for getting along in the organizations and the ropes that + +a newcomer must learn to be an accepted memberthe way we do things around here. +6. Climate: The feeling that is conveyed in a group by the physical layout and the way + +in which members of the organization interact with each other, with customers, or with +other outsiders. +7. Embedded skills: The special competencies group members display in accomplishing + +certain tasks, the ability to make certain things that gets passed on from generation to +generation without necessarily being articulated in writing. +8. Habits of thinking, mental models, and/or linguistic paradigms: The shared cognitive + +frames that guide the perceptions, thought, and language used by the members of a +group and are taught to new members in the early socialization process. +9. Shared meanings: The emergent understandings that are created by group members + +as they interact with each other. +10. Root metaphors or integrating symbols: The ideas, feelings, and images groups develop +to characterize themselves that may or may not be appreciated consciously but that +become embodied in buildings, office layout, and other material artifacts of the group. + +As these manifestations suggest, some of the most important aspects of an organiza +tion lie outside of the explicit characteristics shared in normal group interaction. The +unique ways in which an organization communicates internally and externally, its system +of reward and punishment, and the way group members perceive themselves and the +outside world all stem from the deeper, mostly undiscussed system of values and beliefs +that define the group as a whole (Schein, 1997). + +These layers of culture represent key concerns in their own right, in that they yield +insight in very different ways about the nature of the group. However, organizational +culture becomes even more critical as it relates to planned organizational change. +Organizations face dynamic conditions in their internal and external environments, a +variety of social, economic, and political factors that impact group performance. The +successful organization is one that remains flexible to meet these changing conditions. +Yet given the multiple levels of organizational culture, change within the group cannot +simply occur on the surface level. The organizations underlying system of beliefs and val +ues must be transformed in order for change to be sustainable (Schein, 1997; Senge 1990). + +In this context, the notion of organizational culture becomes closely related to another +important management concept, what is called organizational learning. Learning organiza +tions recognize that the primary contributors to error, or the disparity between what the +group intends to happen and what actually occurs (Argyris, 1993) and thus the barriers to +organizational change, are embedded deep within the organizations collective conscious +ness. They are not talked about, nor even immediately acknowledged by group members. +Therefore, groups that succeed in becoming learning organizations, those which are able to +correct error and overcome their barriers, can much more successfully bring about change +both in surface behavior and in the underlying levels of culture in the organization. + + + +314 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +For example, say an organizations performance'has started to suffer because of a +decline in employee satisfaction and a rise in infighting among staff members. An imme +diate response may be to alter the groups behavior in a way that reduces the infighting +and, in some ways, improves the quality of work life. This type of surface-level change +would be a form of single-loop learning. However, such behavioral change more than +likely would not resolve the deeper problem that produced the infighting in the first +place. To resolve this more tacit concern, double-loop learning, or a change in the under +lying system of beliefs, would need to occur. Both the actions and the values of the group +would need to be affected. + +Peter Senge, writing in The Fifth Discipline, suggests five elements that contribute to +building a learning organization. These are: + +Personal mastery: A discipline that connects individual learning, personal skills, and +spiritual growth with organizational learning. It involves ones inherent capacity to +continuously focus on what is most important, while ensuring that the view of reality +remains clear and truthful (Senge, 1990, p. 141). + +Mental models: A discipline that links the way in which we view the worldour +assumptions about how things workwith innovation and learning. Our mental +models may pose substantial barriers to new ideas, those that conflict with our cur +rent understanding of reality, or they may become a source of new knowledge and +creative learning (Senge, 1990, pp. 174-178). + +Shared vision: A discipline in which an image or idea becomes transformed into a +powerful force that is shared throughout the organization or group. The organization +that has a shared vision is connected, bound together by a common aspiration +(Senge, 1990, p. 206). + +Team learning: A discipline that reflects the capacity of a group of individuals to coa +lesce, to engage their respective energies into an integrated team. The team remains +connected through its shared vision, thus ensuring that the individual learning that +occurs becomes translated into a group indeed, a shared experience (Senge, 1990, +pp. 234-235). + +Systems thinking: A discipline that shows how human actionwhether in business, +government or other pursuits represents a systemic, interrelated set of events. Thus, +we may understand and effect change by recognizing the interconnectedness of our +actions and their consequences in the broader system. Those who are able to achieve +this type of systems thinkingwhat Senge calls the fifth discipline have embodied +the concept of individual and organizational learning (Senge, 1990, p. 7). + +The convergence of the concepts of organizational culture and organizational learning +provide an important foundation for understanding organizational change. Yet they also +relate to an older concept, but one which remains crucial in contemporary society: +strategic management. Several years ago, Peters and Watermans In Search of Excellence +(1982) introduced this concept in its analysis of implicit philosophies that guide most + + + +Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, and Strategic Management 313 + +successful American companies. Much of the work remains just as valuable today as it +did nearly two decades ago. In particular, Peters and Waterman state the importance of +establishing a core set of values that comprise the mission of the organization and shape +decisions throughout the structure. They suggest the importance of constant interchange +between managers and workers, the organization and its clients. Though terms like +MBWA, or Management by Walking Around, may seem dated, the supporting princi +ple of leadership remaining in close contact with members of the organization has per +haps even grown in significance. + +Networking + +For a less formal introduction to organizational culture, begin with a Web site +developed by graduate students at the University of Toronto at http://www.oise. +utoronto.ca/~vsvede/culture.htm. Next, visit MITs Society for Organizational +Learning at http://www.sol-ne.org/. This site discusses research about organiza +tional culture and change. + +Some of the specific features of successful companies cited by Peters and Waterman +(1982, pp. 13-16) include: + +1. A bias for action: A willingness to experiment and to take risks +2. Close to the customer: A near obsession with service and quality +3. Autonomy and entrepreneurship: Allowing a freedom to develop new ideas and to +compete with other parts of the company +4. Productivity through people: Treating people as adults, and giving them trust and respect +5. Hands on, value driven: Paying attention to their values and managers working hard +to express those values +6. Sticking to the knitting: Doing what you know best; do not diversify excessively +7. Simple form, lean staff: Avoiding top-heavy and complex organizational structures +8. Simultaneous loose-tight properties: The coexistence of firm central direction and +maximum individual autonomy + +These criteria for excellence can be translated into a public-sector context without +great difficulty. For example, the International City Management Association and the +Center for Excellence in Local Government adapted the Peters and Waterman criteria to +define excellence in local government: + +1. Action orientation: Excellent local governments identify problems and deal with them +quickly, fighting through structural, political, legal, and environmental constraints that +make action more difficult than in the private sector. +2. Closeness to citizens: This criterion includes establishing and maintaining a variety of +close links with citizens who are served by the local government, including those who +are regulated against their will. Excellent local governments listen and are sensitive and +responsive to public input. + + + +Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +3. Autonomy and entrepreneurship: Excellent local governments have developed cli +mates conducive to conceiving ideas and doing new things to solve problems. They have +track records for implementing creative solutions, even in the face of declining resources. +4. Employee orientation: This criterion demands more than lip service to employees and +their needs. Excellent local governments insist on intensive, pervasive treatment of employ +ees as human beings and adults. +5. Values: Excellent local governments have a defined set of values. Their overall focus is +on being the best by providing superior quality service to the public. Their values are +communicated clearly and demonstrated regularly to employees. Those values also pro +vide the source of enthusiasm and pride among employees. +6. Mission, goals, and competence: Mission is the underlying premise of the organization. +Excellent local governments have evaluated their missions based on changing resource +levels and citizen demands, and have used mission statements as the foundation for estab +lishing community and organizational goals. Within their defined mission, excellent local +governments provide consistent, uniform service levels. +7. Structure: In excellent local governments, the potential negative effects of antiquated, +bureaucratic structures have been minimized. These organizations have fewer manage +ment levels and fewer centralized support staffs. They provide firm central direction +while giving maximum autonomy to employees. +8. Political relationships: Political relationships refer to more than how the elected govern +ing body and management staff work together. In excellent local governments, managers +and policy makers are tuned in to the political environment; have established positive, +open, and respectful relationships with each other; and have established political stability +(Barbour et al., 1984). + +Most recently, Robert B. Denhardt (1993) has elaborated several approaches to public +management based on interviews with highly successful public managers in Australia, +Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. Denhardts research has shown that these +managers, highly regarded by their peers for improvements in quality and productivity in +their organizations, have a distinctive style from the traditional rule-driven bureaucratic +mode of operations, yet they have much in common. Among the approaches used by +these revolutionary public managers are the following: + +1. A commitment to values: The manager seeks organizational change less by attention to +structure than by developing a pervasive commitment to the mission and values of the orga +nization, especially the values of professionalism and integrity, service and quality. Values +are clearly articulated by the chief executive and shared throughout the organization. +2. Serving the public: The manager gives priority to service to both clients and citizens. That +priority is supported by high standards of performance and accountability and by a con +stant emphasis on quality. Most important, the manager recognizes that technical efforts +alone will fail unless equal or even greater attention is given to the human side, especially to +building a sense of community within the organization and a sense of cooperation outside. +3. Empowerment and shared leadership: The manager encourages a high level of participa +tion and involvement on the part of all members of the organization in efforts to improve +the quality and productivity of the organization (see Box 8.1). Leadership from the top is + + + +Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, and Strategic Management 317 + +BOX 8.1 + +Empowering an Organization + +Because I like to think I have learned a few things in 25 years (in the field of urban +management), hopefully there are also some things I now do differently. At the +front end of my career, for example, my concern was in making sure everybody in +the organization knew I was in charge. Reorganization, replacement of key person +nel, and formal control mechanisms were the hallmarks of my early days. They +were meant to define me as a take charge person and to signal that change had +occurred.. . . + +In reflecting on my earlier approach, I have now come full circle. The kinds of +changes I made back then were clearly visible and so probably satisfied those who +wanted to see change. I have learned, however, that it is relatively simple to bring about +physical, visible change but that to cause actual improvement in the way an organiza +tion functions is a far more difficult trick. . . . Obedience as the basis for organizational +success has given way in my mind to the need for trust. A successful relationship is +based upon mutual give and take rather than on you give and I take. . . . + +What impresses me as more productive now is to figure out how you get those in +the organization to feel confident about what they do, to move the organization +where it needs to go. The values that permeate an organization have the power to +override, at least in the long run, any other changes that may be made. What is new +for me now in the second half of my career is an understanding that if dysfunctional +and counterproductive values do not change, not much else of importance will either. +And if management is not trying to improve the organizational cultures value system, +no one else will. + +A related lesson I have learned is that management cannot order values to +change. This kind of change takes place relatively slowly, and it occurs only if man +agement talks a lot about what is expected, sets the right example, creates the right +kind of organizational climate, and uses the personnel and compensation system to +support the right behavior. + +So I am preaching. I am talking about organizational values important to success +customer responsiveness, treating people right, supporting city policies, being a good +source of information, getting and giving more bang for the buck, and providing +anticipative rather than reactive management. . . . + +The point of all this is to empower the people in the organization to exert them +selves by their own volition, in the right direction. A manager can indicate the proper +direction. A manager can encourage needed values and can create the climate in which +employees will choose to make the organizations success their goal. Managers used +to see success as a function of the assertion of their own power. Now they see the +empowerment of others as a more likely avenue to success. + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Roy R. Pederson, Empowering an Organization. Reprinted from the August +1989 issue Public Management (PM) magazine published by the International City/County Management +Association, Washington, D.C. + + + +3i8 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +complemented by empowering individuals throughout the organization to assume leader +ship within their own realms. +4. Pragmatic incrementalism: Change occurs through a free-flowing process in which the +manager pursues a wide variety of often unexpected opportunities to move the organiza +tion in the desired direction. The manager views change as a natural and appropriate +feature of organizational life and employs a creative and humane approach to change, +taking into account the personal concerns and interests of members, clients, and others. +5. A dedication to public service: Individuals throughout the organization understand +and appreciate the special character of public service, especially the role of public organi +zations in the process of democratic governments. The manager insists that members of +the organizations maintain high levels of standards and encourages them to make their +organization a model of integrity for similarly situated groups. + +Denhardt argues that these approaches to public management are not merely tech +niques to be used in pursuit of the organizations interest, but are ideas consistent with +the history and tradition of public service. For many public managers and many public +employees the driving motive behind their best efforts is not the pursuit of self-interest, +but rather the pursuit of the sense of meaning or significance in their work. As managers +become more aware of this factor and take it into account in the way they manage, pub +lic organizations can become more flexible, more creative, and more responsive to both +clients and citizens. + +Total Quality Management + +Many of the themes in the organizational culture literature and the literature dealing with +strategic management are coming together under the heading of Total Quality Management +(TQM). While some consider TQM merely another set of techniques to be used in improv +ing quality and in turn productivity, others consider TQM as embracing a variety of the +most contemporary approaches to public management. They would say that TQM is a +broad-scale approach to changing an organizations entire culture to focus it on establishing +and maintaining high standards of quality, especially with respect to meeting customer +expectations. The key of TQM is to serve the customer, whether the customer is internal to +the organization or someone outside. In this chapter we will consider the broad thematics +of TQM; in the next we will note particular applications of TQM techniques. + +The OMB circular describing TQM for federal executives calls it a comprehensive +management approach for meeting customer needs and expectations that involves all +employees in improving continuously the organizations processes, products, and ser +vices. Specifically, TQM involves bringing together everyone in the organization in a +manner that creates a new culture of excellence that emphasizes: + +top management leadership and support + +strategic planning and implementation geared to long-term success + +focus on the customer + + + +Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, and Strategic Management 319 + +commitment to training and recognition + +employee empowerment and teamwork + +reliance on measurement and analysis of process and outputs + +quality assurance (OMB Draft Circular A-132, 1990) + +The emphasis in TQM is first on improving quality, not productivity. Indeed, the +assumption is that if the quality of the organizations work is improved, its productivity will +also improve. Improvements in quality are sought through a variety of tools or techniques, +each tailored to the specific work of the organization. One organization might develop a +series of quality control teams to oversee and control quality throughout its delivery of ser +vices; another organization might choose to develop a more detailed measurement system to +pinpoint errors in its production processes. In all cases, however, the commitment to quality +must be strongly expressed by top management and throughout the organization. It should +also be long-term; TQM is not seen as a quick fix but as a never-ending process of improve +ment. + +TQM Beginnings + +The idea of quality management began in the late 1920s with Walter Shewarts develop +ment of a method for measuring variance in production systems, called statistical process +control. During World War II, quality control methods were critical and the War +Department incorporated Shewarts methods, hiring W. Edward Deming, who was actu +ally a student of Shewarts, to teach the statistical process control method. + +After World War II, American industry and government, blessed with a rapidly +expanding economy, became very powerful yet eventually complacent. The Japanese +faced a very different situation after the war. While they had never been blessed with +abundant natural resources, they were quick to adopt progressive industrial management +techniques. Deming traveled to Japan to help rebuild industry and taught the statistical +control method to the Japanese, as did another important figure in the development of +TQM, Joseph Juran. Juran taught that quality should be defined as fit for customer +use. He also developed the concept of cost of quality, a type of cost-benefit analysis. +Under the guidance of Deming and Juran, the Japanese extended quality control methods +to production and inspection. Eventually, the Japanese learned how to increase their com +petitiveness by improving the quality of the goods and services they produced. + +Throughout this period, American industrial leaders felt no need to learn a new way +of thinking. However, a remarkable renaissance occurred during the second half of the +twentieth century. In the 1950s, Japanese products were considered very shoddy, while +Made in America meant strength and competence. By the 1970s, the image had been +reversed; Japanese products were now considered of higher quality and consequently +fared better on world markets. Today, American industry (and American government), +guided by such contemporary leaders in quality improvement as Philip Crosby, is taking +a long, and at times skeptical, look at the quality management methods used by Japanese +industry. The TQM movement represents a major initiative in this reassessment. + + + +320 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +Networking + +The Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement (http://www.engr.wisc.edu/ +centers/cqpi/) and the Government Division of the American Society for Quality +(http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/pub/psci/psn/) provide resources and other infor +mation concerning TQM and quality improvement activities in the governmental +and nongovernmental sectors. + +TQM stresses customer satisfaction, examines relationships between existing manage +ment processes, improves internal communications, and responds to the valid demands of +all customers, internal and external (Milakovich, 1991). Among the questions advocates of +TQM seek to address are the following: + +1. How can an organization assess and improve its basic services and product quality in +the eyes of its clients and customers? +2. How should it plan process redesign, organizational restructuring, participative manage +ment, and employee development to aid in this effort? +3. What coordination and evaluation mechanisms need to be put in place to facilitate +quality management? +4. What measurement systems must the organization develop and how should the infor +mation generated be used in its pursuit of quality? + +Guidelines for Public Management + +What lessons can you draw from these various perspectives that might guide your actions +as a public manager? One way to begin to answer that question is to summarize some of +the thinking about management in terms of guidelines for practice. The recent literature +on strategic management seems to suggest the following guidelines: + +1. Maintain clarity about organizational priorities, goals, and objectives. Although some +ambiguity is often unavoidable in stating organization priorities, goals, and objectives, +most organizations are far too confused on these issues. This confusion leaves people +throughout the organization, including people who are required to make frequent deci +sions about organizational direction, without an appropriate basis for making such deci +sions. The direction of the organization should be stated as clearly as possible and +widely communicated to all members. +2. Make decisions today in terms of the most likely future circumstances. Strategic man +agement implies making all organizational decisions in terms of futuritythat is, how +they will meet expected changes in the environment. It suggests taking every action in +light of anticipated conditions, thus putting the organization in the best position to take +advantage of future opportunities. +3. Be attentive to the context in which you operate, especially relationships with other +actors in the governmental system. There is a natural but unfortunate tendency toward + + + +Organizational Culture, Organizational Learning, and Strategic Management 321 + +tunnel vision in most organizations. Actions are viewed in immediate terms, without +duly considering who will be affected by the action. Acknowledging the importance of +the environment is essential to strategic thinking. +4. Understand clearly the organizations capacities and limitations. New programs and +policies can be effectively implemented only if they fall within the existing capacity of +the organization or provide sufficient opportunity to build capacity. There are dangers in +both underutilization of resources and becoming overextended. +5. Balance program goals with attention to organizational values and processes. It is +important to state programmatic objectives clearly; however, the organizations cul +ture and the prevailing norms, beliefs, and values of its members are equally impor +tant. Organizational processes, such as leadership, communications, motivation, +group dynamics, and so forth, need constant attention, because they are essential to +goal accomplishment. +6. Create diverse mechanisms, both temporary and permanent, for constantly renegotiat +ing programs and processes. Both programmatic concerns and organizational processes are +constantly changing in ways that affect persons throughout the organization. Thus, clarity +with respect to priorities, goals, and objectives must not lead to rigidity. Mechanisms must +permit and, in fact, encourage the entire membership of the organization to contribute reg +ularly to refining programs and processes. +7. Build trust and commitment through open communications and genuine participa +tion. Guidelines by which we might measure the degree of participation the organiza +tion encourages include members access to information and to forums of decision +making, their ability to open any issue without fear of retaliation, and their feeling +that their ideas will at least be considered by major decision makers (Redford, 1969, +p. 8). + +Much of the work reviewed here applies equally to management in the public and +private sectors. But it is interesting to note that some of the most recent general trends +in management have been anticipated in public-sector management. Public organiza +tions dependence on pluralistic decision processes that is, processes through which +many different people and groups are likely to be involved in any particular decision +makes the process of managing change in the public sector quite complicated. Ip also +means that a high degree of ambiguity and uncertainty is likely to surround most +efforts to implement or alter programs, and that managers must be especially skillful +in negotiating across organizational boundaries rather than expecting to control cir +cumstances from the top. In addition, public organizations must have a service orien +tation specifically, an understanding of and an attempt to act in accord with the +public interest. We noted that organizations seeking public purposes must operate +openly, be cognizant of client interests, and understand the political context within +which they operate. + +Under these circumstances, it is not at all surprising that the values and perspectives +that now seem so much a part of modern management, such as those associated with +strategic management or Total Quality Management, have always been central (if not +dominant) in public administration theory. Thus, for example, Marshall Dimocks +(1936, p. 120) comment that successful administration is warm and vibrant. It is + + + +3^2 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +human. . . sounds very much like a quotation from Peters and Waterman. One might +thus argue that, in contrast to Woodrow Wilsons admonition that public agencies +should operate like businesses, it seems that public organizations and the values and +interests they represent today should be and are becoming models for organizations of +all types. + +However, in this age of reinvention and managerialist government, there are reasons +to be concerned that business values have overshadowed the ethic of citizenship that +accompanies our theory of democracy. Public administration sometimes seems to be +more concerned with promoting the entrepreneurial spirit than fostering meaningful +engagement and sustaining citizen participation in civil society. There is a danger of +devoting ourselves to satisfying the customer while neglecting to ensure equity, justice, +and equality for citizens. + +We will note later, in discussing recent critiques of the reinvention movement, that cit +izens are more than mere customers of government, that they are its owners, and that +placing this relationship in economic terms reduces the role (and responsibility) of the +citizen in the governance process. This critique carries important implications for our +notions of public management. Specifically, in the current framework, public administra +tors can afford to view citizens in instrumental terms, and thus believe that by achieving +an efficient, market-oriented system of service delivery that citizen trust and participa +tion will be maintained. Citizen engagement, in this context, may be limited to a source +of legitimation for public decisions that have already been made in more rational forms +(for different perspectives, see Bryson & Crosby, 1992; Chrislip & Larson, 1994; +Thomas, 1995). + +Such a limited concept of engagement not only weakens our systems of public man +agement and administration, in that it removes decision-making processes from the pub +lic realm, but also threatens to destroy the remaining level of citizen trust we as public +servants enjoy. Citizens have expressed that their confidence is less contingent on man +agerial pursuits, such as efficiency and performance, and more on the values of respon +siveness and equity. Yet sometimes it is tempting to forget this important message and to +continue to strive simply for greater productivity. + +The question we encounter once again is, How can we balance efficiency and +responsiveness in the operation of public programs? The field of public administra +tion has generally leaned toward the efficiency side of the equation. Now, however, +there is growing evidence that emphasizing responsiveness is not only consistent with +democratic principles, but, in the long run, may also be the most effective way of +operating. Whereas a structural view of organizations tends to emphasize internal +efficiency, it is apparent th"at greater attention to external relationships and the ability +to negotiate across organizational boundaries will become more and more necessary +in our increasingly complex society, as will an organizational environment that fosters +creativity. + +Developing a democratic approach to management has often been attractive to public +administration theorists because it seems only proper that government institutions in a +democracy should operate democratically. What we are finding more and more is that +such an approach is not only appealing but necessary for organizations of all types not +only those in the public sectorto survive. + + + +Postmodern Narratives on Management 323 + +Postmodern Narratives on Management + +In recent years, the images of organizations discussed above have come under criti +cism from a variety of standpoints. Some challenge the notion of a single, unifying +notion of management and organizations. Others bring into question the overly +functionalistic nature of management theory. And still others attempt to counter the +political context of traditional theory, particularly the use of power by elites to mar +ginalize the powerless. We will discuss these contrary perspectives on organizations +under the heading of postmodernism. But as we will see even this term is problematic, +since postmodernism defies our tendency for categorizing diverse viewpoints into +a single, definitive theory. + +Postmodernism + +The philosophical roots of what we call postmodernism can be traced to the late 1960s +and a school of French philosophy known as poststructuralism. Poststructuralists took +issue with many of the core assumptions underlying modernist philosophy. For exam +ple, highlighting modernitys debt to the Enlightenment, the poststructuralists opposed +modernitys primacy of rationality, objectivity, and the application of scientific princi +ples in the development of a universal explanation of the social world. They argued +for more diverse readings of societythat is, for new ways of knowing, based on +semiotics and linguistics, to help explore the symbolic content of social phenomena. +Such influences helped to bring about what has been called the linguistic turn in social +theory. + +In management theory, a key theme underlying the postmodernist critique centers +on the multiple sources of knowledge that confront us in our organizational experi +ence, what we may refer to as fragmentation. As Hatch explained, Postmodernists +challenge the modernist desire for unifying views with their belief that knowledge +is fundamentally fragmented, that is, knowledge is produced in so many different +bits and pieces that there can be no reasonable expectation that it will ever add up to +an integrated and singular view (Hatch, 1997, p. 44). Consequently, we are faced +with the question: Given the increasingly global, networked nature of public and +nonprofit organizations, how can we cling to a belief in a central, complete theory of +management? + +A second important theme involves a postmodernist challenge to what is called the +progress myth. This stems from modernitys premise that our scientific knowledge is +the result of a cumulative process, with one theory building uniformly upon previous +theories, toward a shared end of advancing the human condition. Rather than some +altruistic enterprise, postmodernists argue that the Enlightenment, and its offspring of +modernity, proved to be a wholesale abuse of scientific knowledge by the powerful for +the purpose of maintaining the status quo. Indeed, even the notion of a common +human goal reveals the power-saturated, neocolonial character of modernism. So, how +can we presume to be in a position to determine what is in the best interest of societies + + + +324 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +around the world, much less to impose a particular'form of knowledge to identify and +evaluate policy alternatives? + +To counter these tendencies, postmodern theorists employ a narrative device known as +discourse analysis. It begins by viewing presentations of organizational inquirysuch as +oral, textual or visual narratives as forms of discourse, then using discourse analysis to +deconstruct the narratives to reveal modernist assumptions underlying the content. One +of the purposes of discourse analysis is to expose (and challenge) any attempt to provide +some type of grand narrative, in the modernist tradition, of organizations or society. +However, another purpose, one with more of an action orientation, involves the use of +discourse analysis to reverse the power-saturated state of language in the organizational +context, thereby opening the door for more diverse voices in organizational narratives +that is, the inclusion of traditionally dispossessed participants in social experiences of +management. + +Issues of Gender and Power + +Feminist scholars have used elements of discourse analysis, as well as the liberating expe +rience of postmodernism generally, to launch a sustained critique against traditional +organization and management theory. At the heart of their critique is the segmentation +of power along gender lines in organizational hierarchies, what the feminist scholar Jane +Flax refers to as a sexual division of labor in modern management (Flax, quoted in +Hatch, 1997, p. 293). + +In Chapter 6, we discussed the glass ceiling that limits the advancement of women in +the work place. However, Flax points out that the corollary to such structural barriers is +that women tend to be employed in occupational areas that consist overwhelmingly of +other women, jobs that are paid less and subject women workers to gender-stereotyped +roles, like childcare (school teachers), housecleaning (secretaries), and other forms of +womens work (Flax, quoted in Hatch, 1997, p. 293). Besides these practical implica +tions, modern management theory has relegated women to the role of subjects in other +wise male-dominated power structures. + +It is this concern for the powerless that provides perhaps the most compelling argument +of feminist theories. From a foundation in neo-Marxian critical theory, feminist scholars +draw into question the very legitimacy of our ways of organizing in the post-industrial era. +To them, studies of organization and management theory have become little more than +sources of intellectual justification for an abuse of power by elites. Their only purpose is to +maintain the social, political, and economic order. Even postmodernism itself has come un +der attack from feminist critics, who see these theories as shifting the concern away from +substantive issues of power and inequality in daily work life. + +Moreover, contrary to what advocates depict as a democratization of economic and +political space in the global marketplace, feminist critics argue globalization and the +imposition of new forms of governance by industrialized nations has done nothing but +to take the northern, western drive for power and economic supremacy to new frontiers. +The result has been a further marginalization of women, especially in what the develop +ment community refers to, in its colonialistic way, as third world societies. + + + +Terms and Definitions 3 23 + +Summary and Action Implications + +As we have seen, your behavior is guided by the images you carry around in your head. +Some of these images will have to do with the role of public agencies in a democratic soci +ety, others will have to do with the most effective and responsible way to run a complex +public organization, and still others will have to do with the relationships you establish +with other actors, both within and outside the governmental system. Over your career, +you will develop and refine your images based on experience and on careful reflection and +self-critique. You will also benefit from comparing your images (and approaches) to those +that others recommend. + +Through the years, students and practitioners of public administration have spent +considerable time reflecting on the nature of their work and sorting out the many factors +that make for successful public management. Each resulting theory represents an attempt +to suggest where you should cast your attention. Because you can not attend to all things +at once, a certain amount of selectivity goes into theory building. Each theory implies +evaluating what is most important to be aware of and to do to manage successfully. + +Early writers thought that issues of organizational structure were most important, +so they spent considerable time detailing concerns for structure. Later theorists (some of +them also practitioners) felt that structural issues should be balanced, if not outweighed, +by a concern for the behavior of individuals in the organization. Still others sought further +refinements, moving from behavior to structure and back again. More recent approaches +have emphasized the organizations culture or value structure, but others have challenged +the very notion of our ways of organizing in contemporary society. + +For the time being, however, we should note the special sensitivity that those in public +organizations have always shown for value questions. We have seen time and again how +the values of public service the pursuit of the public interestaffect the work of those +in public organizations. The concern of contemporary writers in business and related +fields for service and human values is something that those in public administration have +always had to contend with, especially as they have been challenged to find a form of +management compatible with the requirements of a democratic society. + +Terms and Definitions + +Area of acceptance: Area within which the subordinate is willing to accept the deci +sions made by the supervisor. + +Boundary spanning: Representing an organization to outside groups and organizations. + +Bounded rationality: Seeking the best possible solution, but not necessarily the most +rational from a purely economic standpoint. + +Organization development: Process-oriented approach to planned change. + + + +326 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +Organizational culture: Basic patterns of attitudes, beliefs, and values that underlie +an organizations operation. + +Organizational learning: The process of correcting error through recognizing the dis +parity between what the group intends to happen and what actually occurs and then +drawing appropriate lessons for the future from this fact. + +Political economy approach: Focusing on politics and economies as categories for +analyzing organizational behavior. + +Scientific management: Approach to management based on carefully defined laws, +rules, and principles. + +Strategic management: A systems-based approach to management that seeks clarity +with respect to goals and objectives, strategies to achieve those goals and objectives, +and processes of evaluation to measure accomplishments. + +Systems theory: Suggestion that public (or other) organizations can be viewed in the +same general way as biological or physical systems. + +Study Questions + +1. Discuss the approaches to public management espoused by early writers in the field. +2. Explain Douglas MacGregors Theory X and Theory Y management concepts. +3. Compare the management approaches of Herbert Simon and Chris Argyris. +4. Two management approaches combine the human element with the structural aspect + +of the organization. Discuss the differences between the systems approach and the +political economy approach. + +5. What shared assumptions, as outlined by Edgar H. Schein, seem consistent in organi +zational cultures? What features do Peters and Waterman contribute to the list? + +6. What basic philosophies underlie recent work in organizational culture and strategic +management? + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Divide the class into four small groups (or multiples of four). Have each group analyze +your class as an organization, taking into account questions of power and authority, +communications, motivation, group dynamics, and so on. One group should employ +only a structural perspective; the second group should employ only a behavioral per +spective; and the third group should employ only a systems perspective. The fourth +group should employ whatever perspective (or combination of perspectives) that its +members consider most modern and most complete. + + + +Cases and Exercises 327 + +Have each group (or a representative of each type of group, depending on the num +bers) report their conclusions to the entire class. Think of each perspective as allowing +you to see certain things and preventing you from seeing others. What do you see +from the structural perspective? What about the behavioral perspective? The systems +perspective? The combination perspective is likely to seem most complete, but con +sider the possibility that this modern viewpoint also overlooks a great deal, and that, +though we think it is complete (as those using earlier perspectives considered them +complete), there may be much left to understand about organizations, even small +ones. What other questions might we encounter in the future? + +2. As a class, study the interorganizational relationships of one small organization. The +organization might be a unit at the university (either an academic or a staff unit); +a unit in city, state, or federal government; or a local nonprofit organization. Pick an +organization that is clearly identifiable and, if possible, that appears to have consider +able autonomy. Based on interviews with its top administrators and top staff people, +develop a chart showing the organizations relationships with others in its environ +ment. (A model something like one of a molecular structure might be appropriate.) +Indicate the importance of each relationship, the degree to which that relationship is +considered positive or negative, and the degree to which it is considered essential. Try +to develop some sense for how much time administrators and staff members spend on +external relations versus internal organizational work. + +3. The following statement was included as part of a statement of management philoso +phy for the Greensboro, NC, District of the Internal Revenue Service approximately +a decade ago: + +Our first priority as managers will be to identify and focus on eliminating the +barriers to our employees doing their work with the highest degree of quality. +We will communicate in such ways as to provide information which will enhance +understanding and involvement by our employees in the district decision-making +process. We will encourage our employees to speak out and we will be receptive +to their questions and/or criticisms of management directions. We will support, +guide, and develop our employees to assist them in reaching maximum potential. +We will promote positive feelings among our employees toward each other and +their work. We will do everything possible to enhance the professional image of +the IRS. + +First, this statement deals with internal operations of the district; it is primarily +concerned with the relationship between managers and employees. What elements +would you wish to add to the statement? How has time and politics changed what +you might want to include today? + +Second, think about the relationship between a tax collection agency and its clients. +What statements of philosophy dealing with the relationship between agency and +clients would be appropriate to add? + +Third, given the statement and your modifications, what specific steps would you +recommend to the managers of the agency for putting their commitments (and yours) +into practice? + + + +jz8 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +For Additional Reading + +Ban, Carolyn. How Do Public Managers Manage? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. +Baum, Howell S. The Organization of Hope. Albany: State University of New York + +Press, 1997. +Bennis, Warren, Jagdesh Parikh, and Ronnie Lessem. Beyond Leadership. Cambridge, + +MA: Basil Blackwell, 1994. +Block, Peter. Stewardship. San Francisco: Berrett Koehler Publishers, 1993. +Boje, David M., Robert P. Gephart, Jr., and Tojo Joseph Thatchenkery, eds. + +Postmodern Management and Organization Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: +Sage Publications, 1996. + +Bryson, John M., and Barbara C. Crosby. Leadership for the Common Good: Tackling +Public Problems in a Shared-Poiver World. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. + +Caiden, Gerald. Administrative Reform Comes of Age. Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1991. +Carnavale, David G. Trustworthy Government. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. +Cohen, Steven, and Ronald Brand. Total Quality Management in Government. + +San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. +Davis, Charles R. Organization Theories and Public Administration. Westport, CT: + +Praeger, 1996. +Denhardt, Robert B. The Pursuit of Significance. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1993. +Denhardt, Robert B. Theories of Public Organization. 2d ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, + +1993. +Diamond, Michael A. The Unconscious Life of Organizations: Interpreting + +Organizational Identity. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1993. +Dunn, Delmer. Politics and Administration at the Top. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh + +Press, 1997. +Farmer, John David. The Language of Public Administration. Tuscaloosa, AL: + +University of Alabama Press, 1995. +Fox, Charles, and Hugh Miller. Postmodern Public Administration. Thousand Oaks, + +CA: Sage Publications, 1995. +Fredrickson, H. George. Hew Public Administration. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama + +Press, 1980. +Frost, Peter J., Arie Y. Lewin, and Richard T. Daft, eds. Talking About Organization + +Science: Debates and Dialogue from Crossroads. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage +Publications, 2000. + +Golembiewski, Robert T. Humanizing Organizations. Mt. Airy, MD: Lomond +Publications, 1985. + +Grubbs, Joseph W. Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Theory of Interorganizational +Change. Journal of Organizational Change Management 13, no. 3 (2000): 221-234. + +Harmon, Michael M., and Richard T. Meyer. Organization Theory for Public +Administration. Boston: Little, Brown, 1986. + +Kass, Henry D., and Bayard L. Catron, eds. Images and Identities in Public +Administration. Newbury Park: CA: Sage Publications, 1990. + +Kettl, Donald, et al. Cutting Government. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1995. + + + +Appendix A 329 + +Koehler, Jerry W. Continual Improvement in Government. St. Lucie, FL: St. Lucie Press, +1996. + +Koehler, Jerry W. Quality Government. St. Lucie, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1996. +Lee, Dalton M. The Basis of Management in Public Organizations. New York: R. Long, + +1990. +Milakovich, Michael. Improving Service Quality. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1995. +Morgan, Gareth. Images of Organization. 2d ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage + +Publications, 1997. +Omar, Ray. Management Analysis in Public Organizations: History, Concepts, and + +Techniques. New York: Quorum Books, 1992. +Peters, B. Guy. The Future of Governing. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, + +1996. +Peters, Guy, and Bert Rockman. Agenda for Excellence 2. Chatham, NJ: Chatham + +House, 1996. +Rainey, Hal G. Understanding and Managing Public Organizations. San Francisco: + +Jossey-Bass, 1997. +Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass + +1987. +Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline. New York: Currency Doubleday Dell Publishing, + +1990. +Senge, Peter M., et al. The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook. New York: Currency Doubleday + +Dell Publishing, 1994. +Shafritz, Jay M. Classics of Organization Theory. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, + +1992. +Stever, James A. The End of Public Administration: Problems of the Profession in the + +Post-Progressive Era. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Transnational Publishers, 1988. +Stivers, Camilla. Gender Images in Public Administration: Legitimacy and the + +Administrative State. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1993. +Terry, Larry D. Leadership of Public Bureaucracies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage + +Publications, 1995. +Wamsley, Gary, et al., Refounding Democratic Public Administration. Thousand Oaks, + +CA: Sage Publications, 1996. +White, Jay D. Taking Language Seriously: The Narrative Foundations of Public + +Administration Research. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1999. + +APPENDIX A + +Description of Total Quality Management (TQM) + +Total Quality Management is a total, integrated organizational approach for meeting cus +tomer needs and expectations that involves all managers and employees and uses quanti +tative methods and employee involvement to improve continuously the organizations + + + +330 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +processes, products, and services. The description provided below presents TQM as it +would exist in an advanced phase in an organization. + +Top Management Leadership and Support + +Top managers are directly and actively involved in the TQM process. They take the lead +in establishing an environment and culture that encourage change, innovation, risk tak +ing, pride in work, and continuous improvement on behalf of all customers. They exhibit +a highly visible, personal leadership and communicate the organizations quality vision, +goals, and values to all members. Managers provide the resources, time, and training nec +essary for the organization to improve quality and productivity. They show by example +that open communication (vertically and horizontally) and information sharing are the +organizational norm. They understand that quality improvement is a long-term process, +not to be compromised by short-term considerations. Managers remove barriers to +improvement; that is, they delegate authority to the lowest feasible level, deregulate work, +and discourage the quick-fix mentality that seeks short-term results at the expense of +long-term goals. Managers establish trust, encourage cooperation among organizational +units to achieve better service, and reward behavior that reflects the organizations TQM +goals. They establish an organization structure that fosters effective implementation of +the quality improvement process. + +Strategic Planning + +Strategic planning drives the organizations improvement efforts. Short- and long-term goals +for quality improvement are established across the organization and are integrated into the +strategic plan. Customer needs and expectations as well as issues relating to improved sup +plier relationships are considered and incorporated into the strategic plan. Resources are +allocated to support the quality improvement objectives the organization wants to achieve. + +Focus on the Customer + +Management actively seeks ways to make all employees aware of customers and their +need. Employees can identify both the internal and external customers of all their products +and services. They understand that their primary task is to satisfy customer requirements +and expectations. Communication with customers, as with suppliers, is open, continual, +and two-way to ensure that clear definitions of needs and expectations are received and +problems and concerns are understood. Customer perceptions of performance are continu +ally measured, evaluated, and reported to responsible managers and employees. Feedback +data are used to improve processes and services and provide input for strategic planning. +Access by customers to information about the organizations products or services is easy +and trouble-free. Complaints about aspects of the organizations services are solicited and +corrected. Trends in customer satisfaction indicators are positive. The validity and objec +tivity of monitoring methods is ensured. Where expectations, desires, and perceptions of +different customer groups are in conflict with each other, the organization strives to +achieve a balance among them that best fulfills the organizations mission. + + + +Appendix A 331 + +Commitment to Training and Recognition + +Managers and employees receive ongoing training to enable them to keep abreast of +changing job requirements and prepare for greater responsibilities. A key element of train +ing for all managers and employees is quality awareness and the use of tools, technologies, +and techniques to support continuous improvement. + +Employees are motivated to achieve total quality through trust, respect, and recogni +tion. Managers believe that employees want to do a good job; they personally, regularly, +and fairly recognize individuals and teams for measurable contributions to quality +improvement. Rewards and recognition are broad-based and innovative, encompass all +levels of the organization, are centered on team quality and productivity improvement, +and include peer recognition as a part of the reward structure. Celebration of small suc +cesses is common. Performance plans for managers include measurable quality improve +ment objectives. Evaluations focus on the degree to which the objectives are met. + +Employee Empowerment and Teamwork + +Management provides an environment that supports employee involvement, contribu +tion, and teamwork. Where unions exist, union leaders are involved in high-level policy +and decision-making groups, such as Quality Councils or Policy Boards. Teamwork is +the vehicle for cooperation and communication among managers, supervisors, unions, +and employees in addressing quality improvement issues. The demands of quality, cost, +schedule, and mission that cross organizational units are met through cross-functional +team cooperation. Employees have clear avenues for participation and involvement; for +example, as members of self-regulating work teams responsible for an entire process or +group of customers, contributors to developing and implementing improvement plans, +suggestors of ideas for improvement, participators in establishing work unit performance +measures and goals, evaluators of processes, and decision makers in many aspects of +their work and work environment. Hierarchies are reduced in favor of cooperative teams +and networks. Employees have a strong feeling of empowerment and team ownership of +work processes because sufficient power, rewards, information, and knowledge are +moved to the lowest levels of the organization to enable everyone to accomplish their +work with excellence. As a result, everyone feels ownership of quality improvement and +exhibits personal pride in the quality of their work. + +Measurement and Analysis of Processes and Outputs + +All information required to support total quality of processes and products/services is com +plete, timely, accurate, useful, and clearly communicated to those who need it. The scope +of the data includes: customers and suppliers (both internal and external), internal opera +tions, products and services, employees, comparisons or benchmarks of other organiza +tions, and safety/environmental considerations (if appropriate). This information is the +basis for developing quality measures that cover all aspects of work processes and all prod +ucts and services provided a customer. Customer satisfaction measures are used exten +sively. These measures are used by employees to identify problems, determine root causes, +identify solutions, and verify that proposed remedies produce the expected results. + + + +332 Chapter 8 Managing Organizational Dynamics + +Quality Assurance + +Products, services, and processes are designed and verified to meet customer needs and +expectations. Processes that produce the organizations products and services are con +trolled, optimized, and maintained. There is sufficient standardization within the organiza +tion to ensure compatibility. Comprehensive assessments of the quality assurance system as +well as of products and services are performed at appropriate intervals. An approach exists +for translating assessment findings into quality documentation supporting quality assur +ance. Quality assurance systems are updated to keep pace with changes in technology, +practice, and quality improvement. Product and service performance standards are set for +internal support functions such as finance and accounting, personnel, and administrative +support. There is an established method to verify that the organizations quality require +ments are being met by suppliers and other providers of goods and services. The organiza +tion compares (benchmarks) its products, services, and internal operations with the best in +the private or public sectors (e.g., other federal agencies, state and local governments, and +the governments of other countries). + +SOURCE: Excerpted from office of Management and Budget, Draft Circular A-132, 1990. + + + +Chapter 9 + +The New Public Management, +Reinvention, and the Reform of +Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +Over the past few years, you probably have heard the expression the New Public +Management, or reinventing government, or perhaps even read Osborne and Gaeblers +(1992) important work that popularized the concept of reform in American public admin +istration. The book voices a belief that public organizations or, more accurately, the +systems underlying public organizations, lack the capacity to meet the challenges and +opportunities of the twenty-first century. Thus, the concept of reinvention, and the broader +effort known as the New Public Management (NPM), in many ways can be considered +new approaches to a rather old question: How to improve government performance and +accountability? + +However, the reform movement in the public and nonprofit sectors should not be +equated simply with a call for increased productivity. Proponents of reform recognize +that public and nonprofit agencies, particularly in America, constitute some of the most +productive institutions in the world, even more so than private institutions. (For example, +over the past generation, government productivity has increased at double the national +average.) Instead, NPM and other reformist themes suggest that government should +not account merely for its own activities but should be assessed on its capacity to achieve +substantial public outcomes. + +NPM and reinvention are, however, closely related to issues of quality and productivity +in government. The two stem from similar sources. Concern about government produc +tivity centers around issues of efficiency and accountability. These issues have, of course, +been debated throughout U. S. history; their modern expression is typically dated back to +the passage of Proposition 13, a tax limitation initiative passed by California voters in the +late 1970s. Following the California example, other states and localities also began efforts +to limit what voters perceived as the excessive cost of government services. + +At the federal level, the desire to avoid new taxes meant reduction or elimination +of numerous domestic programs, especially during the Reagan years. Many of these +programs provided aid to state and local governments. When the reductions were com +bined with the desire to limit state and local taxation, many governments were severely +constrained in trying to provide sufficient revenues to support important, even basic, +services. But despite these limitations, these governments were often asked to do more, to +provide increased services, with the same or even with reduced funding. + +333 + + + +334 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +We examined some of the implications of this situation in Chapter 5 with respect to +budgeting and financial management, as many governments were forced to search for +alternate funding methods, including privatization and so forth. But the same govern +ments also sought new ways to improve both the quality and quantity of work without +extra cost. Many governments and agencies at all levels began new or at least intensified +efforts to innovate new solutions, to break from the traditional assumptions and find +more effective means of meeting their objectives. + +Success stories emerging from this innovation had a weakening effect on the traditional +assumptions in public administration, as even those in the mainstream started to question +core principles that had defined the field since the Progressive Era. Around the world, +management in the governmental and nongovernmental sectors began to take a new +shape. Public organizations started to lose their traditional bureaucratic structure, becom +ing instead more lateral systems of shared power and teamwork. Systems of management, +too, were transformed into more equitable, less controlling forms of leadership. And, +government agencies began to form meaningful partnerships with other institutions and +citizens in response to public problems. + +Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) also underwent a transformation of sorts. +During the 1990s, NGOs became drivers of policy issues in a variety of areas, such as +human rights, economic development, urban revitalization, even governmental reform. + +Advances in information technology (IT) played an integral role in transforming public +and nonprofit organizations worldwide. The impact was twofold. First, increased capacity +for communication and information sharing redefined the distribution of authority within +institutions. Every member of the organization had access to the latest news and informa +tion, thus shared in one of the more important sources of power. Second, IT enabled public +and nonprofit organizations to engage more effectively with their counterparts in other sec +tors and around the world, as well as citizens. Such change restructured the ways in which +governments and other public service agencies responded to opportunities and challenges. + +So, whether we call it an effect of NPM, reinvention, or efforts to improve quality +and productivity, the public and nonprofit administration we have at the beginning +of the twenty-first century is quite different from that of merely a generation ago. The +ways in which we organize ourselves, engage with others, and respond to public con +cerns have undergone a transformation, or to use Don Kettls phrase, a transformation +in governance (Kettl, 2000, p. 488). Yet, as we explore the various aspects of reform, +keep asking yourself: Have we improved service to the public? Is the work we are doing +today consistent with our expectations for a system of democratic governance? Are we +truly acting in the interest of citizens? + +NPM, Reinvention, and Nonprofit Management Reform + +The current reform agenda in public administration can be traced to several worldwide +trends. First, and perhaps most significant, the social, political, and economic dialogue +in industrialized countries underwent a rightward shift during the late 1970s and early + + + +NPM, Reinvention, and Nonprofit Management Reform 335 + +1980s, as political leaders recognized the unsustainable nature of comprehensive, central +ized systems of public service delivery. Leaders in Europe, Asia and North America +started to examine more cost-efficient, effective ways of providing public services, +including public welfare, transportation, health care, and others. Second, fiscal challenges +brought on by the oil crisis of the late 1970s and the changing nature of the global +economy prompted scholars and practitioners to explore new ways of thinking about +public administration. By the mid-1980s many public managers around the world, using +slogans like NPM and reinvention, had embarked on a journey to restructure bureau +cratic agencies, streamline agency processes, and decentralize policy decision making +(Kamensky, 1996). + +The New Public Management + +The New Public Management, or NPM, is a term used to describe a set of principles and +practices in the public service, which has emerged during the past several decades in +a variety of countries around the world (Barzelay, 2001, p. xi). While the application of +NPM has varied country by country, the reform agenda has remained consistent in its +drive to create organizations that are mission-driven, decentralized, and incentive-based. +Reformers strive for more flexible public organizations and more responsive interorgani- +zational networks, guided by the key principles of accountability, responsiveness, and a +commitment to outcome-based governance (Boston, 1996; Peters, 1994). + +Perhaps the best example of the NPM principles at work can be seen in New Zealands +administrative reforms. Beginning in 1985, New Zealands national government took +several bold steps aimed at transforming its system of public administration. Among the +most significant reforms, the government redeveloped its personnel system, as an attempt +to make top executives more performance-oriented; instituted a comprehensive per +formance measurement system, based on a new process of measuring the productivity +and effectiveness of government agencies; and streamlined its departmental systems, to +reflect the Labour administrations commitment to governmental accountability (Boston, +1991,1996). + +The effectiveness of New Zealands reform agenda, as well as parallel activities in +Canada, Great Britain and the United States, prompted public administration reformers +around the world to adopt many of the principles from NPM, as well as to use NPM +principles as a new framework for public policy and governance (Barzelay, 2001, +pp. xi-xv; also, Kettl, 1997). For example, reports from the United Nations Commission +on Global Governance and other international bodies reinforced this international +movement, advocating decentralized decision making, civil society, empowerment, and +a reliance on third-sector organizations for achieving public outcomes (Commission on +Global Governance, 1995). + +Reinventing Government + +In the early 1990s, Osborne and Gaeblers (1992) landmark work, Reinventing +Government, brought many of the NPM principles to American shores. For Osborne + + + +Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +and Gaebler, the reform agenda represented a response to what they call the bankruptcy +of bureaucracy that is, the ineffectiveness of government organizations. The authors +believed that public agencies had failed to keep pace with changing conditions in the +postindustrial society, with government still attempting to respond to public issues with +a one-size-fits-all approach. As a result, the systems in which public administrators +function had become the problem, not the solution, and consequently citizens had begun +to lose faith in the capacity of government to serve their needs. + +A central theme in reinvention is that only more entrepreneurial forms of govern +ment will enable public administrators to effectively deal with problems and capitalize +on opportunities in contemporary society. Yet, in contrast to most interpretations, +Osborne and Gaebler (1992) actually avoided the more traditional view that govern +ment should be run like a business: Government and business are fundamentally dif +ferent institutions. Business leaders are driven by the profit motive; government leaders +are driven by the desire to get reelected . . . Differences such as these create fundamen +tally different incentives in the public sector (p. 20). While encouraging public admin +istrators to derive insights from successful experiences in all sectors, Osborne and +Gaebler maintain that public and private sector organizations face a distinct array of +challenges. + +Entrepreneurial government, then, refers to more streamlined, flexible, and responsive +systems of public policy and administration. Osborne and Gaebler cite example after +example of public organizations that had chosen innovative strategies for using more- +with-less strategies for increasing the value of public services without raising costs for +public consumers, from privatization efforts in Phoenix, Arizona (which enhanced com +petition among service providers and thus raised significantly performance standards) to +public school initiatives in East Harlem, New York (which empowered residents with +greater choice for students learning opportunities). The authors suggest that these com +mon themescompetition and empowermentcombined with more attention to public +outcomes and action based on customer priorities rather than on bureaucratic impera +tives, represent the future of successful government. + +To carry out the reform agenda, Osborne and Gaebler (1992) provide ten principles +underlying reinvention and public entrepreneurship: + +1. Catalytic government: steering rather than rowing +2. Community-owned government: empowering rather than serving +3. Competitive government: injecting competition into service delivery +4. Mission-driven government: transforming rule-driven organizations +5. Results-oriented government: funding outcomes, not inputs +6. Customer-driven government: meeting the needs of the customer, not the bureaucracy +7. Enterprising government: earning rather than spending +8. Anticipatory government: prevention rather than cure +9. Decentralized government: from hierarchy to participation and teamwork + +10. Market-oriented government: leveraging change through the market + +Osborne and Gaebler intended these ten principles to serve as a new conceptual +framework for public administration an analytical checklist to transform the actions + + + +NPM, Reinvention, and Nonprofit Management Reform 337 + +of government. What we are describing is nothing less than a shift in the basic model of +governance used in America. This shift is under way all around us, but because we are +not looking for it because we assume that all governments have to be big, centralized, +and bureaucraticwe seldom see it. We are blind to the new realities, because they do +not fit our preconceptions (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992, p. 321). By applying the ten +reinvention principles in the context of any given policy area, a new universe of opportu +nity, an altogether different system of governance, would evolve. + +Networking + +Global perspectives on the NPM are available from the Canadian Centre for +Management Development (http://www.ccmd-ccg.gc.ca/index.html), the OECD +Public Management and Governance Service (http://www.oecd.org/puma/), and +the Australian Public Service Innovations (http://www.innovations.gov.au). +Specific information about the New Zealand government can be found at +http://www.govt.nz/ or through the governments Management Development +Centre at http://www.mdcentre.govt.nz/public/. + +Nonprofit Management Reform + +Since the 1990s, the reform agenda in government has had a substantial impact on +the nonprofit sector. We have discussed the interconnected nature of public-nonprofit +relations, but as governments use contracts, grants, and other strategies to devolve pub +lic services to nonprofits they also have begun to hold their not-for-profit counterparts +accountable to many of the same performance and outcome objectives. Consequently, +nonprofit organizations in todays world find themselves buoyed by the tides of reform +affecting the public sector (Light, 2000). + +The factors precipitating reform in the nonprofit sector, of course, go beyond those +imposed by the government. In fact, Paul Light (2000, pp. 17-43) has identified several +important trends influencing the nonprofit reform movement, including nationalizing +trends relating to productivity, recruitment, resource development and technology, com +bined with local realities of ensuring consistency, building patterns of shared responsibil +ity, and enhancing nonprofit capacity for public service-delivery. + +Unfortunately, nonprofit organizations have experienced less of the tides of reform +and more of a tidal wave! The nonprofit sector has never been under greater pressure +to improve. Despite two decades of phenomenal growth, the sector suffers from a gen +eral impression that it is less efficient and more wasteful than its government and +private competitors. Even if the sector could prove that it has achieved ordinary excel +lence, spending money wisely and producing measurable results as a natural by-product +of organizational design, it faces a serious public relations problem among clients and +funders alike (Light, 2000, p. 1). The result is that nonprofits have been flooded with +demands to reform systems of administration, service-delivery and accountability, with +each set of demands often reflecting divergent philosophies. + + + +Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +As Light (2000) explains, the movement to enhance productivity and accountability +in nonprofit organizations can be categorized into the following four sets of reformist +principles: + + Scientific management: Management should be based on the one best way, with +individual organizations seeking to implement codes of internal conduct and basic +best practices of administration. + + War on waste: Management should be based on a drive for external efficiency, with +organizations and alliances reengineering to achieve efficient, streamlined systems +for administration and service-delivery. + + Watchful eye: Management should be based on creating more transparent patterns +of administration, with organizational stakeholders holding agencies accountable +for openness and compliance. + + Liberation management: Management should be based on achieving positive +outcomes, with agencies working together in the public interest. (Light, 2000, +pp. 46-71) + +While on a theoretical level these philosophies may not seem incompatible, the strug +gle to apply such principles in management practice has taken a toll on nonprofits. +Indeed, when faced with competing demands by funders and donors, a single nonprofit +may find itself swept away in attempts to implement multiple reform strategies at the +same time. Foundations, government grantmakers, and other institutions that provide +financial support to nonprofit organizations, even at the local level, have a poor track +record for engaging in a substantive dialogue concerning policies and procedures, and +have an even poorer track record for coordinating funding programs and reporting +standards. As a result, nonprofits must be prepared to structure their administrative +practices and reporting systems to be in-line with each funders demands. + +The problem here, though, is that few can agree on what constitutes a good non +profit, this despite an emerging trend for foundations and government grantmakers +to fund capacity-building activities (for discussion, see Greene, 2001, pp. 1-12). While +scholars, management consultants and program officers have attempted to bring order +out of chaos the results have amounted to little more than platitudes. The Chronicle for +Philanthropy, for example, offered the following expert tips: + +Management challenges are normal for nonprofit organizations. + +There are no quick fixes. + +Ideas are nothing, thinking is everything. + +Proffer the pole, not the fish. + +In times of great change, our support can reap great dividends. + +Dont redesign the kitchen while the house is on fire. + +Speak the truth. + +Change demands a champion. + + + +NPM, Reinvention, and Nonprofit Management Reform 339 + +Building a nonprofit organization is a long, hard haul. + +We dont know enough yet. (Kibbe, 2001, p. 10) + +Even the application of a particular reformist agenda may be carried out in different +ways, depending upon those implementing the strategy and on what level the implemen +tation occurs. For example, a United Way-based outcome measurement system in one +community may vary significantly from another just miles away. Another example is the +definition of impact as interpreted at the state level, which may be off the mark with +agencies at the grassroots. + +The challenge for nonprofit management in the future will be to balance the drive to +adopt sound management practices from the private sector with a dedication to public +service. Such a balance will be difficult, though, as demands for reform seem to be +increasing and the tides appear to be toward the former rather than the latter. Perhaps +even more important, greater attention needs to be placed on those activities that fall +outside of the individual nonprofit. Foundations, government agencies, and other fun +ders, in conjunction with the nonprofits they support, must begin a more substantive +dialogue around ways to coordinate grant-making and reporting requirements. This +might be a way to bring a level of consistency and coordination to an increasingly frag +mented public policy process, and ease the administrative burden on nonprofit organi +zations. Indeed, reforming the nonprofit sector will be as much about improving the +dialogue among leaders in philanthropy, business, and government as it is building the +capacity of nonprofit organizations. + +The Results of Reform + +It will be some time before we can assess the impact of NPM, reinvention, and the drive +to improve nonprofit organizations. However, many have begun to question the lessons +learned from the reform movements. Proponents point out that some of the key reform- +oriented initiatives, such as the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), have +helped improve the public service. Kathryn Newcomer and Aaron Otto (2000) recently +summarized the some of GPRAs benefits at the federal level: + + Amplifying conflicting/polarizing expectations GPRA has raised consciousness +over some of the terms and concepts underlying management reform, (p. 1) + + Strengthening programmatic communities Federal agencies have started working +more collaboratively on achieving shared objectives, (p. 2) + + Asking the right questions about program performance GPRA has helped to +enhance the quality of the discourse around performance measurement. + + Effectively reporting performance Federal officials have improved their agencies +capacity for accurately and appropriately measuring program impacts, (pp. 2, 6) + +On the other hand, critics of NPM and reinvention suggest that while certain aspects +of the reform agenda have contributed to meaningful improvements in public service, the +application of these principles have produced a variety of negative externalities not envi +sioned by early reformers. In practice, the adoption of business practices and the reliance + + + +34 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +on market forces by public organizations degenerated into a sense of managerialism +a belief that government could and should be run like a business based on strictly eco +nomic principles. As public managers began to apply their reform agendas, many focused +on the pursuit of administrative efficiency more than maintaining the democratic princi +ples of effective governance. + +Another point of concern, the reform movement has centered on the customer- +centered, as opposed to citizen-centered, public administration. Critics argue that citi +zens are not the customers of government; they are its owners who elect leaders to +represent their interests. A customer-centered model puts citizens in a reactive role lim +ited to liking or disliking services and hoping that administrators will change delivery +if enough customers object (Schachter, 1995, p. 530, citing Frederickson, 1994). In +contrast, citizen-centered public administration restores the public to an ownership +position a proactive relationship in which citizens engage with the institutions of gov +ernance to achieve public outcomes. + +Despite this criticism, however, the NPM and reinvention movements have had a +pervasive impact on public administration in this country and around the world. As +we will discuss later in the chapter, the principles underlying these reform efforts have +contributed to major initiatives to enhance government performance and accountability. +Public organizations at all levels have employed a variety of strategies to streamline +work processes and enhance the public service. + +IT, the Internet, and Management Reform + +Advances in information technology (IT) have played a key role in the move toward a +more entrepreneurial public and nonprofit organizations. Beginning with the personal +computer revolution in the early 1980s, when personal computers started to appear +in every office (not to mention every home), IT has been a central part in the drive +to increase public and nonprofit performance. Yet in the age of reform, IT was +transformed from being a tool for enhancing productivity to a metaphor for the very +way in which we organize. We began to view ourselves as actors in wired organiza +tions, members of virtual communities, and citizens in a growing web of e-public +administration. + +By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the transformation of the Internet, which +began as an electronic network of researchers and scholars, into a global, online commu +nity supported our change in perspective. We could, in real-time, have a virtual chat +with colleagues around the world on matters of public policy (or anything else for that +matter), exchange insights on common challenges, or swap information relating to man +agement innovations. Governments and nonprofit agencies soon turned to online +resources for many of their core functions, including economic development, human and +social service delivery, healthcare and engagement with citizens. So, we can say that +in less than a generation, the Internet and improvements in IT generally have helped to +reshape our notions of governance and public space. + + + +IT, the Internet, and Management Reform 341 + +Wired Organizations + +From a management perspective, the most immediate impact of IT has been to redefine +our concept of organization. Intranets, e-mail, and other networking resources have +allowed or in some cases forced agencies to transform work processes and integrate +strategies for meeting public objectives. In fact, some even consider IT and integrated +forms of organizing, such as team-based approaches, to be at the heart of management in +todays society. Mankin, Cohen, and Bikson (1996), for example, suggested that infor +mation technology can make teams more effective, and teams can help fulfill the promise +of information technology. Together, teams and new information technology can catalyze +dramatic improvements in organizational performance (p. ix). The connection between +teamwork and IT provides a gateway for organizational performance. + +Accordingly, IT became a key theme in Vice President A1 Gores National Performance +Review (NPR) of the 1990s. The NPR plan, as well as the Information Technology +Management Reform Act of 1996, focused on the use of IT in the reengineering process +of federal agencies. Specific NPR recommendations included the creation of an infor +mation infrastructure that would allow for a more effective use of government resources, +as well as facilitate the modernization of processing and customer service centers; the +development of an efficient electronic mail service, improving federal agencies with +messaging and communications capabilities; and the implementation of an incentive +system to reward innovation, a system that would enable agencies to reinvest dollars +saved into information technology (Gore, 1993). + +The NPR recommendations have translated into important innovations relating to +the use of IT in the reinvention process. At a recent conference organized by the +International Quality and Productivity Center, administrators from a variety of federal +agencies shared their experiences and insights on one of the crucial advancements: the +use of government intranets or internal Web sites for public organizations. Noted one +participant, An intranet is much more than a glorified e-mail or groupware solution . . . +(it) can be customized and tailored to a specific work environment, enabling employees +to not just communicate internally, but collaborate, interact, and become part of a team +connected through their desktop computers (Kerwood, 1997, p. 1). + +Of course, the application of IT has not been limited to the federal government. +State and local authorities around the country have forged relationships with private +service providers to expand their IT infrastructure and take the business of govern +ment online. State governments in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and elsewhere +are capitalizing on IT innovations to create seamless systems of service delivery in +the areas of health care, education, public safety, and corrections. Many states are +also viewing high-tech companies as key drivers of economic development, and some +have adopted incentive programs to support IT-related industries (Stoneman, 2000, +pp. 34-50). + +At the local level, public agencies are using IT and online networks to manage the +regulatory process, interact with citizens, and increase the efficiency of public services. +We mentioned the city of Baltimores use of Citistat in Chapter 5 in our discussion of +financial management systems. But another role of Baltimores Citistat has been to track +the effectiveness of interagency partnerships in addressing important health and human + + + +342 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +service concerns. For example, as part of its Leadsfat initiative', city officials use geo +graphic information system (GIS) technology to pinpoint actual cases of lead poisoning, +using a red dot on a GIS map. They then assess the effectiveness of their abatement +strategies by monitoring the number of dots to change from red to green, with a green +dot marking a successful abatement (Swope, 2001, p. 23). + +Networking + +Information on civic network and electronic democracy can be found at +http://www.civicnet.org, http://www.civic.net, http://www.arsportalis.org, or +http://www.neighborhoodsonline.net/index.html. For information relating to the +use of technology in government, go to http://www.govtech.net. + +Technology and the rise of the IT sector also have made a significant impact in the +philanthropic sector, opening new doors for resource development and performance mea +surement. But the process has come with its share of challenges. During the late 1990s, +the boom in high-tech firms created what seemed to be a new generation of philan +thropists. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle, for example, which was +started by the family of Microsofts multibillion-dollar chairman, became the nations +largest foundation, with assets in 2000 exceeding $21 billion (an increase of more than +25 percent over 1999). Flowever, the halcyon days of the dot-coms quickly vanished, and +by mid 2001 the Chronicle of Philanthropy was reporting a sober view the Internets +future on charitable giving (Marchetti, 2001, p. 1). + +Rather than give up on technology, many nonprofits began using the new landscape +as a way of expanding their strategies for IT-based fundraising. Some charities are now +using their Web sites to receive direct contributions, and many more are turning to +e-mail and other forms of electronic engagement to solicit gifts from the more e-savvy +philanthropists. Goodwill Industries has taken this to new ends, using an eBay-type +online auction house to raise more than $2 million since 1999. There has even been +a growth in the number of online fundraising collaboratives, such as Helping.org, which +raises money on behalf of several philanthropic organizations (Hruby, 2001, p. 10). + +ePublic Administration + +The pervasiveness of IT in public and nonprofit management has many talking about +a new era of electronic governance. Dean and Stage outlined some of the artifacts of +e-government, including government Web sites, pages, e-mails, and service delivery over +the Internet. It can also mean digital access to government information or electronic licens +ing or payments. But the most significant aspect of the public service in this information +age involves what they call a revolution in governance, a dramatic shift in the methods +by which political and social power are organized and used today (2000, p. 3). + +This revolution began well before the dot-com craze of the late 1990s. Its origins can +be traced to the utopian forms of governance conceived during the early part of the + + + +The Human Side of Technological Innovation 343 + +twentieth century. But the actual emergence of what is called cyber-democracy dates +from the early 1990s and the growth in community networks (for discussion, see Bryan +et al, 1998; Browning, 1996). Alexander and Grubbs (1998) define community networks +as as a low cost, easy-to-use computer network that provides citizens with access +to electronic mail, public bulletin boards, and electronic information relevant to their +locality. These networks are usually used to enhance local community organizations, +facilitate neighborhood capacity-building programs, and foster citizen participation in +public decision making. In recent years, these networks have gained in complexity and +strength, with some even branching into providing Internet access, GIS technology, and +computer-based civic and educational courses. + +Community networks serve as models for what Grossman (1995) calls a key-pad +democracy an electronic republic in which public participation occurs in virtual +settings: + + Greater communication with public officials and administrators is possible through +electronic mail, faxing, and audio-video conferencing. + + Information necessary for rational decision making can be disseminated to the +public via the Web and advanced multimedia presentations. + + Elections and public referenda may be conducted more accurately through +electronic voting mechanisms (in Alexander & Grubbs, 1998). + +Thousands of local authorities across the United States, and an increasing number +in Europe and elsewhere, have begun to use community networks to connect with +citizens. In addition, there are even more grassroots efforts being initiated by private +citizens to reach out to governmental and nongovernmental leaders (Bryan et al., +1998, pp. 1-2). So while we may have to wait a few years until we can vote online +(although after the 2000 presidential elections it may be sooner than we think!), our +capacity for interacting with public officials and building a virtual civil society has +never been greater. + +The Human Side of Technological Innovation + +Whether in designing new vehicles for collecting garbage, developing new techniques for +space exploration, or creating broad-based management information systems, the techni +cal questions are always accompanied by a related set of human concerns, most having +to do with how human beings work together to solve technical problems. For example, +what is the proper relationship between government and industry in supporting research +and development activities? How can technological innovations be transferred from one +jurisdiction or organization to another? What are the human consequences for a particu +lar organization in adopting particular approaches? How can people in the organization +be helped in adapting to the new technology? + +One group that has been deeply involved in responding to questions such as these +is Public Technology, Inc. (PTI). PTI began in 1969 when a group of local government + + + +344 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Pilblic and Nonprofit Organizations + +managers joined together to establish a way to apply technologies developed by NASA to +problems encountered by local governments (Mercer & Philips, 1981). (Throughout most +of its history, NASA has had a special mandate to support civilian applications of space +technology.) For example, local officials were concerned about inadequate or bulky air +supply for fire fighters. As a result of conversations with NASA people who designed life +support systems, the local officials gained access to high-pressure, lightweight air tanks, +devices that see through smoke, and other similar tools (Toregas, 1988, p. 3). + +In addition to specific technical contributions, Public Technology, Inc. focused on the +human element of technology transfer. PTI felt that what came to be called orgware, that +combination of human and interpersonal skills needed to cope with the frustration and +fear associated with new technologies, was more important than the technical hardware +or software (Toregas, 1988, p. 3). Emotional issues can often get in the way of applying +improved technology; for example, firefighters viewed a new, automated, radio-controlled +nozzle for fire trucks as such a threat to their jobs and their normal way of fighting fires +that it was abandoned almost immediately. + +Experiences such as this led Public Technology Inc. to adopt a formula for technology +management: for every $5 spent on hardware, $15 must be spent on software, and $80 +must be spent on orgware training, organization development, and so on. Peoples con +cerns about introduction of new technologies can be dealt with effectively, but imple +menting a change to new technologies is time-consuming and costly. In any application +of new technology, you must keep the human element very much in mind. For this +reason, many agencies establish joint technology design committees to analyze how +employees will respond to the changes brought about by new technology (Government +Productivity News, September 1992, p. 4). + +Other dimensions of the human side of advanced technology, especially advanced +information technology, are also important. The first has to do with the impact of infor +mation technology on day-to-day work patterns. As we will see in later chapters, man +agers work is not only information-based, but highly interpersonal as well. There is no +question that computer networking, for example, will increase the information available +to managers and decrease the time spent waiting for it. Moreover, extensive networking +should improve managers capacity to more effectively integrate the work of various +groups within the organization. On the other hand, managers with access to computer +networks may spend much less time, in face-to-face conversations or in visits to various +locations where the work is done, and these interpersonal tasks are essential. + +Second, we should expect greater dependence on advanced information technology to +raise several very personal concerns for those who work in or deal with public organiza +tions. The depersonalized nature of computerized control and evaluation systems may +prove highly stressful for either employees or clients. In the private sector, for instance, +there have already been experiments with automated systems of accountability measur +ing the number of keystrokes a typist generates or the number of calls a salesperson +makes. Similar applications in the public sector could well lead to the same negative +reactions that have often occurred in the private sector applications. + +Third, the use of advanced information technology raises questions about how organi +zations of the future are likely to be structured. Networking can simultaneously allow for +greater centralized control or for greater decentralization. Some argue that knowledge is + + + +Human Resources, Innovation and Performance 345 + +power, and that making more information available to top officials on a timely basis will +permit them to accumulate even greater power (perhaps to the detriment of others). Some +argue instead that new technology will spread information throughout the organization +and, consequently, power will be decentralized. The latest studies take a different posi +tionthat information technology in and of itself does not necessarily lead an organiza +tion toward either more or less central control. Rather, the organizations initial structure, +history and culture, and the behavior of its managers are the determinants. Information +systems, it seems, can be designed to either centralize or decentralize an organization. + +Human Resources, Innovation and Performance + +Whereas advanced technology can improve productivity and performance, far greater +improvements are possible through more effective use of human and organizational +resources. Many approaches for improving the commitment, motivation, and creativity +of employees (including managers) have been developed over the years. Most today are +considered merely good management practice, but many specific techniques are more +often used in formal productivity improvement programs than as ongoing managerial +processes. We will provide an historical review of four techniquesmanagement by +objectives (MBO), quality of work-life programs (especially job enrichment), quality +circles (or similar group approaches), and incentive programs, as well as more recent +efforts to encourage innovation. + +Management by Objectives + +One of the oldest productivity improvement techniques to be used systematically in busi +ness and government is management by objectives (MBO). Management by objectives +became especially popular in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. President Nixon +extended MBO concepts throughout many federal agencies, a pattern that was soon +followed in a large number of state and local organizations. Although MBO has fallen +into some disfavor in government agencies, many of its key elements, such as objective +setting and performance appraisal, remain in place in many agencies. + +Essentially, management by objectives is a highly participatory approach to establish +ing clear and measurable objectives throughout an organization. First, MBO assumes +that the organization as a whole will benefit by clarifying its broad-range goals and by +targeting the work of all organizational units and all individuals in pursuit of those +goals. Second, MBO assumes that all elements of the organization, from top to bottom, +will benefit from establishing realistic objectives each year and measuring progress +toward the objectives as the year goes by. Third, MBO assumes that the process of estab +lishing goals and objectives should involve a broad spectrum of organizational members, +both to solicit the fullest range of ideas and to build patterns of effective communica +tions and commitment. + + + +Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +Management by objectives is based on an image of the organization as a hierarchy of +linked goals and objectives. The organizations broad goals are developed at the top +of the hierarchy and become the basis for negotiating more specific objectives at the next +level down. These objectives in turn become the basis for negotiating objectives at +the next level and so on down through the organization, even to the level of setting +objectives for each individual employee. In a fully developed MBO system, the broad +agency goals theoretically provide a framework within which everyone in the orga +nization, including both managers and other employees, has before him or her a set of +performance objectives to guide his or her work during the course of the year (June +1976, pp. 15-16). + +Note that the objective-setting process is not one in which objectives decided from +above are merely handed down to each successive level. Rather, MBO involves a highly +decentralized objective-setting process, in which each supervisor works with each sub +ordinate manager or employee to arrive at a reasonable set of objectives. Ideally, this +process of negotiation involves face-to-face conversations in which objectives at various +levels are worked out; however, in many applications of MBO, the objective-setting +process occurs through an exchange of memos and written forms. + +For objectives to most effectively guide the work of those throughout the organiza +tion, you must pay special attention to the type of objectives being developed (Morley, +1986, p. 186). The most useful objectives are those that are: + +Clear and specific: The objectives should state exactly what is to be done (e.g., to reduce +response time to three minutes), rather than vague and subjective (e.g., to respond in the +shortest possible time). + +Realistic: The objectives should be challenging to the unit or the individual, but not +beyond reach. It also should be clear that the resources and support necessary to meet +the objectives will be available. + +Measurable (or otherwise verifiable): There must be some way for both the supervisor +and subordinate to know when the objective has been met. + +Prioritized: Both the superior and subordinate should agree on which objective is +most important, which is next most important, and so on. + +The resulting objectives may be stated in several ways: in terms of amount of work +(cases processed per week), effectiveness of work (applicants placed each month), quality +of work (a minimum error rate), completion dates and target costs, or some combination +of these (Morley, 1986, p. 186). You should follow the objective-setting process with +a more detailed examination of what must be done to meet the objective. Usually an +action plan is developed, indicating how, when, and by whom the actual work will be +done to meet the objectives. (At this point, of course, it is important to agree on the +resources and support necessary to attain the objective.) Finally, managers must assign +specific responsibility to those in their units for completing the necessary task. + +As mentioned, MBO has been tried in many different government and nonprofit +organizations here and abroad. Recently, MBO has been widely criticized, largely + + + +Human Resources, Innovation and Performance 347 + +because of the extremely detailed paperwork that many organizations required as part +of their MBO system, but many places still use important features of MBO. For exam +ple, setting goals and objectives and developing accompanying action plans are central +to more contemporary strategic management efforts. Similarly, one of the most impor +tant features of MBO systems, which has been retained in many organizations long +after the demise of a full-blown MBO system, is the frequent review and revision of +objectives, accompanied by detailed performance appraisal; that is, a specific evaluation +with respect to an individuals progress in completing specified tasks. By setting a stan +dard against which to measure performance (which is often especially difficult at the +professional or managerial level), MBO-based performance appraisal systems provide a +base against which results can be measured. Finally, the emphasis in MBO on frequent +communications up and down the organizational ladder has clearly been maintained in +other approaches to productivity improvement, as well as in management practice more +generally. + +Quality of Work-Life/Job Enrichment + +For a period, management by objectives took on the aura of a movement, complete with +classic texts, disciples and other advocates, and strong commitment to the cause. Much +the same is true of the recent concern for Quality of Work-Life (QWL). The quality of +work-life (see Box 9.1) movement traces its ancestry back to the development of child +labor laws, passage of workers compensation legislation, and more general concerns +for human relations arising in the 1930s. Its more recent impetus, however, has come +primarily from a group of European scholars and practitioners associated with the +Tavistock Institute for Human Relations in London. + +The Tavistock group was initially concerned with how organizations might become +more adaptive to a society engaged in a shift from a production base to a service base, +one expected to exhibit a high degree of social change and turbulence. According to the +Tavistock researchers, most organizations reflect their technological bases; that is, their +organizational structure models their technology. Unfortunately, such a structure limits +adaptability. The Tavistock group urged attention to the interaction of social and tech +nical systems. + +For at least some QWL advocates, creating a work environment of high quality was +even more important than improving productivity. The most important question to ask, +they argued, is whether a particular organization is doing all it can to contribute to a +more humane and progressive work environment. Others, however, felt that one did not +have to trade productivity for quality. Rather, by improving the quality of work-life, +the productivity would rise as well. Indeed, studies seemed to show that improving the +quality of work-life led to decreased absenteeism and turnover, greater job satisfaction, +and greater commitment to the organization and its goalsall features that should +improve an organizations productivity as a whole. + +Any movement directed toward concerns as broad as these may lack some focus, and +that has been a problem with efforts to improve the quality of work-life; the term +has become so embracing as to be unclear. Some scholars, however, have focused on + + + +34# Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +BOX 9.1 + +Judging the Quality of Work-Life + +Adequate and fair compensation: Compensation for ones work should meet +general standards for the work involved and should bear an appropriate relation +ship to the pay provided for other work. +Safe and healthy working conditions: The conditions of work should include rea +sonable hours and should not be detrimental to the health of the worker. +Immediate opportunity to use and develop human capacities: The job should allow +for substantial autonomy and self-control, it should permit use of a wide range of +capacities, and it should be meaningful to the worker. +Opportunity for continued growth and security: The job should allow for and in +deed encourage personal growth and development on the part of the employee, as +well as opportunities for meaningful advancement in a career. +Social integration in the work organization: The personal side of ones organiza +tional involvement, ones interaction with others on the job, should be a source of +satisfaction. +Constitutionalism in the work organization: The rights of the individual, including +rights to privacy, free speech, equal treatment, and due process, should be protected. +Work and the total life space: Ones work life should be adequately balanced with +the other spheres of ones life, especially ones family life. +The social relevance of work life: If the organization is not seen as being socially +responsible (for example, in its employment policies or approaches to energy +conservation or waste disposal), workers will think less of their work and their +careers. + +SOURCE: Reprinted with the permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from +The Quality of Working Life, Volume I: Problems, Prospects and the State of the Art, edited by Louis E. +Davis and Albert B. Cherns. Copyright 1975 by Louis E. Davis and Albert B. Cherns. + +three paramount concernsthe autonomy, the responsibility, and the authority granted +to individual workers. The general objective is to arrange organizations, management +procedures, and jobs for the maximum utilization of individual talents and skills, in +order to create more challenging and satisfying work and to improve organizational +effectiveness (Jenkins, 1983, p. 2). Another writer puts the objective of QWL efforts in +this question: How can jobs be designed so that effective performance is linked with +meaningful, interesting, and challenging work? (Suttle, 1977, p. 1). + +This question leads to a specific productivity improvement effortjob enrichment +which is concerned with designing or redesigning particular jobs so that workers experience +greater meaning and satisfaction from the work and, consequently, can be more productive. +Job enrichment efforts usually assume that people will perform better (1) where they per +form a diverse array of tasks; (2) where they have a high degree of autonomy in their work; +and (3) where they get clear feedback on the quality of their work. + + + +Human Resources, Innovation and Performance 349 + +Diversity, autonomy, and feedback in a particular job can be enhanced through a vari +ety of mechanisms. For example, you might combine tasks so that instead of a series +of individuals each involved in only one part of an assembly process, each individual +would be responsible for the entire product. Jobs might also be enriched through verti +cal loading that is, giving individual workers responsibilities and controls previously +reserved for management, such as responsibility for deciding on work methods or for +training new workers (Hackman, 1983, p. 249). Presumably, workers in enriched jobs +not only find the quality of work-life improved, but also become more productive. + +Quality Circles and Related Ideas + +The quality-circles concept has been widely used over the past two decades, and hun +dreds of reports of documented savings and solutions to work-process problems some +involving public-sector organizations have appeared in the popular and business press. +More important, while the term quality circles seems to be fading from use, some of the +principles underlying quality circles have reemerged under the concept of self-managed +teams and through the application of the techniques of Total Quality management. + +A quality circle is a small group of people who do similar or connected work and +meet regularly (usually an hour a week) to identify, analyze, and solve work-process +problems. Quality circles involve six to twelve employees, who are led by their first-line +supervisor (often called a team leader) and assisted by a trained facilitator, usually from +outside the work unit. The circle chooses its own problems to work on and approaches +them through a structured, problem-solving process. Resulting recommendations are +usually presented to the team leaders immediate supervisor, who in turn may carry the +recommendations further up the hierarchy. + +Since quality circles offer frontline employees the opportunity to get involved in deci +sions affecting their work, circles have proven popular among employees (as well as +employers) in many organizations. In some places, employees have never been asked how +they think work processes might be improved, yet they are the experts in providing patient +care, processing tax returns, or developing procedures to remove hazardous wastes. The +benefits for these employees are thus twofold: first, they are given time to solve problems +that cause frustrations and that keep them from completing their jobs; and second, by +taking greater responsibility for work-process problems, they gain a greater awareness of +solutions and may have greater interest in the success of those solutions. + +The team leaders, facilitators, and circle members receive training in quality-circle +operations and in group dynamics and problem solving. An open atmosphere concerning +circle activities helps managers to feel comfortable with the circle concept, a natural step +toward acceptance and institutionalization of the entire program. + +A key ingredient in the success of a quality-circle program is the support of top man +agement. This factor needs careful attention at the beginning stages of a quality circle +program. Without active support from the top, quality-circle members may feel their rec +ommendations will not be taken seriously, and managers elsewhere in the organization +may see no incentive to start quality circles in their work areas. Although quality circles +are a bottom-up approach to problem solving, the implementation process is very much + + + +35 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +top-down; information about the concept must be presented to those at all levels of the +organization. + +Although managerial support is necessary for long-term success, the real core of any +circle program is the participants themselves. Without a large proportion of highly moti +vated and properly trained circle leaders and members, the circle program cannot suc +ceed. Members of the organization must be introduced to the notion of quality circles, +and team leaders, facilitators, and group members must be trained. Then the real work +of the quality circles begins. Normally, circles meet regularly, perhaps once a week, for a +specified time, usually an hour. The first task is choosing a problem to solve. Generally, +circles choose a problem by brainstorminggenerating long lists of topics without eval +uation or comment. The group reviews the list and selects one problem to focus on. +(This same process is used when the cycle is completed and a new topic is chosen.) + +The circle members then analyze the problem and develop solutions. Analysis typically +involves some data collection or information gathering, followed by efforts to identify +both the causes of the problem and potential solutions. Each solution is examined with +respect to its effectiveness in dealing with the problem and feasibility of implementation. +Some solutions may be considered ineffective, others too costly, and others inconsistent +with agency policies. When a solution has been settled on, the circle members prepare and +make a formal presentation of the problem and their recommended solution to manage +ment. In most cases, management finds the solution acceptable and works with the circle +members to implement it. + +Although quality circles are usually employed to solve specific work-process problems, +and are more frequently used in units where such problems are found, the basic quality- +circle principles of widespread participation and group problem solving are applicable +elsewhere. For example, task forces (groups brought together to work on specific organi +zational problems) may consist of members from different parts of the organization. They +may address work-process problems or issues of organizational policies or broader public +policies; however, the approach to problem solving may be much like that modeled by +quality circles. + +Incentive Programs + +Many if not most personnel systems in public agencies emphasize merit considerations in +deciding which employees receive larger and smaller raises. This is an effort to build into +the system a reward or incentive for high-level performance. In addition to pay increases, +there are several other types of incentive plans that reward extraordinary performance. +The rewards are usually money, but may sometimes be nonmonetary incentives such +as merchandise or time off. The incentives seek to reward increased output (measured +quantitatively), improved performance (measured qualitatively), or improved behavior +(such as reduced absenteeism or fewer accidents) (Morley, 1986, p. 118). + +A variety of incentive plans are currently used in public agencies (Greiner et al., 1981, +pp. 28-29). Among the most common are performance bonuses, piecework bonuses, +gainsharing plans, suggestion awards, behavioral awards, and employee recognition +programs. + + + +Human Resources, Innovation and Performance 351 + +Performance bonuses are one-time monetary awards based on superior performance +on the job generally or in a particular task. Often used to reward professional or man +agerial employees, bonuses may be presented annually or upon completion of a specific +task. There are, however, several difficulties with bonus systems in the public sector. +Many people, including many legislators, seem to feel that performance evaluation is +so difficult to manage that there is no fair basis for deciding which employees receive +bonuses and which do not. Consequently, bonus systems may become mechanisms for +rewarding friends and favorites in the organization. Although these concerns can be +addressed in several ways, they have led, in many jurisdictions, to legislation prohibiting +bonus systems. + +Piecework bonuses are performance incentives that tie the workers productivity in +a given task to monetary rewards. These systems may either tie the monetary reward +directly to the number of units produced or use some formula to determine which work +ers are exceeding a standard level of performance. For example, keypunch operators in +many jurisdictions are paid according to number of entries. Similarly, painters and elec +tricians in some areas are paid according to what degree they meet or exceed a standard +of performance set in advance. The effectiveness of piecework bonuses depends on arriv +ing at specific measures of performance that will be clear to all concerned. + +Gainsharing plans provide a monetary award for a group of employees based on sav +ings the group generates. Based simply on the idea of rewarding those who produce more, +this kind of plan is easy for both employees and citizens to understand. Washington, for +example, has operated such a program for nearly a decade; through the states Teamwork +Incentive Program, employees in groups that develop significant savings can receive up to +25 percent of the documented savings. State employees have received as much as $6,273 +per employee (Government Productivity News, April 1989, p. 1). + +Gainsharing can also be combined with a quality-circles program. If, for example, a +quality circle designed a new computer program that saved a state government $6,000 +a year, it might split as much as $600 among the circle members. Again, this system +depends on careful documentation of the savings generated by the work of the group. + +Suggestion award programs provide incentives for employees who make specific +suggestions that result in savings for the organization. Such systems are widely used in +American industry; firms such as General Motors have major suggestion contests that +result in thousands of dollars, even hundreds of thousands, in awards to individuals +and, of course, even greater savings for the companies. Suggestion programs have only +recently become widespread in public agencies and are still less well established than in +the private sector. + +Behavioral awards reward specific behaviors that management wishes to encourage. +If absenteeism is a problem, a system might be designed to reward good attendance; +if workplace accidents are a problem, a system might be designed to reward excellent +safety records. Again, it is important to establish clear standards for performance and +relate them to specific benefits. + +Employee recognition programs, although they do not provide monetary incentives, +are often an effective way to acknowledge special contributions of certain employees +or groups. An employee-of-the-month program, for example, allows top management +(the governor, a department head, or a city manager) to recognize individuals who have + + + +352- Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +done work above and beyond the call of duty. Similarly, special recognition of groups of +employees involved in quality circles or interdepartmental task forces is a good way to +highlight work of exceptional quality. At little or no real cost, such programs provide +a surprisingly good incentive for employees and emphasize the high-quality work that +most employees of public organizations do. As one productivity leader pointed out, +You always hear about the bad things that happen in government. An employee-of-the- +month program gives us an opportunity to talk about the good things that happen! + +All in all, incentive programs are effective mechanisms for encouraging employees to +make more significant or more appropriate contributions to the organization. You must +be careful, however, to identify specific behaviors that will lead to improved productiv +ity, devise specific measures so you know when the objective has been met, and provide +an appropriate and meaningful incentive. As the success of employee recognition pro +grams testifies, incentive programs do not work merely because employees need more +money. Employees also respond because they take pride in their work and in their con +tributions to the organizations success. + +Innovation + +A more recent strategy for improving productivity in public and nonprofit organizations +involves encouraging innovation by public servants (see Box 9.2). Unfortunately, while +many managers and consultants search for ways to innovate, the concept of innovation +tends to be one of the least understood in management. Some view it simply as imple +menting some new system or process within an organization, or as improving the busi +ness of government. Others appreciate innovation as a way of adding public value, or +serving more effectively in the public interest. Most will agree, however, that at its core +innovation involves challenging the prevailing wisdom in management theory and +practice (Light, 1998, p. xvi). + +H. George Frederickson (2000, p. 8) recently attempted to sort out some of the different +ways of thinking about innovation, contrasting between managed innovation and sus +taining innovation. First, in managed innovation the primary driver of change tends to be +the visionary, with the main objectives being productivity, efficiency and the improving +governments bottom-line. This type of innovation becomes communicated through best- +practices research for other organizations to diffuse into their administrative practices. + +The managing innovation approach begins with the core mission of the organization, +often as articulated by the visionary leader. Staff roles involve setting objectives for +accomplishing the mission and implementing the innovative practices set out by manage +ment. It is a linear process, at the end of which the organization is able to achieve a new +level of productivity. But, as critics point out, it also results in a much shallower form of +innovation, one that fails to take account of the underlying values of the organization or +provide for managing through rapidly changing conditions. + +Sustaining innovation, on the other hand, builds from Paul Lights work by the same +name (Light, 1998) and depends less on the visionary hero and more on leaders inside +and outside of organization. Unlike its more linear counterpart, the sustaining innovation +approach involves as much of a process of searching for questions as it does searching for + + + +Human Resources, Innovation and Performance + +BOX 9.2 + +Awarding Innovation in Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +In 1985, the Ford Foundation launched an award program in conjunction with +Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government to celebrate innovations by +public-sector organizations. Since then the Innovations in American Government +Program has recognized 280 programs with more than $17.2 million in Ford +Foundation grants. The Ford Foundation also became the principal sponsor of the +Kennedy Schools Institute for Government Innovation, which provides support to +scholars and practitioners in the form of research forums, conferences, case studies +and other resources. + +The Peter F. Drucker Foundation offers a similar award program for innovations +by nonprofits. Each year the Foundation recognizes a nonprofit organization that +finds new ways of touching the lives of those it serves, based on Peter Druckers defin +ition of innovation: Change that creates a new dimension of performance. To be eli +gible, the nonprofit must show how the innovation (1) advances the organizations +mission, (2) helps the organization achieve clear, meaningful outcomes, (3) features +a new dimension of performance, (4) makes a difference in the lives of clients, and +(5) serves as a model that may be replicated by other nonprofits. The award includes +a $25,000 prize and a short documentary video. + +SOURCE: The Innovations in American Government Home Page (http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/innovat/ +home.html) and the Peter F. Drucker Foundation Innovation Award Information Page (http://www.pfdf.org/ +award/about.html) (August, 2001). + +answers. Frederickson wrote, Under conditions of sustained innovation it is far better to +approximate an answer to the right question, which is often vague, than to search for the +exact answer to the wrong question. Such answers can always be made more precise; they +are still answers to the wrong question (Frederickson, 2000, p. 8). The underlying belief +is that each organization faces competing goals, based on each group of stakeholders, and +often must work harder to identify the problems not just the solutions. + +According to Light (1998), sustaining innovation begins with removing barriers to +excellence and what he calls debunking the myths (such as innovation is limited to just a +few, perfect organizations) that tend to block natural forms of creativity in public and non +profit agencies. Light challenges managers give up the quest for absolute efficiency and +search instead for preferred states of being that is, an ecosystem in which an organi +zations innovativeness depends upon four factors that ignite and sustain new ideas: (1) the +external environment in which a given organization exists, (2) its internal structure, (3) its +leadership, and (4) its internal management systems (Light, 1998, pp. 12-13). + +The sustaining innovation approach provides greater flexibility and places the opportu +nity for innovation into the hands of those at all levels. As a result, this approach allows +organizations to deal more effectively with ambiguityboth in goal-setting and in rela +tions in the external environment. Given its open engagement with external stakeholders, + + + +354 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +the sustaining innovation approach also enables organizations to anticipate change and +maintain effective, meaningful relationships for the long term. + +Recent Examples of Performance Management + +Public and nonprofit organizations at all levels have experimented with formal efforts to +improve quality, productivity, and overall performance. Generally speaking, public produc +tivity is concerned with how organizations can achieve their objectives as efficiently and +effectively as possiblehow they can improve their performance. Some emphasize techno +logical innovation, while others emphasize human resources management; some operate +through centralized productivity improvement staffs, while others are more decentralized. +Most have successfully demonstrated the value of managing for results. + +Networking + +Now that the NPR site has closed, information on examples of reinventing +government have been archived at http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/default.html. +Additional sites about NPR, reinvention, and reengineering include (1) http:// +policyworks.gov and (2) http://www.reengineering.com/. + +GAO Cites Best Practices for Performance Management + +The Government Accounting Office (GAO) recently completed a comprehensive survey +of twenty-three federal and state regulatory agencies to determine best practices for +performance-based management and measurement. Agencies selected for participation +had been identified either by the GAO or other sources as leaders in designing and +implementing performance management systems. The GAO study provided twelve rec +ommendations, based on best practices shared across the various sites: + +1. Focus on building effective performance management strategies by making man +aging for results a top priority and dedicate resources to enhance core organizational +competencies. +2. Ensure ownership of the performance management and measurement activities + +throughout the agency. +3. Redesign work processes, internal structures, and lines of responsibility to be consis + +tent with the new performance measurement systems. +4. Forge solid alliances, in this particular case with regulated agencies, as well as with + +partners in service delivery. +5. Develop ties with counterparts, which in the case of regulatory agencies are other + +organizations in programs with cross-cutting jurisdictions. +6. Adopt a systems approach to understand the influences and impacts of individual + +programs. +7. Establish clear, measurable performance goals and objectives that are in-line with the + +new performance measurement rationale. + + + +Human Resources, Innovation and Performance + +8. Identify appropriate performance targets for each of the goals and objectives in the +system. + +9. Select appropriate, reliable data sources to support the performance goals and +objectives. +10. Focus analysis on specific functions, in this case regulatory interventions, with an +emphasis on maximizing results. +11. Integrate consideration of internal and external factors affecting the agency and its +interventions. +12. Engage in a process of continuous improvement to ensure ongoing appropriateness +in performance measurement systems. (Government Accounting Office, 1999) + +Although the study focused on regulatory agencies, the GAO anticipates that its findings +can be used by nonregulatory organizations at all levels to enhance productivity and per +formance (for discussion, see the CAP Corner, PA Times, December 1999, p. 10). + +Measuring Performance in the State of Arizona + +The state of Arizona recently transformed its productivity and accountability system to +concentrate on what matters in public service. Arizona initiated the transformation in +1993, when the state legislature passed a bill requiring state agencies to engage in strate +gic planning and to tie their strategic goals and objectives to measurable performance +targets (similar to those outlined in the GPRA). While the new system was designed to +provide a management tool for management and staff of executive agencies, the legisla +ture also will begin tracking productivity in the 2000/2001 fiscal cycle. + +Although it may be too soon to assess the impact of Arizonas system, some of the +early signs suggest a definite cost savings as a result of the states dedication to perfor +mance management. The general consensus among state officials is that the new system +has contributed to slower growth in the amount of state government expenditures and a +corresponding decline in the level of taxation, but without a negative impact on govern +ment productivity. + +Most importantly, the performance management system has enabled state agencies +to become more effective in achieving desired public outcomes and in targeting more +effectively its service delivery to be in-line with the performance objectives. The Depart +ment of Economic Security, for example, in the past was able to report only on isolated +cases of support to children and their families. Under the new performance measurement +system, the department has been successful in identifying systemswide service targets +and now can track its delivery to make sure it remains focused toward accomplishing +the agencys strategic objectives. State officials thus have removed the guesswork from +decision making, relying instead on knowledge-driven management. + +A key contributor to the success of Arizonas performance management system has +been its integration throughout the state hierarchy. Department heads take a leading +role in designing the systems framework, but the ownership and sustainability of the +system has been with staff. Many state employees have come to recognize the usefulness +of the performance measures for improving internal operations. The states report on +the system stated, This has helped institutionalize the use of performance measures + + + +Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Fublic and Nonprofit Organizations + +and contributed to the continued evolution of using measures of performance within +the executive branch ... [It should also] aid in their use by the legislative branch +(Governmental Accounting Standards Board, 2000a, p. 2). As with the sustaining inno +vation approach discussed previously, the sense of shared ownership should enable the +state to maintain a flexible, effective management system well into the future. (For a dis +cussion, see Governmental Accounting Standards Board, 2000a.) + +Benchmarking and Performance Improvement in the City of Portland + +In the City of Portland, public officials have implemented several performance measure +ment tracking systems aimed at enhancing productivity and effectiveness of government +programs. Underlying Portlands system is the use of benchmarks, which provide perfor +mance standards and points of comparison for the citys leadership and staff. The city +also has integrated productivity and outcome targets in its strategic planning and budget +decision-making processes. + +City officials at all levels have a key role to play in Portlands performance manage +ment system. Due to the decentralized nature of the city government, this means that +department heads, middle managers and staff share responsibility for setting strategic +objectives, tracking effectiveness, and reporting to key stakeholders on the performance +results. Moreover, the city uses its community outreach to bring citizens into the perfor +mance management process. Portland relies on both formal mechanisms of public partic +ipation, with citizens serving on the Portland-Multnomah Progress Board, and informal +approaches to citizen engagement. + +Besides the benefits for productivity, Portlands performance measurement system +has given the city government exciting new forums for sharing progress and facilitating +organizational learning. The citys report stated, Communicating results is seen as a +driving force behind the intent and expectations of Portlands performance measurement +efforts, involving both communication within the government as well as communication +to stakeholders and the public (Governmental Accounting Standards Board, 2000b, +pp. 2-3). City officials use a variety of messaging strategies to inform their colleagues +internally on performance issues and to connect with the public on citizen priorities. + +However, the Portland experience has not come without its share of obstacles. Among +the most significant roadblocks have been (1) setting solid, measurable performance +targets, (2) ensuring the quality and reliability of performance data, and (3) covering +the time and cost required to maintain the reporting and tracking under the new system. +The result has been concerns relating to the consistency of the system agency-by-agency +and the capacity of city departments to continue tracking performance over time. + +The principal strength of the Portland initiative is, like the Arizona example cited +above, that there seems to be a high degree of ownership for the system throughout the +city government. If this was seen by staff as something imposed by department heads or +elected officials, there may be a higher level of resistance. Under such conditions it would +be questionable if the performance management approach would be sustainable in the +future. But in Portland the city government as a whole appears to have embraced this new +system as a way of serving more effectively in the public interest, and as a result perfor +mance management seems to be a key part of the citys policy and administrative decision +making. (For discussion, see Governmental Accounting Standards Board, 2000b.) + + + +Implementation Issues in Quality and Productivity + +Implementation Issues in Quality and Productivity + +Whatever approach to improving quality, productivity, and performance you undertake, +the design of your intervention will be important to its success. + +Productivity in public organizations, as in others, can often be improved through tech +nological innovations. Many areas of federal, state, and local governmental activity rest +on a strong technical base. In areas such as the design and construction of waste-to- +energy plants, development of pollution control devices (including hazardous waste treat +ment centers) or building of public housing, new technologies may help governments to +be not only more effective in meeting their objectives, but also to be more cost efficient. + +Networking + +Several organizations offer resources, case studies, and links to other sites on the +issue of productivity, including the NPR archives (http://govinfo.library.unt. +edu/npr/default.html), the Alliance for Redesigning Government +(http://www.alliance.napawash.org), the National Center for Public Productivity +(http://newark.rutgers.edu/~ncpp/ncpp.html), and the American Productivity +and Quality Center (http://www.apqc.org/). The Benchmarking Exchange +(http://www.benchnet.com/) also features information on benchmarking and +performance measurement. + +Think for a moment about the changes that are likely to occur in the countrys trans +portation system over the next twenty years. In the not-too-distant future, high-speed +intercity rail systems or vehicles that move on cushions of air may well displace planes, +cars, and trains as the primary means of transportation between major urban areas. +Designing the systems, regulating them, coordinating among various systems, providing +communications and control all these and many more functions will fall at least in +part to government, and all will benefit from advanced technology. + +Other efforts such as many associated with the reinventing government movement +are more concerned with changing the culture and practices of the organizations, but +these can vary in scope. Some programs simply require you to undertake new efforts +to motivate your employees. Others are more programmatic; for example, you might +emphasize greater responsibility on the part of lower-level personnel through a job enrich +ment strategy or you might develop a recognition program within the unit. + +You might also work with a broader program, such as undertaking a reinvention +effort throughout a local government or establishing a governmentwide employee sug +gestion award system. + +Steps to Productivity Improvement + +Whatever the level or organization of the quality and productivity effort, there are cer +tain basic issues to consider (Holzer, Rosen, & Zalk, 1986, pp. 9-15). + + + +Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +1. Identify ripe areas. +Identify areas that are ripe for productivity improvement. Any program, however great +its ambitions, must start small. It makes sense to start where you are most likely +to achieve immediate gains, because you will identify savings most quickly here, and +because a few early successes will encourage productivity improvement efforts elsewhere. +To identify areas, managers should be particularly attentive to: + +functions continually faced with large backlogs of work or slipping deadlines + +operations where visible problems have already been hinted at (citizen complaints, +high employee turnover) + +operations that appear to be using an unusually large percentage of resources + +operations where large numbers of employees perform essentially repetitive tasks +(payoffs will be especially evident here because of the effect of multiplying any +increase by the number of employees) + +availability of new techniques or technology already proven workable elsewhere +(e.g., computer installation to improve police response time) + +receptivity of managers and supervisors to new ideas coupled with an ability to +follow through (Holzer et ah, 1986, p. 10) + +2. Locate models in other jurisdictions. +Whatever your organization, it is likely that there are others like it and that others have +experienced similar problems. Having some idea of how others approached the issues +you are now confronting is especially helpful. Fortunately, such information is readily +available, either through publications such as the Governmental Productivity News or +through professional organizations such as the American Society for Public Administration +or the International City Management Association. From these sources, you may discover +new approaches to productivity improvement or you may find that approaches you are +considering have either been successful or have failed elsewhere. +3. Define roles. +Define the roles of those who will be involved in planning and implementing the pro +gram. Some programs are oriented to a particular department, while others cut across +several departments within a jurisdiction; in either case, some staffing for the productiv +ity effort will be necessary. Staffing at the department level will provide a specific focus +to the productivity program and will allow you to build technical expertise (e.g., in fire +or police work). A centralized productivity staff will enable you to give broad impetus to +the program and to build general expertise in productivity techniques. Presumably, this +general knowledge can then be applied in various departments. +4. Set realistic goals and objectives. +As noted, productivity programs in public organizations have been stimulated by public +demand for doing more with less. You may thus be tempted to set high expectations +for a new productivity improvement effort: resist the temptation. Setting realistic goals + + + +Implementation Issues in Quality and Productivity 9 + +and objectives and actually meeting them is more helpful in the long run than setting +expectations too high and falling short. +5. Choose among alternative programs. +Different approaches range from changes in management style to technological inno +vations to specific productivity efforts, such as quality circles or incentive programs. In +implementing a productivity program, it is advisable to fit the solution to the problem +rather than the other way around. Though this advice seems obvious, you may find +yourself tempted to pursue an immediate opportunity rather than engage in more careful +planning. For example, a vendor might herald a new telecommunications system as the +solution to all your problems. Even though you may not view communications issues +as your highest priorities in terms of productivity improvement, you may be tempted +to adopt the new technology just because it is there. A more reasonable approach, of +course, is to establish a prioritized list of problems, then seek to develop solutions that +match your most important concerns. +6. Anticipate problems. +Many problems can arise in implementing a productivity improvement program, espe +cially one of high visibility. Many of the problems are based on misconceptions about +what productivity improvement is all about and can be anticipated and dealt with early in +the program. Employees might feel that a quality circles program will lead to elimination +of jobs, or they may feel that safety standards will be lowered. In fact, neither outcome is +likely. These are serious concerns that should be thoroughly discussed at the beginning of +the program. To the extent possible, all participants and all persons likely to be affected +by the program should have a chance to learn about and comment on the proposed pro +gram. Dealing with questions up front minimizes confusion and disruption later. +7. Implement the program. +After carefully analyzing the need for a productivity improvement program and decid +ing upon a course of action that will address the identified needs, you will face the +difficult task of implementation. Implementation may, in fact, be the most difficult +phase. Expectations may be too high; needed legislation may be difficult to pass; orga +nization turf issues may interfere; and there may not be enough money to invest in the +program. + +You can avoid some of the difficulties by starting the program on a modest basis, then +expanding to other areas. Limiting objectives at the outset can help keep expectations +from rising too high and will make it easier to demonstrate the viability of the effort. +Beginning the program in an area where you might reasonably expect quick and identifi +able gains will enable you to claim early success and in turn make the program more +likely to be adopted elsewhere. Similarly, keeping a low profile for the program in its +early days will make it less threatening to labor and management. Whatever publicity is +accorded to the program (and many political leaders will want high-profile efforts), you +should monitor the program carefully in its early days to avoid misconceptions. + +The most serious limitations, however, are the difficulties in institutionalizing the pro +gram. Implementation is not merely a short-term concern; you should be concerned from +the beginning about how durable the program is likely to be. Several factors work against +institutionalization of productivity improvement programs. Programs may be dependent +on a particular individual, such as a governor or mayor or a particular department head, + + + +Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +and may be discontinued when that person leaves office. Many programs lack an organi +zational home and thus find it difficult to sustain support over a period of years (Bailey, +1987, pp. 19-20). +8. Evaluate the program. +Most productivity improvement programs require an initial investment of money and +time; you have to spend money to save money, and many people may be skeptical of the +programs value. Skeptics are likely to be unconvinced by general statements of program +advocates; they will want to see specific, objective data. Types of information you should +collect from the beginning are documented cost savings, increased output that has been +achieved at a similar or reduced cost, or increased citizen satisfaction with the agencys +services. This information can be made public through periodic reports to legislators or +other decision makers or through press conferences or news releases. + +An aspect of evaluation that needs special attention is the development of an appropriate +measurement system to ensure that the proper information is being acquired at an appro +priate time. You must be sure that information is gathered on a timely basis and that it +is accurate. The information must also be fully relevant to measuring the improvement +effort. It is difficult to develop a measurement system, but it may be critical to sustaining +your program over time. + +We have already discussed ways to measure objectives. For example, a social service +agency might measure the number of clients served, a police department might measure +response time, or a public works department might measure numbers of miles of streets +and highways paved. Matters are complicated, of course, by the fact that most organiza +tions seek several objectives simultaneously. The social services agency is not concerned +only with screening clients, but may also make referrals to other agencies or distribute +money to certain clients. Each of these multiple objectives, and each of the activities that +contribute to the objectives, may require its own separate measure. + +Even more important, those who measure the effects of productivity improvement +programs need to be attentive to what properly reflects the quality of work per +formed. Obtaining an increase in cost savings at the expense of courtesy or prompt +ness is questionable at best; responding to requests for information or help when it is +convenient to the agency may be less costly, but will probably not be acceptable in +terms of quality. You may wish to consider either a separate measure of quality or +implementation of a quality control system. You might also be able to develop com +posite measures that combine considerations for output and quality. For example, the +streets department might measure repairs made within a certain number of working +days, or the revenue department might measure the number of tax returns processed +without error. + +Three conditions appear to be required for productivity improvements to occur: (a) the +performance of individuals or groups must be assessed in a valid, objective manner, +emphasizing the public purposes of the services provided by those employees, (b) such +assessment should be closely linked to some type of reward or penalty, whether monetary +or nonmonetary, and (c) there should be both early meaningful involvement by employee +organizations as well as adequate advance participation and training for those affected, +including supervisory as well as nonsupervisory employees (Greiner et ah, 1981, p. 411). + + + +Summary and Action Implications 361 + +Developing programs with these considerations in mind will help ensure not only early +successes in productivity improvement, but will also help sustain the program through +the years. + +Summary and Action Implications + +Technical innovations are often dramatic in their impact, sometimes saving thousands, +even millions, of dollars. But technological innovations do not occur independently +of the skills and attitudes of those who work in an organization. Innovations seem to +flourish in a climate where human creativity is encouraged and usually require human +changeswhat one group calls orgwareto be successfully implemented. + +Improved productivity appears to depend at least in part on a shift from the traditional +authoritarian approach to management to a more open and participatory approach. This +shift has been especially apparent in implementing productivity improvement programs at +all levels of government. In many cases, we find a shifting orientation toward manage +ment that places greater emphasis on the involvement of all employees. (The resulting +orientation was perhaps best expressed by the head of a state productivity council, who +described his philosophy this way: Those who do the work know the work best and +know best how to improve the work.) The result is an approach to management that +seems not only more human in scale and perspective, but that many authorities are com +ing to believe is far more productive as well. + +A recent study by the Canadian government of well-performing governmental +organizations in that country outlines some of the basics of this new approach. That +study identified five factors leading to organizational success, which we may take as +recommended patterns of action for managers to seek in trying to improve productivity: + +Emphasis on people. People are challenged, encouraged, and developed. They are +given power to act and to use their judgment. There is a belief that high performance +is a product of people who care rather than systems that constrain. People do not +preoccupy themselves with the risk of failure, but are confident they can tackle virtu +ally any challenge. + +Participative leadership. Teadership is not authoritarian or coercive, but participative +whenever possible. The leaders envision an ideal organization, define purpose and +goals, then articulate these and foster commitment. Staff communicate easily. They +feel comfortable consulting peers as well as those above and below them. Although +formal levels exist for administrative purposes, there are no boundaries that inhibit +collaboration in achieving goals. + +Innovative work styles. Staff reflect on their performance. They learn from the effects +of their actions. They seek to solve problems creatively. They maintain strong moni +toring, feedback, and control systems as useful tools. They are self-reliant, rather than +dependent on control from an outside authority. + + + +362 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +Strong client orientation. These organizations focus strongly on their clients, deriving +satisfaction from serving the client rather than the bureaucracy. There is an alignment +of values and purpose between the well-performing agency and their political and +central agency masters. + +A mindset that seeks optimum performance. People hold values that drive them to +always seek improvement in their organizations performance. When conditions +change, they adjust their methods, not their values. Because of this orientation toward +performance and adaptability, the organization performs well even in a changing envi +ronment. This mindset may be the most important feature of all (Government +Productivity News, December 1989, p. 4). + +As a manager, one of the primary technical concerns you will face is improving your +organizations productivity. Whereas you may be able to accomplish great gains through +technological innovations, the most significant long-term gains will come from a proper +emphasis on the human factors in organizational effectiveness. To be judged successful, +you will always have to balance your concern for the technical side of your agencys +work and your attention to the human side of the organization, a topic to which we will +turn in the next several chapters. + +Terms and Definitions + +Behavioral award: Used to reward specific behaviors that management wishes to +encourage. + +Employee recognition program: Effective way to acknowledge special contributions +of certain employees or groups to the organization. + +Gainsharing plan: Monetary award for a group of employees based on savings gen +erated by the group. + +Management by objectives: Participatory approach to establishing clear and measur +able objectives throughout the entire organization. + +Performance appraisal: Specific evaluation with respect to an individuals progress in +completing specified tasks. + +Performance bonus: One-time monetary award based on superior performance on the +job or in a particular task. + +Piecework bonus: Incentive that ties the workers productivity in a given task to the +monetary rewards he or she receives. + +Quality circle: Small group of people who do similar or connected work and meet +regularly to identify, analyze, and solve work-process problems. + + + +Cases and Exercises 3 63 + +Suggestion award program: Incentive for employees who make specific suggestions +that result in savings for the organization. + +Task forces: Groups brought together to work on specific organizational problems. + +Study Questions + +1. Discuss the relationship between the growing use of computer-based systems and the +human element involved in technology transfer. + +2. What is management by objectives, and how can this approach benefit an organization? +3. Identify the eight categories for judging the quality of work-life. +4. Discuss the variety of incentive plans currently used in public agencies. Explain the + +usefulness of each approach. +5. Productivity improvement has become a major concern of public managers. What basic + +issues should one consider when undertaking a quality of productivity program? +6. Explain the basic ideas associated with President Clintons National Performance + +Review. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Review the criteria in Box 9.1 for evaluating the quality of work-life. Working in +groups of five to seven, choose two or three jobs that members of the group have previ +ously held and analyze the quality of work-life in those jobs. In each case, members of +the group should interview the person who held the job, asking questions about each +category in the chart. When everyone has a complete understanding of the nature +of the job, the group as a whole should draw conclusions with respect to the quality of +work-life for someone holding that job. + +Following this activity, choose two or three jobs to which members of the group +might reasonably aspire in ten to fifteen years. Have one individual imagine in detail +what the job would be like from day to day, then follow the same procedure to inter +view the job holder and draw conclusions about the quality of work-life. In what +ways do you expect that future jobs will be of higher quality than those in the past? +Why should there be any differences? + +Finally, choose one job from the jobs already held and one from those to which +you aspire. Then consider these jobs from the standpoint of the person to whom the +individual job holder would report. How could the manager improve or enrich the +particular job? Specifically, could adjustments in authority or responsibility improve +the quality of work life for the job holder? How would those changes affect the indi +viduals productivity? Report your conclusions to the class. + +2. Divide the class into groups ranging from seven to ten members each. Have each +group select a reasonably small public agencyfederal, state, local, or nonprofit. + + + +364 Chapter 9 The New Public Management, Reinvention, and the Reform of Public and Nonprofit Organizations + +Based on interviews with several top managers and a sampling of employees through +out the organization, analyze the organizations existing system of incentives. Design a +new incentive program you think would result in improved quality and productivity. +(If you have difficulty locating or gaining access to a particular organization, simply +develop a research design through which you might test an incentive system. Assume +an organization of two hundred people engaged in manual processing of tax receipts +for a state government. What kinds of questions would you ask of which individuals +in the organization?) + +3. Academic departments, like other organizations, can benefit from information and +advice from employees and clients (faculty, staff, students, alumni, potential employers, +and so on). Consider the department of your major. How would you design a compre +hensive program of employee and client involvement that would help the department +improve the quality of its offerings? (After designing a program, you might interview +the department chair to find out what mechanisms are already in place.) + +For Additional Reading + +Altshuler, Alan A, and Robert D. Behn, eds. Innovation in American Government: +Challenge, Opportunities and Dilemmas. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute, 1997. + +Anderson, David E, and Sharon S. Dawes. Government Information Management: +A Primer and Casebook. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1991. + +Barzelay, Michael. Breaking through Bureaucracy. Berkeley: University of California +Press, 1992. + +Barzelay, Michael. The New Public Management: Improving Research and Policy +Dialogue. Berkeley, CA/New York: University of California Press/Russell Sage +Foundation, 2001. + +Cohen, Steven, and Ronald Brand. Total Quality Management in Government: +A Practical Guide for the Real World. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. + +Dilulio, John, Jr., Gerald Garvey, and Donald Kettl. Improving Government +Performance. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1993. + +Gore, Albert. Common Sense Government. New York: Random House, 1995. +Gore, Albert. Businesslike Government. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office + +1997. +Gore, Albert. Serving the American Public. Washington, DC: Government Printing + +Office, 1997. +Holzer, Marc, ed. Public Productivity Handbook. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1992. + + Holzer, Marc, and Arie Halachmi. Strategic Issues in Public Sector Productivity. San +Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986. + +Lane, Jan-Erik. New Public Management. London: Routledge, 2000. +Light, Paul C. The Tides of Reform. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997. +Matzer, John, Jr., ed. Productivity Improvement Techniques. Washington, DC: + +International City Management Association, 1986. + + + +For Additional Reading j6j + +Morley, Elaine. A Practitioners Guide to Public Sector Productivity Improvement. +New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1986. + +National Performance Review. From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government That +Works Better and Costs Less. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, +1993. + +Osborne, David, and Ted Gaebler. Reinventing Government. Reading, MA: +Addison-Wesley, 1992. + +Osborne, David, and Peter Plastrik. Banishing Bureaucracy. Reading, MA: +Addison-Wesley, 1997. + +Pollitt, Christopher, and Geert Bouckaert. Public Management Reform: A Comparative +Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. + +Reynolds, George W. Information Systems for Managers. 2d ed. St. Paul, MN: West +Publishing, 1992. + +Rosen, Ellen Doree. Improving Public Sector Productivity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage +Publications, 1993. + +Sacco, John F., and John W. Ostrowski. Microcomputers and Government Management. +Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1991. + +Schachter, Hindy L. Reinventing Government or Reinventing Ourselves. Albany: State +University of New York Press, 1997. + +Swiss, James. Public Management Systems: Monitoring and Managing Government +Performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990. + +Wholey, Joseph S., Mark A. Abramson, and Christopher Bellavita. Performance and +Credibility: Developing Excellence in Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Lexington, +MA: DC Heath, 1986. + +Wholey, Joseph S., and Kathryn E. Newcomer. Improving Government Performance: +Evaluation Strategies for Strengthening Public Agencies and Programs. San Francisco: +Jossey-Bass, 1989. + + + +Chapter 10 + +Personal Skills in +Public Management + +All the ideas and approaches we have examined are helpful in understanding what is +going on in public and nonprofit management. But those perspectives are sterile without +the personal and interpersonal skills to put theory into practice. A manager must be +able to size up a situation and take appropriate action, often within a matter of seconds. +A division director to whom you report calls to tell you that the president is getting +ready to announce a new breakthrough in a disease treatment your unit has been work +ing on unsuccessfully for years. Or you hear on the radio that asbestos has been found in +a building your organization recently pronounced clean. Or your boss, the head of the +state mental health department, calls to tell you he has just resigned in protest over +the legislatures failure to support a new appropriation and you are in charge. In all these +cases, you will necessarily and appropriately analyze and understand the situation in +terms of your own approach or theory. But you will also have to act. You may have to +talk with certain people; you may have to motivate others to act; you may have to judi +ciously exercise the power of your office. + +All these examples test your skills as a manager. If you can communicate well, and +if you can make decisions and motivate others to follow your lead, you will quite +likely be judged effective. If you lack these skills, you will be judged ineffective. +Managerial success is based largely on managers ability to exercise various interper +sonal skills. + +Interestingly, however, effectively exercising interpersonal skills depends on several +essential personal skills that are a part of ones social and psychological makeup. +Some of these personal skills reflect your approach to the world, others have to do +with your capacity for creativity or effective decision making, still others have to +do with how you deal with ambiguity or lack of clarity. For example, the manager +suddenly promoted to the directorship of the mental health department will certainly +have important (and immediate) decisions to make, perhaps involving creative solu +tions to organizational problems left by the departing director. The new manager +will also have to be able to operate, perhaps for months, in a highly ambiguous +situation. + +In this chapter and Chapter 11, we will examine the personal and interpersonal skills +that underlie managerial effectiveness. Personal skills include management of stress and +time, creativity and problem solving, individual decision making, and issues of power +and leadership. + +366 + + + +The Managers Day 367 + +The Managers Day + +What, specifically, do public managers do? Most important, how would you spend your +time as a public manager? The answer depends on your job and level in the orga +nization. Nevertheless, several studies give us some idea of a typical managers day. +We will discuss five aspects of managerial work: (1) the elements of managerial work, +(2) distribution of managers time between work elements, (3) interactions with other +people, (4) the informal elements of managerial work, and (5) the themes of managerial +work (Hales, 1986). + +Elements of Managerial Work + +Haless review of what managers actually do at work closely parallels the classic descrip +tions of what managers should do, with some contemporary variations. Hales identifies +nine elements as common, nearly universal, activities of managers: + +1. Playing the role of figurehead and leader of an organizational unit: The manager +symbolizes the organization to the outside world. +2. Acting as liaison: Liaison or boundary spanning is performed with individuals outside +of the organization as well as with other organizational units and with managers of units +higher and lower in the hierarchy. +3. Monitoring: Managers monitor affairs both internal and external to the unit, includ +ing the tasks of filtering and disseminating information. +4. Allocating resources: Managers make decisions with respect to appropriate distribu +tion and use of human, financial, and physical resources. +5. Handling disturbances: Managers are frequently called upon to deal with disruptions +in the flow of work in the organization. +6. Negotiating: Reaching agreement with a variety of parties, both inside and outside the +organization, is an important part of the managers work. +7. Innovating: Where there is the need to change, the manager often acts as a creative +center or catalyst for change. +8. Planning: Managers must always be attentive to the future, especially as probable +future conditions affect the work of the organization today. +9. Directing subordinates: The manager must spend considerable time developing a +direction for the organization and securing the support and activities of the many indi +viduals required to move the organization in that direction. + +Like the classic descriptions noted earlier, these elements of managerial work identify +a variety of activities. Nearly all the classic functions are included in the list (depending +on how one classifies the elements), but several aspects deserve emphasis. First, note the +wide diversity of activities in managerial work. Second, note the number of activities that +involve other people. And, third, note the emphasis on change and innovation. Indeed, one +might even say that the ability to handle change is a hallmark of modern management. + + + +j68 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +Distribution of Time among Work Elements + +Studies of how managers spend their time often use terms such as tactical, frenetic, reac +tive, troubleshooting, and constant interruptions. They describe the frequency of short, +face-to-face meetings that move constantly from topic to topic. These findings, however, +do not necessarily mean that the image of the manager as one who plans, thinks, and +formulates strategy is a myth. To the contrary, effective managers have general agendas +that enable them to quickly gather large amounts of information and make the correct +decisions to further those agendas. Furthermore, managers work within networks that +must be both developed and activated. These tasks require many interactions with peo +ple in the networks, and the interactions must of necessity be sporadic and informal +(Kotter, 1982, p. 166). + +What appears to be an absence of planning may sometimes be illusory; for some man +agers, planning is something that happens constantly. The seemingly disjointed nature of +managerial interactions with others does not so much indicate disorganization, but rather +the wide range of problems that must be handled. General agendas allow managers to +deal with many situations opportunistically within the context of a larger framework or +agenda that provides guidance for specific decisions. + +Managerial Interaction and Communication + +Descriptions of managerial time usage have identified the importance of interactions with +other people, which typically involve some sort of communication. Hales found that +between two-thirds and four-fifths of a managers day is spent giving or receiving infor +mation, and that most of this giving and receiving takes place in face-to-face interactions. +Communication is clearly a dominant activity in a managers day. + +Interestingly, and again despite appearances to the contrary, patterns of communica +tion are not random. A majority of managerial communication is with managers of the +same rank (lateral communication), though how much is vertical (i.e., up and down the +hierarchy) varies widely with the managers position. + +Since much of their day is spent responding to requests for information, managers are +often described as reactive. They spend more time responding to information requests +than to initiating requests. To the casual observer, these interactions would appear +extremely diverse, and often informal rather than official, but there is more to informal +communication than meets the eye. + +Informal Aspects of Managerial Work + +Unfortunately, it is difficult to provide universal descriptions of the informal aspects +of management. There is, for example, considerable debate over whether the informal +aspects of the managers role are good or badthat is, whether they contribute to or +detract from the organizations goals. As in many such debates, it is probable that the +informal work sometimes enhances and at other times detracts from the organizations +goal achievement. For example, informal activities are often political in nature and + + + +Stress Management 369 + +involve negotiation; as such, these activities are extremely relevant. In any case, what is +formal and what is informal is often a specific managers perception as to what is actu +ally part of his or her job; that which is really considered a part of the job is defined as +formal, and that which is not is defined as informal. + +Themes of Managerial Work + +We can draw a number of general conclusions about managerial work, one of which is +that managerial work is extremely diverse and variable in terms of the different activities +managers perform in a typical day. A manager may work on literally dozens of distinct +topics during the course of the day and bring to bear a wide range of skills in dealing with +those topics. A second conclusion is that managerial jobs are loosely enough defined to +allow significant variation and choice by the specific manager in regard to both job con +tent and style of performance. Two jobs that appear identical on an organizational chart +are not necessarily composed of exactly the same tasks, nor will they necessarily be car +ried out in the same way. A central part of the work of managers is the management of +their work (Hales, 1986, p. 101). + +Another conclusion is that managerial work is pressured and conflicted. There are many +demands on the manager, and these demands are often contradictory. Consequently, there +may be competing claims on the same resources of time, energy, personnel, and equipment. +Moreover, competing claims often occur simultaneously or within a short period, creating +even more pressure and conflict. Fourth and finally, Hales (1986) reports that managerial +work tends to be action-oriented, with emphasis on action rather than on reflective con +templation. So many problems arise so quickly that managers often develop a preference +for concrete action to address problems and opportunities. + +We can conclude that the managers job is one of lifes more challenging in the world +of work. It is diverse, and that diversity implies the need for diverse skills. The need for +many skills is compounded by the pace of managerial work and its unending stream of +conflicting demands for action. (See Box 10.1 for a review of the diversity and complex +ity of a local government managers job.) Fortunately, managers often have considerable +latitude in building their positions and in developing their working styles. + +Stress Management + +We have noted the importance of the skills, especially interpersonal skills, which are +required to manage successfully. But effective use of interpersonal skills is predicated on +a number of personal qualities and characteristics that form the basis for action. + +Although not all managerial positions in public organizations are stress-filled, pressure- +cooker jobs, there are certainly moments of tension, just as in management jobs else +where. The pressure of deadlines, questions about who is responsible for a particular +problem, an angry flare-up at a staff meetingthese and other stressful situations arise in +the course of the managers job. + + + +370 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +BOX 10.1 + +A Typical (?) Manager's Day + +A typical local public managers daily agenda might look something like this: +8:00 A.M. Arrives at work to polish off leftover paperwork/dictation from + +yesterday. +9:15 A.M. Meets with mayor to review next weeks council agenda prior to its + +publication. +10:00 A.M. Local business group offers ideas on newly proposed industrial park + +on east side. +10:45 A.M. City engineer and city treasurer join group to brief them on construc + +tion/financial details of site development. +11:30 A.M. Police chief and personnel officer review a pending grievance against + +the department by a member of the city employees union. +12:15 P.M. Leaves ten minutes late for luncheon speech at League of Women Voters + +monthly meeting to urge their help with the water bond campaign. +1:30 P.M. Back again for more discussion with the police chief on the same topic + +discussed in the morning. +2:15 P.M. Rides with public works director to inspect north side residents com + +plaints of smells from nearby city dump; mentally drafts responses to +their council members and neighborhood group on return to office. + +3:15 P.M. Returns stacked-up phone calls at office. +3:45 P.M. Talks with local newspaper reporter about the importance to the city + +of next months special water bond vote. +4:10 P.M. Free time that was scheduled to review several pending budget items is + +interrupted by visit from two council members. +5:20 P.M. Goes home for dinner. +7:10 P.M. Leaves to attend meeting of south side citizen association, a pre + +dominantly poor black group that the manager wants to involve +more closely in community public housing planning. + +11:00 P.M. Home to bed at last! + +NOTE: Several managers from all levels of government, upon reviewing this schedule, commented that this +particular day appeared rather light! + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Wayne F. Anderson, Chester A. Newland, and Richard J. Stillman, II, The +Effective Local Government Manager (Washington, DC: International City Management Association, +1983), 35. Reprinted with permission. + +A variety of organizational factors can contribute to stress (see Box 10.2). In public +and nonprofit organizations, stress is especially likely in situations of role conflict or role +ambiguity. Role conflict occurs when there are two different and incompatible sets of +demands on the individual; for example, if one is asked to complete two different projects +simultaneously. Role ambiguity occurs when one does not clearly understand the rights +and responsibilities of ones job. These two conditions seem to be especially prominent in +public organizations. + + + +Stress Management 37 r + +BOX 10.2 + +Organizational Factors That Promote Burnout + +Continuously high stress levels +A norm of constantly giving to others +Discouragement of hierarchical staff interaction +Constant demands for perfection +Expectations of extra effort with minimal rewards +No reinforcement for suggestions on improving morale +Repetitive work activities +Minimal additional resources available for extra-effort tasks +Lack of encouragement for professional development +Discouragement of mutual participation +Evangelistic leadership styles +Policy changes unrelated to problem priority +Policy changes too frequent to be evaluated +Rigid role-typing for workers +A belief that playfulness is unprofessional +Pervasive isms (ageism, sexism, nepotism, etc.) +Emphasis on past success +Constant shifting of ground rules for policy +Minimal emphasis on positive feedback +Minimal emphasis on comfort of environment +High instance of work overload +High number of dead-end jobs +Poor communication and feedback + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Linda Hopper, Unstressing Work. Reprinted with permission from the +November 1988 issue of Public Management (PM) magazine published by the International City/County +Management Association, Washington, D.C. + +.,.'iW|jM"l.[Mj ' jHIW + +Stress of any type, or continued stress over time, can be quite damaging to both the +individual (mental or physical ill health can result) and the organization (managers oper +ating under excessive stress are typically less competent in interpersonal relations and less +productive generally). To prevent these problems and to have a happier, more satisfying +work experience, public managers are finding it increasingly helpful to understand the +nature of job-related stress and develop programs for reducing its negative consequences. + +Hans Selye, the father of stress research, defines stress as the nonspecific response of the +body to any demand made upon it (Selye, 1974, p. 27). Selye points out that stress can +be good or bad, depending on the situation and the individual. Stress can produce positive +responses, such as joy and excitement, as well as harmful effects such as depression or ill +health. Our concern is with excessive or continued stress leading to psychological or phys +iological impairment. Note, however, that people respond differently to sources of stress +(or stressors)a situation that one person may react to calmly may be a crisis for another. + + + +372 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +Selye suggests that individuals respond to stress through a set of defense reactions that +occur as a general syndrome. The first response phase is alarm, marked by increases in +anxiety, fear, or depression (depending on the nature of the stressor). Muscles tense and +heart rate and blood pressure increase. There is usually also a marked increase in psycho +logical defensiveness. If the stressor is only momentary, the body soon returns to normal. +But if the stressor continues, the individual may move to the next stage, resistance, +wherein one engages in a variety of defense mechanisms to counter the stressor. Psycho +logically, these may range from attacking the stressor itself to attacking oneself or others, +denying the stressor, or withdrawing either actually or symbolically from the situation +(Whetten and Cameron, 1984, pp. 92-93). These mechanisms may reduce the level of +stress, but where the stressor overwhelms the individuals defenses, a pathological state +which Selye terms exhaustion may result. Exhaustion can lead to physical or mental diffi +culties, such as depression, alcoholism, and heart problems, or to interpersonal problems +such as trouble with ones superiors, subordinates or family. + +Fortunately, there are signals to help you recognize patterns of behavior that lead to +excessive stress and specific techniques to reduce stress levels. + +Stress Signals and Responses + +Type A/Type B Behaviors + +During the past twenty-five years, there has been growing interest in the relationship +between various patterns of human behavior and the health problems that may result. +A substantial part of medical and psychological research on this issue has focused on car +diovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Coronary heart disease +(CHD), a form of cardiovascular disease characterized by an inadequate supply of oxygen +to the heart, has been shown to be related to certain patterns of behavior often exhibited +by managers in public and private organizations. Researchers have labeled these behav +iors Type A. + +In the 1950s, cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Rav Rosenman became aware that +many of their patients illnesses could not be explained by the traditional factors related to +CHD: heredity, high blood pressure, and high levels of cholesterol. Other factors seemed to +be playing a major role in contributing to CHD. They began to describe this set of factors +as the Type A behavior pattern, which included (1) an intense, sustained desire to achieve; +(2) a profound eagerness to compete; (3) a persistent drive for recognition; (4) seemingly +continuous involvement in many activities that were subject to deadlines; (5) a habitual +propensity to accelerate the rate of execution of all mental and physical functions; and +(6) an extraordinary mental and physical alertness (Price, 1982, p. 7). + +In contrast, people who exhibit more relaxed, easygoing patterns are referred to as +having Type B behavior. Studies indicate that Type A individuals are two to three times +more likely to suffer CHD than Type B individuals. + +Fifestyle Changes + +Type A personalities, who are also known as workaholics, or others especially vulnerable +to stress-related problems should be attentive to ways of altering their behavior patterns + + + +Stress Management 3 73 + +to reduce the possibility of impairment (either illness or reduced effectiveness). Research +shows that even those who are less vulnerable can improve the quality of their lives and +the effectiveness of their work through sustained programs designed to reduce stress. +Some efforts involve merely recognizing and eliminating undesirable characteristics, such +as Type A behaviors; other efforts involve more specific efforts to alter ones lifestyle. For +example, greater self-awareness understanding oneself and how one reacts to different +situations allows one to anticipate and moderate reactions. One study showed that +receptive managers, those concerned with detail, are most affected by time pressures or +information overload, whereas preceptive managers, those who concern themselves with +the big picture or the whole, are most stressed by role conflict or role ambiguity. Similarly, +systematic managers, who prefer logical solutions, are most affected by problems requir +ing creativity, whereas intuitive managers are most stressed by problems requiring logic +and objectivity (Whetten and Cameron, 1984, p. 102). If you can anticipate what prob +lems will cause you the most difficulty, you can marshal your psychic resources to deal +with them, enlist the help of someone better attuned to the particular type of problem, or +simply avoid the issue. + +Understanding the context of your work and how your work life relates to the rest of +your life is also helpful in reducing the negative effects of stress. Having a sense of the +meaning of your work, as opposed to just doing a job, provides a helpful way to assess +what is really important and what is merely irritating. Similarly, exploring the relation +ship between your work life and family life will provide a clearer grounding for work +activities. Life-work planning activities, offered either in groups or in one-on-one rela +tionships with career counselors, give you an opportunity to step back from your work +and develop an improved picture of where your career and your life may generally lead. +Finally, developing a support system, a network of people with whom you can talk +about problems you face, can be a great help. + +Relaxation Techniques + +Specific relaxation techniques can help moderate either immediate or long-term stress. +Deep-breathing exercises, visualizing and rehearsing upcoming situations, or diverting +your attention to more pleasant times are primarily techniques to deal with fairly imme +diate stressors. More long-term stress reduction can be accomplished through techniques +such as meditation. + +Psychologist Herbert Benson suggests that, just as the fight-flight syndrome is associated +with overactivity of the nervous system, another responsethe relaxation response +brings about a quieting of the nervous system. The relaxation response can be brought +about through traditional techniques of religious meditation or more secular means, but +the essentials are much the same. Four essential elements elicit the relaxation response: + +1. A quiet environment +2. A mental device such as a word or phrase that should be repeated in a specific way +over and over +3. Adoption of a passive attitude (perhaps the most important of the elements) +4. A comfortable position + + + +374 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +Practicing these four elements for ten to twenty minutes once or twice daily should +markedly enhance ones well-being (Benson, 1975, p. 19). Regular use of any relax +ation technique will help reduce tension and improve ones ability to handle stressful +circumstances. + +Exercise + +The benefits of exercise to physical health are well known; researchers have found +that individuals who exercise regularly are less tense and more self-confident as +well. Cardiovascular conditioning, which strengthens the heart and lungs, is espe +cially important in reducing stress and increasing ones sense of well-being (Cooper, +1978, p. 77). + +Stress and the Organization + +Many public organizations, like their counterparts in the private sector, recognize the +tremendous drain on resources that stress can cause. Stress not only causes managers and +employees to perform poorly because of distraction, poor concentration, and exhaustion, +but can lead to more severe mental and physical problems and addictions. Consider the +following facts: + +Studies have shown that it costs companies $100,000 per year more to employ a +smoker than a nonsmoker due to increased sickness and absence. + +Over 1 million workers call in sick each day, resulting in over 330 million lost workdays. + +Losing an executive at 41 years of age to death or disability can cost between $600,000 +and $1 million. (Hopper, 1988, p. 4). + +In addition to the direct costs of illnesses, through diminished productivity or having to +replace workers, organizations suffer in other ways. For example, temporary workers or +replacement personnel are not likely to be as effective as full-time permanent employees, +thus limiting service delivery. + +Many organizations have developed employee assistance programs to help employees +through difficult times. The programs may deal directly with mental or physical prob +lems through drug and alcohol counseling, smoking cessation sessions, hypertension +control, and so on, or they may use a preventive approach, seeking to promote a health +ier workforce through exercise and fitness programs, health screening, or nutrition and +weight control. Many smaller organizations are not able to afford employee assistance +efforts on their own, but there are abundant resources in most communities to provide +needed help. The point is that if you or one of your employees could benefit from such +a program, you should not hesitate to become involved; both you and your organization +will benefit. + + + +Time Management 3 75 + +Time Management + +Your ability to use time effectively will be one determinant of your success as a manager. +It will be difficult to manage others affairs if you cannot manage your own, especially +because your activities will directly affect the people you will manage. It is not surprising +that strategies and techniques for more effective time management have evolved and that +time management training programs are popular today. (The techniques taught in such +programs are as helpful to students facing the many demands of college life as they are +to managers in public or private organizations.) + +Time management begins with establishing goals. Goals are the heart of time manage +ment; everything else is just a tactic or a technique. Most approaches to time management +tell you to set your own goals (though in some organizations, supervisors are involved +in setting goals). Although your own goals may or may not equate with the goals of the +organization, they will probably overlap at least to some extent. + +Remember also that you do not necessarily set a goal for a lifetime. Goals change. +They are modified or abandoned, and this is normal, even desirable. One should con +sciously set goals, but reevaluate them periodically. New goals can replace old goals or +goals that have been accomplished. Most people have more than one goal, which creates +a potential problem if they are not managed properly. Not all goals are equally impor +tant; we constantly have to choose which goals to give priority. Many choices favor one +goal at the expense of others, so if ones goals are not ranked, at least roughly, it will be +difficult to use them to make choices. + +Once you have established goals and your priorities among them, you can genuinely +begin to manage your time better, which means you will be managing your work better. +You can even answer the constant question, What am I going to do today? Part of +your day is primarily under your control, but part of it is not. Effective time manage +ment can help you manage both parts. + +You can manage the part of your day that is primarily under your control by using a to +do list, one of the older time management technologies. Even as a student, you may cur +rently be using some version of it. One of the best examples of an earlier manifestation of a +to do list involves Charles Schwab, the president of Bethlehem Steel early in the twentieth +century (LeBoeuf, 1979, pp. 52-54). Schwab evaluated his work performance as president +of the company and decided he was not doing as good a job as he should be. He hired Ivy +Lee as a consultant to advise him on how to do a better job, and the two struck a rather +unique agreement on how they would proceed. Lee was to observe Schwab at work and +recommend ways Schwab could improve. Schwab would do whatever Lee told him, and he +would pay Lee whatever he thought the recommendations were worth after trying them. + +Lees major recommendation was for Schwab to begin each workday by writing a list of +everything he could think of that he might do that day. Schwab was then to examine the +list and identify the most important thing he might do and begin work on that item imme +diately. If he completed the task during the day, he was to pick the second most important +task to work on, and so forth. The next day, Schwab was to write out a completely new +list, pick out the most important task on it, go to work on it, and proceed as he had on the + + + +376 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +preceding day. Schwab tried this recommendation for a few weeks, and he must have +thought it was valuable, because he sent Lee a check for $20,000 (and that $20,000 was in +1910 dollars!). Lees advice was basically what we know today as the to do list. + +The to do list is simply a list of the things you intend to do during the day, usually +ranked in some order of importance. Since Schwab and Lees time, a number of systems +have been developed to rank activities. One popular system is the ABC system (Lakein, +1973). Each activity is placed into one of three categories on the basis of how important +it is (this is where your overall goals come into play). A activities are essential to com +plete; B activities, less so; and C activities are those that can wait. Another popular +system is a five-category scale in which participants assign scores to activities as follows: +1 = important and urgent, 2 = important but not urgent, 3 = urgent but not important, +4 = busywork, and 5 = wasted time. + +Whatever system you use, the important thing is to prioritize your activities to iden +tify which are most important. You should then plan to devote more time and energy +to the important activities. Prioritized goals can serve as criteria for placing a particular +activity in one category or another. Without prioritized goals, you will have to create +a new criteria system for each to do list you write. + +We have described the to do list as a daily time management system. It is actually +very flexible, and some people create weekly or monthly to do lists in addition to or in +place of a daily list. Charles Schwab wrote his list at the beginning of each day, but many +people write theirs at the end of one day for the next, and some people write a tentative +one at the end of the day and revise it when they get to work the next morning. Regardless +of when you write the list, it is crucial that it be written down and the activities prioritized +in some way. In this way, you are really managing your work as you manage your time. + +We said earlier that a prioritized set of goals will help you manage the parts of your +time that are not primarily under your control, just as they will help you deal with the +parts of the day that are under your control. This is because the goals will help you +determine how to respond to the uncontrolled parts of the day. They will help you decide +how to react in terms of energy and concern about events beyond your control, and in +this way manage some important internal resources. + +Creativity and Problem Solving + +One of the most important personal skills for managers is the capacity for creative prob +lem solving. There are many approaches to problem solving; indeed, if a random sam +ple of people is given an identical problem or situation, individuals in the sample will +approach the problem differently and often arrive at very different decisions about what +to do. A psychological model developed by Carl Jung provides a compelling explanation +for this phenomenon and for why the differences will be systematic. Jungs model of psy +chological types is a way to classify people according to differences in their psychological +makeup. The model describes various psychic functions based on how we take in and +process information. + + + +Creativity and Problem Solving 3 77 + +Jung identified two fundamental ways in which people acquire information or perceive +things and labeled the two modes intuition and sensation. Perception by sensing is infor +mation acquired directly by means of the senses (seeing, hearing, touching, and so on); +sensing is a conscious form of information acquisition. Information acquisition through +intuition is mainly an unconscious process, in which ideas are added indirectly to per +ceptions made through the senses and associations are made between elements perceived +by the senses. A genuine hunch or insight (not a guess) is an example of an intuitive per +ception. Emphasis on one mode of perception or the other may lead the individual to +different ways of approaching the world; some approaches may help in some situations, +and other approaches may help in other situations. The sensing individual tends to see +the details of a situation, whereas the intuitive person tends to see the whole, but not the +parts. Similarly, the sensing person will be clear about what is actually occurring at the +moment, while the intuitive person will look more creatively at the possibilities that +lie ahead. + +Networking + +An exploration into the works of Jungian psychology can begin at the C. G. Jung +Page (http://www.cgjungpage.org). This site provides information on the Swiss +psychologists work and has links to other resources, including research institutes. +Next, a lexicon (http://www.cgjungpage.org/jplexicon.html) may help clarify some +of the concepts in the research. Finally, the search may take you to the abstracts +page (http://www.cgjungpage.org/abcwpage.html), where you can access samples +of Jungs work. + +After information is acquired, it must be processed; decisions must be made about +what to do. Jungs model identifies two major modes of information processing and +evaluation. Making choices based on thinking is the rational and logical way of dealing +with information; one attempts to develop logical, objective conclusions. Feeling, on the +other hand, emphasizes making a value judgment, deciding according to what is right +or wrong, or based on a preference about what is better or worse. The evaluation is not +necessarily illogical, but its basis is always a human value and thus ultimately subjec +tive. There are advantages in each approach. An individual who relies on thinking will +be careful and objective, though he or she may appear cold and uncaring. The per +son who relies on feeling will appear friendly and engaging, but may not be as exact or +objective as some might want. + +Jung argued that all people employ all four psychic functions from time to time, but over +the years, each person comes to rely on some functions more than others. Some people tend +to emphasize sensing, others emphasize intuition; some people emphasize thinking, others +emphasize feeling. (Although we are discussing categories, when the dimensions are actually +measured, people seem to differ more in degree than categorically.) Based on the combi +nation of preferences, we can arrive at four different psychological types, illustrated in +Figure 10.1. Certain personal characteristics or predispositions have been found to be asso +ciated with each of the four types of information acquisition/evaluation. + + + +378 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +FIGURE 10.1 + +Jungian Psychological Types + +The upper left-hand cell in our illustration is the sensing/thinking combination, which +combines the realistic view of the sensing function with the logical and objective capaci +ties of the thinking function. The sensing/thinking person is likely to be good at handling +data and solving problems logically. People like this tend to gravitate toward occupa +tions such as accounting, computer programming, and engineering. + +In many ways, the lower right-hand corner is the opposite of the sensing/thinking combi +nation, as it combines intuition and feeling. The intuition/feeling combination draws on the +creativity of the intuitive function and the strong emotional sense of the feeling function. +The intuitive/feeling person is likely to be concerned with the future and with creativity, but, +at the same time, be sensitive to and caring about the needs of individuals. Characteristic +occupations here are art, advertising, public relations, and personnel management. + +The lower left-hand cell combines intuition and thinking. The intuitive/thinking combi +nation brings together the creativity of the intuitive function with the logical, problem +solving ability of the thinking function. The intuitive/thinking person is likely to be creative +with respect to problem solving but is also likely to work out the details of a particular +solution logically and objectively. Many scientists and architects share these preferences, +and, indeed, many middle and upper managers are found here. Top managers must be +careful and objective, but are also relied upon to plan the work of the organization, a task +that requires the future orientation that comes with intuition. + +The upper right-hand cell combines sensing with feeling. The sensing/feeling combina +tion brings together the preference of the sensing function for immediate data and the feel +ing preference for values and emotions. A sensing/feeling person sees the world in terms of +immediate sense data, but is also concerned about the human implications of action based +on that data. Teaching, counseling, and sales are associated with this combination, as are, +again, significant numbers of managers. + + + +Models of Individual Decision Making 379 + +The point is not that one or the other of these combinations is better than the other, but +that they are different. Consequently, we would expect an individuals approach to solving +problems to differ according to how the individual acquires and processes information. +Presenting so-called identical situations to a random sample would not seem at all identical +to the people in the sample. Because the subjects would tend to use different modes of +acquisition and evaluation, they would see very different things and reach very different +conclusions. At least one result of the differences would be different decisions. How one +sees things makes all the difference in the world when it comes to solving problems. + +The implications of these differences for management are profound. We have already +emphasized the diversity of situations in which managers find themselves. We can now +say that different situations may require the use of different psychic functions. As an illus +tration, imagine two individuals who are about to buy a house looking in the window of +that house. One, emphasizing the sensing function, might say, This house is a wreck +the carpet is torn up; the ceiling is falling down; the walls are dirty. On the other hand, +an intuitive person looking in the same window at the same time might say, We could do +great things with this room; if we fixed the carpet and the ceiling and if we painted the +walls, this could be a real showcase. The two people see things quite differently. + +Translating these differences in viewpoint into daily activity, you would surely acknowl +edge that the activity of balancing ones checkbook is not one where you want a great deal +of creativity; instead you want to be careful about the immediate data and work with +those data in the most logical and objective way possible. On the other hand, there are sit +uations where you will need especially creative solutions to problems. In those situations, +the intuitive capacity is very helpful. (Remember that we all have all the functions at our +disposal, but we may have to work a little harder at those we do not ordinarily rely upon.) + +Similarly, different management activities draw on different psychic functions. For +example, monitoring work and performance is likely to be facilitated by carefully +observing performance data. On the other hand, the planning function is likely to be +aided by the creative potential of the initiative function. Depending on the situation, +you may be required to emphasize one psychic function or another. If your normal pref +erence is to emphasize the sensing function, you may wish to call more consciously on +your intuitive capacities where long-term planning is required. You may sometimes +want to bring together different people who typically rely on different functions to help +solve various problems. You may, for example, want to bring in people you recognize +as having strong sensing and thinking capacities to help solve accounting problems. +Or, you may wish to bring in individuals noted for strong intuitive and feeling capabili +ties to help solve human resource planning issues. + +Models of Individual Decision Making + +One could argue that decision making is the most universal managerial activity because it +is involved in all the other functions of management. It is impossible to plan, control, staff, +direct, organize, or perform any of the miscellaneous management functions without + + + +Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +making decisions. All management involves either explicit or implicit decisions. We will +examine decision making at the individual level and explore several models of how deci +sions should be made and how decisions are actually made. + +A great deal of research has been conducted concerning rational processes for decision +making, some of which we discussed in terms of rational policy analysis. In its purest +form, the rational model of decision making suggests the following steps: + +1. Find an occasion for decision making (decide to decide) and then formulate the prob +lem in the best way possible. +2. Develop as many alternative solutions as possible. +3. Choose the alternative that maximizes the possibility that we will attain our goals or +standards. + +In other words, analyze the problem, generate alternative solutions, and choose from +among the solutions. For our purposes, the most important lesson of the rational decision +model lies at the beginningbecoming aware that a problem exists and correctly defin +ing the problem. If you are not aware of a problem, you will not go through the rest of +the process to solve it. Your chances of solving the problem are low. (The probabilities are +not zero, however, since problems are sometimes solved by accident.) Even if you are +aware that a problem exists, your chances of solving it do not increase much if you do +not identify it correctly. + +Definition of the situation is ones perception of reality. Human beings need to make +sense of things. We do not tolerate chaos well, and thus are continually defining and +redefining situations we find ourselves in. Aside from our need to make sense of things, +defining the situation is important because it is the basis upon which we act and make +decisions to act. All mentally healthy individuals behave in a way consistent with their +definitions of situations. + +When it comes to problem solving, incorrect diagnosis of the problem (that is, an +incorrect definition of the situation) can be disastrous; the correct definition is half the +battle. An example from the Cold War days of the early 1960s illustrates this point. +During this period, the United States and its allies had installed long-range radar systems +to monitor the Soviet Union and to give warning of any Soviet attack by either missile or +bomber. Soon after the radar systems were installed, the commander of an installation in +England was made aware of a set of images on the stations screens that looked as if the +Soviet Union were launching a massive missile assault against the United States. It was +the commanders job to evaluate the information, report it to Washington, and include a +recommendation and evaluation of the accuracy of the information. + +Since missiles travel pretty fast, the commander did not have a great deal of time to +contemplate the situation. But, being a calm and collected individual, the commander +thought things over a few moments before he made his report. He remembered that +Nikita Khrushchev, then premier of the Soviet Union, was in New York City addressing +the United Nations that day and thought it would be an unlikely time for the Soviets to +attack. He also took into consideration the fact that the radar system was new, and that +new systems sometimes have bugs in them. Putting all this together, he made his report, +including in it his relatively low confidence in the information on his screens. He stated + + + +Models of Individual Decision Making $8i + +that he believed there was a malfunction somewhere in the system and recommended +that the radar images not be interpreted as an attack on the United States. He was cor +rect; there was no major attack by the Soviet Union. But what was actually happening? + +It turned out that the radars were so powerful that some of the radiation they broad +cast traveled far out into space. The system operated smoothly for about a week, but then +the moon orbited into position to be hit by some of the radiation, which was reflected +back to the radar antennas, in turn creating images on the screens that looked much like +a flight of missiles heading toward the United States. The computers in the radar system +had not been programmed to disregard the radiation coming back from the moon. + +The commander was presented with a problem: the decision of interpreting the images +and making his report. He had two interpretations. One was that the Soviet Union had +started World War III, the other, that he had a malfunctioning system. One definition of +the situation might have actually started World War III; the other avoided that catastro +phe. You can easily see why correct definition of the problem is so critical in a problem +solving situation. + +The rational decision model is often presented as the way people actually go about +making decisions (or at least the way they should), and this is probably true to a certain +extent. It is also clear that, in many cases, solutions to problems are arrived at in a far +different way. The basis of the rational problem-solving process is the economic assump +tion that people attempt to maximize their outcomes when they make choices (i.e., deci +sions). Theoretically, people select a criterion, such as income or profit, then evaluate +all decision alternatives in terms of that criterion, and select the alternative that will pro +duce the best results. + +As we discussed in Chapter 8, Herbert Simon, in his studies of organizational decision +making, found that the rational model rarely describes human problem-solving or decision +making behavior in real life. He argued that maximizing outcomes is simply not possible +in most situations and identified several reasons that it is usually impossible (Simon, 1957, +p. xxvi). All the reasons Simon offers add up to constraints on human beings abilities +to acquire and process information. There are time limits for making most decisions, and +there are only so many resources available to gather information. Moreover, because we +care more about some problems than others, our motivation to solve problems varies. We +are willing to spend more mental and physical energy on some problems than on others. + +Even if we had access to unlimited information about any problem, there are cogni +tive limits to how much information we can process at any given time. Furthermore, par +ticularly in managerial situations, we seldom have the luxury of being able to deal with +just one problem at a time. Other problems compete for our attention, time, and energy, +which further taxes our cognitive limits. + +Putting all these constraints together, Simon argues that human beings attempt to be +rational, but they can be rational only within certain limits or bounds. What Simon calls +bounded rationality (see Chapter 8) suggests that choices will be evaluated, but only +within the bounds of these constraints. This results in a satisficing criterion for evaluating +alternatives, rather than in a maximizing one. + +A satisficing decision is one that is just good enough in terms of some criterion. +Bounded rationality leads to satisficing decisions, and the process, in its pure form, oper +ates as follows: When an individual faces a choice situation in which a decision must be + + + +3 <2 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +made, rather than attempting to gather all possible -information, generate all possible +alternatives, and choose the alternative likely to produce the best results, the decision +maker decides what level of outcome (in terms of some criterion) will be satisfactory or +good enough. The individual then examines choice alternatives one at a time and selects +the first one that equals or exceeds the minimal (good enough) criterion level. The process +stops at this point, and the choice becomes the decision. No attempt will be made to +examine other, potentially better, options. + +That human beings vary in attempts to maximize suggests something of a continuum +between satisficing and maximizing. But Simons work suggests that most decisions, +most of the time, fall much closer to the satisficing end of the continuum than the maxi +mizing end, even where we are making important (and potentially costly) decisions. +Marketing research shows, for example, that people tend to seek out most of the infor +mation they acquire about new cars after they purchase a new car rather than before. + +Thus, the rational decision-making process can be considered a prescriptive model that +tells us what we should do to make better decisions, but it does not give us an accurate +picture of how human beings actually make decisions. Because we tend to satisfice rather +than maximize, a modified and more limited version of this process, the satisficing model, +provides the more accurate description. Hence, we can call it a descriptive model, which +attempts to describe how things actually happen without regard to how they should hap +pen. Given the nature of managerial work, satisficing may be the only way a manager can +deal with the constant stream of problems and choice situations that arise daily. + +Interestingly, one alternative model of decision making in the public sector claims to be +both prescriptive and descriptive. Charles Lindbloms incremental model of decision mak +ing assumes that most governmental decisions (and others) usually begin by analyzing the +existing situation and then move marginally or incrementally away from that position. +In making a case for new programs, for example, managers often talk about how a new +idea builds on existing strengths. This descriptive aspect of the model has a familiar ring. +But, in a curious twist, Lindblom also suggests that the incremental model may even +make sense normatively: because incremental proposals focus on well-known experiences, +they reduce the number of alternatives to be considered and thus reduce the complexity of +the problem at hand (Lindblom, 1968, p. 27). + +Power and Leadership + +The capacity to understand power, especially the capacity to recognize and use the resources +one has available to influence others, is essential in modern organizations of all types. +However, power is a far narrower term than leadership. We will consider power as one +aspect of the larger question of how one might develop greater skills in public leadership. + +Many commentators have argued that improved leadership is essential for us to suc +cessfully meet the challenges of the coming century. Public opinion data reveal wide +spread loss of faith in the leadership of business, government, labor, and other private +and public institutions. But many argue that the problem relates not merely to formal + + + +Power and Leadership 3 83 + +positions of power; rather the failure of leadership is pervasive throughout society. John +Gardner, the former cabinet secretary and founder of Common Cause, stated, In this +country leadership is dispersed among all the segments of society and down through all +levels, and the system simply wont work as it should unless large numbers of people +throughout society are prepared to take leaderlike action to make things work at their +level (Gardner, 1987). + +Networking + +For different perspectives on leadership, visit the James MacGregor Burns Academy of +Leadership (http://www.academy.umd.edu), the Civic Leadership Education Program +(http://bush.tamu.edu/programs/CLEP), the National Initiative for Leadership and +Institutional Effectiveness (http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/cep/acce/nilie/), or the Centre +for Advanced Studies in Leadership (http://www.caslnet.org). + +In this view, leadership is a pervasive phenomenon occurring in families, work groups, +businesses, and at all levels of government, society, and culture. Leadership, then, should +be seen not merely as a position someone holds, but rather as something that happens +in a group or organization, something that comes and goes, something that ebbs +and flows as the group or organization does its work. Anyone can be a leader, no matter +how briefly. + +As we have seen, modern society can be described as (1) highly turbulent, subject to +sudden and dramatic shifts; (2) highly interdependent, requiring cooperation across +many sectors; and (3) greatly in need of creative and integrative solutions to problems. +Under such circumstances, ambiguity is increasingly a hallmark of decision making, and +the involvement (rather than the control) of many individuals in group decisions will be +necessary. Leadership . . . will become an increasingly intricate process of multilateral +brokerage, including constituencies both within and without the organization. More and +more decisions will be public decisions; that is, the people they affect will insist on being +heard (Bennis, 1983, p. 16). Leadership for the future cannot be equated merely with +the exercise of control by those in formal positions of power. + +What do we know about leadership, especially shared or public leadership? What do +we know about leadership in the increasingly common situations where no one is really in +charge such as student organizations, churches, political groups, and so on? Often, much +of their work is done through committees or other even less formal groups. And those +committees seem to waste a lot of time and energy, partly because of lack of leadership. +Even though one person may be designated the leader, rarely does he or she exercise much +control. Usually, things drift for a whilemaybe a long while until someone finally +puts forth a suggestion that people pick up on and begin to get excited about. At that +point, we can say that someone has exercised leadership. + +Somewhat more formally, then, we can define leadership as the character of the rela +tionship between the individual and a group or organization that stimulates or releases +some latent energy within the group so that those involved more clearly understand their +own needs, desires, interests, and potentialities and begin to work toward their fulfillment + + + +Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +(Denhardt and Prelgovisk, 1992, pp. 33-44). Where leadership'is present, something +occurs in the dynamics of the group or organization that leads to change. What is central +to leadership is the capacity of the leaderwhether or not called a leaderto energize the +group. + +Leadership involves helping the group become aware of a new direction in which to +move. The leader merely taps and reshapes the consciousness of the group. Acts of lead +ership express a new direction, but one that is determined by the emerging interests of all +members of a group. We can say that one exercises public leadership who (1) helps the +group or organization understand its needs and potential; (2) integrates and articulates +the groups vision; and (3) acts as a trigger or stimulus for group action. + +The essence of leadership, therefore, is its energizing effect. But often the people we +formally refer to as leaders do not really lead; at best, they manage things successfully by +keeping the group running more or less smoothly. + +Although power may be an important resource to the leader, one need not exercise +power to bring about change (see Box 10.3). Efforts to control a group are often ulti +mately destructive of leadership. On the other hand, when the direction of the group or +organization is selected through a developmental process that gives priority to group +members needs and desires, leadership is much more likely to be enduring. Leadership +for the future will require much more than a formal position. + +What skills will you need to be successful as a leader? They begin with those we ordi +narily associate with effective managementthe ability to use power and influence +effectively, the ability to communicate with and motivate others, and the ability to work +in and among diverse groups of people. (We will discuss most of these skills in the next +chapter.) But leadership builds on these skills in some interesting ways. + +To energize the group for example, the leader must know how to sense its underlying +desires, sometimes even before those desires are clear even to the group members. The +leader must also be able to act in ambiguous situations and to take risks; leadership +involves change, and change is often difficult for both group and leader. Developing the +personal strength to face change is important. + +Leadership has often been viewed in terms of the exercise of power by one person or +group over anothergetting people to do what one wants them to do by manipulating +power and influence. Leadership in the future will be more and more independent of +power, and the most critical leadership skills will be the personal (rather than interper +sonal) skills associated with correctly empathizing with and reading a group, acting with +a sense of direction in the presence of ambiguity, and having the courage to take risks +when change is warranted. + +Helgesen (1996) calls this new approach grassroots leadership. She argues that +todays organizations differ dramatically from those created in past generations. Power +becomes shared throughout the group and, in turn, leaders are to be found not only +among those at the top, the lead horses, but also among those who constitute what in +the industrial era we called the rank and file (Helgesen, 1996, p. 21). Accordingly, each +individual plays a key role in shaping the organization; each helps the group deal with +issues of organizational change. + +Leadership, in this context, relates more to sharing power among the group rather than +using power for the purpose of control. Such a change in power and leadership stems from + + + +Power and Leadership 3 85 + +BOX 10.3 + +Bases of Social Power + +Power is really much more complex than we often think. For example, the power +we exercise is based on a number of different factors that operate in social situations. +A classic research article describes the following bases of social power. + +1. Reward power: the ability to meet the needs of another, or control the other by +rewarding the desired behavior. Pay, promotions, or bonuses may be ways that +organizations exert reward power over employees. + +2. Punishment power: coercive power, or the ability to deliver a painful or punish +ing outcome to others, and hence control them by their desire to escape the +punishment. Firing, ridiculing, or disciplining an individual are common tech +niques of punishment. + +3. Expert power: power based on the ability to understand, use, and deliver infor +mation that others need. Engineers or scientists may exert great influence in an +organization based on their knowledge of scientific techniques for manufactur +ing a product, etc. + +4. Legitimate power: control or influence exerted by virtue of ones holding a par +ticular position in the organizational structure. The power is vested in the +rights and responsibilities of the position, not the person. Thus, a company +president or chairman of the board has power by virtue of the rights and +responsibility given to whoever holds the office. Compliance with legitimate +power occurs because other individuals in the organization respect the organi +zational structure and the rights and responsibility that accompany particular +positions. + +5. Referent power: liking, charisma, or the desire to comply with someones wishes +because you are attracted to him or her are examples of referent power. Control +based on referent power depends upon the power-holders ability to have others +like and be attracted to him or her, and to follow his or her leadership because +of this attraction. + +SOURCE: Adapted from John R. R French, Jr., and Bertram Raven, The Bases of Social Power, +in Dorwin Cartwright and Alvin F. Zander, eds., Group Dynamics, 2nd ed., FlarperCollins Publishers, +1962. Copyright 1962 by Dorwin Cartwright and Alvin F. Zander. Reprinted by permission. + +the fact that most individuals within an organization, though not serving in traditional +positions of power, represent the principal link between the group and its environment. +Those referred to as the rank and file are those who ensure that the organization achieves +its primary objectives. + +So, in order for the new knowledge-based organizations of today to be successful, +greater autonomy and decision-making capacity should be distributed to the front line, +with those closest to the situation serving as the leaders of change. + + + +3 86 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +Summary and Action Implications + +Public management is a complex and diverse career. One moment you may be develop +ing a budget for your agency; the next moment you may be leading a meeting on sick +leave policy; and the next, you may be counseling an employee who is feeling burned +out. The diversity of the work and its occasional intensity mean that you not only need +to understand the ethical and political context of your work, but also to develop the per +sonal and interpersonal skills to bring about action. + +Each of these skills is deeply rooted in your own identity and character. Because they +are so personal, these skills underlie nearly everything you do. Thus, understanding +yourself is an essential prerequisite to acting effectively and responsibly in public organi +zations. The more you are able to learn about yourselfthat is, know your strengths +and weaknesses, your desires and frustrationsthe more effective you will be in your +work with others. If you are able to reflect on your experiences and share them with oth +ers, and to learn from others experiences as well, you will be a much more effective +learner and a much more effective manager. + +Nowhere is this admonition more appropriate than in the area of leadership. To lead +others, you must first know yourself. Leadership involves more than power or control. +Whereas power may be a resource, leadership capabilities are more likely to arise from the +ability to understand the emerging desires of a group, to articulate the vision or direction +the group wishes to follow, and to stimulate the group to action. Leadership unquestion +ably requires social or interpersonal skills, but it is based in empathetic understanding, the +ability to express the aspirations of the group, and the confidence to undertake the risks +associated with change. Nowhere is this more true than in the realm of public leadership. + +Terms and Definitions + +Role ambiguity: Occurs when the rights and responsibilities of the job are not clearly +understood. + +Role conflict: Occurs when one faces two different and incompatible sets of demands. + +Satisficing decision: One that is just good enough in terms of some criterion. + +Support system: Network of people with whom one can talk about problems. + +Study Questions + +1. Discuss the activities involved in a typical managerial day. +2. Discuss the concept of stress management. What are some specific techniques for + +reducing stress levels? + + + +Cases and Exercises 387 + +3. The ability to effectively use the time available is one determinant of a successful +manager. How do time management practices help improve success? + +4. Explain how individuals vary in terms of creativity and problem-solving skills. +5. What features are present in rational decision making? + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Chapter 1 listed management skills developed by the U.S. Office of Personnel +Management. Part of that list is reproduced here. Go through the list and assess your +level of development in each of the skills. You might want to verify your evaluations +by talking with others who know you well and have seen you operate in groups and +organizations. After you have a sense of your own level of skill development, try to +identify the activities (classes, workshops, readings, and so on) that would help you +improve your skills in areas that need some work. + +The How of Management Effectiveness Characteristics + +Broad perspectives: Broad, long-term view; balancing short- and long-term consid +erations. + +Strategic view: Collecting, assessing, analyzing information; diagnosis; anticipation; +judgment. + +Environmental sensitivity: Tuned into agency and its environment; awareness of impor +tance of nontechnical factors. + +Leadership: Individual; group; willingness to lead, manage, and accept responsibility. + +Flexibility: Openness to new information; behavioral flexibility; tolerance for stress, +ambiguity, change; innovativeness. + +Action orientation: Independence, proactivity; calculated risk taking; problem solv +ing; decisiveness. + +Results focus: Concern with goal achievement; follow-through, tenacity. + +Communication: Speaking; writing; listening. + +Interpersonal sensitivity: Self-knowledge and awareness of impact on others; sensitiv +ity to needs, strengths, and weaknesses of others; negotiation; conflict resolution; +persuasion. + +Technical competence: Specialized expertise (e.g., engineering, physical science, law, +accounting, social science). + +2. The following classic exercise in group problem solving will illustrate several impor +tant aspects of the decision-making process. + +Your spaceship has just crash-landed on the moon. You were scheduled to ren +dezvous with the mothership 200 miles away on the lighted surface of the moon, but + + + +Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +the rough landing has ruined your ship and destroyed all the'equipment on board, +except for the fifteen items listed below. + +You and four to seven other people should take this test individually, without +knowing one anothers answers, then take the test as a group. Share your individual +solutions and reach a consensus one ranking for each item that best satisfies all group +members. + +Your crews survival depends on reaching the mothership, so you must choose the +most critical items available for the 200-mile trip. Your task is to rank the fifteen +items in terms of their importance for survival. Place a 1 by the most important item, +a 2 by the second most important, and so on through fifteen, the least important. + +box of matches + +food concentrate + +50 feet of nylon rope + +parachute silk + +solar-powered portable heating unit + +two .45-caliber pistols + +one case of dehydrated evaporated milk + +two 100-pound tanks of oxygen + +stellar map (of the moons constellation) + +self-inflating life raft + +magnetic compass + +5 gallons of water + +signal flares + +first-aid kit containing injection needles + +solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter + +NASA experts have determined the best solution to this task. Their answers appear in +Appendix A. + +SOURCE: Jay Hall, Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, Psychology Today 5 (November 1971): 51-88. +Reprinted with permission from Psychology Today Magazine. Copyright 1971 by Sussex Publishers, Inc. + +3. Stress profile: Place your answer to each of the following questions in the space provided +before each number. Answer with: (a) almost always true; (b) often true; (c) seldom true; +(d) almost never true. + +1. I hate to wait in lines. +2. I often find myself racing against the clock to save time. +3. I become upset if I think something is taking too long. +4. When under pressure I tend to lose my temper. +5. My friends tell me that I tend to get irritated easily. +6. I seldom like to do anything unless I can make it competitive. +7. When something needs to be done, I am the first to begin even though the details + +may still need to be worked out. + + + +For Additional Reading 389 + +8. When I make a mistake, it is usually because I have rushed into something with +out giving it enough thought and planning. + +9. Whenever possible I will try to do two things at once, like eating while working +or planning while driving or bathing. + +10.1 find myself feeling guilty when I am not actively working on something. +Scoring: a = 4, b = 3, c = 2, d = 1. Score: +This exercise tests Type A behavior, characterized by impatience with delays, urgency, + +competitiveness and stress-related illness. A total score of 26 or above indicates that you +tend toward this type. + +SOURCE: Self-Assessment Exercise from Controlling Stress and Tension by Daniel Girdano and George +Everly. Copyright 1979 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc. + +4. Although power should not be equated with leadership, it can certainly be an impor +tant resource to public managers. To illustrate some of these types of power, think +back over the past week or two as you attended class and worked in various groups +and organizations, and answer the following questions: +a. Who were the two or three people during this period who exercised the greatest + +power over you? +b. Who were the people during this period over whom you exercised the most power? +Now return to the Bases of Social Power in Box 10.43. What was the basis for the + +power that others exercised over you? What was the basis for the power that you exercised +over others? How might you most effectively build up your power base in groups and +organizations to which you belong? + +For Additional Reading + +Allison, Graham, and Philip Zelikow. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile +Crisis. 2d ed. New York: Longman, 1999. + +Bingham, Richard D., et al. Managing Local Government: Public Administration in +Practice. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1991. + +Bozeman, Barry, and Jeffrey D. Straussman. Public Management Strategies: Guidelines +for Managerial Effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990. + +Cohen, Stephen R. Principle-Centered Leadership. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991. +Conger, Jay A. Learning to Lead: The Art of Transforming Managers into Leaders. + +San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. +Covey, Stephen R. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the + +Character Ethic. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990. +Frederickson, H. George. The Spirit of Public Administration. San Francisco: + +Jossey-Bass, 1996. +Garnett, James L. Communicating for Results in Government: A Strategic Approach for + +Public Managers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. + + + +39 Chapter 10 Personal Skills in Public Management + +Holzer, Marc, ed. Public Service: Callings, Commitments and Contributions. Boulder, +CO: Westview Press, 1999. + +Murray, Nancy. An Inner Voice for Public Administration. Westport, CT: Praeger +Publishers, 1997. + +Whetten, David A., and Kim S. Cameron. Developing Management Skills. 2d ed. +New York: HarperCollins, 1991. + +APPENDIX A + +Lost on the Moon " Exercise: Answers from NASA Experts + +1. Two 100-pound tanks of oxygen: most pressing survival need +2. Five gallons of water: replacement for tremendous liquid loss on the sunlit side of + +the moon +3. Stellar map of the moons constellation: primary means of navigation +4. Food concentrate: efficient means of supplying energy requirements +5. Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter: for communication with mothership; but + +FM requires line-of-sight transmission and short ranges +6. Fifty feet of nylon rope: useful in scaling cliffs, tying injured together +7. First-aid kit containing injection needles: needles for vitamins; medicines, etc.; will + +fit special aperture in NASA spacesuits +8. Parachute silk: protection from suns rays +9. Self-inflating life raft: carbon monoxide bottle in military raft may be used for + +propulsion +10. Signal flares: distress signal when mothership is sighted +11. Two .45-caliber pistols: possible means of self-propulsion +12. One case of dehydrated evaporated milk: bulkier duplication of food concentrate +13. Solar-powered portable heating unit: not needed unless on dark side +14. Magnetic compass: magnetic field on moon is not polarized; worthless for navigation +15. Box of matches: no oxygen on moon to sustain flame; virtually worthless + + + +Chapter 11 + +Interpersonal Skills and +Group Dynamics + +The ability to work effectively with other people is absolutely central for the public +manager. To persuade people on issues, to encourage and motivate your employees, to +represent your organization well before external groups these and many other inter +personal skills contribute to your success as a public manager. Whereas it was once +thought that managers were born, not made, we now know that the skills managers +need can be learned and improved. By carefully considering and constantly practicing +good management skills, you can become more effective. + +Communications + +As we saw in Chapter 10, most of a managers typical day is spent in some form of +communication activity; some days are devoted almost exclusively to communications. +The ability to communicate well is necessary for any adult to function successfully in +American society. Indeed, research has shown that, on the average, adult Americans +spend 70 percent of the waking day in some form of communication activity (Rankin, +1929). He classified how people spent their communication time, and found that +9 percent of the time was spent writing, 16 percent reading, 30 percent speaking, and +45 percent listening. + +We will discuss the communication modes of listening, speaking, and writing. (We +will not address reading, except to note that the special skill known as speed reading is +probably one a manager would find useful.) + +Listening + +We do more listening than we do any other form of communication. Recent research +focusing exclusively on managers reveals that managers spend a greater than average +portion of their time listeningabout 63 percent of the day. Recall that the studies +of managerial activities we discussed in the last chapter indicate that a majority of a +managers communication interactions are initiated by others. Because most are in the +form of face-to-face interactions, this finding implies a lot of listening. + +391 + + + +392 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +BOX 11.1 + +Principles of Effective Listening + +1. Have a reason or purpose. +2. Suspend judgment initially. +3. Resist distractions. +4. Wait before responding. +5. Rephrase what you listen to in your own words. +6. Seek the important themes. +7. Use the thinking-speaking differential to reflect and find meaning. + +But doing a lot of listening does not mean that managers listen well. Listening is +not the same as hearing, and, although hearing cannot be altered without medical or +technical intervention, one can substantially improve the quality of ones listening with +proper motivation and training. Let us first review some basics of effective listening +(see Box 11.1). + +Have a Reason or Purpose + +This is the most important principle of those we will discuss. Having a purpose or +a reason to listen provides the motivation to listen, and, generally speaking, anything +you are motivated to do, you will do better than if you are not motivated. Listening is +no exception. One must be motivated to listen well; it does not just happen. Without +motivation, you will not use the other six principles, or you will not use them as well as +you could. + +But, you ask, what if I dont have a reason to listen? Then find one. Actively search +for a reason to listen to what is being said. Ask yourself, How can this information +help me do my job better? Or, How can I use this information in some way, on the job +or elsewhere? Finding a reason to listen will provide the motivation to use all the other +principles and techniques. + +Suspend Judgment Initially + +The key word in this phrase is initially. You will need to evaluate the material you +listen to, but you should wait until you hear the entire message before you begin the eval +uation. This can be difficult. In an election year, for example, if we know a particular +candidates party, we are likely to evaluate what the candidate is going to say before he or +she even begins speaking. It is not coincidental that television and radio advertising for +many candidates does not prominently identify the candidates party. The advertisers +want to increase the chances of having the message heard rather than losing half the +audience immediately by identifying the speaker as a Democrat or Republican. To make +a judgment before listening carefully to what someone is saying is the opposite of the +suspension principle. + + + +Communications 393 + +Resist Distractions + +Many things can distract us when we are trying to listen. The distraction principle tells +us to fight back, to actively resist whatever may be distracting us. Among the many +things that distract us, various sounds are usually the most powerful. The sound may be +a nonverbal noise, such as the siren from a passing fire engine or ambulance, or the +voices of several people speaking at once, or something about the way the speaker talks. +Regardless of what type of sound is creating the distraction, the remedy is to resist, to +try harder. + +In this case, trying harder means that you should increase your concentration. If you +are in a face-to-face situation with a speaker, make sure you maintain constant eye +contact. You can also lean a little bit in the direction of the speaker. By increasing your +level of concentration, you can resist distractions you would have thought impossible to +overcome. And that is the problem with distractionsthey become an excuse for not +even trying to listen, because It is impossible to hear what she is saying. + +A common classroom demonstration in listening skills illustrates the distraction princi +ple (as well as others). Two volunteers read a short paragraph to the class. The volunteers +are positioned in front of the class, about fifteen feet away from each other. Each has +a sheet of paper containing a short paragraph (which takes no more than thirty to forty +seconds to read). Each student in the class is assigned to listen to one or the other of the +two volunteers, but not to both. The students are instructed not to take notes while the +paragraphs are being read, but, at the end of the reading, to write down something about +each of the major points their speaker has read. + +The trick is that each volunteer has a different paragraph and they read the para +graphs simultaneously! After the first round of the exercise, checking usually reveals that +only a small number and sometimes none of the students in the class are able to write +down something about every major point their speaker read. The instructor then reviews +the eye-contact and learning points, picks two new volunteers, gives them two new para +graphs, and repeats the exercise. The second time around it is not unusual to find that 20 +percent to 25 percent of the class has written down something about each major point. + +This exercise demonstrates that there is variability in the quality of listening, both +between and within individuals. It also demonstrates that it is possible to resist even a +major distraction. The effectiveness of the demonstration lies in the fact that it shows +that our ability to resist distractions is much higher than we realize, and that we can +overcome a great deal to improve the quality of our listening. + +Some distractions are less obvious, and are perceived only semiconsciously. One such +distraction for many Americans is English spoken with a foreign accent or with a differ +ent regional accent. Professor Allen Bluedorn recalls learning this lesson while he was in +the U.S. Army, taking part in a listening course. The course made the same point about +distractions that we have made, and he wondered if he had been allowing the fact that +people spoke with different accents to become excuses not to listen. (He was stationed +at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and had ample opportunities to hear English spoken with +a Spanish accent.) + +The approach he used to test the principle was to simply concentrate harder the +next time he encountered someone who spoke with a Spanish accent. To his surprise, by + + + +Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +concentrating harder, he was able to understand completely what the person said. He +concluded that he had indeed been succumbing to the distraction of the accent, and +it had become an excuse not to listen well. This lesson is important in todays increas +ingly multicultural organizations, where English is often spoken with a wide variety of +accents. But the larger and more important lesson is that even substantial distractions +can be overcome. + +Wait before Responding + +The response principle suggests that one relax and wait for natural opportunities to speak, +instead of jumping into the conversation immediately. When we are burning to contribute +to a discussion or conversation, we become too excited about getting into the conver +sation; we concentrate on whatever it is we want to say and stop concentrating on and +listening to what the speaker is saying. The response principle suggests that one wait for +a natural opportunity to contribute; try to flow with the conversation as an event rather +than disrupting it by speaking at the wrong time. + +Rephrase What You Listen to in Your Own Words + +The rephrasing principle suggests an incredibly simple, yet powerful, way to check ones +understanding. The idea is merely to take something you hear (an idea, instructions, and +so on) and put it into your own words. You then repeat it to the person who gave you the +information and ask if that is what was meant. As easy as it seems, this is an excellent +way to check understanding and avoid mistakes. When you give instructions, you can ask +the person who is receiving them to do the same thing. You can say, for example, I am +not sure I explained that very well. Please tell me what you got out of that. + +Seek the Important Themes + +The thematic principle indicates that the main ideas are more important than facts so +important that they are the general keys to understanding and retaining what is said. +Understanding the main ideas provides a framework for organizing the facts, which +makes the facts themselves easier to remember. + +The man usually credited with starting the listening movement over thirty years ago, +Ralph Nichols, demonstrated this point in his research. He discovered that A and B stu +dents reported different listening habits than C and D students. In surveys of hundreds +of students, he discovered that the A and B students gave a much different response to +the question, What do you listen for first when you attend a lecture? than did the C +and D students. The A and B students predominantly gave a response such as I listen for +the main ideas first, whereas C and D students said, I listen for the facts. (This finding +probably does not entirely explain the differences in these students GPAs, but it is +undoubtedly part of it.) + +Use the Thinking-Speaking Differential to Reflect and Find Meaning + +The meaning principle reflects the fact that people think faster than they speak. Although +it varies by region, people in the United States speak at a rate of about 150 words per + + + +Communications 395 + +minute, but in terms of language, they think at a rate of about 500 words per minute. +Thus, we normally think more than three times faster than we speak. This differential +creates an opportunity to listen more effectively, but the opportunity can also be a temp +tation to do things that interfere with our listening. The extra time can also be used for +things that distract from the listening processconcentration lapses, daydreaming, think +ing about something other than what the speaker is saying, and so forth. All these things +interfere with good listening, so the extra time is a two-edged sword both opportunity +and temptation. + +Listening is both the most widely used and the most widely misused communication +skill. It is also the skill least often taught in the American education system, from kinder +garten through graduate school (Steil, Barker, & Watson, 1983). + +Speaking + +Most of the speaking managers do is informal, one-on-one or small group communica +tions in their offices, on the phone, and in meetings. To show how we can improve our +speaking, we will focus on giving instructions because a significant amount of manager- +initiated communication consists of giving instructions to others. The managerial activity +of delegation in fact, would be virtually impossible without instruction giving. The +key to giving instructions successfully is the ability to put yourself in the position of the +person who will receive the instructions. Ideally, you want to give exactly the right +amount of information neither too much nor too little; however, if one must depart +from the ideal, it is usually better to give too much rather than too little. + +Two questions help you put yourself in the position of the individual who will receive +the instructions: + +1. What does the person need to know to carry out the instructions? +2. What does the person want to know to carry out the instructions? + +The ability to decide what information is really needed is, incidentally, a justification +for promotion from withinmaking managers out of the people who have done the +jobs they will be managing. People who have done the job should be able to determine +more accurately what their subordinates need to know when they receive instructions. +Unfortunately, not everyone who is promoted to the management level takes full advan +tage of this knowledge. + +To demonstrate how difficult it is to identify what information to transmit, let us +consider another classroom exercise to illustrate how you can put yourself in the position +of the person who will be receiving the instructions. Students form pairs, and one member +of each pair is given a diagram. The students are seated back-to-back, and the one with the +diagram gives the other one instructions for drawing the diagram on a piece of paper. Only +the instruction giver is allowed to speak, and he or she is not allowed to look at the copy +as it is drawn. After the copy is completed, the diagram is evaluated according to a set +of scoring rules. Roles are then exchanged in the pairs, a new diagram is distributed, and +instructions are again given to produce copies of the diagram, all rules remaining the same. + + + +3S>6 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +It is common for the scores in the second round to be higher than those in the first, +even if the second diagram is more complex. Why? The answer seems to be that the +instruction giver in the second round has been in the position of the instruction receiver +during the first round and, thus, has a better idea of what information is really needed. +Furthermore, the instruction givers during the second round know the scoring rules and +can focus on what elements of the diagrams will be scored when the copies are evalu +ated. Most important, however, the instruction giver who understands what information +someone needs is better able to provide that information. + +Writing + +Writing is a less common form of managerial communication than speaking and listening, +but it is important nevertheless. Most managerial writing is brief, often one or two pages. +The memo is the most common type of written communication for many managers. +Sussman and Deep (1984) offer six rules for effective managerial writing that they call the +Six Cs: + +Clarity: To be clear, one must put oneself in the readers position much as the +instruction giver must put himself or herself in the receivers position. Write in the +active voice (i.e., Dave painted the house) rather than the passive (i.e., The house was +painted by Dave); avoid jargon; and try to use the simple format of introduction, +body, and conclusion. + +Courtesy: Courtesy involves knowing your readers, adapting to their moods, and +writing at their level, providing neither too much nor too little information. Again, +there are clear parallels with instruction giving. + +Conciseness: This is the rule of brevity; be short and to the point. Sometimes you may +want to repeat something for emphasis, but the general rule is the shorter the better. +Think of it this way: which are you more likely to read, a fifty-word memo or a ten- +page report? You are likely to read the fifty-word memo on the spot; the ten-page +report goes into the pile you will get to when I can. + +Confidence: Always write with confidence. Confidence is really a matter of judgment +on the writers part, based on ones knowledge of ones readers. Judgment is especially +important in avoiding two extremes: overbearing (too confident) and wishy-washy +(not confident enough). + +Correctness: You must be correct in grammar and composition, the technical rules +of writing which include spelling and punctuation. Inaccurate spelling is especially +conspicuous. + +Conversational tone: To achieve a conversational tone, try to write in about the same +way you talk, and try to imagine one specific person to whom you are writing. +Thinking of a specific individual rather than an abstract category makes it much +easier to write. It is much easier to write to John Jones than to all economics pro +fessors. Occasionally, conversational writing calls for violating some formal rules + + + +Delegation and Motivation 397 + +BOX 11.2 + +Secret Weapons for Organizational Communication + +Here are several methods for dealing with difficult situations in the work setting. +(1) Remember that people do things for their own reasons, not yours. Someones anger +may mean he or she actually sees the situation from a completely different perspective, +so try to understand that view. (2) When under attack, use a calm, even tone of voice +and low-key body language. The content of what you say can be the same, just modify +your delivery; in face-to-face communication, words carry 7 percent of your message, +tone of voice 38 percent, and body language 55 percent. (3) Use conversational fantasy +to anticipate a really sticky situation by saying exactly what you want to say. Then +tone it down to what you know you should say. (4) Remember to rehearse so that you +are prepared to cope with the situation when it arises. Practice receiving and returning +verbal hardballs. (5) If necessary, use emotional jujitsu. The principle of jujitsu is to +flow with your opponents strength, to turn his own force against him by redirecting +it rather than resisting it. Rather than defending yourself, agree. Your critic will be +instantly disarmed, and then you can begin to deal with the causes of the emotion +rather than the emotion itself. + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Personal Productivity: Organizational Communication, Government +Productivity News 3 (September 1989): 4. + +bwiirnwt1' ^h + +of grammar, but this breach often makes things smoother, and thus more understand +able and easier to follow. + +Communications will affect nearly every aspect of your work as a public manager. +Your ability to persuade others of your position, your clarity in sharing ideas, and your +ability to deal effectively with difficult people will shape your image as an adminis +trator (see Box 11.2). Fortunately, you can improve your ability to listen, to speak, and +to write. So, practicing your communication skills whenever possible will pay dividends +whatever your career. + +Delegation and Motivation + +Management can be defined as the process of getting things done through others. To +get things done through others, it is necessary to communicate with others and, often, to +motivate them as well. Much of the time, those others are the people you supervise. +After all, if you can do all the work yourself, you should just go ahead and do it. As a +manager, however, you are not there to do the actual work but to do the managerial +work, as illustrated in this case study: + + + +CHAPTER 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +After a long and distinguished career as a research scientist, Fraser Parks became +manager of a well-known research and development laboratory. Soon after his +appointment, a major new project was assigned to the lab. The task was clear in +Frasers mind: as a good scientist he knew how to do the work and how to ensure a +high-quality, technically flawless piece of equipment. With a couple of years alone +in the lab, he knew he could do the whole project by himself and do it well. The +problem was that the equipment was needed in less than three months. Fraser +knew that most of the work would have to be delegated to newly hired and reas +signed staff, but he knew these people would never be able to do the high-quality +job that he alone would have done. After two and a half months of trying to get +the job done right, Fraser collapsed in his office one night and was immediately +hospitalized. + +Delegation is the process of assigning tasks to others. Like so many other managerial +tasks, it may be done poorly or it may be done well. As Fraser Parks discovered, poor +delegation can be nearly fatal. To delegate well, you need to try to delegate an equal +amount of authority and responsibility for a job. Authority is the legitimate power to +do the job, and responsibility is the accountability the individual has to you for getting +the job done. The idea that an individual should have equal amounts of both is the +parity principle. Managers often complain that they will be held responsible for some +thing, but have not been given enough authority to get the job done. Less frequent, but +equally troublesome, is an individual who has authority but is not held responsible +for its use. + +Generally speaking, you should delegate jobs with complete and clear instructions, and +you should delegate tasks to the appropriate level. Holding everything else equal, the +appropriate level is the lowest level in the hierarchy where the task can be accomplished +competently. You should also provide support for the delegated tasks. This support can +take many forms, including delegation of authority in a public statement (such as saying +at a meeting, Betty is in charge of inspections in the northern district now). + +It is often helpful to involve subordinates in the process of delegation, encouraging them +to make suggestions about the kind of work they can or should be doing. Delegation +should be a two-way process. On the other hand, do not fall victim to the upward delega +tion phenomenon. Upward delegation occurs when subordinates bring problems to their +managers that the subordinates should be solving themselves. This is the opposite of effec +tive delegation. You should refuse to accept these problems. An effective technique is to +insist that any subordinate who wants advice about a problem (the way the upward dele +gation attempt is often presented) should first think of at least one potential solution +before coming to you to discuss the problem. To allow for creativity and motivation in +the delegation process, it is best to hold subordinates accountable for results and leave +the how up to them. This principle assumes, of course, that the how will be within +the constraints of legal and ethical behavior as well as the constraints of public or organi +zational policies. Finally, tasks should be delegated consistently when the work load is light +as well as heavy and when the jobs are fun as well as nasty. + +Besides getting things done through others, delegation helps to develop employ +ees, thereby making them more valuable to you and to the organization. Some man +agers are threatened by the idea that they may be developing possible replacements + + + +Delegation and Motivation 399 + +(i.e., competitors). But there is another way to look at this situation. Unless you are at +the very top of the organization, you probably want to be promoted. But you cannot +be promoted if you cannot be replaced. Developing your subordinates through delega +tion is a way of providing, to your advantage, your own potential replacements! + +Motivation + +Whether members of an organization perform well depends partly on ability and partly +on motivation. A person must have or be able to call upon the right mix of skills and +abilities to do a job and must be motivated to do the job well. When you can help +develop your employees skills through instruction, training programs, and so forth, you +are likely to have a significantly greater impact on their motivation. + +Pay and Job Satisfaction + +When one thinks of motivation in a managerial context, pay is a subject that naturally +comes to mind. Frederick Taylor based the entire incentive system of his scientific man +agement program on economic factors. Contemporary thinking about motivation is +more sophisticated than Taylors, however, as pay is seen to interact with other motiva +tors in complex ways. + +Even as early as the 1950s, Frederick Herzberg developed a model of motivation +known as the two-factor theory. Herzberg (1959) argued that two sets of variables were +relevant to the question of motivation. One set, hygiene factors, related to job dissatis +faction; the other set, motivators, related to job satisfaction. + +Hygiene factors included variables such as pay and working conditions; motivators +were factors such as chances for achievement, recognition, and advancement. Herzberg +argued that improvements in hygiene factors such as pay would not increase job satisfac +tion; instead, any improvements would simply reduce dissatisfaction. If an individuals +pay got worse or did not increase fast enough, dissatisfaction would increase. Conversely, +motivators such as achievement or advancement would not affect dissatisfaction, but +would increase or decrease job satisfaction. The lesson for managers was that motivating +employees is a far more complex task than simply changing salary levels. + +Other approaches to motivation were based on psychologist Abraham Maslows +theory of human development; that is, the assumption that everyone has a need to grow +and develop and to establish a sense of meaning in their lives. Maslow (1954) suggested a +hierarchy of needs that all human beings must fulfill. At the first level, we must meet our +physiological needs for food, clothing, and shelter. Next we have a need for safety and +security. Beyond these basic needs, we have social needs, which we meet by being a +part of a group. Next, we have a need for ego satisfaction and self-esteem. Finally, at the +highest level, we have a need for development or self-actualization. This final level, which +can only be reached after the other four levels have been achieved, describes that state of +psychological development through which we reach our greatest human potential. + +Controversy about the effect of job satisfaction goes back at least as far as the +Hawthorne studies conducted during the mid-1920s and early 1930s. Recall that +these studies began as a research project to investigate the effects of physical working + + + +400 CHAPTER 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +conditions such as lighting on workers productivity. Given some unexpected findings +early in the studies, the investigators changed the focus of the research to investigate the +impacts of social and supervisory variables on performance. + +Some authors interpreted the results of the later studies as indicating that higher levels +of job satisfaction led to higher levels of worker performance, a conclusion that some +argue was never present in the original research reports and is thus a misinterpretation +(Organ, 1986). But misinterpretation or not, the Hawthorne studies are usually credited +for the discovery that a happy worker is a productive worker. Other studies of the job +satisfaction-performance relationship produced mixed results. Some theorists argued that +the job-satisfaction-leads-to-better-performance thesis was wrong in terms of the causal +orderingthat it was actually the other way around, with higher levels of performance +causing higher levels of job satisfaction. + +Although there is still not complete agreement on this issue, support is accumulating +for a third interpretation of the job satisfaction-performance relationshipthat there will +only be a relationship between job satisfaction and performance if the rewards one +receives are based on ones performance. If rewards are based on performance, there +should be a positive correlation between job satisfaction and performance (the higher the +performance, the higher the job satisfaction) because higher performance will lead to +higher rewards, which will produce higher job satisfaction. If this is true, one part of the +managers job will be to make sure that performance is directly linked to rewardspay +as well as others. One method to achieve this linkage is reinforcement theory. + +Reinforcement Theory + +Reinforcement theory and related approaches have been given various labels, including +behaviorism, operant conditioning, stimulus-response psychology, and Skinnerian psy +chology. The labels all refer to more or less the same thing, an approach to explaining +behavior based on Thorndikes law of effect: Of several responses made to the same +situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction (reinforce +ment) . . . will be more likely to occur; those which are accompanied or closely followed +by discomfort (punishment) . . . will be less likely to occur (Daft & Steers, 1986, p. 51). + +The law of effect has been studied for over a century, as it relates to learning in both +animals and human beings. Results of this research have produced a number of general +izations about the specifics of reinforcement. There are four basic scenarios or results +that may follow a specific behavior. If a reward follows the behavior, the individual is +more likely to repeat the behavior; this is called positive reinforcement. Reinforcement +will also occur when behavior is followed by the removal of something unpleasant, +called negative reinforcement. + +On the other hand, if an unpleasant event or punishment follows the behavior, the +individual is less likely to repeat it. Note that negative reinforcement is not the same +as punishment, even though the terms have become synonymous in ordinary usage. +From the standpoint of the recipient, punishment would be considered a bad outcome, +whereas negative reinforcement would be considered a good outcome. The final possi +bility is that nothing will happen following a behavior, or at least no reinforcement will +occur in connection with it. When this is the case, the individual is less likely to repeat + + + +Delegation and Motivation 401 + +the behavior and will eventually stop repeating it altogether. This cessation of behavior is +called extinction. + +Regardless of which of the four possibilities one is considering, a common theme, and +one of the key principles of the reinforcement approach, is that whatever response is +given to the behavior, the response should follow the behavior as soon as possible. +If there is too long a delay following the behavior, the response (reward, removal of an +unpleasant situation, and so on) may be misinterpreted and associated with other behav +iors that have occurred in the interval. + +Other important considerations of the reinforcement approach are the patterns, fre +quency, and basis for providing the response. In terms of frequency, responses can be +given every time the behavior occurs (continuous reinforcement schedule) or for only a +certain proportion of occurrences (partial reinforcement schedule). The basis for making +the responses can be either the number of times an event occurs (ratio schedules) or the +passage of time (interval schedules). The pattern of responses can be either consistent +(fixed schedules) or random (variable schedules). Research indicates that fixed schedules +lead to faster learning, but to quicker unlearning or forgetting when the schedule is aban +doned. Conversely, variable schedules lead to slower learning, but once the behavior is +learned, the unlearning or forgetting is much slower when the schedule is abandoned. + +This description of reinforcement approaches probably conjures up images of labora +tory animals running through a maze to earn food pellets or to avoid electric shocks, +and these are indeed how reinforcement has been studied in the laboratory. An obvious +and natural parallel applying reinforcement theory in a managerial context is to link +pay in some way to an individuals performance. This can be done, but pay (wages or +salaries) tends to be set only once a year, and, since organizational policies often dictate +pay levels, many managers have only a partial impact on establishing their subordi +nates pay levels. This limits the extent to which the manager can use pay as a motiva +tional tool. + +A recent article in PA Times identified several assumptions underlying pay-for-perfor- +mance forms of motivation: + +1. An individuals performance could be accurately or reasonably measured according to +some criteria. +2. This system could affect an employees decision to leave or remain with his or her +organization and influence an employees willingness to work harder for his or her orga +nization than those who are not under the system. +3. An employee will place high value on monetary rewards in the workplace. (Lee, +2001, p. 3) + +Beginning with the first assumption, though, we can see the challenges faced by public +and nonprofit managers in employing such a system in practice. As the author found, It +[a performance-based system] may work in private companies, since they have a clear +goal (maximization of profit) that can be measured in quantitative ways. However, this +does not seem to be working in most public agencies (Lee, 2001, p. 3). Unclear goals, +combined with the need to balance between competing interest groups, tends to make +establishing such clear-cut objectives impossible in the delivery of public services. + + + +402 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +Moreover, the author found in his study of public employees In New Jersey that peo +ple working in public and nonprofit organizations seek more than financial incentives: +[I]f a public-sector employee is committed to his or her supervisor, he or she is more +likely to remain with the agency and make an extra effort on behalf of the organization. +In other words, a major motivating factor is not monetary reward, but an affective per +sonal relationship among employees (Lee, 2001, p. 3). Pay-for-performance may boost +some forms of productivity, but it should not be viewed as a building block for a truly +high-impact organization. + +Goal Setting + +Goal setting is another method of motivating that can be used by itself or in conjunction +with reinforcement techniques. In fact, you can use it to motivate yourself as well as other +people. A goal is a desired state of affairs one attempts to realize, and, as research has +shown, merely setting goals seems to increase the probability of attaining them. But some +ways of setting goals are better than others in terms of motivational impact. Research +indicates at least eight necessary characteristics for a goal to have maximum motivational +impact. + +1. It is best to write down a goal rather than to just keep it in mind. In a technical sense, +one does not do a goal one achieves a goal; therefore, the proper way to write a goal +statement is with the word to followed by an action verb for example, To finish this +chapter by 5 oclock today. Something about writing down a goal creates greater com +mitment on the part of the writer. It is harder to ignore, and seeing it on your desk or +in your notebook constantly makes the goal harder to forget. Writing down a goal can +also facilitate planning, as you consciously identify the actions you must take to achieve +the goal. +2. Because specific goals are much better motivators than general goals, a properly stated +goal should be as specific as possible. + +A field experiment on goal setting at the Weyerhauser Lumber Company several years +ago tested the relative impacts of general and specific goals. The objects of the experi +ment were truck drivers who hauled logs from one location to another in Oklahoma for +processing. + +The federal government established safety standards for how much weight the truck +ers could carry, and this amount was taken to be the maximum capacity of the trucks, +100 percent. The researchers and managers at Weyerhauser noted that the truckers nor +mally only hauled about 62 percent of capacity. The first part of the experiment consisted +of management informing the truckers that they wanted more weight to be carried on +each load and that the truckers were to do their best to achieve this goal. + +The truckers performance was tracked for the next three months and there was little +or no improvement (1 or 2 percent at most). The truckers were then informed that +a goal had been set for them; the goal was to haul 94 percent of capacity on each load +a much more specific goal than Do your best. After three months, the truckers were +averaging over 90 percent of capacity per load, very close to the 94 percent goal the +managers had set for them. + + + +Delegation and Motivation 403 + +No pay increases were given for the increase in weight hauled, although the truckers +were told they would not be asked to make any more runs than they normally did as +a result of hauling more weight. This remarkable change in behavior saved Weyerhauser +over $250,000 annually, and subsequent checks on the truckers have found this level +of performance to have been maintained for many years. A specific goal indeed makes +a difference. + +Networking + +Information on organization development and management is available online +through the OD Network (http://www.odnetwork.org). Also, check out ASPAs +Community Learning and Governance Network (http://www.aspanet.org/solutions/ +clgn.html). For specific information on conflict resolution, visit the Conflict +Resolution Center (http://www.ConflictRes.Org/), the National Association for +Community Mediation (http://www.igc.org/nafcm/), or Illinois Center for Analysis +of Alternative Dispute Resolutions Systems (http://www.caadrs.org), which offers +insight into specific examples of ADR at the state level. + +3. The means for verifying whether a goal has been achieved should be specified. In the +study at Weyerhauser, the truckers weighed in at the delivery location for the logs, which +provided a precise way to measure the amount of weight they were hauling and, in turn, +how close they were to the goal. (Incidentally, the weigh-in procedure was not added by +the experiment; the truckers had been following it for many years as part of their job.) +4. A date or time by which the goal is to be accomplished should be specified. The pres +ence or absence of a deadline is a critical attribute of any goal-setting exercise. Deadlines +stimulate action, and the closer the deadline, the more motivation to act. The absence of +a deadline makes the urgency of the goal indefinite and hence less motivating. + +For example, there are a disproportionately large number of plays during the last few +minutes of a football game because the team that is behind faces a deadline for scoring +more points or losing the game. Similar increases in activity occur toward the end of the +trading period each day on the New York Stock Exchange. Think of your own behavior +as a test date approaches and you begin to increase your preparation activities. These +examples illustrate the motivational force of a deadline, a crucial ingredient in any goal +statement. +5. A goal should be perceived as attainable. Impossible goals often are unmotivating +because there is no reason to try if they cannot, by definition, be attained. (Problems +may occur, however, if the goal is too attainable.) +6. Although a goal should be attainable, it should also be challenging. There is little or +no satisfaction in achieving a goal that presents too little challenge. The best goal in +terms of motivation is one that is perceived as attainable yet challenging as one that +can be achieved, but only with significant effort. + +Psychologist David McClelland demonstrated this phenomenon many years ago. +Children were asked to throw bean bags into a box from various distances, including +a position located right next to the box. After they had thrown from various distances, + + + +404 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +they were asked from which position they preferredto throw. Very few picked the loca +tion next to the box; most picked a position farther away, a decision consistent with the +properties of attainability and challenge. In effect, the children were setting their own +goals, and the goals they set were challenging but attainable. +7. When setting a goal for someone else, the goal must be understandable to the people +for whom you are setting them. If they cannot understand the goals, how can you expect +them to achieve them? As in so many areas, clarity is highly important. +8. It was originally thought that if the people did not take part in setting goals, they +would reject them. Subsequent research, such as the Weyerhauser study in which the +truck drivers did not take part in establishing the goals, has shown that people are quite +willing to accept goals that others set for them. This does not mean, however, that involv +ing people in establishing goals is a waste of time. Among other things, if the people +who will actually be trying to accomplish the goals take part in formulating them, there +is a greater chance that they will more completely and accurately understand the goals. +And although people may be willing to accept goals established by others, there may be +greater motivation if they participate. + +Managers often worry about involving subordinates in decision making, including +decisions about goals and goal levels. A study comparing goals that managers set for +their subordinates to goals for the same activities set by the subordinates themselves +revealed that the subordinates set the more difficult goals (Hitt, Middlemist, & Mathis, +1983, p. 289). Although this may not happen all the time, it is an intriguing finding that +supports the notion of including subordinates in the goal-setting process. + +Conflict, Bargaining, and Negotiation + +Differences and conflicts inevitably arise in public and nonprofit organizations. But as +Richard Box explains, finding a way to equitably resolve differences is a key interper +sonal skill, opening the door to more citizen-oriented governance. For elected leaders +and public service practitioners, this means a flexible attitude toward change, shedding +of protective feelings about personal turf, and a willingness to engage in open dialogue +on issues facing the community (Box, 1998, p. 12). + +Roger Fischer and William Ury of the Harvard Negotiation Project have suggested +that negotiation is a natural process that occurs where two parties share certain interests +but are opposed with respect to others. Negotiations often move quickly to positions +that are held by one party or another. For example, a union representative requests a +10 percent raise, while the city negotiator takes the position that only a 2 percent raise is +possible. Moving quickly to a position and allowing it to become hard and fast tends not +only to produce undesirable results, but to damage the continuing relationship between +the parties. Positional bargaining seems to move participants to one of two postures: +a soft posture that tends to emphasize the ongoing relationship and seeks agreement +among participants, or a hard posture that assumes an adversarial relationship and in +which each party seeks victory over the other. + + + +Group Dynamics 40J + +BOX 11.3 + +Guidelines for Successful Negotiations + +1. Separate the people from the problem. +2. Focus on interests, not positions. +3. Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do. +4. Insist that the result will be based on some objective standard. + +SOURCE: From Getting to Yes, lie by Roger Fischer and William Ury and Bruce Patton. Copyright +1981, 1991 by Roger Fischer and William Ury. Reprinted with permission of Floughton Mifflin Company. +All rights reserved. + +Fischer and Ury suggest an alternative method called principled negotiation. Principled +negotiation is based around four elements of negotiation: people, interests, options, and the +criteria for solution. Four guidelines emerge from these elements (see Box 11.3). + +According to Fischer and Ury, following these guidelines leads to negotiated settlements +that are more equitable and more likely to lead to continued effective working relation +ships than are more traditional modes of bargaining. Remember that negotiations occur +in all kinds of situations, from deciding which movie to see to resolving matters of war and +peace; however, the same general guidelines may be employed in all negotiations to gener +ate more effective and responsible solutions. + +More recently, managers of public and nonprofit organizations have adopted systems +for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ADR can be thought of as any conflict man +agement strategy outside of formal adjudication. Approaches range from preventative +measures, which include consensus building and setting clear parameters on interpersonal +(and interorganizational) relationships, to more formal approaches, such as court-based +mediation and arbitration (Constantino & Sickles-Merchant, 1996). + +Group Dynamics + +Individuals acting alone make a majority of organizational decisions, but sometimes two +or more people combine efforts to solve a problem or make a decision. Research has +shown that sometimes a group should make a decision and that certain advantages come +from group decision making, but there are also disadvantages. Similarly, studies of group +dynamics have established fairly predictable patterns of interactions. + +Advantages of Group Decision Making + +An old cliche has it that two heads are better than one probably because two heads hold +more information than one. Put any two people together, and each one will know some +thing the other does not. Create a group of five or six, and there is even more information +available. We have already seen that generating alternatives is one of the fundamental steps + + + +406 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +in the rational decision-making process, even under satisficing c6nditions. Because there +is more information in a group, there is greater potential for generating more alternative +solutions to a problem than could be generated by a single decision maker. But these +advantages will surface only if the group is managed properly. + +Groups may also benefit from synergy, the notion that the whole is greater than the +sum of the parts. Synergy can occur in a group, but it is a precious commodity that is +not easy to create. Consider the following case: + +Three people get together to solve a problem. Bob proposes a solution, then Allen +proposes a different solution. Betty has been listening to the proposals, which stim +ulates an idea to solve the problem in a completely new way. The idea represents +something new that was not present before in the group. If it were possible to +quantify the information in the group at the beginning of the discussion, the total +information would equal the sum of the information held by the individual mem +bers. With Bettys new idea, an idea stimulated by the group discussion, the sum is +now greater than the sum of the individual parts. + +How much and how often synergy occurs in a group is often a function of the nature +of the groups communications. In small groups (ten or fewer), a number of characteristic +communication patterns or networks tend to develop, some of which promote synergy +more than others. A fundamental way communication networks differ from one another +is in terms of how centralized the networks tend to be. The more centralized a communi +cation network, the more one or a few people are at or near its center. In such a group, +the people near the center of the network are involved in receiving and transmitting all +or most of the messages that are communicated within the network. The less centralized +or more decentralized a network is, the more everyone can communicate with everyone +else without having to transmit the message through intermediaries. + +As shown in Figure 11.1, the wheel is the most centralized of the networks, the all +channel is the least centralized, and the circle and the chain fall between the two extremes. +Research has shown that decisions are made more quickly in centralized networks when +a simple problem is being handled, and that groups with centralized networks also tend to +produce more accurate solutions to simple problems than do decentralized groups. + +Wheel All-Channel + +Centralized Decentralized + +FIGURE 11.1 + +Communication Networks + + + +Group Dynamics 407 + +Decentralized networks, however, are both faster and more accurate in reaching deci +sions about complex problems, and they will also produce more accurate solutions. +Complex problems, by their nature, involve more information, and the decentralized +networks make it easier to tap and process the information held by each member. +Complex problems also tend to benefit more from synergy in developing solutions, and +the ability of everyone to be involved in the discussion and to listen to the discussions of +others promotes synergy. Thus, decentralized communication networks tend to promote +synergy more than do centralized networks. + +There is also evidence that centralized, one-way communication also tends to promote +information loss. A well-known study followed messages sent from the boards of direc +tors in one hundred companies to see what happened to them as they worked their way +down the hierarchy in each company. The messages passed from the board of directors, +to vice presidents, to division managers, to plant managers, to supervisors, and finally to +the operating managers. By the time the messages reached the operating managers, only +20 percent of the original content was left! + +We want to do more than just make a good decision. The final step in the decision +making process is always implementation. If the people who make the decision are the +ones who will be implementing it, the commitment to the decision should help with its +implementation. Research also reveals that satisfaction with the group and its processes +increases as the networks become more decentralized. Satisfaction is not exactly the +same thing as commitment, but the two are closely related. In most cases, then, as partic +ipation in making the decision increases, so should commitment to the final decision. + +An interesting property of group decision making, the risky shift, can be either an +advantage or a disadvantage. The risky shift refers to how daring the decisions would be +if made as a group compared to the average risk of the same decision if each member +made it alone. It was originally thought that groups would always make riskier decisions +than would individual members. As more research was conducted, however, it was dis +covered that sometimes the shift will be in the opposite directionthat groups some +times make decisions that are less risky than those made by members working alone. + +Sometimes a daring decision produces better results, but sometimes it makes things +worse. Since the same can be said about more conservative decisions, the dilemma is that +it is often impossible to predict whether a more conservative or more daring decision +will yield better results. The most we can say is that a group decision will normally be +either more daring or more conservative than the average riskiness of a decision made by +each member acting individually. + +Disadvantages of Group Decision Making + +In addition to the several advantages that are possible with group decision making, there +are potential problems too. One of the obvious constraints on human beings that results +in our bounded rationality is the constraint of time. Time not only limits the efforts of +individual decision makers to acquire and process information, but it also limits the possi +bilities for groups to make decisions. Normally, it takes a group much longer to make a +decision than it takes an individual to make a decision about the same problem. Time thus +becomes an important constraint on a managers ability to use group decision making. + + + +408 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +Another constraint may be cost. Even if group decision making and individual decision +making were equally fast, the group is still more expensive. Compare a single decision +maker, whose pay amounts to $100 per hour, taking one hour to reach a decision to +a committee of five managers, each of whose salaries amount to $100 per hour. The cost +to the organization for the single decision maker is $100, whereas the cost of the commit +tee is $500. + +Another property of groups, which is the opposite of synergy, is groupthink. If syn +ergy is the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, groupthink makes +the whole (the group) less than the sum of the parts. Groupthink was first defined and +analyzed by Irving Janis as a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are +deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members strivings for unanimity over +ride their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action (Janis, 1983). +Because the group is so cohesive, greater emphasis is given to conformity than to making +good decisions. + +Janis identified characteristics of groups victimized by groupthink and cautioned man +agers to interpret the presence of these characteristics in a group carefully. For example, +groups experiencing groupthink have an illusion of morality, a belief that the groups +position, whatever it may be, is inherently ethical and moral in comparison to positions +held by other individuals and groups. Such groups also engage in negative stereotyping +of other people and groups, often viewing outsiders as the enemy and as being too dif +ferent to negotiate with. Groupthink tends to produce an illusion of invulnerability, +which makes decisions seem less risky than they really are. Rationalization is commonly +employed as a way to discredit information critical of the group or its decisions, and +there is frequent self-censorship of dissenting views, which minimizes the amount of crit +ical or contrary information to which the group is exposed. A strong conformity pres +sure permeates the group and puts further pressure on group members to agree with the +dominant position. Finally, an illusion of unanimity results in the belief that everyone in +the group believes in the groups decision and judgment. Groups that are victimized by +groupthink are limited in their constructive abilities. + +Interpersonal Dynamics in Groups + +Interpersonal relationships affect the work of groups or teams. To illustrate the problems +that can arise, imagine that two people who despise each other are assigned to the same +committee. These two individuals will not work as well together as two people who are +neutral toward each other or who like or respect each other. Even if the conflict is not +manifested, personal animosity may contribute to building a hidden agenda, where pri +vately held goals and priorities motivate actions more directly than the overt and publicly +stated reasons. The operation of hidden agendas disrupts the group and diminishes its +effectiveness. + +But the interpersonal dynamics of groups in action are much more subtle and com +plex than these examples suggest (Gardner, 1974, pp. 8-11). For example, groups often +follow a fairly predictable pattern of development. Typically, at the outset of the groups +work, its members are highly dependent on the leader of the group. They ask for direc +tion and become quite frustrated if specific direction is not given. If the leader allows + + + +Group Dynamics 409 + +the group to become overly dependent, however, its effectiveness will suffer in the long +term. The leader can resist dependency by referring questions back to the groups mem +bers for input. + +Often, however, a period of counterdependence will follow, in which members may +show hostility toward the leader. Still wanting some direction, the groups members are +now also experiencing a need for independence, just as an adolescent may simultaneously +love and hate his or her parents. Counterdependency seems especially likely to occur in +authoritarian work environments, where members actions are too closely regulated. + +On the other hand, in a group where members feel they can openly express themselves +and their ideas without fear of retaliation, feelings of interdependence may develop. At +this stage, group members recognize the purposes they hold in common and come to have +greater trust and respect for one another. The group will probably be most effective when +it reaches this stage. + +As the group moves through these stages of development, certain patterns of behavior +are likely to occur. Early in the groups development, some members may seek flight, +through actual withdrawal from the work of the group or through silence, irrelevant +comments, or self-serving remarks. Most flight behavior is an implicit attempt to say +that nothing significant will happen unless the leader gives in to the groups desire for +explicit direction. In the counterdependent stage, members may engage in fight behavior +or in pairing. Fighting the groups leader in some symbolic fashion is, of course, a fairly +straightforward act of rebellion; pairing or breaking off into small groups or alliances is +somewhat more subtle, yet expresses the same emotion. Finally, as the group reaches the +stage of interdependence, the actual work of the group can be accomplished in reason +able and satisfying ways. + +At this stage, a variety of leadership functions must occur for the group to maintain +its effectiveness (see Box 11.4). These functions can all be performed by a single person, +typically the groups formal leader, but they can also be performed by a variety of differ +ent people active at different times in the groups development. In either case, if you wish +to help the group meet its objectives, you should be attentive both to the stages of group +development and to the extent to which the various leadership functions are being +fulfilled. + +Changing the Composition of the Group + +An open group is one that experiences a great deal of turnover among its membership, +whereas a closed group has a stable membership (Ziller, 1965). Because of their stability, +closed groups tend to become very cohesive, but this feature often makes it difficult +for a newcomer to become integrated with the group. Whereas lack of acceptance of a +newcomer is a group property, it may be perceived as the result of unsatisfactory inter +personal relationships between the newcomer and individual group members. + +American organizations are becoming more multicultural in composition at both the +managerial and nonmanagerial levels. As more and more women and members of minor +ity groups come to be included in what were previously relatively homogeneous groups, +other types of problems, often interpersonal, will tend to occur, and the people involved + + + +4io Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +BOX 11.4 .^ ^ ' + +Leadership Roles in Group Dynamics + +1. The coordinator role: Communicate to all members about meetings, schedules, +tasks, procedures, and similar matters; act as an information clearinghouse for +all group members and as a contact person with other groups or outsiders. + +2. The facilitator role: Set up procedures and a structure for group work; assist +members in identifying problems, defining issues, summarizing progress, and +working together. (This role involves minimal direct influence on the group task. +It concentrates on establishing an interpersonal network that helps members +work together to solve problems.) + +3. The trainer role: Teach group members ways of approaching problems; provide +the group with methods of learning from their own experiences; arrange for +outside consultants to train the group. + +4. The observer role: Be alert to how the group is functioning and particularly +to which functions are not being met; describe to members what is happening +in terms of the group process; show the group areas in which change might +facilitate their work. + +5. The gap filler role: Fulfill those functions that are not being handled by anyone +else, particularly the functions of summarizing, clarifying, synthesizing, or +facilitating compromise. + +6. The monitor role: Once the group has determined a procedure to follow or a +solution to a problem, see to it that the group is reminded of responsibilities, +functions, and assignments necessary for implementation of the decision; provide +copies of budgets, schedules, assignment sheets, and agendas to members so they +can complete their work on schedule. + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Ernest Stech and Sharon Ratliffe, Working in Groups (Lincolnwood, IL: +National Textbook Company, 1976), 220-221. Reprinted by permission of the McGraw-Hill Companies. + +will often not consciously know the reasons for them. Rosabeth Kanter (1977) explains +what happens when a previously homogeneous group is joined by a newcomer who +differs in some socially salient way from the group members as the theory of relative +numbers. The insights it provides can be useful to managers working in multicultural +environments. + +The theory of relative numbers is proposed as a universal explanation for the phe +nomena that occur when a homogeneous group is joined by someone who differs from +the existing group members. Groups defined by occupation, age, religion, political pref +erence, marital status, and many other characteristics all fit the theory and its explana +tion. The theory then presumably applies to many situations other than groups defined +by race or gender, although these are the characteristics with which we are concerned. +The theory begins by asking what happens when an all-white group is joined by a black +member, or when an all-male group is joined by a female member. + + + +Group Dynamics 411 + +When a group is homogeneous in terms of a characteristic such as race or sex, mem +bers may differ in terms of individual personalities, but they will not stand out, by defini +tion, because of race or gender differences. Kanter illustrates such a group with the letter +X and calls all of the group members Xs (members of a single race). + +XXXXXXXXXX (1) + +Kanter represents a member of a different race with the letter O; when an individ +ual of this race joins the group, the group is diagrammed as follows: + +XXXXXOXXXX (2) + +This new group, new in terms of composition, will experience different dynamics now +that O is present. Diagram (2) illustrates what happens in this situation. Which letter +sticks out in row (2)? It is the O, who experiences extra visibility as a result of the racial +difference. The extra visibility itself, to say nothing of prejudicial attitudes that may pre +vail in the group, will create problems for O. Because always standing out is inherently +stressful, O faces more personal stress. Moreover, O will also have problems with infor +mal aspects of the organization because Xs tend to become involved with other Xs +rather than Os. This makes it harder for Os to become part of the informal networks +that exist in organizations. It also means that Os tend to be unsponsored or unmentored, +since Xs tend to mentor other Xs. + +One of the more intriguing things that happens to O is a form of stereotyping. As +we have mentioned, human beings do not tolerate chaos well and create order by +defining and redefining situations to explain what is happening. This is especially true +in trying to understand human behavior, as we all tend to develop explanations +for why other people behave as they do. Explanations for Os behavior will tend to +take the form O is behaving that way because that is the way all Os behave. +Explanations for Os behavior will often be based on Os status as an O. These attribu +tions are often detrimental to Os standing because, among other things, they tend to +depersonalize O. + +In terms of solutions or remedies, adding more Os to the group may be helpful. +Kanter suggests that the extra visibility and its attendant effects tend to diminish as the +proportion of Os in the group increases to about 15 percent, but she believes they do not +become inconsequential until the group is composed of about 40 percent Os. The key is +the proportion of Xs and Os in the group, not absolute numbers; for example, two Os +in a group with ten members will experience the same visibility as four Os in a twenty- +member group. + +It is not always possible to solve or significantly reduce many of these problems +by increasing the proportion of Os. African Americans, for example, compose about +15 percent of the American population, which means that, on the average, only enough +blacks could be added to a predominantly white group to begin to reduce the visibility- +created problems. Thus, having managers become aware of the visibility phenomenon +and acting appropriately in their own behaviors toward Os will become particularly +important as more diverse types of people become part of organizations. + + + +4i2 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +Managing Groups in Action +__ ... - -- + +After examining the pros and cons of group decision making, the managers strategy +should be obvious. If a group is to make a decision, it should be managed so as to +enhance the advantages of the group technique and minimize the disadvantages. How, +exactly, does one manage the group to accomplish this? Because most group decision +making takes place in meetings, one answer would seem to be in good meeting manage +ment (see Box 11.5). + +The meeting has nearly the worst reputation of any managerial tool, and much of this +reputation is probably justified. Most of the blame should not be on the meeting as a +technique, however, but on the way meetings are usually managed (or mismanaged). The +first point in improving the effectiveness of meetings is that they are activities that require +active management: a successful meeting does not just happen, it requires a lot of work. + +Not surprisingly, the fundamentals of managing a meeting are similar to the funda +mentals of management generally. For example, a meeting must be planned. When will we +have it? Where? What do we intend to accomplish? These questions should be answered +well before the meeting begins. + +A meeting must also be staffed. Who do we want to attend? Who will we invite? +These questions often depend upon the reasons for meeting, which further emphasizes +the importance of planning, but there are other factors in selecting participants. Are + +BOX 11.5 + +How to Be an Effective Group Leader + +Effective group leadership requires: + +1. A solid knowledge of and dedication to the history, goals, values, achievements, +and current directions of the organization. + +2. An ability to keep issues in focus and matters in perspective; to demonstrate +emotional stability in times of stress and conflict. + +3. To value the opinions of each member, to judge each on its merits alone and not +be persuaded or intimidated by displays of emotion or aggressiveness. + +4. A willingness to give credit to others and to accept the blame for failures without +being overly dramatic or obvious. + +5. A good sense of humor, the ability to keep meetings lively and interesting, will +contribute as much as anything to good attendance, morale, and overall +achievement. + +6. To find enjoyment in the meeting and be able to infect others with enthusiasm. +7. To be responsive to the individual members but to be firm when necessary in + +order that the members know where they stand. + +SOURCE: Excerpted from Bill D. Schul, How to Be an Effective Group Leader (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, +1975). Reprinted by permission. + + + +Group Dynamics 413 + +there people who might have hidden agendas, or who might not work well together? +How well did the people you are considering work together last time? How productive +were they? + +An effective meeting manager must organize the meeting, which also involves a sub +stantial amount of planning. What roles will you create at the meeting? Will you have +anyone serve as parliamentarian? In what order will topics and problems be discussed? +Will you divide the group into subcommittees to work on special projects? If so, should +they work on them before, during, or after the meeting? + +Directing the meetingproviding the actual leadership of the ongoing meetingis +itself complex. Some necessary skills are obvious, such as starting the meeting on time; +others are subtle, such as the ability to inhibit a too-vociferous participant. If you have +planned well, you will have a good general idea of what the meeting is intended to +accomplish and will try to move the meeting in that direction. + +As meetings often produce decisions, the manager must also see that the decisions are +implemented. This is often achieved through a form of delegation at the meeting, when +assignments for future action are made. Indeed, it is often a good idea to review assign +ments as part of the meetings conclusion. Finally, conducting a critique of the meeting +after it is over, perhaps introspectively, may prove helpful in moving the manager closer +to the goal of better meeting management. + +Specialized Techniques for Group Decision Making + +Brainstorming is a technique that was developed to enhance the alternative-generation +portion of the decision-making process. The goal is to generate as many ideas about +some problem as possible, while suspending judgment about each idea. The task before +the group is to develop ideas about a problem, or even solutions to the problem, and the +more generated, the better. + +Once the assignment is announced, group members begin to generate ideas. The ideas +are described orally, and someone records each idea on a blackboard or flipchart for +everyone to see. No evaluations of ideas are permitted during brainstorming, and the +session continues until everyone is out of ideas or the leader feels the session has lasted +long enough. The purpose is to bring out the information held by different group mem +bers and to encourage synergy by stimulating new ideas. + +While brainstorming helps enrich the alternative-generation portion of the decision +making process, the nominal group technique generates both alternatives and solutions. +A major purpose of the design is to avoid groupthink. A nominal group is a face-to-face +meeting that allows only very limited interaction among participants. A problem is pre +sented, but unlike brainstorming, the group is expected to make a decision about how to +solve the problem. After the problem has been presented, each member, working alone, +writes down as many solutions to the problem as he or she can formulate. When every +one is finished writing, the leader calls for the solutions. Each person in the room presents +one solution until all the possible solutions have been heard. + +The solutions are recorded publicly as they are presented, again usually on a black +board or a flipchart. Other members may ask questions for clarification if they do not + + + +4i4 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +understand a solution, but only clarifying questions are allowed. Members may not +debate the merits of particular solutions. After every solution has been presented and all +questions answered, the group makes a decision by means of a written poll, taken as +a secret ballot. Each member ranks the different solutions from best to worst. The rank +ings are submitted to the meeting leader without any identifying material on the ballot. +The leader or someone assisting the leader tabulates the ballots, and the solution that +receives the highest average preference becomes the groups decision. + +In many ways, quality circles are the most comprehensive specialized technique for group +decision making in that they are explicitly concerned with every step in the decision-making +process, from recognition that a problem exists through implementation of solutions. +Quality circles also incorporate other specialized techniques such as brainstorming. + +Now that we have examined the advantages and disadvantages of group decision +making, how do we know when to use group decision making rather than an individual +decision maker? + +Participation in Group Decision Making + +The Vroom-Yetton model of participation in decision making focuses on the managers +decision concerning the extent to which subordinates should participate in making a spe +cific decision (Vroom & Yetton, 1973; Vroom & Jago, 1988). The most impressive study +supporting the model was an investigation of two hundred actual managerial decisions. +Managers made these decisions as part of their jobs without the aid of the model; the +model was then applied, after the fact, to determine the effectiveness of various patterns +of involvement in decision making. + +Vroom and his associates identified the two hundred decisions and gathered data +about how much subordinate participation was involved in making each decision. The +researchers were also able to gather information about the consequences of each deci +sion specifically, whether each decision produced successful results. When decisions were +made using a level of subordinate participation consistent with levels that would have +been recommended by the Vroom-Yetton model (remember, none of the managers knew +anything about the model at the time they made the decisions), 68 percent of the results +or outcomes were judged to have been successful. When the amount of participation +by subordinates was not at a level consistent with the models recommendations, only +22 percent of the outcomes were judged to have been successful. + +This is a remarkable difference. In both relative and absolute terms, the managers +who involved subordinates to a degree consistent with the models recommendations had +extremely good results. In relative terms, the outcomes were more than three times better +than the decisions whose level of subordinate participation was inconsistent with the +model. In absolute terms, 68 percent success is excellent, because factors other than how +a decision is made determine whether it produces good results. We would not expect any +decision-making method to produce successful outcomes 100 percent of the time, so the +results in the study were quite impressive. + +The Vroom-Yetton model involves the choice of various levels of involvement in deci +sion making; the choice is not merely between a single individual and an entire group. + + + +Group Dynamics 41 j + +BOX 11.6 + +Types of Management Decision Methods + +Symbol_Definition + +AI You solve the problem or make the decision yourself using the +information available to you at the present time. + +All You obtain any necessary information from subordinates, then +decide on a solution to the problem yourself. You may or may not +tell subordinates the purpose of your questions or give information +about the problem or decision on which you are working. The input +provided by them is clearly in response to your request for specific +information. They do not play a role in the definition of the problem +or in generating or evaluating alternative solutions. + +Cl You share the problem with the relevant subordinates individually, +getting their ideas and suggestions without bringing them together as +a group. Then you make the decision. This decision may or may not +reflect your subordinates influence. + +CII You share the problem with your subordinates in a group meeting. +In this meeting you obtain their ideas and suggestions. Then you +make the decision, which may or may not reflect your subordinates +influence. + +GII You share the problem with your subordinates as a group. Together +you generate and evaluate alternatives and attempt to reach agree +ment (consensus) on a solution. Your role is much like that of +chairperson, coordinating the discussion, keeping it focused on the +problem, and making sure that the critical issues are discussed. You +can provide the group with information or ideas that you have, but +you do not try to press them to adopt your solutions and you +are willing to accept and implement any solution that has the +support of the entire group. + +SOURCE: Reprinted from Leadership and Decision-Making, by Victor H. Vroom and Philip W. Yetton, +by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press. 1973 by University of Pittsburgh Press. + +These are two alternatives that frame a continuum with several other levels of partici +pation in-between. As Vroom and Yetton conceptualized them, there are five levels of +participation along this continuum (see Box 11.6). The Vroom-Yetton model indicates +which level of participation is appropriate in a particular situation. (Note that for some +situations, two or more participation levels are equally likely to produce decisions that +will generate successful results.) + +To use the model, you must understand (1) how to identify the different situations, +and (2) how to match different situations with the appropriate levels of participation. + +Both issues are resolved by the use of two tools in combination: (1) the set of alterna +tive courses of action listed in Box 11.6 and (2) the decision tree shown in Figure 11.2. + + + +416 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +A. Does the problem possess a quality requirement?' +B. Do you have sufficient information to make a high-quality decision? +C. Is the problem structured? +D. Is acceptance of the decision by subordinates important to effective implementation? +E. If you were to make the decision by yourself, is it reasonably certain that it would be + +accepted by your subordinates? +F. Do subordinates share the organizational goals to be attained in solving this problem? +G. Is there likely to be conflict among subordinates over preferred solutions? + + + +FIGURE 11.2 +mmmmm + +Decision Tree Governing Group Problems + +SOURCE: Reprinted from Leadership and Decision-Making, by Victor H. Vroom and Philip W. Yetton, by +permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press. 1973 by University of Pittsburgh Press. + +The decision tree initially appears complex but is simple to use. One begins under +point A by answering question A (all questions must be answered either yes or no; +maybe or sometimes is not allowed). Depending on the answer, you proceed to +either question D (for a no response to A) or to question B (for a yes response to +A). One continues answering the questions as indicated by the decision tree until you +reach an end point. + +Each end point is numbered, with a set of participation levels listed after each end +point. These are feasible sets; all the participation levels listed in a feasible set are equally +likely to result in a successful outcome. This does not mean, however, that there is no +reason to pick one style over another within the feasible set. The decision styles are +arranged in the order of the amount of time it will take to reach a decision using the +styles. The style listed first is the fastest, followed by the second fastest, and so on. In +most situations, one should choose the fastest style in the feasible set. + +Again, the answers to the questions along the path reaching the particular end point +define the situation, and the participation levels indicated in the feasible sets provide +guidance concerning the appropriate level of involvement. Although the model, even +as presented here in simplified form, may initially seem cumbersome and complex, + + + +Organization Change and Development 417 + +managers who practice it for several days seem to be able to utilize it without notes +thereafter. + +Organization Change and Development + +The capacity to bring about needed changes effectively and responsibly may be the key +determinant of success or failure as a public manager. Change is ubiquitous in public +organizations; some changes are small and little noticed, others are major and widely pub +licized. New programs and procedures must be developed, new organizational arrange +ments are required, and new attitudes and behaviors must be encouraged. Especially as +the pace and complexity of modern life impinges on those in public organizations, a high +degree of flexibility, creativity, and adaptability on the part of the organization and its +members is increasingly required. + +But change does not come easily in modern organizations, so it is important to under +stand the nature of the change process and the reasons that people sometimes accept and +support changes and sometimes resist. Some people are simply more open to change +than others. The intuitive person, for example, is attracted by the future and is eager to +embrace new ideas and concepts; the sensing person, on the other hand, lives more in the +here and now and may need more convincing that a proposed change is a good idea. But +regardless of personal differences, there are things managers can do to increase the like +lihood that organization members will agree to a particular change (see Box 11.7). If +people trust the person who is proposing the change, either based on his or her skill +and expertise or his or her record in past change efforts, then they will be more likely to +accept the change. Similarly, if people fully understand the implications of the change, +and if they have been involved in developing the new idea, they will be more likely to +accept the change. Finally, if the manager is sensitive to the implications of the change +for individuals in the organization and for their relationships with one another, people +will be more likely to accept the change. + +Unfortunately, these basic guidelines for implementing change are regularly violated, +often leading to confusion and turmoil. Take the following case as an example: + +Jane Sanford knew the work of the health services agency better than anyone else; +she also knew the importance of employee involvement in organizational changes. As +she listened to proposals from her staff for ways to implement a new immunization +program, however, she knew that the plan she had formulated earlier in her office +was far superior. Just as consensus seemed to be building around one particular sug +gestion, Jane jumped in and announced her plan, asking for quick implementation. +To Janes surprise, the members of her staff were furious. + +As Jane Sanford discovered, if a change is ordered abruptly and dictatorially with +little advance notice or preparation, the chances of its ready adoption are severely +reduced. Moreover, if some perceive a proposed change as threatening, its chances of + + + +418 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +BOX 11.7 + +Major Objectives of Typical Organizational Development Programs + +To create an open, problem-solving climate throughout the organization so that +members can confront problems rather than fight about or flee from them. +To build trust among individuals and groups through out the organization, whether +through vertical linkages between superiors and subordinates, horizontal linkages +among peers, or diagonal linkages among individuals of different ranks in different +units. +To supplement the authority of role or status with the authority of knowledge and +competence. +To locate decision making and problem-solving responsibilities as close as possible to +the information sources. +To make competition, where it exists, contribute to meeting work goals +(organization units compete to produce a good or service more efficiently and ef +fectively) as opposed to win/lose competition. +To maximize collaboration between individuals and units whose work is +interdependent. +To develop a reward system that recognizes both achievement of the organizations +mission (profits or service) and human development (growth of people). +To increase the sense of ownership of organization objectives throughout the work +force. +To help managers manage according to relevant objectives rather than according to +past practices or to objectives that do not make sense for ones area of +responsibility. +To increase self-control and self-direction for people within the organization. +To create conditions where conflict is brought out and managed. +To increase awareness of group process and its consequences for performance +that is, to help people become aware of what is happening between and to group +members while the group is working on the task (e.g., communication, influence, +feelings, leadership styles and struggles, relationships between groups, how conflict +is managed, and so on). + +success are lessened. These outcomes are especially likely when the organization is +already marked by poor working relationships; the proposed change may become a tar +get for other real or imagined frustrations and will not be considered on its merits at all. + +Diagnosing the Need for Change + +Ideas for change often occur in response to a feeling that something is wrong with the +existing situation. As a manager, you will often scan the organization for blips or trouble +spots that need attention; from these reviews, you may recognize symptoms of underlying + + + +Organization Change and Development 41:9 + +problems. Sometimes you may wish to undertake a more thorough and detailed analysis +that could possibly lead to a major change activity. These are standard topics to consider: + +Networking + +Resources on organizational learning and change are available from MITs +Society for Organizational Learning (http://www.sol-ne.org/) or the Stanford +Learning Organization (http://www.stanford.edu/group/SLOW/). Additional +information can be found at the Academy of Management Online +(http://www.aom.pace.edu/). + +1. Context: What is the purpose and history of the organization? What have been major +strengths and weaknesses over the years? What are the political and economic constraints +on operations? +2. Outputs: At the organizational level, what are the levels of citizen satisfaction, effi +ciency, and productivity? At the group and individual levels, what is the satisfaction level +of the employees and their commitment to the organization? +3. Organizational culture: What are the dominant beliefs, attitudes, and values in the +organization? Are there different values in different parts of the organization? Are some +sets of values in conflict with others? +4. Task requirements: What are the principal tasks that members of the organization +must perform? Do employees clearly understand organization goals? How highly devel +oped (or overdeveloped) are organizational rules and procedures? +5. Formal organization: How is the work organized? What is the organization structure? +How many levels of management are there? How is work planned and coordinated? +What are the formal modes of communication through the organization? +6. People: How many employees does the organization have and where do they work? +What is the mix of skills and abilities among employees? How many managers are there, +and how do they relate to other employees? +7. Physical setting and technology: What is the condition of the organizations buildings +and equipment? How does the physical environment affect the work being done? What +is the level of technology, and how effectively is it employed? (Lippitt, Langseth, & +Mossop, 1985, pp. 6-13). + +Strategies for Organizational Change + +Having diagnosed the need for changes, the manager may wish to undertake a fairly +broad-scale effort to revitalize the organization. As we saw earlier, one set of approaches +to change efforts is generally termed organization development. Those involved in +organization development (OD) tend to focus on the human side of the organization, +though their work may lead to recommendations about physical or programmatic +matters as well. OD practitioners see the primary problem in most organizations as +restrictive patterns of behavior, often based on misunderstanding and mistrust, that limit + + + +42.0 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +the capacity of the organization and its members to deal effectively with a complex +and changing environment. The problem then becomes one of unfreezing past patterns +of behavior, replacing them with more open and trusting relationships, and freezing +these in place. Because these behavior patterns are largely based on the implicit images +or theories of organization that guide our eventual behaviors, it is important not +only that behaviors change, but that real learningthat is, adjustment of ones theo +ries occur. + +Most students of organizational development find that efforts to change established +patterns of behavior are easier with the help of an outside educator or interventionist, +an external consultant brought in to work with members to reveal dysfunctional behav +iors and to try to develop more effective working relationships. It is important to have +changes develop internally rather than be imposed from outside. Chris Argyris suggests +that the interventionists role involves three efforts: (1) to help generate valid and use +ful information; (2) to create conditions in which clients can make informed and free +choices; and (3) to help clients develop an internal commitment to their choice (Argyris, +1970, pp. 12-13; also, Argyris, 1993). + +A variety of techniques are available to the interventionist, including the following: + +Team building: Much of an organizations work is done in groups; a program of team +development may help improve group effectiveness. Usually, one begins with a careful +review of how team members communicate and work together. Following a diagnosis +of interpersonal group problems, the facilitator leads the group in designing an action +plan to overcome those difficulties. Many of these interventions can be accomplished +without an outside facilitator. + +Intergroup problem solving: Occasionally conflict or competition arises among +groups; for example, two divisions of a small organization may fight over resources +and prestige, overlapping responsibilities, or confusion about allocation of responsi +bilities. An interventionist might bring the groups (or representatives) together to +identify problem areas and begin to devise ways to deal with the problems. As you +might expect, confrontations are often difficultsometimes even tumultuousbut +a trained group facilitator can help keep the group focused on resolving the real issues +that divide them. + +Goal setting and planning: In goal-setting efforts, superior-subordinate pairs or +groups throughout the organization are asked to systematically assess their capa +bilities and set specific targets for future performance. After a specific period, the +individuals or groups meet again to evaluate their work and establish goals for +the next period. (As we have seen, one broad approach to organizationwide efforts +to engage in formal planning and goal setting is described as management by +objectives, or MBO.) + +Sensitivity training: As we saw in Chapter 9, the values heralded by students of +organization development emphasize openness and trust among people at all levels +of the organization. One way to significantly improve openness and trust is to help +individuals and groups identify and explore their deep-seated feelings about their + + + +Terms and Definitions 421 + +work and, perhaps, about one another. A trained facilitator is almost essential here, +for serious personal and interpersonal issues often emerge and must be handled +with great care. + +Summary and Action Implications + +All the knowledge, values, and skills you possess are expressed in the moment of +action. Whether you are a manager or a policy analyst, or hold some other position in +a public organization, your ability to act effectively and responsibly in the real world +will determine your success. Your actions will usually occur in social settings and +require working with others. Especially in a managerial position, you will engage in +almost constant interaction with other people. So, no matter how much you know or +how proper your values, your effectiveness will be limited if you cannot work well +with others. + +Today we recognize that interpersonal skills, like other skills, can be developed and +improved over time. Just as artists or athletes can improve proficiency, so can you improve +your skills in areas of communications, delegation, negotiation, and group dynamics. +The key to improving your skills in public management, as in other areas, is practice and +repetition, accompanied by self-reflection and self-critique. + +If you want to be a better communicator, for example, you should seek opportunities +to practice communicating with others. Find opportunities to make presentations; prac +tice listening with special concentration and sensitivity; try to develop your writing skills. +As you practice, be conscious of your own and others reactions. Reflect upon your +successes and failures and try to learn from both. Over time, you will improve your +skills and find yourself far more effective. + +Throughout this book, we have described public management as involving cognitive, +conceptual, technical, and human skills. In the moment of action, however, the areas +cannot be separated. Indeed, your capacity to bring together knowledge, technique, and +interactive skills at the moment of action will determine success or failure in most situa +tions. Public management can be studied in the abstract, but it must be lived in the real +world a world of stress, complexity, and uncertainty. In few other fields do so many +aspects of the human personality have to come together. But it is this very difficulty that +makes public service so challenging and rewarding. + +Terms and Definitions + +Brainstorming: Technique for enhancing the alternative-generation portion of the +decision-making process. + +Delegation: Assigning tasks to others. + + + +422 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +Hidden agenda: Privately held goals and priorities. + +Interventionist: External consultant brought in to reveal dysfunctional patterns of +behavior and to try to develop more effective working relationships. + +Nominal group: Face-to-face meeting that allows only limited interaction among +participants. + +Parity principle: Idea that an individual should have equal amounts of authority and +responsibility. + +Risky shift: Difference in the daringness of decisions group members make as +a group compared to the average risk of the same decision if each member made +it alone. + +Two-factor theory: Model of motivation involving two variables: job satisfaction and +job dissatisfaction. + +Study Questions + +1. What are the seven basics of effective listening? +2. Why is speaking an important interpersonal skill? +3. Discuss the Six Cs for effective written communication. +4. Management can be defined as the process of getting things done through + +others. Discuss how delegation and motivation enable the work of management +to occur. + +5. Explain reinforcement theory and its four basic scenarios or results. +6. Goal setting is another motivation technique. Discuss what characteristics a goal + +should have for maximum motivational impact. +7. What are the elements of principled negotiation? +8. Discuss advantages and disadvantages associated with group decision making. +9. Explain the fundamentals of managing group dynamics. + +10. Identify and discuss various techniques for group decision making. +11. Change is an important aspect of administrative work. Discuss the necessary steps + +for organizational change and development. +12. Define the techniques available to interventionists involved in organizational change + +and development. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. Divide your class into groups of three. Taking turns, have one person choose a topic +from the list that follows and begin a conversation with the group. Try to follow the +rules of effective communication. + + + +Cases and Exercises 423 + +a. You are short of cash and want to take a winter vacation to an island off the coast +of Mexico. You need to borrow at least $300 for the trip. You are pretty sure you +can pay it back in three months. + +b. The two classmates you are talking with have been working with you on a class +project. Actually, the problem is that they have not been working! You have to do +something to get them busy, or your grade will suffer. You need at least a B in +the course to graduate. + +c. You have been working in behalf of the homeless in your community for the past +two years. A march on Washington has been scheduled for next week, and a bus +has been chartered to take people from your community to Washington, at a cost +of $83 each. The problem is that unless you can find two more people to make the +trip, the bus will not go. You want to convince your two friends to go with you. + +2. Imagine that you are an administrative assistant to the director of the Department of +Social Services in your state government. The director is interested in starting a new +quality-circles program and wants to send a letter to all the managers and employees +in the department describing the new program and enlisting their support. You have +been asked to draft the letter. Using the information about quality circles in Chapter +8, draft an appropriate letter. + +After everyone in the class has drafted a letter, each draft should be shared with +and analyzed by at least one other student. Your analysis should take into account the +specifics of the situation (what should be said, how much should be said, how it +should be said) as well as the more general Six Cs of effective communications listed +in this chapter. + +3. Divide the class into task groups of five persons each, with three observers assigned to +each group. The task groups should complete the following task: + +List what you consider the five most important guidelines for effectively managing +a large organization. After the task group completes its work, the observers should +lead a discussion of the group dynamics they observed in the work of the task group. + +For observers only: During the discussion, you should silently watch the discussion +and take notes about the operation of the group. Try to identify patterns of group +development such as those presented in the chapter. Pay special attention to shifting +patterns of leadership and communications. If this same group were to perform a sim +ilar task, what would you suggest to improve its effectiveness? + +4. Divide the class into groups of three. Have one person in each group play the role of +Chris, the supervisor, and another play the role of Lynn, the employee. (Each person +should read only his or her own role description and not that of the other person.) +The third person in each group should observe the discussion between Chris and +Lynn, then comment on the motivation strategies employed. The scene begins as Lynn +walks into Chriss office and says, Someone said you wanted to see me. + +Chris: You are twenty-eight years old and recently received your MPA from a +fairly prestigious school in the East. You have worked for the federal government +for four years, moving rapidly from a presidential management internship to your +current position supervising a small unit that produces health and safety brochures +for industry. Lynn has worked with the agency for twenty-three years as a design +specialist. Throughout this period, from what you understand, Lynn has done an + + + +424 Chapter 11 Interpersonal Skills and Group Dynamics + +excellent job. In the few months you have been with the agency, however, you +have noticed a decided drop in both the amount and quality of Lynns work. With a +heavy workload anticipated over the next several months, you decide that you have +to do something to improve Lynns performance. You have asked that Lynn come in +to visit. + +Lynn: You have worked for twenty-three years as a design specialist for a small +federal government unit that produces health and safety brochures for industry. +Throughout your career, you have taken great pride in your work and have done an +excellent job. Over the last few months, however, you have been increasingly troubled +by painful back spasms, the source of which you have not been able to identify. The +problem with your back has triggered a lot of concerns about your health, your age, +your work. Although you have not shared these concerns with anyone, you find that +you spend long periods daydreaming about them. Even drinking a few martinis each +evening has not calmed your fears. You still enjoy your design work, but somehow the +projects you have had recently just do not seem all that exciting. What is worse, your +supervisor, a kid probably half your age, has been hinting that your work may not be +up to par. + +5. Consider the following case. You have recently been appointed head of a new agency +established to monitor pollution emissions from coal-based power plants throughout +the Midwest. The data you collect will have a direct impact on an anticipated presi +dential decision concerning acid rain in the U.S. Northeast and Canada. You must try +to develop the most comprehensive and precise measures possible, then monitor as +many plants as you reasonably can during the relatively short period prior to the pres +idential decision. + +Your staff, most of whom have been in the pollution control field much longer +than you and are highly committed to the goals of your agency, have been arguing +that a new piece of equipment, an Emission Systems Monitoring Instrument (ESMI), +is the only device that is capable of precise measurements of the particular pollutants +with which you are concerned. The problem is that the ESMI is both extremely +costly and would require nearly half the time you have available just to be delivered. +You are skeptical about whether the ESMI is worth the cost, but even more con +cerned that its limited availability will mean that you will fail to meet your deadline. +You also think though you are not sure that the rough estimates generated by the +existing equipment will be sufficient for the purposes of your report to the president. +Do you go ahead with the existing equipment, or do you buy the ESMI? + +Using the Vroom-Yetton model for decisions about delegation, work through the +various aspects of this problem to determine the appropriate level and pattern of +delegation. + +For Additional Reading + +Bass, Bernard M., and Bruce J. Avolio, eds. Improving Organizational Effectiveness +through Transformational Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1993. + + + +For Additional Reading 425 + +Bechard, Richard. Changing the Essence: The Art of Creating and Leading Fundamental +Change in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. + +Denhardt, Robert B. The Pursuit of Significance: Strategies for Managerial Success in +Public Organizations. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1993. + +Denhardt, Robert B., Janet Vinzant Denhardt, and Maria Pilar Aristigueta. Managing +Human Behavior in Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage +Publications, 2001. + +Fischer, Roger, and William Ury. Getting to Yes. 2d ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. +Gortner, Harold F., Julianne Mahler, and Jeanne Bell Nicholson. Organization Theory: A + +Public Perspective. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1987. +Holzer, Mark, ed. Public Service: Callings, Commitments, and Contributions. Boulder, + +CO: Westview Press, 2000. +King, Cheryl Simrell, and Camilla Stivers, eds. Government is Us: Public Administration + +in an Anti-Government Era. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. +National Academy of Public Administration. Leading People in Change: Empowerment, + +Commitment, Accountability. Washington, DC: National Academy, 1993. +Stewart, Debra W, and G. David Garson. Organizational Behavior and Public + +Management. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1983. +Vroom, Victor H., and Arthur G. Jago. The New Leadership. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: + +Prentice Hall, 1988. + + + +Chapter 12 + +The Future of the Public Service + +For those considering work in the public service, whether for a relatively short period or +for an entire career, several considerations may shape your thinking. As we have noted, +the rewards of public service are not likely to be primarily financial. Salaries in most pub +lic organizations lag somewhat behind comparable salaries in business or industry. At the +same time, however, those in public organizations are likely to be given a broader range +of responsibilities earlier in their careers than their counterparts in business or industry. +Moreover, the challenges and complexities of public service provide a special excitement +that comes from being a part of unfolding major events local, state, national, or even +international. + +If you want to be a part of whats happening in a changing society,, then the public +service is the place for you. Think about the incredible variety of work in the public +sector. Public managers are key actors in foreign affairs, the human services, environ +mental policy, educational reform, the space program, and an endless variety of other +important areas. Indeed, it is fair to say that every major local, state, national, or inter +national issue now being discussed will provide challenges and opportunities for public +managers in the future. If you are interested in meaningful work work that makes +a difference in peoples livesthen you should find involvement in the public service +quite appealing. + +The New Public Service + +Throughout most of our countrys history, public service has been recognized as an +important undertaking that contributes to the betterment of society, supported by +citizens and politicians alike. Unfortunately, for the past 25 years or so, support has +wavered. From the late 1960s through the middle 1980s, the public service seemed to be +under fairly constant attack. Through the candidacies of both Jimmy Carter and Ronald +Reagan, national politicians of both parties organized their campaigns at least in part +around attacks on Washington and the bureaucracy. Public administrators were crit +icized as both unresponsive and overly responsive unresponsive to the common citizen +and overly responsive to special interests. Public organizations were accused of +being highly ineffective and inefficient, failing to achieve their objectives and wasting +enormous sums of public funds. + + + +The New Public Service 427 + +Fortunately, the environment of the public service has changed considerably over the +past several years, leading us to be somewhat more optimistic about its future image. +Bush and Clinton were more supportive of the federal public service, and thus +far George W. Bush appears to be continuing this trend. In addition, part of the more +positive perspective on government was brought about as the result of policy and pro +gram shifts in response to questions about government activism; part reflects a grow +ing acceptance of the initiatives that gave rise to dissent; and part is the reemergence +of a positive view of government. In addition, the emergence of state and local govern +ments as both significant and professional in their dealings with the public has had a +positive effect. + +In policy areas, over the past decade Americans have seen tax reductions and tax +reform at the federal level, as well as tax limitations at the state and local levels. These +actions have helped to mitigate the view that the government tax machine is running +wild. In addition, after years of soaring budget deficits, the Bush administration came +into office in 2000 with a projected budget surplus. Similarly, throughout the last +five presidential administrations, there has been a move to deregulate certain activities. +Some areas (such as transportation) were significantly deregulated, while others were +put under special scrutiny by the Office of Management and Budget. In general, an +impression developed that excessive government intervention was being brought under +control. + +Finally, the political climate has been changing, even to the point that we might +suggest the reemergence of a positive view of government. Such a view has been most +evident at the state and local levels. In several important areas notably education, +economic development, and environmental concerns the states were taking positive +actions. And, at the same time, public confidence in state and local governments was +growing. + +Moreover, with growing national concern about such problems as AIDS, hazardous +waste, ocean dumping, the greenhouse effect, drugs, foreign competition, the homeless, +and child care for working families, we might even speculate that a new era of national +action is on the horizon. Indeed, the success of the Clinton administration in reducing +the size of government and contributing to a projected federal surplus, while at the same +time encouraging substantial economic growth may permit the beginning of a more +activist era, as well as one in which the men and women who constitute the public +service will be treated with greater dignity and respect. + +These efforts in support of the public service return our country to a long-standing +tradition. At other periods and even today in other countriesthe public service has +been considered a proud and honorable profession. John F. Kennedys inaugural state +ment continues to have relevance today. Recall that Kennedy said, Ask not what your +country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. In another speech, +Kennedy amplified the point: Let the public service be a proud and lively career. And let +every man and woman who works in any area of our national government, in any +branch at any level, be able to say with pride and honor in future years: I served the +United States Government in that hour of our nations need. Those who work in the +field of public administration at all levels of government carry forward that long and +proud tradition. + + + +42.8 Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +Efforts to Support the Public Service + +Despite recent attacks on the public service, more and more people are coming to recog +nize its tradition of excellence. Recognition of the importance of public service has been +fostered by several groups and organizations, among them the American Society for +Public Administration (ASPA). Always an advocate of public service, a decade ago, ASPA +developed a National Campaign for the Public Service, to promote the dignity and +worth of the public service. Activities of ASPAs National Campaign for the Public Service +have included joining with other groups, such as the Public Employees Roundtable, in +publicizing the benefits and contributions of public servants, developing award programs +and other forms of recognition for outstanding public officials, and developing curricu +lum projects at elementary and secondary school levels to introduce young people to the +public service and the benefits of public-service careers. + +One particularly prestigious body that actively supported the public service was the +National Commission on the Public Service, chaired by former Federal Reserve Board +Chairman Paul A. Volcker. The commission was formed in 1987 following a symposium +in Washington, D.C., that was titled A National Public Service for the Year 2000. Those +at the symposium concluded that a private, nonprofit organization should be assembled +to prepare action recommendations to the president and Congress on what many saw as +a quiet crisis in government. The group felt that too many of the best of the nations +senior executives are ready to leave government, and not enough of its most talented +young people are willing to join. Moreover, conferees felt that this erosion in the attrac +tiveness of the public service at all levelsmost specifically in the federal civil service +undermines the ability of government to respond effectively to the needs and aspirations of +the American people, and ultimately damages the democratic process itself (National +Commission on the Public Service, 1989). Following a period of study and deliberation, +the commission made the following general recommendations (see also Box 12.1): + +First, the president and Congress must provide the essential environment for effective +leadership and public support. + +Second, educational institutions and the agencies of government must work to enlarge +the base of talent available for, and committed to, public service. + +Third, the American people should demand first-class performance and the highest +ethical standards, and, by the same token, must be willing to provide what is neces +sary to attract and retain needed talent. + +Specifically, the commission called upon the president and the Congress to: + +Take action now by word and deed to rebuild public trust in government. + +Clear away obstacles to the ability of the president to attract talented appointees from +all parts of the society. + + + +Efforts to Support the Public Service 429 + +BOX 12.1 + +Main Conclusions of the Volcker Commission + +The central message of this report of the Commission on the Public Service is both +simple and profound, both urgent and timeless. In essence, we call for a renewed sense +of commitment by all Americans to the highest traditions of the public serviceto +a public service responsive to the political will of the people and also protective of our +constitutional values; to a public service able to cope with complexity and conflict and +also able to maintain the highest ethical standards; to a public service attractive to +the young and talented from all parts of our society and also capable of earning the +respect of all our citizens. + +A great nation must demand no less. The multiple challenges thrust upon the +Government of the United States as we approach the twenty-first century can only +reinforce the point. Yet, there is evidence on all sides of an erosion of performance +and morale across government in America. Too many of our most talented pub +lic servants those with the skills and dedication that are the hallmarks of an +effective career service are ready to leave. Too few of our brightest young peo +ple those with the imagination and energy that are essential for the future are +willing to join. + +Meanwhile, the need for a strong public service is growing, not lessening. Americans +have always expected their national government to guarantee their basic freedoms and +provide for the common defense. We continue to expect our government to keep the +peace with other nations, resolve differences among our people, pay the bills for needed +services, and honor the peoples trust by providing the highest levels of integrity and +performance. + +At the same time, Americans now live in a stronger, more populous nation, a nation +with unprecedented opportunity But they also live in a world of enormous complexity +and awesome risks. Our economy is infinitely more open to international competition, +our currency floats in a worldwide market, and we live with complex technologies +beyond the understanding of any single human mind. Our diplomacy is much more +complicated, and the wise use of our unparalleled military power more difficult. And +for all our scientific achievements, we are assaulted daily by new social, environmen +tal, and health issues almost incomprehensible in scope and impact issues like drugs, +AIDS, and global warming. + +Faced with these challenges, the simple idea that Americans must draw upon tal +ented and dedicated individuals to serve us in government is uncontestable. America +must have a public service that can both value the lessons of experience and appreciate +the requirements for change; a public service that both responds to political leadership +and respects the law; a public service with the professional skills and the ethical sensi +tivity America deserves. + +SOURCE: Excerpted from The National Commission on the Public Service, Leadership for America: +Rebuilding the Public Service (Washington, DC, 1989), 1-2. + + + +43 Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +Make more room at senior levels of departments and agencies for career executives. + +Provide a framework within which those federal departments and agencies can exer +cise greater flexibility in managing programs and personnel. + +Encourage a stronger partnership between presidential appointees and career executives. + +Develop more student awareness of, and educational training for, the challenges of +government and public service. + +Develop new channels for spreading the word about government jobs and the +rewards of public service. + +Enhance the efforts to recruit top college graduates and those with specific profes +sional skills for government jobs. + +Simplify the hiring process. + +Increase the representation of minorities in public service. + +Build a pay system that is both fair and competitive. + +Rebuild the governments chief personnel agency to give it the strength and mandate +it needs. + +Set higher goals for government performance and productivity. + +Provide more effective training and executive development. + +Improve government working conditions. + +While the Volcker Commission focused on the federal government, a more recent +National Commission on the State and Local Public Service examined other levels of +government and came to similar conclusions. The commission, chaired by former +Mississippi Governor William F. Winter, pointed out that the 15 million people who +work at the state and local level do much of the real work of domestic governance. +Members of the commission agreed that some important institutional changes were nec +essary in order for these people to meet the challenges of the future. Their proposals call +for movement away from the old rule-bound bureaucratic governments of the past to +a new, more responsive system. Among the recommendations of the commission were +the following: + +Strengthen executive authority to act by reducing the number of independently elected +cabinet-level officials. + +Temper the fragmentation of government by consolidating or eliminating as many +overlapping or underperforming units as possible though a base-closure approach. + +Use the executive budget approach and give state and local executives more opportu +nity to have their program considered as a whole in the legislative process. + + + +Trends in the Public Service 43i + +Flatten the bureaucracy by reducing the number of management layers between the +top and bottom of agencies and thinning the ranks of the managers who remain. + +Deregulate government by (1) reforming the civil service, including reducing use +of veterans preference and seniority; (2) streamlining the procurement process; and +(3) making the budgeting process more flexible. + +Create a learning government by (1) restoring employee training and education bud +gets; (2) creating a new skills package for all employees; (3) basing pay increases on +skills, not time in position; (4) insisting on a new kind of problem-solving manager, +not merely a paper passer; and (5) encouraging a new style of labor-management +communication. + +Open the books on government by providing detailed information on campaign +financing and lobbying. + +Limit the political fund-raising season to six months before an election, and limit the +use of carryover campaign funds. + +Encourage citizen problem solving by experimenting with citizen liaison offices and +setting up a national service corps. + +Begin to deal with the financing crisis in health care, with the federal government +leading, following, or getting out of the way (Thompson, 1993). + +With the efforts of groups such as ASPA, the Volcker Commission, and the Winter +Commission, and with renewed support of political leaders at the national, state, and +local levels, we can expect the reemergence of a greater sense of respect and apprecia +tion for the work of those engaged in public service at all levels. The work of the public +service, the work of building a better world, requires the best possible talent and +deserves both commitment and support. As the Volcker Commission puts it, A great +nation must demand no less (National Commission on the Public Service, 1989, p. 1). + +Trends in the Public Service + +The challenges that will face those in the public service over the coming years are sub +stantial, for they not only require resolving important public-policy problems, but +they also require resolving them in a way that restores and maintains public confi +dence. The efforts to restore meaning and integrity to the public service are much +needed in our society, and in societies around the world, but they should be accompa +nied by a clear understanding of several important trends in our field that are reshap +ing the values and commitments of public service itself. What are the major trends +worldwide that those entering the public service in the next decades are likely to +experience? (See Box 12.2) + + + +432 Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +BOX 12.2 ^ +Challenges for the Future + +The OECDs Public Management and Governance Service (or PUMA) recently released +its prediction of the government of the future, citing the following questions facing +public officials in the twenty-first century: + +How can governments best prepare themselves for reform challenges? +How can the public sector develop a culture responsive to change? +What types of leaders are needed? +How can governments better communicate with citizens? +How can governments avoid reform fatigue? + +While the OECD recognized the need for reform in some cases, it also cautioned +reformers to take stock of the scope of change and make sure the reform agendas +remained in-line with citizen-oriented outcomes. Moreover, the OECD challenged +reformers to make this a shared process. Public management reform has important +stakes for all members of society, but too often people are forced into opposite sides +in discussions on reform: by dividing people into winners and losers, the stage is set +for conflict rather than success (OECD, 2001, p. 1). The key challenge will be to use +the opportunity created by the improving image of government to build a consensus +around the goals, as well as the underlying values, of the reforms. + +SOURCE: OECD. Government of the Future. PUMA Policy Brief No. 9. Paris: OECD, June 2001. + +Economic Changes and Redefining Government + +First, remember that a significant redefinition of the public service is now taking place. +Note specifically that changing economic conditions are affecting both the mission and +structure of the public enterprise. Our economy has been transformed in several ways +from a production base to a service base, from a national base to a global base, and +from a growing public commitment to a limited commitment. In each case, there are +direct implications for those in the public service: + +Challenges face public managers in areas where traditional industries, such as steel or +timber, have suddenly declined, as high tech and high touch has become a banner +for economic growth. + +Challenges face those at the state and local levels who must play new and important +roles in economic development, including international economic development, which +may require them to know as much about business decisions in Japan as in their own +state capital. + + + +Trends in the Public Service 433 + +Challenges face those operating public programs, especially in the human services, +who have found government spending severely restricted at a time when the need for +the services seems ever increasing. + +Our economy is presenting important challenges to government, but in responding to these +challenges, government is not alone. The challenges have led to new ways of thinking +about public/private relationships in the provision of public services. As a result, public- +service work is no longer the work only of government, but an effort in which governmen +tal agencies, nonprofit and third-sector organizations, and corporate and business interests +participate. Consider these examples: + +In many states, the number of persons employed by private security forces exceeds the +number employed by local police departments. + +In some cities, the chamber of commerce is so involved in public programs that it +receives more funding from government than it receives from private business. + +In major urban areas, less than half of human services are delivered by government; +the majority are delivered by nonprofit and private agencies. + +Some of these trends, such as privatization and contracting for specific goods and +services, are becoming familiar; others are quite distinctive, as they involve third parties +discretion in the use of public authority and in spending of public funds. This develop +ment suggests a significant reshaping of the public service and raises serious questions +about equity and accountability in the management of public programs. + +Trends associated with the reform agendas in the public and nonprofit sectors reflect +more recent responses to our changing social and economic condition. We have noted +that the reform agenda stems from the belief that government has failed to keep pace +with the dynamic environment in the postindustrial world. Consequently, the reform +movement already has had a dramatic impact on the character and processes of gov +ernment organizations at all levels. And, given the attention this reform movement has +received, such trends promise to continue into the future. + +An important consideration with respect to the reform movements relates to the +application of entrepreneurial practices and business values in the public service. While +transforming the government-citizen relationship to economic termsthat is, viewing +the citizen as a customermay generate cost savings and lead to more streamlined pub +lic organizations, the question remains as to what the long-term impact will be for issues +of citizenship and public participation. For although creating a government that does +more with less may produce a stronger bottom line, it could have harmful effects for +issues of citizen engagement with the institutions of governance. + +On the other hand, the OECD cautions would-be reformers to avoid what it calls +reform fatigue, or the condition in which public servants become cynical and tired of +reform (OECD, 2001, p. 5). In its study of thirty countries that have implemented some + + + +434 Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +type of reform agenda, the OECD found that the most successful reforms were not +imposed from the executive leadership level but were embraced (and in most cases initi +ated) by those at all levels. Most importantly, successful reforms resulted not from change +simply for changes sake, rather from attempts to build more adaptive, responsive organi +zational systems. + +Globalization + +Second, changing economic conditions have combined with technological developments +to make the international dimensions of public administration more important than ever. +Understanding the activities of political and administrative officials in other countries +is important not only for those who will spend part of their careers outside the United +States, but also for those who will work at home. Increasingly, city managers, for exam +ple, find that to be effective in local economic development activities, they must be +experts in international business. But global interdependencies will affect us in other +ways as well; for example, the deforestation in Brazil, Africa, and the Philippines will +directly affect the quality of our own environment. And, of course, we cannot overlook +our obligation to help reduce poverty and hunger throughout the world. + +Several diverseindeed, competingviews have emerged relating to this global +ization trend. They range from a critical perspective, in which the trend is seen as an +attempt by developed nations to introduce Western values into other regions, to what +supporters believe to be a chance to extend employment opportunities and wealth cre +ation into impoverished nations. This latter view suggests that, over time, all of us in the +global village will benefit from the forces of globalization and the internationalization +of economic markets. + +Networking + +For information concerning international perspectives on governance and public +administration, visit the OECD (http://www.oecd.org) or the United Nations +(http://www.un.org/esa/). Local issues on a global scale, including decentralization +and sustainable development, can be researched online at the ICMA +(http://www.icma.org/resources/index.htm) or at the International City +Government Resource Centre (http://www.geocities.com/Paris/9925). + +The impact of globalization on public administration should not be underestimated. +However, relating to the internationalization process is a pattern that carries perhaps even +greater implications: decentralization. Central governments increasingly are handing over +new powers and responsibilities to local and regional authorities. Whether triggered by +declining revenues at the national level, or the nation-states diminished power-base, the +result has been growing demand for services and decision making by subnational admin +istrations. And, in many cases, these administrations lack the capacity and resources to +deal effectively with their newfound authority. + + + +Trends in the Public Service 435 + +For example, the Mexican government in 1995 implemented what President Zedillo +referred to as the New Federalism, a comprehensive effort to redistribute power from +the national to subnational levels. The plan includes extending more responsibility to +state and local authorities, opening new doors for local governments to play a larger role +in development planning, and creating new opportunities for indigenous communities to +be represented and to participate in government decision making. However, many of the +provisions have yet to be implemented, and those which have been put into effect have +struggled to achieve the broad objectives laid out by the Zedillo administration. + +To better understand these trends, and what they mean for public administration, the +development of more globalized, comparative forms of analysis will be critical. Such +analysis serves both as a source of understanding international issues, as well as enhanc +ing the way we deal with issues in our own communities. So, as we continue to live in +our global village, we will be challenged to deal with opportunities and threats that defy +national boundaries. Our systems of governance, consequently, will need to reflect our +concern for the public interest both at home and abroad. + +Technology and the Work Environment + +A third area of concern is the changing environment in which public servants work. New +people and new values are entering the public workplace. Greater diversity in public +agencies has had important and positive impacts on the values of those agencies. Public +organizations have taken on entirely new shapes, a feat that would have been impossi +ble with the established, more traditional views of organizing that characterized public +bureaucracies in the past. In turn, this diversity has contributed to important changes in +the way we understand leadership, as diverse cultural and organizational views become +translated into more equitable, power-sharing systems of authority (see Box 12.3). One +hopes that present trends toward equity and involvement will continue. + +Similarly, we have experienced a transformation in the public workplace brought on +by new forms of technology. The influence of information technology, in particular, +on how we conduct the publics business has been remarkable, and there is no reason to +expect that the technological revolution is over. Pressure to integrate work processes and +create more flexible, networked organizations will continue to fuel the drive for more +effective forms of communicating and sharing information. We will, more and more, +work in virtual groups, with much of our interaction being transferred into cyberspace. + +The Norwegian government has begun to use information and communications tech +nology for more than enhancing internal systems; its Electronic Government Action Plan +lays out guidelines on ways public officials can use technology to engage with citizens. As +part of the plan, the government has implemented a strategy to achieve high levels of pub +lic access to the Internet in schools, libraries, homes and places of employment. A primary +purpose is to expand Norways tradition of civic engagement into the electronic age. + +Of course, the most prevalent argument for technology involves the use of technology +to enhance government performance. The changing character of government organiza +tions reflects this purpose, as virtually all systems and work processes feature some form +of automation. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that technology may also + + + +436 Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +BOX 12.3 + +Global Perspectives on the Future of Public Administration + +The UN General Assembly recently opened a dialogue on the importance of public +administration in building civil society and ensuring sustainable development world +wide. The following statements by discussion participants, which appeared in the UN +press release, Good Government Cited as Positive Stimulus to Progress, as Assembly +Continues Public Administration Debate (April 17, 1996), give a snapshot of the +global dimensions of public administration: + +S. R. Insanally (Guyana) said that in recent years there had been a marked tendency +to diminish the importance of public administration. That accompanied the belief +that more things could be left to the magic hand of the market. In some coun +tries, he added, it even became fashionable to see government as a problem, to +denounce big government. Economic progress was due, however, both to good +public administration and to individual initiative, which good governments have +actively facilitated and fostered, he said. +Soliman Awaad (Egypt) said public administration was one of the main means +through which governments could respond to the wishes of their people. State +administrative organs were faced with the burden of seeking to promote social and +economic development, preserve the environment, control overpopulation, and +provide employment for increasing numbers of young people. +Joseph Chiteyeye (Malawi) said that his country had implemented a number of +development programs that were aimed at raising the standard of living of its peo +ple. He said one of the governments roles in that respect was to mobilize +resources, both locally and in the donor community, which could be provided +directly to local communities for the construction of such things as schools, water +schemes, and health centers. +Gerhard Walter Henze (Germany) said public administration had to be based on the +rule of law and democracy. Transparency and accountability for all public +institutions were essential to combat all forms of mismanagement and corruption. +Mehmet Atalay (Turkey) said that public administration and development were +inseparable. Since 1980, Turkey had applied an outward-oriented and private sec +tor-based development strategy, parallel to the major trends in global conditions. +The succeeding Turkish governments recognized the need for privatization, devel +opment of new markets, decentralization, and accountability, among other +measures. All of those had now become pivotal issues in the field of public admin +istration in the world today. +Ascar Aitmatov (Kyrgyzstan) said that evidently, as demonstrated by the General +Assemblys dedicating a resumed session to the theme of public administration, we +have come to the stage where the need for a fundamental review of that role is +urgent and more apparent than ever. Training was one of the most urgent needs; +the governments administration and management system had not kept pace with the + +(continued) + + + +Trends in the Public Service 437 + +changes in modern society. The earlier predominance of central planning meant that +many public servants had technical skills, but almost no training on policy analysis, +evaluation, or modern implementation methods. New management methods and +techniques are almost unknown, he said. +Ramtane Lamamra (Algeria) said that, since independence, Algeria had sought to +establish solid institutions which could lay the groundwork for an economic and +social progress. In that process, a web of industries had been set up and +the needs of a deprived population had been addressed. Free enterprise and pri +vate initiative had been encouraged. The challenges facing public administration +today called for a refocusing towards promoting the well-being of all society. +Attention was being devoted to preserving macroeconomic stability, achieving +national consensus in an open society, and restructuring the states presence in +the economic arena. +Alyaksandr M. Sychou (Belarus) said his country had set itself a series of tasks to +effect the move from a planned to a market economy. The effectiveness of public +administration had been a key factor in the success of that transition effort in +Belarus. Reform of the public administration currently involved focusing on lead +ing-edge technology, while stimulating long-term capital investment and direct for +eign investment. +Diallo Amadou Ousmane (Mauritania) said that after independence, his coun +try found itself confronted with the urgent need to build a nation state. This +required the rapid organization of civil society and the building of the appropriate +state structures; it then had to take over the key sectors of the economy. The state +thus found itself as chief employer and chief driving force in the economy at all +levels, and in development, he continued. The government set up a broad program +of structural adjustment, in the context of the economic policies of the time. To +achieve the decentralization and institutional development, the government +focused on modernizing its administration and strove for the establishment of +a pluralistic democracy. +Vianney Shumbusho (Rwanda) said the recent war and catastrophic genocide of +1994 had resulted in destruction of approximately one-seventh of the population, +most of whom were in the productive labor force. It had also involved destruction +of infrastructure and equipment, the collapse of institutions, a severe setback in +agricultural and industrial activities, an exodus of between 1 million and 2 million +people, a demanding inflow of former refugees for voluntary repatriation, and a +traumatized surviving population. +Imre Verebelyi (Hungary) said that Hungary was a European country in transition +from the previous totalitarian, centralized, one-party system. It was currently +undergoing an administrative revolution, rather than a simple reform. This +administrative revolution focused on the changes of basic functions, role, and +structure of public administration. The institutional side of change was underlined +and emphasized, while the operational side had been rather pushed into the back +ground. + +(continued) + + + +43 8 Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +Joseph Cassar (Malta) stressed the important role played by public administrations +in promoting economic growth and sustainable development. There had been +unprecedented political, economic, and technological changes in recent years, which +also impacted on public administrations. The United Nations played a pivotal role +as a clearinghouse and service-oriented catalyst for governments to improve their +public management capacities. + +SOURCE: United Nations. Good Government Cited as Positive Stimulus to Progress, as Assembly +Continues Public Administration Debate. Press release issued by the United Nations General Assembly, +Press Release #GA/9062, 17 April 1996. + +help us achieve more value-oriented goals of public service. Technology in the form of +civic networks and other resources may help us shift the orientation of our public +organizations to be more external in nature. We may, through our emerging technology, +be able to enjoy more meaningful forms of engagement with citizens. + +Still, as this trend develops, it raises important concerns for the human consequences +of advanced technology. How technology affects the relationship between government +workers and their clients, how to cope with the seemingly inevitable impersonality of the +information age, and how to resolve the difficult ethical questions relating to privacy and +abuse these and many other issues will continue to confound us over the coming +decades as the technological society pursues its present course. + +The Role of Citizens in the Governance Process + +The fourth issue involves the participation of citizens in the governance process and the +notion of civil society. More and more, public decisions are being made through mean +ingful interaction with citizens. This means that citizens are playing an important role +not as recipients of government services but as contributors to the policies and programs +that affect their lives. In many ways, this emerging form of citizen participation repre +sents a return to important principles that underlie our system of democracy. It appears +that we are becoming more concerned with equity and justice, as opposed to merely effi +ciency and performance. Yet the change from the more traditional representative democ +racy to a direct form poses unique challenges for elected and administrative officials. + +As it stands, many public administrators view citizen participation as a source of ten +sion. That is, they associate civic engagement with public hearings, legal and administra +tive arbitration, and other formal mechanisms that tend to be time consuming and highly +confrontational. Public involvement, accordingly, comes to represent a hindrance to effi +cient management. In turn, public involvement is limited to being a source of legitimacy, +through hearings and similar forums, of decisions that have already been made through +more rational approaches. However, such limited forms of civic engagement not only +result in policies which are detached from the actual needs of affected populations, but +over time create barriers between the local institutions of governance and citizens. + + + +Trends in the Public Service 439 + +Many public officials have started to open governance processes to more substantive +forms of engagement. In the Netherlands, for example, public officials at the national and +local level have initiated more interactive forms of decision making, where government +decisions result not just from consultation with citizens but with direct involvement of the +public in the decision-making process. The government also has opened doors for legal +resistance to governmental actions, giving citizens the opportunity to challenge the gov +ernment on policies believed to run counter to the public interest. + +The move to more direct forms of civic participation opens the door for effective and +responsible citizenship. But the theme also cuts in another way, suggesting that those in +government must be willing to listen and act in a responsive manner. Only by pursuing +this two-way street between citizens and government will the most healthy relationship +between government and citizens be brought about. For those in public administration, +the challenge will be to sustain these meaningful forms of engagement and civil society. + +To guide public administrators in this capacity, Janet and Robert Denhardt (2000) +offer seven principles of what they call the New Public Service: + +1. The primary role of the public servant is to help citizens articulate and meet their +mutual interests rather than to attempt to control or steer society in new directions. +2. Public administrators must make the creation of a collective, shared notion of the +public interest paramount. +3. Policies and programs to meet public needs can be most effectively and responsibly +achieved through collective efforts and collaborative processes. +4. The public interest is the result of a dialogue about shared values rather than the +aggregation of individual self-interests. +5. Public servants must be attentive to more than the market; they must also attend to +statutory and constitutional law, community values, political norms, professional stan +dards, and citizen interests. +6. Public organizations and the networks in which they participate are more likely to be +successful in the long run if they are operated through processes of collaboration and +shared leadership based on a respect for all people. +7. The public interest is better advanced by public servants and citizens committed to +making a meaningful contributions to society rather than by entrepreneurial managers +acting as if public money were their own. + +The Ethical Challenges Facing the Public Service + +Establishing a proper ethical basis for public action is itself one of the most important +challenges facing the public service. If your generation has one significant contribution to +make to the development of the public service, it may be to identify and elaborate the +moral and ethical dimensions of public administration and to assert moral leadership. + +As we have seen, early writers in the field portrayed public administration primarily +as a managerial concern with the technical processes of implementing public policy. Over +the years, public administrators have developed considerable skill in managing public +programsprobably more than they are usually given credit for. + + + +44 Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +Others soon came to recognize that public administration is also a political concern +that administrators at all levels are deeply involved in shaping public policy. Despite +recent rhetoric in Washington, there is every reason to expect that those in public organi +zations will increasingly be called upon to do more than simply respond to legislative +mandate; they will be asked to identify and to articulate important public interests. + +Beyond a view of public administration as a managerial or a political concern, public +administration today is increasingly an ethical concern. Everything, including the smallest +actions or tasks you will take as an administrator will carry important value implications. +At the root of every act of every public servant, whether in developing or executing public +policy, lies a moral or ethical question. + +What does it mean, then, to recognize public service as not only a managerial and +political concern but also as a moral and ethical concern? For one thing, it means that +public administrators must demonstrate in their own actions the highest standards of +behavior. Beyond that, to see the public service as a moral and ethical concern requires +recognition that every action an administrator takes involves an effort to discover or to +clarify the public interest. + +The future public servant will likely be both active in policy development and respon +sive to the public interest. Our constitutional structure not only permits but encourages an +active executive and administrative role. Even more important is the implicit philosophical +directive of the Constitution that public service is a special calling in a democracy and that +those who participate in the public service, regardless of background or occupation, are +guardians of a public trust. + +This point is most critical at a time when our definition of public service is shifting. +As we have noted, the public service is no longer merely that group of political and +administrative officials employed by government agencies. Public service today involves +a wide range of private and nonprofit organizations in the delivery of public goods and +services. This development raises managerial concerns, political concerns, and most of +all, moral and ethical concerns. Under these conditions, public administrators must +assume leadership in establishing a high moral tone for the public service generally. In +contrast to the often-heard advice that public administrators should follow the model of +business, we might propose just the oppositethat public organizations and the values +and commitments they represent should become models for all organizations, at least +those involved in the management of public programs. + +Ethical considerations have become a central theme in public administration around +the world. In Japan, for example, lawmakers at the national level recently passed com +prehensive legislation to ensure ethical practices by governmental officials. Among other +provisions, the National Public Service Ethics Act, which took effect in April 2000, +established a national ethics board to continuously monitor compliance of government +officials and to oversee investigations and punishment for violations of ethical standards. + +For the public service to regain its proper role in our society, we will have to establish +and maintain throughout government and the public service a true commitment to the +values of democracy. Trust in the public service and the public willingness to participate +in the work of government will occur only if the public is convinced that those in office, +whether political or administrative, seek the public interest (not merely their own), and +that they do so with skill and responsibility. Only when our commitment to democratic + + + +Cases and Exercises 441 + +practices and ideals is clear to all will we once again be able to establish public service as +the highest calling in our society. + +Commitment to democratic ideals involves concerns such as responsiveness and +involvement, but also commitment to equity and justice. Think for a moment of the rea +sons that bring people to the public service. No doubt high on the list would be the con +cern for the well-being of others. At one point in our history, we seemed to feel that the +primary measure of success of the public service was the elimination of human suffering. +Public officials are still at the forefront of dealing with the complex and difficult issues of +homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction. Perhaps more than any other group, public +administrators are uniquely situated to see and understand these concerns. They cer +tainly should be able to pinpoint the failures of past policies, to suggest alternatives, and +to work actively toward implementation with elected leaders. Indeed, they have a moral +responsibility to do so. + +A Final Note + +The challenges to the public service are substantial and pose managerial, political, and eth +ical questions for all who participate in public programs. They will require careful analysis +and effective action on the part of academics and practitioners in the field of public admin +istration and beyond. Most of all, they are challenges that will require responsibility both +in the sense of acting responsibly and in the sense of accepting responsibility for our ideas +and actions. The frontiers of public service will present quite difficult personal and profes +sional choices. But responsible public servants will find their solution very rewarding. +Albert Schweitzer once said, I dont know where you will go or what you will do, but the +ones among you that will be most happy will be those who serve. We would only add +that especially happy will be those who serve the public, well and faithfully. + +Study Questions + +1. Discuss some of the changes in the image of public service over the last thirty years. +2. What are some recommendations of the National Commission on the Public Service + +for attracting and retaining the best and the brightest in the public service? +3. Discuss future trends in the field of public administration. + +Cases and Exercises + +1. By most objective measures, public agencies are, on the average, highly productive +at least in comparison to their private-sector counterparts. (There are wide variations + + + +44z Chapter 12 The Future of the Public Service + +in both sectors, but the general conclusion seems valid.) The general public, however, +seems to have exactly the opposite impressionthat government agencies are hope +lessly inefficient and unproductive. Part of the problem seems to be that people are +more critical of government in the abstract than where it directly touches their lives. +In fact, one study found most people highly critical of the coldness and inefficiency of +government in general, but highly complimentary of specific government employees +with whom they had dealt most recently. + +In any case, there seems to be some disparity between image and realitya dispar +ity that is often quite damaging to the morale of the public workforce. Write an essay +explaining why you think governments are considered less productive and less efficient +than they really are. Consider the issue from several viewpoints. How would the issue +appear from the perspective of a legislator? A public manager? A citizen? On the basis +of your analysis, what should be done to improve the image of the public service? + +2. In this chapter, we have considered a number of trends that are likely to affect the pub +lic service over the next decade or more. What do these trends mean in terms of the +skills that individual public managers will require? Review once more the set of public +management skills in Chapter 1, then, in small groups, discuss the following questions: +What specific skills will public managers likely utilize more frequently in the future +than in the past? What, if any, will be de-emphasized? To what extent will the demands +of the future public service change the mix of conceptual, technical, and human skills +needed for effective public management? Finally, how will the values that underlie the +work of public managers shift as we move through the coming years? + +For Additional Reading + +Chandler, Ralph Clark. A Centennial History of the American Administrative State. +New York: The Free Press, 1987. + +Chrislip, David D., and Carl E. Larson. Collaborative Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey- +Bass, 1994. + +Denhardt, Robert B., and Edward T. Jennings, Jr. The Revitalization of the Public +Service. Columbia: University of Missouri, 1987. + +Goodsell, Charles T. The Case for Bureaucracy. 3d ed. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House +1994. + +Ingraham, Patricia W., and Donald F. Kettl. Agenda for Excellence: Public Service in +America. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1992. + +Ingraham, Patricia W., and Barbara Romzek. Governance and the Public Service: +Rethinking the Research Agenda for Public Sector Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass +1994. + +Kettl, Donald F. The Global Public Management Revolution: A Report on the +Transformation of Governance. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute, 2000. + +Lappe, Frances Moore, and Paul M. 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New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954. +Organ, Dennis H. A Review of Management and the Worker. Academy of Management + +Review 11, no. 2 (April 1986): 459-464. +Rankin, Paul. Listening Ability. Proceedings of the Ohio State Educational Conference, + +Ninth Annual Session, 1929. + + + +References 463 + +Steil, Lyman K., Larry L. Barker, and Kittie W. Watson. Effective Listening. Reading, +MA: Addison-Wesley, 1983. + +Sussman, Lyle, and Samuel Deep. Comex. Cincinnati, OH: Southwestern, 1984. +Vroom, Victor H., and Arthur G. Jago. The New Leadership. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: + +Prentice-Hall, 1988. +Vroom, Victor H., and Philip W. Yetton. Leadership and Decision Making. Pittsburgh, + +PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973. +Ziller, R. C. Toward a Theory of Open and Closed Groups. Psychological Bulletin 64 + +(1965): 164-182. + +Chapter Twelve + +Denhardt, Robert B., and Janet Vinzant Denhardt. The New Public Service: Serving +Rather Than Steering. Public Administration Review 60, no. 6 (November/December +2000): 249-259. + +Goodsell, Charles T. The Case for Bureaucracy. 2d ed. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, +1985. + +National Commission on the Public Service. Leadership for America. Washington, DC: +National Commission on Public Service, 1989. + +National Commission on the State and Local Public Service. Hard Truths/Tough +Choices. Albany, NY: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, 1993. + +Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Government of the +Luture. PUMA Policy Brief No. 9 (June). Paris: OECD, 2001. + + + +Appendix + +Journals + +Academy of Management Review Canadian Public Administration +Ohio Northern University Institute of Public Administration +P.O. Box 209 of Canada +300 South Union Street Revue de lInstitut de lAdministration +Ada, OH 45810 Publique du Canada + +Eglington Ave. East, Suite 305 +Administration and Society Toronto, Ontario, M4P IE8 +Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Canada +State University +Center for Public Administration and The Executive +Public Affairs Ohio Northern University +Blacksburg, VA 24061 Academy of Management Executive + +Academy Office +Administrative Science Quarterly P.O. Box 39 +Cornell University 300 South Union Street +Johnson Graduate School of Management Ada, OH 45810-0039 +425 Caldwell Hall +Ithaca, NY 14853-2602 + +G.A.O. Journal +U.S. General Accounting Office + +American Review of Public Administration +Office of Public Affairs + +University of Missouri-Kansas City +Room 6901 + +Cookingham Institute of Public Affairs +Washington, DC 20548 + +Bloch School of Business and Public +Administration +Kansas City, MO 64110 Governance + +Blackwell Publishers + +Australian Journal of Public Administration 238 Main St. + +University of Queensland Cambridge, MA 02142 + +Royal Institute of Public Administration +Department of Government Governing +St. Lucia, Queensland 4067 Congressional Quarterly Inc. +Australia 2300 N. St., NW, Suite 760 + +Washington, DC 20037 +California Management Review +University of California, Berkeley Government Executive +Haas School of Business National Journal Inc. +350 Barrows Hall 1730 M St., NW, 11th Floor +Berkeley, CA 94720 Washington, DC 20036 + +464 + + + +Appendix + +Government Productivity News 1445 Market St., Suite 300 +P.O. Box 17433 Denver, CO 80202-1728 +Austin, TX 78755-0435 + +New Directions in Public Administration +Harvard Business Review Research +P.O. Box 52622 Florida Atlantic University +Boulder, CO 80321-2622 School of Public Administration + +220 E. Second Ave. +International Journal of Public Administration Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 +Pennsylvania State University +Institute of State and Regional Affairs Organizational Dynamics +Harrisburg, PA 17057 American Management Association + +P.O. Box 408 +Journal of Management Saranac Lake, NY 12983 +Indiana University +Graduate School of Business Organization Studies +Bloomington, IN 47405 University of Cambridge + +The Judge Institute of Management Studies +Journal of Policy Analysis and Management Fitwilliam House, 32 Trumpington Street +University of California Cambridge, CB2 IQY +Association for Public Policy Analysis and England +Management +Graduate School of Public Policy Policy Studies +Berkeley, CA 94720 Policy Studies Institute + +100 Park Village East +Journal of Public Administration Research and London, NWI 3SR +Theory England +Rutgers University +J-PART Policy Studies Review +Department 4010 Arizona State University +Transaction Periodicals Consortium Policy Studies Organization +New Brunswick, NJ 08903 School of Justice Studies + +Tempe, AZ 85287 +Journal of State Government +The Council of State Governments Public Administration +P.O. Box 11910 Royal Institute of Public Administration +Lexington, KY 40578 P.O. Box 87 + +Oxford, OX2 ODT +Journal of Urban Analysis and Management England +State University of New York +Harriman College for Urban and Policy Studies Public Administration and Development +Stony Brook, NY 11790 RIPA International Ltd. + +22 Bedford Square +National Civic Review London WC1 B3H +National Civic League Press England + + + +466 Appendix + +Public Administration Review Carl Vinson Institute of Government +American Society for Public Administration Athens, GA 30602-4582 +1120 G St., NW, Suite 700 +Washington, DC 20005-2885 + +Organizations + +Public Budgeting and Financial Management Academy for State and Local Government +Pennsylvania State University 444 N. Capitol St., NW, Suite 349 +Institute of State and Regional Affairs Washington, DC 20001 +Middleton, PA 17057 + +American Consortium for International Public +Public Finance Quarterly Administration +University of New Orleans 1120 G St., NW, Suite 225 +College of Business Administration Washington, DC 20005 +New Orleans, LA 70148 + +American Planning Association +Public Management 1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 800 +International City Management Association Washington, DC 20036 +777 N. Capitol St., NE +Washington, DC 20002-4201 American Public Health Association + +1015 15 St., NW, 3rd Floor +The Public Manager Washington, DC 20005 +The Bureaucrat Inc. +12007 Titian Way American Public Power Association +Potomac, MD 20854 2301 M St., NW, 3rd Floor + +Washington, DC 20037 +Public Personnel Management +International Personnel Management American Public Welfare Association +Association 810 First St., NW, Suite 500 +1617 Duke St. Washington, DC 20002 +Alexandria, VA 22314 + +American Public Works Association +Public Productivity and Management Review 1313 E. 60th St. +Jossey-Bass Publishers Chicago, IL 60637 +350 Sansome St. +San Francisco, CA 94104 American Society for Public Administration + +1120GSt.,NW, Suite 500 +Public Productivity Review Washington, DC 20005 +National Center for Public Productivity +John Jay College Council of State Governments +City University of New York P.O. Box 11910 +445 W. 59th St. Lexington, KY 40578 +New York, NY 10019 + +Education Commission of the States +State and Local Government Review 1860 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 800 +University of Georgia Chicago, IL 60601 + + + +Appendix + +Government Finance Officers Association National Association of State Budget Officers +180 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 800 400 N. Capitol St., NW, Suite 295 +Chicago, IL 60601 Washington, DC 20001 + +International City Management Association National Civic Feague +777 N. Capitol St. 1445 Market St. +Washington, DC 20002 Denver, CO 80203 + +International Institute of Municipal Clerks National Forum for Black +160 N. Altadena Drive Public Administrators +Pasadena, CA 91107 777 N. Capitol St. + +Washington, DC 20002 +International Personnel Management +Association National Institute of +1617 Duke St. Governmental Purchasing +Alexandria, VA 22314 115 Hillwood Ave., Suite 201 + +Falls Church, VA 22046 +National Academy of Public Administration +1100 New York Ave., NW, Suite 1090 East National Feague of Cities +Washington, DC 20005-3934 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 6th Floor + +Washington, DC 20004 +National Association of Counties +441 First St., NW, 8th Floor Public Administration Service +Washington, DC 20001 1497 Chain Bridge Road + +McFean, VA 22101 +National Association of Schools of Public +Affairs and Administration Public Technology Inc. +1120 G St., NW, 5th Floor 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 704 +Washington, DC 20005 Washington, DC 20004 + + + +Glossary + +Accounting: The process of identifying, measuring, and communicating economic infor +mation to permit informed judgment and decision making. + +Adverse or disparate impact: Criterion for showing that employment practices affect one +group more harshly than another. + +Affirmative action: Use of positive, results-oriented practices to ensure that women, +minorities, handicapped persons, and other protected classes of people will be equi +tably represented in an organization. + +Agenda setting: Phase in public policy process when certain problems come to be viewed +as needing attention. + +Allotments: Amounts that agencies are authorized to spend within a given period. +Apportionment: Process by which funds are allocated to agencies for specific portions of + +the year. +Appropriation: Legislative action to set aside funds and create budget authority for their + +expenditures. +Area of acceptance: Area within which the subordinate is willing to accept the decisions + +made by the supervisor. +Authorizing legislation: Legislative action that permits establishment or continuation of + +a particular program or agency. +Autocracy: Government by one. +Bargaining unit: The organization that will represent employees in conferring and nego + +tiating various issues. +Behavioral awards: Used to reward behaviors that management wishes to encourage. +Block grants: Grants in which the money can be used for nearly any purpose within a + +specific functional field. +Bond: Promise to repay a certain amount (principal) at a certain time (maturity date) at + +a particular rate of interest. +Boundary spanning: Representing an organization to outside groups and organiza + +tions. +Bounded rationality: Seeking the best possible solution, but not necessarily the most + +rational, from a purely economic standpoint. +Brainstorming: Technique for enhancing the alternative-generation portion of the decision + +making process. +Budget padding: Proposing a higher budget than is actually needed. +Business cycle: Periods of economic growth featuring inflation and high employment + +followed by periods of recession or depression and unemployment. +Capital expenditures: Spending for items that will be used over a period of several + +years. +Capital grants: Grants for use in construction or renovation. +Categorical or project grants: Grants requiring that the money may be spent for only a + +limited purpose; typically available on a competitive basis. +Charter: Local governments equivalent of a constitution. + +468 + + + +Glossary 469 + +Cohesion: Degree to which members of a group are uniformly committed to the group +and its goals. + +Comparable worth: Notion that men and women in jobs that are not identical but +require similar levels of skill and training should be paid equally. + +Constituent policy: Policy designed to benefit the public generally or to serve the gov +ernment. + +Continuing resolution: Resolution permitting the government to continue operating until +an appropriations measure is passed. + +Cooperative federalism: Greater sharing of responsibilities between federal and state +governments. + +Co-optation: Situations in which citizens are given the feeling of involvement while exer +cising little real power. + +Coproduction: Using volunteer activity to supplement or supplant the work of govern +ment officials. + +Cost-benefit: Identifying and quantifying both negative impacts (costs) and positive +impacts (benefits) of a proposal, then subtracting one from the other to arrive at a net +benefit. + +Councils of government: Oversight bodies representing various localities to help coordi +nate local affairs. + +Cross-cutting requirements: Rules that apply to most grant programs. +Debt capacity: Value of a citys resources combined with the ability of the government to + +draw on them to provide payment. +Decision analysis: Technique wherein decisions are likely to be made sequentially and + +under some degree of uncertainty. +Decision tree: Technique that identifies various possible outcomes, given the risk associ + +ated with each. +Deferral: Decision by the president to withhold expenditure of funds for a brief period. +Delegation: Assigning tasks to others. +Democracy: A political system in which decision-making power is widely shared among + +members of the society. +Deontology: Belief that broad principles of rightness and wrongness can be established + +and are not dependent on particular circumstances. +Dillons Rule: Municipalities have only those powers granted in their charters; cities are + +creatures of the state. +Direct orders: Requirements or restrictions that are enforced by one government over + +another. +Discretionary spending: That portion of the budget still open to changes by the president + +and Congress. +Distributive policy: Policy involving use of general tax funds to provide assistance and + +benefits to individuals or groups. +Dual federalism: Pattern in which federal and state governments are struggling for power + +and influence with little intergovernmental cooperation. +Effectiveness: Extent to which a program is achieving or failing to achieve its stated + +objectives. +Efficiency: Relationship between inputs and outputs. + + + +47 Glossary + +Employee recognition program: Effective way to acknowledge special contributions of +certain employees or groups to the organization. + +Entitlement grants: Grants that provide assistance to persons who meet certain criteria. +Entitlement programs: Programs that provide a specified set of benefits to those who + +meet certain eligibility requirements. +Equal employment opportunity: Refers to efforts to eliminate employment discrimination + +on the basis of race, ethnic background, sex, age, or physical handicap; ensures that all +persons have an equal chance to compete for employment and promotions based on +job qualifications. + +Equality: The idea that all persons have an equal claim to life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness. + +Ethical or moral relativism: Belief that moral judgment can be made only by taking into +account the context in which action occurs. + +Ethics: Process by which we clarify right and wrong and act on what we take to be right. +Ethics audit: Evaluation of the value premises that guide an organizations action. +Excise tax: Tax applied to the sale of specific commodities. +Executive order: A presidential mandate directed to and governing, with the effect of + +law, the actions of government officials and agencies. +Exploratory evaluation: Investigating a variety of hunches or intuitions about program + +operations. +Fiduciary funds: Funds used when government must hold assets for individuals or when + +government holds resources to be transmitted to another organization. +Final-offer arbitration: Technique in which both parties must present their best offer + +with the understanding that an arbitrator will choose one or the other without modi +fication. + +Fiscal policy: Public policy concerned with the impact of government taxation and +spending on the economy. + +Fiscal year (FY): Governments basic accounting period. +Formula grants: Grants that employ a specific division rule to indicate how much money + +any given jurisdiction will receive. +Franchise: Exclusive award to one firm (or a limited number) to operate a certain busi + +ness within a jurisdiction. +Functional principle: Horizontal division of labor. +Gainsharing plan: Monetary award for a group of employees based on savings generated + +by the group. +General fund: Fund that handles unrestricted funds of government. +Grants: Transfers of money (and/or property) from one government to another. +Grantsmanship: Skills needed to compete successfully in the grant process. +Gross National Product (GNP): Measure of total spending in the economy; includes + +total personal consumption, private investment, and government purchases. +Hidden agenda: Privately held goals and priorities. +Home rule: Provision allowing cities greater autonomy over local activities. +Impoundment: Withholding of funds authorized and appropriated by law. +Independent agencies: Agencies intentionally created outside the normal cabinet orga + +nization. + + + +Glossary 4yi + +Individualism: The idea that the dignity and integrity of the individual is of supreme +importance. + +Institutional subsystem: Responsible for adapting the organization to its environment +and for anticipating and planning for the future. + +Intergovernmental relations: A term encompassing all the complex and interdependent +relations among those at various levels of government. + +Interorganizational networks: Pattern of relationships within and among various groups +and organizations working in a single policy area. + +Interventionist: External consultant brought in to reveal dysfunctional patterns of behav +ior and to try to develop more effective working relationships. + +Iron triangle: Term given to a coalition of interest groups, agency personnel, and mem +bers of Congress created to exert influence on a particular policy issue. + +Item veto: Allows a governor to veto specific items in an appropriations bill. +Job description: A thorough analysis of the work to be done and the capabilities for a + +job; typically contains these elements: job title, duties required, responsibilities, and +job qualifications. + +Lateral entry: Entry into government positions at any level. +Legislative veto: Statutory provision that gives Congress the authority to approve or dis + +approve certain executive actions. +Liberty: The idea that individual citizens of a democracy should have a high degree of + +self-determination. +Line-item budget: Budget format for listing categories of expenditures along with + +amounts allocated to each. +Management by objectives: Participatory approach to establishing clear and measurable + +objectives throughout the entire organization. +Managerial subsystem: Concerned with providing necessary resources for accomplishing + +a technical task and mediating between the technical and institutional subsystems. +Mandate: Order requiring a government to do something. +Merit pay: Increases in salary and wages that are tied to actual quality of work performed. +Merit principle: Concept that selection and treatment of government employees should + +be based on merit or competence rather than personal or political favoritism. +Morality: Practices and activities considered right or wrong and the values those prac + +tices reflect. +Negotiated investment strategy: Bringing together representatives of all affected groups + +to set priorities for funding. +Neutral competence: The belief that a neutral public bureaucracy following the man + +dates of a legislative body will meet the requirements of democracy. +Nominal group: Face-to-face meeting that allows only limited interaction among partici + +pants. +Nonprofit organizations: Organizations prohibited by law from distributing surplus + +revenues to individuals. +Objective responsibility: Assurance of responsiveness through external controls. +Oligarchy: Government by the few. +Ombudsman: Permanent office that receives complaints and acts on behalf of citizens to + +secure information, request services, or pursue grievances. + + + +472 Glossary + +Operating grants: Grants for use in development and operation of specific programs. +Organization development: Process-oriented approach to planned change. +Organizational culture: Basic patterns of attitudes, beliefs, and values that underlie an + +organizations operation. +Parity principle: Idea that an individual should have equal amounts of authority and + +responsibility. +Participant-observer: Someone in either the target population or the agency who makes + +observations and draws conclusions based on firsthand experience. +Performance appraisal: Specific evaluation with respect to an individuals progress in + +completing specified tasks. +Performance auditing: Analysis and evaluation of the effective performance of agencies + +in carrying out their objectives. +Performance bonus: One-time monetary award based on superior performance on the + +job or in a particular task. +Performance budget: Budget format organized around programs or activities; includes + +various performance measurements that indicate the relationship between work actu +ally done and its cost. + +PERT (Program evaluation review technique): A way to monitor the time or costs of +various activities required to complete a project, showing the sequence in which the +activities must be completed. + +Picket-fence federalism: Pattern of intergovernmental relations in which the horizontal bars +represent levels of government and the vertical slats represent various substantive fields. + +Piecework bonus: Incentive that ties the workers productivity in a given task to the +monetary rewards he or she receives. + +Planning-programming-budgeting system (PPBS): Effort to connect planning, systems +analysis, and budgeting in a single exercise. + +Policy: Statement of goals and intentions with respect to a particular problem or set of +problems. + +Policy analysis: Process of researching or analyzing public problems to provide policy +makers with specific information about the range of available policy options and +advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. + +Policy analysts: Persons who provide important information about public programs +through research into the operations and impacts of the programs. + +Policy entrepreneur: A person willing to invest personal time, energy, and money in +pursuit of particular policy changes. + +Political economy approach: Focusing on politics and economies as categories for +analyzing organizational behavior. + +Position classification: Analyzing and organizing jobs on the basis of duties, responsibili +ties, and having the knowledge and skills required to perform them. + +Preaudit: Review in advance of an actual expenditure. +Preemption: Federal government efforts to preempt an area traditionally associated with + +state government. +Privatization: Use of nongovernmental agencies to provide goods and services previously + +provided by government. +Process charting/flowcharting: Graphically demonstrating the various steps in an operation, + +the people who perform each step, and relationships among those elements. + + + +Glossary 473 + +Program managers: Persons ranging from the executive level to the supervisory level who +are in charge of particular governmental programs. + +Progressive tax: One that taxes those with higher incomes at a higher rate. +Proportional tax: One that taxes everyone at the same rate. +Proprietary funds: Used to account for government activities that more closely resemble + +private business. +Public administration: The management of public programs. +Public corporation: An essentially commercial agency in which work requires greater lat + +itude and acquires at least a portion of its funding in the marketplace (e.g., Tennessee +Valley Authority). + +Public policy: Authoritative statements made by legitimate governmental actors about +public problems. + +Quality circle: Small group of people who do similar or connected work and meet regu +larly to identify, analyze, and solve work-process problems. + +Reconciliation bill: Legislative action that attempts to reconcile individual actions in +taxes, authorizations, or appropriations with the totals. + +Redistributive policy: Policy designed to take taxes from certain groups and give them to +another group. + +Regressive tax: One that taxes those with lower incomes at a proportionally higher rate +than those with higher incomes. + +Regulatory commission: Group formed to regulate a particular area of the economy; +usually headed by a group of individuals appointed by the president and confirmed by +the Senate. + +Regulatory policy: Policy designed to limit actions of persons or groups to protect all or +parts of the general public. + +Rescission: Presidential decision to permanently withhold funds. +Revenue sharing: Grant pattern in which the money can be used any way the recipient + +government chooses. +Risk management: Ways that public organizations anticipate and cope with risks. +Risky shift: Difference in the daringness of decisions group members make as a group + +compared to the average risk of the same decision if each member made it alone. +Role ambiguity: Occurs when the rights and responsibilities of the job are not clearly + +understood. +Role conflict: Occurs when one faces two different and incompatible sets of demands. +Rule making: Administrative establishment of general guidelines for application to a + +class of people or a class of actions at some future time. +Rule of three: Provision of most merit systems that requires at least the top three appli + +cants names to be forwarded to the hiring official to allow some flexibility in selec +tion. + +Satisficing decision: One that is just good enough in terms of some criterion. +Scalar principle: Vertical division of labor among various organizational levels. +Scientific management: Approach to management based on carefully defined laws, rules, + +and principles. +Sexual harassment: Any unwarranted and nonreciprocal verbal or physical sexual + +advances or derogatory remarks that the recipient finds offensive or that interfere +with his or her job performance. + + + +474 Glossary + +Special districts: Local governments created for a specific purpose within a specific area. +Spoils system: The ability to give government jobs to the party faithful; to the victor + +belong the spoils. +Staff managers: Persons who support the work of program managers through budgeting + +and financial management, personnel and labor relations, and purchasing and pro +curement. + +Stakeholders: The many different persons who are involved in a policy decision and are +affected by the results. + +Strategic planning: Matching organizational objectives and capabilities to the anticipated +demands of the environment to produce a plan of action that will ensure achievement +of objectives. + +Structured interviews: Those in which a previously developed set of questions is used +with each applicant. + +Subjective responsibility: Assurance of responsiveness based on an individuals character. +Suggestion award programs: Incentives for employees who make specific suggestions + +that result in savings for the organization. +Sunset law: Provision that sets a specific termination date for a program. +Sunshine law: Provision that requires agencies to conduct business in public view. +Supplemental appropriation: Bill passed during the fiscal year, adding new money to an + +agencys budget for the same fiscal year. +Supply-side economies: Argument that decreased taxes and government spending will + +stimulate capital investment and economic growth. +Support system: Network of people with whom one can talk about problems. +System: Set of regularized interactions configured or bounded in a way that differentiates + +and separates them from other actions that constitute the systems environment. +Systems approach: Suggestion that public (or other) organizations can be viewed in the + +same general way as biological or physical systems. +Systems theory: Effort to identify the interactions of various internal and external + +elements that impinge on an organizations operations. +Task forces: Groups brought together to work on specific organizational problems. +Technical subsystem: Concerned with effective performance of an organizations actual + +work. +Time series analysis: Making a number of observations about the target population both + +before and after program intervention. +Two-factor theory: Model of motivation involving two variables: job satisfaction and + +job dissatisfaction. +Unit determination: Decision to include or exclude certain groups in a bargaining unit. +Urban renewal: Government program designed to provide cities with money for public + +housing and urban redevelopment. +Utilitarianism: Philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number of people. +Whipsaw tactics: Argument that pay or benefits negotiated by one group should be + +applied to others. +Zero-base budgeting: Budget format that presents information about the efficiency and + +effectiveness of existing programs and highlights possibilities for eliminating or reduc +ing programs. + + + +Index + +Italic t followed by italic page number indicates table, italic f followed by italic page number indicates figure, and +italic b followed by italic page number indicates box. + +A Agency administration and the Board governance, nonprofits and +Absolute immunity, 145 courts, 70, 72, b71 Board-staff relations, 115 +Accountability, 18-19 Agenda-setting process, 50-51, 73 functions, 114-115 +Accounting, 195 AIDS policy, 227 overview, 113 + +fiduciary funds, 192 Allotment, 195 size, 114-115 +general funds, 191 Alternative Dispute Resolution, Bond, 195 +government, 191-192 405 revenue, 187-188 +Governmental Accounting Alternative Dispute Resolution Act Boundary spanning, 300, 325 + +Standards Board (GASB), 192 of 1990, 70 Bounded rationality, 325 +overview, 191 Alternative dispute resolution Brainstorming, 421 +proprietary funds, 192 (ADR) strategies, 70 Broad perspectives, 387 + +Action orientation, 387 American Society for Public Budgeting, 299-300 +Adjudication, 66-67 Administration Budgeting and Accounting Act of +Administrative organizations and code of ethics, 148 1921, 157 + +executive leadership National Campaign for Public Budgeting and financial manage +administrative organizations, 37, Service, 428 ment + +39-41 Americans with Disabilities Act Accounting and computer-based +local level, 43-49 overview, 238 information systems. See +overview, 35-37 Americans with Disabilities Act Accounting; Computer-based +state level, 41-43 (ADA), 227 information systems + +Administrative positions Anti-terror War, 217-218, b218 budgetary strategies and political +business and government inter Appleby, Paul, 18 games, 182-185 + +action, 13-14 Apportionment, 195 budgets. See Budgets +influencing public organizations, Appropriation, 195 capital budgeting, 186-187, 195 + +14-15 Appropriations Committee, debt management, 187-188 +preparation for, 10-12 testifying before, b62 financial management overview, +technical and managerial Arbitration, 70, 233 185 + +training, 12-13 Area of acceptance, 325 overview, 157-158, 194-195 +Administrative Procedures Act Audit program managers role, bl70 + +(APA), 65-68, 70 performance, 176 purchasing, 190 +Administrative responsibility phase of budget process, risk management, 189-190, + +avenues for public participation, 175-176 197, bl88-189 +134-136 Auer v. Robbins, 67, b69 Budgets + +ethics of privatization, 136-137 Authorizing legislation, 195 approaches to public budgeting, +limits of administrative Autocracy, 27 176-182 + +discretion, 131-134 Autonomy, 316 approval, 171-173 +overview, 130-131 capital, 195 +putting citizens first, bl33 B execution, 173-175 + +Adverse impact, 239, 248 Bargaining, 231, 405-417 formulation, 169-171, fl69 + +Advocacy, 116-117 process, 232-233 instruments of fiscal policy, +Affirmative action, 236-238, unit, 248 158-159 + +240-241,248 Behavioral award, 362 instruments of public policy, + +Affirmative action programs, Behavioral awards, 351 160-168, fl60, fl67 + +240-241 Benchmarking, 281, 356 line-item, 177-178, 196 +Age Discrimination in Employment Benson, Herbert, 373-374 managerial tools, 168-176, fl69 + +Act, 240 Block grants, 118 outcome-based, 181-182, 196 + +475 + + + +47 6 Index + +Budgets (Continued) Comparable worth, 242-244, 248 Decision making. See also Group +padding, 184, 195 Computer-based information dynamics +performance, 178-179, 196 systems, 192-194 models, 379-382 +policy guideline development, decision support systems, 193 organizational, 311-312 + +170-171 integrated information systems, Decision support systems, 193 +program, 179-180 193-194 Decision tree, 290, f268-f269 +zero-base, 180-181, 197 management information group problem solving, f416 + +Bureaucracy, 20, 304 systems, 193 Deferral, 174, 195 +democracy and, 19-20 performance measurement Delegation, 421 +representative, 133-134 systems, 194 Delegation and motivation +sources of bureaucratic power, Conditions of employment, 225 goal setting, 402-404 + +56-58 Conflict, 404-405 overview, 397-399 +Burnout, organizational factors Conflict, bargaining, and pay and job satisfaction, + +and, b371 negotiation, 404-405 399-400 +Bush administration, intergovern Conflicts of interest, 140-142 reinforcement theory, 400-402 + +mental relations and, 90, 92-93 federal rules, 141 Democracy +Bush tax plan, 165-167 Congressional Budget Act of 1974, definition, 3, 27 +Business cycle, 195 172 values of, 3-5 + +Constituent policy, 55-56, 73 Democratic dream, b5 +C Continuing resolution, 172, 195 Deontology, 126-127, 149 +Cabinet-level executive Contracting, 107-110, 118 Dillons Rule, 100, 118 + +departments, 39-40 Cooper, Terry, 129, 132-133 Direct orders, 118 +Capital Cooperative federalism, 83-84, Discretion, administrative, + +budget, 186-187, 195 118 131-134 +grant, 82, 118 Co-optation, 149 Discretionary spending, 165, 196 +investment program, 195 Coordination, 299 Discrimination, employment + +Categorical grant, 81, 118 through unity of command, compliance questions, 238-240 +Centralized networks, 406 303 Discrimination, reverse, 240-241 +Charter, 118 Coproduction, 118 Discrimination in public +Chevron v. National Resources Corporation income tax, 162 employment, correcting patterns + +Defense Council, 67-68, b69 Cost-benefit analysis, 265-267, affirmative action and reverse +City administrative organizations 290 discrimination, 240-241 + +and executive leadership, 43-45 Cost-effectiveness approach, 265 comparable worth debate, +Civil Rights Act of 1964, 237 Council-manager city organization, 242-244 +Civil Rights Restoration Act, 238 44-45 glass ceiling, 241-242 +Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, Councils of government, 118 overview, 236-238 + +212,214-217,224 Councils of government (COG), Disparate impact, 239, 248 +Civil service system 105 Distributive policy, 54, 73 + +principles, 213 County administrative organizations Dual federalism, 82-83, 118 +Clinton presidency, intergovern and executive leadership, 45 Due process, concerns for, 70 + +mental relations and, 88-90 Courts and agency administration, +Code of Ethics of the American 70, 72 E + +Society for Public Creativity and problem solving, Economic changes and challenges +Administration, 154-156 376-379 to public service, 432-434 + +Cohesion, 73 Cross-cutting requirements, 118 Effectiveness, 290 +Commission city organization, 44 Efficiency, 290 +Commission on Economy and D Efficiency versus responsiveness, + +Efficiency, 157 Davis v. Monroe County Board of 20-21 +Communications, 387 Education, 101, b95 Employee + +listening, 382-395, b392 Debt empowerment and teamwork, +networks, f406 capacity, 195 331 +overview, 391, b392 management, 187-188 orientation, 316 +speaking, 395-396 Decentralized networks, 407 recognition awards, 351-352 +writing, 396-397 Decision analysis, 268-275, 290 recognition program, 362 + + + +Index 477 + +Employment, conditions of, 225 Excise tax, 162-163, 196 G +Empowerment, 316-318 Executive office of president, Gainsharing plan, 351, 362 +Entitlement grant, 82 37, 39 Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan +Entitlement grants, 118 Executive Order Transit Authority, 99, 231 +Entitlement programs, 196 12871,235 Gender and power, issues of, 324 +Entrepreneurship, 316 112375,237 General Accounting Office (GAO), +Environmental analysis, 260 overview, 73 176 +Environmental sensitivity, 387 performance management +Equal employment opportunity, F principles, 354-355 + +236-238,248 Fact finding, 233 General fund, 191, 196 +Equality, 3-4, 28 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Gilligan, Carol, 128 +Ethical deliberation, approaches to 98-99 Glass ceiling, 241-242, 324 + +overview, 124-126 Fayol, Henri, 298-299 Globalization and challenges to +reasoning, development and Federal Administrative Procedures public service, 434-435, + +action, 126-130 Source Book, 65 b436-438 +Ethical problems for the individual Federal government dollar, fl 60 Goals, 316 + +conflicts of interest, 140-142 Federalism Goal setting, 402-404 +following orders, 138-140 cooperative, 83-84, 118 Gore, Al, 217 +interacting with elected officials, dual, 82-83, 118 Governance process and the role of + +137-138 images of, b83 citizens, 438-439 +prohibitions on political New, 435 Governance transformation: global + +activities, 144-145 picket-fence, 84-87, 119, b86 ization, devolution and role, +whistle blowing, 142-144 Federalists, 35 b91-92 + +Ethical relativism, 124-125, 149 Federal Labor Relations Council, Government accounting, 191-192 +Ethics, 124, 149 231 Governmental Accounting + +audit, 147, 149 Fiduciary funds, 196 Standards Board (GASB), 192 +privatization, 136-137 Final-offer arbitration, 248 Governmental units by type of + +Ethics of public administration Financial management. See government, t43 +Code of Ethics of the American Budgeting and financial Government redefinition and chal + +Society for Public management lenges to public service, 432-434 +Administration, 154-156 Fiscal policy, 196 Grants + +establishing an ethical climate, budgets, 158-159, See also funding patterns, 96-97, t96 +146-148 Budgets types, 81-82, 118-119 + +ethical problems for the individ Fiscal year (FY), 168, 196 Griggs v. Duke Power Company, +ual. See Ethical problems for Flexibility, 387 239 +the individual Flowcharting, 271-272, 290, Gross National Product (GNP), + +managing ethics, 145-146 f272 159, 196 +techniques for integrating ethics Formula grant, 81, 118 Group dynamics. See also + +into agency operations, bl47 Friedrich, Carl, 132 Leadership + +Ethics of public service Functional principle, 303 advantages of group decision +approaches to ethical delibera Future of public service making, 405-407, f406 + +tion. See Ethical deliberation, efforts to support public service, changing group composition, + +approaches to 428,430-431, b429 409-411 + +challenges, 439-441 ethical challenges, 439-441. decentralized networks, 407 + +Issues of administrative responsi See also Ethics of public disadvantages of group decision + +bility. See Administrative administration; Ethics of making, 407-408 + +responsibility public service effective group leadership, b412 + +overview, 123-124, 148-149 new public service, 426-427. interpersonal dynamics in + +Ethics of virtue, 129-130 See also New public groups, 408-409 + +Evaluation management, reinvention, leadership roles, b410 + +overview, 277-278 and reform managing groups, 412-413 + +performance measurement, overview, 426, 441 overview, 405 + +278-284, b283 role of citizens in the governance participation in group decision + +program evaluation, 285-289 process, 438-439 making, 414-417 + + + +47# Index + +Group dynamics (Continued) systems analysis, 273-276, f273, Interpersonal skills and group +specialized techniques for group f276 dynamics. See Communica + +decision making, 413-414 Impoundment, 174, 196 tions; Delegation and motiva +synergy, 406 Incentive programs, 350-352 tion; Group dynamics; +Vroom-Yetton model, 416-417, Independent agencies, 40, 74 Organization change and + +b415, f416 Indexing, 165 development +Group norms, 312 Individual income tax, 161-162 Interventionist, 422 +Groupthink, 408 Individualism, 3, 28 Iron triangles, 52, 74 +Grove City v. Bell, 237-238 Information systems, computer Item veto, 196 +Guidelines for successful based. See Computer-based + +negotiation, b405 information systems J +Gulick, Luther, 298-299, 302-303 Information technology Jackson, Andrew, 210-211 + +the human side, 343-345 Jacksonians, 35-36 +H management reform, 340-343 Job +Harvard Negotiation Project, 404 Institutional subsystem, 290 description, 220, 248 +Hatch Political Activities Act Integrated information systems, enrichment, 348 + +(1939), 144-145 193-194 satisfaction and pay, 399-400 +Hawthorne Works study, 304 Intergovernmental relations, 81, Judicial influence and intergovern +Hidden agenda, 408, 422 118 mental relations, 93-96, b95 +Home rule, 100, 104, 118 the Bush administration, 90, Judiciary and public +Human behavior, recognition of, 92-93 administration + +304-305 the Clinton presidency, 88-90 concerns for due process, 70 +Human resource management cooperative federalism, 83-84 the courts and agency + +Americans with Disabilities Act dual federalism, 82-83 administration, 70, 72, b71 +(ADA). See Americans with judicial influence, 93-96 legal principles relating to +Disabilities Act (ADA) overview, 80-82 judicial review, b69 + +discrimination in public employ picket-fence federalism, 84-87 overview, 65-68, 70 +ment, correcting patterns. the Reagan and Bush years, Judiciary support agencies, 40-41 +See Discrimination in public 87-88 Jung model of psychological types, +employment, correcting state and local funding patterns, 376-379, f378 +patterns 96-97 + +Human resources management state and local preemptions and K +changing character of labor- mandates, 98-102 Katz, Robert, 21-22 + +management relations. See subnational relationships, Keynes, John Maynard, 158 +Labor-management relations 102-106 Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents, + +hiring, firing, and things Intergroup problem solving, 420 238,240 +in-between, 220-229 Interorganizational context of Kohlberg, Lawrence, 127-128 + +merit systems in public public administration +employment, 210-218 development of intergovernmen L + +overview, 209-210, 247 tal relations. See Inter Labor-management relations +political appointee-career governmental relations bargaining process, 232-233 + +executive relations, 244-247 management of nonprofit cooperation, b236 +state and local personnel organizations. See Nonprofit overview, 229-231 + +systems, 219-220 organizations, management of strike decisions, 233-235 +overview, 79-80, 117-118 unions redefined, 235-236 +state and local perspective of Lateral entry, 248 + +Immunity intergovernmental relations. Leadership, 387. See also Group +absolute, 145 See Intergovernmental dynamics +qualified, 145 relations effective group leader, b412 + +Implementation working with nongovernmental participative, 361 +organizational design, 271-272, organizations, 106-110 power, 382-385 + +f272 Interorganizational networks, roles, b410 +overview, 270-271 119 Legal principles relating to judicial +reengineering, 276-277 Interpersonal sensitivity, 387 review, b69 + + + +Index 479 + +Legislative supervision: casework, Managing organizational dynamics. Negotiated investment strategy, +64-65 See Organizational dynamics, 119 + +Legislative supervision: oversight, management of Negotiated Rule Making Act of +62-64 Mandate, 100-102, 119 1990, 66 + +Legislative supervision: structural sneaky, 119 Negotiation, 404-405, b405 +controls Marshall Trilogy, 45-46 Networking, 8, 10, 23, 39, 42, 44, + +overview, 58-59 Maslow, Abraham, 399 47,51,58-59, 65,81,98,108, +sunset laws, 47, 60-61 Maslows hierarchy of needs, 399 111, 131, 142, 158, 164, 167, +sunshine laws, 61-62, 74 Mayor-council city organization, 170, 185,209,216, 223, +veto, 59-60, 74 43-44 225-226, 230, 256, 271, 279, + +Legislative support agencies, 40-41 Mediation, 70, 233 301,315, 320, 337, 342, 357, +Liberty, 4, 28 Mental models, 314 377,383, 403,419 +Line-item Merit Neutral competence, 149 + +budget, 177-178, 196 pay, 224, 248 New Federalism, 435 +veto, 173 principle, 248 New public management + +Listening skills, 382-395, b392 system, 213, 215 definition of new public +Lloyd-LaFollette Act of 1912, 229 system, state and local, 219-220 management, 335 +Long-range planning, 257 Merit Protection Board, 215 human resources, innovation and + +Merit systems in public performance, 345-356 +M employment human side of technological +Management, functions of, Civil Service Reform Act and its innovation, 343-345 + +298-300 aftermath, 214-217 implementation issues in quality +Management by objectives (MBO), reinvention and the National and productivity, 357-361 + +345-347, 362 Performance Review, information technology, the +Management excellence 217-218, b216 Internet, and management + +framework, b24 spoils versus merit, 210-214 reform, 340-343 +Management information systems, Mission, 316 nonprofit management reform, + +193 statement, 259-260 334- 335,337-339 +Management-labor relations. See Moral overview, 333-334, 361-362 + +Labor-management relations action, 129-130 principles of, 439 +Management of human resources. philosophy, 126-127 reinventing government, + +See Human resources psychology, 127-129 335- 337 +management relativism, 149 results, 339-340 + +Management skills inventory, Morality, 124, 149 results of reform, 339-340 +32-33 Motivation. See Delegation and NLRB v. Yeshiva University, 232 + +Managerial subsystem, 290 motivation Nominal group, 413, 422 +Managerial work Nongovernmental organizations + +distribution of time among work N (NGOs), 106-110, 334, fl06 + +elements, 368 National Campaign for Public Nonprofit organizations, 46-49, + +elements of managerial work, Service, 428 74, t47 + +367 National Commission on Public Bush tax plan, 166 + +information aspects, 368-369 Service, 428, 430-431 images of organizing, 297-298 + +interaction and communication, main conclusions, b429 management reform, 337-340 + +368 National Commission on the State mandates, 101-102 + +overview, 367 and Local Public Service, Nonprofit organizations, + +typical day, b370 430-431 management of + +work themes, 369 National League of Cities v. Usery, advocacy, 116-117 + +Managers, skills needed, 21-22 231 board governance, 113-115 + +Managing ethics National Performance Review, board-staff relations, 115 + +establishing an ethical climate, 36-37,217-218, 221,638, financial management, 113 + +146-148 b216 operational leadership, + +overview, 145-146 Native American tribe 110-111 + +techniques for integrating ethics administrative organizations overview, 110 + +into agency operations, b!47 and executive leadership, 45-46 resource development, 112-113 + + + +4 So Index + +O P Planning, 299 +Objective responsibility, 149 Parity principle, 398, 422 Planning, implementation, and +Office of Management and Budget Participant-observer, 287, 290 evaluation. See Evaluation; + +(OMB), 169-171 Participative leadership, 361 Implementation; Strategic +Office of Personnel Management Pay and job satisfaction, 399-400 planning + +(OPM), 22, 215 Pay Comparability Act of 1990, Planning-programming-budgeting +AIDS directive, 227 224-225 system (PPBS), 179-180, 196 +hiring plan, 222 Payoff matrices, 267-268 Policy, 74 +inventory of management skills, Payroll tax, 162 analysis, 261-265, 290 + +32-33 Pay systems, 223-225 analysts, 28 +Oligarchy, 28 Pendleton Act, 212-214 entrepreneur, 74 +Ombudsman, 74 Performance formulation, 51-52 +Operating grant, 82, 119 appraisal, 362 implementation, 52-53 +Organizational audit, 176, 196 Policy process + +chart, 302-303, f3 02 bonus, 351, 362 agenda setting, 50-51, 73 +culture, 312-313, 326, 419 budget, 178-179, 196 formulation, 51-52 +design, 271-272, f 272 indicators, 290 implementation, 52-53 +learning, 313-314, 326 measurement, 278-284, 290, overview, 49 + +Organizational development (OD), b283 stages, b49 +325,419 measurement systems, 194, types of policies, 53-56 + +values, 310 355-356 Policy types +Organizational dynamics, Performance management constituent, 55-56, 74 + +management of benchmarking, 356 distributive, 54, 73 +early writers: concern for measuring performance, overview, 53 + +structure, 300-304 355-356 redistributive, 55, 74 +functions of management, overview, 354-355 regulatory, 54, 74 + +298-300 Personal mastery, 314 Political context of public +images of organizing in the Personal skills in public administration + +public and nonprofit sectors, management administrative organizations +297-298 creativity and problem solving, and executive leadership. + +organizational culture, organiza 376-379,f378 See Administrative organiza +tional learning, and strategic distribution of time among work tions and executive leadership +management, 312-322 elements, 368 overview, 34-35, 72-73 + +the organization and its informal aspects of managerial relationships with the legislative +environment, 307-312 work, 368-369 body, 49-65 + +overview, 297, 325 managerial interaction and relationship with the judiciary. +postmodern narrative on communication, 368 See Judiciary and public + +management, 323-325 managerial work elements, 367 administration +recognizing human behavior, models of individual decision Political economy approach, 326 + +304-307 making, 379-382 Political neutrality, 144 +Organization change and overview, 366, 386 Politics and administration, 18 + +development power and leadership, 382-385, Position classification, 248 +diagnosing the need for changes, b385 Postaudits, 175-176 + +418-419 stress management. See Stress Postmodernism, 323-324 +major objectives of organizational management Poststructuralism, 323 + +development programs, b418 themes of managerial work, 369 Power and leadership, 382-385 +overview, 417-418 time management, 375-376 Pragmatic incrementalism, 318 +strategies for change, 419-421 Personnel classification system, 220 Preaudit, 174, 196 + +Outcome PERT (program evaluation review Preemptions, 98-100, 119 +evaluation, 285, 290 technique), 275-276, 290, f276 Principled negotiation, 405 +measurement, 281 Philosophy, moral, 126-127 Principles of reinvention and + +Outcome-based budgeting, Picket-fence federalism, 84-87, entrepreneurship, 336 +181-182,196 119,b86 Privatization, 107-110, 119 + +Outputs, 274 Piecework bonus, 351, 362 ethics of, 136-137 + + + +Index 481 + +Problem solving and creativity, Public administrators Results focus, 387 +376-379 inventory of skills, 22-23 Revenue bonds, 187-188 + +Process overview, 21-22 Revenue sharing, 119 +charting, 271-272, 290, f272 Public corporation, 40, 74 Reverse discrimination, 240-241 +evaluation, 285, 290 Public management, personal skills. Risk management, 189-190, 197 + +Process of work, 180 See Personal skills in public Risky shift, 407, 422 +Productivity improvement, management Role ambiguity, 370, 386 + +357-361 Publicness, 8-9 Role conflict, 370, 386 +Professional Air Traffic Controllers Public policy, 74 Roosevelt, Franklin, 36 + +Organization (PATCO), budgets, 160-168, fl60, fl67 Rosenblum, David, 4 +234-235 Public-sector unions, 229 Rule making, 74 + +Professional and Administrative Public service Rule of three, 222, 248 +Career Examination (PACE), ethics of. See Ethics of public Rust v. Sullivan, 67, b69 +222,239 service + +Program budget, 179-180 the future. See Future of public S +Program development service Sales tax, 162-163 + +strategies, 183-185 power of, bl6-17 Satisficing decision, 381-382, 386 +Program evaluation reflections on, b26 Scalar principle, 303 + +evaluation designs and Purchasing, 190 Scientific management, 326 +techniques, 286-289 Purpose of work, 180 Selye, Hans, 371-372 + +overview, 285-286 Senior Executive Service, 215-216 +Program manager, 28 Q Sensitivity training, 420-421 + +role in financial management, Qualified immunity, 145 Sexual harassment, 226-227, 248 +bl70 Quality assurance, 332 Shared vision, 314 + +Progressive tax, 196 Quality circle, 349-350, 362 Six Cs for effective writing, 396-397 +Prohibition on political activities Quality of work life, 347-349 Smiley v. Citibank, 67, b69 + +and public administration, Sneaky mandate, 119 +144-145 R Social power, bases of, b385 + +Project grant, 81, 118 Rawls, John, 127 Sovereignty, 229-231 +Property tax, 163 Reagan and Bush years, intergov state, 100 +Proportional tax, 196 ernmental relations and, 87-88 Speaking skills, 395-396 +Proprietary funds, 192, 196 Recission, 174, 197 Special districts, 105-106, 119 +Psychology, moral, 127-129 Reconciliation bill, 196 administrative organizations and +Public administration Recruitment process, 221-223 executive leadership, 46 + +approaches to, 4 Redistributive policy, 55, 74 Spoils system, 210-214, 248 +contrasted with business Reengineering, 276-278, 290 Staff managers, 28 + +administration, 5-7 Reflections of a public service Stakeholders, 290 +current thinking, 7-9 junkie, b26 State sovereignty, 100 + +definition, 2-3, 28 Regions Hospital v. Sbalala, 67, b69 State spending from tobacco +political context. See Political con Regressive tax, 196 settlement, t98 + +text of public administration Regulatory Strategic management, 326 + +Public administration, commission, 40, 74 Strategic planning, 291, 330 + +interorganizational context. See policy, 54, 74 costs and benefits, 265-267 + +Interorganizational context of Regulatory Flexibility Act, 66 decision tree, f268-f269 + +public administration Reinforcement theory, 400-402 development of alternative + +Public administration theory and Relaxation strategies, 260-261 + +practice response, 373 logic of policy analysis, 261-265 + +accountability, 18-19 techniques, 373-374 organizing for planning, + +bureaucracy and democracy, Reorganization Act of 1939, 36 258-259 + +19- 20 Representative bureaucracy, overview, 255-257, 289 + +efficiency versus responsiveness, 133-134 planning for planning, 257-258 + +20- 21 Reprogramming, 174 quantitative techniques, + +issues in, 17 Responsibility, objective, 149 267-270 + +politics and administration, 18 Responsibility, subjective, 150 steps, 259-260 + + + +482 Index + +Strategic view, 387 property, 163 Unions +Stress management proportional, 196 public sector, 229 + +exercise, 374 regressive, 196 redefined, 235-236 +organizational factors that sales, 162-163 shop, 231 + +promote burnout, b371 Taylor, Frederick, 300-301 Unit determination, 249 +overview, 369-372 Team University of Alabama v. Garrett, +relaxation techniques, building, 420 238, 240 + +373-374 learning, 314 Utilitarianism, 126, 130, 150 +stress and the organization, 374 Technical +stress signals and responses, competence, 387 V + +372-373 subsystem, 291 Values, 316 +Strike decisions, 232-235 Technology and challenge to public Veto +Structured interviews, 248 service, 435, 438 legislative, 59-60, 74 +Subjective responsibility, 150 Thorndikes law of effect, 400 line-item, 173, 196 +Suggestion award, 351, 363 Time management, 375-376 Volcker, Paul, 428 +Sunset laws, 60-61, 74 Time series analysis, 291 Volcker Commission, 428, +Sunshine laws, 61-62, 74 Tobacco settlement, state 430-431 +Supply-side economics, 119 spending, t98 main conclusions, b429 +Support system, 373, 386 Total quality management (TQM), Vroom-Yetton model of +Synergy, 406 318-320 participation in decision +Systems, 291 commitment to training and making, 414-417, b415, f416 + +analysis, 273-276, f273 recognition, 331 +theory, 291, 307-309, 326 employee empowerment and W +thinking, 314 teamwork, 331 Wards Cove v. San Antonio, 239 + +focus on customer, 330 Weber, Max, 304 +T measurement and analysis of Whipsaw tactics, 233, 249 +Taft Commission, 157 processes and output, 331 Whistle blowing, 142-144 +Task forces, 350, 363 overview, 329-330 justifications for, 143 +Tavistock Institute for Human quality assurance, 332 White, Leonard, 3, 301 + +Relations, 347 strategic planning, 330 Wildavsky, Aaron, 183-185 +Tax top management leadership and Wilson, Woodrow, 2-3, 18 + +Bush plan, 165-167 support, 330 Winter, William F., 430 +corporation income, 162 Two-factor theory, 422 Winter Commission, 430-431 +excise, 162-163, 196 Workplace violence, 228 +individual income, 161-162 U Writing skills, 396-397 +payroll, 162 Unfunded Mandate Reform Act, +policies, 161 102 Z +progressive, 196 Uniform Guidelines, 239-240 Zero-base budgeting, 197 + + + + + + +* + + + + + + + + + +/ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +\ + + + + + + + + + +' + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Books that go beyond the facts . . . +innovative resources that bring political science to life! + +Wadsworth is committed to publishing books that get students +involved in political science. 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Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved +above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced + +into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means +(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the + +prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of +this book. + +A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. + +eISBN: 978-1-84765-187-7 + +The paper this book is printed on is certified by the 1996 Forest +Stewardship Council A.C. (FSC). It is ancient-forest friendly. The printer + +holds FSC chain of custody SGS-COC-2061 + + + + + + +For Hunter, Hattie, and Walker + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + +1. THE PROBLEM OF EXTREME COMPLEXITY +2. THE CHECKLIST +3. THE END OF THE MASTER BUILDER +4. THE IDEA +5. THE FIRST TRY +6. THE CHECKLIST FACTORY +7. THE TEST +8. THE HERO IN THE AGE OF CHECKLISTS +9. THE SAVE + +NOTES ON SOURCES +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + + +THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO + + + +INTRODUCTION + +I was chatting with a medical school friend of mine who is now a +general surgeon in San Francisco. We were trading war stories, as surgeons +are apt to do. One of Johns was about a guy who came in on Halloween +night with a stab wound. He had been at a costume party. He got into an +altercation. And now here he was. + +He was stable, breathing normally, not in pain, just drunk and babbling to +the trauma team. They cut off his clothes with shears and looked him over +from head to toe, front and back. He was of moderate size, about two +hundred pounds, most of the excess around his middle. That was where +they found the stab wound, a neat two-inch red slit in his belly, pouting +open like a fish mouth. A thin mustard yellow strip of omental fat tongued +out of itfat from inside his abdomen, not the pale yellow, superficial fat +that lies beneath the skin. Theyd need to take him to the operating room, +check to make sure the bowel wasnt injured, and sew up the little gap. + +No big deal, John said. +If it were a bad injury, theyd need to crash into the operating room + +stretcher flying, nurses racing to get the surgical equipment set up, the +anesthesiologists skipping their detailed review of the medical records. But +this was not a bad injury. They had time, they determined. The patient lay +waiting on his stretcher in the stucco-walled trauma bay while the OR was +readied. + +Then a nurse noticed hed stopped babbling. His heart rate had +skyrocketed. His eyes were rolling back in his head. He didnt respond +when she shook him. She called for help, and the members of the trauma +team swarmed back into the room. His blood pressure was barely detectible. +They stuck a tube down his airway and pushed air into his lungs, poured +fluid and emergency-release blood into him. Still they couldnt get his +pressure up. + + + +So now they were crashing into the operating roomstretcher flying, +nurses racing to get the surgical equipment set up, the anesthesiologists +skipping their review of the records, a resident splashing a whole bottle of +Betadine antiseptic onto his belly, John grabbing a fat No. 10 blade and +slicing down through the skin of the mans abdomen in one clean, +determined swipe from rib cage to pubis. + +Cautery. +He drew the electrified metal tip of the cautery pen along the fat + +underneath the skin, parting it in a line from top to bottom, then through the +fibrous white sheath of fascia between the abdominal muscles. He pierced +his way into the abdominal cavity itself, and suddenly an ocean of blood +burst out of the patient. + +Crap. +The blood was everywhere. The assailants knife had gone more than a + +foot through the mans skin, through the fat, through the muscle, past the +intestine, along the left of his spinal column, and right into the aorta, the +main artery from the heart. + +Which was crazy, John said. Another surgeon joined to help and got a +fist down on the aorta, above the puncture point. That stopped the worst of +the bleeding and they began to get control of the situation. Johns colleague +said he hadnt seen an injury like it since Vietnam. + +The description was pretty close, it turned out. The other guy at the +costume party, John later learned, was dressed as a soldierwith a bayonet. + +The patient was touch and go for a couple days. But he pulled through. +John still shakes his head ruefully when he talks about the case. + +There are a thousand ways that things can go wrong when youve got a +patient with a stab wound. But everyone involved got almost every step +rightthe head-to-toe examination, the careful tracking of the patients +blood pressure and pulse and rate of breathing, the monitoring of his +consciousness, the fluids run in by IV, the call to the blood bank to have +blood ready, the placement of a urinary catheter to make sure his urine was +running clear, everything. Except no one remembered to ask the patient or +the emergency medical technicians what the weapon was. + +Your mind doesnt think of a bayonet in San Francisco, John could +only say. + + + +He told me about another patient, who was undergoing an operation to +remove a cancer of his stomach when his heart suddenly stopped.* John +remembered looking up at the cardiac monitor and saying to the +anesthesiologist, Hey, is that asystole? Asystole is total cessation of heart +function. It looks like a flat line on the monitor, as if the monitor is not even +hooked up to the patient. + +The anesthesiologist said, A lead must have fallen off, because it +seemed impossible to believe that the patients heart had stopped. The man +was in his late forties and had been perfectly healthy. The tumor was found +almost by chance. He had gone to see his physician about something else, a +cough perhaps, and mentioned hed been having some heartburn, too. Well, +not heartburn exactly. He felt like food sometimes got stuck in his +esophagus and wouldnt go down and that gave him heartburn. The doctor +ordered an imaging test that required him to swallow a milky barium drink +while standing in front of an X-ray machine. And there on the images it +was: a fleshy mouse-size mass, near the top of the stomach, intermittently +pressing up against the entrance like a stopper. It had been caught early. +There were no signs of spread. The only known cure was surgery, in this +case a total gastrectomy, meaning removal of his entire stomach, a major +four-hour undertaking. + +The team members were halfway through the procedure. The cancer was +out. Thered been no problems whatsoever. They were getting ready to +reconstruct the patients digestive tract when the monitor went flat-line. It +took them about five seconds to figure out that a lead had not fallen off. The +anesthesiologist could feel no pulse in the patients carotid artery. His heart +had stopped. + +John tore the sterile drapes off the patient and started doing chest +compressions, the patients intestines bulging in and out of his open +abdomen with each push. A nurse called a Code Blue. + +John paused here in telling the story and asked me to suppose I was in his +situation. So, now, what would you do? + +I tried to think it through. The asystole happened in the midst of major +surgery. Therefore, massive blood loss would be at the top of my list. I +would open fluids wide, I said, and look for bleeding. + +Thats what the anesthesiologist said, too. But John had the patients +abdomen completely open. There was no bleeding, and he told the + + + +anesthesiologist so. +He couldnt believe it, John said. He kept saying, There must be + +massive bleeding! There must be massive bleeding! But there was none. +Lack of oxygen was also a possibility. I said Id put the oxygen at 100 + +percent and check the airway. Id also draw blood and send it for stat +laboratory tests to rule out unusual abnormalities. + +John said they thought of that, too. The airway was fine. And as for the +lab tests, they would take at least twenty minutes to get results, by which +point it would be too late. + +Could it be a collapsed lunga pneumothorax? There were no signs of it. +They listened with a stethoscope and heard good air movement on both +sides of the chest. + +The cause therefore had to be a pulmonary embolism, I saida blood +clot must have traveled to the patients heart and plugged off his circulation. +Its rare, but patients with cancer undergoing major surgery are at risk, and +if it happens theres not much that can be done. One could give a bolus of +epinephrine adrenalinto try to jump-start the heart, but it wouldnt +likely do much good. + +John said that his team had come to the same conclusion. After fifteen +minutes of pumping up and down on the patients chest, the line on the +screen still flat as death, the situation seemed hopeless. Among those who +arrived to help, however, was a senior anesthesiologist who had been in the +room when the patient was being put to sleep. When he left, nothing +seemed remotely off-kilter. He kept thinking to himself, someone must have +done something wrong. + +He asked the anesthesiologist in the room if he had done anything +different in the fifteen minutes before the cardiac arrest. + +No. Wait. Yes. The patient had had a low potassium level on routine labs +that were sent during the first part of the case, when all otherwise seemed +fine, and the anesthesiologist had given him a dose of potassium to correct +it. + +I was chagrined at having missed this possibility. An abnormal level of +potassium is a classic cause of asystole. Its mentioned in every textbook. I +couldnt believe I overlooked it. Severely low potassium levels can stop the +heart, in which case a corrective dose of potassium is the remedy. And too + + + +much potassium can stop the heart, as wellthats how states execute +prisoners. + +The senior anesthesiologist asked to see the potassium bag that had been +hanging. Someone fished it out of the trash and that was when they figured +it out. The anesthesiologist had used the wrong concentration of potassium, +a concentration one hundred times higher than hed intended. He had, in +other words, given the patient a lethal overdose of potassium. + +After so much time, it wasnt clear whether the patient could be revived. +It might well have been too late. But from that point on, they did everything +they were supposed to do. They gave injections of insulin and glucose to +lower the toxic potassium level. Knowing that the medications would take a +good fifteen minutes to kick inway too longthey also gave intravenous +calcium and inhaled doses of a drug called albuterol, which act more +quickly. The potassium levels dropped rapidly. And the patients heartbeat +did indeed come back. + +The surgical team was so shaken they werent sure they could finish the +operation. Theyd not only nearly killed the man but also failed to recognize +how. They did finish the procedure, though. John went out and told the +family what had happened. He and the patient were lucky. The man +recoveredalmost as if the whole episode had never occurred. + +The stories surgeons tell one another are often about the shock of the +unexpectedthe bayonet in San Francisco, the cardiac arrest when all +seemed fineand sometimes about regret over missed possibilities. We talk +about our great saves but also about our great failures, and we all have +them. They are part of what we do. We like to think of ourselves as in +control. But Johns stories got me thinking about what is really in our +control and what is not. + +In the 1970s, the philosophers Samuel Gorovitz and Alasdair MacIntyre +published a short essay on the nature of human fallibility that I read during +my surgical training and havent stopped pondering since. The question +they sought to answer was why we fail at what we set out to do in the +world. One reason, they observed, is necessary fallibilitysome things +we want to do are simply beyond our capacity. We are not omniscient or all- +powerful. Even enhanced by technology, our physical and mental powers + + + +are limited. Much of the world and universe isand will remainoutside +our understanding and control. + +There are substantial realms, however, in which control is within our +reach. We can build skyscrapers, predict snowstorms, save people from +heart attacks and stab wounds. In such realms, Gorovitz and MacIntyre +point out, we have just two reasons that we may nonetheless fail. + +The first is ignorancewe may err because science has given us only a +partial understanding of the world and how it works. There are skyscrapers +we do not yet know how to build, snowstorms we cannot predict, heart +attacks we still havent learned how to stop. The second type of failure the +philosophers call ineptitudebecause in these instances the knowledge +exists, yet we fail to apply it correctly. This is the skyscraper that is built +wrong and collapses, the snowstorm whose signs the meteorologist just +plain missed, the stab wound from a weapon the doctors forgot to ask about. + +Thinking about Johns cases as a small sample of the difficulties we face +in early-twenty-first-century medicine, I was struck by how greatly the +balance of ignorance and ineptitude has shifted. For nearly all of history, +peoples lives have been governed primarily by ignorance. This was +nowhere more clear than with the illnesses that befell us. We knew little +about what caused them or what could be done to remedy them. But +sometime over the last several decadesand it is only over the last several +decades science has filled in enough knowledge to make ineptitude as +much our struggle as ignorance. + +Consider heart attacks. Even as recently as the 1950s, we had little idea +of how to prevent or treat them. We didnt know, for example, about the +danger of high blood pressure, and had we been aware of it we wouldnt +have known what to do about it. The first safe medication to treat +hypertension was not developed and conclusively demonstrated to prevent +disease until the 1960s. We didnt know about the role of cholesterol, either, +or genetics or smoking or diabetes. + +Furthermore, if someone had a heart attack, we had little idea of how to +treat it. Wed give some morphine for the pain, perhaps some oxygen, and +put the patient on strict bed rest for weekspatients werent even permitted +to get up and go to the bathroom for fear of stressing their damaged hearts. +Then everyone would pray and cross their fingers and hope the patient + + + +would make it out of the hospital to spend the rest of his or her life at home +as a cardiac cripple. + +Today, by contrast, we have at least a dozen effective ways to reduce your +likelihood of having a heart attackfor instance, controlling your blood +pressure, prescribing a statin to lower cholesterol and inflammation, +limiting blood sugar levels, encouraging exercise regularly, helping with +smoking cessation, and, if there are early signs of heart disease, getting you +to a cardiologist for still further recommendations. If you should have a +heart attack, we have a whole panel of effective therapies that can not only +save your life but also limit the damage to your heart: we have clot-busting +drugs that can reopen your blocked coronary arteries; we have cardiac +catheters that can balloon them open; we have open heart surgery +techniques that let us bypass the obstructed vessels; and weve learned that +in some instances all we really have to do is send you to bed with some +oxygen, an aspirin, a statin, and blood pressure medicationsin a couple +days youll generally be ready to go home and gradually back to your usual +life. + +But now the problem we face is ineptitude, or maybe its eptitude +making sure we apply the knowledge we have consistently and correctly. +Just making the right treatment choice among the many options for a heart +attack patient can be difficult, even for expert clinicians. Furthermore, +whatever the chosen treatment, each involves abundant complexities and +pitfalls. Careful studies have shown, for example, that heart attack patients +undergoing cardiac balloon therapy should have it done within ninety +minutes of arrival at a hospital. After that, survival falls off sharply. In +practical terms this means that, within ninety minutes, medical teams must +complete all their testing for every patient who turns up in an emergency +room with chest pain, make a correct diagnosis and plan, discuss the +decision with the patient, obtain his or her agreement to proceed, confirm +there are no allergies or medical problems that have to be accounted for, +ready a cath lab and team, transport the patient, and get started. + +What is the likelihood that all this will actually occur within ninety +minutes in an average hospital? In 2006, it was less than 50 percent. + +This is not an unusual example. These kinds of failures are routine in +medicine. Studies have found that at least 30 percent of patients with stroke +receive incomplete or inappropriate care from their doctors, as do 45 + + + +percent of patients with asthma and 60 percent of patients with pneumonia. +Getting the steps right is proving brutally hard, even if you know them. + +I have been trying for some time to understand the source of our greatest +difficulties and stresses in medicine. It is not money or government or the +threat of malpractice lawsuits or insurance company hasslesalthough they +all play their role. It is the complexity that science has dropped upon us and +the enormous strains we are encountering in making good on its promise. +The problem is not uniquely American; I have seen it everywherein +Europe, in Asia, in rich countries and poor. Moreover, I have found to my +surprise that the challenge is not limited to medicine. + +Know-how and sophistication have increased remarkably across almost +all our realms of endeavor, and as a result so has our struggle to deliver on +them. You see it in the frequent mistakes authorities make when hurricanes +or tornadoes or other disasters hit. You see it in the 36 percent increase +between 2004 and 2007 in lawsuits against attorneys for legal mistakes +the most common being simple administrative errors, like missed calendar +dates and clerical screwups, as well as errors in applying the law. You see it +in flawed software design, in foreign intelligence failures, in our tottering +banksin fact, in almost any endeavor requiring mastery of complexity and +of large amounts of knowledge. + +Such failures carry an emotional valence that seems to cloud how we +think about them. Failures of ignorance we can forgive. If the knowledge of +the best thing to do in a given situation does not exist, we are happy to have +people simply make their best effort. But if the knowledge exists and is not +applied correctly, it is difficult not to be infuriated. What do you mean half +of heart attack patients dont get their treatment on time? What do you +mean that two-thirds of death penalty cases are overturned because of +errors? It is not for nothing that the philosophers gave these failures so +unmerciful a nameineptitude. Those on the receiving end use other +words, like negligence or even heartlessness. + +For those who do the work, howeverfor those who care for the patients, +practice the law, respond when need callsthe judgment feels like it +ignores how extremely difficult the job is. Every day there is more and +more to manage and get right and learn. And defeat under conditions of +complexity occurs far more often despite great effort rather than from a lack + + + +of it. Thats why the traditional solution in most professions has not been to +punish failure but instead to encourage more experience and training. + +There can be no disputing the importance of experience. It is not enough +for a surgeon to have the textbook knowledge of how to treat trauma +victimsto understand the science of penetrating wounds, the damage they +cause, the different approaches to diagnosis and treatment, the importance +of acting quickly. One must also grasp the clinical reality, with its nuances +of timing and sequence. One needs practice to achieve mastery, a body of +experience before one achieves real success. And if what we are missing +when we fail is individual skill, then what is needed is simply more training +and practice. + +But what is striking about Johns cases is that he is among the best- +trained surgeons I know, with more than a decade on the front lines. And +this is the common pattern. The capability of individuals is not proving to +be our primary difficulty, whether in medicine or elsewhere. Far from it. +Training in most fields is longer and more intense than ever. People spend +years of sixty, seventy-, eighty-hour weeks building their base of +knowledge and experience before going out into practice on their own +whether they are doctors or professors or lawyers or engineers. They have +sought to perfect themselves. It is not clear how we could produce +substantially more expertise than we already have. Yet our failures remain +frequent. They persist despite remarkable individual ability. + +Here, then, is our situation at the start of the twenty-first century: We have +accumulated stupendous know-how. We have put it in the hands of some of +the most highly trained, highly skilled, and hardworking people in our +society. And, with it, they have indeed accomplished extraordinary things. +Nonetheless, that know-how is often unmanageable. Avoidable failures are +common and persistent, not to mention demoralizing and frustrating, across +many fieldsfrom medicine to finance, business to government. And the +reason is increasingly evident: the volume and complexity of what we know +has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely, +or reliably. Knowledge has both saved us and burdened us. + +That means we need a different strategy for overcoming failure, one that +builds on experience and takes advantage of the knowledge people have but +somehow also makes up for our inevitable human inadequacies. And there + + + +is such a strategy though it will seem almost ridiculous in its simplicity, +maybe even crazy to those of us who have spent years carefully developing +ever more advanced skills and technologies. + +It is a checklist. + + + +1. THE PROBLEM OF EXTREME COMPLEXITY + +Some time ago I read a case report in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. It +was, in the dry prose of a medical journal article, the story of a nightmare. +In a small Austrian town in the Alps, a mother and father had been out on a +walk in the woods with their three-year-old daughter. The parents lost sight +of the girl for a moment and that was all it took. She fell into an icy +fishpond. The parents frantically jumped in after her. But she was lost +beneath the surface for thirty minutes before they finally found her on the +pond bottom. They pulled her to the surface and got her to the shore. +Following instructions from an emergency response team reached on their +cell phone, they began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. + +Rescue personnel arrived eight minutes later and took the first recordings +of the girls condition. She was unresponsive. She had no blood pressure or +pulse or sign of breathing. Her body temperature was just 66 degrees. Her +pupils were dilated and unreactive to light, indicating cessation of brain +function. She was gone. + +But the emergency technicians continued CPR anyway. A helicopter took +her to the nearest hospital, where she was wheeled directly into an operating +room, a member of the emergency crew straddling her on the gurney, +pumping her chest. A surgical team got her onto a heart-lung bypass +machine as rapidly as it could. The surgeon had to cut down through the +skin of the childs right groin and sew one of the desk-size machines +silicone rubber tubes into her femoral artery to take the blood out of her, +then another into her femoral vein to send the blood back. A perfusionist +turned the pump on, and as he adjusted the oxygen and temperature and +flow through the system, the clear tubing turned maroon with her blood. +Only then did they stop the girls chest compressions. + +Between the transport time and the time it took to plug the machine into +her, she had been lifeless for an hour and a half. By the two-hour mark, + + + +however, her body temperature had risen almost ten degrees, and her heart +began to beat. It was her first organ to come back. + +After six hours, the girls core reached 98.6 degrees, normal body +temperature. The team tried to shift her from the bypass machine to a +mechanical ventilator, but the pond water and debris had damaged her lungs +too severely for the oxygen pumped in through the breathing tube to reach +her blood. So they switched her instead to an artificial-lung system known +as ECMO extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. To do this, the +surgeons had to open her chest down the middle with a power saw and sew +the lines to and from the portable ECMO unit directly into her aorta and her +beating heart. + +The ECMO machine now took over. The surgeons removed the heart- +lung bypass machine tubing. They repaired the vessels and closed her groin +incision. The surgical team moved the girl into intensive care, with her +chest still open and covered with sterile plastic foil. Through the day and +night, the intensive care unit team worked on suctioning the water and +debris from her lungs with a fiberoptic bronchoscope. By the next day, her +lungs had recovered sufficiently for the team to switch her from ECMO to a +mechanical ventilator, which required taking her back to the operating room +to unplug the tubing, repair the holes, and close her chest. + +Over the next two days, all the girls organs recoveredher liver, her +kidneys, her intestines, everything except her brain. A CT scan showed +global brain swelling, which is a sign of diffuse damage, but no actual dead +zones. So the team escalated the care one step further. It drilled a hole into +the girls skull, threaded a probe into the brain to monitor the pressure, and +kept that pressure tightly controlled through constant adjustments in her +fluids and medications. For more than a week, she lay comatose. Then, +slowly, she came back to life. + +First, her pupils started to react to light. Next, she began to breathe on her +own. And, one day, she simply awoke. Two weeks after her accident, she +went home. Her right leg and left arm were partially paralyzed. Her speech +was thick and slurry. But she underwent extensive outpatient therapy. By +age five, she had recovered her faculties completely. Physical and +neurological examinations were normal. She was like any little girl again. + +What makes this recovery astounding isnt just the idea that someone +could be brought back after two hours in a state that would once have been + + + +considered death. Its also the idea that a group of people in a random +hospital could manage to pull off something so enormously complicated. +Rescuing a drowning victimis nothing like it looks on television shows, +where a few chest compressions and some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation +always seem to bring someone with waterlogged lungs and a stilled heart +coughing and sputtering back to life. To save this one child, scores of +people had to carry out thousands of steps correctly: placing the heart-pump +tubing into her without letting in air bubbles; maintaining the sterility of her +lines, her open chest, the exposed fluid in her brain; keeping a +temperamental battery of machines up and running. The degree of difficulty +in any one of these steps is substantial. Then you must add the difficulties +of orchestrating them in the right sequence, with nothing dropped, leaving +some room for improvisation, but not too much. + +For every drowned and pulseless child rescued, there are scores more +who dont make itand not just because their bodies are too far gone. +Machines break down; a team cant get moving fast enough; someone fails +to wash his hands and an infection takes hold. Such cases dont get written +up in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, but they are the norm, though people +may not realize it. + +I think we have been fooled about what we can expect from medicine +fooled, one could say, by penicillin. Alexander Flemings 1928 discovery +held out a beguiling vision of health care and how it would treat illness or +injury in the future: a simple pill or injection would be capable of curing not +just one condition but perhaps many. Penicillin, after all, seemed to be +effective against an astonishing variety of previously untreatable infectious +diseases. So why not a similar cure-all for the different kinds of cancer? +And why not something equally simple to melt away skin burns or to +reverse cardiovascular disease and strokes? + +Medicine didnt turn out this way, though. After a century of incredible +discovery, most diseases have proved to be far more particular and difficult +to treat. This is true even for the infections doctors once treated with +penicillin: not all bacterial strains were susceptible and those that were soon +developed resistance. Infections today require highly individualized +treatment, sometimes with multiple therapies, based on a given strains +pattern of antibiotic susceptibility, the condition of the patient, and which +organ systems are affected. The model of medicine in the modern age seems + + + +less and less like penicillin and more and more like what was required for +the girl who nearly drowned. Medicine has become the art of managing +extreme complexityand a test of whether such complexity can, in fact, be +humanly mastered. + +The ninth edition of the World Health Organizations international +classification of diseases has grown to distinguish more than thirteen +thousand different diseases, syndromes, and types of injurymore than +thirteen thousand different ways, in other words, that the body can fail. +And, for nearly all of them, science has given us things we can do to help. If +we cannot cure the disease, then we can usually reduce the harm and misery +it causes. But for each condition the steps are different and they are almost +never simple. Clinicians now have at their disposal some six thousand drugs +and four thousand medical and surgical procedures, each with different +requirements, risks, and considerations. It is a lot to get right. + +There is a community clinic in Bostons Kenmore Square affiliated with +my hospital. The word clinic makes the place sound tiny, but its nothing of +the sort. Founded in 1969, and now called Harvard Vanguard, it aimed to +provide people with the full range of outpatient medical services they might +need over the course of their lives. It has since tried to stick with that plan, +but doing so hasnt been easy. To keep up with the explosive growth in +medical capabilities, the clinic has had to build more than twenty facilities +and employ some six hundred doctors and a thousand other health +professionals covering fifty-nine specialties, many of which did not exist +when the clinic first opened. Walking the fifty steps from the fifth-floor +elevator to the general surgery department, I pass offices for general +internal medicine, endocrinology, genetics, hand surgery, laboratory testing, +nephrology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, radiology scheduling, and urology +and thats just one hallway. + +To handle the complexity, weve split up the tasks among various +specialties. But even divvied up, the work can become overwhelming. In +the course of one day on general surgery call at the hospital, for instance, +the labor floor asked me to see a twenty-five-year-old woman with +mounting right lower abdominal pain, fever, and nausea, which raised +concern about appendicitis, but she was pregnant, so getting a CT scan to +rule out the possibility posed a risk to the fetus. A gynecological oncologist + + + +paged me to the operating room about a woman with an ovarian mass that +upon removal appeared to be a metastasis from pancreatic cancer; my +colleague wanted me to examine her pancreas and decide whether to biopsy +it. A physician at a nearby hospital phoned me to transfer a patient in +intensive care with a large cancer that had grown to obstruct her kidneys +and bowel and produce bleeding that they were having trouble controlling. +Our internal medicine service called me to see a sixty-one-year-old man +with emphysema so severe he had been refused hip surgery because of +insufficient lung reserves; now he had a severe colon infectionan acute +diverticulitisthat had worsened despite three days of antibiotics, and +surgery seemed his only option. Another service asked for help with a fifty- +two-year-old man with diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood +pressure, chronic kidney failure, severe obesity, a stroke, and now a +strangulating groin hernia. And an internist called about a young, otherwise +healthy woman with a possible rectal abscess to be lanced. + +Confronted with cases of such variety and intricacyin one day, Id had +six patients with six completely different primary medical problems and a +total of twenty-six different additional diagnosesits tempting to believe +that no one elses job could be as complex as mine. But extreme complexity +is the rule for almost everyone. I asked the people in Harvard Vanguards +medical records department if they would query the electronic system for +how many different kinds of patient problems the average doctor there sees +annually. The answer that came back flabbergasted me. Over the course of a +year of office practice which, by definition, excludes the patients seen in +the hospital physicians each evaluated an average of 250 different +primary diseases and conditions. Their patients had more than nine hundred +other active medical problems that had to be taken into account. The +doctors each prescribed some three hundred medications, ordered more than +a hundred different types of laboratory tests, and performed an average of +forty different kinds of office proceduresfrom vaccinations to setting +fractures. + +Even considering just the office work, the statistics still didnt catch all +the diseases and conditions. One of the most common diagnoses, it turned +out, was Other. On a hectic day, when youre running two hours behind +and the people in the waiting room are getting irate, you may not take the +time to record the precise diagnostic codes in the database. But, even when + + + +you do have the time, you commonly find that the particular diseases your +patients have do not actually exist in the computer system. + +The software used in most American electronic records has not managed +to include all the diseases that have been discovered and distinguished from +one another in recent years. I once saw a patient with a +ganglioneuroblastoma (a rare type of tumor of the adrenal gland) and +another with a nightmarish genetic condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome, +which causes inheritors to develop cancers in organs all over their bodies. +Neither disease had yet made it into the pull-down menus. All I could +record was, in so many words, Other. Scientists continue to report +important new genetic findings, subtypes of cancer, and other diagnoses +not to mention treatmentsalmost weekly. The complexity is increasing so +fast that even the computers cannot keep up. + +But its not only the breadth and quantity of knowledge that has made +medicine complicated. It is also the executionthe practical matter of what +knowledge requires clinicians to do. The hospital is where you see just how +formidable the task can be. A prime example is the place the girl who +nearly drowned spent most of her recoverythe intensive care unit. + +Its an opaque term, intensive care. Specialists in the field prefer to call +what they do critical care, but that still doesnt exactly clarify matters. The +nonmedical term life support gets us closer. The damage that the human +body can survive these days is as awesome as it is horrible: crushing, +burning, bombing, a burst aorta, a ruptured colon, a massive heart attack, +rampaging infection. These maladies were once uniformly fatal. Now +survival is commonplace, and a substantial part of the credit goes to the +abilities intensive care units have developed to take artificial control of +failing bodies. Typically, this requires a panoply of technology a +mechanical ventilator and perhaps a tracheostomy tube if the lungs have +failed, an aortic balloon pump if the heart has given out, a dialysis machine +if the kidneys dont work. If you are unconscious and cant eat, silicone +tubing can be surgically inserted into your stomach or intestines for formula +feeding. If your intestines are too damaged, solutions of amino acids, fatty +acids, and glucose can be infused directly into your bloodstream. + +On any given day in the United States alone, some ninety thousand +people are admitted to intensive care. Over a year, an estimated five million +Americans will be, and over a normal lifetime nearly all of us will come to + + + +know the glassed bay of an ICU from the inside. Wide swaths of medicine +now depend on the life support systems that ICUs provide: care for +premature infants; for victims of trauma, strokes, and heart attacks; for +patients who have had surgery on their brains, hearts, lungs, or major blood +vessels. Critical care has become an increasingly large portion of what +hospitals do. Fifty years ago, ICUs barely existed. Now, to take a recent +random day in my hospital, 155 of our almost 700 patients are in intensive +care. The average stay of an ICU patient is four days, and the survival rate +is 86 percent. Going into an ICU, being put on a mechanical ventilator, +having tubes and wires run into and out of you, is not a sentence of death. +But the days will be the most precarious of your life. + +Fifteen years ago, Israeli scientists published a study in which engineers +observed patient care in ICUs for twenty-four-hour stretches. They found +that the average patient required 178 individual actions per day, ranging +from administering a drug to suctioning the lungs, and every one of them +posed risks. Remarkably, the nurses and doctors were observed to make an +error in just 1 percent of these actionsbut that still amounted to an +average of two errors a day with every patient. Intensive care succeeds only +when we hold the odds of doing harm low enough for the odds of doing +good to prevail. This is hard. There are dangers simply in lying unconscious +in bed for a few days. Muscles atrophy. Bones lose mass. Pressure ulcers +form. Veins begin to clot. You have to stretch and exercise patients flaccid +limbs daily to avoid contractures; you have to give subcutaneous injections +of blood thinners at least twice a day, turn patients in bed every few hours, +bathe them and change their sheets without knocking out a tube or a line, +brush their teeth twice a day to avoid pneumonia from bacterial buildup in +their mouths. Add a ventilator, dialysis, and the care of open wounds, and +the difficulties only accumulate. + +The story of one of my patients makes the point. Anthony DeFilippo was +a forty-eight-year-old limousine driver from Everett, Massachusetts, who +started to hemorrhage at a community hospital during surgery for a hernia +and gallstones. The surgeon was finally able to stop the bleeding but +DeFilippos liver was severely damaged, and over the next few days he +became too sick for the hospitals facilities. I accepted him for transfer in +order to stabilize him and figure out what to do. When he arrived in our +ICU, at 1:30 a.m. on a Sunday, his ragged black hair was plastered to his + + + +sweaty forehead, his body was shaking, and his heart was racing at 114 +beats a minute. He was delirious from fever, shock, and low oxygen levels. + +I need to get out! he cried. I need to get out! He clawed at his gown, +his oxygen mask, the dressings covering his abdominal wound. + +Tony, its all right, a nurse said to him. Were going to help you. +Youre in a hospital. + +He shoved her out of the wayhe was a big manand tried to swing his +legs out of the bed. We turned up his oxygen flow, put his wrists in cloth +restraints, and tried to reason with him. He eventually tired out and let us +draw blood and give him antibiotics. + +The laboratory results came back showing liver failure and a steeply +elevated white blood cell count, indicating infection. It soon became +evident from his empty urine bag that his kidneys had failed, too. In the +next few hours, his blood pressure fell, his breathing worsened, and he +drifted from agitation to near unconsciousness. Each of his organ systems, +including his brain, was shutting down. + +I called his sister, his next of kin, and told her the situation. Do +everything you can, she said. + +So we did. We gave him a syringeful of anesthetic, and a resident slid a +breathing tube into his throat. Another resident lined him up. She inserted +a thin two-inch-long needle and catheter through his upturned right wrist +and into his radial artery, then sewed the line to his skin with a silk suture. +Next, she put in a central linea twelve-inch catheter pushed into the +jugular vein in his left neck. After she sewed that in place, and an X-ray +showed its tip floating just where it was supposed toinside his vena cava +at the entrance to his heartshe put a third, slightly thicker line, for +dialysis, through his right upper chest and into the subclavian vein, deep +under the collarbone. + +We hooked a breathing tube up to a hose from a ventilator and set it to +give him fourteen forced breaths of 100 percent oxygen every minute. We +dialed the ventilator pressures and gas flow up and down, like engineers at a +control panel, until we got the blood levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide +where we wanted them. The arterial line gave us continuous arterial blood +pressure measurements, and we tweaked his medications to get the +pressures we liked. We regulated his intravenous fluids according to venous +pressure measurements from his jugular line. We plugged his subclavian + + + +line into tubing from a dialysis machine, and every few minutes his entire +blood volume washed through this artificial kidney and back into his body; +a little adjustment here and there, and we could alter the levels of potassium +and bicarbonate and salt, as well. He was, we liked to imagine, a simple +machine in our hands. + +But he wasnt, of course. It was as if we had gained a steering wheel and +a few gauges and controls, but on a runaway 18-wheeler hurtling down a +mountain. Keeping that patients blood pressure normal required gallons of +intravenous fluid and a pharmacy shelf of drugs. He was on near-maximal +ventilator support. His temperature climbed to 104 degrees. Less than 5 +percent of patients with DeFilippos degree of organ failure make it home. +A single misstep could easily erase those slender chances. + +For ten days, though, we made progress. DeFilippos chief problem had +been liver damage from his prior operation: the main duct from his liver +was severed and was leaking bile, which is causticit digests the fat in +ones diet and was essentially eating him alive from the inside. He had +become too sick to survive an operation to repair the leak. So once we had +stabilized him, we tried a temporary solutionwe had radiologists place a +plastic drain, using CT guidance, through his abdominal wall and into the +severed duct in order to draw out the leaking bile. They found so much that +they had to place three drainsone inside the duct and two around it. But, +as the bile drained out, his fevers subsided. His need for oxygen and fluids +diminished, and his blood pressure returned to normal. He was beginning to +mend. Then, on the eleventh day, just as we were getting ready to take him +off the ventilator, he again developed high, spiking fevers, his blood +pressure sank, and his blood-oxygen levels plummeted again. His skin +became clammy. He got shaking chills. + +We couldnt understand what had happened. He seemed to have +developed an infection, but our X-rays and CT scans failed to turn up a +source. Even after we put him on four antibiotics, he continued to spike +fevers. During one fever, his heart went into fibrillation. A Code Blue was +called. A dozen nurses and doctors raced to his bedside, slapped electric +paddles onto his chest, and shocked him. His heart responded and went +back into rhythm. It took two more days for us to figure out what had gone +wrong. We considered the possibility that one of his lines had become +infected, so we put in new lines and sent the old ones to the lab for + + + +culturing. Forty-eight hours later, the results returned. All the lines were +infected. The infection had probably started in one line, which perhaps was +contaminated during insertion, and spread through DeFilippos bloodstream +to the others. Then they all began spilling bacteria into him, producing the +fevers and steep decline. + +This is the reality of intensive care: at any point, we are as apt to harm as +we are to heal. Line infections are so common that they are considered a +routine complication. ICUs put five million lines into patients each year, +and national statistics show that after ten days 4 percent of those lines +become infected. Line infections occur in eighty thousand people a year in +the United States and are fatal between 5 and 28 percent of the time, +depending on how sick one is at the start. Those who survive line infections +spend on average a week longer in intensive care. And this is just one of +many risks. After ten days with a urinary catheter, 4 percent of American +ICU patients develop a bladder infection. After ten days on a ventilator, 6 +percent develop bacterial pneumonia, resulting in death 40 to 45 percent of +the time. All in all, about half of ICU patients end up experiencing a serious +complication, and once that occurs the chances of survival drop sharply. + +It was another week before DeFilippo recovered sufficiently from his +infections to come off the ventilator and two months before he left the +hospital. Weak and debilitated, he lost his limousine business and his home, +and he had to move in with his sister. The tube draining bile still dangled +from his abdomen; when he was stronger, I was going to have to do surgery +to reconstruct the main bile duct from his liver. But he survived. Most +people in his situation do not. + +Here, then, is the fundamental puzzle of modern medical care: you have a +desperately sick patient and in order to have a chance of saving him you +have to get the knowledge right and then you have to make sure that the 178 +daily tasks that follow are done correctlydespite some monitors alarm +going off for God knows what reason, despite the patient in the next bed +crashing, despite a nurse poking his head around the curtain to ask whether +someone could help get this ladys chest open. There is complexity upon +complexity. And even specialization has begun to seem inadequate. So what +do you do? + + + +The medical professions answer has been to go from specialization to +superspecialization. I told DeFilippos ICU story, for instance, as if I were +the one tending to him hour by hour. That, however, was actually an +intensivist (as intensive care specialists like to be called). As a general +surgeon, I like to think I can handle most clinical situations. But, as the +intricacies involved in intensive care have grown, responsibility has +increasingly shifted to super-specialists. In the past decade, training +programs focusing on critical care have opened in most major American +and European cities, and half of American ICUs now rely on +superspecialists. + +Expertise is the mantra of modern medicine. In the early twentieth +century, you needed only a high school diploma and a one-year medical +degree to practice medicine. By the centurys end, all doctors had to have a +college degree, a four-year medical degree, and an additional three to seven +years of residency training in an individual field of practicepediatrics, +surgery, neurology, or the like. In recent years, though, even this level of +preparation has not been enough for the new complexity of medicine. After +their residencies, most young doctors today are going on to do fellowships, +adding one to three further years of training in, say, laparoscopic surgery, or +pediatric metabolic disorders, or breast radiology, or critical care. A young +doctor is not so young nowadays; you typically dont start in independent +practice until your midthirties. + +We live in the era of the superspecialistof clinicians who have taken +the time to practice, practice, practice at one narrow thing until they can do +it better than anyone else. They have two advantages over ordinary +specialists: greater knowledge of the details that matter and a learned ability +to handle the complexities of the particular job. There are degrees of +complexity, though, and medicine and other fields like it have grown so far +beyond the usual kind that avoiding daily mistakes is proving impossible +even for our most superspecialized. + +There is perhaps no field that has taken specialization further than +surgery. Think of the operating room as a particularly aggressive intensive +care unit. We have anesthesiologists just to handle pain control and patient +stability, and even they have divided into subcategories. There are pediatric +anesthesiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists, obstetric anesthesiologists, +neurosurgical anesthesiologists, and many others. Likewise, we no longer + + + +have just operating room nurses. They too are often subspecialized for +specific kinds of cases. + +Then of course there are the surgeons. Surgeons are so absurdly +ultraspecialized that when we joke about right ear surgeons and left ear +surgeons, we have to check to be sure they dont exist. I am trained as a +general surgeon but, except in the most rural places, there is no such thing. +You really cant do everything anymore. I decided to center my practice on +surgical oncology cancer surgerybut even this proved too broad. So, +although I have done all I can to hang on to a broad span of general surgical +skills, especially for emergencies, Ive developed a particular expertise in +removing cancers of endocrine glands. + +The result of the recent decades of ever-refined specialization has been a +spectacular improvement in surgical capability and success. Where deaths +were once a double-digit risk of even small operations, and prolonged +recovery and disability was the norm, day surgery has become +commonplace. + +Yet given how much surgery is now doneAmericans today undergo an +average of seven operations in their lifetime, with surgeons performing +more than fifty million operations annually the amount of harm remains +substantial. We continue to have upwards of 150,000 deaths following +surgery every yearmore than three times the number of road traffic +fatalities. Moreover, research has consistently showed that at least half our +deaths and major complications are avoidable. The knowledge exists. But +however supremely specialized and trained we may have become, steps are +still missed. Mistakes are still made. + +Medicine, with its dazzling successes but also frequent failures, therefore +poses a significant challenge: What do you do when expertise is not +enough? What do you do when even the super-specialists fail? Weve begun +to see an answer, but it has come from an unexpected sourceone that has +nothing to do with medicine at all. + + + +2. THE CHECKLIST + +On October 30, 1935, at Wright Air Field in Dayton, Ohio, the U.S. +Army Air Corps held a flight competition for airplane manufacturers vying +to build the militarys next-generation long-range bomber. It wasnt +supposed to be much of a competition. In early evaluations, the Boeing +Corporations gleaming aluminum-alloy Model 299 had trounced the +designs of Martin and Douglas. Boeings plane could carry five times as +many bombs as the army had requested; it could fly faster than previous +bombers and almost twice as far. A Seattle newspaper man who had +glimpsed the plane on a test flight over his city called it the flying +fortress, and the name stuck. The flight competition, according to the +military historian Phillip Meilinger, was regarded as a mere formality. The +army planned to order at least sixty-five of the aircraft. + +A small crowd of army brass and manufacturing executives watched as +the Model 299 test plane taxied onto the runway. It was sleek and +impressive, with a 103-foot wingspan and four engines jutting out from the +wings, rather than the usual two. The plane roared down the tarmac, lifted +off smoothly, and climbed sharply to three hundred feet. Then it stalled, +turned on one wing, and crashed in a fiery explosion. Two of the five crew +members died, including the pilot, Major Ployer P. Hill. + +An investigation revealed that nothing mechanical had gone wrong. The +crash had been due to pilot error, the report said. Substantially more +complex than previous aircraft, the new plane required the pilot to attend to +the four engines, each with its own oil-fuel mix, the retractable landing +gear, the wing flaps, electric trim tabs that needed adjustment to maintain +stability at different airspeeds, and constant-speed propellers whose pitch +had to be regulated with hydraulic controls, among other features. While +doing all this, Hill had forgotten to release a new locking mechanism on the +elevator and rudder controls. The Boeing model was deemed, as a +newspaper put it, too much airplane for one man to fly. The army air + + + +corps declared Douglass smaller design the winner. Boeing nearly went +bankrupt. + +Still, the army purchased a few aircraft from Boeing as test planes, and +some insiders remained convinced that the aircraft was flyable. So a group +of test pilots got together and considered what to do. + +What they decided not to do was almost as interesting as what they +actually did. They did not require Model 299 pilots to undergo longer +training. It was hard to imagine having more experience and expertise than +Major Hill, who had been the air corps chief of flight testing. Instead, they +came up with an ingeniously simple approach: they created a pilots +checklist. Its mere existence indicated how far aeronautics had advanced. In +the early years of flight, getting an aircraft into the air might have been +nerve-racking but it was hardly complex. Using a checklist for takeoff +would no more have occurred to a pilot than to a driver backing a car out of +the garage. But flying this new plane was too complicated to be left to the +memory of any one person, however expert. + +The test pilots made their list simple, brief, and to the point short +enough to fit on an index card, with step-by-step checks for takeoff, flight, +landing, and taxiing. It had the kind of stuff that all pilots know to do. They +check that the brakes are released, that the instruments are set, that the door +and windows are closed, that the elevator controls are unlockeddumb +stuff. You wouldnt think it would make that much difference. But with the +checklist in hand, the pilots went on to fly the Model 299 a total of 1.8 +million miles without one accident. The army ultimately ordered almost +thirteen thousand of the aircraft, which it dubbed the B-17. And, because +flying the behemoth was now possible, the army gained a decisive air +advantage in the Second World War, enabling its devastating bombing +campaign across Nazi Germany. + +Much of our work today has entered its own B-17 phase. Substantial +parts of what software designers, financial managers, firefighters, police +officers, lawyers, and most certainly clinicians do are now too complex for +them to carry out reliably from memory alone. Multiple fields, in other +words, have become too much airplane for one person to fly. + +Yet it is far from obvious that something as simple as a checklist could be +of substantial help. We may admit that errors and oversights occureven +devastating ones. But we believe our jobs are too complicated to reduce to a + + + +checklist. Sick people, for instance, are phenomenally more various than +airplanes. A study of forty-one thousand trauma patients in the state of +Pennsylvaniajust trauma patientsfound that they had 1,224 different +injury-related diagnoses in 32,261 unique combinations. Thats like having +32,261 kinds of airplane to land. Mapping out the proper steps for every +case is not possible, and physicians have been skeptical that a piece of +paper with a bunch of little boxes would improve matters. + +But we have had glimmers that it might, at least in some corners. What, +for instance, are the vital signs that every hospital records if not a kind of +checklist? Comprised of four physiological data pointsbody temperature, +pulse, blood pressure, and respiratory ratethey give health professionals a +basic picture of how sick a person is. Missing one of these measures can be +dangerous, weve learned. Maybe three of them seem normalthe patient +looks good, actuallyand youre inclined to say, Eh, shes fine, send her +home. But perhaps the fourth reveals a fever or low blood pressure or a +galloping heart rate, and skipping it could cost a person her life. + +Practitioners have had the means to measure vital signs since the early +twentieth century, after the mercury thermometer became commonplace and +the Russian physician Nicolai Korotkoff demonstrated how to use an +inflatable sleeve and stethoscope to quantify blood pressure. But although +using the four signs together as a group gauged the condition of patients +more accurately than using any of them singly, clinicians did not reliably +record them all. + +In a complex environment, experts are up against two main difficulties. +The first is the fallibility of human memory and attention, especially when +it comes to mundane, routine matters that are easily overlooked under the +strain of more pressing events. (When youve got a patient throwing up and +an upset family member asking you whats going on, it can be easy to forget +that you have not checked her pulse.) Faulty memory and distraction are a +particular danger in what engineers call all-or-none processes: whether +running to the store to buy ingredients for a cake, preparing an airplane for +takeoff, or evaluating a sick person in the hospital, if you miss just one key +thing, you might as well not have made the effort at all. + +A further difficulty, just as insidious, is that people can lull themselves +into skipping steps even when they remember them. In complex processes, +after all, certain steps dont always matter. Perhaps the elevator controls on + + + +airplanes are usually unlocked and a check is pointless most of the time. +Perhaps measuring all four vital signs uncovers a worrisome issue in only +one out of fifty patients. This has never been a problem before, people +say. Until one day it is. + +Checklists seem to provide protection against such failures. They remind +us of the minimum necessary steps and make them explicit. They not only +offer the possibility of verification but also instill a kind of discipline of +higher performance. Which is precisely what happened with vital signs +though it was not doctors who deserved the credit. + +The routine recording of the four vital signs did not become the norm in +Western hospitals until the 1960s, when nurses embraced the idea. They +designed their patient charts and forms to include the signs, essentially +creating a checklist for themselves. + +With all the things nurses had to do for their patients over the course of a +day or nightdispense their medications, dress their wounds, troubleshoot +problemsthe vitals chart provided a way of ensuring that every six +hours, or more often when nurses judged necessary, they didnt forget to +check their patients pulse, blood pressure, temperature, and respiration and +assess exactly how the patient was doing. + +In most hospitals, nurses have since added a fifth vital sign: pain, as rated +by patients on a scale of one to ten. And nurses have developed yet further +such bedside innovationsfor example, medication timing charts and brief +written care plans for every patient. No one calls these checklists but, really, +thats what they are. They have been welcomed by nursing but havent quite +carried over into doctoring. + +Charts and checklists, thats nursing stuffboring stuff. They are nothing +that we doctors, with our extra years of training and specialization, would +ever need or use. + +In 2001, though, a critical care specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital named +Peter Pronovost decided to give a doctor checklist a try. He didnt attempt +to make the checklist encompass everything ICU teams might need to do in +a day. He designed it to tackle just one of their hundreds of potential tasks, +the one that nearly killed Anthony DeFilippo: central line infections. + +On a sheet of plain paper, he plotted out the steps to take in order to avoid +infections when putting in a central line. Doctors are supposed to (1) wash + + + +their hands with soap, (2) clean the patients skin with chlorhexidine +antiseptic, (3) put sterile drapes over the entire patient, (4) wear a mask, hat, +sterile gown, and gloves, and (5) put a sterile dressing over the insertion site +once the line is in. Check, check, check, check, check. These steps are no- +brainers; they have been known and taught for years. So it seemed silly to +make a checklist for something so obvious. Still, Pronovost asked the +nurses in his ICU to observe the doctors for a month as they put lines into +patients and record how often they carried out each step. In more than a +third of patients, they skipped at least one. + +The next month, he and his team persuaded the Johns Hopkins Hospital +administration to authorize nurses to stop doctors if they saw them skipping +a step on the checklist; nurses were also to ask the doctors each day whether +any lines ought to be removed, so as not to leave them in longer than +necessary. This was revolutionary. Nurses have always had their ways of +nudging a doctor into doing the right thing, ranging from the gentle +reminder (Um, did you forget to put on your mask, doctor?) to more +forceful methods (Ive had a nurse bodycheck me when she thought I hadnt +put enough drapes on a patient). But many nurses arent sure whether this is +their place or whether a given measure is worth a confrontation. (Does it +really matter whether a patients legs are draped for a line going into the +chest?) The new rule made it clear: if doctors didnt follow every step, the +nurses would have backup from the administration to intervene. + +For a year afterward, Pronovost and his colleagues monitored what +happened. The results were so dramatic that they werent sure whether to +believe them: the ten-day line-infection rate went from 11 percent to zero. +So they followed patients for fifteen more months. Only two line infections +occurred during the entire period. They calculated that, in this one hospital, +the checklist had prevented forty-three infections and eight deaths and +saved two million dollars in costs. + +Pronovost recruited more colleagues, and they tested some more +checklists in his Johns Hopkins ICU. One aimed to ensure that nurses +observed patients for pain at least once every four hours and provided +timely pain medication. This reduced from 41 percent to 3 percent the +likelihood of a patients enduring untreated pain. They tested a checklist for +patients on mechanical ventilation, making sure, for instance, that doctors +prescribed antacid medication to prevent stomach ulcers and that the head + + + +of each patients bed was propped up at least thirty degrees to stop oral +secretions from going into the windpipe. The proportion of patients not +receiving the recommended care dropped from 70 percent to 4 percent, the +occurrence of pneumonias fell by a quarter, and twenty-one fewer patients +died than in the previous year. The researchers found that simply having the +doctors and nurses in the ICU create their own checklists for what they +thought should be done each day improved the consistency of care to the +point that the average length of patient stay in intensive care dropped by +half. + +These checklists accomplished what checklists elsewhere have done, +Pronovost observed. They helped with memory recall and clearly set out the +minimum necessary steps in a process. He was surprised to discover how +often even experienced personnel failed to grasp the importance of certain +precautions. In a survey of ICU staff taken before introducing the ventilator +checklists, he found that half hadnt realized that evidence strongly +supported giving ventilated patients antacid medication. Checklists, he +found, established a higher standard of baseline performance. + +These seem, of course, ridiculously primitive insights. +Pronovost is routinely described by colleagues as brilliant, inspiring, + +a genius. He has an M.D. and a Ph.D. in public health from Johns +Hopkins and is trained in emergency medicine, anesthesiology, and critical +care medicine. But, really, does it take all that to figure out what anyone +who has made a to-do list figured out ages ago? Well, maybe yes. + +Despite his initial checklist results, takers were slow to come. He traveled +around the country showing his checklists to doctors, nurses, insurers, +employersanyone who would listen. He spoke in an average of seven +cities a month. But few adopted the idea. + +There were various reasons. Some physicians were offended by the +suggestion that they needed checklists. Others had legitimate doubts about +Pronovosts evidence. So far, hed shown only that checklists worked in one +hospital, Johns Hopkins, where the ICUs have money, plenty of staff, and +Peter Pronovost walking the hallways to make sure that the idea was being +properly implemented. How about in the real worldwhere ICU nurses and +doctors are in short supply, pressed for time, overwhelmed with patients, +and hardly receptive to the notion of filling out yet another piece of paper? + + + +In 2003, however, the Michigan Health and Hospital Association +approached Pronovost about testing his central line checklist throughout the +states ICUs. It would be a huge undertaking. But Pronovost would have a +chance to establish whether his checklists could really work in the wider +world. + +I visited Sinai-Grace Hospital, in inner-city Detroit, a few years after the +project was under way, and I saw what Pronovost was up against. +Occupying a campus of redbrick buildings amid abandoned houses, check- +cashing stores, and wig shops on the citys West Side, just south of Eight +Mile Road, Sinai-Grace is a classic urban hospital. It employed at the time +eight hundred physicians, seven hundred nurses, and two thousand other +medical personnel to care for a population with the lowest median income +of any city in the country. More than a quarter of a million residents were +uninsured; 300,000 were on state assistance. That meant chronic financial +problems. Sinai-Grace is not the most cash-strapped hospital in the city +that would be Detroit Receiving Hospital, where more than a fifth of the +patients have no means of payment. But between 2000 and 2003, Sinai- +Grace and eight other Detroit hospitals were forced to cut a third of their +staff, and the state had to come forward with a $50 million bailout to avert +their bankruptcy. + +Sinai-Grace has five ICUs for adult patients and one for infants. Hassan +Makki, the director of intensive care, told me what it was like there in 2004, +when Pronovost and the hospital association started a series of mailings and +conference calls with hospitals to introduce checklists for central lines and +ventilator patients. Morale was low, he said. We had lost lots of staff, +and the nurses who remained werent sure if they were staying. Many +doctors were thinking about leaving, too. Meanwhile, the teams faced an +even heavier workload because of new rules limiting how long the residents +could work at a stretch. Now Pronovost was telling them to find the time to +fill out some daily checklists? Tom Piskorowski, one of the ICU physicians, +told me his reaction: Forget the paperwork. Take care of the patient. + +I accompanied a team on 7:00 a.m. rounds through one of the surgical +ICUs. It had eleven patients. Four had gunshot wounds (one had been shot +in the chest; one had been shot through the bowel, kidney, and liver; two +had been shot through the neck and left quadriplegic). Five patients had +cerebral hemorrhaging (three were seventy-nine years and older and had + + + +been injured falling down stairs; one was a middle-aged man whose skull +and left temporal lobe had been damaged by an assault with a blunt +weapon; and one was a worker who had become paralyzed from the neck +down after falling twenty-five feet off a ladder onto his head). There was a +cancer patient recovering from surgery to remove part of his lung, and a +patient who had had surgery to repair a cerebral aneurysm. + +The doctors and nurses on rounds tried to proceed methodically from one +room to the next but were constantly interrupted: a patient they thought +theyd stabilized began hemorrhaging again; another who had been taken +off the ventilator developed trouble breathing and had to be put back on the +machine. It was hard to imagine that they could get their heads far enough +above the daily tide of disasters to worry about the minutiae on some +checklist. + +Yet there they were, I discovered, filling out those pages. Mostly, it was +the nurses who kept things in order. Each morning, a senior nurse walked +through the unit, clipboard in hand, making sure that every patient on a +ventilator had the bed propped at the right angle and had been given the +right medicines and the right tests. Whenever doctors put in a central line, a +nurse made sure that the central line checklist had been filled out and placed +in the patients chart. Looking back through the hospital files, I found that +they had been doing this faithfully for more than three years. + +Pronovost had been canny when he started. In his first conversations with +hospital administrators, he hadnt ordered them to use the central line +checklist. Instead, he asked them simply to gather data on their own line +infection rates. In early 2004, they found, the infection rates for ICU +patients in Michigan hospitals were higher than the national average, and in +some hospitals dramatically so. Sinai-Grace experienced more central line +infections than 75 percent of American hospitals. Meanwhile, Blue Cross +Blue Shield of Michigan agreed to give hospitals small bonus payments for +participating in Pronovosts program. A checklist suddenly seemed an easy +and logical thing to try. + +In what became known as the Keystone Initiative, each hospital assigned +a project manager to roll out the checklist and participate in twice-monthly +conference calls with Pronovost for troubleshooting. Pronovost also insisted +that the participating hospitals assign to each unit a senior hospital + + + +executive who would visit at least once a month, hear the staff s +complaints, and help them solve problems. + +The executives were reluctant. They normally lived in meetings, +worrying about strategy and budgets. They werent used to venturing into +patient territory and didnt feel they belonged there. In some places, they +encountered hostility, but their involvement proved crucial. In the first +month, the executives discovered that chlorhexidine soap, shown to reduce +line infections, was available in less than a third of the ICUs. This was a +problem only an executive could solve. Within weeks, every ICU in +Michigan had a supply of the soap. Teams also complained to the hospital +officials that, although the checklist required patients be fully covered with +a sterile drape when lines were being put in, full-size drapes were often +unavailable. So the officials made sure that drapes were stocked. Then they +persuaded Arrow International, one of the largest manufacturers of central +lines, to produce a new kit that had both the drape and chlorhexidine in it. + +In December 2006, the Keystone Initiative published its findings in a +landmark article in the New England Journal of Medicine. Within the first +three months of the project, the central line infection rate in Michigans +ICUs decreased by 66 percent. Most ICUsincluding the ones at Sinai- +Grace Hospitalcut their quarterly infection rate to zero. Michigans +infection rates fell so low that its average ICU outperformed 90 percent of +ICUs nationwide. In the Keystone Initiatives first eighteen months, the +hospitals saved an estimated $175 million in costs and more than fifteen +hundred lives. The successes have been sustained for several years now +all because of a stupid little checklist. + +It is tempting to think this might be an isolated success. Perhaps there is +something unusual about the strategy required to prevent central line +infections. After all, the central line checklist did not prevent any of the +other kinds of complications that can result from sticking these foot-long +plastic catheters into peoples chestssuch as a collapsed lung if the needle +goes in too deep or bleeding if a blood vessel gets torn. It just prevented +infections. In this particular instance, yes, doctors had some trouble getting +the basics rightmaking sure to wash their hands, put on their sterile +gloves and gown, and so onand a checklist proved dramatically valuable. + + + +But among the myriad tasks clinicians carry out for patients, maybe this is +the peculiar case. + +I started to wonder, though. +Around the time I learned of Pronovosts results, I spoke to Markus + +Thalmann, the cardiac surgeon who had been the lead author of the case +report on the extraordinary rescue of the little girl from death by drowning. +Among the many details that intrigued me about the save was the fact that it +occurred not at a large cutting-edge academic medical center but at an +ordinary community hospital. This one was in Klagenfurt, a small +provincial Austrian town in the Alps nearest to where the girl had fallen in +the pond. I asked Thalmann how the hospital had managed such a +complicated rescue. + +He told me he had been working in Klagenfurt for six years when the girl +came in. She had not been the first person whom he and his colleagues had +tried to revive from cardiac arrest after hypothermia and suffocation. His +hospital received between three and five such patients a year, he estimated, +mostly avalanche victims, some of them drowning victims, and a few of +them people attempting suicide by taking a drug overdose and then +wandering out into the snowy Alpine forests to fall unconscious. For a long +time, he said, no matter how hard the hospitals medical staff tried, they had +no survivors. Most of the victims had been without a pulse and oxygen for +too long when they were found. But some, he was convinced, still had a +flicker of viability in them, yet he and his colleagues had always failed to +sustain it. + +He took a close look at the case records. Preparation, he determined, was +the chief difficulty. Success required having an array of people and +equipment at the readytrauma surgeons, a cardiac anesthesiologist, a +cardiothoracic surgeon, bioengineering support staff, a cardiac perfusionist, +operating and critical care nurses, intensivists. Almost routinely, someone +or something was missing. + +He tried the usual surgical approach to remedy thisyelling at everyone +to get their act together. But still they had no saves. + +So he and a couple of colleagues decided to try something new. They +made a checklist. + +They gave the checklist to the people with the least power in the whole +processthe rescue squads and the hospital telephone operatorand + + + +walked them through the details. In cases like these, the checklist said, +rescue teams were to tell the hospital to prepare for possible cardiac bypass +and rewarming. They were to call, when possible, even before they arrived +on the scene, as the preparation time could be significant. The telephone +operator would then work down a list of people to notify them to have +everything set up and standing by. + +With the checklist in place, the team had its first successthe rescue of +the three-year-old girl. Not long afterward, Thalmann left to take a job at a +hospital in Vienna. The team, however, has since had at least two other such +rescues, he said. In one case, a man had been found frozen and pulseless +after a suicide attempt. In another, a mother and her sixteen-year-old +daughter were in an accident that sent them and their car through a +guardrail, over a cliff, and into a mountain river. The mother died on +impact; the daughter was trapped as the car rapidly filled with icy water. +She had been in cardiac and respiratory arrest for a prolonged period of +time when the rescue team arrived. + +From that point onward, though, everything moved like clockwork. By +the time the rescue team got to her and began CPR, the hospital had been +notified. The transport team delivered her in minutes. The surgical team +took her straight to the operating room and crashed her onto heart-lung +bypass. One step followed right after another. And, because of the speed +with which they did, she had a chance. + +As the girls body slowly rewarmed, her heart came back. In the ICU, a +mechanical ventilator, fluids, and intravenous drugs kept her going while +the rest of her body recovered. The next day, the doctors were able to +remove her lines and tubes. The day after that, she was sitting up in bed, +ready to go home. + + + +3. THE END OF THE MASTER BUILDER + +Four generations after the first aviation checklists went into use, a +lesson is emerging: checklists seem able to defend anyone, even the +experienced, against failure in many more tasks than we realized. They +provide a kind of cognitive net. They catch mental flaws inherent in all of +usflaws of memory and attention and thoroughness. And because they +do, they raise wide, unexpected possibilities. + +But they presumably have limits, as well. So a key step is to identify +which kinds of situations checklists can help with and which ones they +cant. + +Two professors who study the science of complexity Brenda +Zimmerman of York University and Sholom Glouberman of the University +of Torontohave proposed a distinction among three different kinds of +problems in the world: the simple, the complicated, and the complex. +Simple problems, they note, are ones like baking a cake from a mix. There +is a recipe. Sometimes there are a few basic techniques to learn. But once +these are mastered, following the recipe brings a high likelihood of success. + +Complicated problems are ones like sending a rocket to the moon. They +can sometimes be broken down into a series of simple problems. But there +is no straightforward recipe. Success frequently requires multiple people, +often multiple teams, and specialized expertise. Unanticipated difficulties +are frequent. Timing and coordination become serious concerns. + +Complex problems are ones like raising a child. Once you learn how to +send a rocket to the moon, you can repeat the process with other rockets and +perfect it. One rocket is like another rocket. But not so with raising a child, +the professors point out. Every child is unique. Although raising one child +may provide experience, it does not guarantee success with the next child. +Expertise is valuable but most certainly not sufficient. Indeed, the next child +may require an entirely different approach from the previous one. And this +brings up another feature of complex problems: their outcomes remain + + + +highly uncertain. Yet we all know that it is possible to raise a child well. Its +complex, thats all. + +Thinking about averting plane crashes in 1935, or stopping infections of +central lines in 2003, or rescuing drowning victims today, I realized that the +key problem in each instance was essentially a simple one, despite the +number of contributing factors. One needed only to focus attention on the +rudder and elevator controls in the first case, to maintain sterility in the +second, and to be prepared for cardiac bypass in the third. All were +amenable, as a result, to what engineers call forcing functions: relatively +straightforward solutions that force the necessary behavior solutions like +checklists. + +We are besieged by simple problems. In medicine, these are the failures +to don a mask when putting in a central line or to recall that one of the ten +causes of a flat-line cardiac arrest is a potassium overdose. In legal practice, +these are the failures to remember all the critical avenues of defense in a tax +fraud case or simply the various court deadlines. In police work, these are +the failures to conduct an eyewitness lineup properly, forgetting to tell the +witness that the perpetrator of the crime may not be in the lineup, for +instance, or having someone present who knows which one the suspect is. +Checklists can provide protection against such elementary errors. + +Much of the most critical work people do, however, is not so simple. +Putting in a central line is just one of the 178 tasks an ICU team must +coordinate and execute in a dayICU work is complicatedand are we +really going to be able to create and follow checklists for every possible one +of them? Is this even remotely practical? There is no straightforward recipe +for the care of ICU patients. It requires multiple practitioners orchestrating +different combinations of tasks for different conditionsmatters that cannot +be controlled by simple forcing functions. + +Plus, people are individual in ways that rockets are notthey are +complex. No two pneumonia patients are identical. Even with the same +bacteria, the same cough and shortness of breath, the same low oxygen +levels, the same antibiotic, one patient might get better and the other might +not. A doctor must be prepared for unpredictable turns that checklists seem +completely unsuited to address. Medicine contains the entire range of +problemsthe simple, the complicated, and the complexand there are + + + +often times when a clinician has to just do what needs to be done. Forget the +paperwork. Take care of the patient. + +I have been thinking about these matters for a long time now. I want to be +a good doctor for my patients. And the question of when to follow ones +judgment and when to follow protocol is central to doing the job wellor +to doing anything else that is hard. You want people to make sure to get the +stupid stuff right. Yet you also want to leave room for craft and judgment +and the ability to respond to unexpected difficulties that arise along the way. +The value of checklists for simple problems seems self-evident. But can +they help avert failure when the problems combine everything from the +simple to the complex? + +I happened across an answer in an unlikely place. I found it as I was just +strolling down the street one day. + +It was a bright January morning in 2007. I was on my way to work, +walking along the sidewalk from the parking lot to the main entrance of my +hospital, when I came upon a new building under construction for our +medical center. It was only a skeleton of steel beams at that point, but it +stretched eleven stories high, occupied a full city block, and seemed to have +arisen almost overnight from the empty lot that had been there. I stood at +one corner watching a construction worker welding a joint as he balanced +on a girder four stories above me. And I wondered: How did he and all his +co-workers know that they were building this thing right? How could they +be sure that it wouldnt fall down? + +The building was not unusually large. It would provide 150 private +hospital beds (so we could turn our main towers old, mostly shared rooms +into private beds as well) and sixteen fancy new operating rooms (which I +was especially looking forward to)nothing out of the ordinary. I would +bet that in the previous year dozens of bigger buildings had been +constructed around the country. + +Still, this one was no small undertaking, as the hospitals real estate +manager later told me. The building, he said, would be 350,000 square feet +in size, with three stories underground in addition to the eleven stories +above. It would cost $360 million, fully delivered, and require 3,885 tons of +steel, thirteen thousand yards of concrete, nineteen air handling units, +sixteen elevators, one cooling tower, and one backup emergency generator. + + + +The construction workers would have to dig out 100,000 cubic yards of dirt +and install 64,000 feet of copper piping, forty-seven miles of conduit, and +ninety-five miles of electrical wireenough to reach Maine. + +And, oh yeah, I thought to myself, this thing couldnt fall down. +When I was eleven years old, growing up in Athens, Ohio, I decided I + +was going to build myself a bookcase. My mother gave me ten dollars, and +I biked down to the C&E Hardware store on Richland Avenue. With the +help of the nice man with hairy ears behind the counter, I bought four pine +planks, each eight inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick and cut to +four feet long. I also bought a tin of stain, a tin of varnish, some sandpaper, +and a box of common nails. I lugged the stuff home to our garage. I +carefully measured my dimensions. Then I nailed the two cross planks into +the two side planks and stood my new bookcase up. It looked perfect. I +sanded down the surfaces, applied the stain and soon the varnish. I took it to +my bedroom and put a half dozen books on it. Then I watched the whole +thing fall sideways like a drunk tipping over. The two middle boards began +pulling out. So I hammered in a few more nails and stood the bookcase up +again. It tipped over the other way. I banged in some more nails, this time +coming in at an angle, thinking that would do the trick. It didnt. Finally, I +just nailed the damn thing directly into the wall. And that was how I +discovered the concept of bracing. + +So as I looked up at this whole building that had to stand up straight even +in an earthquake, puzzling over how the workers could be sure they were +constructing it properly, I realized the question had two components. First, +how could they be sure that they had the right knowledge in hand? Second, +how could they be sure that they were applying this knowledge correctly? + +Both aspects are tricky. In designing a building, experts must take into +account a disconcertingly vast range of factors: the makeup of the local soil, +the desired height of the individual structure, the strength of the materials +available, and the geometry, to name just a few. Then, to turn the paper +plans into reality, they presumably face equally byzantine difficulties +making sure that all the different tradesmen and machinery do their job the +right way, in the right sequence, while also maintaining the flexibility to +adjust for unexpected difficulties and changes. + +Yet builders clearly succeed. They safely put up millions of buildings all +over the globe. And they do so despite the fact that construction work has + + + +grown infinitely more complex over the decades. Moreover, they do it with +a frontline workforce that regards each particular jobfrom pile-driving to +wiring intensive care unitsmuch the way doctors, teachers, and other +professionals regard their jobs: as specialized domains in which others +should not interfere. + +I paid a visit to Joe Salvia, the structural engineer for our new hospital +wing. I told him I wanted to find out how work is done in his profession. It +turned out Id come to the right person. His firm, McNamara/Salvia, has +provided the structural engineering for most of the major hospital buildings +in Boston since the late 1960s, and for a considerable percentage of the +hotels, office towers, and condominiums as well. It did the structural +rebuilding of Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox baseball teams thirty-six- +thousand-seat stadium, including the Green Monster, its iconic thirty-seven- +foot, home-run-stealing left field wall. And the firms particular specialty +has been designing and engineering large, complicated, often high-rise +structures all over the country. + +Salvias tallest skyscraper is an eighty-story tower going up in Miami. In +Providence, Rhode Island, his firm built a shopping mall that required one +of the largest steel mill orders placed on the East Coast (more than twenty- +four thousand tons); it is also involved in perhaps the biggest commercial +project in the world the Meadowlands Xanadu entertainment and sports +complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which will house a stadium for the +New York Giants and New York Jets football teams, a three-thousand-seat +music theater, the countrys largest movie multiplex, and the SnowPark, the +nations first indoor ski resort. For most of the past several years, +McNamara/Salvias engineers have worked on fifty to sixty projects +annually, an average of one new building a week. And they have never had +a building come even close to collapsing. + +So I asked Salvia at his office in downtown Boston how he has ensured +that the buildings he works on are designed and constructed right. Joe +Salvia is sixty-one, with almost no hair, a strong Boston accent, and a +cheery, take-your-time, how-about-some-coffee manner that I didnt expect +from an engineer. He told me about the first project he ever designeda +roof for a small shopping plaza. + + + +He was just out of college, a twenty-three-year-old kid from East +Cambridge, which is not exactly where the Harvard professors live. His +father was a maintenance man and his mother worked in a meat processing +plant, but he was good in school and became the first member of his family +to go to college. He went to Tufts University planning to become a doctor. +Then he hit organic chemistry class. + +They said, Here, we want you to memorize these formulas, he +explained. I said, Why do I have to memorize them if I know where the +book is? They said, You want to be a doctor? Thats what you have to do +in medicineyou have to memorize everything. That seemed ridiculous to +me. Plus I wasnt good at memorizing. So I quit. + +But Salvia was good at solving complex problemshe tried to explain +how he solves quadratic equations in his head, though all I managed to pick +up was that Id never before heard someone say quadratic equation in a +Boston accent. I also liked the concept of creating, he said. As a result, he +switched to engineering, a scientific but practical field, and he loved it. He +learned, as he put it, basic statics and dynamicsyou know, F equals ma, +and he learned about the chemistry and physics of steel, concretes, and soil. + +But hed built nothing when he graduated with his bachelors degree and +joined Sumner Shane, an architectural engineering firm that specialized in +structural engineering for shopping centers. One of its projects was a new +shopping mall in Texas, and Salvia was assigned the roof system. He found +he actually understood a lot about how to build a solid roof from his +textbooks and from the requirements detailed in building codes. + +I knew from college how to design with structural steel how to use +beams and columns, he said. And the local building codes spelled out what +was required for steel strength, soil composition, snow-bearing capacity, +wind-pressure resistance, and earthquake tolerance. All he had to do was +factor these elements into the business deal, which specified the size of the +building, the number of floors, the store locations, the loading docks. As we +talked he was already drawing the contours for me on a piece of paper. It +started out as a simple rectangle. Then he sketched in the store walls, +doorways, walking space. The design began taking form. + +You draw a grid of likely locations to carry the roof weight, he said, +and he put in little crosses where columns could be placed. The rest is +algebra, he said. You solve for X. You calculate the weight of the roof + + + +from its size and thickness, and then, given columns placed every thirty +feet, say, you calculate the diameter and strength of the column required. +You check your math to make sure youve met all the requirements. + +All this he had learned in college. But, he discovered, there was more +much morethat they hadnt taught him in school. + +You know the geometric theory of what is best, but not the practical +theory of what can be done, he said. There was the matter of cost, for +example, about which he had not a clue. The size and type of materials he +put in changed the cost of the project, it turned out. There was also the +matter of aesthetics, the desires of a client who didnt want a column +standing in the middle of a floor, for instance, or blocking a particular +sightline. + +If engineers were in charge, every building would be a rectangular box, +Salvia said. Instead, every building is new and individual in ways both +small and largethey are complexand as a result there is often no +textbook formula for the problems that come up. Later, for example, when +he established his own firm, he and his team did the structural engineering +for Bostons International Place, a landmark forty-six-story steel and glass +tower designed by the architect Philip Johnson. The building was unusual, a +cylinder smashed against a rectangle, a form that hadnt been tried in a +skyscraper before. From a structural engineering point of view, Salvia +explained, cylinders are problematic. A square provides 60 percent more +stiffness than a circle, and in wind or an earthquake a building needs to be +able to resist the tendency to twist or bend. But a distorted cylinder it was, +and he and his team had to invent the engineering to realize Johnsons +aesthetic vision. + +Salvias first mall roof may have been a simpler proposition, but it +seemed to him at the time to have no end of difficulties. Besides the +concerns of costs and aesthetics, he also needed to deal with the +requirements of all the other professionals involved. There were the +plumbing engineers, the electrical engineers, the mechanical engineers +every one of them wanting to put pipes, wiring, HVAC units just where his +support columns were supposed to go. + +A building is like a body, he said. It has a skin. It has a skeleton. It has +a vascular systemthe plumbing. It has a breathing systemthe +ventilation. It has a nervous systemthe wiring. All together, he explained, + + + +projects today involve some sixteen different trades. He pulled out the +construction plans for a four-hundred-foot-tall skyscraper he was currently +building and flipped to the table of contents to show me. Each trade had +contributed its own separate section. There were sections for conveying +systems (elevators and escalators), mechanical systems (heating, +ventilation, plumbing, air conditioning, fire protection), masonry, concrete +structures, metal structures, electrical systems, doors and windows, thermal +and moisture systems (including waterproofing and insulation), rough and +finish carpentry, site work (including excavation, waste and storm water +collection, and walkways)everything right down to the carpeting, +painting, landscaping, and rodent control. + +All the separate contributions had to be included. Yet they also had to fit +together somehow so as to make sense as a whole. And then they had to be +executed precisely and in coordination. On the face of it, the complexities +seemed overwhelming. To manage them, Salvia said, the entire industry +was forced to evolve. + +For most of modern history, he explained, going back to medieval times, +the dominant way people put up buildings was by going out and hiring +Master Builders who designed them, engineered them, and oversaw +construction from start to finish, portico to plumbing. Master Builders built +Notre Dame, St. Peters Basilica, and the United States Capitol building. +But by the middle of the twentieth century the Master Builders were dead +and gone. The variety and sophistication of advancements in every stage of +the construction process had overwhelmed the abilities of any individual to +master them. + +In the first division of labor, architectural and engineering design split off +from construction. Then, piece by piece, each component became further +specialized and split off, until there were architects on one side, often with +their own areas of subspecialty, and engineers on another, with their various +kinds of expertise; the builders, too, fragmented into their own multiple +divisions, ranging from tower crane contractors to finish carpenters. The +field looked, in other words, a lot like medicine, with all its specialists and +superspecialists. + +Yet we in medicine continue to exist in a system created in the Master +Builder eraa system in which a lone Master Physician with a prescription +pad, an operating room, and a few people to follow his lead plans and + + + +executes the entirety of care for a patient, from diagnosis through treatment. +Weve been slow to adapt to the reality that, for example, a third of patients +have at least ten specialist physicians actively involved in their care by their +last year of life, and probably a score more personnel, ranging from nurse +practitioners and physician assistants to pharmacists and home medical +aides. And the evidence of how slow weve been to adapt is the +extraordinarily high rate at which care for patients is duplicated or flawed +or completely uncoordinated. + +In the construction business, Salvia explained, such failure is not an +option. No matter how complex the problems he faced in designing that +first shopping mall roof, he very quickly understood that he had no margin +for error. Perhaps its the large number of people who would die if his roof +collapsed under the weight of snow. Or perhaps its the huge amount of +money that would be lost in the inevitable lawsuits. But, whatever the +reason, architects, engineers, and builders were forced long agogoing +back to the early part of the last centuryto confront the fact that the +Master Builder model no longer worked. So they abandoned it. They found +a different way to make sure they get things right. + +To show me what they do, Salvia had me come to see one of the +construction sites where he and his team were working. His firm happened +to have a job under way a short, sunny walk from his office. The Russia +Wharf building was going to be a sprawling thirty-two-story, 700,000- +square-foot office and apartment complex. Its footprint alone was two acres. + +The artistic renderings were spectacular. Russia Wharf was where +merchant ships sailing between St. Petersburg and Boston with iron, hemp, +and canvas for the shipbuilding industry once docked. The Boston Tea Party +took place next door. The new glass and steel building was going up right +along this waterfront, with a ten-story atrium underneath and the 110-year- +old brick facades of the original Classical Revival structures preserved as +part of the new building. + +When I arrived for the tour, Salvia took one look at my blue Brooks +Brothers blazer and black penny loafers and let out a low chuckle. + +One thing you learn going to construction sites is you have to have the +right shoes, he said. + +The insides of the old buildings had long been gutted and the steel +skeleton of the new tower had been built almost halfway up, to the + + + +fourteenth floor. A tower crane hung four stories above the structure. Ants +on the ground, we worked our way around a pair of concrete mixing trucks, +the cops stopping traffic, and a few puddles of gray mud to enter the first- +floor field office of John Moriarty and Associates, the general contractor for +the project. It was nothing like the movie construction-site field trailers I +had in my mindno rusting coffee urn, no cheap staticky radio playing, no +cigar-chewing boss barking orders. Instead, there were half a dozen offices +where men and women, many in work boots, jeans, and yellow safety +reflector vests, sat staring into computer terminals or were gathered around +a conference table with a PowerPoint slide up on a screen. + +I was given a blue hard hat and an insurance release to sign and +introduced to Finn OSullivan, a smiling six-foot-three Irishman with a +lilting brogue who served as the project executive for the buildingthey +dont call them field bosses anymore, I was told. OSullivan said that on +any given day he has between two and five hundred workers on-site, +including people from any of sixty subcontractors. The volume of +knowledge and degree of complexity he had to manage, it struck me, were +as monstrous as anything I had encountered in medicine. He tried to explain +how he and his colleagues made sure that all those people were doing their +work correctly, that the building would come together properly, despite the +enormous number of considerationsand despite the fact that he could not +possibly understand the particulars of most of the tasks involved. But I +didnt really get his explanation until he brought me to the main conference +room. There, on the walls around a big white oval table, hung sheets of +butcher-block-size printouts of what were, to my surprise, checklists. + +Along the right wall as we walked in was, OSullivan explained, the +construction schedule. As I peered in close, I saw a line-byline, day-by-day +listing of every building task that needed to be accomplished, in what order, +and whenthe fifteenth-floor concrete pour on the thirteenth of the month, +a steel delivery on the fourteenth, and so on. The schedule spread over +multiple sheets. There was special color coding, with red items highlighting +critical steps that had to be done before other steps could proceed. As each +task was accomplished, a job supervisor reported to OSullivan, who then +put a check mark in his computer scheduling program. He posted a new +printout showing the next phase of work each week, sometimes more + + + +frequently if things were moving along. The construction schedule was +essentially one long checklist. + +Since every building is a new creature with its own particularities, every +building checklist is new, too. It is drawn up by a group of people +representing each of the sixteen trades, including, in this case, someone +from Salvias firm making sure the structural engineering steps were +incorporated as they should be. Then the whole checklist is sent to the +subcontractors and other independent experts so they can double-check that +everything is correct, that nothing has been missed. + +What results is remarkable: a succession of day-by-day checks that guide +how the building is constructed and ensure that the knowledge of hundreds, +perhaps thousands, is put to use in the right place at the right time in the +right way. + +The construction schedule for the Russia Wharf project was designed to +build the complex up in layers, and I could actually see those layers when +Bernie Rouillard, Salvias lead structural engineer for the project, took me +on a tour. I should mention here that I am not too fond of heights. But I put +on my hard hat and followed Rouillardpast the signs that said +WARNING: CONSTRUCTION PERSONNELONLY, around a rusting nest +of discarded rebar, over a trail of wood planks that served as a walkway into +the building, and then into an orange cage elevator that rattled its way up +the side of the skeleton to the fourteenth floor. We stepped out onto a vast, +bare, gray slab floor with no walls, just twelve-foot vertical steel columns +ringing the outside, a massive rectangular concrete core in the center, and +the teeming city surrounding us. + +You can see everything from here, Rouillard said, beckoning me to join +him out on the edge. I crept to within three feet and tried not to dwell on the +wind whipping through us or the vertiginous distance to the ground as he +good-naturedly pointed out the sites along the waterfront below. I did better +when we turned our backs to the city and he showed me the bare metal +trusses that had been put into the ceiling to support the floor being built +above. + +Next, he said, will come the fireproofers. +You have to fireproof metal? I asked. +Oh yes, he said. In a fire, the metal can plasticizelose its stiffness and + +bend like spaghetti. This was why the World Trade Center buildings + + + +collapsed, he said. He walked me down a stairway to the floor below us. +Here, I could see, the fire proofing material had been sprayed on, a gypsum- +based substance that made the ceiling trusses look gray and woolly. + +We went down a couple more floors and he showed me that the skin of +the building had now been hung at those levels. The tall, shiny glass and +steel exterior had been bolted into the concrete floors every few feet. The +farther down we went, the more the layers had advanced. One team of +subcontractors had put up walls inside the skin. The pipefitters had then put +in water and drainage pipes. The tin knockers followed and installed the +ventilation ducts. By the time we got down to the lowest floors, the +masonry, electrical wiring, plumbing, and even some fixtures like staircase +railings were all in place. The whole intricate process was astounding to +behold. + +On the upper floors, however, I couldnt help but notice something that +didnt look right, even to my untrained eyes. There had been rain recently +and on each of the open floors large amounts of water had pooled in the +same placeup against the walls of the inner concrete core. It was as if the +floor were tilted inward, like a bowl. I asked Rouillard about this. + +Yeah, the owners saw that and they werent too happy, he said. He +explained what he thinks had happened. The immense weight of the +concrete core combined with the particular makeup of the soil underneath +had probably caused the core to settle sooner than anticipated. Meanwhile, +the outer steel frame had not yet been loaded with weightthere were still +eighteen stories to be built upon itand thats why he believes the floor had +begun to tip inward. Once the steel frame was loaded, he fully expected the +floor to level out. + +The fascinating thing to me wasnt his explanation. I had no idea what to +make of his answer. But here was a situation that hadnt been anticipated on +the construction checklist: the tilting of the upper floors. At a minimum, a +water cleanup would be needed and the schedule adjusted for it. That alone +could throw the builders tidy plans off track. Furthermore, the people +involved had to somehow determine whether the tilting indicated a serious +construction defect. I was curious to know how they handled this question, +for there was inevitable uncertainty. How could they know that the problem +was just ordinary settling, that loading the steel frame would in fact level + + + +out the floor? As Rouillard acknowledged, variances can occur. This was +a situation of true complexity. + +Back down in the field office, I asked Finn OSullivan how he and his +team dealt with such a circumstance. After all, skyscraper builders must run +into thousands like itdifficulties they could never have predicted or +addressed in a checklist designed in advance. The medical way of dealing +with such problemswith the inevitable nuances of an individual patient +caseis to leave them to the experts individual judgment. You give the +specialist autonomy. In this instance, Rouillard was the specialist. Had the +building site been a hospital ward, his personal judgment would hold sway. + +This approach has a flaw, however, OSullivan pointed out. Like a +patient, a building involves multiple specialiststhe sixteen trades. In the +absence of a true Master Buildera supreme, all-knowing expert with +command of all existing knowledge autonomy is a disaster. It produces +only a cacophony of incompatible decisions and overlooked errors. You get +a building that doesnt stand up straight. This sounded to me like medicine +at its worst. + +So what do you do? I asked. +That was when OSullivan showed me a different piece of paper hanging + +in his conference room. Pinned to the left-hand wall opposite the +construction schedule was another butcher-block-size sheet almost identical +in form, except this one, OSulli-van said, was called a submittal +schedule. It was also a checklist, but it didnt specify construction tasks; it +specified communication tasks. For the way the project managers dealt with +the unexpected and the uncertain was by making sure the experts spoke to +one anotheron X date regarding Y process. The experts could make their +individual judgments, but they had to do so as part of a team that took one +anothers concerns into account, discussed unplanned developments, and +agreed on the way forward. While no one could anticipate all the problems, +they could foresee where and when they might occur. The checklist +therefore detailed who had to talk to whom, by which date, and about what +aspect of constructionwho had to share (or submit) particular kinds of +information before the next steps could proceed. + +The submittal schedule specified, for instance, that by the end of the +month the contractors, installers, and elevator engineers had to review the +condition of the elevator cars traveling up to the tenth floor. The elevator + + + +cars were factory constructed and tested. They were installed by experts. +But it was not assumed that they would work perfectly. Quite the opposite. +The assumption was that anything could go wrong, anything could get +missed. What? Who knows? Thats the nature of complexity. But it was +also assumed that, if you got the right people together and had them take a +moment to talk things over as a team rather than as individuals, serious +problems could be identified and averted. + +So the submittal schedule made them talk. The contractors had to talk +with the installers and elevator engineers by the thirty-first. They had to talk +about fire protection with the fireproofers by the twenty-fifth. And two +weeks earlier, they had been required to talk about the condition of the core +wall and flooring on the upper floors, where the water had pooled, with the +structural engineers, a consultant, and the owners. + +I saw that the box had been checked. The task was done. I asked +Rouillard how the discussion had gone. + +Very well, he said. Everyone met and reviewed the possibilities. The +owners and the contractors were persuaded that it was reasonable to expect +the floor to level out. Cleanup was arranged, the schedule was adjusted, and +everyone signed off. + +In the face of the unknownthe always nagging uncertainty about +whether, under complex circumstances, things will really be okay the +builders trusted in the power of communication. They didnt believe in the +wisdom of the single individual, of even an experienced engineer. They +believed in the wisdom of the group, the wisdom of making sure that +multiple pairs of eyes were on a problem and then letting the watchers +decide what to do. + +Man is fallible, but maybe men are less so. +In a back room of the field office, Ryan Walsh, a buzz-cut young man of + +about thirty wearing a yellow reflector vest, sat in front of two big flat- +screen displays. His job, he explained, was to take all the construction plans +submitted by each of the major trades and merge them into a three- +dimensional floor-by-floor computer rendering of the building. He showed +me what the top floor looked like on the screen. Hed so far loaded in the +specifications from nine of the tradesthe structural specs, the elevator +specs, the plumbing specs, and so on. He used his mouse to walk us through + + + +the building as if we were taking a stroll down the corridors. You could see +the walls, the doors, the safety valves, everything. More to the point, you +could see problemsa place where there wasnt enough overhead clearance +for an average-size person, for example. He showed me an application +called Clash Detective that ferreted out every instance in which the different +specs conflicted with one another or with building regulations. + +If a structural beam is going where a lighting fixture is supposed to +hang, the Clash Detective turns that beam a different color on-screen, he +said. You can turn up hundreds of clashes. I once found two thousand. +But its not enough to show the clash on the screen, he explained. You have +to resolve it, and to do that you have to make sure the critical people talk. +So the computer also flags the issue for the submittal schedule printout and +sends an e-mail to each of the parties who have to resolve it. + +Theres yet another program, called Project Center, that allows anyone +who has found a problemeven a frontline workerto e-mail all the +relevant parties, track progress, and make sure a check is added to the +schedule to confirm that everyone has talked and resolved the matter. When +we were back at the McNamara/Salvia offices, Bernie Rouillard showed me +one such e-mail hed gotten that week. A worker had attached a digital +photo of a twelve-foot steel I beam he was bolting in. It hadnt lined up +properly and only two of the four bolts could fit. Was that all right, the +worker wanted to know? No, Rouillard wrote back. They worked out a +solution together: to weld the beam into place. The e-mail was also +automatically sent to the main contractor and anyone else who might +potentially be required to sign off. Each party was given three days to +confirm that the proposed solution was okay. And everyone needed to +confirm theyd communicated, since the time taken for even this small fix +could change the entire sequence in which other things needed to be done. + +Joe Salvia had earlier told me that the major advance in the science of +construction over the last few decades has been the perfection of tracking +and communication. But only now did I understand what he meant. + +The building worlds willingness to apply its strategies to difficulties of +any size and seriousness is striking. Salvias partner, Robert McNamara, for +instance, was one of the structural engineers for the Citicorp (now +Citigroup) building in midtown Manhattan, with its iconic slanted rooftop. + + + +It was planned to rise more than nine hundred feet on four nine-story-tall +stiltlike columns placed not at the buildings corners but at the center of +each side and steadied by giant, hidden chevron-shaped braces designed by +William LeMessurier, the projects lead structural engineer. The visual +effect was arresting. The colossal structure would look like it was almost +floating above Fifty-third Street. But wind-tunnel testing of a model +revealed that the skyscraper stood so high above the surrounding buildings +in midtown that it was subject to wind streams and turbulence with forces +familiar only to airplane designers, not to structural engineers. The +acceptable amount of sway for the building was unknown. + +So what did they do? They did not scrap the building or shrink it to a less +ambitious size. Instead, McNamara proposed a novel solution called a +tuned mass damper. They could, he suggested, suspend an immense four- +hundred-ton concrete block from huge springs in the buildings crown on +the fifty-ninth floor, so that when wind pitched the building one way, the +block would swing the other way and steady it. + +The solution was brilliant and elegant. The engineers did some wind- +tunnel testing with a small model of the design, and the results were highly +reassuring. Nonetheless, some chance of error and unpredictability always +remains in projects of this complexity. So the builders reduced their margin +of error the best way they knew howby taking a final moment to make +sure that everyone talked it through as a group. The building owner met +with the architect, someone from the city buildings department, the +structural engineers, and others. They reviewed the idea and all the +calculations behind it. They confirmed that every concern they could think +of had been addressed. Then they signed off on the plan, and the skyscraper +was built. + +It is unnerving to think that we allow buildings this difficult to design and +construct to go up in the midst of our major cities, with thousands of people +inside and tens of thousands more living and working nearby. Doing so +seems risky and unwise. But we allow it based on trust in the ability of the +experts to manage the complexities. They in turn know better than to rely +on their individual abilities to get everything right. They trust instead in one +set of checklists to make sure that simple steps are not missed or skipped +and in another set to make sure that everyone talks through and resolves all +the hard and unexpected problems. + + + +The biggest cause of serious error in this business is a failure of +communication, OSullivan told me. + +In the Citicorp building, for example, the calculations behind the designs +for stabilizing the building assumed the joints in those giant braces at the +base of the building would be welded. Joint welding, however, is labor +intensive and therefore expensive. Bethlehem Steel, which took the contract +to erect the tower, proposed switching to bolted joints, which are not as +strong. They calculated that the bolts would do the job. But, as a New +Yorker story later uncovered, their calculations were somehow not reviewed +with LeMessurier. That checkpoint was bypassed. + +It is not certain that a review would have led him to recognize a problem +at the time. But in 1978, a year after the building opened, LeMessurier, +prompted by a question from a Princeton engineering student, discovered +the change. And he found it had produced a fatal flaw: the building would +not be able to withstand seventy-mile-an-hour windswhich, according to +weather tables, would occur at least once every fifty-five years in New York +City. In that circumstance, the joints would fail and the building would +collapse, starting on the thirtieth floor. By now, the tower was fully +occupied. LeMessurier broke the news to the owners and to city officials. +And that summer, as Hurricane Ella made its way toward the city, an +emergency crew worked at night under veil of secrecy to weld two-inch- +thick steel plates around the two hundred critical bolts, and the building was +secured. The Citicorp tower has stood solidly ever since. + +The construction industrys checklist process has clearly not been +foolproof at catching problems. Nonetheless, its record of success has been +astonishing. In the United States, we have nearly five million commercial +buildings, almost one hundred million low-rise homes, and eight million or +so high-rise residences. We add somewhere around seventy thousand new +commercial buildings and one million new homes each year. But building +failuredefined as a partial or full collapse of a functioning structureis +exceedingly rare, especially for skyscrapers. According to a 2003 Ohio +State University study, the United States experiences an average of just +twenty serious building failures per year. Thats an annual avoidable +failure rate of less than 0.00002 percent. And, as Joe Salvia explained tome, +although buildings are now more complex and sophisticated than ever in +history, with higher standards expected for everything from earthquake + + + +proofing to energy efficiency, they take a third less time to build than they +did when he started his career. + +The checklists work. + + + +4. THE IDEA + +There is a particularly tantalizing aspect to the building industrys +strategy for getting things right in complex situations: its that it gives +people power. In response to risk, most authorities tend to centralize power +and decision making. Thats usually what checklists are aboutdictating +instructions to the workers below to ensure they do things the way we want. +Indeed, the first building checklist I saw, the construction schedule on the +right-hand wall of OSullivans conference room, was exactly that. It +spelled out to the tiniest detail every critical step the tradesmen were +expected to follow and whenwhich is logical if youre confronted with +simple and routine problems; you want the forcing function. + +But the list on OSullivans other wall revealed an entirely different +philosophy about power and what should happen to it when youre +confronted with complex, nonroutine problems such as what to do when +a difficult, potentially dangerous, and unanticipated anomaly suddenly +appears on the fourteenth floor of a thirty-two-story skyscraper under +construction. The philosophy is that you push the power of decision making +out to the periphery and away from the center. You give people the room to +adapt, based on their experience and expertise. All you ask is that they talk +to one another and take responsibility. That is what works. + +The strategy is unexpectedly democratic, and it has become standard +nowadays, OSullivan told me, even in building inspections. The inspectors +do not recompute the wind-force calculations or decide whether the joints in +a given building should be bolted or welded, he said. Determining whether +a structure like Russia Wharf or my hospitals new wing is built to code and +fit for occupancy involves more knowledge and complexity than any one +inspector could possibly have. So although inspectors do what they can to +oversee a buildings construction, mostly they make certain the builders +have the proper checks in place and then have them sign affidavits attesting + + + +that they themselves have ensured that the structure is up to code. +Inspectors disperse the power and the responsibility. + +It makes sense, OSullivan said. The inspectors have more troubles +with the safety of a two-room addition from a do-it-yourselfer than they do +with projects like ours. So thats where they focus their efforts. Also, I +suspect, at least some authorities have recognized that when they dont let +go of authority they fail. We need look no further than what happened after +Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. + +At 6:00 a.m., on August 29, 2005, Katrina made landfall in Plaquemines +Parish in New Orleans. The initial reports were falsely reassuring. With +telephone lines, cell towers, and electrical power down, the usual sources of +information were unavailable. By afternoon, the levees protecting the city +had been breached. Much of New Orleans was under water. The evidence +was on television, but Michael Brown, the director of the Federal +Emergency Management Agency, discounted it and told a press conference +that the situation was largely under control. + +FEMA was relying on information from multiple sources, but only one +lone agent was actually present in New Orleans. That agent had managed to +get a Coast Guard helicopter ride over the city that first afternoon, and he +filed an urgent report the only way he could with most communication lines +cutby e-mail. Flooding was widespread, the e-mail said; he himself had +seen bodies floating in the water and hundreds of people stranded on +rooftops. Help was needed. But the governments top officials did not use e- +mail. And as a Senate hearing uncovered, they were not apprised of the +contents of the message until the next day. + +By then, 80 percent of the city was flooded. Twenty thousand refugees +were stranded at the New Orleans Superdome. Another twenty thousand +were at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Over five thousand people +were at an overpass on Interstate 10, some of them left by rescue crews and +most carrying little more than the clothes on their backs. Hospitals were +without power and suffering horrendous conditions. As people became +desperate for food and water, looting began. Civil breakdown became a +serious concern. + +Numerous local officials and impromptu organizers made efforts to +contact authorities and let them know what was needed, but they too were +unable to reach anyone. When they finally got a live person on the phone, + + + +they were told to waittheir requests would have to be sent up the line. +The traditional command-and-control system rapidly became over +whelmed. There were too many decisions to be made and too little +information about precisely where and what help was needed. + +Nevertheless, the authorities refused to abandon the traditional model. +For days, while conditions deteriorated hourly, arguments roared over who +had the power to provide the resources and make decisions. The federal +government wouldnt yield the power to the state government. The state +government wouldnt give it to the local government. And no one would +give it to people in the private sector. + +The result was a combination of anarchy and Orwellian bureaucracy with +horrifying consequences. Trucks with water and food were halted or +diverted or refused entry by authorities the supplies were not part of their +plan. Bus requisitions were held up for days; the official request did not +even reach the U.S. Department of Transportation until two days after tens +of thousands had become trapped and in need of evacuation. Meanwhile +two hundred local transit buses were sitting idle on higher ground nearby. + +The trouble wasnt a lack of sympathy among top officials. It was a lack +of understanding that, in the face of an extraordinarily complex problem, +power needed to be pushed out of the center as far as possible. Everyone +was waiting for the cavalry, but a centrally run, government-controlled +solution was not going to be possible. + +Asked afterward to explain the disastrous failures, Michael Chertoff, +secretary of Homeland Security, said that it had been an ultra-catastrophe, +a perfect storm that exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe +anybodys foresight. But thats not an explanation. Its simply the +definition of a complex situation. And such a situation requires a different +kind of solution from the command-and-control paradigm officials relied +on. + +Of all organizations, it was oddly enough Wal-Mart that best recognized +the complex nature of the circumstances, according to a case study from +Harvards Kennedy School of Government. Briefed on what was +developing, the giant discount retailers chief executive officer, Lee Scott, +issued a simple edict. This company will respond to the level of this +disaster, he was remembered to have said in a meeting with his upper + + + +management. A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your +level. Make the best decision that you can with the information thats +available to you at the time, and, above all, do the right thing. + +As one of the officers at the meeting later recalled, That was it. The +edict was passed down to store managers and set the tone for how people +were expected to react. On the most immediate level, Wal-Mart had 126 +stores closed due to damage and power outages. Twenty thousand +employees and their family members were displaced. The initial focus was +on helping them. And within forty-eight hours, more than half of the +damaged stores were up and running again. But according to one executive +on the scene, as word of the disasters impact on the citys population began +filtering in from Wal-Mart employees on the ground, the priority shifted +from reopening stores to Oh, my God, what can we do to help these +people? + +Acting on their own authority, Wal-Marts store managers began +distributing diapers, water, baby formula, and ice to residents. Where +FEMA still hadnt figured out how to requisition supplies, the managers +fashioned crude paper-slip credit systems for first responders, providing +them with food, sleeping bags, toiletries, and also, where available, rescue +equipment like hatchets, ropes, and boots. The assistant manager of a Wal- +Mart store engulfed by a thirty-foot storm surge ran a bulldozer through the +store, loaded it with any items she could salvage, and gave them all away in +the parking lot. When a local hospital told her it was running short of drugs, +she went back in and broke into the stores pharmacyand was lauded by +upper management for it. + +Senior Wal-Mart officials concentrated on setting goals, measuring +progress, andmaintaining communication lines with employees at the front +lines and with official agencies when they could. In other words, to handle +this complex situation, they did not issue instructions. Conditions were too +unpredictable and constantly changing. They worked on making sure +people talked. Wal-Marts emergency operations team even included a +member of the Red Cross. (The federal government declined Wal-Marts +invitation to participate.) The team also opened a twenty-four-hour call +center for employees, which started with eight operators but rapidly +expanded to eighty to cope with the load. + + + +Along the way, the team discovered that, given common goals to do what +they could to help and to coordinate with one another, Wal-Marts +employees were able to fashion some extraordinary solutions. They set up +three temporary mobile pharmacies in the city and adopted a plan to +provide medications for free at all of their stores for evacuees with +emergency needseven without a prescription. They set up free check +cashing for payroll and other checks in disaster-area stores. They opened +temporary clinics to provide emergency personnel with inoculations against +flood-borne illnesses. And most prominently, within just two days of +Katrinas landfall, the companys logistics teams managed to contrive ways +to get tractor trailers with food, water, and emergency equipment past +roadblocks and into the dying city. They were able to supply water and food +to refugees and even to the National Guard a day before the government +appeared on the scene. By the end Wal-Mart had sent in a total of 2,498 +trailer loads of emergency supplies and donated $3.5 million in +merchandise to area shelters and command centers. + +If the American government had responded like Wal-Mart has +responded, we wouldnt be in this crisis, Jefferson Parishs top official, +Aaron Broussard, said in a network television interview at the time. + +The lesson of this tale has been misunderstood. Some have argued that the +episode proves that the private sector is better than the public sector in +handling complex situations. But it isnt. For every Wal-Mart, you can find +numerous examples of major New Orleans businesses that proved +inadequately equipped to respond to the unfolding eventsfrom the utility +corporations, which struggled to get the telephone and electrical lines +working, to the oil companies, which kept too little crude oil and refinery +capacity on hand for major disruptions. Public officials could also claim +some genuine successes. In the early days of the crisis, for example, the +local police and firefighters, lacking adequate equipment, recruited an +armada of Louisiana sportsmen with flat-bottom boats and orchestrated a +breathtaking rescue of more than sixty-two thousand people from the water, +rooftops, and attics of the deluged city. + +No, the real lesson is that under conditions of true complexitywhere the +knowledge required exceeds that of any individual and unpredictability +reignsefforts to dictate every step from the center will fail. People need + + + +room to act and adapt. Yet they cannot succeed as isolated individuals, +eitherthat is anarchy. Instead, they require a seemingly contradictory mix +of freedom and expectationexpectation to coordinate, for example, and +also to measure progress toward common goals. + +This was the understanding people in the skyscraper-building industry +had grasped. More remarkably, they had learned to codify that +understanding into simple checklists. They had made the reliable +management of complexity a routine. + +That routine requires balancing a number of virtues: freedom and +discipline, craft and protocol, specialized ability and group collaboration. +And for checklists to help achieve that balance, they have to take two +almost opposing forms. They supply a set of checks to ensure the stupid but +critical stuff is not overlooked, and they supply another set of checks to +ensure people talk and coordinate and accept responsibility while +nonetheless being left the power to manage the nuances and +unpredictabilities the best they know how. + +I came away from Katrina and the builders with a kind of theory: under +conditions of complexity, not only are checklists a help, they are required +for success. There must always be room for judgment, but judgment aided + and even enhanced by procedure. + +Having hit on this theory, I began to recognize checklists in odd +corners everywherein the hands of professional football coordinators, +say, or on stage sets. Listening to the radio, I heard the story behind rocker +David Lee Roths notorious insistence that Van Halens contracts with +concert promoters contain a clause specifying that a bowl of M&Ms has to +be provided backstage, but with every single brown candy removed, upon +pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation to the band. And at +least once, Van Halen followed through, peremptorily canceling a show in +Colorado when Roth found some brown M&Ms in his dressing room. This +turned out to be, however, not another example of the insane demands of +power-mad celebrities but an ingenious ruse. + +As Roth explained in his memoir, Crazy from the Heat, Van Halen was +the first band to take huge productions into tertiary, third-level markets. +Wed pull up with nine eighteen-wheeler trucks, full of gear, where the +standard was three trucks, max. And there were many, many technical +errorswhether it was the girders couldnt support the weight, or the + + + +flooring would sink in, or the doors werent big enough to move the gear +through. The contract rider read like a version of the Chinese Yellow Pages +because there was so much equipment, and so many human beings to make +it function. So just as a little test, buried somewhere in the middle of the +rider, would be article 126, the no-brown-M&Ms clause. When I would +walk backstage, if I saw a brown M&M in that bowl, he wrote, well, +wed line-check the entire production. Guaranteed youre going to arrive at +a technical error. . . . Guaranteed youd run into a problem. These werent +trifles, the radio story pointed out. The mistakes could be life-threatening. +In Colorado, the band found the local promoters had failed to read the +weight requirements and the staging would have fallen through the arena +floor. + +David Lee Roth had a checklist! I yelled at the radio. +I ran my theoryabout the necessity of checklistsby Jody Adams, the + +chef and owner of Rialto, one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. In the +early 1990s, Food and Winemagazine named her one of Americas ten best +new chefs, and in 1997 she won a James Beard Foundation Best Chef +award, which is the Oscar for food. Rialto is frequently mentioned on +national best-restaurant lists, most recently Esquire magazines. Her focus +is on regional Italian cuisine, though with a distinctive take. + +Adams is self-taught. An anthropology major at Brown University, she +never went to culinary school. But I had a thing for food, as she puts it, +and she went to work in restaurants, learning her way from chopping onions +to creating her own style of cooking. + +The level of skill and craft she has achieved in her restaurant is daunting. +Moreover, she has sustained it for many years now. I was interested in how +she did it. I understood perfectly well how the Burger Kings and Taco Bells +of the world operate. They are driven by tightly prescribed protocol. They +provide Taylorized, assembly-line food. But in great restaurants the food is +ever-evolving, refined, and individual. Nevertheless, they have to produce +an extraordinary level of excellence day after day, year after year, for one to +three hundred people per night. I had my theory of how such perfectionism +is accomplished, but was it true? Adams invited me in to see. + +I spent one Friday evening perched on a stool in Rialtos long and narrow +kitchen amid the bustle, the shouting, the grill flaming on one side, the deep +fryer sizzling on another. Adams and her staff served 150 people in five + + + +hours. That night, they made a roasted tomato soap with sweated onions +and garlic; squid ink ravioli filled with a salt cod brandade on a bed of +squash blossoms and lobster sauce; grilled bluefish with corn relish, +heirloom tomatoes, and pickled peppers; slow-roasted duck marinated in +soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, mustard, rosemary, and garlic; and three dozen +other mouthwatering dishes. + +Sitting there, I saw remarkable expertise. Half of Adamss staff had been +to culinary school. Few had less than a decade of experience. They each had +a kitchen specialty. There was a pastry chef, baker, grill chef, fry cook, +dessert chef, sous chef, sommelier you get the picture. Through the years, +they had perfected their technique. I couldnt fathom the subtleties of most +of what they did. Though I am a surgeon, they wouldnt let me anywhere +near their knives. Jay, the pasta chef, showed me how to heat butter +properly and tell by sight when gnocchi were perfectly boiled. Adams +showed me how much a pinch of salt really was. + +People celebrate the technique and creativity of cooking. Chefs are +personalities today, and their daring culinary exploits are what make the +television cooking shows so popular. But as I saw at Rialto, its discipline +uncelebrated and untelevisedthat keeps the kitchen clicking. And sure +enough, checklists were at the center of that discipline. + +First there was the recipethe most basic checklist of all. Every dish had +one. The recipes were typed out, put in clear plastic sleeves, and placed at +each station. Adams was religious about her staff s using them. Even for +her, she said, following the recipe is essential to making food of consistent +quality over time. + +Tacked to a bulletin board beside the dessert station was what Adams +called her Kitchen Notese-mails to the staff of her brief observations +about the food. The most recent was from 12:50 the previous night. +Frittersmore herbs, more garlic . . . more punch, it said. Corn silk in +corn! Creamed corn side on oval platesnot square! Mushroomsmore +shallots, garlic, and marsala. USE THE RECIPES! + +The staff didnt always love following the recipes. You make the creamed +corn a few hundred times and you believe you have it down. But thats +when things begin to slip, Adams said. + +The recipes themselves were not necessarily static. All the ones I saw had +scribbled modifications in the marginsmany of them improvements + + + +provided by staff. Sometimes there would be a wholesale revamp. +One new dish they were serving was a split whole lobster in a cognac and + +fish broth reduction with littleneck clams and chorizo. The dish is Adamss +take on a famous Julia Child recipe. Before putting a dish on the menu, +however, she always has the kitchen staff make a few test runs, and some +problems emerged. Her recipe called for splitting a lobster and then +sauting it in olive oil. But the results proved too variable. Too often the +lobster meat was either overcooked or undercooked. The sauce was also +made to order, but it took too long for the eight-to-ten-minute turnaround +that customers expect. + +So she and two of her chefs reengineered the dish. They decided to make +the sauce in advance and parboil the lobster ahead of time, as well. On +repeated test runs, the lobster came out perfectly. The recipe was rewritten. + +There was also a checklist for every customer. When an order was placed +up front, it was printed out on a slip back in the kitchen. The ticket specified +the dishes ordered, the table number, the seat number, any preferences +required by the customer or noted in a database from previous visitsfood +allergies, for instance, or how the steak should be cooked, or whether this +was a special occasion like a birthday or a visit from a VIP whom Adams +needed to go out and say hello to. The sous chef, who serves as a kind of +field officer for operations, read the tickets off as they came in. + +Fire mushrooms. Fire mozz. Lobo on hold. Steak very well done, no +gluten, on hold. + +Fire meant cook it now. On hold meant it was a second course. +Lobo was the lobster. The steak needed to be cooked all the way through +and the customer had a gluten allergy. A read-back was expected to confirm +that the line cooks had heard the order right. + +Fire mushrooms. Fire mozz, said one. +Lobo on hold, said the seafood cook. +Steak very well done, no gluten, on hold, said the grill chef. As in the + +construction world, however, not everything could be anticipated and +reduced to a recipe. And so Adams, too, had developed a communication +checklist to ensure people recognized, and dealt with, unexpected problems +as a team. At five oclock, half an hour before opening, the staff holds what +she calls the pow wow. Everyone gathers in the kitchen for a quick check +to discuss unanticipated issues and concernsthe unpredictable. The night + + + +I was there, they reviewed the reservation count, two menu changes, how to +fill in for a sick staff member, and a sweet sixteen party with twenty girls +who were delayed and going to arrive in the midst of the dinner rush. +Everyone was given a chance to speak, and they made plans for what to do. + +Of course, this still couldnt guarantee everything would go right. There +remained plenty of sources of uncertainty and imperfection: a soup might +be plated too early and allowed to cool, a quail might have too little sauce, a +striped bass might come off the grill too dry. So Adams had one final check +in place. Every plate had to be reviewed by either her or the sous chef +before it left the kitchen for the dining room. They made sure the food +looked the way it should, checked it against the order ticket, gave it a sniff +or, with a clean spoon, maybe even a taste. + +I counted the dishes as they went by. At least 5 percent were sent back. +This calamari has to be fried more, the sous chef told the fry cook. We +want more of a golden brown. + +Later, I got to try some of the results. I had the fried olives, the grilled +clams, the summer succotash, and a local farm green salad. I also had the +lobster. The food was incredible. I left at midnight with my stomach full +and my brain racing. Even here, in one of our most particularized and craft- +driven enterprisesin a way, Adamss cooking is more art than science +checklists were required. Everywhere I looked, the evidence seemed to +point to the same conclusion. There seemed no field or profession where +checklists might not help. And that might even include my own. + + + +5. THE FIRST TRY + +In late 2006, a woman with a British accent and a Geneva telephone +number called me. She said that she was from the World Health +Organization and she wanted to see whether I might help them organize a +group of people to solve a small problem. Officials were picking up +indications that the volume of surgery was increasing worldwide and that a +significant portion of the care was so unsafe as to be a public danger. So +they wanted to develop a global program to reduce avoidable deaths and +harm from surgery. + +I believe my response was, Um, how do you do that? +Well have a meeting, she said. +I asked how much money theyd be devoting to the problem. +Oh, theres no real money, she said. +I said no. I couldnt do it. I was busy. +But she knew what she was about. She said something along the lines of, + +Oh, sorry. I thought you were supposed to be some kind of expert on +patient safety in surgery. My mistake. + +I agreed to help organize the meeting. + +One of the benefits of joining up to work with WHO was gaining access to +the health system reports and data from the organizations 193 member +countries. And compiling the available numbers in surgery, my research +team and I found that the WHO officials impression was correct: the global +volume of surgery had exploded. By 2004, surgeons were performing some +230 million major operations annuallyone for every twenty-five human +beings on the planetand the numbers have likely continued to increase +since then. The volume of surgery had grown so swiftly that, without +anyones quite realizing, it has come to exceed global totals for childbirth +only with a death rate ten to one hundred times higher. Although most of +the time a given procedure goes just fine, often it doesnt: estimates of +complication rates for hospital surgery range from 3 to 17 percent. While + + + +incisions have gotten smaller and recoveries have gotten quicker, the risks +remain serious. Worldwide, at least seven million people a year are left +disabled and at least onemillion deada level of harm that approaches that +of malaria, tuberculosis, and other traditional public health concerns. + +Peering at the numbers, I understood why WHOan organization +devoted to solving large-scale public health problems should suddenly +have taken an interest in something as seemingly specific and high-tech as +surgical care. Improvement in global economic conditions in recent decades +had produced greater longevity and therefore a greater need for essential +surgical servicesfor people with cancers, broken bones and other +traumatic injuries, complications during child delivery, major birth defects, +disabling kidney stones and gallstones and hernias. Although there +remained some two billion people, especially in rural areas, without access +to a surgeon, health systems in all countries were now massively increasing +the number of surgical procedures performed. As a result, the safety and +quality of that care had become a major issue everywhere. + +But what could be done about it? Remedying surgery as a public health +matter is not like remedying, say, polio. Id traveled with WHO physicians +overseeing the campaign to eradicate polio globally and seen how hard just +providing vaccines to a population could be. Surgery was drastically more +complex. Finding ways to reduce its harm in a single hospital seemed +difficult enough. Finding a way that could reach every operating room in +the world seemed absurd. With more than twenty-five hundred different +surgical procedures, ranging from brain biopsies to toe amputations, +pacemaker insertions to spleen extractions, appendectomies to kidney +transplants, you dont even know where to start. Perhaps, I thought, I could +work with WHO to focus on reducing the harmof just one procedure +much like with central linesbut how much of a dent would that make in a +problem of this scale? + +In January 2007, at WHO headquarters in Geneva, we convened a two- +day meeting of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, safety experts, even +patients from around the world to puzzle through what could be done. We +had clinicians from top facilities in Europe, Canada, and the United States. +We had the chief surgeon for the International Committee of the Red Cross, +who had sent teams to treat sick and wounded refugees everywhere from +Mogadishu to Indonesia. We had a father from Zambia whose daughter + + + +inadvertently suffocated from lack of oxygen during treatment. As the +group told stories of their findings and experiences with surgery around the +world, I became only more skeptical. How could we possibly attempt to +address so many different issues in so many different places? + +A medical officer in his forties from western Ghana, where cocoa +growing and gold mining had brought a measure of prosperity, told of the +conditions in his district hospital. No surgeon was willing to stay, he said. +Ghanawas suffering from a brain drain, losing many of its highest skilled +citizens to better opportunities abroad. He told us his entire hospital had just +three medical officersgeneral physicians with no surgical training. +Nevertheless, when a patient arrives critically ill and bleeding after two +days in labor, or sick and feverish from appendicitis, or with a collapsed +lung after a motorbike crash, the untutored doctors do what they have to do. +They operate. + +You must understand, he said. I manage everything. I am the +pediatrician, obstetrician, surgeon, everything. He had textbooks and a +manual of basic surgical techniques. He had an untrained assistant who had +learned how to give basic anesthesia. His hospitals equipment was +rudimentary. The standards were poor. Things sometimes went wrong. But +he was convinced doing something was better than doing nothing at all. + +A Russian bioengineer spoke. Hed spent much of his career overseeing +the supply and service of medical equipment to hospitals in different parts +of the world, and he described dangerous problems in both high- and low- +income settings: inadequately maintained surgical devices that have set fire +to patients or electrocuted them; new technologies used incorrectly because +teams had not received proper training; critical, lifesaving equipment that +was locked away in a cabinet or missing when people needed it. + +The chief of surgery for the largest hospital in Mongolia described +shortages of pain control medications, and others from Asia, Africa, and the +Middle East recounted the same. A New Zealand researcher spoke of +terrifying death rates in poor countries from unsafe anesthesia, noting that +although some places in Africa had fewer than one in five thousand patients +die from general anesthesia, others had rates more than ten times worse, +with one study in Togo showing one in 150 died. An anesthesiologist from +India chimed in, tracing problems with anesthesia to the low respect most +surgeons accord anesthetists. In her country, she said, they shout + + + +anesthetists down and disregard the safety issues that her colleagues raise. +Medical students see this and decide not to go into anesthesiology. As a +result, the most risky part of surgeryanesthesiais done by untrained +people far more often than the surgery itself. A nurse from Ireland joined +the clamor. Nurses work under even worse conditions, she said. They are +often ignored as members of the team, condescended to, or fired for raising +concerns. Shed seen it in her home country, and from her colleagues +abroad she knew it to be the experience of nurses internationally. + +On the one hand, everyone firmly agreed: surgery is enormously valuable +to peoples lives everywhere and should be made more broadly available. +Even under the grimmest conditions, it is frequently lifesaving. And in +much of the world, the serious complication rates seem acceptably lowin +the 5 to 15 percent range for hospital operations. + +On the other hand, the idea that such rates are acceptable was hard to +swallow. Each percentage point, after all, represented millions left disabled +or dead. Studies in the United States alone had found that at least half of +surgical complications were preventable. But the causes and contributors +were of every possible variety. We needed to do something. What, though, +wasnt clear. + +Some suggested more training programs. The idea withered almost upon +utterance. If these failures were problems in every countryindeed, very +likely, in every hospitalno training program could be deployed widely +enough to make a difference. There was neither the money nor the capacity. + +We discussed incentive approaches, such as the pay-for-performance +schemes recently initiated on a trial basis in the United States. In these +programs, clinicians receive financial rewards for being more consistent +about giving, say, heart attack patients the proper care or incur penalties for +not doing so. The strategy has shown results, but the gains have been +modestthe countrys largest pay-for-performance trial, for example, +registered just 2 to 4 percent improvement. Furthermore, the measurements +required for incentive payments are not easy to obtain. They rely on +clinicians self-reported results, which are not always accurate. The results +are also strongly affected by howsick patients are to begin with. One might +be tempted, for example, to pay surgeons with higher complication rates +less, but some might simply have sicker patients. The incentive programs + + + +have thus far been expensive, incremental, and of limited benefit. Taking +them global was unimaginable. + +The most straightforward thing for the group to do would have been to +formulate and publish under the WHO name a set of official standards for +safe surgical care. It is the approach expert panels commonly take. Such +guidelines could cover everything from measures to prevent infection in +surgery to expectations for training and cooperation in operating rooms. +This would be our Geneva Convention on Safe Surgery, our Helsinki +Accord to Stop Operating Room Mayhem. + +But one had only to take a walk through the dim concrete basement +hallways of the otherwise soaring WHO headquarters to start doubting that +plan. Down in the basement, while taking a shortcut between buildings, I +saw pallet after pallet of two-hundred-page guideline books from other +groups that had been summoned to make their expert pronouncements. +There were guidelines stacked waist-high on malaria prevention, HIV/AIDS +treatment, and influenza management, all shrink-wrapped against the +gathering dust. The standards had been carefully written and were, I am +sure, wise and well considered. Some undoubtedly raised the bar of +possibility for achievable global standards. But in most cases, they had at +best trickled out into the world. At the bedsides of patients in Bangkok and +Brazzaville, Boston and Brisbane, little had changed. + +I asked a WHO official whether the organization had a guidebook on how +to carry out successful global public health programs. She regarded me with +a look that a parent might give a toddler searching the dogs mouth for the +thing that makes the barking noise. Its a cute idea but idiotic. + +I searched anyway. I asked people around WHO for examples of public +health interventions we could learn from. They came up with instances like +the smallpox vaccination campaign that eradicated the scourge from the +world in 1979 and the work of Dr. John Snow famously tracing a deadly +1854 London cholera outbreak to water in a public well. When the disease +struck a London neighborhood that summer, two hundred people died in the +first three days. Three-quarters of the areas residents fled in panic. +Nonetheless, by the next week, some five hundred more died. The dominant +belief was that diseases like cholera were caused by miasmasputrefied +air. But Snow, skeptical of the bad-air theory, made a map of where the +deceased had lived and found them clustered around a single water source, + + + +a well in Sohos Broad Street. He interviewed the bereaved families about +their habits. He made a careful statistical analysis of possible factors. And +he concluded that contaminated water had caused the outbreak. (It was later +discovered that the well had been dug next to a leaking cesspit.) Snow +persuaded the local council to remove the water wells pump handle. This +disabled the well, ended the spread of the disease, and also established the +essential methods of outbreak investigation that infectious disease +specialists follow to this day. + +All the examples, I noticed, had a few attributes in common: They +involved simple interventionsa vaccine, the removal of a pump handle. +The effects were carefully measured. And the interventions proved to have +widely transmissible benefitswhat business types would term a large ROI +(return on investment) or what Archimedes would have called, merely, +leverage. + +Thinking of these essential requirementssimple, measurable, +transmissibleI recalled one of my favorite public health studies. It was a +joint public health program conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease +Control and HOPE, a charitable organization in Pakistan, to address the +perilous rates of premature death among children in the slums of Karachi. +The squatter settlements surrounding the megacity contained more than four +million people living under some of the most crowded and squalid +conditions in the world. Sewage ran in the streets. Chronic poverty and food +shortages left 30 to 40 percent of the children malnourished. Virtually all +drinking water sources were contaminated. One child in ten died before age +fiveusually from diarrhea or acute respiratory infections. + +The roots of these problems were deep and multifactorial. Besides +inadequate water and sewage systems, illiteracy played a part, hampering +the spread of basic health knowledge. Corruption, political instability, and +bureaucracy discouraged investment in local industry that might provide +jobs and money for families to improve their conditions. Low global +agriculture prices made rural farming life impossible, causing hundreds of +thousands to flock to the cities in search of work, which only increased the +crowding. Under these circumstances, it seemed unlikely that any +meaningful improvement in the health of children could be made without a +top-to-bottom reinvention of government and society. + + + +But a young public health worker had an idea. Stephen Luby had grown +up in Omaha, Nebraska, where his father chaired the obstetrics and +gynecology faculty at Creighton University. He attended medical school at +the University of Texas Southwestern. But for some reason he was always +drawn to public health work. He took a CDC job investigating infectious +outbreaks in South Carolina, but when a position came open in the CDCs +Pakistan office he jumped to take it. He arrived in Karachi with his +schoolteacher wife and began publishing his first investigations of +conditions there in the late nineties. + +I had spoken to him once about how he thought through the difficulties. +If we had the kinds of water and sewage systems weve got in Omaha, we +could solve these problems, he said. But you have to wait decades for +major infrastructure projects. So instead, he said, he looked for low-tech +solutions. In this case, the solution he came up with was so humble it +seemed laughable to his colleagues. It was soap. + +Luby learned that Procter & Gamble, the consumer product +conglomerate, was eager to prove the value of its new antibacterial +Safeguard soap. So despite his colleagues skepticism, he persuaded the +company to provide a grant for a proper study and to supply cases of +Safeguard both with and without triclocarban, an antibacterial agent. Once a +week, field-workers from HOPE fanned out through twenty-five randomly +chosen neighborhoods in the Karachi slums distributing the soap, some with +the antibacterial agent and some without. They encouraged people to use it +in six situations: to wash their bodies once daily and to wash their hands +every time they defecated, wiped an infant, or were about to eat, prepare +food, or feed it to others. The field-workers then collected information on +illness rates among children in the test neighborhoods, as well as in eleven +control neighborhoods, where no soap was distributed. + +Luby and his team reported their results in a landmark paper published in +the Lancet in 2005. Families in the test neighborhoods received an average +of 3.3 bars of soap per week for one year. During this period, the incidence +of diarrhea among children in these neighborhoods fell 52 percent +compared to that in the control group, no matter which soap was used. The +incidence of pneumonia fell 48 percent. And the incidence of impetigo, a +bacterial skin infection, fell 35 percent. These were stunning results. And +they were achieved despite the illiteracy, the poverty, the crowding, and + + + +even the fact that, however much soap they used, people were still drinking +and washing with contaminated water. + +Ironically, Luby said, Procter & Gamble considered the study something +of a disappointment. His research team had found no added benefit from +having the antibacterial agent in the soap. Plain soap proved just as +effective. Against seemingly insuperable odds, it was more than good +enough. Plain soap was leverage. + +The secret, he pointed out to me, was that the soap was more than soap. It +was a behavior-change delivery vehicle. The researchers hadnt just handed +out Safeguard, after all. They also gave out instructionson leaflets and in +personexplaining the six situations in which people should use it. This +was essential to the difference they made. When one looks closely at the +details of the Karachi study, one finds a striking statistic about the +households in both the test and the control neighborhoods: At the start of +the study, the average number of bars of soap households used was not zero. +It was two bars per week. In other words, they already had soap. + +Sowh at did the study really change? Well, two things, Luby told me. +First, We removed the economic restraint on purchasing soap. People say +soap is cheap and most households have soap. But we wanted people to +wash a lot. And people are quite poor. So we removed that as a barrier. +Second, and just as important, the project managed to make soap use more +systematic. + +Luby and his team had studied washing behavior in Pakistan, +Bangladesh, and other locations around South Asia, and they found that +almost everyone washes their hands after defecation. There are strong +ideas about purity in South Asia, he said. Even when the place to wash is +far away, people go and clean their hands over 80 percent of the time, a rate +that would put most denizens of airport bathrooms to shame. But the +washing was not very effective, the researchers found. Often people did it +too quickly. Or they cleaned just the involved hand. Or they used ash or +mud rather than soap and water. + +The soap experiment changed that. The field-workers gave specific +instructions on hand-washing techniqueon the need to wet both hands +completely, to lather well, to rinse all the soap off, even if, out of necessity, +as the published report noted, hands were typically dried on participants +clothing. The instructions also got people used to washing at moments + + + +when they werent used to doing so. Before preparing food or feeding a +child is not a time when people think about washing, Luby explained. The +soap itself was also a factor. It was really nice soap, he pointed out. It +smelled good and lathered better than the usual soap people bought. People +liked washing with it. Global multinational corporations are really focused +on having a good consumer experience, which sometimes public health +people are not. Lastly, people liked receiving the soap. The public health +field-workers were bringing them a gift rather than wagging a finger. And +with the gift came a few basic ideas that would improve their lives and +massively reduce disease. + +Thinking back on the experiment, I was fascinated to realize that it was as +much a checklist study as a soap study. So I wondered: Could a checklist be +our soap for surgical caresimple, cheap, effective, and transmissible? I +still had a hard time grasping how to make a checklist that could be both +simple and effective for the manifold problems posed by surgery on a +global scale. I was uncertain that it was even possible. But several of my +colleagues were more sanguine when the idea was raised at the Geneva +meeting. + +One brought up the experience of Columbus Childrens Hospital, which +had developed a checklist to reduce surgical infections. Infection is one of +the most common complications of surgery in children. And the most +effective way to prevent it, aside from using proper antiseptic technique, is +to make sure you give an appropriate antibiotic during the sixty-minute +window before the incision is made. + +The timing is key. Once the incision is made, it is too late for the +antibiotic. Give it more than sixty minutes before the procedure, and the +antibiotic has worn off. But give it on time and studies show this single step +reduces the infection risk by up to half. Even if the antibiotic is squeezed +into the bloodstream only thirty seconds before the incision is made, +researchers have found, the circulation time is fast enough for the drug to +reach the tissue before the knife breaches the skin. + +Yet the step is commonly missed. In 2005, Columbus Childrens Hospital +examined its records and found that more than one-third of its +appendectomy patients failed to get the right antibiotic at the right time. + + + +Some got it too soon. Some got it too late. Some did not receive an +antibiotic at all. + +It seems dumb. How hard could this be? Even people in medicine assume +we get this kind of simple task right 100 percent of the time. But in fact we +dont. With all the flurry of things that go on when a patient is wheeled into +an operating room, this is exactly the sort of step that can be neglected. The +anesthesiologists are the ones who have to provide the antibiotic, but they +are concentrating on getting the patient safely and calmly to sleep and +this is no small matter when that patient is a scared eight-year-old lying +naked on a cold table in a room full of strangers getting ready to cut into +her. Add in an equipment malfunction (Is that red light supposed to be +blinking like that?), or the patients asthma acting up, or a page for the +surgeon to call the emergency room, and you begin to see how something as +mundane as an antibiotic can slip past. + +The hospitals director of surgical administration, who happened to be not +only a pediatric cardiac surgeon but also a pilot, decided to take the aviation +approach. He designed a preincision Cleared for Takeoff checklist that he +put on a whiteboard in each of the operating rooms. It was really simple. +There was a check box for the nurse to verbally confirm with the team that +they had the correct patient and the correct side of the body planned for +surgerysomething teams are supposed to verify in any case. And there +was a further check box to confirm that the antibiotics were given (or else +judged unnecessary, which they can be for some operations). + +There wasnt much more to it. But getting teams to stop and use the +checklistto make it their habitwas clearly tricky. A couple of check +boxes werent going to do much all by themselves. So the surgical director +gave some lectures to the nurses, anesthesiologists, and surgeons explaining +what this checklist thing was all about. He also did something curious: he +designed a little metal tent stenciled with the phrase Cleared for Take off +and arranged for it to be placed in the surgical instrument kits. The metal +tent was six inches long, just long enough to cover a scalpel, and the nurses +were asked to set it over the scalpel when laying out the instruments before +a case. This served as a reminder to run the checklist before making the +incision. Just as important, it also made clear that the surgeon could not +start the operation until the nurse gave the okay and removed the tent, a + + + +subtle cultural shift. Even a modest checklist had the effect of distributing +power. + +The surgical director measured the effect on care. After three months, 89 +percent of appendicitis patients got the right antibiotic at the right time. +After ten months, 100 percent did. The checklist had become habitualand +it had also become clear that team members could hold up an operation +until the necessary steps were completed. + +I was intrigued. But I remained doubtful. Yes, using a checklist, this one +hospital got one aspect of care to go consistently right for surgical patients. +I was even willing to believe their surgical infection rates had fallen +significantly as a result. But to take a serious bite out of overall +complication rates, I argued, we needed an approach that would help across +the much wider range of ways in which surgery can go wrong. + +Then Richard Reznick, the chairman of surgery at the University of +Toronto, spoke up. He explained that his hospital had completed a +feasibility trial using a much broader, twenty-one-item surgical checklist. +They had tried to design it, he said, to catch a whole span of potential errors +in surgical care. Their checklist had staff verbally confirm with one another +that antibiotics had been given, that blood was available if required, that +critical scans and test results needed for the operation were on hand, that +any special instruments required were ready, and so on. + +The checklist also included what they called a teambriefing. The team +members were supposed to stop and take a moment simply to talk with one +another before proceedingabout how long the surgeon expected the +operation to take, how much blood loss everyone should be prepared for, +whether the patient had any risks or concerns the team should know about. + +Reznick had never heard about the demise of Master Builders, but he had +gravitated intuitively toward the skyscraper solution a mix of task and +communication checks to manage the problem of proliferating complexity +and so had others, it turned out. A Johns Hopkins pancreatic surgeon +named Martin Makary showed us an eighteen-item checklist that hed +tested with eleven surgeons for five months at his hospital. Likewise, a +group of Southern California hospitals within the Kaiser health care system +had studied a thirty-item surgery preflight checklist that actually predated + + + +the Toronto and Hopkins innovations. All of them followed the same basic +design. + +Surgery has, essentially, four big killers wherever it is done in the world: +infection, bleeding, unsafe anesthesia, and what can only be called the +unexpected. For the first three, science and experience have given us some +straightforward and valuable preventive measures we think we consistently +follow but dont. These misses are simple failuresperfect for a classic +checklist. And as a result, all the researchers checklists included precisely +specified steps to catch them. + +But the fourth killerthe unexpectedis an entirely different kind of +failure, one that stems from the fundamentally complex risks entailed by +opening up a persons body and trying to tinker with it. Independently, each +of the researchers seemed to have realized that no one checklist could +anticipate all the pitfalls a team must guard against. So they had determined +that the most promising thing to do was just to have people stop and talk +through the case togetherto be ready as a team to identify and address +each patients unique, potentially critical dangers. + +Perhaps all this seems kind of obvious. But it represents a significant +departure from the way operations are usually conducted. Traditionally, +surgery has been regarded as an individual performancethe surgeon as +virtuoso, like a concert pianist. Theres a reason that much of the world uses +the phrase operating theater. The OR is the surgeons stage. The surgeon +strides under the lights and expects to start, everyone in their places, the +patient laid out asleep and ready to go. + +We surgeons want to believe that weve evolved along with the +complexity of surgery, that we work more as teams now. But however +embarrassing it may be for us to admit, researchers have observed that team +members are commonly not all aware of a given patients risks, or the +problems they need to be ready for, or why the surgeon is doing the +operation. In one survey of three hundred staff members as they exited the +operating room following a case, one out of eight reported that they were +not even sure about where the incision would be until the operation started. + +Brian Sexton, a pioneering Johns Hopkins psychologist, has conducted a +number of studies that provide a stark measure of how far we are from +really performing as teams in surgery. In one, he surveyed more than a +thousand operating room staff members from hospitals in five countries + + + +the United States, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Switzerlandand found that +although 64 percent of the surgeons rated their operations as having high +levels of teamwork, just 39 percent of anesthesiologists, 28 percent of +nurses, and 10 percent of anesthesia residents did. Not coincidentally, +Sexton also found that one in four surgeons believed that junior team +members should not question the decisions of a senior practitioner. + +The most common obstacle to effective teams, it turns out, is not the +occasional fire-breathing, scalpel-flinging, terror-inducing surgeon, though +some do exist. (One favorite example: Several years ago, when I was in +training, a senior surgeon grew incensed with one of my fellow residents for +questioning the operative plan and commanded him to leave the table and +stand in the corner until he was sorry. When he refused, the surgeon threw +him out of the room and tried to get him suspended for insubordination.) +No, the more familiar and widely dangerous issue is a kind of silent +disengagement, the consequence of specialized technicians sticking +narrowly to their domains. Thats not my problem is possibly the worst +thing people can think, whether they are starting an operation, taxiing an +airplane full of passengers down a runway, or building a thousand-foot-tall +skyscraper. But in medicine, we see it all the time. Ive seen it in my own +operating room. + +Teamwork may just be hard in certain lines of work. Under conditions of +extreme complexity, we inevitably rely on a division of tasks and expertise +in the operating room, for example, there is the surgeon, the surgical +assistant, the scrub nurse, the circulating nurse, the anesthesiologist, and so +on. They can each be technical masters at what they do. Thats what we +train them to be, and that alone can take years. But the evidence suggests +we need them to see their job not just as performing their isolated set of +tasks well but also as helping the group get the best possible results. This +requires finding a way to ensure that the group lets nothing fall between the +cracks and also adapts as a team to whatever problems might arise. + +I had assumed that achieving this kind of teamwork was +mostly a matter of luck. Id certainly experienced it at times difficult + +operations in which everyone was nonetheless firing on all cylinders, acting +as one. I remember an eighty-year-old patient who required an emergency +operation. He had undergone heart surgery the week before and had been +recovering nicely. But during the night hed developed a sudden, sharp, + + + +unrelenting pain in his abdomen, and over the course of the morning it had +mounted steadily in severity. I was asked to see him from general surgery. I +found him lying in bed, prostrate with pain. His heart rate was over one +hundred and irregular. His blood pressure was dropping. And wherever I +touched his abdomen, the sensation made him almost leap off the bed in +agony. + +He knew this was trouble. His mind was completely sharp. But he didnt +seem scared. + +What do we need to do? he asked between gritted teeth. +I explained that I believed his body had thrown a clot into his intestines + +arterial supply. It was as if hed had a stroke, only this one had cut off blood +flow to his bowel, not his brain. Without blood flow, his bowel would turn +gangrenous and rupture. This was not survivable without surgery. But, I +also had to tell him, it was often not survivable even with surgery. Perhaps +half of the patients in his circumstance make it through. If he was one of +them, there would be many complications to worry about. He might need a +ventilator or a feeding tube. Hed already been through one major +operation. He was weak and not young. I asked him if he wanted to go +ahead. + +Yes, he said, but he wanted me to speak with his wife and son first. I +reached them by phone. They too said to proceed. I called the operating +room control desk and explained the situation. I needed an OR and a team +right away. Id take whatever and whoever were available. + +We got him to the OR within the hour. And as people assembled and set +to work, there was the sense of a genuine team taking form. Jay, the +circulating nurse, introduced himself to the patient and briefly explained +what everyone was doing. Steve, the scrub nurse, was already gowned and +gloved, standing by with the sterile instruments at the ready. Zhi, the senior +anesthesiologist, and Thor, his resident, were conferring, making sure they +had their plans straight, as they set out their drugs and equipment. Joaquim, +the surgery resident, stood by with a Foley catheter, ready to slip it into the +patients bladder as soon as he was asleep. + +The clock was ticking. The longer we took, the more bowel would die. +The more bowel that died, the sicker the man would become and the lower +his chance of survival. Everyone understood this, which by itself was a lot. +People dont always get it really feel the urgency of the patients + + + +condition. But these people did. They were swift, methodical, and in sync. +The case was far from easy, but for whatever reason, it seemed like nothing +could thwart us. + +The patient was a big man with a short neck and not much lung reserve, +making it potentially difficult to place a breathing tube when Zhi sent him +off to sleep. But Zhi had warned us of the possibility of trouble and +everyone was ready with a backup plan and the instruments he and Thor +might need. When Joaquim and I opened up the patient, we found that the +right colon was black with gangreneit had diedbut it had not ruptured, +and the remaining three-fourths of the colon and all the small bowel seemed +to be okay. This was actually good news. + +The problem was limited. As we began removing the right colon, +however, it became evident that the rest of the colon was not, in fact, in +good shape. Where it should have been healthy pink, we found scattered +dime- and quarter-sized patches of purple. The blood clots that had blocked +off the main artery to the right colon had also showered into the arterial +branches of the left side. We would have to remove the patients entire +colon, all four feet of it, and give him an ostomya bag for his excreted +wastes. Steve, thinking ahead, asked Jay to grab a retractor wed need. +Joaquim nudged me to make the abdominal incision bigger, and he stayed +with me at every step, clamping, cutting, and tying as we proceeded inch by +inch through the blood vessels tethering the patients colon. The patient +began oozing blood from every raw surfacetoxins from the gangrene +were causing him to lose his ability to clot. But Zhi and Thor kept up with +the fluid requirements and the patients blood pressure was actually better +halfway through than it had been at the beginning. When I mentioned that I +thought the patient would need an ICU, Zhi told me hed already arranged it +and briefed the intensivist. + +Because wed worked as a single unit, not as separate technicians, the +man survived. We were done with the operation in little more than two +hours; his vital signs were stable; and he would leave the hospital just a few +days later. The family gave me the credit, and I wish I could have taken it. +But the operation had been symphonic, a thing of orchestral beauty. + +Perhaps I could claim that the teamwork itself had been my doing. But its +origins were mysterious to me. Id have said it was just the good fortune of +the circumstancesthe accidental result of the individuals who happened to + + + +be available for the case and their particular chemistry on that particular +afternoon. Although I operated with Zhi frequently, I hadnt worked with +Jay or Steve in months, Joaquim in even longer. Id worked with Thor just +once. As a group of six, wed never before done an operation together. Such +a situation is not uncommon in hospitals of any significant size. My hospital +has forty-two operating rooms, staffed by more than a thousand personnel. +We have new nurses, technicians, residents, and physician staff almost +constantly. Were virtually always adding strangers to our teams. As a +consequence, the level of teamworkan unspoken but critical component +of success in surgeryis unpredictable. Yet somehow, from the moment we +six were all dropped together into this particular case, things clicked. It had +been almost criminally enjoyable. + +This seemed like luck, as I say. But suppose it wasnt. Thats what the +checklists from Toronto and Hopkins and Kaiser raised as a possibility. +Their insistence that people talk to one another about each case, at least just +for a minute before starting, was basically a strategy to foster teamworka +kind of team huddle, as it were. So was another step that these checklists +employed, one that was quite unusual in my experience: surgical staff +members were expected to stop and make sure that everyone knew one +anothers names. + +The Johns Hopkins checklist spelled this out most explicitly. Before +starting an operation with a new team, there was a check to ensure everyone +introduced themselves by name and role: Im Atul Gawande, the attending +surgeon; Im Jay Powers, the circulating nurse; Im Zhi Xiong, the +anesthesiologistthat sort of thing. + +It felt kind of hokey to me, and I wondered how much difference this step +could really make. But it turned out to have been carefully devised. There +have been psychology studies in various fields backing up what should have +been self-evidentpeople who dont know one anothers names dont work +together nearly as well as those who do. And Brian Sexton, the Johns +Hopkins psychologist, had done studies showing the same in operating +rooms. In one, he and his research team button holed surgical staff members +outside their operating rooms and asked them two questions: how would +they rate the level of communications during the operation they had just +finished and what were the names of the other staff members on the team? + + + +The researchers learned that about half the time the staff did not know one +anothers names. When they did, however, the communications ratings +jumped significantly. + +The investigators at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere had also observed that +when nurses were given a chance to say their names and mention concerns +at the beginning of a case, they were more likely to note problems and offer +solutions. The researchers called it an activation phenomenon. Giving +people a chance to say something at the start seemed to activate their sense +of participation and responsibility and their willingness to speak up. + +These were limited studies and hardly definitive. But the initial results +were enticing. Nothing had ever been shown to improve the ability of +surgeons to broadly reduce harm to patients aside from experience and +specialized training. Yet here, in three separate cities, teams had tried out +these unusual checklists, and each had found a positive effect. + +At Johns Hopkins, researchers specifically measured their checklists +effect on teamwork. Eleven surgeons had agreed to try it in their cases +seven general surgeons, two plastic surgeons, and two neurosurgeons. After +three months, the number of team members in their operations reporting +that they functioned as a well-coordinated team leapt from 68 percent to +92 percent. + +At the Kaiser hospitals in Southern California, researchers had tested +their checklist for six months in thirty-five hundred operations. During that +time, they found that their staff s average rating of the teamwork climate +improved from good to outstanding. Employee satisfaction rose 19 +percent. The rate of OR nurse turnoverthe proportion leaving their jobs +each yeardropped from 23 percent to 7 percent. And the checklist +appeared to have caught numerous near errors. In one instance, the +preoperative briefing led the team to recognize that a vial of potassium +chloride had been switched with an antibiotic viala potentially lethal mix- +up. In another, the checklist led the staff to catch a paperwork error that had +them planning for a thoracotomy, an open-chest procedure with a huge +front-to-back wound, when what the patient had come in for was actually a +thoracoscopy, a videoscope procedure done through a quarter-inch incision. + +At Toronto, the researchers physically observed operations for specific +evidence of impact. They watched their checklist in use in only eighteen +operations. But in ten of those eighteen, they found that it had revealed + + + +significant problems or ambiguitiesin more than one case, a failure to +give antibiotics, for example; in another, uncertainty about whether blood +was available; and in several, the kinds of unique and individual patient +problems that I would not have expected a checklist to help catch. + +They reported one case, for example, involving an abdominal operation +under a spinal anesthetic. In such procedures, we need the patient to report +if he or she begins to feel even a slight twinge of pain, indicating the +anesthetic might be wearing off and require supplementation. But this +particular patient had a severe neurological condition that had left him +unable to communicate verbally. Instead, he communicated through hand +signals. Normally, we restrain the arms and hands of patients to keep them +from inadvertently reaching around the sterile drapes and touching the +surgeons or the operative field. In this instance, however, the regular routine +would have caused a serious problem, but this was not clearly recognized +by the team until just before the incision was made. That was when the +surgeon walked in, pulled on his gown and gloves, and stepped up to the +operating table. Because of the checklist, instead of taking the knife, he +paused and conferred with everyone about the plans for the operation. The +Toronto report included a transcript of the discussion. + +Are there any special anesthetic considerations? the surgeon asked. +Just his dysarthria, the anesthesiologist said, referring to the patients + +inability to speak. +The surgeon thought for a moment. It may be difficult to gauge his + +neurological function because we have these issues, he said. +The anesthesiologist agreed. Ive worked out a system of hand signals + +with him. +His arm will [need to] be accessible thennot tucked, the surgeon + +said. The anesthesiologist nodded, and the team then worked out a way to +leave the patients arms free but protected from reaching around or beneath +the drapes. + +My other concern is the number of people in the room, the +anesthesiologist went on, because noise and movement may interfere with +our ability to communicate with the patient. + +We can request silence, the surgeon said. Problem solved. + + + +None of these studies was complete enough to prove that a surgical +checklist could produce what WHO was ultimately looking fora +measurable, inexpensive, and substantial reduction in overall complications +from surgery. But by the end of the Geneva conference, we had agreed that +a safe surgery checklist was worth testing on a larger scale. + +A working group took the different checklists that had been tried and +condensed them into a single one. It had three pause points, as they are +called in aviationthree points at which the team must stop to run through +a set of checks before proceeding. There was a pause right before the +patient is given anesthesia, one after the patient is anesthetized but before +the incision is made, and one at the end of the operation, before the patient +is wheeled out of the operating room. The working group members divvied +up the myriad checks for allergies, antibiotics, anesthesia equipment, and so +on among the different pause points. They added any other checks they +could think of that might make a difference in care. And they incorporated +the communication checks in which everyone in the operating room ensures +that they know one anothers names and has a chance to weigh in on critical +plans and concerns. + +We made a decision to set up a proper pilot study of our safe surgery +checklist in a range of hospitals around the world, for which WHO +committed to providing the funds. I was thrilled and optimistic. When I +returned home to Boston, I jumped to give the checklist a try myself. I +printed it out and took it to the operating room. I told the nurses and +anesthesiologists what Id learned in Geneva. + +So how about we try this awesome checklist? I said. It detailed steps +for everything from equipment inspection to antibiotic administration to the +discussions we should have. The rest of the team eyed me skeptically, but +they went along. Sure, whatever you say. This was not the first time Id +cooked up some cockamamie idea. + +I gave the checklist to Dee, the circulating nurse, and asked her to run +through the first section with us at the right time. Fifteen minutes later, we +were about to put the patient to sleep under general anesthesia, and I had to +say, Wait, what about the checklist? + +I already did it, Dee said. She showed me the sheet. All the boxes were +checked off. + +No, no, no, I said. Its supposed to be a verbal checklist, a team checklist. + + + +Where does it say that? she asked. I looked again. She was right. It +didnt say that anywhere. + +Just try it verbally anyway, I said. +Dee shrugged and started going through the list. But some of the checks + +were ambiguous. Was she supposed to confirm that everyone knew the +patients allergies or actually state the allergies? she asked. And after a few +minutes of puzzling our way through the list, everyone was becoming +exasperated. Even the patient started shifting around on the table. + +Is everything okay? she asked. +Oh yes, I told her. Were only going through our checklist. Dont worry. +But I was getting impatient, too. The checklist was too long. It was + +unclear. And past a certain point, it was starting to feel like a distraction +from the person we had on the table. + +By the end of the day, we had stopped using the checklist. Forget making +this work around the world. It wasnt even working in one operating room. + + + +6. THE CHECKLIST FACTORY + +Some time after that first miserable try, I did what I should have done +to begin with. I went to the library and pulled out a few articles on how +flight checklists are made. As great as the construction-world checklists +seemed to be, they were employed in projects that routinely take months to +complete. In surgery, minutes matter. The problemof time seemed a serious +limitation. But aviation had this challenge, too, and somehow pilots +checklists met it. + +Among the articles I found was one by Daniel Boorman from the Boeing +Company in Seattle, Washington. I gave hima call. He proved to be a +veteran pilot whod spent the last two decades developing checklists and +flight deck controls for Boeing aircraft from the 747-400 forward. Hed +most recently been one of the technical leaders behind the flight deck +design for the new 787 Dreamliner, including its pilot controls, displays, +and system of checklists. He is among the keepers of what could be called +Boeings flight philosophy.When you get on a Boeing aircraft, there is a +theory that governs the way your cockpit crew flies that planewhat their +routines are, what they do manually, what they leave to computers, and how +they should react when the unexpected occurs. Few have had more +experience translating the theory into practice than Dan Boorman. He is the +lineal descendant of the pilots who came up with that first checklist for the +B-17 bomber three-quarters of a century ago. He has studied thousands of +crashes and near crashes over the years, and he has made a science of +averting human error. + +I had a trip to Seattle coming up, and he was kind enough to agree to a +visit. So one fall day, I drove a rental car down a long flat road on the citys +outskirts to Boeings headquarters. They appeared rather ordinarya +warren of low, rectangular, institutional-looking buildings that would not be +out of place on the campus of an underfunded state college, except for the +tarmac and hangar of airplanes behind them. Boorman came out to meet me + + + +at security. He was fifty-one, pilot-trim, in slacks and an open-collared +oxford shirtmore like an engineering professor than a company man. He +took me along a path of covered concrete sidewalks to Building 3-800, +which was as plain and functional as it sounds. A dusty display case with +yellowing pictures of guys in silver flight suits appeared not to have been +touched since the 1960s. The flight test division was a fluorescent-lit space +filled with dun-colored cubicles. We sat down in a windowless conference +room in their midst. Piles of checklist handbooks from US Airways, Delta, +United, and other airlines lay stacked against a wall. + +Boorman showed me one of the handbooks. It was spiral bound, about +two hundred pages long, with numerous yellow tabs. The aviation checklist +had clearly evolved since the days of a single card for taxi, takeoff, and +landing, and I wondered how anyone could actually use this hefty volume. +As he walked me through it, however, I realized the handbook was +comprised not of one checklist but of scores of them. Each one was +remarkably brief, usually just a few lines on a page in big, easy-to-read +type. And each applied to a different situation. Taken together, they covered +a vast range of flight scenarios. + +First came what pilots call their normal checkliststhe routine lists +they use for everyday aircraft operations. There were the checks they do +before starting the engines, before pulling away from the gate, before +taxiing to the runway, and so on. In all, these took up just three pages. The +rest of the handbook consisted of the non-normal checklists covering +every conceivable emergency situation a pilot might run into: smoke in the +cockpit, different warning lights turning on, a dead radio, a copilot +becoming disabled, and engine failure, to name just a few. They addressed +situations most pilots never encounter in their entire careers. But the +checklists were there should they need them. + +Boorman showed me the one for when the DOOR FWD CARGO +warning light goes on in midflight. This signals that the forward cargo door +is not closed and secure, which is extremely dangerous. He told me of a +1989 case hed studied in which exactly this problem occurred. An +electrical short had caused a Boeing 747 cargo door to become unlatched +during a United Airlines flight out of Honolulu on its way to Auckland, +New Zealand, with 337 passengers on board. The plane was climbing past +twenty-two thousand feet and the cabin was pressurized to maintain oxygen + + + +levels for the passengers. At that altitude, a loose, unlatched cargo door is a +serious hazard: if it opens enough to begin leaking air, the large pressure +difference between inside and out causes a ring-pull effectan explosive +release like pulling the ring top on a shaken soda can. In the Honolulu +flight, the explosion blew out the cargo door almost instantly and took with +it several upper-deck windows and five rows of business class seats. Nine +passengers were lost at sea. Passengers in adjacent seats were held in only +by their seat belts. A flight attendant in the aisle was nearly sucked out, too, +but an alert passenger managed to grab her ankle and pin her down, inches +from the gaping hole. + +The crew had had no time to prevent the catastrophe. From unlatching to +blowout and the loss of nine lives took no more than 1.5 seconds. Boeing +subsequently redesigned the electrical system for its cargo doors and +because no latch is foolproof installed extra latches, as well. If one fails, +the DOOR FWD CARGO light goes on and the crew has more time to +respond. There is a window of opportunity to stop a blowout. Thats where +the checklist comes in. + +When a latch gives way, Boorman explained, a crew should not tinker +with the door or trust that the other latches will hold. Instead, the key is to +equalize the difference between inside and outside pressures. The more you +lower the cabin pressure, the less likely the door will explode away. + +Airplanes have an easy way to lower the pressure, apparently: you hit an +emergency override switch that vents the cabin air and releases the +pressurization in about thirty seconds. This solution is problematic, +however. First, the sudden loss of pressure can be extremely uncomfortable +for passengers, particularly given the ear pain it causes. Infants fare the +worst, as their eustachian tubes havent developed sufficiently to adjust to +the change. Second, depressurizing a plane at an altitude of twenty or thirty +thousand feet is like dropping passengers onto the summit of Mount +Everest. The air is too thin to supply enough oxygen for the body and brain. + +The United Airlines flight offered a vivid lesson in what could happen, +for the cargo door blowout instantly depressurized the plane, and once the +initial, explosive decompression was over, lack of oxygen became the prime +danger for the passengers and crew. Getting sucked into the void was no +longer the issue. Everyone was able to stay well away from the ten-by- +fifteen-foot hole. The temperature, however, plummeted to near freezing, + + + +and the oxygen levels fell so low that the crew became light-headed and +feared losing consciousness. Sensors automatically dropped oxygen masks, +but the oxygen supply on airplanes is expected to last only ten minutes. +Moreover, the supply might not even work, which is exactly what happened +on that flight. + +The cockpit voice recorder caught the events from the moment the cargo +door blew away: + +CAPTAIN:What the [expletive] was that? +FIRST OFFICER: I dont know. + +The pilots notified flight control that something had gone wrong. Two +seconds later, their cabin pressure and oxygen levels were gone. + +FIRST OFFICER: Put your mask on, Dave. +CAPTAIN: Yeah. +FIRST OFFICER: Honolulu Center Continental One Heavy, did you + +want us to turn left did you say? +RADIO: Continental One Heavy affirmative. +FIRST OFFICER: Turning now. +CAPTAIN: I cant get any oxygen. +FLIGHT ENGINEER:What do you want me to do now? +VOICE UNIDENTIFIED: [expletive] +FIRST OFFICER: You okay? +CAPTAIN: Yeah. +FIRST OFFICER: Are you getting oxygen? Were not getting any + +oxygen. +FLIGHT ENGINEER: No Im not getting oxygen either. + +The blast had torn out the oxygen supply lines, an investigation later found. +Only by luck did the cockpit crew maintain enough control of the plane to +descend to an altitude with sufficient oxygen levels. The pilots were then +able to turn back to the Honolulu airport. All eighteen crew and 328 +terrified remaining passengers survived. + +The lesson for pilots is complicated. If youre jetting along at thirty +thousand feet and the DOOR FWD CARGO warning light goes on, yes, + + + +eliminating the pressure differential between inside and outside to stop the +door from blowing out is a very good idea, but doing it by hitting the +emergency depressurization switch and leaving everyone short of oxygen is +not. Instead, Boorman said, the best thing to do is to make a rapid but +controlled descent to eight thousand feet or as close to it as possible. At that +height, you can safely release the planes inside pressure the oxygen +levels at eight thousand feet are adequate for people to breathe. (It is the +altitude of Aspen, Colorado, after all.) And with that, the risk of a United +Airlinesstyle door blowout will be safely eliminated. + +The DOOR FWD CARGO checklist spelled out all these steps. And +Boorman stressed how carefully it was designed for a crew to use in an +emergency. All of Boeings aviation checkliststhe company issues over +one hundred per year, either new or revised are put together meticulously. +Boormans flight operations group is a checklist factory, and the experts in +it have learned a thing or two over the years about how to make the lists +work. + +There are good checklists and bad, Boorman explained. Bad checklists +are vague and imprecise. They are too long; they are hard to use; they are +impractical. They are made by desk jockeys with no awareness of the +situations in which they are to be deployed. They treat the people using the +tools as dumb and try to spell out every single step. They turn peoples +brains off rather than turn them on. + +Good checklists, on the other hand, are precise. They are efficient, to the +point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try +to spell out everythinga checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide +reminders of only the most critical and important stepsthe ones that even +the highly skilled professionals using them could miss. Good checklists are, +above all, practical. + +The power of checklists is limited, Boorman emphasized. They can help +experts remember how to manage a complex process or configure a +complex machine. They can make priorities clearer and prompt people to +function better as a team. By themselves, however, checklists cannot make +anyone follow them. + +I could imagine, for instance, that when the DOOR FWD CARGO +warning light goes on in a cockpit, a pilots first instinct might not be to + + + +grab the checklist book. How many times, after all, does a flashing warning +light end up being a false alarm? The flight would likely have been going +smoothly. No noises. No explosion. No strange thud. Just this pesky light +flipping on. The ground crew already inspected the doors at the preflight +check and found no problem. Besides, only 1 in 500,000 flights ever suffers +an accident of any kind. So a person could be tempted to troubleshoot +maybe have someone check the circuitry before deciding that something +might really have gone wrong. + +Pilots nonetheless turn to their checklists for two reasons. First, they are +trained to do so. They learn from the beginning of flight school that their +memory and judgment are unreliable and that lives depend on their +recognizing that fact. Second, the checklists have proved their worththey +work. However much pilots are taught to trust their procedures more than +their instincts, that doesnt mean they will do so blindly. Aviation checklists +are by no means perfect. Some have been found confusing or unclear or +flawed. Nonetheless, they have earned pilots faith. Face-to-face with +catastrophe, they are astonishingly willing to turn to their checklists. + +In the cockpit voice recorder transcript of the United flight from +Honolulu, for example, the pilots readiness to rely on procedure is striking. +The circumstances were terrifying. Debris was flying. The noise was +tremendous. Their hearts were probably racing. And they had a lot to focus +on. Beyond the immediate oxygen problem, ejected sections of fuselage had +flown into engine No. 3, on the right wing, and disabled it. Additional +debris had hit engine No. 4 and set it on fire. The outer-edge wing flaps had +been damaged. And sitting up front, trying to figure out what to do, the +cockpit crew still had no idea what had really happened. They thought a +bomb had gone off. They didnt know the full extent of the damage, or +whether another blast might occur. They nonetheless needed to shut down +the ruined engines, notify air traffic control of the emergency, descend to a +safe altitude, determine how maneuverable the plane was, sort out which +alarms on their instrument panel they could ignore and which ones they +couldnt, and decide whether to ditch the plane in the ocean or return to +Honolulu. The greatest test of where crew members place their trustin +their instincts or in their proceduresis how they handle such a disaster. + +So what did they do? They grabbed their checklist book: + + + +CAPTAIN: You want me to read a checklist? +FLIGHT ENGINEER: Yeah, I got it out. When youre ready. +CAPTAIN: Ready. + +There was a lot to go through, and they had to make good choices about +what procedures to turn to first. Following their protocols, they reduced +their altitude, got the two damaged engines shut down safely, tested the +planes ability to land despite the wing damage, dumped fuel to lighten their +load, and successfully returned to Honolulu. + +To pilots, the checklists have proved worth trusting, and that is thanks to +people like Boorman, who have learned how to make good checklists +instead of bad. Clearly, our surgery checklist had a ways to go. + +When youre making a checklist, Boorman explained, you have a number +of key decisions. You must define a clear pause point at which the checklist +is supposed to be used (unless the moment is obvious, like when a warning +light goes on or an engine fails). You must decide whether you want a DO- +CONFIRM checklist or a READ-DO checklist. With a DO-CONFIRM +checklist, he said, team members perform their jobs from memory and +experience, often separately. But then they stop. They pause to run the +checklist and confirm that everything that was supposed to be done was +done. With a READ-DO checklist, on the other hand, people carry out the +tasks as they check them offits more like a recipe. So for any new +checklist created from scratch, you have to pick the type that makes the +most sense for the situation. + +The checklist cannot be lengthy. A rule of thumb some use is to keep it to +between five and nine items, which is the limit of working memory. +Boorman didnt think one had to be religious on this point. + +It all depends on the context, he said. In some situations you have +only twenty seconds. In others, you may have several minutes. + +But after about sixty to ninety seconds at a given pause point, the +checklist often becomes a distraction from other things. People start +shortcutting. Steps getmissed. So you want to keep the list short by +focusing on what he called the killer itemsthe steps that are most +dangerous to skip and sometimes overlooked nonetheless. (Data + + + +establishing which steps are most critical and how frequently people miss +them are highly coveted in aviation, though not always available.) + +The wording should be simple and exact, Boorman went on, and use the +familiar language of the profession. Even the look of the checklist matters. +Ideally, it should fit on one page. It should be free of clutter and +unnecessary colors. It should use both uppercase and lowercase text for +ease of reading. (He went so far as to recommend using a sans serif type +like Helvetica.) + +To some extent, we had covered this territory in drafting our surgery +checklist. No question, it needed some trimming, and many items on the list +could be sharper and less confusing. I figured we could fix it easily. But +Boorman was adamant about one further point: nomatter how careful we +might be, nomatter how much thought we might put in, a checklist has to be +tested in the real world, which is inevitably more complicated than +expected. First drafts always fall apart, he said, and one needs to study how, +make changes, and keep testing until the checklist works consistently. + +This is not easy to do in surgery, I pointed out. Not in aviation, either, he +countered. You cant unlatch a cargo door in mid-flight and observe how a +crew handles the consequences. But thats why they have flight simulators, +and he offered to show me one. + +I tried not to seem like a kid whod just been offered a chance to go up to +the front of the plane and see the cockpit. Sure, I said. That sounds neat. + +A short stroll later, we entered an adjacent building, walked through an +ordinary-looking metal door, and came upon a strange, boxlike space +capsule. It was mounted on three massive hydraulic legs. We appeared to be +on a platform of some kind, as the capsule was on our level and the legs +went down to the floor below. Boorman led me into the thing and inside +was a complete Boeing 777-200ER cockpit. He had me climb into the +captains seat on the left while he took the one on the right. He showed me +how to belt myself in. The windshield was three black plasma screens, until +an assistant turned them on. + +What airport do you want? Boorman asked. Weve got almost every +airport in the world loaded into the database. + +I chose the Seattle-Tacoma airport, where Id landed the day before, and +suddenly the tarmac came up on the screens. It was amazing. We were +parked at a gate. Guys with baggage carts whizzed back and forth in front + + + +of me. In the distance, I could see other airplanes taxiing in and out of their +gates. + +Boorman walked me through our checks. Built into the wall panel on my +left was a slot for the checklist book, which I could grab at any time, but it +was just a backup. Pilots usually use an electronic checklist that appears on +the center console. He demonstrated how one goes through it, reading from +the screen. + +Oxygen, he said and pointed to where I could confirm the supply. +Tested, 100 percent, I was supposed to respond. +Flight instruments, he said, and showed me where I could find the + +heading and altimeter readings. +On our initial cockpit check, we had just four preflight items to review. + +Before starting the engines, we had six more items, plus a prompt asking us +to confirm that wed completed our taxi and takeoff briefingthe +discussion between pilot and copilot in which they talk through their taxi +and takeoff plans and concerns. Boorman went through it with me. + +His plan, as far as I could follow, was to do a normal takeoff on +Runway 16L, lift off at a whole lot of knots per hour, fly the standard +departure to the southeast, and climb to twenty thousand feetI think. He +also said something important sounding about the radio settings. Then he +mentioned a bunch of crazy stufflike if we had an engine failure during +takeoff, we would power down if we were still on the ground, continue +climbing if we had one engine left, or look for a good landing site nearby if +we didnt. I nodded sagely. + +Do you have any concerns? he asked. +Nope, I said. +He started the engines, and although there were no actual engines, you + +could hear them rev up, and we had to talk louder to be heard above them. +Before taxiing out to the runway, we paused again for five more checks: +whether anti-icing was necessary and completed, the autobrakes were set, +the flight controls were checked, the ground equipment was cleared, and no +warning lights were on. + +The three checklists took no time at allmaybe thirty seconds each +plus maybe a minute for the briefing. The brevity was no accident, +Boorman said. People had spent hours watching pilots try out early versions + + + +in simulators, timing them, refining them, paring them down to their most +efficient essentials. + +When he was satisfied that we were ready, he had me pull out of the gate. +I was supposed to be the pilot for this flight, believe it or not. He directed +me to push the pedal brake down hard with two feet to release it. I felt a jolt +as the plane lurched forward. I controlled the direction of the nose wheel +with a tiller on my lefta spinning metal handle that I wound forward to +turn right and backward to turn leftand the speed with the throttle +controls, three levers in the center console. I weaved like a sot at first but +got the hang of it by the time we reached the runway. I throttled back down +to idle and locked the brake with both feet to wait our turn for takeoff. +Boorman called up the Before Takeoff checklist. + +Flaps, he said. +Set, I said. +This was getting to be fun. We got notification from the control tower + +that we were cleared. I unlocked the brakes, again. Boorman showed me +how far to push the throttle. We began accelerating down the runway, +slowly at first, and then it felt like we were rocketing. I pressed the right +and left rudder pedals to try to keep us on the center line. Then, when he +gave me the word, I pulled back on the yokewhat Id thought of as the +steering wheeland felt the plane lift into the air. I dont know how the +simulator does it, but it really did seem like we were airborne. + +We rose into the clouds. I could see the city fall away below us. We +slowly climbed to twenty thousand feet. And that was when the DOOR +FWD CARGO light went on. Id forgotten that this was the whole point of +the exercise. The first couple lines of the electronic checklist came up on +the screen, but I grabbed the paper one just so I could see the whole thing +laid out. + +It was, I noticed, a READ-DO checklistread it and do it with only +seven lines. The page explained that the forward cargo door was not closed +and secure and that our objective was to reduce the risk of door separation. + +This was just a simulation, I knew perfectly well. But I still felt my pulse +picking up. The checklist said to lower the cabin pressure partially. +Actually, what it said was, LDG ALT selector which Boorman showed +me is the cabin pressure control on the overhead panelPULL ON and set +to 8000. I did as instructed. + + + +Next, the checklist said to descend to the lowest safe altitude or eight +thousand feet, whichever is higher. I pushed forward on the yoke to bring +the nose down. Boorman indicated the gauge to watch, and after a few +minutes we leveled off at eight thousand feet. Now, the checklist said, put +the air outflow switches on manual and push them in for thirty seconds to +release the remaining pressure. I did this, too. And that was it. The plane +didnt explode. We were safe. I wanted to give Boorman a high five. This +flying thing is easy, I wanted to say. + +There were, however, all kinds of steps that the checklist had not +specifiednotifying the radio control tower that we had an emergency, for +example, briefing the flight attendants, determining the safest nearby airport +to land and have the cargo door inspected. I hadnt done any of these yet. +But Boorman had. The omissions were intentional, he explained. Although +these are critical steps, experience had shown that professional pilots +virtually never fail to perform them when necessary. So they didnt need to +be on the checklistand in fact, he argued, shouldnt be there. + +It is common to misconceive how checklists function in complex lines of +work. They are not comprehensive how-to guides, whether for building a +skyscraper or getting a plane out of trouble. They are quick and simple tools +aimed to buttress the skills of expert professionals. And by remaining swift +and usable and resolutely modest, they are saving thousands upon +thousands of lives. + +One more aviation checklist story, this one relatively recent. The incident +occurred on January 17, 2008, as British Airways Flight 38 approached +London from Beijing after almost eleven hours in the air with 152 people +aboard. The Boeing 777 was making its final descent into Heathrow airport. +It was just past noon. Clouds were thin and scattered. Visibility was more +than six miles. The wind was light, and the temperature was mild despite +the season50 degrees Fahrenheit. The flight had been completely +uneventful to this point. + +Then, at two miles from the airport, 720 feet over a residential +neighborhood, just when the plane should have accelerated slightly to level +off its descent, the engines gave out. First the right engine rolled back to +minimal power, then the left. The copilot was at the controls for the landing, + + + +and however much he tried to increase thrust, he got nothing from the +engines. For no apparent reason, the plane had gone eerily silent. + +He extended the wing flaps to make the plane glide as much as possible +and to try to hold it on its original line of approach. But the aircraft was +losing forward speed too quickly. The plane had become a 350,000-pound +stone falling out of the air. Crash investigators with Britains Air Accidents +Investigation Branch later determined that it was falling twenty-three feet +per second. At impact, almost a quarter mile short of the runway, the plane +was calculated to be moving at 124 miles per hour. + +Only by sheer luck was no one killed, either on board or on the ground. +The plane narrowly missed crashing through the roofs of nearby homes. +Passengers in cars on the perimeter road around Heathrow saw the plane +coming down and thought they were about to be killed. Through a +coincidence of international significance, one of those cars was carrying +British prime minister Gordon Brown to his plane for his first official visit +to China. It was just yards above our heads, almost skimming a lamppost +as the plane came in very fast and very, very low, an aide traveling with +the prime minister told Londons Daily Mirror. + +The aircraft hit a grassy field just beyond the perimeter road with what a +witness described as an enormous bang. The nose wheels collapsed on +impact. The rightmain landing gear separated from the aircraft, and its two +right front wheels broke away, struck the right rear fuselage, and penetrated +through the passenger compartment at rows 29 and 30. The left main +landing gear pushed up through the wing. Fourteen hundred liters of jet fuel +came pouring out. Witnesses saw sparks, but somehow the fuel did not +ignite. Although the aircraft was totaled by the blunt force of the crash, the +passengers emerged mostly unharmed the plane had gone into a +thousand-foot ground slide that slowed its momentumand tempered the +impact. Only a dozen or so passengers required hospitalization. The worst +injury was a broken leg. + +Investigators from the AAIB were on the scene within an hour trying to +piece together what had happened. Their initial reports, published one +month and then four months after the crash, were documents of frustration. +They removed the engines, fuel system, and data recorders and took them +apart piece by piece. Yet they found no engine defects whatsoever. The data +download showed that the fuel flow to the engines had reduced for some + + + +reason, but inspection of the fuel feed lines with a boroscopea long +fiberoptic videoscopeshowed no defects or obstructions. Tests of the +valves and wiring that controlled fuel flow showed they had all functioned +properly. The fuel tanks contained no debris that could have blocked the +fuel lines. + +Attention therefore turned to the fuel itself. Tests showed it to be normal +Jet A-1 fuel. But investigators, considering the flights path over the Arctic +Circle, wondered: could the fuel have frozen in flight, caused the crash, +then thawed before they could find a trace of it? The British Airways flight +had followed a path through territory at the border of China and Mongolia +where the recorded ambient air temperature that midwinter day was -85 +degrees Fahrenheit. As the plane crossed the Ural Mountains and +Scandinavia, the recorded temperature fell to -105 degrees. These were not +considered exceptional temperatures for polar flight. Although the freezing +point for Jet A-1 fuel is -53 degrees, the dangers were thought to have been +resolved. Aircraft taking Arctic routes are designed to protect the fuel +against extreme cold, and the pilots monitor the fuel temperature constantly. +Cross-polar routes for commercial aircraft opened in February 2001, and +thousands of planes have traveled them without incident since. In fact, on +the British Airways flight, the lowest fuel temperature recorded was -29 +degrees, well above the fuels freezing point. Furthermore, the plane was +over mild-weathered London, not the Urals, when the engines lost power. + +Nonetheless, investigators remained concerned that the planes flight path +had played a role. They proposed an elaborate theory. Jet fuel normally has +a minor amount of water moisture in it, less than two drops per gallon. +During cold-air flights, the moisture routinely freezes and floats in the fuel +as a suspension of tiny ice crystals. This had never been considered a +significant problem. But maybe on a long, very smooth polar flightas this +one wasthe fuel flow becomes so slow that the crystals have time to +sediment and perhaps accumulate somewhere in the fuel tank. Then, during +a brief burst of acceleration, such as on the final approach, the sudden +increase in fuel flow might release the accumulation, causing blockage of +the fuel lines. + +The investigators had no hard evidence for this idea. It seemed a bit like +finding a man suffocated in bed and arguing that all the oxygen molecules +had randomly jumped to the other end of the room, leaving him to die in his + + + +sleeppossible, but preposterously unlikely. Nonetheless, the investigators +tested what would happen if they injected water directly into the fuel +system under freezing conditions. The crystals that formed, they found, +could indeed clog the lines. + +Almost eight months after the crash, this was all they had for an +explanation. Everyone was anxious to do something before a similar +accident occurred. Just in case the explanation was right, the investigators +figured out some midflight maneuvers to fix the problem. When an engine +loses power, a pilots instinct is to increase the thrustto rev the engine. +But if ice crystals have accumulated, increasing the fuel flow only throws +more crystals into the fuel lines. So the investigators determined that pilots +should do the opposite and idle the engine momentarily. This reduces fuel +flow and permits time for heat exchangers in the piping to melt the iceit +takes only secondsallowing the engines to recover. At least that was the +investigators best guess. + +So in September 2008, the Federal Aviation Administration in the United +States issued a detailed advisory with new procedures pilots should follow +to keep ice from accumulating on polar flights and also to recover flight +control if icing nonetheless caused engine failure. Pilots across the world +were somehow supposed to learn about these findings and smoothly +incorporate them into their flight practices within thirty days. The +remarkable thing about this episodeand the reason the story is worth +tellingis that the pilots did so. + +How this happenedit involved a checklist, of courseis instructive. +But first think about what happens in most lines of professional work when +a major failure occurs. To begin with, we rarely investigate our failures. Not +in medicine, not in teaching, not in the legal profession, not in the financial +world, not in virtually any other kind of work where the mistakes do not +turn up on cable news. A single type of error can affect thousands, but +because it usually touches only one person at a time, we tend not to search +as hard for explanations. + +Sometimes, though, failures are investigated. We learn better ways of +doing things. And then what happens? Well, the findings might turn up in a +course or a seminar, or they might make it into a professional journal or a +textbook. In ideal circumstances, we issue some inch-thick set of guidelines + + + +or a declaration of standards. But getting the word out is far from assured, +and incorporating the changes often takes years. + +One study in medicine, for example, examined the aftermath of nine +different major treatment discoveries such as the finding that the +pneumococcus vaccine protects not only children but also adults from +respiratory infections, one of our most common killers. On average, the +study reported, it took doctors seventeen years to adopt the new treatments +for at least half of American patients. + +What experts like Dan Boorman have recognized is that the reason for the +delay is not usually laziness or unwillingness. The reason is more often that +the necessary knowledge has not been translated into a simple, usable, and +systematic form. If the only thing people did in aviation was issue dense, +pages-long bulletins for every new finding that might affect the safe +operation of airplaneswell, it would be like subjecting pilots to the same +deluge of almost 700,000 medical journal articles per year that clinicians +must contend with. The information would be unmanageable. + +But instead, when the crash investigators issued their bulletinas dense +and detailed as anything we find in medicine Boorman and his team +buckled down to the work of distilling the information into its practical +essence. They drafted a revision to the standard checklists pilots use for +polar flights. They sharpened, trimmed, and puzzled over pause points +how are pilots to know, for instance, whether an engine is failing because of +icing instead of something else? Then his group tested the checklist with +pilots in the simulator and found problems and fixed them and tested again. + +It took about two weeks for the Boeing team to complete the testing and +refinement, and then they had their checklist. They sent it to every owner of +a Boeing 777 in the world. Some airlines used the checklist as it was, but +many, if not most, went on to make their own adjustments. Just as schools +or hospitals tend to do things slightly differently, so do airlines, and they are +encouraged to modify the checklists to fit into their usual procedures. (This +customization is why, when airlines merge, among the fiercest battles is the +one between the pilots over whose checklists will be used.) Within about a +month of the recommendations becoming available, pilots had the new +checklist in their hands or in their cockpit computers. And they used it. + +How do we know? Because on November 26, 2008, the disaster almost +happened again. This time it was a Delta Air Lines flight from Shanghai to + + + +Atlanta with 247 people aboard. The Boeing 777 was at thirty-nine +thousand feet over Great Falls, Montana, when it experienced an +uncommanded rollback of the right No. 2 enginethe engine, in other +words, failed. Investigation later showed that ice had blocked the fuel lines +the icing theory was correctand Boeing instituted a mechanical change +to keep it from happening again. But in the moment, the loss of one engine +in this way, potentially two, over the mountains of Montana could have +been catastrophic. + +The pilot and copilot knew what to do, though. They got out their +checklist and followed the lessons it offered. Because they did, the engine +recovered, and 247 people were saved. It went so smoothly, the passengers +didnt even notice. + +This, it seemed to me, was something to hope for in surgery. + + + +7. THE TEST + +Back in Boston, I set my research team to work making our fledgling +surgery checklist more usable. We tried to follow the lessons from aviation. +We made it clearer. We made it speedier. We adopted mainly a DO- +CONFIRM rather than a READ-DO format, to give people greater +flexibility in performing their tasks while nonetheless having them stop at +key points to confirm that critical steps have not been overlooked. The +checklist emerged vastly improved. + +Next, we tested it in a simulator, otherwise known as the conference +room on my hall way at the school of public health where I do research. We +had an assistant lie on a table. She was our patient. We assigned different +people to play the part of the surgeon, the surgical assistant, the nurses (one +scrubbed-in and one circulating), and the anesthesiologist. But we hit +problems just trying to get started. + +Who, for example, was supposed to bring things to a halt and kick off the +checklist? Wed been vague about that, but it proved no small decision. +Getting everyones attention in an operation requires a degree of +assertivenessa level of controlthat only the surgeon routinely has. +Perhaps, I suggested, the surgeon should get things started. I got booed for +this idea. In aviation, there is a reason the pilot not flying starts the +checklist, someone pointed out. The pilot flying can be distracted by +flight tasks and liable to skip a checklist. Moreover, dispersing the +responsibility sends the message that everyonenot just the captainis +responsible for the overall well-being of the flight and should have the +power to question the process. If a surgery checklist was to make a +difference, my colleagues argued, it needed to do likewiseto spread +responsibility and the power to question. So we had the circulating nurse +call the start. + +Must nurses make written check marks? No, we decided, they didnt have +to. This wasnt a record-keeping procedure. We were aiming for a team + + + +conversation to ensure that everyone had reviewed what was needed for the +case to go as well as possible. + +Every line of the checklist needed tweaking. We timed each successive +version by a clock on the wall. We wanted the checks at each of the three +pause pointsbefore anesthesia, before incision, and before leaving the OR +to take no more than about sixty seconds, and we werent there yet. If we +wanted acceptance in the high-pressure environment of operating rooms, +the checklist had to be swift to use. We would have to cut some lines, we +realizedthe nonkiller items. + +This proved the most difficult part of the exercise. An inherent tension +exists between brevity and effectiveness. Cut too much and you wont have +enough checks to improve care. Leave too much in and the list becomes too +long to use. Furthermore, an item critical to one expert might not be critical +to another. In the spring of 2007, we reconvened our WHO group of +international experts in London to consider these questions. Not +surprisingly, the most intense disagreements flared over what should stay in +and what should come out. + +European and American studies had discovered, for example, that in long +operations teams could substantially reduce patients risks of developing +deep venous thrombosisblood clots in their legs that can travel to their +lungs with fatal consequencesby injecting a low dose of a blood thinner, +such as heparin, or slipping compression stockings onto their legs. But +researchers in China and India dispute the necessity, as they have reported +far lower rates of blood clots in their populations than in the West and +almost no deaths. Moreover, for poor- and middle-income countries, the +remediesstockings or heparinarent cheap. And even a slight mistake +by inexperienced practitioners administering the blood thinner could cause +a dangerous overdose. The item was dropped. + +We also discussed operating room fires, a notorious problem. Surgical +teams rely on high-voltage electrical equipment, cautery devices that +occasionally arc while in use, and supplies of high-concentration oxygen +all sometimes in close proximity. As a result, most facilities in the world +have experienced a surgical fire. These fires are terrifying. Pure oxygen can +make almost anything instantly flammablethe surgical drapes over a +patient, for instance, and even the airway tube inserted into the throat. But +surgical fires are also entirely preventable. If teams ensure there are no + + + +oxygen leaks, keep oxygen settings at the lowest acceptable concentration, +minimize the use of alcohol-containing antiseptics, and prevent oxygen +from flowing onto the surgical field, fires will not occur. A little advance +preparation can also avert harm to patients should a fire break outin +particular, verifying that everyone knows the location of the gas valves, +alarms, and fire extinguishers. Such steps could easily be included on a +checklist. + +But compared with the big global killers in surgery, such as infection, +bleeding, and unsafe anesthesia, fire is exceedingly rare. Of the tens of +millions of operations per year in the United States, it appears only about a +hundred involve a surgical fire and vanishingly few of those a fatality. By +comparison, some 300,000 operations result in a surgical site infection, and +more than eight thousand deaths are associated with these infections. We +have done far better at preventing fires than infections. Since the checks +required to entirely eliminate fires would make the list substantially longer, +these were dropped as well. + +There was nothing particularly scientific or even consistent about the +decision-making process. Operating on the wrong patient or the wrong side +of the body is exceedingly rare too. But the checks to prevent such errors +are relatively quick and already accepted in several countries, including the +United States. Such mistakes also get a lot of attention. So those checks +stayed in. + +In contrast, our checks to prevent communication breakdowns tackled a +broad and widely recognized source of failure. But our approachhaving +people formally introduce themselves and briefly discuss critical aspects of +a given casewas far from proven effective. Improving teamwork was so +fundamental to making a difference, however, that we were willing to leave +these measures in and give them a try. + +After our London meeting, we did more small-scale testing just one +case at a time. We had a team in London try the draft checklist and give us +suggestions, then a team in Hong Kong. With each successive round, the +checklist got better. After a certain point, it seemed we had done all we +could. We had a checklist we were ready to circulate. + +The final WHO safe surgery checklist spelled out nineteen checks in all. +Before anesthesia, there are seven checks. The team members confirm that +the patient (or the patients proxy) has personally verified his or her identity + + + +and also given consent for the procedure. They make sure that the surgical +site is marked and that the pulse oximeterwhich monitors oxygen levels +is on the patient and working. They check the patients medication +allergies. They review the risk of airway problemsthe most dangerous +aspect of general anesthesiaand that appropriate equipment and +assistance for them are available. And lastly, if there is a possibility of +losing more than half a liter of blood (or the equivalent for a child), they +verify that necessary intravenous lines, blood, and fluids are ready. + +After anesthesia, but before incision, come seven more checks. The team +members make sure theyve been introduced by name and role. They +confirm that everyone has the correct patient and procedure (including +which side of the bodyleft versus right) in mind. They confirm that +antibiotics were either given on time or were unnecessary. They check that +any radiology images needed for the operation are displayed. And to make +sure everyone is briefed as a team, they discuss the critical aspects of the +case: the surgeon reviews how long the operation will take, the amount of +blood loss the team should prepare for, and anything else people should be +aware of; the anesthesia staff review their anesthetic plans and concerns; +and the nursing staff review equipment availability, sterility, and their +patient concerns. + +Finally, at the end of the operation, before the team wheels the patient +from the room, come five final checks. The circulating nurse verbally +reviews the recorded name of the completed procedure for accuracy, the +labeling of any tissue specimens going to the pathologist, whether all +needles, sponges, and instruments have been accounted for, and whether +any equipment problems need to be addressed before the next case. +Everyone on the team also reviews aloud their plans and concerns for the +patients recovery after surgery, to ensure information is complete and +clearly transmitted. + +Operations require many more than nineteen steps, of course. But like +builders, we tried to encompass the simple to the complex, with several +narrowly specified checks to ensure stupid stuff isnt missed (antibiotics, +allergies, the wrong patient) and a few communication checks to ensure +people work as a team to recognize the many other potential traps and +subtleties. At least that was the idea. But would it work and actually make a +measurable difference in reducing harm to patients? That was the question. + + + +To find the answer, we decided to study the effect of the safe surgery +checklist on patient care in eight hospitals around the world. This number +was large enough to provide meaningful results while remaining +manageable for my small research team and the modest budget WHO +agreed to furnish. We got dozens of applications from hospitals seeking to +participate. We set a few criteria for selection. The hospitals leader had to +speak English we could translate the checklist for staff members but we +didnt have the resources for daily communication with eight site leaders in +multiple languages. The location had to be safe for travel. We received, for +instance, an enthusiastic application from the chief of surgery in an Iraqi +hospital, which would have been fascinating, but conducting a research trial +in a war zone seemed unwise. + +I also wanted a wide diversity of participating hospitals hospitals in +rich countries, poor countries, and in between. This insistence caused a +degree of consternation at WHO headquarters. As officials explained, +WHOs first priority is, quite legitimately, to help the poorer parts of the +world, and the substantial costs of paying for data collection in wealthier +countries would divert resources from elsewhere. But I had seen surgery in +places ranging from rural India to Harvard and seen failure across the span. +I thought the checklist might make a difference anywhere. And if it worked +in high-income countries, that success might help persuade poorer facilities +to take it up. So we agreed to include wealthier sites if they agreed to +support most, if not all, the research costs themselves. + +Lastly, the hospitals had to be willing to allow observers to measure their +actual rates of complications, deaths, and systems failures in surgical care +before and after adopting the checklist. Granting this permission was no +small matter for hospitals. Mosteven those in the highest income settings +have no idea of their current rates. Close observation was bound to +embarrass some. Nonetheless, we got eight willing hospitals lined up from +all over the globe. + +Four were in high-income countries and among the leading hospitals in +the world: the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Toronto +General Hospital in Canada, St. Marys Hospital in London, and Auckland +City Hospital, New Zealands largest. Four were intensely busy hospitals in +low- or middle-income countries: Philippines General Hospital in Manila, +which was twice the size of the wealthier hospitals we enrolled; Prince + + + +Hamza Hospital in Amman, Jordan, a new government facility built to +accommodate Jordans bursting refugee population; St. Stephens Hospital +in New Delhi, an urban charity hospital; and St. Francis Designated District +Hospital in Ifakara, Tanzania, the lone hospital serving a rural population of +nearly one million people. + +This was an almost ridiculous range of hospitals to study. Annual health +care spending in the high-income countries reached thousands of dollars per +person, while in India, the Philippines, and East Africa, it did not rise +beyond the double digits. So, for example, the budget of the University of +Washington Medical Centerover one billion dollars per yearwas more +than twice that of the entire country of Tanzania. Surgery therefore differed +starkly in our eight hospitals. On one end of the spectrum were those with +state-of-the-art capabilities allowing them to do everything from robotic +prostatectomies to liver transplants, along with factory loads of planned, +low-risk, often day-surgery procedures like hernia repairs, breast biopsies, +and ear-tube placements for drainage of chronic ear infections in children. +On the other end were hospitals forced by lack of staff and resources to +prioritize urgent operationsemergency cesarean sections for mothers +dying in childbirth, for example, or procedures for repair of severe +traumatic injuries. Even when the hospitals did the same operationsan +appendectomy, a mastectomy, the placement of a rod in a broken femur +the conditions were so disparate that the procedures were the same only in +name. In the poorer hospitals, the equipment was meager, the teams +training was more limited, and the patients usually arrived sickerthe +appendix having ruptured, the breast cancer having grown twice as large, +the femur proving not only broken but infected. + +Nonetheless, we went ahead with our eight institutions. The goal, after +all, was not to compare one hospital with another but to determine where, if +anywhere, the checklist could improve care. We hired local research +coordinators for the hospitals and trained themto collect accurate +information on deaths and complications. We were conservative about what +counted. The complications had to be significanta pneumonia, a heart +attack, bleeding requiring a return to the operating room or more than four +units of blood, a documented wound infection, or the like. And the +occurrence had to actually be witnessed in the hospital, not reported from +elsewhere. + + + +We collected data on the surgical care in up to four operating rooms at +each facility for about three months before the checklist went into effect. It +was a kind of biopsy of the care received by patients across the range of +hospitals in the world. And the results were sobering. + +Of the close to four thousand adult surgical patients we followed, more +than four hundred developed major complications resulting from surgery. +Fifty-six of them died. About half the complications involved infections. +Another quarter involved technical failures that required a return trip to the +operating room to stop bleeding or repair a problem. The overall +complication rates ranged from 6 percent to 21 percent. Its important to +note that the operating rooms we were studying tended to handle the +hospitals more complex procedures. More straightforward operations have +lower injury rates. Nonetheless, the pattern confirmed what wed +understood: surgery is risky and dangerous wherever it is done. + +We also found, as we suspected we would, signs of substantial +opportunity for improvement everywhere. None of the hospitals, for +example, had a routine approach to ensure that teams had identified, and +prepared for, cases with high blood-loss risk, or conducted any kind of +preoperative team briefing about patients. We tracked performance of six +specific safety steps: the timely delivery of antibiotics, the use of a working +pulse oximeter, the completion of a formal risk assessment for placing an +airway tube, the verbal confirmation of the patients identity and procedure, +the appropriate placement of intravenous lines for patients who develop +severe bleeding, and finally a complete accounting of sponges at the end of +the procedure. These are basics, the surgical equivalent of unlocking the +elevator controls before airplane takeoff. Nevertheless, we found gaps +everywhere. The very best missed at least one of these minimum steps 6 +percent of the timeonce in every sixteen patients. And on average, the +hospitals missed one of them in a startling two-thirds of patients, whether in +rich countries or poor. That is how flawed and inconsistent surgical care +routinely is around the world. + +Then, starting in spring 2008, the pilot hospitals began implementing our +two-minute, nineteen-step surgery checklist. We knew better than to think +that just dumping a pile of copies in their operating rooms was going to +change anything. The hospital leaders committed to introducing the concept + + + +systematically. They made presentations not only to their surgeons but also +to their anesthetists, nurses, and other surgical personnel. + +We supplied the hospitals with their failure data so the staff could see +what they were trying to address. We gave them some PowerPoint slides +and a couple of YouTube videos, one demonstrating How to Use the Safe +Surgery Checklist and onea bit more entertainingentitled How Not to +Use the Safe Surgery Checklist, showing how easy it is to screw +everything up. + +We also asked the hospital leaders to introduce the checklist in just one +operating room at first, ideally in procedures the chief surgeon was doing +himself, with senior anesthesia and nursing staff taking part. There would +surely be bugs to work out. Each hospital would have to adjust the order +and wording of the checklist to suit its particular practices and terminology. +Several were using translations. A few had already indicated they wanted to +add extra checks. For some hospitals, the checklist would also compel +systemic changesfor example, stocking more antibiotic supplies in the +operating rooms. We needed the first groups using the checklist to have the +seniority and patience to make the necessary modifications and not dismiss +the whole enterprise. + +Using the checklist involved a major cultural change, as wella shift in +authority, responsibility, and expectations about careand the hospitals +needed to recognize that. We gambled that their staff would be far more +likely to adopt the checklist if they saw their leadership accepting it from +the outset. + +My team and I hit the road, fanning out to visit the pilot sites as the +checklist effort got under way. I had never seen surgery performed in so +many different kinds of settings. The contrasts were even starker than I had +anticipated and the range of problems was infinitely wider. + +In Tanzania, the hospital was two hundred miles of sometimes one-lane +dirt roads from the capital, Dar es Salaam, and flooding during the rainy +season cut off suppliessuch as medications and anesthetic gasesoften +for weeks at a time. There were thousands of surgery patients, but just five +surgeons and four anesthesia staff. None of the anesthetists had a medical +degree. The patients families supplied most of the blood for the blood +bank, and when that wasnt enough, staff members rolled up their sleeves. + + + +They conserved anesthetic supplies by administering mainly spinal +anesthesiainjections of numbing medication directly into the spinal canal. +They could do operations under spinal that I never conceived of. They +saved and resterilized their surgical gloves, using them over and over until +holes appeared. They even made their own surgical gauze, the nurses and +anesthesia staff sitting around an old wood table at teatime each afternoon +cutting bolts of white cotton cloth to size for the next days cases. + +In Delhi, the charity hospital was not as badly off as the Tanzanian site or +hospitals Id been to in rural India. There were more supplies. The staff +members were better trained. But the volume of patients they were asked to +care for in this city of thirteen million was beyond comprehension. The +hospital had seven fully trained anesthetists, for instance, but they had to +perform twenty thousand operations a year. To provide a sense of how +ludicrous this is, our New Zealand pilot hospital employed ninety-two +anesthetists to manage a similar magnitude of surgery. Yet, for all the +equipment shortages, power outages, waiting lists, fourteen-hour days, I +heard less unhappiness and complaining from the surgical staff in Delhi +than in many American hospitals Ive been to. + +The differences were not just between rich and poor settings, either. Each +site was distinctive. St. Marys Hospital, for example, our London site, was +a compound of red brick and white stone buildings more than century and a +half old, sprawling over a city block in Paddington. Alexander Fleming +discovered penicillin here in 1928. More recently, under its chairman of +surgery, Lord Darzi of Denham, the hospital has become an international +pioneer in the development of minimally invasive surgery and surgical +simulation. St. Marys is modern, well equipped, and a draw for Londons +powerful and well-to-doPrince William and Prince Harry were born here, +for example, and Conservative Party leader David Camerons severely +disabled son was cared for here, as well. But it is hardly posh. It remains a +government hospital in the National Health Service, serving any Briton +without charge or distinction. + +Walking through St. Marys sixteen operating rooms, I found they looked +much the same as the ones where I work in Boston high-tech, up-to-date. +But surgical procedures seemed different at every stage. The patients were +put to sleep outside the operating theater, instead of inside, and then +wheeled in, which meant that the first part of the checklist would have to be + + + +changed. The anesthetists and circulating nurses didnt wear masks, which +seemed like sacrilege to me, although I had to admit their necessity is +unproven for staff who do not work near the patients incision. Almost +every term the surgical teams used was unfamiliar. We all supposedly spoke +English, but I was often unsure what they were talking about. + +In Jordan, the working environment was also at once recognizable and +alien, but in a different way. The operating rooms in Amman had zero frills +this was a still-developing country and the equipment was older and +heavily usedbut they had most of the things I am used to as a surgeon, +and the level of care seemed very good. One of the surgeons I met was +Iraqi. Hed trained in Baghdad and practiced there until the chaos following +the American invasion in 2003 forced him to flee with his family, +abandoning their home, their savings, and his work. Before Saddam +Hussein, in the last years of his rule, gutted the Iraqi medical system, +Baghdad had provided some of the best medical care in the Middle East. +But, the surgeon said, Jordan now seemed positioned to take that role and +he felt fortunate to be there. I learned that more than 200,000 foreign +patients travel to Jordan for their health care each year, generating as much +as one billion dollars in revenues for the country. + +What I couldntwork out, though, was how the countrys strict gender +divide was negotiated in its operating rooms. I remember sitting outside a +restaurant the day I arrived, studying the people passing by. Men and +women were virtually always separated. Most women covered their hair. I +got to know one of the surgery residents, a young man in his late twenties +who was my guide for the visit. We even went out to see a movie together. +When I learned he had a girlfriend of two years, a graduate student, I asked +him how long it was before he got to see her hair. + +I never have, he said. +Cmon. Never? +Never. Hed seen a few strands. He knew she had dark brown hair. But + +even in the more modern dating relationship of a partly Westernized, highly +educated couple, that was it. + +In the operating rooms, all the surgeons were men. Most of the nurses +were women. The anesthetists split half and half. Given the hierarchies, I +wondered whether the kind of teamwork envisioned by the checklist was +even possible. The women wore their head scarves in the operating rooms. + + + +Most avoided eye contact with men. I slowly learned, however, that not all +was what it seemed. The staff didnt hesitate to discard the formalities when +necessary. I saw a gallbladder operation in which the surgeon inadvertently +contaminated his glove while adjusting the operating lights. He hadnt +noticed. But the nurse had. + +You have to change your glove, the nurse told him in Arabic. +(Someone translated for me.) + +Its fine, the surgeon said. +No, its not, the nurse said. Dont be stupid. Then she made him + +change his glove. +For all the differences among the eight hospitals, I was nonetheless + +surprised by how readily one could feel at home in an operating room, +wherever it might be. Once a case was under way, it was still surgery. You +still had a human being on the table, with his hopes and his fears and his +body opened up to you, trusting you to do right by him. And you still had a +group of people striving to work together with enough skill and +commitment to warrant that trust. + +The introduction of the checklist was rocky at times. We had our share of +logistical hiccups. In Manila, for instance, it turned out there was only one +nurse for every four operations, because qualified operating nurses kept +getting snapped up by American and Canadian hospitals. The medical +students who filled in were often too timid to start the checklist, so the +anesthesia staff had to be persuaded to take on the task. In Britain, the local +staff had difficulties figuring out the changes needed to accommodate their +particular anesthesia practices. + +There was a learning curve, as well. However straightforward the +checklist might appear, if you are used to getting along without one, +incorporating it into the routine is not always a smooth process. Sometimes +teams forgot to carry out part of the checklist especially the sign-out, +before taking the patient from the room. Other times they found adhering to +it just too hardthough not because doing so was complicated. Instead, the +difficulty seemed to be social. It felt strange to people just to get their +mouths around the wordsfor a nurse to say, for example, that if the +antibiotics hadnt been given, then everyone needed to stop and give them +before proceeding. Each person has his or her style in the operating room, +especially surgeons. Some are silent, some are moody, some are chatty. + + + +Very few knew immediately how to adapt their style to huddling with +everyoneeven the nursing studentfor a systematic run-through of the +plans and possible issues. + +The introduction of names and roles at the start of an operating day +proved a point of particularly divided view. From Delhi to Seattle, the +nurses seemed especially grateful for the step, but the surgeons were +sometimes annoyed by it. Nonetheless, most complied. + +Most but not all. We were thrown out of operating rooms all over the +world. This checklist is a waste of time, we were told. In a couple places, +the hospital leaders wanted to call the curmudgeons on the carpet and force +them to use it. We discouraged this. Forcing the obstinate few to adopt the +checklist might cause a backlash that would sour others on participating. +We asked the leaders to present the checklist as simply a tool for people to +try in hopes of improving their results. After all, it remained possible that +the detractors were right, that the checklist would prove just another well- +meaning effort with no significant effect whatsoever. + +Pockets of resistance notwithstanding, the safe surgery checklist effort +was well under way within a month in each location, with teams regularly +using the checklist in every operating room we were studying. We +continued monitoring the patient data. I returned home to wait out the +results. + +I was nervous about the project. We had planned to examine the results for +only a short time period, about three months in each pilot site after +introduction of the checklist. That way any changes we observed would +likely be the consequence of the checklist and not of long-term, ongoing +trends in health or medical care. But I worried whether anything could +really change in so short a time. The teams were clearly still getting the +hang of things. Perhaps we hadnt given them enough time to learn. I also +worried about how meager the intervention was when you got right down to +it. Wed provided no new equipment, staff, or clinical resources to hospitals. +The poor places were still poor, and we had to wonder whether +improvement in their results was really possible without changing that. All +wed done was give them a one-page, nineteen-item list and shown them +how to use it. Wed worked hard to make it short and simple, but perhaps + + + +wed made it too short and too simplenot detailed enough. Maybe we +shouldnt have listened to the aviation gurus. + +We began to hear some encouraging stories, however. In London, during +a knee replacement by an orthopedic surgeon who was one of our toughest +critics, the checklist brought the team to recognize, before incision and the +point of no return, that the knee prosthesis on hand was the wrong size for +the patientand that the right size was not available in the hospital. The +surgeon became an instant checklist proponent. + +In India, we learned, the checklist led the surgery department to +recognize a fundamental flaw in its system of care. Usual procedure was to +infuse the presurgery antibiotic into patients in the preoperative waiting area +before wheeling them in. But the checklist brought the clinicians to realize +that frequent delays in the operating schedule meant the antibiotic had +usually worn off hours before incision. So the hospital staff shifted their +routine in line with the checklist and waited to give the antibiotic until +patients were in the operating room. + +In Seattle, a friend who had joined the surgical staff at the University of +Washington Medical Center told me how easily the checklist had fit into her +operating rooms routine. But was it helping them catch errors, I asked? + +No question, she said. Theyd caught problems with antibiotics, +equipment, overlooked medical issues. But more than that, she thought +going through the checklist helped the staff respond better when they ran +into trouble laterlike bleeding or technical difficulties during the +operation. We just work better together as a team, she said. + +The stories gave me hope. + +In October 2008, the results came in. I had two research fellows, both of +them residents in general surgery, working on the project with me. Alex +Haynes had taken more than a year away from surgical training to run the +eight-city pilot study and compile the data. Tom Weiser had spent two years +managing development of the WHO checklist program, and hed been in +charge of double-checking the numbers. A retired cardiac surgeon, William +Berry, was the triple check on everything they did. Late one afternoon, they +all came in to see me. + +Youve got to see this, Alex said. + + + +He laid a sheaf of statistical printouts in front of me and walked me +through the tables. The final results showed that the rate of major +complications for surgical patients in all eight hospitals fell by 36 percent +after introduction of the checklist. Deaths fell 47 percent. The results had +far outstripped what wed dared to hope for, and all were statistically highly +significant. Infections fell by almost half. The number of patients having to +return to the operating room after their original operations because of +bleeding or other technical problems fell by one-fourth. Overall, in this +group of nearly 4,000 patients, 435 would have been expected to develop +serious complications based on our earlier observation data. But instead just +277 did. Using the checklist had spared more than 150 people from harm +and 27 of them from death. + +You might think that Id have danced a jig on my desk, that Id have gone +running through the operating room hallways yelling, It worked! It +worked! But this is not what I did. Instead, I became very, very nervous. I +started poking through the pile of data looking for mistakes, for problems, +for anything that might upend the results. + +Suppose, I said, this improvement wasnt due to the checklist. Maybe, +just by happenstance, the teams had done fewer emergency cases and other +risky operations in the second half of the study, and thats why their results +looked better. Alex went back and ran the numbers again. Nope, it turned +out. The teams had actually done slightly more emergency cases in the +checklist period than before. And the mix of types of operations obstetric, +thoracic, orthopedic, abdominalwas unchanged. + +Suppose this was just a Hawthorne effect, that is to say, a byproduct of +being observed in a study rather than proof of the checklists power. In +about 20 percent of the operations, after all, a researcher had been +physically present in the operating room collecting information. Maybe the +observers presence was what had improved care. The research team +pointed out, however, that the observers had been in the operating rooms +from the very beginning of the project, and the results had not leaped +upward until the checklist was introduced. Moreover, wed tracked which +operations had an observer and which ones hadnt. And when Alex +rechecked the data, the results proved no differentthe improvements were +equally dramatic for observed and unobserved operations. + + + +Okay, maybe the checklist made a difference in some places, but perhaps +only in the poor sites. No, that didnt turn out to be the case either. The +baseline rate of surgical complications was indeed lower in the four +hospitals in high-income countries, but introducing the checklist had +produced a one-third decrease in major complications for the patients in +those hospitals, as well also a highly significant reduction. + +The team took me through the results for each of the eight hospitals, one +by one. In every site, introduction of the checklist had been accompanied by +a substantial reduction in complications. In seven out of eight, it was a +double-digit percentage drop. This thing was real. + +In January 2009, the New England Journal of Medicine published our +study as a rapid-release article. Even before then, word began to leak out as +we distributed the findings to our pilot sites. Hospitals in Washington State +learned of Seattles results and began trying the checklist themselves. Pretty +soon theyd formed a coalition with the states insurers, Boeing, and the +governor to systematically introduce the checklist across the state and track +detailed data. In Great Britain, Lord Darzi, the chairman of surgery at St. +Marys Hospital, had meanwhile been made a minister of health. When he +and the countrys top designate to WHO, Sir Liam Donaldson (who had +also pushed for the surgery project in the first place), saw the study results, +they launched a campaign to implement the checklist nationwide. + +The reaction of surgeons was more mixed. Even if using the checklist +didnt take the time many fearedindeed, in several hospitals teams +reported that it saved them timesome objected that the study had not +clearly established how the checklist was producing such dramatic results. +This was true. In our eight hospitals, we saw improvements in +administering antibiotics to reduce infections, in use of oxygen monitoring +during operations, in making sure teams had the right patient and right +procedure before making an incision. But these particular improvements +could not explain why unrelated complications like bleeding fell, for +example. We surmised that improved communication was the key. Spot +surveys of random staff members coming out of surgery after the checklist +was in effect did indeed report a significant increase in the level of +communication. There was also a notable correlation between teamwork + + + +scores and results for patients the greater the improvement in teamwork, +the greater the drop in complications. + +Perhaps the most revealing information, however, was simply what the +staff told us. More than 250 staff memberssurgeons, anesthesiologists, +nurses, and othersfilled out an anonymous survey after three months of +using the checklist. In the beginning, most had been skeptical. But by the +end, 80 percent reported that the checklist was easy to use, did not take a +long time to complete, and had improved the safety of care. And 78 percent +actually observed the checklist to have prevented an error in the operating +room. + +Nonetheless, some skepticism persisted. After all, 20 percent did not find +it easy to use, thought it took too long, and felt it had not improved the +safety of care. + +Then we asked the staff one more question. If you were having an +operation, we asked, would you want the checklist to be used? + +A full 93 percent said yes. + + + +8. THE HERO IN THE AGE OF CHECKLISTS + +We have an opportunity before us, not just in medicine but in virtually +any endeavor. Even the most expert among us can gain from searching out +the patterns of mistakes and failures and putting a few checks in place. But +will we do it? Are we ready to grab onto the idea? It is far from clear. + +Take the safe surgery checklist. If someone discovered a new drug that +could cut down surgical complications with anything remotely like the +effectiveness of the checklist, we would have television ads with minor +celebrities extolling its virtues. Detail men would offer free lunches to get +doctors to make it part of their practice. Government programs would +research it. Competitors would jump in to make newer and better versions. +If the checklist were a medical device, we would have surgeons clamoring +for it, lining up at display booths at surgical conferences to give it a try, +hounding their hospital administrators to get one for thembecause, damn +it, doesnt providing good care matter to those pencil pushers? + +Thats what happened when surgical robots came outdrool-inducing +twenty-second-century $1.7 million remote-controlled machines designed +to help surgeons do laparoscopic surgery with more maneuverability inside +patients bodies and fewer complications. The robots increased surgical +costs massively and have so far improved results only modestly for a few +operations, compared with standard laparoscopy. Nonetheless, hospitals in +the United States and abroad have spent billions of dollars on them. + +But meanwhile, the checklist? Well, it hasnt been ignored. Since the +results of the WHO safe surgery checklist were made public, more than a +dozen countriesincluding Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, +France, Ireland, Jordan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Spain, and the +United Kingdomhave publicly committed to implementing versions of it +in hospitals nationwide. Some are taking the additional step of tracking +results, which is crucial for ensuring the checklist is being put in place +successfully. In the United States, hospital associations in twenty states + + + +have pledged to do the same. By the end of 2009, about 10 percent of +American hospitals had either adopted the checklist or taken steps to +implement it, and worldwide more than two thousand hospitals had. + +This is all encouraging. Nonetheless, we doctors remain a long way from +actually embracing the idea. The checklist has arrived in our operating +rooms mostly from the outside in and from the top down. It has come from +finger-wagging health officials, who are regarded by surgeons as more or +less the enemy, or from jug-eared hospital safety officers, who are about as +beloved as the playground safety patrol. Sometimes it is the chief of surgery +who brings it in, which means we complain under our breath rather than +raise a holy tirade. But it is regarded as an irritation, as interference on our +terrain. This is my patient. This is my operating room. And the way I carry +out an operation is my business and my responsibility. So who do these +people think they are, telling me what to do? + +Now, if surgeons end up using the checklist anyway, what is the big deal +if we do so without joy in our souls? Were doing it. Thats what matters, +right? + +Not necessarily. Just ticking boxes is not the ultimate goal here. +Embracing a culture of teamwork and discipline is. And if we recognize the +opportunity, the two-minute WHO checklist is just a start. It is a single, +broad-brush device intended to catch a few problems common to all +operations, and we surgeons could build on it to do even more. We could +adopt, for example, specialized checklists for hip replacement procedures, +pancreatic operations, aortic aneurysm repairs, examining each of our major +procedures for their most common avoidable glitches and incorporating +checks to help us steer clear of them. We could even devise emergency +checklists, like aviation has, for nonroutine situations such as the cardiac +arrest my friend John described in which the doctors forgot that an overdose +of potassium could be a cause. + +Beyond the operating room, moreover, there are hundreds, perhaps +thousands, of things doctors do that are as dangerous and prone to error as +surgery. Take, for instance, the treatment of heart attacks, strokes, drug +overdoses, pneumonias, kidney failures, seizures. And consider the many +other situations that are only seemingly simpler and less direthe +evaluation of a patient with a headache, for example, a funny chest pain, a +lung nodule, a breast lump. All involve risk, uncertainty, and complexity + + + +and therefore steps that are worth committing to a checklist and testing in +routine care. Good checklists could become as important for doctors and +nurses as good stethoscopes (which, unlike checklists, have never been +proved to make a difference in patient care). The hard questionstill +unansweredis whether medical culture can seize the opportunity. + +Tom Wolfes The Right Stuff tells the story of our first astronauts and +charts the demise of the maverick, Chuck Yeager test-pilot culture of the +1950s. It was a culture defined by how unbelievably dangerous the job was. +Test pilots strapped themselves into machines of barely controlled power +and complexity, and a quarter of them were killed on the job. The pilots had +to have focus, daring, wits, and an ability to improvisethe right stuff. But +as knowledge of how to control the risks of flying accumulatedas +checklists and flight simulators became more prevalent and sophisticated +the danger diminished, values of safety and conscientiousness prevailed, +and the rock star status of the test pilots was gone. + +Something like this is going on in medicine. We have the means to make +some of the most complex and dangerous work we doin surgery, +emergency care, ICU medicine, and beyond more effective than we ever +thought possible. But the prospect pushes against the traditional culture of +medicine, with its central belief that in situations of high risk and +complexity what you want is a kind of expert audacitythe right stuff, +again. Checklists and standard operating procedures feel like exactly the +opposite, and thats what rankles many people. + +Its ludicrous, though, to suppose that checklists are going to do away +with the need for courage, wits, and improvisation. The work of medicine is +too intricate and individual for that: good clinicians will not be able to +dispense with expert audacity. Yet we should also be ready to accept the +virtues of regimentation. + +And it is true well beyond medicine. The opportunity is evident in many +fieldsand so also is the resistance. Finance offers one example. Recently, +I spoke to Mohnish Pabrai, managing partner in Pabrai Investment Funds in +Irvine, California. He is one of three investors Ive recently met who have +taken a page from medicine and aviation to incorporate formal checklists +into their work. All three are huge investors: Pabrai runs a $500 million +portfolio; Guy Spier is head of Aquamarine Capital Management in Zurich, + + + +Switzerland, a $70 million fund. The third did not want to be identified by +name or to reveal the size of the fund where he is a director, but it is one of +the biggest in the world and worth billions. The three consider themselves +value investorsinvestors who buy shares in under recognized, +undervalued companies. They dont time the market. They dont buy +according to some computer algorithm. They do intensive research, look for +good deals, and invest for the long run. They aim to buy Coca-Cola before +everyone realizes its going to be Coca-Cola. + +Pabrai described what this involves. Over the last fifteen years, hes made +a new investment or two per quarter, and hes found it requires in-depth +investigation of ten or more prospects for each one he finally buys stock in. +The ideas can bubble up from anywherea billboard advertisement, a +newspaper article about real estate in Brazil, a mining journal he decides to +pick up for some random reason. He reads broadly and looks widely. He has +his eyes open for the glint of a diamond in the dirt, of a business about to +boom. + +He hits upon hundreds of possibilities but most drop away after cursory +examination. Every week or so, though, he spots one that starts his pulse +racing. It seems surefire. He cant believe no one else has caught onto it yet. +He begins to think it could make him tens of millions of dollars if he plays +it right, no, this time maybe hundreds of millions. + +You go into greed mode, he said. Guy Spier called it cocaine brain. +Neuroscientists have found that the prospect of making money stimulates +the same primitive reward circuits in the brain that cocaine does. And that, +Pabrai said, is when serious investors like himself try to become systematic. +They focus on dispassionate analysis, on avoiding both irrational +exuberance and panic. They pore over the companys financial reports, +investigate its liabilities and risks, examine its management teams track +record, weigh its competitors, consider the future of the market it is in +trying to gauge both the magnitude of opportunity and the margin of safety. + +The patron saint of value investors is Warren Buffett, among the most +successful financiers in history and one of the two richest men in the world, +even after the losses he suffered in the crash of 2008. Pabrai has studied +every deal Buffett and his company, Berkshire Hathaway, have made +good or badand read every book he could find about them. He even +pledged $650,000 at a charity auction to have lunch with Buffett. + + + +Warren, Pabrai saidand after a $650,000 lunch, I guess first names +are in orderWarren uses a mental checklist process when looking at +potential investments. So thats more or less what Pabrai did from his funds +inception. He was disciplined. He made sure to take his time when studying +a company. The process could require weeks. And he did very well +following this methodbut not always, he found. He also made mistakes, +some of them disastrous. + +These were not mistakes merely in the sense that he lost money on his +bets or missed making money on investments hed rejected. Thats bound to +happen. Risk is unavoidable in Pabrais line of work. No, these were +mistakes in the sense that he had miscalculated the risks involved, made +errors of analysis. For example, looking back, he noticed that he had +repeatedly erred in determining how leveraged companies werehow +much cash was really theirs, how much was borrowed, and how risky those +debts were. The information was available; he just hadnt looked for it +carefully enough. + +In large part, he believes, the mistakes happened because he wasnt able +to damp down the cocaine brain. Pabrai is a forty-five-year-old former +engineer. He comes from India, where he clawed his way up its fiercely +competitive educational system. Then he secured admission to Clemson +University, in South Carolina, to study engineering. From there he climbed +the ranks of technology companies in Chicago and California. Before going +into investment, he built a successful informational technology company of +his own. All this is to say he knows a thing or two about being +dispassionate and avoiding the lure of instant gratification. Yet no matter +how objective he tried to be about a potentially exciting investment, he said, +he found his brain working against him, latching onto evidence that +confirmed his initial hunch and dismissing the signs of a downside. Its +what the brain does. + +You get seduced, he said. You start cutting corners. +Or, in the midst of a bear market, the opposite happens. You go into fear + +mode, he said. You see people around you losing their bespoke shirts, and +you overestimate the dangers. + +He also found he made mistakes in handling complexity. A good decision +requires looking at so many different features of companies in so many +ways that, even without the cocaine brain, he was missing obvious patterns. + + + +His mental checklist wasnt good enough. I am not Warren, he said. I +dont have a 300 IQ. He needed an approach that could work for someone +with an ordinary IQ. So he devised a written checklist. + +Apparently, Buffett himself could have used one. Pabrai noticed that even +he made certain repeated mistakes. Thats when I knew he wasnt really +using a checklist, Pabrai said. + +So Pabrai made a list of mistakes hed seenones Buffett and other +investors had made as well as his own. It soon contained dozens of different +mistakes, he said. Then, to help him guard against them, he devised a +matching list of checksabout seventy in all. One, for example, came from +a Berkshire Hathaway mistake hed studied involving the companys +purchase in early 2000 of Cort Furniture, a Virginia-based rental furniture +business. Over the previous ten years, Corts business and profits had +climbed impressively. Charles Munger, Buffetts longtime investment +partner, believed Cort was riding a fundamental shift in the American +economy. The business environment had become more and more volatile +and companies therefore needed to grow and shrink more rapidly than ever +before. As a result, they were increasingly apt to lease office space rather +than buy itand, Munger noticed, to lease the furniture, too. Cort was in a +perfect position to benefit. Everything else about the company was +measuring upit had solid financials, great management, and so on. So +Munger bought. But buying was an error. He had missed the + +fact that the three previous years of earnings had been driven entirely by +the dot-com boom of the late nineties. Cort was leasing furniture to +hundreds of start-up companies that suddenly stopped paying their bills and +evaporated when the boom collapsed. + +Munger and Buffett saw the dot-com bubble a mile away, Pabrai said. +These guys were completely clear. But they missed how dependent Cort +was on it. Munger later called his purchase a macroeconomic mistake. + +Corts earning power basically went from substantial to zero for a +while, he confessed to his shareholders. + +So Pabrai added the following checkpoint to his list: when analyzing a +company, stop and confirm that youve asked yourself whether the revenues +might be overstated or understated due to boom or bust conditions. + +Like him, the anonymous investor I spoke toIll call him Cookmade +a checklist. But he was even more methodical: he enumerated the errors + + + +known to occur at any point in the investment processduring the research +phase, during decision making, during execution of the decision, and even +in the period after making an investment when one should be monitoring +for problems. He then designed detailed checklists to avoid the errors, +complete with clearly identified pause points at which he and his +investment team would run through the items. + +He has a Day Three Checklist, for example, which he and his team +review at the end of the third day of considering an investment. By that +point, the checklist says, they should confirm that they have gone over the +prospects key financial statements for the previous ten years, including +checking for specific items in each statement and possible patterns across +the statements. + +Its easy to hide in a statement. Its hard to hide between statements, +Cook said. + +One check, for example, requires the members of the team to verify that +theyve read the footnotes on the cash flow statements. Another has them +confirm theyve reviewed the statement of key management risks. A third +asks them to make sure theyve looked to see whether cash flow and costs +match the reported revenue growth. + +This is basic basic basic, he said. Just look! Youd be amazed by how +often people dont do it. Consider the Enron debacle, he said. People +could have figured out it was a disaster entirely from the financial +statements. + +He told me about one investment he looked at that seemed a huge winner. +The cocaine brain was screaming. It turned out, however, that the +companys senior officers, whod been selling prospective investors on how +great their business was, had quietly sold every share they owned. The +company was about to tank and buyers jumping aboard had no idea. But +Cook had put a check on his three-day list that ensured his team had +reviewed the fine print of the companys mandatory stock disclosures, and +he discovered the secret. Forty-nine times out of fifty, he said, theres +nothing to be found. But then there is. + +The checklist doesnt tell him what to do, he explained. It is not a +formula. But the checklist helps him be as smart as possible every step of +the way, ensuring that hes got the critical information he needs when he +needs it, that hes systematic about decision making, that hes talked to + + + +everyone he should. With a good checklist in hand, he was convinced he +and his partners could make decisions as well as human beings are able. +And as a result, he was also convinced they could reliably beat the market. + +I asked him whether he wasnt fooling himself. +Maybe, he said. But he put it in surgical terms for me. When surgeons + +make sure to wash their hands or to talk to everyone on the teamhed +seen the surgery checklistthey improve their outcomes with no increase +in skill. Thats what we are doing when we use the checklist. + +Cook would not discuss precise resultshis fund does not disclose its +earnings publiclybut he said he had already seen the checklist deliver +better outcomes for him. He had put the checklist process in place at the +start of 2008 and, at a minimum, it appeared that he had been able to ride +out the subsequent economic collapse without disaster. Others say his fund +has done far better than that, outperforming its peers. How much of any +success can be directly credited to the checklist is not clearafter all, hes +used it just two years so far. What Cook says is certain, however, was that +in a period of enormous volatility the checklist gave his team at least one +additional and unexpected edge over others: efficiency. + +When he first introduced the checklist, he assumed it would slow his +team down, increasing the time and work required for their investment +decisions. He was prepared to pay that price. The benefits of making fewer +mistakes seemed obvious. And in fact, using the checklist did increase the +up-front work time. But to his surprise, he found they were able to evaluate +many more investments in far less time overall. + +Before the checklist, Cook said, it sometimes took weeks and multiple +meetings to sort out how seriously they should consider a candidate +investmentwhether they should drop it or pursue a more in-depth +investigation. The process was open-ended and haphazard, and when people +put a month into researching an investment, they tended to get, well, +invested. After the checklist, though, he and his team found that they could +consistently sort out by the three-day check which prospects really deserved +further consideration and which ones didnt. The process was more +thorough but faster, he said. It was one hit, and we could move on. + +Pabrai and Spier, the Zurich investor, found the same phenomenon. Spier +used to employ an investment analyst. But I didnt need him anymore, he +said. Pabrai had been working with a checklist for about a year. His fund + + + +was up more than 100 percent since then. This could not possibly be +attributed to just the checklist. With the checklist in place, however, he +observed that he could move through investment decisions far faster and +more methodically. As the markets plunged through late 2008 and +stockholders dumped shares in panic, there were numerous deals to be had. +And in a single quarter he was able to investigate more than a hundred +companies and add ten to his funds portfolios. Without the checklist, +Pabrai said, he could not have gotten through a fraction of the analytic work +or have had the confidence to rely on it. A year later, his investments were +up more than 160 percent on average. Hed made no mistakes at all. + +What makes these investors experiences striking to me is not merely +their evidence that checklists might work as well in finance as they do in +medicine. Its that here, too, they have found takers slow to come. In the +money business, everyone looks for an edge. If someone is doing well, +people pounce like starved hyenas to find out how. Almost every idea +formaking even slightly more moneyinvesting in Internet companies, +buying tranches of sliced-up mortgages, whatevergets sucked up by the +giant maw almost instantly. Every idea, that is, except one: checklists. + +I asked Cook how much interest others have had in what he has been +doing these past two years. Zero, he saidor actually thats not quite true. +People have been intensely interested in what hes been buying and how, +but the minute the word checklist comes out of his mouth, they disappear. +Even in his own firm, hes found it a hard sell. + +I got pushback from everyone. It took my guys months to finally see the +value, he said. To this day, his partners still dont all go along with his +approach and dont use the checklist in their decisions when hes not +involved. + +I find it amazing other investors have not even bothered to try, he said. +Some have asked. None have done it. + +The resistance is perhaps an inevitable response. Some years ago, Geoff +Smart, a Ph.D. psychologist who was then at Claremont Graduate +University, conducted a revealing research project. He studied fifty-one +venture capitalists, people who make gutsy, high-risk, multimillion-dollar +investments in unproven start-up companies. Their work is quite unlike that +of money managers like Pabrai and Cook and Spier, who invest in + + + +established companies with track records and public financial statements +one can analyze. Venture capitalists bet on wild-eyed, greasy-haired, +underaged entrepreneurs pitching ideas that might be little more than +scribbles on a sheet of paper or a clunky prototype that barely works. But +thats how Google and Apple started out, and the desperate belief of venture +capitalists is that they can find the next equivalent and own it. + +Smart specifically studied how such people made their most difficult +decision in judging whether to give an entrepreneur money or not. You +would think that this would be whether the entrepreneurs idea is actually a +good one. But finding a good idea is apparently not all that hard. Finding an +entrepreneur who can execute a good idea is a different matter entirely. One +needs a person who can take an idea from proposal to reality, work the long +hours, build a team, handle the pressures and setbacks, manage technical +and people problems alike, and stick with the effort for years on end +without getting distracted or going insane. Such people are rare and +extremely hard to spot. + +Smart identified half a dozen different ways the venture capitalists he +studied decided whether theyd found such a person. These were styles of +thinking, really. He called one type of investor the Art Critics. They +assessed entrepreneurs almost at a glance, the way an art critic can assess +the quality of a paintingintuitively and based on long experience. +Sponges took more time gathering information about their targets, +soaking up whatever they could from interviews, on-site visits, references, +and the like. Then they went with whatever their guts told them. As one +such investor told Smart, he did due diligence by mucking around. + +The Prosecutors interrogated entrepreneurs aggressively, testing them +with challenging questions about their knowledge and how they would +handle random hypothetical situations. Suitors focused more on wooing +people than on evaluating them. Terminators saw the whole effort as +doomed to failure and skipped the evaluation part. They simply bought +what they thought were the best ideas, fired entrepreneurs they found to be +incompetent, and hired replacements. + +Then there were the investors Smart called the Airline Captains. They +took a methodical, checklist-driven approach to their task. Studying past +mistakes and lessons from others in the field, they built formal checks into +their process. They forced themselves to be disciplined and not to skip + + + +steps, even when they found someone they knew intuitively was a real +prospect. + +Smart next tracked the venture capitalists success over time. There was +no question which style was most effectiveand by now you should be +able to guess which one. It was the Airline Captain, hands down. Those +taking the checklist-driven approach had a 10 percent likelihood of later +having to fire senior management for incompetence or concluding that their +original evaluation was inaccurate. The others had at least a 50 percent +likelihood. + +The results showed up in their bottom lines, too. The Airline Captains +had a median 80 percent return on the investments studied, the others 35 +percent or less. Those with other styles were not failures by any stretch +experience does count for something. But those who added checklists to +their experience proved substantially more successful. + +The most interesting discovery was that, despite the disadvantages, most +investors were either Art Critics or Spongesintuitive decision makers +instead of systematic analysts. Only one in eight took the Airline Captain +approach. Now, maybe the others didnt know about the Airline Captain +approach. But even knowing seems to make little difference. Smart +published his findings more than a decade ago. He has since gone on to +explain them in a best-selling business book on hiring called Who. But +when I asked him, now that the knowledge is out, whether the proportion of +major investors taking the more orderly, checklist-driven approach has +increased substantially, he could only report, No. Its the same. + +We dont like checklists. They can be painstaking. Theyre not much fun. +But I dont think the issue here is mere laziness. Theres something deeper, +more visceral going on when people walk away not only from saving lives +but from making money. It somehow feels beneath us to use a checklist, an +embarrassment. It runs counter to deeply held beliefs about how the truly +great among usthose we aspire to behandle situations of high stakes +and complexity. The truly great are daring. They improvise. They do not +have protocols and checklists. + +Maybe our idea of heroism needs updating. + +On January 14, 2009, WHOs safe surgery checklist was made public. As +it happened, the very next day, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from La + + + +Guardia Airport in New York City with 155 people on board, struck a large +flock of Canadian geese over Manhattan, lost both engines, and famously +crash-landed in the icy Hudson River. The fact that not a single life was lost +led the press to christen the incident the miracle on the Hudson. A +National Transportation Safety Board official said the flight has to go +down as the most successful ditching in aviation history. Fifty-seven-year- +old Captain Chesley B. Sully Sullenberger III, a former air force pilot +with twenty thousand hours of flight experience, was hailed the world over. + +Quiet Air Hero Is Captain America, shouted the New York Post +headline. ABC News called him the Hudson River hero. The German +papers hailed Der Held von New York, the French Le Nouveau Hros de +lAmrique, the Spanish-language press El Hroe de Nueva York. +President George W. Bush phoned Sullenberger to thank him personally, +and President-elect Barack Obama invited him and his family to attend his +inauguration five days later. Photographers tore up the lawn of his Danville, +California, home trying to get a glimpse of his wife and teenage children. +He was greeted with a hometown parade and a $3 million book deal. + +But as the details trickled out about the procedures and checklists that +were involved, the fly-by-wire computer system that helped control the +glide down to the water, the copilot who shared flight responsibilities, the +cabin crew who handled the remarkably swift evacuation, we the public +started to become uncertain about exactly who the hero here was. As +Sullenberger kept saying over and over from the first of his interviews +afterward, I want to correct the record right now. This was a crew effort. +The outcome, he said, was the result of teamwork and adherence to +procedure asmuch as of any individual skill he may have had. + +Aw, thats just the modesty of the quiet hero, we finally insisted. The next +month, when the whole crew of fivenot just Sullenbergerwas brought +out to receive the keys to New York City, for exclusive interviews on +every network, and for a standing ovation by an audience of seventy +thousand at the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay, you could see the press had +already determined how to play this. They didnt want to talk about +teamwork and procedure. They wanted to talk about Sully using his +experience flying gliders as an Air Force Academy cadet. + +That was so long ago, Sullenberger said, and those gliders are so +different from a modern jet airliner. I think the transfer of experience was + + + +not large. +It was as if we simply could not process the full reality of what had been + +required to save the people on that plane. + +The aircraft was a European-built Airbus A320 with two jet engines, one +on each wing. The plane took off at 3:25 p.m. on a cold but clear afternoon, +headed for Charlotte, North Carolina, with First Officer Jeffrey Skiles at the +controls and Sullenberger serving as the pilot not flying. The first thing to +note is that the two had never flown together before that trip. Both were +tremendously experienced. Skiles had nearly as many flight hours as +Sullenberger and had been a longtime Boeing 737 captain until downsizing +had forced him into the right-hand seat and retraining to fly A320s. This +much experience may sound like a good thing, but it isnt necessarily. +Imagine two experienced but unacquainted lawyers meeting to handle your +case on your opening day in court. Or imagine two top basketball coaches +who are complete strangers stepping onto the parquet to lead a team in a +championship game. Things could go fine, but it is more likely that they +will go badly. + +Before the pilots started the planes engines at the gate, however, they +adhered to a strict disciplinethe kind most other professions avoid. They +ran through their checklists. They made sure theyd introduced themselves +to each other and the cabin crew. They did a short briefing, discussing the +plan for the flight, potential concerns, and how theyd handle troubles if +they ran into them. And by adhering to this disciplineby taking just those +few short minutesthey not only made sure the plane was fit to travel but +also transformed themselves from individuals into a team, one +systematically prepared to handle whatever came their way. + +I dont think we recognize how easy it would have been for Sullenberger +and Skiles to have blown off those preparations, to have cut corners that +day. The crew had more than 150 total years of flight experience150 +years of running their checklists over and over and over, practicing them in +simulators, studying the annual updates. The routine can seem pointless +most of the time. Not once had any of them been in an airplane accident. +They fully expected to complete their careers without experiencing one, +either. They considered the odds of anything going wrong extremely low, + + + +far lower than we do in medicine or investment or legal practice or other +fields. But they ran through their checks anyway. + +It need not have been this way. As recently as the 1970s, some airline +pilots remained notoriously bluff about their preparations, however +carefully designed. Ive never had a problem, they would say. Or Lets +get going. Everythings fine. Or Im the captain. This is my ship. And +youre wasting my time. Consider, for example, the infamous 1977 +Tenerife disaster. It was the deadliest accident in aviation history. Two +Boeing 747 airliners collided at high speed in fog on a Canary Islands +runway, killing 583 people on board. The captain on one of the planes, a +KLM flight, had misunderstood air traffic control instructions conveying +that he was not cleared for takeoff on the runwayand disregarded the +second officer, who recognized that the instructions were unclear. There +was in fact a Pan American flight taking off in the opposite direction on the +same runway. + +Is he not cleared, that Pan American? the second officer said to the +captain. + +Oh yes, the captain insisted, and continued onto the runway. +The captain was wrong. The second officer sensed it. But they were not + +prepared for this moment. They had not taken the steps to make themselves +a team. As a result, the second officer never believed he had the permission, +let alone the duty, to halt the captain and clear up the confusion. Instead the +captain was allowed to plow ahead and kill them all. + +The fear people have about the idea of adherence to protocol is rigidity. +They imagine mindless automatons, heads down in a checklist, incapable of +looking out their windshield and coping with the real world in front of +them. But what you find, when a checklist is well made, is exactly the +opposite. The checklist gets the dumb stuff out of the way, the routines your +brain shouldnt have to occupy itself with (Are the elevator controls set? +Did the patient get her antibiotics on time? Did the managers sell all their +shares? Is everyone on the same page here?), and lets it rise above to focus +on the hard stuff (Where should we land?). + +Here are the details of one of the sharpest checklists Ive seen, a checklist +for engine failure during flight in a single-engine Cessna airplanethe US +Airways situation, only with a solo pilot. It is slimmed down to six key +steps not to miss for restarting the engine, steps like making sure the fuel + + + +shutoff valve is in the OPEN position and putting the backup fuel pump +switch ON. But step one on the list is the most fascinating. It is simply: +FLY THE AIRPLANE. Because pilots sometimes become so desperate +trying to restart their engine, so crushed by the cognitive overload of +thinking through what could have gone wrong, they forget this most basic +task. FLY THE AIRPLANE. This isnt rigidity. This is making sure +everyone has their best shot at survival. + +About ninety seconds after takeoff, US Airways Flight 1549 was climbing +up through three thousand feet when it crossed the path of the geese. The +plane came upon the geese so suddenly Sullenbergers immediate reaction +was to duck. The sound of the birds hitting the windshield and the engines +was loud enough to be heard on the cockpit voice recorder. As news reports +later pointed out, planes have hit hundreds of thousands of birds without +incident. But dual bird strikes are rare. And, in any case, jet engines are +made to handle most birds, more or less liquefying them. Canadian geese, +however, are larger than most birds, often ten pounds and up, and no engine +can handle them. Jet engines are designed instead to shut down after +ingesting one, without exploding or sending metal shrapnel into the wings +or the passengers on board. Thats precisely what the A320s engines did +when they were hit with the rarest of rare situationsat least three geese in +the two engines. They immediately lost power. + +Once that happened, Sullenberger made two key decisions: first, to take +over flying the airplane from his copilot, Skiles, and, second, to land in the +Hudson. Both seemed clear choices at the time and were made almost +instinctively. Within a minute it became apparent that the plane had too +little speed to make it to La Guardia or to the runway in Teterboro, New +Jersey, offered by air traffic control. As for taking over the piloting, both he +and Skiles had decades of flight experience, but Sullenberger had logged far +more hours flying the A320. All the key landmarks to avoid hitting +Manhattans skyscrapers, the George Washington Bridgewere out his left- +side window. And Skiles had also just completed A320 emergency training +and was more recently familiar with the checklists they would need. + +My aircraft, Sullenberger said, using the standard language as he put +his hands on the controls. + + + +Your aircraft, Skiles replied. There was no argument about what to do +next, not even a discussion. And there was no need for one. The pilots +preparations had made them a team. Sullenberger would look for the +nearest, safest possible landing site. Skiles would go to the engine failure +checklists and see if he could relight the engines. But for the computerized +voice of the ground proximity warning system saying Pull up. Pull up. Pull +up. Pull up, the cockpit was virtually silent as each pilot concentrated on +his tasks and observed the other for cues that kept them coordinated. + +Both men played crucial roles here. We treat copilots as if they are +superfluousbackups who are given a few tasks so that they have +something to do. But given the complexity of modern airplanes, they are as +integral to a successful flight as anesthesiologists are to a successful +operation. Pilot and copilot alternate taking the flight controls and +managing the flight equipment and checklist responsibilities, and when +things go wrong its not at all clear which is the harder job. The plane had +only three and a half minutes of glide in it. In that time, Skiles needed to +make sure hed done everything possible to relight the engines while also +preparing the aircraft for ditching if it wasnt feasible. But the steps +required just to restart one engine typically take more time than that. He had +some choices to make. + +Plunging out of the sky, he judged that their best chance at survival would +come from getting an engine restarted. So he decided to focus almost +entirely on the engine failure checklist and running through it as fast as he +could. The extent of damage to the engines was unknown, but regaining +even partial power would have been sufficient to get the plane to an airport. +In the end, Skiles managed to complete a restart attempt on both engines, +something investigators later testified to be very remarkable in the time +frame he hadand something they found difficult to replicate in +simulation. + +Yet he did not ignore the ditching procedure, either. He did not have time +to do everything on the checklist. But he got the distress signals sent, and he +made sure the plane was properly configured for an emergency water +landing. + +Flaps out? asked Sullenberger. +Got flaps out, responded Skiles. + + + +Sullenberger focused on the glide down to the water. But even in this, he +was not on his own. For, as journalist and pilot William Langewiesche +noted afterward, the planes fly-by-wire control system was designed to +assist pilots in accomplishing a perfect glide without demanding unusual +skills. It eliminated drift and wobble. It automatically coordinated the +rudder with the roll of the wings. It gave Sullenberger a green dot on his +screen to target for optimal descent. And it maintained the ideal angle to +achieve lift, while preventing the plane from accidentally reaching radical +angles during flight that would have caused it to lose its gliding ability. +The system freed him to focus on other critical tasks, like finding a landing +site near ferries in order to give passengers their best chance of rescue and +keeping the wings level as the plane hit the waters surface. + +Meanwhile, the three flight attendants in the cabinSheila Dail, Donna +Dent, and Doreen Welshfollowed through on their protocols for such +situations. They had the passengers put their heads down and grab their legs +to brace for impact. Upon landing and seeing water through the windows, +the flight attendants gave instructions to don life vests. They made sure the +doors got open swiftly when the plane came to a halt, that passengers didnt +waste time grabbing for their belongings, or trap themselves by inflating +life vests inside the aircraft. Welsh, stationed in the very back, had to wade +through ice cold, chest-high water leaking in through the torn fuselage to do +her part. Just two of the four exits were safely accessible. Nonetheless, +working together they got everyone out of a potentially sinking plane in just +three minutesexactly as designed. + +While the evacuation got under way, Sullenberger headed back to check +on the passengers and the condition of the plane. Meanwhile, Skiles +remained up in the cockpit to run the evacuation checklistmaking sure +potential fire hazards were dealt with, for instance. Only when it was +completed did he emerge. The arriving flotilla of ferries and boats proved +more than sufficient to get everyone out of the water. Air in the fuel tanks, +which were only partly full, kept the plane stable and afloat. Sullenberger +had time for one last check of the plane. He walked the aisle to make sure +no one had been forgotten, and then he exited himself. + +The entire event had gone shockingly smoothly. After the plane landed, +Sullenberger said, First Officer Jeff Skiles and I turned to each other and, + + + +almost in unison, at the same time, with the same words, said to each other, +Well, that wasnt as bad as I thought. + +So who was the hero here? No question, there was something miraculous +about this flight. Luck played a huge role. The incident occurred in +daylight, allowing the pilots to spot a safe landing site. Plenty of boats were +nearby for quick rescue before hypothermia set in. The bird strike was +sufficiently high to let the plane clear the George Washington Bridge. The +plane was also headed downstream, with the current, instead of upstream or +over the ocean, limiting damage on landing. + +Nonetheless, even with fortune on their side, there remained every +possibility that 155 lives could have been lost that day. But what rescued +them was something more exceptional, difficult, crucial, and, yes, heroic +than flight ability. The crew of US Airways Flight 1549 showed an ability +to adhere to vital procedures when it mattered most, to remain calm under +pressure, to recognize where one needed to improvise and where one +needed not to improvise. They understood how to function in a complex +and dire situation. They recognized that it required teamwork and +preparation and that it required them long before the situation became +complex and dire. + +This was what was unusual. This is what it means to be a hero in the +modern era. These are the rare qualities that we must understand are needed +in the larger world. + +All learned occupations have a definition of professionalism, a code of +conduct. It is where they spell out their ideals and duties. The codes are +sometimes stated, sometimes just understood. But they all have at least +three common elements. + +First is an expectation of selflessness: that we who accept responsibility +for otherswhether we are doctors, lawyers, teachers, public authorities, +soldiers, or pilotswill place the needs and concerns of those who depend +on us above our own. Second is an expectation of skill: that we will aim for +excellence in our knowledge and expertise. Third is an expectation of +trustworthiness: that we will be responsible in our personal behavior toward +our charges. + +Aviators, however, add a fourth expectation, discipline: discipline in +following prudent procedure and in functioning with others. This is a + + + +concept almost entirely outside the lexicon of most professions, including +my own. In medicine, we hold up autonomy as a professional lodestar, a +principle that stands in direct opposition to discipline. But in a world in +which success now requires large enterprises, teams of clinicians, high-risk +technologies, and knowledge that outstrips any one persons abilities, +individual autonomy hardly seems the ideal we should aim for. It has the +ring more of protectionism than of excellence. The closest our professional +codes come to articulating the goal is an occasional plea for collegiality. +What is needed, however, isnt just that people working together be nice to +each other. It is discipline. + +Discipline is hardharder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps +even than selflessness. We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. +We cant even keep from snacking between meals. We are not built for +discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention +to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at. + +Thats perhaps why aviation has required institutions to make discipline a +norm. The preflight checklist began as an invention of a handful of army +pilots in the 1930s, but the power of their discovery gave birth to entire +organizations. In the United States, we now have the National +Transportation Safety Board to study accidentsto independently +determine the underlying causes and recommend how to remedy them. And +we have national regulations to ensure that those recommendations are +incorporated into usable checklists and reliably adopted in ways that +actually reduce harm. + +To be sure, checklists must not become ossified mandates that hinder +rather than help. Even the simplest requires frequent revisitation and +ongoing refinement. Airline manufacturers put a publication date on all +their checklists, and there is a reason whythey are expected to change +with time. In the end, a checklist is only an aid. If it doesnt aid, its not +right. But if it does, we must be ready to embrace the possibility. + +We have most readily turned to the computer as our aid. Computers hold +out the prospect of automation as our bulwark against failure. Indeed, they +can take huge numbers of tasks off our hands, and thankfully already have +tasks of calculation, processing, storage, transmission. Without question, +technology can increase our capabilities. But there is much that technology +cannot do: deal with the unpredictable, manage uncertainty, construct a + + + +soaring building, perform a lifesaving operation. In many ways, technology +has complicated these matters. It has added yet another element of +complexity to the systems we depend on and given us entirely new kinds of +failure to contend with. + +One essential characteristic of modern life is that we all depend on +systemson assemblages of people or technologies or bothand among +our most profound difficulties is making them work. In medicine, for +instance, if I want my patients to receive the best care possible, not only +must I do a good job but a whole collection of diverse components have to +somehow mesh together effectively. Health care is like a car that way, +points out Donald Berwick, president of the Institute for Healthcare +Improvement in Boston and one of our deepest thinkers about systems in +medicine. In both cases, having great components is not enough. + +Were obsessed in medicine with having great components the best +drugs, the best devices, the best specialistsbut pay little attention to how +to make them fit together well. Berwick notes how wrongheaded this +approach is. Anyone who understands systems will know immediately that +optimizing parts is not a good route to system excellence, he says. He +gives the example of a famous thought experiment of trying to build the +worlds greatest car by assembling the worlds greatest car parts. We +connect the engine of a Ferrari, the brakes of a Porsche, the suspension of a +BMW, the body of a Volvo. What we get, of course, is nothing close to a +great car; we get a pile of very expensive junk. + +Nonetheless, in medicine thats exactly what we have done. We have a +thirty-billion-dollar-a-year National Institutes of Health, which has been a +remarkable powerhouse of medical discoveries. But we have no National +Institute of Health Systems Innovation alongside it studying how best to +incorporate these discoveries into daily practiceno NTSB equivalent +swooping in to study failures the way crash investigators do, no Boeing +mapping out the checklists, no agency tracking the month-to-month results. + +The same can be said in numerous other fields. We dont study routine +failures in teaching, in law, in government programs, in the financial +industry, or elsewhere. We dont look for the patterns of our recurrent +mistakes or devise and refine potential solutions for them. + +But we could, and that is the ultimate point. We are all plagued by +failuresbymissed subtleties, overlooked knowledge, and outright errors. + + + +For the most part, we have imagined that little can be done beyond working +harder and harder to catch the problems and clean up after them. We are not +in the habit of thinking the way the army pilots did as they looked upon +their shiny new Model 299 bombera machine so complex no one was +sure human beings could fly it. They too could have decided just to try +harder or to dismiss a crash as the failings of a weak pilot. + +Instead they chose to accept their fallibilities. They recognized the +simplicity and power of using a checklist. + +And so can we. Indeed, against the complexity of the world, we must. +There is no other choice. When we look closely, we recognize the same +balls being dropped over and over, even by those of great ability and +determination. We know the patterns. We see the costs. Its time to try +something else. + +Try a checklist. + + + +9. THE SAVE + +In the spring of 2007, as soon as our surgery checklist began taking +form, I began using it in my own operations. I did so not because I thought +it was needed but because I wanted to make sure it was really usable. Also, +I did not want to be a hypocrite. We were about to trot this thing out in eight +cities around the world. I had better be using it myself. But in my heart of +heartsif you strapped me down and threatened to take out my appendix +without anesthesia unless I told the truthdid I think the checklist would +make much of a difference in my cases? No. In my cases? Please. + +To my chagrin, however, I have yet to get through a week in surgery +without the checklists leading us to catch something we would have +missed. Take last week, as I write this, for instance. We had three catches in +five cases. + +I had a patient who hadnt gotten the antibiotic she should have received +before the incision, which is one of our most common catches. The +anesthesia team had gotten distracted by the usual vicissitudes. They had +trouble finding a good vein for an IV, and one of the monitors was being +twitchy. Then the nurse called a time-out for the team to run the Before +Incision check. + +Has the antibiotic been given within the last sixty minutes? I asked, +reading my lines off a wall poster. + +Oh, right, um, yes, it will be, the anesthesia resident replied. We waited +a quiet minute for the medication to flow in before the scrub tech handed +over the knife. + +I had another patient who specifically didnt want the antibiotic. +Antibiotics give her intestinal upset and yeast infections, she said. She +understood the benefits, but the risk of a bacterial wound infection in her +particular operation was lowabout 1 percent and she was willing to +take her chances. Yet giving an antibiotic was so automatic (when we +werent distracted from it) that we twice nearly infused it into her, despite + + + +her objections. The first time was before she went to sleep and she caught +the error herself. The second time was after and the checklist caught it. As +we went around the room at the pause before the incision, making sure no +one had any concerns, the nurse reminded everyone not to give the +antibiotic. The anesthesia attending reacted with surprise. She hadnt been +there for the earlier conversation and was about to drip it in. + +The third catch involved a woman in her sixties for whom I was doing a +neck operation to remove half of her thyroid because of potential cancer. +Shed had her share of medical problems and required a purseful of +medications to keep them under control. Shed also been a longtime heavy +smoker but had quit a few years before. There seemed to be no significant +lingering effects. She could climb two flights of stairs without shortness of +breath or chest pain. She looked generallywell. Her lungs sounded clear and +without wheezes under my stethoscope. The records showed no pulmonary +diagnoses. But when she met the anesthesiologist before surgery, she +remembered that shed had trouble breathing after two previous operations +and had required oxygen at home for several weeks. In one instance, shed +required a stay in intensive care. + +This was a serious concern. The anesthesiologist knew about it, but I +didntnot until we ran the checklist. When the moment came to raise +concerns, the anesthesiologist asked why I wasnt planning to watch her +longer than the usual few hours after day surgery, given her previous +respiratory problems. + +What respiratory problems? I said. The full story came out from there. +We made arrangements to keep the patient in the hospital for observation. +Moreover, we made plans to give her inhalers during surgery and afterward +to prevent breathing problems. They worked beautifully. She never needed +extra oxygen at all. + +No matter how routine an operation is, the patients never seem to be. But +with the checklist in place, we have caught unrecognized drug allergies, +equipment problems, confusion about medications, mistakes on labels for +biopsy specimens going to pathology. (No, that one is from the right side. +This is the one from the left side.)Weve made better plans and been better +prepared for patients. I am not sure how many important issues would have +slipped by us without the checklist and actually caused harm. We were not +bereft of defenses. Our usual effort to be vigilant and attentive might have + + + +caught some of the problems. And those we didnt catch may never have +gone on to hurt anyone. + +I had one case, however, in which I know for sure the checklist saved my +patients life. Mr. Hagerman, as well call him, was a fifty-three-year-old +father of two and the CEO of a local company, and I had brought him to the +operating room to remove his right adrenal gland because of an unusual +tumor growing inside it called a pheochromocytoma. Tumors like his pour +out dangerous levels of adrenalin and can be difficult to remove. They are +also exceedingly rare. But in recent years, Ive developed alongside my +general surgery practice a particular interest and expertise in endocrine +surgery. Ive now removed somewhere around forty adrenal tumors without +complication. So when Mr. Hager-man came to see me about this strange +mass in his right adrenal gland, I felt quite confident about my ability to +help him. There is always a risk of serious complications, I explainedthe +primary danger occurs when youre taking the gland off the vena cava, the +main vessel returning blood to the heart, because injuring the vena cava can +cause life-threatening bleeding. But the likelihood was low, I reassured him. + +Once youre in the operating room, however, you either have a +complication or you dont. And with him I did. + +I was doing the operation laparoscopically, freeing the tumor with +instruments I observed on a video monitor using a fiberoptic camera we put +inside Mr. Hagerman. All was going smoothly. I was able to lift the liver up +and out of the way, and underneath I found the soft, tan yellow mass, like +the yolk of a hard-boiled egg. I began dissecting it free of the vena cava, +and although doing so was painstaking, it didnt seem unusually difficult. +Id gotten the tumor mostly separated when I did something Id never done +before: I made a tear in the vena cava. + +This is a catastrophe. I might as well have made a hole directly in Mr. +Hagermans heart. The bleeding that resulted was terrifying. He lost almost +his entire volume of blood into his abdomen in about sixty seconds and +went into cardiac arrest. I made a huge slashing incision to open his chest +and belly as fast and wide as I could. I took his heart in my hand and began +compressing it one-two-three-squeeze, one-two-three-squeezeto keep +his blood flow going to his brain. The resident assisting me held pressure on +the vena cava to slow the torrent. But in the grip of my fingers, I could feel +the heart emptying out. + + + +I thought it was over, that wed never get Mr. Hagerman out of the +operating room alive, that I had killed him. But we had run the checklist at +the start of the case. When we had come to the part where I was supposed to +discuss how much blood loss the team should be prepared for, I said, I +dont expect much blood loss. Ive never lost more than one hundred ccs. +I was confident. I was looking forward to this operation. But I added that +the tumor was pressed right up against the vena cava and that significant +blood loss remained at least a theoretical concern. The nurse took that as a +cue to check that four units of packed red cells had been set aside in the +blood bank, like they were supposed to bejust in case, as she said. + +They hadnt been, it turned out. So the blood bank got the four units +ready. And as a result, from this one step alone, the checklist saved my +patients life. + +Just as powerful, though, was the effect that the routine of the checklist +the disciplinehad on us. Of all the people in the room as we started that +operationthe anesthesiologist, the nurse anesthetist, the surgery resident, +the scrub nurse, the circulating nurse, the medical studentI had worked +with only two before, and I knew only the resident well. But as we went +around the room introducing ourselvesAtul Gawande, surgeon. Rich +Bafford, surgery resident. Sue Marchand, nurseyou could feel the +room snapping to attention. We confirmed the patients name on his ID +bracelet and that we all agreed which adrenal gland was supposed to come +out. The anesthesiologist confirmed that he had no critical issues to mention +before starting, and so did the nurses. We made sure that the antibiotics +were in the patient, a warming blanket was on his body, the inflating boots +were on his legs to keep blood clots from developing. We came into the +room as strangers. But when the knife hit the skin, we were a team. + +As a result, when I made the tear and put disaster upon us, everyone kept +their head. The circulating nurse called an alarm for extra personnel and got +the blood from the blood bank almost instantly. The anesthesiologist began +pouring unit after unit into the patient. Forces were marshaled to bring in +the additional equipment I requested, to page the vascular surgeon I wanted, +to assist the anesthesiologist with obtaining more intravenous access, to +keep the blood bank apprised. And together the team got meand the +patientprecious time. They ended up transfusing more than thirty units of +blood into himhe lost three times as much blood as his body contained to + + + +begin with. And with our eyes on the monitor tracing his blood pressure and +my hand squeezing his heart, it proved enough to keep his circulation +going. The vascular surgeon and I had time to work out an effective way to +clamp off the vena cava tear. I could feel his heart begin beating on its own +again. We were able to put in sutures and close the hole. And Mr. Hagerman +survived. + +I cannot pretend he escaped unscathed. The extended period of low blood +pressure damaged an optic nerve and left him essentially blind in one eye. +He didnt get off the respirator for days. He was out of work for months. I +was crushed by what I had put him through. Though I apologized to him +and carried on with my daily routine, it took me a long time to feel right +again in surgery. I cant do an adrenalectomy without thinking of his case, +and I suspect that is good. I have even tried refining the operative technique +in hopes of coming up with better ways to protect the vena cava and keep +anything like his experience from happening again. + +But more than this, because of Mr. Hagermans operation, I have come to +be grateful for what a checklist can do. I do not like to think how much +worse the case could have been. I do not like to think about having to walk +out to that family waiting area and explain to his wife that her husband had +died. + +I spoke to Mr. Hagerman not long ago. He had sold his company with +great success and was in the process of turning another company around. +He was running three days a week. He was even driving. + +I have to watch out for my blind spot, but I can manage, he said. +He had no bitterness, no anger, and this is remarkable to me. I count + +myself lucky just to be alive, he insisted. I asked him if I could have +permission to tell others his story. + +Yes, he said. Id be glad if you did. + + + +NOTES ON SOURCES + +INTRODUCTION +7 In the 1970s: S. Gorovitz and A. MacIntyre, Toward a Theory of + +Medical Fallibility, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 1 (1976): 51 +71. + +9 The first safe medication: M. Hamilton and E. N. Thompson, The +Role of Blood Pressure Control in Preventing Complications of +Hypertension, Lancet 1 (1964): 23539. See also VA Cooperative +Study Group, Effects of Treatment on Morbidity of Hypertension, +Journal of the American Medical Association 202 (1967): 102833. + +10 After that, survival: R. L. McNamara et al., Effect of Door-to- +Balloon Time on Mortality in Patients with ST-Segment Elevation +Myocardial Infarction, Journal of the American College of Cardiology +47 (2006): 218086. + +10 In 2006: E. H. Bradley et al., Strategies for Reducing the Door-to- +Balloon Time in Acute Myocardial Infarction, New England Journal +of Medicine 355 (2006): 230820. + +10 Studies have found: E. A. McGlynn et al., Rand Research Brief: +The First National Report Card on Quality of Health Care in America, +Rand Corporation, 2006. + +11 You see it in the 36 percent increase: American Bar Association, +Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims, 20042007 (Chicago: American +Bar Association, 2008). + +1. THE PROBLEM OF EXTREME COMPLEXITY +15 I read a case report:M. Thalmann, N. Trampitsch, M. Haberfellner, + +et al., Resuscitation in Near Drowning with Extracorporeal Membrane +Oxygenation, Annals of Thoracic Surgery 72 (2001): 6078. + + + +21 The answer that came back: Further details of the analysis by +Marcus Semel, Richard Marshall, and Amy Marston will appear in a +forthcoming scientific article. + +23 On any given day: Society of Critical Care Medicine, Critical Care +Statistics in the United States, 2006. + +23 The average stay: J. E. Zimmerman et al., Intensive Care Unit +Length of Stay: Benchmarking Based on Acute Physiology and +Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IV, Critical Care Medicine 34 +(2006): 251729. + +23 Fifteen years ago: Y. Donchin et al., A Look into the Nature and +Causes of Human Errors in the Intensive Care Unit, Critical Care +Medicine 23 (1995): 294300. + +24 There are dangers simply: N. Vaecker et al., Bone Resorption Is +Induced on the Second Day of Bed Rest: Results of a Controlled, +Crossover Trial, Journal of Applied Physiology 95 (2003): 97782. + +28 national statistics show: Centers for Disease Control, National +Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) System Report, 2004, Data +Summary from January 1992 through June 2004, Issued October +2004, American Journal of Infection Control 32 (2004): 47085. + +28 Those who survive line infections: P. Kalfon et al., Comparison of +Silver-Impregnated with Standard Multi-Lumen Central Venous +Catheters in Critically Ill Patients, Critical Care Medicine 35 (2007): +103239. + +28 All in all, about half : S. Ghorra et al., Analysis of the Effect of +Conversion from Open to Closed Surgical Intensive Care Units, +Annals of Surgery 2 (1999): 16371. + +2. THE CHECKLIST +32 On October 30, 1935: P. S. Meilinger, When the Fortress Went + +Down, Air Force Magazine, Oct. 2004, pp. 7882. +35 A study of forty-one thousand: J. R. Clarke, A. V. Ragone, and L. + +Greenwald, Comparisons of Survival Predictions Using Survival Risk +Ratios Based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth +Revision and Abbreviated Injury Scale Trauma Diagnosis Codes, +Journal of Trauma 59 (2005): 56369. + + + +35 Practitioners have had the means: J. V. Stewart, Vital Signs and +Resuscitation (Georgetown, TX: Landes Bioscience, 2003). + +38 In more than a third of patients: S. M. Berenholtz et al., +Eliminating Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections in the Intensive +Care Unit, Critical Care Medicine 32 (2004): 201420. + +39 This reduced from 41 percent: M. A. Erdek and P. J. Pronovost, +Improvement of Assessment and Treatment of Pain in the Critically +Ill, International Journal for Quality Improvement in Healthcare 16 +(2004): 5964. + +39 The proportion of patients: S. M. Berenholtz et al., Improving Care +for the Ventilated Patient, Joint Commission Journal on Quality and +Safety 4 (2004): 195204. + +39 The researchers found: P. J. Pronovost et al., Improving +Communication in the ICU Using Daily Goals, Journal of Critical +Care 18 (2003): 7175. + +39 In a survey of ICU staff : Berenholtz et al., Improving Care. +41 But between 2000 and 2003: K. Norris, DMC Ends 2004 in the + +Black, but Storm Clouds Linger, Detroit Free Press, March 30, 2005. +44 In December 2006: P. J. Pronovost et al., An Intervention to + +Reduce Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections in the ICU, New +England Journal of Medicine 355 (2006): 272532. + +3. THE END OF THE MASTER BUILDER +48 Two professors who study: S. Glouberman and B. Zimmerman, + +Complicated and Complex Systems: What Would Successful Reform +of Medicare Look Like? discussion paper no. 8, Commission on the +Future of Health Care in Canada, Saskatoon, 2002. + +54 His firm, McNamara/Salvia: Portfolio at www.mcsal.com. +59 Weve been slow to adapt: Data from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health + +Care, www.darmouthatlas.org. +69 It was planned to rise: R. J. McNamara, Robert J. McNamara, SE, + +FASCE, Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings 17 (2008): +493512. + +70 But, as a New Yorker story: Joe Morgenstern, The Fifty-Nine-Story +Crisis, New Yorker, May 29, 1995. + + + +71 In the United States: U.S. Census data for 2003 and 2008, www +.census.gov; K. Wardhana and F. C. Hadipriono, Study of Recent +Building Failures in the United States, Journal of Performance of +Constructed Facilities 17 (2003): 15158. + +4. THE IDEA +73 At 6:00 a.m.: Hurricane Katrina events and data from E. Scott, + +Hurricane Katrina, Managing Crises: Responses to Large-Scale +Emergencies, ed. A. M. Howitt and H. B. Leonard (Washington, D.C.: +CQ Press, 2009), pp. 1374. + +76 Of all organizations: Wal-Mart events and data from S. Rose-grant, +Wal-Marts Response to Hurricane Katrina, Managing Crises, pp. +379406. + +78 For every Wal-Mart: D. Gross, What FEMA Could Learn from +Wal-Mart: Less Than You Think, Slate, Sept. 23, 2005, http:// +www.slate.com/id/2126832. + +78 In the early days: Scott, Hurricane Katrina, p. 49. +80 As Roth explained: D. L. Roth, Crazy from the Heat (New York: + +Hyperion, 1997). +81 Her focus is on regional Italian cuisine: J. Adams and K. Rivard, In + +the Hands of a Chef: Cooking with Jody Adams of Rialto Restaurant +(New York:William Morrow, 2002). + +5. THE FIRST TRY +87 By 2004: T. G. Weiser et al., An Estimation of the Global Volume + +of Surgery: A Modelling Strategy Based on Available Data, Lancet +372 (2008): 13944. + +87 Although most of the time: A. A. Gawande et al., The Incidence +and Nature of Surgical Adverse Events in Colorado and Utah in 1992, +Surgery 126 (1999): 6675. + +87 Worldwide, at least seven million people: Weiser, An Estimation, +and World Health Organization, World Health Report, 2004 (Geneva: +WHO, 2004). See annex, table 2. + + + +91 The strategy has shown results: P. K. Lindenauer et al., Public +Reporting and Pay for Performance in Hospital Quality Improvement, +New England Journal of Medicine 356 (2007): 48696. + +93 When the disease struck: S. Johnson, The Ghost Map (New York: +Riverhead, 2006). + +95 Luby and his team reported: S. P. Luby et al., Effect of Hand- +washing on Child Health: A Randomised Controlled Trial, Lancet 366 +(2005): 22533. + +98 But give it on time: A. A. Gawande and T. G. Weiser, eds.,World +Health Organization Guidelines for Safe Surgery (Geneva: WHO, +2008). + +102 In one survey of three hundred:M. A. Makary et al., Operating +Room Briefings and Wrong-Site Surgery, Journal of the American +College of Surgeons 204 (2007): 23643. + +102 surveyed more than a thousand: J. B. Sexton, E. J. Thomas, and R. +L. Helmsreich, Error, Stress, and Teamwork in Medicine and +Aviation, British Medical Journal 320 (2000): 74549. + +108 The researchers learned: See preliminary data reported in Team +Communication in Safety, OR Manager 19, no. 12 (2003): 3. + +109 After three months: Makary et al., Operating Room Briefings and +Wrong-Site Surgery. + +109 At the Kaiser hospitals: Preflight Checklist Builds Safety +Culture, Reduces Nurse Turnover, OR Manager 19, no. 12 (2003): 1 +4. + +109 At Toronto: L. Lingard et al. Getting Teams to Talk: Development +and Prior Implementation of a Checklist to Promote Interpersonal +Communication in the OR, Quality and Safety in Health Care 14 +(2005): 34046. + +6. THE CHECKLIST FACTORY +114 Among the articles I found: D. J. Boorman, Reducing Flight + +Crew Errors and Minimizing New Error Modes with Electronic +Checklists, Proceedings of the International Conference on Human- +Computer Interaction in Aeronautics (Toulouse: Editions Cpauds, +2000), pp. 5763; D. J. Boorman, Todays Electronic Checklists + + + +Reduce Likelihood of Crew Errors and Help Prevent Mishaps, ICAO +Journal 56 (2001): 1720. + +116 An electrical short: National Traffic Safety Board, Aircraft +Accident Report: Explosive DecompressionLoss of Cargo Door in +Flight, United Airlines Flight 811, Boeing 747-122, N4713U, +Honolulu, Hawaii, February 24, 1989, Washington D.C., March 18, +1992. + +116 The plane was climbing: S. White, Twenty-Six Minutes of +Terror, Flight Safety Australia, Nov.Dec. 1999, pp. 4042. + +120 They can help experts: A. Degani and E. L. Wiener, Human +Factors of Flight-Deck Checklists: The Normal Checklist, NASA +Contractor Report 177549, Ames Research Center, May 1990. + +121 Some have been found confusing: Aviation Safety Reporting +System, ASRS Database Report Set: Checklist Incidents, 2009. + +129 Crash investigators with Britains: Air Accidents Investigation +Branch, AAIB Interim Report: Accident to Boeing 777-236ER, G- +YMMM, at London Heathrow Airport on 17 January 2008, +Department of Transport, London, Sept. 2008. + +129 It was just yards above : M. Fricker, Gordon Brown Just 25 +Feet from Death in Heathrow Crash, Daily Mirror, Jan. 18, 2008. + +129 The nose wheels collapsed: Air Accidents Investigation Branch, +AAIB Bulletin S1/2008, Department of Transport, London, Feb. +2008. + +130 Their initial reports: Air Accidents Investigation Branch, AAIB +Bulletin S1/2008; Air Accidents Investigation Branch, AAIB +Bulletin S3/2008, Department of Transport, London, May 2008. + +132 Nonetheless, the investigators tested: Air Accidents Investigation +Branch, AAIB Interim Report. + +132 So in September 2008: Federal Aviation Administration, +Airworthiness Directive; Boeing Model 777-200 and -300 Series +Airplanes Equipped with Rolls-Royce Model RB211-TRENT 800 +Series Engines, Washington, D.C., Sept. 12, 2008. + +133 One study in medicine: E. A. Balas and S. A. Boren, Managing +Clinical Knowledge for Health Care Improvement, Yearbook of +Medical Informatics (2000): 6570. + + + +133 almost 700,000 medical journal articles: National Library of +Medicine, Key Medline Indicators, Nov. 12, 2008, accessed at +www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/bsd_key.html. + +134 This time it was: National Transportation Safety Board, Safety +Recommendations A-09-17-18,Washington, D.C., March 11, 2009. + +7. THE TEST +139 Of the tens of millions: Joint Commission, Sentinel Event Alert, + +June 24, 2003. +139 By comparison, some 300,000: R. D. Scott, The Direct Medical + +Costs of Healthcare-Associated Infections in U.S. Hospitals and the +Benefits of Prevention, Centers for Disease Control, March 2009. + +140 The final WHO safe surgery checklist: The checklist can be +accessed at www.who.int/safesurgery. + +146 We gave them some PowerPoint slides: The videos can be viewed +at www.safesurg.org/materials.html. + +156 In January 2009: A. B. Haynes et al., A Surgical Safety Checklist +to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality in a Global Population, New +England Journal of Medicine 360 (2009): 49199. + +8. THE HERO IN THE AGE OF CHECKLISTS +161 Tom Wolfes The Right Stuff: T. Wolfe, The Right Stuff (New York: + +Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979). +163 Neuroscientists have found: H. Breiter et al., Functional Imaging + +of Neural Responses to Expectancy and Experience of Monetary Gains +and Losses, Neuron 30 (2001): 61939. + +166 Corts earning power : Wesco Financial Corporation, Securities +and Exchange Commission, Form 8-K filing, May 4, 2005. + +170 Smart specifically studied: G. H. Smart, Management Assessment +Methods in Venture Capital: An Empirical Analysis of Human Capital +Valuation, Journal of Private Equity 2, no. 3 (1999): 2945. + +172 He has since gone on: G. H. Smart and R. Street, Who: The A +Method for Hiring (New York: Ballantine, 2008). + + + +173 A National Transportation Safety Board official: J. Olshan and I. +Livingston, Quiet Air Hero Is Captain America, New York Post, Jan. +17, 2009. + +174 As Sullenberger kept saying:M. Phillips, Sully, Flight 1549 Crew +Receive Keys to New York City, The Middle Seat, blog,Wall Street +Journal, Feb. 9, 2009, http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2009/02/ 09/. + +174 That was so long ago : Sullys Tale, Air&Space, Feb. 18, +2009. + +178 Once that happened: C. Sullenberger and J. Zaslow, Highest Duty: +My Search for What Really Matters (New York: William Morrow, +2009). + +179 Skiles managed to complete: Testimony of Captain Terry Lutz, +Experimental Test Pilot, Engineering Flight Operations, Airbus, +National Transportation Safety Board, Public Hearing in the Matter of +the Landing of US Air Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, Weehawken, +New Jersey, January 15, 2009, June 10, 2009. + +180 Flaps out? : D. P. Brazy, Group Chairmans Factual Report of +Investigation: Cockpit Voice Recorder DCA09MA026, National +Transportation Safety Board, April 22, 2009. + +180 For, as journalist and pilot: W. Langewiesche, Anatomy of a +Miracle, Vanity Fair, June 2009. + +181 After the plane landed: Testimony of Captain Chesley +Sullenberger, A320 Captain, US Airways, National Transportation +Safety Board, Public Hearing, June 9, 2009. + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + +Three kinds of people were pivotal to this book: the ones behind the +writing, the ones behind the ideas, and the ones who made both possible. As +the book involved background research in several fields beyond my +expertise, the number of people I am indebted to is especially large. But this +book could never have been completed without all of them. + +First are those who helped me take my loose observations about failure +and checklists and bring them together in book form. My agent, Tina +Bennett, saw the possibilities right away and championed the book from the +moment I first told her about my burgeoning fascination with checklists. +My editor at the New Yorker, the indispensable Henry Finder, showed me +how to give my initial draft more structure and my thinking more +coherence. + +Laura Schoenherr, my brilliant and indefatigable research assistant, found +almost every source here, checked my facts, provided suggestions, and kept +me honest. Roslyn Schloss provided meticulous copyediting and a vital +final review. At Metropolitan Books, Riva Hocherman went through the +text with inspired intelligence and gave crucial advice at every stage of the +books development. Most of all, I leaned on Sara Bershtel, Metropolitans +publisher, with whom Ive worked for nearly a decade now. Smart, tough, +and tireless, she combed through multiple drafts, got me to sharpen every +section, and saved me from numerous errors of tone and thinking, all the +while shepherding the book through production with almost alarming +efficiency. + +As for the underlying ideas and the stories and experience fleshing them +out, I have many, many to thank. Donald Berwick taught me the science of +systems improvement and opened my eyes to the possibilities of checklists +in medicine. Peter Pronovost provided a crucial source of ideas with his +seminal work in ICUs. Lucian Leape, David Bates, and Berwick were the +ones to suggest my name to the World Health Organization. Sir Liam + + + +Donald-son, the chair of WHO Patient Safety, who established the +organizations global campaign to reduce deaths in surgery, was kind +enough to bring me aboard to lead it and then showed me what leadership +in public health really meant. Pauline Philip, the executive director of WHO +Patient Safety, didnt take no for an answer from me and proved +extraordinary in both her dedication and her effectiveness in carrying out +work that has now extended across dozens of countries. + +At WHO, Margaret Chan, the director general, as well as Ian Smith, her +adviser, David Heymann, deputy director general, and Tim Evans, assistant +director general, have all been stalwart supporters. I am also particularly +grateful to Gerald Dziekan, whom I have worked with almost daily for the +past three years, and also Vivienne Allan, Hilary Coates, Armorel Duncan, +Helen Hughes, Sooyeon Hwang, Angela Lashoher, Claire Lemer, Agnes +Leotsakos, Pat Martin, Douglas Noble, Kristine Stave, Fiona Stewart-Mills, +and Julie Storr. + +At Boeing, Daniel Boorman emerged as an essential partner in work that +has now extended to designing, testing, and implementing clinical +checklists for safe childbirth, control of diarrheal infections, operating room +crises, management of patients with H1N1 influenza, and other areas. Jamie +and Christopher Cooper-Hohn, Roman Emmanuel, Mala Gaonkar and +Oliver Haarmann, David Greenspan, and Yen and Eeling Liow were early +and vital backers. + +At the Harvard School of Public Health, the trio of William Berry, Tom +Weiser, and Alex Haynes have been the steel columns of the surgery +checklist work. The WHO Safe Surgery program I describe in this book +also depended on Abdel-Hadi Breizat, Lord Ara Darzi, E. Patchen +Dellinger, Teodoro Herbosa, Sidhir Joseph, Pascience Kibatala, Marie +Lapitan, Alan Merry, Krishna Moorthy, Richard Reznick, and Bryce Taylor, +the principal investigators at our eight study sites around the world; Bruce +Barraclough, Martin Makary, Didier Pittet, and Iskander Sayek, the leaders +of our scientific advisory group, as well as the many participants in the +WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives study group; Martin Fletcher and Lord +Naren Patel at the National Patient Safety Agency in the U.K.; Alex +Arriaga, Angela Bader, Kelly Bernier, Bridget Craig, Priya Desai, Rachel +Dyer, Lizzie Edmondson, Luke Funk, Stuart Lipsitz, Scott Regenbogen, and + + + +my colleagues at the Brigham and Womens Center for Surgery and Public +Health; and the MacArthur Foundation. + +I am deeply indebted to the many experts named throughout the book +whose generosity and forbearance helped me explore their fields. Unnamed +here are Jonathan Katz, who opened the door to the world of skyscraper +building; Dutch Leonard and Arnold Howitt, who explained Hurricane +Katrina to me; Nuno Alvez and Andrew Hebert, Rialtos sous chefs, who let +me invade their kitchen; Eugene Hill, who sent me the work of Geoff +Smart; and Marcus Semel, the research fellow in my group who analyzed +the data from Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates showing the +complexity of clinical work in medicine and the national data showing the +frequency of death in surgery. In addition, Katy Thompson helped me with +the research and fact-checking behind my New Yorker article The +Checklist, which this book grew out of. + +Lastly, we come to those without whom my life in writing and research +and surgery would be impossible. Elizabeth Morse, my administrative +director, has proved irreplaceable, lending a level head, around-the-clock +support, and continually wise counsel. Michael Zinner, the chairman of my +surgery department at Brigham and Womens Hospital, and Arnie Epstein, +the chairman of my health policy and management department at the +Harvard School of Public Health, have backed me in this project as they +have for many others over the last decade and more. David Remnick, the +editor of the New Yorker, has been nothing but kind and loyal, keeping me +on staff through this entire period. I could not be more fortunate to have +such extraordinary people behind me. + +Most important, however, are two final groups. There are my patients, +both those who have let me tell their stories here and those who have +simply trusted me to try to help with their care. I have learned more from +them than from anyone else. And then there is my family. My wife, +Kathleen, and children, Hunter, Hattie, and Walker, tend to suffer the brunt +of my mutating commitments and enthusiasms. But they have always found +ways to make room for my work, to share in it, and to remind me that it is +not everything. My thanks to them are boundless. + + + +ABOUT THE AUTHOR + +Atul Gawande is the author of Better and Complications. A MacArthur +Fellow, a general and endocrine surgeon at the Brigham and Womens +Hospital in Boston, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and an associate +professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public +Health, he also leads the World Health Organizations Safe Surgery Saves +Lives program. He lives with his wife and three children in Newton, +Massachusetts. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/Books/Religeon/The Holy Bible, English Standar - Crossway Bibles.txt b/Books/Religeon/The Holy Bible, English Standar - Crossway Bibles.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5786674 --- /dev/null +++ b/Books/Religeon/The Holy Bible, English Standar - Crossway Bibles.txt @@ -0,0 +1,83235 @@ +Table of Contents + + +The Holy Bible ESV + + + +Preface to the English Standard Version + + + +Explanation of Features Included in this Edition + + + +GENESIS + + + +EXODUS + + + +LEVITICUS + + + +NUMBERS + + + +DEUTERONOMY + + + +JOSHUA + + + +JUDGES + + + +RUTH + + + +1 SAMUEL + + + +2 SAMUEL + + + +1 KINGS + + + +2 KINGS + + + +1 CHRONICLES + + + +2 CHRONICLES + + + +EZRA + + + +NEHEMIAH + + + +ESTHER + + + +JOB + + + +PSALMS + + + +PROVERBS + + + +ECCLESIASTES + + + +SONG OF SOLOMON + + + +ISAIAH + + + +JEREMIAH + + + +LAMENTATIONS + + + +EZEKIEL + + + +DANIEL + + + +HOSEA + + + +JOEL + + + +AMOS + + + +OBADIAH + + + +JONAH + + + +MICAH + + + +NAHUM + + + +HABAKKUK + + + +ZEPHANIAH + + + +HAGGAI + + + +ZECHARIAH + + + +MALACHI + + + +MATTHEW + + + +MARK + + + +LUKE + + + +JOHN + + + +ACTS + + + +ROMANS + + + +1 CORINTHIANS + + + +2 CORINTHIANS + + + +GALATIANS + + + +EPHESIANS + + + +PHILIPPIANS + + + +COLOSSIANS + + + +1 THESSALONIANS + + + +2 THESSALONIANS + + + +1 TIMOTHY + + + +2 TIMOTHY + + + +TITUS + + + +PHILEMON + + + +HEBREWS + + + +JAMES + + + +1 PETER + + + +2 PETER + + + +1 JOHN + + + +2 JOHN + + + +3 JOHN + + + +JUDE + + + +REVELATION + + + + + +The Holy Bible + +ESV + + +English Standard Version + + +Containing the Old and New Testaments + + +Crossway Bibles + +Wheaton, Illinois + + +Kindle Edition, English Standard Version® (ESV®) + + Copyright © 2007 by Crossway Bibles, + + a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers + + All rights reserved. + +The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) + + Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, + + a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers + + All rights reserved. + +ESV Text Edition: 2007 + +The ESV text may be quoted (in written, visual, or electronic form) up to and inclusive of one thousand (1,000) verses without express written permission of the publisher, providing that the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for 50 percent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. + +The ESV text may be quoted for audio use (audio cassettes, CD’s, audio television) up to two hundred fifty (250) verses without express written permission of the publisher providing that the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for 50 percent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. + +Notice of copyright must appear as follows on the title page or copyright page of printed works quoting from the ESV, or in a corresponding location when the ESV is quoted in other media: + +“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” + +When more than one translation is quoted in printed works or other media, the notice of copyright should begin as follows: + +“Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from . . . [etc.]”; or, “Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from . . . [etc.].” + +The “ESV” and “English Standard Version” are registered trademarks of Good News Publishers. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Good News Publishers. + +When quotations from the ESV text are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies, or similar media, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (ESV) must appear at the end of the quotation. Publication of any commentary or other Bible reference work produced for commercial sale that uses the English Standard Version (ESV) must include written permission for use of the ESV text. Permission requests that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to Good News Publishers, Attn: Bible Rights, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, IL 60187, USA. Permission requests for use within the UK and EU that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to: HarperCollins Religious, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB, England. + +The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. + +Good News Publishers (including Crossway Bibles) is a not-for-profit publishing ministry that exists solely for the purpose of publishing the Good News of the Gospel and the Truth of God’s Word, the Bible. A portion of the purchase price of every ESV Bible is donated to help support Bible distribution ministry around the world through ESV Bible Ministry International. + + + + + +Preface to the English Standard Version + + +The Bible + + +“This Book [is] the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God.” With these words the Moderator of the Church of Scotland hands a Bible to the new monarch in Britain’s coronation service. These words echo the King James Bible translators, who wrote in 1611: “God’s sacred Word . . . is that inestimable treasure that excelleth all the riches of the earth.” This assessment of the Bible is the motivating force behind the publication of the English Standard Version. + + + + + +Translation Legacy + + +The English Standard Version (ESV) stands in the classic mainstream of English Bible translations over the past half-millennium. The fountainhead of that stream was William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526; marking its course were the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971 (RSV). In that stream, faithfulness to the text and vigorous pursuit of accuracy were combined with simplicity, beauty, and dignity of expression. Our goal has been to carry forward this legacy for a new century. + +To this end each word and phrase in the ESV has been carefully weighed against the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, to ensure the fullest accuracy and clarity and to avoid under-translating or overlooking any nuance of the original text. The words and phrases themselves grow out of the Tyndale–King James legacy, and most recently out of the RSV, with the 1971 RSV text providing the starting point for our work. Archaic language has been brought to current usage and significant corrections have been made in the translation of key texts. But throughout, our goal has been to retain the depth of meaning and enduring language that have made their indelible mark on the English-speaking world and have defined the life and doctrine of the church over the last four centuries. + + + + + +Translation Philosophy + + +The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on “word-for-word” correspondence, at the same time taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original. + +In contrast to the ESV, some Bible versions have followed a “thought-for-thought” rather than “word-for-word” translation philosophy, emphasizing “dynamic equivalence” rather than the “essentially literal” meaning of the original. A “thought-for-thought” translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive opinions of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture. + +Every translation is at many points a trade-off between literal precision and readability, between “formal equivalence” in expression and “functional equivalence” in communication, and the ESV is no exception. Within this framework we have sought to be “as literal as possible” while maintaining clarity of expression and literary excellence. Therefore, to the extent that plain English permits and the meaning in each case allows, we have sought to use the same English word for important recurring words in the original; and, as far as grammar and syntax allow, we have rendered Old Testament passages cited in the New in ways that show their correspondence. Thus in each of these areas, as well as throughout the Bible as a whole, we have sought to capture the echoes and overtones of meaning that are so abundantly present in the original texts. + +As an essentially literal translation, then, the ESV seeks to carry over every possible nuance of meaning in the original words of Scripture into our own language. As such, it is ideally suited for in-depth study of the Bible. Indeed, with its emphasis on literary excellence, the ESV is equally suited for public reading and preaching, for private reading and reflection, for both academic and devotional study, and for Scripture memorization. + + + + + +Translation Style + + +The ESV also carries forward classic translation principles in its literary style. Accordingly it retains theological terminology—words such as grace, faith, justification, sanctification, redemption, regeneration, reconciliation, propitiation—because of their central importance for Christian doctrine and also because the underlying Greek words were already becoming key words and technical terms in New Testament times. + +The ESV lets the stylistic variety of the biblical writers fully express itself—from the exalted prose that opens Genesis, to the flowing narratives of the historical books, to the rich metaphors and dramatic imagery of the poetic books, to the ringing rhetorical indictments in the prophetic books, to the smooth elegance of Luke, to the profound simplicities of John, and the closely reasoned logic of Paul. + +In punctuating, paragraphing, dividing long sentences, and rendering connectives, the ESV follows the path that seems to make the ongoing flow of thought clearest in English. The biblical languages regularly connect sentences by frequent repetition of words such as “and,” “but,” and “for,” in a way that goes beyond the conventions of literary English. Effective translation, however, requires that these links in the original be reproduced so that the flow of the argument will be transparent to the reader. We have therefore normally translated these connectives, though occasionally we have varied the rendering by using alternatives (such as “also,” “however,” “now,” “so,” “then,” or “thus”) when they better capture the sense in specific instances. + +In the area of gender language, the goal of the ESV is to render literally what is in the original. For example, “anyone” replaces “any man” where there is no word corresponding to “man” in the original languages, and “people” rather than “men” is regularly used where the original languages refer to both men and women. But the words “man” and “men” are retained where a male meaning component is part of the original Greek or Hebrew. Likewise, the word “man” has been retained where the original text intends to convey a clear contrast between “God” on the one hand and “man” on the other hand, with “man” being used in the collective sense of the whole human race (see Luke 2:52). Similarly, the English word “brothers” (translating the Greek word adelphoi) is retained as an important familial form of address between fellow-Jews and fellow-Christians in the first century. A recurring note is included to indicate that the term “brothers” (adelphoi) was often used in Greek to refer to both men and women, and to indicate the specific instances in the text where this is the case. In addition, the English word “sons” (translating the Greek word huioi) is retained in specific instances because the underlying Greek term usually includes a male meaning component and it was used as a legal term in the adoption and inheritance laws of first-century Rome. As used by the apostle Paul, this term refers to the status of all Christians, both men and women, who, having been adopted into God’s family, now enjoy all the privileges, obligations, and inheritance rights of God’s children. + +The inclusive use of the generic “he” has also regularly been retained, because this is consistent with similar usage in the original languages and because an essentially literal translation would be impossible without it. Similarly, where God and man are compared or contrasted in the original, the ESV retains the generic use of “man” as the clearest way to express the contrast within the framework of essentially literal translation. + +In each case the objective has been transparency to the original text, allowing the reader to understand the original on its own terms rather than on the terms of our present-day culture. + + + + + +The Translation of Specialized Terms + + +In the translation of biblical terms referring to God, the ESV takes great care to convey the specific nuances of meaning of the original Hebrew and Greek terms. First, concerning terms that refer to God in the Old Testament: God, the Maker of heaven and earth, introduced himself to the people of Israel with the special, personal name, whose consonants are YHWH (see Exodus 3:14-15). Scholars call this the “Tetragrammaton,” a Greek term referring to the four Hebrew letters YHWH. The exact pronunciation of YHWH is uncertain, because the Jewish people considered the personal name of God to be so holy that it should never be spoken aloud. Instead of reading the word YHWH, they would normally read the Hebrew word adonai (“Lord”), and the ancient translations into Greek, Syriac, and Aramaic also followed suit. When the vowels of the word adonai are placed with the consonants of YHWH, this results in the familiar word Jehovah that was used in some earlier English Bible translations. As is common among English translations today, the ESV usually renders the personal name of God (YHWH) with the word LORD (printed in small capitals). An exception to this is when the Hebrew word adonai appears together with YHWH, in which case the two words are rendered together as “the Lord [in lower case] GOD [in small capitals].” In contrast to the personal name for God (YHWH), the more general name for God in Old Testament Hebrew is ’elohim and its related forms of ’el or ’eloah, all of which are normally translated “God” (in lower case letters). The use of these different ways to translate the Hebrew words for God is especially beneficial to the English reader, enabling the reader to see and understand the different ways that the personal name and the general name for God are both used to refer to the One True God of the Old Testament. + +Second, in the New Testament, the Greek word Christos has been translated consistently as “Christ.” Although the term originally meant “anointed,” among Jews in New Testament times the term came to designate the Messiah, the great Savior that God had promised to raise up. In other New Testament contexts, however, especially among Gentiles, Christos (“Christ”) was on its way to becoming a proper name. It is important, therefore, to keep the context in mind in understanding the various ways that Christos (“Christ”) is used in the New Testament. At the same time, in accord with its “essentially literal” translation philosophy, the ESV has retained consistency and concordance in the translation of Christos (“Christ”) throughout the New Testament. + +A third specialized term, the word “behold,” usually has been retained as the most common translation for the Hebrew word hinneh and the Greek word idou. Both of these words mean something like “Pay careful attention to what follows! This is important!” Other than the word “behold,” there is no single word in English that fits well in most contexts. Although “Look!” and “See!” and “Listen!” would be workable in some contexts, in many others these words lack sufficient weight and dignity. Given the principles of “essentially literal” translation, it is important not to leave hinneh and idou completely untranslated, and so to lose the intended emphasis in the original languages. The older and more formal word “behold” has usually been retained, therefore, as the best available option for conveying the original sense of meaning. + + + + + +Textual Basis + + +The ESV is based on the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible as found in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (2nd ed., 1983), and on the Greek text in the 1993 editions of the Greek New Testament (4th corrected ed.), published by the United Bible Societies (UBS), and Novum Testamentum Graece (27th ed.), edited by Nestle and Aland. The currently renewed respect among Old Testament scholars for the Masoretic text is reflected in the ESV’s attempt, wherever possible, to translate difficult Hebrew passages as they stand in the Masoretic text rather than resorting to emendations or to finding an alternative reading in the ancient versions. In exceptional, difficult cases, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, and other sources were consulted to shed possible light on the text, or, if necessary, to support a divergence from the Masoretic text. Similarly, in a few difficult cases in the New Testament, the ESV has followed a Greek text different from the text given preference in the UBS/Nestle-Aland 27th edition. In this regard the footnotes that accompany the ESV text are an integral part of the ESV translation, informing the reader of textual variations and difficulties and showing how these have been resolved by the ESV translation team. In addition to this, the footnotes indicate significant alternative readings and occasionally provide an explanation for technical terms or for a difficult reading in the text. Throughout, the translation team has benefited greatly from the massive textual resources that have become readily available recently, from new insights into biblical laws and culture, and from current advances in Hebrew and Greek lexicography and grammatical understanding. + + + + + +Publishing Team + + +The ESV publishing team includes more than a hundred people. The fourteen-member Translation Oversight Committee has benefited from the work of fifty biblical experts serving as Translation Review Scholars and from the comments of the more than fifty members of the Advisory Council, all of which has been carried out under the auspices of the Good News Publishers Board of Directors. This hundred-member team, which shares a common commitment to the truth of God’s Word and to historic Christian orthodoxy, is international in scope and includes leaders in many denominations. + + + + + +To God’s Honor and Praise + + +We know that no Bible translation is perfect or final; but we also know that God uses imperfect and inadequate things to his honor and praise. So to our triune God and to his people we offer what we have done, with our prayers that it may prove useful, with gratitude for much help given, and with ongoing wonder that our God should ever have entrusted to us so momentous a task. + +Soli Deo Gloria!—To God alone be the glory! + +The Translation Oversight Committee* + +*A complete list of the Translation Oversight Committee, the Translation Review Scholars, and the Advisory Council, is available upon request from Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. + + + + + +Explanation of Features Included in this Edition + + +This edition of the ESV Bible includes a number of valuable features to encourage the reading and study of the Bible. A brief description is provided below explaining the purpose and use of this edition’s features. + + + + + +Section Headings + + +Section headings have been included throughout the text of this edition. While the headings are not part of the Bible text itself, they have been provided to help identify and locate important themes and topics throughout the Bible. + + + + + +Textual Footnotes + + +Several kinds of footnotes related to the ESV text are provided throughout the ESV Bible to assist the reader. These footnotes appear at the bottom of the page and are indicated in the ESV text by a superscript number that follows the word or phrase to which the footnote applies (e.g., “Isaac2”). Superscript letters that precede a word are used to indicate cross-references (see explanation below). + +The footnotes included in the ESV Bible are an integral part of the text and provide important information concerning the understanding and translation of the text. The footnotes fall mainly into four categories, as illustrated in the examples below. + + + + + +Types of Footnotes + + +Alternative Translations. Footnotes of this kind provide alternative translations for specific words or phrases when there is a strong possibility that such words or phrases could be translated in another way, such as: “Or keep awake” (see Matt. 26:38); and “Or down payment” (see Eph. 1:14). In such cases, the translation deemed to have the stronger support is in the text while other possible renderings are given in the note. + +Explanation of Greek and Hebrew Terms. Notes of this kind relate primarily to the meaning of specific Greek or Hebrew terms, as illustrated by the following examples: Notes about the meaning of names in the original languages, such as: “Isaac means he laughs” (see Gen. 17:19); and “Simeon sounds like the Hebrew for heard” (see Gen. 29:33). + +Notes that give the literal translation of a Greek or Hebrew word or phrase deemed too awkward to be used in the English text, such as: “Greek girding up the loins of your mind” (see 1 Pet. 1:13). + +Notes indicating that absolute certainty of the meaning of a word or phrase is not possible given our best understanding of the original language (e.g., Hebrew words occurring so infrequently in the Old Testament that their meaning cannot be determined with certainty). Such words are identified with a note stating that “The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain” (see, e.g., Josh. 17:11). + +Notes that indicate the specialized use of a Greek word, such as: “brothers,” translating the Greek word adelphoi (see, e.g., the extended note on Rom. 1:13, corresponding to the first occurrence of adelphoi in any New Testament book, and the abbreviated note, e.g., on Rom. 7:1, corresponding to subsequent occurrences of adelphoi in any New Testament book); and “sons,” translating the Greek word huioi (see, e.g., Rom. 8:14). See also the discussion of adelphoi and huioi in the preface. + + + + + +Other Explanatory Notes. Footnotes of this kind provide clarifying information as illustrated by the following examples: Notes clarifying additional meanings that may not otherwise be apparent in the text, such as: “Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13.” + +Notes clarifying important grammatical points that would not otherwise be apparent in English, such as: “In Hebrew you is plural in verses 1-5” (see Gen. 3:1). + +Notes clarifying when the referent for a pronoun has been supplied in the English text, such as: “Greek he” (see, e.g., Mark 1:43). + +Notes giving English equivalents for weights, measures, and monetary values. + + + + + +Technical Translation Notes. Footnotes of this kind indicate how decisions have been made in the translation of difficult Hebrew and Greek passages. Such notes occasionally include technical terms. For an explanation of these terms the reader is referred to standard Bible study reference works. See further the section in the preface on “Textual Basis” for an explanation of the original-language texts used in the translation of the ESV Bible and how the translation of difficult passages has been resolved. + + + + + +GENESIS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + +Chapter 37 + +Chapter 38 + +Chapter 39 + +Chapter 40 + +Chapter 41 + +Chapter 42 + +Chapter 43 + +Chapter 44 + +Chapter 45 + +Chapter 46 + +Chapter 47 + +Chapter 48 + +Chapter 49 + +Chapter 50 + + + + + +The Creation of the World + + +1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. + +3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. + +6And God said, “Let there be an expanse[1] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7And God made[2] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8And God called the expanse Heaven.[3] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. + +9And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth,[4] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. + +11And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[5] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. + +14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[6] and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. + +20And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[7] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. + +24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. + +26Then God said, “Let us make man[8] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” + +27So God created man in his own image, + +in the image of God he created him; + +male and female he created them. + +28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. + + + + + +The Seventh Day, God Rests + + +2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. + + + + + +The Creation of Man and Woman + + +4These are the generations + +of the heavens and the earth when they were created, + +in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. + +5When no bush of the field[9] was yet in the land[10] and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6and a mist[11] was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. + +10A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. + +15The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat[12] of it you shall surely die.” + +18Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for[13] him.” 19Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed[14] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam[15] there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made[16] into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said, + +“This at last is bone of my bones + +and flesh of my flesh; + +she shall be called Woman, + +because she was taken out of Man.”[17] + +24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. + + + + + +The Fall + + +3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. + +He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You[18] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[19] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. + +8And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool[20] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[21] 10And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” + +14The LORD God said to the serpent, + +“Because you have done this, + +cursed are you above all livestock + +and above all beasts of the field; + +on your belly you shall go, + +and dust you shall eat + +all the days of your life. + +15I will put enmity between you and the woman, + +and between your offspring[22] and her offspring; + +he shall bruise your head, + +and you shall bruise his heel.” + +16To the woman he said, + +“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; + +in pain you shall bring forth children. + +Your desire shall be for[23] your husband, + +and he shall rule over you.” + +17And to Adam he said, + +“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife + +and have eaten of the tree + +of which I commanded you, + +‘You shall not eat of it,’ + +cursed is the ground because of you; + +in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; + +18thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; + +and you shall eat the plants of the field. + +19By the sweat of your face + +you shall eat bread, + +till you return to the ground, + +for out of it you were taken; + +for you are dust, + +and to dust you shall return.” + +20The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.[24] 21And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. + +22Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. + + + + + +Cain and Abel + + +4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten[25] a man with the help of the LORD.” 2And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted?[26] And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for[27] you, but you must rule over it.” + +8Cain spoke to Abel his brother.[28] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.[29] 14Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod,[30] east of Eden. + +17Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. + +23Lamech said to his wives: + +“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; + +you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: + +I have killed a man for wounding me, + +a young man for striking me. + +24If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, + +then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.” + +25And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed[31] for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. + + + + + +Adam's Descendants to Noah + + +5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man[32] when they were created. 3When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. 5Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. + +6When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 7Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. + +9When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 10Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. + +12When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. 13Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. + +15When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 16Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. + +18When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch. 19Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. + +21When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22Enoch walked with God[33] after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24Enoch walked with God, and he was not,[34] for God took him. + +25When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. + +28When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief[35] from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” 30Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. + +32After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. + + + + + +Increasing Corruption on Earth + + +6:1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in[36] man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4The Nephilim[37] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. + +5The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. + + + + + +Noah and the Flood + + +9These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. + +11Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,[38] for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.[39] Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,[40] its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16Make a roof[41] for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. + + + + + +7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals,[42] the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3and seven pairs[43] of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing[44] that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. + +6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. + +11In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in. + +17The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits[45] deep. 21And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. + + + + + +The Flood Subsides + + +8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. + +6At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. + +13In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15Then God said to Noah, 16“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. + + + + + +God's Covenant with Noah + + +20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse[46] the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” + + + + + +9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. + +6“Whoever sheds the blood of man, + +by man shall his blood be shed, + +for God made man in his own image. + +7And you,[47] be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it.” + +8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” + + + + + +Noah's Descendants + + +18The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.[48] + +20Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.[49] 21He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said, + +“Cursed be Canaan; + +a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” + +26He also said, + +“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; + +and let Canaan be his servant. + +27May God enlarge Japheth,[50] + +and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, + +and let Canaan be his servant.” + +28After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died. + + + + + +Nations Descended from Noah + + +10:1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. + +2The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations. + +6The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.[51] 9He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and 12Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom[52] the Philistines came), and Caphtorim. + +15Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 19And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. + +21To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,[53] for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. 26Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 30The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. 31These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. + +32These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. + + + + + +The Tower of Babel + + +11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” 8So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused[54] the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. + + + + + +Shem's Descendants + + +10These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters. + +12When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters. + +14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters. + +16When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters. + +18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters. + +20When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters. + +22When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters. + +24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters. + +26When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. + + + + + +Terah's Descendants + + +27Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. + +31Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. + + + + + +The Call of Abram + + +12:1 Now the LORD said[55] to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[56] + +4So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak[57] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. 9And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. + + + + + +Abram and Sarai in Egypt + + +10Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. + +17But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. + + + + + +Abram and Lot Separate + + +13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. + +2Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD. 5And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. + +8Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.[58] 9Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD. + +14The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks[59] of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD. + + + + + +Abram Rescues Lot + + +14:1 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 7Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar. + +8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way. + +13Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks[60] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. 14When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people. + + + + + +Abram Blessed by Melchizedek + + +17After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19And he blessed him and said, + +“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, + +Possessor[61] of heaven and earth; + +20and blessed be God Most High, + +who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” + +And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 21And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand[62] to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.” + + + + + +God's Covenant with Abram + + +15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue[63] childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son[64] shall be your heir.” 5And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. + +7And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. + +12As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” + +17When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give[65] this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” + + + + + +Sarai and Hagar + + +16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children[66] by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.[67] 5And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. + +7The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11And the angel of the LORD said to her, + +“Behold, you are pregnant + +and shall bear a son. + +You shall call his name Ishmael,[68] + +because the LORD has listened to your affliction. + +12He shall be a wild donkey of a man, + +his hand against everyone + +and everyone's hand against him, + +and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” + +13So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”[69] for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”[70] 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;[71] it lies between Kadesh and Bered. + +15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. + + + + + +Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision + + +17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[72] walk before me, and be blameless, 2that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be called Abram,[73] but your name shall be Abraham,[74] for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” + +9And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” + + + + + +Isaac's Birth Promised + + +15And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah[75] shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover, I will give[76] you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.[77] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” + +22When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. + + + + + +18:1 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks[78] of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3and said, “O Lord,[79] if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs[80] of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. + +9They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard[81] for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15But Sarah denied it,[82] saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” + +16Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I have chosen[83] him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21I will go down to see whether they have done altogether[84] according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” + + + + + +Abraham Intercedes for Sodom + + +22So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” + +27Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. + + + + + +God Rescues Lot + + +19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. + +4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. + +12Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. + +15As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.[85] + + + + + +God Destroys Sodom + + +23The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. 25And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. + +27And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. + +29So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. + + + + + +Lot and His Daughters + + +30Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. 32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” 33So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose. + +34The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” 35So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 36Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab.[86] He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi.[87] He is the father of the Ammonites to this day. + + + + + +Abraham and Abimelech + + +20:1 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.” 4Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” + +8So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” 10And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” 11Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. 12Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.’” + +14Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all[88] who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” 17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. + + + + + +The Birth of Isaac + + +21:1 The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. 2And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.[89] 4And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” + + + + + +God Protects Hagar and Ishmael + + +8And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.[90] 10So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. + +15When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. + + + + + +A Treaty with Abimelech + + +22At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24And Abraham said, “I will swear.” + +25When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized, 26Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this[91] may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31Therefore that place was called Beersheba,[92] because there both of them swore an oath. 32So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines. + + + + + +The Sacrifice of Isaac + + +22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy[93] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. + +9When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 12He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”;[94] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”[95] + +15And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his[96] enemies, 18and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba. + +20Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23(Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah. + + + + + +Sarah's Death and Burial + + +23:1 Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,[97] 4“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” 5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6“Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God[98] among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” 7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.” + +10Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” 12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” 14Ephron answered Abraham, 15“My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels[99] of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants. + +17So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites. + + + + + +Isaac and Rebekah + + +24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 2And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, 3that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. 7The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” 9So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. + +10Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia[100] to the city of Nahor. 11And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this[101] I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” + +15Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. 16The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden[102] whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” 18She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. 21The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not. + +22When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel,[103] and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?” 24She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” 26The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD 27and said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.” 28Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things. + +29Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. 30As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 31He said, “Come in, O blessed of the LORD. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 32So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.” + +34So he said, “I am Abraham's servant. 35The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. 36And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has. 37My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, 38but you shall go to my father's house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ 39I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ 40But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father's house. 41Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’ + +42“I came today to the spring and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, 43behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” 44and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.’ + +45“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ 46She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. 47Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. 48Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way[104] to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. 49Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.” + +50Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken.” + +52When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the LORD. 53And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. 54And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” 55Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” 56But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” 57They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.” 58And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.” 59So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. 60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, + +“Our sister, may you become + +thousands of ten thousands, + +and may your offspring possess + +the gate of those who hate him!”[105] + +61Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way. + +62Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. 63And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. 64And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel 65and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. 66And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. + + + + + +Abraham's Death and His Descendants + + +25:1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country. + +7These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. 8Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi. + +12These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham. 13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. 17(These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled[106] over against all his kinsmen. + + + + + +The Birth of Esau and Jacob + + +19These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”[107] So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23And the LORD said to her, + +“Two nations are in your womb, + +and two peoples from within you[108] shall be divided; + +the one shall be stronger than the other, + +the older shall serve the younger.” + +24When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob.[109] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. + +27When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. + + + + + +Esau Sells His Birthright + + +29Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.[110]) 31Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. + + + + + +God's Promise to Isaac + + +26:1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” + + + + + +Isaac and Abimelech + + +6So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. 8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with[111] Rebekah his wife. 9So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” + +12And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 15(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” + +17So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,[112] because they contended with him. 21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.[113] 22And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,[114] saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” + +23From there he went up to Beersheba. 24And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 25So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well. + +26When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.” 30So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33He called it Shibah;[115] therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. + +34When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35and they made life bitter[116] for Isaac and Rebekah. + + + + + +Isaac Blesses Jacob + + +27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” + +5Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.’ 8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.” + +14So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. + +18So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.” 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. 24He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. + +26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, + +“See, the smell of my son + +is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed! + +28May God give you of the dew of heaven + +and of the fatness of the earth + +and plenty of grain and wine. + +29Let peoples serve you, + +and nations bow down to you. + +Be lord over your brothers, + +and may your mother's sons bow down to you. + +Cursed be everyone who curses you, + +and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” + +30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me.” 32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?[117] For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. + +39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: + +“Behold, away from[118] the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, + +and away from[119] the dew of heaven on high. + +40By your sword you shall live, + +and you shall serve your brother; + +but when you grow restless + +you shall break his yoke from your neck.” + +41Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran 44and stay with him a while, until your brother's fury turns away— 45until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?” + +46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.[120] If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?” + + + + + +Jacob Sent to Laban + + +28:1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. 2Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. 3God Almighty[121] bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” 5Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. + + + + + +Esau Marries an Ishmaelite + + +6Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, 9Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth. + + + + + +Jacob's Dream + + +10Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder[122] set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13And behold, the LORD stood above it[123] and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” + +18So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19He called the name of that place Bethel,[124] but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, 22and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” + + + + + +Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel + + +29:1 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. 2As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large, 3and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well. + +4Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” 6He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” 7He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” 8But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.” + +9While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. 12And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her father. + +13As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month. + +15Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17Leah's eyes were weak,[125] but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. 18Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. + +21Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24(Laban gave[126] his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29(Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. + + + + + +Jacob's Children + + +31When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. 32And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben,[127] for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.[128] 34Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.[129] 35And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah.[130] Then she ceased bearing. + + + + + +30:1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf,[131] that even I may have children[132] through her.” 4So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.[133] 7Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings[134] I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.[135] + +9When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.[136] 12Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.[137] + +14In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.” 15But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes.” 16When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.[138] + +19And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.[139] 21Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. + +22Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24And she called his name Joseph,[140] saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!” + + + + + +Jacob's Prosperity + + +25As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” 27But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that[141] the LORD has blessed me because of you. 28Name your wages, and I will give it.” 29Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. 33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36And he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban's flock. + +37Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban's flock. 41Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 43Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys. + + + + + +Jacob Flees from Laban + + +31:1 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.” 2And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 3Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” + +4So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was 5and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. 8If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” 14Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? 15Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money. 16All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.” + +17So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods. 20And Jacob tricked[142] Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. 21He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead. + +22When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” + +25And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. 29It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your[143] father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. + +33So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. 34Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods. + +36Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.” + +43Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? 44Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.” 45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,[144] but Jacob called it Galeed.[145] 48Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, 49and Mizpah,[146] for he said, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight. 50If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.” + +51Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. 53The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, 54and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country. + +55[147] Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home. + + + + + +Jacob Fears Esau + + +32:1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God's camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.[148] + +3And Jacob sent[149] messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. 5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’” + +6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” 7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, 8thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.” + +9And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” + +13So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” 17He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ 18then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” 19He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him[150] with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”[151] 21So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. + + + + + +Jacob Wrestles with God + + +22The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[152] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[153] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[154] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh. + + + + + +Jacob Meets Esau + + +33:1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. 2And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. + +4But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company[155] that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” 9But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” 10Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it. + +12Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of[156] you.” 13But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” + +15So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” 16So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.[157] + +18And Jacob came safely[158] to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money[159] the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.[160] + + + + + +The Defiling of Dinah + + +34:1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. 3And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.” + +5Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done. + +8But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your[161] daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12Ask me for as great a bride price[162] and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.” + +13The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. 16Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. 17But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.” + +18Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. 19And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father's house. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21“These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. 23Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. + +25On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. 26They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. 27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered. + +30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” + + + + + +God Blesses and Renames Jacob + + +35:1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem. + +5And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,[163] because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. 8And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.[164] + +9God appeared[165] to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. 10And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. 11And God said to him, “I am God Almighty:[166] be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.[167] 12The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” 13Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. 14And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. 15So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel. + + + + + +The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac + + +16Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance[168] from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. 17And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” 18And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;[169] but his father called him Benjamin.[170] 19So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. 21Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. + +22While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it. + +Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. + +27And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. + + + + + +Esau's Descendants + + +36:1 These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). 2Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter[171] of Zibeon the Hivite, 3and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. 4And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; 5and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. + +6Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 7For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. 8So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.) + +9These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 10These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. 11The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12(Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife. 13These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. 14These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. + +15These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. 17These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. 18These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. 19These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs. + +20These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. 22The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna. 23These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father. 25These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. 26These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 27These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir. + +31These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. 32Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. 33Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 34Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. 36Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 37Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates[172] reigned in his place. 38Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab. + +40These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. + + + + + +Joseph's Dreams + + +37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. + +2These are the generations of Jacob. + +Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors.[173] 4But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. + +5Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. + +9Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. + + + + + +Joseph Sold by His Brothers + + +12Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem. 13And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16“I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. + +18They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.[174] Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. + +25Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels[175] of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. + +29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31Then they took Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” 33And he identified it and said, “It is my son's robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. + + + + + +Judah and Tamar + + +38:1 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, 3and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. 4She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. 5Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah[176] was in Chezib when she bore him. + +6And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death. 8Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. 10And what he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death also. 11Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father's house. + +12In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14she took off her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. 15When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” 18He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood. + +20When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. 21And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute[177] who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” 22So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” 23And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.” + +24About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral.[178] Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”[179] And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” 25As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” 26Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again. + +27When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. 28And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez.[180] 30Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah. + + + + + +Joseph and Potiphar's Wife + + +39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. + +Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. + +11But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” + +19As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed. + + + + + +Joseph Interprets Two Prisoners' Dreams + + +40:1 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. 2And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody. + +5And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. 6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” + +9So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, 10and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” 12Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.” + +16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.” + +20On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. 22But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. + + + + + +Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams + + +41:1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. 3And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. 5And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. 7And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. + +9Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. 10When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, 11we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. 12A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 13And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.” + +14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”[181] 17Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. 18Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. 19Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. 20And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, 21but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. 22I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. 23Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 24and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.” + +25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. 27The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. 28It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, 31and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. 32And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. 33Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land[182] of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. 35And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.” + + + + + +Joseph Rises to Power + + +37This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. 38And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”[183] 39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command.[184] Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. 43And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!”[185] Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. + +46Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. 47During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, 48and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. 49And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. + +50Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. 51Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house.”[186] 52The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”[187] + +53The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” + +56So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses[188] and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. + + + + + +Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt + + +42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” 3So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. 5Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. + +6Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 10They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.” + +12He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” 13And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” 14But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17And he put them all together in custody for three days. + +18On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. 21Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” 23They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. 25And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them. + +26Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 27And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 28He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” + +29When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30“The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 31But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. 34Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’” + +35As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” 37Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” 38But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.” + + + + + +Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt + + +43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. 2And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” 6Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.” + +11Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. 14May God Almighty[189] grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” + +15So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. + +16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” 17The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph's house. 18And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.” 19So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house, 20and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. 21And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us, 22and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” 23He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, 25they prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. + +26When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground. 27And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. 29And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” 30Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. 31Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.” 32They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. 34Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry[190] with him. + + + + + +Joseph Tests His Brothers + + +44:1 Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack, 2and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him. + +3As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. 4They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?[191] 5Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’” + +6When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. 7They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? 9Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord's servants.” 10He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” 11Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 12And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 13Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. + +14When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. 15Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” 16And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” 17But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.” + +18Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.’ 21Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’ + +24“When we went back to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ 26we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down. For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ 27Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces, and I have never seen him since. 29If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in evil to Sheol.’ + +30“Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life, 31as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.” + + + + + +Joseph Provides for His Brothers and Family + + +45:1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. + +4So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ 12And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. + +16When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ 19And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20Have no concern for[192] your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” + +21The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels[193] of silver and five changes of clothes. 23To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” + +25So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” + + + + + +Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt + + +46:1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.” 3Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 4I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.” + +5Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. + +8Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, 9and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. + +16The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons. + +19The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him. 21And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all. + +23The sons of Dan: Hushim. 24The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all. + +26All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. + + + + + +Jacob and Joseph Reunited + + +28He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” + + + + + +Jacob's Family Settles in Goshen + + +47:1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.” + +7Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents. + + + + + +Joseph and the Famine + + +13Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” + +20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's. 21As for the people, he made servants of them[194] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. + +23Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's. + +27Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years. + +29And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.[195] + + + + + +Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh + + +48:1 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[196] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’ 5And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance[197] to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).” + +8When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” 10Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. 14And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15And he blessed Joseph and said, + +“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, + +the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, + +16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; + +and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; + +and let them grow into a multitude[198] in the midst of the earth.” + +17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude[199] of nations.” 20So he blessed them that day, saying, + +“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, + +‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’” + +Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope[200] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.” + + + + + +Jacob Blesses His Sons + + +49:1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. + +2“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, + +listen to Israel your father. + +3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, + +my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, + +preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. + +4Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, + +because you went up to your father's bed; + +then you defiled it—he went up to my couch! + +5“Simeon and Levi are brothers; + +weapons of violence are their swords. + +6Let my soul come not into their council; + +O my glory, be not joined to their company. + +For in their anger they killed men, + +and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. + +7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, + +and their wrath, for it is cruel! + +I will divide them in Jacob + +and scatter them in Israel. + +8“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; + +your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; + +your father's sons shall bow down before you. + +9Judah is a lion's cub; + +from the prey, my son, you have gone up. + +He stooped down; he crouched as a lion + +and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? + +10The scepter shall not depart from Judah, + +nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, + +until tribute comes to him;[201] + +and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. + +11Binding his foal to the vine + +and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, + +he has washed his garments in wine + +and his vesture in the blood of grapes. + +12His eyes are darker than wine, + +and his teeth whiter than milk. + +13“Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; + +he shall become a haven for ships, + +and his border shall be at Sidon. + +14“Issachar is a strong donkey, + +crouching between the sheepfolds.[202] + +15He saw that a resting place was good, + +and that the land was pleasant, + +so he bowed his shoulder to bear, + +and became a servant at forced labor. + +16“Dan shall judge his people + +as one of the tribes of Israel. + +17Dan shall be a serpent in the way, + +a viper by the path, + +that bites the horse's heels + +so that his rider falls backward. + +18I wait for your salvation, O LORD. + +19“Raiders shall raid Gad,[203] + +but he shall raid at their heels. + +20“Asher's food shall be rich, + +and he shall yield royal delicacies. + +21“Naphtali is a doe let loose + +that bears beautiful fawns.[204] + +22“Joseph is a fruitful bough, + +a fruitful bough by a spring; + +his branches run over the wall.[205] + +23The archers bitterly attacked him, + +shot at him, and harassed him severely, + +24yet his bow remained unmoved; + +his arms[206] were made agile + +by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob + +(from there is the Shepherd,[207] the Stone of Israel), + +25by the God of your father who will help you, + +by the Almighty[208] who will bless you + +with blessings of heaven above, + +blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, + +blessings of the breasts and of the womb. + +26The blessings of your father + +are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, + +up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.[209] + +May they be on the head of Joseph, + +and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. + +27“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, + +in the morning devouring the prey + +and at evening dividing the spoil.” + + + + + +Jacob's Death and Burial + + +28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. + + + + + +50:1 Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. 2And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. + +4And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5My father made me swear, saying, ‘I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.’ Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.” 6And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. 10When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 11When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;[210] it is beyond the Jordan. 12Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, 13for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 14After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father. + + + + + +God's Good Purposes + + +15When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died, 17‘Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[211] should be kept alive, as they are today. 21So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. + + + + + +The Death of Joseph + + +22So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own.[212] 24And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:6 Or a canopy; also verses 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20 + +[2] 1:7 Or fashioned; also verse 16 + +[3] 1:8 Or Sky; also verses 9, 14, 15, 17, 20, 26, 28, 30; 2:1 + +[4] 1:10 Or Land; also verses 11, 12, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30; 2:1 + +[5] 1:11 Or small plants; also verses 12, 29 + +[6] 1:14 Or appointed times + +[7] 1:20 Or flying things; see Leviticus 11:19-20 + +[8] 1:26 The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam + +[9] 2:5 Or open country + +[10] 2:5 Or earth; also verse 6 + +[11] 2:6 Or spring + +[12] 2:17 Or when you eat + +[13] 2:18 Or corresponding to; also verse 20 + +[14] 2:19 Or And out of the ground the LORD God formed + +[15] 2:20 Or the man + +[16] 2:22 Hebrew built + +[17] 2:23 The Hebrew words for woman (ishshah) and man (ish) sound alike + +[18] 3:1 In Hebrew you is plural in verses 1-5 + +[19] 3:6 Or to give insight + +[20] 3:8 Hebrew wind + +[21] 3:9 In Hebrew you is singular in verses 9 and 11 + +[22] 3:15 Hebrew seed; so throughout Genesis + +[23] 3:16 Or against + +[24] 3:20 Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living + +[25] 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for gotten + +[26] 4:7 Hebrew will there not be a lifting up [of your face]? + +[27] 4:7 Or against + +[28] 4:8 Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate add Let us go out to the field + +[29] 4:13 Or My guilt is too great to bear + +[30] 4:16 Nod means wandering + +[31] 4:25 Seth sounds like the Hebrew for he appointed + +[32] 5:2 Hebrew adam + +[33] 5:22 Septuagint pleased God + +[34] 5:24 Septuagint was not found + +[35] 5:29 Noah sounds like the Hebrew for rest + +[36] 6:3 Or My Spirit shall not contend with + +[37] 6:4 Or giants + +[38] 6:13 Hebrew The end of all flesh has come before me + +[39] 6:14 An unknown kind of tree; transliterated from Hebrew + +[40] 6:15 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[41] 6:16 Or skylight + +[42] 7:2 Or seven of each kind of clean animal + +[43] 7:3 Or seven of each kind + +[44] 7:4 Hebrew all existence; also verse 23 + +[45] 7:20 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[46] 8:21 Or dishonor + +[47] 9:7 In Hebrew you is plural + +[48] 9:19 Or from these the whole earth was populated + +[49] 9:20 Or Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard + +[50] 9:27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for enlarge + +[51] 10:8 Or he began to be a mighty man on the earth + +[52] 10:14 Or from where + +[53] 10:25 Peleg means division + +[54] 11:9 Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused + +[55] 12:1 Or had said + +[56] 12:3 Or by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves + +[57] 12:6 Or terebinth + +[58] 13:8 Hebrew we are men, brothers + +[59] 13:18 Or terebinths + +[60] 14:13 Or terebinths + +[61] 14:19 Or Creator; also verse 22 + +[62] 14:22 Or I have taken a solemn oath + +[63] 15:2 Or I shall die + +[64] 15:4 Hebrew what will come out of your own loins + +[65] 15:18 Or have given + +[66] 16:2 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children + +[67] 16:4 Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5 + +[68] 16:11 Ishmael means God hears + +[69] 16:13 Or You are a God who sees me + +[70] 16:13 Hebrew Have I really seen him here who sees me? or Would I have looked here for the one who sees me? + +[71] 16:14 Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me + +[72] 17:1 Hebrew El Shaddai + +[73] 17:5 Abram means exalted father + +[74] 17:5 Abraham means father of a multitude + +[75] 17:15 Sarai and Sarah mean princess + +[76] 17:16 Hebrew have given + +[77] 17:19 Isaac means he laughs + +[78] 18:1 Or terebinths + +[79] 18:3 Or My lord + +[80] 18:6 A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters + +[81] 18:14 Or wonderful + +[82] 18:15 Or acted falsely + +[83] 18:19 Hebrew known + +[84] 18:21 Or they deserve destruction; Hebrew they have made a complete end + +[85] 19:22 Zoar means little + +[86] 19:37 Moab sounds like the Hebrew for from father + +[87] 19:38 Ben-ammi means son of my people + +[88] 20:16 Hebrew It is a covering of eyes for all + +[89] 21:3 Isaac means he laughs + +[90] 21:9 Possibly laughing in mockery + +[91] 21:30 Or you + +[92] 21:31 Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath + +[93] 22:5 Or young man; also verse 12 + +[94] 22:14 Or will see + +[95] 22:14 Or he will be seen + +[96] 22:17 Or their + +[97] 23:3 Hebrew sons of Heth; also verses 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20 + +[98] 23:6 Or a mighty prince + +[99] 23:15 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[100] 24:10 Hebrew Aram-naharaim + +[101] 24:14 Or By her + +[102] 24:16 Or a woman of marriageable age + +[103] 24:22 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[104] 24:48 Or faithfully + +[105] 24:60 Or hate them + +[106] 25:18 Hebrew fell + +[107] 25:22 Or why do I live? + +[108] 25:23 Or from birth + +[109] 25:26 Jacob means He takes by the heel, or He cheats + +[110] 25:30 Edom sounds like the Hebrew for red + +[111] 26:8 Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship + +[112] 26:20 Esek means contention + +[113] 26:21 Sitnah means enmity + +[114] 26:22 Rehoboth means broad places, or room + +[115] 26:33 Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath + +[116] 26:35 Hebrew they were bitterness of spirit + +[117] 27:36 Jacob means He takes by the heel, or He cheats + +[118] 27:39 Or Behold, of + +[119] 27:39 Or and of + +[120] 27:46 Hebrew daughters of Heth + +[121] 28:3 Hebrew El Shaddai + +[122] 28:12 Or a flight of steps + +[123] 28:13 Or beside him + +[124] 28:19 Bethel means the house of God + +[125] 29:17 Or soft + +[126] 29:24 Or had given; also verse 29 + +[127] 29:32 Reuben means See, a son + +[128] 29:33 Simeon sounds like the Hebrew for heard + +[129] 29:34 Levi sounds like the Hebrew for attached + +[130] 29:35 Judah sounds like the Hebrew for praise + +[131] 30:3 Hebrew on my knees + +[132] 30:3 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children + +[133] 30:6 Dan sounds like the Hebrew for judged + +[134] 30:8 Hebrew With wrestlings of God + +[135] 30:8 Naphtali sounds like the Hebrew for wrestling + +[136] 30:11 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for good fortune + +[137] 30:13 Asher sounds like the Hebrew for happy + +[138] 30:18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for wages, or hire + +[139] 30:20 Zebulun sounds like the Hebrew for honor + +[140] 30:24 Joseph means May he add, and sounds like the Hebrew for taken away + +[141] 30:27 Or have become rich and + +[142] 31:20 Hebrew stole the heart of; also verses 26, 27 + +[143] 31:29 The Hebrew for your is plural here + +[144] 31:47 Aramaic the heap of witness + +[145] 31:47 Hebrew the heap of witness + +[146] 31:49 Mizpah means watchpost + +[147] 31:55 Ch 32:1 in Hebrew + +[148] 32:2 Mahanaim means two camps + +[149] 32:3 Or had sent + +[150] 32:20 Hebrew appease his face + +[151] 32:20 Hebrew he will lift my face + +[152] 32:22 Or sons + +[153] 32:28 Israel means He strives with God, or God strives + +[154] 32:30 Peniel means the face of God + +[155] 33:8 Hebrew camp + +[156] 33:12 Or along with + +[157] 33:17 Succoth means booths + +[158] 33:18 Or peacefully + +[159] 33:19 Hebrew a hundred qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value + +[160] 33:20 El-Elohe-Israel means God, the God of Israel + +[161] 34:8 The Hebrew for your is plural here + +[162] 34:12 Or engagement present + +[163] 35:7 El-bethel means God of Bethel + +[164] 35:8 Allon-bacuth means oak of weeping + +[165] 35:9 Or had appeared + +[166] 35:11 Hebrew El Shaddai + +[167] 35:11 Hebrew from your loins + +[168] 35:16 Or about two hours' distance + +[169] 35:18 Ben-oni could mean son of my sorrow, or son of my strength + +[170] 35:18 Benjamin means son of the right hand + +[171] 36:2 Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac son; also verse 14 + +[172] 36:37 Hebrew the River + +[173] 37:3 See Septuagint, Vulgate; or (with Syriac) a robe with long sleeves. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain; also verses 23, 32 + +[174] 37:20 Or cisterns; also verses 22, 24 + +[175] 37:28 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[176] 38:5 Hebrew He + +[177] 38:21 Hebrew sacred woman; a woman who served a pagan deity by prostitution; also verse 22 + +[178] 38:24 Or has committed prostitution + +[179] 38:24 Or by prostitution + +[180] 38:29 Perez means a breach + +[181] 41:16 Or (compare Samaritan, Septuagint) Without God it is not possible to give Pharaoh an answer about his welfare + +[182] 41:34 Or over the land and organize the land + +[183] 41:38 Or of the gods + +[184] 41:40 Hebrew and according to your command all my people shall kiss the ground + +[185] 41:43 Abrek, probably an Egyptian word, similar in sound to the Hebrew word meaning to kneel + +[186] 41:51 Manasseh sounds like the Hebrew for making to forget + +[187] 41:52 Ephraim sounds like the Hebrew for making fruitful + +[188] 41:56 Hebrew all that was in them + +[189] 43:14 Hebrew El Shaddai + +[190] 43:34 Hebrew and became intoxicated + +[191] 44:4 Septuagint (compare Vulgate) adds Why have you stolen my silver cup? + +[192] 45:20 Hebrew Let your eye not pity + +[193] 45:22 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[194] 47:21 Samaritan, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew he removed them to the cities + +[195] 47:31 Hebrew; Septuagint staff + +[196] 48:3 Hebrew El Shaddai + +[197] 48:7 Or about two hours' distance + +[198] 48:16 Or let them be like fish for multitude + +[199] 48:19 Hebrew fullness + +[200] 48:22 Or one portion of the land; Hebrew shekem, which sounds like the town and district called Shechem + +[201] 49:10 By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh + +[202] 49:14 Or between its saddlebags + +[203] 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid + +[204] 49:21 Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold + +[205] 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall + +[206] 49:24 Hebrew the arms of his hands + +[207] 49:24 Or by the name of the Shepherd + +[208] 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai + +[209] 49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills + +[210] 50:11 Abel-mizraim means mourning (or meadow) of Egypt + +[211] 50:20 Or a numerous people + +[212] 50:23 Hebrew were born on Joseph's knees + + + + + +EXODUS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + +Chapter 37 + +Chapter 38 + +Chapter 39 + +Chapter 40 + + + + + +Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt + + +1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. + + + + + +Pharaoh Oppresses Israel + + +8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. + +15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16“When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews[1] you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.” + + + + + +The Birth of Moses + + +2:1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 2The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes[2] and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. 4And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 5Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. 9And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”[3] + + + + + +Moses Flees to Midian + + +11One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.[4] 12He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. + +16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” 19They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner[5] in a foreign land.” + + + + + +God Hears Israel's Groaning + + +23During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. + + + + + +The Burning Bush + + +3:1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. + +7Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” + +13Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”[6] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD,[7] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ 19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.[8] 20So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 21And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” + + + + + +Moses Given Powerful Signs + + +4:1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” 2The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4But the LORD said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5“that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6Again, the LORD said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”[9] And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous[10] like snow. 7Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8“If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” + +10But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. 17And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.” + + + + + +Moses Returns to Egypt + + +18Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. + +21And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, 23and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” + +24At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. 25Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses'[11] feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision. + +27The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. + + + + + +Making Bricks Without Straw + + +5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many,[12] and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” + +10So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?” + +15Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” + +22Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” + + + + + +God Promises Deliverance + + +6:1 But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” + +2God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. 3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty,[13] but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. 4I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’” 9Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. + +10So the LORD said to Moses, 11“Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. + + + + + +The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron + + +14These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. 16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. 17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. 21The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans. + +26These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” 27It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron. + +28On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?” + + + + + +Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh + + +7:1 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. 7Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. + +8Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. + + + + + +The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood + + +14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far, you have not obeyed.” 17Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” + +20Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. 23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. + +25Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. + + + + + +The Second Plague: Frogs + + +8:1 [14] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. 3The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people,[15] and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” 5[16] And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” 6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. + +8Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” 9Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 11The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.” 12So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.[17] 13And the LORD did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 14And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. + + + + + +The Third Plague: Gnats + + +16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” 17And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. 18The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. + + + + + +The Fourth Plague: Flies + + +20Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.[18] 23Thus I will put a division[19] between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.”’” 24And the LORD did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies. + +25Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” 26But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? 27We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he tells us.” 28So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” 29Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” 30So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 31And the LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. 32But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go. + + + + + +The Fifth Plague: Egyptian Livestock Die + + +9:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 3behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 4But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’” 5And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.” 6And the next day the LORD did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. 7And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. + + + + + +The Sixth Plague: Boils + + +8And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. 9It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. 11And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses. + + + + + +The Seventh Plague: Hail + + +13Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself,[20] and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” 20Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field. + +22Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail. + +27Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD's. 30But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.” 31(The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32But the wheat and the emmer[21] were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses. + + + + + +The Eighth Plague: Locusts + + +10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.” + +3So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh. + +7Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?” 9Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” 10But he said to them, “The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.[22] 11No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. + +12Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me.” 18So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the LORD. 19And the LORD turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go. + + + + + +The Ninth Plague: Darkness + + +21Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. 24Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” 25But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 26Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.” 27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. 28Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.” + + + + + +A Final Plague Threatened + + +11:1 The LORD said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. 2Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” 3And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. + +4So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. 9Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” + +10Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land. + + + + + +The Passover + + +12:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.[23] + +7“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's Passover. 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. 13The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. + +14“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.” + +21Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. + +28Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. + + + + + +The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn + + +29At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!” + + + + + +The Exodus + + +33The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. + +37And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. + +40The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. + + + + + +Institution of the Passover + + +43And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45No foreigner or hired servant may eat of it. 46It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” + +50All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. 51And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. + + + + + +Consecration of the Firstborn + + +13:1 The LORD said to Moses, 2“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” + + + + + +The Feast of Unleavened Bread + + +3Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. 6Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. 7Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. 10You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. + +11“When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD's. 13Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.” + + + + + +Pillars of Cloud and Fire + + +17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph[24] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. + + + + + +Crossing the Red Sea + + +14:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. + +5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. + +10When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” + +15The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” + +19Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night[25] without one coming near the other all night. + +21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25clogging[26] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.” + +26Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw[27] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. + +30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses. + + + + + +The Song of Moses + + +15:1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, + +“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; + +the horse and his rider[28] he has thrown into the sea. + +2The LORD is my strength and my song, + +and he has become my salvation; + +this is my God, and I will praise him, + +my father's God, and I will exalt him. + +3The LORD is a man of war; + +the LORD is his name. + +4“Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea, + +and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. + +5The floods covered them; + +they went down into the depths like a stone. + +6Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, + +your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. + +7In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; + +you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. + +8At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; + +the floods stood up in a heap; + +the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. + +9The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, + +I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. + +I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’ + +10You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; + +they sank like lead in the mighty waters. + +11“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? + +Who is like you, majestic in holiness, + +awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? + +12You stretched out your right hand; + +the earth swallowed them. + +13“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; + +you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. + +14The peoples have heard; they tremble; + +pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. + +15Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; + +trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; + +all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. + +16Terror and dread fall upon them; + +because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, + +till your people, O LORD, pass by, + +till the people pass by whom you have purchased. + +17You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, + +the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, + +the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. + +18The LORD will reign forever and ever.” + +19For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. 20Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. 21And Miriam sang to them: + +“Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; + +the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” + + + + + +Bitter Water Made Sweet + + +22Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.[29] 24And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log,[30] and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. + +There the LORD[31] made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.” + +27Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water. + + + + + +Bread from Heaven + + +16:1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” + +4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.” + +9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11And the LORD said to Moses, 12“I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’” + +13In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”[32] For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. 16This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer,[33] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. + +22On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” 24So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” + +27On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30So the people rested on the seventh day. + +31Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations.” 34As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. 35The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36(An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)[34] + + + + + +Water from the Rock + + +17:1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7And he called the name of the place Massah[35] and Meribah,[36] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” + + + + + +Israel Defeats Amalek + + +8Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. + +14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, 16saying, “A hand upon the throne[37] of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” + + + + + +Jethro's Advice + + +18:1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, 3along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner[38] in a foreign land”), 4and the name of the other, Eliezer[39] (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6And when he sent word to Moses, “I,[40] your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” 7Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. 9And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. + +10Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”[41] 12And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. + +13The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” 17Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. 21Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” + +24So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country. + + + + + +Israel at Mount Sinai + + +19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” + +7So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. 9And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” + +When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, 10the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;[42] whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” + +16On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. + +21And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” 25So Moses went down to the people and told them. + + + + + +The Ten Commandments + + +20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, + +2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. + +3“You shall have no other gods before[43] me. + +4“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands[44] of those who love me and keep my commandments. + +7“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. + +8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. + +12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. + +13“You shall not murder.[45] + +14“You shall not commit adultery. + +15“You shall not steal. + +16“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. + +17“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” + +18Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid[46] and trembled, and they stood far off 19and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. + + + + + +Laws About Altars + + +22And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’ + + + + + +Laws About Slaves + + +21:1 “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. + +7“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8If she does not please her master, who has designated her[47] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money. + +12“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. + +15“Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death. + +16“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. + +17“Whoever curses[48] his father or his mother shall be put to death. + +18“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed. + +20“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money. + +22“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23But if there is harm,[49] then you shall pay life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. + +26“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth. + +28“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels[50] of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. + + + + + +Laws About Restitution + + +33“When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his. + +35“When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his. + + + + + +22:1 [51] “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. 2[52] If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, 3but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double. + +5“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard. + +6“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution. + +7“If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. 8If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. 9For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. + +10“If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, 11an oath by the LORD shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. 12But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. 13If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn. + +14“If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. 15If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.[53] + + + + + +Laws About Social Justice + + +16“If a man seduces a virgin[54] who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price[55] for her and make her his wife. 17If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins. + +18“You shall not permit a sorceress to live. + +19“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death. + +20“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the LORD alone, shall be devoted to destruction.[56] + +21“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. + +25“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. 26If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. + +28“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. + +29“You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. 30You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me. + +31“You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs. + + + + + +23:1 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, 3nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. + +4“If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 5If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him. + +6“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. 7Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. 8And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. + +9“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. + + + + + +Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals + + +10“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. + +12“Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed. + +13“Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips. + +14“Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD. + +18“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. + +19“The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. + +“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. + + + + + +Conquest of Canaan Promised + + +20“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. + +22“But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. + +23“When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. 25You shall serve the LORD your God, and he[57] will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. 26None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. 27I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” + + + + + +The Covenant Confirmed + + +24:1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” + +3Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules.[58] And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” 4And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” + +9Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. + +12The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” + +15Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. + + + + + +Contributions for the Sanctuary + + +25:1 The LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. 3And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair, 5tanned rams' skins, goatskins,[59] acacia wood, 6oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. + + + + + +The Ark of the Covenant + + +10“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits[60] and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. 12You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. + +17“You shall make a mercy seat[61] of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. 21And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. 22There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. + + + + + +The Table for Bread + + +23“You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 24You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. 25And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth[62] wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. 26And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 27Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 28You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. 29And you shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. 30And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly. + + + + + +The Golden Lampstand + + +31“You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. 32And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 33three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 34And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 35and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand. 36Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 37You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. 38Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39It shall be made, with all these utensils, out of a talent[63] of pure gold. 40And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. + + + + + +The Tabernacle + + +26:1 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits,[64] and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. 3Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole. + +7“You shall also make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you make. 8The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall be the same size. 9You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over at the front of the tent. 10You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. + +11“You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together that it may be a single whole. 12And the part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13And the extra that remains in the length of the curtains, the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it. 14And you shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams' skins and a covering of goatskins on top. + +15“You shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 16Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. 17There shall be two tenons in each frame, for fitting together. So shall you do for all the frames of the tabernacle. 18You shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side; 19and forty bases of silver you shall make under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons; 20and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side twenty frames, 21and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame, and two bases under the next frame. 22And for the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames. 23And you shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear; 24they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring. Thus shall it be with both of them; they shall form the two corners. 25And there shall be eight frames, with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame. + +26“You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 27and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 28The middle bar, halfway up the frames, shall run from end to end. 29You shall overlay the frames with gold and shall make their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold. 30Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain. + +31“And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. 34You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 35And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side. + +36“You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. 37And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them. + + + + + +The Bronze Altar + + +27:1 “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits[65] long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. 2And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. 6And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made. + + + + + +The Court of the Tabernacle + + +9“You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side. 10Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 11And likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, its pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 12And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten bases. 13The breadth of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. 14The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 15On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 16For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. It shall have four pillars and with them four bases. 17All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. 18The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze. 19All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze. + + + + + +Oil for the Lamp + + +20“You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. 21In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel. + + + + + +The Priests' Garments + + +28:1 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. + +6“And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. 7It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. 8And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 9You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. 11As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance. 13You shall make settings of gold filigree, 14and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings. + +15“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. 16It shall be square and doubled, a span[66] its length and a span its breadth. 17You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius,[67] topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 22You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 23And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 24And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 25The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 27And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. 29So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD. 30And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron's heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly. + +31“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment,[68] so that it may not tear. 33On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die. + +36“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ 37And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD. + +39“You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework. + +40“For Aaron's sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. 41And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 42You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him. + + + + + +Consecration of the Priests + + +29:1 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, 2and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. 4You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, 9and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. + +10“Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 12and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of[69] the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. 13And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering. + +15“Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 16and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. 17Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, 18and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering[70] to the LORD. + +19“You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. 21Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him. + +22“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD. 24You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 25Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the LORD. It is a food offering to the LORD. + +26“You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron's ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be your portion. 27And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests' portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron's and his sons'. 28It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD. + +29“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days. + +31“You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy. + +35“Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, 36and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy. + +38“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. 39One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. 40And with the first lamb a tenth seah[71] of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin[72] of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 42It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. 44I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God. + + + + + +The Altar of Incense + + +30:1 “You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2A cubit[73] shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. 4And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, 8and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations. 9You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. 10Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.” + + + + + +The Census Tax + + +11The LORD said to Moses, 12“When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the LORD when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel[74] according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs),[75] half a shekel as an offering to the LORD. 14Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD's offering. 15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the LORD's offering to make atonement for your lives. 16You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.” + + + + + +The Bronze Basin + + +17The LORD said to Moses, 18“You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, 19with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. 20When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering[76] to the LORD, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.” + + + + + +The Anointing Oil and Incense + + +22The LORD said to Moses, 23“Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, 24and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin[77] of olive oil. 25And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, 27and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand. 29You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. 30You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 31And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’” + +34The LORD said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), 35and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. 37And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD. 38Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.” + + + + + +Oholiab and Bezalel + + +31:1 The LORD said to Moses, 2“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, 8the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, 10and the finely worked garments,[78] the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, 11and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.” + + + + + +The Sabbath + + +12And the LORD said to Moses, 13“You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. 14You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” + +18And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. + + + + + +The Golden Calf + + +32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden[79] calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. + +7And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” + +11But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. + +15Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 17When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” 19And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. + +21And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” + +25And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), 26then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” 28And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. 29And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.” + +30The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. 32But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” 33But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. 34But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.” + +35Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made. + + + + + +The Command to Leave Sinai + + +33:1 The LORD said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” + +4When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” 6Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. + + + + + +The Tent of Meeting + + +7Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD[80] would speak with Moses. 10And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. 11Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. + + + + + +Moses' Intercession + + +12Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” + +17And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” + + + + + +Moses Makes New Tablets + + +34:1 The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. 3No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” 4So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. 5The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast love for thousands,[81] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” + + + + + +The Covenant Renewed + + +10And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. + +11“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. + +17“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal. + +18“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. 19All that open the womb are mine, all your male[82] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed. + +21“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end. 23Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. 24For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year. + +25“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.” + +27And the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.[83] + + + + + +The Shining Face of Moses + + +29When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.[84] 30Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. + +34Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him. + + + + + +Sabbath Regulations + + +35:1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do. 2Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.” + + + + + +Contributions for the Tabernacle + + +4Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded. 5Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD's contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; 6blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats' hair, 7tanned rams' skins, and goatskins;[85] acacia wood, 8oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. + +10“Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded: 11the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; 13the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; 16the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; 17the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19the finely worked garments for ministering[86] in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests.” + +20Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the LORD. 23And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats' hair or tanned rams' skins or goatskins brought them. 24Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the LORD's contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. 25And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 26All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats' hair. 27And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD. + + + + + +Construction of the Tabernacle + + +30Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. 34And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer. + + + + + +36:1 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.” + +2And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. 3And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, 4so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, 5and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD has commanded us to do.” 6So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 7for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more. + +8And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked. 9The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits,[87] and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size. + +10He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. 12He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. 13And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole. + +14He also made curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. 15The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains were the same size. 16He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17And he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 18And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole. 19And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins. + +20Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 21Ten cubits was the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. 22Each frame had two tenons for fitting together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. 23The frames for the tabernacle he made thus: twenty frames for the south side. 24And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons. 25For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames 26and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame. 27For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames. 28He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. 29And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. He made two of them this way for the two corners. 30There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases. + +31He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 32and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 33And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames. 34And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold. + +35He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it. 36And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver. 37He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework, 38and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze. + + + + + +Making the Ark + + +37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits[88] and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 2And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. 3And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. 4And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold 5and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. 6And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 7And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, 8one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. 9The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim. + + + + + +Making the Table + + +10He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. 12And he made a rim around it a handbreadth[89] wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. 13He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 14Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 15He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. 16And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings. + + + + + +Making the Lampstand + + +17He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. 18And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 19three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 20And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 21and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. 22Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 23And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. 24He made it and all its utensils out of a talent[90] of pure gold. + + + + + +Making the Altar of Incense + + +25He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. 26He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it, 27and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. 28And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. + +29He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer. + + + + + +Making the Altar of Burnt Offering + + +38:1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits[91] was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height. 2He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze. 4And he made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down. 5He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. 6He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards. + + + + + +Making the Bronze Basin + + +8He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting. + + + + + +Making the Court + + +9And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits; 10their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11And for the north side there were hangings of a hundred cubits, their twenty pillars, their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 12And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars, and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 13And for the front to the east, fifty cubits. 14The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 15And so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. 17And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 18And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19And their pillars were four in number. Their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver. 20And all the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze. + + + + + +Materials for the Tabernacle + + +21These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 22Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses; 23and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. + +24All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels,[92] by the shekel of the sanctuary. 25The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary: 26a beka[93] a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men. 27The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base. 28And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them. 29The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels; 30with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, 31the bases around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court. + + + + + +Making the Priestly Garments + + +39:1 From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments,[94] for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses. + +2He made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 3And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design. 4They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges. 5And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the LORD had commanded Moses. + +6They made the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. 7And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses. + +8He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 9It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span[95] its length and a span its breadth when doubled. 10And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; 11and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 12and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree. 14There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 15And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 16And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 17And they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 18They attached the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree. Thus they attached it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 19Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 20And they made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 21And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the LORD had commanded Moses. + +22He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue, 23and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear. 24On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 25They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates— 26a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the LORD had commanded Moses. + +27They also made the coats, woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, 28and the turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, 29and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the LORD had commanded Moses. + +30They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the LORD.” 31And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the LORD had commanded Moses. + +32Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses; so they did. 33Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 34the covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins, and the veil of the screen; 35the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; 36the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 37the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent; 39the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin and its stand; 40the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests. 42According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. 43And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them. + + + + + +The Tabernacle Erected + + +40:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. 4And you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 6You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, 7and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 8And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court. + +9“Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy. 10You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar may become most holy. 11You shall also anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it. 12Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with water 13and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. 14You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, 15and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.” + +16This Moses did; according to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did. 17In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. 18Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars. 19And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 20He took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. 21And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 22He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, 23and arranged the bread on it before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 24He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, 25and set up the lamps before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 26He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil, 27and burned fragrant incense on it, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 28He put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 29And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 30He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, 31with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the LORD commanded Moses. 33And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. + + + + + +The Glory of the LORD + + +34Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:22 Samaritan, Septuagint, Targum; Hebrew lacks to the Hebrews + +[2] 2:3 Hebrew papyrus reeds + +[3] 2:10 Moses sounds like the Hebrew for draw out + +[4] 2:11 Hebrew brothers + +[5] 2:22 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for sojourner + +[6] 3:14 Or I AM WHAT I AM, or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE + +[7] 3:15 The word LORD, when spelled with capital letters, stands for the divine name, YHWH, which is here connected with the verb hayah, “to be” in verse 14 + +[8] 3:19 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew go, not by a mighty hand + +[9] 4:6 Hebrew into your bosom; also verse 7 + +[10] 4:6 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[11] 4:25 Hebrew his + +[12] 5:5 Samaritan they are now more numerous than the people of the land + +[13] 6:3 Hebrew El Shaddai + +[14] 8:1 Ch 7:26 in Hebrew + +[15] 8:3 Or among your people + +[16] 8:5 Ch 8:1 in Hebrew + +[17] 8:12 Or which he had brought upon Pharaoh + +[18] 8:22 Or that I the LORD am in the land + +[19] 8:23 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew set redemption + +[20] 9:14 Hebrew on your heart + +[21] 9:32 A type of wheat + +[22] 10:10 Hebrew before your face + +[23] 12:6 Hebrew between the two evenings + +[24] 13:19 Samaritan, Septuagint; Hebrew he + +[25] 14:20 Septuagint and the night passed + +[26] 14:25 Or binding (compare Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac); Hebrew removing + +[27] 14:27 Hebrew shook off + +[28] 15:1 Or its chariot; also verse 21 + +[29] 15:23 Marah means bitterness + +[30] 15:25 Or tree + +[31] 15:25 Hebrew he + +[32] 16:15 Or “It is manna.” Hebrew man hu + +[33] 16:16 An omer was about 2 quarts or 2 liters + +[34] 16:36 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[35] 17:7 Massah means testing + +[36] 17:7 Meribah means quarreling + +[37] 17:16 A slight change would yield upon the banner + +[38] 18:3 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew word for sojourner + +[39] 18:4 Eliezer means My God is help + +[40] 18:6 Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac behold + +[41] 18:11 Hebrew with them + +[42] 19:13 That is, shot with an arrow + +[43] 20:3 Or besides + +[44] 20:6 Or to the thousandth generation + +[45] 20:13 The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence + +[46] 20:18 Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text the people saw + +[47] 21:8 Or so that he has not designated her + +[48] 21:17 Or dishonors; Septuagint reviles + +[49] 21:23 Or so that her children come out and it is clear who was to blame, he shall be fined as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he alone shall pay. If it is unclear who was to blame . . . + +[50] 21:32 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[51] 22:1 Ch 21:37 in Hebrew + +[52] 22:2 Ch 22:1 in Hebrew + +[53] 22:15 Or it is reckoned in (Hebrew comes into) its hiring fee + +[54] 22:16 Or a girl of marriageable age; also verse 17 + +[55] 22:16 Or engagement present; also verse 17 + +[56] 22:20 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[57] 23:25 Septuagint, Vulgate I + +[58] 24:3 Or all the just decrees + +[59] 25:5 Uncertain; possibly dolphin skins, or dugong skins; compare 26:14 + +[60] 25:10 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[61] 25:17 Or cover + +[62] 25:25 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters + +[63] 25:39 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[64] 26:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[65] 27:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[66] 28:16 A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters + +[67] 28:17 The identity of some of these stones is uncertain + +[68] 28:32 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; possibly coat of mail + +[69] 29:12 Hebrew all + +[70] 29:18 Or an offering by fire; also verses 25, 41 + +[71] 29:40 A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters + +[72] 29:40 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[73] 30:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[74] 30:13 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[75] 30:13 A gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram + +[76] 30:20 Or an offering by fire + +[77] 30:24 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[78] 31:10 Or garments for worship + +[79] 32:4 Hebrew cast metal; also verse 8 + +[80] 33:9 Hebrew he + +[81] 34:7 Or to the thousandth generation + +[82] 34:19 Septuagint, Theodotion, Vulgate, Targum; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[83] 34:28 Hebrew the ten words + +[84] 34:29 Hebrew him + +[85] 35:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; also verse 23; compare 25:5 + +[86] 35:19 Or garments for worship; see 31:10 + +[87] 36:9 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[88] 37:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[89] 37:12 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters + +[90] 37:24 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[91] 38:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[92] 38:24 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[93] 38:26 A beka was about 1/5 ounce or 5.5 grams + +[94] 39:1 Or garments for worship + +[95] 39:9 A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters + + + + + +LEVITICUS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + + + + + +Laws for Burnt Offerings + + +1:1 The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. + +3“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. 4He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 6Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, 7and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; 9but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering[1] with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. + +10“If his gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, he shall bring a male without blemish, 11and he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. 12And he shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar, 13but the entrails and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. + +14“If his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons. 15And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16He shall remove its crop with its contents[2] and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes. 17He shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it completely. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. + + + + + +Laws for Grain Offerings + + +2:1 “When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it 2and bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 3But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD's food offerings. + +4“When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil. 5And if your offering is a grain offering baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil. 6You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. 7And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. 9And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 10But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD's food offerings. + +11“No grain offering that you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the LORD. 12As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the LORD, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. 13You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. + +14“If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh ears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. 15And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. 16And the priest shall burn as its memorial portion some of the crushed grain and some of the oil with all of its frankincense; it is a food offering to the LORD. + + + + + +Laws for Peace Offerings + + +3:1 “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. 2And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron's sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar. 3And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the LORD, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 5Then Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. + +6“If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 7If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD, 8lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it in front of the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. 9Then from the sacrifice of the peace offering he shall offer as a food offering to the LORD its fat; he shall remove the whole fat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 10and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 11And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering to the LORD. + +12“If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD 13and lay his hand on its head and kill it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. 14Then he shall offer from it, as his offering for a food offering to the LORD, the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 15and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 16And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the LORD's. 17It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.” + + + + + +Laws for Sin Offerings + + +4:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally[3] in any of the LORD's commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, 3if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the LORD for a sin offering. 4He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the LORD. 5And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, 6and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the LORD in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the LORD that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 9and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys 10(just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings); and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12all the rest of the bull—he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up. + +13“If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally[4] and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt,[5] 14when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be killed before the LORD. 16Then the anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, 17and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil. 18And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the LORD, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19And all its fat he shall take from it and burn on the altar. 20Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 21And he shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly. + +22“When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 23or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, 24and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD; it is a sin offering. 25Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven. + +27“If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 28or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 30And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31And all its fat he shall remove, as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. + +32“If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish 33and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35And all its fat he shall remove as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the LORD's food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. + + + + + +5:1 “If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity; 2or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; 3or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt; 4or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; 5when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, 6he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation[6] for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin. + +7“But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons,[7] one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 8He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering. He shall wring its head from its neck but shall not sever it completely, 9and he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. 10Then he shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the rule. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. + +11“But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for the sin that he has committed a tenth of an ephah[8] of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it and shall put no frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it as its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, on the LORD's food offerings; it is a sin offering. 13Thus the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in any one of these things, and he shall be forgiven. And the remainder[9] shall be for the priest, as in the grain offering.” + + + + + +Laws for Guilt Offerings + + +14The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 15“If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the LORD, he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued[10] in silver shekels,[11] according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. 16He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven. + +17“If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. 18He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. 19It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before[12] the LORD.” + + + + + +6:1 [13] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor 3or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby— 4if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found 5or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. 6And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering. 7And the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.” + + + + + +The Priests and the Offerings + + +8[14] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 9“Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar. 11Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. + +14“And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD in front of the altar. 15And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 16And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. 17It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my food offerings. It is a thing most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 18Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as decreed forever throughout your generations, from the LORD's food offerings. Whatever touches them shall become holy.” + +19The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 20“This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to the LORD on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah[15] of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening. 21It shall be made with oil on a griddle. You shall bring it well mixed, in baked[16] pieces like a grain offering, and offer it for a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 22The priest from among Aaron's sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the LORD as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burned. 23Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.” + +24The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 25“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD; it is most holy. 26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. 27Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy, and when any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was splashed in a holy place. 28And the earthenware vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. But if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water. 29Every male among the priests may eat of it; it is most holy. 30But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place; it shall be burned up with fire. + + + + + +7:1 “This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. 2In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the guilt offering, and its blood shall be thrown against the sides of the altar. 3And all its fat shall be offered, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, 4the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 5The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering to the LORD; it is a guilt offering. 6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. 7The guilt offering is just like the sin offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it. 8And the priest who offers any man's burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered. 9And every grain offering baked in the oven and all that is prepared on a pan or a griddle shall belong to the priest who offers it. 10And every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall be shared equally among all the sons of Aaron. + +11“And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the LORD. 12If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. 13With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. 14And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering, as a gift to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings. 15And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. 16But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. 17But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. 18If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity. + +19“Flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned up with fire. All who are clean may eat flesh, 20but the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the LORD's peace offerings while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people. 21And if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether human uncleanness or an unclean beast or any unclean detestable creature, and then eats some flesh from the sacrifice of the LORD's peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people.” + +22The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, You shall eat no fat, of ox or sheep or goat. 24The fat of an animal that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it. 25For every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which a food offering may be made to the LORD shall be cut off from his people. 26Moreover, you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwelling places. 27Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.” + +28The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 29“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30His own hands shall bring the LORD's food offerings. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the LORD. 31The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons. 32And the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifice of your peace offerings. 33Whoever among the sons of Aaron offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have the right thigh for a portion. 34For the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed I have taken from the people of Israel, out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons, as a perpetual due from the people of Israel. 35This is the portion of Aaron and of his sons from the LORD's food offerings, from the day they were presented to serve as priests of the LORD. 36The LORD commanded this to be given them by the people of Israel, from the day that he anointed them. It is a perpetual due throughout their generations.” + +37This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the ordination offering, and of the peace offering, 38which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day that he commanded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai. + + + + + +Consecration of Aaron and His Sons + + +8:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. 3And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” 4And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting. + +5And Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded to be done.” 6And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. 7And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band.[17] 8And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +10Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13And Moses brought Aaron's sons and clothed them with coats and tied sashes around their waists and bound caps on them, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +14Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15And he[18] killed it, and Moses took the blood, and with his finger put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it. 16And he took all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned them on the altar. 17But the bull and its skin and its flesh and its dung he burned up with fire outside the camp, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +18Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19And he killed it, and Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. 20He cut the ram into pieces, and Moses burned the head and the pieces and the fat. 21He washed the entrails and the legs with water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering for the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +22Then he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24Then he presented Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. 25Then he took the fat and the fat tail and all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat and the right thigh, 26and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD he took one unleavened loaf and one loaf of bread with oil and one wafer and placed them on the pieces of fat and on the right thigh. 27And he put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and waved them as a wave offering before the LORD. 28Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 29And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD. It was Moses' portion of the ram of ordination, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +30Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons' garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons' garments with him. + +31And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 32And what remains of the flesh and the bread you shall burn up with fire. 33And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for it will take seven days to ordain you. 34As has been done today, the LORD has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. 35At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the LORD has charged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.” 36And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the LORD commanded by Moses. + + + + + +The LORD Accepts Aaron's Offering + + +9:1 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. 3And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.’” 5And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD. 6And Moses said, “This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.” 7Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded.” + +8So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. 10But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses. 11The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp. + +12Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron's sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 13And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. + +15Then he presented the people's offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one. 16And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. 17And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. + +18Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron's sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 19But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— 20they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, 21but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses commanded. + +22Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. + + + + + +The Death of Nadab and Abihu + + +10:1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized[19] fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 2And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said, ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. + +4And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the LORD has kindled. 7And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses. + +8And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying, 9“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.” + +12Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the LORD's food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons' due, from the LORD's food offerings, for so I am commanded. 14But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons' due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. 15The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be yours and your sons' with you as a due forever, as the LORD has commanded.” + +16Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD? 18Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.” 19And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the LORD have approved?” 20And when Moses heard that, he approved. + + + + + +Clean and Unclean Animals + + +11:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 4Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you. + +9“These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. 10But anything in the seas or the rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you. 11You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. 12Everything in the waters that has not fins and scales is detestable to you. + +13“And these you shall detest among the birds;[20] they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle,[21] the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14the kite, the falcon of any kind, 15every raven of any kind, 16the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind, 17the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl, 18the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture, 19the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. + +20“All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you. 21Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground. 22Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. 23But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you. + +24“And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you. + +29“And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, the great lizard of any kind, 30the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 32And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. It must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. 33And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. 34Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. 35And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. 36Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean. 37And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean, 38but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you. + +39“And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 40and whoever eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. + +41“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten. 42Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. 43You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. 44For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” + +46This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, 47to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten. + + + + + +Purification After Childbirth + + +12:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days. + +6“‘And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7and he shall offer it before the LORD and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. 8And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons,[22] one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’” + + + + + +Laws About Leprosy + + +13:1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2“When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous[23] disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, 3and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. 4But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. 5And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days. 6And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. 8And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease. + +9“When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, 10and the priest shall look. And if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 11it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. 12And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, 13then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. 14But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. 15And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. 16But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, 17and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean. + +18“If there is in the skin of one's body a boil and it heals, 19and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. 20And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. 21But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. 22And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. 23But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. + +24“Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, 25the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 26But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days, 27and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. 28But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn. + +29“When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard, 30the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. 31And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days, 32and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, 33then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. 34And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 35But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, 36then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. 37But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean. + +38“When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, 39the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean. + +40“If a man's hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. 41And if a man's hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. 42But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. 43Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, 44he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head. + +45“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip[24] and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. + +47“When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, 48in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, 49if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest. 50And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. 51Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a persistent leprous disease; it is unclean. 52And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire. + +53“And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, 54then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. 55And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front. + +56“But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof. 57Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. 58But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.” + +59This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean. + + + + + +Laws for Cleansing Lepers + + +14:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, 3and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, 4the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live[25] clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. 5And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh[26] water. 6He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. 7And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. 8And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. 9And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean. + +10“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah[27] of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log[28] of oil. 11And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 12And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 13And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. 14The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 15Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand 16and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. 17And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. 18And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD. 19The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean. + +21“But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; 22also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 23And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the LORD. 24And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 25And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 26And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, 27and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD. 28And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. 29And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. 30And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, 31one[29] for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for him who is being cleansed. 32This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing.” + + + + + +Laws for Cleansing Houses + + +33The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 34“When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, 35then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.’ 36Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. 37And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, 38then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. 39And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, 40then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. 41And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. 42Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house. + +43“If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, 44then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. 45And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. 46Moreover, whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, 47and whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes. + +48“But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed. 49And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, 50and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water 51and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. 52Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. 53And he shall let the live bird go out of the city into the open country. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.” + +54This is the law for any case of leprous disease: for an itch, 55for leprous disease in a garment or in a house, 56and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, 57to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease. + + + + + +Laws About Bodily Discharges + + +15:1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any man has a discharge from his body,[30] his discharge is unclean. 3And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. 4Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. 5And anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 6And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 7And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 8And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 9And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. 10And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 11Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 12And an earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water. + +13“And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean. 14And on the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the LORD to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. 15And the priest shall use them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD for his discharge. + +16“If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. 17And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. 18If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening. + +19“When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. 20And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. 21And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 22And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 23Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. 24And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean. + +25“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. 26Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 28But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 30And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for her unclean discharge. + +31“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.” + +32This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby; 33also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity, that is, for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge, and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean. + + + + + +The Day of Atonement + + +16:1 The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, 2and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. + +6“Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.[31] 9And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, 10but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. + +11“Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. + +15“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 18Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel. + +20“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. + +23“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. 24And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25And the fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26And he who lets the goat go to Azazel shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. Their skin and their flesh and their dung shall be burned up with fire. 28And he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. + +29“And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves[32] and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. 31It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever. 32And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father's place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments. 33He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. + + + + + +The Place of Sacrifice + + +17:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the LORD has commanded. 3If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, 4and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the LORD, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD. 6And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 7So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. + +8“And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man shall be cut off from his people. + + + + + +Laws Against Eating Blood + + +10“If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. + +13“Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14For the life of every creature[33] is its blood: its blood is its life.[34] Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.” + + + + + +Unlawful Sexual Relations + + +18:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. 3You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4You shall follow my rules[35] and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. 5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. + +6“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. 7You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. 9You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. 12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. 13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. 14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. 17You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive. + +19“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21You shall not give any of your children to offer them[36] to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. 22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion. + +24“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you 27(for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.” + + + + + +The LORD Is Holy + + +19:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. 3Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. 4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God. + +5“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, 8and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people. + + + + + +Love Your Neighbor as Yourself + + +9“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God. + +11“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. + +13“You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. + +15“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life[37] of your neighbor: I am the LORD. + +17“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. + + + + + +You Shall Keep My Statutes + + +19“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material. + +20“If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; 21but he shall bring his compensation to the LORD, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. 22And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed. + +23“When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden.[38] Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. 25But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God. + +26“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. 27You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD. + +29“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 30You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. + +31“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God. + +32“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. + +33“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. + +35“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:[39] I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.” + + + + + +Punishment for Child Sacrifice + + +20:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech. + +6“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 9For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him. + + + + + +Punishments for Sexual Immorality + + +10“If a man commits adultery with the wife of[40] his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. + +17“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity.[41] He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless. + + + + + +You Shall Be Holy + + +22“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. + +27“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” + + + + + +Holiness and the Priests + + +21:1 And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD's food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. 9And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire. + +10“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD. 13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.[42] 14A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin[43] of his own people, 15that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.” + +16And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 21No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” 24So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel. + + + + + +22:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the LORD. 3Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. 4None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen, 5and whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or a person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be— 6the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water. 7When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because they are his food. 8He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the LORD.’ 9They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the LORD who sanctifies them. + +10“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired servant shall eat of a holy thing, 11but if a priest buys a slave as his property for money, the slave[44] may eat of it, and anyone born in his house may eat of his food. 12If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. 13But if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. 14And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the LORD, 16and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” + + + + + +Acceptable Offerings + + +17And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18“Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD, 19if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to the LORD as a food offering on the altar. 23You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the LORD; you shall not do it within your land, 25neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.” + +26And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27“When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the LORD. 28But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep and her young in one day. 29And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD. + +31“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. 32And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 33who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD.” + + + + + +Feasts of the LORD + + +23:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts. + + + + + +The Sabbath + + +3“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places. + + + + + +The Passover + + +4“These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,[45] is the LORD's Passover. 6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.” + + + + + +The Feast of Firstfruits + + +9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah[46] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.[47] 14And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. + + + + + +The Feast of Weeks + + +15“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. 17You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD. 18And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 19And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21And you shall make proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. + +22“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” + + + + + +The Feast of Trumpets + + +23And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.” + + + + + +The Day of Atonement + + +26And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27“Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. 28And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.” + + + + + +The Feast of Booths + + +33And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths[48] to the LORD. 35On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. + +37“These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38besides the LORD's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD. + +39“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” + +44Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD. + + + + + +The Lamps + + +24:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. 3Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold[49] before the LORD regularly. + + + + + +Bread for the Tabernacle + + +5“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah[50] shall be in each loaf. 6And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold[51] before the LORD. 7And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the LORD. 8Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the LORD regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. 9And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD's food offerings, a perpetual due.” + + + + + +Punishment for Blasphemy + + +10Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them. + +13Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14“Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. + + + + + +An Eye for an Eye + + +17“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. 18Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life. 19If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. 21Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. 22You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.” 23So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses. + + + + + +The Sabbath Year + + +25:1 The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. 3For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired servant and the sojourner who lives with you, 7and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food. + + + + + +The Year of Jubilee + + +8“You shall count seven weeks[52] of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. 11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.[53] + +13“In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God. + +18“Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. 19The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. 20And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ 21I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives. + + + + + +Redemption of Property + + +23“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land. + +25“If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28But if he has not sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property. + +29“If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, he may redeem it within a year of its sale. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee. 31But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee. 32As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities they possess. 33And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess shall be released in the jubilee. For the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. 34But the fields of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever. + + + + + +Kindness for Poor Brothers + + +35“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. 36Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. + +39“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. 42For they are my servants,[54] whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God. 44As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. 46You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly. + + + + + +Redeeming a Poor Man + + +47“If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's clan, 48then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself. 50He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be rated as the time of a hired servant. 51If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. 52If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. 53He shall treat him as a servant hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants.[55] They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. + + + + + +Blessings for Obedience + + +26:1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God. 2You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. + +3“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. 6I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11I will make my dwelling[56] among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. + + + + + +Punishment for Disobedience + + +14“But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. + +21“Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted. + +23“And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26When I break your supply[57] of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. + +27“But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. + +34“Then the land shall enjoy[58] its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them. + +40“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. 45But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” + +46These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. + + + + + +Laws About Vows + + +27:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the valuation of persons, 3then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels[59] of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford. + +9“If the vow[60] is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the LORD, all of it that he gives to the LORD is holy. 10He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the LORD, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a fifth to the valuation. + +14“When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the LORD, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his. + +16“If a man dedicates to the LORD part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homer[61] of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand, 18but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall calculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation. 19And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. 20But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. 21But the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the LORD, like a field that has been devoted. The priest shall be in possession of it. 22If he dedicates to the LORD a field that he has bought, which is not a part of his possession, 23then the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the LORD. 24In the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession. 25Every valuation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs[62] shall make a shekel. + +26“But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the LORD, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD's. 27And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation. + +28“But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD. 29No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction[63] from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death. + +30“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD. 31If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the LORD. 33One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.” + +34These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:9 Or an offering by fire; so throughout Leviticus + +[2] 1:16 Or feathers + +[3] 4:2 Or by mistake; so throughout Leviticus + +[4] 4:13 Or makes a mistake + +[5] 4:13 Or suffer for their guilt, or are guilty; also verses 22, 27, and chapter 5 + +[6] 5:6 Hebrew his guilt penalty; so throughout Leviticus + +[7] 5:7 Septuagint two young pigeons; also verse 11 + +[8] 5:11 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[9] 5:13 Septuagint; Hebrew it + +[10] 5:15 Or flock, or its equivalent + +[11] 5:15 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[12] 5:19 Or he has paid full compensation to + +[13] 6:1 Ch 5:20 in Hebrew + +[14] 6:8 Ch 6:1 in Hebrew + +[15] 6:20 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[16] 6:21 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[17] 8:7 Hebrew with it + +[18] 8:15 Probably Aaron or his representative; possibly Moses; also verses 16-23 + +[19] 10:1 Or strange + +[20] 11:13 Or things that fly; compare Genesis 1:20 + +[21] 11:13 The identity of many of these birds is uncertain + +[22] 12:8 Septuagint two young pigeons + +[23] 13:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases + +[24] 13:45 Or mustache + +[25] 14:4 Or wild + +[26] 14:5 Or running; Hebrew living; also verses 6, 50, 51, 52 + +[27] 14:10 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[28] 14:10 A log was about 1/3 quart or 0.3 liter + +[29] 14:31 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew afford, 31such as he can afford, one + +[30] 15:2 Hebrew flesh; also verse 3 + +[31] 16:8 The meaning of Azazel is uncertain; possibly the name of a place or a demon, traditionally a scapegoat; also verses 10, 26 + +[32] 16:29 Or shall fast; also verse 31 + +[33] 17:14 Hebrew all flesh + +[34] 17:14 Hebrew it is in its life + +[35] 18:4 Or my just decrees; also verse 5 + +[36] 18:21 Hebrew to make them pass through [the fire] + +[37] 19:16 Hebrew blood + +[38] 19:23 Hebrew as its uncircumcision + +[39] 19:36 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[40] 20:10 Hebrew repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of + +[41] 20:21 Literally menstrual impurity + +[42] 21:13 Or a young wife + +[43] 21:14 Hebrew young woman + +[44] 22:11 Hebrew he + +[45] 23:5 Hebrew between the two evenings + +[46] 23:13 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[47] 23:13 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[48] 23:34 Or tabernacles + +[49] 24:4 Hebrew the pure lampstand + +[50] 24:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[51] 24:6 Hebrew the pure table + +[52] 25:8 Or Sabbaths + +[53] 25:12 Or countryside + +[54] 25:42 Hebrew slaves + +[55] 25:55 Or slaves + +[56] 26:11 Hebrew tabernacle + +[57] 26:26 Hebrew staff + +[58] 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43 + +[59] 27:3 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[60] 27:9 Hebrew it + +[61] 27:16 A homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[62] 27:25 A gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram + +[63] 27:29 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + + + + + +NUMBERS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + + + + + +A Census of Israel's Warriors + + +1:1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. 4And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. 5And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; 14from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; 15from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” 16These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel. + +17Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, 18and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19as the LORD commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai. + +20The people of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 21those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500. + +22Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 23those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300. + +24Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 25those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650. + +26Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 27those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600. + +28Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 29those listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400. + +30Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 31those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400. + +32Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 33those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500. + +34Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 35those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200. + +36Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 37those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400. + +38Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 39those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700. + +40Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 41those listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500. + +42Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 43those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400. + +44These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house. 45So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— 46all those listed were 603,550. + + + + + +Levites Exempted + + +47But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 49“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses. + + + + + +Arrangement of the Camp + + +2:1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2“The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. 3Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Amminadab, 4his company as listed being 74,600. 5Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, 6his company as listed being 54,400. 7Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, 8his company as listed being 57,400. 9All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. They shall set out first on the march. + +10“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11his company as listed being 46,500. 12And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13his company as listed being 59,300. 14Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of Reuel, 15his company as listed being 45,650. 16All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. They shall set out second. + +17“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard. + +18“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19his company as listed being 40,500. 20And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21his company as listed being 32,200. 22Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23his company as listed being 35,400. 24All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They shall set out third on the march. + +25“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26his company as listed being 62,700. 27And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28his company as listed being 41,500. 29Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, 30his company as listed being 53,400. 31All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard.” + +32These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers' houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550. 33But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +34Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers' house. + + + + + +The Sons of Aaron + + +3:1 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. 4But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father. + + + + + +Duties of the Levites + + +5And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. 8They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.” + +11And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, 13for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the LORD.” + +14And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15“List the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list.” 16So Moses listed them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. 17And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers' houses. + +21To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was[1] 7,500. 23The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, 24with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers' house of the Gershonites. 25And the guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords—all the service connected with these. + +27To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. 28According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. 29The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30with Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers' house of the clans of the Kohathites. 31And their guard duty involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service connected with these. 32And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary. + +33To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. 34Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200. 35And the chief of the fathers' house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; 37also the pillars around the court, with their bases and pegs and cords. + +38Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect[2] the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the LORD, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000. + + + + + +Redemption of the Firstborn + + +40And the LORD said to Moses, “List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names. 41And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the LORD—instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel.” 42So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded him. 43And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273. + +44And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45“Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD. 46And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, 47you shall take five shekels[3] per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs[4]), 48and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” 49So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites. 50From the firstborn of the people of Israel he took the money, 1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 51And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. + + + + + +Duties of the Kohathites + + +4:1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2“Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 3from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. 5When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. 6Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin[5] and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. 7And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the regular showbread also shall be on it. 8Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 9And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. 10And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 11And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 12And they shall take all the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. 13And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 15And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry. + +16“And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.” + +17The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18“Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.” + +21The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 22“Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses and by their clans. 23From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting 26and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. 27All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. 28This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. + +29“As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers' houses. 30From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 31And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, 32and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall list by name the objects that they are required to carry. 33This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” + +34And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 35from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses. + +38Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 39from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting— 40those listed by their clans and their fathers' houses were 2,630. 41This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD. + +42Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 43from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting— 44those listed by clans were 3,200. 45This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses. + +46All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers' houses, 47from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48those listed were 8,580. 49According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were listed, each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, as the LORD commanded Moses. + + + + + +Unclean People + + +5:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous[6] or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead. 3You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.” 4And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the LORD said to Moses, so the people of Israel did. + + + + + +Confession and Restitution + + +5And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, 7he shall confess his sin that he has committed.[7] And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. 8But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. 9And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.” + + + + + +A Test for Adultery + + +11And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12“Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him, 13if a man lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act, 14and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, 15then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah[8] of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance. + +16“And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the LORD. 17And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD and unbind the hair of the woman's head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. 19Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you, 21then’ (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) ‘the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. 22May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’ + +23“Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain. 25And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand and shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar. 26And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people. 28But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children. + +29“This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law. 31The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.” + + + + + +The Nazirite Vow + + +6:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite,[9] to separate himself to the LORD, 3he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4All the days of his separation[10] he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins. + +5“All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long. + +6“All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD. + +9“And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12and separate himself to the LORD for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled. + +13“And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14and he shall bring his gift to the LORD, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings. 16And the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine. + +21“This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the LORD above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.” + + + + + +Aaron's Blessing + + +22The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, + +24The LORD bless you and keep you; + +25the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; + +26the LORD lift up his countenance[11] upon you and give you peace. + +27“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” + + + + + +Offerings at the Tabernacle's Consecration + + +7:1 On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils, 2the chiefs of Israel, heads of their fathers' houses, who were the chiefs of the tribes, who were over those who were listed, approached 3and brought their offerings before the LORD, six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the chiefs, and for each one an ox. They brought them before the tabernacle. 4Then the LORD said to Moses, 5“Accept these from them, that they may be used in the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” 6So Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. 7Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service. 8And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulder. 10And the chiefs offered offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; and the chiefs offered their offering before the altar. 11And the LORD said to Moses, “They shall offer their offerings, one chief each day, for the dedication of the altar.” + +12He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah. 13And his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels,[12] one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 14one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 15one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 16one male goat for a sin offering; 17and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. + +18On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, the chief of Issachar, made an offering. 19He offered for his offering one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 20one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 21one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 22one male goat for a sin offering; 23and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar. + +24On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, the chief of the people of Zebulun: 25his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 26one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 27one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 28one male goat for a sin offering; 29and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. + +30On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, the chief of the people of Reuben: 31his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 32one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 33one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 34one male goat for a sin offering; 35and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur. + +36On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, the chief of the people of Simeon: 37his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 38one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 39one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 40one male goat for a sin offering; 41and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. + +42On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, the chief of the people of Gad: 43his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 44one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 45one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 46one male goat for a sin offering; 47and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel. + +48On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, the chief of the people of Ephraim: 49his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 50one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 51one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 52one male goat for a sin offering; 53and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud. + +54On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, the chief of the people of Manasseh: 55his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 56one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 57one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 58one male goat for a sin offering; 59and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. + +60On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, the chief of the people of Benjamin: 61his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 62one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 63one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 64one male goat for a sin offering; 65and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni. + +66On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, the chief of the people of Dan: 67his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 68one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 69one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 70one male goat for a sin offering; 71and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. + +72On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ochran, the chief of the people of Asher: 73his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 74one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 75one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 76one male goat for a sin offering; 77and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran. + +78On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, the chief of the people of Naphtali: 79his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 80one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 81one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 82one male goat for a sin offering; 83and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan. + +84This was the dedication offering for the altar on the day when it was anointed, from the chiefs of Israel: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve golden dishes, 85each silver plate weighing 130 shekels and each basin 70, all the silver of the vessels 2,400 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, 86the twelve golden dishes, full of incense, weighing 10 shekels apiece according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the dishes being 120 shekels; 87all the cattle for the burnt offering twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male lambs a year old, with their grain offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering; 88and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed. + +89And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him. + + + + + +The Seven Lamps + + +8:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” 3And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses. 4And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. + + + + + +Cleansing of the Levites + + +5And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. 7Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. 8Then let them take a bull from the herd and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering. 9And you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. 10When you bring the Levites before the LORD, the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the LORD. 12Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD to make atonement for the Levites. 13And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as a wave offering to the LORD. + +14“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 15And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. 16For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. 17For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. 19And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.” + +20Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. 21And the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. + + + + + +Retirement of the Levites + + +23And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they[13] shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26They minister[14] to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.” + + + + + +The Passover Celebrated + + +9:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2“Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. 3On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.” 4So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. 6And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7And those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the LORD's offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” 8And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.” + +9The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the LORD. 11In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. 13But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the LORD's offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. 14And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.” + + + + + +The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle + + +15On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. 16So it was always: the cloud covered it by day[15] and the appearance of fire by night. 17And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. 18At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not set out. 20Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they remained in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they set out. 21And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. 22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. 23At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses. + + + + + +The Silver Trumpets + + +10:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. 3And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 4But if they blow only one, then the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. 5When you blow an alarm, the camps that are on the east side shall set out. 6And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. 7But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not sound an alarm. 8And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 9And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. 10On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the LORD your God.” + + + + + +Israel Leaves Sinai + + +11In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, 12and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. 13They set out for the first time at the command of the LORD by Moses. 14The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies, and over their company was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. 16And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. + +17And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out. 18And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. + +21Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. 22And the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. + +25Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ochran. 27And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 28This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out. + +29And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the LORD has promised good to Israel.” 30But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.” 31And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us. 32And if you do go with us, whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same will we do to you.” + +33So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them. 34And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp. + +35And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” 36And when it rested, he said, “Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.” + + + + + +The People Complain + + +11:1 And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. 3So the name of that place was called Taberah,[16] because the fire of the LORD burned among them. + +4Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” + +7Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. + +10Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.” + + + + + +Elders Appointed to Aid Moses + + +16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” 21But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” + +24So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it. + +26Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” 30And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. + + + + + +Quail and a Plague + + +31Then a wind from the LORD sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits[17] above the ground. 32And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers.[18] And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague. 34Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah,[19] because there they buried the people who had the craving. 35From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth, and they remained at Hazeroth. + + + + + +Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses + + +12:1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. 3Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. 4And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 5And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. 6And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed. + +10When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous,[20] like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us[21] because we have done foolishly and have sinned. 12Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb.” 13And Moses cried to the LORD, “O God, please heal her—please.” 14But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” 15So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. 16After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. + + + + + +Spies Sent into Canaan + + +13:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” 3So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. 4And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; 9from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. + +17Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, 18and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, 19and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, 20and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. + +21So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. 24That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,[22] because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. + + + + + +Report of the Spies + + +25At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” + +30But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” + + + + + +The People Rebel + + +14:1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” + +5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. + +11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” + + + + + +Moses Intercedes for the People + + +13But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people. For you, O LORD, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” + + + + + +God Promises Judgment + + +20Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, 22none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” + +26And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27“How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” + +36And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— 37the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the LORD. 38Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive. + + + + + +Israel Defeated in Battle + + +39When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. 40And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.” 41But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the LORD, when that will not succeed? 42Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.” 44But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah. + + + + + +Laws About Sacrifices + + +15:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you, 3and you offer to the LORD from the herd or from the flock a food offering[23] or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the LORD, 4then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah[24] of fine flour, mixed with a quarter of a hin[25] of oil; 5and you shall offer with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, a quarter of a hin of wine for the drink offering for each lamb. 6Or for a ram, you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil. 7And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hin of wine, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 8And when you offer a bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to the LORD, 9then one shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil. 10And you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. + +11“Thus it shall be done for each bull or ram, or for each lamb or young goat. 12As many as you offer, so shall you do with each one, as many as there are. 13Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 14And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do. 15For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. 16One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.” + +17The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you 19and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the LORD. 20Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. 21Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD as a contribution throughout your generations. + + + + + +Laws About Unintentional Sins + + +22“But if you sin unintentionally,[26] and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses, 23all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations, 24then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering. 25And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering, a food offering to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD for their mistake. 26And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the mistake. + +27“If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. 28And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. 29You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. 30But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.” + + + + + +A Sabbathbreaker Executed + + +32While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 33And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 34They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 35And the LORD said to Moses, “The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” 36And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses. + + + + + +Tassels on Garments + + +37The LORD said to Moses, 38“Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 39And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow[27] after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. 40So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. 41I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” + + + + + +Korah's Rebellion + + +16:1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 4When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, 5and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his,[28] and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. 6Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; 7put fire in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” 8And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?” + +12And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. 13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” 15And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.” + +16And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” 18So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation. + +20And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” 22And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” 23And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24“Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” + +25Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” 27So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. 30But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.” + +31And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men offering the incense. + +36[29] Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 37“Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. 38As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD, and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” 39So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, 40to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses. + +41But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” 42And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45“Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” 47So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 49Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped. + + + + + +Aaron's Staff Buds + + +17:1 [30] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, 3and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. 4Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. 5And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” 6Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7And Moses deposited the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. + +8On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. 9Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the LORD to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. 10And the LORD said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” 11Thus did Moses; as the LORD commanded him, so he did. + +12And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. 13Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?” + + + + + +Duties of Priests and Levites + + +18:1 So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. 2And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. 3They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die. 4They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, and no outsider shall come near you. 5And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. 6And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the LORD, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 7And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,[31] and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.” + +8Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. 9This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons. 10In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you. 11This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 12All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the firstfruits of what they give to the LORD, I give to you. 13The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. 14Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. 15Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels[32] in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. 17But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 18But their flesh shall be yours, as the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. 19All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you.” 20And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. + +21“To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, 22so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. 23But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.” + +25And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26“Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe. 27And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 28So you shall also present a contribution to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the LORD's contribution to Aaron the priest. 29Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the LORD; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’ 30Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the winepress. 31And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’” + + + + + +Laws for Purification + + +19:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2“This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. 3And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. 4And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. 6And the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer. 7Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. But the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and shall be unclean until evening. 9And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering. 10And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them. + +11“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. 12He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. 13Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him. + +14“This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. 15And every open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean. 16Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days. 17For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh[33] water shall be added in a vessel. 18Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. 19And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean. + +20“If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean. 21And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. 22And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.” + + + + + +The Death of Miriam + + +20:1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. + + + + + +The Waters of Meribah + + +2Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! 4Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” 6Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them, 7and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him. + + + + + +Moses Strikes the Rock + + +10Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 13These are the waters of Meribah,[34] where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy. + + + + + +Edom Refuses Passage + + +14Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16And when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King's Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” 18But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” 19And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” 20But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. 21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him. + + + + + +The Death of Aaron + + +22And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. 23And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, 24“Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. 25Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. 26And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.” 27Moses did as the LORD commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days. + + + + + +Arad Destroyed + + +21:1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”[35] 3And the LORD heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.[36] + + + + + +The Bronze Serpent + + +4From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9So Moses made a bronze[37] serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. + + + + + +The Song of the Well + + +10And the people of Israel set out and camped in Oboth. 11And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise. 12From there they set out and camped in the Valley of Zered. 13From there they set out and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, + +“Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon, + +15and the slope of the valleys + +that extends to the seat of Ar, + +and leans to the border of Moab.” + +16And from there they continued to Beer;[38] that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.” 17Then Israel sang this song: + +“Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!— + +18the well that the princes made, + +that the nobles of the people dug, + +with the scepter and with their staffs.” + +And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah, 19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah that looks down on the desert.[39] + + + + + +King Sihon Defeated + + +21Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the King's Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 23But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27Therefore the ballad singers say, + +“Come to Heshbon, let it be built; + +let the city of Sihon be established. + +28For fire came out from Heshbon, + +flame from the city of Sihon. + +It devoured Ar of Moab, + +and swallowed[40] the heights of the Arnon. + +29Woe to you, O Moab! + +You are undone, O people of Chemosh! + +He has made his sons fugitives, + +and his daughters captives, + +to an Amorite king, Sihon. + +30So we overthrew them; + +Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished; + +and we laid waste as far as Nophah; + +fire spread as far as Medeba.”[41] + + + + + +King Og Defeated + + +31Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 34But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land. + + + + + +Balak Summons Balaam + + +22:1 Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. 2And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. 4And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, 5sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw,[42] to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. 6Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” + +7So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak's message. 8And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11‘Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.” 14So the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” + +15Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. 16And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’” 18But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more. 19So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” 20And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. + + + + + +Balaam's Donkey and the Angel + + +22But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. 24Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. 25And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall. So he struck her again. 26Then the angel of the LORD went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” 30And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” + +31Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. 32And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse[43] before me. 33The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” 34Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak. + +36When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border. 37And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.” 39Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 40And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him. + +41And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people. + + + + + +Balaam's First Oracle + + +23:1 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7And Balaam took up his discourse and said, + +“From Aram Balak has brought me, + +the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: + +‘Come, curse Jacob for me, + +and come, denounce Israel!’ + +8How can I curse whom God has not cursed? + +How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? + +9For from the top of the crags I see him, + +from the hills I behold him; + +behold, a people dwelling alone, + +and not counting itself among the nations! + +10Who can count the dust of Jacob + +or number the fourth part[44] of Israel? + +Let me die the death of the upright, + +and let my end be like his!” + +11And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” + + + + + +Balaam's Second Oracle + + +13And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.” 16And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?” 18And Balaam took up his discourse and said, + +“Rise, Balak, and hear; + +give ear to me, O son of Zippor: + +19God is not man, that he should lie, + +or a son of man, that he should change his mind. + +Has he said, and will he not do it? + +Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? + +20Behold, I received a command to bless: + +he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. + +21He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, + +nor has he seen trouble in Israel. + +The LORD their God is with them, + +and the shout of a king is among them. + +22God brings them out of Egypt + +and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. + +23For there is no enchantment against Jacob, + +no divination against Israel; + +now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, + +‘What has God wrought!’ + +24Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up + +and as a lion it lifts itself; + +it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey + +and drunk the blood of the slain.” + +25And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?” 27And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.[45] 29And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. + + + + + +Balaam's Third Oracle + + +24:1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, 3and he took up his discourse and said, + +“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, + +the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,[46] + +4the oracle of him who hears the words of God, + +who sees the vision of the Almighty, + +falling down with his eyes uncovered: + +5How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, + +your encampments, O Israel! + +6Like palm groves[47] that stretch afar, + +like gardens beside a river, + +like aloes that the LORD has planted, + +like cedar trees beside the waters. + +7Water shall flow from his buckets, + +and his seed shall be in many waters; + +his king shall be higher than Agag, + +and his kingdom shall be exalted. + +8God brings him out of Egypt + +and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; + +he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, + +and shall break their bones in pieces + +and pierce them through with his arrows. + +9He crouched, he lay down like a lion + +and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? + +Blessed are those who bless you, + +and cursed are those who curse you.” + +10And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.” 12And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’? 14And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” + + + + + +Balaam's Final Oracle + + +15And he took up his discourse and said, + +“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, + +the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, + +16the oracle of him who hears the words of God, + +and knows the knowledge of the Most High, + +who sees the vision of the Almighty, + +falling down with his eyes uncovered: + +17I see him, but not now; + +I behold him, but not near: + +a star shall come out of Jacob, + +and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; + +it shall crush the forehead[48] of Moab + +and break down all the sons of Sheth. + +18Edom shall be dispossessed; + +Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. + +Israel is doing valiantly. + +19And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion + +and destroy the survivors of cities!” + +20Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, + +“Amalek was the first among the nations, + +but its end is utter destruction.” + +21And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, + +“Enduring is your dwelling place, + +and your nest is set in the rock. + +22Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned + +when Asshur takes you away captive.” + +23And he took up his discourse and said, + +“Alas, who shall live when God does this? + +24But ships shall come from Kittim + +and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; + +and he too shall come to utter destruction.” + +25Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way. + + + + + +Baal Worship at Peor + + +25:1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang[49] them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” + +6And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. + + + + + +The Zeal of Phinehas + + +10And the LORD said to Moses, 11“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” + +14The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. 15And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian. + +16And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.” + + + + + +Census of the New Generation + + +26:1 After the plague, the LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, 2“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” 3And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4“Take a census of the people,[50] from twenty years old and upward,” as the LORD commanded Moses. The people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were: + +5Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the clan of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the clan of the Palluites; 6of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites. 7These are the clans of the Reubenites, and those listed were 43,730. 8And the sons of Pallu: Eliab. 9The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD 10and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, and they became a warning. 11But the sons of Korah did not die. + +12The sons of Simeon according to their clans: of Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the clan of the Jachinites; 13of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the clan of the Shaulites. 14These are the clans of the Simeonites, 22,200. + +15The sons of Gad according to their clans: of Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the clan of the Haggites; of Shuni, the clan of the Shunites; 16of Ozni, the clan of the Oznites; of Eri, the clan of the Erites; 17of Arod, the clan of the Arodites; of Areli, the clan of the Arelites. 18These are the clans of the sons of Gad as they were listed, 40,500. + +19The sons of Judah were Er and Onan; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20And the sons of Judah according to their clans were: of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites; of Perez, the clan of the Perezites; of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites. 21And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites. 22These are the clans of Judah as they were listed, 76,500. + +23The sons of Issachar according to their clans: of Tola, the clan of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the clan of the Punites; 24of Jashub, the clan of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the clan of the Shimronites. 25These are the clans of Issachar as they were listed, 64,300. + +26The sons of Zebulun, according to their clans: of Sered, the clan of the Seredites; of Elon, the clan of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelites. 27These are the clans of the Zebulunites as they were listed, 60,500. + +28The sons of Joseph according to their clans: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the clan of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites. 30These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites; of Helek, the clan of the Helekites; 31and of Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites; 32and of Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites. 33Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34These are the clans of Manasseh, and those listed were 52,700. + +35These are the sons of Ephraim according to their clans: of Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the clan of the Becherites; of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites. 36And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the clan of the Eranites. 37These are the clans of the sons of Ephraim as they were listed, 32,500. These are the sons of Joseph according to their clans. + +38The sons of Benjamin according to their clans: of Bela, the clan of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramites; 39of Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the clan of the Huphamites. 40And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the clan of the Ardites; of Naaman, the clan of the Naamites. 41These are the sons of Benjamin according to their clans, and those listed were 45,600. + +42These are the sons of Dan according to their clans: of Shuham, the clan of the Shuhamites. These are the clans of Dan according to their clans. 43All the clans of the Shuhamites, as they were listed, were 64,400. + +44The sons of Asher according to their clans: of Imnah, the clan of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the clan of the Beriites. 45Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the clan of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the clan of the Malchielites. 46And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47These are the clans of the sons of Asher as they were listed, 53,400. + +48The sons of Naphtali according to their clans: of Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the clan of the Gunites; 49of Jezer, the clan of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the clan of the Shillemites. 50These are the clans of Naphtali according to their clans, and those listed were 45,400. + +51This was the list of the people of Israel, 601,730. + +52The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 53“Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names. 54To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance in proportion to its list. 55But the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller.” + +57This was the list of the Levites according to their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites. 58These are the clans of Levi: the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram. 59The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister. 60And to Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD. 62And those listed were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward. For they were not listed among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel. + +63These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65For the LORD had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. + + + + + +The Daughters of Zelophehad + + +27:1 Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 3“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. 4Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers.” + +5Moses brought their case before the LORD. 6And the LORD said to Moses, 7“The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. 8And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 9And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers. 11And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule, as the LORD commanded Moses.’” + + + + + +Joshua to Succeed Moses + + +12The LORD said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, 16“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” 18So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” 22And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses. + + + + + +Daily Offerings + + +28:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time.’ 3And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. 4The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 5also a tenth of an ephah[51] of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin[52] of beaten oil. 6It is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 7Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD. 8The other lamb you shall offer at twilight. Like the grain offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. + + + + + +Sabbath Offerings + + +9“On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: 10this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. + + + + + +Monthly Offerings + + +11“At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull, and two tenths of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 14Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. + + + + + +Passover Offerings + + +16“On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD's Passover, 17and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. 18On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, 19but offer a food offering, a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish; 20also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram; 21a tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs; 22also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 23You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. 24In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 25And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. + + + + + +Offerings for the Feast of Weeks + + +26“On the day of the firstfruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the LORD at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, 27but offer a burnt offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; 28also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for one ram, 29a tenth for each of the seven lambs; 30with one male goat, to make atonement for you. 31Besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. See that they are without blemish. + + + + + +Offerings for the Feast of Trumpets + + +29:1 “On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, 2and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the LORD: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 3also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah[53] for the bull, two tenths for the ram, 4and one tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. + + + + + +Offerings for the Day of Atonement + + +7“On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation and afflict yourselves. You shall do no work, 8but you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old: see that they are without blemish. 9And their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, 10a tenth for each of the seven lambs: 11also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings. + + + + + +Offerings for the Feast of Booths + + +12“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days. 13And you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, thirteen bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish; 14and their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, 15and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; 16also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. + +17“On the second day twelve bulls from the herd, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 18with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; 19also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings. + +20“On the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 21with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; 22also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. + +23“On the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 24with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; 25also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. + +26“On the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 27with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; 28also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. + +29“On the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 30with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; 31also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings. + +32“On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, 33with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; 34also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. + +35“On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall not do any ordinary work, 36but you shall offer a burnt offering, a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, 37and the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, in the prescribed quantities; 38also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. + +39“These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.” + +40[54] So Moses told the people of Israel everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. + + + + + +Men and Vows + + +30:1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the LORD has commanded. 2If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. + + + + + +Women and Vows + + +3“If a woman vows a vow to the LORD and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house in her youth, 4and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her. + +6“If she marries a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the LORD will forgive her. 9(But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.) 10And if she vowed in her husband's house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. 12But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the LORD will forgive her. 13Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself, her husband may establish,[55] or her husband may make void. 14But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. 15But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity.” + +16These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father's house. + + + + + +Vengeance on Midian + + +31:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD's vengeance on Midian. 4You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. + +13Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. 17Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.” + +21Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: 22only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.” + +25The LORD said to Moses, 26“Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. 30And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. + +32Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 3372,000 cattle, 3461,000 donkeys, 35and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37and the LORD's tribute of sheep was 675. 38The cattle were 36,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 72. 39The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD's tribute was 61. 40The persons were 16,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 32 persons. 41And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +42From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— 43now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 4436,000 cattle, 45and 30,500 donkeys, 46and 16,000 persons— 47from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. + +48Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses 49and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. 50And we have brought the LORD's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 51And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. 52And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.[56] 53(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) 54And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD. + + + + + +Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead + + +32:1 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” + +6But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? 7Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? 8Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the LORD had given them. 10And the LORD's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, 12none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ 13And the LORD's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. 14And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! 15For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.” + +16Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. 19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.” 20So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, 21and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. 24Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.” 25And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, 27but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord orders.” + +28So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 29And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. 30However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 31And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the LORD has said to your servants, we will do. 32We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.” + +33And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. 34And the people of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37And the people of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names were changed), and Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built. 39And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. 41And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.[57] 42And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name. + + + + + +Recounting Israel's Journey + + +33:1 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. On their gods also the LORD executed judgments. + +5So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. 6And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8And they set out from before Hahiroth[58] and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. 17And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35And they set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. 36And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. + +38And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. + +40And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel. + +41And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. 44And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. 45And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. 46And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab. + + + + + +Drive Out the Inhabitants + + +50And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.” + + + + + +Boundaries of the Land + + +34:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 3your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. 4And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea. + +6“For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its[59] coast. This shall be your western border. + +7“This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. 8From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. 9Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border. + +10“You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.” + +13Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.” + + + + + +List of Tribal Chiefs + + +16The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17“These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18You shall take one chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. 19These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. 29These are the men whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.” + + + + + +Cities for the Levites + + +35:1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits[60] all around. 5And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities. + +6“The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.” + + + + + +Cities of Refuge + + +9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there. + +16“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. + +22“But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait 23or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. + +30“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.” + + + + + +Marriage of Female Heirs + + +36:1 The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. 2They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” + +5And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right. 6This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’” + +10The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses, 11for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. 12They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan. + +13These are the commandments and the rules that the LORD commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 3:22 Hebrew their listing was + +[2] 3:38 Hebrew guard + +[3] 3:47 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[4] 3:47 A gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram + +[5] 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; compare Exodus 25:5 + +[6] 5:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[7] 5:7 Hebrew they shall confess their sin that they have committed + +[8] 5:15 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[9] 6:2 Nazirite means one separated, or one consecrated + +[10] 6:4 Or Naziriteship + +[11] 6:26 Or face + +[12] 7:13 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[13] 8:24 Hebrew he; also verses 25, 26 + +[14] 8:26 Hebrew He ministers + +[15] 9:16 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks by day + +[16] 11:3 Taberah means burning + +[17] 11:31 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[18] 11:32 A homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[19] 11:34 Kibroth-hattaavah means graves of craving + +[20] 12:10 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[21] 12:11 Hebrew do not lay sin upon us + +[22] 13:24 Eshcol means cluster + +[23] 15:3 Or an offering by fire; so throughout Numbers + +[24] 15:4 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[25] 15:4 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[26] 15:22 Or by mistake; also verses 24, 27, 28, 29 + +[27] 15:39 Hebrew to spy out + +[28] 16:5 Septuagint The LORD knows those who are his + +[29] 16:36 Ch 17:1 in Hebrew + +[30] 17:1 Ch 17:16 in Hebrew + +[31] 18:7 Hebrew service of gift + +[32] 18:16 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[33] 19:17 Hebrew living + +[34] 20:13 Meribah means quarreling + +[35] 21:2 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 3 + +[36] 21:3 Hormah means destruction + +[37] 21:9 Or copper + +[38] 21:16 Beer means well + +[39] 21:20 Or Jeshimon + +[40] 21:28 Septuagint; Hebrew the lords of + +[41] 21:30 Compare Samaritan and Septuagint; Hebrew and we laid waste as far as Nophah, which is as far as Medeba + +[42] 22:5 Or his kindred + +[43] 22:32 Or reckless + +[44] 23:10 Or dust clouds + +[45] 23:28 Or Jeshimon + +[46] 24:3 Or closed, or perfect; also verse 15 + +[47] 24:6 Or valleys + +[48] 24:17 Hebrew corners [of the head] + +[49] 25:4 Or impale + +[50] 26:4 Take a census of the people is implied (compare verse 2) + +[51] 28:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[52] 28:5 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[53] 29:3 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[54] 29:40 Ch 30:1 in Hebrew + +[55] 30:13 Or may allow to stand + +[56] 31:52 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[57] 32:41 Havvoth-jair means the villages of Jair + +[58] 33:8 Some manuscripts and versions Pi-hahiroth + +[59] 34:6 Syriac; Hebrew lacks its + +[60] 35:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + + + + + +DEUTERONOMY + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + + + + + +The Command to Leave Horeb + + +1:1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, 4after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6“The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’ + + + + + +Leaders Appointed + + +9“At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 12How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. + + + + + +Israel's Refusal to Enter the Land + + +19“Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. 21See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ 22Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.’ + +26“Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, 33who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go. + + + + + +The Penalty for Israel's Rebellion + + +34“And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’ 37Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’ + +41“Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there. + + + + + +The Wilderness Years + + +2:1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2Then the LORD said to me, 3‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward 4and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink. 7For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. + +“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.’ 10(The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. 11Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.) 13‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered. 14And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. 15For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished. + +16“So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17the LORD said to me, 18‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’ 20(It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites,[1] and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. 23As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) 24‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. 25This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’ + + + + + +The Defeat of King Sihon + + +26“So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 27‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. 28You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, 29as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving to us.’ 30But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. 31And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ 32Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33And the LORD our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people. 34And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction[2] every city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. 35Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The LORD our God gave all into our hands. 37Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the LORD our God had forbidden us. + + + + + +The Defeat of King Og + + +3:1 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6And we devoted them to destruction,[3] as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. 7But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9(the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), 10all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits[4] was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.[5]) + +12“When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities. 13The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. 14Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15To Machir I gave Gilead, 16and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites; 17the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east. + +18“And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20until the LORD gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the LORD your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ 21And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.’ + + + + + +Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land + + +23“And I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, 24‘O Lord GOD, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ 29So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor. + + + + + +Moses Commands Obedience + + +4:1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules[6] that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. 3Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 4But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. 5See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 6Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? + +9“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children— 10how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments,[7] and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess. + + + + + +Idolatry Forbidden + + +15“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. 21Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. 22For I must die in this land; I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of that good land. 23Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. 24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. + +25“When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. 28And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. 31For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. + + + + + +The LORD Alone Is God + + +32“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. 36Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them[8] and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, 38driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” + + + + + +Cities of Refuge + + +41Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, 42that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: 43Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. + + + + + +Introduction to the Law + + +44This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel. 45These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, 46beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. 47And they took possession of his land and the land of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; 48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion[9] (that is, Hermon), 49together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. + + + + + +The Ten Commandments + + +5:1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: + +6“‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. + +7“‘You shall have no other gods before[10] me. + +8“‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10but showing steadfast love to thousands[11] of those who love me and keep my commandments. + +11“‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. + +12“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15You shall remember that you were a slave[12] in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. + +16“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. + +17“‘You shall not murder.[13] + +18“‘And you shall not commit adultery. + +19“‘And you shall not steal. + +20“‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. + +21“‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’ + +22“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. 26For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ + +28“And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants[14] forever! 30Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ 32You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. + + + + + +The Greatest Commandment + + +6:1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules[15] that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. + +4“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[16] 5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. + +10“And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. + +16“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers 19by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised. + +20“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ 21then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’ + + + + + +A Chosen People + + +7:1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves, 2and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction.[17] You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. + +6“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. + +12“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. + +17“If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ 18you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. 21You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. 22The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once,[18] lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction[19] like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction. + + + + + +Remember the LORD Your God + + +8:1 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. 2And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word[20] that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. 6So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. + +11“Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. + + + + + +Not Because of Righteousness + + +9:1 “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ 3Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you. + +4“Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. 5Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. + +6“Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. 7Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. 8Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. 9When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11And at the end of forty days and forty nights the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’ + + + + + +The Golden Calf + + +13“Furthermore, the LORD said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people. 14Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ 15So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a golden[21] calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you. 17So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger. 19For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also. 20And the LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain. + +22“At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. 23And when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. 24You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. + +25“So I lay prostrate before the LORD for these forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said he would destroy you. 26And I prayed to the LORD, ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, 28lest the land from which you brought us say, “Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’ + + + + + +New Tablets of Stone + + +10:1 “At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood. 2And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments[22] that the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the LORD gave them to me. 5Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the LORD commanded me.” + +6(The people of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan[23] to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his place. 7From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water. 8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD to stand before the LORD to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day. 9Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.) + +10“I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD was unwilling to destroy you. 11And the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’ + + + + + +Circumcise Your Heart + + +12“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? 14Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 19Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 20You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. 21He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. 22Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. + + + + + +Love and Serve the LORD + + +11:1 “You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. 2And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline[24] of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, 3his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, 4and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day, 5and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, 6and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. 7For your eyes have seen all the great work of the LORD that he did. + +8“You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, 9and that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it,[25] like a garden of vegetables. 11But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, 12a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. + +13“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14he[26] will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. 15And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. 16Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you. + +18“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. 22For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, 23then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. 24Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to[27] the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. 25No one shall be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you. + +26“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, 28and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. 29And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak[28] of Moreh? 31For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it, 32you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today. + + + + + +The LORD's Chosen Place of Worship + + +12:1 “These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. 4You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way. 5But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation[29] there. There you shall go, 6and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you. + +8“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you. 10But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the LORD. 12And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14but at the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you. + +15“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer. 16Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 17You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings or the contribution that you present, 18but you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place that the LORD your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your towns. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you undertake. 19Take care that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land. + +20“When the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire. 21If the place that the LORD your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire. 22Just as the gazelle or the deer is eaten, so you may eat of it. The unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. 23Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. 24You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water. 25You shall not eat it, that all may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. 26But the holy things that are due from you, and your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place that the LORD will choose, 27and offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, but the flesh you may eat. 28Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. + + + + + +Warning Against Idolatry + + +29“When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. + +32[30] “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it. + + + + + +13:1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil[31] from your midst. + +6“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace[32] or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you. + +12“If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to dwell there, 13that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction,[33] all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God. + + + + + +Clean and Unclean Food + + +14:1 “You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. 2For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. + +3“You shall not eat any abomination. 4These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex,[34] the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 7Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. 8And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. + +9“Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. 10And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. + +11“You may eat all clean birds. 12But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle,[35] the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13the kite, the falcon of any kind; 14every raven of any kind; 15the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl 17and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. 19And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20All clean winged things you may eat. + +21“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. + +“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. + + + + + +Tithes + + +22“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. 23And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there, 25then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses 26and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. + +28“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. + + + + + +The Sabbatical Year + + +15:1 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD's release has been proclaimed. 3Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. 4But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— 5if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. 6For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. + +7“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly[36] on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ + +12“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold[37] to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. 14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, 17then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. 18It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired servant he has served you six years. So the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do. + +19“All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the LORD your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20You shall eat it, you and your household, before the LORD your God year by year at the place that the LORD will choose. 21But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. 22You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. 23Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. + + + + + +Passover + + +16:1 “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the LORD will choose, to make his name dwell there. 3You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. 5You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, 6but at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the LORD your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it. + + + + + +The Feast of Weeks + + +9“You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. 11And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. 12You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. + + + + + +The Feast of Booths + + +13“You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. 14You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. 15For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. + +16“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. + + + + + +Justice + + +18“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you. + + + + + +Forbidden Forms of Worship + + +21“You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the LORD your God that you shall make. 22And you shall not set up a pillar, which the LORD your God hates. + + + + + +17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God. + +2“If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant, 3and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, 4and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. 6On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge[38] the evil[39] from your midst. + + + + + +Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges + + +8“If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the LORD your God will choose. 9And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. 10Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the LORD will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again. + + + + + +Laws Concerning Israel's Kings + + +14“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. + +18“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by[40] the Levitical priests. 19And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. + + + + + +Provision for Priests and Levites + + +18:1 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD's food offerings[41] as their[42] inheritance. 2They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them. 3And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for all time. + +6“And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, where he lives—and he may come when he desires[43]—to the place that the LORD will choose, 7and ministers in the name of the LORD his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the LORD, 8then he may have equal portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.[44] + + + + + +Abominable Practices + + +9“When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,[45] anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. 13You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, 14for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this. + + + + + +A New Prophet like Moses + + +15“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[46] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— 22when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. + + + + + +Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge + + +19:1 “When the LORD your God cuts off the nations whose land the LORD your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 3You shall measure the distances[47] and divide into three parts the area of the land that the LORD your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them. + +4“This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the LORD your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three, 10lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you. + +11“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood[48] from Israel, so that it may be well with you. + + + + + +Property Boundaries + + +14“You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. + + + + + +Laws Concerning Witnesses + + +15“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil[49] from your midst. 20And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. + + + + + +Laws Concerning Warfare + + +20:1 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ 5Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. 7And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people. + +10“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. 15Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17but you shall devote them to complete destruction,[50] the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, 18that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God. + +19“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? 20Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls. + + + + + +Atonement for Unsolved Murders + + +21:1 “If in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, 2then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. 3And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. 4And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 5Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. 6And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. 8Accept atonement, O LORD, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ 9So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. + + + + + +Marrying Female Captives + + +10“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, 11and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, 12and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. 13And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her. + + + + + +Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn + + +15“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,[51] 16then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, 17but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his. + + + + + +A Rebellious Son + + +18“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. + + + + + +A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed + + +22“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. + + + + + +Various Laws + + +22:1 “You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 2And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. 3And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother's, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. 4You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again. + +5“A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God. + +6“If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 7You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long. + +8“When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it. + +9“You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited,[52] the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. 10You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. + +12“You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself. + + + + + +Laws Concerning Sexual Immorality + + +13“If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her 14and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; 17and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. 18Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip[53] him, 19and they shall fine him a hundred shekels[54] of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin[55] of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days. 20But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father's house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. + +22“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. + +23“If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, 24then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. + +25“But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, 27because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her. + +28“If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days. + +30[56] “A man shall not take his father's wife, so that he does not uncover his father's nakedness.[57] + + + + + +Those Excluded from the Assembly + + +23:1 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD. + +2“No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD. + +3“No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever, 4because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you. 6You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever. + +7“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land. 8Children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the LORD. + + + + + +Uncleanness in the Camp + + +9“When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing. + +10“If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, 11but when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp. + +12“You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. 13And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. 14Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. + + + + + +Miscellaneous Laws + + +15“You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him. + +17“None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. 18You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog[58] into the house of the LORD your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God. + +19“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. + +21“If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. 22But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth. + +24“If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain. + + + + + +Laws Concerning Divorce + + +24:1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, 3and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. + + + + + +Miscellaneous Laws + + +5“When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken. + +6“No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge. + +7“If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. + +8“Take care, in a case of leprous[59] disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt. + +10“When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God. + +14“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin. + +16“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin. + +17“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge, 18but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this. + +19“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this. + + + + + +25:1 “If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, 2then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. 3Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight. + +4“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain. + + + + + +Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage + + +5“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.’ 8Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.’ 10And the name of his house[60] shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’ + + + + + +Miscellaneous Laws + + +11“When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, 12then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity. + +13“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. 14You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. 15A full and fair[61] weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God. + +17“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, 18how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. 19Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget. + + + + + +Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes + + +26:1 “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, 2you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. 3And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. + +5“And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror,[62] with signs and wonders. 9And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. 11And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you. + +12“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ + +16“This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. 18And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, 19and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.” + + + + + +The Altar on Mount Ebal + + +27:1 Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today. 2And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. 3And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. 4And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. 5And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them; 6you shall build an altar to the LORD your God of uncut[63] stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God, 7and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. 8And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” + + + + + +Curses from Mount Ebal + + +9Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the LORD your God. 10You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.” + +11That day Moses charged the people, saying, 12“When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice: + +15“‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ + +16“‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +17“‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor's landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +18“‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +19“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +20“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's nakedness.’[64] And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +21“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +22“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +23“‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +24“‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +25“‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + +26“‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ + + + + + +Blessings for Obedience + + +28:1 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. + +7“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 9The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. + + + + + +Curses for Disobedience + + +15“But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. 16Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. 17Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 19Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. + +20“The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. 21The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 22The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought[65] and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish. 23And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. 24The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed. + +25“The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. 27The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with tumors and scabs and itch, of which you cannot be healed. 28The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind, 29and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways.[66] And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. 30You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. 31Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. 32Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but you shall be helpless. 33A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, 34so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see. 35The LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. + +36“The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. 38You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. 39You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. 41You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. 42The cricket[67] shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. 43The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. + +45“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. 46They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. 47Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, 50a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51It shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. + +52“They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you. 53And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces,[68] and to the last of the children whom he has left, 55so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces,[69] to her son and to her daughter, 57her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns. + +58“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. 60And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. 62Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. + +64“And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. 66Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life. 67In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see. 68And the LORD will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.” + + + + + +The Covenant Renewed in Moab + + +29:1 [70] These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb. + +2[71] And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. 5I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. 6You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. 7And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. 8We took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper[72] in all that you do. + +10“You are standing today all of you before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes,[73] your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today, 13that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, 15but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today. + +16“You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. 17And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. 18Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. 20The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. 21And the LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick— 23the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath— 24all the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. 27Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, 28and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day.’ + +29“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. + + + + + +Repentance and Forgiveness + + +30:1 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7And the LORD your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. + + + + + +The Choice of Life and Death + + +11“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. + +15“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God[74] that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,[75] then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” + + + + + +Joshua to Succeed Moses + + +31:1 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. 2And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. 4And the LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. 6Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” + +7Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” + + + + + +The Reading of the Law + + +9Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” + + + + + +Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel + + +14And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent. + +16And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ 18And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. + +19“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. 20For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” 22So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel. + +23And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.” + +24When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, 25Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, 26“Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death! 28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.” + + + + + +The Song of Moses + + +30Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel: + + + + + +32:1 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, + +and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. + +2May my teaching drop as the rain, + +my speech distill as the dew, + +like gentle rain upon the tender grass, + +and like showers upon the herb. + +3For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; + +ascribe greatness to our God! + +4“The Rock, his work is perfect, + +for all his ways are justice. + +A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, + +just and upright is he. + +5They have dealt corruptly with him; + +they are no longer his children because they are blemished; + +they are a crooked and twisted generation. + +6Do you thus repay the LORD, + +you foolish and senseless people? + +Is not he your father, who created you, + +who made you and established you? + +7Remember the days of old; + +consider the years of many generations; + +ask your father, and he will show you, + +your elders, and they will tell you. + +8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, + +when he divided mankind, + +he fixed the borders[76] of the peoples + +according to the number of the sons of God.[77] + +9But the LORD's portion is his people, + +Jacob his allotted heritage. + +10“He found him in a desert land, + +and in the howling waste of the wilderness; + +he encircled him, he cared for him, + +he kept him as the apple of his eye. + +11Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, + +that flutters over its young, + +spreading out its wings, catching them, + +bearing them on its pinions, + +12the LORD alone guided him, + +no foreign god was with him. + +13He made him ride on the high places of the land, + +and he ate the produce of the field, + +and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, + +and oil out of the flinty rock. + +14Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, + +with fat[78] of lambs, + +rams of Bashan and goats, + +with the very finest[79] of the wheat— + +and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape. + +15“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; + +you grew fat, stout, and sleek; + +then he forsook God who made him + +and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation. + +16They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; + +with abominations they provoked him to anger. + +17They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, + +to gods they had never known, + +to new gods that had come recently, + +whom your fathers had never dreaded. + +18You were unmindful of the Rock that bore[80] you, + +and you forgot the God who gave you birth. + +19“The LORD saw it and spurned them, + +because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. + +20And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; + +I will see what their end will be, + +For they are a perverse generation, + +children in whom is no faithfulness. + +21They have made me jealous with what is no god; + +they have provoked me to anger with their idols. + +So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; + +I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. + +22For a fire is kindled by my anger, + +and it burns to the depths of Sheol, + +devours the earth and its increase, + +and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. + +23“‘And I will heap disasters upon them; + +I will spend my arrows on them; + +24they shall be wasted with hunger, + +and devoured by plague + +and poisonous pestilence; + +I will send the teeth of beasts against them, + +with the venom of things that crawl in the dust. + +25Outdoors the sword shall bereave, + +and indoors terror, + +for young man and woman alike, + +the nursing child with the man of gray hairs. + +26I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces; + +I will wipe them from human memory,” + +27had I not feared provocation by the enemy, + +lest their adversaries should misunderstand, + +lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant, + +it was not the LORD who did all this.”’ + +28“For they are a nation void of counsel, + +and there is no understanding in them. + +29If they were wise, they would understand this; + +they would discern their latter end! + +30How could one have chased a thousand, + +and two have put ten thousand to flight, + +unless their Rock had sold them, + +and the LORD had given them up? + +31For their rock is not as our Rock; + +our enemies are by themselves. + +32For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom + +and from the fields of Gomorrah; + +their grapes are grapes of poison; + +their clusters are bitter; + +33their wine is the poison of serpents + +and the cruel venom of asps. + +34“‘Is not this laid up in store with me, + +sealed up in my treasuries? + +35Vengeance is mine, and recompense,[81] + +for the time when their foot shall slip; + +for the day of their calamity is at hand, + +and their doom comes swiftly.’ + +36For the LORD will vindicate[82] his people + +and have compassion on his servants, + +when he sees that their power is gone + +and there is none remaining, bond or free. + +37Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, + +the rock in which they took refuge, + +38who ate the fat of their sacrifices + +and drank the wine of their drink offering? + +Let them rise up and help you; + +let them be your protection! + +39“‘See now that I, even I, am he, + +and there is no god beside me; + +I kill and I make alive; + +I wound and I heal; + +and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. + +40For I lift up my hand to heaven + +and swear, As I live forever, + +41if I sharpen my flashing sword[83] + +and my hand takes hold on judgment, + +I will take vengeance on my adversaries + +and will repay those who hate me. + +42I will make my arrows drunk with blood, + +and my sword shall devour flesh— + +with the blood of the slain and the captives, + +from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’ + +43“Rejoice with him, O heavens; + +bow down to him, all gods,[84] + +for he avenges the blood of his children[85] + +and takes vengeance on his adversaries. + +He repays those who hate him[86] + +and cleanses[87] his people's land.”[88] + +44Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua[89] the son of Nun. 45And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” + + + + + +Moses' Death Foretold + + +48That very day the LORD spoke to Moses, 49“Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” + + + + + +Moses' Final Blessing on Israel + + +33:1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2He said, + +“The LORD came from Sinai + +and dawned from Seir upon us;[90] + +he shone forth from Mount Paran; + +he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, + +with flaming fire[91] at his right hand. + +3Yes, he loved his people,[92] + +all his holy ones were in his[93] hand; + +so they followed[94] in your steps, + +receiving direction from you, + +4when Moses commanded us a law, + +as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. + +5Thus the LORD became king in Jeshurun, + +when the heads of the people were gathered, + +all the tribes of Israel together. + +6“Let Reuben live, and not die, + +but let his men be few.” + +7And this he said of Judah: + +“Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah, + +and bring him in to his people. + +With your hands contend[95] for him, + +and be a help against his adversaries.” + +8And of Levi he said, + +“Give to Levi[96] your Thummim, + +and your Urim to your godly one, + +whom you tested at Massah, + +with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah; + +9who said of his father and mother, + +‘I regard them not’; + +he disowned his brothers + +and ignored his children. + +For they observed your word + +and kept your covenant. + +10They shall teach Jacob your rules + +and Israel your law; + +they shall put incense before you + +and whole burnt offerings on your altar. + +11Bless, O LORD, his substance, + +and accept the work of his hands; + +crush the loins of his adversaries, + +of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” + +12Of Benjamin he said, + +“The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. + +The High God[97] surrounds him all day long, + +and dwells between his shoulders.” + +13And of Joseph he said, + +“Blessed by the LORD be his land, + +with the choicest gifts of heaven above,[98] + +and of the deep that crouches beneath, + +14with the choicest fruits of the sun + +and the rich yield of the months, + +15with the finest produce of the ancient mountains + +and the abundance of the everlasting hills, + +16with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness + +and the favor of him who dwells in the bush. + +May these rest on the head of Joseph, + +on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers. + +17A firstborn bull[99]—he has majesty, + +and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; + +with them he shall gore the peoples, + +all of them, to the ends of the earth; + +they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, + +and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” + +18And of Zebulun he said, + +“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, + +and Issachar, in your tents. + +19They shall call peoples to their mountain; + +there they offer right sacrifices; + +for they draw from the abundance of the seas + +and the hidden treasures of the sand.” + +20And of Gad he said, + +“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad! + +Gad crouches like a lion; + +he tears off arm and scalp. + +21He chose the best of the land for himself, + +for there a commander's portion was reserved; + +and he came with the heads of the people, + +with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD, + +and his judgments for Israel.” + +22And of Dan he said, + +“Dan is a lion's cub + +that leaps from Bashan.” + +23And of Naphtali he said, + +“O Naphtali, sated with favor, + +and full of the blessing of the LORD, + +possess the lake[100] and the south.” + +24And of Asher he said, + +“Most blessed of sons be Asher; + +let him be the favorite of his brothers, + +and let him dip his foot in oil. + +25Your bars shall be iron and bronze, + +and as your days, so shall your strength be. + +26“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, + +who rides through the heavens to your help, + +through the skies in his majesty. + +27The eternal God is your dwelling place,[101] + +and underneath are the everlasting arms.[102] + +And he thrust out the enemy before you + +and said, Destroy. + +28So Israel lived in safety, + +Jacob lived alone,[103] + +in a land of grain and wine, + +whose heavens drop down dew. + +29Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, + +a people saved by the LORD, + +the shield of your help, + +and the sword of your triumph! + +Your enemies shall come fawning to you, + +and you shall tread upon their backs.” + + + + + +The Death of Moses + + +34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 6and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. + +9And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 2:21 Hebrew them + +[2] 2:34 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[3] 3:6 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse + +[4] 3:11 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[5] 3:11 Hebrew cubit of a man + +[6] 4:1 Or just decrees; also verses 5, 8, 14, 45 + +[7] 4:13 Hebrew words + +[8] 4:37 Hebrew his offspring after him + +[9] 4:48 Syriac; Hebrew Sion + +[10] 5:7 Or besides + +[11] 5:10 Or to the thousandth generation + +[12] 5:15 Or servant + +[13] 5:17 The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence + +[14] 5:29 Or sons + +[15] 6:1 Or just decrees; also verse 20 + +[16] 6:4 Or The LORD our God is one LORD; or The LORD is our God, the LORD is one; or The LORD is our God, the LORD alone + +[17] 7:2 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[18] 7:22 Or quickly + +[19] 7:26 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse + +[20] 8:3 Hebrew by all + +[21] 9:16 Hebrew cast-metal + +[22] 10:4 Hebrew words + +[23] 10:6 Or the wells of the Bene-jaakan + +[24] 11:2 Or instruction + +[25] 11:10 Hebrew watered it with your feet + +[26] 11:14 Samaritan, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew I; also verse 15 + +[27] 11:24 Hebrew and + +[28] 11:30 Septuagint, Syriac; see Genesis 12:6. Hebrew oaks, or terebinths + +[29] 12:5 Or name as its habitation + +[30] 12:32 Ch 13:1 in Hebrew + +[31] 13:5 Or evil person + +[32] 13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom + +[33] 13:15 That is, setting apart (devoting) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[34] 14:5 Or addax + +[35] 14:12 The identity of many of these birds is uncertain + +[36] 15:9 Or be evil; also verse 10 + +[37] 15:12 Or sells himself + +[38] 17:7 Septuagint drive out; also verse 12 + +[39] 17:7 Or evil person; also verse 12 + +[40] 17:18 Hebrew from before + +[41] 18:1 Or the offerings by fire to the LORD + +[42] 18:1 Hebrew his + +[43] 18:6 Or lives—if he comes enthusiastically + +[44] 18:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[45] 18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire + +[46] 18:20 Or and + +[47] 19:3 Hebrew road + +[48] 19:13 Or the blood of the innocent + +[49] 19:19 Or evil person + +[50] 20:17 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[51] 21:15 Or hated; also verses 16, 17 + +[52] 22:9 Hebrew become holy + +[53] 22:18 Or discipline + +[54] 22:19 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[55] 22:19 Or girl of marriageable age + +[56] 22:30 Ch 23:1 in Hebrew + +[57] 22:30 Hebrew uncover his father's skirt + +[58] 23:18 Or male prostitute + +[59] 24:8 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[60] 25:10 Hebrew its name + +[61] 25:15 Or just, or righteous; twice in this verse + +[62] 26:8 Hebrew with great terror + +[63] 27:6 Hebrew whole + +[64] 27:20 Hebrew uncovered his father's skirt + +[65] 28:22 Or sword + +[66] 28:29 Or shall not succeed in finding your ways + +[67] 28:42 Identity uncertain + +[68] 28:54 Hebrew the wife of his bosom + +[69] 28:56 Hebrew the husband of her bosom + +[70] 29:1 Ch 28:69 in Hebrew + +[71] 29:2 Ch 29:1 in Hebrew + +[72] 29:9 Or deal wisely + +[73] 29:10 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew your heads, your tribes + +[74] 30:16 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God + +[75] 30:16 Or his just decrees + +[76] 32:8 Or territories + +[77] 32:8 Compare Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text Israel + +[78] 32:14 That is, with the best + +[79] 32:14 Hebrew with the kidney fat + +[80] 32:18 Or fathered + +[81] 32:35 Septuagint and I will repay + +[82] 32:36 Septuagint judge + +[83] 32:41 Hebrew the lightning of my sword + +[84] 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text Rejoice his people, O nations + +[85] 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text servants + +[86] 32:43 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks He repays those who hate him + +[87] 32:43 Or atones for + +[88] 32:43 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew his land his people + +[89] 32:44 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Hoshea + +[90] 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them + +[91] 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[92] 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples + +[93] 33:3 Hebrew your + +[94] 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[95] 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended + +[96] 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi + +[97] 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He + +[98] 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew + +[99] 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull + +[100] 33:23 Or west + +[101] 33:27 Or a dwelling place + +[102] 33:27 Revocalization of verse 27 yields He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old + +[103] 33:28 Hebrew the abode of Jacob was alone + + + + + +JOSHUA + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + + + + + +God Commissions Joshua + + +1:1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, 2“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success[1] wherever you go. 8This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” + + + + + +Joshua Assumes Command + + +10And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, 11“Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’” + +12And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said, 13“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’ 14Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, 15until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.” + +16And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! 18Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.” + + + + + +Rahab Hides the Spies + + +2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent[2] two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 2And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. + +8Before the men[3] lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.[4] 11And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign 13that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” + +15Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. 16And she said[5] to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” 17The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. 19Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window. + +22They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. 23Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. 24And they said to Joshua, “Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.” + + + + + +Israel Crosses the Jordan + + +3:1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits[6] in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” 6And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. + +7The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” 10And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth[7] is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” + +14So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan. + + + + + +Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan + + +4:1 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” 4Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” + +8And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the LORD told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down[8] there. 9And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. 10For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. + +The people passed over in haste. 11And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the LORD and the priests passed over before the people. 12The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. 13About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. + +15And the LORD said to Joshua, 16“Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” 17So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before. + +19The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”[9] + + + + + +The New Generation Circumcised + + +5:1 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. + +2At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.[10] 4And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. 5Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD; the LORD swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. + +8When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal[11] to this day. + + + + + +First Passover in Canaan + + +10While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. + + + + + +The Commander of the LORD's Army + + +13When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15And the commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. + + + + + +The Fall of Jericho + + +6:1 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. 3You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat,[12] and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” 6So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.” 7And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the LORD.” + +8And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD following them. 9The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. 10But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” 11So he caused the ark of the LORD to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. + +12Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets blew continually. 14And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days. + +15On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. 16And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city. 17And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction.[13] Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 19But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.” 20So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. 21Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword. + +22But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” 23So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. 24And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. + +26Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the LORD be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. + +“At the cost of his firstborn shall he + +lay its foundation, + +and at the cost of his youngest son + +shall he set up its gates.” + +27So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land. + + + + + +Israel Defeated at Ai + + +7:1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel. + +2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” 4So about 3,000 men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, 5and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water. + +6Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. 7And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” + + + + + +The Sin of Achan + + +10The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction.[14] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the LORD takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the LORD takes shall come near by households. And the household that the LORD takes shall come near man by man. 15And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.’” + +16So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise[15] to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,[16] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” + +22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the LORD. 24And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.[17] + + + + + +The Fall of Ai + + +8:1 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.” + +3So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. 6And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. 7Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. 8And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.” 9So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people. + +10Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. 14And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place[18] toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. 17Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel. + +18Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. 20So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped. 23But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua. + +24When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. 25And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. 26But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.[19] 27Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua. 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. 29And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day. + + + + + +Joshua Renews the Covenant + + +30At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. 32And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. 34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived[20] among them. + + + + + +The Gibeonite Deception + + +9:1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, 2they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel. + +3But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. 6And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” 7But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” 8They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” 9They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”’ 12Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. 13These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. 15And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them. + +16At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them. 17And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. 19But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. 20This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.” 21And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them. + +22Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? 23Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.” 26So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them. 27But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that he should choose. + + + + + +The Sun Stands Still + + +10:1 As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction,[21] doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2he[22] feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. 3So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4“Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” 5Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it. + +6And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” 7So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. 8And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” 9So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. 10And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who[23] struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. + +12At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, + +“Sun, stand still at Gibeon, + +and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” + +13And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, + +until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. + +Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel. + +15So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. + + + + + +Five Amorite Kings Executed + + +16These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand.” 20When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. + +22Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. 25And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening. 27But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day. + +28As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. + + + + + +Conquest of Southern Canaan + + +29Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. 30And the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. + +31Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. 32And the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah. + +33Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining. + +34Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. 35And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish. + +36Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it 37and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it. + +38Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and fought against it 39and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king. + +40So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel commanded. 41And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. 42And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. 43Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. + + + + + +Conquests in Northern Canaan + + +11:1 When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, 3to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel. + +6And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8And the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. 9And Joshua did to them just as the LORD said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. + +10And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. 11And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction;[24] there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded. 13But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. 14And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every man they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses. + +16So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. 18Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses. + +21And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. 23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war. + + + + + +Kings Defeated by Moses + + +12:1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward: 2Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead, 3and the Arabah to the Sea of Chinneroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah; 4and Og[25] king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei 5and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon king of Heshbon. 6Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the people of Israel defeated them. And Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. + + + + + +Kings Defeated by Joshua + + +7And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, 8in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites): 9the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; 10the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; 17the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; 19the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 21the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; 23the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Galilee,[26] one; 24the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings. + + + + + +Land Still to Be Conquered + + +13:1 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess. 2This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites 3(from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim, 4in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites, 5and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath, 6all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. 7Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.” + + + + + +The Inheritance East of the Jordan + + +8With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh[27] the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them: 9from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland of Medeba as far as Dibon; 10and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites; 11and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; 12all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); these Moses had struck and driven out. 13Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day. + +14To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him. + +15And Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the people of Reuben according to their clans. 16So their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Medeba; 17with Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, 18and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, 19and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, 20and Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, 21that is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. 22Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain. 23And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the people of Reuben, according to their clans with their cities and villages. + +24Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of Gad, to the people of Gad, according to their clans. 25Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aroer, which is east of Rabbah, 26and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir,[28] 27and in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan. 28This is the inheritance of the people of Gad according to their clans, with their cities and villages. + +29And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was allotted to the half-tribe of the people of Manasseh according to their clans. 30Their region extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities, 31and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. These were allotted to the people of Machir the son of Manasseh for the half of the people of Machir according to their clans. + +32These are the inheritances that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho. 33But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them. + + + + + +The Inheritance West of the Jordan + + +14:1 These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit. 2Their inheritance was by lot, just as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes. 3For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. 4For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance. 5The people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses; they allotted the land. + + + + + +Caleb's Request and Inheritance + + +6Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 7I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.” + +13Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel. 15Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba.[29] (Arba[30] was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war. + + + + + +The Allotment for Judah + + +15:1 The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south. 2And their south boundary ran from the end of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward. 3It goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka, 4passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary. 5And the east boundary is the Salt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. 6And the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah and passes along north of Beth-arabah. And the boundary goes up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 7And the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. And the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh and ends at En-rogel. 8Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. 9Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron. Then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). 10And the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh and passes along by Timnah. 11The boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron and passes along to Mount Baalah and goes out to Jabneel. Then the boundary comes to an end at the sea. 12And the west boundary was the Great Sea with its coastline. This is the boundary around the people of Judah according to their clans. + +13According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. 15And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. 16And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 19She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. + +20This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans. 21The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), 26Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, 28Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine cities with their villages. + +33And in the lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages. + +37Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, 38Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, 39Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities with their villages. + +42Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages. + +45Ekron, with its towns and its villages; 46from Ekron to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages. + +47Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coastline. + +48And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), 50Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities with their villages. + +52Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, 54Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior: nine cities with their villages. + +55Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities with their villages. + +58Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages. + +60Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah: two cities with their villages. + +61In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62Nibshan, the City of Salt, and Engedi: six cities with their villages. + +63But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day. + + + + + +The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh + + +16:1 The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. 2Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. 3Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea. + +4The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. + +5The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, 6and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, 7then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. 8From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans, 9together with the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. 10However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor. + + + + + +17:1 Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. 2And allotments were made to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans. + +3Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4They approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, 6because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh. + +7The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 8The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim. 9Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea, 10the land to the south being Ephraim's and that to the north being Manasseh's, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar. 11Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.[31] 12Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 13Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out. + +14Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the LORD has blessed me?” 15And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” 16The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” 17Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.” + + + + + +Allotment of the Remaining Land + + +18:1 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them. + +2There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 3So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. 5They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north. 6And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. 7The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage. And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.” + +8So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.” 9So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, 10and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Benjamin + + +11The lot of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to its clans came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. 12On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. Then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon. 14Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the people of Judah. This forms the western side. 15And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron,[32] to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim. And it then goes down the Valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel. 17Then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it goes down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, 18and passing on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-arabah[33] it goes down to the Arabah. 19Then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-hoglah. And the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. 20The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin, according to their clans, boundary by boundary all around. + +21Now the cities of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages: 25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zela, Haeleph, Jebus[34] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah[35] and Kiriath-jearim[36]—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Simeon + + +19:1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah. 2And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, 3Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, 4Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, 6Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities with their villages; 7Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages, 8together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans. 9The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Zebulun + + +10The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid. 11Then their boundary goes up westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of Jokneam. 12From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia. 13From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah, 14then on the north the boundary turns about to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtahel; 15and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages. 16This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans—these cities with their villages. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Issachar + + +17The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans. 18Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, 19Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez. 22The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages. 23This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans—the cities with their villages. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Asher + + +24The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans. 25Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, 26Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath, 27then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to Cabul, 28Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great. 29Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab,[37] Achzib, 30Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages. 31This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans—these cities with their villages. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Naphtali + + +32The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans. 33And their boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan. 34Then the boundary turns westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan. 35The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, 36Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, 38Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities with their villages. 39This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities with their villages. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Dan + + +40The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans. 41And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, 42Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 43Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, 46and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against Joppa. 47When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. 48This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans—these cities with their villages. + + + + + +The Inheritance for Joshua + + +49When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. 50By command of the LORD they gave him the city that he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it. + +51These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land. + + + + + +The Cities of Refuge + + +20:1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 2“Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. 5And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. 6And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’” + +7So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. 9These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation. + + + + + +Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi + + +21:1 Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 2And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.” 3So by command of the LORD the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance. + +4The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities. + +5And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities. + +6The Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. + +7The Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. + +8These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded through Moses. + +9Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, 10which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. 11They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it. 12But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession. + +13And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands, 14Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 15Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, 16Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes; 17then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, 18Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. 19The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands. + +20As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 22Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities; 23and out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, 24Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities; 25and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities. 26The cities of the clans of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all with their pasturelands. + +27And to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities; 28and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, 29Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities; 30and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 31Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities; 32and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities. 33The cities of the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands. + +34And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, 35Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities; 36and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands, 37Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities; 38and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 39Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all. 40As for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities. + +41The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands. 42These cities each had its pasturelands around it. So it was with all these cities. + +43Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. 45Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. + + + + + +The Eastern Tribes Return Home + + +22:1 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. 3You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God. 4And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. + +7Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, 8he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” 9So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the LORD through Moses. + + + + + +The Eastern Tribes' Altar of Witness + + +10And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 11And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” 12And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them. + +13Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16“Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the LORD? 17Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD, 18that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD's land where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God. 20Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’” + +21Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22“The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today 23for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance. 24No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD. 26Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.”’ 28And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, ‘Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.’ 29Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!” + +30When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. 31And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD.” + +32Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. 34The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.” + + + + + +Joshua's Charge to Israel's Leaders + + +23:1 A long time afterward, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, 2Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. 3And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you. 4Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you. 6Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. 9For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. 11Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. 12For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you. + +14“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things[38] that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, 16if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.” + + + + + +The Covenant Renewal at Shechem + + +24:1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God. 2And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 3Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. 4And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out. + +6“‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7And when they cried to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time. 8Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. 12And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’ + + + + + +Choose Whom You Will Serve + + +14“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” + +16Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods, 17for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.” + +19But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” 21And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” 22Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” 24And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” 25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” 28So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. + + + + + +Joshua's Death and Burial + + +29After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 years old. 30And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. + +31Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel. + +32As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money.[39] It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph. + +33And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:7 Or may act wisely + +[2] 2:1 Or had sent + +[3] 2:8 Hebrew they + +[4] 2:10 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[5] 2:16 Or had said + +[6] 3:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[7] 3:11 Hebrew the ark of the covenant, the Lord of all the earth + +[8] 4:8 Or to rest + +[9] 4:24 Or all the days + +[10] 5:3 Gibeath-haaraloth means the hill of the foreskins + +[11] 5:9 Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew for to roll + +[12] 6:5 Hebrew under itself; also verse 20 + +[13] 6:17 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 18, 21 + +[14] 7:12 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[15] 7:19 Or and make confession + +[16] 7:21 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[17] 7:26 Achor means trouble + +[18] 8:14 Hebrew appointed time + +[19] 8:26 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[20] 8:35 Or traveled + +[21] 10:1 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 28, 35, 37, 39, 40 + +[22] 10:2 One Hebrew manuscript, Vulgate (compare Syriac); most Hebrew manuscripts they + +[23] 10:10 Or and he + +[24] 11:11 That is, setting apart (devoting) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 12, 20, 21 + +[25] 12:4 Septuagint; Hebrew the boundary of Og + +[26] 12:23 Septuagint; Hebrew Gilgal + +[27] 13:8 Hebrew With it + +[28] 13:26 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew Lidebir + +[29] 14:15 Kiriath-arba means the city of Arba + +[30] 14:15 Hebrew He + +[31] 17:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[32] 18:15 See 15:9; Hebrew westward + +[33] 18:18 Septuagint; Hebrew to the shoulder over against the Arabah + +[34] 18:28 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew the Jebusite + +[35] 18:28 Hebrew Gibeath + +[36] 18:28 Septuagint; Hebrew Kiriath + +[37] 19:29 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew Mehebel + +[38] 23:14 Or words; also twice in verse 15 + +[39] 24:32 Hebrew for a hundred qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value + + + + + +JUDGES + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + + + + + +The Continuing Conquest of Canaan + + +1:1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the LORD, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2The LORD said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. 4Then Judah went up and the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. 5They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. + +8And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 9And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. 10And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai. + +11From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. 12And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” 13And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. 14When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 15She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. + +16And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. 17And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah.[1] 18Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. 20And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. 21But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. + +22The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. 26And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day. + + + + + +Failure to Complete the Conquest + + +27Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 28When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely. + +29And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. + +30Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor. + +31Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, 32so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out. + +33Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them. + +34The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain. 35The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward. + + + + + +Israel's Disobedience + + +2:1 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? 3So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides,[2] and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5And they called the name of that place Bochim.[3] And they sacrificed there to the LORD. + + + + + +The Death of Joshua + + +6When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. 8And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. 9And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 10And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel. + + + + + +Israel's Unfaithfulness + + +11And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. 12And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. + + + + + +The LORD Raises Up Judges + + +16Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua. + + + + + +3:1 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. 3These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. 4They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods. + + + + + +Othniel + + +7And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. 9But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. 10The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. 11So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died. + + + + + +Ehud + + +12And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 13He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. 14And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. + +15Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit[4] in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23Then Ehud went out into the porch[5] and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. + +24When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor. + +26Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. 30So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. + + + + + +Shamgar + + +31After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel. + + + + + +Deborah and Barak + + +4:1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. 2And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. + +4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” 8Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him. + +11Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. + +12When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. + +17But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. + +23So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. + + + + + +The Song of Deborah and Barak + + +5:1 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: + +2“That the leaders took the lead in Israel, + +that the people offered themselves willingly, + +bless the LORD! + +3“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; + +to the LORD I will sing; + +I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel. + +4“LORD, when you went out from Seir, + +when you marched from the region of Edom, + +the earth trembled + +and the heavens dropped, + +yes, the clouds dropped water. + +5The mountains quaked before the LORD, + +even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel. + +6“In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, + +in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned, + +and travelers kept to the byways. + +7The villagers ceased in Israel; + +they ceased to be until I arose; + +I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. + +8When new gods were chosen, + +then war was in the gates. + +Was shield or spear to be seen + +among forty thousand in Israel? + +9My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel + +who offered themselves willingly among the people. + +Bless the LORD. + +10“Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, + +you who sit on rich carpets[6] + +and you who walk by the way. + +11To the sound of musicians[7] at the watering places, + +there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the LORD, + +the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel. + +“Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD. + +12“Awake, awake, Deborah! + +Awake, awake, break out in a song! + +Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, + +O son of Abinoam. + +13Then down marched the remnant of the noble; + +the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty. + +14From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley,[8] + +following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; + +from Machir marched down the commanders, + +and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's[9] staff; + +15the princes of Issachar came with Deborah, + +and Issachar faithful to Barak; + +into the valley they rushed at his heels. + +Among the clans of Reuben + +there were great searchings of heart. + +16Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, + +to hear the whistling for the flocks? + +Among the clans of Reuben + +there were great searchings of heart. + +17Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; + +and Dan, why did he stay with the ships? + +Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, + +staying by his landings. + +18Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death; + +Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. + +19“The kings came, they fought; + +then fought the kings of Canaan, + +at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; + +they got no spoils of silver. + +20From heaven the stars fought, + +from their courses they fought against Sisera. + +21The torrent Kishon swept them away, + +the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. + +March on, my soul, with might! + +22“Then loud beat the horses' hoofs + +with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. + +23“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD, + +curse its inhabitants thoroughly, + +because they did not come to the help of the LORD, + +to the help of the LORD against the mighty. + +24“Most blessed of women be Jael, + +the wife of Heber the Kenite, + +of tent-dwelling women most blessed. + +25He asked water and she gave him milk; + +she brought him curds in a noble's bowl. + +26She sent her hand to the tent peg + +and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; + +she struck Sisera; + +she crushed his head; + +she shattered and pierced his temple. + +27Between her feet + +he sank, he fell, he lay still; + +between her feet + +he sank, he fell; + +where he sank, + +there he fell—dead. + +28“Out of the window she peered, + +the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice: + +‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? + +Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’ + +29Her wisest princesses answer, + +indeed, she answers herself, + +30‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?— + +A womb or two for every man; + +spoil of dyed materials for Sisera, + +spoil of dyed materials embroidered, + +two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’ + +31“So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! + +But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.” + +And the land had rest for forty years. + + + + + +Midian Oppresses Israel + + +6:1 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD. + +7When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, 8the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage. 9And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” + + + + + +The Call of Gideon + + +11Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir,[10] if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14And the LORD[11] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” + +19So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah[12] of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. + +25That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it 26and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. + + + + + +Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal + + +28When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” 31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” 32Therefore on that day Gideon[13] was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar. + +33Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. + + + + + +The Sign of the Fleece + + +36Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. + + + + + +Gideon's Three Hundred Men + + +7:1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. + +2The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained. + +4And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” 5So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. + +9That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. 10But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. 11And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. 12And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. 13When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.” + +15As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.” 16And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 17And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’” + + + + + +Gideon Defeats Midian + + +19So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 22When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,[14] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian. + +24Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. 25And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan. + + + + + +Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna + + +8:1 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. 2And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger[15] against him subsided when he said this. + +4And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. 5So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” + +10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. 11And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. 12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. + +13Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. 15And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” 16And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. + +18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” 19And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. + + + + + +Gideon's Ephod + + +22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” 24And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels[16] of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. + + + + + +The Death of Gideon + + +29Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring,[17] for he had many wives. 31And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. + +33As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. + + + + + +Abimelech's Conspiracy + + +9:1 Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, 2“Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” + +3And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. 5And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. 6And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem. + +7When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. 8The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ 9But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ 10And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ 11But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ 12And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ 13But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ 14Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ 15And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ + +16“Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved— 17for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, 18and you have risen up against my father's house this day and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative— 19if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. 20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” 21And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother. + + + + + +The Downfall of Abimelech + + +22Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. 23And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, 24that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. 25And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech. + +26And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him. 27And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech. 28And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? 29Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say[18] to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’” + +30When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 31And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly,[19] saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up[20] the city against you. 32Now therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field. 33Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do.” + +34So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies. 35And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush. 36And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops!” And Zebul said to him, “You mistake[21] the shadow of the mountains for men.” 37Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners' Oak.” 38Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.” 39And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. 40And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. 41And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem. + +42On the following day, the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told. 43He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them. 44Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them. 45And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he razed the city and sowed it with salt. + +46When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith. 47Abimelech was told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were with him, “What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.” 49So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about 1,000 men and women. + +50Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it. 51But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower. 52And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. 54Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died. 55And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home. 56Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. + + + + + +Tola and Jair + + +10:1 After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2And he judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried at Shamir. + +3After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. 4And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 5And Jair died and was buried in Kamon. + + + + + +Further Disobedience and Oppression + + +6The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. 7So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, 8and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed. + +10And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.” 11And the LORD said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? 12The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. 13Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. 14Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.” 15And the people of Israel said to the LORD, “We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.” 16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel. + +17Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. 18And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” + + + + + +Jephthah Delivers Israel + + +11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him. + +4After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. 5And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” 7But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.” 10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.” 11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah. + +12Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. + +18“Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ 20but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him. + + + + + +Jephthah's Tragic Vow + + +29Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31then whatever[22] comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it[23] up for a burnt offering.” 32So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. + +34Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. + + + + + +Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim + + +12:1 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. 3And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell. + +7Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.[24] + + + + + +Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon + + +8After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. 10Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem. + +11After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. + +13After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. 15Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. + + + + + +The Birth of Samson + + +13:1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. + +2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 3And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” + +8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” 9And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?” 13And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.” + +15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” 16And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) 17And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” 18And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” 19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works[25] wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. 20And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. + +21The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. 22And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” 23But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” 24And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. + + + + + +Samson's Marriage + + +14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” 3But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” + +4His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. + +5Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. 6Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. 7Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson's eyes. + +8After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. 9He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. + +10His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. 11As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12And Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, 13but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” 14And he said to them, + +“Out of the eater came something to eat. + +Out of the strong came something sweet.” + +And in three days they could not solve the riddle. + +15On the fourth[26] day they said to Samson's wife, “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” 16And Samson's wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” 17She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. 18And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, + +“What is sweeter than honey? + +What is stronger than a lion?” + +And he said to them, + +“If you had not plowed with my heifer, + +you would not have found out my riddle.” + +19And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house. 20And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man. + + + + + +Samson Defeats the Philistines + + +15:1 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. 2And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 3And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” 4So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. 6Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. 7And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” 8And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam. + +9Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. 10And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” 11Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” 12And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” 13They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. + +14When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. 16And Samson said, + +“With the jawbone of a donkey, + +heaps upon heaps, + +with the jawbone of a donkey + +have I struck down a thousand men.” + +17As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.[27] + +18And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore;[28] it is at Lehi to this day. 20And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. + + + + + +Samson and Delilah + + +16:1 Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. 2The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” 3But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron. + +4After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” + +7Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. + +10Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.” 11And he said to her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 12So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread. + +13Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 14So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web.[29] And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web. + +15And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” + +18When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. 21And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. 22But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. + + + + + +The Death of Samson + + +23Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.”[30] 25And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained. + +28Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. 31Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years. + + + + + +Micah and the Levite + + +17:1 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” 3And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained[31] one of his sons, who became his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. + +7Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” 10And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” + + + + + +Danites Take the Levite and the Idol + + +18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. 2So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” 4And he said to them, “This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” 5And they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.” 6And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD.” + +7Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking[32] nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. 10As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.” + +11So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, 12and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan[33] to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim. 13And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. + +14Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.” 15And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare. 16Now the 600 men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17And the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. 18And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” 20And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people. + +21So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them. 22When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan. 23And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?” 24And he said, “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” 25And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.” 26Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home. + +27But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28And there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses,[34] and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh. + + + + + +A Levite and His Concubine + + +19:1 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2And his concubine was unfaithful to[35] him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. 3Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. 4And his father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. 5And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” 6So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl's father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” 7And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. 8And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl's father said, “Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. 9And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.” + +10But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. 11When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” 12And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.” 13And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.” 14So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, 15and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night. + +16And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. The men of the place were Benjaminites. 17And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” 18And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of the Lord,[36] but no one has taken me into his house. 19We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” 20And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.” 21So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank. + + + + + +Gibeah's Crime + + +22As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” 23And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. 24Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.” 25But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. 26And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light. + +27And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. 29And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.” + + + + + +Israel's War with the Tribe of Benjamin + + +20:1 Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah. 2And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot that drew the sword. 3(Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen?” 4And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. 6So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel. 7Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.” + +8And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house. 9But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot, 10and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin, for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel.” 11So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man. + +12And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? 13Now therefore give up the men, the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. 14Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel. 15And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day 26,000 men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. 16Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. 17And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered 400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war. + +18The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, “Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up first.” + +19Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. 20And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. 21The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites. 22But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. 23And the people of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until the evening. And they inquired of the LORD, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Go up against them.” + +24So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day. 25And Benjamin went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who drew the sword. 26Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 27And the people of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.” + +29So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. 30And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. 31And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. 32And the people of Benjamin said, “They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba.[37] 34And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. 35And the LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who drew the sword. 36So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. + +The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city 39the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, “Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. 41Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster was close upon them. 42Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst. 43Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah[38] as far as opposite Gibeah on the east. 44Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. 45And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down. 46So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor. 47But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. 48And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire. + + + + + +Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin + + +21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” 2And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3And they said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?” + +8And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. 9For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. 11This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. + +13Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. 14And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. 15And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. + +16Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” 17And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. 18Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” 19So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards 21and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” 23And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. 24And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. + +25In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:17 Hormah means utter destruction + +[2] 2:3 Vulgate, Old Latin (compare Septuagint); Hebrew sides + +[3] 2:5 Bochim means weepers + +[4] 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[5] 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[6] 5:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets + +[7] 5:11 Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[8] 5:14 Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek + +[9] 5:14 Hebrew commander's + +[10] 6:13 Or Please, my Lord + +[11] 6:14 Septuagint the angel of the LORD; also verse 16 + +[12] 6:19 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[13] 6:32 Hebrew he + +[14] 7:22 Some Hebrew manuscripts Zeredah + +[15] 8:3 Hebrew their spirit + +[16] 8:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[17] 8:30 Hebrew who came from his own loins + +[18] 9:29 Septuagint; Hebrew and he said + +[19] 9:31 Or at Tormah + +[20] 9:31 Hebrew besieging, or closing up + +[21] 9:36 Hebrew You see + +[22] 11:31 Or whoever + +[23] 11:31 Or him + +[24] 12:7 Septuagint; Hebrew in the cities of Gilead + +[25] 13:19 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew LORD, and working + +[26] 14:15 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew seventh + +[27] 15:17 Ramath-lehi means the hill of the jawbone + +[28] 15:19 En-hakkore means the spring of him who called + +[29] 16:14 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and fasten it tight . . . into the web + +[30] 16:24 Or who has multiplied our slain + +[31] 17:5 Hebrew filled the hand of; also verse 12 + +[32] 18:7 Compare 18:10; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[33] 18:12 Mahaneh-dan means camp of Dan + +[34] 18:30 Or Manasseh + +[35] 19:2 Septuagint, Old Latin became angry with + +[36] 19:18 Septuagint my home; compare verse 29 + +[37] 20:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts place west of Geba + +[38] 20:43 Septuagint; Hebrew [at their] resting place + + + + + +RUTH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + + + + + +Naomi Widowed + + +1:1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. + + + + + +Ruth's Loyalty to Naomi + + +6Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” 14Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. + +15And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. + + + + + +Naomi and Ruth Return + + +19So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi;[1] call me Mara,[2] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” + +22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. + + + + + +Ruth Meets Boaz + + +2:1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. 4And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” 5Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”[3] + +8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.” + +14And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” + +17So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[4] of barley. 18And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law. + + + + + +Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor + + +3:1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5And she replied, “All that you say I will do.” + +6So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings[5] over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” 10And he said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 12And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” + +14So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. 16And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” 18She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.” + + + + + +Boaz Redeems Ruth + + +4:1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. 2And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you[6] will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth[7] the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” + +7Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” 11Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, 12and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.” + + + + + +Ruth and Boaz Marry + + +13So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. + + + + + +The Genealogy of David + + +18Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:20 Naomi means pleasant + +[2] 1:20 Mara means bitter + +[3] 2:7 Compare Septuagint, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain + +[4] 2:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[5] 3:9 Compare 2:12; the word for wings can also mean corners of a garment + +[6] 4:4 Hebrew he + +[7] 4:5 Masoretic Text you also buy it from Ruth + + + + + +1 SAMUEL + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + + + + + +The Birth of Samuel + + +1:1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. + +3Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD. 4On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.[1] 6And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” + +9After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. 11And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” + +12As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. 16Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. + +19They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.”[2] + + + + + +Samuel Given to the LORD + + +21The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and dwell there forever.” 23Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,[3] an ephah[4] of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. 27For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” + +And he worshiped the LORD there. + + + + + +Hannah's Prayer + + +2:1 And Hannah prayed and said, + +“My heart exults in the LORD; + +my strength[5] is exalted in the LORD. + +My mouth derides my enemies, + +because I rejoice in your salvation. + +2“There is none holy like the LORD; + +there is none besides you; + +there is no rock like our God. + +3Talk no more so very proudly, + +let not arrogance come from your mouth; + +for the LORD is a God of knowledge, + +and by him actions are weighed. + +4The bows of the mighty are broken, + +but the feeble bind on strength. + +5Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, + +but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. + +The barren has borne seven, + +but she who has many children is forlorn. + +6The LORD kills and brings to life; + +he brings down to Sheol and raises up. + +7The LORD makes poor and makes rich; + +he brings low and he exalts. + +8He raises up the poor from the dust; + +he lifts the needy from the ash heap + +to make them sit with princes + +and inherit a seat of honor. + +For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, + +and on them he has set the world. + +9“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, + +but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, + +for not by might shall a man prevail. + +10The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; + +against them he will thunder in heaven. + +The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; + +he will give strength to his king + +and exalt the power[6] of his anointed.” + +11Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy ministered to the LORD in the presence of Eli the priest. + + + + + +Eli's Worthless Sons + + +12Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. 13The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant[7] would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt. + +18Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. 19And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the LORD give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the LORD.” So then they would return to their home. + +21Indeed the LORD visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD. + + + + + +Eli Rebukes His Sons + + +22Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad. 25If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death. + +26Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man. + + + + + +The LORD Rejects Eli's Household + + +27And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus the LORD has said, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29Why then do you scorn[8] my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 30Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his[9] eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants[10] of your house shall die by the sword of men.[11] 34And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 35And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. 36And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’” + + + + + +The LORD Calls Samuel + + +3:1 Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. + +2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. + +4Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. + +6And the LORD called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. + +8And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the young man. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. + +10And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God,[12] and he did not restrain them. 14Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” + +15Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.” + +19And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. 21And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. + + + + + +The Philistines Capture the Ark + + +4:1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. + +Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. + +5As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. 6And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp, 7the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” + +10So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. + + + + + +The Death of Eli + + +12A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. 14When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” 17He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. + +19Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed[13] from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” + + + + + +The Philistines and the Ark + + +5:1 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. 3And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. + +6The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” 8So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. 9But after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. 10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” 11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there. 12The men who did not die were struck with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven. + + + + + +The Ark Returned to Israel + + +6:1 The ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.” 4And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land. 6Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed? 7Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8And take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.” + +10The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11And they put the ark of the LORD on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the LORD. 16And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron. + +17These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, 18and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages. The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh. + +19And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the LORD. He struck seventy men of them,[14] and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great blow. 20Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 21So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to you.” + + + + + +7:1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the LORD. 2From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. + + + + + +Samuel Judges Israel + + +3And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only. + +5Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” 6So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. And Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. 10As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were routed before Israel. 11And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car. + +12Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen[15] and called its name Ebenezer;[16] for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” 13So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. + +15Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the LORD. + + + + + +Israel Demands a King + + +8:1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. + +4Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” + + + + + +Samuel's Warning Against Kings + + +10So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men[17] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” + + + + + +The LORD Grants Israel's Request + + +19But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. 22And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.” + + + + + +Saul Chosen to Be King + + +9:1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. + +3Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, “Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.” 4And he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them. + +5When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant[18] who was with him, “Come, let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.” 6But he said to him, “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” 7Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 8The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel[19] of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.” 9(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for today's “prophet” was formerly called a seer.) 10And Saul said to his servant, “Well said; come, let us go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. + +11As they went up the hill to the city, they met young women coming out to draw water and said to them, “Is the seer here?” 12They answered, “He is; behold, he is just ahead of you. Hurry. He has come just now to the city, because the people have a sacrifice today on the high place. 13As soon as you enter the city you will find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat till he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now go up, for you will meet him immediately.” 14So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place. + +15Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: 16“Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen[20] my people, because their cry has come to me.” 17When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” 18Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” 19Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?” 21Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” + +22Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, who were about thirty persons. 23And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Put it aside.’” 24So the cook took up the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests.”[21] + +So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 25And when they came down from the high place into the city, a bed was spread for Saul[22] on the roof, and he lay down to sleep. 26Then at the break of dawn[23] Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Up, that I may send you on your way.” So Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the street. + +27As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.” + + + + + +Saul Anointed King + + +10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince[24] over his heritage. 2When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim,[25] where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” + +9When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10When they came to Gibeah,[26] behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. + +14Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15And Saul's uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything. + + + + + +Saul Proclaimed King + + +17Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah. 18And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.” + +20Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot;[27] and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” + +25Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace. + + + + + +Saul Defeats the Ammonites + + +11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” 2But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.” 3The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” 4When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud. + +5Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 6And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 7He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. 8When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have deliverance.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. 10Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” 11And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. + + + + + +The Kingdom Is Renewed + + +12Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” 13But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” 14Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 15So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. + + + + + +Samuel's Farewell Address + + +12:1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me[28] and I will restore it to you.” 4They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” 5And he said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” + +6And Samuel said to the people, “The LORD is witness,[29] who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them,[30] then your fathers cried out to the LORD and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9But they forgot the LORD their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor,[31] and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10And they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11And the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Barak[32] and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the LORD your God was your king. 13And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 14If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 15But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.[33] 16Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. + +19And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. 23Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” + + + + + +Saul Fights the Philistines + + +13:1 Saul was . . .[34] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned . . . and two[35] years over Israel. + +2Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. + +5And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. + + + + + +Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice + + +8He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 15And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal[36] to Gibeah of Benjamin. + +And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. + +19Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 20But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle,[37] 21and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel[38] for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel[39] for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.[40] 22So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. + + + + + +Jonathan Defeats the Philistines + + +14:1 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. 2Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave[41] at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men, 3including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. + +6Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.” 7And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish.[42] Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” 8Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. 9If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. 10But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” 11So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” 12And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.” 13Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. 14And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre[43] of land. 15And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic. + +16And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude was dispersing here and there.[44] 17Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count and see who has gone from us.” And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. 18So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God went at that time with the people[45] of Israel. 19Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” 20Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, every Philistine's sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. 21Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. 23So the LORD saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven. + + + + + +Saul's Rash Vow + + +24And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food. 25Now when all the people[46] came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. 26And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright. 28Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint. 29Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.” + +31They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint. 32The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood. 33Then they told Saul, “Behold, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.”[47] 34And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.’” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there. 35And Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD. + +36Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” 37And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day. 38And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. 39For as the LORD lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. 40Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” 41Therefore Saul said, “O LORD God of Israel, why[48] have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O LORD, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. 42Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken. + +43Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.” 44And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.” 45Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die. 46Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. + + + + + +Saul Fights Israel's Enemies + + +47When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. 48And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them. + +49Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. 50And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. 51Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. + +52There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself. + + + + + +The LORD Rejects Saul + + +15:1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. 2Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction[49] all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” + +4So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves[50] and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. + +10The word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night. 12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” 14And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” + +17And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” 20And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” 22And Samuel said, + +“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, + +as in obeying the voice of the LORD? + +Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, + +and to listen than the fat of rams. + +23For rebellion is as the sin of divination, + +and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. + +Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, + +he has also rejected you from being king.” + +24Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the LORD.” 26And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” 31So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the LORD. + +32Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.[51] Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. + +34Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. + + + + + +David Anointed King + + +16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. + +6When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.” 7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest,[52] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. + + + + + +David in Saul's Service + + +14Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” 19Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. + + + + + +David and Goliath + + +17:1 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six[53] cubits and a span. 5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels[54] of bronze. 6And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. 8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. + +12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.[55] 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening. + +17And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah[56] of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.” + +19Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. + +24All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 27And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” + +28Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. + +31When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” + +38Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. + +41And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.” + +48When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. + +50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath[57] and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. + +55As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” + + + + + +David and Jonathan's Friendship + + +18:1 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. 3Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. 5And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. + + + + + +Saul's Jealousy of David + + +6As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.[58] 7And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, + +“Saul has struck down his thousands, + +and David his ten thousands.” + +8And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9And Saul eyed David from that day on. + +10The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. 11And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice. + +12Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. 13So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 14And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him. 15And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 16But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them. + + + + + +David Marries Michal + + +17Then Saul said to David, “Here is my elder daughter Merab. I will give her to you for a wife. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD's battles.” For Saul thought, “Let not my hand be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” 18And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and who are my relatives, my father's clan in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” 19But at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife. + +20Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,[59] “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’” 23And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” 24And the servants of Saul told him, “Thus and so did David speak.” 25Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 26And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. Before the time had expired, 27David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife. 28But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him, 29Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David's enemy continually. + +30Then the princes of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed. + + + + + +Saul Tries to Kill David + + +19:1 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. 2And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. + +8And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. 10And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night. + +11Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 13Michal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head. 17Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’” + +18Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. 19And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” + + + + + +Jonathan Warns David + + +20:1 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 3But David vowed again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” 5David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. 6If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ 7If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. 8Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” 9And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” 10Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?” 11And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. + +12And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness![60] When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; 15and do not cut off[61] your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May[62] the LORD take vengeance on David's enemies.” 17And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. + +18Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap.[63] 20And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21And behold, I will send the young man, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. 23And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” + +24So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite,[64] and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. + +26Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.” 27But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king's table.” + +30Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 31For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 34And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. + +35In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. 36And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” 38And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” 41And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap[65] and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. 42Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.[66] + + + + + +David and the Holy Bread + + +21:1 [67] Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. + +7Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. + +8Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.” 9And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.” + + + + + +David Flees to Gath + + +10And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, + +‘Saul has struck down his thousands, + +and David his ten thousands’?” + +12And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” + + + + + +David at the Cave of Adullam + + +22:1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 2And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul,[68] gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. + +3And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay[69] with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth. + + + + + +Saul Kills the Priests at Nob + + +6Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 7And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” 9Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 10and he inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” + +11Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. 12And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” 14Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over[70] your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 15Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” 16And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house.” 17And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 18Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword. + +20But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 22And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. 23Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.” + + + + + +David Saves the City of Keilah + + +23:1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” 2Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3But David's men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. + +6When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 7Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10Then said David, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” 12Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.” 13Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. + + + + + +Saul Pursues David + + +15David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” 18And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home. + +19Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? 20Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.” 21And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. 22Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. + +Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. 25And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 26Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.[71] 29[72] And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi. + + + + + +David Spares Saul's Life + + +24:1 [73] When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats' Rocks. 3And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself.[74] Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 6He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed.” 7So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. + +8Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. 9And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? 10Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you.[75] I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.’ 11See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. 12May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! 15May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” + +16As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the LORD put me into your hands. 19For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.” 22And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold. + + + + + +The Death of Samuel + + +25:1 Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. + + + + + +David and Abigail + + +Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. 4David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. 6And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. 8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” + +9When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10And Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 12So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. + +14But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 15Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.” + +18Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs[76] of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22God do so to the enemies of David[77] and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” + +23When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal[78] is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord taking vengeance himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” + +32And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from avenging myself with my own hand! 34For as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.” + +36And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died. + +39When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife. + +43David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. 44Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim. + + + + + +David Spares Saul Again + + +26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” 2So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, 4David sent out spies and learned that Saul had come. 5Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him. + +6Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab's brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8Then said Abishai to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 9But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?” 10And David said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD's anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen upon them. + +13Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. 14And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. 16This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” + +17Saul recognized David's voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” 18And he said, “Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? 19Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the LORD who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the LORD, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the LORD, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.” + +21Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 22And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 23The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the LORD gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the LORD's anointed. 24Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the LORD, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 25Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place. + + + + + +David Flees to the Philistines + + +27:1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” 2So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. 4And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. + +5Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. + +8Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. 10When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” 11And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.” + + + + + +Saul and the Medium of En-dor + + +28:1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.” 2David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.” + +3Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. 7Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.” + +8So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, “Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you.” 9The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10But Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” 11Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage. + +15Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? 17The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. 19Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.” + +20Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. 21And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Behold, your servant has obeyed you. I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me. 22Now therefore, you also obey your servant. Let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” 23He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. 24Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it, 25and she put it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night. + + + + + +The Philistines Reject David + + +29:1 Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel. 2As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish, 3the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day.” 4But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? 5Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, + +‘Saul has struck down his thousands, + +and David his ten thousands’?” + +6Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the LORD lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. 7So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” 8And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” 9And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10Now then rise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.” 11So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel. + + + + + +David's Wives Are Captured + + +30:1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2and taken captive the women and all[79] who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul,[80] each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. + +7And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 9So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. + +11They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 12and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.” + + + + + +David Defeats the Amalekites + + +16And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 20David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him,[81] and said, “This is David's spoil.” + +21Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 22Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 23But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” 25And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. + +26When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.” 27It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, 28in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, 29in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, 30in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed. + + + + + +The Death of Saul + + +31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. 7And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them. + +8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:5 Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Septuagint And, although he loved Hannah, he would give Hannah only one portion, because the LORD had closed her womb + +[2] 1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard of God + +[3] 1:24 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew three bulls + +[4] 1:24 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[5] 2:1 Hebrew horn + +[6] 2:10 Hebrew horn + +[7] 2:13 Hebrew young man; also verse 15 + +[8] 2:29 Septuagint; Hebrew kick at + +[9] 2:33 Septuagint; Hebrew your; twice in this verse + +[10] 2:33 Hebrew increase + +[11] 2:33 Septuagint; Hebrew die as men + +[12] 3:13 Or blaspheming for themselves + +[13] 4:21 Or gone into exile; also verse 22 + +[14] 6:19 Hebrew of the people seventy men, fifty thousand men + +[15] 7:12 Hebrew; Septuagint, Syriac Jeshanah + +[16] 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help + +[17] 8:16 Septuagint cattle + +[18] 9:5 Hebrew young man; also verses 7, 8, 10, 27 + +[19] 9:8 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[20] 9:16 Septuagint adds the affliction of + +[21] 9:24 Hebrew appointed, saying, ‘I have invited the people’ + +[22] 9:25 Septuagint; Hebrew and he spoke with Saul + +[23] 9:26 Septuagint; Hebrew And they arose early and at the break of dawn + +[24] 10:1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks over his people Israel? And you shall. . . . to be prince + +[25] 10:5 Gibeath-elohim means the hill of God + +[26] 10:10 Gibeah means the hill + +[27] 10:21 Septuagint adds finally he brought the family of the Matrites near, man by man + +[28] 12:3 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Testify against me + +[29] 12:6 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks is witness + +[30] 12:8 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and the Egyptians oppressed them + +[31] 12:9 Septuagint the army of Jabin king of Hazor + +[32] 12:11 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Bedan + +[33] 12:15 Septuagint; Hebrew fathers + +[34] 13:1 The number is lacking in Hebrew and Septuagint + +[35] 13:1 Two may not be the entire number; something may have dropped out + +[36] 13:15 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks The rest of the people . . . from Gilgal + +[37] 13:20 Septuagint; Hebrew plowshare + +[38] 13:21 Hebrew was a pim + +[39] 13:21 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[40] 13:21 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[41] 14:2 Or under the pomegranate [tree] + +[42] 14:7 Septuagint Do all that your mind inclines to + +[43] 14:14 Hebrew a yoke + +[44] 14:16 Septuagint; Hebrew they went here and there + +[45] 14:18 Hebrew; Septuagint “Bring the ephod.” For at that time he wore the ephod before the people + +[46] 14:25 Hebrew land + +[47] 14:33 Septuagint; Hebrew this day + +[48] 14:41 Vulgate (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why . . . + +[49] 15:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20, 21 + +[50] 15:9 The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain + +[51] 15:32 Or haltingly (compare Septuagint); the Hebrew is uncertain + +[52] 16:11 Or smallest + +[53] 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four + +[54] 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[55] 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew years among men + +[56] 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[57] 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai + +[58] 18:6 Or triangles, or three-stringed instruments + +[59] 18:21 Hebrew by two + +[60] 20:12 Hebrew lacks be witness + +[61] 20:15 Or but if I die, do not cut off + +[62] 20:16 Septuagint earth, 16let not the name of Jonathan be cut off from the house of David. And may + +[63] 20:19 Septuagint; Hebrew the stone Ezel + +[64] 20:25 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew stood up + +[65] 20:41 Septuagint; Hebrew from beside the south + +[66] 20:42 This sentence is 21:1 in Hebrew + +[67] 21:1 Ch 21:2 in Hebrew + +[68] 22:2 Or discontented + +[69] 22:3 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew go out + +[70] 22:14 Septuagint, Targum; Hebrew and has turned aside to + +[71] 23:28 Or Rock of Divisions + +[72] 23:29 Ch 24:1 in Hebrew + +[73] 24:1 Ch 24:2 in Hebrew + +[74] 24:3 Hebrew cover his feet + +[75] 24:10 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew it [my eye] spared you + +[76] 25:18 A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters + +[77] 25:22 Septuagint to David + +[78] 25:25 Nabal means fool + +[79] 30:2 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and all + +[80] 30:6 Compare 22:2 + +[81] 30:20 The meaning of the Hebrew clause is uncertain + + + + + +2 SAMUEL + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + + + + + +David Hears of Saul's Death + + +1:1 After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. 2And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. 3David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.” 4And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” 5Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” 6And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. 7And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9And he said to me ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ 10So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.” + +11Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” 14David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?” 15Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. 16And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD's anointed.’” + + + + + +David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan + + +17And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18and he said it[1] should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.[2] He said: + +19“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! + +How the mighty have fallen! + +20Tell it not in Gath, + +publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, + +lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, + +lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. + +21“You mountains of Gilboa, + +let there be no dew or rain upon you, + +nor fields of offerings![3] + +For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, + +the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. + +22“From the blood of the slain, + +from the fat of the mighty, + +the bow of Jonathan turned not back, + +and the sword of Saul returned not empty. + +23“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! + +In life and in death they were not divided; + +they were swifter than eagles; + +they were stronger than lions. + +24“You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, + +who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, + +who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. + +25“How the mighty have fallen + +in the midst of the battle! + +“Jonathan lies slain on your high places. + +26I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; + +very pleasant have you been to me; + +your love to me was extraordinary, + +surpassing the love of women. + +27“How the mighty have fallen, + +and the weapons of war perished!” + + + + + +David Anointed King of Judah + + +2:1 After this David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” 2So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. 4And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. + +When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” 5David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. 6Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. 7Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.” + + + + + +Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel + + +8But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, 9and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. 10Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. + + + + + +The Battle of Gibeon + + +12Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” 15Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim,[4] which is at Gibeon. 17And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David. + +18And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. 19And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” 21Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still. + +24But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. 26Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” 27And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” 28So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore. + +29And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to Mahanaim. 30Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David's servants nineteen men besides Asahel. 31But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner's men. 32And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron. + + + + + +Abner Joins David + + +3:1 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker. + +2And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; 4and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron. + +6While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. 7Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?” 8Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. 9God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the LORD has sworn to him, 10to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” 11And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him. + +12And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf,[5] saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.” 13And he said, “Good; I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you; that is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.” 14Then David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, for whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” 15And Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel the son of Laish. 16But her husband went with her, weeping after her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” And he returned. + +17And Abner conferred with the elders of Israel, saying, “For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you. 18Now then bring it about, for the LORD has promised David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies.’” 19Abner also spoke to Benjamin. And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do. + +20When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21And Abner said to David, “I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace. + +22Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go, and he has gone in peace.” 24Then Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away, so that he is gone? 25You know that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.” + + + + + +Joab Murders Abner + + +26When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. But David did not know about it. 27And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. 28Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!” 30So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon. + + + + + +David Mourns Abner + + +31Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier. 32They buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. 33And the king lamented for Abner, saying, + +“Should Abner die as a fool dies? + +34Your hands were not bound; + +your feet were not fettered; + +as one falls before the wicked + +you have fallen.” + +And all the people wept again over him. 35Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, “God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!” 36And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people. 37So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner the son of Ner. 38And the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? 39And I was gentle today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are more severe than I. The LORD repay the evildoer according to his wickedness!” + + + + + +Ish-bosheth Murdered + + +4:1 When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. 2Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin; 3the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day). + +4Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. + +5Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. 6And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.[6] 7When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, 8and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.” 9But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 10when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” 12And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron. + + + + + +David Anointed King of Israel + + +5:1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the LORD said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’” 3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. 4David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.[7] + +6And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off”—thinking, “David cannot come in here.” 7Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. 8And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David's soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” 9And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward. 10And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him. + +11And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house. 12And David knew that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. + +13And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David. 14And these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. + + + + + +David Defeats the Philistines + + +17When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. 18Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 19And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” 20And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The LORD has burst through my enemies before me like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.[8] 21And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away. + +22And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 23And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. 24And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 25And David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer. + + + + + +The Ark Brought to Jerusalem + + +6:1 David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. 3And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio,[9] the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart,[10] 4with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark. + + + + + +Uzzah and the Ark + + +5And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the LORD, with songs[11] and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8And David was angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah,[12] to this day. 9And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” 10So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household. + +12And it was told King David, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13And when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn. + + + + + +David and Michal + + +16As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart. 17And they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. 18And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts 19and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat,[13] and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house. + +20And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” 21And David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD—and I will make merry before the LORD. 22I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your[14] eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.” 23And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death. + + + + + +God's Covenant with David + + +7:1 Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” + +4But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 5“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges[15] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 8Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.[16] Your throne shall be established forever.’” 17In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. + + + + + +David's Prayer of Gratitude + + +18Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! 20And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! 21Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them[17] great and awesome things by driving out[18] before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. 25And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.” + + + + + +David's Victories + + +8:1 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines. + +2And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute. + +3David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. 7And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze. + +9When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. + +13And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. + + + + + +David's Officials + + +15So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary, 18and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over[19] the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests. + + + + + +David's Kindness to Mephibosheth + + +9:1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” 2Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” + +9Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. 10And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's[20] table, like one of the king's sons. 12And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. 13So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. + + + + + +David Defeats Ammon and Syria + + +10:1 After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2And David said, “I will deal loyally[21] with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites. 3But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” 4So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. 5When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.” + +6When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men. 7And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. 8And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country. + +9When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. 10The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. 11And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 12Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” 13So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. + +15But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. 16And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates.[22] They came to Helam, with Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. 17And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. 18And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. 19And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore. + + + + + +David and Bathsheba + + +11:1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. + +2It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” + +6So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. + +14In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” + +22So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” + +26When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. + + + + + +Nathan Rebukes David + + +12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,[23] and it was like a daughter to him. 4Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” + +7Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD,[24] the child who is born to you shall die.” 15Then Nathan went to his house. + + + + + +David's Child Dies + + +And the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. 16David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” + + + + + +Solomon's Birth + + +24Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him 25and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,[25] because of the LORD. + + + + + +Rabbah Is Captured + + +26Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. 27And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters. 28Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.” 29So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. 30And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent[26] of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. 31And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at[27] the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. + + + + + +Amnon and Tamar + + +13:1 Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her. 2And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. 3But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man. 4And he said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.” 5Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” 6So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.” + +7Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon's house and prepare food for him.” 8So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, where he was lying down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. 9And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, “Send out everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him. 10Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. 11But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” 12She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate[28] me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. 13As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 14But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her. + +15Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up! Go!” 16But she said to him, “No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.”[29] But he would not listen to her. 17He called the young man who served him and said, “Put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her.” 18Now she was wearing a long robe[30] with sleeves, for thus were the virgin daughters of the king dressed. So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. 19And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe that she wore. And she laid her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went. + +20And her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar lived, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom's house. 21When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.[31] 22But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar. + + + + + +Absalom Murders Amnon + + +23After two full years Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king's sons. 24And Absalom came to the king and said, “Behold, your servant has sheepshearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.” 25But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing. 26Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27But Absalom pressed him until he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. 28Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” 29So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled. + +30While they were on the way, news came to David, “Absalom has struck down all the king's sons, and not one of them is left.” 31Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the earth. And all his servants who were standing by tore their garments. 32But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar. 33Now therefore let not my lord the king so take it to heart as to suppose that all the king's sons are dead, for Amnon alone is dead.” + + + + + +Absalom Flees to Geshur + + +34But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming from the road behind him[32] by the side of the mountain. 35And Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king's sons have come; as your servant said, so it has come about.” 36And as soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king's sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly. + +37But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day. 38So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years. 39And the spirit of the king[33] longed to go out[34] to Absalom, because he was comforted about Amnon, since he was dead. + + + + + +Absalom Returns to Jerusalem + + +14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart went out to Absalom. 2And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, “Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. 3Go to the king and speak thus to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth. + +4When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and paid homage and said, “Save me, O king.” 5And the king said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. 6And your servant had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7And now the whole clan has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Give up the man who struck his brother, that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed.’ And so they would destroy the heir also. Thus they would quench my coal that is left and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth.” + +8Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.” 9And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless.” 10The king said, “If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again.” 11Then she said, “Please let the king invoke the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood kill no more, and my son be not destroyed.” He said, “As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.” + +12Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Speak.” 13And the woman said, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again. 14We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast. 15Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. 16For the king will hear and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together from the heritage of God.’ 17And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!” + +18Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.” + +21Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.” 22And Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage and blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.” 23So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 24And the king said, “Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence.” So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king's presence. + +25Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 26And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels[35] by the king's weight. 27There were born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman. + +28So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king's presence. 29Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. And he sent a second time, but Joab would not come. 30Then he said to his servants, “See, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom's servants set the field on fire.[36] 31Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” 32Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent word to you, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.’” 33Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom. + + + + + +Absalom's Conspiracy + + +15:1 After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” 3Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” 4Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” 5And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. 6Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. + +7And at the end of four[37] years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the LORD, in Hebron. 8For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the LORD will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to[38] the LORD.’” 9The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. 10But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” 11With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their innocence and knew nothing. 12And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for[39] Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing. + + + + + +David Flees Jerusalem + + +13And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” 14Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” 16So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ten concubines to keep the house. 17And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house. + +18And all his servants passed by him, and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath, passed on before the king. 19Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. 20You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the LORD show[40] steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” 21But Ittai answered the king, “As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” 22And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him. 23And all the land wept aloud as all the people passed by, and the king crossed the brook Kidron, and all the people passed on toward the wilderness. + +24And Abiathar came up, and behold, Zadok came also with all the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God until the people had all passed out of the city. 25Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place. 26But if he says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’ behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him.” 27The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Go back[41] to the city in peace, with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there. + +30But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went. 31And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” + +32While David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn and dirt on his head. 33David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me. 34But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so now I will be your servant,’ then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. 35Are not Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? So whatever you hear from the king's house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36Behold, their two sons are with them there, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son, and by them you shall send to me everything you hear.” 37So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city, just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem. + + + + + +David and Ziba + + +16:1 When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. 2And the king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who faint in the wilderness to drink.” 3And the king said, “And where is your master's son?” Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’” 4Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.” + + + + + +Shimei Curses David + + +5When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. 6And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! 8The LORD has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.” + +9Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” 10But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” 11And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. 12It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me,[42] and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing today.” 13So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. 14And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan.[43] And there he refreshed himself. + + + + + +Absalom Enters Jerusalem + + +15Now Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16And when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” 18And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. 19And again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.” + +20Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?” 21Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a stench to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.” 22So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom. + + + + + +Hushai Saves David + + +17:1 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down only the king, 3and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,[44] and all the people will be at peace.” 4And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel. + +5Then Absalom said, “Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” 6And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” 7Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” 8Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,[45] like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. 9Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall[46] at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. 11But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 12So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. 13If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” 14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had ordained[47] to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom. + +15Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. 16Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’” 17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. 18But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. 19And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. 20When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook[48] of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. + +21After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, “Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan. + +23When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father. + +24Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25Now Absalom had set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,[49] who had married Abigal the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. 26And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. + +27When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,[50] 29honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.” + + + + + +Absalom Killed + + +18:1 Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” 3But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.” 4The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom. + +6So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword. + +9And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak,[51] and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 10And a certain man saw it and told Joab, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 11Joab said to the man who told him, “What, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have been glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” 12But the man said to Joab, “Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the king's son, for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake protect the young man Absalom.’ 13On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously against his life[52] (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” 14Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. 15And ten young men, Joab's armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him. + +16Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. 17And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled every one to his own home. 18Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King's Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument[53] to this day. + + + + + +David Hears of Absalom's Death + + +19Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and carry news to the king that the LORD has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.” 20And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king's son is dead.” 21Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. 22Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?” 23“Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite. + +24Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone. 25The watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he drew nearer and nearer. 26The watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the gate and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.” 27The watchman said, “I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “He is a good man and comes with good news.” + +28Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, “Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.” 29And the king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king's servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.” 30And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still. + + + + + +David's Grief + + +31And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For the LORD has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.” 32The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.” 33[54] And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” + + + + + +Joab Rebukes David + + +19:1 It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” 3And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle. 4The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 5Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and your concubines, 6because you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you, for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. 7Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night, and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.” 8Then the king arose and took his seat in the gate. And the people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came before the king. + + + + + +David Returns to Jerusalem + + +Now Israel had fled every man to his own home. 9And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and saved us from the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. 10But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?” + +11And King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house, when the word of all Israel has come to the king?[55] 12You are my brothers; you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ 13And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you are not commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.’” 14And he swayed the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, “Return, both you and all your servants.” 15So the king came back to the Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king over the Jordan. + + + + + +David Pardons His Enemies + + +16And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan before the king, 18and they crossed the ford to bring over the king's household and to do his pleasure. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, 19and said to the king, “Let not my lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. Do not let the king take it to heart. 20For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” 21Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?” 22But David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be as an adversary to me? Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” 23And the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath. + +24And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. 25And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” 26He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself,[56] that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame. 27He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you. 28For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?” 29And the king said to him, “Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.” 30And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home.” + +31Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, and he went on with the king to the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan. 32Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old. He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. 33And the king said to Barzillai, “Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.” 34But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 36Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward? 37Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him go over with my lord the king, and do for him whatever seems good to you.” 38And the king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you, and all that you desire of me I will do for you.” 39Then all the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. And the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own home. 40The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. All the people of Judah, and also half the people of Israel, brought the king on his way. + +41Then all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David's men with him?” 42All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close relative. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense? Or has he given us any gift?” 43And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. + + + + + +The Rebellion of Sheba + + +20:1 Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, + +“We have no portion in David, + +and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; + +every man to his tents, O Israel!” + +2So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem. + +3And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood. + +4Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 5So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. 6And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.”[57] 7And there went out after him Joab's men and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier's garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his thigh, and as he went forward it fell out. 9And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab's hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. + +Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11And one of Joab's young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. 13When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. + +14And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah,[58] and all the Bichrites[59] assembled and followed him in. 15And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down. 16Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’” 17And he came near her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” 18Then she said, “They used to say in former times, ‘Let them but ask counsel at Abel,’ and so they settled a matter. 19I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the LORD?” 20Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! 21That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” 22Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. + +23Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25and Sheva was secretary; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26and Ira the Jairite was also David's priest. + + + + + +David Avenges the Gibeonites + + +21:1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?” 4The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” 5They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.” + +7But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab[60] the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the LORD, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest. + +10Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night. 11When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa. 13And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. 14And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that God responded to the plea for the land. + + + + + +War with the Philistines + + +15There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels[61] of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.” + +18After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. 19And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.[62] 20And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. 21And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down. 22These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. + + + + + +David's Song of Deliverance + + +22:1 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2He said, + +“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, + +3my[63] God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, + +my shield, and the horn of my salvation, + +my stronghold and my refuge, + +my savior; you save me from violence. + +4I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, + +and I am saved from my enemies. + +5“For the waves of death encompassed me, + +the torrents of destruction assailed me;[64] + +6the cords of Sheol entangled me; + +the snares of death confronted me. + +7“In my distress I called upon the LORD; + +to my God I called. + +From his temple he heard my voice, + +and my cry came to his ears. + +8“Then the earth reeled and rocked; + +the foundations of the heavens trembled + +and quaked, because he was angry. + +9Smoke went up from his nostrils,[65] + +and devouring fire from his mouth; + +glowing coals flamed forth from him. + +10He bowed the heavens and came down; + +thick darkness was under his feet. + +11He rode on a cherub and flew; + +he was seen on the wings of the wind. + +12He made darkness around him his canopy, + +thick clouds, a gathering of water. + +13Out of the brightness before him + +coals of fire flamed forth. + +14The LORD thundered from heaven, + +and the Most High uttered his voice. + +15And he sent out arrows and scattered them; + +lightning, and routed them. + +16Then the channels of the sea were seen; + +the foundations of the world were laid bare, + +at the rebuke of the LORD, + +at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. + +17“He sent from on high, he took me; + +he drew me out of many waters. + +18He rescued me from my strong enemy, + +from those who hated me, + +for they were too mighty for me. + +19They confronted me in the day of my calamity, + +but the LORD was my support. + +20He brought me out into a broad place; + +he rescued me, because he delighted in me. + +21“The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; + +according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. + +22For I have kept the ways of the LORD + +and have not wickedly departed from my God. + +23For all his rules were before me, + +and from his statutes I did not turn aside. + +24I was blameless before him, + +and I kept myself from guilt. + +25And the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, + +according to my cleanness in his sight. + +26“With the merciful you show yourself merciful; + +with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; + +27with the purified you deal purely, + +and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. + +28You save a humble people, + +but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. + +29For you are my lamp, O LORD, + +and my God lightens my darkness. + +30For by you I can run against a troop, + +and by my God I can leap over a wall. + +31This God—his way is perfect; + +the word of the LORD proves true; + +he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. + +32“For who is God, but the LORD? + +And who is a rock, except our God? + +33This God is my strong refuge + +and has made my[66] way blameless.[67] + +34He made my feet like the feet of a deer + +and set me secure on the heights. + +35He trains my hands for war, + +so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. + +36You have given me the shield of your salvation, + +and your gentleness made me great. + +37You gave a wide place for my steps under me, + +and my feet[68] did not slip; + +38I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, + +and did not turn back until they were consumed. + +39I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise; + +they fell under my feet. + +40For you equipped me with strength for the battle; + +you made those who rise against me sink under me. + +41You made my enemies turn their backs to me,[69] + +those who hated me, and I destroyed them. + +42They looked, but there was none to save; + +they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. + +43I beat them fine as the dust of the earth; + +I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets. + +44“You delivered me from strife with my people;[70] + +you kept me as the head of the nations; + +people whom I had not known served me. + +45Foreigners came cringing to me; + +as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. + +46Foreigners lost heart + +and came trembling[71] out of their fortresses. + +47“The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, + +and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, + +48the God who gave me vengeance + +and brought down peoples under me, + +49who brought me out from my enemies; + +you exalted me above those who rose against me; + +you delivered me from men of violence. + +50“For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, + +and sing praises to your name. + +51Great salvation he brings[72] to his king, + +and shows steadfast love to his anointed, + +to David and his offspring forever.” + + + + + +The Last Words of David + + +23:1 Now these are the last words of David: + +The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, + +the oracle of the man who was raised on high, + +the anointed of the God of Jacob, + +the sweet psalmist of Israel:[73] + +2“The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; + +his word is on my tongue. + +3The God of Israel has spoken; + +the Rock of Israel has said to me: + +When one rules justly over men, + +ruling in the fear of God, + +4he dawns on them like the morning light, + +like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, + +like rain[74] that makes grass to sprout from the earth. + +5“For does not my house stand so with God? + +For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, + +ordered in all things and secure. + +For will he not cause to prosper + +all my help and my desire? + +6But worthless men[75] are all like thorns that are thrown away, + +for they cannot be taken with the hand; + +7but the man who touches them + +arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, + +and they are utterly consumed with fire.”[76] + + + + + +David's Mighty Men + + +8These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three.[77] He wielded his spear[78] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time. + +9And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. 10He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the LORD brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain. + +11And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. 12But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the LORD worked a great victory. + +13And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. 15And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD 17and said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did. + +18Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty.[79] And he wielded his spear against three hundred men[80] and killed them and won a name beside the three. 19He was the most renowned of the thirty[81] and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three. + +20And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man[82] of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels[83] of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 21And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 22These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. 23He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard. + +24Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, 26Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, 27Abiezer of Anathoth, Mebunnai the Hushathite, 28Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai of Netophah, 29Heleb the son of Baanah of Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, 30Benaiah of Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, 31Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Bahurim, 32Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel of Gilo, 35Hezro[84] of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, 36Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all. + + + + + +David's Census + + +24:1 Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.” 2So the king said to Joab, the commander of the army,[85] who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” 3But Joab said to the king, “May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” 4But the king's word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel. 5They crossed the Jordan and began from Aroer,[86] and from the city that is in the middle of the valley, toward Gad and on to Jazer. 6Then they came to Gilead, and to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites;[87] and they came to Dan, and from Dan[88] they went around to Sidon, 7and came to the fortress of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the Negeb of Judah at Beersheba. 8So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. 9And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000. + + + + + +The LORD's Judgment of David's Sin + + +10But David's heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 11And when David arose in the morning, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer[89] you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three[90] years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” + +15So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.” + + + + + +David Builds an Altar + + +18And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19So David went up at Gad's word, as the LORD commanded. 20And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. 21And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the LORD, that the plague may be averted from the people.” 22Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. 23All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.” 24But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels[91] of silver. 25And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:18 Septuagint; Hebrew the Bow, which may be the name of the lament's tune + +[2] 1:18 Or of the upright + +[3] 1:21 Septuagint firstfruits + +[4] 2:16 Helkath-hazzurim means the field of sword-edges + +[5] 3:12 Or where he was; Septuagint at Hebron + +[6] 4:6 Septuagint And behold, the doorkeeper of the house had been cleaning wheat, but she grew drowsy and slept. So Rechab and Baanah his brother slipped in + +[7] 5:5 Dead Sea Scroll lacks verses 4-5 + +[8] 5:20 Baal-perazim means lord of bursting through + +[9] 6:3 Or and his brother; also verse 4 + +[10] 6:3 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew the new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill + +[11] 6:5 Septuagint, 1 Chronicles 13:8; Hebrew fir trees + +[12] 6:8 Perez-uzzah means the bursting forth upon Uzzah + +[13] 6:19 Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain + +[14] 6:22 Septuagint; Hebrew my + +[15] 7:7 Compare 1 Chronicles 17:6; Hebrew tribes + +[16] 7:16 Septuagint; Hebrew you + +[17] 7:23 With a few Targums, Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew you + +[18] 7:23 Septuagint (compare 1 Chronicles 17:21); Hebrew for your land + +[19] 8:18 Compare 20:23, 1 Chronicles 18:17, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks was over + +[20] 9:11 Septuagint; Hebrew my + +[21] 10:2 Or kindly; twice in this verse + +[22] 10:16 Hebrew the River + +[23] 12:3 Hebrew bosom; also verse 8 + +[24] 12:14 Masoretic Text the enemies of the LORD; Dead Sea Scroll the word of the LORD + +[25] 12:25 Jedidiah means beloved of the LORD + +[26] 12:30 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[27] 12:31 Hebrew pass through + +[28] 13:12 Or humiliate; also verses 14, 22, 32 + +[29] 13:16 Compare Septuagint, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[30] 13:18 Or a robe of many colors (compare Genesis 37:3); also verse 19 + +[31] 13:21 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint add But he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, since he was his firstborn + +[32] 13:34 Septuagint the Horonaim Road + +[33] 13:39 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Hebrew David + +[34] 13:39 Compare Vulgate ceased to go out + +[35] 14:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[36] 14:30 Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll add So Joab's servants came to him with their clothes torn, and they said to him, “The servants of Absalom have set your field on fire.” + +[37] 15:7 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew forty + +[38] 15:8 Or will serve + +[39] 15:12 Or sent + +[40] 15:20 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks may the LORD show + +[41] 15:27 Septuagint The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Look, go back + +[42] 16:12 Septuagint, Vulgate will look upon my affliction + +[43] 16:14 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks at the Jordan + +[44] 17:3 Septuagint; Hebrew back to you. Like the return of the whole is the man whom you seek + +[45] 17:8 Hebrew bitter of soul + +[46] 17:9 Or And as he falls on them + +[47] 17:14 Hebrew commanded + +[48] 17:20 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[49] 17:25 Compare 1 Chronicles 2:17; Hebrew Israelite + +[50] 17:28 Hebrew adds and parched grain + +[51] 18:9 Or terebinth; also verses 10, 14 + +[52] 18:13 Or at the risk of my life + +[53] 18:18 Or Absalom's hand + +[54] 18:33 Ch 19:1 in Hebrew + +[55] 19:11 Septuagint; Hebrew to the king, to his house + +[56] 19:26 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate Saddle a donkey for me + +[57] 20:6 Hebrew and snatch away our eyes + +[58] 20:14 Compare 20:15; Hebrew and Beth-maacah + +[59] 20:14 Hebrew Berites + +[60] 21:8 Two Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts Michal + +[61] 21:16 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[62] 21:19 Contrast 1 Chronicles 20:5, which may preserve the original reading + +[63] 22:3 Septuagint (compare Psalm 18:2); Hebrew lacks my + +[64] 22:5 Or terrified me + +[65] 22:9 Or in his wrath + +[66] 22:33 Or his; also verse 34 + +[67] 22:33 Compare Psalm 18:32; Hebrew he has blamelessly set my way free, or he has made my way spring up blamelessly + +[68] 22:37 Hebrew ankles + +[69] 22:41 Or You gave me my enemies' necks + +[70] 22:44 Septuagint with the peoples + +[71] 22:46 Compare Psalm 18:45; Hebrew equipped themselves + +[72] 22:51 Or He is a tower of salvation + +[73] 23:1 Or the favorite of the songs of Israel + +[74] 23:4 Hebrew from rain + +[75] 23:6 Hebrew worthlessness + +[76] 23:7 Hebrew consumed with fire in the sitting + +[77] 23:8 Or of the captains + +[78] 23:8 1 Chronicles 11:11; the meaning of the Hebrew expression is uncertain + +[79] 23:18 Two Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts three + +[80] 23:18 Or slain ones + +[81] 23:19 1 Chronicles 11:25; Hebrew Was he the most renowned of the three? + +[82] 23:20 Or the son of Ishhai + +[83] 23:20 The meaning of the word ariel is unknown + +[84] 23:35 Or Hezrai + +[85] 24:2 Septuagint to Joab and the commanders of the army + +[86] 24:5 Septuagint; Hebrew encamped in Aroer + +[87] 24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew to the land of Tahtim-hodshi + +[88] 24:6 Septuagint; Hebrew they came to Dan-jaan and + +[89] 24:12 Or hold over + +[90] 24:13 Compare 1 Chronicles 21:12, Septuagint; Hebrew seven + +[91] 24:24 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + + + + + +1 KINGS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + + + + + +David in His Old Age + + +1:1 Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. 2Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms,[1] that my lord the king may be warm.” 3So they sought for a beautiful young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, but the king knew her not. + + + + + +Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King + + +5Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. 7He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him. 8But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah. + +9Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent's Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother. + + + + + +Nathan and Bathsheba Before David + + +11Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? 12Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’ 14Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm[2] your words.” + +15So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king). 16Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?” 17She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ 18And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it. 19He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited. 20And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.” + +22While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23And they told the king, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground. 24And Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? 25For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders[3] of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited. 27Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” + + + + + +Solomon Anointed King + + +28Then King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. 29And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, 30as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.” 31Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!” + +32King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. 33And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. 34And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” 36And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, say so. 37As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.” + +38So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. 39There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” 40And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise. + +41Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?” 42While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.” 43Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king, 44and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king's mule. 45And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. 46Solomon sits on the royal throne. 47Moreover, the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed. 48And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has granted someone[4] to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.’” + +49Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way. 50And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. 51Then it was told Solomon, “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” 52And Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” 53So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.” + + + + + +David's Instructions to Solomon + + +2:1 When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2“I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4that the LORD may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack[5] a man on the throne of Israel.’ + +5“Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging[6] in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war[7] on the belt around his[8] waist and on the sandals on his feet. 6Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty[9] they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.” + + + + + +The Death of David + + +10Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. 11And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. + + + + + +Solomon's Reign Established + + +13Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peacefully?” He said, “Peacefully.” 14Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” She said, “Speak.” 15He said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel fully expected me to reign. However, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, for it was his from the LORD. 16And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me.” She said to him, “Speak.” 17And he said, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” 18Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak for you to the king.” + +19So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right. 20Then she said, “I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” 21She said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife.” 22King Solomon answered his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older brother, and on his side are Abiathar[10] the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.” 23Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, “God do so to me and more also if this word does not cost Adonijah his life! 24Now therefore as the LORD lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.” 25So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he struck him down, and he died. + +26And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you shared in all my father's affliction.” 27So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. + +28When the news came to Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah although he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and caught hold of the horns of the altar. 29And when it was told King Solomon, “Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD, and behold, he is beside the altar,” Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” 30So Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to him, “The king commands, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, I will die here.” Then Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.” 31The king replied to him, “Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause. 32The LORD will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore.” 34Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and put him to death. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. + +36Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. 37For on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your own head.” 38And Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. + +39But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, “Behold, your servants are in Gath,” 40Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, 42the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’ 43Why then have you not kept your oath to the LORD and the commandment with which I commanded you?” 44The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the LORD will bring back your harm on your own head. 45But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.” 46Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died. + +So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. + + + + + +Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom + + +3:1 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. 2The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD. + +3Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. 4And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” + +10It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” + +15And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. + + + + + +Solomon's Wisdom + + +16Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king. + +23Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” 24And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. + + + + + +Solomon's Officials + + +4:1 King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; 3Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 4Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king's friend; 6Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. + +7Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. 8These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; 9Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 12Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 16Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land. + + + + + +Solomon's Wealth and Wisdom + + +20Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 21[11] Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. + +22Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors[12] of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. 25And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty. + +29And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. + + + + + +Preparations for Building the Temple + + +5:1 [13] Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. 2And Solomon sent word to Hiram, 3“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. 4But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ 6Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.” + +7As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” 8And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. 9My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.” 10So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, 11while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors[14] of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000[15] cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. 12And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty. + +13King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. 14And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft. 15Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. 17At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. 18So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house. + + + + + +Solomon Builds the Temple + + +6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the LORD. 2The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits[16] long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 3The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. 4And he made for the house windows with recessed frames.[17] 5He also built a structure[18] against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. 6The lowest story[19] was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house. + +7When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. + +8The entrance for the lowest[20] story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third. 9So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar. 10He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar. + +11Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, 12“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. 13And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.” + +14So Solomon built the house and finished it. 15He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress. 16He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. 17The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. 18The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen. 19The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD. 20The inner sanctuary[21] was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid[22] an altar of cedar. 21And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. + +23In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. 24Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form. 26The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. 28And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. + +29Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. 30The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms. + +31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided.[23] 32He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. + +33So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square, 34and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. 36He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams. + +37In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it. + + + + + +Solomon Builds His Palace + + +7:1 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house. + +2He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits[24] and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four[25] rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. 4There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. 5All the doorways and windows[26] had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers. + +6And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of them. + +7And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.[27] + +8His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter whom he had taken in marriage. + +9All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. 10The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. 11And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. 12The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the LORD and the vestibule of the house. + + + + + +The Temple Furnishings + + +13And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. 14He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work. + +15He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.[28] 16He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice[29] for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital. 18Likewise he made pomegranates[30] in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital. 19Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. 20The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were two hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital. 21He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. 22And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished. + +23Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 24Under its brim were gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 25It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 26Its thickness was a handbreadth,[31] and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.[32] + +27He also made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, 29and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. 30Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. 31Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round. 32And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. 34There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands. 35And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it. 36And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. 37After this manner he made the ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form. + +38And he made ten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands. 39And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house. + +40Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the LORD: 41the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; 42and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; 44and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea. + +45Now the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the LORD, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. 46In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not ascertained. + +48So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the LORD: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, 49the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple. + +51Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD. + + + + + +The Ark Brought into the Temple + + +8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. 9There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. + + + + + +Solomon Blesses the LORD + + +12Then Solomon said, “The LORD[33] has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 13I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 14Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 18But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” + + + + + +Solomon's Prayer of Dedication + + +22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, 23and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 24who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. + +27“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. + +31“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. + +33“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers. + +35“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. + +37“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates,[34] whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. + +41“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake 42(for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. + +44“If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 45then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause. + +46“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51(for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Solomon's Benediction + + +54Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56“Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. 61Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.” + + + + + +Solomon's Sacrifices + + +62Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. 63Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. 64The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings. + +65So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days.[35] 66On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people. + + + + + +The LORD Appears to Solomon + + +9:1 As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3And the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8And this house will become a heap of ruins.[36] Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them.’” + + + + + +Solomon's Other Acts + + +10At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king's house, 11and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of Cabul to this day. 14Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[37] of gold. + +15And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the LORD and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer 16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife; 17so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon 18and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,[38] 19and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— 21their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction[39]—these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. 22But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen. + +23These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work: 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work. + +24But Pharaoh's daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo. + +25Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the LORD, making offerings with it[40] before the LORD. So he finished the house. + +26King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon. + + + + + +The Queen of Sheba + + +10:1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. 2She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 3And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. 4And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her. + +6And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 7but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. 8Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 10Then she gave the king 120 talents[41] of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. + +11Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. 12And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the LORD and for the king's house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day. + +13And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants. + + + + + +Solomon's Great Wealth + + +14Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. 16King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels[42] of gold went into each shield. 17And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas[43] of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 18The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19The throne had six steps, and at the back of the throne was a calf's head, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 20while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 21All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 22For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[44] + +23Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 25Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. + +26And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price. 29A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king's traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria. + + + + + +Solomon Turns from the LORD + + +11:1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. 7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. + + + + + +The LORD Raises Adversaries + + +9And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. 11Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” + +14And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. 15For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom 16(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). 17But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father's servants, Hadad still being a little child. 18They set out from Midian and came to Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. 19And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” 22But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.” + +23God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. 25He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria. + +26Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. 27And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. 28The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. 30Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes 32(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33because they have[45] forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. 34Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. 35But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. 36Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. 37And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’” 40Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. + +41Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Rehoboam's Folly + + +12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from[46] Egypt. 3And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away. + +6Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. 11And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’” + +12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” 13And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, 14he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. + + + + + +The Kingdom Divided + + +16And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents. 17But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. 18Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only. + +21When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and went home again, according to the word of the LORD. + + + + + +Jeroboam's Golden Calves + + +25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. 26And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. 27If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.[47] 31He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. 32And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 33He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings. + + + + + +A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam + + +13:1 And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings. 2And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” 3And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’” 4And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before. 7And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” 8And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, 9for so was it commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” 10So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel. + + + + + +The Prophet's Disobedience + + +11Now an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons[48] came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. 12And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. 14And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” 15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” 16And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, 17for it was said to me by the word of the LORD, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’” 18And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. 19So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water. + +20And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back. 21And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD and have not kept the command that the LORD your God commanded you, 22but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’” 23And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. 25And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. + +26And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the LORD; therefore the LORD has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD spoke to him.” 27And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. 28And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey. 29And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city[49] to mourn and to bury him. 30And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” 31And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32For the saying that he called out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.” + +33After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. 34And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth. + + + + + +Prophecy Against Jeroboam + + +14:1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. 3Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” + +4Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. 5And the LORD said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” + +When she came, she pretended to be another woman. 6But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. 7Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel 8and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, 9but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, 10therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. 11Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the LORD has spoken it.”’ 12Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14Moreover, the LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, 15the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger. 16And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.” + +17Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet. + + + + + +The Death of Jeroboam + + +19Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Rehoboam Reigns in Judah + + +21Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. 22And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 24and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. + +25In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 27and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 28And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. + +29Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 30And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Abijam Reigns in Judah + + +15:1 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. 2He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 3And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. 4Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, 5because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Asa Reigns In Judah + + +9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, 10and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his father had done. 12He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. 14But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the LORD all his days. 15And he brought into the house of the LORD the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. + +16And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house and gave them into the hands of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, 19“Let there be a covenant[50] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 20And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in Tirzah. 22Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. 23Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Nadab Reigns in Israel + + +25Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. + +27Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. 28So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. 29And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. 30It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel. + +31Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 32And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. + + + + + +Baasha Reigns in Israel + + +33In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. 34He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. + + + + + +16:1 And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2“Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, 3behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.” + +5Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 6And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. 7Moreover, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it. + + + + + +Elah Reigns in Israel + + +8In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. 9But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, 10Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. + +11When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. 12Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 13for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. 14Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? + + + + + +Zimri Reigns in Israel + + +15In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, 16and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire and died, 19because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. 20Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? + + + + + +Omri Reigns in Israel + + +21Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 22But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. 23In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. 24He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[51] of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. + +25Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him. 26For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. 27Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Ahab Reigns in Israel + + +29In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun. + + + + + +Elijah Predicts a Drought + + +17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe[52] in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2And the word of the LORD came to him: 3“Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. + + + + + +The Widow of Zarephath + + +8Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 15And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. + + + + + +Elijah Raises the Widow's Son + + +17After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child's life[53] come into him again.” 22And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.” + + + + + +Elijah Confronts Ahab + + +18:1 After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” 2So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly, 4and when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.) 5And Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” 6So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. + +7And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” 8And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’” 9And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. 11And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’ 12And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the LORD will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth. 13Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred men of the LORD's prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? 14And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here”’; and he will kill me.” 15And Elijah said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. + +17When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. 19Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.” + + + + + +The Prophets of Baal Defeated + + +20So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. 23Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. + +30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down. 31Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” 32and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs[54] of seed. 33And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. + +36And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God.” 40And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there. + + + + + +The LORD Sends Rain + + +41And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. + + + + + +Elijah Flees Jezebel + + +19:1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. + +4But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. + + + + + +The LORD Speaks to Elijah + + +9There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.[55] 13And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” + + + + + +The Call of Elisha + + +19So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. + + + + + +Ahab's Wars with Syria + + +20:1 Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together. Thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and closed in on Samaria and fought against it. 2And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad: 3‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine.’” 4And the king of Israel answered, “As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.” 5The messengers came again and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad: ‘I sent to you, saying, “Deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children.” 6Nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants and lay hands on whatever pleases you and take it away.’” + +7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Mark, now, and see how this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him.” 8And all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.” 9So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” And the messengers departed and brought him word again. 10Ben-hadad sent to him and said, “The gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me.” 11And the king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.’” 12When Ben-hadad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, “Take your positions.” And they took their positions against the city. + + + + + +Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad + + +13And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” 14And Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the LORD, By the servants of the governors of the districts.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.” 15Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were 232. And after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand. + +16And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him. 17The servants of the governors of the districts went out first. And Ben-hadad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, “Men are coming out from Samaria.” 18He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive.” + +19So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts and the army that followed them. 20And each struck down his man. The Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but Ben-hadad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow. + +22Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do, for in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you.” + +23And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. 24And do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places, 25and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so. + + + + + +Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad Again + + +26In the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. 28And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” 29And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. 30And the rest fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. + +Ben-hadad also fled and entered an inner chamber in the city. 31And his servants said to him, “Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.” 32So they tied sackcloth around their waists and put ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please, let me live.’” And he said, “Does he still live? He is my brother.” 33Now the men were watching for a sign, and they quickly took it up from him and said, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” Then he said, “Go and bring him.” Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 34And Ben-hadad said to him, “The cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” And Ahab said, “I will let you go on these terms.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go. + + + + + +A Prophet Condemns Ben-hadad's Release + + +35And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the LORD, “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. 36Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down.” And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down. 37Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” And the man struck him—struck him and wounded him. 38So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, “Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent[56] of silver.’ 40And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.” 41Then he hurried to take the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42And he said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction,[57] therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’” 43And the king of Israel went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria. + + + + + +Naboth's Vineyard + + +21:1 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2And after this Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” 3But Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” 4And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food. + +5But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” 6And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” + +8So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. 9And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. 10And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed[58] God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” 11And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 12they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. 13And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. 14Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.” + +15As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. + + + + + +The LORD Condemns Ahab + + +17Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18“Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’” + +20Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD. 21Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. 22And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. 23And of Jezebel the LORD also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ 24Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.” + + + + + +Ahab's Repentance + + +25(There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.) + +27And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” + + + + + +Ahab and the False Prophets + + +22:1 For three years Syria and Israel continued without war. 2But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” 4And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” + +5And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the LORD.” 6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 7But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?” 8And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 9Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 10Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 12And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.” + + + + + +Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab + + +13And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 14But Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak.” 15And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go up and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.” 16But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” 17And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” 18And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 19And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; 20and the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 21Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ 22And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 23Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you.” + +24Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?” 25And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 26And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, 27and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.”’” 28And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!” + + + + + +Ahab Killed in Battle + + +29So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 30And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 32And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. 33And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34But a certain man drew his bow at random[59] and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 35And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. 36And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!” + +37So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 38And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the LORD that he had spoken. 39Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah + + +41Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD. Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 44Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel. + +45Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 46And from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa. + +47There was no king in Edom; a deputy was king. 48Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. 49Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” but Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Ahaziah Reigns in Israel + + +51Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. 52He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 53He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Or in your bosom + +[2] 1:14 Or expand on + +[3] 1:25 Hebrew; Septuagint Joab the commander + +[4] 1:48 Septuagint one of my offspring + +[5] 2:4 Hebrew there shall not be cut off for you + +[6] 2:5 Septuagint; Hebrew placing + +[7] 2:5 Septuagint innocent blood + +[8] 2:5 Septuagint my; twice in this verse + +[9] 2:7 Or steadfast love + +[10] 2:22 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew and for him and for Abiathar + +[11] 4:21 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew + +[12] 4:22 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[13] 5:1 Ch 5:15 in Hebrew + +[14] 5:11 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[15] 5:11 Septuagint; Hebrew twenty + +[16] 6:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[17] 6:4 Or blocked lattice windows + +[18] 6:5 Or platform; also verse 10 + +[19] 6:6 Septuagint; Hebrew structure, or platform + +[20] 6:8 Septuagint, Targum; Hebrew middle + +[21] 6:20 Vulgate; Hebrew and before the inner sanctuary + +[22] 6:20 Septuagint made + +[23] 6:31 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain + +[24] 7:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[25] 7:2 Septuagint three + +[26] 7:5 Septuagint; Hebrew posts + +[27] 7:7 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew floor + +[28] 7:15 Targum, Syriac (compare Septuagint and Jeremiah 52:21); Hebrew fingers. And a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of the second pillar + +[29] 7:17 Septuagint; Hebrew seven; twice in this verse + +[30] 7:18 Two manuscripts (compare Septuagint); Hebrew pillars + +[31] 7:26 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters + +[32] 7:26 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters + +[33] 8:12 Septuagint The LORD has set the sun in the heavens, but + +[34] 8:37 Septuagint, Syriac in any of their cities + +[35] 8:65 Septuagint; Hebrew seven days and seven days, fourteen days + +[36] 9:8 Syriac, Old Latin; Hebrew will become high + +[37] 9:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[38] 9:18 Hebrew lacks of Judah + +[39] 9:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[40] 9:25 Septuagint lacks with it + +[41] 10:10 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[42] 10:16 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[43] 10:17 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram + +[44] 10:22 Or baboons + +[45] 11:33 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate he has; twice in this verse + +[46] 12:2 Septuagint, Vulgate (compare 2 Chronicles 10:2); Hebrew lived in + +[47] 12:30 Septuagint went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan + +[48] 13:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew son + +[49] 13:29 Septuagint; Hebrew he came to the city of the old prophet + +[50] 15:19 Or treaty; twice in this verse + +[51] 16:24 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[52] 17:1 Septuagint; Hebrew of the settlers + +[53] 17:21 Or soul; also verse 22 + +[54] 18:32 A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters + +[55] 19:12 Or a sound, a thin silence + +[56] 20:39 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[57] 20:42 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[58] 21:10 Hebrew blessed; also verse 13 + +[59] 22:34 Hebrew in his innocence + + + + + +2 KINGS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + + + + + +Elijah Denounces Ahaziah + + +1:1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. + +2Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? 4Now therefore thus says the LORD, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went. + +5The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” 6And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the LORD, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” 7He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 8They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.” + +9Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” 10But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. + +11Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’” 12But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. + +13Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. 14Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 15Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king 16and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” + +17So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. 18Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? + + + + + +Elijah Taken to Heaven + + +2:1 Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” + +4Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” + +6Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. + +9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” 10And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” 11And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. + +Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. + + + + + +Elisha Succeeds Elijah + + +15Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the LORD has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” 17But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. 18And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?” + +19Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the LORD, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke. + +23He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria. + + + + + +Moab Rebels Against Israel + + +3:1 In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. 2He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it. + +4Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 5But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. 7And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab?” And he said, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 8Then he said, “By which way shall we march?” Jehoram answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.” + +9So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. 10Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The LORD has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” 11And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?” Then one of the king of Israel's servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” 12And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. + +13And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the LORD who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” 14And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. 15But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him. 16And he said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ 17For thus says the LORD, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’ 18This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, 19and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” 20The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water. + +21When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the border. 22And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. 23And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!” 24But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went.[1] 25And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it. 26When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. 27Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land. + + + + + +Elisha and the Widow's Oil + + +4:1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” + + + + + +Elisha and the Shunammite Woman + + +8One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. 9And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.” + +11One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. 12And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. 13And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” 14And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” 17But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her. + + + + + +Elisha Raises the Shunammite's Son + + +18When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. 21And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out. 22Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” 23And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.” 24Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. + +When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. 26Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well.” 27And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’” 29He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” 30Then the mother of the child said, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. 31Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.” + +32When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” 37She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out. + + + + + +Elisha Purifies the Deadly Stew + + +38And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” 39One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. 40And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. 41He said, “Then bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Pour some out for the men, that they may eat.” And there was no harm in the pot. + +42A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” 43But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” 44So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD. + + + + + +Naaman Healed of Leprosy + + +5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.[2] 2Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman's wife. 3She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” + +So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels[3] of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” + +8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12Are not Abana[4] and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. + + + + + +Gehazi's Greed and Punishment + + +15Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.” 16But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mules' load of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD. 18In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.” 19He said to him, “Go in peace.” + +But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” 22And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” 23And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. 24And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. 25He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” 26But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? 27Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. + + + + + +The Axe Head Recovered + + +6:1 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. 2Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” 3Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” 4So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” 6Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. 7And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it. + + + + + +Horses and Chariots of Fire + + +8Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” 10And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. + +11And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. + +15When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 19And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria. + +20As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the LORD opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. + + + + + +Ben-hadad's Siege of Samaria + + +24Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. 25And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab[5] of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. 26Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” 27And he said, “If the LORD will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” 28And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” 30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body— 31and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.” + +32Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?” 33And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” + + + + + +Elisha Promises Food + + +7:1 But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah[6] of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel,[7] and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” 2Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” + + + + + +The Syrians Flee + + +3Now there were four men who were lepers[8] at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” 5So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. 6For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 8And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. + +9Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” 10So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were.” 11Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. 12And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’” 13And one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see.” 14So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” 15So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king. + +16Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 17Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. 18For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” 19the captain had answered the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 20And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died. + + + + + +The Shunammite's Land Restored + + +8:1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” 2So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.” + + + + + +Hazael Murders Ben-hadad + + +7Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camel loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 10And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” 14Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15But the next day he took the bed cloth[9] and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place. + + + + + +Jehoram Reigns in Judah + + +16In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah,[10] Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. 17He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 19Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. + +20In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 21Then Joram[11] passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. 22So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. 23Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 24So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Ahaziah Reigns in Judah + + +25In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. 26Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab. + +28He went with Joram the son of Ahab to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead, and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29And King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick. + + + + + +Jehu Anointed King of Israel + + +9:1 Then Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tie up your garments, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber. 3Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.” + +4So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in council. And he said, “I have a word for you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “To which of us all?” And he said, “To you, O commander.” 6So he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel. 7And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD. 8For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. 9And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 10And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her.” Then he opened the door and fled. + +11When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the fellow and his talk.” 12And they said, “That is not true; tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and so he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.’” 13Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare[12] steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.” + + + + + +Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah + + +14Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Syria, 15but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) So Jehu said, “If this is your decision, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” 16Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram. + +17Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came and said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’” 18So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” And the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” 19Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus the king has said, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” 20Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.” + +21Joram said, “Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” 23Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treachery, O Ahaziah!” 24And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot. 25Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Take him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the LORD made this pronouncement against him: 26‘As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—declares the LORD—I will repay you on this plot of ground.’ Now therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the LORD.” + +27When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him and said, “Shoot him also.” And they shot him[13] in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. + +29In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. + + + + + +Jehu Executes Jezebel + + +30When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. 31And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?” 32And he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down. And some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. 34Then he went in and ate and drank. And he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter.” 35But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’” + + + + + +Jehu Slaughters Ahab's Descendants + + +10:1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city,[14] to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons[15] of Ahab, saying, 2“Now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons, 3select the best and fittest of your master's sons and set him on his father's throne and fight for your master's house.” 4But they were exceedingly afraid and said, “Behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand?” 5So he who was over the palace, and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and we will do all that you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.” 6Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master's sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.” Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were bringing them up. 7And as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. 8When the messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king's sons,” he said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.” 9Then in the morning, when he went out, he stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who struck down all these? 10Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what he said by his servant Elijah.” 11So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining. + +12Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, 13Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah, and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother.” 14He said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two persons, and he spared none of them. + +15And when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said,[16] “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand. And Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. 16And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD.” So he[17] had him ride in his chariot. 17And when he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke to Elijah. + + + + + +Jehu Strikes Down the Prophets of Baal + + +18Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. 19Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20And Jehu ordered, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the vestments for them. 23Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the LORD here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24Then they[18] went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. + +Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.” 25So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, “Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal, 26and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it. 27And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day. + + + + + +Jehu Reigns in Israel + + +28Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. 29But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. 30And the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” 31But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. + +32In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: 33from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan. 34Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 35So Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. 36The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years. + + + + + +Athaliah Reigns in Judah + + +11:1 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. 2But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put[19] him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they[20] hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. 3And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the LORD, while Athaliah reigned over the land. + + + + + +Joash Anointed King in Judah + + +4But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the LORD. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king's son. 5And he commanded them, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, those who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king's house 6(another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards) shall guard the palace.[21] 7And the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the LORD on behalf of the king, 8shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.” + +9The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. 10And the priest gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the LORD. 11And the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king. 12Then he brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!” + +13When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people. 14And when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” 15Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of the LORD.” 16So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death. + +17And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD's people, and also between the king and the people. 18Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD. 19And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. 20So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house. + + + + + +Jehoash Reigns in Judah + + +21[22] Jehoash[23] was seven years old when he began to reign. + + + + + +12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash[24] began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places. + + + + + +Jehoash Repairs the Temple + + +4Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the LORD, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money that a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the LORD, 5let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” 6But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” 8So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house. + +9Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the LORD. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. 10And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD. 11Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the LORD, 12and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the LORD, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. 13But there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, 14for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the LORD with it. 15And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. 16The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests. + +17At that time Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, 18Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem. + + + + + +The Death of Joash + + +19Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20His servants arose and made a conspiracy and struck down Joash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. 21It was Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amaziah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel + + +13:1 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. 3And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. 4Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. 5(Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. 6Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked[25] in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) 7For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing. 8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 9So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Jehoash Reigns in Israel + + +10In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash[26] the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. 12Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, and the might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 13So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. + + + + + +The Death of Elisha + + +14Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 15And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. 16Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. 17And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The LORD's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” 18And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. 19Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.” + +20So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. + +22Now Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now. + +24When Hazael king of Syria died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. 25Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel. + + + + + +Amaziah Reigns in Judah + + +14:1 In the second year of Joash the son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done. 4But the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants who had struck down the king his father. 6But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.” + +7He struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by storm, and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this day. + +8Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash[27] the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 9And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 10You have indeed struck down Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?” + +11But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 13And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits,[28] from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 14And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria. + +15Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash that he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 16And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. + +17Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 18Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 19And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 20And they brought him on horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 21And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 22He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. + + + + + +Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel + + +23In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher. 26For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. + +28Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Azariah Reigns in Judah + + +15:1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 4Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5And the LORD touched the king, so that he was a leper[29] to the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house.[30] And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land. 6Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 7And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Zechariah Reigns in Israel + + +8In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. 9And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 10Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him down at Ibleam and put him to death and reigned in his place. 11Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 12(This was the promise of the LORD that he gave to Jehu, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.) + + + + + +Shallum Reigns in Israel + + +13Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah[31] king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Samaria. 14Then Menahem the son of Gadi came up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and he struck down Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and put him to death and reigned in his place. 15Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and the conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 16At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant. + + + + + +Menahem Reigns in Israel + + +17In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. 18And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 19Pul[32] the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents[33] of silver, that he might help him to confirm his hold on the royal power. 20Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels[34] of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. 21Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 22And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Pekahiah Reigns in Israel + + +23In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. 24And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place. 26Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. + + + + + +Pekah Reigns in Israel + + +27In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. 28And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. + +29In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. 30Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. 31Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. + + + + + +Jotham Reigns in Judah + + +32In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 33He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 34And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD. 36Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 37In those days the LORD began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. 38Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Ahaz Reigns in Judah + + +16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done, 3but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering,[35] according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 4And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. + +5Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. 6At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin. + +10When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14And the bronze altar that was before the LORD he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of his altar. 15And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded. + +17And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down the sea[36] from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. 18And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the LORD, because of the king of Assyria. 19Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it. + + + + + +The Fall of Israel + + +6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. + + + + + +Exile Because of Idolatry + + +7And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” + +14But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings[37] and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. + +19Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight. + +21When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. 22The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, 23until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day. + + + + + +Assyria Resettles Samaria + + +24And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him[38] go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. + +29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. + +34To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner. + +41So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day. + + + + + +Hezekiah Reigns in Judah + + +18:1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 4He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).[39] 5He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city. + +9In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed. + + + + + +Sennacherib Attacks Judah + + +13In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[40] of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house. 16At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer's Field. 18And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. + +19And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.’” + +26Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?” + +28Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my[41] hand. 30Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me[42] and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, The LORD will deliver us. 33Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” + +36But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 37Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. + + + + + +Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah + + +19:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” 5When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’” + + + + + +Sennacherib Defies the LORD + + +8The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that the king had left Lachish. 9Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’” + + + + + +Hezekiah's Prayer + + +14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. 15And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.” + + + + + +Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib's Fall + + +20Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: + +“She despises you, she scorns you— + +the virgin daughter of Zion; + +she wags her head behind you— + +the daughter of Jerusalem. + +22“Whom have you mocked and reviled? + +Against whom have you raised your voice + +and lifted your eyes to the heights? + +Against the Holy One of Israel! + +23By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, + +and you have said, ‘With my many chariots + +I have gone up the heights of the mountains, + +to the far recesses of Lebanon; + +I felled its tallest cedars, + +its choicest cypresses; + +I entered its farthest lodging place, + +its most fruitful forest. + +24I dug wells + +and drank foreign waters, + +and I dried up with the sole of my foot + +all the streams of Egypt.’ + +25“Have you not heard + +that I determined it long ago? + +I planned from days of old + +what now I bring to pass, + +that you should turn fortified cities + +into heaps of ruins, + +26while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, + +are dismayed and confounded, + +and have become like plants of the field + +and like tender grass, + +like grass on the housetops, + +blighted before it is grown. + +27“But I know your sitting down + +and your going out and coming in, + +and your raging against me. + +28Because you have raged against me + +and your complacency has come into my ears, + +I will put my hook in your nose + +and my bit in your mouth, + +and I will turn you back on the way + +by which you came. + +29“And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD will do this. + +32“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 33By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. 34For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” + +35And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery + + +20:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3“Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, 6and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.” 7And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.” + +8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” 9And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11And Isaiah the prophet called to the LORD, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz. + + + + + +Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys + + +12At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.” + +16Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 18And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” + +20The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Manasseh Reigns in Judah + + +21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6And he burned his son as an offering[43] and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel. + + + + + +Manasseh's Idolatry Denounced + + +10And the LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, 12therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster[44] that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.” + +16Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. + +17Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Amon Reigns in Judah + + +19Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. 21He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. 22He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD. 23And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Josiah Reigns in Judah + + +22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. + + + + + +Josiah Repairs the Temple + + +3In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying, 4“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house 6(that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.” + + + + + +Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law + + +8And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” 10Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. + +11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 13“Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” + +14So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king. + + + + + +Josiah's Reforms + + +23:1 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. 3And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant. + +4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. 8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city. 9However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.[45] 11And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.[46] And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, he pulled down and broke in pieces[47] and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men. + +15Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,[48] reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted[49] these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem. + + + + + +Josiah Restores the Passover + + +21And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. + +24Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. + +26Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.” + + + + + +Josiah's Death in Battle + + +28Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. 30And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place. + + + + + +Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity + + +31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents[50] of silver and a talent of gold. 34And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. + + + + + +Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah + + +36Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. + + + + + +24:1 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. 5Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. + + + + + +Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah + + +8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. + + + + + +Jerusalem Captured + + +10At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign 13and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. 14He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. 15And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. + + + + + +Zedekiah Reigns in Judah + + +18Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. + +And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. + + + + + +Fall and Captivity of Judah + + +25:1 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 2So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon. + +8In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. + +13And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,[51] and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework. + +18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold, 19and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king's council who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. + + + + + +Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah + + +22And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. + + + + + +Jehoiachin Released from Prison + + +27And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed[52] Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, 30and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 3:24 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[2] 5:1 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[3] 5:5 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[4] 5:12 Or Amana + +[5] 6:25 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a kab was about 1 quart or 1 liter + +[6] 7:1 A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters + +[7] 7:1 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[8] 7:3 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[9] 8:15 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[10] 8:16 Septuagint, Syriac lack when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah + +[11] 8:21 Joram is another spelling of Jehoram (the son of Jehoshaphat) as in verse 16; also verses 23, 24 + +[12] 9:13 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[13] 9:27 Syriac, Vulgate (compare Septuagint); Hebrew lacks and they shot him + +[14] 10:1 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew rulers of Jezreel + +[15] 10:1 Hebrew lacks of the sons + +[16] 10:15 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Jehu said + +[17] 10:16 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew they + +[18] 10:24 Septuagint he (compare verse 25) + +[19] 11:2 Compare 2 Chronicles 22:11; Hebrew lacks and she put + +[20] 11:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate (compare 2 Chronicles 22:11) she + +[21] 11:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[22] 11:21 Ch 12:1 in Hebrew + +[23] 11:21 Jehoash is another spelling of Joash (son of Ahaziah) as in verse 2 + +[24] 12:1 Jehoash is another spelling of Joash (son of Ahaziah) as in 11:2; also verses 2, 4, 6, 7, 18 + +[25] 13:6 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate; Hebrew he walked + +[26] 13:10 Jehoash is another spelling for Joash (son of Jehoahaz) as in verses 9, 12-14; also verse 25 + +[27] 14:8 Jehoash is another spelling for Joash (son of Jehoahaz) as in 13:9, 12-14; also verses 9, 11-16 + +[28] 14:13 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[29] 15:5 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[30] 15:5 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[31] 15:13 Another name for Azariah + +[32] 15:19 Another name for Tiglath-pileser III (compare verse 29) + +[33] 15:19 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[34] 15:20 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[35] 16:3 Or made his son pass through the fire + +[36] 16:17 Compare 1 Kings 7:23 + +[37] 17:17 Or made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire + +[38] 17:27 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them + +[39] 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent + +[40] 18:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[41] 18:29 Hebrew his + +[42] 18:31 Hebrew Make a blessing with me + +[43] 21:6 Hebrew made his son pass through the fire + +[44] 21:12 Or evil + +[45] 23:10 Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech + +[46] 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[47] 23:12 Hebrew pieces from there + +[48] 23:15 Septuagint broke in pieces its stones + +[49] 23:17 Hebrew called + +[50] 23:33 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[51] 25:17 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[52] 25:27 Hebrew reign, lifted up the head of + + + + + +1 CHRONICLES + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + + + + + +From Adam to Abraham + + +1:1 [1] Adam, Seth, Enosh; 2Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; 3Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; 4Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. + +5The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 6The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath,[2] and Togarmah. 7The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. + +8The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 9The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 10Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man.[3] + +11Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 12Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim. + +13Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 14and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 15the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 16the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. + +17The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram:[4] Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 18Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 19To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg[5] (for in his days the earth was divided), and his brother's name was Joktan. 20Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 21Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 22Obal,[6] Abimael, Sheba, 23Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. + +24Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah; 25Eber, Peleg, Reu; 26Serug, Nahor, Terah; 27Abram, that is, Abraham. + + + + + +From Abraham to Jacob + + +28The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. 29These are their genealogies: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 31Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. 32The sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. 33The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the descendants of Keturah. + +34Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. 35The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 36The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and of Timna,[7] Amalek. 37The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. + +38The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. 39The sons of Lotan: Hori and Hemam;[8] and Lotan's sister was Timna. 40The sons of Shobal: Alvan,[9] Manahath, Ebal, Shepho,[10] and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. 41The son[11] of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan,[12] Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 42The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.[13] The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. + +43These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, the name of his city being Dinhabah. 44Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 45Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 46Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. 47Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 48Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. 49Shaul died, and Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place. 50Baal-hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. 51And Hadad died. + +The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 52Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 53Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 54Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom. + + + + + +A Genealogy of David + + +2:1 These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 3The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; these three Bath-shua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death. 4His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all. + +5The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 6The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all. 7The son[14] of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing; 8and Ethan's son was Azariah. + +9The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. 10Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah. 11Nahshon fathered Salmon,[15] Salmon fathered Boaz, 12Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse. 13Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, 14Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. 16And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three. 17Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite. + +18Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. 20Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel. + +21Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub. 22And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. 23But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead. 24After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah,[16] the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa. + +25The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. 26Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. 27The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. 28The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. 29The name of Abishur's wife was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid. 30The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; and Seled died childless. 31The son[17] of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai. 32The sons of Jada, Shammai's brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless. 33The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel. 34Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. 35So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai. 36Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad. 37Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed. 38Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah. 39Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah. 40Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum. 41Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama. + +42The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mareshah[18] his firstborn, who fathered Ziph. The son[19] of Mareshah: Hebron.[20] 43The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema. 44Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai. 45The son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur. 46Ephah also, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez. 47The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. 48Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. 49She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. 50These were the descendants of Caleb. + +The sons[21] of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, 51Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader. 52Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. 53And the clans of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. 54The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. 55The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab. + + + + + +Descendants of David + + +3:1 These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite, 2the third, Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; 3the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah; 4six were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years and six months. And he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 5These were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, four by Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel; 6then Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, 7Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. 9All these were David's sons, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar was their sister. + +10The son of Solomon was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, 11Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, 13Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, 14Amon his son, Josiah his son. 15The sons of Josiah: Johanan the firstborn, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. 16The descendants of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son; 17and the sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son, 18Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah; 19and the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister; 20and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed, five. 21The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, his son[22] Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah. 22The son[23] of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. 23The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. 24The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven. + + + + + +Descendants of Judah + + +4:1 The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 2Reaiah the son of Shobal fathered Jahath, and Jahath fathered Ahumai and Lahad. These were the clans of the Zorathites. 3These were the sons[24] of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi, 4and Penuel fathered Gedor, and Ezer fathered Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. 5Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah; 6Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. 7The sons of Helah: Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan. 8Koz fathered Anub, Zobebah, and the clans of Aharhel, the son of Harum. 9Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”[25] 10Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm[26] so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked. 11Chelub, the brother of Shuhah, fathered Mehir, who fathered Eshton. 12Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah. 13The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah; and the sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai.[27] 14Meonothai fathered Ophrah; and Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of Ge-harashim,[28] so-called because they were craftsmen. 15The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the son[29] of Elah: Kenaz. 16The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. 17The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. These are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married;[30] and she conceived and bore[31] Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa. 18And his Judahite wife bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. 19The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. 20The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. 21The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the clans of the house of linen workers at Beth-ashbea; 22and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who ruled in Moab and returned to Lehem[32] (now the records[33] are ancient). 23These were the potters who were inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah. They lived there in the king's service. + + + + + +Descendants of Simeon + + +24The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; 25Shallum was his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. 26The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. 27Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many children, nor did all their clan multiply like the men of Judah. 28They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, 29Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until David reigned. 32And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities, 33along with all their villages that were around these cities as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record. + +34Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah, 35Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, son of Seraiah, son of Asiel, 36Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, 37Ziza the son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah— 38these mentioned by name were princes in their clans, and their fathers' houses increased greatly. 39They journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks, 40where they found rich, good pasture, and the land was very broad, quiet, and peaceful, for the former inhabitants there belonged to Ham. 41These, registered by name, came in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and destroyed their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and marked them for destruction to this day, and settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks. 42And some of them, five hundred men of the Simeonites, went to Mount Seir, having as their leaders Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. 43And they defeated the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped, and they have lived there to this day. + + + + + +Descendants of Reuben + + +5:1 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; 2though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), 3the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, 5Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, 6Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-pileser[34] king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chief of the Reubenites. 7And his kinsmen by their clans, when the genealogy of their generations was recorded: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, 8and Bela the son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. 9He also lived to the east as far as the entrance of the desert this side of the Euphrates, because their livestock had multiplied in the land of Gilead. 10And in the days of Saul they waged war against the Hagrites, who fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead. + + + + + +Descendants of Gad + + +11The sons of Gad lived over against them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah: 12Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13And their kinsmen according to their fathers' houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber, seven. 14These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz. 15Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their fathers' houses, 16and they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits. 17All of these were recorded in genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel. + +18The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, expert in war, 44,760, able to go to war. 19They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20And when they prevailed over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him. 21They carried off their livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive. 22For many fell, because the war was of God. And they lived in their place until the exile. + + + + + +The Half-Tribe of Manasseh + + +23The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. 24These were the heads of their fathers' houses: Epher,[35] Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty warriors, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses. 25But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day. + + + + + +Descendants of Levi + + +6:1 [36] The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 2The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 3The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 4Eleazar fathered Phinehas, Phinehas fathered Abishua, 5Abishua fathered Bukki, Bukki fathered Uzzi, 6Uzzi fathered Zerahiah, Zerahiah fathered Meraioth, 7Meraioth fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, 8Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Ahimaaz, 9Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, Azariah fathered Johanan, 10and Johanan fathered Azariah (it was he who served as priest in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem). 11Azariah fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, 12Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Shallum, 13Shallum fathered Hilkiah, Hilkiah fathered Azariah, 14Azariah fathered Seraiah, Seraiah fathered Jehozadak; 15and Jehozadak went into exile when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. + +16[37] The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. 17And these are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei. 18The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 19The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their fathers. 20Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, 21Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. 22The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, 23Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, 24Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. 25The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth, 26Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, 27Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. 28The sons of Samuel: Joel[38] his firstborn, the second Abijah.[39] 29The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, 30Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son. + +31These are the men whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the LORD after the ark rested there. 32They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they performed their service according to their order. 33These are the men who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer the son of Joel, son of Samuel, 34son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, 35son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, 36son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, 37son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, 38son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel; 39and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, namely, Asaph the son of Berechiah, son of Shimea, 40son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malchijah, 41son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah, 42son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei, 43son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi. 44On the left hand were their brothers, the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch, 45son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah, 46son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer, 47son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi. 48And their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God. + +49But Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. 50These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, 51Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, 52Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, 53Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. + +54These are their dwelling places according to their settlements within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the clans of Kohathites, for theirs was the first lot, 55to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands, 56but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 57To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 58Hilen with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, 59Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands; 60and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon,[40] Geba with its pasturelands, Alemeth with its pasturelands, and Anathoth with its pasturelands. All their cities throughout their clans were thirteen. + +61To the rest of the Kohathites were given by lot out of the clan of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities. 62To the Gershomites according to their clans were allotted thirteen cities out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Manasseh in Bashan. 63To the Merarites according to their clans were allotted twelve cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. 64So the people of Israel gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands. 65They gave by lot out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities that are mentioned by name. + +66And some of the clans of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim. 67They were given the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 68Jokmeam with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands, 69Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands, 70and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pasturelands, and Bileam with its pasturelands, for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites. + +71To the Gershomites were given out of the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands and Ashtaroth with its pasturelands; 72and out of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, 73Ramoth with its pasturelands, and Anem with its pasturelands; 74out of the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 75Hukok with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands; 76and out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, Hammon with its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim with its pasturelands. 77To the rest of the Merarites were allotted out of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono with its pasturelands, Tabor with its pasturelands, 78and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands, 79Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands; 80and out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 81Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands. + + + + + +Descendants of Issachar + + +7:1 The sons[41] of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 2The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers' houses, namely of Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David being 22,600. 3The son[42] of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, all five of them were chief men. 4And along with them, by their generations, according to their fathers' houses, were units of the army for war, 36,000, for they had many wives and sons. 5Their kinsmen belonging to all the clans of Issachar were in all 87,000 mighty warriors, enrolled by genealogy. + + + + + +Descendants of Benjamin + + +6The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael, three. 7The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five, heads of fathers' houses, mighty warriors. And their enrollment by genealogies was 22,034. 8The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. 9And their enrollment by genealogies, according to their generations, as heads of their fathers' houses, mighty warriors, was 20,200. 10The son of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. 11All these were the sons of Jediael according to the heads of their fathers' houses, mighty warriors, 17,200, able to go to war. 12And Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir, Hushim the son of Aher. + + + + + +Descendants of Naphtali + + +13The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shallum, the descendants of Bilhah. + + + + + +Descendants of Manasseh + + +14The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore; she bore Machir the father of Gilead. 15And Machir took a wife for Huppim and for Shuppim. The name of his sister was Maacah. And the name of the second was Zelophehad, and Zelophehad had daughters. 16And Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. 17The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh. 18And his sister Hammolecheth bore Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah. 19The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam. + + + + + +Descendants of Ephraim + + +20The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, 21Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to raid their livestock. 22And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. 23And Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because disaster had befallen his house.[43] 24His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah. 25Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son, 26Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, 27Nun[44] his son, Joshua his son. 28Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer and its towns, Shechem and its towns, and Ayyah and its towns; 29also in possession of the Manassites, Beth-shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel. + + + + + +Descendants of Asher + + +30The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. 31The sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel, who fathered Birzaith. 32Heber fathered Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua. 33The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the sons of Japhlet. 34The sons of Shemer his brother: Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram. 35The sons of Helem his brother: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal. 36The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah. 37Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera. 38The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara. 39The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia. 40All of these were men of Asher, heads of fathers' houses, approved, mighty warriors, chiefs of the princes. Their number enrolled by genealogies, for service in war, was 26,000 men. + + + + + +A Genealogy of Saul + + +8:1 Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, 2Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. 3And Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud, 4Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, 5Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. 6These are the sons of Ehud (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they were carried into exile to Manahath): 7Naaman,[45] Ahijah, and Gera, that is, Heglam,[46] who fathered Uzza and Ahihud. 8And Shaharaim fathered sons in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. 9He fathered sons by Hodesh his wife: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, 10Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers' houses. 11He also fathered sons by Hushim: Abitub and Elpaal. 12The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns, 13and Beriah and Shema (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who caused the inhabitants of Gath to flee); 14and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth. 15Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, 16Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were sons of Beriah. 17Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, 18Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. 19Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, 20Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, 21Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei. 22Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, 23Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, 24Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, 25Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak. 26Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, 27Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham. 28These were the heads of fathers' houses, according to their generations, chief men. These lived in Jerusalem. + +29Jeiel[47] the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and the name of his wife was Maacah. 30His firstborn son: Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, 31Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, 32and Mikloth (he fathered Shimeah). Now these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. 33Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal; 34and the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah. 35The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz. 36Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza. 37Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. 38Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. 39The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. 40The sons of Ulam were men who were mighty warriors, bowmen, having many sons and grandsons, 150. All these were Benjaminites. + + + + + +A Genealogy of the Returned Exiles + + +9:1 So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith. 2Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. 3And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem: 4Uthai the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the son of Judah. 5And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons. 6Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen, 690. 7Of the Benjaminites: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah, 8Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah; 9and their kinsmen according to their generations, 956. All these were heads of fathers' houses according to their fathers' houses. + +10Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, 11and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God; 12and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer; 13besides their kinsmen, heads of their fathers' houses, 1,760, mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God. + +14Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; 15and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; 16and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites. + +17The gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their kinsmen (Shallum was the chief); 18until then they were in the king's gate on the east side as the gatekeepers of the camps of the Levites. 19Shallum the son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen of his fathers' house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent, as their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the LORD, keepers of the entrance. 20And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the chief officer over them in time past; the LORD was with him. 21Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 22All these, who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds, were 212. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel the seer established them in their office of trust. 23So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the LORD, that is, the house of the tent, as guards. 24The gatekeepers were on the four sides, east, west, north, and south. 25And their kinsmen who were in their villages were obligated to come in every seven days, in turn, to be with these, 26for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted to be over the chambers and the treasures of the house of God. 27And they lodged around the house of God, for on them lay the duty of watching, and they had charge of opening it every morning. + +28Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out. 29Others of them were appointed over the furniture and over all the holy utensils, also over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices. 30Others, of the sons of the priests, prepared the mixing of the spices, 31and Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with making the flat cakes. 32Also some of their kinsmen of the Kohathites had charge of the showbread, to prepare it every Sabbath. + +33Now these, the singers, the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night. 34These were heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, according to their generations, leaders. These lived in Jerusalem. + + + + + +Saul's Genealogy Repeated + + +35In Gibeon lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, and the name of his wife was Maacah, 36and his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth; 38and Mikloth was the father of Shimeam; and these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. 39Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. 40And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah. 41The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.[48] 42And Ahaz fathered Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza. 43Moza fathered Binea, and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. 44Azel had six sons and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel. + + + + + +The Death of Saul and His Sons + + +10:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. 4Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. 6Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. 7And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army[49] had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them. + +8The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. 10And they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. 11But when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days. + +13So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. + + + + + +David Anointed King + + +11:1 Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’” 3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel. + + + + + +David Takes Jerusalem + + +4And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, that is, Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. 5The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. 6David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief. 7And David lived in the stronghold; therefore it was called the city of David. 8And he built the city all around from the Millo in complete circuit, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. 9And David became greater and greater, for the LORD of hosts was with him. + + + + + +David's Mighty Men + + +10Now these are the chiefs of David's mighty men, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel. 11This is an account of David's mighty men: Jashobeam, a Hachmonite, was chief of the three.[50] He wielded his spear against 300 whom he killed at one time. + +12And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite. 13He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley, and the men fled from the Philistines. 14But he took his[51] stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and killed the Philistines. And the LORD saved them by a great victory. + +15Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 16David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. 17And David said longingly, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 18Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the LORD 19and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men. + +20Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the thirty.[52] And he wielded his spear against 300 men and killed them and won a name beside the three. 21He was the most renowned[53] of the thirty[54] and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three. + +22And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man[55] of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 23And he struck down an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits[56] tall. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver's beam, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 24These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and won a name beside the three mighty men. 25He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard. + +26The mighty men were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 27Shammoth of Harod,[57] Helez the Pelonite, 28Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, Abiezer of Anathoth, 29Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, 30Maharai of Netophah, Heled the son of Baanah of Netophah, 31Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, Benaiah of Pirathon, 32Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, 33Azmaveth of Baharum, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, 34Hashem[58] the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, 35Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, 36Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, 37Hezro of Carmel, Naarai the son of Ezbai, 38Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri, 39Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 40Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 41Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, 42Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a leader of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, 43Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, 44Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, 45Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, 46Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, 47Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite. + + + + + +The Mighty Men Join David + + +12:1 Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. 2They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjaminites, Saul's kinsmen. 3The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, both sons of Shemaah of Gibeah; also Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, Jehu of Anathoth, 4Ishmaiah of Gibeon, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader over the thirty; Jeremiah,[59] Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad of Gederah, 5Eluzai,[60] Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite; 6Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; 7And Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor. + +8From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were swift as gazelles upon the mountains: 9Ezer the chief, Obadiah second, Eliab third, 10Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, 11Attai sixth, Eliel seventh, 12Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth, 13Jeremiah tenth, Machbannai eleventh. 14These Gadites were officers of the army; the least was a match for a hundred men and the greatest for a thousand. 15These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west. + +16And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. 17David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.” 18Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said, + +“We are yours, O David, + +and with you, O son of Jesse! + +Peace, peace to you, + +and peace to your helpers! + +For your God helps you.” + +Then David received them and made them officers of his troops. + +19Some of the men of Manasseh deserted to David when he came with the Philistines for the battle against Saul. (Yet he did not help them, for the rulers of the Philistines took counsel and sent him away, saying, “At peril to our heads he will desert to his master Saul.”) 20As he went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh deserted to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh. 21They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were commanders in the army. 22For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God. + +23These are the numbers of the divisions of the armed troops who came to David in Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of the LORD. 24The men of Judah bearing shield and spear were 6,800 armed troops. 25Of the Simeonites, mighty men of valor for war, 7,100. 26Of the Levites 4,600. 27The prince Jehoiada, of the house of Aaron, and with him 3,700. 28Zadok, a young man mighty in valor, and twenty-two commanders from his own fathers' house. 29Of the Benjaminites, the kinsmen of Saul, 3,000, of whom the majority had to that point kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. 30Of the Ephraimites 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers' houses. 31Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were expressly named to come and make David king. 32Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command. 33Of Zebulun 50,000 seasoned troops, equipped for battle with all the weapons of war, to help David[61] with singleness of purpose. 34Of Naphtali 1,000 commanders with whom were 37,000 men armed with shield and spear. 35Of the Danites 28,600 men equipped for battle. 36Of Asher 40,000 seasoned troops ready for battle. 37Of the Reubenites and Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh from beyond the Jordan, 120,000 men armed with all the weapons of war. + +38All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with full intent to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king. 39And they were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had made preparation for them. 40And also their relatives, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel. + + + + + +The Ark Brought from Kiriath-Jearim + + +13:1 David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. 2And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the LORD our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us. 3Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it[62] in the days of Saul.” 4All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. + + + + + +Uzzah and the Ark + + +5So David assembled all Israel from the Nile[63] of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD who sits enthroned above the cherubim. 7And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio[64] were driving the cart. 8And David and all Israel were rejoicing before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets. + +9And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. 11And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza[65] to this day. 12And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” 13So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 14And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had. + + + + + +David's Wives and Children + + +14:1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also masons and carpenters to build a house for him. 2And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel. + +3And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters. 4These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet. + + + + + +Philistines Defeated + + +8When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went out against them. 9Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the Valley of Rephaim. 10And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.” 11And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through[66] my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. 12And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned. + +13And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. 14And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees. 15And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 16And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. 17And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations. + + + + + +The Ark Brought to Jerusalem + + +15:1 David[67] built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever. 3And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: 5of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; 6of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; 7of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; 8of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; 9of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; 10of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. 11Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 12and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. 13Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” 14So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. 15And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD. + +16David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; 20Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. 22Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. 23Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. + +25So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. 26And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 28So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres. + +29And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and rejoicing, and she despised him in her heart. + + + + + +The Ark Placed in a Tent + + +16:1 And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD 3and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,[68] and a cake of raisins. + +4Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel. 5Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. 7Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers. + + + + + +David's Song of Thanks + + +8Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; + +make known his deeds among the peoples! + +9Sing to him; sing praises to him; + +tell of all his wondrous works! + +10Glory in his holy name; + +let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! + +11Seek the LORD and his strength; + +seek his presence continually! + +12Remember the wondrous works that he has done, + +his miracles and the judgments he uttered, + +13O offspring of Israel his servant, + +sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! + +14He is the LORD our God; + +his judgments are in all the earth. + +15Remember his covenant forever, + +the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, + +16the covenant that he made with Abraham, + +his sworn promise to Isaac, + +17which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, + +as an everlasting covenant to Israel, + +18saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, + +as your portion for an inheritance.” + +19When you were few in number, + +and of little account, and sojourners in it, + +20wandering from nation to nation, + +from one kingdom to another people, + +21he allowed no one to oppress them; + +he rebuked kings on their account, + +22saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, + +do my prophets no harm!” + +23Sing to the LORD, all the earth! + +Tell of his salvation from day to day. + +24Declare his glory among the nations, + +his marvelous works among all the peoples! + +25For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, + +and he is to be held in awe above all gods. + +26For all the gods of the peoples are idols, + +but the LORD made the heavens. + +27Splendor and majesty are before him; + +strength and joy are in his place. + +28Ascribe to the LORD, O clans of the peoples, + +ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! + +29Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; + +bring an offering and come before him! + +Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;[69] + +30tremble before him, all the earth; + +yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. + +31Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, + +and let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!” + +32Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; + +let the field exult, and everything in it! + +33Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy + +before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. + +34Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; + +for his steadfast love endures forever! + +35Say also: + +“Save us, O God of our salvation, + +and gather and deliver us from among the nations, + +that we may give thanks to your holy name, + +and glory in your praise. + +36Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, + +from everlasting to everlasting!” + +Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD. + + + + + +Worship Before the Ark + + +37So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister regularly before the ark as each day required, 38and also Obed-edom and his[70] sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers. 39And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon 40to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the LORD that he commanded Israel. 41With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever. 42Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate. + +43Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household. + + + + + +The LORD's Covenant with David + + +17:1 Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent.” 2And Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.” + +3But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 4“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in. 5For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling. 6In all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ 7Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel, 8and I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 9And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly, 10from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house. 11When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, 14but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.’” 15In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. + + + + + +David's Prayer + + +16Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 17And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations,[71] O LORD God! 18And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant. 19For your servant's sake, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20There is none like you, O LORD, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21And who is like your people Israel, the one[72] nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt? 22And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God. 23And now, O LORD, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have spoken, 24and your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel's God,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 25For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you. 26And now, O LORD, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 27Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O LORD, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” + + + + + +David Defeats His Enemies + + +18:1 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines. + +2And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute. + +3David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument[73] at the river Euphrates. 4And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. 5And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6Then David put garrisons[74] in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the LORD gave victory to David[75] wherever he went. 7And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze. + +9When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, 10he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. 11These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek. + +12And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. + + + + + +David's Administration + + +14So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. 15And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 16and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and Shavsha was secretary; 17and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were the chief officials in the service of the king. + + + + + +The Ammonites Disgrace David's Men + + +19:1 Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place. 2And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him. 3But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” 4So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away; 5and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.” + +6When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents[76] of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah. 7They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle. 8When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. 9And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country. + + + + + +Ammonites and Syrians Defeated + + +10When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. 11The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites. 12And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. 13Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” 14So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. 15And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem. + +16But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. 17And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. 18And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also Shophach the commander of their army. 19And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore. + + + + + +The Capture of Rabbah + + +20:1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it. 2And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent[77] of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. 3And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor[78] with saws and iron picks and axes.[79] And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. + + + + + +Philistine Giants Killed + + +4And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. 5And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. 6And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. 7And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down. 8These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. + + + + + +David's Census Brings Pestilence + + +21:1 Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” 3But Joab said, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” 4But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. 5And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword. 6But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab. + +7But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. 8And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 9And the LORD spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, 10“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 11So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose what you will: 12either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” + +14So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people.” + + + + + +David Builds an Altar + + +18Now the angel of the LORD had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the LORD. 20Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. 22And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the LORD—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” 23Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” 24But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 25So David paid Ornan 600 shekels[80] of gold by weight for the site. 26And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD[81] answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. 27Then the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. + +28At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. 29For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon, 30but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD. + + + + + +22:1 Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” + + + + + +David Prepares for Temple Building + + +2David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. 3David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, 4and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. 5For David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death. + + + + + +Solomon Charged to Build the Temple + + +6Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel. 7David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. 8But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. 9Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’ + +11“Now, my son, the LORD be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as he has spoken concerning you. 12Only, may the LORD grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the LORD your God. 13Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed. 14With great pains I have provided for the house of the LORD 100,000 talents[82] of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add. 15You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working 16gold, silver, bronze, and iron. Arise and work! The LORD be with you!” + +17David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18“Is not the LORD your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the LORD and his people. 19Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the LORD.” + + + + + +David Organizes the Levites + + +23:1 When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel. + +2David[83] assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. 3The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was 38,000 men. 4“Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said,[84] “shall have charge of the work in the house of the LORD, 6,000 shall be officers and judges, 54,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the LORD with the instruments that I have made for praise.” 6And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. + +7The sons of Gershon[85] were Ladan and Shimei. 8The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan. 10And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. 11Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, therefore they became counted as a single father's house. + +12The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the LORD and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14But the sons of Moses the man of God were named among the tribe of Levi. 15The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief. 17The sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the chief. Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief. 19The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 20The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief and Isshiah the second. + +21The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. 22Eleazar died having no sons, but only daughters; their kinsmen, the sons of Kish, married them. 23The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three. + +24These were the sons of Levi by their fathers' houses, the heads of fathers' houses as they were listed according to the number of the names of the individuals from twenty years old and upward who were to do the work for the service of the house of the LORD. 25For David said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.” 27For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward. 28For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God. 29Their duty was also to assist with the showbread, the flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity or size. 30And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the LORD, and likewise at evening, 31and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the LORD on Sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, regularly before the LORD. 32Thus they were to keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary, and to attend the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the LORD. + + + + + +David Organizes the Priests + + +24:1 The divisions of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2But Nadab and Abihu died before their father and had no children, so Eleazar and Ithamar became the priests. 3With the help of Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. 4Since more chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they organized them under sixteen heads of fathers' houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight of the sons of Ithamar. 5They divided them by lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. 6And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence of the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites, one father's house being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar. + +7The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, 8the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 9the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, 10the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, 11the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, 12the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, 13the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, 15the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, 16the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, 17the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, 18the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. 19These had as their appointed duty in their service to come into the house of the LORD according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him. + +20And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. 21Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. 22Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. 23The sons of Hebron:[86] Jeriah the chief,[87] Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. 24The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. 25The brother of Micah, Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. 26The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaaziah: Beno.[88] 27The sons of Merari: of Jaaziah, Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. 28Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. 29Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. 30The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. 31These also, the head of each father's house and his younger brother alike, cast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites. + + + + + +David Organizes the Musicians + + +25:1 David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was: 2Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. 3Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei,[89] Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the LORD. 4Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. 5All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer, according to the promise of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 6They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king. 7The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the LORD, all who were skillful, was 288. 8And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike. + +9The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, to him and his brothers and his sons, twelve; 10the third to Zaccur, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 11the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 12the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 13the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 14the seventh to Jesharelah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 15the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 16the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 17the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 18the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 19the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 20to the thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 21to the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 22to the fifteenth, to Jeremoth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 23to the sixteenth, to Hananiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 24to the seventeenth, to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 25to the eighteenth, to Hanani, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 26to the nineteenth, to Mallothi, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 27to the twentieth, to Eliathah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 28to the twenty-first, to Hothir, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 29to the twenty-second, to Giddalti, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 30to the twenty-third, to Mahazioth, his sons and his brothers, twelve; 31to the twenty-fourth, to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brothers, twelve. + + + + + +Divisions of the Gatekeepers + + +26:1 As for the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. 2And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, 3Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. 4And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, 5Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth, for God blessed him. 6Also to his son Shemaiah were sons born who were rulers in their fathers' houses, for they were men of great ability. 7The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad, whose brothers were able men, Elihu and Semachiah. 8All these were of the sons of Obed-edom with their sons and brothers, able men qualified for the service; sixty-two of Obed-edom. 9And Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, able men, eighteen. 10And Hosah, of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, his father made him chief), 11Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen. + +12These divisions of the gatekeepers, corresponding to their chief men, had duties, just as their brothers did, ministering in the house of the LORD. 13And they cast lots by fathers' houses, small and great alike, for their gates. 14The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah. They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a shrewd counselor, and his lot came out for the north. 15Obed-edom's came out for the south, and to his sons was allotted the gatehouse. 16For Shuppim and Hosah it came out for the west, at the gate of Shallecheth on the road that goes up. Watch corresponded to watch. 17On the east there were six each day,[90] on the north four each day, on the south four each day, as well as two and two at the gatehouse. 18And for the colonnade[91] on the west there were four at the road and two at the colonnade. 19These were the divisions of the gatekeepers among the Korahites and the sons of Merari. + + + + + +Treasurers and Other Officials + + +20And of the Levites, Ahijah had charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated gifts. 21The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers' houses belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli.[92] + +22The sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and Joel his brother, were in charge of the treasuries of the house of the LORD. 23Of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites— 24and Shebuel the son of Gershom, son of Moses, was chief officer in charge of the treasuries. 25His brothers: from Eliezer were his son Rehabiah, and his son Jeshaiah, and his son Joram, and his son Zichri, and his son Shelomoth. 26This Shelomoth and his brothers were in charge of all the treasuries of the dedicated gifts that David the king and the heads of the fathers' houses and the officers of the thousands and the hundreds and the commanders of the army had dedicated. 27From spoil won in battles they dedicated gifts for the maintenance of the house of the LORD. 28Also all that Samuel the seer and Saul the son of Kish and Abner the son of Ner and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated—all dedicated gifts were in the care of Shelomoth[93] and his brothers. + +29Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were appointed to external duties for Israel, as officers and judges. 30Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, 1,700 men of ability, had the oversight of Israel westward of the Jordan for all the work of the LORD and for the service of the king. 31Of the Hebronites, Jerijah was chief of the Hebronites of whatever genealogy or fathers' houses. (In the fortieth year of David's reign search was made and men of great ability among them were found at Jazer in Gilead.) 32King David appointed him and his brothers, 2,700 men of ability, heads of fathers' houses, to have the oversight of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites for everything pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king. + + + + + +Military Divisions + + +27:1 This is the number of the people of Israel, the heads of fathers' houses, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all matters concerning the divisions that came and went, month after month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000: + +2Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel was in charge of the first division in the first month; in his division were 24,000. 3He was a descendant of Perez and was chief of all the commanders. He served for the first month. 4Dodai the Ahohite[94] was in charge of the division of the second month; in his division were 24,000. 5The third commander, for the third month, was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the chief priest; in his division were 24,000. 6This is the Benaiah who was a mighty man of the thirty and in command of the thirty; Ammizabad his son was in charge of his division.[95] 7Asahel the brother of Joab was fourth, for the fourth month, and his son Zebadiah after him; in his division were 24,000. 8The fifth commander, for the fifth month, was Shamhuth the Izrahite; in his division were 24,000. 9Sixth, for the sixth month, was Ira, the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite; in his division were 24,000. 10Seventh, for the seventh month, was Helez the Pelonite, of the sons of Ephraim; in his division were 24,000. 11Eighth, for the eighth month, was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites; in his division were 24,000. 12Ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer of Anathoth, a Benjaminite; in his division were 24,000. 13Tenth, for the tenth month, was Maharai of Netophah, of the Zerahites; in his division were 24,000. 14Eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Benaiah of Pirathon, of the sons of Ephraim; in his division were 24,000. 15Twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel; in his division were 24,000. + + + + + +Leaders of Tribes + + +16Over the tribes of Israel, for the Reubenites, Eliezer the son of Zichri was chief officer; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah; 17for Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok; 18for Judah, Elihu, one of David's brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael; 19for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel; 20for the Ephraimites, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah; 21for the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner; 22for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel. 23David did not count those below twenty years of age, for the LORD had promised to make Israel as many as the stars of heaven. 24Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but did not finish. Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered in the chronicles of King David. + +25Over the king's treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel; and over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah; 26and over those who did the work of the field for tilling the soil was Ezri the son of Chelub; 27and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite; and over the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite. 28Over the olive and sycamore trees in the Shephelah was Baal-hanan the Gederite; and over the stores of oil was Joash. 29Over the herds that pastured in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite; over the herds in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai. 30Over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite; and over the donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite. Over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. 31All these were stewards of King David's property. + +32Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counselor, being a man of understanding and a scribe. He and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni attended the king's sons. 33Ahithophel was the king's counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king's friend. 34Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. Joab was commander of the king's army. + + + + + +David's Charge to Israel + + +28:1 David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the stewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the seasoned warriors. 2Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. 3But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ 4Yet the LORD God of Israel chose me from all my father's house to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father's house, and among my father's sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. 6He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’ 8Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever. + + + + + +David's Charge to Solomon + + +9“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.” + +11Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple,[96] and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat; 12and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the LORD, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; 13for the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, and all the work of the service in the house of the LORD; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the LORD, 14the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, 15the weight of the golden lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, 16the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, 17and pure gold for the forks, the basins and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; 18for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD. 19“All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the LORD, all the work to be done according to the plan.” + +20Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished. 21And behold the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be every willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command.” + + + + + +Offerings for the Temple + + +29:1 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God. 2So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. 3Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 43,000 talents[97] of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house,[98] 5and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself[99] today to the LORD?” + +6Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. 7They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics[100] of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. 8And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly. + + + + + +David Prays in the Assembly + + +10Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. + +14“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.[101] 16O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” + +20Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.” And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king. 21And they offered sacrifices to the LORD, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the LORD, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22And they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness. + + + + + +Solomon Anointed King + + +And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for the LORD, and Zadok as priest. + +23Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king in place of David his father. And he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. 25And the LORD made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. + + + + + +The Death of David + + +26Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer, 30with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances that came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Many names in these genealogies are spelled differently in other biblical books + +[2] 1:6 Septuagint; Hebrew Diphath + +[3] 1:10 Or He began to be a mighty man on the earth + +[4] 1:17 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks And the sons of Aram + +[5] 1:19 Peleg means division + +[6] 1:22 Septuagint, Syriac (compare Genesis 10:28); Hebrew Ebal + +[7] 1:36 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:12); Hebrew lacks and of + +[8] 1:39 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:22); Hebrew Homam + +[9] 1:40 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:23); Hebrew Alian + +[10] 1:40 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:23); Hebrew Shephi + +[11] 1:41 Hebrew sons + +[12] 1:41 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:26); Hebrew Hamran + +[13] 1:42 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:27); Hebrew Jaakan + +[14] 2:7 Hebrew sons + +[15] 2:11 Septuagint (compare Ruth 4:21); Hebrew Salma + +[16] 2:24 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew in Caleb Ephrathah + +[17] 2:31 Hebrew sons; three times in this verse + +[18] 2:42 Septuagint; Hebrew Mesha + +[19] 2:42 Hebrew sons + +[20] 2:42 Hebrew the father of Hebron + +[21] 2:50 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew son + +[22] 3:21 Septuagint (compare Syriac, Vulgate); Hebrew sons of; four times in this verse + +[23] 3:22 Hebrew sons + +[24] 4:3 Septuagint (compare Vulgate); Hebrew father + +[25] 4:9 Jabez sounds like the Hebrew for pain + +[26] 4:10 Or evil + +[27] 4:13 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks Meonothai + +[28] 4:14 Ge-harashim means valley of craftsmen + +[29] 4:15 Hebrew sons + +[30] 4:17 The clause These are . . . married is transposed from verse 18 + +[31] 4:17 Hebrew lacks and bore + +[32] 4:22 Vulgate (compare Septuagint); Hebrew and Jashubi-lahem + +[33] 4:22 Or matters + +[34] 5:6 Hebrew Tilgath-pilneser; also verse 26 + +[35] 5:24 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew and Epher + +[36] 6:1 Ch 5:27 in Hebrew + +[37] 6:16 Ch 6:1 in Hebrew + +[38] 6:28 Septuagint, Syriac (compare verse 33 and 1 Samuel 8:2); Hebrew lacks Joel + +[39] 6:28 Hebrew and Abijah + +[40] 6:60 Septuagint, Syriac (compare Joshua 21:17); Hebrew lacks Gibeon + +[41] 7:1 Syriac (compare Vulgate); Hebrew And to the sons + +[42] 7:3 Hebrew sons; also verses 10, 12, 17 + +[43] 7:23 Beriah sounds like the Hebrew for disaster + +[44] 7:27 Hebrew Non + +[45] 8:7 Hebrew and Naaman + +[46] 8:7 Or he carried them into exile + +[47] 8:29 Compare 9:35; Hebrew lacks Jeiel + +[48] 9:41 Compare 8:35; Hebrew lacks and Ahaz + +[49] 10:7 Hebrew they + +[50] 11:11 Compare 2 Samuel 23:8; Hebrew thirty, or captains + +[51] 11:14 Compare 2 Samuel 23:12; Hebrew they . . . their + +[52] 11:20 Syriac; Hebrew three + +[53] 11:21 Compare 2 Samuel 23:19; Hebrew more renowned among the two + +[54] 11:21 Syriac; Hebrew three + +[55] 11:22 Syriac; Hebrew the son of a valiant man + +[56] 11:23 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[57] 11:27 Compare 2 Samuel 23:25; Hebrew the Harorite + +[58] 11:34 Compare Septuagint and 2 Samuel 23:32; Hebrew the sons of Hashem + +[59] 12:4 Hebrew verse 5 + +[60] 12:5 Hebrew verse 6 + +[61] 12:33 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks David + +[62] 13:3 Or him + +[63] 13:5 Hebrew Shihor + +[64] 13:7 Or and his brother + +[65] 13:11 Perez-uzza means the breaking out against Uzzah + +[66] 14:11 Baal-perazim means Lord of breaking through + +[67] 15:1 Hebrew He + +[68] 16:3 Compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[69] 16:29 Or in holy attire + +[70] 16:38 Hebrew their + +[71] 17:17 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[72] 17:21 Septuagint, Vulgate other + +[73] 18:3 Hebrew hand + +[74] 18:6 Septuagint, Vulgate, 2 Samuel 8:6 (compare Syriac); Hebrew lacks garrisons + +[75] 18:6 Hebrew the LORD saved David; also verse 13 + +[76] 19:6 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[77] 20:2 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[78] 20:3 Compare 2 Samuel 12:31; Hebrew he sawed + +[79] 20:3 Compare 2 Samuel 12:31; Hebrew saws + +[80] 21:25 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[81] 21:26 Hebrew he + +[82] 22:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[83] 23:2 Hebrew He + +[84] 23:4 Hebrew lacks David said + +[85] 23:7 Vulgate (compare Septuagint, Syriac); Hebrew to the Gershonite + +[86] 24:23 Compare 23:19; Hebrew lacks Hebron + +[87] 24:23 Compare 23:19; Hebrew lacks the chief + +[88] 24:26 Or his son; also verse 27 + +[89] 25:3 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts lack Shimei + +[90] 26:17 Septuagint; Hebrew six Levites + +[91] 26:18 Or court; Hebrew parbar (meaning unknown); twice in this verse + +[92] 26:21 The Hebrew of verse 21 is uncertain + +[93] 26:28 Hebrew Shelomith + +[94] 27:4 Septuagint; Hebrew Ahohite and his division and Mikloth the chief officer + +[95] 27:6 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew was his division + +[96] 28:11 Hebrew lacks of the temple + +[97] 29:4 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[98] 29:4 Septuagint; Hebrew houses + +[99] 29:5 Or ordaining himself; Hebrew filling his hand + +[100] 29:7 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams + +[101] 29:15 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew hope, or prospect + + + + + +2 CHRONICLES + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + + + + + +Solomon Worships at Gibeon + + +1:1 Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great. + +2Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers' houses. 3And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness, was there. 4(But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) 5Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD. And Solomon and the assembly sought it[1] out. 6And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. + + + + + +Solomon Prays for Wisdom + + +7In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” 8And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9O LORD God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” 11God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 13So Solomon came from[2] the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel. + + + + + +Solomon Given Wealth + + +14Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 16And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders would buy them from Kue for a price. 17They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels[3] of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria. + + + + + +Preparing to Build the Temple + + +2:1 [4] Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal palace for himself. 2[5] And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to oversee them. 3And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: “As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, as ordained forever for Israel. 5The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? 7So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10I will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors[6] of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths[7] of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil.” + +11Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them.” 12Hiram also said, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself. + +13“Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi, 14the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. 15Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants. 16And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.” + +17Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600. 18Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work. + + + + + +Solomon Builds the Temple + + +3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD[8] had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3These are Solomon's measurements[9] for building the house of God: the length, in cubits[10] of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house,[11] and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold and made palms and chains on it. 6He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors—and he carved cherubim on the walls. + +8And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents[12] of fine gold. 9The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels.[13] And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. + +10In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood[14] and overlaid[15] them with gold. 11The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim[16] stood on their feet, facing the nave. 14And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it. + +15In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16He made chains like a necklace[17] and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz. + + + + + +The Temple's Furnishings + + +4:1 He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits[18] long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3Under it were figures of gourds,[19] for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 4It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 5Its thickness was a handbreadth.[20] And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths.[21] 6He also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in. + +7And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 9He made the court of the priests and the great court and doors for the court and overlaid their doors with bronze. 10And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house. + +11Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: 12the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13and the 400 pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. 14He made the stands also, and the basins on the stands, 15and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. 16The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. 17In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.[22] 18Solomon made all these things in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze was not sought. + +19So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets[23] of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold. + + + + + +5:1 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God. + + + + + +The Ark Brought to the Temple + + +2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. 4And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. 5And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. 6And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are[24] there to this day. 10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions, 12and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; 13and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, + +“For he is good, + +for his steadfast love endures forever,” + +the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. + + + + + +Solomon Blesses the People + + +6:1 Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 2But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 3Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 5‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; 6but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 8But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 9Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 11And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the people of Israel.” + + + + + +Solomon's Prayer of Dedication + + +12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits[25] long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, 14and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 15who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 16Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ 17Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David. + +18“But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, 20that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 21And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. + +22“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 23then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. + +24“If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 25then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers. + +26“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict[26] them, 27then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way[27] in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. + +28“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 29whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, 30then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, 31that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. + +32“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. + +34“If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 35then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause. + +36“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, 37yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 38if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 39then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. 40Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place. + +41“And now arise, O LORD God, and go to your resting place, + +you and the ark of your might. + +Let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, + +and let your saints rejoice in your goodness. + +42O LORD God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! + +Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.” + + + + + +Fire from Heaven + + +7:1 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house. 3When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” + + + + + +The Dedication of the Temple + + +4Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. 5King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD—for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry;[28] opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood. + +7And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat. + +8At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the LORD had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people. + + + + + +If My People Pray + + +11Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, 18then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’ + +19“But if you[29] turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20then I will pluck you[30] up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’” + + + + + +Solomon's Accomplishments + + +8:1 At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house, 2Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them. + +3And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and took it. 4He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath. 5He also built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, 8from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed—these Solomon drafted as forced labor, and so they are to this day. 9But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen. 10And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, 250, who exercised authority over the people. + +11Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.” + +12Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD that he had built before the vestibule, 13as the duty of each day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. 14According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry before the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate, for so David the man of God had commanded. 15And they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and Levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries. + +16Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon from[31] the day the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed. + +17Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and Eloth on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. 18And Hiram sent to him by the hand of his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea, and they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon and brought from there 450 talents[32] of gold and brought it to King Solomon. + + + + + +The Queen of Sheba + + +9:1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 2And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her. 3And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her. + +5And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 6but I did not believe the[33] reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report that I heard. 7Happy are your wives![34] Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 9Then she gave the king 120 talents[35] of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. + +10Moreover, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones. 11And the king made from the algum wood supports for the house of the LORD and for the king's house, lyres also and harps for the singers. There never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah. + +12And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants. + + + + + +Solomon's Wealth + + +13Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 14besides that which the explorers and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels[36] of beaten gold went into each shield. 16And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; 300 shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 19while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom. 20All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 21For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[37] + +22Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 23And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 24Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 25And Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26And he ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. 27And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands. + + + + + +Solomon's Death + + +29Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +The Revolt Against Rehoboam + + +10:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away. + +6Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men,[38] who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. 11And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’” + +12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” 13And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, 14King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the LORD might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. + +16And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. 17But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. 18Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram,[39] who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. + + + + + +Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom + + +11:1 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam. + +5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 6He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin. + + + + + +Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem + + +13And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. 14For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, 15and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 16And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 17They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon. + + + + + +Rehoboam's Family + + +18Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, 19and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.[40] + + + + + +Egypt Plunders Jerusalem + + +12:1 When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. 4And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” 6Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.” 7When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” + +9So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 10and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 11And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. 12And when he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good[41] in Judah. + +13So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. 14And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD. + +15Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer?[42] There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah[43] his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Abijah Reigns in Judah + + +13:1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. 2He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Micaiah[44] the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. + +Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. 4Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? 6Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, 7and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute[45] and could not withstand them. + +8“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. 9Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination[46] with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods. 10But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the LORD who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. 11They offer to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him. 12Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.” + +13Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops[47] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the LORD, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. 17Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. 18Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers. 19And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron[48] with its villages. 20Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. And the LORD struck him down, and he died. 21But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo. + + + + + +Asa Reigns in Judah + + +14:1 [49] Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2[50] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the LORD gave him peace. 7And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor. + +9Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah[51] carried away very much spoil. 14And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem. + + + + + +Asa's Religious Reforms + + +15:1 The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” + +8As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD.[52] 9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. 10They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11They sacrificed to the LORD on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, 13but that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14They swore an oath to the LORD with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. 15And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around. + +16Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 18And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa. + + + + + +Asa's Last Years + + +16:1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king's house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3“There is a covenant[53] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 4And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. 6Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah. + +7At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. 9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” 10Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time. + +11The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. 13And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. 14They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer's art, and they made a very great fire in his honor. + + + + + +Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah + + +17:1 Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. 2He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured. 3The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, 4but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. 5Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. 6His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. + +7In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; 8and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the LORD with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people. + +10And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. 11Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. 12And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, 13and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. 14This was the muster of them by fathers' houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor; 15and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; 16and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the LORD, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. 17Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men armed with bow and shield; 18and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war. 19These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah. + + + + + +Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab + + +18:1 Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. 2After some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. 3Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” He answered him, “I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.” + +4And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the LORD.” 5Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” 6But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?” 7And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 8Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 9Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 10And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 11And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The LORD will give it into the hand of the king.” + +12And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 13But Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak.” 14And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” 15But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” 16And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” 17And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 18And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 19And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 20Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ 21And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 22Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The LORD has declared disaster concerning you.” + +23Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?” 24And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 25And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, 26and say, ‘Thus says the king, Put this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace.’” 27And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!” + + + + + +The Defeat and Death of Ahab + + +28So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 29And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. 30Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 31As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; God drew them away from him. 32For as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 33But a certain man drew his bow at random[54] and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 34And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died. + + + + + +Jehoshaphat's Reforms + + +19:1 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. 2But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD. 3Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asherahs out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” + +4Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 5He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD. He is with you in giving judgment. 7Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes.” + +8Moreover, in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the LORD and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. 9And he charged them: “Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart: 10whenever a case comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or rules, then you shall warn them, that they may not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. 11And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the LORD be with the upright!”[55] + + + + + +Jehoshaphat's Prayer + + +20:1 After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites,[56] came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom,[57] from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). 3Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. + +5And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment,[58] or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ 10And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— 11behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” + +13Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. 16Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” + +18Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. 19And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. + +20And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, + +“Give thanks to the LORD, + +for his steadfast love endures forever.” + +22And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. 23For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. + + + + + +The LORD Delivers Judah + + +24When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there[59] were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. 25When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. 26On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah,[60] for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. 27Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD. 29And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around. + +31Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD. 33The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers. + +34Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel. + + + + + +The End of Jehoshaphat's Reign + + +35After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. 36He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. 37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish. + + + + + +Jehoram Reigns in Judah + + +21:1 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.[61] 3Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 4When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. 5Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 7Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. + +8In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 9Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers. + +11Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom and made Judah go astray. 12And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than yourself, 14behold, the LORD will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’” + +16And the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the anger[62] of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. 17And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son. + +18And after all this the LORD struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. 20He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. + + + + + +Ahaziah Reigns in Judah + + +22:1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 2Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. 3He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. 4He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. 5He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, 6and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded. + +7But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom. + + + + + +Athaliah Reigns in Judah + + +10Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11But Jehoshabeath,[63] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him[64] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. 12And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land. + + + + + +Joash Made King + + +23:1 But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. 2And they went about through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 3And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada[65] said to them, “Behold, the king's son! Let him reign, as the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David. 4This is the thing that you shall do: of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, 5and one third shall be at the king's house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD. 6Let no one enter the house of the LORD except the priests and ministering Levites. They may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the LORD. 7The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever enters the house shall be put to death. Be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.” + +8The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions. 9And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God. 10And he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. 11Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Long live the king.” + + + + + +Athaliah Executed + + +12When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the LORD to the people. 13And when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” 14Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “Do not put her to death in the house of the LORD.” 15So they laid hands on her,[66] and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king's house, and they put her to death there. + + + + + +Jehoiada's Reforms + + +16And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the LORD's people. 17Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 18And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the LORD under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. 19He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean. 20And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the upper gate to the king's house. And they set the king on the royal throne. 21So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword. + + + + + +Joash Repairs the Temple + + +24:1 Joash[67] was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters. + +4After this Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD. 5And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. 6So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” 7For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals. + +8So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD. 9And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. 10And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished.[68] 11And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. 12And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. 13So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. 14And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD regularly all the days of Jehoiada. + +15But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death. 16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house. + +17Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention. + + + + + +Joash's Treachery + + +20Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’” 21But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD. 22Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the LORD see and avenge!”[69] + + + + + +Joash Assassinated + + +23At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah[70] had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash. + +25When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son[71] of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite. 27Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of the rebuilding[72] of the house of God are written in the Story of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Amaziah Reigns in Judah + + +25:1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart. 3And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.” + + + + + +Amaziah's Victories + + +5Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers' houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. 6He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents[73] of silver. 7But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. 8But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.” 9And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.” 10Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. 11But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. 12The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. 13But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil. + + + + + +Amaziah's Idolatry + + +14After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. 15Therefore the LORD was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” 16But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” + + + + + +Israel Defeats Amaziah + + +17Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 18And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 19You say, ‘See, I[74] have struck down Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?” + +20But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. 21So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,[75] from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria. + +25Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? 27From the time when he turned away from the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 28And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.[76] + + + + + +Uzziah Reigns in Judah + + +26:1 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper. + +6He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites. 8The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. 10And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. 11Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. 12The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. 13Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. + + + + + +Uzziah's Pride and Punishment + + +16But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor, 18and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.” 19Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy[77] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense. 20And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the LORD had struck him. 21And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land. + +22Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. 23And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Jotham Reigns in Judah + + +27:1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the people still followed corrupt practices. 3He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD and did much building on the wall of Ophel. 4Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. 5He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents[78] of silver, and 10,000 cors[79] of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. 6So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God. 7Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Ahaz Reigns in Judah + + +28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done, 2but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering,[80] according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 4And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. + + + + + +Judah Defeated + + +5Therefore the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. 6For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. 7And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king. + +8The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven. 10And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God? 11Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.” + +12Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war 13and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the LORD in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” 14So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. 15And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria. + +16At that time King Ahaz sent to the king[81] of Assyria for help. 17For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. 19For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully[82] and had been very unfaithful to the LORD. 20So Tiglath-pileser[83] king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. 21For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the LORD and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him. + + + + + +Ahaz's Idolatry + + +22In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD—this same King Ahaz. 23For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers. 26Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Hezekiah Reigns in Judah + + +29:1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah[84] the daughter of Zechariah. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. + + + + + +Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple + + +3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. 4He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east 5and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. 6For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs. 7They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. 8Therefore the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. 11My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.” + +12Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 13and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. 16The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it and carried it out to the brook Kidron. 17They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the LORD, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. 18Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. 19All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.” + + + + + +Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship + + +20Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the LORD. 21And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD. 22So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. 23Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them, 24and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. + +25And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets. 26The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. 28The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. 30And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped. + +31Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to[85] the LORD. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. 32The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD. 33And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. 34But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. 35Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored. 36And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly. + + + + + +Passover Celebrated + + +30:1 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. 2For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month— 3for they could not keep it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— 4and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. 5So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. 6So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. 8Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 9For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.” + +10So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. 11However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD. + +13And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly. 14They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the Kidron Valley. 15And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the LORD. 16They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. 17For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the LORD. 18For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon everyone 19who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.”[86] 20And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might[87] to the LORD. 22And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the LORD. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers. + +23Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. 24For Hezekiah king of Judah gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests consecrated themselves in great numbers. 25The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. 26So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven. + + + + + +Hezekiah Organizes the Priests + + +31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession. + +2And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, division by division, each according to his service, the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to minister in the gates of the camp of the LORD and to give thanks and praise. 3The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD. 4And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the Law of the LORD. 5As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. 6And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been dedicated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps. 7In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. 8When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel. 9And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. 10Azariah the chief priest, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the LORD, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the LORD has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left.” + +11Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them. 12And they faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the dedicated things. The chief officer in charge of them was Conaniah the Levite, with Shimei his brother as second, 13while Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers assisting Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the chief officer of the house of God. 14And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the east gate, was over the freewill offerings to God, to apportion the contribution reserved for the LORD and the most holy offerings. 15Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah were faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests, to distribute the portions to their brothers, old and young alike, by divisions, 16except those enrolled by genealogy, males from three years old and upward—all who entered the house of the LORD as the duty of each day required—for their service according to their offices, by their divisions. 17The enrollment of the priests was according to their fathers' houses; that of the Levites from twenty years old and upward was according to their offices, by their divisions. 18They were enrolled with all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole assembly, for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy. 19And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of common land belonging to their cities, there were men in the several cities who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone among the Levites who was enrolled. + +20Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. 21And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered. + + + + + +Sennacherib Invades Judah + + +32:1 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself. 2And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, 3he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. 4A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?” 5He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it,[88] and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. 6And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, 7“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. + + + + + +Sennacherib Blasphemes + + +9After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, 10“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? 11Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? 12Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices”? 13Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? 14Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? 15Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!’” + +16And his servants said still more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah. 17And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” 18And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. 19And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands. + + + + + +The LORD Delivers Jerusalem + + +20Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. 21And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. 22So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side. 23And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward. + + + + + +Hezekiah's Pride and Achievements + + +24In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign. 25But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. 26But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. + +27And Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly vessels; 28storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds. 29He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions. 30This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. 31And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart. + +32Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 33And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Manasseh Reigns in Judah + + +33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” 5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever, 8and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.” 9Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel. + + + + + +Manasseh's Repentance + + +10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. + +14Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. 15And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. 16He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel. 17Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God. + +18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 19And his prayer, and how God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.[89] 20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Amon's Reign and Death + + +21Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them. 23And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more. 24And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house. 25But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. + + + + + +Josiah Reigns in Judah + + +34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. 4And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins[90] all around, 7he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. + + + + + +The Book of the Law Found + + +8Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. 9They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD. And the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD gave it for repairing and restoring the house. 11They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. 12And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music, 13were over the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers. + +14While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses. 15Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. 16Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” 18Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king. + +19And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. 20And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 21“Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.” + + + + + +Huldah Prophesies Disaster + + +22So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent[91] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. 23And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 24Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. 25Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. 26But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 27because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 28Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king. + +29Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30And the king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. 31And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. 32Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the LORD, the God of their fathers. + + + + + +Josiah Keeps the Passover + + +35:1 Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD. 3And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. 4Prepare yourselves according to your fathers' houses by your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel and the document of Solomon his son. 5And stand in the Holy Place according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of your brothers the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by fathers' household. 6And slaughter the Passover lamb, and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of the LORD by Moses.” + +7Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000, and 3,000 bulls; these were from the king's possessions. 8And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls. 9Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls. + +10When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command. 11And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed the sacrifices. 12And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. 13And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people. 14And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. 15The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them. + +16So all the service of the LORD was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah. 17And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. 18No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept. + + + + + +Josiah Killed in Battle + + +20After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. 21But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.” 22Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. 23And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” 24So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. 26Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the LORD, 27and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. + + + + + +Judah's Decline + + +36:1 The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem. 2Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent[92] of gold. 4And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt. + +5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. 6Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. 7Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. + +9Jehoiachin was eighteen[93] years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 10In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. + +11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. 13He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. 14All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem. + +15The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. + + + + + +Jerusalem Captured and Burned + + +17Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. 18And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. 19And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. 20He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. + + + + + +The Proclamation of Cyrus + + +22Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 23“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.’” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:5 Or him + +[2] 1:13 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew to + +[3] 1:17 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[4] 2:1 Ch 1:18 in Hebrew + +[5] 2:2 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew + +[6] 2:10 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[7] 2:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters + +[8] 3:1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks the LORD + +[9] 3:3 Syriac; Hebrew foundations + +[10] 3:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[11] 3:4 Compare 1 Kings 6:3; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[12] 3:8 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[13] 3:9 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[14] 3:10 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[15] 3:10 Hebrew they overlaid + +[16] 3:13 Hebrew they + +[17] 3:16 Hebrew chains in the inner sanctuary + +[18] 4:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[19] 4:3 Compare 1 Kings 7:24; Hebrew oxen; twice in this verse + +[20] 4:5 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters + +[21] 4:5 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters + +[22] 4:17 Spelled Zarethan in 1 Kings 7:46 + +[23] 4:22 Compare 1 Kings 7:50; Hebrew the entrance of the house + +[24] 5:9 Hebrew it is + +[25] 6:13 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[26] 6:26 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew answer + +[27] 6:27 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate (compare 1 Kings 8:36); Hebrew toward the good way + +[28] 7:6 Hebrew by their hand + +[29] 7:19 The Hebrew for you is plural here + +[30] 7:20 Hebrew them; twice in this verse + +[31] 8:16 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew to + +[32] 8:18 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[33] 9:6 Hebrew their + +[34] 9:7 Septuagint (compare 1 Kings 10:8); Hebrew men + +[35] 9:9 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[36] 9:15 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[37] 9:21 Or baboons + +[38] 10:6 Or the elders; also verses 8, 13 + +[39] 10:18 Spelled Adoram in 1 Kings 12:18 + +[40] 11:23 Hebrew and sought a multitude of wives + +[41] 12:12 Hebrew good things were found + +[42] 12:15 After seer, Hebrew adds according to genealogy + +[43] 12:16 Spelled Abijam in 1 Kings 14:31 + +[44] 13:2 Spelled Maacah in 1 Kings 15:2 + +[45] 13:7 Hebrew soft of heart + +[46] 13:9 Hebrew to fill his hand + +[47] 13:13 Hebrew they + +[48] 13:19 Or Ephrain + +[49] 14:1 Ch 13:23 in Hebrew + +[50] 14:2 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew + +[51] 14:13 Hebrew they + +[52] 15:8 Hebrew the vestibule of the LORD + +[53] 16:3 Or treaty; twice in this verse + +[54] 18:33 Hebrew in his innocence + +[55] 19:11 Hebrew the good + +[56] 20:1 Compare 26:7; Hebrew Ammonites + +[57] 20:2 One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts Aram (Syria) + +[58] 20:9 Or the sword of judgment + +[59] 20:24 Hebrew they + +[60] 20:26 Beracah means blessing + +[61] 21:2 That is, Judah + +[62] 21:16 Hebrew spirit + +[63] 22:11 Spelled Jehosheba in 2 Kings 11:2 + +[64] 22:11 That is, Joash + +[65] 23:3 Hebrew he + +[66] 23:15 Or they made a passage for her + +[67] 24:1 Spelled Jehoash in 2 Kings 12:1 + +[68] 24:10 Or until it was full + +[69] 24:22 Hebrew and seek + +[70] 24:24 Hebrew they + +[71] 24:25 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew sons + +[72] 24:27 Hebrew founding + +[73] 25:6 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[74] 25:19 Hebrew you + +[75] 25:23 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[76] 25:28 Hebrew of Judah + +[77] 26:19 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[78] 27:5 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[79] 27:5 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[80] 28:3 Hebrew made his sons pass through the fire + +[81] 28:16 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate (compare 2 Kings 16:7); Hebrew kings + +[82] 28:19 Or wildly + +[83] 28:20 Hebrew Tilgath-pilneser + +[84] 29:1 Spelled Abi in 2 Kings 18:2 + +[85] 29:31 Hebrew filled your hand for + +[86] 30:19 Hebrew not according to the cleanness of holiness + +[87] 30:21 Compare 1 Chronicles 13:8; Hebrew with instruments of might + +[88] 32:5 Vulgate; Hebrew and raised upon the towers + +[89] 33:19 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts of Hozai + +[90] 34:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[91] 34:22 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks had sent + +[92] 36:3 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[93] 36:9 Septuagint (compare 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight + + + + + +EZRA + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + + + + + +The Proclamation of Cyrus + + +1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: + +2“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” + +5Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem. 6And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 1030 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem. + + + + + +The Exiles Return + + +2:1 Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. + +The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3the sons of Parosh, 2,172. 4The sons of Shephatiah, 372. 5The sons of Arah, 775. 6The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. 7The sons of Elam, 1,254. 8The sons of Zattu, 945. 9The sons of Zaccai, 760. 10The sons of Bani, 642. 11The sons of Bebai, 623. 12The sons of Azgad, 1,222. 13The sons of Adonikam, 666. 14The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. 15The sons of Adin, 454. 16The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 17The sons of Bezai, 323. 18The sons of Jorah, 112. 19The sons of Hashum, 223. 20The sons of Gibbar, 95. 21The sons of Bethlehem, 123. 22The men of Netophah, 56. 23The men of Anathoth, 128. 24The sons of Azmaveth, 42. 25The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 26The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. 27The men of Michmas, 122. 28The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. 29The sons of Nebo, 52. 30The sons of Magbish, 156. 31The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. 32The sons of Harim, 320. 33The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. 34The sons of Jericho, 345. 35The sons of Senaah, 3,630. + +36The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. 37The sons of Immer, 1,052. 38The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. 39The sons of Harim, 1,017. + +40The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. 41The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128. 42The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139. + +43The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, 47the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha. + +55The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 56the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami. + +58All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392. + +59The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 60the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. 61Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). 62These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 63The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim. + +64The whole assembly together was 42,360, 65besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers. 66Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, 67their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720. + +68Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. 69According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics[1] of gold, 5,000 minas[2] of silver, and 100 priests' garments. + +70Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel[3] in their towns. + + + + + +Rebuilding the Altar + + +3:1 When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. 2Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, 5and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the LORD, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the LORD. 6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. 7So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia. + + + + + +Rebuilding the Temple + + +8Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the LORD. 9And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers. + +10And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, + +“For he is good, + +for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” + +And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. + + + + + +Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding + + +4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, 2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” 3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” + +4Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. + +6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. + + + + + +The Letter to King Artaxerxes + + +7In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated.[4] 8Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. 11(This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 16We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.” + + + + + +The King Orders the Work to Cease + + +17The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. 19And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?” + +23Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 24Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. + + + + + +Rebuilding Begins Anew + + +5:1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them. + +3At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” 4They[5] also asked them this: “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” 5But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it. + + + + + +Tattenai's Letter to King Darius + + +6This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. 8Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. 9Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ 10We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.[6] 11And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’ 17Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.” + + + + + +The Decree of Darius + + +6:1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. 2And in Ecbatana, the capital that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. 3In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits[7] and its breadth sixty cubits, 4with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.” + +6“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. 7Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. 9And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. 12May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.” + + + + + +The Temple Finished and Dedicated + + +13Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. + +16And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. + + + + + +Passover Celebrated + + +19On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. 20For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. 22And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. + + + + + +Ezra Sent to Teach the People + + +7:1 Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest— 6this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him. + +7And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. 8And Ezra[8] came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. 10For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. + +11This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel: 12“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace.[9] And now 13I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, 15and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. 17With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem. 18Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. 19The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. 20And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury. + +21“And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, 22up to 100 talents[10] of silver, 100 cors[11] of wheat, 100 baths[12] of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. 24We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God. + +25“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach. 26Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.” + +27Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, 28and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me. + + + + + +Genealogy of Those Who Returned with Ezra + + +8:1 These are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: 2Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. 3Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. 4Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. 5Of the sons of Zattu,[13] Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. 6Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. 7Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. 8Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. 9Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. 10Of the sons of Bani,[14] Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. 11Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men. 12Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. 13Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. 14Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men. + + + + + +Ezra Sends for Levites + + +15I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. 16Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, 17and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and[15] the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. 18And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; 19also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; 20besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name. + + + + + +Fasting and Prayer for Protection + + +21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 22For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” 23So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. + + + + + +Priests to Guard Offerings + + +24Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. 25And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. 26I weighed out into their hand 650 talents[16] of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents,[17] and 100 talents of gold, 2720 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics,[18] and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. 28And I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. 29Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the LORD.” 30So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. + +31Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. 32We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. 33On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. 34The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded. + +35At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD. 36They also delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps[19] and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God. + + + + + +Ezra Prays About Intermarriage + + +9:1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race[20] has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. 4Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, 6saying: + +“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 7From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 8But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold[21] within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection[22] in Judea and Jerusalem. + +10“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.” + + + + + +The People Confess Their Sin + + +10:1 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. 2And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. 3Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord[23] and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law. 4Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” 5Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath. + +6Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night,[24] neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. 7And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, 8and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles. + +9Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. 10And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. 11Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” 12Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. 13But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. 14Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.” 15Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them. + +16Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men,[25] heads of fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter; 17and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women. + + + + + +Those Guilty of Intermarriage + + +18Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers. 19They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt.[26] 20Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. 21Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah. 22Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah. + +23Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. 24Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri. + +25And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah,[27] and Benaiah. 26Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah. 27Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza. 28Of the sons of Bebai were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. 29Of the sons of Bani were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth. 30Of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh. 31Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. 33Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. 34Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, 36Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu. 38Of the sons of Binnui:[28] Shimei, 39Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, 40Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. 43Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. 44All these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children.[29] + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 2:69 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams + +[2] 2:69 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram + +[3] 2:70 Hebrew all Israel + +[4] 4:7 Hebrew written in Aramaic and translated in Aramaic, indicating that 4:8–6:18 is in Aramaic; another interpretation is The letter was written in the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language + +[5] 5:4 Septuagint, Syriac; Aramaic We + +[6] 5:10 Aramaic of the men at their heads + +[7] 6:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[8] 7:8 Aramaic he + +[9] 7:12 Aramaic Perfect (probably a greeting) + +[10] 7:22 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[11] 7:22 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[12] 7:22 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters + +[13] 8:5 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks of Zattu + +[14] 8:10 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks Bani + +[15] 8:17 Hebrew lacks and + +[16] 8:26 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[17] 8:26 Revocalization; the number is missing in the Masoretic Text + +[18] 8:27 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams + +[19] 8:36 A satrap was a Persian official + +[20] 9:2 Hebrew offspring + +[21] 9:8 Hebrew nail, or tent-pin + +[22] 9:9 Hebrew a wall + +[23] 10:3 Or of the Lord + +[24] 10:6 Probable reading; Hebrew where he went + +[25] 10:16 Syriac; Hebrew And there were selected Ezra . . . + +[26] 10:19 Or as their reparation + +[27] 10:25 Septuagint; Hebrew Malchijah + +[28] 10:38 Septuagint; Hebrew Bani, Binnui + +[29] 10:44 Or and they put them away with their children + + + + + +NEHEMIAH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + + + + + +Report from Jerusalem + + +1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. + +Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital,[1] 2that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” + + + + + +Nehemiah's Prayer + + +4As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. 7We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” + +Now I was cupbearer to the king. + + + + + +Nehemiah Sent to Judah + + +2:1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. + + + + + +Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls + + +9Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. + +11So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. + +17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim[2] in Jerusalem.” + + + + + +Rebuilding the Wall + + +3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them[3] Zaccur the son of Imri built. + +3The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 4And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired. And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired. And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired. 5And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.[4] + +6Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Gate of Yeshanah.[5] They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. 7And next to them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, the seat of the governor of the province Beyond the River. 8Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, repaired. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. 9Next to them Rephaiah the son of Hur, ruler of half the district of[6] Jerusalem, repaired. 10Next to them Jedaiah the son of Harumaph repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabneiah repaired. 11Malchijah the son of Harim and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. 12Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters. + +13Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits[7] of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate. + +14Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. + +15And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David. 16After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the buttress.[8] 20After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, repaired. 23After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress 25and to the corner. Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. + +28Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 30After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber. 31After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate,[9] and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. + + + + + +Opposition to the Work + + +4:1 [10] Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves?[11] Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” 4Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. 5Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. + +6So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. + +7[12] But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. + +10In Judah it was said,[13] “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” 11And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”[14] 13So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” + + + + + +The Work Resumes + + +15When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. 16From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. 18And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” + +21So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.[15] + + + + + +Nehemiah Stops Oppression of the Poor + + +5:1 Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” 3There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” 4And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.” + +6I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, “You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them 8and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. 9So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 11Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” 12Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. 13I also shook out the fold[16] of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. + + + + + +Nehemiah's Generosity + + +14Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. 15The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration[17] forty shekels[18] of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. 16I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18Now what was prepared at my expense[19] for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. 19Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people. + + + + + +Conspiracy Against Nehemiah + + +6:1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem[20] also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God,[21] strengthen my hands. + +10Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live?[22] I will not go in.” 12And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. + + + + + +The Wall Is Finished + + +15So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. 18For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. + + + + + +7:1 Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, 2I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 3And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” 4The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt. + + + + + +Lists of Returned Exiles + + +5Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it: + +6These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. 7They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. + +The number of the men of the people of Israel: 8the sons of Parosh, 2,172. 9The sons of Shephatiah, 372. 10The sons of Arah, 652. 11The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. 12The sons of Elam, 1,254. 13The sons of Zattu, 845. 14The sons of Zaccai, 760. 15The sons of Binnui, 648. 16The sons of Bebai, 628. 17The sons of Azgad, 2,322. 18The sons of Adonikam, 667. 19The sons of Bigvai, 2,067. 20The sons of Adin, 655. 21The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 22The sons of Hashum, 328. 23The sons of Bezai, 324. 24The sons of Hariph, 112. 25The sons of Gibeon, 95. 26The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188. 27The men of Anathoth, 128. 28The men of Beth-azmaveth, 42. 29The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 30The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. 31The men of Michmas, 122. 32The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. 33The men of the other Nebo, 52. 34The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. 35The sons of Harim, 320. 36The sons of Jericho, 345. 37The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721. 38The sons of Senaah, 3,930. + +39The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973. 40The sons of Immer, 1,052. 41The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. 42The sons of Harim, 1,017. + +43The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodevah, 74. 44The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. 45The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138. + +46The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 47the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon, 48the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai, 49the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, 50the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, 51the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, 52the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim, 53the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 54the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 55the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 56the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha. + +57The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida, 58the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 59the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon. + +60All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392. + +61The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers' houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 62the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. 63Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). 64These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 65The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise. + + + + + +Totals of People and Gifts + + +66The whole assembly together was 42,360, 67besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. 68Their horses were 736, their mules 245,[23] 69their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720. + +70Now some of the heads of fathers' houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics[24] of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests' garments and 500 minas[25] of silver.[26] 71And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. 72And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests' garments. + +73So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns. + +And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns. + + + + + +Ezra Reads the Law + + +8:1 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites,[27] helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,[28] and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. + + + + + +This Day Is Holy + + +9And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. + + + + + +Feast of Booths Celebrated + + +13On the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. 14And they found it written in the Law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths[29] during the feast of the seventh month, 15and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” 16So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. 18And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule. + + + + + +The People of Israel Confess Their Sin + + +9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God. 4On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. + +6[30] “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. 7You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous. + +9“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. 12By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. 13You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, 14and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. 15You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. + +16“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. 18Even when they had made for themselves a golden[31] calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. + +22“And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. 24So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. 25And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness. + +26“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. 27Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. 28But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. 29And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. 30Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. + +32“Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress. + +38[32] “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of[33] our princes, our Levites, and our priests. + + + + + +The People Who Sealed the Covenant + + +10:1 [34] “On the seals are the names of[35] Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27Malluch, Harim, Baanah. + + + + + +The Obligations of the Covenant + + +28“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his rules and his statutes. 30We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. + +32“We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel[36] for the service of the house of our God: 33for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Law. 35We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the LORD; 36also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.” + + + + + +The Leaders in Jerusalem + + +11:1 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten[37] remained in the other towns. 2And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. + +3These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon's servants. 4And in Jerusalem lived certain of the sons of Judah and of the sons of Benjamin. Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez; 5and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. 6All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 valiant men. + +7And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, 8and his brothers, men of valor, 928.[38] 9Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city. + +10Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, ruler of the house of God, 12and their brothers who did the work of the house, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, 13and his brothers, heads of fathers' houses, 242; and Amashsai, the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, 14and their brothers, mighty men of valor, 128; their overseer was Zabdiel the son of Haggedolim. + +15And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni; 16and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were over the outside work of the house of God; 17and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader of the praise,[39] who gave thanks, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. 18All the Levites in the holy city were 284. + +19The gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. 20And the rest of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, every one in his inheritance. 21But the temple servants lived on Ophel; and Ziha and Gishpa were over the temple servants. + +22The overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the work of the house of God. 23For there was a command from the king concerning them, and a fixed provision for the singers, as every day required. 24And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's side[40] in all matters concerning the people. + + + + + +Villages Outside Jerusalem + + +25And as for the villages, with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its villages, and in Dibon and its villages, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26and in Jeshua and in Moladah and Beth-pelet, 27in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its villages, 28in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages, 29in En-rimmon, in Zorah, in Jarmuth, 30Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they encamped from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom. 31The people of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, 32Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. 36And certain divisions of the Levites in Judah were assigned to Benjamin. + + + + + +Priests and Levites + + +12:1 These are the priests and the Levites who came up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua. + +8And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who with his brothers was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 9And Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers stood opposite them in the service. 10And Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, 11Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua. + +12And in the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers' houses: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah; 13of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan; 14of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; 15of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai; 16of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam; 17of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin, of Moadiah, Piltai; 18of Bilgah, Shammua; of Shemaiah, Jehonathan; 19of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi; 20of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber; 21of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel. + +22In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, the Levites were recorded as heads of fathers' houses; so too were the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. 23As for the sons of Levi, their heads of fathers' houses were written in the Book of the Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib. 24And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers who stood opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch. 25Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers standing guard at the storehouses of the gates. 26These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe. + + + + + +Dedication of the Wall + + +27And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. + +31Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. 32And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, 33and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, 35and certain of the priests' sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; 36and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. 37At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east. + +38The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall, 39and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah,[41] and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard. 40So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; 41and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. + + + + + +Service at the Temple + + +44On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. 45And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs[42] of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. + + + + + +Nehemiah's Final Reforms + + +13:1 On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent. + +4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. 6While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king 7and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. 8And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. 9Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense. + +10I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field. 11So I confronted the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. 12Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. 14Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. + +15In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. 16Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! 17Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? 18Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster[43] on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” + +19As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 22Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. + +23In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. 25And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. 26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. 27Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?” + +28And one of the sons of Jehoiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. 29Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. + +30Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; 31and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times, and for the firstfruits. + +Remember me, O my God, for good. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or the fortified city + +[2] 2:20 Or memorial + +[3] 3:2 Hebrew him + +[4] 3:5 Or lords + +[5] 3:6 Or of the old city + +[6] 3:9 Or foreman of half the portion assigned to; also verses 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 + +[7] 3:13 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[8] 3:19 Or corner; also verses 20, 24, 25 + +[9] 3:31 Or Hammiphkad Gate + +[10] 4:1 Ch 3:33 in Hebrew + +[11] 4:2 Or Will they commit themselves to God? + +[12] 4:7 Ch 4:1 in Hebrew + +[13] 4:10 Hebrew Judah said + +[14] 4:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[15] 4:23 Probable reading; Hebrew each his weapon the water + +[16] 5:13 Hebrew bosom + +[17] 5:15 Compare Vulgate; Hebrew took from them with food and wine afterward + +[18] 5:15 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[19] 5:18 Or prepared for me + +[20] 6:6 Hebrew Gashmu + +[21] 6:9 Hebrew lacks O God + +[22] 6:11 Or would go into the temple to save his life + +[23] 7:68 Ezra 2:66 and the margins of some Hebrew manuscripts; Hebrew lacks Their horses . . . 245 + +[24] 7:70 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams + +[25] 7:70 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram + +[26] 7:70 Probable reading; Hebrew lacks minas of silver + +[27] 8:7 Vulgate; Hebrew and the Levites + +[28] 8:8 Or with interpretation, or paragraph by paragraph + +[29] 8:14 Or temporary shelters + +[30] 9:6 Septuagint adds And Ezra said + +[31] 9:18 Hebrew metal + +[32] 9:38 Ch 10:1 in Hebrew + +[33] 9:38 Hebrew lacks the names of + +[34] 10:1 Ch 10:2 in Hebrew + +[35] 10:1 Hebrew lacks the names of + +[36] 10:32 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[37] 11:1 Hebrew nine hands + +[38] 11:8 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew Jeshaiah, and after him Gabbai, Sallai, 928 + +[39] 11:17 Compare Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew beginning + +[40] 11:24 Hebrew hand + +[41] 12:39 Or of the old city + +[42] 12:46 Or leaders + +[43] 13:18 The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on the context + + + + + +ESTHER + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + + + + + +The King's Banquets + + +1:1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, 2in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the capital,[1] 3in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, 4while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. 5And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa, the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace. 6There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods[2] and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones. 7Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. 8And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. 9Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus. + + + + + +Queen Vashti's Refusal + + +10On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 11to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown,[3] in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. 12But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him. + +13Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, 14the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom): 15“According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” 16Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ 18This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty. 19If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. 20So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” 21This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed. 22He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people. + + + + + +Esther Chosen Queen + + +2:1 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. 2Then the king's young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. 3And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the capital, under custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. 4And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so. + +5Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, 6who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. 7He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. 8So when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. 9And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. 10Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. 11And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her. + +12Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women— 13when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace. 14In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name. + +15When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. 16And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown[4] on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther's feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity. + + + + + +Mordecai Discovers a Plot + + +19Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. 20Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. 21In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 22And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. 23When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows.[5] And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king. + + + + + +Haman Plots Against the Jews + + +3:1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. 2And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. 3Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king's command?” 4And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. 6But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. + +7In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them. 9If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents[6] of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries.” 10So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. 11And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” + +12Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring. 13Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. 15The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion. + + + + + +Esther Agrees to Help the Jews + + +4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. 3And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes. + +4When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. 6Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate, 7and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. 9And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. 10Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11“All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” + +12And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” 17Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. + + + + + +Esther Prepares a Banquet + + +5:1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. 2And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” 4And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” 5Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. 6And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, “What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 7Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is: 8If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.” + + + + + +Haman Plans to Hang Mordecai + + +9And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. 10Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. 12Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. 13Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.” 14Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows[7] fifty cubits[8] high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made. + + + + + +The King Honors Mordecai + + +6:1 On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king's young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows[9] that he had prepared for him. 5And the king's young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown[10] is set. 9And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’” 10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” 11So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.” + +12Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.” + + + + + +Esther Reveals Haman's Plot + + +14While they were yet talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared. + + + + + +7:1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared[11] to do this?” 6And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. + + + + + +Haman Is Hanged + + +7And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. 9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows[12] that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits[13] high.” 10And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated. + + + + + +Esther Saves the Jews + + +8:1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. + +3Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, 5Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows,[14] because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.” + +9The king's scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, 11saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, 12on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. 14So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. + +15Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown[15] and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 17And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them. + + + + + +The Jews Destroy Their Enemies + + +9:1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. 2The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. 3All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. 5The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. 6In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, 7and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha 8and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha 9and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, 10the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder. + +11That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. 12And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces! Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” 13And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”[16] 14So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. 15The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder. + +16Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. 17This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. 18But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. 19Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another. + + + + + +The Feast of Purim Inaugurated + + +20And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, 22as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. + +23So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. 25But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.[17] 26Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, 27the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, 28that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. + +29Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim. 30Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, 31that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting. 32The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing. + + + + + +The Greatness of Mordecai + + +10:1 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Or the fortified city + +[2] 1:6 Or rings + +[3] 1:11 Or headdress + +[4] 2:17 Or headdress + +[5] 2:23 Or suspended on a stake + +[6] 3:9 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms + +[7] 5:14 Or stake; twice in this verse + +[8] 5:14 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[9] 6:4 Or suspended on a stake + +[10] 6:8 Or headdress + +[11] 7:5 Hebrew whose heart has filled him + +[12] 7:9 Or stake; also verse 10 + +[13] 7:9 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[14] 8:7 Or stake + +[15] 8:15 Or headdress + +[16] 9:13 Or stake + +[17] 9:25 Or suspended on a stake + + + + + +JOB + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + +Chapter 37 + +Chapter 38 + +Chapter 39 + +Chapter 40 + +Chapter 41 + +Chapter 42 + + + + + +Job's Character and Wealth + + +1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed[1] God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. + + + + + +Satan Allowed to Test Job + + +6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan[2] also came among them. 7The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. + + + + + +Satan Takes Job's Property and Children + + +13Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants[3] with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” + +20Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” + +22In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. + + + + + +Satan Attacks Job's Health + + +2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” 4Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” + +7So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. + +9Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”[4] In all this Job did not sin with his lips. + + + + + +Job's Three Friends + + +11Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. + + + + + +Job Laments His Birth + + +3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2And Job said: + +3“Let the day perish on which I was born, + +and the night that said, + +‘A man is conceived.’ + +4Let that day be darkness! + +May God above not seek it, + +nor light shine upon it. + +5Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. + +Let clouds dwell upon it; + +let the blackness of the day terrify it. + +6That night—let thick darkness seize it! + +Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; + +let it not come into the number of the months. + +7Behold, let that night be barren; + +let no joyful cry enter it. + +8Let those curse it who curse the day, + +who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. + +9Let the stars of its dawn be dark; + +let it hope for light, but have none, + +nor see the eyelids of the morning, + +10because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, + +nor hide trouble from my eyes. + +11“Why did I not die at birth, + +come out from the womb and expire? + +12Why did the knees receive me? + +Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? + +13For then I would have lain down and been quiet; + +I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, + +14with kings and counselors of the earth + +who rebuilt ruins for themselves, + +15or with princes who had gold, + +who filled their houses with silver. + +16Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, + +as infants who never see the light? + +17There the wicked cease from troubling, + +and there the weary are at rest. + +18There the prisoners are at ease together; + +they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. + +19The small and the great are there, + +and the slave is free from his master. + +20“Why is light given to him who is in misery, + +and life to the bitter in soul, + +21who long for death, but it comes not, + +and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, + +22who rejoice exceedingly + +and are glad when they find the grave? + +23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, + +whom God has hedged in? + +24For my sighing comes instead of[5] my bread, + +and my groanings are poured out like water. + +25For the thing that I fear comes upon me, + +and what I dread befalls me. + +26I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; + +I have no rest, but trouble comes.” + + + + + +Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper + + +4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: + +2“If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? + +Yet who can keep from speaking? + +3Behold, you have instructed many, + +and you have strengthened the weak hands. + +4Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, + +and you have made firm the feeble knees. + +5But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; + +it touches you, and you are dismayed. + +6Is not your fear of God[6] your confidence, + +and the integrity of your ways your hope? + +7“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? + +Or where were the upright cut off? + +8As I have seen, those who plow iniquity + +and sow trouble reap the same. + +9By the breath of God they perish, + +and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. + +10The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, + +the teeth of the young lions are broken. + +11The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, + +and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. + +12“Now a word was brought to me stealthily; + +my ear received the whisper of it. + +13Amid thoughts from visions of the night, + +when deep sleep falls on men, + +14dread came upon me, and trembling, + +which made all my bones shake. + +15A spirit glided past my face; + +the hair of my flesh stood up. + +16It stood still, + +but I could not discern its appearance. + +A form was before my eyes; + +there was silence, then I heard a voice: + +17‘Can mortal man be in the right before[7] God? + +Can a man be pure before his Maker? + +18Even in his servants he puts no trust, + +and his angels he charges with error; + +19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, + +whose foundation is in the dust, + +who are crushed like the moth. + +20Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; + +they perish forever without anyone regarding it. + +21Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, + +do they not die, and that without wisdom?’ + + + + + +5:1 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? + +To which of the holy ones will you turn? + +2Surely vexation kills the fool, + +and jealousy slays the simple. + +3I have seen the fool taking root, + +but suddenly I cursed his dwelling. + +4His children are far from safety; + +they are crushed in the gate, + +and there is no one to deliver them. + +5The hungry eat his harvest, + +and he takes it even out of thorns,[8] + +and the thirsty pant[9] after his[10] wealth. + +6For affliction does not come from the dust, + +nor does trouble sprout from the ground, + +7but man is born to trouble + +as the sparks fly upward. + +8“As for me, I would seek God, + +and to God would I commit my cause, + +9who does great things and unsearchable, + +marvelous things without number: + +10he gives rain on the earth + +and sends waters on the fields; + +11he sets on high those who are lowly, + +and those who mourn are lifted to safety. + +12He frustrates the devices of the crafty, + +so that their hands achieve no success. + +13He catches the wise in their own craftiness, + +and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end. + +14They meet with darkness in the daytime + +and grope at noonday as in the night. + +15But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth + +and from the hand of the mighty. + +16So the poor have hope, + +and injustice shuts her mouth. + +17“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; + +therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. + +18For he wounds, but he binds up; + +he shatters, but his hands heal. + +19He will deliver you from six troubles; + +in seven no evil[11] shall touch you. + +20In famine he will redeem you from death, + +and in war from the power of the sword. + +21You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, + +and shall not fear destruction when it comes. + +22At destruction and famine you shall laugh, + +and shall not fear the beasts of the earth. + +23For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, + +and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. + +24You shall know that your tent is at peace, + +and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing. + +25You shall know also that your offspring shall be many, + +and your descendants as the grass of the earth. + +26You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, + +like a sheaf gathered up in its season. + +27Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. + +Hear, and know it for your good.”[12] + + + + + +Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just + + +6:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“Oh that my vexation were weighed, + +and all my calamity laid in the balances! + +3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; + +therefore my words have been rash. + +4For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; + +my spirit drinks their poison; + +the terrors of God are arrayed against me. + +5Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, + +or the ox low over his fodder? + +6Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, + +or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?[13] + +7My appetite refuses to touch them; + +they are as food that is loathsome to me.[14] + +8“Oh that I might have my request, + +and that God would fulfill my hope, + +9that it would please God to crush me, + +that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! + +10This would be my comfort; + +I would even exult[15] in pain unsparing, + +for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. + +11What is my strength, that I should wait? + +And what is my end, that I should be patient? + +12Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? + +13Have I any help in me, + +when resource is driven from me? + +14“He who withholds[16] kindness from a friend + +forsakes the fear of the Almighty. + +15My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, + +as torrential streams that pass away, + +16which are dark with ice, + +and where the snow hides itself. + +17When they melt, they disappear; + +when it is hot, they vanish from their place. + +18The caravans turn aside from their course; + +they go up into the waste and perish. + +19The caravans of Tema look, + +the travelers of Sheba hope. + +20They are ashamed because they were confident; + +they come there and are disappointed. + +21For you have now become nothing; + +you see my calamity and are afraid. + +22Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’? + +Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’? + +23Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’? + +Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’? + +24“Teach me, and I will be silent; + +make me understand how I have gone astray. + +25How forceful are upright words! + +But what does reproof from you reprove? + +26Do you think that you can reprove words, + +when the speech of a despairing man is wind? + +27You would even cast lots over the fatherless, + +and bargain over your friend. + +28“But now, be pleased to look at me, + +for I will not lie to your face. + +29Please turn; let no injustice be done. + +Turn now; my vindication is at stake. + +30Is there any injustice on my tongue? + +Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity? + + + + + +Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope + + +7:1 “Has not man a hard service on earth, + +and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? + +2Like a slave who longs for the shadow, + +and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, + +3so I am allotted months of emptiness, + +and nights of misery are apportioned to me. + +4When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ + +But the night is long, + +and I am full of tossing till the dawn. + +5My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; + +my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. + +6My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle + +and come to their end without hope. + +7“Remember that my life is a breath; + +my eye will never again see good. + +8The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; + +while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone. + +9As the cloud fades and vanishes, + +so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; + +10he returns no more to his house, + +nor does his place know him anymore. + +11“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; + +I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; + +I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. + +12Am I the sea, or a sea monster, + +that you set a guard over me? + +13When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, + +my couch will ease my complaint,’ + +14then you scare me with dreams + +and terrify me with visions, + +15so that I would choose strangling + +and death rather than my bones. + +16I loathe my life; I would not live forever. + +Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. + +17What is man, that you make so much of him, + +and that you set your heart on him, + +18visit him every morning + +and test him every moment? + +19How long will you not look away from me, + +nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit? + +20If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? + +Why have you made me your mark? + +Why have I become a burden to you? + +21Why do you not pardon my transgression + +and take away my iniquity? + +For now I shall lie in the earth; + +you will seek me, but I shall not be.” + + + + + +Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent + + +8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: + +2“How long will you say these things, + +and the words of your mouth be a great wind? + +3Does God pervert justice? + +Or does the Almighty pervert the right? + +4If your children have sinned against him, + +he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. + +5If you will seek God + +and plead with the Almighty for mercy, + +6if you are pure and upright, + +surely then he will rouse himself for you + +and restore your rightful habitation. + +7And though your beginning was small, + +your latter days will be very great. + +8“For inquire, please, of bygone ages, + +and consider what the fathers have searched out. + +9For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, + +for our days on earth are a shadow. + +10Will they not teach you and tell you + +and utter words out of their understanding? + +11“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? + +Can reeds flourish where there is no water? + +12While yet in flower and not cut down, + +they wither before any other plant. + +13Such are the paths of all who forget God; + +the hope of the godless shall perish. + +14His confidence is severed, + +and his trust is a spider's web.[17] + +15He leans against his house, but it does not stand; + +he lays hold of it, but it does not endure. + +16He is a lush plant before the sun, + +and his shoots spread over his garden. + +17His roots entwine the stone heap; + +he looks upon a house of stones. + +18If he is destroyed from his place, + +then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’ + +19Behold, this is the joy of his way, + +and out of the soil others will spring. + +20“Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, + +nor take the hand of evildoers. + +21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, + +and your lips with shouting. + +22Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, + +and the tent of the wicked will be no more.” + + + + + +Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter + + +9:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“Truly I know that it is so: + +But how can a man be in the right before God? + +3If one wished to contend with him, + +one could not answer him once in a thousand times. + +4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength + +—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?— + +5he who removes mountains, and they know it not, + +when he overturns them in his anger, + +6who shakes the earth out of its place, + +and its pillars tremble; + +7who commands the sun, and it does not rise; + +who seals up the stars; + +8who alone stretched out the heavens + +and trampled the waves of the sea; + +9who made the Bear and Orion, + +the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; + +10who does great things beyond searching out, + +and marvelous things beyond number. + +11Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; + +he moves on, but I do not perceive him. + +12Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? + +Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ + +13“God will not turn back his anger; + +beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab. + +14How then can I answer him, + +choosing my words with him? + +15Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; + +I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.[18] + +16If I summoned him and he answered me, + +I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. + +17For he crushes me with a tempest + +and multiplies my wounds without cause; + +18he will not let me get my breath, + +but fills me with bitterness. + +19If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! + +If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?[19] + +20Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; + +though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. + +21I am blameless; I regard not myself; + +I loathe my life. + +22It is all one; therefore I say, + +He destroys both the blameless and the wicked. + +23When disaster brings sudden death, + +he mocks at the calamity[20] of the innocent. + +24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; + +he covers the faces of its judges— + +if it is not he, who then is it? + +25“My days are swifter than a runner; + +they flee away; they see no good. + +26They go by like skiffs of reed, + +like an eagle swooping on the prey. + +27If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, + +I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’ + +28I become afraid of all my suffering, + +for I know you will not hold me innocent. + +29I shall be condemned; + +why then do I labor in vain? + +30If I wash myself with snow + +and cleanse my hands with lye, + +31yet you will plunge me into a pit, + +and my own clothes will abhor me. + +32For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, + +that we should come to trial together. + +33There is no[21] arbiter between us, + +who might lay his hand on us both. + +34Let him take his rod away from me, + +and let not dread of him terrify me. + +35Then I would speak without fear of him, + +for I am not so in myself. + + + + + +Job Continues: A Plea to God + + +10:1 “I loathe my life; + +I will give free utterance to my complaint; + +I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. + +2I will say to God, Do not condemn me; + +let me know why you contend against me. + +3Does it seem good to you to oppress, + +to despise the work of your hands + +and favor the designs of the wicked? + +4Have you eyes of flesh? + +Do you see as man sees? + +5Are your days as the days of man, + +or your years as a man's years, + +6that you seek out my iniquity + +and search for my sin, + +7although you know that I am not guilty, + +and there is none to deliver out of your hand? + +8Your hands fashioned and made me, + +and now you have destroyed me altogether. + +9Remember that you have made me like clay; + +and will you return me to the dust? + +10Did you not pour me out like milk + +and curdle me like cheese? + +11You clothed me with skin and flesh, + +and knit me together with bones and sinews. + +12You have granted me life and steadfast love, + +and your care has preserved my spirit. + +13Yet these things you hid in your heart; + +I know that this was your purpose. + +14If I sin, you watch me + +and do not acquit me of my iniquity. + +15If I am guilty, woe to me! + +If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, + +for I am filled with disgrace + +and look on my affliction. + +16And were my head lifted up,[22] you would hunt me like a lion + +and again work wonders against me. + +17You renew your witnesses against me + +and increase your vexation toward me; + +you bring fresh troops against me. + +18“Why did you bring me out from the womb? + +Would that I had died before any eye had seen me + +19and were as though I had not been, + +carried from the womb to the grave. + +20Are not my days few? + +Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer + +21before I go—and I shall not return— + +to the land of darkness and deep shadow, + +22the land of gloom like thick darkness, + +like deep shadow without any order, + +where light is as thick darkness.” + + + + + +Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse + + +11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: + +2“Should a multitude of words go unanswered, + +and a man full of talk be judged right? + +3Should your babble silence men, + +and when you mock, shall no one shame you? + +4For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, + +and I am clean in God's[23] eyes.’ + +5But oh, that God would speak + +and open his lips to you, + +6and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! + +For he is manifold in understanding.[24] + +Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves. + +7“Can you find out the deep things of God? + +Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? + +8It is higher than heaven[25]—what can you do? + +Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? + +9Its measure is longer than the earth + +and broader than the sea. + +10If he passes through and imprisons + +and summons the court, who can turn him back? + +11For he knows worthless men; + +when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? + +12But a stupid man will get understanding + +when a wild donkey's colt is born a man! + +13“If you prepare your heart, + +you will stretch out your hands toward him. + +14If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, + +and let not injustice dwell in your tents. + +15Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; + +you will be secure and will not fear. + +16You will forget your misery; + +you will remember it as waters that have passed away. + +17And your life will be brighter than the noonday; + +its darkness will be like the morning. + +18And you will feel secure, because there is hope; + +you will look around and take your rest in security. + +19You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; + +many will court your favor. + +20But the eyes of the wicked will fail; + +all way of escape will be lost to them, + +and their hope is to breathe their last.” + + + + + +Job Replies: The LORD Has Done This + + +12:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“No doubt you are the people, + +and wisdom will die with you. + +3But I have understanding as well as you; + +I am not inferior to you. + +Who does not know such things as these? + +4I am a laughingstock to my friends; + +I, who called to God and he answered me, + +a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. + +5In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; + +it is ready for those whose feet slip. + +6The tents of robbers are at peace, + +and those who provoke God are secure, + +who bring their god in their hand.[26] + +7“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; + +the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; + +8or the bushes of the earth,[27] and they will teach you; + +and the fish of the sea will declare to you. + +9Who among all these does not know + +that the hand of the LORD has done this? + +10In his hand is the life of every living thing + +and the breath of all mankind. + +11Does not the ear test words + +as the palate tastes food? + +12Wisdom is with the aged, + +and understanding in length of days. + +13“With God[28] are wisdom and might; + +he has counsel and understanding. + +14If he tears down, none can rebuild; + +if he shuts a man in, none can open. + +15If he withholds the waters, they dry up; + +if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. + +16With him are strength and sound wisdom; + +the deceived and the deceiver are his. + +17He leads counselors away stripped, + +and judges he makes fools. + +18He looses the bonds of kings + +and binds a waistcloth on their hips. + +19He leads priests away stripped + +and overthrows the mighty. + +20He deprives of speech those who are trusted + +and takes away the discernment of the elders. + +21He pours contempt on princes + +and loosens the belt of the strong. + +22He uncovers the deeps out of darkness + +and brings deep darkness to light. + +23He makes nations great, and he destroys them; + +he enlarges nations, and leads them away. + +24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth + +and makes them wander in a pathless waste. + +25They grope in the dark without light, + +and he makes them stagger like a drunken man. + + + + + +Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God + + +13:1 “Behold, my eye has seen all this, + +my ear has heard and understood it. + +2What you know, I also know; + +I am not inferior to you. + +3But I would speak to the Almighty, + +and I desire to argue my case with God. + +4As for you, you whitewash with lies; + +worthless physicians are you all. + +5Oh that you would keep silent, + +and it would be your wisdom! + +6Hear now my argument + +and listen to the pleadings of my lips. + +7Will you speak falsely for God + +and speak deceitfully for him? + +8Will you show partiality toward him? + +Will you plead the case for God? + +9Will it be well with you when he searches you out? + +Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man? + +10He will surely rebuke you + +if in secret you show partiality. + +11Will not his majesty terrify you, + +and the dread of him fall upon you? + +12Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; + +your defenses are defenses of clay. + +13“Let me have silence, and I will speak, + +and let come on me what may. + +14Why should I take my flesh in my teeth + +and put my life in my hand? + +15Though he slay me, I will hope in him;[29] + +yet I will argue my ways to his face. + +16This will be my salvation, + +that the godless shall not come before him. + +17Keep listening to my words, + +and let my declaration be in your ears. + +18Behold, I have prepared my case; + +I know that I shall be in the right. + +19Who is there who will contend with me? + +For then I would be silent and die. + +20Only grant me two things, + +then I will not hide myself from your face: + +21withdraw your hand far from me, + +and let not dread of you terrify me. + +22Then call, and I will answer; + +or let me speak, and you reply to me. + +23How many are my iniquities and my sins? + +Make me know my transgression and my sin. + +24Why do you hide your face + +and count me as your enemy? + +25Will you frighten a driven leaf + +and pursue dry chaff? + +26For you write bitter things against me + +and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. + +27You put my feet in the stocks + +and watch all my paths; + +you set a limit for[30] the soles of my feet. + +28Man[31] wastes away like a rotten thing, + +like a garment that is moth-eaten. + + + + + +Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All + + +14:1 “Man who is born of a woman + +is few of days and full of trouble. + +2He comes out like a flower and withers; + +he flees like a shadow and continues not. + +3And do you open your eyes on such a one + +and bring me into judgment with you? + +4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? + +There is not one. + +5Since his days are determined, + +and the number of his months is with you, + +and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, + +6look away from him and leave him alone,[32] + +that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. + +7“For there is hope for a tree, + +if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, + +and that its shoots will not cease. + +8Though its root grow old in the earth, + +and its stump die in the soil, + +9yet at the scent of water it will bud + +and put out branches like a young plant. + +10But a man dies and is laid low; + +man breathes his last, and where is he? + +11As waters fail from a lake + +and a river wastes away and dries up, + +12so a man lies down and rises not again; + +till the heavens are no more he will not awake + +or be roused out of his sleep. + +13Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, + +that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, + +that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! + +14If a man dies, shall he live again? + +All the days of my service I would wait, + +till my renewal[33] should come. + +15You would call, and I would answer you; + +you would long for the work of your hands. + +16For then you would number my steps; + +you would not keep watch over my sin; + +17my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, + +and you would cover over my iniquity. + +18“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, + +and the rock is removed from its place; + +19the waters wear away the stones; + +the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; + +so you destroy the hope of man. + +20You prevail forever against him, and he passes; + +you change his countenance, and send him away. + +21His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; + +they are brought low, and he perceives it not. + +22He feels only the pain of his own body, + +and he mourns only for himself.” + + + + + +Eliphaz Accuses: Job Does Not Fear God + + +15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: + +2“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, + +and fill his belly with the east wind? + +3Should he argue in unprofitable talk, + +or in words with which he can do no good? + +4But you are doing away with the fear of God[34] + +and hindering meditation before God. + +5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, + +and you choose the tongue of the crafty. + +6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; + +your own lips testify against you. + +7“Are you the first man who was born? + +Or were you brought forth before the hills? + +8Have you listened in the council of God? + +And do you limit wisdom to yourself? + +9What do you know that we do not know? + +What do you understand that is not clear to us? + +10Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, + +older than your father. + +11Are the comforts of God too small for you, + +or the word that deals gently with you? + +12Why does your heart carry you away, + +and why do your eyes flash, + +13that you turn your spirit against God + +and bring such words out of your mouth? + +14What is man, that he can be pure? + +Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? + +15Behold, God[35] puts no trust in his holy ones, + +and the heavens are not pure in his sight; + +16how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, + +a man who drinks injustice like water! + +17“I will show you; hear me, + +and what I have seen I will declare + +18(what wise men have told, + +without hiding it from their fathers, + +19to whom alone the land was given, + +and no stranger passed among them). + +20The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, + +through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. + +21Dreadful sounds are in his ears; + +in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him. + +22He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, + +and he is marked for the sword. + +23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ + +He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand; + +24distress and anguish terrify him; + +they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle. + +25Because he has stretched out his hand against God + +and defies the Almighty, + +26running stubbornly against him + +with a thickly bossed shield; + +27because he has covered his face with his fat + +and gathered fat upon his waist + +28and has lived in desolate cities, + +in houses that none should inhabit, + +which were ready to become heaps of ruins; + +29he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, + +nor will his possessions spread over the earth;[36] + +30he will not depart from darkness; + +the flame will dry up his shoots, + +and by the breath of his mouth he will depart. + +31Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, + +for emptiness will be his payment. + +32It will be paid in full before his time, + +and his branch will not be green. + +33He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, + +and cast off his blossom like the olive tree. + +34For the company of the godless is barren, + +and fire consumes the tents of bribery. + +35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, + +and their womb prepares deceit.” + + + + + +Job Replies: Miserable Comforters Are You + + +16:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“I have heard many such things; + +miserable comforters are you all. + +3Shall windy words have an end? + +Or what provokes you that you answer? + +4I also could speak as you do, + +if you were in my place; + +I could join words together against you + +and shake my head at you. + +5I could strengthen you with my mouth, + +and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain. + +6“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, + +and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me? + +7Surely now God has worn me out; + +he has[37] made desolate all my company. + +8And he has shriveled me up, + +which is a witness against me, + +and my leanness has risen up against me; + +it testifies to my face. + +9He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; + +he has gnashed his teeth at me; + +my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. + +10Men have gaped at me with their mouth; + +they have struck me insolently on the cheek; + +they mass themselves together against me. + +11God gives me up to the ungodly + +and casts me into the hands of the wicked. + +12I was at ease, and he broke me apart; + +he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; + +he set me up as his target; + +13his archers surround me. + +He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; + +he pours out my gall on the ground. + +14He breaks me with breach upon breach; + +he runs upon me like a warrior. + +15I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin + +and have laid my strength in the dust. + +16My face is red with weeping, + +and on my eyelids is deep darkness, + +17although there is no violence in my hands, + +and my prayer is pure. + +18“O earth, cover not my blood, + +and let my cry find no resting place. + +19Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, + +and he who testifies for me is on high. + +20My friends scorn me; + +my eye pours out tears to God, + +21that he would argue the case of a man with God, + +as[38] a son of man does with his neighbor. + +22For when a few years have come + +I shall go the way from which I shall not return. + + + + + +Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope? + + +17:1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; + +the graveyard is ready for me. + +2Surely there are mockers about me, + +and my eye dwells on their provocation. + +3“Lay down a pledge for me with yourself; + +who is there who will put up security for me? + +4Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, + +therefore you will not let them triumph. + +5He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property— + +the eyes of his children will fail. + +6“He has made me a byword of the peoples, + +and I am one before whom men spit. + +7My eye has grown dim from vexation, + +and all my members are like a shadow. + +8The upright are appalled at this, + +and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. + +9Yet the righteous holds to his way, + +and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. + +10But you, come on again, all of you, + +and I shall not find a wise man among you. + +11My days are past; my plans are broken off, + +the desires of my heart. + +12They make night into day: + +‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’[39] + +13If I hope for Sheol as my house, + +if I make my bed in darkness, + +14if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ + +and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ + +15where then is my hope? + +Who will see my hope? + +16Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? + +Shall we descend together into the dust?” + + + + + +Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked + + +18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: + +2“How long will you hunt for words? + +Consider, and then we will speak. + +3Why are we counted as cattle? + +Why are we stupid in your sight? + +4You who tear yourself in your anger, + +shall the earth be forsaken for you, + +or the rock be removed out of its place? + +5“Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, + +and the flame of his fire does not shine. + +6The light is dark in his tent, + +and his lamp above him is put out. + +7His strong steps are shortened, + +and his own schemes throw him down. + +8For he is cast into a net by his own feet, + +and he walks on its mesh. + +9A trap seizes him by the heel; + +a snare lays hold of him. + +10A rope is hidden for him in the ground, + +a trap for him in the path. + +11Terrors frighten him on every side, + +and chase him at his heels. + +12His strength is famished, + +and calamity is ready for his stumbling. + +13It consumes the parts of his skin; + +the firstborn of death consumes his limbs. + +14He is torn from the tent in which he trusted + +and is brought to the king of terrors. + +15In his tent dwells that which is none of his; + +sulfur is scattered over his habitation. + +16His roots dry up beneath, + +and his branches wither above. + +17His memory perishes from the earth, + +and he has no name in the street. + +18He is thrust from light into darkness, + +and driven out of the world. + +19He has no posterity or progeny among his people, + +and no survivor where he used to live. + +20They of the west are appalled at his day, + +and horror seizes them of the east. + +21Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, + +such is the place of him who knows not God.” + + + + + +Job Replies: My Redeemer Lives + + +19:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“How long will you torment me + +and break me in pieces with words? + +3These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; + +are you not ashamed to wrong me? + +4And even if it be true that I have erred, + +my error remains with myself. + +5If indeed you magnify yourselves against me + +and make my disgrace an argument against me, + +6know then that God has put me in the wrong + +and closed his net about me. + +7Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; + +I call for help, but there is no justice. + +8He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, + +and he has set darkness upon my paths. + +9He has stripped from me my glory + +and taken the crown from my head. + +10He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, + +and my hope has he pulled up like a tree. + +11He has kindled his wrath against me + +and counts me as his adversary. + +12His troops come on together; + +they have cast up their siege ramp[40] against me + +and encamp around my tent. + +13“He has put my brothers far from me, + +and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. + +14My relatives have failed me, + +my close friends have forgotten me. + +15The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; + +I have become a foreigner in their eyes. + +16I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; + +I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy. + +17My breath is strange to my wife, + +and I am a stench to the children of my own mother. + +18Even young children despise me; + +when I rise they talk against me. + +19All my intimate friends abhor me, + +and those whom I loved have turned against me. + +20My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, + +and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. + +21Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, + +for the hand of God has touched me! + +22Why do you, like God, pursue me? + +Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? + +23“Oh that my words were written! + +Oh that they were inscribed in a book! + +24Oh that with an iron pen and lead + +they were engraved in the rock forever! + +25For I know that my Redeemer lives, + +and at the last he will stand upon the earth.[41] + +26And after my skin has been thus destroyed, + +yet in[42] my flesh I shall see God, + +27whom I shall see for myself, + +and my eyes shall behold, and not another. + +My heart faints within me! + +28If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’ + +and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’ + +29be afraid of the sword, + +for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, + +that you may know there is a judgment.” + + + + + +Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer + + +20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said: + +2“Therefore my thoughts answer me, + +because of my haste within me. + +3I hear censure that insults me, + +and out of my understanding a spirit answers me. + +4Do you not know this from of old, + +since man was placed on earth, + +5that the exulting of the wicked is short, + +and the joy of the godless but for a moment? + +6Though his height mount up to the heavens, + +and his head reach to the clouds, + +7he will perish forever like his own dung; + +those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’ + +8He will fly away like a dream and not be found; + +he will be chased away like a vision of the night. + +9The eye that saw him will see him no more, + +nor will his place any more behold him. + +10His children will seek the favor of the poor, + +and his hands will give back his wealth. + +11His bones are full of his youthful vigor, + +but it will lie down with him in the dust. + +12“Though evil is sweet in his mouth, + +though he hides it under his tongue, + +13though he is loath to let it go + +and holds it in his mouth, + +14yet his food is turned in his stomach; + +it is the venom of cobras within him. + +15He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; + +God casts them out of his belly. + +16He will suck the poison of cobras; + +the tongue of a viper will kill him. + +17He will not look upon the rivers, + +the streams flowing with honey and curds. + +18He will give back the fruit of his toil + +and will not swallow it down; + +from the profit of his trading + +he will get no enjoyment. + +19For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; + +he has seized a house that he did not build. + +20“Because he knew no contentment in his belly, + +he will not let anything in which he delights escape him. + +21There was nothing left after he had eaten; + +therefore his prosperity will not endure. + +22In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; + +the hand of everyone in misery will come against him. + +23To fill his belly to the full, + +God[43] will send his burning anger against him + +and rain it upon him into his body. + +24He will flee from an iron weapon; + +a bronze arrow will strike him through. + +25It is drawn forth and comes out of his body; + +the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder; + +terrors come upon him. + +26Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; + +a fire not fanned will devour him; + +what is left in his tent will be consumed. + +27The heavens will reveal his iniquity, + +and the earth will rise up against him. + +28The possessions of his house will be carried away, + +dragged off in the day of God's[44] wrath. + +29This is the wicked man's portion from God, + +the heritage decreed for him by God.” + + + + + +Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper + + +21:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“Keep listening to my words, + +and let this be your comfort. + +3Bear with me, and I will speak, + +and after I have spoken, mock on. + +4As for me, is my complaint against man? + +Why should I not be impatient? + +5Look at me and be appalled, + +and lay your hand over your mouth. + +6When I remember, I am dismayed, + +and shuddering seizes my flesh. + +7Why do the wicked live, + +reach old age, and grow mighty in power? + +8Their offspring are established in their presence, + +and their descendants before their eyes. + +9Their houses are safe from fear, + +and no rod of God is upon them. + +10Their bull breeds without fail; + +their cow calves and does not miscarry. + +11They send out their little boys like a flock, + +and their children dance. + +12They sing to the tambourine and the lyre + +and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. + +13They spend their days in prosperity, + +and in peace they go down to Sheol. + +14They say to God, ‘Depart from us! + +We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. + +15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? + +And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ + +16Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? + +The counsel of the wicked is far from me. + +17“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? + +That their calamity comes upon them? + +That God[45] distributes pains in his anger? + +18That they are like straw before the wind, + +and like chaff that the storm carries away? + +19You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ + +Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it. + +20Let their own eyes see their destruction, + +and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty. + +21For what do they care for their houses after them, + +when the number of their months is cut off? + +22Will any teach God knowledge, + +seeing that he judges those who are on high? + +23One dies in his full vigor, + +being wholly at ease and secure, + +24his pails[46] full of milk + +and the marrow of his bones moist. + +25Another dies in bitterness of soul, + +never having tasted of prosperity. + +26They lie down alike in the dust, + +and the worms cover them. + +27“Behold, I know your thoughts + +and your schemes to wrong me. + +28For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? + +Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’ + +29Have you not asked those who travel the roads, + +and do you not accept their testimony + +30that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, + +that he is rescued in the day of wrath? + +31Who declares his way to his face, + +and who repays him for what he has done? + +32When he is carried to the grave, + +watch is kept over his tomb. + +33The clods of the valley are sweet to him; + +all mankind follows after him, + +and those who go before him are innumerable. + +34How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? + +There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.” + + + + + +Eliphaz Speaks: Job's Wickedness Is Great + + +22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: + +2“Can a man be profitable to God? + +Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. + +3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, + +or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless? + +4Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you + +and enters into judgment with you? + +5Is not your evil abundant? + +There is no end to your iniquities. + +6For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing + +and stripped the naked of their clothing. + +7You have given no water to the weary to drink, + +and you have withheld bread from the hungry. + +8The man with power possessed the land, + +and the favored man lived in it. + +9You have sent widows away empty, + +and the arms of the fatherless were crushed. + +10Therefore snares are all around you, + +and sudden terror overwhelms you, + +11or darkness, so that you cannot see, + +and a flood of water covers you. + +12“Is not God high in the heavens? + +See the highest stars, how lofty they are! + +13But you say, ‘What does God know? + +Can he judge through the deep darkness? + +14Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, + +and he walks on the vault of heaven.’ + +15Will you keep to the old way + +that wicked men have trod? + +16They were snatched away before their time; + +their foundation was washed away. + +17They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’ + +and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’[47] + +18Yet he filled their houses with good things— + +but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. + +19The righteous see it and are glad; + +the innocent one mocks at them, + +20saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off, + +and what they left the fire has consumed.’ + +21“Agree with God, and be at peace; + +thereby good will come to you. + +22Receive instruction from his mouth, + +and lay up his words in your heart. + +23If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; + +if you remove injustice far from your tents, + +24if you lay gold in the dust, + +and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed, + +25then the Almighty will be your gold + +and your precious silver. + +26For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty + +and lift up your face to God. + +27You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, + +and you will pay your vows. + +28You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, + +and light will shine on your ways. + +29For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;[48] + +but he saves the lowly. + +30He delivers even the one who is not innocent,[49] + +who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.” + + + + + +Job Replies: Where Is God? + + +23:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“Today also my complaint is bitter;[50] + +my hand is heavy on account of my groaning. + +3Oh, that I knew where I might find him, + +that I might come even to his seat! + +4I would lay my case before him + +and fill my mouth with arguments. + +5I would know what he would answer me + +and understand what he would say to me. + +6Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? + +No; he would pay attention to me. + +7There an upright man could argue with him, + +and I would be acquitted forever by my judge. + +8“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, + +and backward, but I do not perceive him; + +9on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; + +he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. + +10But he knows the way that I take; + +when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. + +11My foot has held fast to his steps; + +I have kept his way and have not turned aside. + +12I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; + +I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. + +13But he is unchangeable,[51] and who can turn him back? + +What he desires, that he does. + +14For he will complete what he appoints for me, + +and many such things are in his mind. + +15Therefore I am terrified at his presence; + +when I consider, I am in dread of him. + +16God has made my heart faint; + +the Almighty has terrified me; + +17yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, + +nor because thick darkness covers my face. + + + + + +24:1 “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, + +and why do those who know him never see his days? + +2Some move landmarks; + +they seize flocks and pasture them. + +3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; + +they take the widow's ox for a pledge. + +4They thrust the poor off the road; + +the poor of the earth all hide themselves. + +5Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert + +the poor[52] go out to their toil, seeking game; + +the wasteland yields food for their children. + +6They gather their[53] fodder in the field, + +and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. + +7They lie all night naked, without clothing, + +and have no covering in the cold. + +8They are wet with the rain of the mountains + +and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. + +9(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, + +and they take a pledge against the poor.) + +10They go about naked, without clothing; + +hungry, they carry the sheaves; + +11among the olive rows of the wicked[54] they make oil; + +they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst. + +12From out of the city the dying groan, + +and the soul of the wounded cries for help; + +yet God charges no one with wrong. + +13“There are those who rebel against the light, + +who are not acquainted with its ways, + +and do not stay in its paths. + +14The murderer rises before it is light, + +that he may kill the poor and needy, + +and in the night he is like a thief. + +15The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, + +saying, ‘No eye will see me’; + +and he veils his face. + +16In the dark they dig through houses; + +by day they shut themselves up; + +they do not know the light. + +17For deep darkness is morning to all of them; + +for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness. + +18“You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; + +their portion is cursed in the land; + +no treader turns toward their vineyards. + +19Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; + +so does Sheol those who have sinned. + +20The womb forgets them; + +the worm finds them sweet; + +they are no longer remembered, + +so wickedness is broken like a tree.’ + +21“They wrong the barren, childless woman, + +and do no good to the widow. + +22Yet God[55] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; + +they rise up when they despair of life. + +23He gives them security, and they are supported, + +and his eyes are upon their ways. + +24They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; + +they are brought low and gathered up like all others; + +they are cut off like the heads of grain. + +25If it is not so, who will prove me a liar + +and show that there is nothing in what I say?” + + + + + +Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous + + +25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: + +2“Dominion and fear are with God;[56] + +he makes peace in his high heaven. + +3Is there any number to his armies? + +Upon whom does his light not arise? + +4How then can man be in the right before God? + +How can he who is born of woman be pure? + +5Behold, even the moon is not bright, + +and the stars are not pure in his eyes; + +6how much less man, who is a maggot, + +and the son of man, who is a worm!” + + + + + +Job Replies: God's Majesty Is Unsearchable + + +26:1 Then Job answered and said: + +2“How you have helped him who has no power! + +How you have saved the arm that has no strength! + +3How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, + +and plentifully declared sound knowledge! + +4With whose help have you uttered words, + +and whose breath has come out from you? + +5The dead tremble + +under the waters and their inhabitants. + +6Sheol is naked before God,[57] + +and Abaddon has no covering. + +7He stretches out the north over the void + +and hangs the earth on nothing. + +8He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, + +and the cloud is not split open under them. + +9He covers the face of the full moon[58] + +and spreads over it his cloud. + +10He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters + +at the boundary between light and darkness. + +11The pillars of heaven tremble + +and are astounded at his rebuke. + +12By his power he stilled the sea; + +by his understanding he shattered Rahab. + +13By his wind the heavens were made fair; + +his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. + +14Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, + +and how small a whisper do we hear of him! + +But the thunder of his power who can understand?” + + + + + +Job Continues: I Will Maintain My Integrity + + +27:1 And Job again took up his discourse, and said: + +2“As God lives, who has taken away my right, + +and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, + +3as long as my breath is in me, + +and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, + +4my lips will not speak falsehood, + +and my tongue will not utter deceit. + +5Far be it from me to say that you are right; + +till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. + +6I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; + +my heart does not reproach me for any of my days. + +7“Let my enemy be as the wicked, + +and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous. + +8For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, + +when God takes away his life? + +9Will God hear his cry + +when distress comes upon him? + +10Will he take delight in the Almighty? + +Will he call upon God at all times? + +11I will teach you concerning the hand of God; + +what is with the Almighty I will not conceal. + +12Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; + +why then have you become altogether vain? + +13“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, + +and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty: + +14If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword, + +and his descendants have not enough bread. + +15Those who survive him the pestilence buries, + +and his widows do not weep. + +16Though he heap up silver like dust, + +and pile up clothing like clay, + +17he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it, + +and the innocent will divide the silver. + +18He builds his house like a moth's, + +like a booth that a watchman makes. + +19He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; + +he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone. + +20Terrors overtake him like a flood; + +in the night a whirlwind carries him off. + +21The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; + +it sweeps him out of his place. + +22It[59] hurls at him without pity; + +he flees from its[60] power in headlong flight. + +23It claps its hands at him + +and hisses at him from its place. + + + + + +Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom? + + +28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver, + +and a place for gold that they refine. + +2Iron is taken out of the earth, + +and copper is smelted from the ore. + +3Man puts an end to darkness + +and searches out to the farthest limit + +the ore in gloom and deep darkness. + +4He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives; + +they are forgotten by travelers; + +they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro. + +5As for the earth, out of it comes bread, + +but underneath it is turned up as by fire. + +6Its stones are the place of sapphires,[61] + +and it has dust of gold. + +7“That path no bird of prey knows, + +and the falcon's eye has not seen it. + +8The proud beasts have not trodden it; + +the lion has not passed over it. + +9“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock + +and overturns mountains by the roots. + +10He cuts out channels in the rocks, + +and his eye sees every precious thing. + +11He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, + +and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. + +12“But where shall wisdom be found? + +And where is the place of understanding? + +13Man does not know its worth, + +and it is not found in the land of the living. + +14The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ + +and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ + +15It cannot be bought for gold, + +and silver cannot be weighed as its price. + +16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, + +in precious onyx or sapphire. + +17Gold and glass cannot equal it, + +nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. + +18No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; + +the price of wisdom is above pearls. + +19The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, + +nor can it be valued in pure gold. + +20“From where, then, does wisdom come? + +And where is the place of understanding? + +21It is hidden from the eyes of all living + +and concealed from the birds of the air. + +22Abaddon and Death say, + +‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ + +23“God understands the way to it, + +and he knows its place. + +24For he looks to the ends of the earth + +and sees everything under the heavens. + +25When he gave to the wind its weight + +and apportioned the waters by measure, + +26when he made a decree for the rain + +and a way for the lightning of the thunder, + +27then he saw it and declared it; + +he established it, and searched it out. + +28And he said to man, + +‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, + +and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” + + + + + +Job's Summary Defense + + +29:1 And Job again took up his discourse, and said: + +2“Oh, that I were as in the months of old, + +as in the days when God watched over me, + +3when his lamp shone upon my head, + +and by his light I walked through darkness, + +4as I was in my prime,[62] + +when the friendship of God was upon my tent, + +5when the Almighty was yet with me, + +when my children were all around me, + +6when my steps were washed with butter, + +and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! + +7When I went out to the gate of the city, + +when I prepared my seat in the square, + +8the young men saw me and withdrew, + +and the aged rose and stood; + +9the princes refrained from talking + +and laid their hand on their mouth; + +10the voice of the nobles was hushed, + +and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. + +11When the ear heard, it called me blessed, + +and when the eye saw, it approved, + +12because I delivered the poor who cried for help, + +and the fatherless who had none to help him. + +13The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, + +and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. + +14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; + +my justice was like a robe and a turban. + +15I was eyes to the blind + +and feet to the lame. + +16I was a father to the needy, + +and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. + +17I broke the fangs of the unrighteous + +and made him drop his prey from his teeth. + +18Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest, + +and I shall multiply my days as the sand, + +19my roots spread out to the waters, + +with the dew all night on my branches, + +20my glory fresh with me, + +and my bow ever new in my hand.’ + +21“Men listened to me and waited + +and kept silence for my counsel. + +22After I spoke they did not speak again, + +and my word dropped upon them. + +23They waited for me as for the rain, + +and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain. + +24I smiled on them when they had no confidence, + +and the light of my face they did not cast down. + +25I chose their way and sat as chief, + +and I lived like a king among his troops, + +like one who comforts mourners. + + + + + +30:1 “But now they laugh at me, + +men who are younger than I, + +whose fathers I would have disdained + +to set with the dogs of my flock. + +2What could I gain from the strength of their hands, + +men whose vigor is gone? + +3Through want and hard hunger + +they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; + +4they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, + +and the roots of the broom tree for their food.[63] + +5They are driven out from human company; + +they shout after them as after a thief. + +6In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, + +in holes of the earth and of the rocks. + +7Among the bushes they bray; + +under the nettles they huddle together. + +8A senseless, a nameless brood, + +they have been whipped out of the land. + +9“And now I have become their song; + +I am a byword to them. + +10They abhor me; they keep aloof from me; + +they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. + +11Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, + +they have cast off restraint[64] in my presence. + +12On my right hand the rabble rise; + +they push away my feet; + +they cast up against me their ways of destruction. + +13They break up my path; + +they promote my calamity; + +they need no one to help them. + +14As through a wide breach they come; + +amid the crash they roll on. + +15Terrors are turned upon me; + +my honor is pursued as by the wind, + +and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. + +16“And now my soul is poured out within me; + +days of affliction have taken hold of me. + +17The night racks my bones, + +and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. + +18With great force my garment is disfigured; + +it binds me about like the collar of my tunic. + +19God[65] has cast me into the mire, + +and I have become like dust and ashes. + +20I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; + +I stand, and you only look at me. + +21You have turned cruel to me; + +with the might of your hand you persecute me. + +22You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, + +and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. + +23For I know that you will bring me to death + +and to the house appointed for all living. + +24“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, + +and in his disaster cry for help?[66] + +25Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? + +Was not my soul grieved for the needy? + +26But when I hoped for good, evil came, + +and when I waited for light, darkness came. + +27My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; + +days of affliction come to meet me. + +28I go about darkened, but not by the sun; + +I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. + +29I am a brother of jackals + +and a companion of ostriches. + +30My skin turns black and falls from me, + +and my bones burn with heat. + +31My lyre is turned to mourning, + +and my pipe to the voice of those who weep. + + + + + +Job's Final Appeal + + +31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; + +how then could I gaze at a virgin? + +2What would be my portion from God above + +and my heritage from the Almighty on high? + +3Is not calamity for the unrighteous, + +and disaster for the workers of iniquity? + +4Does not he see my ways + +and number all my steps? + +5“If I have walked with falsehood + +and my foot has hastened to deceit; + +6(Let me be weighed in a just balance, + +and let God know my integrity!) + +7if my step has turned aside from the way + +and my heart has gone after my eyes, + +and if any spot has stuck to my hands, + +8then let me sow, and another eat, + +and let what grows for me[67] be rooted out. + +9“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, + +and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door, + +10then let my wife grind for another, + +and let others bow down on her. + +11For that would be a heinous crime; + +that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; + +12for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, + +and it would burn to the root all my increase. + +13“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, + +when they brought a complaint against me, + +14what then shall I do when God rises up? + +When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? + +15Did not he who made me in the womb make him? + +And did not one fashion us in the womb? + +16“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, + +or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, + +17or have eaten my morsel alone, + +and the fatherless has not eaten of it + +18(for from my youth the fatherless[68] grew up with me as with a father, + +and from my mother's womb I guided the widow[69]), + +19if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, + +or the needy without covering, + +20if his body has not blessed me,[70] + +and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, + +21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, + +because I saw my help in the gate, + +22then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, + +and let my arm be broken from its socket. + +23For I was in terror of calamity from God, + +and I could not have faced his majesty. + +24“If I have made gold my trust + +or called fine gold my confidence, + +25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant + +or because my hand had found much, + +26if I have looked at the sun[71] when it shone, + +or the moon moving in splendor, + +27and my heart has been secretly enticed, + +and my mouth has kissed my hand, + +28this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, + +for I would have been false to God above. + +29“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, + +or exulted when evil overtook him + +30(I have not let my mouth sin + +by asking for his life with a curse), + +31if the men of my tent have not said, + +‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’ + +32(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; + +I have opened my doors to the traveler), + +33if I have concealed my transgressions as others do[72] + +by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, + +34because I stood in great fear of the multitude, + +and the contempt of families terrified me, + +so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors— + +35Oh, that I had one to hear me! + +(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) + +Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! + +36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; + +I would bind it on me as a crown; + +37I would give him an account of all my steps; + +like a prince I would approach him. + +38“If my land has cried out against me + +and its furrows have wept together, + +39if I have eaten its yield without payment + +and made its owners breathe their last, + +40let thorns grow instead of wheat, + +and foul weeds instead of barley.” + +The words of Job are ended. + + + + + +Elihu Rebukes Job's Three Friends + + +32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. 3He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. 4Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. 5And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger. + +6And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: + +“I am young in years, + +and you are aged; + +therefore I was timid and afraid + +to declare my opinion to you. + +7I said, ‘Let days speak, + +and many years teach wisdom.’ + +8But it is the spirit in man, + +the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. + +9It is not the old[73] who are wise, + +nor the aged who understand what is right. + +10Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me; + +let me also declare my opinion.’ + +11“Behold, I waited for your words, + +I listened for your wise sayings, + +while you searched out what to say. + +12I gave you my attention, + +and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job + +or who answered his words. + +13Beware lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom; + +God may vanquish him, not a man.’ + +14He has not directed his words against me, + +and I will not answer him with your speeches. + +15“They are dismayed; they answer no more; + +they have not a word to say. + +16And shall I wait, because they do not speak, + +because they stand there, and answer no more? + +17I also will answer with my share; + +I also will declare my opinion. + +18For I am full of words; + +the spirit within me constrains me. + +19Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent; + +like new wineskins ready to burst. + +20I must speak, that I may find relief; + +I must open my lips and answer. + +21I will not show partiality to any man + +or use flattery toward any person. + +22For I do not know how to flatter, + +else my Maker would soon take me away. + + + + + +Elihu Rebukes Job + + +33:1 “But now, hear my speech, O Job, + +and listen to all my words. + +2Behold, I open my mouth; + +the tongue in my mouth speaks. + +3My words declare the uprightness of my heart, + +and what my lips know they speak sincerely. + +4The Spirit of God has made me, + +and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. + +5Answer me, if you can; + +set your words in order before me; take your stand. + +6Behold, I am toward God as you are; + +I too was pinched off from a piece of clay. + +7Behold, no fear of me need terrify you; + +my pressure will not be heavy upon you. + +8“Surely you have spoken in my ears, + +and I have heard the sound of your words. + +9You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression; + +I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. + +10Behold, he finds occasions against me, + +he counts me as his enemy, + +11he puts my feet in the stocks + +and watches all my paths.’ + +12“Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, + +for God is greater than man. + +13Why do you contend against him, + +saying, ‘He will answer none of man's[74] words’?[75] + +14For God speaks in one way, + +and in two, though man does not perceive it. + +15In a dream, in a vision of the night, + +when deep sleep falls on men, + +while they slumber on their beds, + +16then he opens the ears of men + +and terrifies them with warnings, + +17that he may turn man aside from his deed + +and conceal pride from a man; + +18he keeps back his soul from the pit, + +his life from perishing by the sword. + +19“Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed + +and with continual strife in his bones, + +20so that his life loathes bread, + +and his appetite the choicest food. + +21His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, + +and his bones that were not seen stick out. + +22His soul draws near the pit, + +and his life to those who bring death. + +23If there be for him an angel, + +a mediator, one of the thousand, + +to declare to man what is right for him, + +24and he is merciful to him, and says, + +‘Deliver him from going down into the pit; + +I have found a ransom; + +25let his flesh become fresh with youth; + +let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’; + +26then man[76] prays to God, and he accepts him; + +he sees his face with a shout of joy, + +and he restores to man his righteousness. + +27He sings before men and says: + +‘I sinned and perverted what was right, + +and it was not repaid to me. + +28He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, + +and my life shall look upon the light.’ + +29“Behold, God does all these things, + +twice, three times, with a man, + +30to bring back his soul from the pit, + +that he may be lighted with the light of life. + +31Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; + +be silent, and I will speak. + +32If you have any words, answer me; + +speak, for I desire to justify you. + +33If not, listen to me; + +be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.” + + + + + +Elihu Asserts God's Justice + + +34:1 Then Elihu answered and said: + +2“Hear my words, you wise men, + +and give ear to me, you who know; + +3for the ear tests words + +as the palate tastes food. + +4Let us choose what is right; + +let us know among ourselves what is good. + +5For Job has said, ‘I am in the right, + +and God has taken away my right; + +6in spite of my right I am counted a liar; + +my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ + +7What man is like Job, + +who drinks up scoffing like water, + +8who travels in company with evildoers + +and walks with wicked men? + +9For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing + +that he should take delight in God.’ + +10“Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: + +far be it from God that he should do wickedness, + +and from the Almighty that he should do wrong. + +11For according to the work of a man he will repay him, + +and according to his ways he will make it befall him. + +12Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, + +and the Almighty will not pervert justice. + +13Who gave him charge over the earth, + +and who laid on him[77] the whole world? + +14If he should set his heart to it + +and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, + +15all flesh would perish together, + +and man would return to dust. + +16“If you have understanding, hear this; + +listen to what I say. + +17Shall one who hates justice govern? + +Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty, + +18who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ + +and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’ + +19who shows no partiality to princes, + +nor regards the rich more than the poor, + +for they are all the work of his hands? + +20In a moment they die; + +at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, + +and the mighty are taken away by no human hand. + +21“For his eyes are on the ways of a man, + +and he sees all his steps. + +22There is no gloom or deep darkness + +where evildoers may hide themselves. + +23For God[78] has no need to consider a man further, + +that he should go before God in judgment. + +24He shatters the mighty without investigation + +and sets others in their place. + +25Thus, knowing their works, + +he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed. + +26He strikes them for their wickedness + +in a place for all to see, + +27because they turned aside from following him + +and had no regard for any of his ways, + +28so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, + +and he heard the cry of the afflicted— + +29When he is quiet, who can condemn? + +When he hides his face, who can behold him, + +whether it be a nation or a man?— + +30that a godless man should not reign, + +that he should not ensnare the people. + +31“For has anyone said to God, + +‘I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more; + +32teach me what I do not see; + +if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’? + +33Will he then make repayment to suit you, + +because you reject it? + +For you must choose, and not I; + +therefore declare what you know.[79] + +34Men of understanding will say to me, + +and the wise man who hears me will say: + +35‘Job speaks without knowledge; + +his words are without insight.’ + +36Would that Job were tried to the end, + +because he answers like wicked men. + +37For he adds rebellion to his sin; + +he claps his hands among us + +and multiplies his words against God.” + + + + + +Elihu Condemns Job + + +35:1 And Elihu answered and said: + +2“Do you think this to be just? + +Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’ + +3that you ask, ‘What advantage have I? + +How am I better off than if I had sinned?’ + +4I will answer you + +and your friends with you. + +5Look at the heavens, and see; + +and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. + +6If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? + +And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? + +7If you are righteous, what do you give to him? + +Or what does he receive from your hand? + +8Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself, + +and your righteousness a son of man. + +9“Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; + +they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.[80] + +10But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, + +who gives songs in the night, + +11who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth + +and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’ + +12There they cry out, but he does not answer, + +because of the pride of evil men. + +13Surely God does not hear an empty cry, + +nor does the Almighty regard it. + +14How much less when you say that you do not see him, + +that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him! + +15And now, because his anger does not punish, + +and he does not take much note of transgression,[81] + +16Job opens his mouth in empty talk; + +he multiplies words without knowledge.” + + + + + +Elihu Extols God's Greatness + + +36:1 And Elihu continued, and said: + +2“Bear with me a little, and I will show you, + +for I have yet something to say on God's behalf. + +3I will get my knowledge from afar + +and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. + +4For truly my words are not false; + +one who is perfect in knowledge is with you. + +5“Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; + +he is mighty in strength of understanding. + +6He does not keep the wicked alive, + +but gives the afflicted their right. + +7He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, + +but with kings on the throne + +he sets them forever, and they are exalted. + +8And if they are bound in chains + +and caught in the cords of affliction, + +9then he declares to them their work + +and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly. + +10He opens their ears to instruction + +and commands that they return from iniquity. + +11If they listen and serve him, + +they complete their days in prosperity, + +and their years in pleasantness. + +12But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword + +and die without knowledge. + +13“The godless in heart cherish anger; + +they do not cry for help when he binds them. + +14They die in youth, + +and their life ends among the cult prostitutes. + +15He delivers the afflicted by their affliction + +and opens their ear by adversity. + +16He also allured you out of distress + +into a broad place where there was no cramping, + +and what was set on your table was full of fatness. + +17“But you are full of the judgment on the wicked; + +judgment and justice seize you. + +18Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing, + +and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside. + +19Will your cry for help avail to keep you from distress, + +or all the force of your strength? + +20Do not long for the night, + +when peoples vanish in their place. + +21Take care; do not turn to iniquity, + +for this you have chosen rather than affliction. + +22Behold, God is exalted in his power; + +who is a teacher like him? + +23Who has prescribed for him his way, + +or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’? + +24“Remember to extol his work, + +of which men have sung. + +25All mankind has looked on it; + +man beholds it from afar. + +26Behold, God is great, and we know him not; + +the number of his years is unsearchable. + +27For he draws up the drops of water; + +they distill his mist in rain, + +28which the skies pour down + +and drop on mankind abundantly. + +29Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, + +the thunderings of his pavilion? + +30Behold, he scatters his lightning about him + +and covers the roots of the sea. + +31For by these he judges peoples; + +he gives food in abundance. + +32He covers his hands with the lightning + +and commands it to strike the mark. + +33Its crashing declares his presence;[82] + +the cattle also declare that he rises. + + + + + +Elihu Proclaims God's Majesty + + +37:1 “At this also my heart trembles + +and leaps out of its place. + +2Keep listening to the thunder of his voice + +and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. + +3Under the whole heaven he lets it go, + +and his lightning to the corners of the earth. + +4After it his voice roars; + +he thunders with his majestic voice, + +and he does not restrain the lightnings[83] when his voice is heard. + +5God thunders wondrously with his voice; + +he does great things that we cannot comprehend. + +6For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ + +likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour. + +7He seals up the hand of every man, + +that all men whom he made may know it. + +8Then the beasts go into their lairs, + +and remain in their dens. + +9From its chamber comes the whirlwind, + +and cold from the scattering winds. + +10By the breath of God ice is given, + +and the broad waters are frozen fast. + +11He loads the thick cloud with moisture; + +the clouds scatter his lightning. + +12They turn around and around by his guidance, + +to accomplish all that he commands them + +on the face of the habitable world. + +13Whether for correction or for his land + +or for love, he causes it to happen. + +14“Hear this, O Job; + +stop and consider the wondrous works of God. + +15Do you know how God lays his command upon them + +and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? + +16Do you know the balancings[84] of the clouds, + +the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge, + +17you whose garments are hot + +when the earth is still because of the south wind? + +18Can you, like him, spread out the skies, + +hard as a cast metal mirror? + +19Teach us what we shall say to him; + +we cannot draw up our case because of darkness. + +20Shall it be told him that I would speak? + +Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up? + +21“And now no one looks on the light + +when it is bright in the skies, + +when the wind has passed and cleared them. + +22Out of the north comes golden splendor; + +God is clothed with awesome majesty. + +23The Almighty—we cannot find him; + +he is great in power; + +justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. + +24Therefore men fear him; + +he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”[85] + + + + + +The LORD Answers Job + + +38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: + +2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? + +3Dress for action[86] like a man; + +I will question you, and you make it known to me. + +4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? + +Tell me, if you have understanding. + +5Who determined its measurements—surely you know! + +Or who stretched the line upon it? + +6On what were its bases sunk, + +or who laid its cornerstone, + +7when the morning stars sang together + +and all the sons of God shouted for joy? + +8“Or who shut in the sea with doors + +when it burst out from the womb, + +9when I made clouds its garment + +and thick darkness its swaddling band, + +10and prescribed limits for it + +and set bars and doors, + +11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, + +and here shall your proud waves be stayed’? + +12“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, + +and caused the dawn to know its place, + +13that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, + +and the wicked be shaken out of it? + +14It is changed like clay under the seal, + +and its features stand out like a garment. + +15From the wicked their light is withheld, + +and their uplifted arm is broken. + +16“Have you entered into the springs of the sea, + +or walked in the recesses of the deep? + +17Have the gates of death been revealed to you, + +or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? + +18Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? + +Declare, if you know all this. + +19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light, + +and where is the place of darkness, + +20that you may take it to its territory + +and that you may discern the paths to its home? + +21You know, for you were born then, + +and the number of your days is great! + +22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, + +or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, + +23which I have reserved for the time of trouble, + +for the day of battle and war? + +24What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, + +or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? + +25“Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain + +and a way for the thunderbolt, + +26to bring rain on a land where no man is, + +on the desert in which there is no man, + +27to satisfy the waste and desolate land, + +and to make the ground sprout with grass? + +28“Has the rain a father, + +or who has begotten the drops of dew? + +29From whose womb did the ice come forth, + +and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? + +30The waters become hard like stone, + +and the face of the deep is frozen. + +31“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades + +or loose the cords of Orion? + +32Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth[87] in their season, + +or can you guide the Bear with its children? + +33Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? + +Can you establish their rule on the earth? + +34“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, + +that a flood of waters may cover you? + +35Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go + +and say to you, ‘Here we are’? + +36Who has put wisdom in the inward parts[88] + +or given understanding to the mind?[89] + +37Who can number the clouds by wisdom? + +Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, + +38when the dust runs into a mass + +and the clods stick fast together? + +39“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, + +or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, + +40when they crouch in their dens + +or lie in wait in their thicket? + +41Who provides for the raven its prey, + +when its young ones cry to God for help, + +and wander about for lack of food? + + + + + +39:1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? + +Do you observe the calving of the does? + +2Can you number the months that they fulfill, + +and do you know the time when they give birth, + +3when they crouch, bring forth their offspring, + +and are delivered of their young? + +4Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open; + +they go out and do not return to them. + +5“Who has let the wild donkey go free? + +Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, + +6to whom I have given the arid plain for his home + +and the salt land for his dwelling place? + +7He scorns the tumult of the city; + +he hears not the shouts of the driver. + +8He ranges the mountains as his pasture, + +and he searches after every green thing. + +9“Is the wild ox willing to serve you? + +Will he spend the night at your manger? + +10Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, + +or will he harrow the valleys after you? + +11Will you depend on him because his strength is great, + +and will you leave to him your labor? + +12Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain + +and gather it to your threshing floor? + +13“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, + +but are they the pinions and plumage of love?[90] + +14For she leaves her eggs to the earth + +and lets them be warmed on the ground, + +15forgetting that a foot may crush them + +and that the wild beast may trample them. + +16She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers; + +though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear, + +17because God has made her forget wisdom + +and given her no share in understanding. + +18When she rouses herself to flee,[91] + +she laughs at the horse and his rider. + +19“Do you give the horse his might? + +Do you clothe his neck with a mane? + +20Do you make him leap like the locust? + +His majestic snorting is terrifying. + +21He paws[92] in the valley and exults in his strength; + +he goes out to meet the weapons. + +22He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; + +he does not turn back from the sword. + +23Upon him rattle the quiver, + +the flashing spear, and the javelin. + +24With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground; + +he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet. + +25When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’ + +He smells the battle from afar, + +the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. + +26“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars + +and spreads his wings toward the south? + +27Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up + +and makes his nest on high? + +28On the rock he dwells and makes his home, + +on the rocky crag and stronghold. + +29From there he spies out the prey; + +his eyes behold it from far away. + +30His young ones suck up blood, + +and where the slain are, there is he.” + + + + + +40:1 And the LORD said to Job: + +2“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? + +He who argues with God, let him answer it.” + + + + + +Job Promises Silence + + +3Then Job answered the LORD and said: + +4“Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? + +I lay my hand on my mouth. + +5I have spoken once, and I will not answer; + +twice, but I will proceed no further.” + + + + + +The LORD Challenges Job + + +6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: + +7“Dress for action[93] like a man; + +I will question you, and you make it known to me. + +8Will you even put me in the wrong? + +Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? + +9Have you an arm like God, + +and can you thunder with a voice like his? + +10“Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; + +clothe yourself with glory and splendor. + +11Pour out the overflowings of your anger, + +and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. + +12Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low + +and tread down the wicked where they stand. + +13Hide them all in the dust together; + +bind their faces in the world below.[94] + +14Then will I also acknowledge to you + +that your own right hand can save you. + +15“Behold, Behemoth,[95] + +which I made as I made you; + +he eats grass like an ox. + +16Behold, his strength in his loins, + +and his power in the muscles of his belly. + +17He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; + +the sinews of his thighs are knit together. + +18His bones are tubes of bronze, + +his limbs like bars of iron. + +19“He is the first of the works[96] of God; + +let him who made him bring near his sword! + +20For the mountains yield food for him + +where all the wild beasts play. + +21Under the lotus plants he lies, + +in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh. + +22For his shade the lotus trees cover him; + +the willows of the brook surround him. + +23Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; + +he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth. + +24Can one take him by his eyes,[97] + +or pierce his nose with a snare? + + + + + +41:1 [98] “Can you draw out Leviathan[99] with a fishhook + +or press down his tongue with a cord? + +2Can you put a rope in his nose + +or pierce his jaw with a hook? + +3Will he make many pleas to you? + +Will he speak to you soft words? + +4Will he make a covenant with you + +to take him for your servant forever? + +5Will you play with him as with a bird, + +or will you put him on a leash for your girls? + +6Will traders bargain over him? + +Will they divide him up among the merchants? + +7Can you fill his skin with harpoons + +or his head with fishing spears? + +8Lay your hands on him; + +remember the battle—you will not do it again! + +9[100] Behold, the hope of a man is false; + +he is laid low even at the sight of him. + +10No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. + +Who then is he who can stand before me? + +11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? + +Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. + +12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, + +or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. + +13Who can strip off his outer garment? + +Who would come near him with a bridle? + +14Who can open the doors of his face? + +Around his teeth is terror. + +15His back is made of[101] rows of shields, + +shut up closely as with a seal. + +16One is so near to another + +that no air can come between them. + +17They are joined one to another; + +they clasp each other and cannot be separated. + +18His sneezings flash forth light, + +and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. + +19Out of his mouth go flaming torches; + +sparks of fire leap forth. + +20Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, + +as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. + +21His breath kindles coals, + +and a flame comes forth from his mouth. + +22In his neck abides strength, + +and terror dances before him. + +23The folds of his flesh stick together, + +firmly cast on him and immovable. + +24His heart is hard as a stone, + +hard as the lower millstone. + +25When he raises himself up the mighty[102] are afraid; + +at the crashing they are beside themselves. + +26Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, + +nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. + +27He counts iron as straw, + +and bronze as rotten wood. + +28The arrow cannot make him flee; + +for him sling stones are turned to stubble. + +29Clubs are counted as stubble; + +he laughs at the rattle of javelins. + +30His underparts are like sharp potsherds; + +he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. + +31He makes the deep boil like a pot; + +he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. + +32Behind him he leaves a shining wake; + +one would think the deep to be white-haired. + +33On earth there is not his like, + +a creature without fear. + +34He sees everything that is high; + +he is king over all the sons of pride.” + + + + + +Job's Confession and Repentance + + +42:1 Then Job answered the LORD and said: + +2“I know that you can do all things, + +and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. + +3‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ + +Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, + +things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. + +4‘Hear, and I will speak; + +I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ + +5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, + +but now my eye sees you; + +6therefore I despise myself, + +and repent[103] in dust and ashes.” + + + + + +The LORD Rebukes Job's Friends + + +7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer. + + + + + +The LORD Restores Job's Fortunes + + +10And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil[104] that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money[105] and a ring of gold. + +12And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. 17And Job died, an old man, and full of days. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:5 The Hebrew word bless is used euphemistically for curse in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9 + +[2] 1:6 Hebrew the Adversary; so throughout chapters 1–2 + +[3] 1:15 Hebrew the young men; also verses 16, 17 + +[4] 2:10 Or disaster; also verse 11 + +[5] 3:24 Or like; Hebrew before + +[6] 4:6 Hebrew lacks of God + +[7] 4:17 Or more than; twice in this verse + +[8] 5:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[9] 5:5 Aquila, Symmachus, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew could be read as and the snare pants + +[10] 5:5 Hebrew their + +[11] 5:19 Or disaster + +[12] 5:27 Hebrew for yourself + +[13] 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[14] 6:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[15] 6:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[16] 6:14 Syriac, Vulgate (compare Targum); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[17] 8:14 Hebrew house + +[18] 9:15 Or to my judge + +[19] 9:19 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew me + +[20] 9:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[21] 9:33 Or Would that there were an + +[22] 10:16 Hebrew lacks my head + +[23] 11:4 Hebrew your + +[24] 11:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[25] 11:8 Hebrew The heights of heaven + +[26] 12:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[27] 12:8 Or speak to the earth + +[28] 12:13 Hebrew him + +[29] 13:15 Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope + +[30] 13:27 Or you marked + +[31] 13:28 Hebrew He + +[32] 14:6 Probable reading; Hebrew look away from him, that he may cease + +[33] 14:14 Or relief + +[34] 15:4 Hebrew lacks of God + +[35] 15:15 Hebrew he + +[36] 15:29 Or nor will his produce bend down to the earth + +[37] 16:7 Hebrew you have; also verse 8 + +[38] 16:21 Hebrew and + +[39] 17:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[40] 19:12 Hebrew their way + +[41] 19:25 Hebrew dust + +[42] 19:26 Or without + +[43] 20:23 Hebrew he + +[44] 20:28 Hebrew his + +[45] 21:17 Hebrew he + +[46] 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[47] 22:17 Hebrew them + +[48] 22:29 Or you say, ‘It is exaltation’ + +[49] 22:30 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew him that is not innocent + +[50] 23:2 Or defiant + +[51] 23:13 Or one + +[52] 24:5 Hebrew they + +[53] 24:6 Hebrew his + +[54] 24:11 Hebrew their olive rows + +[55] 24:22 Hebrew he + +[56] 25:2 Hebrew him + +[57] 26:6 Hebrew him + +[58] 26:9 Or his throne + +[59] 27:22 Or He (that is, God); also verse 23 + +[60] 27:22 Or his; also verse 23 + +[61] 28:6 Or lapis lazuli; also verse 16 + +[62] 29:4 Hebrew my autumn days + +[63] 30:4 Or warmth + +[64] 30:11 Hebrew the bridle + +[65] 30:19 Hebrew He + +[66] 30:24 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[67] 31:8 Or let my descendants + +[68] 31:18 Hebrew he + +[69] 31:18 Hebrew her + +[70] 31:20 Hebrew if his loins have not blessed me + +[71] 31:26 Hebrew the light + +[72] 31:33 Or as Adam did + +[73] 32:9 Hebrew many [in years] + +[74] 33:13 Hebrew his + +[75] 33:13 Or He will not answer for any of his own words + +[76] 33:26 Hebrew he + +[77] 34:13 Hebrew lacks on him + +[78] 34:23 Hebrew he + +[79] 34:33 The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 29-33 is uncertain + +[80] 35:9 Or the many + +[81] 35:15 Theodotion, Symmachus (compare Vulgate); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[82] 36:33 Hebrew declares concerning him + +[83] 37:4 Hebrew them + +[84] 37:16 Or hoverings + +[85] 37:24 Hebrew in heart + +[86] 38:3 Hebrew Gird up your loins + +[87] 38:32 Probably the name of a constellation + +[88] 38:36 Or in the ibis + +[89] 38:36 Or rooster + +[90] 39:13 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[91] 39:18 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[92] 39:21 Hebrew They paw + +[93] 40:7 Hebrew Gird up your loins + +[94] 40:13 Hebrew in the hidden place + +[95] 40:15 A large animal, exact identity unknown + +[96] 40:19 Hebrew ways + +[97] 40:24 Or in his sight + +[98] 41:1 Ch 40:25 in Hebrew + +[99] 41:1 A large sea animal, exact identity unknown + +[100] 41:9 Ch 41:1 in Hebrew + +[101] 41:15 Or His pride is in his + +[102] 41:25 Or gods + +[103] 42:6 Or and am comforted + +[104] 42:11 Or disaster + +[105] 42:11 Hebrew a qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value + + + + + +PSALMS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + +Chapter 37 + +Chapter 38 + +Chapter 39 + +Chapter 40 + +Chapter 41 + +Chapter 42 + +Chapter 43 + +Chapter 44 + +Chapter 45 + +Chapter 46 + +Chapter 47 + +Chapter 48 + +Chapter 49 + +Chapter 50 + +Chapter 51 + +Chapter 52 + +Chapter 53 + +Chapter 54 + +Chapter 55 + +Chapter 56 + +Chapter 57 + +Chapter 58 + +Chapter 59 + +Chapter 60 + +Chapter 61 + +Chapter 62 + +Chapter 63 + +Chapter 64 + +Chapter 65 + +Chapter 66 + +Chapter 67 + +Chapter 68 + +Chapter 69 + +Chapter 70 + +Chapter 71 + +Chapter 72 + +Chapter 73 + +Chapter 74 + +Chapter 75 + +Chapter 76 + +Chapter 77 + +Chapter 78 + +Chapter 79 + +Chapter 80 + +Chapter 81 + +Chapter 82 + +Chapter 83 + +Chapter 84 + +Chapter 85 + +Chapter 86 + +Chapter 87 + +Chapter 88 + +Chapter 89 + +Chapter 90 + +Chapter 91 + +Chapter 92 + +Chapter 93 + +Chapter 94 + +Chapter 95 + +Chapter 96 + +Chapter 97 + +Chapter 98 + +Chapter 99 + +Chapter 100 + +Chapter 101 + +Chapter 102 + +Chapter 103 + +Chapter 104 + +Chapter 105 + +Chapter 106 + +Chapter 107 + +Chapter 108 + +Chapter 109 + +Chapter 110 + +Chapter 111 + +Chapter 112 + +Chapter 113 + +Chapter 114 + +Chapter 115 + +Chapter 116 + +Chapter 117 + +Chapter 118 + +Chapter 119 + +Chapter 120 + +Chapter 121 + +Chapter 122 + +Chapter 123 + +Chapter 124 + +Chapter 125 + +Chapter 126 + +Chapter 127 + +Chapter 128 + +Chapter 129 + +Chapter 130 + +Chapter 131 + +Chapter 132 + +Chapter 133 + +Chapter 134 + +Chapter 135 + +Chapter 136 + +Chapter 137 + +Chapter 138 + +Chapter 139 + +Chapter 140 + +Chapter 141 + +Chapter 142 + +Chapter 143 + +Chapter 144 + +Chapter 145 + +Chapter 146 + +Chapter 147 + +Chapter 148 + +Chapter 149 + +Chapter 150 + + + + + +BOOK ONE + + +The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked + + +1:1 Blessed is the man[1] + +who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, + +nor stands in the way of sinners, + +nor sits in the seat of scoffers; + +2but his delight is in the law[2] of the LORD, + +and on his law he meditates day and night. + +3He is like a tree + +planted by streams of water + +that yields its fruit in its season, + +and its leaf does not wither. + +In all that he does, he prospers. + +4The wicked are not so, + +but are like chaff that the wind drives away. + +5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, + +nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; + +6for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, + +but the way of the wicked will perish. + + + + + +The Reign of the LORD's Anointed + + +2:1 Why do the nations rage[3] + +and the peoples plot in vain? + +2The kings of the earth set themselves, + +and the rulers take counsel together, + +against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, + +3“Let us burst their bonds apart + +and cast away their cords from us.” + +4He who sits in the heavens laughs; + +the Lord holds them in derision. + +5Then he will speak to them in his wrath, + +and terrify them in his fury, saying, + +6“As for me, I have set my King + +on Zion, my holy hill.” + +7I will tell of the decree: + +The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; + +today I have begotten you. + +8Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, + +and the ends of the earth your possession. + +9You shall break[4] them with a rod of iron + +and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.” + +10Now therefore, O kings, be wise; + +be warned, O rulers of the earth. + +11Serve the LORD with fear, + +and rejoice with trembling. + +12Kiss the Son, + +lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, + +for his wrath is quickly kindled. + +Blessed are all who take refuge in him. + + + + + +Save Me, O My God + + +A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. + + +3:1 O LORD, how many are my foes! + +Many are rising against me; + +2many are saying of my soul, + +there is no salvation for him in God. Selah[5] + +3But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, + +my glory, and the lifter of my head. + +4I cried aloud to the LORD, + +and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah + +5I lay down and slept; + +I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. + +6I will not be afraid of many thousands of people + +who have set themselves against me all around. + +7Arise, O LORD! + +Save me, O my God! + +For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; + +you break the teeth of the wicked. + +8Salvation belongs to the LORD; + +your blessing be on your people! Selah + + + + + +Answer Me When I Call + + +To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. + + +4:1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! + +You have given me relief when I was in distress. + +Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! + +2O men,[6] how long shall my honor be turned into shame? + +How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah + +3But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; + +the LORD hears when I call to him. + +4Be angry,[7] and do not sin; + +ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah + +5Offer right sacrifices, + +and put your trust in the LORD. + +6There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? + +Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” + +7You have put more joy in my heart + +than they have when their grain and wine abound. + +8In peace I will both lie down and sleep; + +for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. + + + + + +Lead Me in Your Righteousness + + +To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. + + +5:1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; + +consider my groaning. + +2Give attention to the sound of my cry, + +my King and my God, + +for to you do I pray. + +3O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; + +in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you[8] and watch. + +4For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; + +evil may not dwell with you. + +5The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; + +you hate all evildoers. + +6You destroy those who speak lies; + +the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. + +7But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, + +will enter your house. + +I will bow down toward your holy temple + +in the fear of you. + +8Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness + +because of my enemies; + +make your way straight before me. + +9For there is no truth in their mouth; + +their inmost self is destruction; + +their throat is an open grave; + +they flatter with their tongue. + +10Make them bear their guilt, O God; + +let them fall by their own counsels; + +because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, + +for they have rebelled against you. + +11But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; + +let them ever sing for joy, + +and spread your protection over them, + +that those who love your name may exult in you. + +12For you bless the righteous, O LORD; + +you cover him with favor as with a shield. + + + + + +O LORD, Deliver My Life + + +To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith.[9] A Psalm of David. + + +6:1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, + +nor discipline me in your wrath. + +2Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; + +heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. + +3My soul also is greatly troubled. + +But you, O LORD—how long? + +4Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; + +save me for the sake of your steadfast love. + +5For in death there is no remembrance of you; + +in Sheol who will give you praise? + +6I am weary with my moaning; + +every night I flood my bed with tears; + +I drench my couch with my weeping. + +7My eye wastes away because of grief; + +it grows weak because of all my foes. + +8Depart from me, all you workers of evil, + +for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. + +9The LORD has heard my plea; + +the LORD accepts my prayer. + +10All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; + +they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. + + + + + +In You Do I Take Refuge + + +A Shiggaion[10] of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite. + + +7:1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; + +save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, + +2lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, + +rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. + +3O LORD my God, if I have done this, + +if there is wrong in my hands, + +4if I have repaid my friend[11] with evil + +or plundered my enemy without cause, + +5let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, + +and let him trample my life to the ground + +and lay my glory in the dust. Selah + +6Arise, O LORD, in your anger; + +lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; + +awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. + +7Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; + +over it return on high. + +8The LORD judges the peoples; + +judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness + +and according to the integrity that is in me. + +9Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, + +and may you establish the righteous— + +you who test the minds and hearts,[12] + +O righteous God! + +10My shield is with God, + +who saves the upright in heart. + +11God is a righteous judge, + +and a God who feels indignation every day. + +12If a man[13] does not repent, God[14] will whet his sword; + +he has bent and readied his bow; + +13he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, + +making his arrows fiery shafts. + +14Behold, the wicked man conceives evil + +and is pregnant with mischief + +and gives birth to lies. + +15He makes a pit, digging it out, + +and falls into the hole that he has made. + +16His mischief returns upon his own head, + +and on his own skull his violence descends. + +17I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, + +and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. + + + + + +How Majestic Is Your Name + + +To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.[15] A Psalm of David. + + +8:1 O LORD, our Lord, + +how majestic is your name in all the earth! + +You have set your glory above the heavens. + +2Out of the mouth of babies and infants, + +you have established strength because of your foes, + +to still the enemy and the avenger. + +3When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, + +the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, + +4what is man that you are mindful of him, + +and the son of man that you care for him? + +5Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[16] + +and crowned him with glory and honor. + +6You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; + +you have put all things under his feet, + +7all sheep and oxen, + +and also the beasts of the field, + +8the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, + +whatever passes along the paths of the seas. + +9O LORD, our Lord, + +how majestic is your name in all the earth! + + + + + +I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds + + +[17] To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.[18] A Psalm of David. + + +9:1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; + +I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. + +2I will be glad and exult in you; + +I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. + +3When my enemies turn back, + +they stumble and perish before[19] your presence. + +4For you have maintained my just cause; + +you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. + +5You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; + +you have blotted out their name forever and ever. + +6The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; + +their cities you rooted out; + +the very memory of them has perished. + +7But the LORD sits enthroned forever; + +he has established his throne for justice, + +8and he judges the world with righteousness; + +he judges the peoples with uprightness. + +9The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, + +a stronghold in times of trouble. + +10And those who know your name put their trust in you, + +for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. + +11Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! + +Tell among the peoples his deeds! + +12For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; + +he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. + +13Be gracious to me, O LORD! + +See my affliction from those who hate me, + +O you who lift me up from the gates of death, + +14that I may recount all your praises, + +that in the gates of the daughter of Zion + +I may rejoice in your salvation. + +15The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; + +in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught. + +16The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; + +the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.[20] Selah + +17The wicked shall return to Sheol, + +all the nations that forget God. + +18For the needy shall not always be forgotten, + +and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. + +19Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; + +let the nations be judged before you! + +20Put them in fear, O LORD! + +Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah + + + + + +Why Do You Hide Yourself? + + +10:1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? + +Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? + +2In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; + +let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. + +3For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, + +and the one greedy for gain curses[21] and renounces the LORD. + +4In the pride of his face[22] the wicked does not seek him;[23] + +all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” + +5His ways prosper at all times; + +your judgments are on high, out of his sight; + +as for all his foes, he puffs at them. + +6He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; + +throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.” + +7His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; + +under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. + +8He sits in ambush in the villages; + +in hiding places he murders the innocent. + +His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; + +9he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; + +he lurks that he may seize the poor; + +he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. + +10The helpless are crushed, sink down, + +and fall by his might. + +11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, + +he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” + +12Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; + +forget not the afflicted. + +13Why does the wicked renounce God + +and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? + +14But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, + +that you may take it into your hands; + +to you the helpless commits himself; + +you have been the helper of the fatherless. + +15Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; + +call his wickedness to account till you find none. + +16The LORD is king forever and ever; + +the nations perish from his land. + +17O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; + +you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear + +18to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, + +so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. + + + + + +The LORD Is in His Holy Temple + + +To the choirmaster. Of David. + + +11:1 In the LORD I take refuge; + +how can you say to my soul, + +“Flee like a bird to your mountain, + +2for behold, the wicked bend the bow; + +they have fitted their arrow to the string + +to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; + +3if the foundations are destroyed, + +what can the righteous do?”[24] + +4The LORD is in his holy temple; + +the LORD's throne is in heaven; + +his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. + +5The LORD tests the righteous, + +but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. + +6Let him rain coals on the wicked; + +fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. + +7For the LORD is righteous; + +he loves righteous deeds; + +the upright shall behold his face. + + + + + +The Faithful Have Vanished + + +To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.[25] A Psalm of David. + + +12:1 Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; + +for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. + +2Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; + +with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. + +3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, + +the tongue that makes great boasts, + +4those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, + +our lips are with us; who is master over us?” + +5“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, + +I will now arise,” says the LORD; + +“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” + +6The words of the LORD are pure words, + +like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, + +purified seven times. + +7You, O LORD, will keep them; + +you will guard us[26] from this generation forever. + +8On every side the wicked prowl, + +as vileness is exalted among the children of man. + + + + + +How Long, O LORD? + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +13:1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? + +How long will you hide your face from me? + +2How long must I take counsel in my soul + +and have sorrow in my heart all the day? + +How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? + +3Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; + +light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, + +4lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” + +lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. + +5But I have trusted in your steadfast love; + +my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. + +6I will sing to the LORD, + +because he has dealt bountifully with me. + + + + + +The Fool Says, There Is No God + + +To the choirmaster. Of David. + + +14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” + +They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, + +there is none who does good. + +2The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, + +to see if there are any who understand,[27] + +who seek after God. + +3They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; + +there is none who does good, + +not even one. + +4Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers + +who eat up my people as they eat bread + +and do not call upon the LORD? + +5There they are in great terror, + +for God is with the generation of the righteous. + +6You would shame the plans of the poor, + +but[28] the LORD is his refuge. + +7Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! + +When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, + +let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. + + + + + +Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill? + + +A Psalm of David. + + +15:1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? + +Who shall dwell on your holy hill? + +2He who walks blamelessly and does what is right + +and speaks truth in his heart; + +3who does not slander with his tongue + +and does no evil to his neighbor, + +nor takes up a reproach against his friend; + +4in whose eyes a vile person is despised, + +but who honors those who fear the LORD; + +who swears to his own hurt and does not change; + +5who does not put out his money at interest + +and does not take a bribe against the innocent. + +He who does these things shall never be moved. + + + + + +You Will Not Abandon My Soul + + +A Miktam[29] of David. + + +16:1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. + +2I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; + +I have no good apart from you.” + +3As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, + +in whom is all my delight.[30] + +4The sorrows of those who run after[31] another god shall multiply; + +their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out + +or take their names on my lips. + +5The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; + +you hold my lot. + +6The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; + +indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. + +7I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; + +in the night also my heart instructs me.[32] + +8I have set the LORD always before me; + +because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. + +9Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being[33] rejoices; + +my flesh also dwells secure. + +10For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, + +or let your holy one see corruption.[34] + +11You make known to me the path of life; + +in your presence there is fullness of joy; + +at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. + + + + + +In the Shadow of Your Wings + + +A Prayer of David. + + +17:1 Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! + +Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! + +2From your presence let my vindication come! + +Let your eyes behold the right! + +3You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, + +you have tested me, and you will find nothing; + +I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. + +4With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips + +I have avoided the ways of the violent. + +5My steps have held fast to your paths; + +my feet have not slipped. + +6I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; + +incline your ear to me; hear my words. + +7Wondrously show[35] your steadfast love, + +O Savior of those who seek refuge + +from their adversaries at your right hand. + +8Keep me as the apple of your eye; + +hide me in the shadow of your wings, + +9from the wicked who do me violence, + +my deadly enemies who surround me. + +10They close their hearts to pity; + +with their mouths they speak arrogantly. + +11They have now surrounded our steps; + +they set their eyes to cast us to the ground. + +12He is like a lion eager to tear, + +as a young lion lurking in ambush. + +13Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! + +Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, + +14from men by your hand, O LORD, + +from men of the world whose portion is in this life.[36] + +You fill their womb with treasure;[37] + +they are satisfied with children, + +and they leave their abundance to their infants. + +15As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; + +when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. + + + + + +The LORD Is My Rock and My Fortress + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said: + + +18:1 I love you, O LORD, my strength. + +2The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, + +my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, + +my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. + +3I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, + +and I am saved from my enemies. + +4The cords of death encompassed me; + +the torrents of destruction assailed me;[38] + +5the cords of Sheol entangled me; + +the snares of death confronted me. + +6In my distress I called upon the LORD; + +to my God I cried for help. + +From his temple he heard my voice, + +and my cry to him reached his ears. + +7Then the earth reeled and rocked; + +the foundations also of the mountains trembled + +and quaked, because he was angry. + +8Smoke went up from his nostrils,[39] + +and devouring fire from his mouth; + +glowing coals flamed forth from him. + +9He bowed the heavens and came down; + +thick darkness was under his feet. + +10He rode on a cherub and flew; + +he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. + +11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, + +thick clouds dark with water. + +12Out of the brightness before him + +hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. + +13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, + +and the Most High uttered his voice, + +hailstones and coals of fire. + +14And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; + +he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. + +15Then the channels of the sea were seen, + +and the foundations of the world were laid bare + +at your rebuke, O LORD, + +at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. + +16He sent from on high, he took me; + +he drew me out of many waters. + +17He rescued me from my strong enemy + +and from those who hated me, + +for they were too mighty for me. + +18They confronted me in the day of my calamity, + +but the LORD was my support. + +19He brought me out into a broad place; + +he rescued me, because he delighted in me. + +20The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; + +according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. + +21For I have kept the ways of the LORD, + +and have not wickedly departed from my God. + +22For all his rules[40] were before me, + +and his statutes I did not put away from me. + +23I was blameless before him, + +and I kept myself from my guilt. + +24So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, + +according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. + +25With the merciful you show yourself merciful; + +with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; + +26with the purified you show yourself pure; + +and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. + +27For you save a humble people, + +but the haughty eyes you bring down. + +28For it is you who light my lamp; + +the LORD my God lightens my darkness. + +29For by you I can run against a troop, + +and by my God I can leap over a wall. + +30This God—his way is perfect;[41] + +the word of the LORD proves true; + +he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. + +31For who is God, but the LORD? + +And who is a rock, except our God?— + +32the God who equipped me with strength + +and made my way blameless. + +33He made my feet like the feet of a deer + +and set me secure on the heights. + +34He trains my hands for war, + +so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. + +35You have given me the shield of your salvation, + +and your right hand supported me, + +and your gentleness made me great. + +36You gave a wide place for my steps under me, + +and my feet did not slip. + +37I pursued my enemies and overtook them, + +and did not turn back till they were consumed. + +38I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; + +they fell under my feet. + +39For you equipped me with strength for the battle; + +you made those who rise against me sink under me. + +40You made my enemies turn their backs to me,[42] + +and those who hated me I destroyed. + +41They cried for help, but there was none to save; + +they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. + +42I beat them fine as dust before the wind; + +I cast them out like the mire of the streets. + +43You delivered me from strife with the people; + +you made me the head of the nations; + +people whom I had not known served me. + +44As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; + +foreigners came cringing to me. + +45Foreigners lost heart + +and came trembling out of their fortresses. + +46The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, + +and exalted be the God of my salvation— + +47the God who gave me vengeance + +and subdued peoples under me, + +48who delivered me from my enemies; + +yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; + +you rescued me from the man of violence. + +49For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, + +and sing to your name. + +50Great salvation he brings to his king, + +and shows steadfast love to his anointed, + +to David and his offspring forever. + + + + + +The Law of the LORD Is Perfect + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, + +and the sky above[43] proclaims his handiwork. + +2Day to day pours out speech, + +and night to night reveals knowledge. + +3There is no speech, nor are there words, + +whose voice is not heard. + +4Their voice[44] goes out through all the earth, + +and their words to the end of the world. + +In them he has set a tent for the sun, + +5which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, + +and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. + +6Its rising is from the end of the heavens, + +and its circuit to the end of them, + +and there is nothing hidden from its heat. + +7The law of the LORD is perfect,[45] + +reviving the soul; + +the testimony of the LORD is sure, + +making wise the simple; + +8the precepts of the LORD are right, + +rejoicing the heart; + +the commandment of the LORD is pure, + +enlightening the eyes; + +9the fear of the LORD is clean, + +enduring forever; + +the rules[46] of the LORD are true, + +and righteous altogether. + +10More to be desired are they than gold, + +even much fine gold; + +sweeter also than honey + +and drippings of the honeycomb. + +11Moreover, by them is your servant warned; + +in keeping them there is great reward. + +12Who can discern his errors? + +Declare me innocent from hidden faults. + +13Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; + +let them not have dominion over me! + +Then I shall be blameless, + +and innocent of great transgression. + +14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart + +be acceptable in your sight, + +O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. + + + + + +Trust in the Name of the LORD Our God + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +20:1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! + +May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! + +2May he send you help from the sanctuary + +and give you support from Zion! + +3May he remember all your offerings + +and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah + +4May he grant you your heart's desire + +and fulfill all your plans! + +5May we shout for joy over your salvation, + +and in the name of our God set up our banners! + +May the LORD fulfill all your petitions! + +6Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; + +he will answer him from his holy heaven + +with the saving might of his right hand. + +7Some trust in chariots and some in horses, + +but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. + +8They collapse and fall, + +but we rise and stand upright. + +9O LORD, save the king! + +May he answer us when we call. + + + + + +The King Rejoices in the LORD's Strength + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +21:1 O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices, + +and in your salvation how greatly he exults! + +2You have given him his heart's desire + +and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah + +3For you meet him with rich blessings; + +you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. + +4He asked life of you; you gave it to him, + +length of days forever and ever. + +5His glory is great through your salvation; + +splendor and majesty you bestow on him. + +6For you make him most blessed forever;[47] + +you make him glad with the joy of your presence. + +7For the king trusts in the LORD, + +and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. + +8Your hand will find out all your enemies; + +your right hand will find out those who hate you. + +9You will make them as a blazing oven + +when you appear. + +The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, + +and fire will consume them. + +10You will destroy their descendants from the earth, + +and their offspring from among the children of man. + +11Though they plan evil against you, + +though they devise mischief, they will not succeed. + +12For you will put them to flight; + +you will aim at their faces with your bows. + +13Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! + +We will sing and praise your power. + + + + + +Why Have You Forsaken Me? + + +To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. + + +22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? + +Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? + +2O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, + +and by night, but I find no rest. + +3Yet you are holy, + +enthroned on the praises[48] of Israel. + +4In you our fathers trusted; + +they trusted, and you delivered them. + +5To you they cried and were rescued; + +in you they trusted and were not put to shame. + +6But I am a worm and not a man, + +scorned by mankind and despised by the people. + +7All who see me mock me; + +they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; + +8“He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; + +let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” + +9Yet you are he who took me from the womb; + +you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. + +10On you was I cast from my birth, + +and from my mother's womb you have been my God. + +11Be not far from me, + +for trouble is near, + +and there is none to help. + +12Many bulls encompass me; + +strong bulls of Bashan surround me; + +13they open wide their mouths at me, + +like a ravening and roaring lion. + +14I am poured out like water, + +and all my bones are out of joint; + +my heart is like wax; + +it is melted within my breast; + +15my strength is dried up like a potsherd, + +and my tongue sticks to my jaws; + +you lay me in the dust of death. + +16For dogs encompass me; + +a company of evildoers encircles me; + +they have pierced my hands and feet[49]— + +17I can count all my bones— + +they stare and gloat over me; + +18they divide my garments among them, + +and for my clothing they cast lots. + +19But you, O LORD, do not be far off! + +O you my help, come quickly to my aid! + +20Deliver my soul from the sword, + +my precious life from the power of the dog! + +21Save me from the mouth of the lion! + +You have rescued[50] me from the horns of the wild oxen! + +22I will tell of your name to my brothers; + +in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: + +23You who fear the LORD, praise him! + +All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, + +and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! + +24For he has not despised or abhorred + +the affliction of the afflicted, + +and he has not hidden his face from him, + +but has heard, when he cried to him. + +25From you comes my praise in the great congregation; + +my vows I will perform before those who fear him. + +26The afflicted[51] shall eat and be satisfied; + +those who seek him shall praise the LORD! + +May your hearts live forever! + +27All the ends of the earth shall remember + +and turn to the LORD, + +and all the families of the nations + +shall worship before you. + +28For kingship belongs to the LORD, + +and he rules over the nations. + +29All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; + +before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, + +even the one who could not keep himself alive. + +30Posterity shall serve him; + +it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; + +31they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, + +that he has done it. + + + + + +The LORD Is My Shepherd + + +A Psalm of David. + + +23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. + +2He makes me lie down in green pastures. + +He leads me beside still waters.[52] + +3He restores my soul. + +He leads me in paths of righteousness[53] + +for his name's sake. + +4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[54] + +I will fear no evil, + +for you are with me; + +your rod and your staff, + +they comfort me. + +5You prepare a table before me + +in the presence of my enemies; + +you anoint my head with oil; + +my cup overflows. + +6Surely[55] goodness and mercy[56] shall follow me + +all the days of my life, + +and I shall dwell[57] in the house of the LORD + +forever.[58] + + + + + +The King of Glory + + +A Psalm of David. + + +24:1 The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof,[59] + +the world and those who dwell therein, + +2for he has founded it upon the seas + +and established it upon the rivers. + +3Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? + +And who shall stand in his holy place? + +4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, + +who does not lift up his soul to what is false + +and does not swear deceitfully. + +5He will receive blessing from the LORD + +and righteousness from the God of his salvation. + +6Such is the generation of those who seek him, + +who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[60] Selah + +7Lift up your heads, O gates! + +And be lifted up, O ancient doors, + +that the King of glory may come in. + +8Who is this King of glory? + +The LORD, strong and mighty, + +the LORD, mighty in battle! + +9Lift up your heads, O gates! + +And lift them up, O ancient doors, + +that the King of glory may come in. + +10Who is this King of glory? + +The LORD of hosts, + +he is the King of glory! Selah + + + + + +Teach Me Your Paths + + +[61] Of David. + + +25:1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. + +2O my God, in you I trust; + +let me not be put to shame; + +let not my enemies exult over me. + +3Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; + +they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. + +4Make me to know your ways, O LORD; + +teach me your paths. + +5Lead me in your truth and teach me, + +for you are the God of my salvation; + +for you I wait all the day long. + +6Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, + +for they have been from of old. + +7Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; + +according to your steadfast love remember me, + +for the sake of your goodness, O LORD! + +8Good and upright is the LORD; + +therefore he instructs sinners in the way. + +9He leads the humble in what is right, + +and teaches the humble his way. + +10All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, + +for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. + +11For your name's sake, O LORD, + +pardon my guilt, for it is great. + +12Who is the man who fears the LORD? + +Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. + +13His soul shall abide in well-being, + +and his offspring shall inherit the land. + +14The friendship[62] of the LORD is for those who fear him, + +and he makes known to them his covenant. + +15My eyes are ever toward the LORD, + +for he will pluck my feet out of the net. + +16Turn to me and be gracious to me, + +for I am lonely and afflicted. + +17The troubles of my heart are enlarged; + +bring me out of my distresses. + +18Consider my affliction and my trouble, + +and forgive all my sins. + +19Consider how many are my foes, + +and with what violent hatred they hate me. + +20Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! + +Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. + +21May integrity and uprightness preserve me, + +for I wait for you. + +22Redeem Israel, O God, + +out of all his troubles. + + + + + +I Will Bless the LORD + + +Of David. + + +26:1 Vindicate me, O LORD, + +for I have walked in my integrity, + +and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. + +2Prove me, O LORD, and try me; + +test my heart and my mind.[63] + +3For your steadfast love is before my eyes, + +and I walk in your faithfulness. + +4I do not sit with men of falsehood, + +nor do I consort with hypocrites. + +5I hate the assembly of evildoers, + +and I will not sit with the wicked. + +6I wash my hands in innocence + +and go around your altar, O LORD, + +7proclaiming thanksgiving aloud, + +and telling all your wondrous deeds. + +8O LORD, I love the habitation of your house + +and the place where your glory dwells. + +9Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, + +nor my life with bloodthirsty men, + +10in whose hands are evil devices, + +and whose right hands are full of bribes. + +11But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; + +redeem me, and be gracious to me. + +12My foot stands on level ground; + +in the great assembly I will bless the LORD. + + + + + +The LORD Is My Light and My Salvation + + +Of David. + + +27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; + +whom shall I fear? + +The LORD is the stronghold[64] of my life; + +of whom shall I be afraid? + +2When evildoers assail me + +to eat up my flesh, + +my adversaries and foes, + +it is they who stumble and fall. + +3Though an army encamp against me, + +my heart shall not fear; + +though war arise against me, + +yet[65] I will be confident. + +4One thing have I asked of the LORD, + +that will I seek after: + +that I may dwell in the house of the LORD + +all the days of my life, + +to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD + +and to inquire[66] in his temple. + +5For he will hide me in his shelter + +in the day of trouble; + +he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; + +he will lift me high upon a rock. + +6And now my head shall be lifted up + +above my enemies all around me, + +and I will offer in his tent + +sacrifices with shouts of joy; + +I will sing and make melody to the LORD. + +7Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; + +be gracious to me and answer me! + +8You have said, “Seek[67] my face.” + +My heart says to you, + +“Your face, LORD, do I seek.”[68] + +9Hide not your face from me. + +Turn not your servant away in anger, + +O you who have been my help. + +Cast me not off; forsake me not, + +O God of my salvation! + +10For my father and my mother have forsaken me, + +but the LORD will take me in. + +11Teach me your way, O LORD, + +and lead me on a level path + +because of my enemies. + +12Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; + +for false witnesses have risen against me, + +and they breathe out violence. + +13I believe[69] that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD + +in the land of the living! + +14Wait for the LORD; + +be strong, and let your heart take courage; + +wait for the LORD! + + + + + +The LORD Is My Strength and My Shield + + +Of David. + + +28:1 To you, O LORD, I call; + +my rock, be not deaf to me, + +lest, if you be silent to me, + +I become like those who go down to the pit. + +2Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, + +when I cry to you for help, + +when I lift up my hands + +toward your most holy sanctuary.[70] + +3Do not drag me off with the wicked, + +with the workers of evil, + +who speak peace with their neighbors + +while evil is in their hearts. + +4Give to them according to their work + +and according to the evil of their deeds; + +give to them according to the work of their hands; + +render them their due reward. + +5Because they do not regard the works of the LORD + +or the work of his hands, + +he will tear them down and build them up no more. + +6Blessed be the LORD! + +For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. + +7The LORD is my strength and my shield; + +in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; + +my heart exults, + +and with my song I give thanks to him. + +8The LORD is the strength of his people;[71] + +he is the saving refuge of his anointed. + +9Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! + +Be their shepherd and carry them forever. + + + + + +Ascribe to the LORD Glory + + +A Psalm of David. + + +29:1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,[72] + +ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. + +2Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; + +worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.[73] + +3The voice of the LORD is over the waters; + +the God of glory thunders, + +the LORD, over many waters. + +4The voice of the LORD is powerful; + +the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. + +5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; + +the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. + +6He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, + +and Sirion like a young wild ox. + +7The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. + +8The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; + +the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. + +9The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth[74] + +and strips the forests bare, + +and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” + +10The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; + +the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. + +11May the LORD give strength to his people! + +May the LORD bless[75] his people with peace! + + + + + +Joy Comes with the Morning + + +A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple. + + +30:1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up + +and have not let my foes rejoice over me. + +2O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, + +and you have healed me. + +3O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; + +you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.[76] + +4Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, + +and give thanks to his holy name.[77] + +5For his anger is but for a moment, + +and his favor is for a lifetime.[78] + +Weeping may tarry for the night, + +but joy comes with the morning. + +6As for me, I said in my prosperity, + +“I shall never be moved.” + +7By your favor, O LORD, + +you made my mountain stand strong; + +you hid your face; + +I was dismayed. + +8To you, O LORD, I cry, + +and to the Lord I plead for mercy: + +9“What profit is there in my death,[79] + +if I go down to the pit?[80] + +Will the dust praise you? + +Will it tell of your faithfulness? + +10Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! + +O LORD, be my helper!” + +11You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; + +you have loosed my sackcloth + +and clothed me with gladness, + +12that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. + +O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever! + + + + + +Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +31:1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; + +let me never be put to shame; + +in your righteousness deliver me! + +2Incline your ear to me; + +rescue me speedily! + +Be a rock of refuge for me, + +a strong fortress to save me! + +3For you are my rock and my fortress; + +and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me; + +4you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, + +for you are my refuge. + +5Into your hand I commit my spirit; + +you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. + +6I hate[81] those who pay regard to worthless idols, + +but I trust in the LORD. + +7I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, + +because you have seen my affliction; + +you have known the distress of my soul, + +8and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; + +you have set my feet in a broad place. + +9Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; + +my eye is wasted from grief; + +my soul and my body also. + +10For my life is spent with sorrow, + +and my years with sighing; + +my strength fails because of my iniquity, + +and my bones waste away. + +11Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, + +especially to my neighbors, + +and an object of dread to my acquaintances; + +those who see me in the street flee from me. + +12I have been forgotten like one who is dead; + +I have become like a broken vessel. + +13For I hear the whispering of many— + +terror on every side!— + +as they scheme together against me, + +as they plot to take my life. + +14But I trust in you, O LORD; + +I say, “You are my God.” + +15My times are in your hand; + +rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! + +16Make your face shine on your servant; + +save me in your steadfast love! + +17O LORD, let me not be put to shame, + +for I call upon you; + +let the wicked be put to shame; + +let them go silently to Sheol. + +18Let the lying lips be mute, + +which speak insolently against the righteous + +in pride and contempt. + +19Oh, how abundant is your goodness, + +which you have stored up for those who fear you + +and worked for those who take refuge in you, + +in the sight of the children of mankind! + +20In the cover of your presence you hide them + +from the plots of men; + +you store them in your shelter + +from the strife of tongues. + +21Blessed be the LORD, + +for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me + +when I was in a besieged city. + +22I had said in my alarm,[82] + +“I am cut off from your sight.” + +But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy + +when I cried to you for help. + +23Love the LORD, all you his saints! + +The LORD preserves the faithful + +but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. + +24Be strong, and let your heart take courage, + +all you who wait for the LORD! + + + + + +Blessed Are the Forgiven + + +A Maskil[83] of David. + + +32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, + +whose sin is covered. + +2Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, + +and in whose spirit there is no deceit. + +3For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away + +through my groaning all day long. + +4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; + +my strength was dried up[84] as by the heat of summer. Selah + +5I acknowledged my sin to you, + +and I did not cover my iniquity; + +I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” + +and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah + +6Therefore let everyone who is godly + +offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; + +surely in the rush of great waters, + +they shall not reach him. + +7You are a hiding place for me; + +you preserve me from trouble; + +you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah + +8I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; + +I will counsel you with my eye upon you. + +9Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, + +which must be curbed with bit and bridle, + +or it will not stay near you. + +10Many are the sorrows of the wicked, + +but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD. + +11Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, + +and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! + + + + + +The Steadfast Love of the LORD + + +33:1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! + +Praise befits the upright. + +2Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; + +make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! + +3Sing to him a new song; + +play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. + +4For the word of the LORD is upright, + +and all his work is done in faithfulness. + +5He loves righteousness and justice; + +the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. + +6By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, + +and by the breath of his mouth all their host. + +7He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; + +he puts the deeps in storehouses. + +8Let all the earth fear the LORD; + +let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! + +9For he spoke, and it came to be; + +he commanded, and it stood firm. + +10The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; + +he frustrates the plans of the peoples. + +11The counsel of the LORD stands forever, + +the plans of his heart to all generations. + +12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, + +the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! + +13The LORD looks down from heaven; + +he sees all the children of man; + +14from where he sits enthroned he looks out + +on all the inhabitants of the earth, + +15he who fashions the hearts of them all + +and observes all their deeds. + +16The king is not saved by his great army; + +a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. + +17The war horse is a false hope for salvation, + +and by its great might it cannot rescue. + +18Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, + +on those who hope in his steadfast love, + +19that he may deliver their soul from death + +and keep them alive in famine. + +20Our soul waits for the LORD; + +he is our help and our shield. + +21For our heart is glad in him, + +because we trust in his holy name. + +22Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, + +even as we hope in you. + + + + + +Taste and See That the LORD Is Good + + +[85] Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. + + +34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times; + +his praise shall continually be in my mouth. + +2My soul makes its boast in the LORD; + +let the humble hear and be glad. + +3Oh, magnify the LORD with me, + +and let us exalt his name together! + +4I sought the LORD, and he answered me + +and delivered me from all my fears. + +5Those who look to him are radiant, + +and their faces shall never be ashamed. + +6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him + +and saved him out of all his troubles. + +7The angel of the LORD encamps + +around those who fear him, and delivers them. + +8Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! + +Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! + +9Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, + +for those who fear him have no lack! + +10The young lions suffer want and hunger; + +but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. + +11Come, O children, listen to me; + +I will teach you the fear of the LORD. + +12What man is there who desires life + +and loves many days, that he may see good? + +13Keep your tongue from evil + +and your lips from speaking deceit. + +14Turn away from evil and do good; + +seek peace and pursue it. + +15The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous + +and his ears toward their cry. + +16The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, + +to cut off the memory of them from the earth. + +17When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears + +and delivers them out of all their troubles. + +18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted + +and saves the crushed in spirit. + +19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, + +but the LORD delivers him out of them all. + +20He keeps all his bones; + +not one of them is broken. + +21Affliction will slay the wicked, + +and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. + +22The LORD redeems the life of his servants; + +none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. + + + + + +Great Is the LORD + + +Of David. + + +35:1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; + +fight against those who fight against me! + +2Take hold of shield and buckler + +and rise for my help! + +3Draw the spear and javelin[86] + +against my pursuers! + +Say to my soul, + +“I am your salvation!” + +4Let them be put to shame and dishonor + +who seek after my life! + +Let them be turned back and disappointed + +who devise evil against me! + +5Let them be like chaff before the wind, + +with the angel of the LORD driving them away! + +6Let their way be dark and slippery, + +with the angel of the LORD pursuing them! + +7For without cause they hid their net for me; + +without cause they dug a pit for my life.[87] + +8Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! + +And let the net that he hid ensnare him; + +let him fall into it—to his destruction! + +9Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, + +exulting in his salvation. + +10All my bones shall say, + +“O LORD, who is like you, + +delivering the poor + +from him who is too strong for him, + +the poor and needy from him who robs him?” + +11Malicious[88] witnesses rise up; + +they ask me of things that I do not know. + +12They repay me evil for good; + +my soul is bereft.[89] + +13But I, when they were sick— + +I wore sackcloth; + +I afflicted myself with fasting; + +I prayed with head bowed[90] on my chest. + +14I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; + +as one who laments his mother, + +I bowed down in mourning. + +15But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; + +they gathered together against me; + +wretches whom I did not know + +tore at me without ceasing; + +16like profane mockers at a feast,[91] + +they gnash at me with their teeth. + +17How long, O Lord, will you look on? + +Rescue me from their destruction, + +my precious life from the lions! + +18I will thank you in the great congregation; + +in the mighty throng I will praise you. + +19Let not those rejoice over me + +who are wrongfully my foes, + +and let not those wink the eye + +who hate me without cause. + +20For they do not speak peace, + +but against those who are quiet in the land + +they devise words of deceit. + +21They open wide their mouths against me; + +they say, “Aha, Aha! + +Our eyes have seen it!” + +22You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! + +O Lord, be not far from me! + +23Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, + +for my cause, my God and my Lord! + +24Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, + +according to your righteousness, + +and let them not rejoice over me! + +25Let them not say in their hearts, + +“Aha, our heart's desire!” + +Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” + +26Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether + +who rejoice at my calamity! + +Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor + +who magnify themselves against me! + +27Let those who delight in my righteousness + +shout for joy and be glad + +and say evermore, + +“Great is the LORD, + +who delights in the welfare of his servant!” + +28Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness + +and of your praise all the day long. + + + + + +How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love + + +To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the LORD. + + +36:1 Transgression speaks to the wicked + +deep in his heart;[92] + +there is no fear of God + +before his eyes. + +2For he flatters himself in his own eyes + +that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. + +3The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; + +he has ceased to act wisely and do good. + +4He plots trouble while on his bed; + +he sets himself in a way that is not good; + +he does not reject evil. + +5Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, + +your faithfulness to the clouds. + +6Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; + +your judgments are like the great deep; + +man and beast you save, O LORD. + +7How precious is your steadfast love, O God! + +The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. + +8They feast on the abundance of your house, + +and you give them drink from the river of your delights. + +9For with you is the fountain of life; + +in your light do we see light. + +10Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, + +and your righteousness to the upright of heart! + +11Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, + +nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. + +12There the evildoers lie fallen; + +they are thrust down, unable to rise. + + + + + +He Will Not Forsake His Saints + + +[93] Of David. + + +37:1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; + +be not envious of wrongdoers! + +2For they will soon fade like the grass + +and wither like the green herb. + +3Trust in the LORD, and do good; + +dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.[94] + +4Delight yourself in the LORD, + +and he will give you the desires of your heart. + +5Commit your way to the LORD; + +trust in him, and he will act. + +6He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, + +and your justice as the noonday. + +7Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; + +fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, + +over the man who carries out evil devices! + +8Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! + +Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. + +9For the evildoers shall be cut off, + +but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. + +10In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; + +though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. + +11But the meek shall inherit the land + +and delight themselves in abundant peace. + +12The wicked plots against the righteous + +and gnashes his teeth at him, + +13but the Lord laughs at the wicked, + +for he sees that his day is coming. + +14The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows + +to bring down the poor and needy, + +to slay those whose way is upright; + +15their sword shall enter their own heart, + +and their bows shall be broken. + +16Better is the little that the righteous has + +than the abundance of many wicked. + +17For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, + +but the LORD upholds the righteous. + +18The LORD knows the days of the blameless, + +and their heritage will remain forever; + +19they are not put to shame in evil times; + +in the days of famine they have abundance. + +20But the wicked will perish; + +the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; + +they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. + +21The wicked borrows but does not pay back, + +but the righteous is generous and gives; + +22for those blessed by the LORD[95] shall inherit the land, + +but those cursed by him shall be cut off. + +23The steps of a man are established by the LORD, + +when he delights in his way; + +24though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, + +for the LORD upholds his hand. + +25I have been young, and now am old, + +yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken + +or his children begging for bread. + +26He is ever lending generously, + +and his children become a blessing. + +27Turn away from evil and do good; + +so shall you dwell forever. + +28For the LORD loves justice; + +he will not forsake his saints. + +They are preserved forever, + +but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. + +29The righteous shall inherit the land + +and dwell upon it forever. + +30The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, + +and his tongue speaks justice. + +31The law of his God is in his heart; + +his steps do not slip. + +32The wicked watches for the righteous + +and seeks to put him to death. + +33The LORD will not abandon him to his power + +or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial. + +34Wait for the LORD and keep his way, + +and he will exalt you to inherit the land; + +you will look on when the wicked are cut off. + +35I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, + +spreading himself like a green laurel tree.[96] + +36But he passed away,[97] and behold, he was no more; + +though I sought him, he could not be found. + +37Mark the blameless and behold the upright, + +for there is a future for the man of peace. + +38But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; + +the future of the wicked shall be cut off. + +39The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; + +he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. + +40The LORD helps them and delivers them; + +he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, + +because they take refuge in him. + + + + + +Do Not Forsake Me, O LORD + + +A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering. + + +38:1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, + +nor discipline me in your wrath! + +2For your arrows have sunk into me, + +and your hand has come down on me. + +3There is no soundness in my flesh + +because of your indignation; + +there is no health in my bones + +because of my sin. + +4For my iniquities have gone over my head; + +like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. + +5My wounds stink and fester + +because of my foolishness, + +6I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; + +all the day I go about mourning. + +7For my sides are filled with burning, + +and there is no soundness in my flesh. + +8I am feeble and crushed; + +I groan because of the tumult of my heart. + +9O Lord, all my longing is before you; + +my sighing is not hidden from you. + +10My heart throbs; my strength fails me, + +and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. + +11My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, + +and my nearest kin stand far off. + +12Those who seek my life lay their snares; + +those who seek my hurt speak of ruin + +and meditate treachery all day long. + +13But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, + +like a mute man who does not open his mouth. + +14I have become like a man who does not hear, + +and in whose mouth are no rebukes. + +15But for you, O LORD, do I wait; + +it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. + +16For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, + +who boast against me when my foot slips!” + +17For I am ready to fall, + +and my pain is ever before me. + +18I confess my iniquity; + +I am sorry for my sin. + +19But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, + +and many are those who hate me wrongfully. + +20Those who render me evil for good + +accuse me because I follow after good. + +21Do not forsake me, O LORD! + +O my God, be not far from me! + +22Make haste to help me, + +O Lord, my salvation! + + + + + +What Is the Measure of My Days? + + +To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. + + +39:1 I said, “I will guard my ways, + +that I may not sin with my tongue; + +I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, + +so long as the wicked are in my presence.” + +2I was mute and silent; + +I held my peace to no avail, + +and my distress grew worse. + +3My heart became hot within me. + +As I mused, the fire burned; + +then I spoke with my tongue: + +4“O LORD, make me know my end + +and what is the measure of my days; + +let me know how fleeting I am! + +5Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, + +and my lifetime is as nothing before you. + +Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah + +6Surely a man goes about as a shadow! + +Surely for nothing[98] they are in turmoil; + +man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! + +7“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? + +My hope is in you. + +8Deliver me from all my transgressions. + +Do not make me the scorn of the fool! + +9I am mute; I do not open my mouth, + +for it is you who have done it. + +10Remove your stroke from me; + +I am spent by the hostility of your hand. + +11When you discipline a man + +with rebukes for sin, + +you consume like a moth what is dear to him; + +surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah + +12“Hear my prayer, O LORD, + +and give ear to my cry; + +hold not your peace at my tears! + +For I am a sojourner with you, + +a guest, like all my fathers. + +13Look away from me, that I may smile again, + +before I depart and am no more!” + + + + + +My Help and My Deliverer + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; + +he inclined to me and heard my cry. + +2He drew me up from the pit of destruction, + +out of the miry bog, + +and set my feet upon a rock, + +making my steps secure. + +3He put a new song in my mouth, + +a song of praise to our God. + +Many will see and fear, + +and put their trust in the LORD. + +4Blessed is the man who makes + +the LORD his trust, + +who does not turn to the proud, + +to those who go astray after a lie! + +5You have multiplied, O LORD my God, + +your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; + +none can compare with you! + +I will proclaim and tell of them, + +yet they are more than can be told. + +6In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, + +but you have given me an open ear.[99] + +Burnt offering and sin offering + +you have not required. + +7Then I said, “Behold, I have come; + +in the scroll of the book it is written of me: + +8I delight to do your will, O my God; + +your law is within my heart.” + +9I have told the glad news of deliverance[100] + +in the great congregation; + +behold, I have not restrained my lips, + +as you know, O LORD. + +10I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; + +I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; + +I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness + +from the great congregation. + +11As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain + +your mercy from me; + +your steadfast love and your faithfulness will + +ever preserve me! + +12For evils have encompassed me + +beyond number; + +my iniquities have overtaken me, + +and I cannot see; + +they are more than the hairs of my head; + +my heart fails me. + +13Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! + +O LORD, make haste to help me! + +14Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether + +who seek to snatch away my life; + +let those be turned back and brought to dishonor + +who delight in my hurt! + +15Let those be appalled because of their shame + +who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” + +16But may all who seek you + +rejoice and be glad in you; + +may those who love your salvation + +say continually, “Great is the LORD!” + +17As for me, I am poor and needy, + +but the Lord takes thought for me. + +You are my help and my deliverer; + +do not delay, O my God! + + + + + +O LORD, Be Gracious to Me + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +41:1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor![101] + +In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; + +2the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; + +he is called blessed in the land; + +you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. + +3The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; + +in his illness you restore him to full health.[102] + +4As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; + +heal me,[103] for I have sinned against you!” + +5My enemies say of me in malice, + +“When will he die, and his name perish?” + +6And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, + +while his heart gathers iniquity; + +when he goes out, he tells it abroad. + +7All who hate me whisper together about me; + +they imagine the worst for me.[104] + +8They say, “A deadly thing is poured out[105] on him; + +he will not rise again from where he lies.” + +9Even my close friend in whom I trusted, + +who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. + +10But you, O LORD, be gracious to me, + +and raise me up, that I may repay them! + +11By this I know that you delight in me: + +my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. + +12But you have upheld me because of my integrity, + +and set me in your presence forever. + +13Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, + +from everlasting to everlasting! + +Amen and Amen. + + + + + +Book Two + + +Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul? + + +To the choirmaster. A Maskil[106] of the Sons of Korah. + + +42:1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, + +so pants my soul for you, O God. + +2My soul thirsts for God, + +for the living God. + +When shall I come and appear before God?[107] + +3My tears have been my food + +day and night, + +while they say to me all the day long, + +“Where is your God?” + +4These things I remember, + +as I pour out my soul: + +how I would go with the throng + +and lead them in procession to the house of God + +with glad shouts and songs of praise, + +a multitude keeping festival. + +5Why are you cast down, O my soul, + +and why are you in turmoil within me? + +Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, + +my salvation[108] 6and my God. + +My soul is cast down within me; + +therefore I remember you + +from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, + +from Mount Mizar. + +7Deep calls to deep + +at the roar of your waterfalls; + +all your breakers and your waves + +have gone over me. + +8By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, + +and at night his song is with me, + +a prayer to the God of my life. + +9I say to God, my rock: + +“Why have you forgotten me? + +Why do I go mourning + +because of the oppression of the enemy?” + +10As with a deadly wound in my bones, + +my adversaries taunt me, + +while they say to me all the day long, + +“Where is your God?” + +11Why are you cast down, O my soul, + +and why are you in turmoil within me? + +Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, + +my salvation and my God. + + + + + +Send Out Your Light and Your Truth + + +43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause + +against an ungodly people, + +from the deceitful and unjust man + +deliver me! + +2For you are the God in whom I take refuge; + +why have you rejected me? + +Why do I go about mourning + +because of the oppression of the enemy? + +3Send out your light and your truth; + +let them lead me; + +let them bring me to your holy hill + +and to your dwelling! + +4Then I will go to the altar of God, + +to God my exceeding joy, + +and I will praise you with the lyre, + +O God, my God. + +5Why are you cast down, O my soul, + +and why are you in turmoil within me? + +Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, + +my salvation and my God. + + + + + +Come to Our Help + + +To the choirmaster. A Maskil[109] of the Sons of Korah. + + +44:1 O God, we have heard with our ears, + +our fathers have told us, + +what deeds you performed in their days, + +in the days of old: + +2you with your own hand drove out the nations, + +but them you planted; + +you afflicted the peoples, + +but them you set free; + +3for not by their own sword did they win the land, + +nor did their own arm save them, + +but your right hand and your arm, + +and the light of your face, + +for you delighted in them. + +4You are my King, O God; + +ordain salvation for Jacob! + +5Through you we push down our foes; + +through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. + +6For not in my bow do I trust, + +nor can my sword save me. + +7But you have saved us from our foes + +and have put to shame those who hate us. + +8In God we have boasted continually, + +and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah + +9But you have rejected us and disgraced us + +and have not gone out with our armies. + +10You have made us turn back from the foe, + +and those who hate us have gotten spoil. + +11You have made us like sheep for slaughter + +and have scattered us among the nations. + +12You have sold your people for a trifle, + +demanding no high price for them. + +13You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, + +the derision and scorn of those around us. + +14You have made us a byword among the nations, + +a laughingstock[110] among the peoples. + +15All day long my disgrace is before me, + +and shame has covered my face + +16at the sound of the taunter and reviler, + +at the sight of the enemy and the avenger. + +17All this has come upon us, + +though we have not forgotten you, + +and we have not been false to your covenant. + +18Our heart has not turned back, + +nor have our steps departed from your way; + +19yet you have broken us in the place of jackals + +and covered us with the shadow of death. + +20If we had forgotten the name of our God + +or spread out our hands to a foreign god, + +21would not God discover this? + +For he knows the secrets of the heart. + +22Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; + +we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. + +23Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? + +Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! + +24Why do you hide your face? + +Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? + +25For our soul is bowed down to the dust; + +our belly clings to the ground. + +26Rise up; come to our help! + +Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! + + + + + +Your Throne, O God, Is Forever + + +To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil[111] of the Sons of Korah; a love song. + + +45:1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; + +I address my verses to the king; + +my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. + +2You are the most handsome of the sons of men; + +grace is poured upon your lips; + +therefore God has blessed you forever. + +3Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, + +in your splendor and majesty! + +4In your majesty ride out victoriously + +for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; + +let your right hand teach you awesome deeds! + +5Your arrows are sharp + +in the heart of the king's enemies; + +the peoples fall under you. + +6Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. + +The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; + +7you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. + +Therefore God, your God, has anointed you + +with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; + +8your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. + +From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; + +9daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; + +at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. + +10Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: + +forget your people and your father's house, + +11and the king will desire your beauty. + +Since he is your lord, bow to him. + +12The people[112] of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, + +the richest of the people.[113] + +13All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. + +14In many-colored robes she is led to the king, + +with her virgin companions following behind her. + +15With joy and gladness they are led along + +as they enter the palace of the king. + +16In place of your fathers shall be your sons; + +you will make them princes in all the earth. + +17I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; + +therefore nations will praise you forever and ever. + + + + + +God Is Our Fortress + + +To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.[114] A Song. + + +46:1 God is our refuge and strength, + +a very present[115] help in trouble. + +2Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, + +though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, + +3though its waters roar and foam, + +though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah + +4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, + +the holy habitation of the Most High. + +5God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; + +God will help her when morning dawns. + +6The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; + +he utters his voice, the earth melts. + +7The LORD of hosts is with us; + +the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah + +8Come, behold the works of the LORD, + +how he has brought desolations on the earth. + +9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; + +he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; + +he burns the chariots with fire. + +10“Be still, and know that I am God. + +I will be exalted among the nations, + +I will be exalted in the earth!” + +11The LORD of hosts is with us; + +the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah + + + + + +God Is King over All the Earth + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. + + +47:1 Clap your hands, all peoples! + +Shout to God with loud songs of joy! + +2For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, + +a great king over all the earth. + +3He subdued peoples under us, + +and nations under our feet. + +4He chose our heritage for us, + +the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah + +5God has gone up with a shout, + +the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. + +6Sing praises to God, sing praises! + +Sing praises to our King, sing praises! + +7For God is the King of all the earth; + +sing praises with a psalm![116] + +8God reigns over the nations; + +God sits on his holy throne. + +9The princes of the peoples gather + +as the people of the God of Abraham. + +For the shields of the earth belong to God; + +he is highly exalted! + + + + + +Zion, the City of Our God + + +A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. + + +48:1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised + +in the city of our God! + +His holy mountain, 2beautiful in elevation, + +is the joy of all the earth, + +Mount Zion, in the far north, + +the city of the great King. + +3Within her citadels God + +has made himself known as a fortress. + +4For behold, the kings assembled; + +they came on together. + +5As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; + +they were in panic; they took to flight. + +6Trembling took hold of them there, + +anguish as of a woman in labor. + +7By the east wind you shattered + +the ships of Tarshish. + +8As we have heard, so have we seen + +in the city of the LORD of hosts, + +in the city of our God, + +which God will establish forever. Selah + +9We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, + +in the midst of your temple. + +10As your name, O God, + +so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. + +Your right hand is filled with righteousness. + +11Let Mount Zion be glad! + +Let the daughters of Judah rejoice + +because of your judgments! + +12Walk about Zion, go around her, + +number her towers, + +13consider well her ramparts, + +go through her citadels, + +that you may tell the next generation + +14that this is God, + +our God forever and ever. + +He will guide us forever.[117] + + + + + +Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble? + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. + + +49:1 Hear this, all peoples! + +Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, + +2both low and high, + +rich and poor together! + +3My mouth shall speak wisdom; + +the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. + +4I will incline my ear to a proverb; + +I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. + +5Why should I fear in times of trouble, + +when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, + +6those who trust in their wealth + +and boast of the abundance of their riches? + +7Truly no man can ransom another, + +or give to God the price of his life, + +8for the ransom of their life is costly + +and can never suffice, + +9that he should live on forever + +and never see the pit. + +10For he sees that even the wise die; + +the fool and the stupid alike must perish + +and leave their wealth to others. + +11Their graves are their homes forever,[118] + +their dwelling places to all generations, + +though they called lands by their own names. + +12Man in his pomp will not remain; + +he is like the beasts that perish. + +13This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; + +yet after them people approve of their boasts.[119] Selah + +14Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; + +death shall be their shepherd, + +and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. + +Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. + +15But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, + +for he will receive me. Selah + +16Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, + +when the glory of his house increases. + +17For when he dies he will carry nothing away; + +his glory will not go down after him. + +18For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed + +—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— + +19his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, + +who will never again see light. + +20Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. + + + + + +God Himself Is Judge + + +A Psalm of Asaph. + + +50:1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, + +speaks and summons the earth + +from the rising of the sun to its setting. + +2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, + +God shines forth. + +3Our God comes; he does not keep silence;[120] + +before him is a devouring fire, + +around him a mighty tempest. + +4He calls to the heavens above + +and to the earth, that he may judge his people: + +5“Gather to me my faithful ones, + +who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” + +6The heavens declare his righteousness, + +for God himself is judge! Selah + +7“Hear, O my people, and I will speak; + +O Israel, I will testify against you. + +I am God, your God. + +8Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; + +your burnt offerings are continually before me. + +9I will not accept a bull from your house + +or goats from your folds. + +10For every beast of the forest is mine, + +the cattle on a thousand hills. + +11I know all the birds of the hills, + +and all that moves in the field is mine. + +12“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, + +for the world and its fullness are mine. + +13Do I eat the flesh of bulls + +or drink the blood of goats? + +14Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[121] + +and perform your vows to the Most High, + +15and call upon me in the day of trouble; + +I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” + +16But to the wicked God says: + +“What right have you to recite my statutes + +or take my covenant on your lips? + +17For you hate discipline, + +and you cast my words behind you. + +18If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, + +and you keep company with adulterers. + +19“You give your mouth free rein for evil, + +and your tongue frames deceit. + +20You sit and speak against your brother; + +you slander your own mother's son. + +21These things you have done, and I have been silent; + +you thought that I[122] was one like yourself. + +But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. + +22“Mark this, then, you who forget God, + +lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! + +23The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; + +to one who orders his way rightly + +I will show the salvation of God!” + + + + + +Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. + + +51:1 Have mercy on me,[123] O God, + +according to your steadfast love; + +according to your abundant mercy + +blot out my transgressions. + +2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, + +and cleanse me from my sin! + +3For I know my transgressions, + +and my sin is ever before me. + +4Against you, you only, have I sinned + +and done what is evil in your sight, + +so that you may be justified in your words + +and blameless in your judgment. + +5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, + +and in sin did my mother conceive me. + +6Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, + +and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. + +7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; + +wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. + +8Let me hear joy and gladness; + +let the bones that you have broken rejoice. + +9Hide your face from my sins, + +and blot out all my iniquities. + +10Create in me a clean heart, O God, + +and renew a right[124] spirit within me. + +11Cast me not away from your presence, + +and take not your Holy Spirit from me. + +12Restore to me the joy of your salvation, + +and uphold me with a willing spirit. + +13Then I will teach transgressors your ways, + +and sinners will return to you. + +14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, + +O God of my salvation, + +and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. + +15O Lord, open my lips, + +and my mouth will declare your praise. + +16For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; + +you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. + +17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; + +a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. + +18Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; + +build up the walls of Jerusalem; + +19then will you delight in right sacrifices, + +in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; + +then bulls will be offered on your altar. + + + + + +The Steadfast Love of God Endures + + +To the choirmaster. A Maskil[125] of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.” + + +52:1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? + +The steadfast love of God endures all the day. + +2Your tongue plots destruction, + +like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. + +3You love evil more than good, + +and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah + +4You love all words that devour, + +O deceitful tongue. + +5But God will break you down forever; + +he will snatch and tear you from your tent; + +he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah + +6The righteous shall see and fear, + +and shall laugh at him, saying, + +7“See the man who would not make + +God his refuge, + +but trusted in the abundance of his riches + +and sought refuge in his own destruction!”[126] + +8But I am like a green olive tree + +in the house of God. + +I trust in the steadfast love of God + +forever and ever. + +9I will thank you forever, + +because you have done it. + +I will wait for your name, for it is good, + +in the presence of the godly. + + + + + +There Is None Who Does Good + + +To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil[127] of David. + + +53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” + +They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; + +there is none who does good. + +2God looks down from heaven + +on the children of man + +to see if there are any who understand,[128] + +who seek after God. + +3They have all fallen away; + +together they have become corrupt; + +there is none who does good, + +not even one. + +4Have those who work evil no knowledge, + +who eat up my people as they eat bread, + +and do not call upon God? + +5There they are, in great terror, + +where there is no terror! + +For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; + +you put them to shame, for God has rejected them. + +6Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! + +When God restores the fortunes of his people, + +let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. + + + + + +The Lord Upholds My Life + + +To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil[129] of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?” + + +54:1 O God, save me by your name, + +and vindicate me by your might. + +2O God, hear my prayer; + +give ear to the words of my mouth. + +3For strangers[130] have risen against me; + +ruthless men seek my life; + +they do not set God before themselves. Selah + +4Behold, God is my helper; + +the Lord is the upholder of my life. + +5He will return the evil to my enemies; + +in your faithfulness put an end to them. + +6With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; + +I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good. + +7For he has delivered me from every trouble, + +and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. + + + + + +Cast Your Burden on the LORD + + +To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil[131] of David. + + +55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, + +and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! + +2Attend to me, and answer me; + +I am restless in my complaint and I moan, + +3because of the noise of the enemy, + +because of the oppression of the wicked. + +For they drop trouble upon me, + +and in anger they bear a grudge against me. + +4My heart is in anguish within me; + +the terrors of death have fallen upon me. + +5Fear and trembling come upon me, + +and horror overwhelms me. + +6And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! + +I would fly away and be at rest; + +7yes, I would wander far away; + +I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah + +8I would hurry to find a shelter + +from the raging wind and tempest.” + +9Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; + +for I see violence and strife in the city. + +10Day and night they go around it + +on its walls, + +and iniquity and trouble are within it; + +11ruin is in its midst; + +oppression and fraud + +do not depart from its marketplace. + +12For it is not an enemy who taunts me— + +then I could bear it; + +it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— + +then I could hide from him. + +13But it is you, a man, my equal, + +my companion, my familiar friend. + +14We used to take sweet counsel together; + +within God's house we walked in the throng. + +15Let death steal over them; + +let them go down to Sheol alive; + +for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart. + +16But I call to God, + +and the LORD will save me. + +17Evening and morning and at noon + +I utter my complaint and moan, + +and he hears my voice. + +18He redeems my soul in safety + +from the battle that I wage, + +for many are arrayed against me. + +19God will give ear and humble them, + +he who is enthroned from of old, Selah + +because they do not change + +and do not fear God. + +20My companion[132] stretched out his hand against his friends; + +he violated his covenant. + +21His speech was smooth as butter, + +yet war was in his heart; + +his words were softer than oil, + +yet they were drawn swords. + +22Cast your burden on the LORD, + +and he will sustain you; + +he will never permit + +the righteous to be moved. + +23But you, O God, will cast them down + +into the pit of destruction; + +men of blood and treachery + +shall not live out half their days. + +But I will trust in you. + + + + + +In God I Trust + + +To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam[133] of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. + + +56:1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; + +all day long an attacker oppresses me; + +2my enemies trample on me all day long, + +for many attack me proudly. + +3When I am afraid, + +I put my trust in you. + +4In God, whose word I praise, + +in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. + +What can flesh do to me? + +5All day long they injure my cause;[134] + +all their thoughts are against me for evil. + +6They stir up strife, they lurk; + +they watch my steps, + +as they have waited for my life. + +7For their crime will they escape? + +In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! + +8You have kept count of my tossings;[135] + +put my tears in your bottle. + +Are they not in your book? + +9Then my enemies will turn back + +in the day when I call. + +This I know, that[136] God is for me. + +10In God, whose word I praise, + +in the LORD, whose word I praise, + +11in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. + +What can man do to me? + +12I must perform my vows to you, O God; + +I will render thank offerings to you. + +13For you have delivered my soul from death, + +yes, my feet from falling, + +that I may walk before God + +in the light of life. + + + + + +Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth + + +To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam[137] of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. + + +57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, + +for in you my soul takes refuge; + +in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, + +till the storms of destruction pass by. + +2I cry out to God Most High, + +to God who fulfills his purpose for me. + +3He will send from heaven and save me; + +he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah + +God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness! + +4My soul is in the midst of lions; + +I lie down amid fiery beasts— + +the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, + +whose tongues are sharp swords. + +5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! + +Let your glory be over all the earth! + +6They set a net for my steps; + +my soul was bowed down. + +They dug a pit in my way, + +but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah + +7My heart is steadfast, O God, + +my heart is steadfast! + +I will sing and make melody! + +8Awake, my glory![138] + +Awake, O harp and lyre! + +I will awake the dawn! + +9I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; + +I will sing praises to you among the nations. + +10For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, + +your faithfulness to the clouds. + +11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! + +Let your glory be over all the earth! + + + + + +God Who Judges the Earth + + +To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam[139] of David. + + +58:1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[140] + +Do you judge the children of man uprightly? + +2No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; + +your hands deal out violence on earth. + +3The wicked are estranged from the womb; + +they go astray from birth, speaking lies. + +4They have venom like the venom of a serpent, + +like the deaf adder that stops its ear, + +5so that it does not hear the voice of charmers + +or of the cunning enchanter. + +6O God, break the teeth in their mouths; + +tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! + +7Let them vanish like water that runs away; + +when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. + +8Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, + +like the stillborn child who never sees the sun. + +9Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, + +whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away![141] + +10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; + +he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. + +11Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; + +surely there is a God who judges on earth.” + + + + + +Deliver Me from My Enemies + + +To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam[142] of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him. + + +59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; + +protect me from those who rise up against me; + +2deliver me from those who work evil, + +and save me from bloodthirsty men. + +3For behold, they lie in wait for my life; + +fierce men stir up strife against me. + +For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD, + +4for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. + +Awake, come to meet me, and see! + +5You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel. + +Rouse yourself to punish all the nations; + +spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah + +6Each evening they come back, + +howling like dogs + +and prowling about the city. + +7There they are, bellowing with their mouths + +with swords in their lips— + +for “Who,” they think,[143] “will hear us?” + +8But you, O LORD, laugh at them; + +you hold all the nations in derision. + +9O my Strength, I will watch for you, + +for you, O God, are my fortress. + +10My God in his steadfast love[144] will meet me; + +God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. + +11Kill them not, lest my people forget; + +make them totter[145] by your power and bring them down, + +O Lord, our shield! + +12For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, + +let them be trapped in their pride. + +For the cursing and lies that they utter, + +13consume them in wrath; + +consume them till they are no more, + +that they may know that God rules over Jacob + +to the ends of the earth. Selah + +14Each evening they come back, + +howling like dogs + +and prowling about the city. + +15They wander about for food + +and growl if they do not get their fill. + +16But I will sing of your strength; + +I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. + +For you have been to me a fortress + +and a refuge in the day of my distress. + +17O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, + +for you, O God, are my fortress, + +the God who shows me steadfast love. + + + + + +He Will Tread Down Our Foes + + +To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam[146] of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. + + +60:1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; + +you have been angry; oh, restore us. + +2You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; + +repair its breaches, for it totters. + +3You have made your people see hard things; + +you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger. + +4You have set up a banner for those who fear you, + +that they may flee to it from the bow.[147] Selah + +5That your beloved ones may be delivered, + +give salvation by your right hand and answer us! + +6God has spoken in his holiness:[148] + +“With exultation I will divide up Shechem + +and portion out the Vale of Succoth. + +7Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; + +Ephraim is my helmet; + +Judah is my scepter. + +8Moab is my washbasin; + +upon Edom I cast my shoe; + +over Philistia I shout in triumph.”[149] + +9Who will bring me to the fortified city? + +Who will lead me to Edom? + +10Have you not rejected us, O God? + +You do not go forth, O God, with our armies. + +11Oh, grant us help against the foe, + +for vain is the salvation of man! + +12With God we shall do valiantly; + +it is he who will tread down our foes. + + + + + +Lead Me to the Rock + + +To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David. + + +61:1 Hear my cry, O God, + +listen to my prayer; + +2from the end of the earth I call to you + +when my heart is faint. + +Lead me to the rock + +that is higher than I, + +3for you have been my refuge, + +a strong tower against the enemy. + +4Let me dwell in your tent forever! + +Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah + +5For you, O God, have heard my vows; + +you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. + +6Prolong the life of the king; + +may his years endure to all generations! + +7May he be enthroned forever before God; + +appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! + +8So will I ever sing praises to your name, + +as I perform my vows day after day. + + + + + +My Soul Waits for God Alone + + +To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. + + +62:1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; + +from him comes my salvation. + +2He only is my rock and my salvation, + +my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. + +3How long will all of you attack a man + +to batter him, + +like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? + +4They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. + +They take pleasure in falsehood. + +They bless with their mouths, + +but inwardly they curse. Selah + +5For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, + +for my hope is from him. + +6He only is my rock and my salvation, + +my fortress; I shall not be shaken. + +7On God rests my salvation and my glory; + +my mighty rock, my refuge is God. + +8Trust in him at all times, O people; + +pour out your heart before him; + +God is a refuge for us. Selah + +9Those of low estate are but a breath; + +those of high estate are a delusion; + +in the balances they go up; + +they are together lighter than a breath. + +10Put no trust in extortion; + +set no vain hopes on robbery; + +if riches increase, set not your heart on them. + +11Once God has spoken; + +twice have I heard this: + +that power belongs to God, + +12and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. + +For you will render to a man + +according to his work. + + + + + +My Soul Thirsts for You + + +A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. + + +63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; + +my soul thirsts for you; + +my flesh faints for you, + +as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. + +2So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, + +beholding your power and glory. + +3Because your steadfast love is better than life, + +my lips will praise you. + +4So I will bless you as long as I live; + +in your name I will lift up my hands. + +5My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, + +and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, + +6when I remember you upon my bed, + +and meditate on you in the watches of the night; + +7for you have been my help, + +and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. + +8My soul clings to you; + +your right hand upholds me. + +9But those who seek to destroy my life + +shall go down into the depths of the earth; + +10they shall be given over to the power of the sword; + +they shall be a portion for jackals. + +11But the king shall rejoice in God; + +all who swear by him shall exult, + +for the mouths of liars will be stopped. + + + + + +Hide Me from the Wicked + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +64:1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; + +preserve my life from dread of the enemy. + +2Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, + +from the throng of evildoers, + +3who whet their tongues like swords, + +who aim bitter words like arrows, + +4shooting from ambush at the blameless, + +shooting at him suddenly and without fear. + +5They hold fast to their evil purpose; + +they talk of laying snares secretly, + +thinking, “Who can see them?” + +6They search out injustice, + +saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.” + +For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep! + +7But God shoots his arrow at them; + +they are wounded suddenly. + +8They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; + +all who see them will wag their heads. + +9Then all mankind fears; + +they tell what God has brought about + +and ponder what he has done. + +10Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD + +and take refuge in him! + +Let all the upright in heart exult! + + + + + +O God of Our Salvation + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song. + + +65:1 Praise is due to you,[150] O God, in Zion, + +and to you shall vows be performed. + +2O you who hear prayer, + +to you shall all flesh come. + +3When iniquities prevail against me, + +you atone for our transgressions. + +4Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, + +to dwell in your courts! + +We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, + +the holiness of your temple! + +5By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, + +O God of our salvation, + +the hope of all the ends of the earth + +and of the farthest seas; + +6the one who by his strength established the mountains, + +being girded with might; + +7who stills the roaring of the seas, + +the roaring of their waves, + +the tumult of the peoples, + +8so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. + +You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. + +9You visit the earth and water it;[151] + +you greatly enrich it; + +the river of God is full of water; + +you provide their grain, + +for so you have prepared it. + +10You water its furrows abundantly, + +settling its ridges, + +softening it with showers, + +and blessing its growth. + +11You crown the year with your bounty; + +your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. + +12The pastures of the wilderness overflow, + +the hills gird themselves with joy, + +13the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, + +the valleys deck themselves with grain, + +they shout and sing together for joy. + + + + + +How Awesome Are Your Deeds + + +To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm. + + +66:1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth; + +2sing the glory of his name; + +give to him glorious praise! + +3Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! + +So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. + +4All the earth worships you + +and sings praises to you; + +they sing praises to your name.” Selah + +5Come and see what God has done: + +he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. + +6He turned the sea into dry land; + +they passed through the river on foot. + +There did we rejoice in him, + +7who rules by his might forever, + +whose eyes keep watch on the nations— + +let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah + +8Bless our God, O peoples; + +let the sound of his praise be heard, + +9who has kept our soul among the living + +and has not let our feet slip. + +10For you, O God, have tested us; + +you have tried us as silver is tried. + +11You brought us into the net; + +you laid a crushing burden on our backs; + +12you let men ride over our heads; + +we went through fire and through water; + +yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. + +13I will come into your house with burnt offerings; + +I will perform my vows to you, + +14that which my lips uttered + +and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. + +15I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, + +with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; + +I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah + +16Come and hear, all you who fear God, + +and I will tell what he has done for my soul. + +17I cried to him with my mouth, + +and high praise was on[152] my tongue.[153] + +18If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, + +the Lord would not have listened. + +19But truly God has listened; + +he has attended to the voice of my prayer. + +20Blessed be God, + +because he has not rejected my prayer + +or removed his steadfast love from me! + + + + + +Make Your Face Shine upon Us + + +To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. + + +67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us + +and make his face to shine upon us, Selah + +2that your way may be known on earth, + +your saving power among all nations. + +3Let the peoples praise you, O God; + +let all the peoples praise you! + +4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, + +for you judge the peoples with equity + +and guide the nations upon earth. Selah + +5Let the peoples praise you, O God; + +let all the peoples praise you! + +6The earth has yielded its increase; + +God, our God, shall bless us. + +7God shall bless us; + +let all the ends of the earth fear him! + + + + + +God Shall Scatter His Enemies + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song. + + +68:1 God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; + +and those who hate him shall flee before him! + +2As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; + +as wax melts before fire, + +so the wicked shall perish before God! + +3But the righteous shall be glad; + +they shall exult before God; + +they shall be jubilant with joy! + +4Sing to God, sing praises to his name; + +lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; + +his name is the LORD; + +exult before him! + +5Father of the fatherless and protector of widows + +is God in his holy habitation. + +6God settles the solitary in a home; + +he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, + +but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. + +7O God, when you went out before your people, + +when you marched through the wilderness, Selah + +8the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, + +before God, the One of Sinai, + +before God, the God of Israel. + +9Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; + +you restored your inheritance as it languished; + +10your flock[154] found a dwelling in it; + +in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. + +11The Lord gives the word; + +the women who announce the news are a great host: + +12“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!” + +The women at home divide the spoil— + +13though you men lie among the sheepfolds— + +the wings of a dove covered with silver, + +its pinions with shimmering gold. + +14When the Almighty scatters kings there, + +let snow fall on Zalmon. + +15O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan; + +O many-peaked[155] mountain, mountain of Bashan! + +16Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, + +at the mount that God desired for his abode, + +yes, where the LORD will dwell forever? + +17The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, + +thousands upon thousands; + +the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary. + +18You ascended on high, + +leading a host of captives in your train + +and receiving gifts among men, + +even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. + +19Blessed be the Lord, + +who daily bears us up; + +God is our salvation. Selah + +20Our God is a God of salvation, + +and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. + +21But God will strike the heads of his enemies, + +the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways. + +22The Lord said, + +“I will bring them back from Bashan, + +I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, + +23that you may strike your feet in their blood, + +that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.” + +24Your procession is[156] seen, O God, + +the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary— + +25the singers in front, the musicians last, + +between them virgins playing tambourines: + +26“Bless God in the great congregation, + +the LORD, O you[157] who are of Israel's fountain!” + +27There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, + +the princes of Judah in their throng, + +the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. + +28Summon your power, O God,[158] + +the power, O God, by which you have worked for us. + +29Because of your temple at Jerusalem + +kings shall bear gifts to you. + +30Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, + +the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. + +Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; + +scatter the peoples who delight in war.[159] + +31Nobles shall come from Egypt; + +Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God. + +32O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; + +sing praises to the Lord, Selah + +33to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; + +behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. + +34Ascribe power to God, + +whose majesty is over Israel, + +and whose power is in the skies. + +35Awesome is God from his[160] sanctuary; + +the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. + +Blessed be God! + + + + + +Save Me, O God + + +To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David. + + +69:1 Save me, O God! + +For the waters have come up to my neck.[161] + +2I sink in deep mire, + +where there is no foothold; + +I have come into deep waters, + +and the flood sweeps over me. + +3I am weary with my crying out; + +my throat is parched. + +My eyes grow dim + +with waiting for my God. + +4More in number than the hairs of my head + +are those who hate me without cause; + +mighty are those who would destroy me, + +those who attack me with lies. + +What I did not steal + +must I now restore? + +5O God, you know my folly; + +the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. + +6Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, + +O Lord GOD of hosts; + +let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, + +O God of Israel. + +7For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, + +that dishonor has covered my face. + +8I have become a stranger to my brothers, + +an alien to my mother's sons. + +9For zeal for your house has consumed me, + +and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. + +10When I wept and humbled[162] my soul with fasting, + +it became my reproach. + +11When I made sackcloth my clothing, + +I became a byword to them. + +12I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, + +and the drunkards make songs about me. + +13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. + +At an acceptable time, O God, + +in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. + +14Deliver me + +from sinking in the mire; + +let me be delivered from my enemies + +and from the deep waters. + +15Let not the flood sweep over me, + +or the deep swallow me up, + +or the pit close its mouth over me. + +16Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; + +according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. + +17Hide not your face from your servant; + +for I am in distress; make haste to answer me. + +18Draw near to my soul, redeem me; + +ransom me because of my enemies! + +19You know my reproach, + +and my shame and my dishonor; + +my foes are all known to you. + +20Reproaches have broken my heart, + +so that I am in despair. + +I looked for pity, but there was none, + +and for comforters, but I found none. + +21They gave me poison for food, + +and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. + +22Let their own table before them become a snare; + +and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.[163] + +23Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, + +and make their loins tremble continually. + +24Pour out your indignation upon them, + +and let your burning anger overtake them. + +25May their camp be a desolation; + +let no one dwell in their tents. + +26For they persecute him whom you have struck down, + +and they recount the pain of those you have wounded. + +27Add to them punishment upon punishment; + +may they have no acquittal from you.[164] + +28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; + +let them not be enrolled among the righteous. + +29But I am afflicted and in pain; + +let your salvation, O God, set me on high! + +30I will praise the name of God with a song; + +I will magnify him with thanksgiving. + +31This will please the LORD more than an ox + +or a bull with horns and hoofs. + +32When the humble see it they will be glad; + +you who seek God, let your hearts revive. + +33For the LORD hears the needy + +and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. + +34Let heaven and earth praise him, + +the seas and everything that moves in them. + +35For God will save Zion + +and build up the cities of Judah, + +and people shall dwell there and possess it; + +36the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, + +and those who love his name shall dwell in it. + + + + + +O LORD, Do Not Delay + + +To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering. + + +70:1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me! + +O LORD, make haste to help me! + +2Let them be put to shame and confusion + +who seek my life! + +Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor + +who delight in my hurt! + +3Let them turn back because of their shame + +who say, “Aha, Aha!” + +4May all who seek you + +rejoice and be glad in you! + +May those who love your salvation + +say evermore, “God is great!” + +5But I am poor and needy; + +hasten to me, O God! + +You are my help and my deliverer; + +O LORD, do not delay! + + + + + +Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent + + +71:1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; + +let me never be put to shame! + +2In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; + +incline your ear to me, and save me! + +3Be to me a rock of refuge, + +to which I may continually come; + +you have given the command to save me, + +for you are my rock and my fortress. + +4Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, + +from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. + +5For you, O Lord, are my hope, + +my trust, O LORD, from my youth. + +6Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; + +you are he who took me from my mother's womb. + +My praise is continually of you. + +7I have been as a portent to many, + +but you are my strong refuge. + +8My mouth is filled with your praise, + +and with your glory all the day. + +9Do not cast me off in the time of old age; + +forsake me not when my strength is spent. + +10For my enemies speak concerning me; + +those who watch for my life consult together + +11and say, “God has forsaken him; + +pursue and seize him, + +for there is none to deliver him.” + +12O God, be not far from me; + +O my God, make haste to help me! + +13May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; + +with scorn and disgrace may they be covered + +who seek my hurt. + +14But I will hope continually + +and will praise you yet more and more. + +15My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, + +of your deeds of salvation all the day, + +for their number is past my knowledge. + +16With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; + +I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. + +17O God, from my youth you have taught me, + +and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. + +18So even to old age and gray hairs, + +O God, do not forsake me, + +until I proclaim your might to another generation, + +your power to all those to come. + +19Your righteousness, O God, + +reaches the high heavens. + +You who have done great things, + +O God, who is like you? + +20You who have made me see many troubles and calamities + +will revive me again; + +from the depths of the earth + +you will bring me up again. + +21You will increase my greatness + +and comfort me again. + +22I will also praise you with the harp + +for your faithfulness, O my God; + +I will sing praises to you with the lyre, + +O Holy One of Israel. + +23My lips will shout for joy, + +when I sing praises to you; + +my soul also, which you have redeemed. + +24And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, + +for they have been put to shame and disappointed + +who sought to do me hurt. + + + + + +Give the King Your Justice + + +Of Solomon. + + +72:1 Give the king your justice, O God, + +and your righteousness to the royal son! + +2May he judge your people with righteousness, + +and your poor with justice! + +3Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, + +and the hills, in righteousness! + +4May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, + +give deliverance to the children of the needy, + +and crush the oppressor! + +5May they fear you[165] while the sun endures, + +and as long as the moon, throughout all generations! + +6May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, + +like showers that water the earth! + +7In his days may the righteous flourish, + +and peace abound, till the moon be no more! + +8May he have dominion from sea to sea, + +and from the River[166] to the ends of the earth! + +9May desert tribes bow down before him, + +and his enemies lick the dust! + +10May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands + +render him tribute; + +may the kings of Sheba and Seba + +bring gifts! + +11May all kings fall down before him, + +all nations serve him! + +12For he delivers the needy when he calls, + +the poor and him who has no helper. + +13He has pity on the weak and the needy, + +and saves the lives of the needy. + +14From oppression and violence he redeems their life, + +and precious is their blood in his sight. + +15Long may he live; + +may gold of Sheba be given to him! + +May prayer be made for him continually, + +and blessings invoked for him all the day! + +16May there be abundance of grain in the land; + +on the tops of the mountains may it wave; + +may its fruit be like Lebanon; + +and may people blossom in the cities + +like the grass of the field! + +17May his name endure forever, + +his fame continue as long as the sun! + +May people be blessed in him, + +all nations call him blessed! + +18Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, + +who alone does wondrous things. + +19Blessed be his glorious name forever; + +may the whole earth be filled with his glory! + +Amen and Amen! + +20The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. + + + + + +Book Three + + +God Is My Strength and Portion Forever + + +A Psalm of Asaph. + + +73:1 Truly God is good to Israel, + +to those who are pure in heart. + +2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, + +my steps had nearly slipped. + +3For I was envious of the arrogant + +when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. + +4For they have no pangs until death; + +their bodies are fat and sleek. + +5They are not in trouble as others are; + +they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. + +6Therefore pride is their necklace; + +violence covers them as a garment. + +7Their eyes swell out through fatness; + +their hearts overflow with follies. + +8They scoff and speak with malice; + +loftily they threaten oppression. + +9They set their mouths against the heavens, + +and their tongue struts through the earth. + +10Therefore his people turn back to them, + +and find no fault in them.[167] + +11And they say, “How can God know? + +Is there knowledge in the Most High?” + +12Behold, these are the wicked; + +always at ease, they increase in riches. + +13All in vain have I kept my heart clean + +and washed my hands in innocence. + +14For all the day long I have been stricken + +and rebuked every morning. + +15If I had said, “I will speak thus,” + +I would have betrayed the generation of your children. + +16But when I thought how to understand this, + +it seemed to me a wearisome task, + +17until I went into the sanctuary of God; + +then I discerned their end. + +18Truly you set them in slippery places; + +you make them fall to ruin. + +19How they are destroyed in a moment, + +swept away utterly by terrors! + +20Like a dream when one awakes, + +O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. + +21When my soul was embittered, + +when I was pricked in heart, + +22I was brutish and ignorant; + +I was like a beast toward you. + +23Nevertheless, I am continually with you; + +you hold my right hand. + +24You guide me with your counsel, + +and afterward you will receive me to glory. + +25Whom have I in heaven but you? + +And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. + +26My flesh and my heart may fail, + +but God is the strength[168] of my heart and my portion forever. + +27For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; + +you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. + +28But for me it is good to be near God; + +I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, + +that I may tell of all your works. + + + + + +Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause + + +A Maskil[169] of Asaph. + + +74:1 O God, why do you cast us off forever? + +Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? + +2Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, + +which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! + +Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt. + +3Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; + +the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary! + +4Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; + +they set up their own signs for signs. + +5They were like those who swing axes + +in a forest of trees.[170] + +6And all its carved wood + +they broke down with hatchets and hammers. + +7They set your sanctuary on fire; + +they profaned the dwelling place of your name, + +bringing it down to the ground. + +8They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; + +they burned all the meeting places of God in the land. + +9We do not see our signs; + +there is no longer any prophet, + +and there is none among us who knows how long. + +10How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? + +Is the enemy to revile your name forever? + +11Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? + +Take it from the fold of your garment[171] and destroy them! + +12Yet God my King is from of old, + +working salvation in the midst of the earth. + +13You divided the sea by your might; + +you broke the heads of the sea monsters[172] on the waters. + +14You crushed the heads of Leviathan; + +you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. + +15You split open springs and brooks; + +you dried up ever-flowing streams. + +16Yours is the day, yours also the night; + +you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. + +17You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; + +you have made summer and winter. + +18Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, + +and a foolish people reviles your name. + +19Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; + +do not forget the life of your poor forever. + +20Have regard for the covenant, + +for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. + +21Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; + +let the poor and needy praise your name. + +22Arise, O God, defend your cause; + +remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day! + +23Do not forget the clamor of your foes, + +the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually! + + + + + +God Will Judge with Equity + + +To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. + + +75:1 We give thanks to you, O God; + +we give thanks, for your name is near. + +We[173] recount your wondrous deeds. + +2“At the set time that I appoint + +I will judge with equity. + +3When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, + +it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah + +4I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ + +and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; + +5do not lift up your horn on high, + +or speak with haughty neck.’” + +6For not from the east or from the west + +and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, + +7but it is God who executes judgment, + +putting down one and lifting up another. + +8For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup + +with foaming wine, well mixed, + +and he pours out from it, + +and all the wicked of the earth + +shall drain it down to the dregs. + +9But I will declare it forever; + +I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. + +10All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, + +but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up. + + + + + +Who Can Stand Before You? + + +To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. + + +76:1 In Judah God is known; + +his name is great in Israel. + +2His abode has been established in Salem, + +his dwelling place in Zion. + +3There he broke the flashing arrows, + +the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah + +4Glorious are you, more majestic + +than the mountains of prey. + +5The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; + +they sank into sleep; + +all the men of war + +were unable to use their hands. + +6At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, + +both rider and horse lay stunned. + +7But you, you are to be feared! + +Who can stand before you + +when once your anger is roused? + +8From the heavens you uttered judgment; + +the earth feared and was still, + +9when God arose to establish judgment, + +to save all the humble of the earth. Selah + +10Surely the wrath of man shall praise you; + +the remnant[174] of wrath you will put on like a belt. + +11Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them; + +let all around him bring gifts + +to him who is to be feared, + +12who cuts off the spirit of princes, + +who is to be feared by the kings of the earth. + + + + + +In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord + + +To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. + + +77:1 I cry aloud to God, + +aloud to God, and he will hear me. + +2In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; + +in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; + +my soul refuses to be comforted. + +3When I remember God, I moan; + +when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah + +4You hold my eyelids open; + +I am so troubled that I cannot speak. + +5I consider the days of old, + +the years long ago. + +6I said,[175] “Let me remember my song in the night; + +let me meditate in my heart.” + +Then my spirit made a diligent search: + +7“Will the Lord spurn forever, + +and never again be favorable? + +8Has his steadfast love forever ceased? + +Are his promises at an end for all time? + +9Has God forgotten to be gracious? + +Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah + +10Then I said, “I will appeal to this, + +to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”[176] + +11I will remember the deeds of the LORD; + +yes, I will remember your wonders of old. + +12I will ponder all your work, + +and meditate on your mighty deeds. + +13Your way, O God, is holy. + +What god is great like our God? + +14You are the God who works wonders; + +you have made known your might among the peoples. + +15You with your arm redeemed your people, + +the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah + +16When the waters saw you, O God, + +when the waters saw you, they were afraid; + +indeed, the deep trembled. + +17The clouds poured out water; + +the skies gave forth thunder; + +your arrows flashed on every side. + +18The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; + +your lightnings lighted up the world; + +the earth trembled and shook. + +19Your way was through the sea, + +your path through the great waters; + +yet your footprints were unseen.[177] + +20You led your people like a flock + +by the hand of Moses and Aaron. + + + + + +Tell the Coming Generation + + +A Maskil[178] of Asaph. + + +78:1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; + +incline your ears to the words of my mouth! + +2I will open my mouth in a parable; + +I will utter dark sayings from of old, + +3things that we have heard and known, + +that our fathers have told us. + +4We will not hide them from their children, + +but tell to the coming generation + +the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, + +and the wonders that he has done. + +5He established a testimony in Jacob + +and appointed a law in Israel, + +which he commanded our fathers + +to teach to their children, + +6that the next generation might know them, + +the children yet unborn, + +and arise and tell them to their children, + +7so that they should set their hope in God + +and not forget the works of God, + +but keep his commandments; + +8and that they should not be like their fathers, + +a stubborn and rebellious generation, + +a generation whose heart was not steadfast, + +whose spirit was not faithful to God. + +9The Ephraimites, armed with[179] the bow, + +turned back on the day of battle. + +10They did not keep God's covenant, + +but refused to walk according to his law. + +11They forgot his works + +and the wonders that he had shown them. + +12In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders + +in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. + +13He divided the sea and let them pass through it, + +and made the waters stand like a heap. + +14In the daytime he led them with a cloud, + +and all the night with a fiery light. + +15He split rocks in the wilderness + +and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. + +16He made streams come out of the rock + +and caused waters to flow down like rivers. + +17Yet they sinned still more against him, + +rebelling against the Most High in the desert. + +18They tested God in their heart + +by demanding the food they craved. + +19They spoke against God, saying, + +“Can God spread a table in the wilderness? + +20He struck the rock so that water gushed out + +and streams overflowed. + +Can he also give bread + +or provide meat for his people?” + +21Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; + +a fire was kindled against Jacob; + +his anger rose against Israel, + +22because they did not believe in God + +and did not trust his saving power. + +23Yet he commanded the skies above + +and opened the doors of heaven, + +24and he rained down on them manna to eat + +and gave them the grain of heaven. + +25Man ate of the bread of the angels; + +he sent them food in abundance. + +26He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, + +and by his power he led out the south wind; + +27he rained meat on them like dust, + +winged birds like the sand of the seas; + +28he let them fall in the midst of their camp, + +all around their dwellings. + +29And they ate and were well filled, + +for he gave them what they craved. + +30But before they had satisfied their craving, + +while the food was still in their mouths, + +31the anger of God rose against them, + +and he killed the strongest of them + +and laid low the young men of Israel. + +32In spite of all this, they still sinned; + +despite his wonders, they did not believe. + +33So he made their days vanish like[180] a breath,[181] + +and their years in terror. + +34When he killed them, they sought him; + +they repented and sought God earnestly. + +35They remembered that God was their rock, + +the Most High God their redeemer. + +36But they flattered him with their mouths; + +they lied to him with their tongues. + +37Their heart was not steadfast toward him; + +they were not faithful to his covenant. + +38Yet he, being compassionate, + +atoned for their iniquity + +and did not destroy them; + +he restrained his anger often + +and did not stir up all his wrath. + +39He remembered that they were but flesh, + +a wind that passes and comes not again. + +40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness + +and grieved him in the desert! + +41They tested God again and again + +and provoked the Holy One of Israel. + +42They did not remember his power[182] + +or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, + +43when he performed his signs in Egypt + +and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. + +44He turned their rivers to blood, + +so that they could not drink of their streams. + +45He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, + +and frogs, which destroyed them. + +46He gave their crops to the destroying locust + +and the fruit of their labor to the locust. + +47He destroyed their vines with hail + +and their sycamores with frost. + +48He gave over their cattle to the hail + +and their flocks to thunderbolts. + +49He let loose on them his burning anger, + +wrath, indignation, and distress, + +a company of destroying angels. + +50He made a path for his anger; + +he did not spare them from death, + +but gave their lives over to the plague. + +51He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, + +the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham. + +52Then he led out his people like sheep + +and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. + +53He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, + +but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. + +54And he brought them to his holy land, + +to the mountain which his right hand had won. + +55He drove out nations before them; + +he apportioned them for a possession + +and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. + +56Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God + +and did not keep his testimonies, + +57but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; + +they twisted like a deceitful bow. + +58For they provoked him to anger with their high places; + +they moved him to jealousy with their idols. + +59When God heard, he was full of wrath, + +and he utterly rejected Israel. + +60He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, + +the tent where he dwelt among mankind, + +61and delivered his power to captivity, + +his glory to the hand of the foe. + +62He gave his people over to the sword + +and vented his wrath on his heritage. + +63Fire devoured their young men, + +and their young women had no marriage song. + +64Their priests fell by the sword, + +and their widows made no lamentation. + +65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, + +like a strong man shouting because of wine. + +66And he put his adversaries to rout; + +he put them to everlasting shame. + +67He rejected the tent of Joseph; + +he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, + +68but he chose the tribe of Judah, + +Mount Zion, which he loves. + +69He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, + +like the earth, which he has founded forever. + +70He chose David his servant + +and took him from the sheepfolds; + +71from following the nursing ewes he brought him + +to shepherd Jacob his people, + +Israel his inheritance. + +72With upright heart he shepherded them + +and guided them with his skillful hand. + + + + + +How Long, O LORD? + + +A Psalm of Asaph. + + +79:1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; + +they have defiled your holy temple; + +they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. + +2They have given the bodies of your servants + +to the birds of the heavens for food, + +the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth. + +3They have poured out their blood like water + +all around Jerusalem, + +and there was no one to bury them. + +4We have become a taunt to our neighbors, + +mocked and derided by those around us. + +5How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? + +Will your jealousy burn like fire? + +6Pour out your anger on the nations + +that do not know you, + +and on the kingdoms + +that do not call upon your name! + +7For they have devoured Jacob + +and laid waste his habitation. + +8Do not remember against us our former iniquities;[183] + +let your compassion come speedily to meet us, + +for we are brought very low. + +9Help us, O God of our salvation, + +for the glory of your name; + +deliver us, and atone for our sins, + +for your name's sake! + +10Why should the nations say, + +“Where is their God?” + +Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants + +be known among the nations before our eyes! + +11Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; + +according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die! + +12Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors + +the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord! + +13But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, + +will give thanks to you forever; + +from generation to generation we will recount your praise. + + + + + +Restore Us, O God + + +To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm. + + +80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, + +you who lead Joseph like a flock! + +You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. + +2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, + +stir up your might + +and come to save us! + +3Restore us,[184] O God; + +let your face shine, that we may be saved! + +4O LORD God of hosts, + +how long will you be angry with your people's prayers? + +5You have fed them with the bread of tears + +and given them tears to drink in full measure. + +6You make us an object of contention for our neighbors, + +and our enemies laugh among themselves. + +7Restore us, O God of hosts; + +let your face shine, that we may be saved! + +8You brought a vine out of Egypt; + +you drove out the nations and planted it. + +9You cleared the ground for it; + +it took deep root and filled the land. + +10The mountains were covered with its shade, + +the mighty cedars with its branches. + +11It sent out its branches to the sea + +and its shoots to the River.[185] + +12Why then have you broken down its walls, + +so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? + +13The boar from the forest ravages it, + +and all that move in the field feed on it. + +14Turn again, O God of hosts! + +Look down from heaven, and see; + +have regard for this vine, + +15the stock that your right hand planted, + +and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. + +16They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; + +may they perish at the rebuke of your face! + +17But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, + +the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! + +18Then we shall not turn back from you; + +give us life, and we will call upon your name! + +19Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! + +Let your face shine, that we may be saved! + + + + + +Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me + + +To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.[186] Of Asaph. + + +81:1 Sing aloud to God our strength; + +shout for joy to the God of Jacob! + +2Raise a song; sound the tambourine, + +the sweet lyre with the harp. + +3Blow the trumpet at the new moon, + +at the full moon, on our feast day. + +4For it is a statute for Israel, + +a rule[187] of the God of Jacob. + +5He made it a decree in Joseph + +when he went out over[188] the land of Egypt. + +I hear a language I had not known: + +6“I relieved your[189] shoulder of the burden; + +your hands were freed from the basket. + +7In distress you called, and I delivered you; + +I answered you in the secret place of thunder; + +I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah + +8Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! + +O Israel, if you would but listen to me! + +9There shall be no strange god among you; + +you shall not bow down to a foreign god. + +10I am the LORD your God, + +who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. + +Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. + +11“But my people did not listen to my voice; + +Israel would not submit to me. + +12So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, + +to follow their own counsels. + +13Oh, that my people would listen to me, + +that Israel would walk in my ways! + +14I would soon subdue their enemies + +and turn my hand against their foes. + +15Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, + +and their fate would last forever. + +16But he would feed you[190] with the finest of the wheat, + +and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” + + + + + +Rescue the Weak and Needy + + +A Psalm of Asaph. + + +82:1 God has taken his place in the divine council; + +in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: + +2“How long will you judge unjustly + +and show partiality to the wicked? Selah + +3Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; + +maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. + +4Rescue the weak and the needy; + +deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” + +5They have neither knowledge nor understanding, + +they walk about in darkness; + +all the foundations of the earth are shaken. + +6I said, “You are gods, + +sons of the Most High, all of you; + +7nevertheless, like men you shall die, + +and fall like any prince.”[191] + +8Arise, O God, judge the earth; + +for you shall inherit all the nations! + + + + + +O God, Do Not Keep Silence + + +A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. + + +83:1 O God, do not keep silence; + +do not hold your peace or be still, O God! + +2For behold, your enemies make an uproar; + +those who hate you have raised their heads. + +3They lay crafty plans against your people; + +they consult together against your treasured ones. + +4They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; + +let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” + +5For they conspire with one accord; + +against you they make a covenant— + +6the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, + +Moab and the Hagrites, + +7Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, + +Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; + +8Asshur also has joined them; + +they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah + +9Do to them as you did to Midian, + +as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, + +10who were destroyed at En-dor, + +who became dung for the ground. + +11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, + +all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, + +12who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves + +of the pastures of God.” + +13O my God, make them like whirling dust,[192] + +like chaff before the wind. + +14As fire consumes the forest, + +as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, + +15so may you pursue them with your tempest + +and terrify them with your hurricane! + +16Fill their faces with shame, + +that they may seek your name, O LORD. + +17Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; + +let them perish in disgrace, + +18that they may know that you alone, + +whose name is the LORD, + +are the Most High over all the earth. + + + + + +My Soul Longs for the Courts of the LORD + + +To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.[193] A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. + + +84:1 How lovely is your dwelling place, + +O LORD of hosts! + +2My soul longs, yes, faints + +for the courts of the LORD; + +my heart and flesh sing for joy + +to the living God. + +3Even the sparrow finds a home, + +and the swallow a nest for herself, + +where she may lay her young, + +at your altars, O LORD of hosts, + +my King and my God. + +4Blessed are those who dwell in your house, + +ever singing your praise! Selah + +5Blessed are those whose strength is in you, + +in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[194] + +6As they go through the Valley of Baca + +they make it a place of springs; + +the early rain also covers it with pools. + +7They go from strength to strength; + +each one appears before God in Zion. + +8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; + +give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah + +9Behold our shield, O God; + +look on the face of your anointed! + +10For a day in your courts is better + +than a thousand elsewhere. + +I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God + +than dwell in the tents of wickedness. + +11For the LORD God is a sun and shield; + +the LORD bestows favor and honor. + +No good thing does he withhold + +from those who walk uprightly. + +12O LORD of hosts, + +blessed is the one who trusts in you! + + + + + +Revive Us Again + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. + + +85:1 LORD, you were favorable to your land; + +you restored the fortunes of Jacob. + +2You forgave the iniquity of your people; + +you covered all their sin. Selah + +3You withdrew all your wrath; + +you turned from your hot anger. + +4Restore us again, O God of our salvation, + +and put away your indignation toward us! + +5Will you be angry with us forever? + +Will you prolong your anger to all generations? + +6Will you not revive us again, + +that your people may rejoice in you? + +7Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, + +and grant us your salvation. + +8Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, + +for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; + +but let them not turn back to folly. + +9Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, + +that glory may dwell in our land. + +10Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; + +righteousness and peace kiss each other. + +11Faithfulness springs up from the ground, + +and righteousness looks down from the sky. + +12Yes, the LORD will give what is good, + +and our land will yield its increase. + +13Righteousness will go before him + +and make his footsteps a way. + + + + + +Great Is Your Steadfast Love + + +A Prayer of David. + + +86:1 Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, + +for I am poor and needy. + +2Preserve my life, for I am godly; + +save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. + +3Be gracious to me, O Lord, + +for to you do I cry all the day. + +4Gladden the soul of your servant, + +for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. + +5For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, + +abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. + +6Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; + +listen to my plea for grace. + +7In the day of my trouble I call upon you, + +for you answer me. + +8There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, + +nor are there any works like yours. + +9All the nations you have made shall come + +and worship before you, O Lord, + +and shall glorify your name. + +10For you are great and do wondrous things; + +you alone are God. + +11Teach me your way, O LORD, + +that I may walk in your truth; + +unite my heart to fear your name. + +12I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, + +and I will glorify your name forever. + +13For great is your steadfast love toward me; + +you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. + +14O God, insolent men have risen up against me; + +a band of ruthless men seeks my life, + +and they do not set you before them. + +15But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, + +slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. + +16Turn to me and be gracious to me; + +give your strength to your servant, + +and save the son of your maidservant. + +17Show me a sign of your favor, + +that those who hate me may see and be put to shame + +because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me. + + + + + +Glorious Things of You Are Spoken + + +A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song. + + +87:1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded; + +2the LORD loves the gates of Zion + +more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. + +3Glorious things of you are spoken, + +O city of God. Selah + +4Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; + +behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush[195]— + +“This one was born there,” they say. + +5And of Zion it shall be said, + +“This one and that one were born in her”; + +for the Most High himself will establish her. + +6The LORD records as he registers the peoples, + +“This one was born there.” Selah + +7Singers and dancers alike say, + +“All my springs are in you.” + + + + + +I Cry Out Day and Night Before You + + +A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil[196] of Heman the Ezrahite. + + +88:1 O LORD, God of my salvation; + +I cry out day and night before you. + +2Let my prayer come before you; + +incline your ear to my cry! + +3For my soul is full of troubles, + +and my life draws near to Sheol. + +4I am counted among those who go down to the pit; + +I am a man who has no strength, + +5like one set loose among the dead, + +like the slain that lie in the grave, + +like those whom you remember no more, + +for they are cut off from your hand. + +6You have put me in the depths of the pit, + +in the regions dark and deep. + +7Your wrath lies heavy upon me, + +and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah + +8You have caused my companions to shun me; + +you have made me a horror[197] to them. + +I am shut in so that I cannot escape; + +9my eye grows dim through sorrow. + +Every day I call upon you, O LORD; + +I spread out my hands to you. + +10Do you work wonders for the dead? + +Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah + +11Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, + +or your faithfulness in Abaddon? + +12Are your wonders known in the darkness, + +or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? + +13But I, O LORD, cry to you; + +in the morning my prayer comes before you. + +14O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? + +Why do you hide your face from me? + +15Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, + +I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.[198] + +16Your wrath has swept over me; + +your dreadful assaults destroy me. + +17They surround me like a flood all day long; + +they close in on me together. + +18You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; + +my companions have become darkness.[199] + + + + + +I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the LORD + + +A Maskil[200] of Ethan the Ezrahite. + + +89:1 I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; + +with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. + +2For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; + +in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” + +3You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; + +I have sworn to David my servant: + +4‘I will establish your offspring forever, + +and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah + +5Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, + +your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! + +6For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? + +Who among the heavenly beings[201] is like the LORD, + +7a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, + +and awesome above all who are around him? + +8O LORD God of hosts, + +who is mighty as you are, O LORD, + +with your faithfulness all around you? + +9You rule the raging of the sea; + +when its waves rise, you still them. + +10You crushed Rahab like a carcass; + +you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. + +11The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; + +the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. + +12The north and the south, you have created them; + +Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. + +13You have a mighty arm; + +strong is your hand, high your right hand. + +14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; + +steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. + +15Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, + +who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face, + +16who exult in your name all the day + +and in your righteousness are exalted. + +17For you are the glory of their strength; + +by your favor our horn is exalted. + +18For our shield belongs to the LORD, + +our king to the Holy One of Israel. + +19Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,[202] and said: + +“I have granted help to one who is mighty; + +I have exalted one chosen from the people. + +20I have found David, my servant; + +with my holy oil I have anointed him, + +21so that my hand shall be established with him; + +my arm also shall strengthen him. + +22The enemy shall not outwit him; + +the wicked shall not humble him. + +23I will crush his foes before him + +and strike down those who hate him. + +24My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, + +and in my name shall his horn be exalted. + +25I will set his hand on the sea + +and his right hand on the rivers. + +26He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, + +my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ + +27And I will make him the firstborn, + +the highest of the kings of the earth. + +28My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, + +and my covenant will stand firm[203] for him. + +29I will establish his offspring forever + +and his throne as the days of the heavens. + +30If his children forsake my law + +and do not walk according to my rules,[204] + +31if they violate my statutes + +and do not keep my commandments, + +32then I will punish their transgression with the rod + +and their iniquity with stripes, + +33but I will not remove from him my steadfast love + +or be false to my faithfulness. + +34I will not violate my covenant + +or alter the word that went forth from my lips. + +35Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; + +I will not lie to David. + +36His offspring shall endure forever, + +his throne as long as the sun before me. + +37Like the moon it shall be established forever, + +a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah + +38But now you have cast off and rejected; + +you are full of wrath against your anointed. + +39You have renounced the covenant with your servant; + +you have defiled his crown in the dust. + +40You have breached all his walls; + +you have laid his strongholds in ruins. + +41All who pass by plunder him; + +he has become the scorn of his neighbors. + +42You have exalted the right hand of his foes; + +you have made all his enemies rejoice. + +43You have also turned back the edge of his sword, + +and you have not made him stand in battle. + +44You have made his splendor to cease + +and cast his throne to the ground. + +45You have cut short the days of his youth; + +you have covered him with shame. Selah + +46How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? + +How long will your wrath burn like fire? + +47Remember how short my time is! + +For what vanity you have created all the children of man! + +48What man can live and never see death? + +Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah + +49Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, + +which by your faithfulness you swore to David? + +50Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, + +and how I bear in my heart the insults[205] of all the many nations, + +51with which your enemies mock, O LORD, + +with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed. + +52Blessed be the LORD forever! + +Amen and Amen. + + + + + +Book Four + + +From Everlasting to Everlasting + + +A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. + + +90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place[206] + +in all generations. + +2Before the mountains were brought forth, + +or ever you had formed the earth and the world, + +from everlasting to everlasting you are God. + +3You return man to dust + +and say, “Return, O children of man!”[207] + +4For a thousand years in your sight + +are but as yesterday when it is past, + +or as a watch in the night. + +5You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, + +like grass that is renewed in the morning: + +6in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; + +in the evening it fades and withers. + +7For we are brought to an end by your anger; + +by your wrath we are dismayed. + +8You have set our iniquities before you, + +our secret sins in the light of your presence. + +9For all our days pass away under your wrath; + +we bring our years to an end like a sigh. + +10The years of our life are seventy, + +or even by reason of strength eighty; + +yet their span[208] is but toil and trouble; + +they are soon gone, and we fly away. + +11Who considers the power of your anger, + +and your wrath according to the fear of you? + +12So teach us to number our days + +that we may get a heart of wisdom. + +13Return, O LORD! How long? + +Have pity on your servants! + +14Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, + +that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. + +15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, + +and for as many years as we have seen evil. + +16Let your work be shown to your servants, + +and your glorious power to their children. + +17Let the favor[209] of the Lord our God be upon us, + +and establish the work of our hands upon us; + +yes, establish the work of our hands! + + + + + +My Refuge and My Fortress + + +91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High + +will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. + +2I will say[210] to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, + +my God, in whom I trust.” + +3For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler + +and from the deadly pestilence. + +4He will cover you with his pinions, + +and under his wings you will find refuge; + +his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. + +5You will not fear the terror of the night, + +nor the arrow that flies by day, + +6nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, + +nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. + +7A thousand may fall at your side, + +ten thousand at your right hand, + +but it will not come near you. + +8You will only look with your eyes + +and see the recompense of the wicked. + +9Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— + +the Most High, who is my refuge[211]— + +10no evil shall be allowed to befall you, + +no plague come near your tent. + +11For he will command his angels concerning you + +to guard you in all your ways. + +12On their hands they will bear you up, + +lest you strike your foot against a stone. + +13You will tread on the lion and the adder; + +the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. + +14“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; + +I will protect him, because he knows my name. + +15When he calls to me, I will answer him; + +I will be with him in trouble; + +I will rescue him and honor him. + +16With long life I will satisfy him + +and show him my salvation.” + + + + + +How Great Are Your Works + + +A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath. + + +92:1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, + +to sing praises to your name, O Most High; + +2to declare your steadfast love in the morning, + +and your faithfulness by night, + +3to the music of the lute and the harp, + +to the melody of the lyre. + +4For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; + +at the works of your hands I sing for joy. + +5How great are your works, O LORD! + +Your thoughts are very deep! + +6The stupid man cannot know; + +the fool cannot understand this: + +7that though the wicked sprout like grass + +and all evildoers flourish, + +they are doomed to destruction forever; + +8but you, O LORD, are on high forever. + +9For behold, your enemies, O LORD, + +for behold, your enemies shall perish; + +all evildoers shall be scattered. + +10But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; + +you have poured over me[212] fresh oil. + +11My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; + +my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. + +12The righteous flourish like the palm tree + +and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. + +13They are planted in the house of the LORD; + +they flourish in the courts of our God. + +14They still bear fruit in old age; + +they are ever full of sap and green, + +15to declare that the LORD is upright; + +he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. + + + + + +The LORD Reigns + + +93:1 The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; + +the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. + +Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. + +2Your throne is established from of old; + +you are from everlasting. + +3The floods have lifted up, O LORD, + +the floods have lifted up their voice; + +the floods lift up their roaring. + +4Mightier than the thunders of many waters, + +mightier than the waves of the sea, + +the LORD on high is mighty! + +5Your decrees are very trustworthy; + +holiness befits your house, + +O LORD, forevermore. + + + + + +The LORD Will Not Forsake His People + + +94:1 O LORD, God of vengeance, + +O God of vengeance, shine forth! + +2Rise up, O judge of the earth; + +repay to the proud what they deserve! + +3O LORD, how long shall the wicked, + +how long shall the wicked exult? + +4They pour out their arrogant words; + +all the evildoers boast. + +5They crush your people, O LORD, + +and afflict your heritage. + +6They kill the widow and the sojourner, + +and murder the fatherless; + +7and they say, “The LORD does not see; + +the God of Jacob does not perceive.” + +8Understand, O dullest of the people! + +Fools, when will you be wise? + +9He who planted the ear, does he not hear? + +He who formed the eye, does he not see? + +10He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? + +He who teaches man knowledge— + +11the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, + +that they are but a breath.[213] + +12Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, + +and whom you teach out of your law, + +13to give him rest from days of trouble, + +until a pit is dug for the wicked. + +14For the LORD will not forsake his people; + +he will not abandon his heritage; + +15for justice will return to the righteous, + +and all the upright in heart will follow it. + +16Who rises up for me against the wicked? + +Who stands up for me against evildoers? + +17If the LORD had not been my help, + +my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. + +18When I thought, “My foot slips,” + +your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. + +19When the cares of my heart are many, + +your consolations cheer my soul. + +20Can wicked rulers be allied with you, + +those who frame injustice by statute? + +21They band together against the life of the righteous + +and condemn the innocent to death.[214] + +22But the LORD has become my stronghold, + +and my God the rock of my refuge. + +23He will bring back on them their iniquity + +and wipe them out for their wickedness; + +the LORD our God will wipe them out. + + + + + +Let Us Sing Songs of Praise + + +95:1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; + +let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! + +2Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; + +let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! + +3For the LORD is a great God, + +and a great King above all gods. + +4In his hand are the depths of the earth; + +the heights of the mountains are his also. + +5The sea is his, for he made it, + +and his hands formed the dry land. + +6Oh come, let us worship and bow down; + +let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! + +7For he is our God, + +and we are the people of his pasture, + +and the sheep of his hand. + +Today, if you hear his voice, + +8do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, + +as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, + +9when your fathers put me to the test + +and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. + +10For forty years I loathed that generation + +and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, + +and they have not known my ways.” + +11Therefore I swore in my wrath, + +“They shall not enter my rest.” + + + + + +Worship in the Splendor of Holiness + + +96:1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song; + +sing to the LORD, all the earth! + +2Sing to the LORD, bless his name; + +tell of his salvation from day to day. + +3Declare his glory among the nations, + +his marvelous works among all the peoples! + +4For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; + +he is to be feared above all gods. + +5For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, + +but the LORD made the heavens. + +6Splendor and majesty are before him; + +strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. + +7Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, + +ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! + +8Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; + +bring an offering, and come into his courts! + +9Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;[215] + +tremble before him, all the earth! + +10Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! + +Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; + +he will judge the peoples with equity.” + +11Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; + +let the sea roar, and all that fills it; + +12let the field exult, and everything in it! + +Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy + +13before the LORD, for he comes, + +for he comes to judge the earth. + +He will judge the world in righteousness, + +and the peoples in his faithfulness. + + + + + +The LORD Reigns + + +97:1 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; + +let the many coastlands be glad! + +2Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; + +righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. + +3Fire goes before him + +and burns up his adversaries all around. + +4His lightnings light up the world; + +the earth sees and trembles. + +5The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, + +before the Lord of all the earth. + +6The heavens proclaim his righteousness, + +and all the peoples see his glory. + +7All worshipers of images are put to shame, + +who make their boast in worthless idols; + +worship him, all you gods! + +8Zion hears and is glad, + +and the daughters of Judah rejoice, + +because of your judgments, O LORD. + +9For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; + +you are exalted far above all gods. + +10O you who love the LORD, hate evil! + +He preserves the lives of his saints; + +he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. + +11Light is sown[216] for the righteous, + +and joy for the upright in heart. + +12Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, + +and give thanks to his holy name! + + + + + +Make a Joyful Noise to the LORD + + +A Psalm. + + +98:1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song, + +for he has done marvelous things! + +His right hand and his holy arm + +have worked salvation for him. + +2The LORD has made known his salvation; + +he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. + +3He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness + +to the house of Israel. + +All the ends of the earth have seen + +the salvation of our God. + +4Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; + +break forth into joyous song and sing praises! + +5Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, + +with the lyre and the sound of melody! + +6With trumpets and the sound of the horn + +make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD! + +7Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; + +the world and those who dwell in it! + +8Let the rivers clap their hands; + +let the hills sing for joy together + +9before the LORD, for he comes + +to judge the earth. + +He will judge the world with righteousness, + +and the peoples with equity. + + + + + +The LORD Our God Is Holy + + +99:1 The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! + +He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! + +2The LORD is great in Zion; + +he is exalted over all the peoples. + +3Let them praise your great and awesome name! + +Holy is he! + +4The King in his might loves justice.[217] + +You have established equity; + +you have executed justice + +and righteousness in Jacob. + +5Exalt the LORD our God; + +worship at his footstool! + +Holy is he! + +6Moses and Aaron were among his priests, + +Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. + +They called to the LORD, and he answered them. + +7In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; + +they kept his testimonies + +and the statute that he gave them. + +8O LORD our God, you answered them; + +you were a forgiving God to them, + +but an avenger of their wrongdoings. + +9Exalt the LORD our God, + +and worship at his holy mountain; + +for the LORD our God is holy! + + + + + +His Steadfast Love Endures Forever + + +A Psalm for giving thanks. + + +100:1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! + +2Serve the LORD with gladness! + +Come into his presence with singing! + +3Know that the LORD, he is God! + +It is he who made us, and we are his;[218] + +we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. + +4Enter his gates with thanksgiving, + +and his courts with praise! + +Give thanks to him; bless his name! + +5For the LORD is good; + +his steadfast love endures forever, + +and his faithfulness to all generations. + + + + + +I Will Walk with Integrity + + +A Psalm of David. + + +101:1 I will sing of steadfast love and justice; + +to you, O LORD, I will make music. + +2I will ponder the way that is blameless. + +Oh when will you come to me? + +I will walk with integrity of heart + +within my house; + +3I will not set before my eyes + +anything that is worthless. + +I hate the work of those who fall away; + +it shall not cling to me. + +4A perverse heart shall be far from me; + +I will know nothing of evil. + +5Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly + +I will destroy. + +Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart + +I will not endure. + +6I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, + +that they may dwell with me; + +he who walks in the way that is blameless + +shall minister to me. + +7No one who practices deceit + +shall dwell in my house; + +no one who utters lies + +shall continue before my eyes. + +8Morning by morning I will destroy + +all the wicked in the land, + +cutting off all the evildoers + +from the city of the LORD. + + + + + +Do Not Hide Your Face from Me + + +A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD. + + +102:1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; + +let my cry come to you! + +2Do not hide your face from me + +in the day of my distress! + +Incline your ear to me; + +answer me speedily in the day when I call! + +3For my days pass away like smoke, + +and my bones burn like a furnace. + +4My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; + +I forget to eat my bread. + +5Because of my loud groaning + +my bones cling to my flesh. + +6I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, + +like an owl[219] of the waste places; + +7I lie awake; + +I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. + +8All the day my enemies taunt me; + +those who deride me use my name for a curse. + +9For I eat ashes like bread + +and mingle tears with my drink, + +10because of your indignation and anger; + +for you have taken me up and thrown me down. + +11My days are like an evening shadow; + +I wither away like grass. + +12But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever; + +you are remembered throughout all generations. + +13You will arise and have pity on Zion; + +it is the time to favor her; + +the appointed time has come. + +14For your servants hold her stones dear + +and have pity on her dust. + +15Nations will fear the name of the LORD, + +and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. + +16For the LORD builds up Zion; + +he appears in his glory; + +17he regards the prayer of the destitute + +and does not despise their prayer. + +18Let this be recorded for a generation to come, + +so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: + +19that he looked down from his holy height; + +from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, + +20to hear the groans of the prisoners, + +to set free those who were doomed to die, + +21that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, + +and in Jerusalem his praise, + +22when peoples gather together, + +and kingdoms, to worship the LORD. + +23He has broken my strength in midcourse; + +he has shortened my days. + +24“O my God,” I say, “take me not away + +in the midst of my days— + +you whose years endure + +throughout all generations!” + +25Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, + +and the heavens are the work of your hands. + +26They will perish, but you will remain; + +they will all wear out like a garment. + +You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, + +27but you are the same, and your years have no end. + +28The children of your servants shall dwell secure; + +their offspring shall be established before you. + + + + + +Bless the LORD, O My Soul + + +Of David. + + +103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, + +and all that is within me, + +bless his holy name! + +2Bless the LORD, O my soul, + +and forget not all his benefits, + +3who forgives all your iniquity, + +who heals all your diseases, + +4who redeems your life from the pit, + +who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, + +5who satisfies you with good + +so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. + +6The LORD works righteousness + +and justice for all who are oppressed. + +7He made known his ways to Moses, + +his acts to the people of Israel. + +8The LORD is merciful and gracious, + +slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. + +9He will not always chide, + +nor will he keep his anger forever. + +10He does not deal with us according to our sins, + +nor repay us according to our iniquities. + +11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, + +so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; + +12as far as the east is from the west, + +so far does he remove our transgressions from us. + +13As a father shows compassion to his children, + +so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. + +14For he knows our frame;[220] + +he remembers that we are dust. + +15As for man, his days are like grass; + +he flourishes like a flower of the field; + +16for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, + +and its place knows it no more. + +17But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, + +and his righteousness to children's children, + +18to those who keep his covenant + +and remember to do his commandments. + +19The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, + +and his kingdom rules over all. + +20Bless the LORD, O you his angels, + +you mighty ones who do his word, + +obeying the voice of his word! + +21Bless the LORD, all his hosts, + +his ministers, who do his will! + +22Bless the LORD, all his works, + +in all places of his dominion. + +Bless the LORD, O my soul! + + + + + +O LORD My God, You Are Very Great + + +104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! + +O LORD my God, you are very great! + +You are clothed with splendor and majesty, + +2covering yourself with light as with a garment, + +stretching out the heavens like a tent. + +3He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; + +he makes the clouds his chariot; + +he rides on the wings of the wind; + +4he makes his messengers winds, + +his ministers a flaming fire. + +5He set the earth on its foundations, + +so that it should never be moved. + +6You covered it with the deep as with a garment; + +the waters stood above the mountains. + +7At your rebuke they fled; + +at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. + +8The mountains rose, the valleys sank down + +to the place that you appointed for them. + +9You set a boundary that they may not pass, + +so that they might not again cover the earth. + +10You make springs gush forth in the valleys; + +they flow between the hills; + +11they give drink to every beast of the field; + +the wild donkeys quench their thirst. + +12Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; + +they sing among the branches. + +13From your lofty abode you water the mountains; + +the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. + +14You cause the grass to grow for the livestock + +and plants for man to cultivate, + +that he may bring forth food from the earth + +15and wine to gladden the heart of man, + +oil to make his face shine + +and bread to strengthen man's heart. + +16The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, + +the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. + +17In them the birds build their nests; + +the stork has her home in the fir trees. + +18The high mountains are for the wild goats; + +the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. + +19He made the moon to mark the seasons;[221] + +the sun knows its time for setting. + +20You make darkness, and it is night, + +when all the beasts of the forest creep about. + +21The young lions roar for their prey, + +seeking their food from God. + +22When the sun rises, they steal away + +and lie down in their dens. + +23Man goes out to his work + +and to his labor until the evening. + +24O LORD, how manifold are your works! + +In wisdom have you made them all; + +the earth is full of your creatures. + +25Here is the sea, great and wide, + +which teems with creatures innumerable, + +living things both small and great. + +26There go the ships, + +and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.[222] + +27These all look to you, + +to give them their food in due season. + +28When you give it to them, they gather it up; + +when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. + +29When you hide your face, they are dismayed; + +when you take away their breath, they die + +and return to their dust. + +30When you send forth your Spirit,[223] they are created, + +and you renew the face of the ground. + +31May the glory of the LORD endure forever; + +may the LORD rejoice in his works, + +32who looks on the earth and it trembles, + +who touches the mountains and they smoke! + +33I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; + +I will sing praise to my God while I have being. + +34May my meditation be pleasing to him, + +for I rejoice in the LORD. + +35Let sinners be consumed from the earth, + +and let the wicked be no more! + +Bless the LORD, O my soul! + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Tell of All His Wonderful Works + + +105:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; + +make known his deeds among the peoples! + +2Sing to him, sing praises to him; + +tell of all his wondrous works! + +3Glory in his holy name; + +let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! + +4Seek the LORD and his strength; + +seek his presence continually! + +5Remember the wondrous works that he has done, + +his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, + +6O offspring of Abraham, his servant, + +children of Jacob, his chosen ones! + +7He is the LORD our God; + +his judgments are in all the earth. + +8He remembers his covenant forever, + +the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, + +9the covenant that he made with Abraham, + +his sworn promise to Isaac, + +10which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, + +to Israel as an everlasting covenant, + +11saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan + +as your portion for an inheritance.” + +12When they were few in number, + +of little account, and sojourners in it, + +13wandering from nation to nation, + +from one kingdom to another people, + +14he allowed no one to oppress them; + +he rebuked kings on their account, + +15saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, + +do my prophets no harm!” + +16When he summoned a famine on the land + +and broke all supply[224] of bread, + +17he had sent a man ahead of them, + +Joseph, who was sold as a slave. + +18His feet were hurt with fetters; + +his neck was put in a collar of iron; + +19until what he had said came to pass, + +the word of the LORD tested him. + +20The king sent and released him; + +the ruler of the peoples set him free; + +21he made him lord of his house + +and ruler of all his possessions, + +22to bind[225] his princes at his pleasure + +and to teach his elders wisdom. + +23Then Israel came to Egypt; + +Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. + +24And the LORD made his people very fruitful + +and made them stronger than their foes. + +25He turned their hearts to hate his people, + +to deal craftily with his servants. + +26He sent Moses, his servant, + +and Aaron, whom he had chosen. + +27They performed his signs among them + +and miracles in the land of Ham. + +28He sent darkness, and made the land dark; + +they did not rebel[226] against his words. + +29He turned their waters into blood + +and caused their fish to die. + +30Their land swarmed with frogs, + +even in the chambers of their kings. + +31He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, + +and gnats throughout their country. + +32He gave them hail for rain, + +and fiery lightning bolts through their land. + +33He struck down their vines and fig trees, + +and shattered the trees of their country. + +34He spoke, and the locusts came, + +young locusts without number, + +35which devoured all the vegetation in their land + +and ate up the fruit of their ground. + +36He struck down all the firstborn in their land, + +the firstfruits of all their strength. + +37Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, + +and there was none among his tribes who stumbled. + +38Egypt was glad when they departed, + +for dread of them had fallen upon it. + +39He spread a cloud for a covering, + +and fire to give light by night. + +40They asked, and he brought quail, + +and gave them bread from heaven in abundance. + +41He opened the rock, and water gushed out; + +it flowed through the desert like a river. + +42For he remembered his holy promise, + +and Abraham, his servant. + +43So he brought his people out with joy, + +his chosen ones with singing. + +44And he gave them the lands of the nations, + +and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil, + +45that they might keep his statutes + +and observe his laws. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Give Thanks to the LORD, for He Is Good + + +106:1 Praise the LORD! + +Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, + +for his steadfast love endures forever! + +2Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, + +or declare all his praise? + +3Blessed are they who observe justice, + +who do righteousness at all times! + +4Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; + +help me when you save them,[227] + +5that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, + +that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, + +that I may glory with your inheritance. + +6Both we and our fathers have sinned; + +we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. + +7Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, + +did not consider your wondrous works; + +they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, + +but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. + +8Yet he saved them for his name's sake, + +that he might make known his mighty power. + +9He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, + +and he led them through the deep as through a desert. + +10So he saved them from the hand of the foe + +and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. + +11And the waters covered their adversaries; + +not one of them was left. + +12Then they believed his words; + +they sang his praise. + +13But they soon forgot his works; + +they did not wait for his counsel. + +14But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, + +and put God to the test in the desert; + +15he gave them what they asked, + +but sent a wasting disease among them. + +16When men in the camp were jealous of Moses + +and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD, + +17the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, + +and covered the company of Abiram. + +18Fire also broke out in their company; + +the flame burned up the wicked. + +19They made a calf in Horeb + +and worshiped a metal image. + +20They exchanged the glory of God + +for the image of an ox that eats grass. + +21They forgot God, their Savior, + +who had done great things in Egypt, + +22wondrous works in the land of Ham, + +and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. + +23Therefore he said he would destroy them— + +had not Moses, his chosen one, + +stood in the breach before him, + +to turn away his wrath from destroying them. + +24Then they despised the pleasant land, + +having no faith in his promise. + +25They murmured in their tents, + +and did not obey the voice of the LORD. + +26Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them + +that he would make them fall in the wilderness, + +27and would make their offspring fall among the nations, + +scattering them among the lands. + +28Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, + +and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; + +29they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, + +and a plague broke out among them. + +30Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, + +and the plague was stayed. + +31And that was counted to him as righteousness + +from generation to generation forever. + +32They angered him at the waters of Meribah, + +and it went ill with Moses on their account, + +33for they made his spirit bitter,[228] + +and he spoke rashly with his lips. + +34They did not destroy the peoples, + +as the LORD commanded them, + +35but they mixed with the nations + +and learned to do as they did. + +36They served their idols, + +which became a snare to them. + +37They sacrificed their sons + +and their daughters to the demons; + +38they poured out innocent blood, + +the blood of their sons and daughters, + +whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, + +and the land was polluted with blood. + +39Thus they became unclean by their acts, + +and played the whore in their deeds. + +40Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, + +and he abhorred his heritage; + +41he gave them into the hand of the nations, + +so that those who hated them ruled over them. + +42Their enemies oppressed them, + +and they were brought into subjection under their power. + +43Many times he delivered them, + +but they were rebellious in their purposes + +and were brought low through their iniquity. + +44Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, + +when he heard their cry. + +45For their sake he remembered his covenant, + +and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. + +46He caused them to be pitied + +by all those who held them captive. + +47Save us, O LORD our God, + +and gather us from among the nations, + +that we may give thanks to your holy name + +and glory in your praise. + +48Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, + +from everlasting to everlasting! + +And let all the people say, “Amen!” + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Book Five + + +Let the Redeemed of the LORD Say So + + +107:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, + +for his steadfast love endures forever! + +2Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, + +whom he has redeemed from trouble[229] + +3and gathered in from the lands, + +from the east and from the west, + +from the north and from the south. + +4Some wandered in desert wastes, + +finding no way to a city to dwell in; + +5hungry and thirsty, + +their soul fainted within them. + +6Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, + +and he delivered them from their distress. + +7He led them by a straight way + +till they reached a city to dwell in. + +8Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, + +for his wondrous works to the children of man! + +9For he satisfies the longing soul, + +and the hungry soul he fills with good things. + +10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, + +prisoners in affliction and in irons, + +11for they had rebelled against the words of God, + +and spurned the counsel of the Most High. + +12So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; + +they fell down, with none to help. + +13Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, + +and he delivered them from their distress. + +14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, + +and burst their bonds apart. + +15Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, + +for his wondrous works to the children of man! + +16For he shatters the doors of bronze + +and cuts in two the bars of iron. + +17Some were fools through their sinful ways, + +and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; + +18they loathed any kind of food, + +and they drew near to the gates of death. + +19Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, + +and he delivered them from their distress. + +20He sent out his word and healed them, + +and delivered them from their destruction. + +21Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, + +for his wondrous works to the children of man! + +22And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, + +and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! + +23Some went down to the sea in ships, + +doing business on the great waters; + +24they saw the deeds of the LORD, + +his wondrous works in the deep. + +25For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, + +which lifted up the waves of the sea. + +26They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; + +their courage melted away in their evil plight; + +27they reeled and staggered like drunken men + +and were at their wits' end.[230] + +28Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, + +and he delivered them from their distress. + +29He made the storm be still, + +and the waves of the sea were hushed. + +30Then they were glad that the waters[231] were quiet, + +and he brought them to their desired haven. + +31Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, + +for his wondrous works to the children of man! + +32Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, + +and praise him in the assembly of the elders. + +33He turns rivers into a desert, + +springs of water into thirsty ground, + +34a fruitful land into a salty waste, + +because of the evil of its inhabitants. + +35He turns a desert into pools of water, + +a parched land into springs of water. + +36And there he lets the hungry dwell, + +and they establish a city to live in; + +37they sow fields and plant vineyards + +and get a fruitful yield. + +38By his blessing they multiply greatly, + +and he does not let their livestock diminish. + +39When they are diminished and brought low + +through oppression, evil, and sorrow, + +40he pours contempt on princes + +and makes them wander in trackless wastes; + +41but he raises up the needy out of affliction + +and makes their families like flocks. + +42The upright see it and are glad, + +and all wickedness shuts its mouth. + +43Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; + +let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD. + + + + + +With God We Shall Do Valiantly + + +A Song. A Psalm of David. + + +108:1 My heart is steadfast, O God! + +I will sing and make melody with all my being![232] + +2Awake, O harp and lyre! + +I will awake the dawn! + +3I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples; + +I will sing praises to you among the nations. + +4For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; + +your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. + +5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! + +Let your glory be over all the earth! + +6That your beloved ones may be delivered, + +give salvation by your right hand and answer me! + +7God has promised in his holiness:[233] + +“With exultation I will divide up Shechem + +and portion out the Valley of Succoth. + +8Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; + +Ephraim is my helmet, + +Judah my scepter. + +9Moab is my washbasin; + +upon Edom I cast my shoe; + +over Philistia I shout in triumph.” + +10Who will bring me to the fortified city? + +Who will lead me to Edom? + +11Have you not rejected us, O God? + +You do not go out, O God, with our armies. + +12Oh grant us help against the foe, + +for vain is the salvation of man! + +13With God we shall do valiantly; + +it is he who will tread down our foes. + + + + + +Help Me, O LORD My God + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +109:1 Be not silent, O God of my praise! + +2For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, + +speaking against me with lying tongues. + +3They encircle me with words of hate, + +and attack me without cause. + +4In return for my love they accuse me, + +but I give myself to prayer.[234] + +5So they reward me evil for good, + +and hatred for my love. + +6Appoint a wicked man against him; + +let an accuser stand at his right hand. + +7When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; + +let his prayer be counted as sin! + +8May his days be few; + +may another take his office! + +9May his children be fatherless + +and his wife a widow! + +10May his children wander about and beg, + +seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit! + +11May the creditor seize all that he has; + +may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil! + +12Let there be none to extend kindness to him, + +nor any to pity his fatherless children! + +13May his posterity be cut off; + +may his name be blotted out in the second generation! + +14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, + +and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out! + +15Let them be before the LORD continually, + +that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth! + +16For he did not remember to show kindness, + +but pursued the poor and needy + +and the brokenhearted, to put them to death. + +17He loved to curse; let curses come[235] upon him! + +He did not delight in blessing; may it be far[236] from him! + +18He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; + +may it soak[237] into his body like water, + +like oil into his bones! + +19May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, + +like a belt that he puts on every day! + +20May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, + +of those who speak evil against my life! + +21But you, O GOD my Lord, + +deal on my behalf for your name's sake; + +because your steadfast love is good, deliver me! + +22For I am poor and needy, + +and my heart is stricken within me. + +23I am gone like a shadow at evening; + +I am shaken off like a locust. + +24My knees are weak through fasting; + +my body has become gaunt, with no fat. + +25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; + +when they see me, they wag their heads. + +26Help me, O LORD my God! + +Save me according to your steadfast love! + +27Let them know that this is your hand; + +you, O LORD, have done it! + +28Let them curse, but you will bless! + +They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad! + +29May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; + +may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak! + +30With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; + +I will praise him in the midst of the throng. + +31For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, + +to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. + + + + + +Sit at My Right Hand + + +A Psalm of David. + + +110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: + +“Sit at my right hand, + +until I make your enemies your footstool.” + +2The LORD sends forth from Zion + +your mighty scepter. + +Rule in the midst of your enemies! + +3Your people will offer themselves freely + +on the day of your power,[238] + +in holy garments;[239] + +from the womb of the morning, + +the dew of your youth will be yours.[240] + +4The LORD has sworn + +and will not change his mind, + +“You are a priest forever + +after the order of Melchizedek.” + +5The Lord is at your right hand; + +he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. + +6He will execute judgment among the nations, + +filling them with corpses; + +he will shatter chiefs[241] + +over the wide earth. + +7He will drink from the brook by the way; + +therefore he will lift up his head. + + + + + +Great Are the LORD's Works + + +111:1 [242] Praise the LORD! + +I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, + +in the company of the upright, in the congregation. + +2Great are the works of the LORD, + +studied by all who delight in them. + +3Full of splendor and majesty is his work, + +and his righteousness endures forever. + +4He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; + +the LORD is gracious and merciful. + +5He provides food for those who fear him; + +he remembers his covenant forever. + +6He has shown his people the power of his works, + +in giving them the inheritance of the nations. + +7The works of his hands are faithful and just; + +all his precepts are trustworthy; + +8they are established forever and ever, + +to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. + +9He sent redemption to his people; + +he has commanded his covenant forever. + +Holy and awesome is his name! + +10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; + +all those who practice it have a good understanding. + +His praise endures forever! + + + + + +The Righteous Will Never Be Moved + + +112:1 [243] Praise the LORD! + +Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, + +who greatly delights in his commandments! + +2His offspring will be mighty in the land; + +the generation of the upright will be blessed. + +3Wealth and riches are in his house, + +and his righteousness endures forever. + +4Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; + +he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. + +5It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; + +who conducts his affairs with justice. + +6For the righteous will never be moved; + +he will be remembered forever. + +7He is not afraid of bad news; + +his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. + +8His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, + +until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. + +9He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; + +his righteousness endures forever; + +his horn is exalted in honor. + +10The wicked man sees it and is angry; + +he gnashes his teeth and melts away; + +the desire of the wicked will perish! + + + + + +Who Is like the LORD Our God? + + +113:1 Praise the LORD! + +Praise, O servants of the LORD, + +praise the name of the LORD! + +2Blessed be the name of the LORD + +from this time forth and forevermore! + +3From the rising of the sun to its setting, + +the name of the LORD is to be praised! + +4The LORD is high above all nations, + +and his glory above the heavens! + +5Who is like the LORD our God, + +who is seated on high, + +6who looks far down + +on the heavens and the earth? + +7He raises the poor from the dust + +and lifts the needy from the ash heap, + +8to make them sit with princes, + +with the princes of his people. + +9He gives the barren woman a home, + +making her the joyous mother of children. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Tremble at the Presence of the Lord + + +114:1 When Israel went out from Egypt, + +the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, + +2Judah became his sanctuary, + +Israel his dominion. + +3The sea looked and fled; + +Jordan turned back. + +4The mountains skipped like rams, + +the hills like lambs. + +5What ails you, O sea, that you flee? + +O Jordan, that you turn back? + +6O mountains, that you skip like rams? + +O hills, like lambs? + +7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, + +at the presence of the God of Jacob, + +8who turns the rock into a pool of water, + +the flint into a spring of water. + + + + + +To Your Name Give Glory + + +115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, + +for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! + +2Why should the nations say, + +“Where is their God?” + +3Our God is in the heavens; + +he does all that he pleases. + +4Their idols are silver and gold, + +the work of human hands. + +5They have mouths, but do not speak; + +eyes, but do not see. + +6They have ears, but do not hear; + +noses, but do not smell. + +7They have hands, but do not feel; + +feet, but do not walk; + +and they do not make a sound in their throat. + +8Those who make them become like them; + +so do all who trust in them. + +9O Israel,[244] trust in the LORD! + +He is their help and their shield. + +10O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! + +He is their help and their shield. + +11You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! + +He is their help and their shield. + +12The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us; + +he will bless the house of Israel; + +he will bless the house of Aaron; + +13he will bless those who fear the LORD, + +both the small and the great. + +14May the LORD give you increase, + +you and your children! + +15May you be blessed by the LORD, + +who made heaven and earth! + +16The heavens are the LORD's heavens, + +but the earth he has given to the children of man. + +17The dead do not praise the LORD, + +nor do any who go down into silence. + +18But we will bless the LORD + +from this time forth and forevermore. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +I Love the LORD + + +116:1 I love the LORD, because he has heard + +my voice and my pleas for mercy. + +2Because he inclined his ear to me, + +therefore I will call on him as long as I live. + +3The snares of death encompassed me; + +the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; + +I suffered distress and anguish. + +4Then I called on the name of the LORD: + +“O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!” + +5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; + +our God is merciful. + +6The LORD preserves the simple; + +when I was brought low, he saved me. + +7Return, O my soul, to your rest; + +for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. + +8For you have delivered my soul from death, + +my eyes from tears, + +my feet from stumbling; + +9I will walk before the LORD + +in the land of the living. + +10I believed, even when[245] I spoke, + +“I am greatly afflicted”; + +11I said in my alarm, + +“All mankind are liars.” + +12What shall I render to the LORD + +for all his benefits to me? + +13I will lift up the cup of salvation + +and call on the name of the LORD, + +14I will pay my vows to the LORD + +in the presence of all his people. + +15Precious in the sight of the LORD + +is the death of his saints. + +16O LORD, I am your servant; + +I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. + +You have loosed my bonds. + +17I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving + +and call on the name of the LORD. + +18I will pay my vows to the LORD + +in the presence of all his people, + +19in the courts of the house of the LORD, + +in your midst, O Jerusalem. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +The LORD's Faithfulness Endures Forever + + +117:1 Praise the LORD, all nations! + +Extol him, all peoples! + +2For great is his steadfast love toward us, + +and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +His Steadfast Love Endures Forever + + +118:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; + +for his steadfast love endures forever! + +2Let Israel say, + +“His steadfast love endures forever.” + +3Let the house of Aaron say, + +“His steadfast love endures forever.” + +4Let those who fear the LORD say, + +“His steadfast love endures forever.” + +5Out of my distress I called on the LORD; + +the LORD answered me and set me free. + +6The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. + +What can man do to me? + +7The LORD is on my side as my helper; + +I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. + +8It is better to take refuge in the LORD + +than to trust in man. + +9It is better to take refuge in the LORD + +than to trust in princes. + +10All nations surrounded me; + +in the name of the LORD I cut them off! + +11They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; + +in the name of the LORD I cut them off! + +12They surrounded me like bees; + +they went out like a fire among thorns; + +in the name of the LORD I cut them off! + +13I was pushed hard,[246] so that I was falling, + +but the LORD helped me. + +14The LORD is my strength and my song; + +he has become my salvation. + +15Glad songs of salvation + +are in the tents of the righteous: + +“The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, + +16the right hand of the LORD exalts, + +the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!” + +17I shall not die, but I shall live, + +and recount the deeds of the LORD. + +18The LORD has disciplined me severely, + +but he has not given me over to death. + +19Open to me the gates of righteousness, + +that I may enter through them + +and give thanks to the LORD. + +20This is the gate of the LORD; + +the righteous shall enter through it. + +21I thank you that you have answered me + +and have become my salvation. + +22The stone that the builders rejected + +has become the cornerstone.[247] + +23This is the LORD's doing; + +it is marvelous in our eyes. + +24This is the day that the LORD has made; + +let us rejoice and be glad in it. + +25Save us, we pray, O LORD! + +O LORD, we pray, give us success! + +26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! + +We bless you from the house of the LORD. + +27The LORD is God, + +and he has made his light to shine upon us. + +Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, + +up to the horns of the altar! + +28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; + +you are my God; I will extol you. + +29Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; + +for his steadfast love endures forever! + + + + + +Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet + + +Aleph + + +119:1 [248] Blessed are those whose way is blameless, + +who walk in the law of the LORD! + +2Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, + +who seek him with their whole heart, + +3who also do no wrong, + +but walk in his ways! + +4You have commanded your precepts + +to be kept diligently. + +5Oh that my ways may be steadfast + +in keeping your statutes! + +6Then I shall not be put to shame, + +having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. + +7I will praise you with an upright heart, + +when I learn your righteous rules.[249] + +8I will keep your statutes; + +do not utterly forsake me! + + + + + +Beth + + +9How can a young man keep his way pure? + +By guarding it according to your word. + +10With my whole heart I seek you; + +let me not wander from your commandments! + +11I have stored up your word in my heart, + +that I might not sin against you. + +12Blessed are you, O LORD; + +teach me your statutes! + +13With my lips I declare + +all the rules[250] of your mouth. + +14In the way of your testimonies I delight + +as much as in all riches. + +15I will meditate on your precepts + +and fix my eyes on your ways. + +16I will delight in your statutes; + +I will not forget your word. + + + + + +Gimel + + +17Deal bountifully with your servant, + +that I may live and keep your word. + +18Open my eyes, that I may behold + +wondrous things out of your law. + +19I am a sojourner on the earth; + +hide not your commandments from me! + +20My soul is consumed with longing + +for your rules[251] at all times. + +21You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, + +who wander from your commandments. + +22Take away from me scorn and contempt, + +for I have kept your testimonies. + +23Even though princes sit plotting against me, + +your servant will meditate on your statutes. + +24Your testimonies are my delight; + +they are my counselors. + + + + + +Daleth + + +25My soul clings to the dust; + +give me life according to your word! + +26When I told of my ways, you answered me; + +teach me your statutes! + +27Make me understand the way of your precepts, + +and I will meditate on your wondrous works. + +28My soul melts away for sorrow; + +strengthen me according to your word! + +29Put false ways far from me + +and graciously teach me your law! + +30I have chosen the way of faithfulness; + +I set your rules before me. + +31I cling to your testimonies, O LORD; + +let me not be put to shame! + +32I will run in the way of your commandments + +when you enlarge my heart![252] + + + + + +He + + +33Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; + +and I will keep it to the end.[253] + +34Give me understanding, that I may keep your law + +and observe it with my whole heart. + +35Lead me in the path of your commandments, + +for I delight in it. + +36Incline my heart to your testimonies, + +and not to selfish gain! + +37Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; + +and give me life in your ways. + +38Confirm to your servant your promise, + +that you may be feared. + +39Turn away the reproach that I dread, + +for your rules are good. + +40Behold, I long for your precepts; + +in your righteousness give me life! + + + + + +Waw + + +41Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, + +your salvation according to your promise; + +42then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, + +for I trust in your word. + +43And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, + +for my hope is in your rules. + +44I will keep your law continually, + +forever and ever, + +45and I shall walk in a wide place, + +for I have sought your precepts. + +46I will also speak of your testimonies before kings + +and shall not be put to shame, + +47for I find my delight in your commandments, + +which I love. + +48I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, + +and I will meditate on your statutes. + + + + + +Zayin + + +49Remember your word to your servant, + +in which you have made me hope. + +50This is my comfort in my affliction, + +that your promise gives me life. + +51The insolent utterly deride me, + +but I do not turn away from your law. + +52When I think of your rules from of old, + +I take comfort, O LORD. + +53Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, + +who forsake your law. + +54Your statutes have been my songs + +in the house of my sojourning. + +55I remember your name in the night, O LORD, + +and keep your law. + +56This blessing has fallen to me, + +that I have kept your precepts. + + + + + +Heth + + +57The LORD is my portion; + +I promise to keep your words. + +58I entreat your favor with all my heart; + +be gracious to me according to your promise. + +59When I think on my ways, + +I turn my feet to your testimonies; + +60I hasten and do not delay + +to keep your commandments. + +61Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, + +I do not forget your law. + +62At midnight I rise to praise you, + +because of your righteous rules. + +63I am a companion of all who fear you, + +of those who keep your precepts. + +64The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; + +teach me your statutes! + + + + + +Teth + + +65You have dealt well with your servant, + +O LORD, according to your word. + +66Teach me good judgment and knowledge, + +for I believe in your commandments. + +67Before I was afflicted I went astray, + +but now I keep your word. + +68You are good and do good; + +teach me your statutes. + +69The insolent smear me with lies, + +but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; + +70their heart is unfeeling like fat, + +but I delight in your law. + +71It is good for me that I was afflicted, + +that I might learn your statutes. + +72The law of your mouth is better to me + +than thousands of gold and silver pieces. + + + + + +Yodh + + +73Your hands have made and fashioned me; + +give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. + +74Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, + +because I have hoped in your word. + +75I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, + +and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. + +76Let your steadfast love comfort me + +according to your promise to your servant. + +77Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; + +for your law is my delight. + +78Let the insolent be put to shame, + +because they have wronged me with falsehood; + +as for me, I will meditate on your precepts. + +79Let those who fear you turn to me, + +that they may know your testimonies. + +80May my heart be blameless in your statutes, + +that I may not be put to shame! + + + + + +Kaph + + +81My soul longs for your salvation; + +I hope in your word. + +82My eyes long for your promise; + +I ask, “When will you comfort me?” + +83For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, + +yet I have not forgotten your statutes. + +84How long must your servant endure?[254] + +When will you judge those who persecute me? + +85The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; + +they do not live according to your law. + +86All your commandments are sure; + +they persecute me with falsehood; help me! + +87They have almost made an end of me on earth, + +but I have not forsaken your precepts. + +88In your steadfast love give me life, + +that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. + + + + + +Lamedh + + +89Forever, O LORD, your word + +is firmly fixed in the heavens. + +90Your faithfulness endures to all generations; + +you have established the earth, and it stands fast. + +91By your appointment they stand this day, + +for all things are your servants. + +92If your law had not been my delight, + +I would have perished in my affliction. + +93I will never forget your precepts, + +for by them you have given me life. + +94I am yours; save me, + +for I have sought your precepts. + +95The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, + +but I consider your testimonies. + +96I have seen a limit to all perfection, + +but your commandment is exceedingly broad. + + + + + +Mem + + +97Oh how I love your law! + +It is my meditation all the day. + +98Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, + +for it is ever with me. + +99I have more understanding than all my teachers, + +for your testimonies are my meditation. + +100I understand more than the aged,[255] + +for I keep your precepts. + +101I hold back my feet from every evil way, + +in order to keep your word. + +102I do not turn aside from your rules, + +for you have taught me. + +103How sweet are your words to my taste, + +sweeter than honey to my mouth! + +104Through your precepts I get understanding; + +therefore I hate every false way. + + + + + +Nun + + +105Your word is a lamp to my feet + +and a light to my path. + +106I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, + +to keep your righteous rules. + +107I am severely afflicted; + +give me life, O LORD, according to your word! + +108Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD, + +and teach me your rules. + +109I hold my life in my hand continually, + +but I do not forget your law. + +110The wicked have laid a snare for me, + +but I do not stray from your precepts. + +111Your testimonies are my heritage forever, + +for they are the joy of my heart. + +112I incline my heart to perform your statutes + +forever, to the end.[256] + + + + + +Samekh + + +113I hate the double-minded, + +but I love your law. + +114You are my hiding place and my shield; + +I hope in your word. + +115Depart from me, you evildoers, + +that I may keep the commandments of my God. + +116Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, + +and let me not be put to shame in my hope! + +117Hold me up, that I may be safe + +and have regard for your statutes continually! + +118You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, + +for their cunning is in vain. + +119All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, + +therefore I love your testimonies. + +120My flesh trembles for fear of you, + +and I am afraid of your judgments. + + + + + +Ayin + + +121I have done what is just and right; + +do not leave me to my oppressors. + +122Give your servant a pledge of good; + +let not the insolent oppress me. + +123My eyes long for your salvation + +and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise. + +124Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, + +and teach me your statutes. + +125I am your servant; give me understanding, + +that I may know your testimonies! + +126It is time for the LORD to act, + +for your law has been broken. + +127Therefore I love your commandments + +above gold, above fine gold. + +128Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; + +I hate every false way. + + + + + +Pe + + +129Your testimonies are wonderful; + +therefore my soul keeps them. + +130The unfolding of your words gives light; + +it imparts understanding to the simple. + +131I open my mouth and pant, + +because I long for your commandments. + +132Turn to me and be gracious to me, + +as is your way with those who love your name. + +133Keep steady my steps according to your promise, + +and let no iniquity get dominion over me. + +134Redeem me from man's oppression, + +that I may keep your precepts. + +135Make your face shine upon your servant, + +and teach me your statutes. + +136My eyes shed streams of tears, + +because people do not keep your law. + + + + + +Tsadhe + + +137Righteous are you, O LORD, + +and right are your rules. + +138You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness + +and in all faithfulness. + +139My zeal consumes me, + +because my foes forget your words. + +140Your promise is well tried, + +and your servant loves it. + +141I am small and despised, + +yet I do not forget your precepts. + +142Your righteousness is righteous forever, + +and your law is true. + +143Trouble and anguish have found me out, + +but your commandments are my delight. + +144Your testimonies are righteous forever; + +give me understanding that I may live. + + + + + +Qoph + + +145With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! + +I will keep your statutes. + +146I call to you; save me, + +that I may observe your testimonies. + +147I rise before dawn and cry for help; + +I hope in your words. + +148My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, + +that I may meditate on your promise. + +149Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; + +O LORD, according to your justice give me life. + +150They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; + +they are far from your law. + +151But you are near, O LORD, + +and all your commandments are true. + +152Long have I known from your testimonies + +that you have founded them forever. + + + + + +Resh + + +153Look on my affliction and deliver me, + +for I do not forget your law. + +154Plead my cause and redeem me; + +give me life according to your promise! + +155Salvation is far from the wicked, + +for they do not seek your statutes. + +156Great is your mercy, O LORD; + +give me life according to your rules. + +157Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, + +but I do not swerve from your testimonies. + +158I look at the faithless with disgust, + +because they do not keep your commands. + +159Consider how I love your precepts! + +Give me life according to your steadfast love. + +160The sum of your word is truth, + +and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. + + + + + +Sin and Shin + + +161Princes persecute me without cause, + +but my heart stands in awe of your words. + +162I rejoice at your word + +like one who finds great spoil. + +163I hate and abhor falsehood, + +but I love your law. + +164Seven times a day I praise you + +for your righteous rules. + +165Great peace have those who love your law; + +nothing can make them stumble. + +166I hope for your salvation, O LORD, + +and I do your commandments. + +167My soul keeps your testimonies; + +I love them exceedingly. + +168I keep your precepts and testimonies, + +for all my ways are before you. + + + + + +Taw + + +169Let my cry come before you, O LORD; + +give me understanding according to your word! + +170Let my plea come before you; + +deliver me according to your word. + +171My lips will pour forth praise, + +for you teach me your statutes. + +172My tongue will sing of your word, + +for all your commandments are right. + +173Let your hand be ready to help me, + +for I have chosen your precepts. + +174I long for your salvation, O LORD, + +and your law is my delight. + +175Let my soul live and praise you, + +and let your rules help me. + +176I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, + +for I do not forget your commandments. + + + + + +Deliver Me, O LORD + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +120:1 In my distress I called to the LORD, + +and he answered me. + +2Deliver me, O LORD, + +from lying lips, + +from a deceitful tongue. + +3What shall be given to you, + +and what more shall be done to you, + +you deceitful tongue? + +4A warrior's sharp arrows, + +with glowing coals of the broom tree! + +5Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, + +that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! + +6Too long have I had my dwelling + +among those who hate peace. + +7I am for peace, + +but when I speak, they are for war! + + + + + +My Help Comes from the LORD + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. + +From where does my help come? + +2My help comes from the LORD, + +who made heaven and earth. + +3He will not let your foot be moved; + +he who keeps you will not slumber. + +4Behold, he who keeps Israel + +will neither slumber nor sleep. + +5The LORD is your keeper; + +the LORD is your shade on your right hand. + +6The sun shall not strike you by day, + +nor the moon by night. + +7The LORD will keep you from all evil; + +he will keep your life. + +8The LORD will keep + +your going out and your coming in + +from this time forth and forevermore. + + + + + +Let Us Go to the House of the LORD + + +A Song of Ascents. Of David. + + +122:1 I was glad when they said to me, + +“Let us go to the house of the LORD!” + +2Our feet have been standing + +within your gates, O Jerusalem! + +3Jerusalem—built as a city + +that is bound firmly together, + +4to which the tribes go up, + +the tribes of the LORD, + +as was decreed for[257] Israel, + +to give thanks to the name of the LORD. + +5There thrones for judgment were set, + +the thrones of the house of David. + +6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! + +“May they be secure who love you! + +7Peace be within your walls + +and security within your towers!” + +8For my brothers and companions' sake + +I will say, “Peace be within you!” + +9For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, + +I will seek your good. + + + + + +Our Eyes Look to the LORD Our God + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +123:1 To you I lift up my eyes, + +O you who are enthroned in the heavens! + +2Behold, as the eyes of servants + +look to the hand of their master, + +as the eyes of a maidservant + +to the hand of her mistress, + +so our eyes look to the LORD our God, + +till he has mercy upon us. + +3Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, + +for we have had more than enough of contempt. + +4Our soul has had more than enough + +of the scorn of those who are at ease, + +of the contempt of the proud. + + + + + +Our Help Is in the Name of the LORD + + +A Song of Ascents. Of David. + + +124:1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side— + +let Israel now say— + +2if it had not been the LORD who was on our side + +when people rose up against us, + +3then they would have swallowed us up alive, + +when their anger was kindled against us; + +4then the flood would have swept us away, + +the torrent would have gone over us; + +5then over us would have gone + +the raging waters. + +6Blessed be the LORD, + +who has not given us + +as prey to their teeth! + +7We have escaped like a bird + +from the snare of the fowlers; + +the snare is broken, + +and we have escaped! + +8Our help is in the name of the LORD, + +who made heaven and earth. + + + + + +The LORD Surrounds His People + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +125:1 Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, + +which cannot be moved, but abides forever. + +2As the mountains surround Jerusalem, + +so the LORD surrounds his people, + +from this time forth and forevermore. + +3For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest + +on the land allotted to the righteous, + +lest the righteous stretch out + +their hands to do wrong. + +4Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, + +and to those who are upright in their hearts! + +5But those who turn aside to their crooked ways + +the LORD will lead away with evildoers! + +Peace be upon Israel! + + + + + +Restore Our Fortunes, O LORD + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +126:1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, + +we were like those who dream. + +2Then our mouth was filled with laughter, + +and our tongue with shouts of joy; + +then they said among the nations, + +“The LORD has done great things for them.” + +3The LORD has done great things for us; + +we are glad. + +4Restore our fortunes, O LORD, + +like streams in the Negeb! + +5Those who sow in tears + +shall reap with shouts of joy! + +6He who goes out weeping, + +bearing the seed for sowing, + +shall come home with shouts of joy, + +bringing his sheaves with him. + + + + + +Unless the LORD Builds the House + + +A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. + + +127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, + +those who build it labor in vain. + +Unless the LORD watches over the city, + +the watchman stays awake in vain. + +2It is in vain that you rise up early + +and go late to rest, + +eating the bread of anxious toil; + +for he gives to his beloved sleep. + +3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, + +the fruit of the womb a reward. + +4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior + +are the children[258] of one's youth. + +5Blessed is the man + +who fills his quiver with them! + +He shall not be put to shame + +when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.[259] + + + + + +Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the LORD + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, + +who walks in his ways! + +2You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; + +you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. + +3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine + +within your house; + +your children will be like olive shoots + +around your table. + +4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed + +who fears the LORD. + +5The LORD bless you from Zion! + +May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem + +all the days of your life! + +6May you see your children's children! + +Peace be upon Israel! + + + + + +They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +129:1 “Greatly[260] have they afflicted me from my youth”— + +let Israel now say— + +2“Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, + +yet they have not prevailed against me. + +3The plowers plowed upon my back; + +they made long their furrows.” + +4The LORD is righteous; + +he has cut the cords of the wicked. + +5May all who hate Zion + +be put to shame and turned backward! + +6Let them be like the grass on the housetops, + +which withers before it grows up, + +7with which the reaper does not fill his hand + +nor the binder of sheaves his arms, + +8nor do those who pass by say, + +“The blessing of the LORD be upon you! + +We bless you in the name of the LORD!” + + + + + +My Soul Waits for the Lord + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +130:1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! + +2O Lord, hear my voice! + +Let your ears be attentive + +to the voice of my pleas for mercy! + +3If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, + +O Lord, who could stand? + +4But with you there is forgiveness, + +that you may be feared. + +5I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, + +and in his word I hope; + +6my soul waits for the Lord + +more than watchmen for the morning, + +more than watchmen for the morning. + +7O Israel, hope in the LORD! + +For with the LORD there is steadfast love, + +and with him is plentiful redemption. + +8And he will redeem Israel + +from all his iniquities. + + + + + +I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul + + +A Song of Ascents. Of David. + + +131:1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; + +my eyes are not raised too high; + +I do not occupy myself with things + +too great and too marvelous for me. + +2But I have calmed and quieted my soul, + +like a weaned child with its mother; + +like a weaned child is my soul within me. + +3O Israel, hope in the LORD + +from this time forth and forevermore. + + + + + +The LORD Has Chosen Zion + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +132:1 Remember, O LORD, in David's favor, + +all the hardships he endured, + +2how he swore to the LORD + +and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, + +3“I will not enter my house + +or get into my bed, + +4I will not give sleep to my eyes + +or slumber to my eyelids, + +5until I find a place for the LORD, + +a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” + +6Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; + +we found it in the fields of Jaar. + +7“Let us go to his dwelling place; + +let us worship at his footstool!” + +8Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, + +you and the ark of your might. + +9Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, + +and let your saints shout for joy. + +10For the sake of your servant David, + +do not turn away the face of your anointed one. + +11The LORD swore to David a sure oath + +from which he will not turn back: + +“One of the sons of your body[261] + +I will set on your throne. + +12If your sons keep my covenant + +and my testimonies that I shall teach them, + +their sons also forever + +shall sit on your throne.” + +13For the LORD has chosen Zion; + +he has desired it for his dwelling place: + +14“This is my resting place forever; + +here I will dwell, for I have desired it. + +15I will abundantly bless her provisions; + +I will satisfy her poor with bread. + +16Her priests I will clothe with salvation, + +and her saints will shout for joy. + +17There I will make a horn to sprout for David; + +I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. + +18His enemies I will clothe with shame, + +but on him his crown will shine.” + + + + + +When Brothers Dwell in Unity + + +A Song of Ascents. Of David. + + +133:1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is + +when brothers dwell in unity![262] + +2It is like the precious oil on the head, + +running down on the beard, + +on the beard of Aaron, + +running down on the collar of his robes! + +3It is like the dew of Hermon, + +which falls on the mountains of Zion! + +For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, + +life forevermore. + + + + + +Come, Bless the LORD + + +A Song of Ascents. + + +134:1 Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, + +who stand by night in the house of the LORD! + +2Lift up your hands to the holy place + +and bless the LORD! + +3May the LORD bless you from Zion, + +he who made heaven and earth! + + + + + +Your Name, O LORD, Endures Forever + + +135:1 Praise the LORD! + +Praise the name of the LORD, + +give praise, O servants of the LORD, + +2who stand in the house of the LORD, + +in the courts of the house of our God! + +3Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; + +sing to his name, for it is pleasant![263] + +4For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, + +Israel as his own possession. + +5For I know that the LORD is great, + +and that our Lord is above all gods. + +6Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, + +in heaven and on earth, + +in the seas and all deeps. + +7He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, + +who makes lightnings for the rain + +and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. + +8He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, + +both of man and of beast; + +9who in your midst, O Egypt, + +sent signs and wonders + +against Pharaoh and all his servants; + +10who struck down many nations + +and killed mighty kings, + +11Sihon, king of the Amorites, + +and Og, king of Bashan, + +and all the kingdoms of Canaan, + +12and gave their land as a heritage, + +a heritage to his people Israel. + +13Your name, O LORD, endures forever, + +your renown,[264] O LORD, throughout all ages. + +14For the LORD will vindicate his people + +and have compassion on his servants. + +15The idols of the nations are silver and gold, + +the work of human hands. + +16They have mouths, but do not speak; + +they have eyes, but do not see; + +17they have ears, but do not hear, + +nor is there any breath in their mouths. + +18Those who make them become like them, + +so do all who trust in them! + +19O house of Israel, bless the LORD! + +O house of Aaron, bless the LORD! + +20O house of Levi, bless the LORD! + +You who fear the LORD, bless the LORD! + +21Blessed be the LORD from Zion, + +he who dwells in Jerusalem! + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +His Steadfast Love Endures Forever + + +136:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, + +for his steadfast love endures forever. + +2Give thanks to the God of gods, + +for his steadfast love endures forever. + +3Give thanks to the Lord of lords, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +4to him who alone does great wonders, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +5to him who by understanding made the heavens, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +6to him who spread out the earth above the waters, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +7to him who made the great lights, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +8the sun to rule over the day, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +9the moon and stars to rule over the night, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +10to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +11and brought Israel out from among them, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +12with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +13to him who divided the Red Sea in two, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +14and made Israel pass through the midst of it, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +15but overthrew[265] Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +16to him who led his people through the wilderness, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +17to him who struck down great kings, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +18and killed mighty kings, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +19Sihon, king of the Amorites, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +20and Og, king of Bashan, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +21and gave their land as a heritage, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +22a heritage to Israel his servant, + +for his steadfast love endures forever. + +23It is he who remembered us in our low estate, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +24and rescued us from our foes, + +for his steadfast love endures forever; + +25he who gives food to all flesh, + +for his steadfast love endures forever. + +26Give thanks to the God of heaven, + +for his steadfast love endures forever. + + + + + +How Shall We Sing the LORD's Song? + + +137:1 By the waters of Babylon, + +there we sat down and wept, + +when we remembered Zion. + +2On the willows[266] there + +we hung up our lyres. + +3For there our captors + +required of us songs, + +and our tormentors, mirth, saying, + +“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” + +4How shall we sing the LORD's song + +in a foreign land? + +5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, + +let my right hand forget its skill! + +6Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, + +if I do not remember you, + +if I do not set Jerusalem + +above my highest joy! + +7Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites + +the day of Jerusalem, + +how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, + +down to its foundations!” + +8O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, + +blessed shall he be who repays you + +with what you have done to us! + +9Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones + +and dashes them against the rock! + + + + + +Give Thanks to the LORD + + +Of David. + + +138:1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; + +before the gods I sing your praise; + +2I bow down toward your holy temple + +and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, + +for you have exalted above all things + +your name and your word.[267] + +3On the day I called, you answered me; + +my strength of soul you increased.[268] + +4All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, + +for they have heard the words of your mouth, + +5and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, + +for great is the glory of the LORD. + +6For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, + +but the haughty he knows from afar. + +7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, + +you preserve my life; + +you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, + +and your right hand delivers me. + +8The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; + +your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. + +Do not forsake the work of your hands. + + + + + +Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me! + +2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; + +you discern my thoughts from afar. + +3You search out my path and my lying down + +and are acquainted with all my ways. + +4Even before a word is on my tongue, + +behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. + +5You hem me in, behind and before, + +and lay your hand upon me. + +6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; + +it is high; I cannot attain it. + +7Where shall I go from your Spirit? + +Or where shall I flee from your presence? + +8If I ascend to heaven, you are there! + +If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! + +9If I take the wings of the morning + +and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, + +10even there your hand shall lead me, + +and your right hand shall hold me. + +11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, + +and the light about me be night,” + +12even the darkness is not dark to you; + +the night is bright as the day, + +for darkness is as light with you. + +13For you formed my inward parts; + +you knitted me together in my mother's womb. + +14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[269] + +Wonderful are your works; + +my soul knows it very well. + +15My frame was not hidden from you, + +when I was being made in secret, + +intricately woven in the depths of the earth. + +16Your eyes saw my unformed substance; + +in your book were written, every one of them, + +the days that were formed for me, + +when as yet there was none of them. + +17How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! + +How vast is the sum of them! + +18If I would count them, they are more than the sand. + +I awake, and I am still with you. + +19Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! + +O men of blood, depart from me! + +20They speak against you with malicious intent; + +your enemies take your name in vain![270] + +21Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? + +And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? + +22I hate them with complete hatred; + +I count them my enemies. + +23Search me, O God, and know my heart! + +Try me and know my thoughts![271] + +24And see if there be any grievous way in me, + +and lead me in the way everlasting![272] + + + + + +Deliver Me, O LORD, from Evil Men + + +To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. + + +140:1 Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; + +preserve me from violent men, + +2who plan evil things in their heart + +and stir up wars continually. + +3They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, + +and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah + +4Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; + +preserve me from violent men, + +who have planned to trip up my feet. + +5The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, + +and with cords they have spread a net;[273] + +beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah + +6I say to the LORD, You are my God; + +give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O LORD! + +7O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, + +you have covered my head in the day of battle. + +8Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; + +do not further their[274] evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah + +9As for the head of those who surround me, + +let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! + +10Let burning coals fall upon them! + +Let them be cast into fire, + +into miry pits, no more to rise! + +11Let not the slanderer be established in the land; + +let evil hunt down the violent man speedily! + +12I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, + +and will execute justice for the needy. + +13Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; + +the upright shall dwell in your presence. + + + + + +Give Ear to My Voice + + +A Psalm of David. + + +141:1 O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! + +Give ear to my voice when I call to you! + +2Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, + +and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! + +3Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; + +keep watch over the door of my lips! + +4Do not let my heart incline to any evil, + +to busy myself with wicked deeds + +in company with men who work iniquity, + +and let me not eat of their delicacies! + +5Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; + +let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; + +let my head not refuse it. + +Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds. + +6When their judges are thrown over the cliff,[275] + +then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant. + +7As when one plows and breaks up the earth, + +so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.[276] + +8But my eyes are toward you, O GOD, my Lord; + +in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless![277] + +9Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me + +and from the snares of evildoers! + +10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, + +while I pass by safely. + + + + + +You Are My Refuge + + +A Maskil[278] of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer. + + +142:1 With my voice I cry out to the LORD; + +with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. + +2I pour out my complaint before him; + +I tell my trouble before him. + +3When my spirit faints within me, + +you know my way! + +In the path where I walk + +they have hidden a trap for me. + +4Look to the right and see: + +there is none who takes notice of me; + +no refuge remains to me; + +no one cares for my soul. + +5I cry to you, O LORD; + +I say, “You are my refuge, + +my portion in the land of the living.” + +6Attend to my cry, + +for I am brought very low! + +Deliver me from my persecutors, + +for they are too strong for me! + +7Bring me out of prison, + +that I may give thanks to your name! + +The righteous will surround me, + +for you will deal bountifully with me. + + + + + +My Soul Thirsts for You + + +A Psalm of David. + + +143:1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; + +give ear to my pleas for mercy! + +In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! + +2Enter not into judgment with your servant, + +for no one living is righteous before you. + +3For the enemy has pursued my soul; + +he has crushed my life to the ground; + +he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. + +4Therefore my spirit faints within me; + +my heart within me is appalled. + +5I remember the days of old; + +I meditate on all that you have done; + +I ponder the work of your hands. + +6I stretch out my hands to you; + +my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah + +7Answer me quickly, O LORD! + +My spirit fails! + +Hide not your face from me, + +lest I be like those who go down to the pit. + +8Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, + +for in you I trust. + +Make me know the way I should go, + +for to you I lift up my soul. + +9Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! + +I have fled to you for refuge![279] + +10Teach me to do your will, + +for you are my God! + +Let your good Spirit lead me + +on level ground! + +11For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! + +In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! + +12And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, + +and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, + +for I am your servant. + + + + + +My Rock and My Fortress + + +Of David. + + +144:1 Blessed be the LORD, my rock, + +who trains my hands for war, + +and my fingers for battle; + +2he is my steadfast love and my fortress, + +my stronghold and my deliverer, + +my shield and he in whom I take refuge, + +who subdues peoples[280] under me. + +3O LORD, what is man that you regard him, + +or the son of man that you think of him? + +4Man is like a breath; + +his days are like a passing shadow. + +5Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! + +Touch the mountains so that they smoke! + +6Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; + +send out your arrows and rout them! + +7Stretch out your hand from on high; + +rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, + +from the hand of foreigners, + +8whose mouths speak lies + +and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. + +9I will sing a new song to you, O God; + +upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, + +10who gives victory to kings, + +who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword. + +11Rescue me and deliver me + +from the hand of foreigners, + +whose mouths speak lies + +and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. + +12May our sons in their youth + +be like plants full grown, + +our daughters like corner pillars + +cut for the structure of a palace; + +13may our granaries be full, + +providing all kinds of produce; + +may our sheep bring forth thousands + +and ten thousands in our fields; + +14may our cattle be heavy with young, + +suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;[281] + +may there be no cry of distress in our streets! + +15Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! + +Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD! + + + + + +Great Is the LORD + + +[282] A Song of Praise. Of David. + + +145:1 I will extol you, my God and King, + +and bless your name forever and ever. + +2Every day I will bless you + +and praise your name forever and ever. + +3Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, + +and his greatness is unsearchable. + +4One generation shall commend your works to another, + +and shall declare your mighty acts. + +5On the glorious splendor of your majesty, + +and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. + +6They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, + +and I will declare your greatness. + +7They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness + +and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. + +8The LORD is gracious and merciful, + +slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. + +9The LORD is good to all, + +and his mercy is over all that he has made. + +10All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, + +and all your saints shall bless you! + +11They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom + +and tell of your power, + +12to make known to the children of man your[283] mighty deeds, + +and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. + +13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, + +and your dominion endures throughout all generations. + +[The LORD is faithful in all his words + +and kind in all his works.][284] + +14The LORD upholds all who are falling + +and raises up all who are bowed down. + +15The eyes of all look to you, + +and you give them their food in due season. + +16You open your hand; + +you satisfy the desire of every living thing. + +17The LORD is righteous in all his ways + +and kind in all his works. + +18The LORD is near to all who call on him, + +to all who call on him in truth. + +19He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; + +he also hears their cry and saves them. + +20The LORD preserves all who love him, + +but all the wicked he will destroy. + +21My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, + +and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. + + + + + +Put Not Your Trust in Princes + + +146:1 Praise the LORD! + +Praise the LORD, O my soul! + +2I will praise the LORD as long as I live; + +I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. + +3Put not your trust in princes, + +in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. + +4When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; + +on that very day his plans perish. + +5Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, + +whose hope is in the LORD his God, + +6who made heaven and earth, + +the sea, and all that is in them, + +who keeps faith forever; + +7who executes justice for the oppressed, + +who gives food to the hungry. + +The LORD sets the prisoners free; + +8the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. + +The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; + +the LORD loves the righteous. + +9The LORD watches over the sojourners; + +he upholds the widow and the fatherless, + +but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. + +10The LORD will reign forever, + +your God, O Zion, to all generations. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +He Heals the Brokenhearted + + +147:1 Praise the LORD! + +For it is good to sing praises to our God; + +for it is pleasant,[285] and a song of praise is fitting. + +2The LORD builds up Jerusalem; + +he gathers the outcasts of Israel. + +3He heals the brokenhearted + +and binds up their wounds. + +4He determines the number of the stars; + +he gives to all of them their names. + +5Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; + +his understanding is beyond measure. + +6The LORD lifts up the humble;[286] + +he casts the wicked to the ground. + +7Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; + +make melody to our God on the lyre! + +8He covers the heavens with clouds; + +he prepares rain for the earth; + +he makes grass grow on the hills. + +9He gives to the beasts their food, + +and to the young ravens that cry. + +10His delight is not in the strength of the horse, + +nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, + +11but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, + +in those who hope in his steadfast love. + +12Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! + +Praise your God, O Zion! + +13For he strengthens the bars of your gates; + +he blesses your children within you. + +14He makes peace in your borders; + +he fills you with the finest of the wheat. + +15He sends out his command to the earth; + +his word runs swiftly. + +16He gives snow like wool; + +he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. + +17He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; + +who can stand before his cold? + +18He sends out his word, and melts them; + +he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. + +19He declares his word to Jacob, + +his statutes and rules[287] to Israel. + +20He has not dealt thus with any other nation; + +they do not know his rules.[288] + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Praise the Name of the LORD + + +148:1 Praise the LORD! + +Praise the LORD from the heavens; + +praise him in the heights! + +2Praise him, all his angels; + +praise him, all his hosts! + +3Praise him, sun and moon, + +praise him, all you shining stars! + +4Praise him, you highest heavens, + +and you waters above the heavens! + +5Let them praise the name of the LORD! + +For he commanded and they were created. + +6And he established them forever and ever; + +he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.[289] + +7Praise the LORD from the earth, + +you great sea creatures and all deeps, + +8fire and hail, snow and mist, + +stormy wind fulfilling his word! + +9Mountains and all hills, + +fruit trees and all cedars! + +10Beasts and all livestock, + +creeping things and flying birds! + +11Kings of the earth and all peoples, + +princes and all rulers of the earth! + +12Young men and maidens together, + +old men and children! + +13Let them praise the name of the LORD, + +for his name alone is exalted; + +his majesty is above earth and heaven. + +14He has raised up a horn for his people, + +praise for all his saints, + +for the people of Israel who are near to him. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Sing to the LORD a New Song + + +149:1 Praise the LORD! + +Sing to the LORD a new song, + +his praise in the assembly of the godly! + +2Let Israel be glad in his Maker; + +let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! + +3Let them praise his name with dancing, + +making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! + +4For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; + +he adorns the humble with salvation. + +5Let the godly exult in glory; + +let them sing for joy on their beds. + +6Let the high praises of God be in their throats + +and two-edged swords in their hands, + +7to execute vengeance on the nations + +and punishments on the peoples, + +8to bind their kings with chains + +and their nobles with fetters of iron, + +9to execute on them the judgment written! + +This is honor for all his godly ones. + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Let Everything Praise the LORD + + +150:1 Praise the LORD! + +Praise God in his sanctuary; + +praise him in his mighty heavens![290] + +2Praise him for his mighty deeds; + +praise him according to his excellent greatness! + +3Praise him with trumpet sound; + +praise him with lute and harp! + +4Praise him with tambourine and dance; + +praise him with strings and pipe! + +5Praise him with sounding cymbals; + +praise him with loud clashing cymbals! + +6Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! + +Praise the LORD! + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portray a representative example of a godly person; see preface + +[2] 1:2 Or instruction + +[3] 2:1 Or nations noisily assemble + +[4] 2:9 Revocalization yields (compare Septuagint) You shall rule + +[5] 3:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word Selah, used frequently in the Psalms, is uncertain. It may be a musical or liturgical direction + +[6] 4:2 Or O men of rank + +[7] 4:4 Or Be agitated + +[8] 5:3 Or I direct my prayer to you + +[9] 6:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[10] 7:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[11] 7:4 Hebrew the one at peace with me + +[12] 7:9 Hebrew the hearts and kidneys + +[13] 7:12 Hebrew he + +[14] 7:12 Hebrew he + +[15] 8:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[16] 8:5 Or than God; Septuagint than the angels + +[17] 9:1 Psalms 9 and 10 together follow an acrostic pattern, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they form one psalm + +[18] 9:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[19] 9:3 Or because of + +[20] 9:16 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[21] 10:3 Or and he blesses the one greedy for gain + +[22] 10:4 Or of his anger + +[23] 10:4 Or the wicked says, “He will not call to account” + +[24] 11:3 Or for the foundations will be destroyed; what has the righteous done? + +[25] 12:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[26] 12:7 Or guard him + +[27] 14:2 Or that act wisely + +[28] 14:6 Or for + +[29] 16:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[30] 16:3 Or To the saints in the land, the excellent in whom is all my delight, I say: + +[31] 16:4 Or who acquire + +[32] 16:7 Hebrew my kidneys instruct me + +[33] 16:9 Hebrew my glory + +[34] 16:10 Or see the pit + +[35] 17:7 Or Distinguish me by + +[36] 17:14 Or from men whose portion in life is of the world + +[37] 17:14 Or As for your treasured ones, you fill their womb + +[38] 18:4 Or terrified me + +[39] 18:8 Or in his wrath + +[40] 18:22 Or just decrees + +[41] 18:30 Or blameless + +[42] 18:40 Or You gave me my enemies' necks + +[43] 19:1 Hebrew the expanse; compare Genesis 1:6-8 + +[44] 19:4 Or Their measuring line + +[45] 19:7 Or blameless + +[46] 19:9 Or just decrees + +[47] 21:6 Or make him a source of blessing forever + +[48] 22:3 Or dwelling in the praises + +[49] 22:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts like a lion [they are at] my hands and feet + +[50] 22:21 Hebrew answered + +[51] 22:26 Or The meek + +[52] 23:2 Hebrew beside waters of rest + +[53] 23:3 Or in right paths + +[54] 23:4 Or the valley of deep darkness + +[55] 23:6 Or Only + +[56] 23:6 Or steadfast love + +[57] 23:6 Or shall return to dwell + +[58] 23:6 Hebrew for length of days + +[59] 24:1 Or and all that fills it + +[60] 24:6 Septuagint, Syriac, and two Hebrew manuscripts; Masoretic Text Jacob, who seek your face + +[61] 25:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet + +[62] 25:14 Or The secret counsel + +[63] 26:2 Hebrew test my kidneys and my heart + +[64] 27:1 Or refuge + +[65] 27:3 Or in this + +[66] 27:4 Or meditate + +[67] 27:8 The command (seek) is addressed to more than one person + +[68] 27:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[69] 27:13 Other Hebrew manuscripts Oh! Had I not believed + +[70] 28:2 Hebrew your innermost sanctuary + +[71] 28:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts is their strength + +[72] 29:1 Hebrew sons of God, or sons of might + +[73] 29:2 Or in holy attire + +[74] 29:9 Revocalization yields makes the oaks to shake + +[75] 29:11 Or The LORD will give . . . The LORD will bless + +[76] 30:3 Or to life, that I should not go down to the pit + +[77] 30:4 Hebrew to the memorial of his holiness (see Exodus 3:15) + +[78] 30:5 Or and in his favor is life + +[79] 30:9 Hebrew in my blood + +[80] 30:9 Or to corruption + +[81] 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate + +[82] 31:22 Or in my haste + +[83] 32:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[84] 32:4 Hebrew my vitality was changed + +[85] 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet + +[86] 35:3 Or and close the way + +[87] 35:7 The word pit is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life + +[88] 35:11 Or Violent + +[89] 35:12 Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul + +[90] 35:13 Or my prayer shall turn back + +[91] 35:16 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain + +[92] 36:1 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Jerome (compare Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts in my heart + +[93] 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet + +[94] 37:3 Or and feed on faithfulness, or and find safe pasture + +[95] 37:22 Hebrew by him + +[96] 37:35 The identity of this tree is uncertain + +[97] 37:36 Or But one passed by + +[98] 39:6 Hebrew Surely as a breath + +[99] 40:6 Hebrew ears you have dug for me + +[100] 40:9 Hebrew righteousness; also verse 10 + +[101] 41:1 Or weak + +[102] 41:3 Hebrew you turn all his bed + +[103] 41:4 Hebrew my soul + +[104] 41:7 Or they devise evil against me + +[105] 41:8 Or has fastened + +[106] 42:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[107] 42:2 Revocalization yields and see the face of God + +[108] 42:5 Hebrew the salvation of my face; also verse 11 and 43:5 + +[109] 44:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[110] 44:14 Hebrew a shaking of the head + +[111] 45:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[112] 45:12 Hebrew daughter + +[113] 45:12 Or The daughter of Tyre is here with gifts, the richest of people seek your favor + +[114] 46:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[115] 46:1 Or well proved + +[116] 47:7 Hebrew maskil + +[117] 48:14 Septuagint; another reading is (compare Jerome, Syriac) He will guide us beyond death + +[118] 49:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever + +[119] 49:13 Or and of those after them who approve of their boasts + +[120] 50:3 Or May our God come, and not keep silence + +[121] 50:14 Or Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God + +[122] 50:21 Or that the I AM + +[123] 51:1 Or Be gracious to me + +[124] 51:10 Or steadfast + +[125] 52:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[126] 52:7 Or in his work of destruction + +[127] 53:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms + +[128] 53:2 Or who act wisely + +[129] 54:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[130] 54:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14) + +[131] 55:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[132] 55:20 Hebrew He + +[133] 56:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[134] 56:5 Or they twist my words + +[135] 56:8 Or wanderings + +[136] 56:9 Or because + +[137] 57:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[138] 57:8 Or my whole being + +[139] 58:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[140] 58:1 Or mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence) + +[141] 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[142] 59:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[143] 59:7 Hebrew lacks they think + +[144] 59:10 Or The God who shows me steadfast love + +[145] 59:11 Or wander + +[146] 60:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms + +[147] 60:4 Or that it may be displayed because of truth + +[148] 60:6 Or sanctuary + +[149] 60:8 Revocalization (compare Psalm 108:10); Masoretic Text over me, O Philistia, shout in triumph + +[150] 65:1 Or Praise waits for you in silence + +[151] 65:9 Or and make it overflow + +[152] 66:17 Hebrew under + +[153] 66:17 Or and he was exalted with my tongue + +[154] 68:10 Or your congregation + +[155] 68:15 Or hunch-backed; also verse 16 + +[156] 68:24 Or has been + +[157] 68:26 The Hebrew for you is plural here + +[158] 68:28 Probable reading; Hebrew Your God has summoned your power + +[159] 68:30 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[160] 68:35 Septuagint; Hebrew your + +[161] 69:1 Or waters threaten my life + +[162] 69:10 Hebrew lacks and humbled + +[163] 69:22 Hebrew; a slight revocalization yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome) a snare, and retribution and a trap + +[164] 69:27 Hebrew may they not come into your righteousness + +[165] 72:5 Septuagint He shall endure + +[166] 72:8 That is, the Euphrates + +[167] 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them + +[168] 73:26 Hebrew rock + +[169] 74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[170] 74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[171] 74:11 Hebrew from your bosom + +[172] 74:13 Or the great sea creatures + +[173] 75:1 Hebrew They + +[174] 76:10 Or extremity + +[175] 77:6 Hebrew lacks I said + +[176] 77:10 Or This is my grief: that the right hand of the Most High has changed + +[177] 77:19 Hebrew unknown + +[178] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[179] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting + +[180] 78:33 Hebrew in + +[181] 78:33 Or vapor + +[182] 78:42 Hebrew hand + +[183] 79:8 Or the iniquities of former generations + +[184] 80:3 Or Turn us again; also verses 7, 19 + +[185] 80:11 That is, the Euphrates + +[186] 81:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[187] 81:4 Or just decree + +[188] 81:5 Or against + +[189] 81:6 Hebrew his; also next line + +[190] 81:16 That is, Israel; Hebrew him + +[191] 82:7 Or fall as one man, O princes + +[192] 83:13 Or like a tumbleweed + +[193] 84:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[194] 84:5 Hebrew lacks to Zion + +[195] 87:4 Probably Nubia + +[196] 88:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms + +[197] 88:8 Or an abomination + +[198] 88:15 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[199] 88:18 Or darkness has become my only companion + +[200] 89:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[201] 89:6 Hebrew the sons of God, or the sons of might + +[202] 89:19 Some Hebrew manuscripts godly ones + +[203] 89:28 Or will remain faithful + +[204] 89:30 Or my just decrees + +[205] 89:50 Hebrew lacks the insults + +[206] 90:1 Some Hebrew manuscripts (compare Septuagint) our refuge + +[207] 90:3 Or of Adam + +[208] 90:10 Or pride + +[209] 90:17 Or beauty + +[210] 91:2 Septuagint He will say + +[211] 91:9 Or For you, O LORD, are my refuge! You have made the Most High your dwelling place + +[212] 92:10 Compare Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[213] 94:11 Septuagint they are futile + +[214] 94:21 Hebrew condemn innocent blood + +[215] 96:9 Or in holy attire + +[216] 97:11 Most Hebrew manuscripts; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome Light dawns + +[217] 99:4 Or The might of the King loves justice + +[218] 100:3 Or and not we ourselves + +[219] 102:6 The precise identity of these birds is uncertain + +[220] 103:14 Or knows how we are formed + +[221] 104:19 Or the appointed times (compare Genesis 1:14) + +[222] 104:26 Or you formed to play with + +[223] 104:30 Or breath + +[224] 105:16 Hebrew staff + +[225] 105:22 Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome instruct + +[226] 105:28 Septuagint, Syriac omit not + +[227] 106:4 Or Remember me, O LORD, with the favor you show to your people; help me with your salvation + +[228] 106:33 Or they rebelled against God's Spirit + +[229] 107:2 Or from the hand of the foe + +[230] 107:27 Hebrew and all their wisdom was swallowed up + +[231] 107:30 Hebrew they + +[232] 108:1 Hebrew with my glory + +[233] 108:7 Or sanctuary + +[234] 109:4 Hebrew but I am prayer + +[235] 109:17 Revocalization; Masoretic Text curses have come + +[236] 109:17 Revocalization; Masoretic Text it is far + +[237] 109:18 Revocalization; Masoretic Text it has soaked + +[238] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces + +[239] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains + +[240] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[241] 110:6 Or the head + +[242] 111:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet + +[243] 112:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet + +[244] 115:9 Masoretic Text; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac O house of Israel + +[245] 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore + +[246] 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard + +[247] 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner + +[248] 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter + +[249] 119:7 Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164 + +[250] 119:13 Or all the just decrees + +[251] 119:20 Or your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175 + +[252] 119:32 Or for you set my heart free + +[253] 119:33 Or keep it as my reward + +[254] 119:84 Hebrew How many are the days of your servant? + +[255] 119:100 Or the elders + +[256] 119:112 Or statutes; the reward is eternal + +[257] 122:4 Or as a testimony for + +[258] 127:4 Or sons + +[259] 127:5 Or They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate + +[260] 129:1 Or Often; also verse 2 + +[261] 132:11 Hebrew of your fruit of the womb + +[262] 133:1 Or dwell together + +[263] 135:3 Or for he is beautiful + +[264] 135:13 Or remembrance + +[265] 136:15 Hebrew shook off + +[266] 137:2 Or poplars + +[267] 138:2 Or you have exalted your word above all your name + +[268] 138:3 Hebrew you made me bold in my soul with strength + +[269] 139:14 Or for I am fearfully set apart + +[270] 139:20 Hebrew lacks your name + +[271] 139:23 Or cares + +[272] 139:24 Or in the ancient way (compare Jeremiah 6:16) + +[273] 140:5 Or they have spread cords as a net + +[274] 140:8 Hebrew his + +[275] 141:6 Or When their judges fall into the hands of the Rock + +[276] 141:7 The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 6, 7 is uncertain + +[277] 141:8 Hebrew refuge; do not pour out my life! + +[278] 142:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term + +[279] 143:9 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts To you I have covered + +[280] 144:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people + +[281] 144:14 Hebrew with no breaking in or going out + +[282] 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet + +[283] 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line + +[284] 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll) + +[285] 147:1 Or for he is beautiful + +[286] 147:6 Or afflicted + +[287] 147:19 Or and just decrees + +[288] 147:20 Or his just decrees + +[289] 148:6 Or it shall not be transgressed + +[290] 150:1 Hebrew expanse (compare Genesis 1:6-8) + + + + + +PROVERBS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + + + + + +The Beginning of Knowledge + + +1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: + +2To know wisdom and instruction, + +to understand words of insight, + +3to receive instruction in wise dealing, + +in righteousness, justice, and equity; + +4to give prudence to the simple, + +knowledge and discretion to the youth— + +5Let the wise hear and increase in learning, + +and the one who understands obtain guidance, + +6to understand a proverb and a saying, + +the words of the wise and their riddles. + +7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; + +fools despise wisdom and instruction. + + + + + +The Enticement of Sinners + + +8Hear, my son, your father's instruction, + +and forsake not your mother's teaching, + +9for they are a graceful garland for your head + +and pendants for your neck. + +10My son, if sinners entice you, + +do not consent. + +11If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; + +let us ambush the innocent without reason; + +12like Sheol let us swallow them alive, + +and whole, like those who go down to the pit; + +13we shall find all precious goods, + +we shall fill our houses with plunder; + +14throw in your lot among us; + +we will all have one purse”— + +15my son, do not walk in the way with them; + +hold back your foot from their paths, + +16for their feet run to evil, + +and they make haste to shed blood. + +17For in vain is a net spread + +in the sight of any bird, + +18but these men lie in wait for their own blood; + +they set an ambush for their own lives. + +19Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; + +it takes away the life of its possessors. + + + + + +The Call of Wisdom + + +20Wisdom cries aloud in the street, + +in the markets she raises her voice; + +21at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; + +at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: + +22“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? + +How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing + +and fools hate knowledge? + +23If you turn at my reproof,[1] + +behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; + +I will make my words known to you. + +24Because I have called and you refused to listen, + +have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, + +25because you have ignored all my counsel + +and would have none of my reproof, + +26I also will laugh at your calamity; + +I will mock when terror strikes you, + +27when terror strikes you like a storm + +and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, + +when distress and anguish come upon you. + +28Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; + +they will seek me diligently but will not find me. + +29Because they hated knowledge + +and did not choose the fear of the LORD, + +30would have none of my counsel + +and despised all my reproof, + +31therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, + +and have their fill of their own devices. + +32For the simple are killed by their turning away, + +and the complacency of fools destroys them; + +33but whoever listens to me will dwell secure + +and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” + + + + + +The Value of Wisdom + + +2:1 My son, if you receive my words + +and treasure up my commandments with you, + +2making your ear attentive to wisdom + +and inclining your heart to understanding; + +3yes, if you call out for insight + +and raise your voice for understanding, + +4if you seek it like silver + +and search for it as for hidden treasures, + +5then you will understand the fear of the LORD + +and find the knowledge of God. + +6For the LORD gives wisdom; + +from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; + +7he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; + +he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, + +8guarding the paths of justice + +and watching over the way of his saints. + +9Then you will understand righteousness and justice + +and equity, every good path; + +10for wisdom will come into your heart, + +and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; + +11discretion will watch over you, + +understanding will guard you, + +12delivering you from the way of evil, + +from men of perverted speech, + +13who forsake the paths of uprightness + +to walk in the ways of darkness, + +14who rejoice in doing evil + +and delight in the perverseness of evil, + +15men whose paths are crooked, + +and who are devious in their ways. + +16So you will be delivered from the forbidden[2] woman, + +from the adulteress[3] with her smooth words, + +17who forsakes the companion of her youth + +and forgets the covenant of her God; + +18for her house sinks down to death, + +and her paths to the departed;[4] + +19none who go to her come back, + +nor do they regain the paths of life. + +20So you will walk in the way of the good + +and keep to the paths of the righteous. + +21For the upright will inhabit the land, + +and those with integrity will remain in it, + +22but the wicked will be cut off from the land, + +and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. + + + + + +Trust in the LORD with All Your Heart + + +3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, + +but let your heart keep my commandments, + +2for length of days and years of life + +and peace they will add to you. + +3Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; + +bind them around your neck; + +write them on the tablet of your heart. + +4So you will find favor and good success[5] + +in the sight of God and man. + +5Trust in the LORD with all your heart, + +and do not lean on your own understanding. + +6In all your ways acknowledge him, + +and he will make straight your paths. + +7Be not wise in your own eyes; + +fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. + +8It will be healing to your flesh[6] + +and refreshment[7] to your bones. + +9Honor the LORD with your wealth + +and with the firstfruits of all your produce; + +10then your barns will be filled with plenty, + +and your vats will be bursting with wine. + +11My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline + +or be weary of his reproof, + +12for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, + +as a father the son in whom he delights. + + + + + +Blessed Is the One Who Finds Wisdom + + +13Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, + +and the one who gets understanding, + +14for the gain from her is better than gain from silver + +and her profit better than gold. + +15She is more precious than jewels, + +and nothing you desire can compare with her. + +16Long life is in her right hand; + +in her left hand are riches and honor. + +17Her ways are ways of pleasantness, + +and all her paths are peace. + +18She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; + +those who hold her fast are called blessed. + +19The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; + +by understanding he established the heavens; + +20by his knowledge the deeps broke open, + +and the clouds drop down the dew. + +21My son, do not lose sight of these— + +keep sound wisdom and discretion, + +22and they will be life for your soul + +and adornment for your neck. + +23Then you will walk on your way securely, + +and your foot will not stumble. + +24If you lie down, you will not be afraid; + +when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. + +25Do not be afraid of sudden terror + +or of the ruin[8] of the wicked, when it comes, + +26for the LORD will be your confidence + +and will keep your foot from being caught. + +27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,[9] + +when it is in your power to do it. + +28Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, + +tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you. + +29Do not plan evil against your neighbor, + +who dwells trustingly beside you. + +30Do not contend with a man for no reason, + +when he has done you no harm. + +31Do not envy a man of violence + +and do not choose any of his ways, + +32for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, + +but the upright are in his confidence. + +33The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, + +but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. + +34Toward the scorners he is scornful, + +but to the humble he gives favor.[10] + +35The wise will inherit honor, + +but fools get[11] disgrace. + + + + + +A Father's Wise Instruction + + +4:1 Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, + +and be attentive, that you may gain[12] insight, + +2for I give you good precepts; + +do not forsake my teaching. + +3When I was a son with my father, + +tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, + +4he taught me and said to me, + +“Let your heart hold fast my words; + +keep my commandments, and live. + +5Get wisdom; get insight; + +do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. + +6Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; + +love her, and she will guard you. + +7The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, + +and whatever you get, get insight. + +8Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; + +she will honor you if you embrace her. + +9She will place on your head a graceful garland; + +she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” + +10Hear, my son, and accept my words, + +that the years of your life may be many. + +11I have taught you the way of wisdom; + +I have led you in the paths of uprightness. + +12When you walk, your step will not be hampered, + +and if you run, you will not stumble. + +13Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; + +guard her, for she is your life. + +14Do not enter the path of the wicked, + +and do not walk in the way of the evil. + +15Avoid it; do not go on it; + +turn away from it and pass on. + +16For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; + +they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. + +17For they eat the bread of wickedness + +and drink the wine of violence. + +18But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, + +which shines brighter and brighter until full day. + +19The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; + +they do not know over what they stumble. + +20My son, be attentive to my words; + +incline your ear to my sayings. + +21Let them not escape from your sight; + +keep them within your heart. + +22For they are life to those who find them, + +and healing to all their[13] flesh. + +23Keep your heart with all vigilance, + +for from it flow the springs of life. + +24Put away from you crooked speech, + +and put devious talk far from you. + +25Let your eyes look directly forward, + +and your gaze be straight before you. + +26Ponder[14] the path of your feet; + +then all your ways will be sure. + +27Do not swerve to the right or to the left; + +turn your foot away from evil. + + + + + +Warning Against Adultery + + +5:1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom; + +incline your ear to my understanding, + +2that you may keep discretion, + +and your lips may guard knowledge. + +3For the lips of a forbidden[15] woman drip honey, + +and her speech[16] is smoother than oil, + +4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, + +sharp as a two-edged sword. + +5Her feet go down to death; + +her steps follow the path to[17] Sheol; + +6she does not ponder the path of life; + +her ways wander, and she does not know it. + +7And now, O sons, listen to me, + +and do not depart from the words of my mouth. + +8Keep your way far from her, + +and do not go near the door of her house, + +9lest you give your honor to others + +and your years to the merciless, + +10lest strangers take their fill of your strength, + +and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, + +11and at the end of your life you groan, + +when your flesh and body are consumed, + +12and you say, “How I hated discipline, + +and my heart despised reproof! + +13I did not listen to the voice of my teachers + +or incline my ear to my instructors. + +14I am at the brink of utter ruin + +in the assembled congregation.” + +15Drink water from your own cistern, + +flowing water from your own well. + +16Should your springs be scattered abroad, + +streams of water in the streets? + +17Let them be for yourself alone, + +and not for strangers with you. + +18Let your fountain be blessed, + +and rejoice in the wife of your youth, + +19a lovely deer, a graceful doe. + +Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; + +be intoxicated[18] always in her love. + +20Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman + +and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?[19] + +21For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, + +and he ponders[20] all his paths. + +22The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, + +and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. + +23He dies for lack of discipline, + +and because of his great folly he is led astray. + + + + + +Practical Warnings + + +6:1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, + +have given your pledge for a stranger, + +2if you are snared in the words of your mouth, + +caught in the words of your mouth, + +3then do this, my son, and save yourself, + +for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: + +go, hasten,[21] and plead urgently with your neighbor. + +4Give your eyes no sleep + +and your eyelids no slumber; + +5save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,[22] + +like a bird from the hand of the fowler. + +6Go to the ant, O sluggard; + +consider her ways, and be wise. + +7Without having any chief, + +officer, or ruler, + +8she prepares her bread in summer + +and gathers her food in harvest. + +9How long will you lie there, O sluggard? + +When will you arise from your sleep? + +10A little sleep, a little slumber, + +a little folding of the hands to rest, + +11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, + +and want like an armed man. + +12A worthless person, a wicked man, + +goes about with crooked speech, + +13winks with his eyes, signals[23] with his feet, + +points with his finger, + +14with perverted heart devises evil, + +continually sowing discord; + +15therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; + +in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. + +16There are six things that the LORD hates, + +seven that are an abomination to him: + +17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, + +and hands that shed innocent blood, + +18a heart that devises wicked plans, + +feet that make haste to run to evil, + +19a false witness who breathes out lies, + +and one who sows discord among brothers. + + + + + +Warnings Against Adultery + + +20My son, keep your father's commandment, + +and forsake not your mother's teaching. + +21Bind them on your heart always; + +tie them around your neck. + +22When you walk, they[24] will lead you; + +when you lie down, they will watch over you; + +and when you awake, they will talk with you. + +23For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, + +and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, + +24to preserve you from the evil woman,[25] + +from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.[26] + +25Do not desire her beauty in your heart, + +and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; + +26for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,[27] + +but a married woman[28] hunts down a precious life. + +27Can a man carry fire next to his chest + +and his clothes not be burned? + +28Or can one walk on hot coals + +and his feet not be scorched? + +29So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; + +none who touches her will go unpunished. + +30People do not despise a thief if he steals + +to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, + +31but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; + +he will give all the goods of his house. + +32He who commits adultery lacks sense; + +he who does it destroys himself. + +33He will get wounds and dishonor, + +and his disgrace will not be wiped away. + +34For jealousy makes a man furious, + +and he will not spare when he takes revenge. + +35He will accept no compensation; + +he will refuse though you multiply gifts. + + + + + +Warning Against the Adulteress + + +7:1 My son, keep my words + +and treasure up my commandments with you; + +2keep my commandments and live; + +keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; + +3bind them on your fingers; + +write them on the tablet of your heart. + +4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” + +and call insight your intimate friend, + +5to keep you from the forbidden[29] woman, + +from the adulteress[30] with her smooth words. + +6For at the window of my house + +I have looked out through my lattice, + +7and I have seen among the simple, + +I have perceived among the youths, + +a young man lacking sense, + +8passing along the street near her corner, + +taking the road to her house + +9in the twilight, in the evening, + +at the time of night and darkness. + +10And behold, the woman meets him, + +dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.[31] + +11She is loud and wayward; + +her feet do not stay at home; + +12now in the street, now in the market, + +and at every corner she lies in wait. + +13She seizes him and kisses him, + +and with bold face she says to him, + +14“I had to offer sacrifices,[32] + +and today I have paid my vows; + +15so now I have come out to meet you, + +to seek you eagerly, and I have found you. + +16I have spread my couch with coverings, + +colored linens from Egyptian linen; + +17I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, + +aloes, and cinnamon. + +18Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; + +let us delight ourselves with love. + +19For my husband is not at home; + +he has gone on a long journey; + +20he took a bag of money with him; + +at full moon he will come home.” + +21With much seductive speech she persuades him; + +with her smooth talk she compels him. + +22All at once he follows her, + +as an ox goes to the slaughter, + +or as a stag is caught fast[33] + +23till an arrow pierces its liver; + +as a bird rushes into a snare; + +he does not know that it will cost him his life. + +24And now, O sons, listen to me, + +and be attentive to the words of my mouth. + +25Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; + +do not stray into her paths, + +26for many a victim has she laid low, + +and all her slain are a mighty throng. + +27Her house is the way to Sheol, + +going down to the chambers of death. + + + + + +The Blessings of Wisdom + + +8:1 Does not wisdom call? + +Does not understanding raise her voice? + +2On the heights beside the way, + +at the crossroads she takes her stand; + +3beside the gates in front of the town, + +at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: + +4“To you, O men, I call, + +and my cry is to the children of man. + +5O simple ones, learn prudence; + +O fools, learn sense. + +6Hear, for I will speak noble things, + +and from my lips will come what is right, + +7for my mouth will utter truth; + +wickedness is an abomination to my lips. + +8All the words of my mouth are righteous; + +there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. + +9They are all straight to him who understands, + +and right to those who find knowledge. + +10Take my instruction instead of silver, + +and knowledge rather than choice gold, + +11for wisdom is better than jewels, + +and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. + +12“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, + +and I find knowledge and discretion. + +13The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. + +Pride and arrogance and the way of evil + +and perverted speech I hate. + +14I have counsel and sound wisdom; + +I have insight; I have strength. + +15By me kings reign, + +and rulers decree what is just; + +16by me princes rule, + +and nobles, all who govern justly.[34] + +17I love those who love me, + +and those who seek me diligently find me. + +18Riches and honor are with me, + +enduring wealth and righteousness. + +19My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, + +and my yield than choice silver. + +20I walk in the way of righteousness, + +in the paths of justice, + +21granting an inheritance to those who love me, + +and filling their treasuries. + +22“The LORD possessed[35] me at the beginning of his work,[36] + +the first of his acts of old. + +23Ages ago I was set up, + +at the first, before the beginning of the earth. + +24When there were no depths I was brought forth, + +when there were no springs abounding with water. + +25Before the mountains had been shaped, + +before the hills, I was brought forth, + +26before he had made the earth with its fields, + +or the first of the dust of the world. + +27When he established the heavens, I was there; + +when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, + +28when he made firm the skies above, + +when he established[37] the fountains of the deep, + +29when he assigned to the sea its limit, + +so that the waters might not transgress his command, + +when he marked out the foundations of the earth, + +30then I was beside him, like a master workman, + +and I was daily his[38] delight, + +rejoicing before him always, + +31rejoicing in his inhabited world + +and delighting in the children of man. + +32“And now, O sons, listen to me: + +blessed are those who keep my ways. + +33Hear instruction and be wise, + +and do not neglect it. + +34Blessed is the one who listens to me, + +watching daily at my gates, + +waiting beside my doors. + +35For whoever finds me finds life + +and obtains favor from the LORD, + +36but he who fails to find me injures himself; + +all who hate me love death.” + + + + + +The Way of Wisdom + + +9:1 Wisdom has built her house; + +she has hewn her seven pillars. + +2She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; + +she has also set her table. + +3She has sent out her young women to call + +from the highest places in the town, + +4“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” + +To him who lacks sense she says, + +5“Come, eat of my bread + +and drink of the wine I have mixed. + +6Leave your simple ways,[39] and live, + +and walk in the way of insight.” + +7Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, + +and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. + +8Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; + +reprove a wise man, and he will love you. + +9Give instruction[40] to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; + +teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. + +10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, + +and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. + +11For by me your days will be multiplied, + +and years will be added to your life. + +12If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; + +if you scoff, you alone will bear it. + + + + + +The Way of Folly + + +13The woman Folly is loud; + +she is seductive[41] and knows nothing. + +14She sits at the door of her house; + +she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, + +15calling to those who pass by, + +who are going straight on their way, + +16“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” + +And to him who lacks sense she says, + +17“Stolen water is sweet, + +and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” + +18But he does not know that the dead[42] are there, + +that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. + + + + + +The Proverbs of Solomon + + +10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. + +A wise son makes a glad father, + +but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. + +2Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, + +but righteousness delivers from death. + +3The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, + +but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. + +4A slack hand causes poverty, + +but the hand of the diligent makes rich. + +5He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, + +but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. + +6Blessings are on the head of the righteous, + +but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. + +7The memory of the righteous is a blessing, + +but the name of the wicked will rot. + +8The wise of heart will receive commandments, + +but a babbling fool will come to ruin. + +9Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, + +but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. + +10Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, + +but a babbling fool will come to ruin. + +11The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, + +but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. + +12Hatred stirs up strife, + +but love covers all offenses. + +13On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, + +but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. + +14The wise lay up knowledge, + +but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. + +15A rich man's wealth is his strong city; + +the poverty of the poor is their ruin. + +16The wage of the righteous leads to life, + +the gain of the wicked to sin. + +17Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, + +but he who rejects reproof leads others astray. + +18The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, + +and whoever utters slander is a fool. + +19When words are many, transgression is not lacking, + +but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. + +20The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; + +the heart of the wicked is of little worth. + +21The lips of the righteous feed many, + +but fools die for lack of sense. + +22The blessing of the LORD makes rich, + +and he adds no sorrow with it.[43] + +23Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, + +but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding. + +24What the wicked dreads will come upon him, + +but the desire of the righteous will be granted. + +25When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, + +but the righteous is established forever. + +26Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, + +so is the sluggard to those who send him. + +27The fear of the LORD prolongs life, + +but the years of the wicked will be short. + +28The hope of the righteous brings joy, + +but the expectation of the wicked will perish. + +29The way of the LORD is a stronghold to the blameless, + +but destruction to evildoers. + +30The righteous will never be removed, + +but the wicked will not dwell in the land. + +31The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, + +but the perverse tongue will be cut off. + +32The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, + +but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse. + + + + + +11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, + +but a just weight is his delight. + +2When pride comes, then comes disgrace, + +but with the humble is wisdom. + +3The integrity of the upright guides them, + +but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. + +4Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, + +but righteousness delivers from death. + +5The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, + +but the wicked falls by his own wickedness. + +6The righteousness of the upright delivers them, + +but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust. + +7When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, + +and the expectation of wealth[44] perishes too. + +8The righteous is delivered from trouble, + +and the wicked walks into it instead. + +9With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, + +but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. + +10When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, + +and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness. + +11By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, + +but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown. + +12Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, + +but a man of understanding remains silent. + +13Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, + +but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered. + +14Where there is no guidance, a people falls, + +but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. + +15Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, + +but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure. + +16A gracious woman gets honor, + +and violent men get riches. + +17A man who is kind benefits himself, + +but a cruel man hurts himself. + +18The wicked earns deceptive wages, + +but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward. + +19Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, + +but he who pursues evil will die. + +20Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD, + +but those of blameless ways are his delight. + +21Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, + +but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered. + +22Like a gold ring in a pig's snout + +is a beautiful woman without discretion. + +23The desire of the righteous ends only in good; + +the expectation of the wicked in wrath. + +24One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; + +another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. + +25Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, + +and one who waters will himself be watered. + +26The people curse him who holds back grain, + +but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it. + +27Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,[45] + +but evil comes to him who searches for it. + +28Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, + +but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. + +29Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, + +and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. + +30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, + +and whoever captures souls is wise. + +31If the righteous is repaid on earth, + +how much more the wicked and the sinner! + + + + + +12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, + +but he who hates reproof is stupid. + +2A good man obtains favor from the LORD, + +but a man of evil devices he condemns. + +3No one is established by wickedness, + +but the root of the righteous will never be moved. + +4An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, + +but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. + +5The thoughts of the righteous are just; + +the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. + +6The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, + +but the mouth of the upright delivers them. + +7The wicked are overthrown and are no more, + +but the house of the righteous will stand. + +8A man is commended according to his good sense, + +but one of twisted mind is despised. + +9Better to be lowly and have a servant + +than to play the great man and lack bread. + +10Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, + +but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. + +11Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, + +but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. + +12Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, + +but the root of the righteous bears fruit. + +13An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, + +but the righteous escapes from trouble. + +14From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, + +and the work of a man's hand comes back to him. + +15The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, + +but a wise man listens to advice. + +16The vexation of a fool is known at once, + +but the prudent ignores an insult. + +17Whoever speaks[46] the truth gives honest evidence, + +but a false witness utters deceit. + +18There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, + +but the tongue of the wise brings healing. + +19Truthful lips endure forever, + +but a lying tongue is but for a moment. + +20Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, + +but those who plan peace have joy. + +21No ill befalls the righteous, + +but the wicked are filled with trouble. + +22Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, + +but those who act faithfully are his delight. + +23A prudent man conceals knowledge, + +but the heart of fools proclaims folly. + +24The hand of the diligent will rule, + +while the slothful will be put to forced labor. + +25Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, + +but a good word makes him glad. + +26One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,[47] + +but the way of the wicked leads them astray. + +27Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, + +but the diligent man will get precious wealth.[48] + +28In the path of righteousness is life, + +and in its pathway there is no death. + + + + + +13:1 A wise son hears his father's instruction, + +but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. + +2From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, + +but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. + +3Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; + +he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. + +4The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, + +while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. + +5The righteous hates falsehood, + +but the wicked brings shame[49] and disgrace. + +6Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, + +but sin overthrows the wicked. + +7One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; + +another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. + +8The ransom of a man's life is his wealth, + +but a poor man hears no threat. + +9The light of the righteous rejoices, + +but the lamp of the wicked will be put out. + +10By insolence comes nothing but strife, + +but with those who take advice is wisdom. + +11Wealth gained hastily[50] will dwindle, + +but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. + +12Hope deferred makes the heart sick, + +but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. + +13Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, + +but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. + +14The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, + +that one may turn away from the snares of death. + +15Good sense wins favor, + +but the way of the treacherous is their ruin.[51] + +16In everything the prudent acts with knowledge, + +but a fool flaunts his folly. + +17A wicked messenger falls into trouble, + +but a faithful envoy brings healing. + +18Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, + +but whoever heeds reproof is honored. + +19A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, + +but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools. + +20Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, + +but the companion of fools will suffer harm. + +21Disaster[52] pursues sinners, + +but the righteous are rewarded with good. + +22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, + +but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. + +23The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, + +but it is swept away through injustice. + +24Whoever spares the rod hates his son, + +but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.[53] + +25The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, + +but the belly of the wicked suffers want. + + + + + +14:1 The wisest of women builds her house, + +but folly with her own hands tears it down. + +2Whoever walks in uprightness fears the LORD, + +but he who is devious in his ways despises him. + +3By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,[54] + +but the lips of the wise will preserve them. + +4Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, + +but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox. + +5A faithful witness does not lie, + +but a false witness breathes out lies. + +6A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, + +but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding. + +7Leave the presence of a fool, + +for there you do not meet words of knowledge. + +8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, + +but the folly of fools is deceiving. + +9Fools mock at the guilt offering, + +but the upright enjoy acceptance.[55] + +10The heart knows its own bitterness, + +and no stranger shares its joy. + +11The house of the wicked will be destroyed, + +but the tent of the upright will flourish. + +12There is a way that seems right to a man, + +but its end is the way to death.[56] + +13Even in laughter the heart may ache, + +and the end of joy may be grief. + +14The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, + +and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. + +15The simple believes everything, + +but the prudent gives thought to his steps. + +16One who is wise is cautious[57] and turns away from evil, + +but a fool is reckless and careless. + +17A man of quick temper acts foolishly, + +and a man of evil devices is hated. + +18The simple inherit folly, + +but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. + +19The evil bow down before the good, + +the wicked at the gates of the righteous. + +20The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, + +but the rich has many friends. + +21Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, + +but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. + +22Do they not go astray who devise evil? + +Those who devise good meet[58] steadfast love and faithfulness. + +23In all toil there is profit, + +but mere talk tends only to poverty. + +24The crown of the wise is their wealth, + +but the folly of fools brings folly. + +25A truthful witness saves lives, + +but one who breathes out lies is deceitful. + +26In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, + +and his children will have a refuge. + +27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, + +that one may turn away from the snares of death. + +28In a multitude of people is the glory of a king, + +but without people a prince is ruined. + +29Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, + +but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. + +30A tranquil[59] heart gives life to the flesh, + +but envy[60] makes the bones rot. + +31Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, + +but he who is generous to the needy honors him. + +32The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing, + +but the righteous finds refuge in his death. + +33Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding, + +but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.[61] + +34Righteousness exalts a nation, + +but sin is a reproach to any people. + +35A servant who deals wisely has the king's favor, + +but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully. + + + + + +15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, + +but a harsh word stirs up anger. + +2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, + +but the mouths of fools pour out folly. + +3The eyes of the LORD are in every place, + +keeping watch on the evil and the good. + +4A gentle[62] tongue is a tree of life, + +but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. + +5A fool despises his father's instruction, + +but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. + +6In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, + +but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. + +7The lips of the wise spread knowledge; + +not so the hearts of fools.[63] + +8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, + +but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. + +9The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, + +but he loves him who pursues righteousness. + +10There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; + +whoever hates reproof will die. + +11Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD; + +how much more the hearts of the children of man! + +12A scoffer does not like to be reproved; + +he will not go to the wise. + +13A glad heart makes a cheerful face, + +but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. + +14The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, + +but the mouths of fools feed on folly. + +15All the days of the afflicted are evil, + +but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. + +16Better is a little with the fear of the LORD + +than great treasure and trouble with it. + +17Better is a dinner of herbs where love is + +than a fattened ox and hatred with it. + +18A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, + +but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. + +19The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, + +but the path of the upright is a level highway. + +20A wise son makes a glad father, + +but a foolish man despises his mother. + +21Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense, + +but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. + +22Without counsel plans fail, + +but with many advisers they succeed. + +23To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, + +and a word in season, how good it is! + +24The path of life leads upward for the prudent, + +that he may turn away from Sheol beneath. + +25The LORD tears down the house of the proud + +but maintains the widow's boundaries. + +26The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, + +but gracious words are pure. + +27Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, + +but he who hates bribes will live. + +28The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, + +but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. + +29The LORD is far from the wicked, + +but he hears the prayer of the righteous. + +30The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, + +and good news refreshes[64] the bones. + +31The ear that listens to life-giving reproof + +will dwell among the wise. + +32Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, + +but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. + +33The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, + +and humility comes before honor. + + + + + +16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, + +but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. + +2All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, + +but the LORD weighs the spirit. + +3Commit your work to the LORD, + +and your plans will be established. + +4The LORD has made everything for its purpose, + +even the wicked for the day of trouble. + +5Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; + +be assured, he will not go unpunished. + +6By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, + +and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil. + +7When a man's ways please the LORD, + +he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. + +8Better is a little with righteousness + +than great revenues with injustice. + +9The heart of man plans his way, + +but the LORD establishes his steps. + +10An oracle is on the lips of a king; + +his mouth does not sin in judgment. + +11A just balance and scales are the LORD's; + +all the weights in the bag are his work. + +12It is an abomination to kings to do evil, + +for the throne is established by righteousness. + +13Righteous lips are the delight of a king, + +and he loves him who speaks what is right. + +14A king's wrath is a messenger of death, + +and a wise man will appease it. + +15In the light of a king's face there is life, + +and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. + +16How much better to get wisdom than gold! + +To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. + +17The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; + +whoever guards his way preserves his life. + +18Pride goes before destruction, + +and a haughty spirit before a fall. + +19It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor + +than to divide the spoil with the proud. + +20Whoever gives thought to the word[65] will discover good, + +and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. + +21The wise of heart is called discerning, + +and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. + +22Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, + +but the instruction of fools is folly. + +23The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious + +and adds persuasiveness to his lips. + +24Gracious words are like a honeycomb, + +sweetness to the soul and health to the body. + +25There is a way that seems right to a man, + +but its end is the way to death.[66] + +26A worker's appetite works for him; + +his mouth urges him on. + +27A worthless man plots evil, + +and his speech[67] is like a scorching fire. + +28A dishonest man spreads strife, + +and a whisperer separates close friends. + +29A man of violence entices his neighbor + +and leads him in a way that is not good. + +30Whoever winks his eyes plans[68] dishonest things; + +he who purses his lips brings evil to pass. + +31Gray hair is a crown of glory; + +it is gained in a righteous life. + +32Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, + +and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. + +33The lot is cast into the lap, + +but its every decision is from the LORD. + + + + + +17:1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet + +than a house full of feasting[69] with strife. + +2A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully + +and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. + +3The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, + +and the LORD tests hearts. + +4An evildoer listens to wicked lips, + +and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. + +5Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; + +he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. + +6Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, + +and the glory of children is their fathers. + +7Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; + +still less is false speech to a prince. + +8A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; + +wherever he turns he prospers. + +9Whoever covers an offense seeks love, + +but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. + +10A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding + +than a hundred blows into a fool. + +11An evil man seeks only rebellion, + +and a cruel messenger will be sent against him. + +12Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs + +rather than a fool in his folly. + +13If anyone returns evil for good, + +evil will not depart from his house. + +14The beginning of strife is like letting out water, + +so quit before the quarrel breaks out. + +15He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous + +are both alike an abomination to the LORD. + +16Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom + +when he has no sense? + +17A friend loves at all times, + +and a brother is born for adversity. + +18One who lacks sense gives a pledge + +and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor. + +19Whoever loves transgression loves strife; + +he who makes his door high seeks destruction. + +20A man of crooked heart does not discover good, + +and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity. + +21He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow, + +and the father of a fool has no joy. + +22A joyful heart is good medicine, + +but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. + +23The wicked accepts a bribe in secret[70] + +to pervert the ways of justice. + +24The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, + +but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. + +25A foolish son is a grief to his father + +and bitterness to her who bore him. + +26To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, + +nor to strike the noble for their uprightness. + +27Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, + +and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. + +28Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; + +when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. + + + + + +18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; + +he breaks out against all sound judgment. + +2A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, + +but only in expressing his opinion. + +3When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, + +and with dishonor comes disgrace. + +4The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; + +the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. + +5It is not good to be partial to[71] the wicked + +or to deprive the righteous of justice. + +6A fool's lips walk into a fight, + +and his mouth invites a beating. + +7A fool's mouth is his ruin, + +and his lips are a snare to his soul. + +8The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; + +they go down into the inner parts of the body. + +9Whoever is slack in his work + +is a brother to him who destroys. + +10The name of the LORD is a strong tower; + +the righteous man runs into it and is safe. + +11A rich man's wealth is his strong city, + +and like a high wall in his imagination. + +12Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, + +but humility comes before honor. + +13If one gives an answer before he hears, + +it is his folly and shame. + +14A man's spirit will endure sickness, + +but a crushed spirit who can bear? + +15An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, + +and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. + +16A man's gift makes room for him + +and brings him before the great. + +17The one who states his case first seems right, + +until the other comes and examines him. + +18The lot puts an end to quarrels + +and decides between powerful contenders. + +19A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, + +and quarreling is like the bars of a castle. + +20From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied; + +he is satisfied by the yield of his lips. + +21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, + +and those who love it will eat its fruits. + +22He who finds a wife finds a good thing + +and obtains favor from the LORD. + +23The poor use entreaties, + +but the rich answer roughly. + +24A man of many companions may come to ruin, + +but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. + + + + + +19:1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity + +than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool. + +2Desire[72] without knowledge is not good, + +and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way. + +3When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, + +his heart rages against the LORD. + +4Wealth brings many new friends, + +but a poor man is deserted by his friend. + +5A false witness will not go unpunished, + +and he who breathes out lies will not escape. + +6Many seek the favor of a generous man,[73] + +and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts. + +7All a poor man's brothers hate him; + +how much more do his friends go far from him! + +He pursues them with words, but does not have them.[74] + +8Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; + +he who keeps understanding will discover good. + +9A false witness will not go unpunished, + +and he who breathes out lies will perish. + +10It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, + +much less for a slave to rule over princes. + +11Good sense makes one slow to anger, + +and it is his glory to overlook an offense. + +12A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion, + +but his favor is like dew on the grass. + +13A foolish son is ruin to his father, + +and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain. + +14House and wealth are inherited from fathers, + +but a prudent wife is from the LORD. + +15Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, + +and an idle person will suffer hunger. + +16Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; + +he who despises his ways will die. + +17Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, + +and he will repay him for his deed. + +18Discipline your son, for there is hope; + +do not set your heart on putting him to death. + +19A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, + +for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again. + +20Listen to advice and accept instruction, + +that you may gain wisdom in the future. + +21Many are the plans in the mind of a man, + +but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. + +22What is desired in a man is steadfast love, + +and a poor man is better than a liar. + +23The fear of the LORD leads to life, + +and whoever has it rests satisfied; + +he will not be visited by harm. + +24The sluggard buries his hand in the dish + +and will not even bring it back to his mouth. + +25Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; + +reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge. + +26He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother + +is a son who brings shame and reproach. + +27Cease to hear instruction, my son, + +and you will stray from the words of knowledge. + +28A worthless witness mocks at justice, + +and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity. + +29Condemnation is ready for scoffers, + +and beating for the backs of fools. + + + + + +20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, + +and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.[75] + +2The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion; + +whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life. + +3It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, + +but every fool will be quarreling. + +4The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; + +he will seek at harvest and have nothing. + +5The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, + +but a man of understanding will draw it out. + +6Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, + +but a faithful man who can find? + +7The righteous who walks in his integrity— + +blessed are his children after him! + +8A king who sits on the throne of judgment + +winnows all evil with his eyes. + +9Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; + +I am clean from my sin”? + +10Unequal[76] weights and unequal measures + +are both alike an abomination to the LORD. + +11Even a child makes himself known by his acts, + +by whether his conduct is pure and upright.[77] + +12The hearing ear and the seeing eye, + +the LORD has made them both. + +13Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; + +open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread. + +14“Bad, bad,” says the buyer, + +but when he goes away, then he boasts. + +15There is gold and abundance of costly stones, + +but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. + +16Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, + +and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.[78] + +17Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, + +but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel. + +18Plans are established by counsel; + +by wise guidance wage war. + +19Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; + +therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.[79] + +20If one curses his father or his mother, + +his lamp will be put out in utter darkness. + +21An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning + +will not be blessed in the end. + +22Do not say, “I will repay evil”; + +wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you. + +23Unequal weights are an abomination to the LORD, + +and false scales are not good. + +24A man's steps are from the LORD; + +how then can man understand his way? + +25It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,” + +and to reflect only after making vows. + +26A wise king winnows the wicked + +and drives the wheel over them. + +27The spirit[80] of man is the lamp of the LORD, + +searching all his innermost parts. + +28Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king, + +and by steadfast love his throne is upheld. + +29The glory of young men is their strength, + +but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. + +30Blows that wound cleanse away evil; + +strokes make clean the innermost parts. + + + + + +21:1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; + +he turns it wherever he will. + +2Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, + +but the LORD weighs the heart. + +3To do righteousness and justice + +is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. + +4Haughty eyes and a proud heart, + +the lamp[81] of the wicked, are sin. + +5The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, + +but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. + +6The getting of treasures by a lying tongue + +is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.[82] + +7The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, + +because they refuse to do what is just. + +8The way of the guilty is crooked, + +but the conduct of the pure is upright. + +9It is better to live in a corner of the housetop + +than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. + +10The soul of the wicked desires evil; + +his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. + +11When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; + +when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge. + +12The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; + +he throws the wicked down to ruin. + +13Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor + +will himself call out and not be answered. + +14A gift in secret averts anger, + +and a concealed bribe,[83] strong wrath. + +15When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous + +but terror to evildoers. + +16One who wanders from the way of good sense + +will rest in the assembly of the dead. + +17Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; + +he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. + +18The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, + +and the traitor for the upright. + +19It is better to live in a desert land + +than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. + +20Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, + +but a foolish man devours it. + +21Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness + +will find life, righteousness, and honor. + +22A wise man scales the city of the mighty + +and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. + +23Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue + +keeps himself out of trouble. + +24“Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man + +who acts with arrogant pride. + +25The desire of the sluggard kills him, + +for his hands refuse to labor. + +26All day long he craves and craves, + +but the righteous gives and does not hold back. + +27The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; + +how much more when he brings it with evil intent. + +28A false witness will perish, + +but the word of a man who hears will endure. + +29A wicked man puts on a bold face, + +but the upright gives thought to[84] his ways. + +30No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel + +can avail against the LORD. + +31The horse is made ready for the day of battle, + +but the victory belongs to the LORD. + + + + + +22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, + +and favor is better than silver or gold. + +2The rich and the poor meet together; + +the LORD is the maker of them all. + +3The prudent sees danger and hides himself, + +but the simple go on and suffer for it. + +4The reward for humility and fear of the LORD + +is riches and honor and life.[85] + +5Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; + +whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. + +6Train up a child in the way he should go; + +even when he is old he will not depart from it. + +7The rich rules over the poor, + +and the borrower is the slave of the lender. + +8Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, + +and the rod of his fury will fail. + +9Whoever has a bountiful[86] eye will be blessed, + +for he shares his bread with the poor. + +10Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, + +and quarreling and abuse will cease. + +11He who loves purity of heart, + +and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. + +12The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, + +but he overthrows the words of the traitor. + +13The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! + +I shall be killed in the streets!” + +14The mouth of forbidden[87] women is a deep pit; + +he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it. + +15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, + +but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. + +16Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, + +or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. + + + + + +Words of the Wise + + +17Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, + +and apply your heart to my knowledge, + +18for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, + +if all of them are ready on your lips. + +19That your trust may be in the LORD, + +I have made them known to you today, even to you. + +20Have I not written for you thirty sayings + +of counsel and knowledge, + +21to make you know what is right and true, + +that you may give a true answer to those who sent you? + +22Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, + +or crush the afflicted at the gate, + +23for the LORD will plead their cause + +and rob of life those who rob them. + +24Make no friendship with a man given to anger, + +nor go with a wrathful man, + +25lest you learn his ways + +and entangle yourself in a snare. + +26Be not one of those who give pledges, + +who put up security for debts. + +27If you have nothing with which to pay, + +why should your bed be taken from under you? + +28Do not move the ancient landmark + +that your fathers have set. + +29Do you see a man skillful in his work? + +He will stand before kings; + +he will not stand before obscure men. + + + + + +23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, + +observe carefully what[88] is before you, + +2and put a knife to your throat + +if you are given to appetite. + +3Do not desire his delicacies, + +for they are deceptive food. + +4Do not toil to acquire wealth; + +be discerning enough to desist. + +5When your eyes light on it, it is gone, + +for suddenly it sprouts wings, + +flying like an eagle toward heaven. + +6Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;[89] + +do not desire his delicacies, + +7for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[90] + +“Eat and drink!” he says to you, + +but his heart is not with you. + +8You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, + +and waste your pleasant words. + +9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, + +for he will despise the good sense of your words. + +10Do not move an ancient landmark + +or enter the fields of the fatherless, + +11for their Redeemer is strong; + +he will plead their cause against you. + +12Apply your heart to instruction + +and your ear to words of knowledge. + +13Do not withhold discipline from a child; + +if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. + +14If you strike him with the rod, + +you will save his soul from Sheol. + +15My son, if your heart is wise, + +my heart too will be glad. + +16My inmost being[91] will exult + +when your lips speak what is right. + +17Let not your heart envy sinners, + +but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. + +18Surely there is a future, + +and your hope will not be cut off. + +19Hear, my son, and be wise, + +and direct your heart in the way. + +20Be not among drunkards[92] + +or among gluttonous eaters of meat, + +21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, + +and slumber will clothe them with rags. + +22Listen to your father who gave you life, + +and do not despise your mother when she is old. + +23Buy truth, and do not sell it; + +buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. + +24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; + +he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. + +25Let your father and mother be glad; + +let her who bore you rejoice. + +26My son, give me your heart, + +and let your eyes observe[93] my ways. + +27For a prostitute is a deep pit; + +an adulteress[94] is a narrow well. + +28She lies in wait like a robber + +and increases the traitors among mankind. + +29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? + +Who has strife? Who has complaining? + +Who has wounds without cause? + +Who has redness of eyes? + +30Those who tarry long over wine; + +those who go to try mixed wine. + +31Do not look at wine when it is red, + +when it sparkles in the cup + +and goes down smoothly. + +32In the end it bites like a serpent + +and stings like an adder. + +33Your eyes will see strange things, + +and your heart utter perverse things. + +34You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, + +like one who lies on the top of a mast.[95] + +35“They struck me,” you will say,[96] “but I was not hurt; + +they beat me, but I did not feel it. + +When shall I awake? + +I must have another drink.” + + + + + +24:1 Be not envious of evil men, + +nor desire to be with them, + +2for their hearts devise violence, + +and their lips talk of trouble. + +3By wisdom a house is built, + +and by understanding it is established; + +4by knowledge the rooms are filled + +with all precious and pleasant riches. + +5A wise man is full of strength, + +and a man of knowledge enhances his might, + +6for by wise guidance you can wage your war, + +and in abundance of counselors there is victory. + +7Wisdom is too high for a fool; + +in the gate he does not open his mouth. + +8Whoever plans to do evil + +will be called a schemer. + +9The devising[97] of folly is sin, + +and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind. + +10If you faint in the day of adversity, + +your strength is small. + +11Rescue those who are being taken away to death; + +hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. + +12If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” + +does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? + +Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, + +and will he not repay man according to his work? + +13My son, eat honey, for it is good, + +and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. + +14Know that wisdom is such to your soul; + +if you find it, there will be a future, + +and your hope will not be cut off. + +15Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; + +do no violence to his home; + +16for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, + +but the wicked stumble in times of calamity. + +17Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, + +and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, + +18lest the LORD see it and be displeased, + +and turn away his anger from him. + +19Fret not yourself because of evildoers, + +and be not envious of the wicked, + +20for the evil man has no future; + +the lamp of the wicked will be put out. + +21My son, fear the LORD and the king, + +and do not join with those who do otherwise, + +22for disaster will arise suddenly from them, + +and who knows the ruin that will come from them both? + + + + + +More Sayings of the Wise + + +23These also are sayings of the wise. + +Partiality in judging is not good. + +24Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” + +will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, + +25but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, + +and a good blessing will come upon them. + +26Whoever gives an honest answer + +kisses the lips. + +27Prepare your work outside; + +get everything ready for yourself in the field, + +and after that build your house. + +28Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, + +and do not deceive with your lips. + +29Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; + +I will pay the man back for what he has done.” + +30I passed by the field of a sluggard, + +by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, + +31and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; + +the ground was covered with nettles, + +and its stone wall was broken down. + +32Then I saw and considered it; + +I looked and received instruction. + +33A little sleep, a little slumber, + +a little folding of the hands to rest, + +34and poverty will come upon you like a robber, + +and want like an armed man. + + + + + +More Proverbs of Solomon + + +25:1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. + +2It is the glory of God to conceal things, + +but the glory of kings is to search things out. + +3As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, + +so the heart of kings is unsearchable. + +4Take away the dross from the silver, + +and the smith has material for a vessel; + +5take away the wicked from the presence of the king, + +and his throne will be established in righteousness. + +6Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence + +or stand in the place of the great, + +7for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” + +than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. + +What your eyes have seen + +8do not hastily bring into court, + +for[98] what will you do in the end, + +when your neighbor puts you to shame? + +9Argue your case with your neighbor himself, + +and do not reveal another's secret, + +10lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, + +and your ill repute have no end. + +11A word fitly spoken + +is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. + +12Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold + +is a wise reprover to a listening ear. + +13Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest + +is a faithful messenger to those who send him; + +he refreshes the soul of his masters. + +14Like clouds and wind without rain + +is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give. + +15With patience a ruler may be persuaded, + +and a soft tongue will break a bone. + +16If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, + +lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. + +17Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, + +lest he have his fill of you and hate you. + +18A man who bears false witness against his neighbor + +is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. + +19Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble + +is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. + +20Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart + +is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, + +and like vinegar on soda. + +21If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, + +and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, + +22for you will heap burning coals on his head, + +and the LORD will reward you. + +23The north wind brings forth rain, + +and a backbiting tongue, angry looks. + +24It is better to live in a corner of the housetop + +than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. + +25Like cold water to a thirsty soul, + +so is good news from a far country. + +26Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain + +is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. + +27It is not good to eat much honey, + +nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.[99] + +28A man without self-control + +is like a city broken into and left without walls. + + + + + +26:1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, + +so honor is not fitting for a fool. + +2Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, + +a curse that is causeless does not alight. + +3A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, + +and a rod for the back of fools. + +4Answer not a fool according to his folly, + +lest you be like him yourself. + +5Answer a fool according to his folly, + +lest he be wise in his own eyes. + +6Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool + +cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. + +7Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, + +is a proverb in the mouth of fools. + +8Like one who binds the stone in the sling + +is one who gives honor to a fool. + +9Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard + +is a proverb in the mouth of fools. + +10Like an archer who wounds everyone + +is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.[100] + +11Like a dog that returns to his vomit + +is a fool who repeats his folly. + +12Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? + +There is more hope for a fool than for him. + +13The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! + +There is a lion in the streets!” + +14As a door turns on its hinges, + +so does a sluggard on his bed. + +15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; + +it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. + +16The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes + +than seven men who can answer sensibly. + +17Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own + +is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears. + +18Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death + +19is the man who deceives his neighbor + +and says, “I am only joking!” + +20For lack of wood the fire goes out, + +and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. + +21As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, + +so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. + +22The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; + +they go down into the inner parts of the body. + +23Like the glaze[101] covering an earthen vessel + +are fervent lips with an evil heart. + +24Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips + +and harbors deceit in his heart; + +25when he speaks graciously, believe him not, + +for there are seven abominations in his heart; + +26though his hatred be covered with deception, + +his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. + +27Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, + +and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. + +28A lying tongue hates its victims, + +and a flattering mouth works ruin. + + + + + +27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, + +for you do not know what a day may bring. + +2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; + +a stranger, and not your own lips. + +3A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, + +but a fool's provocation is heavier than both. + +4Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, + +but who can stand before jealousy? + +5Better is open rebuke + +than hidden love. + +6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; + +profuse are the kisses of an enemy. + +7One who is full loathes honey, + +but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. + +8Like a bird that strays from its nest + +is a man who strays from his home. + +9Oil and perfume make the heart glad, + +and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.[102] + +10Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, + +and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. + +Better is a neighbor who is near + +than a brother who is far away. + +11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, + +that I may answer him who reproaches me. + +12The prudent sees danger and hides himself, + +but the simple go on and suffer for it. + +13Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, + +and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.[103] + +14Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, + +rising early in the morning, + +will be counted as cursing. + +15A continual dripping on a rainy day + +and a quarrelsome wife are alike; + +16to restrain her is to restrain the wind + +or to grasp[104] oil in one's right hand. + +17Iron sharpens iron, + +and one man sharpens another.[105] + +18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, + +and he who guards his master will be honored. + +19As in water face reflects face, + +so the heart of man reflects the man. + +20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, + +and never satisfied are the eyes of man. + +21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, + +and a man is tested by his praise. + +22Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle + +along with crushed grain, + +yet his folly will not depart from him. + +23Know well the condition of your flocks, + +and give attention to your herds, + +24for riches do not last forever; + +and does a crown endure to all generations? + +25When the grass is gone and the new growth appears + +and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, + +26the lambs will provide your clothing, + +and the goats the price of a field. + +27There will be enough goats' milk for your food, + +for the food of your household + +and maintenance for your girls. + + + + + +28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, + +but the righteous are bold as a lion. + +2When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, + +but with a man of understanding and knowledge, + +its stability will long continue. + +3A poor man who oppresses the poor + +is a beating rain that leaves no food. + +4Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, + +but those who keep the law strive against them. + +5Evil men do not understand justice, + +but those who seek the LORD understand it completely. + +6Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity + +than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. + +7The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, + +but a companion of gluttons shames his father. + +8Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit[106] + +gathers it for him who is generous to the poor. + +9If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, + +even his prayer is an abomination. + +10Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way + +will fall into his own pit, + +but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance. + +11A rich man is wise in his own eyes, + +but a poor man who has understanding will find him out. + +12When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, + +but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves. + +13Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, + +but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. + +14Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, + +but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. + +15Like a roaring lion or a charging bear + +is a wicked ruler over a poor people. + +16A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, + +but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days. + +17If one is burdened with the blood of another, + +he will be a fugitive until death;[107] + +let no one help him. + +18Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, + +but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall. + +19Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, + +but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. + +20A faithful man will abound with blessings, + +but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. + +21To show partiality is not good, + +but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. + +22A stingy man[108] hastens after wealth + +and does not know that poverty will come upon him. + +23Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor + +than he who flatters with his tongue. + +24Whoever robs his father or his mother + +and says, “That is no transgression,” + +is a companion to a man who destroys. + +25A greedy man stirs up strife, + +but the one who trusts in the LORD will be enriched. + +26Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, + +but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. + +27Whoever gives to the poor will not want, + +but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. + +28When the wicked rise, people hide themselves, + +but when they perish, the righteous increase. + + + + + +29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, + +will suddenly be broken beyond healing. + +2When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, + +but when the wicked rule, the people groan. + +3He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, + +but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth. + +4By justice a king builds up the land, + +but he who exacts gifts[109] tears it down. + +5A man who flatters his neighbor + +spreads a net for his feet. + +6An evil man is ensnared in his transgression, + +but a righteous man sings and rejoices. + +7A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; + +a wicked man does not understand such knowledge. + +8Scoffers set a city aflame, + +but the wise turn away wrath. + +9If a wise man has an argument with a fool, + +the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. + +10Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless + +and seek the life of the upright.[110] + +11A fool gives full vent to his spirit, + +but a wise man quietly holds it back. + +12If a ruler listens to falsehood, + +all his officials will be wicked. + +13The poor man and the oppressor meet together; + +the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. + +14If a king faithfully judges the poor, + +his throne will be established forever. + +15The rod and reproof give wisdom, + +but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. + +16When the wicked increase, transgression increases, + +but the righteous will look upon their downfall. + +17Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; + +he will give delight to your heart. + +18Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,[111] + +but blessed is he who keeps the law. + +19By mere words a servant is not disciplined, + +for though he understands, he will not respond. + +20Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? + +There is more hope for a fool than for him. + +21Whoever pampers his servant from childhood + +will in the end find him his heir.[112] + +22A man of wrath stirs up strife, + +and one given to anger causes much transgression. + +23One's pride will bring him low, + +but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. + +24The partner of a thief hates his own life; + +he hears the curse, but discloses nothing. + +25The fear of man lays a snare, + +but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. + +26Many seek the face of a ruler, + +but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice. + +27An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, + +but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. + + + + + +The Words of Agur + + +30:1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.[113] + +The man declares, I am weary, O God; + +I am weary, O God, and worn out.[114] + +2Surely I am too stupid to be a man. + +I have not the understanding of a man. + +3I have not learned wisdom, + +nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. + +4Who has ascended to heaven and come down? + +Who has gathered the wind in his fists? + +Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? + +Who has established all the ends of the earth? + +What is his name, and what is his son's name? + +Surely you know! + +5Every word of God proves true; + +he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. + +6Do not add to his words, + +lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. + +7Two things I ask of you; + +deny them not to me before I die: + +8Remove far from me falsehood and lying; + +give me neither poverty nor riches; + +feed me with the food that is needful for me, + +9lest I be full and deny you + +and say, “Who is the LORD?” + +or lest I be poor and steal + +and profane the name of my God. + +10Do not slander a servant to his master, + +lest he curse you, and you be held guilty. + +11There are those[115] who curse their fathers + +and do not bless their mothers. + +12There are those who are clean in their own eyes + +but are not washed of their filth. + +13There are those—how lofty are their eyes, + +how high their eyelids lift! + +14There are those whose teeth are swords, + +whose fangs are knives, + +to devour the poor from off the earth, + +the needy from among mankind. + +15The leech has two daughters: + +Give and Give.[116] + +Three things are never satisfied; + +four never say, “Enough”: + +16Sheol, the barren womb, + +the land never satisfied with water, + +and the fire that never says, “Enough.” + +17The eye that mocks a father + +and scorns to obey a mother + +will be picked out by the ravens of the valley + +and eaten by the vultures. + +18Three things are too wonderful for me; + +four I do not understand: + +19the way of an eagle in the sky, + +the way of a serpent on a rock, + +the way of a ship on the high seas, + +and the way of a man with a virgin. + +20This is the way of an adulteress: + +she eats and wipes her mouth + +and says, “I have done no wrong.” + +21Under three things the earth trembles; + +under four it cannot bear up: + +22a slave when he becomes king, + +and a fool when he is filled with food; + +23an unloved woman when she gets a husband, + +and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress. + +24Four things on earth are small, + +but they are exceedingly wise: + +25the ants are a people not strong, + +yet they provide their food in the summer; + +26the rock badgers are a people not mighty, + +yet they make their homes in the cliffs; + +27the locusts have no king, + +yet all of them march in rank; + +28the lizard you can take in your hands, + +yet it is in kings' palaces. + +29Three things are stately in their tread; + +four are stately in their stride: + +30the lion, which is mightiest among beasts + +and does not turn back before any; + +31the strutting rooster,[117] the he-goat, + +and a king whose army is with him.[118] + +32If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, + +or if you have been devising evil, + +put your hand on your mouth. + +33For pressing milk produces curds, + +pressing the nose produces blood, + +and pressing anger produces strife. + + + + + +The Words of King Lemuel + + +31:1 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him: + +2What are you doing, my son?[119] What are you doing, son of my womb? + +What are you doing, son of my vows? + +3Do not give your strength to women, + +your ways to those who destroy kings. + +4It is not for kings, O Lemuel, + +it is not for kings to drink wine, + +or for rulers to take strong drink, + +5lest they drink and forget what has been decreed + +and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. + +6Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, + +and wine to those in bitter distress;[120] + +7let them drink and forget their poverty + +and remember their misery no more. + +8Open your mouth for the mute, + +for the rights of all who are destitute.[121] + +9Open your mouth, judge righteously, + +defend the rights of the poor and needy. + + + + + +The Woman Who Fears the LORD + + +10[122] An excellent wife who can find? + +She is far more precious than jewels. + +11The heart of her husband trusts in her, + +and he will have no lack of gain. + +12She does him good, and not harm, + +all the days of her life. + +13She seeks wool and flax, + +and works with willing hands. + +14She is like the ships of the merchant; + +she brings her food from afar. + +15She rises while it is yet night + +and provides food for her household + +and portions for her maidens. + +16She considers a field and buys it; + +with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. + +17She dresses herself[123] with strength + +and makes her arms strong. + +18She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. + +Her lamp does not go out at night. + +19She puts her hands to the distaff, + +and her hands hold the spindle. + +20She opens her hand to the poor + +and reaches out her hands to the needy. + +21She is not afraid of snow for her household, + +for all her household are clothed in scarlet.[124] + +22She makes bed coverings for herself; + +her clothing is fine linen and purple. + +23Her husband is known in the gates + +when he sits among the elders of the land. + +24She makes linen garments and sells them; + +she delivers sashes to the merchant. + +25Strength and dignity are her clothing, + +and she laughs at the time to come. + +26She opens her mouth with wisdom, + +and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. + +27She looks well to the ways of her household + +and does not eat the bread of idleness. + +28Her children rise up and call her blessed; + +her husband also, and he praises her: + +29“Many women have done excellently, + +but you surpass them all.” + +30Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, + +but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. + +31Give her of the fruit of her hands, + +and let her works praise her in the gates. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:23 Or Will you turn away at my reproof? + +[2] 2:16 Hebrew strange + +[3] 2:16 Hebrew foreign woman + +[4] 2:18 Hebrew to the Rephaim + +[5] 3:4 Or repute + +[6] 3:8 Hebrew navel + +[7] 3:8 Or medicine + +[8] 3:25 Hebrew storm + +[9] 3:27 Hebrew Do not withhold good from its owners + +[10] 3:34 Or grace + +[11] 3:35 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[12] 4:1 Hebrew know + +[13] 4:22 Hebrew his + +[14] 4:26 Or Make level + +[15] 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20 + +[16] 5:3 Hebrew palate + +[17] 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of + +[18] 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20 + +[19] 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman + +[20] 5:21 Or makes level + +[21] 6:3 Or humble yourself + +[22] 6:5 Hebrew lacks of the hunter + +[23] 6:13 Hebrew scrapes + +[24] 6:22 Hebrew it; three times in this verse + +[25] 6:24 Revocalization (compare Septuagint) yields from the wife of a neighbor + +[26] 6:24 Hebrew the foreign woman + +[27] 6:26 Or (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate) for a prostitute leaves a man with nothing but a loaf of bread + +[28] 6:26 Hebrew a man's wife + +[29] 7:5 Hebrew strange + +[30] 7:5 Hebrew the foreign woman + +[31] 7:10 Hebrew guarded in heart + +[32] 7:14 Hebrew peace offerings + +[33] 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as an anklet for the discipline of a fool + +[34] 8:16 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint govern the earth + +[35] 8:22 Or fathered; Septuagint created + +[36] 8:22 Hebrew way + +[37] 8:28 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[38] 8:30 Or daily filled with + +[39] 9:6 Or Leave the company of the simple + +[40] 9:9 Hebrew lacks instruction + +[41] 9:13 Or full of simpleness + +[42] 9:18 Hebrew Rephaim + +[43] 10:22 Or and toil adds nothing to it + +[44] 11:7 Or of his strength, or of iniquity + +[45] 11:27 Or acceptance + +[46] 12:17 Hebrew breathes out + +[47] 12:26 Or The righteous chooses his friends carefully + +[48] 12:27 Or but diligence is precious wealth + +[49] 13:5 Or stench + +[50] 13:11 Or by fraud + +[51] 13:15 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); Hebrew is rugged, or is an enduring rut + +[52] 13:21 Or Evil + +[53] 13:24 Or who loves him disciplines him early + +[54] 14:3 Or In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride + +[55] 14:9 Hebrew but among the upright is acceptance + +[56] 14:12 Hebrew ways of death + +[57] 14:16 Or fears [the LORD] + +[58] 14:22 Or show + +[59] 14:30 Or healing + +[60] 14:30 Or jealousy + +[61] 14:33 Or Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of a man of understanding, but makes itself known in the midst of fools + +[62] 15:4 Or healing + +[63] 15:7 Or the hearts of fools are not steadfast + +[64] 15:30 Hebrew makes fat + +[65] 16:20 Or to a matter + +[66] 16:25 Hebrew ways of death + +[67] 16:27 Hebrew what is on his lips + +[68] 16:30 Hebrew to plan + +[69] 17:1 Hebrew sacrifices + +[70] 17:23 Hebrew a bribe from the bosom + +[71] 18:5 Hebrew to lift the face of + +[72] 19:2 Or A soul + +[73] 19:6 Or of a noble + +[74] 19:7 The meaning of the Hebrew sentence is uncertain + +[75] 20:1 Or will not become wise + +[76] 20:10 Or Two kinds of; also verse 23 + +[77] 20:11 Or Even a child can dissemble in his actions, though his conduct seems pure and upright + +[78] 20:16 Or for an adulteress (compare 27:13) + +[79] 20:19 Hebrew with one who is simple in his lips + +[80] 20:27 Hebrew breath + +[81] 21:4 Or the plowing + +[82] 21:6 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Latin; most Hebrew manuscripts vapor for those who seek death + +[83] 21:14 Hebrew a bribe in the bosom + +[84] 21:29 Or establishes + +[85] 22:4 Or The reward for humility is the fear of the LORD, riches and honor and life + +[86] 22:9 Hebrew good + +[87] 22:14 Hebrew strange + +[88] 23:1 Or who + +[89] 23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil + +[90] 23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he + +[91] 23:16 Hebrew My kidneys + +[92] 23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine + +[93] 23:26 Or delight in + +[94] 23:27 Hebrew a foreign woman + +[95] 23:34 Or of the rigging + +[96] 23:35 Hebrew lacks you will say + +[97] 24:9 Or scheming + +[98] 25:8 Hebrew or else + +[99] 25:27 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain + +[100] 26:10 Or hires a fool or passersby + +[101] 26:23 By revocalization; Hebrew silver of dross + +[102] 27:9 Or and so does the sweetness of a friend that comes from his earnest counsel + +[103] 27:13 Hebrew a foreign woman; a slight emendation yields (compare Vulgate; see also 20:16) foreigners + +[104] 27:16 Hebrew to meet with + +[105] 27:17 Hebrew sharpens the face of another + +[106] 28:8 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor + +[107] 28:17 Hebrew until the pit + +[108] 28:22 Hebrew A man whose eye is evil + +[109] 29:4 Or who taxes heavily + +[110] 29:10 Or but the upright seek his soul + +[111] 29:18 Or the people are discouraged + +[112] 29:21 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered his heir is uncertain + +[113] 30:1 Or Jakeh, the man of Massa + +[114] 30:1 Revocalization; Hebrew The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal + +[115] 30:11 Hebrew There is a generation; also verses 12, 13, 14 + +[116] 30:15 Or “Give, give,” they cry + +[117] 30:31 Or the magpie, or the greyhound; Hebrew girt-of-loins + +[118] 30:31 Or against whom there is no rising up + +[119] 31:2 Hebrew What, my son? + +[120] 31:6 Hebrew those bitter in soul + +[121] 31:8 Hebrew are sons of passing away + +[122] 31:10 Verses 10-31 are an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet + +[123] 31:17 Hebrew She girds her loins + +[124] 31:21 Or in double thickness + + + + + +ECCLESIASTES + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + + + + + +All Is Vanity + + +1:1 The words of the Preacher,[1] the son of David, king in Jerusalem. + +2Vanity[2] of vanities, says the Preacher, + +vanity of vanities! All is vanity. + +3What does man gain by all the toil + +at which he toils under the sun? + +4A generation goes, and a generation comes, + +but the earth remains forever. + +5The sun rises, and the sun goes down, + +and hastens[3] to the place where it rises. + +6The wind blows to the south + +and goes around to the north; + +around and around goes the wind, + +and on its circuits the wind returns. + +7All streams run to the sea, + +but the sea is not full; + +to the place where the streams flow, + +there they flow again. + +8All things are full of weariness; + +a man cannot utter it; + +the eye is not satisfied with seeing, + +nor the ear filled with hearing. + +9What has been is what will be, + +and what has been done is what will be done, + +and there is nothing new under the sun. + +10Is there a thing of which it is said, + +“See, this is new”? + +It has been already + +in the ages before us. + +11There is no remembrance of former things,[4] + +nor will there be any remembrance + +of later things[5] yet to be + +among those who come after. + + + + + +The Vanity of Wisdom + + +12I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13And I applied my heart[6] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.[7] + +15What is crooked cannot be made straight, + +and what is lacking cannot be counted. + +16I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. + +18For in much wisdom is much vexation, + +and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. + + + + + +The Vanity of Self-Indulgence + + +2:1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 2I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines,[8] the delight of the children of man. + +9So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. + + + + + +The Vanity of Living Wisely + + +12So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! 17So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. + + + + + +The Vanity of Toil + + +18I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity. + +24There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment[9] in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25for apart from him[10] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. + + + + + +A Time for Everything + + +3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: + +2a time to be born, and a time to die; + +a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; + +3a time to kill, and a time to heal; + +a time to break down, and a time to build up; + +4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; + +a time to mourn, and a time to dance; + +5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; + +a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; + +6a time to seek, and a time to lose; + +a time to keep, and a time to cast away; + +7a time to tear, and a time to sew; + +a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; + +8a time to love, and a time to hate; + +a time for war, and a time for peace. + + + + + +The God-Given Task + + +9What gain has the worker from his toil? 10I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man. + +14I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.[11] + + + + + +From Dust to Dust + + +16Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. 18I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 19For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. 20All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. 21Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him? + + + + + +Evil Under the Sun + + +4:1 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. + +4Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. + +5The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. + +6Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. + +7Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. + +9Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. + +13Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. 14For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. 15I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that[12] youth who was to stand in the king's[13] place. 16There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind. + + + + + +Fear God + + +5:1 [14] Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2[15] Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. + +4When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6Let not your mouth lead you[16] into sin, and do not say before the messenger[17] that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity;[18] but God is the one you must fear. + + + + + +The Vanity of Wealth and Honor + + +8If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. 9But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.[19] + +10He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. + +13There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. + +18Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment[20] in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. + + + + + +6:1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. 3If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy[21] no good—do not all go to the one place? + +7All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.[22] 8For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? 9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. + +10Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. 11The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? 12For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? + + + + + +The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly + + +7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment, + +and the day of death than the day of birth. + +2It is better to go to the house of mourning + +than to go to the house of feasting, + +for this is the end of all mankind, + +and the living will lay it to heart. + +3Sorrow is better than laughter, + +for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. + +4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, + +but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. + +5It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise + +than to hear the song of fools. + +6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, + +so is the laughter of the fools; + +this also is vanity. + +7Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, + +and a bribe corrupts the heart. + +8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, + +and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. + +9Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, + +for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. + +10Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” + +For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. + +11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, + +an advantage to those who see the sun. + +12For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, + +and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. + +13Consider the work of God: + +who can make straight what he has made crooked? + +14In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. + +15In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. + +19Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. + +20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. + +21Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. + +23All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? + +25I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. + + + + + +Keep the King's Command + + +8:1 Who is like the wise? + +And who knows the interpretation of a thing? + +A man's wisdom makes his face shine, + +and the hardness of his face is changed. + +2I say:[23] Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.[24] 3Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. 6For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble[25] lies heavy on him. 7For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. + + + + + +Those Who Fear God Will Do Well + + +10Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised[26] in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. 11Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. + + + + + +Man Cannot Know God's Ways + + +14There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. + +16When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one's eyes see sleep, 17then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. + + + + + +Death Comes to All + + +9:1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. 2It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,[27] to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 4But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. 6Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. + + + + + +Enjoy Life with the One You Love + + +7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. + +8Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. + +9Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,[28] for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. + + + + + +Wisdom Better than Folly + + +11Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. + +13I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. + +17The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. + + + + + +10:1 Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; + +so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. + +2A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, + +but a fool's heart to the left. + +3Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, + +and he says to everyone that he is a fool. + +4If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, + +for calmness[29] will lay great offenses to rest. + +5There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. + +8He who digs a pit will fall into it, + +and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. + +9He who quarries stones is hurt by them, + +and he who splits logs is endangered by them. + +10If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, + +he must use more strength, + +but wisdom helps one to succeed.[30] + +11If the serpent bites before it is charmed, + +there is no advantage to the charmer. + +12The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor,[31] + +but the lips of a fool consume him. + +13The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, + +and the end of his talk is evil madness. + +14A fool multiplies words, + +though no man knows what is to be, + +and who can tell him what will be after him? + +15The toil of a fool wearies him, + +for he does not know the way to the city. + +16Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, + +and your princes feast in the morning! + +17Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, + +and your princes feast at the proper time, + +for strength, and not for drunkenness! + +18Through sloth the roof sinks in, + +and through indolence the house leaks. + +19Bread is made for laughter, + +and wine gladdens life, + +and money answers everything. + +20Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, + +nor in your bedroom curse the rich, + +for a bird of the air will carry your voice, + +or some winged creature tell the matter. + + + + + +Cast Your Bread upon the Waters + + +11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters, + +for you will find it after many days. + +2Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, + +for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. + +3If the clouds are full of rain, + +they empty themselves on the earth, + +and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, + +in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. + +4He who observes the wind will not sow, + +and he who regards the clouds will not reap. + +5As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb[32] of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. + +6In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. + +7Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. + +8So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. + +9Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. + +10Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain[33] from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. + + + + + +Remember Your Creator in Your Youth + + +12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,[34] and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. + + + + + +Fear God and Keep His Commandments + + +9Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. + +11The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. + +13The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.[35] 14For God will bring every deed into judgment, with[36] every secret thing, whether good or evil. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or Convener, or Collector; Hebrew Qoheleth (so throughout Ecclesiastes) + +[2] 1:2 Hebrew vapor (so throughout Ecclesiastes) + +[3] 1:5 Or and returns panting + +[4] 1:11 Or former people + +[5] 1:11 Or later people + +[6] 1:13 The Hebrew term denotes the center of one's inner life, including mind, will, and emotions + +[7] 1:14 Or a feeding on wind; compare Hosea 12:1 (so throughout Ecclesiastes) + +[8] 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[9] 2:24 Or and make his soul see good + +[10] 2:25 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts apart from me + +[11] 3:15 Hebrew what has been pursued + +[12] 4:15 Hebrew the second + +[13] 4:15 Hebrew his + +[14] 5:1 Ch 4:17 in Hebrew + +[15] 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew + +[16] 5:6 Hebrew your flesh + +[17] 5:6 Or angel + +[18] 5:7 Or For when dreams and vanities increase, words also grow many + +[19] 5:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[20] 5:18 Or and see good + +[21] 6:6 Or see + +[22] 6:7 Hebrew filled + +[23] 8:2 Hebrew lacks say + +[24] 8:2 Or because of your oath to God + +[25] 8:6 Or evil + +[26] 8:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten + +[27] 9:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks and the evil + +[28] 9:10 Or finds to do with your might, do it + +[29] 10:4 Hebrew healing + +[30] 10:10 Or wisdom is an advantage for success + +[31] 10:12 Or are gracious + +[32] 11:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts As you do not know the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb + +[33] 11:10 Or evil + +[34] 12:5 Or is a burden + +[35] 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind + +[36] 12:14 Or into the judgment on + + + + + +SONG OF SOLOMON + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + + + + + +1:1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. + + + + + +The Bride Confesses Her Love + + +She[1] + + +2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! + +For your love is better than wine; + +3your anointing oils are fragrant; + +your name is oil poured out; + +therefore virgins love you. + +4Draw me after you; let us run. + +The king has brought me into his chambers. + + + + + +Others + + +We will exult and rejoice in you; + +we will extol your love more than wine; + +rightly do they love you. + + + + + +She + + +5I am very dark, but lovely, + +O daughters of Jerusalem, + +like the tents of Kedar, + +like the curtains of Solomon. + +6Do not gaze at me because I am dark, + +because the sun has looked upon me. + +My mother's sons were angry with me; + +they made me keeper of the vineyards, + +but my own vineyard I have not kept! + +7Tell me, you whom my soul loves, + +where you pasture your flock, + +where you make it lie down at noon; + +for why should I be like one who veils herself + +beside the flocks of your companions? + + + + + +Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other + + +He + + +8If you do not know, + +O most beautiful among women, + +follow in the tracks of the flock, + +and pasture your young goats + +beside the shepherds' tents. + +9I compare you, my love, + +to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots. + +10Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, + +your neck with strings of jewels. + + + + + +Others + + +11We will make for you[2] ornaments of gold, + +studded with silver. + + + + + +She + + +12While the king was on his couch, + +my nard gave forth its fragrance. + +13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh + +that lies between my breasts. + +14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms + +in the vineyards of Engedi. + + + + + +He + + +15Behold, you are beautiful, my love; + +behold, you are beautiful; + +your eyes are doves. + + + + + +She + + +16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. + +Our couch is green; + +17the beams of our house are cedar; + +our rafters are pine. + + + + + +2:1 I am a rose[3] of Sharon, + +a lily of the valleys. + + + + + +He + + +2As a lily among brambles, + +so is my love among the young women. + + + + + +She + + +3As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, + +so is my beloved among the young men. + +With great delight I sat in his shadow, + +and his fruit was sweet to my taste. + +4He brought me to the banqueting house,[4] + +and his banner over me was love. + +5Sustain me with raisins; + +refresh me with apples, + +for I am sick with love. + +6His left hand is under my head, + +and his right hand embraces me! + +7I adjure you,[5] O daughters of Jerusalem, + +by the gazelles or the does of the field, + +that you not stir up or awaken love + +until it pleases. + + + + + +The Bride Adores Her Beloved + + +8The voice of my beloved! + +Behold, he comes, + +leaping over the mountains, + +bounding over the hills. + +9My beloved is like a gazelle + +or a young stag. + +Behold, there he stands + +behind our wall, + +gazing through the windows, + +looking through the lattice. + +10My beloved speaks and says to me: + +“Arise, my love, my beautiful one, + +and come away, + +11for behold, the winter is past; + +the rain is over and gone. + +12The flowers appear on the earth, + +the time of singing[6] has come, + +and the voice of the turtledove + +is heard in our land. + +13The fig tree ripens its figs, + +and the vines are in blossom; + +they give forth fragrance. + +Arise, my love, my beautiful one, + +and come away. + +14O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, + +in the crannies of the cliff, + +let me see your face, + +let me hear your voice, + +for your voice is sweet, + +and your face is lovely. + +15Catch the foxes[7] for us, + +the little foxes + +that spoil the vineyards, + +for our vineyards are in blossom.” + +16My beloved is mine, and I am his; + +he grazes[8] among the lilies. + +17Until the day breathes + +and the shadows flee, + +turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle + +or a young stag on cleft mountains.[9] + + + + + +The Bride's Dream + + +3:1 On my bed by night + +I sought him whom my soul loves; + +I sought him, but found him not. + +2I will rise now and go about the city, + +in the streets and in the squares; + +I will seek him whom my soul loves. + +I sought him, but found him not. + +3The watchmen found me + +as they went about in the city. + +“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” + +4Scarcely had I passed them + +when I found him whom my soul loves. + +I held him, and would not let him go + +until I had brought him into my mother's house, + +and into the chamber of her who conceived me. + +5I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, + +by the gazelles or the does of the field, + +that you not stir up or awaken love + +until it pleases. + + + + + +Solomon Arrives for the Wedding + + +6What is that coming up from the wilderness + +like columns of smoke, + +perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, + +with all the fragrant powders of a merchant? + +7Behold, it is the litter[10] of Solomon! + +Around it are sixty mighty men, + +some of the mighty men of Israel, + +8all of them wearing swords + +and expert in war, + +each with his sword at his thigh, + +against terror by night. + +9King Solomon made himself a carriage[11] + +from the wood of Lebanon. + +10He made its posts of silver, + +its back of gold, its seat of purple; + +its interior was inlaid with love + +by the daughters of Jerusalem. + +11Go out, O daughters of Zion, + +and look upon King Solomon, + +with the crown with which his mother crowned him + +on the day of his wedding, + +on the day of the gladness of his heart. + + + + + +Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty + + +He + + +4:1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love, + +behold, you are beautiful! + +Your eyes are doves + +behind your veil. + +Your hair is like a flock of goats + +leaping down the slopes of Gilead. + +2Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes + +that have come up from the washing, + +all of which bear twins, + +and not one among them has lost its young. + +3Your lips are like a scarlet thread, + +and your mouth is lovely. + +Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate + +behind your veil. + +4Your neck is like the tower of David, + +built in rows of stone;[12] + +on it hang a thousand shields, + +all of them shields of warriors. + +5Your two breasts are like two fawns, + +twins of a gazelle, + +that graze among the lilies. + +6Until the day breathes + +and the shadows flee, + +I will go away to the mountain of myrrh + +and the hill of frankincense. + +7You are altogether beautiful, my love; + +there is no flaw in you. + +8Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; + +come with me from Lebanon. + +Depart[13] from the peak of Amana, + +from the peak of Senir and Hermon, + +from the dens of lions, + +from the mountains of leopards. + +9You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; + +you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, + +with one jewel of your necklace. + +10How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! + +How much better is your love than wine, + +and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! + +11Your lips drip nectar, my bride; + +honey and milk are under your tongue; + +the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. + +12A garden locked is my sister, my bride, + +a spring locked, a fountain sealed. + +13Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates + +with all choicest fruits, + +henna with nard, + +14nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, + +with all trees of frankincense, + +myrrh and aloes, + +with all choice spices— + +15a garden fountain, a well of living water, + +and flowing streams from Lebanon. + +16Awake, O north wind, + +and come, O south wind! + +Blow upon my garden, + +let its spices flow. + + + + + +Together in the Garden of Love + + +She + + +Let my beloved come to his garden, + +and eat its choicest fruits. + + + + + +He + + +5:1 I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, + +I gathered my myrrh with my spice, + +I ate my honeycomb with my honey, + +I drank my wine with my milk. + + + + + +Others + + +Eat, friends, drink, + +and be drunk with love! + + + + + +The Bride Searches for Her Beloved + + +She + + +2I slept, but my heart was awake. + +A sound! My beloved is knocking. + +“Open to me, my sister, my love, + +my dove, my perfect one, + +for my head is wet with dew, + +my locks with the drops of the night.” + +3I had put off my garment; + +how could I put it on? + +I had bathed my feet; + +how could I soil them? + +4My beloved put his hand to the latch, + +and my heart was thrilled within me. + +5I arose to open to my beloved, + +and my hands dripped with myrrh, + +my fingers with liquid myrrh, + +on the handles of the bolt. + +6I opened to my beloved, + +but my beloved had turned and gone. + +My soul failed me when he spoke. + +I sought him, but found him not; + +I called him, but he gave no answer. + +7The watchmen found me + +as they went about in the city; + +they beat me, they bruised me, + +they took away my veil, + +those watchmen of the walls. + +8I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, + +if you find my beloved, + +that you tell him + +I am sick with love. + + + + + +Others + + +9What is your beloved more than another beloved, + +O most beautiful among women? + +What is your beloved more than another beloved, + +that you thus adjure us? + + + + + +The Bride Praises Her Beloved + + +She + + +10My beloved is radiant and ruddy, + +distinguished among ten thousand. + +11His head is the finest gold; + +his locks are wavy, + +black as a raven. + +12His eyes are like doves + +beside streams of water, + +bathed in milk, + +sitting beside a full pool.[14] + +13His cheeks are like beds of spices, + +mounds of sweet-smelling herbs. + +His lips are lilies, + +dripping liquid myrrh. + +14His arms are rods of gold, + +set with jewels. + +His body is polished ivory,[15] + +bedecked with sapphires.[16] + +15His legs are alabaster columns, + +set on bases of gold. + +His appearance is like Lebanon, + +choice as the cedars. + +16His mouth[17] is most sweet, + +and he is altogether desirable. + +This is my beloved and this is my friend, + +O daughters of Jerusalem. + + + + + +Others + + +6:1 Where has your beloved gone, + +O most beautiful among women? + +Where has your beloved turned, + +that we may seek him with you? + + + + + +Together in the Garden of Love + + +She + + +2My beloved has gone down to his garden + +to the beds of spices, + +to graze[18] in the gardens + +and to gather lilies. + +3I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; + +he grazes among the lilies. + + + + + +Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other + + +He + + +4You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, + +lovely as Jerusalem, + +awesome as an army with banners. + +5Turn away your eyes from me, + +for they overwhelm me— + +Your hair is like a flock of goats + +leaping down the slopes of Gilead. + +6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes + +that have come up from the washing; + +all of them bear twins; + +not one among them has lost its young. + +7Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate + +behind your veil. + +8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, + +and virgins without number. + +9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, + +the only one of her mother, + +pure to her who bore her. + +The young women saw her and called her blessed; + +the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. + +10“Who is this who looks down like the dawn, + +beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, + +awesome as an army with banners?” + + + + + +She + + +11I went down to the nut orchard + +to look at the blossoms of the valley, + +to see whether the vines had budded, + +whether the pomegranates were in bloom. + +12Before I was aware, my desire set me + +among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.[19] + + + + + +Others + + +13[20] Return, return, O Shulammite, + +return, return, that we may look upon you. + + + + + +He + + +Why should you look upon the Shulammite, + +as upon a dance before two armies?[21] + + + + + +7:1 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, + +O noble daughter! + +Your rounded thighs are like jewels, + +the work of a master hand. + +2Your navel is a rounded bowl + +that never lacks mixed wine. + +Your belly is a heap of wheat, + +encircled with lilies. + +3Your two breasts are like two fawns, + +twins of a gazelle. + +4Your neck is like an ivory tower. + +Your eyes are pools in Heshbon, + +by the gate of Bath-rabbim. + +Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, + +which looks toward Damascus. + +5Your head crowns you like Carmel, + +and your flowing locks are like purple; + +a king is held captive in the tresses. + +6How beautiful and pleasant you are, + +O loved one, with all your delights![22] + +7Your stature is like a palm tree, + +and your breasts are like its clusters. + +8I say I will climb the palm tree + +and lay hold of its fruit. + +Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, + +and the scent of your breath like apples, + +9and your mouth[23] like the best wine. + + + + + +She + + +It goes down smoothly for my beloved, + +gliding over lips and teeth.[24] + +10I am my beloved's, + +and his desire is for me. + + + + + +The Bride Gives Her Love + + +11Come, my beloved, + +let us go out into the fields + +and lodge in the villages;[25] + +12let us go out early to the vineyards + +and see whether the vines have budded, + +whether the grape blossoms have opened + +and the pomegranates are in bloom. + +There I will give you my love. + +13The mandrakes give forth fragrance, + +and beside our doors are all choice fruits, + +new as well as old, + +which I have laid up for you, O my beloved. + + + + + +Longing for Her Beloved + + +8:1 Oh that you were like a brother to me + +who nursed at my mother's breasts! + +If I found you outside, I would kiss you, + +and none would despise me. + +2I would lead you and bring you + +into the house of my mother— + +she who used to teach me. + +I would give you spiced wine to drink, + +the juice of my pomegranate. + +3His left hand is under my head, + +and his right hand embraces me! + +4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, + +that you not stir up or awaken love + +until it pleases. + +5Who is that coming up from the wilderness, + +leaning on her beloved? + +Under the apple tree I awakened you. + +There your mother was in labor with you; + +there she who bore you was in labor. + +6Set me as a seal upon your heart, + +as a seal upon your arm, + +for love is strong as death, + +jealousy[26] is fierce as the grave.[27] + +Its flashes are flashes of fire, + +the very flame of the LORD. + +7Many waters cannot quench love, + +neither can floods drown it. + +If a man offered for love + +all the wealth of his house, + +he[28] would be utterly despised. + + + + + +Final Advice + + +Others + + +8We have a little sister, + +and she has no breasts. + +What shall we do for our sister + +on the day when she is spoken for? + +9If she is a wall, + +we will build on her a battlement of silver, + +but if she is a door, + +we will enclose her with boards of cedar. + + + + + +She + + +10I was a wall, + +and my breasts were like towers; + +then I was in his eyes + +as one who finds[29] peace. + +11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; + +he let out the vineyard to keepers; + +each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. + +12My vineyard, my very own, is before me; + +you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, + +and the keepers of the fruit two hundred. + + + + + +He + + +13O you who dwell in the gardens, + +with companions listening for your voice; + +let me hear it. + + + + + +She + + +14Make haste, my beloved, + +and be like a gazelle + +or a young stag + +on the mountains of spices. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 The translators have added speaker identifications based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words + +[2] 1:11 The Hebrew for you is feminine singular + +[3] 2:1 Probably a bulb, such as a crocus, asphodel, or narcissus + +[4] 2:4 Hebrew the house of wine + +[5] 2:7 That is, I put you on oath; so throughout the Song + +[6] 2:12 Or pruning + +[7] 2:15 Or jackals + +[8] 2:16 Or he pastures his flock + +[9] 2:17 Or mountains of Bether + +[10] 3:7 That is, the couch on which servants carry a king + +[11] 3:9 Or sedan chair + +[12] 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[13] 4:8 Or Look + +[14] 5:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[15] 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[16] 5:14 Hebrew lapis lazuli + +[17] 5:16 Hebrew palate + +[18] 6:2 Or to pasture his flock; also verse 3 + +[19] 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib + +[20] 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Hebrew + +[21] 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim + +[22] 7:6 Or among delights + +[23] 7:9 Hebrew palate + +[24] 7:9 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew causing the lips of sleepers to speak + +[25] 7:11 Or among the henna plants + +[26] 8:6 Or ardor + +[27] 8:6 Hebrew as Sheol + +[28] 8:7 Or it + +[29] 8:10 Or brings out + + + + + +ISAIAH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + +Chapter 37 + +Chapter 38 + +Chapter 39 + +Chapter 40 + +Chapter 41 + +Chapter 42 + +Chapter 43 + +Chapter 44 + +Chapter 45 + +Chapter 46 + +Chapter 47 + +Chapter 48 + +Chapter 49 + +Chapter 50 + +Chapter 51 + +Chapter 52 + +Chapter 53 + +Chapter 54 + +Chapter 55 + +Chapter 56 + +Chapter 57 + +Chapter 58 + +Chapter 59 + +Chapter 60 + +Chapter 61 + +Chapter 62 + +Chapter 63 + +Chapter 64 + +Chapter 65 + +Chapter 66 + + + + + +1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. + + + + + +The Wickedness of Judah + + +2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; + +for the LORD has spoken: + +“Children[1] have I reared and brought up, + +but they have rebelled against me. + +3The ox knows its owner, + +and the donkey its master's crib, + +but Israel does not know, + +my people do not understand.” + +4Ah, sinful nation, + +a people laden with iniquity, + +offspring of evildoers, + +children who deal corruptly! + +They have forsaken the LORD, + +they have despised the Holy One of Israel, + +they are utterly estranged. + +5Why will you still be struck down? + +Why will you continue to rebel? + +The whole head is sick, + +and the whole heart faint. + +6From the sole of the foot even to the head, + +there is no soundness in it, + +but bruises and sores + +and raw wounds; + +they are not pressed out or bound up + +or softened with oil. + +7Your country lies desolate; + +your cities are burned with fire; + +in your very presence + +foreigners devour your land; + +it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. + +8And the daughter of Zion is left + +like a booth in a vineyard, + +like a lodge in a cucumber field, + +like a besieged city. + +9If the LORD of hosts + +had not left us a few survivors, + +we should have been like Sodom, + +and become like Gomorrah. + +10Hear the word of the LORD, + +you rulers of Sodom! + +Give ear to the teaching[2] of our God, + +you people of Gomorrah! + +11“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? + +says the LORD; + +I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams + +and the fat of well-fed beasts; + +I do not delight in the blood of bulls, + +or of lambs, or of goats. + +12“When you come to appear before me, + +who has required of you + +this trampling of my courts? + +13Bring no more vain offerings; + +incense is an abomination to me. + +New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— + +I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. + +14Your new moons and your appointed feasts + +my soul hates; + +they have become a burden to me; + +I am weary of bearing them. + +15When you spread out your hands, + +I will hide my eyes from you; + +even though you make many prayers, + +I will not listen; + +your hands are full of blood. + +16Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; + +remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; + +cease to do evil, + +17learn to do good; + +seek justice, + +correct oppression; + +bring justice to the fatherless, + +plead the widow's cause. + +18“Come now, let us reason[3] together, says the LORD: + +though your sins are like scarlet, + +they shall be as white as snow; + +though they are red like crimson, + +they shall become like wool. + +19If you are willing and obedient, + +you shall eat the good of the land; + +20but if you refuse and rebel, + +you shall be eaten by the sword; + +for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” + + + + + +The Unfaithful City + + +21How the faithful city + +has become a whore,[4] + +she who was full of justice! + +Righteousness lodged in her, + +but now murderers. + +22Your silver has become dross, + +your best wine mixed with water. + +23Your princes are rebels + +and companions of thieves. + +Everyone loves a bribe + +and runs after gifts. + +They do not bring justice to the fatherless, + +and the widow's cause does not come to them. + +24Therefore the Lord declares, + +the LORD of hosts, + +the Mighty One of Israel: + +“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies + +and avenge myself on my foes. + +25I will turn my hand against you + +and will smelt away your dross as with lye + +and remove all your alloy. + +26And I will restore your judges as at the first, + +and your counselors as at the beginning. + +Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, + +the faithful city.” + +27Zion shall be redeemed by justice, + +and those in her who repent, by righteousness. + +28But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, + +and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. + +29For they[5] shall be ashamed of the oaks + +that you desired; + +and you shall blush for the gardens + +that you have chosen. + +30For you shall be like an oak + +whose leaf withers, + +and like a garden without water. + +31And the strong shall become tinder, + +and his work a spark, + +and both of them shall burn together, + +with none to quench them. + + + + + +The Mountain of the LORD + + +2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. + +2It shall come to pass in the latter days + +that the mountain of the house of the LORD + +shall be established as the highest of the mountains, + +and shall be lifted up above the hills; + +and all the nations shall flow to it, + +3and many peoples shall come, and say: + +“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, + +to the house of the God of Jacob, + +that he may teach us his ways + +and that we may walk in his paths.” + +For out of Zion shall go the law,[6] + +and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. + +4He shall judge between the nations, + +and shall decide disputes for many peoples; + +and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, + +and their spears into pruning hooks; + +nation shall not lift up sword against nation, + +neither shall they learn war anymore. + +5O house of Jacob, + +come, let us walk + +in the light of the LORD. + + + + + +The Day of the LORD + + +6For you have rejected your people, + +the house of Jacob, + +because they are full of things from the east + +and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, + +and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. + +7Their land is filled with silver and gold, + +and there is no end to their treasures; + +their land is filled with horses, + +and there is no end to their chariots. + +8Their land is filled with idols; + +they bow down to the work of their hands, + +to what their own fingers have made. + +9So man is humbled, + +and each one is brought low— + +do not forgive them! + +10Enter into the rock + +and hide in the dust + +from before the terror of the LORD, + +and from the splendor of his majesty. + +11The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, + +and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, + +and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. + +12For the LORD of hosts has a day + +against all that is proud and lofty, + +against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low; + +13against all the cedars of Lebanon, + +lofty and lifted up; + +and against all the oaks of Bashan; + +14against all the lofty mountains, + +and against all the uplifted hills; + +15against every high tower, + +and against every fortified wall; + +16against all the ships of Tarshish, + +and against all the beautiful craft. + +17And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, + +and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, + +and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. + +18And the idols shall utterly pass away. + +19And people shall enter the caves of the rocks + +and the holes of the ground,[7] + +from before the terror of the LORD, + +and from the splendor of his majesty, + +when he rises to terrify the earth. + +20In that day mankind will cast away + +their idols of silver and their idols of gold, + +which they made for themselves to worship, + +to the moles and to the bats, + +21to enter the caverns of the rocks + +and the clefts of the cliffs, + +from before the terror of the LORD, + +and from the splendor of his majesty, + +when he rises to terrify the earth. + +22Stop regarding man + +in whose nostrils is breath, + +for of what account is he? + + + + + +Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem + + +3:1 For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts + +is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah + +support and supply,[8] + +all support of bread, + +and all support of water; + +2the mighty man and the soldier, + +the judge and the prophet, + +the diviner and the elder, + +3the captain of fifty + +and the man of rank, + +the counselor and the skillful magician + +and the expert in charms. + +4And I will make boys their princes, + +and infants[9] shall rule over them. + +5And the people will oppress one another, + +every one his fellow + +and every one his neighbor; + +the youth will be insolent to the elder, + +and the despised to the honorable. + +6For a man will take hold of his brother + +in the house of his father, saying: + +“You have a cloak; + +you shall be our leader, + +and this heap of ruins + +shall be under your rule”; + +7in that day he will speak out, saying: + +“I will not be a healer;[10] + +in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; + +you shall not make me + +leader of the people.” + +8For Jerusalem has stumbled, + +and Judah has fallen, + +because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD, + +defying his glorious presence.[11] + +9For the look on their faces bears witness against them; + +they proclaim their sin like Sodom; + +they do not hide it. + +Woe to them! + +For they have brought evil on themselves. + +10Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, + +for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. + +11Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, + +for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. + +12My people—infants are their oppressors, + +and women rule over them. + +O my people, your guides mislead you + +and they have swallowed up[12] the course of your paths. + +13The LORD has taken his place to contend; + +he stands to judge peoples. + +14The LORD will enter into judgment + +with the elders and princes of his people: + +“It is you who have devoured[13] the vineyard, + +the spoil of the poor is in your houses. + +15What do you mean by crushing my people, + +by grinding the face of the poor?” + +declares the Lord GOD of hosts. + +16The LORD said: + +Because the daughters of Zion are haughty + +and walk with outstretched necks, + +glancing wantonly with their eyes, + +mincing along as they go, + +tinkling with their feet, + +17therefore the Lord will strike with a scab + +the heads of the daughters of Zion, + +and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts. + +18In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21the signet rings and nose rings; 22the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils. + +24Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; + +and instead of a belt, a rope; + +and instead of well-set hair, baldness; + +and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; + +and branding instead of beauty. + +25Your men shall fall by the sword + +and your mighty men in battle. + +26And her gates shall lament and mourn; + +empty, she shall sit on the ground. + + + + + +4:1 And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.” + + + + + +The Branch of the LORD Glorified + + +2In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.[14] 5Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain. + + + + + +The Vineyard of the LORD Destroyed + + +5:1 Let me sing for my beloved + +my love song concerning his vineyard: + +My beloved had a vineyard + +on a very fertile hill. + +2He dug it and cleared it of stones, + +and planted it with choice vines; + +he built a watchtower in the midst of it, + +and hewed out a wine vat in it; + +and he looked for it to yield grapes, + +but it yielded wild grapes. + +3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem + +and men of Judah, + +judge between me and my vineyard. + +4What more was there to do for my vineyard, + +that I have not done in it? + +When I looked for it to yield grapes, + +why did it yield wild grapes? + +5And now I will tell you + +what I will do to my vineyard. + +I will remove its hedge, + +and it shall be devoured;[15] + +I will break down its wall, + +and it shall be trampled down. + +6I will make it a waste; + +it shall not be pruned or hoed, + +and briers and thorns shall grow up; + +I will also command the clouds + +that they rain no rain upon it. + +7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts + +is the house of Israel, + +and the men of Judah + +are his pleasant planting; + +and he looked for justice, + +but behold, bloodshed;[16] + +for righteousness, + +but behold, an outcry![17] + + + + + +Woe to the Wicked + + +8Woe to those who join house to house, + +who add field to field, + +until there is no more room, + +and you are made to dwell alone + +in the midst of the land. + +9The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing: + +“Surely many houses shall be desolate, + +large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. + +10For ten acres[18] of vineyard shall yield but one bath, + +and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”[19] + +11Woe to those who rise early in the morning, + +that they may run after strong drink, + +who tarry late into the evening + +as wine inflames them! + +12They have lyre and harp, + +tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, + +but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, + +or see the work of his hands. + +13Therefore my people go into exile + +for lack of knowledge;[20] + +their honored men go hungry,[21] + +and their multitude is parched with thirst. + +14Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite + +and opened its mouth beyond measure, + +and the nobility of Jerusalem[22] and her multitude will go down, + +her revelers and he who exults in her. + +15Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, + +and the eyes of the haughty[23] are brought low. + +16But the LORD of hosts is exalted[24] in justice, + +and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness. + +17Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, + +and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. + +18Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, + +who draw sin as with cart ropes, + +19who say: “Let him be quick, + +let him speed his work + +that we may see it; + +let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, + +and let it come, that we may know it!” + +20Woe to those who call evil good + +and good evil, + +who put darkness for light + +and light for darkness, + +who put bitter for sweet + +and sweet for bitter! + +21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, + +and shrewd in their own sight! + +22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, + +and valiant men in mixing strong drink, + +23who acquit the guilty for a bribe, + +and deprive the innocent of his right! + +24Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, + +and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, + +so their root will be as rottenness, + +and their blossom go up like dust; + +for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, + +and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. + +25Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, + +and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, + +and the mountains quaked; + +and their corpses were as refuse + +in the midst of the streets. + +For all this his anger has not turned away, + +and his hand is stretched out still. + +26He will raise a signal for nations far away, + +and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; + +and behold, quickly, speedily they come! + +27None is weary, none stumbles, + +none slumbers or sleeps, + +not a waistband is loose, + +not a sandal strap broken; + +28their arrows are sharp, + +all their bows bent, + +their horses' hoofs seem like flint, + +and their wheels like the whirlwind. + +29Their roaring is like a lion, + +like young lions they roar; + +they growl and seize their prey; + +they carry it off, and none can rescue. + +30They will growl over it on that day, + +like the growling of the sea. + +And if one looks to the land, + +behold, darkness and distress; + +and the light is darkened by its clouds. + + + + + +Isaiah's Vision of the Lord + + +6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[25] of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said: + +“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; + +the whole earth is full of his glory!”[26] + +4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” + +6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” + + + + + +Isaiah's Commission from the LORD + + +8And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9And he said, “Go, and say to this people: + +“‘Keep on hearing,[27] but do not understand; + +keep on seeing,[28] but do not perceive.’ + +10Make the heart of this people dull,[29] + +and their ears heavy, + +and blind their eyes; + +lest they see with their eyes, + +and hear with their ears, + +and understand with their hearts, + +and turn and be healed.” + +11Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” + +And he said: + +“Until cities lie waste + +without inhabitant, + +and houses without people, + +and the land is a desolate waste, + +12and the LORD removes people far away, + +and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. + +13And though a tenth remain in it, + +it will be burned[30] again, + +like a terebinth or an oak, + +whose stump remains + +when it is felled.” + +The holy seed[31] is its stump. + + + + + +Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz + + +7:1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with[32] Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz[33] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. + +3And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub[34] your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 4And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it[35] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7thus says the Lord GOD: + +“‘It shall not stand, + +and it shall not come to pass. + +8For the head of Syria is Damascus, + +and the head of Damascus is Rezin. + +And within sixty-five years + +Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. + +9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, + +and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. + +If you[36] are not firm in faith, + +you will not be firm at all.’” + + + + + +The Sign of Immanuel + + +10Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11“Ask a sign of the LORD your[37] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” 13And he[38] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.[39] 15He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.” + +18In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.[40] + +20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also. + +21In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey. + +23In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels[41] of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread. + + + + + +The Coming Assyrian Invasion + + +8:1 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters,[42] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’[43] 2And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.” + +3And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” + +5The LORD spoke to me again: 6“Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.” + +9Be broken,[44] you peoples, and be shattered;[45] + +give ear, all you far countries; + +strap on your armor and be shattered; + +strap on your armor and be shattered. + +10Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; + +speak a word, but it will not stand, + +for God is with us.[46] + + + + + +Fear God, Wait for the LORD + + +11For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12“Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” + +16Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching[47] among my disciples. 17I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21They will pass through the land,[48] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against[49] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. + + + + + +For to Us a Child Is Born + + +9:1 [50] But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.[51] + +2[52] The people who walked in darkness + +have seen a great light; + +those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, + +on them has light shined. + +3You have multiplied the nation; + +you have increased its joy; + +they rejoice before you + +as with joy at the harvest, + +as they are glad when they divide the spoil. + +4For the yoke of his burden, + +and the staff for his shoulder, + +the rod of his oppressor, + +you have broken as on the day of Midian. + +5For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult + +and every garment rolled in blood + +will be burned as fuel for the fire. + +6For to us a child is born, + +to us a son is given; + +and the government shall be upon[53] his shoulder, + +and his name shall be called[54] + +Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, + +Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. + +7Of the increase of his government and of peace + +there will be no end, + +on the throne of David and over his kingdom, + +to establish it and to uphold it + +with justice and with righteousness + +from this time forth and forevermore. + +The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. + + + + + +Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression + + +8The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, + +and it will fall on Israel; + +9and all the people will know, + +Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, + +who say in pride and in arrogance of heart: + +10“The bricks have fallen, + +but we will build with dressed stones; + +the sycamores have been cut down, + +but we will put cedars in their place.” + +11But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him, + +and stirs up his enemies. + +12The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west + +devour Israel with open mouth. + +For all this his anger has not turned away, + +and his hand is stretched out still. + +13The people did not turn to him who struck them, + +nor inquire of the LORD of hosts. + +14So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail, + +palm branch and reed in one day— + +15the elder and honored man is the head, + +and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail; + +16for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, + +and those who are guided by them are swallowed up. + +17Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, + +and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; + +for everyone is godless and an evildoer, + +and every mouth speaks folly.[55] + +For all this his anger has not turned away, + +and his hand is stretched out still. + +18For wickedness burns like a fire; + +it consumes briers and thorns; + +it kindles the thickets of the forest, + +and they roll upward in a column of smoke. + +19Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts + +the land is scorched, + +and the people are like fuel for the fire; + +no one spares another. + +20They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, + +and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; + +each devours the flesh of his own arm, + +21Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; + +together they are against Judah. + +For all this his anger has not turned away, + +and his hand is stretched out still. + + + + + +10:1 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, + +and the writers who keep writing oppression, + +2to turn aside the needy from justice + +and to rob the poor of my people of their right, + +that widows may be their spoil, + +and that they may make the fatherless their prey! + +3What will you do on the day of punishment, + +in the ruin that will come from afar? + +To whom will you flee for help, + +and where will you leave your wealth? + +4Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners + +or fall among the slain. + +For all this his anger has not turned away, + +and his hand is stretched out still. + + + + + +Judgment on Arrogant Assyria + + +5Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; + +the staff in their hands is my fury! + +6Against a godless nation I send him, + +and against the people of my wrath I command him, + +to take spoil and seize plunder, + +and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. + +7But he does not so intend, + +and his heart does not so think; + +but it is in his heart to destroy, + +and to cut off nations not a few; + +8for he says: + +“Are not my commanders all kings? + +9Is not Calno like Carchemish? + +Is not Hamath like Arpad? + +Is not Samaria like Damascus? + +10As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, + +whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, + +11shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols + +as I have done to Samaria and her images?” + +12When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he[56] will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13For he says: + +“By the strength of my hand I have done it, + +and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; + +I remove the boundaries of peoples, + +and plunder their treasures; + +like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. + +14My hand has found like a nest + +the wealth of the peoples; + +and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, + +so I have gathered all the earth; + +and there was none that moved a wing + +or opened the mouth or chirped.” + +15Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, + +or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? + +As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, + +or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! + +16Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts + +will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, + +and under his glory a burning will be kindled, + +like the burning of fire. + +17The light of Israel will become a fire, + +and his Holy One a flame, + +and it will burn and devour + +his thorns and briers in one day. + +18The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land + +the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, + +and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. + +19The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few + +that a child can write them down. + + + + + +The Remnant of Israel Will Return + + +20In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth. + +24Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”[57] + +28He has come to Aiath; + +he has passed through Migron; + +at Michmash he stores his baggage; + +29they have crossed over the pass; + +at Geba they lodge for the night; + +Ramah trembles; + +Gibeah of Saul has fled. + +30Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! + +Give attention, O Laishah! + +O poor Anathoth! + +31Madmenah is in flight; + +the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. + +32This very day he will halt at Nob; + +he will shake his fist + +at the mount of the daughter of Zion, + +the hill of Jerusalem. + +33Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts + +will lop the boughs with terrifying power; + +the great in height will be hewn down, + +and the lofty will be brought low. + +34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, + +and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One. + + + + + +The Righteous Reign of the Branch + + +11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, + +and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. + +2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, + +the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, + +the Spirit of counsel and might, + +the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. + +3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. + +He shall not judge by what his eyes see, + +or decide disputes by what his ears hear, + +4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, + +and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; + +and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, + +and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. + +5Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, + +and faithfulness the belt of his loins. + +6The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, + +and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, + +and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; + +and a little child shall lead them. + +7The cow and the bear shall graze; + +their young shall lie down together; + +and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. + +8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, + +and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. + +9They shall not hurt or destroy + +in all my holy mountain; + +for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD + +as the waters cover the sea. + +10In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. + +11In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,[58] from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. + +12He will raise a signal for the nations + +and will assemble the banished of Israel, + +and gather the dispersed of Judah + +from the four corners of the earth. + +13The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, + +and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; + +Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, + +and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. + +14But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, + +and together they shall plunder the people of the east. + +They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, + +and the Ammonites shall obey them. + +15And the LORD will utterly destroy[59] + +the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, + +and will wave his hand over the River + +with his scorching breath,[60] + +and strike it into seven channels, + +and he will lead people across in sandals. + +16And there will be a highway from Assyria + +for the remnant that remains of his people, + +as there was for Israel + +when they came up from the land of Egypt. + + + + + +The LORD Is My Strength and My Song + + +12:1 You[61] will say in that day: + +“I will give thanks to you, O LORD, + +for though you were angry with me, + +your anger turned away, + +that you might comfort me. + +2“Behold, God is my salvation; + +I will trust, and will not be afraid; + +for the LORD GOD[62] is my strength and my song, + +and he has become my salvation.” + +3With joy you[63] will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4And you will say in that day: + +“Give thanks to the LORD, + +call upon his name, + +make known his deeds among the peoples, + +proclaim that his name is exalted. + +5“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; + +let this be made known[64] in all the earth. + +6Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, + +for great in your[65] midst is the Holy One of Israel.” + + + + + +The Judgment of Babylon + + +13:1 The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. + +2On a bare hill raise a signal; + +cry aloud to them; + +wave the hand for them to enter + +the gates of the nobles. + +3I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, + +and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, + +my proudly exulting ones.[66] + +4The sound of a tumult is on the mountains + +as of a great multitude! + +The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, + +of nations gathering together! + +The LORD of hosts is mustering + +a host for battle. + +5They come from a distant land, + +from the end of the heavens, + +the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, + +to destroy the whole land.[67] + +6Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; + +as destruction from the Almighty[68] it will come! + +7Therefore all hands will be feeble, + +and every human heart will melt. + +8They will be dismayed: + +pangs and agony will seize them; + +they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. + +They will look aghast at one another; + +their faces will be aflame. + +9Behold, the day of the LORD comes, + +cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, + +to make the land a desolation + +and to destroy its sinners from it. + +10For the stars of the heavens and their constellations + +will not give their light; + +the sun will be dark at its rising, + +and the moon will not shed its light. + +11I will punish the world for its evil, + +and the wicked for their iniquity; + +I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, + +and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. + +12I will make people more rare than fine gold, + +and mankind than the gold of Ophir. + +13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, + +and the earth will be shaken out of its place, + +at the wrath of the LORD of hosts + +in the day of his fierce anger. + +14And like a hunted gazelle, + +or like sheep with none to gather them, + +each will turn to his own people, + +and each will flee to his own land. + +15Whoever is found will be thrust through, + +and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. + +16Their infants will be dashed in pieces + +before their eyes; + +their houses will be plundered + +and their wives ravished. + +17Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, + +who have no regard for silver + +and do not delight in gold. + +18Their bows will slaughter[69] the young men; + +they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; + +their eyes will not pity children. + +19And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, + +the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, + +will be like Sodom and Gomorrah + +when God overthrew them. + +20It will never be inhabited + +or lived in for all generations; + +no Arab will pitch his tent there; + +no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. + +21But wild animals will lie down there, + +and their houses will be full of howling creatures; + +there ostriches[70] will dwell, + +and there wild goats will dance. + +22Hyenas[71] will cry in its towers, + +and jackals in the pleasant palaces; + +its time is close at hand + +and its days will not be prolonged. + + + + + +The Restoration of Jacob + + +14:1 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD's land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them. + + + + + +Israel's Remnant Taunts Babylon + + +3When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: + +“How the oppressor has ceased, + +the insolent fury[72] ceased! + +5The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, + +the scepter of rulers, + +6that struck the peoples in wrath + +with unceasing blows, + +that ruled the nations in anger + +with unrelenting persecution. + +7The whole earth is at rest and quiet; + +they break forth into singing. + +8The cypresses rejoice at you, + +the cedars of Lebanon, saying, + +‘Since you were laid low, + +no woodcutter comes up against us.’ + +9Sheol beneath is stirred up + +to meet you when you come; + +it rouses the shades to greet you, + +all who were leaders of the earth; + +it raises from their thrones + +all who were kings of the nations. + +10All of them will answer + +and say to you: + +‘You too have become as weak as we! + +You have become like us!’ + +11Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, + +the sound of your harps; + +maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, + +and worms are your covers. + +12“How you are fallen from heaven, + +O Day Star, son of Dawn! + +How you are cut down to the ground, + +you who laid the nations low! + +13You said in your heart, + +‘I will ascend to heaven; + +above the stars of God + +I will set my throne on high; + +I will sit on the mount of assembly + +in the far reaches of the north;[73] + +14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; + +I will make myself like the Most High.’ + +15But you are brought down to Sheol, + +to the far reaches of the pit. + +16Those who see you will stare at you + +and ponder over you: + +‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, + +who shook kingdoms, + +17who made the world like a desert + +and overthrew its cities, + +who did not let his prisoners go home?’ + +18All the kings of the nations lie in glory, + +each in his own tomb;[74] + +19but you are cast out, away from your grave, + +like a loathed branch, + +clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, + +who go down to the stones of the pit, + +like a dead body trampled underfoot. + +20You will not be joined with them in burial, + +because you have destroyed your land, + +you have slain your people. + +“May the offspring of evildoers + +nevermore be named! + +21Prepare slaughter for his sons + +because of the guilt of their fathers, + +lest they rise and possess the earth, + +and fill the face of the world with cities.” + +22“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the LORD. 23“And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog,[75] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts. + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Assyria + + +24The LORD of hosts has sworn: + +“As I have planned, + +so shall it be, + +and as I have purposed, + +so shall it stand, + +25that I will break the Assyrian in my land, + +and on my mountains trample him underfoot; + +and his yoke shall depart from them, + +and his burden from their shoulder.” + +26This is the purpose that is purposed + +concerning the whole earth, + +and this is the hand that is stretched out + +over all the nations. + +27For the LORD of hosts has purposed, + +and who will annul it? + +His hand is stretched out, + +and who will turn it back? + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Philistia + + +28In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle: + +29Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, + +that the rod that struck you is broken, + +for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, + +and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. + +30And the firstborn of the poor will graze, + +and the needy lie down in safety; + +but I will kill your root with famine, + +and your remnant it will slay. + +31Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; + +melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! + +For smoke comes out of the north, + +and there is no straggler in his ranks. + +32What will one answer the messengers of the nation? + +“The LORD has founded Zion, + +and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.” + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Moab + + +15:1 An oracle concerning Moab. + +Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night, + +Moab is undone; + +because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night, + +Moab is undone. + +2He has gone up to the temple,[76] and to Dibon, + +to the high places[77] to weep; + +over Nebo and over Medeba + +Moab wails. + +On every head is baldness; + +every beard is shorn; + +3in the streets they wear sackcloth; + +on the housetops and in the squares + +everyone wails and melts in tears. + +4Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; + +their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; + +therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; + +his soul trembles. + +5My heart cries out for Moab; + +her fugitives flee to Zoar, + +to Eglath-shelishiyah. + +For at the ascent of Luhith + +they go up weeping; + +on the road to Horonaim + +they raise a cry of destruction; + +6the waters of Nimrim + +are a desolation; + +the grass is withered, the vegetation fails, + +the greenery is no more. + +7Therefore the abundance they have gained + +and what they have laid up + +they carry away + +over the Brook of the Willows. + +8For a cry has gone + +around the land of Moab; + +her wailing reaches to Eglaim; + +her wailing reaches to Beer-elim. + +9For the waters of Dibon[78] are full of blood; + +for I will bring upon Dibon even more, + +a lion for those of Moab who escape, + +for the remnant of the land. + + + + + +16:1 Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, + +from Sela, by way of the desert, + +to the mount of the daughter of Zion. + +2Like fleeing birds, + +like a scattered nest, + +so are the daughters of Moab + +at the fords of the Arnon. + +3“Give counsel; + +grant justice; + +make your shade like night + +at the height of noon; + +shelter the outcasts; + +do not reveal the fugitive; + +4let the outcasts of Moab + +sojourn among you; + +be a shelter to them[79] + +from the destroyer. + +When the oppressor is no more, + +and destruction has ceased, + +and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, + +5then a throne will be established in steadfast love, + +and on it will sit in faithfulness + +in the tent of David + +one who judges and seeks justice + +and is swift to do righteousness.” + +6We have heard of the pride of Moab— + +how proud he is!— + +of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; + +in his idle boasting he is not right. + +7Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, + +let everyone wail. + +Mourn, utterly stricken, + +for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth. + +8For the fields of Heshbon languish, + +and the vine of Sibmah; + +the lords of the nations + +have struck down its branches, + +which reached to Jazer + +and strayed to the desert; + +its shoots spread abroad + +and passed over the sea. + +9Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer + +for the vine of Sibmah; + +I drench you with my tears, + +O Heshbon and Elealeh; + +for over your summer fruit and your harvest + +the shout has ceased. + +10And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, + +and in the vineyards no songs are sung, + +no cheers are raised; + +no treader treads out wine in the presses; + +I have put an end to the shouting. + +11Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab, + +and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth. + +12And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail. + +13This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.” + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Damascus + + +17:1 An oracle concerning Damascus. + +Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city + +and will become a heap of ruins. + +2The cities of Aroer are deserted; + +they will be for flocks, + +which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. + +3The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, + +and the kingdom from Damascus; + +and the remnant of Syria will be + +like the glory of the children of Israel, + +declares the LORD of hosts. + +4And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, + +and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. + +5And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain + +and his arm harvests the ears, + +and as when one gleans the ears of grain + +in the Valley of Rephaim. + +6Gleanings will be left in it, + +as when an olive tree is beaten— + +two or three berries + +in the top of the highest bough, + +four or five + +on the branches of a fruit tree, + +declares the LORD God of Israel. + +7In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense. + +9In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation. + +10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation + +and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; + +therefore, though you plant pleasant plants + +and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, + +11though you make them grow[80] on the day that you plant them, + +and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, + +yet the harvest will flee away[81] + +in a day of grief and incurable pain. + +12Ah, the thunder of many peoples; + +they thunder like the thundering of the sea! + +Ah, the roar of nations; + +they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! + +13The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, + +but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, + +chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind + +and whirling dust before the storm. + +14At evening time, behold, terror! + +Before morning, they are no more! + +This is the portion of those who loot us, + +and the lot of those who plunder us. + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Cush + + +18:1 Ah, land of whirring wings + +that is beyond the rivers of Cush,[82] + +2which sends ambassadors by the sea, + +in vessels of papyrus on the waters! + +Go, you swift messengers, + +to a nation, tall and smooth, + +to a people feared near and far, + +a nation mighty and conquering, + +whose land the rivers divide. + +3All you inhabitants of the world, + +you who dwell on the earth, + +when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! + +When a trumpet is blown, hear! + +4For thus the LORD said to me: + +“I will quietly look from my dwelling + +like clear heat in sunshine, + +like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” + +5For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, + +and the flower becomes a ripening grape, + +he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, + +and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away. + +6They shall all of them be left + +to the birds of prey of the mountains + +and to the beasts of the earth. + +And the birds of prey will summer on them, + +and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. + +7At that time tribute will be brought to the LORD of hosts + +from a people tall and smooth, + +from a people feared near and far, + +a nation mighty and conquering, + +whose land the rivers divide, + +to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of hosts. + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Egypt + + +19:1 An oracle concerning Egypt. + +Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud + +and comes to Egypt; + +and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, + +and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. + +2And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, + +and they will fight, each against another + +and each against his neighbor, + +city against city, kingdom against kingdom; + +3and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, + +and I will confound[83] their counsel; + +and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, + +and the mediums and the necromancers; + +4and I will give over the Egyptians + +into the hand of a hard master, + +and a fierce king will rule over them, + +declares the Lord GOD of hosts. + +5And the waters of the sea will be dried up, + +and the river will be dry and parched, + +6and its canals will become foul, + +and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, + +reeds and rushes will rot away. + +7There will be bare places by the Nile, + +on the brink of the Nile, + +and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched, + +will be driven away, and will be no more. + +8The fishermen will mourn and lament, + +all who cast a hook in the Nile; + +and they will languish + +who spread nets on the water. + +9The workers in combed flax will be in despair, + +and the weavers of white cotton. + +10Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, + +and all who work for pay will be grieved. + +11The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; + +the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. + +How can you say to Pharaoh, + +“I am a son of the wise, + +a son of ancient kings”? + +12Where then are your wise men? + +Let them tell you + +that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. + +13The princes of Zoan have become fools, + +and the princes of Memphis are deluded; + +those who are the cornerstones of her tribes + +have made Egypt stagger. + +14The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, + +and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, + +as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. + +15And there will be nothing for Egypt + +that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do. + + + + + +Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed + + +16In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them. 17And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them. + +18In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.[84] + +19In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. 22And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. + +23In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. + +24In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” + + + + + +A Sign Against Egypt and Cush + + +20:1 In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— 2at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. + +3Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,[85] 4so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’” + + + + + +Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon + + +21:1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. + +As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, + +it comes from the wilderness, + +from a terrible land. + +2A stern vision is told to me; + +the traitor betrays, + +and the destroyer destroys. + +Go up, O Elam; + +lay siege, O Media; + +all the sighing she has caused + +I bring to an end. + +3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; + +pangs have seized me, + +like the pangs of a woman in labor; + +I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; + +I am dismayed so that I cannot see. + +4My heart staggers; horror has appalled me; + +the twilight I longed for + +has been turned for me into trembling. + +5They prepare the table, + +they spread the rugs,[86] + +they eat, they drink. + +Arise, O princes; + +oil the shield! + +6For thus the Lord said to me: + +“Go, set a watchman; + +let him announce what he sees. + +7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, + +riders on donkeys, riders on camels, + +let him listen diligently, + +very diligently.” + +8Then he who saw cried out:[87] + +“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, + +continually by day, + +and at my post I am stationed + +whole nights. + +9And behold, here come riders, + +horsemen in pairs!” + +And he answered, + +“Fallen, fallen is Babylon; + +and all the carved images of her gods + +he has shattered to the ground.” + +10O my threshed and winnowed one, + +what I have heard from the LORD of hosts, + +the God of Israel, I announce to you. + +11The oracle concerning Dumah. + +One is calling to me from Seir, + +“Watchman, what time of the night? + +Watchman, what time of the night?” + +12The watchman says: + +“Morning comes, and also the night. + +If you will inquire, inquire; + +come back again.” + +13The oracle concerning Arabia. + +In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, + +O caravans of Dedanites. + +14To the thirsty bring water; + +meet the fugitive with bread, + +O inhabitants of the land of Tema. + +15For they have fled from the swords, + +from the drawn sword, + +from the bent bow, + +and from the press of battle. + +16For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.” + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem + + +22:1 The oracle concerning the valley of vision. + +What do you mean that you have gone up, + +all of you, to the housetops, + +2you who are full of shoutings, + +tumultuous city, exultant town? + +Your slain are not slain with the sword + +or dead in battle. + +3All your leaders have fled together; + +without the bow they were captured. + +All of you who were found were captured, + +though they had fled far away. + +4Therefore I said: + +“Look away from me; + +let me weep bitter tears; + +do not labor to comfort me + +concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.” + +5For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day + +of tumult and trampling and confusion + +in the valley of vision, + +a battering down of walls + +and a shouting to the mountains. + +6And Elam bore the quiver + +with chariots and horsemen, + +and Kir uncovered the shield. + +7Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, + +and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. + +8He has taken away the covering of Judah. + +In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago. + +12In that day the Lord GOD of hosts + +called for weeping and mourning, + +for baldness and wearing sackcloth; + +13and behold, joy and gladness, + +killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, + +eating flesh and drinking wine. + +“Let us eat and drink, + +for tomorrow we die.” + +14The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: + +“Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,” + +says the Lord GOD of hosts. + +15Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. 24And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.” + + + + + +An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon + + +23:1 The oracle concerning Tyre. + +Wail, O ships of Tarshish, + +for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! + +From the land of Cyprus[88] + +it is revealed to them. + +2Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; + +the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. + +3And on many waters + +your revenue was the grain of Shihor, + +the harvest of the Nile; + +you were the merchant of the nations. + +4Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, + +the stronghold of the sea, saying: + +“I have neither labored nor given birth, + +I have neither reared young men + +nor brought up young women.” + +5When the report comes to Egypt, + +they will be in anguish[89] over the report about Tyre. + +6Cross over to Tarshish; + +wail, O inhabitants of the coast! + +7Is this your exultant city + +whose origin is from days of old, + +whose feet carried her + +to settle far away? + +8Who has purposed this + +against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, + +whose merchants were princes, + +whose traders were the honored of the earth? + +9The LORD of hosts has purposed it, + +to defile the pompous pride of all glory,[90] + +to dishonor all the honored of the earth. + +10Cross over your land like the Nile, + +O daughter of Tarshish; + +there is no restraint anymore. + +11He has stretched out his hand over the sea; + +he has shaken the kingdoms; + +the LORD has given command concerning Canaan + +to destroy its strongholds. + +12And he said: + +“You will no more exult, + +O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; + +arise, cross over to Cyprus, + +even there you will have no rest.” + +13Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;[91] Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin. + +14Wail, O ships of Tarshish, + +for your stronghold is laid waste. + +15In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days[92] of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: + +16“Take a harp; + +go about the city, + +O forgotten prostitute! + +Make sweet melody; + +sing many songs, + +that you may be remembered.” + +17At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD. + + + + + +Judgment on the Whole Earth + + +24:1 Behold, the LORD will empty the earth[93] and make it desolate, + +and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. + +2And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; + +as with the slave, so with his master; + +as with the maid, so with her mistress; + +as with the buyer, so with the seller; + +as with the lender, so with the borrower; + +as with the creditor, so with the debtor. + +3The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; + +for the LORD has spoken this word. + +4The earth mourns and withers; + +the world languishes and withers; + +the highest people of the earth languish. + +5The earth lies defiled + +under its inhabitants; + +for they have transgressed the laws, + +violated the statutes, + +broken the everlasting covenant. + +6Therefore a curse devours the earth, + +and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; + +therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, + +and few men are left. + +7The wine mourns, + +the vine languishes, + +all the merry-hearted sigh. + +8The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, + +the noise of the jubilant has ceased, + +the mirth of the lyre is stilled. + +9No more do they drink wine with singing; + +strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. + +10The wasted city is broken down; + +every house is shut up so that none can enter. + +11There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; + +all joy has grown dark; + +the gladness of the earth is banished. + +12Desolation is left in the city; + +the gates are battered into ruins. + +13For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth + +among the nations, + +as when an olive tree is beaten, + +as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done. + +14They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; + +over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.[94] + +15Therefore in the east[95] give glory to the LORD; + +in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. + +16From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, + +of glory to the Righteous One. + +But I say, “I waste away, + +I waste away. Woe is me! + +For the traitors have betrayed, + +with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.” + +17Terror and the pit and the snare[96] + +are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! + +18He who flees at the sound of the terror + +shall fall into the pit, + +and he who climbs out of the pit + +shall be caught in the snare. + +For the windows of heaven are opened, + +and the foundations of the earth tremble. + +19The earth is utterly broken, + +the earth is split apart, + +the earth is violently shaken. + +20The earth staggers like a drunken man; + +it sways like a hut; + +its transgression lies heavy upon it, + +and it falls, and will not rise again. + +21On that day the LORD will punish + +the host of heaven, in heaven, + +and the kings of the earth, on the earth. + +22They will be gathered together + +as prisoners in a pit; + +they will be shut up in a prison, + +and after many days they will be punished. + +23Then the moon will be confounded + +and the sun ashamed, + +for the LORD of hosts reigns + +on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, + +and his glory will be before his elders. + + + + + +God Will Swallow Up Death Forever + + +25:1 O LORD, you are my God; + +I will exalt you; I will praise your name, + +for you have done wonderful things, + +plans formed of old, faithful and sure. + +2For you have made the city a heap, + +the fortified city a ruin; + +the foreigners' palace is a city no more; + +it will never be rebuilt. + +3Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; + +cities of ruthless nations will fear you. + +4For you have been a stronghold to the poor, + +a stronghold to the needy in his distress, + +a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; + +for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, + +5like heat in a dry place. + +You subdue the noise of the foreigners; + +as heat by the shade of a cloud, + +so the song of the ruthless is put down. + +6On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples + +a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, + +of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. + +7And he will swallow up on this mountain + +the covering that is cast over all peoples, + +the veil that is spread over all nations. + +8He will swallow up death forever; + +and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, + +and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, + +for the LORD has spoken. + +9It will be said on that day, + +“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. + +This is the LORD; we have waited for him; + +let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” + +10For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, + +and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, + +as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.[97] + +11And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it + +as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, + +but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill[98] of his hands. + +12And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, + +lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust. + + + + + +You Keep Him in Perfect Peace + + +26:1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: + +“We have a strong city; + +he sets up salvation + +as walls and bulwarks. + +2Open the gates, + +that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. + +3You keep him in perfect peace + +whose mind is stayed on you, + +because he trusts in you. + +4Trust in the LORD forever, + +for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. + +5For he has humbled + +the inhabitants of the height, + +the lofty city. + +He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, + +casts it to the dust. + +6The foot tramples it, + +the feet of the poor, + +the steps of the needy.” + +7The path of the righteous is level; + +you make level the way of the righteous. + +8In the path of your judgments, + +O LORD, we wait for you; + +your name and remembrance + +are the desire of our soul. + +9My soul yearns for you in the night; + +my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. + +For when your judgments are in the earth, + +the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. + +10If favor is shown to the wicked, + +he does not learn righteousness; + +in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly + +and does not see the majesty of the LORD. + +11O LORD, your hand is lifted up, + +but they do not see it. + +Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. + +Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. + +12O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, + +for you have indeed done for us all our works. + +13O LORD our God, + +other lords besides you have ruled over us, + +but your name alone we bring to remembrance. + +14They are dead, they will not live; + +they are shades, they will not arise; + +to that end you have visited them with destruction + +and wiped out all remembrance of them. + +15But you have increased the nation, O LORD, + +you have increased the nation; you are glorified; + +you have enlarged all the borders of the land. + +16O LORD, in distress they sought you; + +they poured out a whispered prayer + +when your discipline was upon them. + +17Like a pregnant woman + +who writhes and cries out in her pangs + +when she is near to giving birth, + +so were we because of you, O LORD; + +18we were pregnant, we writhed, + +but we have given birth to wind. + +We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, + +and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. + +19Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. + +You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! + +For your dew is a dew of light, + +and the earth will give birth to the dead. + +20Come, my people, enter your chambers, + +and shut your doors behind you; + +hide yourselves for a little while + +until the fury has passed by. + +21For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place + +to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, + +and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, + +and will no more cover its slain. + + + + + +The Redemption of Israel + + +27:1 In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. + +2In that day, + +“A pleasant vineyard,[99] sing of it! + +3I, the LORD, am its keeper; + +every moment I water it. + +Lest anyone punish it, + +I keep it night and day; + +4I have no wrath. + +Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! + +I would march against them, + +I would burn them up together. + +5Or let them lay hold of my protection, + +let them make peace with me, + +let them make peace with me.” + +6In days to come[100] Jacob shall take root, + +Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots + +and fill the whole world with fruit. + +7Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them? + +Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain? + +8Measure by measure,[101] by exile you contended with them; + +he removed them with his fierce breath[102] in the day of the east wind. + +9Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for, + +and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:[103] + +when he makes all the stones of the altars + +like chalkstones crushed to pieces, + +no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing. + +10For the fortified city is solitary, + +a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; + +there the calf grazes; + +there it lies down and strips its branches. + +11When its boughs are dry, they are broken; + +women come and make a fire of them. + +For this is a people without discernment; + +therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; + +he who formed them will show them no favor. + +12In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. + + + + + +Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem + + +28:1 Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, + +and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, + +which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine! + +2Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; + +like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, + +like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, + +he casts down to the earth with his hand. + +3The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim + +will be trodden underfoot; + +4and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, + +which is on the head of the rich valley, + +will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer: + +when someone sees it, he swallows it + +as soon as it is in his hand. + +5In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory,[104] + +and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people, + +6and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, + +and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. + +7These also reel with wine + +and stagger with strong drink; + +the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, + +they are swallowed by[105] wine, + +they stagger with strong drink, + +they reel in vision, + +they stumble in giving judgment. + +8For all tables are full of filthy vomit, + +with no space left. + +9“To whom will he teach knowledge, + +and to whom will he explain the message? + +Those who are weaned from the milk, + +those taken from the breast? + +10For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, + +line upon line, line upon line, + +here a little, there a little.” + +11For by people of strange lips + +and with a foreign tongue + +the LORD will speak to this people, + +12to whom he has said, + +“This is rest; + +give rest to the weary; + +and this is repose”; + +yet they would not hear. + +13And the word of the LORD will be to them + +precept upon precept, precept upon precept, + +line upon line, line upon line, + +here a little, there a little, + +that they may go, and fall backward, + +and be broken, and snared, and taken. + + + + + +A Cornerstone in Zion + + +14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, + +who rule this people in Jerusalem! + +15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, + +and with Sheol we have an agreement, + +when the overwhelming whip passes through + +it will not come to us, + +for we have made lies our refuge, + +and in falsehood we have taken shelter”; + +16therefore thus says the Lord GOD, + +“Behold, I am the one who has laid[106] as a foundation in Zion, + +a stone, a tested stone, + +a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: + +‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ + +17And I will make justice the line, + +and righteousness the plumb line; + +and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, + +and waters will overwhelm the shelter.” + +18Then your covenant with death will be annulled, + +and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; + +when the overwhelming scourge passes through, + +you will be beaten down by it. + +19As often as it passes through it will take you; + +for morning by morning it will pass through, + +by day and by night; + +and it will be sheer terror to understand the message. + +20For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, + +and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in. + +21For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim; + +as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; + +to do his deed—strange is his deed! + +and to work his work—alien is his work! + +22Now therefore do not scoff, + +lest your bonds be made strong; + +for I have heard a decree of destruction + +from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land. + +23Give ear, and hear my voice; + +give attention, and hear my speech. + +24Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? + +Does he continually open and harrow his ground? + +25When he has leveled its surface, + +does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, + +and put in wheat in rows + +and barley in its proper place, + +and emmer[107] as the border? + +26For he is rightly instructed; + +his God teaches him. + +27Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, + +nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, + +but dill is beaten out with a stick, + +and cumin with a rod. + +28Does one crush grain for bread? + +No, he does not thresh it forever;[108] + +when he drives his cart wheel over it + +with his horses, he does not crush it. + +29This also comes from the LORD of hosts; + +he is wonderful in counsel + +and excellent in wisdom. + + + + + +The Siege of Jerusalem + + +29:1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel, + +the city where David encamped! + +Add year to year; + +let the feasts run their round. + +2Yet I will distress Ariel, + +and there shall be moaning and lamentation, + +and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[109] + +3And I will encamp against you all around, + +and will besiege you with towers + +and I will raise siegeworks against you. + +4And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, + +and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; + +your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, + +and from the dust your speech shall whisper. + +5But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, + +and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. + +And in an instant, suddenly, + +6you will be visited by the LORD of hosts + +with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, + +with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. + +7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, + +all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, + +shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. + +8As when a hungry man dreams he is eating + +and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, + +or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking + +and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, + +so shall the multitude of all the nations be + +that fight against Mount Zion. + +9Astonish yourselves[110] and be astonished; + +blind yourselves and be blind! + +Be drunk, but not with wine; + +stagger, but not with strong drink! + +10For the LORD has poured out upon you + +a spirit of deep sleep, + +and has closed your eyes (the prophets), + +and covered your heads (the seers). + +11And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.” + +13And the Lord said: + +“Because this people draw near with their mouth + +and honor me with their lips, + +while their hearts are far from me, + +and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, + +14therefore, behold, I will again + +do wonderful things with this people, + +with wonder upon wonder; + +and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, + +and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” + +15Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, + +whose deeds are in the dark, + +and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” + +16You turn things upside down! + +Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, + +that the thing made should say of its maker, + +“He did not make me”; + +or the thing formed say of him who formed it, + +“He has no understanding”? + +17Is it not yet a very little while + +until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, + +and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? + +18In that day the deaf shall hear + +the words of a book, + +and out of their gloom and darkness + +the eyes of the blind shall see. + +19The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, + +and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. + +20For the ruthless shall come to nothing + +and the scoffer cease, + +and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, + +21who by a word make a man out to be an offender, + +and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, + +and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. + +22Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: + +“Jacob shall no more be ashamed, + +no more shall his face grow pale. + +23For when he sees his children, + +the work of my hands, in his midst, + +they will sanctify my name; + +they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob + +and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. + +24And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, + +and those who murmur will accept instruction.” + + + + + +Do Not Go Down to Egypt + + +30:1 “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD, + +“who carry out a plan, but not mine, + +and who make an alliance,[111] but not of my Spirit, + +that they may add sin to sin; + +2who set out to go down to Egypt, + +without asking for my direction, + +to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh + +and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! + +3Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, + +and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation. + +4For though his officials are at Zoan + +and his envoys reach Hanes, + +5everyone comes to shame + +through a people that cannot profit them, + +that brings neither help nor profit, + +but shame and disgrace.” + +6An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb. + +Through a land of trouble and anguish, + +from where come the lioness and the lion, + +the adder and the flying fiery serpent, + +they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, + +and their treasures on the humps of camels, + +to a people that cannot profit them. + +7Egypt's help is worthless and empty; + +therefore I have called her + +“Rahab who sits still.” + + + + + +A Rebellious People + + +8And now, go, write it before them on a tablet + +and inscribe it in a book, + +that it may be for the time to come + +as a witness forever.[112] + +9For they are a rebellious people, + +lying children, + +children unwilling to hear + +the instruction of the LORD; + +10who say to the seers, “Do not see,” + +and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right; + +speak to us smooth things, + +prophesy illusions, + +11leave the way, turn aside from the path, + +let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” + +12Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, + +“Because you despise this word + +and trust in oppression and perverseness + +and rely on them, + +13therefore this iniquity shall be to you + +like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, + +whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; + +14and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel + +that is smashed so ruthlessly + +that among its fragments not a shard is found + +with which to take fire from the hearth, + +or to dip up water out of the cistern.” + +15For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, + +“In returning[113] and rest you shall be saved; + +in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” + +But you were unwilling, 16and you said, + +“No! We will flee upon horses”; + +therefore you shall flee away; + +and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; + +therefore your pursuers shall be swift. + +17A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; + +at the threat of five you shall flee, + +till you are left + +like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, + +like a signal on a hill. + + + + + +The LORD Will Be Gracious + + +18Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, + +and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. + +For the LORD is a God of justice; + +blessed are all those who wait for him. + +19For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!” + +23And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. + +27Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, + +burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;[114] + +his lips are full of fury, + +and his tongue is like a devouring fire; + +28his breath is like an overflowing stream + +that reaches up to the neck; + +to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, + +and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray. + +29You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. 30And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. 31The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod. 32And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33For a burning place[115] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it. + + + + + +Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt + + +31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help + +and rely on horses, + +who trust in chariots because they are many + +and in horsemen because they are very strong, + +but do not look to the Holy One of Israel + +or consult the LORD! + +2And yet he is wise and brings disaster; + +he does not call back his words, + +but will arise against the house of the evildoers + +and against the helpers of those who work iniquity. + +3The Egyptians are man, and not God, + +and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. + +When the LORD stretches out his hand, + +the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, + +and they will all perish together. + +4For thus the LORD said to me, + +“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, + +and when a band of shepherds is called out against him + +he is not terrified by their shouting + +or daunted at their noise, + +so the LORD of hosts will come down + +to fight[116] on Mount Zion and on its hill. + +5Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts + +will protect Jerusalem; + +he will protect and deliver it; + +he will spare and rescue it.” + +6Turn to him from whom people[117] have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you. + +8“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man; + +and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; + +and he shall flee from the sword, + +and his young men shall be put to forced labor. + +9His rock shall pass away in terror, + +and his officers desert the standard in panic,” + +declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, + +and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. + + + + + +A King Will Reign in Righteousness + + +32:1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, + +and princes will rule in justice. + +2Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, + +a shelter from the storm, + +like streams of water in a dry place, + +like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. + +3Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, + +and the ears of those who hear will give attention. + +4The heart of the hasty will understand and know, + +and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly. + +5The fool will no more be called noble, + +nor the scoundrel said to be honorable. + +6For the fool speaks folly, + +and his heart is busy with iniquity, + +to practice ungodliness, + +to utter error concerning the LORD, + +to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, + +and to deprive the thirsty of drink. + +7As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil; + +he plans wicked schemes + +to ruin the poor with lying words, + +even when the plea of the needy is right. + +8But he who is noble plans noble things, + +and on noble things he stands. + + + + + +Complacent Women Warned of Disaster + + +9Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; + +you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. + +10In little more than a year + +you will shudder, you complacent women; + +for the grape harvest fails, + +the fruit harvest will not come. + +11Tremble, you women who are at ease, + +shudder, you complacent ones; + +strip, and make yourselves bare, + +and tie sackcloth around your waist. + +12Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, + +for the fruitful vine, + +13for the soil of my people + +growing up in thorns and briers, + +yes, for all the joyous houses + +in the exultant city. + +14For the palace is forsaken, + +the populous city deserted; + +the hill and the watchtower + +will become dens forever, + +a joy of wild donkeys, + +a pasture of flocks; + +15until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, + +and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, + +and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. + +16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, + +and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. + +17And the effect of righteousness will be peace, + +and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust[118] forever. + +18My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, + +in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. + +19And it will hail when the forest falls down, + +and the city will be utterly laid low. + +20Happy are you who sow beside all waters, + +who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free. + + + + + +O LORD, Be Gracious to Us + + +33:1 Ah, you destroyer, + +who yourself have not been destroyed, + +you traitor, + +whom none has betrayed! + +When you have ceased to destroy, + +you will be destroyed; + +and when you have finished betraying, + +they will betray you. + +2O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you. + +Be our arm every morning, + +our salvation in the time of trouble. + +3At the tumultuous noise peoples flee; + +when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered, + +4and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; + +as locusts leap, it is leapt upon. + +5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; + +he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, + +6and he will be the stability of your times, + +abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; + +the fear of the LORD is Zion's[119] treasure. + +7Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; + +the envoys of peace weep bitterly. + +8The highways lie waste; + +the traveler ceases. + +Covenants are broken; + +cities[120] are despised; + +there is no regard for man. + +9The land mourns and languishes; + +Lebanon is confounded and withers away; + +Sharon is like a desert, + +and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. + +10“Now I will arise,” says the LORD, + +“now I will lift myself up; + +now I will be exalted. + +11You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; + +your breath is a fire that will consume you. + +12And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, + +like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.” + +13Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; + +and you who are near, acknowledge my might. + +14The sinners in Zion are afraid; + +trembling has seized the godless: + +“Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? + +Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” + +15He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, + +who despises the gain of oppressions, + +who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, + +who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed + +and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, + +16he will dwell on the heights; + +his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; + +his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. + +17Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; + +they will see a land that stretches afar. + +18Your heart will muse on the terror: + +“Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? + +Where is he who counted the towers?” + +19You will see no more the insolent people, + +the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, + +stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand. + +20Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! + +Your eyes will see Jerusalem, + +an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, + +whose stakes will never be plucked up, + +nor will any of its cords be broken. + +21But there the LORD in majesty will be for us + +a place of broad rivers and streams, + +where no galley with oars can go, + +nor majestic ship can pass. + +22For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; + +the LORD is our king; he will save us. + +23Your cords hang loose; + +they cannot hold the mast firm in its place + +or keep the sail spread out. + +Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; + +even the lame will take the prey. + +24And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; + +the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. + + + + + +Judgment on the Nations + + +34:1 Draw near, O nations, to hear, + +and give attention, O peoples! + +Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; + +the world, and all that comes from it. + +2For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, + +and furious against all their host; + +he has devoted them to destruction,[121] has given them over for slaughter. + +3Their slain shall be cast out, + +and the stench of their corpses shall rise; + +the mountains shall flow with their blood. + +4All the host of heaven shall rot away, + +and the skies roll up like a scroll. + +All their host shall fall, + +as leaves fall from the vine, + +like leaves falling from the fig tree. + +5For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; + +behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, + +upon the people I have devoted to destruction. + +6The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood; + +it is gorged with fat, + +with the blood of lambs and goats, + +with the fat of the kidneys of rams. + +For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, + +a great slaughter in the land of Edom. + +7Wild oxen shall fall with them, + +and young steers with the mighty bulls. + +Their land shall drink its fill of blood, + +and their soil shall be gorged with fat. + +8For the LORD has a day of vengeance, + +a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. + +9And the streams of Edom[122] shall be turned into pitch, + +and her soil into sulfur; + +her land shall become burning pitch. + +10Night and day it shall not be quenched; + +its smoke shall go up forever. + +From generation to generation it shall lie waste; + +none shall pass through it forever and ever. + +11But the hawk and the porcupine[123] shall possess it, + +the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. + +He shall stretch the line of confusion[124] over it, + +and the plumb line of emptiness. + +12Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom, + +and all its princes shall be nothing. + +13Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, + +nettles and thistles in its fortresses. + +It shall be the haunt of jackals, + +an abode for ostriches.[125] + +14And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; + +the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; + +indeed, there the night bird[126] settles + +and finds for herself a resting place. + +15There the owl nests and lays + +and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; + +indeed, there the hawks are gathered, + +each one with her mate. + +16Seek and read from the book of the LORD: + +Not one of these shall be missing; + +none shall be without her mate. + +For the mouth of the LORD has commanded, + +and his Spirit has gathered them. + +17He has cast the lot for them; + +his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; + +they shall possess it forever; + +from generation to generation they shall dwell in it. + + + + + +The Ransomed Shall Return + + +35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; + +the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; + +2it shall blossom abundantly + +and rejoice with joy and singing. + +The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, + +the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. + +They shall see the glory of the LORD, + +the majesty of our God. + +3Strengthen the weak hands, + +and make firm the feeble knees. + +4Say to those who have an anxious heart, + +“Be strong; fear not! + +Behold, your God + +will come with vengeance, + +with the recompense of God. + +He will come and save you.” + +5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, + +and the ears of the deaf unstopped; + +6then shall the lame man leap like a deer, + +and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. + +For waters break forth in the wilderness, + +and streams in the desert; + +7the burning sand shall become a pool, + +and the thirsty ground springs of water; + +in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, + +the grass shall become reeds and rushes. + +8And a highway shall be there, + +and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; + +the unclean shall not pass over it. + +It shall belong to those who walk on the way; + +even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.[127] + +9No lion shall be there, + +nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; + +they shall not be found there, + +but the redeemed shall walk there. + +10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return + +and come to Zion with singing; + +everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; + +they shall obtain gladness and joy, + +and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. + + + + + +Sennacherib Invades Judah + + +36:1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh[128] from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 3And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. + +4And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.’” + +11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” + +13Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me[129] and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” + +21But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 22Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. + + + + + +Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help + + +37:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” + +5When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’” + +8The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush,[130] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’” + + + + + +Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance + + +14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: 16“O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.” + + + + + +Sennacherib's Fall + + +21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22this is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: + +“‘She despises you, she scorns you— + +the virgin daughter of Zion; + +she wags her head behind you— + +the daughter of Jerusalem. + +23“‘Whom have you mocked and reviled? + +Against whom have you raised your voice + +and lifted your eyes to the heights? + +Against the Holy One of Israel! + +24By your servants you have mocked the Lord, + +and you have said, With my many chariots + +I have gone up the heights of the mountains, + +to the far recesses of Lebanon, + +to cut down its tallest cedars, + +its choicest cypresses, + +to come to its remotest height, + +its most fruitful forest. + +25I dug wells + +and drank waters, + +to dry up with the sole of my foot + +all the streams of Egypt. + +26“‘Have you not heard + +that I determined it long ago? + +I planned from days of old + +what now I bring to pass, + +that you should make fortified cities + +crash into heaps of ruins, + +27while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, + +are dismayed and confounded, + +and have become like plants of the field + +and like tender grass, + +like grass on the housetops, + +blighted[131] before it is grown. + +28“‘I know your sitting down + +and your going out and coming in, + +and your raging against me. + +29Because you have raged against me + +and your complacency has come to my ears, + +I will put my hook in your nose + +and my bit in your mouth, + +and I will turn you back on the way + +by which you came.’ + +30“And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. + +33“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 34By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. 35For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” + +36And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. + + + + + +Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery + + +38:1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”[132] 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. + +4Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.[133] 6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. + +7“This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: 8Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.[134] + +9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness: + +10I said, In the middle[135] of my days + +I must depart; + +I am consigned to the gates of Sheol + +for the rest of my years. + +11I said, I shall not see the LORD, + +the LORD in the land of the living; + +I shall look on man no more + +among the inhabitants of the world. + +12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me + +like a shepherd's tent; + +like a weaver I have rolled up my life; + +he cuts me off from the loom; + +from day to night you bring me to an end; + +13I calmed myself[136] until morning; + +like a lion he breaks all my bones; + +from day to night you bring me to an end. + +14Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; + +I moan like a dove. + +My eyes are weary with looking upward. + +O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety! + +15What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, + +and he himself has done it. + +I walk slowly all my years + +because of the bitterness of my soul. + +16O Lord, by these things men live, + +and in all these is the life of my spirit. + +Oh restore me to health and make me live! + +17Behold, it was for my welfare + +that I had great bitterness; + +but in love you have delivered my life + +from the pit of destruction, + +for you have cast all my sins + +behind your back. + +18For Sheol does not thank you; + +death does not praise you; + +those who go down to the pit do not hope + +for your faithfulness. + +19The living, the living, he thanks you, + +as I do this day; + +the father makes known to the children + +your faithfulness. + +20The LORD will save me, + +and we will play my music on stringed instruments + +all the days of our lives, + +at the house of the LORD. + +21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?” + + + + + +Envoys from Babylon + + +39:1 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.” + +5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 6Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 7And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.” + + + + + +Comfort for God's People + + +40:1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. + +2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, + +and cry to her + +that her warfare[137] is ended, + +that her iniquity is pardoned, + +that she has received from the LORD's hand + +double for all her sins. + +3A voice cries:[138] + +“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; + +make straight in the desert a highway for our God. + +4Every valley shall be lifted up, + +and every mountain and hill be made low; + +the uneven ground shall become level, + +and the rough places a plain. + +5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, + +and all flesh shall see it together, + +for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” + + + + + +The Word of God Stands Forever + + +6A voice says, “Cry!” + +And I said,[139] “What shall I cry?” + +All flesh is grass, + +and all its beauty[140] is like the flower of the field. + +7The grass withers, the flower fades + +when the breath of the LORD blows on it; + +surely the people are grass. + +8The grass withers, the flower fades, + +but the word of our God will stand forever. + + + + + +The Greatness of God + + +9Get you up to a high mountain, + +O Zion, herald of good news;[141] + +lift up your voice with strength, + +O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[142] + +lift it up, fear not; + +say to the cities of Judah, + +“Behold your God!” + +10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, + +and his arm rules for him; + +behold, his reward is with him, + +and his recompense before him. + +11He will tend his flock like a shepherd; + +he will gather the lambs in his arms; + +he will carry them in his bosom, + +and gently lead those that are with young. + +12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand + +and marked off the heavens with a span, + +enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure + +and weighed the mountains in scales + +and the hills in a balance? + +13Who has measured[143] the Spirit of the LORD, + +or what man shows him his counsel? + +14Whom did he consult, + +and who made him understand? + +Who taught him the path of justice, + +and taught him knowledge, + +and showed him the way of understanding? + +15Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, + +and are accounted as the dust on the scales; + +behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. + +16Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, + +nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. + +17All the nations are as nothing before him, + +they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. + +18To whom then will you liken God, + +or what likeness compare with him? + +19An idol! A craftsman casts it, + +and a goldsmith overlays it with gold + +and casts for it silver chains. + +20He who is too impoverished for an offering + +chooses wood[144] that will not rot; + +he seeks out a skillful craftsman + +to set up an idol that will not move. + +21Do you not know? Do you not hear? + +Has it not been told you from the beginning? + +Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? + +22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, + +and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; + +who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, + +and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; + +23who brings princes to nothing, + +and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. + +24Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, + +scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, + +when he blows on them, and they wither, + +and the tempest carries them off like stubble. + +25To whom then will you compare me, + +that I should be like him? says the Holy One. + +26Lift up your eyes on high and see: + +who created these? + +He who brings out their host by number, + +calling them all by name, + +by the greatness of his might, + +and because he is strong in power + +not one is missing. + +27Why do you say, O Jacob, + +and speak, O Israel, + +“My way is hidden from the LORD, + +and my right is disregarded by my God”? + +28Have you not known? Have you not heard? + +The LORD is the everlasting God, + +the Creator of the ends of the earth. + +He does not faint or grow weary; + +his understanding is unsearchable. + +29He gives power to the faint, + +and to him who has no might he increases strength. + +30Even youths shall faint and be weary, + +and young men shall fall exhausted; + +31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; + +they shall mount up with wings like eagles; + +they shall run and not be weary; + +they shall walk and not faint. + + + + + +Fear Not, For I Am with You + + +41:1 Listen to me in silence, + +O coastlands; + +let the peoples renew their strength; + +let them approach, then let them speak; + +let us together draw near for judgment. + +2Who stirred up one from the east + +whom victory meets at every step?[145] + +He gives up nations before him, + +so that he tramples kings underfoot; + +he makes them like dust with his sword, + +like driven stubble with his bow. + +3He pursues them and passes on safely, + +by paths his feet have not trod. + +4Who has performed and done this, + +calling the generations from the beginning? + +I, the LORD, the first, + +and with the last; I am he. + +5The coastlands have seen and are afraid; + +the ends of the earth tremble; + +they have drawn near and come. + +6Everyone helps his neighbor + +and says to his brother, “Be strong!” + +7The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, + +and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, + +saying of the soldering, “It is good”; + +and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved. + +8But you, Israel, my servant, + +Jacob, whom I have chosen, + +the offspring of Abraham, my friend; + +9you whom I took from the ends of the earth, + +and called from its farthest corners, + +saying to you, “You are my servant, + +I have chosen you and not cast you off”; + +10fear not, for I am with you; + +be not dismayed, for I am your God; + +I will strengthen you, I will help you, + +I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. + +11Behold, all who are incensed against you + +shall be put to shame and confounded; + +those who strive against you + +shall be as nothing and shall perish. + +12You shall seek those who contend with you, + +but you shall not find them; + +those who war against you + +shall be as nothing at all. + +13For I, the LORD your God, + +hold your right hand; + +it is I who say to you, “Fear not, + +I am the one who helps you.” + +14Fear not, you worm Jacob, + +you men of Israel! + +I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; + +your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. + +15Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge, + +new, sharp, and having teeth; + +you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, + +and you shall make the hills like chaff; + +16you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, + +and the tempest shall scatter them. + +And you shall rejoice in the LORD; + +in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. + +17When the poor and needy seek water, + +and there is none, + +and their tongue is parched with thirst, + +I the LORD will answer them; + +I the God of Israel will not forsake them. + +18I will open rivers on the bare heights, + +and fountains in the midst of the valleys. + +I will make the wilderness a pool of water, + +and the dry land springs of water. + +19I will put in the wilderness the cedar, + +the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. + +I will set in the desert the cypress, + +the plane and the pine together, + +20that they may see and know, + +may consider and understand together, + +that the hand of the LORD has done this, + +the Holy One of Israel has created it. + + + + + +The Futility of Idols + + +21Set forth your case, says the LORD; + +bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. + +22Let them bring them, and tell us + +what is to happen. + +Tell us the former things, what they are, + +that we may consider them, + +that we may know their outcome; + +or declare to us the things to come. + +23Tell us what is to come hereafter, + +that we may know that you are gods; + +do good, or do harm, + +that we may be dismayed and terrified.[146] + +24Behold, you are nothing, + +and your work is less than nothing; + +an abomination is he who chooses you. + +25I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, + +from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name; + +he shall trample on rulers as on mortar, + +as the potter treads clay. + +26Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, + +and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”? + +There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, + +none who heard your words. + +27I was the first to say[147] to Zion, “Behold, here they are!” + +and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news. + +28But when I look, there is no one; + +among these there is no counselor + +who, when I ask, gives an answer. + +29Behold, they are all a delusion; + +their works are nothing; + +their metal images are empty wind. + + + + + +The LORD's Chosen Servant + + +42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, + +my chosen, in whom my soul delights; + +I have put my Spirit upon him; + +he will bring forth justice to the nations. + +2He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, + +or make it heard in the street; + +3a bruised reed he will not break, + +and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; + +he will faithfully bring forth justice. + +4He will not grow faint or be discouraged[148] + +till he has established justice in the earth; + +and the coastlands wait for his law. + +5Thus says God, the LORD, + +who created the heavens and stretched them out, + +who spread out the earth and what comes from it, + +who gives breath to the people on it + +and spirit to those who walk in it: + +6“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; + +I will take you by the hand and keep you; + +I will give you as a covenant for the people, + +a light for the nations, + +7to open the eyes that are blind, + +to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, + +from the prison those who sit in darkness. + +8I am the LORD; that is my name; + +my glory I give to no other, + +nor my praise to carved idols. + +9Behold, the former things have come to pass, + +and new things I now declare; + +before they spring forth + +I tell you of them.” + + + + + +Sing to the LORD a New Song + + +10Sing to the LORD a new song, + +his praise from the end of the earth, + +you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, + +the coastlands and their inhabitants. + +11Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, + +the villages that Kedar inhabits; + +let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, + +let them shout from the top of the mountains. + +12Let them give glory to the LORD, + +and declare his praise in the coastlands. + +13The LORD goes out like a mighty man, + +like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; + +he cries out, he shouts aloud, + +he shows himself mighty against his foes. + +14For a long time I have held my peace; + +I have kept still and restrained myself; + +now I will cry out like a woman in labor; + +I will gasp and pant. + +15I will lay waste mountains and hills, + +and dry up all their vegetation; + +I will turn the rivers into islands,[149] + +and dry up the pools. + +16And I will lead the blind + +in a way that they do not know, + +in paths that they have not known + +I will guide them. + +I will turn the darkness before them into light, + +the rough places into level ground. + +These are the things I do, + +and I do not forsake them. + +17They are turned back and utterly put to shame, + +who trust in carved idols, + +who say to metal images, + +“You are our gods.” + + + + + +Israel's Failure to Hear and See + + +18Hear, you deaf, + +and look, you blind, that you may see! + +19Who is blind but my servant, + +or deaf as my messenger whom I send? + +Who is blind as my dedicated one,[150] + +or blind as the servant of the LORD? + +20He sees many things, but does not observe them; + +his ears are open, but he does not hear. + +21The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, + +to magnify his law and make it glorious. + +22But this is a people plundered and looted; + +they are all of them trapped in holes + +and hidden in prisons; + +they have become plunder with none to rescue, + +spoil with none to say, “Restore!” + +23Who among you will give ear to this, + +will attend and listen for the time to come? + +24Who gave up Jacob to the looter, + +and Israel to the plunderers? + +Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, + +in whose ways they would not walk, + +and whose law they would not obey? + +25So he poured on him the heat of his anger + +and the might of battle; + +it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; + +it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart. + + + + + +Israel's Only Savior + + +43:1 But now thus says the LORD, + +he who created you, O Jacob, + +he who formed you, O Israel: + +“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; + +I have called you by name, you are mine. + +2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; + +and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; + +when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, + +and the flame shall not consume you. + +3For I am the LORD your God, + +the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. + +I give Egypt as your ransom, + +Cush and Seba in exchange for you. + +4Because you are precious in my eyes, + +and honored, and I love you, + +I give men in return for you, + +peoples in exchange for your life. + +5Fear not, for I am with you; + +I will bring your offspring from the east, + +and from the west I will gather you. + +6I will say to the north, Give up, + +and to the south, Do not withhold; + +bring my sons from afar + +and my daughters from the end of the earth, + +7everyone who is called by my name, + +whom I created for my glory, + +whom I formed and made.” + +8Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, + +who are deaf, yet have ears! + +9All the nations gather together, + +and the peoples assemble. + +Who among them can declare this, + +and show us the former things? + +Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, + +and let them hear and say, It is true. + +10“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, + +“and my servant whom I have chosen, + +that you may know and believe me + +and understand that I am he. + +Before me no god was formed, + +nor shall there be any after me. + +11I, I am the LORD, + +and besides me there is no savior. + +12I declared and saved and proclaimed, + +when there was no strange god among you; + +and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God. + +13Also henceforth I am he; + +there is none who can deliver from my hand; + +I work, and who can turn it back?” + +14Thus says the LORD, + +your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: + +“For your sake I send to Babylon + +and bring them all down as fugitives, + +even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice. + +15I am the LORD, your Holy One, + +the Creator of Israel, your King.” + +16Thus says the LORD, + +who makes a way in the sea, + +a path in the mighty waters, + +17who brings forth chariot and horse, + +army and warrior; + +they lie down, they cannot rise, + +they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: + +18“Remember not the former things, + +nor consider the things of old. + +19Behold, I am doing a new thing; + +now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? + +I will make a way in the wilderness + +and rivers in the desert. + +20The wild beasts will honor me, + +the jackals and the ostriches, + +for I give water in the wilderness, + +rivers in the desert, + +to give drink to my chosen people, + +21the people whom I formed for myself + +that they might declare my praise. + +22“Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; + +but you have been weary of me, O Israel! + +23You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, + +or honored me with your sacrifices. + +I have not burdened you with offerings, + +or wearied you with frankincense. + +24You have not bought me sweet cane with money, + +or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. + +But you have burdened me with your sins; + +you have wearied me with your iniquities. + +25“I, I am he + +who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, + +and I will not remember your sins. + +26Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; + +set forth your case, that you may be proved right. + +27Your first father sinned, + +and your mediators transgressed against me. + +28Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, + +and deliver Jacob to utter destruction + +and Israel to reviling. + + + + + +Israel the LORD's Chosen + + +44:1 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant, + +Israel whom I have chosen! + +2Thus says the LORD who made you, + +who formed you from the womb and will help you: + +Fear not, O Jacob my servant, + +Jeshurun whom I have chosen. + +3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, + +and streams on the dry ground; + +I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, + +and my blessing on your descendants. + +4They shall spring up among the grass + +like willows by flowing streams. + +5This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,’ + +another will call on the name of Jacob, + +and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,’ + +and name himself by the name of Israel.” + + + + + +Besides Me There Is No God + + +6Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel + +and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: + +“I am the first and I am the last; + +besides me there is no god. + +7Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.[151] + +Let him declare and set it before me, + +since I appointed an ancient people. + +Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. + +8Fear not, nor be afraid; + +have I not told you from of old and declared it? + +And you are my witnesses! + +Is there a God besides me? + +There is no Rock; I know not any.” + + + + + +The Folly of Idolatry + + +9All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. + +12The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” + +18They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” + + + + + +The LORD Redeems Israel + + +21Remember these things, O Jacob, + +and Israel, for you are my servant; + +I formed you; you are my servant; + +O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. + +22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud + +and your sins like mist; + +return to me, for I have redeemed you. + +23Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; + +shout, O depths of the earth; + +break forth into singing, O mountains, + +O forest, and every tree in it! + +For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, + +and will be glorified[152] in Israel. + +24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, + +who formed you from the womb: + +“I am the LORD, who made all things, + +who alone stretched out the heavens, + +who spread out the earth by myself, + +25who frustrates the signs of liars + +and makes fools of diviners, + +who turns wise men back + +and makes their knowledge foolish, + +26who confirms the word of his servant + +and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, + +who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ + +and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, + +and I will raise up their ruins’; + +27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; + +I will dry up your rivers’; + +28who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, + +and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; + +saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ + +and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” + + + + + +Cyrus, God's Instrument + + +45:1 Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, + +whose right hand I have grasped, + +to subdue nations before him + +and to loose the belts of kings, + +to open doors before him + +that gates may not be closed: + +2“I will go before you + +and level the exalted places,[153] + +I will break in pieces the doors of bronze + +and cut through the bars of iron, + +3I will give you the treasures of darkness + +and the hoards in secret places, + +that you may know that it is I, the LORD, + +the God of Israel, who call you by your name. + +4For the sake of my servant Jacob, + +and Israel my chosen, + +I call you by your name, + +I name you, though you do not know me. + +5I am the LORD, and there is no other, + +besides me there is no God; + +I equip you, though you do not know me, + +6that people may know, from the rising of the sun + +and from the west, that there is none besides me; + +I am the LORD, and there is no other. + +7I form light and create darkness, + +I make well-being and create calamity, + +I am the LORD, who does all these things. + +8“Shower, O heavens, from above, + +and let the clouds rain down righteousness; + +let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; + +let the earth cause them both to sprout; + +I the LORD have created it. + +9“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, + +a pot among earthen pots! + +Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ + +or ‘Your work has no handles’? + +10Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ + +or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’” + +11Thus says the LORD, + +the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: + +“Ask me of things to come; + +will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?[154] + +12I made the earth + +and created man on it; + +it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, + +and I commanded all their host. + +13I have stirred him up in righteousness, + +and I will make all his ways level; + +he shall build my city + +and set my exiles free, + +not for price or reward,” + +says the LORD of hosts. + + + + + +The LORD, the Only Savior + + +14Thus says the LORD: + +“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, + +and the Sabeans, men of stature, + +shall come over to you and be yours; + +they shall follow you; + +they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. + +They will plead with you, saying: + +‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other, + +no god besides him.’” + +15Truly, you are a God who hides himself, + +O God of Israel, the Savior. + +16All of them are put to shame and confounded; + +the makers of idols go in confusion together. + +17But Israel is saved by the LORD + +with everlasting salvation; + +you shall not be put to shame or confounded + +to all eternity. + +18For thus says the LORD, + +who created the heavens + +(he is God!), + +who formed the earth and made it + +(he established it; + +he did not create it empty, + +he formed it to be inhabited!): + +“I am the LORD, and there is no other. + +19I did not speak in secret, + +in a land of darkness; + +I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, + +‘Seek me in vain.’[155] + +I the LORD speak the truth; + +I declare what is right. + +20“Assemble yourselves and come; + +draw near together, + +you survivors of the nations! + +They have no knowledge + +who carry about their wooden idols, + +and keep on praying to a god + +that cannot save. + +21Declare and present your case; + +let them take counsel together! + +Who told this long ago? + +Who declared it of old? + +Was it not I, the LORD? + +And there is no other god besides me, + +a righteous God and a Savior; + +there is none besides me. + +22“Turn to me and be saved, + +all the ends of the earth! + +For I am God, and there is no other. + +23By myself I have sworn; + +from my mouth has gone out in righteousness + +a word that shall not return: + +‘To me every knee shall bow, + +every tongue shall swear allegiance.’[156] + +24“Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, + +are righteousness and strength; + +to him shall come and be ashamed + +all who were incensed against him. + +25In the LORD all the offspring of Israel + +shall be justified and shall glory.” + + + + + +The Idols of Babylon and the One True God + + +46:1 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; + +their idols are on beasts and livestock; + +these things you carry are borne + +as burdens on weary beasts. + +2They stoop; they bow down together; + +they cannot save the burden, + +but themselves go into captivity. + +3“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, + +all the remnant of the house of Israel, + +who have been borne by me from before your birth, + +carried from the womb; + +4even to your old age I am he, + +and to gray hairs I will carry you. + +I have made, and I will bear; + +I will carry and will save. + +5“To whom will you liken me and make me equal, + +and compare me, that we may be alike? + +6Those who lavish gold from the purse, + +and weigh out silver in the scales, + +hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; + +then they fall down and worship! + +7They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, + +they set it in its place, and it stands there; + +it cannot move from its place. + +If one cries to it, it does not answer + +or save him from his trouble. + +8“Remember this and stand firm, + +recall it to mind, you transgressors, + +9remember the former things of old; + +for I am God, and there is no other; + +I am God, and there is none like me, + +10declaring the end from the beginning + +and from ancient times things not yet done, + +saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, + +and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ + +11calling a bird of prey from the east, + +the man of my counsel from a far country. + +I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; + +I have purposed, and I will do it. + +12“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, + +you who are far from righteousness: + +13I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, + +and my salvation will not delay; + +I will put salvation in Zion, + +for Israel my glory.” + + + + + +The Humiliation of Babylon + + +47:1 Come down and sit in the dust, + +O virgin daughter of Babylon; + +sit on the ground without a throne, + +O daughter of the Chaldeans! + +For you shall no more be called + +tender and delicate. + +2Take the millstones and grind flour, + +put off your veil, + +strip off your robe, uncover your legs, + +pass through the rivers. + +3Your nakedness shall be uncovered, + +and your disgrace shall be seen. + +I will take vengeance, + +and I will spare no one. + +4Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name— + +is the Holy One of Israel. + +5Sit in silence, and go into darkness, + +O daughter of the Chaldeans; + +for you shall no more be called + +the mistress of kingdoms. + +6I was angry with my people; + +I profaned my heritage; + +I gave them into your hand; + +you showed them no mercy; + +on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy. + +7You said, “I shall be mistress forever,” + +so that you did not lay these things to heart + +or remember their end. + +8Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, + +who sit securely, + +who say in your heart, + +“I am, and there is no one besides me; + +I shall not sit as a widow + +or know the loss of children”: + +9These two things shall come to you + +in a moment, in one day; + +the loss of children and widowhood + +shall come upon you in full measure, + +in spite of your many sorceries + +and the great power of your enchantments. + +10You felt secure in your wickedness, + +you said, “No one sees me”; + +your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, + +and you said in your heart, + +“I am, and there is no one besides me.” + +11But evil shall come upon you, + +which you will not know how to charm away; + +disaster shall fall upon you, + +for which you will not be able to atone; + +and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, + +of which you know nothing. + +12Stand fast in your enchantments + +and your many sorceries, + +with which you have labored from your youth; + +perhaps you may be able to succeed; + +perhaps you may inspire terror. + +13You are wearied with your many counsels; + +let them stand forth and save you, + +those who divide the heavens, + +who gaze at the stars, + +who at the new moons make known + +what shall come upon you. + +14Behold, they are like stubble; + +the fire consumes them; + +they cannot deliver themselves + +from the power of the flame. + +No coal for warming oneself is this, + +no fire to sit before! + +15Such to you are those with whom you have labored, + +who have done business with you from your youth; + +they wander about, each in his own direction; + +there is no one to save you. + + + + + +Israel Refined for God's Glory + + +48:1 Hear this, O house of Jacob, + +who are called by the name of Israel, + +and who came from the waters of Judah, + +who swear by the name of the LORD + +and confess the God of Israel, + +but not in truth or right. + +2For they call themselves after the holy city, + +and stay themselves on the God of Israel; + +the LORD of hosts is his name. + +3“The former things I declared of old; + +they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; + +then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. + +4Because I know that you are obstinate, + +and your neck is an iron sinew + +and your forehead brass, + +5I declared them to you from of old, + +before they came to pass I announced them to you, + +lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, + +my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’ + +6“You have heard; now see all this; + +and will you not declare it? + +From this time forth I announce to you new things, + +hidden things that you have not known. + +7They are created now, not long ago; + +before today you have never heard of them, + +lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ + +8You have never heard, you have never known, + +from of old your ear has not been opened. + +For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, + +and that from before birth you were called a rebel. + +9“For my name's sake I defer my anger, + +for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, + +that I may not cut you off. + +10Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; + +I have tried[157] you in the furnace of affliction. + +11For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, + +for how should my name[158] be profaned? + +My glory I will not give to another. + + + + + +The LORD's Call to Israel + + +12“Listen to me, O Jacob, + +and Israel, whom I called! + +I am he; I am the first, + +and I am the last. + +13My hand laid the foundation of the earth, + +and my right hand spread out the heavens; + +when I call to them, + +they stand forth together. + +14“Assemble, all of you, and listen! + +Who among them has declared these things? + +The LORD loves him; + +he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, + +and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. + +15I, even I, have spoken and called him; + +I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. + +16Draw near to me, hear this: + +from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, + +from the time it came to be I have been there.” + +And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit. + +17Thus says the LORD, + +your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: + +“I am the LORD your God, + +who teaches you to profit, + +who leads you in the way you should go. + +18Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! + +Then your peace would have been like a river, + +and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; + +19your offspring would have been like the sand, + +and your descendants like its grains; + +their name would never be cut off + +or destroyed from before me.” + +20Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, + +declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, + +send it out to the end of the earth; + +say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!” + +21They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; + +he made water flow for them from the rock; + +he split the rock and the water gushed out. + +22“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” + + + + + +The Servant of the LORD + + +49:1 Listen to me, O coastlands, + +and give attention, you peoples from afar. + +The LORD called me from the womb, + +from the body of my mother he named my name. + +2He made my mouth like a sharp sword; + +in the shadow of his hand he hid me; + +he made me a polished arrow; + +in his quiver he hid me away. + +3And he said to me, “You are my servant, + +Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”[159] + +4But I said, “I have labored in vain; + +I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; + +yet surely my right is with the LORD, + +and my recompense with my God.” + +5And now the LORD says, + +he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, + +to bring Jacob back to him; + +and that Israel might be gathered to him— + +for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, + +and my God has become my strength— + +6he says: + +“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant + +to raise up the tribes of Jacob + +and to bring back the preserved of Israel; + +I will make you as a light for the nations, + +that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” + +7Thus says the LORD, + +the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, + +to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, + +the servant of rulers: + +“Kings shall see and arise; + +princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; + +because of the LORD, who is faithful, + +the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” + + + + + +The Restoration of Israel + + +8Thus says the LORD: + +“In a time of favor I have answered you; + +in a day of salvation I have helped you; + +I will keep you and give you + +as a covenant to the people, + +to establish the land, + +to apportion the desolate heritages, + +9saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ + +to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ + +They shall feed along the ways; + +on all bare heights shall be their pasture; + +10they shall not hunger or thirst, + +neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, + +for he who has pity on them will lead them, + +and by springs of water will guide them. + +11And I will make all my mountains a road, + +and my highways shall be raised up. + +12Behold, these shall come from afar, + +and behold, these from the north and from the west,[160] + +and these from the land of Syene.”[161] + +13Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; + +break forth, O mountains, into singing! + +For the LORD has comforted his people + +and will have compassion on his afflicted. + +14But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; + +my Lord has forgotten me.” + +15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, + +that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? + +Even these may forget, + +yet I will not forget you. + +16Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; + +your walls are continually before me. + +17Your builders make haste;[162] + +your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you. + +18Lift up your eyes around and see; + +they all gather, they come to you. + +As I live, declares the LORD, + +you shall put them all on as an ornament; + +you shall bind them on as a bride does. + +19“Surely your waste and your desolate places + +and your devastated land— + +surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, + +and those who swallowed you up will be far away. + +20The children of your bereavement + +will yet say in your ears: + +‘The place is too narrow for me; + +make room for me to dwell in.’ + +21Then you will say in your heart: + +‘Who has borne me these? + +I was bereaved and barren, + +exiled and put away, + +but who has brought up these? + +Behold, I was left alone; + +from where have these come?’” + +22Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, + +and raise my signal to the peoples; + +and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, + +and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. + +23Kings shall be your foster fathers, + +and their queens your nursing mothers. + +With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, + +and lick the dust of your feet. + +Then you will know that I am the LORD; + +those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.” + +24Can the prey be taken from the mighty, + +or the captives of a tyrant[163] be rescued? + +25For thus says the LORD: + +“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, + +and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, + +for I will contend with those who contend with you, + +and I will save your children. + +26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, + +and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. + +Then all flesh shall know + +that I am the LORD your Savior, + +and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” + + + + + +Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience + + +50:1 Thus says the LORD: + +“Where is your mother's certificate of divorce, + +with which I sent her away? + +Or which of my creditors is it + +to whom I have sold you? + +Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, + +and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. + +2Why, when I came, was there no man; + +why, when I called, was there no one to answer? + +Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? + +Or have I no power to deliver? + +Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, + +I make the rivers a desert; + +their fish stink for lack of water + +and die of thirst. + +3I clothe the heavens with blackness + +and make sackcloth their covering.” + +4The Lord GOD has given me + +the tongue of those who are taught, + +that I may know how to sustain with a word + +him who is weary. + +Morning by morning he awakens; + +he awakens my ear + +to hear as those who are taught. + +5The Lord GOD has opened my ear, + +and I was not rebellious; + +I turned not backward. + +6I gave my back to those who strike, + +and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; + +I hid not my face + +from disgrace and spitting. + +7But the Lord GOD helps me; + +therefore I have not been disgraced; + +therefore I have set my face like a flint, + +and I know that I shall not be put to shame. + +8He who vindicates me is near. + +Who will contend with me? + +Let us stand up together. + +Who is my adversary? + +Let him come near to me. + +9Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; + +who will declare me guilty? + +Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; + +the moth will eat them up. + +10Who among you fears the LORD + +and obeys the voice of his servant? + +Let him who walks in darkness + +and has no light + +trust in the name of the LORD + +and rely on his God. + +11Behold, all you who kindle a fire, + +who equip yourselves with burning torches! + +Walk by the light of your fire, + +and by the torches that you have kindled! + +This you have from my hand: + +you shall lie down in torment. + + + + + +The LORD's Comfort for Zion + + +51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, + +you who seek the LORD: + +look to the rock from which you were hewn, + +and to the quarry from which you were dug. + +2Look to Abraham your father + +and to Sarah who bore you; + +for he was but one when I called him, + +that I might bless him and multiply him. + +3For the LORD comforts Zion; + +he comforts all her waste places + +and makes her wilderness like Eden, + +her desert like the garden of the LORD; + +joy and gladness will be found in her, + +thanksgiving and the voice of song. + +4“Give attention to me, my people, + +and give ear to me, my nation; + +for a law[164] will go out from me, + +and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. + +5My righteousness draws near, + +my salvation has gone out, + +and my arms will judge the peoples; + +the coastlands hope for me, + +and for my arm they wait. + +6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, + +and look at the earth beneath; + +for the heavens vanish like smoke, + +the earth will wear out like a garment, + +and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;[165] + +but my salvation will be forever, + +and my righteousness will never be dismayed. + +7“Listen to me, you who know righteousness, + +the people in whose heart is my law; + +fear not the reproach of man, + +nor be dismayed at their revilings. + +8For the moth will eat them up like a garment, + +and the worm will eat them like wool; + +but my righteousness will be forever, + +and my salvation to all generations.” + +9Awake, awake, put on strength, + +O arm of the LORD; + +awake, as in days of old, + +the generations of long ago. + +Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, + +who pierced the dragon? + +10Was it not you who dried up the sea, + +the waters of the great deep, + +who made the depths of the sea a way + +for the redeemed to pass over? + +11And the ransomed of the LORD shall return + +and come to Zion with singing; + +everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; + +they shall obtain gladness and joy, + +and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. + +12“I, I am he who comforts you; + +who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, + +of the son of man who is made like grass, + +13and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, + +who stretched out the heavens + +and laid the foundations of the earth, + +and you fear continually all the day + +because of the wrath of the oppressor, + +when he sets himself to destroy? + +And where is the wrath of the oppressor? + +14He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; + +he shall not die and go down to the pit, + +neither shall his bread be lacking. + +15I am the LORD your God, + +who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— + +the LORD of hosts is his name. + +16And I have put my words in your mouth + +and covered you in the shadow of my hand, + +establishing[166] the heavens + +and laying the foundations of the earth, + +and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” + +17Wake yourself, wake yourself, + +stand up, O Jerusalem, + +you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD + +the cup of his wrath, + +who have drunk to the dregs + +the bowl, the cup of staggering. + +18There is none to guide her + +among all the sons she has borne; + +there is none to take her by the hand + +among all the sons she has brought up. + +19These two things have happened to you— + +who will console you?— + +devastation and destruction, famine and sword; + +who will comfort you?[167] + +20Your sons have fainted; + +they lie at the head of every street + +like an antelope in a net; + +they are full of the wrath of the LORD, + +the rebuke of your God. + +21Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, + +who are drunk, but not with wine: + +22Thus says your Lord, the LORD, + +your God who pleads the cause of his people: + +“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; + +the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; + +23and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, + +who have said to you, + +‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; + +and you have made your back like the ground + +and like the street for them to pass over.” + + + + + +The LORD's Coming Salvation + + +52:1 Awake, awake, + +put on your strength, O Zion; + +put on your beautiful garments, + +O Jerusalem, the holy city; + +for there shall no more come into you + +the uncircumcised and the unclean. + +2Shake yourself from the dust and arise; + +be seated, O Jerusalem; + +loose the bonds from your neck, + +O captive daughter of Zion. + +3For thus says the LORD: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4For thus says the Lord GOD: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5Now therefore what have I here,” declares the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the LORD, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.” + +7How beautiful upon the mountains + +are the feet of him who brings good news, + +who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, + +who publishes salvation, + +who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” + +8The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; + +together they sing for joy; + +for eye to eye they see + +the return of the LORD to Zion. + +9Break forth together into singing, + +you waste places of Jerusalem, + +for the LORD has comforted his people; + +he has redeemed Jerusalem. + +10The LORD has bared his holy arm + +before the eyes of all the nations, + +and all the ends of the earth shall see + +the salvation of our God. + +11Depart, depart, go out from there; + +touch no unclean thing; + +go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, + +you who bear the vessels of the LORD. + +12For you shall not go out in haste, + +and you shall not go in flight, + +for the LORD will go before you, + +and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. + + + + + +He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions + + +13Behold, my servant shall act wisely;[168] + +he shall be high and lifted up, + +and shall be exalted. + +14As many were astonished at you— + +his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, + +and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— + +15so shall he sprinkle[169] many nations; + +kings shall shut their mouths because of him; + +for that which has not been told them they see, + +and that which they have not heard they understand. + + + + + +53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?[170] + +And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? + +2For he grew up before him like a young plant, + +and like a root out of dry ground; + +he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, + +and no beauty that we should desire him. + +3He was despised and rejected[171] by men; + +a man of sorrows,[172] and acquainted with[173] grief;[174] + +and as one from whom men hide their faces[175] + +he was despised, and we esteemed him not. + +4Surely he has borne our griefs + +and carried our sorrows; + +yet we esteemed him stricken, + +smitten by God, and afflicted. + +5But he was wounded for our transgressions; + +he was crushed for our iniquities; + +upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, + +and with his stripes we are healed. + +6All we like sheep have gone astray; + +we have turned—every one—to his own way; + +and the LORD has laid on him + +the iniquity of us all. + +7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, + +yet he opened not his mouth; + +like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, + +and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, + +so he opened not his mouth. + +8By oppression and judgment he was taken away; + +and as for his generation, who considered + +that he was cut off out of the land of the living, + +stricken for the transgression of my people? + +9And they made his grave with the wicked + +and with a rich man in his death, + +although he had done no violence, + +and there was no deceit in his mouth. + +10Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; + +he has put him to grief;[176] + +when his soul makes[177] an offering for guilt, + +he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; + +the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. + +11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[178] and be satisfied; + +by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, + +make many to be accounted righteous, + +and he shall bear their iniquities. + +12Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,[179] + +and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,[180] + +because he poured out his soul to death + +and was numbered with the transgressors; + +yet he bore the sin of many, + +and makes intercession for the transgressors. + + + + + +The Eternal Covenant of Peace + + +54:1 “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; + +break forth into singing and cry aloud, + +you who have not been in labor! + +For the children of the desolate one will be more + +than the children of her who is married,” says the LORD. + +2“Enlarge the place of your tent, + +and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; + +do not hold back; lengthen your cords + +and strengthen your stakes. + +3For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, + +and your offspring will possess the nations + +and will people the desolate cities. + +4“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; + +be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; + +for you will forget the shame of your youth, + +and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. + +5For your Maker is your husband, + +the LORD of hosts is his name; + +and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, + +the God of the whole earth he is called. + +6For the LORD has called you + +like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, + +like a wife of youth when she is cast off, + +says your God. + +7For a brief moment I deserted you, + +but with great compassion I will gather you. + +8In overflowing anger for a moment + +I hid my face from you, + +but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” + +says the LORD, your Redeemer. + +9“This is like the days of Noah[181] to me: + +as I swore that the waters of Noah + +should no more go over the earth, + +so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, + +and will not rebuke you. + +10For the mountains may depart + +and the hills be removed, + +but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, + +and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” + +says the LORD, who has compassion on you. + +11“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, + +behold, I will set your stones in antimony, + +and lay your foundations with sapphires.[182] + +12I will make your pinnacles of agate,[183] + +your gates of carbuncles,[184] + +and all your wall of precious stones. + +13All your children shall be taught by the LORD, + +and great shall be the peace of your children. + +14In righteousness you shall be established; + +you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; + +and from terror, for it shall not come near you. + +15If anyone stirs up strife, + +it is not from me; + +whoever stirs up strife with you + +shall fall because of you. + +16Behold, I have created the smith + +who blows the fire of coals + +and produces a weapon for its purpose. + +I have also created the ravager to destroy; + +17no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, + +and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. + +This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD + +and their vindication[185] from me, declares the LORD.” + + + + + +The Compassion of the LORD + + +55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, + +come to the waters; + +and he who has no money, + +come, buy and eat! + +Come, buy wine and milk + +without money and without price. + +2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, + +and your labor for that which does not satisfy? + +Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, + +and delight yourselves in rich food. + +3Incline your ear, and come to me; + +hear, that your soul may live; + +and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, + +my steadfast, sure love for David. + +4Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, + +a leader and commander for the peoples. + +5Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, + +and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, + +because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, + +for he has glorified you. + +6“Seek the LORD while he may be found; + +call upon him while he is near; + +7let the wicked forsake his way, + +and the unrighteous man his thoughts; + +let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, + +and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. + +8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, + +neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. + +9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, + +so are my ways higher than your ways + +and my thoughts than your thoughts. + +10“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven + +and do not return there but water the earth, + +making it bring forth and sprout, + +giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, + +11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; + +it shall not return to me empty, + +but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, + +and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. + +12“For you shall go out in joy + +and be led forth in peace; + +the mountains and the hills before you + +shall break forth into singing, + +and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. + +13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; + +instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; + +and it shall make a name for the LORD, + +an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” + + + + + +Salvation for Foreigners + + +56:1 Thus says the LORD: + +“Keep justice, and do righteousness, + +for soon my salvation will come, + +and my deliverance be revealed. + +2Blessed is the man who does this, + +and the son of man who holds it fast, + +who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, + +and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” + +3Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, + +“The LORD will surely separate me from his people”; + +and let not the eunuch say, + +“Behold, I am a dry tree.” + +4For thus says the LORD: + +“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, + +who choose the things that please me + +and hold fast my covenant, + +5I will give in my house and within my walls + +a monument and a name + +better than sons and daughters; + +I will give them an everlasting name + +that shall not be cut off. + +6“And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, + +to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, + +and to be his servants, + +everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, + +and holds fast my covenant— + +7these I will bring to my holy mountain, + +and make them joyful in my house of prayer; + +their burnt offerings and their sacrifices + +will be accepted on my altar; + +for my house shall be called a house of prayer + +for all peoples.” + +8The Lord GOD, + +who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, + +“I will gather yet others to him + +besides those already gathered.” + + + + + +Israel's Irresponsible Leaders + + +9All you beasts of the field, come to devour— + +all you beasts in the forest. + +10His watchmen are blind; + +they are all without knowledge; + +they are all silent dogs; + +they cannot bark, + +dreaming, lying down, + +loving to slumber. + +11The dogs have a mighty appetite; + +they never have enough. + +But they are shepherds who have no understanding; + +they have all turned to their own way, + +each to his own gain, one and all. + +12“Come,” they say, “let me get wine; + +let us fill ourselves with strong drink; + +and tomorrow will be like this day, + +great beyond measure.” + + + + + +Israel's Futile Idolatry + + +57:1 The righteous man perishes, + +and no one lays it to heart; + +devout men are taken away, + +while no one understands. + +For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; + +2he enters into peace; + +they rest in their beds + +who walk in their uprightness. + +3But you, draw near, + +sons of the sorceress, + +offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. + +4Whom are you mocking? + +Against whom do you open your mouth wide + +and stick out your tongue? + +Are you not children of transgression, + +the offspring of deceit, + +5you who burn with lust among the oaks,[186] + +under every green tree, + +who slaughter your children in the valleys, + +under the clefts of the rocks? + +6Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; + +they, they, are your lot; + +to them you have poured out a drink offering, + +you have brought a grain offering. + +Shall I relent for these things? + +7On a high and lofty mountain + +you have set your bed, + +and there you went up to offer sacrifice. + +8Behind the door and the doorpost + +you have set up your memorial; + +for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, + +you have gone up to it, + +you have made it wide; + +and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, + +you have loved their bed, + +you have looked on nakedness.[187] + +9You journeyed to the king with oil + +and multiplied your perfumes; + +you sent your envoys far off, + +and sent down even to Sheol. + +10You were wearied with the length of your way, + +but you did not say, “It is hopeless”; + +you found new life for your strength, + +and so you were not faint.[188] + +11Whom did you dread and fear, + +so that you lied, + +and did not remember me, + +did not lay it to heart? + +Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, + +and you do not fear me? + +12I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, + +but they will not profit you. + +13When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! + +The wind will carry them off, + +a breath will take them away. + +But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land + +and shall inherit my holy mountain. + + + + + +Comfort for the Contrite + + +14And it shall be said, + +“Build up, build up, prepare the way, + +remove every obstruction from my people's way.” + +15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, + +who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: + +“I dwell in the high and holy place, + +and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, + +to revive the spirit of the lowly, + +and to revive the heart of the contrite. + +16For I will not contend forever, + +nor will I always be angry; + +for the spirit would grow faint before me, + +and the breath of life that I made. + +17Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, + +I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, + +but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. + +18I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; + +I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, + +19creating the fruit of the lips. + +Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, + +“and I will heal him. + +20But the wicked are like the tossing sea; + +for it cannot be quiet, + +and its waters toss up mire and dirt. + +21There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” + + + + + +True and False Fasting + + +58:1 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; + +lift up your voice like a trumpet; + +declare to my people their transgression, + +to the house of Jacob their sins. + +2Yet they seek me daily + +and delight to know my ways, + +as if they were a nation that did righteousness + +and did not forsake the judgment of their God; + +they ask of me righteous judgments; + +they delight to draw near to God. + +3‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? + +Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ + +Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,[189] + +and oppress all your workers. + +4Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight + +and to hit with a wicked fist. + +Fasting like yours this day + +will not make your voice to be heard on high. + +5Is such the fast that I choose, + +a day for a person to humble himself? + +Is it to bow down his head like a reed, + +and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? + +Will you call this a fast, + +and a day acceptable to the LORD? + +6“Is not this the fast that I choose: + +to loose the bonds of wickedness, + +to undo the straps of the yoke, + +to let the oppressed[190] go free, + +and to break every yoke? + +7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry + +and bring the homeless poor into your house; + +when you see the naked, to cover him, + +and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? + +8Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, + +and your healing shall spring up speedily; + +your righteousness shall go before you; + +the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. + +9Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; + +you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ + +If you take away the yoke from your midst, + +the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, + +10if you pour yourself out for the hungry + +and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, + +then shall your light rise in the darkness + +and your gloom be as the noonday. + +11And the LORD will guide you continually + +and satisfy your desire in scorched places + +and make your bones strong; + +and you shall be like a watered garden, + +like a spring of water, + +whose waters do not fail. + +12And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; + +you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; + +you shall be called the repairer of the breach, + +the restorer of streets to dwell in. + +13“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, + +from doing your pleasure[191] on my holy day, + +and call the Sabbath a delight + +and the holy day of the LORD honorable; + +if you honor it, not going your own ways, + +or seeking your own pleasure,[192] or talking idly;[193] + +14then you shall take delight in the LORD, + +and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;[194] + +I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, + +for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” + + + + + +Evil and Oppression + + +59:1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, + +or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; + +2but your iniquities have made a separation + +between you and your God, + +and your sins have hidden his face from you + +so that he does not hear. + +3For your hands are defiled with blood + +and your fingers with iniquity; + +your lips have spoken lies; + +your tongue mutters wickedness. + +4No one enters suit justly; + +no one goes to law honestly; + +they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, + +they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. + +5They hatch adders' eggs; + +they weave the spider's web; + +he who eats their eggs dies, + +and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. + +6Their webs will not serve as clothing; + +men will not cover themselves with what they make. + +Their works are works of iniquity, + +and deeds of violence are in their hands. + +7Their feet run to evil, + +and they are swift to shed innocent blood; + +their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; + +desolation and destruction are in their highways. + +8The way of peace they do not know, + +and there is no justice in their paths; + +they have made their roads crooked; + +no one who treads on them knows peace. + +9Therefore justice is far from us, + +and righteousness does not overtake us; + +we hope for light, and behold, darkness, + +and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. + +10We grope for the wall like the blind; + +we grope like those who have no eyes; + +we stumble at noon as in the twilight, + +among those in full vigor we are like dead men. + +11We all growl like bears; + +we moan and moan like doves; + +we hope for justice, but there is none; + +for salvation, but it is far from us. + +12For our transgressions are multiplied before you, + +and our sins testify against us; + +for our transgressions are with us, + +and we know our iniquities: + +13transgressing, and denying the LORD, + +and turning back from following our God, + +speaking oppression and revolt, + +conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. + +14Justice is turned back, + +and righteousness stands far away; + +for truth has stumbled in the public squares, + +and uprightness cannot enter. + +15Truth is lacking, + +and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. + + + + + +Judgment and Redemption + + +The LORD saw it, and it displeased him[195] + +that there was no justice. + +16He saw that there was no man, + +and wondered that there was no one to intercede; + +then his own arm brought him salvation, + +and his righteousness upheld him. + +17He put on righteousness as a breastplate, + +and a helmet of salvation on his head; + +he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, + +and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. + +18According to their deeds, so will he repay, + +wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; + +to the coastlands he will render repayment. + +19So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, + +and his glory from the rising of the sun; + +for he will come like a rushing stream,[196] + +which the wind of the LORD drives. + +20“And a Redeemer will come to Zion, + +to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD. + +21“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.” + + + + + +The Future Glory of Israel + + +60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, + +and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. + +2For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, + +and thick darkness the peoples; + +but the LORD will arise upon you, + +and his glory will be seen upon you. + +3And nations shall come to your light, + +and kings to the brightness of your rising. + +4Lift up your eyes all around, and see; + +they all gather together, they come to you; + +your sons shall come from afar, + +and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. + +5Then you shall see and be radiant; + +your heart shall thrill and exult,[197] + +because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, + +the wealth of the nations shall come to you. + +6A multitude of camels shall cover you, + +the young camels of Midian and Ephah; + +all those from Sheba shall come. + +They shall bring gold and frankincense, + +and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD. + +7All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; + +the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; + +they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, + +and I will beautify my beautiful house. + +8Who are these that fly like a cloud, + +and like doves to their windows? + +9For the coastlands shall hope for me, + +the ships of Tarshish first, + +to bring your children from afar, + +their silver and gold with them, + +for the name of the LORD your God, + +and for the Holy One of Israel, + +because he has made you beautiful. + +10Foreigners shall build up your walls, + +and their kings shall minister to you; + +for in my wrath I struck you, + +but in my favor I have had mercy on you. + +11Your gates shall be open continually; + +day and night they shall not be shut, + +that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, + +with their kings led in procession. + +12For the nation and kingdom + +that will not serve you shall perish; + +those nations shall be utterly laid waste. + +13The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, + +the cypress, the plane, and the pine, + +to beautify the place of my sanctuary, + +and I will make the place of my feet glorious. + +14The sons of those who afflicted you + +shall come bending low to you, + +and all who despised you + +shall bow down at your feet; + +they shall call you the City of the LORD, + +the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. + +15Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, + +with no one passing through, + +I will make you majestic forever, + +a joy from age to age. + +16You shall suck the milk of nations; + +you shall nurse at the breast of kings; + +and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior + +and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. + +17Instead of bronze I will bring gold, + +and instead of iron I will bring silver; + +instead of wood, bronze, + +instead of stones, iron. + +I will make your overseers peace + +and your taskmasters righteousness. + +18Violence shall no more be heard in your land, + +devastation or destruction within your borders; + +you shall call your walls Salvation, + +and your gates Praise. + +19The sun shall be no more + +your light by day, + +nor for brightness shall the moon + +give you light;[198] + +but the LORD will be your everlasting light, + +and your God will be your glory.[199] + +20Your sun shall no more go down, + +nor your moon withdraw itself; + +for the LORD will be your everlasting light, + +and your days of mourning shall be ended. + +21Your people shall all be righteous; + +they shall possess the land forever, + +the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, + +that I might be glorified.[200] + +22The least one shall become a clan, + +and the smallest one a mighty nation; + +I am the LORD; + +in its time I will hasten it. + + + + + +The Year of the LORD's Favor + + +61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, + +because the LORD has anointed me + +to bring good news to the poor;[201] + +he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, + +to proclaim liberty to the captives, + +and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;[202] + +2to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, + +and the day of vengeance of our God; + +to comfort all who mourn; + +3to grant to those who mourn in Zion— + +to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, + +the oil of gladness instead of mourning, + +the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; + +that they may be called oaks of righteousness, + +the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.[203] + +4They shall build up the ancient ruins; + +they shall raise up the former devastations; + +they shall repair the ruined cities, + +the devastations of many generations. + +5Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; + +foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; + +6but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; + +they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; + +you shall eat the wealth of the nations, + +and in their glory you shall boast. + +7Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; + +instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; + +therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; + +they shall have everlasting joy. + +8For I the LORD love justice; + +I hate robbery and wrong;[204] + +I will faithfully give them their recompense, + +and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. + +9Their offspring shall be known among the nations, + +and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; + +all who see them shall acknowledge them, + +that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed. + +10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; + +my soul shall exult in my God, + +for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; + +he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, + +as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, + +and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. + +11For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, + +and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, + +so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise + +to sprout up before all the nations. + + + + + +Zion's Coming Salvation + + +62:1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, + +and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, + +until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, + +and her salvation as a burning torch. + +2The nations shall see your righteousness, + +and all the kings your glory, + +and you shall be called by a new name + +that the mouth of the LORD will give. + +3You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, + +and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. + +4You shall no more be termed Forsaken,[205] + +and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,[206] + +but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,[207] + +and your land Married;[208] + +for the LORD delights in you, + +and your land shall be married. + +5For as a young man marries a young woman, + +so shall your sons marry you, + +and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, + +so shall your God rejoice over you. + +6On your walls, O Jerusalem, + +I have set watchmen; + +all the day and all the night + +they shall never be silent. + +You who put the LORD in remembrance, + +take no rest, + +7and give him no rest + +until he establishes Jerusalem + +and makes it a praise in the earth. + +8The LORD has sworn by his right hand + +and by his mighty arm: + +“I will not again give your grain + +to be food for your enemies, + +and foreigners shall not drink your wine + +for which you have labored; + +9but those who garner it shall eat it + +and praise the LORD, + +and those who gather it shall drink it + +in the courts of my sanctuary.”[209] + +10Go through, go through the gates; + +prepare the way for the people; + +build up, build up the highway; + +clear it of stones; + +lift up a signal over the peoples. + +11Behold, the LORD has proclaimed + +to the end of the earth: + +Say to the daughter of Zion, + +“Behold, your salvation comes; + +behold, his reward is with him, + +and his recompense before him.” + +12And they shall be called The Holy People, + +The Redeemed of the LORD; + +and you shall be called Sought Out, + +A City Not Forsaken. + + + + + +The LORD's Day of Vengeance + + +63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, + +in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, + +he who is splendid in his apparel, + +marching in the greatness of his strength? + +“It is I, speaking in righteousness, + +mighty to save.” + +2Why is your apparel red, + +and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? + +3“I have trodden the winepress alone, + +and from the peoples no one was with me; + +I trod them in my anger + +and trampled them in my wrath; + +their lifeblood[210] spattered on my garments, + +and stained all my apparel. + +4For the day of vengeance was in my heart, + +and my year of redemption[211] had come. + +5I looked, but there was no one to help; + +I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; + +so my own arm brought me salvation, + +and my wrath upheld me. + +6I trampled down the peoples in my anger; + +I made them drunk in my wrath, + +and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” + + + + + +The LORD's Mercy Remembered + + +7I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, + +the praises of the LORD, + +according to all that the LORD has granted us, + +and the great goodness to the house of Israel + +that he has granted them according to his compassion, + +according to the abundance of his steadfast love. + +8For he said, “Surely they are my people, + +children who will not deal falsely.” + +And he became their Savior. + +9In all their affliction he was afflicted,[212] + +and the angel of his presence saved them; + +in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; + +he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. + +10But they rebelled + +and grieved his Holy Spirit; + +therefore he turned to be their enemy, + +and himself fought against them. + +11Then he remembered the days of old, + +of Moses and his people.[213] + +Where is he who brought them up out of the sea + +with the shepherds of his flock? + +Where is he who put in the midst of them + +his Holy Spirit, + +12who caused his glorious arm + +to go at the right hand of Moses, + +who divided the waters before them + +to make for himself an everlasting name, + +13who led them through the depths? + +Like a horse in the desert, + +they did not stumble. + +14Like livestock that go down into the valley, + +the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. + +So you led your people, + +to make for yourself a glorious name. + + + + + +Prayer for Mercy + + +15Look down from heaven and see, + +from your holy and beautiful[214] habitation. + +Where are your zeal and your might? + +The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion + +are held back from me. + +16For you are our Father, + +though Abraham does not know us, + +and Israel does not acknowledge us; + +you, O LORD, are our Father, + +our Redeemer from of old is your name. + +17O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways + +and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? + +Return for the sake of your servants, + +the tribes of your heritage. + +18Your holy people held possession for a little while;[215] + +our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. + +19We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, + +like those who are not called by your name. + + + + + +64:1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, + +that the mountains might quake at your presence— + +2[216] as when fire kindles brushwood + +and the fire causes water to boil— + +to make your name known to your adversaries, + +and that the nations might tremble at your presence! + +3When you did awesome things that we did not look for, + +you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. + +4From of old no one has heard + +or perceived by the ear, + +no eye has seen a God besides you, + +who acts for those who wait for him. + +5You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, + +those who remember you in your ways. + +Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; + +in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[217] + +6We have all become like one who is unclean, + +and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. + +We all fade like a leaf, + +and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. + +7There is no one who calls upon your name, + +who rouses himself to take hold of you; + +for you have hidden your face from us, + +and have made us melt in[218] the hand of our iniquities. + +8But now, O LORD, you are our Father; + +we are the clay, and you are our potter; + +we are all the work of your hand. + +9Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, + +and remember not iniquity forever. + +Behold, please look, we are all your people. + +10Your holy cities have become a wilderness; + +Zion has become a wilderness, + +Jerusalem a desolation. + +11Our holy and beautiful[219] house, + +where our fathers praised you, + +has been burned by fire, + +and all our pleasant places have become ruins. + +12Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? + +Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly? + + + + + +Judgment and Salvation + + +65:1 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; + +I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. + +I said, “Here am I, here am I,” + +to a nation that was not called by[220] my name. + +2I spread out my hands all the day + +to a rebellious people, + +who walk in a way that is not good, + +following their own devices; + +3a people who provoke me + +to my face continually, + +sacrificing in gardens + +and making offerings on bricks; + +4who sit in tombs, + +and spend the night in secret places; + +who eat pig's flesh, + +and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; + +5who say, “Keep to yourself, + +do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” + +These are a smoke in my nostrils, + +a fire that burns all the day. + +6Behold, it is written before me: + +“I will not keep silent, but I will repay; + +I will indeed repay into their bosom + +7both your iniquities and your fathers' iniquities together, + +says the LORD; + +because they made offerings on the mountains + +and insulted me on the hills, + +I will measure into their bosom + +payment for their former deeds.”[221] + +8Thus says the LORD: + +“As the new wine is found in the cluster, + +and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, + +for there is a blessing in it,’ + +so I will do for my servants' sake, + +and not destroy them all. + +9I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, + +and from Judah possessors of my mountains; + +my chosen shall possess it, + +and my servants shall dwell there. + +10Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, + +and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, + +for my people who have sought me. + +11But you who forsake the LORD, + +who forget my holy mountain, + +who set a table for Fortune + +and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, + +12I will destine you to the sword, + +and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, + +because, when I called, you did not answer; + +when I spoke, you did not listen, + +but you did what was evil in my eyes + +and chose what I did not delight in.” + +13Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: + +“Behold, my servants shall eat, + +but you shall be hungry; + +behold, my servants shall drink, + +but you shall be thirsty; + +behold, my servants shall rejoice, + +but you shall be put to shame; + +14behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, + +but you shall cry out for pain of heart + +and shall wail for breaking of spirit. + +15You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, + +and the Lord GOD will put you to death, + +but his servants he will call by another name. + +16So that he who blesses himself in the land + +shall bless himself by the God of truth, + +and he who takes an oath in the land + +shall swear by the God of truth; + +because the former troubles are forgotten + +and are hidden from my eyes. + + + + + +New Heavens and a New Earth + + +17“For behold, I create new heavens + +and a new earth, + +and the former things shall not be remembered + +or come into mind. + +18But be glad and rejoice forever + +in that which I create; + +for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, + +and her people to be a gladness. + +19I will rejoice in Jerusalem + +and be glad in my people; + +no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping + +and the cry of distress. + +20No more shall there be in it + +an infant who lives but a few days, + +or an old man who does not fill out his days, + +for the young man shall die a hundred years old, + +and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. + +21They shall build houses and inhabit them; + +they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. + +22They shall not build and another inhabit; + +they shall not plant and another eat; + +for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, + +and my chosen shall long enjoy[222] the work of their hands. + +23They shall not labor in vain + +or bear children for calamity,[223] + +for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, + +and their descendants with them. + +24Before they call I will answer; + +while they are yet speaking I will hear. + +25The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; + +the lion shall eat straw like the ox, + +and dust shall be the serpent's food. + +They shall not hurt or destroy + +in all my holy mountain,” + +says the LORD. + + + + + +The Humble and Contrite in Spirit + + +66:1 Thus says the LORD: + +“Heaven is my throne, + +and the earth is my footstool; + +what is the house that you would build for me, + +and what is the place of my rest? + +2All these things my hand has made, + +and so all these things came to be, + +declares the LORD. + +But this is the one to whom I will look: + +he who is humble and contrite in spirit + +and trembles at my word. + +3“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; + +he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; + +he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood; + +he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. + +These have chosen their own ways, + +and their soul delights in their abominations; + +4I also will choose harsh treatment for them + +and bring their fears upon them, + +because when I called, no one answered, + +when I spoke, they did not listen; + +but they did what was evil in my eyes + +and chose that in which I did not delight.” + +5Hear the word of the LORD, + +you who tremble at his word: + +“Your brothers who hate you + +and cast you out for my name's sake + +have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, + +that we may see your joy’; + +but it is they who shall be put to shame. + +6“The sound of an uproar from the city! + +A sound from the temple! + +The sound of the LORD, + +rendering recompense to his enemies! + + + + + +Rejoice with Jerusalem + + +7“Before she was in labor + +she gave birth; + +before her pain came upon her + +she delivered a son. + +8Who has heard such a thing? + +Who has seen such things? + +Shall a land be born in one day? + +Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? + +For as soon as Zion was in labor + +she brought forth her children. + +9Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” + +says the LORD; + +“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” + +says your God. + +10“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, + +all you who love her; + +rejoice with her in joy, + +all you who mourn over her; + +11that you may nurse and be satisfied + +from her consoling breast; + +that you may drink deeply with delight + +from her glorious abundance.”[224] + +12For thus says the LORD: + +“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, + +and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; + +and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, + +and bounced upon her knees. + +13As one whom his mother comforts, + +so I will comfort you; + +you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. + +14You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; + +your bones shall flourish like the grass; + +and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, + +and he shall show his indignation against his enemies. + + + + + +Final Judgment and Glory of the LORD + + +15“For behold, the LORD will come in fire, + +and his chariots like the whirlwind, + +to render his anger in fury, + +and his rebuke with flames of fire. + +16For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, + +and by his sword, with all flesh; + +and those slain by the LORD shall be many. + +17“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD. + +18“For I know[225] their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming[226] to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. 21And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD. + +22“For as the new heavens and the new earth + +that I make + +shall remain before me, says the LORD, + +so shall your offspring and your name remain. + +23From new moon to new moon, + +and from Sabbath to Sabbath, + +all flesh shall come to worship before me, + +declares the LORD. + +24“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Or Sons; also verse 4 + +[2] 1:10 Or law + +[3] 1:18 Or dispute + +[4] 1:21 Or become unchaste + +[5] 1:29 Some Hebrew manuscripts you + +[6] 2:3 Or teaching + +[7] 2:19 Hebrew dust + +[8] 3:1 Hebrew staff + +[9] 3:4 Or caprice + +[10] 3:7 Hebrew binder of wounds + +[11] 3:8 Hebrew the eyes of his glory + +[12] 3:12 Or they have confused + +[13] 3:14 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5 + +[14] 4:4 Or purging + +[15] 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5 + +[16] 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike + +[17] 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike + +[18] 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day + +[19] 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[20] 5:13 Or without their knowledge + +[21] 5:13 Or die of hunger + +[22] 5:14 Hebrew her nobility + +[23] 5:15 Hebrew high + +[24] 5:16 Hebrew high + +[25] 6:1 Or hem + +[26] 6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth + +[27] 6:9 Or Hear indeed + +[28] 6:9 Or see indeed + +[29] 6:10 Hebrew fat + +[30] 6:13 Or purged + +[31] 6:13 Or offspring + +[32] 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon + +[33] 7:2 Hebrew his heart + +[34] 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return + +[35] 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open + +[36] 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14 + +[37] 7:11 The Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17 + +[38] 7:13 That is, Isaiah + +[39] 7:14 Immanuel means God is with us + +[40] 7:19 Or watering holes, or brambles + +[41] 7:23 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[42] 8:1 Hebrew with a man's stylus + +[43] 8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens + +[44] 8:9 Or Be evil + +[45] 8:9 Or dismayed + +[46] 8:10 The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel + +[47] 8:16 Or law; also verse 20 + +[48] 8:21 Hebrew it + +[49] 8:21 Or speak contemptuously by + +[50] 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew + +[51] 9:1 Or of the Gentiles + +[52] 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew + +[53] 9:6 Or is upon + +[54] 9:6 Or is called + +[55] 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things + +[56] 10:12 Hebrew I + +[57] 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[58] 11:11 Probably Nubia + +[59] 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction + +[60] 11:15 Or wind + +[61] 12:1 The Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1 + +[62] 12:2 Hebrew for Yah, the LORD + +[63] 12:3 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4 + +[64] 12:5 Or this is made known + +[65] 12:6 The Hebrew for your in verse 6 is singular, referring to the inhabitant of Zion + +[66] 13:3 Or those who exult in my majesty + +[67] 13:5 Or earth; also verse 9 + +[68] 13:6 The Hebrew words for destruction and almighty sound alike + +[69] 13:18 Hebrew dash in pieces + +[70] 13:21 Or owls + +[71] 13:22 Or foxes + +[72] 14:4 Dead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain + +[73] 14:13 Or in the remote parts of Zaphon + +[74] 14:18 Hebrew house + +[75] 14:23 Possibly porcupine, or owl + +[76] 15:2 Hebrew the house + +[77] 15:2 Or temple, even Dibon to the high places + +[78] 15:9 Dead Sea Scroll, Vulgate (compare Syriac); Masoretic Text Dimon (twice in this verse) + +[79] 16:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text let my outcasts sojourn among you; as for Moab, be a shelter to them + +[80] 17:11 Or though you carefully fence them + +[81] 17:11 Or will be a heap + +[82] 18:1 Probably Nubia + +[83] 19:3 Or I will swallow up + +[84] 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun + +[85] 20:3 Probably Nubia + +[86] 21:5 Or they set the watchman + +[87] 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion + +[88] 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12 + +[89] 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains + +[90] 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike + +[91] 23:13 Or that has become nothing + +[92] 23:15 Or lifetime + +[93] 24:1 Or land; also throughout this chapter + +[94] 24:14 Hebrew from the sea + +[95] 24:15 Hebrew in the realm of light + +[96] 24:17 The Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike + +[97] 25:10 The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike + +[98] 25:11 Or in spite of the skill + +[99] 27:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine + +[100] 27:6 Hebrew In those to come + +[101] 27:8 Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[102] 27:8 Or wind + +[103] 27:9 Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin + +[104] 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike + +[105] 28:7 Or confused by + +[106] 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying + +[107] 28:25 A type of wheat + +[108] 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever + +[109] 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15-16) + +[110] 29:9 Or Linger awhile + +[111] 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web + +[112] 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever + +[113] 30:15 Or repentance + +[114] 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds + +[115] 30:33 Or For Topheth + +[116] 31:4 The Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike + +[117] 31:6 Hebrew they + +[118] 32:17 Or security + +[119] 33:6 Hebrew his + +[120] 33:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses + +[121] 34:2 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5 + +[122] 34:9 Hebrew her streams + +[123] 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain + +[124] 34:11 Hebrew formlessness + +[125] 34:13 Or owls + +[126] 34:14 Identity uncertain + +[127] 35:8 Or if they are fools, they shall not wander in it + +[128] 36:2 Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer + +[129] 36:16 Hebrew Make a blessing with me + +[130] 37:9 Probably Nubia + +[131] 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts like a field + +[132] 38:1 Or live; also verses 9, 21 + +[133] 38:5 Hebrew to your days + +[134] 38:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[135] 38:10 Or In the quiet + +[136] 38:13 Or (with Targum) I cried for help + +[137] 40:2 Or time of service + +[138] 40:3 Or A voice of one crying + +[139] 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says + +[140] 40:6 Or all its constancy + +[141] 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion + +[142] 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem + +[143] 40:13 Or has directed + +[144] 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood + +[145] 41:2 Or whom righteousness calls to follow? + +[146] 41:23 Or that we may both be dismayed and see + +[147] 41:27 Or Formerly I said + +[148] 42:4 Or bruised + +[149] 42:15 Or into coastlands + +[150] 42:19 Or as the one at peace with me + +[151] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? + +[152] 44:23 Or will display his beauty + +[153] 45:2 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains + +[154] 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? + +[155] 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness + +[156] 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God + +[157] 48:10 Or I have chosen + +[158] 48:11 Hebrew lacks my name + +[159] 49:3 Or I will display my beauty + +[160] 49:12 Hebrew from the sea + +[161] 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim + +[162] 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste + +[163] 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man + +[164] 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7 + +[165] 51:6 Or will die like gnats + +[166] 51:16 Or planting + +[167] 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you + +[168] 52:13 Or shall prosper + +[169] 52:15 Or startle + +[170] 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard? + +[171] 53:3 Or forsaken + +[172] 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4 + +[173] 53:3 Or and knowing + +[174] 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4 + +[175] 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us + +[176] 53:10 Or he has made him sick + +[177] 53:10 Or when you make his soul + +[178] 53:11 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light + +[179] 53:12 Or with the great + +[180] 53:12 Or with the numerous + +[181] 54:9 Some manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah + +[182] 54:11 Or lapis lazuli + +[183] 54:12 Or jasper, or ruby + +[184] 54:12 Or crystal + +[185] 54:17 Or righteousness + +[186] 57:5 Or among the terebinths + +[187] 57:8 Or on a monument (see 56:5); Hebrew on a hand + +[188] 57:10 Hebrew and so you were not sick + +[189] 58:3 Or pursue your own business + +[190] 58:6 Or bruised + +[191] 58:13 Or business + +[192] 58:13 Or pursuing your own business + +[193] 58:13 Hebrew or speaking a word + +[194] 58:14 Or of the land + +[195] 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes + +[196] 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river + +[197] 60:5 Hebrew your heart shall tremble and grow wide + +[198] 60:19 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Targum add by night + +[199] 60:19 Or your beauty + +[200] 60:21 Or that I might display my beauty + +[201] 61:1 Or afflicted + +[202] 61:1 Or the opening [of the eyes] to those who are blind; Septuagint and recovery of sight to the blind + +[203] 61:3 Or that he may display his beauty + +[204] 61:8 Or robbery with a burnt offering + +[205] 62:4 Hebrew Azubah + +[206] 62:4 Hebrew Shemamah + +[207] 62:4 Hebrew Hephzibah + +[208] 62:4 Hebrew Beulah + +[209] 62:9 Or in my holy courts + +[210] 63:3 Or their juice; also verse 6 + +[211] 63:4 Or the year of my redeemed + +[212] 63:9 Or he did not afflict + +[213] 63:11 Or Then his people remembered the days of old, of Moses + +[214] 63:15 Or holy and glorious + +[215] 63:18 Or They have dispossessed your holy people for a little while + +[216] 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Hebrew + +[217] 64:5 Or in your ways is continuance, that we might be saved + +[218] 64:7 Masoretic Text; Septuagint, Syriac, Targum have delivered us into + +[219] 64:11 Or holy and glorious + +[220] 65:1 Or that did not call upon + +[221] 65:7 Or I will first measure their payment into their bosom + +[222] 65:22 Hebrew shall wear out + +[223] 65:23 Or for sudden terror + +[224] 66:11 Or breast + +[225] 66:18 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew lacks know + +[226] 66:18 Hebrew and it is coming + + + + + +JEREMIAH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + +Chapter 37 + +Chapter 38 + +Chapter 39 + +Chapter 40 + +Chapter 41 + +Chapter 42 + +Chapter 43 + +Chapter 44 + +Chapter 45 + +Chapter 46 + +Chapter 47 + +Chapter 48 + +Chapter 49 + +Chapter 50 + +Chapter 51 + +Chapter 52 + + + + + +1:1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. + + + + + +The Call of Jeremiah + + +4Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, + +5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, + +and before you were born I consecrated you; + +I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” + +6Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7But the LORD said to me, + +“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; + +for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, + +and whatever I command you, you shall speak. + +8Do not be afraid of them, + +for I am with you to deliver you, + +declares the LORD.” + +9Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, + +“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. + +10See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, + +to pluck up and to break down, + +to destroy and to overthrow, + +to build and to plant.” + +11And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond[1] branch.” 12Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” + +13The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster[2] shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17But you, dress yourself for work;[3] arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.” + + + + + +Israel Forsakes the LORD + + +2:1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, + +“I remember the devotion of your youth, + +your love as a bride, + +how you followed me in the wilderness, + +in a land not sown. + +3Israel was holy to the LORD, + +the firstfruits of his harvest. + +All who ate of it incurred guilt; + +disaster came upon them, + +declares the LORD.” + +4Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5Thus says the LORD: + +“What wrong did your fathers find in me + +that they went far from me, + +and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? + +6They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD + +who brought us up from the land of Egypt, + +who led us in the wilderness, + +in a land of deserts and pits, + +in a land of drought and deep darkness, + +in a land that none passes through, + +where no man dwells?’ + +7And I brought you into a plentiful land + +to enjoy its fruits and its good things. + +But when you came in, you defiled my land + +and made my heritage an abomination. + +8The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ + +Those who handle the law did not know me; + +the shepherds[4] transgressed against me; + +the prophets prophesied by Baal + +and went after things that do not profit. + +9“Therefore I still contend with you, + +declares the LORD, + +and with your children's children I will contend. + +10For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, + +or send to Kedar and examine with care; + +see if there has been such a thing. + +11Has a nation changed its gods, + +even though they are no gods? + +But my people have changed their glory + +for that which does not profit. + +12Be appalled, O heavens, at this; + +be shocked, be utterly desolate, + +declares the LORD, + +13for my people have committed two evils: + +they have forsaken me, + +the fountain of living waters, + +and hewed out cisterns for themselves, + +broken cisterns that can hold no water. + +14“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? + +Why then has he become a prey? + +15The lions have roared against him; + +they have roared loudly. + +They have made his land a waste; + +his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant. + +16Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes + +have shaved[5] the crown of your head. + +17Have you not brought this upon yourself + +by forsaking the LORD your God, + +when he led you in the way? + +18And now what do you gain by going to Egypt + +to drink the waters of the Nile? + +Or what do you gain by going to Assyria + +to drink the waters of the Euphrates? + +19Your evil will chastise you, + +and your apostasy will reprove you. + +Know and see that it is evil and bitter + +for you to forsake the LORD your God; + +the fear of me is not in you, + +declares the Lord GOD of hosts. + +20“For long ago I broke your yoke + +and burst your bonds; + +but you said, ‘I will not serve.’ + +Yes, on every high hill + +and under every green tree + +you bowed down like a whore. + +21Yet I planted you a choice vine, + +wholly of pure seed. + +How then have you turned degenerate + +and become a wild vine? + +22Though you wash yourself with lye + +and use much soap, + +the stain of your guilt is still before me, + +declares the Lord GOD. + +23How can you say, ‘I am not unclean, + +I have not gone after the Baals’? + +Look at your way in the valley; + +know what you have done— + +a restless young camel running here and there, + +24a wild donkey used to the wilderness, + +in her heat sniffing the wind! + +Who can restrain her lust? + +None who seek her need weary themselves; + +in her month they will find her. + +25Keep your feet from going unshod + +and your throat from thirst. + +But you said, ‘It is hopeless, + +for I have loved foreigners, + +and after them I will go.’ + +26“As a thief is shamed when caught, + +so the house of Israel shall be shamed: + +they, their kings, their officials, + +their priests, and their prophets, + +27who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ + +and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ + +For they have turned their back to me, + +and not their face. + +But in the time of their trouble they say, + +‘Arise and save us!’ + +28But where are your gods + +that you made for yourself? + +Let them arise, if they can save you, + +in your time of trouble; + +for as many as your cities + +are your gods, O Judah. + +29“Why do you contend with me? + +You have all transgressed against me, + +declares the LORD. + +30In vain have I struck your children; + +they took no correction; + +your own sword devoured your prophets + +like a ravening lion. + +31And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD. + +Have I been a wilderness to Israel, + +or a land of thick darkness? + +Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, + +we will come no more to you’? + +32Can a virgin forget her ornaments, + +or a bride her attire? + +Yet my people have forgotten me + +days without number. + +33“How well you direct your course + +to seek love! + +So that even to wicked women + +you have taught your ways. + +34Also on your skirts is found + +the lifeblood of the guiltless poor; + +you did not find them breaking in. + +Yet in spite of all these things + +35you say, ‘I am innocent; + +surely his anger has turned from me.’ + +Behold, I will bring you to judgment + +for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’ + +36How much you go about, + +changing your way! + +You shall be put to shame by Egypt + +as you were put to shame by Assyria. + +37From it too you will come away + +with your hands on your head, + +for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, + +and you will not prosper by them. + + + + + +3:1 “If[6] a man divorces his wife + +and she goes from him + +and becomes another man's wife, + +will he return to her? + +Would not that land be greatly polluted? + +You have played the whore with many lovers; + +and would you return to me? + +declares the LORD. + +2Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! + +Where have you not been ravished? + +By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers + +like an Arab in the wilderness. + +You have polluted the land + +with your vile whoredom. + +3Therefore the showers have been withheld, + +and the spring rain has not come; + +yet you have the forehead of a whore; + +you refuse to be ashamed. + +4Have you not just now called to me, + +‘My father, you are the friend of my youth— + +5will he be angry forever, + +will he be indignant to the end?’ + +Behold, you have spoken, + +but you have done all the evil that you could.” + + + + + +Faithless Israel Called to Repentance + + +6The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? 7And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.” + +11And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, + +“‘Return, faithless Israel, + +declares the LORD. + +I will not look on you in anger, + +for I am merciful, + +declares the LORD; + +I will not be angry forever. + +13Only acknowledge your guilt, + +that you rebelled against the LORD your God + +and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, + +and that you have not obeyed my voice, + +declares the LORD. + +14Return, O faithless children, + +declares the LORD; + +for I am your master; + +I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, + +and I will bring you to Zion. + +15“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. 17At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage. + +19“‘I said, + +How I would set you among my sons, + +and give you a pleasant land, + +a heritage most beautiful of all nations. + +And I thought you would call me, My Father, + +and would not turn from following me. + +20Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, + +so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, + +declares the LORD.’” + +21A voice on the bare heights is heard, + +the weeping and pleading of Israel's sons + +because they have perverted their way; + +they have forgotten the LORD their God. + +22“Return, O faithless sons; + +I will heal your faithlessness.” + +“Behold, we come to you, + +for you are the LORD our God. + +23Truly the hills are a delusion, + +the orgies[7] on the mountains. + +Truly in the LORD our God + +is the salvation of Israel. + +24“But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.” + + + + + +4:1 “If you return, O Israel, + +declares the LORD, + +to me you should return. + +If you remove your detestable things from my presence, + +and do not waver, + +2and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ + +in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, + +then nations shall bless themselves in him, + +and in him shall they glory.” + +3For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: + +“Break up your fallow ground, + +and sow not among thorns. + +4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; + +remove the foreskin of your hearts, + +O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; + +lest my wrath go forth like fire, + +and burn with none to quench it, + +because of the evil of your deeds.” + + + + + +Disaster from the North + + +5Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, + +“Blow the trumpet through the land; + +cry aloud and say, + +‘Assemble, and let us go + +into the fortified cities!’ + +6Raise a standard toward Zion, + +flee for safety, stay not, + +for I bring disaster from the north, + +and great destruction. + +7A lion has gone up from his thicket, + +a destroyer of nations has set out; + +he has gone out from his place + +to make your land a waste; + +your cities will be ruins + +without inhabitant. + +8For this put on sackcloth, + +lament and wail, + +for the fierce anger of the LORD + +has not turned back from us.” + +9“In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.” + +11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.” + +13Behold, he comes up like clouds; + +his chariots like the whirlwind; + +his horses are swifter than eagles— + +woe to us, for we are ruined! + +14O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, + +that you may be saved. + +How long shall your wicked thoughts + +lodge within you? + +15For a voice declares from Dan + +and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim. + +16Warn the nations that he is coming; + +announce to Jerusalem, + +“Besiegers come from a distant land; + +they shout against the cities of Judah. + +17Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, + +because she has rebelled against me, + +declares the LORD. + +18Your ways and your deeds + +have brought this upon you. + +This is your doom, and it is bitter; + +it has reached your very heart.” + + + + + +Anguish over Judah's Desolation + + +19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! + +Oh the walls of my heart! + +My heart is beating wildly; + +I cannot keep silent, + +for I hear the sound of the trumpet, + +the alarm of war. + +20Crash follows hard on crash; + +the whole land is laid waste. + +Suddenly my tents are laid waste, + +my curtains in a moment. + +21How long must I see the standard + +and hear the sound of the trumpet? + +22“For my people are foolish; + +they know me not; + +they are stupid children; + +they have no understanding. + +They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! + +But how to do good they know not.” + +23I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; + +and to the heavens, and they had no light. + +24I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, + +and all the hills moved to and fro. + +25I looked, and behold, there was no man, + +and all the birds of the air had fled. + +26I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, + +and all its cities were laid in ruins + +before the LORD, before his fierce anger. + +27For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. + +28“For this the earth shall mourn, + +and the heavens above be dark; + +for I have spoken; I have purposed; + +I have not relented, nor will I turn back.” + +29At the noise of horseman and archer + +every city takes to flight; + +they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; + +all the cities are forsaken, + +and no man dwells in them. + +30And you, O desolate one, + +what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, + +that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, + +that you enlarge your eyes with paint? + +In vain you beautify yourself. + +Your lovers despise you; + +they seek your life. + +31For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, + +anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, + +the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, + +stretching out her hands, + +“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.” + + + + + +Jerusalem Refused to Repent + + +5:1 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, + +look and take note! + +Search her squares to see + +if you can find a man, + +one who does justice + +and seeks truth, + +that I may pardon her. + +2Though they say, “As the LORD lives,” + +yet they swear falsely. + +3O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? + +You have struck them down, + +but they felt no anguish; + +you have consumed them, + +but they refused to take correction. + +They have made their faces harder than rock; + +they have refused to repent. + +4Then I said, “These are only the poor; + +they have no sense; + +for they do not know the way of the LORD, + +the justice of their God. + +5I will go to the great + +and will speak to them, + +for they know the way of the LORD, + +the justice of their God.” + +But they all alike had broken the yoke; + +they had burst the bonds. + +6Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; + +a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. + +A leopard is watching their cities; + +everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, + +because their transgressions are many, + +their apostasies are great. + +7“How can I pardon you? + +Your children have forsaken me + +and have sworn by those who are no gods. + +When I fed them to the full, + +they committed adultery + +and trooped to the houses of whores. + +8They were well-fed, lusty stallions, + +each neighing for his neighbor's wife. + +9Shall I not punish them for these things? + +declares the LORD; + +and shall I not avenge myself + +on a nation such as this? + +10“Go up through her vine rows and destroy, + +but make not a full end; + +strip away her branches, + +for they are not the LORD's. + +11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah + +have been utterly treacherous to me, + +declares the LORD. + +12They have spoken falsely of the LORD + +and have said, ‘He will do nothing; + +no disaster will come upon us, + +nor shall we see sword or famine. + +13The prophets will become wind; + +the word is not in them. + +Thus shall it be done to them!’” + + + + + +The LORD Proclaims Judgment + + +14Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: + +“Because you have spoken this word, + +behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, + +and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. + +15Behold, I am bringing against you + +a nation from afar, O house of Israel, + +declares the LORD. + +It is an enduring nation; + +it is an ancient nation, + +a nation whose language you do not know, + +nor can you understand what they say. + +16Their quiver is like an open tomb; + +they are all mighty warriors. + +17They shall eat up your harvest and your food; + +they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; + +they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; + +they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; + +your fortified cities in which you trust + +they shall beat down with the sword.” + +18“But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you. 19And when your people say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’” + +20Declare this in the house of Jacob; + +proclaim it in Judah: + +21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, + +who have eyes, but see not, + +who have ears, but hear not. + +22Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. + +Do you not tremble before me? + +I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, + +a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; + +though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; + +though they roar, they cannot pass over it. + +23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; + +they have turned aside and gone away. + +24They do not say in their hearts, + +‘Let us fear the LORD our God, + +who gives the rain in its season, + +the autumn rain and the spring rain, + +and keeps for us + +the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ + +25Your iniquities have turned these away, + +and your sins have kept good from you. + +26For wicked men are found among my people; + +they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.[8] + +They set a trap; + +they catch men. + +27Like a cage full of birds, + +their houses are full of deceit; + +therefore they have become great and rich; + +28they have grown fat and sleek. + +They know no bounds in deeds of evil; + +they judge not with justice + +the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, + +and they do not defend the rights of the needy. + +29Shall I not punish them for these things? + +declares the LORD, + +and shall I not avenge myself + +on a nation such as this?” + +30An appalling and horrible thing + +has happened in the land: + +31the prophets prophesy falsely, + +and the priests rule at their direction; + +my people love to have it so, + +but what will you do when the end comes? + + + + + +Impending Disaster for Jerusalem + + +6:1 Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, + +from the midst of Jerusalem! + +Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, + +and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, + +for disaster looms out of the north, + +and great destruction. + +2The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy, + +the daughter of Zion.[9] + +3Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; + +they shall pitch their tents around her; + +they shall pasture, each in his place. + +4“Prepare war against her; + +arise, and let us attack at noon! + +Woe to us, for the day declines, + +for the shadows of evening lengthen! + +5Arise, and let us attack by night + +and destroy her palaces!” + +6For thus says the LORD of hosts: + +“Cut down her trees; + +cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. + +This is the city that must be punished; + +there is nothing but oppression within her. + +7As a well keeps its water fresh, + +so she keeps fresh her evil; + +violence and destruction are heard within her; + +sickness and wounds are ever before me. + +8Be warned, O Jerusalem, + +lest I turn from you in disgust, + +lest I make you a desolation, + +an uninhabited land.” + +9Thus says the LORD of hosts: + +“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine + +the remnant of Israel; + +like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again + +over its branches.” + +10To whom shall I speak and give warning, + +that they may hear? + +Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, + +they cannot listen; + +behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; + +they take no pleasure in it. + +11Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; + +I am weary of holding it in. + +“Pour it out upon the children in the street, + +and upon the gatherings of young men, also; + +both husband and wife shall be taken, + +the elderly and the very aged. + +12Their houses shall be turned over to others, + +their fields and wives together, + +for I will stretch out my hand + +against the inhabitants of the land,” + +declares the LORD. + +13“For from the least to the greatest of them, + +everyone is greedy for unjust gain; + +and from prophet to priest, + +everyone deals falsely. + +14They have healed the wound of my people lightly, + +saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ + +when there is no peace. + +15Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? + +No, they were not at all ashamed; + +they did not know how to blush. + +Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; + +at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” + +says the LORD. + +16Thus says the LORD: + +“Stand by the roads, and look, + +and ask for the ancient paths, + +where the good way is; and walk in it, + +and find rest for your souls. + +But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ + +17I set watchmen over you, saying, + +‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ + +But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ + +18Therefore hear, O nations, + +and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. + +19Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, + +the fruit of their devices, + +because they have not paid attention to my words; + +and as for my law, they have rejected it. + +20What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, + +or sweet cane from a distant land? + +Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, + +nor your sacrifices pleasing to me. + +21Therefore thus says the LORD: + +‘Behold, I will lay before this people + +stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; + +fathers and sons together, + +neighbor and friend shall perish.’” + +22Thus says the LORD: + +“Behold, a people is coming from the north country, + +a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. + +23They lay hold on bow and javelin; + +they are cruel and have no mercy; + +the sound of them is like the roaring sea; + +they ride on horses, + +set in array as a man for battle, + +against you, O daughter of Zion!” + +24We have heard the report of it; + +our hands fall helpless; + +anguish has taken hold of us, + +pain as of a woman in labor. + +25Go not out into the field, + +nor walk on the road, + +for the enemy has a sword; + +terror is on every side. + +26O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, + +and roll in ashes; + +make mourning as for an only son, + +most bitter lamentation, + +for suddenly the destroyer + +will come upon us. + +27“I have made you a tester of metals among my people, + +that you may know and test their ways. + +28They are all stubbornly rebellious, + +going about with slanders; + +they are bronze and iron; + +all of them act corruptly. + +29The bellows blow fiercely; + +the lead is consumed by the fire; + +in vain the refining goes on, + +for the wicked are not removed. + +30Rejected silver they are called, + +for the LORD has rejected them.” + + + + + +Evil in the Land + + +7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. 3Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ + +5“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. + +8“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. 12Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim. + +16“As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 19Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? 20Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.” + +21Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. 25From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. + +27“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. + +29“‘Cut off your hair and cast it away; + +raise a lamentation on the bare heights, + +for the LORD has rejected and forsaken + +the generation of his wrath.’ + + + + + +The Valley of Slaughter + + +30“For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 31And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. 34And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste. + + + + + +8:1 “At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. 2And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts. + + + + + +Sin and Treachery + + +4“You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: + +When men fall, do they not rise again? + +If one turns away, does he not return? + +5Why then has this people turned away + +in perpetual backsliding? + +They hold fast to deceit; + +they refuse to return. + +6I have paid attention and listened, + +but they have not spoken rightly; + +no man relents of his evil, + +saying, ‘What have I done?’ + +Everyone turns to his own course, + +like a horse plunging headlong into battle. + +7Even the stork in the heavens + +knows her times, + +and the turtledove, swallow, and crane[10] + +keep the time of their coming, + +but my people know not + +the rules[11] of the LORD. + +8“How can you say, ‘We are wise, + +and the law of the LORD is with us’? + +But behold, the lying pen of the scribes + +has made it into a lie. + +9The wise men shall be put to shame; + +they shall be dismayed and taken; + +behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, + +so what wisdom is in them? + +10Therefore I will give their wives to others + +and their fields to conquerors, + +because from the least to the greatest + +everyone is greedy for unjust gain; + +from prophet to priest, + +everyone deals falsely. + +11They have healed the wound of my people lightly, + +saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ + +when there is no peace. + +12Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? + +No, they were not at all ashamed; + +they did not know how to blush. + +Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; + +when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, + +says the LORD. + +13When I would gather them, declares the LORD, + +there are no grapes on the vine, + +nor figs on the fig tree; + +even the leaves are withered, + +and what I gave them has passed away from them.”[12] + +14Why do we sit still? + +Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities + +and perish there, + +for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish + +and has given us poisoned water to drink, + +because we have sinned against the LORD. + +15We looked for peace, but no good came; + +for a time of healing, but behold, terror. + +16“The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; + +at the sound of the neighing of their stallions + +the whole land quakes. + +They come and devour the land and all that fills it, + +the city and those who dwell in it. + +17For behold, I am sending among you serpents, + +adders that cannot be charmed, + +and they shall bite you,” + +declares the LORD. + + + + + +Jeremiah Grieves for His People + + +18My joy is gone; grief is upon me;[13] + +my heart is sick within me. + +19Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people + +from the length and breadth of the land: + +“Is the LORD not in Zion? + +Is her King not in her?” + +“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images + +and with their foreign idols?” + +20“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, + +and we are not saved.” + +21For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; + +I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. + +22Is there no balm in Gilead? + +Is there no physician there? + +Why then has the health of the daughter of my people + +not been restored? + + + + + +9:1 [14] Oh that my head were waters, + +and my eyes a fountain of tears, + +that I might weep day and night + +for the slain of the daughter of my people! + +2[15] Oh that I had in the desert + +a travelers' lodging place, + +that I might leave my people + +and go away from them! + +For they are all adulterers, + +a company of treacherous men. + +3They bend their tongue like a bow; + +falsehood and not truth has grown strong[16] in the land; + +for they proceed from evil to evil, + +and they do not know me, declares the LORD. + +4Let everyone beware of his neighbor, + +and put no trust in any brother, + +for every brother is a deceiver, + +and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. + +5Everyone deceives his neighbor, + +and no one speaks the truth; + +they have taught their tongue to speak lies; + +they weary themselves committing iniquity. + +6Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, + +they refuse to know me, declares the LORD. + +7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: + +“Behold, I will refine them and test them, + +for what else can I do, because of my people? + +8Their tongue is a deadly arrow; + +it speaks deceitfully; + +with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, + +but in his heart he plans an ambush for him. + +9Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, + +and shall I not avenge myself + +on a nation such as this? + +10“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, + +and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, + +because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, + +and the lowing of cattle is not heard; + +both the birds of the air and the beasts + +have fled and are gone. + +11I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, + +a lair of jackals, + +and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, + +without inhabitant.” + +12Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13And the LORD says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. 16I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.” + +17Thus says the LORD of hosts: + +“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; + +send for the skillful women to come; + +18let them make haste and raise a wailing over us, + +that our eyes may run down with tears + +and our eyelids flow with water. + +19For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: + +‘How we are ruined! + +We are utterly shamed, + +because we have left the land, + +because they have cast down our dwellings.’” + +20Hear, O women, the word of the LORD, + +and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; + +teach to your daughters a lament, + +and each to her neighbor a dirge. + +21For death has come up into our windows; + +it has entered our palaces, + +cutting off the children from the streets + +and the young men from the squares. + +22Speak, “Thus declares the LORD: + +‘The dead bodies of men shall fall + +like dung upon the open field, + +like sheaves after the reaper, + +and none shall gather them.’” + +23Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” + +25“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” + + + + + +Idols and the Living God + + +10:1 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2Thus says the LORD: + +“Learn not the way of the nations, + +nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens + +because the nations are dismayed at them, + +3for the customs of the peoples are vanity.[17] + +A tree from the forest is cut down + +and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. + +4They decorate it with silver and gold; + +they fasten it with hammer and nails + +so that it cannot move. + +5Their idols[18] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, + +and they cannot speak; + +they have to be carried, + +for they cannot walk. + +Do not be afraid of them, + +for they cannot do evil, + +neither is it in them to do good.” + +6There is none like you, O LORD; + +you are great, and your name is great in might. + +7Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? + +For this is your due; + +for among all the wise ones of the nations + +and in all their kingdoms + +there is none like you. + +8They are both stupid and foolish; + +the instruction of idols is but wood! + +9Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, + +and gold from Uphaz. + +They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; + +their clothing is violet and purple; + +they are all the work of skilled men. + +10But the LORD is the true God; + +he is the living God and the everlasting King. + +At his wrath the earth quakes, + +and the nations cannot endure his indignation. + +11Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”[19] + +12It is he who made the earth by his power, + +who established the world by his wisdom, + +and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. + +13When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, + +and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. + +He makes lightning for the rain, + +and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. + +14Every man is stupid and without knowledge; + +every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, + +for his images are false, + +and there is no breath in them. + +15They are worthless, a work of delusion; + +at the time of their punishment they shall perish. + +16Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, + +for he is the one who formed all things, + +and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; + +the LORD of hosts is his name. + +17Gather up your bundle from the ground, + +O you who dwell under siege! + +18For thus says the LORD: + +“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land + +at this time, + +and I will bring distress on them, + +that they may feel it.” + +19Woe is me because of my hurt! + +My wound is grievous. + +But I said, “Truly this is an affliction, + +and I must bear it.” + +20My tent is destroyed, + +and all my cords are broken; + +my children have gone from me, + +and they are not; + +there is no one to spread my tent again + +and to set up my curtains. + +21For the shepherds are stupid + +and do not inquire of the LORD; + +therefore they have not prospered, + +and all their flock is scattered. + +22A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!— + +a great commotion out of the north country + +to make the cities of Judah a desolation, + +a lair of jackals. + +23I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, + +that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. + +24Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; + +not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. + +25Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, + +and on the peoples that call not on your name, + +for they have devoured Jacob; + +they have devoured him and consumed him, + +and have laid waste his habitation. + + + + + +The Broken Covenant + + +11:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.” + +6And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. 8Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.” + +9Again the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal. + +14“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? 16The LORD once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. 17The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.” + +18The LORD made it known to me and I knew; + +then you showed me their deeds. + +19But I was like a gentle lamb + +led to the slaughter. + +I did not know it was against me + +they devised schemes, saying, + +“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, + +let us cut him off from the land of the living, + +that his name be remembered no more.” + +20But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, + +who tests the heart and the mind, + +let me see your vengeance upon them, + +for to you have I committed my cause. + +21Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”— 22therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 23and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.” + + + + + +Jeremiah's Complaint + + +12:1 Righteous are you, O LORD, + +when I complain to you; + +yet I would plead my case before you. + +Why does the way of the wicked prosper? + +Why do all who are treacherous thrive? + +2You plant them, and they take root; + +they grow and produce fruit; + +you are near in their mouth + +and far from their heart. + +3But you, O LORD, know me; + +you see me, and test my heart toward you. + +Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, + +and set them apart for the day of slaughter. + +4How long will the land mourn + +and the grass of every field wither? + +For the evil of those who dwell in it + +the beasts and the birds are swept away, + +because they said, “He will not see our latter end.” + + + + + +The LORD Answers Jeremiah + + +5“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, + +how will you compete with horses? + +And if in a safe land you are so trusting, + +what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? + +6For even your brothers and the house of your father, + +even they have dealt treacherously with you; + +they are in full cry after you; + +do not believe them, + +though they speak friendly words to you.” + +7“I have forsaken my house; + +I have abandoned my heritage; + +I have given the beloved of my soul + +into the hands of her enemies. + +8My heritage has become to me + +like a lion in the forest; + +she has lifted up her voice against me; + +therefore I hate her. + +9Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair? + +Are the birds of prey against her all around? + +Go, assemble all the wild beasts; + +bring them to devour. + +10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; + +they have trampled down my portion; + +they have made my pleasant portion + +a desolate wilderness. + +11They have made it a desolation; + +desolate, it mourns to me. + +The whole land is made desolate, + +but no man lays it to heart. + +12Upon all the bare heights in the desert + +destroyers have come, + +for the sword of the LORD devours + +from one end of the land to the other; + +no flesh has peace. + +13They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns; + +they have tired themselves out but profit nothing. + +They shall be ashamed of their[20] harvests + +because of the fierce anger of the LORD.” + +14Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the LORD.” + + + + + +The Ruined Loincloth + + +13:1 Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. 3And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, 4“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. 6And after many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing. + +8Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9“Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. 11For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen. + + + + + +The Jars Filled with Wine + + +12“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ 13Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’” + + + + + +Exile Threatened + + +15Hear and give ear; be not proud, + +for the LORD has spoken. + +16Give glory to the LORD your God + +before he brings darkness, + +before your feet stumble + +on the twilight mountains, + +and while you look for light + +he turns it into gloom + +and makes it deep darkness. + +17But if you will not listen, + +my soul will weep in secret for your pride; + +my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, + +because the LORD's flock has been taken captive. + +18Say to the king and the queen mother: + +“Take a lowly seat, + +for your beautiful crown + +has come down from your head.” + +19The cities of the Negeb are shut up, + +with none to open them; + +all Judah is taken into exile, + +wholly taken into exile. + +20“Lift up your eyes and see + +those who come from the north. + +Where is the flock that was given you, + +your beautiful flock? + +21What will you say when they set as head over you + +those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? + +Will not pangs take hold of you + +like those of a woman in labor? + +22And if you say in your heart, + +‘Why have these things come upon me?’ + +it is for the greatness of your iniquity + +that your skirts are lifted up + +and you suffer violence. + +23Can the Ethiopian change his skin + +or the leopard his spots? + +Then also you can do good + +who are accustomed to do evil. + +24I will scatter you[21] like chaff + +driven by the wind from the desert. + +25This is your lot, + +the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD, + +because you have forgotten me + +and trusted in lies. + +26I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, + +and your shame will be seen. + +27I have seen your abominations, + +your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings, + +on the hills in the field. + +Woe to you, O Jerusalem! + +How long will it be before you are made clean?” + + + + + +Famine, Sword, and Pestilence + + +14:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: + +2“Judah mourns, + +and her gates languish; + +her people lament on the ground, + +and the cry of Jerusalem goes up. + +3Her nobles send their servants for water; + +they come to the cisterns; + +they find no water; + +they return with their vessels empty; + +they are ashamed and confounded + +and cover their heads. + +4Because of the ground that is dismayed, + +since there is no rain on the land, + +the farmers are ashamed; + +they cover their heads. + +5Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn + +because there is no grass. + +6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; + +they pant for air like jackals; + +their eyes fail + +because there is no vegetation. + +7“Though our iniquities testify against us, + +act, O LORD, for your name's sake; + +for our backslidings are many; + +we have sinned against you. + +8O you hope of Israel, + +its savior in time of trouble, + +why should you be like a stranger in the land, + +like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night? + +9Why should you be like a man confused, + +like a mighty warrior who cannot save? + +Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us, + +and we are called by your name; + +do not leave us.” + +10Thus says the LORD concerning this people: + +“They have loved to wander thus; + +they have not restrained their feet; + +therefore the LORD does not accept them; + +now he will remember their iniquity + +and punish their sins.” + +11The LORD said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.” + + + + + +Lying Prophets + + +13Then I said: “Ah, Lord GOD, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” 14And the LORD said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. 15Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them. + +17“You shall say to them this word: + +‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, + +and let them not cease, + +for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound, + +with a very grievous blow. + +18If I go out into the field, + +behold, those pierced by the sword! + +And if I enter the city, + +behold, the diseases of famine! + +For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land + +and have no knowledge.’” + +19Have you utterly rejected Judah? + +Does your soul loathe Zion? + +Why have you struck us down + +so that there is no healing for us? + +We looked for peace, but no good came; + +for a time of healing, but behold, terror. + +20We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, + +and the iniquity of our fathers, + +for we have sinned against you. + +21Do not spurn us, for your name's sake; + +do not dishonor your glorious throne; + +remember and do not break your covenant with us. + +22Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? + +Or can the heavens give showers? + +Are you not he, O LORD our God? + +We set our hope on you, + +for you do all these things. + + + + + +The LORD Will Not Relent + + +15:1 Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: + +“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, + +and those who are for the sword, to the sword; + +those who are for famine, to famine, + +and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’ + +3I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. + +5“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, + +or who will grieve for you? + +Who will turn aside + +to ask about your welfare? + +6You have rejected me, declares the LORD; + +you keep going backward, + +so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— + +I am weary of relenting. + +7I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork + +in the gates of the land; + +I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people; + +they did not turn from their ways. + +8I have made their widows more in number + +than the sand of the seas; + +I have brought against the mothers of young men + +a destroyer at noonday; + +I have made anguish and terror + +fall upon them suddenly. + +9She who bore seven has grown feeble; + +she has fainted away; + +her sun went down while it was yet day; + +she has been shamed and disgraced. + +And the rest of them I will give to the sword + +before their enemies, + +declares the LORD.” + + + + + +Jeremiah's Complaint + + +10Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11The LORD said, “Have I not[22] set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze? + +13“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” + +15O LORD, you know; + +remember me and visit me, + +and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. + +In your forbearance take me not away; + +know that for your sake I bear reproach. + +16Your words were found, and I ate them, + +and your words became to me a joy + +and the delight of my heart, + +for I am called by your name, + +O LORD, God of hosts. + +17I did not sit in the company of revelers, + +nor did I rejoice; + +I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, + +for you had filled me with indignation. + +18Why is my pain unceasing, + +my wound incurable, + +refusing to be healed? + +Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, + +like waters that fail? + +19Therefore thus says the LORD: + +“If you return, I will restore you, + +and you shall stand before me. + +If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, + +you shall be as my mouth. + +They shall turn to you, + +but you shall not turn to them. + +20And I will make you to this people + +a fortified wall of bronze; + +they will fight against you, + +but they shall not prevail over you, + +for I am with you + +to save you and deliver you, + +declares the LORD. + +21I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, + +and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” + + + + + +Famine, Sword, and Death + + +16:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth. + +5“For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the LORD. 6Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. 7No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. 8You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. + +10“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ 11then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’ + + + + + +The LORD Will Restore Israel + + +14“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers. + +16“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.” + +19O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, + +my refuge in the day of trouble, + +to you shall the nations come + +from the ends of the earth and say: + +“Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, + +worthless things in which there is no profit. + +20Can man make for himself gods? + +Such are not gods!” + +21“Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.” + + + + + +The Sin of Judah + + +17:1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, 2while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.” + +5Thus says the LORD: + +“Cursed is the man who trusts in man + +and makes flesh his strength,[23] + +whose heart turns away from the LORD. + +6He is like a shrub in the desert, + +and shall not see any good come. + +He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, + +in an uninhabited salt land. + +7“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, + +whose trust is the LORD. + +8He is like a tree planted by water, + +that sends out its roots by the stream, + +and does not fear when heat comes, + +for its leaves remain green, + +and is not anxious in the year of drought, + +for it does not cease to bear fruit.” + +9The heart is deceitful above all things, + +and desperately sick; + +who can understand it? + +10“I the LORD search the heart + +and test the mind,[24] + +to give every man according to his ways, + +according to the fruit of his deeds.” + +11Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, + +so is he who gets riches but not by justice; + +in the midst of his days they will leave him, + +and at his end he will be a fool. + +12A glorious throne set on high from the beginning + +is the place of our sanctuary. + +13O LORD, the hope of Israel, + +all who forsake you shall be put to shame; + +those who turn away from you[25] shall be written in the earth, + +for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. + + + + + +Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance + + +14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; + +save me, and I shall be saved, + +for you are my praise. + +15Behold, they say to me, + +“Where is the word of the LORD? + +Let it come!” + +16I have not run away from being your shepherd, + +nor have I desired the day of sickness. + +You know what came out of my lips; + +it was before your face. + +17Be not a terror to me; + +you are my refuge in the day of disaster. + +18Let those be put to shame who persecute me, + +but let me not be put to shame; + +let them be dismayed, + +but let me not be dismayed; + +bring upon them the day of disaster; + +destroy them with double destruction! + + + + + +Keep the Sabbath Holy + + +19Thus said the LORD to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20and say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. + +24“‘But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. 27But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’” + + + + + +The Potter and the Clay + + +18:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. + +5Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ + +12“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ + +13“Therefore thus says the LORD: + +Ask among the nations, + +Who has heard the like of this? + +The virgin Israel + +has done a very horrible thing. + +14Does the snow of Lebanon leave + +the crags of Sirion?[26] + +Do the mountain waters run dry,[27] + +the cold flowing streams? + +15But my people have forgotten me; + +they make offerings to false gods; + +they made them stumble in their ways, + +in the ancient roads, + +and to walk into side roads, + +not the highway, + +16making their land a horror, + +a thing to be hissed at forever. + +Everyone who passes by it is horrified + +and shakes his head. + +17Like the east wind I will scatter them + +before the enemy. + +I will show them my back, not my face, + +in the day of their calamity.” + +18Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.” + +19Hear me, O LORD, + +and listen to the voice of my adversaries. + +20Should good be repaid with evil? + +Yet they have dug a pit for my life. + +Remember how I stood before you + +to speak good for them, + +to turn away your wrath from them. + +21Therefore deliver up their children to famine; + +give them over to the power of the sword; + +let their wives become childless and widowed. + +May their men meet death by pestilence, + +their youths be struck down by the sword in battle. + +22May a cry be heard from their houses, + +when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them! + +For they have dug a pit to take me + +and laid snares for my feet. + +23Yet you, O LORD, know + +all their plotting to kill me. + +Forgive not their iniquity, + +nor blot out their sin from your sight. + +Let them be overthrown before you; + +deal with them in the time of your anger. + + + + + +The Broken Flask + + +19:1 Thus says the LORD, “Go, buy a potter's earthenware flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests, 2and go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3You shall say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’ + +10“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, so that it can never be mended. Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12Thus will I do to this place, declares the LORD, and to its inhabitants, making this city like Topheth. 13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—all the houses on whose roofs offerings have been offered to all the host of heaven, and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled like the place of Topheth.’” + +14Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD's house and said to all the people: 15“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words.” + + + + + +Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur + + +20:1 Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD. 3The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror On Every Side. 4For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.” + +7O LORD, you have deceived me, + +and I was deceived; + +you are stronger than I, + +and you have prevailed. + +I have become a laughingstock all the day; + +everyone mocks me. + +8For whenever I speak, I cry out, + +I shout, “Violence and destruction!” + +For the word of the LORD has become for me + +a reproach and derision all day long. + +9If I say, “I will not mention him, + +or speak any more in his name,” + +there is in my heart as it were a burning fire + +shut up in my bones, + +and I am weary with holding it in, + +and I cannot. + +10For I hear many whispering. + +Terror is on every side! + +“Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” + +say all my close friends, + +watching for my fall. + +“Perhaps he will be deceived; + +then we can overcome him + +and take our revenge on him.” + +11But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; + +therefore my persecutors will stumble; + +they will not overcome me. + +They will be greatly shamed, + +for they will not succeed. + +Their eternal dishonor + +will never be forgotten. + +12O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous, + +who sees the heart and the mind,[28] + +let me see your vengeance upon them, + +for to you have I committed my cause. + +13Sing to the LORD; + +praise the LORD! + +For he has delivered the life of the needy + +from the hand of evildoers. + +14Cursed be the day + +on which I was born! + +The day when my mother bore me, + +let it not be blessed! + +15Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, + +“A son is born to you,” + +making him very glad. + +16Let that man be like the cities + +that the LORD overthrew without pity; + +let him hear a cry in the morning + +and an alarm at noon, + +17because he did not kill me in the womb; + +so my mother would have been my grave, + +and her womb forever great. + +18Why did I come out from the womb + +to see toil and sorrow, + +and spend my days in shame? + + + + + +Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar + + +21:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2“Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar[29] king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.” + +3Then Jeremiah said to them: 4“Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7Afterward, declares the LORD, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’ + +8“And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’ + + + + + +Message to the House of David + + +11“And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, 12O house of David! Thus says the LORD: + +“‘Execute justice in the morning, + +and deliver from the hand of the oppressor + +him who has been robbed, + +lest my wrath go forth like fire, + +and burn with none to quench it, + +because of your evil deeds.’” + +13“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, + +O rock of the plain, + +declares the LORD; + +you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us, + +or who shall enter our habitations?’ + +14I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, + +declares the LORD; + +I will kindle a fire in her forest, + +and it shall devour all that is around her.” + + + + + +22:1 Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. 6For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: + +“‘You are like Gilead to me, + +like the summit of Lebanon, + +yet surely I will make you a desert, + +an uninhabited city.[30] + +7I will prepare destroyers against you, + +each with his weapons, + +and they shall cut down your choicest cedars + +and cast them into the fire. + +8“‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?” 9And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’” + +10Weep not for him who is dead, + +nor grieve for him, + +but weep bitterly for him who goes away, + +for he shall return no more + +to see his native land. + + + + + +Message to the Sons of Josiah + + +11For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.” + +13“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, + +and his upper rooms by injustice, + +who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing + +and does not give him his wages, + +14who says, ‘I will build myself a great house + +with spacious upper rooms,’ + +who cuts out windows for it, + +paneling it with cedar + +and painting it with vermilion. + +15Do you think you are a king + +because you compete in cedar? + +Did not your father eat and drink + +and do justice and righteousness? + +Then it was well with him. + +16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; + +then it was well. + +Is not this to know me? + +declares the LORD. + +17But you have eyes and heart + +only for your dishonest gain, + +for shedding innocent blood, + +and for practicing oppression and violence.” + +18Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: + +“They shall not lament for him, saying, + +‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’ + +They shall not lament for him, saying, + +‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’ + +19With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, + +dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.” + +20“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out, + +and lift up your voice in Bashan; + +cry out from Abarim, + +for all your lovers are destroyed. + +21I spoke to you in your prosperity, + +but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ + +This has been your way from your youth, + +that you have not obeyed my voice. + +22The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds, + +and your lovers shall go into captivity; + +then you will be ashamed and confounded + +because of all your evil. + +23O inhabitant of Lebanon, + +nested among the cedars, + +how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, + +pain as of a woman in labor!” + +24“As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.” + +28Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, + +a vessel no one cares for? + +Why are he and his children hurled and cast + +into a land that they do not know? + +29O land, land, land, + +hear the word of the LORD! + +30Thus says the LORD: + +“Write this man down as childless, + +a man who shall not succeed in his days, + +for none of his offspring shall succeed + +in sitting on the throne of David + +and ruling again in Judah.” + + + + + +The Righteous Branch + + +23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. + +5“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ + +7“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he[31] had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” + + + + + +Lying Prophets + + +9Concerning the prophets: + +My heart is broken within me; + +all my bones shake; + +I am like a drunken man, + +like a man overcome by wine, + +because of the LORD + +and because of his holy words. + +10For the land is full of adulterers; + +because of the curse the land mourns, + +and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. + +Their course is evil, + +and their might is not right. + +11“Both prophet and priest are ungodly; + +even in my house I have found their evil, + +declares the LORD. + +12Therefore their way shall be to them + +like slippery paths in the darkness, + +into which they shall be driven and fall, + +for I will bring disaster upon them + +in the year of their punishment, + +declares the LORD. + +13In the prophets of Samaria + +I saw an unsavory thing: + +they prophesied by Baal + +and led my people Israel astray. + +14But in the prophets of Jerusalem + +I have seen a horrible thing: + +they commit adultery and walk in lies; + +they strengthen the hands of evildoers, + +so that no one turns from his evil; + +all of them have become like Sodom to me, + +and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” + +15Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: + +“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food + +and give them poisoned water to drink, + +for from the prophets of Jerusalem + +ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” + +16Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” + +18For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD + +to see and to hear his word, + +or who has paid attention to his word and listened? + +19Behold, the storm of the LORD! + +Wrath has gone forth, + +a whirling tempest; + +it will burst upon the head of the wicked. + +20The anger of the LORD will not turn back + +until he has executed and accomplished + +the intents of his heart. + +In the latter days you will understand it clearly. + +21“I did not send the prophets, + +yet they ran; + +I did not speak to them, + +yet they prophesied. + +22But if they had stood in my council, + +then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, + +and they would have turned them from their evil way, + +and from the evil of their deeds. + +23“Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. 25I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. + +33“When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,[32] and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’” + + + + + +The Good Figs and the Bad Figs + + +24:1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” + +4Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them. 7I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. + +8“But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9I will make them a horror[33] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” + + + + + +Seventy Years of Captivity + + +25:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3“For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. + +8“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” + + + + + +The Cup of the LORD's Wrath + + +15Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” + +17So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon[34] shall drink. + +27“Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’ + +28“And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.’ + +30“You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: + +“‘The LORD will roar from on high, + +and from his holy habitation utter his voice; + +he will roar mightily against his fold, + +and shout, like those who tread grapes, + +against all the inhabitants of the earth. + +31The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, + +for the LORD has an indictment against the nations; + +he is entering into judgment with all flesh, + +and the wicked he will put to the sword, + +declares the LORD.’ + +32“Thus says the LORD of hosts: + +Behold, disaster is going forth + +from nation to nation, + +and a great tempest is stirring + +from the farthest parts of the earth! + +33“And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. + +34“Wail, you shepherds, and cry out, + +and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, + +for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come, + +and you shall fall like a choice vessel. + +35No refuge will remain for the shepherds, + +nor escape for the lords of the flock. + +36A voice—the cry of the shepherds, + +and the wail of the lords of the flock! + +For the LORD is laying waste their pasture, + +37and the peaceful folds are devastated + +because of the fierce anger of the LORD. + +38Like a lion he has left his lair, + +for their land has become a waste + +because of the sword of the oppressor, + +and because of his fierce anger.” + + + + + +Jeremiah Threatened with Death + + +26:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD: 2“Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the LORD all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, 6then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’” + +7The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. 8And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. + +10When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the LORD. 11Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.” + +12Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.” + + + + + +Jeremiah Spared from Death + + +16Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.” 17And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, + +“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field; + +Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, + +and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’ + +19Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and did not the LORD relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.” + +20There was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22Then King Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, Elnathan the son of Achbor and others with him, 23and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people. + +24But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death. + + + + + +The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar + + +27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah[35] the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. 2Thus the LORD said to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3Send word[36] to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave. + +8“‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the LORD, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the LORD.”’” + +12To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live. 13Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the LORD has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15I have not sent them, declares the LORD, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.” + +16Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a desolation? 18If they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, then let them intercede with the LORD of hosts, that the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.” + + + + + +Hananiah the False Prophet + + +28:1 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” + +5Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD, 6and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.” + +10Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. 11And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way. + +12Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13“Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. 14For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’” 15And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the LORD.’” + +17In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died. + + + + + +Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles + + +29:1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,[37] 9for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD. + +10“For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare[38] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. + +15“Because you have said, ‘The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the LORD, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the LORD.’ 20Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the LORD.’” + + + + + +Shemaiah's False Prophecy + + +24To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: 25“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26‘The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have charge in the house of the LORD over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and neck irons. 27Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? 28For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’” + +29Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 31“Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, 32therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the LORD, for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.’” + + + + + +Restoration for Israel and Judah + + +30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.” + +4These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: + +5“Thus says the LORD: + +We have heard a cry of panic, + +of terror, and no peace. + +6Ask now, and see, + +can a man bear a child? + +Why then do I see every man + +with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? + +Why has every face turned pale? + +7Alas! That day is so great + +there is none like it; + +it is a time of distress for Jacob; + +yet he shall be saved out of it. + +8“And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him.[39] 9But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. + +10“Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, + +nor be dismayed, O Israel; + +for behold, I will save you from far away, + +and your offspring from the land of their captivity. + +Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, + +and none shall make him afraid. + +11For I am with you to save you, + +declares the LORD; + +I will make a full end of all the nations + +among whom I scattered you, + +but of you I will not make a full end. + +I will discipline you in just measure, + +and I will by no means leave you unpunished. + +12“For thus says the LORD: + +Your hurt is incurable, + +and your wound is grievous. + +13There is none to uphold your cause, + +no medicine for your wound, + +no healing for you. + +14All your lovers have forgotten you; + +they care nothing for you; + +for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, + +the punishment of a merciless foe, + +because your guilt is great, + +because your sins are flagrant. + +15Why do you cry out over your hurt? + +Your pain is incurable. + +Because your guilt is great, + +because your sins are flagrant, + +I have done these things to you. + +16Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured, + +and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity; + +those who plunder you shall be plundered, + +and all who prey on you I will make a prey. + +17For I will restore health to you, + +and your wounds I will heal, + +declares the LORD, + +because they have called you an outcast: + +‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’ + +18“Thus says the LORD: + +Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob + +and have compassion on his dwellings; + +the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, + +and the palace shall stand where it used to be. + +19Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving, + +and the voices of those who celebrate. + +I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; + +I will make them honored, and they shall not be small. + +20Their children shall be as they were of old, + +and their congregation shall be established before me, + +and I will punish all who oppress them. + +21Their prince shall be one of themselves; + +their ruler shall come out from their midst; + +I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, + +for who would dare of himself to approach me? + +declares the LORD. + +22And you shall be my people, + +and I will be your God.” + +23Behold the storm of the LORD! + +Wrath has gone forth, + +a whirling tempest; + +it will burst upon the head of the wicked. + +24The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back + +until he has executed and accomplished + +the intentions of his mind. + +In the latter days you will understand this. + + + + + +The LORD Will Turn Mourning to Joy + + +31:1 “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.” + +2Thus says the LORD: + +“The people who survived the sword + +found grace in the wilderness; + +when Israel sought for rest, + +3the LORD appeared to him[40] from far away. + +I have loved you with an everlasting love; + +therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. + +4Again I will build you, and you shall be built, + +O virgin Israel! + +Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines + +and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. + +5Again you shall plant vineyards + +on the mountains of Samaria; + +the planters shall plant + +and shall enjoy the fruit. + +6For there shall be a day when watchmen will call + +in the hill country of Ephraim: + +‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, + +to the LORD our God.’” + +7For thus says the LORD: + +“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, + +and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; + +proclaim, give praise, and say, + +‘O LORD, save your people, + +the remnant of Israel.’ + +8Behold, I will bring them from the north country + +and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, + +among them the blind and the lame, + +the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; + +a great company, they shall return here. + +9With weeping they shall come, + +and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, + +I will make them walk by brooks of water, + +in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, + +for I am a father to Israel, + +and Ephraim is my firstborn. + +10“Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, + +and declare it in the coastlands far away; + +say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, + +and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ + +11For the LORD has ransomed Jacob + +and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. + +12They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, + +and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, + +over the grain, the wine, and the oil, + +and over the young of the flock and the herd; + +their life shall be like a watered garden, + +and they shall languish no more. + +13Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, + +and the young men and the old shall be merry. + +I will turn their mourning into joy; + +I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. + +14I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, + +and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, + +declares the LORD.” + +15Thus says the LORD: + +“A voice is heard in Ramah, + +lamentation and bitter weeping. + +Rachel is weeping for her children; + +she refuses to be comforted for her children, + +because they are no more.” + +16Thus says the LORD: + +“Keep your voice from weeping, + +and your eyes from tears, + +for there is a reward for your work, + +declares the LORD, + +and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. + +17There is hope for your future, + +declares the LORD, + +and your children shall come back to their own country. + +18I have heard Ephraim grieving, + +‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, + +like an untrained calf; + +bring me back that I may be restored, + +for you are the LORD my God. + +19For after I had turned away, I relented, + +and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; + +I was ashamed, and I was confounded, + +because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ + +20Is Ephraim my dear son? + +Is he my darling child? + +For as often as I speak against him, + +I do remember him still. + +Therefore my heart[41] yearns for him; + +I will surely have mercy on him, + +declares the LORD. + +21“Set up road markers for yourself; + +make yourself guideposts; + +consider well the highway, + +the road by which you went. + +Return, O virgin Israel, + +return to these your cities. + +22How long will you waver, + +O faithless daughter? + +For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: + +a woman encircles a man.” + +23Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: + +“‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, + +O holy hill!’ + +24And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” + +26At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. + +27“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. 29In those days they shall no longer say: + +“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, + +and the children's teeth are set on edge.’ + +30But everyone shall die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. + + + + + +The New Covenant + + +31“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” + +35Thus says the LORD, + +who gives the sun for light by day + +and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, + +who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— + +the LORD of hosts is his name: + +36“If this fixed order departs + +from before me, declares the LORD, + +then shall the offspring of Israel cease + +from being a nation before me forever.” + +37Thus says the LORD: + +“If the heavens above can be measured, + +and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, + +then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel + +for all that they have done, + +declares the LORD.” + +38“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown anymore forever.” + + + + + +Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege + + +32:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5And he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the LORD. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?” + +6Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: 7Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. + +9“And I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12And I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, 14‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’ + + + + + +Jeremiah Prays for Understanding + + +16“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying: 17‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. 18You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts, 19great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror. 22And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’” + +26The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 27“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? 28Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD. 31This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight 32because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. 34They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. + + + + + +They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God + + +36“Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. + +42“For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43Fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.” + + + + + +The LORD Promises Peace + + +33:1 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: 2“Thus says the LORD who made the earth,[42] the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: 3Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. 4For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: 5They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them[43] with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. 8I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9And this city[44] shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it. + +10“Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD: + +“‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, + +for the LORD is good, + +for his steadfast love endures forever!’ + +For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD. + +12“Thus says the LORD of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. 13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD. + + + + + +The LORD's Eternal Covenant with David + + +14“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ + +17“For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” + +19The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 20“Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, 21then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. 22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.” + +23The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 24“Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The LORD has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25Thus says the LORD: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.” + + + + + +Zedekiah to Die in Babylon + + +34:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. 5You shall die in peace. And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall burn spices for you and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the LORD.” + +6Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah, for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained. + +8The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 13“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, 14‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you must set him free from your service.’ But your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name, 16but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves. + +17“Therefore, thus says the LORD: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the LORD. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like[45] the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. 22Behold, I will command, declares the LORD, and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.” + + + + + +The Obedience of the Rechabites + + +35:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2“Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4I brought them to the house of the LORD into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. 5Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.” + +12Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the LORD. 14The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me. 15I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.” + +18But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.” + + + + + +Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's Scroll + + +36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” + +4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him. 5And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am banned from going to the house of the LORD, 6so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the LORD's house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. 7It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the LORD, and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.” 8And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD's house. + +9In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. 10Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD's house. + +11When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, 12he went down to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber, and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. 16When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” 17Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.” + +20So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments. 25Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them. + +27Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28“Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the LORD, You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” 30Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’” + +32Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. + + + + + +Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah + + +37:1 Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 2But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. + +3King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray for us to the LORD our God.” 4Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. + +6Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7“Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. 8And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. They shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9Thus says the LORD, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’” + + + + + +Jeremiah Imprisoned + + +11Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army, 12Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among the people. 13When he was at the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison. + +16When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the LORD?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” 18Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20Now hear, please, O my lord the king: let my humble plea come before you and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” 21So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. + + + + + +Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern + + +38:1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people, 2“Thus says the LORD: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. 3Thus says the LORD: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” 4Then the officials said to the king, “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.” 6So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. + + + + + +Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern + + +7When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate— 8Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king, 9“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” 10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. 12Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. + + + + + +Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again + + +14King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.” + +17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the LORD has shown to me: 22Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying, + +“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you + +and prevailed against you; + +now that your feet are sunk in the mud, + +they turn away from you.’ + +23All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.” + +24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken. + + + + + +The Fall of Jerusalem + + +39:1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. 2In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. 3Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. 4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward the Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he passed sentence on him. 6The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. 8The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. + + + + + +The LORD Delivers Jeremiah + + +11Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, 12“Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” 13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon 14sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he lived among the people. + +15The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16“Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17But I will deliver you on that day, declares the LORD, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the LORD.’” + + + + + +Jeremiah Remains in Judah + + +40:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he took him bound in chains along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God pronounced this disaster against this place. 3The LORD has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you. 4Now, behold, I release you today from the chains on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well, but if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go. 5If you remain,[46] then return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go. 6Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. + +7When all the captains of the forces in the open country and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land and had committed to him men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been taken into exile to Babylon, 8they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 9Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 10As for me, I will dwell at Mizpah, to represent you before the Chaldeans who will come to us. But as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.” 11Likewise, when all the Judeans who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance. + +13Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe them. 15Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Please let me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life, so that all the Judeans who are gathered about you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah would perish?” 16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael.” + + + + + +Gedaliah Murdered + + +41:1 In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, 2Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. 3Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there. + +4On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, 5eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the LORD. 6And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” 7When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. 8But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions. + +9Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with[47] Gedaliah was the large cistern that King Asa had made for defense against Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 10Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites. + +11But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon. 13And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. 14So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites. 16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from Gibeon. 17And they went and stayed at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt 18because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. + + + + + +Warning Against Going to Egypt + + +42:1 Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near 2and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— 3that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” 4Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.” 5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” + +7At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8Then he summoned Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, 9and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God 14and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, 16then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die. 17All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them. + +18“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. 19The LORD has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day 20that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and whatever the LORD our God says declare to us and we will do it.’ 21And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. 22Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.” + + + + + +Jeremiah Taken to Egypt + + +43:1 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, 2Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the LORD, to remain in the land of Judah. 5But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— 6the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD. And they arrived at Tahpanhes. + +8Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes: 9“Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’” + + + + + +Judgment for Idolatry + + +44:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, 2“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. 7And now thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, the evil of their[48] wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10They have not humbled themselves even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers. + +11“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. 13I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, except some fugitives.” + +15Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. 17But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19And the women said,[49] “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” + +20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22The LORD could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.” + +24Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord GOD lives.’ 27Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29This shall be the sign to you, declares the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm: 30Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.” + + + + + +Message to Baruch + + +45:1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3You said, ‘Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’ 4Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. 5And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.” + + + + + +Judgment on Egypt + + +46:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. + +2About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: + +3“Prepare buckler and shield, + +and advance for battle! + +4Harness the horses; + +mount, O horsemen! + +Take your stations with your helmets, + +polish your spears, + +put on your armor! + +5Why have I seen it? + +They are dismayed + +and have turned backward. + +Their warriors are beaten down + +and have fled in haste; + +they look not back— + +terror on every side! + +declares the LORD. + +6“The swift cannot flee away, + +nor the warrior escape; + +in the north by the river Euphrates + +they have stumbled and fallen. + +7“Who is this, rising like the Nile, + +like rivers whose waters surge? + +8Egypt rises like the Nile, + +like rivers whose waters surge. + +He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth, + +I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’ + +9Advance, O horses, + +and rage, O chariots! + +Let the warriors go out: + +men of Cush and Put who handle the shield, + +men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow. + +10That day is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, + +a day of vengeance, + +to avenge himself on his foes. + +The sword shall devour and be sated + +and drink its fill of their blood. + +For the Lord GOD of hosts holds a sacrifice + +in the north country by the river Euphrates. + +11Go up to Gilead, and take balm, + +O virgin daughter of Egypt! + +In vain you have used many medicines; + +there is no healing for you. + +12The nations have heard of your shame, + +and the earth is full of your cry; + +for warrior has stumbled against warrior; + +they have both fallen together.” + +13The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt: + +14“Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; + +proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes; + +say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared, + +for the sword shall devour around you.’ + +15Why are your mighty ones face down? + +They do not stand[50] + +because the LORD thrust them down. + +16He made many stumble, and they fell, + +and they said one to another, + +‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people + +and to the land of our birth, + +because of the sword of the oppressor.’ + +17Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, + +‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’ + +18“As I live, declares the King, + +whose name is the LORD of hosts, + +like Tabor among the mountains + +and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come. + +19Prepare yourselves baggage for exile, + +O inhabitants of Egypt! + +For Memphis shall become a waste, + +a ruin, without inhabitant. + +20“A beautiful heifer is Egypt, + +but a biting fly from the north has come upon her. + +21Even her hired soldiers in her midst + +are like fattened calves; + +yes, they have turned and fled together; + +they did not stand, + +for the day of their calamity has come upon them, + +the time of their punishment. + +22“She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away; + +for her enemies march in force + +and come against her with axes + +like those who fell trees. + +23They shall cut down her forest, + +declares the LORD, + +though it is impenetrable, + +because they are more numerous than locusts; + +they are without number. + +24The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; + +she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.” + +25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the LORD. + +27“But fear not, O Jacob my servant, + +nor be dismayed, O Israel, + +for behold, I will save you from far away, + +and your offspring from the land of their captivity. + +Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, + +and none shall make him afraid. + +28Fear not, O Jacob my servant, + +declares the LORD, + +for I am with you. + +I will make a full end of all the nations + +to which I have driven you, + +but of you I will not make a full end. + +I will discipline you in just measure, + +and I will by no means leave you unpunished.” + + + + + +Judgment on the Philistines + + +47:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza. + +2“Thus says the LORD: + +Behold, waters are rising out of the north, + +and shall become an overflowing torrent; + +they shall overflow the land and all that fills it, + +the city and those who dwell in it. + +Men shall cry out, + +and every inhabitant of the land shall wail. + +3At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions, + +at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels, + +the fathers look not back to their children, + +so feeble are their hands, + +4because of the day that is coming to destroy + +all the Philistines, + +to cut off from Tyre and Sidon + +every helper that remains. + +For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, + +the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor. + +5Baldness has come upon Gaza; + +Ashkelon has perished. + +O remnant of their valley, + +how long will you gash yourselves? + +6Ah, sword of the LORD! + +How long till you are quiet? + +Put yourself into your scabbard; + +rest and be still! + +7How can it[51] be quiet + +when the LORD has given it a charge? + +Against Ashkelon and against the seashore + +he has appointed it.” + + + + + +Judgment on Moab + + +48:1 Concerning Moab. + +Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: + +“Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste! + +Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; + +the fortress is put to shame and broken down; + +2the renown of Moab is no more. + +In Heshbon they planned disaster against her: + +‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’ + +You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; + +the sword shall pursue you. + +3“A voice! A cry from Horonaim, + +‘Desolation and great destruction!’ + +4Moab is destroyed; + +her little ones have made a cry. + +5For at the ascent of Luhith + +they go up weeping;[52] + +for at the descent of Horonaim + +they have heard the distressed cry[53] of destruction. + +6Flee! Save yourselves! + +You will be like a juniper in the desert! + +7For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures, + +you also shall be taken; + +and Chemosh shall go into exile + +with his priests and his officials. + +8The destroyer shall come upon every city, + +and no city shall escape; + +the valley shall perish, + +and the plain shall be destroyed, + +as the LORD has spoken. + +9“Give wings to Moab, + +for she would fly away; + +her cities shall become a desolation, + +with no inhabitant in them. + +10“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed. + +11“Moab has been at ease from his youth + +and has settled on his dregs; + +he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, + +nor has he gone into exile; + +so his taste remains in him, + +and his scent is not changed. + +12“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his[54] jars in pieces. 13Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. + +14“How do you say, ‘We are heroes + +and mighty men of war’? + +15The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, + +and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, + +declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. + +16The calamity of Moab is near at hand, + +and his affliction hastens swiftly. + +17Grieve for him, all you who are around him, + +and all who know his name; + +say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken, + +the glorious staff.’ + +18“Come down from your glory, + +and sit on the parched ground, + +O inhabitant of Dibon! + +For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; + +he has destroyed your strongholds. + +19Stand by the way and watch, + +O inhabitant of Aroer! + +Ask him who flees and her who escapes; + +say, ‘What has happened?’ + +20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken; + +wail and cry! + +Tell it beside the Arnon, + +that Moab is laid waste. + +21“Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, 23and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, 24and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. 25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the LORD. + +26“Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision. 27Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head? + +28“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, + +O inhabitants of Moab! + +Be like the dove that nests + +in the sides of the mouth of a gorge. + +29We have heard of the pride of Moab— + +he is very proud— + +of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, + +and the haughtiness of his heart. + +30I know his insolence, declares the LORD; + +his boasts are false, + +his deeds are false. + +31Therefore I wail for Moab; + +I cry out for all Moab; + +for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn. + +32More than for Jazer I weep for you, + +O vine of Sibmah! + +Your branches passed over the sea, + +reached to the Sea of Jazer; + +on your summer fruits and your grapes + +the destroyer has fallen. + +33Gladness and joy have been taken away + +from the fruitful land of Moab; + +I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; + +no one treads them with shouts of joy; + +the shouting is not the shout of joy. + +34“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. 35And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the LORD, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god. 36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished. + +37“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the LORD. 39How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.” + +40For thus says the LORD: + +“Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle + +and spread his wings against Moab; + +41the cities shall be taken + +and the strongholds seized. + +The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day + +like the heart of a woman in her birth pains; + +42Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, + +because he magnified himself against the LORD. + +43Terror, pit, and snare + +are before you, O inhabitant of Moab! + +declares the LORD. + +44He who flees from the terror + +shall fall into the pit, + +and he who climbs out of the pit + +shall be caught in the snare. + +For I will bring these things upon Moab, + +the year of their punishment, + +declares the LORD. + +45“In the shadow of Heshbon + +fugitives stop without strength, + +for fire came out from Heshbon, + +flame from the house of Sihon; + +it has destroyed the forehead of Moab, + +the crown of the sons of tumult. + +46Woe to you, O Moab! + +The people of Chemosh are undone, + +for your sons have been taken captive, + +and your daughters into captivity. + +47Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab + +in the latter days, declares the LORD.” + +Thus far is the judgment on Moab. + + + + + +Judgment on Ammon + + +49:1 Concerning the Ammonites. + +Thus says the LORD: + +“Has Israel no sons? + +Has he no heir? + +Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad, + +and his people settled in its cities? + +2Therefore, behold, the days are coming, + +declares the LORD, + +when I will cause the battle cry to be heard + +against Rabbah of the Ammonites; + +it shall become a desolate mound, + +and its villages shall be burned with fire; + +then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, + +says the LORD. + +3“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! + +Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! + +Put on sackcloth, + +lament, and run to and fro among the hedges! + +For Milcom shall go into exile, + +with his priests and his officials. + +4Why do you boast of your valleys,[55] + +O faithless daughter, + +who trusted in her treasures, saying, + +‘Who will come against me?’ + +5Behold, I will bring terror upon you, + +declares the Lord GOD of hosts, + +from all who are around you, + +and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him, + +with none to gather the fugitives. + +6“But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD.” + + + + + +Judgment on Edom + + +7Concerning Edom. + +Thus says the LORD of hosts: + +“Is wisdom no more in Teman? + +Has counsel perished from the prudent? + +Has their wisdom vanished? + +8Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, + +O inhabitants of Dedan! + +For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, + +the time when I punish him. + +9If grape-gatherers came to you, + +would they not leave gleanings? + +If thieves came by night, + +would they not destroy only enough for themselves? + +10But I have stripped Esau bare; + +I have uncovered his hiding places, + +and he is not able to conceal himself. + +His children are destroyed, and his brothers, + +and his neighbors; and he is no more. + +11Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; + +and let your widows trust in me.” + +12For thus says the LORD: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.” + +14I have heard a message from the LORD, + +and an envoy has been sent among the nations: + +“Gather yourselves together and come against her, + +and rise up for battle! + +15For behold, I will make you small among the nations, + +despised among mankind. + +16The horror you inspire has deceived you, + +and the pride of your heart, + +you who live in the clefts of the rock,[56] + +who hold the height of the hill. + +Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's, + +I will bring you down from there, + +declares the LORD. + +17“Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. 19Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him[57] run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? 20Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.” + + + + + +Judgment on Damascus + + +23Concerning Damascus: + +“Hamath and Arpad are confounded, + +for they have heard bad news; + +they melt in fear, + +they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet. + +24Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, + +and panic seized her; + +anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, + +as of a woman in labor. + +25How is the famous city not forsaken, + +the city of my joy? + +26Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, + +and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day, + +declares the LORD of hosts. + +27And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, + +and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.” + + + + + +Judgment on Kedar and Hazor + + +28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down. + +Thus says the LORD: + +“Rise up, advance against Kedar! + +Destroy the people of the east! + +29Their tents and their flocks shall be taken, + +their curtains and all their goods; + +their camels shall be led away from them, + +and men shall cry to them: ‘Terror on every side!’ + +30Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths, + +O inhabitants of Hazor! + +declares the LORD. + +For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon + +has made a plan against you + +and formed a purpose against you. + +31“Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, + +that dwells securely, + +declares the LORD, + +that has no gates or bars, + +that dwells alone. + +32Their camels shall become plunder, + +their herds of livestock a spoil. + +I will scatter to every wind + +those who cut the corners of their hair, + +and I will bring their calamity + +from every side of them, + +declares the LORD. + +33Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals, + +an everlasting waste; + +no man shall dwell there; + +no man shall sojourn in her.” + + + + + +Judgment on Elam + + +34The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. + +35Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. 36And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. 37I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, 38and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the LORD. + +39“But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the LORD.” + + + + + +Judgment on Babylon + + +50:1 The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet: + +2“Declare among the nations and proclaim, + +set up a banner and proclaim, + +conceal it not, and say: + +‘Babylon is taken, + +Bel is put to shame, + +Merodach is dismayed. + +Her images are put to shame, + +her idols are dismayed.’ + +3“For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away. + +4“In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the LORD their God. 5They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’ + +6“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. 7All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their habitation of righteousness, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’ + +8“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. 9For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. 10Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the LORD. + +11“Though you rejoice, though you exult, + +O plunderers of my heritage, + +though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, + +and neigh like stallions, + +12your mother shall be utterly shamed, + +and she who bore you shall be disgraced. + +Behold, she shall be the last of the nations, + +a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. + +13Because of the wrath of the LORD she shall not be inhabited + +but shall be an utter desolation; + +everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled, + +and hiss because of all her wounds. + +14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, + +all you who bend the bow; + +shoot at her, spare no arrows, + +for she has sinned against the LORD. + +15Raise a shout against her all around; + +she has surrendered; + +her bulwarks have fallen; + +her walls are thrown down. + +For this is the vengeance of the LORD: + +take vengeance on her; + +do to her as she has done. + +16Cut off from Babylon the sower, + +and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest; + +because of the sword of the oppressor, + +every one shall turn to his own people, + +and every one shall flee to his own land. + +17“Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones. 18Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria. 19I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 20In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant. + +21“Go up against the land of Merathaim,[58] + +and against the inhabitants of Pekod.[59] + +Kill, and devote them to destruction,[60] + +declares the LORD, + +and do all that I have commanded you. + +22The noise of battle is in the land, + +and great destruction! + +23How the hammer of the whole earth + +is cut down and broken! + +How Babylon has become + +a horror among the nations! + +24I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon, + +and you did not know it; + +you were found and caught, + +because you opposed the LORD. + +25The LORD has opened his armory + +and brought out the weapons of his wrath, + +for the Lord GOD of hosts has a work to do + +in the land of the Chaldeans. + +26Come against her from every quarter; + +open her granaries; + +pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction; + +let nothing be left of her. + +27Kill all her bulls; + +let them go down to the slaughter. + +Woe to them, for their day has come, + +the time of their punishment. + +28“A voice! They flee and escape from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for his temple. + +29“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 30Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the LORD. + +31“Behold, I am against you, O proud one, + +declares the Lord GOD of hosts, + +for your day has come, + +the time when I will punish you. + +32The proud one shall stumble and fall, + +with none to raise him up, + +and I will kindle a fire in his cities, + +and it will devour all that is around him. + +33“Thus says the LORD of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. 34Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon. + +35“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, + +and against the inhabitants of Babylon, + +and against her officials and her wise men! + +36A sword against the diviners, + +that they may become fools! + +A sword against her warriors, + +that they may be destroyed! + +37A sword against her horses and against her chariots, + +and against all the foreign troops in her midst, + +that they may become women! + +A sword against all her treasures, + +that they may be plundered! + +38A drought against her waters, + +that they may be dried up! + +For it is a land of images, + +and they are mad over idols. + +39“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. 40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the LORD, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her. + +41“Behold, a people comes from the north; + +a mighty nation and many kings + +are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. + +42They lay hold of bow and spear; + +they are cruel and have no mercy. + +The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea; + +they ride on horses, + +arrayed as a man for battle + +against you, O daughter of Babylon! + +43“The king of Babylon heard the report of them, + +and his hands fell helpless; + +anguish seized him, + +pain as of a woman in labor. + +44“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? 45Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Babylon, and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 46At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.” + + + + + +The Utter Destruction of Babylon + + +51:1 Thus says the LORD: + +“Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer + +against Babylon, + +against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,[61] + +2and I will send to Babylon winnowers, + +and they shall winnow her, + +and they shall empty her land, + +when they come against her from every side + +on the day of trouble. + +3Let not the archer bend his bow, + +and let him not stand up in his armor. + +Spare not her young men; + +devote to destruction[62] all her army. + +4They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, + +and wounded in her streets. + +5For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken + +by their God, the LORD of hosts, + +but the land of the Chaldeans[63] is full of guilt + +against the Holy One of Israel. + +6“Flee from the midst of Babylon; + +let every one save his life! + +Be not cut off in her punishment, + +for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance, + +the repayment he is rendering her. + +7Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, + +making all the earth drunken; + +the nations drank of her wine; + +therefore the nations went mad. + +8Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; + +wail for her! + +Take balm for her pain; + +perhaps she may be healed. + +9We would have healed Babylon, + +but she was not healed. + +Forsake her, and let us go + +each to his own country, + +for her judgment has reached up to heaven + +and has been lifted up even to the skies. + +10The LORD has brought about our vindication; + +come, let us declare in Zion + +the work of the LORD our God. + +11“Sharpen the arrows! + +Take up the shields! + +The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance for his temple. + +12“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon; + +make the watch strong; + +set up watchmen; + +prepare the ambushes; + +for the LORD has both planned and done + +what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. + +13O you who dwell by many waters, + +rich in treasures, + +your end has come; + +the thread of your life is cut. + +14The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself: + +Surely I will fill you with men, as many as locusts, + +and they shall raise the shout of victory over you. + +15“It is he who made the earth by his power, + +who established the world by his wisdom, + +and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. + +16When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, + +and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. + +He makes lightning for the rain, + +and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. + +17Every man is stupid and without knowledge; + +every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, + +for his images are false, + +and there is no breath in them. + +18They are worthless, a work of delusion; + +at the time of their punishment they shall perish. + +19Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, + +for he is the one who formed all things, + +and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; + +the LORD of hosts is his name. + +20“You are my hammer and weapon of war: + +with you I break nations in pieces; + +with you I destroy kingdoms; + +21with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider; + +with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer; + +22with you I break in pieces man and woman; + +with you I break in pieces the old man and the youth; + +with you I break in pieces the young man and the young woman; + +23with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; + +with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team; + +with you I break in pieces governors and commanders. + +24“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the LORD. + +25“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, + +declares the LORD, + +which destroys the whole earth; + +I will stretch out my hand against you, + +and roll you down from the crags, + +and make you a burnt mountain. + +26No stone shall be taken from you for a corner + +and no stone for a foundation, + +but you shall be a perpetual waste, + +declares the LORD. + +27“Set up a standard on the earth; + +blow the trumpet among the nations; + +prepare the nations for war against her; + +summon against her the kingdoms, + +Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; + +appoint a marshal against her; + +bring up horses like bristling locusts. + +28Prepare the nations for war against her, + +the kings of the Medes, with their governors and deputies, + +and every land under their dominion. + +29The land trembles and writhes in pain, + +for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand, + +to make the land of Babylon a desolation, + +without inhabitant. + +30The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; + +they remain in their strongholds; + +their strength has failed; + +they have become women; + +her dwellings are on fire; + +her bars are broken. + +31One runner runs to meet another, + +and one messenger to meet another, + +to tell the king of Babylon + +that his city is taken on every side; + +32the fords have been seized, + +the marshes are burned with fire, + +and the soldiers are in panic. + +33For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: + +The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor + +at the time when it is trodden; + +yet a little while + +and the time of her harvest will come.” + +34“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; + +he has crushed me; + +he has made me an empty vessel; + +he has swallowed me like a monster; + +he has filled his stomach with my delicacies; + +he has rinsed me out.[64] + +35The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,” + +let the inhabitant of Zion say. + +“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” + +let Jerusalem say. + +36Therefore thus says the LORD: + +“Behold, I will plead your cause + +and take vengeance for you. + +I will dry up her sea + +and make her fountain dry, + +37and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, + +the haunt of jackals, + +a horror and a hissing, + +without inhabitant. + +38“They shall roar together like lions; + +they shall growl like lions' cubs. + +39While they are inflamed I will prepare them a feast + +and make them drunk, that they may become merry, + +then sleep a perpetual sleep + +and not wake, declares the LORD. + +40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, + +like rams and male goats. + +41“How Babylon[65] is taken, + +the praise of the whole earth seized! + +How Babylon has become + +a horror among the nations! + +42The sea has come up on Babylon; + +she is covered with its tumultuous waves. + +43Her cities have become a horror, + +a land of drought and a desert, + +a land in which no one dwells, + +and through which no son of man passes. + +44And I will punish Bel in Babylon, + +and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. + +The nations shall no longer flow to him; + +the wall of Babylon has fallen. + +45“Go out of the midst of her, my people! + +Let every one save his life + +from the fierce anger of the LORD! + +46Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful + +at the report heard in the land, + +when a report comes in one year + +and afterward a report in another year, + +and violence is in the land, + +and ruler is against ruler. + +47“Therefore, behold, the days are coming + +when I will punish the images of Babylon; + +her whole land shall be put to shame, + +and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. + +48Then the heavens and the earth, + +and all that is in them, + +shall sing for joy over Babylon, + +for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, + +declares the LORD. + +49Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel, + +just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth. + +50“You who have escaped from the sword, + +go, do not stand still! + +Remember the LORD from far away, + +and let Jerusalem come into your mind: + +51‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach; + +dishonor has covered our face, + +for foreigners have come + +into the holy places of the LORD's house.’ + +52“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, + +when I will execute judgment upon her images, + +and through all her land + +the wounded shall groan. + +53Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, + +and though she should fortify her strong height, + +yet destroyers would come from me against her, + +declares the LORD. + +54“A voice! A cry from Babylon! + +The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! + +55For the LORD is laying Babylon waste + +and stilling her mighty voice. + +Their waves roar like many waters; + +the noise of their voice is raised, + +56for a destroyer has come upon her, + +upon Babylon; + +her warriors are taken; + +their bows are broken in pieces, + +for the LORD is a God of recompense; + +he will surely repay. + +57I will make drunk her officials and her wise men, + +her governors, her commanders, and her warriors; + +they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, + +declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. + +58“Thus says the LORD of hosts: + +The broad wall of Babylon + +shall be leveled to the ground, + +and her high gates + +shall be burned with fire. + +The peoples labor for nothing, + +and the nations weary themselves only for fire.” + +59The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62and say, ‘O LORD, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be desolate forever.’ 63When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, 64and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted.’” + +Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. + + + + + +The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted + + +52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3For because of the anger of the LORD things came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. + +And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 5So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, while the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 8But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And all his army was scattered from him. 9Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 10The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. + + + + + +The Temple Burned + + +12In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 13And he burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 14And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. 16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. + +17And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service; 19also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the dishes for incense and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 20As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea,[66] and the stands, which Solomon the king had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these things was beyond weight. 21As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,[67] its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, and it was hollow. 22On it was a capital of bronze. The height of the one capital was five cubits. A network and pomegranates, all of bronze, were around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with pomegranates. 23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network all around. + + + + + +The People Exiled to Babylon + + +24And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; 25and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and seven men of the king's council, who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. 26And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27And the king of Babylon struck them down, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. + +28This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; 29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; 30in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Judeans 745 persons; all the persons were 4,600. + + + + + +Jehoiachin Released from Prison + + +31And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, graciously freed[68] Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. 32And he spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, 34and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king according to his daily need, until the day of his death, as long as he lived. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:11 Almond sounds like the Hebrew for watching (compare verse 12) + +[2] 1:14 The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jeremiah + +[3] 1:17 Hebrew gird up your loins + +[4] 2:8 Or rulers + +[5] 2:16 Hebrew grazed + +[6] 3:1 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Saying, “If + +[7] 3:23 Hebrew commotion + +[8] 5:26 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[9] 6:2 Or I have likened the daughter of Zion to the loveliest pasture + +[10] 8:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[11] 8:7 Or just decrees + +[12] 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[13] 8:18 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[14] 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew + +[15] 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew + +[16] 9:3 Septuagint; Hebrew and not for truth they have grown strong + +[17] 10:3 Or vapor, or mist + +[18] 10:5 Hebrew They + +[19] 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic + +[20] 12:13 Hebrew your + +[21] 13:24 Hebrew them + +[22] 15:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[23] 17:5 Hebrew arm + +[24] 17:10 Hebrew kidneys + +[25] 17:13 Hebrew me + +[26] 18:14 Hebrew of the field + +[27] 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up + +[28] 20:12 Hebrew kidneys + +[29] 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, another spelling for Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency + +[30] 22:6 Hebrew cities + +[31] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I + +[32] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? + +[33] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil + +[34] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon + +[35] 27:1 Or Jehoiakim + +[36] 27:3 Hebrew Send them + +[37] 29:8 Hebrew your dreams, which you cause to dream + +[38] 29:11 Or peace + +[39] 30:8 Or serve him + +[40] 31:3 Septuagint; Hebrew me + +[41] 31:20 Hebrew bowels + +[42] 33:2 Septuagint; Hebrew it + +[43] 33:5 That is, the torn-down houses + +[44] 33:9 Hebrew And it + +[45] 34:18 Hebrew lacks them like + +[46] 40:5 Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain + +[47] 41:9 Hebrew by the hand of + +[48] 44:9 Hebrew his + +[49] 44:19 Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said + +[50] 46:15 Hebrew He does not stand + +[51] 47:7 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew you + +[52] 48:5 Hebrew weeping goes up with weeping + +[53] 48:5 Septuagint (compare Isaiah 15:5) heard the cry + +[54] 48:12 Septuagint, Aquila; Hebrew their + +[55] 49:4 Hebrew boast of your valleys, your valley flows + +[56] 49:16 Or of Sela + +[57] 49:19 Septuagint, Syriac them + +[58] 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion + +[59] 50:21 Pekod means punishment + +[60] 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[61] 51:1 A code name for Chaldea + +[62] 51:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) + +[63] 51:5 Hebrew their land + +[64] 51:34 Or he has expelled me + +[65] 51:41 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon + +[66] 52:20 Hebrew lacks the sea + +[67] 52:21 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[68] 52:31 Hebrew king, lifted up the head of + + + + + +LAMENTATIONS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + + + + + +How Lonely Sits the City + + +1:1 How lonely sits the city + +that was full of people! + +How like a widow has she become, + +she who was great among the nations! + +She who was a princess among the provinces + +has become a slave. + +2She weeps bitterly in the night, + +with tears on her cheeks; + +among all her lovers + +she has none to comfort her; + +all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; + +they have become her enemies. + +3Judah has gone into exile because of affliction + +and hard servitude; + +she dwells now among the nations, + +but finds no resting place; + +her pursuers have all overtaken her + +in the midst of her distress.[1] + +4The roads to Zion mourn, + +for none come to the festival; + +all her gates are desolate; + +her priests groan; + +her virgins have been afflicted,[2] + +and she herself suffers bitterly. + +5Her foes have become the head; + +her enemies prosper, + +because the LORD has afflicted her + +for the multitude of her transgressions; + +her children have gone away, + +captives before the foe. + +6From the daughter of Zion + +all her majesty has departed. + +Her princes have become like deer + +that find no pasture; + +they fled without strength + +before the pursuer. + +7Jerusalem remembers + +in the days of her affliction and wandering + +all the precious things + +that were hers from days of old. + +When her people fell into the hand of the foe, + +and there was none to help her, + +her foes gloated over her; + +they mocked at her downfall. + +8Jerusalem sinned grievously; + +therefore she became filthy; + +all who honored her despise her, + +for they have seen her nakedness; + +she herself groans + +and turns her face away. + +9Her uncleanness was in her skirts; + +she took no thought of her future;[3] + +therefore her fall is terrible; + +she has no comforter. + +“O LORD, behold my affliction, + +for the enemy has triumphed!” + +10The enemy has stretched out his hands + +over all her precious things; + +for she has seen the nations + +enter her sanctuary, + +those whom you forbade + +to enter your congregation. + +11All her people groan + +as they search for bread; + +they trade their treasures for food + +to revive their strength. + +“Look, O LORD, and see, + +for I am despised.” + +12“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? + +Look and see + +if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, + +which was brought upon me, + +which the LORD inflicted + +on the day of his fierce anger. + +13“From on high he sent fire; + +into my bones[4] he made it descend; + +he spread a net for my feet; + +he turned me back; + +he has left me stunned, + +faint all the day long. + +14“My transgressions were bound[5] into a yoke; + +by his hand they were fastened together; + +they were set upon my neck; + +he caused my strength to fail; + +the Lord gave me into the hands + +of those whom I cannot withstand. + +15“The Lord rejected + +all my mighty men in my midst; + +he summoned an assembly against me + +to crush my young men; + +the Lord has trodden as in a winepress + +the virgin daughter of Judah. + +16“For these things I weep; + +my eyes flow with tears; + +for a comforter is far from me, + +one to revive my spirit; + +my children are desolate, + +for the enemy has prevailed.” + +17Zion stretches out her hands, + +but there is none to comfort her; + +the LORD has commanded against Jacob + +that his neighbors should be his foes; + +Jerusalem has become + +a filthy thing among them. + +18“The LORD is in the right, + +for I have rebelled against his word; + +but hear, all you peoples, + +and see my suffering; + +my young women and my young men + +have gone into captivity. + +19“I called to my lovers, + +but they deceived me; + +my priests and elders + +perished in the city, + +while they sought food + +to revive their strength. + +20“Look, O LORD, for I am in distress; + +my stomach churns; + +my heart is wrung within me, + +because I have been very rebellious. + +In the street the sword bereaves; + +in the house it is like death. + +21“They heard[6] my groaning, + +yet there is no one to comfort me. + +All my enemies have heard of my trouble; + +they are glad that you have done it. + +You have brought[7] the day you announced; + +now let them be as I am. + +22“Let all their evildoing come before you, + +and deal with them + +as you have dealt with me + +because of all my transgressions; + +for my groans are many, + +and my heart is faint.” + + + + + +The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity + + +2:1 How the Lord in his anger + +has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! + +He has cast down from heaven to earth + +the splendor of Israel; + +he has not remembered his footstool + +in the day of his anger. + +2The Lord has swallowed up without mercy + +all the habitations of Jacob; + +in his wrath he has broken down + +the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; + +he has brought down to the ground in dishonor + +the kingdom and its rulers. + +3He has cut down in fierce anger + +all the might of Israel; + +he has withdrawn from them his right hand + +in the face of the enemy; + +he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, + +consuming all around. + +4He has bent his bow like an enemy, + +with his right hand set like a foe; + +and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes + +in the tent of the daughter of Zion; + +he has poured out his fury like fire. + +5The Lord has become like an enemy; + +he has swallowed up Israel; + +he has swallowed up all its palaces; + +he has laid in ruins its strongholds, + +and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah + +mourning and lamentation. + +6He has laid waste his booth like a garden, + +laid in ruins his meeting place; + +the LORD has made Zion forget + +festival and Sabbath, + +and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest. + +7The Lord has scorned his altar, + +disowned his sanctuary; + +he has delivered into the hand of the enemy + +the walls of her palaces; + +they raised a clamor in the house of the LORD + +as on the day of festival. + +8The LORD determined to lay in ruins + +the wall of the daughter of Zion; + +he stretched out the measuring line; + +he did not restrain his hand from destroying; + +he caused rampart and wall to lament; + +they languished together. + +9Her gates have sunk into the ground; + +he has ruined and broken her bars; + +her king and princes are among the nations; + +the law is no more, + +and her prophets find + +no vision from the LORD. + +10The elders of the daughter of Zion + +sit on the ground in silence; + +they have thrown dust on their heads + +and put on sackcloth; + +the young women of Jerusalem + +have bowed their heads to the ground. + +11My eyes are spent with weeping; + +my stomach churns; + +my bile is poured out to the ground + +because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, + +because infants and babies faint + +in the streets of the city. + +12They cry to their mothers, + +“Where is bread and wine?” + +as they faint like a wounded man + +in the streets of the city, + +as their life is poured out + +on their mothers' bosom. + +13What can I say for you, to what compare you, + +O daughter of Jerusalem? + +What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, + +O virgin daughter of Zion? + +For your ruin is vast as the sea; + +who can heal you? + +14Your prophets have seen for you + +false and deceptive visions; + +they have not exposed your iniquity + +to restore your fortunes, + +but have seen for you oracles + +that are false and misleading. + +15All who pass along the way + +clap their hands at you; + +they hiss and wag their heads + +at the daughter of Jerusalem: + +“Is this the city that was called + +the perfection of beauty, + +the joy of all the earth?” + +16All your enemies + +rail against you; + +they hiss, they gnash their teeth, + +they cry: “We have swallowed her! + +Ah, this is the day we longed for; + +now we have it; we see it!” + +17The LORD has done what he purposed; + +he has carried out his word, + +which he commanded long ago; + +he has thrown down without pity; + +he has made the enemy rejoice over you + +and exalted the might of your foes. + +18Their heart cried to the Lord. + +O wall of the daughter of Zion, + +let tears stream down like a torrent + +day and night! + +Give yourself no rest, + +your eyes no respite! + +19“Arise, cry out in the night, + +at the beginning of the night watches! + +Pour out your heart like water + +before the presence of the Lord! + +Lift your hands to him + +for the lives of your children, + +who faint for hunger + +at the head of every street.” + +20Look, O LORD, and see! + +With whom have you dealt thus? + +Should women eat the fruit of their womb, + +the children of their tender care? + +Should priest and prophet be killed + +in the sanctuary of the Lord? + +21In the dust of the streets + +lie the young and the old; + +my young women and my young men + +have fallen by the sword; + +you have killed them in the day of your anger, + +slaughtering without pity. + +22You summoned as if to a festival day + +my terrors on every side, + +and on the day of the anger of the LORD + +no one escaped or survived; + +those whom I held and raised + +my enemy destroyed. + + + + + +Great Is Your Faithfulness + + +3:1 I am the man who has seen affliction + +under the rod of his wrath; + +2he has driven and brought me + +into darkness without any light; + +3surely against me he turns his hand + +again and again the whole day long. + +4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; + +he has broken my bones; + +5he has besieged and enveloped me + +with bitterness and tribulation; + +6he has made me dwell in darkness + +like the dead of long ago. + +7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; + +he has made my chains heavy; + +8though I call and cry for help, + +he shuts out my prayer; + +9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; + +he has made my paths crooked. + +10He is a bear lying in wait for me, + +a lion in hiding; + +11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; + +he has made me desolate; + +12he bent his bow and set me + +as a target for his arrow. + +13He drove into my kidneys + +the arrows of his quiver; + +14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, + +the object of their taunts all day long. + +15He has filled me with bitterness; + +he has sated me with wormwood. + +16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, + +and made me cower in ashes; + +17my soul is bereft of peace; + +I have forgotten what happiness[8] is; + +18so I say, “My endurance has perished; + +so has my hope from the LORD.” + +19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, + +the wormwood and the gall! + +20My soul continually remembers it + +and is bowed down within me. + +21But this I call to mind, + +and therefore I have hope: + +22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;[9] + +his mercies never come to an end; + +23they are new every morning; + +great is your faithfulness. + +24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, + +“therefore I will hope in him.” + +25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, + +to the soul who seeks him. + +26It is good that one should wait quietly + +for the salvation of the LORD. + +27It is good for a man that he bear + +the yoke in his youth. + +28Let him sit alone in silence + +when it is laid on him; + +29let him put his mouth in the dust— + +there may yet be hope; + +30let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, + +and let him be filled with insults. + +31For the Lord will not + +cast off forever, + +32but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion + +according to the abundance of his steadfast love; + +33for he does not willingly afflict + +or grieve the children of men. + +34To crush underfoot + +all the prisoners of the earth, + +35to deny a man justice + +in the presence of the Most High, + +36to subvert a man in his lawsuit, + +the Lord does not approve. + +37Who has spoken and it came to pass, + +unless the Lord has commanded it? + +38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High + +that good and bad come? + +39Why should a living man complain, + +a man, about the punishment of his sins? + +40Let us test and examine our ways, + +and return to the LORD! + +41Let us lift up our hearts and hands + +to God in heaven: + +42“We have transgressed and rebelled, + +and you have not forgiven. + +43“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, + +killing without pity; + +44you have wrapped yourself with a cloud + +so that no prayer can pass through. + +45You have made us scum and garbage + +among the peoples. + +46“All our enemies + +open their mouths against us; + +47panic and pitfall have come upon us, + +devastation and destruction; + +48my eyes flow with rivers of tears + +because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. + +49“My eyes will flow without ceasing, + +without respite, + +50until the LORD from heaven + +looks down and sees; + +51my eyes cause me grief + +at the fate of all the daughters of my city. + +52“I have been hunted like a bird + +by those who were my enemies without cause; + +53they flung me alive into the pit + +and cast stones on me; + +54water closed over my head; + +I said, ‘I am lost.’ + +55“I called on your name, O LORD, + +from the depths of the pit; + +56you heard my plea, ‘Do not close + +your ear to my cry for help!’ + +57You came near when I called on you; + +you said, ‘Do not fear!’ + +58“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; + +you have redeemed my life. + +59You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; + +judge my cause. + +60You have seen all their vengeance, + +all their plots against me. + +61“You have heard their taunts, O LORD, + +all their plots against me. + +62The lips and thoughts of my assailants + +are against me all the day long. + +63Behold their sitting and their rising; + +I am the object of their taunts. + +64“You will repay them,[10] O LORD, + +according to the work of their hands. + +65You will give them[11] dullness of heart; + +your curse will be[12] on them. + +66You will pursue them[13] in anger and destroy them + +from under your heavens, O LORD.”[14] + + + + + +The Holy Stones Lie Scattered + + +4:1 How the gold has grown dim, + +how the pure gold is changed! + +The holy stones lie scattered + +at the head of every street. + +2The precious sons of Zion, + +worth their weight in fine gold, + +how they are regarded as earthen pots, + +the work of a potter's hands! + +3Even jackals offer the breast; + +they nurse their young, + +but the daughter of my people has become cruel, + +like the ostriches in the wilderness. + +4The tongue of the nursing infant sticks + +to the roof of its mouth for thirst; + +the children beg for food, + +but no one gives to them. + +5Those who once feasted on delicacies + +perish in the streets; + +those who were brought up in purple + +embrace ash heaps. + +6For the chastisement[15] of the daughter of my people has been greater + +than the punishment[16] of Sodom, + +which was overthrown in a moment, + +and no hands were wrung for her.[17] + +7Her princes were purer than snow, + +whiter than milk; + +their bodies were more ruddy than coral, + +the beauty of their form[18] was like sapphire.[19] + +8Now their face is blacker than soot; + +they are not recognized in the streets; + +their skin has shriveled on their bones; + +it has become as dry as wood. + +9Happier were the victims of the sword + +than the victims of hunger, + +who wasted away, pierced + +by lack of the fruits of the field. + +10The hands of compassionate women + +have boiled their own children; + +they became their food + +during the destruction of the daughter of my people. + +11The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; + +he poured out his hot anger, + +and he kindled a fire in Zion + +that consumed its foundations. + +12The kings of the earth did not believe, + +nor any of the inhabitants of the world, + +that foe or enemy could enter + +the gates of Jerusalem. + +13This was for the sins of her prophets + +and the iniquities of her priests, + +who shed in the midst of her + +the blood of the righteous. + +14They wandered, blind, through the streets; + +they were so defiled with blood + +that no one was able to touch + +their garments. + +15“Away! Unclean!” people cried at them. + +“Away! Away! Do not touch!” + +So they became fugitives and wanderers; + +people said among the nations, + +“They shall stay with us no longer.” + +16The LORD himself[20] has scattered them; + +he will regard them no more; + +no honor was shown to the priests, + +no favor to the elders. + +17Our eyes failed, ever watching + +vainly for help; + +in our watching we watched + +for a nation which could not save. + +18They dogged our steps + +so that we could not walk in our streets; + +our end drew near; our days were numbered, + +for our end had come. + +19Our pursuers were swifter + +than the eagles in the heavens; + +they chased us on the mountains; + +they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. + +20The breath of our nostrils, the LORD's anointed, + +was captured in their pits, + +of whom we said, “Under his shadow + +we shall live among the nations.” + +21Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, + +you who dwell in the land of Uz; + +but to you also the cup shall pass; + +you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. + +22The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; + +he will keep you in exile no longer;[21] + +but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; + +he will uncover your sins. + + + + + +Restore Us to Yourself, O LORD + + +5:1 Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; + +look, and see our disgrace! + +2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, + +our homes to foreigners. + +3We have become orphans, fatherless; + +our mothers are like widows. + +4We must pay for the water we drink; + +the wood we get must be bought. + +5Our pursuers are at our necks;[22] + +we are weary; we are given no rest. + +6We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, + +to get bread enough. + +7Our fathers sinned, and are no more; + +and we bear their iniquities. + +8Slaves rule over us; + +there is none to deliver us from their hand. + +9We get our bread at the peril of our lives, + +because of the sword in the wilderness. + +10Our skin is hot as an oven + +with the burning heat of famine. + +11Women are raped in Zion, + +young women in the towns of Judah. + +12Princes are hung up by their hands; + +no respect is shown to the elders. + +13Young men are compelled to grind at the mill, + +and boys stagger under loads of wood. + +14The old men have left the city gate, + +the young men their music. + +15The joy of our hearts has ceased; + +our dancing has been turned to mourning. + +16The crown has fallen from our head; + +woe to us, for we have sinned! + +17For this our heart has become sick, + +for these things our eyes have grown dim, + +18for Mount Zion which lies desolate; + +jackals prowl over it. + +19But you, O LORD, reign forever; + +your throne endures to all generations. + +20Why do you forget us forever, + +why do you forsake us for so many days? + +21Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! + +Renew our days as of old— + +22unless you have utterly rejected us, + +and you remain exceedingly angry with us. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:3 Or in the narrow passes + +[2] 1:4 Septuagint, Old Latin dragged away + +[3] 1:9 Or end + +[4] 1:13 Septuagint; Hebrew bones and + +[5] 1:14 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[6] 1:21 Septuagint, Syriac Hear + +[7] 1:21 Syriac Bring + +[8] 3:17 Hebrew good + +[9] 3:22 Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Because of the steadfast love of the LORD, we are not cut off + +[10] 3:64 Or Repay them + +[11] 3:65 Or Give them + +[12] 3:65 Or place your curse + +[13] 3:66 Or Pursue them + +[14] 3:66 Syriac (compare Septuagint, Vulgate); Hebrew the heavens of the LORD + +[15] 4:6 Or iniquity + +[16] 4:6 Or sin + +[17] 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[18] 4:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[19] 4:7 Hebrew lapis lazuli + +[20] 4:16 Hebrew The face of the LORD + +[21] 4:22 Or he will not exile you again + +[22] 5:5 Symmachus With a yoke on our necks + + + + + +EZEKIEL + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + +Chapter 29 + +Chapter 30 + +Chapter 31 + +Chapter 32 + +Chapter 33 + +Chapter 34 + +Chapter 35 + +Chapter 36 + +Chapter 37 + +Chapter 38 + +Chapter 39 + +Chapter 40 + +Chapter 41 + +Chapter 42 + +Chapter 43 + +Chapter 44 + +Chapter 45 + +Chapter 46 + +Chapter 47 + +Chapter 48 + + + + + +Ezekiel in Babylon + + +1:1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.[1] 2On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there. + + + + + +The Glory of the LORD + + +4As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal.[2] 5And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 10As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. 12And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning. + +15Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.[3] 16As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17When they went, they went in any of their four directions[4] without turning as they went. 18And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures[5] was in the wheels. 21When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. + +22Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. 23And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. 24And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings. + +26And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire;[6] and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.[7] 28Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. + +Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. + + + + + +Ezekiel's Call + + +2:1 And he said to me, “Son of man,[8] stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ 5And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions.[9] Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. + +8“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. + + + + + +3:1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. + +4And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 10Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. 11And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.” + +12Then the Spirit[10] lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice[11] of a great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from its place!” 13It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of a great earthquake. 14The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. 15And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.[12] And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. + + + + + +A Watchman for Israel + + +16And at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me: 17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for[13] his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.” + +22And the hand of the LORD was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into the valley,[14] and there I will speak with you.” 23So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face. 24But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. 25And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. 26And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. 27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. + + + + + +The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized + + +4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around. 3And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel. + +4“Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment[15] of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. 5For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel. 6And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege. + +9“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,[16] and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. 10And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels[17] a day; from day to day[18] you shall eat it. 11And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin;[19] from day to day you shall drink. 12And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.” 13And the LORD said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never defiled myself.[20] From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.” 15Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply[21] of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. 17I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment. + + + + + +Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed + + +5:1 “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber's razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel. + +5“Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not[22] even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments[23] in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw.[24] My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them. + +13“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the LORD—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them. 14Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15You shall be[25] a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the LORD; I have spoken— 16when I send against you[26] the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply[27] of bread. 17I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the LORD; I have spoken.” + + + + + +Judgment Against Idolatry + + +6:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. 5And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be waste and the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,[28] your idols broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. 7And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD. + +8“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, 9then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. 10And they shall know that I am the LORD. I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.” + +11Thus says the Lord GOD: “Clap your hands and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them. 13And you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. 14And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate and waste, in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to Riblah.[29] Then they will know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +The Day of the Wrath of the LORD + + +7:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.[30] 3Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 4And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD. + +5“Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster![31] Behold, it comes. 6An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. 7Your doom[32] has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains. 8Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 9And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who strikes. + +10“Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.[33] 12The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude.[34] 13For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.[35] + +14“They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. 17All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. 18They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. 19They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them. 21And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it. 22I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured[36] place. Robbers shall enter and profane it. + +23“Forge a chain![37] For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places[38] shall be profaned. 25When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law[39] perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +Abominations in the Temple + + +8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. 2Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man.[40] Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal.[41] 3He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley. + +5Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. 6And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.” + +7And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’” 13He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.” + +14Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.” + +16And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. 17Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their[42] nose. 18Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” + + + + + +Idolaters Killed + + +9:1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. + +3Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. 7Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. 8And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” + +9Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ 10As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.” + +11And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.” + + + + + +The Glory of the LORD Leaves the Temple + + +10:1 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire,[43] in appearance like a throne. 2And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” + +And he went in before my eyes. 3Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. 5And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. + +6And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings. + +9And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. 10And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11When they went, they went in any of their four directions[44] without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel[45] faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,[46] and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.” 14And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. + +15And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the Chebar canal. 16And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures[47] was in them. + +18Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. + +20These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. 22And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward. + + + + + +Judgment on Wicked Counselors + + +11:1 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the LORD, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3who say, ‘The time is not near[48] to build houses. This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ 4Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.” + +5And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the LORD: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind. 6You have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. 7Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the meat, and this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. 8You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord GOD. 9And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. 10You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 11This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, 12and you shall know that I am the LORD. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.” + +13And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” + + + + + +Israel's New Heart and Spirit + + +14And the word of the LORD came to me: 15“Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,[49] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.’ 16Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while[50] in the countries where they have gone.’ 17Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ 18And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will[51] bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.” + +22Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. 24And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me. + + + + + +Judah's Captivity Symbolized + + +12:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. 3As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though[52] they are a rebellious house. 4You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. 5In their sight dig through the wall, and bring your baggage out through it. 6In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder and carry it out at dusk. You shall cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.” + +7And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought out my baggage at dusk, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight. + +8In the morning the word of the LORD came to me: 9“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 10Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: This oracle concerns[53] the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’[54] 11Say, ‘I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.’ 12And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. They shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. 13And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. 14And I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 15And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. 16But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD.” + +17And the word of the LORD came to me: 18“Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with anxiety. 19And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink water in dismay. In this way her land will be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the LORD.” + +21And the word of the LORD came to me: 22“Son of man, what is this proverb that you[55] have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’? 23Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment[56] of every vision. 24For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25For I am the LORD; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord GOD.” + +26And the word of the LORD came to me: 27“Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +False Prophets Condemned + + +13:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the LORD!’ 3Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the LORD. 6They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the LORD,’ when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the LORD,’ although I have not spoken?” + +8Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. 9My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 10Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash,[57] 11say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ 13Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 15Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD. + +17“And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own minds. Prophesy against them 18and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? 19You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies. + +20“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. 21Your veils also I will tear off and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 22Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +Idolatrous Elders Condemned + + +14:1 Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2And the word of the LORD came to me: 3“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? 4Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, 5that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols. + +6“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the LORD will answer him myself. 8And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 9And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10And they shall bear their punishment[58]—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— 11that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared + + +12And the word of the LORD came to me: 13“Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply[59] of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, 14even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD. + +15“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, 16even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. + +17“Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast, 18though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered. + +19“Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, 20even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness. + +21“For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! 22But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. 23They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Jerusalem, a Useless Vine + + +15:1 And the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? 3Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? 4Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? 5Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! 6Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. 8And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +The LORD's Faithless Bride + + +16:1 Again the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. + +6“And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare. + +8“When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine. 9Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.[60] 11And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. + +15“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore[61] because of your renown and lavished your whorings[62] on any passerby; your beauty[63] became his. 16You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.[64] 17You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them. 19Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord GOD. 20And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood. + +23“And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord GOD), 24you built yourself a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself[65] to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger. 27Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you and diminished your allotted portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28You played the whore also with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied. + +30“How sick is your heart,[66] declares the Lord GOD, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. 32Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different. + +35“Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD: 36Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. 38And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places. They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. 40They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop playing the whore, and you shall also give payment no more. 42So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. 43Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations? + +44“Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46And your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it. 51Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous. + +53“I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, 54that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. 55As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state. 56Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride, 57before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become an object of reproach for the daughters of Syria[67] and all those around her, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you. 58You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD. + + + + + +The LORD's Everlasting Covenant + + +59“For thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of[68] the covenant with you. 62I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, 63that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine + + +17:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; 3say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar. 4He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. 5Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil.[69] He placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, 6and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out boughs. + +7“And there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage, and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was planted, that he might water it. 8It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine. + +9“Say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots. 10Behold, it is planted; will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?” + +11Then the word of the LORD came to me: 12“Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon. 13And he took one of the royal offspring[70] and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (the chief men of the land he had taken away), 14that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and keep his covenant that it might stand. 15But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape? + +16“As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. 17Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. 18He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. 19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. 20I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me. 21And all the pick[71] of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken.” + +22Thus says the Lord GOD: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. 24And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.” + + + + + +The Soul Who Sins Shall Die + + +18:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“What do you[72] mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge’? 3As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. + +5“If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— 6if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8does not lend at interest or take any profit,[73] withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 9walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD. + +10“If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things 11(though he himself did none of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor's wife, 12oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, 13lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself. + +14“Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: 15he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, 16does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 17withholds his hand from iniquity,[74] takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father's iniquity; he shall surely live. 18As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity. + +19“Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. 20The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. + +21“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. + +25“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 26When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. 27Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. 28Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? + +30“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.[75] 31Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” + + + + + +A Lament for the Princes of Israel + + +19:1 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2and say: + +What was your mother? A lioness! + +Among lions she crouched; + +in the midst of young lions + +she reared her cubs. + +3And she brought up one of her cubs; + +he became a young lion, + +and he learned to catch prey; + +he devoured men. + +4The nations heard about him; + +he was caught in their pit, + +and they brought him with hooks + +to the land of Egypt. + +5When she saw that she waited in vain, + +that her hope was lost, + +she took another of her cubs + +and made him a young lion. + +6He prowled among the lions; + +he became a young lion, + +and he learned to catch prey; + +he devoured men, + +7and seized[76] their widows. + +He laid waste their cities, + +and the land was appalled and all who were in it + +at the sound of his roaring. + +8Then the nations set against him + +from provinces on every side; + +they spread their net over him; + +he was taken in their pit. + +9With hooks they put him in a cage[77] + +and brought him to the king of Babylon; + +they brought him into custody, + +that his voice should no more be heard + +on the mountains of Israel. + +10Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard[78] + +planted by the water, + +fruitful and full of branches + +by reason of abundant water. + +11Its strong stems became + +rulers' scepters; + +it towered aloft + +among the thick boughs;[79] + +it was seen in its height + +with the mass of its branches. + +12But the vine was plucked up in fury, + +cast down to the ground; + +the east wind dried up its fruit; + +they were stripped off and withered. + +As for its strong stem, + +fire consumed it. + +13Now it is planted in the wilderness, + +in a dry and thirsty land. + +14And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots, + +has consumed its fruit, + +so that there remains in it no strong stem, + +no scepter for ruling. + +This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation. + + + + + +Israel's Continuing Rebellion + + +20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2And the word of the LORD came to me: 3“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. 4Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers, 5and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore[80] to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God. 6On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. 7And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. 8But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. + +“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. 13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. + +“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. 14But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 15Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, 16because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness. + +18“And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, 20and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. 21But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths. + +“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, 24because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. 25Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, 26and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the LORD. + +27“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me. 28For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29(I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? So its name is called Bamah[81] to this day.) + +30“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things? 31When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire,[82] you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. + +32“What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’ + + + + + +The LORD Will Restore Israel + + +33“As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you. 34I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. 37I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. + +39“As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols. + +40“For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. 41As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. 43And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” + +45[83] And the word of the LORD came to me: 46“Son of man, set your face toward the southland;[84] preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. 47Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. 48All flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” 49Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’” + + + + + +The LORD Has Drawn His Sword + + +21:1 [85] The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries.[86] Prophesy against the land of Israel 3and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 4Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5And all flesh shall know that I am the LORD. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. + +6“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. 7And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord GOD. + +8And the word of the LORD came to me: 9“Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: + +“A sword, a sword is sharpened + +and also polished, + +10sharpened for slaughter, + +polished to flash like lightning! + +(Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.)[87] 11So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. 12Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh. 13For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?”[88] declares the Lord GOD. + +14“As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times,[89] the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them, 15that their hearts may melt, and many stumble.[90] At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up[91] for slaughter. 16Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed. 17I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken.” + +18The word of the LORD came to me again: 19“As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city. 20Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. 21For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim;[92] he looks at the liver. 22Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. 23But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken. + +24“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. 25And you, O profane[93] wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, 26thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. 27A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him. + +28“And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning— 29while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment. 30Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. 31And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy. 32You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I the LORD have spoken.” + + + + + +Israel's Shedding of Blood + + +22:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. 3You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of[94] your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult. + +6“Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 9There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit[95] and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD. + +13“Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst. 14Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. 15I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” + +17And the word of the LORD came to me: 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver. 19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have poured out my wrath upon you.” + +23And the word of the LORD came to me: 24“Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. 25The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Oholah and Oholibah + + +23:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. 3They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms[96] handled. 4Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. + +5“Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors 6clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. 8She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. 9Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her. + +11“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister[97] in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. 12She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. 18When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. 19Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed[98] your young breasts.” + +22Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24And they shall come against you from the north[99] with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. 25And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore. + +28“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. 32Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“You shall drink your sister's cup + +that is deep and large; + +you shall be laughed at and held in derision, + +for it contains much; + +33you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. + +A cup of horror and desolation, + +the cup of your sister Samaria; + +34you shall drink it and drain it out, + +and gnaw its shards, + +and tear your breasts; + +for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. 35Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.” + +36The LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up[100] to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. 38Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. 39For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house. 40They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. 42The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards[101] were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads. + +43“Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her![102] 44For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! 45But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.” + +46For thus says the Lord GOD: “Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder. 47And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. 48Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +The Siege of Jerusalem + + +24:1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“Set on the pot, set it on; + +pour in water also; + +4put in it the pieces of meat, + +all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; + +fill it with choice bones. + +5Take the choicest one of the flock; + +pile the logs[103] under it; + +boil it well; + +seethe also its bones in it. + +6“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.[104] 7For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. 10Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,[105] and let the bones be burned up. 11Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12She has wearied herself with toil;[106] its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! 13On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. 14I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Ezekiel's Wife Dies + + +15The word of the LORD came to me: 16“Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” 18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded. + +19And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” 20Then I said to them, “The word of the LORD came to me: 21‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. 23Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’ + +25“As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul's desire, and also their sons and daughters, 26on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. 27On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +Prophecy Against Ammon + + +25:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon[107] a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 6For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, 7therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the LORD. + + + + + +Prophecy Against Moab and Seir + + +8“Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab and Seir[108] said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. 10I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, 11and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD. + + + + + +Prophecy Against Edom + + +12“Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, 13therefore thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. 14And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord GOD. + + + + + +Prophecy Against Philistia + + +15“Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, 16therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them.” + + + + + +Prophecy Against Tyre + + +26:1 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ 3therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. 5She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. And she shall become plunder for the nations, 6and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD. + +7“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar[109] king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. 8He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. 9He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. 11With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. 13And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. 14I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, for I am the LORD; I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. + +15“Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: Will not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in your midst? 16Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground and tremble every moment and be appalled at you. 17And they will raise a lamentation over you and say to you, + +“‘How you have perished, + +you who were inhabited from the seas, + +O city renowned, + +who was mighty on the sea; + +she and her inhabitants imposed their terror + +on all her inhabitants! + +18Now the coastlands tremble + +on the day of your fall, + +and the coastlands that are on the sea + +are dismayed at your passing.’ + +19“For thus says the Lord GOD: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20then I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty in the land of the living. 21I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +A Lament for Tyre + + +27:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre, 3and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrances to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD: + +“O Tyre, you have said, + +‘I am perfect in beauty.’ + +4Your borders are in the heart of the seas; + +your builders made perfect your beauty. + +5They made all your planks + +of fir trees from Senir; + +they took a cedar from Lebanon + +to make a mast for you. + +6Of oaks of Bashan + +they made your oars; + +they made your deck of pines + +from the coasts of Cyprus, + +inlaid with ivory. + +7Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt + +was your sail, + +serving as your banner; + +blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah + +was your awning. + +8The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad + +were your rowers; + +your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you; + +they were your pilots. + +9The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you, + +caulking your seams; + +all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you + +to barter for your wares. + +10“Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11Men of Arvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made perfect your beauty. + +12“Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. 13Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14From Beth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares. 15The men of Dedan[110] traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16Syria did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby. 17Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal,[111] honey, oil, and balm. 18Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and wool of Sahar 19and casks of wine[112] from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas. + +26“Your rowers have brought you out + +into the high seas. + +The east wind has wrecked you + +in the heart of the seas. + +27Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, + +your mariners and your pilots, + +your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, + +and all your men of war who are in you, + +with all your crew + +that is in your midst, + +sink into the heart of the seas + +on the day of your fall. + +28At the sound of the cry of your pilots + +the countryside shakes, + +29and down from their ships + +come all who handle the oar. + +The mariners and all the pilots of the sea + +stand on the land + +30and shout aloud over you + +and cry out bitterly. + +They cast dust on their heads + +and wallow in ashes; + +31they make themselves bald for you + +and put sackcloth on their waist, + +and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, + +with bitter mourning. + +32In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you + +and lament over you: + +‘Who is like Tyre, + +like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? + +33When your wares came from the seas, + +you satisfied many peoples; + +with your abundant wealth and merchandise + +you enriched the kings of the earth. + +34Now you are wrecked by the seas, + +in the depths of the waters; + +your merchandise and all your crew in your midst + +have sunk with you. + +35All the inhabitants of the coastlands + +are appalled at you, + +and the hair of their kings bristles with horror; + +their faces are convulsed. + +36The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; + +you have come to a dreadful end + +and shall be no more forever.’” + + + + + +Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre + + +28:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“Because your heart is proud, + +and you have said, ‘I am a god, + +I sit in the seat of the gods, + +in the heart of the seas,’ + +yet you are but a man, and no god, + +though you make your heart like the heart of a god— + +3you are indeed wiser than Daniel; + +no secret is hidden from you; + +4by your wisdom and your understanding + +you have made wealth for yourself, + +and have gathered gold and silver + +into your treasuries; + +5by your great wisdom in your trade + +you have increased your wealth, + +and your heart has become proud in your wealth— + +6therefore thus says the Lord GOD: + +Because you make your heart + +like the heart of a god, + +7therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, + +the most ruthless of the nations; + +and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom + +and defile your splendor. + +8They shall thrust you down into the pit, + +and you shall die the death of the slain + +in the heart of the seas. + +9Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ + +in the presence of those who kill you, + +though you are but a man, and no god, + +in the hands of those who slay you? + +10You shall die the death of the uncircumcised + +by the hand of foreigners; + +for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +A Lament over the King of Tyre + + +11Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me: 12“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“You were the signet of perfection,[113] + +full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. + +13You were in Eden, the garden of God; + +every precious stone was your covering, + +sardius, topaz, and diamond, + +beryl, onyx, and jasper, + +sapphire,[114] emerald, and carbuncle; + +and crafted in gold were your settings + +and your engravings.[115] + +On the day that you were created + +they were prepared. + +14You were an anointed guardian cherub. + +I placed you;[116] you were on the holy mountain of God; + +in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. + +15You were blameless in your ways + +from the day you were created, + +till unrighteousness was found in you. + +16In the abundance of your trade + +you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; + +so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, + +and I destroyed you,[117] O guardian cherub, + +from the midst of the stones of fire. + +17Your heart was proud because of your beauty; + +you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. + +I cast you to the ground; + +I exposed you before kings, + +to feast their eyes on you. + +18By the multitude of your iniquities, + +in the unrighteousness of your trade + +you profaned your sanctuaries; + +so I brought fire out from your midst; + +it consumed you, + +and I turned you to ashes on the earth + +in the sight of all who saw you. + +19All who know you among the peoples + +are appalled at you; + +you have come to a dreadful end + +and shall be no more forever.” + + + + + +Prophecy Against Sidon + + +20The word of the LORD came to me: 21“Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her 22and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, + +and I will manifest my glory in your midst. + +And they shall know that I am the LORD + +when I execute judgments in her + +and manifest my holiness in her; + +23for I will send pestilence into her, + +and blood into her streets; + +and the slain shall fall in her midst, + +by the sword that is against her on every side. + +Then they will know that I am the LORD. + +24“And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD. + + + + + +Israel Gathered in Security + + +25“Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.” + + + + + +Prophecy Against Egypt + + +29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“Behold, I am against you, + +Pharaoh king of Egypt, + +the great dragon that lies + +in the midst of his streams, + +that says, ‘My Nile is my own; + +I made it for myself.’ + +4I will put hooks in your jaws, + +and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; + +and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, + +with all the fish of your streams + +that stick to your scales. + +5And I will cast you out into the wilderness, + +you and all the fish of your streams; + +you shall fall on the open field, + +and not be brought together or gathered. + +To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens + +I give you as food. + +6Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD. + +“Because you[118] have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel, 7when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.[119] 8Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, 9and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. + +“Because you[120] said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries. + +13“For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.” + +17In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. 19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth[121] and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord GOD. + +21“On that day I will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +A Lament for Egypt + + +30:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ + +3For the day is near, + +the day of the LORD is near; + +it will be a day of clouds, + +a time of doom for[122] the nations. + +4A sword shall come upon Egypt, + +and anguish shall be in Cush, + +when the slain fall in Egypt, + +and her wealth[123] is carried away, + +and her foundations are torn down. + +5Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya,[124] and the people of the land that is in league,[125] shall fall with them by the sword. + +6“Thus says the LORD: + +Those who support Egypt shall fall, + +and her proud might shall come down; + +from Migdol to Syene + +they shall fall within her by the sword, + +declares the Lord GOD. + +7And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries, + +and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste. + +8Then they will know that I am the LORD, + +when I have set fire to Egypt, + +and all her helpers are broken. + +9“On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom;[126] for, behold, it comes! + +10“Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt, + +by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. + +11He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations, + +shall be brought in to destroy the land, + +and they shall draw their swords against Egypt + +and fill the land with the slain. + +12And I will dry up the Nile + +and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; + +I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, + +by the hand of foreigners; + +I am the LORD; I have spoken. + +13“Thus says the Lord GOD: + +“I will destroy the idols + +and put an end to the images in Memphis; + +there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; + +so I will put fear in the land of Egypt. + +14I will make Pathros a desolation + +and will set fire to Zoan + +and will execute judgments on Thebes. + +15And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, + +the stronghold of Egypt, + +and cut off the multitude[127] of Thebes. + +16And I will set fire to Egypt; + +Pelusium shall be in great agony; + +Thebes shall be breached, + +and Memphis shall face enemies[128] by day. + +17The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword, + +and the women[129] shall go into captivity. + +18At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark, + +when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt, + +and her proud might shall come to an end in her; + +she shall be covered by a cloud, + +and her daughters shall go into captivity. + +19Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. + +Then they will know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon + + +20In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 21“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. 25I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +Pharaoh to Be Slain + + +31:1 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: + +“Whom are you like in your greatness? + +3Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, + +with beautiful branches and forest shade, + +and of towering height, + +its top among the clouds.[130] + +4The waters nourished it; + +the deep made it grow tall, + +making its rivers flow + +around the place of its planting, + +sending forth its streams + +to all the trees of the field. + +5So it towered high + +above all the trees of the field; + +its boughs grew large + +and its branches long + +from abundant water in its shoots. + +6All the birds of the heavens + +made their nests in its boughs; + +under its branches all the beasts of the field + +gave birth to their young, + +and under its shadow + +lived all great nations. + +7It was beautiful in its greatness, + +in the length of its branches; + +for its roots went down + +to abundant waters. + +8The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, + +nor the fir trees equal its boughs; + +neither were the plane trees + +like its branches; + +no tree in the garden of God + +was its equal in beauty. + +9I made it beautiful + +in the mass of its branches, + +and all the trees of Eden envied it, + +that were in the garden of God. + +10“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it[131] towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, 11I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. 12Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. 13On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. 14All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man,[132] with those who go down to the pit. + +15“Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day the cedar[133] went down to Sheol I caused mourning; I closed the deep over it, and restrained its rivers, and many waters were stopped. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the world below. 17They also went down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were its arm, who lived under its shadow among the nations. + +18“Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below. You shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. + +“This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +A Lament over Pharaoh and Egypt + + +32:1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: + +“You consider yourself a lion of the nations, + +but you are like a dragon in the seas; + +you burst forth in your rivers, + +trouble the waters with your feet, + +and foul their rivers. + +3Thus says the Lord GOD: + +I will throw my net over you + +with a host of many peoples, + +and they will haul you up in my dragnet. + +4And I will cast you on the ground; + +on the open field I will fling you, + +and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you, + +and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you. + +5I will strew your flesh upon the mountains + +and fill the valleys with your carcass.[134] + +6I will drench the land even to the mountains + +with your flowing blood, + +and the ravines will be full of you. + +7When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens + +and make their stars dark; + +I will cover the sun with a cloud, + +and the moon shall not give its light. + +8All the bright lights of heaven + +will I make dark over you, + +and put darkness on your land, + +declares the Lord GOD. + +9“I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. 10I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when I brandish my sword before them. They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall. + +11“For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. 12I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most ruthless of nations. + +“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, + +and all its multitude[135] shall perish. + +13I will destroy all its beasts + +from beside many waters; + +and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore, + +nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them. + +14Then I will make their waters clear, + +and cause their rivers to run like oil, + +declares the Lord GOD. + +15When I make the land of Egypt desolate, + +and when the land is desolate of all that fills it, + +when I strike down all who dwell in it, + +then they will know that I am the LORD. + +16This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord GOD.” + +17In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,[136] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 18“Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit: + +19‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? + +Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.’ + +20They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword. Egypt[137] is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and all her multitudes. 21The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’ + +22“Assyria is there, and all her company, its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, 23whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living. + +24“Elam is there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain. + +26“Meshech-Tubal is there, and all her multitude, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 27And they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living. 28But as for you, you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. + +29“Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit. + +30“The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. + +31“When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD. 32For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman + + +33:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, 3and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. + +7“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. + + + + + +Why Will You Die, Israel? + + +10“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? + +12“And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness[138] when he sins. 13Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. 14Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, 15if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live. + +17“Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. 18When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. 19And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 20Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.” + + + + + +Jerusalem Struck Down + + +21In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been struck down.” 22Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. + +23The word of the LORD came to me: 24“Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ 25Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? 26You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? 27Say this to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence. 28And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. 29Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed. + +30“As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ 31And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays[139] well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. 33When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” + + + + + +Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel + + +34:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. 6My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. + +7“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. + + + + + +The Lord GOD Will Seek Them Out + + +11“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.[140] I will feed them in justice. + +17“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. 18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? 19And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? + +20“Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, 22I will rescue[141] my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken. + + + + + +The LORD's Covenant of Peace + + +25“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. 27And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. 30And they shall know that I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord GOD. 31And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Prophecy Against Mount Seir + + +35:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3and say to it, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. 4I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 5Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment, 6therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you. 7I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it all who come and go. 8And I will fill its mountains with the slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall. 9I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD. + +10“Because you said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them’—although the LORD was there— 11therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And I will make myself known among them, when I judge you. 12And you shall know that I am the LORD. + +“I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.’ 13And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. 14Thus says the Lord GOD: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD. + + + + + +Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel + + +36:1 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’ 3therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, 4therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, 5therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. 6Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations. 7Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach. + +8“But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. 10And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. 13Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ 14therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord GOD. 15And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +The LORD's Concern for His Holy Name + + +16The word of the LORD came to me: 17“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. + + + + + +I Will Put My Spirit Within You + + +22“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.[142] 28You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. + +33“Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 36Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. + +37“Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. 38Like the flock for sacrifices,[143] like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.” + + + + + +The Valley of Dry Bones + + +37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley;[144] it was full of bones. 2And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath[145] to enter you, and you shall live. 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” + +7So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling,[146] and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. + +11Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.” + + + + + +I Will Be Their God, They Shall Be My People + + +15The word of the LORD came to me: 16“Son of man, take a stick[147] and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah,[148] and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. 22And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings[149] in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. + +24“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land[150] and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” + + + + + +Prophecy Against Gog + + +38:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech[151] and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech[152] and Tubal. 4And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. 5Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you. + +7“Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them. 9You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you. + +10“Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme 11and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ 12to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. 13Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders[153] will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’ + +14“Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it? 15You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. 16You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. + +17“Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? 18But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused in my anger. 19For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. 21I will summon a sword against Gog[154] on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. 22With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. 23So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD. + + + + + +39:1 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech[155] and Tubal. 2And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. 4You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. 6I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the LORD. + +7“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. 8Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord GOD. That is the day of which I have spoken. + +9“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs[156] and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, 10so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD. + +11“On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.[157] 12For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 13All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord GOD. 14They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At[158] the end of seven months they will make their search. 15And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16(Hamonah[159] is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land. + +17“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. 18You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. 19And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. 20And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord GOD. + +21“And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward. 23And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. 24I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them. + + + + + +The LORD Will Restore Israel + + +25“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, 27when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. 28Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. 29And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +Vision of the New Temple + + +40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me to the city.[160] 2In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. 3When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. 4And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.” + + + + + +The East Gate to the Outer Court + + +5And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth[161] in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. 6Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.[162] 7And the side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. 8Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. 9Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. 10And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. 11Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. 12There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side. 13Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other. 14He measured also the vestibule, twenty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.[163] 15From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. 16And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees. + + + + + +The Outer Court + + +17Then he brought me into the outer court. And behold, there were chambers and a pavement, all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement. 18And the pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement. 19Then he measured the distance from the inner front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court,[164] a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side.[165] + + + + + +The North Gate + + +20As for the gate that faced toward the north, belonging to the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth. 21Its side rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. 22And its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps people would go up to it, and find its vestibule before them. 23And opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits. + + + + + +The South Gate + + +24And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south. And he measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the same size as the others. 25Both it and its vestibule had windows all around, like the windows of the others. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. 26And there were seven steps leading up to it, and its vestibule was before them, and it had palm trees on its jambs, one on either side. 27And there was a gate on the south of the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits. + + + + + +The Inner Court + + +28Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate. It was of the same size as the others. 29Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. 30And there were vestibules all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits broad. 31Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps. + +32Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate. It was of the same size as the others. 33Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. 34Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps. + +35Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it. It had the same size as the others. 36Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others,[166] and it had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. 37Its vestibule[167] faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps. + +38There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate,[168] where the burnt offering was to be washed. 39And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side, on which the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered. 40And off to the side, on the outside as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables; and off to the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. 41Four tables were on either side of the gate, eight tables, on which to slaughter. 42And there were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered. 43And hooks,[169] a handbreadth long, were fastened all around within. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid. + + + + + +Chambers for the Priests + + +44On the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambers[170] in the inner court, one[171] at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south[172] gate facing north. 45And he said to me, This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple, 46and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone[173] among the sons of Levi may come near to the LORD to minister to him. 47And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, a square. And the altar was in front of the temple. + + + + + +The Vestibule of the Temple + + +48Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the jambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side. And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate[174] were three cubits on either side. 49The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the breadth twelve[175] cubits, and people would go up to it by ten steps.[176] And there were pillars beside the jambs, one on either side. + + + + + +The Inner Temple + + +41:1 Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. On each side six cubits[177] was the breadth of the jambs.[178] 2And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave,[179] forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits. 3Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side[180] of the entrance, seven cubits. 4And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.” + +5Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple. 6And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsets[181] all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. 7And it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upward all around the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upward, and so one went up from the lowest story to the top story through the middle story. 8I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits. 9The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The free space between the side chambers of the temple and the 10other chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. 11And the doors of the side chambers opened on the free space, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all around. + +12The building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits. + +13Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; 14also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits. + +15Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard that was at the back and its galleries[182] on either side, a hundred cubits. + +The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, 16the thresholds and the narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), 17to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.[183] 18It was carved of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: 19a human face toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around. 20From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave. + +21The doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling 22an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.[184] Its corners, its base,[185] and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.” 23The nave and the Holy Place had each a double door. 24The double doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. 25And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls. And there was a canopy[186] of wood in front of the vestibule outside. 26And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, the side chambers of the temple, and the canopies. + + + + + +The Temple's Chambers + + +42:1 Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north. 2The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits,[187] and the breadth fifty cubits. 3Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery[188] against gallery in three stories. 4And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long,[189] and their doors were on the north. 5Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. 6For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones. 7And there was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. 8For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the nave[190] were a hundred cubits long. 9Below these chambers was an entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court. + +10In the thickness of the wall of the court, on the south[191] also, opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers 11with a passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exits[192] and arrangements and doors, 12as were the entrances of the chambers on the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the passage, the passage before the corresponding wall on the east as one enters them.[193] + +13Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the LORD shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall put the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy. 14When the priests enter the Holy Place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They shall put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the people.” + +15Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and measured the temple area all around. 16He measured the east side with the measuring reed, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. 17He measured the north side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. 18He measured the south side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. 19Then he turned to the west side and measured, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. 20He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, 500 cubits long and 500 cubits broad, to make a separation between the holy and the common. + + + + + +The Glory of the LORD Fills the Temple + + +43:1 Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. 2And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. 3And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he[194] came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. 4As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, 5the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. + +6While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, 7and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies[195] of their kings at their high places,[196] 8by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. 9Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. + +10“As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. 11And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. 12This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. + + + + + +The Altar + + +13“These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth):[197] its base shall be one cubit high[198] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span[199] around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: 14from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; 15and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. 16The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. 17The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. The steps of the altar shall face east.” + +18And he said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it, 19you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord GOD, a bull from the herd for a sin offering. 20And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. 21You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. 22And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. 23When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. 25For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. 26Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.[200] 27And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.” + + + + + +The Gate for the Prince + + +44:1 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. 2And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.” + +4Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face. 5And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the LORD and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. 6And say to the rebellious house,[201] to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, 7in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You[202] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary. + +9“Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.[203] 11They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. 12Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their punishment. 13They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it. + + + + + +Rules for Levitical Priests + + +15“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD. 16They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. 25They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD. + +28“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. 31The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals. + + + + + +The Holy District + + +45:1 “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the LORD a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits[204] long and 20,000[205] cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. 2Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3And from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the LORD to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.[206] + +6“Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel. + + + + + +The Portion for the Prince + + +7“And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary 8of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes. + +9“Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord GOD. + +10“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.[207] 11The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer,[208] and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;[209] twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.[210] + +13“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor[211] (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths).[212] 15And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord GOD. 16All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel. + +18“Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. 19The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple. + +21“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin[213] of oil to each ephah. 25In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil. + + + + + +The Prince and the Feasts + + +46:1 “Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. 3The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 4The burnt offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. 5And the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah,[214] and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, together with a hin[215] of oil to each ephah. 6On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. 7As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 8When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way. + +9“When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. 10When they enter, the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out. + +11“At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. 12When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut. + +13“You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the LORD daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. 14And you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the LORD. This is a perpetual statute. 15Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for a regular burnt offering. + +16“Thus says the Lord GOD: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. 17But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. 18The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.” + + + + + +Boiling Places for Offerings + + +19Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. 20And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so transmit holiness to the people.” + +21Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court— 22in the four corners of the court were small[216] courts, forty cubits[217] long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. 23On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. 24Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.” + + + + + +Water Flowing from the Temple + + +47:1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. + +3Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits,[218] and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. 5Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” + +Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea;[219] when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.[220] 9And wherever the river goes,[221] every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea[222] may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.[223] 11But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” + + + + + +Division of the Land + + +13Thus says the Lord GOD: “This is the boundary[224] by which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. 14And you shall divide equally what I swore to give to your fathers. This land shall fall to you as your inheritance. + +15“This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to Zedad,[225] 16Berothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north.[226] This shall be the north side.[227] + +18“On the east side, the boundary shall run between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar.[228] This shall be the east side. + +19“On the south side, it shall run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt[229] to the Great Sea. This shall be the south side. + +20“On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side. + +21“So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. 22You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord GOD. + + + + + +48:1 “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath), and[230] extending from the east side to the west,[231] Dan, one portion. 2Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion. 3Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. 4Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. 5Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. 6Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. 7Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion. + +8“Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits[232] in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. 9The portion that you shall set apart for the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000[233] in breadth. 10These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the LORD in the midst of it. 11This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. 12And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. 13And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000.[234] 14They shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the LORD. + +15“The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the midst of it shall be the city, 16and these shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. 17And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. 18The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. 20The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city. + +21“What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. 22It shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin. + +23“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. 24Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. 25Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. 26Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. 27Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. 28And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt[235] to the Great Sea.[236] 29This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord GOD. + + + + + +The Gates of the City + + +30“These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, 31three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. 32On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. 33On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. 34On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates,[237] the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. 35The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or from God + +[2] 1:4 Or amber; also verse 27 + +[3] 1:15 Hebrew of their faces + +[4] 1:17 Hebrew on their four sides + +[5] 1:20 Or the spirit of life; also verse 21 + +[6] 1:26 Or lapis lazuli + +[7] 1:27 Or it + +[8] 2:1 Or Son of Adam; so throughout Ezekiel + +[9] 2:6 Or on scorpion plants + +[10] 3:12 Or the wind; also verse 14 + +[11] 3:12 Or sound + +[12] 3:15 Or Chebar, and to where they dwelt + +[13] 3:18 Or in; also verses 19, 20 + +[14] 3:22 Or plain; also verse 23 + +[15] 4:4 Or iniquity; also verses 5, 6, 17 + +[16] 4:9 A type of wheat + +[17] 4:10 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[18] 4:10 Or at a set time daily; also verse 11 + +[19] 4:11 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[20] 4:14 Hebrew my soul (or throat) has never been made unclean + +[21] 4:16 Hebrew staff + +[22] 5:7 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac lack not + +[23] 5:8 The same Hebrew expression can mean obey rules, or execute judgments, depending on the context + +[24] 5:11 Some Hebrew manuscripts I will cut you down + +[25] 5:15 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Masoretic Text And it shall be + +[26] 5:16 Hebrew them + +[27] 5:16 Hebrew staff + +[28] 6:6 Or and punished + +[29] 6:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts Diblah + +[30] 7:2 Or earth + +[31] 7:5 Some Hebrew manuscripts (compare Syriac, Targum); most Hebrew manuscripts Disaster! A unique disaster! + +[32] 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; also verse 10 + +[33] 7:11 The meaning of this last Hebrew sentence is uncertain + +[34] 7:12 Or abundance; also verses 13, 14 + +[35] 7:13 The meaning of this last Hebrew sentence is uncertain + +[36] 7:22 Or secret + +[37] 7:23 Probably refers to an instrument of captivity + +[38] 7:24 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew and those who sanctify them + +[39] 7:26 Or instruction + +[40] 8:2 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew of fire + +[41] 8:2 Or amber + +[42] 8:17 Or my + +[43] 10:1 Or lapis lazuli + +[44] 10:11 Hebrew to their four sides + +[45] 10:11 Hebrew the head + +[46] 10:12 Or their whole body, their backs, their hands, and their wings + +[47] 10:17 Or spirit of life + +[48] 11:3 Or Is not the time near . . . ? + +[49] 11:15 Hebrew the men of your redemption + +[50] 11:16 Or in small measure + +[51] 11:21 Hebrew To the heart of their detestable things and their abominations their heart goes; I will + +[52] 12:3 Or will see that + +[53] 12:10 Or This burden is + +[54] 12:10 Hebrew in the midst of them + +[55] 12:22 The Hebrew for you is plural + +[56] 12:23 Hebrew word + +[57] 13:10 Or plaster; also verses 11, 14, 15 + +[58] 14:10 Or iniquity; three times in this verse + +[59] 14:13 Hebrew staff + +[60] 16:10 Or with rich fabric + +[61] 16:15 Or were unfaithful; also verses 16, 17, 26, 28 + +[62] 16:15 Or unfaithfulness; also verses 20, 22, 25, 26, 29, 33, 34, 36 + +[63] 16:15 Hebrew it + +[64] 16:16 The meaning of this Hebrew sentence is uncertain + +[65] 16:25 Hebrew spreading your legs + +[66] 16:30 Revocalization yields How I am filled with anger against you + +[67] 16:57 Some manuscripts (compare Syriac) of Edom + +[68] 16:61 Or not apart from + +[69] 17:5 Hebrew in a field of seed + +[70] 17:13 Hebrew seed + +[71] 17:21 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts all the fugitives + +[72] 18:2 The Hebrew for you is plural + +[73] 18:8 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor; also verses 13, 17 (compare Leviticus 25:36) + +[74] 18:17 Septuagint; Hebrew from the poor + +[75] 18:30 Or lest iniquity be your stumbling block + +[76] 19:7 Hebrew knew + +[77] 19:9 Or in a wooden collar + +[78] 19:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts in your blood + +[79] 19:11 Or the clouds + +[80] 20:5 Hebrew I lifted my hand; twice in this verse; also verses 6, 15, 23, 28, 42 + +[81] 20:29 Bamah means high place + +[82] 20:31 Hebrew and make your children pass through the fire + +[83] 20:45 Ch 21:1 in Hebrew + +[84] 20:46 Or toward Teman + +[85] 21:1 Ch 21:6 in Hebrew + +[86] 21:2 Some Hebrew manuscripts, compare Septuagint, Syriac against their sanctuary + +[87] 21:10 Probable reading; Hebrew The rod of my son despises everything of wood + +[88] 21:13 Or For it is a testing; and what if even the rod despises? It shall not be! + +[89] 21:14 Hebrew its third + +[90] 21:15 Hebrew many stumbling blocks + +[91] 21:15 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered taken up is uncertain + +[92] 21:21 Or household idols + +[93] 21:25 Or slain; also verse 29 + +[94] 22:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; most Hebrew manuscripts until + +[95] 22:12 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor (compare Leviticus 25:36) + +[96] 23:3 Hebrew nipples; also verses 8, 21 + +[97] 23:11 Hebrew than she + +[98] 23:21 Vulgate, Syriac; Hebrew bosom for the sake of + +[99] 23:24 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown + +[100] 23:37 Or have even made pass through the fire + +[101] 23:42 Or Sabeans + +[102] 23:43 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[103] 24:5 Compare verse 10; Hebrew the bones + +[104] 24:6 Hebrew no lot has fallen upon it + +[105] 24:10 Or empty out the broth + +[106] 24:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[107] 25:5 Hebrew and the Ammonites + +[108] 25:8 Septuagint lacks and Seir + +[109] 26:7 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar; so throughout Ezekiel + +[110] 27:15 Hebrew; Septuagint Rhodes + +[111] 27:17 The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown + +[112] 27:19 Probable reading; Hebrew wool of Sahar, Vedan, and Javan + +[113] 28:12 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain + +[114] 28:13 Or lapis lazuli + +[115] 28:13 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain + +[116] 28:14 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain + +[117] 28:16 Or banished you + +[118] 29:6 Hebrew they + +[119] 29:7 Syriac (compare Psalm 69:23); Hebrew to stand + +[120] 29:9 Hebrew he + +[121] 29:19 Or multitude + +[122] 30:3 Hebrew lacks doom for + +[123] 30:4 Or multitude; also verse 10 + +[124] 30:5 With Septuagint; Hebrew Cub + +[125] 30:5 Hebrew and the sons of the land of the covenant + +[126] 30:9 Hebrew the day of Egypt + +[127] 30:15 Or wealth + +[128] 30:16 Or distress + +[129] 30:17 Or the cities; Hebrew they + +[130] 31:3 Or its top went through the thick boughs; also verses 10, 14 + +[131] 31:10 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew you + +[132] 31:14 Or of Adam + +[133] 31:15 Hebrew it + +[134] 32:5 Hebrew your height + +[135] 32:12 Or wealth + +[136] 32:17 Hebrew lacks in the twelfth month + +[137] 32:20 Hebrew She + +[138] 33:12 Hebrew by it + +[139] 33:32 Hebrew like the singing of lustful songs with a beautiful voice and one who plays + +[140] 34:16 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate I will watch over + +[141] 34:22 Or save + +[142] 36:27 Or my just decrees + +[143] 36:38 Hebrew flock of holy things + +[144] 37:1 Or plain; also verse 2 + +[145] 37:5 Or spirit; also verses 6, 9, 10 + +[146] 37:7 Or an earthquake (compare 3:12, 13) + +[147] 37:16 Or one piece of wood; also verses 17, 19, 20 + +[148] 37:19 Hebrew And I will place them on it, the stick of Judah + +[149] 37:23 Many Hebrew manuscripts; other Hebrew manuscripts dwellings + +[150] 37:26 Hebrew lacks in their land + +[151] 38:2 Or Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech + +[152] 38:3 Or Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech + +[153] 38:13 Hebrew young lions + +[154] 38:21 Hebrew against him + +[155] 39:1 Or Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech + +[156] 39:9 Or javelins + +[157] 39:11 Hamon-gog means the multitude of Gog + +[158] 39:14 Or Until + +[159] 39:16 Hamonah means multitude + +[160] 40:1 Hebrew brought me there + +[161] 40:5 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters; a handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters + +[162] 40:6 Hebrew deep, and one threshold, one reed deep + +[163] 40:14 Text uncertain; Hebrew And he made the jambs sixty cubits, and to the jamb of the court was the gateway all around + +[164] 40:19 Hebrew distance from before the low gate before the inner court to the outside + +[165] 40:19 Or cubits. So far the eastern gate; now to the northern gate. + +[166] 40:36 One manuscript (compare verses 29 and 33); most manuscripts lack were of the same size as the others + +[167] 40:37 Septuagint, Vulgate (compare verses 26, 31, 34); Hebrew jambs + +[168] 40:38 Hebrew at the jambs, the gates + +[169] 40:43 Or shelves + +[170] 40:44 Septuagint; Hebrew were chambers for singers + +[171] 40:44 Hebrew lacks one + +[172] 40:44 Septuagint; Hebrew east + +[173] 40:46 Hebrew lacks alone + +[174] 40:48 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate + +[175] 40:49 Septuagint; Hebrew eleven + +[176] 40:49 Septuagint; Hebrew and by steps that would go up to it + +[177] 41:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[178] 41:1 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew tent + +[179] 41:2 Hebrew its length + +[180] 41:3 Septuagint; Hebrew and the breadth + +[181] 41:6 Septuagint, compare 1 Kings 6:6; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[182] 41:15 The meaning of the Hebrew term is unknown; also verse 16 + +[183] 41:17 Hebrew were measurements + +[184] 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks two cubits broad + +[185] 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew length + +[186] 41:25 The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown; also verse 26 + +[187] 42:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[188] 42:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown; also verse 5 + +[189] 42:4 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew and a way of one cubit + +[190] 42:8 Or temple + +[191] 42:10 Septuagint; Hebrew east + +[192] 42:11 Hebrew and all their exits + +[193] 42:12 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain + +[194] 43:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts when I + +[195] 43:7 Or the monuments; also verse 9 + +[196] 43:7 Or at their deaths + +[197] 43:13 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters; a handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters + +[198] 43:13 Or its gutter shall be one cubit deep + +[199] 43:13 A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters + +[200] 43:26 Hebrew fill its hand + +[201] 44:6 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks house + +[202] 44:7 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew They + +[203] 44:10 Or iniquity; also verse 12 + +[204] 45:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[205] 45:1 Septuagint; Hebrew ten + +[206] 45:5 Septuagint; Hebrew as their possession, twenty chambers + +[207] 45:10 An ephah was about 3/5 of a bushel or 22 liters; a bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters + +[208] 45:11 A homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[209] 45:12 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram + +[210] 45:12 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram + +[211] 45:14 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters + +[212] 45:14 See Vulgate; Hebrew (ten baths are a homer, for ten baths are a homer) + +[213] 45:24 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[214] 46:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[215] 46:5 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters + +[216] 46:22 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[217] 46:22 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[218] 47:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[219] 47:8 That is, the Dead Sea + +[220] 47:8 Hebrew will be healed; also verses 9, 11 + +[221] 47:9 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Hebrew the two rivers go + +[222] 47:9 Hebrew lacks the waters of the sea + +[223] 47:10 That is, the Mediterranean Sea; also verses 15, 19, 20 + +[224] 47:13 Probable reading; Hebrew The valley of the boundary + +[225] 47:15 Septuagint; Hebrew the entrance of Zedad, Hamath + +[226] 47:17 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[227] 47:17 Probable reading; Hebrew and as for the north side + +[228] 47:18 Compare Syriac; Hebrew to the eastern sea you shall measure + +[229] 47:19 Hebrew lacks of Egypt + +[230] 48:1 Probable reading; Hebrew and they shall be his + +[231] 48:1 Septuagint (compare verses 2-8); Hebrew the east side the west + +[232] 48:8 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[233] 48:9 Compare 45:1; Hebrew ten + +[234] 48:13 Septuagint; Hebrew 10,000 + +[235] 48:28 Hebrew lacks of Egypt + +[236] 48:28 That is, the Mediterranean Sea + +[237] 48:34 One Hebrew manuscript, Syriac (compare Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts their gates three + + + + + +DANIEL + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + + + + + +Daniel Taken to Babylon + + +1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family[1] and of the nobility, 4youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. + + + + + +Daniel's Faithfulness + + +8But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12“Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. 16So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. + +17As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. + + + + + +Nebuchadnezzar's Dream + + +2:1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,[2] “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” + +12Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15He declared[3] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. + + + + + +God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream + + +17Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said: + +“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, + +to whom belong wisdom and might. + +21He changes times and seasons; + +he removes kings and sets up kings; + +he gives wisdom to the wise + +and knowledge to those who have understanding; + +22he reveals deep and hidden things; + +he knows what is in the darkness, + +and the light dwells with him. + +23To you, O God of my fathers, + +I give thanks and praise, + +for you have given me wisdom and might, + +and have now made known to me what we asked of you, + +for you have made known to us the king's matter.” + +24Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” + +25Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind. + + + + + +Daniel Interprets the Dream + + +31“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. + +36“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. 39Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 41And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,[4] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” + + + + + +Daniel Is Promoted + + +46Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 47The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court. + + + + + +Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image + + +3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits[5] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. + + + + + +The Fiery Furnace + + +8Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9They declared[6] to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. 11And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” + +13Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good.[7] But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” + +16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.[8] 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” + +19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. 20And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics,[9] their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. 22Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. + +24Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” + +26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. 27And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. 28Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside[10] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. 29Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” 30Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. + + + + + +Nebuchadnezzar Praises God + + +4:1 [11] King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! 2It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. + +3How great are his signs, + +how mighty his wonders! + +His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, + +and his dominion endures from generation to generation. + + + + + +Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream + + +4[12] I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. 5I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. 6So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation. 8At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods[13]—and I told him the dream, saying, 9“O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation. 10The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. + +13“I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. 14He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him. 17The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’ 18This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” + + + + + +Daniel Interprets the Second Dream + + +19Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies! 20The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, 21whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived— 22it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth. 23And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,’ 24this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. 26And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. 27Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” + + + + + +Nebuchadnezzar's Humiliation + + +28All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” 31While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws. + + + + + +Nebuchadnezzar Restored + + +34At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, + +for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, + +and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; + +35all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, + +and he does according to his will among the host of heaven + +and among the inhabitants of the earth; + +and none can stay his hand + +or say to him, “What have you done?” + +36At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. 37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble. + + + + + +The Handwriting on the Wall + + +5:1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. + +2Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father[14] had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. + +5Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared[15] to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed. + +10The queen,[16] because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.[17] In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” + + + + + +Daniel Interprets the Handwriting + + +13Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods[18] is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” + +17Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22And you his son,[19] Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. + +24“Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. 26This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered[20] the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27TEKEL, you have been weighed[21] in the balances and found wanting; 28PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”[22] + +29Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. + +30That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31[23] And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. + + + + + +Daniel and the Lions' Den + + +6:1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; 2and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” + +6Then these presidents and satraps came by agreement[24] to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction. + +10When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. 11Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” + +14Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” + +16Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared[25] to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. + +19Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. + +25Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, + +for he is the living God, + +enduring forever; + +his kingdom shall never be destroyed, + +and his dominion shall be to the end. + +27He delivers and rescues; + +he works signs and wonders + +in heaven and on earth, + +he who has saved Daniel + +from the power of the lions.” + +28So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. + + + + + +Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts + + +7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2Daniel declared,[26] “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. + + + + + +The Ancient of Days Reigns + + +9“As I looked, + +thrones were placed, + +and the Ancient of Days took his seat; + +his clothing was white as snow, + +and the hair of his head like pure wool; + +his throne was fiery flames; + +its wheels were burning fire. + +10A stream of fire issued + +and came out from before him; + +a thousand thousands served him, + +and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; + +the court sat in judgment, + +and the books were opened. + +11“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. + + + + + +The Son of Man Is Given Dominion + + +13“I saw in the night visions, + +and behold, with the clouds of heaven + +there came one like a son of man, + +and he came to the Ancient of Days + +and was presented before him. + +14And to him was given dominion + +and glory and a kingdom, + +that all peoples, nations, and languages + +should serve him; + +his dominion is an everlasting dominion, + +which shall not pass away, + +and his kingdom one + +that shall not be destroyed. + + + + + +Daniel's Vision Interpreted + + +15“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me[27] was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 16I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’ + +19“Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, 20and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. 21As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. + +23“Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, + +there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, + +which shall be different from all the kingdoms, + +and it shall devour the whole earth, + +and trample it down, and break it to pieces. + +24As for the ten horns, + +out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, + +and another shall arise after them; + +he shall be different from the former ones, + +and shall put down three kings. + +25He shall speak words against the Most High, + +and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, + +and shall think to change the times and the law; + +and they shall be given into his hand + +for a time, times, and half a time. + +26But the court shall sit in judgment, + +and his dominion shall be taken away, + +to be consumed and destroyed to the end. + +27And the kingdom and the dominion + +and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven + +shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; + +their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, + +and all dominions shall serve and obey them.’[28] + +28“Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.” + + + + + +Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat + + +8:1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. 2And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the capital,[29] which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. 3I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great. + +5As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. + +9Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some[30] of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. 11It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression,[31] and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. 13Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” 14And he said to me,[32] “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.” + + + + + +The Interpretation of the Vision + + +15When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.” + +18And when he had spoken to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and made me stand up. 19He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end. 20As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. 21And the goat[33] is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. 22As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his[34] nation, but not with his power. 23And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand. 26The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.” + +27And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it. + + + + + +Daniel's Prayer for His People + + +9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. + +3Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us,[35] by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. 15And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. + +16“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,[36] make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” + + + + + +Gabriel Brings an Answer + + +20While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, 21while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. + + + + + +The Seventy Weeks + + +24“Seventy weeks[37] are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.[38] 25Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its[39] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,[40] and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” + + + + + +Daniel's Terrifying Vision of a Man + + +10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict.[41] And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. + +2In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. 3I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. 4On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) 5I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 7And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. 8So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed,[42] and I retained no strength. 9Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. + +10And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.” + +15When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. 16And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. 17How can my lord's servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.” + +18Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. 19And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” 20Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. 21But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince. + + + + + +The Kings of the South and the North + + +11:1 “And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. + +2“And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. 3Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. 4And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these. + +5“Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. 6After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported[43] her in those times. + +7“And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. 8He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. 9Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land. + +10“His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. 11Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. And he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. 12And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. 13For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after some years[44] he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies. + +14“In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. 15Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. 16But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hand. 17He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom,[45] but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. 18Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed,[46] he shall turn his insolence back upon him. 19Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found. + +20“Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle. 21In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. 23And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. 24Without warning he shall come into the richest parts[47] of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers' fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. 25And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. 26Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. 28And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land. + +29“At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. 30For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. 32He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. 33And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. + +36“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. 37He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. 38He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.[48] + +40“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack[49] him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. 41He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. 42He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train. 44But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. 45And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him. + + + + + +The Time of the End + + +12:1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;[50] and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” + +5Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. 6And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream,[51] “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” 7And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. 8I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” 9He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. 11And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. 12Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. 13But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:3 Hebrew of the seed of the kingdom + +[2] 2:4 The text from this point to the end of chapter 7 is in Aramaic + +[3] 2:15 Aramaic answered and said; also verse 26 + +[4] 2:43 Aramaic by the seed of men + +[5] 3:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[6] 3:9 Aramaic answered and said; also verses 24, 26 + +[7] 3:15 Aramaic lacks well and good + +[8] 3:17 Or If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, he will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and out of your hand, O king. + +[9] 3:21 The meaning of the Aramaic words rendered cloaks and tunics is uncertain; also verse 27 + +[10] 3:28 Aramaic and changed + +[11] 4:1 Ch 3:31 in Aramaic + +[12] 4:4 Ch 4:1 in Aramaic + +[13] 4:8 Or Spirit of the holy God; also verses 9, 18 + +[14] 5:2 Or predecessor; also verses 11, 13, 18 + +[15] 5:7 Aramaic answered and said; also verse 10 + +[16] 5:10 Or queen mother; twice in this verse + +[17] 5:11 Or Spirit of the holy God + +[18] 5:14 Or Spirit of God + +[19] 5:22 Or successor + +[20] 5:26 MENE sounds like the Aramaic for numbered + +[21] 5:27 TEKEL sounds like the Aramaic for weighed + +[22] 5:28 PERES (the singular of Parsin) sounds like the Aramaic for divided and for Persia + +[23] 5:31 Ch 6:1 in Aramaic + +[24] 6:6 Or came thronging; also verses 11, 15 + +[25] 6:16 Aramaic answered and said; also verse 20 + +[26] 7:2 Aramaic answered and said + +[27] 7:15 Aramaic within its sheath + +[28] 7:27 Or his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him + +[29] 8:2 Or the fortified city + +[30] 8:10 Or host, that is, some + +[31] 8:12 Or in an act of rebellion + +[32] 8:14 Hebrew; Septuagint, Theodotion, Vulgate to him + +[33] 8:21 Or the shaggy goat + +[34] 8:22 Theodotion, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew the + +[35] 9:12 Or our judges who judged us + +[36] 9:17 Hebrew for the Lord's sake + +[37] 9:24 Or sevens; also twice in verse 25 and once in verse 26 + +[38] 9:24 Or thing, or one + +[39] 9:26 Or His + +[40] 9:27 Or seven; twice in this verse + +[41] 10:1 Or and it was about a great conflict + +[42] 10:8 Hebrew My splendor was changed to ruin + +[43] 11:6 Or obtained + +[44] 11:13 Hebrew at the end of the times + +[45] 11:17 Hebrew her, or it + +[46] 11:18 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[47] 11:24 Or among the richest men + +[48] 11:39 Or land as payment + +[49] 11:40 Hebrew thrust at + +[50] 12:3 Hebrew the expanse; compare Genesis 1:6-8 + +[51] 12:6 Or who was upstream; also verse 7 + + + + + +HOSEA + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + + + + + +1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. + + + + + +Hosea's Wife and Children + + +2When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. + +4And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” + +6She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy,[1] for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” + +8When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People,[2] for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”[3] + +10[4] Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children[5] of the living God.” 11And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. + + + + + +Israel's Unfaithfulness Punished + + +2:1 [6] Say to your brothers, “You are my people,”[7] and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”[8] + +2“Plead with your mother, plead— + +for she is not my wife, + +and I am not her husband— + +that she put away her whoring from her face, + +and her adultery from between her breasts; + +3lest I strip her naked + +and make her as in the day she was born, + +and make her like a wilderness, + +and make her like a parched land, + +and kill her with thirst. + +4Upon her children also I will have no mercy, + +because they are children of whoredom. + +5For their mother has played the whore; + +she who conceived them has acted shamefully. + +For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, + +who give me my bread and my water, + +my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ + +6Therefore I will hedge up her[9] way with thorns, + +and I will build a wall against her, + +so that she cannot find her paths. + +7She shall pursue her lovers + +but not overtake them, + +and she shall seek them + +but shall not find them. + +Then she shall say, + +‘I will go and return to my first husband, + +for it was better for me then than now.’ + +8And she did not know + +that it was I who gave her + +the grain, the wine, and the oil, + +and who lavished on her silver and gold, + +which they used for Baal. + +9Therefore I will take back + +my grain in its time, + +and my wine in its season, + +and I will take away my wool and my flax, + +which were to cover her nakedness. + +10Now I will uncover her lewdness + +in the sight of her lovers, + +and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. + +11And I will put an end to all her mirth, + +her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, + +and all her appointed feasts. + +12And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, + +of which she said, + +‘These are my wages, + +which my lovers have given me.’ + +I will make them a forest, + +and the beasts of the field shall devour them. + +13And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals + +when she burned offerings to them + +and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, + +and went after her lovers + +and forgot me, declares the LORD. + + + + + +The LORD's Mercy on Israel + + +14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, + +and bring her into the wilderness, + +and speak tenderly to her. + +15And there I will give her her vineyards + +and make the Valley of Achor[10] a door of hope. + +And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, + +as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. + +16“And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish[11] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. + +21“And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, + +I will answer the heavens, + +and they shall answer the earth, + +22and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, + +and they shall answer Jezreel,[12] + +23and I will sow her for myself in the land. + +And I will have mercy on No Mercy,[13] + +and I will say to Not My People,[14] ‘You are my people’; + +and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” + + + + + +Hosea Redeems His Wife + + +3:1 And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech[15] of barley. 3And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days. + + + + + +The LORD Accuses Israel + + +4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, + +for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. + +There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, + +and no knowledge of God in the land; + +2there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; + +they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. + +3Therefore the land mourns, + +and all who dwell in it languish, + +and also the beasts of the field + +and the birds of the heavens, + +and even the fish of the sea are taken away. + +4Yet let no one contend, + +and let none accuse, + +for with you is my contention, O priest.[16] + +5You shall stumble by day; + +the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; + +and I will destroy your mother. + +6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; + +because you have rejected knowledge, + +I reject you from being a priest to me. + +And since you have forgotten the law of your God, + +I also will forget your children. + +7The more they increased, + +the more they sinned against me; + +I will change their glory into shame. + +8They feed on the sin[17] of my people; + +they are greedy for their iniquity. + +9And it shall be like people, like priest; + +I will punish them for their ways + +and repay them for their deeds. + +10They shall eat, but not be satisfied; + +they shall play the whore, but not multiply, + +because they have forsaken the LORD + +to cherish 11whoredom, wine, and new wine, + +which take away the understanding. + +12My people inquire of a piece of wood, + +and their walking staff gives them oracles. + +For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, + +and they have left their God to play the whore. + +13They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains + +and burn offerings on the hills, + +under oak, poplar, and terebinth, + +because their shade is good. + +Therefore your daughters play the whore, + +and your brides commit adultery. + +14I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, + +nor your brides when they commit adultery; + +for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes + +and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, + +and a people without understanding shall come to ruin. + +15Though you play the whore, O Israel, + +let not Judah become guilty. + +Enter not into Gilgal, + +nor go up to Beth-aven, + +and swear not, “As the LORD lives.” + +16Like a stubborn heifer, + +Israel is stubborn; + +can the LORD now feed them + +like a lamb in a broad pasture? + +17Ephraim is joined to idols; + +leave him alone. + +18When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; + +their rulers[18] dearly love shame. + +19A wind has wrapped them[19] in its wings, + +and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. + + + + + +Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah + + +5:1 Hear this, O priests! + +Pay attention, O house of Israel! + +Give ear, O house of the king! + +For the judgment is for you; + +for you have been a snare at Mizpah + +and a net spread upon Tabor. + +2And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, + +but I will discipline all of them. + +3I know Ephraim, + +and Israel is not hidden from me; + +for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; + +Israel is defiled. + +4Their deeds do not permit them + +to return to their God. + +For the spirit of whoredom is within them, + +and they know not the LORD. + +5The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[20] + +Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; + +Judah also shall stumble with them. + +6With their flocks and herds they shall go + +to seek the LORD, + +but they will not find him; + +he has withdrawn from them. + +7They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD; + +for they have borne alien children. + +Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. + +8Blow the horn in Gibeah, + +the trumpet in Ramah. + +Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; + +we follow you,[21] O Benjamin! + +9Ephraim shall become a desolation + +in the day of punishment; + +among the tribes of Israel + +I make known what is sure. + +10The princes of Judah have become + +like those who move the landmark; + +upon them I will pour out + +my wrath like water. + +11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, + +because he was determined to go after filth.[22] + +12But I am like a moth to Ephraim, + +and like dry rot to the house of Judah. + +13When Ephraim saw his sickness, + +and Judah his wound, + +then Ephraim went to Assyria, + +and sent to the great king.[23] + +But he is not able to cure you + +or heal your wound. + +14For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, + +and like a young lion to the house of Judah. + +I, even I, will tear and go away; + +I will carry off, and no one shall rescue. + +15I will return again to my place, + +until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, + +and in their distress earnestly seek me. + + + + + +Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant + + +6:1 “Come, let us return to the LORD; + +for he has torn us, that he may heal us; + +he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. + +2After two days he will revive us; + +on the third day he will raise us up, + +that we may live before him. + +3Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; + +his going out is sure as the dawn; + +he will come to us as the showers, + +as the spring rains that water the earth.” + +4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? + +What shall I do with you, O Judah? + +Your love is like a morning cloud, + +like the dew that goes early away. + +5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; + +I have slain them by the words of my mouth, + +and my judgment goes forth as the light. + +6For I desire steadfast love[24] and not sacrifice, + +the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. + +7But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; + +there they dealt faithlessly with me. + +8Gilead is a city of evildoers, + +tracked with blood. + +9As robbers lie in wait for a man, + +so the priests band together; + +they murder on the way to Shechem; + +they commit villainy. + +10In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; + +Ephraim's whoredom is there; Israel is defiled. + +11For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, + +when I restore the fortunes of my people. + + + + + +7:1 When I would heal Israel, + +the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, + +and the evil deeds of Samaria; + +for they deal falsely; + +the thief breaks in, + +and the bandits raid outside. + +2But they do not consider + +that I remember all their evil. + +Now their deeds surround them; + +they are before my face. + +3By their evil they make the king glad, + +and the princes by their treachery. + +4They are all adulterers; + +they are like a heated oven + +whose baker ceases to stir the fire, + +from the kneading of the dough + +until it is leavened. + +5On the day of our king, the princes + +became sick with the heat of wine; + +he stretched out his hand with mockers. + +6For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue; + +all night their anger smolders; + +in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. + +7All of them are hot as an oven, + +and they devour their rulers. + +All their kings have fallen, + +and none of them calls upon me. + +8Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; + +Ephraim is a cake not turned. + +9Strangers devour his strength, + +and he knows it not; + +gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, + +and he knows it not. + +10The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[25] + +yet they do not return to the LORD their God, + +nor seek him, for all this. + +11Ephraim is like a dove, + +silly and without sense, + +calling to Egypt, going to Assyria. + +12As they go, I will spread over them my net; + +I will bring them down like birds of the heavens; + +I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation. + +13Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! + +Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! + +I would redeem them, + +but they speak lies against me. + +14They do not cry to me from the heart, + +but they wail upon their beds; + +for grain and wine they gash themselves; + +they rebel against me. + +15Although I trained and strengthened their arms, + +yet they devise evil against me. + +16They return, but not upward;[26] + +they are like a treacherous bow; + +their princes shall fall by the sword + +because of the insolence of their tongue. + +This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. + + + + + +Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind + + +8:1 Set the trumpet to your lips! + +One like a vulture is over the house of the LORD, + +because they have transgressed my covenant + +and rebelled against my law. + +2To me they cry, + +“My God, we—Israel—know you.” + +3Israel has spurned the good; + +the enemy shall pursue him. + +4They made kings, but not through me. + +They set up princes, but I knew it not. + +With their silver and gold they made idols + +for their own destruction. + +5I have[27] spurned your calf, O Samaria. + +My anger burns against them. + +How long will they be incapable of innocence? + +6For it is from Israel; + +a craftsman made it; + +it is not God. + +The calf of Samaria + +shall be broken to pieces.[28] + +7For they sow the wind, + +and they shall reap the whirlwind. + +The standing grain has no heads; + +it shall yield no flour; + +if it were to yield, + +strangers would devour it. + +8Israel is swallowed up; + +already they are among the nations + +as a useless vessel. + +9For they have gone up to Assyria, + +a wild donkey wandering alone; + +Ephraim has hired lovers. + +10Though they hire allies among the nations, + +I will soon gather them up. + +And the king and princes shall soon writhe + +because of the tribute. + +11Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, + +they have become to him altars for sinning. + +12Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands, + +they would be regarded as a strange thing. + +13As for my sacrificial offerings, + +they sacrifice meat and eat it, + +but the LORD does not accept them. + +Now he will remember their iniquity + +and punish their sins; + +they shall return to Egypt. + +14For Israel has forgotten his Maker + +and built palaces, + +and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; + +so I will send a fire upon his cities, + +and it shall devour her strongholds. + + + + + +The LORD Will Punish Israel + + +9:1 Rejoice not, O Israel! + +Exult not like the peoples; + +for you have played the whore, forsaking your God. + +You have loved a prostitute's wages + +on all threshing floors. + +2Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them, + +and the new wine shall fail them. + +3They shall not remain in the land of the LORD, + +but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, + +and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria. + +4They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the LORD, + +and their sacrifices shall not please him. + +It shall be like mourners' bread to them; + +all who eat of it shall be defiled; + +for their bread shall be for their hunger only; + +it shall not come to the house of the LORD. + +5What will you do on the day of the appointed festival, + +and on the day of the feast of the LORD? + +6For behold, they are going away from destruction; + +but Egypt shall gather them; + +Memphis shall bury them. + +Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; + +thorns shall be in their tents. + +7The days of punishment have come; + +the days of recompense have come; + +Israel shall know it. + +The prophet is a fool; + +the man of the spirit is mad, + +because of your great iniquity + +and great hatred. + +8The prophet is the watchman of Ephraim with my God; + +yet a fowler's snare is on all his ways, + +and hatred in the house of his God. + +9They have deeply corrupted themselves + +as in the days of Gibeah: + +he will remember their iniquity; + +he will punish their sins. + +10Like grapes in the wilderness, + +I found Israel. + +Like the first fruit on the fig tree + +in its first season, + +I saw your fathers. + +But they came to Baal-peor + +and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, + +and became detestable like the thing they loved. + +11Ephraim's glory shall fly away like a bird— + +no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! + +12Even if they bring up children, + +I will bereave them till none is left. + +Woe to them + +when I depart from them! + +13Ephraim, as I have seen, was like a young palm[29] planted in a meadow; + +but Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.[30] + +14Give them, O LORD— + +what will you give? + +Give them a miscarrying womb + +and dry breasts. + +15Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; + +there I began to hate them. + +Because of the wickedness of their deeds + +I will drive them out of my house. + +I will love them no more; + +all their princes are rebels. + +16Ephraim is stricken; + +their root is dried up; + +they shall bear no fruit. + +Even though they give birth, + +I will put their beloved children to death. + +17My God will reject them + +because they have not listened to him; + +they shall be wanderers among the nations. + + + + + +10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine + +that yields its fruit. + +The more his fruit increased, + +the more altars he built; + +as his country improved, + +he improved his pillars. + +2Their heart is false; + +now they must bear their guilt. + +The LORD[31] will break down their altars + +and destroy their pillars. + +3For now they will say: + +“We have no king, + +for we do not fear the LORD; + +and a king—what could he do for us?” + +4They utter mere words; + +with empty oaths they make covenants; + +so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds + +in the furrows of the field. + +5The inhabitants of Samaria tremble + +for the calf[32] of Beth-aven. + +Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests— + +those who rejoiced over it and over its glory— + +for it has departed[33] from them. + +6The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria + +as tribute to the great king.[34] + +Ephraim shall be put to shame, + +and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.[35] + +7Samaria's king shall perish + +like a twig on the face of the waters. + +8The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, + +shall be destroyed. + +Thorn and thistle shall grow up + +on their altars, + +and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,” + +and to the hills, “Fall on us.” + +9From the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, O Israel; + +there they have continued. + +Shall not the war against the unjust[36] overtake them in Gibeah? + +10When I please, I will discipline them, + +and nations shall be gathered against them + +when they are bound up for their double iniquity. + +11Ephraim was a trained calf + +that loved to thresh, + +and I spared her fair neck; + +but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; + +Judah must plow; + +Jacob must harrow for himself. + +12Sow for yourselves righteousness; + +reap steadfast love; + +break up your fallow ground, + +for it is the time to seek the LORD, + +that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. + +13You have plowed iniquity; + +you have reaped injustice; + +you have eaten the fruit of lies. + +Because you have trusted in your own way + +and in the multitude of your warriors, + +14therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, + +and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, + +as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle; + +mothers were dashed in pieces with their children. + +15Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel, + +because of your great evil. + +At dawn the king of Israel + +shall be utterly cut off. + + + + + +The LORD's Love for Israel + + +11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, + +and out of Egypt I called my son. + +2The more they were called, + +the more they went away; + +they kept sacrificing to the Baals + +and burning offerings to idols. + +3Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; + +I took them up by their arms, + +but they did not know that I healed them. + +4I led them with cords of kindness,[37] + +with the bands of love, + +and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, + +and I bent down to them and fed them. + +5They shall not[38] return to the land of Egypt, + +but Assyria shall be their king, + +because they have refused to return to me. + +6The sword shall rage against their cities, + +consume the bars of their gates, + +and devour them because of their own counsels. + +7My people are bent on turning away from me, + +and though they call out to the Most High, + +he shall not raise them up at all. + +8How can I give you up, O Ephraim? + +How can I hand you over, O Israel? + +How can I make you like Admah? + +How can I treat you like Zeboiim? + +My heart recoils within me; + +my compassion grows warm and tender. + +9I will not execute my burning anger; + +I will not again destroy Ephraim; + +for I am God and not a man, + +the Holy One in your midst, + +and I will not come in wrath.[39] + +10They shall go after the LORD; + +he will roar like a lion; + +when he roars, + +his children shall come trembling from the west; + +11they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, + +and like doves from the land of Assyria, + +and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD. + +12[40] Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, + +and the house of Israel with deceit, + +but Judah still walks with God + +and is faithful to the Holy One. + + + + + +12:1 Ephraim feeds on the wind + +and pursues the east wind all day long; + +they multiply falsehood and violence; + +they make a covenant with Assyria, + +and oil is carried to Egypt. + + + + + +The LORD's Indictment of Israel and Judah + + +2The LORD has an indictment against Judah + +and will punish Jacob according to his ways; + +he will repay him according to his deeds. + +3In the womb he took his brother by the heel, + +and in his manhood he strove with God. + +4He strove with the angel and prevailed; + +he wept and sought his favor. + +He met God[41] at Bethel, + +and there God spoke with us— + +5the LORD, the God of hosts, + +the LORD is his memorial name: + +6“So you, by the help of your God, return, + +hold fast to love and justice, + +and wait continually for your God.” + +7A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, + +he loves to oppress. + +8Ephraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich; + +I have found wealth for myself; + +in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.” + +9I am the LORD your God + +from the land of Egypt; + +I will again make you dwell in tents, + +as in the days of the appointed feast. + +10I spoke to the prophets; + +it was I who multiplied visions, + +and through the prophets gave parables. + +11If there is iniquity in Gilead, + +they shall surely come to nothing: + +in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; + +their altars also are like stone heaps + +on the furrows of the field. + +12Jacob fled to the land of Aram; + +there Israel served for a wife, + +and for a wife he guarded sheep. + +13By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, + +and by a prophet he was guarded. + +14Ephraim has given bitter provocation; + +so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him + +and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds. + + + + + +The LORD's Relentless Judgment on Israel + + +13:1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; + +he was exalted in Israel, + +but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. + +2And now they sin more and more, + +and make for themselves metal images, + +idols skillfully made of their silver, + +all of them the work of craftsmen. + +It is said of them, + +“Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!” + +3Therefore they shall be like the morning mist + +or like the dew that goes early away, + +like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor + +or like smoke from a window. + +4But I am the LORD your God + +from the land of Egypt; + +you know no God but me, + +and besides me there is no savior. + +5It was I who knew you in the wilderness, + +in the land of drought; + +6but when they had grazed,[42] they became full, + +they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; + +therefore they forgot me. + +7So I am to them like a lion; + +like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. + +8I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; + +I will tear open their breast, + +and there I will devour them like a lion, + +as a wild beast would rip them open. + +9He destroys[43] you, O Israel, + +for you are against me, against your helper. + +10Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities? + +Where are all your rulers— + +those of whom you said, + +“Give me a king and princes”? + +11I gave you a king in my anger, + +and I took him away in my wrath. + +12The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; + +his sin is kept in store. + +13The pangs of childbirth come for him, + +but he is an unwise son, + +for at the right time he does not present himself + +at the opening of the womb. + +14Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? + +Shall I redeem them from Death? + +O Death, where are your plagues? + +O Sheol, where is your sting? + +Compassion is hidden from my eyes. + +15Though he may flourish among his brothers, + +the east wind, the wind of the LORD, shall come, + +rising from the wilderness, + +and his fountain shall dry up; + +his spring shall be parched; + +it shall strip his treasury + +of every precious thing. + +16[44] Samaria shall bear her guilt, + +because she has rebelled against her God; + +they shall fall by the sword; + +their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, + +and their pregnant women ripped open. + + + + + +A Plea to Return to the LORD + + +14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, + +for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. + +2Take with you words + +and return to the LORD; + +say to him, + +“Take away all iniquity; + +accept what is good, + +and we will pay with bulls + +the vows[45] of our lips. + +3Assyria shall not save us; + +we will not ride on horses; + +and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ + +to the work of our hands. + +In you the orphan finds mercy.” + +4I will heal their apostasy; + +I will love them freely, + +for my anger has turned from them. + +5I will be like the dew to Israel; + +he shall blossom like the lily; + +he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; + +6his shoots shall spread out; + +his beauty shall be like the olive, + +and his fragrance like Lebanon. + +7They shall return and dwell beneath my[46] shadow; + +they shall flourish like the grain; + +they shall blossom like the vine; + +their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. + +8O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? + +It is I who answer and look after you.[47] + +I am like an evergreen cypress; + +from me comes your fruit. + +9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; + +whoever is discerning, let him know them; + +for the ways of the LORD are right, + +and the upright walk in them, + +but transgressors stumble in them. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy + +[2] 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people + +[3] 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours + +[4] 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew + +[5] 1:10 Or Sons + +[6] 2:1 Ch 2:3 in Hebrew + +[7] 2:1 Hebrew ammi, which means my people + +[8] 2:1 Hebrew ruhama, which means she has received mercy + +[9] 2:6 Hebrew your + +[10] 2:15 Achor means trouble; compare Joshua 7:26 + +[11] 2:18 Hebrew break + +[12] 2:22 Jezreel means God will sow + +[13] 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ruhama + +[14] 2:23 Hebrew Lo-ammi + +[15] 3:2 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; a lethech was about 3 bushels or 110 liters + +[16] 4:4 Or for your people are like those who contend with the priest + +[17] 4:8 Or sin offering + +[18] 4:18 Hebrew shields + +[19] 4:19 Hebrew her + +[20] 5:5 Or in his presence + +[21] 5:8 Or after you + +[22] 5:11 Or to follow human precepts + +[23] 5:13 Or to King Jareb + +[24] 6:6 Septuagint mercy + +[25] 7:10 Or in his presence + +[26] 7:16 Or to the Most High + +[27] 8:5 Hebrew He has + +[28] 8:6 Or shall go up in flames + +[29] 9:13 Or like Tyre + +[30] 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters + +[31] 10:2 Hebrew He + +[32] 10:5 Or calves + +[33] 10:5 Or has gone into exile + +[34] 10:6 Or to King Jareb + +[35] 10:6 Or counsel + +[36] 10:9 Hebrew the children of injustice + +[37] 11:4 Or humaneness; Hebrew man + +[38] 11:5 Or surely + +[39] 11:9 Or into the city + +[40] 11:12 Ch 12:1 in Hebrew + +[41] 12:4 Hebrew him + +[42] 13:6 Hebrew according to their pasture + +[43] 13:9 Or I will destroy + +[44] 13:16 Ch 14:1 in Hebrew + +[45] 14:2 Septuagint, Syriac pay the fruit + +[46] 14:7 Hebrew his + +[47] 14:8 Hebrew him + + + + + +JOEL + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + + + + + +1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: + + + + + +An Invasion of Locusts + + +2Hear this, you elders; + +give ear, all inhabitants of the land! + +Has such a thing happened in your days, + +or in the days of your fathers? + +3Tell your children of it, + +and let your children tell their children, + +and their children to another generation. + +4What the cutting locust left, + +the swarming locust has eaten. + +What the swarming locust left, + +the hopping locust has eaten, + +and what the hopping locust left, + +the destroying locust has eaten. + +5Awake, you drunkards, and weep, + +and wail, all you drinkers of wine, + +because of the sweet wine, + +for it is cut off from your mouth. + +6For a nation has come up against my land, + +powerful and beyond number; + +its teeth are lions' teeth, + +and it has the fangs of a lioness. + +7It has laid waste my vine + +and splintered my fig tree; + +it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; + +their branches are made white. + +8Lament like a virgin[1] wearing sackcloth + +for the bridegroom of her youth. + +9The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off + +from the house of the LORD. + +The priests mourn, + +the ministers of the LORD. + +10The fields are destroyed, + +the ground mourns, + +because the grain is destroyed, + +the wine dries up, + +the oil languishes. + +11Be ashamed,[2] O tillers of the soil; + +wail, O vinedressers, + +for the wheat and the barley, + +because the harvest of the field has perished. + +12The vine dries up; + +the fig tree languishes. + +Pomegranate, palm, and apple, + +all the trees of the field are dried up, + +and gladness dries up + +from the children of man. + + + + + +A Call to Repentance + + +13Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; + +wail, O ministers of the altar. + +Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, + +O ministers of my God! + +Because grain offering and drink offering + +are withheld from the house of your God. + +14Consecrate a fast; + +call a solemn assembly. + +Gather the elders + +and all the inhabitants of the land + +to the house of the LORD your God, + +and cry out to the LORD. + +15Alas for the day! + +For the day of the LORD is near, + +and as destruction from the Almighty[3] it comes. + +16Is not the food cut off + +before our eyes, + +joy and gladness + +from the house of our God? + +17The seed shrivels under the clods;[4] + +the storehouses are desolate; + +the granaries are torn down + +because the grain has dried up. + +18How the beasts groan! + +The herds of cattle are perplexed + +because there is no pasture for them; + +even the flocks of sheep suffer.[5] + +19To you, O LORD, I call. + +For fire has devoured + +the pastures of the wilderness, + +and flame has burned + +all the trees of the field. + +20Even the beasts of the field pant for you + +because the water brooks are dried up, + +and fire has devoured + +the pastures of the wilderness. + + + + + +The Day of the LORD + + +2:1 Blow a trumpet in Zion; + +sound an alarm on my holy mountain! + +Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, + +for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, + +2a day of darkness and gloom, + +a day of clouds and thick darkness! + +Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains + +a great and powerful people; + +their like has never been before, + +nor will be again after them + +through the years of all generations. + +3Fire devours before them, + +and behind them a flame burns. + +The land is like the garden of Eden before them, + +but behind them a desolate wilderness, + +and nothing escapes them. + +4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, + +and like war horses they run. + +5As with the rumbling of chariots, + +they leap on the tops of the mountains, + +like the crackling of a flame of fire + +devouring the stubble, + +like a powerful army + +drawn up for battle. + +6Before them peoples are in anguish; + +all faces grow pale. + +7Like warriors they charge; + +like soldiers they scale the wall. + +They march each on his way; + +they do not swerve from their paths. + +8They do not jostle one another; + +each marches in his path; + +they burst through the weapons + +and are not halted. + +9They leap upon the city, + +they run upon the walls, + +they climb up into the houses, + +they enter through the windows like a thief. + +10The earth quakes before them; + +the heavens tremble. + +The sun and the moon are darkened, + +and the stars withdraw their shining. + +11The LORD utters his voice + +before his army, + +for his camp is exceedingly great; + +he who executes his word is powerful. + +For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; + +who can endure it? + + + + + +Return to the LORD + + +12“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, + +“return to me with all your heart, + +with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; + +13and rend your hearts and not your garments.” + +Return to the LORD your God, + +for he is gracious and merciful, + +slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; + +and he relents over disaster. + +14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, + +and leave a blessing behind him, + +a grain offering and a drink offering + +for the LORD your God? + +15Blow the trumpet in Zion; + +consecrate a fast; + +call a solemn assembly; + +16gather the people. + +Consecrate the congregation; + +assemble the elders; + +gather the children, + +even nursing infants. + +Let the bridegroom leave his room, + +and the bride her chamber. + +17Between the vestibule and the altar + +let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep + +and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, + +and make not your heritage a reproach, + +a byword among the nations.[6] + +Why should they say among the peoples, + +‘Where is their God?’” + + + + + +The LORD Had Pity + + +18Then the LORD became jealous for his land + +and had pity on his people. + +19The LORD answered and said to his people, + +“Behold, I am sending to you + +grain, wine, and oil, + +and you will be satisfied; + +and I will no more make you + +a reproach among the nations. + +20“I will remove the northerner far from you, + +and drive him into a parched and desolate land, + +his vanguard[7] into the eastern sea, + +and his rear guard[8] into the western sea; + +the stench and foul smell of him will rise, + +for he has done great things. + +21“Fear not, O land; + +be glad and rejoice, + +for the LORD has done great things! + +22Fear not, you beasts of the field, + +for the pastures of the wilderness are green; + +the tree bears its fruit; + +the fig tree and vine give their full yield. + +23“Be glad, O children of Zion, + +and rejoice in the LORD your God, + +for he has given the early rain for your vindication; + +he has poured down for you abundant rain, + +the early and the latter rain, as before. + +24“The threshing floors shall be full of grain; + +the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. + +25I will restore to you the years + +that the swarming locust has eaten, + +the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, + +my great army, which I sent among you. + +26“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, + +and praise the name of the LORD your God, + +who has dealt wondrously with you. + +And my people shall never again be put to shame. + +27You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, + +and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. + +And my people shall never again be put to shame. + + + + + +The LORD Will Pour Out His Spirit + + +28[9] “And it shall come to pass afterward, + +that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; + +your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, + +your old men shall dream dreams, + +and your young men shall see visions. + +29Even on the male and female servants + +in those days I will pour out my Spirit. + +30“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. + + + + + +The LORD Judges the Nations + + +3:1 [10] “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it. + +4“What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.[11] 6You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.” + +9Proclaim this among the nations: + +Consecrate for war;[12] + +stir up the mighty men. + +Let all the men of war draw near; + +let them come up. + +10Beat your plowshares into swords, + +and your pruning hooks into spears; + +let the weak say, “I am a warrior.” + +11Hasten and come, + +all you surrounding nations, + +and gather yourselves there. + +Bring down your warriors, O LORD. + +12Let the nations stir themselves up + +and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; + +for there I will sit to judge + +all the surrounding nations. + +13Put in the sickle, + +for the harvest is ripe. + +Go in, tread, + +for the winepress is full. + +The vats overflow, + +for their evil is great. + +14Multitudes, multitudes, + +in the valley of decision! + +For the day of the LORD is near + +in the valley of decision. + +15The sun and the moon are darkened, + +and the stars withdraw their shining. + +16The LORD roars from Zion, + +and utters his voice from Jerusalem, + +and the heavens and the earth quake. + +But the LORD is a refuge to his people, + +a stronghold to the people of Israel. + + + + + +The Glorious Future of Judah + + +17“So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, + +who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. + +And Jerusalem shall be holy, + +and strangers shall never again pass through it. + +18“And in that day + +the mountains shall drip sweet wine, + +and the hills shall flow with milk, + +and all the streambeds of Judah + +shall flow with water; + +and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD + +and water the Valley of Shittim. + +19“Egypt shall become a desolation + +and Edom a desolate wilderness, + +for the violence done to the people of Judah, + +because they have shed innocent blood in their land. + +20But Judah shall be inhabited forever, + +and Jerusalem to all generations. + +21I will avenge their blood, + +blood I have not avenged,[13] + +for the LORD dwells in Zion.” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:8 Or young woman + +[2] 1:11 The Hebrew words for dry up and be ashamed in verses 10-12, 17 sound alike + +[3] 1:15 Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty + +[4] 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain + +[5] 1:18 Or are made desolate + +[6] 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them + +[7] 2:20 Hebrew face + +[8] 2:20 Hebrew his end + +[9] 2:28 Ch 3:1 in Hebrew + +[10] 3:1 Ch 4:1 in Hebrew + +[11] 3:5 Or palaces + +[12] 3:9 Or Consecrate a war + +[13] 3:21 Or I will acquit their bloodguilt that I have not acquitted + + + + + +AMOS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + + + + + +1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds[1] of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years[2] before the earthquake. + + + + + +Judgment on Israel's Neighbors + + +2And he said: + +“The LORD roars from Zion + +and utters his voice from Jerusalem; + +the pastures of the shepherds mourn, + +and the top of Carmel withers.” + +3Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of Damascus, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[3] + +because they have threshed Gilead + +with threshing sledges of iron. + +4So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, + +and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. + +5I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, + +and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,[4] + +and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; + +and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” + +says the LORD. + +6Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of Gaza, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, + +because they carried into exile a whole people + +to deliver them up to Edom. + +7So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, + +and it shall devour her strongholds. + +8I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, + +and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; + +I will turn my hand against Ekron, + +and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” + +says the Lord GOD. + +9Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of Tyre, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, + +because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, + +and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. + +10So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, + +and it shall devour her strongholds.” + +11Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of Edom, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, + +because he pursued his brother with the sword + +and cast off all pity, + +and his anger tore perpetually, + +and he kept his wrath forever. + +12So I will send a fire upon Teman, + +and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.” + +13Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of the Ammonites, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, + +because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, + +that they might enlarge their border. + +14So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, + +and it shall devour her strongholds, + +with shouting on the day of battle, + +with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; + +15and their king shall go into exile, + +he and his princes[5] together,” + +says the LORD. + + + + + +2:1 Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of Moab, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[6] + +because he burned to lime + +the bones of the king of Edom. + +2So I will send a fire upon Moab, + +and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, + +and Moab shall die amid uproar, + +amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet; + +3I will cut off the ruler from its midst, + +and will kill all its princes[7] with him,” + +says the LORD. + + + + + +Judgment on Judah + + +4Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of Judah, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, + +because they have rejected the law of the LORD, + +and have not kept his statutes, + +but their lies have led them astray, + +those after which their fathers walked. + +5So I will send a fire upon Judah, + +and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.” + + + + + +Judgment on Israel + + +6Thus says the LORD: + +“For three transgressions of Israel, + +and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, + +because they sell the righteous for silver, + +and the needy for a pair of sandals— + +7those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth + +and turn aside the way of the afflicted; + +a man and his father go in to the same girl, + +so that my holy name is profaned; + +8they lay themselves down beside every altar + +on garments taken in pledge, + +and in the house of their God they drink + +the wine of those who have been fined. + +9“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, + +whose height was like the height of the cedars + +and who was as strong as the oaks; + +I destroyed his fruit above + +and his roots beneath. + +10Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt + +and led you forty years in the wilderness, + +to possess the land of the Amorite. + +11And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, + +and some of your young men for Nazirites. + +Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?” + +declares the LORD. + +12“But you made the Nazirites drink wine, + +and commanded the prophets, + +saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’ + +13“Behold, I will press you down in your place, + +as a cart full of sheaves presses down. + +14Flight shall perish from the swift, + +and the strong shall not retain his strength, + +nor shall the mighty save his life; + +15he who handles the bow shall not stand, + +and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, + +nor shall he who rides the horse save his life; + +16and he who is stout of heart among the mighty + +shall flee away naked in that day,” + +declares the LORD. + + + + + +Israel's Guilt and Punishment + + +3:1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: + +2“You only have I known + +of all the families of the earth; + +therefore I will punish you + +for all your iniquities. + +3“Do two walk together, + +unless they have agreed to meet? + +4Does a lion roar in the forest, + +when he has no prey? + +Does a young lion cry out from his den, + +if he has taken nothing? + +5Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, + +when there is no trap for it? + +Does a snare spring up from the ground, + +when it has taken nothing? + +6Is a trumpet blown in a city, + +and the people are not afraid? + +Does disaster come to a city, + +unless the LORD has done it? + +7“For the Lord GOD does nothing + +without revealing his secret + +to his servants the prophets. + +8The lion has roared; + +who will not fear? + +The Lord GOD has spoken; + +who can but prophesy?” + +9Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod + +and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, + +and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, + +and see the great tumults within her, + +and the oppressed in her midst.” + +10“They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD, + +“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.” + +11Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: + +“An adversary shall surround the land + +and bring down[8] your defenses from you, + +and your strongholds shall be plundered.” + +12Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part[9] of a bed. + +13“Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,” + +declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, + +14“that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, + +I will punish the altars of Bethel, + +and the horns of the altar shall be cut off + +and fall to the ground. + +15I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, + +and the houses of ivory shall perish, + +and the great houses[10] shall come to an end,” + +declares the LORD. + + + + + +4:1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, + +who are on the mountain of Samaria, + +who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, + +who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’ + +2The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness + +that, behold, the days are coming upon you, + +when they shall take you away with hooks, + +even the last of you with fishhooks. + +3And you shall go out through the breaches, + +each one straight ahead; + +and you shall be cast out into Harmon,” + +declares the LORD. + +4“Come to Bethel, and transgress; + +to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; + +bring your sacrifices every morning, + +your tithes every three days; + +5offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, + +and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them; + +for so you love to do, O people of Israel!” + +declares the Lord GOD. + + + + + +Israel Has Not Returned to the LORD + + +6“I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, + +and lack of bread in all your places, + +yet you did not return to me,” + +declares the LORD. + +7“I also withheld the rain from you + +when there were yet three months to the harvest; + +I would send rain on one city, + +and send no rain on another city; + +one field would have rain, + +and the field on which it did not rain would wither; + +8so two or three cities would wander to another city + +to drink water, and would not be satisfied; + +yet you did not return to me,” + +declares the LORD. + +9“I struck you with blight and mildew; + +your many gardens and your vineyards, + +your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; + +yet you did not return to me,” + +declares the LORD. + +10“I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; + +I killed your young men with the sword, + +and carried away your horses,[11] + +and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; + +yet you did not return to me,” + +declares the LORD. + +11“I overthrew some of you, + +as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, + +and you were as a brand[12] plucked out of the burning; + +yet you did not return to me,” + +declares the LORD. + +12“Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; + +because I will do this to you, + +prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” + +13For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, + +and declares to man what is his thought, + +who makes the morning darkness, + +and treads on the heights of the earth— + +the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name! + + + + + +Seek the LORD and Live + + +5:1 Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel: + +2“Fallen, no more to rise, + +is the virgin Israel; + +forsaken on her land, + +with none to raise her up.” + +3For thus says the Lord GOD: + +“The city that went out a thousand + +shall have a hundred left, + +and that which went out a hundred + +shall have ten left + +to the house of Israel.” + +4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: + +“Seek me and live; + +5but do not seek Bethel, + +and do not enter into Gilgal + +or cross over to Beersheba; + +for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, + +and Bethel shall come to nothing.” + +6Seek the LORD and live, + +lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, + +and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel, + +7O you who turn justice to wormwood[13] + +and cast down righteousness to the earth! + +8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, + +and turns deep darkness into the morning + +and darkens the day into night, + +who calls for the waters of the sea + +and pours them out on the surface of the earth, + +the LORD is his name; + +9who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, + +so that destruction comes upon the fortress. + +10They hate him who reproves in the gate, + +and they abhor him who speaks the truth. + +11Therefore because you trample on[14] the poor + +and you exact taxes of grain from him, + +you have built houses of hewn stone, + +but you shall not dwell in them; + +you have planted pleasant vineyards, + +but you shall not drink their wine. + +12For I know how many are your transgressions + +and how great are your sins— + +you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, + +and turn aside the needy in the gate. + +13Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, + +for it is an evil time. + +14Seek good, and not evil, + +that you may live; + +and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, + +as you have said. + +15Hate evil, and love good, + +and establish justice in the gate; + +it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, + +will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. + +16Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: + +“In all the squares there shall be wailing, + +and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ + +They shall call the farmers to mourning + +and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, + +17and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, + +for I will pass through your midst,” + +says the LORD. + + + + + +Let Justice Roll Down + + +18Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! + +Why would you have the day of the LORD? + +It is darkness, and not light, + +19as if a man fled from a lion, + +and a bear met him, + +or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, + +and a serpent bit him. + +20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, + +and gloom with no brightness in it? + +21“I hate, I despise your feasts, + +and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. + +22Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, + +I will not accept them; + +and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, + +I will not look upon them. + +23Take away from me the noise of your songs; + +to the melody of your harps I will not listen. + +24But let justice roll down like waters, + +and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. + +25“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts. + + + + + +Woe to Those at Ease in Zion + + +6:1 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, + +and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, + +the notable men of the first of the nations, + +to whom the house of Israel comes! + +2Pass over to Calneh, and see, + +and from there go to Hamath the great; + +then go down to Gath of the Philistines. + +Are you better than these kingdoms? + +Or is their territory greater than your territory, + +3O you who put far away the day of disaster + +and bring near the seat of violence? + +4“Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory + +and stretch themselves out on their couches, + +and eat lambs from the flock + +and calves from the midst of the stall, + +5who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp + +and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, + +6who drink wine in bowls + +and anoint themselves with the finest oils, + +but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! + +7Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, + +and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.” + +8The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: + +“I abhor the pride of Jacob + +and hate his strongholds, + +and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” + +9And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10And when one's relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the LORD.” + +11For behold, the LORD commands, + +and the great house shall be struck down into fragments, + +and the little house into bits. + +12Do horses run on rocks? + +Does one plow there[15] with oxen? + +But you have turned justice into poison + +and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood[16]— + +13you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[17] + +who say, “Have we not by our own strength + +captured Karnaim[18] for ourselves?” + +14“For behold, I will raise up against you a nation, + +O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of hosts; + +“and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath + +to the Brook of the Arabah.” + + + + + +Warning Visions + + +7:1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. 2When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, + +“O Lord GOD, please forgive! + +How can Jacob stand? + +He is so small!” + +3The LORD relented concerning this: + +“It shall not be,” said the LORD. + +4This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5Then I said, + +“O Lord GOD, please cease! + +How can Jacob stand? + +He is so small!” + +6The LORD relented concerning this: + +“This also shall not be,” said the Lord GOD. + +7This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, + +“Behold, I am setting a plumb line + +in the midst of my people Israel; + +I will never again pass by them; + +9the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, + +and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, + +and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” + + + + + +Amos Accused + + +10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11For thus Amos has said, + +“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, + +and Israel must go into exile + +away from his land.’” + +12And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, 13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” + +14Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was[19] no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16Now therefore hear the word of the LORD. + +“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, + +and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ + +17Therefore thus says the LORD: + +“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, + +and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, + +and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; + +you yourself shall die in an unclean land, + +and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’” + + + + + +The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning + + +8:1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, + +“The end[20] has come upon my people Israel; + +I will never again pass by them. + +3The songs of the temple[21] shall become wailings[22] in that day,” + +declares the Lord GOD. + +“So many dead bodies!” + +“They are thrown everywhere!” + +“Silence!” + +4Hear this, you who trample on the needy + +and bring the poor of the land to an end, + +5saying, “When will the new moon be over, + +that we may sell grain? + +And the Sabbath, + +that we may offer wheat for sale, + +that we may make the ephah small and the shekel[23] great + +and deal deceitfully with false balances, + +6that we may buy the poor for silver + +and the needy for a pair of sandals + +and sell the chaff of the wheat?” + +7The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: + +“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. + +8Shall not the land tremble on this account, + +and everyone mourn who dwells in it, + +and all of it rise like the Nile, + +and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?” + +9“And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD, + +“I will make the sun go down at noon + +and darken the earth in broad daylight. + +10I will turn your feasts into mourning + +and all your songs into lamentation; + +I will bring sackcloth on every waist + +and baldness on every head; + +I will make it like the mourning for an only son + +and the end of it like a bitter day. + +11“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, + +“when I will send a famine on the land— + +not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, + +but of hearing the words of the LORD. + +12They shall wander from sea to sea, + +and from north to east; + +they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, + +but they shall not find it. + +13“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men + +shall faint for thirst. + +14Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, + +and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ + +and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’ + +they shall fall, and never rise again.” + + + + + +The Destruction of Israel + + +9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside[24] the altar, and he said: + +“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, + +and shatter them on the heads of all the people;[25] + +and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; + +not one of them shall flee away; + +not one of them shall escape. + +2“If they dig into Sheol, + +from there shall my hand take them; + +if they climb up to heaven, + +from there I will bring them down. + +3If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, + +from there I will search them out and take them; + +and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, + +there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. + +4And if they go into captivity before their enemies, + +there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; + +and I will fix my eyes upon them + +for evil and not for good.” + +5The Lord GOD of hosts, + +he who touches the earth and it melts, + +and all who dwell in it mourn, + +and all of it rises like the Nile, + +and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt; + +6who builds his upper chambers in the heavens + +and founds his vault upon the earth; + +who calls for the waters of the sea + +and pours them out upon the surface of the earth— + +the LORD is his name. + +7“Are you not like the Cushites to me, + +O people of Israel?” declares the LORD. + +“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, + +and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir? + +8Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, + +and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, + +except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” + +declares the LORD. + +9“For behold, I will command, + +and shake the house of Israel among all the nations + +as one shakes with a sieve, + +but no pebble shall fall to the earth. + +10All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, + +who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’ + + + + + +The Restoration of Israel + + +11“In that day I will raise up + +the booth of David that is fallen + +and repair its breaches, + +and raise up its ruins + +and rebuild it as in the days of old, + +12that they may possess the remnant of Edom + +and all the nations who are called by my name,”[26] + +declares the LORD who does this. + +13“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, + +“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper + +and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; + +the mountains shall drip sweet wine, + +and all the hills shall flow with it. + +14I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, + +and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; + +they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, + +and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. + +15I will plant them on their land, + +and they shall never again be uprooted + +out of the land that I have given them,” + +says the LORD your God. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or sheep breeders + +[2] 1:1 Or during two years + +[3] 1:3 Hebrew I will not turn it back; also verses 6, 9, 11, 13 + +[4] 1:5 Or On + +[5] 1:15 Or officials + +[6] 2:1 Hebrew I will not turn it back; also verses 4, 6 + +[7] 2:3 Or officials + +[8] 3:11 Hebrew An adversary, one who surrounds the land—he shall bring down + +[9] 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain + +[10] 3:15 Or and many houses + +[11] 4:10 Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses + +[12] 4:11 That is, a burning stick + +[13] 5:7 Or to bitter fruit + +[14] 5:11 Or you tax + +[15] 6:12 Or the sea + +[16] 6:12 Or into bitter fruit + +[17] 6:13 Lo-debar means nothing + +[18] 6:13 Karnaim means horns (a symbol of strength) + +[19] 7:14 Or am; twice in this verse + +[20] 8:2 The Hebrew words for end and summer fruit sound alike + +[21] 8:3 Or palace + +[22] 8:3 Or The singing women of the palace shall wail + +[23] 8:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams + +[24] 9:1 Or on + +[25] 9:1 Hebrew all of them + +[26] 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint (compare Acts 15:17) that the remnant of mankind and all the nations who are called by my name may seek the Lord + + + + + +OBADIAH + + +1 The vision of Obadiah. + + + + + +Edom Will Be Humbled + + +Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom: + +We have heard a report from the LORD, + +and a messenger has been sent among the nations: + +“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!” + +2Behold, I will make you small among the nations; + +you shall be utterly despised.[1] + +3The pride of your heart has deceived you, + +you who live in the clefts of the rock,[2] + +in your lofty dwelling, + +who say in your heart, + +“Who will bring me down to the ground?” + +4Though you soar aloft like the eagle, + +though your nest is set among the stars, + +from there I will bring you down, + +declares the LORD. + +5If thieves came to you, + +if plunderers came by night— + +how you have been destroyed!— + +would they not steal only enough for themselves? + +If grape gatherers came to you, + +would they not leave gleanings? + +6How Esau has been pillaged, + +his treasures sought out! + +7All your allies have driven you to your border; + +those at peace with you have deceived you; + +they have prevailed against you; + +those who eat your bread[3] have set a trap beneath you— + +you have[4] no understanding. + +8Will I not on that day, declares the LORD, + +destroy the wise men out of Edom, + +and understanding out of Mount Esau? + +9And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, + +so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. + + + + + +Edom's Violence Against Jacob + + +10Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, + +shame shall cover you, + +and you shall be cut off forever. + +11On the day that you stood aloof, + +on the day that strangers carried off his wealth + +and foreigners entered his gates + +and cast lots for Jerusalem, + +you were like one of them. + +12But do not gloat over the day of your brother + +in the day of his misfortune; + +do not rejoice over the people of Judah + +in the day of their ruin; + +do not boast[5] + +in the day of distress. + +13Do not enter the gate of my people + +in the day of their calamity; + +do not gloat over his disaster + +in the day of his calamity; + +do not loot his wealth + +in the day of his calamity. + +14Do not stand at the crossroads + +to cut off his fugitives; + +do not hand over his survivors + +in the day of distress. + + + + + +The Day of the LORD Is Near + + +15For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. + +As you have done, it shall be done to you; + +your deeds shall return on your own head. + +16For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, + +so all the nations shall drink continually; + +they shall drink and swallow, + +and shall be as though they had never been. + +17But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, + +and it shall be holy, + +and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. + +18The house of Jacob shall be a fire, + +and the house of Joseph a flame, + +and the house of Esau stubble; + +they shall burn them and consume them, + +and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, + +for the LORD has spoken. + + + + + +The Kingdom of the LORD + + +19Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, + +and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; + +they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, + +and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. + +20The exiles of this host of the people of Israel + +shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, + +and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad + +shall possess the cities of the Negeb. + +21Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion + +to rule Mount Esau, + +and the kingdom shall be the LORD's. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Or Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are utterly despised + +[2] 1:3 Or Sela + +[3] 1:7 Hebrew lacks those who eat + +[4] 1:7 Hebrew he has + +[5] 1:12 Hebrew do not enlarge your mouth + + + + + +JONAH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + + + + + +Jonah Flees the Presence of the LORD + + +1:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil[1] has come up before me.” 3But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. + +4But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” + + + + + +Jonah Is Thrown into the Sea + + +7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. + +11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard[2] to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. + + + + + +A Great Fish Swallows Jonah + + +17[3] And the LORD appointed[4] a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. + + + + + +Jonah's Prayer + + +2:1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2saying, + +“I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, + +and he answered me; + +out of the belly of Sheol I cried, + +and you heard my voice. + +3For you cast me into the deep, + +into the heart of the seas, + +and the flood surrounded me; + +all your waves and your billows + +passed over me. + +4Then I said, ‘I am driven away + +from your sight; + +yet I shall again look + +upon your holy temple.’ + +5The waters closed in over me to take my life; + +the deep surrounded me; + +weeds were wrapped about my head + +6at the roots of the mountains. + +I went down to the land + +whose bars closed upon me forever; + +yet you brought up my life from the pit, + +O LORD my God. + +7When my life was fainting away, + +I remembered the LORD, + +and my prayer came to you, + +into your holy temple. + +8Those who pay regard to vain idols + +forsake their hope of steadfast love. + +9But I with the voice of thanksgiving + +will sacrifice to you; + +what I have vowed I will pay. + +Salvation belongs to the LORD!” + +10And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. + + + + + +Jonah Goes to Nineveh + + +3:1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,[5] three days' journey in breadth.[6] 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. + + + + + +The People of Nineveh Repent + + +6The word reached[7] the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” + +10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. + + + + + +Jonah's Anger and the LORD's Compassion + + +4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[8] and he was angry. 2And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?” + +5Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6Now the LORD God appointed a plant[9] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[10] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jonah + +[2] 1:13 Hebrew the men dug in [their oars] + +[3] 1:17 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew + +[4] 1:17 Or had appointed + +[5] 3:3 Hebrew a great city to God + +[6] 3:3 Or a visit was a three days' journey + +[7] 3:6 Or had reached + +[8] 4:1 Hebrew it was exceedingly evil to Jonah + +[9] 4:6 Hebrew qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant; also verses 7, 9, 10 + +[10] 4:6 Or his evil + + + + + +MICAH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + + + + + +1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. + + + + + +The Coming Destruction + + +2Hear, you peoples, all of you;[1] + +pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, + +and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, + +the Lord from his holy temple. + +3For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, + +and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. + +4And the mountains will melt under him, + +and the valleys will split open, + +like wax before the fire, + +like waters poured down a steep place. + +5All this is for the transgression of Jacob + +and for the sins of the house of Israel. + +What is the transgression of Jacob? + +Is it not Samaria? + +And what is the high place of Judah? + +Is it not Jerusalem? + +6Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, + +a place for planting vineyards, + +and I will pour down her stones into the valley + +and uncover her foundations. + +7All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, + +all her wages shall be burned with fire, + +and all her idols I will lay waste, + +for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, + +and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. + +8For this I will lament and wail; + +I will go stripped and naked; + +I will make lamentation like the jackals, + +and mourning like the ostriches. + +9For her wound is incurable, + +and it has come to Judah; + +it has reached to the gate of my people, + +to Jerusalem. + +10Tell it not in Gath; + +weep not at all; + +in Beth-le-aphrah + +roll yourselves in the dust. + +11Pass on your way, + +inhabitants of Shaphir, + +in nakedness and shame; + +the inhabitants of Zaanan + +do not come out; + +the lamentation of Beth-ezel + +shall take away from you its standing place. + +12For the inhabitants of Maroth + +wait anxiously for good, + +because disaster has come down from the LORD + +to the gate of Jerusalem. + +13Harness the steeds to the chariots, + +inhabitants of Lachish; + +it was the beginning of sin + +to the daughter of Zion, + +for in you were found + +the transgressions of Israel. + +14Therefore you shall give parting gifts[2] + +to Moresheth-gath; + +the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing + +to the kings of Israel. + +15I will again bring a conqueror to you, + +inhabitants of Mareshah; + +the glory of Israel + +shall come to Adullam. + +16Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, + +for the children of your delight; + +make yourselves as bald as the eagle, + +for they shall go from you into exile. + + + + + +Woe to the Oppressors + + +2:1 Woe to those who devise wickedness + +and work evil on their beds! + +When the morning dawns, they perform it, + +because it is in the power of their hand. + +2They covet fields and seize them, + +and houses, and take them away; + +they oppress a man and his house, + +a man and his inheritance. + +3Therefore thus says the LORD: + +behold, against this family I am devising disaster,[3] + +from which you cannot remove your necks, + +and you shall not walk haughtily, + +for it will be a time of disaster. + +4In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you + +and moan bitterly, + +and say, “We are utterly ruined; + +he changes the portion of my people; + +how he removes it from me! + +To an apostate he allots our fields.” + +5Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot + +in the assembly of the LORD. + +6“Do not preach”—thus they preach— + +“one should not preach of such things; + +disgrace will not overtake us.” + +7Should this be said, O house of Jacob? + +Has the LORD grown impatient?[4] + +Are these his deeds? + +Do not my words do good + +to him who walks uprightly? + +8But lately my people have risen up as an enemy; + +you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly + +with no thought of war.[5] + +9The women of my people you drive out + +from their delightful houses; + +from their young children you take away + +my splendor forever. + +10Arise and go, + +for this is no place to rest, + +because of uncleanness that destroys + +with a grievous destruction. + +11If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, + +saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” + +he would be the preacher for this people! + +12I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; + +I will gather the remnant of Israel; + +I will set them together + +like sheep in a fold, + +like a flock in its pasture, + +a noisy multitude of men. + +13He who opens the breach goes up before them; + +they break through and pass the gate, + +going out by it. + +Their king passes on before them, + +the LORD at their head. + + + + + +Rulers and Prophets Denounced + + +3:1 And I said: + +Hear, you heads of Jacob + +and rulers of the house of Israel! + +Is it not for you to know justice?— + +2you who hate the good and love the evil, + +who tear the skin from off my people[6] + +and their flesh from off their bones, + +3who eat the flesh of my people, + +and flay their skin from off them, + +and break their bones in pieces + +and chop them up like meat in a pot, + +like flesh in a cauldron. + +4Then they will cry to the LORD, + +but he will not answer them; + +he will hide his face from them at that time, + +because they have made their deeds evil. + +5Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets + +who lead my people astray, + +who cry “Peace” + +when they have something to eat, + +but declare war against him + +who puts nothing into their mouths. + +6Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, + +and darkness to you, without divination. + +The sun shall go down on the prophets, + +and the day shall be black over them; + +7the seers shall be disgraced, + +and the diviners put to shame; + +they shall all cover their lips, + +for there is no answer from God. + +8But as for me, I am filled with power, + +with the Spirit of the LORD, + +and with justice and might, + +to declare to Jacob his transgression + +and to Israel his sin. + +9Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob + +and rulers of the house of Israel, + +who detest justice + +and make crooked all that is straight, + +10who build Zion with blood + +and Jerusalem with iniquity. + +11Its heads give judgment for a bribe; + +its priests teach for a price; + +its prophets practice divination for money; + +yet they lean on the LORD and say, + +“Is not the LORD in the midst of us? + +No disaster shall come upon us.” + +12Therefore because of you + +Zion shall be plowed as a field; + +Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, + +and the mountain of the house a wooded height. + + + + + +The Mountain of the LORD + + +4:1 It shall come to pass in the latter days + +that the mountain of the house of the LORD + +shall be established as the highest of the mountains, + +and it shall be lifted up above the hills; + +and peoples shall flow to it, + +2and many nations shall come, and say: + +“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, + +to the house of the God of Jacob, + +that he may teach us his ways + +and that we may walk in his paths.” + +For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[7] + +and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. + +3He shall judge between many peoples, + +and shall decide for strong nations far away; + +and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, + +and their spears into pruning hooks; + +nation shall not lift up sword against nation, + +neither shall they learn war anymore; + +4but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, + +and no one shall make them afraid, + +for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. + +5For all the peoples walk + +each in the name of its god, + +but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God + +forever and ever. + + + + + +The LORD Shall Rescue Zion + + +6In that day, declares the LORD, + +I will assemble the lame + +and gather those who have been driven away + +and those whom I have afflicted; + +7and the lame I will make the remnant, + +and those who were cast off, a strong nation; + +and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion + +from this time forth and forevermore. + +8And you, O tower of the flock, + +hill of the daughter of Zion, + +to you shall it come, + +the former dominion shall come, + +kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. + +9Now why do you cry aloud? + +Is there no king in you? + +Has your counselor perished, + +that pain seized you like a woman in labor? + +10Writhe and groan,[8] O daughter of Zion, + +like a woman in labor, + +for now you shall go out from the city + +and dwell in the open country; + +you shall go to Babylon. + +There you shall be rescued; + +there the LORD will redeem you + +from the hand of your enemies. + +11Now many nations + +are assembled against you, + +saying, “Let her be defiled, + +and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.” + +12But they do not know + +the thoughts of the LORD; + +they do not understand his plan, + +that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. + +13Arise and thresh, + +O daughter of Zion, + +for I will make your horn iron, + +and I will make your hoofs bronze; + +you shall beat in pieces many peoples; + +and shall devote[9] their gain to the LORD, + +their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth. + + + + + +The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem + + +5:1 [10] Now muster your troops, O daughter[11] of troops; + +siege is laid against us; + +with a rod they strike the judge of Israel + +on the cheek. + +2[12] But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, + +who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, + +from you shall come forth for me + +one who is to be ruler in Israel, + +whose coming forth is from of old, + +from ancient days. + +3Therefore he shall give them up until the time + +when she who is in labor has given birth; + +then the rest of his brothers shall return + +to the people of Israel. + +4And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, + +in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. + +And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great + +to the ends of the earth. + +5And he shall be their peace. + +When the Assyrian comes into our land + +and treads in our palaces, + +then we will raise against him seven shepherds + +and eight princes of men; + +6they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, + +and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; + +and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian + +when he comes into our land + +and treads within our border. + + + + + +A Remnant Shall Be Delivered + + +7Then the remnant of Jacob shall be + +in the midst of many peoples + +like dew from the LORD, + +like showers on the grass, + +which delay not for a man + +nor wait for the children of man. + +8And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, + +in the midst of many peoples, + +like a lion among the beasts of the forest, + +like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, + +which, when it goes through, treads down + +and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver. + +9Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, + +and all your enemies shall be cut off. + +10And in that day, declares the LORD, + +I will cut off your horses from among you + +and will destroy your chariots; + +11and I will cut off the cities of your land + +and throw down all your strongholds; + +12and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, + +and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes; + +13and I will cut off your carved images + +and your pillars from among you, + +and you shall bow down no more + +to the work of your hands; + +14and I will root out your Asherah images from among you + +and destroy your cities. + +15And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance + +on the nations that did not obey. + + + + + +The Indictment of the LORD + + +6:1 Hear what the LORD says: + +Arise, plead your case before the mountains, + +and let the hills hear your voice. + +2Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, + +and you enduring foundations of the earth, + +for the LORD has an indictment against his people, + +and he will contend with Israel. + +3“O my people, what have I done to you? + +How have I wearied you? Answer me! + +4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt + +and redeemed you from the house of slavery, + +and I sent before you Moses, + +Aaron, and Miriam. + +5O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, + +and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, + +and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, + +that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.” + + + + + +What Does the LORD Require? + + +6“With what shall I come before the LORD, + +and bow myself before God on high? + +Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, + +with calves a year old? + +7Will the LORD be pleased with[13] thousands of rams, + +with ten thousands of rivers of oil? + +Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, + +the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” + +8He has told you, O man, what is good; + +and what does the LORD require of you + +but to do justice, and to love kindness,[14] + +and to walk humbly with your God? + + + + + +Destruction of the Wicked + + +9The voice of the LORD cries to the city— + +and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: + +“Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it![15] + +10Can I forget any longer the treasures[16] of wickedness in the house of the wicked, + +and the scant measure that is accursed? + +11Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales + +and with a bag of deceitful weights? + +12Your[17] rich men are full of violence; + +your inhabitants speak lies, + +and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. + +13Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, + +making you desolate because of your sins. + +14You shall eat, but not be satisfied, + +and there shall be hunger within you; + +you shall put away, but not preserve, + +and what you preserve I will give to the sword. + +15You shall sow, but not reap; + +you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; + +you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. + +16For you have kept the statutes of Omri,[18] + +and all the works of the house of Ahab; + +and you have walked in their counsels, + +that I may make you a desolation, and your[19] inhabitants a hissing; + +so you shall bear the scorn of my people.” + + + + + +Wait for the God of Salvation + + +7:1 Woe is me! For I have become + +as when the summer fruit has been gathered, + +as when the grapes have been gleaned: + +there is no cluster to eat, + +no first-ripe fig that my soul desires. + +2The godly has perished from the earth, + +and there is no one upright among mankind; + +they all lie in wait for blood, + +and each hunts the other with a net. + +3Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; + +the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, + +and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; + +thus they weave it together. + +4The best of them is like a brier, + +the most upright of them a thorn hedge. + +The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; + +now their confusion is at hand. + +5Put no trust in a neighbor; + +have no confidence in a friend; + +guard the doors of your mouth + +from her who lies in your arms;[20] + +6for the son treats the father with contempt, + +the daughter rises up against her mother, + +the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; + +a man's enemies are the men of his own house. + +7But as for me, I will look to the LORD; + +I will wait for the God of my salvation; + +my God will hear me. + +8Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; + +when I fall, I shall rise; + +when I sit in darkness, + +the LORD will be a light to me. + +9I will bear the indignation of the LORD + +because I have sinned against him, + +until he pleads my cause + +and executes judgment for me. + +He will bring me out to the light; + +I shall look upon his vindication. + +10Then my enemy will see, + +and shame will cover her who said to me, + +“Where is the LORD your God?” + +My eyes will look upon her; + +now she will be trampled down + +like the mire of the streets. + +11A day for the building of your walls! + +In that day the boundary shall be far extended. + +12In that day they[21] will come to you, + +from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, + +and from Egypt to the River, + +from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. + +13But the earth will be desolate + +because of its inhabitants, + +for the fruit of their deeds. + +14Shepherd your people with your staff, + +the flock of your inheritance, + +who dwell alone in a forest + +in the midst of a garden land;[22] + +let them graze in Bashan and Gilead + +as in the days of old. + +15As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, + +I will show them[23] marvelous things. + +16The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; + +they shall lay their hands on their mouths; + +their ears shall be deaf; + +17they shall lick the dust like a serpent, + +like the crawling things of the earth; + +they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; + +they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God, + +and they shall be in fear of you. + + + + + +God's Steadfast Love and Compassion + + +18Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity + +and passing over transgression + +for the remnant of his inheritance? + +He does not retain his anger forever, + +because he delights in steadfast love. + +19He will again have compassion on us; + +he will tread our iniquities underfoot. + +You will cast all our[24] sins + +into the depths of the sea. + +20You will show faithfulness to Jacob + +and steadfast love to Abraham, + +as you have sworn to our fathers + +from the days of old. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Hebrew all of them + +[2] 1:14 Or give dowry + +[3] 2:3 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context + +[4] 2:7 Hebrew Has the spirit of the LORD grown short? + +[5] 2:8 Or returning from war + +[6] 3:2 Hebrew from off them + +[7] 4:2 Or teaching + +[8] 4:10 Or push + +[9] 4:13 Hebrew devote to destruction + +[10] 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Hebrew + +[11] 5:1 That is, city + +[12] 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew + +[13] 6:7 Or Will the LORD accept + +[14] 6:8 Or steadfast love + +[15] 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[16] 6:10 Or Are there still treasures + +[17] 6:12 Hebrew whose + +[18] 6:16 Hebrew For the statutes of Omri are kept + +[19] 6:16 Hebrew its + +[20] 7:5 Hebrew bosom + +[21] 7:12 Hebrew he + +[22] 7:14 Hebrew of Carmel + +[23] 7:15 Hebrew him + +[24] 7:19 Hebrew their + + + + + +NAHUM + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + + + + + +1:1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. + + + + + +God's Wrath Against Nineveh + + +2The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; + +the LORD is avenging and wrathful; + +the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries + +and keeps wrath for his enemies. + +3The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, + +and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. + +His way is in whirlwind and storm, + +and the clouds are the dust of his feet. + +4He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; + +he dries up all the rivers; + +Bashan and Carmel wither; + +the bloom of Lebanon withers. + +5The mountains quake before him; + +the hills melt; + +the earth heaves before him, + +the world and all who dwell in it. + +6Who can stand before his indignation? + +Who can endure the heat of his anger? + +His wrath is poured out like fire, + +and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. + +7The LORD is good, + +a stronghold in the day of trouble; + +he knows those who take refuge in him. + +8But with an overflowing flood + +he will make a complete end of the adversaries,[1] + +and will pursue his enemies into darkness. + +9What do you plot against the LORD? + +He will make a complete end; + +trouble will not rise up a second time. + +10For they are like entangled thorns, + +like drunkards as they drink; + +they are consumed like stubble fully dried. + +11From you came one + +who plotted evil against the LORD, + +a worthless counselor. + +12Thus says the LORD, + +“Though they are at full strength and many, + +they will be cut down and pass away. + +Though I have afflicted you, + +I will afflict you no more. + +13And now I will break his yoke from off you + +and will burst your bonds apart.” + +14The LORD has given commandment about you: + +“No more shall your name be perpetuated; + +from the house of your gods I will cut off + +the carved image and the metal image. + +I will make your grave, for you are vile.” + +15[2] Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him + +who brings good news, + +who publishes peace! + +Keep your feasts, O Judah; + +fulfill your vows, + +for never again shall the worthless pass through you; + +he is utterly cut off. + + + + + +The Destruction of Nineveh + + +2:1 The scatterer has come up against you. + +Man the ramparts; + +watch the road; + +dress for battle;[3] + +collect all your strength. + +2For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob + +as the majesty of Israel, + +for plunderers have plundered them + +and ruined their branches. + +3The shield of his mighty men is red; + +his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. + +The chariots come with flashing metal + +on the day he musters them; + +the cypress spears are brandished. + +4The chariots race madly through the streets; + +they rush to and fro through the squares; + +they gleam like torches; + +they dart like lightning. + +5He remembers his officers; + +they stumble as they go, + +they hasten to the wall; + +the siege tower[4] is set up. + +6The river gates are opened; + +the palace melts away; + +7its mistress[5] is stripped;[6] she is carried off, + +her slave girls lamenting, + +moaning like doves + +and beating their breasts. + +8Nineveh is like a pool + +whose waters run away.[7] + +“Halt! Halt!” they cry, + +but none turns back. + +9Plunder the silver, + +plunder the gold! + +There is no end of the treasure + +or of the wealth of all precious things. + +10Desolate! Desolation and ruin! + +Hearts melt and knees tremble; + +anguish is in all loins; + +all faces grow pale! + +11Where is the lions' den, + +the feeding place of the young lions, + +where the lion and lioness went, + +where his cubs were, with none to disturb? + +12The lion tore enough for his cubs + +and strangled prey for his lionesses; + +he filled his caves with prey + +and his dens with torn flesh. + +13Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your[8] chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard. + + + + + +Woe to Nineveh + + +3:1 Woe to the bloody city, + +all full of lies and plunder— + +no end to the prey! + +2The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel, + +galloping horse and bounding chariot! + +3Horsemen charging, + +flashing sword and glittering spear, + +hosts of slain, + +heaps of corpses, + +dead bodies without end— + +they stumble over the bodies! + +4And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, + +graceful and of deadly charms, + +who betrays nations with her whorings, + +and peoples with her charms. + +5Behold, I am against you, + +declares the LORD of hosts, + +and will lift up your skirts over your face; + +and I will make nations look at your nakedness + +and kingdoms at your shame. + +6I will throw filth at you + +and treat you with contempt + +and make you a spectacle. + +7And all who look at you will shrink from you and say, + +Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her? + +Where shall I seek comforters for you? + +8Are you better than Thebes[9] + +that sat by the Nile, + +with water around her, + +her rampart a sea, + +and water her wall? + +9Cush was her strength; + +Egypt too, and that without limit; + +Put and the Libyans were her[10] helpers. + +10Yet she became an exile; + +she went into captivity; + +her infants were dashed in pieces + +at the head of every street; + +for her honored men lots were cast, + +and all her great men were bound in chains. + +11You also will be drunken; + +you will go into hiding; + +you will seek a refuge from the enemy. + +12All your fortresses are like fig trees + +with first-ripe figs— + +if shaken they fall + +into the mouth of the eater. + +13Behold, your troops + +are women in your midst. + +The gates of your land + +are wide open to your enemies; + +fire has devoured your bars. + +14Draw water for the siege; + +strengthen your forts; + +go into the clay; + +tread the mortar; + +take hold of the brick mold! + +15There will the fire devour you; + +the sword will cut you off. + +It will devour you like the locust. + +Multiply yourselves like the locust; + +multiply like the grasshopper! + +16You increased your merchants + +more than the stars of the heavens. + +The locust spreads its wings and flies away. + +17Your princes are like grasshoppers, + +your scribes[11] like clouds of locusts + +settling on the fences + +in a day of cold— + +when the sun rises, they fly away; + +no one knows where they are. + +18Your shepherds are asleep, + +O king of Assyria; + +your nobles slumber. + +Your people are scattered on the mountains + +with none to gather them. + +19There is no easing your hurt; + +your wound is grievous. + +All who hear the news about you + +clap their hands over you. + +For upon whom has not come + +your unceasing evil? + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:8 Hebrew of her place + +[2] 1:15 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew + +[3] 2:1 Hebrew gird your loins + +[4] 2:5 Or the mantelet + +[5] 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered its mistress is uncertain + +[6] 2:7 Or exiled + +[7] 2:8 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[8] 2:13 Hebrew her + +[9] 3:8 Hebrew No-amon + +[10] 3:9 Hebrew your + +[11] 3:17 Or marshals + + + + + +HABAKKUK + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + + + + + +1:1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. + + + + + +Habakkuk's Complaint + + +2O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, + +and you will not hear? + +Or cry to you “Violence!” + +and you will not save? + +3Why do you make me see iniquity, + +and why do you idly look at wrong? + +Destruction and violence are before me; + +strife and contention arise. + +4So the law is paralyzed, + +and justice never goes forth. + +For the wicked surround the righteous; + +so justice goes forth perverted. + + + + + +The LORD's Answer + + +5“Look among the nations, and see; + +wonder and be astounded. + +For I am doing a work in your days + +that you would not believe if told. + +6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, + +that bitter and hasty nation, + +who march through the breadth of the earth, + +to seize dwellings not their own. + +7They are dreaded and fearsome; + +their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. + +8Their horses are swifter than leopards, + +more fierce than the evening wolves; + +their horsemen press proudly on. + +Their horsemen come from afar; + +they fly like an eagle swift to devour. + +9They all come for violence, + +all their faces forward. + +They gather captives like sand. + +10At kings they scoff, + +and at rulers they laugh. + +They laugh at every fortress, + +for they pile up earth and take it. + +11Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, + +guilty men, whose own might is their god!” + + + + + +Habakkuk's Second Complaint + + +12Are you not from everlasting, + +O LORD my God, my Holy One? + +We shall not die. + +O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, + +and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. + +13You who are of purer eyes than to see evil + +and cannot look at wrong, + +why do you idly look at traitors + +and remain silent when the wicked swallows up + +the man more righteous than he? + +14You make mankind like the fish of the sea, + +like crawling things that have no ruler. + +15He brings all of them up with a hook; + +he drags them out with his net; + +he gathers them in his dragnet; + +so he rejoices and is glad. + +16Therefore he sacrifices to his net + +and makes offerings to his dragnet; + +for by them he lives in luxury,[1] + +and his food is rich. + +17Is he then to keep on emptying his net + +and mercilessly killing nations forever? + + + + + +2:1 I will take my stand at my watchpost + +and station myself on the tower, + +and look out to see what he will say to me, + +and what I will answer concerning my complaint. + + + + + +The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith + + +2And the LORD answered me: + +“Write the vision; + +make it plain on tablets, + +so he may run who reads it. + +3For still the vision awaits its appointed time; + +it hastens to the end—it will not lie. + +If it seems slow, wait for it; + +it will surely come; it will not delay. + +4“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, + +but the righteous shall live by his faith.[2] + +5“Moreover, wine[3] is a traitor, + +an arrogant man who is never at rest.[4] + +His greed is as wide as Sheol; + +like death he has never enough. + +He gathers for himself all nations + +and collects as his own all peoples.” + + + + + +Woe to the Chaldeans + + +6Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, + +“Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— + +for how long?— + +and loads himself with pledges!” + +7Will not your debtors suddenly arise, + +and those awake who will make you tremble? + +Then you will be spoil for them. + +8Because you have plundered many nations, + +all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, + +for the blood of man and violence to the earth, + +to cities and all who dwell in them. + +9“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, + +to set his nest on high, + +to be safe from the reach of harm! + +10You have devised shame for your house + +by cutting off many peoples; + +you have forfeited your life. + +11For the stone will cry out from the wall, + +and the beam from the woodwork respond. + +12“Woe to him who builds a town with blood + +and founds a city on iniquity! + +13Behold, is it not from the LORD of hosts + +that peoples labor merely for fire, + +and nations weary themselves for nothing? + +14For the earth will be filled + +with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD + +as the waters cover the sea. + +15“Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— + +you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, + +in order to gaze at their nakedness! + +16You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. + +Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision! + +The cup in the LORD's right hand + +will come around to you, + +and utter shame will come upon your glory! + +17The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, + +as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them, + +for the blood of man and violence to the earth, + +to cities and all who dwell in them. + +18“What profit is an idol + +when its maker has shaped it, + +a metal image, a teacher of lies? + +For its maker trusts in his own creation + +when he makes speechless idols! + +19Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; + +to a silent stone, Arise! + +Can this teach? + +Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, + +and there is no breath at all in it. + +20But the LORD is in his holy temple; + +let all the earth keep silence before him.” + + + + + +Habakkuk's Prayer + + +3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. + +2O LORD, I have heard the report of you, + +and your work, O LORD, do I fear. + +In the midst of the years revive it; + +in the midst of the years make it known; + +in wrath remember mercy. + +3God came from Teman, + +and the Holy One from Mount Paran. + +His splendor covered the heavens, + +and the earth was full of his praise. Selah + +4His brightness was like the light; + +rays flashed from his hand; + +and there he veiled his power. + +5Before him went pestilence, + +and plague followed at his heels.[5] + +6He stood and measured the earth; + +he looked and shook the nations; + +then the eternal mountains were scattered; + +the everlasting hills sank low. + +His were the everlasting ways. + +7I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; + +the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. + +8Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD? + +Was your anger against the rivers, + +or your indignation against the sea, + +when you rode on your horses, + +on your chariot of salvation? + +9You stripped the sheath from your bow, + +calling for many arrows.[6] Selah + +You split the earth with rivers. + +10The mountains saw you and writhed; + +the raging waters swept on; + +the deep gave forth its voice; + +it lifted its hands on high. + +11The sun and moon stood still in their place + +at the light of your arrows as they sped, + +at the flash of your glittering spear. + +12You marched through the earth in fury; + +you threshed the nations in anger. + +13You went out for the salvation of your people, + +for the salvation of your anointed. + +You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, + +laying him bare from thigh to neck.[7] Selah + +14You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, + +who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, + +rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. + +15You trampled the sea with your horses, + +the surging of mighty waters. + +16I hear, and my body trembles; + +my lips quiver at the sound; + +rottenness enters into my bones; + +my legs tremble beneath me. + +Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble + +to come upon people who invade us. + + + + + +Habakkuk Rejoices in the LORD + + +17Though the fig tree should not blossom, + +nor fruit be on the vines, + +the produce of the olive fail + +and the fields yield no food, + +the flock be cut off from the fold + +and there be no herd in the stalls, + +18yet I will rejoice in the LORD; + +I will take joy in the God of my salvation. + +19GOD, the Lord, is my strength; + +he makes my feet like the deer's; + +he makes me tread on my high places. + +To the choirmaster: with stringed[8] instruments. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat + +[2] 2:4 Or faithfulness + +[3] 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth + +[4] 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain + +[5] 3:5 Hebrew feet + +[6] 3:9 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain + +[7] 3:13 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain + +[8] 3:19 Hebrew my stringed + + + + + +ZEPHANIAH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + + + + + +1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. + + + + + +The Coming Judgment on Judah + + +2“I will utterly sweep away everything + +from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. + +3“I will sweep away man and beast; + +I will sweep away the birds of the heavens + +and the fish of the sea, + +and the rubble[1] with the wicked. + +I will cut off mankind + +from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. + +4“I will stretch out my hand against Judah + +and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; + +and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal + +and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, + +5those who bow down on the roofs + +to the host of the heavens, + +those who bow down and swear to the LORD + +and yet swear by Milcom, + +6those who have turned back from following the LORD, + +who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.” + + + + + +The Day of the LORD Is Near + + +7Be silent before the Lord GOD! + +For the day of the LORD is near; + +the LORD has prepared a sacrifice + +and consecrated his guests. + +8And on the day of the LORD's sacrifice— + +“I will punish the officials and the king's sons + +and all who array themselves in foreign attire. + +9On that day I will punish + +everyone who leaps over the threshold, + +and those who fill their master's[2] house + +with violence and fraud. + +10“On that day,” declares the LORD, + +“a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, + +a wail from the Second Quarter, + +a loud crash from the hills. + +11Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! + +For all the traders[3] are no more; + +all who weigh out silver are cut off. + +12At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, + +and I will punish the men + +who are complacent,[4] + +those who say in their hearts, + +‘The LORD will not do good, + +nor will he do ill.’ + +13Their goods shall be plundered, + +and their houses laid waste. + +Though they build houses, + +they shall not inhabit them; + +though they plant vineyards, + +they shall not drink wine from them.” + +14The great day of the LORD is near, + +near and hastening fast; + +the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; + +the mighty man cries aloud there. + +15A day of wrath is that day, + +a day of distress and anguish, + +a day of ruin and devastation, + +a day of darkness and gloom, + +a day of clouds and thick darkness, + +16a day of trumpet blast and battle cry + +against the fortified cities + +and against the lofty battlements. + +17I will bring distress on mankind, + +so that they shall walk like the blind, + +because they have sinned against the LORD; + +their blood shall be poured out like dust, + +and their flesh like dung. + +18Neither their silver nor their gold + +shall be able to deliver them + +on the day of the wrath of the LORD. + +In the fire of his jealousy, + +all the earth shall be consumed; + +for a full and sudden end + +he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. + + + + + +Judgment on Judah's Enemies + + +2:1 Gather together, yes, gather, + +O shameless nation, + +2before the decree takes effect[5] + +—before the day passes away like chaff— + +before there comes upon you + +the burning anger of the LORD, + +before there comes upon you + +the day of the anger of the LORD. + +3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, + +who do his just commands;[6] + +seek righteousness; seek humility; + +perhaps you may be hidden + +on the day of the anger of the LORD. + +4For Gaza shall be deserted, + +and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; + +Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, + +and Ekron shall be uprooted. + +5Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, + +you nation of the Cherethites! + +The word of the LORD is against you, + +O Canaan, land of the Philistines; + +and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left. + +6And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, + +with meadows[7] for shepherds + +and folds for flocks. + +7The seacoast shall become the possession + +of the remnant of the house of Judah, + +on which they shall graze, + +and in the houses of Ashkelon + +they shall lie down at evening. + +For the LORD their God will be mindful of them + +and restore their fortunes. + +8“I have heard the taunts of Moab + +and the revilings of the Ammonites, + +how they have taunted my people + +and made boasts against their territory. + +9Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts, + +the God of Israel, + +“Moab shall become like Sodom, + +and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, + +a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, + +and a waste forever. + +The remnant of my people shall plunder them, + +and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.” + +10This shall be their lot in return for their pride, + +because they taunted and boasted + +against the people of the LORD of hosts. + +11The LORD will be awesome against them; + +for he will famish all the gods of the earth, + +and to him shall bow down, + +each in its place, + +all the lands of the nations. + +12You also, O Cushites, + +shall be slain by my sword. + +13And he will stretch out his hand against the north + +and destroy Assyria, + +and he will make Nineveh a desolation, + +a dry waste like the desert. + +14Herds shall lie down in her midst, + +all kinds of beasts;[8] + +even the owl and the hedgehog[9] + +shall lodge in her capitals; + +a voice shall hoot in the window; + +devastation will be on the threshold; + +for her cedar work will be laid bare. + +15This is the exultant city + +that lived securely, + +that said in her heart, + +“I am, and there is no one else.” + +What a desolation she has become, + +a lair for wild beasts! + +Everyone who passes by her + +hisses and shakes his fist. + + + + + +Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations + + +3:1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, + +the oppressing city! + +2She listens to no voice; + +she accepts no correction. + +She does not trust in the LORD; + +she does not draw near to her God. + +3Her officials within her + +are roaring lions; + +her judges are evening wolves + +that leave nothing till the morning. + +4Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; + +her priests profane what is holy; + +they do violence to the law. + +5The LORD within her is righteous; + +he does no injustice; + +every morning he shows forth his justice; + +each dawn he does not fail; + +but the unjust knows no shame. + +6“I have cut off nations; + +their battlements are in ruins; + +I have laid waste their streets + +so that no one walks in them; + +their cities have been made desolate, + +without a man, without an inhabitant. + +7I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; + +you will accept correction. + +Then your[10] dwelling would not be cut off + +according to all that I have appointed against you.’[11] + +But all the more they were eager + +to make all their deeds corrupt. + +8“Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, + +“for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. + +For my decision is to gather nations, + +to assemble kingdoms, + +to pour out upon them my indignation, + +all my burning anger; + +for in the fire of my jealousy + +all the earth shall be consumed. + + + + + +The Conversion of the Nations + + +9“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples + +to a pure speech, + +that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD + +and serve him with one accord. + +10From beyond the rivers of Cush + +my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, + +shall bring my offering. + +11“On that day you shall not be put to shame + +because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; + +for then I will remove from your midst + +your proudly exultant ones, + +and you shall no longer be haughty + +in my holy mountain. + +12But I will leave in your midst + +a people humble and lowly. + +They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD, + +13those who are left in Israel; + +they shall do no injustice + +and speak no lies, + +nor shall there be found in their mouth + +a deceitful tongue. + +For they shall graze and lie down, + +and none shall make them afraid.” + + + + + +Israel's Joy and Restoration + + +14Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; + +shout, O Israel! + +Rejoice and exult with all your heart, + +O daughter of Jerusalem! + +15The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; + +he has cleared away your enemies. + +The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; + +you shall never again fear evil. + +16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: + +“Fear not, O Zion; + +let not your hands grow weak. + +17The LORD your God is in your midst, + +a mighty one who will save; + +he will rejoice over you with gladness; + +he will quiet you by his love; + +he will exult over you with loud singing. + +18I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, + +so that you will no longer suffer reproach.[12] + +19Behold, at that time I will deal + +with all your oppressors. + +And I will save the lame + +and gather the outcast, + +and I will change their shame into praise + +and renown in all the earth. + +20At that time I will bring you in, + +at the time when I gather you together; + +for I will make you renowned and praised + +among all the peoples of the earth, + +when I restore your fortunes + +before your eyes,” says the LORD. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:3 Or stumbling blocks (that is, idols) + +[2] 1:9 Or their Lord's + +[3] 1:11 Or all the people of Canaan + +[4] 1:12 Hebrew are thickening on the dregs [of their wine] + +[5] 2:2 Hebrew gives birth + +[6] 2:3 Or who carry out his judgment + +[7] 2:6 Or caves + +[8] 2:14 Hebrew beasts of every nation + +[9] 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain + +[10] 3:7 Hebrew her + +[11] 3:7 Hebrew her + +[12] 3:18 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + + + + + +HAGGAI + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + + + + + +The Command to Rebuild the Temple + + +1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2“Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. + +7“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.” + + + + + +The People Obey the LORD + + +12Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. 13Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD's message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.” 14And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. + + + + + +The Coming Glory of the Temple + + +2:1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 2“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, 5according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” + + + + + +Blessings for a Defiled People + + +10On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, 11“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 12‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15Now then, consider from this day onward.[1] Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, 16how did you fare? When[2] one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD. 18Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider: 19Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.” + + + + + +Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet + + +20The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a[3] signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 2:15 Or backward; also verse 18 + +[2] 2:16 Probable reading (compare Septuagint); Hebrew LORD, since they were. When + +[3] 2:23 Hebrew the + + + + + +ZECHARIAH + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + + + + + +A Call to Return to the LORD + + +1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2“The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. 4Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. 5Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.” + + + + + +A Vision of a Horseman + + +7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8“I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.’ 11And they answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ 12Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ 13And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. 16Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’” + + + + + +A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen + + +18[1] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! 19And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. 21And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.” + + + + + +A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line + + +2:1 [2] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. 5And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” + +6Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD. 7Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me[3] to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9“Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me. 10Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. 11And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 12And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” + +13Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. + + + + + +A Vision of Joshua the High Priest + + +3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan[4] standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand[5] plucked from the fire?” 3Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by. + +6And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, 7“Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes,[6] I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” + + + + + +A Vision of a Golden Lampstand + + +4:1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 7Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” + +8Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. + +“These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth.” 11Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil[7] is poured out?” 13He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones[8] who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” + + + + + +A Vision of a Flying Scroll + + +5:1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”[9] 3Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely[10] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4I will send it out, declares the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.” + + + + + +A Vision of a Woman in a Basket + + +5Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket[11] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity[12] in all the land.” 7And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. + +9Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.” + + + + + +A Vision of Four Chariots + + +6:1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, 3the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.[13] 4Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the LORD of all the earth. 6The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.” 7When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.” + + + + + +The Crown and the Temple + + +9And the word of the LORD came to me: 10“Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. 13It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ 14And the crown shall be in the temple of the LORD as a reminder to Helem,[14] Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. + +15“And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.” + + + + + +A Call for Justice and Mercy + + +7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD, 3saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” + +4Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me: 5“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 6And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?” + +8And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9“Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.[15] 12They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. 13“As I[16] called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts, 14“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.” + + + + + +The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion + + +8:1 And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2“Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. 4Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts? 7Thus says the LORD of hosts: behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.” + +9Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. 12For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.” + +14For thus says the LORD of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, 15so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. 16These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.” + +18And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 19“Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace. + +20“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD. 23Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” + + + + + +Judgment on Israel's Enemies + + +9:1 The burden of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach + +and Damascus is its resting place. + +For the LORD has an eye on mankind + +and on all the tribes of Israel,[17] + +2and on Hamath also, which borders on it, + +Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. + +3Tyre has built herself a rampart + +and heaped up silver like dust, + +and fine gold like the mud of the streets. + +4But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions + +and strike down her power on the sea, + +and she shall be devoured by fire. + +5Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid; + +Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish; + +Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded. + +The king shall perish from Gaza; + +Ashkelon shall be uninhabited; + +6a mixed people[18] shall dwell in Ashdod, + +and I will cut off the pride of Philistia. + +7I will take away its blood from its mouth, + +and its abominations from between its teeth; + +it too shall be a remnant for our God; + +it shall be like a clan in Judah, + +and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites. + +8Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, + +so that none shall march to and fro; + +no oppressor shall again march over them, + +for now I see with my own eyes. + + + + + +The Coming King of Zion + + +9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! + +Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! + +Behold, your king is coming to you; + +righteous and having salvation is he, + +humble and mounted on a donkey, + +on a colt, the foal of a donkey. + +10I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim + +and the war horse from Jerusalem; + +and the battle bow shall be cut off, + +and he shall speak peace to the nations; + +his rule shall be from sea to sea, + +and from the River to the ends of the earth. + +11As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, + +I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. + +12Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; + +today I declare that I will restore to you double. + +13For I have bent Judah as my bow; + +I have made Ephraim its arrow. + +I will stir up your sons, O Zion, + +against your sons, O Greece, + +and wield you like a warrior's sword. + + + + + +The LORD Will Save His People + + +14Then the LORD will appear over them, + +and his arrow will go forth like lightning; + +the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet + +and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south. + +15The LORD of hosts will protect them, + +and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones, + +and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, + +and be full like a bowl, + +drenched like the corners of the altar. + +16On that day the LORD their God will save them, + +as the flock of his people; + +for like the jewels of a crown + +they shall shine on his land. + +17For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! + +Grain shall make the young men flourish, + +and new wine the young women. + + + + + +The Restoration for Judah and Israel + + +10:1 Ask rain from the LORD + +in the season of the spring rain, + +from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, + +and he will give them showers of rain, + +to everyone the vegetation in the field. + +2For the household gods utter nonsense, + +and the diviners see lies; + +they tell false dreams + +and give empty consolation. + +Therefore the people wander like sheep; + +they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd. + +3“My anger is hot against the shepherds, + +and I will punish the leaders;[19] + +for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, + +and will make them like his majestic steed in battle. + +4From him shall come the cornerstone, + +from him the tent peg, + +from him the battle bow, + +from him every ruler—all of them together. + +5They shall be like mighty men in battle, + +trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; + +they shall fight because the LORD is with them, + +and they shall put to shame the riders on horses. + +6“I will strengthen the house of Judah, + +and I will save the house of Joseph. + +I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, + +and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, + +for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them. + +7Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, + +and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. + +Their children shall see it and be glad; + +their hearts shall rejoice in the LORD. + +8“I will whistle for them and gather them in, + +for I have redeemed them, + +and they shall be as many as they were before. + +9Though I scattered them among the nations, + +yet in far countries they shall remember me, + +and with their children they shall live and return. + +10I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, + +and gather them from Assyria, + +and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, + +till there is no room for them. + +11He shall pass through the sea of troubles + +and strike down the waves of the sea, + +and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. + +The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, + +and the scepter of Egypt shall depart. + +12I will make them strong in the LORD, + +and they shall walk in his name,” + +declares the LORD. + + + + + +The Flock Doomed to Slaughter + + +11:1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, + +that the fire may devour your cedars! + +2Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, + +for the glorious trees are ruined! + +Wail, oaks of Bashan, + +for the thick forest has been felled! + +3The sound of the wail of the shepherds, + +for their glory is ruined! + +The sound of the roar of the lions, + +for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined! + +4Thus said the LORD my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the LORD. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.” + +7So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. 8In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” 10And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD. 12Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter. 14Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. + +15Then the LORD said to me, “Take once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs. + +17“Woe to my worthless shepherd, + +who deserts the flock! + +May the sword strike his arm + +and his right eye! + +Let his arm be wholly withered, + +his right eye utterly blinded!” + + + + + +The LORD Will Give Salvation + + +12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: 2“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. 3On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. 4On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God.’ + +6“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And they shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem. + +7“And the LORD will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. 8On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them. 9And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. + + + + + +Him Whom They Have Pierced + + +10“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12The land shall mourn, each family[20] by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves. + + + + + +13:1 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. + + + + + +Idolatry Cut Off + + +2“And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. 3And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies. + +4“On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, 5but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’[21] 6And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’[22] he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’ + + + + + +The Shepherd Struck + + +7“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, + +against the man who stands next to me,” + +declares the LORD of hosts. + +“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; + +I will turn my hand against the little ones. + +8In the whole land, declares the LORD, + +two thirds shall be cut off and perish, + +and one third shall be left alive. + +9And I will put this third into the fire, + +and refine them as one refines silver, + +and test them as gold is tested. + +They will call upon my name, + +and I will answer them. + +I will say, ‘They are my people’; + +and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” + + + + + +The Coming Day of the LORD + + +14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. + +6On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost.[23] 7And there shall be a unique[24] day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. + +8On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea[25] and half of them to the western sea.[26] It shall continue in summer as in winter. + +9And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one. + +10The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. 11And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction.[27] Jerusalem shall dwell in security. + +12And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. + +13And on that day a great panic from the LORD shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps. + +16Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. 17And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain;[28] there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. 19This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. + +20And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader[29] in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:18 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew + +[2] 2:1 Ch 2:5 in Hebrew + +[3] 2:8 Or he sent me after glory + +[4] 3:1 Satan means the accuser + +[5] 3:2 That is, a burning stick + +[6] 3:9 Or facets + +[7] 4:12 Hebrew lacks oil + +[8] 4:14 Hebrew two sons of new oil + +[9] 5:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[10] 5:3 Hebrew lacks falsely (supplied from verse 4) + +[11] 5:6 Hebrew ephah; also verses 7-11. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters + +[12] 5:6 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts eye + +[13] 6:3 Or and the fourth chariot strong dappled horses + +[14] 6:14 An alternate spelling of Heldai (verse 10) + +[15] 7:11 Hebrew and made their ears too heavy to hear + +[16] 7:13 Hebrew he + +[17] 9:1 A slight emendation yields For to the LORD belongs the capital of Syria and all the tribes of Israel + +[18] 9:6 Or a foreign people; Hebrew a bastard + +[19] 10:3 Hebrew the male goats + +[20] 12:12 Or clan; also verses 13, 14 + +[21] 13:5 Or for the land has been my possession since my youth + +[22] 13:6 Or on your chest; Hebrew wounds between your hands + +[23] 14:6 Compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain + +[24] 14:7 Hebrew one + +[25] 14:8 That is, the Dead Sea + +[26] 14:8 That is, the Mediterranean Sea + +[27] 14:11 The Hebrew term rendered decree of utter destruction refers to things devoted (or set apart) to the Lord (or by the Lord) for destruction + +[28] 14:18 Hebrew lacks rain + +[29] 14:21 Or Canaanite + + + + + +MALACHI + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + + + + + +1:1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.[1] + + + + + +The LORD's Love for Israel + + +2“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.’” 5Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the LORD beyond the border of Israel!” + + + + + +The Priests' Polluted Offerings + + +6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD's table may be despised. 8When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. 9And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. 10Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. 11For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be[2] great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. 12But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. 14Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. + + + + + +The LORD Rebukes the Priests + + +2:1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. 3Behold, I will rebuke your offspring,[3] and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.[4] 4So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the LORD of hosts. 5My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction[5] was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people[6] should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, 9and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.” + + + + + +Judah Profaned the Covenant + + +10Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant[7] of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts! + +13And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?[8] And what was the one God[9] seeking?[10] Godly offspring. So guard yourselves[11] in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. 16“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her,[12] says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers[13] his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.” + + + + + +The Messenger of the LORD + + +17You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?” + + + + + +3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.[14] 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. + +5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts. + + + + + +Robbing God + + +6“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11I will rebuke the devourer[15] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. 12Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts. + +13“Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ 14You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? 15And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’” + + + + + +The Book of Remembrance + + +16Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 17“They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. + + + + + +The Great Day of the LORD + + +4:1 [16] “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. + +4“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules[17] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. + +5“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”[18] + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Malachi means my messenger + +[2] 1:11 Or is (three times in verse 11; also verse 14) + +[3] 2:3 Hebrew seed + +[4] 2:3 Or to it + +[5] 2:6 Or law; also verses 7, 8, 9 + +[6] 2:7 Hebrew they + +[7] 2:12 Hebrew any who wakes and answers + +[8] 2:15 Hebrew in it + +[9] 2:15 Hebrew the one + +[10] 2:15 Or And not one has done this who has a portion of the Spirit. And what was that one seeking? + +[11] 2:15 Or So take care; also verse 16 + +[12] 2:16 Hebrew who hates and divorces + +[13] 2:16 Probable meaning (compare Septuagint and Deuteronomy 24:1-4); or “The LORD, the God of Israel, says that he hates divorce, and him who covers + +[14] 3:3 Or and they will belong to the LORD, bringers of an offering in righteousness + +[15] 3:11 Probably a name for some crop-destroying pest or pests + +[16] 4:1 Ch 4:1-6 is ch 3:19-24 in the Hebrew + +[17] 4:4 Or and just decrees + +[18] 4:6 The Hebrew term rendered decree of utter destruction refers to things devoted (or set apart) to the Lord (or by the Lord) for destruction + + + + + +MATTHEW + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + + + + + +The Genealogy of Jesus Christ + + +1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. + +2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,[1] 4and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of David the king. + +And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,[2] 8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,[3] and Amos the father of Josiah, 11and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. + +12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,[4] and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. + +17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. + + + + + +The Birth of Jesus Christ + + +18Now the birth of Jesus Christ[5] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[6] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: + +23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, + +and they shall call his name Immanuel” + +(which means, God with us). 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. + + + + + +The Visit of the Wise Men + + +2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men[7] from the east came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose[8] and have come to worship him.” 3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: + +6“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, + +are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; + +for from you shall come a ruler + +who will shepherd my people Israel.’” + +7Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. + + + + + +The Flight to Egypt + + +13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” + + + + + +Herod Kills the Children + + +16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: + +18“A voice was heard in Ramah, + +weeping and loud lamentation, + +Rachel weeping for her children; + +she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” + + + + + +The Return to Nazareth + + +19But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” 21And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.” + + + + + +John the Baptist Prepares the Way + + +3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, + +“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: + +‘Prepare[9] the way of the Lord; + +make his paths straight.’” + +4Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. + +7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. + +11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” + + + + + +The Baptism of Jesus + + +13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him,[10] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son,[11] with whom I am well pleased.” + + + + + +The Temptation of Jesus + + +4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, + +“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, + +but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” + +5Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, + +“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ + +and + +“‘On their hands they will bear you up, + +lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” + +7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, + +“‘You shall worship the Lord your God + +and him only shall you serve.’” + +11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. + + + + + +Jesus Begins His Ministry + + +12Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: + +15“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, + +the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— + +16the people dwelling in darkness + +have seen a great light, + +and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, + +on them a light has dawned.” + +17From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” + + + + + +Jesus Calls the First Disciples + + +18While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. + + + + + +Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds + + +23And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. + + + + + +The Sermon on the Mount + + +5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. + + + + + +The Beatitudes + + +2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: + +3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. + +4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. + +5“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. + +6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. + +7“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. + +8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. + +9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[12] of God. + +10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. + +11“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. + + + + + +Salt and Light + + +13“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. + +14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. + + + + + +Christ Came to Fulfill the Law + + +17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. + + + + + +Anger + + +21“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[13] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[14] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[15] of fire. 23So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.[16] + + + + + +Lust + + +27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. + + + + + +Divorce + + +31“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. + + + + + +Oaths + + +33“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.[17] + + + + + +Retaliation + + +38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[18] let him have your cloak as well. 41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. + + + + + +Love Your Enemies + + +43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers,[19] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. + + + + + +Giving to the Needy + + +6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. + +2“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. + + + + + +The Lord's Prayer + + +5“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. + +7“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9Pray then like this: + +“Our Father in heaven, + +hallowed be your name.[20] + +10Your kingdom come, + +your will be done,[21] + +on earth as it is in heaven. + +11Give us this day our daily bread,[22] + +12and forgive us our debts, + +as we also have forgiven our debtors. + +13And lead us not into temptation, + +but deliver us from evil.[23] + +14For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. + + + + + +Fasting + + +16“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. + + + + + +Lay Up Treasures in Heaven + + +19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[24] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. + +22“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! + +24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.[25] + + + + + +Do Not Be Anxious + + +25“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[26] 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. + +34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. + + + + + +Judging Others + + +7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. + +6“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. + + + + + +Ask, and It Will Be Given + + +7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! + + + + + +The Golden Rule + + +12“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. + +13“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[27] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. + + + + + +A Tree and Its Fruit + + +15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. + + + + + +I Never Knew You + + +21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ + + + + + +Build Your House on the Rock + + +24“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” + + + + + +The Authority of Jesus + + +28And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses a Leper + + +8:1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2And behold, a leper[28] came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3And Jesus[29] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” + + + + + +The Faith of a Centurion + + +5When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,[30] ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel[31] have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. + + + + + +Jesus Heals Many + + +14And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” + + + + + +The Cost of Following Jesus + + +18Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” + + + + + +Jesus Calms a Storm + + +23And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” + + + + + +Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons + + +28And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,[32] two demon-possessed[33] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Paralytic + + +9:1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4But Jesus, knowing[34] their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7And he rose and went home. 8When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. + + + + + +Jesus Calls Matthew + + +9As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. + +10And as Jesus[35] reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” + + + + + +A Question About Fasting + + +14Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast,[36] but your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” + + + + + +A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed + + +18While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly[37] the woman was made well. 23And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26And the report of this went through all that district. + + + + + +Jesus Heals Two Blind Men + + +27And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” 28When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” 30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” 31But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak + + +32As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” 34But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” + + + + + +The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few + + +35And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” + + + + + +The Twelve Apostles + + +10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;[38] 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. + + + + + +Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles + + +5These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,[39] cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, 10no bag for your journey, nor two tunics[40] nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12As you enter the house, greet it. 13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. + + + + + +Persecution Will Come + + +16“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. + +24“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant[41] above his master. 25It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign[42] those of his household. + + + + + +Have No Fear + + +26“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[43] 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?[44] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. + + + + + +Not Peace, but a Sword + + +34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. + + + + + +Rewards + + +40“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. 42And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” + + + + + +Messengers from John the Baptist + + +11:1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. + +2Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers[45] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” + +7As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8What then did you go out to see? A man[46] dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet?[47] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is he of whom it is written, + +“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, + +who will prepare your way before you.’ + +11Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,[48] and the violent take it by force. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15He who has ears to hear,[49] let him hear. + +16“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, + +17“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; + +we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ + +18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”[50] + + + + + +Woe to Unrepentant Cities + + +20Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” + + + + + +Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest + + +25At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[51] 27All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” + + + + + +Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath + + +12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” + + + + + +A Man with a Withered Hand + + +9He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. 11He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. + + + + + +God's Chosen Servant + + +15Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16and ordered them not to make him known. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: + +18“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, + +my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. + +I will put my Spirit upon him, + +and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. + +19He will not quarrel or cry aloud, + +nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; + +20a bruised reed he will not break, + +and a smoldering wick he will not quench, + +until he brings justice to victory; + +21and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” + + + + + +Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit + + +22Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. + + + + + +A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit + + +33“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” + + + + + +The Sign of Jonah + + +38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. + + + + + +Return of an Unclean Spirit + + +43“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” + + + + + +Jesus' Mother and Brothers + + +46While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.[52] 48But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Sower + + +13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9He who has ears,[53] let him hear.” + + + + + +The Purpose of the Parables + + +10Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: + +“‘You will indeed hear but never understand, + +and you will indeed see but never perceive. + +15For this people's heart has grown dull, + +and with their ears they can barely hear, + +and their eyes they have closed, + +lest they should see with their eyes + +and hear with their ears + +and understand with their heart + +and turn, and I would heal them.’ + +16But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. + + + + + +The Parable of the Sower Explained + + +18“Hear then the parable of the sower: 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.[54] 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Weeds + + +24He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds[55] among the wheat and went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27And the servants[56] of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” + + + + + +The Mustard Seed and the Leaven + + +31He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” + +33He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” + + + + + +Prophecy and Parables + + +34All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:[57] + +“I will open my mouth in parables; + +I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Weeds Explained + + +36Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. + + + + + +The Parable of the Hidden Treasure + + +44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. + + + + + +The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value + + +45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. + + + + + +The Parable of the Net + + +47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. + + + + + +New and Old Treasures + + +51“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” + + + + + +Jesus Rejected at Nazareth + + +53And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. + + + + + +The Death of John the Baptist + + +14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,[58] 4because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. + + + + + +Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand + + +13Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. + + + + + +Jesus Walks on the Water + + +22Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat by this time was a long way[59] from the land,[60] beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” + +28And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind,[61] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” + + + + + +Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret + + +34And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. + + + + + +Traditions and Commandments + + +15:1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”[62] 6he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word[63] of God. 7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: + +8“‘This people honors me with their lips, + +but their heart is far from me; + +9in vain do they worship me, + +teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” + + + + + +What Defiles a Person + + +10And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14Let them alone; they are blind guides.[64] And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?[65] 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” + + + + + +The Faith of a Canaanite Woman + + +21And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.[66] + + + + + +Jesus Heals Many + + +29Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. + + + + + +Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand + + +32Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. + + + + + +The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs + + +16:1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2He answered them,[67] “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed. + + + + + +The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees + + +5When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. + + + + + +Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ + + +13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[68] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[69] shall not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[70] in heaven.” 20Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. + + + + + +Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection + + +21From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord![71] This shall never happen to you.” 23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance[72] to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” + + + + + +Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus + + +24Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life[73] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” + + + + + +The Transfiguration + + +17:1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son,[74] with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. + +9And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon + + +14And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18And Jesus rebuked the demon,[75] and it[76] came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.[77] 19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”[78] + + + + + +Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection + + +22As they were gathering[79] in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed. + + + + + +The Temple Tax + + +24When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel.[80] Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.” + + + + + +Who Is the Greatest? + + +18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. + +5“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[81] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. + + + + + +Temptations to Sin + + +7“Woe to the world for temptations to sin![82] For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell[83] of fire. + + + + + +The Parable of the Lost Sheep + + +10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.[84] 12What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14So it is not the will of my[85] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. + + + + + +If Your Brother Sins Against You + + +15“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[86] in heaven. 19Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant + + +21Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.[87] + +23“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.[88] 24When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[89] 25And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26So the servant[90] fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,[91] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,[92] until he should pay all his debt. 35So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” + + + + + +Teaching About Divorce + + +19:1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. + +3And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”[93] + +10The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” + + + + + +Let the Children Come to Me + + +13Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15And he laid his hands on them and went away. + + + + + +The Rich Young Man + + +16And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. + +23And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[94] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold[95] and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first. + + + + + +Laborers in the Vineyard + + +20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius[96] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’[97] 16So the last will be first, and the first last.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time + + +17And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” + + + + + +A Mother's Request + + +20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,[98] 27and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,[99] 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” + + + + + +Jesus Heals Two Blind Men + + +29And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,[100] have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. + + + + + +The Triumphal Entry + + +21:1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, + +5“Say to the daughter of Zion, + +‘Behold, your king is coming to you, + +humble, and mounted on a donkey, + +and[101] on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” + +6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses the Temple + + +12And Jesus entered the temple[102] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” + +14And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, + +“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies + +you have prepared praise’?” + +17And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. + + + + + +Jesus Curses the Fig Tree + + +18In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. + +20When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” + + + + + +The Authority of Jesus Challenged + + +23And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. + + + + + +The Parable of the Two Sons + + +28“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. + + + + + +The Parable of the Tenants + + +33“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants[103] to the tenants to get his fruit. 35And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” + +42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: + +“‘The stone that the builders rejected + +has become the cornerstone;[104] + +this was the Lord's doing, + +and it is marvelous in our eyes’? + +43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”[105] + +45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. + + + + + +The Parable of the Wedding Feast + + +22:1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3and sent his servants[106] to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ 5But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. + +11“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14For many are called, but few are chosen.” + + + + + +Paying Taxes to Caesar + + +15Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.[107] 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.[108] 20And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. + + + + + +Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection + + +23The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ 25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. 26So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27After them all, the woman died. 28In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” + +29But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. + + + + + +The Great Commandment + + +34But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” + + + + + +Whose Son Is the Christ? + + +41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, + +44“‘The Lord said to my Lord, + +Sit at my right hand, + +until I put your enemies under your feet’? + +45If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. + + + + + +Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees + + +23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[109] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi[110] by others. 8But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.[111] 9And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. + +13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.[112] 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell[113] as yourselves. + +16“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. + +23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! + +25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. + +27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. + +29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,[114] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. + + + + + +Lament over Jerusalem + + +37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38See, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple + + +24:1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” + + + + + +Signs of the Close of the Age + + +3As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” 4And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. + +9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10And then many will fall away[115] and betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. + + + + + +The Abomination of Desolation + + +15“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I have told you beforehand. 26So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. + + + + + +The Coming of the Son of Man + + +29“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. + + + + + +The Lesson of the Fig Tree + + +32“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. + + + + + +No One Knows That Day and Hour + + +36“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,[116] but the Father only. 37For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. + +45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant,[117] whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49and begins to beat his fellow servants[118] and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. + + + + + +The Parable of the Ten Virgins + + +25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps[119] and went to meet the bridegroom.[120] 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. + + + + + +The Parable of the Talents + + +14“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[121] and entrusted to them his property. 15To one he gave five talents,[122] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.[123] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ + + + + + +The Final Judgment + + +31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[124] you did it to me.’ + +41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” + + + + + +The Plot to Kill Jesus + + +26:1 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” + +3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” + + + + + +Jesus Anointed at Bethany + + +6Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,[125] 7a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” + + + + + +Judas to Betray Jesus + + +14Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. + + + + + +The Passover with the Disciples + + +17Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. + +20When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.[126] 21And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.” + + + + + +Institution of the Lord's Supper + + +26Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28for this is my blood of the[127] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial + + +30And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same. + + + + + +Jesus Prays in Gethsemane + + +36Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch[128] with me.” 39And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on.[129] See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” + + + + + +Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus + + +47While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.”[130] Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant[131] of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 55At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. + + + + + +Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council + + +57Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. 59Now the chief priests and the whole Council[132] were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” 62And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”[133] 63But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” + + + + + +Peter Denies Jesus + + +69Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. + + + + + +Jesus Delivered to Pilate + + +27:1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor. + + + + + +Judas Hangs Himself + + +3Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus[134] was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. 8Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.” + + + + + +Jesus Before Pilate + + +11Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. + + + + + +The Crowd Chooses Barabbas + + +15Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” 20Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” + + + + + +Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified + + +24So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood;[135] see to it yourselves.” 25And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged[136] Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. + + + + + +Jesus Is Mocked + + +27Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters,[137] and they gathered the whole battalion[138] before him. 28And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. + + + + + +The Crucifixion + + +32As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. 33And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42“He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. + + + + + +The Death of Jesus + + +45Now from the sixth hour[139] there was darkness over all the land[140] until the ninth hour.[141] 46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. + +51And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son[142] of God!” + +55There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. + + + + + +Jesus Is Buried + + +57When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. + + + + + +The Guard at the Tomb + + +62The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[143] of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. + + + + + +The Resurrection + + +28:1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he[144] lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” + + + + + +The Report of the Guard + + +11While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. + + + + + +The Great Commission + + +16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[145] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:3 Greek Aram; also verse 4 + +[2] 1:7 Asaph is probably an alternate spelling for Asa; some manuscripts read Asa; also verse 8 + +[3] 1:10 Amos is probably an alternate spelling for Amon; some manuscripts read Amon; twice in this verse + +[4] 1:12 Greek Salathiel; twice in this verse + +[5] 1:18 Some manuscripts of the Christ + +[6] 1:18 That is, legally pledged to be married + +[7] 2:1 Greek magi; also verses 7, 16 + +[8] 2:2 Or in the east; also verse 9 + +[9] 3:3 Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness + +[10] 3:16 Some manuscripts omit to him + +[11] 3:17 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved + +[12] 5:9 Greek huioi; see preface + +[13] 5:22 Some manuscripts insert without cause + +[14] 5:22 Greek says Raca to (a term of abuse) + +[15] 5:22 Greek Gehenna; also verses 29, 30 + +[16] 5:26 Greek kodrantes, Roman copper coin (Latin quadrans) worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer) + +[17] 5:37 Or the evil one + +[18] 5:40 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[19] 5:47 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters + +[20] 6:9 Or Let your name be kept holy, or Let your name be treated with reverence + +[21] 6:10 Or Let your kingdom come, let your will be done + +[22] 6:11 Or our bread for tomorrow + +[23] 6:13 Or the evil one; some manuscripts add For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen + +[24] 6:19 Or worm; also verse 20 + +[25] 6:24 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions + +[26] 6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[27] 7:13 Some manuscripts For the way is wide and easy + +[28] 8:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[29] 8:3 Greek he + +[30] 8:9 Greek bondservant + +[31] 8:10 Some manuscripts not even in Israel + +[32] 8:28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gerasenes + +[33] 8:28 Greek daimonizomai; also verse 33; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons + +[34] 9:4 Some manuscripts perceiving + +[35] 9:10 Greek he + +[36] 9:14 Some manuscripts add much, or often + +[37] 9:22 Greek from that hour + +[38] 10:3 Some manuscripts Lebbaeus, or Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus + +[39] 10:8 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[40] 10:10 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[41] 10:24 Greek bondservant; also verse 25 + +[42] 10:25 Greek lacks will they malign + +[43] 10:28 Greek Gehenna + +[44] 10:29 Greek assarion, Roman copper coin (Latin quadrans) worth about 1/16 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer) + +[45] 11:5 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[46] 11:8 Or Why then did you go out? To see a man . . . + +[47] 11:9 Some manuscripts Why then did you go out? To see a prophet? + +[48] 11:12 Or has been coming violently + +[49] 11:15 Some manuscripts omit to hear + +[50] 11:19 Some manuscripts children (compare Luke 7:35) + +[51] 11:26 Or for so it pleased you well + +[52] 12:46 Some manuscripts insert verse 47: Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak to you” + +[53] 13:9 Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear + +[54] 13:21 Or stumbles + +[55] 13:25 Probably darnel, a wheat-like weed + +[56] 13:27 Greek bondservants; also verse 28 + +[57] 13:35 Some manuscripts Isaiah the prophet + +[58] 14:3 Some manuscripts his brother's wife + +[59] 14:24 Greek many stadia, a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters + +[60] 14:24 Some manuscripts was out on the sea + +[61] 14:30 Some manuscripts strong wind + +[62] 15:5 Or is an offering + +[63] 15:6 Some manuscripts law + +[64] 15:14 Some manuscripts add of the blind + +[65] 15:17 Greek is expelled into the latrine + +[66] 15:28 Greek from that hour + +[67] 16:2 Some manuscripts omit the following words to the end of verse 3 + +[68] 16:18 The Greek words for Peter and rock sound similar + +[69] 16:18 Greek the gates of Hades + +[70] 16:19 Or shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed + +[71] 16:22 Or “[May God be] merciful to you, Lord!” + +[72] 16:23 Greek stumbling block + +[73] 16:25 The same Greek word can mean either soul or life, depending on the context; twice in this verse and twice in verse 26 + +[74] 17:5 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved + +[75] 17:18 Greek it + +[76] 17:18 Greek the demon + +[77] 17:18 Greek from that hour + +[78] 17:20 Some manuscripts insert verse 21: But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting + +[79] 17:22 Some manuscripts remained + +[80] 17:27 Greek stater, a silver coin worth four drachmas or approximately one shekel + +[81] 18:6 Greek causes . . . to stumble; also verses 8, 9 + +[82] 18:7 Greek stumbling blocks + +[83] 18:9 Greek Gehenna + +[84] 18:10 Some manuscripts add verse 11: For the Son of Man came to save the lost + +[85] 18:14 Some manuscripts your + +[86] 18:18 Or shall have been bound . . . shall have been loosed + +[87] 18:22 Or seventy-seven times + +[88] 18:23 Greek bondservants; also verses 28, 31 + +[89] 18:24 A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer + +[90] 18:26 Greek bondservant; also verses 27, 28, 29, 32, 33 + +[91] 18:28 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[92] 18:34 Greek torturers + +[93] 19:9 Some manuscripts add and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery; other manuscripts except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery + +[94] 19:28 Greek in the regeneration + +[95] 19:29 Some manuscripts manifold + +[96] 20:2 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[97] 20:15 Or is your eye bad because I am good? + +[98] 20:26 Greek diakonos + +[99] 20:27 Greek bondservant (doulos) + +[100] 20:30 Some manuscripts omit Lord + +[101] 21:5 Or even + +[102] 21:12 Some manuscripts add of God + +[103] 21:34 Greek bondservants; also verses 35, 36 + +[104] 21:42 Greek the head of the corner + +[105] 21:44 Some manuscripts omit verse 44 + +[106] 22:3 Greek bondservants; also verses 4, 6, 8, 10 + +[107] 22:16 Greek for you do not look at people's faces + +[108] 22:19 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[109] 23:4 Some manuscripts omit hard to bear + +[110] 23:7 Rabbi means my teacher, or my master; also verse 8 + +[111] 23:8 Or brothers and sisters + +[112] 23:13 Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation + +[113] 23:15 Greek Gehenna; also verse 33 + +[114] 23:35 Some manuscripts omit the son of Barachiah + +[115] 24:10 Or stumble + +[116] 24:36 Some manuscripts omit nor the Son + +[117] 24:45 Greek bondservant; also verses 46, 48, 50 + +[118] 24:49 Greek bondservants + +[119] 25:1 Or torches + +[120] 25:1 Some manuscripts add and the bride + +[121] 25:14 Greek bondservants; also verse 19 + +[122] 25:15 A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer + +[123] 25:21 Greek bondservant; also verses 23, 26, 30 + +[124] 25:40 Or brothers and sisters + +[125] 26:6 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[126] 26:20 Some manuscripts add disciples + +[127] 26:28 Some manuscripts insert new + +[128] 26:38 Or keep awake; also verses 40, 41 + +[129] 26:45 Or Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? + +[130] 26:50 Or Friend, why are you here? + +[131] 26:51 Greek bondservant + +[132] 26:59 Greek Sanhedrin + +[133] 26:62 Or Have you no answer to what these men testify against you? + +[134] 27:3 Greek he + +[135] 27:24 Some manuscripts this righteous blood, or this righteous man's blood + +[136] 27:26 A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing imbedded pieces of bone and metal + +[137] 27:27 Greek the praetorium + +[138] 27:27 Greek cohort; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men + +[139] 27:45 That is, noon + +[140] 27:45 Or earth + +[141] 27:45 That is, 3 P.M. + +[142] 27:54 Or a son + +[143] 27:65 Or Take a guard + +[144] 28:6 Some manuscripts the Lord + +[145] 28:19 Or into + + + + + +MARK + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + + + + + +John the Baptist Prepares the Way + + +1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.[1] + +2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,[2] + +“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, + +who will prepare your way, + +3the voice of one crying in the wilderness: + +‘Prepare[3] the way of the Lord, + +make his paths straight,’” + +4John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” + + + + + +The Baptism of Jesus + + +9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;[4] with you I am well pleased.” + + + + + +The Temptation of Jesus + + +12The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. + + + + + +Jesus Begins His Ministry + + +14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” + + + + + +Jesus Calls the First Disciples + + +16Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit + + +21And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. + + + + + +Jesus Heals Many + + +29And immediately he[5] left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. + +32That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. + + + + + +Jesus Preaches in Galilee + + +35And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses a Leper + + +40And a leper[6] came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43And Jesus[7] sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Paralytic + + +2:1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” + + + + + +Jesus Calls Levi + + +13He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. + +15And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16And the scribes of[8] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat[9] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” + + + + + +A Question About Fasting + + +18Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”[10] + + + + + +Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath + + +23One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” + + + + + +A Man with a Withered Hand + + +3:1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2And they watched Jesus,[11] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. + + + + + +A Great Crowd Follows Jesus + + +7Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. + + + + + +The Twelve Apostles + + +13And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15and have authority to cast out demons. 16He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. + +20Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” + + + + + +Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit + + +22And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. + +28“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” + + + + + +Jesus' Mother and Brothers + + +31And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers[12] are outside, seeking you.” 33And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Sower + + +4:1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” + + + + + +The Purpose of the Parables + + +10And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12so that + +“they may indeed see but not perceive, + +and may indeed hear but not understand, + +lest they should turn and be forgiven.” + +13And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.[13] 18And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” + + + + + +A Lamp Under a Basket + + +21And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Seed Growing + + +26And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Mustard Seed + + +30And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” + +33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. + + + + + +Jesus Calms a Storm + + +35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon + + +5:1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.[14] 2And when Jesus[15] had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea. + +14The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed[16] man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17And they began to beg Jesus[17] to depart from their region. 18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter + + +21And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24And he went with him. + +And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32And he looked around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” + +35While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36But overhearing[18] what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus[19] saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. + + + + + +Jesus Rejected at Nazareth + + +6:1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6And he marveled because of their unbelief. + +And he went about among the villages teaching. + + + + + +Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles + + +7And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.[20] 10And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. + + + + + +The Death of John the Baptist + + +14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'[21] name had become known. Some[22] said, “John the Baptist[23] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. 18For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. + +21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's[24] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. + + + + + +Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand + + +30The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii[25] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42And they all ate and were satisfied. 43And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. + + + + + +Jesus Walks on the Water + + +45Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night[26] he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. + + + + + +Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret + + +53When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. + + + + + +Traditions and Commandments + + +7:1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash[27] their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.[28] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.[29]) 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, + +“‘This people honors me with their lips, + +but their heart is far from me; + +7in vain do they worship me, + +teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ + +8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” + +9And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)[30]— 12then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” + + + + + +What Defiles a Person + + +14And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”[31] 17And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”[32] (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” + + + + + +The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith + + +24And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.[33] And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Deaf Man + + +31Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36And Jesus[34] charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” + + + + + +Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand + + +8:1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.[35] + + + + + +The Pharisees Demand a Sign + + +11The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. + + + + + +The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod + + +14Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”[36] 16And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida + + +22And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24And he looked up and said, “I see men, but they look like trees, walking.” 25Then Jesus[37] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” + + + + + +Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ + + +27And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. + + + + + +Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection + + +31And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” + +34And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever would save his life[38] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” + + + + + +9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” + + + + + +The Transfiguration + + +2And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one[39] on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi,[40] it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son;[41] listen to him.” 8And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. + +9And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.” + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit + + +14And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24Immediately the father of the child cried out[42] and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”[43] + + + + + +Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection + + +30They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. + + + + + +Who Is the Greatest? + + +33And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” + + + + + +Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us + + +38John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,[44] and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40For the one who is not against us is for us. 41For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. + + + + + +Temptations to Sin + + +42“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[45] it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell,[46] to the unquenchable fire.[47] 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49For everyone will be salted with fire.[48] 50Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” + + + + + +Teaching About Divorce + + +10:1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. + +2And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,[49] 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” + +10And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” + + + + + +Let the Children Come to Me + + +13And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. + + + + + +The Rich Young Man + + +17And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. + +23And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is[50] to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,[51] “Then who can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time + + +32And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” + + + + + +The Request of James and John + + +35And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,[52] 44and whoever would be first among you must be slave[53] of all. 45For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” + + + + + +Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus + + +46And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. + + + + + +The Triumphal Entry + + +11:1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus[54] sent two of his disciples 2and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” + +11And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. + + + + + +Jesus Curses the Fig Tree + + +12On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses the Temple + + +15And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19And when evening came they[55] went out of the city. + + + + + +The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree + + +20As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received[56] it, and it will be yours. 25And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”[57] + + + + + +The Authority of Jesus Challenged + + +27And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Tenants + + +12:1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2When the season came, he sent a servant[58] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10Have you not read this Scripture: + +“‘The stone that the builders rejected + +has become the cornerstone;[59] + +11this was the Lord's doing, + +and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” + +12And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. + + + + + +Paying Taxes to Caesar + + +13And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances,[60] but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius[61] and let me look at it.” 16And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” 17Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him. + + + + + +The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection + + +18And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man[62] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.” + +24Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” + + + + + +The Great Commandment + + +28And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. + + + + + +Whose Son Is the Christ? + + +35And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, + +“‘The Lord said to my Lord, + +Sit at my right hand, + +until I put your enemies under your feet.’ + +37David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly. + + + + + +Beware of the Scribes + + +38And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” + + + + + +The Widow's Offering + + +41And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[63] 43And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple + + +13:1 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” + + + + + +Signs of the Close of the Age + + +3And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. + +9“But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. + + + + + +The Abomination of Desolation + + +14“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. + + + + + +The Coming of the Son of Man + + +24“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. + + + + + +The Lesson of the Fig Tree + + +28“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. + + + + + +No One Knows That Day or Hour + + +32“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on guard, keep awake.[64] For you do not know when the time will come. 34It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants[65] in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows,[66] or in the morning— 36lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” + + + + + +The Plot to Kill Jesus + + +14:1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” + + + + + +Jesus Anointed at Bethany + + +3And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,[67] as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii[68] and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” + + + + + +Judas to Betray Jesus + + +10Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. + + + + + +The Passover with the Disciples + + +12And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. + +17And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” + + + + + +Institution of the Lord's Supper + + +22And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24And he said to them, “This is my blood of the[69] covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial + + +26And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” 30And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same. + + + + + +Jesus Prays in Gethsemane + + +32And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”[70] 35And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” + + + + + +Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus + + +43And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 46And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant[71] of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50And they all left him and fled. + + + + + +A Young Man Flees + + +51And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. + + + + + +Jesus Before the Council + + +53And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. 55Now the chief priests and the whole Council[72] were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” 59Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 60And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”[73] 61But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. + + + + + +Peter Denies Jesus + + +66And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway[74] and the rooster crowed.[75] 69And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.[76] + + + + + +Jesus Delivered to Pilate + + +15:1 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. + + + + + +Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified + + +6Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged[77] Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. + + + + + +Jesus Is Mocked + + +16And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters),[78] and they called together the whole battalion.[79] 17And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. + + + + + +The Crucifixion + + +21And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25And it was the third hour[80] when they crucified him. 26And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.[81] 29And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. + + + + + +The Death of Jesus + + +33And when the sixth hour[82] had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.[83] 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he[84] breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son[85] of God!” + +40There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. + + + + + +Jesus Is Buried + + +42And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died.[86] And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46And Joseph[87] bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. + + + + + +The Resurrection + + +16:1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. + +[Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9-20.][88] + + + + + +Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene + + +9[[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. + + + + + +Jesus Appears to Two Disciples + + +12After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. + + + + + +The Great Commission + + +14Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” + +19So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]] + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Some manuscripts omit the Son of God + +[2] 1:2 Some manuscripts in the prophets + +[3] 1:3 Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness + +[4] 1:11 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved + +[5] 1:29 Some manuscripts they + +[6] 1:40 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[7] 1:43 Greek he; also verse 45 + +[8] 2:16 Some manuscripts and + +[9] 2:16 Some manuscripts add and drink + +[10] 2:22 Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins + +[11] 3:2 Greek him + +[12] 3:32 Other early manuscripts add and your sisters + +[13] 4:17 Or stumble + +[14] 5:1 Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gadarenes + +[15] 5:2 Greek he; also verse 9 + +[16] 5:15 Greek daimonizomai; also verses 16, 18; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons + +[17] 5:17 Greek him + +[18] 5:36 Or ignoring; some manuscripts hearing + +[19] 5:38 Greek he + +[20] 6:9 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[21] 6:14 Greek his + +[22] 6:14 Some manuscripts He + +[23] 6:14 Greek baptizer; also verse 24 + +[24] 6:27 Greek his + +[25] 6:37 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[26] 6:48 That is, between 3 A.M. and 6 A.M. + +[27] 7:3 Greek unless they wash with a fist, probably indicating a kind of ceremonial washing + +[28] 7:4 Greek unless they baptize; some manuscripts unless they purify themselves + +[29] 7:4 Some manuscripts omit and dining couches + +[30] 7:11 Or an offering + +[31] 7:15 Some manuscripts add verse 16: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear + +[32] 7:19 Greek goes out into the latrine + +[33] 7:24 Some manuscripts omit and Sidon + +[34] 7:36 Greek he + +[35] 8:10 Some manuscripts Magadan, or Magdala + +[36] 8:15 Some manuscripts the Herodians + +[37] 8:25 Greek he + +[38] 8:35 The same Greek word can mean either soul or life, depending on the context; twice in this verse and once in verse 36 and once in verse 37 + +[39] 9:3 Greek no cloth refiner + +[40] 9:5 Rabbi means my teacher, or my master + +[41] 9:7 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved + +[42] 9:24 Some manuscripts add with tears + +[43] 9:29 Some manuscripts add and fasting + +[44] 9:38 Some manuscripts add who does not follow us + +[45] 9:42 Greek to stumble; also verses 43, 45, 47 + +[46] 9:43 Greek Gehenna; also verse 47 + +[47] 9:43 Some manuscripts add verses 44 and 46 (which are identical with verse 48) + +[48] 9:49 Some manuscripts add and every sacrifice will be salted with salt + +[49] 10:7 Some manuscripts omit and hold fast to his wife + +[50] 10:24 Some manuscripts add for those who trust in riches + +[51] 10:26 Some manuscripts to one another + +[52] 10:43 Greek diakonos + +[53] 10:44 Greek bondservant (doulos) + +[54] 11:1 Greek he + +[55] 11:19 Some manuscripts he + +[56] 11:24 Some manuscripts are receiving + +[57] 11:25 Some manuscripts add verse 26: But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses + +[58] 12:2 Greek bondservant; also verse 4 + +[59] 12:10 Greek the head of the corner + +[60] 12:14 Greek you do not look at people's faces + +[61] 12:15 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[62] 12:19 Greek his brother + +[63] 12:42 Greek two lepta, which make a kodrantes; a kodrantes (Latin quadrans) was a Roman copper coin worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer) + +[64] 13:33 Some manuscripts add and pray + +[65] 13:34 Greek bondservants + +[66] 13:35 That is, the third watch of the night, between midnight and 3 A.M. + +[67] 14:3 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[68] 14:5 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[69] 14:24 Some manuscripts insert new + +[70] 14:34 Or keep awake; also verses 37, 38 + +[71] 14:47 Greek bondservant + +[72] 14:55 Greek Sanhedrin + +[73] 14:60 Or Have you no answer to what these men testify against you? + +[74] 14:68 Or forecourt + +[75] 14:68 Some manuscripts omit and the rooster crowed + +[76] 14:72 Or And when he had thought about it, he wept + +[77] 15:15 A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing imbedded pieces of bone and metal + +[78] 15:16 Greek the praetorium + +[79] 15:16 Greek cohort; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men + +[80] 15:25 That is, 9 A.M. + +[81] 15:27 Some manuscripts insert verse 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “He was numbered with the transgressors” + +[82] 15:33 That is, noon + +[83] 15:33 That is, 3 P.M. + +[84] 15:39 Some manuscripts insert cried out and + +[85] 15:39 Or a son + +[86] 15:44 Or Pilate wondered whether he had already died + +[87] 15:46 Greek he + +[88] 16:9 Some manuscripts end the book with 16:8; others include verses 9-20 immediately after verse 8. A few manuscripts insert additional material after verse 14; one Latin manuscript adds after verse 8 the following: But they reported briefly to Peter and those with him all that they had been told. And after this, Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Other manuscripts include this same wording after verse 8, then continue with verses 9-20 + + + + + +LUKE + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + + + + + +Dedication to Theophilus + + +1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. + + + + + +Birth of John the Baptist Foretold + + +5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[1] of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. + +8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” + +18And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. + +24After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” + + + + + +Birth of Jesus Foretold + + +26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed[2] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”[3] 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” + +34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”[4] + +35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[5] will be called holy—the Son of God. 36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant[6] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. + + + + + +Mary Visits Elizabeth + + +39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be[7] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” + + + + + +Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat + + +46And Mary said, + +“My soul magnifies the Lord, + +47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, + +48for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. + +For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; + +49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, + +and holy is his name. + +50And his mercy is for those who fear him + +from generation to generation. + +51He has shown strength with his arm; + +he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; + +52he has brought down the mighty from their thrones + +and exalted those of humble estate; + +53he has filled the hungry with good things, + +and the rich he has sent away empty. + +54He has helped his servant Israel, + +in remembrance of his mercy, + +55as he spoke to our fathers, + +to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” + +56And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. + + + + + +The Birth of John the Baptist + + +57Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. + + + + + +Zechariah's Prophecy + + +67And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, + +68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, + +for he has visited and redeemed his people + +69and has raised up a horn of salvation for us + +in the house of his servant David, + +70as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, + +71that we should be saved from our enemies + +and from the hand of all who hate us; + +72to show the mercy promised to our fathers + +and to remember his holy covenant, + +73the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us + +74that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, + +might serve him without fear, + +75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. + +76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; + +for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, + +77to give knowledge of salvation to his people + +in the forgiveness of their sins, + +78because of the tender mercy of our God, + +whereby the sunrise shall visit us[8] from on high + +79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, + +to guide our feet into the way of peace.” + +80And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. + + + + + +The Birth of Jesus Christ + + +2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration when[9] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,[10] who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. + + + + + +The Shepherds and the Angels + + +8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, + +14“Glory to God in the highest, + +and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”[11] + +15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. + +21And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. + + + + + +Jesus Presented at the Temple + + +22And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, + +29“Lord, now you are letting your servant[12] depart in peace, + +according to your word; + +30for my eyes have seen your salvation + +31that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, + +32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, + +and for glory to your people Israel.” + +33And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” + +36And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.[13] She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. + + + + + +The Return to Nazareth + + +39And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. + + + + + +The Boy Jesus in the Temple + + +41Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48And when his parents[14] saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”[15] 50And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. + +52And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature[16] and in favor with God and man. + + + + + +John the Baptist Prepares the Way + + +3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, + +“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: + +‘Prepare the way of the Lord,[17] + +make his paths straight. + +5Every valley shall be filled, + +and every mountain and hill shall be made low, + +and the crooked shall become straight, + +and the rough places shall become level ways, + +6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” + +7He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” + +10And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics[18] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” + +15As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” + +18So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. + +21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;[19] with you I am well pleased.”[20] + + + + + +The Genealogy of Jesus Christ + + +23Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,[21] the son of Neri, 28the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. + + + + + +The Temptation of Jesus + + +4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8And Jesus answered him, “It is written, + +“‘You shall worship the Lord your God, + +and him only shall you serve.’” + +9And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, + +“‘He will command his angels concerning you, + +to guard you,’ + +11and + +“‘On their hands they will bear you up, + +lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” + +12And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. + + + + + +Jesus Begins His Ministry + + +14And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. + + + + + +Jesus Rejected at Nazareth + + +16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, + +18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, + +because he has anointed me + +to proclaim good news to the poor. + +He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives + +and recovering of sight to the blind, + +to set at liberty those who are oppressed, + +19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” + +20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” 23And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” 24And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers[22] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30But passing through their midst, he went away. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon + + +31And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34“Ha![23] What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. + + + + + +Jesus Heals Many + + +38And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. + +40Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. + + + + + +Jesus Preaches in Synagogues + + +42And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.[24] + + + + + +Jesus Calls the First Disciples + + +5:1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses a Leper + + +12While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy.[25] And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13And Jesus[26] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 15But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Paralytic + + +17On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.[27] 18And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” + + + + + +Jesus Calls Levi + + +27After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. + +29And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” + + + + + +A Question About Fasting + + +33And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” 36He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”[28] + + + + + +Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath + + +6:1 On a Sabbath,[29] while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” + + + + + +A Man with a Withered Hand + + +6On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. + + + + + +The Twelve Apostles + + +12In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. + + + + + +Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude + + +17And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. + + + + + +The Beatitudes + + +20And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: + +“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. + +21“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. + +“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. + +22“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. + + + + + +Jesus Pronounces Woes + + +24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. + +25“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. + +“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. + +26“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. + + + + + +Love Your Enemies + + +27“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic[30] either. 30Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. + +32“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. + + + + + +Judging Others + + +37“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” + +39He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. + + + + + +A Tree and Its Fruit + + +43“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. + + + + + +Build Your House on the Rock + + +46“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.[31] 49But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant + + +7:1 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2Now a centurion had a servant[32] who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3When the centurion[33] heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. + + + + + +Jesus Raises a Widow's Son + + +11Soon afterward[34] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus[35] gave him to his mother. 16Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. + + + + + +Messengers from John the Baptist + + +18The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers[36] are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” + +24When John's messengers had gone, Jesus[37] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27This is he of whom it is written, + +“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, + +who will prepare your way before you.’ + +28I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29(When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just,[38] having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) + +31“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, + +“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; + +we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ + +33For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” + + + + + +A Sinful Woman Forgiven + + +36One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” + +41“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49Then those who were at table with him began to say among[39] themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” + + + + + +Women Accompanying Jesus + + +8:1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them[40] out of their means. + + + + + +The Parable of the Sower + + +4And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” + + + + + +The Purpose of the Parables + + +9And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. + + + + + +A Lamp Under a Jar + + +16“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” + + + + + +Jesus' Mother and Brothers + + +19Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” + + + + + +Jesus Calms a Storm + + +22One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon + + +26Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,[41] which is opposite Galilee. 27When Jesus[42] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 30Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. + +34When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed[43] man had been healed. 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter + + +40Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. + +As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians,[44] she could not be healed by anyone. 44She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter[45] said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” + +49While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened. + + + + + +Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles + + +9:1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.[46] 4And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. + + + + + +Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus + + +7Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. 9Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him. + + + + + +Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand + + +10On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. 12Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. + + + + + +Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ + + +18Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells His Death + + +21And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” + + + + + +Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus + + +23And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” + + + + + +The Transfiguration + + +28Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,[47] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One;[48] listen to him!” 36And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit + + +37On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43And all were astonished at the majesty of God. + + + + + +Jesus Again Foretells His Death + + +But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus[49] said to his disciples, 44“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. + + + + + +Who Is the Greatest? + + +46An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” + + + + + +Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us + + +49John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” + + + + + +A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus + + +51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”[50] 55But he turned and rebuked them.[51] 56And they went on to another village. + + + + + +The Cost of Following Jesus + + +57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60And Jesus[52] said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” + + + + + +Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two + + +10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[53] others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. + + + + + +Woe to Unrepentant Cities + + +13“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. + +16“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” + + + + + +The Return of the Seventy-Two + + +17The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” + + + + + +Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will + + +21In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[54] 22All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” + +23Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Good Samaritan + + +25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” + +29But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii[55] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” + + + + + +Martha and Mary + + +38Now as they went on their way, Jesus[56] entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42but one thing is necessary.[57] Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” + + + + + +The Lord's Prayer + + +11:1 Now Jesus[58] was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2And he said to them, “When you pray, say: + +“Father, hallowed be your name. + +Your kingdom come. + +3Give us each day our daily bread,[59] + +4and forgive us our sins, + +for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. + +And lead us not into temptation.” + +5And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence[60] he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11What father among you, if his son asks for[61] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” + + + + + +Jesus and Beelzebul + + +14Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. + + + + + +Return of an Unclean Spirit + + +24“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.” + + + + + +True Blessedness + + +27As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” + + + + + +The Sign of Jonah + + +29When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. + + + + + +The Light in You + + +33“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” + + + + + +Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers + + +37While Jesus[62] was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. + +42“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.” + +45One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” + +53As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. + + + + + +Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees + + +12:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. + + + + + +Have No Fear + + +4“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.[63] Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?[64] And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. + + + + + +Acknowledge Christ Before Men + + +8“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Rich Fool + + +13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” + + + + + +Do Not Be Anxious + + +22And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[65] 26If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[66] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, seek his[67] kingdom, and these things will be added to you. + +32“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. + + + + + +You Must Be Ready + + +35“Stay dressed for action[68] and keep your lamps burning, 36and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those servants[69] whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he[70] would not have left his house to be broken into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” + +41Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is that servant[71] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. + + + + + +Not Peace, but Division + + +49“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” + + + + + +Interpreting the Time + + +54He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? + + + + + +Settle with Your Accuser + + +57“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”[72] + + + + + +Repent or Perish + + +13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree + + +6And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” + + + + + +A Woman with a Disabling Spirit + + +10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. + + + + + +The Mustard Seed and the Leaven + + +18He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” + +20And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” + + + + + +The Narrow Door + + +22He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” + + + + + +Lament over Jerusalem + + +31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 35Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” + + + + + +Healing of a Man on the Sabbath + + +14:1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son[73] or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6And they could not reply to these things. + + + + + +The Parable of the Wedding Feast + + +7Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Great Banquet + + +12He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers[74] or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” + +15When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant[75] to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you,[76] none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” + + + + + +The Cost of Discipleship + + +25Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. + + + + + +Salt Without Taste Is Worthless + + +34“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Lost Sheep + + +15:1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” + +3So he told them this parable: 4“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. + + + + + +The Parable of the Lost Coin + + +8“Or what woman, having ten silver coins,[77] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Prodigal Son + + +11And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to[78] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. + +17“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[79] 22But the father said to his servants,[80] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. + +25“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” + + + + + +The Parable of the Dishonest Manager + + +16:1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6He said, ‘A hundred measures[81] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures[82] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world[83] are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,[84] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. + +10“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” + + + + + +The Law and the Kingdom of God + + +14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. + +16“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.[85] 17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. + + + + + +Divorce and Remarriage + + +18“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. + + + + + +The Rich Man and Lazarus + + +19“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.[86] The rich man also died and was buried, 23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28for I have five brothers[87]—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” + + + + + +Temptations to Sin + + +17:1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin[88] are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.[89] 3Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” + + + + + +Increase Our Faith + + +5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. + + + + + +Unworthy Servants + + +7“Will any one of you who has a servant[90] plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly,[91] and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants;[92] we have only done what was our duty.’” + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers + + +11On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,[93] who stood at a distance 13and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”[94] + + + + + +The Coming of the Kingdom + + +20Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, 21nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”[95] + +22And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.[96] 25But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32Remember Lot's wife. 33Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”[97] 37And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse[98] is, there the vultures[99] will gather.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Persistent Widow + + +18:1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” + + + + + +The Pharisee and the Tax Collector + + +9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[100] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” + + + + + +Let the Children Come to Me + + +15Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” + + + + + +The Rich Ruler + + +18And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” 28And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers[101] or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time + + +31And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar + + +35As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. + + + + + +Jesus and Zacchaeus + + +19:1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. 4So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Ten Minas + + +11As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13Calling ten of his servants,[102] he gave them ten minas,[103] and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant![104] Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’” + + + + + +The Triumphal Entry + + +28And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” + + + + + +Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem + + +41And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses the Temple + + +45And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” + +47And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words. + + + + + +The Authority of Jesus Challenged + + +20:1 One day, as Jesus[105] was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” + + + + + +The Parable of the Wicked Tenants + + +9And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. 10When the time came, he sent a servant[106] to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: + +“‘The stone that the builders rejected + +has become the cornerstone’?[107] + +18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” + + + + + +Paying Taxes to Caesar + + +19The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality,[108] but truly teach the way of God. 22Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 23But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24“Show me a denarius.[109] Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.” 25He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 26And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent. + + + + + +Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection + + +27There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man[110] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30And the second 31and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32Afterward the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.” + +34And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons[111] of the resurrection. 37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” 39Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40For they no longer dared to ask him any question. + + + + + +Whose Son Is the Christ? + + +41But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David's son? 42For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, + +“‘The Lord said to my Lord, + +Sit at my right hand, + +43until I make your enemies your footstool.’ + +44David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” + + + + + +Beware of the Scribes + + +45And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” + + + + + +The Widow's Offering + + +21:1 Jesus[112] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.[113] 3And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple + + +5And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6“As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 7And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution + + +10Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers[114] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17You will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your lives. + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem + + +20“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. + + + + + +The Coming of the Son of Man + + +25“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” + + + + + +The Lesson of the Fig Tree + + +29And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. + + + + + +Watch Yourselves + + +34“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” + +37And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. + + + + + +The Plot to Kill Jesus + + +22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. 2And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. + + + + + +Judas to Betray Jesus + + +3Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd. + + + + + +The Passover with the Disciples + + +7Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8So Jesus[115] sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” 13And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. + + + + + +Institution of the Lord's Supper + + +14And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you I will not eat it[116] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.[117] 21But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. 22For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. + + + + + +Who Is the Greatest? + + +24A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. + +28“You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial + + +31“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you,[118] that he might sift you like wheat, 32but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33Peter[119] said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34Jesus[120] said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.” + + + + + +Scripture Must Be Fulfilled in Jesus + + +35And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. 37For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” 38And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.” + + + + + +Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives + + +39And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.[121] 45And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” + + + + + +Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus + + +47While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 48but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50And one of them struck the servant[122] of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” + + + + + +Peter Denies Jesus + + +54Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. 55And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” 57But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” 58And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” 59And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 60But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62And he went out and wept bitterly. + + + + + +Jesus Is Mocked + + +63Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. 64They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” 65And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him. + + + + + +Jesus Before the Council + + +66When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, 67“If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” 71Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.” + + + + + +Jesus Before Pilate + + +23:1 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” 3And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 4Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” 5But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.” + + + + + +Jesus Before Herod + + +6When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other. + +13Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 16I will therefore punish and release him.”[123] + + + + + +Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified + + +18But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. 20Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, 21but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” 23But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 24So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. + + + + + +The Crucifixion + + +26And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” + +32Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[124] And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38There was also an inscription over him,[125] “This is the King of the Jews.” + +39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him,[126] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” + + + + + +The Death of Jesus + + +44It was now about the sixth hour,[127] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,[128] 45while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. + + + + + +Jesus Is Buried + + +50Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.[129] 55The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. + +On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. + + + + + +The Resurrection + + +24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8And they remembered his words, 9and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. + + + + + +On the Road to Emmaus + + +13That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles[130] from Jerusalem, 14and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. + +28So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. + + + + + +Jesus Appears to His Disciples + + +36As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish,[131] 43and he took it and ate before them. + +44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” + + + + + +The Ascension + + +50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53and were continually in the temple blessing God. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:5 Greek Zacharias + +[2] 1:27 That is, legally pledged to be married + +[3] 1:28 Some manuscripts add Blessed are you among women! + +[4] 1:34 Greek since I do not know a man + +[5] 1:35 Some manuscripts add of you + +[6] 1:38 Greek bondservant; also verse 48 + +[7] 1:45 Or believed, for there will be + +[8] 1:78 Or when the sunrise shall dawn upon us; some manuscripts since the sunrise has visited us + +[9] 2:2 Or This was the registration before + +[10] 2:5 That is, one legally pledged to be married + +[11] 2:14 Some manuscripts peace, good will among men + +[12] 2:29 Greek bondservant + +[13] 2:37 Or as a widow for eighty-four years + +[14] 2:48 Greek they + +[15] 2:49 Or about my Father's business + +[16] 2:52 Or years + +[17] 3:4 Or crying, Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord + +[18] 3:11 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[19] 3:22 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved + +[20] 3:22 Some manuscripts beloved Son; today I have begotten you + +[21] 3:27 Greek Salathiel + +[22] 4:27 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[23] 4:34 Or Leave us alone + +[24] 4:44 Some manuscripts Galilee + +[25] 5:12 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[26] 5:13 Greek he + +[27] 5:17 Some manuscripts was present to heal them + +[28] 5:39 Some manuscripts better + +[29] 6:1 Some manuscripts On the second first Sabbath (that is, on the second Sabbath after the first) + +[30] 6:29 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[31] 6:48 Some manuscripts founded upon the rock + +[32] 7:2 Greek bondservant; also verses 3, 8, 10 + +[33] 7:3 Greek he + +[34] 7:11 Some manuscripts The next day + +[35] 7:15 Greek he + +[36] 7:22 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[37] 7:24 Greek he + +[38] 7:29 Greek they justified God + +[39] 7:49 Or to + +[40] 8:3 Some manuscripts him + +[41] 8:26 Some manuscripts Gadarenes; others Gergesenes; also verse 37 + +[42] 8:27 Greek he; also verses 38, 42 + +[43] 8:36 Greek daimonizomai; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons + +[44] 8:43 Some manuscripts omit and though she had spent all her living on physicians, + +[45] 8:45 Some manuscripts add and those who were with him + +[46] 9:3 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[47] 9:31 Greek exodus + +[48] 9:35 Some manuscripts my Beloved + +[49] 9:43 Greek he + +[50] 9:54 Some manuscripts add as Elijah did + +[51] 9:55 Some manuscripts add and he said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man came not to destroy people's lives but to save them” + +[52] 9:60 Greek he + +[53] 10:1 Some manuscripts seventy; also verse 17 + +[54] 10:21 Or for so it pleased you well + +[55] 10:35 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[56] 10:38 Greek he + +[57] 10:42 Some manuscripts few things are necessary, or only one + +[58] 11:1 Greek he + +[59] 11:3 Or our bread for tomorrow + +[60] 11:8 Or persistence + +[61] 11:11 Some manuscripts insert bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for + +[62] 11:37 Greek he + +[63] 12:5 Greek Gehenna + +[64] 12:6 Greek two assaria; an assarion was a Roman copper coin worth about 1/16 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer) + +[65] 12:25 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[66] 12:27 Some manuscripts Consider the lilies; they neither spin nor weave + +[67] 12:31 Some manuscripts God's + +[68] 12:35 Greek Let your loins stay girded; compare Exodus 12:11 + +[69] 12:37 Greek bondservants + +[70] 12:39 Some manuscripts add would have stayed awake and + +[71] 12:43 Greek bondservant; also verses 45, 46, 47 + +[72] 12:59 Greek lepton, a Jewish bronze or copper coin worth about 1/128 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer) + +[73] 14:5 Some manuscripts a donkey + +[74] 14:12 Or your brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters + +[75] 14:17 Greek bondservant; also verses 21, 22, 23 + +[76] 14:24 The Greek word for you here is plural + +[77] 15:8 Greek ten drachmas; a drachma was a Greek coin approximately equal in value to a Roman denarius, worth about a day's wage for a laborer + +[78] 15:15 Greek joined himself to + +[79] 15:21 Some manuscripts add treat me as one of your hired servants + +[80] 15:22 Greek bondservants + +[81] 16:6 About 875 gallons + +[82] 16:7 Between 1,000 and 1,200 bushels + +[83] 16:8 Greek age + +[84] 16:9 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions; also verse 11; rendered money in verse 13 + +[85] 16:16 Or everyone is forcefully urged into it + +[86] 16:22 Greek bosom; also verse 23 + +[87] 16:28 Or brothers and sisters + +[88] 17:1 Greek Stumbling blocks + +[89] 17:2 Greek stumble + +[90] 17:7 Greek bondservant; also verse 9 + +[91] 17:8 Greek gird yourself + +[92] 17:10 Greek bondservants + +[93] 17:12 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 + +[94] 17:19 Or has saved you + +[95] 17:21 Or within you, or within your grasp + +[96] 17:24 Some manuscripts omit in his day + +[97] 17:35 Some manuscripts add verse 36: Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left + +[98] 17:37 Greek body + +[99] 17:37 Or eagles + +[100] 18:11 Or standing, prayed to himself + +[101] 18:29 Or wife or brothers and sisters + +[102] 19:13 Greek bondservants; also verse 15 + +[103] 19:13 A mina was about three months' wages for a laborer + +[104] 19:17 Greek bondservant; also verse 22 + +[105] 20:1 Greek he + +[106] 20:10 Greek bondservant; also verse 11 + +[107] 20:17 Greek the head of the corner + +[108] 20:21 Greek and do not receive a face + +[109] 20:24 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[110] 20:28 Greek his brother + +[111] 20:36 Greek huioi; see preface + +[112] 21:1 Greek He + +[113] 21:2 Greek two lepta; a lepton was a Jewish bronze or copper coin worth about 1/128 of a denarius (which was a day's wage for a laborer) + +[114] 21:16 Or parents and brothers and sisters + +[115] 22:8 Greek he + +[116] 22:16 Some manuscripts never eat it again + +[117] 22:20 Some manuscripts omit, in whole or in part, verses 19b-20 (which is given . . . in my blood) + +[118] 22:31 The Greek word for you (twice in this verse) is plural; in verse 32, all four instances are singular + +[119] 22:33 Greek He + +[120] 22:34 Greek He + +[121] 22:44 Some manuscripts omit verses 43 and 44 + +[122] 22:50 Greek bondservant + +[123] 23:16 Here, or after verse 19, some manuscripts add verse 17: Now he was obliged to release one man to them at the festival + +[124] 23:34 Some manuscripts omit the sentence And Jesus . . . what they do + +[125] 23:38 Some manuscripts add in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew + +[126] 23:39 Or blasphemed him + +[127] 23:44 That is, noon + +[128] 23:44 That is, 3 P.M. + +[129] 23:54 Greek was dawning + +[130] 24:13 Greek sixty stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters + +[131] 24:42 Some manuscripts add and some honeycomb + + + + + +JOHN + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + + + + + +The Word Became Flesh + + +1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life,[1] and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. + +6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. + +9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own,[2] and his own people[3] did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. + +14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God; the only God,[4] who is at the Father's side,[5] he has made him known. + + + + + +The Testimony of John the Baptist + + +19And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight[6] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” + +24(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. + + + + + +Behold, the Lamb of God + + +29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” + + + + + +Jesus Calls the First Disciples + + +35The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.[7] 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus[8] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter[9]). + + + + + +Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael + + +43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,[10] you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” + + + + + +The Wedding at Cana + + +2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” + +6Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.[11] 7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. + +12After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers[12] and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. + + + + + +Jesus Cleanses the Temple + + +13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” + +18So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. + + + + + +Jesus Knows What Is in Man + + +23Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. + + + + + +You Must Be Born Again + + +3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus[13] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[14] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.[15] 7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[16] must be born again.’ 8The wind[17] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” + +9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you[18] do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.[19] 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.[20] + + + + + +For God So Loved the World + + +16“For God so loved the world,[21] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” + + + + + +John the Baptist Exalts Christ + + +22After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24(for John had not yet been put in prison). + +25Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30He must increase, but I must decrease.”[22] + +31He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. + + + + + +Jesus and the Woman of Samaria + + +4:1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4And he had to pass through Samaria. 5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[23] + +7A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[24] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” + +16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” + +27Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30They went out of the town and were coming to him. + +31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” + +39Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” + +43After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44(For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. + + + + + +Jesus Heals an Official's Son + + +46So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51As he was going down, his servants[25] met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour[26] the fever left him.” 53The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. + + + + + +The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath + + +5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. + +2Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic[27] called Bethesda,[28] which has five roofed colonnades. 3In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.[29] 5One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. + +Now that day was the Sabbath. 10So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” + + + + + +Jesus Is Equal with God + + +18This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. + + + + + +The Authority of the Son + + +19So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[30] does, that the Son does likewise. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. + +25“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. + + + + + +Witnesses to Jesus + + +30“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. 32There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41I do not receive glory from people. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” + + + + + +Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand + + +6:1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[31] would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” + +15Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. + + + + + +Jesus Walks on Water + + +16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles,[32] they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. + + + + + +I Am the Bread of Life + + +22On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. + +25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” + +35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” + +41So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” + +52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread[33] the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59Jesus[34] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. + + + + + +The Words of Eternal Life + + +60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” + +66After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him. + + + + + +Jesus at the Feast of Booths + + +7:1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews[35] were seeking to kill him. 2Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. 3So his brothers[36] said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5For not even his brothers believed in him. 6Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8You go up to the feast. I am not[37] going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9After saying this, he remained in Galilee. + +10But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. + +14About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,[38] when he has never studied?” 16So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 17If anyone's will is to do God's[39] will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 18The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 22Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? 24Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” + + + + + +Can This Be the Christ? + + +25Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 29I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” 30So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” + + + + + +Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus + + +32The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 33Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?” + + + + + +Rivers of Living Water + + +37On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as[40] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. + + + + + +Division Among the People + + +40When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43So there was a division among the people over him. 44Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. + +45The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51“Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” + +[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.][41] + + + + + +The Woman Caught in Adultery + + +53[[They went each to his own house, + + + + + +8:1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]] + + + + + +I Am the Light of the World + + +12Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father[42] who sent me. 17In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. + +21So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30As he was saying these things, many believed in him. + + + + + +The Truth Will Set You Free + + +31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” + +34Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave[43] to sin. 35The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” + + + + + +You Are of Your Father the Devil + + +39They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” + + + + + +Before Abraham Was, I Am + + +48The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’[44] 55But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”[45] 58Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. + + + + + +Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind + + +9:1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. + +8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” + +13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” + +18The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus[46] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” + +24So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. + +35Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[47] 36He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt;[48] but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. + + + + + +I Am the Good Shepherd + + +10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. + +7So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” + +19There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” + + + + + +I and the Father Are One + + +22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me,[49] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one.” + +31The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. + +40He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42And many believed in him there. + + + + + +The Death of Lazarus + + +11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” + +5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So, when he heard that Lazarus[50] was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16So Thomas, called the Twin,[51] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” + + + + + +I Am the Resurrection and the Life + + +17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles[52] off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[53] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” + + + + + +Jesus Weeps + + +28When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” + + + + + +Jesus Raises Lazarus + + +38Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” + + + + + +The Plot to Kill Jesus + + +45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. + +54Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. + +55Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56They were looking for[54] Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him. + + + + + +Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany + + +12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3Mary therefore took a pound[55] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii[56] and given to the poor?” 6He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it[57] for the day of my burial. 8For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” + + + + + +The Plot to Kill Lazarus + + +9When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus[58] was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. + + + + + +The Triumphal Entry + + +12The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, + +15“Fear not, daughter of Zion; + +behold, your king is coming, + +sitting on a donkey's colt!” + +16His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” + + + + + +Some Greeks Seek Jesus + + +20Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. + + + + + +The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up + + +27“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” + + + + + +The Unbelief of the People + + +When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: + +“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, + +and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” + +39Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, + +40“He has blinded their eyes + +and hardened their heart, + +lest they see with their eyes, + +and understand with their heart, and turn, + +and I would heal them.” + +41Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. + + + + + +Jesus Came to Save the World + + +44And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” + + + + + +Jesus Washes the Disciples' Feet + + +13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,[59] but is completely clean. And you[60] are clean, but not every one of you.” 11For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” + +12When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant[61] is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled,[62] ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” + + + + + +One of You Will Betray Me + + +21After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus,[63] 24so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus[64] of whom he was speaking. 25So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. + + + + + +A New Commandment + + +31When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” + + + + + +Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial + + +36Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. + + + + + +I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life + + +14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[65] believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[66] 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4And you know the way to where I am going.”[67] 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[68] From now on you do know him and have seen him.” + +8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. + +12“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask me[69] anything in my name, I will do it. + + + + + +Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit + + +15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[70] to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. + +18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. + +25“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. + + + + + +I Am the True Vine + + +15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. + +12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants,[71] for the servant[72] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another. + + + + + +The Hatred of the World + + +18“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin,[73] but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ + +26“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. + + + + + +16:1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. + + + + + +The Work of the Holy Spirit + + +“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. + +12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. + + + + + +Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy + + +16“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. + + + + + +I Have Overcome the World + + +25“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.[74] 28I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” + +29His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” + + + + + +The High Priestly Prayer + + +17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. + +6“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.[75] 16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them[76] in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sake I consecrate myself,[77] that they also may be sanctified[78] in truth. + +20“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” + + + + + +Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus + + +18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.”[79] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6When Jesus[80] said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 10Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant[81] and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” + + + + + +Jesus Faces Annas and Caiaphas + + +12So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 13First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. + + + + + +Peter Denies Jesus + + +15Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, 16but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18Now the servants[82] and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. + + + + + +The High Priest Questions Jesus + + +19The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” 24Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. + + + + + +Peter Denies Jesus Again + + +25Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed. + + + + + +Jesus Before Pilate + + +28Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters.[83] It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. + + + + + +My Kingdom Is Not of This World + + +33So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” + +After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. 39But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.[84] + + + + + +Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified + + +19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” + +12From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic[85] Gabbatha. 14Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.[86] He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. + + + + + +The Crucifixion + + +So they took Jesus, 17and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” + +23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.[87] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, + +“They divided my garments among them, + +and for my clothing they cast lots.” + +So the soldiers did these things, 25but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. + + + + + +The Death of Jesus + + +28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. + + + + + +Jesus' Side Is Pierced + + +31Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” + + + + + +Jesus Is Buried + + +38After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus[88] by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds[89] in weight. 40So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. + + + + + +The Resurrection + + +20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'[90] head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples went back to their homes. + + + + + +Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene + + +11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,[91] “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. + + + + + +Jesus Appears to the Disciples + + +19On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” + + + + + +Jesus and Thomas + + +24Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin,[92] was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” + +26Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” + + + + + +The Purpose of This Book + + +30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. + + + + + +Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples + + +21:1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. + +4Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards[93] off. + +9When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. + + + + + +Jesus and Peter + + +15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” + + + + + +Jesus and the Beloved Apostle + + +20Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23So the saying spread abroad among the brothers[94] that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” + +24This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. + +25Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:4 Or was not any thing made. That which has been made was life in him + +[2] 1:11 Greek to his own things; that is, to his own domain, or to his own people + +[3] 1:11 People is implied in Greek + +[4] 1:18 Or the only One, who is God; some manuscripts the only Son + +[5] 1:18 Greek in the bosom of the Father + +[6] 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight + +[7] 1:39 That is, about 4 P.M. + +[8] 1:40 Greek him + +[9] 1:42 Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively + +[10] 1:51 The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse + +[11] 2:6 Greek two or three measures (metretas); a metretes was about 10 gallons or 35 liters + +[12] 2:12 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters + +[13] 3:2 Greek him + +[14] 3:3 Or from above; the Greek is purposely ambiguous and can mean both again and from above; also verse 7 + +[15] 3:6 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit + +[16] 3:7 The Greek for you is plural here + +[17] 3:8 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit + +[18] 3:11 The Greek for you is plural here; also four times in verse 12 + +[19] 3:13 Some manuscripts add who is in heaven + +[20] 3:15 Some interpreters hold that the quotation ends at verse 15 + +[21] 3:16 Or For this is how God loved the world + +[22] 3:30 Some interpreters hold that the quotation continues through verse 36 + +[23] 4:6 That is, about noon + +[24] 4:14 Greek forever + +[25] 4:51 Greek bondservants + +[26] 4:52 That is, at 1 P.M. + +[27] 5:2 Or Hebrew + +[28] 5:2 Some manuscripts Bethsaida + +[29] 5:3 Some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part, waiting for the moving of the water; 4for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had + +[30] 5:19 Greek he + +[31] 6:7 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[32] 6:19 Greek twenty-five or thirty stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters + +[33] 6:58 Greek lacks the bread + +[34] 6:59 Greek He + +[35] 7:1 Or Judeans + +[36] 7:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10 + +[37] 7:8 Some manuscripts add yet + +[38] 7:15 Or this man knows his letters + +[39] 7:17 Greek his + +[40] 7:38 Or let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As + +[41] 7:53 Some manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text + +[42] 8:16 Some manuscripts he + +[43] 8:34 Greek bondservant; also verse 35 + +[44] 8:54 Some manuscripts your God + +[45] 8:57 Some manuscripts has Abraham seen you? + +[46] 9:22 Greek him + +[47] 9:35 Some manuscripts the Son of God + +[48] 9:41 Greek you would not have sin + +[49] 10:29 Some manuscripts What my Father has given to me + +[50] 11:6 Greek he; also verse 17 + +[51] 11:16 Greek Didymus + +[52] 11:18 Greek fifteen stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters + +[53] 11:25 Some manuscripts omit and the life + +[54] 11:56 Greek were seeking for + +[55] 12:3 Greek litra; a litra (or Roman pound) was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams + +[56] 12:5 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[57] 12:7 Or Leave her alone; she intended to keep it + +[58] 12:9 Greek he + +[59] 13:10 Some manuscripts omit except for his feet + +[60] 13:10 The Greek words for you in this verse are plural + +[61] 13:16 Greek bondservant + +[62] 13:18 Greek But in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled + +[63] 13:23 Greek in the bosom of Jesus + +[64] 13:24 Greek lacks Jesus + +[65] 14:1 Or You believe in God + +[66] 14:2 Or In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you + +[67] 14:4 Some manuscripts Where I am going you know, and the way you know + +[68] 14:7 Or If you know me, you will know my Father also, or If you have known me, you will know my Father also + +[69] 14:14 Some manuscripts omit me + +[70] 14:16 Or Advocate, or Counselor; also 14:26; 15:26; 16:7 + +[71] 15:15 Greek bondservants + +[72] 15:15 Greek bondservant; also verse 20 + +[73] 15:22 Greek they would not have sin; also verse 24 + +[74] 16:27 Some manuscripts from the Father + +[75] 17:15 Or from evil + +[76] 17:17 Greek Set them apart (for holy service to God) + +[77] 17:19 Or I sanctify myself; or I set myself apart (for holy service to God) + +[78] 17:19 Greek may be set apart (for holy service to God) + +[79] 18:5 Greek I am; also verses 6, 8 + +[80] 18:6 Greek he + +[81] 18:10 Greek bondservant; twice in this verse + +[82] 18:18 Greek bondservants; also verse 26 + +[83] 18:28 Greek the praetorium + +[84] 18:40 Or an insurrectionist + +[85] 19:13 Or Hebrew; also verses 17, 20 + +[86] 19:14 That is, about noon + +[87] 19:23 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[88] 19:39 Greek him + +[89] 19:39 Greek one hundred litras; a litra (or Roman pound) was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams + +[90] 20:7 Greek his + +[91] 20:16 Or Hebrew + +[92] 20:24 Greek Didymus + +[93] 21:8 Greek two hundred cubits; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[94] 21:23 Or brothers and sisters + + + + + +ACTS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + +Chapter 23 + +Chapter 24 + +Chapter 25 + +Chapter 26 + +Chapter 27 + +Chapter 28 + + + + + +The Promise of the Holy Spirit + + +1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. + +4And while staying[1] with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[2] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” + + + + + +The Ascension + + +6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” + + + + + +Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas + + +12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.[3] + +15In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong[4] he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the Book of Psalms, + +“‘May his camp become desolate, + +and let there be no one to dwell in it’; + +and + +“‘Let another take his office.’ + +21So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. + + + + + +The Coming of the Holy Spirit + + +2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[5] on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. + +5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” + + + + + +Peter's Sermon at Pentecost + + +14But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.[6] 16But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: + +17“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, + +that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, + +and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, + +and your young men shall see visions, + +and your old men shall dream dreams; + +18even on my male servants[7] and female servants + +in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. + +19And I will show wonders in the heavens above + +and signs on the earth below, + +blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; + +20the sun shall be turned to darkness + +and the moon to blood, + +before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. + +21And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ + +22“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25For David says concerning him, + +“‘I saw the Lord always before me, + +for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; + +26therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; + +my flesh also will dwell in hope. + +27For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, + +or let your Holy One see corruption. + +28You have made known to me the paths of life; + +you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ + +29“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, + +“‘The Lord said to my Lord, + +Sit at my right hand, + +35until I make your enemies your footstool.’ + +36Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” + +37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. + + + + + +The Fellowship of the Believers + + +42And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe[8] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. + + + + + +The Lame Beggar Healed + + +3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.[9] 2And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. + + + + + +Peter Speaks in Solomon's Portico + + +11While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. 12And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant[10] Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus[11] has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. + +17“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” + + + + + +Peter and John Before the Council + + +4:1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. + +5On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11This Jesus[12] is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.[13] 12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” + +13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. + + + + + +The Believers Pray for Boldness + + +23When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,[14] said by the Holy Spirit, + +“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, + +and the peoples plot in vain? + +26The kings of the earth set themselves, + +and the rulers were gathered together, + +against the Lord and against his Anointed’[15]— + +27for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants[16] to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. + + + + + +They Had Everything in Common + + +32Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. + + + + + +Ananias and Sapphira + + +5:1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. + +7After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you[17] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. + + + + + +Many Signs and Wonders Done + + +12Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. + + + + + +The Apostles Arrested and Freed + + +17But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20“Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. + +Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23“We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. + +27And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” 29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” + +33When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. + + + + + +Seven Chosen to Serve + + +6:1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists[18] arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3Therefore, brothers,[19] pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. + +7And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. + + + + + +Stephen Is Seized + + +8And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. + + + + + +Stephen's Speech + + +7:1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2And Stephen said: + +“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. + +9“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 14And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. + +17“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. 19He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 20At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. + +23“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. + +30“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’ + +35“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 39Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: + +“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, + +during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? + +43You took up the tent of Moloch + +and the star of your god Rephan, + +the images that you made to worship; + +and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’ + +44“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[20] 47But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, + +49“‘Heaven is my throne, + +and the earth is my footstool. + +What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, + +or what is the place of my rest? + +50Did not my hand make all these things?’ + +51“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” + + + + + +The Stoning of Stephen + + +54Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together[21] at him. 58Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. + + + + + +Saul Ravages the Church + + +8:1 And Saul approved of his execution. + +And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. + + + + + +Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria + + +4Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5Philip went down to the city[22] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8So there was much joy in that city. + + + + + +Simon the Magician Believes + + +9But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles[23] performed, he was amazed. + +14Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23For I see that you are in the gall[24] of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” + +25Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. + + + + + +Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch + + +26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[25] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: + +“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter + +and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, + +so he opens not his mouth. + +33In his humiliation justice was denied him. + +Who can describe his generation? + +For his life is taken away from the earth.” + +34And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”[26] 38And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. + + + + + +The Conversion of Saul + + +9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. + +10Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19and taking food, he was strengthened. + + + + + +Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues + + +For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. + + + + + +Saul Escapes from Damascus + + +23When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,[27] lowering him in a basket. + + + + + +Saul in Jerusalem + + +26And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists.[28] But they were seeking to kill him. 30And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. + +31So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. + + + + + +The Healing of Aeneas + + +32Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. + + + + + +Dorcas Restored to Life + + +36Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.[29] She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics[30] and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. + + + + + +Peter and Cornelius + + +10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3About the ninth hour of the day[31] he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. + + + + + +Peter's Vision + + +9The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour[32] to pray. 10And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. + +17Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate 18and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” 21And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23So he invited them in to be his guests. + +The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.” + +30And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour,[33] and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” + + + + + +Gentiles Hear the Good News + + +34So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” + + + + + +The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles + + +44While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. + + + + + +Peter Reports to the Church + + +11:1 Now the apostles and the brothers[34] who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” + + + + + +The Church in Antioch + + +19Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists[35] also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. + +27Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers[36] living in Judea. 30And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. + + + + + +James Killed and Peter Imprisoned + + +12:1 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. + + + + + +Peter Is Rescued + + +6Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. 8And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 11When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” + +12When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 17But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.”[37] Then he departed and went to another place. + +18Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there. + + + + + +The Death of Herod + + +20Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food. 21On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. 22And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” 23Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. + +24But the word of God increased and multiplied. + +25And Barnabas and Saul returned from[38] Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. + + + + + +Barnabas and Saul Sent Off + + +13:1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,[39] Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. + + + + + +Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus + + +4So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. + + + + + +Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia + + +13Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: + +“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18And for about forty years he put up with[40] them in the wilderness. 19And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ + +26“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead, 31and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, + +“‘You are my Son, + +today I have begotten you.’ + +34And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, + +“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ + +35Therefore he says also in another psalm, + +“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ + +36For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39and by him everyone who believes is freed[41] from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: + +41“‘Look, you scoffers, + +be astounded and perish; + +for I am doing a work in your days, + +a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’” + +42As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. + +44The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, + +“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, + +that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” + +48And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. + + + + + +Paul and Barnabas at Iconium + + +14:1 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.[42] 3So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7and there they continued to preach the gospel. + + + + + +Paul and Barnabas at Lystra + + +8Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,[43] 10said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. 11And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them. + + + + + +Paul Stoned at Lystra + + +19But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. + + + + + +Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria + + +24Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28And they remained no little time with the disciples. + + + + + +The Jerusalem Council + + +15:1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.[44] 4When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” + +6The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” + +12And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, + +16“‘After this I will return, + +and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; + +I will rebuild its ruins, + +and I will restore it, + +17that the remnant[45] of mankind may seek the Lord, + +and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, + +says the Lord, who makes these things 18known from of old.’ + +19Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” + + + + + +The Council's Letter to Gentile Believers + + +22Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers[46] who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you[47] with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” + +30So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.[48] 35But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. + + + + + +Paul and Barnabas Separate + + +36And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. + + + + + +Timothy Joins Paul and Silas + + +16:1 Paul[49] came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2He was well spoken of by the brothers[50] at Lystra and Iconium. 3Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. + + + + + +The Macedonian Call + + +6And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10And when Paul[51] had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. + + + + + +The Conversion of Lydia + + +11So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the[52] district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. + + + + + +Paul and Silas in Prison + + +16As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants[53] of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. + +19But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. + + + + + +The Philippian Jailer Converted + + +25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29And the jailer[54] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. + +35But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. + + + + + +Paul and Silas in Thessalonica + + +17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. + + + + + +Paul and Silas in Berea + + +10The brothers[55] immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 13But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. + + + + + +Paul in Athens + + +16Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. + + + + + +Paul Addresses the Areopagus + + +22So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,[56] 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28for + +“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;[57] + +as even some of your own poets have said, + +“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’[58] + +29Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” + +32Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33So Paul went out from their midst. 34But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. + + + + + +Paul in Corinth + + +18:1 After this Paul[59] left Athens and went to Corinth. 2And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. + +5When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. + +12But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 13saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16And he drove them from the tribunal. 17And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this. + + + + + +Paul Returns to Antioch + + +18After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers[60] and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus. + +22When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. + + + + + +Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus + + +24Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit,[61] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. + + + + + +Paul in Ephesus + + +19:1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland[62] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” 4And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized in[63] the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7There were about twelve men in all. + +8And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.[64] 10This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. + + + + + +The Sons of Sceva + + +11And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all[65] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. + + + + + +A Riot at Ephesus + + +21Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. + +23About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” + +28When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. 30But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31And even some of the Asiarchs,[66] who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” + +35And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?[67] 36Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39But if you seek anything further,[68] it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. + + + + + +Paul in Macedonia and Greece + + +20:1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. + + + + + +Eutychus Raised from the Dead + + +7On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. + +13But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and[69] the day after that we went to Miletus. 16For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. + + + + + +Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders + + +17Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18And when they came to him, he said to them: + +“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by[70] the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, 27for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[71] which he obtained with his own blood.[72] 29I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. 32And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” + +36And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. + + + + + +Paul Goes to Jerusalem + + +21:1 And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.[73] 2And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. + +7When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers[74] and stayed with them for one day. 8On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied. 10While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” + +15After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge. + + + + + +Paul Visits James + + +17When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled,[75] and from sexual immorality.” 26Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them. + + + + + +Paul Arrested in the Temple + + +27When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 34Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!” + + + + + +Paul Speaks to the People + + +37As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 39Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language,[76] saying: + + + + + +22:1 “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.” + +2And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said: + +3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel[77] according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 4I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. + +6“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand[78] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. + +12“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ + +17“When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” + + + + + +Paul and the Roman Tribune + + +22Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” 23And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25But when they had stretched him out for the whips,[79] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him. + + + + + +Paul Before the Council + + +30But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. + + + + + +23:1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” 4Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God's high priest?” 5And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” + +6Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks. + +11The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” + + + + + +A Plot to Kill Paul + + +12When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. 14They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. 15Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.” + +16Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” 18So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” 19The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. 21But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” 22So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.” + + + + + +Paul Sent to Felix the Governor + + +23Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.[80] 24Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” 25And he wrote a letter to this effect: + +26“Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 29I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.” + +31So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. 33When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 34On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, 35he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's praetorium. + + + + + +Paul Before Felix at Caesarea + + +24:1 And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul. 2And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: + +“Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, 3in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. 4But, to detain[81] you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. 5For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. 6He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.[82] 8By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.” + +9The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so. + +10And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied: + +“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. 11You can verify that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem, 12and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. 13Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. 14But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 15having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. 16So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. 17Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. 18While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia— 19they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me. 20Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, 21other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’” + + + + + +Paul Kept in Custody + + +22But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” 23Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. + +24After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” 26At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. 27When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. + + + + + +Paul Appeals to Caesar + + +25:1 Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 3asking as a favor against Paul[83] that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. 4Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.” + +6After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove. 8Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.” 9But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” 10But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. 11If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.” 12Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.” + + + + + +Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice + + +13Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. 14And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix, 15and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. 17So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. 18When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. 19Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. 21But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” 22Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.” + +23So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. 26But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. 27For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.” + + + + + +Paul's Defense Before Agrippa + + +26:1 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: + +2“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. + +4“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. 6And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 8Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? + +9“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. + + + + + +Paul Tells of His Conversion + + +12“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,[84] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ + +19“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” + +24And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”[85] 29And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” + +30Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” + + + + + +Paul Sails for Rome + + +27:1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. 4And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. + +9Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast[86] was already over, Paul advised them, 10saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there. + + + + + +The Storm at Sea + + +13Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda,[87] we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. 17After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear,[88] and thus they were driven along. 18Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. + +21Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26But we must run aground on some island.” + +27When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms.[89] A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.[90] 29And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go. + +33As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37(We were in all 276[91] persons in the ship.) 38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. + + + + + +The Shipwreck + + +39Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41But striking a reef,[92] they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land. + + + + + +Paul on Malta + + +28:1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2The native people[93] showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice[94] has not allowed him to live.” 5He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. + +7Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. 9And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10They also honored us greatly,[95] and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. + + + + + +Paul Arrives at Rome + + +11After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods[96] as a figurehead. 12Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. 13And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14There we found brothers[97] and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 15And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. 16And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him. + + + + + +Paul in Rome + + +17After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. 20For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” 21And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. 22But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” + +23When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. 25And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: + +26“‘Go to this people, and say, + +You will indeed hear but never understand, + +and you will indeed see but never perceive. + +27For this people's heart has grown dull, + +and with their ears they can barely hear, + +and their eyes they have closed; + +lest they should see with their eyes + +and hear with their ears + +and understand with their heart + +and turn, and I would heal them.’ + +28Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”[98] + +30He lived there two whole years at his own expense,[99] and welcomed all who came to him, 31proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:4 Or eating + +[2] 1:5 Or in + +[3] 1:14 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verse 15 + +[4] 1:18 Or swelling up + +[5] 2:3 Or And tongues as of fire appeared to them, distributed among them, and rested + +[6] 2:15 That is, 9 A.M. + +[7] 2:18 Greek bondservants; twice in this verse + +[8] 2:43 Or fear + +[9] 3:1 That is, 3 P.M. + +[10] 3:13 Or child; also verse 26 + +[11] 3:16 Greek him + +[12] 4:11 Greek This one + +[13] 4:11 Greek the head of the corner + +[14] 4:25 Or child; also verses 27, 30 + +[15] 4:26 Or Christ + +[16] 4:29 Greek bondservants + +[17] 5:8 The Greek for you is plural here + +[18] 6:1 That is, Greek-speaking Jews + +[19] 6:3 Or brothers and sisters + +[20] 7:46 Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob + +[21] 7:57 Or rushed with one mind + +[22] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city + +[23] 8:13 Greek works of power + +[24] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile + +[25] 8:26 Or go at about noon + +[26] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” + +[27] 9:25 Greek through the wall + +[28] 9:29 That is, Greek-speaking Jews + +[29] 9:36 The Aramaic name Tabitha and the Greek name Dorcas both mean gazelle + +[30] 9:39 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + +[31] 10:3 That is, 3 P.M. + +[32] 10:9 That is, noon + +[33] 10:30 That is, 3 P.M. + +[34] 11:1 Or brothers and sisters + +[35] 11:20 Or Greeks (that is, Greek-speaking non-Jews) + +[36] 11:29 Or brothers and sisters + +[37] 12:17 Or brothers and sisters + +[38] 12:25 Some manuscripts to + +[39] 13:1 Niger is a Latin word meaning black, or dark + +[40] 13:18 Some manuscripts he carried (compare Deuteronomy 1:31) + +[41] 13:39 Greek justified; twice in this verse + +[42] 14:2 Or brothers and sisters + +[43] 14:9 Or be saved + +[44] 15:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 22 + +[45] 15:17 Or rest + +[46] 15:23 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 32, 33, 36 + +[47] 15:24 Some manuscripts some persons from us have troubled you + +[48] 15:33 Some manuscripts insert verse 34: But it seemed good to Silas to remain there + +[49] 16:1 Greek He + +[50] 16:2 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 40 + +[51] 16:10 Greek he + +[52] 16:12 Or that + +[53] 16:17 Greek bondservants + +[54] 16:29 Greek he + +[55] 17:10 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 14 + +[56] 17:24 Greek made by hands + +[57] 17:28 Probably from Epimenides of Crete + +[58] 17:28 From Aratus's poem “Phainomena” + +[59] 18:1 Greek he + +[60] 18:18 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 27 + +[61] 18:25 Or in the Spirit + +[62] 19:1 Greek upper (that is, highland) + +[63] 19:5 Or into + +[64] 19:9 Some manuscripts add from the fifth hour to the tenth (that is, from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M.) + +[65] 19:16 Or both + +[66] 19:31 That is, high-ranking officers of the province of Asia + +[67] 19:35 The meaning of the Greek is uncertain + +[68] 19:39 Some manuscripts seek about other matters + +[69] 20:15 Some manuscripts add after remaining at Trogyllium + +[70] 20:22 Or bound in + +[71] 20:28 Some manuscripts of the Lord + +[72] 20:28 Or with the blood of his Own + +[73] 21:1 Some manuscripts add and Myra + +[74] 21:7 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 + +[75] 21:25 Some manuscripts omit and from what has been strangled + +[76] 21:40 Or the Hebrew dialect (that is, Aramaic); also 22:2 + +[77] 22:3 Or city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated + +[78] 22:9 Or hear with understanding + +[79] 22:25 Or when they had tied him up with leather strips + +[80] 23:23 That is, 9 P.M. + +[81] 24:4 Or weary + +[82] 24:6 Some manuscripts add and we would have judged him according to our law. 7But the chief captain Lysias came and with great violence took him out of our hands, 8commanding his accusers to come before you. + +[83] 25:3 Greek him + +[84] 26:14 Or the Hebrew dialect (that is, Aramaic) + +[85] 26:28 Or In a short time you would persuade me to act like a Christian! + +[86] 27:9 That is, the Day of Atonement + +[87] 27:16 Some manuscripts Clauda + +[88] 27:17 That is, the sea-anchor (or possibly the mainsail) + +[89] 27:28 About 120 feet; a fathom (Greek orguia) was about 6 feet or 2 meters + +[90] 27:28 About 90 feet (see previous note) + +[91] 27:37 Some manuscripts seventy-six, or about seventy-six + +[92] 27:41 Or sandbank, or crosscurrent; Greek place between two seas + +[93] 28:2 Greek barbaroi (that is, non–Greek speakers); also verse 4 + +[94] 28:4 Or justice + +[95] 28:10 Greek honored us with many honors + +[96] 28:11 That is, the Greek gods Castor and Pollux + +[97] 28:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 15, 21 + +[98] 28:28 Some manuscripts add verse 29: And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, having much dispute among themselves + +[99] 28:30 Or in his own hired dwelling + + + + + +ROMANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, a servant[1] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David[2] according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, + +7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: + +Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +Longing to Go to Rome + + +8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13I want you to know, brothers,[3] that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,[4] both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. + + + + + +The Righteous Shall Live by Faith + + +16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,[5] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”[6] + + + + + +God's Wrath on Unrighteousness + + +18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. + +24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. + +26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. + +28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. + + + + + +God's Righteous Judgment + + +2:1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. + +6He will render to each one according to his works: 7to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8but for those who are self-seeking[7] and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11For God shows no partiality. + + + + + +God's Judgment and the Law + + +12For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. + +17But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” + +25For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded[8] as circumcision? 27Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code[9] and circumcision but break the law. 28For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. + + + + + +God's Righteousness Upheld + + +3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, + +“That you may be justified in your words, + +and prevail when you are judged.” + +5But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. + + + + + +No One Is Righteous + + +9What then? Are we Jews[10] any better off?[11] No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10as it is written: + +“None is righteous, no, not one; + +11no one understands; + +no one seeks for God. + +12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; + +no one does good, + +not even one.” + +13“Their throat is an open grave; + +they use their tongues to deceive.” + +“The venom of asps is under their lips.” + +14“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” + +15“Their feet are swift to shed blood; + +16in their paths are ruin and misery, + +17and the way of peace they have not known.” + +18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” + +19Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20For by works of the law no human being[12] will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. + + + + + +The Righteousness of God Through Faith + + +21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. + +27Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. + + + + + +Abraham Justified by Faith + + +4:1 What then shall we say was gained by[13] Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5And to the one who does not work but believes in[14] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: + +7“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, + +and whose sins are covered; + +8blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” + +9Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. + + + + + +The Promise Realized Through Faith + + +13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. + +16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. + + + + + +Peace with God Through Faith + + +5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[15] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith[16] into this grace in which we stand, and we[17] rejoice[18] in hope of the glory of God. 3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. + +6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. + + + + + +Death in Adam, Life in Christ + + +12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. + +15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. + +18Therefore, as one trespass[19] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[20] leads to justification and life for all men. 19For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. + + + + + +Dead to Sin, Alive to God + + +6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. + +5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self[21] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free[22] from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. + +12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. + + + + + +Slaves to Righteousness + + +15What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,[23] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. + +20For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. + + + + + +Released from the Law + + +7:1 Or do you not know, brothers[24]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.[25] 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. + +4Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.[26] + + + + + +The Law and Sin + + +7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. + +13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. + +21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. + + + + + +Life in the Spirit + + +8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[27] 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you[28] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,[29] he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. + +9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. + + + + + +Heirs with Christ + + +12So then, brothers,[30] we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[31] of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. + + + + + +Future Glory + + +18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. + +26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because[32] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[33] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. + + + + + +God's Everlasting Love + + +31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be[34] against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[35] 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, + +“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; + +we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” + +37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. + + + + + +God's Sovereign Choice + + +9:1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[36] my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. + +6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” + +14What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16So then it depends not on human will or exertion,[37] but on God, who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. + +19You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25As indeed he says in Hosea, + +“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ + +and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” + +26“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ + +there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” + +27And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel[38] be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29And as Isaiah predicted, + +“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, + +we would have been like Sodom + +and become like Gomorrah.” + + + + + +Israel's Unbelief + + +30What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness[39] did not succeed in reaching that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33as it is written, + +“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; + +and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” + + + + + +10:1 Brothers,[40] my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.[41] + + + + + +The Message of Salvation to All + + +5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” + +14How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?[42] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. + +18But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for + +“Their voice has gone out to all the earth, + +and their words to the ends of the world.” + +19But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, + +“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; + +with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” + +20Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, + +“I have been found by those who did not seek me; + +I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” + +21But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” + + + + + +The Remnant of Israel + + +11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham,[43] a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. + +7What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8as it is written, + +“God gave them a spirit of stupor, + +eyes that would not see + +and ears that would not hear, + +down to this very day.” + +9And David says, + +“Let their table become a snare and a trap, + +a stumbling block and a retribution for them; + +10let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, + +and bend their backs forever.” + + + + + +Gentiles Grafted In + + +11So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion[44] mean! + +13Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. + +17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[45] of the olive tree, 18do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. + + + + + +The Mystery of Israel's Salvation + + +25Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers:[46] a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, + +“The Deliverer will come from Zion, + +he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; + +27“and this will be my covenant with them + +when I take away their sins.” + +28As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now[47] receive mercy. 32For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. + +33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! + +34“For who has known the mind of the Lord, + +or who has been his counselor?” + +35“Or who has given a gift to him + +that he might be repaid?” + +36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. + + + + + +A Living Sacrifice + + +12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[48] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[49] 2Do not be conformed to this world,[50] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[51] + + + + + +Gifts of Grace + + +3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4For as in one body we have many members,[52] and the members do not all have the same function, 5so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,[53] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. + + + + + +Marks of the True Christian + + +9Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[54] serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. + +14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.[55] Never be wise in your own sight. 17Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[56] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. + + + + + +Submission to the Authorities + + +13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. + + + + + +Fulfilling the Law Through Love + + +8Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. + +11Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. + + + + + +Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another + + +14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master[57] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. + +5One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. + +10Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written, + +“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, + +and every tongue shall confess[58] to God.” + +12So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. + + + + + +Do Not Cause Another to Stumble + + +13Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. + +20Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.[59] 22The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.[60] + + + + + +The Example of Christ + + +15:1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. + + + + + +Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles + + +8For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, + +“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, + +and sing to your name.” + +10And again it is said, + +“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” + +11And again, + +“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, + +and let all the peoples extol him.” + +12And again Isaiah says, + +“The root of Jesse will come, + +even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; + +in him will the Gentiles hope.” + +13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. + + + + + +Paul the Minister to the Gentiles + + +14I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,[61] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21but as it is written, + +“Those who have never been told of him will see, + +and those who have never heard will understand.” + + + + + +Paul's Plan to Visit Rome + + +22This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,[62] I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing[63] of Christ. + +30I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. + + + + + +Personal Greetings + + +16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant[64] of the church at Cenchreae, 2that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. + +3Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert[65] to Christ in Asia. 6Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7Greet Andronicus and Junia,[66] my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,[67] and they were in Christ before me. 8Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers[68] who are with them. 15Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. + + + + + +Final Instructions and Greetings + + +17I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,[69] and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. + +21Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. + +22I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. + +23Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.[70] + + + + + +Doxology + + +25Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or slave; Greek bondservant + +[2] 1:3 Or who came from the offspring of David + +[3] 1:13 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[4] 1:14 That is, non-Greeks + +[5] 1:17 Or beginning and ending in faith + +[6] 1:17 Or The one who by faith is righteous shall live + +[7] 2:8 Or contentious + +[8] 2:26 Or counted + +[9] 2:27 Or the letter + +[10] 3:9 Greek Are we + +[11] 3:9 Or at any disadvantage? + +[12] 3:20 Greek flesh + +[13] 4:1 Some manuscripts say about + +[14] 4:5 Or but trusts; compare verse 24 + +[15] 5:1 Some manuscripts let us + +[16] 5:2 Some manuscripts omit by faith + +[17] 5:2 Or let us; also verse 3 + +[18] 5:2 Or boast; also verses 3, 11 + +[19] 5:18 Or the trespass of one + +[20] 5:18 Or the act of righteousness of one + +[21] 6:6 Greek man + +[22] 6:7 Greek has been justified + +[23] 6:16 Greek bondservants. Twice in this verse and verse 19; also once in verses 17, 20 + +[24] 7:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 4 + +[25] 7:2 Greek law concerning the husband + +[26] 7:6 Greek of the letter + +[27] 8:1 Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit) + +[28] 8:2 Some manuscripts me + +[29] 8:3 Or and as a sin offering + +[30] 8:12 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 29 + +[31] 8:14 See discussion on “sons” in the preface + +[32] 8:27 Or that + +[33] 8:28 Some manuscripts God works all things together for good, or God works in all things for the good + +[34] 8:31 Or who is + +[35] 8:34 Or Is it Christ Jesus who died . . . for us? + +[36] 9:3 Or brothers and sisters + +[37] 9:16 Greek not of him who wills or runs + +[38] 9:27 Or children of Israel + +[39] 9:31 Greek a law of righteousness + +[40] 10:1 Or Brothers and sisters + +[41] 10:4 Or end of the law, that everyone who believes may be justified + +[42] 10:14 Or him whom they have never heard + +[43] 11:1 Or one of the offspring of Abraham + +[44] 11:12 Greek their fullness + +[45] 11:17 Greek root of richness; some manuscripts richness + +[46] 11:25 Or brothers and sisters + +[47] 11:31 Some manuscripts omit now + +[48] 12:1 Or brothers and sisters + +[49] 12:1 Or your rational service + +[50] 12:2 Greek age + +[51] 12:2 Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God + +[52] 12:4 Greek parts; also verse 5 + +[53] 12:8 Or gives aid + +[54] 12:11 Or fervent in the Spirit + +[55] 12:16 Or give yourselves to humble tasks + +[56] 12:19 Greek give place + +[57] 14:4 Or lord + +[58] 14:11 Or shall give praise + +[59] 14:21 Some manuscripts add or be hindered or be weakened + +[60] 14:23 Some manuscripts insert here 16:25-27 + +[61] 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30 + +[62] 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit + +[63] 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel + +[64] 16:1 Or deaconess + +[65] 16:5 Greek firstfruit + +[66] 16:7 Or Junias + +[67] 16:7 Or messengers + +[68] 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 + +[69] 16:18 Greek their own belly + +[70] 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. + + + + + +1 CORINTHIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, + +2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: + +3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +Thanksgiving + + +4I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. + + + + + +Divisions in the Church + + +10I appeal to you, brothers,[1] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. + + + + + +Christ the Wisdom and Power of God + + +18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, + +“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, + +and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” + +20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. + +26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,[2] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being[3] might boast in the presence of God. 30And because of him[4] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” + + + + + +Proclaiming Christ Crucified + + +2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers,[5] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony[6] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. + + + + + +Wisdom from the Spirit + + +6Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written, + +“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, + +nor the heart of man imagined, + +what God has prepared for those who love him”— + +10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.[7] + +14The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. + + + + + +Divisions in the Church + + +3:1 But I, brothers,[8] could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? + +5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. + +10According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. + +16Do you not know that you[9] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. + +18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. + + + + + +The Ministry of Apostles + + +4:1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. + +6I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,[10] that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? + +8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. + +14I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17That is why I sent[11] you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ,[12] as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? + + + + + +Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church + + +5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. 2And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. + +3For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.[13] + +6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. + +9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges[14] those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” + + + + + +Lawsuits Against Believers + + +6:1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 2Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers![15] + +9Or do you not know that the unrighteous[16] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[17] 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. + + + + + +Flee Sexual Immorality + + +12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Or do you not know that he who is joined[18] to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin[19] a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. + + + + + +Principles for Marriage + + +7:1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. + +6Now as a concession, not a command, I say this.[20] 7I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. + +8To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. 9But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. + +10To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband 11(but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife. + +12To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you[21] to peace. 16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? + + + + + +Live as You Are Called + + +17Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. 18Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. 20Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21Were you a slave[22] when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. 23You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. 24So, brothers,[23] in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. + + + + + +The Unmarried and the Widowed + + +25Now concerning[24] the betrothed,[25] I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26I think that in view of the present[26] distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman[27] marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. + +32I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. + +36If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,[28] if his[29] passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. + +39A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God. + + + + + +Food Offered to Idols + + +8:1 Now concerning[30] food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.[31] + +4Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. + +7However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating[32] in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged,[33] if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12Thus, sinning against your brothers[34] and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. + + + + + +Paul Surrenders His Rights + + +9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. + +3This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,[35] as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? + +8Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? + +Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. + +15But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 16For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. + +19For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. + +24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control,[36] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. + + + + + +Warning Against Idolatry + + +10:1 For I want you to know, brothers,[37] that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. + +6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christ[38] to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. + +14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18Consider the people of Israel:[39] are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? + + + + + +Do All to the Glory of God + + +23“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” 27If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? 30If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? + +31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. + + + + + +11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. + + + + + +Head Coverings + + +2Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife[40] is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5but every wife[41] who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.[42] 11Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. + + + + + +The Lord's Supper + + +17But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,[43] 19for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. + +23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for[44] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[45] 25In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. + +27Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.[46] 31But if we judged[47] ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined[48] so that we may not be condemned along with the world. + +33So then, my brothers,[49] when you come together to eat, wait for[50] one another— 34if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come. + + + + + +Spiritual Gifts + + +12:1 Now concerning[51] spiritual gifts,[52] brothers,[53] I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. + +4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. + + + + + +One Body with Many Members + + +12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[54] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. + +14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts,[55] yet one body. + +21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. + +27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But earnestly desire the higher gifts. + +And I will show you a still more excellent way. + + + + + +The Way of Love + + +13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[56] but have not love, I gain nothing. + +4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[57] 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. + +8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. + +13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. + + + + + +Prophecy and Tongues + + +14:1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. + +6Now, brothers,[58] if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. + +13Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. 14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider[59] say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. + +20Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign[60] not for unbelievers but for believers. 23If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. + + + + + +Orderly Worship + + +26What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. + +As in all the churches of the saints, 34the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. + +36Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 37If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. 38If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40But all things should be done decently and in order. + + + + + +The Resurrection of Christ + + +15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers,[61] of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. + +3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. + + + + + +The Resurrection of the Dead + + +12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in Christ we have hope[62] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. + +20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27For “God[63] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. + +29Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30Why are we in danger every hour? 31I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”[64] 34Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. + + + + + +The Resurrection Body + + +35But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. + +42So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;[65] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall[66] also bear the image of the man of heaven. + + + + + +Mystery and Victory + + +50I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: + +“Death is swallowed up in victory.” + +55“O death, where is your victory? + +O death, where is your sting?” + +56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. + +58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. + + + + + +The Collection for the Saints + + +16:1 Now concerning[67] the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. + + + + + +Plans for Travel + + +5I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. + +10When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers. + + + + + +Final Instructions + + +12Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will[68] to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. + +13Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14Let all that you do be done in love. + +15Now I urge you, brothers[69]—you know that the household[70] of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— 16be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. 17I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men. + + + + + +Greetings + + +19The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. + +21I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. 22If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come![71] 23The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:10 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verses 11, 26 + +[2] 1:26 Greek according to the flesh + +[3] 1:29 Greek no flesh + +[4] 1:30 Greek And from him + +[5] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters + +[6] 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret) + +[7] 2:13 Or interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual things with spiritual + +[8] 3:1 Or brothers and sisters + +[9] 3:16 The Greek for you is plural in verses 16 and 17 + +[10] 4:6 Or brothers and sisters + +[11] 4:17 Or am sending + +[12] 4:17 Some manuscripts add Jesus + +[13] 5:5 Some manuscripts add Jesus + +[14] 5:13 Or will judge + +[15] 6:8 Or brothers and sisters + +[16] 6:9 Or wrongdoers + +[17] 6:9 The two Greek terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts + +[18] 6:16 Or who holds fast (compare Genesis 2:24 and Deuteronomy 10:20); also verse 17 + +[19] 6:18 Or Every sin + +[20] 7:6 Or I say this: + +[21] 7:15 Some manuscripts us + +[22] 7:21 Greek bondservant; also twice in verse 22 and once in verse 23 (plural) + +[23] 7:24 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 29 + +[24] 7:25 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians' letter; see 7:1 + +[25] 7:25 Greek virgins + +[26] 7:26 Or impending + +[27] 7:28 Greek virgin; also verse 34 + +[28] 7:36 Greek virgin; also verses 37, 38 + +[29] 7:36 Or her + +[30] 8:1 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians' letter; see 7:1 + +[31] 8:3 Greek him + +[32] 8:10 Greek reclining at table + +[33] 8:10 Or fortified; Greek built up + +[34] 8:12 Or brothers and sisters + +[35] 9:5 Greek a sister as wife + +[36] 9:27 Greek I pummel my body and make it a slave + +[37] 10:1 Or brothers and sisters + +[38] 10:9 Some manuscripts the Lord + +[39] 10:18 Greek Consider Israel according to the flesh + +[40] 11:3 Greek gune. This term may refer to a woman or a wife, depending on the context + +[41] 11:5 In verses 5-13, the Greek word gune is translated wife in verses that deal with wearing a veil, a sign of being married in first-century culture + +[42] 11:10 Or messengers, that is, people sent to observe and report + +[43] 11:18 Or I believe a certain report + +[44] 11:24 Some manuscripts broken for + +[45] 11:24 Or as my memorial; also verse 25 + +[46] 11:30 Greek have fallen asleep (as in 15:6, 20) + +[47] 11:31 Or discerned + +[48] 11:32 Or when we are judged we are being disciplined by the Lord + +[49] 11:33 Or brothers and sisters + +[50] 11:33 Or share with + +[51] 12:1 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians' letter; see 7:1 + +[52] 12:1 Or spiritual persons + +[53] 12:1 Or brothers and sisters + +[54] 12:13 Or servants; Greek bondservants + +[55] 12:20 Or members; also verse 22 + +[56] 13:3 Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast + +[57] 13:5 Greek irritable and does not count up wrongdoing + +[58] 14:6 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 20, 26, 39 + +[59] 14:16 Or of him that is without gifts + +[60] 14:22 Greek lacks a sign + +[61] 15:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 6, 31, 50, 58 + +[62] 15:19 Or we have hoped + +[63] 15:27 Greek he + +[64] 15:33 Probably from Menander's comedy Thais + +[65] 15:45 Greek a living soul + +[66] 15:49 Some manuscripts let us + +[67] 16:1 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians' letter; see 7:1; also verse 12 + +[68] 16:12 Or God's will for him + +[69] 16:15 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 20 + +[70] 16:15 Greek house + +[71] 16:22 Greek Maranatha (a transliteration of Aramaic) + + + + + +2 CORINTHIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, + +To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: + +2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +God of All Comfort + + +3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[1] 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. + +8For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers,[2] of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. + + + + + +Paul's Change of Plans + + +12For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity[3] and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and acknowledge[4] and I hope you will fully acknowledge— 14just as you did partially acknowledge us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you. + +15Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. 16I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.[5] + +23But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. + + + + + +2:1 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. + + + + + +Forgive the Sinner + + +5Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. + + + + + +Triumph in Christ + + +12When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. + +14But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient[6] for these things? 17For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. + + + + + +Ministers of the New Covenant + + +3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our[7] hearts, to be known and read by all. 3And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.[8] + +4Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6who has made us competent[9] to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. + +7Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. + +12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16But when one[10] turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17Now the Lord[11] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[12] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. + + + + + +The Light of the Gospel + + +4:1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,[13] we do not lose heart. 2But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants[14] for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. + + + + + +Treasure in Jars of Clay + + +7But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, but life in you. + +13Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. + +16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[15] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. + + + + + +Our Heavenly Dwelling + + +5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on[16] we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. + +6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. + + + + + +The Ministry of Reconciliation + + +11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. + +16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[17] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling[18] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. + + + + + +6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2For he says, + +“In a favorable time I listened to you, + +and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” + +Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. + +11We have spoken freely to you,[19] Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. + + + + + +The Temple of the Living God + + +14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15What accord has Christ with Belial?[20] Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, + +“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, + +and I will be their God, + +and they shall be my people. + +17Therefore go out from their midst, + +and be separate from them, says the Lord, + +and touch no unclean thing; + +then I will welcome you, + +18and I will be a father to you, + +and you shall be sons and daughters to me, + +says the Lord Almighty.” + + + + + +7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body[21] and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. + + + + + +Paul's Joy + + +2Make room in your hearts[22] for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. + +5For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. + +10For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13Therefore we are comforted. + +And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16I rejoice, because I have perfect confidence in you. + + + + + +Encouragement to Give Generously + + +8:1 We want you to know, brothers,[23] about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4begging us earnestly for the favor[24] of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you[25]—see that you excel in this act of grace also. + +8I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” + + + + + +Commendation of Titus + + +16But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going[26] to you of his own accord. 18With him we are sending[27] the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. 20We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. 22And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers[28] of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men. + + + + + +The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem + + +9:1 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3But I am sending[29] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift[30] you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.[31] + + + + + +The Cheerful Giver + + +6The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully[32] will also reap bountifully. 7Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[33] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9As it is written, + +“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; + +his righteousness endures forever.” + +10He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13By their approval of this service, they[34] will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! + + + + + +Paul Defends His Ministry + + +10:1 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. + +7Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 8For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” 11Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. + +13But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. 14For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, 16so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. 17“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. + + + + + +Paul and the False Apostles + + +11:1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. + +7Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? 8I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! + +12And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. + + + + + +Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle + + +16I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not with the Lord's authority but as a fool. 18Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! 20For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. 21To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! + +But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,[35] in cold and exposure. 28And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? + +30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. + + + + + +Paul's Visions and His Thorn + + +12:1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,[36] a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. + + + + + +Concern for the Corinthian Church + + +11I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. 12The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong! + +14Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. 17Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? 18I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps? + +19Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. 20For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced. + + + + + +Final Warnings + + +13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 2I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them— 3since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. + +5Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 6I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 10For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +11Finally, brothers,[37] rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another,[38] agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13All the saints greet you. + +14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:5 Or For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ + +[2] 1:8 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[3] 1:12 Some manuscripts holiness + +[4] 1:13 Or understand; twice in this verse; also verse 14 + +[5] 1:22 Or down payment + +[6] 2:16 Or competent + +[7] 3:2 Some manuscripts your + +[8] 3:3 Greek fleshly hearts + +[9] 3:6 Or sufficient + +[10] 3:16 Greek he + +[11] 3:17 Or this Lord + +[12] 3:18 Or reflecting the glory of the Lord + +[13] 4:1 Greek as we have received mercy + +[14] 4:5 Greek bondservants + +[15] 4:16 Greek man + +[16] 5:3 Some manuscripts putting it off + +[17] 5:17 Or creature + +[18] 5:19 Or God was in Christ, reconciling + +[19] 6:11 Greek Our mouth is open to you + +[20] 6:15 Greek Beliar + +[21] 7:1 Greek flesh + +[22] 7:2 Greek lacks in your hearts + +[23] 8:1 Or brothers and sisters + +[24] 8:4 The Greek word charis can mean favor or grace or thanks, depending on the context + +[25] 8:7 Some manuscripts in your love for us + +[26] 8:17 Or he went + +[27] 8:18 Or we sent; also verse 22 + +[28] 8:23 Greek apostles + +[29] 9:3 Or I have sent + +[30] 9:5 Greek blessing; twice in this verse + +[31] 9:5 Or a gift expecting something in return; Greek greed + +[32] 9:6 Greek with blessings; twice in this verse + +[33] 9:8 Or all contentment + +[34] 9:13 Or you + +[35] 11:27 Or often in fasting + +[36] 12:7 Or hears from me, even because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited + +[37] 13:11 Or brothers and sisters + +[38] 13:11 Or listen to my appeal + + + + + +GALATIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2and all the brothers[1] who are with me, + +To the churches of Galatia: + +3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. + + + + + +No Other Gospel + + +6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. + +10For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant[2] of Christ. + + + + + +Paul Called by God + + +11For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.[3] 12For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15But when he who had set me apart before I was born,[4] and who called me by his grace, 16was pleased to reveal his Son to[5] me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;[6] 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. + +18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. 20(In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24And they glorified God because of me. + + + + + +Paul Accepted by the Apostles + + +2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. + + + + + +Paul Opposes Peter + + +11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” + + + + + +Justified by Faith + + +15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that a person is not justified[7] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. + +17But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness[8] were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. + + + + + +By Faith, or by Works of the Law? + + +3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by[9] the flesh? 4Did you suffer[10] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? + +7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify[11] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. + + + + + +The Righteous Shall Live by Faith + + +10For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”[12] 12But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit[13] through faith. + + + + + +The Law and the Promise + + +15To give a human example, brothers:[14] even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. + +19Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. + +21Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. + +23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[15] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. + + + + + +Sons and Heirs + + +4:1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,[16] though he is the owner of everything, 2but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles[17] of the world. 4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. + + + + + +Paul's Concern for the Galatians + + +8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. + +12Brothers,[18] I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15What then has become of the blessing you felt? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?[19] 17They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, 19my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 20I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. + + + + + +Example of Hagar and Sarah + + +21Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;[20] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written, + +“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; + +break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! + +For the children of the desolate one will be more + +than those of the one who has a husband.” + +28Now you,[21] brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. + + + + + +Christ Has Set Us Free + + +5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. + +2Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified[22] by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. + +7You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11But if I, brothers,[23] still preach[24] circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! + +13For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. + + + + + +Walk by the Spirit + + +16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy,[25] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. + +25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. + + + + + +Bear One Another's Burdens + + +6:1 Brothers,[26] if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5For each will have to bear his own load. + +6One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. 7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. + + + + + +Final Warning and Benediction + + +11See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which[27] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. + +17From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. + +18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verse 11 + +[2] 1:10 Or slave; Greek bondservant + +[3] 1:11 Greek not according to man + +[4] 1:15 Greek set me apart from my mother's womb + +[5] 1:16 Greek in + +[6] 1:16 Greek with flesh and blood + +[7] 2:16 Or counted righteous (three times in verse 16); also verse 17 + +[8] 2:21 Or justification + +[9] 3:3 Or now ending with + +[10] 3:4 Or experience + +[11] 3:8 Or count righteous; also verses 11, 24 + +[12] 3:11 Or The one who by faith is righteous will live + +[13] 3:14 Greek receive the promise of the Spirit + +[14] 3:15 Or brothers and sisters + +[15] 3:28 Greek bondservant + +[16] 4:1 Greek bondservant; also verse 7 + +[17] 4:3 Or elemental spirits; also verse 9 + +[18] 4:12 Or Brothers and sisters; also verses 28, 31 + +[19] 4:16 Or by dealing truthfully with you + +[20] 4:25 Some manuscripts For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia + +[21] 4:28 Some manuscripts we + +[22] 5:4 Or counted righteous + +[23] 5:11 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 13 + +[24] 5:11 Greek proclaim + +[25] 5:21 Some manuscripts add murder + +[26] 6:1 Or Brothers and sisters; also verse 18 + +[27] 6:14 Or through whom + + + + + +EPHESIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, + +To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful[1] in Christ Jesus: + +2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +Spiritual Blessings in Christ + + +3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us[2] for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9making known[3] to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. + +11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee[4] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,[5] to the praise of his glory. + + + + + +Thanksgiving and Prayer + + +15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[6] toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. + + + + + +By Grace Through Faith + + +2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[7] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But[8] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. + + + + + +One in Christ + + +11Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,[9] but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by[10] the Spirit. + + + + + +The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed + + +3:1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6This mystery is[11] that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. + +7Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in[12] God who created all things, 10so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. + + + + + +Prayer for Spiritual Strength + + +14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family[13] in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. + +20Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. + + + + + +Unity in the Body of Christ + + +4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8Therefore it says, + +“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, + +and he gave gifts to men.” + +9(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?[14] 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[15] and teachers,[16] 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[17] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. + + + + + +The New Life + + +17Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22to put off your old self,[18] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. + +25Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and give no opportunity to the devil. 28Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. + + + + + +Walk in Love + + +5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. + +3But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not become partners with them; 8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, + +“Awake, O sleeper, + +and arise from the dead, + +and Christ will shine on you.” + +15Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. + + + + + +Wives and Husbands + + +22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. + +25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[19] 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. + + + + + +Children and Parents + + +6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3“that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. + + + + + +Slaves and Masters + + +5Slaves,[20] obey your earthly masters[21] with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants[22] of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. 9Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master[23] and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. + + + + + +The Whole Armor of God + + +10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +21So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. + +23Peace be to the brothers,[24] and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Some manuscripts saints who are also faithful (omitting in Ephesus) + +[2] 1:5 Or before him in love, having predestined us + +[3] 1:9 Or he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known . . . + +[4] 1:14 Or down payment + +[5] 1:14 Or until God redeems his possession + +[6] 1:15 Some manuscripts omit your love + +[7] 2:3 Greek flesh + +[8] 2:4 Or And + +[9] 2:19 Or sojourners + +[10] 2:22 Or in + +[11] 3:6 The words This mystery is are inferred from verse 4 + +[12] 3:9 Or by + +[13] 3:15 Or fatherhood; the Greek word patria is closely related to the word for Father in verse 14 + +[14] 4:9 Or the lower parts of the earth? + +[15] 4:11 Or pastors + +[16] 4:11 Or the shepherd-teachers + +[17] 4:13 Greek to a full-grown man + +[18] 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24 + +[19] 5:27 Or holy and blameless + +[20] 6:5 Or servants; Greek bondservants; similarly verse 8 + +[21] 6:5 Or your masters according to the flesh + +[22] 6:6 Or slaves; Greek bondservants + +[23] 6:9 Greek Lord + +[24] 6:23 Or brothers and sisters + + + + + +PHILIPPIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants[1] of Christ Jesus, + +To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers[2] and deacons:[3] + +2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +Thanksgiving and Prayer + + +3I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[4] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. + + + + + +The Advance of the Gospel + + +12I want you to know, brothers,[5] that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard[6] and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word[7] without fear. + +15Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. + + + + + +To Live Is Christ + + +Yes, and I will rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. + +27Only let your manner of life be worthy[8] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. + + + + + +Christ's Example of Humility + + +2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[9] 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,[10] being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. + + + + + +Lights in the World + + +12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. + +14Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. + + + + + +Timothy and Epaphroditus + + +19I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22But you know Timothy's[11] proven worth, how as a son[12] with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. + +25I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. + + + + + +Righteousness Through Faith in Christ + + +3:1 Finally, my brothers,[13] rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. + +2Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God[14] and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,[15] blameless. 7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. + + + + + +Straining Toward the Goal + + +12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16Only let us hold true to what we have attained. + +17Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. + + + + + +4:1 Therefore, my brothers,[16] whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. + + + + + +Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer + + +2I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[17] help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. + +4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. + +8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. + + + + + +God's Provision + + +10I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13I can do all things through him who strengthens me. + +14Yet it was kind of you to share[18] my trouble. 15And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.[19] 18I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +21Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. + +23The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or slaves; Greek bondservants + +[2] 1:1 Or bishops; Greek episkopoi + +[3] 1:1 Or servants, or ministers; Greek diakonoi + +[4] 1:7 Or you all have fellowship with me in grace + +[5] 1:12 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verse 14 + +[6] 1:13 Greek in the whole praetorium + +[7] 1:14 Some manuscripts add of God + +[8] 1:27 Greek Only behave as citizens worthy + +[9] 2:5 Or which was also in Christ Jesus + +[10] 2:7 Greek bondservant + +[11] 2:22 Greek his + +[12] 2:22 Greek child + +[13] 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 17 + +[14] 3:3 Some manuscripts God in spirit + +[15] 3:6 Greek in the law + +[16] 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 8, 21 + +[17] 4:3 Or loyal Syzygus; Greek true yokefellow + +[18] 4:14 Or have fellowship in + +[19] 4:17 Or I seek the profit that accrues to your account + + + + + +COLOSSIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, + +2To the saints and faithful brothers[1] in Christ at Colossae: + +Grace to you and peace from God our Father. + + + + + +Thanksgiving and Prayer + + +3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.[2] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[3] behalf 8and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. + +9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12giving thanks[4] to the Father, who has qualified you[5] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. + + + + + +The Preeminence of Christ + + +15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by[6] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. + +21And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation[7] under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. + + + + + +Paul's Ministry to the Church + + +24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. + + + + + +2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. + + + + + +Alive in Christ + + +6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. + +8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits[8] of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities[9] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.[10] + + + + + +Let No One Disqualify You + + +16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,[11] puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. + +20If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. + + + + + +Put On the New Self + + +3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your[12] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. + +5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:[13] sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming.[14] 7In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[15] with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,[16] free; but Christ is all, and in all. + +12Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. + + + + + +Rules for Christian Households + + +18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22Slaves,[17] obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,[18] not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. + + + + + +4:1 Masters, treat your slaves[19] justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. + + + + + +Further Instructions + + +2Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. + +5Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +7Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant[20] in the Lord. 8I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. + +10Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), 11and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 15Give my greetings to the brothers[21] at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” + +18I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[2] 1:7 Greek fellow bondservant + +[3] 1:7 Some manuscripts our + +[4] 1:12 Or patience, with joy giving thanks + +[5] 1:12 Some manuscripts us + +[6] 1:16 That is, by means of; or in + +[7] 1:23 Or to every creature + +[8] 2:8 Or elementary principles; also verse 20 + +[9] 2:15 Probably demonic rulers and authorities + +[10] 2:15 Or in it (that is, the cross) + +[11] 2:18 Or about the things he has seen + +[12] 3:4 Some manuscripts our + +[13] 3:5 Greek therefore your members that are on the earth + +[14] 3:6 Some manuscripts add upon the sons of disobedience + +[15] 3:9 Greek man; also as supplied in verse 10 + +[16] 3:11 Greek bondservant + +[17] 3:22 Or Servants; Greek Bondservants + +[18] 3:22 Or your masters according to the flesh + +[19] 4:1 Or servants; Greek bondservants + +[20] 4:7 Greek fellow bondservant; also verse 12 + +[21] 4:15 Or brothers and sisters + + + + + +1 THESSALONIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, + +To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: + +Grace to you and peace. + + + + + +The Thessalonians' Faith and Example + + +2We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly[1] mentioning you in our prayers, 3remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4For we know, brothers[2] loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. + + + + + +Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians + + +2:1 For you yourselves know, brothers,[3] that our coming to you was not in vain. 2But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5For we never came with words of flattery,[4] as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7But we were gentle[5] among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. + +9For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11For you know how, like a father with his children, 12we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. + +13And we also thank God constantly[6] for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has come upon them at last![7] + + + + + +Paul's Longing to See Them Again + + +17But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20For you are our glory and joy. + + + + + +3:1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker[8] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. + + + + + +Timothy's Encouraging Report + + +6But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7for this reason, brothers,[9] in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? + +11Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. + + + + + +A Life Pleasing to God + + +4:1 Finally, then, brothers,[10] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3For this is the will of God, your sanctification:[11] that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4that each one of you know how to control his own body[12] in holiness and honor, 5not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. + +9Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. + + + + + +The Coming of the Lord + + +13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,[13] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words. + + + + + +The Day of the Lord + + +5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers,[14] you have no need to have anything written to you. 2For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5For you are all children[15] of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. + + + + + +Final Instructions and Benediction + + +12We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,[16] encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise prophecies, 21but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22Abstain from every form of evil. + +23Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. + +25Brothers, pray for us. + +26Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. + +27I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. + +28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:2 Or without ceasing + +[2] 1:4 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[3] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 9, 14, 17 + +[4] 2:5 Or with a flattering speech + +[5] 2:7 Some manuscripts infants + +[6] 2:13 Or without ceasing + +[7] 2:16 Or completely, or forever + +[8] 3:2 Some manuscripts servant + +[9] 3:7 Or brothers and sisters + +[10] 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 10, 13 + +[11] 4:3 Or your holiness + +[12] 4:4 Or how to take a wife for himself; Greek how to possess his own vessel + +[13] 4:15 Or by the word of the Lord + +[14] 5:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 4, 12, 14, 25, 26, 27 + +[15] 5:5 Or sons; twice in this verse + +[16] 5:14 Or disorderly, or undisciplined + + + + + +2 THESSALONIANS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, + +To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: + +2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +Thanksgiving + + +3We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,[1] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. + + + + + +The Judgment at Christ's Coming + + +5This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from[2] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +The Man of Lawlessness + + +2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,[3] 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness[4] is revealed, the son of destruction,[5] 4who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. + + + + + +Stand Firm + + +13But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits[6] to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. + +16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. + + + + + +Pray for Us + + +3:1 Finally, brothers,[7] pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,[8] as happened among you, 2and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.[9] 4And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. + + + + + +Warning Against Idleness + + +6Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.[10] + +13As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. + + + + + +Benediction + + +16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. + +17I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:3 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[2] 1:9 Or destruction that comes from + +[3] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 15 + +[4] 2:3 Some manuscripts sin + +[5] 2:3 Greek the son of perdition (a Hebrew idiom) + +[6] 2:13 Some manuscripts chose you from the beginning + +[7] 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 6, 13 + +[8] 3:1 Or glorified + +[9] 3:3 Or evil + +[10] 3:12 Greek eat their own bread + + + + + +1 TIMOTHY + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, + +2To Timothy, my true child in the faith: + +Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. + + + + + +Warning Against False Teachers + + +3As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship[1] from God that is by faith. 5The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. + +8Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,[2] liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound[3] doctrine, 11in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. + + + + + +Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners + + +12I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.[4] Amen. + +18This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. + + + + + +Pray for All People + + +2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[5] Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. + +8I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. + + + + + +Qualifications for Overseers + + +3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Therefore an overseer[6] must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,[7] sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. + + + + + +Qualifications for Deacons + + +8Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,[8] not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11Their wives likewise must[9] be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 12Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. + + + + + +The Mystery of Godliness + + +14I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: + +He[10] was manifested in the flesh, + +vindicated[11] by the Spirit,[12] + +seen by angels, + +proclaimed among the nations, + +believed on in the world, + +taken up in glory. + + + + + +Some Will Depart from the Faith + + +4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. + + + + + +A Good Servant of Christ Jesus + + +6If you put these things before the brothers,[13] you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and strive,[14] because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. + +11Command and teach these things. 12Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,[15] so that all may see your progress. 16Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. + + + + + +Instructions for the Church + + +5:1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. + +3Honor widows who are truly widows. 4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. 5She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. 7Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. + +9Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,[16] 10and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. 14So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 15For some have already strayed after Satan. 16If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows. + +17Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” 19Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 22Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 24The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. + + + + + +6:1 Let all who are under a yoke as slaves[17] regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. 2Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. + + + + + +False Teachers and True Contentment + + +Teach and urge these things. 3If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[18] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7for we brought nothing into the world, and[19] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. + + + + + +Fight the Good Fight of Faith + + +11But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before[20] Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. + +17As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. + +20O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. + +Grace be with you.[21] + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:4 Or good order + +[2] 1:10 That is, those who take someone captive in order to sell him into slavery + +[3] 1:10 Or healthy + +[4] 1:17 Greek to the ages of ages + +[5] 2:5 men and man render the same Greek word that is translated people in verses 1 and 4 + +[6] 3:2 Or bishop; Greek episkopos; a similar term occurs in verse 1 + +[7] 3:2 Or a man of one woman; also verse 12 + +[8] 3:8 Or devious in speech + +[9] 3:11 Or Wives, likewise, must, or Women, likewise, must + +[10] 3:16 Greek Who; some manuscripts God; others Which + +[11] 3:16 Or justified + +[12] 3:16 Or vindicated in spirit + +[13] 4:6 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[14] 4:10 Some manuscripts and suffer reproach + +[15] 4:15 Greek be in them + +[16] 5:9 Or a woman of one man + +[17] 6:1 Greek bondservants + +[18] 6:3 Or healthy + +[19] 6:7 Greek for; some manuscripts insert [it is] certain [that] + +[20] 6:13 Or in the time of + +[21] 6:21 The Greek for you is plural + + + + + +2 TIMOTHY + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, + +2To Timothy, my beloved child: + +Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. + + + + + +Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You + + +3I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. + +8Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9who saved us and called us to[1] a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,[2] 10and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.[3] 13Follow the pattern of the sound[4] words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. + +15You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, 17but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— 18may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. + + + + + +A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus + + +2:1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. + +8Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11The saying is trustworthy, for: + +If we have died with him, we will also live with him; + +12if we endure, we will also reign with him; + +if we deny him, he also will deny us; + +13if we are faithless, he remains faithful— + +for he cannot deny himself. + + + + + +A Worker Approved by God + + +14Remind them of these things, and charge them before God[5] not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[6] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” + +20Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,[7] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. + +22So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24And the Lord's servant[8] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. + + + + + +Godlessness in the Last Days + + +3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. + + + + + +All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God + + +10You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom[9] you learned it 15and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God[10] may be competent, equipped for every good work. + + + + + +Preach the Word + + +4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[11] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. + +6For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. + + + + + +Personal Instructions + + +9Do your best to come to me soon. 10For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,[12] Titus to Dalmatia. 11Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +19Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.[13] + +22The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.[14] + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:9 Or with + +[2] 1:9 Greek before times eternal + +[3] 1:12 Or what I have entrusted to him; Greek my deposit + +[4] 1:13 Or healthy + +[5] 2:14 Some manuscripts the Lord + +[6] 2:15 That is, one approved after being tested + +[7] 2:21 Greek from these things + +[8] 2:24 Greek bondservant + +[9] 3:14 The Greek for whom is plural + +[10] 3:17 That is, a messenger of God (the phrase echoes a common Old Testament expression) + +[11] 4:3 Or healthy + +[12] 4:10 Some manuscripts Gaul + +[13] 4:21 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[14] 4:22 The Greek for you is plural + + + + + +TITUS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Paul, a servant[1] of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began[2] 3and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; + +4To Titus, my true child in a common faith: + +Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. + + + + + +Qualifications for Elders + + +5This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[3] and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7For an overseer,[4] as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[5] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. + +10For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12One of the Cretans,[6] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”[7] 13This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. + + + + + +Teach Sound Doctrine + + +2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound[8] doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9Slaves[9] are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. + +11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. + +15Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. + + + + + +Be Ready for Every Good Work + + +3:1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. + + + + + +Final Instructions and Greetings + + +12When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. + +15All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. + +Grace be with you all. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or slave; Greek bondservant + +[2] 1:2 Greek before times eternal + +[3] 1:6 Or a man of one woman + +[4] 1:7 Or bishop; Greek episkopos + +[5] 1:9 Or healthy; also verse 13 + +[6] 1:12 Greek One of them + +[7] 1:12 Probably from Epimenides of Crete + +[8] 2:1 Or healthy; also verses 2, 8 + +[9] 2:9 Or servants; Greek bondservants + + + + + +PHILEMON + + +Greeting + + +1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, + +To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: + +3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. + + + + + +Philemon's Love and Faith + + +4I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.[1] 7For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. + + + + + +Paul's Plea for Onesimus + + +8Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus,[2] whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16no longer as a slave[3] but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. + +17So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. + +21Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +23Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. + +25The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:6 Or for Christ's service + +[2] 1:10 Onesimus means useful (see verse 11) or beneficial (see verse 20) + +[3] 1:16 Greek bondservant; twice in this verse + + + + + +HEBREWS + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + + + + + +The Supremacy of God's Son + + +1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. + +5For to which of the angels did God ever say, + +“You are my Son, + +today I have begotten you”? + +Or again, + +“I will be to him a father, + +and he shall be to me a son”? + +6And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, + +“Let all God's angels worship him.” + +7Of the angels he says, + +“He makes his angels winds, + +and his ministers a flame of fire.” + +8But of the Son he says, + +“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, + +the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. + +9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; + +therefore God, your God, has anointed you + +with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” + +10And, + +“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, + +and the heavens are the work of your hands; + +11they will perish, but you remain; + +they will all wear out like a garment, + +12like a robe you will roll them up, + +like a garment they will be changed.[1] + +But you are the same, + +and your years will have no end.” + +13And to which of the angels has he ever said, + +“Sit at my right hand + +until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? + +14Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? + + + + + +Warning Against Neglecting Salvation + + +2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. + + + + + +The Founder of Salvation + + +5Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6It has been testified somewhere, + +“What is man, that you are mindful of him, + +or the son of man, that you care for him? + +7You made him for a little while lower than the angels; + +you have crowned him with glory and honor,[2] + +8putting everything in subjection under his feet.” + +Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. + +10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.[3] That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,[4] 12saying, + +“I will tell of your name to my brothers; + +in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” + +13And again, + +“I will put my trust in him.” + +And again, + +“Behold, I and the children God has given me.” + +14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. + + + + + +Jesus Greater Than Moses + + +3:1 Therefore, holy brothers,[5] you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's[6] house. 3For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.[7] + + + + + +A Rest for the People of God + + +7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, + +“Today, if you hear his voice, + +8do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, + +on the day of testing in the wilderness, + +9where your fathers put me to the test + +and saw my works for forty years. + +10Therefore I was provoked with that generation, + +and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; + +they have not known my ways.’ + +11As I swore in my wrath, + +‘They shall not enter my rest.’” + +12Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15As it is said, + +“Today, if you hear his voice, + +do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” + +16For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. + + + + + +4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.[8] 3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, + +“As I swore in my wrath, + +‘They shall not enter my rest,’” + +although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5And again in this passage he said, + +“They shall not enter my rest.” + +6Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, + +“Today, if you hear his voice, + +do not harden your hearts.” + +8For if Joshua had given them rest, God[9] would not have spoken of another day later on. 9So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. + +11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. + + + + + +Jesus the Great High Priest + + +14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. + + + + + +5:1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. + +5So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, + +“You are my Son, + +today I have begotten you”; + +6as he says also in another place, + +“You are a priest forever, + +after the order of Melchizedek.” + +7In the days of his flesh, Jesus[10] offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. + + + + + +Warning Against Apostasy + + +11About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. + + + + + +6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2and of instruction about washings,[11] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And this we will do if God permits. 4For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. + +9Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. + + + + + +The Certainty of God's Promise + + +13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15And thus Abraham,[12] having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. + + + + + +The Priestly Order of Melchizedek + + +7:1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. + +4See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,[13] though these also are descended from Abraham. 6But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. + + + + + +Jesus Compared to Melchizedek + + +11Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. + +15This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is witnessed of him, + +“You are a priest forever, + +after the order of Melchizedek.” + +18For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. + +20And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: + +“The Lord has sworn + +and will not change his mind, + +‘You are a priest forever.’” + +22This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. + +23The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost[14] those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. + +26For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. + + + + + +Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant + + +8:1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2a minister in the holy places, in the true tent[15] that the Lord set up, not man. 3For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6But as it is, Christ[16] has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. + +8For he finds fault with them when he says:[17] + +“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, + +when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel + +and with the house of Judah, + +9not like the covenant that I made with their fathers + +on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. + +For they did not continue in my covenant, + +and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. + +10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel + +after those days, declares the Lord: + +I will put my laws into their minds, + +and write them on their hearts, + +and I will be their God, + +and they shall be my people. + +11And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor + +and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ + +for they shall all know me, + +from the least of them to the greatest. + +12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, + +and I will remember their sins no more.” + +13In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. + + + + + +The Earthly Holy Place + + +9:1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2For a tent[18] was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence.[19] It is called the Holy Place. 3Behind the second curtain was a second section[20] called the Most Holy Place, 4having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. + +6These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9(which is symbolic for the present age).[21] According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. + + + + + +Redemption Through the Blood of Christ + + +11But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come,[22] then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify[23] for the purification of the flesh, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our[24] conscience from dead works to serve the living God. + +15Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.[25] 16For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. + +23Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. + + + + + +Christ's Sacrifice Once for All + + +10:1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. + +5Consequently, when Christ[26] came into the world, he said, + +“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, + +but a body have you prepared for me; + +6in burnt offerings and sin offerings + +you have taken no pleasure. + +7Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, + +as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” + +8When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. + +11And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when Christ[27] had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. + +15And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, + +16“This is the covenant that I will make with them + +after those days, declares the Lord: + +I will put my laws on their hearts, + +and write them on their minds,” + +17then he adds, + +“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” + +18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. + + + + + +The Full Assurance of Faith + + +19Therefore, brothers,[28] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. + +26For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. + +32But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37For, + +“Yet a little while, + +and the coming one will come and will not delay; + +38but my righteous one shall live by faith, + +and if he shrinks back, + +my soul has no pleasure in him.” + +39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. + + + + + +By Faith + + +11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. + +4By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. + +8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. + +13These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. + +17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. + +23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. + +29By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. + +32And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned, they were sawn in two,[29] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. + +39And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. + + + + + +Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith + + +12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. + + + + + +Do Not Grow Weary + + +3Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? + +“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, + +nor be weary when reproved by him. + +6For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, + +and chastises every son whom he receives.” + +7It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. + +12Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. + + + + + +A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken + + +18For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly[30] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. + +25See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire. + + + + + +Sacrifices Pleasing to God + + +13:1 Let brotherly love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6So we can confidently say, + +“The Lord is my helper; + +I will not fear; + +what can man do to me?” + +7Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. + +17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. + +18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. + + + + + +Benediction + + +20Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us[31] that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +22I appeal to you, brothers,[32] bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25Grace be with all of you. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:12 Some manuscripts omit like a garment + +[2] 2:7 Some manuscripts insert and set him over the works of your hands + +[3] 2:11 Greek all are of one + +[4] 2:11 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verse 12 + +[5] 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 12 + +[6] 3:2 Greek his; also verses 5, 6 + +[7] 3:6 Some manuscripts insert firm to the end + +[8] 4:2 Some manuscripts it did not meet with faith in the hearers + +[9] 4:8 Greek he + +[10] 5:7 Greek he + +[11] 6:2 Or baptisms (that is, cleansing rites) + +[12] 6:15 Greek he + +[13] 7:5 Or brothers and sisters + +[14] 7:25 That is, completely; or at all times + +[15] 8:2 Or tabernacle; also verse 5 + +[16] 8:6 Greek he + +[17] 8:8 Some manuscripts For finding fault with it he says to them + +[18] 9:2 Or tabernacle; also verses 11, 21 + +[19] 9:2 Greek the presentation of the loaves + +[20] 9:3 Greek tent; also verses 6, 8 + +[21] 9:9 Or which is symbolic for the age then present + +[22] 9:11 Some manuscripts good things to come + +[23] 9:13 Or For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies + +[24] 9:14 Some manuscripts your + +[25] 9:15 The Greek word means both covenant and will; also verses 16, 17 + +[26] 10:5 Greek he + +[27] 10:12 Greek this one + +[28] 10:19 Or brothers and sisters + +[29] 11:37 Some manuscripts add they were tempted + +[30] 12:23 Or church + +[31] 13:21 Some manuscripts you + +[32] 13:22 Or brothers and sisters + + + + + +JAMES + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 James, a servant[1] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, + +To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: + +Greetings. + + + + + +Testing of Your Faith + + +2Count it all joy, my brothers,[2] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. + +5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. + +9Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass[3] he will pass away. 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. + +12Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. + +16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[4] 18Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. + + + + + +Hearing and Doing the Word + + +19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. + +22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. + +26If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. + + + + + +The Sin of Partiality + + +2:1 My brothers,[5] show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? + +8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. + + + + + +Faith Without Works Is Dead + + +14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[6] is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. + +18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. + + + + + +Taming the Tongue + + +3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. + +How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,[7] and set on fire by hell.[8] 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,[9] these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. + + + + + +Wisdom from Above + + +13Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. + + + + + +Warning Against Worldliness + + +4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[10] are at war within you?[11] 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You adulterous people![12] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. + +11Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[13] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? + + + + + +Boasting About Tomorrow + + +13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. + + + + + +Warning to the Rich + + +5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. + + + + + +Patience in Suffering + + +7Be patient, therefore, brothers,[14] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. + +12But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. + + + + + +The Prayer of Faith + + +13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.[15] 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. + +19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or slave; Greek bondservant + +[2] 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verses 16, 19 + +[3] 1:10 Or a wild flower + +[4] 1:17 Some manuscripts variation due to a shadow of turning + +[5] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 14 + +[6] 2:16 Or benefit + +[7] 3:6 Or wheel of birth + +[8] 3:6 Greek Gehenna + +[9] 3:10 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 12 + +[10] 4:1 Greek pleasures; also verse 3 + +[11] 4:1 Greek in your members + +[12] 4:4 Greek You adulteresses! + +[13] 4:11 Or brothers and sisters + +[14] 5:7 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 9, 10, 12, 19 + +[15] 5:16 Or The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power + + + + + +1 PETER + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, + +To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: + +May grace and peace be multiplied to you. + + + + + +Born Again to a Living Hope + + +3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. + +10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. + + + + + +Called to Be Holy + + +13Therefore, preparing your minds for action,[1] and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. + +22Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24for + +“All flesh is like grass + +and all its glory like the flower of grass. + +The grass withers, + +and the flower falls, + +25but the word of the Lord remains forever.” + +And this word is the good news that was preached to you. + + + + + +A Living Stone and a Holy People + + +2:1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. + +4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For it stands in Scripture: + +“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, + +a cornerstone chosen and precious, + +and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” + +7So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, + +“The stone that the builders rejected + +has become the cornerstone,”[2] + +8and + +“A stone of stumbling, + +and a rock of offense.” + +They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. + +9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. + +11Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. + + + + + +Submission to Authority + + +13Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,[3] whether it be to the emperor[4] as supreme, 14or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants[5] of God. 17Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. + +18Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. + + + + + +Wives and Husbands + + +3:1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 5For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. + +7Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you[6] of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. + + + + + +Suffering for Righteousness' Sake + + +8Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10For + +“Whoever desires to love life + +and see good days, + +let him keep his tongue from evil + +and his lips from speaking deceit; + +11let him turn away from evil and do good; + +let him seek peace and pursue it. + +12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, + +and his ears are open to their prayer. + +But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” + +13Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. + +18For Christ also suffered[7] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which[8] he went and proclaimed[9] to the spirits in prison, 20because[10] they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. + + + + + +Stewards of God's Grace + + +4:1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,[11] arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. + +7The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. + + + + + +Suffering as a Christian + + +12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory[12] and of God rests upon you. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And + +“If the righteous is scarcely saved, + +what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”[13] + +19Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. + + + + + +Shepherd the Flock of God + + +5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[14] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[15] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” + +6Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +12By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14Greet one another with the kiss of love. + +Peace to all of you who are in Christ. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:13 Greek girding up the loins of your mind + +[2] 2:7 Greek the head of the corner + +[3] 2:13 Or every institution ordained for people + +[4] 2:13 Or king; also verse 17 + +[5] 2:16 Greek bondservants + +[6] 3:7 Some manuscripts since you are joint heirs + +[7] 3:18 Some manuscripts died + +[8] 3:19 Or the Spirit, in whom + +[9] 3:19 Or preached + +[10] 3:20 Or when + +[11] 4:1 Some manuscripts add for us; some for you + +[12] 4:14 Some manuscripts insert and of power + +[13] 4:18 Greek where will the ungodly and sinner appear? + +[14] 5:2 Some manuscripts omit exercising oversight + +[15] 5:2 Some manuscripts omit as God would have you + + + + + +2 PETER + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + + + + + +Greeting + + +1:1 Simeon[1] Peter, a servant[2] and apostle of Jesus Christ, + +To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: + +2May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. + + + + + +Make Your Calling and Election Sure + + +3His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to[3] his own glory and excellence,[4] 4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,[5] and virtue with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8For if these qualities[6] are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10Therefore, brothers,[7] be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. + +12Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13I think it right, as long as I am in this body,[8] to stir you up by way of reminder, 14since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. + + + + + +Christ's Glory and the Prophetic Word + + +16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son,[9] with whom I am well pleased,” 18we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. + + + + + +False Prophets and Teachers + + +2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. + +4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell[10] and committed them to chains[11] of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;[12] 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,[13] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. + +Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,[14] while they feast with you. 14They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. + +17These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves[15] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” + + + + + +The Day of the Lord Will Come + + +3:1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. + +8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,[16] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies[17] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.[18] + +11Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. + + + + + +Final Words + + +14Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Some manuscripts Simon + +[2] 1:1 Or slave; Greek bondservant + +[3] 1:3 Or by + +[4] 1:3 Or virtue + +[5] 1:5 Or excellence; twice in this verse + +[6] 1:8 Greek these things; also verses 9, 10, 12 + +[7] 1:10 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[8] 1:13 Greek tent; also verse 14 + +[9] 1:17 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved + +[10] 2:4 Greek Tartarus + +[11] 2:4 Some manuscripts pits + +[12] 2:6 Some manuscripts an example to those who were to be ungodly + +[13] 2:9 Or temptations + +[14] 2:13 Some manuscripts love feasts + +[15] 2:19 Greek bondservants + +[16] 3:9 Some manuscripts on your account + +[17] 3:10 Or elements; also verse 12 + +[18] 3:10 Greek found; some manuscripts will be burned up + + + + + +1 JOHN + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + + + + + +The Word of Life + + +1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And we are writing these things so that our[1] joy may be complete. + + + + + +Walking in the Light + + +5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. + + + + + +Christ Our Advocate + + +2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. + + + + + +The New Commandment + + +7Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because[2] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him[3] there is no cause for stumbling. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. + +12I am writing to you, little children, + +because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. + +13I am writing to you, fathers, + +because you know him who is from the beginning. + +I am writing to you, young men, + +because you have overcome the evil one. + +I write to you, children, + +because you know the Father. + +14I write to you, fathers, + +because you know him who is from the beginning. + +I write to you, young men, + +because you are strong, + +and the word of God abides in you, + +and you have overcome the evil one. + + + + + +Do Not Love the World + + +15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. + + + + + +Warning Concerning Antichrists + + +18Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.[4] 21I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is the promise that he made to us[5]—eternal life. + +26I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. + + + + + +Children of God + + +28And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. + + + + + +3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[6] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. + +4Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[7] seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. + + + + + +Love One Another + + +11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13Do not be surprised, brothers,[8] that the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. + +16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. + +19By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,[9] and God[10] in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. + + + + + +Test the Spirits + + +4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. + + + + + +God Is Love + + +7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. + +13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot[11] love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. + + + + + +Overcoming the World + + +5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? + + + + + +Testimony Concerning the Son of God + + +6This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. + + + + + +That You May Know + + +13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. 14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. + +16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God[12] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. + +18We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. + +19We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. + +20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21Little children, keep yourselves from idols. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:4 Some manuscripts your + +[2] 2:8 Or that + +[3] 2:10 Or it + +[4] 2:20 Some manuscripts you know everything + +[5] 2:25 Some manuscripts you + +[6] 3:2 Or when it appears + +[7] 3:9 Greek his + +[8] 3:13 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verses 14, 16 + +[9] 3:24 Greek him + +[10] 3:24 Greek he + +[11] 4:20 Some manuscripts how can he + +[12] 5:16 Greek he + + + + + +2 JOHN + + +Greeting + + +1 The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: + +3Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. + + + + + +Walking in Truth and Love + + +4I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we[1] have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +12Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. + +13The children of your elect sister greet you. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:8 Some manuscripts you + + + + + +3 JOHN + + +Greeting + + +1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. + +2Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers[1] came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. + + + + + +Support and Opposition + + +5Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. + +9I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. + +11Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true. + + + + + +Final Greetings + + +13I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. + +15Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:3 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verses 5, 10 + + + + + +JUDE + + +Greeting + + +1 Jude, a servant[1] of Jesus Christ and brother of James, + +To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for[2] Jesus Christ: + +2May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. + + + + + +Judgment on False Teachers + + +3Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. + +5Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved[3] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,[4] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. + +8Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. 12These are hidden reefs[5] at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. + +14It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. + + + + + +A Call to Persevere + + +17But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18They[6] said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22And have mercy on those who doubt; 23save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment[7] stained by the flesh. + + + + + +Doxology + + +24Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Or slave; Greek bondservant + +[2] 1:1 Or by + +[3] 1:5 Some manuscripts although you fully knew it, that the Lord who once saved + +[4] 1:7 Greek other flesh + +[5] 1:12 Or are blemishes + +[6] 1:18 Or Christ, because they + +[7] 1:23 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin + + + + + +REVELATION + + +Chapter 1 + +Chapter 2 + +Chapter 3 + +Chapter 4 + +Chapter 5 + +Chapter 6 + +Chapter 7 + +Chapter 8 + +Chapter 9 + +Chapter 10 + +Chapter 11 + +Chapter 12 + +Chapter 13 + +Chapter 14 + +Chapter 15 + +Chapter 16 + +Chapter 17 + +Chapter 18 + +Chapter 19 + +Chapter 20 + +Chapter 21 + +Chapter 22 + + + + + +Prologue + + +1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants[1] the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant[2] John, 2who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. + + + + + +Greeting to the Seven Churches + + +4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: + +Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. + +To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail[3] on account of him. Even so. Amen. + +8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” + + + + + +Vision of the Son of Man + + +9I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” + +12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. + +17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. + + + + + +To the Church in Ephesus + + +2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. + +2“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ + + + + + +To the Church in Smyrna + + +8“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. + +9“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander[4] of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’ + + + + + +To the Church in Pergamum + + +12“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. + +13“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith[5] even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’ + + + + + +To the Church in Thyatira + + +18“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. + +19“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants[6] to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28And I will give him the morning star. 29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ + + + + + +To the Church in Sardis + + +3:1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. + +“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ + + + + + +To the Church in Philadelphia + + +7“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. + +8“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ + + + + + +To the Church in Laodicea + + +14“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. + +15“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” + + + + + +The Throne in Heaven + + +4:1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings[7] and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. + +And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, + +“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, + +who was and is and is to come!” + +9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, + +11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, + +to receive glory and honor and power, + +for you created all things, + +and by your will they existed and were created.” + + + + + +The Scroll and the Lamb + + +5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” + +6And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying, + +“Worthy are you to take the scroll + +and to open its seals, + +for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God + +from every tribe and language and people and nation, + +10and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, + +and they shall reign on the earth.” + +11Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. + + + + + +The Seven Seals + + +6:1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. + +3When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. + +5When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart[8] of wheat for a denarius,[9] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!” + +7When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. + +9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants[10] and their brothers[11] should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. + +12When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave[12] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” + + + + + +The 144,000 of Israel Sealed + + +7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants[13] of our God on their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: + +512,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, + +12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, + +12,000 from the tribe of Gad, + +612,000 from the tribe of Asher, + +12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, + +12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, + +712,000 from the tribe of Simeon, + +12,000 from the tribe of Levi, + +12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, + +812,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, + +12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, + +12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. + + + + + +A Great Multitude from Every Nation + + +9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” + +13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. + +15“Therefore they are before the throne of God, + +and serve him day and night in his temple; + +and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. + +16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; + +the sun shall not strike them, + +nor any scorching heat. + +17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, + +and he will guide them to springs of living water, + +and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” + + + + + +The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer + + +8:1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,[14] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. + + + + + +The Seven Trumpets + + +6Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. + +7The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. + +8The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. + +10The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11The name of the star is Wormwood.[15] A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. + +12The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. + +13Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!” + + + + + +9:1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.[16] 2He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. + +7In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.[17] + +12The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come. + +13Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire[18] and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound. + +20The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. + + + + + +The Angel and the Little Scroll + + +10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants[19] the prophets. + +8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” + + + + + +The Two Witnesses + + +11:1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” + +4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit[20] will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically[21] is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. + +14The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. + + + + + +The Seventh Trumpet + + +15Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying, + +“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, + +who is and who was, + +for you have taken your great power + +and begun to reign. + +18The nations raged, + +but your wrath came, + +and the time for the dead to be judged, + +and for rewarding your servants,[22] the prophets and saints, + +and those who fear your name, + +both small and great, + +and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” + +19Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,[23] peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. + + + + + +The Woman and the Dragon + + +12:1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. + + + + + +Satan Thrown Down to Earth + + +7Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers[24] has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” + +13And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood[25] on the sand of the sea. + + + + + +The First Beast + + +13:1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” + +5And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,[26] that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.[27] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9If anyone has an ear, let him hear: + +10If anyone is to be taken captive, + +to captivity he goes; + +if anyone is to be slain with the sword, + +with the sword must he be slain. + +Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. + + + + + +The Second Beast + + +11Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,[28] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of[29] the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[30] to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.[31] + + + + + +The Lamb and the 144,000 + + +14:1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. + + + + + +The Messages of the Three Angels + + +6Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” + +8Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion[32] of her sexual immorality.” + +9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” + +12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.[33] + +13And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” + + + + + +The Harvest of the Earth + + +14Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. + +17Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.[34] + + + + + +The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues + + +15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. + +2And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3And they sing the song of Moses, the servant[35] of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, + +“Great and amazing are your deeds, + +O Lord God the Almighty! + +Just and true are your ways, + +O King of the nations![36] + +4Who will not fear, O Lord, + +and glorify your name? + +For you alone are holy. + +All nations will come + +and worship you, + +for your righteous acts have been revealed.” + +5After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent[37] of witness in heaven was opened, 6and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 7And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. + + + + + +The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath + + +16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” + +2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. + +3The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. + +4The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5And I heard the angel in charge of the waters[38] say, + +“Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, + +for you brought these judgments. + +6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, + +and you have given them blood to drink. + +It is what they deserve!” + +7And I heard the altar saying, + +“Yes, Lord God the Almighty, + +true and just are your judgments!” + +8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed[39] the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. + +10The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. + +12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 14For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15(“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. + + + + + +The Seventh Bowl + + +17The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings,[40] peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds[41] each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe. + + + + + +The Great Prostitute and the Beast + + +17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” 6And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.[42] + +When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit[43] and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” + +15And the angel[44] said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” + + + + + +The Fall of Babylon + + +18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. 2And he called out with a mighty voice, + +“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! + +She has become a dwelling place for demons, + +a haunt for every unclean spirit, + +a haunt for every unclean bird, + +a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. + +3For all nations have drunk[45] + +the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, + +and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, + +and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” + +4Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, + +“Come out of her, my people, + +lest you take part in her sins, + +lest you share in her plagues; + +5for her sins are heaped high as heaven, + +and God has remembered her iniquities. + +6Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, + +and repay her double for her deeds; + +mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. + +7As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, + +so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, + +since in her heart she says, + +‘I sit as a queen, + +I am no widow, + +and mourning I shall never see.’ + +8For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, + +death and mourning and famine, + +and she will be burned up with fire; + +for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” + +9And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, + +“Alas! Alas! You great city, + +you mighty city, Babylon! + +For in a single hour your judgment has come.” + +11And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.[46] + +14“The fruit for which your soul longed + +has gone from you, + +and all your delicacies and your splendors + +are lost to you, + +never to be found again!” + +15The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, + +16“Alas, alas, for the great city + +that was clothed in fine linen, + +in purple and scarlet, + +adorned with gold, + +with jewels, and with pearls! + +17For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” + +And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, + +“What city was like the great city?” + +19And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, + +“Alas, alas, for the great city + +where all who had ships at sea + +grew rich by her wealth! + +For in a single hour she has been laid waste. + +20Rejoice over her, O heaven, + +and you saints and apostles and prophets, + +for God has given judgment for you against her!” + +21Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, + +“So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, + +and will be found no more; + +22and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, + +will be heard in you no more, + +and a craftsman of any craft + +will be found in you no more, + +and the sound of the mill + +will be heard in you no more, + +23and the light of a lamp + +will shine in you no more, + +and the voice of bridegroom and bride + +will be heard in you no more, + +for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, + +and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. + +24And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, + +and of all who have been slain on earth.” + + + + + +Rejoicing in Heaven + + +19:1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, + +“Hallelujah! + +Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, + +2for his judgments are true and just; + +for he has judged the great prostitute + +who corrupted the earth with her immorality, + +and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”[47] + +3Once more they cried out, + +“Hallelujah! + +The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” + +4And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5And from the throne came a voice saying, + +“Praise our God, + +all you his servants, + +you who fear him, + +small and great.” + + + + + +The Marriage Supper of the Lamb + + +6Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, + +“Hallelujah! + +For the Lord our God + +the Almighty reigns. + +7Let us rejoice and exult + +and give him the glory, + +for the marriage of the Lamb has come, + +and his Bride has made herself ready; + +8it was granted her to clothe herself + +with fine linen, bright and pure”— + +for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. + +9And the angel said[48] to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant[49] with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. + + + + + +The Rider on a White Horse + + +11Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13He is clothed in a robe dipped in[50] blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. + +17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,[51] both small and great.” 19And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence[52] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. + + + + + +The Thousand Years + + +20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit[53] and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. + +4Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. + + + + + +The Defeat of Satan + + +7And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven[54] and consumed them, 10and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. + + + + + +Judgment Before the Great White Throne + + +11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. + + + + + +The New Heaven and the New Earth + + +21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[55] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[56] and God himself will be with them as their God.[57] 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” + +5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” + + + + + +The New Jerusalem + + +9Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. + +15And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.[58] Its length and width and height are equal. 17He also measured its wall, 144 cubits[59] by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. 18The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 19The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass. + +22And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. + + + + + +The River of Life + + +22:1 Then the angel[60] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life[61] with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants[62] will worship him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. + + + + + +Jesus Is Coming + + +6And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” + +7“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” + +8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant[63] with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” + +10And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” + +12“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” + +14Blessed are those who wash their robes,[64] so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. + +16“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” + +17The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. + +18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. + +20He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! + +21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.[65] Amen. + + + + + +Footnotes + + +[1] 1:1 Greek bondservants + +[2] 1:1 Greek bondservant + +[3] 1:7 Or mourn + +[4] 2:9 Greek blasphemy + +[5] 2:13 Or your faith in me + +[6] 2:20 Greek bondservants + +[7] 4:5 Or voices, or sounds + +[8] 6:6 Greek choinix, a dry measure equal to about a quart + +[9] 6:6 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer + +[10] 6:11 Greek fellow bondservants + +[11] 6:11 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church + +[12] 6:15 Or servant; Greek bondservant + +[13] 7:3 Greek bondservants + +[14] 8:5 Or voices, or sounds + +[15] 8:11 Wormwood is the name of a plant and of the bitter-tasting extract derived from it + +[16] 9:1 Greek the abyss; also verses 2, 11 + +[17] 9:11 Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer + +[18] 9:17 Greek hyacinth + +[19] 10:7 Greek bondservants + +[20] 11:7 Or the abyss + +[21] 11:8 Greek spiritually + +[22] 11:18 Greek bondservants + +[23] 11:19 Or voices, or sounds + +[24] 12:10 Or brothers and sisters + +[25] 12:17 Some manuscripts And I stood, connecting the sentence with 13:1 + +[26] 13:6 Or tabernacle + +[27] 13:7 Some manuscripts omit this sentence + +[28] 13:12 Or on its behalf + +[29] 13:14 Or on behalf of + +[30] 13:16 Greek bondservant + +[31] 13:18 Some manuscripts 616 + +[32] 14:8 Or wrath + +[33] 14:12 Greek and the faith of Jesus + +[34] 14:20 About 184 miles; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters + +[35] 15:3 Greek bondservant + +[36] 15:3 Some manuscripts the ages + +[37] 15:5 Or tabernacle + +[38] 16:5 Greek angel of the waters + +[39] 16:9 Greek blasphemed; also verses 11, 21 + +[40] 16:18 Or voices, or sounds + +[41] 16:21 Greek a talent in weight + +[42] 17:6 Greek the witnesses to Jesus + +[43] 17:8 Greek the abyss + +[44] 17:15 Greek he + +[45] 18:3 Some manuscripts fallen by + +[46] 18:13 Or and slaves, and human lives + +[47] 19:2 Greek bondservants; also verse 5 + +[48] 19:9 Greek he said + +[49] 19:10 Greek fellow bondservant + +[50] 19:13 Some manuscripts sprinkled with + +[51] 19:18 Greek bondservant + +[52] 19:20 Or on its behalf + +[53] 20:1 Greek the abyss; also verse 3 + +[54] 20:9 Some manuscripts from God, out of heaven, or out of heaven from God + +[55] 21:3 Or tabernacle + +[56] 21:3 Some manuscripts peoples + +[57] 21:3 Some manuscripts omit as their God + +[58] 21:16 About 1,380 miles; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters + +[59] 21:17 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters + +[60] 22:1 Greek he + +[61] 22:2 Or the Lamb. In the midst of the street of the city, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life + +[62] 22:3 Greek bondservants; also verse 6 + +[63] 22:9 Greek fellow bondservant + +[64] 22:14 Some manuscripts do his commandments + +[65] 22:21 Some manuscripts all the saints + + + + + diff --git a/Chartwell.py b/Chartwell.py index 550bf57..7af4f18 100644 --- a/Chartwell.py +++ b/Chartwell.py @@ -12,6 +12,19 @@ import torch # Augmented — add that retrieved context to the prompt # Generation — use the language model to generate an answer based on that context +# ------------------- +# Embedding Cleaning +# ------------------- +# del embeddings_cache.npz +# del embeddings_cache_meta.json + +# ------------------- +# TO-DO +# ----------------- +# Better table handling +# Update requirements.txt with torch installation notes +# Domain-specific clean profiles + # --------------- # Running # -------------- @@ -67,11 +80,7 @@ import torch # Semantic chunking # Better table handling -# ------------------- -# Embedding Cleaning -# ------------------- -# del embeddings_cache.npz -# del embeddings_cache_meta.json + # ------------------------- @@ -84,11 +93,11 @@ for f in Path(BOOK_DIR).rglob('*'): if not f.is_file(): continue try: - with open(f, 'r', encoding='utf-8'): + with open(f, 'rb'): # just check file is readable pass - book_files.append(str(f)) # store as string, not Path - except (UnicodeDecodeError, PermissionError): - continue + book_files.append(str(f)) + except PermissionError: + continue print(f"Found {len(book_files)} files") @@ -260,8 +269,14 @@ else: print(f"Warning: {book_name} not found, skipping...") continue print(f"Loading {book_name}...") - with open(book_name, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f: - book_text = clean_text(f.read()) + with open(book_name, "rb") as f: + raw = f.read() + try: + text = raw.decode("utf-8") + except UnicodeDecodeError: + print(f"[Encoding fallback] {book_name}") + text = raw.decode("cp1252") # fallback for Windows-encoded text + book_text = clean_text(text) book_chunks = chunk_text(book_text) all_chunks.extend(book_chunks) all_sources.extend([book_name] * len(book_chunks))